No description available.

No description available.

This study aims to investigate Some English teachers’ beliefs concerning form and function in connection to their teaching. The investigation was carried out through qualitative in-depth interviews and classroom observations focusing on critical incidents. During the study, it became clear that all the participating teachers found that both form and function were important parts in their teaching of English as a second language (L2). Nevertheless it was interesting to notice that they had different ideas about which of the two concepts was the most important one when it comes to language learning. Some of the teachers emphasized the need to put stress on form, arguing that knowledge about form makes it possible for the learner to understand how the language is built, while some believed that too much focus on form might block the communicative competence and thus affect the function.

This qualitative study explored young children's narrative competence, i.e. sense of story (Martinez, Cheney, & Teale, 1993). It used a combination of videotaping and interviewing to examine multiple perspectives of spontaneous child-constructed stories in the context of classroom sociodramatic play. Previous research of children's narrative competence was limited to a nearly exclusive focus upon children's individual mastery of skills such as recall and comprehension of adult selected or elicited stories (Guttman & Frederiksen, 1985; Pellegrini & Galda, 1982; Williamson & Silvern, 1991). This study utilized an alternative approach based upon Vygotskian theory (1967, 1978) to "re-vision" narrative competence as a collaborative social process. Social pretense has been called collaborative when it engages two or more children in complementary, i.e., cooperative, interactions (Howes, 1992; Roskos, 1988). / Ph. D.

The role that grammar should occupy in the teaching of the Spanish language, and of languages in general, has varied throughout history. From taking a central role in the grammar-translation method to positioning grammar on the periphery and implicitly teaching it in the communicative approach. The teaching of grammar is part of the training of students once they pass the introductory and most basic level of the language, so we will study how this process occurs in the classrooms of a couple of schools in the region of Skåne. For this we will make a distinction between the teaching of grammar explicitly and the implicit teaching of it. Our research is based on the testimonies of two professors with extensive academic competence on the subject and with a large number of years of experience. Through semi-structured interviews, we had access to detailed information about the choice of the way in which they work, and we corroborated that they favor explicit grammar teaching because, according to our informants, this provides solid knowledge, saves time and effort to students to form grammatical structures, students request it and have a positive attitude towards it and it motivates them. It is also the form that gives the best results for learning the language, in combination with the advantages of the communicative approach, affirm the teachers interviewed. Another aspect in our research that our informants confirm is the lack of materials for the formal teaching of grammar, since said material is almost non-existent in manuals for language teaching, so the responsibility to find, and in many cases create these materials rests with the teachers. This aspect together with the fact that the choice to teach explicit grammar in class may lead to more research that has an echo in the Skolverket curricula so that materials that cover these needs are developed. On the other hand, based on the information collected by our informants, we can say that it does not seem necessary to us that there is a sharp dichotomy between the grammar-translation method and the communicative approach, but rather that both methods be reconciled in a harmonious way. That is to say, that the best of both methods is taken advantage of without having to choose between one or the other in a clear way. Our research can serve to guide such future research.

No description available.

No description available.

A university is an academic place with students from a variety of cultures. Non-native English speaking (NNS) graduate students are a group representing diverse cultural backgrounds. However, these students' challenges in linguistic and socio-cultural adjustment impact their effective learning and academic success. Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) is an important ability that they need to consider. It assesses attitude, skills, knowledge, adaptability, flexibility, and communication ability with culturally different people. Researchers in Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) have suggested that instructional designers should understand diverse learners' abilities and cultural characteristics and apply them in their Instructional Design (ID) strategies. However, the existing ID models do not specifically include ICC as a consideration in the design process. Furthermore, there has been a lack of research on culturally diverse or minority students. Considering NNS graduate students' characteristics, cultural diversity, and need to develop ICC, the researcher reviewed three social theories of learning: social learning theory, sociocultural and cultural-historical activity theory, and situated learning theory. Socially engaged learning, a synthesized framework, was recommended for NNS graduate students along with effective ID strategies. This research investigated perceptions on ICC and ID strategies for socially engaged learning in a sample of 208 NNS graduate students. Quantitative methods were used to assess students' ICC level and perceptions of effective instructional strategies in four categories: (1) students' gradual engagement and active participation, (2) learning in rich cultural context, (3) self-regulation and learning ownership, and (4) integration of communication technologies. Results showed that NNS graduate students were diverse in background characteristics, academic disciplines, cultural origins, and previous experiences; they perceived a moderately high level of ICC; and they generally had positive views on ID strategies for socially engaged learning. This research can help instructional designers and instructors in higher education to better understand the needs of NNS graduate students and to prepare them to study more effectively and have more valuable intercultural experiences. / Ph. D.

Of the subjective rating scales utilized in workload research the Cooper-Harper scale is the most popular. This decision tree rating scale and modifications of the scale have provided sensitive measurements by discriminating among various mental workload levels. This research is an investigation into the characteristics of a Modified Cooper-Harper rating scale (MCH) developed by Wierwille and Casali (1983). Six rating scale designs emphasizing major characteristics which might cause the MCH scale to be a sensitive measure of mental workload were used in this study. The aims of the research were to discover modifications of the MCH might make it more sensitive. A communications task developed by Casali and Wierwille (1983) was manipulated to present 36 subject pilots, both private and student, with three communications loading levels. The pilots were distributed into the six rating scales by experience level. Six different experience levels were represented in each of the rating scale groupings. Using the communications loading, the presence of a decision tree in the scales appeared to improve the scale's ability to discriminate among loading levels. The expansion of the MCH scale to 15 categories decreased the sensitivity of the MCH rating scale. The standard 10-point MCH rating scale was the most consistent of the six rating scales and attained a high ability to discriminate among loading levels. Finally, a companion mediational task study by Rieger (1983) using the same six rating scales resulted in substantially different results, suggesting that subjective rating scales are extremely task dependent. / M.S.

"Sept 2004." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 308-321). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.