Translation quality assessment is a fast growing sub-field of Translation Studies. It focuses on the inter-relationships between the text translated from (ST) and the text translated into (TT). These inter-relationships involve the lexis, grammar, syntax, and semantics of both texts. Unlike sentences in isolation, texts are context-bound. Distinctions between text and sentence are made. Text-bound translation can only be conducted and assessed within the domain of text-linguistics. Assessment of translation quality should be based on a definable, applicable, and testable model which, in turn, should be based on a sound, comprehensive theory of translation. Current models for translation emphasite one aspect against other aspects. For instance, the grammatical model focuses on the linguistic aspect of translation. The cultural model, on the other hand, highlights the communicative aspect whereas the interpretive model concentrates on the pragmatic aspect of translation. Such artificial compartmentalization is alien to the nature of translation. As a process translation, in fact, involves the integrated synthesis of the above aspects. This theris presents a model for translation quality assessment based on a sound theory of translation which comprehends the philosophical (pragmatic), communicative (cross-cultural), and semiotic (linguistic) aspects of langauge. Since translation is a semantic entity, our model - which we label 'rhetorical' - focuses on the concept of 'meaning shifts' according to which the meaning of a text is classifiable into obligatory, extended, and accessory meanings. This does not suggest that the semantic structures of a text exist in a state of utter un-relatedness. On the contrary, they survive in the form of inter-related layers within the macro-structure of the text. The relative dominance of any of the three meaning categories determines the type of text. According to this model, texts are broadly classified into literary, non-literary, and hybrid texts. In a literary text, extended and accessory meanings abound leaving a tiny room for obligatory meaning. In non-literary texts, on the other hand, extended and accessory meanings recede to the background leaving the obligatory meaning in the foreground. In hybrid or fuzzy texts, semantic structures are disproportionately distributed with no dominance of any specific category. The topic and scope of a hybrid text determine the volume of extended and accessory meaning in relation to obligatory meaning. The model is not intended for translation quality assessment only. It has pedagogical implications as well. Translation students and trainees can implement this model in textual analysis before they embark on the process of translation. Phonological, grammatical, syntactic, semantic, and lexical correspondences between SL and TL texts are identified before assessment of translation quality is established.

This research explores the processes of learning to teach Modern Languages (MLs) in the rapidly changing landscape of teacher education. It employs a postmodern critical ethnographic methodology (Lather, 1991) to examine the experiences of a group of student teachers and me, as their tutor, over the course of a one year PGCE programme. The focus is on how experiences in University and in School shape their emerging professional identities, in particular how these experiences encourage or discourage the development of a creative approach to the practice of language teaching. There is evidence which suggests that ML teaching is often mundane and does not inspire young people to study Languages (The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), 2011). However, the pressures of ‘performative’ requirements which privilege that which is measurable (Ball, 2003) act as a discouragement to creativity. This thesis finds that whilst student teachers express a desire to be more creative, they find it difficult to implement their ideas in School. I draw on postmodern interpretations of Marx and Freud to problematize the notion of ‘professional autonomy’ and to argue that the early formation of professional identity is a process of acquiescence to oppressive external structures over which individuals have no control, resulting in the alienation of the individual from the work they do. I also explore questions concerning the nature of subjectivity and the relationship between the individual and the external world through Romantic philosophy and poetry. As both subject and object of this ethnographic study, I employ a reflexive methodology to explore the evolution of my own professional identity. The critical narrative emerges from the data, which reveals how professional identities are simultaneously constructed and alienated.

<p>The category of grammatical gender has gained considerable attention in the linguistic literature. Previous studies focused primarily on describing the often very complex system of genders in particular languages, on the understanding of the category <em>per se</em> (e.g. the origin of gender differentiation) or the acquisition of grammatical gender and the processing of this category in language production.</p> <p>In contrast, the present dissertation looks at grammatical gender from a cognitive point of view. For the sake of this dissertation, <em>cognitive perspective</em> is defined as the assumption that human language cannot be separated from the way human beings perceive the world since language and thought are inextricably related. This approach also implies that research cannot be limited to theoretical explorations, but rather, that it must employ experimental methods and use research tools traditionally associated with other disciplines to collect data about authentic language use. All studies included in this thesis concentrate on the topic of grammatical gender, but they approach the category from a variety of perspectives.</p> <p>It was found that the grammatical gender, at least to some degree, shapes the worldview of speakers of those languages in which the category operates, since the gender of the personification of concepts usually agrees with the grammatical gender of the respective nouns. In the context of translation, grammatical gender proved to be much more challenging than had been expected; there were many mistakes found in the translation product and many hesitations observed in the translation process.</p> <p>The findings of the studies included in this thesis add to the general understanding of the complexities of the category of grammatical gender and its relationship to the way language users perceive the world. What is more, the investigations and proposals presented here emphasize the need for a more interdisciplinary approach to the study of grammatical gender.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Nesta pesquisa analisamos duas atividades práticas, envolvendo alunos do terceiro ano do Ensino Médio, que fazem parte de uma sequência de Ensino de Física Moderna. Na primeira das atividades, os alunos observam e analisam os espectros da luz proveniente de determinadas lâmpadas com o auxílio de espectroscópios construídos com redes de difração provenientes de pedaços de CD, e na outra, buscam identificar quais elementos químicos estão presentes em algumas estrelas, comparando espectros hipotéticos destas com os espectros de alguns elementos químicos. Na Sequência de Ensino adotada, essas atividades estão localizadas exatamente no momento de transição entre a Física Clássica e a Moderna e servem para introduzir o Modelo Atômico de Bohr e a quantização dos níveis de energia como explicação para os espectros de emissão e absorção da luz. Buscamos analisar \"se\" e \"caso ocorra\" como os alunos se apropriam das linguagens científicas e de termos técnicos durante a realização das duas atividades práticas, bem como a presença de indicadores da Alfabetização Científica. Também procuramos analisar as estruturas das argumentações presentes na aula. Por fim, analisamos o envolvimento dos alunos com as atividades. Para tanto, fizemos uma revisão sobre as linguagens científicas, destacando a linguagem verbal/oral, a gestual e de manipulação e sobre estrutura de argumentação no Ensino de Ciências baseados no Modelo de Toulmin (1958), Van Eemeren et al. (1987) e adaptações para esses modelos em trabalhos como os de Jiménez Aleixandre (1998), Villani e Nascimento (2003), Capecchi (2004) e Carmo (2006). As análises foram feitas a partir das transcrições das aulas gravadas em DVD. Tais análises remetem à importância das linguagens científicas e das argumentações para acompanhamento do processo cognitivo em sala de aula. Indicam também a importância que deve ser dada às linguagens para compreensão do processo ensino-aprendizagem, bem como a necessidade de perguntas que estimulem a argumentação por parte dos alunos. / In this research we analyze two practical activities, involving students from the third year of high school, which are part of a sequence of Teaching of Modern Physics. In the first activity students observe and analyze the spectra of light from certain lamps with the aid of spectroscope diffraction networks built with pieces of a CD. The second one seeks to identify which elements are present in some stars, comparing theoretical spectra of it with the spectra of some chemical elements. Following the Education adopted, these activities are located exactly at the transition between the Classical and Modern Physics and are useful to introduce the Atomic Model of Bohr and quantization levels of energy as an explanation for the emission and absorption of the spectra of light. We examined whether, and if it occurs, as students are aware of scientific language and technical terms during the performance of both practical activities and the presence of indicators of scientific literacy. We also seek to analyze the structures of the arguments in the class. Finally, we analyzed the involvement of students with the activity. Thus a scientific language review was made highlighting the verbal/oral language, the gestural and handling ones and on the structure of argument in science education based on the Toulmin Model (1958), Van Eemeren et al. (1987) and adaptations to these models in studies such as Jiménez Aleixandre (1998), Birth and Villani (2003), Capecchi (2004) and Carmo (2006). The tests were made from transcripts of lessons recorded on DVD. These tests refer to the importance of language and scientific arguments for the monitoring of cognitive process in the classroom. They also show the importance of languages to understand the teaching-learning process and the need for questions that encourage reasoning by students.

This study attempts to further our understanding of linguistic politeness by focusing on both a Western and a non-Western language. It is based on two sets of data (one spontaneous and the other elicited) and provides a comparative analysis of three expressive speech acts produced by native speakers of British English and Thai. At face value, compliments, apologies and thanks may seem to have little referential meaning, yet these speech acts can be crucially important in originating, maintaining or even terminating social relationships. The data reveal a tendency for the two groups of speakers to use the three politeness devices in a different manner, reflecting cross-cultural differences in social norms and value systems. This project follows earlier studies of similar nature, in particular those carried out on different varieties of English. The findings are interpreted within pragmatic and sociolinguistic theoretical frameworks, and are discussed in the following format: linguistic structures of the speech acts, their functions, the topics of compliments, apologies and thanks, interpersonal and contextual factors influencing the production of these expressives, and the responses given to them. The analysis has implications for language specialists and lay people alike, in that it brings together a number of important insights with regard to these speech features that may result in miscommunication if and when British and Thai speakers converse in intercultural situations.

The present project explores the narrative construction of masculinities, violence, and nationalism in three U.S.-Mexico borderland novels written by U.S., Mexican, and Mexican-American writers: Caballero (1930s-40s, pub.1996) by Jovita González and Eve Raleigh; Blood Meridian (1985) by Cormac McCarthy; and Texas: La gran ladronería en el lejano norte (2012) by Carmen Boullosa. Through the scope of masculinity, gender, and (post)colonial studies, this project examines how these authors incorporate hegemonic masculine archetypes and their attendant forms of violence (physical, economic, and epistemic) so as to interrogate claims to identity and national belonging along the Texas-Mexico border, against the backdrop of war and U.S. imperialism. In their roles as builders and/or defenders of an expanding nation-state, the male characters studied here enact distinct forms of violence in order to normalize their positions of power and further encode their claims to political and cultural hegemony. Considered together, the texts studied here demonstrate how the intersection of nationalism, masculinity construction, and particular forms of violence converge within an Anglo hegemonic masculinity to the detriment of Mexicans, non-white borderland individuals, and women--all of whom stand at the periphery of this imagined national (male) community.

After the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina erupted into ethnic conflict and ultimately genocide. Nearly 100,000 people, mainly Bosniaks, died in the Bosnian War. Two decades later, the violence has ended but the conflict is still present in Bosnia; the societal segregation of the 1995 Dayton Accords, intended only as an immediate solution to the violence, still stands. Population and language distribution are evidence of this segregation. Bosnia’s two entities are home to two different ethnic majorities: Serbs in the Republika Srpska and Bosniaks in the Federation of BiH. In an environment so sensitive that the government recently feared that merely releasing statistics on ethnic populations might cause violence, the languages that represent these populations are important indicators of social presence and power. In order to evaluate the presence of the Serbian and Bosnian languages, as well as the English language, in Bosnia, signage on the main streets in the country’s capitals were photographed in great detail. It was hypothesized that linguistic majority would match ethnic majority on both main streets, and that English would appear frequently in advertisements. The number of photographs in which each language appeared was tallied up in order to determine how often the languages are typically used. Analyses of these results demonstrated that the English language is the second-most ubiquitous on both streets, after Bosnian, and the comparatively small presence of the Serbian language on both streets indicated that the linguistic environment in Bosnia is not conducive to peace and reconciliation.

The overall aim of this study is to investigate the attitudes of teachers of English and Modern languages towards assessment and the grading process. The inspiration comes from the notion that grades are not set on an equivalent basis in upper secondary schools. The syllabi for the subjects are formulated in a way that enables interpretation, and they have been constructed this way in order for the goals to be re-written on a local basis to better suit the needs of the specific students. This step in the process, formulating a local work plan from the national syllabus, is however often omitted and many teachers have no local work plan to base their teaching on and instead use the generalized syllabi as a base, which in turn are interpreted subjectively. This leads to the situation where there is a lack of equivalence in both education and assessment. In anticipation of the new Education Act including new syllabi and grading criteria teachers have also been asked their opinions and expectations on these, and if they think things will change. The results and analysis conclude that the only way equivalence in grading can be reached is through extensive cooperation between teachers, which would lead to greater objectivity.

In recent years, Silicon Valley has become virtually synonymous with startup companies. These companies are defined by their famous "startup culture." An interesting and unanticipated outcome of this research was the finding that the discourse of Silicon Valley startups is framed centrally in terms of culture. I use discourse analysis to understand the way people create and perpetuate structures of power, gender, and culture. By studying the way people in startup companies talk about their expectations and experiences, this analysis hopes to gain a deeper understanding into the normalized cultural discourses surrounding startup organizations, as well as the way individuals negotiate their subjective realities within this sphere.

Nesta pesquisa analisamos duas atividades práticas, envolvendo alunos do terceiro ano do Ensino Médio, que fazem parte de uma sequência de Ensino de Física Moderna. Na primeira das atividades, os alunos observam e analisam os espectros da luz proveniente de determinadas lâmpadas com o auxílio de espectroscópios construídos com redes de difração provenientes de pedaços de CD, e na outra, buscam identificar quais elementos químicos estão presentes em algumas estrelas, comparando espectros hipotéticos destas com os espectros de alguns elementos químicos. Na Sequência de Ensino adotada, essas atividades estão localizadas exatamente no momento de transição entre a Física Clássica e a Moderna e servem para introduzir o Modelo Atômico de Bohr e a quantização dos níveis de energia como explicação para os espectros de emissão e absorção da luz. Buscamos analisar \"se\" e \"caso ocorra\" como os alunos se apropriam das linguagens científicas e de termos técnicos durante a realização das duas atividades práticas, bem como a presença de indicadores da Alfabetização Científica. Também procuramos analisar as estruturas das argumentações presentes na aula. Por fim, analisamos o envolvimento dos alunos com as atividades. Para tanto, fizemos uma revisão sobre as linguagens científicas, destacando a linguagem verbal/oral, a gestual e de manipulação e sobre estrutura de argumentação no Ensino de Ciências baseados no Modelo de Toulmin (1958), Van Eemeren et al. (1987) e adaptações para esses modelos em trabalhos como os de Jiménez Aleixandre (1998), Villani e Nascimento (2003), Capecchi (2004) e Carmo (2006). As análises foram feitas a partir das transcrições das aulas gravadas em DVD. Tais análises remetem à importância das linguagens científicas e das argumentações para acompanhamento do processo cognitivo em sala de aula. Indicam também a importância que deve ser dada às linguagens para compreensão do processo ensino-aprendizagem, bem como a necessidade de perguntas que estimulem a argumentação por parte dos alunos. / In this research we analyze two practical activities, involving students from the third year of high school, which are part of a sequence of Teaching of Modern Physics. In the first activity students observe and analyze the spectra of light from certain lamps with the aid of spectroscope diffraction networks built with pieces of a CD. The second one seeks to identify which elements are present in some stars, comparing theoretical spectra of it with the spectra of some chemical elements. Following the Education adopted, these activities are located exactly at the transition between the Classical and Modern Physics and are useful to introduce the Atomic Model of Bohr and quantization levels of energy as an explanation for the emission and absorption of the spectra of light. We examined whether, and if it occurs, as students are aware of scientific language and technical terms during the performance of both practical activities and the presence of indicators of scientific literacy. We also seek to analyze the structures of the arguments in the class. Finally, we analyzed the involvement of students with the activity. Thus a scientific language review was made highlighting the verbal/oral language, the gestural and handling ones and on the structure of argument in science education based on the Toulmin Model (1958), Van Eemeren et al. (1987) and adaptations to these models in studies such as Jiménez Aleixandre (1998), Birth and Villani (2003), Capecchi (2004) and Carmo (2006). The tests were made from transcripts of lessons recorded on DVD. These tests refer to the importance of language and scientific arguments for the monitoring of cognitive process in the classroom. They also show the importance of languages to understand the teaching-learning process and the need for questions that encourage reasoning by students.