Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-79). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Agr.Stud.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Techn. University, Diss., 2004--Chemnitz.

This thesis develops a better understanding of the lived experiences of NNES teachers, coming from diverse racial, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and the complex negotiations and constructions of their professional identities against the prevalent NS fallacy in the Arab Gulf states. This study employs a Postcolonial theoretical framework. In order to unravel NNESTs’ perspectives and understand how they make sense of their experiences, this study adopts a life history approach. The results suggest that participants view nativeness as a fixed identity, dependant on elements, such as being born into a language and learning it in early childhood. The participants had both confidence and concern about their linguistic abilities, which indicated that their non-native identity resulted in complex situations for them to deal with. The findings also revealed that the participants managed to find ways in which to inhabit these non-native identities confidently and to construct themselves as effective teachers who did not have to be NSs by nature. The participants narrated that the issue of pronunciation and accent had a significant impact on their professional identities. NS norms in accent was seen as eliciting stereotyped judgements of NNESTS as the inferior Other, and resulting in hiring policies that were greatly skewed against NNESTs. The participants also believed that stereotyped notions about the superiority of education acquired from the Center privileged NESTs in employment and led to the devaluation of indigenous knowledge. The participants also spoke about encountering direct and indirect challenges, which made it difficult for them to position themselves as legitimate teachers of English. They also believed that perceptions about the superiority of the NS would be impossible to overcome in the near future since the language policy of the Gulf states was strongly intertwined with its economic and political interests. The study, therefore, provides recommendations for theory, practice, and policy.

D.Ed. (Didactic Education) / The main problem regarding the teaching of Afrikaans First Language was pinpointed as being a largely unscientific realisation of the particular subject curriculum and syllabus. This implies that a complete and systematic restructuring of the curriculum should be done, because it would be the only way in which the particular subject curriculum could be realised in a scientific way. The method of research used was the phenomenological method whilst various means were introduced to support the research, inter alia correspondence with the various Provincial Education Departments and a literature study. It became apparent that two very important phenomena were related to the teaching of the child's mother tongue, namely language and school. It was therefore necessary to make an in depth study of both phenomena, and the researcher came to the following conclusions: * Language is essentially a characteristic of being human. * Language is a very important medium through which man constitutes his own world. * The mother tongue is the medium par excellence through which man constitutes his own world. * The school's primary task is that of intellectualising the pupil (rationalisation), whilst the general forming of the pupil (for example socialisation) also forms part of the task of the school. The above mentioned research is a necessary base for any attempt to address the particular problem, namely the structuringof the mother tongue (Afrikaans) into a school subject. Further grounding includes a discussion of the role of values in the teaching of the mother tongue and the explication of the formative value of the mother tongue. Futhermore: In structuring the mother tongue into a school subject, one should adhere to the so called curriculum cycle. For the purpose of this research the parameters for any explicit situation-analysis were concentrated on, while attention was given to the concepts objectives and goals and, very briefly, the other aspects of the curriculum cycle. This research does not claim to make full and final statements regarding the mother tongue as a school subject, but only tries to formulate a basis as parameters for further research.

This study is a survey of sixty Native Americans between 12-24 years of age. Thirty were graduates and thirty were non-graduates. The four sets of variables examined were: early pregnancy, drug and alcohol use, cultural values, and mentoring. The reliability of three factors (mentors, substance abuse and cultural factors) were consistent with what might be expected in a random scale of 60 participants with a researcher developed scale. It was, however, the category developed to address having or not having children that proved to be of the most statistical significance.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to examine the preschool settings of the Pearl River community and assess the effectiveness of certain preschool programs regarding the achievement of Native American kindergarten students. The data were examined to compare student achievement of the Pearl River Elementary School kindergarten class of 2006-2007 as measured by the TerraNova subtests in Reading/Language and Mathematics. A sample of n = 74 was obtained for this study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze previous preschool experiences of the participants. Demographic data showed that most students in the Pearl River Elementary School kindergarten class of 2006-2007 had attended some type of preschool. TerraNova scores for the participants were also examined. Descriptive statistics were used to examine how well the kindergarten students at Pearl River Elementary School compared with the national average. The data indicated that the kindergarteners at Pearl River Elementary School did not score as high as the national average on any of the subtests for Reading, Language, and Mathematics. A MANOVA was used to test the null hypothesis that stated that there were no statistically significant differences among the means of the TerraNova scores based upon type of preschool attended. The independent variable for the analysis was type of preschool attended. The dependent variables were the subtest scores on the TerraNova in Reading, Language, and Mathematics. Results indicated that students who had attended the Pearl River pre-kindergarten program outscored the students who had attended the Pearl River Head Start program in both Language and Mathematics subtests. Results did not indicate that there was any statistical difference in the mean of the Reading subtest based upon type of preschool attended. Recommendations for further study include obtaining another sample that would incorporate variables not used in the current study. Research should be done to examine curricular differences among pre-kindergarten, FACE, Head Start, and Day Care programs. Students should also be tracked to measure the long term effects of attending each of these programs. Alternate assessments for student achievement of preschool and kindergarten students should also be considered for further research.

No description available.