Dissertations / Theses: 'English language English language English language British'

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Siu, Pui-kwan Rosanna. "Comparing British and American English in the media /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1999. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B21161483.

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Deutschmann, Mats. "Apologising in British English." Doctoral thesis, Umeå University, Modern Languages, 2003. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-43.

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The thesis explores the form, function and sociolinguistic distribution of explicit apologies in the spoken part of the British National Corpus. The sub-corpus used for the study comprises a spoken text mass of about five million words and represents dialogue produced by more than 1700 speakers, acting in a number of different conversational settings. More than 3000 examples of apologising are included in the analysis.

Primarily, the form and function of the apologies are examined in relation to the type of offence leading up to the speech act. Aspects such as the sincerity of the apologies and the use of additional remedial strategies other than explicit apologising are also considered. Variations in the distributions of the different types of apologies found are subsequently investigated for the two independent variables speaker social identity (gender, social class and age) and conversational setting (genre, formality and group size). The effect of the speaker-addressee relationship on the apology rate and the types of apologies produced is also examined.

In this study, the prototypical apology, a speech act used to remedy a real or perceived offence, is only one of a number of uses of the apology form in the corpus. Other common functions of the form include discourse-managing devices such as request cues for repetition and markers of hesitation, as well as disarming devices uttered before expressing disagreement and controversial opinions.

Among the speaker social variables investigated, age and social class are particularly important in affecting apologetic behaviour. Young and middle-class speakers favour the use of the apology form. No substantial gender differences in apologising are apparent in the corpus. I have also been able to show that large conversational groups result in frequent use of the form. Finally, analysis of the effects of the speaker-addressee relationship on the use of the speech act shows that, contrary to expectations based on Brown & Levinson’s theory of politeness, it is the powerful who tend to apologise to the powerless rather than vice versa.

The study implies that formulaic politeness is an important linguistic marker of social class and that its use often involves control of the addressee.

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Siu, Pui-kwan Rosanna, and 蕭佩君. "Comparing British and American English in the media." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1999. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B21161483.

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Mapson, Rachel Patricia. "Interpreting linguistic politeness from British Sign Language to English." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2015. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.687685.

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This thesis explores the way im/politeness is interpreted from British Sign Language into spoken English. This aspect of interpreting may significantly impact on the dynamics of interpreted interactions, due to differences in the way im/politeness is both produced and received in the varied situations in which interpreters work. The study draws on rapport management theory (Spencer-Oatey 2005, 2008) and the concept of social networks (Watts 2003) to frame the complex and multiple considerations involved. Qualitative data were generated through a series of semi-structured group discussions centred on interpreting im/politeness, involving eight highly experienced professional BSL/English interpreters. Data were analysed thematically to identify how interpreters recognise im/politeness in BSL, the key influences on the way they interpret im/politeness and the interpreting strategies they might employ. To underpin this study, foundational research to explore how politeness is expressed in BSL was conducted, involving interviews with five Deaf participants. Analysis reveals that interpreters' knowledge about politeness in BSL and interpreting politeness is generally tacit and hard to articulate, and suggest the benefits of explicit tuition on the subject. The multiple influences on interpreters' evaluations of im/politeness are dynamic, and coalesce differently in each interpreted interaction. Context emerges as a multi-layered influence that relates to not only the environment but also the characteristics, language use, goals and expectations of the people involved. Interpreters' strategies may involve smoothing their interpretation to better ensure that the interactional goals are met and to manage rapport between clients. The affordance of interpreters' familiarity with the context, and their clients, provides a valuable resource that informs interpreters' decisionmaking and strategy choices; a particular benefit given the temporal pressure of simultaneous interpreting. The study contributes theoretically to im/politeness research and interpreting studies, and has practical value for interpreting professionals, both within initial interpreter training programmes and continuing professional development.

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Richards, Donna Jean. "Prestige and standard in Canadian English : Prestige and standard in Canadian English :." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/29172.

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A survey of the use of standard and prestige in general descriptions of English, and of Canadian English in particular, reveals terminological confusion caused by the similarity of the two concepts and by cultural differences among the national dialects being discussed. This work argues, however, that these concepts can and should be distinguished. Once working definitions for both terms are formulated, they are tested against data from the Survey of Vancouver English. Vancouver English reveals little or no evidence of prestige, defined as "that variety (or those forms) used by the highest socio-economic group and emulated by others." The absence of a highest socio-economic group sufficiently well established to provide forms for others to emulate may explain this result, since, in Vancouver, social homogeneity seems to complement the geographical homogeneity that typifies Canadian English. While Vancouver English does reveal evidence of standard, defined as "that variety used by the majority of speakers and typified by correctness," the evidence also suggests that the notion of standard may need to be refined. The effect of various social factors on correctness is analyzed in order to provide a more precise notion of what "correctness" reflects, and education is found to contribute significantly to correctness. Furthermore, consideration of the four processes of standardization -- selection, codification, elaboration of function and acceptance -- in Canadian English confirms the importance of education to standardization and suggests not only that a standard exists in Canadian English but also that Canadian English is a standard variety distinct from other varieties of English. Standard is thus redefined to reflect more directly the role of correctness and the centrality of the four processes to standardization. The study concludes with a brief reconsideration of standard and prestige in light of these Canadian findings and suggests directions for further research.
Arts, Faculty of
English, Department of
Graduate

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Amdaouech, Leila. "“It is not important whether one speaks British English or American English” : A Questionnaire-Based Study of English Teachers’ Attitudes in Sweden." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-157312.

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Although there have been some studies conducted in Sweden about the language attitudes towards different varieties of English, most of these studies have focused on the language attitudes found amongst students. There have not, however, been many studies conducted that examines teachers’ language attitudes. The focus of the present study is to investigate which attitudes are found towards two varieties of English, American English and British English, amongst English teachers in Sweden. The study also aims to explore whether the teachers’ age and language backgrounds have an impact on the teachers’ attitudes. The hypothesis was that older teachers would be more positively inclined towards British English while younger teachers would prefer American English. Furthermore, it was also hypothesized that teachers who grew up monolingual would prefer British English and those who grew up bilingual would favour American English. The data collection method that was used in the study was a questionnaire which was distributed online to English teachers in Sweden. 115 teachers participated in the study and answered the questionnaire, which provided both quantitative and qualitative data. The results of the study show that the teachers seem to display equally positive attitudes towards both varieties. For example, American English is favoured in terms of being most familiar, easiest to understand and easiest to teach. British English, on the other hand, is favoured in terms of pleasantness and is in many ways seen as more respected. The findings of the study did confirm the hypotheses to a certain degree. The results showed a tendency amongst younger teachers and teachers who have grown up bilingual to prefer American English. In contrast, the tendency amongst older teachers and teachers who have grown up monolingual was to prefer British English. Overall, the results of the study raise the question of how these attitudes affect the teachers’ teaching of English.

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Pike, Erica. "School Leaders' Perceptions of Caribbean Students' English Language Needs." ScholarWorks, 2014. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/94.

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Although British West Indian Caribbean (BWIC) immigrant students are considered to be English speaking students by U.S. public schools, many of them speak other languages. These students experience hardships and have unique remediation needs that many schools are not providing. The conceptual frameworks that guided this case study were sociocultural theory, acculturation theory, and leadership theory. These theories postulate that culture influences learning, second language acquisition is linked to adapting to a new culture, and leadership is important to implement system-wide changes. Qualitative data included interviews with 6 teachers and 3 administrators who work closely with BWIC students, New York City Department of Education English Language Test results of 512 students, and 26 BWIC student school enrollment forms. Data were analyzed through a coding process to determine emergent patterns and themes. Key findings indicated that participants identified the students' academic struggles with Standard English and that teachers experiment with various strategies to reach the students. Recommendations include development of identification and remediation programs for BWIC students and additional research on strategies to teach English to these students. Study findings may promote positive social change by encouraging school districts to work with the Caribbean-American community to help increase BWIC student retention rates.

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Lawrence, Helen Rachel. "Aspects of English : an examination of aspect within past temporal reference in northern British English." Thesis, University of York, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.341495.

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Johansson, Caroline. "Received Pronunciation, Estuary English and Cockney English: A Phonologic and Sociolinguistic Comparison of Three British English Accents." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-31481.

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McKenna, Edoardo. "British Latin in the sub-Roman period : the possibility of direct language contact between British Latin and Old English." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2015. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=235945.

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The present study endeavours to explore the possible survival of British Latin in subRoman Britain. Through a detailed socio-historical analysis it argues that Roman Britain was much more deeply Latinised than hitherto assumed; widespread bilingualism with Latin, and in some cases outright monolingualism in Rome's language, is shown to have extended beyond the army, the upper classes and the cities, and to have in fact become common also in rural districts at least from the 3rd century onwards. To this end, deeply-entrenched beliefs on the nature of British Latin are discussed and dispelled through comparisons with the extant epigraphic evidence; estimates of the geographical distribution and quantitative impact of the alleged Latin speakers are also attempted. On the basis of archaeological evidence this research also undertakes to demonstrate that late 4th-century Germanic settlements may have taken place, in full accordance with Roman authorities, both near the so-called 'Saxon-Shore' fortifications and in the proximity of major settlements throughout the length and breadth of central-eastern Britain. The limited number of Brythonic words which these well-established groups transmitted to the later Anglo-Saxon wave in the 5th century is taken as proof of the essentially minor role which the Celtic tongue played in Roman Lowland Britain. On the strength of the various theories put forward over the last decades on British survival in the wake of the Anglo-Saxon conquest, this discussion maintains that a substantial proportion of the natives may have preserved their acquired language, and hypothesises that they may have relocated en masse to western Britain after their victory at Mons Badonicus around AD 500. In the context of this premise, a number of Latin loanwords into Old English are discussed as potentially transmitted without a Brythonic intermediary; the insight previously gathered on British Latin's true characteristics is also employed to examine whether certain English place-names (most notably those in '-cester', those of the 'Crutch/Crich/Churchill' type, and the so-called 'tautological' ones) may not in fact owe something to a Latin substrate.

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Östlund, Fredrik. "British vs American English : Pronunciation in the EFL Classroom." Thesis, Karlstad University, Division for Culture and Communication, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-31.

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Today English is a world language; it is spoken by millions both as first and second language almost all over the world. The varieties best known to Swedish pupils are the varieties British and American English. Another variety of English, which is spoken by both native and non-native speakers, is a mixture of British English and American English called Mid-Atlantic English. As long as the English language has been a part of the Swedish curriculum, the leading variety taught has been British English, but lately American English has influenced Swedish teenagers because of its prominent status in media. Since both British English and American English are used in Swedish schools, different attitudes can be perceived among pupils and teachers towards these two varieties. The aim of this paper is to determine if Swedish pupils are using British or American English or if they mix these two varieties. Attitudes and prejudice amongst pupils and their teachers towards these two varieties are looked into as well as whether the pupils speak the variety of English they claim they speak. The question of why the pupils speak the variety they do is also investigated. The results show that most pupils mix British and American English and that American English features predominate in the mix. According to this investigation, teachers and pupils find British English to be a bit “snobbish” while American English can sound a bit “cocky” to them. This investigation concludes that the two major influences on the pupils are their teachers and different kind of media.

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Caines, Andrew Paul. "You talking to me? : zero auxiliary constructions in British English." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.609153.

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Sohl, Gabriella. "Cuisine Linguistics of British and American English : Are the culinary vocabularies of British and American English converging or diverging?" Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Sektionen för humaniora (HUM), 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-19464.

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This study is intended to unveil whether the culinary vocabulary of British English and American English are likely to converge or diverge in the future, as a way of contributing to understanding the evolution of the English language and its varieties. The topic itself was founded in travels to America which were paired with nearly fifteen years of interaction with British English, leading to understanding that some (food) words come to have different meanings even in similar languages, and possibly also within the same language. Understanding this led to the thesis question: Are the culinary vocabularies of British English and American English likely to converge or diverge? This is an area of study which has seemingly been left untreated so far under the umbrella of Linguistics. As such, the research in this essay focuses on determining a future convergence or divergence between the language varieties from a language historical aspect as well as taking sociolinguistic aspects of language change into account. These aspects are fashion, foreign influence and social need. In addition to the research, a survey involving 15 British and 15 American students between the ages of 18 and 30 which helps determining the current interaction between the two language varieties. Through the research and analysis of these areas of interest, it is found that the culinary vocabularies of the two language varieties are unlikely to converge completely, but are in a state both of constant partial convergence and divergence.

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Fanton, Giovanni. "Doing Italian as a foreign language : investigating talk about language and culture in three British university classrooms." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2011. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/1561/.

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The study presented in this thesis focuses on teacher-student talk-in-interaction in three Italian classes for beginners taught by two teachers, one British and one Italian, in two British universities. The aims of the study are to: (1) investigate the views of language and of language teaching/learning that informed the teachers‟ practice; (2) identify the cultural worlds and images of Italian-ness constructed through the classroom talk; (3) examine the different identities the teachers assumed as they discussed language and culture. The research combines ethnographically-informed classroom observation, video-recording of classroom interaction with discourse analysis. It is guided by poststructuralist thinking and by Kramsch‟s (1993:9) vision of language teaching/learning as “social practice that is at the boundary of two or more cultures”. It reveals similarities in the composition of the classes. Both included international students and both teachers drew on the diverse funds of linguistic and cultural knowledge represented in their classes, creating „third places‟ for language teaching/learning. The research also reveals differences between the teachers – in their views of language, their representation of Italian „culture‟ and in the classroom identities they assumed. These differences are explained with reference to the teachers‟ linguistic and cultural backgrounds and their professional biographies.

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Blackmore, Malin. "Corny or Cool. Swedish Teenagers' Attitudes towards Australian and British English Accents." Thesis, University of Gävle, Department of Humanities, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-6756.

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This essay investigated Swedish teenagers' attitudes towards Australian and British English accents. The respondents were exposed to four different accents as part of a modified version of the Matched Guise Technique. They were then asked to fill out a questionnaire assessing the accents in terms of psychological qualities, social evaluation, job suitability and likability. The results show that previous research on attitudes to accents in other countries is applicable on Swedish teenagers' and that stereotyping is an influence as well.

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Abdul-Ghani, Aniswal. "The language of advertising : a contrastive study of advertising texts in British English, Malaysian English and Malay." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.322546.

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Hansson, Emma. "Awareness of Grammatical Differences between British and American English among Young Swedes." Thesis, Halmstad University, Halmstad University, School of Humanities (HUM), 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-4970.

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Background and aim: According to the most recent curriculum for the Swedish upper secondary school1, the students should be able to differentiate between British and American English. Furthermore, they should be able to keep to one of the varieties, as this is a prerequisite of writing correct texts in English. In the present thesis, young Swedes’ awareness of grammatical differences between British and American standard English and which variety they use are investigated. The investigation is conducted by means of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of three parts. The first part consisted of sentences written in English that the informants had to judge as written prevailingly in British or American English. In the second part, the informants had to translate sentences from Swedish to English, and then judge them as British or American. The third part of the questionnaire comprised questions concerned with language use and attitude, as well as questions on basic information such as the informants’ age, education and mother tongue.

Results and conclusions: Nine informants fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The informants’ judgments of the sentences in English suggest that they are not entirely able to differentiate between British and American English. Moreover, their translations of the Swedish sentences indicate that the informants mix British and American English. Furthermore, they are not aware of which variety they use and the majority does not know whether they prefer British or American English. In addition, the findings could support the emergence of Euro-English, a Mid-Atlantic variety.

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Bergström, Josefine. "Attitudes towards English in post-Brexit referendum Germany : A qualitative study on attitudes towards English as experienced by British expats in Germany." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-153372.

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English today has reached global dimensions no other language has reached before. While there are other lingua francas in certain geographical regions in the world, English is the most dominant lingua franca in many important international domains, including international affairs and its use as the lingua franca of official organisations, such as the European Union (EU). In the wake of the result of the British referendum, voices were raised for the discontinuation of the use of the English language within the EU after Brexit. While this topic has received attention from journalists throughout Europe, to date there are very few studies on attitudes towards English in a post-Brexit referendum Europe. The present study aims to contribute to the filling of this gap by investigating attitudes towards English experienced by British expats living in Germany, employing semi-structured interviews with six British expats. Also included in the study is information about the expats’ use of different languages for different purposes. The findings indicate that i) they do not see the emergence of a Euro-English likely; ii) that their language choices are determined by inclusiveness; iii) that there may be different attitudes towards English in different parts of Germany; iv) that English is experienced as a door opener; and finally, v) multilingualism is a desired notion for them all. Combined, they suggest there is a discrepancy between the EU political line and the grass root reality.

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Ruuska, Sofia. "Englishes Online: : A comparison of the varieties of English used in blogs." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-27491.

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This study is based on data gathered from two corpora. It investigates and analyses the written English of second language users, in this case English used by Swedes, with the English used online in blogs found in the Birmingham Blog Corpus, which includes blogs written in English by authors of various nationalities. The aim is to compare Swedes’ use of English in blogs and the English used in general in blogs. The study focuses on typical features associated with either American English (AmE) or British English (BrE) and investigates which variety is the most prominent online. The results indicate that features that are generally associated with AmE have a higher frequency in both analysed corpora in this thesis. The conclusion is therefore that AmE tends to dominate both Swedish and international authors’ use of English in blogs.

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Hooper, Hugh R. "Computers and content-based language learning." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28072.

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Can a computer database be used to augment a content-based approach to developing academic discourse? This document reports on the integration of these three areas in student tasks in a unit of work (biology) taught by a content teacher and a language specialist to a class of grade 7 students in a Vancouver elementary school. The objectives of the study were 1) to investigate the connections between biology content, the academic discourse of classification and a computer database, and 2) to identify if each area was in fact related to the knowledge structures of classification and description. The research method focussed on, ethnographic observations, interviews and recordings of the students and the teachers as they worked through the unit. Analysis of the findings seems to suggest that there are connections between biology content, academic discourse of classification and a computer database, and that each area is related to the knowledge structure of classification and description. This finding further suggests that student tasks at the computer have the potential for developing academic discourse and the learning of content. This potential may deserve further investigation by both teachers and researchers.
Education, Faculty of
Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of
Graduate

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Morris, Catherine. "The land that rises : dialect as unheimlich in British writing." Thesis, Kingston University, 2018. http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/42578/.

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This thesis is in two parts. The first is a critical analysis of the use of dialect as unheimlich in British writing. Using Freud's essay, The Uncanny (1919), as its basis, this thesis will argue that the use of dialect creates tension within a text between the representation of home, and of that which may be considered unhomely. Reading a range of British texts psychoanalytically alongside sociolinguistic studies, this thesis seeks to show how an author's choice of dialect-use within their literary form is bound up with an unheimlich mind-set of dialect within both writer and reader, whilst considering the cultural and historical contexts in which these attitudes are based. A range of unheimlich notions may be read from dialect, and its use is to be repressed or rejected as abject and replaced with the more accessible standard English associated with education, adulthood, civilisation and power. Yet it might also be read that, through standard English, the 'strange' has been brought into our homes and our mouths, made familiar through the hegemonic appropriation of the 'mother tongue'. Whilst the hearing of spoken accents and dialects within various medias has become increasingly common, negative connotations remain, especially when presented in the written form; what might be familiar to the ear remains strange to the eye. Its use divides readers as to its necessity and desirability, suggesting there is a long way to go before dialects are accepted fully in literary terms. Yet it remains an important aesthetic tool for the writer, and its continued use suggests the need or desire to represent in writing the many individual ways of speaking, and so too a sense of place, person, home, and familiarity, within the text. That writers appear to uphold associated connotations of maleness, or of undesirable, regressive human traits through dialect, however, suggests that embedded inequalities persist and so too the unheimlich qualities of dialect. The second part is a literary novel, exploring lives in a post-apocalyptic matriarchal society, set in Yorkshire, in which dialect and who is speaking play a discernible role.

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Helleberg, Fia. "English with an accent : A study of attitudes among Swedish adolescents regarding British and Middle Eastern varieties of English." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för utbildning, kultur och kommunikation, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-40161.

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This study examines the attitudes of adolescent Swedes towards speakers of British and Middle Eastern varieties of English. Due to the ongoing wars in the Middle East and elsewhere, and thus the stream of refugees seeking sanctuary in Sweden and other European countries, many children from diverse backgrounds have been and will be enrolled in Swedish schools. Considering their right to democratic, humane and inclusive education, it is of importance to identify and oppose possible prejudice and preconceptions towards foreign languages, cultures and religions at an early state. This study aims towards this goal. The study, carried out among Swedish teenagers, is based on a matched-guise test in combination with an Osgood scale. The pre-recorded speakers were from Iran, Syria, and Britain. The results of the study prove that there were preconceptions regarding Middle Eastern varieties of English, yet they can be both positive and negative. It is evident that the majority of the informants perceived the Middle Eastern speakers of English negatively with regard to traits that may be related to education, economy and intelligence, yet they rated the same speakers positively with regard to traits that may be correlated to emotional and social capacity. Interestingly enough, the study also provides evidence to suggest that British speakers of English are perceived favourably with regard to traits that may be related to education, economy and intelligence, yet negatively with regard to traits that may be correlated to emotional and social capacity. Overall, the study mainly provided results that confirm findings of previous research within the field.

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Towey, David Andrew Douglas. "A study of teachers' perceptions of how they teach writing in English language classes at the British council in Hong Kong." Thesis, Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2009. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B43241219.

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Canpolat, Seda. "Hybridity in British Muslim women's writing." Thesis, Kingston University, 2014. http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/29994/.

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A key paradigm in postcolonial studies, Homi Bhabha’s notion of cultural hybridity has become the dominant model for understanding migrant identity formation. However, its assumed universality and widespread currency are problematic because this concept is not equally applicable or relevant to all migrants. This dissertation focuses on the representation of cultural hybridity in contemporary British Muslim women’s writing, which is well-suited to pointing out the limitations and biases of Bhabha’s celebratory concept of hybridity. Because of its mostly religious, dark-skinned, female and working-Class protagonists, British Muslim women’s texts expose the secular, white, male and middle-class biases on which Bhabha’s idealised subject is predicated. Accordingly, the major literary texts under scrutiny are Leila Aboulela’s novels The Translator (1999) and Minaret (2005), Monica Ali’s Brick Lane (2003) and Fadia Faqir’s My Name Is Salma (2007). By means of an intersectional approach the thesis identifies, one by one, the biases inherent in Bhabha’s vision of hybridity, particularly as it has been appropriated within the field of postcolonial studies. Each of the four chapters addresses one subject position that the heroines inhabit: that is, religion, gender, race and class. Embedded within wider contemporary debates on religion, gender theory, postracialism and class mobility, each chapter illuminates the ways in which these subject positions complicate British Muslim women’s cultural self-fashioning and our understanding of hybridity. The original contribution of this gendered Islamic critique of hybridity is twofold: first of all, it shows that hybridity is not the only model of migrant identity formation. With reference to the value and belief system of Muslim cultures, the dissertation introduces competing Islamic epistemes of cultural self-fashioning. Secondly, it shows that, where hybridity is the preferred cultural choice of British Muslim women, their various female hybridities are the product of gendered reworkings and appropriations of male-centred postcolonial and Islamic paradigms.

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Amir, Alia. "Chronicles of the English Language in Pakistan : A discourse analysis of milestones in the language policy of Pakistan." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för kultur och kommunikation, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-65526.

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In this thesis, I will be investigating educational policies with a focus on English as a medium of instruction. The medium of instruction in Pakistan varies with respect to each province and the social status of the school. Consequently, English is not taught only as a foreign language but is a medium for upward mobility. I will be investigating the chronicles of English as a medium of instruction in Pakistan both before and after the partition (1947) of British India. I have selected three phases: the mid-eighteenth century, the 1970s and the present decade. I will be tracing the similarities and differences in the language policies of these eras, and identifying any patterns which transcend these eras. I shall deal with each phase separately with a brief introduction and the rationale for their selection. The Colonial period which I have marked as an important phase is before 1857; the First War of Independence (also called the War of Mutiny). This is a period of the British East India Company Rule, and indirect involvement of the British Crown. My thesis revolves around the principle that language policy of an alien origin has played an important role in South Asian history which segregated between the colonized and the colonizer, which later turned to the segregation of the masses on the basis of Anglicised and non-Anglicised. I will also be looking at this segregation, in the LPP documents of the present decade as well. The language policy of the 1970s will be analyzed for the patterns in contrast with the present decade. The 1970s in Pakistan are a period of extraordinary chaos, beginning with a language-based separatist movement in East Pakistan gaining independence in 1971, the execution of a deposed elected prime minister and a nationalist language policy. Here, I would like to shed light on the reason of my label “nationalist” for this policy , as this was the only policy which determined, and made some concrete steps towards the establishment of Urdu as a medium of instruction, and Zia’s reinforcement of Urdu as a symbol of nationalism and Islam. But ironically this could not be implemented, in its true spirit either. This policy will not be dealt in detail, but the effect of its annulations on the present decade, if any. This decade will also be analyzed for patterns linked to the past colonial trajectories and the continuity of policies in favour of the English language as a medium of instruction. I will also be investigating the link between the present decade in relation to the interplay between colonial and Post- colonial influences. I would also like to bring forth the research carried on Pakistan’s language policy. The research carried on colonial India is vast, with researchers like Robert Philipson, and his influential book Linguistic Imperialism (1992). Pennycook (2001) also sheds light on the introduction of English language in colonial context and its implications. My contribution in this field is the comparison between the colonial and post-colonial policies with, Discourse Analysis. The selection of the policies of 2008 is also an advancement in this paper, which has helped in looking at the current policies in Pakistan.

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Gentry, Lorna Edith. "Toward an understanding of academically successful English as a second language students." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28051.

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Twenty-five ESL students who were identified by teachers as "academically successful", i.e. with at least a C average in their regular courses, were interviewed, using an open ended conversational approach. Informants shared their own perspectives on their ESL and regular classroom experiences, their perceptions about themselves as students and their strategies for success. They compared experiences in Canada and their native countries, and talked about their home background. They were encouraged to identify both strengths and problems in their education experiences, and to suggest changes in the schools to help themselves as well as less successful students. Data concluded that informants showed additive bilingualism, many use L1 to learn their academic work, and overwhelmingly they support ESL classes which they credit with fulfilling both academic and affective needs. Academic work in the home country transfers to subjects such as Math, but they express frustration with written assignments and essay questions in subjects with heavy language requirements. In general there is little involvement with native-speaking peers. Informants were found to be highly disciplined, with high future aspirations.
Education, Faculty of
Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of
Graduate

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27

Rohany, Hawa. "A comparative study of opinion - giving strategies in Malaysian and British English." Thesis, University of Essex, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.293640.

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Majed, Hasan. "Islam and Muslim identities in four contemporary British novels." Thesis, University of Sunderland, 2012. http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/3739/.

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The aim of the dissertation is to explore how Islam is depicted and Muslim identities are constructed in four representative works of contemporary British fiction: Hanif Kureishi’s The Black Album, Monica Ali’s Brick Lane, Fadia Faqir’s My Name is Salma, and Leila Aboulela’s Minaret. Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses is also discussed in terms of its crucial role in fostering what some Muslims might consider polemical and stereotypical positions in writing about Islam. The term ‘Islamic postcolonialism’ provides the theoretical underpinning to the thesis. Islamic postcolonialism is a theoretical perspective that combines two components which have up until now existed in a state of tension. As a secular theory, postcolonialism has notably failed to account for Muslim priorities; it has, for instance, had severe problems critiquing the anti-Islam polemics of The Satanic Verses, as is evidenced by Edward Said’s support for Rushdie, in spite of his criticism of the stereotypical representation of Islam and Muslims in the West. Islamic postcolonialism applies the anti-colonial resistant methodology of postcolonialism from a Muslim perspective, exploring the continuance of colonial discourse in part of the contemporary western writing about Islam and Muslims. Applying Islamic postcolonialism to the novels in question, the thesis tests the following questions: 1. How are Islam and Muslims depicted in the novels discussed? 2. Is the depiction of Islam similar to, and if so in what ways, its depiction in the literature of the colonial period? 3. Is there a connection between the writer’s personal 2 religious commitment and the image of Islam and Muslims he/she inscribes in the novel? The four novels are then classified according to three categories: Hanif Kureishi’s The Black Album and Monica Ali’s Brick Lane depict Islam and Muslims stereotypically, from a partially colonial perspective. Secondly, Fadia Faqir’s My Name is Salma adopts a mixed colonial and postcolonial depiction of Islam and Muslims. While it depicts the centrality of Islam in a Muslim society (Hima, Jordan) stereotypically, the novel appears more sympathetic in imaging Islam in England under the conditions of the personal and the marginal. Thirdly, Leila Aboulela’s novel Minaret is the one text that complies with an Islamic postcolonial perspective. The failure of secularism and re-emergence of Islam in the Arab world is, Waïl Hassan contends, the background to the achievement of Aboulela’s fiction. Her image of Islam and Muslims is unique in British fiction as it provides a new depiction of these categories from the standpoint of a more authentic Muslim voice. Minaret, it is argued, is an Islamic postcolonial novel both because it celebrates Islam, and because Najwa adopts Islam as her first identity in metropolitan London, which once represented the colonial centre from which her native Sudan was colonised.

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Onken, Busaki. "Letter-sound relationship in modern British English: theoretical considerations and teaching implications for Zairean efl beginners." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/213424.

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Smeds, Fredrik. "Adjective Comparison in Contemporary British English : A Corpus Study of More than One Hundred Adjectives." Thesis, Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-933.

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There are mainly two ways of comparing adjectives in English: the analytic and the synthetic. The analytic way is to use more and most (for example difficult, more difficult, most difficult). The synthetic, or inflectional, way is to add the endings –er and –est (for instance fast, faster, fastest). During the last twelve centuries the way of forming comparisons in English has evolved from predominately synthetic to the point where both inflections and analytic forms are used. Today many adjectives are almost always compared either synthetically or analytically (e.g. fast and difficult respectively), but sometimes we have two alternatives; for example, we can choose between more polite and politer. The author has three aims with this paper: firstly, to examine how adjectives in English are compared today; secondly, to determine how well the descriptions in modern grammars agree with authentic written English; thirdly, to see whether there have been any recent changes in the way of indicating comparison. This is a quantitative study. A corpus investigation was undertaken: some one hundred common adjectives in two British newspapers, The Guardian and The Observer, from 1990–91 and 2005 that vary in their way of expressing comparison were studied. The results were compared with six grammars from the last five decades. After the data collection, the chi square test was applied, showing how statistically significant the changes between 1990–91 and 2005 are. Judging from the data in this study, the synthetic comparison seems to be becoming less common. The author also concludes that the comparison of adjectives in contemporary British English varies considerably.

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Hugger, Daniela Maria. "English varieties in Sweden : A case-study exploring the use of English by language teachers in Swedish schools." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Engelska, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-35072.

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This study investigates which English variety teachers in Sweden learned, which they use now and whether this has changed over time. The study included the two major varieties of English, namely British English and American English. The hypothesis for this paper is that British English will have played an important part in the teachers’ schooling but American English will have had a strong influence in their day-to-day lives and will likely have hanged how they use English. Data was collected in the form of questionnaires filled in by 294 teachers who teach English at primary, secondary and upper secondary schools in Sweden. The results support the thesis of the paper that teachers mainly learned British English at school while American English becomes more common for teachers under the age of 40. However, the majority of participants were found to use a variety which has features of both British and American English - it is referred to as Mid-Atlantic English in this paper.

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Norrbom, Lennart. "'It hasn't come here yet' - The Influence of American English on Students in Vocational Programmes in Rural Areas in Sweden." Thesis, Stockholm University, Department of English, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-8698.

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Keyes, Jarrad Morris. "The logics of dissolution : delineating the urban problematic in contemporary British literature." Thesis, Kingston University, 2011. http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/20272/.

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This dissertation argues that traditional models of 'place' based on the city-country dichotomy do not adequately represent the complexities of contemporary British space. Prompted in large part by the epochal restructuring of capitalism in the 1970s, the urban problematic profoundly changed the production of space. Far from heralding an 'end of geography' commonly associated with globalization, the urban problematic recognizes that the ontological character of 'place' was transformed to such an extent that it problematizes and ultimately renders obsolete the city-country dichotomy. To understand this process, and raise the insufficiencies of conventional approaches among literary criticism typified by Raymond Williams's seminal text The Country and the City, the methodology of this thesis cross-reads literary texts with theoretical and analytic works. Using the works of J.G. Ballard, John King, David Peace, and Niall Griffiths alongside those of Henri Lefebvre and David Harvey, and with extensive reference to the social, political, and economic history of Britain, this dialectical approach problematizes conventional distinctions between 'fiction' and 'theory' as much as it critiques commonplace ideas of space. With reference to Ballard's Concrete and Steel Trilogy, Chapter One establishes the threshold of the urban problematic, identifies its constitutive features, and provides a theoretical framework that structures the discussions in the subsequent chapters. The important subjects of gentrification, the privatizatlon of municipal housing, and the commodification of culture are addressed in Chapter Two through the revisionist accounts of London and the Thames Valley in the works of King. Chapter Three considers the sustained critique of Thatcherism in the works of Peace, which use the breakdown of the city-country dichotomy to map out the social effects of deindustrialization. As part of a codified response to the urban problematic, Griffiths's works provide Chapter Four with the materials necessary to revise traditional ideas of landscape. Meanwhile Chapter Five utilizes Ballard's later works to illustrate the virtual city, a concept which represents the most systematic response to the contemporary urban problematic in this thesis.

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Kingston, Talya Anne. "The dramaturgy of dialect an examination of the sociolinguistic problems faced when producing contemporary British plays in the United States /." Connect to this title online, 2008. http://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/105/.

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Richardson-Owen, Esme. "Innovative quotatives - language change or youth-speak? : A corpus-based study of spoken British English." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-79708.

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This paper investigates the possible effect of age on quotative variation in spoken British English with focus on the innovative quotative constructions be like and go and the standard construction say. The study is corpus-based and uses the Spoken British National Corpus 2014 as its material. Using the search tools provided in the corpus, datasets were restricted to include material from female speakers only and for each age-bracket in isolation. The results of the study were analysed in apparent time and through real time comparisons with previous studies. Similarly to previous studies, it was found that be like constructions are still favoured by young speakers, but the results also indicate that be like is used at higher frequencies among middle-aged speakers than previous studies have demonstrated. This indicates that be like is indeed an example of language change and not just an age-graded feature. The second innovative quotative investigated was go. The frequency distribution demonstrated by go was very different to that of be like. The results indicate that the ratio of go in comparison to be like (and say) have decreased drastically in the past twenty years when the results of the present study were compared to previous studies. This may indicate that the presence of two or more quotative variants within a speaker community may lead to the reduction in use of one of these variants due to "linguistic competition". The results of this study strengthen previous arguments that the presence of be like may lead to a decrease in the use of quotative go. The standard form say is still the most common variant for most age-brackets, apart from adolescent and young-adult speakers. However, in comparison to earlier studies the ratios of say have decreased for middle-aged speakers and younger. This may be due to an increased choice of quotative variants which are available to the speaker.

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Earis, Helen. "Point of view in narrative discourse : a comparison of British sign language and spoken English." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2008. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1443949/.

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Expressing the point of view of a character and marking changes in point of view (POV) are key aspects of narrative discourse. The concept of POV has been discussed in the literature in various contexts, including deixis, logophoricity and subjectivity. A variety of linguistic and non-linguistic devices are used to indicate a particular POV, including nominal and pronominal reference, and facial expressions and intonation. Spoken languages can mark changes in POV using strategies such as direct and indirect discourse, the former coupled with optional paralinguistic cues such as intonation, whereas signed languages can mark changes in POV in a unique way using referential shift. Referential shift is a common device in sign language narrative discourse, where the signer 'becomes' a referent by taking on one or more attributes of that referent, such as facial expression and/or body position (Loew, 1984). Within a referential shift construction, verbs and pronouns which are marked for first person refer to the referent being portrayed rather than the signer. This study examines how point of view is marked in three fables, each told by native users of British Sign Language (BSL) and native speakers of English, and explores how the strategies used by signers and speakers can be explained by theories of conceptual spaces, such as that suggested by Liddell (2003a) for signed languages and Ehlich (1979, 1985) for spoken languages.

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Thörnstrand, Åsa. "British or American English? : A survey of some upper secondary schools." Thesis, Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-1744.

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The aim of this paper is to find out what variety of English pupils in upper secondary schools are using, British English or American English, but also to see if there are any difference between boys and girls and if they are aware of their usage. British English used to be the only variety allowed in school, but now other varieties are taught as well and American English is gaining ground in Swedish schools. According to the curriculum, it is a part of the subject of English in upper secondary schools to study the different varieties and be aware of them. This study took place in Swedish upper secondary schools in the Stockholm area where 108 pupils in university preparing programs translated sentences with words that differ in British and American English, filled in a questionnaire which tested spelling and were also recorded when reading sentences. The survey showed that the tendency among these pupils is that they use American English more than British English in both vocabulary and pronunciation. The study also indicated that many pupils tend to mix their usage between the varieties, especially the girls. It was also seen that boys seem to be more aware of what variety they use.

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Mian, A. Hafeez. "A micro-analysis of collocation in the interlanguage of Pakistani adults learning English as a second language." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28174.

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A micro-analysis of the interlanguage (IL) employed by Pakistanis learning English as a second language (ESL) is performed on ten subjects' speech samples in order to gain insights into their second language acquisition. Only one aspect of ESL — collocation is studied. Collocation is idiomatic in nature and has single-lexemic function; it is assumed therefore to present some acquisitive and productive difficulties for second language learners, who would tend to fail to recognize collocations as "fixed" expressions and to view each word within them as independent and therefore replaceable. The objective of this study is to analyze the conversational collocation errors that Pakistani-Canadians make in ESL. This study addresses the following three hypotheses: 1) that in the English variation in collocation across discourse domains; speech of Pakistani subjects correctness will be found 2) that a continuum will be found for this variation, running between more Target-like collocations in the Work Talk Domain / Exposition Activity and fewer Target-like collocations in the Life Story Domain / Narrative Activity; 3) that formally educated subjects will show more Target-like use of collocations than informally educated subjects. The results of this study show that there exists an IL in Pakistani-Canadians' use of the English language. The IL of Pakistani-Canadians' English seems to indicate that: 1) IL collocations are domain specific; 2) Non-target-like collocations occur most often when referring to quantification; in T-unit initial position; and adjacent to parallel contextual and/or structural forms; and they often contain article ellipsis; 3) In addition, this study shows that formally educated subjects produce more Target-like collocations than informally educated subjects. Furthermore, this study has generated some questions and highlighted areas that merit further research.
Education, Faculty of
Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of
Graduate

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39

Ferguson, Lisa. "Lady Macbeth and Gertrude: A Study in Gender." TopSCHOLAR®, 2002. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/656.

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The detailed examination of two of Shakespeare's female leads, Lady Macbeth and Gertrude, is designed to determine whether or not these particular characters were free from the confines of their society, or if they were content within its oppressive grasp. A combination of Feminist Criticism and New Historicism reveals that Lady Macbeth and Gertrude did not overstep the bounds of their gender, but in fact were suppressed within them. The limited rights and freedoms of a woman during the Renaissance is heavily discussed, and aids in giving the reader a vivid impression of Lady Macbeth's and Gertrude's subjugation. As Renaissance women were considered and treated inferior to their husbands in all respects, so are these two characters. Once the supposed driving force behind her husband's actions, Lady Macbeth makes a swift but devastating departure after Macbeth expels her from both his personal and political matters. No longer needing his wife to appease his conscience, Macbeth finds his own aptitude for evil. Torn between her roles as a wife and mother, Gertrude forfeits her happiness to please her overemotional son. Long before her actual death, Gertrude sacrifices a part of her identity to meet Hamlet's expectations. Both women relinquish their hopes and dreams to fulfill those of the men around them. Their blinded selflessness and misplaced devotion result in their ultimate undoing. Though the typical reader of Macbeth and Hamlet sometimes considers these particular female characters to be strong, bold, and selfish, the values of Shakespeare's era and his actual text suggest otherwise. The playwright's time was marked by a bitter gender struggle that pervaded all areas of Renaissance life, including his own work. Upon first glance, Lady Macbeth and Gertrude might come across as women who were strikingly independent. Throughout the progression of the plays, however, both women take a backseat to more important matters, such as politics and war. Even their deaths do not truly belong to them, as they seem to serve as mere asides to the inevitable "manly" action. Striving to meet the expectations of the men they loved, Lady Macbeth and Gertrude lose themselves in the process.

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Pickett, Lewis. ""In What Particular Thought to Work": Hamlet and Manic-Depression." TopSCHOLAR®, 1996. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/797.

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By means of contemporary diagnostic criteria, Prince Hamlet may be demonstrated to be a Bi-Polar I Manic Depressive. Because current genetic research suggests that this disease is inherited, it is logical to ask if Claudius also suffers from this disorder. It can be demonstrated that he does. We may conclude that Claudius murdered the late King of Denmark during a manic episode similar to the one in which Hamlet kills Polonius.

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Elhefnawy, Nader. "D.H. Lawrence and civilization: a study of D.H. Lawrence's "leadership" novels, Aaron's rod, Kangaroo and the plumed serpent." FIU Digital Commons, 2002. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3135.

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D.H. Lawrence's "leadership" novels, namely Aaron's Rod, Kangaroo and The Plumed Serpent, dealt with the ramifications of industrial civilization. This thesis uses a "Tofflerian" approach, drawing on the works of the futurist Alvin Toffler's "trilogy" of noted books on the rate, direction and consequences of "civilizational" change, Future Shock, The Third Wave and Powershift. This thesis argues that Lawrence recognizes the demise of the "love-urge" that had sustained civilization in Aaron's Rod; seeks and fails to find a solution in the political movements of his time in Kangaroo, demonstrating the impossibility of a modem solution to inherently modern problems; and in The Plumed Serpent, seeks an answer in a way of life apart from industrial civilization entirely.

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Hague, Elizabeth. "The role of gesture in British ELT in a university setting." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.314024.

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Benson, Philip. "The lexicography of English in the world : the treatment of China in four British dictionaries." Thesis, University of Exeter, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.388605.

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44

Ainasoja, Heidi. "Swedish upper secondary school teachers and their attitudes towards AmE, BrE, and Mid-Atlantic English." Thesis, University of Gävle, Department of Humanities, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-7175.

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The aim of this essay is to investigate what English teachers’ attitudes are towards British English, American English and Mid-Atlantic English. What variety of English do teachers use in Swedish upper secondary schools today and what are their reasons for using that variety? Do upper secondary school teachers think it is important to expose students to several varieties of English and do they teach differences (e.g. vocabulary and spelling) between varieties? The material is based on a questionnaire, which 20 participating teachers from five different upper secondary schools in Gävleborg answered. The study showed that there is an even distribution between the varieties used and taught. British English was preferred by teachers working the longest time while both AmE and MAE seemed to be growing in popularity among the younger teachers. Of the 20 teachers, 18 considered teaching differences to students since it gives them a chance to communicate effectively with people from other English speaking countries.

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Yan, Kam-sum Tom. "Dyspraxia of speech in a British family an acoustic study of diphthong production /." Click to view the E-thesis via HKU Scholars Hub, 2003. http://lookup.lib.hku.hk/lookup/bib/B38890999.

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Thesis (B.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003.
"A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, April 30, 2003." Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-31) Also available in print.

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McNeill, Claire. "Barriers to Language Learning: A study of the retired British community on the Costa del Sol, Spain." Thesis, University of Canterbury. European Union Studies, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/5341.

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Tourism to Spain is a significant part of the Spanish economy especially on the southern coastal areas which attracts a huge number of foreign tourists, in particular, a large number of British. Over the years many have chosen this area as their permanent or semi-permanent home and thus creating pockets of English speaking communities along the coast. This is evidenced by the presence of the many English owned and operated businesses coupled with the fact that there is a high number of Spanish who speak English. On the surface the communities appear to be economically self-supporting and socially independent of their Spanish hosts so perhaps it should be of little surprise that there is a low level of Spanish language uptake in these communities. Quite clearly the “need” has been removed and so the majority of people seem to struggle to string a basic sentence together. The basis of this thesis is research into the community of British seasonal tourists with particular emphasis on integration through language learning. The target group is a defined demographic of retirees who spend approximately six months over the Northern European winter period in Spain. They still have their own home in the UK and do not call Spain home. Their level of language uptake is very low. Language is a fundamental part of our own social identity and culture and is a significant factor in integration. Therefore in order to understand why there appears to have been little uptake of Spanish language learning by this group, it is important to look at the elements that may have had an influence on their decision making process. Learning another language, particularly for older people, can prove to be challenging if not extremely difficult. Initially the barriers are identified as being age, financial situation, lack of encouragement from spouses or peers and lack of self-confidence.

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47

Jones, D. Michael. "The Byronic Hero and the Rhetoric of Masculinity in the 19th Century British Novel." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2017. https://www.amzn.com/1476662282/.

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From action movies to video games to sports culture, modern masculinity is intrinsically associated with violent competition. This legacy has its roots in the 19th-century Romantic figure of the Byronic hero--the ideal Victorian male: devoted husband, sexual revolutionary and weaponized servant of the state. His silhouette can be traced through the works of authors like Lord Byron, Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling and Oscar Wilde. More than a literary genealogy, this history of the Byronic hero and his heirs follows the changes that masculinity has undergone in response to industrial upheaval, the rise of the middle class and the demands of global competition, from the Victorian period through the early 20th century.
https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1121/thumbnail.jpg

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Minnis-Lemley, Ashley M. "The Scholar Magician in English Renaissance Drama." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2016. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/838.

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In this paper, I will explore the rise and fall of the scholar magician or sorcerer, both as a popular dramatic subject and as an arc for individual characters, and the ways in which these figures tied into contemporary fears about the intersection of religion and developing scientific knowledge.

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Khan, Arfaan. "A sociolinguistic study of Birmingham English : language variation and change in a multi-ethnic British community." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.497022.

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This thesis presents the results of a quantitative variationist study of the English spoken in Birmingham, a multi-ethnic city in England. The study had a number of objectives: to determine the trajectory and extent of change in Birmingham English, to provide a description of the spoken English of British ethnic minorities and to make a contribution to the advancement of sociolinguistic theory. Of more specific interest was the following research question: how do social network and social psychological orientation influence linguistic behaviour in a multi-ethnic British community? It was predicted that social psychological orientation, i.e. attitude towards the city and orientation towards ethnic identity, would have a stronger influence on linguistic behaviour than social network.

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Rustom, Anahita Afrin. "Examining the French and English language proficiency of grade 11 French immersion students in British Columbia." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/55888.

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The primary objective of the present study was to compare the French and English language proficiency of Early French Immersion (EFI) and Late French Immersion (LFI) students nearing the time of high-school graduation. This research was undertaken as a means of exploring the effect of age on second language proficiency, in the context of French immersion. Four indicators of language proficiency were examined: receptive vocabulary knowledge, grammar knowledge, listening comprehension, and pronunciation. Participants were evaluated in French and English. Results demonstrated no significant differences between EFI and LFI groups on the French language measures, suggesting evidence against the notion of a sensitive period for language learning in the context of French immersion. Subsequent analyses were conducted in which the sample was divided by home-language into bilinguals (participants who spoke only English at home) and multilinguals (participants who spoke a language other than English at home). These analyses revealed that multilinguals performed as well as, and on some measures better than bilinguals in both languages, with the exception of English pronunciation. Higher language aptitude and motivation to learn a foreign language observed in the multilingual group were factors that could explain these results. Due to the better performance of multilinguals and the uneven distribution of multilinguals across EFI and LFI groups, it is unclear whether this study provides evidence against age effects in formal language education. The results emphasize the success of multilinguals in EFI and LFI, but also highlight the need to account for the changing demographics of students in French immersion programs in future studies.
Medicine, Faculty of
Audiology and Speech Sciences, School of
Graduate

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