This research was conducted in the Sekhukhune District in Limpopo Province with a particular focus on the Department of Education's Malokela circuit. The main purpose of this study was to probe how school governing body (SGB) stakeholders work collaboratively to manage school finances and implement finance policy effectively in the public schools of Limpopo Province. The following research question was used to investigate the problem: How collaboratively do school governing bodies (SGBs) govern the financial affairs of public primary schools in the Malokela Circuit of Limpopo Province? It is in the interest of schools and their learners that SGB stakeholders work collaboratively to effectively manage school finances and properly implement finance policies. The identified problem was investigated by means of a qualitative research approach, using semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample from two selected public primary schools in the Malokela Circuit in Limpopo Province. The qualitative research approach was considered suitable because the study was intended to be an exploratory one aimed at gaining a better understanding of a phenomenon. The case study was used as a research design; it was assumed to be more appropriate for this research because it helped the researcher understand how people interact with, and relate to, one another. The research findings revealed that governing bodies in public primary schools are faced with many problems which, among others, include levels of education of stakeholders, especially parents, and their lack of knowledge and the skills needed to execute their duties when they are required to perform their roles and carry out their responsibilities in managing school finances. In order for public schools to meet these challenges successfully, this research makes a number of recommendations based on conclusions reached from findings. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Education Management and Policy Studies / MEd / Unrestricted

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2017-08-24T14:49:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Julia Oliveira Osorio Marques_.pdf: 1525914 bytes, checksum: cc4201589412414b4a2c61e5f2004925 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-24T14:49:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Julia Oliveira Osorio Marques_.pdf: 1525914 bytes, checksum: cc4201589412414b4a2c61e5f2004925 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-07-26 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / FAPERGS - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul / Estudar o silêncio implica considerar o que está além das palavras obviamente enunciadas e trazer à tona a não-insignificância do silêncio em sala de aula de língua adicional (LA). Partindo-se do pressuposto de que interagimos com o mundo de forma mediada e de que precisamos aprender para que possamos nos desenvolver, este estudo baseia-se na teoria vigotskiana no que se refere à aprendizagem. Com esse intuito, utiliza-se o viés da perspectiva sociocultural para relacionar o silêncio a contextos de construção de conhecimento em LA. Para isso, neste estudo, de natureza qualitativa, interações entre alunos de inglês como LA foram observadas e analisadas em uma universidade do sul do Brasil durante a realização de tarefas colaborativas. Para análise de dados foram analisados protocolos verbais sob a ótica da teoria sociocultural. Este trabalho visa problematizar os possíveis sentidos, influência e, em especial, as funções do silêncio na aprendizagem de LA. Com base na literatura, optou-se por categorizar as funções do silêncio como: cognitiva, interativa e social. A função cognitiva do silêncio está relacionada a questões internas, intra-relacionais, como escolhas lexicais e planejamento semântico; a função interativa do silêncio está ligada à conexão micro-relacional entre os interlocutores, como proximidade e evitação de face; e a função social do silêncio tem a ver com questões macro-relacionais, como estilos pessoais, questões de gênero social e afirmação de identidade cultural. Neste estudo investiga-se como as participantes explicam o uso do seu silêncio no contexto de sala de aula de LA durante a realização de uma tarefa colaborativa; como as participantes explicam o silêncio da sua interlocutora na interação em sala de aula de LA durante a realização desta mesma tarefa colaborativa; e quais as funções de silêncio observadas pela pesquisadora durante essas interações. Assim, almeja-se auxiliar professores de línguas e demais profissionais da Linguística Aplicada a refletirem sobre o ensino/aprendizagem de maneira mais ampla, enxergando as interlocuções em aula de modo mais global, incluindo o silêncio, para que se possa oferecer novas contribuições no que se refere a processos de construção de conhecimento. / Studying silence means to consider what is beyond obviously enunciated words and bring up its non-insignificance in additional language (AL) classrooms. Departing from the presupposition that we interact with the world in a mediated way and that we need to learn in order to develop, this study is based on the Vygotskian theory in terms of learning. Therefore, the Sociocultural Theory view is used to associate silence to contexts of AL knowledge building. In this study, of qualitative nature, interactions between students of English as an AL were observed and analysed in a university in the South of Brazil during the realization of collaborative tasks. For data analyses verbal protocols from the sociocultural theory were used. This paper aims to problematize the possible meanings, influence and, especially, the functions of silence in AL learning. Based on the literature, the silence functions were categorized in three major groups: cognitive, interactive and social. The cognitive function of silence is related to intra-relational, internal questions, such as lexical choices and semantic planning; the interactive function of silence is linked with the micro-relational connection between interlocutors, such as proximity and face avoidance; and the social function of silence has to do with macro-relational questions, such as personal style, gender and cultural identity affirmation. It is studied how the participants explain the use of their own silence in the AL classroom context during the realization of a collaborative task; how the participants explain their interlocutor’s silence in interaction in the AL classroom during this same collaborative task; and which functions of silence were observed by the researcher during these interactions. Thus, it is aimed to help language teachers and other Applied Linguistics professionals to reflect about teaching/learning in a broader sense, looking at the interactions in AL classrooms in a different manner, including silence, so that new contributions to the processes of knowledge building can be offered.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-10-27T15:52:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 MARIA DE FÁTIMA GONÇALVES_.pdf: 3046142 bytes, checksum: c952f0104cef4d5ae361f31ea57edc73 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-27T15:52:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MARIA DE FÁTIMA GONÇALVES_.pdf: 3046142 bytes, checksum: c952f0104cef4d5ae361f31ea57edc73 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-26 / Milton Valente / A partir da perspectiva sociocultural (VYGOTSKY, 1986), este estudo visa a investigar as interações entre uma professora de inglês e um grupo de dezoito alunos do sexto ano do ensino fundamental de currículo bilíngue, de uma escola privada do Sul do Brasil, durante a realização de três tarefas colaborativas propostas pela docente, focalizando fatores de mediação no diálogo colaborativo (SWAIN, 2000) produzido entre os interagentes (aprendizes entre si e aprendizes-professora), bem como verificar a contribuição desse diálogo para o ensino-aprendizagem de língua inglesa como L2 no contexto de educação bilíngue. Esta pesquisa baseia-se em princípios qualitativos, de caráter êmico e interpretativo. A geração dos dados ocorreu por meio de gravação em áudio e vídeo das interações dos participantes, além de uma entrevista semiestruturada com os aprendizes e professora, as quais foram transcritas e analisadas. Os resultados do trabalho colaborativo, por meio das tarefas, apontam para um maior engajamento dos aprendizes, uma maior produção de inglês como L2 e uma reflexão sobre a língua, a partir do seu uso. Verificou-se que o diálogo colaborativo mediou o uso da L2 e a aprendizagem da língua, no contexto de educação bilíngue. / Supported by the sociocultural perspective (VYGOTSKY, 1986), this study aims at investigating the interaction of eighteen English learners in the sixth year of elementary bilingual education (Portuguese-English) and an English teacher at a private school in Southern Brazil, during the execution of three collaborative tasks proposed by the teacher, focusing on collaborative dialogue (SWAIN, 2000) as a mediation factor. The goal is to see how the collaborative dialogue contributes to English learning as a second language in the bilingual context. This research is guided by qualitative principles, from an emic and interpretativist view. The data derived from the interactions of the participants were audio and video as well as a semi-structured interview which were recorded and transcribed. The results of the collaborative work through the tasks points to a greater learner engagement, greater production of English as L2 and a reflection on language, from its use. It was found that the collaborative dialogue mediated the solution of linguistic issues and language learning in the bilingual education context.

Le contexte de cette recherche se situe dans la perspective d’une meilleure compréhension de l’ingénierie de l’Interaction Homme-Machine pour les environnements collaboratifs et nomadiques. Les systèmes d’informations d’aujourd’hui sont devenus de plus en plus collaboratifs et nomadiques. Cette transformation impose deux contraintes à prendre en considération pendant la conception d’interfaces utilisateur. D’une part, dans une application collaborative, les acteurs interagissent les uns avec les autres afin de réaliser un projet en commun. Ces acteurs interviennent dans différentes disciplines et chacun d’eux a son propre savoir-faire. Ainsi, ils ne partagent pas les mêmes informations relatives au projet. D’autre part, les utilisateurs sont mobiles et désirent avoir accès au système quel que soit sa localisation géographique, tout en conservant la confidentialité des informations définies dans le système. Cette mobilité requiert l’intégration de terminaux mobiles dans le système d’information. Cependant, pour des raisons de taille et de poids, les terminaux mobiles disposent de ressources moins importantes que celles offertes par des stations fixes. Devant ce constat, notre objectif est de construire une interface pour une application collaborative et mobile, personnalisée et adaptée en fonction du profil de l’utilisateur et des ressources d’interactions du terminal utilisé. En particulier, notre contribution est d’une part, la proposition d’une architecture pour un système coopératif, et d’autre part, l’introduction de nouvelles notations, basées sur les environnements collaboratifs, pour la modélisation des tâches. Celle-ci joue un rôle essentiel dans la conception d’interfaces utilisateur. Enfin, nous proposons une approche à base de modèles, pour la génération automatique d’interfaces utilisateur personnalisées aux acteurs et adaptables aux caractéristiques de plateformes, basé sur quatre niveaux d’abstraction. L’applicabilité de notre proposition est vérifiée par des exemples d’application dans le domaine de la santé. Nous avons développé un prototype de système collaboratif pour le suivi des infections nosocomiales. L’étude de cas menée à l’aide de ce système a été rendue possible grâce à la collaboration de l’hôpital Édouard Herriot à Lyon qui nous a transmis son savoir-faire. Ainsi, nous avons développé l’outil AICEStudio afin de montrer la faisabilité de notre approche pour la génération des interfaces utilisateur personnalisées aux acteurs et adaptables aux caractéristiques de plateformes / The context of this research work lies in the prospect of a better understanding of Human-Computer Interaction engineering for collaborative and nomadic environments. Today, information systems have become increasingly collaborative and nomadic. This transformation implies two constraints to consider when designing user interfaces. First, in a collaborative application, the actors interact with each other to achieve a common project. These actors come from different disciplines and each has his own expertise. Thus, they do not share the same information on the project. Second, users are mobile and would like to access the system regardless of its geographical location, while maintaining the confidentiality of information defined in the system. This mobility requires the integration of mobile devices in the information system. However, for reasons of size and weight, mobile devices have limited resources compared to those offered by fixed stations, like PC. Given these observations, our objective is to build an interface for collaborative and mobile applications, personalized and tailored according to user profile and the interaction resources used by the terminal. In particular, our contribution is, on the one hand, the proposal of a collaborative architecture. On the other hand, the introduction of new notations, based on collaborative and nomadic environments, for the modeling of tasks that plays a key role in designing user interfaces. In addition, we proposed an approach based on models for the automatic generation of customized user interfaces to actors and adaptable to the platforms’ characteristics, composed of several levels of abstraction. The applicability of our proposal is tested by examples drawn of the healthcare application domain. We have developed a prototype of a collaborative system for monitoring nosocomial infections. The case study conducted using this system was made possible owing to the collaboration of Edouard Herriot hospital that has fed us with its expertise. Moreover, we have developed the tool AICEStudio to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach for generating customized user interfaces to actors and adaptable to the platforms’ characteristics

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-04-18T13:34:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Isis da Costa Pinho.pdf: 4020024 bytes, checksum: e23e8e48a9a7db1bd90be0d18227c6d8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-18T13:34:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Isis da Costa Pinho.pdf: 4020024 bytes, checksum: e23e8e48a9a7db1bd90be0d18227c6d8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-27 / Nenhuma / A pesquisa em educação mediada por computador sugere que a tecnologia tem um grande potencial para o ensino-aprendizagem de línguas dentro de uma perspectiva colaborativa, já que potencializa o uso da língua e da tecnologia como fatores de mediação de construção e compartilhamento do conhecimento. Nesse contexto, uma educação de línguas de qualidade deve explorar as potencialidades das ferramentas digitais na promoção da interação social, em que os aprendizes são desafiados a mobilizar e transformar seus recursos linguísticos para construir conhecimento sobre a língua enquanto se esforçam para fazer sentido na língua estrangeira (LE). Assim, esta pesquisa caracteriza-se por ser um estudo de caso que visa investigar a produção de estudantes de graduação em Letras em tarefas colaborativas em inglês como LE em ambiente virtual, focando a mediação no processo de aprendizagem. A fundamentação teórica utilizada consiste de princípios da teoria sociocultural vygotskiana, a teoria dos sistemas complexos, de estudos na área de informática na educação e a pesquisa na aquisição de segunda língua e língua estrangeira. Os participantes dessa pesquisa foram alunos de graduação de Letras/Inglês de uma universidade particular do sul do Brasil. A geração de dados ocorreu em três encontros no laboratório de informática realizados para complementar a disciplina de Inglês 3 com uma sequência de tarefas colaborativas de produção oral através de recursos multimídia e ferramentas digitais online. O espaço virtual utilizado foi o wiki online PBworks por permitir a interação colaborativa e o compartilhamento da produção entre todos seus usuários. As tarefas colaborativas envolveram discussões de vídeos curtos do Youtube em inglês como LE pelos aprendizes a partir de questões de interpretação através da ferramenta de conversa eletrônica Skype. Após cada tarefa, as duplas foram chamadas a ouvir a sua gravação e refletir sobre a sua produção no Skype, a tarefa e a sua aprendizagem, processo colaborativo que foi também gravado. Ainda, no final dos três encontros, os aprendizes responderam a um questionário que procurou investigar as suas percepções sobre as tarefas realizadas e a experiência de uso da tecnologia na aprendizagem da LE. A análise dos dados focou cinco fatores de mediação da aprendizagem de LE, quais sejam, a colaboração, o andaimento, a metafala, a tarefa e a tecnologia. Os resultados deste estudo apontam para os benefícios de tarefas colaborativas apoiadas pela tecnologia para a aprendizagem de inglês como LE ao promover um ambiente de intensa exploração, aplicação e modificação de língua apoiadas pela construção conjunta de conhecimento a partir do foco no erro como oportunidade de aprimoramento da produção. Além disso, observou-se que o uso da tecnologia para aprendizagem de línguas possibilitou que os estudantes visualizassem as possibilidades pedagógicas das ferramentas e recursos para a sua futura prática docente. Finalmente, esta pesquisa pretende prover dados e discussão para a melhoria da pesquisa em Linguística Aplicada, Aquisição de Segunda Língua e Língua Estrangeira e Aprendizagem de Línguas Mediada por Computador, somando-se a estudos sobre tarefas colaborativas sob a perspectiva da teoria sociocultural e da complexidade. / Research on computer-mediated education suggests that technology has a great potential for the teaching and learning of languages from a collaborative perspective, since it enhances the use of language and multimedia as mediational means of construction and sharing of knowledge. Within this context, a quality language education should exploit digital tools’ potentialities in fostering social interaction, in which the learners are challenged to mobilize and transform their linguistic resources to build knowledge about language while they struggle to make meaning in the foreign language. Thus, this research is a case study that aims to investigate the production of undergraduate students in collaborative tasks in English as a foreign language (EFL) in a virtual environment, focusing on the mediation in the learning process. The theoretical framework used in this study consists of vygotskian sociocultural theory principles of learning, complex systems theory, studies in the area of computers in education, and second language and foreign language acquisition reserch. Participants in this study were undergraduate students of Languages/English from a private university in southern Brazil. The data generation was carried out during three classes in the computer lab designed to complement the discipline of English 3 with a series of oral production collaborative tasks through online multimedia resources and digital tools. For the virtual space it was used PBworks wiki as it enables collaborative interaction and sharing of production among all its users. The collaborative tasks envolved EFL chat discussions of Youtube short videos by the learners in pairs based on comprehension questions over Skype. After each task, the dyads were asked to listen to their recordings and reflect on Skype upon their production, the task, and their learning, a collaborative process that was recorded too. Still, in the end of the three classes students answered a questionnaire designed to investigate their perception on the tasks done and the whole experience of using technology to learn a FL. Data analysis focused on five mediational factors of EFL learning, i. e. collaboration, scaffolding, metatalk, task and technology. The results of the present research point to the benefits of collaborative tasks for EFL learning as they fostered an environment of intense exploration, application and modification of language supported by the joint construction of knowledge from focus on error as an opportunity for production improvement. Moreover, it was observed that the use of technology for language learning allowed students to visualize the educational possibilities of tools and resources used for their future teaching practice. Finally, this research intends to provide data and discussion for the improvement of research in Applied Linguistics, Second and Foreign Language Acquisition and Computer-Mediated Language Learning, adding to studies on collaborative tasks from the perspectives of sociocultural and complex systems theory.