The syllabus for upper secondary school states that interaction and communication are important for students’ oral production skills development. Also, the contemporary view on learning is that people learn a language by using it. This study examines how students and a teacher experience the ways in which classmates influence each other’s willingness to speak English in the classroom, if they believe it affects their oral production skills development, and moreover whether they think that some sort of ability grouping could support oral production skills development. The study was carried out among a total of eight students and one teacher at an upper secondary school located in Southern Sweden, using a qualitative methodology based on personal interviews. Four English 6 students belong to the natural science program, and four English 7 Cambridge Advanced English students belong to various academic programs. The teacher teaches both courses. The results showed that classmates is the factor in the classroom which affects students’ willingness to speak English the most in their different language proficiency, personality, attitude, focus, willingness to communicate in English, and relationship with each other. The students experience that these differences between them often affect their WTC negatively and thereby their oral production skills development. They want to interact with other students who are at their level or slightly above them, who want to speak English, who share the communication space, and who take the lessons seriously. Therefore, the students and teacher have a positive attitude toward some form of ability grouping in all English courses.

The evolution of computer networks and the Internet has transformed the world. Digital communication technologies offer exciting options and new challenges for Open and Distance Learning (ODL). This dissertation presents a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) training pilot* in order to investigate and critique the use of Learning Management Systems distance-driven teacher development programmes. Globally, English language learning is in high demand. Conventional contact training is unable to reach sufficient numbers of aspirant teachers to ensure quality and to promote access. The study uses design-based research as a means of unravelling the complex relationships between theory, best practice, and implementation in both ODL and TEFL. It concludes by recommending foundational institutional changes as the most appropriate means to effective distance and computer-assisted education. / English Studies / (M.A. (English))

Résumé : Au Québec, la situation en termes d’apprentissage des savoirs grammaticaux, et surtout de mobilisation de ces derniers en situation d’écriture, est inquiétante. Pour rendre son intervention plus efficiente, l'enseignant peut choisir une approche pédagogique déductive (explication d'un concept suivi d'exercices) ou inductive (observation d'exemples avant la vérification d'hypothèse et les exercices). Notre objectif principal est d'évaluer les incidences d’une intervention éducative en grammaire selon des approches pédagogiques inductive ou déductive sur l’apprentissage par des élèves de 1re secondaire du complément du nom et son impact dans le développement de la compétence savoir écrire. Notre objet d’enseignement, le complément du nom (CN) est un concept de la grammaire actuelle, dont les caractéristiques facilitent son utilisation réfléchie en rédaction, surtout lors des phases de révision et de réécriture. Une méthodologie mixte de recherche a permis de recueillir des données auprès d'un échantillon de 269 élèves de première secondaire, de même qu’auprès de trois enseignants. Pour cette recherche exploratoire d’épistémologie pragmatique, nous avons réalisé des tests de connaissances, des analyses de rédactions et des entrevues auprès d’élèves et d'enseignants. Les résultats obtenus aux tests de connaissances nous montrent qu’il n’y a pas d’écart significatif entre l’amélioration des élèves ayant vécu l’approche inductive et ceux ayant vécu l’approche déductive, si ce n’est d’un léger avantage en ce qui concerne les accords pour les élèves ayant vécu l’approche déductive. Ce qui a par contre émergé de cette expérimentation est d’une part l’effet évident de l’apprentissage des CN sur leurs mobilisations en écriture, peu importe l’approche. D’autre part, les élèves ayant eu une forte amélioration ont confirmé que pour une approche ou une autre, leur implication cognitive demeure l’élément fondamental de l’efficacité de l’intervention éducative. Nous pouvons donc conclure qu’une approche n’est pas significativement supérieure à l’autre dans le cadre de l’enseignement des CN, mais que l’enseignant doit adapter son approche à la situation en tenant compte du contexte, des apprenants et des aspects de l'objet concernés. // Abstract : The choice of an educational approach by a teacher is a significant factor on student achievement. In Quebec, the situation in terms of apprentissage of grammatical knowledge, and especially using that knowledge in writing situations, is worrying. The success rate for the ministerial writing tests graze 60 %. One possible taxonomies to distinguish pedagogical approaches to teaching grammar lies between the inductive and deductive approaches. Our project has for main objective to assess the impact of an educational intervention according to inductive or deductive teaching approaches on learning, by high school students, of a grammar concept (complément du nom) and its impact on the development of writing competencies. In research, if the deductive approach always results, by the teacher explaining a concept, and the students practicing and being evaluated, the inductive approach is defined differently by the authors. For methodological considerations, and because it's a school tradition, we chose to consider an explicit approach focused on the discovery rather than a more implicit approach. Our teaching object, the « complément du nom » (CN) is a concept of the current grammar, including morphological, semantic and syntactic features, should facilitate thoughtful use for writing, especially during phases of revision and rewriting. For all these reasons, this(?) teaching is relevant of a competency-based program, especially since most of the concept notions are provided in Secondary 1 program by the « Progression des apprentissages » (MELS, 2010). A mixed research methodology was used to collect data from a sample of 269 students from eight classes of Secondary 1 , and of three French teachers. For this exploratory research, we used knowledge tests , reviews process marks by the students on writing productions, and interviews with students and teachers in order to document the impact of the teaching sequences, in terms of knowledge learning and 7 mobilization in writing productions. The comparative approach we used allowed us to assess the extent and nature of learning, according to our independent variable (the deductive and inductive teaching approaches), but also on the interrelation between this variable and other aspects of the educational intervention. The test of knowledge scores show that there is no significant difference between the improvement of students who lived an inductive approach and those who lived the deductive approach, except a slight advantage as regards as morphological characteristics for students who lived the deductive approach. What has emerged in this experiment is firstly the obvious effect of learning on their CN mobilizations in writing, regardless of the approach. On the other hand, students who had a strong improvement confirmed that with an approach or another, their cognitive involvement are fundamental to the effectiveness of the educational intervention. Finally, the quasi-experimental context has limited professional actions of the teachers, and at the same time limited their ability to adapt teaching situations. Those who chose to take certain liberties with the scenarios provided, by professional considerations, are those who have seen the results of their students rise, and that, regardless of the pedagogical approach. We can therefore conclude that an approach was not significantly superior to another for teaching of CN in High school, but the teacher must adapt his approach to the situation, taking into account the context, the learners and the aspects of the learning object.

Thesis (MPhil (Modern Foreign Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / As computers increasingly seem to gain importance and have become a useful tool to carry out everyday routine tasks and to facilitate communication, task-based and student centred approaches of foreign language teaching and learning need to evaluate how computers can be integrated into the classroom to equip students with the necessary skills they need to master the challenges which may come with these new technologies. Since CALL (computer assisted language learning) -research has also suggested that computers can assist both students and teachers by enhancing L2 learning activities and by providing useful tools to complete them, it seems like there is no way computers can not play a role in L2 teaching and learning today. This thesis aims to give an overview of the use of computer applications in the L2 classroom and illustrates them by giving practical examples for a specific learning environment, namely the Goethe-Zentrum Kapstadt. As informed use of computers in a CALL scenario must be based on a thorough understanding of L2 learning processes, this thesis also provides a critical overview of general L2 teaching and learning theories as well as CALL research in particular. As a theoretical framework may vary according to the specific conditions of the learning environment a description of the Goethe-Zentrum is also given and considered as a criterion for the development and integration of learner-centred and task-based CALL activities at the Goethe-Zentrum.

Thesis (MA (African Languages))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The purpose of this study is to apply relevant and up-to-date theories concerning language learning and acquisition to the specific needs of second-language learners of isiXhosa in the field of health sciences through microanalysis of doctor-patient dialogues in isiXhosa. This study explores a task-based approach to language learning and teaching that differs from traditionally applied methods. In this approach, the performance of a task is regarded as the key feature in the language-learning process. This is in accordance with the central aim of the task-based approach to language learning and teaching, which is to transform the prescribed roles of teachers and learners in the classroom context so that learners move from being passive observers to being actively involved in their own learning processes, and teachers become facilitators and not presenters of the language.In an endeavour to exploit the possibilities of tasks in the teaching and learning of isiXhosa for health sciences needs, this study investigates the various components that comprise a task as well as the possible effects that these components may have on language learning and use. The results of the study could then provide teachers of second-language courses with specific notions and strategies, which, when successfully applied, could ensure optimal language learning and acquisition for language learners. To expand the study, an analysis is conducted regarding the presence and nature of cognitive complexity and syntactic complexity in authentic doctor-patient dialogues in isiXhosa. The classification of these conversations will serve to inform the manner in which tasks could be sequenced in a task-based language teaching course for second-language learners.

The aim of this study is to: (1) examine whether non-native EFL teachers experience feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety; (2) investigate whether non-native EFL student teachers experience feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety; (3) examine how the participants’ feelings of foreign language teaching anxiety compared with other cultural groups in previous studies; and (4) examine how foreign language teaching anxiety affects foreign language classroom instruction. In total, 79 non-native EFL teachers and 131 non-native EFL student teachers participated in this study by completing a battery of questionnaires. The results indicated that both non-native EFL teachers and student teachers experience varying levels of foreign language teaching anxiety. However, foreign language teaching anxiety does not appear to have any effect on the foreign language teaching/learning activities the teachers or student teachers use in their classrooms. / text

Learners from many corners of the earth are acquiring English as a Foreign Language (EFL), lending importance to issues of language learning and its effects on global and local identities being forged in the process. As English language users, they are recipients and producers of multiple discourses around the global status of English as a foreign language, from English as linguistic, material, and symbolic capital (Bourdieu, 1991) to language as commodity (Heller, 1999). Such discourses are accompanied by representations of language and culture, or imagined communities (Anderson, 1983, Norton, 2001) that represent language use and cultural representations deemed as legitimate.The purpose of this study is to triangulate three different but intersecting perspectives: that of the researcher, Mexican EFL teachers and Mexican teachers-in-training, on the imagined communities and the underlying ideological discourses of English in a global EFL textbook, as well as those held by these same teachers and teachers-in-training. Critical discourse analysis, classroom observations, in-depth interviews and language learning autobiographies provided the data for a critical assessment of the language and cultural content of the textbook and the ideologies of English.While CDA has been rightly challenged for privileging the researcher's position, this study contributes to a poststructuralist view of the participants as agents of change; they are receptors of discourses that taint their ideologies about language, but they also resist and transform them, through articulated ideas as well as through specific classroom actions that allow them to appropriate the English language, despite the textbook's systematic exclusion of speakers like them, and cultural practices like theirs.This study contributes to the growing field of critical applied linguistics, where learners are viewed as social beings in sites of struggle and with multiple and changing identities (Norton, 2000). In this vein, neutrality can no longer be accepted as a construct in textbooks or in the ELT practice, since the contained practices are subject to ideologies which must be dismantled in order to offer students and teachers more equitable representations of the English language and its speakers.

Textbooks are essential to Foreign Language (FL) curricula. They contribute to the homogenization of instruction between multiple-language courses; they provide learners with an advance organizer; they help train novice teachers, and they supply both novice and experienced instructors with a variety of resources (Allen, in press). In a context where the textbook appears to be the pillar of FL instruction, we find numerous studies about teachers' beliefs concerning FL textbooks (Ariew, 1982; Apple, 1986; Menke, 1994; Graden, 1996; Richards & Mahoney, 1996; Masuhara, 1998; Bancheri, 2006); however, there are very few studies on students' self-perceived needs (Jan & Glenn, 1984), and equally few on both teachers' and students' perspectives on language teaching materials (Donovan, 1998). Thus, the goal of this study is to examine both students' and teachers' views of FL textbooks in light of current Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory. In so doing, this project addresses three research questions: 1) what role should authenticity of the L2, target culture, and tasks play in language teaching materials?, 2) what place should grammar take in FL textbooks?, and 3) what part should technology play in language teaching materials? 48 French teachers and 1023 learners from four major North-American universities were surveyed using an online questionnaire containing not only closed-response questions rated on a four point Likert-type scale but also open-ended questions. This mixed-design methodology allowed the researcher to draw tentative conclusions on how to reconcile language teaching materials design with SLA research, teachers' beliefs and students' self-perceived needs. Practical implications for language teacher training programs and FL textbook development are offered.

Abstract This study is to finding out how second language teachers can use music as a method to teaching multilingual students in Swedish as a second language. This study even deals with assets and challenges using music as a method in teaching and learning Swedish as a second language. To answer these questions, data was collected by interviews with three pedagogues who have experiences from teaching in Swedish language with music as a method. The result shows that music helps multilingual students to learn Swedish as a second language both in an individual level and in a group level. With music you can practice accent, vocal clang, pitch, and rhythmics. Music has a social influence and creates safe atmosphere in the classroom. It even creates a place of meetings between different cultures and generations. This way of working requires a brave, flexible and a direct pedagogue. There are different ways of working with music as a method in second language teaching. The students can translate favorite songs from their homelands and then teach their classmates the same song in both languages. Together you can create your own songs connected to other theoretical subjects in school. The students can shape music and songs by drawing pictures and then let them write texts to their own pictures. What is obvious is that music promotes second language progress.

Each year a group of university students from English speaking countries go to Chile and work as volunteers under the National Volunteer Centre Program. The purpose of this case study is to examine how a group of novice volunteer teachers describe their experiences in a foreign country and how these experiences shape their understanding of teaching. Participants went through the process of open-ended questionnaires and one-on-one interviews of their experience. This study was sustained in the literature by the domains of volunteerism, English Language Teaching, and volunteerism and ELT, and a socio constructivist and experiential lens was adopted. Even though volunteer teaching abroad is an increasing worldwide trend, there are few studies that combine these areas, showing that the existing blend of volunteerism and English language teaching needs to be further examined. The analysis of the data showed that novice volunteer teachers experience five types of experiences when teaching English: language teaching experiences, language learning experiences, challenges, general experiences, and volunteering experiences. Novice teachers recalled their expectations before teaching and those were maintained, modified, or unfulfilled. Volunteers stated what teaching means to them after working in public schools, they were able to describe diverse language teaching experiences, and make recommendations to future volunteers.