Uses and functions of the Romanian marker dar and its English equivalent but in professional spoken interaction. A contrastive corpus analysis

"Based on two comparable corpora of professional spoken interaction CIVMP2 and ITICMC3 and on the idea that in the past hundred years, the way in which researchers conceived communication has changed, this paper analyzes the ability of speakers to control their behavior, actions and attitudes in the process of communication in the workplace, in an attempt to demonstrate that language is an instrument of doing things. Moreover, based on Fraser's classification (1996), this paper also analyzes two contrastive markers, but and dar, trying to show that they may be seen as equivalent. Following Schiffrin (1987), I began my inquiry by paying attention to their distribution in discourse. Thus, in the corpora I have analyzed, but and its Romanian equivalent dar have the following functions: to express a contrastive value, to continue an idea, to signal the personal correction of the speaker, to insert an objection or a reaction to the previous speech act, to emphasize a discursive idea, an obligation etc. In addition, according to the analysis on the corpora, it could be said that speakers seem to constantly adapt to the conditions imposed by the interactional, social, ideological and cultural requirements of the context, as shown by Măda (2009)."

Construction of favorable national identity through political discourse

"The aim of the present paper is to uncover how the use of language by the Romanian former king, Michael I, in his political speeches helps to construct a favourable national identity on the basis of a collection of discourses. The implications for the concept of national identity were discovered using a thematic analysis on five New Year’s Eve messages of the Romanian former king, broadcasted from 1960 to 1989, via the radio channels Free Europe and The Voice of America, the Romanian editions. The choice of the political figure was motivated by the fact that the former king impersonates the Agent who ""displays attitudes, feelings, beliefs, and wishes” (Duranti 2004, 452). The study adopts an approach which derives from the “Constructive Strategies” of Wodak et al. (1999) and a number of sub-strategies, further enhanced by employing the techniques from Corpus Linguistics. I decided to focus on the one concerning the linguistic construction of a common political present and future. It is centred on citizenship, political achievements, current problems, dangers and future aspirations. The linguistic features under study comprise the use of relational values of words, rhetoric devices, and cultural aspects. The results show that the role of the concept of national identity, as it was depicted in king Michael I speeches, was to facilitate the diffusion of the nationalistic messages and to motivate people coming together towards a common goal, namely fighting against the communist oppression."

Quarantine humour as a coping mechanism. A centennial “dialogue”

"Quarantine humour functions as a coping mechanism transcending a time lapse of one century between the 1918-1919 Spanish influenza pandemics and the 2020 Covid-19 ongoing crisis. The study aims at observing the main concerns related to the infections and their consequences for both the individuals and the societies. The paper focuses on the analysis of fifteen cartoons, six of them published in a newspaper in 1918-1919 and the rest in 2020 online media and social networks. The findings support the idea that pandemic humour is used not only for coping with the fear of death or illness, but also with coping with more mundane issues such as lack of commodities, losing one’s job, beauty concerns, online schooling or the lack of implication in solving the crisis on behalf of the authorities."

Lexical bundles in PhD dissertations and master theses: A comparative inquiry

"The objective of the current research was to analyze and compare the 4-gram lexical bundles from the three part-genre corpora. For the theoretical framework, Hyland’s (2008) taxonomy of lexical bundles was exploited. The corpus of the study consisted of 100 Master theses and PhD dissertations. The study was focused on abstract, introduction, and conclusion only and did not enter into other parts of the Master theses and PhD dissertations. The abstract part-genre contained noticeably more bundles than the other two part-genres. In addition, introduction and abstract part-genres contained the highest amount of research-oriented bundles. As far as participant-oriented bundles are concerned, it is the conclusion part that includes noticeably more of these bundles than the other two part-genres. Overall, findings of this research showed that in three major part-genres of the academically key genre of PhD dissertations and M.A. theses, i.e. abstract, introduction, and conclusion, it is the abstract that enjoys a high amount of formulaic language in the form of lexical bundles."

Language policies and multilingualism in modern Tunisia

"In a multicultural and multilingual world, people negotiate their identities along contextual lines. Online mediated information about countries and cultures build bridges at the individual level and create a sense of “global citizenship” (Hortobagyi 2015; 2017). Languages policies and linguistic landscapes facilitate the exploration of the multilingual texture of a country, thus research in imminently multicultural environments fosters a better understanding of multiple linguistic identities. Situated at the intersection of social and language sciences, drawing on relevant literature and using a comparative approach, the presentation highlights Tunisia’s long history of linguistic and political confrontation since its independence from France (Riguet 1984) and focuses on the educational reforms that have been undertaken, particularly on the various policies and guidelines pertaining to modifying the language policy of the country. Since the 1970s, a significant process of Arabization has been underway, alongside the strengthening of bilingual education, which was launched as early as 1956. Considering that English started to be taught in Tunisian schools shortly after the independence (Battenburg 1997), Tunisian education has always been trilingual with English as the most common foreign language added to Arabic and French. The first years of the 21st century were marked by the introduction of additional foreign languages in secondary education, such as Russian, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, German, and Turkish among others. All these policies have allowed Tunisia to access modernity (Messadi 1967 cited in Belazi 1991, 53). Currently, Tunisian Arabic and Berber are languages that have not yet been added to the political agenda. Nevertheless, the return to the standardization of Arabic through teaching, the noticeable decline of the use of French, and the emergence of English as a new alternative, indicate linguistic policies in which multilingualism is becoming the new norm, with manifest representations both at the societal level and in the new media communication."

What may be done with language

"If one studies the passage from language as a system of signs (langue) to language in its intercultural and dialogic use, a change of perspective takes place because the theory of social action is applied to the study of language, and this theory shows the two aspects of linguistic behaviour: expectation, the social part referred to the langue, with its centripetal character; and actuation, referred to the language, which is the individual part with a centrifugal character. With linguistic actuation, speakers help cause events (agency), even if these are not wholly determined by their linguistic action. The social actor identifies in the situation a number of opportunities that he/she exploits with his/her action, the outcome of which feeds back into the diagnosis of the initial situation, either confirming or correcting it."

Space vs. place for learning

"COVID-19 has and will forever change educational practices. It is time to review, reflect upon, and implement new ways of teaching to best engage students that will integrate place-based education and project-based learning with in-person instruction, no matter the environment. Returning to the “old teaching practices” will not suffice in a post-pandemic society. This paper explores the difference in creating a mere space for learning and the profoundness of creating a place for all learners through lived experiences."

How to desire control

"The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a once-in-a-generation unfolding of the ideas of the normal and the pathological into one another in a public and spectacular way. The following essay attempts to examine this confusion of the relationship between health and disease in the body politic through special reference to a nationally televised address by the Indian Prime Minister at the outbreak of the pandemic. It interrogates the ways in which the pandemic has functioned as a cover for extending a state of exception through the arts of government. It also glimpses at the ways in which the idea of the citizen has been inverted to create a governmentalized subject desiring to be controlled."

The social distancing visuals in brand communication

"Communication is more than a money generator in businesses’ life and brand communication must be an ally in the process of getting noticed, inspiring and pushing to action. This paper aims to exploit some visuals of the companies that changed their logos in order to promote their own brands in times of crisis, more specifically, a medical crisis, that of the coronavirus. In not more than one month, large companies transformed their classic brand logos into social distancing visuals. The objectives of this undertaking are to emphasize the importance of brand communication in this special time of medical and economic crisis, to determine how the big brands’ logos transformed and to identify the goals of brand communication strategy through visuals. We attempt to see the new logos through a social semiotic perspective on visual and brand communication."