という/っていう - a few of questions


I’ve scoured this website and elsewhere to get to the bottom of this and I
think I’ve cracked most of all of the という usages and meanings. But I just have
some few questions I hope you can help with.

In the show ‘Terrace House’, a character says the following:
「自分の中のテラスハウスのゴールとしては自立っていう」

After asking some Japanese friends they’ve said “っていう” adds emphasis on the
word “自立”. They’ve also said the 「っていう」here is short for 「ということがゴールです」or
「っていう感じ」.

What exactly does it mean to ‘add emphasis’ in this context? How does
「自分の中のテラスハウスのゴールとしては自立っていう」 Differ from 「自分の中のテラスハウスのゴールとしては自立だ」? How would
this roughly differ if it were English?

I also hear one of the pundits saying “っていうね” at the end of his sentences a
lot… how does this roughly translate or what is it supposed to mean?
Apparently it’s used after a pun or something like that?

My final question is about 「ということだ」。I understand this can mean either “means…”
or “I heard that…”.

How do you tell which one is being used in a sentence? Is there a different in
pitch accent? So far the only way that I can distinguish them is if there is
~よると at the start. Otherwise it takes my brain a minute to process. I still
also don’t really understand what ということで means except for the “so..”
“therefore…” meanings.

