Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Australian language education'
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1
Diaz, Adriana Raquel. "Developing a Languaculture Agenda in Australian Higher Education Language Programs." Thesis, Griffith University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365619.
Abstract:
The last few decades have witnessed profound changes in population mobility, instant international communication and the ever-increasing frequency of intercultural encounters. In response, languages education, as an inherently intercultural activity, has been called upon to equip learners to deal with this new reality, heralding significant changes to the field of language teaching. The most fundamental change is reflected in the underlying goal of language learning, no longer defined primarily in terms of the acquisition of communicative competence (CC) (1972) in a foreign language, but rather, the development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) (Byram, 1997). The latter encompasses the skills, knowledge and attitudes that help learners to communicate effectively across languages and cultures and thus to become „interculturally competent speakers‟.
Despite widespread agreement that languages education should lead to the development of interculturally competent speakers, there is lack of agreement about how to achieve such a goal. This discrepancy between expected goals, and teaching approaches and practices in place to achieve them, is reflected in the failure of both theorists (i.e., linguists and applied linguists) and practitioners (i.e., teachers, teacher trainers and curriculum designers) to traverse the theory/practice divide.
This is particularly evident in the Australian higher education (HE) context, where curricular contents and objectives of even experienced university language teachers fail to reflect the broader educational mission in everyday practices. This discrepancy between „ends‟ and „means‟ requires further examination and, above all, the identification of possible avenues that may bridge the seemingly unbridgeable chasm between theory and practice in language and culture pedagogy.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Languages and Linguistics
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text
2
Disbray, Samantha. "More than one way to catch a frog : a study of children's discourse in an Australian contact language /." Connect to thesis, 2008. http://repository.unimelb.edu.au/10187/8533.
3
Grace, Lauri Joy, and lswan@deakin edu au. "Language, power and ruling relations in vocational education and training." Deakin University. School of Education, 2005. http://tux.lib.deakin.edu.au./adt-VDU/public/adt-VDU20060927.134645.
Abstract:
This thesis uses institutional ethnography to explore the text-based regulatory framework of the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. Training Packages are national competency standards used to assess local workplace practice. The Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) is a national compliance framework used to audit local learning and assessment practice. These texts operate in a symbiotic relationship to achieve a policy goal of national consistency.
The researcher explicates the social relations of VET starting from her disquiet as a practitioner. The thesis argues that Training Packages and the AQTF socially organise the content and delivery of local learning and assessment activities. VET practitioners struggle to use these texts to support good practice, and their hidden work maintains an unstable VET system. Yet the extralocal mode of ruling offers no room to challenge VET policy.
The thesis explicates three themes. Interview data is used to explore the contrast between the institutional language of Training Packages and the vernacular of workplaces in which these texts are activated. Many practitioners and participants simply do not understand Training Package competency standards. Using these texts to judge employee performance shifts the policing of workplace practice from local sites to external VET authorities.
A second theme emerges as the analysis explores why VET practitioners use this excluding language in their work with participants. Interview data reveals that local training organisations achieve different readings as they engage with ruling VET texts. Some organisations use the national texts as broad frameworks, allowing practitioners to create spaces for meaningful learning. Other organisations adopt a narrow and rule-bound reading of national texts, displacing practitioners authority over their own practice.
A third theme is explored through examination of a sequence of VET texts. The review and redevelopment of the mandatory qualifications for VET practitioners identified the language of the competency standards as a significant accessibility issue. These concerns were reshaped and subsumed in an official response that established the use of this language as a compulsory assessable requirement and a language and literacy benchmark.
The thesis presents a new understanding of VET as a regulatory framework established through multiple levels of ruling texts that connect local sites to national government agendas. While some individual practitioners are able to navigate through this system, there is an urgent need for practitioners as a profession to challenge national hegemony.
4
Tognini, Rita. "Interaction in languages other than English classes in Western Australian primary and secondary schools theory, practice and perceptions /." Connect to thesis, 2007. http://portalapps.ecu.edu.au/adt-public/adt-ECU2008.0013.html.
5
Frangiosa, Rita. "The impact of learning Standard Italian among Italian Australian dialect speakers." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/17229.
Abstract:
This study investigates the impact of learning Standard Italian among Italian Australian dialect speakers. More specifically, it examines the Italian language learning experiences of bilingual Italian Australians who grew up speaking an Italian dialect at home and studied Italian in formal contexts. It also investigates the possible effect that formal Italian language instruction, and other influences, have had on their current language use. Despite the fact that in Australia the Italian language has been taught in various programs over many years and to a large number of learners who are Italian dialect speakers, little research has been conducted in this area. This study is informed by both social constructionist and phenomenological frameworks and draws on research in the areas of sociolinguistics and second language learning and instruction. The research was conducted in Adelaide, South Australia, on a sample of ten Italian Australians who were brought up in Australia speaking an Italian dialect, using a mixed method approach. Pre-interview questionnaires and semi structured interviews were used to obtain data which was analysed through a thematic approach. From this, themes emerged in the areas of language learning experiences and the participants’ perceived impact that such experiences, and other influences, have had on their language use.The findings show a range of learning experiences among participants. While a small number identify areas where their Italian instruction has had an impact, most do not believe in such an impact on their language use. All perceive that other influences, such as family networks, have had a more significant impact.
6
Rutledge, Janine E. "The global market and its impact on an Australian university's pathway programs : policies, pragmatics and personal realities." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2009. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1877.
Abstract:
The story of this study is of the influences of the global market narrative on higher education, the policy responses by one Australian university (Tyler University) and the impact on English language education, the Tyler Foundation Studies pathway program and the staff in that program.
The literature points to patterns and commonalities across the sector (globally and nationally) in regard to the ways in which an almost unquestioning adoption of market principles is shaping higher education policy. Universities have become synonymous with economic growth and a nation'‟s ability to compete in the global knowledge economy. As English is the language of the global market so an English medium degree provides access to the knowledge economy. Students from developed and developing nations are increasing their participation in higher education and create a ready market of consumers. Competition for revenue and for students is influencing the ways in which universities operate. The marketability of an institution, in terms of its courses, research and staff are seen as integral to increase ranking and status in the sector.
The research presented in this portfolio is a case study of the Tyler Foundation Studies Program in 2007. The approach taken draws on Ball‟s (1993) trajectory studies approach and involves an analysis of the „bigger picture‟ of global and national policy contexts, before focusing on the ways in which these influences impact on the university, the program itself, and the staff in the program. As such, it makes a contribution to an area of scholarship which is under-represented in the literature on English language education, in that it focuses on policies, pragmatics and personal realities, rather than the more conventional focus on pedagogy and curriculum.
Data for the research comes from interviews with staff and policy documents. In particular, a series of interviews with staff from „top to bottom‟, from Pro-Vice- Chancellor to lecturer, to reveal the Tyler „storylines‟. The influences of market ideology and government funding shortfalls emerge as critical factors shaping Tyler‟s operations and organisational culture. Increasing the university‟s competitive position and targeted internationalisation initiatives to attract full fee paying international students are also significant.
The influences that impact on the positioning of the Foundation Studies Program are part of the bigger picture of Tyler‟s strategic positioning within the university sector. Institutional reform and competition from the private sector emerge as factors that impact directly on its positioning. Interviewees describe the focus on the commercial applications of internationalisation; award pathways, streamlined articulation and a new policy position on English language with the goal of „global‟ language competency for all students. Taken together, these mean that a non-award university pathway like the Foundation Studies Program is first marginalised and later closed.
For Foundation Studies staff the key positioning factors are those that stem from an organisational culture where conformity to corporate values and interests is crucial to strategic positioning and define what is required of an academic at Tyler. The lack of academic credibility and marginal status attributed to English language education, and the view that pathway programs are service functions to be run on a strictly commercial basis, contribute to the view that English language teaching staff should be employed under different work conditions.
The context of university education is set to change with the implementation of the recommendations of the Bradley Review of Australian Higher Education (2008). In particular, universities may be forced to re-examine the ways they support students from non-traditional backgrounds, and induct them into the culture of the university: issues which parallel those faced by the Foundation Studies Program. As such, the conclusions reached and the questions raised in the research have relevance for the future. This issue is discussed in the final chapter.
7
Merga, Margaret Kristin. "The influence of parents, English teachers, friends & peer groups on West Australian adolescents' recreational book reading : findings from the West Australian Study in Adolescent Book Reading (WASABR)." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2014. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1909.
8
Sharifian, Farzad. "Conceptual-associative system in Aboriginal English : a study of Aboriginal children attending primary schools in metropolitan Perth." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2002. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/757.
Abstract:
National measures of achievement among Australian school children suggest that Aboriginal students, considered as a group, are those most likely to end their schooling without achieving minimal acceptable levels of literacy and numeracy. In view of the fact that many Aboriginal students dwell in metropolitan areas and speak English as a first language, many educators have been unconvinced that linguistic and cultural difference have been significant factors in this underachievement. This study explores the possibility that, despite intensive exposure to non-Aboriginal society, Aboriginal students in metropolitan Perth may maintain, through a distinctive variety of English, distinctive conceptualisation which may help to account for their lack of success in education. The study first develops a model of conceptualisations that emerge at the group level of cognition. The model draws on the notion of distributed representation to depict what are here termed cultural conceptualisations. Cultural conceptualisations are conceptual structures such as schemas and categories that members of a cultural group draw on in approaching experience. The study employs this model with regard to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students attending schools in the Perth Metropolitan area. A group of 30 Aboriginal primary school students and a matching group of non-Aboriginal students participated in this study. A research technique called Association-Interpretation was developed to tap into cultural conceptualisations across the two groups of participants. The technique was composed of two phases: a) the 'association' phase, in which the participants gave associative responses to a list of 30 everyday words such as 'home' and 'family', and b) the 'interpretation' phase, in which the responses were interpreted from an ethnic viewpoint and compared within and between the two groups. The informants participated in the task individually. The analysis of the data provided evidence for the operation of two distinct, but overlapping, conceptual systems among the two cultural groups studied. The two systems are integrally related to the dialects spoken by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, that is, Aboriginal English and Australian English. The discrepancies between the two systems largely appear to be rooted in the cultural systems which give rise to the two dialects while the overlap between the two conceptual systems appears to arise from several phenomena such as experience in similar physical environments and access to 'modem' life style. A number of responses from non-Aboriginal informants suggest a case of what may be termed conceptual seepage, or a permeation of conceptualisation from one group to another due to contact. It is argued, in the light of the data from this study, that the notions of dialect and 'code-switching' need to be revisited in that their characterisation has traditionally ignored the level of conceptualisation. It is also suggested that the results of this study have implications for the professional preparation of educators dealing with Aboriginal students.
9
Peacock, Elle. "What constitutes “good” writing in junior primary? Four Western Australian teachers discuss their views." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2020. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2313.
Abstract:
Teacher views of writing can impact upon students and learning (Baer, 2008; Fang, 1996; Lambirth, 2016; Werderich & Armstrong, 2013). It is therefore important that teachers are conscious of and reflect upon their views of writing. This study aimed to gain a clearer understanding of West Australian teacher conceptions of “good” writing and how these views appeared to be formed in a Year One and Two context qualitative approach was employed, with four Year One and/or Two teachers participating in think-aloud protocols and a semi-structured interview. Data was analysed using thematic coding. Each teacher was analysed individually before comparisons occurred to explore the similarities and differences in teacher views and practices. The findings revealed that the participants focus on the more constrained aspects of writing and rely on systemic documents and the knowledge of their colleagues to make judgement decisions. The study also found that teachers may lack some knowledge and metalanguage specific to the Language strand of the Australian Curriculum: English. Recommendations are made to address these findings and the limitations of the study are presented.
10
Bremner, Patricia. "Teacher scaffolding of literate discourse with Indigenous Reading Recovery students." Connect to thesis, 2009. http://repository.unimelb.edu.au/10187/5623.
Abstract:
The research study described in this report was conducted in 2007 at a Kindergarten to Year 12 College, situated in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia. Using case study methods, this research aimed to examine the scaffolding techniques used by two Reading Recovery teachers as they supported the language and literacy learning of two Indigenous Reading Recovery students. And further, to examine the impact of this scaffolding on each student’s language and literacy learning.Multiple data sets were collected and examined with results discussed throughout this study. Transcripts and direct quotes were used to support the reporting of emergent themes and patterns with the convergence of the data used to support the internal validity of this small scale study.
This paper takes the position that generalisations, assumptions and stereotypical negative images of Indigenous students as disengaged and noncompliant students can be curtailed when teachers acknowledge that Indigenous students are active language learners with rich cultural and linguistic ‘funds of knowledge’ (Moll & Greenberg, 1990). These funds can support students’ new learning of literate discourse which is defined and used throughout this study as: the language used in schools to read, write and talk about texts used for educational purposes. Significantly, difficulties Indigenous students experience with literate discourse have been identified as contributing to the educational underachievement of this group of Australian students (Gray, 2007; Rose, Gray & Cowey, 1998, 1999).
The findings from this small scale study indicate that within the context of Reading Recovery teaching, teacher-student interaction and contingent teacher scaffolding, centred on text reading and writing experiences can support Indigenous students to code-switch between home languages and dialects, Standard Australian English and literate discourse.
11
Stone, Helen. "Specialist teachers and curriculum reform in a Western Australian primary school in 2002: a comparative study of specialist music, health and physical education, and languages-other-than-English teaching professionals." Thesis, Stone, Helen (2006) Specialist teachers and curriculum reform in a Western Australian primary school in 2002: a comparative study of specialist music, health and physical education, and languages-other-than-English teaching professionals. Masters by Research thesis, Murdoch University, 2006. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/350/.
Abstract:
This thesis details research on the first phase of curriculum reform (1999-2004) in a government primary school in Western Australia. The purpose of the study was to examine what progress had been made with the implementation of the Curriculum Framework (1998). The research focussed on Music, Health and Physical Education, and Languages Other than English as specialist teachers working with the Curriculum Framework (1998). Teachers and school administrators, as frontline practitioners, considered their experiences and perceptions of daily practice and provided their perspectives on curriculum reform.
The hypothesis formulated for the study was that with the introduction of the Curriculum Framework (1998) the delivery of these three subjects could be further improved. This study argues that successful curriculum performance of these three subjects traditionally considered 'specialist programs' may be more fully supported by becoming aware of the forces influencing Australian curriculum discourse and delivery. Subject knowledge endorsement in this study refers to the transfer of valued knowledge in Western Australian educational systems. It is proposed that if teaching professionals articulated the substance of their educational beliefs and experiences with regard to subject knowledge meaning, place and value, curriculum delivery in primary schools may progress more effectively. Positive learning experiences for all students can be provided through the encouragement of communication and collegiality together with relevant and accessible professional development. These measures can also be supported by mounting whole-school primary programs that engage with beliefs about Music, Health and Physical Education, and Languages Other Than English through collaborative networks and learning communities. Accordingly, curriculum delivery can come within reach of the seamless curriculum anticipated by reform (Curriculum Framework, 1998:6-7).
In this qualitative interview study, the frontline participants included generalist teachers, specialist teachers and school administrators. These educational practitioners were asked to participate in an in-depth, semi-structured discussion that explored their perceptions of specialist teaching and knowledge while employed at Deep Sea Primary School in 2002. They teachers also commented on how these perceptions may be linked to their experiences of socially constructed and established notions of valued knowledge.
The findings of this study indicated that the progressive implementation of these three subjects or specialist's areas were characterised by subtle historical, economic, political and social forces. This thesis suggests that, these largely obscured external forces together with individual yet, taken for granted perceptions of what is perceived as valuable knowledge work together to position curriculum rhetoric and curriculum enactment that reflect established perceptions of the knowledge hierarchy. Teachers and administrators at the school often operated within the structures and meanings of conventional teaching practice of subject knowledge as determined by dominant culture in Australia. The findings indicated that school culture in a time of reform re-traditionalised hierarchical patterns of subject knowledge organisation and evaluation. Accordingly, current subject knowledge endorsement in terms of specialist teaching often worked to the benefit of established power relationships typical of post-industrial market economy in Australia.
The findings also indicated that issues pertaining to curriculum prioritisation were influenced by institutional, group and individual experiences of subject specialist knowledge. Poor perceptions of these three subjects could also be generated by experiencing inflexible and inadequate yet established funding and resource patterns in educational systems. Frontline teachers, their school-based roles and responsibilities attached to the teaching and learning of the three specialist areas were typified by rigid school organisation and job structures together with condensed teaching time and community backing.
This thesis argues that progressive, outcomes education requires an articulate and supportive school culture, more funding and the genuine maintenance of quality Music, Health and Physical Education and Language Other Than English teachers. In addition, curriculum implementation would benefit from the promotion of constructivist-orientated student activities within specialist programs.
12
Stone, Helen. "Specialist teachers and curriculum reform in a Western Australian primary school in 2002 : a comparative study of specialist music, health and physical education, and languages-other-than-English teaching professionals /." Stone, Helen (2006) Specialist teachers and curriculum reform in a Western Australian primary school in 2002: a comparative study of specialist music, health and physical education, and languages-other-than-English teaching professionals. Masters by Research thesis, Murdoch University, 2006. http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/350/.
Abstract:
This thesis details research on the first phase of curriculum reform (1999-2004) in a government primary school in Western Australia. The purpose of the study was to examine what progress had been made with the implementation of the Curriculum Framework (1998). The research focussed on Music, Health and Physical Education, and Languages Other than English as specialist teachers working with the Curriculum Framework (1998). Teachers and school administrators, as frontline practitioners, considered their experiences and perceptions of daily practice and provided their perspectives on curriculum reform.
The hypothesis formulated for the study was that with the introduction of the Curriculum Framework (1998) the delivery of these three subjects could be further improved. This study argues that successful curriculum performance of these three subjects traditionally considered 'specialist programs' may be more fully supported by becoming aware of the forces influencing Australian curriculum discourse and delivery. Subject knowledge endorsement in this study refers to the transfer of valued knowledge in Western Australian educational systems. It is proposed that if teaching professionals articulated the substance of their educational beliefs and experiences with regard to subject knowledge meaning, place and value, curriculum delivery in primary schools may progress more effectively. Positive learning experiences for all students can be provided through the encouragement of communication and collegiality together with relevant and accessible professional development. These measures can also be supported by mounting whole-school primary programs that engage with beliefs about Music, Health and Physical Education, and Languages Other Than English through collaborative networks and learning communities. Accordingly, curriculum delivery can come within reach of the seamless curriculum anticipated by reform (Curriculum Framework, 1998:6-7).
In this qualitative interview study, the frontline participants included generalist teachers, specialist teachers and school administrators. These educational practitioners were asked to participate in an in-depth, semi-structured discussion that explored their perceptions of specialist teaching and knowledge while employed at Deep Sea Primary School in 2002. They teachers also commented on how these perceptions may be linked to their experiences of socially constructed and established notions of valued knowledge.
The findings of this study indicated that the progressive implementation of these three subjects or specialist's areas were characterised by subtle historical, economic, political and social forces. This thesis suggests that, these largely obscured external forces together with individual yet, taken for granted perceptions of what is perceived as valuable knowledge work together to position curriculum rhetoric and curriculum enactment that reflect established perceptions of the knowledge hierarchy. Teachers and administrators at the school often operated within the structures and meanings of conventional teaching practice of subject knowledge as determined by dominant culture in Australia. The findings indicated that school culture in a time of reform re-traditionalised hierarchical patterns of subject knowledge organisation and evaluation. Accordingly, current subject knowledge endorsement in terms of specialist teaching often worked to the benefit of established power relationships typical of post-industrial market economy in Australia.
The findings also indicated that issues pertaining to curriculum prioritisation were influenced by institutional, group and individual experiences of subject specialist knowledge. Poor perceptions of these three subjects could also be generated by experiencing inflexible and inadequate yet established funding and resource patterns in educational systems. Frontline teachers, their school-based roles and responsibilities attached to the teaching and learning of the three specialist areas were typified by rigid school organisation and job structures together with condensed teaching time and community backing.
This thesis argues that progressive, outcomes education requires an articulate and supportive school culture, more funding and the genuine maintenance of quality Music, Health and Physical Education and Language Other Than English teachers. In addition, curriculum implementation would benefit from the promotion of constructivist-orientated student activities within specialist programs.
13
Moloney, Robyn Anne. "Intercultural competence in young language learners: a case study." Faculty of Education and Social Work, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2440.
Abstract:
Doctor of EducationWith the heightened profile of language learning in a global community, language education is exploring a new model of intercultural language learning. The goal of intercultural language learning is to produce language users equipped with explicit skills in understanding connections and differences between their own culture and the culture of the target language. The research literature suggests that language learners’ resulting intercultural competence will encompass a range of characteristics. There have been few empirical studies, however, to provide illustration of intercultural competence, in order to assist teachers’ understanding of desired outcomes and student development. This case study investigates the characteristics of intercultural competence in young language learners in one Australian primary school. The learners have been engaged in an immersion language program for up to eight years, in one of three languages: French, German or Japanese. The study also investigates the behaviours and understandings in their language teachers which may facilitate the development of learners’ intercultural competence. It explores in summary what may be the nature of intercultural competence in the case study language learners. The study is relevant to research of both intercultural language learning and of immersion language classrooms. Using a case study design, the study incorporates qualitative data in the form of student focus group interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. Data were collected at the case study school, in Sydney, Australia, over a school semester, and involved 49 Year 6 students and four teachers. Results of the study suggest a number of indicators of the case study students’ development in intercultural competence – that is, through understanding of language culture and identity. The student is and sees him or herself as a purposeful interactive communicator. The student understands the target language itself to be the vehicle of the target culture, and often displays metalinguistic curiosity and skills. Some students are able to critically reflect on their (multiple) linguistic and cultural memberships, and to negotiate their identity as a non-native language user. The study found that teachers provide a model of interculturality to their students. The teachers’ interculturality is enacted in their relationships and pedagogical choices, in their design of experiential learning tasks, and their facilitation of linguistic and cultural connections for their students. The study also found that the nature of the immersion language classroom itself facilitates intercultural competence in students. The study provides a case study illustration of intercultural competence in language learners which is relevant to research in intercultural language learning, immersion pedagogy and the emerging related pedagogy of content-based language learning.
14
Moloney, Robyn Anne. "Intercultural competence in young language learners: a case study." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2440.
Abstract:
With the heightened profile of language learning in a global community, language education is exploring a new model of intercultural language learning. The goal of intercultural language learning is to produce language users equipped with explicit skills in understanding connections and differences between their own culture and the culture of the target language. The research literature suggests that language learners’ resulting intercultural competence will encompass a range of characteristics. There have been few empirical studies, however, to provide illustration of intercultural competence, in order to assist teachers’ understanding of desired outcomes and student development. This case study investigates the characteristics of intercultural competence in young language learners in one Australian primary school. The learners have been engaged in an immersion language program for up to eight years, in one of three languages: French, German or Japanese. The study also investigates the behaviours and understandings in their language teachers which may facilitate the development of learners’ intercultural competence. It explores in summary what may be the nature of intercultural competence in the case study language learners. The study is relevant to research of both intercultural language learning and of immersion language classrooms. Using a case study design, the study incorporates qualitative data in the form of student focus group interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. Data were collected at the case study school, in Sydney, Australia, over a school semester, and involved 49 Year 6 students and four teachers. Results of the study suggest a number of indicators of the case study students’ development in intercultural competence – that is, through understanding of language culture and identity. The student is and sees him or herself as a purposeful interactive communicator. The student understands the target language itself to be the vehicle of the target culture, and often displays metalinguistic curiosity and skills. Some students are able to critically reflect on their (multiple) linguistic and cultural memberships, and to negotiate their identity as a non-native language user. The study found that teachers provide a model of interculturality to their students. The teachers’ interculturality is enacted in their relationships and pedagogical choices, in their design of experiential learning tasks, and their facilitation of linguistic and cultural connections for their students. The study also found that the nature of the immersion language classroom itself facilitates intercultural competence in students. The study provides a case study illustration of intercultural competence in language learners which is relevant to research in intercultural language learning, immersion pedagogy and the emerging related pedagogy of content-based language learning.
15
Strutt, Liana. "Teacher understandings of responsibilities for reading instruction in stage one and two English courses of study in Western Australian schools." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2011. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/370.
Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to explore secondary teachers’ understandings of their responsibilities towards students who demonstrate poor literacy skills with regard to the Reading Outcome in the Western Australian English Courses of Study. As an experienced secondary English teacher, the researcher was aware that the reading demands of senior secondary classrooms were challenging for some students and that many teachers were unsure of how they should respond to the needs of the students. Since the education reforms which began in Western Australia in the late 1990s and the subsequent introduction of Courses of Study in 2006, a great deal of debate has arisen over the delivery of curriculum that addresses literacy in senior school classes. As reading is considered to be a key action of learning in the senior school context, the introduction of the Courses of Study in Western Australia has forced a review of the role of English teachers in terms of their key responsibilities. Through the methods of a survey and follow-‐up interview, this investigation has explored what teachers regard as their core responsibility in the classroom with regard to reading. The participants were from Western Australian rural and metropolitan schools across the sectors of Department of Education and Training, Catholic Education Commission schools and the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia. The study showed that teachers are primarily concerned with engaging students in the reading process when they deliver the curriculum. They acknowledge the existence in their classes of students who cannot access the texts set for study, but they do not know how to diagnose specific reading problems, nor how to support their students in what are essentially reading acquisition skills. It is concluded that teachers acknowledge their responsibility to ensure students are able to access the texts used in these classes, but do not have the skills to do this.
16
Jones, Barclay Cameron Edwards. "Australian based international pathways to higher education: Associations between learning environment and primary language, cultural background, age, sex, program of study and attitude." Thesis, Curtin University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/399.
Abstract:
The purpose of this first and unique study into Australian based international pathway learning environments was to develop an International Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (IQTI) to investigate associations between teacher-student interpersonal behaviour and student cultural background, sex, age, program of study and attitude. The new instrument was found to be valid and reliable. This study found that associations do exist between student perceptions of teacher-student interpersonal behaviour and the factors investigated in this study.
17
Tognini, Rita. "Interaction in languages other than English classes in Western Australian primary and secondary schools: Theory, practice and perceptions." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2008. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/26.
Abstract:
This descriptive study investigated the interaction of teachers and learners in ten primary and secondary school languages other than English (LOTE) classes in Western Australia, with the aim of providing a detailed picture of its nature and patterns. Teachers' and learners' perceptions of this interaction were also examined as part of the study, through interviews conducted with them.
18
Wells, Shannon L. "What is English now? The construction of subject English in contemporary textbooks for Australian secondary schools." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2017. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1963.
Abstract:
Australian educators are currently engaged in widening debates about the performance of the nation’s schools, teachers and students. Perceived literacy deficits among secondary students have fuelled the debate, and this has precipitated reforms to English curricula at both National and State levels. The newly revised curricula attempt to improve student achievement through more systematic teaching about the English language and language skills. In response to the changes, major education publishers in Australia have released revised textbooks for English that purport to engage with the new curriculum.
This research study considered whether such new resources offer genuinely fresh and effective approaches to English, or whether they reproduce established conceptions and methods in new packaging. Guided by Michel Foucault’s concepts of social technology and discursive practice, and Ian Hunter’s detailed historical-theoretical analysis of English, this inquiry used a combination of content analysis and theorisation to identify the models of English embodied in textbooks. Five recent publications were studied to expose both the content and the underlying ideas and pedagogical assumptions about English contained within. Hunter’s historical matrix was applied to categorise the content and quantify the overall proportions of rhetorical, ethical and aesthetical instruction evident in the resources. The findings were interpreted according to Hunter’s genealogy of English and its prevailing discourses, in an effort to offer some clarification about the assumptions that shape school English, and its direction now and in the future.
The findings suggest that despite attempts to reconstruct English around the teaching of language skills, established conceptions of English have resurfaced, pulling the subject back toward the ethical domain and distorting the overall balance of content. While the data appears to reflect an apparent prominence of rhetorical skilling, analysis of the content demonstrates how this initiative is obscured by a superficial and mechanical treatment of language and a subsequent preoccupation with the ethical. The oscillation between rhetoric and ethics further reveals a visible circumvention of aesthetics, which is unvaryingly the most neglected category. The thesis concludes that change in English is likely being impeded by teaching materials, conceptual frameworks and assumptions that continue to frame English as a primarily ethical activity, in which linguistic skilling is subordinated to self-formation.
19
Koppe, Rosemarie. "Aboriginal student reading progress under targeted intervention." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2000. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/36652/1/36652_Digitised%20Thesis.pdf.
Abstract:
Urban Aboriginal students often come to school with a different set of cultural and
language learnings than those of their non- indigenous peers. These differences can
pose major barriers for the primary- aged Aboriginal student trying to access the
curriculum which is based on Standard Australian English (SAE). Aboriginal students
often come to school speaking a recognised dialect of English, Aboriginal English
(AE) which has its own grammatical, phonological, pragmatic and socio- cultural
standards which at times are quite different from those of classroom language
interactions. The mismatch between the language of the home (AE) and the language
of the classroom (SAE) can have dramatic effects on the literacy learning of
Aboriginal students and hence their ability to effectively read in Standard Australian
English.
This study aims to explore the question of whether changes would be evident in urban
Aboriginal students (who speak Standard Australian English as a second dialect),
following a targeted reading intervention program. This reading intervention program,
called an "Integrated Approach" combined existing strategies in reading and second
language I second dialect teaching and learning, with cultural understandings, in a
methodology aimed at improving the reading ability of the participating Aboriginal
students. The students who were the 5 case studies were part of a larger cohort of
students within a wider study. Students were drawn from primary schools in urban
localities within the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.
Qualitative data collection procedures were used to observe the 5 case study students
over a period of 6 months and quantitative measures were also utilised to support this
data for the purposes of triangulation. Both data collection sources for the case studies
and the wider study showed that the reading intervention program did have significant
effect on reading accuracy, reading comprehension and the affective area of learning.
The study revealed that by using the teaching I learning strategies described in the
intervention program, combined with socio-cultural understandings which include
respect for the students' home language and an understanding of the effects of
learning English as a Second Dialect (SESD), educators can assist Aboriginal students
m improving their abilities to read in SAE. Other positive effects on students'
behaviours during the intervention program which were recorded during the study
included: an improved attitude to reading; a new willingness and confidence in
reading; an improved willingness to participate in language activities both in tutorial
sessions and back in the classroom; improved use of decoding skills and an improved
control over SAE grammatical structures in writing tasks.
This study emphasises the need for educators to work ardently at increasing their own
understanding of how best to assist Aboriginal students in becoming competent
literacy learners in SAE. Closing the gap created by the mismatch between home and
school language can only be achieved by educators exploring eclectic pedagogical
options and valuing the Aboriginal student's home language as a vital learning tool in
gaining this competence in SAE literacies.
KEYWORDS
Australian Aborigines; Aboriginal; urban Aborigines; Primary- aged students;
Standard Australian English; English as a Second Language; Standard English as a
Second Dialect; Aboriginal English; Standard Australian English; home language;
socio- cultural; culture; language; oral language; oral culture; prior knowledge;
literacy; reading; reading comprehension; reading strategies; modelling reading;
literature; learning styles; mechanics of reading; code switching; standardised
assessment.
20
Suliman, Rosemary, University of Western Sydney, of Arts Education and Social Sciences College, and School of Psychology. "The motivational and linguistic context of the school achievement of Lebanese-background students in high schools in South-western Sydney." THESIS_CAESS_PSY_Suliman_R.xml, 2001. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/94.
Abstract:
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the educational outcomes of Lebanese-background students in high schools in South-western Sydney, and to investigate some of the factors contributing to their pattern of achievement. The main thrust of this study is to empirically examine in detail two factors which are strong contributors to school achievement. The first is the motivational goals of these students. The second is the Language proficiency of Lebanese-background students in their first language (Arabic) and their second lanaguage (English). The study involves quantitative analyses of two sets of questionnaires administered to all the Year 9 students in three South-western metropolitan Sydney high schools. The Year 10 School Certificate results of this same group of students was then used to measure their level of achievement. Four groups were established for comparison: the non-Lebanese-, English-, Chinese- and Vietnamese- background groups. This study is contextualized within a discussion of some of the family factors which contribute to the achievement of migrant children in schools. Of particular relevance to Lebanese-background students are the socio-economic and educational background of parents, and the historical and social context of the Lebanese in Australia. The thesis concludes by putting forth some recommendations which involve the collaborative efforts of the home, the school and the community, suggesting that part of the solution lies in this collaborative effort. Boundaries can be crossed and stereotypes changed only through a concerted effort by the three sidesDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
21
Liando, Nihta V. F. "Foreign language learning in primary schools with special reference to Indonesia, Thailand and Australia /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1999. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09ARM/09arml693.pdf.
22
Nical, Iluminado C. "Language usage and language attitudes among education consumers : the experience of Filipinos in Australia and in three linguistic communities in the Philippines." Title page, contents and abstract only, 2000. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phn582.pdf.
Abstract:
Errata inserted facing t. p. Bibliography: leaves 406-457. A comparative investigation of language usage and language attitudes in relation to Filipino/Tagalog, Philippine languages other than Tagalog and English among senior high school students and their parents in two countries, the Philippines and Australia. The study provides an historical overview of the development of national language policies in Australia and in the Philippines, focussing on the way in which multiculturalism in Australia influenced language policies, and on the reasons for the adoption of the Bilingual Education Program in the Philippines.
23
Suliman, Rosemary. "The motivational and linguistic context of the school achievement of Lebanese-background students in high schools in South-western Sydney." Thesis, View thesis View thesis, 2001. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/94.
Abstract:
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the educational outcomes of Lebanese-background students in high schools in South-western Sydney, and to investigate some of the factors contributing to their pattern of achievement. The main thrust of this study is to empirically examine in detail two factors which are strong contributors to school achievement. The first is the motivational goals of these students. The second is the Language proficiency of Lebanese-background students in their first language (Arabic) and their second lanaguage (English). The study involves quantitative analyses of two sets of questionnaires administered to all the Year 9 students in three South-western metropolitan Sydney high schools. The Year 10 School Certificate results of this same group of students was then used to measure their level of achievement. Four groups were established for comparison: the non-Lebanese-, English-, Chinese- and Vietnamese- background groups. This study is contextualized within a discussion of some of the family factors which contribute to the achievement of migrant children in schools. Of particular relevance to Lebanese-background students are the socio-economic and educational background of parents, and the historical and social context of the Lebanese in Australia. The thesis concludes by putting forth some recommendations which involve the collaborative efforts of the home, the school and the community, suggesting that part of the solution lies in this collaborative effort. Boundaries can be crossed and stereotypes changed only through a concerted effort by the three sides
24
Mercieca, Paul. "Teacher attitudes to approaches to teacher education in adult TESOL." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1997. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1732.
Abstract:
This study looked closely at the attitudes of TESOL teachers to a range of approaches to teacher education, with particular emphasis on the role of classroom observation. The influence of pre- and in-service training and the school environment was probed through semi-structured interviews and confirmatory discussions. Participants for this qualitative study were practising TESOL teachers at the Centre for International English, Curtin University, Western Australia. The approach taken was to allow them, as far as possible, to identify issues in teacher education for themselves. At the same time, their words were used, where possible, to describe attitudes to these issues. Any categories which emerged during analysis were regarded as flexible and dynamic. The research shed useful light on the attitudes of teachers with implications for teacher educators in TESOL. It found that informants introspecting on teacher education were mainly concerned with classroom events, but also believed factors outside the classroom and teaching itself, such as personal experience, to be worthy of consideration. The range of contexts in which teacher development takes place is represented in this study as the 'Action- Reflection continuum', which covers six linked aspects. Teaching, the first aspect, is at the 'action' end of the continuum, which then moves through Observing, Being observed, Hearing and Talking about Teaching, Reading and Writing about Teaching, and finally to Personal Development, at the 'reflection' end. Within the individual aspects of teacher development a range of main factors were found to be influential. These were the degrees of experience, comfort, formality, reality, contact with others, and the appropriate balance between theory and practice. A number of clear and consistent views emerged. Teaching itself was clearly a major context for development and unobserved teaching was felt to be extremely valuable at both pre- and in-service. At the same time feedback was considered to be so crucial that some form of observation was essential and unavoidable. When teachers themselves are observed by senior staff, a range of situational factors influence the level of comfort experienced and development taking place. Clearly peer observations were felt to be valuable and less threatening in general. They were felt to be most useful at in-service level, but generally conducive to teacher development. Informants also felt that there were developmental opportunities outside the classroom, particularly of an informal nature, via workshops and other staff interactions, and via personal reflection. The findings of the study support the now strong conviction amongst many of those writing about teacher education that experiential and reflective approaches are preferable to purely behavioural. Previous findings that teachers wish to be actively involved in their own development, participating and interacting with colleagues within a framework of strong institutional support, are also vindicated. At the same time it is clear that more traditional supervisory and evaluative approaches to such matters as classroom observation are still felt to be essential.
25
Taylor, Christopher George. "The Good Bloke in Contemporary Australian Workplaces: Origins, Qualities and Impacts of a National Cultural Archetype in Small For-Profit Businesses." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1566171729886909.
26
Dooey, Patricia. "Issues of English language proficiency for international students." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/628.
Abstract:
In the last 20 years or so, there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of international full-fee paying students applying to study in Australian universities, The revenue provided in this way has helped to address the problems faced by cash-starved universities facing recurring funding cuts over the same period. Furthermore, the presence of such students on any university campus provides immeasurable enrichment to the student body in terms of cultural diversity and research potential, and indeed it is very tempting in an ever,-increasing global market, to be as flexible as possible with prospective international students. However, the process of admission also demands careful consideration on the part of the various stakeholders involved. Although several factors need to be taken into account, the most obvious and certainly of primary importance would be the need to prove proficiency in the English language, Given that English is the dominant means of communication in the university, all students are required to draw from a complex web of linguistic resources to construct meaning and to complete the range of tasks required of them during their tertiary studies, This volume deals :with the overarching theme of issues of English language proficiency for overseas students studying in an Australian university. This focus can be viewed from many angles, and there are certainly many key facets involved, a selection of which is explored in the papers of the portfolio. These include the following broad areas: recruitment and admissions, language testing and technology, curriculum and inclusivity, English language support, academic conduct and finally the specific needs of international students, as viewed from their own perspective.
27
Debela, Nega Worku. "Minority language education with special reference to the cultural adaption of the Ethiopian community in South Australia /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1995. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phd2858.pdf.
28
Chinen, Glenn Y. "Language process errors in year 9 mathematics problem solving : a multi-strategy language-based intervention." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2008. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/197.
Abstract:
In the past two decades there has been a growing body of literature acknowledging and supporting the important role that language plays in the teaching and learning of mathematics. There have been numerous and significant research studies drawing special attention to the influence of language factors on mathematics learning. These studies have also indicated the inappropriateness of many remedial mathematics programs in which there is an over-emphasis on the revision of standard algorithms instead of a focus on language based activities (Markshoe, 2000). There appears to be a lack of research that gauges the effectiveness of intervention programs specifically focusing the literacies needed for mathematics.
29
Mrowa, Colette. "Communication, discourse, interaction in language classes. /." Title page, contents and summary only, 1997. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phm939.pdf.
Abstract:
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Linguistics, 1997.Amendments and errata are in pocket on front end paper together with covering letter. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-185).
30
Slaughter, Yvette. "The study of Asian languages in two Australian states: considerations for language-in-education policy and planning." 2007. http://repository.unimelb.edu.au/10187/2289.
Abstract:
This dissertation conducts a comprehensive examination of the study of Asian languages in two Australian states, taking into consideration the broad range of people and variables which impact on the language-in-education ecology. These findings are intended to enhance the development of language-in-education policy, planning and implementation in Australia. In order to incorporate a number of perspectives in the language-in-education ecology, interviews were conducted with a range of stakeholders, school administrators, LOTE (Languages Other Than English) coordinators and LOTE teachers, from all three education systems – government, independent and Catholic (31 individuals), across two states – Victoria and New South Wales. Questionnaires were also completed by 464 senior secondary students who were studying an Asian language. Along with the use of supporting data (for example, government reports and newspaper discourse analysis), the interview and questionnaire data was analysed thematically, as well as through the use of descriptive statistics.
31
Taskunas, Algimantas P. "Developing a framework for Lithuanian studies in Australian universities : a model for understanding the adoption, or non-adoption, of low demand language courses in higher education." Thesis, 2003. https://eprints.utas.edu.au/22094/1/whole_TaskunasAlgimantasP2003_thesis.pdf.
32
Zhou, Ziyi. "Using game-based learning to motivate Australian primary school students in learning the Chinese language." Thesis, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:49909.
Abstract:
Chinese language as a foreign language is challenging for both teachers and students. This challenge is increased in Australia where most of the monolingual English-speaking students have no contact with the Chinese language or culture outside their classroom. This research focuses on developing young learners’ early Chinese language skills through the use of Game-based learning (GBL) strategies. The study is aimed at refining GBL pedagogies in order to enhance motivation among Australian students in learning Chinese characters. The study used action research as a methodology and was conducted over six months in a primary public school in a Western Sydney suburb. During this time, the teacher-researcher collected data sets from school teachers’ interviews; students’ focus groups; motivation surveys and her own field observation notes. The findings indicate that involving peer competition and group work in GBL settings can have positive effects on motivating students in learning Chinese pictographic characters. Findings also demonstrate that Action Research is an important research method that allows flexibility and growth for students, researchers and teachers in a dialogical environment. In the final chapter, the implications of GBL for Chinese language studies are discussed and recommendations for future teaching and researching in this area are provided.
33
Ma, Ji. "The implementation of culture tasks in teaching Chinese to Australian high school beginners." Thesis, 2011. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/499841.
Abstract:
This research was mainly focused on the combination of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and Intercultural Language Teaching (ILT) in the teaching of Mandarin as a second language during the Volunteer-Teacher-Researcher's (VTR) teaching practices in an Australian high school. Based on the literature of TBLT, the researcher found a gap of cultural task in TBLT. To fix the gap, the VTR tried to implement cultural task into TBLT to promote Chinese culture and enhance the interest of students. The research question of this thesis is 'how to use culture tasks to teach beginners Chinese culture and to improve their interest in Chinese learning in Australia?' The thesis demonstrates the process of action research which is the methodology of the research. Data was collected from observation and reflection of the VTR, the feedback from students, and interviews from an experienced teacher and the researchers of TCSL. The data was gathered and analysed to evaluate the culture tasks in terms of benefits to the student's learning and the teacher's Mandarin teaching. In the thesis, some issues related to TBLT are discussed in accordance with the literature, opinion of teachers and the experience of the VTR, in terms of the role of the teacher and the language in teaching. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of culture tasks to provide further suggestions and references to the VTR's further teaching and research career, and to other teachers in similar situations. This research aimed to implement culture tasks in school to stimulate students' interest in Mandarin learning. Although it has considerable limitation, the culture task has performed well in the teaching process and received the commendation from students and teachers.
34
Sijapati, Gopal S. "The effectiveness of home language medium instruction on improving primary school students' mathematical performance." Thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:44965.
Abstract:
This study investigates the effects of home language as the medium of instruction on improving primary school students’ mathematical performance. It aimed to determine whether giving instruction in their home language to Kunwinjku speaking pupils, part of Australia’s Indigenous populations, would improve their mathematical learning. In particular, this study investigated the positive impact of home language medium instruction on learning number ordering and spatial language. This study is concerned with the implication of home language medium instruction on teaching mathematics in a diglossic, multilingual community.
The project is a cross-linguistic comparative study. The central hypothesis of the study was that indigenous students would improve their mathematical learning outcomes in English after being instructed in their home language. To test this hypothesis, the study employed two experiments in two different geographical contexts. In Experiments 1 and 2, the Animals in a Row matching task was administered. This research tool was developed based on the instructions devised by the Cognitive Anthropology Research Group from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. A total of 12 school aged children, consisting of six English monolingual and six Kunwinjku speaking students, participated in the experiments.
The findings of the study show that the primary school students’ results improved in mathematics tasks after receiving instruction in their home language. In the pretest, before Kunwinjku instruction was employed, students scored lower (35 percent) than the average mark. But, more than 80 percent of participants (5 out of 6) improved their scores by 15 percent after being instructed in Kunwinjku, increasing from 35 to 55 percent. The results also show that the concepts of ‘before’, ‘after’, ‘front’ and ‘behind’ in mathematics can be taught effectively if they are instructed in students’ home language. The ratings of correct answers for the tasks corresponding to ‘behind’ and ‘front’ were higher after Kunwinjku instruction. This finding concords with the significance of culturally responsive education in which both a child’s home language and cultural experience have a dominant role. Further, findings from the experiments suggest that primary school students have a better understanding to the medium of instruction and culture embedded in it in order to improve their mathematical performance. A connection between new and prior knowledge can be established by the use of home language as the medium of teaching that facilitates students’ learning and leads to better results. Therefore, this study contributes significantly to the body of scholarship related to home language based bi/multilingual education programmes.
35
Zhang, Yuzhe. "The preperation of Chinese language teachers in the global context: a vertical case study of an Australian approach." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1048105.
Abstract:
Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)The growing political and economic influence of China has drawn increasing attention from overseas governments on the importance of promoting Chinese language learning and teaching (CLLT) in their countries. In a context of English increasingly being used as a proxy-international language, governments of English speaking countries have seen the promotion of languages other than English (LOTE) in terms of strategies to gain a competitive edge in the global context. In the case of Chinese language in Australia, a shortage of qualified Chinese teachers has been a major hindrance to the development of Chinese language programs in local schools. In the analysis of this phenomenon in Australia, a vertical case study approach is used to identify, examine and explain the common and unique practice of Chinese language teacher education (CLTE) Programs in Australia’s teacher education institutions. The approach sets out political, economic and sociocultural aspects at the international, national and local levels, describing how these interrelated influences historically have conditioned the development of CLLT and CLTE Programs in Australia. This process is traced through the impact of international Chinese education, associated international tendencies of learning LOTE, and domestic political imperatives of promoting multiculturalism in Australia and engaging with the regional economic powers, with direct implications for CLLT and CLTE Programs. The approach used provides a viable, historical account of the Chinese teacher preparation in Australia. Major constraints and enabling factors are identified, in relation to the broad, multi-level influences. The analysis of the Australian case in this way provides a better understanding of the preparation of Chinese language teachers in the global context.
36
Moore, Helen Margaret. "Identifying "the target population" : a genealogy of policy-making for English as a second language (ESL) in Australian schools (1947--1997)." 2005. http://link.library.utoronto.ca/eir/EIRdetail.cfm?Resources__ID=232535&T=F.
37
(13538959), Kirsten Elliott. "A socially critical approach to Indonesian studies in Australian schools." Thesis, 1997. https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/A_socially_critical_approach_to_Indonesian_studies_in_Australian_schools/20742337.
Abstract:
This is a thesis about curriculum change, focusing on Studies of Indonesia in Australian schools generally, Languages Other Than English (LOTE) - Indonesian - specifically'. It explores the possibilities for a socially critical approach to curriculum negotiation informed by research on critical pedagogies, immersion and postcolonialism and it applies a critical discourse analysis methodology to inform its proposed version of school programs in this field. Readings from Indonesian language sources are presented as sample contributors to an ongoing mediation and negotiation of Australian studies of Indonesia.
38
(11779546), Meng-yi (Monica) Huang. "Incorporating an on-line exchange student language program within second language curricula: A case study of Taiwanese primary school students working with Australian students." Thesis, 2011. https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Incorporating_an_on-line_exchange_student_language_program_within_second_language_curricula_electronic_resource_a_case_study_of_Taiwanese_primary_school_students_working_with_Australian_students/13456766.
Abstract:
The planning and promotion of a foreign or second language education in the primary school seems a worldwide trend. English and Chinese, as global communication media, are particularly emphasised recently. In Taiwan, learning English is regarded as a Foreign Language study (hereafter referred to as ‘EFL’), as it is far different from learning English as a Second Language (hereafter referred to as ‘ESL’), or as a First Language (hereafter referred to as ‘L1’). In the learning environment of L1 or ESL, it is necessary to use English in daily life, such as, going to school, going shopping and even watching television. However, in EFL learning environments, learners have limited opportunity to practice English particularly speaking and listening in authentic contexts with other speakers of compatible age and interest. This foreign language learning situation also occurs for Australian students of Mandarin. Therefore, this research project assumed that Information and Communication Technology (hereafter referred to as ‘ICT’) can enhance opportunity for structured practice and development of spoken language, both in and out of the classroom for second language (hereafter referred to as ‘L2’) students, is a potentially powerful application and warrants trial and evaluation.
39
Schmidt, Gabriele. "Re-examining the profile and motivation of German studies students in Australian universities." Phd thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/150548.
Abstract:
The last comprehensive data on the profile and motivation of German Studies students in Australian universities was collected in the late 1980s and hence does not reflect changes to the Australian higher education sector introduced in the late 1990s. This lack of current data constrains German Studies programs in their options to prepare for the future. The main objective of this thesis is not only to fill the gap of recent data but at the same time to analyse the new data in the context of relevant theories of language learning motivation. The analysis establishes a theoretically informed and data-based platform for future course design which will assist German Studies programs in designing their courses. The thesis begins with a review and critique of former research on German Studies students in Australian universities as well as pertinent models of language learning motivation. It will be argued that previous studies related their findings to Gardner's dichotomy of integrative and instrumental motivation without testing whether their data matched Gardner's model. The thesis' centrepiece is the analysis and discussion of new data collected for this thesis. The data focuses on students' demographic backgrounds, their motivation to learn German, and on their expectations towards course content. Where possible, the new data is compared with data from former studies in order to investigate what changes have occurred over the last two decades. In this context, it will be shown that these changes are primarily a reflection of changes to higher education policies. The data-based analysis of student motivation will reveal that students' reasons for choosing German as part of their degree are more complex than Gardner's dichotomy of integrative and instrumental motivation.
40
Reid, Ian C. "Auditing the entrepreneurial university : a study of the role of quality assurance and online education in Australian Higher Education, 2002-2005." 2007. http://arrow.unisa.edu.au:8081/1959.8/43053.
Abstract:
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) began to audit Australian universities. At the same time, universities were increasingly using online technologies for teaching and learning. Little is known about how these two significant changes in teaching and learning might be acting and interacting at a time of increasing focus by universities on the educational marketplace. This thesis investigates the AUQA audits carried out in 2002 of three Australian universities which had different locations in the Australian higher education marketplace and had different approaches to the use of online technologies. I use Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to analyse a range of artefacts produced between 2002 and 2005 by and about the universities. I analyse the first three editions of the AUQA manual, the universities' web sites before and after their audit, the submissions of those universities to AUQA, and the audit reports by AUQA on them. I explore the role that representations of the "online university" discourse play in constructions of a "quality university" discourse within these texts. I discovered a number of shifts in emphasis in the texts over time. Notions of the "online university", while prevalent in the texts produced early in the time frame of the study, were absent from later texts. Also, texts produced early in the study represented the three universities as very different institutions. However texts examined towards the end of the study represented the universities to be more similar in nature. Given the diverse nature of the institutions' market locations, I found that quality assurance processes work to reduce the representation of institutional diversity. There was evidence that the "online university" discourse came to be used more as a marketing tool and less as a marker of quality education over the time period of the study. I argue that AUQA's audits do not support institutions? various market positionings as described by Marginson and Considine (2000), but rather provide the imprimatur of "brand Australia" by producing representations of each institution that are safe and amenable to the audit process. The "online university" discourse speaks of new and borderless teaching strategies, while the "quality university" discourse speaks of containment and control of university activities. The bounding and limiting effect of the "quality university" discourse over the outward reaching "online university" discourse resulted in the three universities representing themselves in increasingly isomorphic ways. My analysis shows that over the time frame of the study, the surveillance of a national quality audit body, through self-audit by universities and the subsequent publication of reviews of universities by that body, produced more cautious representations of the universities and ironically, less direct influence by the audit body over universities? actions in the marketplace. The study suggests that the degree of influence which the ?online university? discourse and the "quality university" discourse have on the representations of universities is dependent largely on the degree to which they can impel universities within the market.Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2007
41
Wang, YanJun. "Views and attitudes of staff and students towards the significance of intercultural awareness in foreign language teaching and learning in an Australian university context." Thesis, 2014. https://eprints.utas.edu.au/18238/1/front-wang-2014-thesis.pdf.
Abstract:
Globalisation is influencing foreign language education at universities worldwide. People now live in an increasingly multicultural world where different cultural practices have blended. Thus, intercultural awareness has now become a vital part of foreign language learning.
The aim of the study was to investigate teachers’ and students’ beliefs and understandings of the significance of intercultural awareness in foreign language teaching and learning in a university context. As the study was situated within the Tasmanian context, it sought to provide contextual information and implications meaningful and appropriate to the local language learning environment. The investigation focused on three areas: generalising the participants’ perceptions of the importance of intercultural awareness in general; examining their intercultural experiences, personally and professionally, especially in relation to language teaching and learning; and identifying the factors that influenced the way they teach and learn.
The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research approaches for data collection and analysis. It included two phases: questionnaire survey and subsequent interview. The statistical data were analysed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) software version 20.0. The textual data collected from the interviews were analysed using the NVivo qualitative data software version 10.0. Thematic analysis was used in the qualitative data analysis.
The results of this study indicated strong recognition of the key role that intercultural awareness plays in foreign language teaching and learning. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications and directions for further research were also addressed. The findings suggested that language learners should cultivate intercultural awareness in the process of their language learning as it is considered the major goal of foreign language learning. Meanwhile, teachers’ intercultural awareness could influence their language teaching methodology and course design. A paradigm shift from a traditional to an intercultural stance in language education poses a challenge for both language teachers and students if they wish to meet the goals of foreign language education for the global context.
42
Nguyen, Tien Cuong. "Work Integrated Learning: A Case Study of Chinese Students in an Australian University." Thesis, 2020. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/41794/.
Abstract:
International students make a major contribution to Australia, financially and through adding to human capital for a skilled workforce. Given the significant role that international students play in Australia's education, their employment and an understanding of their related issues requires further examination. In response to the demand for greater employability and graduate attributes, Australian institutions have increasingly embedded Work Integrated Learning (WIL) into their curricula. In order to conduct successful WIL programmes, it is of great importance to gain an insight into the experience and perceptions of key stakeholders, especially international students who are a valuable student cohort in Australian Universities.
In designing WIL models, Australian institutions largely assume that students, regardless of their background and context, desire the same certain outcomes which are often common to most, a "one size fits all‟ solution. To date, the effectiveness of a uniform application of WIL models has attracted little attention, especially from the perspectives of international students who, on completion, return to their country where they encounter different working environments, and business protocols.
This study employs a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis and uses two instruments for collecting data, namely an online survey and semi-structured interviews. The two groups of stakeholders who participated in the study were Chinese graduates from Victoria University (VU) who undertook some form of WIL or work placement in Australia as part of their coursework, and VU staff who were engaged in the management, supervision, development or delivery of WIL programmes. Chinese students represent the largest international student cohort at VU; therefore, this particular student cohort was identified as a key focus of the study.
This study explores and interprets the experiences and perceptions of international students and staff from VU regarding the value of WIL programmes in terms of graduate attributes, graduate employability, challenges and institutional support. It reveals several main themes regarding the experience and perceptions of WIL by VU international students and staff. These themes revolve around the contribution of WIL to the development of international students‟ language, interpersonal skills, technical knowledge, cultural awareness, and personal attributes. For each theme, the study analyses the expectations of international students, the development of relevant skills through WIL, and the extent to which these skills are transferrable to the work settings in their home country.
The study also examines the challenges that international students face as a result of their international student status, the lack of prior work experience, the lack of an understanding of the Australian labour market, and their financial constraints. It also explores the extent to which the University provides support for WIL and provides suggestions to improve the development and implementation of WIL programmes. These themes are discussed with specific reference to VU's Chinese student cohort.
Graduate employability for international students is the running concept that informs and connects emerging themes for the key findings of the study. It is found that VU's placement models have, to a large extent, been implemented in alignment with the University's core values and missions for graduate employability. However, mostly the same approach has been used to facilitate the delivery of WIL to students while the practical needs and circumstances of international students are not always attended to.
The findings of the research reinforce those of previous studies, which acknowledge the positive benefits of WIL to the outcomes of international graduate students. On the other hand, it also raises concerns over the multiple challenges that international students face during their WIL participation. These include language and communication barriers, inadequate knowledge of the workplace, cultural differences, and international student status. The study shows that there are some differences between the employment culture in Australia and China that suggest the WIL models for international students in general, and Chinese students in particular, by VU should be developed and implemented with more attention to the particular needs of students and take into account their possible context of employment following their graduation. The findings indicate that more support needs to be allocated to international students since the challenges they face are specific in nature, differing from those needs of domestic students.
43
Chen, Mingyu. "Learning to speak Chinese through sociodramatic play : supporting non-background beginning learners in an Australian public school." Thesis, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:49871.
Abstract:
For Australian students whose everyday language of communication is English, learning to speak Chinese can be challenging, especially for beginning learners at a young age. This Action Research study investigates how the use of sociodramatic play impacts upon Year 1 students’ spoken Chinese in an Australian public school. Specifically, this study addresses the following research questions: What preparatory teaching/learning activities are required before engaging Year 1 non-background beginning learners in Chinese-speaking sociodramatic play? How does the use of sociodramatic play help Year 1 non-background beginning learners’ spoken Chinese? What challenges are associated with the use of sociodramatic play for teaching spoken Chinese to Year 1 non-background beginning learners, and how can these challenges be addressed? This Action Research study uses a qualitative approach over two cycles of teaching. Data collection methods include observation notes, reflective journals, feedback from mentor teachers and students, as well as student test results. Data were analysed using memo writing, initial and focused coding. Findings show that the use of sociodramatic play has provided a rich learning environment for Year 1 non-background beginning learners to improve their spoken Chinese. Key findings highlight differentiated teacher roles and responsibilities in addressing the challenges when preparing, coordinating, and scaffolding students’ learning during sociodramatic play.
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Yue, Yi. "Making Chinese learnable from perspectives of Australian beginning learners : through lesson preparation, materials and teaching strategies." Thesis, 2014. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/566002.
Abstract:
This study concentrates on exploring how to make Chinese learnable for beginning learners in Australia, due to the proliferation of Chinese that attracts an increasing number of people who show intention of learning in the future. Specifically, it offers an investigation into the analysis of three aspects that including lesson preparation through design and materials, teaching strategies and teacher-researcher’s professional learning. This thesis aims to answer the following three research questions: How to prepare learner-centred lessons and choose appropriate teaching/learning materials to stimulate beginning learners to learn Chinese? What teaching/learning strategies are acceptable to beginning learners to learn Chinese? How can beginning bilingual volunteer teacher-researchers from China improve their skills in lesson preparation and teaching/learning strategies? Concerns about challenges of teaching around materials and strategies, even the intrinsic difficulties of Chinese itself that impede the development of Chinese learning, questions have to be raised to gain further research insights on how to overcome these difficulties and improve Chinese education. First, before starting lesson preparation, learners’ background information needed to be clarified. Then, the way to design a lesson and the sequence of arranging activities affect students’ learning and engagement. Several principles of dealing with materials to fit different learners were introduced, as the lack of appropriate materials has been an issue for teachers. Various teaching strategies were adopted specifically for beginning learners, such as using L1, L2 similarities, English as communication tool and facilitator-oriented interaction strategy. Besides, how to develop professional learning as bilingual beginning volunteer teacher was described. Case study was the main research strategy in this study combining the data from interviews and classroom observation with teachers, the questionnaire with students and reflective journals from the teacher herself in order to increase the reliability. For this research project, beginning learners were stimulated to learn Chinese and achieve slight success. Furthermore, possible ideas of improving teaching materials and using strategies were proved to be feasible. Finally, bilingual beginning volunteer teachers made progress in teaching Chinese and learning to develop as a TCFL teacher-researcher.
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Medojevic, Lucija. "The effect of the first year of schooling on bilingual language development : a study of second and third generation Serbian-Australian 5-year-old bilingual children from a processability perspective." Thesis, 2014. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/566011.
Abstract:
This longitudinal study investigates the effect of the first year of schooling on the development of two languages in 5-year-old bilingual first language acquirers (BFLA) receiving linguistic input in two typologically different languages: Serbian, the heritage language, predominantly spoken at home, and English, the mainstream language of the school and other social environments, and to a lesser extent, in the home of heritage language acquirers in Australia. The first year of school attendance was a time when a dramatic reversal occurred in the exposure to each of these typologically distant languages. The change in exposure was from a point where, in some cases, Serbian had had the larger share of the time in the daily life of the child to a point where exposure to and interaction in English took up the bulk of the day. The three informants in this study are two 5-year-old Serbian-Australian children: one second generation female child, codenamed Dana, and one third generation male child, codenamed Tomas, as well as one Australian English monolingual child, as control, codenamed Adam, who attended the same class in the same public school as Tomas.
A baseline for both Australian English and Serbian was obtained for the bilingual children by recording them in each language, separately, just before commencing school (t0). They were again recorded at three month intervals (t1, and t2), and at the end of the school year (t3), using a range of communicative tasks. The English L1 control was interviewed in parallel t1-t3 sessions. Following applications to bilingual first language acquisition such as Qi (2004) and Itani-Adams (2007), the same metrics were used to measure development in both languages to allow for comparison against a single reference point, namely Processability Theory (PT). PT is also starting to be used in first language acquisition studies (e.g., Wirbatz, 2013). The single metric used for measuring morphosyntactic development is Processability Theory (Pienemann, 1998). Its recent extension (Pienemann, Di Biase and Kawaguchi 2005; Bettoni and Di Biase, forthcoming) is used for measuring lexical growth and syntactic development (Lexical Mapping Hypothesis) on the one hand, and development at the discourse-pragmatic interface (Discourse Function Hypothesis) on the other hand. This study also investigates, albeit in a limited way, the development of children’s storytelling abilities over the first year of school in the narrative context of the wordless picture-book Frog, where are you? (Mayer, 1969) within Berman and Slobin’s (1994) tradition.
There were significant differences between the results for the second generation child and the third generation child. The results reveal, first, that English developed in a similar way in all three informants, regardless of second or third generation bilingual or monolingual status. Dana’s English was arguably the more developed of the three children. Second, the Serbian language complex and late-developing systems, such as verb morphology and case marking, in the case of Tomas (third generation bilingual) remained underdeveloped at this stage of the child’s life, as they had not been in place when the child commenced school. Tomas, nevertheless, became much more aware of the boundaries between Serbian and English, which effectively made his home variety of Serbian more „Serbian-like‟ but at the same time his use of Serbian receded as it could not match his new communicative needs. Tomas‟ English, however, developed strongly, including his narrative skills, and it quickly became indistinguishable from his native counterpart. The results also show that Dana, whose morphosyntactic development on commencing school was close to native Serbian children her age, not only improved her English but also her Serbian. Despite the reduced Serbian input, Dana’s Serbian benefited from the overall maturational and linguistic development occurring throughout her first year of schooling. Surprisingly, Dana presented a “lexical spurt” in Serbian, including new verbs, especially between t0 and t1 with a steady lexical development through to t3, which shows the consolidation and generalisation of her case-marking system over a greater lexical area. She also clearly developed her narrative skills in both English and Serbian. Taken together, the study’s results provide insights into the nature, development and interaction of the two linguistic systems in children of different generations in the same age group, which has positive practical implications for parents and teachers alike.
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Sammut, Elvira. "'Sugared Placebos'? The effects of satire and farce in the plays of David Williamson." Thesis, 2008. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/1417/.
Abstract:
This thesis focuses on the fact that although David Williamson’s popular appeal is attested to by his continuing commercial success in a career of over thirty-five years, a consistent stream of adverse criticism has nevertheless been levelled at his work on the basis of perceived superficiality and glibness. The term 'sugared placebos' was employed to describe the truncation of characterisation and treatment of ideas in Williamson’s work (Fitzpatrick 'Styles of Love: New Directions in David Williamson' 416). In examining and explaining the presence of satire and farce in his plays, this thesis interrogated the nature of both satire and farce to establish the accuracy of the term ‘sugared placebos’ when applied to Williamson’s work, and suggests that instead what is produced is a valuable curative. The thesis involved examining the concept of superficiality as a basis of criticism in a postmodern world and sought to connect this perceived superficiality with the presence of satire and farce in Williamson’s work. The naturalist text of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts was evaluated to establish the validity of stereotypes and genre-blending in a foundational naturalistic text. Using Ghosts as a paradigm against which to compare Williamson’s work, it was established that through a confluence of satire, farce, and irony Williamson creates his unique interpretation of “naturalism” by reflecting the patterns of behaviour of certain individuals in social situations. The study found that like Ibsen before him, Williamson also contends that individuals are strongly conditioned by their society and the enduring and universal emotions they carry from their deep past are endemic of all cultures at all times. A further outcome from the study revealed that far from being 'superficial' Williamson’s use of satire and farce renders his naturalism ironic, while at the same time providing a deep and profound social commentary. In addition, it was found that Williamson’s characters, although robustly Australian and located in the history of their times have, become iconic representations of universal verities that present audiences with deeper truths about their humanity.
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Suranukkharin, Todsapon. "The construction of cultural ideologies in award-winning Thai and Australian children's picture books (1987-2006)." Phd thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/155848.
Abstract:
This thesis examines the role of children's picture books in constructing cultural ideologies. It aims to analyse the dominant cultural ideologies inscribed in Thai and Australian children's picture books, with specific emphasis on how such identities are constructed through verbal and visual language. The analysis focuses on the changes, if any, in the construction of cultural ideologies in Thai and Australian children's picture books that won national awards from 1987 to 2006, and how the changes correspond to the impact of social change. The corpus chosen for analysis consists of 60 children's books, comprising 30 from Thailand and 30 from Australia. The picture books have either won the Thai National Book Development Committee Award or the Picture Book of the Year Award given by Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA). The thesis is structured around three themes based on the ideological construction of power in the books, including the construction of age relations, gender relations and community relations. Despite the fact that Thai society has undergone enormous change over the last two decades, the analysis shows that award-winning Thai children's books have been written mainly from a conservative point of view. They work by providing the foundations for social harmony and respect of order in a patriarchal and hierarchical society where all members are expected to know their proper place and live their lives in ways that contribute to the benefit of the whole community. Some slight changes can be detected in the way perspectives on those cultural ideologies have shifted at certain periods. These include the way of giving more emphasis to a child's self discovery over adult authority, the attempt to create non sexist picture books, and changes in the meaning and implication of unity and cohesion. Yet the analysis reveals that an ethos of conservative discourse still informs the books. It highlights the use of representation to control the overall appearance of idealised discourse in Thai society. In contrast, there is much variety and range in the way cultural ideologies have been constructed in award winning Australian children's books. While an ethos of conservative discourse can still be detected in the corpus, a number of books show that such ways of seeing the world can be challenged, questioned and even proved to be inadequate. Unlike the Thai books, the representation of patriarchal and hierarchical society can be overturned by giving more prominence to children's sense of agency and imagination and by portraying male and female characters in a more symmetrical way. In contrast to the depiction of the smooth and harmonious relationship between people of the same cultural and community groups in the Thai books, some recent Australian picture books emphasise the conflicts and disputes between different social groups. These changes are analysed in the context of the impact of social change. Social and political topics, such as the emancipation of women through the feminist movement and issues relating to contemporary politics including refugees, border control and cultural difference are taken into account.
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Saunders, Jane E. "Between surfaces a psychodynamic approach to cultural identity, cultural difference and reconciliation in Australia /." 2006. http://wallaby.vu.edu.au/adt-VVUT/public/adt-VVUT20071129.092250/index.html.
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Crickmore, Barbara Lee. "An Historical Perpsective On the Academic Education Of Deaf Children In New South Wales 1860s-1990s." Thesis, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/24905.
Abstract:
This is an historical investigation into the provision of education services for deaf children in the State of New South Wales in Australia since 1860. The main focus is those deaf children without additional disabilities who have been placed in mainstream classes, special classes for the deaf and special schools for the deaf. The study places this group at centre stage in order to better understand their educational situation in the late 1990s. The thesis has taken a chronological and thematic approach. The chapters are defined by significant events that impacted on the education of the deaf, such as the establishment of special schools in New South Wales, the rise of the oral movement, and aftermath of the rubella epidemic in Australia during the 1940s. Within each chapter, there is a core of key elements around which the analysis is based. These key elements tend to be based on institutions, players, and specific educational features, such as the mode of instruction or the curriculum. The study found general agreement that language acquisition was a fundamental prerequisite to academic achievement. Yet the available evidence suggests that educational programs for most deaf children in New South Wales have seldom focused on ensuring adequate language acquisition in conjunction with the introduction of academic subjects. As a result, language and literacy competencies of deaf students in general have frequently been acknowledged as being below those of five their hearing counterparts, to the point of presenting a barrier to successful post-secondary study. It is proposed that the reasons for the academic failings of the deaf are inherent in five themes.PhD Doctorate
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Crickmore, Barbara Lee. "An Historical Perpsective On the Academic Education Of Deaf Children In New South Wales 1860s-1990s." 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/24905.
Abstract:
This is an historical investigation into the provision of education services for deaf children in the State of New South Wales in Australia since 1860. The main focus is those deaf children without additional disabilities who have been placed in mainstream classes, special classes for the deaf and special schools for the deaf. The study places this group at centre stage in order to better understand their educational situation in the late 1990s. The thesis has taken a chronological and thematic approach. The chapters are defined by significant events that impacted on the education of the deaf, such as the establishment of special schools in New South Wales, the rise of the oral movement, and aftermath of the rubella epidemic in Australia during the 1940s. Within each chapter, there is a core of key elements around which the analysis is based. These key elements tend to be based on institutions, players, and specific educational features, such as the mode of instruction or the curriculum. The study found general agreement that language acquisition was a fundamental prerequisite to academic achievement. Yet the available evidence suggests that educational programs for most deaf children in New South Wales have seldom focused on ensuring adequate language acquisition in conjunction with the introduction of academic subjects. As a result, language and literacy competencies of deaf students in general have frequently been acknowledged as being below those of five their hearing counterparts, to the point of presenting a barrier to successful post-secondary study. It is proposed that the reasons for the academic failings of the deaf are inherent in five themes.PhD Doctorate