This study focused on the teacher interpersonal behaviour in the teaching of Mathematics, compared to English. It investigated: differences between student perceptions of their Mathematics and English teachers' interaction styles using the actual and ideal QTI; investigate associations between students' attitudes to Mathematics and English and their perceptions of the teachers' interpersonal behaviour; investigate whether any factors exist that contribute to students' perceptions of teachers' interpersonal behaviour, determine what the typical Mathematics and English teacher in Singapore is like; and what makes an effective teacher from students' and teachers' viewpoints. The QTI, together with the Attitude to Mathematics and Attitude to English, was administered to 913 students and 37 mathematics and English teachers from an independent school in Singapore. Student and teacher interviews were conducted to further substantiate the quantitative results. Both QTI and attitudinal scales were found to be valid and reliable instruments with alpha coefficients ranging from 0.69 to 0.92. In terms of leadership, helping/friendly, understanding and student responsibility, teacher behaviour as perceived by students, fell short of the ideal. Positive associations were found between students' attitudes to Mathematics and English and their perceptions of the teachers' interpersonal behaviour. Teacher experience and students' grade level were factors that contributed to students' perceptions of teachers' interpersonal behaviour. The typical Singaporean Mathematics teacher is that of the directive and authoritative type and the English teacher is the tolerant-authoritative type. Finally, an effective teacher is one who, besides having the positive qualities of good leadership, helping/friendly, understanding, has a good sense of humour and a passion to make a difference.

The aim of the study was to investigate how teachers of English in secondary schools experience the challenge of adapting their instruction to meet their students’ differences and needs as learners. Its ultimate purpose was to provide useful information for the development of English teaching and learning practices. As a means to achieve this, six active secondary school teachers of English, working at different schools located in Central Sweden, were interviewed. The method used to collect data was semi-structured interviews, rendering the study qualitative in nature. The concrete research questions posed were the following: What attitudes do the English teachers have towards ability grouping? How do the English teachers experience the challenge of instructing students with different needs as learners? The results indicated that there were rather divergent attitudes among the teachers towards ability grouping. Although, most participants could see that ability grouping would be advantageous in the sense that it would facilitate the teaching situation. A one-size-fits-all type of instruction seemed to be employed by most teachers in the study, where “tailoring” was used to adapt instruction. The study concluded that there were some teachers who seemed to face these challenges more effectively than others, which was also visible in the way they perceived their success in doing so.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2002-12-18Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:37:55Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 santos_mebm_me_assis.pdf: 1412478 bytes, checksum: 9f08f117b8615453e567cf4f5f5eaf90 (MD5) / Apoiados em nossas experiências com aulas de inglês em escolas públicas e particulares de ensino fundamental e ensino médio, passamos a questionar os resultados dos métodos tradicionais de ensino de língua estrangeira e a buscar uma nova didática que pudesse proporcionar uma melhor aprendizagem de inglês para crianças. Para compreender melhor a ineficácia desses métodos, fizemos um levantamento histórico e uma análise da concepção de sujeito neles implícitas. A partir da crítica à concepção de sujeito predominante, elaboramos uma proposta didática para o ensino de inglês que tem como base o construtivismo de Jean Piaget. No construtivismo encontramos uma concepção de sujeito ativo, que pressupõe um processo de equilibração/desequilibração, fundamental para a construção do conhecimento. Para desenvolver nossa proposta, realizamos uma trabalho de campo em 8 salas de aula de 1a a 4a série, de duas escolas de ensino fundamental, localizadas nas cidades de Assis (SP) e Piraju (SP). Concluímos que o construtivismo favorece a aprendizagem do ensino de inglês. / Supported in our experiences with English classes at public and private schools, we started to question the results of the traditional methods of English teaching and we started searching a new didactics which could adapt a better English learning to children. To understand better the inefficacy of those methods, we made a historical research and we analyzed the subject concepts which were inside of them. From this analyze we produced a new didactics to English teaching that is based on Jean Piaget's construtivism. In construtivism, we could find an active subject concept, which involves a process of equilibrium/non equilibrium essential to the construction of the knowledge. To develop our proposal, we made a research at two schools one in Assis (SP) and the other in Piraju (SP) with 8 (eight) class rooms. We concluded that the construtivism gives support to English teaching apprenticeship.

The teaching book is a very important device in schools and its potential impact can be considerable. This essay analyses how gender is established in one of the most common teaching books in upper secondary school, Blueprint A. The study aims to find out if the teaching book is stereotypical concerning the issue of gender equality. The analysis is made with Halliday’s Functional Grammar Theory as theoretical approach and is compared to the guidelines of the Curriculum and the Educational Act. To fulfil the aim of this essay, three texts are analysed from a gender perspective. If the verbs are dynamic/stative, and if the subjects function as agents or not are the factors used to establish if there is a difference between how females and males are represented in the texts. The hypothesis is based on a previous study on the same teaching book but regarding another edition and course (Odén 2005). It is hypothesised that there are differences in how men and women are presented in the texts and that women are described as more stative while men are described in more dynamic terms. The conclusion of this essay is that females are established as more stative than males and therefore it can be argued that the teaching book does not satisfy the goals of the Curriculum or the Educational Act.

Esta tese foi desenvolvida no campo da Formação Continuada do professor, mais especificamente do professor de Inglês, da rede pública de ensino. A hipótese levantada é a de que, em contextos de Formação Continuada, os professores são levados a expandir seus conhecimentos teórico-práticos. Ao mesmo tempo, focalizamos o surgimento de um comportamento mais voltado à reflexividade de sua prática, mostrado por meio das mudanças ocorridas em seus escritos anotações efetuadas em diários e observações em sala de aula. Vinte e dois professores-sujeitos da pesquisa escreveram relatos, e quatro professores, inclusive a professora do curso, foram entrevistados e tiveram seus depoimentos gravados em áudio. Os resultados apurados, após um ano de comparecimento ao curso, e a análise dos dados revelaram momentos de observação e momentos dos registros nos diários. No primeiro momento, referente às observações, pudemos notar alguns estágios: (1) silêncio profundo; (2) olhar sobre si mesmo; e (3) busca de autonomia: um olhar sobre sua prática. No momento dos registros em diários, pudemos categorizar: (1) muro das lamentações; (2) luz no fim do túnel; e (3) sinais de reflexividade: ação e controle. / Our research comprises the field of English Teaching Continuing Education and we start from the assumption that in Continuing Education courses the teachers are given a chance to enlarge their theoretical and practical knowledge of English teaching while they are exposed to the course. We hypothesize that there will be some changes in their personal and professional life as they develop a reflective and critical teaching. To analyse these changes we chose to conduct a case study with State English teachers taking a methodology English course at a binational center located in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The group selected was composed of 22 teachers who have been teaching English for at least 5 years, in state schools in Sao Paulo. The subject-teachers were asked to write their diaries while they attended the course in which they would register their interaction with their students in English classes. Also, 4 teachers were interviewed and their responses were recorded. The observation of the classes in the Methodology course took a year during which time the researcher took notes and took pictures of their group work. The results were categorized in two different moments. The first was the observation moment in which the researcher observed some stages such as: (1) profound silence; (2) egocentric talk; and (3) in search of autonomy: a look on their practice. The second was the moment of the diary analysis in which the researcher was able to get to the following categories: (1) mourning wall; (2) light at the end of the tunnel; and (3) signs of reflexivity: action and control.

O propósito deste estudo foi investigar as reações dos alunos de duas salas de inglês do Ensino Médio, ambas de escola pública, frente a uma situação de ensino e aprendizagem da língua por meio de um desenho de curso baseado em um gênero textual, e compreender essas reações à luz de uma abordagem sociointeracional de aprendizagem de LE, dentro da perspectiva teórica de Bakhtin, Vygotsky e seus seguidores. Além disso, examinamos o desenvolvimento do processo de construção do conhecimento lingüístico em inglês desses alunos. Para entendermos esse processo, exploramos a afetividade e valoração como elementos indissociáveis do processo cognitivo. As orientações dos PCN (Introdução e LE) foram associadas a este estudo por aceitar suas metas de implementação para a educação brasileira. A seqüência didática elaborada nesta pesquisa baseou-se na proposta de Ramos sobre ensino de inglês por meio de gêneros textuais e no papel facilitador da LM no processo inicial de construção do conhecimento discente da LE defendido por Castro. Adotamos a pesquisa de base interpretativista e contemplamos a pesquisa-ação como instrumento investigativo deste trabalho. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionários respondidos pelos alunos e por registros da professora pesquisadora, e a análise foi feita a partir da categorização desses dados. O trabalho contribui com algumas reflexões para otimizar o ensino de inglês na rede pública, por meio da conscientização de como ocorre o processo de construção do conhecimento discente na língua inglesa e das formas de intervenção docente para que o nosso aluno alcance o seu direito de aprender. / This study aimed to investigate the reactions of the students of two High School English classes, both of Public School, regarding to a situation of teaching and learning on this language by means of a course design based on a textual genre, and to understand these reactions under a sociointeracional learning approach of a foreign language, inside a theoretical perspective of Bakhtin, Vygotsky and his followers. Besides, we have examined the development of the process of linguistic knowledge construction in English of these students. In order to make this process clearer, we have explored the affectivity and valuation aspects as unsepareted elements of the cognitive process. The PCNs orientation (Introduction and Foreign Language) has been associated with this study considering its goals of implementation for the Brazilian education. The didactic sequence elaborated for this research was based on Ramoss proposal with regard to English learning through textual genres and on the facilitator function of the mother language during the initial process of students knowledge construction regarding to a foreign language as defended by Castro. We have adopted the interpretativist base research and we have contemplated the action-research as an investigative instrument for this study. The data were collected by means of questionnaires answered by the students as well as registers collected by the researcher teacher, and the analyses were made from the data categorization. This study contributes with some reflexive analyses to optimize the English teaching and learning at Public School, by means of the awareness on how the process of English knowledge construction of the student happens and the ways that the teachers intervention may occur so that our student can reach his or her right to learn.

Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka hur engelskundervisning kan bedrivas i år 4, 5 och 6. Vi är intresserade av att se hur olika lärare i olika skolor arbetar och vilka undervisningsmetoder de använder sig av samt hur förutsättningarna i elevgruppen inverkar på valet av metod. Vi vill också undersöka hur valet av undervisningsmetod påverkar elevernas intresse och motivation i ämnet. Frågeställningarna är följande: • Vilka metoder använder engelsklärare i sin undervisning och hur kan detta se ut i praktiken? • Hur tar engelsklärarna hänsyn till elevgruppen och varje elevs individuella behov när det gäller val av undervisningsmetod? • Vilken påverkan har valet av undervisningsmetod på eleverna vad gäller deras intresse och motivation i engelskämnet? Skiljer sig lärarnas uppfattningar om elevernas inställning från elevernas egna? För att kunna genomföra studien har vi valt att intervjua fem engelsklärare i år 4-6 i en och samma kommun i Sverige. För att få reda på elevernas motivation och intresse i ämnet har vi gjort en enkätundersökning i de klasser där intervjurespondenterna undervisar. Resultatet visar att lärarna är ganska lika då det gäller val av undervisningsmetod. Samtliga lärare är kommunikativt inriktade men är inte särskilt insatta i olika undervisningsmetoder utan grundar sig istället på styrdokumentens syn. Vi kan dock se att de har influenser av metoden Communicative Language Teaching i sin undervisning. Eftersom lärarna inte medvetet använder sig av någon specifik metod blev vår andra frågeställning svår att besvara och vi fick istället inrikta oss på hur de gör för att individualisera undervisningen. Lärarna och eleverna har inte alltid samma uppfattning om elevernas motivation. Vi upptäckte att ett bra klassrumsklimat, höga men rimliga krav samt användandet av flera material än läromedlet har en positiv inverkan på motivationen. / The aim with this study is to see how English education can be practiced in the Swedish grades 4, 5 and 6. We are interested in seeing how different teachers in different schools work and what teaching methods they use. At the same time we want to see how the pupils’ needs and interests affect the choice of teaching method. We also want to study how the choice of method influences the pupils’ motivation in the English subject. Our question formulations are: • What methods do English teachers use in their teaching and how can they be practiced? • How do English teachers take every pupil’s individual needs in consideration when it comes to the choice of teaching method? • What effect does the choice of teaching method have on the pupils when it comes to their interest and motivation in the English subject? Do the teachers’ opinions about the pupils’ attitudes differ from the pupils’? To implement this study we have chosen to interview five English teachers in the Swedish grades 4-6 in the same commune in Sweden. To find out about the pupils’ motivation and interest in the subject we have done a questionnaire study in the classes where the respondents in the interview are teaching. The result shows that the teachers are similar when it comes to the choice of teaching method. All teachers have a communicative approach but are not particularly conversant in different methods. Instead they base their thoughts on the view of the curriculum and the syllabus. However, we can see that they in their teaching, have influences from the method Communicative Language Teaching. Due to the fact that the teachers do not use a specific method, our second question formulation was difficult to answer and instead we had to focus on how they implement individualization. The teachers and the pupils do not always have they same opinion about the motivation of the pupils. We discovered that a good classroom climate, high but reasonable demands and the use of more materials than the teaching aid have positive affects on the motivation.

This essay deals with the current state of English teaching in Sweden with regards to an international perspective. The first, theoretical, part discusses ways in which a departure from the traditional way of teaching English as a Foreign Language towards more recent theories emphasising communication might be beneficial. A brief overview of these different theories with regards to Swedish conditions is given, followed by a short rundown of the history of the Swedish curriculum. The second part presents deductions on current attitudes towards the study of English in Swedish schools based on a survey conducted among students and teachers at an upper-secondary school. It will be shown that despite changes in the national curriculum over the years, much of the English teaching is still treading the same path as the last decades, due to longstanding sentiments with students and teachers alike. There are also indications to show that traditional teaching has not kept up with the emergence of virtual communities, where students regularly engage in written communication with people from all corners of the world.

The aim of this thesis is to examine what strategies teachers use when they teach listeningcomprehension in order to develop student’s listening skills, and especially if and how they usescaffolding in their teaching. To examine this, seven upper secondary school teachers inSweden were interviewed about their listening comprehension teaching. The qualitative datawere analyzed using a cross case analysis with a combination of framework and IPA analysis.The data was labeled and divided into two themes: general strategies and scaffolding. In thethemes the data was further sorted and categorized into language immersion, raising selfconfidence,division into smaller groups, notetaking, pre-information and connection to theme,collaborative discourses, teacher peer and modeling and finally increasing level of difficulty.All seven teachers discussed several different strategies they use. They often combine strategiesto create the best learning environment for the students. Six out of these seven teachers gaveexamples of scaffolding strategies they use, such as modeling, working with themes and preinformationto support their students. However, as mentioned previously, they were oftencombined with other strategies such as collaborative discourse and smaller groups.

The purpose of this degree study it to fill the research gap of outdoor education in Gaza Strip-Palestine. It explored the perspective of Elementary English language teachers on what they understand outdoor education and explained the lack of research on outdoor education in this region. The study adapted a qualitative research method by conducting semi-structed interviews with 11 teachers from both private and UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) schools in the Gaza-Strip. The data was analyzed by employing inductive content analysis. The result has provided that the teachers have heard of outdoor education, but yet they lack awareness regarding the actual term and what it means. Adding to this, they responded positively on considering implementing outdoor English language lesson. However, they illustrated limitation that they would face to conduct them. The research evoked that these limitation are the same reasons which why outdoor education and learning is not common in the Gaza-Strip. Thus, they stand behind the main causes of the lake of research in this field in that certain region.