A view that has been gaining popularity is that humans are sensitive to frequency information at different levels, and that this information affects the processing of linguistic material, subsequently shaping our mental representations. Frequency effects have been reported extensively in word processing literature, but only a small number of studies have investigated frequency effects in units larger than a word. The question that the present thesis strives to answer is: Do units above the word level, both fully compositional and less so, exhibit frequency effects? In Study 1, using an eye-tracking paradigm, I investigate the comprehension of idioms used figuratively (at the end of the day – 'eventually'), literally (at the end of the day - 'in the evening'), as well as novel phrases (at the end of the war) in a first and second language. In Study 2, which also uses eye-tracking, native and non-native processing of frequent binomial expressions, such as bride and groom, is compared to their infrequent reversed forms, such as groom and bride. Finally, three ERP experiments, which form Study 3, further investigate on-line processing of frequent binomial expressions versus novel phrases in a first language. The results of the studies point to the following. Frequent phrases are processed faster than novel ones by native speakers. Non-native speakers, on the other hand, appear to have a "lexicon in transition", that is, their processing starts to approximate that of natives only with respect to very high frequency items. Overall, the processing of frequent multi-word sequences in a second language is more sequential than that in a first language (this is particularly the case with idioms). The processing advantage for binomials observed in the ERP study with native speakers also suggests that different neural correlates underlie the processing of familiar phrases when compared to novel ones. On the whole, the findings reported in the thesis suggest that the units that language users attend to are not limited to single words, but extend to multi-word sequences as well.

In this dissertation I defend a non-indexicalist contextualist account of metaphorical interpretation. This theory, which works within Kaplan’s double-index semantic framework, claims that context does not have the only role of determining the content expressed by an utterance, but also the function of fixing the appropriate circumstance of evaluation relative to which that content is evaluated. My claim is that the metaphorical dimension of an utterance can be found in the circumstance of evaluation, and not in the content which is expressed by the utterance. To that effect, I introduce a parameter in the circumstance of evaluation of an utterance, which I call ‘thematic dimension’. I show how the introduction of this parameter is in harmony with a class of theories that have proposed a relativistic semantic treatment of other phenomena such as predicates of taste and knowledge ascriptions. At the same time, I question a number of other proposals, both semantic and pragmatic, which, I believe, do not reach the same level of empirical adequacy and formal correctness as my proposal.

There are many advantages to learning a foreign language, such as a better understanding of another culture, a better chance of employment, as well as metalinguistic and cognitive benefits. Unfortunately, language learning can be a long and difficult process, partly because of the amount of words necessary to achieve fluency in a language. However, informal exposure to languages can help language learning. The aim of this thesis was to explore the impact of informal exposure on the incidental acquisition of foreign language vocabulary with complete beginners in a foreign language. This was investigated in the context of multi-modal situations including verbal (auditory and written) and pictorial information. The first study investigated the acquisition of foreign language vocabulary through watching a film with subtitles, as well as the processing of subtitles using eye-tracking. In the second study, a simpler multi-modal situation (one spoken and written foreign language word form along with a line drawing depicting the meaning of the word) was used to investigate incidental vocabulary acquisition. In addition, this study investigated the use of a potentially more sensitive measure of early vocabulary learning based on the savings paradigm. The third study reported in this thesis explored the number of exposures to multi-modal stimuli necessary for incidental learning to occur. The fourth study, explored the type of connections resulting from the multi-modal incidental learning situation in the context of the current models of FL word learning. Finally, in the fifth study, the allocation of attention to the verbal and pictorial elements of the multi-modal situation were investigated using eye-tracking, as well as the impact of attention on vocabulary acquisition. The results of the studies presented in this thesis showed that incidental acquisition of foreign language vocabulary happens rapidly during a simple multi-modal situation, and that the pictorial information plays an important role. Furthermore, this type of situation was shown to be effective even with complete beginners in a foreign language and therefore could be exploited to promote informal language learning.

Research in L2 learners' use of discourse markers (DMs), which largely focuses on single-word DMs and reports learners' overuse or underuse tendency, generally concludes that L2 learners need a keener register awareness in this regard. This lack of awareness in using DMs in accordance with the appropriate register, however, is not further pursued. Although extensive studies have been carried out in examining multi-word discourse markers (MDMs), researchers have exclusively focused on the formulaic nature of these MDMs. The linking nature that MDMs possess has been largely neglected. This thesis therefore aims to explore further the pragmatic awareness of L2 learners in their use of MDMs by including both corpus-based studies and experiments. Questions to be addressed include to what extent L2 learners exert their pragmatic awareness and use MDMs appropriately, and whether or not English proficiency affects the types and quantities of MDMs used by learners. The thesis first describes the usage patterns of the targeted MDMs in 4 native speaker (NS) corpora, leading to the creation of a formality continuum along which various MDMs can be placed. An additional investigation in the Cambridge Learner Corpus (CLC) shows that the overuse/underuse phenomenon has to be discussed by taking into account the semantic categories of MDMs. Two studies - the reaction time (RT) task and the multiple discourse completion task (MDCT) - are carried out with the goals of perceiving learners' pragmatic awareness and testing whether the learners' corpus-based results can be supported by the experimental data. The results show that advanced L2 learners notice the embedded formality mismatch better than the intermediate learners. The L2 participants in the two studies find identifying Concessive links the most difficult and this is supported by the fact that CLC learners also show a lack of register awareness in using Concessive MDMs. Future work includes applying the methodology to other multi-word units, recruiting different groups of L2 learners (ESL), and pursuing the thesis's implication for teaching.

This thesis studies the application of readability in reading materials selection and coursebook design for college English in an EFL context in China. Its aim is to develop rationales which coursebook writers can utilise in selecting materials as texts and as a basis for designing tasks. This study, through a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, argues that readability is applicable in the EFL Chinese context, and readability plays a important role in determining the selection of materials and the task design for college English. As the term readability is used in a more comprehensive sense which includes text factors as well as reader factors, existing measures of readability should be critically examined. Objective and statistical measures such as readability formulae need to be refined in line with recent research into the relationship between lexico-grammar and discourse organisation, and with recent research into second language/ foreign language acquisition. Ease of reading can be manipulated by highlighting the use of discourse signals in the text, and by raising high order questions. It is argued that high-order-tasks such as "thinking skill" activities facilitate students' interaction with the text and the development of language awareness. The application of three highly regarded formulae and the analysis of language features of the chosen texts indicate that word difficulty and sentence complexity are significant in materials selection. However, the findings in the questionnaires and interviews show that readability formulae in use today ignore the critical functions of discourse signals and organisation. Nor do they consider cognitive processing factors such as exercise design, readers' interest, motivation and prior knowledge which play an equally important part as word difficulty and sentence length. Consequently, the suggestion is that both objective and subjective research methodologies are necessary in setting up new criteria. Objective statistics gained from appropriate readability formulae serve as an index to the difficulty of a text in terms of language. However, subjective opinion from experienced teachers on reader factors functions as an aid, and exercise design functions as an adjustment to students' comprehensibility. Among the three, exercise or task design deserves more exploration and experimentation from coursebook writers. Process-based and activity-centred approaches are suggested in raising questions and designing tasks, because they focus on the reader and emphasise developing students' interpretation of the relations between forms and meanings. It is argued that they lead students into the process of learning - learn to learn, which is the ideal goal of English teaching, to which coursebook writers of college English have so far paid insufficient attention. Therefore, new criteria for materials selection and coursebook design for college English are proposed: • The textbooks have to meet the requirement stated in the National English Syllabus. • The chosen passages have to be authentic. • The chosen texts have to be interesting in topic, and substantial in content. • The texts have to be right in difficulty level from the linguistic point of view. • The tasks designed should provide students with opportunities to make use of their prior knowledge to interact with the text. • The exercises should lead the students to deeper, more personal engagement. It is hoped that these criteria will function as basic guidelines for future coursebook writing in college English.

The introductory first chapter begins with a brief survey, of translation in the pre-linguistics period. It holds that comparativeness and comparison should be the foundation of translation studies. The model of Structure of Meaning (SOM) is thus created by incorporating and extending the two three-dimensional models provided by systemic-functional grammar and speech act theory. It consists of three dimensions of linguistic composition, interactional dynamic and aesthetic impact, for the analysis of the SL text, for the creation of the TL text in translation, and for the comparison of the two in translation studies. In linguistic composition, the word-order is observed in terms of Agent)-V(erb)O(bject) sequence and its variations, elaborated by modification in text formation. The functions of linguistic elements are classified as syntactic bearer, information carrier and stylistic marker for analysis. The issue of Unit of Translation is also addressed. Information distribution is analyzed for the interactional dynamic of the SOM in terms of implicit versus explicit presentation of information and how this is dealt with in translating on the basis of thematic structure. Aesthetic impact combines form, function and effect to give a SOM its individuality. This is discussed via the translation of figurative language, and syntactic iconicity and enactment. Attention is also devoted to the relations between Shape, Sound and Sense in translation. The model of SOM, in conclusion, identifies Stance and Style within the conventional meaning of 'style', and proposes the practice of stylistic translating in the creation a TL SOM which matches the SL SOM in the three dimensions.

This study investigated the effects of teacher written feedback and students' revision on the use of cohesive devices in expository compositions written by thirty Thai postgraduate students enrolled in a 16-week writing course at a Thai university. The teacher written comments, including corrective, advisory and indicative comments, were provided to the students' cause-effect, comparison/contrast and classification essays. The feedback on cohesion in this study dealt with form, content and, most importantly, essay organisation. Each of the essays from this experimental group was provided with a combination of teacher written comments focusing on the improvement of cohesion. The students revised their initial drafts in response to the teacher written feedback provided. Sixty pre-test and post-test essays were written by the students from both the experimental group and the control/intact group, and 180 expository essays and revised drafts were written by the students from the experimental group. All the essays were analysed by Halliday and Hasan's (1976) cohesion analysis model and Hoey's (1991) lexical analysis model. Statistical analysis was conducted to examine the differences in the use of cohesive devices between the pre- and post-test essays and between the initial and revised drafts. The results revealed a significant improvement of cohesion in the writing of the experimental group, particularly referential, conjunctive and lexical cohesive ties. The pedagogical implications regarding the teachability and the positive effects of teacher written feedback and essays revision were derived on the basis of the research results. The students' revised drafts were examined in terms of the student moves in response to the teacher written comments provided to their initial drafts. The investigation revealed the students' revision patterns: complete, partial and no correspondence to the teacher comments. The findings showed that most of the students who had received the teacher written feedback successfully revised their initial drafts in response to the feedback and their cohesion skills were improved. The student questionnaire and interviews, used as triangulated studies, revealed the participants' positive attitudes towards teacher written feedback, the revision process and the use of cohesion in writing. Based on the findings in this section, the students found teacher feedback helpful for the improvement of their writing skills especially the use of cohesion, although they also expected to receive teacher feedback on grammatical accuracy. The findings also indicated that revision motivated the students to write more confidently in English and contributed to students' awareness and development of cohesion in their writing. Insights gained from the present study are (1) that even though cohesion is a useful linguistic element that contributes to well-connected writing, it may not be adequate as a means of measuring overall writing quality, (2) that teacher feedback should be personalised to cater for each individual student's needs and each problematic writing situation, and (3) that both feedback and revision play a crucial role in raising awareness regarding the use of cohesion in L2 writing.

Integrating several psychological theories (e.g., self and identity, self-presentation and internalisation, possible selves and self-discrepancy, developmental processes in adolescence), this thesis proposes a new theoretical framework aiming to facilitate a better understanding of foreign language learning. The Quadripolar Model of Identity postulates the existence of four self components (private, public, ideal and imposed), whose pluridirectional interactions may lead to four types of self system (submissive, duplicitous, rebellious and harmonious) hypothesised to differ from one relational context to another (e.g., school, family, friends). For students, these identity processes are expected to fluctuate depending on the subject studied. A preliminary validation of this new theoretical framework in foreign language learning, the study reported here represents a mixed-method cross-sectional investigation with 1,045 participants (mean age 16.47; 339 boys, 645 girls, 61 of undeclared gender) learning English as a foreign language in five Romanian secondary schools of different specialisms. Of the 1,045 students who completed a new purposefully-designed self-reported questionnaire, 32 participated in individual in-depth interviews, the quantitative and qualitative findings being integrated into a meta-inferential discussion. The results offered consistent support for the Quadripolar Model of Identity, while also facilitating invaluable unexpected insights. Students’ appreciation as individuals was found to predict the nature of their self system in class, while being also related to their perceived competence in English, their affective affinities with the foreign language, their learning orientation and their attributions for success and failure. In the absence of personal appreciation, an assessment-driven ethos was found to stimulate the manipulative display of various public selves that had little connection with the students’ private selves. Teachers were identified as the principal motivator in the English class and differences in perceived teacher interest were associated with gender differences in perceived L2 competence and context-induced identity display. Implications for research and teaching practice are discussed.

This study attempts to analyse developments in the use of rhetorical figures and persuasive strategies in advertising slogans selected from the late 1800s till the beginning of the 21st century. Research has discovered that the use of rhetorical figures, specifically schemes and tropes, in advertising headlines and texts has become more complicated and sophisticated over time. Various persuasive strategies have also been found across different periods. Previous studies have only examined rhetorical figures in isolation rather than a combination of a wide range of figures. Besides, there have not been any studies done on the historical trends of the use of a combination of rhetorical figures. The combination of rhetorical figures in slogans has also not been researched. More significantly, the combination of rhetorical figures and persuasive strategies in advertising slogans has not been examined. A total of 500 advertising slogans were selected from thirteen multinational and established companies and arranged according to the year or decade they were created. The companies selected were ones that existed from the late 1800s or early 1900s and which still exist today. The slogans were then analysed for the presence of schemes and tropes and various persuasive strategies. Two types of analysis were done, that is, a qualitative and a quantitative analysis. The results of the study have revealed changes in the pattern of the rhetorical figures and persuasive strategies employed in advertising slogans through the decades. From the results, a taxonomy has been constructed which can be used to analyse advertising slogans. This taxonomy is a combination of both classical and contemporary approaches, incorporating classical rhetorical figures as well as more contemporary persuasive strategies. The pattern of changes that the results have revealed has also been described.

The present study attempts to investigate discourse markers from a functional and attitudinal perspective. Based on the pedagogical sub-corpus from CANCODE and the audio-recordings of class discussion of 49 secondary pupils in Hong Kong, Part I explores the roles discourse markers play in spoken discourse on a contextual basis and compares the different use of discourse markers by British and Hong Kong speakers of English using quantitative and qualitative methods. Discourse markers are found to serve as useful contextual coordinates to structure and organise speech on interpersonal (marking shared knowledge, attitudes and responses), referential (indicating textual relationships such as cause, contrast, coordination, digression, consequence, etc. ), structural (summarising opinions, marking sequence, opening and closing of topics, transition and continuation of topics) and cognitive (denoting hesitation and thinking process, marking reformulation, self- correction or elaboration, and assessing the listener's knowledge about the utterances) realms, bearing a probabilistic relationship with the various role(s) on a multifunctional dimension in pedagogic discourse. Functionally, non-native speakers are found to display a highly restricted use of discourse markers, especially those interactive ones (e.g. initial and, yeah, you know, ), whereas native speakers tend to use discourse markers more for a variety of pragmatic functions. Part II contains a questionnaire survey (N=132) and an interview study (N=3) of Hong Kong teachers. Reliability test and factor analysis were conducted In the quantitative part. The results indicate a very positive perception of the pragmatic and pedagogic value of discourse markers by the teachers where students at intermediate-advanced level are challenged to acquire them for both receptive and productive purposes. The findings also reveal teachers' preference to conform to an exonormative speaking model and their less favourable attitude towards the Hong Kong variety. They are not certain regarding the representation of discourse markers in the existing teaching materials and their actual teaching. The study has implications for second language teaching in five areas: (1) introducing discourse markers as a communication strategy; (2) developing learners' linguistic awareness of discourse markers as an instructional strategy; (3) utilising corpus-based research for materials development; (4) equipping teachers with a World English perspective; and (5) creating space for the development of Hong Kong English to prepare learners to communicate in a dynamic linguistic world.