In this study I investigated the process drama convention of tableau to mediate for the representation of main ideas in science information texts. My pedagogical goal was to focus on the body as a tool for engaging with information texts and my rationale for this goal was the belief that the body is neglected in classroom learning. The task of creating caused the students to be active and to think of their own and other bodies as signifiers of meaning. The methodology was based on a formative experiment that allowed for changes and modifications to be made in response to the intervention of tableau. Formative and design experiments recognize that classrooms are ecologically complex research sites that are situated in particular cultural and historical contexts. Theories related to cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), expansive and embodied learning frame this research as paradigms that recognize the dialectics between activity and culture and the body in and of the world. In the study tableau is framed as an innovative learning method that disrupts the traditional and historical methods for identifying main idea, such as the annotation of text. Through the disruption of tableau came opportunities to expand notions of literacy and comprehension as well as the traditional associations of drama with fiction texts. The study shows that tableau is a flexible mediating tool that can be applied to the current focus on informational texts and close reading.

This study set out primarily to investigate the nature of reading comprehension instruction in Saint Lucia, and to examine the explanations of teachers with regard to the factors that they perceive contribute to Grade 6 students' failure in the main idea comprehension test in the national Common Entrance Examination in Saint Lucia. Four effective Grades 5 and 6 teachers (two per grade) from two Saint Lucian primary schools participated in a total of four individual semi-structured interviews and were observed in their regularly scheduled reading comprehension lessons. A total of 27 lessons were observed and audio tape-recorded to examine the nature of reading comprehension instruction in the classrooms. From this cohort of lessons, a sample of 16 lessons was randomly selected and transcribed to determine the presence of direct instruction in comprehension strategies, and the quality of instruction that took place. This quality was measured and described in terms of the elements of the Direct Instruction Model (Pearson Dole, 1987), the nature of questioning, and time allotted to instruction. This data was also used to make comparisons between Grades 5 and 6 classes. The results show that the four teachers perceived that there are four areas of blame for students' poor performance in reading comprehension: the teacher's inability to instruct, the students' poor decoding and comprehension abilities, the inadequacy of the main idea test, and the teaching materials available for teaching comprehension. However, the main factor perceived by teachers as contributing to the students' poor performance is teachers' inability to instruct. Nonetheless, the observation of the Grades 5 and 6 effective teachers' reading comprehension lessons showed that these teachers were indeed teaching a number of comprehension strategies. They relied predominantly on the question answering strategy in all their lessons which was mainly taught in combination with other strategies. However, it was the teaching of summarization through the main idea that was the dominant strategy more explicitly taught in 7 of the 16 lessons observed, appearing more frequently in the Grade 6 classes. An assessment of the quality of the reading comprehension instruction revealed that 11 of1 6 lessons, included all the four elements of direct instruction, and were rated as 'excellent' in quality. None of the lessons had fewer than two elements identified on the model. An assessment of the types of questions asked also showed that questioning was used both for the purpose of assessment and as an instructional strategy. The timing of the lessons support the quality of instruction, as 90% of the total time observed was allotted to instruction. The greater portion of that time went to guided practice (38%) and independent practice (33%) of reading comprehension strategies. This study shows that explicit comprehension instruction of strategies is evident in the reading comprehension classes of the 4 effective Saint Lucian Grades 5 and 6 teachers. It is therefore recommended that educational officials ensure that similar practices are maintained in other Saint Lucian classes, that the reading comprehension instruction practices of a wider cross section of Saint Lucian teachers be examined, and that future research looks into other probable causes of students' failure on the main idea comprehension test.

The primary aim of this study is to attempt to provide a means of restoring evangelical preaching in Xhosa churches. I will attempt to answer the question, How can the evangelical preaching be restored in Xhosa churches in the Western Cape? From personal observation, it is clear that in contemporary Xhosa evangelicalism, preaching is totally misunderstood. To put more bluntly, there are no clear criteria from biblical theology for preaching in Xhosa churches. Indeed so much is happening in the name of preaching that offers no substance whatsoever. In the first two chapter’s of this study, the focus is on the problem that the Xhosa church is experiencing and how preaching is understood and practiced in this community. Chapter three examines the causes of the problem and how to deal with those causes. On a practical note, it is shown that sermon analyses are inevitable for further consideration of the problem. Moreover, the chapter examines various attempts that have been made in response to the problem. In Chapter four, an investigation of the views of biblical theology on the subject of preaching is carried out. The chapter dwells into what the Bible offers on the subject of preaching and this is meant to serve as a foundation for the restoration of evangelical preaching in Xhosa churches. In the light of Chapter four, Chapter five argues for expository preaching as a possible means of responding to the crisis which the Xhosa church is experiencing. At the same time chapter five seek to state the case for expository preaching. Finally, Chapter Six provides the most effective material for Xhosa preachers in the process of exploring and constructing expository sermons. / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Framed by a sociocultural understanding of literacy acquisition and learning, this research study investigates methods content area teachers can use to meet the needs of adolescent English language learners and native English speakers who struggle to read texts in school. The interventions were designed to both expand students’ concepts of literacy and of themselves as literate people, and to capitalized on students’ multiliteracies by using visual art to teach students how to notice main ideas in nonfiction texts. Statistical analyses indicate that English language learners made significant gains in reading comprehension. However, analyses of students’ written reflections and of stimulated recall interviews illustrate that, although students practiced literacies in diverse and powerful ways outside of school, they maintained generally low self-concepts and highly schoolish conceptions of literacy. / Teaching & Learning

Σκοπός της εργασίας αυτής ήταν μια πρώτη μελέτη των προβλημάτων ανάγνωσης των κωφών μαθητών Γυμνασίου. Συγκεκριμένα, στη παρούσα εργασία μελετήθηκε κατά πόσο οι κωφοί μαθητές Γυμνασίου μπορούν να διαβάσουν με προσοχή ένα κείμενο, καθώς και κατά πόσο μπορούν να κατανοήσουν το κείμενο και να συγκρατήσουν πληροφορίες από αυτό. Αναλυτικότερα, έγινε προσπάθεια να απαντηθούν τα εξής ερωτήματα: κατά πόσο μπορούν οι κωφοί μαθητές α)να διαβάσουν τόσο προσεκτικά, ώστε να καταλάβουν τη συνοχή / συνεκτικότητα ενός κειμένου και να εντοπίσουν ασαφή στοιχεία, β)να κατανοήσουν την κεντρική ιδέα ενός κειμένου και γ)να συγκρατήσουν πληροφορίες από ένα κείμενο και να απαντήσουν σε ερωτήσεις κατανόησης. Στην έρευνα έλαβαν μέρος 11 (Ν=11) κωφοί μαθητές και των τριών τάξεων του Ειδικού Γυμνασίου Κωφών και Βαρηκόων Αγίας Παρασκευής, καθώς και 23 (Ν=23) ακούοντες μαθητές της Α΄ Γυμνασίου από το Γυμνάσιο Γαλατά, οι οποίοι αποτέλεσαν την ομάδα ελέγχου. Τα αποτελέσματα της εργασίας έδειξαν ότι οι κωφοί μαθητές έχουν χαμηλότερο αναγνωστικό επίπεδο σε σύγκριση με ακούοντες μαθητές. Συγκεκριμένα, οι κωφοί μαθητές αντιμετωπίζουν σοβαρές δυσκολίες στην κατανόηση της συνοχής ενός κειμένου, στη διατύπωση της κεντρικής του ιδέας, καθώς και στη συγκράτηση πληροφοριών από το κείμενο αυτό, προκειμένου να απαντήσουν σε σχετικές ερωτήσεις κατανόησης. Ειδικότερα, η διατύπωση της κεντρικής ιδέας φαίνεται ότι δυσκολεύει ιδιαίτερα όλους τους μαθητές, κωφούς και ακούοντες, αφού και οι ακούοντες μαθητές είχαν πολύ χαμηλές επιδόσεις. Αξίζει, επίσης, να σημειωθεί ότι οι μαθητές της τελευταίας τάξης είχαν καλύτερη επίδοση από τους μαθητές των μικρότερων τάξεων, το οποίο δείχνει ότι οι κωφοί μαθητές χρειάζονται περισσότερο χρόνο και εκπαίδευση, προκειμένου να κατακτήσουν την ανάγνωση και να αρχίσουν να κατανοούν ένα κείμενο. Τέλος, τα αποτελέσματα αυτά θα πρέπει να ληφθούν υπόψη από τους εκπαιδευτικούς, προκειμένου οι τελευταίοι να δώσουν στους κωφούς μαθητές τον απαραίτητο χρόνο και εκπαίδευση για την καλύτερη δυνατή κατάκτηση της ανάγνωσης. / The purpose of this assignment was a first study of the reading problems of the deaf high school students. Namely, in the present assignment it was examined whether and to which extent the high school students can read a text carefully as well as whether they are able to comprehend the text and retain elements from it. To analyze this, there was an attempt to answer the following questions: whether the deaf students a) can read carefully so as to comprehend the cohesion and coherence of a text and pinpoint ambiguous data b) whether they can perceive the main idea of a text and c) whether they are able to retain information from a text and answer reading comprehension questions . 11 high school deaf students -of all the 3 grades of the Specialized High School For the Deaf and Hearing Impaired in Aghia Paraskevi - participated in this study as well as 23 hearing students of the first grade of the high school in Galata, who comprised the control group. The results of the study showed that the deaf students have a lower reading standard in comparison with the hearing students. Specifically, the deaf students face tremendous difficulties in comprehending the cohesion of a text in expressing the main idea as well as in retaining data from this specific text in order to respond to relevant comprehension questions .In a deeper analysis the formulation of the central idea seems to particularly complicate all the students -hearing and deaf alike- since the hearing students had a very low performance. Moreover it is worth noted that the deaf students need more time and training so as to acquire the reading skills and start comprehending the text. Finally, these specific results should be taken into consideration by the educationalists so as the latter to allow deaf students the time and training needed for the best possible acquisition of the reading skills.

Students who study through the medium of a second language often have reading/listening comprehension and general study problems. This study focuses on particular aspects of these problems only, namely, identification of main ideas, summarisation and note-taking. The aim of this study was w determine the effect of teaching L2 students a combination of metacognitive and cognitive strategies for reading and listening comprehension (the main idea, summarising and note-taking by means of dictation). An intervention programme was designed in order to teach students these skills. There were ten students in both the experimental and the control groups. Both groups were assessed before and after the intervention programme. The findings reveal that the intervention was successful, with the experimental group showing greater improvement than the control group. The findings of this study have implications for second language tertiary learning and teaching theory and practice / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)

Students who study through the medium of a second language often have reading/listening comprehension and general study problems. This study focuses on particular aspects of these problems only, namely, identification of main ideas, summarisation and note-taking. The aim of this study was w determine the effect of teaching L2 students a combination of metacognitive and cognitive strategies for reading and listening comprehension (the main idea, summarising and note-taking by means of dictation). An intervention programme was designed in order to teach students these skills. There were ten students in both the experimental and the control groups. Both groups were assessed before and after the intervention programme. The findings reveal that the intervention was successful, with the experimental group showing greater improvement than the control group. The findings of this study have implications for second language tertiary learning and teaching theory and practice / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)

The development of the site allows to connect different residential areas by pedestrian and biking routes; to remove the barrier created by the site, which destroys integral space of the town; and to create a communication axis with the hill Barbořina. At present the site is defined as an agricultural area for further development. As it is no longer used on purpose, it can be considered as brownfield. The proposal is to create a park area, which will become a part of the urban fabric, will create space for new activities and will solve communication problems, such as lack of pedestrian and bicycle connection between the town and Barbořina.