Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures

Becoming a competent speaker of a language requires learning how culture and language interact with one another. Language, broadly speaking, can be used to help project a desired identity. A competent L2 user can use language to bring about desired social effects, just as an L1 speaker can. For example, a competent L2 speaker of English should be able to use politeness to avoid disrupting commercial transactions; they should be able to recognize and use sarcasm to align with others; they should be able to vary their speech according to the level of formality of a given setting. Generally speaking, however, these aspects of linguistic competence are not taught in the language classroom. Instead, it is generally assumed that this knowledge will be acquired when a language user is immersed in the target-language context. Yet this is a problematic assumption for a number of reasons: first, prior studies have indicated that time spent in the target culture is not necessarily tied to higher sociolinguistic competence; and second, quite often, only a privileged minority have access to the target culture. This dissertation tests an educational intervention designed to teach Russian L2 learners about culturally-situated aspects of language in a way that is broadly accessible. Students of Russian were taken through an online program that taught them about the intersection of culture and language; this program also trained them in ethnographic methods. After this, the participants carried out small-scale ethnographic explorations of an online Russian-using speech community. At various points, quantitative and qualitative measurements of their intercultural competence and sociolinguistic competence were taken. Participation in this program was correlated with an increase in intercultural competence and sociolinguistic competence. Qualitative data showed that participants saw particularly strong development in certain aspects of their competence, while other areas lagge (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ludmila Isurin (Advisor); Leslie Moore (Committee Member); Carmen Taleghani-Nikazm (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Language; Linguistics; Slavic Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2008, Communication Disorders/Speech-Language Pathology

The purpose of this case study was to explore the conversational repair responses of 3 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to communication breakdowns that occurred naturally in conversations. Adolescents with ASD are at the threshold of entry into independent living in society where their ability to manage communication breakdowns is essential. Of equal interest to the purposes of this study was describing how individuals with ASD were similar or different from each other in their sources of communication breakdowns, types of clarification requests, and repair responses used. The study used an embedded multiple-case study design to identify the sources of breakdowns, types of clarification requests made by the listener, and the types of repair responses used. Language samples were elicited across two conversational contexts (an Adult-Client context and a Peer with ASD context). A compiled coding system based on coding systems in the existing literature, pilot study findings, and those that emerged from the data was used to analyze the language samples. Results showed that all 3 participants exhibited and repaired breakdowns. Although similarities existed between the 3 participants in the types of repair responses used, they differed from each other in the variety of repair strategies used to resolve the breakdowns. Furthermore, the use of a compiled coding system enabled the identification of a pattern of strengths and weaknesses for each participant when faced with a communication breakdown. Investigations of linguistic pragmatics in autism are needed because they will generate information essential in designing effective assessments, interventions and support. The findings of this study are discussed with respect to prior theory and research, and its implications for the clinical and research fields.

Committee: Lynne Hewitt Ph.D. (Advisor); Elizabeth Burroughs Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lauren Katz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Mark Earley Ph.D. (Committee Member); Mary Hare Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Speech Therapy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, East Asian Languages and Literatures

Grammatical errors in a foreign language point to us as bad speakers of the language, but pragmatic failures point to us as bad people (Thomas 1983). This is also true when using facial expressions in a second/foreign language (“L2”) or culture (“C2”). Facial expression research has revealed that while there are some cross-cultural universals in how we interpret certain facial expressions, whether we display, suppress, or even mask our facial expressions is governed by culture-specific conventions. Violations of these “display rules” (Ekman and Friesen 1969)—just like violations of pragmatic language strategies—can have unintended results. When American learners enter the L2 Japanese classroom, they are already armed with facial expression strategies associated and integrated with their L1. These strategies unconsciously translate into their performances in L2 Japanese, although the effects of such transfer have yet to be studied. To learn about the perceptions that Japanese natives have of the facial expressions of L2 speakers of Japanese, data were collected through an online survey from 30 Japanese women in Japan and the US. First, a Likert scale was used to measure the respondents' assessments of the naturalness and appropriateness of the L2 Japanese performances of four performers: one 1st-year and one 2nd-year American learner of Japanese; one advanced American speaker of Japanese; and one native speaker of Japanese. Next, a “select-all that apply” question was used to identify (i) which facial expressions the raters observed in each performance, and (ii) which of those observed were violations for the context. Finally, raters gave written feedback about the performances and how they could have been made more culturally appropriate. An ordinal regression revealed no statistically significant difference between the naturalness and appropriateness ratings, indicating that both are likely measuring aspects of the same behavioral construct. A Kruskal-Wallis (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mari Noda (Advisor); Charles J. Quinn Jr. (Committee Member); Etsuyo Yuasa (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian Studies; Foreign Language; Language; Linguistics; Pedagogy

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2016, Speech Pathology and Audiology

Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD) is a new communication disorder introduced in the DSM-5 (APA, 2013). In light of this disorder, clinicians need to differentiate children whose social interaction difficulties are due to pragmatic language or to social skill deficits. One tool for differentiating these deficits is norm-referenced parent rating scales. This exploratory study examined agreement among pragmatic language and social skill/problem behavior rating scales. Participants included 17 parents of children with clinical diagnoses and 34 parents of typical children. As expected, the clinical group performed below the typical group. Two typical children had social skill/problem behavior deficits. Ratings on similar items across the two scales were examined. Significant differences were found for 9/19 item-pairs. Parents were sensitive to slight differences in item wording and context specificity. Rating scales may assist in delineating underlying cause(s) of interaction deficits. This project was funded by a Miami University Graduate School Thesis Award.

Committee: Geralyn Timler (Advisor); Sarah Watt (Committee Member); Emily Hasselbeck (Committee Member) Subjects: Speech Therapy