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This study sets out to answer the call for explicit instruction in critical thinking for ELL. Using action research and qualitative methodology, I examine the effect of implementing the cognitive apprenticeship paradigm with ELL studying in a mainstream secondary English class using the American curriculum. I center instruction on authentic texts and scaffold critical literacy and thinking tasks for instructional interventions. The data generated by the study includes written responses and reflections by the participants. This data is analyzed using research into cognitive theory and critical thinking pedagogy. The results support the cognitive apprenticehip model as one means for improving the higher literacy of ELL, regardless of level and background. The findings of this study contribute to the discussion of how to bridge the achievement gap between ELL and their native speaking peers and provide an avenue to advance their academic success. / English Studies / M.A. (with specialisation in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of other languages))

Globalization and English-language predominance situate English teachers as increasingly influential mediators of both language and culture. In the iconic multicultural hub of Ontario, Canada, teachers work within a causal nexus of social theories of language, the information and communication technologies revolution, and unprecedented global interdependency. Changes in English curriculum reflect these trends, from references to “global citizenship,” to stress on “intercultural communication,” “cultural sensitivity,” and Information and Communication Technology (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2007). Delegated gatekeepers of both linguistic and critical literacies, and facing new questions about the purposes and priorities of their discipline, Ontario English teachers must negotiate the divide between an inherited curriculum and the impacts of sociocultural transformation on changing literacy needs. To contribute to a professional dialogue about teaching English in a multicultural society and global age, this thesis presents findings from interviews with fifteen Ontario secondary English teachers. The focal question, “How is English changing?” introduces a range of pressing issues, such as: displacing the canon, practicing intercultural communication, balancing a democratic discourse, or “common culture,” with respect for diverse values, and managing opposing views and resistance to English curriculum change. The data reveal how English teachers across levels of experience occupy contrasting positions on the curriculum change debate. In part, this can be explained in terms of epistemological orientations. The participants represent three categories: Adaptation, Applied Research / Collaborative Inquiry, and Activism, each by turn more geared toward reconceptualizing English for social diversity and global consciousness. Beyond these classifications, the teachers reflect dissonant perceptions, sometimes personal ambivalence, on the changing role of text choice, and written and oral dialogue in the English classroom. From passionate defenses of Shakespeare, to radical measures to revamp book lists for cultural relevance, to remarkable illustrations of curriculum linked with global consciousness and civic action, the responses of the English teachers delineate zones of difficulty, change, and possibility. They help, too, to catch sight of a new horizon: the English classroom as a space for “cultural conversation” (Applebee, 1994) where canon- and teacher-centred dialogue give way to intertextual (Bakhtin, 1981; Kristeva, 1980) and intercultural (R. Young, 1996) transactions.

Globalization and English-language predominance situate English teachers as increasingly influential mediators of both language and culture. In the iconic multicultural hub of Ontario, Canada, teachers work within a causal nexus of social theories of language, the information and communication technologies revolution, and unprecedented global interdependency. Changes in English curriculum reflect these trends, from references to “global citizenship,” to stress on “intercultural communication,” “cultural sensitivity,” and Information and Communication Technology (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2007). Delegated gatekeepers of both linguistic and critical literacies, and facing new questions about the purposes and priorities of their discipline, Ontario English teachers must negotiate the divide between an inherited curriculum and the impacts of sociocultural transformation on changing literacy needs. To contribute to a professional dialogue about teaching English in a multicultural society and global age, this thesis presents findings from interviews with fifteen Ontario secondary English teachers. The focal question, “How is English changing?” introduces a range of pressing issues, such as: displacing the canon, practicing intercultural communication, balancing a democratic discourse, or “common culture,” with respect for diverse values, and managing opposing views and resistance to English curriculum change. The data reveal how English teachers across levels of experience occupy contrasting positions on the curriculum change debate. In part, this can be explained in terms of epistemological orientations. The participants represent three categories: Adaptation, Applied Research / Collaborative Inquiry, and Activism, each by turn more geared toward reconceptualizing English for social diversity and global consciousness. Beyond these classifications, the teachers reflect dissonant perceptions, sometimes personal ambivalence, on the changing role of text choice, and written and oral dialogue in the English classroom. From passionate defenses of Shakespeare, to radical measures to revamp book lists for cultural relevance, to remarkable illustrations of curriculum linked with global consciousness and civic action, the responses of the English teachers delineate zones of difficulty, change, and possibility. They help, too, to catch sight of a new horizon: the English classroom as a space for “cultural conversation” (Applebee, 1994) where canon- and teacher-centred dialogue give way to intertextual (Bakhtin, 1981; Kristeva, 1980) and intercultural (R. Young, 1996) transactions.

This study sets out to answer the call for explicit instruction in critical thinking for ELL. Using action research and qualitative methodology, I examine the effect of implementing the cognitive apprenticeship paradigm with ELL studying in a mainstream secondary English class using the American curriculum. I center instruction on authentic texts and scaffold critical literacy and thinking tasks for instructional interventions. The data generated by the study includes written responses and reflections by the participants. This data is analyzed using research into cognitive theory and critical thinking pedagogy. The results support the cognitive apprenticehip model as one means for improving the higher literacy of ELL, regardless of level and background. The findings of this study contribute to the discussion of how to bridge the achievement gap between ELL and their native speaking peers and provide an avenue to advance their academic success. / English Studies / M.A. (with specialisation in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of other languages))

(in English) The present thesis explores the issue of teaching heritage language learners and returnee students in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes in Czech secondary schools. The aim of the thesis is to examine the experiences of heritage language learners and returnees in the EFL classroom, their strengths and weaknesses in English, their attitude towards English language learning in terms of potential anxiety and motivation, as well as heritage language learners' wishes in relation to language instruction. These issues are investigated from the perspective of the students themselves. The theoretical part reviews the relevant literature on heritage language acquisition and teaching, and on the effects of experience abroad on language acquisition. Moreover, it is complemented by discussions of differentiated instruction and language education for the gifted, two areas which can prove helpful in terms of finding suitable solutions to the problems encountered by the target population in foreign language classes. The empirical part is qualitative and consists of the analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews with three participants, gymnázium students from Prague. Insights are provided about the interconnectedness of the students' life experiences, their general beliefs about language...