A Semiotic Approach to Social Discourses on Colombian Political Events of the Late Twentieth Century

The paper that we present below addresses a methodological approach to Marc Angenot’s statements,in his Social Discourse(2012)of integrating certain views and opinions,taken from the written press,literature,and television,on events happened in Colombia,prior to 1990 presidential elections.When we study the discursivities1 that are the product and/or the representatives of some political crimes that took place in Colombia between August 1989 and April 1990,we speak mainly on discourses that took place some decades ago.Some of these stories have allowed us to give meaning to the world and,at the same time,integrate us in it.

Advertise With Social Discourse, as a Brand Positioning Technique： The Focuse on Consumers Advertising

This study examines the nature of the social discourse of advertising used as a brand positioning discourse. The focus is on consumer advertising, which is directed toward the promotion of some product or service to the general public. This paper aimed at analyzing some different commercial advertisements [product/non-product ads] to investigate the intentions and techniques of consumer product companies to reach more consumers and sell more products. Norman Fairclough＇s 3-D model and Kress and Van Leeuwen＇s grammar of visual design were used to analyze the data for professionals, but we are pointed on using stereotypes. When we consider gender stereotypes, we look at notions about the supposedly traditional behaviors of men and women and the characteristics and standards of these behaviors, as grounded in our culture and society. In addition, this study provides analyses of some ads, using different ways of interpretations. All materials are taken from Latvian media.

The Brief Exploration of the Value of Modern English Advertisements in EFL Teaching

In the recent age of globalization, English advertisements prevail in people＇s everyday life. As a social discourse, advertisements offer valuable resources of language use to English learners. It is also of great importance to fully utilize these resources to improve the quality of EFL teaching, especially learners＇ abilities to gain English proficiency. Based on an analysis of recent findings in modem English advertising, the present paper proposes a framework of employing English advertisements in EFL teaching from linguistic, rhetorical, pragmatic and cultural perspectives.

Aspects of Transitivity in Select Social Transformation Discourse in Nigeria

This article examines transitivity in the mediatised discourse of social transformation in Nigeria.Data for the study comprises texts on aspects of social transformation campaigns in Nigeria in the context of democracy,anti-corruption crusades,insecurity,and domestic violence.The data was drawn from speeches,radio commentaries,jingles,printed texts,interviews,tweets,and online newspaper comments about government actors and non-government actors covering the period between March 2013 to March 2018.This five-year span was informed by a wide gamut of negative realities in the nation which led to increased mediatisation of social transformation messages.The analysis of data is hinged on the transitivity system espoused in Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics and critical discourse analysis by Fairclough(1989;revised 2015)and Machin and Mayr(2012).Data analysis revealed that the different participants in the discourse deployed material processes,relational processes,and mental processes to negotiate the social transformation challenge and agenda in Nigeria.The presentation of the agents in relation to the processes in the discourse reflected positive in-group representation and negative-other representation for legitimation and manipulation.The study concludes that transitivity is a veritable tool in the discourse that primarily serves in foregrounding social problems in Nigeria while also affording social participation.

Gender Discourse Patterns of Taiwan College Students in Social-Based Computer- Mediated Chat Rooms

Using two months of mixed-gender chat room discourse records from eight Chinese college students and results of questionnaires from 80 students, this study observed a consistent pattern in the gender discourse in social-based computer-mediated contexts. In both the chat room observation and survey, the study found that males chatted more about women, video games, and sports, while females chatted more about friendship and other small matters. When surveyed, the college students indicated they believed that females chatted more than males, but a quantitative sentence count during chat found males used more sentences. In the chat room, males used more Chinese phonetic symbols and pseudonym inventions than females. Females used more emotion icons and creative language and, when chatting with a male with whom they were familiar, they showed their power and used gender-neutral expressions more often. Both males and females preferred to fashion their chat room pseudonyms so as to attract the opposite gender and demonstrate their personal qualities. The implications for the construction of gendered language in cyberspace were discussed and suggestions for foreign language teaching are given.

Digital Devices and Self-Expression among Teenagers in Osogbo, South-Western Nigeria

Digital devices have reshaped human communication in today's technology driven society. These devices, as a medium of identity and self-expression, now determine personal, domestic, and corporate interactions by providing access to digital and online facilities enabled by an influx of computer and portable mobile devices into the Nigerian market. The effect of this digitalization on self-expression cuts across contexts and age categories. This study, driven by new media theory and the theory of transitivity in systemic functional linguistics, examined the influence of digital devices on identity and self-expression among undergraduate teenagers in Osogbo, Osun State. Carefully selected through stratified and convenience sampling techniques, undergraduate teenagers involved in the survey—which employed a questionnaire—and focus group discussions, revealed that their preference for interactive chats, social media picture galleries, captions on photographs, and video subtitles outweighed their propensity to read long or academic texts and partake in online economic activities. Most of our respondents explored online communication through their mobile devices, while others accessed the internet on personal computers at home with little or no parental guidance or supervision. Subsequently, age falsification, wrong or misleading self-identification, and a consequent cultural literacy were common among undergraduate teenagers online. A selfregulation facility was then recommended alongside parental and caregiver monitoring of teenagers' virtual communication to reduce the influence of social media on teenagers' time management and self-identity. Further research is also recommended in the field of ICT to detect age falsification and other forms of online false-identity among minors.