Browsing by Subject "semanttiset roolit"

Aims. This thesis studies how primary school teachers verbalize touch in school. I examined the verbs and the frameworks teachers use when they talk about touch between teachers and children. The semantic roles of the participants and the teachers’ stance on different contacts were of interest among other things. Methods. The material for the study consisted of 19 interviews collected by “Koskettava koulu” project. The theoretical basis of the study were discourse analysis and cognitive linguistics. I employed the cognitive semantics’ notion of framework to describe the context and meaning of the verbs whereas the parties’ involvement was characterized with the help of sematic roles. Results and conclusions. The touch by teachers with pupils was mainly associated with the framework of intimacy, but often also with the frameworks of schoolwork, violence and sexual contact. Different kinds of touch were included in the framework of schoolwork: restricting touch, organizing touch as well as routine and habitual touch. On average, teachers were neutral towards touch in the framework of schoolwork while effacing their involvement in inti-mate touch. Teachers expressed that social control and the fear of misunderstanding are present in their touch directed to pupils. The touch by pupils fell into the frameworks of violence, intimacy and tinkering. The verbs used to describe the touch between pupils were mainly related to the framework of violence whereas the touch by pupils with teachers fell under the framework of intimacy. Teachers would often find pupil’s touch initiatives irritating. Tender and intimate touch was seen char-acteristic for girls while violent touch would be typical for boys.