Analysis on most heavily overused and underused syntactic features shows that, when compared with native speakers, Hong Kong students favour the use of present tense, tentative style, simple noun phrase structure and explicit clause-relation marking in oral presentations. They prefer using present tense constructions, adopting pronouns for nominal functions and using an interactive tone in written essays. In both the learner speech data and the learner writing data, quite a number of the overused and underused syntactic features are closely related to the differences between speech and writing found in Biber (1988), hinting at Hong Kong students' inadequate sensitivity to mode differences in English. / Analysis on textual dimensions suggests that Hong Kong students' oral presentations differ from comparable native-speaker oral production by being more written-like in terms of the use of explicit/situation-dependent reference and the inclusion of abstract/non-abstract information. Hong Kong students' written essays deviate from comparable native-speaker written production by being more spoken-like in terms of the involved/informational focus and the use of explicit/situation-dependent reference. Moreover, both the learner speech data and the learner writing data bear some resemblance to common native-speaker genres in the opposite mode. / The present study clearly demonstrates that Hong Kong students have limited sensitivity to the conventional usage of syntactic features in spoken and written English. The teaching profession should help the students develop better sociolinguistic competence when teaching grammar, speaking and writing. Future research on second language acquisition should also focus more on the learners' sociolinguistic development so that second language learners' communicative ability can be better understood. / This thesis investigates Hong Kong secondary school students' sensitivity to differences between spoken and written English by examining their use of 67 syntactic features. A model specifying how native speakers vary their use of syntactic features across speech and writing, Biber (1988), has been adopted as the theoretical framework. Fifty-two oral presentations delivered by Form 6 students and 52 public examination essays written by Form 7 students, both of which total about 10,000 words, have been analysed. The students' performance is compared with native speakers' performance in similar spoken and written production on the level of syntactic features and the level of textual dimensions. / Chui, Sze Yan. / "December 2010." / Adviser: Gerald Nelson. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-04, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 255-266). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; some appendixes also in Chinese.

Graduation date: 2006 / Curricular models and teaching techniques that support college students as the primary authors of their writing-across-the-curriculum experiences remain largely unexplored. This thesis addresses that research gap by investigating the use of a start-of-term writing self-assessment and goal-setting questionnaire (STQ) for upper-division undergraduates taking writing-intensive (WI) college courses in their majors. The tool was piloted in 23 WI sections at Oregon State University during winter term 2004. Feedback obtained through an end-of-term writing self-evaluation showed that students who completed the start-of-term questionnaire tended to take the effort seriously, fill out the questionnaire completely, and use the tool for its intended purposes of reflective self-assessment and goal-setting. Students saw the tool as something that could help them with their writing, and study results suggest that its benefits may have been reinforced by students’ end-of-course review of their STQ responses. Feedback from participating instructors indicated that the tool helped with their teaching as well as their students’ learning, and most instructors planned to continue using the STQ beyond the pilot study. Study results also suggest that the questionnaire can serve as a program-level research and assessment tool, providing WI program administrators and policy-makers with new insights on students’ writing needs and goals. Campus-wide use of the STQ may lead to WI program enhancements, generate new ideas for WI instructor training, and support department, college, and institutional writing-curriculum development efforts.

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

For several years specialists in reading have debated on how pupils should learn to read. The debate has focused on two methods of teaching reading, that is, the phonic method and the whole language method. Some researchers have identified five elements of reading instruction that are critical to achievement in reading, namely; that reading instruction should include phonics, phonemic awareness, reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. These are the components that make up what is termed a balanced literacy approach. Although there is some debate on what constitutes the balanced literacy approach, this study adopted the understanding of the approach described above. The study investigated whether the use of the balanced literacy approach could improve standard four pupils’ achievement in reading and writing in English. The targeted population consisted of twelve schools located in Zomba rural district. Pupils were tested before and after the intervention. Teachers in the experimental group were trained twice on balanced literacy approaches, first before the intervention and midway of the intervention. Observational measures revealed that teachers generally implemented the treatment. The post intervention data indicated that pupils responded very well to the activities that were presented to them. The reading and writing achievement of pupils that were present for the post-test increased more than those of the control group. The results obtained suggest that the balanced literacy approach improved the reading and writing achievement of standard four pupils in the experimental group. / English Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (English)

This research explores peer review in the academic writing of ESL university students. It investigates the problem from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Overall findings showed no significant differences between the holistic coherence ratings given to the original and final drafts of the group of students exposed to a process approach to writing with peer review. Similarly, there were no significant differences between the holistic coherence ratings of this experimental group and control group on their final drafts. However, the findings of finer-grained comparative analyses of each experimental group student's original and final drafts revealed both positive and negative results with respect to changes made. The study also explores the changes in terms of the peer review process, so attempting to analyse in more qualitative detail how coherence is constituted in student academic writing. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)