This research documents one junior high school's mainstream teachers' perceptions of the ESL students in their classrooms and the ESL program that services these students. Using qualitative methods appropriate for descriptive case study research, the open-ended questionnaire and the semi-structured interview (Johnson, 1992), the study sought to discover the emic perspective of mainstream teachers who taught ESL students on a daily basis. It was found that a variety of "effects" surrounded the ESL phenomenon at the research site both at the classroom and programmatic levels. At the classroom level the diverse cultural backgrounds and attitudes of ESL students were seen to have both beneficial and challenging effects on mainstream teachers and classrooms. Conversely, mainstream classrooms had effects on ESL students which were manifested in both desirable and undesirable ways. At the programmatic level, it was found that the model of ESL service delivery, wherein mainstream teachers were responsible for a substantial percentage of the ESL students' education, effected perceptions of particular responsibilities and needs among mainstream teachers, most notably more communication with ESL "experts". Respondents in the study also suggested ways ESL service could be delivered more effectively, given the cognitive and affective needs of ESL learners and the communication and ESL expertise needs of mainstream teachers. The study has a number of implications at both practical and theoretical levels. In practice, a number of useful functions for the ESL classroom have been suggested, specifically as a place for the fostering of self esteem, social networks, social and cultural skills and academic remediation. The ESL program is also implied to be in need of more funding, and a recommendation is further made for increased ESL training in pre-service teachers. The study concludes by reiterating a call for more ethnographic research describing different facets and perspectives of the ESL students' experiences in mainstream classrooms.

Integrated curriculum has received a great deal of attention in education settings and the word 'integration' in the integrated curriculum is viewed as a method of teaching and learning underpinned with the theory of constructivism. Integration is one of the approaches in the present curriculum of South Africa and the / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Kwazulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Reading plays a pivotal role in terms of learners' comprehension and understanding of what is taught in schools. Reading, as part of nation building, provides rapid and ready access to new information and knowledge that will help us in life-long learning (DoE, 2008, p.5). In the context of South Africa, where the legacy of apartheid can still be felt almost 20 years after its collapse, having literate learners becomes particularly important. This is more so the case considering the linguistic diversity of South Africa – many learners in multilingual schooling contexts of South Africa encounters reading difficulties as they are taught in a language foreign to their mother tongues. If learners cannot read there is a greater likelihood of poor academic achievement. It was therefore the intention of this study to explore how teachers who speak English as a first language teach reading to Grade Three learners in multilingual contexts. The study examined the methodologies Grade Three teachers employed in teaching reading, as well as the support they offered to Grade Three learners generally and also specifically to those learners who may not speak English as a first language. This study followed a qualitative approach and was interpretive in its paradigm. The study's methodology was that of a case study of three Grade Three teachers in one public primary school in Durban. Observations were conducted, so as to offer detailed descriptions of Grade Three teacher's actions, behaviours, and full range of interpersonal interactions between teachers and learners. The researcher also interviewed and observed teachers teaching reading. The findings revealed that teachers who speak English as a first language, in a multilingual school, experience several challenges in teaching reading to Grade Three learners - such as: teachers having to ask a lot of questions because children battle with comprehension, it takes time for English second language learners to grasp phonic sounds, and teachers have to spend a lot of time helping struggling readers. Hence a sound whole-school approach around reading can greatly smooth the process of teaching. The study found teachers who were not only competent in the teaching of reading, but who also ensured that support was given to all their learners, particularly those whose mother tongue is not English. Some key factors that helped them to overcome their challenges were: the availability of reading materials, knowledge of the reading process, planning and consistency across the grade, support from school management and the preparation of intervention strategies. The teachers also employed a variety of methods and strategies while teaching, thereby ensuring comprehension and support for the learners. The study recommends that schools should take reading seriously since it had been proven that many South African learners have poor reading abilities. This means that a whole-school approach towards reading is required. If learners are able to read well, all subjects in the school benefit. / Thesis (M. Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

This study investigated the reactions of Saudi college students to collaborative learning techniques introduced in two modalities: face-to-face and web-based. Quantitative data were collected with a questionnaire that examined the changes of three constructs: attitudes toward collaboration, social self-efficacy, and perceived peer academic support of composition students at Umm Alqura University, Saudi Arabia. Students in the experimental group collaborated electronically using Blackboard, a web-based environment while students in the control group collaborated face-to-face. Students' responses to the questionnaire did not show any significant differences between the experimental group and control group with respect to the three variables.Three factors might have led to such results. First, one of the scales used in the questionnaire had low reliability that could have affected its procedure implementation. Second, collaborative learning is a new technique to Saudi students that could have contradicted the learning styles they studied according to since elementary school. Third, there were technical obstacles experienced during the experiment (i.e. no enough computer labs and no full access to the Internet) that could have been a discouraging factor for the subjects.Qualitative data collected through a post-study survey reflected the participants' positive attitudes towards peer response techniques applied throughout the experiment, giving and receiving comments, and working with computers. Such positive attitudes reflect the need to update composition teaching methods, introduce process-oriented pedagogies, foster group work strategies, and develop more computer resources and networking facilities. / Department of English

This study explores the process that occurred between a group of language lecturers and disciplinary specialists at a tertiary institution in South Africa as they negotiated common understandings of an integrated approach to the teaching of academic literacies. The focus of the study is on both the process underpinning this approach, as well as how the participants understood this process and constructed themselves within it. The unit of analysis in this study is the co-ordinated integrated approach to the teaching of academic literacies. This is a retrospective case study that engaged participants in a process of reflection on their interactions, over the three-year life of an institutional project, which resulted from the collaboration of language lecturers and disciplinary specialists. The overarching approach to data production was narrative methodology. Drawing on life history research methods, various strategies (such as participant observation, survey of documentation, analysis of policy documents, stimulated recall, individual interviewing and focus group sessions) were used to collect data about participants' experiences retrospectively. Three levels of analysis were applied to the primary data set, which comprised the narrative interviews, freewrites and focus group sessions. The findings from the study suggest that sustained interaction between language lecturers and disciplinary specialists is an important process in reshaping how both parties construct their roles and academic identities within higher education, a necessary element in shifting mindsets regarding the practice of academic literacy teaching in higher education. The most important factors in bringing about this shift are presented in the report as a theoretical model for the process of integrating academic literacies into disciplines. These factors and the processes linking them, represent important considerations when designing integrated approaches to the teaching of academic literacies, and are instrumental in bringing about changes regarding the practice of academic literacy teaching in higher education. The data suggest that the creation of productive institutional discursive spaces, which transgress narrow disciplinary boundaries, could bridge the separate academic Iifeworlds of language lecturers and disciplinary specialists. In a shift away from the 'study skills' view of academic literacy which supports an autonomous model of literacy, and the 'acculturation' view of academic literacy which supports an uncritical academic socialisation model, this study proposes a critical understanding of the teaching of discipline-specific academic literacies and introduces an inside/outside model of academic literacy teaching. This model proposes that disciplinary specialists need to be working within their disciplinary Discourse communities, while simultaneously having a critical overview of this 'insider' role, from outside of it. It is in engaging with language lecturers who are 'outsiders' to their disciplinary Discourses that disciplinary specialists find themselves at the margins of their own fields, and are able to view themselves as insiders from the outside, as it were. This shifting location from a purely insider perspective, to an insider perspective from the outside, shifts lecturers towards a critical understanding of the teaching of discipline-specific academic literacies. This model, and the· study informing it, theorises the process by which this dual critical identity can be crafted in practice. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

The number of students enrolled in United States public schools speaking a language other than English in their homes doubled over the last decade. In Indiana more than 60% of all public school districts reported having at least one English Learner student enrolled. It is projected that Indiana EL enrollment will increase 21% by the year 2021 (National Center for Education, 2009). These statistics make EL students, those students whose native language is not English, the fastest growing demographic in the Indiana public school system. As such, there is a need to know, and adhere to, the numerous laws that govern EL education in America. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) allows for state-specific guidelines concerning EL education, but it monitors the states’ progress of the EL student federally. Schools that do not have EL students who show adequate progress are subject to a loss of funding or closure for failing to serve all of their enrolled student population. This has caused many Indiana schools to review their EL practices and procedures when considering instructional strategies. This study examined the history of EL education and what Indiana schools at the elementary level are doing enough to prepare EL students. / Department of Educational Leadership

The aim of this research is to determine Japanese first-year university students’ attitudes to and motivation for learning English. A successful English-language education system is crucial for Japan, under great pressure to internationalise during her most prolonged recession ever. To help make the education system successful, knowledge of learners’ attitudes and motivation is essential. Chapter 1 discusses Japan as a stage for English-language education. Japan is identified as uniquely homogenous and insular. Internationalisation of industry and a drop in the college-age population forcing universities to compete for students are identified as recent phenomena driving reform in the English-language education system. Chapter 2 describes the roughly 130-year history of Japanese English-language education from first contact to the present day. Changes in the English-language education policies of successive Japanese governments are discussed through examination of the Ministry of Education ‘Course of Study’ guidelines. Chapter 3 surveys the theoretical literature on attitudes and motivation in foreign and second language learning. Significant and relevant empirical research from Japan and other countries is reviewed. Chapter 4 determines an approach to the main research question through a number of subsidiary questions, using the theoretical framework from Chapter 3. A detailed research design (methods, schedule, and data collection procedures) is drawn up and discussed. Chapter 5 presents and analyses the findings of the two questionnaires which form the main data collection method. The computer program SPSS is used in analysis. Chapter 6 presents and analyses the findings of the two group interviews and two individual interviews by categorising and descriptive explanation. Chapter 7, the final chapter, reviews the research process and answers the subsidiary and main research questions. Key themes are that Japanese students are highly motivated to learn English for communication, and that the English classes currently offered at universities do not meet the demands of Japanese students. These answers and themes are used as the basis for some recommendations for English-language education in Japan.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the views of students and lecturers at the University of Namibia about teaching and learning. The study specifically determined the views of students and lectures in relation to language, teaching, learning and assessment as well as what we might learn from analysis of these views to assist in improving teaching, learning and assessment.

Title page, abstract and table of contents only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library. / "This study attempts primarily to bring together some of the existing literature on text coherence, cohesion, and thematic structure and the influence of these text characteristics on reading comprehension and EAP material preparation, particularly in an EFL/ESL context. The textual features of coherence, cohesion and comprehensibility are of primary concern... The results of the analysis suggest that thematic elements and cohesive devices, which act as signposts in directing the readers’ attention in the meaning making process, are to be taken into account in teaching and testing reading and writing." -- From abstract. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1289484 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2007

"August 2003" / Bibliography: p. [1-29] / xii, 210, [166] p. : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / This study examines engagement in English as a foreign language (EFL) literacy practices as opportunities for making meanings with texts and for learning English as a foreign language. The study also proposes practical implications for EFL instruction. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, Discipline of Linguistics, 2004