Faculty of Humanities School of Human and Community Development/Psychology 9503776d Kajeean@educ.wits.ac.za / This study investigated English Second Language (ESL) students’ experiences of academic writing in a tertiary institution. It focused particularly on ESL students’ interpretations of what is expected in academic writing. Consequently, ESL students’ expectations were compared and contrasted to the academic writing expectations of a group of academics in the same institution. The study aimed to explore how the concepts of Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) were manifest in the students’ expectations and writing. The main aim was to identify the BICS and CALP distinction in ESL students as explanatory of their ability to write academically. In other words, the assumption was that ESL students experience difficulty with writing because they achieve surface fluency in terms of BICS but do not seem to develop sufficient levels of CALP to cope with the demands of the curricula in academic study. The sample consisted of thirty first year ESL Psychology students and six academics who taught on the first year Psychology course. ESL student volunteers were organized into focus groups, while academics were asked to participate in semi-structured, individual interviews. The participants’ responses were recorded and subsequently analyzed using thematic content analysis. It was found that academic writing was conceptualized in terms of structure and content. Through this distinction, ESL students recognized that, although they are able to operate at surface levels of language proficiency they find it problematic to operate at deeper levels of cognitive academic language proficiency. This in turn explained why they found it difficult to perform higher order academic tasks that go beyond the rote recall of content to analysis, synthesis, evaluation and application of concepts and theory. Further findings were extrapolated that lie at the level of the ESL student and the tertiary institution. It was found that academic writing expectations needed to be communicated to students by academics in more distinct terms. The internalization of academic discourse by ESL students, and students in general, seemed to require further facilitation by academics in the tertiary community of practice. Furthermore, the study raised the issue of English Second Language as a label impacting on ESL student’s confidence, self-esteem and overall attitude towards transcending challenges associated with academic writing.

The aim of this essay was to investigate whether pupils with higher grades based on formative assessment were more successful at adapting informal texts into formal texts.Six pupils in English 7 were asked to write an informal blog entry about their favorite hobby/pastime and a formal entry also about their favorite hobby/pastime intended for an English encyclopedia. The pupils that were selected were assessed as havingformative grades A-E. The ability to transform informal into formal texts was assessedquantitatively by counting a number of lexical and grammatical features. The results showed that pupils with a higher formative grade did not experience significant difficulties in adapting their language and switching from informal to formal language. The results also showed that the usage of slang and contractions among the pupils with lower grades was maximized.

<p>I denna studie undersöks hur några före detta IVIK–elever har lyckats med sina gymnasiestudier på ett treårigt nationellt program. Jag har intervjuat fyra informanter, två flickor som läser sitt andra år och två pojkar som läser sitt tredje och sista år. Viktigt att påpeka är att de elever som intervjuats i denna studie är mycket ambitiösa och målmedvetna och att det endast genom dessa fyra fallstudier är omöjligt att dra några generella slutsatser. Genom intervjuer och analys av informanternas betyg kan konstateras att just dessa har lyckats väl med sina valda programstudier. Det språkliga inflödet, stöttning och motivation är några av de faktorer som informanterna har gemensamt och som bidragit till deras goda studieresultat. I mångt och mycket stämmer den litteratur som finns om andraspråksinlärning och studieframgång väl in på mina informanter. <strong></strong></p>

AR is hypothesized to comprise above-threshold academic language proficiency, personal characteristics, topical knowledge, academic skills, and academic auxiliaries (motivation, study skills, engagement, work drive, emotional stability, affective schemata, and metacognitive strategies).The participants were 36 international adults, studying pre-university academic English at intensive institutes in Florida who volunteered to take the CLEAR during the summer of 2004. Data were collected via the CLEAR multiple-choice knowledge test and essay test, teacher ratings, examinee feedback, and external measures.Results showed the CLEAR knowledge test functions well at the item level although overall scores are only moderately consistent. The essay scoring consistency was satisfactory, perhaps partly due to the purpose-built scoring tool Good support for content-related validity claims was found for the dynamic simulation overall, for the stimulus materials, for the knowledge test items, for the essay prompt, and for the essay scoring tool. The concurrent measure of teacher ratings correlated with the knowledge test, but not with the content-based essay. Concerning construct-related claims of validity, support was evinced through the literature review as well as through inter-subtest correlation. External measures suggested some discriminant evidentiary support. Examinees perceived that the CLEAR closely resembled the target environment, they judged the CLEAR quality to be a key feature, and they would recommend the CLEAR to a friend for the growth experience.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Nigeria is one of the most multilingual nations in Africa which consists of over 450 languages (Adegbija, 2004; Danladi, 2013). It has a population of more than 150 million people, with three major languages, namely Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, and a number of minority languages. Despite its linguistic and cultural diversity, English is the main medium of instruction from primary to tertiary education. The negative effects of learning through the medium of English second language (L2) are evidenced in the learners’ poor achievement in the external examination results of the National Examination Council (NECO) and the West African Examination Council (WAEC). There is an assumption that learners’ poor performance in English (L2) is due to little attention given to English writing in schools, and the use of less appropriate or effective teaching approaches (Babalola, 2011). There is a special concern about the poor writing proficiency levels of learners, particularly in the Junior Secondary School (JSS) phase which is an exit to Senior Secondary School level where learners are expected to show strong academic literacy skills. Writing is a process which is central to learners’ learning across the curriculum and it enables learners not only to access knowledge from different sources, but also to display the acquired knowledge in different domains. Learners’ poor writing skills are a great concern given that English (L2) is the main medium of instruction at all levels of education in Nigeria. In light of the above, this study set out to explore the pedagogical strategies and problems encountered by both teachers and learners in English (L2) academic writing in Junior Secondary School (JSS 3) classrooms in the Ekiti State, Nigeria. Guided by Second Language Acquisition theory, the study explored the factors that influence second language learning, in relation to the sociocultural and contextual factors that influence learners’ writing abilities. Through the lens of the Genre Pedagogical Theory and the Social Constructivist theory, it investigated teachers’ pedagogical strategies in English (L2) writing, and analysed learners’ written texts in order to understand the extent to which they reflected the features of specific genres that support learners’ writing skills. Four JSS3 teachers in three schools were purposively selected to participate in the study. The study employed a qualitative research paradigm, underpinned by the interpretive theory. Through the use of an ethnographic design, the day-to-day happenings such as thoughts and engagements of both teachers and students in the English (L2) lessons were observed and recorded by means of an audio-recorder in order to build a comprehensive record of the participants’ practice in the classroom. In addition, both semi-structured and unstructured interviews were conducted with the individual teachers. The students’ written texts and other relevant documents were collected and analysed for the purpose of data triangulation. Ethical considerations such as informed consent, voluntary participation, respect and anonymity of participants were observed throughout the study. In this study, the findings show that the teaching of English (L2) writing is still a challenge to many teachers due to a variety of factors which include linguistic, pedagogical and structural factors. As a result, learners’ academic writing suffers, especially writing to learn at secondary school level. Specifically, the findings of this study indicate that the teachers made use of traditional teaching approaches in the teaching of English (L2) writing as against the approaches recommended in the curriculum. The study also reveals that most of the JSS(3) students’ level of proficiency in English writing is below the expected levels stipulated in the curriculum document, although some of them displayed good basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS), Other contributing factors to the learners’ low academic writing proficiency in English (L2) include teachers’ limited understanding and application of the Genre-Based Approach in teaching writing, inadequate language teaching and learning resources, learners’ limited exposure to English (L2) and limited writing opportunities. The study concludes that while the use of the Genre-Based Approach is not the only strategy to enhance learners’ writing skills, the teaching of writing remains crucial as it is central to language use in different knowledge domains. Students’ writing proficiency is critical for cognitive and socio-economic development as it has implications for students’ access to knowledge and academic literacy which spills over to tertiary education. In a country like Nigeria where the main language of instruction is English, there is a need to prioritise teacher development and to revisit the curriculum to determine how it meets the academic needs of learners in this century.

Studien baseras på en kvalitativ och kvantitativ läromedelsanalys med fokus på språkliga svårigheter i de naturorienterande ämnena för årskurs 1–3 samt årskurs 4 och 5. Syftet med studien var att belysa om läromedel i NO är anpassade för elever som läser svenska som andraspråk. Studiens forskningsfrågor var; ”Vilka språkliga svårigheter finns i de valda läromedlen samt i vilken utsträckning förekommer de?”, ”Vilket stöd finns i de valda läromedlen för att hantera de språkliga svårigheterna?” och ”Hur ser progressionen i läromedlen ut mellan årskurserna?”. De valda läromedlen för denna läromedelsanalys är PULS NO-boken 1–3, Boken om NO 1–3, PULS NO 4 och Koll på NO 5. Analysen genomfördes på 4 sidor i vardera naturorienterande ämne i varje läromedel. Flerspråkiga elever som inte fullt ut har utvecklat det svenska språket möter en del svårigheter gällande de naturorienterande ämnena. De olika språkliga svårigheterna som analyserades i studien var begrepp i utkanten av en semantisk mellannivå, homonymer, nominaliseringar och andra ämnesspecifika begrepp. Analysen utgick ifrån två teoretiska utgångspunkter: BICS och CALP samt text och bild i läromedel.  Resultatet visade att läromedlen i NO för dessa årskurser innehåller språkliga svårigheter där en del begrepp saknar visuellt stöd eller språkliga förtydliganden som kan hjälpa flerspråkiga elever att förstå innehållet. Denna studies resultat stämmer till en viss del överens med tidigare forskning. Slutsatsen i denna studie är att dessa läromedel innehåller begrepp som kan uppfattas som svåra för flerspråkiga elever och att lärare behöver vara medvetna om detta för att utforma undervisningen för att förbereda eleverna för dessa begrepp med en närmare förklaring som introduktion.

I denna studie undersöks hur några före detta IVIK–elever har lyckats med sina gymnasiestudier på ett treårigt nationellt program. Jag har intervjuat fyra informanter, två flickor som läser sitt andra år och två pojkar som läser sitt tredje och sista år. Viktigt att påpeka är att de elever som intervjuats i denna studie är mycket ambitiösa och målmedvetna och att det endast genom dessa fyra fallstudier är omöjligt att dra några generella slutsatser. Genom intervjuer och analys av informanternas betyg kan konstateras att just dessa har lyckats väl med sina valda programstudier. Det språkliga inflödet, stöttning och motivation är några av de faktorer som informanterna har gemensamt och som bidragit till deras goda studieresultat. I mångt och mycket stämmer den litteratur som finns om andraspråksinlärning och studieframgång väl in på mina informanter.

I denna studie har jag undersökt hur en religionslärare arbetar med språk- och kunskapsutveckling hos elever på introduktionsprogrammet Individuellt val. Syftet var att undersöka hur religionsläraren arbetar för att eleverna ska utveckla ett skolspråk. För att besvara studiens syfte och frågeställningar valdes observationer som metod och därefter analyserades det insamlade materialet med hjälp av semantiska dimensioner från Legitimation Code Theory (LCT). Med hjälp av det insamlade materialet har olika sekvenser skapats och analyserats i form av rörelser mellan koder och kunskaper på det semantiska planet. Av resultaten framgick att religionslärarens sätt att arbeta med språk- och kunskapsutveckling byggde på högläsning och gemensamma diskussioner med ett språkbruk där hen gav konkreta beskrivningar. Ämnesspecifika termer framgick i ringare omfattning. Slutligen diskuteras resultaten och metodvalet, där det framgick kopplingar mellan studiens resultat och tidigare forskning samt studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter.

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In South African universities where the medium of instruction is English, writing and conceptualisation in English Second Language in Life Sciences are problematic for first year learners. This study focused on the extent to which Afrikaans – and Xhosa mother tongue speakers employ strategies in order to cope with the demands of scientific writing and how it affects their academic performance. The Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and the Cognitive and Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) theories of Cummins as well as the model of Collier provided a theoretical framework for this study. Tests and tutorials were analysed by means of content analysis. Writing strategies such as coherence has an impact on academic performance but there is no set pattern or degree in which different mother tongue speakers employ them. A collaborative approach that sensitises learners to the meaningful use of strategies to enhance their competency in scientific writing is recommended. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)