Thesis (M.Ed. (Community and Continuing Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / This study reports on the exploration of masters students’ experiences of research supervision at the University of Limpopo. The key research question was what are master students’ experiences of research supervision at the University of Limpopo? The study is aligned with an interpretive paradigm to interact with the participants directly in their natural setting. A qualitative research approach was deemed appropriate, using case study design. Participants were purposively sampled from the Faculties of Humanities, and Management and Law. The study sample was composed of twelve master students and twelve supervisors from the three schools in each faculty. The preferred techniques of collecting data were document analysis, semi-structured interviews and observations. The study has revealed that both master students and supervisors are experiencing challenges with regard to research supervision. Most of the schools apply the traditional research supervision model; there is insufficient printers for supervisors in different schools; supervisors are overloaded with teaching and supervision work and as such students get feedback on their research work after a long time; some supervisors do not sign a memorandum of understanding with students; students’ research proposals undergo many levels before they are approved. However, the university supports students financially; workshops and seminars for master students are conducted for knowledge enrichment and skills development and infrastructure for research supervision that includes a library, computer laboratory, a Centre for Academic Excellence and a postgraduate Centre is available. It is recommended that the university introduce a co-supervision model in schools where the traditional model of supervision is still predominant. This will be invaluable in allowing supervisors to share research supervision experiences. Supervisors should be provided with enough printers in their offices. Turfloop Research Ethics Committee should hold regular meetings to approve students’ proposals on time. Approval of research proposals should be at school, faculty and Turfloop Research Ethics Committee levels. Master students should sign a Memorandum of Understanding in the early stages of their studies to enhance students’ commitment. Supervisors should also be allocated less teaching work to allow them enough time to focus on research supervision.

Thesis (M.A. (English Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Although several interventions have been in place to address the writing difficulties of students, research reveals that student writing is still one of the major challenges experienced by English Second Language (ESL) students worldwide; specifically, in the context of higher education institutions. As such, writing centres have been deemed as facilitators that are paramount for the transition of first-year students’ high school literacies to the academic writing conventions of higher learning. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the efficiency of the Reading and Writing Centre (RWC) as a supporting structure of the University of Limpopo (UL) through a case study of services rendered to first entering dietetics students. The study was guided by Vygostsky’ zone of proximal development and scaffolding theories to determine how the knowledgeable other can support the less knowledgeable students in developing their academic writing skills. An analysis of students’ assignments for the first semester and the second semester was conducted. The study also used semi-structured interviews to allow the current researcher to gain a detailed description on the challenges confronted by the dietetics students, and whether RWC is efficient in improving the academic writing skills of the dietetics students. The research established that academic writing appeared to be difficult for first-year entering dietetics students in the first semester prior to the assistance from RWC, and relied on the centre for the transition of the academic writing demands of higher learning. The study further discovered that although the students still committed slight grammatical mistakes, they showed improvement from the assistance they obtained from the feedback received from the RWC, ultimately signifying that the centre played a pivotal in scaffolding first-year students who came to higher learning underprepared for the academic writing conventions.

A reflexive analysis of five peer reviewed published papers reveals how socio-cultural and political discourses and individual agency compete to shape the identity of the learner-writer. It is posited that although hegemonic political discourses construct ‘schooling literacy’ (Meek 1988 ) which frame the socio-cultural contexts in which texts, authors, teachers and leaners develop; the socio-cultural standpoint of the individual makes possible conscious construction of counter discourses. Writer identity is integral to the compositional process. However, writer identity is mediated by, on the one hand, dominant discourses of literacy that inform current pedagogies of writing (Paper One) and on the other by socio-cultural narratives that shape identity (Paper Three). A synthesis of Gramsci’s notion of cultural hegemony and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory is used to explain the constraining function of dominant discourses in literacy education. These works largely fall within a qualitative paradigm, although a mixed-method approach was adopted for the data collection of Papers Four and Five. The methods these papers had in common were the use of survey and documentary analysis of reflective journals. A semi-structured interview with a focus group was the third method used to collect data for Paper Five. Individual semi-structured interviews were used to collect partial life-histories for Paper Two and textual analysis of pupils’ narrative writing was the main method used for Paper One. Paper Three involved a rhizotextual auto-ethnographic analysis of original poetry. Findings suggest pedagogies which minimise or negate the identity of the writer are counter-productive in facilitating writer efficacy. It is suggested, the teaching of writing should be premised on approaches that encourage the writer to draw upon personal, inherited and secondary narratives. In this conceptualisation of writing, the writer is simultaneously composing and exploring aspects of self. However, the self is not a fixed entity and writing is viewed as a process by which identity emerges through reflexive engagement with the compositional process. The corollary is that pedagogy of writing needs to embrace the identity of the writer, whilst also allowing space for the writer’s ‘becoming’.

Thesis (MA) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is an enquiry into the interrelated nature of artistic production, theoretical concerns and subjectivity. It serves as an interrogation of linear and hierarchal argumentation and draws parallels between conceptions of textuality and the human body. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis is ‘n ondersoek aangaande die onderlinge verhouding tussen kunspraktyk, teoretiese belange en subjektiviteit. Dit dien as bevraagtekening van liniêre en hierargiese redenasie en trek verwantskappe tussen teks en die menslike liggaam.

No description available.

Thesis submitted In fulfillment of the requirements for a PhD Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand April 2016 / Over the last decade there has been a considerable increase in research which centres on postgraduate supervision and research supervision has recently changed significantly (Grant, 2010; Walker, 2010; McCallin and Nayar, 2012). For some time postgraduate pedagogy has taken a lesser role in supervision practice compared with the role of supervisor as researcher. More recently supervision pedagogy has taken a more central role in the supervision debates and there is recognition of research teaching as a necessary and sophisticated skill (Grant, 2010; Walker, 2010; McAlpine and Amundsen, 2011). This shift in doctoral training away from viewing the thesis as a product to a pedagogy of training has resulted in a growing field of interest in postgraduate research writing. The emphasis on the research supervision role is beginning to acknowledge the work on postgraduate academic writing (Caffarella and Barnett, 2000; Kumar and Stracke, 2007; Aitchison and Lee, 2010; Catterall et al., 2011; McCallin and Nayar, 2012; Lee and Murray, 2015). However, for many supervisors writing is still seen as ‘marginal or ancillary’ to the real work of research and consequently there is very little research that ‘opens out the complexity of PhD writing practice’ (Kamler and Thomson, 2001, 6). This research, located in two disciplines in a Science faculty in a research-intensive university in South Africa, provides a local perspective on supervision pedagogy and research writing in a Science Faculty. In this thesis, research writing is seen as contextualized social practice in that supervision and writing practices have implications for the development of individual research writers. Within the institution there is little discussion between supervisors or between supervisors and their postgraduate students around research writing. There needs to be sensitivity to the disparate needs of individual students in the context of their research writing. Historically in the context of this thesis, this related to opening up academic literacy practices to historically disadvantaged undergraduate students, but more recently has widened to include all students, including postgraduate students. It has become increasingly important to find out what the writing challenges and practices are for postgraduate students and their supervisors, not only by focusing on their research texts but also by critically engaging with written feedback given to these students as they struggle to engage with the academic discourse of the institution. This research employs a qualitative approach to investigate the flow of events and processes related to the writing aspect of supervision and the perceptions and reported experiences of both postgraduate students and their supervisors. The thesis considers how participants understand these using a case study approach, consisting of eleven pairs of supervisors their Masters and doctoral students. A variety of data sources are employed including interviews with the participants, and drafts of student writing with written feedback from supervisors. Some aspects of supervision and postgraduate research writing remain hidden from view as these practices are intensely personal, revolving around the identities of those taking part and power relations which centre on both the relationship between co-supervisors and the supervisor-student relationship. This thesis puts forward a new model of co-supervision i.e. a writing-centred co-supervision model with a content supervisor and a writing supervisor both located within the discipline. This co-supervision model allows the writing co-supervisor to provide a ‘safe space’ in the writing process for the student. Significantly issues of power between the co-supervisors remain inherent in this model of co-supervision and thus research writing remains to a large extent on the margins of academic work. A further finding relates to the research writing issues identified by supervisors and/or postgraduate students mainly linked to positioning viz. structure; coherence; argument and flow; voice; and audience. There is little pre-thinking about the process of assisting postgraduate students to write. Despite the identification of some writing issues (either by supervisors and /or students), these are not always linked to strategies to enable students to overcome their writing difficulties. The analysis shows that the majority of these relate to the process of research writing and positioning issues (argument, voice, and audience). Furthermore these strategies are not always made explicit when supervisors work with students and surprisingly there is little match between those suggested by supervisors and those utilised by their students. Central to this research is the nature of written feedback given to postgraduate students. Supervisors’ knowledge of their written feedback practices is critical. The diverse feedback practices of the supervisors are uncovered using a new analytic feedback framework illustrating a continuum of feedback practices varying from big picture feedback; superficial surface-level feedback; and a combination of the two – mixed feedback. An analysis of the findings show that the majority of the supervisors use mixed feedback as their modus operandi. It is suggested that a shared meta-language regarding feedback would allow supervisors to open a space for an improved feedback dialogue both with their colleagues and with their postgraduate research students.

Academic writing is an important part of undergraduate study that tutors recognise as central to success in higher education. Across the academy, writing is used to assess, develop and facilitate student learning. However, there are growing concerns that students appropriate written work from other sources and present it as their own, committing the academic offence of plagiarism. Conceptualising plagiarism as literary theft, current institutional practices concentrate on deterring and detecting behaviours that contravene the rules of the academy. Plagiarism is a topic that often elicits an emotional response in academic tutors, who are horrified that students commit these ‘crimes’. Recently, educators have suggested that deterring and detecting plagiarism is ineffective and described moralistic conceptualisations of plagiarism as unhelpful. These commentaries highlight the need for credible alternative approaches to plagiarism that include pedagogic aspects of academic writing. The authorial identity approach to reducing plagiarism concentrates on developing understanding of authorship in students using pedagogy. This thesis presents three studies that contribute to the authorial identity approach to student plagiarism. Building on the findings of previous research, the current studies used a sequential mixed-methods approach to expand psychological knowledge concerning authorial identity in higher education contexts. The first, qualitative, study used thematic analysis of interviews with 27 professional academics teaching at institutions in the United Kingdom. The findings from this multidisciplinary sample identified that academics understood authorial identity as composed of five themes; an individual with authorial identity had confidence; valued writing; felt attachment and ownership of their writing; thought independently and critically; and had rhetorical goals. In addition, the analysis identified two integrative themes representing aspects of authorial identity that underlie all of the other themes: authorial identity as ‘tacit knowledge’ and authorial identity as ‘negotiation of identities’. The themes identified in the first study informed important aspects of the two following quantitative studies. The second study used findings from the first study to generate a pool of questionnaire items, assess their content validity and administer them to a multidisciplinary sample of 439 students in higher education. Psychometric analyses were used to identify a latent variable model of student authorial identity with three factors: ‘authorial confidence’, ‘valuing writing’ and ‘identification with author’. This model formed the basis of a new psychometric tool for measuring authorial identity. The resultant Student Attitudes and Beliefs about Authorship Scale (SABAS) had greater reliability and validity when compared with alternative measures. The third study used confirmatory factor analysis to validate the SABAS model with a sample of 306 students. In addition, this study identified aspects of convergent validity and test-retest reliability that allow the SABAS to be used with confidence in research and pedagogy. The overall findings of the combined studies present a psycho-social model of student authorial identity. This model represents an important contribution to the theoretical underpinnings of the authorial identity approach to student plagiarism. Differing from previous models by including social aspects of authorial identity, the psycho-social model informs future pedagogy development and research by outlining a robust, empirically supported theoretical framework.

Magister Educationis - MEd / This study aims to investigate the assessment of students in the English for Academic Purposes course at the University of Namibia Language Centre. There has been increasing criticism of standardised test and examinations and it has brought into question the value of other indirect approaches to language assessment (Reeves, 2000; Sharifi, & Hassaskhah, 2011; Tsagari, 2004). The study draws its theoretical foundation from the constructivist’s view of education (Canagarajah, 1999; Schunk, 2009; Vygotsky, 1962). The study embraces the interpretivist approach to research which tends to be more qualitative, and is open to diverse ways that people may understand and experience the same non-manipulated objective reality. The participants in this study are students and lecturers of the English for Academic Purposes course at the University of Namibia Language Centre. The study employs a qualitative research design, along with triangulation, where qualitative data was collected through lecturer interviews, lesson observations, multiple intelligence inventory, and student focus groups discussions. The study adapted the thematic approach of data analysis where the data were analysed and presented under themes derived from the research questions of the study. The findings indicate that, there was a limited stock of assessments that suits the classification of alternative assessment, namely: checklists, student-lecturer question techniques, and academic essay. The findings reveal some factors that influence the integration of alternative assessment in academic writing instruction, such as: lecturers and students’ knowledge of assessment, students’ assessment preferences, authenticity, classroom setup, and feedback. The findings also showed that the assessment practices that were used by the lecturers did not seem to fulfil the ideologies advocated in Gardener’s (1984) theory of Multiple Intelligences. However, the study found that the students and lecturers’ attitude which was skewed towards the positive direction may be an indication that there could be hope for success in attempts to integrate alternative assessment in academic writing instruction.

This interpretive study aims to investigate the difficulties in English academic writing as perceived by Saudi postgraduate students and their English supervisors in an English-speaking country. In accordance with the exploratory nature of the methodological approach adopted in this study, the research design of the current study employs a sequential mixed-methods design. The quantitative phase is represented by the questionnaire whereas semi-structured interviews and document analysis constitute the qualitative phase. From the sample, 275 students were asked to fill in the prepared questionnaire whilst 15 students, of both genders, and 9 supervisors were asked to participate in an interview. Ten samples of students’ written feedback from their supervisors were provided. Data were analysed quantitatively using SPSS descriptive statistics and qualitatively using MAXQDA software. The findings of the current study revealed that Saudi postgraduate students face the following difficulties in their English academic writing: not having sufficient academic vocabulary, avoiding plagiarism, using cohesive devices properly, constructing logical arguments, making coherent links between ideas, and demonstrating critical thinking in their academic writing. Furthermore, the current study highlighted that the difficulties could be attributed to a number of factors, including those related to learners, context, and instruction. Several strategies were proposed that could assist Saudi students in improving their academic writing. Additionally, the lack of academic preparation in the KSA had a negative influence on the proficiency of Saudi postgraduate students in their English academic writing, resulting in disparities between the expectations placed on students in their postgraduate studies in the UK and the actual results achieved by Saudi students. The findings also revealed that EAP courses in the UK often aided students in learning writing techniques; however, these courses have certain limitations. According to the findings of the current study, a theoretical model is suggested to help Saudi postgraduate students in their English academic writing. Based on the study findings, implications are drawn for policy makers and for practice in the education system in Saudi Arabia. Finally, suggestions for further research are provided.

Tse Po Ting. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-180). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Metadiscourse as Interactions in Academic Writing --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Interactions between writer and reader --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- "Relations between metadiscourse, interactions and social contexts" --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2 --- Overview of the Present Study --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Research questions --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.2. --- General research approaches --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3 --- Significance of the Study --- p.6 / Chapter 1.4 --- Organization of the Thesis --- p.7 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Metadiscourse as Social Interactions --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1 --- Conceptions of Metadiscourse --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2 --- Approaches to Metadiscourse --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Identification of metadiscourse --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Classifications of metadiscourse --- p.15 / Chapter 2.3 --- Recent Development of Metadiscourse Theory --- p.21 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- The distinction between propositional content and metadiscourse --- p.22 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- The interpersonal nature of metadiscourse --- p.23 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- The distinction between internal and external relations --- p.24 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Summary --- p.27 / Chapter 2.4 --- A Revised Model of Metadiscourse --- p.27 / Chapter 2.5 --- Major Investigations on Metadiscourse --- p.29 / Chapter 2.6 --- Chapter Summary --- p.33 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- The Genre of Academic Book Reviews --- p.35 / Chapter 3.1 --- Book Reviewing in Academia --- p.35 / Chapter 3.2 --- Book Review as a Site for Disciplinary Engagement --- p.38 / Chapter 3.3 --- Studies on Academic Book Reviews --- p.40 / Chapter 3.4 --- Chapter Summary --- p.45 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Gender in Social Interactions --- p.46 / Chapter 4.1 --- The Distinction between Sex and Gender --- p.46 / Chapter 4.2 --- Language and the Social Construction of Gender --- p.48 / Chapter 4.3 --- Gender in Verbal Interactions --- p.50 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- General findings of gender-preferential differences --- p.50 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Interpretation of gender-preferential differences --- p.51 / Chapter 4.4 --- Gender in the Academic Context --- p.53 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Major investigations on gender in academic writing --- p.54 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Implications of the findings --- p.56 / Chapter 4.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.57 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Formulation of Research Questions --- p.58 / Chapter 5.1 --- Summary and Implications of Previous Studies --- p.58 / Chapter 5.2 --- Research Questions --- p.60 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Theoretical & Methodological Considerations --- p.62 / Chapter 6.1 --- A Corpus-based Approach --- p.62 / Chapter 6.2 --- Data Collection & Organization --- p.64 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Selection of Disciplines --- p.65 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Collection of Textual Data for Corpus Compilation --- p.66 / Chapter 6.2.2.1 --- Selection of book reviews --- p.66 / Chapter 6.2.2.2 --- Collection and organization of texts --- p.68 / Chapter 6.2.3 --- Collection of Interview Data --- p.70 / Chapter 6.3 --- Textual Analysis --- p.72 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Framework of Metadiscourse --- p.72 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Procedures of Investigations --- p.77 / Chapter 6.3.2.1 --- Concordancing --- p.77 / Chapter 6.3.2.2 --- Test for inter-coder reliability --- p.78 / Chapter 6.4 --- Organization and Interpretation of Data --- p.79 / Chapter 6.5 --- Pilot Study & Preliminary Critiques of Approach --- p.80 / Chapter 6.5.1 --- Materials for Pilot Study --- p.80 / Chapter 6.5.2 --- Evaluation and Revisions Made --- p.81 / Chapter 6.5.3 --- Other Decisions Made --- p.85 / Chapter 6.6 --- Chapter Summary --- p.86 / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Findings & Discussions --- p.87 / Chapter 7.1 --- An Overview of Metadiscourse in Academic Book Reviews --- p.87 / Chapter 7.2 --- The Use of Metadiscourse across Disciplines --- p.92 / Chapter 7.2.1 --- Proportion of Interactional and Interactive Forms --- p.93 / Chapter 7.2.2 --- Distribution of Sub-categories of Metadiscourse across Disciplines --- p.96 / Chapter 7.2.2.1 --- Interactive metadiscourse --- p.96 / Chapter 7.2.2.2 --- Interactional metadiscourse --- p.101 / Chapter 7.3 --- Gender in the Use of Academic Metadiscourse --- p.112 / Chapter 7.3.1 --- An Overview of Gender in the Use of Academic Metadiscourse --- p.112 / Chapter 7.3.2 --- Gender in the Use of Metadiscourse in Individual Disciplines --- p.117 / Chapter 7.3.2.1 --- Philosophy --- p.120 / Chapter 7.3.2.2 --- Sociology --- p.124 / Chapter 7.3.2.3 --- Biology --- p.128 / Chapter 7.4 --- Chapter Summary --- p.132 / Chapter Chapter 8 --- Conclusions --- p.134 / Chapter 8.1 --- A Brief Review of the Study --- p.134 / Chapter 8.2 --- Possible Answers to the Research Questions --- p.137 / Chapter 8.3 --- Implications of the Present Findings --- p.147 / Chapter 8.4 --- Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research --- p.149 / Chapter 8.5 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.153 / Appendices --- p.154 / References --- p.171