Browsing by Subject "Discourse"
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Item Cold War discourse in the post-Cold War media world: Articulations of global politics in Russian and US mainstream and alternative media(2015-06) Popkova, AnnaThis project examines the role that the Cold War discourse plays in informing and structuring the Russian and US mainstream and alternative news media narratives about international events and controversies that occur in the post-Cold War time but trace their historical roots to the Cold War geopolitical struggles and expose disagreements between Russia and the United States in the 21st century. This project also seeks to identify what other discourses of global politics and international affairs are interwoven in media narratives examined in this study and how their interactions with elements of the Cold War discourse work to create meanings for these media's audiences in the post-Cold War. Theoretically, the study brings together discourse analysis theory, Stuart Hall's theory of articulation and a set of concepts defining the debate on the forces of nationalism and globalization that shape the post-Cold War environment. The project is based on the combination of qualitative textual analysis and critical discourse analysis, and examines three case studies: the war in South Ossetia in 2008, the debate in the United Nations Security Council over the peace resolution in Syria in 2012, and the death of Hugo Ch�vez in 2013. The findings reveal that certain elements of the Cold War discourse continue structuring the narratives that different Russian and US media produce as they make sense of various events that occur in the post-Cold War time, raising critical questions about the persistence of powerful discourses, and about the ability of media both in Russia and in the United States to re-articulate discourses of global politics in the post-Cold War world.Item Contributing to meaning making: facilitating discourse in the high school physics classroom(2014-05) Hovan, Scot AlanThe Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) identify eight practices as essential to science and engineering, and these practices include asking students to construct explanations, to engage in argumentation, and to communicate scientific information. However, few teacher-training programs instruct teachers how to facilitate such discourse in the classroom. Modeling Instruction is one movement in physics education that organizes high school physics content around a small number of student-derived scientific models, and it relies on student discourse for the design, development, and deployment of these models. This research is a self-study of one high school physics teacher's experience facilitating large group discourse in the high school modeling physics classroom. Whiteboard meetings and graded discussions were examined by applying the analytical framework created by Mortimer and Scott (2003) to characterize the classroom talk and the discourse facilitation moves that I employed. In addition, elements of discourse analysis were used to examine some of the tensions that I experienced in the facilitation of this discourse. The findings suggest that deliberate identification of the teaching purposes for the discussion can help determine the scaffolding needed for students to enter the Discourse (Gee, 2011) of being a participant in these large group conversations. In addition, connecting the dialogic dimension of exploring student ideas with the authoritative dimension of introducing the scientific view and supporting the internalization of that view is necessary to contribute to meaning making in the science classroom.Item An Ethnographic Discourse Analysis of Anti-trafficking Activism(2015-05) Cox, VaniaThis dissertation uses discourse theory to understand anti-trafficking activism. A very specific discourse called Human Trafficking Discourse (HTD) depicts the problem of human trafficking as primarily sex trafficking and narrows the victims to women and children. This narrowing is due to an epistemic bedrock of patriarchal gender ideals which infuse the way activists, policy makers and the general public communicate about human trafficking. By first analyzing a series of speeches at the United Nations, I show how HTD is used strategically by international feminists as well as other high level policy makers. HTD, and discourse more generally, is not only words, however, so I follow HTD into a safe house for trafficked women where HTD disappears. Instead, the house relies on a discourse of Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) linked with Catholicism and poverty management strategies. Like HTD, CSE relies on the same bedrock of traditional gender ideals. This reliance on traditional gender does not fit the reality of residents' lives, however. HTD, while it disappears in the house, reappears when the development committee seeks funding from the general public to maintain the house. HTD is highly present at the first gala the committee planned, and the presence of former residents of the house at the gala negated the tropes upon which HTD relies. Additionally, the founders themselves struggle against the money-making potential of HTD and remaining true to their project based on CSE. I conclude with three points. Though I originally asserted that HTD narrows "the victim" to women and children as distinct categories, based on my observations at the House's gala, in reality I find that HTD narrows "victims" to young, childlike women. Second, HTD should not be a strategy for feminist activism aimed at supporting trafficked women or women in sex work. Last, the concept of episteme is woefully under-utilized in discourse theory. It is through greater understanding of shared epistemic roots of various, sometimes seemingly contradictory discourses, that the power relations of society can be better identified, analyzed and altered.Item "I‘ll get by with a little help from my friends": peer response groups in the composition classroom.(2011-05) Witikko, Neil BryanPeer response groups in the composition classroom have become a standard part of the writing process for many teachers. However, some teachers maintain that the results of peer response groups are uneven at best, noting that students do not stay on task or that the quality of the student response itself is superficial. These concerns and others led researchers to a great deal of study on this topic during the 1980s and 1990s. There is, however, a gap in current research about the students' discourse in peer response groups, how that discourse affects students revisions, and students' thought processes as they make their choices during the revision process. This qualitative study helps to fill this gap by taking a look inside eight writing groups of a College-in-the-Schools / AP composition class in northern Minnesota. Using an ethnographic and sociolinguistic analytical framework and the constant comparative method for the data analysis, this study examines the discourse of peer response groups and how that discourse relates to the revision of student writing. Findings of this study include observations of the intertextual nature of peer response, the collaborative generation of ideas in response sessions, and how the peer response process allows students to examine new perspectives. This study also includes implications for researchers and for teachers who are interested in using peer response groups in their classrooms.Item Legal status, education, and Latino youths' transition to adulthood(2013-06) Punti, GemmaThis two-year ethnography explores how six Latino young adults (ages 18 to 21), who arrived as children or teenagers in the US, experience and understand illegality and education. Just one participant qualifies for the `Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Policy'; a common reality since more than half of the undocumented youth under 30 are ineligible (Passel & Lopez, 2012). Through participant observation and conversational interviews, I sought to understand the role that education plays in the life of these young adults; how the meaning they give to illegality evolves, and how they showed agency in their discourses and everyday practices. Past research focused on the few undocumented students who are excelling academically (e.g., Perez, 2009), the marginalized lives of undocumented immigrants (e.g., Gonzales & Chavez, 2012), and the stages that undocumented youth undertake in learning about the meaning of illegality (Gonzales, 2011). Research has omitted the academic experiences of the majority of undocumented youth (who are not excelling academically), the nuanced forms of agency disclosed by this youth, and the experiences of first-generation young adults. These aspects are addressed in this study. Through ethnographic and discourse analysis (Gee, 1990) this study shows how age of arrival becomes more determinant than legal status in explaining high school graduation and their academic experiences. Still all participants believed that by echándole ganas they could graduate from high school. The meaning of illegality becomes fluid and while participants stated not to fear deportation, they acted on that fear by performing invisibility in public and unknown spaces. Finally, these youth learn to live in illegality but not as agentless individuals but as individuals who strategically pursue to improve their lives. **************** Aquest estudi etnogràfic de dos anys de durada examina com sis joves llatinoame-ricans sense documents, d'edats compreses entre els 18 i els 21 anys i que varen arribar abans dels 14 anys (generació 1.5) o després (generació 1), donen sentit a una educació als EEUU i a una vida d'il.legalitat. Només un dels participants qualifica per la llei `Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals'; una realitat molt típica ja que més de la meitat dels joves de menys de 30 anys sense documents són ineligibles (Passel & Lopez, 2012). A través de l'observació dels participants i d'entrevistes informals he investigat el significat que té l'educació per aquests joves; el significat que donen a la seva condició legal, com el significat canvia, i com mostren capacitat d'acció en el seu discurs i en les seves activitats diàries. La investigació prèvia estudiava aquells pocs joves indocumentats que tenien uns resutalts acadèmics excel.lents (e.g.Perez, 2009), les vides marginals dels immigrants indocumentats (e.g., Gonzales & Chavez, 2012), i les etapes que els joves sense documents experimenten al anar descubrint la seva il.legalitat (Gonzales, 2011). Aquesta investigació passada ha oblidat les experiències acadèmiques de la majoria dels joves indocumentats (els quals no tenen resultats acadèmics excepcionals), les formes subtils d'agència (capacitat d'acció), i les experiènces de la generació de joves que varen arribar als EEUU després dels 14 anys. Aquests aspectes si que es tenen en consideració en aquest estudi. A través de l'anàlisis del discurs (Gee, 1990) i de l'anàlisis etnogràfic, aquest estudi mostra com l'edat d'arribada és més determinant que la seva condició legal en l'explicació sobre les seves experiènces acadèmiques i en la possibilitat de graduar-se de l'escola secundària. Malgrat els obstacles que aquests joves viuen, els participants firmament creuen que amb una actitud de echándole ganas, poden acabar l'escola secondària satisfactòriament. El significat d'il.legalitat és fluid i encara que la majoria diuen que no temen ser deportats o discriminats, actuen sobre aquesta por vivint en invisibilitat. Finalment, aquests joves aprenen a viure com a indocumentats però conscients del seu desig de millorar les seves vides, i ho fan estratègicament - a través de l'aprenentage, la creativitat, i la recerca de noves alternatives professionals.Item Ojibwe discourse markers.(2009-08) Fairbanks, Brendan GeorgeIn this thesis, I describe the functions of a variety of discourse markers in the Ojibwe language, a language belonging to the Algonquian family of languages of North America. Discourse markers have been defined by Schiffrin as "sequentially dependent elements which bracket units of talk" (Schiffrin 1987:31), and as elements which, among other things, are syntactically detachable from a sentence (i.e. independent of sentential structure), and commonly used in initial position (Schiffrin 1987:32, 328). This thesis shows that her initial characterization must be broadened in order to account for languages such as Ojibwe which show discourse markers occurring in both initial and second position, and for other languages which show discourse markers occurring in medial and final positions. Also, since many languages like Ojibwe and the Amazonian languages examined in this thesis make regular use of clitics and affixes as discourse markers, I show that not all discourse markers are `detachable' from their containing sentences. Based upon this and other cross-linguistic evidence, I offer a definition of discourse markers which essentially refines Schiffrin's characterization. This thesis ultimately reveals the exploitive nature of language (and ultimately of its speakers) in regards to discourse. While languages show that individual words, particles, lexicalized phrases, clitics, and affixes may be `exploited' for their sentence-level functions for work at the discourse level, Ojibwe shows that entire inflectional systems may also be targets for discourse work. For example, Ojibwe exploits the sentence-level cohesive function of conjunct verbs in order to mark the eventline structure of a narrative. This accounts for the seemingly contradictive ability of conjunct verbs to serve as subordinate clauses at the sentence level, but as independent clauses at the discourse level. Such behavior, termed in this thesis as "discourse marking," shows that the use of morphological forms must also be included within a viable definition of discourse markers.Item Relationships between discourse, reader identity, and reading self-efficacy in a high school English classroom: a mixed methods, critical ethnographic study(2014-05) Kolb, Christopher L.Understanding that academic motivation and engagement are critical for youths' literacy learning and achievement in schools, this mixed methods, critical ethnographic study explored how social and discursive constructions of reading and literacy in a high school English classroom (for example, what was valued as reading in the classroom context) contributed to youths' self-perceptions as readers. Supported by a theoretical framework including sociocognitive, sociocultural, and critical perspectives, I considered how classroom curricula, pedagogical practices, and everyday classroom interactions influenced students' reader identities and reading self-efficacy. A combination of qualitative and quantitative data sources - including participant observations, classroom artifacts, audio-video recordings of classroom activities, semi-structured interviews, and student surveys - provided rich accounts of the classroom cultural context; the social and discursive construction of classroom expectations and practices related to reading and literacy; and the influence of these classroom discourses on students' identities and self-efficacy. Methods of analysis included constant comparative analyses, critical discourse analyses, and descriptive statistical analyses. Findings indicated that while students' self-efficacy beliefs were influenced by local classroom practices, definitions, and values for reading (especially as classroom discourses encouraged reading with multimodal texts), their reader identities depended largely on well-established, fixed ideologies of reading. These findings suggest that while teachers might marshal features of curriculum and pedagogy to support positive developments in students' reading self-efficacy, it might be more challenging to encourage similar changes in students' overall identities as readers.Item Talking difference: discourses about the Gypsy / Roma in Europe since 1989.(2009-08) Schneeweis, Adina Alexandra GiurgiuThis dissertation is a study of discourses about the Gypsies / Roma in contemporary Europe. It is positioned at the intersection of the disciplines of mass communication, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, and Romani studies. It seeks to explain the construction, development, and social treatment of Gypsy difference in Western and Eastern Europe since 1989. The research, therefore, focused on discourses in the press, in Romania and the United Kingdom at critical conjunctures between 1990 and 2006, and in publications of non-governmental organizations of the emerging movement for Roma rights. The analysis asked what press and activist discourses contribute to what European cultures mean by Gypsy / Roma. How and why have these discourses changed - at a historical time of increased attention to human rights and minority political representation, of European Union enlargement and opening of borders, of politico-economic transformations and democratization processes throughout Western, Central, and Eastern Europe? Press discourses constructed "the Gypsy," whereas activist discourses formulated "the Roma." The analysis of newspapers identified competing representations of discrimination against the Gypsy, of deploring the Gypsy's perpetual victim status, and, to a smaller degree, of attempting to recognize the minority culture in its own right. Differently, the activist publications contributed and formulated discourses that recognize the discrimination against the Roma, the state's role in this process, the rights of the Roma, the need for integration of the Roma, the role of tradition in contemporary process of inter-ethnic living, and, in few rare cases, the inferiority of Roma cultures. Tensions, hesitations, and changes were inherent in each of these constructions of the Gypsy / Roma. While discriminating against the Gypsy / Roma and lamenting racism are both rather self-explanatory in post-World War II and post-Communist Europe, press and activist discourses illustrate that such communication institutions play their part in the dominant ideology-counter-ideology dance that maintains an anti-Gypsyist system in place - by over-ethnicizing the Roma peoples, by intentionally shying away from formulating a cohesive Roma identity, and by continuing to find solutions for the Roma instead of with the Roma (yet an improvement from earlier eras of solution-finding against the Roma).