by Law Huk-yuen. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 235-243). / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ii / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.x / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.xii / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Background of the Study --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Purpose and Significance of the Study --- p.2 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- REVIEW OF LITERATURE --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Research in Mathematics Education : A Cognitive Science Perspective --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Issues in mathematics education --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- The cognitive science perspective --- p.13 / Chapter 2.1.2a --- Task-based interviews --- p.16 / Chapter 2.1.2b --- Information-processing framework --- p.18 / Chapter 2.1.2c --- The knowledge structure --- p.21 / Chapter 2.1.2d --- The nature of concepts --- p.23 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- The psychological studies of mathematical concepts --- p.25 / Chapter 2.2 --- Mental Models and Conceptual Knowledge --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3 --- Expert-Novice Discrepancies in Knowledge Representation --- p.32 / Chapter 2.4 --- Assessing Mathematical Understanding --- p.38 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Assessing knowledge structure --- p.39 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Test validation --- p.41 / Chapter 2.5 --- Summary --- p.42 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- RESEARCH METHOD --- p.44 / Chapter 3.1 --- Research Questions --- p.44 / Chapter 3.2 --- Subjects --- p.45 / Chapter 3.3 --- Design and Procedures --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Phase 1. : Initial testing for conceptual knowledge --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Phase 2 : Task-based interviewing --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Phase 3: Revised testing for conceptual knowledge --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Model for assessing conceptual understanding --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4 --- Data Analysis --- p.51 / Chapter 3.5 --- Time Frame --- p.52 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION --- p.53 / Chapter 4.1 --- Overview --- p.53 / Chapter 4.2 --- Conceptual Knowledge in Coordinate Geometry --- p.54 / Chapter 4.3 --- Phase-one Analysis : Selection of Expert and Novice Students --- p.57 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- The scoring of initial test --- p.58 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- A profile of expert students and novice students --- p.60 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- A preliminary discussion ： Expert students vs. novice students --- p.61 / Chapter 4.4 --- Phase-two Analysis --- p.63 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Constructing students' knowledge representations --- p.64 / Chapter 4.4.1a --- Mental representation of <PARALLEL LINES> --- p.66 / Chapter 4.4.1b --- Mental representation of <SLOPES> --- p.78 / Chapter 4.4.1c --- Mental representation of <INTERCEPTS> --- p.82 / Chapter 4.4.1d --- Mental representation of <POINT COORDINATES> --- p.85 / Chapter 4.4.1e --- Knowledge representations --- p.92 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Comparison of expert mental representat ion and novice mental representation --- p.101 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Generating and testing hypotheses --- p.105 / Chapter 4.5 --- Phase-three Analysis --- p.123 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Scoring of the revised test --- p.123 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- Test reliability and validation --- p.135 / Chapter 4.6 --- Summary --- p.139 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- "CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH" --- p.142 / Chapter 5.1 --- Conclusions --- p.142 / Chapter 5.2 --- Limitations --- p.144 / Chapter 5.3 --- Implications --- p.145 / Chapter 5.4 --- Suggestions for Future Research --- p.147 / APPENDICES / Appendix 1. Initial test for conceptual knowledge --- p.149 / Appendix 2. Scoring record of initial test --- p.152 / Appendix 3. Questions for the first interview --- p.153 / Appendix 4. Subjects' protocols of the first interview (the Chinese version) --- p.157 / Appendix 5 . Subjects ' protocols of the first interview (the Knglish- trans1ated version ) --- p.176 / Appendix 6. Questions for the second interview --- p.202 / Appendix 7. Record of subjects' responses to the questions of second interview --- p.208 / Appendix 8. Revised quiz for conceptual knowledge --- p.210 / Appendix 9. Item and score distribution of the two-halves of the revised test --- p.232 / Appendix 10A. Scoring record of Test A ( the first half- test ) --- p.233 / Appendix 10B. Scoring record of Test B (the second half- test ) --- p.234 / REFERENCES --- p.235

<p>The aim of the present study is to examine how the development of <i>syntactic complexity</i> and <i>accuracy</i> in spoken Spanish L2 is related to two parameters, <i>motivation</i> and <i>aptitude</i>, in which <i>individual differences</i> are often claimed to correlate with successful second language learning (Dörnyei and Skehan 2003). The study shows how an understanding of the relationship between progression in second language proficiency and motivation is gained through the study of longitudinal data and the assessment of motivation in discourse. The development of syntactic complexity and accuracy in oral performance has been chosen as main indicators of <i>proficiency level</i>. <i>Correlations</i> have been computed between proficiency levels, <i>development coefficients</i>, quantitative outcomes of aptitude tests and quantified assessment of motivation. The study is based on longitudinal data consisting of recorded interviews and conversations in Spanish in Swedish upper secondary school. </p><p>The results from the progression analysis show that the whole group develops syntactic complexity, and that individual learners concentrate on either syntactic complexity or accuracy in their development. </p><p>Discourse analytical methods have been applied to the in-depth interviews in order to identify motivational types expressed by the learner and the strength of each type. These have been represented in terms of values on a self-determination scale, the extreme points of which are '<i>intrinsic</i>' vs. '<i>extrinsic</i>' motivation. An aptitude test (<i>Lat03</i>, Meara 2005) has also been administered to the participants and analysed . </p><p>Correlations (Spearman) have been further calculated between the relevant parameters. The results indicate that self-determined, intrinsic motivation correlates with progression. Analytic aptitude, however, does not predict progression to the same extent as intrinsic motivation seems to do at this level. </p>

The aim of the present study is to examine how the development of syntactic complexity and accuracy in spoken Spanish L2 is related to two parameters, motivation and aptitude, in which individual differences are often claimed to correlate with successful second language learning (Dörnyei and Skehan 2003). The study shows how an understanding of the relationship between progression in second language proficiency and motivation is gained through the study of longitudinal data and the assessment of motivation in discourse. The development of syntactic complexity and accuracy in oral performance has been chosen as main indicators of proficiency level. Correlations have been computed between proficiency levels, development coefficients, quantitative outcomes of aptitude tests and quantified assessment of motivation. The study is based on longitudinal data consisting of recorded interviews and conversations in Spanish in Swedish upper secondary school. The results from the progression analysis show that the whole group develops syntactic complexity, and that individual learners concentrate on either syntactic complexity or accuracy in their development. Discourse analytical methods have been applied to the in-depth interviews in order to identify motivational types expressed by the learner and the strength of each type. These have been represented in terms of values on a self-determination scale, the extreme points of which are 'intrinsic' vs. 'extrinsic' motivation. An aptitude test (Lat03, Meara 2005) has also been administered to the participants and analysed . Correlations (Spearman) have been further calculated between the relevant parameters. The results indicate that self-determined, intrinsic motivation correlates with progression. Analytic aptitude, however, does not predict progression to the same extent as intrinsic motivation seems to do at this level.