Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Personality inventories in South Africa are challenged with many factors restricting unbiased and fair measurement. The Employment Equity Act clearly stipulates that all psychometric measuring instruments should be proven bias free, equivalent, and fair. Most of the current inventories utilised in South Africa are imported from Europe and/or the United States of America, and these instruments are translated into either English or Afrikaans, which restricts the language proficiency factor of respondents from other language groups. There are 11 official language groups in South Africa; people also differ regarding race, culture, socioeconomic status, and educational backgrounds. All of these factors are not always properly accounted for in the standardisation of imported inventories - which limits their appropriate employment in the South African context. The objective of this study was to uncover the personality structure of each of the 11 language groups in South Africa, and to identify the shared and unique personality dimensions of the different language groups. From this structure, an instrument will be developed to measure personality in such a way that it will meet the Employment Equity Act. A qualitative research design was used in this study. Quasi-sampling («=1308j was implemented in order to identify participants from each of the 11 language groups, which differed from each other with regard to age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Following the lexical approach, structured interviews were conducted in the native language of the participants to gather information about personality-descriptive terms. The results of the interviews were transcribed and captured in Excel, and sent to language experts for language editing and translation into English. Ambiguous, superfluous and non-personality terms were removed from the data. Following this process, more than 50 000 personality-descriptive terms were identified. Content analysis was utilised in order to interpret the personality- descriptive terms to personality dimensions. Language and cultural experts were employed in order to validate the initial interpretations. The 50 000 descriptive terms were reduced to 190 personality dimensions through the use of cluster analysis. The analysis included the grouping of synonyms and antonyms, together with the use of dictionaries, literature and knowledge about content. The 190 dimensions were also divided into those that are common (shared by all 11 language groups), semi-common (shared by seven to ten of the language groups), semi-specific (shared by two to six of the language groups), and language-specific (unique to a particular language group). It was discovered that 78 dimensions were common, 69 semi-common, 32 semi-specific, and only 11 were language-specific. Most of the personality dimensions seem to be shared by the language groups, rather than to be unique. These 190 dimensions were clustered further in order to build the indigenous personality structure. Similar methods from the initial clustering phase were implemented. Clustering concluded 37 sub-clusters, which consisted of two to ten dimensions, and nine overall clusters consisting of two to six sub-clusters. These nine clusters are Extroversion, Soft-heartedness, Conscientiousness, Emotional stability, Intellect, Openness, Integrity, Relationship harmony, and Facilitating. Many indigenous aspects are evident, as well as universal aspects within the structure. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Personality inventories in South Africa are challenged with many factors restricting unbiased and fair measurement. The Employment Equity Act clearly stipulates that all psychometric measuring instruments should be proven bias free, equivalent, and fair. Most of the current inventories utilised in South Africa are imported from Europe and/or the United States of America, and these instruments are translated into either English or Afrikaans, which restricts the language proficiency factor of respondents from other language groups. There are 11 official language groups in South Africa; people also differ regarding race, culture, socioeconomic status, and educational backgrounds. All of these factors are not always properly accounted for in the standardisation of imported inventories - which limits their appropriate employment in the South African context. The objective of this study was to uncover the personality structure of each of the 11 language groups in South Africa, and to identify the shared and unique personality dimensions of the different language groups. From this structure, an instrument will be developed to measure personality in such a way that it will meet the Employment Equity Act. A qualitative research design was used in this study. Quasi-sampling («=1308j was implemented in order to identify participants from each of the 11 language groups, which differed from each other with regard to age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Following the lexical approach, structured interviews were conducted in the native language of the participants to gather information about personality-descriptive terms. The results of the interviews were transcribed and captured in Excel, and sent to language experts for language editing and translation into English. Ambiguous, superfluous and non-personality terms were removed from the data. Following this process, more than 50 000 personality-descriptive terms were identified. Content analysis was utilised in order to interpret the personality- descriptive terms to personality dimensions. Language and cultural experts were employed in order to validate the initial interpretations. The 50 000 descriptive terms were reduced to 190 personality dimensions through the use of cluster analysis. The analysis included the grouping of synonyms and antonyms, together with the use of dictionaries, literature and knowledge about content. The 190 dimensions were also divided into those that are common (shared by all 11 language groups), semi-common (shared by seven to ten of the language groups), semi-specific (shared by two to six of the language groups), and language-specific (unique to a particular language group). It was discovered that 78 dimensions were common, 69 semi-common, 32 semi-specific, and only 11 were language-specific. Most of the personality dimensions seem to be shared by the language groups, rather than to be unique. These 190 dimensions were clustered further in order to build the indigenous personality structure. Similar methods from the initial clustering phase were implemented. Clustering concluded 37 sub-clusters, which consisted of two to ten dimensions, and nine overall clusters consisting of two to six sub-clusters. These nine clusters are Extroversion, Soft-heartedness, Conscientiousness, Emotional stability, Intellect, Openness, Integrity, Relationship harmony, and Facilitating. Many indigenous aspects are evident, as well as universal aspects within the structure. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

A Abordagem Lexical (LEWIS, 1993) se distingue por conferir ao léxico a posição de elemento central no processo de ensino-aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira. É constituída por princípios que propõem reavaliar a importância do léxico e o tipo de tratamento dado a esse elemento pelos professores e aprendizes durante o processo de aprendizagem da língua-alvo. De fato, esse elemento da língua tem um alto valor, uma vez que perpassa as quatro habilidades linguísticas, configurando-se em fator determinante para a comunicação. No entanto, a complexa natureza multifacetada das palavras e a realidade fluida do léxico dificulta a aprendizagem, acarretando em defasagem da competência lexical. O objetivo desta pesquisa é verificar as contribuições do ensino sistematizado e explícito de vocabulário norteado pelos princípios da Abordagem Lexical para a aprendizagem do léxico em língua japonesa, a curto e longo prazo, tanto quantitativamente quanto qualitativamente. Buscamos averiguar se complementar a aquisição incidental com o ensino sistematizado e explícito do léxico norteado pelos princípios da Abordagem Lexical contribui para o desenvolvimento da competência lexical do aprendiz de língua japonesa. Se sim, de que forma e em que medida? Trata-se de uma pesquisa empírica, de natureza aplicada, descritiva, com abordagem quantitativa e delineamento quase-experimental. Para responder ao problema de pesquisa, realizou-se um experimento com duas turmas do sexto ano do Ensino Fundamental II de uma escola particular da região da Grande São Paulo. Um grupo de participantes compôs o grupo experimental e outro o grupo controle. Elaborou-se uma sequência didática desenvolvida nos dois grupos, com a adição de quatro intervenções pedagógicas elaboradas com base nos princípios da Abordagem Lexical apenas no grupo experimental, sendo elas: a) uma aula sobre o conceito de chunks e outra sobre os tipos de itens lexicais; b) exercícios complementares com foco lexical; c) atividades complementares com foco lexical; e d) elaboração de um caderno lexical. Logo após o término da sequência didática e trinta dias depois, os participantes de ambas os grupos responderam ao teste VKS (Vocabulary Knowledge Scale) (WESCHE; PARIBAKHT, 1993). Os dados coletados passaram por um tratamento estatístico e foram analisados descritivamente. Realizou-se também uma análise das respostas escritas, visando identificar evidências de um possível efeito das intervenções pedagógicas no desempenho dos aprendizes. Os resultados das análises indicaram que o grupo experimental teve um desempenho superior ao grupo controle. Com base nisso, concluiu-se que o ensino sistematizado e explícito norteado pelos princípios da Abordagem Lexical contribuiu para o desenvolvimento da competência lexical do aprendiz de língua japonesa no contexto de ensino contemplado nesta pesquisa. / The Lexical Approach (LEWIS, 1993) is distinguished by giving the lexicon the central element position in the teaching and learning process of a foreign language. It consists of principles that propose to reevaluate the importance of the lexicon and the type of treatment given to this element by teachers and learners during the process of learning the target language. In fact, this element of the language is important, since it pass through the four linguistic abilities, being configured in determinant factor for the communication. However, the complex multifaceted nature of words and the fluid reality of the lexicon make learning difficult, resulting in a lag of lexical competence. The aim of this research is to verify the contributions of systematized and explicit vocabulary teaching guided by the principles of the Lexical Approach to lexical learning in Japanese, in the short and long term, both quantitatively and qualitatively. We seek to ascertain whether complementing the incidental acquisition with the systematized and explicit teaching of the lexicon guided by the principles of the Lexical Approach contributes to the development of the lexical competence of the Japanese language learner. If so, how and to what extent? It is an empirical research of applied nature, descriptive, with quantitative approach and quasi-experimental design. In order to answer the research problem, an experiment was carried out with two classes of the sixth grade of Elementary School II of a private school in the region of Greater São Paulo. One group of participants was the experimental group and the another was the control group. A didactic sequence developed in both groups was elaborated, with the addition of four pedagogical interventions elaborated based on the principles of the Lexical Approach only in the experimental group, which were: a) a class on the concept of chunks and another on the types of lexical items; b) complementary exercises with lexical focus; c) complementary activities with lexical focus; and d) development of a lexical notebook. Shortly after the end of the didactic sequence and thirty days later, participants in both groups responded to the VKS (Vocabulary Knowledge Scale) test (WESCHE; PARIBAKHT, 1993). The data collected underwent to a statistical treatment and were analyzed descriptively an analysis of written responses was also carried out to identify evidence of a possible effect of pedagogical interventions on the performance of learners. The results of the analyzes indicated that the experimental group performed better than the control group. Based on this, it was concluded that systematized and explicit teaching guided by the principles of the Lexical Approach contributed to the development of lexical competence of the Japanese language learner in the context of teaching contemplated in this research.

97f. / Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-05-13T17:28:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Isolda Lisbôa.pdf: 1326879 bytes, checksum: 5442b0cedaf3f2d71dae4c317834d9b4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Alda Lima da Silva(sivalda@ufba.br) on 2013-05-16T17:03:45Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Isolda Lisbôa.pdf: 1326879 bytes, checksum: 5442b0cedaf3f2d71dae4c317834d9b4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-16T17:03:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Isolda Lisbôa.pdf: 1326879 bytes, checksum: 5442b0cedaf3f2d71dae4c317834d9b4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / A importância do papel do léxico no ensino e aprendizagem de 2ª língua ? inglês é um tema que vem crescendo em número de pesquisas e apresentações nos últimos anos, revelando uma maior atenção e interesse sobre um componente ? o léxico ? que se julgava ser secundário no processo de ensino e aprendizagem. O presente trabalho segue esta tendência, na medida em que tem como objetivo comprovar a eficácia de técnicas de abordagem lexical no desenvolvimento da competência lexical dos aprendizes do inglês como língua estrangeira. O método de abordagem utilizado foi o hipotético-dedutivo. Na pesquisa ação desenvolvida, os grupos foram selecionados por nível de proficiência. O tratamento estatístico aplicado foi o projeto antes-depois com grupo de controle. A análise por comparação quantitativa e qualitativa, em diferentes estágios da pesquisa, revelou resultado positivo, apontando um desenvolvimento da competência lexical dos aprendizes, por meio da diminuição do número de erros de ordem lexical cometidos ? em três das quatro variáveis pesquisadas ? e por conscientização dos alunos da existência e importância das preferências colocacionais no desenvolvimento de suas competências lexicais. O trabalho, no entanto, ao invés de conclusivo, abre uma perspectiva de se ampliar os estudos sobre o tema, privilegiando o ensino e aprendizagem de 2ª língua? inglês. / Salvador

A Abordagem Lexical (LEWIS, 1993) se distingue por conferir ao léxico a posição de elemento central no processo de ensino-aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira. É constituída por princípios que propõem reavaliar a importância do léxico e o tipo de tratamento dado a esse elemento pelos professores e aprendizes durante o processo de aprendizagem da língua-alvo. De fato, esse elemento da língua tem um alto valor, uma vez que perpassa as quatro habilidades linguísticas, configurando-se em fator determinante para a comunicação. No entanto, a complexa natureza multifacetada das palavras e a realidade fluida do léxico dificulta a aprendizagem, acarretando em defasagem da competência lexical. O objetivo desta pesquisa é verificar as contribuições do ensino sistematizado e explícito de vocabulário norteado pelos princípios da Abordagem Lexical para a aprendizagem do léxico em língua japonesa, a curto e longo prazo, tanto quantitativamente quanto qualitativamente. Buscamos averiguar se complementar a aquisição incidental com o ensino sistematizado e explícito do léxico norteado pelos princípios da Abordagem Lexical contribui para o desenvolvimento da competência lexical do aprendiz de língua japonesa. Se sim, de que forma e em que medida? Trata-se de uma pesquisa empírica, de natureza aplicada, descritiva, com abordagem quantitativa e delineamento quase-experimental. Para responder ao problema de pesquisa, realizou-se um experimento com duas turmas do sexto ano do Ensino Fundamental II de uma escola particular da região da Grande São Paulo. Um grupo de participantes compôs o grupo experimental e outro o grupo controle. Elaborou-se uma sequência didática desenvolvida nos dois grupos, com a adição de quatro intervenções pedagógicas elaboradas com base nos princípios da Abordagem Lexical apenas no grupo experimental, sendo elas: a) uma aula sobre o conceito de chunks e outra sobre os tipos de itens lexicais; b) exercícios complementares com foco lexical; c) atividades complementares com foco lexical; e d) elaboração de um caderno lexical. Logo após o término da sequência didática e trinta dias depois, os participantes de ambas os grupos responderam ao teste VKS (Vocabulary Knowledge Scale) (WESCHE; PARIBAKHT, 1993). Os dados coletados passaram por um tratamento estatístico e foram analisados descritivamente. Realizou-se também uma análise das respostas escritas, visando identificar evidências de um possível efeito das intervenções pedagógicas no desempenho dos aprendizes. Os resultados das análises indicaram que o grupo experimental teve um desempenho superior ao grupo controle. Com base nisso, concluiu-se que o ensino sistematizado e explícito norteado pelos princípios da Abordagem Lexical contribuiu para o desenvolvimento da competência lexical do aprendiz de língua japonesa no contexto de ensino contemplado nesta pesquisa. / The Lexical Approach (LEWIS, 1993) is distinguished by giving the lexicon the central element position in the teaching and learning process of a foreign language. It consists of principles that propose to reevaluate the importance of the lexicon and the type of treatment given to this element by teachers and learners during the process of learning the target language. In fact, this element of the language is important, since it pass through the four linguistic abilities, being configured in determinant factor for the communication. However, the complex multifaceted nature of words and the fluid reality of the lexicon make learning difficult, resulting in a lag of lexical competence. The aim of this research is to verify the contributions of systematized and explicit vocabulary teaching guided by the principles of the Lexical Approach to lexical learning in Japanese, in the short and long term, both quantitatively and qualitatively. We seek to ascertain whether complementing the incidental acquisition with the systematized and explicit teaching of the lexicon guided by the principles of the Lexical Approach contributes to the development of the lexical competence of the Japanese language learner. If so, how and to what extent? It is an empirical research of applied nature, descriptive, with quantitative approach and quasi-experimental design. In order to answer the research problem, an experiment was carried out with two classes of the sixth grade of Elementary School II of a private school in the region of Greater São Paulo. One group of participants was the experimental group and the another was the control group. A didactic sequence developed in both groups was elaborated, with the addition of four pedagogical interventions elaborated based on the principles of the Lexical Approach only in the experimental group, which were: a) a class on the concept of chunks and another on the types of lexical items; b) complementary exercises with lexical focus; c) complementary activities with lexical focus; and d) development of a lexical notebook. Shortly after the end of the didactic sequence and thirty days later, participants in both groups responded to the VKS (Vocabulary Knowledge Scale) test (WESCHE; PARIBAKHT, 1993). The data collected underwent to a statistical treatment and were analyzed descriptively an analysis of written responses was also carried out to identify evidence of a possible effect of pedagogical interventions on the performance of learners. The results of the analyzes indicated that the experimental group performed better than the control group. Based on this, it was concluded that systematized and explicit teaching guided by the principles of the Lexical Approach contributed to the development of lexical competence of the Japanese language learner in the context of teaching contemplated in this research.

Le commentaire d’enregistrement à l’écrit mobilise de nombreuses compétences liées à la perception et à la rédaction. Ce travail, conçu avec la volonté d’un rapprochement interdisciplinaire, tente de montrer l’influence de la révision autonome de l’écrit ainsi que celle des œuvres écoutées sur des textes d’élèves de troisième. Les bases théoriques sont celles de la psychologie de l’audition et de la linguistique. L’effet dominant de la maîtrise de la langue s’estompe à la faveur d’une description systématique et globale du vocabulaire recueilli. Cette thèse rassemble des outils d’analyse de contenu originaux élaborés en fonction du corpus. Les apports sont donc essentiellement d’ordre méthodologique. Les indicateurs retenus permettent d’évaluer les écarts de densité informative selon l’œuvre écoutée et selon le rang d’écriture du commentaire. La synthèse des résultats montre les possibilités de détermination d’une typologie des écrits et révèle certains aspects stylistiques et formels des œuvres supports par l’observation raisonnée des zones d’intensification lexicale. / Writing a commentary after a listening exercise mobilizes several skills linked to perception and drafting. This thesis, aiming at an interdisciplinary approach, attempts to describe the influence of autonomous revision and of the piece of music heard on commentaries written by pupils in the fourth form. Its theoretical foundations are found in audition psychology and linguistics. The primary role attributed to language skills gives way to a systematic and holistic description of the compiled vocabulary. For this thesis, original content analysis tools have been designed, based on the corpus. Its contribution is thus essentially methodological. The selected indicators enable us to assess the disparities in informative density according to the piece heard and the drafting register of the commentary. Based on a synthesis of the results obtained, it is thus possible to establish a typology of written commentaries and bring to light some stylistic and formal aspects of the selected pieces of music through a reasoned analysis of lexical intensification areas.

This thesis deals with the development of reading comprehension in English language which is considered essential in the study and professional life. Its aim is to design practical activities based on reading articles from the Bridge magazine, to develop reading skills in learners on level B1 of CEFR. Theoretical parts of discussion reflect the need of the teacher to perceive different texts and the importance of the press for developing reading abilities in his/her everyday life to be able to develop pupils' abilities. It gives information about reading comprehension of pupils in their mother tongue, including international context. In developing reading skills in English as a second language, skills are specified and difficulties named. The method for my practical part is the lexical approach that was developed by Michael Lewis and Jane & Dave Willis, based on teaching chunks. In order to develop reading competence, work with dictionary material is developed that should be understood as an integral part for developing autonomic skills, continued by reading with prosody and finally making operations with meaningful chunks. Activities such as reading aloud and making operations with meanings proved effective. Making notes turned ineffective. KEYWORDS reading in english, competence, magazine...

Assuming that post-lexical processes significantly affect the English spoken language when in connected speech, and that this is one of the main reasons why students of English as a foreign language find listening comprehension so difficult to cope with, this study aims to find out the main processes concerning phrasal phonology that render spoken language so different from the written one. Drawing on these findings, it investigates the connection between listening comprehension and the teaching of pronunciation using a top-down approach, that is to say, starting from the whole picture, and based on the organization of the language in chunks in the fluidity of speech. This is an action-research, conducted with two groups of upper-intermediate students during one semester. It is based on the assumption that by raising students‟ awareness of post-lexical processes, with the support of the Lexical Approach which encourages teaching language in chunks, teachers can enable students to be better listeners. One of the groups did pronunciation awareness raising exercises whereas the other one only followed the coursebook. Students‟ listening abilities were tested using the Cambridge FCE Listening test, at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. At the end of the semester, the comparison of both groups‟ performance in the FCE listening test showed that the group who had been explicitly taught phrasal phonology developed their listening comprehension skills considerably, outperforming the other group. The results point to the importance of teaching pronunciation to develop listening comprehension. / Partindo do pressuposto de que processos pós-lexicais afetam significativamente o inglês oral na fala fluente, e que esta é uma das principais razões que fazem com que alunos de inglês como língua estrangeira considerem a compreensão oral tão difícil, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo identificar os principais processos que fazem a língua falada ser tão diferente da escrita. Partindo dessa diferença, foram investigadas as conexões entre compreensão oral e ensino de pronúncia, usando-se uma abordagem holística, ou seja, começando de uma visão geral, da organização da língua em blocos na fluidez da fala. Esta é uma pesquisa-ação efetuada com dois grupos de alunos de nível intermediário superior durante um semestre, e está baseada na tese que chamando a atenção dos alunos para processos pós-lexicais, com o suporte da abordagem lexical (o ensino da língua em blocos), poderemos ajudá-los a desenvolver sua compreensão oral. Um dos grupos trabalhou com exercícios de pronúncia enquanto o outro somente com o livro didático. A capacidade de compreensão oral destes alunos foi testada no começo e no final da pesquisa, através do teste de FCE da Universidade de Cambridge. No final do semestre, comparados os resultados de ambos os grupos nesse teste, verificamos que o grupo que recebeu instrução explícita de fonologia frasal apresentou uma melhora significativa na compreensão oral, superando o outro grupo. Os resultados apontam para a importância do ensino de pronúncia para desenvolvimento da compreensão oral.

Работа посвящена теоретическому обоснованию, разработке и экспериментальной проверке методики формирования англоязычной лексической компетенции средствами динамического оценивания. В первой части работы рассматриваются теоретические вопросы методики обучения английской лексике, исследуются современные методы оценивания уровня лексической компетенции учащихся. Особое внимание уделяется методике, базирующейся на применении динамического оценивания при обучении иностранному языку в целом, и лексике в частности. Во второй части работы описывается эксперимент, целью которого является исследование влияния динамического оценивания на усвоение новых слов при обучении лексике английского языка. Для проверки эффективности разработанной методики в работе проводится сравнение результатов применения двух разных методик: традиционной (в контрольной группе) и разработанной (в экспериментальной группе). Для проведения обучения в экспериментальной группе была разработана и применена специальная процедура динамического оценивания, включающая пять шагов, применяемых в строго определенной последовательности, чтобы соответствовать концепции «зоны ближайшего развития» Выготского. В качестве инструмента для отбора и проверки качества усвоения новой лексики в работе используется тест, базирующийся на применении шкалы Vocabulary knowledge scale (VKS) (5-ти уровневая шкала, позволяющая измерить степень знания слова). Для обработки полученных результатов применяются статистические методы. Полученные в ходе эксперимента результаты показали, что применение динамического оценивания действительно оказывает положительное влияние на усвоение новых слов при обучении лексике английского языка и способствует развитию способностей к наиболее эффективному усвоению материала обучающимися. Результаты проведенного исследования могут помочь в разработке эффективных методик преподавания английской языка, в частности, применения мнемотехники для запоминания активной английской лексики. / The paper considers theoretical foundation, development and experimental application of the methodology of English lexical competence formation by means of dynamic assessment. The first part of the paper deals with theoretical issues of English vocabulary teaching and investigates modern methods of assessing lexical competence of students. Emphasis is placed on the methodology based on the use of dynamic assessment in teaching a foreign language in general, and vocabulary in particular. The second part of the work describes the experiment aimed at studying the effect of dynamic assessment on the assimilation of new words while learning English vocabulary. To test the effectiveness of the developed methodology, the work compares the results of the application of two different methods: traditional (in the control group) and dynamic (in the experimental group). To conduct training in the experimental group, a special dynamic assessment procedure was developed and applied, which includes five steps, applied in a strictly defined sequence in order to correspond to the concept of Vygotsky's "Zone of proximal development". The Vocabulary knowledge scale (VKS) (5-level scale, allowing to measure the degree of knowledge of the word) test is used as a tool for selecting and testing the quality of mastering the new vocabulary. Statistical methods are used to process the results. The results of the experiment demonstrated positive effect of application of dynamic assessment on the assimilation of new words when teaching English vocabulary. Dynamic assessment contributes to the development of the ability to most effectively assimilate the material by students. The results of the study can help to develop effective methods of teaching English, for example, the use of mnemonic techniques to memorize active English vocabulary.