published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

The purpose of this study was to investigate the views of students and lecturers at the University of Namibia about teaching and learning. The study specifically determined the views of students and lectures in relation to language, teaching, learning and assessment as well as what we might learn from analysis of these views to assist in improving teaching, learning and assessment.

The overt teaching of the Monitor, or conscious rule awareness, to native Spanish-speaking ESL students was examined to note possible benefits to the students' oral English production. Native Spanish-speaking students of English (the experimental group) were taught an awareness of their ability to self-correct their spoken English. They were then compared to another group of native Spanish-speaking ESL students (the control group) in four areas: Ilyin Oral Interview score, total words produced, errors produced, and interference errors produced. The results of the study lend support to the theory that overt Monitor teaching could be beneficial to native Spanish-speaking students of English. The experimental group showed a significant gain in Ilyin scores and a significant reduction in the number of errors produced.

An intrinsic case study was conducted to understand what helps Early Care and Education (ECE) English as a Second Language (ESL) students to enroll in a customized ECE ESL course at a local state college and what barriers may hinder their success in the course. This research examined whether the following were either motivators or barriers or both in ECE ESL participants enrolling in an ECE ESL customized course: course design and delivery, student support systems, student self-motivation, student self- efficacy, time and schedule commitment, instructor and student relationship, availability of resources, and level of classroom involvement. The results revealed that the students were highly motivated to enroll and complete the course successfully. Across the board, there was (1) a sense of gratitude from the participants for being afforded an opportunity to learn the English language, (2) evidence of knowledge of their future goals, and (3) their knowledge that learning English was their first step in achieving their goals. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Bilinguals commonly report experiencing emotions differently depending on which language are they speaking. Emotionally loaded words were expected to be appraised differently in first versus second language in a sample of Spanish-English bilinguals (n=117). English (L2) ratings were subtracted from Spanish (L1) ratings; the resulted scores were used as dependent variable in the analyses. Three categories of words (positive, negative and taboo) were appraised in both languages (English and Spanish)and two sensory modalities (Visual and auditory). The differences in valence scores in Spanish (L1) and English (L2) were expected to be significantly higher when presented aurally than when presented visually. Additionally, taboo words were expected to yield larger differential scores than negative and positive words. The 2 X 3 general linear model (GLM) revealed no significant effect of sensory modality but a significant effect of word type. Additional analyses of the influence of language and sensory modality within each word category resulted in significant differences in ratings between languages. Positive word ratings were higher (more positive) in English than in Spanish. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection