In keeping with these inquiries the following purposes for this study were conceived: (1) To make a statement of cardinal values to be found in typical English programs on the junior high school level. (2) To explore the procedures used by a representative group of junior high school teachers of English in an attempt to discover what portions of the English curriculum they considered of the greatest importance. (3) To use the cardinal values to which reference has just been made as criteria by which to judge the objectives toward which work was being directed in English classes in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades of Roanoke City and County. After the foregoing purposes had been established, a study was made of the economic and social background in which the study was set, resulting in the findings set forth in Chapter II of this writing. Following this, the literature of the field was surveyed with a view to discovering the ideas of authors respecting the teaching of English. A detailed study was made of various courses of study. Following that survey there was formulated the set of criteria which appears in Chapter III. The next undertaking was to make a schedule composed of items which were deemed appropriate to the various criteria, to be used in gathering data relative to the practices of teachers of English in the City and County of Roanoke, respectively. The successive steps in constructing and administering that instrument, together with data resulting from its use, are given in Chapter IV. The final chapter contains a summary of findings to which reference has just been made and certain recommendations emerging therefrom. / M.S.

No description available.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

LD2668 .T4 1954 P44 / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1978 A457 / Master of Arts

This thesis is a study of the learning of English grammatical morphemes (copula, possessive, ING, plural, progressive auxiliary, irregular-past, regular-past, definite article, indefinite article, and the third-person-singular-present) by 31 Japanese high school students. The data were based on the results of the subjects' spoken language, which were tape-recorded and carefully investigated. The results indicated some similarities and differences between the present study and the previous L1 and L2 studies. The present study showed more similarities to the studies which dealt with Japanese subjects by both the Spearman rank order correlation coefficients and the Implicational Scaling Analysis based on Group Range. This indicates strong transfer from the Japanese language. But language transfer is not such a simple phenomena as the researchers in the Behaviorism era thought. Some methodological problems concerning the grammatical morpheme studies and possible determinants of the accuracy order of the morphemes were also discussed.

The Huang and Van Naerssen (1987) survey in Southern China proved conclusively that the more fluent Chinese L2 learners ofEnglish used more communicative strategies than their not :fluent counterparts. This study was an attempt to repeat the Huang and Van Naerssen study in a different setting with L2 learners of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. L2 learners of English at secondary level were chosen from four countries in which I had recently lived and worked. In addition an attempt was made to empirically test the validity of Schumann•s (1978) acculturation hypothesis on models for which it was not originally intended. A correlation was being sought between the level of acculturation ofL2 learners and their fluency in English. A cloze test was given to the one hundred and twenty-five L2 learners in the study in order to gauge their level of proficiency in English. A survey was then presented to L2 learners in all four countries, Chile, Paraguay, South Africa and Botswana. Part One of the survey asked questions related to acculturation. Part Two asked the same communicative questions used in the South China study. The results from the survey were inconclusive though the raw data for the communicative strategies and acculturation helped to show that the more proficient the student in English, the more likely he or she was to use communicative strategies or show a higher level of acculturation. The results were not statistically significant. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

This study investigated the oral proficiency of ESL teacher trainees in different discourse domains. The sample for the study consisted of twenty ESL teacher trainees in their final year at a College of Education. Different methods were used to measure the teacher trainees' oral proficiency in the English Communication Skills class while engaging in less formal conversations and in more formal teaching of content subjects during Practice Teaching. Three categories of constructs for oral proficiency were measured: Accuracy and fluency, classroom language and non-verbal communication. The findings supported the hypothesis: The oral proficiency of ESL teacher trainees is more satisfactory in some discourse domains,e.g. casual conversation, than in others, e.g. formal teaching. Although these findings cannot be regarded as conclusive they raise awareness of the problem. Recommendations were made on how to address the problem of poor oral performance of ESL teachers and teacher trainees teaching content subjects. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Specialisation in Applied Linguistics)

An emphasis ·on creativity as well as its implications for teacher education is significant for the South African education system. In this study some relevant issues related to the creative teaching of English in the· Junior Primary phase of schooling as well as to the training of teachers are highlighted. The transitional changes that are taking place currently, present a challenge for all educators, particularly language educators. It is evident that teachers need to acquire competencies which would enable them to function effectively in a multicultural, multilingual society. They need to be a skilled, flexible and innovative work-force. The main area of focus. is the training programme used at Springfield College of Education. An analysis of the Junior Primary English Syllabus reveals that there is a need for the programme to be orientated towards the development of creative teachers. This study includes some recommendations for teaching practice and teacher training. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Didactics)

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy