Orientador: Antônio Suárez Abreu / Banca: Rosana Ferrareto Lourenço Rodrigues / Banca: Beatriz Quirino Arruda Doná / Banca: Ana Carolina Sperança Criscuolo / Banca: Aline Pereira de Souza / Resumo: Na Linguística Cognitiva os esquemas imagéticos foram introduzidos como generalizações mentais de experiências corporificadas, capturando noções de contêiner, percurso, contato, centro-periferia, dentre outras. Esses mapeamentos mentais, advindos de nossa experiência corpórea, nos auxiliam a construir conceitos como afirmam Lakoff e Johson (1980). Logo, utilizar essa teoria para analisar as construções da língua inglesa, bem como considerar o papel das metáforas podem tornar o processo de ensino e aprendizagem mais significativo. Dificilmente um docente evidencia o que é uma construção, principalmente, quando possui sentido metafórico. Afinal, normalmente elas aparecem como lista de vocabulário após o texto exposto nos materiais didáticos. Ressalta-se que entendemos por construção o pareamento forma e significado, que existe desde a estrutura de um simples morfema ou um item lexical até construções maiores, como uma oração, frase ou expressão idiomática. Percebe-se assim que o aprendizado de uma língua vai além do domínio gramatical e oral. Desse modo o objetivo desta tese é analisar construções, a partir dos esquemas de imagem instanciados por metáforas, a fim de evidenciar que a compreensão, muitas vezes, exige mais do que a tradução. Afinal o contexto, a cultura e as metáforas também devem ser considerados. Para isso, foram escolhidas construções que não são transparentes ou que possuem mais de um uso. Junto das análises, foi realizada uma pesquisa com estudantes do 1º ano... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In Cognitive Linguistics image schemas were introduced as mental generalizations of embodied experiences, capturing container notions, pathways, contact, center-periphery, among others. These mental mappings, coming from our bodily experience, help us to build concepts, as Lakoff and Johnson (1980) claim. Therefore, it is understood that using this theory to analyze the constructions of the English language and to consider the role of metaphors can make the teaching and learning process more meaningful. A teacher rarely shows what a construction is, especially when it has metaphorical sense. After all, they usually appear as a vocabulary list after the text exposed in the textbooks. It is important to note that construction as the form and meaning pairing, which exists from the structure of a simple morpheme or a lexical item to larger constructions, such as a clause, phrase or idiomatic expression. It is understood that the learning of a language goes beyond the grammatical and oral domain. Thus the purpose of this thesis is to analyze constructs, from the image schemas instantiated by metaphors, in order to show that understanding often requires more than translation. After all the context, culture and metaphors should also be considered. For this, constructions that are not transparent or that have more than one use have been chosen. Along with the analysis, a survey was carried out with students from the first year of high school to delimit the thematic, which resulted in... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Orientador(a): Sandra Mari Kaneko-Marques / Resumo: A partir de estudos como os de Schmidt (1990) e Batstone (1994), compreendemos que a aprendizagem de línguas não poderia ocorrer sem a conscientização. Desse modo, a percepção consciente de formas e sentidos seria condição necessária para o primeiro passo no processo de aprendizagem da gramática da língua, além de facilitar a aprendizagem de outros aspectos. Devido à relevância deste tema em relação ao ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar uma proposta baseada em atividades de atenção focada à gramática ou noticing by the learner (BATSTONE, 1994) e verificar se os alunos-participantes de um curso de inglês como língua estrangeira de nível intermediário conseguem atentar para a gramática e perceber a relação entre a forma e o significado da língua. Trata-se, portanto, de uma pesquisa qualitativa e interpretativista. Com a intenção de entender se os alunos-participantes conseguiram atentar para as regularidades entre forma e significado da língua nas atividades propostas, analisamos as suas respostas às atividades de noticing by the learner elaboradas, além das respostas coletadas de questionários e entrevistas. Objetivamos também considerar e analisar as percepções e opiniões tanto da professora-pesquisadora como dos alunos-participantes sobre o ensino e aprendizagem de gramática, após a aplicação das atividades baseadas na proposta de noticing by the learner (BATSTONE, 1994). Por meio deste estudo, pode-se indicar que a pr... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Taking both Schmidt (1990) and by Batstone (1994) studies into consideration, we can understand that learning does not take place without noticing. Therefore, the process of consciousness-raising of form and meaning is a necessary condition for the grammar learning process, and it is facilitative for other aspects of learning. Due to the relevance of this topic in English as a foreign language teaching, the aim of this research is to analyze the application of activities based on noticing by the learner (BATSTONE, 1994) and to verify if the participants of an English as a foreign language course could perceive the relation between form and meaning in such activities. The methodology used in this research is, therefore, qualitative and interpretative. In order to understand if the participants were able to see grammatical regularities and notice the relation between form and meaning with noticing activities, we analyzed the participants' answers to the noticing by the learner activities. We also aimed to take the teacher-researcher and the participants' views and opinions on grammar teaching and learning after having done the noticing by the learner activities (BATSTONE, 1994). It was observed that the noticing by the learner activities helped participants to notice certain grammatical aspects. As for the participants' opinions on the activities, we could observe that even though they recognized the potential of reflecting about language with noticing by the learner... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Thesis (M.Ed. (Language Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2010 / This research study investigated subtractive bilingualism in teaching and learning through the medium of English without the support of the mother tongue. The aim was to investigate if it is possible for learners to acquire a second language (English) without totally losing their home language. This was done through: probing the reasons why the language policy is difficult to implement in schools as outlined by the constitution of South Africa; determining the causes of subtractive bilingualism in the school settings and; an emphasis of the rights and responsibilities of educators and parents to make a positive difference in the lives of bilingual and bicultural learners. This research was grounded on Cummins (1991) theory of second language acquisition. The literature review examined other theories of second language acquisition and learning (Krashen 1981). In particular, emphasis was placed on the following broad areas in the literature review: mother tongue development; language shift and language loss; language planning and language policy; language and culture; language and identity, attitudes and equity; language in education; the National Language Policy Framework; and multilingualism. This research was conducted using the qualitative research methodology. A case study design was employed. Three instruments were used for collecting of the data. These were: questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations. The data analysis strategy used in this research was interaction analysis which was done through transcriptions of observations and video and audio recordings of interviews and classroom observations. The following were some of the findings from this research study: learners were not happy with their educators who unduly force them to communicate in English as the educators themselves are also not proficient in the language; learners are afraid to take risks of communicating in English for fear of other learners intimidating them; and many learners now communicate only in English and cannot understand the greater details of their mother tongue. iv The recommendations of this study are: to reduce the extent of language loss, parents should establish a strong home language policy and provide ample opportunities for children to expand the functions for which they use the mother tongue; parents and care-givers should spend time with their children and tell stories or discuss issues with them in a way that develops their mother tongue vocabulary and concepts so that children come to school prepared to learn the second language successfully without being distracted; funding and resources must be made available for additional language acquisition; well-trained and dedicated teachers with similar linguistic backgrounds to the learners should be hired; and the new language policy should be adopted.

Correction of oral errors in foreign or second language classrooms has been an issue of great concern. Although the literature on error correction is abundant, the studies on student reaction to this pedagogical practice are few. This study investigated the preferences for correction of classroom oral errors among university students of English in Japan. Data were collected from anonymous questionnaires. The study examined the students' attitudes toward the views about correction of oral errors which have been controversial among foreign and second language educators. The study also investigated the students' preferences for correction of different types of oral errors (e.g., grammatical errors) and particular types of correction as well. The results showed that the students had a strong positive agreement regarding teacher correction of oral errors. They showed a tendency toward agreement concerning peer correction, and a slight tendency toward agreement regarding selective error correction. Concerning overcorrection of errors, they showed a tendency toward disagreement. There was no significant difference among the different levels of oral English proficiency. The students had positive attitudes toward the correction of all five types of errors listed in the questionnaire: grammatical errors, phonological errors, and errors regarding vocabulary, pragmatics, and discourse. Pragmatic errors received the strongest preference. A significant difference among the proficiency levels was observed in only preference for correction of discourse errors. Preferred methods of error correction were: 1) the teacher gives the student a hint which might enable the student to notice the error and selfcorrect, 2) the teacher explains why the response is incorrect, 3) the teacher points out the error, and provides the correct response, and 4) the teacher presents the correct response or part of the response. The methods disliked were: 1) the teacher ignores the student's errors and 2) the teacher repeats the original question asked of the student. A significant difference among the groups was observed in preference for only one error correction method: the teacher presents the correct response or part of the response.

This thesis discusses the pros and cons of grouping by ability in secondary English.

The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in gains in reading ability for two seventh-grade groups taught by two different methods of instruction in language arts. The two methods were: 1) instruction with a reading-improvement program utilizing the SRA Reading Laboratory, and 2) regular instruction in language arts.

While many studies have been conducted on the methodology of teaching English, second language (ESL), few have focused on ESL administration, specifically college level ESL administration. This descriptive study analyzed and evaluated the personal and professional characteristics of college level ESL administrators.

The body of work contained in this dissertation consists of seven studies investigating conversational skills in people with aphasia (PWA). The predominant focus is on establishing reliable measures of language skills in unstructured conversation in PWA. Overall, ten measures are investigated, and much of the work is concerned with establishing interrater reliability and test-retest stability. These measures are needed to determine generalization of aphasia intervention to conversation, to inform treatment decision-making, and to develop future interventions that have the capacity to improve language abilities at a conversation-level. The initial work focused on microlinguistic skills (i.e., word and sentence-level language; Leaman & Edmonds, 2019a; 2019c), and then evolved to include macrolinguistic skills (discourse-level language) with a focus on global coherence (Leaman & Edmonds, in press) and topic initiation (Leaman & Edmonds, 2020). In addition, questions emerged regarding: a) the relationship of language production in monologue and in conversation (due to the predominance of monologue testing, as opposed to conversation, in clinical environments; b) normative data for the measures in monologue and in conversation; c) the sensitivity of the measures as treatment outcome measures. Research questions regarding items a and b are addressed in the novel research conducted for the dissertation (reported in the last two manuscripts in this document, i.e., Dissertation Studies 1 and 2 (DS1 and DS2)), and item c is addressed in Obermeyer et al., (in press). In addition, a related outcome of this research is a methodology, The Conversation Collection Protocol (CCP). The CCP was developed to consistently collect unstructured conversations that would have similar interactional features that could be used as language samples. The protocol is based on conversational interactions in typical speakers, and is primarily informed by the Conversation Analysis literature (for an overview see Schegloff, 2007). The CPP was piloted to train SLP conversation partners to use typical, familiar, social, adult-style interactions during the conversations (rather than traditional therapy or instructional behaviors) in the first study (Leaman & Edmonds, 2019a). The protocol was further developed prior to data collection for the dissertation studies. In this development phase, the systemized training protocol was expanded to include excerpted readings from literature regarding conversational interaction, and a post-training quiz for the partners. In addition, a session fidelity protocol was developed and implemented. Use of the CCP in all of the studies contributed to achieving similarity in the SLP partners’ interactional styles across conversational dyads, allowed fostering of social conversations which were desired (i.e., as opposed to interview-style conversations often used in the literature), and promoted the PWA to direct their own communication decisions and topics of discussion which in typical therapy interactions may be drastically limited by the clinician (Simmons-Mackie & Damico, 1999). The CCP resulted in high session fidelity (98-99%) across the 27 SLPs who participated in the two dissertation studies. The CCP training also resulted in a corpus of conversations that are similar in content and complexity (measured by mean length of utterance and type-token ratio), with similar topics and an equitable distribution of topic-initiating utterances between the PWA and the partners (Leaman & Edmonds, 2019a; DS1). This research agenda is motivated by a clinical need and vision for a dramatic shift in aphasia intervention, which moves away from structured, decontextualized therapy tasks and towards use of everyday conversation as the primary vehicle of intervention. Prerequisite to development of such an intervention is development of outcome measures capable of capturing real-world changes in conversation. Without such measures, it is not possible to determine whether treatment has the intended effects on conversation. Because conversation is a complex, multi-modal, and contextually-bound phenomenon, treatment that improves everyday conversation could potentially affect many aspects of communication. Change in conversation can be realized by treatment focused on verbal skills, nonverbal skills, compensatory strategies, participation, and/or partner training, and ideally should combine all of these communication parameters. Currently, measures and scales exist for each of these areas, except for in the area of language ability in conversation. It is this clinical and research gap, the lack of reliable measures to evaluate language in its most commonly used context, conversation, that fuels this line of research. The publications, in press manuscripts, and two manuscripts resulting from the dissertation research are presented in their order of publication. Conclusions, clinical implications, and future directions are presented in each. However, in brief summary, the primary findings of this body of work are: 1. Reliability and Stability of Language in Conversation Measurement of language production skills in PWA can be accomplished with a high-level of reliability and stability for all measures investigated except for: a) the measure of behavioral manifestations of lexical retrieval (LEXoth; Leaman & Edmonds, 2019a); and b) referential cohesion (REF), which demonstrated variability that precluded test-retest stability in two studies (Leaman & Edmonds, 2019a; DS1). The clinical implication is that language in unstructured conversation, for certain measures, is reliable and stable. 2. Language Production Relationships in Monologue and Conversation Language production in monologue does not tend to parallel language production in unstructured conversation, thus performance during monologue therapy tasks cannot reliably predict conversational language production for most measures investigated (DS2). Consequently, language findings based on a monologue task (this research used a story narrative monologue) cannot be extrapolated for understanding of conversational language skills for most of the measures investigated. Thus, if the desired outcome of treatment is impact at a conversation level, evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention to achieve this aim cannot be estimated with use of a story narrative monologue language sample. Further, development of intervention relevant to language needs in conversation cannot be adequately developed based on a story narrative monologue. Further investigation is needed regarding the relationship between single picture description tasks and conversation in terms of language production skills. 3. Topic Initiation Mechanisms in PWA and Their Partners PWA often use similar mechanisms to alert listeners that a new topic is being initiated as their communication partners without aphasia, such as waiting for an old topic to end, or using a marker like “oh, and by the way…”. In interactions between individuals without communication disorders, these mechanisms are often layered and used simultaneously. However, the findings of this research demonstrate that as aphasia severity increases, individuals use fewer simultaneous mechanisms to introduce topics. In addition, for people with moderate to severe aphasia, the fewer topic initiation mechanisms they use, the less successful they are during their topic initiating utterances (Leaman & Edmonds, 2020). This work provides a broader analysis of topic initiating behaviors in PWA with a larger sample size (n=10) than had been previously available. In addition, it established a needed methodology for locating the beginning and end of topic locations in unstructured conversation. This ability to reliably locate topics within conversation is also key to the subsequent research regarding global coherence in conversation, which depends on analysis of each utterances coherence to the overall topic being discussed (Leaman & Edmonds, in press; DS1). An important clinical implication suggests that explicit teaching PWA to use simultaneous methods of topic initiation may have therapeutic benefit to support a greater level of successfulness when they initiate new topics during conversation. Further, teaching both PWA and their regular partners about mechanisms of topic initiation may facilitate improved awareness of these mechanisms with positive therapeutic effect in conversation. 4. Sensitivity of Linguistic Measures as Post-Treatment Outcomes Evidence of stability and sensitivity of linguistic measures in conversation is provided in an intervention case study (Obermeyer et al., in press). As a case study, this research suggests preliminary evidence that a discourse-level intervention (Attentive Reading and Constrained Summarization -Written) can affect change in conversation, and that measures investigated in the research presented here may be sensitive to such change. 5. Development and Use of the CCP to Train SLPs as Conversation Partners Although not addressed as a research question, the CCP appears to be effective as a systematic method to collect unstructured conversations suitable for language analysis. Further, the CCP training is brief (less than an hour), and a large group of SLPs (27) demonstrated learning and adherence to the protocol, as evidenced by high session fidelity and resulting conversations that are similar in terms of vocabulary use frequency, mean length of utterance, type-token ratio, and even distribution of topic-initiating turns between the PWA and their partners, and similar topical content across the conversations (Leaman & Edmonds, 2019a; DS1). Further, in the dissertation research over 90 conversations were collected using the CCP training (some were not analyzed due to subsequent ineligibility of the participant), and no conversation resembled an interview or traditional didactic therapy interaction. The clinical implication is that SLPs can be efficiently and effectively trained as conversation partners to collect unstructured (social) conversational samples for the purpose of assessment. Next steps in this line of research are detailed in the conclusion of each of the seven articles and manuscripts. In addition, a summary of the findings and future directions based on the entire body of work are included in the Epilogue of this dissertation.

Fossilization, the stagnation of second language (L2) learning despite propitious conditions, is an inescapable reality for virtually all L2 learners. The study presented in this dissertation has endeavored to contribute to our current understanding of fossilization by examining, both longitudinally and cross-sectionally, persistent errors in the writing of adult learners of academic English for whom Spanish is a first language (L1). The theoretical framework is the Selective Fossilization Hypothesis (SFH), introduced by Han in 2009, which offers an extrapolative and explanatory framework for analyzing persistent errors in the developing grammars of L2 learners. This research was conducted in two parts. Part I consisted of a cross-sectional investigation of 60 English language learners (ELLs) grouped into three proficiency levels: low intermediate, high intermediate, and advanced. Part II was a longitudinal case study that followed two ELLs over a period of 28 and 56 months, respectively. For both parts of the study, naturalistic data consisting of college placement, diagnostic, and exit essays were collected at the research site, a large community college in the Northeastern United States, and analyzed quantitatively. Descriptive statistics were computed to identify persistent errors in the participants’ writing. Following that, the longitudinal data were subjected to further analysis, revealing robust evidence of selective fossilization both among and within the target subsystems of English articles, prepositions, and number, and offering empirical support for the SFH. These findings have some implications for second language research and practice. By providing evidence of selective fossilization, they may help challenge earlier conceptualizations of fossilization as a global phenomenon, and, by extension, the myth of the ‘fossilized’ (‘unteachable’) learner. Additionally, they contribute to extant research on the developing academic writing of post-secondary learners, a population and genre largely underrepresented in the L2 research. Finally, by offering empirical support for selective fossilization and the SFH, they provide L2 practitioners with the means to predict and explain learner errors, enabling them to set more realistic learning goals and achieve more successful outcomes.

Numerous studies since the 1960s have demonstrated that peer tutoring between two students is an effective teaching practice across populations and academic content areas. However, there has been limited research on peer tutoring beyond the traditional dyad format. We analyze variations of peer tutoring in a series of studies in a 3rd grade general education classroom. During the first study, we compared dyad and group peer tutoring structures for spelling acquisition with 14 participants across 2 experiments. We found that the majority of the students mastered novel words with fewer learn units during peer tutoring in dyads (i.e., lower learn units-to-criterion). However, scores on spelling post-assessments were higher following group peer tutoring conditions. Findings suggest that peer tutoring in a group may be more effective when considering post-assessment accuracy. In the second study we analyzed the effects of peer tutoring with Equivalence Based Instruction (EBI) on inference making, specifically, the emergence of eight 3-member fraction-percentage classes with 8 participants across 2 experiments. We found that participants acquired both baseline training relations during peer tutoring EBI: one directly as a tutee and one indirectly as a tutor. Following peer tutoring EBI, all participants derived the remaining 4 relations. Once participants had formed equivalence classes, they could also sort fraction stimuli, which demonstrated transfer of function. Additionally, we noted that it may be important for instructors to consider response effort for training relations when designing instruction for peer tutoring EBI due to possible adverse effects on student behaviors. Our findings suggest novel and effective means in designing pedagogy to increase learn units, select effective tutoring formats, and plan for inference making in general education classrooms.