This dissertation argues that using rhetorical approaches to outré literature gleaned from popular culture within the context of first-year composition helps students become critical readers, thinkers, and writers. I suggest that if instructors privilege texts their students are likely to be familiar with in English 101, then they can more readily introduce unfamiliar concepts like rhetorical analysis; by the time students arrive in English 102, they can apply the now familiar concept of rhetorical analysis to new texts such as academic discourse. Thus, in designing this curriculum I draw on the Harry Potter novels, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Wars graphic novels to present nine rhetorical strategies that can be used not only for literary texts such as these, but can also be transferred to a variety of novel situations students are likely to encounter in college and in the everyday world. In the end, the dissertation makes arguments not only for using literature to teach composition, but also for using rhetorical analysis as a means to teach reading, thinking, and writing, and also for keeping first-year composition as a required part of the curriculum.

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The purpose of the research was, firstly, to investigate the standard of competence and the degree of some learner variables affecting competence, i.e. exposure, attitudes and motivation, amongst Malay learners of ESL. Secondly, the purpose was to investigate the strength of the relationships between the variables under study. The sample consisted of 441 Form Four pupils from selected schools in Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia, who had learnt English for the past nine years. The instruments used for data collection were an achievement test, an exposure scale, an attitude scale and a motivation scale. The analysis of data was carried out by using the crosstabulation and correlation procedures. The statistical test of significance used was the chi-square. The analysis of quantitative data revealed that: (1) The standard of English competence among the pupils was low. (2) Pupils in urban schools performed better in English than pupils in rural schools. (3) Generally, the pupils received a low amount of exposure to written English, radio and television English, and unscripted spoken English. 4) Their attitudes towards English and its speakers were generally favourable. (5) Their motivational orientations, desire to learn and motivational intensity were strong. Their integrative motivation seemed slightly stronger than their instrumental motivation. The correlation analysis revealed that: (1) The relationships between competence and exposure to written English, radio and television English, and unscripted spoken English were positive and significant. (2) The relationship between competence and attitude towards English was positive and significant. But, the relationship between competence and attitude towards its speakers was insignificant. (3) The relationships between competence and integrative motivation, desire to learn and motivational intensity were positive and significant. However, the relationship between competence and instrumental motivation was insignificant. Overall, the results did not always display high correlations, and therefore in some cases, diminished the importance of the independent variables as predictors of competence.

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This project explores the productive form and function of rhetorics that produce and are produced by the US crisis of migration. Occupying the disciplinary interstices of rhetorical theory, transnational feminist inquiry, ethnic studies, and critical analyses of race, this project presents an analysis of citizenship as defined by DREAMer activism. "DREAMer" is the popular label given to undocumented young activists who initially mobilized in support of the DREAM Act. I analyze multimodal texts from the National Immigrant Youth Alliance's (NIYA) "Bring Them Home" campaign, a DREAMer-led set of actions advocating for migrant belonging, and argue that in addition to their radical possibilities, migrant-rights rhetorics also reify neoliberal discourses of gendered, sexualized, and racialized oppression that sustain the dehumanization of migrants of color in the US. At a time when migration crises are gaining increasing global attention, this project challenges scholars and activists to imagine discourses and practices that avoid reproducing racialized, sexualized, and gendered oppressions. I analyze multimodal texts related to the Dream 9, Dream 30, and Dream 150 actions in which groups of DREAMers who had been deported or left the US on their own accord presented themselves at various US Ports of Entry and asked the US for asylum. Part of NIYA's "Bring the Home" campaign, these unprecedented actions transformed traditional migrant-rights activism by asking for DREAMers to be allowed to "return home," thus, crafting the nation-state as the home in which DREAMers belong. Employing rhetorical analysis, I argue that DREAMer activism helps to redefine the nation-state in ways that are more inclusive to migrants of color; yet, because they rely on the nation-state as the granter of belonging, these migrant rhetorics also reinforce neoliberal nationalist ideas of individualism, heteronormativity, and patriarchy that legitimize the continued exclusion of migrants of color from the national imaginary.

The present thesis is an in-depth examination of the potential of facilitating reflective practice in the educational world of Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Higher Education. More specifically, the current thesis investigates the impact of Guided Reflective Practice on the practice of five university teachers of English as a Foreign Language in Cyprus. Although language research increasingly acknowledges the importance of reflection in excavating the personal, individual and emotional nature of teachers’ work, educational policies and professional teaching standards tend to overlook the humanistic and emotional dimensions of the teacher’s role. Teachers are passionate human beings and their identity, behaviour and emotions are intimately connected with their personal beliefs and values, thus their reflective selves. At the same time, emotions are also socially constructed and a teacher’s behaviour emerges as a result of interactions with others. Successful teacher interactions, however, presuppose an environment of trust, openness and willingness. In such a context, the individual can feel free to both engage in a journey of self-awareness and co-construct knowledge in a reflective dialogue with others who can facilitate the reframing of pre-existing beliefs and practices. Few empirical studies exist which illustrate the incorporation of reflective practice as a facilitative and developmental tool offered to Higher Education English as a Foreign Language in-service teachers in a co-educational and appreciative environment. The main purpose of this investigation is the increased understanding of ‘self’ and EFL practice through learning to apply reflective practice as a vehicle for mindful and caring interactions with others. The study incorporates insights from humanistic learning theory, relational cultural theory and critical constructivism. It also examines the ways in which the research process has influenced and reshaped my practice and identity as English as a Foreign Language educator and reflective facilitator. I link my research commitment to my belief in the uniqueness of the individual and the importance of learning as a result of building human relationships through reflective and dialogical interactions with others. Using an action inquiry methodology and qualitative data collection and analysis, the study endeavoured to address three research questions by investigating the teachers’ perceptions of the impact of guided reflective practice and assessing their response to the process. Data collection methods included reflective journals, reflective inquiry group meetings, dialogue observation sessions based on video-recordings, online chats, and holistic interviews. From the present study emerged the Collaborative, Appreciative, Reflective Enquiry (CARE) model for teacher development, revealing new understandings and insights for TEFL through practices in which emotions are a primary catalyst for transformational teacher learning. The proposed CARE model of guided reflective practice constitutes an alternative framework which identifies ways of facilitating and operationalising reflection in an ‘acritical’ and appreciative context, highlighting its emancipatory potential as a tool for growth and development and not as an institutional requirement. I am claiming that the significance of my research lies in the fact that it offers new conceptualisations vis-à-vis the capacity of teachers of Higher Education English as a Foreign Language to learn and maximise their potential through reflection when they feel appreciated as individuals and educators. More specifically, findings about participants’ and my own learning reveal an increased self-awareness and awareness of practice, an ability to critically reflect on context without being judgmental of others, and a willingness to reframe practice. More importantly, however, findings show a felt appreciation for the therapeutic effects of reflection and a positive approach to practice as a result of being guided and supported in the reflective practice process by understanding others. Implications include the significance of appreciative reflective practice in teacher interactions and collaboration, of teacher agency in the knowledge production in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and the importance of positive emotionality in empowering teachers to live out their identities and values in practice. It is my hope that this small pocket of teacher reform in the study can pave the way forward to similar reform initiatives in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language domain that would entail human connectedness and caring in teacher learning through reflection.

This dissertation, "(De)Compose, Shape-Shift, and Suture: Toward a Monstrous Rhetoric of Fan Compositions," argues that the multimodal compositions of fans--specifically, fan fiction, meta, videos, and visual-spatial compositions--are articulations of a new kind of rhetoric: a monstrous rhetoric. This monstrous rhetoric is characterized by the dissolution of textual, corporeal, and cosmological boundaries; intense affective engagement; decomposition and recomposition; shape-shifting; and reanimation. Employing a feminist nomadic research methodology, I rhetorically analyze multiple fan compositions across several online fandoms and explore how these creative works inform and challenge current conversations about embodiment, affect, subjectivity, and composition pedagogy. As a project grounded in pedagogical practice, this dissertation is concerned with how a greater awareness of fan cultures and practices can lead to a greater understanding of what drives and sustains student engagement and participation in the context of an increasingly digital and mobile media landscape. Ultimately, this project offers a new rhetorical framework located at the intersection of fandom and monstrosity, and, from that new framework, a pedagogy of the monstrous, which proffers new strategies for approaching, creating, and analyzing new media and multimodal compositions in college writing classrooms.

This thesis is a report of a longitudinal study which explores the impact of the English National Curriculum (1990) on the work of teachers at Key Stage 2. It is based on teachers' experiences viewed in relation to a theoretical template of questions. The questions - refined during a process of iteration throughout the research - provided a conceptual framework which kept it focused and manageable. Data - obtained from interviews, document study and observation - derived from five cases were subjected to qualitative analysis which involved progressive reflection, the use of matrices to sort and sift and the identification of similar phrases, patterns, themes and differences, both between and across the range of participants, and across the various cases. Key patterns and differences emerged which were then cross matched with each subsequent case in a process of refocusing and refinement. Preliminary findings were discussed with recognised experts chosen for their connection with English teaching at Key Stage 2 or for their role in developing the statutory Order. Several issues emerged prompting questions about teachers' experience of: • subject knowledge across all four language modes of English; • the complexities involved in teaching pupils to read; • process approaches to teaching writing; • the part that metatextual and metalinguistic understanding plays in learning; • teaching techniques which support the teaching of speaking and listening; • the relationship between standard English and language variation; which were viewed within the context of the National Literacy Strategy (March, 1998) in order to reach conclusions and frame recommendations for theory, practice and policy. In summary, these relate to teachers' ability to deal with the complexities involved in English teaching, particularly with regard to raising standards in literacy and the role that speaking and listening plays in this, and the implications which this has for Initial Teacher Training and for Continuing Professional Development.

This thesis investigates teacher cognition of classroom interaction as represented in narratives by Amazonian language teachers. Language teacher cognition has been investigated in the great educational centres in Brazil, but has been overlooked as a research theme in Amazonas, the context of this study. In order to bridge this existing gap in language teacher research, the current study develops a narrative enquiry in the public and private school settings to find the different understandings of interaction in the English as a foreign language (heretofore EFL) classroom as articulated by teachers. The study is grounded in theories of teacher education and cognition, applied and socio-linguistics, socio-cultural theories and discourse analysis to further the understanding of concepts that are of rising importance in the EFL field: teacher cognition, classroom interaction, and narrative research. In brief, teacher cognition refers to teachers’ mental lives and to the ways they perceive their practice. In this research, four constructs (knowledge, thought, beliefs, and decision-making) are considered to represent the broad conceptualisation of teacher cognition. Classroom interaction corresponds to the collaborative moments which happen in the language classroom among students, or between students and teacher, in order to improve learning. Narrative enquiry relates to both the method and methodology which is used to understand diverse knowledge processes. In simple terms, in this thesis, narrative enquiry explores teachers’ stories about their practice and determines the ways in which they can be analysed and interpreted. This qualitative research has been designed from a constructionist epistemological standpoint and an interpretivist theoretical perspective. Because it investigates complex concepts, this research does not follow one specific philosophical background but finds inspiration in critical pedagogy and matters of knowledge in the Brazilian context. The data produced by nine experienced EFL teachers was systematically analysed. Starting from the four individual constructs of teacher cognition, the interpretation of the data develops to concepts and themes which emerged from this initial analysis. The findings generated new understandings of the construction of knowledge as personal practical knowledge (PPK) and its relationship to other constructs of teacher cognition, to experience, to the teachers’ individual contexts and to styles of storytelling. From these main findings, the present study proposes a model of narrativised teacher cognition to better understand the interrelation between the cognitive constructs and discursive strategies, as well as build a new and concrete dimension to teachers’ articulation of their practice.