Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (M.T.S.C.)--Miami University, Dept. of English, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], vi, 55 p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references (p. 33).

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2004. / Restricted until May 2005. Bibliography: leaves 76-92.

In the past thirty years, oracy has received prominence as a means to enhance teaching styles and assist with learning. Much of what has been written in this field has been by those interested in a 'language across the curriculum' approach, such as Barnes (1969) who developed the terms 'exploratory talk' and 'final draft talk'. The linguist, M.A.K. Halliday {1989} and others have suggested that the teacher's approach should be to encourage what he terms 'heuristic talk' i.e. relatively unstructured exploratory language used by the pupils in talking towards an understanding of a concept. It is more evident in certain school subjects that pupils may have difficulty in understanding abstract or complex concepts. In this regard, English, mathematics and physical science were selected for the purpose of this study, as each has its own metalanguage, specific to that subject. It is presumed that some pupils may find difficulty in these subjects because of the subject-specific language inherent in each. This work explores whether a programme of increased oracy alleviates some of these problems and it makes recommendations for the implementation of such a programme. The period involved for the purpose of this study was five weeks, during which teachers of three selected classes presented lessons in such a way that oral work was stressed. At the completion of this programme, a test was written for comparison with past experiences. Pupils answered a comprehensive questionnaire and staff involved were interviewed; the results of this feedback, in conjunction with what has been written by others in this field, forms the basis for this work. The primary recommendation emerging from this and other studies is that a shift away from a teacher-/ and textbook-dominated approach is necessary. Pupils need to contextualise knowledge in their own terms. One important way of accomplishing this is by affording them theopportunity to interact orally with each other and with the teacher.

This study investigated the oral proficiency of ESL teacher trainees in different discourse domains. The sample for the study consisted of twenty ESL teacher trainees in their final year at a College of Education. Different methods were used to measure the teacher trainees' oral proficiency in the English Communication Skills class while engaging in less formal conversations and in more formal teaching of content subjects during Practice Teaching. Three categories of constructs for oral proficiency were measured: Accuracy and fluency, classroom language and non-verbal communication. The findings supported the hypothesis: The oral proficiency of ESL teacher trainees is more satisfactory in some discourse domains,e.g. casual conversation, than in others, e.g. formal teaching. Although these findings cannot be regarded as conclusive they raise awareness of the problem. Recommendations were made on how to address the problem of poor oral performance of ESL teachers and teacher trainees teaching content subjects. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Specialisation in Applied Linguistics)

This paper highlights the methodology that has been used at Rhodes University and other South African universities in implementing vocation-specific African language learning programmes. Essentially, the paper links the curriculum design to the theoretical paradigm of intercultural communication. Intercultural theory is used as a basis to develop vocation-specific courses where language and culture are taught, for example, to second language learners of isiXhosa at Rhodes University. These courses include courses for Pharmacy and Law students. This paper offers a new theoretical paradigm for intercultural language teaching. Furthermore, examples from specific courses are provided in order to illustrate how this theoretical paradigm can be implemented in a practical way. The impact of multilingualism and intercultural communication in the wider legal and healthcare work environment in South Africa is also discussed.

This research stems from the problems that may be encountered in an attempt to accompany the non-adult towards proper adulthood in the absence of both communication and educative intervention in the educative occurrence. The educator may fail to render his educative task adequately without communieating with the child and intervening educati vely in his life; and the child may be deprived of his opportunity of becoming a responsible adult. A human child, particularly in the industrialised societies, is confronted by various phenomena with which he often fails to communicate normatively. This investigation is an endeavour to reveal the essentiality of communication during the educative intervention, that is, in guiding the child to refrain from immoral, non-normative and unacceptable activities and all that violates cultural adulthood according to the norms, values and standards prevailing in that particular community. It further aims at disclosing that communication in the educative sense implies educative intervention, failing which communication becomes meaningless. Educative intervention and communication are, in truth, inseparable during the educative occurrence and they should supplement and enhance each other, because their separation may imply the nullification of the educative guidance on the part of the educator and the denial of the child's opportunity of attaining acceptable adulthood. In order to assist the child to gradually actualise his adulthood, the educator who intervenes in his life should be a devoted communicator who strives to communicate (verbally and non-verbally) his knowledge, feelings, beliefs and attitudes to the child while upholding his status of adulthood. It is not expected of the true educator to communicate well about normative adulthood verbally and simultaneously violate this through his nonverbal communication which includes all unacceptable physical activities which erode the dignity of adulthood. It implies, therefore, that in his attempt to guide the child to comply and respect the aspects, conditions and criteria of adulthood the educator should respect and comply with them verbally and non-verbally. A responsible person is expected to maintain and promote adulthood through both verbal and non-verbal forms of communication. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Fundamental Pedagogics)

Esta investigação tem como objetivo buscar uma educação ambiental crítica, dialógica e democrática, que potencialize a mudança de hábitos e comportamentos, melhorando a qualidade de vida em nosso planeta. A educação ambiental surge comprometida com a proteção da vida na Terra, reconhecendo o papel central da educação na formação de valor e para a ação social. Partiremos de uma concepção complexa e sistêmica da sustentabilidade, chegando a ideia de sustentabilidade humanista. Na USP, a Superintendência de Gestão Ambiental (SGA) lançou em 2013 o Programa de Incentivo à Sustentabilidade da USP, com o intuito de apoiar projetos que tivessem como objetivo a promoção da educação visando à sustentabilidade para construir de forma participativa uma Universidade sustentável, como modelo para a sociedade brasileira. Um dos projetos aprovados, \"A ECA e a EACH em união para a sustentabilidade na USP\", criou a disciplina \"Educomunicação Socioambiental\" no Curso de Educomunicação (ECA/USP), colocando em prática a reflexão sobre os fundamentos e as implicações da Educação Ambiental e produzindo um ecossistema comunicativo capaz de dialogar com as práticas ambientais. Concluiu-se que a Educomunicação Socioambiental tem um grande potencial para desenvolver uma EA eficiente, capaz de transformar hábitos e comportamentos. Ao introduzir o diálogo, empoderando a comunidade e desenvolvendo o protagonismo nos processos de reflexão e produção, ela facilita o intercâmbio de experiências, garantindo uma comunicação participativa e cidadã, capaz de contribuir para a preservação dos recursos naturais. / This research aims to seek a critical environmental education, dialogue and democratic, that leverages the changing habits and behaviors, improving the quality of life on our planet. Environmental education appears committed to the protection of life on Earth, recognizing the central role of education in shaping values and social action. Depart from a complex and systemic concept of sustainability, reaching the idea of humanistic sustainability. We will start from a complex and systemic concept of sustainability, reaching the idea of humanistic sustainability. At USP, the Board of Environmental Management (BEM) launched in 2013 the Incentive Program to Sustainability at USP, in order to support projects that have as an objective the promotion of education aiming at sustainability to build in a participatory manner a sustainable University, as model for the Brazilian society. One of the approved projects, \"ECA and the EACH in union for sustainability at USP,\" created the discipline \"Environmental Educommunication\" in Educational Communication Course (ECA / USP), putting into practice the reflection on the foundations and implications of Education Environmental and producing a communications ecosystem capable of dealing with environmental practices. It was concluded that the Environmental Educommunication has great potential to develop an efficient EA, able to transform habits and behaviors. By introducing the dialogue, empowering the community and developing the role of the reflection and production processes, it facilitates the exchange of experience, ensuring a participatory and citizen communication, able to contribute to the preservation of natural resources of the planet.

<p> This dissertation explores English as a Foreign Language instruction within the context of the contemporary Chinese education system. Basic outlines chart the historical development of EFL studies in the United States and China framing the question of what each community values as important measures of success when assessing language learning. While traditional Chinese methods value strict memorization of vast word lists ([special characters omitted], BeiDanCi, BDC) the US educational community stresses essay writing&mdash;particularly on standardized tests such as the ACT, SAT, and TOEFL, which are required for university admissions. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and writing ability among Grade 10 Chinese high schoolers in a megalopolis in mainland China. Students&rsquo; vocabulary knowledge was measured with Nation&rsquo;s Vocabulary Size Test, and students&rsquo; writing ability was assessed with an essay graded using the TOEFL iBT^&reg; Integrated Writing Rubrics. The results validate previous findings among different L2 populations by observing a moderate correlation between vocabulary knowledge and writing ability.</p><p>

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract