Not available / text

Not available / text

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

No description available.

No description available.

This research, based on Halliday's functional concepts, examined students language use in a communicative event, dialogue journals, in a Japanese as a foreign language setting. Holistic evaluation and precise analysis of Japanese particles were used to study the relationship between students' attempts to express content, their attempts to use linguistic forms, and the success of those attempts. The main finding is that increasing attempts, both qualitatively and quantitatively, on content and form, enhanced meaning-making ability in Japanese; however, overly high risk-taking on content at first inhibited success, leading to writer's block. More accomplished students were able to adjust their content to their linguistic ability at first, but to increase their risk-taking on both factors over time. Precise analysis further revealed students' hypotheses making in using Japanese particles. The findings suggest that both teachers' linguistic and strategic guidance in their responses and their attention to content are crucial.

No description available.

Richmond School District successfully implemented in 1978-1984 an innovative approach to the teaching of writing--the writing process. This study sought to determine why teachers participated in developing a new writing curriculum in their schools, what characteristics of the setting promoted these curriculum development practices, and what curriculum leaders did to promote teacher participation in curriculum decision making. Historical evidence for this thes is included interviews with eleven participants in reform, including the curriculum leader with greatest responsibility for its implementation. In addition, various print and manuscript documents provided a basis for interpretation of pertinent events. As policy study this thesis described and analyzed the practices and experiences of the school district that embodied the implementers' values. A single teacher-leader in the district accounted for much of the change in teacher practice. A district-wide emphasis on writing process praxis was further supported by the school board and the district's senior staff. Specific social characteristics of the curriculum development setting, Richmond School District, help account for the adoption of the reform. The study argues for the importance of; (a) selecting the most appropriate innovation for implementation, (b) empowering participants in educational reform, and (c) an effective change agent to inspire participants. Implications for educators and recommendations for further research came from these insights.