The goal of the research presented in this thesis is to increase understanding of the experiences (e.g., affective experience, challenges) of female Saudi Arabian students learning a foreign language. To better understand why some language learners have more difficulty acquiring a target language, there has been an increase in research into relationships between foreign language acquisition and affective variables (see Gardner, 1997). However, the vast majority of previous research has been conducted in the West, leaving a gap in understanding other perspectives. The present research uses a case study design, drawing on multiple sources of information to inform an understanding of female students' experience in a private college's English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program. A combination of factors — the importance of learning English, changes in the educational system, and conservative culture — create a unique environment for researching anxiety related to studying EFL. To gain insight into the learners' perspectives, questionnaires, individual and group interviews, and informal classroom observations were used. Ten participants, five from the beginning level (Level 1) and five from a more advanced level (Level 3) of the college English program, were examined. Each participant's experiences are discussed individually, then compared and analysed in the context of existing research literature. All case study participants indicated that they experienced anxiety through responses to a questionnaire, discussion in interviews, and observed behaviours (e.g., avoiding in-class participation). Although some factors, such as teacher-student interactions and teacher behaviour, appeared nearly universally anxiety-provoking among all participants, others factors varied between participants in Levels 1 and 3. These differences and similarities are examined. Finally, implications and limitations, along with suggested recommendations for EFL teachers and policy makers in Saudi Arabia, are discussed.

No description available.

The study is an evaluation of the English Language Teaching programme implemented in a University Department of English as a Foreign Language in Morocco. Using an eclectic-illuminative approach, and a predominantly qualitative methodology, the evaluation includes a description, analysis and tentative interpretation of the three general components of the programme: its purposes, its practices and its effects. The first part includes a) a background chapter on Higher Education in Morocco, with special reference to LL.T., b) a conceptual framework which sets out the issues involved in evaluation, more particularly the illuminative style, and c) an account of the methodology adopted for the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data. Part two is made up of three chapters: - In Chapter 4, an evaluation is proposed of the purposes of the programme as reflected in the stated or implicit overall aims of Higher Education, the aims of LL.T., and the more specific objectives of the various courses taught as part of the programme. - Chapter 5 is an evaluation of the practices of the programme. The institutional context is an important determiner of those practices and is examined as a background to student and teacher evaluation of such areas as course content (syllabuses), teaching, and student learning. The chapter concludes with an account of the participants' perceptions of the assessment system, based on an analysis of the 1984-85 examinations. - Chapter 6 deals with the long-term effects of the programme as perceived by alumni and as reflected in their description of the impact of their experience of Higher Education. The action-research dimension of the evaluation is outlined in the synthesis and implications for action and further research which constitute the conclusions to the study.

No description available.

Despite its prominence, especially in academic reading, skimming is much under researched with very few research papers devoted to it, of which only two are L2- related. Such research as there is suggests that skimming is most likely to be effective when the text is predictable, familiar and simple (in terms of content, structure, language or any combination of these). This study considers skimming within an L2 context (specifically, skimming for the IELTS test). In particular, it investigates the specific characteristics of skimming. In addition, it considers the relationship between skim reading texts with familiar and unfamiliar content. The pedagogy-focused enquiry consists of an analysis of the way 14 textbooks cover skimming and a further analysis of 92 questionnaire responses from IELTS teachers. The learner-focused enquiry analyses 16 verbal protocols, collected from participants who had read texts with familiar and unfamiliar content. The textbooks examined implied that skimming is extremely useful for IELTS candidates, though there was no unanimity about the speed of skimming or its operationalisation. Similarly, the teachers surveyed almost unanimously endorsed the value of skimming for test-takers but varied greatly in their methods of teaching and even in their understanding of the extent to which it can be taught. Analysis of the verbal protocols revealed a number of strategies that were used by skim readers, a comparison with Anderson's (1991) list of strategies for normal reading indicating the particular emphasis of skim readers on time-saving and gist-yielding strategies. Comparison of quantitative data showed no major differences in scores between skimming texts of familiar and unfamiliar content, although the participants' perception of difference, with the text with unfamiliar content being perceived as far more difficult, was acute. It was concluded that there is a continuum from normal reading to skimming: thus skimming is a variant of normal reading and not a separate process from it.

Language teaching has been strongly influenced over recent years by talk of notions and functions, most notably through Wilkins' (1976) work on Notional Syllabuses. Yet the notional/functional syllabus has been criticized for failing to capture anything more than a superficial correspondence between form and meaning. In this thesis I argue for a framework in which a deeper congruence between form and meaning is developed. I identify regularities in the lexico-syntactic structure of English which express recognizable notional relationships, which in turn reflect deeper conceptualizations of relations between events and participants. These conceptualizations are represented on a semantic continuum of 'contextual distance'. By reference to this continuum, I argue that we can identify a clear congruence between increasing conceptual complexity and increasing lexicosyntactic complexity. This account gives considerable prominence to the role of lexis, and to the interdependence between grammar, lexis and context in the signalling of meaning, something which has not always been adequately considered within linguistics or within applied linguistics. I then consider a possible application of these ideas to pedagogy. In many 'product' approaches to syllabus design and methodology, learners work with language forms whose meanings are to an extent already fixed, with grammar subsuming lexis and with cotext and context already clearly related by the materials designer. In such approaches the interdependence between grammar, lexis and context is sometimes lost sight of, and I argue for a revised approach in which this interdependence is made central. Thus learners are encouraged to fashion their own meanings by working with lexical items, and by learning to grammaticize these lexical items by reference to context. By separating out grammar and lexis in this way, learners are given direct access to the deeper congruence between form and meaning - between grammar, lexis and context. The format of the thesis is as follows . I begin with a selective review of work in linguistics (chapter one) and applied linguistics (chapter two), arguing that the importance of the grammar/lexis relationship has not (by and large) been much investigated. In chapter three I introduce the continuum of contextual distance, outlining a general hypothesis in which relationships between grammar, lexis and context are linked to a deeper understanding of the congruence between form and meaning. I go on to develop the detail of this hypothesis, looking both at ideational meanings (chapter four) and interpersonal meanings (chapter five). Stepping back from these detailed arguments, I conclude by presenting an approach to classroom methodology (chapter six) and to syllabus design (chapter seven) based on the concept of learner grammaticization.

This thesis reports a classroom-based action-research study conducted in the University of Sindh, Jamshoro Pakistan, where the researcher teaches English as a Second Language in large compulsory language support classes. The study aims to find an accessible solution to the problem that the majority of students do not actively engage with the learning process in these classes, and therefore fail to make satisfactory progress with their language learning. The problem was investigated through a cyclical process of planning, action, observation and reflection in the researcher’s own class. An initial literature review led to the hypothesis that a highly structured approach to group work, using permanent groups and regular cooperative learning strategies, could effectively improve participation without introducing the classroom management problems sometimes associated with group work in large classes. These strategies were introduced and regularly reviewed using the researcher’s own reflections, as well as feedback from the students and from other teachers who observed the classes. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and the findings from the two types of data were cross-referenced to check their validity. The results indicate that the strategies enhanced students’ participation, confidence, motivation, cognitive skills, and willingness to take responsibility for their own and others’ learning; the intervention also increased student-student and student-teacher interaction. Although there were initially some problems related to students’ unresponsiveness or reluctance to participate, these were largely brought under control by adjusting group membership and constantly explaining to the shyer students the benefits of learning in groups. The study shows that a highly structured approach to group work, using permanent groups and carefully selected cooperative learning activities, can serve to increase student engagement in English language support classes at the University of Sindh, without requiring significant extra resources or creating classroom management issues. It is therefore suggested that wider adoption of this form of communicative learning across the institution, and in similar situations elsewhere, is feasible and could be beneficial for both students and university teachers.

This study examines code-switching (CS) practices in South African rural classrooms. In particular, it studies isiXhosa, isiMpondo and English CS in Mpondoland. Its central question investigates whether or not a Conversation Analytic (CA) approach to bi/multilingual talk is a viable methodological and theoretical framework with which to explain classroom multilingualism in whole-class formats of interaction. The study examines CS practices in English Second Language (L2) and English L2-medium content lessons in two secondary schools. It draws primarily on close analysis of transcripts, but also on ethnographic knowledge of the setting, participant observation, teacher interviews, and quantitative techniques to explore the following questions: How is CS used to accomplish lessons? Can a CA approach explain observed CS practices? How is classroom bi/multilingual talk similar to and different from ordinary conversation? To what extent can observed practices be explained in terms of classroom type, viz., English-language vs. English L2-medium Social Science vs. English L2-medium Technology classroom? To what extent can patterns of CS be explained in terms of individual differences in teachers’ communicative styles and attitudes to CS? The study finds that lessons are accomplished in five patterns of language use, viz., separate/divergent bilingualism, convergent bilingualism, mixed/flexible multilingualism, isiXhosa-isiMpondo-only, and English-only. It concludes that although CA is a powerful approach for discovering how participants orient to different varieties used in classrooms and therefore for establishing what counts as language and CS in interaction, it is not, on its own, an adequate methodological and theoretical framework with which to explain what goes in multilingual classrooms. This is because the multilingual practices of classroom participants cannot be satisfactorily interpreted without reference to extra-sequential factors such as institutional goals, the roles of participants, and the broader sociolinguistic context in which their practices are embedded.

This thesis explores how evaluation has been practised in a non-profit domain that of an English development education (DE) organisation. The study adds to explanations of how social practice theory contributes to the refinement of the understanding of evaluation practice. Generally, studies on evaluation practice remain unclear on how small, a-political non-profit organisations practice evaluation (Henry and Mark, 2003); especially, how their evaluation practice changes over time and with what effects (Saunders et al., 2005). Within the specific non-profit sector of development education studies have described the insufficient knowledge of how these organisations practise evaluation (Bourn, 2014). This is a single case study using an in-depth qualitative case study approach (Simons, 2009) to longitudinally explore evaluation practice and its change over time. Data from coordinators, practitioners and funders was ethnographically collected, during 1 year, through analysis of documentary evidence, 16 semi-structured interviews and 134 hours of observation where participants articulated their experiences of evaluation whilst identifying the influences shaping their evaluation practice. These articulations were coded and thematically analysed with findings displayed in a timeline of evaluation practice (Shove et al., 2012). The empirical data obtained suggests that the participation of practitioners in evaluation appears to be taken-for-granted, but their full participation may be restricted. It also sheds light on the flow of power relationships that have traditionally been operated top-down, yet an internal layer of power within the non-profit leadership seems influential. The data analysed indicates that the co-occurrence of evaluation practice with other working activities shapes and alters how evaluation is practised in a development education setting. Two ways this thesis extends the theory of evaluation practice are: first, it proposes that a social practice view of evaluation can enhance practitioners’ experiences of evaluation by tracking how their practice has changed over time. This study makes an original theoretical contribution to the broader literature of evaluation practice informed by social practice theory (Saunders 2000; Saunders et al., 2011), through the use of an advanced framework of the dynamics of social practice (Shove, 2009; Shove et al., 2012), to explore the everyday life of evaluation and how it changes. Second, the thesis extends the theory of evaluation practice (Saunders et al., 2011) by applying the dynamics of social practice into a novel research domain of development education evaluation. This thesis also offers an empirical contribution to the under-researched domain of development education (Bourn, 2014), by extending current knowledge on how evaluation is practised. Finally, the thesis contributes to advance the method of analysis of change over time, by having used a timeline as a tool to display findings, rather than only to collect and organise the dataset, as in other methods (Giele and Elder, 1998).

Drawing from a sociocultural framework, this study investigated peer interactions in mixed-age (M-A) English as a foreign language (EFL) secondary school classrooms in Germany which are simultaneously mixed-ability classrooms. M-A is increasingly used (Thurn, 2011), but is under-researched in language classrooms. Research in mainstream M-A classrooms suggests benefits for both younger and elder learners (Kuhl et al. 2013; Little, 2001; Thurn, 2011; Veenman, 1995). Although some research has been conducted in L2 mixed-proficiency settings, there has been no study conducted on peer-interactions within M-A groups/pairs in L2 contexts. Twelve mixed-age pairs of young adolescent learners were audio-recorded when interacting on regular classroom tasks, which were a part of one unit of work, lasting a period of two and half months. After the unit of work, individual interviews were conducted in order to elicit learners’ perceptions of their interactions. Results show that M-A pairs formed predominantly patterns of interaction, which are conducive to learning, namely expert/novice and collaborative pattern (Storch, 2001a). One pair was identified as dominant/dominant and one pair could not be identified according to Storch’s framework and was identified as expert/passive (Watanabe & Swain, 2007). With regards to the extent and ways of assistance provided, some pairs assisted one oanother in ways similar to teacher scaffolding, while some in ways which resemble to what Donato (1988, 1994) called collective scaffolding. Results also show eight out of ten younger learners, which were the focus of the analysis, showed some level of increased independence of target-like use. However, the extent of target-like use use varied greatly across learners. In relation to perceptions of their interactions, the majority of peers expressed a positive attitude towards their interactions, and perceived an equal contribution of both partners to their joint work. However, while younger peers perceived learning outcomes, some of their elder partners did not.