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<p><strong>Research objectives</strong>: 1) Develop an online repository of policy-relevant documents addressing healthcare renewal in Canada; and 2) describe the general contents of policy-relevant documents addressing healthcare renewal in Canada. <strong>Methods</strong>: The methods for this study were iteratively developed using an approach similar to a scoping review. Documents were identified through website hand-searches and sixteen Canadian health organizations that contributed to the development of the online repository. The majority of organizations are government health ministries/departments or government-supported health organizations. The focus of the analysis was to calculate general descriptive frequencies of the distribution of documents included in the online repository, specifically: 1) the general characteristics of the documents, such as document type, publication year and jurisdictional focus; 2) document themes by national priority areas; 3) document themes by health system topics; and 4) contributing organizations. <strong>Results</strong>: A total of 304 documents were coded for inclusion in the online repository<br />(<a href="http://eihrportal.org/">http://eihrportal.org</a>). The Health Council of Canada contributed the largest amount of documents (n=60, 19%). The top three types of documents are health and health system data (n=75, 25%), situation analysis (n=72, 24%) and jurisdictional review (n=49, 16%). The top three national priority areas addressed in the documents are health human resources (n=270, 89%), quality as a performance indicator (n=210, 69%) and information technology (n=183, 60%). The least commonly addressed national priority areas are technology assessment (n=19, 6%), prescription drug coverage (n=68, 22%) and Aboriginal health (n=87, 29%). <strong>Conclusion</strong>: The process of developing a systematic method for identifying policy-relevant documents and retrieving useful information from these documents can be reproduced by anyone interested in using this type of evidence to inform their health policymaking. A number of implications exist for policy and research, both in Canada and in low- and middle-income countries, which have to be considered in relation to the unique nature of this type of evidence.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Intéressée par la situation sociolinguistique de notre pays d'origine, la Pologne, où l'argot carcéral finit par pénétrer dans d'autres sociolectes, nous nous sommes aussi intéressée au cas français en vue d'explorer la même question. Pour ce faire, notre étude a été réalisée dans deux milieux de référence, à savoir celui des détenus d’une part et celui des non détenus d’autre part. Dans le cadre de la méthode d’enquête sociolinguistique nous avons soumis à ces deux milieux de référence un questionnaire comportant un ensemble choisi d’argotismes carcéraux. Notre travail de recherche nous a permis d’examiner la fiabilité du lexique recueilli et de confirmer l’existence d’une pratique langagière essentiellement carcérale, ce qui nous amène à définir la spécificité de l'argot des prisons utilisé dans un cadre carcéral. Par ailleurs est étudiée la perméabilité de la langue familière française au vocabulaire argotique carcéral, ce qui aboutit à mettre au jour les fonctions remplies par l'argot des prisonniers en milieu carcéral. De plus, la confrontation des deux publics permet de dégager les similarités et les différences dans les résultats, ainsi que d'établir une correspondance entre leur profil social et leur pratique linguistique. / The interest in the topic arose by dint of inspiration drawn from observing a sociolinguistic situation in my native country, Poland, where prison slang proves to permeate other sociolects, in particular youth slang, which turned out to be an excellent point of departure for embarking on a similar survey in France. The research was carried out in two different groups: prisoners and non prisoners. Within the framework of a sociolinguistic study, both of them were requested to complete a questionnaire containing 40 units of prison slang vocabulary. First of all, the research was designed to examine the reliability of a selected lexicon and to confirm a genuine prison slang usage in this particular environment. Furthermore, the paper was supposed to define the degree of permeability of the French colloquial language to prison slang vocabulary as well as to shed some new light on different roles played by this specific language within a prison community. Moreover, the comparison of two groups' performance revealed important similarities and differences and brought to light the correlation between social and linguistic variables.

On s’intéresse dans cette thèse à la relation entre le degré de conscience qu’ont les locuteurs de la variation dans le cas de certaines variables sociolinguistiques à Beyrouth [et les appréciations rattachées à chacune de leurs réalisations lorsqu’elles sont saillantes], et la distribution sociale de chacune de leurs variantes. Dans un premier temps, sont présentées les représentations rattachées aux stéréotypes et traits saillants perçus par les locuteurs. Les deuxième et troisième parties du travail présentent l’emploi et la répartition sociolinguistique de dix de ces stéréotypes et traits saillants, ainsi que de quatre autres variables. L’étude de la variation et des représentations rattachées à certaines variantes se base sur un corpus de quarante-sept entretiens et conversations menés auprès de locuteurs aux profils variés. Il ressort de cette étude qu’une koïnisation est en cours à Beyrouth, en conséquence du contact dialectal entre les variétés parlées par les migrants et les variétés originellement parlées dans la ville. Cette koïnisation se fait par la perte de leurs traits saillants à la fois par les migrants, et par les résidents originels de la ville. En contrepartie, la variation observée dans le cas d’autres variables sociolinguistiques, dont l’emploi est corrélé à des facteurs sociaux comme le sexe, l’âge, l’appartenance communautaire (ou religieuse) et le niveau d’éducation, montre que les tendances différenciatrices entre les locuteurs sur la base de ces quatre critères sont, pour le moins, dynamiques, et que certaines d’entre elles vont croissant. / This thesis explores the relationship between the salience of, and social values attributed to, some sociolinguistic variables in Beirut, and the social distribution of each of their variants. It first presents the social values attributed by speakers to the stereotypes and to other salient features they perceive. In its second and third parts, it concentrates on the social distribution of two stereotypes, eight salient features, and four other variables. The study is mainly based on forty-seven interviews and conversations, and the speakers that were met had various profiles. One of the findings of the study is that the koineization process resulting from the contact between the dialects spoken by migrants and those spoken by ‘genuine’ Beirutis leads to the loss of distinctive features in both groups. On the other hand, it appears from the distribution and evolution of a set of ‘non local’ variables, that some of the linguistic differences related to such social factors as gender, age, religious and communal affiliation, and educational level seem to be, for the least, very dynamic, if not growing with time.

This study explores how comprehension strategies, first language (L1), and contextual information affect the comprehension and interpretation of three types of colloquial idioms by Chinese as a second language (L2) learners at an advanced level of proficiency. Three research questions are addressed: (1) to what extent does context affect the comprehension and interpretation of three types of Chinese colloquial idioms, (2) to what extent does the degree of L1–L2 similarity influence the comprehension and interpretation of the Chinese colloquial idioms, and (3) what strategies are employed by the learners in comprehending the Chinese colloquial idioms in isolation and in context, and which strategies contribute to better comprehension of the Chinese colloquial idioms in context. To address these research questions, 30 advanced Chinese L2 learners at a Midwest University participated in the study. They were asked to comprehend 15 unknown colloquial idioms in and out of context. All of the participants were native speakers of English. The 15 target idiomatic phrases differed in terms of the degree of L1–L2 similarity, including 5 matching idioms, 5 partially matching idioms, and 5 non-matching idioms. In the decontextualized condition, the participants were given a list of the target colloquial idioms without contextual information, whereas in the contextualized condition, the target colloquial idioms were embedded in short paragraph context. For both tasks, the individual participants were required to verbalize their thought processes as they arrived at the meanings of the target colloquial idioms. Think-aloud protocols were employed to collect qualitative data. It was discovered that context substantially facilitated the comprehension processes of the target colloquial idioms, especially with respect to the partially matching category. The degree of L1–L2 similarity significantly affected the ease with which the participants understood the Chinese colloquial idioms in the decontextualized and contextualized tasks. In the decontextualized condition, the participants generally adopted a “part-to-whole and literal-to-figurative” approach to interpret the target items, whereas in the contextualized condition, the participants adopted a heuristic method and employed a wide range of strategies (e.g., sentence translation, component words, and background knowledge) to access meaning of the target idioms. Among the strategies identified, semantic processing and pre-existing knowledge were strong predictors of accurate idiom interpretation. Instead of using existing L1 idiom comprehension models to explain the comprehension of idioms in an L2, a tentative model of idiom comprehension was proposed. L2 learners appeared to undergo two stages in comprehending unknown Chinese colloquial idioms: an initial prediction stage and a verification stage.

The first Speak Good English Movement, SGEM, took place in 2000, and has been organized annually ever since. Speaking a “standard” form of English is considered to bring increased personal power. However, the SGEM wants the Singaporeans to use “standard” English in their private life as well. A decade after the beginning of the campaign, a Speak Good Singlish Movement was started. Based on studies of language and identity, it is understandable why some Singaporeans might feel the SGEM threatens their identity. However, the reactions towards the campaign are mainly positive. For the purposes of this analysis, Twitter messages, Facebook pages, and newspaper articles from The Straits Times were collected. The SGEM has hailed both direct and indirect praise and criticism in both social and traditional media: Five newspaper articles praise the campaign while five criticize it; the results are nine and seven respectively for social media. This thesis looks at reactions towards the SGEM in both social and traditional media, analyzes how these reactions might relate to the ideas of the power of language, its variety and the relation of language and identity.

Arabic language ideology that views the colloquial as a threat to the standard language and fears a public role for the colloquial register remained prevalent throughout much of the twentieth century. Yet, in late nineteenth-century Egypt, the Nahda project of disseminating knowledge to ‘the masses’ gave rise to several journals that found a public role for Ammiyya, introducing it into the realm of written knowledge. This study analyzes the processes of introducing Ammiyya into the written realm and the subsequent attempt at reeling the register back in from the public sphere. Through a framework of the sociolinguistic analysis of style and the process of iconization, Part I analyzes Abdallah al-Nadim’s use of language variation in his journal, al-Ustaadh, and how it aided in sorting out contradiction between ideology that hailed the standard as the suitable public register and practice that conceded a role to the colloquial. This study argues that even as his journal published didactic dialogues in Ammiyya, Nadim’s language practice chipped away at the prospect of a sustained literary role for the colloquial through the use of ‘styles’ that aligned the standard with authority and a keen understanding of the modernity project and through indexing the colloquial with the backward realm of uneducated women. Through the framework of the process of ‘erasure', Part II analyzes linguistic practices aimed at reeling the colloquial back in from the realm of written knowledge. It demonstrates Nadim’s efforts - near the end of the publication of his journal - to erase the notion that an educated Egyptian would have any use for the register. Nadim removed the salient features of Ammiyya from his dialogues and scolded his interlocutors who displayed their backwardness through the continued use of the features. Late nineteenth- century works, such as Hasan Tawfiq’s Usuul al-Kalimaat al-Ammiyya, represent a continuation of the ideology-practice dialectic from Nadim’s attempted erasure of the colloquial. However, whereas Nadim erased salient features of the colloquial from his writings, these works attempted to trace Ammiyya terms back to their assumed Fusha origins, with the aim of unifying the language by erasing the register. / text

Lietuvių šnekamosios kalbos deminutyvai dažniausiai padaromi iš daiktavardžio, kiek rečiau iš būdvardžio ir labai retai iš skaitvardžio. Daiktavardžių ir būdvardžių deminutyvai dažniausiai padaromi prie daiktavardžio / būdvardžio pridėjus bendras – tiek daiktavardžiams, tiek būdvardžiams būdingas - priesagas. Skaitvardžių deminutyvai yra išvedami iš trijų šaknų (milijon-, tūktant-, šimt-) pamatinių žodžių su trimis dažniausiomis šnekamosios kalbos deminutyvinėmis priesagomis ( -ėlis, -ė; -elis, -ė, -(i)ukas, -ė). Mažybiniai maloniniai žodžiai yra vartojami skirtingomis darybos reikšmėmis. Priklausomai nuo to, ką norima išreikšti, su tuo pačiu ar skirtingu afiksu sudaryti vediniai, šnekamojoje kalboje dažniausiai žymi mažumą ir (arba) teigiamą / neigiamą vertinimą. Deminutyvai yra viena ryškiausių šnekamosios kalbos ekspresyvinimo, priemonių, parodančių kalbėtojo santykį su įvardijamu objektų, atskleidžiančių sinonimiškumą, kalbėtojo charakterio savitumą. / In the Lithuanian colloquial language, diminutives are mostly made from nouns, less frequently from adjectives, and rarely from numeral. Diminutives of nouns and adjectives are offen formed from common suffixes. Diminutives of numerals are made from three roots – šimt-, tūkstant-, milijon- and three mostly used suffixes -elis, -ėlis, -(i)ukas. Diminutives are suffixal derivatives and they are used in different meanings of formation. In accordance with to what you want to express using the same or diferent affix, diminutives of colloquial language usually denotes smallness and (or) positive/negative evaluation. Diminutive is one of the most distinct means of expressiveness, which shows the relation between the speaker and named object, reveals synonymy and individuality of speakers character.

Bendrinėje lietuvių kalboje yra labai daug žodžių, kurių kirčiavimas nėra nusistovėjęs. Ypač tokį kirčiavimą rodo vardažodžiai. Tad šiame darbe bus apžvelgti tokie vardažodžiai, tiksliau pirminiai daiktavardžiai, kurių kirčiavimo normas Valstybinės lietuvių kalbos komisijos Tarties ir kirčiavimo pakomisės buvo koreguotos ir teiktos Rekomendacijoje Dėl kai kurių pirminių (paprastųjų) daiktavardžių kirčiavimo. Taip pat ir tokie pirminiai daiktavardžiai, kurių kirčiavimo normos VLKK nebuvo tikslintos, tačiau gyvojoje kalboje labai dažnai pavartojamos ir jokiuose šaltiniuose nefiksuojami variantai. Įtraukiami ir tokie vardažodžiai, kurie norminamuosiuose leidiniuose nurodomi kaip turintys gretimybes. Šių paprastųjų daiktavardžių kirčiavimo normų paplitimas buvo tiriamas trijose skirtingose Lietuvos vietovėse, t. y. Lazdijų bei Molėtų rajone, Prienų mieste. Pirmajame tyrime, remiantis Valstybinės lietuvių kalbos komisijos teikta Rekomendacija buvo apklausta 500 respondentų. Antrajame iš tų pačių vietovių – 495 kalbos vartotojai. Gauti rezultatai turėjo parodyti, ar tikrai realioji vartosena remia VLKK sprendimą, ar šnekamojoje kalboje nebando įsitvirtinti kirčiavimo variantai, kuriuos normintojai laiko klaidomis. Prieš atliekant abu tyrimus buvo peržiūrėta bei išnagrinėta daug norminamosios literatūros. Lyginamojo metodo taikymas turėjo padėti nustatyti, kaip kito ar vis dar tebekinta tiriamų paprastųjų daiktavardžių kirčiavimo normos. Kiekvienam vardažodžiui, kuris buvo tiriamas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / There are many words in standard Lithuanian with unfixed stress. This is especially peculiar to nominal words. Thus this work will deal with such nominal words like simple nouns the stress of which has been corrected by the subcommittee dealing with the norms of stress of the State Committee on pronunciation and stress. These norms were presented in the recommendation called ‘Some simple noun stress’. The work will also deal with such simple nouns the stress of which hasn’t been specified by the State Committee on stress, but which are widely used in the existent language. Their variations of stress are not mentioned in any sources. The nouns having contiguity in standardization editions are also included in this work. The spread of standard stress of simple nouns was researched in three different locations: in Lazdynai and Moletai regions and in the town of Prienai. According to the first research based on the recommendations of the Lithuanian State Committee on language 500 respondents were questioned. During the second research 495 native speakers in the same regions were asked. The results were to show whether the real usage corresponds the standards of the State Committee on language. The results also had to show whether erratic stress variants are established in colloquial speech. Before carrying out both researches a lot of stuff on standardization had been studied and analysed. The method comparison had to help to define if the stress standards of the researched... [to full text]

This diploma work is mainly a monography of a Czech author Pavel Zajicek. The base of this study is the analysis and the interpretation of his lifelong official and samizdat literary work. In the analysis of some of his prerevolutionary books as the main source I used mainly the critiques of the contemporary literary magazines. I also present the life of the author itself, especially in the context of the period he lived in. I will briefly mention two musical bands that are closely related to this personality {--} DG 307 and PPU. In my studies I use my personal e-mail with Pavel Z. and I do not forget to observe all accesible dialogues with this poet. This diploma work is mainly a monography of a Czech author Pavel Zajicek. The base of this study is the analysis and the interpretation of his lifelong official and samizdat literary work. In the analysis of some of his prerevolutionary books as the main source I used mainly the critiques of the contemporary literary magazines. I also present the life of the author itself, especially in the context of the period he lived in. I will briefly mention two musical bands that are closely related to this personality {--} DG 307 and PPU. In my studies I use my personal e-mail with Pavel Z. and I do not forget to observe all accesible dialogues with this poet. This diploma work is mainly a monography of a Czech author Pavel Zajicek. The base of this study is the analysis and the interpretation of his lifelong official and samizdat literary work. In the analysis of some of his prerevolutionary books as the main source I used mainly the critiques of the contemporary literary magazines. I also present the life of the author itself, especially in the context of the period he lived in. I will briefly mention two musical bands that are closely related to this personality {--} DG 307 and PPU. In my studies I use my personal e-mail with Pavel Z. and I do not forget to observe all accesible dialogues with this poet.