Some words difficult to read due to highlighting in thesis. / Abstract Not Provided / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

In their Covert Repair Hypothesis (CRH), Postma and Kolk (1993) proposed that stuttering-like disfluencies arise, in both normal and stuttered speech, as a consequence of speakers‟ attempts to repair phonological-encoding errors before they start to speak. They posited that stutterers are particularly disfluent because they make larger numbers of such errors compared to normally-fluent speakers. To date, however, experimental research has provided little reliable evidence to support or counter this hypothesis. This thesis constitutes a systematic attempt to provide such evidence. Using a tongue-twister paradigm in conjunction with manipulations of auditory masking, it first documents (a) the vigilance with which normally-fluent speakers monitor for such errors; (b) the relative accuracy with which they detect them; and (c) the frequency with which they occur – in both inner and overt speech. A second set of experiments then extends the same investigation to a group of stutterers and matched controls and explores the relationship between the occurrence of participants‟ errors in the experimental paradigm and the frequency of their stuttering-like disfluencies in everyday speaking situations. Together, these experiments reveal that, compared to controls, participants who stutter monitor their speech with similar levels of vigilance; identify phonemic errors with similar degrees of accuracy; and, as predicted by the CRH, produce significantly more errors – in both their inner and overt speech. However, contrary to the predictions of the CRH, no relationship was found between the frequency of such errors in inner speech and the severity of participants‟ disfluencies. In a final set of experiments, a speech-recognition paradigm is employed to explore an alternative hypothesis: that stuttering-like disfluencies can be precipitated, in a speaker, by the mere anticipation that his words will result in communication failure. Results revealed that, for stutterers, stuttering decreased on words that were consistently followed by feedback implying correct recognition, but not on words followed by feedback implying incorrect recognition. For normally-fluent speakers, equivalent correlations were not found. The thesis concludes that slow or impaired phonological encoding may play a role in the development of the disorder. But, once established, the anticipation of communication failure may be a more important factor in determining where and when stuttering-like disfluencies actually occur. It then discusses implications of the experimental findings for hypotheses that posit a connection between phonological encoding and stuttering.

No description available.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-71).

<p><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">Ukwangali district is located in the western part of the Kavango region approximately 70 kilometers west of the regional town Rundu. This thesis explores and documents the local political dimensions which prevailed in the uKwangali district of Namibia between 1966-1989. The study seeks to find out why the uKwangali district became a war zone outside of the main theatre of war in nearby Ovamboland, and how its residents became part of the Namibian armed liberation struggle.</p> </font></p>

Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Devil on the Cross represents both an insightful interpretation and a scathing critique of Kenyan politics and society during the period of neo-colonialism. The present thesis aims to explore, with the help of Marxist ideology and criticism, the relevance of the issues of class struggle, elitism and social collectivism in the novel. At the same time, this study will attempt to define Devil on the Cross as a "national allegory" depicting situations that are common to almost all post-colonial societies, and in particular, how the novel's ideological and political commitment is an important feature as it reflects Ngugi’s effort to draw attention to how Kenya and Africa as a whole suffered from imperialism, neo-colonialism, and a corrupt and greedy capitalist society.

No description available.

<p><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">Ukwangali district is located in the western part of the Kavango region approximately 70 kilometers west of the regional town Rundu. This thesis explores and documents the local political dimensions which prevailed in the uKwangali district of Namibia between 1966-1989. The study seeks to find out why the uKwangali district became a war zone outside of the main theatre of war in nearby Ovamboland, and how its residents became part of the Namibian armed liberation struggle.</p> </font></p>

Abstract This dissertation reflects on how young people in Nigeria have appropriated global media technology in forging a local cinema industry, popularly known as Nollywood. First begun as a renegade cinematic art by jobless youth in the late 1980s, Nollywood has become the third biggest film industry in the world, next only to America’s Hollywood and India’s Bollywood, grossing approximately $50 million US dollars annually (Okome 2007a; 2007b). The study thus examines how Nollywood has become a new social space for youth to retell their postcolonial struggles. It examines selected video films, showing how the films both represent the huge social challenges faced by young people in the city and the way youth reinvent those stormy socio-economic and political conditions into moments of possibilities and hope. Combining both an ethnographic study of the video culture in Nigeria and a textual reading of several video films, the research draws insights from a cross-section of video filmmakers, workers in the arts and culture sectors, and a random survey of the diversity of viewers that make up the video audiences in Nigeria. Theoretically, it extends on the pioneering work on the video film by Haynes and Okome (1997; 2000). Using the theoretical framework of the new sociology of youth (Alan 2007; Bennett and Khan-Harris 2004; Wyn and White 1997; UN 1993; 2005 and Fornas & Goran Bolin 1995) and the anthropological/cultural studies approach by Barber (1997), the project discusses the distinctively creative deployment of the video medium as a narrative genre that narrativizes the different and difficult life struggles of youth in contemporary Nigeria. I argue that as a new form of cultural expression, Nollywood is Africa’s new "Third Cinema" invented by innovative Nigerian youth in remapping the turbulent contours of a troubled postcolony. I demonstrate how creative classes of marginal Nigerian youth have now taken initiative, appropriating and adapting new media technology in reinventing not just their social and economic lives, but also in narrating their social struggles in everyday life for both local and international audiences. The outcome, the study shows, is the emergence of a new social space for youth.

Magister Artium - MA / Ukwangali district is located in the western part of the Kavango region approximately 70 kilometers west of the regional town Rundu. This thesis explores and documents the local political dimensions which prevailed in the uKwangali district of Namibia between 1966-1989. The study seeks to find out why the uKwangali district became a war zone outside of the main theatre of war in nearby Ovamboland, and how its residents became part of the Namibian armed liberation struggle.