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Pachagadu, S., and Beer K. J. De. "Academic literacy programme model design." Interim : Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol 8, Issue 2: Central University of Technology Free State Bloemfontein, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/371.
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Published ArticleThe pass rate of grade 12 learners is shockingly low and this is supposed to be the feeding ground for Higher Educations in South Africa. Alet Rademeyer quotes from a document of Advocate Paul Hoffman, SC, and director of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, that the South African School System only delivers one out of 29 functional literate Black matriculants. It is a national crisis and is an indication of gigantic proportions. The aim of the Academic Literacy Programme (ALP) at the CUT is to improve student's academic literacy skills which will ultimately boost the student throughput rate at the CUT. The programme will help students develop their academic language skills whilst creating a positive attitude towards the English language.
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Free, Loretta Dianna. "Improving academic literacy at higher education." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/839.
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This study is a deliberation on students who advance from high school to a higher education institution, without demonstrating the attributes required on admission. They are granted formal access, despite being underprepared for tertiary studies. One of the qualities that they noticible lack is academic literacy. In the course of this investigation, academics had to relate what their perceptions were of the academic literacy of their students at higher education level. Initially, being literate meant the ability to read and write, but the term literacy has assumed a more varied form. The term multi-literacies is employed now, as there are several forms of literacy. These include, Information Technology, Technology, pictorial and numerical literacies, to name a few. Academic literacy constitutes more than one literacy, namely, operational or functional literacy, cultural literacy and critical literacy. These literacies are elaborated on and the role of language proficiency, together with the inter-relatedness between students' linguistic competence and their cognitive ability are discussed in depth. Alternatives are examined to assess how this problem of the lack of academic literacy can be circumvented and what mechanisms can be put in place in order that students can be assisted in their pursuit of academic literacy.
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Fouche, Ilse. "Improving the academic literacy levels of first-year Natural Sciences students by means of an academic literacy intervention." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/26500.
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Over the past years, there has been a consistent call from Government and industry for South African tertiary institutions to deliver more graduates in the fields of science and technology. This, however, is no mean feat for universities, as the pool of prospective candidates delivers very few students with the necessary academic literacy abilities, and very few students who passed mathematics and science at the right levels to succeed in science higher education. This puts tertiary institutions under mounting pressure to accept students who are under-prepared and to support these students appropriately. The plight of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions like the University of South Africa (UNISA) is even more desperate, as they are often left with those students who are either unable to gain entrance into, or to afford the study fees of, residential universities. These students are often in greater need for face-to-face interaction than are their counterparts at residential universities, yet they generally receive very little of this. The intervention examined and critiqued in this study is an attempt at raising the academic literacy levels of first-year students at UNISA in the fields of science and technology by means of a 60-hour face-to-face workshop programme. As its foundation, it uses the principles of collaborative learning and authentic material design. It also treats academic literacy abilities as interdependent and holistic. This study starts with a broad overview of the context. This is followed by a review of the literature. This review focuses on concepts such as collaborative learning, academic literacy, English for academic purposes, English for specific purposes and English for science and technology. Thereafter, a needs analysis is done in which students’ Test for Academic Literacy Levels (TALL) pre-test results, as well as a sample of their assignments, are examined. In addition, the workshops in this intervention programme are analysed individually. To determine the effectiveness of the academic literacy intervention, students’ pre- and post-TALL results are scrutinised, and a feedback questionnaire filled in at the end of the year is analysed. Subsequently, recommendations are made as to how the workshop programme could be improved. Findings show that the academic literacy intervention did improve students’ academic literacy levels significantly, though the improvement is not enough to elevate students from being considered at-risk. However, with fine-tuning the existing programme, the possibility exists that students’ academic literacy levels might be further improved. This calls for a careful examination of the areas in which students’ performance did not improve significantly. Student feedback indicated a positive attitude towards the entire intervention programme, as well as a marked preference for collaborative learning and face-to-face interaction. In the redevelopment of the current workshop programme, such preferences would have to receive attention, so as to integrate students’ wants, together with what they lack and what they need, in subsequent interventions. In conclusion, the limitations of this study are discussed, and recommendations are made for future research, as the current study must be seen as only the beginning of a process of action research that could lead to a sustainable intervention programme in future. CopyrightDissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Unit for Academic Literacy
Afrikaans
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Sharp, L. Kathryn. "Building Literacy: Vocabulary, Academic Language, and Meaning Making." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4295.
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Chu, Fidelis Ewe. "Developing first year part-time students academic competencies in an academic literacy module." Thesis, University of Western Cape, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/8494.
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Magister Artium - MAThe transition from high school to university for many students all over the world has never been very easy and this is also true in the South African context. At the University of the Western Cape the majority of students, particularly part-time students, come from previously disadvantaged institutions of learning. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that most tertiary institutions in South Africa, including The University of the Western Cape, use English as the official language of instruction even though more than three quarters of students entering into institutions of higher learning in South Africa are second or even third language English speakers who do not have the language competence level required in the medium of instruction to successfully negotiate academic curricula.
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Tolley, Rebecca. "Academic Searching." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2019. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/5702.
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This introductory overview covers the broad strokes of academic searching. Topics discussed: overall search strategy for different types of searches with different objectives; non-electronic venues (books, periodicals and archives); the most efficient methods for searching the databases at ETSU including Google Scholar; navigating the library catalog, theses and dissertations; saving articles and searches; setting up feeds and alerts; creating folders and exporting articles.
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Armstrong, Sonya L. "Beginning the literacy transition postsecondary students' conceptualizations of academic writing in developmental literacy contexts /." Cincinnati, Ohio : University of Cincinnati, 2007. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?acc%5Fnum=ucin1195948915.
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Thesis (Dr. of Education )--University of Cincinnati, 2007.Advisor: Eric Paulson. Title from electronic thesis title page (viewed Feb. 18, 2008). Includes abstract. Keywords: postsecondary developmental literacy, metaphor analysis, student conceptualizations, academic writing, developmental reading and writing courses, college students. Includes bibliographical references.
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ARMSTRONG, SONYA L. "BEGINNING THE LITERACY TRANSITION: POSTSECONDARY STUDENTS' CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF ACADEMIC WRITING IN DEVELOPMENTAL LITERACY CONTEXTS." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1195948915.
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Hamilton, Angela. "Simulations for Financial Literacy." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2012. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/5235.
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Financially literate consumers are empowered with the knowledge and skills necessary to make sound financial decisions that ensure their long-term economic well-being. Within the context of the range of cognitive, psychological, and social factors that influence consumer behavior, simulations enhance financial literacy by developing consumers' mental models for decision-making. Technical communicators leverage plain language and visual language techniques to communicate complex financial concepts in ways that consumers can relate to and understand. Simulations for financial education and decision support illustrate abstract financial concepts, provide a means of safe experimentation, and allow consumers to make informed choices based on a longitudinal comparison of decision outcomes. Technical communicators develop content based on best practices and conduct evaluations to ensure that simulations present information that is accessible, usable, and focused on the end-user. Potential simulation formats range from low- to high-fidelity. Low-fidelity simulations present static data in print or digital formats. Mid-fidelity simulations provide digital interactive decision support tools with dynamic user inputs. More complex high-fidelity simulations use narrative and dramatic elements to situate learning in applied contexts.ID: 031001493; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Adviser: Dan Jones.; Title from PDF title page (viewed July 25, 2013).; Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2012.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 76-80).
M.A.
Masters
English
Arts and Humanities
English; Technical Communications
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Logie, Monica. "Learning potential and academic literacy tests as predictors of academic performance for engineering students." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/29280.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate a battery of tests to be used as part of the process of selecting bursary students for engineering at tertiary institutions. Due to the problems in the schooling system it is not conclusive that all students who have obtained their senior certificates are prepared and able to meet the demands and challenges of tertiary education. The purpose of this study was to determine the criterion related validity of a mathematic proficiency test, Learning Potential Computerised Adaptive Test (LPCAT) and English Literacy Skills Assessment (ELSA) as predictors of academic performance. A quantitative approach was used for the purpose of this study. More specifically the Ex post facto analyses/design is used in this study. The relationships between the dependent and independent variables were determined. Correlation analyses, Kruskal-Wallis test and regression analysis were used for the purpose of this study. The results indicated that the Mathematical proficiency test was the best predictor of academic success, followed by LPCAT and ELSA. The results of this study indicates that the use of academic literacy and learning potential contribute in selecting the best students. Companies and Universities have long been looking for a predictor or predictors of success for students as they enter tertiary studies. This information has the potential to save companies and universities millions of Rands annually by helping them make better investment decisions.Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Human Resource Management
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Tilinca, Eugenia Mihaela. "Academic literacy and the construction of symbolic power : A study of one academic community." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.504177.
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Ali, Hawedi Ragab. "Second language academic literacy development in Libyan higher education." Thesis, University of Huddersfield, 2015. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/26219/.
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Drawing on recent literacy studies, this thesis examines second language academic literacy development in Libyan higher education. A novel intervention programme focusing on academic writing through an action research approach was undertaken with a group of 30 undergraduate university students, majoring in English as a foreign language who were studying in a college of education at a university in the North West of Libya. The research was guided by five main aims: firstly, to explore Libyan higher education students’ perceptions regarding the influence of their socio-cultural and educational background, and the institutional context on their academic literacy development; secondly, to examine their views and thoughts about the concept of academic literacy and its development within their institution; thirdly, to apply the genre approach to teaching writing as an innovation in a Libyan context in order to raise participants’ awareness of how English academic literacy might be developed; fourthly, to employ action research to develop practice in order to improve teaching and learning L2 (Second Language) writing in a Libyan context; and finally, to contribute to building theory in the field of teaching English L2 academic literacy in higher education in Libya. The field work was conducted over six months, and to gather data for analysis, the study employed five tools of data collection: observation, using a teacher journal to monitor the students’ learning performance; students’ written feedback on sessions; samples of the students’ written work; a questionnaire and an interview administrated at the end of the intervention programme with further interviews a year after conducting the initial empirical research. Data analysis revealed inadequacies in the role of the wider socio-cultural environment for acquisition and practice of English reading and writing at school and also for the development of academic literacy in higher education. English is viewed as a school subject rather than a language and the concept of academic literacy is not familiar in a Libyan context so there are few opportunities for students to develop outside the classroom. The problems students encounter in language and in writing also revealed limitations in the teaching within Libyan institutions. Students who experienced the intervention programme appreciated the significance of English academic literacy and felt it should be promoted through individual and social awareness and within an educational environment which encourages its multifaceted nature, and the need for resources and a more participative pedagogical approach. Finally, this study suggests that the genre approach, as yet unfamiliar in Libya, might be helpful for students to improve their L2 writing capabilities and encourage awareness of academic literacy through learning by doing and through engagement with language as a holistic process. Action research, also unfamiliar in Libya, proved significant in professional and pedagogical development and in the creation of a more student-centred classroom in which students felt empowered to participate and to engage in the teaching and learning process.
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Freeman, Keri. "Investigating First Year Undergraduate EAL Students' Academic Literacy Experiences." Thesis, Griffith University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/377655.
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Australian universities have become places where students from diverse backgrounds and cultures come together to pursue tertiary education. This study contributes to current understandings of how universities have responded to their now diverse student body, and adds insight into curricula and classroom practices which might better accommodate learners who have English as an Additional Language (EAL). While issues surrounding EAL students have been examined and discussed for two decades, Lea and Street (2006), Leask (2013), and Wingate (2015) contend that university pedagogies and practices are yet to adequately cater for students from diverse backgrounds. In particular, disciplinary pedagogies tend to be dominated by assumptions that EAL students’ linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds are deficits, which limit their capacity to adapt to Australian tertiary learning environments. Accordingly, research which focuses on first year EAL students’ academic expectations and experiences is critical so that Australian universities can enhance current pedagogies which guide curricula and classroom practices.
This study employed Lea and Street’s (1998) academic literacies approach to examine how first year undergraduate EAL students from a range of educational and cultural backgrounds, and fields of study, mediated their first year at an English-speaking university. The study investigated participants’ academic expectations, academic socialisation, and academic literacies, including their experiences constructing new student identities, and engaging with teachers and peers. Such research is important to provide evidence of best practice strategies to support EAL students’ literacy and learning, and foster a sense of belonging. This study also examined participants’ academic reading, a fundamental aspect of academic literacy which has been under researched (Hill & Meo, 2015; Wingate, 2015). Three research questions guided the study: Research Question 1 investigated participants’ expectations of their new learning environment; Research Question 2 examined how the students mediated their academic socialisation; and Research Question 3 investigated what factors enabled and constrained participants’ academic literacies.
The primary research method was a multiple case study approach in which eight units of analysis were embedded within the research setting, a university in South East Queensland. The study employed a three phase explanatory qualitative and quantitative research design. A self-administered questionnaire with a convenience sample size of 159 first year EAL students was implemented in Phase I. The questionnaire examined respondents’ expectations of academic conventions and skills, academic reading, and engagement with teachers and peers. The survey data were analysed using SPSS software to generate descriptive statistics. The findings informed the qualitative case study inquiry. Phase II was the first stage of the multiple case studies. Eight case study participants were recruited through purposive sampling. Phase II examined participants’ academic socialisation experiences. Data was collected through weekly structured interviews, and course document analysis. In Phase III, semi-structured interviews investigated participants’ classroom experiences, student identities, and academic relationships with teachers and peers. The case study data were analysed using thematic analysis, which involved an iterative process of reading, rereading, and coding the data into themes related to the issues under investigation.
The multiple sources of data revealed that participants’ expectations and experiences were homogenous, despite their diverse backgrounds. This suggests that first year EAL students share similar literacy and learning needs. Participants demonstrated an understanding of disciplinary literacy practices and conventions. They expected to enhance their language, academic, and intercultural communication skills, with the help of course teachers. They believed it was important to feel a sense of belonging in their new academic community, and engage with domestic peers. However, these expectations were largely unfulfilled. The findings also showed that EAL students often underestimate the reality of course reading demands. Nevertheless, participants demonstrated positive student identities by adapting and extending their literacy practices to successfully mediate disciplinary requirements. They read strategically by engaging with academic texts they believed were relevant to their literacy and learning. Participants’ academic achievements indicated that their linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds did not hinder their capability to engage in their courses and complete assessment tasks. This suggests that the prevailing perception about EAL students’ cultural and educational backgrounds being barriers to learning is misguided.
However, the participants’ academic literacies were hindered when they encountered classroom learning environments which did not incorporate language and literacy instruction, constructive feedback on assessments, or peer engagement. There was also little evidence that courses applied reading pedagogies. These challenges, in particular the lack of classroom engagement with domestic peers, negatively affected their sense of belonging in their new academic community. The study findings reveal a disparity between EAL students’ classroom experiences, and best practice first year and internationalisation strategies recommended in the literature (e.g., Lea & Street, 2006; Leask, 2013; Wingate, 2015). A noteworthy finding is that the teaching practices which help EAL students’ communicative confidence and learning require little effort. That is, when teachers show interest, and facilitate cross-cultural classroom interactions, there is a positive impact on students’ feelings of belonging. The implication is teachers are in the best position to provide supportive and inclusive classroom learning environments that fulfilThesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School Educ & Professional St
Arts, Education and Law
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Gomez, Jorge. "The Relationship of Instructor Technical Literacy to the Academic Performance of Students in Career Academies." FIU Digital Commons, 2013. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/936.
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Career Academy instructors’ technical literacy is vital to the academic success of students. This nonexperimental ex post facto study examined the relationships between the level of technical literacy of instructors in career academies and student academic performance. It was also undertaken to explore the relationship between the pedagogical training of instructors and the academic performance of students.
Out of a heterogeneous population of 564 teachers in six targeted schools, 136 teachers (26.0 %) responded to an online survey. The survey was designed to gather demographic and teaching experience data. Each demographic item was linked by researchers to teachers’ technology use in the classroom. Student achievement was measured by student learning gains as assessed by the reading section of the FCAT from the previous to the present school year.
Linear and hierarchical regressions were conducted to examine the research questions. To clarify the possibility of teacher gender and teacher race/ethnic group differences by research variable, a series of one-way ANOVAs were conducted. As revealed by the ANOVA results, there were not statistically significant group differences in any of the research variables by teacher gender or teacher race/ethnicity. Greater student learning gains were associated with greater teacher technical expertise integrating computers and technology into the classroom, even after controlling for teacher attitude towards computers. Neither teacher attitude toward technology integration nor years of experience in integrating computers into the curriculum significantly predicted student learning gains in the regression models.
Implications for HRD theory, research, and practice suggest that identifying teacher levels of technical literacy may help improve student academic performance by facilitating professional development strategies and new parameters for defining highly qualified instructors with 21st century skills. District professional development programs can benefit by increasing their offerings to include more computer and information communication technology courses. Teacher preparation programs can benefit by including technical literacy as part of their curriculum. State certification requirements could be expanded to include formal surveys to assess teacher use of technology.
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Starkey, Alysia. "Kansas academic librarian perceptions of information literacy professional development needs." Diss., Manhattan, Kan. : Kansas State University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/3856.
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Veach, Grace L. "Tracing Boundaries, Effacing Boundaries: Information Literacy as an Academic Discipline." Scholar Commons, 2012. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4413.
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Both librarianship and composition have been shaken by recent developments in higher education. In libraries ebooks and online databases threaten the traditional "library as warehouse model," while in composition, studies like The Citation Project show that students are not learning how to incorporate sources into their own writing effectively. This dissertation examines the disciplinary origins and current status of information literacy and makes a case for increased collaboration between Writing Studies and librarians and the eventual emergence of information literacy as a discipline in its own right. Chapter One introduces the near-total failure of information literacy pedagogy and the lack of communication between the two disciplines. Chapter Two traces the disciplinary evolution of information literacy from a new concept in the 1970s to its current status. Chapter Three examines the current state of affairs in information literacy by analyzing library and writing program websites to see if and how each addresses information literacy. Chapter Four provides the results of surveys of librarians and writing instructors wherein they describe information literacy teaching and assessment at their own institutions and lay out their visions for the future of information literacy. Chapter Five studies a librarian and a writing instructor who put some of these ideas into action over the course of the 2011-2012 school year. Chapter Six surveys the relationship of accrediting bodies to information literacy and provides recommendations for the future of information literacy instruction that will cross disciplinary lines and allow for both librarians and compositionists to play to their strengths as they establish the new discipline of information literacy.
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Tilles, Sara Evensen. "Concepts of giftedness| (Re)constructions of academic identities through literacy." Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3682411.
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Giftedness is typically defined as above-average ability, task commitment, and creativity (Renzulli, 2012). However, this definition is socially constructed and leans on the literacy practices of the dominant culture. Understanding various contributors and barriers to giftedness (Suboknik, Olszewski-Kubilis, & Worrell, 2012) can help identified students interrogate their own assumptions about their positions in the school system as well as those of teachers and peers. Since the gifted support classroom is relatively immune from the curricular pressures of the regular education classroom, it provides an ideal context for students to use various literacy practices to reflect on the complex dynamics of the public school system including the ways in which dominant literacies are valued over others generally and in regards to giftedness identification and services.
This practitioner-research study followed six gifted fifth-grade readers through a four-month long weekly Book Club as they used literacy and dialogue to reflect on, construct, and critically consider their academic identities. An inductive approach was used to generatively code responses and analyze the data. Using literature and informational text, the work supported students in using a critical lens to articulate their academic identities, consciously contemplate the expectations placed upon them in the school setting, and consider the implications of their positioning in that context. They engaged in social practices that aided in and demonstrated comprehension and agency, resulting in their re-conceptualizing the notion of giftedness. In addition, participants viewed giftedness through the perspective of culture, ethnicity, and language. Students' transaction with and dialogue surrounding various text types served as a way to challenge the socially constructed notions of giftedness and the structures that support such definitions.
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Mhlongo, Goodfriday Johannes. "The impact of an academic literacy intervention on the academic literacy levels of first year students : the NWU (Vaal Triangle Campus) experience / Goodfriday J. Mhlongo." Thesis, North West University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/13174.
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There has been growing concern in the higher education sector in South Africa about the high number of students with low academic literacy (AL) levels who are gaining entry into the sector. This influx necessitated the introduction of academic literacy interventions which are aimed at supporting these students in meeting the academic literacy requirements of university education. As a result, the tertiary sector has seen a growing number of AL interventions, each catering for a different context. However, the available literature reports very little substantial evidence on the impact/effectiveness of such interventions regarding the purpose for which they have been designed. The Vaal Triangle Campus (VTC) of the North-West University has also found that the majority of first year students who register at this Campus in order to attain a tertiary qualification, show inadequate levels of academic literacy in English. However, the academic literacy intervention that is currently used at this campus has never been formally assessed for its effectiveness in improving students’ academic literacy levels. The purpose of the current study was therefore to investigate the impact of the academic literacy intervention on students’ academic literacy levels. This intervention, which consists of two complementary semester modules, is offered over a one-year period to new first year students. As a first step, a comprehensive literature survey was conducted on important changes that took place in the tertiary education sector after 1994. The reason for this enquiry is based on the fact that many of these changes, such as the ‘massification’ of tertiary education, had far-reaching consequences for the tertiary sector in terms of more underprepared students who gained access to university education. Furthermore, available literature on the types of academic literacy interventions in South Africa, as well as specific sources on the reported impact of such interventions, were critiqued. The empirical part of the study made use of both a qualitative and quantitative research paradigm in order to investigate the impact of the AL intervention at the VTC. A highly reliable academic literacy test (the TALL – Test of Academic Literacy Levels) was used to determine whether students showed any significant improvement in their levels of academic literacy as a result of the intervention. This study reports positive findings in this regard. The investigation further gathered opinion-based data through the administration of three questionnaires aimed at determining student and lecturer perceptions of the impact of the intervention. The main findings of the two student questionnaires (one administered for each AL module) show that students generally see the value in attending the academic literacy modules because they feel that they derive benefit from them. The findings of the lecturer survey indicate that although mainstream lecturers are acutely aware of the low academic literacy levels of their students, they do not see the impact of the intervention on improving such levels. They are further not very knowledgeable about what the focus of the intervention entails. The main conclusion of this study is, in brief, that the academic literacy intervention has a definite effect on the improvement of students’ academic literacy levels. However, no conclusive data was found to support the idea that the improvement was due only to the influence of the intervention.MA (Applied Language Studies), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014
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Tolley, Rebecca. "Review of Academic Librarianship." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2011. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/5614.
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Scholtz, Desiree Leonora. "A comparative analysis of academic literacy specifications for a standardised test and academic literacy requirements for reading and writing in a range of disciplinary contexts." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16866.
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Includes bibliographical referencesStandardised testing gained prominence in the South African higher education sector in the last decade, largely as a means of providing information to identify students who might require additional academic support and for placements onto appropriate higher education programmes of study. This study explored academic literacy as a construct for standardised tests in comparison with the kinds of literacies required for reading and writing for various subjects across diploma programmes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether alignment between the academic literacy test specifications and reading and writing practices in and across diploma subjects would support the claim that generic standardised tests are appropriate for all subjects and fields of study. Theoretical approaches to standardised testing and academic literacies formed the backdrop to frame the study and analyse the findings. The multiple-case study approach was used to explore the reading and writing practices across various diploma subjects, using semi structured interviews and document analysis for data generation. The test specifications of a standardised test served as the interview protocol, as well as the analytic codes for interview and document data that were analysed by means of thematic coding and content analysis. The findings revealed two distinct content representations in different subjects, that is text-dominant and visual literacy-dominant orientations that influenced the practice and application of different literacies, academic literacy being but one of an array of literacies. Conclusions based on the data and findings suggest that while academic literacy as a construct is integral to knowledge acquisition in academia, disciplinary literacies have a profound presence and should be accommodated in standardised testing to ensure that what is tested resonates with subject literacies. It is argued that alignment of test specifications and reading and writing practices in subjects would render tests and test results valid for appropriate use.
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Barron, Susan, and n/a. "Boys and Literacy: Rhetoric and Reality." Griffith University. School of Cognition, Language and Special Education, 2004. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20040623.140850.
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The gendered features of children's development in early literacy, particularly those that contribute to the generally poorer performance of boys, were explored in a dual-phase questionnaire study, conducted across schools in South East Queensland. The potential influences of school type (private and state) and gender-composition of a class (mixed-gender and single-gender schools) on performances of boys were tested on two state-wide tests (The Year 2 Diagnostic Net for Reading; The Reading Development Continuum) and a standardised measure (The St Lucia Reading Comprehension Test). Children and parents were surveyed to determine the locus of significant differences between girls and boys in relation to attitudes to reading, being read to and to constructs of self and others as readers. Girls presented as more positive across these measures. They indicated greater interest in reading and being read to. They reported reading across a wider range of genres for both school and recreational purposes and selected reading as a preferred activity in comparison with others. Boys were more reluctant readers. They displayed poorer attitudes generally and reported reading less in quantity and frequency in both school and home settings. The notion of girls and boys maintaining a positive or negative "image" emerged from a small but influential subset. This derivation was consistent with perceptions of gender-bias in gender-preferences. The profile of achievement across the three measures yielded a story of difference. Boys in private school settings were significantly less likely than girls to obtain higher Continuum scores and boys in state school settings were less likely than girls to be rated as proficient in the Year Two Net Test. Boys from private schools and in single-gender situations outperformed all other subgroups on the Net. Yet, they obtained the worst result on the Continuum, and were in the middle rank on the standardised test. Whether in private or state schools, boys were likely to obtain lower average Continuum scores than females. This was a statistically significant difference in the private school sector. While boys in Private Schools were slightly more likely than girls to be rated as proficient in the Year Two Net test, boys in state schools were far less likely than girls to be rated as proficient on the Year Two Net test, a statistically significant difference. Children attending single-gender, private schools attained higher aggregate scores on the attitude subtests of the Continuum than their state school counterparts. However, children in comparable, mixed-gender, private schools performed neither better nor worse than their peers in single-gender private schools. This comparison does not support contentions that single-gender schooling is superior in relation to the literacy achievements of emergent readers. When comparisons were made at the most general level (male vs. female, private vs. state school) gender did not predict scores in the externally administered St. Lucia Reading Comprehension Test scores. The significant relationship for girls at state schools on the Net test and for girls at private schools on the Continuum (both internally-based measures), coupled with the non-significant differences in relation to the St. Lucia Reading Comprehension Test points to the possibility that internally-based ratings are to some extent driven by teacher perceptions of literacy competence, and such perceptions may at times be unreliable. The corollary observation that not only was the measurement of attitude provided by the Continuum Attitude score significantly correlated with the St. Lucia reading test but also that the latter was not directly influenced by gender affirmed the notion that a school culture of gendered literacy is influencing teacher attitudes related to the achievement of literacy. What analyses of home background capture is the surprisingly lack of any connection between these tacitly understood underpinnings of literacy and the achievement thereof. The lack particularly of any connection between the teacher reading to students and the achievement of literacy was also surprising. In relation to literacy practice, the three most highly identified male activities (kicking a ball, computer games, playing outside) grouped to form a distinct factor (subscale) and this factor score was positively associated at a statistically significant level with scores on the St Lucia Reading test. Not only did private school children obtain better scores on the St. Lucia test, it was private school students whose identification of this highly stereotypically set of male activities linked significantly with an external measure of the achievement of literacy. This linkage seems indicative of an enhanced ability to read social codes more generally and is probably reflective of the social space occupied by private school students. In sum, while students, parents, and teachers fairly consistently displayed a heavily gendered culture with regard to literacy, actual achievement levels, attitudes, home background, and literacy practice disconnected from that gendered culture. That is, there appears to be a subtle but important distinction between perception and reality in relation to the achievement of literacy.
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Barron, Susan. "Boys and Literacy: Rhetoric and Reality." Thesis, Griffith University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366049.
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The gendered features of children's development in early literacy, particularly those that contribute to the generally poorer performance of boys, were explored in a dual-phase questionnaire study, conducted across schools in South East Queensland. The potential influences of school type (private and state) and gender-composition of a class (mixed-gender and single-gender schools) on performances of boys were tested on two state-wide tests (The Year 2 Diagnostic Net for Reading; The Reading Development Continuum) and a standardised measure (The St Lucia Reading Comprehension Test). Children and parents were surveyed to determine the locus of significant differences between girls and boys in relation to attitudes to reading, being read to and to constructs of self and others as readers. Girls presented as more positive across these measures. They indicated greater interest in reading and being read to. They reported reading across a wider range of genres for both school and recreational purposes and selected reading as a preferred activity in comparison with others. Boys were more reluctant readers. They displayed poorer attitudes generally and reported reading less in quantity and frequency in both school and home settings. The notion of girls and boys maintaining a positive or negative "image" emerged from a small but influential subset. This derivation was consistent with perceptions of gender-bias in gender-preferences. The profile of achievement across the three measures yielded a story of difference. Boys in private school settings were significantly less likely than girls to obtain higher Continuum scores and boys in state school settings were less likely than girls to be rated as proficient in the Year Two Net Test. Boys from private schools and in single-gender situations outperformed all other subgroups on the Net. Yet, they obtained the worst result on the Continuum, and were in the middle rank on the standardised test. Whether in private or state schools, boys were likely to obtain lower average Continuum scores than females. This was a statistically significant difference in the private school sector. While boys in Private Schools were slightly more likely than girls to be rated as proficient in the Year Two Net test, boys in state schools were far less likely than girls to be rated as proficient on the Year Two Net test, a statistically significant difference. Children attending single-gender, private schools attained higher aggregate scores on the attitude subtests of the Continuum than their state school counterparts. However, children in comparable, mixed-gender, private schools performed neither better nor worse than their peers in single-gender private schools. This comparison does not support contentions that single-gender schooling is superior in relation to the literacy achievements of emergent readers. When comparisons were made at the most general level (male vs. female, private vs. state school) gender did not predict scores in the externally administered St. Lucia Reading Comprehension Test scores. The significant relationship for girls at state schools on the Net test and for girls at private schools on the Continuum (both internally-based measures), coupled with the non-significant differences in relation to the St. Lucia Reading Comprehension Test points to the possibility that internally-based ratings are to some extent driven by teacher perceptions of literacy competence, and such perceptions may at times be unreliable. The corollary observation that not only was the measurement of attitude provided by the Continuum Attitude score significantly correlated with the St. Lucia reading test but also that the latter was not directly influenced by gender affirmed the notion that a school culture of gendered literacy is influencing teacher attitudes related to the achievement of literacy. What analyses of home background capture is the surprisingly lack of any connection between these tacitly understood underpinnings of literacy and the achievement thereof. The lack particularly of any connection between the teacher reading to students and the achievement of literacy was also surprising. In relation to literacy practice, the three most highly identified male activities (kicking a ball, computer games, playing outside) grouped to form a distinct factor (subscale) and this factor score was positively associated at a statistically significant level with scores on the St Lucia Reading test. Not only did private school children obtain better scores on the St. Lucia test, it was private school students whose identification of this highly stereotypically set of male activities linked significantly with an external measure of the achievement of literacy. This linkage seems indicative of an enhanced ability to read social codes more generally and is probably reflective of the social space occupied by private school students. In sum, while students, parents, and teachers fairly consistently displayed a heavily gendered culture with regard to literacy, actual achievement levels, attitudes, home background, and literacy practice disconnected from that gendered culture. That is, there appears to be a subtle but important distinction between perception and reality in relation to the achievement of literacy.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Cognition, Language and Special Education
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Albertson, Kathy Seymour. "College student perceptions of expectations for academic literacy in their first term." Open access to IUP's electronic theses and dissertations, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2069/33.
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Wolffensperger, Yochie. "The influence of academic literacy mentoring on ITS teaching and learning." Thesis, Anglia Ruskin University, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.478890.
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Kaufmann, Karen F. "Sociocognitive relevance of information literacy: The impact on student academic work." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2018. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/123999/1/Karen%20F._Kaufmann_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis is an investigation of the relevance of information literacy to student academic work. The study specifically looks at student perceptions of information literacy as sociocognitively relevant when used to complete an assignment. This research provides quantitative and qualitative data to explain student perceptions of the information literacy experience through their work. The factors that make information literacy relevant and how users perceive information literacy to be useful and meaningful are shared and the implications of these findings are presented.
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Mkaza, Linda. "Exploring the potential of digital storytelling in the teaching of academic writing at a higher education institution in the Western Cape." University of the Western Cape, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/8295.
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Magister Educationis - MEdWriting is an important skill throughout learners’ schooling trajectory because it is through writing that learners need to situate meaning and sense-making across the curriculum. Writing proficiency becomes even more important when learners access tertiary studies. Yet studies suggest that most students struggle with academic writing. Various authors suggest that writing has not been taught appropriately especially in secondary schooling contexts in South Africa and that writing becomes even more daunting for Second Language speakers of English when they reach tertiary education. There is abundant literature on students’ challenges with academic writing and ways to address academic writing challenges but the use of digital storytelling in relation to academic writing development is recent and distinctively underexplored in the literature. In this study, I seek to explore the potential that digital storytelling has in the teaching of undergraduate academic writing skills. I will focus on first year students' academic writing skills, how they are taught currently and how technology in the form of digital storytelling can help first year students improve their academic writing skills. The theoretical framework for the study is largely based on the New Literacies Studies which is championed by members of the New London Group such as Street and Street (1984) Lea and Street (2006) among others. The theoretical framework will draw on the notion of literacy as social practice rather than a set of reading and writing skills which explains why educators need to find new ways of teaching academic writing skills. I use semiotics and multimodality as a foundational concept for using digital storytelling in academic writing. That is because semiotics and multimodality further support the idea that literacy goes beyond words but that audio and visual elements are also part of learning and can help engage students in their academic work. The main aim of this proposed research is to explore both students and lecturer practices of digital literacies in the teaching and learning of academic writing at The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).
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McLemore, Bronwyn. "Student, Parent and Teacher Perceptions of Emergent Literacy." UNF Digital Commons, 1999. http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/108.
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This qualitative study was conducted to illuminate the different perceptions of students, parents, and teachers in one urban classroom pertaining to learning to read and write. The study explored the similarities, differences, and relationships among these perceptions.
One kindergarten classroom was selected in an urban school that was currently implementing literacy initiatives. Eighteen students, six parents and three teachers were interviewed to provide insight into their views of emergent literacy.
Five themes were identified as reoccurring topics and are discussed in the findings: activities that count as reading and writing, motivation for learning to read, how children acquire literacy skills, the use of technology to promote literacy, and working with students at home. The findings suggested that there are few literacy related issues upon which students, parents and teachers agree.
Five conclusions were drawn based upon the findings. The conclusions examined the use of metacognitive discussions, appropriateness of motivational techniques, teachers' knowledge of research, effectiveness of computers in the classroom, and benefits to parents of volunteering in the classroom. The need to improve communication and interaction between students, parents, teachers and administrators was illuminated in this study.
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Sharp, L. Kathryn. "What is Academic Language?" Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4294.
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Gentil, Guillaume. "Academic biliteracy and identity construction : case studies of Francophone science writers." Thesis, McGill University, 2002. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=82880.
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This inquiry explores how eight young francophone scientists within anglophone and francophone postsecondary institutions in Montreal and Paris developed academic literacies in English and French, and constructed identities as members of national, linguistic, academic, and socio-cultural groups. I define literacy development as an individual's development of writing competencies and appropriation of language and social practices in and around written texts within specific socio-cultural, interactional, and discursive contexts. I adopt a socio-cultural, hermeneutic approach to literacy and identity to propose an integrated model of academic biliteracy development and identity construction inspired by Bakhtin, Halliday, Ricoeur, Taylor, and Vygotsky. To understand how the participants engaged in academic literacy practices and constructed identities in their academic writing, I conducted 50 hours of autobiographical and text-based interviews about their writing, life plans and experiences, and sense of self as writers and learners, over three years. I also paid visits to the participants' homes and workplaces, and collected documents such as legal texts, university statutes, and national census data so as to situate the participants' texts and experiences within their autobiographical, institutional, historical, and societal contexts. Through selected excerpts from interviews, documents, and writing samples, I argue that the participants' academic biliteracy development and identity construction was shaped by their individual evaluative responses to social forces. I suggest the shared individual and collective responsibilities of scientists, language specialists, academic gate keepers, universities, and governments for the advancement of academic literacies in more than one language. I draw implications of this inquiry for academic biliteracy, instruction and research in bilingual academic writing, and the theoretization of writers' identiti
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Tolley, Rebecca. "Women in Academic Librarianship." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2002. https://www.amzn.com/1576076148.
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Bradley, Fiona. "Information literacy and news libraries : the challenge of developing information literacy instruction programs in a special library environment /." Curtin University of Technology, Department of Media and Information, 2003. http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=14147.
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This study examines the current situation of training provided to journalists by news librarians in the United States and Australia. The study examines the factors affecting the provision of training and the potential for information literacy instruction to comprise most of the training provided. The definition of information literacy was explored in the context of journalists and news organisations. The study questions the adaptability of the concept to a workplace environment, where organisational and individual development is important. The results of a self-administered questionnaire are presented. Respondents indicated that news librarians are very willing to plan and conduct training, a clear majority agreeing that they should train journalists to search for their own information. Respondents also expressed a need for more training themselves with regard to the skills needed to deliver instruction. The results also found that training is at an early stage in news libraries, with few hours available for planning and conducting training, and mixed success with different training methodologies. A model is suggested as a method of selecting information literacy competencies for individual journalists. The model describes the relationships between individual, organisation, and occupation determined competencies. The study also discusses the implications of the lack of workplace training for journalists, which has impacted upon news libraries' ability to introduce training services. News librarians are providing training, and are pro-active in providing services and information to journalists, but managers do not yet recognise this as a major role for librarians in news organisations.Information literacy instruction needs to become an organisational goal in order to succeed. The difficulties of assessing and evaluating information literacy instruction in the workplace are outlined. The need for measurable outcomes and preevaluation in training are emphasised. Several considerations for further research are detailed, including the need for further clarification of the nature of information literacy in the workplace, as well as the relationship between the role of information literacy instruction in formal university education and the workplace.
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Wilson, Ian Robert. "Academic literacy and self-efficacy in adult students preparing for tertiary study." Thesis, University of Auckland, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/19496.
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Levels of academic literacy and self-efficacy were investigated to find possible relationships to variations in demographic and experiential backgrounds, academic results, and acceptance into future courses. The 212 adults studied were from a diverse range of backgrounds and were enrolled in the largest bridging programme in New Zealand, preparing for tertiary study. Quantitative data assessing reading, writing, and vocabulary skills were compared to quantitative and qualitative data on the self-efficacy beliefs of their academic literacy to participate in the current and future courses, and their readiness for future study. These were examined and triangulated with interview data, and compared to demographic data, academic results, and the outcome of applications to future academic courses. The study measured academic literacy levels in relation to the Learning Progressions published by the Tertiary Education Commission in New Zealand (2008), and to Nation's (1983) Vocabulary Levels Test. Self-efficacy beliefs were reported by participants through questionnaire and interviews using a labelled Likert percentage scale outlined by Bandura (2006). The quantitative data were analysed by descriptive statistics, correlation, and analysis of variance. It was found that participants with comparatively higher academic ability but lower self-efficacy received significantly lower end-of-semester grade score averages than their peers. Lower grade scores were also received when self-efficacy for academic study was substantially different from their actual academic literacy. Adults who had a first language other than English had significantly lower academic literacy measurements yet the highest self-efficacy. Bandura's observation on the importance of self-efficacy beliefs to match academic literacy was supported by this study. A moderate correlation between academic literacy skills and academic results was established. The sources of self-efficacy---previous personal success, observation of significant others, verbal persuasion and encouragement, and an emotional/physiological response to situational pressures---proposed by Bandura (1977, 1986, 1994, 1997), and supported in the social cognitive literature, were established for the adults in this study. However, the self-efficacy measures used did not correlate significantly with academic results or acceptance outcomes. Future research possibilities are indicated.
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Zappa, Sandra. "The academic literacy socialization of Mexican exchange students at a Canadian university." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/31768.
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Academic exchanges have become very popular worldwide as part of the internationalization of higher education. While the benefits of study abroad have been well documented, mostly using large-scale surveys, detailed information about the individual experiences of sojourners and the outcomes of these experiences has been lacking. Addressing this gap, this qualitative multiple-case study explores the second language (L2) academic literacy socialization experiences of foreign students studying abroad at a large Canadian English-medium university. The focal participants are six undergraduate Mexican students enrolled in the MCMU-WCU Joint Academic Exchange Program (a pseudonym) for either one or two academic terms between 2005 and 2006. Triangulated data sources included interviews with focal and secondary student participants and with two instructors, focus group interviews, written assignments, questionnaires, writing logs, and field notes. The main goal of this investigation was to yield rich understandings of the learning resources and opportunities available to the participants and how these impacted their L2 academic literacy development and performance during their stay. The study also examined participants' reentry experiences in Mexico and their perceptions of the significance of their academic experiences in Canada once they returned to their home contexts. This study draws on the language socialization framework (Duff, 1996, 2003; Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986a, b), the "community of practice" concept (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998), and social network theory (Milroy, 1980, 1987) to provide an ecological perspective of the students' socialization into host L2 academic literacy practices. Based on these theories, five parameters that emerged for the analysis of students' experiences from a sociocultural perspective are examined and illustrated. While this study does not yield findings that can be generalized to the wider population of study abroad students, it does contribute with "analytical generalizations" (Firestone, 1993) by illustrating how the three main theories informing this study can be combined in novel and productive ways to understand students' experiences of study abroad. Finally, suggestions for future exchange students, instructors and institutions sending and receiving international L2-speaking students are presented together with directions for further research.Education, Faculty of
Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of
Graduate
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Mapes, Aimee Cheree. "Sponsoring literacy: borderland communities and student identities in an academic support program." Diss., University of Iowa, 2009. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/250.
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While much has been written about the efficacy of academic support programs for increasing the retention rates of university students deemed academically underprepared, few studies examine how students engage the support classroom with an emphasis on expressions of literacy. This qualitative study responds to recent calls in student development literature for more studies into particular practices of university support programs. Focused on an exemplar support program at a larger, public university in the American Midwest, the study gathered perspectives about the support of academically underprepared students, teasing out the differences in administrators', instructors', and students' voices. Insights from the perspectives revealed that explicit metaphors of support in the programmatic discourse emphasized a skills model for academic development and a utopian model of student safe houses. In the classroom, however, five focal students suggested that literacy learning was far more complex. In particular, students' data revealed the generative potential of sociocultural literacy theory for conceptualizing praxis in an academic support program.
Examining how five focal students responded to the complex programmatic perspectives of support showed that student engagement was far more intricate than strong retention rates. First, a close analysis of five focal students revealed that learning academic discourses was more than appropriation of skills; it was ways of discerning which practices to use for different communities and learning to signal one's role in these communities. Second, students revealed that student community in the support program was a borderland of difference rather than a safe house. Finally, students illustrated that opportunities for creative improvisation in literacy performances was integral to student engagement.
The findings have insights for how to conceptualize pedagogy in support programs related to emergent sociocultural theories of Third Space. Specifically, imagining the support classroom as borderland play suggests that the how of student engagement was often how the five focal students proactively co-constructed the learning.
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Hassemer, Holly. "An analysis of the relationship between instructional time and academic achievement of adults and children in a family literacy program." Online version, 2009. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2009/2009hassemerh.pdf.
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Smith, Paul Vincent. "Academic literacy practices : plausibility in the essays of a diverse social science cohort." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2013. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/academic-literacy-practices-plausibility-in-the-essays-of-a-diverse-social-science-cohort(d9c58201-f9df-4be4-ba54-21789e454250).html.
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This thesis addresses academic writing using two practice-led disciplines, academic literacies and ethnomethodology. It is first concerned to evaluate the possibilities of cooperation between these cognate endeavours, and concludes that where academic literacies provides a locus and set of topics for academic writing studies, ethnomethodology can contribute a sharpening of focus and of analytic tools. Ethnomethodology provides a reassuring message in that it confirms the value of detailed local studies, in this case of literacy. However, it is also the source of critique for those literacy scholars who have tried to site their studies in dualisms. This is seen as a rejection of situated studies. There is therefore a prominent methodological focus in this thesis. These methodological issues are then discussed in regard to how they translate into agendas and technologies for the study of social literacies. It is shown that ethnographic-type methods are necessary for such studies, even where they do not qualify as ‘full’ ethnographies by traditional standards. This study itself took on a quasi-ethnographic or ethnographic-type approach, using a longitudinal method to track the academic writing practices of eight undergraduate students with the aim of ascertaining the social and collaborative ways in which their work is accorded plausibility. Material from the study is presented in the form of interview analysis, and in a series of ethnographic case studies that use a variety of material, including interviews with students and staff, student essays, and various other materials that were accrued throughout the administrative life of the essays. Various methods for achieving or according plausibility, on the part of both students and staff, are discussed and analysed. Although all protagonists involved in essay writing and marking looked for and dealt in conventions wherever possible, the material presented here demonstrates that participants were generally aware of the limits to the possibilities of phenomena, and that there may be cause to locate, challenge, change, and adapt to the things that can acceptably be said and done in essay writing.
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Khandaker, Naima. "Academic and Motivational Outcomes of Reading Ability Grouping in the Early Grades." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1563183603661756.
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Willison, John William. "Classroom factors affecting student scientific literacy : tales and their interpretation using a metaphoric framework /." Full text available, 2000. http://adt.curtin.edu.au/theses/available/adt-WCU20030702.104943.
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Vorwerk, Shane Paul. "Genre analysis and the teaching of academic literacy: a case study of an academic discipline in the social sciences." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002648.
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Students in tertiary educational institutions in South Africa come from many different backgrounds and have varied educational experiences. Some students, especially those from non-English speaking backgrounds, may encounter linguistic difficulties with various academic tasks. In order for students to be successful at university, they must become academically literate. That is, they must master all the reading, writing, listening and comprehension tasks required by the disciplines in which they are studying. One such task is presented by the academic lecture which is an integral part of any course of study. Linguistically, the academic lecture can be seen as a particular genre with unique characteristics. This study investigated some linguistic characteristics of academic lectures. The discipline of Political Science, as a Social Science, was chosen because there is little research that has been done on language in the Social Sciences. The Political Science sub-disciplines of Political Philosophy, South African Politics, and International Relations were used in this research. First year lectures were recorded from each of these three sub-disciplines. The linguistic characteristics of lectures were analysed using techniques drawn from Systemic Functional linguistic theory. The analysis concentrated on the aspects mode and field as they were realised in the lectures. In addition, higher level generic structure was also analysed. The insights gained from the analysis were validated through interviews with the lecturers who gave the lectures. The aim of this research was to develop a linguistic characterisation of the lecture genre as it occurs in the three sub-disciplines of Political Science. The results of this research suggest that although there is a unified academic lecture genre, there is variation according to sub-discipline. The implications of this variation are discussed with reference to their relevance to teaching academic literacy.
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Ressler, Mary Beth. "Adolescent Identity Performances Within Literacy Practices." The Ohio State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1293078037.
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Parker, Patricia. "Signals the interplay between literacy, gender, and semiotics." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2012. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/598.
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The purpose of this study is to examine adult literacy beyond its constraints as a social problem and instead consider the implications of illiteracy as a particular form of lived experience, analogous to women's oppression at large. Through a complex system of meaning making, the knowledge accrued by illiterate adults is qualitatively different, and examining these differences in terms of their correlation to coping mechanisms developed in the face of social alienation and diminished professional prospects yields a greater understanding of class privilege and how nontraditional learners fit into a larger social structure. From the perspective of academic feminism, adult illiteracy presents several problems regarding the scope of an inclusive feminist community that acknowledges privilege and difference. The primary method through which information regarding feminism is conferred is printed materials, which utilize highly specific, specialized jargon, and unwittingly create an exclusive community marred by internalized racism and class stratifications. This study explores other methods through which feminist ideation might theoretically be possible, i.e. cultural "reading" communities and vocational and continuing education programs focused on cultural competencies, as women come out of their imposed silences and become aware of their circumstances in a way that resembles feminist thought, if perhaps without sophisticated language with which to communicate those ideals. In this way, feminist ideation and semiotics tie in together, as attitudinal change may occur without the semantic realization of what this entails. This goal of this paper is also, in part, to justify why acknowledging gendered learning differences and a particular female subjectivity for adult literacy clients will yield better results for their self-valuation, as gender is a component of diversity all but ignored within the scheme of adult literacy pedagogical theory.B.A.
Bachelors
Office of Undergraduate Studies
Interdisciplinary Studies
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Haji, Harun Akbar Hakim, and Jean Ping-Hoon Koh. "Enhancing studentsâ learning and research with NTU libraryâ s innovative information literacy programmes." School of Communication & Information, Nanyang Technological University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/106213.
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Full version of paper. Printed proceedings carried only the abstract.The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Library has been pioneering and initiating bibliographic instruction and information literacy programmes since the inception of the university as a technological institute back in 1981. The evolving academic and research landscape since then, coupled with technological advancements in the provision of information resources and services, has provided the impetus for NTU Library to develop a structured information literacy programme with the aim of enhancing studentsâ learning and research. The objectives of the programme developed are clearly stated and closely aligned to the universityâ s as well as the libraryâ s mission statements. This paper provides a historical perspective and traces the development of this programme over the years. A model of the programme as it is currently offered to students is presented. Discussion will focus on a number of aspects: information literacy standards consulted, identification of studentsâ learning outcomes, a spectrum of delivery mode and methodology, evolving and expanding content development, as well as, formative and summative feedback. The paper also looks at the enablers of the programme, which include librarians, library management, faculty members, schoolsâ administrative units, external instructors and trainers, and technology. The paper concludes with a look at the future of the libraryâ s information literacy programme beyond 2006 and will address crucial issues which impact upon the implementation and running of the programme across all schools in the university. Issues like profiling of students, matching programme type and delivery mode with these profiles, leveraging on emerging technologies as learning tools and integrating studentsâ assessments can be further researched. A deep insight and understanding of these issues will in return stimulate further the development by the library of a more innovative and creative information literacy programme for the university.
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Williams, Rewa Colette. "Patterns Of 4th Graders' Literacy Events In Web Page Development." [Tampa, Fla.] : University of South Florida, 2003. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/SFE0000203.
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Bronson, Matthew Clay. "Writing passage : academic literacy socialization among ESL graduate students, a multiple case study /." For electronic version search Digital dissertations database. Restricted to UC campuses. Access is free to UC campus dissertations, 2004. http://uclibs.org/PID/11984.
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Tyrer, Victoria. "Emotional Literacy Intervention & Academic Attainment in Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.520600.
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Wells, Jennifer. "Primary school boys, academic achievement in literacy and hegemonic identities : a qualitative study." Thesis, Keele University, 2016. http://eprints.keele.ac.uk/2482/.
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The perceptions held of the fundamental differences in the nature of boys and girls is an issue which has dominated educational discourse over recent years and thus, has shaped pedagogical approaches and policy. However, despite some calls to focus on how the social construction of masculinity affects boys’ responses to school based literacy there is still a pervasive discourse which focuses on neurological and hormonal differences. Furthermore, the waters seem muddied by a narrative of the disempowerment of boys as a consequence of the success of the feminist movement, the answer to which has often been a call to return to more traditional roles and social practices. The extent to which this popular discourse impacts on policy decisions made by educational leaders cannot be underestimated and is reflected in the many proposals for improving boys’ literacy results which are still often grounded in generalisations and stereotypes which place boys in one homogenous group who experience their identity in a single way. The current climate appears, therefore, to be one of mixed messages so that whilst scholars have pointed out the potential damage caused by solutions which reinforce socially constructed gender binaries, such approaches are still thriving. This study employs qualitative methods to explore, through interviews, the ways in which boys talk about how they construct their masculinity within the school environment and draws conclusions as to how this gendered identity impacts upon their perception of practices which shape the literate individual such as reading, creative writing and personal expressive response to texts. The findings contradict some commonly held beliefs that hegemonic constructions of masculinity often reject the academic practices associated with literacy. In particular, the data challenges the idea that many boys are reluctant to be seen as succeeding academically in favour of an anti-school culture. The results offer instead, a nuanced picture of how boys perceive the study of literacy and how some boys actively resist forms of masculinity which might prevent them from achieving at school and are able to balance the need to succeed in literacy with their status as ‘hegemonic’ boys socially.
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Bailey, Richard. "Student writing and academic literacy development in higher education : an institutional case study." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2009. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/3077/.
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The aim of this study was to determine how student writing and academic literacy are experienced and perceived in a university by academic staff and students and how pedagogical interactions are influenced by institutional discourses and practices. The research is a form of institutional case study realised through a qualitative, ethnographic-style inquiry. The methodology comprised semi-structured interviews with forty-eight academic staff from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and thirty-five student respondents from diverse areas of study, and discourse-based analyses of textual materials at both the institutional and departmental levels. The findings of the present research revealed that there is variation in the way academic staff perceive the nature and the learning of student academic literacy and their understanding of the practices which support that learning in a university. Students face significant challenges in adapting to variable expectations and managing the requirements of writing and assessment in the contemporary context. The research also revealed that there are structural aspects of higher education practice which appear to have adverse effects on the learning and development of student academic literacy and the capabilities of academic teaching staff to actively support and foster student learning in that domain. There are implications for the role of writing in learning and teaching and its position in the curriculum. It is argued that a more explicit approach should be taken to student academic literacy by embedding it in disciplinary teaching and learning. A number of ways, based on the evidence of this research, are suggested to advance pedagogical research and develop appropriate practice to that end. The findings are linked to wider debates about teaching, learning and educational reform in higher education. The thesis concludes by comparing and contrasting two disparate research paradigms for investigating the higher education experience. A new paradigm is conceptualised which draws on existing models theoretically and empirically but adds dimensions which address the exigencies of research in the contemporary context of higher education. It is argued that this reframing has the potential to raise and enhance the profile of pedagogical and student writing research consonant with current higher education policy aims and ambitions.
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Ayonghe, Lum Suzanne. "Subtitling as an aid in academic literacy programmes:the University of Buea / L.S. Ayonghe." Thesis, North-West University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/4760.
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The purpose of this study was to examine the role that the use of subtitling can play as an aid in academic literacy (AL) programmes, particularly against the background of insufficient AL levels at the University of Buea (UB) and elsewhere. Essentially, the study wanted to investigate whether the AL levels of freshmen at UB would improve significantly if they were to be exposed to subtitled popular television programmes (dramas and documentaries) over a period of one academic semester, compared to the AL levels of students who were not exposed to these programmes. The literature survey provided an overview of the field of AL at tertiary level as well as of the use of subtitling in an educational context, clarifying the relevant terminology related to AL, and also investigating other studies that have been done on the benefits of the mode. The survey also investigated the language policy in Cameroon and specifically at UB. Apart from determining whether exposure to subtitled programmes has a positive effect on AL levels, the study also sought to establish which specific areas of AL are improved by exposure to subtitling (if any), and whether the choice of genre (drama or documentary) or the medium of prior learning of participants (English or French) has an impact on AL levels in English. In order to determine the above, the study exposed four test groups enrolled for the UB AL course to popular television programmes over a period of 12 weeks or one academic semester. Two of these groups saw dramas (one with subtitles and the other without) and two saw documentaries (one with subtitles and the other without). A fifth group was used as control group and did not watch any film. The data used was collected from the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (TALL) used as pre-test and post-test, questionnaires, interviews and observations.
The study concluded that:
1. In terms of overall improvement, even though there was statistically significant improvement in all test groups (in the case of the weighted data), the improvement of the groups that saw subtitled films was statistically highly significant and had large practical significance. This indicates that the AL levels of the two groups that saw subtitled film improved more than those of the two other groups when compared to the control group.
2. Specific areas of statistically significant AL improvement revealed by the experiment were academic vocabulary, text comprehension and text editing abilities, as a result of exposure to subtitled film (and in certain cases exposure to film without subtitles).
3. The study found no statistically significant difference between the improvement of the two groups that saw subtitled film, indicating that either genre could be used for this purpose.
4. It would also seem that Anglophone and Francophone students benefited equally from exposure to subtitled film. On the basis of these findings, a model was designed for the implementation of subtitling as an integrated aid in AL programmes at tertiary institutions. This model provides for a general and specific integration of subtitled audiovisual material. The former has been used successfully in this study at UB, and it should be possible to make use of the general application of this model with similar levels of success at other tertiary institutions. The use of the latter (applying the model for specific integration) focuses on institutions with discipline-based AL interventions or specific AL purposes. It is important, however, that the model proposed in this study is further refined by ongoing research on its implementation.Thesis (Ph.D. (Lanuage Practice))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.
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Mather, Mary K. "The Contextual, Academic, and Socio-Cultural Factors Influencing Kindergarten Students’ Mathematical Literacy Development." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1102883081.
Full text
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Mather, Mary Kane. "The contextual, academic, and socio-cultural factors influencing kindergarten students' mathematical literacy development /." See Full Text at OhioLINK ETD Center (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing), 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=toledo1102883081.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toledo, 2004.Typescript. "A dissertation [submitted] as partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Curriculum and Instruction." Bibliography: leaves 173-184.