The purpose of this creative project is to provide a manual for French teachers who wish to incorporate a cultural element with emphasis on religion into their course. In preparing these materials, the author has had the Christian school especially in mind.The Christian school movement is developing rapidly in the United States today. These schools along with Catholic parochial schools train a significant segment of our society. Because such schools are Christocentric in philosophy, they require supplementary materials not provided by secular publishers.This Creative Project contains a teacher's manual which is divided into three sections. Each of these sections is developed around the theme of a religious holiday. Teachers aids include prayer forms in French, pertinent Scripture passages, and songs to accompany the theme. The instructor will also find grammar explanations, vocabulary helps, and comments on French customs.There are worksheets and illustrations that can be duplicated and used in the classroom as learning aids. The teacher may also profit from program ideas and other activities designed to stimulate students in the language learning process.This project is aimed at preparing materials that will appeal to young teens and will also be practical for a busy instructor.

This study focuses on the writing of senior students in the subject English at an ACT secondary college. Several features of the ACT education system are relevant. There is a high retention rate, so the sample is a broad one. The curriculum is school based, as is assessment. There are separate courses for those seeking tertiary entrance (TE) and those seeking to complete their education at Year 12 (Accredited). The theoretical basis of the study is provided by the work of a number of linguists with an interest in school language, in particular Graham Little. 255 samples of writing have been analysed, taking account of the function and forms of language. The function, or meaning, has been analysed in terms of content, abstraction, purpose and audience. The writing in the Accredited course is evenly distributed between the human and material worlds, three quarters is informational and one quarter Imaginative. The level of abstraction shows a predominance of reporting and generalising. Writing in the TE course is 60% concerned with the human world and reaches higher levels of abstraction such as speculation and hypothesising. The audience is academic. Compared with earlier findings, this study shows more human content and higher levels of abstraction. Language functions through selective use of forms. The aspects of form analysed are vocabulary, abstraction of noun phrase, sentence length and sentence sequencing. Figures produced were largely consistent with earlier studies; however the TE group shows higher syllable counts, greater abstraction of noun phrase and longer sentences than the Accredited group. Creative writing brings the groups closest together. Handwriting, spelling and punctuation are examined. Handwriting is always legible, spelling close to 98% correct and 84% of full stops are correctly used. A small number of scripts produce most of the errors in both spelling and punctuation. The achievement of students as revealed by this study of writing is consistent with earlier studies although the students represented here demonstrate higher levels of abstraction. The curriculum contains more human content and is commendably comprehensive, although there is less poetic and expressive writing than might be expected. This form of language analysis is recommended for its concentration on the language actually produced in class, the insights it provides for teachers and the information it provides for meaningful public discussion of education.

The central focus of this study is to look at the legitimacy of using computer games for textual study in subject English and to understand the value that non-traditional forms of narrative text can have in enhancing student learning and enjoyment. This thesis argues that when students are engaged in textual study that is pleasurable, learning outcomes can be enhanced. Narrative computer games are appropriately placed within the realm of popular cultural texts, therefore, this study is also located within a cultural studies field of inquiry. A range of theoretical lenses which are appropriate to this field, such as critical theory, poststructuralism, reader response theories and narratology, are drawn upon in order to provide different perspectives on knowledge, relationships of power, and elements of story. These multiple perspectives are combined to construct a methodological framework for my research that brings a richness to data analysis. In locating my study within this multi-dimensional methodological framework, it is possible to achieve a layering and interpretation of the many different responses to the binaries of “work” versus “play” inherent in my title. The study focuses on a junior secondary English class at a school in South-east Queensland. The students undertook a curriculum unit which used a critical literacy framework to study the narratives and cultural identifications inherent in a number of computer games. The participants’ responses to “play” within the classroom forms one facet of the study; the depth of narrative experience enabled by computer games forms another facet; and the final facet examines the cultural responses to newer forms of literacies. The study concludes that using narrative computer games as a form of text for study in subject English allows for an examination of new forms of literacies that are student-friendly. A hybridised form of communication and pedagogy is also suggested. Narrative computer games allow for pleasure and play in the classroom, albeit in a less traditional way, and a hybridised communication can allow students and teachers access to a dialogue that values the learning experiences associated with this textual medium.