Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2007. / Title from screen (viewed on July 20, 2007) Department of English, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-66)

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, [1998?] / "December 1997." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 333-355).

This study formulated and applied a Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) based pedagogy which is culturally appropriate for Saudi students in King Saud University for improving the reading, analysis and interpretation of poetry in English. Ian Haneur affirms the necessity of the implementation of cultural knowledge for the reading of poetry; he states that cultural knowledge is “important in that it provides a basis through which understanding is achieved.”(2001: 4).This approach is concerned with linguistic applications which aim to improve analytical powers, in particular, the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) (Halliday, 2004; Thompson, 2004). This pedagogy gives Saudi students a tool for reading poetic texts in English and critically analyzes them independently. An attempt which has not been approached much due to concerns of Arab educators about the values of English and American literature and its effects upon readers and a concern over the confrontation of the various moral, social, religious, national, political, historical, and even geographical contexts in the foreign texts (G.Rababah, 1983;M. Obeidat, 1996; Zughoul, 1987; and Asfour andDahiyat, 1983). Furthermore, in this dissertation, I also attempted to address the impact that social, cultural, religious and linguistic differences have on the students' reading and interpretation of poems in English by exploring the perceptions of Saudi students regarding these issues. In my case study, a preliminary questionnaire with closed and open ended questions, class practice answers, post teaching interviews and observation notes were examined using selective coding to interpret the collected data. Analysis of student perceptions in relation to the social, cultural, religious and linguistic differences and the influence they had on their reading of poetry in English revealed meaningful high percentages of agreement which prove that Saudi students were facing problems in all these areas. The analysis of the application of SFL based pedagogy for the Saudi students provided significant evidence that SFL was a useful theory of language which played a purposeful role in showing the architecture of the English language and provided the students with a decoding tool for interpretation.

The relationship between language and colour categorisation is explored testing the predictions of the linguistic relativity hypothesis. The basic colour terms of Turkish are investigated, with findings suggesting that the Berlin and Kay (1969) theory of universal colour term evolution might require further revisions. The maximum number allowed by the theory is exceeded by the Turkish colour term inventory, by an extra term in the blue region. This difference between Turkish and English is exploited to test the effects of linguistic categories on colour perception and cognition. Evidence is presented suggesting that some aspects of categorical colour perception may not be fixed and universal, but flexible and culture-specific. Perceived similarity of colours seems to be open to influence by a linguistic category boundary. The argument of flexibility is further investigated using a category learning paradigm. Evidence suggested that perceptual and cognitive effects of colour category boundaries might be acquired through laboratory training. Subjects judge colours to be different more accurately when they come from different categories acquired in training than when they are from the same category. Mechanisms, which may be responsible for such flexibility, are explored in relation to findings in the literature. It is argued that perception and cognition may not be distinguished from each other by clear-cut boundaries. Rather, and interaction between percepts and concepts may facilitate effects of language and learning on human colour categorisation.

This thesis attempts to analyze the causes and mechanisms of the dissolution of the language ancestral to the modern Slavonic languages. Recent advances in the field of archaeology have cast traditional theories of the Indo-Europeanization of Europe into doubt; specifically, consensus has been growing that the Indo-European languages arrived in Europe several millennia earlier than previously thought, accompanying the introduction of agriculture into Anatolia, the Aegean, and the Balkan peninsula at the end of the Neolithic period. This stands in contrast to the conventional premise that Proto-Indo-European was introduced during the Bronze Age by nomadic tribes from the steppes north of the Caucasus mountains. Acceptance of the former model requires significant adjustment in the chronology of the break-up of Indo-European unity. In addition, it necessitates the adjustment of current theories of the origin and spread of change within a language. We have attempted to address this issue by the proposal of a framework of language evolution incorporating the Utterance-Based Theory of Selection and the Punctuated Equilibrium Model. Both of these models rely on research in the field of sociolinguistics, and stress the role of external factors in the development of languages. Our tentative conclusion was that there exists a concrete and dynamic relationship between catastrophic historical events and episodes of profound change in the structure of a language. The body of this thesis is composed of historical, archaeological, and linguistic evidence, which substantiates this claim.

Cognitive control-e.g. the abilities to pay attention, to ignore irrelevant input, and to switch between tasks- has received much attention in recent literature. Since both of their languages are activated in parallel, bilinguals have been suggested to have improved cognitive control skills in both the linguistic and non-linguistic domain (e.g., Bialystok, 2017), but inconsistent results (e.g., Hilchey, Saint-Aubin, & Klein, 2015) have lead to a heated debate in the field. However, when found, the effects of bilingualism on cognitive control appear to be generally positive (Valian, 2015). Furthermore, earlier bilingualism has been linked to greater cognitive benefits (Yow & Li, 2015), and Green and Abutalebi's (2013) Adaptive Control Hypothesis (ACH) suggests that the bilingual environment also plays a role. The aim of the current study is to investigate the role of the Age of Acquisition (AoA) of the second language on cognitive control in young adult bilinguals in two different linguistic environments, as well as to examine the underlying processes of cognitive control via event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Two research questions are focused on: 1) Which, if any, cognitive control abilities are enhanced by bilingualism? and 2) Does the type of bilingual experience modulate observed effects? The present study uses the non-linguistic Attention Network Test (ANT; Fan et al., 2002), in which sets of arrows appear with a central target arrow in either a congruent (e.g. ← ← ← ) or incongruent (e.g. ← → ← ) condition, to examine Alerting, Orienting, and Executive Control networks, and a linguistic Stroop task (Stroop, 1935), in which colour terms appear in congruent (i.e. the word "red" presented in red font) and incongruent (i.e. the word "red" presented in green font) conditions, to examine language processing of English-French bilinguals in Canada and in Japanese-English bilinguals in Japan. In addition, Canadian participants also completed an ERP version of the Stroop task to examine possible underlying differences. The results of this series of experiments revealed a complex, yet interesting picture of bilingual cognitive control: although bilingual advantages were not consistent, there was support for earlier bilingualism being more beneficial to cognitive control. Particularly, results show Executive Control advantages for Simultaneous bilinguals, and significant differences between Simultaneous and Early Sequential bilinguals (typically grouped together as "early") in the Stroop task, demonstrating that balanced, proficient bilingualism enhances both linguistic and non-linguistic control. Interestingly, these effects only become apparent when both languages are mixed in the task, in line with suggestions that young adults’ cognitive resources need to be maximally taxed before advantages become apparent. Indeed, ERP results confirmed a greater engagement of cognitive resources in the more difficult version of the task. Although AoA and environment turned out to be confounded, there were still differences between Canadian and Japanese participants. Most notably, Canadian participants appeared to have better Executive Control. Taken together, the current work concludes that despite increased processing load, bilingual cognition does not suffer. Instead, cognition may receive a boost from dual language experience in some cases. Several rarely-explored factors were examined, and the complex results suggest possible areas that would benefit from further exploration, as well as raise interesting questions for future research.

This thesis studies the particle ne in Standard French as it appears in the ne...pas/personne/rien and the ne...queXP structures. Based on the assumptions of a syntactic theory as developed in the Principles and Parameters, the thesis makes the following main claims: 1. Ne is an expletive. Its function is to satisfy a structural requirement on both the expression of sentence negation and association with focus. It is semantically defective, but it constrains the interpretation of the associate term it combines with (scope-marker function). 2. Some cross linguistic variations in the expression of sentence negation subsumed under a negative concord account are due to the special status of m as an expletive together with the requirement that each object must receive an independent interpretation at the interface with the Conceptual-Intentional system. 3. In the association with focus structure ne.queXP, the meaning of ne...que which is equivalent to [[only]] is not syntactically derived by combining a negative operator and an operator with the meaning of [[other than]], but built in the lexical element que. The unified account of ne in both the sentence negation and association with focus structures makes various empirical predictions. Ne, as a semantically defective element, cannot be free standing combining instead with a denotating element like pas or que, nor can it rescue a negative phrase inside an island although the ne...pas/personne/rien complex does. Ne, as a (clausal) scope marker, precludes local scope interpretations of its negative associates and the element que. Consequently, constituent negation is expressed by pas/personne/rien alone. The que element which combines with ne is excluded from positions where focus particles typically have local scope. In conclusion, cross linguistic variations cannot be reduced to structural constraints, interpretive requirements must also be taken into consideration.

COSTA, Luiz Carlos. Análise linguística de textos literários em livros didáticos do ensino fundamental utilizados na educação de jovens e adultos (EJA). 2015. 125f. – Dissertação (Mestrado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras – Mestrado Profissional em Letras (PROFLETRAS), Fortaleza (CE), 2015. / Submitted by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-02-02T12:31:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_dis_lccosta.pdf: 3542376 bytes, checksum: 8f1e19b70de7e7270b3168acd9745709 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo(marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-02-03T12:26:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_dis_lccosta.pdf: 3542376 bytes, checksum: 8f1e19b70de7e7270b3168acd9745709 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-03T12:26:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_dis_lccosta.pdf: 3542376 bytes, checksum: 8f1e19b70de7e7270b3168acd9745709 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / This dissertation aims to make a critical and purposeful analysis of linguistic analysis questions in the context of literary texts in the Portuguese textbook called Caminhar e Transformar, which is used by students in Finals Years of the Elementary School in Youth and Adult Education (2nd Segment ), approved by the National Program of Didactic Book EJA 2014 and currently adopted in public schools in Fortaleza - Ceará. The analysis is performed based on functionalist assumptions and under the guidelines of official documents of the Brazilian Education (PCN: Secondary School, Curriculum Proposal for the EJA EF-2nd segment, PNLD-EJA). It uses the distinction proposed by Halliday, McIntosh and Strevens (1974) between the three types of education or language approach, namely, descriptive, prescriptive and productive approach. It also considers reflections guided by theoretical assumptions of linguistic Functionalism and Text Linguistics on grammar teaching which are present in Neves (2011, 2013), Antunes (2003, 2007, 2014), Nogueira (2010) and Travaglia ( 2001), and the meaning of the practice of linguistic analysis based on authors such as Geraldi (1997) and Bezerra and Reinaldo (2014). The corpus of analysis of this study consisted of questions of the Portuguese book that bring together two essential characteristics: address a linguistic aspect and using a literary text. After a quantitative and qualitative analysis, it was found that in the questions of linguistic analysis in the context of literary texts, there is a predominance of descriptive approach manifested by an emphasis on identification exercises and classification of language units (grammatical nomenclature) with consequent lack of coordination between linguistic phenomena and specifically literary texts, which features a conservative trend (Traditional) in the study of mother tongue. Along the qualitative analysis of the book activities, we suggest possible approaches that articulate language resources used in literary texts and the construction of the senses and effects. / Este trabalho tem o objetivo de proceder a uma análise crítica e propositiva de questões de análise linguística no contexto de textos literários do livro didático de Língua Portuguesa da coleção Caminhar e Transformar destinado aos Anos Finais do Ensino Fundamental da Educação de Jovens e Adultos (2º Segmento), aprovado pelo Programa Nacional do Livro do Didático EJA 2014 e atualmente adotado nas escolas públicas municipais de Fortaleza – Ceará. A análise é realizada com base em pressupostos funcionalistas e à luz dos documentos oficiais da Educação Brasileira (PCN: Ensino Fundamental II, Proposta Curricular para a EJA EF-2º Segmento, PNLD-EJA). Utiliza-se a distinção proposta por Halliday, McIntosh e Strevens (1974) entre os três tipos de ensino ou abordagem da língua, a saber: abordagem descritiva, prescritiva e produtiva. Consideram-se, ainda, as reflexões orientadas por pressupostos teóricos do Funcionalismo linguístico e da Linguística do Texto sobre o ensino de gramática presentes em Neves (2011, 2013), Antunes (2003, 2007, 2014), Nogueira (2010) e Travaglia (2001), bem como o sentido da prática de análise linguística com base em autores como Geraldi (1997) e Bezerra e Reinaldo (2014). O corpus de análise deste estudo foi constituído por 40 questões do livro de Língua Portuguesa da coleção Caminhar e Transformar que reúnem duas características essenciais: abordam um aspecto linguístico e utilizam um texto literário. Após uma análise quantitativa e qualitativa, constatou-se que, nas questões de análise linguística em contexto de textos literários, há a predominância da abordagem descritiva que se manifesta pela ênfase em exercícios de identificação e classificação das unidades da língua (nomenclatura gramatical) com consequente falta de articulação entre os fenômenos linguísticos e os textos especificamente literários, o que caracteriza uma tendência conservadora (tradicional) no estudo da Língua Materna. Ao longo da análise qualitativa dessas atividades do livro, sugerimos possíveis abordagens que articulem os recursos linguísticos nos textos literários utilizados e a construção dos sentidos e efeitos.

Studies of metaphors in teaching and learning have underlined the important role of metaphors in reasoning, but have sometimes failed to show the effect of metaphor on how scientific concepts are represented, and have sometimes overlooked hidden metaphors in their attempts to be explicit about how metaphor functions. This study investigates metaphor in the context of teaching environmental science. It does not assume any simple correlation between surface linguistic cues and the presence or kind of metaphor. Two theoretical approaches have been chosen, Systemic Functional Linguistics (M. Halliday) which sees language as a social construction of meaning, and Image Schema (M Johnson and G Lakoff) which has developed in cognitive science and cognitive linguistics. These two approaches are used to discuss examples of metaphors from a number of lessons which have been observed and video-recorded, and in a variety of textbooks used as resource materials in teaching environmental science. The choice of environmental science as the subject matter arises from two of its distinct characteristics. One is the fact that ideology triggers and shapes the interests, decisions and choices of materials, issues, arguments, reasons, etc. But there is nothing like one unique ideology, on the contrary conflicts of different ideologies raise differences about what will be selected and how it will be represented. At this point there is a special role taken on by metaphor. Metaphors provide the means for creating differences and similarities, thus bringing together or keeping apart ideologies. Second, the teaching of environmental science does not appear as the teaching of science only, bounded from anything else, but is a blend of accounts of scientific and commonsense knowledge. Metaphors appear at the overlapping points where this blending takes place. It is not the purpose of the thesis to question, or to contribute to, the theoretical perspectives adopted. Rather, its interest is in how these perspectives provide, each in their own way, insights into the nature of the discourse of teaching environmental science, and thus to raise questions about its effectiveness.

abstract: Arabic is widely known for the lack of copulas in nominal sentences in the present tense. Arabic employs a copula ‘kana’ in the past and future tenses. However, in some constructions the presence of a third person pronoun is necessary for the purpose of emphasis or ambiguity reduction. The data investigated in this thesis was from Classical Arabic, Standard Arabic, and the Western Saudi ‘Hijazi’ dialect. The thesis briefly discussed the grammaticalization of a transitive verb to a non-present tense copula in Classical Arabic. In addition, the thesis discussed the process of copularization that was a result of grammaticalization of the demonstrative third person pronoun ‘huwa’ to a present tense copula in Standard Arabic. It was shown that the pronoun went through a process of reanalysis from the specifier to the head position of PredP driven by Feature Economy and the Head Preference Principle. The result was the loss of the person feature. The new copula developed and attached to the negative particle ‘ma’ in the Hijazi dialect losing all its phi-features. These phenomena are known as the copula and negative cycles, respectively. The analysis was based on the Generative Grammar framework and the Minimalist program. This study attempted to shed light on Arabic copulas and contribute to more understanding of the use of these copulas in question and negative constructions. It may also help in typological studies, which may lead to a better understanding of the linguistic theory and the language faculty. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis English 2015