M.A. (Greek) / In the current research our interest lies in the teaching of Modern Greek in South African secondary schools. That is why we initially researched the South African and the Greek educational policies. In the first chapter we explored the social background on which contemporary South African educational policy is founded. In the Post–Apartheid society of this country, schools did not consist of students speaking the same language. As a result, one of the South African educational policy pursuits was the recognition and enhancement of multilingualism. This resulted from the social orientation towards respect of one’s right to be different. Within this framework, teaching Greek in the South African educational system as a second additional language, was established. This fact upgraded the position of the Greek language placing it amongst the South African educational subjects and offering to high school students a powerful motif to learn it, especially the ones of Greek origin. To the teaching of Greek in South Africa special consideration was given by both the Greek communities and the Greek government. This is the reason why we studied the Greek educational policy for the Greeks of the diaspora and why we examined the way in which this policy influences the teaching of the Greek language, in chapter two. Thus, we understood that the basic principles and the values promoted through the legislation of both countries, Greece and South Africa, as far as their teaching policies are concerned, coincide in showing respect to the human being. The right to be different is also a common value in both Greek and South African educational policies. Furthermore, there is no difference of methods to be followed, as far as the teaching of languages is concerned. Later though, analyzing the most recent Greek legislation on the diaspora education, we have noticed changes on the support of educational units. Thus, in fact, while the regulations regarding the support, both in equipment and by sending teacher to the diaspora, are maintained as far as South Africa is concerned, the support from the Greek government to the communities as such for the teaching of Greek became more limited.

This research investigated the effect of teaching text organisation on reading in English second language to schoolgirls. All subjects underwent a training programme of five one-hour sessions on consecutive school days. The experimental group were trained in the use and recognition of top-level organisation as a reading strategy, based on work done by Bartlett (1978) and Carrell (1985). The control group were trained in unrelated grammar exercises. A pre-test was administered to each group before their programme began. Post-test 1 was administered immediately after the training was completed, and Post-test 2, three weeks later. These tests required a written recall of two passages once they had been read, and an answer to a question on their organisation. The null hypotheses stated that the experimental group's training in the use and recognition of top-level organisation as a reading strategy would make no difference in their ability to read and recall information or to recognise and use top-level organisation in their recalls. For the quantity of information recalled, no differences were found in the Pre-test and Post-test 1; a statistically significant difference was found in Post-test 2 in favour of the experimental group. For the quality of information recalled, the control group remembered more top-level idea units in the Pre-test; there was no difference in Post-test 1; the experimental group did better in three out of five levels in Post-test 2. There was no difference in the Pretest in either group's use of the passage's top-level organisation to structure recalls, but the experimental group did better in both post-tests. The control group did better in the Pre-test in recognising the passage's top-level organisation, but the experimental group did better in both post-tests. The null hypotheses were rejected as the experimental training made a difference, although this difference only became apparent three weeks later, and not immediately after the training. The experimental group's nullifying the control group's Pre-test advantage in Post-test 1 and surpassing it in Post-test 2, powerfully supports Bartlett's and Carrell's findings that teaching the strategy did make a difference and that this effect could be maintained over three weeks

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of errors in English usage, punctuation, and spelling made by grade 12 students in the two paragraphs that each student wrote on the June, 1953, English 40 (Language) University Entrance examination in British Columbia. The errors were classified within each of fourteen major categories. These categories were further divided to give a total of seventy-four classes. In order to record specific errors some of the seventy-four classes were further subdivided to increase the number of classes to 104, excluding spelling errors. Furthermore an attempt was made to discover a relationship between the incidence of errors in English and certain factors that possibly may have been associated with such errors. These factors were: the student's (a) intelligence (scholastic ability); (b) sex; (c) socioeconomic status as determined by the father's occupation; (d) interest in English as determined by the student's choice of major subjects; (e) choice of topics on which the student wrote his paragraphs, and (f) choice of high school program: University or General. Furthermore, in order to determine the extent to which the number of words in the paragraphs might have influenced the number of errors, this writer found a relationship between the number of errors students made and (a) the number of words written on the two paragraphs on the examination, and (b) the number of words written on (i) the expository paragraph and (ii) the descriptive or narrative paragraph. By discovering the extent of the relationship between errors made in the paragraphs and the marks that teachers gave to the paragraphs, this investigator attempted to find out the degree to which markers took into consideration mechanical errors in English. On examining 599 paragraphs written by 300 grade 12 students, this writer found the number of words written and errors in usage, punctuation, and spelling as summarized in the table below. (Tables omitted) Students wrote the mean number of words and made the mean number of errors as shown in the following table. (Tables omitted) When one considers the fourteen main categories of errors, he finds that spelling and punctuation account for slightly more than two-thirds of the errors. If four other categories (capitalization, the apostrophe, omissions, misuse of quotation marks) are added to the punctuation and spelling, one finds that non-usage errors account for nearly 80 per cent of the total number of errors. Those errors ranking 1-7 account for nearly 93 per cent of all errors. Ten kinds of errors in punctuation accounted for 89.9 per cent of all such errors. By applying appropriate statistical analyses, this investigator attempted to determine the relationship between errors and the elements mentioned in the first paragraph. The writer found that the coefficient of correlation between errors and scholastic ability was .304. On both paragraphs boys made a mean of 16.73 errors and girls 13.41; t was found to be 3.12. For 293 degrees of freedom t is 2.59 at the 1 per cent level or less. Consequently, for t = 3.12, the hypothesis of no difference in the means can be rejected. The writer found that students whose fathers were in the professional, semi-professional, and managerial vocations made a mean of 11.17 errors, and students whose fathers were in the skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled vocations made 14.8. For 98 degrees of freedom t is 1.984 at th 5 per cent level. But for the means just given t is 2.062. Therefore the hypothesis of no difference can be rejected. If choice of majors is used as a criterion of interest, students who are primarily interested in English make fewer errors than those who are not. The former made a mean of 12.61 errors on both paragraphs; the latter, 14.00. For 267 degrees of freedom t is 1.969 at the 5 per cent level of significance; therefore the hypothesis of no difference in the means can be rejected. Turning to a consideration of errors made by University Programme students and those made by General Programme students, one finds that the former made a mean of 12.35 errors; the latter, 17.55. For 287 degrees of freedom t is 2.592 at the 1 per cent level of significance. One can therefore reject with considerable confidence the hypothesis of no difference in the means. That the number of errors on a paragraph does not increase directly as the number of words written is shown by the fact that the coefficient of correlation between the number of errors and the number of words written is .574. Consequently the use of the paragraph as a unit on which to base the numbers of errors need not invalidate the statistical analyses and inferences previously made. Finally, examiners probably took errors into consideration when they marked the paragraphs as the coefficient of correlation between errors and the marks the examiners gave the paragraphs was - .202, which is significant at the 1 per cent level. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

This study reports the spontaneous linguistic behaviour of three children acquiring French as a first language. The introductory chapter presents such information as the children's ages and the parents' linguistic background. In Chapter Two, the children's abilities to pose questions, make requests, and give commands are described. Chapter Three discusses the various negative speech actions that the children are able to perform, and the scope or range of each child's negation vocabulary. Chapter Four discusses the children's abilities to initiate, participate, and recognize linguistic play, that is, speech which is in direct contradiction with the facts and is not intended to be serious. Finally, the concluding chapter summarizes the study and points out its significant findings. / Arts, Faculty of / Linguistics, Department of / Graduate

This case history covers the progress of a pilot course for teaching English as an additional language to older people from the original concept to its evaluation and final acceptance for future implementation. A serious problem was observed to exist among the large number of older immigrants living in Canada who cannot speak or understand the English language. Many of these people had lived here for many years imprisoned in a 'language ghetto’ which allowed them to communicate only with those of their own race. The difficulties experienced by these individuals, as well as the impoverishment of Canadian culture engendered by their inability to communicate, constituted sufficient reason to explore the feasibility of designing a course to offer English language training specifically for them. A thorough study of all the current English language training courses in Vancouver, British Columbia, revealed a gap in the services available for this particular population. A review of the literature regarding learning and the older person disclosed nothing which might suggest that such an undertaking might prove abortive. The geographical locations -of ethnic populations who might be expected to register in such a course were charted, and a suitable community centre in which to hold the classes was selected. Promotional material was prepared and disseminated through mass media and other suitable outlets. The class was successfully launched and throughout its course careful records were kept including attendance, characteristics of participants, and anecdotes reflecting the acceptance of the course by those attending. The project firmly established the need for such courses for this group, and found that the overall format of the program was satisfactory and feasible. Recommendations for future courses were outlined, and an expansion of the pilot course was subsequently effectively implemented in Vancouver. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Many second language (L2) teachers are concerned about the use of computers in the classroom and question the value of using them if they do not promote meaningful interaction. Research performed on French as a Second Language (FSL) students’ language interaction at the computer agrees with Mohan's (1986) research on English as a Second Language students' language interaction which suggests that the quantity and quality of interaction is lower during computer tasks compared to conversation. Secondly, analysis of the codeswitching (CS) of the FSL students' interaction suggests that intersentential CS shows functional variation in discourse during computer use compared to conversation. This study examines the use of the computer to facilitate interaction as well as the possible role of CS in second language acquisition. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

While native speakers adjust their speech to accommodate non-native speakers on syntactic and prosodic levels, they also make adjustments on the level of discourse. It has been argued that these interactional adjustments are crucial to the promotion of language learning. A quasi-experimental, factorial study compared the frequencies of nine interactional features used in the speech of four ESL teachers as they taught beginner and advanced level adult classes. It was expected that teachers would change their use of each feature accordingly as students neared native proficiency. Nine two-way analyses of variance were employed to capture three sources of variation in the use of the interactional features: proficiency level, teacher and proficiency level by teacher interaction. As predicted, display questions and self-repetitions were used significantly less often with advanced students than with beginners. High variability in teacher behaviour was discovered, and seemed to be primarily an artifact of lesson content. In fact, discourse usage seemed to vary as a function of lesson content, as well as proficiency level of the students. One result, the marked reduction in use of display questions at the advanced level, was discussed in light of prevailing ESL goals. As research addresses the question of whether and which adjustments do promote language acquisition, there will be implications for teacher training. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

This study tested the hypothesis that students who were identified as possessing an intuitive preference, or cognitive style, on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator would learn most about a series of poetry concepts if they were in an environment which emphasized discovery learning and low levels of structure. Conversely, those students who were identified as possessing a sensing preference, or cognitive style on the indicator would learn most in a more directed and structured environment. Data was gathered on 167 Grade 8 students who had been randomly assigned to two treatment groups. Analysis of variance and linear regression revealed significant disordinal interaction for one of the two treatment methods. The interaction partially supported the hypothesis: "N" students achieved most in a discovery-learning environment (P<.005 and P<.001), while "S" students were not significantly advantaged in the more directed and structured environment. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The ability to read and write academic discourse in a second language often determines an ESL student's scholastic progress. Recent related research has focused on the academic reading of ESL university students at the text level, often at the single or multi-paragraph level (Block, 1986; Carrell, 1985, 1987), and has looked at categories that were general across subject areas. This study explores how first year university ESL students cope with the reading demands of two specific credit courses, English Literature and Introductory Psychology, within the context of the course requirements, the instruction, and the nature of the academic discipline itself. The research method focused on ethnographic interviews with ten students from various Asian countries and their Canadian instructors, on classroom observations, and on the researcher's extensive field diary. Analysis of the findings identified three major coping strategies: self-management, background knowledge and experience, and reliance on the instructors in the disciplines. The nature of the genre, the students' interest in the discipline, and their perseverance in reading comprehension appear to influence their choice of strategies in meeting specific academic objectives. These strategies contributed to the background knowledge component of the academic tasks that the students face. Their efforts at academic tasks were guided by the concern to do what was required to complete course assignments. Essentially, course assignments directed the action component or agenda, of the students' academic tasks. Reading-to-learn involved approaching the genre-specific reading tasks at the whole text level within the context of what was required to successfully fulfil the course requirements of the particular genre. The primary reality of the students was to demonstrate an adequate level of academic proficiency. In contrast with previous research, findings indicated the importance of genre-specific reading tasks at the whole-text level rather than generic reading at the paragraph level, and the importance of relating coping strategies to the context of what was required to fulfil course requirements rather than the study of strategies in isolation. Thus, the findings were consistent with a theoretical model (Mohan, 1986) analyzing academic tasks into an action component and a knowledge component. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

This study aimed to explore the complexity and interrelationships of language, culture and identity from the learners' perspectives. The focus of the study was on the exchange experiences of five Hong Kong students in the Canadian tertiary contexts. The participants were bilingual learners. They came from an educational background which emphasized English as a medium of instruction. In Canada, the students had the language competence to integrate into mainstream courses during their one year stay. This study questioned whether language was also their passport into a new culture. The study was divided into two phases. The first phase was a pilot study (January 1997- May 1997). Emergent themes from the pilot study guided the research questions in the second phase of the study ( October 1997 - July 1998). The methodology employed in this study emphasized a naturalistic inquiry approach and co-authorship with the participants. The research focused on a multiple case study approach with an ethnographic link to highlight the interpretive and sociocultural perspectives of the study. Research strategies included direct and participant observation, home visit, e-mail, phone conversation, informal interview, intensive discussion, secondary informant, artifact and metaphor. Personal narratives were central to the discussions in data analysis. Data collected in the study support the learner agency framework on the issue of social identity. Themes which emerged from the research process suggest multiple voices, multiple interpretations and multiple realities in the process of language socialization. Many interactive variables in the social contexts influence the construction and reconstruction of knowledge on language, culture and identity. Language socialization is a complex interweave of meanings between the individual and the environment. Ambivalence, contradictions and uncertainties are recurring themes in the rites of transition. Learners are empowered by their awareness and agency in their struggle. They are active agents of their identities, roles and status in changing sociocultural settings. This study urges the need for language educators to include voices of the learners in language research and to re-examine the notions of language power, cultural diversity, social access, claim of ownership, learner investment and human agency in language pedagogy. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate