With the implementation of the new three-year senior secondary curriculum in September 2009 which stipulated that Language Arts would become a compulsory component in the English curriculum, literature plays a more prominent role in the teaching of English in Hong Kong. The incorporation of literature into language education, as Carter and Long (1991) illustrate, enhances the linguistic competence and enriches the cultural knowledge as well as stimulates the personal growth of learners. 　　Among various literary genres, the use of poetry is worth researching into given that students in Hong Kong tend to have reservations about using it as a tool to learn English despite its value. Poetry, as Tomlinson (1986) argues, is able to strengthen the skills of learners to infer and interpret from the linguistic and situational contexts of texts. Its value also lies in the fact that learners of different abilities can make use of poems in different ways. Therefore, there is a pressing need to investigate how the use of poems in English classes can be enhanced. 　　English translations of popular Chinese poems were used alongside classic poems from the West in this study to see whether the cultural familiarity and linguistic support embodied in translated poems could enhance the use of poems among students and teachers. This study found that while most students remained negative to learning English through poems, the use of translated poems was positively received among the high achievers and teachers. Based on the findings, some suggestions were derived to help schools incorporate poems into the English curriculum. / published_or_final_version / Applied English Studies / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

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This thesis studies the place of English in middle school students' educational experiences in China by describing students' encounters with English and their experiences of English learning in both the formal and the informal situations. Observations, semi-structured oral and written interviews are conducted to investigate students' perceptions of English and their reflections on English learning. Open-ended surveys are used to explore the interactions between students' learning experiences and their life aspirations. The study seeks to identify important themes in English learning in China, and in particular, how students' reflections influence their learning and how their experiences shape their perceptions. It attempts to interpret the meaning of English learning at the public and private levels and to examine the convergence and conflict of learning needs and teaching agenda. To encourage the learner perspective in students' own voice in the discourse of English language teaching, the study heavily draws on students' personal statements. The study identified the quantification of education through examination and the mediation of English in changing ideas and shaping identity as two important themes in the learning of English language in China. While students' perception of English as a tool appears highly instrumental in nature, their motivation of learning for self-improvement reflects the dominant belief in science and technology in China. Such contradictions contribute to the situation in which formal learning organised according to the public agenda for national modernisation does not always meet students' individual needs for personal improvement. In addition, learner autonomy emerged as a crucial factor in making English learning a personally engaging and enriching experience. The study confirmed the importance of self-reflection on English learning by learners and all those concerned with English learning.

D. Tech. Language Practice / The teaching of English concepts by non-mother tongue (L2) speakers of English poses serious challenges to primary school teachers in South Africa. The study therefore addressed three problem areas relating to inappropriate teaching of concepts by Grade 7 L2 English teachers of the Vhembe District in the Limpopo Province. They included the teachers' non-implementation of professional knowledge and practices, their inadequate mastery of prescribed concepts, and lack of use of suitable teaching methodologies and strategies.

M. Tech. Language Practice / This study was conducted in selected Senior Secondary Schools in Alice District in the Eastern Cape Province with the following purposes: (1) to understand the styles of learning English as First Additional Language (L2) of Grade 8 'educationally-disadvantaged' learners, and the teaching styles used by their teachers; (2) to examine the extent to which teachers' teaching styles are congruent to the learners learning styles; and, (3) to understand how knowledge of these learning styles could contribute to upgrading the pedagogical knowledge base of teachers about learning styles, and find new English (L2) teaching styles, to enable learners to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to become more proficient in the English language.

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