Papers by Theresa McGarry
This study draws on previous findings regarding adverbial clauses in relation to speaker and inte... more This study draws on previous findings regarding adverbial clauses in relation to speaker and interlocutor gender in a corpus of current actual speaker data. Our aim is to examine those same relations in a corpus of Shakespeare's comedies and histories. Mondorf (2004) investigated four types of adverbial clauses in a corpus of modern speech and found that the women used more causal, conditional and purpose clauses than the men, while the men used more concessive clauses. Mondorf's explanation for this difference is that women use the three clause types that mitigate the speaker's commitment to the truth of the proposition, while men tend to use more concessives, which strengthen the commitment. She also found that in mixed-gender conversations these trends were generally intensified. However, other analyses have indicated that these patterns do not hold across contexts. Much more research is called for to understand the localized relations among adverbial clause usage, speaker gender and context in particular settings. One question to pursue is whether we can see gendered patterns of adverbial usage in historical varieties of English. Accordingly, in this study we analyse dialogue in Shakespeare's plays to ascertain whether Mondorf's findings can be extrapolated to the language of these fictional speakers. The results indicate that Shakespeare generally does not use the adverbial clauses to portray the gender of the characters in ways similar to those of actual, modern speakers. Only small differences are found, regarding purpose clauses in the histories and conditional clauses in the comedies. The analysis indicates that female and male characters speak very similarly with regard to syntax, and adverbial clauses contribute to the construction of characters in very localized contexts.
The increasing recognition of the concept language ideology and the corresponding increasing use ... more The increasing recognition of the concept language ideology and the corresponding increasing use of the term have not yet been matched by applications in the field of second language acquisition. However, applications of the concept in analysis of actual classroom practices have shown it to have considerable explanatory power. Greater consideration of language ideology in SLA is necessary not only to achieve greater understanding of the role of ideology in various areas but also to show connections between these areas that may yield important generalizations and to impel the application of the concept in areas where it has been neglected by highlighting its uneven treatment.
This study investigated tertiary second language learners' attitudes toward storytelling as a cla... more This study investigated tertiary second language learners' attitudes toward storytelling as a classroom activity. Instruction and practice in storytelling were given to 26 international undergraduates for ten weeks. Questionnaires were administered before and after the treatment to assess learners' interest in storytelling and beliefs about its effectiveness as a learning task. The results of the pre-treatment questionnaire showed that while participants' interest in storytelling was very low, their expectations of its effectiveness were relatively high. Asian or low proficient participants indicated higher interest than Europeans or high proficient learners. The results of the post-treatment questionnaire showed that participants' attitudes changed only slightly. The results suggest that initial interest and expectations might play an important role in maximizing the effectiveness of storytelling for adult second language learners.
ling.uni-konstanz.de
This paper presents an account of focus in Sinhala based on Focus projections that occur above TP... more This paper presents an account of focus in Sinhala based on Focus projections that occur above TP and below CP. Focused constituents can appear either in-situ or post-verbally. 1a shows a focused element in the canonical SOV position, while in 1b it appears after the verb. As the example shows, the verb of the focus sentence is marked with a focus suffix, e. The focused constituent is also marked; however, when it is post-verbal, the marking is optional.
Text-Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of …, Jan 1, 2004
… , 2004 ASEE Annual …, Jan 1, 2004
Reviews by Theresa McGarry
The acquisition of French in different contexts: Focus on functional categories (review)
Language, 2007
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Papers by Theresa McGarry
Reviews by Theresa McGarry