Linguistic Landscape refers to linguistic objects that mark the public space (Gorter, 2006). The focal point of this research project is to examine how the informational and symbolic messages conveyed through the Linguistic Landscape (LL) portray the personality, language attitudes, and culture of a rural town; Carman, Manitoba. Since people play an active role in designing the LL, this research project was designed to accurately describe a rural Manitoba town through analysis of the language and symbols found in the landscape as representative of it as a community. By implementing an ethnographic approach utilizing critical language study (CLS) (Fairclough, 2001) and a communication framework (Hymes, 1972) this paper argues that the language used in the public space cannot be ignored or taken for granted. The language that is used on signs in public spaces is evidence of this. It manifests itself in power of the language used for communication, capitalism, values and lifestyles, and inclusion and exclusion of the population.

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Linguistic Landscape refers to linguistic objects that mark the public space (Gorter, 2006). The focal point of this research project is to examine how the informational and symbolic messages conveyed through the Linguistic Landscape (LL) portray the personality, language attitudes, and culture of a rural town; Carman, Manitoba. Since people play an active role in designing the LL, this research project was designed to accurately describe a rural Manitoba town through analysis of the language and symbols found in the landscape as representative of it as a community. By implementing an ethnographic approach utilizing critical language study (CLS) (Fairclough, 2001) and a communication framework (Hymes, 1972) this paper argues that the language used in the public space cannot be ignored or taken for granted. The language that is used on signs in public spaces is evidence of this. It manifests itself in power of the language used for communication, capitalism, values and lifestyles, and inclusion and exclusion of the population.

ABSTRACT This study mainly sets to explore how English second language students grade 12 learners at Randfontein Secondary School develop critical literacy awareness (CLA) by reading ‘bumper’ stickers found in mini-bus taxis commonly known as taxis. Data used in this project was mainly collected through interviews with research participants namely; students, taxi drivers, bumper sticker manufacturers and taxi commuters. The teacher/researcher required students to collect literary texts from their environment for use in their critical literacy class. This research project mainly employs Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis model as an analytical model, which holds that CDA should include the socio-cultural contexts in which texts are produced and read. Data was analysed by all the students in class, especially the six students who were selected for the focus group. The researcher (myself) analysed the students’ reading of texts so as to establish the extent to which they were developing critical literacy awareness. The research found that my students resisted bumper stickers as a discourse that differed from their own ideological positions. Data in this study reveals that the students approached the bumper stickers from a position of estrangement because they were reading from an urban social context that differs from the taxi drivers’ rural social context. This study showed that getting students to be researcher themselves can be a very fruitful and developmental learning experience.

<p> "Recitations: The Critical Foundations of Judith Butler's Rhetoric" explores the textures and patterns in the writing of Judith Butler. Notoriously difficult, Butler's rhetoric has garnered much scholarly and journalistic literature, and yet, to date, there remains no book-length study on this topic. At the same time, Butler scholars have tended to theorize her style as "subversive." Such a defense readily connects with Butler's general effort to contour and challenge the lines of social and cultural intelligibility, lines that deem some identities, especially sexual and racial ones, unacceptable. However, I argue that the framework of "subversion" ultimately reduces some of the generative tensions central to Butler's ideas, which I draw out by focusing on the ambiguity of "recitation."</p> <p> Drawing on cultural and literary theory, particularly at the intersections between poststructuralism, psychoanalysis, feminism, queer theory, and semiology, I reframe Butler's writing through the questions of inheritance, paradigms, and critical alliances. Focused on three major works, I identify and research the thought of her key sources, and so the dissertation doubles as a study of G.W.F. Hegel (Butler's Subjects of Desire (1987), Sigmund Freud and Michel Foucault (The Psychic Life of Power (1987), and Emmanuel Levinas (Giving an Account of Oneself(2005). Focusing on the ways that Butler re-articulates and revises the language of these influential writers, I develop a theory of Butler's style of critique that seeks to move discussions of her writing past the notions of "subversion" and "liberation." More broadly, I interpret the ambivalent scenes of identification and disavowal that Butler's writing stages to shed light on problems of modern critical subjectivity, marked by the inheritance of intellectual, social, and cultural structures that may trouble us, but that also form our identities and our relations to others.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Submitted by Franciele Moreira (francielemoreyra@gmail.com) on 2017-09-22T16:26:43Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Luiz Martins de Lima Neto - 2017.pdf: 5278554 bytes, checksum: 5d1bade19dbb2f08d62e7b4733ede6cc (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2017-09-25T11:42:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Luiz Martins de Lima Neto - 2017.pdf: 5278554 bytes, checksum: 5d1bade19dbb2f08d62e7b4733ede6cc (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-25T11:42:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Luiz Martins de Lima Neto - 2017.pdf: 5278554 bytes, checksum: 5d1bade19dbb2f08d62e7b4733ede6cc (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-23 / The main motivation for this study was my desire to expand my pedagogical and research practice, which I started in 2013 with the conclusion of my Course Final Paper (LIMA NETO, 2013, 2015). Thus, in this study, I aimed at problematizing the movement of social reproduction and resistance in a context of an English language classroom. More specifically, I aimed at discussing the movement of reproduction and resistance of hegemonic ideas and behaviour regarding the themes Body and beauty, Single stories and Domestic violence in an English V group in the UFG Language Center, whose work was based on critical perspectives of language education. For this purpose, I conducted a critical ethnography (MAINARDES; MARCONDES, 2011), which had as participants 16 female students, 7 male students and myself, as the teacher of the group. The empirical materials discussed in this study were generated through the use of four research sources: 1) questionnaires, 2) research diary, 3) lessons (audio and video recorded) and 4) students‟ written productions. To discuss these empirical materials, I have drawn upon authors from various areas of knowledge, such as (Critical) Applied Linguistics, Education, Philosophy, Cultural Studies, and Decolonial Studies. The results of the study point to the fact that the movement of social reproduction and resistance occurred in a complex way, which means that at the same time that we reproduced hegemonic ideas and behaviour about diverse sociocultural issues related to the topics approached in the class, we also resisted them. I believe that the relevance of this work resides precisely in the fact that it addresses the movement of social reproduction and resistance in a complex way, since it ratifies the idea that the (language) classroom can be either a space of social reproduction or a space of social transformation (CANAGARAJAH, 1993, 1999; FREIRE, 1979; NORTON, 2007; PENNYCOOK, 2001). / A principal motivação para a realização deste estudo foi o meu desejo de ampliar minha prática pedagógica e investigativa, à qual dei início, no ano de 2013, com a realização do meu Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (LIMA NETO, 2013, 2015). Assim, neste estudo, almejei problematizar o movimento de reprodução social e resistência num contexto de sala de aula de língua inglesa. Mais especificamente, almejei discutir o movimento de reprodução e resistência de ideias e de comportamentos hegemônicos a respeito dos temas Body and beauty, Single stories e Domestic violence numa turma de Inglês V do Centro de Línguas da UFG, cujo trabalho se fundamentou em perspectivas críticas de educação linguística. Para tanto, conduzi uma etnografia crítica (MAINARDES; MARCONDES, 2011), que teve como participantes 16 alunas, 7 alunos e eu, como professor da turma. O material empírico discutido neste trabalho foi gerado por meio da utilização de quatro fontes de pesquisa: 1) questionários, 2) diário de pesquisa, 3) aulas (gravadas em áudio e vídeo) e 4) produções escritas pelas/os alunas/os. Para discutir esse material, baseei-me em autoras/es de diversas áreas do conhecimento, tais como a Linguística Aplicada (Crítica), a Educação, a Filosofia, os Estudos Culturais e os Estudos Decoloniais. Os resultados do estudo apontam para o fato de que o movimento de reprodução social e resistência se deu de uma forma complexa, o que significa dizer que, ao mesmo tempo em que reproduzíamos ideias e comportamentos hegemônicos sobre questões socioculturais diversas relacionadas aos temas abordados em sala, nós também lhes resistíamos. Acredito que a relevância deste trabalho resida justamente no fato de abordar esse movimento de reprodução social e resistência de uma forma complexa, pois, assim, ratifica-se a ideia de que a sala de aula (de língua) pode ser um espaço tanto de reprodução quanto de transformação social (CANAGARAJAH, 1993, 1999; FREIRE, 1979; NORTON, 2007; PENNYCOOK, 2001).

This degree project essay aims to create ways for promoting critical literacy by teaching persuasive, manipulative, authentic texts in the subject of English at upper-secondary level in Sweden. In the essay, the syllabus of the English subject is critiqued for not explicitly stating what it means to take a critical approach towards sources and media; it is claimed that the meaning of critical examination only is implied in the syllabus for English 7. Therefore, the psychological perspective on reading seems to be dominant in the syllabus. However, this essay proposes, from a sociological perspective on reading, that critical reading and analysis of persuasive, manipulative, authentic texts could function as an explicit content in all English courses at upper-secondary level in Swedish upper-secondary school. Moreover, the essay suggests that critical reading in a Swedish educational context is particularly important because of the population’s common trust in media. The essay builds on Norman Fairclough’s view that critical dimensions of education are necessary in a democratic society in order to promote active citizenship. As a means to increase critical aspects of language teaching into the subject of English as a second or foreign language, this essay presents the three models approach. The three models approach combines traditions of informal logic (the Toulmin model and fallacy analysis) with critical discourse analysis and is created specifically for analysis of persuasive and manipulative, authentic texts in the EFL and ESL classroom. Ultimately, the three models approach promotes critical literacy and critical language awareness (CLA) in the sense of understanding language as an instrument of power. However, building on Rod Ellis’ taskbased language teaching and concept of consciousness-raising, as well as Richard Schmidt’s noticing hypothesis, the three models approach, paying close attention to arguments and word choice, also forwards incidental language learning through tasks that demand conscious noticing of language features and structures. Additionally, the essay critiques Ellis’ principles of instructed language teaching for leaving out critical aspects of language learning and teaching. The essay upholds that both language awareness (in the grammatical sense) and critical language awareness (in the sense of understanding language as power) are important in second language courses, something that is also emphasized in the three models approach.

This essay presents an interventional field study that aims to refine practice in the English classroom in Swedish upper-secondary school by implementing imitation pedagogy. Imitation pedagogy is essentially learning to analyze and imitate texts’ internal structure for developing one’s own production. The focus on my first research question was on examining if imitation pedagogy with political mentor texts develop students’ language awareness, language control, and argumentative abilities in reading and writing. My second research question was focused on investigating if political mentor texts could be used to prepare students for future participation in civic discussions and debates. My initial hypothesis was that mentor texts with political topics in imitation pedagogy could be used to develop students’ argumentative abilities; the learners could through this pedagogy be taught to recognize linguistic features in political texts that aim to persuade audiences, and the learners could learn to imitate these mentor texts to produce own successful argumentative writing. To answer my research questions and to see if my hypothesis was accurate, I conducted an interventional field study that followed a lesson study model. The findings from my study indicate that imitation pedagogy does develop and enhance learners’ language awareness, argumentative abilities, and ability to provide stronger contributions to discussions in different social and democratic contexts. Imitation pedagogy enhances the learners’ confidence and improve their writing capabilities, specifically the ability to compose stronger argumentations in writing in different situations varying from smaller everyday issues to larger societal and political issues. Moreover, imitation pedagogy promotes the development of language control and critical language awareness. The learners practiced writing in new patterns, which forced the students to use their linguistic knowledge to produce sentences with language accuracy, fluency, and coherency. In addition, the students learned in this interventional study to recognize different linguistic and grammatical features that can add power to written compositions in different social and democratic contexts. By being able to recognize these features, the learners can be more aware of manipulative language in political texts and more effectively counter them.

In Sweden, the language of norm critique has gained increasing influence over the past ten years in connection with queer theoretical thinking and norm critical pedagogy becoming part of gender equality work and equality work in the (pre)school system. In this essay I examine, through interviews, how people who use norm-critical language view the normativity in the Swedish language with the main purpose of seeing if it works and how it is achieved. The essay also examines how norm-critical language users try to change the language to become more inclusive and how all this can be understood from the perspective of Butler’s performativity theory and ideas about power and normativity. The results of the survey show that norm-critical language works and contributes to the goal; a world where everyone gets a place and recognition in both language and physical space. We can see how children become subjects and are included in norm-critical language and how the binary perception of gender is set in motion, which leads to greater scope for action and inclusion. Furthermore, it is stated that there is a danger in the goal’s new normativity which leads to the conclusion that norm-critical language is and has to be a constant process and under constant reflection. As it is a small study and a large topic, I urge further research on norm-critical language.

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