The present study examined the relationship between children's early literacy-related abilities and their reading achievement in late elementary school in the context of a Puerto Rican community in Massachusetts. The researcher examined four years of student achievement test data from the public elementary schools of Holyoke, Massachusetts. The city's particular sociologic history makes it an interesting and fruitful case for investigating issues around language, culture, and test performance that, while uniquely expressed in Holyoke, share aspects in common with many locales across the United States. The researcher sought to determine the extent to which literacy assessments administered to Hispanic children in Holyoke under Reading First grants and NCLB's high-stakes testing requirements measured the constructs they intended to measure, the value of the testing in terms of its ability to predict the students' performances on the state language arts exam in the fourth grade, and the way that children's English language proficiency may have influenced the measures' predictive ability as well as the students' progress in acquiring age-appropriate literacy abilities. Confirmatory factor analysis techniques were used to assess the construct validity of literacy-related subtests for this sample. Finally, structural equation modeling was utilized to identify and test a model quantifying the relationships between subjects' home language, early decoding ability, reading fluency rate and reading comprehension scores. Results suggest that although students whose home language is Spanish perform more poorly that those whose home language is English on both first and fourth grade reading tests, there was no group difference found in the degree to which the early literacy measures predicted their fourth-grade reading comprehension. A single factor comprised of a variety of first grade reading measures was able to account for 56% of the variance of the students' performance on a reading comprehension state exam in the fourth grade.

In South Africa, the medium-of-instruction (MOI) debate has continued to demand the attention of educators and academics, particularly after the promulgation of the 1997 multilingual language-in-education (LIE) policy and the introduction of the OBE-NCS curriculum in the schools. Using a survey questionnaire, classroom observations and focused interviews, this study aims at establishing how teachers in selected urban and rural high schools in the Mthatha District understand, interpret and implement MOI policies within their practice. It also seeks to establish reasons for implementing the MOI policies in the ways they do. The study utilizes Phillipson’s English Linguistic Imperialism Theory, Brock-Utne’s Qualification Analysis, and Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism to explain the findings. The main findings of the study are that MOI policies are not implemented uniformly in urban and rural contexts or within each context. Learner linguistic profiles, mismatch between a teacher’s home language (HL) and that of his/her learners, the subject being offered, the need to promote understanding of content, teachers’ understandings, misconceptions and beliefs about the role of language in education: all these were found to be factors which may influence a teacher’s language choice during lesson delivery. Generally, teachers endorse the use of English as a language of learning and teaching (LOLT) at high school, together with the learners’ HL. Although some teachers believe that they use English mainly for teaching, indigenous languages are also used extensively, especially in rural and township schools; code-switching, code-mixing, translation, repetition, and township lingo all make the curriculum more accessible to learners. The anomaly is that assessments are conducted only in English, even in contexts in which teaching has been mainly in code-switching mode. An English-only policy was employed in the following situations: in a desegregated urban school; in a rural high school where there was a mismatch between the teacher’s HL and that of his learners; and also in a rural high school where English was offered as a subject. The most cited reasons for using English only as an LOLT were: school language policy, teachers seeing themselves as language role models, the use of English as a LOLT at tertiary level, and past teacher training experiences. The study concludes that the major factors influencing school language policies in a multilingual country such as South Africa are the school context and the teacher and learner profiles. In addition, teaching and assessing learners in languages with which they are familiar, as well as using interactive teaching strategies, would develop learner proficiency, adaptability and creative qualifications, resulting in an improved quality of education. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

This thesis provides a literature review on various topics related to the aims of the research project. In the process of sketching the rationale of this study, the language-in-education policy (LiEP) of South Africa is examined. The reasons why this policy is not successful, is discussed. Emanating from this discussion, the low literacy scores amongst young learners in South Africa are described and possible reasons for this occurrence are cited (Howie, Van Staden, Tshele, Dowse, & Zimmerman, 2012). The hypothesis that perceptual and articulation training of the vowels of English would enhance young English second language (Setswana first language-speaking) learners? awareness of English vowels, is posited and defended by referring to previous research (Moats, 2007; Trehearne, 2011; Seeff-Gabriel, 2003). In addition, it is stated that increased knowledge of the vowel system of English will improve English second language (EL2) learners? literacy skills (Moats, 2007). In order to explain and discuss the results of the investigations into the literacy skills of the EL2 learners participating in this study, the notions of literacy acquisition, phonological awareness skills, and language acquisition and language learning are examined. The main aim of this study is to assess the effects of intervention on the auditory perception and articulatory skills of English second language-speaking (EL2) (Setswana L1-speaking) learners in Grade 3, in the production of the monophthongs and diphthongs of the standard variety of South African English, namely White South African English (WSAfE) (Bekker, 2009). The effects are determined by acoustically comparing the vowel spaces of the participants before and after intervention. Therefore, a discussion of acoustic concepts such as the vowel space and the parameters thereof are provided. In addition, the vowels of WSAfE, those of Black South African English (BSAE), and the vowels of Setswana are discussed and compared according to their acoustic features. The results of this quasi-experimental, comparative study indicate that the vowel spaces of the EL1 and EL2 participants differ markedly before intervention, especially when comparing those of the short and long monophthongs of English. After intervention, the vowel spaces of especially the Experimental group are seen to approximate those of the EL1 participants in the Norm group. Interesting findings concerning the central schwa vowels and the diphthongs were made. These indicate that young EL2 (Setswana L1-speaking) learners do not use BSAE, but use a new? variety of English that is closer to WSAfE (Mesthrie, 2008). Pertaining to the measurable sub-aims of this study, the phonological awareness skills and literacy skills of the participants are assessed and compared, before and after intervention. The improvement of the phonological awareness skills and literacy skills of the Experimental group, as well as the changes in the vowel spaces that are noted for this group, prove the hypothesis that intervention in the form of additional input concerning the English vowels will enhance second language learners? perception and articulation. This strengthens the opinion that second language learners need quality teaching of the sound system of the language of learning and teaching. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / African Languages / DPhil / Unrestricted

The South African Constitution promotes multilingualism while acknowledging the maintenance of home languages. Meanwhile the language-in-education policy (Department of National Education, 1994) declares that every learner has the right to receive education in the language that he/she understands best where this is practicable. According to programme requirements of the Intermediate Phase (Grades 4 6), two official languages must be selected by a learner of which one should be the home language and the other one used as a first additional language. One of these languages will serve as the language of learning (Department of Basic Education: Programme and Promotion Requirements, 2011) This study outlined the challenges that Grade 4 teachers in the monolingual rural area of Niani face when teaching through English. This case study was designed as a qualitative research underpinned by Krashen's theory of second language acquisition (1982), which underlines the importance of interaction. The literature reviewed showed how teachers developed strategies to cope when a second language is used as the medium of instruction in monolingual societies. The participants of the study include six Grade 4 teachers who are mother tongue speakers of Tshivenda and two curriculum advisors of Niani in Limpopo province. Data were collected via classroom observations and interviews in order to establish the challenges teachers face when they switch from using Tshivenda to English once the learners move to Grade 4 and how these teachers cope. The findings indicate that teachers in rural monolingual communities in Niani find it difficult to meet the curriculum demands in terms of the medium of instruction. Grade 3 learners move to Grade 4 with little English vocabulary and this makes teaching problematic. Teachers spend most of their time translating the lessons into Tshivenda, a strategy which further limits both teachers' and learners' English exposure. Teachers too' were found not to be sufficiently proficient in English. The significance of the study relates to the educational issues of rural schools that are ignored by officialdom, including the fact that teachers are not adequately prepared to teach in English. In addition, learners transitioning to the medium of English are not sufficiently supported. Hence, policies need revision and interventions to address linguistic shortcomings of teachers and learners ought to be designed and implemented if English remains the medium of instruction. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted

My experience teaching Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods with biblical sources is quite varied. I have taught both novice and advanced students in full semester courses, week-long summer school sessions, and even shorter eight or sixteen hour block sessions. I have also taught students in both the humanities and in computer science. I will thus organize the following article as a report of these experiences focusing especially on the things that I have done that I believe have worked well and those which I think did not worked so well. I should preface all of these remarks also by saying that the methods I use for teaching NLP are only one way to do it. I have had good results using them and I believe that they work, but I also believe that there are other pedagogical methods that could work equally well for a different instructor in a different context.

Die Arbeit verfolgt die Frage, wie zwei Werkzeuge der Hochschuldidaktik, das Europäische Portfolio für Sprachstudierende in Ausbildung (EPOSA) und der Englischassistent, für die Professionalisierung von zukünftigen Lehrenden an Neuen Mittelschulen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des geänderten Verständnisses von Lehrenden als Lernbegleitern unterstützend eingesetzt werden können. Nach einer Darstellung des theoretischen Rahmens und Positionierung des Themas im Kontext, verfolgt die empirische Arbeit die Beantwortung von 20 Forschungsfragen und Untersuchung von vier Hypothesen, welche mithilfe quantitativer und qualitativer Erhebungs- und Auswertungsverfahren realisiert und an dem Anforderungsprofil für NMS-Lehrer/-innen, sowie den Konstrukten „Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung“, „Motivation“, „Autonomes Lernen“, „Lernklima“ und „Reflexionskompetenz“ orientiert ist. Die Analysen der durch Befragungen, Gruppendiskussionen und Experteninterviews gewonnenen Daten machen Ansatzpunkte und Problemfelder der Verwendung des EPOSA und Englischassistenten sichtbar. Die Ergebnisse zeigen hohe Akzeptanz des EPOSA als Reflexionstool und als Begleiter im kontinuierlichen Professionalisierungsprozess bei den befragten Personen. Große Defizite wurden in den Kompetenzbereichen des „autonomen Lernens“, „Beurteilung“ und „Kulturbewusstsein“ sichtbar gemacht. Dem Englischassistenten wird Potential vorwiegend im Bereich des Diagnosetools und als Hilfsmittel in der „professionellen Lerngemeinschaft“ zugeschrieben. Überarbeitungsbedarf wird in Bezug auf kompetenzorientierte und dem kommunikativen Ansatz folgende Aufgabenstellungen offensichtlich. Zusammenfassende Empfehlungen für die weitere Verwendung und Entwicklung der beiden Werkzeuge, sowie ein Ausblick auf geplante zukünftige Forschungstätigkeit beschließen die Arbeit. / This paper aims to answer the question how the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL) and the “Englischassistant” can assist the process of teacher training perceiving the teacher’s primary role as the one of a “coach” rather than an “instructor”. Following a close description of the theoretical framework and positioning the topic in its context, the empirical work is geared towards finding answers to 20 research questions and verifying four hypotheses. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used and the empirical work was oriented to requirements set in the NMS-teacher-profile and the concepts “Self-efficacy”, “Motivation”, “Independent Learning”, “Learning Climate”and “Reflective Competence”. The analyses of the data collected by means of surveys, group discussions and expert interviews made starting points and problem areas of the use of the EPOSTL and the “Englischassistent” apparent. The results showed wide acceptance of the EPOSTL as a tool to assist both reflective processes as well as life-long learning among the respondents. Deficits in the following areas of competence became obvious: “Independent Learning”, “Assessment” and “Cultural Awareness”. The “Englischassistent” was accredited potential primarily as an assessment tool and as an aid in the “Professional Learning Community”. A better orientation towards the “Communicative Approach” and developing skills was said to be urgently required. The main findings are summarized in a set of recommendations concerning further usage and development of the two tools. Together with a brief description of future research projects it can be found in the final passage of the paper.

In der Praxis der Filmseminare mit Studentinnen und Studenten hat sich gezeigt, dass diese meist nicht über hinreichendes Vorwissen für Filmanalysen verfügen und ihnen auch die Fachbegriffe im Bereich der filmischen Gestaltungsmittel fehlen. Da die Filmanalyse-Seminare allein schon wegen der jedes Universitäts-Zeitraster sprengenden Filmlänge sinnvollerweise als Blockveranstaltungen durchgeführt werden, bekommen die Studenten zur Vorbereitung und als Hilfmittel für eigene Filmanalysen eine grundständige Einführung. Dieses Basiswissen über „Filmsprache und Filmanalyse in der Medienpädagogik“ ist in den letzten zwanzig Jahren immer wieder optimiert worden und wird in der vorliegenden Fassung an der TU Dresden und der Universität Duisburg/Essen eingesetzt. / The experience with film seminars for students has shown that these mostly do not dispose of enough foreknowledge for film analyses and they also lack the technical terms of the cinematic means. Since the length of films blows up each university time slot pattern, and therefore the seminars are conducted as block events, the students get an introduction from scratch in an orientation session as basic knowledge and tools for their own film analysis. This basic knowledge of \'film language and film analysis in the media education\' has been optimized again and again in the last twenty years and is used in the present version at the TU Dresden and the University of Duisburg/Essen.

The current study aims to explore how PMI instruction and other psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic factors that might affect the production of Mandarin consonants by Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong. A total of 63 participants were invited to participate in a Mandarin consonant production test in which they had to pronounce words starting with these three pairs of Mandarin consonants /ts/-/tʂ/, /tsh /-/tʂh / and /s/-/ʂ/. 6 participants were invited to a post-experiment interview. Results of the Mandarin production tests showed that secondary school students who had completed PMI instruction had the highest Mandarin production score. However, no significance could be found between the use of PMI instruction and the production of Mandarin consonants by Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong. Results of the interview showed that age, length of exposure to Mandarin, instrumental motivation were the factors that led to a higher accuracy in Mandarin production whilst a lack of motivation, low social acceptance towards Mandarin, high social distance towards mainland China and political factors are the factors that led to a lower accuracy in Mandarin production. To improve Cantonese speakers' Mandarin consonant production accuracy, the government should introduce Mandarin to the curriculum starting from kindergartens and improve the image of Mandarin among Hong Kong people.

As a concept that represents teacher professionalism and expertise, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has received extensive research attention since the mid-1980s. PCK refers to the blending of content and pedagogy into an understanding of how particular aspects of subject matter are organized, adapted, and represented for instruction (Shulman, 1987). Recent studies have shown that PCK impacts instruction quality and student learning (Beyer & Davis, 2012). Nevertheless, in the field of English language teaching (ELT), PCK remains unnoticed by many language teachers (Kind & Chan, 2019). PCK pertaining to speaking instruction is even more underrepresented. Meanwhile, English teaching in mainland China has undergone reforms aimed at promoting students' oral proficiency, but many problems still exist. Most studies have explored teaching methodologies, learning strategies, and the assessment of speaking. However, there is not much research on improving teaching effectiveness from the perspective of teachers' PCK. This qualitative multiple case study examines teachers' PCK from the perspective of teaching English speaking over a two-year period. Purposeful sampling was employed, and five EFL instructors were the key informants. The instructors worked in different universities in mainland China and taught various levels of speaking courses. The data include classroom observations, teacher interviews, student interviews, reflection journals from the teachers, and various course syllabuses. The study findings emphasize the contents and features of EFL teachers' PCK in a more systematic way and show that teachers' PCK comprises six components: knowledge of features of curriculum, pedagogy, learners' challenges, language enhancement, course evaluation, and the educational context. Each category contains a variety of subcategories. Two paths are revealed for the development of PCK: one path is for teachers to develop their PCK by studying the relevant literature and then transform that knowledge into students' comprehensible knowledge based on students' understanding; another path is for teachers to transfer or adjust PCK from other courses or people to their own instruction and then develop PCK through evaluation and reflection. The study also shows that based on three developmental models (the trial-based approach, top-down approach, and inquiry-based approach), the teacher participants advanced in three aspects: spiritual enrichment, renewed teacher roles, and philosophical inquiry. In addition, in this study, PCK is proven to be dynamic, personal, and transformative rather than static, canonical, and integrative. Theoretically, this study proposes a comprehensive framework of PCK components and development for speaking instructors and underscores the concept of meta-representations. It adds to the literature on EFL teachers' cognition in the Chinese context, thus broadening and enriching the research on EFL teachers' PCK in the educational field. Practically, the study highlights the importance of appropriating the educational context, establishing teacher beliefs and philosophy, and improving teachers' critical literacy as well as their language competency. The findings can also enhance teacher educators' and policy-makers'awareness of specific subject matter and deepen their understanding of speaking instruction. The findings shed light on how to improve overall EFL speaking pedagogy, empower EFL teachers, and facilitate their professional development within the context of English curriculum reform. Limitations of the study lie in its restricted timeframe, limited resources, and sampling size. Future research directions could be to conduct a longitudinal study with more participants or to develop and quantify PCK measurements.

As a concept that represents teacher professionalism and expertise, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has received extensive research attention since the mid-1980s. PCK refers to the blending of content and pedagogy into an understanding of how particular aspects of subject matter are organized, adapted, and represented for instruction (Shulman, 1987). Recent studies have shown that PCK impacts instruction quality and student learning (Beyer & Davis, 2012). Nevertheless, in the field of English language teaching (ELT), PCK remains unnoticed by many language teachers (Kind & Chan, 2019). PCK pertaining to speaking instruction is even more underrepresented. Meanwhile, English teaching in mainland China has undergone reforms aimed at promoting students' oral proficiency, but many problems still exist. Most studies have explored teaching methodologies, learning strategies, and the assessment of speaking. However, there is not much research on improving teaching effectiveness from the perspective of teachers' PCK. This qualitative multiple case study examines teachers' PCK from the perspective of teaching English speaking over a two-year period. Purposeful sampling was employed, and five EFL instructors were the key informants. The instructors worked in different universities in mainland China and taught various levels of speaking courses. The data include classroom observations, teacher interviews, student interviews, reflection journals from the teachers, and various course syllabuses. The study findings emphasize the contents and features of EFL teachers' PCK in a more systematic way and show that teachers' PCK comprises six components: knowledge of features of curriculum, pedagogy, learners' challenges, language enhancement, course evaluation, and the educational context. Each category contains a variety of subcategories. Two paths are revealed for the development of PCK: one path is for teachers to develop their PCK by studying the relevant literature and then transform that knowledge into students' comprehensible knowledge based on students' understanding; another path is for teachers to transfer or adjust PCK from other courses or people to their own instruction and then develop PCK through evaluation and reflection. The study also shows that based on three developmental models (the trial-based approach, top-down approach, and inquiry-based approach), the teacher participants advanced in three aspects: spiritual enrichment, renewed teacher roles, and philosophical inquiry. In addition, in this study, PCK is proven to be dynamic, personal, and transformative rather than static, canonical, and integrative. Theoretically, this study proposes a comprehensive framework of PCK components and development for speaking instructors and underscores the concept of meta-representations. It adds to the literature on EFL teachers' cognition in the Chinese context, thus broadening and enriching the research on EFL teachers' PCK in the educational field. Practically, the study highlights the importance of appropriating the educational context, establishing teacher beliefs and philosophy, and improving teachers' critical literacy as well as their language competency. The findings can also enhance teacher educators' and policy-makers'awareness of specific subject matter and deepen their understanding of speaking instruction. The findings shed light on how to improve overall EFL speaking pedagogy, empower EFL teachers, and facilitate their professional development within the context of English curriculum reform. Limitations of the study lie in its restricted timeframe, limited resources, and sampling size. Future research directions could be to conduct a longitudinal study with more participants or to develop and quantify PCK measurements.