This study explores opinions of university Thai EFL students, who have been subject to a conventional teaching approach for years, on adding communicative tasks in grammarbased classes drawing from relevant literature and previous studies. The results of the study suggest that Thai students want to have communicative tasks in grammar learning, but only with formal instruction prior to the tasks. The study also shows how communicative tasks may be integrated into conventional language pedagogy from Thai students in the study's perspectives and relevant literature. As expected, the results indicated that Thai students were reluctant to complete tasks in English because of shyness, particularly when conversing with peers, a lack of competence in language skills, and fear over losing face. The interviews conducted with students revealed instructional techniques that they themselves believed would be beneficial in encouraging greater participation in tasks without inhibitions. Finally, the study concludes that Thai EFL students are ready to be trained in communicative tasks and that instruction in Thai EFL classes should shift from substantially form-based to more communication-based instruction.

Orientador: Solange Aranha / Banca: Ana Mariza Benedetti / Banca: Rita de Cássia Barbirato / Resumo: A presente pesquisa, qualitativa e de base etnográfica, tem como objetivo geral analisar como se dá a interação dos aprendizes em pares ou grupos maiores em um processo de ensino/aprendizagem de língua inglesa por meio de aulas que se pautam pelo uso de tarefas comunicativas e pré-comunicativas em uma faculdade particular do noroeste paulista. Também será investigada, neste trabalho, a melhora da proficiência na língua-alvo dos aprendizes após o processo. Para a coleta de dados foram utilizados diários de pesquisa do professor pesquisador, gravações em áudio e vídeo da sala de aula, gravações apenas em áudio das interações dos alunos trabalhando em pares ou grupos maiores, questionários aplicados aos discentes e um teste de proficiência que foi aplicado no início e final do ano letivo de 2007, ano em que se deu a coleta de dados para esta pesquisa. O arcabouço teórico se fundamenta em estudos sobre tarefas de autores como Prabhu (1987), Nunan (1992) Candlin (1987), Barbirato (1999, 2005) entre outros. A análise panorâmica dos resultados demonstrou que o trabalho em que coexistiram tarefas comunicativas e pré-comunicativas pôde ser alternativa para o ensino/aprendizagem de língua inglesa no contexto investigado, onde havia limitação linguístico-comunicativa prévia na língua-alvo detectada na maioria dos participantes. Também foi possível averiguar que o trabalho com tarefas possibilitou esforço colaborativo entre os aprendizes, momentos de explicitação da forma, léxico ou pronúncia da língua-alvo, geradas a partir da própria interação proposta pela tarefa e imediatamente inseridos na negociação da mesma. Também foi percebido, a partir dos dados, que houve considerável melhora da proficiência auditiva, lexical e gramatical dos alunos na língua-alvo após o trabalho do ano letivo de 2007, ano em que foram inseridas as tarefas investigadas... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This qualitative and ethnographic research aims at analyzing how is the interaction of the learners working in pairs or bigger groups happens in a process of English teaching/learning process through classes based on the use of communicative and pré-communicative tasks in a private college situated in the northeast of the state of São Paulo. We also investigate, in this research, the improvement of the learners' proficiency in the target language after the process. In order to collect the data we used audio-visual records of the classroom, audio records of learners working in pairs or bigger groups, questionnaires applied to the learners and a proficiency test applied to the students in the beginning and in the end of the year of 2007, period when the data were collected. The theoretical framework is based on the studies about tasks of Prabhu (1987), Nunan (1992), Candlin (1987), Barbirato (1999, 2005) among others. The panoramic analysis of the results demonstrated that the co-existence of communicative and pre-communicative tasks could be an alternative to the English language teaching/learning in the studied context, where there was prior linguisticcommunicative limitation of the research participants. It was also possible to check that the task work promoted collaborative effort among the learners, form, lexical and pronunciation explanation moments, created by the task interaction and immediately included in the negotiation of the task. We could also realize, by the data, that there was a considerable improvement of the listening, lexical and grammatical proficiency in the learners after the work in the year of 2007, when the tasks and other activities that were analyzed in this research were included. / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-08-28Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:55:14Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 capobianco_eal_me_sjrp.pdf: 431444 bytes, checksum: 2a9181506180fd2b433fd5095bc5037d (MD5) / A presente pesquisa, qualitativa e de base etnográfica, tem como objetivo geral analisar como se dá a interação dos aprendizes em pares ou grupos maiores em um processo de ensino/aprendizagem de língua inglesa por meio de aulas que se pautam pelo uso de tarefas comunicativas e pré-comunicativas em uma faculdade particular do noroeste paulista. Também será investigada, neste trabalho, a melhora da proficiência na língua-alvo dos aprendizes após o processo. Para a coleta de dados foram utilizados diários de pesquisa do professor pesquisador, gravações em áudio e vídeo da sala de aula, gravações apenas em áudio das interações dos alunos trabalhando em pares ou grupos maiores, questionários aplicados aos discentes e um teste de proficiência que foi aplicado no início e final do ano letivo de 2007, ano em que se deu a coleta de dados para esta pesquisa. O arcabouço teórico se fundamenta em estudos sobre tarefas de autores como Prabhu (1987), Nunan (1992) Candlin (1987), Barbirato (1999, 2005) entre outros. A análise panorâmica dos resultados demonstrou que o trabalho em que coexistiram tarefas comunicativas e pré-comunicativas pôde ser alternativa para o ensino/aprendizagem de língua inglesa no contexto investigado, onde havia limitação linguístico-comunicativa prévia na língua-alvo detectada na maioria dos participantes. Também foi possível averiguar que o trabalho com tarefas possibilitou esforço colaborativo entre os aprendizes, momentos de explicitação da forma, léxico ou pronúncia da língua-alvo, geradas a partir da própria interação proposta pela tarefa e imediatamente inseridos na negociação da mesma. Também foi percebido, a partir dos dados, que houve considerável melhora da proficiência auditiva, lexical e gramatical dos alunos na língua-alvo após o trabalho do ano letivo de 2007, ano em que foram inseridas as tarefas investigadas... / This qualitative and ethnographic research aims at analyzing how is the interaction of the learners working in pairs or bigger groups happens in a process of English teaching/learning process through classes based on the use of communicative and pré-communicative tasks in a private college situated in the northeast of the state of São Paulo. We also investigate, in this research, the improvement of the learners’ proficiency in the target language after the process. In order to collect the data we used audio-visual records of the classroom, audio records of learners working in pairs or bigger groups, questionnaires applied to the learners and a proficiency test applied to the students in the beginning and in the end of the year of 2007, period when the data were collected. The theoretical framework is based on the studies about tasks of Prabhu (1987), Nunan (1992), Candlin (1987), Barbirato (1999, 2005) among others. The panoramic analysis of the results demonstrated that the co-existence of communicative and pre-communicative tasks could be an alternative to the English language teaching/learning in the studied context, where there was prior linguisticcommunicative limitation of the research participants. It was also possible to check that the task work promoted collaborative effort among the learners, form, lexical and pronunciation explanation moments, created by the task interaction and immediately included in the negotiation of the task. We could also realize, by the data, that there was a considerable improvement of the listening, lexical and grammatical proficiency in the learners after the work in the year of 2007, when the tasks and other activities that were analyzed in this research were included.

This study explores the impact of cultural competence on success in completing key missionary tasks. Qualitative survey results are supported by data from an intercultural effectiveness assessment and a Mandarin Chinese listening proficiency test to describe themes related to missionary communicative success and to explore correlations between intercultural effectiveness and listening proficiency. Missionary communicative tasks are clarified into themes:"obtaining referrals,"obtaining teaching opportunities," and"helping people make and keep commitments." Factors perceived as associating with communicative success include"feeling and communicating love" and receiving"spiritual guidance." The effect of training on intercultural competence is also described. The intercultural effectiveness subcategory of positive regard is shown to have significant correlation with listening proficiency and with missionaries' perceptions of their own awareness of Chinese culture. Suggestions are made for further research and program development.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Douglas K. Benson / This thesis answers the questions: How should the terms interaction, individualization, and personalization be applied to Computer Aided Language Learning (CALL) software? What progress has been made in their implementation? How can CALL software developers better incorporate them in the future? For each of the three terms, I explain how it is applicable to the CALL software environment by defining it, describing the pedagogical research supporting it, and then giving general guidelines for incorporating it into a CALL software program. I measure the progress of the implementation of the three terms in CALL software through compiling and analyzing data from reviews of 44 software titles. The publication dates of the software titles are from 1981 to 2008. I propose through description and a proof-of-concept software program ways to improve the incorporation of the terms in question into CALL software. As a result of answering the three questions, this thesis shows that the current accepted definitions and ways of implementing interaction, individualization, and personalization need to be improved in order to comply with pedagogical research and make full use of current technology. The general guidelines given in the explanation of each term relative to CALL and the attributes under each term in the analysis of the compilation data provide examples of areas on which to focus development. Additionally, I specifically comment on pedagogically supported attributes within each term that have a weak representation in the software compilation and therefore need more development. In addition, this thesis is accompanied by “Mis vacaciones”, a proof-of-concept software program, which demonstrates ways to improve the incorporation of interaction, individualization, and personalization into CALL software. In “Mis vacaciones”, the learner takes a virtual trip to Nuevo Leon, Nicaragua. The multimedia sent to the learner by a previous traveler shows Nicaraguan city people and the La Gigatona festival. After visiting, the learner is asked to describe the Nicaraguans that they saw. If the learner needs help, Structured Input activities lead the learner to develop the third person singular imperfect form. Buttons in the software environment provide access to internet sources. The learner is able to draw and take photos to create a visual prop to aid in the description task.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:25:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3883.pdf: 2717797 bytes, checksum: 640ba1f54870aea329d5f04ef4bbb07f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-07-27 / This qualitative, ethnographic-interpretative research aimed at analyzing the development of communicative competence of English Language undergraduate students of a private college in the center-western region of the state of São Paulo during their participation in a Thematic Task-Based Planning for English teaching and learning through classes guided by the use of a theme, the history of Great Britain, and communicative tasks with focus on meaning. The students' perceptions, feelings and how they behave throughout the process have also been investigated in this study. In order to collect the data, the following instruments have been used: initial and final cloze tests, three written evaluations throughout the process, audio recordings of tasks and written production of the tasks which have been previously performed orally and transcribed for analysis, plus questionnaires administered to students in different moments of the course. The framework is based on theoretical studies of theme and taskbased teaching of authors such as: Almeida Filho (1993, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009); Barbirato (1999, 2005); Bygate, Skehan, Swain (2001); Candlin (1987, 2001); Crandall (1994, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006); Ellis (2000, 2003); Nunan (1989, 2004); Prabhu (1987, 1990); Skehan (1998, 2001); Skehan, Foster (1997, 1999, 2001); Van den Braden (2006,2008); Willis (1996); Willis, Willis (2007), among others. The analysis has shown that the work combining theme-based teaching and communicative tasks could be an alternative for the teaching and learning of English in the context investigated, where it was previously found that most participants had limited linguistic and communicative competence in the target language. It was also possible to verify that the work with communicative tasks with focus on meaning and based on the theme of the history of Great Britain provided collaborative efforts among the students and opportunities for noticing the form, vocabulary or pronunciation of the target language. The data analysis also showed considerable improvement in the oral proficiency of the students in the target language. / A presente pesquisa, qualitativa e de base etnográfica interpretativista, teve como objetivo analisar como se dá o desenvolvimento da competência comunicativa (CC) em aprendizes de curso de Letras de contexto adverso de uma faculdade particular do centro-oeste paulista durante a sua participação em um Planejamento Temático Baseado em Tarefas para o ensinoaprendizagem de língua inglesa por meio de aulas pautadas pelo uso de um tema, a história da Grã-Bretanha, e tarefas comunicativas com foco no sentido. Também foram investigados a percepção dos alunos, os seus sentimentos e comportamentos ao longo do processo. Para a coleta de dados foram utilizados testes cloze inicial e final, avaliações escritas ao longo do processo, gravações em áudio das tarefas, posteriormente transcritas para análise, e questionários aplicados aos discentes em momentos diferentes do curso. O arcabouço teórico se fundamenta em estudos sobre tarefas e ensino temático de autores como: Almeida Filho (1993, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009); Barbirato (1999, 2005); Bygate, Skehan, Swain (2001); Candlin (1987, 2001); Crandall (1994, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006); Ellis (2000, 2003); Nunan (1989, 2004); Prabhu (1987, 1990); Skehan (1998, 2001); Skehan, Foster (1997, 1999, 2001); Van den Braden (2006,2008); Willis (1996); Willis, Willis (2007), entre outros. A análise dos resultados demonstrou que o trabalho em que coexistiram ensino temático e tarefas comunicativas pode ser uma alternativa para o ensino-aprendizagem de língua inglesa no contexto investigado, em que havia limitação linguístico-comunicativa prévia na línguaalvo na maioria dos participantes.Também foi possível averiguar que o trabalho com tarefas comunicativas com foco no sentido e baseadas no tema da história da Grã-Bretanha motivou os participantes e possibilitou esforço colaborativo entre eles e momentos de explicitação da forma, léxico ou pronúncia da língua-alvo. Houve indícios de que o ensino com base em conteúdo temático e tarefas problematizadoras é ponto importante para colaborar para a aquisição de LE no contexto estudado. A análise dos dados revelou ainda que o trabalho desenvolvido resultou em considerável melhora da proficiência oral dos alunos na línguaalvo.