O presente trabalho nasceu da investigação sobre um projeto de ensino de estratégias desenvolvido por uma escola de idiomas, que oferece cursos de Inglês para fins específicos, em empresas, para alunos cujos cargos envolvem áreas operacionais nos setores do turismo. Entendia-se que o projeto auxiliaria os alunos no desenvolvimento do exercício de aprender a aprender (a metacognição) e da auto-regulação. A análise dos dados partiu dos questionários respondidos por 60 alunos antes e depois da execução do projeto. Buscavam-se, entre os dados analisados, indicadores da repercussão do projeto com os alunos, bem como informações mais abrangentes que auxiliassem na compreensão desse aluno adulto e de suas características como aprendiz. Diante das respostas obtidas nos questionários, puderam ser observados dados quantitativos como o crescimento de índices na freqüência de utilização das estratégias, e a evolução dos alunos indicada em sua auto-avaliação, apontando a eficácia dos resultados alcançados pelo projeto. No entanto, foi na análise das perguntas abertas que se encontraram as informações mais relevantes sobre esse adulto aprendiz, informações essas que demonstravam as diferentes representações que esses sujeitos fazem do que é saber e aprender Inglês. Ao se deparar com essas informações escolheu-se utilizar como modelo teórico-metodológico para a análise a Teoria dos Modelos Organizadores do Pensamento, assumindo a complexidade desse sujeito aprendiz. Os modelos aplicados pelos sujeitos pesquisados demonstram que sua motivação para estudar Inglês incorpora representações acerca do que é saber Inglês e de como esse processo se dá, fazendo surgir em seus depoimentos suas crenças e valores acerca desses temas. Essas representações estão ligadas prioritariamente ao papel da escola nesse processo ou à repercussão do aprendizado na atuação profissional. O desempenho lingüístico permeia esses dois campos, com concepções diferentes em cada um deles. A presente pesquisa, que se constitui como um estudo de caso, tem a expectativa de, por meio da investigação dessas representações, poder contribuir para o entendimento desse adulto aprendiz, suas características e as motivações que o levam a querer aprender Inglês. / This research was originally planned to investigate about a learning strategy training project developed by a language institute that offers in company ESP courses to adults in operational areas of the tourism industry. The project aimed at helping students develop metacognition and self-regulation. The data gathered consisted of questionnaires answered by 60 students before and after the project conduction. Indications about the repercussion of the project among the students and information that could help understand these students and their characteristics as learners were sought in the data analysis. Through quantitative data analysis, the researcher found an increase in the use of strategies, as well as a significant change in students self-evaluations, which indicated that the project had accomplished some positive results. Nevertheless, the open-ended questions brought even more relevant information about these learners, for they showed the different representations students have of what it is to learn and to know English. Due to the complexity of the subject-learner, the research uses the Theory of the Organizing Models of the Thought as a theoretical-methodological approach. The models found in the analysis indicate that learners motivation to study English carry the influence of their representations of what it is to learn English and how the learning process happens. The study analyzed their beliefs and values as well, hoping to contribute for a better understanding of these learners, their characteristics and their motivation to learn English. These representations are mainly linked to the schools role in the learning process or the repercussion of knowing a second language for professional performance. The concept of linguistic ability is present in both groups in different ways. The research hopes to contribute to the understanding of this adult learner, his/her characteristics and the motivational aspects that drive him/her to learn English.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:06:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MKM.pdf: 917584 bytes, checksum: cea833f5d98c17ebc0535d899cf9f518 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-07-07 / This present work has as objective to analyze the interpretation of the syntactic and semantic meaning performed by third graders in the nominal groups (NGs) with attributive adjectives in the English language in a text of the final exam in the ESP (English for Specific Purposes) discipline. The corpus is made up of 30 exams of two classes from a third grade institution of the biomedical area, corresponding to the basic and advanced levels of the second term in 2006. The text has 24 NGs of different lexical content, a total of 27 NGs in the whole text summing up to 810 analyzed occurrences. The analysis is carried out at the morphologic, syntactic and semantic levels using as theoretical background the traditional and functional grammars (QUIRK et al, 1985; CELSE-MURCIA et al, 1998; TUCKER, 1998), in their semantic aspects, the Semantics (FRAWLEY, 1992) and the Cognitive Linguistics (TAYLOR, 2002). We concluded that the main difficulties were due to the lack of vocabulary and to the use of mother tongue strategies instead of using the top-down strategies for reading a text in English to compensate this gap. We also observed that even when the vocabulary was known, there were difficulties in establishing the semantic and syntactic relations between modifier and noun head. We suggested improvements for the teaching of reading English texts at the third grade grounded in the obtained results such as a more comprehensive study of the several different morphologic and syntactic structures of the NGs with premodifiers and their semantic consequences, an approach of the morphologic, syntactic and semantic aspects of the NGs and the use of both top-down and bottom-up strategies when reading a NG in the English language / Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a interpreta??o do significado sint?tico e sem?ntico realizada por alunos universit?rios de Ingl?s Instrumental nos sintagmas nominais (SNs) com adjetivos atributivos na l?ngua inglesa em um texto da prova de final de semestre. O corpus ? constitu?do por 30 provas de duas turmas de uma institui??o de n?vel superior, da ?rea biom?dica, do segundo semestre de 2006, do n?vel b?sico e avan?ado. O texto da prova ? composto por 24 SNs de conte?do lexical diferente, num total de 27 SNs presentes no texto, totalizando 810 ocorr?ncias analisadas. Usamos como pressupostos te?ricos as gram?ticas tradicional (QUIRK et al, 1985) e funcionalista (CELSE-MURCIA et al, 1998; TUCKER, 1998), em seus aspectos sem?nticos, a Sem?ntica (FRAWLEY, 1992) e a Ling??stica Cognitiva (TAYLOR, 2003). Conclu?mos que as maiores dificuldades deveram-se ? falta de vocabul?rio, ao uso inadequado de estrat?gias da L?ngua Materna no lugar de se usar as estrat?gias descendentes de leitura para suprir esta falta. Observamos tamb?m que, mesmo quando se conhecia o vocabul?rio do SN, muitas vezes houve dificuldades em se perceber a rela??o sem?ntica e/ou sint?tica entre os modificadores e o n?cleo do SN acarretando inadequa??es de interpreta??o. Sugerimos melhorias para o ensino da leitura de textos em l?ngua inglesa nas universidades com base nos resultados obtidos, como um estudo mais detalhado das v?rias estruturas morfossint?ticas dos SNs com modificadores antepostos e suas conseq??ncias sem?nticas; uma abordagem conjunta dos aspectos morfol?gico, sint?tico e sem?ntico dos SNs com adjetivos atributivos na l?ngua inglesa e o uso das estrat?gias descendentes juntamente com as ascendentes ao se ler um SN na l?ngua inglesa

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:06:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MariaERS_DISSERT.pdf: 1409095 bytes, checksum: 47d94589cef732af65add0f419e0a74b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-06 / This study presents the results of a survey conducted in the area of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in order to identify (1) the learning needs of students in a course in Tourism, their desires and lacks, at a federal university, with respect to use of English; (2) the needs of the present situation of teachers and the coordinator of that course as to the language; (3) the needs of the target situation of professionals (graduates) and companies with respect to this language. This research is a case study (STAKE, 1998; YIN, 2009) and was used for data collection, instruments such as questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and document on the Tourism Course. To this end, it was adopted the theoretical basis for the constructs of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Ingl?s para Fins Espec?ficos (IFE) in Brazil, also known as Ingl?s Instrumental, whose foundation is based on the work by Hutchinson and Waters (1987), Robinson (1991), Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998), Celani, Deyes, Holmes, Scott (2006), among others, since this work is devoted to a specific area, Tourism. Results show that students opined the ability to prioritize reading and speaking into the classroom. Professionals reported that the latter is an indispensable tool for entering the labor market, yet they feel unprepared and need to attend English language courses in private language schools. The testimony of company executives also point to this deficiency. Finally, the present situation of teachers reveals that, while advocating the use of English in the classroom, this is not because students prefer their mother tongue. There is also an evident lack of needs analysis. Eventually, the coordinator said that there is some uncertainty as to the methodology, content and language skills worked, and the lack of interaction among teachers of English. It was concluded, therefore, it is important to conduct a needs analysis so that one can redesign a course that meets the different contextual needs: students, teachers, coordination, represented by the institutional needs, and the labor market / Este estudo apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa desenvolvida na ?rea de Ingl?s para Fins Espec?ficos (IFE) com o objetivo de identificar (1) as necessidades de aprendizagem dos alunos de um curso de Turismo, seus desejos e car?ncias, numa universidade federal, quanto ao uso do ingl?s; (2) as necessidades da situa??o atual dos professores e do coordenador do referido curso quanto ao idioma; (3) as necessidades da situa??o-alvo dos profissionais (egressos) e empresas com rela??o a essa l?ngua. Esta pesquisa ? um estudo de caso (STAKE, 1998; YIN, 2009) e foram utilizados, para levantamento dos dados, como instrumentos de coleta: question?rios, entrevistas semiestruturadas, al?m de documento sobre o curso de Turismo. Para tanto, foram adotados como aporte te?rico os construtos do English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Ingl?s para Fins Espec?ficos (IFE) tamb?m conhecido no Brasil como Ingl?s Instrumental, cuja fundamenta??o baseia-se nos trabalhos de Hutchinson e Waters (1987), Robinson (1991), Dudley-Evans e St. John (1998), Celani, Deyes, Holmes, Scott (2006), dentre outros, visto que este trabalho ? voltado para uma ?rea espec?fica, o turismo. Os resultados demonstram que os alunos opinaram pela habilidade em leitura e priorizaram a oralidade em sala de aula. Os egressos relataram que esta ?ltima ? uma ferramenta indispens?vel para sua entrada no mercado de trabalho; mesmo assim, sentem-se despreparados, necessitando frequentar escolas de l?ngua. O depoimento dos dirigentes de empresas tamb?m aponta para essa defici?ncia. Por ?ltimo, a situa??o atual dos professores denota que, embora defendam o uso da l?ngua inglesa em sala de aula, isso n?o acontece, porque os alunos preferem a l?ngua materna. Tamb?m ficou evidenciada a inexist?ncia de an?lise de necessidades. Por fim, a coordenadora informou que h? certa indefini??o quanto ? metodologia, aos conte?dos e ?s habilidades lingu?sticas trabalhadas, al?m da falta de intera??o entre os professores de ingl?s. Conclui-se, portanto, que ? relevante realizar uma an?lise de necessidades para que se possa redesenhar um curso que atenda ?s diferentes necessidades contextuais: de alunos, professores, coordena??o, representada pelas necessidades institucionais, profissionais e o mercado de trabalho

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:07:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MariaKM_TESE.pdf: 3038556 bytes, checksum: 959c362d0d49e946b855e4fe4d1d94e9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-04 / This research has as its theoretical and methodological assumptions (1) the Narrative Inquiry (CLANDININ; CONNELLY, 2011), (2) the Systemic Functional Grammar (HALLIDAY, 1985, 1994; THOMPSON, 2002; EGGINS, 1994; HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN, 2004) and (3) the English for Specific Purposes Approach (ESP - HUTCHINSON; WATERS, 1987; CELANI, 2005; RAMOS, 2005), and its overall objective is to survey the meanings construed by the participants who are ESP practitioners and have not received a specific education to teach this approach at their undergraduation. The field texts and therefore the analises were divided into two distinct groups: the first with data generated from a questionnaire applied to nine professors from a federal university in the northeast of Brazil, which contains open and closed questions about their training and their experiences in teaching ESP; the second group, focusing this time on the experiences of three professors from the first group who were still teaching ESP, with data generated from interviews with these participants in addition to the data generated from their autobiographies and from the researcher?s as well. The computational tool WordSmith Tools 6.0 (SCOTT, 2012) was used to select, organize, and quantify data to be analyzed in the first group of texts, identifying the types of Processes and Participants through the Transitivity System (HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN, 2004). The Processes which were more used by the professors in the questionnaire were the Material, followed by the Relational and then the Mental ones, indicating that most professors reported their actions related to the teaching of ESP, rated or evaluated the approach, their training to teach it and their experiences, hence, rarely showing their thoughts and emotions about teaching ESP. Most of the nine professors say they carry out needs analysis, but not all do it according to the authors cited by them or the ones that are considered a reference in this area, such as the ones used in this research as reference. Similarly, their definitions and conceptions of ESP, in most cases, differed from these authors. All the professors claim not having had specific education to teach ESP at the undergraduation. When examining the stories of the four teachers, in the second group of the field texts, based on meaning composition according to Ely, Vinz, Downing and Anzul (2001), it was revealed that the kind of knowledge they report using when they teach ESP is related to their Personal Practical Knowledge and their Professional Knowledge (ELBAZ, 1983; CLANDININ, 1988). In their autobiographies, metaphors were also identified and they represent their concepts of teaching and being a teacher. Through this research, we hope to contribute to the understanding of what teaching ESP might mean for professors in the researched context and also to the continuing education of ESP practitioners, as well as to a review of the curricula in the English language undergraduate courses and of the role of ESP in the training of these professionals / A presente pesquisa tem como pressupostos te?rico-metodol?gicos (1) a Pesquisa Narrativa (PN CLANDININ; CONNELLY, 2011), (2) a Gram?tica Sist?mico-Funcional (GSF HALLIDAY, 1985, 1994; THOMPSON, 2002; EGGINS, 1994; HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN, 2004) e (3) a abordagem de ensino de Ingl?s para Fins Espec?ficos (IFE HUTCHINSON; WATERS, 1987; CELANI, 2005; RAMOS, 2005), com o objetivo geral de fazer um levantamento dos sentidos constru?dos pelos professores participantes sobre o IFE, a forma??o espec?fica que receberam para ministr?-lo e a sua experi?ncia em ensin?-lo no n?vel superior. Os textos de campo e, por conseguinte, as an?lises, foram organizados em dois grupos distintos: o primeiro com dados gerados a partir de um question?rio aplicado a nove professores de uma institui??o p?blica no nordeste brasileiro, contendo perguntas abertas e fechadas a respeito de sua forma??o e de suas experi?ncias em ministrar a disciplina de Ingl?s Instrumental e o segundo grupo, a partir do enfoque nas experi?ncias de tr?s professoras do primeiro grupo que continuavam ensinando IFE, com dados gerados por entrevistas com essas participantes e por suas autobiografias, al?m dos dados gerados pela autobiografia da pr?pria pesquisadora, tamb?m participante da pesquisa. Foi usada a ferramenta computacional WordSmith Tools 6.0 (SCOTT, 2012) para selecionar, organizar e quantificar os dados a serem analisados no primeiro grupo de textos, identificando-se os tipos de Processos e os Participantes, pelo Sistema de Transitividade (HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN, 2004), sendo que os Processos mais usados pelos professores no question?rio foram os Materiais, seguidos dos Relacionais e em terceiro lugar os Mentais, indicando que a maioria relatou mais suas a??es com rela??o ao ensino de IFE, classificou ou definiu a abordagem, sua forma??o e suas experi?ncias do que demonstrou seus pensamentos e emo??es a respeito de ensinar IFE. A maioria dos nove professores afirma fazer a an?lise de necessidades, mas nem todos a fazem de acordo com o que estabelecem os autores por eles citados ou outros autores considerados refer?ncia nessa ?rea, tais como os que usamos nesta pesquisa. Do mesmo modo, suas defini??es e concep??es sobre IFE, na maioria das vezes, diferem das desses autores. Todos os professores participantes alegam n?o ter tido forma??o espec?fica para ensinar IFE na licenciatura. Ao analisar os relatos das quatro professoras do segundo grupo de textos de campo, com base na composi??o de sentidos segundo Ely, Vinz, Downing e Anzul (2001), percebeu-se que o tipo de conhecimento que estas referem usar para ministrar IFE est? relacionado ao Conhecimento Pr?tico Pessoal e ao Conhecimento Profissional (ELBAZ, 1983; CLANDININ, 1988). Em seus relatos, foram identificadas tamb?m imagens que representam suas concep??es a respeito de ensinar e ser professora. Esperamos, atrav?s desta pesquisa, contribuir tanto para a compreens?o do que pode significar ensinar IFE para os professores do contexto pesquisado, como para a forma??o continuada de professores de IFE, assim como para uma revis?o nos curr?culos de Letras e do papel do IFE na forma??o do professor de l?ngua inglesa

The present study aims at investigating some aspects involved in teaching English reading through authentic texts, in a public high school, based on my experience as a teacher in such context. The paper, of ethnographic basis, will also consider theoretical postulates in relation to the authenticity of English texts, as well as in relation to the reading theories and to the English for Specific Purposes approach. The authenticity issue in the language classroom is a complex theme, even more so if we discuss the concept of "authentic". This paper, a selfanalysis, aims at carefully studying this concept and the use of such material in reading development in language learning. The research instruments include recordings of classes in video tape, the teacher-researcher s field notes, learners notes, interviews with learners and questionnaires. Data analysis, as it was triangulated, suggests that, according to students as well as teacher-researcher s reactions, the use of authentic texts in the English reading class, considering some aspects of a need for choosing the theme and negotiating meanings at the time of the reading, may contribute to a more meaningful and realistic learning, in this more specific context. Therefore, considering that the teaching and learning process is also based on elements other than just classroom material itself, there are other essential factors to this process, such as critical and reflexive teacher education and his or her conceptions of reading, learners contributions, as well as the content of the proposed activities. / Esta pesquisa, de base etnográfica, visa a investigar alguns aspectos que envolvem o ensino de leitura em língua inglesa por meio de textos autênticos, na rede pública, partindo de minha experiência como docente neste contexto. Embasando o trabalho serão considerados postulados teóricos referentes à questão da autenticidade de textos em língua inglesa, bem como concepções teóricas de leitura e aspectos relacionados à abordagem instrumental no ensino de línguas. A autenticidade na sala de aula de línguas é um tema complexo, sobre tudo no que diz respeito à própria conceituação do termo "autêntico". Esta pesquisa, de autoanálise, objetiva, portanto, problematizar o conceito e analisar a utilização desse tipo de material no desenvolvimento da leitura no campo da aprendizagem de línguas. Os instrumentos de pesquisa do presente estudo compreendem gravações de aulas em vídeo, notas de campo da professora-pesquisadora, depoimentos dos aprendizes-participantes, questionários e entrevistas. A análise dos dados, triangulados, sugere, por meio das reações manifestadas pelos alunos e pela professora-pesquisadora, que a exploração de textos autênticos em aulas de leitura em língua inglesa, observados alguns aspectos como a análise de necessidades na escolha do tema e também a negociação de significados no momento da leitura, pode contribuir para um ensino mais significativo e coerente com a realidade dos aprendizes, nesse contexto específico. Assim, considerando que o processo de ensino e aprendizagem constitui-se de elementos outros que não apenas o material didático em si, fatores cruciais nesse processo são pressupostos, como a formação crítica e reflexiva do professor e suas concepções de leitura, as contribuições dos aprendizes, bem como o teor das atividades propostas. / Mestre em Lingüística

Cette étude en anglais de spécialité s’inscrit dans le domaine de la terminologie du discours des annonces pour l’emploi en milieu scientifique, domaine encore inexploré d’un point de vue linguistique. Le discours des annonces pour l’emploi est la somme de plusieurs discours, notamment discours des ressources humaines, discours publicitaire, discours qu’on peut appeler « touristique » et discours scientifique. Puisque le but primordial de l’annonce est de faire la publicité de l’entreprise ou du laboratoire de recherche, le discours scientifique y est réduit au minimum car il s’avère que ce discours ne peut se plier à la finalité et aux contraintes des annonceurs. Après une analyse des vocables des ressources humaines, un travail a été entrepris sur les domaines scientifiques concernés et une nouvelle terminologie a été proposée, articulée notamment autour de hyperdomaines, domaines et sous-domaines scientifiques. L’analyse des vocables scientifiques suggère une distinction nécessaire entre les vocables scientifiques et les termes spécialisés. Enfin, le travail se clôt par un examen des moyens linguistiques et graphiques mis en œuvre dans le discours publicitaire. / This dissertation focuses on English for Specific Purposes and more particularly on the terminology of scientific job advertisements discourse, an area still in pristine condition from a linguistic point of view. Job advertisements discourse is the sum of various discourses, i.e. human resources, advertising as well as a discourse which may be termed as "tourist" discourse and scientific discourse. Since the main purpose of advertisements is to advertise the company or the research laboratory, science discourse is minimized because it appears that this particular discourse fails to comply with the announcers’ ultimate aim. Once an analysis of human resources terms was done, a study was undertaken on scientific fields and a new terminology has been suggested, namely that of scientific hyperfields, fields and sub-fields. The analysis of scientific terms calls for a necessary distinction that has to be made between scientific terms and specialized terms. At last, the dissertation undertakes an analysis of linguistic and graphic means used in the advertising discourse.

Cette thèse essaie d’établir un lien entre les supports utilisés dans l’enseignement/apprentissage de l’anglais de spécialité et les chances d’une appropriation effective par les apprenants. Basée sur le concept d’apprenabilité/enseignabilité de Pienemann et celui de zone proximale de développement(ZPD) de Vygotsky entre autres, cette recherche-action a permis de découvrir que les documents authentiques sont généralement d’un accès très difficile pour les apprenants, et que les documents fabriqués sont généralement plus accessibles mais requièrent des tâches à consignes claires et sans ambiguïté pour constituer de l’input compréhensible et permettre qu’il y ait réellement apprentissage. Toutefois, les apprenants censés être des experts dans le domaine de spécialité ne le sont souvent pas, et dans un tel environnement, où parfois ni l’enseignant, ni les apprenants, ne sont experts dans le domaine de spécialité, et où les résultats attendus sont généralement au-delà de la ZPD des apprenants, même avec des documents fabriqués accompagnés de tâches appropriées, l’enseignement de l’anglais de spécialité ne peut se faire avec beaucoup de succès. Dans ces conditions, faire travailler les apprenants, en autonomie ne suffit pas pour garantir la réussite de l’apprentissage. D’où la nécessité, non seulement de revoir le contenu des enseignements et de les faire cadrer véritablement avec les connaissances des apprenants dans la (les) matières(s) de spécialité, mais aussi de permettre aux enseignants de s’approprier le concept de la nécessaire autonomisation des apprenants, pour en faire un concept partagé de tous, et pour que les apprenants se mettent effectivement à apprendre. / The aim of this thesis is to show the relationship between the documents that are used in the teaching/learning of English for specific purposes and the possibility of learners to actually achieve learning. Based on the concepts of learnability/teachability of Pienemann and of Zone of Proximal Development of Vygotsky among others, this action research has led to the finding that learners find it much more difficult to understand authentic texts than pedagogic ones but the latter require tasks with very clear instructions to become understandable input. However, in an environment where learners who are supposed to be experts in their specific subjects are not, and where sometimes neither the teachers nor the learners are experts in the specific subjects, and expected results are often beyond the ZPD of students, even with non authentic texts and relevant tasks with clear instructions, one cannot be certain to teach successfully. In such contexts, independent learning is not enough to guarantee success. It is therefore necessary to revise and adapt learning contents to the knowledge of learners in their specific subjects, and also to make sure the conceptof independent learning is adopted by all teachers so as to actually enable students to begin learning.

<p>   </p> <p>Motivated by the lack of research that has explored the rhetorical structure of research articles in the humanities, this dissertation analyzes professional philosophical discourse using move-analysis as an approach. A corpus of 60 research articles was compiled from some of the leading philosophy journals. The articles were selected from three sub-disciplinary areas: (a) metaphysics and epistemology, (b) the history of philosophy, and (c) ethics. To analyze the articles, a move analysis codebook was developed, which identified the rhetorical functions (i.e., moves and steps) that different text segments played. The codebook was then applied to the entire research article structure of the 60 research articles. Linguistic features of certain functional units were also identified via corpus analysis techniques. The results of the study show that rhetorical structure of philosophical writing is distinctive compared to other fields and disciplines. On one hand, at the macro level, philosophical writing uses a problem-solution structure rather than the IMRD (intro-methods-results-discussion) structure, common in the social and natural sciences. At the move and step level, philosophical writing heavily relies on evaluation to critically analyze solutions to philosophical problems. Finally, the dissertation found systemic rhetorical functions that permeated the entire research article. Most notably, philosophers heavily qualify and outline their arguments throughout the text. </p> <p>  </p>

No description available.

Over the past years, there has been a consistent call from Government and industry for South African tertiary institutions to deliver more graduates in the fields of science and technology. This, however, is no mean feat for universities, as the pool of prospective candidates delivers very few students with the necessary academic literacy abilities, and very few students who passed mathematics and science at the right levels to succeed in science higher education. This puts tertiary institutions under mounting pressure to accept students who are under-prepared and to support these students appropriately. The plight of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions like the University of South Africa (UNISA) is even more desperate, as they are often left with those students who are either unable to gain entrance into, or to afford the study fees of, residential universities. These students are often in greater need for face-to-face interaction than are their counterparts at residential universities, yet they generally receive very little of this. The intervention examined and critiqued in this study is an attempt at raising the academic literacy levels of first-year students at UNISA in the fields of science and technology by means of a 60-hour face-to-face workshop programme. As its foundation, it uses the principles of collaborative learning and authentic material design. It also treats academic literacy abilities as interdependent and holistic. This study starts with a broad overview of the context. This is followed by a review of the literature. This review focuses on concepts such as collaborative learning, academic literacy, English for academic purposes, English for specific purposes and English for science and technology. Thereafter, a needs analysis is done in which students’ Test for Academic Literacy Levels (TALL) pre-test results, as well as a sample of their assignments, are examined. In addition, the workshops in this intervention programme are analysed individually. To determine the effectiveness of the academic literacy intervention, students’ pre- and post-TALL results are scrutinised, and a feedback questionnaire filled in at the end of the year is analysed. Subsequently, recommendations are made as to how the workshop programme could be improved. Findings show that the academic literacy intervention did improve students’ academic literacy levels significantly, though the improvement is not enough to elevate students from being considered at-risk. However, with fine-tuning the existing programme, the possibility exists that students’ academic literacy levels might be further improved. This calls for a careful examination of the areas in which students’ performance did not improve significantly. Student feedback indicated a positive attitude towards the entire intervention programme, as well as a marked preference for collaborative learning and face-to-face interaction. In the redevelopment of the current workshop programme, such preferences would have to receive attention, so as to integrate students’ wants, together with what they lack and what they need, in subsequent interventions. In conclusion, the limitations of this study are discussed, and recommendations are made for future research, as the current study must be seen as only the beginning of a process of action research that could lead to a sustainable intervention programme in future. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Unit for Academic Literacy / Afrikaans / unrestricted