Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Communication, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 23, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-118). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M. S.)--Industrial Design, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Winegarden, Claudia; Committee Member: Mullick, Abir; Committee Member: Sanford, Jon.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-209). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, December 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Sept. 10, 2009). "Department of Teaching and Learning." Includes bibliographical references (p. 158-173).

Thesis (Ph.D. (Education)) - Rhodes University, 2007.

This is a qualitative study that explores the ways in which African American English (AAE) speakers understand and use their own language. The study is based on 10 individual interviews with participants who self-identified as fluent speakers of AAE and Mainstream American English (i.e., Standard English). Participants shared personal examples, stories, and disclosures as a way to expose the meaning and interpretations of AAE in context and to reveal how it functions in their everyday lives. The purpose of this study is to increase awareness and appreciation of AAE and its relationship to the formation and preservation of individual and group identities. The literatures and the interview data reveal that, to think negatively about the way African Americans articulate their thoughts is, in fact, not just dismissing their speech form, but their history, culture, community and ultimately, the way they make sense of and maneuver in the world.

<p> Effective communication is important, particularly for the over 26 million immigrant workers with non-English speaking backgrounds who have entered the U.S. workforce. The research problem addressed the disillusion of non-English speakers in the workplace because of the communication gap. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of non-English speaking immigrant workers in overcoming language and cultural communication challenges at work. The research question focused on how non-English speakers or English as a Second Language (ESL) speakers describe their communication experiences in the workplace. The theoretical framework was based on the cultural approach to organizations and the transactional model of communication. A qualitative narrative inquiry design was used that employed sources of information including an interview questionnaire and existing literature. The target population was immigrant employees who are managers, assistant managers, and supervisors in New York City and Long Island who work in accounting, banking, finance, information technology, and marketing with at least 5 years&rsquo; experience. A purposive sampling procedure was used to select 20 participants for semistructured interviews. The qualitative data were subjectively analyzed by using member checking and triangulation. Key findings indicated 6 themes: miscommunication, lack of appropriate terms, delays in work completion, loss of respect, inability to express oneself clearly, and the need to use alternative means of communication. Opportunity for contributions to social change can include increased understanding and utilization of effective management and communication strategies for dealing with non-English-speaking and ESL workers. This can also help to bridge cultural and language gaps.</p><p>

Föreliggande arbete inriktar sig på lärares sätt att kommunicera i undervisning av ensemble där de bemöter flera elever samtidigt. Med hjälp av videoobservationer av fyra lärare som bedriver undervisning av mindre ensembler på gymnasiet har jag analyserat fram vilka kommunikationssätt som används samt hur de används. Resultatet visar att lärarna använder sig av så väl verbal som icke-verbal kommunikation i sin undervisning. Via flertalet multimodala och semiotiska resurser kommunicerar musiklärarna med sina elever under lektionens gång. De kommunikationsspråk som förekommer är ett socialt, humoristiskt, auktoritärt, gestaltande, kunnigt och målande språk. I diskussionen tar jag bland annat upp hur lärarna i undersökningen valt att designa sin undervisning utifrån situationerna om spel och i spel, samt vad detta ger för förutsättningar för dem själva och deras elever. / The study focuses on how teachers communicate when teaching music ensembles in which they meet several students simultaneously. With the help of recorded video lessons of four teachers while teaching small ensembles at the high school level, I have analysed the means of communication and how these are applied. The results show that teachers use verbal as well as nonverbal communication in their teaching. They communicate with their students during the lesson via several multimodal semiotic resources. The language of communication that results is a social, humorous, authoritative, creative, knowledgeable and vivid language. In the chapter on discussion, I present among other things, how the teachers in the study chose to design their education based on the situations regarding performance and through performance, and the conditions thus created for themselves and their students.

The study investigated similarities and differences between refusal strategies conducted by British native speakers of English (NSE) and Javanese learners of English (JLE). The data were elicited, using discourse completion tasks (DCT), from 20 NSE and 50 JLE. Comparative data concerning refusal strategies in Javanese were elicited from 35 native speakers of Javanese (NJ) to provide a baseline for investigating the extent to which differences between JLE and NSE could be explained by the influence of L1 pragmatics. The refusal strategies were classified based on modified refusal taxonomy by Beebe et al. (1990) and were analysed into sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic strategies. Z test and Chi Square (χ2) were applied to test the statistical significance of differences between JLE and NSE usage. The study found that all three groups employed broadly similar sequential orders, frequencies of occurrences, and contents of both semantic formulae and adjuncts. Some differences were found, however, in which the strategies of the two Javanese groups (JLE and NJ) were more alike than either was to NSE. These findings suggest that distinctive JLE usages (i.e. different from NSE) are either due to the influence of L1 (negative pragmatic transfer) or simply deviation (idiosyncratic usage). The former occurred mainly in the utilization of politeness strategies by the Javanese groups. The salient elements of Javanese cultural values and their relation to the expression of politeness are discussed in some detail, and are shown to be reflected in the English of Javanese learners. The latter (deviations) appeared to arise from a conflict between JLE speakers’ notions of “correct” grammar and word meanings, on the one hand, and the pragmalinguistic demands of the interaction, on the other hand.

The diploma thesis entitled 'Pragmalinguistic Analysis of Commercial Communication of the Brand Activia by Danone' aims to provide a comprehensive treatise of the above mentioned brand from the point of view of pragmatic and linguistic theories, based on a selected sample of advertising from 2010 - 2014. The introductory theoretical part defines the functions of advertising and their idiosyncratic communication and place them within the wider context of marketing. Subsequently, the position of the product within the segment offered by Danone is described and comparison of the respective marketing strategies for each product is made. The methodological section of the thesis introduces pragmatic linguistics as the central tool used in the ensuing analysis. Here the terms related to the process of communication are emphasised, same as the relationships between the creator of a text, its recipient and the text itself. The last, analytical part deals with selected samples of commercial communication using the aforementioned methods. A sample of Activia Danone communication is then used to analyse the usage of individual linguistic and stylistic means, as well as advertising types with emphasis on their goals as a form of communication.