Browsing by study line "ei opintosuuntaa"

Advertising has been an area of interest in linguistic research for the past decades due to its pervasiveness and role in shaping our notions and values in society. This study sets out to examine the socio-cultural practices in a specific field of advertising discourse, influencer marketing on social media. Influencer marketing is a recent branch of marketing, brought forth by the popularity of social media. In Influencer marketing, the products are marketed by individual influencers instead of corporations or companies. Brands turn to social media influencers in order to reach a wider audience and to utilize the influencers’ social media presence and their ability to influence their audience to promote their products and to turn this social power into capital. The hypothesis is that this key difference between traditional marketing and influencer marketing. The aim of this study is to present a critical discourse analysis to examine the social context and relationship between the influencer and the reader. The methodologic approach applied to the analysis of the data is critical discourse analysis, more specifically Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model. Critical discourse analysis and Fairclough’s model allow focus on the linguistic properties in addition to the production and reception processes of discourse and the socio-cultural practices within discourse. The data and its analysis deemed that influencer marketing reveals consumerist ideologies that promote purchasing of goods as a means to reach happiness and well-being, as presented by the social media influencers.

This study investigated Finnish students’ attitudes towards English accents. Since the topic had not been studied recently in the Finnish context and mostly with upper secondary students, the study set out to provide current insight into the topic. Furthermore, to observe how age, education, and proficiency level are related to the attitudes, students at both lower and upper secondary level and at both regular and bilingual (Fi-En) programs were selected as informants. The attitudes were studied via a combination of direct and indirect methods. First, a widely used indirect attitudinal measure, the verbal-guise technique, was employed to observe what kinds of immediate reactions different accents elicit in the students. The students heard authentic samples of eight different accents, two native and six non-native, and evaluated them on various adjectives on a semantic differential scale. Second, the students answered questionnaire items regarding their familiarity with accents and their views and practices in relation to speaking English. Altogether 156 students completed the survey. Mainly quantitative analysis of the students’ answers showed that although their attitudes towards the accents were mostly positive, they had significantly more negative attitudes towards non-native than native English accents. Furthermore, accent strength seemed to be a discriminating factor with mild-accented speakers preferred over heavy-accented speakers. While all students showed very similar preferences with respect to the accents, the strength of the attitudes somewhat varied between the respondent groups with bilingual upper secondary students indicating more positive attitudes than the rest of the students. With respect to the different characteristics that the speakers were rated on, the students considered native speakers very competent, intelligent and fluent, whereas non-native speakers were regarded as more honest than competent. The students were very adept at categorizing the speakers as native or non-native; however, apart from the British and heavy Finnish accent, they struggled with recognizing the speakers’ accents. Although no significant correlation was found between accent recognition and attitude, the better the students identified the speaker as non-native, the more negative attitudes they showed towards the speaker. The study found that although Finnish students’ attitudes towards non-native accents have become more positive compared to previous studies, they are still somewhat subject to the native speaker, standard language ideology. Further research is still needed to provide deeper insight into the ideologies functioning behind this, at least covert, preference for native speakers.

An increasing number of socio-linguistic studies of Present-day English intensifiers have utilized the variationist socio-linguistic method because it is regarded as superior to other quantitative methods. Regardless of the prevalence of the method in the socio-linguistic research of Present-day English intensifiers, the method has more rarely been applied to the socio-linguistic research of historical English intensifiers. In the present study, the variation of intensifiers between social ranks was investigated in late Middle English. The material consisted of a small sample of 15th-century English letters which was derived from the Corpus of Early English Correspondence (CEEC). In addition to the variationist method, an original method was utilized where the normalized frequencies of intensification were calculated solely in the non-formulaic contexts of the letters. It was discovered that, in the sample of the study, there were differences in the frequencies of intensifiers between the social ranks, the lowest social rank was the most frequent user of intensification, and the middle rank was the least frequent user of intensification. Moreover, in comparison to a previous variationist research of Present-day English intensifiers, it was detected that variation of intensification between socio-economic classes seemed to be present both in late Middle English and Present-day English, but that the socio-economic class which used intensifiers the most frequently appeared to be different between late Middle English and Present-day English. Overall, it was discussed that the sample size of the research was too limited for general interpretations to be made about the variation of intensifiers in late Middle English. Furthermore, the numerical differences between the social ranks could have been marginal, and therefore, not enough for interpreting variation to have occurred. However, it was discussed that the methods of the research were relevant, and they could be utilized in future socio-linguistic studies of historical English intensifiers.

This thesis argues for an ethical reading of Miriam Toews’ Women Talking. Based on real-life events that happened in the Mennonite colony of Manitoba in Bolivia between 2005 and 2009, the novel is a response to those acts of violence. This thesis investigates the diversity of processes in the narrative that present strategies of oppression. The narrative reveals that those who do not fit the normative category of a man who acts according to the masculine hegemony are deprived of privileges and lower in the hierarchy. The goal is to show that revealing the processes of oppression contributes significantly to the ethical reading of the novel. Through close reading, I analyze three ethical dilemmas I have discerned from the narrative. I analyze the dilemmas, characters and events through an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that consists of an ecofeminist perspective to gender violence, the Mennonite Christian principles, and James Phelan’s narrative ethics (2013). I argue that the presentation of the ethical dilemmas in the narrative contributes to the reader’s ethical reflection that is necessary for ethical reading. The main result of this thesis is that both readers and authors have ethical responsibilities in relation to the text. In addition to creating believable characters, relationships, and events, it is part of the ethical responsibilities of the author and reader not to reproduce readings that are not consciously ethical. Moreover, it is part of the ethical reading to recognize that as a literary work of fiction, Women Talking is not fully independent from the world and from the real-life events to which it is a reaction.

Genre conventions and associated tropes can be considered intrinsic to any form of genre fiction but are brought to attention especially in young adult speculative fiction (YA SF) since they participate in creating visible trends in contemporary book culture. Established, recognisable conventions invite subversions, and this is highlighted especially in the phenomenon of retelling narratives that draw inspiration from mythology, folklore, and history, using the established frameworks to address contemporary concerns. Such is the case for Xiran Jay Zhao's Iron Widow (2021) and Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became the Sun (2021). Both novels are a reimagination of the rise to power of two imperial Chinese rulers, Wu Zetian and Zhu Yuanzhang, respectively. Through the analysis of three prominent themes of YA and SF – the character of the hero, femininity/masculinity, and romance – this thesis shows how both novels deliberately subvert their genre conventions while echoing warrior epics in the form of heroic SF. Current scholarship agrees that SF, and other literary genres for that matter, are not stagnant categories, and often occupy liminal spaces that can be seen as amalgamations of distinguishable characteristics of several genres. The awareness of this intertextuality is at the core of reimagining narratives as well. Gender, especially the potential dissonance between social and individually embodied expressions of gender identities, emerges a prominent factor in the novels’ exploration of these themes, which prompts queer and feminist readings. Drawing queer theory and on scholarship surrounding Judith Butler’s conceptualisations of the performativity of gender this thesis looks at the way gender is discussed in the novels as both a social construct and as a means of self-actualisation.

Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastelen perusopetuksen koulukohtaisten tasa-arvosuunnitelmien sukupuolidiskursseja, sekä niissä ilmeneviä ja uudelleenluotuja vallan ja sorron käsitteitä sukupuolen moninaisuuden subjektien lähtökohdasta. Nojaan tutkielmassa Foucault’n subjektin rakentumisen teoriaan, Butlerin teoriaan sukupuolistettujen subjektien tuottamisesta ja uudelleentuottamisesta toiston kautta, sekä Kumanshiron sorronvastaisen pedagogiikan käsitteelliseen lähestymistapaan. Tutkielma sijoittuu feministisen tutkimuksen kentälle, lähennellen myös queerfeminististä lähestymistapaa käsitellen perusopetuksen tasa-arvotyön suunnittelun sukupuolidiskursseja erityisesti sukupuolivähemmistöjen kannalta. Etsin tutkielman aineistosta sukupuolten ilmaisutapoja, joilla sukupuolen moninaisuus tuodaan suunnitellussa tasa-arvotoiminnassa näkyväksi, tai toisaalta jätetään huomiotta. Tarkastelussa nousee esille myös kysymyksiä siitä, minkälaisena tasa-arvosuunnitelmien kirjaukset näyttäytyvät lakisääteisiä vaateita vasten, huomioidaanko sukupuolen moninaisuutta koulujen tasa-arvosuunnitelmissa, ja minkälaiseksi sukupuolen moninaisuuden subjektipositiot rakentuvat analysoimissani tasa-arvosuunnitelmien sukupuolidiskursseissa. Tavoitteenani on analysoida ja valottaa sellaisia tasa-arvotyön suunnitteluun liittyviä käsityksiä, oletuksia, ristiriitaisuuksia ja paradoksaalisuuksia, joita sukupuolikäsitykset ja niihin linkittyvät sukupuolidiskurssit ilmentävät ja tuottavat. Tunnistan analysoidusta materiaalista kolmenlaisia sukupuolidiskursseja: binääriä sukupuolijärjestelmää toistavan sukupuolidiskurssin, marginalisoivan sukupuolidiskurssin, sekä kriittisen sukupuolidiskurssin. Keskeisessä asemassa analysoidussa materiaalissa näyttäytyi hegemoninen, eli toisiin nähden hallitsevassa asemassa oleva, binääriä sukupuolijärjestelmää toistava sukupuolidiskurssi, joka hiljaisuuksien ja eksplisiittisen ilmaisun kautta väittää binäärin sukupuolen olevan ”luonnollisesti” kaksinapainen. Eksplisiittisesti binääriä sukupuolijakoa ja -käsitystä vahvistettiin ja toistettiin oppilaiden eksplisiittisellä jaolla tyttöihin ja poikiin, sekä implisiittisellä viittauksella ”molempiin” sukupuoliin. Tutkielmani keskeisin johtopäätös on, että perusopetuksen tasa-arvosuunnitelmat ovat usein lähtökohtaisesti binääriin sukupuolikäsitykseen nojaavia. Vain noin kolmasosassa materiaalina käytetyistä koulukohtaisista suunnitelmista sukupuolen moninaisuuden huomioi eksplisiittisesti, vaikka siihen on jokaisella koululla velvoite niin tasa-arvolain kuin opetussuunnitelman perusteidenkin kautta. Väitän, että binääriä sukupuolijärjestelmää toistava sukupuolidiskurssi lähtökohtaisesti kieltää – tiedostaen tai tiedostamatta – sukupuolivähemmistöihin kuuluvalta subjektilta kontekstissa lähtökohtaisen position. Näin ollen suunnitelmissa tuotetaan ja toistetaan tasa-arvotyön tuottamisen nimessä myös epätasa-arvoista ja sortavaa diskurssia. Analyysini asettuu kontekstiin, jossa suuri osa koulujen tasa-arvosuunnitelmista ei käsittele koulukohtaista tasa-arvotilannetta, ja/tai ei määritä toimintoja, joilla tasa-arvotilanteeseen pyritään parantavasti vaikuttamaan. Moni tutkielman tutkimusmateriaalina käytetty tasa-arvosuunnitelmaksi nimetty dokumentti hahmottuukin ”suunnitelman suunnitelmana” varsinaisen toiminnallisen suunnitelman sijaan.

Avhandlingen behandlar den stadspolitiska och den massmediala debatten gällande stadsplanen för området Björkholmen i Helsingfors, både i beredningen av planen och när den godkändes av stadsfullmäktige i september 2021. Materialet i avhandlingen är publicerat mellan 2015-2021. Den byggda miljön gentemot naturmiljön är ett genomgående tema i debatten kring Björkholmen i tidningsmedier och inom stadens politiska beslutsfattande. Frågan kring naturmiljö och den arkitektonisk miljö undersöks både i ett lokalt och nordiskt perspektiv. Avhandlingens analysmetod är kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Materialet är uppdelat i följande kategorier: Insändarmaterial, nyhetsmaterial och kommunalpolitiskt material. Frågeställningarna är dessa: Vem deltar i debatten och hur positionerar dessa aktörer sig i debatten? Hur definieras den planerade byggda miljön på Björkholmen enligt stadens beredning och hur ter sig nybyggnation i stadsmiljö i lokalt och i nordiskt perspektiv? Hurdana naturbevarande värden och hurdana urbana värden lyfts fram och betonas i debatten? Resultatet visar att tidningsmedierna Hufvudstadsbladet, Helsingin Sanomat och Lauttasaari-lehti för det mesta hade tydliga åsikter om huruvida man antingen ska bevara naturen i området eller bygga hus enligt stadens planer. Också bland ledamöterna i stadsmiljönämnden, stadsstyrelsen och stadsfullmäktige skiljde sig åsikterna. Inom diskussionerna i stadspolitiken var de flesta partier positivt inställda till utbyggnad av området Björkholmen: essensen kring att skapa nya bostäder och ett urbant område togs upp, medan man fram för allt i insändarna i tidningsmedierna mestadels talade för att bevara naturen i ursprungligt skick.

This thesis studies body positivity in a Finnish EFL textbook series. This goal is approached by finding out which aspects of body positivity, such as body size, skin colour, and gender, are represented in the visuals of the textbooks chosen for this study, and how the textual contents affect these representations. Based on the findings it is then concluded whether the textbooks promote a type of body standard or not and whether the findings correlate with the contents of the updated national core curriculum. The theoretical background for this thesis consists of indicating the importance of body image and representation as well as the goal of the body positivity movement. Due to the lack of previous studies on EFL textbooks focusing on body positivity, previous studies on body positivity on social media, and textbook studies on separate aspects of body positivity are introduced. An upper secondary school A-level EFL textbook series New Insights which has been developed according to the update of the national core curriculum (NCC) in 2019 has been chosen as the data for this study as it is the most current data available and has not been the focus of many studies yet. The data consist of the first two textbooks of the series, New Insights 1-2, and New Insights 3, as they are the only ones published at the time of this study. The material was collected manually from the online versions of the textbooks and consists of both the visual and textual contents of the textbooks. In addition to the textbooks, the NCC has been used to draw connections from its goals to the textbook contents. The method chosen to analyse the aspects of body positivity that are present in the visual and textual contents of the textbooks is qualitative and quantitative content analysis. Content analysis was chosen due to the data-driven and interpretative nature of the study as it attempts to find themes and underlying meaning in the contents that it set out to explore. The results of the study echo the results of previous textbook studies that have been conducted on similar subjects. The results show that the textbooks are not particularly body positive as most of the aspects studied have disproportioned representation among them; Light skin tones are represented far more than medium or dark skin tones. Mostly slim and athletic bodies are represented and very few larger bodies are present in the visuals. Other aspects, such as body hair or acne, have very little to no representation, and physical disabilities have little representation in the visuals but some more in the textual side. Mostly binary genders and heterosexuality are represented, although there are some mentions of e.g., non-binary pronouns and homosexuality. The textual contents provide more positive representation of some aspects, however, in other cases they enforce problematic stereotypes. Perhaps unwittingly, the Western beauty standard that body positivity tries to combat is promoted in the textbooks. The textbooks meet the goals of the NCC relevant to this study, although just barely in some cases, such as with gender equality.

This Master’s thesis explored the British national identity in the early phases of the Brexit process in the years 2017–2018. The aim of the study was to examine whether a new non-EU British identity which could be detected in the speeches by Prime Minister Theresa May and what kinds of linguistic devices were employed in the construction of such identity. I approached these questions with a triangulating method which finds its home in Critical Discourse Analysis. The data consisted of transcriptions of May’s three speeches: the first one was given in London in January 2017, the second one in Florence, Italy in September in 2017 and the third one again in London in March 2018, as a storm prevented May from traveling to Manchester. I attempted to observe the respective temporal and spatial contexts, as well as the imagined audience in my analysis. I first conducted a quantitative analysis of the data by employing the Appraisal Framework developed by Martin and White. This framework is designed to recognise value positions encased in a text. It is based on Systemic Functional Linguistics and Bakhtin’s ideas on dialogic language. I.e. it views language as a semiotic system of inter-referential signs which is constructed in interaction. I applied the framework to the extent of Engagement. This category of the framework is specifically concerned with dialogic utterances. In the qualitative analysis, I applied several social scientific approaches and concepts related to questions of nation and national identity. In terms of dialogic language, the results displayed that over time May’s speeches began to contain less contractive utterances in which one would exclude other positions from the discourse. At the same time, there was an increase of expansive utterances in which one would allow other positions to seem plausible or neutral. In other words, May seemed to opt for a more conciliatory tone as Brexit visibly decelerated. When it comes to national identity, it would seem like a crucial concept for a state looking for less integrated international co-operation especially if pursuit of national sovereignty is presented as the main reason behind the endeavour. However, this study implies that May’s speeches did not offer elements which a new national identity could have been built upon. In the light of previous research on national identity, they would have evidently needed to contain more emotion-laden language.

This linguistic study examines the media representation and portrayal of pop star and celebrity Britney Spears. Within contemporary media discourse, young female celebrities frequently experience the dual nature of fame as they are often idolized and scrutinized at the same time. Despite her status as a cultural icon, Spears is a fitting subject for examination due to her multifaceted and intricate relationship with the media. Using a qualitative approach, this study analyzed eight cover stories from Rolling Stone magazine featuring Spears, spanning from 1999 to 2008. Critical Discourse Analysis by van Dijk (2015) served as the overarching theoretical framework, with Social Actor Analysis by van Leeuwen (2008) utilized as a complementary approach to explore Spears’ representations in the magazine. The findings revealed that Spears was consistently nominated and categorized as a social actor. Moreover, the analysis uncovered a mix of positive, negative, and mixed appraisals of Spears. Additionally, a shift over time in linguistic portrayals was observed. Initially, Spears’ portrayals were mostly positive, but later, negative appraisals became more prominent. The study offers insights into broader societal dynamics surrounding language, gender, and power, demonstrating how media representations and discourse have the potential to reinforce harmful stereotypes, and how media practices reflect and shape public perceptions of women.