published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

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

Language teachers have multiple responsibilities in that they teach a subject which fits into the framework of the school curriculum as well as being the medium through which the majority of that school curriculum is taught. Literacy is also a requirement for the citizenry of the country to function effectively in our society. A further responsibility which is not always perceived is that language has power in that it is often the medium through which social, political and economic discourse occurs. Critical theory contends that competing ideologies seek to make their discourses dominant and in this way have control over relations of power in society. Consequently, language education is the means by which we can educate young people about these ‘discourses of domination’. The focus of this study is teachers and the language assessments which they produce. Are these language assessments simple testing devices intended to gauge learners recall and understanding of the content of the text or can they go deeper than that? Can teachers engage with their learners on a Critical level to understand where texts come from and who created them and what was their purpose in creating them? These questions are in line with Critical literacy, so as to understand power relations in society and to mitigate against the domination of a particular ideology. To merely analyse assessments would be insufficient thus this study goes further to try to understand how teachers’ personal paradigms impact on the assessments which they produce. The purpose here is to gain some understanding of whether or not teachers want to and are able to educate learners about more than just the content of the texts which are taught in the language classroom. This is achieved through the analysis of language assessments and then by semi-structured interviews with the producers of these assessments. The data achieved from this mixed method research is analysed through the lens of Critical Language Testing with the intention of trying to determine if the assessments produced, come from individuals who are concerned with social justice and equality; individuals who are aware of social, political and economic discourses in society among other. The study also sought to determine if these are reflexive individuals who are also ethical in their approach to language teaching and assessment. The thesis attempts to achieve these aims whilst always maintaining a self critical view point. This is done by engaging with the premises which underpin this research and trying to understand the motivations for this research. By attempting to deconstruct my own personal bias and ideological underpinnings the hope is to achieve a study which fairly represents how teachers assess language in the classroom. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-173). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 95-108).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1981. / Also available in print.

Thesis (doctoral)--University of Helsinki, 1989. / Added t.p., with thesis statement, inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-171).

Thesis (MEd (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / Language is foundational to issues of belonging in contemporary South Africa. The country’s colonial and apartheid history facilitated the differential development and privileging of particular languages alongside the project of racial capitalism (Alexander, 1989). Educational arrangements were affected by these developments because of how black South Africans were economically and socially limited by rudimentary exposure to the primary languages of access (English and Afrikaans). This study argues that this history is what currently influences the movement of black South Africans into the schools they were historically excluded from in former coloured, Indian and white areas, and further that this movement is also encouraged by the promise of greater access to and development in the English language (Fataar, 2015). It suggests that the persisting status of English as lingua franca across state, educational and cultural communications and products requires teaching that is sensitive to the historical relationship of the language to the underdevelopment and undervaluation of local linguistic forms. Moreover, the subject English and its embedded values and norms (included in the compulsory texts and textbook) is a critical area of enquiry for thinking through issues of social cohesion and belonging. Through case studies of three Cape Town teachers, this study argues that a range of influences affect how language and meaning are constructed in English classrooms, and that learners experience these influences to their own identities in different and often conflicting ways.

M.A. (Applied Linguistics) / The South African English Academy requested that an investigation be undertaken on the feasibility of producing a battery of English proficiency tests in the four modes (listening, speaking, reading and writing) which are free of ethnic labels. For the purpose of this study the aural and oral modes will be developed first as these are the two modes from which language arises. These tests are intended to be universal language tests which will be appropriate for both English first and second language learners. They will be undertaken with mother tongue standards as the first point of departure. It is proposed that mother tongue speakers represent the "universal" standard to which second language speakers aspire, although we are fully aware that native speakers show considerable variation in ability. First language norms will be taken as the norm of performance for this study because it assumed that this is what most second language learners would aspire to. This study will attempt to provide a valid and reliable measuring instrument to facilitate the correct placement of pupils in schools where English is the medium of instruction. Of particular importance is the fact that these are not tests of absolute competence, but are tests of progressive competence. No pupil is a failure, the pupils performance is measured on a continuum of six levels in the senior primary phase. This will enable the teacher to assist each pupil to progress at his own pace according to his own ability. There is a very definite need for performance tests in English since tests of communicative competence in English that are "universal in nature" are not available in South Africa. A standardised test battery aimed at measuring the language proficiency (of the heterogeneous population at the senior primary level) across all four language modes, does not exist in South Africa. The problem is to .develop tests with tasks at the appropriate level for a heterogeneous population and produce evidence regarding their validity. Although subjective and objective assessment methods are commonly used, the merits of the one method as opposed to the other are still debated. The importance of investigating the relationship between the multiple-choice aural test (by means of objective and indirect assessment) and the productive oral test (by means of subjective and direct assessment) cannot be underestimated.

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