Speakers of Persian, like speakers of other languages, utilise Routine Politeness Formulae (RPF) to negotiate central interpersonal interactions. RPF in Persian have not received any systematic description as to their forms, their functions, their typical conditions of use and their discourse structure rules. Bridging this gap, for the first time, RPF from five frequently-used speech acts – namely, greeting, leave-taking, apologizing, thanking and requesting – are documented in this thesis. Data were derived from Persian soap operas and from role-plays with native speakers, and were entered into a database for further analysis. The analysis is qualitative and the data are conceived of as phraseological units to be represented as dictionary entries. The study of the aforementioned speech acts and their related array of RPF reveals the dynamics of interpersonal polite behaviour among Persians, reflecting the following socio-cultural values prevalent in Iranian society: (i) its group-oriented nature, (ii) a tendency towards positive (solidarity) politeness, (iii) sensitivity to remaining in people’s debt, (iv) sensitivity to giving trouble to others, (v) a high premium on reciprocity in interpersonal communications, (vi) the importance of seniority in terms of age and social status, and (vii) differentiation between members of the ‘inner circle’ and the ‘outer circle’. This thesis also reveals the dominance of the strategy of self-lowering and other-elevating. Almost all RPF in Persian allow for the use of this pervasive strategy, which is also manifested by two further sub-strategies: (i) a propensity to exaggerate favours received from others, and (ii) giving precedence to others over oneself. Finally, it is suggested that Islamic teachings have significantly influenced the formation and use of certain RPF. The dictionary resulting from this work can serve as a resource for researchers in sociolinguistics and pragmatics, and for the teaching of Persian to non-Persian speakers.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Regensburg, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [161]-168) and indexes.

Thesis (doctoral)--Odense universitet, 1985. / Summary in Danish. Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. [383]-394).

abstract: ABSTRACT The teaching of formulaic sequences (FSs) to improve speech fluency is a time honored tradition in the field of English as a Second Language (ESL). However, recent research seems to indicate that certain discourse markers, specifically transition and personal stance markers, are more useful than other FSs. This study is an attempt to partially replicate (on a very small scale) one of these studies to see if the findings are similar when the standardized test materials are from the Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) rather than the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The hope is that teacher researchers could have access to readily available, standardized assessment materials with which to create their own research studies consisting of a standardized pretest and posttest. Four students of various levels in an Intensive English Program (IEP) were given a practice listening and speaking exam utilizing TOEFL preparation materials found online. The results were analyzed to see if there was a noticeable correlation between the use of the specified discourse markers on the speech portion of the test and the performance of the students on the listening portion of the test. The findings show some discrepancy between the two studies' results. It appears possible to have a high perceived fluency rate and still have a lower overall speaking fluency when taking into account listening comprehension and various other measures. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. English 2014

This essay presents a study of retention of idioms delving into a pedagogical approach by presenting them to a group of lower secondary students. The study also explores students’ memory retention whilst concurrently investigating if certain types of idioms are retained to a greater extent than others. For the sake of assessing memory retention in relation to these various types of idiomatic transparency, the selected idioms have been divided into three separate categories; transparent, semi-transparent and opaque depending on their literal and figurative meaning. This essay argues that opaque idioms are retained to a lesser extent in memory due to their non-transparent metaphorical meaning. In fact, the most striking finding is that idioms pertaining to the opaque category are indeed more difficult for students to learn and are also forgotten the fastest. Previous research has put emphasis on the complex structure of idioms and opinions seem divided regarding to what extent the teaching of idioms should be implemented together with other vocabulary items in a classroom setting. On the other hand, the same research emphasizes the great value of idioms; potentially expanding student vocabulary and making the English language more nuanced and native-like.

<p>The theory underlying L2 oral fluency has focused on cognitive processes, particularly proceduralization (Anderson, 1983; Levelt, 1989, 1999) and linguistic constructs, especially vocabulary and grammar (Segalowitz, 2010). Towell, Hawkins, and Bazergui (1996) argued that development of formulaic language enables automatic speech production. However, no research has studied the longitudinal development of L2 oral fluency concurrently with any of the following lexical variables: lexical frequency profile, formulaic language use, and MTLD (a measure of lexical diversity). The purpose of the present study is to clarify the process by which L2 oral fluency, syntax, and vocabulary develop concurrently.</p> <p>Data analysis involved three sequential phases: oral fluency analysis, lexico-syntactic analysis, and discourse analysis. Oral fluency measures were calculated using the transcribed oral test responses of 100 L1-Chinese EAP learners at the beginning and end of a required two-course EAP language and culture sequence at Purdue University. The task completed was a computer-administered, two-minute argumentative speaking task. This study included eight oral fluency measures: speech rate, mean length of speech run, articulation rate, phonation time ratio, mean length of silent pause, mean length of filled pause, silent pause frequency, and filled pause frequency. For the ten participants who made the largest percentage-wise oral fluency gains (in terms of the oral fluency variable associated with the largest effect size of gains), oral transcripts were analyzed to compute descriptive statistics for the three lexical variables mentioned above and three syntactic variables: coordinate clause ratio, dependent clause ratio, and words per T-unit. </p> Results indicated significant change in all oral fluency measures, except mean length of silent pause and mean length of filled pause. The largest gains were made in mean length of speech run. Of the linguistic variables, the largest longitudinal change was associated with coordinate clause ratio. Discourse analysis of the transcripts of large fluency gainers' pre-post responses suggested that large fluency gainers used coordinate clauses to build more sophisticated discourse models in the post-test response than they did in the pre-test response. Implications for L2 oral fluency theory, EAP pedagogy, and L2 oral assessment are discussed.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(人間・環境学) / 甲第21866号 / 人博第895号 / 新制||人||214(附属図書館) / 2018||人博||895(吉田南総合図書館) / 京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科共生人間学専攻 / (主査)准教授 中森 誉之, 教授 服部 文昭, 准教授 PETERSON Mark / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Human and Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DFAM

Applied linguistics has lately been seen in studies of formulaicity of language operating through recurrent word combinations. The present study deals with one type of word combinations, namely lexical bundles (LBs), which are defined as a sequence of three or more words that frequently co-occur in a particular register (Biber et al., 1999). The present study is a corpus-based analysis of four-word lexical bundles extracted from Music research articles (RAs). The Corpus of Music Research Articles (CMRA) of one million words was created in order to perform structural classification of the retrieved lexical bundles and an analysis of their functions. The CMRA includes 110 articles collected from international music journals from various music subdisciplines. In order to find which lexical bundles were characteristic of music research specifically, the findings were compared to previous research based on other academic disciplines. The list of 218 lexical bundles was compared to the one of three different subject areas (Jalilifar et al., 2016) with the purpose of identification of discipline-specific LBs (n=102) which included 20 topic-specific bundles; and general lexical bundles (n=116) which included 56 core bundles shared among Music and three subject areas (Art and Humanities, Sciences and Social sciences). Structurally and functionally, the analysis of the extracted lexical bundles demonstrated that native English expert writers predominantly used preposition-based phrases (50%), with respect to structure; and research-oriented bundles (74%), with respect to function. The findings have pedagogical applications and could be used in courses in English for Specific Purposes.

Epic, among the earliest and most universal of genres, is found in a developed form among the most ancient written records of cultures from China to Greece, and has been recorded as oral narrative on every inhabited continent. From these roots in Western culture a varied yet unbroken tradition of heroic narrative has grown. Epic’s form has changed with human society, reflecting our literary, social and psychological development. This study aims to explore the effects in epic literature in English of one such development, namely the internalisation of writing, at two stages of this process as they are manifest in Beowulf and Malory’s Morte Darthur. Every culture has particular noetic processes, that is, methods of structuring and storing knowledge. Writing has profoundly influenced noetic development, so that primary oral cultures (without writing), chirographic culture (with writing) and typographic cultures (with printing) are profoundly different. Parry and Lord’s oral formulaic theory, and Havelock and Ong’s noetic theory describe the characteristics of primary oral thought and poetic discourse. Beowulf’s noetic paradigm is vocality; it is written, yet still largely rooted in the oral tradition and meant to be heard. The Morte shows loosening ties between poetic creation and extra-linguistic tradition in a mix of oral and literate traits. This study traces in Beowulf and the Morte seven characteristics of orality, namely stereotypical/formulaic expression, ceremonial appropriation of history, standardisation of themes, epithetic identification, heavy/ceremonial characters, agonistic style and copiousness. In all seven characteristics, the early signs of literate noetics just discernable in Beowulf are more developed in the Morte, as would be expected. Between Beowulf and the Morte, the form and the function of poetic discourse change. In primary oral epic, words make things real and function as communal memory. Epic discourse forms individuals as communal, ethical, technological beings, and enables human society to give expression to things unknown. Primary epic is in some ways one of the fullest expressions of language’s nature and possibilities. Writing, which relieves the burden of memorisation, frees energy for the development of certain of these functions. The development, made possible by writing, of abstract conceptualisation and then analytical logic is seen in Beowulf’s deathbed musings on heroic worth, which broaden into Malory’s extended critique of chivalry. The opposition of concepts becomes more important than the opposition of persons, and so from agonistic rhetoric grows scientific logic. This development spelled the end of primary epic, and other genres based on logic and analytical syntax developed to fulfil its didactic and prescriptive roles, from charters to essays. The evolutionary role of oral epic, which enabled communal desires to be expressed, passed to romance, but this genre too died with the advent of Enlightenment rationality and modern depth psychology. Fantasy, perhaps, succeeds romance in this function. The study ends with concluding remarks about the future of epic; with the shift from typographic literacy to secondary orality, epic is showing a rebirth in film and literature, notably in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. / Dissertation (Magister Artium (English))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / English / unrestricted

Cette recherche s’intéresse au langage préfabriqué (LP) dans le discours oral spontané d’apprenants de français langue étrangère (FLE). Le LP, étudié en linguistique sous l’angle du figement et de la conventionalité, intéresse aussi les psycholinguistes. Omniprésent dans le discours des locuteurs natifs, il sous-entend que la maîtrise d’une langue ne passe pas seulement par l’application des règles grammaticales et la création des phrases mais également par la mémorisation et l’automatisation des bouts de langue préconstruits. Notre objectif est double : étudier l’évolution de la connaissance du LP chez des apprenants du FLE et, le rôle que le LP joue dans leur fluidité verbale. Dix-sept apprenants ont réalisé à six mois d’intervalle deux tâches narratives orales, et leurs productions ont été enregistrées et transcrites deux fois. Six locuteurs natifs ont été soumis aux mêmes tâches une fois. Le LP a été identifié selon des critères linguistiques et psycholinguistiques. La fluence des productions a été évaluée au moyen de quatre mesures. Elle a été mise en relation avec l’emploi effectif des séquences préfabriquées afin de vérifier en quel sens ces dernières améliorent le discours oral des apprenants. Ainsi, il existe des différences individuelles très marquées entres les sujets testés et il est difficile de tirer des conclusions d’ordre général. Cependant, les apprenants de niveau débutant progressent dans l’emploi qu’ils font du LP, en quantité et en qualité. Ils peuvent s’appuyer sur les SP pour produire un discours plus fluide. Elles améliorent le segment de parole (longueur et complexification) et servent de stratégies (compensation, structuration et planification). / This thesis focuses on formulaic language in French as a Second Language (FSL) learners’ spontaneous spoken narratives. Formulaic language is made of multi-word units which are often perceived and used as simple lexical units. ESL studies have shown that even at advanced levels the command of formulaic language can be poor. The purpose of this thesis is twofold. First we intend to examine the evolution of formulaic language among FSL learners, and then the importance of formulaic language in learners’ fluency. Seventeen learners divided into three levels were asked over a period of six months to produce two oral narratives based on a cartoon and a silent film. Their narratives were recorded and transcribed as time 1 and time 2. The formulaic language which was found in the oral productions was identified according to linguistic and psycholinguistic criteria : phonological coherence, syntactic complexity, semantic opacity, frequence and systematicity of idiosyncratic errors and deviant items. The fluency was evaluated by means of four “classical” measurements : speech rate, length of run, rate of articulation, phonation time. Our analyses show that there are individual differences among subjects and that it is difficult to draw comprehensive conclusions. Yet, the results show a steady improvement in formulaic language among beginners, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Indeed, learners can rely on formulaic sequences to gain fluency and this in different manners. Formulaic sequences improve the speech run by making it longer and more complex. They can be used as strategies of compensation and planification of speech.