The purpose of this study has been to analyze whether the asymmetric power may increase or decrease between citizens and authorities, based on authorities choice of language and appeal. A qualitative approach has been used as a method, with a qualitative content analysis as a base and qualitative interviews as a complement. In order to collect the empirical material, a qualitative content analysis has been made on 20 different municipalities' websites, where the introduction of financial aid has been analyzed. The theoretical point of departure has been powerposition and Ervin Goffman’s view on stigma, shame and guilt. Research shows that authorities have the opportunity to take power and control of citizens already in the offer of support. The authority has the power to design the text and therefore also the power to decide and determine its limits. Based on the language selection found on the websites, recipients  are  included or excluded by the texts chosen language and appeal. The result shows that the chosen language and appeal on websites may risk to increase the asymmetric power relationship between authorities and citizens.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att göra jämförelser mellan små barn med typisk språklig utveckling och små barn med språkstörning avseende impressivt och expressivt ordförråd samt användning av gester. Fyra barn med typisk språkutveckling rekryterades till studien. Dessa barn var köns- och åldersmatchade med redan insamlat material från fyra barn med språkstörning. Åldrarna på barnen (en flicka, tre pojkar) var 33–51 månader. Impressivt och expressivt ordförråd testades med Picture Naming Game (PiNG) och testsituationen videofilmades för att möjliggöra undersökning av barnens användning av deiktiska, ikoniska och emblematiska gester. Resultaten visar att barnen med typisk språklig utveckling på gruppnivå erhöll ett högre resultat på PiNG jämfört med de matchade barnen med språkstörning. Barnen med typisk utveckling utförde ett lägre antal totalt använda gester, ett lägre antal deiktiska och ikoniska gester samt hade färre gester synkroniserade med tal jämfört med barnen med språkstörning. Barnen med typisk språklig utveckling utförde fler emblematiska gester samt hade en högre andel gester synkroniserade med tal än barnen med språkstörning. Endast en av de uppmätta skillnaderna uppnådde statistisk signifikans vilket identifierades i användandet av emblem under expressiva testuppgifter där TD-gruppen använde signifikant fler emblem än barnen i DLD-gruppen. Då inga signifikanta skillnader förelåg mellan gruppernas totala PiNG-resultat och användning av gester gjordes en gemensam korrelationsanalys där en stark och signifikant negativ korrelation (p=0,01832) mellan barnens ålder och användning av ikoniska gester identifierades. Resultatet i föreliggande studie indikerar att gestanvändningen kan vara värdefull att inkludera vid bedömning av barn och utredning av eventuell språkstörning. Det finns dock behov av fler studier inom detta område och analys av en större mängd data behövs. / The purpose of the present study was to make comparisons between young children with typical language development and young children with developmental language disorder regarding impressive and expressive vocabulary and use of gestures. Four children with typical language development were recruited to the study. These children were sex- and age-matched with already collected data from four children with language impairment. The ages of the children (one girl, three boys) were 33- 51 months. Receptive and expressive vocabulary was tested with the Picture Naming Game (PiNG) and the test situation was video recorded to enable examination of the children's use of deictic, iconic and emblematic gestures. The results show that the children with typical language development at the group level obtained a higher result on the PiNG compared to the age- and gender matched children with a developmental language disorder. The children with typical development performed a lower number of total gestures, a lower number of deictic and iconic gestures as well as fewer gestures synchronized with speech in comparison to the children with developmental language disorder. The children with typical language development performed more emblematic gestures and had a higher percentage of gestures synchronized with speech than the children with language disorder. Only one significant difference was identified between the groups. Statistical significance was identified in the use of emblematic gestures during expressive tasks of PiNG where the children in the TD-group used significantly more emblematic gestures than the children in the DLD-group. As there were no significant differences between the groups regarding the total result of PiNG and the use of gestures, a joint correlation analysis was performed where a strong and significant negative correlation (p=0.01832) between the children's age and the use of iconic gestures was identified. The results of the present study indicate that the use of gestures can be valuable to include when assessing children and investigating possible language disorders. However, there is a need for more studies in this area and analysis of a larger amount of data is needed.

Partant du constat que le pronom IT connaît, en anglais contemporain, une grande richesse d‘emplois, cette thèse propose une étude de IT référentiel et vise à examiner ses fonctions, son positionnement phrastique et son pouvoir référentiel. Ce pronom occupe toutes les places syntaxiques au sein de la phrase. Il a la spécificité de renvoyer à une entité beaucoup plus complexe qu‘un groupe nominal. De plus, le rapport de IT avec ses antécédents est au cœur de cette étude qui examine aussi les différents facteurs jouant un rôle dans l‘identification du bon référent où la présence textuelle ou situationnelle d‘un antécédent n‘est pas une condition nécessaire pour que le pronom soit référentiel. Un traitement global de tous les emplois référentiels de IT est proposé, car quelle que soit la place de l‘objet désigné par IT, cet objet appartient à la mémoire commune du locuteur et de l‘allocutaire. / In contemporary English, the pronoun IT is used in a great variety of contexts. This doctoral thesis proposes a study of referential IT and aims at examining its functions, its phrasal positions and its referential potential. This pronoun occupies all the syntactical places in the sentence. IT also has the specificity to refer to a more complex entity than to a simple nominal group. The relationship between IT and its antecedents is also in the heart of the present study that examines the various factors playing a role in the identification of the good referent where the textual or the situational presence of an antecedent is not sufficient for the pronoun to be referential. A global treatment of all the referential uses of IT is proposed: whatever is the place of the object indicated by IT, this object belongs to the common memory of the speaker.

Univerzita Karlova v Praze Filozofická fakulta Ústav etnologie Historické vědy - etnologie Tomáš Samek Možnosti deixe jako interpretačního principu: česky a německy mediovaný prostor The Possibilities of Deixis as a Principle of Interpretation: Mediation in Czech and German Public Space Abstrakt dizertační práce (anglicky) Vedoucí práce: Doc. PhDr. František Vrhel, CSc. 2015 Key Words and Abstract Key words: deixis; deictic perspective; linguistic categories; descriptive metalanguage; public space; social interaction; interpretive approach; mediated communication; mass media; ideologies; social identity; origo; situatedness; phatic function; Czech; German. Abstract: This thesis examines whether, and to what extent, deixis can be conceptualized as an interpretive principle of social interactions and communication. It addresses the question on both theoretical and empirical levels, analyzing samples of direct and mediated communication in Czech and German public space. In order to capture deictic phenomena by an adequate conceptual framework, I take some binary dichotomies of the descriptive metalanguage of linguistics and reconceptualize them as continuous scales. Using these scales, I explore the notional borders of the term "deixis." I further identify protosymbolic potential in deictic expressions as...