School of Humanities
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This collection contains Honours, Masters and Ph.D by coursework theses from University of Adelaide postgraduate students within the School of Humanities. The material has been approved as making a significant contribution to knowledge.
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Item Open Access Thematicity and Informational Focus in English to Mandarin Translation: Maintaining Textual Equivalence(2005) Teng, Wei; School of Humanities : LinguisticsThis study is concerned with what Systemic Functional Linguistics (e.g. Halliday 1994) terms the systems of Theme/Rheme and Given/New. It provides a small scale exploration of the degree to which equivalence i n these two systems is maintained under English to Mandarin translation. As well, it pays close attention to the two English structures known as Theme Predication and T heme Identification due to their associat ion with the expression of exclusiveness . This expression attributes the conflation of Theme with New rather than with Given, th e usual state of affairs. As a consequence, they pose certain challenges for Mandarin to English translation. T his paper offers the following key findings. F irstly, thematic a nd informational equivalence is usually, but not universally maintained under English to Mandarin translation. S ome discussion is provided of why such breakdowns occasionally occur. S econdly, while Theme Predication and Theme Identification do pose some problems for translation, t he mechanisms employed by the translators to achieve the textual equivalence will be described, with discussion how they are both similar to and different from English original. S pecial attention paid to the expression of exclusi veness demonstrates t hat, while in English this expression is conveyed via particular word orderings, in Mandarin it is conveyed via the use of certain adverbs. Despite its necessity only of a limited nature, this study is expected to serve as the commence ment of researches on exploring the significance of textual meaning in translation, as well as on exploring other possible elements in Mandarin related to text structuring meaning.Item Open Access Das Barossadeutsche : Ursprung, Kennzeichen und Zugehörigkeit : Untersuchungen in einer deutschen Sprachinsel(1965) Paul, Peter; Dept. of GermanItem Open Access Hysteria as strategy: Exploring hysteria and madness as strategy in Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman and Alias Grace(2008) Streeter, Sarah; School of Humanities: English & Creative WritingIn this thesis I will explore the literary tradition of women and hysteria as a smaller facet of the larger cultural history that associates women with madness. I will explore how women have come to embody hysteria and why, as Elaine Showalter asserts, hysteria has been labeled a 'female malady' (4).With reference to Freud's Dora and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper, this thesis will establish the literary tradition that links women and madness and will map a feminist critique, from the 1970s onwards, of that tradition. It will then examine how Margaret Atwood, as a contemporary woman writer, engages with the theme of women and madness in her novels The Edible Woman and Alias Grace. Juliet Mitchell has argued that hysteria is a woman writer's 'masculine language', a strategic means through which a woman can communicate female experience from within a patriarchal discourse ('Femininity, Narrative and Psychoanalysis' 427). This thesis will examine to what extent agency and expression can be gained through the strategic employment of hysteria and madness in Atwood's novels. In The Edible Woman Atwood enlists the Freudian model of hysteria, whereby repression is displaced into physical symptoms, to free her protagonist from a dangerous marriage. The protagonist does not actively engage with the malady, however. On the contrary, Marian, an inherently passive character, relies upon her illness to physically manifest the unspoken protests of her repressed self to ultimately free herself from the engagement. In contrast, Grace, the protagonist of Alias Grace, actively manipulates the association of women with madness to secure her agency. Relying on nineteenth-century attitudes that more readily link a woman with madness than murder, Grace manipulates the tradition that has silenced and pathologised women to provide her with expression and freedom.Item Open Access The Femme Fatale: theorising female power and subjectivity in Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace and The Robber Bride(1998) Kulperger, Shelley; School of Humanities: English & Creative WritingItem Open Access Conflict in Sudan: Guns, Globalisation and Accelerated History(2017) Radoslovich, Philip Edward; School of Humanities: AnthropologyConflict has been a part of life in South Sudan for more than 60 years with very limited periods of peace. It has taken different forms over time, morphing from struggles related to decolonisation, through civil war to interstate conflict and at various stages more than one of these categories simultaneously. I examine the conflict in South Sudan through the lens of globalisation which collapses the timeframe over which societal change is taking place, a concept called ‘accelerated history’ by some writers, particularly Abbink (2001). Appadurai (2008) has provided a framework for assessing the effects of globalisation as a series of disjunctive cultural ‘scapes’ which can be analysed for the global influences that are rapidly changing the world we all live in. In the case of Greater Sudan the cultural landscape has been particularly affected by ‘ethnoscapes’ whereby a fictional primordial ethnic past is being invented, reinvented and re-interpreted, often quite violently and very rapidly with the aid of cheap powerful automatic weapons. The rampant advance of the AK-47 and equivalent weaponry has fundamentally changed ritual and traditional conflict to the point of no return. Conflict is also both driving the collapse of the age grade elder system, brought on initially by transplanted European values and the desire for efficient, locally run colonial administrations. The transition of young men to paid work rather than traditional cattle herding roles, the small arms race and a desire by young men to ‘feel their oats’ rather than accepting their community responsibilities are also contributing causes. Finally and as with many post-colonial conflicts there are power plays over political dominance, ethnicity issues and resource allocation which are also driving the conflict.Item Open Access Deep and defiant : Dušan and Voitre Marek, two European émigré artists in post-war (South) Australia(2007) Donaldson, Cheri; School of History and Politics, Discipline of HistoryThis thesis explores the different paths taken by each of the two brothers through a close examination of their drawings, paintings and sculptural works. The other media with which they worked, silver-smithing and film-making in Dušan's case, and print-making and jewellery-making in Voitre's case, is not considered in detail."Item Open Access Racheschwur, Rosenfest und Traumszene : die Bedeutung des Rituals in drei Dramen Kleists(1993) Morris, Rachel; Dept. of GermanItem Open Access Success in minority language revival programmes: a case study of Hawaiian, Irish and Kaurna/ Emma Louise Watts.(2003) Watts., Emma Louise; School of Humanities, Discipline of LinguisticsItem Open Access The bated shining sword : the Colonial Defence Force as a mirror of colonial society in South Australia, 1836-1901(1983) Wilkins., Len; Dept. of HistoryItem Open Access Curriculum renewal in English language teaching and learning in Albania: an exploration of the language learning pedagogy underpinning the teaching and learning of English in elementary schools in Albania(2013) Kuci, Irma; Mickan, Peter Frank; School of Humanities : LinguisticsAmidst calls for foreign language curriculum renewal in Albania aligning with the Common European Framework outcome of communicative fluency, this study seeks to understand the existing English language teaching and learning pedagogy in Albanian elementary schools. This is achieved by analysing the pedagogic purpose and function of a unit in the textbook syllabus used in English language classrooms in elementary schools in Albania. Further to this the practice of teaching English through media, common in English language programs in Albanian elementary schools, is analysed in order to understand the pedagogic purpose and function of this practice in English language programs. From the results of this twofold investigation, a justification for the recommendation for the text‐based approach to language learning, theorised through a social semiotic view of language and language and learning (Halliday, 1975, 1978, 1993) is made for consideration in foreign language curriculum renewal initiatives in Albania. The text‐based approach is recommended because it provides a theorised pedagogy conducive to achieving The Common European Framework foreign language learning outcome of communicative language competence and provides a theorised approach which could underpin the existing practice of teaching through media.Item Open Access Language use and language attitudes in a rural South Australian community / presented by Tania H. Sapinski(1998) Sapinski, Tania Helen; Dept. of European StudiesArgues the importance of considering non-linguistic factors in understanding the community situation, the most important of these non-linguistic factors being the role of peoples attitudes. Outlines the situation in the target community. Discusses language attitude research and compares attitudes to language varieties around the world. Illustrates Australian Governmental attitudes through their past and present policies in dealing with Indigenous Australians.Item Open Access The art of saying no: A cross-cultural pragmatic comparison of Saudi and Australian refusal appropriateness applied in academic settings(2009) Alhaidari, Abdulrahman Ahmad; Mickan, Peter Frank; Walsh, JohnThe purpose of this present study is to investigate the cross-cultural pragmatics of refusal speech acts generated by Saudi native Arabic speakers and Australian native English speakers in academic settings. The Instrumentation of data collection developed by the study utilised a combination of discourse completion tests and role play. The participants in this study were composed of four groups: Saudi teachers, Australian teachers, Saudi students, and Australian students. Twenty Saudi teachers and students were interviewed in Um Al-Qura University in Makkah city, and resulted in 180 refusals. Similarly, twenty Australian teachers and students were interviewed in Adelaide University in Adelaide city, and resulted in 180 refusals as well. Each given refusal was analysed into speech acts and strategies, and formed semantic formulas for the given refusals. The generated data was analysed to identify the contrasting strategies adopted by both language speakers while formulating their refusal utterances and its frequencies. After determining the unshared refusal strategies among the counter participants of the study, further investigations were carried on, and collected from other participants to shed some light on the understandings and interpretations formed by the different language speakers. It was found that while all groups applied indirect refusal strategies adopting many similar strategies, they differed in many aspects, such as: length, strategies, frequencies, and content of the semantic formulas. The findings of this study also suggest that people from both countries when xi using unshared refusal strategies, risk threatening the face of both interlocutors by sending negative messages and conveying negative personal images while interacting with each other. Another conclusion of the study suggests the inappropriateness of using written discourse completion tests, which have been conducted by most of the previous studies, as they fail to convey the Arabic language used in real life activities rather than formal written formsItem Open Access Changes in the Balawiy Bedouin Arabic dialect of Saudi Arabia 1985-2015(2015) Albalawi, Hend Saleh O; Zuckermann, Ghil'ad; Walsh, John; School of Humanities : LinguisticsIn this research, I investigate how the Balawiy Bedouin Arabic dialect spoken in northwestern Saudi Arabia has demonstrated language change during the past 30 years. With two groups of native Balawiy Bedouin speakers—one of participants aged at least 55 years and the other of participants aged no more than 25 years. Individual semistructured interviews were selected for the method of the research. Findings of interviews reveal language changes in the dialect’s phonological, morphological, lexical, and semantic aspects, though syntax remains conservative between both generations of speakers. Above all, most changes occurred with lexical items, many of which have been borrowed from other Arabic varieties. Findings thus suggest that Balawiy Bedouin is not only changeable, but moreover influenced by other varieties of Arabic present in the environments of current Balawiy speakers such as Modern Standard Arabic. Ultimately, these findings should be of interest of linguists, Saudi grammarians, and all Balawiy Bedouin speakers.Item Open Access A case study: how newcomers become experienced learners through interactions in an English as a second language classroom community.(2008) Nagao, Akiko; Mickan, Peter Frank; School of Humanities : LinguisticsThis thesis is a case study of language learning in the ESL classroom context as demonstrated in Lave and Wenger’s communities of practice (1991). The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness or otherwise of English language learning as applied in an ESL classroom community. More specifically, the thesis examines the learning experiences of an international student learning a second language while being exposed to a variety of social practices as a newcomer and participant attempting to understand the role of participation in an English learning classroom community and also theories through spoken dialogue. This approach involves interpreting the students’ learning in social participation as community members, in which natural human activities influence the students’ language learning. The theoretical framework for this examination is offered by the sociocultural resources of learning in a community, as developed by Lave and Wenger (1991). Three hypotheses and three research questions guide the analysis. Firstly, that Lave and Wenger’s concept of communities of practice can be applied into a formal organisation such as an ESL classroom learning community. Secondly, that it is possible to identify stage-by-stage processes for ESL newcomers to become experienced learners in a long term process by analysing social practices in a classroom. And thirdly, that Lave and Wenger’s idea of core, active, and peripheral participants can apply in an ESL classroom. Research questions were used to analyse an individual ESL learner’s participation in small groups as well as within the whole classroom community. The analysis examined the participant’s first self-reflection on her language learning in order to identify how she became accustomed to a variety of social practices by interacting with community members, people from outside of the community. Classroom discourse was analysed to explore how newcomers and experienced learners participate in peer discussions in a small community. The findings demonstrate the English learning classroom as a community. People learn languages by interacting with other people and making a community. The process of community building and participation is a natural process which people do every day. The above idea indicates the importance of how learners learn language in a classroom community through exposure to natural human activities.