This study explores the complexities associated with graduate language instructors’ identities and teaching practices, specifically with regard to the teaching of culture in the FL classroom. These areas are important to study because negotiating various identities has been shown to impact language learning and teaching (Dippold, 2006; Kumaravadivelu, 2003; Menard-Warwick, 2008). In addition, instructors’ identities and the influence on their teaching practices may impact pedagogy (Menard-Warwick, 2008). The study investigates the identities and experiences of eight graduate instructors of German – four (two male and two female) native and four (three male and one female) non-native speakers of German – in the spring semester of 2009 at the University of Texas at Austin. The participants included novice and advanced German instructors at different levels in their graduate studies. Three questionnaires, three self-reflective journal entries, three observations, one focus group interview, and individual interviews with each participant provided the data for this study. These data were analyzed using qualitative methods, specifically grounded theory and discursive psychology. The themes and categories, as well as interpretive repertoires and subject positions which are based on Edley’s (2001) analytical framework, offered an in-depth understanding of teacher identities and the impact of identities on teaching practices in regard to culture. Findings illustrate that the participants negotiated their identities in interaction and dialogue with others (Bakhtin, 1981) and in different communities of practice (Wenger, 1998). In discussing their identities, instructors also used various interpretive repertoires, underscoring their individuality and their experiences. The study’s findings suggest, furthermore, that the issue of teacher identities needs to be included in teacher training and must play a significant role in FL education, in order to support language teaching and learning. / text

Not available / text

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Curriculum and Educational Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This paper is based on the youth culture and the language in Tsakane which in situated in Gauteng Province. It uncovers the lifestyle of both young females and males in the area mentioned above. It looks at how "Tsotsitaal" is used by both sexes and also look at different activities in which the youth are involved, ranging from the perception of the youth towards their given names and how they change their original names. The paper also looks at the world view of the youth, the youth have their own view of the world, for example, they don't see themselves as the "lost generation" as the media has in the past constructed them to be. The paper also reflect the youth involvement in politics both at the local, provincial and national level and again covers the participation of the youth in the 1995 local elections. Other topics covered are how the youth generate income for their survival, the eating habits both at homes and outside homes. It also covers the tendency to undermine or underestimate the adults and the rural youth. The involvement in love affairs as well sexual habits are also covered. In a nutshell the whole paper covers the youth lifestyle on a daily basis. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1996.

The present study analysed the use of hedges in English medical research articles written by Japanese and American researchers. The study also examined the relationship between Japanese medical professionals' employment of hedges and their writing process. Sixteen English medical articles: eight written by Japanese and eight by Americans were examined. Four of the Japanese authors discussed their writing process through questionnaires and telephone interviews. / The overall ratio of hedges in articles written by the two groups differed only slightly; however, analyses revealed a number of specific differences in the use of hedges between the groups. For example, Japanese researchers used epistemic adverbs and adjectives less frequently than the American researchers. The results were discussed in relation to the problems of nonnative speakers' grammatical competence, cultural differences in rhetorical features, and the amount of experience in the use of medical English.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1982. / Bibliography: leaves 216-224. / Microfiche. / xiii, 224 leaves, bound 29 cm

Salman Rushdie is one of the world’s most pre-eminent writers of contemporary literature. He is best known as a literary author who has written the controversial religious satire in The Satanic Verses, which brought him a prolonged death threat imposed by Islamic authorities. The novel Midnight’s Children won the prestigious Booker of Bookers prize in 1993 and the Best of the Booker award in 2008. Throughout his writing career, however, he has exceeded his role as a novelist and shown his commitment to using his fame and cultural authority to open debates and publicize his opinions on social and religious issues and world politics. This thesis analyses the various aspects of controversies surrounding Rushdie, as an elite transnational author, a literary celebrity, a public intellectual and an outspoken critic on sensitive topics. It comes to examine the social significance of public personas and the nature of complexity embedded in their career. Rushdie’s presence draws the media’s attention, and more often than not, instigates international disputes and contentions. By looking at different aspects of Rushdie’s identity, the thesis addresses controversies raised by his diverse roles and his traversing of spaces in the cultural industry – in academia, the book market, public forums, talk shows, celebrity jamborees and even fashion magazine dinner parties. As an elite postcolonial writer, does his iconic status “compromise” him in the literary field by the generation of exotic cultural stereotypes and the exploitation of his Indian upbringing? What can literary and cultural critics do to work beyond condemning this trend? As a literary celebrity and public intellectual, do his involvements in publicity activities and New York’s celebrity circuit make him abandon the professional integrity and the time-honored “disinterested” position of the writer? How should the reader understand the connections between the media and the author, and the novel and popular culture? In addition, given his deeply skeptical position on religious matters, how does the writer understand the world of Islam, and how does this understanding underpin his antagonistic relationship with the fundamentalists? Addressing these questions, the thesis is by no means an account of a single writer’s life and career, but suggests that the complexity of intellectual life in general is made necessary in a cultural landscape saturated with media hype, publicity maneuvers and commoditization. In such contexts, writers exploring their time must, in different degrees, participate actively in what they write against, and be implicated in these processes. Under the influence of the market, the change in social trends and with their aspired career in mind, it seems that there can be no non-involvement for these individuals. Yet, by taking the case of Rushdie, I also argue that implicit in the novelist’s self-conscious manipulation of his diverse roles and the parodic metafiction in his work are important indications about the image construction of controversial public personas, the cultural meaning of the novelist as a public intellectual, and the implicated career that a writer may have at the turn of the century.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis comprises a novel, Disco Apocalypse: Liminal Fictoscapes, and an accompanying exegesis, Hatricks: Where did the White Rabbit Go? which together explore socio-political and aesthetic currents in contemporary culture and literature by means of an authorial journey. The ultimate aim of the thesis is to create a body of work which applies a critical analysis and produces an original and exhilarating cutting edge narrative. Disco Apocalypse is a contemporary novel set in Melbourne, South America and Japan that explores the lives of two sisters, Kit and Suzy G who take a road/air journey to Peru, Brazil and Hiroshima. Kit is a film maker whose observational skills bring a visual acuity to the description of places and events in the cities and towns visited out on the road. In the course of the novel Suzy G disappears when her plane goes down over Bass Strait and no remains of the aircraft are discovered. The exegetical narrative was constructed in a manner resembling a series of reflections or reflective surfaces that highlight the images displayed in each segment. This process hovers in liminality, the second stage in a ritual event, where we are caught 'betwixt and between' the world of the novel and the world of the exegesis. PLEASE NOTE: Volume 1 of this thesis, the novel, is not available online.