Analysis of the Website Genre DISSERTATION Presented in Part
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Representation of National Identity on Ukrainian Business Websites: Analysis of the Website Genre DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University Larysa Stepanova By Graduate Program in Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University 2010 Dissertation Committee: Daniel E. Collins, Advisor Charles E. Gribble, Co-Adviser Predrag Matejic Copyright by Larysa Stepanova 2010 Abstract The goal of the proposed dissertation is twofold—first, to investigate the patterns of language usage in a previously unstudied discourse genre, the websites of Ukrainian businesses; and second, to determine the extent to which the new language policies of the post-Soviet Ukrainian state are reflected in this new genre, which is not explicitly covered by those policies. More specifically, the study will offer a detailed linguistic analysis of the genre in order to determine whether, and to what degree, linguistic identity, as shown by the choice of language(s) on the sites, correlates with other markers of Ukrainian national identity—i.e., the values that the official policies are trying to defend. ii Dedication This document is dedicated to my family. iii Acknowledgments Here I want to thank people who have contributed much to this research and who have been with me during this difficult period of my life. I am indebted to both of my advisers: Dr. Charles Gribble and Dr. Daniel Collins. I have learned a lot from these men who are both inspiring professors and wonderful people as they have worked with me during my entire course of study at The Ohio State University. Not only did their classes and lectures motivate me to pursue my academic career, but their attitude toward teaching and toward their students also set a great example of high professionalism for me. I want to thank Dr. Gribble, Dr. Collins and Dr. Brian Joseph for their valuable time and very helpful comments. I am extremely grateful to Dr. Collins for making me suffer for a while as I searched for a topic for this dissertation. I finally found one that really interested me and I truly appreciate the importance of the process. My dissertation would not exist without his great ideas as well as the amount of time, help and support that he offered me. I am grateful to Dr. Yana Hashamova for providing me with helpful materials and advising me about some issues in the research. I cannot adequately express my gratitude to my supervisors at the Hilandar Library: Dr. Predrag Matejic, Dr. Lubomira Gribble, and Helen Senecal. Without their advice, patience, understanding, care and enormous friendly support, I would not have been able to reach this point. I also want to iv thank all my friends. Miriam Whiting prompted me with some ideas on this topic. It is impossible to underestimate the enormous support I received from Zhenya Tyurikova. I really appreciate the care and support I got from the Egan and the Wilson families. I also wanted to express my gratitude to Anastasia Smirnova, Olga Rudich, Marcela Michalkova, Maggie Gruszczynska, Daria Safronova and all the other girls – thank you very much! And many thanks to my family, my husband and my son, for believing in me, believing that I could complete this dissertation. v Vita 1995 ................................................. Master of Arts, English Language and Literature and German Language and Literature, Volyn State University, Lutsk, Ukraine 1999 .................................................. Master of Arts, Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA 1998 .................................................. Winner of the Program “Partners in Education” sponsored by the United States Government 2009 .................................................. Graduate Associate Teaching Award (GATA) nominee, The Ohio State University 1990–19941B ........................................ Teacher of the English Language in the System of Primary and Secondary Schools in Lutsk, Ukraine 1994–2003......................................... Teacher of the English Language and Literature at Volyn State University, Lutsk, Volyn 2003–2009......................................... Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University 2009–present..................................... Graduate Administrative Associate, Hilandar Research Library and Resource Center for Medieval Slavic Studies, The Ohio State University vi Publications Stepanova, Larysa and Mykolai I. Kikets. 1990. “Mathematical Models of Dynamic and Static Aspect Situations.” Materials of XII Scientific Conference of the Volyn State University. Part III. Lutsk, “VEZHA” Publishing House. Stepanova, Larysa and Mykolai I. Kikets. 1998. “Realization of Aspect Meaning of Actions.” Scientific Journal of the Volyn State University. Part III. “VEZHA” Publishing House. Stepanova, Larysa and Mykolai I. Kikets. 1999. “Aspect-Taxis Relations in Zones with Temporal Indicators.” Scientific Journal of the Volyn State University. Part III. “VEZHA” Publishing House. Stepanova, Larysa and Mykolai I. Kikets. 2000. “Dynamic Indicators in Aspect Context.” Scientific Journal of the Volyn State University. Part II. “VEZHA” Publishing House. Conference Presentations Stepanova, Larysa. 2005. “Morphological Characteristics of a Verb and General Semantics of the Utterance.” Midwest Slavic Conference (Columbus, Ohio), February 2005. Stepanova, Larysa. 2005. “Onomatopoeia and ‘Expressivity’,” South European Studies Association Second Biennial Conference, (OSU, Columbus, Ohio), April 2005. Stepanova, Larysa. 2006. “Surzhyk and the Language Question in Present-Day Ukraine,” 24th Graduate Student Colloquium (OSU, Columbus, Ohio), November 2006. Stepanova, Larysa. 2007. “Language Ideologies in Constructing Ukrainian Identity and Attitudes to Surzhyk,” Midwest Slavic Conference (Columbus, Ohio), March 2007. Stepanova, Larysa. 2008. “What is Good and What is Surzhyk: Morphological and Syntactic Analysis of Surzhyk.” Midwest Slavic Conference (Columbus, Ohio), March 2008. vii Stepanova, Larysa. 2008. “Surzhyk: It’s All About Perception.” The Third Conference of the Slavic Linguistic Society (Columbus, Ohio), June 2008. Stepanova, Larysa. 2008. Chair, “Slavic Verbal Aspect,” The Third Conference of the Slavic Linguistic Society (Columbus, Ohio), June 2008. Stepanova, Larysa. 2009. Chair/Discussant, “Nascent Ukraine: Where are We Going from Here?” Midwest Slavic Conference (Columbus, Ohio), April 2009. Fields of Study Major Field: Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures viii Table of Contents Abstract............................................................................................................................. ii Dedication ....................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments............................................................................................................iv Vita...................................................................................................................................vi Table of Contents............................................................................................................. ix List of Tables...................................................................................................................xiv List of Illustrations …………………………………………………………………….xv Chapter 1: Introduction..................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Objectives of the dissertation............................................................................... 1 1.2. Ukrainian language policy as reflected in official documents …….....................2 1.3. Goals and task of the research ……......................................................................6 1.4. Prior research on the language situation in former socialist countries ….............8 1.5. Methodology and Structure of the Dissertation………………………………...12 ix Chapter 2: Correlations between the Choice of Language and the Geographic Regions............................................................................................................................14 2.1. Language planning as a tool in the process of nation-building ….....................14 2.2. Analysis of the websites by geographical region................................................16 2.2.1. Analysis of the Eastern Zone ……………...……….................................21 2.2.2. Analysis of the Central Zone…………………………………… ….……25 2.2.3. Analysis of the Western zone …………………………………….….…..29 2.2.4. Analysis of the Littoral Zone …………………………………….….…...33 2.3. The analysis of language of companies’ logos that have mottos………..……..35 2.4. Market value of the language versus national/symbolic value ………….…….47 Chapter 3: Analysis of Style............................................................................................51 3.1. Introduction.........................................................................................................51 3.2. Methodology.......................................................................................................52 3.3. Brief overview of the discourse style of business websites ………...………....59 3.4. Summary of the features……………………………………………..……..….71 Chapter 4: Analysis of Structure………………………..................................................73