There are two enquiries undertaken in this work which is an investigation of learning strategies employed by students of English for Tourism in the British context, and an evaluation of textbooks already used for teaching this programme in Taiwan and relevant ones published in the United Kingdom. It is hoped that this work will have direct implications for pedagogy and learning processes of the English for Tourism programme in the Taiwanese context. This thesis is made up of four parts. The first part is Chapter 1 which investigates general broad backgrounds in the Taiwanese context. It also deals with the debate on the improvement of English language teaching in this context. It further discusses how this context relates to this work. The second part includes Chapters 2, 3, and 4, offering the theoretical framework on which an empirical research and a desk-based study of textbooks are based. Chapter 2 primarily examines the features of English for Tourism by taking account of the general key issues of ESP relevant to needs analysis, content and language, and methodology, and the specific crucial issues in relation to the target situation in the tourism industry, tourism education and training, and cultural content. It further postulates that communicative language teaching and learning strategies are closely relevant to the efficiency of ESP teaching. These are defined and explored in depth in Chapters 3 and 4 respectively. The third part consists of an empirical research and a desk-based study (Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9). Chapter 5 discusses research methodology indicating that a qualitative approach has been preferred to a quantitative approach. The empirical research will be based on participant observations (Chapter 6) and semi-structured interviews (Chapter 7). It will be followed by a desk-based study of textbooks (Chapter 9). Chapters 6 and 7 are mainly descriptive. Chapter 8 interprets the major findings of this empirical research, discusses the issues they raise and goes on to suggest improvements to the pedagogy and learning processes in the Taiwanese context. It indicates that social strategies and social interaction bothinside and outside the classroom are the most significant factors for learning processes. It suggests furthermore that a combination model of notional-functional and task-based approaches is essential for the effective English for Tourism syllabuses and methodologies in the Taiwanese context. Chapter 9 is a desk-based study of textbooks to evaluate and select appropriate and useful textbook for teaching English for Tourism in the Taiwanese context. The final part is Chapter 10. This chapter reviews the principal themes in the preceding chapters, and offers principles of approach which guide the teaching and learning of English for Tourism in the Taiwanese context.

The purpose of this study is threefold: (1) to review briefly important studies and recommendations relating to curriculum construction in elementary arithmetic; (2) to develop a set of criteria for judging elementary arithmetic textbooks; and (3) to apply the criteria to a selected number of elementary arithmetic textbooks.

Over the years there have been many criticisms of the contents of basal reading series. This study sought to describe the contents of basal readers by analyzing the student reading materials contained in the books for grades one, three, and five of three current basal readers, published by D. C. Heath, Houghton Mifflin, and Silver, Burdett, and Ginn. It determined the amount of material written for the basals and the amount of material originating in other literature sources. It also described the amount and types of adaptation to the text and visual displays in material that originated elsewhere. Further, it calculated the amount of material that was classified into each of seven literature genres and six writing types using number of selections, pages, and words as units of analysis. While other researchers have each investigated some of the points examined here, none has explored all and none has used all three units of analysis to describe the contents of basal readers. Each of the student reading selections was analyzed as to the number of pages and words and then classified into the following categories: written for the basal or taken from other literature sources, one of seven literature genres or an added reading instruction category, and one of six writing types. Material that had its origins outside the basal reader was located and compared to the basal version with notations for each adaptation to text or visual display. The adaptations were classified into twenty two different types of text adaptation or six different types of visual display adaptation. While less than half of the reading material was created expressly for the basal readers examined, most of the material from other literature sources was adapted in some way. The largest category of adaptation was deletions. Overall, while there were selections in each of the categories for literature genre and writing type, the distribution was uneven. For almost all of the points examined, individual differences were found among the three reading series and the grade levels in all of the means of analysis.

In this doctoral thesis I develop a methodological system to facilitate the comparison of syllabus topics in history education across international contexts. The thesis brings together many years of work and while rooted in the philosophy of Hegel draws on the ideas and concepts of a wide plurality of thinkers. Essentially, the thesis is a 'synthesis', developing from my pre-doctoral experiences as an educator in the UK and overseas (thesis) and my critique of comparative textbook research (antithesis). In the doctorate, syllabus topics are understood to be composed of constellations of influencing variables or parts; the relationship between topic and variable conceived as reciprocally constituting and dialectical. Essentially, I argue that to compare curriculum knowledge the researcher need not necessarily compare 'things in themselves' - e.g. textbooks, examinations, official censorship guidelines etc., - but rather relationships and effects. Syllabus topics are thus understood as the expression of relationships with influencing variables. Only when variables and relationships have been identified and appropriately valued does it become possible to compare syllabus topics in a meaningful way. In this thesis I develop a concept of the researching subject that is neither totally centred nor totally de-centred. Modernism's centred subject assumes a research horizon that is both limitless and objective, while the de-centred postmodern subject denies the concept of horizons by championing only relative particularities and subjective experience. Identifying the hermeneutic element in the work of Hegel, Gadamer and Foucault I chart a location 'beyond' the oppositions. The subject is thus understood as an agent empowered to act, and perform critique, but within limits that are sensitive to cultural difference. The comparative researcher is thus conceived operating within a specified 'sphere of liberty'; the liberty to compare depending on the training, intercultural skills and first-hand experiences of the researcher. In this research the Second World War is utilised as an 'exemplar topic'. With the end of the Cold War the importance and significance of the war has receded in political terms. Nevertheless it remains as a popular subject in history classes around the world. Morally, the war continues to raise fundamental questions. But to understand the impact of the war as a syllabus topic in educational terms we must identify its form and content as an object. The syllabus topic as a whole is composed of a constellation of parts, influencing factors, push and pull variables. What is the 'power/knowledge' relationship between whole and parts in particular contexts? How does a particular syllabus topic express these relationships? It is argued that relationships between topic and parts must be identified if we are to begin to understand their effects in classroom settings.

Drawing on two research questions, this study presents an understanding of the nature of heritage in selected contemporary Grade 10 South African history textbooks, and elucidates factors responsible for the depiction of heritage in a particular way. The context that informed this study was that of South Africa as a post-conflict society. Using the interpretivist paradigm and approached from a qualitative perspective, this case study produced data on three purposively selected contemporary (post-1994) South African history textbooks with regards to their representation of heritage. Lexicalisation, a form of the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used as method to analyse the pre generated data from the selected textbooks following Fairclough’s (2003) three dimensions of describing, interpreting, and explaining the text. The study adopted a holistic approach to heritage as a conceptual framework whilst following social constructionism as the lens through which heritage was explored in the selected textbooks. My findings from this study concluded that although educational policy in the form of the NCS-History clearly stipulates the expectations to be achieved from the teaching and learning of heritage at Grade 10 level, there are inconsistencies and contradictions at the level of implementation of the heritage outcome in the history textbooks. Key among the finding are the absence of representation of natural heritage, lack of clear conceptualisation of heritage, many diverse pedagogic approaches towards heritage depiction, a gender and race representation of heritage that suggests an inclination towards patriarchy and a desire to retain apartheid and colonial dogma respectively,and finally a confirmation of the tension in the heritage/history relationship. The study discovered that factors such as the commercial and political nature of textbooks, the lack of understanding of the debates around the heritage/history partnership, and the difficulties involved in post-conflict reconstruction are responsible for this type of heritage depiction in the textbooks. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

Research has shown that in the South African school context textbooks are perceived as the most important guide to subject content. It is essential, therefore, that pupils and teachers should possess skills and strategies that they can use to interpret and understand the textbook. Equally, textbook writers ought to be aware of the cues pupils need to facilitate the learning process. Problems that hinder the learning of geography subject content from textbooks may arise from, among other things, the style in which the text is written, the way in which concepts are developed, the presentation of visual materials and elements of bias and stereotyping. This study scrutinises and analyses two standard 6 geography textbooks prescribed for Ciskei schools to assess the extent to which these textbooks consider the language competence of the pupils, explain and develop concepts, and in general promote the geographical education. Interviews with Ciskei teachers revealed that Standard 6 pupils encounter difficulties in the geography textbooks which are attributed to the fact that they are second language learners and they lack the requisite skills for interpreting visual materials. The analysis of the textbooks revealed that despite efforts made in recent years to rectify the most blatant aspects of bias and stereotyping and to improve the presentation of textbooks, a number of serious problems continue to exist particularly with regard to the Standard 6 learner of geography. The study attempts to alert writers of texbooks and teachers to factors which need to be taken into consideration to assist second language speakers toward effective learning.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to prepare a rating scale to be applied as an objective basis in the selection of business arithmetic textbooks. After the rating scale was developed, it was then applied to a number of recently published texts to demonstrate its use and practical value.

The problem was to determine whether health textbooks include content and material that make them valuable and important tools for a functional health instruction course. The area of this investigation was limited to sixteen health texts designed for use in the seventh and eighth grades. The problem was to determine whether these sixteen selected books have range and adequate coverage for the needs and interests of this age level. Whether they include: teaching aids that enrich the learning experiences, suggested activities of interest to the pupils, up-to-date information, adequate, stimulating, understandable illustrations, supplementary references; and whether the general makeup of the texts were appropriate for seventh and eighth grade pupils. It was the purpose of this study (1) to develop criteria by which health textbooks would be evaluated on content, teaching aids, and format; (2) to evaluate sixteen health textbooks to determine whether content, suggested activities, teaching aids, and the physical features were suitable for health instruction in the seventh and eighth grades; (3) to make a comparative analysis as to which texts were most valuable as tools to learning in the seventh and eighth grades; and (4) to indicate the areas of shortages in the California State Health Series for seventh and eighth grades.

Many U.S. students possess only a weak knowledge of fraction arithmetic. I hypothesize that textbooks are a critical reason for students’ poor performance on fraction arithmetic. This is not because of what textbooks contain but rather because of what they lack. Distributions of fraction arithmetic problems in textbooks are imbalanced, with certain types of problems almost never presented (Braithwaite et al., 2017). As a result, students often err when they attempt to solve those rare types of problems (Siegler & Pyke, 2013). Two experiments, a pilot study (n = 40 students in grades 5 through 7) and a larger study (n = 127 students in grades 6 and 7), were conducted. These experiments utilized a pretest-intervention-posttest design to empirically test the benefits of providing either a complement of the typical textbook distribution of problems (hyperbalanced practice) or an equal distribution of problems (balanced practice) compared to the benefits of providing a practice set that followed the typical distribution found in math textbooks. A MANCOVA and follow-up ANCOVAs revealed significant differences between students in the textbook condition and students in the balanced and hyperbalanced conditions.For items involving adding fractions with unequal denominators, students who received typical textbook practice showed greater improvement and made fewer strategy errors than students who received hyperbalanced practice. For items involving multiplying two fractions with equal denominators, the opposite was true. Students who received hyperbalanced practice showed greater improvement and made fewer strategy errors than students who received typical textbook practice on items involving multiplying two fractions with equal denominators. Finally, students who received fully balanced practice showed greater improvement and made fewer strategy errors than students who received typical textbook practice on problems involving multiplying one whole number and one fraction. This last finding was of particular interest since none of the practice conditions included practice with that item type. The results of this study demonstrate that even a brief intervention in which students received extra practice with rare item types could improve performance. It also showed that gains in one type of item often resulted in decrements in others, which must be considered when making recommendations to textbook publishers and educators. In sum, this dissertation seeks to make a scholarly contribution to the field by discussing the role that textbooks play in student performance and by analyzing the benefits of supplementing typical textbook instruction with differently balanced fraction arithmetic practice.