published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

A collection of lyrical, imaginative prose, ranging from prose poems to more formal short stories to flash fiction. I challenge the ordinary or commonplace by exploring the realms between fiction and poetry, realism and fantasy, reality and illusion. I would like reading the collection to be a sensory experience, one that draws the reader deeper into the imaginary. Stylistically, I work elements of poetic language into the narrative in order to express the mystery and remoteness that the stories require.

Liu, Li. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 223-236). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; appendixes includes Chinese.

This research is observational and descriptive. Its primary purpose is to provide data on the extent to which, and how, Non-Native Speakers (NNSs) of English engage in error correction of their peers when participating in classroom oral group work. In addition, it shows to what extent these learners self-correct their own errors in the same situation. The over-arching focus of the study is to examine the role of second language learners to determine whether they possess the potential to play a more active and productive part in their own language learning. Nine beginning level adult university ESL students are the subjects of this research. They were placed in small groups and asked to perform specified classroom tasks designed to generate maximum oral interchange among the participants. The ensuing discussions provided the basis for the data which were collected via tape recording each group's proceedings. The data samples were listened to and coded per an error typology and any correction that took place. The data were then statistically analyzed via SYSTAT. The findings are consistent with the results of other research and indicate that while many errors are not treated, a significant number of them are corrected clearly and accurately. These results lend credence to the idea that second language learners may have much more to learn from each other than they think, and that they do have the potential to play a greater role in their own language learning. Much more research is indicated in order to better understand the multi-faceted phenomenon of second language learner error and its treatment.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

The main focus of this study is on the causes of the problems in English language proficiency of Grade Nine high-school learners in Asmara, Eritrea, with reference to their oral skills, particularly for academic purposes. This study examines the way Grade Nine English teachers in Eritrea do or do not promote the development of Grade Nine learners' oral proficiency. The researcher's focus is on how the teachers structure their teaching approach to English and the way students learn the language in the classroom. The researcher looked at the practices of English language teachers by conducting observations in English classes in two high schools in Eritrea for about a month. The researcher obtained rich data via different methods of data collection with respect to the learners' oral development. The criteria that the researcher adopted for observation were those of the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching Observation Scheme (COLT) (Allan, Frohlich, and Spada: 1983). In addition to the classroom observation, the researcher also conducted interviews with the teachers. Questionnaires were distributed to learners, after which focus-group discussions with selected students were conducted. The findings of this study are summarized as follows. Firstly, English teachers have teaching techniques which are ineffective in achieving the intended objective. They use the structural approach to language teaching, which is out-dated. Secondly, grammar is the main focus of lessons. Most of the students commented that more oral (speaking) classes should be included in the learning of language to achieve oral/aural proficiency. Teachers must therefore foster a supportive classroom environment and stress the importance of oral classes in language learning. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

This study is threefold: 1) To investigate the needs of English for Academic Purposes at the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (SA), and the needs of English for Job Purposes in the Saudi private sector; 2) To establish goals based on the needs found; and 3) To propose an alternate design for the current English Language Center at the IPA in SA. The researcher used multi-modal approach to data collection that included questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews with different populations: managers, employees, human resource managers, students, and teachers. In business settings, the results showed that English is often used in the private sector for the following reasons: existence of non-native speakers of Arabic expatriates in the private sector in SA, nature of the company, dealing with international companies, agents of some international companies, and the company itself is not Saudi. In academic settings, students faced difficulties mainly in three skill area: reading, writing, and speaking. Based on the needs found, the researcher suggested teaching two business courses: Business Correspondence and Business Communication. In addition, the researcher proposed an alternate design for the current program at the English Language Center which should focus on General English, rather than English for Specific Purposes. / Department of English

The thesis identifies cultural indicators of Englishness through an analysis of readings of children's literature texts. These were taught on a children's literature course to Czech student-teachers at the Pedagogical Faculty, Brno in the Czech Republic from 1992 to 1995. The aim has been to identify cultural indicators of Englishness embedded in the texts and to reveal myths of national identity. This has been achieved by using a cross-cultural perspective whereby the Czech readings have been used to identify taken-for-granted aspects of English culture. The outcome has been to provide a paradigm for the exploration of culture in and through children's literature texts and to argue that children's literature should be incorporated into the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language and cultural studies for non-native speakers of English. In addition the methodological implications for the teaching of children's literature texts in the EFL classroom are discussed. The theoretical position which underpins the work is phenomenological in that it is an investigation of meanings. The readings by the Czech students and then the researcher were considered from two theoretical positions. An ethnographic perspective has been employed using the work of Geerz and Cohen to investigate the readings of three cohorts of Czech students who are outsiders to English culture. The reactions of the Czech students to the texts significantly reveal the legacy of the totalitarian system which began to end with the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. Literary theory has been applied by the researcher to investigate the texts from an insider's perspective. Reader response theories involving the notion of the implied reader (Iser) and horizons of expectations (Jauss) are adopted to reveal and interrogate a culture's notions of childhood. It is established in the thesis that hitherto a sociological perspective has been taken with children's literature texts in the investigation of ideology with reference to class, race and gender. These have been oppositional readings which locate English children's literature as a site for the socialisation of children into the norms, values and beliefs of dominant society. It is argued in this thesis that by a careful investigation of the texts from a literary perspective and using the cross-cultural information gained, another view might be taken which is that English children's literature texts are less than normalising.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 432-442). / Microfiche. / 2 v. (vii, 442 leaves), bound 29 cm