This field study report covers three major areas: 1. the general significance of using literature in advanced Chinese EFL class 2. the approach to literature in the language classes 3. criteria for the selection of texts for advanced Chinese EFL learners The general significance of using literature in advanced EFL classes is that 1) literature has human relevance in that literature broadens the mind and promotes personal development; 2) literature provides a useful vehicle for teaching second language skills; 3) wide reading in literature will help in developing communicative competence, because literature provides knowledge about culture and examples of language in discourse. In searching for an ideal accroach to incorporating literature into language teaching, a thematic approach to Australian literature is proposed, the advantages of which have been discussed in detail. A sample of a thematic unit on "images of woman in early Australian literature" illustrates how to use a thematic approach in China's social context. This study argues for the inclusion of poetry for its linguistic and cultural values. A sample lesson on teaching "The Man from Snowy River" is given. Finally the study points out that ethical values, linguistic and stylistic appropriateness of the texts, student interest, and the background knowledge required should be the main concerns in selecting texts for advanced Chinese learners. A list of suggested texts in thematic grouping is given.

The need for an increase in the learning of foreign languages in primary schools in Australia was noted by the Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts (Report on a National Language Policy, 1984, Recommendation 78, p230). The introduction of the Japanese language program at Macquarie Primary School, ACT, in 1984, was a response to this need, combined with the expressed wish of the local community. Within this program it was decided that an unpublished curriculum developed and used in the ACT by a native speaker of Japanese, would be trialled. The purpose of this study, within a Master of Education degree, was to evaluate Book 1 of this curriculum, and the process by which it was implemented at the school, during the first year of operation of the program. The framework around which the evaluation was organised was Sanders and Cunningham's (1973) Structure for Formative Evaluation in Product Development. The evaluation sought to answer five questions which focussed on the validity, appropriateness and consistency of the broad goals of the program, and the extent of achievement of those goals by the students; the effect of the implementation of the program on school organisation; unexpected outcomes of the program; and revisions and modifications which were necessary to the program as the curriculum was trialled. A number of data gathering techniques was used to obtain the information required to answer these questions. The results of this study suggest that the curriculum being trialled was based on an eclectic approach to the teaching of a foreign language (Prator, 1980; Bell, 1981), selecting from various theories and methodologies, components deemed appropriate for primary age students in their first year of Japanese. The study also provided evidence that, after one year's participation in the Japanese program all children were, to an extent, achieving both broad goals of the program. There was some evidence however, that achievement of the goals was mediated by several learner characteristics, the most influential of these falling into the broad category of 'attitude'. It was discovered also, that the introduction of such a program into an already crowded school curriculum affected aspects of organisation within the school, and that all the outcomes of the program were not necessarily planned, or expected. Finally, certain changes, both organisational and to the curriculum, were made and implemented during the 'formative interim evaluation' stage. The conclusions of this thesis are offered at two levels: conclusions concerning the evaluation process itself, and those arising from the teaching of Japanese to primary age students.

For some years now, linguists have been developing methods of teaching second language learners to communicate effectively in the foreign language, concentrating on methods of developing skills in oral communication. Although there are many factors in Australia which would favour the introduction of Communicative Language Teaching for Indonesian - such as well-equipped classrooms and small class sizes - the Communicative Approach to teaching does not appear to have been fully developed. This is partly because of the lack of communicatively-based textbooks and teaching materials. The aim of this study is to suggest some ways in which Australian teachers could adapt the currently available materials and textbooks for use in communicative teaching of Indonesian, and also to propose methods of assessing students' communicative abilities. Chapter One describes the background to the study, and defines its aims, its scope and the research method used. Chapter Two looks at the teaching of Indonesian in the A.C.T., concentrating on the equipment and textbooks which are available. Some of the problems of teaching and assessment are also outlined. The discussion of Communicative Language Teaching in Chapter Three covers the development of language teaching methodology in general terms. A description and analysis of my research conducted on students and teachers of Indonesian in the A.C.T. is included in Chapter Four. The last two chapters contain a presentation of possible teaching materials and methods of introducing communicative activities (Chapter Five), and possible ways of assessing communicative activities (Chapter Six). Some of the problems of the Communicative Approach are also discussed. This Study Report is intended only to suggest some ways of introducing communicative activities into A.C.T. classrooms in the waiting period before new textbooks and materials, hopefully based on the Communicative Approach, become available.

Vietnam is a country with more than 80 percent of the population living in the countryside. Rural education is, therefore, of vital importance to Vietnamese education; and ELT effectiveness and efficiency in junior secondary schools in rural Vietnam is a problem of worthwhile attention. This study, being a pilot one, limits itself to seeking solutions to the increase of ELT effectiveness and efficiency in terms of syllabus design, textbook revision and teacher development. The study contains 5 chapters and a conclusion. Chapter 1 deals with the general background of the study, schooling and educational philosophies in Vietnam. In this chapter, special attention is given to the role of foreign language teaching and learning in Vietnamese schools. In addition, educational philosophies in Vietnam are discussed as the philosophical and legal basis for any implementation of FLT and ELT innovations in junior secondary schools in rural Vietnam. Chapter 2 deals with input studies and some models of language teaching and learning that appeared in the last two decades. In this chapter, special emphasis is laid on studies which explain how input is transformed into intake and on the models of teaching and learning that may be applied to the teaching and learning of English in the context of rural Vietnam. Chapter 3 deals with language teaching methods as the neverending search for teaching effectiveness and efficiency. In this chapter, based on the understanding of such concepts as effectiveness and efficiency, language teaching methods are presented as a means to an end, not as an end in itself. Thus, the selection and use of a method depends completely on the goal set for the process of language teaching and learning. When the goal changes, the method will change accordingly. Chapter 4 deals with the actual FLT and ELT situation in rural junior secondary schools in Vietnam. This chapter includes the results of surveys on teacher quality and a critical look at the implementation of the communicative approach in language teaching in the current textbooks in use in junior secondary schools The background of rural students is discussed to clarify the context of the learners in question. In chapter 5, based on the theoretical findings in chapters 2 and 3 and on the actual ELT situation mentioned in chapter 4, possible solutions to the increase of ELT effectiveness and efficiency are proposed. These solutions are concerned with syllabus design, textbook revision and teacher development. The study closes with a conclusion which relates solutions to ELT effectiveness and efficiency to the general solutions to teaching effectiveness and efficiency mentioned at a number of workshops held in Vietnam recently.

This thesis undertakes a reformulation of ELT curricula by means of a critique of established theoretical models and a case study of the ELT curriculum at De La Salle University (DLSU), Manila. The thesis proceeds in accordance with the precise that a sound theoretical and philosophical perspective is crucial to any task of curriculum development and criticism and thus derives a theoretical/ philosophical perspective from a consideration of ELT in the context of the philosophy of education and linguistic, applied linguistic, sociolinguistic, learning and curriculum theories. The argument is presented that any model of language as communication derived from linguistics and applied linguistics is not amenable to translation into descriptive rules of 'use' and hence a pedagogic grammar. Such theoretical perspectives, in only deriving partial models of 'use', are largely inadequate in the context of a concern with language teaching. Input from cognitive learning theory however suggests that teaching language as communication requires a curriculum approach focusing on 'open' communicative procedures rather than systematic techniques premised on language description and exemplified by a syllabus-based structure. It is thus argued that communicative language teaching requires 'open', methodology-based procedures that provide a markedly subordinated role for syllabus. The advocated form of communicative language curriculum is thus described as employing an 'open' rather than a 'closed-system') approach. It is also maintained that the ELT debate on communicative curricula has largely ignored crucial issues in curriculum theory and the philosophy of education - especially the distinction between 'education' and 'training'. This theoretical debate enables the derivation of a revised taxonomy of language curricula to replace the orthodox dichotomy into General English and ESP. The argument is presented that there are essentially two approaches to the curriculum - closed-system and open approaches - and that within each approach there are two curriculum types. Through revised definitions, the intents of 6E and ESP curricula are distinguished and a new taxonomy of four possible curriculum types, including that of a Focused English Learning (FED curriculum, presented. The principles derived from the theoretical discussion and reformulated taxonomy enable an 'illuminative' case study investigation of an example curriculum: the ostensibly English for Specific Purposes (ESP) curriculum for Engineers employed at DLSU. This case study, by examining curriculum justification and intent and illuminating the nature of the problem at the university, illustrates, by example, aspects of the reformulated taxonomy. The case study findings detail crucial aspects of the interface between theory and local practice and expose the curriculum at DLSU as inherently contradictory, based on an inaccurate notion of ESP, and principally concerned with the pursuit of broadly educational aims through a mainly training-based, closed-system and non-communicative curriculum. The thesis concludes by proposing that the orthodox dichotomy between GE and ESP curricula is inappropriate and fails to reflect the various and possible forms of curricular intent. This has been a consequence of a theoretical emphasis on linguistics and sociolinguistics and an inadequate consideration of the philosophy of education and learning and curriculum theories. The inadequacy of the established dichotomy has led to confusion in application (as demonstrated through the case study) that could be avoided through the adoption of the reformulated taxonomy.

<p>The aim of this study was to investigate how the target language is used in the foreign language classroom and how different teachers combine the target language and the first language in their teaching. The study was conducted in three different Swedish schools at different levels: one at the intermediate level; one at the secondary level; and two at the upper secondary level. The teachers were observed during class and interviewed. In addition to this, the students answered a questionnaire about their own and their teacher's use of the target language.</p><p>The results showed that the teachers used the target language as the most common language in their teaching, although the first language was also used. The intermediate teacher used the first language when she did not have enough language herself, when she explained grammar or went through important information. The secondary teacher used the first language when she explained grammar as well as the upper secondary teacher, who also used the first language when she had important information. The results showed that the teacher's choice of language in the classroom had an impact on the students since more teacher target language use encouraged more student target language use in the classroom, and that it is important to start the lesson in the target language to encourage more target language use by the students. Both the teachers and the students thought that the target language was important during language teaching.</p>

Foreign language teachers, experts of pedagogy, and textbook publishers often cite frequency as an important tool in the creation of textbooks, as well as in teaching students a foreign language. These same figures, however, rarely question the application of frequency in these works. This thesis examines the application of frequency over a range of first-year German textbooks compared to a textbook that is explicitly based on a particular frequency dictionary. These textbooks are compared to each other and to the Jones and Tschirner Frequency Dictionary of German and Pfeffer’s Grunddeutsch: Basic (Spoken) German Word List, Grundstufe.

The aim of this study was to investigate how the target language is used in the foreign language classroom and how different teachers combine the target language and the first language in their teaching. The study was conducted in three different Swedish schools at different levels: one at the intermediate level; one at the secondary level; and two at the upper secondary level. The teachers were observed during class and interviewed. In addition to this, the students answered a questionnaire about their own and their teacher's use of the target language. The results showed that the teachers used the target language as the most common language in their teaching, although the first language was also used. The intermediate teacher used the first language when she did not have enough language herself, when she explained grammar or went through important information. The secondary teacher used the first language when she explained grammar as well as the upper secondary teacher, who also used the first language when she had important information. The results showed that the teacher's choice of language in the classroom had an impact on the students since more teacher target language use encouraged more student target language use in the classroom, and that it is important to start the lesson in the target language to encourage more target language use by the students. Both the teachers and the students thought that the target language was important during language teaching.

The aim of the thesis is to investigate how teaching devices, with focus on ICT use are regarded in education. I make comparison with teaching without technical devices, but emphasize the teaching with such devices. I address questions concerning what technical devices are used and in which way these devices may enhance the education process. In addition, in which way the devices influence power and communication. The methods indicate a deductive-abductive approach, observations, interviews, and questionnaires. The theoretical framework focuses, Linguistics, Pedagogy, cognition, and Informatics. The results-part is built up on two cases – one concerning teaching with technical devices, the other concerning teaching without those devices. The results imply that the schools of Sweden use computers and Internet in a very ‘common’ way. However, there are intentions to use cell phones with software to assist the teaching. By this approach, that would be possible to add an additional time to the lectures since the pupils and teachers can work outside the classroom. One problem with technical devices is named ‘noise’, which are things in between the ‘useful’ (technical) devices and issues around that can decrease the learning process. In addition; if the goal is to have a symmetrical relationship between teacher and pupil, it may be difficult without taking carefully account on the (technical) device in use, and perhaps regard them as cognitive tools. From what I found, the tools are not regarded as cognitive.

The study focuses on the use of poetry in language teaching in the lower grades in the Swedish school. Poetry has a reputation of being an art form with such specific rules and structures that children and teachers think that it is something that they do not have the ability to work with.  The purpose of this study is to get an understanding of how poetry is used in educating children. My research is based on the following questions.  To which extent is poetry being used in schools and how is it being used? Can you as a teacher see any effects on childrens language development by using poetry? As a part of my study I have met with and interviewed four different people, who in one way or another is involved in teaching children. Two working teachers in the lower grades, one pedagogical resource and one artist that work with teachers in reaching different goals through the help of aesthetic processes. My goal with the interviews was to get a sense of the way poetry is portrayed in schools and to see if it is a genre that is incorporated in teaching the Swedish language. Poetry has not always been mentioned in the Swedish curriculum as something children has to know about. However in the most recent curriculum poetry is brought up as something every child should know and recognize by the end of the third schoolyear.