scholarly journals Exploring Speech Act of English and Tshivenda Representatives and Directives

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 372-382
Author(s):  
Farisani Thomas Nephawe ◽  
Matodzi Nancy Lambani
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
The World ◽  
And Function

Competence in English pragmatics enhances the use of English in social contexts throughout the world. However, using English as a second language is always problematic particularly when it comes to the interpretation of speech act in English. The differences in structure and function between English and other languages such as Tshivenda are conspicuous. The current research explored Speech Act of English and Tshivenda representatives and directives among the Tshivenda-speaking people. The findings revealed that the Tshivenda-speaking people faced difficulties utilising English Speech Acts such as representatives, and directives. The research recommends frequent interaction between those proficient in English and Tshivenda-speaking people.

scholarly journals The Effect of Instruction on Learners' Pragmatic Awareness: a Focus on Refusals

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Alcón Soler ◽  
Josep Guzmán Pitarch
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Pragmatic Awareness ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Instructional Contexts

The benefits of instruction on learners’ production and awareness of speech acts is well documented (see Alcón and Martínez-Flor, 2008, for a review of pragmatics in instructional contexts). However, few studies examine the influence that instruction may have on the cognitive processes involved in speech act production (Félix- Brasdefer, 2008). In order to address this research gap, and taking into account the discussion in research on the concept of attention and related terms such as awareness (see Al-Hejin, 2004, for a review of the role of attention and awareness in second language acquisition research) this paper reports on the benefits of instruction on learners’ attention and awareness during the performance of refusals. Thus, based on a pedagogical proposal for teaching refusals at the discourse level, we focus on the benefits that this pedagogical proposal can have on the information attended to during the planning and execution of refusals. Secondly, we explore whether instruction makes a difference in learners’ awareness of refusals.

The Dispute Settlement System of the WTO: Structure and Function in the Perspective of the First 10 Years

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Sacerdoti
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
International Justice ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Turn Of The Millennium ◽  
Settlement System ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Dispute Settlement System ◽  
And Function

AbstractThe dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization (the "WTO") presents a number of innovative features within the various models of international justice existing at the turn of the millennium. Ten years after its establishment, it is worthwhile to examine its key features in the light of a comparative analysis, exploring its strengths and weaknesses, and highlighting aspects of general interest and possible developments.

scholarly journals Formal and Informal Russian Invitation: Context and Politeness Strategies

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 994-1013
Author(s):  
Gayane Rubenovna Vlasyan ◽  
Irina Vladimirovna Kozhukhova
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Politeness Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Politeness Strategies ◽  
The Impact

Invitation is a speech act which is perceived differently across cultures. Understanding the pragmatics of invitation requires knowledge of the notion of politeness and politeness strategies which comprise culture specific elements. Politeness is realized in various discourses, social contexts and speech acts. The purpose of the study is to identify politeness strategies in Russian invitation in formal and informal contexts in three age groups and see how they correspond to the understanding of politeness in Russian communicative culture. The empirical data for the study were obtained through discourse completion tests with 101 participants (issuers of the invitation) of different age and social status as well as through ethnographic observation. The research is based on Discourse Analysis and Politeness Theory (Brown & Levinson 1987; Larina2009, 2015; Locher 2006, 2013; Leech 2014; Mills 2003, 2017; Sifianou 1992; Terkourafi &Kadar 2017; Watts 2003, among others). We used discourse analysis to analyze the impact of the social and cultural context on the performance of invitation, the descriptive method which was used to analyze the pragmatic functions of invitation, as well as contextual interpretation of this speech act and the method of quantitative data processing. The study revealed some differences between a formal and informal invitation concerning politeness strategies and linguistic means of its expression. It also showed that in Russian culture issuing an invitation is not perceived as a face threatening speech act; in the analysed social contexts the preference is given to direct invitation, and the inviter’s imposition, as a rule, is perceived positively. The results contribute to a better understanding of Russian politeness and communicative style and can be implemented in intercultural pragmatics, intercultural communication and SL teaching.

Unpacking Digital Material Mediation

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 154-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Wiltse ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Responsive Materials ◽  
The World ◽  
Digital Material ◽  
And Function

Digital technologies mediate engagement with the world by making activities visible. The automaticity and physicality of the ways in which they do this suggest that it could be productive to view them as responsive digital materials. This paper explores the structure and function of responsive materials in order to develop a conceptualization of responsive digital materials. It then begins to unpack the complexities of digital material mediation through both drawing on and extending existing postphenomenological theory.

Speech Act Functions

1987 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 43-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efurosibina Adegbija
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Psychological State ◽  
Background Information ◽  
World Knowledge ◽  
English Usage ◽  
Language Context ◽  
Relevant Factors

This paper examines samples of spoken data with a view to elucidating the problem of the performing of speech acts in a Second language context of English usage. The encoding and decoding of speech acts, the author shows, involve a network of cognitive processes in which the linguistic competence of the participants, their world knowledge, their psychological state, and their knowledge of socially and culturally relevant factors of the situation are accessed, activated, and put to work in the process of inferring the meaning and the speech act function of utterances; a process which is essentially one of semantic and pragmatic decision-making. For communication to succeed, participants in the communicative event must share mutual factual background information and be able to activate this when it proves relevant to the discourse at hand. Incompetence in the use of the target language may lead to the performance of an unintended speech act and the decoder's misinterpretation. Therefore, speakers of English in a Second language or multilingual context should make allowance for unintended speech acts, and should be particularly sensitive to the total context of communication.

scholarly journals BENTUK DAN FUNGSI TINDAK TUTUR ILUKOSI BAHASA BUGIS DI KABUPATEN TANAH BUMBU, KALIMANTAN SELATAN:TINJAUAN PRAGMATIK

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
NFN Jahdiah
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Expressive Speech ◽  
And Function ◽  
Directive Speech

Every utterance produced by the speaker has its own type and function. This study aims to describe the form of the illocution speech act in Bugis language in Tanah Bumbu regency and describe the function of those utterances. The data of this study are utterances uttered by Bugis speakers, Simpang Empat District, Tanah Bumbu Regency. This study uses Searle's theory of speech acts. The method used in this study is qualitative. The data technique used in this study is speaking and listening.  To analyze the data, this study uses descriptive techniques by describing the data in accordance with the formulation of the problem. The problems in this study are (1) what kind of speech act exists in Bugis language, (2) how does the function of each utterance. The result shows that there are five speech acts in Bugis language, they are (1) assertive/representative speech act, (2) commissive speech act, (3) directive speech act, (4) expressive speech act, and (5) declarative speech act. Base on the function of illocution utterance there are four functions, (1) competitive function, (2) favor function, (3) cooperate function, and (4) challenge function.

scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern Substitutions Alter Spike Glycoprotein Receptor Binding Domain Structure and Stability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel L Moss ◽  
Jay Rappaport
Keyword(s):  
Receptor Binding ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Amino Acid Substitutions ◽  
Receptor Binding Domain ◽  
Spike Glycoprotein ◽  
Structure And Stability ◽  
The World ◽  
And Function

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the world not just with disease and death but also economic turmoil. The rapid development and deployment of extremely effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 has made the end of the pandemic a reality within reach. However, as the virus spreads it has acquired mutations; and thus, variants of concern have emerged that are more infectious and reduce the efficacy of existing vaccines. While promising efforts are underway to combat these variants, the evolutionary pressures leading to these variants are poorly understood. To that end, here we have studied the effects of three amino-acid substitutions on the structure and function of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein receptor-binding domain found in several variants of concern such as B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1 that are now circulating. We found that these substitutions alter the RBD structure and stability, as well as its ability to bind to ACE2, which may have opposing and compensatory effects. These findings provide new insights into how these Variants of Concern (VOC) may have been selected to optimize infectivity while maintaining the structure and stability of the receptor binding domain.

scholarly journals The Microbiome of Cassava (Manihot esculanta)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andri Frediansyah
Keyword(s):  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Gram Positive ◽  
Perennial Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Cassava Plant ◽  
The World ◽  
Bacteria And Fungi ◽  
And Function ◽  
Plant Microbiome

The plant microbiome, like the plant, influences the processes that lead to plant development, health, and crop productivity. Cassava is a perennial herbaceous plant native to South America that has been cultivated for centuries as a staple food throughout the world. Not only is cassava a good source of carbohydrates, but it also has a high tolerance for a variety of phenotypic conditions, and the majority of cassava plants are susceptible to a variety of diseases. Thus, using cassava as a model, this chapter discusses the plant microbiome. We discuss the structure and function of the microbiome, as well as the technique for studying microbiomes. Additionally, we conducted a systematic review of references pertaining to the microbiome of the cassava plant using cultivation-dependent or cultivation-independent methods. Numerous significant genera of bacteria and fungi are found in cassava’s phyllosphere and rhizosphere, including groups of gram-negative bacteria, gram-positive Actinobacteria, and gram-positive non Actinobacteria. Additionally, we identified critical organisms in the phyllosphere and rhizosphere. Cassava endophytes also produce antifungal secondary metabolites such as pumilacidins and surfactin. The investigation of their phenotypes and interactions with the cassava plant will aid in increasing productivity.

scholarly journals Computer Simulations in Service of Biology

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Levitt
Keyword(s):  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Structural Biology ◽  
Computer Simulations ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Computer Game ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Important Research ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
The World ◽  
And Function

Computer simulation is an important research tool in today’s scientific world. Computers allow us to perform computations that mimic the behavior of complex (biological) systems in ways that we could not otherwise achieve. You could think of these simulations as a computer game, in which a virtual world is created that works according to certain (e.g., physical) rules. While we play the game, we learn the rules governing this virtual world and its environment, and also the way that we affect this world as players. In this article, I will explain how we use computer simulations in the world of structural biology to study the structure and function of molecules. I will also describe how I think that we could use insights from the world of biology and computer simulations to advance the society that we live in.

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