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Wolfgang Haas is an award-winning Austrian author known primarily for his entertaining and quirky detective novels which follow the misadventures of Simon Brenner, an Austrian private investigator. These novels are notable for their subtle and not-so-subtle critiques of contemporary Austrian society and culture, their sometimes grisly content, and their unique

Wolfgang Haas is an award-winning Austrian author known primarily for his entertaining and quirky detective novels which follow the misadventures of Simon Brenner, an Austrian private investigator. These novels are notable for their subtle and not-so-subtle critiques of contemporary Austrian society and culture, their sometimes grisly content, and their unique and colloquial use of the Austrian variety of the German language. Haas has received numerous literary awards in the German-speaking world and attributes his success to the unique way he tells his stories, rather than the stories themselves. Of the seven Brenner novels that have been published thus far, only one is available in English translation, and he remains virtually unknown in the English-speaking world. This thesis includes a brief biography of Haas and an overview of his career, an analysis of his unique writing style and the problems they pose for a translator, and an English translation of the first two chapters of the novel Silentium! (1999).
ContributorsGeisler, Paul (Author) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Thesis advisor) / Ghanem, Carla (Committee member) / Hogue, Cynthia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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The use of blogging tools in the second language classroom has been investigated from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives (Alm, 2009; Armstrong & Retterer, 2008; Dippold, 2009; Ducate & Lomicka, 2008; Elola & Oskoz, 2008; Jauregi & Banados, 2008; Lee, 2009; Petersen, Divitini, & Chabert, 2008; Pinkman, 2005;

The use of blogging tools in the second language classroom has been investigated from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives (Alm, 2009; Armstrong & Retterer, 2008; Dippold, 2009; Ducate & Lomicka, 2008; Elola & Oskoz, 2008; Jauregi & Banados, 2008; Lee, 2009; Petersen, Divitini, & Chabert, 2008; Pinkman, 2005; Raith, 2009; Soares, 2008; Sun, 2009, 2012; Vurdien, 2011; Yang, 2009) and a growing number of studies examine the use of microblogging tools for language learning (Antenos-Conforti, 2009; Borau, Ullrich, Feng, & Shen, 2009; Lomicka & Lord, 2011; Perifanou, 2009). Grounded in Cultural Historical Activity Theory (Engestrom, 1987), the present study explores the outcomes of a semester-long project based on the Bridging Activities framework (Thorne & Reinhardt, 2008) and implemented in an intermediate hybrid Spanish-language course at a large public university in Arizona, in which students used microblogging and blogging tools to collect digital texts, analyze perspectives of the target culture, and participate as part of an online community of language learners with a broader audience of native speakers. The research questions are: (1) What technology is used by the students, with what frequency and for what purposes in both English and Spanish prior to beginning the project?, (2) What are students' values and attitudes toward using Twitter and Blogger as tools for learning Spanish and how do they change over time through their use in the project during the semester course?, and (3) What tensions emerge in the activity systems of the intermediate Spanish-language students throughout the process of using Twitter and Blogger for the project? What are the underlying reasons for the tensions? How are they resolved? The data was collected using pre-, post-, and periodic surveys, which included Likert and open-ended questions, as well as the participants' microblog and blog posts. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data was analyzed to identify emerging themes following the Constant Comparative Method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Finally, three participant outliers were selected as case studies for activity theoretical analysis in order to identify tensions and, through their resolution, evidence of expansive learning.
ContributorsAlvarado, Margaret (Author) / Lafford, Barbara (Thesis advisor) / González, Verónica (Committee member) / Cerron-Palomino, Alvaro (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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ABSTRACT (English)

Heinrich Hoffmann`s renowned Struwwelpeter and the famous Grimm brothers' fairy tales have been the subject of exhaustive pedagogical and psychological scrutiny. By means of shocking and fascinating literary elements Struwwelpeter's revolutionary didactic horror-comedy as well as the instructive horror-fantasy inherent in fairy tales are able to cast an enchanting,

ABSTRACT (English)

Heinrich Hoffmann`s renowned Struwwelpeter and the famous Grimm brothers' fairy tales have been the subject of exhaustive pedagogical and psychological scrutiny. By means of shocking and fascinating literary elements Struwwelpeter's revolutionary didactic horror-comedy as well as the instructive horror-fantasy inherent in fairy tales are able to cast an enchanting, enlightening spell on their audience. However, both Hoffmann's and the Grimm's adventurous stories have suffered harsh criticism particularly owing to their often gruesome, macabre and unrealistic subject matter. Notwithstanding the barrage of denunciating objections, the remarkable longevity of Fidgety Philip, Little Red Riding Hood and Co appears to know no bounds, as their ingenious formula for success comprising captivatingly shocking, spine-tingling elements of both entertaining and educational value continues to inspire contemporary adaptations. Several German dialects have also discovered and devoted themselves to the magical world of Hoffmann's chaotic rascals and the Grimm's fascinating fairy tale characters in furtherance of enlivening them with the identity, culture and local flavor of their respective region.

The current study aims to demonstrate the extent to which dialectal adaptations of the aforesaid tales succeed in not only revitalizing the original narratives including their pedagogical and psychodynamic quintessence but also in capturing the readers' hearts by virtue of their intimate parlance/phraseology. This particular philological approach illustrates the symbiotic interaction between regional German dialects and well-known (children's) Horror-stories.

ABSTRACT (German)



Bisher waren sowohl der renommierte Struwwelpeter Heinrich Hoffmanns als auch die berühmten Märchen der Brüder Grimm Objekte erschöpfender pädagogischer und psychologischer Betrachtungen. Die revolutionäre didaktische Gruselkomik der struwwelpetrigen Abenteuer sowie die lehrhafte Gruselphantastik der Märchen vermögen vermittels ihrer schockierenden und zugleich faszinierenden Elemente Menschen jeden Alters in ihren verzaubernden, lebenserhellenden Bann zu ziehen. Allerdings mussten die hoffmannschen und grimmschen Geschichten insbesondere auf Grund grausamer, wirklichkeitsfremder Inhalte auch als Zielscheibe heftigster Kritik fungieren. Nichtsdestotrotz scheint der steilen Karriere von Zappelphilipp, Rotkäppchen und Co keine Grenzen gesetzt, denn ihre raffinierte Erfolgsformel bestehend aus unterhaltsam-belehrenden Schock- und Zaubermotiven inspiriert stets neue Adaptionen. So haben auch die deutschsprachigen Mundarten längst das skurille sowie zauberhafte Reich der chaotischen Lausbuben und Märchencharaktere für sich entdeckt, um diese mit der jeweils eigenen regionalkolorierten Identität und Kultur zu beseelen.

Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit gilt es nun zu demonstrieren, inwiefern es den dialektalen Petriaden und Märchenversionen gelingt, nicht nur die Erzählungen samt ihrer pädagogisch sowie psychodynamisch wertvollen Kerngehalte zu neuem Leben zu erwecken, sondern sich darüber hinaus in anheimelnder Weise die Herzen der Leserschaft zu erobern. Diese einzigartige philologische Perspektive beleuchtet die Erfolg versprechende Wechselwirkung zwischen den ortsspezifischen Sprachgeflechten und den (Kinder)-Gruselklassikern.
ContributorsGerber, Michelle (Author) / Alexander, John (Thesis advisor) / Ghanem, Carla (Committee member) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the acceptability of a new variety of English among the English teaching community in Germany. A number of linguists claim there is a new variety of English developing in continental Europe, also known as Euro-English. Their research has surfaced multiple features that are unique to European

ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the acceptability of a new variety of English among the English teaching community in Germany. A number of linguists claim there is a new variety of English developing in continental Europe, also known as Euro-English. Their research has surfaced multiple features that are unique to European speakers of English. Twenty-one teachers participated in a survey. They answered a questionnaire consisting of two parts. Part one investigates the background of the teachers, their attitudes towards different varieties of English, and their awareness of the research regarding Euro-English. Part two tests the acceptability of ten features that have been claimed to be specific for mainland Europeans. Results of this study reveal that there is little awareness of non-native varieties and many find it hard to accept the features of Euro-English. However, the teachers show a genuine interest in this topic. Where there is a general preference in holding on to the guidelines of standard norms, many comments indicate that teachers think about issues of identity and how their teaching could be affected by a broader scope that exceeds traditional methods.
ContributorsRaack, Christine (Author) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Karen (Committee member) / Ghanem, Carla (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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With the increase of academic courses moving to online instruction (Blake, 2011), it is only natural language education also would make the leap to online platforms. Following Vygotsky's (1978) Sociocultural Theory (SCT), the purpose of this study is to test the differential effect of the presence of a language learning

With the increase of academic courses moving to online instruction (Blake, 2011), it is only natural language education also would make the leap to online platforms. Following Vygotsky's (1978) Sociocultural Theory (SCT), the purpose of this study is to test the differential effect of the presence of a language learning orientation module in online environments as well as exploring the possible variables affecting student success in module and non-module containing courses. The effectiveness of the module is measured by triangulating student success as defined and tested by Kerr et al. (2006) using their quantitative TOOLS (Test of Online Learning Success) instrument and collecting qualitative data in the form of journal entries and surveys. Data were collected from 1st year university Spanish courses from both a control group (no module use), as well as an experimental group (module use). Case study data from both control and experimental groups showed trends related to student success and may help to shed light on the pedagogical implications of language orientation modules in both online and face-to-face language learning environments while providing avenues for future research designs to explore the effectiveness of the aforementioned modules in online environments.
ContributorsFlanagan, Steven Ray (Author) / Ross, Andrew F (Thesis advisor) / Lafford, Barbara A. (Thesis advisor) / Ghanem, Carla (Committee member) / Cerrón-Palomino, Álvaro U (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016