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open access

L'emploi variable des signes diacritiques dans le français tchaté : une étude variationniste en temps apparent .

Description: After providing an historical overview of the French spelling system and orthographic variation, this study analyzes selected internal (i.e., linguistic) factors and one external (i.e., social) factor that can influence the use of diacritics in online French-language chat sessions. From a corpus of synchronous computer-mediated communication, 3,855 tokens of graphemes capable of bearing diacritics were coded with the following scheme: Letter, Diacritic, Grapheme (i.e., Letter and Diacritic comb… more
Date: May 2010
Creator: Al-Rashdan, Omar
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Representations of New Technologies and Related Terminology in Textbooks for Learners of French and Spanish

Description: The purpose of the thesis is to look at the presentation of vocabulary related to new technologies in four French and four Spanish textbooks for first-year university students to examine the relevance of the language presented in terms of its authenticity to French and Spanish as it is used today. The focus is on authenticity to show the correlation between what is presented to students versus what they will need to communicate effectively in ways that are linguistically, socially, and sociopra… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Allred, Michael Kay
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Rise of Postmethod Epistemology in the L2 English Teaching Field

Description: Citation analysis, which provides insights into the influence of particular scholarly work in a field of study, can also show epistemological "turns" through patterns of citations over time. This study explored the impact of postmethod epistemology on the shared knowledge of the English-as-a-second-language (L2) education community over a 26-year period. The approach consisted of tabulating and analyzing citations in 125 articles from two major journals, Teaching English to Speakers of Other La… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Alsuwat, Sami Eid
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Mosques in France: The Visible Presence of Islam

Description: Numerous laws are being directed toward subduing the visible presence of Islam throughout France, and in return French Muslims are becoming bolder in the projection of their faith. This thesis examines the presence of Islam in France throughout history and in contemporary French civilization. Specifically, this thesis addresses the issues regarding the visible presence of Islam in France through such institutions as mosques and how they are the key symbols representing the prominence of Islam i… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Arnold, Ashley Patricia
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Passage of the Comic Book to the Animated Film: The Case of the Smurfs

Description: The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of history and culture on the passage of the comic book to the animated film. Although the comic book has both historical and cultural components, the latter often undergoes a cultural shift in the animation process. Using the Smurfs as a case study, this investigation first reviews existing literature pertaining to the comic book as an art form, the influence of history and culture on Smurf story plots, and the translation of the comic book… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Baldwin, Frances Novier
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Comparative Analysis of Web-based Machine Translation Quality: English to French and French to English

Description: This study offers a partial reduplication of a 2006 study by Williams, which focused primarily on the analysis of the quality of translation produced by online software, namely Yahoo!® Babelfish, Freetranslation.com, and Google Translate. Since the data for the study by Williams were collected in 2004 and the data for present study in 2012, this gives a lapse of eight years for a diachronic analysis of the differences in quality of the translations provided by these online services. At the time… more
Date: December 2012
Creator: Barnhart, Zachary
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Dynamic Assessment as an Approach to French Pronunciation Instruction

Description: This thesis is focused on dynamic assessment (DA), an instructional approach based on Vygotskian sociocultural theory, applied to French pronunciation instruction, which can be neglected or inconsistent in the foreign language curriculum. DA aims to combine instruction and assessment into a cooperative, mediated approach in which the mediator works with the learner to identify and develop emergent abilities. These emergent abilities can appear in what is often referred to as the zone of proxima… more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Center, Sarah M
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

France and the United States: Borrowed and Shared National Symbols

Description: This thesis analyzes and demonstrates the similarities and differences between some of the national symbols of France and the United States. This includes the shared and borrowed aspects of each one and the ways in which each culture is reflected through, and built around them. The flags, national anthems, and several national icons such as France's Marianne and Uncle Sam are discussed. This analysis deals with the historical contexts and cultural meanings of the symbols, showing the changes ea… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Crawford, Katlyn Marie
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Mobile Technologies for Language Learning: A Case Study of Beginning Learners of French

Description: Over the past 25 years, research on the effectiveness of new technologies in teaching has been constantly evolving as teachers try to keep up with educational trends. With the current evolution of technology, it is important to find out how students feel about the use of technologies in both the classroom setting and the non-traditional learning environment. The objective of this project is to determine which applications the students of French 1010 (first semester of college-level French) at t… more
Date: May 2020
Creator: Dikosso-Bebe, Lydie Marina
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Variable use of ne in Negative Structures: An Apparent-Time Variationist Study of Synchronous Electronic French Discourse

Description: This study of the variable use of ne in synchronous electronic French discourse follows the methodological guidelines and the theoretical framework proposed and subsequently elaborated by Labov for analyzing variable features of language. This thesis provides a quantitative variable rule (i.e., VARBRUL) analysis including age as a factor group (i.e., independent variable), thereby making a new contribution to this area of inquiry. The data (50,000 words from the vingtaine 'twentysomething' chan… more
Date: December 2010
Creator: Gould, Rebecca J.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Présentations de la Grammaire et Représentations du Discours Dans les Manuels de Français Publiés aux États-Unis: une Étude Diachronique

Description: This study partially replicates and re-explores specific dimensions of a textbook analysis of the presentation and use of specific grammatical elements and sociolinguistic variants in textbooks published in the United States for learners of French. Authenticity is situated as a central construct in the analysis of interrogatives, relative pronouns, and the negative particle ne in selected textbooks and ancillary materials. The findings reveal that little progress has been made over the past twe… more
Date: May 2010
Creator: Grall, Christophe
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Same-Sex Parent Families in France: Past, Present, and Future

Description: This thesis contains four chapters. The first chapter gives an overview of the current situation concerning same-sex parent families in France. This involves discussions of the PACS (Pacte civil de solidarité), adoption, and marriage, as well as the societal influences that caused the massive negative response to the Taubira law. The second chapter goes into more detail concerning portrayals of homosexuality in French media throughout the years. There is a focus, however, on one of the earliest… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Griffin, Janna Lee
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Quebec's Révolution Tranquille Reflected Through Artists' Voices (1945-1995)

Description: The Quebec of the Quiet Revolution invites a fascinating sociocultural study, and this analysis provides an overview of major changes there during the 1960s and 1970s. The author analyzes how artistic, literary, and musical contributions of the era reflected the public's sentiments toward this metamorphosis. References to political cartoons, plays, poetry, songs, and non-fiction works such as essays and manifestos illustrate attitudes toward the shifting role of the Catholic Church, the arrival… more
Date: August 2020
Creator: Guerrero, Danica Lynn Eisman
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Age-based Etic Analysis of Orthographic Variation in Computer-mediated French Discourse

Description: This study examines orthographic variation in synchronous computer-mediated French discourse. All nontraditional variations of selected frequently occuring items are quantified in order to provide an etic (i.e., from an external perspective) analysis. The primary variable of interest is age since this study focuses on providing a comparison of chat participants in their twenties versus those in their fifties. The widespread claim is that younger people communicate using more informal and/or non… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Kharrat, Laila Kiblawi
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Effectiveness of on-line corpus research in L2 writing: Investigation of proficiency in English writing through independent error correction.

Description: Second language (L2) researchers and teachers have increasingly come to believe that using a computer-based corpus can be extremely helpful in the language classroom. The purpose of this study is to examine whether corpora can be used outside of the classroom in order for students to improve their essays independently. No previous study has tried to examine students' essays in relation to corpus use so that this study is exploratory. Seven international students wrote five essays on specific to… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Kim, Yu-Jeung
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Quebec Difference: Unique Challenges of the Quebec Education System as Compared to Ontario

Description: This thesis examines the current system of education in Quebec. Quebec spends as much money on education as Ontario but is not seeing the same results. In this analysis the reasons for Ontario's success and the challenges that Quebec is facing are outlined along with suggestions for reform in order to improve outcomes in Quebec.
Date: August 2020
Creator: King, Christine
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Framing the DREAM Act: An Analysis of Congressional Speeches

Description: Initially proposed in 2001, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) continues to be relevant after nearly 20 years of debate. The year 2010 was significant because there seemed to be some possibility of passage. This study investigated the ways in which the DREAM Act discourse was framed that year by supporters and opponents. Selected Congressional speeches of three supporters and three opponents were analyzed using the approach to frame analysis developed by Sch… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Koo, Yilmin
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Integrating Online Discussion Forums into the Foreign Language Curriculum: A Case Study of Advanced Learners of French

Description: This exploratory case study aims to develop a set of best practices for integrating online discussion forums into the foreign language curriculum, focusing specifically on a group of learners in an advanced French grammar course at a large, public U.S. university. During a period of two months, 26 participants completed a series of tasks designed to provide three different types of data: 1) exploration and analysis of interactional, linguistic, and social features of Web forum discourse; 2) par… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Mbuye, Kanku Lisette
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Learner use of French second-person pronouns in synchronous electronic communication.

Description: This study analyzes students' use of the French second-person pronouns tu (T) and vous (V) in small-group (2-3 students) inter-learner online chat sessions. The influence of internal linguistic factors (i.e., turn type and morphosyntactic environment) on learners' appropriate vs. inappropriate use of these pronouns is considered. The study also investigates the influence of Instructional Level on tu-vous use and the extent to which students from different instructional levels provide various ty… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: McCourt, Claire A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Vietnamese Students' Translanguaging in a Bilingual Context: Communications within a Student Organization at a US University

Description: Today linguistic hybridity is often conceptualized as translanguaging. The present study of translanguaging was a linguistic ethnography, which meant investigating cultural issues as well as linguistic practices. The focus was on bilingual speakers of Vietnamese and English, two "named" languages that differ considerably in morphology, syntax, and orthography. This study, conducted over four and a half months, was situated in the Vietnamese Student Organization of a U.S. university, and it incl… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Nguyen, Dung Thi
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Are Things Falling Apart Again? A Dialectical Analysis of Language Education Policy in Nigeria

Description: Today's globalized world presents challenges for formulating language education policies in multilingual countries, and postcolonial Nigeria presents a dramatic illustration because of ongoing colonial influences as well as neocolonial factors. This study focused on dialectical relations over time among languages in Nigeria's National Policy on Education (NPE), published in 1977, 1981, 1998, 2004, 2013, and 2014. The title of the study harks to Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, which d… more
Date: August 2019
Creator: Olaniyi, Adepeju Folasade
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

English Loanwords in French: A Corpus-Driven Analysis of Corporate Websites

Description: This thesis explores the use of English loanwords in French discourse found on seven France-based corporate websites and the website of one government ministry in France. The following overarching question guided this research project: To what extent are English loanwords used in French for marketing purposes or other reasons? As expected, the results varied greatly from website to website, but it is clear from my analysis of this relatively small corpus that the use of English is widespread in… more
Date: August 2022
Creator: Padilla, Werner G
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Case Study of Tu and Vous Use in the French Dubbing and Subtitling in an American Film

Description: Translation and subtitling has always been a complicated dimension of the motion picture industry for years. The problem of dealing with linguistic elements in films and conveying them to audiences of different languages across the globe encompasses many difficulties regarding forms and structures of other languages. One of the more highly researched topics in French linguistic studies has been the use of address pronouns and a range of aspects related to their use and interpretation. Many stud… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Reed, Sarah
Partner: UNT Libraries
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