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Anthropocentrism is the view that humans generally are and should be the only legitimate recipients of direct moral consideration. This thesis locates ideological expressions of this view in the content and structure of 48 children's realistic animal stories. I conclude that the texts send ambivalent and contradictory messages: while children's stories may serve to inform the reader about our actual and potential connections to other animals, they also contain elements that continue to privilege the dominant view. As a result, the stories represent a limited arena for considering or realizing an alternative to anthropocentrism.

This dissertation is an attempt to loosen what I see as a chokehold by which two paramount assumptions constrict our epistemic endeavors. These Enlightenment assumptions--that we accept or refute ideas as true based on transparently clear and orderly methods and criteria, and that individuals accept or refute truth claims--are still central in epistemology, despite their many critics (for the first, Kant, Hegel, James, Quine, Bayes; for the second, postmodernism, Deleuze and Guattari, Gilbert). Thinking about gossip as an epistemologically productive concept provides us with the means to critique those assumptions, and further attempts to broaden our notion of an epistemological foundation. Gossip at first appears to be an unlikely candidate for such a resurrection, mainly because its treatment by academics has been dismissive; this dismissal is in part due to Enlightenment conceptions about truth and falsehood. Chapter One surveys the social science literature on gossip and rumor, revealing that social scientists begin with such restrictive definitions of what gossip is that their conclusions amount to little more than tautology. Chapter Two shows that humanists have a slightly different approach to gossip, but with roughly similar results. The handful of philosophers who deal directly with gossip or rumor almost as a unit accept uncritically a division between "purposive" conversation and "idle" chatter. To do so, I think, perpetuates a limiting epistemic foundation on a linguistic level. In contrast, I argue in Chapter Three that the very existence of something like gossip proves the inadequacy of the foundationalist myth (at least in its current form), and that to attempt to understand and use gossip with foundationalist tools is simply a wrong fit. My understanding of gossip is based on this central fact: we undertake the activity of gossip or rumor-spreading because we are trying to make sense out of something--we need to collect knowledge socially. Gossip originates from dissonance; it acts as a (necessary) counterweight to more official information, and can't be considered apart from official knowledge. We use gossip and rumor, along with more orthodox sources of information, to formulate our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. The extent to which gossip and rumor are spread is the extent to which the analysis is shared, and not individualized. Gossip is both a genealogical tool and an speculative tool.

<p> L'&eacute;tude pr&eacute;sente se contre sur la question identitaire aux sujets de la langue et de la culture cadienne au sud de la paroisse Lafourche ; un paroisse du sud-est de la Louisiane. Donnant qu'il y avait peu de recherches venant de cette r&eacute;gion de la Louisiane fran&ccedil;aise, cela serait in&eacute;ressant de voir des avis aux sujets de la langue et la culture cadiennes de vue des gens de cette petite partie.</p><p> Des questionnaires a &eacute;t&eacute; distribu&eacute;s aux lyc&eacute;ens de South Lafourche High School, et des entrevues a &eacute;t&eacute; faits avec des locuteurs natifs du fran&ccedil;ais cadien de la meme r&eacute;gion. </p><p> Avec les r&eacute;sultats, l'auteure examine les r&eacute;ponses des questionnaires des jeunes lyc&eacute;ens et les r&eacute;ponses des entrevues avec les locuteurs du fran&ccedil;ais cadien sont consid&eacute;r&eacute;es s&eacute;par&eacute;ment. Aussi, les r&eacute;ponses des deux groupes sont consid&eacute;r&eacute;es ensemble pour trouver s'il y a des similarit&eacute;s ou des diff&eacute;rences.</p><p> Ce projet cherche de parler des sujets ou de r&eacute;pondre aux questions suivants : Pour les jeunes, Quel est leur niveau de contact avec le fran&ccedil;ais hors de la salle de classe, et Quel est le role du fran&ccedil;ais dans leur vie ? Quelles id&eacute;es et quelles connaissances ils ont du fran&ccedil;ais cadien ? Quels sont les aspects saillants de l'identit&eacute; et de la culture cadiennes pour ces lyc&eacute;ens ?</p><p> Pour les locuteurs natifs de fran&Atilde;&sect;ais cadien, quel est le role du fran&ccedil;ais dans leur vie pr&eacute;sente et pass&eacute;e ? Quels sont les aspects de l'identit&eacute; et de la culture cadiennes qu'ils trouvent le plus importants ? Et qu'est-ce que ces locuteurs pensent de l'enseignement du fran&ccedil;ais par rapport aux plus jeunes g&eacute;n&eacute;rations de la r&eacute;gion ?</p>

<p> In the current global business environment many endeavors are undertaken as projects. Translation, localization and other language services are no exception and must be viewed and studied as services performed in a projectized environment. If they are not, there will continue to be gaps between the way translation is taught and researched (as an isolated activity) and how it is performed in the business world (as part of projects). The existence of these gaps not only prevents translation practitioners from recognizing and communicating the value of the service that they provide, but also diminishes the value of the training that future translators receive. Lack of understanding of the context in which translation is performed limits the opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between translation studies and other disciplines in the academic environment, and between organizations and divisions within a given organization in the business environment. </p><p> This study proposes to contribute to the research on translation in project contexts by examining risk management, which is an important area of focus for organizations and professionals in many sectors, but which is largely ignored in the language industry. </p><p> This study first provides an overview of the language industry, explores key concepts, such as risk, uncertainty, project management, risk management and maturity model, and explains the role and relevance of risk management in the language industry. It then reviews existing risk management frameworks developed by project management and risk management practitioners, including the framework developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI). Next, a model of risk sources developed specifically for application in translation and localization projects is presented and discussed. The theoretical discussion is followed by a case study in which PMI's project risk management framework is implemented and the proposed model of risk sources is applied in a real-world translation company. The description of the case study methodology is followed by observations of how the study was carried out and by a presentation and analysis of the results of the case study. The dissertation concludes by offering recommendations based on the findings of the case study and by examining possible future avenues of research.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2007. / Title from title page screen, viewed on March 11, 2008. Dissertation Committee: Janice Neuleib (chair), Gerald Savage, Christopher Breu. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 223-238) and abstract. Also available in print.

This report is a summary and a discussion of a research project on bilingualism in Tornedalen. Within the project "Education in sparsely populated areas", financed by the National Board of Education, a number of studies were carried out aiming at giving a description of the present linguistic situation (Swedish/Finnish) of the pupils in the comprehensive school. Another aim was to see if there was any correlation between school achievement and the linguistic abilities of the pupils (Swedish-Finnish) . In this connection the intention was also to develop methods of measurement and to construct tests. The basis of the work was a model originally developed by Spolsky (1974) and had in a broad sense a "sociology of language" approach. The population consisted of all the 354 pupils in grade 4 in the district of Haparanda, Övertorneå and Paj ala. The gathering of data in which combination of different methods such as interviews, observations and testings were used, took place at the turn of the year 1975/76. The results have been published in six reports (nr 78-83) in the series of reports of the Department of Education, Pedagogiska rapporter, Umeå (in Swedish). In this summary the main results are accounted for concerning the pupil's use of language and linguistic knowledge as well as results and marks. The results show that the use of the Finnish language is almost restricted to the home environment. As for the knowledge of Finnish it can be noted that about 40 per cent have active abilities and the rest of the pupils are purely Swedish speaking. The difference between the mentioned groups as regards the other measurements of achievement used were small or insignificant especially if the social background of the pupils was taken into consideration. The main conclusion was that the Finnish language in Tornedalen is decreasing and that in one or two generations probably all the area will be Swedish speaking. The consequences of this are discussed,and the importance of school and education is also dealt with. Suggestions for further research are given such as longitudinal and iterated cross-sectional studies and comparative studies in other bilingual areas. Studies about attitudes to the languages in Tornedalen are suggested as well as intensified work on the developing of methods in bilingual research. Finnally further investigations on the covariation between different factors and school achievement are recommended. / digitalisering@umu

Este trabalho é uma primeira etapa da elaboração de um conjunto conceitual que tem por objetivo fornecer uma explicação sociológica para o fenômeno do conhecimento. O ponto de partida é a reconstrução de uma possível explicação presente na sociologia de Max Weber para o fenômeno em questão. Parto da suposição que os trabalhos de Weber indiretamente explicariam-no, dado que a teoria da ação e da racionalização suscitariam inevitáveis problemas epistemológicos. Não obstante, essas duas teorias endereçariam respostas parciais aos dois problemas básicos sobre o conhecimento, a saber, o que é o conhecimento? e como o conhecimento é desenvolvido? Para respondê-las integralmente, seria necessário encontrar um fenômeno que conjugasse a teoria da ação social com a teoria da racionalização. Minha principal hipótese é que este seria o no processo de intelectualização. Com isso, a parte central deste trabalho refere- se à reconstrução do processo de intelectualização e sua solução prévia para o conhecimento. Ao esgotar todas as possibilidades de explicação, utilizo os trabalhos de Hermann Lotze e Gottlob Frege como auxiliares na compreensão e resolução de noções subjacentes ao problema do conhecimento, como as noções de sentido, significado, verdade, interpretação e intersubjetividade. Ao final, chego a uma conclusão que tenta acoplar uma teoria da linguagem sobre a explicação do conhecimento produzida pela reconstrução dos trabalhos de Weber / This study is a first stage of drafting a conceptual framework that aims to provide a sociological explanation for the phenomenon of knowledge. The starting point is the reconstruction of a possible explanation for knowledge grounded on Max Weber\'s Sociology. As a starting point, we assume that Weber\'s work indirectly explains the phenomenon of knowledge, since the theory of action and rationalization would raise inevitable epistemological problems. Nevertheless, these two theories would only address partial answers to two basic problems about knowledge, namely, what is knowledge? and how knowledge is developed? In order to answer completely such questions it would require a phenomenon that combines the theory of social action with the theory of rationalization. Our main hypothesis is that the process of intellectualization is the phenomenon would best combine both theories. Thus, the central part of this study refers to the reconstruction of the process of intellectualization and its prior solution to the knowledge. When all possibilities were exhausted, we used some works of Hermann Lotze and Gottlob Frege in order to assist the comprehension and solve some knowledge\'s underlying notions, such as meaning, sense, truth, interpretation, and intersubjectivity. In the conclusion, we attempt to attach a theory of language on the explanation of knowledge produced by the reconstruction of Weber\'s writings

The ‘social turn’ in applied linguistics and second language acquisition (SLA) has seen the emergence of a range of socially-oriented perspectives, such as sociolinguistic, sociocultural, socio-historical and situated learning, yet this has not resulted in L2 learners’ social origins and backgrounds being given sufficient attention in L2 research. The present study therefore argues for taking a sociology of language learning perspective to investigate L2 learners’ social biographies and their academic achievement in English. This social perspective is informed by the sociology of education as well as critical approaches to applied linguistics. Learners’ social biographies consist of learner-internal (personal) and -external (social) factors. These factors are conceptualised as learner habitus and family educational capital (economic, social and cultural) respectively, with reference to Bourdieu’s theories in the sociology of education. The study investigates secondary school students’ English learning outcomes in relation to their habitus and family capital situations in a rural context in Bangladesh. It uses a mixed methods research design and draws on both quantitative and qualitative data. It also utilises multiple perspectives, provided by 10th grade students (n = 228) and their English teachers, head teachers and parents. The data collection instruments include a questionnaire survey, an English proficiency test and participant interviews. The study shows that aspects of family economic and cultural capital and learner habitus are significantly associated with the students’ English achievement. However, social capital, operationalised as parental input into the students’ English studies, is not associated with their academic achievement in English, although it is significantly correlated with learner habitus and parental education. The students’ perceptions of their family capital situations and the perceived impact of these situations on their academic experience were supportive of structuralist determinism. Despite the constraining effects of family capital disadvantage on academic experience, disadvantaged students can neutralise these effects by means of their habitus and thus negate social determinism in the context of their scholastic achievement. The study also shows that contrary to the widening gap in the academic achievement of students in favour of females in many social contexts, the female students in the present context performed somewhat less well than their male counterparts in the school-leaving examination. Finally, the students’ English learning and academic outcomes were embedded in their social biographies. Their academic achievement or underachievement cannot be fully understood without recourse to their familial and social worlds, their lived experiences, their desires for better futures and their disadvantage, and lack of means to pursue those desires.Despite some caveats, the findings have important implications for the theory and practice of teaching English in Bangladesh and other social contexts. First, it is necessary to include both learner-internal and -external family/social factors in the investigation of L2 learners’ English learning experience and outcomes. Second, ELT policies should have provisions that address these beyond-the-school factors in order to develop English language skills across social classes and geographic locations. Finally, schools should embrace the question of inequality in English learning outcomes and devise mechanisms for the reduction of inequalities within their limited resources and capacities. The major contribution of the study is to our understanding of the factors associated with English language learning in rural communities in developing societies. In particular, the study substantiates non-cognitive, non-methodological and non-curricular approaches to EFL/ESL. Identification of these factors is facilitated by the perspective of sociology of English learning and the concept of social biography. In addition, the study designs a theoretical and conceptual framework and instruments for researching student achievement in English in relation to family capital and learner habitus.

Este trabalho é uma primeira etapa da elaboração de um conjunto conceitual que tem por objetivo fornecer uma explicação sociológica para o fenômeno do conhecimento. O ponto de partida é a reconstrução de uma possível explicação presente na sociologia de Max Weber para o fenômeno em questão. Parto da suposição que os trabalhos de Weber indiretamente explicariam-no, dado que a teoria da ação e da racionalização suscitariam inevitáveis problemas epistemológicos. Não obstante, essas duas teorias endereçariam respostas parciais aos dois problemas básicos sobre o conhecimento, a saber, o que é o conhecimento? e como o conhecimento é desenvolvido? Para respondê-las integralmente, seria necessário encontrar um fenômeno que conjugasse a teoria da ação social com a teoria da racionalização. Minha principal hipótese é que este seria o no processo de intelectualização. Com isso, a parte central deste trabalho refere- se à reconstrução do processo de intelectualização e sua solução prévia para o conhecimento. Ao esgotar todas as possibilidades de explicação, utilizo os trabalhos de Hermann Lotze e Gottlob Frege como auxiliares na compreensão e resolução de noções subjacentes ao problema do conhecimento, como as noções de sentido, significado, verdade, interpretação e intersubjetividade. Ao final, chego a uma conclusão que tenta acoplar uma teoria da linguagem sobre a explicação do conhecimento produzida pela reconstrução dos trabalhos de Weber / This study is a first stage of drafting a conceptual framework that aims to provide a sociological explanation for the phenomenon of knowledge. The starting point is the reconstruction of a possible explanation for knowledge grounded on Max Weber\'s Sociology. As a starting point, we assume that Weber\'s work indirectly explains the phenomenon of knowledge, since the theory of action and rationalization would raise inevitable epistemological problems. Nevertheless, these two theories would only address partial answers to two basic problems about knowledge, namely, what is knowledge? and how knowledge is developed? In order to answer completely such questions it would require a phenomenon that combines the theory of social action with the theory of rationalization. Our main hypothesis is that the process of intellectualization is the phenomenon would best combine both theories. Thus, the central part of this study refers to the reconstruction of the process of intellectualization and its prior solution to the knowledge. When all possibilities were exhausted, we used some works of Hermann Lotze and Gottlob Frege in order to assist the comprehension and solve some knowledge\'s underlying notions, such as meaning, sense, truth, interpretation, and intersubjectivity. In the conclusion, we attempt to attach a theory of language on the explanation of knowledge produced by the reconstruction of Weber\'s writings