Doctor Educationis / The language of instruction plays a determining role in students’ academic performance. This suggests that students should be taught in a language they are familiar with in order to enhance understanding of the content subjects. In Rwanda, almost all Rwandans communicate and interact in Kinyarwanda, their mother tongue. It is, thus, expected that Rwandan children should be instructed in this home language. However, the status of English as a global language has also found echo in Rwanda, and this foreign language was adopted as medium of instruction from Primary 4 onwards. This thesis, therefore, aims to determine what role English as a medium plays in delivering quality education in Rwanda. To respond to the above question, the researcher investigated three secondary Third Form schools in the rural Gisagara District of the Southern Province. She wanted to explore the teaching and learning strategies deployed in the English language classrooms and the learning materials and infrastructure available at the schools. The focus was on English language classes as these were the spaces in which Rwandan children were explicitly exposed to English and where their proficiency in the language was developed. However, the researcher also needed to find out the effect that English had on the students’ academic performance, the correlation between their results in English and their results in content subjects, and the students’ and teachers’ perceptions of English as language of instruction. It is in this vein that a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches was used and various data collection techniques employed to obtain enriched data. Classroom observations and interviews with students and their English teachers were conducted. A questionnaire was also distributed to the students and their results in English and in content subjects were analysed to supplement the data generated by other methods. This study was guided by sociocultural theories of second language learning according to which language is a mediating tool that helps to adjust relationships between people that live in the same community. Language is, hence, a necessary artifact that is worth acquiring. For language learning to take place, learners need to interact with more knowledgeable people. In the classroom, it is the teacher who has to mediate this learning, assuming that he/she is more knowledgeable than the students. Classroom peer interactions in the target language also provide room wherein brighter students may assist their struggling classmates. Language across the curriculum approach and content-based instruction also inspired this study. These approaches suggest that language should be taught in context and especially through the content related to the students’ fields of study. The research findings indicate that the students were not proficient in English, the language of instruction, which hindered their school achievement. In addition, no correlation could be established between the students’ results in English and their results in content subjects. Indeed, despite the students’ poor performance in English they did better in this language than in the content subjects. Furthermore, not all students who fared well in English succeeded in the content subjects, and some students scored good marks in the content subjects whilst they failed in English. The findings also show that the teaching and learning strategies used in the language classrooms, as well as the learning materials and infrastructure at the schools, did not promote English acquisition. Ironically, despite English being a hindrance to the learning of other subjects, both the students and their teachers affirmed that they preferred that this language remain as medium of instruction. They believed that being competent in English could offer them more life opportunities than any other language.

No description available.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide insight on how arts integration in English language arts education increases engagement and achievement in students and teachers alike. Throughout my analysis of literature, local field research in two Central Florida public elementary schools, and my creation of a five-day arts-integrated writing unit, I found that arts integration, especially when utilizing Leonard Bernstein’s Artful Learning Method was observed to show a positive impact on students. Arts integration allowed for a child’s natural curiosity and instinct to create to take over, which created authentic learning experiences for the students. The research also demonstrated that arts integration enabled teachers to utilize their creativity, which in turn positively changed their perspectives on their career and teaching experience. Observations and the research literature examined in this thesis showed that arts integration can be a valuable outlet for both students and teachers, yet not always utilized due to high stakes testing, budgetary concerns, and time constraints in the elementary classroom.

No description available.

In this empirical study, the aim is to investigate how and why teachers in five elementary classes in Sweden use the target language and first language respectively in the EFL classroom. In addition to investigating the teacher perspective, pupils are also asked how they perceive their English teacher’s choice of spoken language in the EFL classroom. The study has a theoretical base in Krashen’s (1982) Second Language Acquisition Theory, as well as previous research on teachers’ language use in the EFL classroom. The study revealed that the participating teachers use the target language mainly to instruct, and to encourage their pupils to produce English themselves. The study also showed that the first language is used to aid comprehension and to explain when the pupils do not seem to understand what is said in English. Furthermore, some of the participating teachers expressed a desire to use more target language in their teaching, while feeling obligated to speak Swedish to make sure all pupils understand. The results of the study also show that participating pupils find English in general to be both easy and fun, in one or several aspects, and that most of the pupils in the study appreciate their teacher using the target language during English lessons. Another conclusion that can be drawn is that more research is needed regarding how teachers’ linguistic choices actually affect pupils’ communicative proficiency in the English language. / <p>Engelska</p>

Thesis (M.ED.) --University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus), 2008 / Argument directed to bilingual instruction in South Africa is not new. The issue of eleven official languages in education remains contested. The apartheid language in education policy infused with imbalance proficiency demands for educators and learners’in the country. The policy was replaced in 1997 with a new policy based on non –discriminatory language use and the internationally accepted principle of home language education in the contest of bilingual or multilingual framework. The policy was designed to accommodate home language (HL)maintenance, proficiency and first additional language (FAL), English for the majority of learners and optimal cognitive development. The policy has not been accompanied by any significant government or language department to ensure the implementation plan. It has however been met with several arguments of bilingual resource and well –trained educators. The argument paved a way into publications which have been used to deflect government’s responsibility regarding bilingual instruction .The difference in language policy however disregard the fact that South Africa is multilingual and that home language is the most appropriate language of learning everywhere in the world. The implementation and understanding of bilingual and linguistic interdependence of both English and African languages have a role to pay in the development and sustainability of democratic country. The underlying implication is that since English and Afrikaans as the media of instruction that disadvantaged the majority of South African citizens over the years, it is time African languages be implementated alongside English or Afrikaans in education system. South Africa’s new language in Education policy (LiEP) has been regarded as one of the best progressive in the world. The dissertation describes research that investigates the gap between the policy expections and what is prevailing at some private and public primary school in Limpopo Province.

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

Middle school French immersion teachers often report that they have a difficult time engaging their students in second language reading. This research used a constructivist, critical, and pragmatic approach to case study to explore middle school French immersion students’ perceptions of themselves as readers of French and of their experiences with reading in French. The research sought to understand, through thematic cross-case analysis, which themes appear most prominently in student accounts of their experiences with reading in French. Four major themes were identified: choice, assigned work, understanding, and interest. Additionally, the research sought to identify which instructional strategies might be most effective in promoting student engagement in reading in an additional language. The findings suggest a need for highly differentiated instructional models that emphasize teaching students how to assess a text for its appropriateness to their interests and reading level and providing students with ample time for free, independent reading. / Graduate / 0515 / 0282 / 0279 / 0535 / 0727 / 0525 / jwhittin@uvic.ca

DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Marko J. Mwipopo Doctor of Philosophy Department of Education Studies June 2016 Title: Secondary School Graduates’ Personal Experiences in the Context of English-only Language of Instruction Within and Outside the School Setting in Tanzania This dissertation documents the experiences of secondary school graduates in Tanzania who were instructed primarily through the English language. The study specifically examines the extent to which the English language facilitated or impeded the participants’ learning. This issue is important because Tanzania’s main educational goal at the secondary level is to build an egalitarian nation under the Education for Self Reliance (ESR) philosophy, advocated by J. K. Nyerere in 1967. The study employs symbolic interactionism as its primary method and utilizes frameworks and ideas from such fields as indigenous education and bilingual education. Works of scholars such as Frantz Fanon guided my work. The main focus of the study was to determine how Tanzanians see the language of instruction policy as relating to opportunity among students in secondary schools, i.e., whether Tanzanians frame the Swahili language as a problem, a resource, a right, or some other way, and how these language issues influence the cultural, economic, and political life of Tanzanians. Do Tanzanians see the Swahili language as a source of unity or divisiveness, as a means to some particular goals, or as a cause that needs to be fought for? This dissertation consists of five chapters. Chapter I includes a brief description of the historical background of Tanzania and emphasizes ESR, the principle and core philosophy guiding Tanzanian education after independence. Chapter II is a literature review and an examination of the design of contemporary Tanzanian education and the problems and challenges faced by that system. Chapter III covers research methods used in my research, including an explanation of setting and context, analysis, and interpretation. Chapter IV presents findings of the study, including thematically grouped quotes and my interpretation of the quotes, grouped according to the three main views on Swahili and English languages. Chapter V bridges the research questions to the findings and reflects on the implications of the study and related literature for educational practice and policy in Tanzania.

Namibia is a country where the official language has been English since independence in 1990. There are different national languages in the country and a majority of the people do not have English as a mother tongue. Nevertheless, the language of instruction from fourth grade and onwards is indeed English. Consequently, for the majority of the population the education is in their second language. What this essay explores is the role English as a second language has as a medium of instruction and the implications it may have. It is a minor field study that was carried out with the help of a scholarship from SIDA (Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation) and it took place in a school in Northern Namibia, April and May 2007. It is a qualitative study that explores the use of English among teachers and students as well as the transition from mother tongue instruction to English instruction and the implications that this can have for the quality of education. The reality of the Namibian students that have to study and perform in a second language is questioned and discussed from pedagogical and linguistic points of view. The results show that most pupils do not speak English before starting fourth grade. Furthermore, the sudden transition from mother tongue to English instruction creates some descent in the participation of the pupils and possibly in the learning, not only of the new language but also of the content subjects. As far as the teachers concern, there are positive but ambiguous opinions among them concerning English as a medium of instruction.