scholarly journals Whites and Browns: A Contrastive Study of Metadiscourse in English Newspaper Editorials

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-42
Author(s):  
Muhammad Imtiaz Shahid ◽  
Hafiz Muhammad Qasim ◽  
Muhammad Hasnain
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Structural Properties ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Persuasive Writing ◽  
Contrastive Rhetoric ◽  
Contrastive Study ◽  
Field Of Inquiry ◽  
Newspaper Editorials

Metadiscourse is an interesting field of inquiry which is believed to play a vital role in organizing and producing persuasive writing. It is a set of linguistic devices used to communicate attitudes and mark the structural properties of a text. The study aimed to investigate whether native and non-native varieties of English varieties are similar or different from each other from the perspective of interactional meta-discourse markers. The study as contrastive rhetoric research scrutinized a corpus of 900 newspapers editorials (450 written in native English newspapers and 450 written in non-native English newspapers). Editorials were culled from 15 native English newspapers belonging to three native English countries, England, America and New Zealand, and 15 non-native English newspapers belonging to three non-native English countries, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. Based on the model of metadiscourse given by Hyland (2005), interactional metadiscoursive resources were analyzed. The frequencies of interactional metadiscourse markers in both native and non-native varieties were counted and compared with each other. The results disclosed that there were worth-pointing differences between the native and non-native English editorialists in the use of interactional metadiscourse markers. Two different varieties of English editorials showed variations particularly in the use of hedging and self-mention markers. On the whole, findings suggested that the use of interactional metadiscourse markers in native English editorials were more frequent than those in non-native English editorials which made their writings more appealing and convincing. Keywords: metadiscourse, native, non-native, newspaper, editorials

scholarly journals Embodied Carbon as a Material Selection Criterion: Insights from Sri Lankan Construction Sector

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2202
Author(s):  
Amalka Nawarathna ◽  
Muditha Siriwardana ◽  
Zaid Alwan
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Material Selection ◽  
Selection Criterion ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Embodied Carbon ◽  
The Government

The choice of materials is crucial in responding to the increasing embodied carbon (EC) impacts of buildings. Building professionals involved in material selection for construction projects have a vital role to play in this regard. This paper aimed to explore the extent to which building professionals in Sri Lanka considered EC as a material selection criterion. A questionnaire survey was conducted among a sample of building professionals in Sri Lanka. The results indicated that the consideration of EC as a material selection criterion remained low among key professionals, such as architects, engineers, and sustainability managers, despite their reasonable influencing powers and knowledge of EC. Those respondents who had considered EC as a selection criterion said they had been primarily driven by green building rating systems and previous experience. Those respondents who had not considered EC during material selection commonly reported that they had been prevented from doing so by the lack of regulations and the lack of alternative low carbon materials. Respondents believed that the involvement of actors, such as the government, professional bodies, environmental organizations, activist groups, and the public, may be significant in promoting the greater consideration of EC during material selection.

(In)visible perceptions of objects (‘things’) during early transitions: Intertwining subjectivities in ECEC

2021 ◽  
pp. 146394912110279
Author(s):  
E Jayne White ◽  
Fiona Westbrook ◽  
Kathryn Hawkes ◽  
Waveney Lord ◽  
Bridgette Redder
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
New Materialism ◽  
Object A ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Mediating Tools ◽  
Teachers And Parents ◽  
To Receive

Objects in early childhood education (ECEC) experiences have begun to receive a great deal more attention than ever before. Although much of this attention has emerged recently from new materialism, in this paper we turn to Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological concern with the (in)visibility of ‘things’ to illuminate the presence of objects within infant transitions. Drawing on notions of écart and reversibility, we explore the relational perceptions objects are bestowed with on the lead up to, and first day of, infant transitions. Recognizing the intertwining subjectivities that perceive the object, a series of videos and interviews with teachers and parents across three ECEC sites in Australia and New Zealand provided a rich source of phenomenological insight. Our analysis reveals objects as deeply imbued anchoring links that enable relational possibilities for transitions between home and ECEC service. Visible and yet invisible to adults (parents and/or teachers) who readily engage with objects during earliest transitions, the significance of things facilitates opportunities to forge new relationships, create boundaries and facilitate connections. As such, our paper concludes that objects are far more than mediating tools, or conceptual agents; they provide an explicit route to understanding with potential to play a vital role in supporting effective early transitions when granted visibility within this important phenomenon.

Cochliobolus eragrostidis. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Sivanesan
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Leaf Spots

Abstract A description is provided for Cochliobolus eragrostidis. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: Acacia, Agave, Allium, Alysicarpus, Amorphophallus, Anacardium, Arachis, Areca, Billbergia, Calamus, Callitris, Calotropis, Camellia, Cananga, Capsicum, Citrullus, Citrus, Clerodendron, Cocos, Coffea, Colocasia, Cymbopogon, Dendrobium, Digitaria, Dioscorea, Dracaena, Durio, Elaeis, Eragrostis, Eucalyptus, Euphorbia, Furcraea, Gladiolus, Glycine, Gossypium, Heliconia, Hevea, Hystrix, Ipomoea, Kaempferia, Lycopersicon, Mangifera, Manihot, Mystroxylon, Musa, Neyraudia, Oldenlandia, Opuntia, Oryza, Panicum, Pennisetum, Pentas, Phalaenopsis, Phaseolus, Pinus, Polygala, Pueraria, Raphia, Raphanus, Rhodomyrtus, Rhoeo, Rottboellia, Saccharum, Sesamum, Sorghum, Spinacia, Sporobolus, Stylosanthes, Theobroma, Thrasya, Tradescantia, Trichosanthes, Triplochiton, Triticum, Vanda, Vigna, Zea, Zingiber and soil. DISEASE: Leaf spots. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Australia, Bangladesh, Belize, Brazil, Brunei, Burma, Colombia, Cuba, Fiji, Ghana, Guinea, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, USA, Zambia, Zaire. TRANSMISSION: By wind-borne conidia.

scholarly journals AN INVESTIGATION INTO UTILIZATION, BELIEFS AND PRACTICE OF INDIGENOUS MEDICINE IN SRI LANKA

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
G. R. Padmasiri
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Medical System ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Care Process ◽  
Indigenous Medicine ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Beliefs And Practice

Background: Most countries pose their own indigenous knowledge systems. Native knowledge on indigenous medicine is one of the knowledge systems widely used in many countries in Asia and Africa. In some countries, 80% of the population depend on indigenous medicine for primary health care. Sri Lanka is an island enriched with a wellestablished indigenous medical system. Materials and Methods: The objectives of the study were to identify characteristics, usage patterns, and perceptions of communities concerning indigenous medicine. Beneficiaries of indigenous medicine were selected through purposive sampling for this study. The data were collected through a documentary survey and interviews. Results: The study identified that the indigenous medical system of the country is called ‘DeshiyaChikitsa,’ ‘Sinhala Vedakama,’ or ‘Hela Vedakama,’ which encompass ritual healing practices, astrology, religious observances, and spiritual powers. Different approaches of people including the use of domestic medicine, obtaining the assistance of astrology, and rituals were identified. Regardless of age, level of education, or employment, communities trust indigenous medicine as a primary or a secondary option on the health care system of the country. The survey identified the growing demand for the indigenous medicine. Conclusion: Around 60 to 70% of the rural population which is comprise 77.3% of total population relies on indigenous medicine. Domestic medicine, astrology and rituals associated with indigenous medicine plays a vital role in people’s health care process. Experts in indigenous medicine are scattered in the country.

scholarly journals George French Angas and the Creation of Colonial Knowledge in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Catherine Falconer-Gray
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
The Body ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
Cultural Encounter ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Natural Historian ◽  
British Culture ◽  
New Zealanders

<p>In 1844, George French Angas, the English traveller, artist, natural historian and ethnographer spent four months travelling in New Zealand. He sought out and met many of the most influential Maori leaders of the time, sketching and recording his observations as he went. His stated intention was to provide a ‘more correct idea’ of New Zealand and the New Zealanders. In Australia and then Britain he held exhibitions of his work and in 1847 he published two works based on this time in New Zealand: a large volume of full-colour lithographs, The New Zealanders Illustrated and a travel narrative based on his journal, Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand. These exhibitions and publications comprised the nineteenth century’s largest collection of works about Maori and Maori culture. This thesis is a study of the ‘more correct idea’ that Angas sought to provide: his creation of colonial knowledge about Maori. Angas is most commonly described in New Zealand as being an unremarkable artist but as providing a window onto New Zealand in the 1840s. This thesis opens the window wider by looking at Angas’s works as a record of a cultural encounter and the formation of a colonial identity. The works were shaped by numerous ideological and intellectual currents from Britain and the empire, including humanitarianism and the aesthetic of the picturesque. Ideas about gender and the body form a central part of the colonial knowledge created in Angas’s work. Particularly notable is what this thesis terms ‘sartorial colonisation’ – a process of colonisation through discourse and expectations around clothes. Angas also travelled and worked in a dynamic middle ground in New Zealand and Maori played a vital role in the creation of his works. Angas represented Maori in a sympathetic light in many ways. Ultimately however, he believed in the superiority of the British culture, to the detriment of creating colonial knowledge that placed Maori as equal partners in the recently signed Treaty of Waitangi. This thesis also examines the ways in which Angas’s body of work has been engaged with by the New Zealand public through to the present. As a study of the products of a British traveller who spent time in other parts of the empire as well as in New Zealand, this thesis contributes to histories of New Zealand, and British imperial and transcolonial history.</p>

scholarly journals New Zealand Aid and Dairy Development in Sri Lanka

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jasmine Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
Market Potential ◽  
Dairy Consumption ◽  
Dairy Development

<p>New Zealand’s aid investment in dairy development is seen, on the one hand, as a means to improve economic, health and food security issues in developing countries. Dairy development, further, is linked to New Zealand’s trade interests and supports industry expansion strategies that target the market potential in developing countries. On the other hand, it is argued that dairy consumption and production should be reduced to respond to climate change and potential negative health impacts in countries with traditionally low dairy consumption. The potential impacts of dairy development on sustainable development are complex, interconnected and contradictory. Moreover, local and gendered understandings of the impacts of dairy development are underrepresented in literature.   Drawing on a sustainable livelihood approach and gender lens as a theoretical framework, this research explores smallholder farmers’ views through a case study of a New Zealand-funded aid project in Sri Lanka, the Wanni Dairy Project, which is increasing dairy production to improve rural livelihoods. In doing so, this thesis considers the multiple impacts of dairy development on sustainable livelihoods. In particular, it explores understandings of social, gender and environmental factors. Data was collected during five weeks of qualitative, case study research (using interviews, photovoice and observation methods) with female, conflict-affected farmers in Sri Lanka and stakeholders in dairy development.   This thesis contends that better understandings of the impacts of dairy development and aid can be valuably informed by local perspectives. It highlights the inherent connectivity between social, environmental and economic factors of the Wanni Dairy Project, and areas of dissonance between local understandings of the impacts of dairy development and global discourse on sustainable development. Specifically, this thesis draws attention to the diverse impacts of increasing income, health factors, and cultural and religious factors; it highlights women’s independence, empowerment and agency, and ongoing inequities; and it addresses environmental impacts, climate change, and the implications of scale. This research, therefore, contributes to the information upon which development policy-makers and practitioners – government, development organisations and private sector actors – can base effective and sustainable development policy and practice.</p>

A comparative analysis of invariant tags in three varieties of English

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgie Columbus
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Canadian English ◽  
Indian English ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Language Variety ◽  
Esl Pedagogy

Discourse markers are a feature of everyday conversation — they signal attitudes and beliefs to their interlocutors beyond the base utterance. One particular type of discourse marker is the invariant tag (InT), for example New Zealand and Canadian English eh. Previous studies of InTs have clearly described InT uses in one language variety (e.g. Berland 1997, on London teenage talk; Stubbe and Holmes 1995, on NZ English; on sociolinguistic features e.g. Stubbe and Holmes 1995 and on single markers e.g. Avis 1972; Love 1973; Gibson 1977; Meyerhoff 1992 and 1994; Gold 2005, 2008 on eh). However, the class of InTs has not yet been fully described, and the variety of approaches taken (corpus- and survey-based) does not easily allow for cross-varietal or cross-linguistic comparison. This study investigates InTs in three varieties of English from a corpus-based approach. It lists the InTs available in New Zealand, British and Indian English through their occurrences in their respective International Corpus of English (ICE) corpora, and compares usages of four tags across the varieties. The description offers a clearer overview of the InT class for descriptive grammars, as well as more explicit definitions and usage guides for e.g. EFL/ESL pedagogy. An unambiguous description of several InTs and their meanings will also allow more thorough comparison in studies of other English varieties. Finally, the results offer another viewpoint on the issue of representativeness in corpora with respect to regional versus national varieties of the Englishes.

A contrastive corpus-based analysis of the frequency of discourse markers in NE and NNE media discourse: Implications for a “universal discourse competence”

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Vaez Dalili ◽  
Hossein Vahid Dastjerdi
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Contrastive Rhetoric ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Political News ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
News Discourse ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Contrastive Discourse Markers ◽  
Discourse Competence

AbstractThis article examines whether there are differences in the frequency of discourse markers (DMs) between Native English (NE) and Non-native English (NNE) corpora of political media discourse. Based on the grammatical-pragmatic perspective of discourse markers (Fraser, 2004), the discourse markers identified in the corpora were divided into four semantic categories: contrastive discourse markers (CDM), elaborative discourse markers (EDM), implicative discourse markers (IDM) and temporal discourse markers (TDM). The results revealed that: (i) in both corpora, implicative discourse markers (IDMs) and elaborative discourse markers (EDMs) have the lowest and highest frequency counts respectively, (ii) there are significant differences across the four types of discourse markers in both corpora, (iii) there is no significant difference in the aggregated frequency of discourse markers across NE and NNE political news discourse, and (iv) there are no relative NE/NNE frequency differences within each category of discourse markers. The findings point to the need for revisiting Kaplan's contrastive rhetoric, and provide evidence for the plausibility of a “ universal discourse competence” in advanced NNE written discourse.

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