The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of the essay writing process of first year undergraduates at Chancellor College (University of Malawi) and to a lesser extent those of the lecturers responsible for teaching academic skills. A mixed methods design, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques, was employed in order to obtain richer data for deeper understanding of the students’ writing process. Two hundred students from the humanities and social science faculties responded to a self-completion questionnaire towards the end of semester one. Based on the students’ responses, an open-ended questionnaire was administered to four full time English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instructors. Findings from this study indicate that most students find it very challenging to obtain sufficient and relevant source text information, paraphrase or summarise information, and use an appropriate academic writing style. As solutions to these challenges, the students suggested the need for timely essay writing instruction, availability of resources for essay writing, increased amount of time spent on essay writing instruction, and discipline specific instruction in essay writing. EAP instructors identified lack of teaching and learning materials, large EAP classes, and students’ negative attitude towards the EAP course, as some of the challenges they encounter when teaching the course. The EAP instructors proposed an increase in the number of staff members, making students aware of the significance of the EAP course at an early stage, and the availability of up to date resources, as some of the ways in which the teaching of the course can be improved. Overall, the findings seem to suggest that difficulties that students encounter during the writing process and teaching challenges that EAP instructors face, have great impact on students’ perception of academic writing as well as their approach to writing tasks. The findings also suggest a lack of dialogue between the students and their lecturers. This is evident in students’ unawareness of the nature of the writing demands of their lecturers and disciplines; students’ desire to have timely essay writing instruction; and the lecturers’ concerns about students’ negative attitude towards the EAP course.

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2009. / Title from screen (viewed on September 30, 2009). Department of English, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Ulla M. Connor, Thomas A. Upton, M. Catherine Beck. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-62).

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the last 25 years socially-based SLA research has increasingly focused on contextual factors that constitute the local learning environments of learners of English as a second language in attempting to better comprehend the socially embedded nature of learning outcomes. These scholars have largely postulated language learning not only as the acquisition of linguistic knowledge in the abstract but rather as fundamentally constituted by participation in social praxis as situated within local sociocultural and institutional contexts. The emergence of „the social‟ in SLA research is especially significant to academic contexts in which learners belonging to diverse cultural and literacy traditions typically struggle to identify with target literacy practices of their academic communities. Drawing on a sociocultural approach and the community of practice construct, this thesis takes a qualitative approach. Through the analysis of teacher and student focus group data, this thesis sets out to illustrate learner and teacher articulations surrounding what constitutes learner engagement in an academic English program at an international university in Vietnam. The data collected in this study suggests that the focal learners perceived higher levels of learner engagement in learning contexts in which collaborative, dialogic activity was extensively integrated in the acquisition of target academic literacy practices. While the focal teacher articulations surrounding student engagement also took into account the importance of such collaborative class activity, the teachers did not attribute the same level of importance to it that the focal students did. This study concludes that teachers should extensively use activity frameworks within class that encourage group work in the learning of target academic literacy practices, especially academic reading and writing practices. Even where target practices will ultimately be elaborated and assessed on an individual basis, this study illustrates that collaborative dialogic frameworks seemed to provide students with opportunities to pool linguistic, content, and skills-related resources, thus allowing students to overcome learning difficulties associated with academic literacy practices. Ultimately, such activity frameworks appeared to mediate higher levels of student engagement within class activities, which students linked to more effective and enjoyable learning of academic English. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar

The discourse on English-medium teaching in higher education uses several terms and concepts to describe practices, very often synonymously. This contribution aims to fill the research gap of a conceptualisation of English-medium teaching in higher education. It will identify relevant approaches and their corresponding terminology, as well as clarify which approaches are most suitable for higher education. Given that the past decades have seen a substantial rise in the use of English as a teaching language in European compulsory schooling [Dalton-Puffer, C. 2011. "Content and Language Integrated Learning: From Practice to Principles?" Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 31: 182-183], the paper will also draw parallels between the secondary and the tertiary levels of education. At the same time, it will also be shown why insights drawn from research conducted in secondary education cannot simply be transferred to the tertiary level of education. The main focus of the paper is on the "English-medium Paradigm", a framework created to identify prevalent instructional types in Englishtaught programmes at universities in non-Anglophone countries [Unterberger, B. 2014. "English-medium Degree Programmes in Austrian Tertiary Business Studies: Policies and Programme Design." Dissertation, University of Vienna, 45-52]. The paradigm is based on terminological and conceptual considerations gained from the critical discussion of English for specific purposes, English for academic purposes, Content and language integrated learning and English-medium instruction literature [e.g. Bhatia, V. K. 1993. Analysing Genre: Language use in Professional Settings. London: Longman; Hyland, K. 2006. English for Academic Purposes: An Advanced Resource Book. London: Routledge; Dalton-Puffer, C. 2007. "Academic Language Functions in a CLIL Environment". In Diverse Contexts - Converging Goals: CLIL in Europe, edited by D. Marsh, 201-209. Mehrsprachigkeit in Schule und Unterricht 6. Frankfurt am Main: Lang; Dafouz, E., and U. Smit. 2014. "Towards a Dynamic Conceptual Framework for English-medium Education in Multilingual University Settings". Applied Linguistics. doi:10.1093/applin/amu034]. The paper therefore provides a timely conceptualisation of the varieties of English-medium teaching in higher education which also takes into account pedagogical considerations as well as implications for curriculum design.

A língua inglesa hoje permite acesso a práticas internacionais por ser a língua mais utilizada em interações entre falantes de diferentes línguas maternas, em inúmeros contextos. Essa disseminação do inglês globalmente fez surgir novas formas de se enxergar o status língua, entre elas, a abordagem do inglês como língua franca (ILF). Visto que a maioria das interações em inglês hoje acontecerem entre falantes não nativos, o ILF busca a descentralização do falante nativo e a aceitação das variedades linguísticas. Entre os diversos contextos em que o inglês é difundido, pode-se dizer que a academia é um dos principais. Este trabalho tem como objetivo verificar qual o posicionamento de revistas científicas internacionais da área de Linguística Aplicada acerca das diretrizes para autores, sob a ótica do ILF. Para isso, fizemos um levantamento dos periódicos internacionais de Linguística Aplicada mais bem avaliados em um ranking nacional (Qualis Capes) e internacional (SCImago), reunindo assim um corpus de 36 periódicos. A pesquisa foi dividida em duas etapas. Primeiramente, foram identificadas e analisadas as diretrizes para autores no que diz respeito às normas linguísticas relacionadas ao padrão nativo e aceitação das variedades. Foram encontradas três normas relacionadas a exigências linguísticas: língua de publicação, ortografia e revisão externa. Os resultados demonstram que a língua de publicação mais usada é o inglês, sendo exigência em 44% dos periódicos; que as principais variedades ortográficas aceitas são a americana e britânica; e que 58% das revistas solicitam que os autores tenham seus textos revisados por uma terceira pessoa, sendo que, dessas, aproximadamente a metade dirigem as normas apenas a autores falantes não nativos. A segunda etapa da pesquisa consistiu em comparar as diretrizes encontradas com os 139 textos sobre ILF nelas publicados entre os anos de 2011 e 2015. Foi feita uma análise do conteúdo dos textos, onde buscou-se identificar os posicionamentos dos autores. Os resultados da comparação indicaram que 71% dos textos são a favor da abordagem do ILF, mas que a maioria precisou seguir alguma norma que contradiz o defendido no ILF para ser publicado. Assim, os resultados gerais desta pesquisa demonstram que, apesar de a área de Linguística Aplicada estar orientada para uma abordagem do inglês que visa à diversidade linguística, são encontradas discrepâncias e inconsistências nas práticas das revistas da própria área, responsáveis por veicular essas ideias. / The English language today grants access to international practices, since it is the most used language in interactions between speakers of different languages in several contexts. The global spread of English has created new ways of understanding its status, such as the English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) approach. Since most interactions in English happen between nonnative speakers of English, ELF aims at native speaker decentralization and acceptance of linguistic varieties. Academia is one of the main contexts in which English is widely used. The objective of this study is to assess the stance of Applied Linguistics international journals regarding author guidelines, from the perspective of ELF. To do so, we surveyed the best-ranked international journals in Applied linguistics both at domestic (Qualis Capes) and international (SCImago) rankings, which resulted in a corpus of 36 journals. This study was conducted in two parts. First, author guidelines related to linguistic norms concerning native standards and acceptance of varieties were identified and analyzed. Three guidelines related to linguistic requirements were found: language of publication, spelling, and third-party review. The results showed that the most used language of publication is English, a requirement in 44% of the journals; that American and British spelling varieties are mostly the ones accepted; and that 58% of the journals ask authors to have their manuscripts checked by a third-party reviewer, from which approximately 50% direct these guidelines only to nonnative authors. The second part of the study consisted in comparing the guidelines found with 139 texts about ELF published by the same journals between 2011 and 2015. The content of the texts was analyzed aiming at identifying their authors’ point of views. The results of this comparison indicated that 71% of the texts are in line with the ELF approach, but most of them had to follow some guidelines which contradict those defended by ELF in order to be published. Hence, the general results of this study showed that, although the area of Applied Linguistics is oriented towards an approach that aims at linguistic diversity in English, discrepancies and inconsistencies are found in the practices of the journals of this same area, journals which are responsible for broadcasting these ideas.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2002-08-30Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:34:31Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 souza_vra_me_mar.pdf: 400189 bytes, checksum: 45010e6ba518e2a26b0ee3e83b6bec1e (MD5) / A leitura em inglês para o fim de elaboração de resumos documentários pode ser facilitada mediante a utilização da abordagem do inglês instrumental. O aluno aprende estratégias de leitura que o ajudam na compreensão dos textos sem precisar ter o total domínio do inglês. A proposta desta pesquisa consiste na investigação do processo de leitura de um texto em inglês após os conhecimentos adquiridos nas disciplinas de Inglês Instrumental e Indexação e Resumos no curso de Biblioteconomia. Propomos uma interface entre as duas disciplinas com a finalidade de compreensão de textos em inglês para realização da tarefa de elaboração de resumos. Os objetivos são: trazer contribuição para as disciplinas afins no que concerne à orientação de leitura para elaboração de resumos, fazer levantamento de indicadores de leitura para elaboração de metodologias com a sugestão da utilização do Inglês Instrumental. Tal investigação foi realizada por meio de levantamento bibliográfico sobre resumo, leitura e por meio de observação do processo de leitura. A técnica da coleta de dados foi a denominada Protocolo Verbal. Os processos de leitura observados foram realizados por dois alunos do quarto ano do curso de Biblioteconomia do campus da UNESP de Marília. Receberam instruções quanto ao uso do Inglês Instrumental, para superação dos problemas oriundos da deficiência de conhecimento da língua e, instruções quanto às técnicas de síntese, análise e representação do documento para a elaboração do resumo documentário. Verificamos como procedem à compreensão do texto na tarefa de leitura para elaboração do resumo documentário e observamos que utilizam as estratégias de leitura aprendidas nas aulas de Inglês Instrumental, bem como utilizam o conhecimento adquirido sobre a elaboração do resumo. Os resultados obtidos... / Reading in English with the purpose of writing abstracts can be facilitated through ESP (English for specific purposes) approach. The student learns reading strategies that help him in text comprehension without the necessity of having great knowledge in English. This research proposal is to investigate the reading process of a written English text after the students had been acquainted with the two disciplines (ESP and 'Indexing and Abstract') in the Library Science course. We propose an 'interface' between both subjects in order to comprehend English written texts to the task of writing abstracts. The objectives are to contribute to these subjects related to the reading orientation to the abstract writing task and to point out some reading indicators to methodologies suggesting ESP approach. This research was carried out by the analysis of abstract and reading bibliographies and observation of the reading process. The technique of the data collecting was the one denominated Thinking Aloud. The reading process observed was carried out by two students from the fourth grade of Library Science at UNESP in Marília. Both of them had taken the two subjects above mentioned during the course. They received instructions about the use of ESP to overcome problems of the weak language knowledge and also about the synthesis, analysis and representation of the document. We verified how they read a text in order to write an abstract and observed that they used the reading strategies learned in the ESP classes as well as the knowledge about abstract writing. The obtained results indicate that the instrumental approach may be useful to the abstract writing task by means of appropriate reading strategies, such as, vocabulary strategies, language structure, paragraph structure, textual markers, selectivity, metacognitive monitoring, prediction, nominal... (Complete abstract, click electronic address below)

A língua inglesa hoje permite acesso a práticas internacionais por ser a língua mais utilizada em interações entre falantes de diferentes línguas maternas, em inúmeros contextos. Essa disseminação do inglês globalmente fez surgir novas formas de se enxergar o status língua, entre elas, a abordagem do inglês como língua franca (ILF). Visto que a maioria das interações em inglês hoje acontecerem entre falantes não nativos, o ILF busca a descentralização do falante nativo e a aceitação das variedades linguísticas. Entre os diversos contextos em que o inglês é difundido, pode-se dizer que a academia é um dos principais. Este trabalho tem como objetivo verificar qual o posicionamento de revistas científicas internacionais da área de Linguística Aplicada acerca das diretrizes para autores, sob a ótica do ILF. Para isso, fizemos um levantamento dos periódicos internacionais de Linguística Aplicada mais bem avaliados em um ranking nacional (Qualis Capes) e internacional (SCImago), reunindo assim um corpus de 36 periódicos. A pesquisa foi dividida em duas etapas. Primeiramente, foram identificadas e analisadas as diretrizes para autores no que diz respeito às normas linguísticas relacionadas ao padrão nativo e aceitação das variedades. Foram encontradas três normas relacionadas a exigências linguísticas: língua de publicação, ortografia e revisão externa. Os resultados demonstram que a língua de publicação mais usada é o inglês, sendo exigência em 44% dos periódicos; que as principais variedades ortográficas aceitas são a americana e britânica; e que 58% das revistas solicitam que os autores tenham seus textos revisados por uma terceira pessoa, sendo que, dessas, aproximadamente a metade dirigem as normas apenas a autores falantes não nativos. A segunda etapa da pesquisa consistiu em comparar as diretrizes encontradas com os 139 textos sobre ILF nelas publicados entre os anos de 2011 e 2015. Foi feita uma análise do conteúdo dos textos, onde buscou-se identificar os posicionamentos dos autores. Os resultados da comparação indicaram que 71% dos textos são a favor da abordagem do ILF, mas que a maioria precisou seguir alguma norma que contradiz o defendido no ILF para ser publicado. Assim, os resultados gerais desta pesquisa demonstram que, apesar de a área de Linguística Aplicada estar orientada para uma abordagem do inglês que visa à diversidade linguística, são encontradas discrepâncias e inconsistências nas práticas das revistas da própria área, responsáveis por veicular essas ideias. / The English language today grants access to international practices, since it is the most used language in interactions between speakers of different languages in several contexts. The global spread of English has created new ways of understanding its status, such as the English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) approach. Since most interactions in English happen between nonnative speakers of English, ELF aims at native speaker decentralization and acceptance of linguistic varieties. Academia is one of the main contexts in which English is widely used. The objective of this study is to assess the stance of Applied Linguistics international journals regarding author guidelines, from the perspective of ELF. To do so, we surveyed the best-ranked international journals in Applied linguistics both at domestic (Qualis Capes) and international (SCImago) rankings, which resulted in a corpus of 36 journals. This study was conducted in two parts. First, author guidelines related to linguistic norms concerning native standards and acceptance of varieties were identified and analyzed. Three guidelines related to linguistic requirements were found: language of publication, spelling, and third-party review. The results showed that the most used language of publication is English, a requirement in 44% of the journals; that American and British spelling varieties are mostly the ones accepted; and that 58% of the journals ask authors to have their manuscripts checked by a third-party reviewer, from which approximately 50% direct these guidelines only to nonnative authors. The second part of the study consisted in comparing the guidelines found with 139 texts about ELF published by the same journals between 2011 and 2015. The content of the texts was analyzed aiming at identifying their authors’ point of views. The results of this comparison indicated that 71% of the texts are in line with the ELF approach, but most of them had to follow some guidelines which contradict those defended by ELF in order to be published. Hence, the general results of this study showed that, although the area of Applied Linguistics is oriented towards an approach that aims at linguistic diversity in English, discrepancies and inconsistencies are found in the practices of the journals of this same area, journals which are responsible for broadcasting these ideas.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / In this thesis I explore the complexity of FL (Foreign Language) reading through qualitatively and quantitatively analysing the forms, ways, and mechanisms applied by adult readers at tertiary university education level to construct meaning in an ESP/EAP (English for Specific and Academic Purposes) multilingual educational context at the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), in Mozambique

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / There is general recognition regarding the importance of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses in assisting students acquire academic discourses appropriate to specific disciplines of study. However, undergraduate students in multilingual contexts, where English is a second or foreign language face challenges in managing the transition from secondary school into the university, where they are expected to appropriate as well as acclimate to new discourses of communication deemed to be essential for their survival in the academic world. Although studies show the importance of agency in language learning success, institutional demands have sometimes led to the adoption of teaching and assessment practices that ignore the learners’ English language learning history, background, experiences and needs, which impact on their sense of agency and voice in the EAP classroom and eventually their learning success. The study investigates whether the EAP course at the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) can engender agency and voice among first year undergraduate students transitioning into the University from community day secondary schools (CDSSs). It aspires to generate an understanding of the strong link that exists between institutional orientation to EAP, course design and pedagogical practice on the one hand and learner agency, voice and multiple meaning making in the EAP classroom on the other. Anchored theoretically in critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970), ecological affordances (van Anchored theoretically in critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970), ecological affordances (van Lier, 2000, 2004) and positioning (Davies & Harré, 1999), the study argues for EAP pedagogy that provides affordances, empowers and positions transitioning students for critical learning by deliberately making multiple meaning making, agency and voice the mainstays of course design and instruction. The investigation uses a qualitative case study methodology centred on understanding affordances for agency and voice in EAP learning, manifestations of and the factors influencing voice and agency from the perspectives of first-year undergraduate students transitioning from community day secondary schools (CDSSs) and EAP course lecturers. Collection of data involved semester-long observation of 44 EAP lecture sessions of roughly 2 hours each duration, as well as interviews with participant students and course lecturers, and analysis of documents. The findings indicate that design and pedagogical practice in the current EAP course at MUST fail to adequately engender agency and voice among students and to promote learner empowerment or encourage multiple meaning making in and outside the classroom. The entire study has generated some insights for advancement of critical EAP learning that can engender voice and agency, including the need for EAP to deliberately build in and promote learner empowerment, multiple meaning making and negotiation in order to move towards pedagogy that is appropriate for critical learning, voice and agency, the need for EAP to move away from closure-focused teaching, learning and assessment, the need for enhancement of EAP course lecturers’ critical awareness of the world views and inherent assumptions surrounding various approaches to EAP pedagogy, the need for enrichment of EAP learning environments with semiotic resources for learner engagement for agency, voice and multiple meaning making, the need for learning spaces that are enabling for students to identify and utilize affordances for EAP learning beyond the classroom, and the need for exploration of PowerPoint and related technologies for EAP instruction beyond current use as tools for transmission of content to students.

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