This action research explores ways of adapting Task-based language teaching for teaching grammar to Primary six Hong Kong students while maintaining the structural Presentation-Practice-Production approach. It integrates two kinds of focused tasks into the intervention. They are Consciousness-raising tasks and Practice-based tasks. It investigates learners‘perceptions of those two tasks on English grammar learning by collecting questionnaires and conducting interviews. After the first cycle of the intervention, the researcher analyzed the data, students‘performance and works in order to make adjustments for the second cycle. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed to collect data from high, average and low-achieving students. It was found that students were positive towards Consciousness-raising tasks, Practice-based tasks and the intervention. They were generally satisfied with the chances provided for individual and group learning, teacher‘s PowerPoint presentation, teacher support and task sequencing. Implications for future research encompass investigation on the intervention‘s emphasis on a sequence of focused tasks to learn the form, meaning and use of target structures for leading learners to attain accuracy, fluency and complexity in second language acquisition. Most importantly, it suggests that teachers have to be flexible and design suitable tasks according to the target structures, students‘ability and learning style as well as available resources. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

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

This thesis contrasts the sound systems, negation, and expression of definiteness of English and Korean. It analyzes the substitutions Korean learners of English made on both the phonological and syntactic levels. It also predicts possible problem areas and describes the sources of potential problems.By means of a contrastive analysis, the researcher found out that the greatest source of Korean learners' sound substitutions, incorrect uses of the response words Yes/No, and 'the-omission' errors is interference stemming from differences in the linguistic systems of the native and target language.This thesis proves the validity and practicability of Contrastive Analysis as a useful tool for teaching students English as a second or foreign language.

This study reports information received from basic writing instructors at colleges in the Christian College Coalition, a group of 77 Christian, liberal arts colleges in the U. S. and Canada. Respondents completed a questionnaire and submitted sample syllabi and writing assignments. The study compares data from the respondents to current theories of basic writing instruction, most notably those of Andrea Lunsford and Mike Rose. It also compares the results to a similar study of all colleges by Joe Trimmer.The study found that the Christian College Coalition population was similar to the national population with regard to placement methods, textbook choice, and course goals. However, the study showed that a significant portion of basic writing courses are taught by tenure track English department faculty members. This finding represents a strength of this population as the national study showed that almost no basic writing courses were taught by tenure track faculty. In addition, the atmosphere of the small, Christian liberal arts colleges encourages low teacher/student ratios and more contact between faculty members and students in writing classes. These are areas of strength the Coalition schools should develop further.This study also reports and analyzes actual writing assignments and syllabi, some of the course materials Stephen North calls "lore." The examination of these materials shows more clearly than survey responses the types of writing students are actually doing in basic writing classes. / Department of English

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-139). / ix, 139 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

This thesis attempts to determine if the acquisition of rhetorical and grammatical skills such as a sense of audience and organization are best attained through an alternate pedagogy based on a methodology from Wendy Bishop or if they are better attained through a traditional approach.

Learning a second language (L2) is essential in today’s globalized world. However, learners generally have low sensitivity to grammar, as L2 acquisition proceeds largely through functions. Thus, pedagogical assistance appears to be necessary to trigger learners’ attention to L2 grammar, but research shows no consensus on which type of instruction best promotes it. Moreover, few empirical studies have examined 'acquisition' of target constructions, which entails mappings between form, meaning, and function. To address this gap, the present study investigated the effects of implicit and explicit instruction on L2 acquisition of the English passive. The passive was chosen as the target construction due to the intricate mappings between form, meaning, and function encompassed in it. The study employed an experimental design including a pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest, with five treatment sessions between the pretest and posttests. Participants were 99 Korean English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners, randomly assigned to two experimental groups that received implicit or explicit instruction, respectively, or a control group. Implicit instruction comprised typographically enhanced passive constructions to increase perceptual saliency; explicit instruction comprised a grammar activity to raise the participants’ consciousness about the passive construction. Five measurement tasks were employed to examine any changes in the participants’ knowledge of, and ability to use, the passive: a grammaticality judgment task (GJT), a sentence pair task, a closed discourse completion task (DCT), and spoken and written production tasks. Results from quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data yielded three main findings. First, implicit instruction had a more significant, beneficial effect than explicit instruction on the overall mappings between the form, meaning, and function of the passive. Second, the difference appeared to be more salient for meaning and function, whereas both types of instruction had almost equal benefits for form; yet, the production tasks seemed to exhibit a greater score decrease as for meaning and function over time in both treatment conditions. Finally, each type of instruction had similar effects on the performance of high- and low-level learners. Overall, these findings suggest that both types of instruction are beneficial for L2 acquisition but implicit instruction is more effective than explicit instruction.

No description available.

<p>This study has been prompted by the negative remarks that lecturers make concerning the academic performance of students and the number of years they spend at the Eastern Cape Technikon before completing their diplomas. The aim of this study was to identify the kinds of strategies that English Second Language (ESL) students use to cope with English language writing tasks.</p> <p><br /> Academic writing requires a conscious effort and much practice in composing, developing, and analyzing ideas. Black students at tertiary institutions in South Africa face additional difficulty, especially when they have to deal with writing in English which is an unfamiliar language to them. This presents them with social and cognitive challenges related to second language acquisition. Since the black students do not often consider the social contexts in which L2 academic writing takes place, models of L1 writing instruction and research on composing processes are often found wanting in their L2 writing pedagogy. In this study, I argue that language proficiency and competence is the cornerstone of the ability to write in the L2 in a fundamental way. L2 writing instructors should take into account both strategy development and language skill development when working with black students. This is critical in South Africa considering the apartheid legacy and the deprived social conditions under which black students often live and acquire their education. Therefore, using critical discourse analysis and aspects of systemic functional linguistics, this study explores errors in written cohesion and coherence in relation to L2 writing strategies used by black students at the Eastern Cape Technikon. The study focuses on errors in the form of cohesive devices of referring expressions using topic development used by students. The aim was to explore the strategies used by black students to write coherent academic texts. Further, the study intends to scrutinize the grammatical devices of reference, through analyzing the forms of cohesive devices and theme development. A focus on the writing process as a pedagogical tool enables me to explore the relationship between the quality of students‟ academic writing and coping strategies used, and come up with a model of L2 writing (coping) strategies for academic writing at the Eastern Cape Technikon. I investigate the L2 writing process adopted by competent and non-competent black students in the process of producing coherent academic texts by comparing strategies that the two groups of students adopt.</p>

Orientador: Ana Mariza Benedetti / Banca: Ana Clotilde Thomé William / Banca: Douglas Altamiro Consolo / Resumo: Este trabalho, de caráter etnográfico com características de intervenção, teve o objetivo de observar como se dá a prática de ensino da gramática de uma professora de LI em um contexto de escola Municipal de EF e, com base na análise do modo de ensinar gramática dessa professora, buscou-se apontar os pressupostos e crenças que norteiam sua prática (utilizando como referência, autores como PAJARES, 1992; BROWN, 1994; RICHARDS e LOCKHART, 1994; WOODS, 1996). Partindo desse levantamento, foi observada ainda sua reação e a de seus alunos a uma proposta de ensino de gramática por meio de atividades voltadas para a comunicação. A pesquisa foi realizada em duas etapas. A primeira teve o objetivo de caracterizar o contexto, os participantes e mapear suas expectativas acerca das aulas de LI, assim como suas crenças acerca do ensino da gramática pedagógica da LI. Na segunda etapa, aplicou-se a proposta pedagógica e observou-se a reação dos participantes e sua avaliação à tal proposta. Para tanto, os principais procedimentos utilizados foram o diário de pesquisa produzido pela pesquisadora, entrevista semi-estruturada, questionários, gravações das aulas em áudio e vídeo, sessão de discussão (sobre os construtos teóricos), logs e sessões de visionamento. A análise dos dados sugeriu que as crenças da professora expressam um ensino com tendências tradicionais, calcado em suas experiências pessoais anteriores e influenciadoras diretas das crenças dos alunos acerca do tópico abordado (a gramática da LI). Além disso, ao analisar-se a reação e a avaliação dos participantes à proposta, observou-se uma nítida importância do livro didático neste contexto sob investigação e embora houvesse certo receio no uso de uma nova abordagem, a professora participante apresentou indícios de reflexão e preocupação com questões concernentes a sua prática de ensino e seu aperfeiçoamento profissional. / Abstract: This research study has an ethnographical character with characteristics of intervention. It aimed at observing how an English teacher teaches the English grammar in a Municipal school. Based on the analysis of this teacher's grammar teaching practice, this study tried to point out the assumptions and beliefs that guide such practice (using as reference, authors such as PAJARES, 1992; BROWN, 1994; RICHARDS and LOCKHART, 1994; WOODS, 1996). From this information, both the teacher's and her students' reactions to a proposal of grammar teaching through communicative activities were observed. The research was had two phases. The first aimed at characterizing the context and the participants, and mapping their expectations concerning the English language classes, as well as their beliefs concerning the teaching of the English pedagogical grammar. In the second phase, the pedagogical proposal was applied and the participants' reactions and evaluation to such proposal were observed. For doing so, the main procedures used for data collection were the research diary written by the researcher, a semi-structured interview, questionnaires, audio and video recordings, discussion session (about theory), logs and viewing sessions. The analysis of the data suggested that the teacher's beliefs express a way of teaching with traditional tendencies, based on her previous personal experiences and influencing directly the students' beliefs concerning the topic under study (the English language grammar). Moreover, when analyzing the participants' reactions and evaluation of the proposal, a clear importance of the course book was observed and although there was a certain fear in the use of a new approach, the participant teacher showed evidences of reflection and preoccupation with matters concerning her teaching practice and her professional improvement. / Mestre