The purpose of this study was twofold: to find out how teachers of English as an Additional Language (EAL) conceived curriculum, teaching and learning and to examine how professional learning and development (PLD) might impact on changes in the teachers’ thinking and approaches. The research was spurred by my own involvement in the revision of the national New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and interest in the contested nature of curriculum related to English language learning. EAL teachers face challenges addressing the cross-Learning Area positioning of EAL and, at the same time, are afforded significant autonomy. PLD is needed to support teachers to make curriculum decisions that support English language learners’ (ELLs) to develop competency in English language with urgency. This is because ELLs need to manage the English language demands as they engage in the complex learning that is articulated in the NZC, along with their peers. I adopted an action research methodology to explore both how EAL teachers conceived curriculum and how PLD about EAL teaching and learning might impact on shifts in teachers’ understanding. I was a practitioner-researcher as I carried out PLD for two teachers over a period of six months. Those teacher-participants were teachers of EAL from different secondary schools with different professional contexts. Teaching-as-inquiry was the predominant approach of the PLD. This approach was consistent with my action research. The PLD comprised of a range of interruptions to teachers’ everyday work that assisted them to explore their own practice. The research drew on records of these interruptions to provide evidence of changes in teacher-participants’ thinking. The recorded conversations were captured through semi-structured interviews, video-stimulated recall and ‘learning conversations’. This qualitative data was analysed in one cycle which explored teachers’ thinking and actions about EAL curriculum. A second cycle focused my recorded reflections about my practice and on the impact of particular forms of PLD facilitation on shifts in the teachers’ thinking and actions. I created a review of literature for each cycle. This recursive process allowed me to reflect on my role as a PLD facilitator in action. Several themes emerged as the cycles were drawn together to examine how PLD impacted on shifts in teachers’ understanding of curriculum for EAL. One theme that emerged was the value of a culture of inquiry, where my action research was linked with the participants’ teaching-as-inquiry cycles. Another theme related to how PLD could influence teachers’ reconceptualising of curriculum for teaching multilingual English language learners. A third theme was how my PLD facilitation could impact on effective teaching and learning for Pasifika learners. Findings can be drawn from my study for both teacher practice and for PLD facilitation. This research adds to New Zealand research about teaching ELLs, and Pasifika students in particular. It shows how giving attention to both students’ home language strengths and academic English language learning needs can change the way teachers see pathways and work towards improved outcomes for students. The value of inquiry for teachers was confirmed in this action research, as a useful approach for bring about change in teachers’ thinking and approaches to teaching. The PLD interruption process, which included analysis of rich information about students, challenging conversations and the maintenance of respectful relationships was confirmed as an effective combination for engaging teachers in shifting their foci. Self-reflections on my PLD facilitation role, using an inquiry approach, assessed through adult learning principles, provided a useful stocktake which I would recommend for other PLD facilitators.

Learning and assessment are inextricably intertwined, since assessment not only measures learning, but future learning is also dependent on assessment. The purpose of this two phase sequential mixed-methods study was to examine the interplay between informal and formal assessment in Grade 9 EFAL classrooms in order to gain a better understanding of teachers’ assessment practises. Argued from a constructivist point of view, the study endorses continuous assessment (CASS), which balances informal and formal assessment. In order to direct the study towards the stated purpose, the researcher embarked on a literature study to contextualise English as First Additional Language against the background of educational developments in South Africa since 1994 and to examine assessment of English First Additional Language in an OBE framework. The literature study was followed by an empirical study. By applying a sequential mixed-methods research design, 66 conveniently sampled EFAL teachers in the Johannesburg-North District of the Gauteng Department of Education participated in the quantitative phase of the empirical study. By means of a survey as strategy of inquiry, these teachers completed a questionnaire. Six randomly selected teachers from the initial sample participated in the qualitative phase of the empirical study which followed a case study strategy of inquiry and consisted of individual interviews and observations. The empirical research findings revealed that the sampled teachers experienced the official Departmental documents as regulatory, overwhelming and ambiguous and that they gave more attention to formal assessment than informal assessment. Due to this emphasis on formal assessment, the teachers felt uncertain about the purposes of informal assessment which, as a consequence, was considered as less important than formal assessment. A preference of conventional assessment methods was also disclosed which implied that the sampled teachers were not willing to experiment with alternative assessment methods. In conclusion, the researcher discovered that although CASS was implemented in the sampled teachers’ classrooms, learner-centred teaching founded on constructivism with the aim of encouraging scaffolding, was not high on the teachers’ teaching agendas. / MEd (Learning and Teaching), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Personal Statements (PSs) are self-narrative essays written for Western graduate school applications, which serve an important role in Western graduate schools’ admission processes. However, genre features of PSs have not been sufficiently addressed by previous genre studies. Such neglect indicates a promising area for investigation as the increasing number of non-native English speakers in Western higher education systems creates an urgent pedagogical need for PS-related English-as-an-Additional-Language (EAL) instruction. The present thesis reports a corpus-driven genre analysis of PSs written by Chinese EAL students (CEAL-PSs). Based on a corpus of 120 CEAL-PS samples, genre features of CEAL-PSs were investigated from three perspectives: (1) linguistic complexity (i.e. lexical diversity and grammatical intricacy), (2) content foci (i.e. at the lexical, phrasal, discoursal levels), and (3) functional move structure. In addition, comparative analyses were made between unedited and edited CEAL-PSs for investigating whether the editing process significantly changed the unedited CEAL-PSs in the above three perspectives. There were three major findings of the current study. First, the majority of lexicons used by the collected CEAL-PSs were frequent academic lexicons and the average grammatical intricacy of these samples was at senior high school or junior college levels. Second, expressions of self-promotion and discussions of academic/professional achievements were explicitly emphasized in the collected CEAL-PSs at the lexical, phrasal, and discoursal levels. Third, an IERC model (“Introduction,” “Establishing Credentials,” “Reasons for Application,” and “Conclusion”), was found to be followed by the majority of the collected CEAL-PSs. Based on the above findings, the thesis further discusses the current study’s theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical implications for EAL writing instruction in China. / Graduate / 0290 / 0681 / chensibo@uvic.ca

When Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) reached the Further Education and Training (FET) band in 2006, teachers were confronted for the first time with a new curriculum that challenged them to implement a learner-centred approach to teaching, learning and assessment. Since assessment is seen as the heart of effective teaching and learning, this research was aimed at establishing how effective teachers of English First Additional Language (EFAL) in the FET band were in implementing Outcomes-Based Assessment (OBA). A thorough literary survey on OBE and OBA was conducted. This survey included a study of the principles and philosophical underpinnings of OBE and the clarification of the key concepts of OBE and OBA. Various documents on the teaching, learning and assessment of English Second Language from the Departments of Education in New Zealand, Canada and Australia were studied to gain an international perspective. This was followed by an analysis of South African policy documents on the teaching, learning and assessment of EFAL. Empirical research was conducted by means of a survey in which both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection were used. The data analysis revealed that teachers of EFAL in the FET band experience problems with the practical implementation of the curriculum and the assessment thereof. Problems were mainly experienced with setting achievable outcomes, designing lessons, teaching material and learning activities, teaching and assessing in a learner-centred way, employing the most appropriate types and methods of assessment and using feedback to enhance learning. A model for assessment has been designed to fill the gap left between the theory of OBE and OBA as expressed in the NCS for EFAL and the successful, practical implementation thereof. It is anticipated that this model will contribute to the improvement of teaching, learning and assessment of EFAL in the FET band in public schools. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

In the South African context, it is currently assumed by most role players in education that teacher graduates are proficient in the medium of instruction they will use once they start their careers. This may be a reason why currently there is no mandatory testing of teachers‟ language proficiency. Due to social, economic and historical factors, English has become the medium of instruction at most educational institutions in South Africa, yet less than 10% of the population speak English as a home language. Consequently, an overwhelming number of learners are being taught in a language other than their home language and often by teachers not adequately prepared to teach through the medium of English. In the absence of mandatory testing and with the complex language situation in South African classrooms, this case study aimed to determine the perceptions held by pre-service teachers and their mentors regarding their English proficiency at entry to the teaching profession. This was done by answering the following research question: What is the perceived Classroom English proficiency of final year pre-service teachers prior to graduating? The conceptual framework was grounded in Uys‟s (2006) model of Classroom English proficiency and the methodology employed was quantitative in nature. Instruments used to collect data included an observation schedule completed by mentor teachers observing pre-service teachers presenting the fifth lesson of their first internship period, and a questionnaire completed by the pre-service teacher directly after the observed lesson. Both instruments were adapted from Elder‟s Classroom Language Assessment Schedule (1993, 2001), and each included 42 items related to various language proficiency variables rated on a four-point Likert scale. Data were analysed using various statistical measures comparing groups and subgroups within the sample. Key findings included a significant statistical difference between how English Home Language (EHL) pre-service teachers perceived their language proficiency and those who are English Additional Language (EAL) preservice teachers. EHL pre-service teachers perceived their Classroom English proficiency better than EAL pre-service teachers. The same trend was evident among the perceptions of mentor teachers. Pedagogical language and voice skills emerged as areas in which additional support was required by EAL pre-service teachers. Further research avenues to explore relate to the feasibility of administering refined instruments among teachers to determine not only what the perceptions would be on a national level but also to assess their Classroom English proficiency, followed by possible interventions. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Social Studies Education / MEd / Unrestricted

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) provides many individuals who have little or no functional speech with a means to enter the world of communication. Aided and/or unaided symbols are used as a means of reception and expression to create shared meaning. The selection of an appropriate symbol set/system is vital and iconicity plays a central role in this process. The Western-based symbol set, Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) (Johnson, 1981), is readily available and widely used in South Africa, despite little information existing on its iconicity to South African populations with disabilities. This study aimed to determine the iconicity of Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) for children with English Additional Language (EAL) and intellectual disability. A quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive design was used. Thirty participants between the ages of 12;00 and 15;11 (years; months) with EAL and intellectual disability were required to identify 16 PCS presented thematically on a ‘bed-making’ communication overlay in response to a gloss read out by the researcher. The results indicated that, overall, the 16 PCS were relatively iconic to the participants. The results also indicated that the iconicity of PCS can be manipulated and enhanced and that it can be influenced by other PCS that are used simultaneously on the communication overlay. The reasons for these findings are described. The clinical and theoretical implications of this study’s results are discussed, followed by a critical evaluation of this study and, finally, recommendations for future research are suggested. / Dissertation (Master of Arts)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / unrestricted

English reading comprehension is an educational challenge worldwide. This study investigated how Grade 2 teachers teach English reading comprehension to First Additional Language (FAL) learners at three selected independent schools in Gauteng where the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) is English. Three English medium independent schools in Gauteng, South Africa participated in the study. The participants at each research site consisted of Grade 2 teachers (main participants) and Grade 2 learners (secondary participants). Grade 2 teachers were selected purposively on the criteria that they had taught for more than two years and were teaching English reading comprehension to Grade 2 FAL learners. This study followed a qualitative approach, and was situated within the interpretivist paradigm. The research design accommodated a case study. The conceptual framework was based on the revised taxonomy by Krathwohl and Anderson for questioning which integrated the role of the teacher in a reading lesson. The three stages of reading, before reading, during reading and after reading were divided into the different levels of thinking and reasoning as suggested in Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory. The data collection strategies were semi-structured interviews with Grade 2 teachers; observing reading lessons they gave; and keeping a journal in which personal reflections on the investigation into teaching and learning practices were documented. Once data was collected, the recordings of the semi-structured interviews were transcribed. The observation checklists and the reflection journal entries were analysed. Data was analysed using a coding process and five themes and twelve sub-themes emerged. The findings show that the interactive approach was common in the teaching of English reading comprehension. However, parental involvement, the availability of the trained teachers and appropriate resources were necessary. A learner's individual reading needs and reasoning ability have to be considered through the use of differentiated teaching practices. Questioning throughout the reading process improves a learner's understanding of the text. / Die leesbegrip van Engels is 'n wêreldwye uitdaging. Hierdie studie het ondersoek hoe Graad 2-onderwysers onderrig in leesbegrip in Engels aan leerders van Engels as Eerste Addisionele Taal gee by drie uitgesoekte onafhanklike skole in Gauteng waar die taal van leer en onderrig (TLO) Engels is. Drie onafhanklike Engelsmediumskole in Gauteng, Suid-Afrika het aan die studie deelgeneem. By elke skool was die deelnemers Graad 2-onderwysers (hoofdeelnemers) en Graad 2-leerders (sekondêre deelnemers). Graad 2-onderwysers is doelbewus gekies op grond van die kriterium dat hulle langer as twee jaar onderrig gegee het en ten tye van die studie Graad 2-EAT-leerders onderrig het. Die studie volg 'n kwalitatiewe benadering binne die interpretivistiese paradigma. Die navorsingsontwerp behels 'n gevallestudie. Die konseptuele raamwerk is gebaseer op Krathwohl en Anderson se hersiene taksonomie van vraagstelling wat die onderwyser se rol in 'n leesles integreer. Die drie leesstadia voor, gedurende en na lees word in die verskillende vlakke van lees en redenering verdeel, soos wat in Vygotsky se teorie van die Sone van Naaste Ontwikkeling (ZPD) aan die hand gedoen word. As dataversamelingstrategieë is semigestruktureerde onderhoude met Graad 2-onderwysers gevoer, lesse waargeneem en 'n joernaal gehou waarin persoonlike besinning oor die ondersoek van onderrig- en leerpraktyke gedokumenteer is. Na dataversameling is die opnames van die semigestruktureerde onderhoude getranskribeer. Die waarnemings-kontrolelyste en die inskrywings in die besinningsjoernaal is ontleed. Data is met behulp van 'n koderingsproses ontleed, wat vyf temas en twaalf subtemas na vore gebring het. Daar is bevind dat die interaktiewe benadering algemeen in die onderrig van leesbegrip van Engels gebruik word. Die betrokkenheid van ouers, beskikbaarheid van opgeleide onderwysers en geskikte hulpbronne was egter noodsaaklik. Leerders se individuele leesbehoeftes en redeneringsvermoë moet by wyse van gedifferensieerde onderrigpraktyke in aanmerking geneem word. Leerders se begrip van die teks verbeter wanneer vrae in die loop van die leesproses gestel word. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Early Childhood Education / MEd / Unrestricted

The South African Language-in-Education Policy (LiEP) states that mother tongue should be the preferred medium of instruction in the Foundation Phase (grade R-3). Primary tuition is therefore currently offered in the 11 South African official languages. The challenge faced in South African schools that offer African languages in the Foundation Phase, is the fact that from grade 4 onwards, education is only available through the medium of English. This results in a vast number of learners having to make a transition in grade 4 to English as medium of instruction. In this qualitative study, I explored the experiences of teachers and learners in this transition. The context of this case study is a poverty-stricken and underdeveloped rural area. SiSwati is the language commonly spoken in this area and English is spoken, heard and read only in the classroom. Purposive sampling was done, including three grade 3 classes and their teachers, as well as the grade 4 learners and the teachers teaching siSwati, English and Mathematics. Data was collected through interviews, observations, document analysis and field notes. Conventional content analysis was conducted. Among the theoretical lenses adopted for the study was Krashen’s input-interaction-output model of second language learning. This informed the process grade 4 learners undergo in learning English as a second language and medium of instruction. The findings of this study revealed that the challenge regarding this transition is not the English language per se, but rather a deficient home language foundation and the quality of teaching offered. The learners’ age at the time of this transition also plays a significant role, as it affects their readiness to switch to another language. The implications of this study relate to the necessity of a solid mother tongue foundation and improved quality of teaching. It is suggested that the admission age in grade 1 be seven years and the actual point of transition prolonged. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Early Childhood Education / MEd / Unrestricted

Magister Educationis - MEd / South Africa’s poor performance in local, regional and international benchmark literacy assessments is well documented and has implications for teachers. Both the Progress in International Reading and Literacy Studies (PIRLS) and the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU) reports and research argue that South African teachers lack both the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of their subjects. Although the studies refer to teachers, their voices are not heard in the studies and their opinions are not known. Investigation was required to examine teachers’ experiences of the literacy assessment and thus bring teachers’ voices into this hotly debated topic.

Sweden is seen as a successful adopter of English as an additional language (EAL) and the country is a frontrunner in the globalization of the English language. Much of the success could be attributed to the large presence of English in Swedish society. Additionally, EAL learners are acquiring the English language out-of-school to a larger extent, often referred to as Extramural English (EE). Therefore, it is important to investigate how EE affects learners, teachers and discuss how it can change education. This has been done by evaluating the current state of research through a systematic literature review. It was found that learners engage in a variety of EE activities, with playing online games and watching movies being the activities with the most English exposure. Learners engage in these activities mostly out of their own interests or because of other socially driven motives. EE affects their opinion of English and could have negative effects on their attitude towards school English. Teachers are aware of the gap between EE and school English and try to integrate activities similar to EE activities in class. However, it is a challenge to find authentic material that fits a large number of learners’ interests. In conclusion, there is a need for more research that could point to a clear cause-and-effect relationship between EE and high proficiency in English. This thesis also calls on teachers, principals, and school leaders to prepare to change education if EE becomes a more widespread phenomenon.