Federal discourse pertaining to college access requires clarified definition. Use of the college access construct has become commonplace, yet no unified refinement of meaning exists. This study, which covered U.S. presidential communications from January 2009 to October 2021, addressed the abstraction of language as leaders presented ideas,…

This study was undertaken to address issues resulting from the vagueness of imprecisely defined legislative language located in the Bankruptcy Reform Act of1978 (Public Law 95-598) and subsequent policies, regulations, and laws such as the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (Public Law 109-8);which relate to the…

The construct of academic language has been part of the field of education for many years. Academic language is included in education initiatives such as the Common Core State Standards and the Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA). Due to the inclusion of academic language in these initiatives, teacher education programs must incorporate…

Does spelling matter? is a question that has been answered in many ways. Yes, spelling matters because conventional spelling is necessary for accurate transcription. Yes, spelling matters because spelling skills support phonemic awareness, word recognition skills, and the acquisition of the alphabetic principle. And yes, spelling matters because…

In an increasingly complex and competitive employment environment, organizations such as the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the World Economic Forum, and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills have prioritized major skills, also known as career readiness competencies, that position recent college graduates to successfully…

This dissertation explores the main question, "What are the issues involved in the definition and translation of color terms in dictionaries?" To answer this question, I examined color term definitions in monolingual dictionaries of French and English, and color term translations in bilingual dictionaries of French paired with nine…

This dissertation seeks to refine the meaning of [Torah] in Psalms 1, 19, 37, 40, 78, 89, 94, 105, and 119. Through an exegetical analysis of the nine Psalms that utilize the term, the study argues that [Torah] most frequently refers to the written Pentateuch. Chapter 1 introduces the research question, thesis, and surveys the various approaches…

This qualitative study explored how people define and respond to threatening language that is posted in Facebook. Basic Interpretive Qualitative Research was used to see how the 16 participants made meaning of threats that were posted in Facebook and how they responded to the posted threats. The data was collected through personal interviews with…

In this dissertation, I address the ways in which food manufacturers can exploit the often vague and ambiguous nature of FDA policies concerning language and images used on food labels. Employing qualitative analysis methods (Strauss, 1987; Denzin and Lincoln, 2003; Mackey and Gass, 2005) that drew upon critical discourse analysis (Fairclough,…

This study deals with unplanned terminology development in the subject field of economics within media discourse. It examines how economic terms in Turkish newspapers emerge, are used, and cease. This developmental process is also analyzed through productivity of economic terms and the factors affect them. The subject terms are also analyzed as a…