School of Languages and Linguistics - Theses
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Item'I told them from my tight blue pants' : the queer challenge to identity in the poetry of Frank O'Hara(University of Melbourne, 1998)
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ItemTo have and to hold: the semantics of the proprietive case in Australian languages( 1996)In this thesis I carry out a preliminary typological study on the semantics of the proprietive case in Australian languages. (The details on how far the proprietive is a standard case are discussed in §1.4) Throughout Australia a special proprietive is the main means of expressing the ‘have’ relation, except for a small group of languages on the Arafura coast. (Burarra, the Iwaidjic languages and Tiwi located at the very top of the country, and, most likely, some languages not covered in this survey, use alternate constructions to express proprietive semantics.) Dixon (1972) glosses an affix -yi in Dyirbal as ‘with’ and in his study or the languages of Australia (1980:322 ff.) classes it as a derivational affix. Blake (1987:77 ff.) discusses what he calls a group of ‘pre-case suffixes’ and gives solid argumentation for recognising their relational use, but withholds from attributing them with full blown case status. Dench and Evans (1988:10 ff.) clearly show that the proprietive is a productive case, with relational as well as adnominal scope, and which can derive new lexemes. In fact, the proprietive frequently functions relationally, in the same way as a typical adnominal case like the genitive.
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ItemThe pronominal system of Yaraldi( 1994)The aim of this work is to provide a detailed description of the pronominal system of Yaraldi, an Australian language traditionally spoken around the lower reaches of the Murray River and the Lakes area of South Australia. In this language, pronominals occur both as free forms and as clitics, and a major part of the thesis is occupied by an examination of the syntactic characteristics of pronominals in these two environments. The thesis also includes a description of the morphology which occurs on pronominals in Yaraldi, and some remarks on the functions of pronominals and on discourse factors affecting their distribution. A number of previous authors, including Capell (1956) and Yallop (1975), have proposed analyses of various aspects of the Yaraldi pronominal system, but these descriptions have been less thorough than might be desirable, partly due to lack of data. The publication of a large collection of Yaraldi texts by Ronald and Catherine Berndt in 1993 has made possible the current study. Where appropriate, the analysis proposed by this thesis is compared with those put forward by earlier writers. Although the focus of the thesis is on pronominals, some introductory analysis is also provided of Yaraldi morphology and syntax, and other features of the language that are relevant to an understanding of the pronominal system.
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ItemAn analysis of structure and interaction in the construction of a program for radio( 1994)Recent applied linguistic research has focussed on "communicative competence" or "native speaker competence", with goals being the description and analysis of native speaker language use, non-native language use, language acquisition and assessment. (Bachman,1990; Larsen-Freeman,1980). Conventions and structures involved in establishing, maintaining and terminating conversation have been analysed in terms of 'conversational maxims' (Grice 1975), 'conversational routines' (Coulmas 1981), 'conversational rules' (Hatch and Long 1980) and 'conversational competence' (Richards and Sukwiwat 1983). One area of language use in which native speakers display their "communicative competence" is in interaction on the electronic media of radio and television. This field of research is only of recent development, as the technology making it possible has only existed over the last 30 years or so. The electronic media, particularly broadcast media current affairs and news output, have a profound effect on the formation and development of language and opinion in our culture. Publications relying on written discourse, newspapers and magazines, make a great impact, but the electronic media are so pervasive and influential, with radio or TV interviews being the forum through which political and social issues are discussed, to reach the widest mass audience. Radio and TV interviews are fundamental to 'making the news' and frequently reported in the written media. The radio and television interview has become a significant institution for the creation and communication of political, arts, sport, news and current affairs content. As such it is surprising that it has not become the subject of deeper systematic analytical study in the abundant critical literature on the mass media. What is the nature of media interaction: is it different from everyday talk-in-interaction? If we consider an important form of media interaction to be the media interview: how is it structured? Can everyday conversation be used as a baseline for describing and analysing media interviews? Has the technology of editing achieved what could not be achieved through authentic interaction? This research attempts to begin to answer these questions. A segment of the original recordings for the making of a radio program has been described and analysed for features of structure and interaction, and then compared with the segment which was broadcast, to analyse which aspects were edited out, and which left in, as a media construct for the overhearing audience. (From Introduction)
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ItemBlind rhapsodists: the image of the modern Greek popular musician( 1998)This thesis sets out to explore, define and analyse the image of the Modern Greek Popular Musician between approximately 1945 and 1990 as expressed in a variety of written texts. The main argument is that there is a mythic approach in the presentation of the aforesaid image within the context 'of prevailing ideological and political concerns in modern Greek culture since the end of the War, and the ongoing influences of Western philhellenic ideals and Greek nationalism. Secondly, it is argued that the recurrence of common images points to an overall image for the popular musician which is composed of a number of general, diachronic images. The general images have been abstracted from a Typology constructed in a succinct and comprehensive way to show the wide variety of images of the popular musician over the last forty-five years. Despite this variety, however, it is argued that there a certain number of general images which are pivotal to any understanding of the overall image of the popular musician and which can be applied to all the case studies (six in total) which have also been included in the discussion and, indeed, to virtually all Modern Greek popular musicians. Finally, it is argued that the presence of recurring general images of the popular musician (which are neither random nor arbitrary) point to the strong cultural significance of that image. It is suggested that the popular musician is perceived to be a prominent figure in modern Greek culture precisely because there is a need for Culture Heroes in modern Greece; the musician seems to fulfil the relevant criteria by making an important contribution to his/her nation's culture and acting as a role-model for his/her people. Furthermore, it is contended that certain cultural values, beliefs and national preoccupations are expressed and reaffirmed in the image of the popular musician which makes its study all the more important.
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ItemKin and country: aspects of the use of kinterms in Arandic languages( 1998)The central hypothesis of this thesis is that aspects of the use of kinterms in Arandic languages (or dialects) are dependent upon pragmatic factors to do with broad levels of relationship beyond the genealogical, especially those between people and country, and between countries and Dreamings. It is suggested that other pragmatic factors such as the notions of closeness and distance are significant in determining the use of kinterms. Through an analysis of ‘unexpected’ uses of kinterms it is shown that systematic patterns of skewing exist in Arandic systems, and the factors which determine this are explored. Particular types of kin are marked by the use of specialised kinterms, by respectful codes of behaviour, and by the use of special registers.
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ItemTopics in colloquial Malay( 1990)This thesis is a description of some common linguistic features of Colloquial Malay, a spoken variety of the Malay language used by native Malay speakers of Malaysia among themselves in everyday unmarked speech situations. While linguistic works and grammars of Standard Malay (or, Bahasa Malaysia), the national language of Malaysia are numerous, there are very few works on the less formal varieties and dialects of Malay spoken in Malaysia. Little importance is given to studying Colloquial Malay and scholarly works on Colloquial Malay are very rare. This thesis seeks to explore and compare various formal properties of Colloquial Malay and Standard Malay and in doing so, to contribute to this largely unexplored area of study in the Malay language. In this work I aim to provide a description of some of the major characteristics of CM in contrast with SM based on a comparison of one sizeable CM text with a comparable SM narrative text. An inductive method is used in analysing inter-and intra-textual shifts in register, that is, shifts in the degree of formality or informality, which correlate with the use of CM-like properties and SM-like properties. From this I build up a description of a set of CM features which can be expected to be characteristic of actual colloquial Malay usage, which will provide a basis for further study. The types of CM features described are diverse and include lexical, morphological and syntactic properties. The lexical features examined include variant phonological forms, colloquial lexical roots, semantic shifts in the colloquial usage of some common roots, code-switching and English loans, the class of emotive, modal and illocutionary particles, and the classes of pronouns and prepositions in Colloquial Malay. Some typical Colloquial Malay expressions, phrases and constructions are dealt with briefly. Several grammatical features are considered: affixation and its frequency in Colloquial Malay relative to Standard Malay; ‘passive’ and causative constructions; the structure of the noun phrase; the Modifier-punya-Head construction, a typical Colloquial Malay construction; verbal auxiliaries; and typical uses of the adverbial saja/(a)je ‘only, just’ in Colloquial Malay. Clause combining strategies, which include subordination, coordination, verb serialization and juxtaposition, are discussed as well.
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ItemThe comparability of direct and semi-direct speaking tests: a case study( 1997-08)This thesis investigates the equivalence of direct (live) and semi-direct (tape-mediated) versions of a test of oral proficiency which forms part of the access: test, a four-skill English language test for prospective skilled migrants to Australia sponsored by the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs. This is essentially an equity issue since the two versions are used interchangeably in overseas test centres and candidates normally have no choice about the version to which they are assigned. It is important therefore that candidates’ final results should not be adversely affected by the particular method used to test their oral proficiency.
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ItemComprehensible output in NNS-NNS interaction in Japanese as a foreign language( 1993)This study is a partial replication of Pica et al’s study (1989) of comprehensible output, and investigates comprehensible output in NNS-NNS interaction in Japanese as a Foreign Language. Data were collected using two different types of tasks (information gap and jigsaw tasks) in three sub-groups of different proficiency levels (High-High, Low-Low, and High-Low) in order to find out (1) to what extent the tasks provide opportunities for learners to modify their initial output in response to requests for clarification and confirmation, and (2) the extent to which learners actually modify their output in response to interlocutor requests. The results show that comprehensible output is an important phenomenon in NNS-NNS interaction. Unlike the result of Pica et al, task types had more effect on opportunities for comprehensible output and actual production of comprehensible output than request types. Not much difference was found among different proficiency groups.
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ItemThe role of digital video media in second language listening comprehension( 1999)The aim of this investigation was to examine the role of visual elements in second language listening comprehension when digital video was used as a mode of presentation. Despite the widespread use of video in listening instruction, little is known at present about how learners attend to dual-coded media and, in particular, how visual elements may influence comprehension processes. The study was conducted at the Japanese department of a large Australian research university. In conjunction with Japanese language instructors, the researcher first selected three authentic Japanese news broadcasts. After digitisation, the videotexts were utilised in a pilot study that ws designed to explore issues not resolved in a review of current theory. Four participants, representing a range of proficiencies from beginning to advanced, were directed to provide immediately restrospective verbal reports in the pilot study. The central outcome of the pilot study was to set out a preliminary seven-category framework of listener interactions with the digital videotexts. These categories, for example, included text type identification, macrostructure generation, confirmation and hindrance of macrostructure development. In the main study, twelve upper intermediate non-native tertiary students of Japanese attended to the videotexts. With some modification of the data collection procedures, the participants provided immediately retrospective verbal reports while they 1) interacted with the videotext initially and 2) engaged with videotext during self-directed responses to open-ended task demands. Based on the first section of the verbal reports, the pilot study framework was refined to focus on initial front-to-back comprehension of the videotexts. The seven-part categorisation was expanded to include greater detail of behaviours. In a second stage of analysis, a three-category framework was proposed to focus on responses to task demands. Listeners were seen to initiate extensive reviews, make no immediate use of the videotext and search for task-relevant information. To illustrate these categories, seven individual case studies were used to profile listener engagement with videotext in response to task demands. The investigation then summarises the findings and discusses video-mediated listening comprehension in regards to classroom instruction, listening assessment and computer-based language learning. The results point to a view that visual elements work in a number of ways that go beyond merely ‘supporting’ verbal elements; they are better thought of as integral resources to comprehension whose influence shifts from primary to secondary importance as a listener develops a mature understanding of the videotext. Finally, the thesis provides a critical evaluation of the investigation and suggests areas for future research.