This dissertation explores how written discourses of Drum editors' and readers' letters linguistically construct social identities of the Drum audience, and how this identity construction is intimately linked with socio-historical, socio-cultural and socio-political contexts in which Drum appears in 1951 and 2001. Basically, this study is a contrastive analysis of the audience construction at two significant dates in the life of a South African publication, Drum magazine: March 1951, when the magazine was first published, and 7 June 2001, fifty years later when the magazine is read in a vastly changed socio-politico-cultural context. Data collection was based on the "Readers' Page" in two copies of Drum, one published in March 1951 and the other in 7 June 2001. In each copy of the magazine, the focus is on the editor's letter which asks for the readers' contributions and gives recommendations on the types of letters he is hoping to attract, and one reader's letter from each of the same chosen copies of Drum which the editor publishes. The cover pages of both copies of Drum are used to investigate whether they foreground or reinforce the images of Drum readers. Another set of data comes from an unstructured interview of the current Drum magazine editor. Findings in this study indicate that the ideal Drum audience in 1951 is the African middle class scholar who is a good writer, whereas in 2001, good quality writing is compromised for an advertising community of consumers. In addition, the black educated, urban Drum audience in 1951 see themselves as having power to resist the education system which is characterised by racial segregation. In 2001, the young people regard the attainment of higher education in institutions of higher learning as valuable for black economic empowerment. Educators/therefore, need to teach learners the skills of reading a text critically, so that the learners are able to identify ways in which language choices channel their interpretation, and also the ways in which texts are linked to their socio-historical contexts. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

The growth of computer-mediated communication (CMC) has generated great interest among researchers. Although perspectives vary, the anonymity inherent in textual communication and the reduction of social markers are often described as the characteristics that distinguish CMC from other forms of communication. These arguments have resulted in unprecedented optimism regarding the potential of this technology to eliminate social inequalities and increase access to institutional power. While critics have provided substantial evidence to the contrary, especially in regards to gender inequalities, CMC continues to be promoted and accepted. / Critical responses on the issue of gender have concentrated on behavioral issues. As exemplified by the work of Herring, these issues include, among others, the use of adversarial rhetorical strategies, topical control, representation in electronic communities, and the phenomenon known as "flaming". / Surprisingly, no effort has been made to address the role of gender in the cognitive aspects of CMC or directly question the claims advanced by supporters of this technology in relation to the anonymity of electronic texts. With the exception of Herring's peripheral remarks on this issue and limited work on the problem of gender judgements by Savicki and his colleagues, research is non-existent. / Given the importance of this area for the information professions, this research explores the role of gender in the cognitive processes associated with identification and impression formation. More specifically, this research addresses two concerns. The first is whether CMC users can identify the gender of those they have never met face-to-face by relying exclusively on the detection of gender cues. The second centers on the role of gender in the evaluation of electronic communicators. / Against the perspectives outlined in the feminist critique of technology, this research's theoretical framework is derived from the work of Hymes as well as literature from cognate fields. Thus, Hymes' theoretical model on the concept of communicative competence, which allows competent speakers to pass judgement on the appropriateness of linguistic events, is central to the investigation. / The results provide convincing evidence regarding the implications of gender in the cognitive dimension of CMC. Data from 133 research participants (91 females and 42 males) associated with the study of librarianship or its professional practice suggest that CMC simply recreates existing gender asymmetries. Women are less likely to remain anonymous, more likely to be described stereotypically, and more likely to be evaluated negatively.

<p>In my dissertation, "The Kongolese Atlantic: Central African Slavery & Culture from Mayombe to Haiti," I investigate the cultural history of West Central African slavery at the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the late eighteenth century. My research focuses on the Loango Coast, a region that has received little scholarly attention despite the fact that it was responsible for roughly half of slave exports from West Central Africa at the time. The goal of my dissertation is to understand how enslaved Kongolese men and women used cultural practices to mediate the experience of slavery on both sides of the Atlantic world. To do so, I follow captives from their point of origin in West Central Africa to the Loango Coast and finally to the French colony of Saint Domingue in order to examine these areas as part of a larger "Kongolese Atlantic" world. </p><p>My dissertation begins by exploring the social and political history of the slave trade in the Loango Coast kingdoms, charting the structural changes that took place as a result of Atlantic trade. Next, I use historical linguistics to investigate the origins of captives sold on the Loango Coast. I find that the majority of captives came broadly from the Kongo zone, specifically from the Mayombe rainforest and Loango Coast kingdoms north of the River Congo. I then use a sociolinguistic methodology to reconstruct the cultural history of those groups in the near-absence of written documents. In the last chapter of the dissertation, I follow enslaved Central Africans from the Loango Coast to Saint Domingue, examining how they used specific and identifiable north coast cultural practices in the context of slavery. I find enslaved Central Africans used north coast spiritual tools such as divination, possession, trance, and power objects to address the material problems of plantation life. Finally, I argue the persistence of these spiritual practices demonstrates a remarkable durability of Kongolese ontology on both sides of the Kongolese Atlantic world.</p><p>My research produces new information about the history of the Loango Coast as well as the colony of Saint Domingue. The north coast origin of captives which I establish using historical linguistics contradicts earlier arguments that slaves traded on the Loango Coast originated from Kingdom of Kongo or from the inland Malebo Pool or Upper River Congo trade. I show inhabitants of the coastal kingdoms and Mayombe rainforest were not mere middlemen in the interior slave trade as previously thought, but were the victims of new mechanisms of enslavement created as a result of the erosion of traditional political institutions due to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The north coast origin of Loango Coast captives has repercussions for the cultural history of the Americas. It means that captives were not "Atlantic Creoles" with prior knowledge of European culture and religion. I argue historians can only understand the meaning of the cultural practices of Africans in the Americas by understanding where Africans came from and what cultural and linguistic tools they brought with them. The use and transmission of Kongolese ritual knowledge and spiritual technologies in Saint Domingue challenges historians of slavery to move beyond the false dichotomy that culture originated in either Africa or on the plantation and forces a fundamental reassessment of the concept of creolization.</p> / Dissertation

Speakers of Persian, like speakers of other languages, utilise Routine Politeness Formulae (RPF) to negotiate central interpersonal interactions. RPF in Persian have not received any systematic description as to their forms, their functions, their typical conditions of use and their discourse structure rules. Bridging this gap, for the first time, RPF from five frequently-used speech acts – namely, greeting, leave-taking, apologizing, thanking and requesting – are documented in this thesis. Data were derived from Persian soap operas and from role-plays with native speakers, and were entered into a database for further analysis. The analysis is qualitative and the data are conceived of as phraseological units to be represented as dictionary entries. The study of the aforementioned speech acts and their related array of RPF reveals the dynamics of interpersonal polite behaviour among Persians, reflecting the following socio-cultural values prevalent in Iranian society: (i) its group-oriented nature, (ii) a tendency towards positive (solidarity) politeness, (iii) sensitivity to remaining in people’s debt, (iv) sensitivity to giving trouble to others, (v) a high premium on reciprocity in interpersonal communications, (vi) the importance of seniority in terms of age and social status, and (vii) differentiation between members of the ‘inner circle’ and the ‘outer circle’. This thesis also reveals the dominance of the strategy of self-lowering and other-elevating. Almost all RPF in Persian allow for the use of this pervasive strategy, which is also manifested by two further sub-strategies: (i) a propensity to exaggerate favours received from others, and (ii) giving precedence to others over oneself. Finally, it is suggested that Islamic teachings have significantly influenced the formation and use of certain RPF. The dictionary resulting from this work can serve as a resource for researchers in sociolinguistics and pragmatics, and for the teaching of Persian to non-Persian speakers.

Chapter One includes an introduction to AIDS, the AIDS Quilt, and work by communication scholars related to AIDS and the AIDS Quilt. A literature review of creative works inspired by the AIDS Quilt follows. The research question which guides the analysis is included and followed by descriptions of the three artifacts to be analyzed: The Quilt: Stories from The NAMES Project, "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, and The AIDS Quilt Songbook.Chapter Two describes the method to be used in the analysis, cluster analysis developed by Kenneth Burke. The steps in the cluster method are: 1) identify key terms in the rhetoric, 2) chart the terms that cluster around key terms, 3) discover patterns in the clusters, and 4) name the motive, or situation, based on the meanings of the key terms.Chapter Three is a cluster analysis of a book entitled, The Quilt: Stories from The NAMES Project. Key terms found in this analysis are "love," "grief," "memories / remembrance," "hope," "intolerance," and “individuality." Chapter Four is a cluster analysis of a documentary, "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt." Key terms examined in this analysis are "negligence," "disease / AIDS," "grief," "love," and "memories." Chapter Five is a cluster analysis of poetry from The AIDS Quilt Songbook, a performance of poetry, music, and singing. Key terms discovered through this analysis are "death / dying," "disease / sickness," "cool / cold," and "warm / hot."Chapter Six contains conclusions pertaining to the analysis of all three rhetorical artifacts. Conclusions include the effectiveness of the positive, realistic approach to AIDS portrayed in the personal stories, which have helped humanize the AIDS statistics. Positive outlets for handling grief are also found through the analysis. Contributions to cluster analysis and rhetorical theory include the unique results in analyzing visual images, the effectiveness of using cluster criticism to uncover emotion-laden key terms, and evidence for the therapeutic uses of communication. Finally, communication scholars who study the personal side of contemporary problems can contribute by helping people understand the details behind the statistics, encouraging them to take steps toward solving contemporary problems such as AIDS. / Department of Speech Communication

The subjective reactions of listeners from various backgrounds to speech varieties used in Medellin, Colombia, were investigated using the matched-guise technique with a series of measuring scales. In all three dimensions of a semantic differential scale-namely, competence, personal integrity, and social attractiveness-Non-Antioqueno Dialect (NAD) speakers were rated significantly higher than Antioqueno Dialect (AD) speakers regardless of the sex or the dialect of the subject, or the sex of the speaker. In the case of social attractiveness, however, for female subjects the difference between NAD speakers and AD speakers was somewhat larger than for the male subjects.The evaluations of male speakers were significantly higher than those of female speakers regardless of the sex of the subject, the dialect of the subject, or the dialect of the speaker. For AD subjects the difference in ratings between male and female speakers was about the same for male and female subjects; however, for NAD female subjects this difference was somewhat larger than for the NAD male subjects.In general, the evaluations of speakers by different age groups indicated a significant difference, between older and younger subjects. The younger subjects rated speakers significantly lower. than the older subjects did for all three variables of evaluation, that is, competence, personal integrity and social attractiveness.While no significant effect was found for socio-economic status (SES) non the variables of personal integrity and social attractiveness, SES was found to have a significant effect on evaluations of competence. In this dimension of evaluation, lowermiddle class subjects rated speakers significantly differently from the middle-middle class and the upper-middle class subjects. The former ranked speakers higher on competence than the middle-middle class and the upper-middle class subjects did.Finally, subjects assigned prestigious professions to NAD speakers, while only non-prestigious occupations were matched with the AD speakers. Additionally, the proportion of times male speakers were judged to have a prestigious occupation was significantly higher than the proportion of times female speakers were judged so.Within the theoretical framework of this study, differential reactions to the guises assumed by the speakers were interpreted as revealing differential attitudes towards the speech varieties. The evaluations are taken to be attitudes not only toward the speakers themselves, but also toward the language forms of the varieties involved. / Department of English

The question of adverbs and the meaning of the present perfect across varieties of English is central to sociolinguistic variationist methodologies that have approached the study of the present perfect (Winford, 1993; Tagliamonte, 1997; van Herk, 2008, 2010; Davydova, 2010; Tagliamonte, 2013). This dissertation attempts to disentangle the effect of adverbial support from the three canonical readings of the present perfect (Resultative, Experiential and Continuative). Canadian English, an understudied variety of English, is used to situate the results seen in the Early Modern English data. Early Modern English reflects the time period in which English has acquired the full modern use of the present perfect with the three readings. In order to address both these questions and current controversies over statistical models in sociolinguistics, different statistical models are used: both the traditional Goldvarb X (Sankoff, Tagliamonte and Smith, 2005) and the newer mixed-effects logistic regression (Johnson, 2009). What is missing from the previous literature in sociolinguistics that advocates logistic mixed-effects models, and provided in this dissertation, is a clear statement of where they are inappropriate to use and their limitations. The rate of adverbial marking of the present perfect in Canadian English falls between rates reported for US and British English in previous studies. The data show in both time periods that while adverbs are highly favored in continuative contexts, they are strongly disfavored in experiential and resultative contexts. In Early Modern English, adverbial support functions statistically differently for resultatives and experientials, but that difference collapses in the Canadian English sample. Both this and the other linguistic contexts support a different analysis for each set of data with respect to adverbial independence from the meaning of the present perfect form. Finally, when the focus of the analysis is on linguistic rather than social factors, both the traditional and newer models provide similar results. Where there are differences, however, these can be accounted for by the number of tokens and different estimation techniques for each model.

Social networking sites are the contemporary agora: where individuals share their lives, understand the world, exchange cultural artefacts and tend to relationships. Yet, these sites are paradoxically lauded for their ability to connect lives and disparaged for the effect they have on the quality of language and relationships. Covered extensively across disciplines, including inquiries into identity and gender politics, social networking sites remain under investigated in linguistics. Here, the interplay of identity, gender, and language in a group of adolescent girls on Facebook is explored in the sociolinguistic tradition. This research demonstrates how a discourse analytic framework can determine some aspect of identity from an individual’s online interactions, including gender as constrained by historical and cultural discourses. A collaborative methodology navigates the difficulties of collecting data online, the complexities of gender and identity, as well as provides a commentary on the need for reform in ethical protocol for online research. / Graduate

Participants in an intercultural situation of communication, trying to understand the intentions of their co-Iocutors from their own cultural perspective, can frequently commit misinterpretations that lead to misunderstandings of intention and meaning. Intercultural communication studies, for the majority, focus on unveiling and discovering differences that they believe to be at the core of such misunderstandings. Such studies have probed the varying cultural values, to mention a few, on the levels of individualism versus collectivism, of low-context versus high-context, of varying concepts of time or of silence (e.g. Hofstede 1980, Hofstede 1991, Hall 1959, Hall & HaU1990). The present study suggests that the perspective of one's primary socialisation culture should be studied on a more specific level if one is aiming to discover possible cultural differences. The level that is proposed to be studied is the production and interpretations of patterns of talk-in-interaction such as pauses, overlaps, speaker changes, simultaneous talk, prosody and intonation patterns, and so on. It is the stance of the present inquiry that these above-mentioned turntaking patterns play a key role in the processes through which the participants interpret each other's meanings and intentions, although the processes themselves remain mostly entirely subconscious. The present study was inspired by a case study that was conducted comparing the turn-taking behaviour between Americans and French conversing in French (Wieland 1991). Wieland conducted recordings of ordinary dinner table conversations, and later interviewed the participants in order to elicit insights into their interpretations of the interaction. However, little work has been done to further compare the culturally varying interaction patterns and the participants' reactions to them. The majority ofstudies into intercultural communication remain on more abstract levels of cultural values rather than addressing the actual arena of talk-in-interaction, although some have broken this unploughed ground, e.g. Moerman (1988) in his combination of conversation analysis and ethnography. The stance of the present study is that it is this very level of talk-in-interaction that holds the key to understanding what exactly happens in possible misunderstandings in situations of intercultural communication. Studies on talk-in-interaction focus on conversational turn-taking (Psathas 1995, Ten Have & Psathas 1995, Sacks, Schegloff & Jefferson 1974, Schegloff 2000). They therefore bring to light behavioural patterns - and their respective interpretations - that most of the time remain subconscious in the minds of the interactants, as those patterns are learned and internalised early on in the primary socialisation process (Berger & Luckmann 1966). Sample analyses on the conversational overlaps of French speakers carried out previously by the researcher (Kohonen 2000) served as a basis for the hypothesis development. These earlier analyses made evident the importance of gaining access to participants' perceptions on the interaction, as well as the access into parameters that allow a comparative approach. The present research is an exploratory, qualitative case study that allowed comparisons to be made between the overlap patterns of the native French and the native British English participants conversing in native and mixed groups, furthermore gaining access to participants' perceptions of the interaction. The present study is not intended to be taken as a strictly conversation analytical research, as the Literature Review will show. The aim of the present study is on the contrary to explore the possible theoretical and methodological triangulations available in the field of social sciences, and to discover how the triangulation of theories and methods could enhance the study of talk-in-interaction, in both native and intercultural settings.

Through combining the traditional Chomskyan approach as well as the sociolinguistic approach to language learning, the present research explores the production of 12 English linguistic features by 12 Hong Kong Cantonese adolescent informants living in London. An analysis of their social practices is also undertaken and linked to their production of these linguistic features. The research relies on participant observation and data elicited from interviews with the 12 informants. These informants were born in Hong Kong and arrived in London at age 5, 8, and 10. The findings suggest that cognitive and social factors play an important part in language learning. These factors include the critical period, social network, and other social practices like reading, taking part in school-organised extracurricular activities. The research underscores the importance of social factors in the explanation of language behaviour in migrant communities.