Motivations, Attitudes and Modern Languages. A study of students’ motivational processes and attitudes while learning foreign languages. This doctoral thesis investigates students’ motivational processes and attitudes while studying and learning foreign languages (FLs). Students were asked about their choice of FL, and what had motivated them during their many years of studies. The study analyzes open-ended questionnaires and interviews with 43 students enrolled in the last year of foreign language studies in two schools, limiting its focus to the three most commonly studied FLs – French, German and Spanish. The theoretical framework of the thesis draws on sociocognitive theory (Bandura 1997; Linnenbrink & Pintrich 2002). Several informants refer to motivation in terms that could be related to intrinsic motivation. They have chosen to continue studying their particular target language due to an emotional state which could be related to enjoyment, pleasure and curiosity (Deci & Ryan 1985). Another salient feature is the frequent reference to mastery goals. Many of the informants express a motivation directed towards mastery and growth, or a main goal to be fluent or communicatively competent in their target language. Several informants also underline the motivational importance of experiencing competence, success and development. They become motivated by experiencing self-efficacy (Bandura 1997). This self-efficacy is rooted in experience of success, but also in being encouraged by significant others or role models, i.e. family members and friends. Despite a frequent awareness of the weakening general interest for FL, most students have a supportive network. Likewise, family and friends play a crucial role for many informants while choosing their target language initially. This key factor interacts with other important factors, such as the experiences of visiting countries or settings where the target language is used. In this context, target language attitudes tend to be important when choosing language and pursuing studies.

有越來越多品牌商除了管理直接客戶(代理商)外，也會積極與非直接客戶(下游客戶)建立關係，這樣的拉式策略不但能夠幫助品牌商取得市場資訊，也可藉此讓下游客戶對品牌商產生偏好，讓代理商因此對品牌商的產品產生需求；在這樣的情況下，代理商可能套牢在與該品牌商的關係中。本論文探究在品牌商的拉式策略下，對於品牌商、代理商與下游客戶的三方交換關係所造成的影響，以及處於中樞地位的代理商應如何降低負面衝擊。 本論文以台灣代理商為研究對象，藉由177份有效樣本進行實證研究。子研究一以品牌商觀點出發，研究結果指出，「品牌商對下游客戶的專屬資產投入」與「品牌商的品牌形象」將正向影響「下游客戶對品牌商的關係承諾」，進一步提高「代理商對品牌商的依賴」；另外，此研究也發現，代理形式將在「下游客戶對品牌商的關係承諾」與「代理商對品牌商的依賴」兩者的關係間扮演調節變數的角色。 子研究二則從代理商觀點出發，研究結果指出，當「下游客戶對品牌商與代理商的關係承諾正向差距」越大，則「代理商對品牌商的依賴」將越高；在這樣的情況下，若代理商提高「對下游客戶的專屬資產投入」與「對下游客戶的快速回應能力」，將有助於減少「下游客戶對品牌商與代理商的關係承諾正向差距」。另外，「代理商高層與下游客戶高層間的人際關係」與「代理商與品牌商的結盟程度」在本研究中則扮演調節變數角色，當「代理商高層與下游客戶高層間的人際關係」及「代理商與品牌商的結盟程度」越好時，將弱化「下游客戶對品牌商與代理商的關係承諾正向差距」與「代理商對品牌商的依賴」的負向關係。 / Increasing numbers of brand owners are actively investing marketing resources in not only their direct customers(distributors), but also those customers’ customers (downstream customers). This indirect customer marketing approach follows the “pull strategy” principle proposed in the channel literature. This kind of strategy provides the brand owner with valuable market information, creates product preference among the downstream customer, and aims to stimulate derived demand. Thus, the distributor faces a lock-in situation, and this leads to the brand owner occupying a stronger position and enhancing its profits. Under such a situation, the distributor may change its cooperative behaviors with the brand owner. The study interviewed 177 independent distributors who sell brand owners' products to downstream customers. The dissertation has two sub-studies. Study One is from the brand owner's perspective to investigate how the brand owner get stronger position in the channel system when it expands in overseas markets. The result showed specific investments from the brand owner to the downstream customer and the brand owner's good brand image may increase the downstream customer's relationship commitment to the brand owner. If the downstream customer’s commitment to the brand owner is high, the distributor may increase its dependent on the brand owner. In addition, the research also found that the number of distributors plays a moderating role in this study. If there are multiple distributors, the positive relationship between commitment of the downstream customer to the brand owner and the dependence of the distributor on the brand owner may become stronger. Study Two of the dissertation is from the distributor’s perspective. The brand owner's pull strategy may cause a decrese in the relationship performance of the distributor to the downstream customer. In order to solve this difficult situation, the study provides the distributor with the following solutions. The distributor can make specific investments to the downstream customer or improve its responsive ability to decrease the difference of commitment between the downstream customer to the distributor and the downstream customer to the brand owner. Moreover, the distributor can develop personal guanxi with the downstream customer or try to align with the brand owner to reduce the negative impact from this commitment disparity.

This study evolved from an involvement with professional people in a rural and semi-rural environment thereby taking into account the role which the Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) plays in their professional context of work. Two underlying factors motivate the study. Firstly, that professional needs and capacities of faith, belief and spirituality are not been catered for in the EAPs. Secondly, that an African-Christian wholesome sense making approach provides more satisfactory answers to the lack of faith, belief and spirituality in the EAPs than the modern versions of the classic dualist and tripartite anthropological schemes of soul and body or soul, spirit and body. Furthermore, a wholesome sense making approach supports and tackles people’s wellness and well-being levels more satisfactorily than the classic dualist and tripartite views. An outline of an EAP in which faith leaders and consultants and their programmes are integrated and which contributes to the enhancing of well-being levels and performance management of professional people is described. The main focus of the study revolves around wholesome foursome experiential patterns in which alternating emphases of faith experience are acted out in the sense of ‘I believe God, I believe myself, I believe my human neighbours and I believe the physical natural environment’. This four side pattern of faith experience functions as an important theoretical assumption in the study. A second theoretical assumption has to do with the foursome processual framework of God’s grand acts of creation, reconciliation (redemption= cross and resurrection of Jesus), renewal (ongoing renewal of everything) and consummation and fulfilment towards the end (aim and goal) in which we as people and the physical natural environment are intrinsically and continuously involved. A third theoretical assumption revolves around the foursome experiential professional performance pattern of ‘I perform for God, I perform for myself, I perform for my human neighbours and I perform for the physical natural environment’. The foursome experiential patterns are also set as evaluative pointer patterns around which the empirical investigative part is constructed. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Systematic Theology)

Les ondes internes jouent un rôle essentiel dans la dynamique de l'atmosphère et de l'océan. Elles sont entres autres invoquées pour expliquer le mélange irréversible de ce dernier. Dans des géométries particulières, ces ondes sont susceptibles de converger vers des trajectoires limites appelées attracteurs. Dans cette thèse, nous étudions expérimentalement ces attracteurs dans une cuve trapézoïdale. Dans un premier temps, nous nous intéressons à leur bilan énergétique, en mesurant les différentes dissipations ainsi que la puissance injectée par le générateur d'onde. Si cette puissance est suffisante, l'attracteur est susceptible de se déstabiliser par interactions triadiques. Nous quantifions la part de dissipation portée par ces ondes secondaires ainsi générées. La mesure de la puissance injectée en régime linéaire a montré qu'elle est plus importante pour les attracteurs. Cette résonance, observée jusqu'ici sous une excitation monochromatique, est ici observée en étudiant la réponse du système à une impulsion. Un développement théorique est proposé et permet de comparer quantitativement les deux méthodes. Enfin, nous étudions le régime non linéaire des attracteurs, qui présente des spectres temporel et spatial très riches. Après avoir caractérisé le régime non linéaire, nous exhibons deux comportements non linéaires très différents et apportons des pistes d'explication à leur existence / Internal waves are very important to atmospheric and oceanic dynamics. Among others, they might explain the irreversible mixing of the oceans. In particular geometries, these waves can focus on limit cycles called attractors. Firstly, we investigate the energy budget of these attractor by measuring the different dissipative terms and the injected power coming from the waves source. If this power is sufficient, the attractor destibilise throught triadic instabilities. We quantify how much these secondary are important to the global dissipation rate.The measurement of injected power in the linear regime has shown that it is bigger for the attractors. This resonance, which had been observed under a monochromatic excitation, is here study by analysing the response of the system to an impulse. A theoretical development is proposed to compare quantitatively these two methods. Finally, we study the non linear regime of attractors, which present some complex spatial and temporal spectrum. We caracterise this non linear regime and show that two very different non linear beahviors exist. We bring up some explanation to these behaviors

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L'un des moyens pour faire face à la réduction de l'utilisation d'intrants de synthèse est de favoriser durablement les services agro-écologiques de la diversité végétale. Pour cela, l'agriculteur devra adapter ses modes de gestion. Ma thèse s'inscrit dans l'objectif finalisé d'apporter à l'agriculteur, de l'aide à la gestion de cette diversité végétale sur le territoire de son exploitation. Je me suis fixé 2 objectifs de recherche : i) vérifier si les interchamps et le stock semencier constituent des sources d'espèces pour le centre des parcelles agricoles et ii) quantifier l'influence de la dynamique de deux grands groupes de facteurs, représentée sous la forme de trajectoires de parcelles, sur la diversité végétale : les pratiques agricoles et les caractéristiques de la mosaïque paysagère.J'ai mené ce travail sur l'ensemble du parcellaire de l'Installation Expérimentale de l'Inra ASTER Mirecourt, dont les systèmes de production (polyculture-élevage bovin laitier) sont convertis à l'agriculture biologique depuis 2004. J'ai caractérisé la végétation - en place dans les interchamps et au centre des parcelles, et dans le stock semencier - des parcelles en prairies permanentes et en champs cultivés selon deux approches complémentaires : taxonomique au rang de l'espèce et fonctionnelle à partir de sept propriétés rendant compte de la dissémination, de l'établissement et de la survie des espèces végétales. J'ai caractérisé les trajectoires des parcelles, sur une durée de neuf ans, soit à partir des pratiques agricoles mises en œuvre chaque année, soit à partir des caractéristiques annuelles de la mosaïque paysagère. Cette mosaïque correspond aux différentes occupations du sol obtenues à partir de relevés de terrain ou d'enquêtes auprès des exploitants.Je montre que le stock semencier et les interchamps ne constituent pas des sources potentielles d'espèces végétales pour le centre des parcelles, champs cultivés ou prairies permanentes. En revanche, ce sont des refuges importants pour une grande partie des espèces prairiales. Au vu de mes résultats, je fais l'hypothèse que les interchamps sont des puits d'espèces adventices en champs cultivés. J'ai également mis en évidence que le gradient fonctionnel de la végétation prairiale entre la bordure et le centre s'étend jusqu'à 2 m seulement.Enfin, la diversité végétale des parcelles étudiées est principalement influencée par la trajectoire des parcelles selon les caractéristiques de la mosaïque paysagère et par les pratiques agricoles mises en œuvre durant l'année en cours. Les caractéristiques du sol ont un rôle très minoritaire. Ces trois groupes de facteurs expliquent à eux seuls plus des trois quarts de la variabilité de la composition fonctionnelle de la végétation.La gestion de la diversité végétale des parcelles agricoles d'une exploitation peut donc être menée en partie par l'agriculteur. Cependant, compte-tenu des effets de la trajectoire des parcelles selon les caractéristiques paysagères, il est nécessaire de mettre aussi en place une gestion collective de la végétation entre les différents acteurs partageant le territoire / One of the means to offset the decrease of pesticide use is to favour agro-ecological services of plant diversity. In this aim, farmer will have to adapt its farming management. My work partly answers to the following applied objective: to bring to the farmer some advices for the management of plant diversity on the farm territory. I have two scientific objectives: i) to verify if field boundaries and soil seed bank are potential sources of plant species for field centres; ii) to quantify the relative influence of dynamics of two factor groups, characterized as field paths, on plant diversity: farming practices and characteristics of landscape mosaïc.I have carried out this study on the experimental farm of INRA ASTER Mirecourt. Its farming systems (mixed crop-dairy systems) have been converted to organic farming since 2004. I have characterized vegetation - established vegetation in field boundaries and in field centres, and vegetation in the soil seed bank - of permanent grasslands and arable fields with complementary approaches: taxonomical approach based on the species, and functional approach based on seven functional properties about dispersal, establishment and persistence of plant species. I have characterized field paths, along nine years, either from farming practices set up on field, either from annual characteristics of landscape mosaïc. I have represented this landscape mosaïc as a mosaïc of distinct land-uses. All of them and their spatialization have been determined from farmer surveys or landscape observations.My results show that soil seed bank and field bboundaries are not potential sources of plant species for field centres, in both permanent grasslands and arable fields. On the other hand, they are efficient refuges for a large part of grassland species. According to my results, I hypothesize that field boudaries are species sinks in arable fields. I also highlight that functional gradient of grassland vegetation in the field edge, between field margins and field centres, is spread until 2 m only.Finally, plant diversity in studied fields is mainly influenced by field path according landscape mosaïc and by farming practices set up the same year of vegetation sampling. Soil characteristics have a minor influence. These three groups of influent factors explain more than 75 % of the functional composition variability of the vegetation in field centres.The management of plant diversity in agricultural fields of a given farm can be partly reach by the farmer. However, according to the effects of field paths about landscape mosaïc, it is necessary to set up a collective management of plant diversity with all actors sharing the studied territory

The topic of this diploma thesis is the analysis of three novels (Il pendolo di Foucault and Numero zero by Umberto Eco and The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown) with usage of triadic model of literature. The thesis is based mainly on the concept of triadic model published by Umberto Eco in his study Apocalittici e integrati. The usage of his model is made difficult by the fact that the specific characteristics of the middle literary plane are not defined. Therefore we supplement Eco's concept with several additional studies. We hypothesized that Il pendolo di Foucault, Numero zero and The Da Vinci Code belong to the high, middle and low literary planes respectively. The results of this diploma thesis support our hypothesis. However, it is clear that the classification of Numero zero into the middle literary plane can be a matter of the discussion, while the specific characteristics of this plane are not yet strictly defined. The confirmation or refutation of the above mentioned hypothesis was not the only aim of this study. Additional aim was to focus on the novel which could belong to the middle literary plane and through the comparison with other novels contribute to the delimination of this literary plane. To this end, we found that the novel classified into middle literary plane uses very similar...

There is no consensus regarding the interpretation of the "Spirit like a dove" comparison in Jesus' baptism (Mk 1:10). Although scholars have proposed at least fifty different interpretations of the dove comparison, no study appears to have considered Isaiah's three dove texts as the background for the Markan dove (cf. Is 38:14; 59:11; 60:8). This neglect is surprising considering the abundance of Isaianic allusions in Mark's Prologue (Mk 1:1-15), and the growing awareness that Isaiah is the hermeneutical key for both the Markan Prologue and Jesus' baptism within it. Indeed, Mark connects the dove image inseparably to the Spirit's "descent" from heaven, which alludes to Yahweh's descent in a New Exodus deliverance in Isaiah 63:19 [MT]. Furthermore, each Isaianic dove text uses the same simile, "like a dove" or "like doves," which appears in Mark 1:10, and shares the theme of lament and restoration which fits the context of Mark's baptism account. This study therefore argues that the dove image in Mark 1:10 is a symbol which evokes metonymically Isaiah's three dove texts. So the Spirit is "like a dove" not because any quality of the Spirit resembles that of a dove, but because the dove recalls the Isaianic theme of lament and restoration associated with doves in this Scriptural tradition. After discussing the Markan dove in terms of simile, symbol, and metonymy, the study examines the Isaianic dove texts in the MT and LXX and argues that they form a single motif. Next, later Jewish references to the Isaianic dove texts are considered, while an Appendix examines further dove references in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. Finally, the study argues that the Markan dove coheres in function with the Isaianic dove motif and symbolizes the Spirit's effect upon and through Jesus by evoking metonymically the Isaianic dove texts.

Ausgehend von Oskar Schlemmers (1888-1943) Bauhaus-Signet aus dem Jahr 1923 analysiert diese Arbeit den Zusammenhang zwischen Mensch und Raum im Œuvre des Bauhaus-Meisters. Die bei Betrachtung des Signets aufkommende These, Mensch und Raum – die zwei tradierten Pole des Schaffens Schlemmers – bedingten sich gegenseitig, wird untersucht, hinterfragt und um die Kategorie der Kunstfigur erweitert. Das erste Kapitel beleuchtet den Menschen als Maß aller Dinge. Der angestrebte Typus entsteht einerseits über Schlemmers Analyse des menschlichen Körpers mittels tradierter Proportionsstudien und Geometrisierung, die zu einer zumindest scheinbaren Berechenbarkeit führen. Betrachtet werden hierbei die Ausführungen Leonardo da Vincis, Albrecht Dürers und Adolf Zeisings. Andererseits nutzt Schlemmer die physiognomischen Überlegungen Richarda Huchs und Carl Gustav Carus‘ für seine Zwecke der Darstellung einer Entindividualisierung des Menschen. Hierauf aufbauend befasst sich das zweite Kapitel mit dem Raum. Es zeigt, dass Schlemmers Überlegungen zu theoretischem und gebautem Raum ihren Ursprung in Albert Einsteins Relativitätstheorie nehmen und von Debatten am Bauhaus genährt werden: Schlemmer betrachtet den Raum als wandelbar und abhängig vom Menschen, was unter anderem durch eigene Schriften und den einzig überlieferten Architekturentwurf Schlemmers gefestigt wird. Zur Untersuchung einer umgekehrten Einflussnahme des Raumes auf den menschlichen Körper erweitert das dritte Kapitel die zwei tradierten Pole des Schlemmer’schen Œuvres um einen weiteren: die Kunstfigur. Diese, so belegt das Kapitel, generiert ihre eigene Körperlichkeit über den Einfluss des veränderlichen Raumes, darüber hinaus aber auch durch die Abstrahierung des zugrundeliegenden menschlichen Körpers mittels des Kostüms und der Maske. Über diese beiden wiederum vollzieht sich auch eine Wandlung des Menschen. / Taking the Bauhaus signet, designed by Oskar Schlemmer in 1923, as a starting point, the present thesis examines the relationship between man and space – the two consistently named poles of Schlemmer’s work – within the œuvre of the Bauhaus master. It analyzes, questions and expands the assumption, at first glance suggested by the signet, that space and man are mutually dependent: The first chapter deals with man as the measure of all things. The type pursued by Schlemmer results, on the one hand, from his analysis of man via proportion and geometric studies by Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer and Adolf Zeising that lead to a certain calculability. On the other hand, Schlemmer uses physiognomic ideas of Richarda Huch and Carl Gustav Carus to depict a certain de-individualization. Based on the results of the first chapter, the second chapter deals with questions of space. It shows that Schlemmer’s considerations of theoretical space and architecture stem from Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity and are fed by Bauhaus debates on that same topic: Schlemmer regards space and architecture as subject to change and dependent on man; this theory is also strengthened by his writings and his only surviving architectural design. To examine the reverse influence of space on the human body, the third chapter adds the Kunstfigur (art figure) as another category to the established two poles of Schlemmer’s œuvre discussed in the literature: man and space. The chapter proves that the Kunstfigur generates its own corporeality through the influence of space, which is modifiable by movement. Besides that, said corporeality is also determined by an abstraction, in turn caused by costumes and masks. These items also influence the outer appearance of man.