No description available.

This quasi-experimental study was designed to investigate the effects of negative feedback on second language acquisition and to determine the potential benefits of two different negative feedback techniques, namely recasts and elicitation. The research hypotheses were: 1) Learners who are exposed to communicative activities that include a NF component will benefit more than those who are exposed to communicative activities only; 2) Elicitation will be more effective than recasts in leading to L2 development; 3) Elicitation will be more effective than recasts for both low and high proficiency learners.

No description available.

No description available.

This small scale case study focused on the difficulties experienced by the six Grade seven learners from a selected township school when they were writing their English homework. Literature suggests a gap in findings on the perspectives of learners. The study utilized six Grade seven learners who had failed to complete their English homework which they had been given the previous day by their English language educator. The participants had been given a comprehension test on the previous day that they had started in the classroom and they were expected to finish it at home as their homework. Three boys and three girls were chosen from three different Grade seven sections as participants for the study. The data for this study was obtained by the semi structured interviews. The semi structured interviews were informed by drawings which were used by the learners to help them remember some of the things that they might have forgotten if there were no drawings to broaden responses to the questions. These interviews were conducted in a secluded class to avoid disturbances by the other learners. The interviews took place during one week and they were conducted for thirty minutes after school. A tape recorder was used to record the data which was later to be transcribed and analyzed. This study revealed through its findings that the learners experienced a number of difficulties when they were writing their English homework and as a result they could not finish it. Some of the findings that emerged from this study were amongst others, the lack of space at home to write homework, lack of someone to help with homework, and the house chores that have to be done by the learners when they come back from school. Findings of this study suggest that as English educators we need to give our learners an opportunity to speak out about some of the challenges or difficulties they experience when they are writing their English homework. Moreover, we need to teach our learners to plan their time properly so that they have enough time to write their homework when they come back from school since there are things that they have to do when they come back from school which cannot take a backseat or be done by their parents like the house chores. Finally, findings in this study suggest the importance of the open lines of communication between the parents the educators. This open line of communication could help close the gap that is between the educators and the parents and it can also help everybody understand what is expected from them when it comes to the issuing and the monitoring of schoolwork. This may help the educators communicate with the parents about their children’s homework and what is expected from them. / M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2014.

This thesis has analyzed syntactical errors made in written English by Brazilian-Portuguese-speaking students of English as a foreign language. The errors were analyzed and explained so as to determine whether the students use their native competence in Portuguese or their transitional competence in English in their hypothesizing in the target language. In case they use the former, their performance in the target language most likely shows a great deal of native language interference; in case they use the latter, their errors are mostly based on overgeneralizations, false analogies within English itself, or are caused by insufficient knowledge of the rule system of English, or by simple carelessness.By means f this careful analysis the investigator supported, at least partially, the hypothesis that native language interference, while an important cause, is not the sole cause of error in foreign-language performance, since approximately 57% of the errors were due to the interference of the mother tongue.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe several aspects of English as a second language (ESL) note-taking in response to lectures. The objective of this study was to analyze note-taking production. In addition, the study had hoped to trace note-taking progress as it correlated with language proficiency progress, but due to circumstances beyond the control of the researcher this idea had to be abandoned. Instead, the study focused on the first six weeks of a learner's academic semester in the target language.The researcher observed twenty students in order to obtain insights into the note-taking production of low ESL students in response to lectures. The methods used were: class observation, notebook collection, a two-part questionnaire, and a follow-up questionnaire. It was found that in the first six weeks of academic study, this group of low ESL students had difficulty taking notes due, largely, to language proficiency problems, such as the rate of delivery. Other reasons why the students had difficulties taking notes included their lack of formal training in note-taking and the fact that they were not using special strategies and skills. Thus, all this study can say about note-taking in second language acquisition is that it is difficult for low ESL students. / Department of English

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of this creative project is to provide a manual for French teachers who wish to incorporate a cultural element with emphasis on religion into their course. In preparing these materials, the author has had the Christian school especially in mind.The Christian school movement is developing rapidly in the United States today. These schools along with Catholic parochial schools train a significant segment of our society. Because such schools are Christocentric in philosophy, they require supplementary materials not provided by secular publishers.This Creative Project contains a teacher's manual which is divided into three sections. Each of these sections is developed around the theme of a religious holiday. Teachers aids include prayer forms in French, pertinent Scripture passages, and songs to accompany the theme. The instructor will also find grammar explanations, vocabulary helps, and comments on French customs.There are worksheets and illustrations that can be duplicated and used in the classroom as learning aids. The teacher may also profit from program ideas and other activities designed to stimulate students in the language learning process.This project is aimed at preparing materials that will appeal to young teens and will also be practical for a busy instructor.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.