本篇論文重組並重現一個合作敘事探究的生命經驗。在這集體的生命故事中，研究者與四位女性英語實習教師，透過一個全校性的英語同儕輔導計畫，一同探究學習如何教英語。本研究包含兩個研究重點：（一）探索英語實習教師在教學實習過程中對英語教學的概念覺知與教學發展;（二）檢視機構與社會情境與英語實習教師之教學發展的互動關係。本研究提出三個研究問題核心，協助對於現象的分析與詮釋：（一）英語實習教師在實境教學中教學發展之轉化歷程;（二）驅動英語實習教師之教學發展轉化的支配力類型;（三）英語實習教師對於實境教學之生命經驗的理解與覺知。 本研究發現，英語實習教師的教學發展，呈現前進式的結構模式。教學行動系統中的內、外部矛盾，引發一連串的衝突與失序，直接衝擊英語實習教師的教學發展轉化。在問題解決的轉化過程中，有三種主要的驅動能量，對教學發展轉化形成支配：情境支配力、策略支配力、情意支配力。在故事的尾聲，英語實習教師對於英語教學有新的覺知：對於教學行為及身為英語教師本體的覺知、對於英語學習者的認知、對於英語學習的本質的理解。 本研究回應相關文獻，提出三點新發現。首先，學習如何教的過程，包含持續性的觀察、分析、評量和反思。其次，英語實習教師的教學發展，透過跨層次行動系統的比對與分析，發現並理解可能存在的失序、衝突與解決方案，進而從事教學改變與教學發展轉化。最後，本研究提出，有關教師學習、學習如何教的相關研究，應該採用一種全方位的研究方法、一種廣泛理解的觀點，用以分析詮釋實作教學中既存的知識斷層。 / This collaborative narrative inquiry reconfigures and represents the lived experiences of four female prospective TESOL teachers’ learning to teach through a campus-based tutoring program. The research foci of this inquiry-based study are twofold. Firstly, the research aims at exploring how prospective TESOL teachers learn to teach through practical teaching experiences, as they examine the definition of learning to teach itself and the understanding of the what and how of the learning process evolves. Secondly, the research investigates the role of the social and institutional context in prospective TESOL teachers’ learning to teach, in examining how activity setting shapes the process of learning to teach. Drawing on the research approach of narrative inquiry, prospective TESOL teachers’ stories are told in their own voices while the school’s stories, and the stories about the school are told by the supervisor of the structured program in this research, the researcher, for purpose of providing a context to the prospective TESOL teachers’ stories. Following such respects, research questions are generated with special emphasis on (a) the transformational process of the prospective TESOL teachers’ learning to teach in situ; (b) the driving forces for the transformation to take place; (c) how the prospective TESOL teachers make sense of the lived experiences of learning to teach. The prospective teachers’ collective story appeared to be a progressive mode of development. The transformational process was overwhelmingly influenced by the dissonance and conflicts emerging from the contradictions within and across the collective activity system of teaching, namely primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary contradictions. In order to solve the problems resulting from the contradictions, the prospective teachers undertook changes and transformation in their teaching. Three types of driving force appeared to be significant for the transformation in the process of the prospective teachers’ learning to teach, including contextual force, strategic force, and attitudinal force. During the process of engaging in the socially situated activity of teaching, the prospective teachers formulated new conceptualizations of teaching, inclusive of the understanding of their teaching and of themselves as English teachers, of the students as English learners, and of the nature of English learning. The findings of the research suggest that a campus-based tutoring EFL program could be an alternative form of practicum teaching. Corresponding to previous research into teachers’ learning and learning to teach in second and foreign languages, three notions are provided. Firstly, the process of learning to teach prospective teachers includes continuous observation, analysis, evaluation and reflection on the entirety of the teaching activity embedded within a specific context, rather than shifting their focus from one entity to another entity, such as focusing on themselves at early stage and then shifting their focus to either on students or instructional techniques. Secondly, the process of prospective teachers’ learning to teach includes changes and transformation following iterative analysis and interpretations of cross-level activity systems to determine possible dissonance and solutions with the help of structured resources. Thirdly, research into teachers’ learning should employ a holistic research approach with a comprehensive perspective in analyzing and interpreting existing gaps in teaching practice.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:23:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Celso Frade.pdf: 1002866 bytes, checksum: 3aae61084839d164917eabb55ae16230 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-12 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The present perfect (PrP) is a complex issue for researchers and non-native speakers of English that has been studied from many different perspectives. This research aims at showing a description of the PrP in the language of news media and brings to light new insights into the teaching of English as a foreign language. Linguistic research on the nature of news stories has seen a great increase since the 1970s. So, the theoretical underpinning for the research provides a briefing of the state-of-the-art literature on the area that includes views on tense and aspect, Travaglia (1985) and Comrie (1985), the usage of PrP according to Schwenter (1994), Michaelis (1998), Engel & Ritz (2005)) and Nishiyama & Koenig (2005, 2006) and the meaning of discourse by Bell (1991), Fowler (1991), Halliday (1978, 1985) and Fairclough (1995, 1999). It, therefore, provides a clear picture of what has been researched on the uses of the PrP and its various functions in the language of news media. More specifically, the research reported here, which used the documentary research methodology (Sanghera:2002), uses examples from the data collected, which include 60 sample articles from the websites of quality British and American broadsheets, such as The Guardian and The Independent (UK), The New York Times and The USA Today (USA), the website from the TV news broadcasters, BBC and CNN as well as from weekly magazines such as Newsweek and Time, which serve the purpose of illustrating both the occurrence and usage of the PrP in different contexts. The period sampled refers to the years 2003-2008 and the range of topics and subgenres include hard news (current events and one-off unscheduled events called spot news) and soft news (longer featured articles on different issues which are not time-bound to immediacy). The research question investigated in the study is: what kind of functions emerge from the PrP samples in the language of news media? With respect to the question, the results indicate the PrP is a means of intensifying the information according to specific pragmatic needs the producer has while writing the piece of news. Therefore, this study brings an original contribution to the existing body of research on the expression of time in TESOL and Applied Linguistics / Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo descrever as funções do present perfect (PrP) que emergem do discurso jornalístico e traçar considerações discursivas e pedagógicas sobre essa questão. Optou-se pelo PrP, por ser um item da gramática da língua inglesa estudado sob diferentes perspectivas, por causa de sua complexidade tanto para os pesquisadores como para falantes não-nativos. A pesquisa lingüística acerca da natureza dos textos jornalísticos tem-se desenvolvido de modo abrangente, desde os anos de 1970, razão pela qual este trabalho, fundamentando-se na literatura da área, apresenta as visões de tempo verbal e aspecto, segundo Travaglia (1985) e Comrie (1985) e o uso do PrP, conforme os estudos de Schwenter (1994), Michaelis (1998), Engel & Ritz (2005) e Nishiyama & Koenig ( 2005, 2006). Esta revisão de literatura fornece uma perspectiva cronológica do que tem sido pesquisado sobre o uso do PrP e suas várias funções no discurso jornalístico, além de uma resenha dos autores sobre o discurso, dentre os quais, Bell (1991), Fowler (1991), Halliday (1978, 1985) e Fairclough (1995, 1999). Mais especificamente, fazendo uso da metodologia de pesquisa documental (Sanghera, 2002), analisam-se os dados coletados que incluem 60 textos de revistas e jornais da imprensa de qualidade americana e britânica, via mídia digital, The Guardian e The Independent (GB), The New York Times e The USA Today (EUA), os websites das redes de TV BBC e CNN e das revistas Newsweek e Time, com o propósito de ilustrar a ocorrência do PrP em diferentes contextos e assuntos. O período de coleta abrange os anos 2003 2008, e a diversidade de tópicos e subgêneros incluem Hard News (notícias atuais, como acidentes, e notícias acerca de política e diplomacia) e Soft News (artigos opinativos, não necessariamente relacionados a uma notícia recente). Em suma, procurou-se verificar que resultados indicam que o uso do PrP intensifica o valor da informação e atende às necessidades pragmáticas do produtor ao escrever o texto jornalístico e tentar dar uma contribuição original para as pesquisas que se direcionem à expressão da temporalidade no ensino de inglês como LE e para a Lingüística Aplicada no estudo do gênero notícia jornalística

In Winter semester of 2005 the English Language Center (ELC) began plans to implement a content-based program for students at its highest proficiency level in order to provide them with more effective preparation for academic studies in English. Since that time, the program has undergone various changes to provide a more stable, cohesive, and responsive curriculum. There is a need, however, for greater teacher support and training. This paper outlines the process I underwent to create a handbook that would provide needed guidance and training for teachers in this program. This project involved an in-depth needs analysis of teachers and students in the program. Results from this analysis led to the selection of three basic principles that were used in the design and development of this project: (1) practicality, (2) instructiveness, and (3) sustainability. The resulting project is a binder organized into four tabs: (1) Program Overview, (2) The Basics of Content-based Instruction at the ELC, (3) Challenges and Strategies in CBI, and (4) Additional Resources. This resource was developed using Microsoft Word 2007 and includes a variety of graphics, text boxes and layouts to provide a professional and user-friendly product. An evaluation of the project based on the responses of three teachers who used the handbook during Winter semester 2009 revealed that it was a useful and needed resource for teaching content-based classes at the ELC. Further piloting is needed to verify these findings. It is recommended that in the future this resource be maintained by the ELC Coordinator assigned to oversee the content courses. As the ELC continues to refine the content curriculum, evaluation and revisions of this handbook should be carried out at regular intervals to ensure its continued relevance and accuracy over time.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role that humanistic techniques play in reducing feelings of language anxiety associated with oral communication in the TESOL classroom. Students in the experimental group attended classes which incorporated humanistic techniques such as journal writing and group work and where the affective needs of the students were taken into account. Students in the control group were provided with the normal course content along more traditional lines and their affective needs were not taken into account. Language anxiety was measured by means of questionnaires, journals and interviews. The results revealed that general feelings of anxiety about oral communication decreased in the experimental group. The experimental group achieved higher scores in the final written examination although there was no significant difference in the oral examination results between the two groups. The drop-out rate in the experimental group was lower than that of the control group. / English Studies / M.A.

This thesis aims to address why the adoption of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) within the language classroom is so varied, and its success so unclear, despite fifty years of investment and research. The huge promise of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) driven results has created an imbalance in language teaching, where initiatives are brought about from outside the classroom, with teachers held accountable for their adoption. My reading of the literature is that lack of consideration of the teacher’s role in implementation of classroom technology has led to mismatched expectations and performance. If the nature of the teacher’s contribution is recognized, I believe that this can lead to more effective use of ICT, which I have set out to show. My study, based on a survey of 319 EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers across the international group of 31 schools in which I work, seeks to put the teacher back into the picture by examining where their enacted beliefs in social constructivist pedagogy best align with classroom use of digital technology. I coin this emerging praxis ‘microblending’, a pedagogy rooted in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory and contemporary methodology, and I seek to demonstrate its relevance in this study I test the viability of measuring teacher’s microblending readiness through application of Technology Acceptance Modelling (TAM) in an EFL setting to produce a model that explains the variation in classroom use of ICT. My model is based on a critical replication of the WST (‘Will, Skill, Tool’) model, a TAM model which has so far only been used in mainstream classroom teaching. I have updated, created and piloted new instruments within the scope of the study, which are now already in use within the institution where I carried out my investigations. Using both linear regression and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) techniques I explored how these measurements of the learning environment can explain a teacher’s application of technology. This first attempt appears to explain over 89% of the variation in classroom use of technology, which already exceeds the predictive power of several contemporary models in use in parallel fields of education. Given further work to refine and apply the model, a valuable improvement could be made in how teachers work with ICT in the language classroom for improved learning outcomes.

<p>Internationalization of higher education is a collaborative responsibility academic and non-academic programs share to facilitate the integration of various student populations within the broader culture of the university. My dissertation project links First Year Writing (FYW) classes of domestic and international students to promote and evaluate their intercultural competence development. My research questions explore the use of reflective writing as a genre for formative assessment in the writing classroom and investigate the data it provides about students’ continuous learning. My research methodology combines qualitative analysis of reflective writing and quantitative analysis of intercultural competence development. Participants come from four sections of FYW courses spanning two semesters – Spring 2016 and Fall 2017. I collected reflective writing data from four embedded reflective journals and a final reflective essay assigned to students in each section. Using a grounded scheme, I applied thematic coding analysis of reflective writing and traced frequencies of codes. I also mapped students’ reflections onto the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS; Bennett, 1993). Results from both coding methods contextualize and interpret students’ development in both intercultural competence and writing skills. I also share pedagogical, assessment, and administrative implications for more effective teaching of reflective writing and better continuous assessment of intercultural competence skills within the context of the linked course model curriculum. </p> <p> </p>

Autism Spectrum Disorder is an increasingly common developmental disability. Students diagnosed with ASD can be challenging to incorporate into mainstream classrooms due to a lack of understanding and negative attitudes of neurotypical peers towards those students. This thesis aims to address the problem in a unit plan centered on the use of young adult literature with a main protagonist on the Spectrum in the English Language Arts classroom. Specifically, it argues the use of such texts in conjunction with a literature circles unit in providing better understanding and greater acceptance of students with ASD. The unit and lesson plans were written to reflect how Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, Bishop’s windows, doors, and mirrors , and the texts students read can influence their thinking and behavior. Using goodreads and local ELA book lists, I selected four YAL texts which portrayed the main character with ASD as they go about their daily lives. These texts were then incorporated into the twenty-lesson unit plan which aims at supporting positive attitudes and acceptance of neurotypical students towards their peers with ASD.

<p>In an era of widespread automation—from grocery store self-checkout machines to self-driving cars—it is not outrageous to wonder: can teachers be automated? And more specifically, can automated computer teachers instruct students how to write? Automated computer programs have long been used in summative writing evaluation efforts, such as scoring standardized essay exams, ranking placement essays, or facilitating programmatic outcomes assessments. However, new claims about automated writing evaluation’s (AWE) formative educational potential mark a significant shift. My project questions the effectiveness of using AWE technology for formative educational efforts such as improving and teaching writing. Taken seriously, these efforts portend a future embrace of semi, or even fully, automated writing classes, an unprecedented development in writing pedagogy.</p><p>Supported by a summer-long grant from the Purdue Research Foundation, I conducted a small-<i>n </i>quasi-experiment to test claims by online college tutoring site Chegg.com that its EasyBib Plus AWE tool can improve both writing and writers. The experiment involved four college English instructors reading pairs of essays comprising one AWE-treated and untreated version per pair. Using a comparative judgment model, a rubric-free method of writing assessment based on Thurstone’s law, raters read and designated one of each pair “better.” Across four raters and 160 essays, I found that AWE-treated essays were designated better only 30% of the time (95% confidence interval: 20-40%), a statistically significant difference from the null hypothesis of 50%. The results suggest that Chegg’s EasyBib Plus tool offers no discernible improvement to student writing, and potentially even worsens it.</p><p>Finally, I analyze Chegg’s recent partnership with the Purdue Writing Lab and Online Writing Lab (OWL). The Purdue-Chegg partnership offers a useful test case for anticipating the effects of higher education’s embrace of automated educational technology going forward. Drawing on the history of writing assessment and the results of the experiment, I argue against using AWE for formative writing instruction. In an era of growing automation, I maintain that a human-centered pedagogy remains one of the most durable, important, effective, and transformative ingredients of a quality education.</p>

<p>   </p> <p>Motivated by the lack of research that has explored the rhetorical structure of research articles in the humanities, this dissertation analyzes professional philosophical discourse using move-analysis as an approach. A corpus of 60 research articles was compiled from some of the leading philosophy journals. The articles were selected from three sub-disciplinary areas: (a) metaphysics and epistemology, (b) the history of philosophy, and (c) ethics. To analyze the articles, a move analysis codebook was developed, which identified the rhetorical functions (i.e., moves and steps) that different text segments played. The codebook was then applied to the entire research article structure of the 60 research articles. Linguistic features of certain functional units were also identified via corpus analysis techniques. The results of the study show that rhetorical structure of philosophical writing is distinctive compared to other fields and disciplines. On one hand, at the macro level, philosophical writing uses a problem-solution structure rather than the IMRD (intro-methods-results-discussion) structure, common in the social and natural sciences. At the move and step level, philosophical writing heavily relies on evaluation to critically analyze solutions to philosophical problems. Finally, the dissertation found systemic rhetorical functions that permeated the entire research article. Most notably, philosophers heavily qualify and outline their arguments throughout the text. </p> <p>  </p>

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