Face aux nombreuses difficultés environnementales et sociales auxquelles l'agriculture doit faire face, des pratiques basées sur la gestion de processus écologiques ont été proposées comme des solutions possibles. Or de telles pratiques, dites agroécologiques, ne peuvent résulter d'une simple application de recettes techniques, et doivent être développées en lien étroit avec les caractéristiques écologiques et autres du système géré par chaque agriculteur. En conséquence, il est nécessaire d'envisager une évolution du système de production et de diffusion de savoirs, avec en particulier une place importante à donner aux agriculteurs eux-mêmes dans le développement de leurs propres pratiques. L'objectif de cette thèse est donc de mieux comprendre comment les agriculteurs apprennent à développer des pratiques agroécologiques, afin de contribuer à l'accompagnement d'autres agriculteurs dans leur propre transition vers ce type de pratiques. Nous nous concentrons sur l'agriculture de conservation, qui se fonde sur trois grands principes : la réduction du travail du sol, la diversification des cultures et la couverture permanente du sol. A l'aide d'éléments théoriques issus de la philosophie pragmatiste, nous analysons qualitativement des entretiens réalisés chez des agriculteurs expérimentés en agriculture de conservation dans plusieurs régions de France. Cela nous amène dans un premier temps à proposer un cadre pour décrire les processus d'apprentissage et les jugements pragmatiques qui se développent au cours de ceux-ci. Nous précisons ensuite les évolutions possibles des jugements pragmatiques, et les particularités des processus d'apprentissage qui permettent ces différentes évolutions. Enfin, nous nous intéressons à la diversité entre agriculteurs dans les façons d'apprendre, notamment en mettant en regard les différentes trajectoires de changements vers l'agriculture de conservation. Nos résultats nous amènent à proposer des pistes pour l'accompagnement de l'apprentissage des agriculteurs : nous suggérons entre autres qu'il est important de valoriser la diversité des façons d'apprendre, mais sans chercher à la réduire à des styles d'apprentissage fixes, et nous proposons une application possible de la théorie de la communication engageante pour participer à l'accompagnement vers des pratiques d'agriculture de conservation. Enfin, nos résultats nous amènent à réfléchir à l'agroécologie non pas seulement comme un objectif du développement agricole, mais aussi comme un moyen de développement pour les individus. / Agriculture is facing multiple environmental and social challenges; in order to address them, practices based on the management of ecological processes have been pointed out as possible solutions. Such practices, known as agroecological, cannot be the result of a simple application of technical recipes: they must be developed locally, in close interaction with the ecological characteristics of the system managed by each farmer. Consequently, it is necessary to consider the evolution of the knowledge production and diffusion system, with the farmers as developers of their own practices having an especially important role. Therefore, the goal of this work is to better understand how farmers learn to develop agroecological practices in order to contribute to the support of other farmers in their own transition towards similar practices. We focus on conservation agriculture, which is based on three main principles: reduction of soil disturbance, crop diversification, and permanent soil cover. With the help of theoretical elements grounded in pragmatist philosophy, we qualitatively analyze interviews conducted with farmers experienced in conservation agriculture in different regions of France. This leads us to the proposal of a framework to describe the learning processes and the pragmatic judgements that develop along these processes. We then specify the possible developments of pragmatic judgements, and the specificities of the learning processes that allow such changes. Finally, we focus on individual characteristics of the learning processes, studying them partly through contrasting farmers' trajectories of changes toward conservation agriculture practices. Our results enable us to make different suggestions for the support of farmers' learning: we argue that it is important to take into account the diversity of learning processes without reducing it into a typology of learning styles, and we discuss a possible application of the binding communication theory to facilitate the transition toward conservation agriculture practices. Ultimately, our results suggest that we should think about agroecology not only as a goal for agricultural development, but also as a means for the development of individuals.

Thesis (DAppLing)--Macquarie University, Division of Linguistics and Psychology, Department of Linguistics, 2008. / Bibliography: p. 404-418. / Introduction -- Literature review -- Methodology -- Results -- Discussion -- Conclusion. / This study sets out to examine the pragmatic competence of Cantonese adult learners of English possessing different levels of proficiency when performing the speech act of requesting for a formal purpose in writing. Pragmatic judgment - one of the two aspects of pragmatic competence - was examined by studying the most proficient group (i.e., native Cantonese-speaking EFL teachers at university), whereas pragmatic performance - the other aspect of pragmatic competence - was examined by studying the two weaker groups (i.e., university students at two language proficient levels). Both pragmatic judgment and pragmatic performance were examined by investigating the same four dependent variables (i.e., politeness, directness, formality and amount of information). Teacher data, collected through a Pragmatic Judgment Questionnaire completed and returned by sixteen EFL teachers (eight native Cantonese speakers and eight native English speakers) and by means of individual interviews, were analyzed quantitatively for responses to twelve questions and qualitatively for responses to an additional two questions. Student data, consisting of both experimental and authentic letters and e-mails, were analyzed quantitatively. -- Main research findings suggest: *It is possible for very proficient NNSs of English, (i.e., the EFL teachers in this study), to achieve native-like pragmatic judgments in most aspects, except for their views on several pragmatic considerations (i.e., "unnaturally polite" expressions, usefulness of "negative" words, supportive moves not to be used and writing plans preferred). *As the English proficiency of L2 learners improves from Grade E to Grade A/B (as determined by the Hong Kong A-level Examinations in the subject "Use of English"), their pragmatic performance shows improvement. -- For pedagogical reasons, a qualitative analysis was conducted for Questions 1 and 2 in order to generate examples of "unnaturally polite"/ "polite" / "impolite" expressions and to provide examples of inappropriate supportive moves in relation to three writing topics. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / xvii, 576 p