1,721,023 research outputs found
Oral Genres. Concepts and Complexities
No full textThis chapter explores the notion of ‘genre’ in the oral medium. Despite the importance of style and of situational factors in sociolinguistics, genre has not been central to sociolinguistic debate, particularly as regards spoken discourse. Moreover, most research on oral genres relates to the English language: with the exception of Spanish, the Romance languages have not featured strongly. After a discussion of theoretical and methodological issues, the core of this chapter will explore the complexities around the concept of ‘oral genres’ through a series of case studies from French. Analysing a range of features across several corpora of different varieties of oral French, it will focus, in particular, on the notion of ‘hybridity’, widely acknowledged as a core property of spoken genres, and on the relationship between genre, register and medium. The chapter will end with a discussion of future avenues for research
New directions in the history and sociolinguistics of French
No full textThis chapter positions the contribution of the volume in the wider research context in which it was designed. It charts the evolution of the two main strands of research at the heart of the volume—sociolinguistics and historical (socio-)linguistics—exploring in each case the influence of the field on our understanding of the French language. In so doing, it draws on theoretical and methodological approaches from around the world, notably work by scholars in North America and Europe, particularly in Francophone and Anglophone traditions. The chapter sets out the distinctive approach of this volume, notably its multilingual perspectives (within France, across Europe, and in North America), its comparative dimension (across languages, geographies, and historical periods), and, crucially, its focus on data-driven methodologies. While theoretically diverse, and addressing a range of linguistic and sociolinguistic issues, the chapters are unified by an emphasis on data, drawing on recent datasets and electronic corpora of different text types that allow us to shed new light on the French language, both diachronically and synchronically.<br/
Minoritized languages in France and Ireland: policy, practice, vitality
No full textThis chapter explores policy, practice, and vitality in relation to minoritized languages in France and Ireland, with a focus on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Setting the discussion of this period in theoretical and historical contexts, the chapter investigates the impact of policy and practice on linguistic vitality. While there are certain parallels between the two settings in the nineteenth century, the situation in the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries demonstrates inverse policy positions in France and the Republic of Ireland, with particular complexities in the case of Northern Ireland. Nonetheless, despite high status in the case of the Republic of Ireland, alongside widespread visibility and high numbers of L2 speakers, minoritized languages in both the French and Irish contexts confront similar problematic issues as far as future vitality is concerned, notably in relation to questions around authenticity, legitimacy, the role of ‘new speakers’, and support for communities of speakers. <br/
Romance Sociolinguistics: Past, Present, Future
No full textIn this chapter we consider what it means to produce a Manual of Romance Sociolinguistics. We outline the development of Sociolinguistics and situate Romance Sociolinguistics within this, highlighting in particular its distinctive characteristics. We conclude by considering possible new directions for scholars working in the field, and argue that there needs to be more truly comparative work, which draws on the wealth and diversity of the data afforded by the very many genetically related dialects, regional varieties, minoritized and major languages of the Romance-speaking area. We contend that such studies will not only contribute to general theories of variation and change and the testing of so-called sociolinguistic universals, but also address important areas of language policy, including the maintenance and support of linguistic diversity at a time of high mobility and migration, as well as concerns about the effects of globalization and the dominance of English
Manual of Romance Sociolinguistics
No full textThis is a commissioned book that is co-edited by Ayres-Bennett (Cambridge) and Carruthers (Queen's). The editors have co-written an Introduction which positions Romance Linguistics in terms of current and future research in the field. The main body of the book contains 28 chapters from scholars around the world, on both the major Romance languages and minoritised ones. In addition to the co-authored Introduction, Carruthers is single author of Chapter 12
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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