Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'English teachers – Australia – Attitudes'
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Haig, Yvonne G. "Teacher perceptions of student speech." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2001. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1030.
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Although language variation is widespread and natural,it is subject to judgement. Where a standard language has developed, other varieties tend to be judged against its "standards". While a number of overseas studies have found that this type of linguistic bias occurs in education and negatively impacts on dialect speakers, there has been little research in Australia. The research reported in this thesis investigates how teachers perceive the speech of school-aged students and whether the socio-economic status or level of schooling of the students influence these perceptions. Further, it examines the relationships between the teachers' background, the way they define Standard Australian English, their attitude to language variation and the way they perceive student speech. The research was undertaken as three separate but related studies. Thirty six teachers from twelve different schools were involved - three teachers from four different schools (n=l2) participating in each of the three studies. In Study One, the teachers kept observational notes on the problems they identified in their students' speech for a period of a week. In Study Two, the teachers participated in school-based focus groups to discuss those features they deemed to be problematic in their students' speech. In Study Three, the teachers ranked tape-recorded samples of speech from students who were not known to them. All the teachers provided background information, wrote their own definition of Standard Australian English and completed a questionnaire about their attitude to language variation in general and to the use of particular variants of English. The teachers in the three studies identified aspects of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and language use as problematic in student speech. The teachers' judgement of what was problematic and their perception of what caused these problems differed according to the socio-economic status of the students. Many of the features teachers identified as problematic were variants of Australian English. The teachers of low SES students tended to see this variation as evidence of their students' language deficiency and to be the result of their "restricted" backgrounds. The teachers of high SES students identified fewer problems in their students' speech and tended to view variation as developmental, inappropriately informal use of language or the result of deterioration in "standards". The teachers' perceptions of speech also varied according to the year level they were teaching. These perceptions reflected the teachers' own backgrounds, their personal definitions of Standard Australian English, their own "idealised" speech and their view of the relative status of Australian accents. The written form of the language also greatly influenced the teachers' perceptions of student speech. The results of this research have important implications for pedagogy, particularly in relation to equity and social justice. In an education system which increasingly relies on teacher judgements to assess the progress of students, the often negative influence of factors related to a student's background should be of serious concern. A failure to recognise the impact of non-standard features in speech on the educational opportunities and achievements of students would compromise their basic rights and limit the social and economic contributions they would otherwise be able to make.
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Yoo, Joanne. "A narrative landscape of a teacher's perception of the 'other' in a Korean Christian University : the courage to 'be' and to learn." University of Sydney, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4132.
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Doctor of EducationThe teaching and learning field has been renowned for being a rapidly changing and multifaceted environment. Moreover, being both intensely personal and public, the process of cultivating, discovering and relaying knowledge has also been influenced from a wide range of participating individuals to the broader groups in society. Such numerous possibilities for interaction have highlighted the difficulty of defining ‘good’ teaching and learning, especially considering the growing objectivism of modern day value systems. An increasing number of educators have thereby responded to this confusion by returning to more fundamental and holistic views of ‘knowing’ the ‘other.’ Such rising concerns for holistic teaching and learning practices represent many exciting possibilities for developments towards authenticity and autonomy, as teachers become responsible explorers of their profession. The current study is an autoethnography of my own teaching experiences at a small Korean Christian University. It captures my desires to develop greater sensitivity and empathy as a critical teacher practitioner, and further documents efforts to acquire aesthetic and creative skills as a writer. Ultimately, through my experiences as a teacher researcher, I have sought to develop a deeper picture of the knowing process as a rich and mutual dialogue between the 'knower' and the 'other.’ To do this, I have constructed eight stories based on my teaching experiences. The first describes the reflections accompanying my experiences of writing, whilst the next three involve narrative portrayals of certain striking colleagues and students. The following two stories convey the ‘faith’ and ‘acceptance’ experienced through the study, and the last two act as a form of reflective closure to the overall teaching and researching experience Since I believed that the symbolic and holistic nature of story writing could convey the depth, complexity and open-endedness of the knowing process, I have chosen narratives and reflective writing to capture and depict my experiences (Van Manen, 1997). Interviews and journals writing of my students and my colleagues have also been included to further explore these ideas. Accordingly, this current study seeks to portray a view of 'knowing' that enables teachers and students to become co-researchers, who can cultivate sensitivity, creativity and empathy towards the 'other.’
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Bunts-Anderson, Kimberly. "Relations between teachers' conceptions of in-class and out-of-class interactions and reported teaching practices teachers' belief study /." Phd thesis, Australia : Macquarie University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/82707.
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Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Linguistics & Psychology, Department of Linguistics, 2006.Bibliography: p. 372-438.
Introduction: the influence of second language teachers' conceptions and the role of interactions in language learning -- Literature review -- Theory and methodology -- Teachers' conceptions of in-class interactions -- Teachers' conceptions of out-of-class interactions -- Differences between EAP teachers' experiences and conceptual development: in-class and out-of-class interactions -- Two categorical frameworks for ICI and OCI context: similarities, differences and relations -- Discussion and conclusion.
Spoken interaction with others is one of the most powerful tools in learning and teaching a second language. This investigation is concerned with uncovering and categorising the ways a group of L2 teachers' describe their experiences and beliefs of two types of spoken interaction; those that occur in the classroom (ICI) and those that occur outside the classroom (OCI). Twenty-eight EAP teachers were interviewed using phenomenographic and ethnographic investigative approaches and asked to describe their experiences and how they thought about and used spoken interactions in the teaching and learning of a situated lesson. The conceptions that emerged as consistent (reported as experienced most frequently across the group and within individual transcripts) were identified and categorised into two sets of categories of description (COD) one for each type of interaction. Across the group of teachers, five stable ICI categories of conceptions were identified and four stable OCI categories of conceptions were identified. These categories describe the range of conceptions that emerged across the group as a whole and do not attempt to rate the understandings of individual teachers. -- The conceptions of interactions in both sets of categories followed a hierarchal pattern of development from less complete to more complete understandings of these interactions. These descriptions formed two frameworks that are supported by similar patterns describing less complete and more complete understandings of various concepts in sets of categories published in other education settings (Marton & Booth, 1997). Exploration into the teaching and learning approaches reported in the teachers' experiences of ICI and OCI indicated that the utilization of interactions was constrained by the ways these interactions were conceived. Relations between more developed conceptions of both phenomena emerged in situations where more developed conceptions were reported. In these situations both ICI and OCI were simultaneously present in the teachers' awareness and perceived as different aspects of the same teaching/ learning situations. Across the group the teachers reported less powerful ideas of how to utilize OCI than how to utilize ICI.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
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Madzo, Daniela. "Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Teaching English Pronunciation." Thesis, Jönköping University, Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-51748.
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This paper examines three English teachers’ attitudes towards teaching pronunciation. The teachers involved are teachers at upper-secondary level in Sweden. The study is based on a qualitative method, since the research involves collecting data to understand opinions and experiences. The data in this study are collected through semi-structured interviews to analyze teachers’ attitudes. All of the three teachers agreed on their students having good pronunciation and mentioned different sounds as pronunciation difficulties that are problematic for their students. Furthermore, the three teachers expressed that they avoid correcting their students most of the time, however, when the teachers correct their students, they usually use a corrective method that can be interpreted as implicit feedback. Earlier research has shown that explicit feedback is the most effective method to use in a teaching environment to make it possible for students to improve their pronunciation.
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Phothongsunan, Sureepong. "Attitudes of Thai university students towards native English speaking teachers and Thai English teachers." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.414047.
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Akbar, Rahima. "Students' and teachers' attitudes towards Kuwaiti English code-switching." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2007. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/55661/.
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Research into attitudes to code-switching has frequently produced very negative and ambivalent perceptions, not only by outsiders but also by insiders. This study aims mainly to investigate the way people from different age groups and school settings evaluate major spoken varieties in the State of Kuwait. School students (14-18 years) in schools of different educational schemes (government, English and bilingual schools) were recorded telling stories of personal experiences to ingroup community members (same age group, gender and school type) in their normal way of everyday speech styles. A number of those stories were selected to represent three main spoken language varieties in Kuwait (Kuwaiti-only, English-only and Kuwaiti/English code-switching analysed into two representative types: intersentential and lexical code-switching). Teenagers drawn from the various investigated school settings (n = 417) and a group of teachers (n = 88) rated the audio-recorded speakers on a number of scales of solidarity, status, communicative and culture-based (religiousness, Kuwaitiness and conservativeness) traits in order to explore the evaluative profiles that different groups of people have towards the investigated language varieties in the country. The study revealed some strongly differentiated evaluative profiles by the various groups of respondents based on their school type, age group, gender, and for code-switching specifically, as a result of the code-switched typology. Encountering some ambiguous results, the study maintains the need for qualitative measures, not only as a separate data in their own right (focus group interviews), but also to be included within the modified matched-guise questionnaire (open ended questions). Unlike previous attitudinal studies on code-switching, the current study reveals some very positive attitudes towards the speech style, particularly by those who practise it, and specifically along cultural attributes, as a result of the differing ideologies nurtured within the three school types.
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Aldujayn, Norah Nasser. "Attitudes Toward Creativity Among Saudi EFL Teachers." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo157598006406076.
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Vanja, Jennessen. "Children’s Literature and English Teaching – Swedish Teachers’ Methods and Attitudes." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Pedagogiskt arbete, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-20425.
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This study investigates how primary school teachers of grades F-3 pupils in a number of sample schools in Sweden use children’s literature and other methods to enhance their teaching of English. The study explores the attitudes of these teachers’ to using English children’s literature as a teaching tool to promote language development in their pupils, focusing on vocabulary. An empirical questionnaire study was carried out including a total of twenty-three respondents from seven schools in a Stockholm suburb. The respondents are all working teachers with experience of teaching English to young learners, particularly in grades F-3. This study contributes with new knowledge about the often-recommended use of children’s literature as a method for teaching English to young learners, connecting international research with empirical data from the Swedish context. While the results suggest that the majority of the respondents are positive to using children’s literature in their teaching and regularly do so, many of them feel that it is somewhat difficult to find relevant materials to plan, implement and evaluate lessons within the allocated time-frame. Based on these results, further research about how to create more effective ways of using children’s literature as a method for English vocabulary teaching in Swedish schools is recommended.
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Finkle, Sheryl L. "The relationship of English studies to the knowledge, attitudes, and skills of English teachers /." The Ohio State University, 1990. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487678444257825.
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Wong, Bik Fun. "Students' attitudes toward the expatriate teachers scheme." HKBU Institutional Repository, 1998. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/121.
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Richardson, Niall B. "Work intensification and professionalism : A study of teachers' perceptions in the state school system in Western Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2004. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/788.
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The past two decades have witnessed the introduction throughout much of the Western world of what has become known as economic rationalism, and for some commentators, as economic liberalism. Grounded in neoclassical economic theory, and with close kinship to the Taylorist and Fordist principles of the early decades of the twentieth century, the vision of economic rationalism has led to measures which have tended to favour the business sector in Australia. Throughout the 1990s, the focus has been on the notions of competitiveness, competition, productivity, efficiency, and profit, while the notions of the individual, and of social justice and equity, have often appeared to become correspondingly less important. As a result, there has emerged an increasing differentiation between the interests of capital and labour or, more broadly, between commercial and social interests. The differentiation is becoming increasingly stark, and one aspect which has attracted attention is that of work intensification. The thesis revolves around three research questions, related to the issue of work intensification, and with a focus on teachers. For the sake of the study, teachers arc deemed to include principals and deputy principals who, especially in smaller schools, have both teaching and administrative duties. The study examines the extent of teacher work intensification. Consequently, the first question is: "To what extent does work intensification exist amongst teachers in Western Australian State Schools?"
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Morris-Rutledge, Susan. "Mississippi mainstream teachers' attitudes and perceptions toward English language learner inclusion /." Full text available from ProQuest UM Digital Dissertations, 2009. http://0-proquest.umi.com.umiss.lib.olemiss.edu/pqdweb?index=0&did=1801490681&SrchMode=1&sid=6&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1268676908&clientId=22256.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Mississippi, 2009.Typescript. Vita. "May 2009." Major professor: Esim Erdim-Payne Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-141). Also available online via ProQuest to authorized users.
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Ng, Suet-ying Kylie, and 吳雪瑩. "An investigation of English teachers' and students' perceptions of using Cantonese in English classrooms." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2011. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B46960284.
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The policy on “Teaching English through English” has been proposed by the Hong Kong Government for decades. However, teachers find it difficult to follow the policy and the use of Cantonese is necessary due to the realistic need of students. The present study aims to investigate the patterns and functions of the use of Cantonese in English lessons, and to examine English teachers’ and students’ views towards the use of Cantonese in English classroom. This study involved three S4 teachers and twelve students from their classes. Data was collected through audio recording of lessons and interviews with teacher and student participants. The results show that Cantonese was widely used for teaching vocabulary, explaining relatively complicated tasks and classroom management. Teachers seldom reverted to the target language once they have switched to Cantonese. Both the teacher and student participants believed that the use of Cantonese could facilitate the teaching and learning of grammar and vocabulary. Also, it was effective in maintaining classroom discipline, enhancing communication within the classroom, and creating a conducive learning environment. Despite the perceived pedagogical value of Cantonese in English classroom, findings suggest that teachers tended to use Cantonese as a time-saving device rather than a facilitative teaching tool, and the potential pedagogical functions of using Cantonese in English classroom were not fully utilized because of the teachers’ lack of strategic planning when using it. It is important for English teachers to reflect on their language choice, and to develop an awareness of using Cantonese effectively to facilitate students’ learning of English.published_or_final_version
Applied English Studies
Master
Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics
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Crew, Vernon. "English language proficiency and attitudes towards the English language of Hong Kong Chinese student teachers." Thesis, University of Essex, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.241202.
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Street, Chris Paul. "Preservice teachers' writing attitudes and the role of context in learning to teach writing /." Digital version accessible at:, 1999. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/main.
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Mansory, Mazin. "EFL teachers' beliefs and attitudes towards English language assessment in a Saudi University's English Language Institute." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/25765.
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State universities in Saudi Arabia have adopted a new educational policy, which made English the medium of instruction for all scientific departments. This has led to establishing a Foundation Year Programme (FYP) in the English Language Institute (ELI) of those universities, which aims to prepare university students to cope with the new academic requirements in their chosen majors and to improve their overall language competence. This study investigates teachers’ roles and beliefs regarding assessment practices in the ELI with the aim to uncover not only the role(s) teachers play in both continuous and summative assessment practices, but also teachers’ understandings of and attitudes towards assessment and their roles in it. Findings will also include how teachers perceive this role in this interpretive study, where the data were collected using open-ended interviews with twenty male and female expatriate and Saudi EFL teachers who work in the ELI of a specific Saudi university. The data were analysed on the basis of participants’ views and explanations about their roles in both continuous and summative assessment in the institution. The findings revealed that teachers had no role in summative assessment unless they were members of the Assessment Committee and that most teachers wanted to have a voice and be more involved. While teachers had a limited role in continuous assessment in the classroom, they felt the need for more involvement in the choice of materials/topics employed as well as more freedom regarding the way it is administered. The study also revealed that the ELI was not well receptive of criticism from teachers, which made teachers sometimes reluctant to being more involved in assessment or voicing their views in fear of being labelled negatively. Finally, some contributions to knowledge, implications for the context and recommendations are provided as well as some suggestions for improving teachers’ roles in assessment for future consideration.
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Evans, Simone Kirsten School of Modern Languages UNSW. "How can teachers best enable adult English language learners to interact verbally?" Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Modern Languages, 2004. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/20512.
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The study revolves around the delivery of an ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) program on conflict management in the workplace to a small group of adult learners studying in a private educational institution in Sydney, Australia. The program was of four days???? duration, and was delivered over a four-week period. It involved both in-class and out-of-class tasks, and required learners to analyse their own discourse practices, those of other learners, and those of the speech community in which they were living. The program had two principle objectives. Firstly, it asked whether learners are able to modify their discourse practices at will in order to achieve successful negotiation outcomes. Secondly, it explored the effect of deliberately altered discourse styles on perceptions of learners held by speech community members. The methodology employed to achieve these objectives was ethnographic in nature and involved the following processes: 1. Learners were video-taped negotiating with other learners before and after the program. 2. Learners undertook the program aimed at increasing their ability to negotiate in business environments using culturally appropriate spoken language in conjunction with compatible prosodic and paralinguistic features as well as conversation management strategies. Learners kept diaries of their experiences and self-evaluation, and were interviewed following the course. 3. A group of nine native speakers of English viewed the 'before' and 'after' video-tapes and completed a survey aimed at collecting and quantitatively measuring (change in) their perceptions of the learners. This change was statistically analysed using a repeated-measures t test. The effect proved statistically significant overall; t(80) = 1.990, p>.01, two-tailed. 4. The 'before' and 'after' negotiations were then analysed by the researcher using ethnomethodological Conversation Analysis, modified to include some aspects of facial expression. The implications of the findings for teaching 'Business English', 'Global English' and 'Speaking' more generally are then discussed.
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Lee, Jeong-Ah. "Teachers' Sense Of Efficacy in Teaching English, Perceived English Language Proficiency, and Attitudes Toward the English Language: A Case of Korean Public Elementary School Teachers." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1233648070.
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Mitchell, Sandra. "Relationships Among Teachers' Attitudes, Behaviors Toward English Language Learners, Experience, and Training." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/2564.
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Public school teachers must meet the unique needs of English language learners (ELLs) in the general education classroom. There is a need to understand teacher attitudes toward ELLs because attitudes can explain and influence teacher behavior and professional practice. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationships between attitudes and behavior with years of experience as well as professional development among teachers working with ELLs. Sociocultural, situational learning, and second language acquisition theories provided the theoretical foundation for the study. Data were collected from 286 teachers using the Teacher Attitudes Toward English-as-a-Second-Language Survey. Analyses included descriptive statistics, correlational analysis, independent sample t tests, and Mann-Whitney U test. Results indicated a significant, direct correlation between teachers' years of experience and their attitudes regarding coursework modifications. The independent sample t tests indicated significant differences in a subscale of the variable teaching behavior between participants who had and had not received adequate training. In addition, significant differences in teachers' attitudes existed among those teachers between participants who had and had not received professional development. The study can effect social change at the local site by fostering an increased understanding of how experience and professional development influences teachers' attitudes toward inclusion and behaviors toward ELLs, thereby highlighting the importance of professional development and experience for meeting the needs of ELL students.
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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.
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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.
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Gordon, Richard Hedley. "Technology-enhanced learning and teaching: Narratives of secondary English teachers in Western Australia." Thesis, Gordon, Richard Hedley (2022) Technology-enhanced learning and teaching: Narratives of secondary English teachers in Western Australia. Masters by Research thesis, Murdoch University, 2022. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/64672/.
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This qualitative study explored teacher beliefs, decision-making, and pedagogical practices for using digital technologies in Western Australian secondary English classrooms. Driven by technology and the assumption that technology integration enhances student learning, the secondary school education landscape is undergoing a period of rapid change. While some stakeholders view teachers’ pedagogical practice as integrated with technology-enhanced learning (TEL), the literature identifies that the contrary is often true: technology use and deployment can be uneven and unsystematic. This study aimed to understand these perceptions via three research questions, that explored TEL's effects on secondary English teaching, both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic home learning experience. Six secondary English teachers were recruited via professional networking. Employing a narrative inquiry methodology, semi-structured interview questions were designed to encourage participants to share their pedagogical approaches and experiences with technology. The interview data were analysed using narrative thematic analysis and dominant themes were identified. The analysis found that teacher participants articulated stories of change and adaptation when using TEL, which gave insight into both personal and professional beliefs regarding education technology. Additional findings report that the home-learning experience during the pandemic has opened up possibilities for new digital pedagogies. However, this was counterbalanced by reinforcement of traditional beliefs about behaviour management, student learning, and teacher agency. The study concludes that if the knowledge gained from home learning in 2020 is utilised in positive ways to further integrate digital pedagogies into curricula, all educational stakeholders are likely to benefit. Furthermore, findings may have implications for twenty-first century in-service and pre-service teacher education to ensure that TEL functions as an enhancement to learning in its broadest sociocultural context.
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Karakaya, Kadir. "An Investigation Of English Language Teachers." Master's thesis, METU, 2010. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12612234/index.pdf.
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This study aimed at investigating the attitudes of English language teachers in Turkey toward computer technology and the extent to which they use technology in language instruction. The data were collected from a sample of English teachers working at public schools all throughout Turkey. In order to ensure triangulation and complementarity, mixed methods research was used combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods. A questionnaire and semi-structured, face-to-face interview were used in order to collect the data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics as well as content analysis were conducted so as to analyze the data. The results of the data analysis yielded positive findings regarding English teachers
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Lee, Suet-mui Carol, and 李雪梅. "English teachers' conceptions of task-based learning." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2002. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31963055.
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Garnons-Williams, Victoria. "Art teacher pre-service education : a survey of the attitudes of Queensland secondary, and tertiary art educators." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26115.
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This study compares the views of three groups of art educators - secondary, tertiary pre-service lecturers, and scholars - about the content and structure considered important in art teacher pre-service education.
Items of program content and structure, as well as issues in art-teacher preparation were gleaned from the writings of selected scholars and incorporated into a survey questionnaire. The survey was distributed to secondary art educators throughout Queensland and to art pre-service lecturers throughout Australia. An analysis of the results identifies areas and degrees of agreement and difference on items both within and between groups. The study can assist the development of art teacher pre-service programmes that reflect the values of both theoreticians and practitioners of art education.Education, Faculty of
Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of
Graduate
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Ainasoja, Heidi. "Swedish upper secondary school teachers and their attitudes towards AmE, BrE, and Mid-Atlantic English." Thesis, University of Gävle, Department of Humanities, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-7175.
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The aim of this essay is to investigate what English teachers’ attitudes are towards British English, American English and Mid-Atlantic English. What variety of English do teachers use in Swedish upper secondary schools today and what are their reasons for using that variety? Do upper secondary school teachers think it is important to expose students to several varieties of English and do they teach differences (e.g. vocabulary and spelling) between varieties? The material is based on a questionnaire, which 20 participating teachers from five different upper secondary schools in Gävleborg answered. The study showed that there is an even distribution between the varieties used and taught. British English was preferred by teachers working the longest time while both AmE and MAE seemed to be growing in popularity among the younger teachers. Of the 20 teachers, 18 considered teaching differences to students since it gives them a chance to communicate effectively with people from other English speaking countries.
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Carlson, Josefin. "Monolingual and Bilingual Pupils' Attitudes towards English Language Learning." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23278.
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This paper examines how the attitudes are towards the English education, in a school, among pupils in ninth, eighth, and sixth grade, and if monolingual and bilingual pupils feel that they have any advantages or disadvantages when learning English. This study also describes how teachers influence and establish attitudes among their pupils towards the English education.Both questionnaires and interviews were used in order to collect data valuable for the research questions. The results are thereafter discussed in relation to relevant background information, for example Gardner's (1991) theory about attitudes towards language learning and Ladberg's (1994) theory about second language learning and bilingualism.The results show that pupils' attitudes influence on the English education, that teachers' attitudes influence and establish pupils' attitudes towards the language learning, and that many of the bilingual pupils feel that they have advantages when learning English.
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Rule, Ann. "Keeping the money under the soap : constructions of the English and English migrants in Australian nationalist texts." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2004. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/836.
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Where does an Englishman hide his money?' 'I don't know. Where does an Englishman hide his money?' 'Under the soap'. This thesis interrogates representations of ‘Englishness’and by extension, English migrants, in a variety of Australian cultural texts, including film, television, newspapers and academic publications. Underlying this investigation are two major research questions: What are the factors informing the ambivalent place accorded 'Englishness' in Australian cultural texts? and What can this form of investigation tell us about Australian culture and associated national myths? I have attempted to reinterpret these national myths through the texts/ narratives of Englishness and class. One of my aims was to force the violence of politics and ideology back into the seemingly natural binary opposition of Australia / England (otherwise known as the Aussies and the poms), exploring the ramifications upon Australian nationalist myths. Due to my emphasis here on discourse itself, how it constructs and shapes national identities for example, I have elected to incorporate textual devices designed to disrupt and interrupt the text. These interruptions include passages from English migrant interviews and song lyrics for example. It is anticipated that these disruptions constantly remind, to paraphrase Fredric Jameson, that history is always perforated: 'History with holes' (1990, 130). I argue that it is through these cracks in the screen that the conservative underbelly of Australian nationalist narratives becomes increasingly visible. I have endeavoured to reveal to what extent 'Englishness' continues to function as an empty signifier, where often opposing stereotypes flourish. For example, while Englishness in Australian cultural forms was at times linked with servility, deference and a rigid class system, it was also linked with militancy and political activism in the form of the troublesome pommie shop steward. In chapter one I suggest where these un-deconstructed ‘types’ emanated from, contextualising my theory through the languages of class, going on to suggest why and how these stereotypes have remained so cogent. The cogency of these representations is revealed through the chapters on film, television, newspapers and academic publications. Finally, I argue for a complete reassessment of how the signifier ‘Englishness’ is functioning, both ideologically and politically, in Australian nationalist narratives.
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Lunay, Ralph G. "A study of feelings of alienation among relief teachers servicing Western Australian government metropolitan primary schools." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/659.
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It is perhaps fair to say that the relief (substitute) teacher should be viewed as an extremely important educational resource, Reviewed literature spanning the better part of twenty years indicates that in parts of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, many students spend as much as one full year (or more) of their K-12 education having curriculum delivered to them by these individuals. Unfortunately, the literature also indicates that many relief teachers are still viewed by many as less than "real" teachers in terms of perceived competence, skill and capability. In addition to this, the existence of a number of pervasive, enduring systemic problems have been identified as being present in the educational systems of the abovementioned regions, which have been seen to impact negatively on the relief teacher, making the difficult job they do, even more arduous. There is reason to hypothesise that as a result of exposure to these problems, relief teachers could be expected to suffer from feelings of alienation and further "disconnection" from tenured (or contracted) colleagues, and that this may further marginalise them from the rest of the greater educational community. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether feelings of alienation were present in relief teachers servicing Western Australian government metropolitan primary schools, and if so, what they identified as contributing to those feelings. Additionally the research attempted to ascertain what (if any) support strategies for relief teachers were actually offered by the schools that had been serviced by the subject population. The research itself was qualitative in nature, using semi-structured interviews as the main data gathering tool, with twenty "currently serving" relief teachers being interviewed. The current study established strong positive links between feelings of alienation in the subject population and exposure to a number of major systemic problems, which currently exist within the educational "system" of this state. The present research also identified a number of support strategies offered by some schools, which indicates some cognisance of the problems faced by relief teachers during the course of their work. " As a result of the research findings, several recommendations for further action emerged. Implementation of these should, logically, go some considerable way toward reducing feelings of alienation and disconnection among relief teachers, and more importantly augmenting their effectiveness as an arguably increasingly important educational resource.
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Amukena, Nyqvist Sisiwe. "English as a Lingua Franca in Namibia: : Teachers’ Attitudes Towards English as a Medium of Instruction in Classrooms." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Engelska, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-23202.
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This study aims to investigate Namibian teachers’ attitudes towards English as a medium of instruction in Namibian classrooms. Regardless of the fact that English has no historical ties with Namibia, English still operates as the official language and the language of instruction in schools. This study briefly discusses the probable reasons for choosing English as an official language in Namibia, and as the medium of instruction in educational institutions. Furthermore, it discusses the attitudes that Namibian teachers have towards English as a medium of instruction in Namibian classrooms. A pilot electronic questionnaire, a revised questionnaire, and telephone interviews were used to acquire data for the study. The results indicate that English is a challenge for many learners and this poses a challenge to teachers as well. However, a majority of teachers from this study portray English as the language that is capable of uniting Namibian learners from different backgrounds, and a language that makes education possible in Namibia. In addition, teachers also reported that knowledge of English opens up educational opportunities for learners to study abroad.
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Weekly, Robert. "Multilingual South Asian English language teachers' attitudes to English language varieties and the impact on their teaching beliefs." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2015. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/398692/.
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Recent changes at a global level in terms of migration patterns and telecommunications have destabilised many pre-established concepts. The notion of diaspora has given way to trans-localism and communities can no longer be conceived of as discreet homogenous units. Other language related concepts such as multilingualism, code-mixing, speech communities and language itself have been scrutinised and undermined by research in translanguaging, superdiversity, English as a Lingua Franca, World Englishes and language ideologies. In Britain new migrants from a myriad of different locations co-exist with older migrants and the local white British population in what has been termed as superdiversity. This study focuses on older migrants who interact with newer migrants within the classroom, in a teacher-student relationship, and also to a degree outside the classroom. It reports on the attitudes of multilingual English language teachers to varieties of English and how this influences their teaching practices. I interviewed and conducted focus group discussions with first and second generation migrants between January 2012 and February 2013. The participants are representative of two conflicting ideologies. On the one hand the participants have varying degrees of experience with indigenised non-native varieties of English through travel, from learning English in a context outside Britain, and through family and friendship networks. On the other hand they also have the responsibility to teach British Standard English to students who may already be speaking a fluent stable variety of English. The aim of the study was to understand how the participants reconciled conflicting attitudes about language and the extent to which this impacted on their teaching practices. The main findings of the study are that while many of the teachers are aware of and open to different variation in spoken English, this predominantly related to pronunciation. However there were clear differences between first and second generation migrants which appear to be related to the participant’s experience of different societal ideologies. This translated into different attitudes about correct language and their beliefs about their teaching practices. While first generation migrants’ attitudes showed evidence of being influenced by dual ideologies, second generation migrants’ attitudes more closely reflected societal ideologies in the UK.
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Ng, Yuen-yee Cordia, and 伍婉儀. "What makes a 'good language teacher'?: teachers' and students' perceptions of 'good language teachers' inHong Kong Secondary Schools." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2003. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B29758816.
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Liu, Zhaoyang Amanda, and 刘朝阳. "Professional identity formation : a case study of three English teachers in mainland China." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/193514.
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Recent studies reveal that language teacher identity makes the difference in classroom teaching and has increasingly become a valuable focus in the field of language teaching research. However, a review of the research literature shows that there have been limited studies about the professional identity formation and even fewer studies involving teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in the context of mainland China.
English language teaching (ELT) has increasingly gained attention in mainland China, with the curriculum reforms, which promoted communicative language teaching (CLT) and later task-based approach (TBA), have been initiated since 1970s, yet the professional identities of English teachers acting as the key players of the curriculum reforms have not been given due attention. This is particularly true for those teachers in the Northwestern Hinterland areas with relatively limited resources and a challenging environment.
In order to fill the diverse gaps, this study provides valuable information and knowledge not only for teacher professional identity research area but also for Chinese ELT, CLT and TBA reforms, By exploring three experienced secondary EFL teachers’ professional identity formation in Lanzhou city, in Gansu province, a whole heretofore unresearched area has been brought into view.
With a case study approach, the study collected the teachers’ personal life experiences from their childhood to current teaching experiences. By building up a theoretical framework based on the features of professional identity formation proposed by Beijaard et al. (2004), the study has examined the teachers’ personal life experiences, school contexts and agency and achieved rich understandings about their professional identity formation.
This study shows that the teachers’ biographies, particularly their fathers and pre-service teacher education acted as important components of and exerted an enduring influence on their professional identity formation of the three teachers. Findings highlight that teachers’ three levels of professional contexts had an important impact on their professional identity formation; among the three levels of contexts, the macro context of the College Entrance Examination and the meso context of school leaders were the most influential.
The findings of this study extend the understanding of the complexity of teachers’ professional identity formation, and shed light on how to develop a more effective professional learning mode for pre-service teachers. This study also gives a voice to life history and offers the possibility of helping pre-service teachers to effectively understand the teaching profession in new ways in the teacher education programs.published_or_final_version
Education
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
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Wong, Mei Wan Dora. "Native and non-native English teachers : a study of their teaching of grammar." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2003. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/493.
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Amdaouech, Leila. "“It is not important whether one speaks British English or American English” : A Questionnaire-Based Study of English Teachers’ Attitudes in Sweden." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-157312.
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Although there have been some studies conducted in Sweden about the language attitudes towards different varieties of English, most of these studies have focused on the language attitudes found amongst students. There have not, however, been many studies conducted that examines teachers’ language attitudes. The focus of the present study is to investigate which attitudes are found towards two varieties of English, American English and British English, amongst English teachers in Sweden. The study also aims to explore whether the teachers’ age and language backgrounds have an impact on the teachers’ attitudes. The hypothesis was that older teachers would be more positively inclined towards British English while younger teachers would prefer American English. Furthermore, it was also hypothesized that teachers who grew up monolingual would prefer British English and those who grew up bilingual would favour American English. The data collection method that was used in the study was a questionnaire which was distributed online to English teachers in Sweden. 115 teachers participated in the study and answered the questionnaire, which provided both quantitative and qualitative data. The results of the study show that the teachers seem to display equally positive attitudes towards both varieties. For example, American English is favoured in terms of being most familiar, easiest to understand and easiest to teach. British English, on the other hand, is favoured in terms of pleasantness and is in many ways seen as more respected. The findings of the study did confirm the hypotheses to a certain degree. The results showed a tendency amongst younger teachers and teachers who have grown up bilingual to prefer American English. In contrast, the tendency amongst older teachers and teachers who have grown up monolingual was to prefer British English. Overall, the results of the study raise the question of how these attitudes affect the teachers’ teaching of English.
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Zhang, Qunying, and 張群英. "Conceptions of a good English language teacher at tertiary level in the People's Republic of China." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2007. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B38575747.
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Sung, In Ja 1968. "A comparison of class activities led by teachers in English kindergarten : Korean children's attitudes." Thesis, McGill University, 2006. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=99395.
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This study explores the issues related to the comparison of native English teachers and Korean English teachers, in the context of children's English education in a private language institute, Smarty English Institute, in Seoul, Korea. Specifically by analyzing class activities led by native and Korean English teachers as well as a full bilingual English teacher, I investigate the strengths and weaknesses of class activities led by English teachers whose first languages are different. I challenge the wide-spread notion in Korea that native English speakers are inherently better English teachers. I offer an holistic portrait of the activities in Kindergarten language classrooms in a private language institute in Korea from the diverse perspective of Korean teachers, parents, legislators, and administrators. I used participant observation of classrooms and interviews with teachers and children as the main tools of data collection. I examined the class activities in terms of the communicative interactions between teachers and children, the relevance of the class activities to the children's interest, and their authenticity. Based on this analysis of class activities, I also present recommendations for improved English education, particularly teacher education programs customized for the teachers' needs and their differing levels of English proficiency as well as more specialized curricula for native English teachers and Korean English teachers.
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Galanakis, Linda. "Learners' attitudes to standard vs non-standard South African English accents of their teachers." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/4259.
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Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is interested in the relationship between accent and hearers’ perception of the speaker. It investigates the kinds of stereotypes related to phonological features of the speaker’s language. Specifically this thesis focused on the perceptions that high school girls have of their Mathematics teachers who speak English with a non-standard accent. The general aims of the study were to establish whether high school girls perceived non-standard English speaking Mathematics teachers negatively and, if so, whether this perception changed as the girls mature. Twenty-seven Grade 8 learners and 14 Grade 12 learners from a private English-medium school in the Gauteng Province of South Africa participated in this study. The school attracts learners from the affluent socio-economic group, and the majority of the learners are white (76.8%) and first language speakers of English (86%). These participants completed questionnaires using the matched-guise technique (Lambert, Hodgson, Gardner and Fillenbaum 1960) to determine their perceptions of six accents. Five speakers were recorded reading the same Mathematics lesson in English. One reader read the same passage twice, using a so-called Standard South African English accent for one recording and a second language accent of an isiZulu mother tongue speaker for the second recording. The results of this investigation indicate that high school girls are inclined to stereotype teachers according to the teachers’ accents. Some of the characteristics attributed to the non-standard English speaking teachers were positive, but generally learners held a negative perception of such teachers. There was very little change in this perception from Grade 8 to Grade 12. Of particular importance in the National Curriculum Statement for Grades 10 to 12 is that learners emerge from this phase of their schooling being “sensitive to issues of diversity such as poverty, inequality, race, gender, language, age, disability and other factors” (www.sabceducation.co.za/). The school where the research was conducted has addressed diversity in numerous ways in an attempt to prepare the learners for life in multilingual and multicultural South Africa. That the Grade 12 learners in this study, whether first language speakers of English or not, still display accent prejudice suggests that the life skills objectives are not adequately met and that this form of prejudice needs to be addressed in more creative ways.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING:: Hierdie studie stel belang in die verhouding tussen aksent en hoorders se waarneming van die spreker. Dit ondersoek die soort stereotipering wat saamhang met die fonologiese eienskappe van die spreker se taal. Hierdie tesis het spesifiek gefokus op die persepsies wat hoërskoolmeisies het van hul Wiskunde-opvoeders wat Engels met ‘n nie-standaard aksent praat. Die algemene doelstellings van die studie was om vas te stel of hoërskoolmeisies hierdie opvoeders negatief beoordeel op grond van hul aksent en, indien wel, of hierdie oordeel minder fel raak met ouerdom. Sewe-en-twintig Graad 8-leerders en 14 Graad 12-leerders aan ‘n privaat- Engels-medium skool in die Gauteng Provinsie van Suid-Afrika het aan die studie deelgeneem. Die skool se leerders kom uit die hoë sosio-ekonomiese groep, en die meerderheid is Wit (76.8%) en eerstetaalsprekers van Engels (86%). Die deelnemers het vraelyste voltooi as deel van sogenaamde “matched guise”- (Lambert, Hodgson, Gardner en Fillenbaum 1960) navorsing om hul persepsies van ses aksente te bepaal. Vyf sprekers is op band opgeneem terwyl hulle dieselfde Wiskunde-les in Engels lees. Een leser het die les twee maal gelees, een maal met ’n sogenaamde Standaard Suid-Afrikaanse Engelse aksent en een maal met ’n tweedetaal aksent tipies van ‘n isiZulu moedertaalspreker. Die resultate van hierdie ondersoek dui daarop dat hoërskoolmeisies geneig is om opvoeders te stereotipeer op grond van die opvoeders se aksent. Party eienskappe wat aan die nie-standaard Engelssprekende opvoeders toegeskryf is, was positief, maar oor die algemeen het leerders ’n negatiewe persepsie van sulke opvoeders gehad. Baie min verandering in hierdie persepsies het van Graad 8 tot Graad 12 plaasgevind. Van besondere belang in die Graad 10 tot 12 Nasionale Kurrikulm is dat leerders aan die einde van hierdie fase ‘n sensitiwiteit sal hê vir kwessies aangaande “diversiteit, soos armoede, ongelykheid, ras, geslag, taal, ouderdom, gestremdheid en ander faktore” (www.sabceducation.co.za/). Die skool waar hierdie navorsing gedoen is, spreek diversiteit op velerlei maniere aan in ’n poging om leerders voor te berei vir lewe in veeltalige en multikulturele Suid-Afrika. Die feit dat Graad 12- leerders in hierdie studie, of hulle eerstetaalsprekers van Engels is al dan nie, steeds aksentvooroordele toon, dui aan dat die doelstellings van lewensvaardigheid onderrig nie voldoende bereik word nie en dat hierdie vorm van vooroordeel op meer kreatiewe maniere aangespreek moet word.
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Gaujers, Regina D. "The impact of the expectations of significant others in the school setting on female leadership in physical education in Western Australian government secondary schools." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1996. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/944.
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This study investigated the impact of the expectations of significant others in the school setting on the promotional aspirations of female physical education teachers in government secondary schools in Western Australia. It explored the ways in which meanings and expectations in the school environment are constructed in relation to wider societal values and ideologies, and how they are negotiated in social settings that are characterised by both constraints and opportunities for action. Despite the equitable proportion of females and males teaching the subject, and the absence of Education Department policy constraints on female promotion since 1972, females remain significantly underrepresented at Head of Department level. In 1995, women held only two (2.7%) of the 73 substantive appointments. The critical paradigm adopted for the study and the research methodology was qualitative. The research design comprised five interrelated and sequential phases. During phase 1, preliminary data was gathered on the perceived essential skills and qualities required by Heads of Department in physical education. Phase 2 involved in-depth interviews in order to document government school female teachers' own accounts of their lives, career aspirations and the expectations of significant others in the context of the school and wider social world; and the accounts of female teachers' significant others with regard to their perceptions and expectations concerning female leadership. During Phase 3, interviews were conducted with female Heads of Department in nongovernment schools to ascertain system differences which may have led to the greater number of these women in the leadership role. Follow-up interviews with the government school female teachers were conducted during phase 4 of the study, and served to clarify and validate findings. Female physical education teachers considering applying for promotion also emerged as a sample group during the course of the study, and these women participated in a group discussion forum. The sample comprised government school female and male physical education teachers and Heads of Department of physical education and nongovernment school female Heads of Department of physical education. The study aimed to build on the findings of my previous, exploratory research regarding factors contributing to the underrepresentation of females at Head of Department level in physical education (Bloat, 1992); to sensitise the participants to the nature, construction and impact of expectations regarding female leadership; and to develop recommendations to redress the imbalance of female Heads of Department in physical education in government schools. The findings of the study confirmed that the expectations of significant others in the school setting have a powerful impact on the promotional aspirations of female physical educators. Expectations regarding the appropriateness of female leadership in physical education were constructed on the basis of individuals' interactions with the social system, characterised by a male paradigm, male dominance and male power. These expectations were communicated to female teachers by means of chauvinism; exclusion; the lower status accorded women in Physical Education Departments; the lack of both encouragement towards promotion, and female role models to demonstrate the opportunities for women; and the fact that the leadership role is more difficult for females. They impacted on the carter development of female physical educators by constraining the women's promotional aspirations. Finally, recommendations based on the findings are made primarily to the Education Department, but also to teacher education institutions and female physical educators. The suggested measures to address the problem focus on the need to move beyond mere policy change. The recognition and valuing of feminine leadership; the establishment of targets for increasing female representation; the identification and sponsorship of potential female candidates; and the introduction of a five year contract for Heads of Department are among the essential strategies needed to stimulate and nurture the promotional aspirations of female physical educators.
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O'Brien, Patrick. "A critical analysis of devolution and the corporate reform of teachers' work." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1999. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1214.
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The corporate transformation of bureaucratic public education in Western Australia commenced in the late 1980s. The reforms announced in the Better Schools Report (1987) aimed to devolve responsibility to schools for the purpose of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public education. Designed to be responsive, adaptable, flexible and accountable, the administrative style accompanying the reforms is described as corporate managerialism. Devolution has impacted heavily on schools and teachers' work. Evidence presented in this thesis suggests that the corporate values and practices that dominate the organisation and management of schools create personal and professional conflict for many classroom teachers. Devolution and corporate managerialism have not only marginalised and in many cases alienated teachers, but failed to improve student learning. In short, the reforms aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness have in fact created additional dilemmas and tensions for classroom teachers. Using teachers' stories this qualitative study examines the perceptions of Level Two secondary classroom teachers about the impact of corporate reforms on their work. It highlights a number of crises that exist for teachers and which threaten their sense of professional autonomy and job satisfaction. Based on the findings the study makes a number of recommendations for creating a critical, collaborative learning environment for classroom teachers.
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Moroz, Rose. "Teacher receptivity to system wide change: The introduction of student outcome statements in secondary schools in Western Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1999. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1223.
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The study has three aims. One is to investigate teachers’ receptivity to the use of Student Outcome Statements in Western Australian government secondary schools. The dependent variable is receptivity towards the use of Student Outcome Statements and is measured in four aspects: Overall Feelings, Attitudes, Behaviour Intentions and Behaviour. Two is to investigate the relationships between receptivity, as the dependent variable and ten independent variables: non-monetary cost benefits, alleviation of fears and concerns, significant other support, feelings compared to the previous system, shared goals (shared teaching goals and cohesiveness), collaboration (team teaching, involvement in decision making and teacher collaboration) and teacher learning opportunities. Three is to investigate the relationships between receptivity and the independent variables in the context of the situation variables related to the school department and teacher. The situation variables are: school size, school location, socio-economic status, department size, department type, teacher status, teacher experience, sex, age, use of Student Outcome Statements and purpose to which Student Outcome Statements are put. The study will add to knowledge in three ways. First, it will test a model of major educational change at the beginning of the implementation stage in a centralised educational system. The model is based on existing research and combines variables from various studies including some from Western Australia and some from overseas. Second, it will provide new data on teacher receptivity to a major change in Western Australia: the use of Student Outcome Statements. Third, the study will provide advice to educational decision-makers and administrators on how best to implement system-level changes in a centralised education system. The empirical data for the study were collected using a teacher questionnaire including existing and newly developed scales. There were 126 valid questionnaires returned to the researcher from 30 different senior high schools across Western Australia. An analysis of the scales measuring each variable was undertaken using a Rasch measurement model. For each variable, the difficulties of the valid items were calibrated on the same interval level scale as the variable measures. While acceptable scales were developed and used, they could all be improved and should he further developed for any future research. A preliminary analysis of the data was undertaken to investigate teacher receptivity to the use of Student Outcome Statements. Zero-order Pearson Product-Moment correlations were calculated between the dependent variables and the group one independent variables between the dependent variables and the group two independent 'variables and the two groups of independent variables and between the dependent variables and the situation variables and were investigated using multiple regression analysis. The preliminary result indicated that 91% of teachers supported the use of Student Outcome Statements. The most significant reasons for using Student Outcome Statements were for the purpose of monitoring student achievement (96%), planning teaching and learning programmes (91%) and collecting student assessment information (84%). The group one independent, variables non-monetary cost benefits, significant other support and feelings compared to the previous system had moderate to strong positive correlations with the dependent variables (Overall Feelings, Attitudes, Behaviour Intentions and Behaviour). The group two independent variables involvement in decision-making and collaboration had a moderate positive relationship with Behaviour and team teaching had a small negative relationship with Behaviour. Teacher learning opportunities had a small positive relationship with Overall Feeling, Attitudes and Behaviour Intentions. Involvement in decision-making and collaboration had a small positive relationship with Behaviour Intentions. Cohesiveness had a small positive relationship with Attitudes and team teaching had a small negative relationship with Attitudes. Involvement in decision-making had a small positive relationship with Overall Feelings. There was no relationship between the dependent variables and the situation variables. All the group one and group two independent variables together explained 59% of the variance in Behaviour Intentions, 48% of the variance in Attitudes, 50% of the variance in Behaviour Intentions and 40% of the variance in Behaviour. The situation variables did not account for any significant variance in the dependent variables. The implication of these results for the theory of system-wide educational change in a centralised system such as Western Australia and for education administrators are discussed.
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Leung, Ying Woon Deby. "Classroom interaction and teachers' beliefs in second language teaching : a case study of four EMI and CMI secondary school L2 teachers in Hong Kong." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2002. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/376.
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Stagova, Emine. "Teaching Strategies : Teachers’ views and attitudes towards reading problems." Thesis, Växjö University, School of Humanities, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1246.
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The aim with this study is to discuss teachers’ individual views and thoughts regarding working with pupils with reading problems in foreign language learning. The study is based on qualitative research and includes interviews with four working teachers at the upper secondary level at one school. The main focus is to illustrate strategies expressed by the teachers involved in this study concerning pupils and reading problems in foreign language learning. Some of the earlier studies done regarding this subject emphasize motivation as a good strategy to use in school in order to pay more attention to pupils and encourage them to do better. Furthermore, teachers should work with literature in a new way, thus making use of the new technology available such as computers and projectors. New technology would make education more appealing and allow pupils to be involved with literature in a new way, familiar to the pupils’ daily life activities.
This study is done accordingly to the approach of two theories, namely phenomenography and reader-response theory. This study does not aim to show any right or wrong strategies from the teachers, it only assumes to show their own thoughts and views regarding this issue. Hopefully this study would help and bring new ideas to forthcoming teachers about reading disabilities and teaching strategies.
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Lewis, Casey L. "Teachers' knowledge of English phonology and attitudes toward reading instruction as related to student outcomes /." Online version of thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1850/6206.
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snider, michelle c. "Limited English Proficient Students and Their Teachers Attitudes of the Learning Environment in Mathematics Classes." Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2007. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/3366.
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This study described the attitudes of students who are limited English proficient (LEP) and their teachers toward the learning environment within their mathematics classes. Data collected via a student survey, student and teacher interviews, and classroom observations were analyzed in this mixed-method study to investigate these attitudes. Accuracy of the findings was confirmed via triangulation. A population of 79 students was chosen through purposive sampling methods that included LEP and non-LEP students in algebra and geometry classes. Students were administered a 30-item questionnaire using the What is Happening in This Class? survey. Scores provided from the survey's six scales were analyzed using an independent samples t-test to describe similarities and differences between the students. The Cooperation Scale was found statistically significant (p = .002) with a mean score of 3.72 for the LEP students compared to 3.74 for non-LEP students. Four scales were found statistically significant (p < 0.05) comparing the algebra and geometry students: Teacher Support (M = 3.61), Involvement (M = 3.38), Cooperation (M = 3.65), and Equity (M = 4.24). Qualitative data was collected via classroom observations and the student and teacher interviews. Classroom observations provided an additional descriptive account of the lived experiences of the participants in this study. Themes observed within LEP and non-LEP classes involved the physical setting, teaching methods, and instructional media used to present lessons. Four additional themes were found in the LEP classes that referred to the experience of teaching LEP students. They are language use, teaching methods specific to LEP students, classroom management, and teacher and student support. The interviews incorporated a phenomenological approach to examine the attitudes of participating students and teachers toward their classroom environments. The following five similar themes emerged from the examination of sheltered and nonsheltered teacher attitudes: (a) support systems, (b) teaching methods, (c) student mathematical skills, (d) instructional media, and (e) student attitudes toward mathematics. The additional theme of language emerged exclusively for sheltered teachers. Suggested further study on the attitudes of LEP students and their teachers in mathematics classes are discussed that includes the amount of support provided in LEP classes, LEP teacher practices in support of student educational needs related to language and mathematics. Additional findings were revealed throughout this study to suggest the effective use of instructional media in LEP mathematics classes and whether or not culture plays a role in their attitudes towards mathematics.Ed.D.
Department of Teaching and Learning Principles
Education
Curriculum and Instruction EdD
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Poon, Wing-pong, and 潘永邦. "Job satisfaction among graduate teachers of Chinese Language, English Language and mathematics in aided secondary schools." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1996. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31958953.
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Howard, Peter T., of Western Sydney Nepean University, and Faculty of Education. "Primary teacher's attitudes toward the student use of calculators in primary (kindergarten-year 6) mathematics classes." THESIS_FE_XXX_Howard_P.xml, 1991. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/133.
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The last fifteen years has seen an increase in the availability of calculators for use by schools and students. Educational authorities in Australia, the United States of America and the United Kingdom have come to recommend the student use of calculators from Kindergarten upwards. This recommendation has attracted continuing controversy, specifically regarding the use of, calculators in primary schools. Such controversy prompts an important question: What views do primary teachers themselves hold on this issue? This report examined the findings of a study into primary teachers' present attitudes toward the student use of calculators in primary mathematics classes. Data were collected from a questionnaire administered during 1990 to a sample of teachers undertaking their fourth year of study for a Bachelor of Education (Primary) at three university campuses in New South Wales, Australia. Those teachers who supported the primary student use of calculators believed that calculators are a technological tool for use in mathematics, that they increase childrens' confidence, they take the focus off computation in doing problems and that children use them outside the classroom. It was found that of these teachers, 55% supported the introduction of calculators before the end of Year 2. A total of 4% did not support their use at all in primary mathematics classes. This study concluded that there was not overall support from primary teachers for the introduction of the calculator into Kindergarten as recommended in the National Statement on the use of Calculators for Mathematics in Australian SchoolsMaster of Education
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Chao, Yan-ki, and 周恩琪. "English teachers' implementation of school-based assessment (SBA): is professional consciousness a determinantof teachers' practice?" Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2010. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B45176127.
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Rong, Xiaoyan, and 戎晓燕. "Teacher identity reconstruction in response to China's curriculum reform : a case study of six English language teachers." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/206483.
Full textAbstract:
Educational reforms have been widely discussed across the world in the 21st century, and recent research suggests that teachers are the mediating agents in implementing educational reforms, particularly curriculum reforms. The eighth curriculum reform in China, which requires a paradigm shift from the teacher-dominated, knowledge-based transmission mode of teaching to the student-centered, experience-based inquiry mode of teaching, has greatly challenged teachers. Notwithstanding the great importance of teachers’ responses to China’s new curriculum reform, there is a little qualitative research that examines teachers’ responses to the new curriculum reform.
The present study sets out to examine teachers’ responses to the new curriculum within the particular social, cultural and institutional context, and to explore the factors that might influence teachers’ responses through a qualitative multiple case study. Three dyads of mentor-mentee senior secondary English teachers in three schools at different levels in Beijing, China were selected as the main research participants. Data were collected over a period of time in each school through interviews, observations and analysis of documents such as teaching logs and students’ homework. Data were analyzed following a grounded approach in an iterative process to provide insights into the process of teachers’ implementation of the new curriculum and to ascertain the mediating factors impacting teachers’ responses.
Findings from case studies reveal that secondary English teachers in China responded to the new curriculum reform at both cognitive and behavioral levels. These responses altogether triggered changes in teachers’ professional world, which constituted teachers’ professional growth. Grounded in Wenger’s theory of identity formation, this study suggests that the changes in teachers’ professional world mediated teachers’ professional identity reconstruction through the participative and reificative dual process of identification and negotiation of meanings, in which teachers’ competences, trajectories, and participation in the new curriculum implementation were negotiated. During this process, secondary English teachers reappropriated the meaning of secondary EFL teaching in China as a student-centered, individually selective, pedagogically integrating communicative and traditional methods, Chinese context-adapted, but still exam-oriented teaching process in relation to the curriculum reform, and also reclaimed that secondary EFL teachers need to be equipped with updated knowledge pool, be aware of individual needs, make compromises to seek a balance between the prescribed curriculum and teaching reality, and allow an interactive teacher-student relationship in response to the curriculum reform. Findings suggest that the process of teacher identity reconstruction was mediated through three-level factors, socially and culturally: national policies, institutional powers, and teachers’ personal factors.
This study contributes to an understanding of teachers’ cognitive and behavioral actions and the interplay between the two in response to a paradigm-shift curriculum reform from a sociocultural perspective. It provides a theoretical lens, namely teacher identity formation to interpret teachers’ responses to the curriculum reform. Situated in a Chinese context where Confucius largely impacted the culture of teaching and learning, this study provides a fresh perspective on Chinese culture of teaching and learning, and raises positive voices from frontline teachers, suggesting that teachers’ responses to the curriculum are not simply mass resistant, but rather complex and dynamic.published_or_final_version
Education
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
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Al, Riyami Thariya Khalifa Salim. "Introducing critical pedagogy to English language teachers at tertiary education in Oman : attitudes, potentialities and challenges." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/23511.
Full textAbstract:
Based on critical theory and postmodernist paradigms, the aim of this study is to introduce Critical Pedagogy (CP) to English language teachers in four higher education institutions in Oman via an action research methodology. Eventually, the ultimate purpose of this study is to create a change by raising teachers' awareness of CP. Although CP cannot be reduced to a monolithic body of discourse, through a review of literature, unified principles have been put forward by various critical educators that shape this study: (1) the political nature of education, (2) the nature of knowledge, (3) education for empowerment, (4) education for transformation, (5) integrating the world into the classroom, and (6) the meaning of ‘critical’ within CP framework. Five data collection tools are utilized during the four phases of the study. In the first phase, 178 teachers complete a five-point Likert scale questionnaire. In the second phase, an article is sent to teachers and a workshop on CP is conducted for 160 English language teachers in the four colleges. Then, documents (102 workshop evaluation forms and 25 lesson plans) and semi-structured interviews with 20 teachers are analysed to elicit teachers' attitudes towards CP and its potentialities and challenges in teaching English. Lastly, in the fourth phase, eight classroom observations are conducted to obtain a deeper insight of the feasibilities and challenges of implementing CP. The findings show teachers’ initial lack of awareness of CP as a possible approach to teaching English. After the intervention, the findings reveal that teachers have various attitudes towards applying CP, ranging from caution to full support. Some teachers resist some of CP’s premises while others are in-between. Although the findings of the study indicate the great potential of CP, the participants acknowledge the existence of many challenges to its implementation; these challenges are related to students, teachers and the college system. These findings are discussed in light of the existing literature and the Omani context. Implications for teachers, pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes and policy makers are drawn based on the study's findings.
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Jiang, Zhengyao. "Homework! What, Why, How？ : Primary school English teachers’ attitudes towards and use of homework in China." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för språkdidaktik, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-157926.
Full textAbstract:
This study aims to investigate the attitudes to English homework held by teachers of primary school (Grades 4-6) in Mainland China, through an online survey. After obtaining 112 responses and analysing them by utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods, the results found that English teachers in China have a unified positive attitude towards homework and its effect. English homework is most commonly assigned once a day. Repetition or Exercise is the most popular type of assigned homework, and it is overwhelmingly preferred by the teachers, followed by Preparation and Reading. The respondents stress that homework has an indispensable connection with the scheduled school teaching. Through assigning the correct volume of homework, students can develop positive habits with regards to self-study, and therefore students can improve their academic performance in examinations. A combination of both oral and written feedback is utixlised the most. Follow-up of homework usually appears to be two-dimensional; material stimuli such as penalty copy and self-correction, and immaterial stimuli such as encouragement and criticism. All of the evidence shows that China’s particular education system reflects Skinner’s behaviourist theories of learning, meaning that students’ behaviour with regards to acquiring knowledge can be shaped by frequent and random reinforcement, and this behaviour will eventually persist in the long-term even in the absence of reinforcements.