This thesis investigates referential communication strategies using the theoretical framework of Levelt's (1989) model of speech production and its application to second language speech production (de Bot, 1992). The investigation focuses on utterances of adult speakers who solve a referential communication task in their first language (English) and their second language (German). Two different groups participate in the study. The first group consists of students from a large West Canadian University who learn German in a foreign language classroom, whereas the second group consists of native speakers of English who work in Germany and acquire German in a second language environment. All participants describe abstract shapes while their utterances are being recorded and later transcribed for analysis. Quantitative and qualitative methods measuring the time and words reflect the strategies used to describe the shapes. The analysis of the data reveals that the participants in Germany are more accurate in their descriptions and solve the referential problems more successfully than the participants from the West Canadian University do. The direct contact these participants have with the German language and culture proves to be beneficial to the process of generating a comprehensible message in referential communication. The study concludes with suggestions for the teaching of German as a second language and recommendations are made for future research on language acquisition the learning environment. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

This thesis studies the impact of language education on the employment rate of immigrants in Swedish municipalities. Based on previous research and the theory of Hermut Esser, it aims to find a positive correlation between learning the Swedish language and the employment rate of immigrants. The language knowledge is measured by a Swedish for immigrants(SFI) - language course, which is from 2018 an obligatory part of the integration plan. Therefore, this study tries to see if passing the SFI language course affects the employment rate of immigrants in Swedish municipalities. To examine the impact of passing SFI language course on the employment rate of immigrants, Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analyses are used and data will be collected from Statistics Sweden (SCB) and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKL). After analyzing 240 municipalities between the years 2013-2016, and controlling for different variables, the results show that the passing of the language course decreases the employment rate of immigrants. This result can be explained firstly by the fact that language is no longer a vital part on the Swedish labor market or secondly, by stating that the SFI-language course does not give the level of Swedish that is needed to gain access to the labor market. Further by adding dummy variables for the municipalities to control what is constant during time, the result is no longer statistically significant. This result means that there are important variables that vary in the municipality level, which are affecting the language education and the employment rate of immigrants. However, as SFI language course is important part of the integration program, and this study cannot prove correlation between employment and SFI, the quality and the importance of the course can be lightly questioned. Further studies are needed to explain the low employment rate of immigrants.

abstract: Dulcinea del Toboso es todo un misterio, ya que no es una persona real, sino un personaje ficticio que nunca llega a aparecer en la novela Don Quijote de La Mancha, de Miguel de Cervantes (1605, 1615). Aunque Dulcinea no dice una sola palabra en el libro, existe en la imaginación de su protagonista, Don Quijote. Este hombre de edad avanzada, aficionado a la lectura de libros de caballería, fantasea con la idea de ser un caballero en busca de aventuras, motivado en todo momento por el pensamiento de su dama idealizada. La descripción que ofrece Cervantes al presentar a Dulcinea en la novela es ambigua, ya que la asocia con una campesina llamada Aldonza, pero sin llegar a emplear elementos de certeza. Dulcinea no es un ser humano, ni tampoco un verdadero personaje literario, así que la única imagen que uno puede formarse de ella reside en la imaginación. Esta investigación se centra en probar que esa imagen ha tenido una impactante evolución a través de los siglos hasta convertirse hoy día en una especie de marca distintiva. Varios intelectuales han estudiado el enigma de Dulcinea. Miguel de Unamuno la interpretó como gloria eterna, Menéndez Pidal como puro ideal, Pedro Salinas como la sombra de un personaje que nunca llegó a ser. Más recientemente Anne Cruz la describía como el cuerpo inmaterial más famoso de todas las obras de Cervantes, y Frederick de Armas como imaginación mítica en pleno desempeño. Entonces, ¿cómo se representan los cuerpos inmateriales? ¿Cómo ser Dulcinea y Aldonza y ninguna de ellas a la vez? ¿Cómo alcanzar tanta fama sin tener si quiera una voz real? El propósito de mi estudio es reinterpretar la Dulcinea de Don Quijote desde la perspectiva de los productos audiovisuales y culturales del siglo XX y XXI. La idea es abrir nuevas perspectivas a los enfoques contemporáneos de lecturas clásicas. Los estudios interdisciplinarios y las interpretaciones modernas, como las usadas en este trabajo, atraerán a los estudiantes actuales, los cuales tienden a visualizar las humanidades y el estudio de los libros clásicos como una materia intangible difícil de entender (algo así como la percepción convencional de la elusiva Dulcinea del Toboso). Esta tesis quiere contribuir a cambiar ese sentimiento. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Spanish 2020

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(人間・環境学) / 甲第21844号 / 人博第873号 / 新制||人||209(附属図書館) / 2018||人博||873(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 金丸 敏幸, 教授 谷口 一美, 准教授 高橋 幸, 教授 田地野 彰 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Human and Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DGAM

(in English) The aim of this diploma thesis is focused on observation of communication behaviour between the teacher and pupils with autistic disorder spectrum and mental disability from the special primary school. The research is based on the analysis of audio recordings of verbal communication of pedagogical team and pupils. The nonverbal phenomena of this communication which were recorded by researcher is appended to this analysis. The thoretical part consists the information of mental disability and its etiology and classification as well as the information of autistic disorder spectrum and its etiology, classification and characteristic problematic domains. The most comprehensive part of this thesis deals with disruption of communication between children with autistic disorder spectrum. I also describe the pedagogical communication on the special primary school. The experimental part consists the analysis of communication behaviour of the teachers and pupils with mental disability and autistic disorder spectrum which was observed during five lessons of language education. The research also consists the analysis of two works heets which were worked out by pupils with autistic disorder spectrum and mental disability.

The thesis is focused on the analysis of current marketing mix of the Presto language school, especially on its marketing mix of language courses for the public. On the basis of acquired information, it presents recommendations for possible improvement. The theoretical part of the thesis emphasizes service marketing mix, and explains its components. The following parts analyse the outer environment of the language school, as well as its current marketing mix, and bring suggestions for enhancement of the marketing mix of language courses for the public.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Literacy development in South African higher education is increasingly challenged by several issues in dialogue and language of tuition. Despite the widening of access to South African universities, research shows that a large majority of entry-level university students are still failing in their chosen programme of studies. Almost all universities in the democratic South Africa incorporate academic development programs in first-year modules as an awareness raising attempt to scaffold novice students into the vocabulary of their various disciplines. However, these development programs sometimes fail to address the language needs of some of the students who have had more than seven years of schooling in their first languages (IsiXhosa and Afrikaans). My study seeks to explore how additional language IsiXhosa and Afrikaans students understand and construct written knowledge in one literacy development course using English medium of instruction. I further explore lecturers’ and tutors’ perspectives of the demand of sounding a scholarly voice in academic writing by entry-level students in their new roles as scholars in the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Literature indicated gaps when it comes to students’ and lectures’ perceptions on the construction of voice in academic writing in a language that the students are not comfortable in. My choice to use an interpretive frame made my study a qualitative one. I used a case study approach in which qualitative data was collected from one-on-one in-depth interviews with fourteen participants, documents analysis and field notes collected during interview process. A constructivist view of knowledge further guided my study to support the view of knowledge being socially constructed in the process of enquiry. My findings were categorised according to the research questions and themes that emerged from my analysis. The four themes from my presentation guided the findings. The findings of this study indicated that, IsiXhosa and Afrikaans students in the study used their first languages as resource to understand, formal English in essay of assignments. The lecturers’ perspectives of voice showed differences in the students’ perceptions who were mostly overwhelmed with the proactive life of academia and the language they are required to write in. In this context, the lectures’ views of competence mismatched with students’ views who felt their views were stranded in the language of discomfort (English). / 2021-04-30

abstract: This qualitative study follows an instructor and four Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) learners in an elementary-level, mixed Spanish course at a community college over the course of 11 class visits. In studying how language ideologies shape oral corrective feedback (oral CF) practices, data were collected through ethnographic observations (field notes, researcher memos), classroom audio recordings, and semi-structured interviews (student, teacher). Specifically, this study analyzes (1) language ideologies prevalent in the classroom context in relation to the conceptualization of errors, (2) the instructor’s goals for oral CF, (3) how the instructor provides oral CF and in what contexts, and (4) how the mixed class environment relates to oral CF. To do so, the data were analyzed via a bifocal approach in coding interview and classroom discourse (Razfar, 2003) and engaging in Critical Discourse Analysis (van Dijk, 2016) informed by frameworks in Linguistic Anthropology (Irvine, 1989; Kroskrity, 2004, 2010; Leeman, 2012) and Second Language Acquisition (Ellis, 2009; Li, 2017; Lyster & Ranta, 1997). The findings demonstrate how oral CF becomes ideologically charged in a classroom context primarily designed to impart foreign language instruction. Under the guise that SHL learners’ varieties represent negative characteristics (e.g., low socioeconomic strata, Mexicaness, immigration), oral CF is used to eradicate their Spanish varieties. Findings also illustrate the (in)congruency of the instructor and learners’ perceptions of oral CF and what takes place in the classroom. In some cases, SHL learners demonstrated language pride and resisted the imposition of a foreign variety but reported hegemonic beliefs about their own varieties. Exemplifying how the instructor and SHL learners contribute to the complex dynamics of ideologization of oral CF, this study advocates for the adoption of Critical Language Awareness frameworks (Martínez, 2003; Leeman, 2005) in mixed language classrooms that encompasses this practice (e.g., focus-on-form instruction). Additionally, in acknowledging that teachers and educational institutions play a key role in the (re)production of dominant language norms, this study calls for the creation of instructional guidelines for oral CF as a pedagogical practice. Such guidelines must include critical discussions with students about the relationship between “correct,” “correcting,” and “being corrected” and asymmetrical power relationships. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Spanish 2019

abstract: Language Textbooks often play a major role in English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) classrooms, not only to provide information but also to help students construct their identities. Several studies showed that identity and language learning are inseparable, due to the simple fact that every learner has his/her own identity aspects like race, gender, social class, and speaker status (i.e., native speaker vs. non-native speaker of the target language). These aspects should be acknowledged because providing the students with limited identity options might cause the students to resist learning the language or be less invested in this practice (Norton & Toohey,2011). However, there is limited support for teachers who wish to examine identity in ESOL textbooks. Several scholars attempted to evaluate the range of identity options offered in ESOL textbooks, but they all used either Critical Discourse Analysis or Content Analysis which can be effective; however, these procedures require training and can take a long time, so they may not be practical for teachers. This suggests that there is a need for a less complicated evaluation tool that can be easily used by teachers. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a teacher-friendly identity-focused checklist for ESOL textbooks, and the thesis is guided by the following questions: (a) what would an evaluation checklist for identity in ESOL textbooks look like?; (b) what can this checklist reveal about ESOL textbooks? The purpose of this thesis was achieved by developing a qualitative checklist that covers, race, gender, social class, and speaker status, and demonstrating how to use it on a collection of five adult ESOL textbooks. The checklist revealed similarities and differences between the textbooks, including important shortcomings, and that kind of information can be useful for the teacher to make decisions about the textbook he/she uses. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Applied Linguistics 2019

This study aims to investigate how English teachers in Sweden use fictional movies and TV series in their classrooms, in order to discover the potential they can have for students’ language proficiency, literacy, and cultural knowledge. The data is collected through a questionnaire distributed to 65 teachers in lower- and upper-secondary school, and secondary adult education. In the questionnaire the teachers are asked about their general habits in using fictional movies and TV series, such as how often they use them and whether they involve their students in the choosing of movies and TV series or not. Furthermore, the 65 respondents are asked what factors they take into consideration when choosing a movie or TV series, how they relate the viewing to the syllabus, what areas of language proficiency they most often address through the viewing, how they introduce the viewing to their students, and what intentional and accidental purposes they believe movies and TV series can serve. The results show that most teachers use fictional movies to a greater extent than fictional TV series. Furthermore, the results show that most teachers provide clear aims to their viewing of movies and TV series, as well as having clear connections to the different syllabuses. It is also evident that teachers see movies and TV series as a valuable resource when developing their students’ language proficiency, literacy, and cultural knowledge.