The exponential increase in communications in many different languages brought about by globalization has resulted in a corresponding demand for translation to be done more quickly, but without sacrificing quality. However, there are currently not enough qualified human translators to keep up with the demand. One way in which translators are trying to cope is by turning to technology, including machine translation (MT) systems. MT has the advantage of being able to produce a large volume of translation in a very short time, but it does not always produce high-quality translations. For this reason, MT cannot replace human translation, but it can make translators' work easier by producing rough drafts. Since there are currently many MT systems on the market, there is a real need for an evaluation methodology for translators to help them choose a system that will best meet their needs. As yet, no universally accepted evaluation methodology exists. The objective of this thesis is to develop and test an evaluation methodology that average translators can use to compare off-the-shelf MT systems and select the appropriate one. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Michel Tremblay often denies that he writes about gayness, despite frequent themes of sexual difference in his plays. In Hosanna , for example, he has suggested that the gay content is a metaphor for Quebec's aspirations to independence. In other plays, such as Les anciennes odeurs and Messe solennelle pour une pleine lune d'ete, he seems to be advancing a "banalizing" conception of gay identity. Despite these interpretations, a number of Anglophone academics have mobilized Tremblay's texts to make arguments about community-based gay identity and have treated Tremblay as a gay writer. This thesis seeks to determine if this appropriation is facilitated by the translation process, as a result of the translators intervening in the texts to enhance their gay content. Ultimately, it seems this is not the case, suggesting that the appropriation of Tremblay's work results more from the gay community reading its own conceptions of gay identity into the texts than from the translation process.

The objective of this thesis is to investigate the apparent failure of the U.S. government to "win the hearts and minds" of Muslims in the post 9/11 world. Using critical discourse analysis of counter Muslim media and audience discourses (discourses criticizing and opposing U.S. policies in the Muslim world), four factors are identified as being central to this failure. They are: (1) The United States government's lack of historical, religious, social and cultural knowledge of Muslim people, (2) its foreign policies toward Muslim people, (3) U.S. media strategies, and (4) the proliferation of new communication technologies in the Middle East. The findings demonstrate that, contrary to the claims of cultural imperialism theory, local contexts influence how Muslim media and Muslim audience interpret and respond to U.S.-rooted media messages and that new communication technologies have opened up greater opportunity for participation in the public sphere. This has implications for understanding the failure to win hearts and minds of Muslims because it suggests that, the active nature of Muslim media and audiences has actually served to increase distrust of the U.S. government and, more generally, the West throughout the Muslim world.

Drawing from feminist, post-modern and performative theory this investigation sets out to determine whether fashion is empowering or constraining for women in a period of US political backlash. Incorporating anthropological, historical, philosophical and sociological approaches the application of fashion in Vogue Magazine is assessed through a macroscopic content analysis using a systematic random sample methodology. Data is assessed according to twenty-three quantitative variables. A qualitative analysis determines the presence of subculture style, menswear fashion influences, functional fashion, work-suitability, and the relation of clothing in reference to the body. These conceptual variables answer the research question through tangible forms and demonstrate, in conjunction with theory, how fashion works as language to empower women. These findings indicate that in addition to providing women with means of subverting social constructions of gender, fashion and Vogue are catalysts for cultural change and work to neutralize the constraining movement that backlash politics imposed on the visibility of women.

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The effects of interviewer training in Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines and the sex of interviewee on ratings of that interviewee were investigated in this study. Previous research on job interviewing indicated that interviewee choices or ratings are based primarily on subjective data, such as attractiveness of the interviewee, sex of the interviewee, and perceived attitude similarity, rather than on objective, job-related criteria. / Current legislation, particularly Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, requires that interviewee hiring be based solely upon job-related criteria and that biases due to such things as race, color, religion, sex and national origin be eliminated. Organizations have attempted to comply with these rules, but have had little success, particularly in the area of eliminating biases in interviewing due to sex of the interviewee. Therefore, this study examined the sex source of bias in the employment interview and attempted to minimize its effect through training in Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines, those written to enforce title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. / The hypotheses were: (H(,1)) Interviewers not trained in Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines will rate male interviewees significantly higher than equally qualified female interviewees when interviewing for a neuter-gender job. (H(,2)) Interviewers trained in Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines will rate equally qualified male and female interviewees the same when interviewing applicants for a neuter gender job. (H(,3)) Training in Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines will have a greater effect on the ratings of equally qualified male and female interviewees than will the sex of the interviewee when interviewing for a neuter-gender job. / One hundred thirty-six students enrolled in introductory management classes served as interviewers for the study. They were all trained in interviewing skills and on the use of the three dependent measure scales used for rating interviewees: (1) How qualified is the applicant for this job?; (2) How strongly do you recommend hiring this applicant for the job?; and, (3) What starting salary do you recommend for this applicant? / The control group then interviewed one male and one female job applicant in random order. Both applicants had been judged to be equally qualified for the job and the job had been judged to be neuter in gender. Meanwhile, the treatment group received a lecture and discussion on Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines by the Affirmative Action Officer of the University System of New Hampshire (the training). They mastered the material at the 90 percent level immediately after training. Then, the treatment group interviewed the same male and female job interviewees for the neuter-gender job in random order. / All subjects completed the three dependent measure scales after each interview. / The results were analyzed using t-tests for repeated measures and a 2 x 2 mixed design analysis of variance, with repeated measures on one factor. / The results of the study indicated that interviewers, both trained and untrained in Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines, rated male and female interviewees significantly different, with females being rated higher than the males. In addition, while training did have a significant effect on the ratings of all interviewees, it did not have as strong of an effect as the sex of the interviewee on the ratings. Thus, all three hypotheses were rejected. / The results of the experiment were discussed in relation to Equal Employment Opportunity policy. Limitations of the research were discussed and suggestions for future research made. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4562. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Studies of classroom talk have not been able to identify the communicative potential of the ESL speaking class, the type or genre of discourse generally in use in such classrooms, or the role of the textbook in generating speaking opportunities. Therefore, the purpose of this research project was to examine an ESL speaking class from a particular social interaction perspective so that the social and academic processes in which the learners participate to reach the communicative goals of the lessons, and the instructional processes that create speaking opportunities could be taken into account. Ethnographic techniques were used in collecting classroom-based data. The researcher videotaped a seven-week course, took field notes, and interviewed the teacher and the students. / The research revealed that the ESL speaking class consisted of a constant macrostructure that contained three distinct structural parts. These three parts had constant and variable instructional phases where students' speaking opportunities took place. There were also two major categories of speaking activities: teacher-generated and student-generated. Teacher-generated speaking opportunities were both formal and informal. Formal opportunities were in the form of planned speaking activities whereas the informal opportunities were instances of talk that were not related to the academic activities of the lesson. Student-generated speaking opportunities helped them construct the lesson with the teacher. Because of the institutional nature of the ESL speaking class, however, student-generated speaking opportunities were fewer than those generated by the teacher. In addition, students' speaking opportunities that overlapped with the teacher's instruction or did not meet her expectations for participation were sanctioned. / The research also revealed that the textbook was used as a source of activities and a skeleton for thematic organization. During textbook activities learners engaged in talk through the teacher's mediation of the text. The use of the textbook during speaking activities had an impact on learners' verbal and nonverbal interaction and language use. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-09, Section: A, page: 2752. / Major Professor: Frank B. Brooks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.