Teses / dissertações: "English language – Usage – Testing"

1

Snyder, Delys Ann Waite. "A Corpus-based Approach to Determining Standard American English". Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2007. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2239.pdf.

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2

Bader, Fadel Mohammed Na'im. "Analysis of error type, source, and gravity in the writing of Arabic ESL students in U.S.A. colleges". PDXScholar, 1988. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/3753.

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The purpose of this study is to determine the type, possible source and gravity of errors found in the Test of Written English and Placement Tests compositions written by native speakers of Arabic at college level. The first part of the study is an error analysis designed to reveal the types of errors that are most frequently made by Arab students at college level. The sources of these errors are explained according to Richards' classification of errors as inter- and intralingual (1971). Seven types of errors are identified under interlingual category: articles, prepositions, the copula, embedded questions, pronoun retention, semantic and stylistic errors. Intralingual errors included errors in overgeneralization and ignorance of rule restriction.

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3

Coetzee, Wena. "Language errors in the use of English by two different dialect groups of Afrikaans first language-speakers employed by Nedbank : an analysis and possible remedy". Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2063.

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Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The financial sector of South Africa is increasingly under pressure to ensure that the language used in all communication is aligned with international best practice and, furthermore, that the correct business terminology is applied. Standards of language proficiency and usage have, however, deteriorated over the past few years. This appears to be due mainly to lack of good language education at school level. In Nedbank, specifically, the language used by employees in written external communication is not always on par as is evident from the documentation that Nedbank Editorial and Language Services (Nels), the “language custodian” of the bank, has to edit and translate. Nels decided six years ago that, instead of rewriting all these documents, which is not timeor cost-efficient, to rather give business-writing training across the bank to enable Nedbank employees to increase their general writing proficiency of English. This study aims to establish whether there are discrepancies in the type of error made in English as used by Coloured Afrikaans mother tongue speakers and White Afrikaans mother tongue speakers in order to determine how to customise the business-writing training materials to the benefit of each cultural grouping in Nedbank.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die finansiële sektor in Suid-Afrika is toenemend onder druk om te verseker dat die taal wat in alle kommunikasie gebruik word in ooreenstemming is met internasionale “beste praktyk”, en verder dat die korrekte besigheidsterminologie gebruik word. Taalvaardigheids- en taalgebruiksvlakke het egter oor die afgelope aantal jare verswak, waarskynlik a.g.v. onvoldoende taalonderrig op skool. In Nedbank is die taalgebruik van werknemers in geskrewe eksterne kommunikasie nie altyd van ’n aanvaarbare standaard nie, soos duidelik blyk uit die dokumentasie wat Nedbank Editorial and Language Services (Nels), die bank se “taalbewaarder”, moet redigeer en vertaal. Nels het ses jaar gelede besluit om besigheidskryfkursusse vir die hele groep aan te bied, eerder as om al die eksterne kommunikasie oor te skryf, wat nie tyd- en koste-effektief is nie. Sodoende kan werknemers hulle algemene skryfvaardighede in Engels verbeter. Hierdie studie probeer vasstel of daar moontlike verskille is in die soort foute wat in Engels deur gekleurde Afrikaans-moedertaalsprekers en wit Afrikaans-moedertaalsprekers gemaak word, in ‘n poging om doeltreffende opleidingsmateriaal te ontwikkel vir elke kulturele groepering in Nedbank.

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4

Mallan, Vijay Kumar, e n/a. "The influence of contextual factors on revision strategies : the case of four Malaysian native speakers of English in a mainstream E.S.L. classroom". University of Otago. Department of English, 2005. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20061024.115955.

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This case study explored the revision strategies of four Malaysian native speakers of English when they composed aloud while writing an argumentative essay. Think aloud verbal protocols were analysed using the grounded theory approach in conjunction with written texts. The findings suggest that contextual factors influenced classroom practices. The contextual factors included a teacher who was not provided with adequate training, administrative policies which did not provide support for the development of writers based on their abilities, writing instruction which viewed revision as a process of error correction and public assessment practices which were non-transparent. These classroom practices influenced the participants� beliefs about revision. These beliefs affected the quality of their essays as judged by Malaysian public examiners. Additionally, the findings suggest a mismatch between classroom instruction and public examination. Suggestions are made to address these concerns by considering the theoretical underpinnings of the cognitive process, socio-cultural and community of practice models of writing and learning. These include instruction on revision strategies, considering alternative assessment practices, providing formative feedback, ability streaming, focussing on critical reading skills and providing adequate support to the teacher.

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5

Bilyayeva, Tetiana A. "Cross-Cultural Comparative Study of Users’ Perception of the Navigation Organization of an E-Commerce Web Application". UNF Digital Commons, 2012. http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/413.

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The object of this study was to assess the influence of native language, as a principal cultural characteristic, one users’ behavior when using a web-based e-commerce application. The study expands on previous research by comparing English and Russian users. The research also considered demographic data to assess additional factors that influence behavior and task performance. The research design encompassed an online shopping application with two different navigation menus. One menu was based on the action-object model and the other was based on the object-action model. The user interface was created in two different languages (Russian and English). This study suggests that language, as a cultural indicator, has a direct relationship to user satisfaction and performance in e-commerce web applications.

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6

Cheng, Mo-yin Catherina. "Testing and re-testing in Hong Kong F.5 and F.6 English secondary classes". [Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong], 1993. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B13554372.

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7

Hantrakul, Chanpen Steffensen Margaret S. "English tense and aspect usage in controlled written discourse by non-native speakers". Normal, Ill. Illinois State University, 1990. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ilstu/fullcit?p9101113.

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Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 1990.
Title from title page screen, viewed November 4, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Margaret S. Steffensen (chair), Irene T. Brosnahan, Ronald J. Fortune, Ronald S. Halinski, Bruce W. Hawkins. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-150) and abstract. Also available in print.

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8

Frandsen, Jacob F. "Interpreting Standard Usage Empirically". BYU ScholarsArchive, 2014. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3986.

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Writers, editors, and everyday language users look to dictionaries, style guides, usage guides, and other published works to help inform their language decisions. They want to know what is Standard English and what is not. Commentators have been prescribing and proscribing certain usages for centuries; however, their advice has traditionally been based on the subjective opinions of the authors. Recent works have analyzed usage by relying wholly or partly on statistical and descriptive data rather than traditional opinion alone; however, no work has presented statistical usage data in a user-friendly and consistent format. This study presents a statistically based methodology for analyzing the standardness of disputed English usage points that can be presented in a dictionary-like format useful to writers and editors. Using data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English, this study determined the percent of use of several disputed usage items. Percents of use were then applied to a statistically based "standardness" scale with several levels. The scale presented in this study is adapted from scales that have been used previously to study language change. In addition, returns from the Corpus of Historical American English were used to present historical trends, if any, for each usage item. It was found that traditional sentiments about certain prescribed and proscribed usage items differ markedly from actual observed usage. Corpus data make it clear that even usage guides that purport to rely at least partly on descriptive data are often wrong about the prevalence and acceptability of usage items. To produce truly objective and accurate analysis, usage advice must depend on corpus data and use a standard usage-trend scale that accounts for how language changes.

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9

Banning, Yvonne. "English language usage in South African Theatre since 1976". Thesis, University of Cape Town, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23508.

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10

Lau, Tak-lai Michael. "An analysis of ICT usage among the English teachers in a Hong Kong secondary school /". Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2002. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B25148230.

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11

Harms, Aaron A. "First-year composition and writing center usage". Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/4933.

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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on March 27, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.

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12

Hamp-Lyons, E. M. "Testing second language writing in academic settings". Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1987. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.381167.

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13

Ng, Man-yi Emily, e 吳敏儀. "English in designs in Hong Kong". Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2001. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31953189.

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14

Cheng, Mo-yin Catherina, e 鄭慕賢. "Testing and re-testing in Hong Kong F.5 and F.6 English secondary classes". Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1993. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31956348.

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15

McGarry, Theresa, e J. Mwinyelle. "Adverbial Clause Usage and Gender in English, Spanish, and French". Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2016. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/6154.

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This study examines adverbial clause usage by women and men in three contexts: (1) single-gender and mixed-gender meetings of a US social club, (2) single-gender and mixed gender dyads speaking Ecuadorean Spanish, and (3) French speakers in informal interviews. The English results generally support past findings that women tend to use adverbial clauses to weaken their expressed commitments to the propositions they express, while men tend to use more of the clauses that strengthen the expressed commitments. However, the situation affects the specific clause types used, and the English results are not replicated in the Spanish or French data.

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16

Park, Linda Seojung. "Language varieties and variation in English usage among native Korean speakers in Seoul". Thesis, University of Iowa, 2019. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6830.

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In the last few decades, a rise in Korean speakers’ borrowing from English has led to a rich pool of contemporary Anglo-Korean vocabulary, also known as English loanwords. Despite the English roots of these borrowed words, their usage in a Korean context is often non-uniform and non-traditional; this process of borrowing, reshaping, and dispersing borrowed vocabulary provides insights on the dynamics of Korean society and its relationship to global English-speaking communities. In order to investigate the variations on Korean speakers’ use of Anglo-Korean words and their potential correlations with various factors, I conducted interviews with 24 native Korean speakers in Seoul, Korea in the summer of 2018. Subjects were diverse in their age, gender, and occupation. I analyzed the r speakers with a preference of Sino-Korean words, speakers with a preference of Anglo-Korean words, and speakers with a speech mixed of Korean, Korean English, and American English. I identified two variables as the most significant causes of diversity of speech: 1) age and 2) exposure to English. I established that 80% of my subjects over the age of 60 fell into the Sino-Korean-dominant category, and the best indicator of a subject being a translingual speaker was an increased exposure to English. In order to expand on evidence from my interviews, I historically contextualize Korean language in society alongside current ideologies related to language in Korea. In so doing, I explore the relationship between these variables and the language varieties of individual speakers. I argue that because a speaker’s age and exposure to English shapes the language variety they use and the language ideology in Korea touches individual speakers in different ways, native speakers in today’s Korea use several language varieties. These findings challenge the notion of a linguistically and ethnically homogeneous Korea and shed light on the current status of Korean English and American English in Korea.

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17

Lawrence, Constance Diane. "English oral language usage of caregivers in selected orphanages of eastern India a phenomenological study /". Birmingham, Ala. : University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008. https://www.mhsl.uab.edu/dt/2008p/lawrence.pdf.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008.
Additional advisors: Lois Christensen, Lynn Kirkland, Maryann Manning, Lou Anne Worthington. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 9, 2009; title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-113).

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18

Sjöberg, Helén. "English Teachers´Views on the Use of the Target Language in the Classroom". Thesis, Halmstad University, School of Teacher Education (LUT), 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-1388.

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In our ever more international world, the English language plays an important role. This is

also reflected in its prominent position as a core subject in the Swedish school system. It is

therefore important that English teachers offer students an environment in which they have

the best possible opportunities to be successful in reaching the goals specified in the

syllabuses. One variable in a successful foreign language classroom is the teacher's usage

ofthe target language.

This study is about English teachers' views on the issue of target language usage in the

classroom, versus usage of the mother tongue. In this study, at Upper Secondary level, the

interviews show that the teachers are, more or less, in agreement that the target language

should be used all the time in the classroom. There are, however, occasions in which the

interviewed teachers do not work according to their own beliefs and methods and revert to

using Swedish. The main such occasions can briefly be said to be: explanation of grammar,

non-subject related "mentor's issues" and classroom management issues. In addition, this

study argues that the governing documents, previous research, as well as well-known

theories on the subject support a high usage of the target language by the teacher.

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19

Taylor, Vi Linh. "Tense usage in academic writing a cross-disciplinary study /". Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/MQ58551.pdf.

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20

Jia, Ting Ting. "A comparative study of English-language newspaper headlines". Thesis, University of Macau, 2011. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b2525502.

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21

Makwela, Matlaleng Maria. "The role of usage examples in Northern Sotho-English / English-Northern Sotho bilingual dictionaries". Thesis, University of Limpopo, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10386/2372.

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22

Yanagawa, Kozo. "A partial validation of the contextual validity of the Centre Listening Test in Japan". Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/267493.

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The purpose of this study was to validate the listening comprehension component of the Centre Test in Japan (henceforth, JNCTL) in relation to contextual parameters and cognitive processing. For the purpose of this study, a comprehensive framework of contextual parameters and a L2 listening processing model was established. This provided a solid theoretical framework for this study, whereby empirical evidence was elicited in relation to contextual parameters and cognitive processing. The elicitation was made through document analysis, focus group interviews, and a large-scale questionnaire administered to stakeholders including 110 high school English teachers and 391 third year students of high schools. The elicited data was subjected to descriptive, quantitative and qualitative analysis. The results of Preliminary studies identified ten possible key parameters to help the JNCTL achieve greater validity. They included the number of opportunities to listen to the input, a lack of hesitations, a lack of overlapping turns, a lack of multi-participant discussions, a lack of variety in the English accents used, a lack of L2 speakers, a lack of inference questions, a lack of non-linear texts, a lack of sandhi-variations, and a lack of natural speech rate. The results of the questionnaire revealed that sandhi-variation was the key parameter to help the current JNCTL achieve greater validity in a direction that would be accepted by the stakeholders, and it was further explored in Main Study in attempt to investigate the effect of sandhi-variation on listening comprehension test performance and the level of cognitive load imposed on the test takers. A series of experiments was conducted involving the manipulation of sandhi-variation. The results revealed that although no statistical difference was found in item difficulty estimates between the sandhi-variation and non-sandhi-variation versions, sandhi-variation may involve double effects on listening comprehension for the test takers. The positive effects could involve providing more prominent phonological difference between accented and unaccented words in connected speech which are produced by sandhi-variation, and this difference may reduce the cognitive load imposed on the test takers. The negative effects may involve increasing the cognitive load imposed on the test takers by obscuring sounds through elision or unclear pronunciation, and disturbing speech perception or word recognition. Recommendations are provided for improving the validity of the current JNCTL and for the development of listening comprehension tests more generally. Implications are also suggested for the teaching of listening at secondary schools in Japan. Lastly, the limitations of the study are outlined and suggestions for further research are proposed.

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23

Takahashi, Reiko. "English as a lingua franca in a Japanese context : an analysis of ELF-oriented features in teaching materials and the attitudes of Japanese teachers and learners of English to ELF-oriented materials". Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/5269.

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As a result of the spread and growth of English as a global means of communication, a new approach to teaching and learning English has recently emerged: ELF – English as a lingua franca (ELF). Graddol (2006: 87) claims that "some of its [ELF] ideas are likely to influence mainstream teaching and assessment practices in the future". Indeed, a shift from traditional EFL goals to ELF has been observed in the documents of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. Jenkins (2004) suggests that applied linguists and publishers will need to find ways of promoting a more ELF perspective in teaching materials. However, to begin with, the reason why the ELF approach is necessary for Japanese learners of English should be adequately discussed. Also, how people are likely to respond to the new materials in the future should be investigated. The aim of this thesis is two-fold: (1) to examine current English language teaching practices in Japan from an ELF perspective, and (2) to examine the attitudes of Japanese people towards the new ELF-oriented practice. More specifically, the current study will focus on the teaching materials that are currently being used within the country. The research consists of three parts: (1) the identification of the characteristics of ELF; (2) an analysis of the EFL coursebooks and audiovisual materials according to those traits; and (3) an investigation of the attitudes of Japanese learners and teachers of English to ELForiented coursebooks and audiovisual materials by means of questionnaires and focusgroups. EFL coursebooks and audio materials employed in the state and private sectors were analysed. ELF-orientation was found in different forms and to different degrees according to the level and the objectives of individual materials: this was apparent in the nationalities and contexts represented, in the content of texts, and in English varieties in audio materials. There were some differences between publishers in the degree of ELF orientation. 717 students and 28 teachers were involved in the questionnaire survey. Sixteen students and nine teachers participated in the focus-group discussions. The survey data revealed that the informants showed strong reactions to certain ELF features in materials. They had little objection to ELF-features which were related to contextual factors of ELF (e.g. representation of characters in a dialogue). In contrast, they expressed more opinions regarding ELF-features which were closely related to the issues of a target model (e.g. written forms of non-standard English, and audio recordings which included NNS English). The findings are discussed with regard to the implementation of ELF-oriented materials. Pedagogical implications are proposed for the further development of ELF-oriented materials and for possible changes in English language teaching in the Japanese educational system.

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Muroya, Akiko. "Testing theories of second language acquisition : evidence from Japanese learners' English". Thesis, University of Essex, 2015. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.701637.

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This study investigates five topics that have been at the heart of research into second language (L2) acquisition for over three decades: (1) the nature of early L2 grammars and whether they contain both lexical and functional categories; (2) the role that the native language (L 1) plays in L2 acquisition; (3) the source of variable production by L2 speakers of properties that are categorical for L1 speakers; (4) the relationship between the acquisition of morphological properties and syntactic operations; (S) the involvement of a putative Universal Grammar. These topics are investigated in the context of Japanese-speaking classroom learners of English. Data were collected through two production tasks, one written the other oral. While there have been many studies of the topics in question with naturalistic L2 learners of English, there have been fewer studies with classroom learners. The general view in generative studies ofL2 acquisition has been that linguistic development will be the same, whatever the context of learning. However, this is an empirical question and the present study provides evidence bearing on it. Findings suggest that early-stage learners have grammars for English that have both functional and lexical categories. The functional categories are specified for features that are syntactically relevant (for verb raising, for the determination of obligatory subjects, for appropriate case marking, for the obligatory fronting of wh-words). Properties that are transferred from the Ll are not predictable simply on the basis of comparing differences between the two languages. Variability in production appears to be explicable largely in terms of learners' (re)assembling features for English lexical items which differ from their Japanese counterparts, combined with the difficulty of accessing forms where processing load is heavy (the Missing Surface Inflection hypothesis). There was no evidence of participants needing to acquire the morphological paradigms of English before establishing syntactic rules. Finally, there was limited, but suggestive, evidence that the L2 grammars of+the classroom learners studied are guided by UG.

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Soya, Nongesiba. "Perceptions of school stakeholders towards the use of English as a language of learning and teaching (LoLT) in grade 9 Social Sciences". Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/6447.

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The dawn of democracy in South Africa led to the development of Language in Education Policy (LiEP) as one of the pieces of legislations that promote languages in schools where parents, learners, who have come of age may choose a language for instruction. LiEP, together with the Constitution of South Africa, promote equal value of all eleven official languages spoken in this country. The promotion of language policies clearly shows that language is the bedrock of the academic development of every child. Unfortunately, Spaull, Van der Berg, Wills, Gustafsson and Kotzè (2016) found that South African Foundation Phase learners lack the most basic skill needed for academic achievement, reading for meaning. Spaull et.al (2016) findings show that language problems start during the early years of schooling. This study aimed at finding out the perceptions of school stakeholders about the use of English as LoLT in Grade 9 Social Sciences, and it is located in the Interpretivist Paradigm. In this study, stakeholders are learners because they are central to learning, parents, as they have the responsibility of choosing LoLT for their children and assist them in their schooling career. Lastly, teachers are stakeholders because of their critical role of imparting knowledge and skills during classroom interaction. The researcher uses a Qualitative approach to identify data-collecting tools suitable for this research, and chooses semi-structured interviews and observations. Semi-structured interviews are flexible and allow deeper probing during the interview. The sample consists of nine Grade 9 learners, three teachers of Grade 9 Social Sciences and six parents from the School Governing Body (SGB). The aim of conducting observations was to find out the language used by learners and teachers during classroom interaction. This study found out that most participants prefer learning Social Sciences in English than in isiXhosa. They are aware of the challenges experienced in the classroom when learning in English but they still choose it. From the sample used, participants clearly indicate that learning in English causes some barriers in the learning and teaching process. However, it also became clear that the benefits associated with learning in English make it difficult to put it at the same level as other languages and participants do not link mother tongue to career opportunities. It is also evident that English will enjoy its hegemony until such time that all stakeholders in Education view the mother tongue as a foundation for learning other languages and as a resource as well so that they can use it in the classroom to understand the content. Policy developers must look deeply into the question of LoLT so that learners receive instruction in a language that will assist them in improved academic performance. Teachers must be equipped with adequate skills to assist learners in developing reading and comprehension skills in the classroom. There is a dire need to develop the culture of reading in rural school learners; and teachers must expose learners to a variety of English reading material.

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Fronk, Amanda Kae. "Determining Dictionary and Usage Guide Agreement with Real-World Usage: A Diachronic Corpus Study of American English". BYU ScholarsArchive, 2014. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4093.

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Dictionaries and, to a lesser extent, usage guides provide writers, editors, and users of American English information on how to use the language appropriately. Dictionaries, in particular, hold authority over correct usage of words. However, historically, usage guides and dictionaries were created using the knowledge of a small group of people. Lexicographers like Noah Webster set out to prescribe a proper way of using American English. To make these judgments, they often relied on a combination of study and idiosyncratic intuitions. A similar process took place in creating usage guides. Though these manuals profess to explain how the language is used by American English speakers-or rather by the selected group of speakers deemed "standard" by usage guide editors and lexicographers-ultimately the manuals can only express the perspectives of the editors and lexicographers on this language. Historically, the views of these editors and lexicographers were the best tools available to assess language, but now computer-based corpora allow for studying larger swaths of language usage. This study examines how much dictionaries and usage guides agree with real-world usage found in corpus data. Using the Corpus of Historical American English, a set of dictionaries and usage guides published throughout the last two hundred years were analyzed to see how much agreement they had with corpus data in noting the addition of denominal verbs (i.e., verbs formed by the conversion of nouns as in 'They taped together the box.') in American English usage. It was found that the majority of the time dictionaries noted new denominal verbs before corpus data reflected accepted usage of these verbs. However, about a quarter of the time dictionaries noted new denominal verbs concurrently with the corpus data. These results suggest that dictionaries-and the subjective opinions of the lexicographers that created them-are more aligned with real-world usage than would be expected. Because of sparse listings, results for usage guide agreement was inconclusive.

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Chan, Chin-ying Alice, e 陳展瑩. "A corpus-based analysis of tense usage in Cantonese-English bilingual children". Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2010. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B4515093X.

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28

Lee, Eun-Hee. "English article usage in online graduate forums by non-native EFL teachers". [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2007. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3274275.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Language Education, 2007.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: A, page: 2859. Adviser: Martha Nyikos. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Apr. 9, 2008).

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Wong, Wai-man Queenie, e 黃慧敏. "Modal expressions in English in the educational sector". Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1999. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3195246X.

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30

Kingen, Sharon A. "When middle school writers compose : exploring relationships of processes, products, and levels of cognitive development". Virtual Press, 1990. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/720404.

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This study was designed first to describe the writing processes and products of students in grades 7, 8, and 9 and second to explore patterns of differences related to cognitive development. From the 117 students enrolled at a midwestern university laboratory school who voluntarily completed the Arlin Test of Formal Reasoning, 12 subjects were chosen on the basis of sex, grade, and test score.Each subject individually wrote four letters. A talk-aloud procedure was employed during three sessions and stimulated recall was used during the last session. Finally, all subjects were interviewed.Audio tapes of interviews and videotapes of writing sessions were transcribed. Final copies of texts were typed. Interview responses were examined and summarized. The letters were rated holistically and scored for audience awareness. Counts of words, T-units, and clauses were conducted. Verbalizations in protocols were coded. Further, all data produced during stimulated recall were examined for information about time use, fluency, and pausing, as well as revising and editing.The data revealed that writers considered themselves capable, but the papers received mediocre ratings and scores. The analysis of products showed that subjects wrote more in response to an expressive/informative task, but syntax was more mature on information and persuasion.Overall, formal thinkers wrote more syntactically mature discourse and usually received higher ratings. The analysis of processes data failed to reveal consistent differences, but there were many similarities. The subjects prewrote mentally and focused on producing text quickly. They reread text and edited often, but they rarely revised. Descriptions of processes and rhetorical principles were vague. Although the writers employed many strategies, had some intuitive sense of purpose and audience, and made decisions on the basis of many factors, they lacked control over their composing activities and were unable to transfer strategies from one task to the next.The study concluded with a series of recommendations for composition instruction and further research, particularly a call for teaching the processes of composing at the middle school level and for measuring the effects of this instruction against the baseline of data provided in this study.
Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

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Sroinam, Rapeeporn. "English reading comprehension of Thai undergraduates : L1/L2 usage, texts, strategies and problems". Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/654.

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English Ianguage has been taught as a foreign language in Thailand for more than a century and now occupies an important place at all levels of the Thai education system. This study investigates the influence that the Thai language has on intermediate level undergraduate sludents while they are engaged in individual unaided reading of a variety of English texts and determines what aspects of reading texts caused problems. It aims to compare how often and for what purposes students resort to Thai with texts about culturally familiar texts and culturally unfamiliar texts, as well with different genres and question types. The subjects are 20 second year teacher trainee students majoring in English al Udon Thani Rajabhat University. Student responses to the texts, retrospective interviews, and a questionnaire were used as quantitative and qualitative dota. For qantitative data, the SPSS program was used to analyse the frequency of using the first language, the relationship between scores, texts and question types, as well as that between strategies, scores, question types und problems. The use of content analysis witn qualitalive data from responses to tasks and the interviews produced the means whereby student strategies and problems could be categorised and findings in the qualitative data extended.

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Saville, N. D. "Developing a model for investigating the impact of language assessment within educational contexts by a public examination provider". Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/134953.

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There is no comprehensive model of language test or examination impact and how it might be investigated within educational contexts by a provider of high-stakes examinations, such as an international examinations board. This thesis addresses the development of such a model from the perspective of Cambridge ESOL, a provider of English language tests and examinations in over 100 countries. The starting point for the thesis is a discussion of examinations within educational processes generally and the role that examinations board, such as Cambridge ESOL play within educational systems. The historical context and assessment tradition is an important part of this discussion. In the literature review, the effects and consequences of language tests and examinations are discussed with reference to the better known concept of washback and how impact can be defined as a broader notion operating at both micro and macro levels. This is contextualised within the assessment literature on validity theory and the application of innovation theories within educational systems. Methodologically, the research is based on a meta-analysis which is employed in order to describe and review three impact projects. These three projects were carried out by researchers based in Cambridge to implement an approach to test impact which had emerged during the 1990s as part of the test development and validation procedures adopted by Cambridge ESOL. Based on the analysis, the main outcome and contribution to knowledge is an expanded model of impact designed to provide examination providers with a more effective “theory of action”. When applied within Cambridge ESOL, this model will allow anticipated impacts of the English language examinations to be monitored more effectively and will inform on-going processes of innovation; this will lead to well-motivated improvements in the examinations and the related systems. Wider applications of the model in other assessment contexts are also suggested.

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Groot, Ingeborg. "The use of conjunctions in English as a second language (ESL) : students' oral narratives". Virtual Press, 2000. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1191106.

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This dissertation analyzes the production and functions of the conjunctions and, but, so, and then as discourse markers in English as a Second Language (ESL) students' oral narratives. Two types of narratives are analyzed: a non-guided, or spontaneous narrative, and a picture-guided-narrative. Narratives of forty three ESL students are included in the analysis as well as narratives from six native speakers.This study indicates that l) the ESL students attach a narrowly defined meaning to and, but, so, and then, 2) the ESL students use and, but, so, and then to link previous sentences or ideas. or refer back to ideas, less than for any other function, 3) the ESL students do not use a greater number of occurrences of and, but, so, and then in the picture-guided-narrative than in the non-guided-narrative, and 4) the ESL students misuse conjunctions in similar ways regardless of their native language (LI ); that is, although the influence from a student's Ll may result in specific problems of transfer, some patterns of conjunction errors are unrelated to the Ll and may be indicative of a more general problem.
Department of English

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Fong, Kaela. "Talkin' Black: African American English Usage in Professional African American Athletes". Scholarship @ Claremont, 2019. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1352.

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Sports play an important role in the culture of the United States as does language, so the choice to use non-Standard dialects in a nation that privileges the Standard and negatively judges dialectical differences, especially those spoken by mostly people of color, is not undertaken lightly. Because of this privileging of Standard American English, it is assumed that only professional African American athletes are allowed to keep their native dialect if it is African American English (AAE) and still be successful. However, this is complicated by the historical and present increased criticisms women face in both sport and language. To investigate this claim, a quantitative analysis of post-game interviews of five men and five women in the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association, respectively, was conducted. The athletes were analyzed to see if they used dental stopping and be-leveling, two features of AAE. Four additional features of AAE were also investigated on an exploratory basis. Inter-gender variance was found among both genders. Across genders, women used the features of AAE studied an average of 30.6 percent less than men, demonstrating a clear gender difference in the usage of AAE. The results of this study illustrate disparities in women and men’s language use that could be a consequence of the inherent and historical sexism women must face in the realms of both sport and language.

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鄭敏芝 e Man-chi Sammi Cheng. "Self assessment in the school-based assessment speaking component in aHong Kong secondary four classroom: a casestudy". Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2009. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B4324080X.

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Miller, Sherri Lynn. "Percentage of phonological process usage in expressive language delayed children". PDXScholar, 1991. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4204.

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Language delay and phonological delay have been shown to coexist. Because they so often co-occur, it is possible that they may interact, sharing a relationship during the child's development. A group of children who were "late talkers" as toddlers, achieved normal development in their syntactic ability by the preschool period. Because their language abilities are known to have increased rapidly, data on their phonological development could provide information on the relationship between phonological and syntactic development. The purpose of this study was to compare the percentage of phonological process usage of the eight most commonly used simplification processes in four-year-old expressive language delayed (ELD) children, children with a history of slow expressive language development (HX), and normally developing (ND) children. The questions this study sought to answer were: do ELD children exhibit a higher percentage of phonological process usage than ND children, and are HX children significantly different in their percentage of phonological process usage than ND and/or ELD children.

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Truong, Le Huy, e n/a. "Towards improving ESP testing in Vietnam". University of Canberra. Education, 1988. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20061109.154636.

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That this field study report has been carried out originates from the fact that urgent remedies are needed to improve ESP testing in Vietnam. This field study report consists of five chapters as follows. Chapter one gives an overall picture of language testing in Vietnam, as well as dealing with the reasons why ESP testing should be improved. Chapter two covers questions such as the terminology in assessing (evaluation, assessment, and testing), role of testing, types of language tests, and main characteristics of a good test. Chapter three considers the problems concerning ESP, for example, a definition of ESP, ESP in the teaching learning process, ESP in Vietnam as well as ESP classification. Chapter four takes into consideration such questions as the theoretical background of ESP testing, proficiency tests in ESP testing, problems in ESP testing, ESP testing in Vietnam together with comments, and suggestions for improvements. Chapter five reconfirms the aim of this field study report - to improve ESP testing in Vietnam.

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Lindholm, Lauralee. "The Development and Testing of a Three-Section Cloze Test of English Proficiency". Thesis, North Texas State University, 1985. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504105/.

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The purpose of this research was to develop and test a three-section cloze test of English proficiency and to norm it for use as a means of level placement. The study sample consisted of ESL students at Brookhaven Community College and the Intensive English Language Institute of North Texas State University, as well as a group of native speakers. Four types of statistical analysis were used: analysis of variance, Pearson product-moment correlations, a t-Test, and a multiple comparison procedure, the Scheffé test. The cloze test was sensitive to significant differences between every level at both schools. Subsequently it was normed to a four-level system and score ranges for each level were suggested.

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Wat, Lok-Sze Josephine, e 屈樂思. "Cantonese-speaking students' handling of WH-questions in English". Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2006. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3692264X.

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劉德禮 e Tak-lai Michael Lau. "An analysis of ICT usage among the English teachers in a Hong Kong secondary school". Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2002. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3125634X.

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Perea-Hernandez, Jose Luis. "Teacher Evaluation of Item Formats for an English Language Proficiency Assessment". PDXScholar, 2010. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/436.

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An abstract of the thesis of José Luis Perea-Hernández for the Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages presented February 11, 2010. Title: Teacher Evaluation of Item Formats for an English Language Proficiency Assessment. Language testing plays a significant role in the collection of systematic information about English Language Learners' ability and progress in K-12 public schools in Oregon. Therefore, the following thesis reports on a process of the development of this assessment as I was at some point one of the members in the test development team and then drew upon teachers' opinions and judgments to compensate for a gap in this process. For instance, despite the fact that Oregon item-writers produced test items in summer 2004, they identified some deficiencies as they followed the process. Therefore, the need of more examples of item formats in order to develop better items, a proper identification of materials for reading and listening and mainly the lack of detailed item test specifications was imminent. Unfortunately, item writers did not posses a guiding document that would allow them to generate items. The item writing process was not `spec-driven'. Hence, these drawbacks in this test (larger project), provide the basis and rationale for this thesis. Thus, the aim of the present study was to identify what item formats worked best based on professional teacher judgment. Then, once identified these were used to detect what items could potentially be reverse-engineered into specifications for future studies or developmental stages of this assessment. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to analyze through professional teacher-judgment the suitability of item formats, test items and the construct in a way that would be helpful for future item-writing sessions, but most importantly to the better understanding of teachers devising items for this test. Teachers determined what items and item formats were more suitable in a testing situation for the diverse English language learners according to their relationship to the construct of the test, practicality, cognitive level, appropriateness, and similar tasks as used in classroom instruction. Finally, the outcomes based on teacher feedback allowed the required data to establish a process to reverse-engineer test items and item formats into item test specifications. Thus, based on this feedback a more systematic process was illustrated to demonstrate how item formats can be the basis to reverse-engineer item test specifications.

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Horvath, Veronika. "Errors and judgments : a sociolinguistic study of freshman composition". Virtual Press, 1996. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1027109.

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This study attempts to discover and describe patterns of variation in college students' overt attitudes toward a limited set of grammatical and lexical variables, the shibboleths of edited written American English usage. The basic instrument used in the study is a 115 item multiple choice questionnaire prepared by the researcher. Fifteen questions were designed to assess the respondents' social, economic, and demographic backgrounds, whereas the major part of the questionnaire elicited judgments about one hundred English sentences offering the choice between the attributes "good," "bad," and "I can't decide." This questionnaire was administered to 172 students in nine freshman composition classes during the spring semester of 1994 at Ball State University. The study sought to discover and describe systematic relationships between the answers to the first set of questions (extralinguistic data) and the second set of questions (linguistic data) by using various analytical methods and statistical techniques, such as correlation coefficients, chi-square tests, and multidimensional scaling.It was hypothesized that variation in subjects' overt judgments about linguistic variables would parallel the findings of numerous sociolinguistic studies about variation in linguistic production, and hence would pattern along the social and demographic characteristics of the subjects. However, although this study found considerable variation in the freshman students' judgments about the usage shibboleths, it did not find social or demographic correlates to the respondents' judgments.By investigating the nature of the variation in freshman composition students' notions about linguistic correctness, this study attempted to answer questions which have not been asked by traditional usage studies, sociolinguistics, or composition research. Moreover, this study has added support for linguists' claims that the traditional "mistakes" in usage handbooks have almost no empirical basis, even if they remain the favorites of most handbook authors and English teachers.
Department of English

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Pryde, Susanne Mona Graham. "Low frequency vocabulary and ESL writing assessment". Thesis, Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1998. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B2012496X.

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Elchert, Keith J. "A survey of Midwestern newspaper editors on current language use". CardinalScholar 1.0, 2009. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1468269.

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This thesis makes use of an online survey to study the current state of language use among newspapers in the American Midwest. Specifically, it examines editors’ attitudes toward and adaptation to changed language over the course of the last fifteen years. Those years have seen a general relaxation of language-use standards in the allowance of profanity, as well as changes brought about by emerging electronic media including the Internet and text messaging. The survey results indicate editors are gradually reacting to these changes, as opposed to leading the charge for change themselves.
Department of Journalism

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Reynolds, Judith Marsha. "A description of the language experiences of English Second-Language students entering the academic discourse communities of Rhodes University". Thesis, Rhodes University, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002644.

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This study is a description of the language experiences of English Second Language students in their first year at Rhodes University. It took place in the context of the changes that are currently occurring in higher education in South Africa in terms of student populations. More and more students are entering tertiary education institutions, including HWESUs, such as Rhodes University, who are considered non-traditional. These students typically have English as their second, or additional, language, and have not been adequately prepared for university study by their secondary education. This study describes the experiences of three such students in their first year at Rhodes University. Entry into a university is seen not just as acquiring knowledge, but as entering, or attempting to enter, a new culture. It is recognised that all students enter universities with other cultures or literacies already in place. In the case of non-traditional students tbese other literacies are usually at some distance from those of the university. The work of James Gee (1990) is particularly useful in understanding this process of adjusting to the demands of university study and the effect that previous experiences have on this process. This study is an attempt to discover and describe the literacies that these three students brought with them to university and the effect these literacies had on their attempts to enter academic discourse communities of the university. An ethnographic research method was adopted in order to do this. The study is also an attempt to evaluate, from the perspective of the three students, the appropriacy of the various changes that Rhodes University has made since the numbers of non-traditional students has started to increase.

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Matsumura, Tomomi. "The Use of Evidentials in Hearsay Contexts in Japanese and English". PDXScholar, 2017. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4153.

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Evidentials are one of the language codes that convey the speaker's beliefs in terms of the degree of reliability of information and how the speaker obtained information (Chafe, 1986; Ishida, 2006; McCready and Ogata, 2007). Evidentials play an important role in communication since they also function to show the speaker's attitude toward the interlocutors by making a sentence softer (Trent 1998). In his theory of territory of information, Kamio (1990, 1997, 2002) proposed that pragmatic rules of evidentials are different in Japanese than in English. Ishida (2006) studied these differences and argued that learners of Japanese (JF learners) face difficulties when conveying information with evidentials in Japanese. This study aimed to see how learners of Japanese as a foreign language (hereafter JF learners) use evidentials differently from Japanese native speakers by replicating Ishida's (2006) study. Discourse data, consisting of utterances produced by Japanese L1 speakers (J-speakers) in Japanese and JF learners in Japanese and English, was produced based on twelve situations where participants were instructed to convey hearsay information verbally to the specific third party. Collected productions were compared to see differences in the frequencies of evidentials, in general, and in terms of the source of information, the timing of conveyance, and the addressees. The study showed that JF learners use evidentials less frequently both in Japanese and English than J-speakers. This less frequent use of evidentials by JF learners in both languages indicates a transfer effect from English to Japanese. Additionally, a close look at each evidential use revealed other factors that might impact the speaker's choice of evidentials. This study revealed that JF learners tend to prefer to use evidentials such as soo da and to itta, while they tend to avoid using lexical evidentials such as rashii, mitai da, and yoo da which require more practice. These findings have implications for future research and for a classroom pedagogical approaches to the use of evidentials.

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Mann, Richard Philip. "A statistical survey of transitional device usage among writers of English as a second language and native writers of English /". The Ohio State University, 1986. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu148726601122525.

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Chen, Grace Show-ying. "Diagnostic testing and teaching of oral communication in English as a foreign language". Thesis, University of Sunderland, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.260624.

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Gonzalez, Arturo. "An Examination of the Validity of State Standardized Testing of English Language Learners". Thesis, Northwest Nazarene University, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10240280.

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The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of state standardized testing English Language Learners are required to participate in as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Although policymakers continue to debate the minutia of the academic accountability for English Language Learners, the over-arching question of test validity has continued to be ignored. Current federal requirements identify participation in state standardized testing of all English Language Learners who have been in country more than one academic year. Data collected for analysis included English Language Learners’ level of English proficiency, and state standardized testing scores in reading, English language arts, and mathematics. The goal was to determine, using quantitative data, correlations between these variables. The study concludes by highlighting factors to be considered that influence accountability policy at the state and federal level and by making suggestions for future research in the area of assessing English Language Learners for the purpose of increased accuracy for accountability in academic growth and performance.

Through the use of ex-post-facto data, the results of the study identified three findings. The first finding identified that there is a correlation between ELL students’ English language proficiency level and performance on state standardized testing in the areas of reading, English language arts, and mathematics. The second finding in the study, using the Washington English Language Proficiency Assessment (WELPA) to identify student English proficiency levels, recognized that there is a threshold between WELPA levels and the ELL students who are passing state standardized tests. The third finding recognized that there was no significant distinction in state standardized testing between the number of reading/English language arts tests and mathematics tests.

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Bhattrai, Anju. "A contrastive analysis of the English and Nepali past tenses and an error analysis of Nepali learners' use of the English past tenses". Virtual Press, 1999. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1159139.

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This dissertation has two main purposes: (a) to provide an analysis of the past tenses in Nepali and compare them with those of English from a discourse pragmatic perspective; and (b) to investigate how Nepali learners of English use the English past tenses in terms of forms, meanings, and functions.A major claim of the dissertation is that tenses and aspects play various discourse functions in Nepali. Although Nepali has various past tenses as in English, their actual use is different from those of English. A significant difference between the use of the past tenses in English and Nepali is revealed in the use of the past perfect tense. In Nepali, unlike in English, the past perfect does not always require the existence of the past reference point between the event time and the speech time. Although used in similar as well as different contexts, the past perfect in both languages is found to express background information. In the analysis of the Nepali past tenses, one of the major arguments is that the traditionally termed `unknown past' does not have `past' as part of its basic meaning. The main function of this verb form is to express the speaker's unawareness of a situation at the time of its happening, whether in the past or the future.After the discussion of the Nepali past tenses in comparison with the English past tenses and aspects, an error analysis of Nepali EFL learners' use of the English past tenses in written essays is carried out. It was hypothesized that Nepali learners would make a wide variety of errors in the use of the English past tenses. Because of differences in the use of the past perfect and the past tense in the habitual sense between Nepali and English, it was expected that Nepali ESL learners would make errors in those areas. However, overgeneralization due to difference in the use was found only in a very few cases. Most of these errors cannot be traced to Nepali influence. One area, however, where Nepali has a clear effect on the students' use of English is in indirect speech. I argue that Nepali speakers do not change tenses in English indirect speech appropriately because verb tenses in Nepali are not changed from direct speech to indirect speech as in English.It is hoped that this dissertation will enhance the understanding of grammatical categories such as tense and aspect in general and of Nepali tense and aspect systems in particular. In general, this dissertation showed contribute to several areas of study in discourse analysis, second language acquisition, language transfer and contrastive analysis. A major significance of this dissertation is its demonstration of the role of tense and aspect in Nepali in the expression of various discourse functions.
Department of English

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