Discourse connectives signal discourse coherence by making discourse relations explicit and by playing a role in the organization and structure of information in discourse. Therefore, their use in L2 writing is an important field of study that is likely to have implications for discourse competence both at the sentence-level discourse and at the level of larger discourse structure. The aim of the present study is to account for the use of three contrastive discourse connectives, but, however and although at both the microstructural and the macrostructural levels of discourse in the argumentative essays written by Turkish learners of English and native speakers of American English. The patterns of use by L2 learners are compared with those of native speakers. The analysis is based on 120 essays from two corpora: Turkish subcorpus of the International Corpus of Learner English (TICLE) and American subcorpus of Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (ALOCNESS). The study reveals that the argumentative essays of Turkish learners of English and American students do not differ significantly regarding the three connectives neither structurally nor semantically. However, at the macrostructural level of discourse, differences concerning the pattern of argumentation and the role that the connectives play in the claim-counterargument-refutation pattern of organization were observed. Further analysis on other lexical items used in argumentation shows that in ALOCNESS, there is more reliance on other means, such as the lexical items expressing modality and those signaling the argumentative nature of the text.

The thesis examines the comprehension of English idioms with body part components by Turkish learners, i.e., the strategies they use when guessing the meaning of idioms. Fifteen English idioms are taken from the British National Corpus and are selected to meet the criteria of the width of range and the frequency of usage / also idioms with a bigger amount of representation, as well as idioms having and not having Turkish analogues and equivalents are included. The research is mainly based on the assumptions of the theory of Conceptual metaphors (Lakoff &amp / Johnson, 2003 / Lakoff, 1987) which emphasizes an extensive role of metaphors in humans&rsquo / life. The study is conducted among first-year students from different departments of Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara. Retrospective data collection method is applied / the validity and reliability of data in the present study is achieved by the application of three research methods: questionnaires, interviews, and think-aloud protocols. The obtained data are analyzed, and it is found out that Turkish learners prefer to comprehend English idioms through associations rather than concepts and universals.

This biography tells the life story of a secondary school English coursebook in Kenya following market liberalization (1998) and curriculum review (2002). In ELT, Gray (2007, 2010) first applied the ‘circuit of culture’ model to global English coursebooks; in contrast, I examine the case of a single local publication. The textbook has been described as a politico-economic, socio-cultural, and curriculum product. I focus on it primarily as a curriculum product and delink the circuit of culture from its original application in textbook studies in the service of a sociocultural perspective. I posit that the model has the explanatory power to capture the various research focuses that textbook studies may take. The circuit of culture has five processes or ‘moments’: representation, identity, regulation, production and consumption. Following preliminary work, my ‘journey’ begins in the representation moment, using Littlejohn’s (1992, 1998) framework for materials analysis. In the regulation moment, I interview three participants linked to the curriculum development body (KIE). In the production moment, I interview four authors, the editor and the publishing manager of the selected coursebook. In the consumption moment, I interview sixteen teachers who are or have been users of the materials. Four of the teachers participate in classroom observation and their learners respond to a questionnaire. Finally, I build a key identity statement about the coursebook, pooled from the findings in each moment. I reposition the identity moment and posit its centrality at the core of the circuit. Spurred by insights on innovation in English language education, I support the strengthening of ‘feedback loops’ across moments, and the recognition of the consumption moment as the zone for promoting dynamism and synergy in textbook development. This can (ideally) result in curriculum products and practices capable of overcoming challenges of interpretation and transition, while promoting good practices across moments.

The teaching and learning of English as a foreign language has a long tradition within the Mexican Education System. However, it has been widely recognised that this endeavour has been unsuccessful for the most part. This inquiry looks at three interrelated fields in education and in TESOL — academic transfers, language-in-education policy and planning, and students’ and teachers’ perceptions — in order to answer the following question: How can transfer between secondary and preparatory school be made more effective? A qualitative instrumental ethnographic case study, descriptive in nature, was undertaken with a focus on developing a detailed picture of how the main stakeholders in EFL teaching and learning in Mexican state schools perceive the transfer process of students moving from secondary to preparatory education. Two phases of fieldwork were carried out in secondary and preparatory schools in Xalapa, Veracruz. Semi-structured interviews, official documents, transcripts, and field notes were the main sources of data. 7 EFL teachers, a secondary school co-ordinator, a head of a secondary school, and 14 core students making the transfer from secondary to preparatory education participated in this investigation. The findings of this study suggest that a first important step forward to improve the EFL transfer experience within the state school sector is to move away from the top down approach to language-in-education policy making that has prevailed for such a long time. This investigation has also identified that there is a disjunction between policy-makers’ rhetoric and what in actuality is feasible to implement in real classrooms given the contextual constraints that teachers and students have to face. It has also illustrated some of the most salient issues hindering the EFL teaching and learning in state schools. The outcomes of this study suggest some obstacles that could be addressed by people who are most directly concerned with EFL policy and its implementation in the public sector. It also provides a greater understanding of the issues to be addressed in further research.

This thesis positions itself between two general approaches to Shelley, that of appreciating his poetics, on the one hand, and that of valuing his philosophical vision, on the other. Duffy has noted that “Shelley’s epistemological and political maturity is no longer in any serious doubt”, and he goes on to demonstrate that Shelley’s radical tendencies remained undiminished throughout his lifetime. My findings support Duffy’s contention, and broaden it to include not only Shelley’s writings but the actions of his life. At the same time, O’Neill has highlighted the importance of exploring Shelley’s poetry for “its imaginative effect as much as its ideological or philosophical coherence”, and that approach will be utilized here as well. My hypothesis is that Shelley’s early fiction, in particular his two early novels, Zastrozzi and St. Irvyne, possess value and deserve attention, and can shed light on his poetics as well as his politics. Moreover, conducting my research has revealed issues of sexism, gender, class and feminism, all of which will be explored. The thesis consists of four main chapters, and four lyric interludes. Chapter one deals with the novels themselves, including their association with the Gothic genre, and offers specific details concerning the delineation and focus of the thesis. Chapter two examines the novels in light of Laon and Cythna or The Revolt of Islam, raising issues of domestic happiness and familial relationships. This lengthy poem, which is frequently neglected in close readings of Shelley, occupies a starring role here. Chapter three continues the examination of the novels as pertains The Cenci, in addition to grappling with matters raised in chapters one and two in a more general context. Finally, chapter four scrutinizes Prometheus Unbound in terms of the Gothic or Romance novels and suggests a new possible interpretation. Interspersed between and complementary to the main chapters is a series of chronologically arranged lyric interludes. This organizational structure, similar to Molière’s use of interludes in The Hypochondriac (Le Malade imaginaire), was adopted because these poems are shorter and can stand apart from one another, and it was deemed more appropriate to incorporate them with flexibility into the main argument, like a moon orbiting its planet, rather than grouping them together as a single unit.

This is a study to investigate English Language Teaching (ELT) in Iran as well as the extent of its compatibility with communicative pedagogy. It has been accepted that language is more than a simple system of rules. Language is now generally seen as a dynamic resource for the creation of meaning. According to the advocates of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), it is generally accepted that there is a need to distinguish between learning that and knowing how. In other words, there must be a distinction between knowing various grammatical rules and being able to use the rules effectively and appropriately when communicating. In 2007, the first Iranian national curriculum for teaching foreign languages was being developed by a team who was working under the supervision of the Ministry of Education based on CLT. Considering the extent of compatibility of the curriculum with CLT was felt to be important in evaluating the degree of success in achieving the goals of CLT. There were also efforts taken into consideration in order to consider the ELT in Iran from other perspectives. To do so, since the current programme and textbooks had been designed prior to introducing the new curriculum; therefore, it was felt necessary to consider them as well. In order to investigate the situation, varieties of research instruments were applied in order to collect valid and reliable data. These instruments were mainly composed of a review of literature, a desk based analysis of the curriculum, administering questionnaires as well as conducting interview sessions. The questionnaires were mainly distributed among English language teachers and the interviews were conducted with some authors of the curriculum, textbooks and English language teachers. The analysis and interpretation of the collected data suggested that while the newly designed curriculum document is to a great extent compatible with communicative pedagogy, the materials being used by teachers, as well as the current ELT programme, are mainly structurally based and cannot be considered as communicative. The thesis goes on to discuss some of the implications of these findings both for ELT in Iran and for future research.

Morgan (1997:16) observes that any form of education aims to bring about changes in students. It must, therefore, have in view both what an educated person should be and the ideal society to whose relationship they will contribute. Such educated individuals will presumably contribute to the betterment of their society insofar as adjustments to their status quo are desirable. In line with Morgan, this study has suggested that disempowered learners in Pakistani higher secondary classroom, by taking the ownership of their learning, can emerge as independent critical thinker with a better perception of the world. This study has explored how conservative pedagogical treatment affects the learners’ understanding of texts by disempowering and having them either misperceived or incomplete information. The study has proposed an alternative route to learning which might ensure a more effective impact on the learning process and the learning outcome. For this purpose, the study critically analyses the texts of a Pakistani higher secondary English textbook to investigate how ineffective treatment of these texts influences the learners’ perception of the world and their learning outcome. The critical discourse analysis complements a questionnaire survey followed by interviews with the learners to gauge their level of understanding of the texts in line with the goals and objectives set by the national curriculum of Pakistan. Following a critical paradigmatic pattern, the study not only points out the problem but also comes up with a change agenda by advocating the case for critical pedagogy for these learners. The study proposes sample material to support how adding a critical dimension to the existing English syllabus may well achieve better results in term of academic accomplishments, in addition to broadening the learners’ vision, and preparing them to face the rapidly changing and growing world of the 21st century.

This research investigates the professional backgrounds, experiences and working conditions of teachers on the bilingual programme (English Programme) in Thailand. Its main purposes are to provide an insight into the professional lives and working situations of these teachers and to contribute to a better understanding of the current state of bilingual teaching in the country. The study adopts a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis. The data set comprises thirty-eight in-depth interviews with a group of Thai and foreign teachers involved in bilingual teaching in Thailand, fieldnotes from school and classroom observation conducted in a leading bilingual school in Bangkok, and an analysis of documentary evidence relevant to bilingual education and bilingual teachers in Thailand. Data analysis uses a grounded approach, employing open, axial and selective coding. The research results reveal a number of fundamental problems for bilingual teachers in Thailand and highlight several factors that undermine the implementation of bilingual education in this context. The overall picture of bilingual teaching and teachers emerging from this study reveals considerable fragmentation and an overall lack of coherence, producing a situation that falls far short of the ideal representation of bilingual education to be found in official Ministry of Education documents. The research reveals that, although bilingual teachers are regarded as a homogeneous group, considerable differences are to be found between different categories of teacher and this gives rise to a range of different problems, including the absence of a shared vision of what bilingual education actually involves, a lack of effective communication between groups and, in some groups, a feeling of not belonging to the school community. The study also reveals problems that affect the quality of educational provision, such as inefficient recruitment procedures and related problems of retention, a failure to appreciate fully the contribution made by foreign non-native speaker teachers, and tensions arising from the relationship between subject and language teaching. The thesis concludes with recommendations for responding to these problems and suggestions for further research.

At the beginning of the twentieth century we find novelists using their medium to express doubt in both the Judeo-Christian narrative as archetype and the possibility of purposive narrative in their own work. Often these writers took well-recognized paradigms of purposive narratives, such as 'the quest', or 'historical narrative' and adapted them to show them failing to reach their purposed denouement. The work of these novelists was paralleled by that of contemporary poets. Although the poets' concerns were less immediately affected by the specific challenges to Judeo-Christian narratives, their concern for the efficacy of language was motivated by a similar sense that language no longer possessed the edenic quality of reaching the thing it aimed at. Furthermore the frameworks of art themselves (perspective, rhyme, formal representation, and so on) were found to be unstable. Literary responses to the failure of language and narrative were varied. In a radically simplified form they may be located on a continuum between two points: at one end a desire to fill the void left by an absent God; at the other a fascination with the possibilities of the void. My thesis situates the work of Conrad in particular, as well as Forster, Eliot, Woolf, Imagism and Dada, on this continuum, during the period of, roughly, 1899-1925. The works of these individuals and groups are considered individually and comparatively through detailed readings of texts and images. Through such consideration it becomes apparent that the fascination of the void, which attracted all these writers to varying extents, also brought them to realize new aesthetic possibilities that seemed to fill the void. In particular, the modernist texts under consideration developed an aesthetic of aperture, that is to say an aesthetic of the momentary, more specifically, the moment prior to comprehension, the moment of experience. In fiction this aesthetic grew out of a deconstruction of purposive narrative in favour of imagistic presentation; in poetry and the visual arts the poem or picture abstracted its object from reality and yet equivalenced reality by presenting an inherent internal logic. That logic apparent in the poem or picture was often placed beyond the grasp of the reader or viewers' understanding, representing the sense that the logical operations of the world or the divine machinations of God, were either beyond comprehension,if not non-existent altogether. This aesthetic of aperture is once again illustrated through detailed examination of particular texts and images. In the works considered this reinstatement of the possibility of purposive narrative and language through an aesthetic of aperture is figured mystically, presented in negative-theological terms of absence, silence and the unknowable. The mysticism identified appears at odds with the predominantly practical theological debates in Europe at the time and yet finds philosophical parallels in Wittgenstein's Tractatus. The thesis concludes that the return, in modernist works, of attempts to fill the void is the result not only of aesthetic, but also of social and personal (in particular the repercussions of world war), desires for at least the possibility of purposive narrative and language.

The aim of this thesis is to examine how the virtual image of Brazil and its literature is constructed in the Anglo-American world. To this end, a survey of Brazilian literary works in English translation was carried out. Having gathered this data, it became possible to establish correlations between the historical moments when such translations were made, when their number increased, and the events occurring at those times in the international panorama, as well as to look into the role of sponsors, publishers and translators in the selection and production of such translations. The data also allowed a profile of Brazilian literary works in English translation to be drawn. It became possible to suggest that such works fall into four main categories: `authorial works', 'topical works', `ambassadorial works' and `consumer-oriented works'. In order to look more closely into how the translation process has helped to shape the virtual image of Brazilian literary works in the Anglo-American world, an analysis of a sample of translations of such works was made. Included in this sample were the translations of works by Machado de Asis, by Indianist and Regionalist wirters, culminating in an examination of translations of GuimarAes Rosa's works. Having looked at these aspects of the translation process, what remained to be done was to investigate to what extent Brazilian literary works in English translation are read by the English- speaking public. To this end, a survey of availability and library readership was undertaken. Finally, a reading experiment was carried out in which native speakers of English were asked to read the short story 'A terceira margem do rio', by GuimarAes Rosa. The conclusion attempts to pull all these threads together and to indicate directions for further research.