Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Language acquisition Social aspects Germany'
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1
Blumenthal, Laura F. "Self-Efficacy in Low-Level English Language Learners." PDXScholar, 2014. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1622.
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Accounting for differences in second language proficiency attainment is an important area of inquiry in the study of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Accounts of the language acquisition process have generally come from cognitive or psychological perspectives, which view language learning as primarily an internal mental/emotional process, or from sociocultural or critical perspectives that emphasize the influence of the learner's social environment. Research on variability in language learning has also failed to take into account the learning experiences of low-level learners.
This study adopted a social-psychological perspective on language acquisition that focused on the role of self-efficacy in learning, and applied this perspective to understudied learners.
This study interviewed four low- to intermediate-proficiency English language learners (ELLs) from Mexico about their experiences and their self-efficacy beliefs about their ability to use their English. Their accounts of their experiences learning and using English were analyzed qualitatively and four major themes were found: the role of English language interlocutors, the participants' self-assessment of their abilities, structural obstacles to learning, and the participants' experiences of and responses to challenges. The results also explored students' expressions of self-efficacy, and the ways in which their levels of efficacy helped or hindered their ability to successfully engage in interactions with English speakers.
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Howell, Ellen Sook Hyang. "Life experiences that influence language acquisition in generation 1.5 students." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2006. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3100.
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The study examines the life and educational experiences of five Generation 1.5 students at California State University, San Bernardino and analyzes how the first cultural socialization affects later English academic language learning. The study used three methods of gathering data: a survey questionnaire, participant-observation, and one-on-one interviews. The study also reviews other case studies that describe life and educational experiences as well as the language and cultural connections of Generation 1.5 students. An analysis of lexical, structural and interactional differences of the spoken and written modes of the English language is also included. The study's findings indicate that learning the vocabulary of the written language was a key factor in being a member of the academic community.
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Nitta, Takayo. "Affective, cognitive and social factors affecting Japanese learners of English in Cape Town." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2006. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_1842_1210749983.
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This research used diary studies and interviews with five Japanese learners of English to investigate the different affective, cognitive and social factors that affected their learning of English in Cape Town between 2004 and 2005. The findings of this study corroborate arguments put forward by Gardner that factors such as learning goals, learning strategy, attitude, motivation, anxiety, self-confidence and cultural beliefs about communication affect the acquisition of a second language and correlate with one another.
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Huh, Cheong Rhie. "Sociocultural factors in the loss of one's mother tongue: The case of Korean immigrant children." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1997. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1187.
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Yeh, Ling-Miao. "Determination of legitimate speakers of English in ESL discourse social-cultural aspects of selected issues - power, subjectivity and equality /." Connect to this title online, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1092350762.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004.Document formatted into pages; contains 299 p. Includes bibliographical references. Abstract available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2007 Aug. 13.
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Gajjout, Hassane. "Strategic politeness enactment in first and foreign language acquisition: with soecial reference to moroccan learners of english." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/212282.
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Huang, Hsiao-Juo. "Enunciative identity in elementary English as a foreign language." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/40.
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How to improve the skill of speaking English is a major challenge for English learners in Taiwan nowadays. This project focuses on issues of pronunciation as the starting point to examine the problems of learning English, and issues of identity transformation in the language-learning process. Then it addresses the concept of enunciation as a way to facilitate English learners to establish their confidence in, and ownership of, the target language. This project is designed not only for discussing issues of improving the teaching and learning of English pronunciation, but also for explicating how students can gain their own voices and define their subjectivity during their English-learning process.
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Hui, Leng. "A study of intercultural discourse between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/672.
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Intercultural communication between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians is receiving ever-increasing attention in many fields. These fields include intercultural communication. English language teaching, education and business. This study approached the intercultural communication between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians from a cognitive perspective by applying the theoretical framework of cultural linguistics. The intercultural discourse produced by mainland Chinese speakers of English in the context of them interacting with Anglo-Australians was analysed. The analysis was made by employing key concepts such as schemas, cultural schemas, discourse scenarios and discourse indexicals. A body of 39 audio-taped conversations between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians which ran about 50 hours was collected according to the research tradition of the ethnography of communication. The data were transcribed and examined with the “emic” and “etic” insights provided by volunteer participants and informants. Fifty live excerpts of these conversations were analysed in line with cognitive anthropology and cultural linguistics.
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Sacklin, Jennifer Marie. "Identity and Investment in the Community ESL Classroom." PDXScholar, 2015. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2326.
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After Norton Peirce's (1995, Norton, 2000) groundbreaking work in conceptualizing identity as "multiple, changing, and contradictory," many researchers have explored language learners' identities. However, few studies of identity have been conducted within the "overlooked and understudied" (Mathews-Aydinli, 2008) context of adult community ESL (English as a Second Language), and even fewer studies have focused on LESLLA (low-educated second language and literacy acquisition) learners in mainstream community ESL programs.
This thesis, based on a case study of an adult LESLLA learner in a community ESL class, analyzes how this student's identity, the social context of her life, and the classroom space shaped her investment in participating in the ESL class.
Ethnographic interviews revealed that the participant's investment in language learning was linked to her identity in multiple and contradictory ways: while the participant eventually left the ESL program, her self-identification as 'no preparada' (uneducated) and therefore 'burra' (stupid) seemed to be a motivating challenge, not an insurmountable obstacle, and her sense of investment in language learning remained strong even though her in-class participation was limited.
The results have pedagogical as well as theoretical implications: there is clearly value in engaging learners' lives in the classroom as well as including learners' voices in research to have a clearer recognition of how learners see themselves and their "possible selves" (Dornyei, 2009) to be able to understand the complex factors that underlie their investments in language learning.
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Wang, Fu-Chuan. "An integration of cognitive academic language proficiency and content-based instruction." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2003. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2297.
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Bester, Zaan. "An investigation into the ability of South African students at Stellenbosch University to interpret implicatures in their second language English." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/71635.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Due to increasing concern about the low levels of throughput at university level, and with an ever-growing awareness of the important role that students’ academic literacy plays in academic success, Stellenbosch University implemented language support courses in various faculties across the campus. In addition, the massification of higher education means that the demographic profile of the student population in university classrooms has changed, and lecturers are increasingly faced with students from a variety of multicultural contexts. It is within this context that a study was done to determine to what extent linguistic and cultural background affects a speaker’s ability to derive meaning from conversational and, by extension, academic implicatures in English. Previous studies have found that native speakers (NSs) and nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English infer different meanings when confronted with particular types of implicature and that NNSs tend to interpret certain types of implicature correctly more often than others. First-year students at Stellenbosch University with a variety of mother tongues were asked to complete a questionnaire containing various types of implicatures. Their responses indicated significant differences in the accuracy with which NSs and NNSs interpreted certain types of implicatures, and in the meanings they arrived at. The thesis considers possible reasons for these differences, and discusses the implications of the study’s results for academic literacy/language support courses offered at South African universities.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Te midde van toenemende kommer oor die lae deurvloeikoerse op universiteitsvlak, en ’n al groter bewustheid van die beduidende impak van studente se akademiese geletterdheid op akademiese sukses, het die Universiteit Stellenbosch taalondersteuningskursusse in verskeie fakulteite op kampus geïmplementeer. Daarbenewens het die massifikasie van tersiêre onderwys tot gevolg dat die demografiese profiel van die studentebevolking in universiteitsklaskamers verander het, en dosente kom toenemend in aanraking met studente vanuit diverse kulturele kontekste. Binne hierdie konteks is ’n studie onderneem om vas te stel in watter mate ’n spreker se vermoë om die betekenis van geïmpliseerde taalgebruik (in alledaagse gesprekke en by implikasie ook akademiese taal) te bepaal, deur taal en kulturele agtergrond beïnvloed word. Navorsing het getoon dat moedertaalsprekers en nie-moedertaalsprekers van Engels verskillende betekenisse toeken wanneer hulle met sekere tipes geïmpliseerde taalgebruik in aanraking kom, en dat nie-moedertaalsprekers sekere tipes geïmpliseerde taalgebruik meer dikwels korrek interpreteer as ander. Eerstejaarstudente aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch met ’n verskeidenheid moedertale is gevra om ’n vraelys met verskillende tipes geïmpliseerde taalgebruik te voltooi. Die response het getoon dat daar beduidende verskille is in die akkuraatheid waarmee moedertaalsprekers en nie-moedertaalsprekers sekere tipes geïmpliseerde taal interpreteer, en in die betekenisse wat hulle daaraan toeken. Die tesis bespreek moontlike redes vir hierdie verskille, sowel as die implikasies van die studie se resultate vir akademiese geletterdheids- /taalondersteuningskursusse wat by Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite aangebied word.
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Jenison, Priscilla Beth. "The role of motivation within an activity system for adults learning English as a second language." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2003. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/46.
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This project attempts to conceptualize the relationship between the language learner and the social world, developing a comprehensive theory of identity that integrates the language learner and the language learning context, while trying to keep motivation high.
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Lee, Ya-Chi. "Promoting creative English teaching using Chinese culture for elementary schooling in Taiwan." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2001. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2952.
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To make English an interesting subject for elementary school students, teachers need to know what material attracts students, how to motivate students, and how to release students' creativity. Therefore, This project incorporates the concepts of multiple intelligences, motivation, culture and language, and development of creativity to provide a model for promoting creative English teaching in the elementary schools of Taiwan. In addition, the content of the unit, based on Chinese culture and the comparison of Chinese and American cultures, is an innovative curriculum designed to motivate students to learn English.
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Cole, Jason. "Foreign language learning in the age of the internet : a comparison of informal acquirers and traditional classroom learners in central Brazil." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:db80473a-2075-4e91-bb07-a706bb6a433f.
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Several recent studies (e.g., Benson and Chik, 2010; Sockett, 2014) suggest that as a result of changes in technology and the concomitant emergence of a globalized culture, highly effective out-of-class, informal English acquisition is becoming more common. The present study compared high-level, well-motivated Central Brazilian classroom-trained learners (CTLs) with fully autonomous self-instructed learners (FASILs) of similar backgrounds. Using linguistic tests, a questionnaire and a structured interview, the study analysed group differences as well as individual differences in language proficiency, learner histories, behaviour, beliefs, and attitudes. The key research question asked whether there existed, in more than rare circumstances, FASILs who attained levels of proficiency at least as high as highly-motivated, well-trained CTLs? Furthermore, if the knowledge and skills of FASILs were, in some respects, superior to those of CTLs, what variables accounted for the advantage? FASILs significantly outperformed CTLs across a battery of linguistic tests measuring a range of knowledge and skills. Test results indicated that while CTLs tended to plateau at upper intermediate levels, FASILs generally improved through advanced levels, often achieving native-like levels of knowledge and use. The strongest contributing factor to proficiency was found to be self-determined motivation driven by a personalized relationship with English often marked by a transnational identity. The evidence suggests this type of motivation, significantly more associated with FASILs than CTLs, led users to engage deeply with the linguistic details of informal sources. The findings challenge dominant paradigms in several fields of SLA which prioritize expert regulation over independent discovery and controlled, collaborative environments over real-world contexts of use entered into for personal reasons. A hoped for consequence of this study is that SLA research and teaching practice will begin to recognize and promote rather than regulate or dismiss the unique learning arcs that more and more English learners experience in their everyday lives.
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Kim, Backyoung. "Autonomous elementary English learning in Korea using mediated structures." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2004. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2449.
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Flores-Salgado, Elizabeth. "A pragmatic study of developmental patterns in Mexican students making English requests and apologies." Doctoral thesis, Australia : Macquarie University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/28866.
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"September 2008".Thesis (DAppLing)--Macquarie University, Division of Linguistics and Psychology, Dept. of Linguistics, 2009.
Bibliography: p. 189-196.
The purpose of this research was to analyse the pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic development of language groups at different proficiency levels and investigate the relationship between interlanguage pragmatics and grammatical competence. For this study, 36 native Spanish speaking EFL learners at different proficiency levels were asked to respond in English to 24 different situations which called for the speech acts of request and apology. Their English performances were compared to those of 12 American English native speakers in order to provide base-line cultural data. Thirty six Mexican Spanish native speakers also participated as a control group in order to analyse the role of the mother tongue in the performances of the EFL learners. The data, collected using a carton oral production task (COPT), were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results showed three important findings that illuminate the relationship between pragmatic development and grammatical competence and lent support to Kasper and Rose's (2003) claim of a universal pragmatic principle. The first finding suggested that basic adult learners possess a previous pragmatic knowledge in their L1 that allows them to focus on the intended meaning and, in most cases, and to assemble (from the linguistic structures available to them) an utterance that conveys a pragmatic intention and satisfies the communicative demands of a social situation. The second finding revealed that there are two essential conditions to communicate a linguistic action: the knowledge of the relevant linguistic rules and the knowledge of how to use them appropriately and effectively in a specific context. Without an elementary knowledge of the linguistic rules, it is impossible to select the forms to realize a speech act in a target-like manner. The findings further suggested that advanced learners possess the grammatical knowledge to produce an illocutionary act, but they need to learn the specific L2 pragmatic conventions that enable them to know when to use these grammatical forms and under what circumstances.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
xi, 238 p. ill
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Shih, Ching-Yi. "A study of the interlanguage of apology by Taiwanese English-Language learners." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2793.
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This thesis presents a study of the interlanguage of the speech act of apology by Taiwanese learners of English. It compares the way Taiwanese learners apoologize in English and how they apologize in Mandarin Chinese, as well as how native speakers of American English apologize.
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Jones, Adam McFaul. "Starts and Stops: Multimodal Practices for Walking as a Group in an Augmented Reality Place Based Game." PDXScholar, 2016. http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2748.
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Augmented reality, place-based games utilize GPS-enabled maps and mobile media recording devices to shift traditional classroom activities into real-world contexts. AR-games for second language learning is a new field of research, and few studies have examined the kinds of face-to-face interactions players engage in during AR-games. Using intensive, multi-camera video data of English language learners playing an AR-game, ChronoOps, this thesis describes how groups start and stop walking during gameplay. The method used is conversation analysis, and this study draws from theories of embodied and distributed cognition, situated learning, and interactional competence Walking to and from various destinations as a group is an important action for accomplishing the ChronoOps game. Thus, starting and stopping are sites where players orient to the tasks and environment of the game. Results show that starts and stops are projectable and accountable actions comprised of multiple semiotic fields including linguistic, gestural, and embodied practices. Furthermore, starts and stops are contingent on players' orientation to their place within the campus and game destinations, but also their place within the locally constructed nature of the AR-game task organization. These findings have implications for future research theories of learning in SLA and AR-games.
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Davis, Gregry Michael. "šawaš IlI?i-šawaš wawa -- 'Indian country--Indian language' : A Participant Observation Case Study of Language Planning by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon." PDXScholar, 1998. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4979.
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The Kwelth Tahlkie Culture and Heritage Board (KTC&HB) of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGR) have made it a priority to revitalize one of the languages which historically has been associated with being a Grand Ronde Indian-Chinook Jargon, referred to as činuk wawa 'Chinook talk' or simply činuk.
The purpose of the present study was to observe the language planning process as executed by the KTC&HB. Initial guiding questions were: (i) What stages is the KTC&HB going through in the process of planning for činuk revitalization? (ii) How do these efforts compare with theory and actual practice in other settings? (iii) How will the KTC&HB achieve their goals, and how successful will they be? The researcher participated in the language planning process, functioning as a linguistic consultant. From January through May 1998, over 150 hours were spent on location in Grand Ronde, working primarily with the Tribe's language specialist to develop materials on činok.
The language planning efforts have resulted in the production of a variety of language materials, which are, at this point, still in draft form. They include an orthography-developed to increase readability and learnability of the language, a grammar—including both syntactic and phonological descriptions, and a dictionary—based on a wide variety of sources on činuk. Participant observation reveals that there is support for the language planning efforts in GR at a number of levels: the Tribal Council, the KTC&HB, and the činuk lu?lu,, a group often to fifteen tribal members committed to learning the language. This group will assist the language specialist in future language planning decisions. The success of the early stages of language planning in this case can be attributed, at least in part, to the Native locus of control, which has been established. Clearly defined and articulated relationships with outside linguists will also contribute to the success of this case. The cinok lu?lu is off to a good start, as well, with highly motivated community members striving to learn the language quickly.
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Lu, Cheng-Wei. "Activity theory as a basis for negotiation training in adult English-as-a-foreign-language instruction." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2006. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2959.
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The project offers Taiwanese teachers who work with adults a new concept of teaching crosscultural negotiation skills as part of their EFL instruction. It also presents Taiwanese teachers with a method of analyzing their educational practice to encourage more active and engaged teaching with a useful curriculum and its corresponding assessment.
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Hodgskiss, Jennifer Adelé. "A case study : tracing the development of emergent literacy in a Grade R class." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003324.
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The introduction of the new curriculum in South Africa has introduced a new approach to literacy in the early years of the Foundation Phase (Grade R – 1), which has a strong emphasis on emergent literacy. The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) for English – Home Language describes this approach as balanced “because it begins with children’s emergent literacy, it involves them in reading real books and writing for genuine purposes, and it gives attention to phonics”. For many teachers in South Africa, this means moving away from the “reading readiness approach” which held that children were not ready to read and write until they were able to perform sub-skills such as auditory discrimination and visual discrimination, and had developed their fine and large motor skills to a certain level. The purpose of this study was to trace and document children’s emergent literacy development in a Grade R class over a period of two months. More specifically, the intention was to investigate whether it was possible for trained, motivated teachers who have access to everyday resources in otherwise ordinary South African schools, to achieve the Assessment Standards set out in the NCS for Home Language in Grade R. In this school-based case study, the sample consisted of 4 children from 1 preschool in Queenstown, South Africa. The participants were selected according to gender and language because these appear to be significant factors in literacy development. The interpretive approach was used to collect and analyse data. Data were gathered from three main sources; (1) a research journal, (2) semi-structured interviews with the parents of the 4 participants, and (3) samples of the participants’ spontaneous writing. These were then triangulated to give credibility, objectivity and validity to the interpretation of the data. The findings revealed that: (1) Social class, language and to a lesser extent gender emerged as factors which impacted significantly on the children’s literacy development, resulting in some children progressing more quickly than others. In South Africa, language is an indicator of social class. The English-speaking children had a socioeconomic and language advantage which enabled them to make considerable strides in their literacy development. In contrast, the Xhosa-speaking children were disadvantaged by their socioeconomic and language circumstances, which made their literacy progress much slower. (2) The disparities between the English and Xhosa-speaking children in terms of the stability and structure of their families, had a considerable impact on their literacy performance. (3) Finally, teachers in English medium classes need to be aware of these factors. They need to design strategies and interventions to help those children who are learning in their additional language to achieve at similar levels to their English-speaking peers. If this is not done, the gap between the literacy achievements of the English-speakers and speakers of other languages will get wider and wider as time goes by.
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Tshuma, Sibhekinkosi Anna. "Reading clubs as a literacy intervention tool to develop English vocabulary amongst Grade 3 English second language learners at a school in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011755.
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This study is part of a larger research programme that seeks to contribute towards an understanding of South Africa's complex literacy landscape and formulate strategies that may address these particularly in the Foundation Phase. It is a case study of one public primary school in Grahamstown where isiXhosa is used as a medium of instruction until Grade 3, after which the medium of instruction changes to English. This transition is not helped by the little reading that happens in the language at the FP. The learners under study are Grade 3 isiXhosa first language speakers, learning English as a First Additional Language (FAL) with limited exposure to the language. Through a qualitative participatory action research process, the study investigated the extent to which a reading club in general and a responsive reading programme in particular, might develop learners' English vocabulary at this particular school. The value of reading clubs as a vehicle for second language learning as well as the importance of considering learner needs in the development of the reading programme are key contributions this study makes. The study draws on social constructivism as a theoretical framework based on the principle that learning is a social acitvity. Vygotsky (1978) states that language learning (LL) takes place through interactions in meaningful events, rather that through isolated language activities. The process is seen as holistic, that is, each mode of language supoorts and enhances overall language development. Furthermore, LL develops in relation to the context in which it is used, that is, it develops according to the situation, the topic under discussion and the relationship betwwen participants. Language also develops through active engagement of the learners. The role of the teacher or a more competent other is then seen as that of a facilitator in a learning context in which learners are viewed as equally capable of contributing to their learning through learning from and with each other (Holt and Willard-Holt, 2000). Vygotsky's theory of social interaction has been influential in highlighting the important role of social and cultural contexts in extending children's learning. The preliminary results of this study point toward the importance of the learning environment, particularly an informal environment in second language development. The results also highlight the need for learners (a) to be provided with opportunities to engage with meaningful and authentic texts, (b) to be allowed to make their own book choices, (c) to participate in large group, small group and individual activities to enable them to engage with a variety of texts, and (d) to confront vocabulary in a variety of ways through multiple texts and genres.
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Bechtel, Molly M. "First-generation college students and greek membership : understanding college experiences through the lens of community cultural wealth." Scholarly Commons, 2010. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/752.
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Although first-generation college students and fratemity and sorority members have been explored and described independently within higher education research, less is known about the overlap in these two experiences and the culminating student population which provides the focus for this study. This study investigates the college experiences of six first-generation college students who are members of Greek-letter organizations at universities on the west coast. Case study methodology and community cultural wealth (Y osso, 2005) are used to analyze semistructured, in-depth interviews and provide rich descriptions, which inform an understanding of why students join Greek-letter organizations, the nature of their experience, and how their membership may influence how they experience college. Although participants did not describe their experience in college or in a Greek-letter organization as particularly unique as a result of their generational status, findings indicate a substantial gain in social and navigational capital, which they intended to utilize during and after their college years. Findings also indicate that due to the involvement in the Greek community, first-generation college students experienced college with a greater commitment to persist. By utilizing community cultural wealth to describe and explain first-generation college students in Greek-letter organizations, it emerges as a relevant framework for student affairs educators to incorporate into their practice.
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Liebenberg, Cornelia Susanna. "Ontwikkeling van kommunikatiewe vermoë deur letterkunde-onderrig in die tweede taal." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9404.
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M.Phil. ( Education Linguistics)Since communication between language groups is of crucial importance in a multicultural country, the inadequate second language proficiency of school-Ieavers gives cause for concern. The current paradigm shift to relevant and vocationally orientated education raises questions about the relevance of the literature component and literature methodology within a communicative approach to second language teaching. The aim of this study is to investigate the nature of communicative competence and the way in which this is accounted for in second language teaching. The nature of literature is studied to determine whether it allows for a literature-orientated approach which can contribute towards the development of communicative competence within the parameters of a second language communicative approach. Research findings have indicated that communicative competence functions as a cognitive web of interwoven abilities and that second language teaching, which has as its ultimate aim the fluent and correct use of the target language, has to take the complex and interactive nature of the various components into account. It has also become evident that a literature teaching approach, based on the readerresponse theory, affords opportunity for stimulating language acquisition processes. By participating in analytical and communicative acts of learning, proceeding from the literature text, the leaner is involved in a process which can result in the gradual development of linguistic, strategic and psychomotor abilities. Literature thus forms a relevant and functional component of the second language syllabus and can contribute to the development of communicative competence.
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Van, Zyl Ashleigh. "Vocabulary assessment in grade 1 Afrikaans-English bilinguals." Thesis, 2017. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/23821.
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A dissertation submitted to
The Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology
School of Human and Community Development
Faculty of Humanities
University of the Witwatersrand
In fulfilment of the requirements of the degree
Master of Arts in Speech-Pathology
March, 2017Purpose: There is a need to develop and refine assessment measures on bilingual children, since language measures used on monolingual individuals cannot and should not be directly applied to the bilingual population (Hoff et al., 2012; O’Brien, 2015). The occurrence of Afrikaans-English bilinguals in South Africa provides a rewarding area of investigation for the Speech-Language Therapist (SLT) (Penn & Jordaan, 2016), as the Afrikaans language is well-researched and many individuals from this population are considered to be more balanced bilinguals than other bilingual groups (Coetzee-Van Rooyen, 2013).The assessment of vocabulary in bilingual children has received particular attention because limited vocabulary is one of the first signs of language impairment (Ellis & Thal, 2008). This research aimed to determine how Grade 1 Afrikaans-English bilingual children perform on a bilingual vocabulary assessment. Design: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional and comparative design was used in this study. Method: The Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test 4 (EOWPVT-4) (Martin & Brownell, 2011a) and the Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test 4 (ROWPVT-4) (Martin & Brownell, 2011b) were used to assess 30 grade 1 Englishspeaking monolinguals. In addition an adapted Afrikaans expressive one word vocabulary test based on the EOWPVT-4 and an adapted Afrikaans receptive one word vocabulary test based on the ROWPVT-4 were used to assess 30 grade 1 Afrikaans-English bilinguals. Permission from the schools involved, informed consent from the parent/s or guardian/s as well as child assent were obtained. The data gathered from testing was tabulated, interpreted with the use of mean scores and standard deviations (SD) and analysed using within- and between -group statistical comparisons. Mean raw scores were converted to percentages for ease of comparison between receptive and expressive scores. Results: Within-language comparisons revealed that on the English test, receptive and expressive scores within both the English monolingual and bilingual groups were significantly correlated. Expressive scores could therefore be predicted from receptive scores or vice versa in both the English monolingual and bilingual groups. However, the receptive and expressive score on the Afrikaans tests were not significantly correlated. In the bilingual group, the receptive score in Afrikaans was significantly higher than the expressive score suggesting that although the bilingual participants had good knowledge of Afrikaans vocabulary they could not always express this in a naming test. They frequently used the English word. Afrikaans is possibly being used less in the home and school environments so that the English words are more familiar. Nonetheless, both the monolingual and bilingual participants had significantly higher scores on the receptive vocabulary assessment than on the expressive vocabulary assessments in both English and Afrikaans. Between-group comparison revealed that the differences between the scores of the English monolingual and Afrikaans-English bilingual learners were not significant on either the receptive or expressive vocabulary measure in English. The bilingual group performed as well as the English participants on the English tests, suggesting that they are not disadvantaged in the language of instruction. The norms used in the EOWPVT and the ROWPVT were applicable to both the monolingual and bilingual groups’ scores for the age range of the participants and highlighted that these tests were suitable in assessing an English monolingual and Afrikaans-English bilingual child in South Africa. When composite scoring was used the bilinguals scored significantly better than their monolingual peers on both the receptive and expressive measures, which confirmed the premise behind this study- that composite scoring should be used to gain an accurate assessment of a bilingual child’s vocabulary. Adaptation of the English tests into Afrikaans, as opposed to O’Brien’s study (2015), which adapted English tests into isiZulu, may have positively affected the results as all English words had direct translation equivalents in Afrikaans, which was not the case in isiZulu. The comparison between simultaneous and sequential bilinguals within the bilingual group demonstrated that the simultaneous bilinguals’ mean receptive and expressive scores surpassed those obtained by the sequential bilingual participants. A significant difference was identified between simultaneous and sequential bilinguals’ composite receptive scores and Afrikaans expressive scores. Finally, only one monolingual participant scored below the peer group mean on both the receptive and expressive vocabulary tests, indicating low proficiency in English and risk of language impairment; however no bilingual participants were found to be language impaired when composite scoring was used. Conclusion: Bilingualism remains a rewarding area of investigation in South Africa. Afrikaans-English bilingual children performed significantly better than O’Brien’s (2015) isiZulu-English participants on a translated, originally English vocabulary test. Throughout this study the refinement of valid assessment tools for accurate description of bilingual children’s vocabulary was highlighted. The well-researched technique of composite scoring has proven to be valuable in avoiding overdiagnosis in South African bilingual children.
MT2018
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Thubakgale, Katlego Ngaletsane Success. "The possible effects of text messaging on the written work of grade 11 English first additional language learners at a public high school in Pretoria." 2016. http://encore.tut.ac.za/iii/cpro/DigitalItemViewPage.external?sp=1001936.
Full textAbstract:
M. Tech. Language PracticeMobile technology has advanced to a point whereby mobile phones are no longer devices anyone can live without. Text messaging has become so popular that now there are more text messages sent by mobile phones than calls made on mobile phones. This study set out to investigate the possible effects of text messaging language on the written school work (learners' ability to properly compose and formulate) of grade 11 English first additional language learners (EFAL) at a public high school in Soshanguve, Pretoria. To this end, the two objectives of the study were to: identify if there were any instances or uses of text messaging in the written school work of grade 11 English first additional language learners at a public school in Pretoria; and establish the possible effects (positive or negative) of text messaging on grade 11 English first additional language learners' written school work.
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"Implementing innovative feedback in L2 writing: a sociocultural perspective = 實施在第二語言寫作創新反饋 : 社會文化理論視角." 2014. http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b6115428.
Full textAbstract:
過去二十年見證了一股有關第二語言寫作反饋的研究。由此，對學生的寫作所作出不同方式和類別反饋的效果，也得出了一些啟迪（例如Bitchener, 2008; Bitchener & Knoch, 2008; Sheen,2007; van Beuningen, De Jong & Kuiken, 2008; 2012）。然而，這些研究存在著明顯的不足。首先，有關的研究往往是都集中於大學程度的反饋。雖然有些研究是關乎中學方面的，但為數不多；有關小學寫作反饋作用的研究更是鳳毛麟角。從研究所得出有關第二語言寫作反饋的方式，究竟是否可以應用於小學方面，則有待探索。其次，現時的研究大都是採取受控實驗方式的設計，所得出的結果都是"非情境性"和"非社會性"的（Goldstein, 2006, 頁185）；因此就教師所作反饋方式的選擇和學生的反應等問題，未能提供充足的資料。第三，有關研究大都是關於反饋行為本身，而不是關乎教師實際的工作情境所作的反饋。也很少注意在文化和制度的局限（例如機構的意識形態和教師個人的教學經驗）之下，如何可以有效地在反饋上作出改變。為了填補這方面研究的空白，這研究超越了反饋本身，並在更廣泛的社會文化情境中，從社會文化活動理論的角度（ Engeström ，1987）試圖探討兩名小學教師在他們各自的教學情境中，如何運用替代反饋策略（ AFS ），以及教學情境對運用替代反饋策略的影響。除了探討教師改變反饋實踐的動力外，本研究也揭示AFS 與學生態度之間的互動、以及其對學生寫作表現的影響。同時也考慮到社會文化因素對教師在一般教室中實踐AFS 的潛在影響。
這種縱向案例研究的方法，涉及兩名在香港一所小學任教的教師如何在他們的小學六年級課堂中實施AFS。蒐集數據的方法包括：訪問校長、科主任、教師和學生，觀課，學生問卷調查，以及寫作的前測和後測。
研究結果顯示學生對寫作表現出更積極的態度，他們的表現有著統計學上顯著的改善。此外，結果也顯示社會文化會影響教師在學生寫作上實施AFS。
這項研究的結果意味著，於社會文化和活動理論有限的研究上，不論在理論、實踐和研究方面，都作出了一定的貢獻；同時也提升了我們對替代反饋策略如何在本地課堂中予以實踐的理解。
The past two decades have witnessed a surge of research into feedback in L2 writing, and as a result, insights have been gained regarding the potential of various forms and types of written feedback in responding to student writing (e.g., Bitchener, 2008; Bitchener & Knoch, 2008; Sheen, 2007; van Beuningen, De Jong & Kuiken, 2008; 2012). There are, however, conspicuous gaps in the research base. Firstly, research to date tends to have focused on feedback in college-level setting. There are studies, though few, that investigate feedback in secondary contexts. Little is known about the role of feedback in primary school settings. Whether the prescribed methods of feedback in L2 writing derived from research can be applied in the primary contexts is yet to be explored. Secondly, the extensive body of existing research has adopted controlled experimental designs, resulting in research being "noncontextual and nonsocial" (Goldstein, 2006, p.185), hence offering little information such as the reasons of the teachers’ feedback options and students’ reaction to teacher feedback. Thirdly, the focus of the bulk of research is primarily on the act of feedback per se rather than teachers’ implementation of feedback in their specific work contexts. Little attention has been paid to how change in feedback can be effectively implemented in the face of cultural and institutional constraints (e.g., the ideology of the institutions and the educational experiences of the individuals in the teaching context).
To fill the research gaps identified, the study goes beyond feedback per se and situates feedback within the wider sociocultural context, in an attempt to explore the two primary teachers’ endeavour to implement alternative feedback strategies (AFS) in their teaching contexts and the contextual influence on how AFS are enacted within the context of primary education from a sociocultural activity theory perspective (Engeström, 1987). In addition to exploring the teachers’ impetus of change in their feedback practice, this study aims to shed light on the interplay between AFS and student attitude as well as its effects on the writing performance of the students. It also takes into account the potential influence of sociocultural factors on the teachers’ implementation of AFS in the natural classroom setting.
This longitudinal mixed-method case study involved two teachers from a primary school in Hong Kong, implementing AFS in writing for one academic year in their Primary 6 classroom. Data sources included interviews with administrators, teachers and students, classroom observations, student questionnaires and pre-and post-writing tasks. The results of the study indicate that students exhibited a more positive attitude to writing and they have achieved a statistically significant gain in their overall writing performance. It was also found that the sociocultural setting mediated the teachers’ implementation of AFS in writing.
A number of implications have surfaced from the study, which are discussed in relation to theory, practice and research. The study contributes to the literature by adding to the limited research base on feedback informed by sociocultural and activity theory, as well as enhancing our understanding of how alternative feedback strategies can be truly put into practice in the local writing classrooms.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Mak, Wing Wah Pauline.
Thesis (Ed.D) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-214).
Abstracts also in Chinese.
Mak, Wing Wah Pauline.
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Schroeder, Stephanie G. "Aplicaciones de la teoría de la actividad a la enseñanza de Español mediante proyectos." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1805/6107.
Full textAbstract:
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)Es obvio que nuestro mundo ha cambiado mucho en las últimas tres décadas. Los métodos antiguos de enseñanza servían su función en las aulas y en el sistema educativo de aquella época los alumnos iban a la escuela, se sentaban delante del maestro y lo escuchaban para aprender el contenido; con estos cambios algunos maestros todavía esperan que sus estudiantes aprendan de la misma manera que en años anteriores. Todavía existe la mentalidad de que los estudiantes entran en un aula, se sientan y escuchan a su maestro. Este trabajo propone una forma de desarrollar proyectos desde la perspectiva de la teoría de actividad. Para entender mejor la teoría de actividad y su uso en el aprendizaje basado en los proyectos, empezaremos con una revisión de la historia de la teoría, una explicación de sus principios y luego presentaremos un ejemplo en un aula donde un maestro inculca confianza en los estudiantes y les da la oportunidad de hacer actividades para mostrar sus habilidades, todo guiado por la teoría de actividad.
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Mazuruse, Mickson. "A critical appraisal of the harmonisation of Shona-Nyai cross-border varieties in Zimbabwe and Mozambique." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/18689.
Full textAbstract:
The study sought to explore possibilities of harmonising Shona-Nyai cross-border varieties in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Emerging from the responses were problems of attitudes, ignorance of what the harmonisation project entails and the different levels of development among the varieties to be harmonised. Participants believed that the challenges they faced could be resolved and they proposed some intervention strategies. Results from the questionnaire, the interview and documents analysed affirmed the generally held view that, the future of Shona-Nyai as a language and culture is securely in the hands of the speakers’ initiatives. The argument of the study has been that, the success of such a harmonisation project depends on the presence of favourable and conducive political and economic conditions through enabling language engineering activities.
Information collected from the questionnaires was mainly presented in tables and information from interviews and document analysis was presented qualitatively in words. The language as a right and the language as resource orientations of language planning guided this study. The intention was to show that the preservation of linguistic diversity is important in the maintenance of group and individual identity and harmonisation should further this cause. Findings from this thesis indicate that for a successful harmonisation project to take place there is need for research in the documentation of underdeveloped Shona-Nyai varieties so that they have some presence in the education domain. The study recommends that people’s mindsets must be changed by packaging the harmonisation project in a way which they understand and appreciate. A holistic approach in solving the language problem can be achieved through a mixed approach of language policy formulation.African Languages
D. Litt. et Phil. (African languages)
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Stoll, Barbara Buchhorn. "The effects of differential exposure to stories on second language discourse skills of pre-primary children." Diss., 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/16121.
Full text
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Potts, Diane. "Inside on-line : interaction and community in graduate students’ use of computer-mediated communication." Thesis, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/12193.
Full textAbstract:
A qualitative investigation into language education students' use of computer-mediated
communication, this study reveals how the diversity, support and resources constructed
through students on-line dialogue served to scaffold students' language and content
learning. The study focuses on student interaction on an asynchronous bulletin board
used as an adjunct to a graduate seminar. The radicals of persistent conversation
(Bregman & Haythornthwaite, 2001) interacted with elements of the seminar design to
facilitate non-native speakers' entry into the dialogue, while simultaneously affording all
students with opportunities for exercising agency in their own learning. Relationships
between native and nonnative speakers of English were altered by nonnative speakers'
ability to communicate their competence, and participants developed a strong identity as a
community. Diversity and community evolved as valuable contributors to individual
learning.
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Sutherlin, Lindsey Dru. "El componente cultural: sus influencias en la creacion de una identidad L2 y la adquisicion de espanol como segunda lengua." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1805/5586.
Full textAbstract:
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)El propósito del presente estudio es cultivar un entendimiento avanzado de este proceso de construcción identitaria por medio del análisis de un cuestionario diseñado para explorar las relaciones complicadas entre el estudio de lenguas extranjeras, la cultura y la identidad. Específicamente, examinaré los efectos del componente cultural en sus diversas manifestaciones durante el estudio de una lengua extranjera para acertar cómo interactúan varias experiencias culturales en la creación de una identidad L2, qué efectos tienen ciertas experiencias en esta construcción o renegociación identitaria y cuáles son las experiencias culturales que más influyen y contribuyen a la creación de una identidad L2. Además, exploraré las varias combinaciones de tales experiencias culturales para relacionarlas con la fuerza y la profundidad de la identidad L2 construida, estableciendo así patrones preestablecidos si los resultados del cuestionario revelan correlaciones claras. Este proceso de crear, reconstruir y renegociar una identidad L2 por medio de un conjunto de experiencias de exposición cultural es un fenómeno válido con importantes implicaciones pedagógicas tanto para la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras como para el campo de la adquisición de segundas lenguas. Es mi creencia que las conclusiones del presente estudio serán imprescindibles para la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras, puesto que los patrones revelados por el cuestionario podrían influir la formación de nuevos currículos y programas de estudio orientados más a la enseñanza—y exposición—de la cultura de la lengua meta. Con el propósito de ayudar con el proceso de renegociación identitaria ya establecido en la metodología de enseñanza, estos nuevos currículos podrían incorporar los componentes culturales más efectivos en la construcción de una identidad L2. Por extensión, la implementación de estos nuevos programas de estudio quizá cambiará la manera en la que los estudiantes se acerquen al estudio lingüístico y facilitará el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras tanto en el aula como en el extranjero, logrando de este modo mejores resultados y la creación exitosa de más hablantes proficientes.
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Ludidi, Yolisa Yolande. "Evaluating the effect of academic literacy intervention programme on the SATAP English scores of first year students at a university in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa." Diss., 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/19031.
Full textAbstract:
The effect of the academic literacy intervention programme on the SATAP English scores was evaluated. This study begins as a longitudinal study in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology (FSET). 120 subjects from the Electrical, Civil, Building and Mechanical departments in the FSET were randomly selected to serve as an experimental group. The research design employed a quantitative methodology. Data was collected using the Standardised Assessment Tests for Access and Placement (SATAP) English Test. The test was administered to the experimental group as a pre- test and post-test measure at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year. The SPSS statistical programme with frequency tables and graphs was utilised to analyse the data obtained. The results indicated that the difference between the pre-test scores and the post-test scores was statistically significant. The post-test scores were significantly higher than the pre-test ones. It was concluded that the academic literacy intervention programme was effective in increasing the SATAP scores and therefore addressed some of the language needs of students.Language Education Arts and Culture
M. Ed. (Adult Education)