Listening comprehension and listening strategies plays a crucial role in the process of acquiring a language. This study aims to investigate to what extent the listening skill is practised in upper secondary schools in the south of Sweden. Research studies within the field of listening are few which indicates that the listening skill is not considered as essential in second language teaching as the other three skills: reading, writing and speaking. Previous studies indicate that teachers should educate students metacognitive awareness when teaching listening. The results summarize the teachers’ answers, reflections and attitudes conducted from semi-structured interviews. The analysis of the results focuses on the four categories distinguished from the teachers’ answers: Teaching Approaches, National Exams, The Individual Student and Metacognitive Awareness. Some of the teachers do not possess the knowledge of how to teach listening that develops students' listening proficiency. As a conclusion, the study shows that a hierarchy exists among the four skills to which teachers adjust to, and this may be detrimental in achieving educational aims.

The study investigates the potential of teacher talk in enhancing learner capacity to negotiate learning, premised on a view of classroom interaction as guided construction of knowledge. It examines the extent to which levels of oracy - essentially, awareness of the language of instruction, and the ability to use it more effectively - can be raised by exposing teachers to an in-service distance education language-based course. The main research questions are: a. What are the effects of the course in classroom text and discourse on oracy in the high school classroom? b. How can the quality of classroom discourse be assessed in a relatively systematic and objective manner? With regard to the second question, an analytical framework was developed that defined three key constructs in terms of discourse acts, namely teacher dominance, teacher effectiveness and learner initiative, and these constructs formed the basis of the three hypotheses. Patterns of interaction in English, mathematics and geography classes during the first year of high school in Harare, Zimbabwe (main study) and Zomba, Malawi (supplementary study) were analysed. The Zimbabwe study used a pretest-posttest control group design, with six teachers in the experimental group and three as controls, while the Malawi study used a posttest-only control group design with three teachers in each group. The experimental groups took part in an intervention programme known as the Litraid Project, a course on classroom text and discourse. The findings, interpreted both quantitatively and qualitatively, showed that after intervention the experimental group teachers dominated classrooms less and used discourse input more consciously and effectively. Similarly, their learners showed improved ability to negotiate learning, as reflected in their heightened levels of initiative and discourse output, both in class and group discussion. Hence the conclusion that classroom praxis, specifically in English second language situations, benefits from a conscious enhancement of oracy, leading to more effective teaching and learning. / Linguistics / D.Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

The aim of this study is to ascertain what misconceptions N2 students have about DC resistive circuits and how screencasts could effect on the rectification of these misconceptions. This study was conducted at the Kathu Campus of the Northern Cape Rural Further Education and Training College in the town Kathu in the arid Northern Cape. The empirical part of this study was conducted during the first six months of 2013. A design-based research (DBR) method consisting of four phases was used. DBR function is to design and develop interventions such as a procedure, new teachinglearning strategies, and in the case of this study a technology-enhanced learning (TEL) tool (screencast) with the purpose of solving a versatile didactic problem and to acquire information about the interventions of the TEL tool (screencast) on the learning of a student. In the first and second phase of DBR quantitative data for this research were gathered with the Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric circuits Concepts Test (DIRECT) in order to determine the four most common misconceptions. The DIRECT test was conducted in the first trimester to find the misconceptions; the test was conducted in the second trimester also to confirm the misconceptions. Further quantitative data were collected from a demographic questionnaire. The qualitative data were collected by individual interviews in the fourth phase of the research project. Phase three of this study was the development of screencasts in the four most prominent misconceptions in DC resistive circuits of the students. The respondents of this study were non-randomly chosen and comprised of two groups, one in the first trimester of the year and one in the second trimester of the year, which enrolled for the N2 Electrical or Millwright courses. The respondents were predominant male and representing the three main cultural groups in the Northern Cape namely: Black, Coloured and White. The four misconceptions on DC resistive circuits that were identified were: (i) understanding of concepts, (ii) understanding of short circuit, (iii) battery as a constant current source, and (iv) rule application error. Screencasts clarifying the four misconceptions were developed and distributed to the respondents. On the foundation of the results of this research, it can be concluded that the students have several misconceptions around direct current resistive direct current circuits and that the use of TEL like screencasts can be used to solve some of these misconceptions. Screencasts could supplement education when they were incorporated into the tutoring and learning for supporting student understanding. The results of this research could lead to the further development and refinement of screencasts on DC resistive circuits and also useable guidelines in creating innovative screencasts on DC resistive circuits. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Research has shown that the Swedish results of education have fallen continuously since 2000. It has been shown that there are differences in performance between native students and immigrant students. National Centre for “Swedish as a second language” indicates that Swedish schools fail to give all students an equal and high quality education. Then Swedish as a second language education can be organized in two different ways a wonder arise if it can depend on how teachers´ conditions in teaching reveals in these. This study aims to lighten primary school teachers' views on the opportunities and difficulties in second language teaching, which can be organized in two different ways, "separate" and "within the framework of the class". The research questions of the study are, 1) What requirements do teachers perceive that the curriculum for “Swedish as a second language” requires? What opportunities and difficulties can be seen here? 2) What trade-offs are made in the planning of teaching and how are these applied in the teaching of “Swedish as a second language”? What opportunities and difficulties can be seen here? 3) What conditions for scaffolding and interaction do teachers create in teaching "Swedish as a second language? What opportunities and difficulties can be seen here? By using Shulmans theory PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge) it manages to visualize teacher language didactic choices within the subject “Swedish as a second language”. Through a qualitative study based on interviews and observations, the result shows that both teachers reason about a range of language didactic choices, opportunities and solutions, but these could not always be transformed and seen in practice. During the observations, it became clear that the “Swedish as a second language” teaching structural conditions both enabling and impeding teachers to conduct effective teaching. In this case, separate teaching came to be ineffective because they did not have a language development perspectives in school, thereby the subject was stigmatized.

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Syftet med studien är att studera lärares roll i den muntliga interaktionen i ämnet svenska i årskurs två. Utifrån syftet besvaras två frågeställningar som knyts samman med de sociokulturella begreppen stöttning och mediering, nämligen hur lärarna stöttar elevernas muntliga interaktion och vilka medierande redskap som används i klassrummen. Studien bygger på sex observationer i årskurs två som tar sin grund i ett redan färdigställt observationsschema som ger verktyg att observera muntliga interaktioner och lärmiljö utifrån 25 olika faktorer, varav 14 faktorer redovisas och analyseras i studien. Resultatet analyseras med hjälp av ett ramverk inom den sociokulturella teorin som innefattar begreppen stöttning och mediering. Resultatet av studien visar faktorernas förekomst i de observerade klassrummen utifrån hur vanliga de är. Resultatet visar att lärarna främjar interaktionen i klassrummet genom att exempelvis ställa öppna frågor, använda sig av rekvisita för att stärka språkliga yttranden samt bekräftar elevernas yttranden. Under alla observationer använder sig även lärarna av muntliga övningar i både par och mindre grupper. Utifrån resultatet framkom det dock att flertalet lärare inte använder sig av flera av de metoder som tidigare forskning visat vara främjande för elevernas muntlighet, exempelvis använder de sig inte tillräckligt av ett långsamt taltempo eller av pausering och de agerar inte heller som språkliga förebilder i önskad grad. En slutsats som kan dras av resultatet är att lärare bör skapa ytterligare medvetenhet om vilka metoder och strategier som bör finnas med i undervisningen för att främja den muntliga interaktionen i klassrummet.

The aim of this study is to examine in what way teachers in upper secondary school who teaches non-language centered courses uses scaffolding within the theoretical context of language-based learning to support their students’ learning. The study will also examine if there is a difference depending on what subjects the teacher is licensed to teach in. The main methods used are observations and audio recordings of three different teachers during a total of six lessons. The material also consists of interviews with the observed teachers to give additional information about the teachers’ backgrounds and thoughts about language-based learning in relation to their teaching methods. The study is based on a sociocultural and cognitive approach along with the principles of scaffolding based in genre-based pedagogy and Jim Cummins’ theory on how to achieve language proficiency within a school-based contexed and its specialised domains. The results show that all teachers use scaffolding by creating an extensive context for learning within each domain. This contextual scaffolding helps the students learn the new language domain. The teachers also show variations in how they scaffold depending on the subject and student group with more abstract subjects being provided with more concrete exemplification. The conclusions drawn from this is that teachers use scaffolding to help students build the field of the domain and provide scaffolding according to the different subjects and student groups' current conditions and need for cognitive challenges.

Submitted by Mariana Dornelles Vargas (marianadv) on 2015-05-08T19:23:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 penguin_pal.pdf: 2970755 bytes, checksum: e323baab15deb3b73a8f9191a0da9960 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-08T19:23:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 penguin_pal.pdf: 2970755 bytes, checksum: e323baab15deb3b73a8f9191a0da9960 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-07 / Nenhuma / O presente estudo investiga os efeitos da inserção do jogo eletrônico Club Penguin (disponível em videogame e em ambiente virtual - www.clubpenguin.com) nas aulas particulares de inglês como segunda língua (L2) a alunos gêmeos, de 7 anos, em processo de alfabetização. O advento da tecnologia trouxe consigo uma cultura própria - a cibercultura, que também envolve as crianças e que pode ser explorada para potencializar a aprendizagem. Utilizamos, nesta pesquisa, uma base teórica sociocultural, fundamentada no trabalho de Vygotsky, e fizemos uma releitura desta, considerando-a para o contexto de jogos eletrônicos. Os dados foram coletados utilizando-se gravações de áudio e vídeo, bem como diário de campo e documentos gerados nas aulas, durante o segundo semestre de 2010. Através de análise qualitativa, verificamos que as características do brincar e do aprender se ampliam no ambiente digital, bem como as possibilidades de interações entre os jogadores. Observamos que os participantes desta pesquisa tiveram avanços na Zona de Desenvolvimento Proximal, propiciados pela prática do andaimento entre pares ou com a professora. Eles também se apropriaram de vocabulário, de estruturas e da cultura da língua alvo, aumentaram o tempo dedicado ao jogo (e, consequentemente, ao estudo da L2) e ampliaram o uso da L2 em aula. / The present study examines the effects of the introduction of the electronic game Club Penguin (available in videogame and in virtual environment - www.clubpenguin.com) into the private English classes as a second language (L2) to seven-year-old twin students. The advance in technology has brought up its own culture – the cyberculture, which also fascinates kids and may be explored to enhance learning. We have used, for this research, a sociocultural theoretical base, grounded on the work of Vygotsky, and we have looked at a new approach of that, considering it to the context of electronic games. The data has been collected through audio and video recordings, and through the diary and documents produced in class, during the second semester of 2010. By means of qualitative analysis, we have noticed that the characteristics of playing and learning are amplified in the digital environment, as well as the possibilities of interactions among players. We have assessed that the participants of this research have had progress at the Zone of Proximal Development, stimulated by the practice of scaffolding among pairs or with the teacher. They have also acquired the L2 vocabulary, structures and culture; increased the time dedicated to the game (and, consequently, to L2 study); and expanded the use of L2 in class.

When deciding on topics for academic research papers, many students face difficulties that vary from choosing themes whose scope is too extensive to be satisfactorily analyzed in the given task, to selecting topics that are too limited, to not being able to make a decision on a topic at all. Such struggles seem to manifest themselves in both native and non-native speakers of English. Despite extensive research on the writing process and its strategies, be it for academic writing or other genres, and even research focused on writers’ difficulties, previous research has found little about the troubles students must overcome when deciding on a research topic, and how to overcome them. This study employed a qualitative case study design with two graduate students in a master’s program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, who were enrolled in two sections of a course on research, to investigate these students’ writing processes as they defined a topic for their literature review research paper. Through an in-depth analysis of samples of their writing in combination with their verbal reports, collected during individual semi-structured interviews, this case study examined how two graduate students successfully calibrated their topics, which strategies they employed to that end, and how their instructors’ actions helped them in the process. Consequently, the findings shed light on instructional practices, and their implications for teachers’ training programs.

The majority of Grade 4 students in the United States do not read at the proficient level. In response to this problem, which has persisted for decades, the United States Congress in 2004 mandated response to intervention as a multitiered classroom support system designed to improve reading skills for students in K-12 public schools. However, little research has been conducted about how classroom teachers use diagnostic assessments, provide small group instruction, and monitor progress in reading interventions. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how teachers used assessments and instruction in reading interventions for students in Grades 1-3 who were at-risk in reading. The conceptual framework was based on Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development related to the zone of proximal development. A single case study design was used to collect data from multiple sources, including teacher interviews, observations of interventions in reading, and related documents. Participants included 3 teachers in Grades 1-3 from an elementary school located in a western state. Data analysis involved coding and constructing categories for each data source and examining categorized data for themes and discrepancies. Results showed that teachers in Grades 1-3 used various diagnostic assessments and classroom observations to place students at-risk in reading in interventions, and they also used various diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to inform their instruction. In addition, participants used a scaffolding process that involved contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility to provide instruction for these students. This research contributes to positive social change by advancing knowledge about how to improve reading intervention instruction so that students at-risk in reading may better contribute to society as literate citizens.