Research has shown that English-speaking adults tend to give response associates of the same grammatical and semantic class as the stimulus word on a word-association test, whereas children typically do not, instead responding syntactically (Thumb and Marbe, 1901; Esper, 1918; Deese, 1962; Fillenbaum and Jones, 1965; Entwisle, 1966). This pattern of responding seems to hold for many languages, including French, Italian, Spanish, Polish and German. This shift from syntactic responding to same form-class responding is often referred to as the syntagmatic-paradigmatic shift. Moran and Murakawa (1968) and Moran (1973) found that Japanese adults responding in Japanese to word-association stimuli respond syntactically, that is, they seem not to experience the S-P shift. Two main hypotheses were tested. 1. That Japanese adults beginning to learn English would give predominantly syntagmatic responses to nouns, verbs, and adjectives in English, and thus differ significantly from native-English speakers. 2. That advanced Japanese students of English would give fewer syntagmatic responses in English than the beginner group and more closely parallel native-English speakers. Two subsidiary hypotheses tested were: 3. That the absolute count of responses to stimuli would correlate with scores obtained on a test of language proficiency by the Japanese subjects. 4. That the primary responses of the Japanese advanced group would more closely resemble the native-English responses than would those of the Japanese beginners. A timed multiple-response free-word association test comprising eight nouns, eight verbs, and eight adjectives was administered to forty adult native-English university students and forty-seven Japanese ESL students. The Japanese students were also given the University of British Columbia Language Institute Placement test. On the basis of the results of this language test, the top fifteen scorers were assigned to the Japanese advanced group, while the bottom fifteen scorers were assigned to the Japanese beginner group. The scores correlated well with the language instructor's own tests of language ability. The word-association tests were scored by two independent markers, and mean paradigmatic response tables were compiled. Analyses of variance and Pearson's product moment correlations were performed on the appropriate data. Results partially supported the hypothesis that Japanese beginners would respond syntagmatically to nouns, adjectives and verbs. Because this group responded paradigmatically to nouns the conclusion reached was that they were paralleling native-English-speaker development. There was no statistically significant difference in paradigmatic responding between the native-English group and the Japanese advanced group, the conclusion being that the more fluent a foreign student becomes in English, the more paradigmatic responses will be given. The absolute count of responses correlated overall with scores on the language test, but in isolation the Japanese beginner group responses did not correlate with the language-test score. It was thought that the reason for the non-correlation was a sampling error. The total frequency of the three most frequent responses for nouns was identical between the Japanese groups, but for all form-classes the Japanese advanced group was much closer to the native-English group. This convergence of commonality is taken as evidence that idiodynamic sets are constrained by the language being used. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

D.Litt. et Phil. / The main concern of this thesis is language for academic purposes, a sub-division of language for special purposes, as applied to the course Voorbereidende Afrikaans at the Rand Afrikaans University. The first problem to overcome was that of designing a test for the selection and classification of students into three classes: those who would not gain entrance into the University; those who would be compelled to do the course and those who would be exempted from the course. Based on the insights gained from literature, the doze test, combined with a paragraph was decided upon as the best instrument for measuring the students' language proficiency, this being the desired outcome of such a test. All the restrictions and limitations inherent in the idiosyncratic circumstances surrounding the test were taken into consideration and the doze test was found to be best suited to the situation and the academic requirements. Various models of language teaching were discussed and the conclusion was reached that the approach best suited to the course would be an eclectic approach including elements of the functional-notional syllabus, the communicative approach and Krashen's Input Hypothesis, using an interactive, task-based methodology. Studies indicated that such a course should also include study skills in order to equip students for academic study. A needs analysis, using Richterich and Chancerel's (1977) model, was done and the greatest need was found to be in the areas of listening comprehension and the acquisition of vocabulary. From the results of the tests there also appears to be a need to pay attention to syntax in general. A number of comparable courses were studied to find possible models upon which such a course could be based and many useful ideas were gleaned, which lead to the compilation of a syllabus for Voorbereidende Afrikaans.

D.Ed. (Didactic Education) / The main problem regarding the teaching of Afrikaans First Language was pinpointed as being a largely unscientific realisation of the particular subject curriculum and syllabus. This implies that a complete and systematic restructuring of the curriculum should be done, because it would be the only way in which the particular subject curriculum could be realised in a scientific way. The method of research used was the phenomenological method whilst various means were introduced to support the research, inter alia correspondence with the various Provincial Education Departments and a literature study. It became apparent that two very important phenomena were related to the teaching of the child's mother tongue, namely language and school. It was therefore necessary to make an in depth study of both phenomena, and the researcher came to the following conclusions: * Language is essentially a characteristic of being human. * Language is a very important medium through which man constitutes his own world. * The mother tongue is the medium par excellence through which man constitutes his own world. * The school's primary task is that of intellectualising the pupil (rationalisation), whilst the general forming of the pupil (for example socialisation) also forms part of the task of the school. The above mentioned research is a necessary base for any attempt to address the particular problem, namely the structuringof the mother tongue (Afrikaans) into a school subject. Further grounding includes a discussion of the role of values in the teaching of the mother tongue and the explication of the formative value of the mother tongue. Futhermore: In structuring the mother tongue into a school subject, one should adhere to the so called curriculum cycle. For the purpose of this research the parameters for any explicit situation-analysis were concentrated on, while attention was given to the concepts objectives and goals and, very briefly, the other aspects of the curriculum cycle. This research does not claim to make full and final statements regarding the mother tongue as a school subject, but only tries to formulate a basis as parameters for further research.

D.Phil. (Curriculum Studies) / The three-year long study (2008-2010) highlights the conceptual and practical challenges in providing professional teacher development that is research-driven. It aimed to develop teachers‟ understanding of how they could use their individual interpretation and translation of the concepts and underlying principles of the content they were teaching as a resource or foundation for their own professional development. The study involved three schools in the North West province of South Africa. It investigated a research approach that was used with English First Additional language (EFAL) teachers (N=9) to initiate a self-driven professional development model. The study adopted a participatory action research (PAR) approach to elicit the teachers‟ voices about their teaching and experience of the research process. Classroom observations, stimulated recall discussions and focus groups were employed. While teachers were interested in the research process they still indicated difficulties in engaging in a self-reflective process that required them to problematise their taken-for-granted professional beliefs and practices. The finding amongst others is that teachers could not refer directly to the theories on additional bilingualism that ought to have informed their teaching unless researchers engaged them in deliberations that were not self-sacrificing or professionally threatening. For them to be willing to reveal tacit beliefs and values and expose themselves in a process of self-explanation requires „empathetic neutrality‟ from researchers. Consequently, to understand how teachers experience and understand their teaching the study had to adopt a broader view of competence that was not restricted to their practice. The argument in the study is that the type of competence that would be consistent with the logic of the Revsed National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) is an integrated/complex model of competence, underpinned by excellence and rational decision-making and based on moral and ethical values The school-based study provided teachers with a platform in which their voices and practices witnessed were meaningful resources for their professional development. It highlights a strategy that may be useful for promoting self-initiated professional development.

M.A (Linguistics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Orientadora: Luciane de Paula / Banca: Odilon Helou Fleury Curado / Banca: Dantielli Assumpção Garcia / Resumo: Esta dissertação pensa a respeito do embate de vozes que existe no interior da escola, entre os discursos que representam a tradição escolar ou a força ideológica dominante e os discursos de resistência, entendidos como as vozes dos estudantes dentro deste processo dialético e dialógico, a partir do estudo de caso, em uma turma de 6º. ano, em uma escola estadual, da cidade de Tarumã/SP. Deste embate, o que se observa é um processo de apagamento da voz do aluno, um silenciamento gerado pela predominância da voz sistêmica e dominante, reproduzida pelo professor em sala de aula. Frente a este contexto, encontramos no poetry slam um espaço em que o aluno pode proferir os seus discursos, de acordo com suas idiossincrasias, reconhecendo que a escola também é o lugar da livre reflexão, da pluralidade de pensamento e da arte. Desse modo, neste trabalho buscamos (i) observar como se dá o embate de vozes dentro da escola e analisar como os jovens estudantes colocam-se frente a uma situação escolar em que são convidados a expressarem sua voz; (ii) estimular a escrita de enunciados autorais, de cunho poético-literário, reconhecendo o estudante também como sujeito autor; (iii) proporcionar ao aluno um contexto real de produção, circulação e apreciação estética de enunciados. A partir das atividades desenvolvidas por meio do poetry slam ou batalha de poesia, também analisamos de que maneira os discursos dos alunos foram arquitetados em suas poesias, com relação ao conteúdo temático, forma... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The concerning of this dissertation is think about the clash of voices that exists inside the school, between the discourses that represent the school tradition or within the dominant ideological strength. That voices can be seen as resistance discourses, understood as voice of students within this dialectical and dialogical process, from of a case study, in a class of 6° year, in a State School, at the city of Tarumã / SP. From this clash of voices, what is observed is a process of erasing the student's voice, a silencing generated by the predominance of the systemic and dominant voice, reproduced by the teacher in the classroom. Against this background, we find in poetry slam a space in which the student can utter his speeches, according to his idiosyncrasies, recognizing that the school is also the place of free reflection, plurality of thought and art. Thus, in this work we seek to (i) observe how the clash of voices within the school occurs and analyze how young students put themselves in front of a school situation in which they are invited to express their voice; (ii) stimulate the writing and production of authorial poetic-literary utterances, recognizing the student also as subject author; (iii) provide the student a real context of production, circulation and aesthetic appreciation of this kind of utterance. From the activities developed through the poetry slam or battle of poetry, we also analyze how the students' discourses were architected in their poetry, in relation to the thematic content, compositional form and style. We base our analysis on Bakhtin's circle studies, from the dialectical-dialogical perspective of discourse analysis. Conceptions of discursive genres, social voice, ideology, responsiveness and aesthetics are discussed, mainly to think about public Portuguese-language teaching and how this teaching can reinforce... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Orientador: Assunção Aparecida Laia Cristovão / Banca: Ana Carolina Sperança Criscuolo / Banca: Ana Lúcia Furquim Campos Toscano / Resumo: O presente trabalho objetivou aplicar uma sequência de atividades com foco no gênero discursivo entrevista, que é visto de maneira superficial no Currículo do Estado de São Paulo do Ensino Fundamental, apenas como subsídio para o gênero reportagem. Por isso a proposta foi ampliar e inovar o currículo por meio do desenvolvimento de um projeto de letramento, aplicado, através de uma sequência didática, atividades organizadas e dirigidas para análise do gênero, culminando em uma entrevista com interlocutores reais em um contexto real de comunicação, possibilitando, assim, que a aprendizagem ocorresse através do processo e não apenas do resultado. Para tanto, o projeto propôs aos alunos do 7º ano de uma escola pública estadual de Ourinhos-SP uma visita ao lar de idosos da cidade para uma entrevista, possibilitando, através da prática, compreender a função social do gênero em estudo e, dessa forma, tornar mais significativo e atrativo o processo de ensino-aprendizagem por meio de gêneros discursivos. Observou-se, pois, que os projetos de letramento são alternativas produtivas, uma vez que trabalham a língua materna com vistas ao social, conectando o ensino escolar à prática e desenvolvendo habilidades de leitura e escrita para a vida e a cidadania; de modo que a escola, principal agência de letramento, por meio de seus professores e estratégias responsivas, tenha papel fundamental na formação social do aluno. Os pressupostos teóricos que sustentam essa investigação baseiam-se em e... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The present work aimed to apply a sequence of activities focused on the discursive genre interview, which is seen in a superficial way in the State of São Paulo Curriculum of Elementary School, only as a subsidy for the genre reporting. Therefore, the proposal was to expand and innovate the curriculum through the development of a literacy project, applied through a didactic sequence, organized activities and directed to gender analysis, culminating in an interview with real interlocutors in a real context of communication, thus enabling learning to occur through the process and not just the result. To this end, the project proposed to the students of the 7th year of a state public school in Ourinhos-SP a visit to the nursing home of the city for an interview, making possible, through the practice, to understand the social function of the study genre and, in this way, to make the teaching-learning process more meaningful and attractive through discursive genres. It was observed, therefore, that literacy projects are productive alternatives, since they work in the mother tongue with a view to the social, connecting school teaching to practice and developing reading and writing skills for life and citizenship; so that the school, the main literacy agency, through its teachers and responsive strategies, plays a fundamental role in the social formation of the student. The theoretical assumptions that support this research are based on studies on literacies (Kleiman, 1995, Soares, 1998, Mortatti, 2004, Street, 2014). in the work with the pedagogy of projects (Dewey, 1947, apud Cunha, 2011) and in the theory on discursive genres (Bakhtin, 2016 and Fiorin, 2017). The development of this study was based on the methodological approach of the qualitative research, and since it comprises a practical par... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

For more than half a century, education researchers have strived to understand, accommodate, and promote diversity in primary and secondary classrooms, generating a wealth of insightful research in the process. However, issues of diversity in the adult second language classroom remain under-explored. Given the recent rise in immigration around the world and the accompanying increase in xenophobia and fear, it is crucial that we closely examine how language teachers attend to issues of sociocultural diversity while working with highly diverse immigrant and international student populations. This study addresses the existing research gap by offering a microanalytic explorations of teachers’ practices for working with diversity in adult second language classrooms. Specifically, I examine how remarks that undermine diversity and discussions on issues of diversity are managed in situ. My data consist of 55 hours of video-recorded adult English as a second language (ESL) classes at a community language program in the Northeastern United States. The participants were four ESL teachers and their 39 students from 17 different countries. The data were transcribed and analyzed in minute detail within the conversation analytic and membership categorization analytic (M/CA) frameworks. Findings show that remarks that undermine diversity are both condoned and problematized in these classrooms. Although by condoning improper remarks the teachers might have inadvertently reinforced potentially harmful stereotypes and prejudices, they also helped promote a sense of appreciation, like-mindedness, and solidarity. On the other hand, by problematizing students’ potentially improper remarks, teachers created a space for various sociocultural views and experiences to be voiced, even as they ultimately promoted their own perspectives on issues of sociocultural diversity. Teachers’ practices for managing discussions on diversity were examined in a single case of a teacher initiating, extending, and terminating a discussion on a potentially sensitive topic of gender inclusivity. The analysis shows that the teacher fostered student participation by oscillating between neutral and value-laden statements on the topic at hand, increasingly resting gender inclusivity as he reinforced gender conformity. Findings contribute to research on diversity in education and on managing “socially sensitive” talk in the (language) classroom, as well as to critically “motivated” M/CA research.

While much research on teaching has focused on what teachers know, less attention has been devoted to understanding what they actually do. This empirical absence can be felt in particular in the adult English as a Second Language (ESL) instructional context, despite the continued growth of the U.S. immigrant population. The current study addresses this gap by examining discursive practices employed by experienced teachers as they manage multiple demands in the adult ESL classroom. Data include over 25 hours of video-recordings and transcripts of interaction in four intact classes taught by four instructors at two sites: an academic ESL program, housed at a community college, and a community-based ESL program, housed at a school of education. Microanalysis of teacher-student interaction, conducted within the framework of (multimodal) conversation analysis, uncovered three teacher practices for managing multiple demands. The first, voicing the student perspective, entails the teacher verbalizing how students (may) perceive or experience a pedagogic topic or task; the topic/task is framed in a way that acknowledges its difficulty or problematizes students’ engagement with it. By employing this practice, teachers simultaneously affiliate with the (potential) student perspective while preparing students for explanations of challenging topics or recruiting their participation. The second practice, binding student contributions, entails marking connections, verbally and/or non-verbally, between one student contribution and teacher explanation or the contributions or identities of other students. Through binding, the teacher displays responsiveness to individual contributions while promoting the engagement of (other individuals in) the class. The third practice, resource splitting, entails the use of verbal and embodied resources to simultaneously pursue different courses of action within a single turn, or the use of different embodied resources to do so. By “splitting” semiotic resources, the teacher can accomplish two actions at the same time: align as a recipient and validate one contribution while managing turn-taking or pursuing topic/task shifts. By providing empirically-grounded and fine-grained descriptions of actual teacher practices, this study contributes to explicating how the complex work of teaching is accomplished. Findings bring specificity to the conversation on what constitutes skillful teaching and may benefit teacher educators and novice (ESL) teachers.

Literacy in the 21st century is not confined to communication based on reading and writing only print texts. New literacies include multimedia projects and multimodal texts, which include visual, audio, and technological elements to produce all types of products. The writing classroom, in particular, should reflect these social and technological changes in communication. It is critical for writing teachers to understand that literacies are historically, socially, culturally, and developmentally situated and to adapt as they change. By teaching multimodal composition, they may help students learn about effective writing that can appeal to various audiences and serve specific practical purposes and specific real-world contexts. The theoretical background of the study is a social semiotic theory that concerns how people communicate using semiotic resources in a particular setting. The semiotic resources, which are actions, artifacts, and materials, are not fixed but are transformed by the sign-makers' choices. Aligned with this social semiotic theory, multimodal composition draws on diverse semiotic resources such as image, music, actions, and so forth. The use of these resources is always influenced not only by personal interests but also by interpersonal and institutional power relations. Teaching multimodal composition is a response to needs in an age of digital communication and to changing semiotic environments. The purpose of the dissertation is to determine how Korean secondary English teachers understand and assess multimodal composition in the era of new communication. Framing the study are questions that ask teachers what they think and say about teaching and assessing multimodal compostion in their writing classrooms, and about barriers or challenges to their doing so. Korean secondary English teachers working for public schools in metropolitan areas were recruited for this multiple case study to examine their attitudes toward and understanding of multimodal composition in the test-oriented culture of Korea. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were conducted, and documents were collected to triangulate interview findings. South Korea is chosen as the research site because schools most prioritize high-stakes standardized tests, and teachers (also students and parents) gauge success by test scores. As a result, teachers primarily rely on direct instructions via lecture to provide skills and knowledge to ensure that students will succeed in the high-stakes tests. However, ongoing technology outside of school has transformed ways young people generate, communicate, and negotiate meanings via diverse texts. If the primary goal of education is to teach students life-long skills needed in society, it is a responsibility that the schools and teachers recognize social changes and promote individual learning needs. Therefore, this study explores teaching and assessing practices in the context of Korean English classrooms and suggests a new direction reflecting social changes and changing student needs for the era of new communications. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Teacher Education in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 14, 2015. / literacies, multimodal composition, teacher perception, writing / Includes bibliographical references. / George Boggs, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Pamela Sissi Carroll, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Alysia Roehrig, University Representative; Barbara Foorman, Committee Member; Kathy Froelich, Committee Member; Shelbie Witte, Committee Member.