As a semantic investigation into Anglo-Saxon medicine, this thesis investigates the ways in which the Old English language was adapted to the technical discipline of medicine, with an emphasis on semantic interference between Latin medical terminology and Old English medical terminology. The main purpose of the examination is to determine the extent to which scholarly ideas concerning the nature of the human body and the causes of disease were preserved between the Latin texts and the English texts which were translated and compiled from them. The main way in which this has been carried out is through a comparative analysis of technical vocabulary, excluding botanical terms, in medical prose texts utilising the Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus of texts, and a selection of printed editions of Latin texts which seem to have been the most likely sources of medical knowledge in Anglo-Saxon England. As a prerequisite to this comparative methodology it has been necessary to assemble a corpus of Latin textual parallels to the single most significant Old English medical text extant, namely Bald’s Leechbook. These parallels have been presented in an appendix alongside a transcript and translation of Bald’s Leechbook. A single question thus lies at the heart of this thesis: did Old English medical texts preserve any of the classical medical theories of late antiquity? In answering this question, a number of other significant findings have come to light. Most importantly, it is to be noted that modern scholarship is only now beginning to focus on the range of Late Antique and Byzantine medical texts available in Latin translation in the early medieval period, most notably for our present purposes Alexander of Tralles, but also Oribasius, Galen, pseudo-Galen and several Latin recensions of the works of Soranus of Ephesus, including the so-called Liber Esculapii and Liber Aurelii. The linguistic study further demonstrates that the technical language of these texts was very well understood and closely studied in Anglo-Saxon England, the vernacular material not only providing excellent readings of abstruse Latin technical vocabulary, but also demonstrating a substantial knowledge of technical terms of Greek origin which survive in the Latin texts.

La linguistique historique et comparative joue un rôle important dans l’étude de l’histoire culturelle des sociétés. Dans ce cadre, certains spécialistes se basent sur la méthode de reconstruction lexicale « Wörter und Sachen » (Mots et Choses). Afin de répondre aux problèmes qui se présentent lors de l’application de cette méthodologie, nous avons jugé utile d’étudier le vocabulaire lié à une technique récente dont l’histoire est assez bien connue. Une étude pareille montre comment le lexique s’est constitué et identifie les traces laissées éventuellement par l’histoire de la technique elle-même. Le choix s’est porté sur le lexique de la fonte de l’aluminium en zarma et en hausa du Niger. La recherche témoigne d’une approche empirique et sociolinguistique et l’étude des vocabulaires est abordée partant du principe onomasiologique du changement lexical. Le cœur du travail consiste en l’analyse des vocabulaires récoltés sur le terrain suivant une typologie nouvelle du changement lexical. Une description synthétique des deux langues est fournie afin de permettre au lecteur de se familiariser avec ces systèmes linguistiques. L’étude de quelques cas particuliers montre comment les aspects sociaux influencent indéniablement la constitution des lexiques. La comparaison des lexiques de la fonte dans les langues du Niger avec ceux qui ont été observés dans d’autres langues de l’Afrique occidentale donne l’opportunité de réfléchir sur la nature du vocabulaire de la fonte de façon plus générale. Dans la dernière partie de l’étude d’autres lexiques techniques sont pris en compte afin de progresser vers une théorie plus globale. /Historical and comparative linguistics plays an important role in the study of a society’s cultural history. In this context, some specialists follow the method of lexical reconstruction "Wörter und Sachen" (Words and Things). In order to deal with the problems that occur in the application of this methodology, we found it useful to study the lexicon of a recent technique for which the history is quite well known. Such a research shows how the vocabulary is constituted and identifies the traces that might be left by the history of the technique itself. We chose the vocabulary of aluminium casting in Zarma and Hausa of Niger. The study testifies of an empirical and sociolinguistic approach, while the vocabulary is explored starting from the onomasiological principal of lexical change. The main part consists of an analysis of the vocabularies collected in the field through a new typology of lexical change. In order to give the reader the occasion to familiarise with the linguistic system of the two languages, a brief grammatical description is given. The study of some particular cases shows how social aspects influence the constitution of the lexicon. The comparison of the casting vocabularies in the languages of Niger with those observed in other West-African countries gives the opportunity to reflect upon the nature of casting vocabulary on a larger scale. The last part of the study takes into account other technical vocabularies in order to develop a global theory.

In many international schools where English is the language of learning and teaching there are large percentages of students whose first language is not English. Many of these students may have low vocabulary levels which inhibits their chances of taking full advantage of their education. Low vocabulary levels can be a particular problem for students in mainstream classes where fluent English speaking teachers are using English to teach content areas of Mathematics, Science and History. Not only do students have to comprehend the low-frequency, academic and technical vocabulary pertaining to the subject, but they also need to know the higher frequency vocabulary that makes up general English usage. If students’ vocabulary levels fall too far below the vocabulary levels with which their teachers are speaking, then their chance of comprehending the topic is small, as is their chance of succeeding in their subjects. This study has two broad aims. Firstly, I have set out to assess the English vocabulary levels of students at an international school where English is the language of learning and teaching. The majority of students at this school do not have English as their first language. The second aim of this study is to explore the vocabulary profile of the teachers’ spoken discourse at the research school. By gaining a better understanding of the nature of teacher discourse – specifically the percentage of high, mid and low-frequency vocabulary, as well as academic vocabulary that they use – English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers will be in a stronger position to identify what the vocabulary learning task is and be able to assist students in reaching the vocabulary levels necessary to make sense of their lessons. This study revealed a large gap between the generally low vocabulary levels of ESL students and the vocabulary levels spoken by their teachers. As a result the need for explicit vocabulary instruction and learning is shown to be very important in English medium (international) schools, where there are large numbers of students whose first language is not English. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Applied Linguistics)

The overarching aim of this thesis is to explore how teaching and learning in tertiary education is performed in times of change both in language policy and learning approaches. The study takes social constructivist and socio-cultural theories as its major points of departure. These theories are combined with cognitive theory of learning with multimedia. The four studies comprising this thesis are born out of a new situation demanding the mastery of a scientific language in English and new ways of teaching and learning backed with ICT. The studies set out to investigate (i) how students and teachers adapt to a change of medium of instruction (ii) what teachers and students of physics learn when constructing a multimedia vocabulary learning instrument (iii) the impact of two methods of teaching vocabulary on students’ test performance and (iv) how teachers reflect on the use of ICT in Physics teaching. To attain these targets, the study employed a blend of qualitative and quantitative designs to gather relevant data. In three studies, data were gathered from classroom practices in tertiary education. The fourth study included teacher interviews on their experiences with ICT. Findings indicate that the understanding of physics was facilitated by a variation in language use in different classroom spaces, students and teachers’ collaborative selection of technical vocabulary and a multimedia tool of technical vocabulary software constructed by two teachers and the researcher. According to the teachers, the quality of physics teaching would be enhanced further by adopting learner-centred teaching methods and the integration of more advanced ICT. The studies show that teachers and students are on their way to develop ICT tools for teaching and learning. Given adequate support, this can pave the way for transforming teaching and allowing for further quality development in innovative and creative ways of learning with ICT. / Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling är att undersöka hur undervisning och lärande inom högre utbildning sker i tider av förändring både inom språkpolicy och inom lärande. Studien tar socialkonstruktivistiska och socio-kulturella teorier som utgångspunkt. Dessa teorier har kombinerats med en kognitiv teori om lärande med multimedia. Studien består av fyra studier som behandlar den nya situation som uppstått när studenter och lärare behöver bemästra ett vetenskapligt språk på engelska och nya sätt att undervisa och lära med stöd av IKT. Studiernas syfte är att undersöka (i) hur studenter och lärare anpassar sig till ett förändrat undervisningsspråk (ii) vad lärare och studenter inom fysik lär när de konstruerar ett multimedia instrument (iii) utfallet av två olika metoder att lära studenter ett fackspråk inom fysik som det visar sig i olika test (iv) hur lärare reflekterar över användningen av IKT inom ämnesområdet fysik. För att uppnå dessa mål används en kombination av kvalitativa och kvantitativa metoder. I tre studier samlades data från klassrumspraktiker inom högre utbildning. I den fjärde studien intervjuades lärare om sina erfarenheter med IKT. Resultaten visar att förståelse av fackspråkliga begrepp underlättades av att olika språk användes beroende på avstånd eller närhet till eleverna i klassrummet. Samarbete mellan studenter och lärare i att välja ord och begrepp som skulle användas och mellan lärarna och forskaren i att konstruera ett multimedia-instrument påverkade också lärandet positivt. Enligt de intervjuade lärarna skulle kvaliteten i fysikundervisningen kunna förbättras ytterligare genom att använda elevcentrerade undervisningsmetoder och mer avancerad IKT. Studierna visar att lärare och studenter är på väg att utveckla IKT redskap för undervisning och lärande. Med adekvat stöd kan detta bereda vägen för en transformering av undervisningen och ge utrymme för vidare kvalitetsutveckling genom uppfinningsrika och kreativa sätt att lära med stöd av IKT.

La linguistique historique et comparative joue un rôle important dans l’étude de l’histoire culturelle des sociétés. Dans ce cadre, certains spécialistes se basent sur la méthode de reconstruction lexicale « Wörter und Sachen » (Mots et Choses). Afin de répondre aux problèmes qui se présentent lors de l’application de cette méthodologie, nous avons jugé utile d’étudier le vocabulaire lié à une technique récente dont l’histoire est assez bien connue. Une étude pareille montre comment le lexique s’est constitué et identifie les traces laissées éventuellement par l’histoire de la technique elle-même. Le choix s’est porté sur le lexique de la fonte de l’aluminium en zarma et en hausa du Niger. La recherche témoigne d’une approche empirique et sociolinguistique et l’étude des vocabulaires est abordée partant du principe onomasiologique du changement lexical. Le cœur du travail consiste en l’analyse des vocabulaires récoltés sur le terrain suivant une typologie nouvelle du changement lexical. Une description synthétique des deux langues est fournie afin de permettre au lecteur de se familiariser avec ces systèmes linguistiques. L’étude de quelques cas particuliers montre comment les aspects sociaux influencent indéniablement la constitution des lexiques. La comparaison des lexiques de la fonte dans les langues du Niger avec ceux qui ont été observés dans d’autres langues de l’Afrique occidentale donne l’opportunité de réfléchir sur la nature du vocabulaire de la fonte de façon plus générale. Dans la dernière partie de l’étude d’autres lexiques techniques sont pris en compte afin de progresser vers une théorie plus globale.<p><p>/Historical and comparative linguistics plays an important role in the study of a society’s cultural history. In this context, some specialists follow the method of lexical reconstruction "Wörter und Sachen" (Words and Things). In order to deal with the problems that occur in the application of this methodology, we found it useful to study the lexicon of a recent technique for which the history is quite well known. Such a research shows how the vocabulary is constituted and identifies the traces that might be left by the history of the technique itself. We chose the vocabulary of aluminium casting in Zarma and Hausa of Niger. The study testifies of an empirical and sociolinguistic approach, while the vocabulary is explored starting from the onomasiological principal of lexical change. The main part consists of an analysis of the vocabularies collected in the field through a new typology of lexical change. In order to give the reader the occasion to familiarise with the linguistic system of the two languages, a brief grammatical description is given. The study of some particular cases shows how social aspects influence the constitution of the lexicon. The comparison of the casting vocabularies in the languages of Niger with those observed in other West-African countries gives the opportunity to reflect upon the nature of casting vocabulary on a larger scale. The last part of the study takes into account other technical vocabularies in order to develop a global theory.<p> / Doctorat en Langues et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished