The major assumption underlying this investigation was that pupils learning English as a second language read more effectively if beginning reading materials consist of language structures which are taught in the oral language program. It was believed that structures learned in the oral language course would reinforce reading skills and vice versa. Research evidence based on modern linguistic theory has indicated that patterns of form and arrangement of words, not words in isolation alone, contribute to meaning. It has also been shown that comprehension is a function of the degree of similarity between the language structures learned orally and the language structures used in the reading passage. The present study analyzed and compared the language structures in the beginning readers with the language structures which are taught for oral proficiency in the teaching guides for English used in Philippine schools. The T-unit, which is the shortest grammatically independent segment of language, consisting of one independent clause and all subordinate clauses attached to it was the basis of syntactic analysis and measurement. The language samples from the oral language guides and the reading texts were analyzed and compared on two levels. The first-level analysis was concerned with the underlying basic patterns and the length of the T-units as well as other related structural features. The second level analysis determined the kinds and number of constructions produced by sentence-combining transformations. The analysis of data revealed that there was a close similarity between the kinds of basic patterns which occurred in the oral language materials and in the readers. The frequency of occurrence centered around a few commonly used patterns. There were relatively more rare patterns in the reading passages than in the oral language materials. The length of the T-unit in the readers was greater than in the oral language materials. The greater length of the T-unit in the reading texts was due to the greater number of subordinate clauses and non-clausal constructions produced by sentence-combining transformations. The kinds and functions of constructions resulting from sentence-combining transformations which occurred with highest frequencies in the reading texts were similar to those in the oral language materials. But the data also indicated that types of rare constructions occurred more frequently in the reading passages than in the oral language materials. The greater number of sentence-combining transformations reflects greater complexity of language structures in the reading passages compared to the language structures in the oral language materials. This finding suggests that when the Filipino pupil begins to read English, his oral language background seems inadequate to cope with the difficulty level related to the complexity of structures of his reading materials. Further investigations are necessary to provide more useful guidelines for evolving effective reading materials in second language teaching. Suggested follow-up studies in second language classroom situations include comparison of comprehension between commonly used patterns and rare patterns, an investigation to establish a hierarchy of difficulty of the different kinds of sentence-combining transformations, and a quantitative study to determine the relationship of comprehension to the number of transformations in a reading passage. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Adelaide, Centre for European Studies and General Linguistics, 2001? / Bibliography: leaves 211-227.

The problem of this study was to determine the value of certain selected aptitude test scores for predicting student achievement in Spanish, French, and German at North Texas State University. Particular emphasis was placed on freshmen enrolled in beginning courses.

D.Ed. (Education) / In this research the core syllabuses, departmental syllabuses and the matriculation examination papers were evaluated. For the purpose of evaluation certain criteria were developed based on inherent curriculum design principles, including a situation-analysis. Cognizance was taken of the data obtained in an earlier investigation by the Human Sciences Research Council on the needs.and demands of the work situation. Criteria were developed in the areas of Education, Linguistics and Language Didactics. Linguistic criteria are based on a Pragmatic language perspective, including a Pragmatic component as part of language structure. In order to obtain a clearer criterial focus, the different structure oriented, content based and educational criteria were integrated in a criterial structure. In the application of the criterial structure to the abovementioned curriculum documents, it was found that the language syllabuses do not adequately equip the learner to become adult educated users of the language. The learner is being inadequately equipped for the demands of the various social contexts in which he or she is required to use the language. The essential nature of language according to the dynamic interaction between language use and structure within a given context is negated. A theoretical basis is lacking resulting in the negation of the essentially communicative nature of language and the role of context in the functional use of language. Guidelines, based on the stated criteria, have been put forward with a view to accountable curriculum and syllabus innovation.

Orientador: Cássia Regina Coutinho Sossolote / Banca: Marília Blundi Onofre / Banca: Denise Maria Margonari / Resumo: Este trabalho apresenta uma reflexão sobre a construção de noções adjetivas seguida de uma análise dessas noções para o ensino e aprendizagem de línguas. Nosso embasamento é a Teoria das Operações Predicativas e Enunciativas - TOPE - de Antoine Culioli. Essa teoria possui um caráter dinâmico na medida que considera linguagem e língua articuladas, sendo a linguagem uma atividade significante a que temos acesso a partir das línguas, em um trabalho de montagem e desmontagem de arranjos, significados e valores constituídos pelas operações de representação, referenciação e regulação (CULIOLI, 2000). A partir desse embasamento teórico, analisamos atividades gramaticais que focalizam o estudo dos adjetivos e substantivos buscando compreender o processo de constituição dessas noções adjetivas. Partindo da TOPE, consideramos que os sentidos são produzidos nos e pelos enunciados orais e escritos e que a gramática e o léxico devem ser articulados. Com isso, nos afastamos de uma concepção de categorias estáticas e propomos que uma reflexão dessas atividades a partir de um viés enunciativo demonstra contribuições para o ensino e aprendizagem de línguas (REZENDE, 2000; ONOFRE, 2003b). Nosso trabalho possui uma natureza qualitativa e sua metodologia compreende a formulação de glosas e paráfrases. / Abstract: This work presents a reflection about the construction of adjective notions followed by an analysis of these notions for the languages teaching and learning. Our theoretical basis is Antoine Culioli's Theory of Predictive and Enunciative Operations - TOPE. This theory has a dynamic character in the measure that it considers articulated idiom and language, being the language a significant activity to which we have access from the idioms, in a work of assembly and disassembly of arrangements, meanings and values constituted by the operations of representation, referencing and regulation (CULIOLI, 2000). From this theoretical background, we analyze grammatical activities that focus on the study of adjectives and nouns seeking to understand the process of constitution of these adjective notions. Starting from the TOPE, we consider that the meanings are produced in and by the oral and written statements and that grammar and lexicon must be articulated. Thus, we move away from a conception of static categories and propose that a reflection of these activities under an enunciative view demonstrates contributions to the languages teaching and learning (REZENDE, 2000; ONOFRE, 2003b). Our work has a qualitative nature and its methodology includes the formulation of glosses and paraphrases. / Mestre

Thèse--Université de Paris. / Without thesis statement. Bibliography: p. 155-157.