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- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Description
This thesis examines the narratives and meta-commentary of Indonesian users of English about their English as a Second Language (ESL) experiences. It approaches interview data with ten Indonesian second language (L2) speakers of English from a narrative analysis/inquiry perspective. Each interview was transcribed according to a modified set of discourse analysis (DA) transcription conventions, then coded by the researcher. The first research question addressed what linguistic devices members of this population used to achieve cohesion and coherence in their narratives, and the second research question examined how members of this population portrayed their L2 selves in their narratives. The data yielded 21 linguistic devices that fell into three levels of frequency. Connectives, discourse markers, and repetition were by far the most common linguistic devices, followed by adverbials, embedded clauses, intensifiers, and the word like (non-comparison uses), which were somewhat frequent linguistic devices. The data also showed that participants constructed their L2 selves using three main categories: agency, identity, and perceptions of English and the U.S.. In regard to identity, participants invoked membership categorization, where they portrayed their identities in relation to other individuals. The study concludes with suggestions for future research, especially relating to Indonesian L2 users of English.
ContributorsTappendorf, Rebecca C (Author) / Renaud, Claire (Thesis advisor) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Gelderen, Elly van (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Due to the limits of Arizona's secondary education system, English teachers often have to teach Standard English without regard for students' dialects and home languages. This can contribute to a lack of academic success for students who speak nonstandard and stigmatized language varieties. During the discussions that appear in this thesis, I examine pedagogical practices, particularly bidialectalism, that can be used to better teach these students. While these practices can apply to students of all languages and dialects, I focus on their effects on speakers of African American Vernacular English (AAVE). I also present some ways that educators can be better prepared to teach such students. I conclude with some practical applications, lessons, and activities that teachers in similar contexts can use and modify.
ContributorsGersten, Olivia (Author) / Adams, Karen (Thesis advisor) / Prior, Matthew (Thesis advisor) / Early, Jessica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This dissertation examines the organizational discourse of business meetings in a Kuwaiti financial organization (Innovative Kuwait Co., pseudonym) and an American non-profit trade organization (Global Phoenix, pseudonym). Specifically, I explore the discourse and social identities, agency, and power used in staff members' task-oriented business meetings (Bargiela-Chiappini & Harris, 1997). The study is based on ethnographic business meetings data collected during eight months of fieldwork in 2010, 2011 and 2012. I used three major qualitative methodologies: observation, audio recording, and feedback focus group. In this study, I propose three research questions: 1) How does agency of staff members reflect membership in the corporate culture of an organization as a whole? 2) How is power used in relation to agency in business meetings? And 3) How are discourse and social identities of staff members enacted in business meetings? The analyses of ethnographic and fieldwork data demonstrate similar and different business linguistic behaviors in the two companies. In Innovative Kuwait Co., male managers are responsible for opening and closing the meetings. They also perform power by using language directives and suggestions directed to staff members. In contrast, female staff members in the Kuwaiti company participated insignificantly in meetings and produce more nonverbal cues. However, in one meeting, a female manager organized the discussion by controlling topics and giving directions. In Global Phoenix, female managers outnumber their male counterparts; therefore, agency, power, discourse, and social identities are performed differently. Female managers are responsible for opening and closing the meetings and for organizing the overall discussions. Additionally, female and male staff members participate equally and they interrupted their colleagues less frequently compared to staff members in Kuwait. Interestingly, American staff members laugh and joke more together than staff members in Kuwait. The findings of this dissertation will contribute to existing linguistic literature on business discourse and the examination of social meanings and structures in organizations, explaining how language shapes the actions and relationships of business staff members. This dissertation will also encourage business people to become mindful of the role of language and language training in developing and maintaining the corporate culture of their organizations.
ContributorsAlHaidari, Fatma M. (Author) / Adams, Karen L (Thesis advisor) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Broome, Benjamin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Explaining Fukushima to children: a cross-cultural study of bodily functions as metaphor in Japanese
Description
This research proposes that a cross-cultural disconnect exists between Japanese and American English in the realm of bodily functions used as metaphor. Perhaps nowhere is this notion illustrated more clearly than by a cartoon that was inspired by recent tragic events in Japan. In the afternoon of Friday, March 11, 2011, the northeast coast of Japan was struck by a massive earthquake and tsunami that caused immeasurable loss of life and property and catastrophic damage to the nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture. In the immediate wake of these events, Japanese artist Hachiya Kazuhiko, determined to make the situation comprehensible to children, created a cartoon in which he anthropomorphized the damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactor and likened the dangers associated with it to illness and bodily functions. This cartoon garnered considerable notoriety, both in Japan and abroad. The reactions of English speakers appeared to differ from those of Japanese speakers, suggesting the existence of a possible cross-cultural disconnect. This research into the reactions to the cartoon and other relevant literature (both in English and Japanese), viewed against federal regulations regarding the broadcast of "obscenity" in the United States, commentary on American society, and how the use of similar language in American cartoons is seen, clearly indicates that negative attitudes toward the use of bodily functions as metaphor exist in the United States, while the same usage is seen differently in Japan.
ContributorsHacker, Michael (Author) / Adams, Karen (Thesis advisor) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Technology (i.e. the WhatsApp mobile application) can play a positive role in a student’s language and culture learning when it is used in collaboration with a language curriculum that uses a modular framework. When technology tools are used in an intensive language learning environment, those mobile devices will allow students certain affordances (like modifying, authoring, and reviewing content) as well as opportunities to work independently (e.g., create their own content to demonstrate cultural understanding) and/or to reflect upon cross-cultural issues that impact their intercultural sensitivity (Lee, 2011). Barker (2016) adds that cultural discussions performed during a student’s language learning process can lead to intercultural sensitivity development and learning if done communicatively and in engaging environments. In this study, participants intensely interacted in a three week immersion experience where they used WhatsApp to communicate with each other, with their instructors, and with their host families by completing tasks in three modules that were a part of an Advanced Spanish Conversation and Culture Course.
The argument in this study is that if WhatsApp is well integrated into the course activities and curriculum of an upper level Spanish university course while abroad, the students will use more innovative ways to communicate, thus, allowing for more intercultural sensitivity growth. In this study, the author analyzed the intercultural sensitivity development and Spanish language use of twelve university level students as they learned Spanish in a 13 week study abroad program abroad in Segovia, Spain. The goal of the study was to gauge how effectively the students communicated with one another while simultaneously measuring their intercultural sensitivity growth to see if the integration of the mobile app, WhatsApp, had any effect on their intercultural learning capabilities. The author analyzed data from twelve learners’ interactions while they studied abroad in a country that they were mostly unfamiliar with. As a result of WhatsApp’s various modalities and capabilities, the findings showed that all of the 12 students showed modest intercultural sensitivity growth along the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (Bennett, 1993) to assist them in more effectively communicating in the target language about the host culture.
The argument in this study is that if WhatsApp is well integrated into the course activities and curriculum of an upper level Spanish university course while abroad, the students will use more innovative ways to communicate, thus, allowing for more intercultural sensitivity growth. In this study, the author analyzed the intercultural sensitivity development and Spanish language use of twelve university level students as they learned Spanish in a 13 week study abroad program abroad in Segovia, Spain. The goal of the study was to gauge how effectively the students communicated with one another while simultaneously measuring their intercultural sensitivity growth to see if the integration of the mobile app, WhatsApp, had any effect on their intercultural learning capabilities. The author analyzed data from twelve learners’ interactions while they studied abroad in a country that they were mostly unfamiliar with. As a result of WhatsApp’s various modalities and capabilities, the findings showed that all of the 12 students showed modest intercultural sensitivity growth along the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (Bennett, 1993) to assist them in more effectively communicating in the target language about the host culture.
ContributorsAshe Jr, Timothy (Author) / Beaudrie, Sara (Thesis advisor) / Smith, Bryan (Thesis advisor) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / García-Fernández, Carlos Javier (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Nonlinguists’ attitudes towards language are a major factor in the process of language change. Therefore, linguists are interested in examining how language varieties are perceived. Several studies around the world have demonstrated that ideologies play a major role in shaping how people perceive certain dialects, how social meanings are associated with these varieties, and how linguistic communities are shaped in part by these beliefs. However, little attention has been given to language attitude in the Arab region, and in the Saudi context particularly. Moreover, none of the attitudinal studies in the region have tried to investigate Najdis’ attitudes towards their own dialects. Using a conceptually presented attitudinal approach, this study bridges the literature gap by examining 1041 Najdis’ language attitudes towards two of the main dialects there: The Najdi Urban and Najdi Bedouin varieties. The study answers the following questions: How do Najdis perceive the Najdi Urban and Bedouin dialects, and what are the frequently associated characteristics with these varieties? The results of the quantitative analysis show that Najdis’ language attitudes can be discussed with and reduced to two themes: modernity and traditionality. The Urban Najdi dialect was perceived as modern. Contrarily, the Bedouin Najdi dialect was considered traditional. Each social group tended to rate their dialect higher than the other group did in both factors, indicating in-group loyalty. Also, both groups showed high levels of linguistic security.
ContributorsAlothman, Ayoub (Author) / Adams, Karen (Thesis advisor) / Van Gelderen, Elly (Committee member) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
While Huntington’s (1996) theory of “The Clash of Civilizations” illuminated the concept of the gap between the Western and non-Western cultures, the framework of an opposite approach, which intensively emphasizes and strives for mutual understanding, cooperation and solidarity towards peace, has created a new and vital discursive perspective and practice through the establishment of The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). As the domain of UNAOC has not received linguistic attention yet, the goal of the current dissertation is to investigate and reveal the notions and messages conveyed in the related context of Turkey’s accession to the EU by the Turkish Prime Minister (2003-2014) and the co- founder of the Alliance of Civilizations, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It seeks answers to the following questions: How does Mr. Erdogan conceptualize Turkey, which has geopolitically bridged the Western and non-Western cultures throughout the centuries, and which borders the boiling pot of the Middle East? How does the Prime Minister construct identities in the context of the Western and non-Western countries especially in his discussion of Turkey’s accession to the EU? How does the Prime Minister further reconceptualize the urgent need for global peace and stability in the world, contributing to the UNAOC directly and indirectly? This dissertation employs a cognitive framework approach which entails speech act theory and analogical reasoning, in addition to Reisigl and Wodak’s (2001) Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA) to analyze Prime Minister Erdogan’s speeches in the international context. In conclusion, the discourse of UNAOC gives rise to new discursive practices for global peace, “countering the forces that fuel polarization and extremism” (http://www.unaoc.org/about/). The discursive construction of global phenomena, events and actions as defined in Erdogan’s speeches are reconceptualized on the basis of non-Western but secular pro-Western intertextuality and perspectivization.
ContributorsTumay, Jale (Author) / Adams, Karen L. (Thesis advisor) / Gelderen, Elly van (Committee member) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The steady influx of Venezuelan immigrants to the United States has resulted in the creation of a close-knit community of these immigrants in the city of Doral, Florida, now nicknamed Doralzuela given the strong imprint Venezuelan have left in this city. This study aimed at gaining understanding on how the process of immigration and settlement in the context has affected Venezuelan immigrants’ identity, their perception and use of English and Spanish in daily interactions, and how, or if, their bonds with the home country has affected their incorporation to the host society. The study followed a qualitative design. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed following Riessman’s (2008) notion of dialogic narrative analysis. Six themes emerged from the data; (re)configuration of the self, the role of social networks, negotiating identity through language, issues of assimilation, transnational identity, and Doralzuela, the new Venezuela. These themes were discussed, and multiple and distinct views on each theme were identified.
ContributorsRomero Pino, Blanca Esther (Author) / Adams, Karen (Thesis advisor) / Warriner, Doris (Committee member) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This study investigates how the teaching English as an international language (TEIL) framework can be integrated into the English curriculum of the Korea Military Academy (KMA). Addressing the research gap on TEIL and military settings, this study first critically reviews issues around the varieties of English (i.e., world Englishes), the international functions of English, and the pedagogical implications of TEIL in today’s globalizing world. The study then examines current challenges and objectives of ELT and suggests practical strategies for incorporating TEIL into the English curriculum of the KMA.
The study suggests the following four strategies to apply TEIL into the English curriculum of the KMA: (a) introduce WE/EIL activities into the English Conversation course; (b) establish a WE/EIL course; (c) provide extracurricular WE/EIL activities; and (d) incorporate intercultural content into the Military English course. The study argues that implementing these suggestions would help cadets develop both their linguistic proficiency in English and intercultural communicative competence that are essential for them to become professional military communicators who can effectively communicate with interlocutors from diverse linguistic, cultural, and national backgrounds in international military contexts.
While the study contributes to the literature by bridging the gap between TEIL and military contexts, it demonstrates the following implications: (a) a meaningful case of applying TEIL into the military context in Korea; (b) the importance of both linguistic proficiency in English and intercultural competence for ELT in the KMA; and (c) the possibility of influencing the Korea Air Force and Naval Academy to reexamine their English curricula. The study concludes that the English curriculum of the KMA should be revised based on the recognition of the symbiotic relationship among linguistic proficiency in English, exposure to diverse varieties of English, and intercultural competence in order to produce cadets who can effectively communicate in English as a military lingua franca for the success of their designated military objectives in the future.
The study suggests the following four strategies to apply TEIL into the English curriculum of the KMA: (a) introduce WE/EIL activities into the English Conversation course; (b) establish a WE/EIL course; (c) provide extracurricular WE/EIL activities; and (d) incorporate intercultural content into the Military English course. The study argues that implementing these suggestions would help cadets develop both their linguistic proficiency in English and intercultural communicative competence that are essential for them to become professional military communicators who can effectively communicate with interlocutors from diverse linguistic, cultural, and national backgrounds in international military contexts.
While the study contributes to the literature by bridging the gap between TEIL and military contexts, it demonstrates the following implications: (a) a meaningful case of applying TEIL into the military context in Korea; (b) the importance of both linguistic proficiency in English and intercultural competence for ELT in the KMA; and (c) the possibility of influencing the Korea Air Force and Naval Academy to reexamine their English curricula. The study concludes that the English curriculum of the KMA should be revised based on the recognition of the symbiotic relationship among linguistic proficiency in English, exposure to diverse varieties of English, and intercultural competence in order to produce cadets who can effectively communicate in English as a military lingua franca for the success of their designated military objectives in the future.
ContributorsJin, Seonghan (Author) / Matsuda, Aya (Thesis advisor) / James, Mark (Committee member) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Southern United States English (SUSE) is North America’s most stigmatizedregionalized dialect, leading to generational decline and underrepresentation from
characters in primetime television. This study explores the representation of SUSE
features by 80 local news broadcasters in eight Southern affiliates, all outside major
metropolises. This sociophonetic study surveys the PIN-PEN merger and Stages I and II
of the Southern Vowel Shift (SVS) — /aɪ/ glide weakening and /e/-/ɛ/ proximity. The PIN-PEN merger was found to be widespread among broadcasters, with
49/80 (61%) having a PIN-PEN Pillai score less than 0.3, considered “merged”. /aɪ/ glide
weakening was subtly present, despite being a marked SUSE feature: /aɪ/ was
overwhelmingly diphthongal, but the median and Q3 variants (measured in Euclidean
distance from 20% to 80% duration) ended in the lower half of the vowel space, showing
a general lack of glide raising. Lastly, /e/-/ɛ/ proximity had marginal representation: Only
11/80 (14%) broadcasters had a non-sonorant /e/-/ɛ/ Pillai score less than 0.45, and the
median Pillai score was 0.664, establishing that an advanced SVS is not typical. The best predictors for the PIN-PEN merger were attending a Southern college,
being African American, and being male — all factors of socialization. Contrastingly, the
(mutually exclusive) best predictors of /aɪ/ glide weakening were more products of
stylization — occupational role and the subregion that hired the broadcaster (whether the
audience was a ‘Deep South’ market). For /e/-/ɛ/ proximity, the interaction of gender and
Southern college attendance was statistically significant, as only men with Southern
college backgrounds generally had this apparently stigmatized feature. Age was not found to be significant for any feature, subverting expectations that
younger speakers keep SUSE at ‘arm’s length’. TV market size was impactful for each
feature but repeatedly (narrowly) missed the p=0.05 threshold for statistical significance.
Sports anchors led in SUSE forms for each feature, showing SUSE as an asset;
investigative reporters, however, had the least SUSE /aɪ/ and /e/-/ɛ/ variants. Gender had
strong explanatory power for each feature, inferring that men tended to ‘lean in’ to
SUSE’s positive solidarity traits, but women tended to incorporate SUSE less often due
to its negative competency traits.
ContributorsDekker, Ryan Michael (Author) / Adams, Karen (Thesis advisor) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Pruitt, Kathryn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024