This thesis addresses the question of discourse marker usage and function among a group of Honduran Spanish speakers who reside in Louisiana in an environment of English language contact. It seeks to descriptively outline the pragmatic functions of the consecutive connector markers entonces, así and pues, and to identify the meanings underlying these functions in informal conversation. As the first linguistic study of Hondurans in Baton Rouge, this thesis gives new insight to Spanish discourse marker usage in the United States. 19 Honduran speakers residing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana were interviewed, and their spontaneous speech was transcribed and analyzed for discourse marker usage and function. I found five different functions of the consecutive connector entonces which comprised three separate meanings, three functions of así with two semantic meanings, and finally two consecutive functions of pues with one shared meaning. I also have observed potential effects of English discourse marker borrowings on the usage of Spanish markers among this corpus. This thesis reveals interesting implications of the usage of consecutive connectors in a sample of Honduran speech in a situation of English contact, and opens the doors for further research on discourse markers in the United States.

ABSTRACT The Revised Hierarchical Model (RHM) posits an organization of the bilingual lexicon based on conceptual and lexical links between first (L1) and second (L2) language words (Kroll & Stewart, 1994). This model predicts that increasing L2 proficiency would lead to the strengthening of conceptual links between L1 and L2 words (Cheng & Leung, 1989; Dong et al., 2005, Francis et al., 2014). The question arises, however, whether proficiency is the only predictor of conceptual link strength. Some studies suggest that L2 word processing may be different in heritage speakers and adult L2 learners who have similar L2 proficiency, but differ in age and context of initial exposure to L2 (Cheng & Leung, 1989; Montrul & Foote, 2014). The purpose of this study was to examine word processing in three types of bilinguals: high proficiency heritage speakers, advanced L2 learners and novice L2 learners. We expected to find differences between heritage speakers and adult L2 learners. Thirty English-Spanish bilinguals (ten participants per group) were recruited based on a thorough assessment of Spanish language proficiency. All of them performed a SpanishEnglish word translation task and a picture naming task. For both tasks, accuracy and reaction time (RTs) in milliseconds from the onset of stimulus to the moment when the articulation of a response began were measured. Analyses of variance confirmed that the groups were significantly different in all four measures. Post-hoc Tukey tests showed that the novice L2 learners group differed from both the high proficiency groups. In sum, the results showed that the novice L2 learners had significantly lower accuracy and higher RTs in both tasks than the two high proficiency groups. This is consistent with previous studies, suggesting that bilingual performance in lexical retrieval tasks that require conceptual access is affected by L2 proficiency level (Cheng & Leung, 1989; Dong et al., 2005, Francis et al., 2014). However, no differences were found between the high proficiency heritage speakers and advanced L2 learners in any task performance. This suggests that proficiency has a greater effect on word processing than combined age and context of acquisition on lexical access.

Studies of Central American varieties of Spanish, including the Spanish spoken in Honduras, are scarce and the present study represents one of the few attempts to investigate the sociolinguistics of Honduran Spanish in the United States. Pronominal uses of voseo, tuteo and ustedeo are analyzed and compared between two speech communities located in the Central District of Honduras and the Baton Rouge Metro Area in Louisiana. Besides, the study explores linguistic attitudes towards pronominal forms of address in both communities. Language Variation Suite, a novel software application for sociolinguistic data analysis, was used as the primary tool to explore the interrelations of participant responses about pronominal uses and their social correlates. The results point to ongoing linguistic accommodation processes in Baton Rouge, confirming what has been observed in other Central American communities in the United States (Sorenson 2013, Rivera-Mills 2011): Uses of voseo and ustedeo decrease significantly, while tuteo gains ground. Further analysis showed that the external factors education, age and time of residence in the United States condition the use of address pronouns. With regard to attitudes, the study shows that voseo is accepted as part of the linguistic repertoire of Honduran Spanish in both communities, but attitudes towards this prounoun are not as positive as in Costa Rica (Jara Murillo 2008, Quintanilla Aguilar 2014) or in El Salvador (Quintanilla Aguilar 2009). The participants educational level produces the most significant differences in language attitudes. Lower educational levels result in less acceptance of voseo, which partially reflects pronominal usage patterns, since the lowest voseo rates are found in participants with only elementary or secondary education in Louisiana. Those participants show the highest accommodation towards tuteo.

This study explores the effect of the use of the target language (TL) and the first language (L1) during grammar instruction in the foreign language classroom. There is limited evidence regarding the effect of language of instruction on TL acquisition (Tian & Macaro, 2012; Viakinnou-Brinson, Herron, Cole, & Haight, 2012; Antón & DiCamilla, 1999). However, this area warrants further research. As such, the present study investigates teacher language use (Spanish-only, English-only, or no restriction) during the explicit instruction of Spanish object pronouns (direct, indirect, and both combined) to measure the effect of each language condition on students object pronoun performance. In addition, through the use of student questionnaires and class observations, this investigation sheds light on students preferences and attitudes about instructor TL and L1 use. The participants came from three separate classes of an intensive beginning Spanish course. Each class was randomly assigned one of three instructional language conditions: one group of students received instruction in English (L1), another in Spanish (L2) and the third group received instruction with no language restriction. All groups completed three separate immediate posttestsone for each of the targeted pronominal formsfollowed by a delayed posttest covering all three forms. This data was then analyzed in SPSS using a One-way ANOVA. Three main results emanated from this study: (a) No statistically significant results at immediate testing. (b) No statistically significant results at the delayed posttest. (c) General preference for instruction using both the L1 and L2. However, the descriptive results suggest an advantage for L1 instruction due to the higher percentages at testing time with the groups that received instruction in English. Using both quantitative and qualitative data gathering techniques, this investigation enabled a better understanding of the impact of language of instruction for both immediate gains and retention of the targeted grammar structure, thereby expanding the lack of empirical research on this topic.

The heteronormative society establishes a systematic foundation of oppression based on its construction of the sex/gender system. Teresa de Lauretis expresses the heteronormative system as the culprit for the dualistic division; which is reproduced and regulated as natural through technologies of gender. Gender can be deduced as a product of the heterocentric societys performativity ideal as well as medical, juridical, cinema, cybernetic, and photographic technologies amongst others (Paul Preciado, Biopolítica del género). Said devices collaborate in the naturalization of the heterocentric discourse on the basis of the construction and diffusion of gender models. By virtue of this thesis, photography is understood as a technology of gender that functions within a heteronormative society and genderizes its subjects as women or men. The primary purpose of this thesis is to analyze and elaborate the ways in which four distinct visual works: Adriana Miranda (Argentina), Sergio Zevallos (Perú), Leonardo Sánchez (Argentina), and Darío Ares (Argentina), implement the technology of photography in order to establish an opposition to the heteronormative regulation. These artists create various deconstructions of the heterocentric intelligible system and its genderizing codes, in order to appropriate and redefine them in their works. In the center of the images bodies appear and display subjectivities that have been marginalized by the patriarchal system. Said subjects demonstrate a denaturalization of the bodies established by the sex/gender system through their visibility and disobedience.

This research is based on the combination of the age-old discussion between written and oral discourse with the emergence of using multimedia to publish apologies for widespread audiences. Because social media applications like Twitter and YouTube give instant publication access to its users, the continuum between written and oral discourse is continuing to shorten not just amongst Americans, but numerous cultures. The aim of this thesis is to observe a number of tweets and videos to determine whether or not multimedia is aiding this movement, as well as whether English and Spanish speech act-making strategies (specifically for apologies) are affected. Results show that while written discourse appears to be more useful at creating apologies with media, the continuum does appear to be tightening, due in part to the lack of thought needed to publish both tweets and live discourse. Furthermore, results show that Spanish speakers prefer apology strategies that clearly illustrate an acceptance of blame, while their English-speaking counterparts prefer non-apology strategies that help distract the audience from noticing a lack of accepting responsibility.

The social sciences have spearheaded much of the discussion about sexuality in academia, and the various subfields have within them their own versions of sex research that investigate the factors that make up our sexuality. The study at hand unites the field of linguistics with a non-English language, Spanish, to further bridge the gap in sex research. Three primary sources are consulted, a novel; CREA, the Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual; and a public sexual education packet to see how the language of sexuality manifests in different types of media. The guiding question for this research is as follows: what do we need to know about the sexual vocabulary of Spanish to understand Spanish sexuality? To answer this question, a qualitative study is conducted on the existing sexual vocabulary of Spanish. It was found that Spanish sexual vocabulary can be analyzed with a schema that presents metaphors for Identity, Risk, Apostasy, Legitimization, and Inclusion. With the presentation of this schema, the field of sexuality studies gains a new perspective and a new way to evaluate attitudes about sexuality. There is a growing need in linguistics for qualitative data, and studies like this one offer a solution to this lack of qualitative information, as well as a methodology designed to handle qualitative data.

ABSTRACT: The present study examines the effects that U.S. President Donald Trumps political campaign has had on public opinion of Mexican immigrants. By examining the long history of oppression of Mexicans on U.S. soil and even prior to the establishment of the U.S., the study creates a base and then employs a discourse analysis that proves that Trumps rhetoric is perpetuating some of the same stereotypes that have followed Mexicans since Europeans began settling in the Americas. Public opinion was gauged using a carefully constructed survey and the results show that overall, Trumps harsh stereotypical rhetoric has spurred a narrative of defiance in U.S. citizens. They are hearing Trumps harsh words and outwardly opposing them, choosing inclusivity and love as a response to exclusivity and hatred. Among the more negative responses there were a few stereotypical themes that did come up including language discrimination, allusion to various stereotypes and assumed difference. Though there were some participants that clearly took a dominant decoding of Trumps rhetoric and are indeed perpetuating his negative stereotypical ideals, the vast majority of participants in the present study showed a great defiance and acceptance for difference, a trend that has clearly arisen in the U.S. as a result of Trumps campaign and now presidency.

Judith Butler argues that gender is a performative cultural construction; this analysis is taken to further means of discussion in reference to the revelation of sex and gender as both cultural and social constructions. Sex and gender appear as a result of heteornormative regulations imposed onto social actors, arguing that these constructions are essences naturally attached to the human body. The constructions of the sex/gender system are inflicted by a regulative discourse. In the heterocentric society this discursive control is implemented through social norms which enforce male with masculinity and female with femininity. Through various analyses of contra-hegemonic cultural and artistic productions, this thesis focuses on the deconstruction of the heteronormative discourse. The artists and theorists whose critiques and performances are analyzed reveal a fluidity in the defected social and cultural constructions of sex and gender. These categories are dismantled through the same discourse that maintains them as normative essences by a means of collectivity through a multitude of voices and experiences. Itziar Ziga (Spain) and Sayak Valencia (Mexico) utilize the discursive power as a tool of deconstruction to portray various examples of the flawed naturalness that society depicts as rigid. Through the use of blogs, a resistance is established against the normative impositions by way of queer activism. The blogs, Parole de Queer (Spain) and Potencia Tortillera (Argentina), publish the works of individuals which the heterocentric regime classifies as social deviants. By demonstrating that sex and gender are not naturally appended to individuals and their bodies the dissident voices that appear in this work articulate a counterargument to the heteronormative discourse. A resistance to heterosexual control is highlighted within this thesis by engaging in a discussion with these constructions through means of bodily demonstrations and performances.

ABSTRACT This thesis addresses the linguistic production of Spanish preterit and imperfect in the Mexican community that reside at the south of the state of Louisiana. More precisely in Baton Rouge, Scott and Lafayette. Other literature have worked this topic noticing a variation while the past tense is used, among others are Silva-Corvalán (1994) noticed that the Mexican community in Los Ángeles, California uses the imperfect in preterit context with stative verbs. Montrul (2009), on the other hand, notices similar behavior in heritage speakers and Delgado-Díaz (2013) suggested that same behavior in the use of these forms can be seen in Puerto Rico and Buenos Aires dialects. However, this study uses a quantitative statistical method to test this Mexican community production of preterit and imperfect forms as past expression. The participants were divided into two groups with age of arrival to United States as a criteria of categorization. This allows to study syntactic and morphological acquisition under Critical Age Hypothesis Lenneberg (1967) and Patkowski (1980) perspectives. The results showed that Mexican community that lives at south Louisiana make variations during production of both forms, preterit and imperfect. These variations were found in different linguistic context and presented similarities with other linguistic models such as monolingual Spanish and bilingual English/Spanish communities. The findings, here, can be useful for future research in a variety of linguistic perspectives and interests.