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Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Thesis (M.A. (Translation studies and linguistics)) --University of Limpopo, 2010. / This dissertation endeavours to examine the causes of the marginalisation of Xitsonga in South Africa. The study has identified several factors that play a role in the marginalisation of Xitsonga. Some of these factors are inadequate promotion of Xitsonga by State Institutions and the negative attitude that Xitsonga speakers have against their language. In spite of these unfavourable conditions, the study has shown that several measures can be undertaken in order to strengthen Xitsonga as a language. Some of these measures are that Xitsonga must be offered as a subject at school and at tertiary level. Books and newspapers must be written in Xitsonga, to mention but a few. Lastly, the study highlights the fact that the existence of Xitsonga will be determined by its speakers. If they are willing to promote and support it there is no doubt that Xitsonga will exist for a long time to come.

In recent years, industrial relations scholars have begun to discuss the �revitalisation strategies� unions are using to rebuild lost density, power, and political leverage. This thesis studies the role international activities play in the revitalisation of Australian unions. Rather than assert the importance of international activity, or emphasise the value of certain forms of international activity, the thesis seeks to understand why unions choose to engage in particular forms of international activity. International activity in Australian unions takes on a remarkable diversity of forms. The analysis of international activity therefore requires a theory that is capable of describing these different forms of international activity and then explaining why they exist. However most scholars have not examined the role of union agency in choosing international activity. Within industrial relations, there is very little existing theory or research on which to base the kind of analysis proposed for the thesis. Most theories are ideologically driven, prescriptive accounts that either promote or challenge particular institutions or ideas about international activity. The problem is that they deal with international activity as an abstract kind of response to universal pressures of globalisation. These kinds of arguments serve well to articulate the need for unions to �think globally�, but are ill suited to the task of the thesis, which is to explain particular forms of international activity in particular unions. The questions about international activity that the thesis intends to answer form a point of connection between industrial relations and the related discipline of labour geography. In making the connections between labour geography theory and the analysis of union international strategy, the thesis argues for labour geography as a political economic foundation for industrial relations in the tradition of Hyman�s Marxist theory of industrial relations. This provides a critical theoretical perspective and conceptual vocabulary with which to criticise and extend industrial relations research on international activity. The result is a spatialised theory organised according to topics of interest in industrial relations research that can be applied to the study of Australian international activity. The thesis is evenly divided between developing this theory and research on international activity in the Australian union movement. Empirical analysis begins with a study of the international activities and policy of the ACTU, distinguishing different kinds of international activity. By treating the international activities of theACTU as representative of the Australian union movement as a whole, the thesis identifies three functional levels of international activity: strategy-sharing, regional solidarity, and global regulation. The chapter also examines the material and discursive construction of the international scale within the ACTU. The thesis also analyses the international activities of three Australian unions,the TWU, LHMU and CFMEU. While all three unions engage in each level of international activity, the review of their activities shows differences in the focus of each union. The thesis suggests that the explanation for these different ratios depends in part on the spatial structure of the industries that the different unions organise. The kind of research undertaken in this thesis has little precedent. The work of the labour geographers on international activity does not deal with union revitalisation strategy, and the research from industrial relations on the strategic aspects of international activity have not latched on to labour geography. This thesis argues that unions scale their activities internationally for particular reasons, some of which are structural and can be specified up front, and others that are historically contingent and can only be explored on a case-by-case basis. In examining this �politics of scale� the thesis redefines many of the issues in the discussion of international activity and proposes a new conceptual background for industrial relations generally.

In recent years, industrial relations scholars have begun to discuss the �revitalisation strategies� unions are using to rebuild lost density, power, and political leverage. This thesis studies the role international activities play in the revitalisation of Australian unions. Rather than assert the importance of international activity, or emphasise the value of certain forms of international activity, the thesis seeks to understand why unions choose to engage in particular forms of international activity. International activity in Australian unions takes on a remarkable diversity of forms. The analysis of international activity therefore requires a theory that is capable of describing these different forms of international activity and then explaining why they exist. However most scholars have not examined the role of union agency in choosing international activity. Within industrial relations, there is very little existing theory or research on which to base the kind of analysis proposed for the thesis. Most theories are ideologically driven, prescriptive accounts that either promote or challenge particular institutions or ideas about international activity. The problem is that they deal with international activity as an abstract kind of response to universal pressures of globalisation. These kinds of arguments serve well to articulate the need for unions to �think globally�, but are ill suited to the task of the thesis, which is to explain particular forms of international activity in particular unions. The questions about international activity that the thesis intends to answer form a point of connection between industrial relations and the related discipline of labour geography. In making the connections between labour geography theory and the analysis of union international strategy, the thesis argues for labour geography as a political economic foundation for industrial relations in the tradition of Hyman�s Marxist theory of industrial relations. This provides a critical theoretical perspective and conceptual vocabulary with which to criticise and extend industrial relations research on international activity. The result is a spatialised theory organised according to topics of interest in industrial relations research that can be applied to the study of Australian international activity. The thesis is evenly divided between developing this theory and research on international activity in the Australian union movement. Empirical analysis begins with a study of the international activities and policy of the ACTU, distinguishing different kinds of international activity. By treating the international activities of theACTU as representative of the Australian union movement as a whole, the thesis identifies three functional levels of international activity: strategy-sharing, regional solidarity, and global regulation. The chapter also examines the material and discursive construction of the international scale within the ACTU. The thesis also analyses the international activities of three Australian unions,the TWU, LHMU and CFMEU. While all three unions engage in each level of international activity, the review of their activities shows differences in the focus of each union. The thesis suggests that the explanation for these different ratios depends in part on the spatial structure of the industries that the different unions organise. The kind of research undertaken in this thesis has little precedent. The work of the labour geographers on international activity does not deal with union revitalisation strategy, and the research from industrial relations on the strategic aspects of international activity have not latched on to labour geography. This thesis argues that unions scale their activities internationally for particular reasons, some of which are structural and can be specified up front, and others that are historically contingent and can only be explored on a case-by-case basis. In examining this �politics of scale� the thesis redefines many of the issues in the discussion of international activity and proposes a new conceptual background for industrial relations generally.

[Abstract]: What is at the heart of whole school change? The focus of this research is how a whole school revitalisation process impacted on the professional community, professional learnings and professional practices in a secondary Catholic College in regional southeast Queensland. It identifies the factors within the school context that impacted on the progress of the project.A review of literature provides support for each of the dimensions of the focus of the research, the research-based framework of the revitalisation project and the factors relevant to a whole school change process. The research paradigm involves interpretivist inquiry, the methodology is case study and a narrative method is used to interpret and present the study. Multiple sources of data are employed: three sets of semi-structured interviews conducted over a three year period from 2004 to 2006; the researcher’s journal; and school documents.Some evidence indicates that the revitalisation project had some impact upon the development of a shared vision and improved whole school collaboration and professional dialogue. The implementation of the change process led to an increase in whole school professional development which impacted on teachers’ shared understandings of pedagogical principles and further there is some evidence of perceived change in teachers’ professional practices as a result of engagement in the project.The study identifies cultural and other factors existing in the school which hindered the progress of the change process. These include teachers’ resistance to change, a culture of ‘blame’, and a lack of teacher leadership and of collaborative decision making on the part of the school leadership team. One outcome of the study was the construction of a set of recommendations to assist a school in overcoming the impact of these identified hindrances to the change process.A model of effective change is developed as a second key outcome of the study. The model is consistent with the key “school change” literature, but its significance lies in the unique context from which it was drawn.

This study investigates the role of the speech community in maintaining obsolescent languages in general, and Gallo in particular. A questionnaire was designed to elicit information from the Gallo speech community in three key areas: speakers’ beliefs regarding their own use of language, speakers’ attitudes towards Gallo and its status, and speaker’s own proficiency in Gallo. The sample for this study was obtained through Gallo social networks which were identified and contacted thanks to the support of Gallo organisations based in Rennes. The questionnaire was administered to a mixture of older native speakers, employed semi-speakers and student-aged learners of Gallo. The results show that level of education remains the main factor affecting speaker attitudes and language use. Speakers with higher levels of education tend to be the ones engaged in revitalisation efforts while speakers with less education maintain a distance from such activities as well as a strong allegiance to the national language. The study also highlighted the division within the speech community concerning orthographic convention. Although a highly distinct written form is viewed by some as essential to distancing Gallo from French, it would seem that the majority of the speech community prefers accessibility over distanciation. This study provides insight into the impact which a speech community can have on the vitality or obsolescence of a variety. In the case of Gallo, it shows how a group of determined individuals can be influential in maintaining an obsolescent variety despite strong and continued pressure from official institutions.

L’objectif premier de cette thèse est de contribuer à la documentation et à la description d’une langue indigène en danger de disparition au Mexique et parallèlement, à sa revitalisation, en apportant aux locuteurs de cette langue des outils pour l’enseignement et la transmission de la langue.La langue étudiée dans cette thèse est le tének (parfois écrit teenek ; connu également comme le huastèque/wastek) – une langue maya parlée dans l’Etat de San Luis Potosí au Mexique. Bien qu’elle ne soit pas officiellement reconnue comme étant en danger d’extinction à court terme, le destin du ténekdemeure toutefois incertain dans le moyen terme. Ce fait est dûment démontré dans la première partie de lathèse, où l’on remet en question la classification des langues dites en voie de disparition, en révélant l’étendue du risque encouru par beaucoup d’autres langues indigènes.Les locuteurs de maya tének sont séparés des autres locuteurs de langues mayas par plus de 700km,tout en étant en contact avec des locuteurs de langues indigènes d’autres familles de langues mésoaméricaines(notamment uto-aztèque et otomangue). Cette situation ambivalente d’isolement endogène etde contact exogène fait de la documentation du tének contemporain un sujet d’étude particulièrement intéressant du point de vue typologique. Son isolement par rapport aux autres langues mayas contribue àfaire du tének une langue conservatrice maintenant certains liens privilégiés avec le proto-maya, mais par ailleurs, ce même isolement, associé au contact avec d’autres langues méso-américaines non maya, a conduit le tének à innover et à évoluer de manière originale, par rapport aux tendances typologiques de son groupe phylogénétique. Un exemple d’une innovation marquante de ce genre est, sur le plan morphosyntaxique, le système de l’inverse, fondé sur une hiérarchie de marqueurs personnels – un paramètre typologique original, qui a été développé par le tének comme une innovation périphérique, et qui s’avère unique à l’intérieur de la famille maya. Un autre exemple est la classification des substantifs, qui diffère de celle des autres langues mayas. La complexité de la structure verbale tének nous fournit également de nombreux traits intéressants : elle se manifeste par des marqueurs d’aspects primaires(accompli, inaccompli, etc.) et également d’aspects secondaires (exhaustif, intensif, résultatif, etc.), plusieurs marqueurs antipassifs (dont un est utilisé pour exprimer la réciprocité, ce qui est un phénomène plutôt inhabituel pour une langue maya), et plus d’un moyen pour exprimer le passif et la voix moyenne.Toutes ces caractéristiques sont examinées en détail dans la deuxième partie de cette thèse, en fondant l’argumentation sur des données de première main, collectées sur le terrain dans le cadre de ce projet, à la fois sous forme d’élicitation, de collecte et de transcription de mythes et textes oraux.La troisième et dernière partie de la thèse est dédiée à la présentation de certains outils et méthodes de documentation originaux et participatifs, qui ont servi non seulement pour le travail de terrain, mais également dans des ateliers organisés afin de collecter des données pour ce projet aussi bien que pour fournir aux locuteurs et/ou aux enseignants du tének des moyens de lutter contre la disparition de la langue et la détresse pédagogique due au manque de moyens pour se former sur leurs langues autochtones.Certains des résultats obtenus grâce à ces méthodes sont également présentés ici. Cette partie de la thèse examine aussi la façon dont l’éducation bilingue et interculturelle au Mexique travaille à la protection des langues natives mexicaines. / The principal objective of this thesis is to document and describe an endangered indigenous language of Mexico and, in parallel, to provide tools to its speakers for the teaching and transmission of said language, thereby contributing to efforts for its revitalisation.As documented within the thesis, Tének (sometimes written Teenek; also known by thename Huastec/Wastek) is a Mayan language spoken in the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, and although it is not officially recognised as being in any particular danger of extinction, its destiny is quite uncertain in the mid-term. This is duly demonstrated within the first part of the thesis, thereby questioning the classification of endangered languages, and revealing the extent to which manymore languages are at risk than apparent.The Maya Tének are separated from the other Mayan language speakers by more than 700km, but are in close contact with indigenous language speakers of other origins (namely Uto-Aztec and Otomanguean). This configuration of isolation/contact creates, typologically speaking, aparticularly interesting object of study. Its isolation from the other Mayan languages means thatTének is and has remained a conservative language displaying close links with the proto-language,yet this same situation of isolation, coupled with its contact with languages of other origins, hasforced Tének to innovate and to evolve in other ways. One such example is the classification of nouns which differs from other Mayan languages. Another Tének development is its morphological inverse system based on a hierarchy of person markers which is unique within the Mayan family.The complex verb structure of Tének also presents some interesting features : it has both primary aspect markers (completive, incompletive, etc.) and secondary aspect markers (exhaustive,intensive, résultative, etc.), several antipassive markers (one of which is used to express reciprocity,which is in itself unusual for a Mayan language), more than one way to express the passive as well as the middle voice. All of these features are examined in detail within the second part of this thesis based on original materials collected in the field within the framework of this project both via elicitation and the collection and transcription of stories.The third and final part of the thesis is dedicated to the presentation of some of the original and creative documentation methods and tools used both for fieldwork and in organised workshop sessions in order to collect data for this project as well as to provide means by which the speakersand/or teachers of Tének can fight against the loss of the language. Some of the results of the work accomplished via these methods are presented here too. This part of the thesis also takes a look at how bilingual and intercultural education in Mexico is shaped and the actions taken toward protecting Mexican native languages.This thesis was developed as an experimental project in documentary linguistics; this particular paradigm of linguistics is revealing itself to be more and more important as languages continually disappear but remains as yet a little explored domain within the field of linguistics inFrance.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Gaelic-medium education (GME) as it exists today started in 1985, when two classes offering instruction through the medium of Gaelic opened within primary schools in Glasgow and Inverness. GME grew rapidly throughout the first decade of its availability, and 1258 students were enrolled in the system by 1995. This thesis examines outcomes of this system in terms of the degree to which former pupils who started in GME during this period continue to use Gaelic in their daily lives, and provides an assessment of their language ideologies and attitudes. The 2011 census showed a diminution in the decline of Gaelic speakers in Scotland, but marginal growth of 0.1% was recorded in the number of speakers under the age of 20. Whilst this growth has been understood by politicians and policy-makers as evidence of the role of GME in revitalising the language, the census figures give a limited picture of the actual language practices of reported speakers, the extent to which they use Gaelic, or of their beliefs, feelings and attitudes regarding the language. Internationally, little research appears to have been done on the life trajectories of adults who received a bilingual education through a minority language; that is to say, on the effect that the bilingual classroom has on such individuals’ relationship to the language after formal schooling is completed. The first students to receive GME at primary school are now in their late 20s and early 30s, and prospects for the maintenance and intergenerational transmission of Gaelic by this group are currently unknown. The principal research questions of this investigation comprise the following: - What role does Gaelic play in the day-to-day lives of former Gaelic-medium students who started in GME during the first decade of its availability; how and when do they use the language? - What sets of beliefs and language ideologies do these Gaelic-medium educated adults express in relation to Gaelic? - How do these beliefs and ideologies relate to their actual language practices, to their attitudes concerning the language, and to future prospects for the maintenance of Gaelic? Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, I provide an assessment of Gaelic use, language ideologies and attitudes among a sample of 130 Gaelic-medium educated adults. A thematic, ethnography of speaking methodology is employed to analyse qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 46 informants. Additionally, responses to an electronic questionnaire are evaluated by statistical analysis using Spearman’s rank order correlation co-efficient to investigate the relationships between non-parametric variables of reported language use, ability, socialisation and attitudes. The results are discussed with reference to extensive research literatures on language, culture and identity, language revitalisation in the international context, and the perceived limitations of GME which have previously been identified with regard to the revitalisation of Gaelic.