This study examines current language planning issues in Indonesia, focusing on the challenges of developing a standardized writing system for Madurese. Despite ongoing governmental efforts, significant progress toward a stable, widely adopted orthography has been limited. This research seeks to identify root causes and propose solutions for orthographic reform and standardization, drawing on the perceptions and collaborative efforts of Madurese stakeholders. Data were collected from June 29 to September 5, 2023, through a questionnaire comprising 33 questions on various aspects of Madurese orthography. The survey involved 263 participants, including language experts, educators, policymakers, practitioners, and community members. Using Spradley’s Developmental Research Sequence (DRS), the study analyzes cultural factors that shape perceptions of orthographic reform. Findings reveal six primary causes contributing to orthographic debates: phonetic characteristics, influence from Indonesian standards, sentimental associations, political interference, local government reluctance, and underlying prejudices. This study also explores perceptions of the 2011 Orthography, particularly its Carakan Script origins, compatibility with Indonesian standards, economic and streamlined design, clarity, consistency, technological adaptability, inclusivity, and durability. The research highlights the strategic coordination of orthographic reform, underscoring the roles of government bodies, schools, linguists, and community members in promoting effective representation and participation. The study recommends adaptive strategies, such as improved dissemination, media collaboration, and enhanced visibility in digital platforms like Google, to advance the orthographic reform. The implications enrich existing theoretical frameworks, revisit concepts such as Orthographic Dualism and Orthographic Competition, reveal sporadic ad hoc orthographies, propose new evaluation methods, and introduce the Representative, Participative, and Adaptive (RePA) principles within the Octahelix framework. The Octahelix model—a collaborative framework involving eight key actors—supports community-based orthographic reform in Madurese. Practically, the findings provide insights for policymakers, addressing ongoing debates with a multidimensional analysis of stakeholders’ aspirations to reduce tensions surrounding orthographic discussions. The recommendations aim to support a holistic approach for timely and effective orthography implementation, contributing to the preservation and resilience of the Madurese language.

This dissertation looks at Leslie Marmon Silko’s novel, Ceremony, through the lens of time. Besides her expressed interest in time as she stated in several interviews, the structure of the narrative, as well as the descriptions of Tayo’s epiphany of time and space, give grounds for this particular frame. However, it is also about the times and circumstances her characters would have lived through as members of a Pueblo community, residents within the state of New Mexico, and citizens of the United States. As such it bridges the research done on Laguna Pueblo by the anthropologists of the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century as well as the impact of the Marmon brothers and the Presbyterian church. Of further impact were the Pueblo land disputes with the federal government; the Albuquerque and Santa Fe Indian schools and assimilationist policies; and the Taos-Santa Fe anti-assimilationist efforts. Going beyond a typical ethnography, this study also focuses on Silko’s utilization of the Navajo Red Antway, Mountainway, and Great Star Chant; the traditional Laguna myths, including the origin myth and the connection to Chaco Canyon; the Aztec New Fire Ceremony and the theories of Newtonian, Einsteinian and quantum physics upon which Silko situated her interest in time. Each of these topics, with the exception of the Taos-Santa Fe cultural sphere, has either been alluded to in the dialogue between personae, made manifest in the actions and fates of the various family members, or employed, either overtly in passages connecting elements of the plot, or intimated through Silko’s descriptions of her characters and interactions among them.

The two Saudi Arabian dialects, Ghamdi and Zahrani Arabic (henceforth referred to as GA and ZA), have not received much attention linguistically. The current study provides a descriptive account of several aspects of the phonology of the aforementioned dialects. This study centers on three main topics. First, it describes stress assignment and shows regional variation of both dialects. It is shown that syllable weight, geminates as well as suffixation play significant roles in attracting stress in GA and ZA. Second, it deals with some deletion processes occurring in GA and ZA. Due to a language rule, it exhibits that word-final long vowels and geminates can be affected by final weight reduction. Also, it discusses and probes a phonological phenomenon of compensatory lengthening in the definite article of Arabic /ʔal-/ in ZA, which has never as yet been the subject of linguistic investigation before. It also analyzes cases of compensatory lengthening due to the deletion of the glottal stop /ʔ/ word-internally. And, as in many Arabic varieties, it also shows that /ʔ/ is deleted word-finally. Third, it sheds light on various cases of regressive and progressive assimilation. In particular, it investigates some assimilatory processes resulting from the interaction with some prefixes. It shows that root-initial consonants undergo assimilation with prefixes in GA and ZA. Finally, it shows that a prefixal vowel can also undergo vowel harmony when a prefix attaches to the root. The principal goals of this study are to enrich Arabic dialectology in general and Saudi Arabian Arabic dialectology in particular through examining data from two dialects spoken in a southwestern region in Saudi Arabia, Albaha region, and also to study and present phonological issues of GA and ZA that have not been under previous research or analysis in the literature.

Highly culturally-embedded elements of language like linguistic style and norms of formality and informality can pose a challenge for translators. Theorists of translation studies have historically considered the field of audiovisual translation in particular as a culturally homogenizing institution due to the strong commercial forces surrounding production of audiovisual translation. In this thesis, I discuss how speakers of French use lexical items to index linguistic formality and informality as an element of style. Style itself is a dynamic and continually innovative tool available to speakers to express identity and positionality of the speaker as well as attitudes toward their interlocutors. In French film and television, these stylistic features are critical to character identity-building and storytelling. In this thesis, I analyze France.tv Slash’s teen drama, Skam France (2018-2023), to explore how independent fan translators tackle complex translational issues of culture and linguistic style and how their choices influence meaning-making in narrative television. Ultimately, despite its drawbacks and complications, the collaborative, decentralized, and reciprocal nature of the fansubbing model reveals new potentialities in the form and function of audiovisual translation.

In an increasingly globalized world, the issue of minor languages and their preservation is critical as the popularity of more widely-spoken languages is oppressing them both consciously and subconsciously. The preservation of these languages is important as they not only correspond with unique cultural practices, but with literature and oral tradition as well—all of which will be lost with the extinction of the language. The Sassarese (also called Turritano) and Pumuntincu (Oltramontano/Southern Corsican) languages found on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, respectively, are both classified by UNESCO as highly endangered as they are spoken by 100,000 or fewer people. This thesis is designed as a report describing the level of preservation of the languages of Pumuntincu in southern Corsica and Sassarese in northern Sardinia. It describes the availability of language resources (educational or otherwise), current and former language policies, and any local efforts to preserve the language. Field research was conducted on the islands in the communities where the languages are spoken as well as at the Universities of Sassari and Corsica. The findings confirmed that both languages are, indeed, in a perilous situation, prompting language policy recommendations for both the French and Italian governments to implement in conjunction with existing policies of other recognized minor languages in each country, i.e. Sard, Gallurese, Tabarchino, Breton, Basque, and Cismontano/Northern Corsican.

The following is a brief grammatical sketch of the Chechen language whose analysis largely follows that of the existing Ingush grammar by Johanna Nichols. All data was elicited virtually from native speakers via translation exercises. It presents the current orthography of the language as well as the transcription system used in Nichols and Vagapov's Chechen dictionary, and further discusses the morphology of the major parts of speech as well as a few syntactic characteristics of the language such as agreement, coordination, and subordination.

This paper examines the function of grammar and pragmatics in testimonies and cross-examinations, specifically in sexual assault cases in the United States. Past research demonstrates a society’s view of sexual assault, particularly as a means of control, is reflected in cross-examination methodologies, which propagates into the laws surrounding sexual assault. This aims to investigate the impact the shift in societal perspective on sexual assault has on the cross-examination methodologies and ultimately the laws surrounding sexual assault in the United States. The incorporation of Conversation Analysis (CA) is used as a framework to evaluate the court transcripts. The framework is coupled with guidelines previously used to examine sexual assault cross-examinations in other countries. It is imperative to apply this to the United States as the view on sexual assault differs. The cross-examination and testimony transcripts in three court cases are examined. The guidelines for grammar include transitivity, use of adverbials and modals, nominalizations and subjects of unaccusatives, while the pragmatics focus on strategic questioning, presupposition, and selective reformulation. The findings in this qualitative study demonstrate the lack of progress the United States judicial system has made in terms of sexual assault. While the societal perspective shifts, the cross-examination methodology and the language of the laws remain constant, despite increase in awareness and supporting Acts. Given the small scope of research conducted in the United States, more research is necessary, along with reformation of the court proceedings and laws surrounding sexual assault.

Attending college is like embarking on a journey of self-discovery and transformation. Education as a heroic journey transforms students in such a way that it will invite them to re-examine their conceptual structures, as well as internalized cultural norms. While heroes make their way through their journey, they are often viewed as drawing upon different archetypes. By recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of each archetype, the Hero can consciously rely on the most beneficial attribute of this transformative journey. Despite the essential role of universal archetypes in students’ educational journey, they have been overlooked and replaced by a more functional approach in which personal development is neglected. Therefore, calling for a transformative educational approach in higher education has been advocated to push against the boundaries imposed by the functional approach and to help students transcend their personal boundaries. The purpose of this study is to discover the dominant Shadow archetypes of first-year college students and to explore the influence of archetypal unconscious traits on students’ self-efficacy. To investigate students’ archetypal personalities, two questionnaires: Pearson-Marr Archetypal Indicator (PMAI) and Sherer’s General Self-Efficacy Scale (SGSES), were applied. To investigate students’ perceptions on the influence of their Shadow archetypes, semi-structured online based interviews through Zoom were conducted. For the quantitative data analysis, statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS; and for the qualitative data analysis, deductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview protocols. It was revealed from the findings that the most active archetypes among first year college students are the Seeker, Jester, and Caregiver archetypes. The most common Shadow archetypes that are active among first year college students are the Idealist, Ruler, and the Warrior archetypes. The statistical analysis indicated that there is a linear relationship between the Shadow archetypes and students’ self-efficacy. The thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews revealed that first year college students’ academic self-efficacy is influenced by the traits of their Shadow archetypes in various ways. Some of these influences are lack of motivation, procrastination, inability to set goals, irresponsibility, and negative self-evaluation. Keywords: Shadow, Self-Knowledge, Archetypes, Self-efficacy, Transformative Education.

Moral status questions, (who and what counts morally) are of central concern to moral philosophers. There is also a rich history of psychological work exploring the topic. The received view in psychology of moral status accounts for it as a function of other mind perception. On this view, entities are morally considerable because they are perceived to have the right sort of minds. This dissertation analyzes and tests this theory, pointing out both empirical and conceptual issues with the received view. The results presented show that important moral intuitions (for example about unjustifiable interpersonal killing) cannot be explained by appealing to other mind perception. Some alternative views of the psychology of moral status are presented, as well as avenues for further research.

Screenplays and novels are similar in that they both tell a story. However, the two are not the same. Screenplays and novels have a significantly different function and purpose from one another. With that being said, this thesis conducts a register analysis to discover the prominent linguistic differences in each register. Overall, this study finds that novels and screenplays do in fact have linguistic features that differ from one another. The linguistic features distinctive to a screenplay are: shorter sentences, more non-standard sentences, and more nouns. Longer sentences, independent clause coordination constituents, phrasal constituents, and reduced predicate adjective phrases are the linguistic features present in the novel.