Thesis (M.Ed. (Language Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / We live in a world in which communication plays a very crucial role in everything we engage in. The fact that the new Constitution of South Africa (Act No.200 of 1993) has given official status to the 11 major languages (something which was formerly granted only to English and Afrikaans) is irrefutable. In spite of all that, the English language has remained a major national language, as well as a Medium of Instruction in schools and universities in South Africa. However, effective communication has since been one of the most critical concerns in South Africa because English has been labelled as a nightmare. This is because the majority of learners at schools experience difficulties in acquiring Communicative Competence Skills in English, which is their Second Language (SL).The reality is, for one to communicate effectively, an individual should acquire Communicative Competence, which will enable him to engage with other people. To tackle this problem, there are effective and efficient strategies that need to be addressed. Literature reviews point out (a) the importance of the English First Additional Language (EFAL); (b) the challenges learners face at schools in acquiring Communicative Competence in English Second Language (ESL); and(c) solutions to overcome this situation. This study aimed at investigating the challenges experienced on the development of listening and speaking in EFAL. The study employed a qualitative Case Study design to investigate the challenges experienced on the development of listening and speaking in EFAL. Data for this qualitative case were obtained from interviews with learners and teachers. Observations were made at the two selected schools, and questionnaires were administered as well. The findings revealed various challenges that impede learners from developing Communicative Competence Skills in ESL. Learners do not understand English because their vocabulary in the language is limited. They also have challenges in pronouncing English words, and they cannot express themselves accurately in ESL because it is not their home language. Consequently, their proficiency in the language is low and impinges on their comprehension levels. It is recommended that teachers should ensure that they create a beneficial environment for learners to acquire Communicative Competence. Teachers should, in addition, introduce activities which will enable learners to communicate frequently. Learners should be given opportunities where they can read frequently, because reading improves vocabulary and helps one to become familiar with sentence structure, word order and correct pronunciations. Furthermore, learners should invest in a good dictionary to check unfamiliar words. Learners should build active listening and speaking skills that improve lines of communication with others and should be aware of their own communication barriers. They should learn different phrases/strategies that improve how they respond, and they should not fear to be offended. They should, furthermore, feel comfortable when they express their emotions and look at the speaker directly when communicating. Most importantly, learners should put aside distracting thoughts and should also listen to the speaker’s body language

A university is an academic place with students from a variety of cultures. Non-native English speaking (NNS) graduate students are a group representing diverse cultural backgrounds. However, these students' challenges in linguistic and socio-cultural adjustment impact their effective learning and academic success. Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) is an important ability that they need to consider. It assesses attitude, skills, knowledge, adaptability, flexibility, and communication ability with culturally different people. Researchers in Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) have suggested that instructional designers should understand diverse learners' abilities and cultural characteristics and apply them in their Instructional Design (ID) strategies. However, the existing ID models do not specifically include ICC as a consideration in the design process. Furthermore, there has been a lack of research on culturally diverse or minority students. Considering NNS graduate students' characteristics, cultural diversity, and need to develop ICC, the researcher reviewed three social theories of learning: social learning theory, sociocultural and cultural-historical activity theory, and situated learning theory. Socially engaged learning, a synthesized framework, was recommended for NNS graduate students along with effective ID strategies. This research investigated perceptions on ICC and ID strategies for socially engaged learning in a sample of 208 NNS graduate students. Quantitative methods were used to assess students' ICC level and perceptions of effective instructional strategies in four categories: (1) students' gradual engagement and active participation, (2) learning in rich cultural context, (3) self-regulation and learning ownership, and (4) integration of communication technologies. Results showed that NNS graduate students were diverse in background characteristics, academic disciplines, cultural origins, and previous experiences; they perceived a moderately high level of ICC; and they generally had positive views on ID strategies for socially engaged learning. This research can help instructional designers and instructors in higher education to better understand the needs of NNS graduate students and to prepare them to study more effectively and have more valuable intercultural experiences. / Ph. D.

Of the subjective rating scales utilized in workload research the Cooper-Harper scale is the most popular. This decision tree rating scale and modifications of the scale have provided sensitive measurements by discriminating among various mental workload levels. This research is an investigation into the characteristics of a Modified Cooper-Harper rating scale (MCH) developed by Wierwille and Casali (1983). Six rating scale designs emphasizing major characteristics which might cause the MCH scale to be a sensitive measure of mental workload were used in this study. The aims of the research were to discover modifications of the MCH might make it more sensitive. A communications task developed by Casali and Wierwille (1983) was manipulated to present 36 subject pilots, both private and student, with three communications loading levels. The pilots were distributed into the six rating scales by experience level. Six different experience levels were represented in each of the rating scale groupings. Using the communications loading, the presence of a decision tree in the scales appeared to improve the scale's ability to discriminate among loading levels. The expansion of the MCH scale to 15 categories decreased the sensitivity of the MCH rating scale. The standard 10-point MCH rating scale was the most consistent of the six rating scales and attained a high ability to discriminate among loading levels. Finally, a companion mediational task study by Rieger (1983) using the same six rating scales resulted in substantially different results, suggesting that subjective rating scales are extremely task dependent. / M.S.

"Sept 2004." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 308-321). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

In a globalized world, teaching English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL) requires mastery of intercultural communicative competence (ICC). Deploying ICC has many benefits, especially with teaching and learning English, because it is a preeminent necessity for intercultural communication today. In ESL and EFL contexts at college and university levels, learners and instructors interface with other learners and instructors who have various languages and cultures, so there is a need for implementing ICC, because it encourages instructors and learners to communicate effectively with others using both their native and target languages, as well as their native and target cultures. Hence, there is a need for ICC, mediational tools, such as translanguaging pedagogy, as well as use of a peer-coaching process. Also, there is a need to evaluate ICC use through various kinds of assessment, such as self-assessment (which includes self-reflection), identity assessment, formative assessment, and summative assessment. In order to find the validity of various aspects of ICC, the mediational tools, the peer-coaching process, various kinds of assessment, and self-reflection, the researcher used a mixed-method study that contained quantitative and qualitative data. The study was conducted over the summer of 2016, and the participants were graduate students in the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) program at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). This thesis validates aspects of ICC, mediational tools, and assessments, as well as the importance of self-reflection in evaluating and improving individuals’ ICC.

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Submitted by Glauber Assunção Moreira (glauber.a.moreira@gmail.com) on 2018-08-21T13:23:53Z No. of bitstreams: 2 TESE - TATIANY PERTEL SABAINI DALBEN.pdf: 9755637 bytes, checksum: 91dacf87742b594c84690281f352409a (MD5) ficha catalográfica.doc: 240640 bytes, checksum: e252111a859608a785f0f2167f06959a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Setor de Periódicos (per_macedocosta@ufba.br) on 2018-08-21T13:58:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 TESE - TATIANY PERTEL SABAINI DALBEN.pdf: 9755637 bytes, checksum: 91dacf87742b594c84690281f352409a (MD5) ficha catalográfica.doc: 240640 bytes, checksum: e252111a859608a785f0f2167f06959a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-21T13:58:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 TESE - TATIANY PERTEL SABAINI DALBEN.pdf: 9755637 bytes, checksum: 91dacf87742b594c84690281f352409a (MD5) ficha catalográfica.doc: 240640 bytes, checksum: e252111a859608a785f0f2167f06959a (MD5) / RESUMO Até recentemente, a tradução parece ter sido ignorada no campo da Linguística Aplicada (LA). Nas últimas décadas, porém, começaram a surgir alguns estudos e publicações que enfatizam a necessidade de repensá-la como atividade importante para o processo de ensino/aprendizagem de língua estrangeira (LE) (COOK, 2010). Mesmo assim, poucas pesquisas têm investigado o uso da tradução na formação inicial de professores de LE no Brasil. Dessa forma, este estudo em nível de doutorado tem como principal objetivo verificar e discutir a contribuição da tradução para a formação inicial de professores de língua inglesa (LI) em um curso de graduação em Letras, principalmente com relação ao desenvolvimento da competência linguístico-comunicativa (CLC), da competência comunicativa intercultural (CCI), do processo de conscientização sobre verdades e realidades e da responsabilidade ética do futuro docente. Ao buscar cumprir tal objetivo, esta pesquisa também está i) preenchendo a lacuna existente na literatura das áreas da LA e dos Estudos de Tradução; ii) promovendo discussão em torno da desconstrução de crenças e mitos sobre o uso da tradução em sala de aula de LI; e iii) problematizando a política de ensino com relação ao uso da tradução nesse contexto. Para tanto, esta pesquisa qualitativa, interpretativista, utiliza o método etnográfico para realizar um estudo ocorrido nos dois primeiros semestres do Curso de Letras/Inglês da Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC) em Ilhéus, Bahia, em 2014. As descrições das análises exibem os resultados coletados a partir de 4 (quatro) tipos de instrumentos: a) 2 (dois) questionários – 1 (um) para os 31 (trinta e um) professores de LI em formação (PLIF) e 2 (dois) para os 2 (dois) professores formadores (PF); b) 8 (oito) atividades de tradução realizadas pelos PLIF; c) registros etnográficos coletados durante a observação da aplicação de tais atividades em sala de aula; d) 4 (quatro) entrevistas semi-estruturadas – 2 (duas) para os 2 (dois) PF e 2 (duas) para os PLIF. Para o desenvolvimento deste estudo, respaldo-me na perspectiva desconstrutivista (DERRIDA, 1967/1971, 1967/2011; ARROJO, 1986/2002, 1992/2003; OTTONI, 2005), através da qual se pode considerar a tradução uma prática de leitura, de interpretação, um processo produtor e transformador de significados que ocorre a partir de um jogo marcado pela ausência de um centro ou de uma ‘origem’, um movimento de suplementariedade do qual fazem parte aspectos diversos que compõem a escritura (écriture). As análises demonstraram que, através da tradução, os PLIF desenvolveram aspectos da CLC (ALMEIDA FILHO, 1993/2002, 2014), pois adquiriram conhecimento sobre a estrutura da LI e demonstraram saber usá-la para construir seus textos traduzidos. Além disso, os professores em formação desenvolveram habilidades, atitudes e conhecimentos que compõem a CCI (KRAMSCH, 1993; BYRAM, 1989, 1997; BYRAM et al., 2002), como, por exemplo, a elaboração de conhecimentos plurais sobre línguas, culturas e sociedades; a superação de preconceitos linguísticos e culturais; a abertura para aceitação das diferenças; a ampliação dos conceitos de língua e cultura, dentre outros. Por fim, as análises também indicaram que a prática da tradução favoreceu o processo de conscientização sobre verdades e realidades (FREIRE, 1979, 2002) dos PLIF, os quais, ao fim e ao cabo, se revelaram sujeitos crítico-reflexivos, curiosos e questionadores das verdades absolutas, além de terem desenvolvido a percepção sobre a sua responsabilidade ética (FREIRE, 1996/2013) que deve permear sua prática educativo-crítica. / ABSTRACT Until recently, translation seems to have been ignored in the field of Applied Linguistics (AL). However, in the last decades, it has become a theme of some researches and publications which claim it must be ‘reintroduced’ within the foreign language (FL) teaching classroom (COOK, 2010). All the same, little investigation has yet been done on the implications of its use for undergraduate English language (EL) students pursuing their certification in Brazil. In this line of thought, this PhD research proposes to verify and discuss the contribution of translation as a practice for the professional preparation of pre-service EL teachers in the undergraduate course of Letras, especially concerning the development of the linguistic-communicative competence (LCC), the intercultural communicative competence (ICC), the process of consciousness about truths and realities and ethical responsibility. In pursuit of such an objective, this work also: i) bridges the gap in the literature in the areas of AL and Translation Studies; ii) promotes discussions on the deconstruction of beliefs and myths about the use of translation within the FL classroom; and iii) problematizes teaching politics regarding the use of translation in this context. Therefore, this qualitative, interpretative research used ethnographic methods to carry out a study in the first and second semesters of an undergraduate group of EL students in the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC) in Ilhéus, Bahia, in 2014. Through the analysis, I searched to understand and describe the results collected from 4 (four) types of instruments: a) 2 (two) questionnaires – 1 (one) for the 31 (thirty) students and another for the 2 (two) professors); b) 8 (eight) translation and reflective activities undertaken by the students in the classroom; c) ethnographic notes collected from class observations; d) and 4 (four) semi-structured interviews – 2 (two) for the 2 (two) professors and 2 (two) for the students. As for the interpretation of data and the development of the study, I relied on the deconstructive perspective (DERRIDA, 1967/1971, 1967/2011; ARROJO, 1986/2002, 1992/2003; OTTONI, 2005), which views translation as a reading and interpretative practice, a process of meanings production and transformation, that occurs as a play within language characterized by the absence of a center or origin, a move of supplementarity formed by various aspects that compose the writing (écriture). The results show that through the use of translation in EL classrooms, Letras undergraduate students are able to develop aspects of the LCC (ALMEIDA FILHO, 1993/2002, 2014), once they acquired knowledge about the structure of the EL and demonstrated to know how to use it to communicate through their translated texts. Moreover, the results also indicated that through the practice of translation, these students could develop ICC abilities, attitudes and knowledge (KRAMSCH, 1993; BYRAM, 1989, 1997; BYRAM et al., 2002), such as plural knowledge about languages, cultures and societies; overcoming linguistic and cultural prejudice; improvement of the concepts of language and culture, among others. Finally, the analysis also showed that translation can favor the process of consciousness about truths, realities and practices (FREIRE, 1979, 2002), since the undergraduate EL students became more curious and inquisitive about pre-established and absolute truths. It has promoted a critical-reflexive attitude towards various aspects and contributed to the development of the perception of their ethical responsibility (FREIRE, 1979, 2002, 1996/2013) and, as such, pervade their critical practice in education.

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

<p>The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the implications and challenges of intercultural communication. An in-depth study was performed of the perspectives from people who work within an international organization. How they experience cultural differences and how they handle them, in particular when it comes to communication. Also, their perceptions of communicative competence were explored. The study was carried out at Svalorna India Bangladesh, at the Swedish office in Lund. Svalorna’s staff was interviewed on their experiences of intercultural communication. Both employees at the Swedish office and employees on location in India and Bangladesh were interviewed. The method used in the study was qualitative interviews where the interviewees could expand their answers fully as the interview developed. The main theory used was Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, presented in the thesis and considered in the study. It was concluded that being aware of cultural differences and having knowledge of other cultures but also your own is important for understanding the so-called non-verbal communication in an intercultural situation. There are also differences in to what extent a certain culture uses non-verbal communication. Both India and Bangladesh, according to the interviewees, are high context cultures whereas Sweden has a low context culture. All the interviewees had similar experiences when it comes to intercultural communication. A cultural difference in the perception of time is an example of when verbal communication can be inadequate, if one is not aware of cultural differences. Both India and Bangladesh use polychronic time whereas in Sweden monochromic time is used. This is indeed confirmed by all interviewees. Many of Hofstede’s cultural dimension theories are found to be coherent with the results of this study, for example the Individualism.</p>

In the last few decades, Internet mediated intercultural competence has received a great attention in the field of applied linguistics and foreign language (FL) education especially with the evolution of web 2.0 technologies and social networking sites that facilitate interaction and communication between different cultural communities and individuals. Research in the field of Online Intercultural Exchange (OIE) is extremely varied and researchers have focused their attention on various aspects of OIE such as promoting intercultural communicative competence (Belz, 2002; O'Dowd, 2003; Schenker, 2011; Muller Hartman, 2000), facilitating online relationship building (Ware, 2005; Thorne, 2003, Jin & Erben, 2007) and improving writing skills (Ware, 2005; O'Dowd, 2003), developing pragmatic competence (Kinginger & Belz, 2005). Despite the plethora of research in this area, gaps in the literature still exist. First, literature lacks studies on language learners of less commonly taught languages (e.g. Arabic), (Thorne, 2006) and more importantly most of the studies are based on western contexts mainly in Europe and the USA. Second, few studies have explored the potentials of social networking sites on OIE projects in promoting intercultural learning (Aoki, 2009; Jin, 2015). In an effort to fill the gaps in the research, this study links English language learners (Saudis) with Arabic language learners (Americans) to investigate to what extent OIE on Facebook between these two groups of learners contributes to their intercultural communicative competence (ICC), specifically, exploring how and what are the components of Byram's model (ICC) manifested in the OIE project. Furthermore, it examined the affordances of Facebook in the OIE project according to students' use, practice and perception. Informed by a sociocultural framework, this study took a constructivist mixed methods approach to analysis of data from learners' online discourse on Facebook, the researcher's journal and observations, pre-survey, semi-structured interviews, and a questionnaire. Data analysis and interpretation revealed that when students' participation were mutually compatible, the students were able to build meaningful relationships, used a range of various questioning techniques, and engaged in genuine dialogue, OIE has a great potential for developing students' intercultural competence, as many objectives of Byram's ICC model were manifested. Findings also revealed that the project has strengthened Saudi students' cultural identity as they found the space to present their culture and country beyond the stereotypical image that dominates the media. As with regard to Facebook affordances, findings showed that the semiotic design and various semiotic resources of Facebook (e.g. multimodal posts, sharing, notification, friending, semi-automated features, etc.) afford students' engagement in intercultural discussion, students' collaboration, and students' interpersonal relationship building. The study also identified some of Facebook's constraints that limited students' participation due to technological, cultural and social factors. In sum this study illuminates the nature of online intercultural communication between Arabic and English language learners, contributing to the scarce research on this population. It also uncovers the unique affordances as well as constraints of Facebook on an OIE project. Based on this study, several pedagogical implications and suggestions are made for future research in the field of online intercultural exchanges.