In recent years quite a lot of attention has been paid to the suprasegmental features of speech. In the field of second language acquisition, by contrast, the study of prosodic systems suffers from a considerable under-representation. Situated in the double theoretical framework of contrastive linguistics and interlanguage analysis, this study investigates the strategies underlying the distribution of pitch accents in L2 Dutch and French as well as the factors influencing them. The ‘Integrated Contrastive Model' used in this research involves four types of comparisons: Dutch (L1) – French (L1), Dutch (L1) – Dutch (L2), French (L1) – French (L2), Dutch (L2) – French (L2). Looking at Dutch and French L1 data, it appears that structural factors have a much stronger influence on the distribution of pitch accents in French than in Dutch, where their position in the utterance is mainly governed by semantic-pragmatic principles. Crucially, this contrast between the learners' L1 and L2 constitutes a major of interference in their inter¬language system. This is reflected by the use of a structurally motivated default pattern in L2 Dutch, whereas Dutch-speaking L2 learners of French have a clear preference for accent patterns reflecting the contextual news value of sentence elements. The systematic use of the French ‘arc accentuel' in L2 Dutch results in a relatively high number of contextually infelicitous accent distributions (negative transfer), whereas the use of the pragmatic accent rules of Dutch in L2 French gives rise relatively few accentuation errors. This leads to a significant over- and underuse of some accent distributions instead. Besides those differences, there are also similarities between the two interlanguage varieties under investigation. In both cases, the relative correctness of the accentuation proves to be correlated with the overall quality of the segmentation of the utterance: the more accurate the learners' pausing strategies, the higher the probability that they also produce a contextually adequate accent distribution. Also, marked L1 accent patterns appear not to be transferred to the learners' L2 speech. Finally, mastering both the L2 pausing strategies and the typologically marked accent patterns of the target language emerges as an important step towards nativelike use of the L2 accent system. In the general conclusions, both the theoretical and pedagogical implications of the research results are discussed. / En dépit de l'intérêt croissant pour les études prosodiques, relativement peu de recherches ont été consacrées aux caractéristiques suprasegmentales de l'interlangue. Située dans le double cadre théorique de la linguistique contrastive et de l'analyse de l'interlangue, cette thèse étudie les stratégies de placement de l'accent ‘tonique' en français et en néerlandais, ainsi que les facteurs influençant la distribution de l'accent dans les productions orales de locuteurs natifs et non-natifs (niveau de maîtrise ‘avancé') des deux langues. Pour étudier ces différents aspects, nous avons développé un paradigme expérimental (‘Modèle Contrastif Intégré') faisant intervenir quatre études contrastives : néerlandais – français (L1), néerlandais (L1) – néerlandais (L2), français (L1) – français (L2), néerlandais (L2) – français (L2). L'étude contrastive de données comparables recueillies auprès de locuteurs natifs démontrent, en français, la prédominance de facteurs structuraux sur des facteurs d'ordre sémantico-pragmatique, alors qu'en néerlandais c'est l'inverse qui se produit. Par ailleurs, ce contraste s'avère exercer une influence importante sur les productions orales des deux groupes d'apprenants. Ceci se traduit chez les apprenants francophones du néerlandais par une distribution par défaut de type ‘arc accentuel', alors que les apprenants néerlandophones du français ont plutôt tendance à produire des schèmes accentuels reflétant la valeur informative des constituants. Ces différentes stratégies d'accentuation s'accompagnent dans le premier groupe d'un nombre important de distributions contextuellement inadéquates (transfert négatif), alors que dans le second groupe l'application en interlangue des stratégies de la langue maternelle occasionne relativement peu d'erreurs (transfert positif), mais uniquement des différences (significatives) en terme de fréquence statistique. Outre ces différences, les deux interlangues étudiées présentent un certain nombre de similitudes. Tout d'abord, la qualité de l'accentuation s'avère, dans les deux cas, être étroitement liée à la qualité de la segmentation de l'énoncé : plus la répartition des pauses dans l'énoncé est correcte, plus il y a de chances que les apprenants produisent un schème accentuel contextuellement approprié. En outre, il apparaît que les formes ‘marquées' de la langue maternelle ne sont pas transférées vers l'interlangue. Enfin, la maîtrise des schèmes accentuels marqués ainsi que des stratégies de segmentation de la langue-cible s'avèrent constituer deux étapes importantes vers un niveau de maîtrise comparable à celui des locuteurs natifs. L'étude se termine par une discussion des implications théoriques et didactiques des résultats.

New evidence is provided for a grammatical principle that singles out contrastive focus (Rooth 1996; Truckenbrodt 1995) and distinguishes it from discourse-new “informational” focus. Since the prosody of discourse-given constituents may also be distinguished from discourse-new, a three-way distinction in representation is motivated. It is assumed that an F-feature marks just contrastive focus (Jackendoff 1972, Rooth 1992), and that a G-feature marks discoursegiven constituents (Féry and Samek-Lodovici 2006), while discoursenew is unmarked. A crucial argument for G-marking comes from second occurrence focus (SOF) prosody, which arguably derives from a syntactic representation where SOF is both F-marked and G-marked. This analysis relies on a new G-Marking Condition specifying that a contrastive focus may be G-marked only if the focus semantic value of its scope is discourse-given, i.e. only if the contrast itself is given.

Three dimensions can be distinguished in a cross-linguistic account of information structure. First, there is the definition of the focus constituent, the part of the linguistic expression which is subject to some focus meaning. Second and third, there are the focus meanings and the array of structural devices that encode them. In a given language, the expression of focus is facilitated as well as constrained by the grammar within which the focus devices operate. The prevalence of focus ambiguity, the structural inability to make focus distinctions, will thus vary across languages, and within a language, across focus meanings.

La tesis doctoral que aquí se presenta se podría enmarcar dentro de tres campos lingüísticos: el análisis de género, la retórica contrastiva y el análisis de corpus.El análisis de género (Swales 1981, 1990; Dudley-Evans & Henderson 1990a, 1990b; Henderson & Hewings 1990; Bathia 1993, 2002; Skulstad 1996, 2002; Flowerdew 1994, 2002) es un parte dentro del amplio campo de análisis del discurso (Barber 1962; Halliday, Strevens & McIntosh 1964). En este estudio nos centramos en el estudio de la clase magistral dentro de los denominados géneros académicos en el aula (Fortanet 2004b). La clase magistral es un género hablado y como tal posee ciertas peculiaridades de los géneros hablados en contraposición a los géneros académicos escritos.Nuestro estudio se centra en la comparación y contraste de dos lenguas, el español peninsular y el inglés americano, ya que como corpus se utilizan clases magistrales españolas y norte-americanas y en consecuencia se toman como referencia estudios de retórica contrastiva. En este estudio nos centramos en un aspecto concreto del lenguaje, los marcadores discursivos. Con el análisis de los marcadores discursivos en el lenguaje académico hablado en español e inglés norte-americano pretendemos ver como se usan los marcadores discursivos para favorecer a hablantes nativos y no nativos de español e inglés en el espacio de educación superior.

This study suggests, through a rhetorical analysis of the role of orators and oration in Ralph Ellison's <em>Invisible Man</em> and N. Scott Momaday's <em>House Made of Dawn</em>, that literature can be a valuable resource for the study of comparative and contrastive rhetoric; conversely, it also demonstrates that a knowledge of culturally-specific rhetorical and narrative practices is important for understanding ethnic-American novels and their social significance. Written during periods of intense racial upheaval in the United States, <em>Invisible Man</em> and <em>House Made of Dawn</em> are, to use a term coined by George Kennedy, metarhetorics: works that explore, from cross-cultural and intercultural perspectives, the ends and means of rhetoric and the ways in which rhetoric is linked to the formation of individual, ethnic, and national identities. This exploration is undertaken through the diegetic rhetoric of the novels, the depiction of rhetorical practice within their fictional worlds. Ellison's young orator, who vacillates between accommodationist, communist, and African American vernacular rhetorics, and Momaday's alienated protagonist, who is healed through the postcolonial rhetoric of a Peyotist street preacher and the ritual rhetoric of a displaced Navajo chanter, both illustrate how the recovery of traditional rhetorical practices is an integral part of cultural empowerment. The interaction of culturally-specific systems of rhetoric is also embodied in the extradiegetic rhetoric of the novels, the means by which the novels themselves influence their readers. Central to the novels' own rhetorical effectiveness is their authors' strategic appropriation of modernist techniques, which allowed the works to negotiate multiple literary traditions or social contexts, to penetrate and transform the American canon, and to accommodate and affect readers from a broad range of cultural backgrounds.

Cette étude propose une analyse contrastive de la rédaction scientifique du japonais et du français. Sa première partie examine les différentes approches qui visent à caractériser l'écrit scientifique et à comparer des textes de différentes langues. Sa seconde partie analyse les consignes des revues scientifiques en quête d'indicateurs de normes ou d'usages rédactionnels qui reposeraient sur des traits caractéristiques de la langue, du domaine de la chimie et sur les choix des revues. La troisième partie étudie les résumés d'articles de chimie japonais et français. Ses trois chapitres reflètent la structure informative du résumé : le bloc introductif, le bloc méthodologie-résultats et le bloc bilan-discussion. Parmi les caractérisations réalisées, la mesure des " densités informatives " centrée sur la forme donnée à l'écrit témoigne d'une approche contrastive visant à décrire les choix rédactionnels des auteurs en marge de la nature spécifique de leur démarche expérimentale.

This study suggests, through a rhetorical analysis of the role of orators and oration in Ralph Ellison's <em>Invisible Man</em> and N. Scott Momaday's <em>House Made of Dawn</em>, that literature can be a valuable resource for the study of comparative and contrastive rhetoric; conversely, it also demonstrates that a knowledge of culturally-specific rhetorical and narrative practices is important for understanding ethnic-American novels and their social significance. Written during periods of intense racial upheaval in the United States, <em>Invisible Man</em> and <em>House Made of Dawn</em> are, to use a term coined by George Kennedy, metarhetorics: works that explore, from cross-cultural and intercultural perspectives, the ends and means of rhetoric and the ways in which rhetoric is linked to the formation of individual, ethnic, and national identities. This exploration is undertaken through the diegetic rhetoric of the novels, the depiction of rhetorical practice within their fictional worlds. Ellison's young orator, who vacillates between accommodationist, communist, and African American vernacular rhetorics, and Momaday's alienated protagonist, who is healed through the postcolonial rhetoric of a Peyotist street preacher and the ritual rhetoric of a displaced Navajo chanter, both illustrate how the recovery of traditional rhetorical practices is an integral part of cultural empowerment. The interaction of culturally-specific systems of rhetoric is also embodied in the extradiegetic rhetoric of the novels, the means by which the novels themselves influence their readers. Central to the novels' own rhetorical effectiveness is their authors' strategic appropriation of modernist techniques, which allowed the works to negotiate multiple literary traditions or social contexts, to penetrate and transform the American canon, and to accommodate and affect readers from a broad range of cultural backgrounds.

This thesis is a descriptive study of four contrastive discourse connectives in Turkish. The main aim of this study is to analyze the connectives with respect to their meaning and predicate-argument structure and lay out the similarities and differences among contrastive discourse connectives with the help of quantitative analysis. Although the study is limited with contrastive connectives, it will have implications on how to resolve discourse structure in general and illustrate how lexico-syntactic elements contribute to discourse semantics.

<p>This essay is an analysis of a translation of the chapter Success Begets Success – From 1800 to C70 Coupé in David G. Styles’ book Volvo 1800. The Complete Story. By studying cultural adaptations together with the translation of terminology and connectors and basing the analysis on translation theory, certain conclusions can be drawn about the problems of translating a car-related text. This essay is mainly based on the theories of Vinay & Darbelnet (in Munday 2001), Rune Ingo (2007) and Bengt Altenberg (1999). The main results are that terminology is very important and that a translator needs to know the terms very well in order to translate successfully. For cultural adaptations it is necessary to make the text appear natural in the target culture without losing any vital information from the source text. Failure to meet those demands may result in a text which is rejected by people who are very interested in and knowledgeable about Volvo. Regarding connectors, avoidance of repetition is a key to success and slight increases or decreases in formality must sometimes be performed in order to reach this goal. Translation may be a rather vague science, but there are still strategies that must be regarded as better than others.</p>

Thèse de doctorat : Sciences du langage : Lyon 2 : 2001. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr.