No description available.

This thesis is about the politics of debating what sort of knowledge should be produced by organisation researchers. It proposes to look at an old problem from a new angle, using the idea of rhetoric to draw insights into the long-standing debate about the intellectual structure of the field of organisation studies. Featuring two antithetical projects ('unifying' the field vs. allowing or even encouraging theoretical pluralism), that debate is considered by many commentators to be gridlocked and irresolvable. However this thesis asserts that more scrutiny should be given to the rhetorical aspects of the debate in order to understand why it is in this state. Chapters 1, 2 and 3 develop a general framework for analysing the debate, suggesting that paradigm disputes can be seen as instances of rhetorical boundary-work. Chapters 4,5 and 6 present three separate studies, united by their common outlook: each study posits that paying attention to rhetoric can highlight factors that hamper a potential resolution of the debate. Chapter 4 analyses the rhetoric of a landmark controversy about the intellectual structure of the field, and shows how the rhetorical strategies pursued by the discussants mediated the outcome of the controversy, and potentially prevented significant advances. Chapter 5 looks at how the ambiguity and polysemy of concepts can be mobilised as a crucial rhetorical resource in the design of arguments justifying the theoretical unification of the field. The chapter allows that a lack of a common and shared understanding of the meaning of notions like 'paradigm' and 'incommensurability' does hamper the resolution of the debate, but it also recognises that any attempt to generate such a shared understanding will encounter major difficulties given the importance of the meaning of concepts as a site for boundary-work. Chapter 6 posits that what can explain the longevity of the debate is the rhetorical flexibility of the positions enacted within the debate. Focusing on one particular position, the project of 'unifying' the field, the chapter shows how, over time, contributors to the debate have pursued significantly different rhetorical strategies in order to maintain the legitimacy of their project.

This study investigates the effectiveness of context-specific teaching materials delivered through an adapted process genre model of writing, in enhancing academic writing proficiency of tertiary level English foreign language (EFL) students. The study was conducted at a College of Technology in Oman and was motivated by the low EFL writing level of tertiary students at the college. The study employed a quasi-experimental design in which two main groups (experimental and control) were included. The experimental group received EFL writing instruction for one semester via the especially developed teaching materials, while the control group received EFL writing instruction via the prescribed textbook. The findings indicated statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in the Mid-Semester examination (MSE) and the Level-Exit examination (LEE). A qualitative analysis of the experimental group’s writing suggests that this group significantly outperformed the control group in writing fluency and accuracy. Therefore, based on the findings of the current study, it can be concluded that context-specific materials delivered through the proposed process genre model of writing are effective in enhancing tertiary level students’ academic writing proficiency in an EFL context. Specifically, the writing intervention had a positive effect on students’ ability to compose a variety of genres in an examination setting, which is an important finding, given that the process-genre approach to writing is normally not associated with writing in an examination setting. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

Text in English / Abstracts in Afrikaans and English / Ekspressiewe skryfwerk (ES) – as ‘n metode van intervensie gemik op fisiese en geesteswelstand van deelnemers – word reeds vir ongeveer drie dekades ondersoek. Klein en Boals beweer met hul 2001-studie dat ES ook ‘n positiewe invloed uitoefen op die werkende geheue van individue. Met die huidige studie word die vraag of hierdie bevinding ook van toepassing is op adolessente en jong volwassenes van Suidelike Afrika ondersoek. Dié projek betrek aanvanklik skoolleerders (N = 44) en eerstejaar universiteitstudente (N = 83) in die Suid-Kaap en met die skryfoefeninge word ‘n komponent bygevoeg by een van die eksperimentele groepe waar kognitiewe insette saam met die emosionele onthulling verlang word. Die studie-resultate toon heelwat teenstrydighede, dog die positiewe invloed van ES op die werkspan word by ‘n goeie aantal eksperimentele groep deelnemers waargeneem. Vorige navorsing dui op ‘n verlaging in die voorkoms van indringer- en vermydingsgedagtes na ES tesame met verbeterde werkspan en hierdie verband word van nader beskou deur die huidige studie. Die moontlikheid dat woordtelling per minuut as informele meting van werkspan aanvaar kan word, sowel as die moontlike verband tussen gemoedsvlak en skryfkondisie word ook met die projek ondersoek. / During the past three decades expressive writing has been in the research spotlight as an effective method of intervention in the improvement of human well-being. In 2001 a study done by Klein and Boals claimed that expressive writing also has a positive influence on the working memory of the student participants. The current study investigates the influence of expressive writing on adolescents and young adults in the Southern Africa context. Solution-focused exercises, together with emotional expression during the writing sessions, add a cognitive component to the intervention which strive to create greater impact on working memory capacity (WMC). Previous research indicate that improvement in WMC goes hand in hand with the reduction in the prevalence of intrusive and avoidant thoughts. During the current project the relationship between working memory and these thoughts is investigated. Additionally the possibility of word count as informal measure for WMC are looked at as well as a possible association between mood level and writing condition. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)