Thesis (DAppLing)--Macquarie University, Division of Linguistics and Psychology, Department of Linguistics, 2008. / Bibliography: p. 404-418.

Published version of: Dissertation--University of Auckland (New Zealand), 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-233).

Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--Stellenbosch University, 2009. / This study examined the impact of SMS speak on the written school work of English first language (L1) and English second language (L2) high school learners. The general aims of the study were to establish how widespread the use of SMS language is among high school learners, and to assess whether there is any evidence of the use of features of SMS speak in the English written work of these learners. Eighty-eight learners from an English-Afrikaans dual medium school in a middle class neighborhood in the Western Cape participated in this study. The participants included 43 grade 8s and 45 grade 11s, of which 51 were English L1 speakers and 37 English L2 speakers. The participants completed questionnaires from which the frequency and volume of their SMS use was determined, as well as the features of SMS speak they reportedly use while SMSing. In addition, samples of the learners’ English written work were examined for specific features of SMS speak. These features included (deliberate) spelling errors, lack of punctuation, over-punctuation, the omission of function words, the use of abbreviation or acronyms, and the use of emoticons and rebus writing. The results of this study indicate that high school learners are avid users of SMS and/or MXit. All participants reported using features of SMS speak in their SMSes, and many reported using SMS speak in their written school work. Despite this, the samples of written work did not contain a great number of incidences of SMS speak features. It seems that the general lack of SMS speak in the written work of these learners is a result of being able to assess when it is and is not appropriate to use a certain variety of language: These learners are proficient in SMS speak and use it when chatting to friends on MXit, but they can produce written work that adheres to the formally approved standards of written high school English. That said, a number of SMS speak features were indeed present in their formal written work, which indicates that SMS speak had some impact on the written work of these learners, which could in turn be attributed to the high frequency of their SMS usage. However, not all of the non-standard features of their written English could necessarily be attributed to the influence of SMS speak; specifically some of the spelling and punctuation errors could be unrelated to SMS speak, as they have been noted in the written English of high school learners from before the advent of cellphones. The learners in this study were from a school that has a strict language policy, one which does not tolerate the use of SMS speak in written work. Seven of the teachers completed a questionnaire compiled for all teachers at the school in question. Responses to this questionnaire, especially those of the language teachers, indicated that teachers either deduct marks for features of SMS speak in written language or refuse to mark written work that does not conform to the formally approved standards that the school has set in place. It is possible that the actions of the teachers and the language policy of the school play a significant role in the lack of SMS speak features in the written language use of the learners.

The Nineteenth Dynasty, which ushered in the Ramesside period in ± 1308 B.C.E. is an important period in which to study the development of the Egyptian language, falling as it does between the time of the Middle Egyptian (ME) idiom and the Late Egyptian (LE) language. Regarding the Egyptian language, Gardiner (1982:1) writes" ... the idiom in which the public records of the Twentieth Dynasty are couched differs widely from that found, for example in the royal decrees of the Sixth Dynasty". There was a gradual change from a "synthetic" language in ME into an "analytical" one in LE and later Coptic. The synthetic tenses are first supplemented and then gradually replaced by "analytic" forms. And this happened during the time of the Nineteenth Dynasty. This thesis addresses the Nineteenth Dynasty texts, with respect to grammar, semantics and syntax (mainly verbal forms). It studies the occurrence of Middle Egyptian synthetic forms and Late Egyptian analytic forms in the Nineteenth Dynasty texts and makes observations on forms which appear to be unique to the Nineteenth Dynasty Egyptian (NDE) too. This study describes and analyses the language, both in a synchronic way - "frozen" in its time (as a type of grammar book), and comparing literary and non-literary uses of the time, - and in a diachronic manner, seeking to show the evolution and development of language forms, their ancestors and their successors. A study of these texts as shown in this thesis demonstrates that the written language of the Nineteenth Dynasty is a unique blend of grammatical and syntactic forms: pure ME forms, LE literary and non-literary forms, as well as forms peculiar to NDE. Thus NDE is "an independent self-sufficient system, which is neither Middle Egyptian nor Late Egyptian of the Twentieth Dynasty." (Groll 1973:70) / Classics and Modern European Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Semitic Languages)

Submitted by Tatiane Santos (tatynha_am@hotmail.com) on 2014-07-21T20:56:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Tatiane Santos de Brito.pdf: 1831864 bytes, checksum: 31c0e801a41df817e78984635a007fcb (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora da Silva Lopes (silopes@ufba.br) on 2014-07-25T15:59:41Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Tatiane Santos de Brito.pdf: 1831864 bytes, checksum: 31c0e801a41df817e78984635a007fcb (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-25T15:59:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Tatiane Santos de Brito.pdf: 1831864 bytes, checksum: 31c0e801a41df817e78984635a007fcb (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia; CAPES / A presente dissertação de mestrado tem por objetivo central compreender as concepções de crianças ingressantes no Ensino Fundamental acerca da sua própria aprendizagem da linguagem escrita no início de seu processo de escolarização. Para tanto, contou com três objetivos específicos: a) Conhecer a dinâmica de uma sala de aula com destaque para as práticas alfabetizadoras; b) Compreender as concepções das crianças sobre o seu processo de aquisição da linguagem escrita e c) Refletir sobre as concepções da professora a respeito da aquisição da linguagem escrita pelas crianças. Utilizamos como aporte teórico-metodológico a Pedagogia histórico-crítica como forma de pensar historicamente a educação no sentido de uma pedagogia que se contraponha à visão utilitarista e reprodutivista da educação. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada durante um semestre em uma escola municipal do interior da Bahia e teve como método a pesquisa de inspiração etnográfica, que, nesse contexto, nos possibilitou uma maior aproximação com a dinâmica da sala de aula. Para tanto, como procedimentos de pesquisa, foram realizadas observações em sala de aula, grupos com as crianças, conversas informais com a professora e análise dos pareceres escritos pela professora sobre as crianças na caderneta escolar. Após a leitura e releitura do material de campo, organizamos a análise em três dimensões. Foram elas: 1) a dinâmica da sala de aula, 2) as concepções das crianças sobre a aquisição da linguagem escrita, bem como da professora sobre os processos de aprendizagem das crianças acompanhadas e 3) a apresentação dos casos de alguns alunos acompanhados. A análise teórica do material de campo envolveu as seguintes categorias: a) a função social da linguagem escrita e b) as explicações dominantes para as dificuldades no processo de ensino-aprendizagem escolar. Espera-se com esta pesquisa contribuir para reflexões acerca das formas de alfabetização que empoderam o indivíduo na busca da transformação social. / ABSTRACT The present Master dissertation has as main purpose to understand the perceptions of the Fundamental School entrant regarding their own manner of lea rning the written language in the beginning of their schooling process. Accordingly to that, this paper has three specifics aims: a) Learning the classroom dynamics, with an emphasis on the literacy practices; b) Comprehending children‟s perception on thei r writing language acquisition and, c) Reflecting over teachers perceptions in the regard of children writing language acquisition. It was used as theoretical - methodological contribution a historical - critical pedagogy as a way of historically thinking the education in terms of a pedagogy that is opposed to the utilitarian and reproductive way of seeing Education. The field research was performed during one semester in a municipal school located in Bahia‟s countryside and it was used as a research method of ethnographic inspiration in this context, what made possible to bring closer the classroom dynamics. For this purpose, as research procedure, it was performed classrooms observations, focus groups with children, informal talks with teachers and, review of teachers‟ written opinion on children report cards. After reading and re - reading the field material, the analysis was organized in three aspects, as follow: 1) Classroom dynamics; 2) Children perception about the writing language acquisition, and teacher p erception; regarding the learning process of the studied children and, 3) Cases presentation of some of the studied children. The theoretical analyses of field material, involved the following considerations: a) The Social function of the written language b) The main explanations as to the learning process difficulties at the schooling education. It is expected with this paper to contribute to the reflexions about the education methods which empower every individual in search of social transformation

Thesis (M.A. (English Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / This study explored the perceptions of students and lecturers with regard to written and oral corrective feedback in a first-level English course at the University of Limpopo. Specifically, the study was designed to establish the views of first entering students and lecturers around oral and written feedback. This study responds to widely-held views that students do not pay much attention to feedback, that even if feedback is provided, some do not know how use feedback systematically to improve their works, and that some lecturers are not investing sufficiently on provision of detailed, usable feedback. This study made use of classroom observations, questionnaires and focus group interviews to establish from students’ perceptions about oral and written corrective feedback in their studies and overall attainment of study goals. Furthermore, lecturers were also invited to participate in interviews to ascertain their perception on whether they consider written feedback essential and how it improves the students’ written English grammar. The study uncovered among others that students view oral and written corrective feedback as a tool that improves their grammar in English challenging long standing views that students are mostly interested in marks obtained in assessments. Data emerging from this study further suggests that participants view oral and written feedback as a device that helps students to improve in their usage of grammar and highlight the need to provide detailed, timely and constructive feedback in student’s academic work.

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Integrated writing tasks that combine reading, listening, and writing have become increasingly popular in assessing academic writing. These tasks are seen to offer more authenticity, improve fairness, and provide positive washback effects of the test on learning and teaching of English around the globe. However, the integrated nature of these tasks can pose some issues, such as construct-related validity and verbatim source use. Given that the inferences made from test scores depend upon the construct of the measure, it is important to have a working knowledge of how strategies are used on integrated writing tests as part of the process of construct validation. This study investigates the relationship between second language writers’ strategy use and performance on an integrated reading-listening-writing test using structural equation modeling and qualitative approaches. Data were collected from 161 non-native English-speaking students. The students first took an integrated reading-listening-writing test and followed by a strategy inventory on how they thought while completing the test. Twenty students, ten in the high-performance group and ten in the low-performance group, participated in a retrospective interview. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to identify the clusters of items based on three hypothetical factors: Rhetorical, Self-Regulatory, and Test-Wiseness Strategy Use. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was then utilized to test the hypothetical relations between observed and latent variables. Subsequently, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to model the relationship between students’ self-reported strategy use and their test performance. The data collected from retrospective interviews, an open-ended questionnaire, and planning sheets were analyzed to triangulate quantitative results and provide supplementary information in interpreting the quantitative data. The study illuminates the nature of integrated writing strategy use, the nature of integrated writing performance, and the relationship between strategy use and performance on an integrated reading-listening-writing test. The results of the study have implications for second language writing assessment and instruction as well as theory in second language academic writing. / text

Liu, Li. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 223-236). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; appendixes includes Chinese.

Chan, Ying Shan. / Thesis submitted in: October 2006. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-117). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; appendix also in Chinese. / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.i / ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH --- p.ii / ABSTRACT IN CHINESE --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.v / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.vi / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Statement of Problem --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- Purpose and Method of Study --- p.4 / Chapter 1.4 --- Significance of the Study --- p.6 / Chapter 1.5 --- Organization of the Dissertation --- p.7 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Previous Research on Planning and Oral Performance --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Conceptual Framework of Planning Studies --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Aspects of Linguistic Performance --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3 --- The Role of Planning in Writing --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Writing Models --- p.14 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- The Role of L2 in Writing Models --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- The Role of L1 in L2 Writing --- p.18 / Chapter 2.4 --- Different Types of Planning --- p.22 / Chapter 2.5 --- The Importance of Planning --- p.23 / Chapter 2.6 --- The Relationship between Planning and Written Performance --- p.24 / Chapter 2.6.1 --- Planning Types --- p.26 / Chapter 2.6.2 --- Research on Pre-task Planning --- p.26 / Chapter 2.6.3 --- Research on Online Planning --- p.27 / Chapter 2.6.4 --- Other Research --- p.28 / Chapter 2.7 --- Chapter Summary --- p.29 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- METHODOLOGY --- p.30 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.30 / Chapter 3.2 --- Safeguards for the Research Design --- p.31 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Classroom Situation --- p.32 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Purposeful Sampling --- p.33 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Voluntary Participation and Guarantee of Anonymity --- p.33 / Chapter 3.3 --- The Participants --- p.33 / Chapter 3.4 --- Sources of Data --- p.38 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Pre-task Questionnaires --- p.39 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Written Products --- p.39 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Reflective Questionnaires --- p.40 / Chapter 3.4.4 --- Semi-structured Interviews --- p.40 / Chapter 3.5 --- Procedures of Data Collection --- p.41 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Selecting the Subjects --- p.41 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Gathering the Basic Information of the Participants --- p.42 / Chapter 3.5.3 --- Conducting Pilot Studies --- p.43 / Chapter 3.5.4 --- Writing Sessions --- p.44 / Chapter 3.5.5 --- Semi-structured Interviews --- p.47 / Chapter 3.5.6 --- Collecting Questionnaires and Written Products --- p.48 / Chapter 3.6 --- Analysis of the Data --- p.48 / Chapter 3.6.1 --- Eliciting the Questionnaires and Interviews --- p.48 / Chapter 3.6.2 --- Analyzing the Written Products --- p.49 / Chapter 3.6.3 --- Processing the Data --- p.52 / Chapter 3.7 --- Chapter Summary --- p.52 / Notes --- p.53 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- RESULTS --- p.55 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.55 / Chapter 4.2 --- Effects of the Medium of Planning on Written Performance --- p.55 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- The Effects of Task Sequences on Written Performance --- p.55 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning without the Consideration of Proficiency --- p.57 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning with the Consideration of Proficiency --- p.59 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning and Proficiency Level on Written Performance --- p.65 / Chapter 4.3 --- The Comparison between Two Proficiency Groups on Each Task --- p.67 / Chapter 4.4 --- Questionnaires and Interviews --- p.73 / Chapter 4.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.75 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION --- p.77 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.77 / Chapter 5.2 --- The Relationship between the Medium of Planning and Written Performance --- p.77 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning on Fluency --- p.78 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning on Accuracy --- p.88 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning on Complexity --- p.92 / Chapter 5.3 --- Comparison of the Two Proficiency Groups on Each Task --- p.94 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Two Groups Performing in English Task --- p.94 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Two Groups Performing in Chinese Task --- p.96 / Chapter 5.4 --- Chapter Summary --- p.100 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX --- "CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIOINS AND RECOMMENDATIONS" --- p.102 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.102 / Chapter 6.2 --- Conclusion of the Study --- p.102 / Chapter 6.3 --- Implications for Teachers --- p.105 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Ways to Improve Fluency --- p.106 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Ways to Improve Accuracy --- p.108 / Chapter 6.4 --- Limitations and Recommendations --- p.109 / Chapter 6.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.110 / REFERENCES --- p.112 / APPENDICES --- p.118