Diseño de un programa de calidad total para el comíte de turismo de Juayua, Juayutur, departamento de Sonsonate.

Hoy en día, el turismo, se torna un tema importante, en el cual nuestro país presta especial interés, por lo que realizar estudios en esta área resulta provechoso. Debido a esto, y para conocer la situación problemática existente del comité de turismo de Juayúa, se realizó una investigación preliminar donde se determinó la necesidad de incorporar herramientas administrativas, teorías como el enfoque de calidad total, que pueden mejorar el funcionamiento y organización de este. Además se recopiló información teórica sobre aspectos generales de la ciudad de Juayua, el turismo en El salvador y se elaboró un marco teórico referencial sobre la calidad total. Con el cual se obtuvieron elementos que sirvieron de base para llevar a cabo la investigación de campo. Con la investigación antes mencionada se realizó el diagnóstico sobre el comité de turismo y de su apéndice mercantil la feria gastronómica, para lo cual se utilizaron métodos y técnicas, como son: el cuestionario y la entrevista, los que permitieron adquirir datos primarios y secundarios. Ambas fuentes sirvieron de base para el análisis y el diagnóstico. Este mostró aspectos importantes sobre su ambiente y entorno general originándose así una serie de conclusiones y recomendaciones, entre ellas: EL comité de turismo es confundido con la feria gastronómica centrando sus actividades en esta y dejando a un lado el objetivo con el que se formó, tanto en las autoridades como en los socios; un liderazgo autoritario y poco interés de participación de parte de los socios. En lo que se refiere a las recomendaciones se instó a diseñar una estructura organizativa del Comité de Turismo, en la cual se establezca claramente los objetivos y se den a conocer, así como incorporar a la feria gastronómica como una dependencia de este; también es necesario que se incorporen programas de motivación y capacitación, que contribuyan al trabajo en equipo y al mejoramiento de sus actividades. Por último se prosiguió al diseño del programa de calidad total, basado y apoyado en los datos bibliográficos sobre calidad total y en los resultados obtenidos de la investigación de campo. Se planteó desde la creación de la estructura, una nueva filosofía organizacional, sus componentes, fases y actividades del mismo y acciones estratégicas que junto con le programa contribuirán a la busca del mejoramiento y de la excelencia en el servicio y en su funcionamiento. Con esta propuesta se pretende que el comité y su apéndice mercantil la feria gastronómica, desarrolle ventaja competitiva en el sector, genere una imagen innovativa y un servicio de excelencia, ya que de una manera al involucrarse todos se fomentará una nueva cultura, una nueva forma de pensar y por lo tanto de actuar al momento de realizar los procesos y actividades que se realicen para mejorarlos continuamente, satisfaciendo así a sus clientes, tanto internos como externos, su principal motor.

Parametric change in the grammatical encoding of indirect objects in Brazilian Portuguese

This paper examines the syntax of indirect objects (IO) in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). Adopting a comparative perspective we propose that BP differs from European Portuguese (EP) in the grammatical encoding of IO. In EP ditransitive contexts, IO is found in two configurations - one projected by a (low) applicative head and another one involving a lexical/true preposition. We propose that the former property is contingent upon the presence of dative Case marking: namely, the morpheme `a` that introduces IO (a-DP), whose corresponding clitic pronoun is `lhe/lhes`. In contrast, important changes in the pronominal system, coupled with the increase in the use of the preposition `para` are taken as evidence for the loss of the low applicative construction in BP. Thus only the configuration with the lexical/true preposition is found in (Standard) BP. We argue that the innovative properties of IO in BP are due to the loss of the (3rd person) dative clitic and the preposition `a` as dative Case markers. Under this view, we further account for the realization of IO as a DP/weak pronoun, found in dialects of the central region of Brazil, which points to a similarity with the English Double Object Construction. Finally we show that the connection between the morphological expression of the dative Case and the expression of parameters supports a view of syntactic change according to which parametric variation is determined in the lexicon, in terms of the formal features of functional heads.

Relativizing Minimality for A-movement: phi- and theta-relations

This paper discusses two arguments raised against Hornstein`s (1999, 2001) Movement Theory of Control (MTC): Landau`s (2003) contrast between raising and passivized subject control predicates and Culicover and Jackendoff`s (2001) contrast between control and raising within nominals. I show that rather than counter-arguments, the data they present can actually be analyzed as arguments in favor of the MTC. More specifically, I argue that the puzzling contrasts discussed by these authors can be adequately accounted for within the MTC if minimality computations regarding A-movement are relativized in terms of phi- or theta-relations.

Language choice of the Foochows in Sarawak, Malaysia

This paper investigates the factors affecting the language choices of the Chinese Foochows of Sarawak, focusing in particular on how the use of the Foochow dialect vis-a`-vis English and other languages might potentially result in a shift in language allegiance away from Foochow. In the context of Sarawak, the Foochows are a substantial, cohesive and homogeneous Chinese ethnic group with a distinctive language and ethnic identity. One would predict that they would engage in extensive language maintenance behaviour. Instead, Foochows living in non-Foochow dominant areas do not seem to have sufficient attachment to the language to transmit it to the next generation. Is this because the Foochows consider that accommodating to communicative norms is more important than preserving their native language as an inherent symbol of their ethnic identity? Or is it the result of the Foochows’ insecurity about the prestige of the dialect and the status of the Foochow people? These issues of accommodation and language allegiance are discussed, based on interview and questionnaire data from 11 Foochow participants. This data set is part of a larger study on the language use of different ethnic groups in multilingual organisational settings in Sarawak.

Anaphoric choices in Japanese fictional novels: the discourse arrangement of noun phrases, zero and third person pronouns

By examining Japanese fictional novels, this article will discuss how anaphoric devices (noun phrases (NPs), third person pronouns (TPPs), and zero anaphors) are selected and arranged in a given discourse. The traditional view of anaphora considers the co-referential relationship between anaphoric devices to be syntagmatic; that is, a pronoun, for example, refers back to its antecedent. It also declares the hierarchical order of information values between anaphoric devices; NPs are semantically the most informative, indicating an episode boundary, and pronouns less informative. Furthermore, zero anaphora is the most referentially transparent, showing the most accessibility of a topic. However, real text shows the contrary. NPs occur frequently while there is no apparent discourse boundary, and the same episode is continuous. This is because zero anaphors and TPPs (if they occur) break down readily due to the nature of a forthcoming sentence and the NP is reinstated, in order to continue the same topic in a given discourse. Therefore, the article opposes the traditional view of anaphora. Based on the concept of text processing, using ‘mental representations’, this article will determine certain occurrence patterns of the three anaphoric devices.

Anticipated versus inferred politeness

A number of researchers have recently argued that politeness is not always inferred in the form of an implicature as claimed by Brown and Levinson (1987), but rather can be anticipated by addressees when it involves expected behaviour. The distinction between anticipated and inferred politeness is thus an important area for further development of politeness theory. In this paper, the way in which the notion of ‘expectations’ is related to politeness is first considered, before outlining the distinction between anticipated and inferred politeness in some detail. It is then argued that discourse politeness theory (Usami, 1998, 2001a, b, 2002) shows greater promise for deepening our understanding of this distinction than the proposals made thus far by relevance theorists. It is concluded that any investigation of the distinction between anticipating and inferring politeness must ultimately be grounded in empirical studies of politeness phenomena.