| This dissertation investigates the functions of reported language (reported speech and quotations/citations) in the context of academic literacy. It argues that reported language, as an explicit marker of intertextuality, reveals how language and literacy are linked through social and dialogic networks of meaning. Current theories of language and literacy have not adequately explained the role of reported language in oral and written language, and no studies have analyzed the functions of reported language in an educational context. Drawing together studies from linguistics, composition, and literacy, this dissertation: (1) reviews studies of reported language in relation to social-semiotic, interactive, and dialogic approaches to language and literacy; (2) analyzes the functions of directly-quoted language in students' oral and written samples; and (3) discusses the implications of this study for understanding language and literacy as intertextual, dialogic interaction.;Focusing on the oral data, I analyze the features of directly-reported language in light of various linguistic theories of reported speech. Then I analyze quotations in the written data as evidence of an embodied intertextuality. Based on findings from my analyses, I suggest an alternate model for explaining the functions of reported language, and I apply this model to oral and written language samples. Finally, I discuss the implications of the study for literacy and language-teaching practices. Findings from this study indicate that directly reported language is an important linguistic feature for understanding literacy practices as social and dialogic interactions.;Research data include two sets of audio-recorded and transcribed interviews and written materials. In the first interviews, conducted in Spring 1993 with students who had taken an interdisciplinary arts and humanities course (IAH 201) in Fall 1992, students were asked to reflect on their literacy experiences in that and other classes. In 1995 follow-up interviews, students were asked to reflect on their experiences in light of subsequent college courses and goals. Written samples include journals and essay exams that students produced in IAH 201 in Fall 1992 and subsequent academic and personal writings that they submitted at the follow-up interviews. |
