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- All Subjects: Language
- Creators: Dell'Anna, Antonella
- Creators: Prior, Matthew
Description
In this thesis, I conduct a preliminary analysis of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham's travel manual-cum-propaganda ebook Hijrah to the Islamic State, which has been used by people from various parts of the world attempting to enter Syria and join the terrorist organization. Using techniques from discourse and propaganda analysis I examine how the author of the text uses discursive resources to construct the reader of the text, the author's expectations for the reader, and the act of traveling to Syria. I then use news articles from varying organizations as well as the Islamic State-produced periodical magazine Dabiq to locate the document within the context of Islamic State affairs and propaganda. Subsequently, I show that the use of discursive resources is consistent with the ethos espoused in Dabiq, and in addition to serving as a guide to entering Syria Hijrah to the Islamic State is also a soft introduction into the radical belief systems of the terrorist group itself.
ContributorsDelmonico, Edward Peter (Author) / Prior, Matthew (Thesis director) / Adams, Karen (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The levels of student-perceived anxiety and attention in the Italian language classroom were evaluated. The central evaluation focused on the differences between how students experience anxiety and attention between Italian language and non-language courses. First-year Italian language students were surveyed using a self-report measure to identify individual levels of anxiety and attention during Elementary Italian I (ITA 101) courses compared to their experiences in non-language 100-level courses. A total of 65 responses were collected from the ITA 101 students of four different professors at Arizona State University. It was hypothesized that students experience more anxiety and pay greater attention during language courses in comparison to non-language courses. However, the differences between how students experienced both attention and anxiety across language and non-language course types was not significant. Using the demographic and supplementary questions from the survey, the differing experiences of students with or without previous language experience were examined. The results suggest a significant relationship between students with language experience and how they experience attention in Italian language courses. Additionally, statistical analysis suggests that students experience anxiety differently in Italian language courses dependent on previous second language experience. Implications for language course prerequisites were identified and suggest that it is beneficial for students to have prior second language experience before enrolling in Italian courses. Suggestions for future research were made, including a suggestion for additional research to explore how anxiety and attention may differ in higher-level language courses in addition to a suggestion for creating a more reliable and valid survey for testing classroom anxiety and attention levels.
ContributorsHoren, Sophia Louise (Author) / Dal Martello, Chiara (Thesis director) / Dell'Anna, Antonella (Committee member) / School of Social Work (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This thesis covers second language acquisition in regards to age, examining the difference between elementary and high school students. The primary language of all the students tested was English. The second language being tested in this study is German. The general age range in the elementary students observed was 7-12 years old. The high school students' ages were between 14-18 years old. The environment consisted of a physical education atmosphere, which includes: gyms, outside recreational areas, fitness equipment, fields, etc. Methods used to conduct this study were visual and auditory/verbal approaches. No direct instruction was provided to the students, they were assessed based on their ability to absorb the information when provided to them indirectly in a traditional classroom atmosphere. In addition, direct instruction is also not conducive to a physical education setting as it has the potential to detract from the necessary lesson content.
ContributorsMarch, Ashley Taylor (Author) / Pangrazi, Connie (Thesis director) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This dissertation study examined the language ideologies about the different languages used in Sri Lanka to understand how they may reflect and align with ideologies about ethnicity and national belonging and structures of power operating in Sri Lankan society. It was a qualitative study which gathered data by interviewing twelve participants from the four main ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. Through the analysis of data comprising observations about language evaluations and practices, three main themes were generated. First, the study showed that Sri Lanka is a complex multilingual context in which the status of different languages changes according to context, audience as well as the participants of an interaction and that therefore it is difficult to describe languages by static labels such as “first”, “second” or “link” language. Secondly, the study found the situation of English in Sri Lanka is still largely influenced by cultural practices introduced during colonial rule which has caused it to function as a basis for social division. The study also found that the situation of Sinhala and Tamil in Sri Lanka is shaped by ideologies about ethnicity and the social power that the two ethnic groups, the Sinhalese and Tamils, who speak the two languages, hold in society. Taken together these three main findings of the study showed that language ideologies in circulation in Sri Lanka as observed by the study participants were closely linked to and align with and sometimes even reinforce ideologies about ethnicity, national belonging and power in Sri Lankan society.
ContributorsRajapakse, Agra (Author) / Warriner, Doris (Thesis advisor) / Matsuda, Aya (Thesis advisor) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Beautiful and rich in history, the Arabic language is spoken by over 422 million people. The language has significant social and political importance, and it is increasingly taught in universities around the United States. When languages are taught their aim should be not only to teach learners to communicate effectively, but also to gain a deep understanding and respect of culture, people, and history. The Al-Kitaab textbook series by Georgetown University Press is utilized as the main learning material in most universities in the United States to teach Arabic language. The highly political and negative nature of the series limits students’ comprehension to a political perspective influenced by the conflicts in the Middle East and has a severe impact on not only students’ learning ability but also their perception of the Arabic language and culture. While the series sufficiently provides the political vocabulary necessary for roles in government, it overlooks the importance of a full understanding of the cultural richness and nuances of the Arabic language necessary for an appreciation of history, arts, and literature of the region. The overarching objective of this project is to analyze the Georgetown University Press Al-Kitaab textbook series for Arabic language instruction and compare it to the Vista Higher Learning Sentieri textbook for Italian language instruction to plan a new Arabic curriculum to increase student enrollment. This comparison will explore recurring themes present in each textbook series and display the detrimental and outdated depictions of Arab culture presented throughout the Al-Kitaab series. Different aspects of the textbooks will be discussed including vocabulary and vocabulary progression, biographies of important figures, in-text activities, reading passages, and recurrent themes. Through revamping the learning materials used to teach Arabic, Arizona State University (ASU) and the School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC) can become innovative leaders in the instruction of university-level Arabic language.
ContributorsMouti, Xeynab (Author) / Risha, Sarah (Thesis director) / Dell'Anna, Antonella (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
My thesis is a practice in Italian writing and Italian-English translation. During my semester abroad in Italy, I kept a journal of my experiences in Italian as a way to improve my proficiency and explore another facet of my identity. The entries included here range in topic from language acquisition, relationships, the experience of living in a foreign country, and self-exploration. Upon returning to the US, I translated each entry into English to see the different ways each language functions, as well as how my voice as a writer and individual comes through in both.
ContributorsGrasso, Olivia (Author) / Ferrando, Serena (Thesis director) / Dell'Anna, Antonella (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
The primary goal of the present study is to gain a better understanding of how one might use foreign language media as a tool for second/third language acquisition (SLA) and to evaluate its efficacy through a personal case study. Studies of second language acquisition have been done in many regions and across many languages, with many different populations, making it difficult to come to definitive, generalizable conclusions on the best way to acquire a second language. Many theories of second language acquisition have been proposed to bridge this gap. The foundation for most of these theories refers back to Stephen Krashen’s comprehensive theory of language acquisition (1981). Research in this area of study so far has thus largely been limited to children’s incidental language acquisition, with very few studies focusing on the experience of this acquisition. Because of time constraints and limited resources, this study is informed by previous longitudinal studies and takes the form of a personal case study, thus placing more focus on qualitative aspects of the experience rather than measurable, quantitative results. The author acts as a primary research subject, watching four hours of Italian media per week and taking notes on distinctive cultural aspects, important plot points, and new or difficult Italian words. The ACTFL scale was used to evaluate the level of Italian language proficiency at three stages of the media-consumption period: a base-line measurement before beginning the study; at the mid-way point of the study; and after the study was complete. This evaluation took the form of a conversational test administered by an Italian language professor at Arizona State University. Throughout the experience, a variety of studies that examined SLA were analyzed in order to better inform this study. Results of this study suggest that foreign language media can be an extremely helpful resource, even when no other language learning tools are implemented. Both my experience, and the research studies reviewed, suggest that one may be able to measurably increase one’s second language proficiency by multiple levels on the ACTFL scale by engaging in regular viewing of film/media in the language of study over a long period of time.
ContributorsLee-Furcini, Graecen (Author) / Miller, April (Thesis director) / Dal Martello, Chiara (Committee member) / Dell'Anna, Antonella (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
The steady influx of Venezuelan immigrants to the United States has resulted in the creation of a close-knit community of these immigrants in the city of Doral, Florida, now nicknamed Doralzuela given the strong imprint Venezuelan have left in this city. This study aimed at gaining understanding on how the process of immigration and settlement in the context has affected Venezuelan immigrants’ identity, their perception and use of English and Spanish in daily interactions, and how, or if, their bonds with the home country has affected their incorporation to the host society. The study followed a qualitative design. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed following Riessman’s (2008) notion of dialogic narrative analysis. Six themes emerged from the data; (re)configuration of the self, the role of social networks, negotiating identity through language, issues of assimilation, transnational identity, and Doralzuela, the new Venezuela. These themes were discussed, and multiple and distinct views on each theme were identified.
ContributorsRomero Pino, Blanca Esther (Author) / Adams, Karen (Thesis advisor) / Warriner, Doris (Committee member) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This thesis examines the narratives and meta-commentary of Indonesian users of English about their English as a Second Language (ESL) experiences. It approaches interview data with ten Indonesian second language (L2) speakers of English from a narrative analysis/inquiry perspective. Each interview was transcribed according to a modified set of discourse analysis (DA) transcription conventions, then coded by the researcher. The first research question addressed what linguistic devices members of this population used to achieve cohesion and coherence in their narratives, and the second research question examined how members of this population portrayed their L2 selves in their narratives. The data yielded 21 linguistic devices that fell into three levels of frequency. Connectives, discourse markers, and repetition were by far the most common linguistic devices, followed by adverbials, embedded clauses, intensifiers, and the word like (non-comparison uses), which were somewhat frequent linguistic devices. The data also showed that participants constructed their L2 selves using three main categories: agency, identity, and perceptions of English and the U.S.. In regard to identity, participants invoked membership categorization, where they portrayed their identities in relation to other individuals. The study concludes with suggestions for future research, especially relating to Indonesian L2 users of English.
ContributorsTappendorf, Rebecca C (Author) / Renaud, Claire (Thesis advisor) / Prior, Matthew (Committee member) / Gelderen, Elly van (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015