M.Ed. (Subject Didactics) / The focus in this study is on roleplay as a technique for second language education, wi the specific reference to oral communication. The field study as well as the theoretical framework is placed against the background of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) as language education approach or; The theoretical research encompasses role-play as Anthropological phenomenon and especially also as a didactic principle. This framework is complemented by a brief exposition of LT as language education paradigm. The field work is based on qualitative observation. The researcher had participant observation st.atus at a school for a month. A multi-faceted analysis of two oral communication lessons were made. The qualitative observation is triangulated with structured interviews (questionnaire type), open-ended interviews, document analysis as well as structured systematic analysis of two recorded lessons. It was found that there was a significant difference in interpersonal social language usage in the two lessons. The lessons in which role-play was implemented as a technique showed a qualitative increase in language production. It is to be concluded that role-play accommodates oral communication in second language context meaningfully as a mode of pedagogic discourse, supported by a simulated naturalistic milieu.

M.Ed. (Teaching Language) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of first language literacy and educational backgrounds on literacy and academic performance in a second language and, to learn more about students' perceptions of their linguistic, academic and social development in schooling in which the language of instruction is English. Fifty-five students were selected from seven high schools in the Vancouver School District, Vancouver, British Columbia. Information about students' first language (L1) literacy and educational experiences, including previous instruction in English was obtained on arrival. Proficiency in second language (L2) reading and first and second language writing was observed on arrival and in the spring of 1996, after a minimum of four years of English-only schooling, using standardized and holistic measures. Grade Point Averages (GPA) were calculated for students' achievement in four academic subjects. Analysis by ANOVA showed a significant difference in the length of time spent in ESL due to years of previous English study (F (7,43) = 4.26, p = .0012). Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated to observe relationships between L1 literacy and time spent in ESL, L1 education and time spent in ESL, and L2 reading and writing and achievement in English, social studies, science and math. Significant relationships were found between proficiency in L2 reading and writing and academic achievement, as measured by GPA. Significant findings were also obtained for L1 literacy and time spent in ESL (-.33, p < .05). Orthographic similarity was not a predictor of L2 reading, as measured on a standardized test of reading comprehension (t = .105, p = .747). Results of the study showed that L1 literacy development, L1 schooling, and previous English study enhanced acquisition of English, as measured by time spent in ESL. The researcher concluded that L1 literacy and education are important factors affecting the rate and level of L2 proficiency attained and academic achievement. Implications from findings suggest that in schooling where the language of instruction is English, students who have not acquired literacy skills in L1 have different needs and face a greater challenge than students who are literate in L1 . / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

Fossilization, the stagnation of second language (L2) learning despite propitious conditions, is an inescapable reality for virtually all L2 learners. The study presented in this dissertation has endeavored to contribute to our current understanding of fossilization by examining, both longitudinally and cross-sectionally, persistent errors in the writing of adult learners of academic English for whom Spanish is a first language (L1). The theoretical framework is the Selective Fossilization Hypothesis (SFH), introduced by Han in 2009, which offers an extrapolative and explanatory framework for analyzing persistent errors in the developing grammars of L2 learners. This research was conducted in two parts. Part I consisted of a cross-sectional investigation of 60 English language learners (ELLs) grouped into three proficiency levels: low intermediate, high intermediate, and advanced. Part II was a longitudinal case study that followed two ELLs over a period of 28 and 56 months, respectively. For both parts of the study, naturalistic data consisting of college placement, diagnostic, and exit essays were collected at the research site, a large community college in the Northeastern United States, and analyzed quantitatively. Descriptive statistics were computed to identify persistent errors in the participants’ writing. Following that, the longitudinal data were subjected to further analysis, revealing robust evidence of selective fossilization both among and within the target subsystems of English articles, prepositions, and number, and offering empirical support for the SFH. These findings have some implications for second language research and practice. By providing evidence of selective fossilization, they may help challenge earlier conceptualizations of fossilization as a global phenomenon, and, by extension, the myth of the ‘fossilized’ (‘unteachable’) learner. Additionally, they contribute to extant research on the developing academic writing of post-secondary learners, a population and genre largely underrepresented in the L2 research. Finally, by offering empirical support for selective fossilization and the SFH, they provide L2 practitioners with the means to predict and explain learner errors, enabling them to set more realistic learning goals and achieve more successful outcomes.

The aim of this dissertation is to present a critical literature review and conceptual analysis of selected genre-based research materials from 1960-2002 on the theoretical and pedagogical issues involved in teaching reading and writing to students of English for Science and Technology. Methodologically, the comparative data-analysis is aimed at identifying commonalities and differences between the various data texts in terms of their definition, orientations, and pedagogical uses. Based on the analyses, suggestions are made for the additional practical applications of the approaches within a learning-centred, communicative framework. The main conclusion is that genre analysis is a fusion of textual-contextual orientations on a structural-linguistic, social-ethnographic cline, which involves simultaneous microlinguistic and macrorhetorical, social-ethnographic processing. Owing to the scope of genre analysis, it is suggested that a considerably expanded, in-depth investigation is needed to clarify the dynamic tensions between and within the individual genre-based approaches, as well as their pedagogical applications. / English Studies / MA (TESOL)

D.Phil. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to present a critical literature review and conceptual analysis of selected genre-based research materials from 1960-2002 on the theoretical and pedagogical issues involved in teaching reading and writing to students of English for Science and Technology. Methodologically, the comparative data-analysis is aimed at identifying commonalities and differences between the various data texts in terms of their definition, orientations, and pedagogical uses. Based on the analyses, suggestions are made for the additional practical applications of the approaches within a learning-centred, communicative framework. The main conclusion is that genre analysis is a fusion of textual-contextual orientations on a structural-linguistic, social-ethnographic cline, which involves simultaneous microlinguistic and macrorhetorical, social-ethnographic processing. Owing to the scope of genre analysis, it is suggested that a considerably expanded, in-depth investigation is needed to clarify the dynamic tensions between and within the individual genre-based approaches, as well as their pedagogical applications. / English Studies / MA (TESOL)

D.Ed. / In South Africa the vast majority ofsecondary school pupils are instructed through the medium of a language that is not their mother tongue. Research indicates that problems which result from instruction in a medium in which pupils do not possess real competence are far reaching. This study is concerned primarily with the difficulties experienced by second language pupils reading expository text in English, in particular the reading matter encountered in subject text books. A study of the relevant theories with regard to reading and learning was made, as well as an overview of the socio-political and economic factors which affect the educational system in South Africa. An empirical study was undertaken, involving Standard 6 pupils who were not first language speakers of English, and who had received their primary school education at institutions under the control ofthe Department ofEducation and Training. In this empirical component pupils were observed, tested and interviewed in an attempt to determine the extent of the difficulties they experienced when they were required to intemalise information presented in the form ofexpository text such as that found in school text books. Findings indicate that the most effective way to address the issue might be by training teachers to become more efficient mediators in the reading process.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract