Global ETD Search

41	UNSETTLED embodying transformative learning and intersectionality in higher education: popular theatre as research with international graduate students Etmanski, Catherine 14 September 2007 (has links) This dissertation documents an action-oriented, arts-based doctoral study that used popular theatre to investigate graduate students’ experiences at the University of Victoria (UVic) in Canada. The research question asks, what are the contradictions between the welcoming multicultural discourses of Canada and the experiences of international graduate students? This question is explored with a total of twenty-four graduate students, representing fourteen countries, including Canada, and ten departments across campus. These students participated in pilot work, interviews, focus groups, in-depth theatre workshops, and a public performance entitled, UNSETTLED. The process of creating interactive forum theatre with six graduate students and one student’s infant is outlined in depth, as is performance at UVic on November 8, 2006. The community impact of UNSETTLED and the researcher and actors’ learning-healing experiences are highlighted. The key contributions of this research are practical, theoretical, and methodological. Practically, this research contributes to the ongoing dialogue and concrete efforts around already identified challenges of internationalization. The outcome is an entirely student-driven effort that is unique both in content (due to the graduate student perspective represented) and in form (theatre). Theoretically, this research contributes to the areas of transformative learning and intersectionality. These theoretical insights reposition the ‘international student’ from being a person solely in need of services, to being one of many potential agents of change. An intersectional analysis points to a need to simultaneously address the diverse struggles of other graduate students, staff, administrators, and faculty in increasingly globalized universities and communities. Methodologically, this study expresses the catalytic and dialogical power of the intersection of research with art, education, community development, and activism, contributing to the fields of both arts-based research and action-oriented, participatory research and the places where these overlap. Popular Theatre Arts Based Research Participatory Research Transformative Learning Intersectionality International Students
42	Elementary students’ and teacher’s interactions during out-of-classroom activities de Oliveira Jayme, Bruno 16 July 2008 (has links) Using interaction analysis and discourse analysis as a method of data analysis, I take a cultural-historical approach to explore teacher-student and student-student interactions during out-of-classroom science projects. The database is composed of my fieldnotes, videotaped science fieldtrips, and videotaped computer sessions where students worked collaboratively to produce science digital videos, highlighting their experiences during science fieldtrips. This thesis is formed by three studies I conducted with elementary students from a public school in British Columbia, Canada. These three independent and yet interrelated studies have implications for science learning and instruction in general. More specifically, this thesis contributes to the understanding of student-student and teacher-student interactions during collaborative work when they are engaged in science activities that occurred out of the classroom settings, such as fieldtrips and in the computer laboratory. fieldtrips science education elementary education discourse analysis cultural-historical activity theory activity theory Vygotski educational psicology interaction analysis monopolization leadership collaborative work interjections informal learning
43	Indigenous language education policy: supporting community-controlled immersion De Korne, Haley 02 September 2009 (has links) The vitality of most Indigenous languages in North America, like minority languages in many parts of the world, is at risk due to the pressures of majority (in most cases colonial) languages and cultures. The transmission of Indigenous languages through school-based programs is a wide-spread approach to maintaining and revitalizing threatened languages in Canada and the U.S., where a large majority of Indigenous children attend public schools. Policy for Indigenous language education (ILE) in public schools is controlled primarily on the regional (province/ state/ territory) level, and there is a lack of shared knowledge about policy approaches in different regions, as well as a lack of knowledge about effective ILE policy in general. While no ideal policy model is possible due to the diversity of different language and community contexts, there are several factors that have been identified through language acquisition research and years of practice in ILE as being closely linked to the success of ILE; immersion approaches to education and community control of education. One framework within which to analyze ILE policy is thus the degree of support present for immersion methods and community control. This study analyzes regional, national, and international policies impacting ILE in Canadian and U.S. public schools, and shows that although there are many regions lacking ILE policy, there are a growing number of supportive ILE policies currently in place. The varying levels of support that different policies provide, and a discussion of different ways in which immersion and community control may be supported in ILE policy are illustrated through examples of existing policies. Several recommendations for the development of future ILE policy are offered, including the importance of diverse policy approaches, support for bilingual education in general, and further development of Indigenous language teacher training and Indigenous control of ILE. Through this specific area of research, the study aims to contribute to knowledge about approaches to the transmission, and ultimate revitalization, of threatened Indigenous languages. Indigenous language Native American Aboriginal Education Bilingual education language policy education policy language revitalization
44	Relationships of power: exploring teachers' emotions as experienced in interactions with their peers. Martin, Judith Violet 24 August 2009 (has links) Emotions play a significant role in the lives of teachers, especially in their interactions with their workplace peers. This research uses a case study approach to explore this topic through the medium of an asynchronous on-line discussion group. Twelve public school teachers, eight women and four men, from BC, Canada, volunteered to participate anonymously in a 12 week on-line forum. The study was guided by three research questions: 1) How do teachers make sense of their emotional interactions with their peers? 2) How do these understandings change through discussion with a group of peers over 12 weeks? 3) What understandings of the emotional processes of school culture emerge when teachers discuss and reflect on these emotional aspects of their work in a collaborative setting? The participants responded to weekly focus questions and also initiated their own discussion topics. They were introduced to alternative perspectives of emotion, including the social constructionist, feminist, and discursive. They were asked to focus on everyday interactions with their peers and to suggest what the emotions they experienced and observed achieved within the group. They were also encouraged to pay attention to the feeling rules in their staff meetings and to notice which emotions they thought were deemed appropriate to be expressed and which were deemed inappropriate. Initially the participants used a number of strategies based on the individualized and psychological perspectives of emotions to make sense of their interactions. During the discussion group they were able to discuss their interactions in a safe non-judgemental setting and to reinterpret them in light of new information. Competition, patriarchy, and neo-liberal education policies were seen to influence the dynamics of the workplace. Two mechanisms which appeared to link the teachers’ individual, private experiences of emotions with the culture of the school were the use of the words “positive” and “negative” and the norms embedded in the feeling rules of each school. These mechanisms both constrained and allowed the expression of certain emotions, opinions, and points of view in the workplace, thereby highlighting the political role of emotions. Symbolically the forum represented a collective space within an individualized world. education emotion teacher interaction peers asynchronous on-line workplace collectivity culture school feeling rules norms competition patriarchy positive negative staff meetings social construction discursive feminist collaborative Canada BC process neo-liberal politics individualized collective emotional process experience public discussion group case study
45	Examination of the (si) and (ʃi) confusion by Japanese ESL learners Nogita, Akitsugu 30 August 2010 (has links) It is a general belief in Japan that the English /s/ and /ʃ/ before high front vowels (as in "see" and "she") are problematic for Japanese ESL (English-as-a-second-language) learners. Some research has also reported the /s/ and /ʃ/ confusion by Japanese ESL learners. Their pronunciation errors are often explained based on phonetics, but there are reasons to believe that the learners’ knowledge of the phonemes of the target words is at fault. This study examines 1) whether monolingual Japanese speakers distinguish the [si] and [ʃi] syllables in both perception and production in the Japanese contexts and 2) what would be the sources of Japanese speakers’ challenges in mastering the distinction between [si] and [ʃi] in their English production if Japanese speakers can produce and perceive the difference between these syllables. This study conducted two experiments. In the first experiment, 93 monolingual Japanese speakers between the ages of 17 and 89 in and around Tôkyô read aloud the written stimuli that had [si] and [ʃi] in the Japanese contexts, repeated the sound stimuli that had [si] and [ʃi] in the Japanese contexts, and listened to the [si:] and [ʃi:] syllables in isolation recorded by a native speaker of Canadian English. The results showed that the participants all distinguished [si] and [ʃi] in both perception and production regardless of their ages. Based on these results, I hypothesized that the [s] and [ʃ] confusion by Japanese ESL learners is caused by misunderstanding, rather than an inability to articulate these sounds. In the second experiment, 27 Japanese ESL students were recorded reading an English passage. The passage contains /s/ (7 times) and /ʃ/ (11 times) before high front vowels. After the reading, the participants were taught the basic English phonological system and the symbol-sound correspondence rules such as “s”-/s/ and “sh”-/ʃ/. The lesson lasted 40 minutes during which the participants were also interviewed to find out their awareness of the symbol-sound correspondence. No articulation explanations were given during the lesson. After the lesson, the participants read the same passage. The results showed that /s/ and /ʃ/ were mispronounced 39 and 67 times respectively in total by the 27 participants before the lesson, but only 7 and 19 times after the lesson. These changes are statistically significant. Moreover, the interview during the lesson revealed that the participants lacked phonological awareness in English as well as the knowledge of the symbol-sound correspondence rules. This study concluded that many of the mispronunciations by Japanese ESL learners, including /s/ and /ʃ/, can be solved by teaching the English phonics rules and some basic phonological rules without teaching the articulation of these sounds. Japanese EFL post alveolar fricative palato alveolar fricative alveo palatal fricative [ʃ] s and sh s vs sh [s] and [ʃ] confusion distinction between [s] and [ʃ] L2 phonology second language phonology pronunciation problem ESL pronunciation orthography spelling rule phonics 42 sounds katakana English phoneme awareness Japanese pronunciation English pronunciation s vs ʃ before i orthographic interference loanword interference palatalization depalatalization hyper correction phonological awareness hypercorrection overgeneralization pronunciation rule orthographic s and ʃ s-sh s-ʃ spelling acquisition phonics for adult

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