Thesis (M.A. (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

This study describes an interview survey of college instructors of foreign and programming languages as well as a content analysis of textbooks from these fields. Seven interviews were conducted with instructors in Romance Languages and Computer Science at five colleges in central North Carolina. The purpose of the interviews was to determine how instructors of foreign and programming languages view their teaching methodology and how this relates to the textbooks they choose. Based on the information gathered at the interviews and a subsequent content analysis of six textbooks, this study explored the possibilities that exchanging teaching ideas between foreign and programming language texts might afford if these were applied creatively across these two curricula.

<p>This thesis compared science teaching and learning in English and isiXhosa in the Intermediate Phase (Grades 4-6) in two primary schools in the Western Cape. It explored the effects of using learners' home language (isiXhosa) and second language (English) as languages of learning and teaching science. The study is part of a broader project called the Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa (LOITASA). The study was conceived against the background of English as a means of social, economic and educational advancement, and the marginalization of African languages in education.</p>

This study aimed to explore how a rural elementary school and community situated English language education in Central Turkey, and how the rural context shaped a beginning English language teacher&rsquo / s professional identity and teaching practices. In order to achieve this goal, a qualitative case study was conducted. The required data were obtained through three major methods / semi-structured interviews, a time and motion study, and an open-ended questionnaire. The interviews were all audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The time and motion study involved the recording of the English language teacher&rsquo / s actions at the school. In this regard, the teacher was observed both in and out of the class during a two-month period and his actions were noted down at 60-second intervals. In addition, an open-ended questionnaire was delivered to the students taking English as a compulsory subject in their curriculum. The data were organized in separate files regularly, and analyzed by coding, and interpreting the emerging themes. The results revealed four keys to being a successful teacher in the rural setting. These included appreciation of rural life, passion for rural teaching, aspiration for teaching profession, and being well-prepared for teaching. It was also concluded that the rural elementary school and its community had general appreciation for quality English language education / however, they did not find teaching practices sufficient for effective language learning. Thus, English was not on the top of their list. Lastly, the results also shed light on the rural challenges that a beginning teacher might face.

Arbetet syftar till att ge en bild av lärarnas metoder i klassrumsundervisningen av tvåspråkiga barn. Min forskningsfråga lyder: Vilka metoder använder sig läraren av för att undervisa engelsk grammatik till tvåspråkiga barn? I teori delen börjar jag med att upplysa om tvåspråkighet. Vilken uppfattning hade man om tvåspråkighet och undervisning av tvåspråkiga barn för ungefär 40 år sedan? Vilken uppfattning har forskare om tvåspråkighet och undervisningen av tvåspråkiga elever idag? Jag fortsätter med att belysa om de olika metoderna lärarna använder sig av i klassrumsundervisningen för att undervisa tvåspråkiga elever i engelsk grammatik? I resultat delen och efter att ha använt intervjun som forsknings redskap kom jag fram till följande resultat: Lärarna använde sig av liknande metoder för att motivera de tvåspråkiga eleverna till språkinlärning. De använde sig främst av leken som metod för att lära ut engelsk grammatik till deras elever. På så sätt blev grammatik undervisningen, enligt lärarna, mycket roligare och intressantare. Alla tre lärare varierade sina lektioner genom att använda sig av olika metoder. Eleverna fick ibland ansvara för sin egen språkinlärning och valde de metoder som passade bäst för deras kognitiva lärande. Lärarna använde sig också mycket av metoden 'Learner Autonomy' som gick ut på att eleverna fick arbeta självständigt och i sin egen takt med olika skrivuppgifter och övningar. Lärarna fick agera som rådgivare på dessa lektioner. I analysdelen belyste jag om Skillnader samt Likheter i lärarnas åsikter. Jag jämförde vad alla tre lärarna sa i varje fråga och om det fanns några likheter samt skillnader i deras utsagor. Jag kom som sagt fram till att lärarna använde sig av liknande metoder för att lära ut engelsk grammatik i klassrummet, men självklart så fanns det även vissa skillnader på deras sätt att jobba. Jag avslutade arbetet med en slutdiskussion där jag belyste om de olika problematiska momenten i lärarna utsagor. Samt om den bild jag fått ute på fältet i form av intervjuer, överensstämde med tidigare forskning (litteratur) som gjorts i detta område?

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.

Es una tesis analítico-descriptiva, con finalidad diagnóstica, en la que se describe el enfoque didáctico que debe aplicarse en la enseñanza de la lengua inglesa, según las directrices curriculares: el enfoque comunicativo. Se describe la metodología empleada para la investigación: observación en el aula. Por otro lado, se describe y analiza un corpus de actividades recopilado a partir de la observación de clases de inglés, presentando los datos en tablas en aras de mayor objetividad y para facilitar su sistematización, y también en formato descriptivo. Finalmente, tras la descripción y el análisis de los datos, se presentan las conclusiones, en las cuales se comprueba que la metodología empleada no es la comunicativa. Además, se ponen de manifiesto aspectos de la realidad del aula que contribuyen a explicar por qué no se aplica esa metodología y por qué el aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera no es tan fructífero como cabría esperar. / This is an analytico-descriptive thesis, written for diagnosis purposes, which investigates the relationship between the curricular guidelines for the teaching of English at the secondary level in the Spanish education system (communicative approach) and the actual application of those guidelines in real language classrooms. The methodology used for the the investigation is the so-called classroom observation. Also, a corpus of 1º Bachillerato English language lessons is described and analyzed, in two main formats: in tables (for the sake of objectivity and to facilitate data systematization) and in written analysis (descriptions). Next, conclusions are drawn where it clearly shows that the methodology employed in those lessons is not communicative. Finally, aspects of the day-to-day in language classrooms come out that contribute to explain why the communicative methodology is not used in the lessons observed and why foreign language learning in our country is not as fruitful as it would be desirable.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att se vad forskningen om språkängslan säger om vad språklärare kan göra för att skapa en låg nivå av ängslan och därmed ett bättre klimat för språkinlärning i ett kommunikativt klassrum. Uppsatsen är forskningskonsumerande och bygger på tidigare forskning om språkängslan i främmandespråksinlärning. Avstamp tas i det kommunikativa klassrummet, som förespråkas i styrdokumenten för dagens svenska skola, och som bygger på kommunikation. Sedan presenteras olika affektiva faktorer som kan påverka främmandespråksinlärningen i denna kontext. Därifrån belyses vad språkängslan (language anxiety) är samt vilka metoder som använts för att mäta det. Dessutom ges olika perspektiv på relationen mellan språkängslan och främmandespråksinlärning samt vilka konsekvenser språkängslan har för elever i främmandespråksklassrummet. Utifrån forskningen presenteras även en, av författaren till uppsatsen skapad, modell för hur man som språklärare kan minska och hantera elevers språkängslan i främmandespråksklassrummet. Modellen bygger på tips för att minska och hantera språkängslan som forskningen om språkängslan förespråkar, grupperade i sex olika kategorier. Som språklärare kan man exempelvis tänka på att lägga upp undervisningen på ett sätt som minskar språkängslan, eller direkt diskutera språkängslan med eleverna. Studien visar att elever som känner språkängslan i främmandespråksklassrummet får sämre förutsättningar och därför är det något som språklärare måste ta hänsyn till i undervisningen. Avslutningsvis diskuteras relationen mellan tipsen för att minska språkängslan och fördelarna med det kommunikativa klassrummet. Till exempel är risktagande i språket något som värdesätts i det kommunikativa klassrummet såväl som av forskningen för att minska språkängslan. Kontentan i uppsatsen är att inlärare är personer som inte bara kan tänka, utan också känna, och därför måste språkängslan tas hänsyn till i ett kommunikativt främmandespråksklassrum.

This study evaluates the English language courses for 9, 10, 11, and 12th grades in Anatolian high schools in Sivas. The participants of the study were 200 students who were enrolled in the courses and 20 teachers who taught them. The quantitative data were obtained through different course evaluation questionnaires for students and teachers. The eclectic evaluation model employed in this study was structured by adapting the evaluation models suggested by Bellon and Handler (1982) and Brown (1989). The results of the study show that the courses were not much effective in reaching the goals and objectives of the program, the course content and materials were uninteresting for the students and materials were inadequate in providing opportunities for communicative and student-centered activities, the teaching and learning processes lacked variety, and the assessment procedures were not parallel with the objectives of the courses and approaches of the curriculum. Some of the important recommendations of the study were that teachers need to be informed about the curriculum (i.e. goals and objectives, approaches), course content and materials need to be revised and supplementary materials for teaching of all language areas (four skills, grammar, and vocabulary) should be provided, variety needs to be added to the teaching activities, and the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) need to be assessed properly.

ABSTRACT AN ASSESSMENT OF THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE INSTRUCTORS WORKING AT A STATE UNIVERSITY Eksi, G&uuml / l M.S., Department of Educational Sciences Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Yesim &Ccedil / apa Aydin December 2010, 88 pages The main purpose of this study was to assess the professional development needs of the English language instructors working at a state university in Istanbul. Ninety-two instructors teaching preparatory classes constituted the population of the study. Within that needs assessment, the instructors&rsquo / perceptions of professional development, the most common professional development activities instructors practice, factors that hindered instructors from attending professional development activities, the most difficult skill to teach and assess, the areas of teaching English where instructors needed a professional development program, and the instructors&rsquo / preferences for delivery methods and formats of the professional development programs were identified. This study also examined the role of year of teaching experience, workload of the instructors, department the instructors graduated, and instructors&rsquo / perceptions of professional development programs in predicting the professional development needs of the instructors. Findings indicated that participants had positive perceptions of professional development. The most common professional development activity type was found to be &ldquo / Sharing experiences with colleagues.&rdquo / The most important factor which hindered participants from attending professional development was determined as &ldquo / inconvenient date/time.&rdquo / The most difficult skill to teach and to assess was reported as &ldquo / Writing.&rdquo / It was found out that the area where the degree of need was the highest was &ldquo / New theories and practices of English language teaching.&rdquo / Most of the participants reported that they preferred professional development activities to be optional workshops at their own institutions. A trainer or an expert from an outside institution was the most preferred speaker type. Findings also showed that instructors preferred sessions which took up to 60 minutes, held on weekday mornings once a month. The result of the regression analyses indicated that only year of teaching experience was significant in predicting professional development needs of the instructors. Year of teaching experience was negatively correlated with the needs indicating that as the teachers got more experience, their degree of professional development needs decreased.