This thesis discusses a practical approach to the concurrent analysis and synthesis of reconfigurable robot manipulators based on the alternative design methodology of Linguistic Mechatronics (LM) as well as the utilization of a modular Robotic Hardware-In-the-Loop Simulation (RHILS) platform. Linguistic Mechatronics is a systematic design methodology for mechatronic systems, which formalizes subjective notions and simplifies the optimization process, in the hope that numerous naturally different design variables can be considered concurrently. The methodology redefines the ultimate goal of design based on the qualitative notions of wish and must satisfactions. The underlying concepts of LM are investigated through a simulation case study. In addition, the RHILS platform involving physical joint modules and a control unit, which takes into account various physical phenomena and reduces the simulation complexities, is employed to the design architecture. Ultimately, the new approach is applied to redesigning kinematic, dynamic and control parameters of an industrial manipulator.

<p>This study uses an interdisciplinary approach in the analytical framework combining Systemic Functional Linguuistic theoty (SFL) (Martin 1992 / Halliday 19994) and critical discourse analysis (CDA) (Wodak 7 meyer 2001 / Fairclough 1989, 1993, 1995, 2001). Further, the study draws on christie's (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005) work on classroom discourse analysis, which in turn builds on Bernstein's (1990, 1996, 2000) model on pedagogic practice and interaction, to examine dominanceand power relationsin the classroom. The interdisciplinary approach enabled this study to evaluate Al-Thadi university students' English language competence, linguistically and textually.</p>

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Amendments pasted on front end paper. / Bibliography: leaves 333-355. / viii, 355 leaves : ill., maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Studies the changes in the language of commercial press advertising found before 1979 (the year of the Islamic Revolution in Iran) and after 1990. Investigating their varying effects on sociolinguistic norms, and to relate the changes to external factors in the ideology and social history of Iran. Also addresses the wider issue of the relation between language and ideology in different kinds of societies, in particular islamic societies. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of European Studies, 1998?

No description available.

Amendments pasted on front end paper. / Bibliography: leaves 333-355. / viii, 355 leaves : ill., maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Studies the changes in the language of commercial press advertising found before 1979 (the year of the Islamic Revolution in Iran) and after 1990. Investigating their varying effects on sociolinguistic norms, and to relate the changes to external factors in the ideology and social history of Iran. Also addresses the wider issue of the relation between language and ideology in different kinds of societies, in particular islamic societies. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of European Studies, 1998?

This is a qualitative sociolinguistic study that investigates the parental experiences of bilingual child-rearing for linguistically intermarried couples in Japan. In particular, it focuses on the role of native English-speaking fathers. Through the incorporation of questionnaire, logbook, and in-depth interview data, the study presents eight unique and richly-nuanced cases of language contact in the family domain. The thesis builds on influential works that have both questioned the ease with which children acquire two languages (Yamamoto, 2001b) and highlighted bilingual child-rearing as an emotionally draining and labour-intensive pursuit (Okita, 2002). In accordance with recent suggestions to more readily acknowledge the socio-political dimensions of bilingualism (e.g. Heller, 2007, p. 1; Myers-Scotton, 2006; Li Wei, 2008, p. 17), this study shows bilingual child-rearing to be an innately political phenomenon. The study supports the supposition that the individual circumstances of linguistically intermarried couples rarely align neatly with the prescriptive advice found in much of the popular literature on how to raise children in two (or more) languages (Piller, 2001b). In particular, abstractions of power and discursively constructed identities are shown to structure both the specific language choices and the broader parental practices of the couples in this study. For linguistically intermarried couples, bilingual child-rearing is shown to be a fluid process of negotiation, whereby language choices and decisions about transmission strategies are tied to social positioning of both self and other. Drawing from a broader literature pertaining to the social psychology of parenting, this thesis also proposes a model to analyse the ecological context of bilingual child-rearing. The linguistic behaviours of the parents, as well as their decisions concerning family language planning are shown to emerge from each family’s unique and fluctuating set of social circumstances. These include, but are not limited to, the quality of the spousal relationship, the family’s economic resources, (shifting) cultural affiliations of all family members, future plans, minority language contact opportunities, the medium of instruction at the child’s school, the needs and wishes of extended family members, as well as the agency of the child.

The aim of this project was to examine which factors are important in influencing communication between health professionals and patients. Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) was the theoretical framework adopted in this project. CAT proposes that individuals are influenced by their personal and social identities and that, in many cases, it is an individual's group or social identity that is most salient in an interaction. The underlying theoretical assumption in this project was that communication between health professionals and patients is characterised by intergroup rather than interpersonal salience and convergent methodologies were used to test this proposition. In addition to CAT, the linguistic category model (LCM), which is also used to investigate individuals' perceptions of intergroup salience, was adopted to complement the findings derived from CAT. There were seven studies in this project. The first study described the methodology for obtaining the data set used in Part 1 of the thesis. Participants wrote retrospective descriptions of a satisfactory and unsatisfactory conversation with a hospital staff member which they had experienced as a hospital in-patient. Study 1 provided a profile of the participants. In Study 2 the stimuli were participants' written recollections of 69 unsatisfactory and 79 satisfactory conversations. The LCM was used to test for differences in participants' perceptions of differing levels of intergroup salience between the two types of descriptions. While intergroup bias was evident, the results were complex. In Study 3 a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the same data set was conducted. This study explored differences between patients' and health professionals' goals, sociolinguistic strategies, and the patients' descriptions of the health professionals across the two types of conversational descriptions. Results revealed differences in goals, strategies, and descriptions. In the descriptions of satisfactory conversations, participants reported goals concerning reassurance and developing relationships. These two goals were not evident in the descriptions of unsatisfactory conversations, where attending to role relations was of greater importance. Participants reported the use of different sociolinguistic strategies for themselves and for health professionals across the different conversation types, which indicated that, for reports of satisfactory conversations, participants viewed their interactions with health professionals as more personal and positive than in the unsatisfactory ones. Participants described the health professionals in their descriptions of satisfactory conversations in more undifferentiated terms than the health professionals in the descriptions of unsatisfactory ones. Study 4 comprised two parts. First, using the data set from Studies 2 and 3, a qualitative analysis was conducted which explored thematic differences between the descriptions of satisfactory and unsatisfactory conversations. This analysis indicated more interpersonal themes for the satisfactory interactions and more negative intergroup themes for the unsatisfactory ones. Second, 134 participants rated 16 exemplar descriptions from the data set on 13 items derived from CAT. In general, the exemplars of satisfactory descriptions were rated as containing accommodative use of discourse management, emotional expression, and interpersonal control strategies. Exemplars of the unsatisfactory interactions were rated as more overaccommodative or counteraccommodative on these strategies. Study 5 introduced Part 2 of the thesis and involved a second data set. The stimuli were real-time videotaped interactions between health professionals and patients. Participants rated 25 videotaped interactions on 28 questions developed to tap the intergroup and interpersonal salience of the interaction. Of these 25 interactions, participants rated seven as highly intergroup and seven as highly interpersonal. These 14 interactions formed the stimuli for the Study 6. In Study 6 an LCM analysis of these 14 videotaped interactions compared the intergroup with the interpersonally rated interactions for levels of intergroup bias. The interpersonally salient interactions suggested lower intergroup bias than did the intergroup ones. This and other findings from the LCM analysis are discussed. Study 7 used a CAT perspective to examine six of the 14 videotaped interactions used in Study 6. These six interactions represented three videotaped interactions that were rated as highly intergroup, and three that were rated as highly interpersonal.. Participants provided ratings on both interactants' strategies, and health professionals' goals. They also rated the interactions for outcome measures, including patient satisfaction, and effective communication. Results indicated that the interactions rated as interpersonally salient were perceived as attending to relationship needs and emotional needs. Generally the interpersonal interactions were also rated as providing a more satisfactory outcome than the intergroup interactions. Together the seven studies provide evidence that interactions between health professionals and patients are essentially intergroup interactions. However, such interactions have the potential to move through dimensions of high intergroup and high interpersonal to dimensions of low intergroup and low interpersonal. Each pair of combinations provides different outcomes of communication effectiveness and satisfaction for the patient. Further, this research project demonstrates the ability of CAT to pick up on the dynamics of health provider and patient communication. It also highlights the usefulness of convergent methodologies to understand the complexities of patient and health professional interactions.