This research investigates whether students&amp / #8217 / motivation improves when thematic syllabus is employed in the classroom. This is the first time a theme-based integrated skills syllabus is employed at Atilim University Departmental English Language Studies Unit. With the outcome of the questionnaires conducted by the administration, it was realized that content is an important motivating factor and employing a theme-based syllabus can have a positive effect on students&amp / #8217 / motivation. For this research, firstly an interest survey was employed to identify the areas students would like to focus on. After the quantitative analysis of the interest survey, a five-week theme-based syllabus was designed and employed for five weeks in the classroom. At the end of the semester, interviews were carried out with twenty six students. From the point of view of the students, proposed syllabus was much more interesting and motivating than the common one employed in the first ten weeks of the semester. This study showed that if a theme-based syllabus reflecting students&amp / #8217 / interests is employed in a classroom, student motivation improves. Thus, they can develop positive attitude towards the course and language learning.

In an attempt to rectify the issues and concerns on the impact of an international mural exchange created by the organization Let Art Talk in 2008, I traveled to Uganda to pursue a similar community based, environmentally themed art workshops and Talking Mural. This theme-based mural was created and then given to a school in Plano, Texas to complete. My role was to investigate the work being done and the potential effects of learning on participants involved and to gauge the communication and learning exchanged between the participants in two varied communities. Through the creation of a mural using case study methods, it was also to be determined if the mission and goals of the project were accomplished. This study was focused on the following question: In what ways and to what extent is the purposeful intent and meaning of the artwork made by students in Uganda--as part of a mural exchange program about environmental issues that occurs between students in Uganda and the United States--understood by the students in the United States who view and respond to this artwork? / text

This study examines the implementation of the theme-based curriculum in the 2003-2004 academic year to meet the goals and objectives of DBE students at METU. The research design of the study includes questionnaires and focus group interviews with former DBE students and DBE teachers. At the first stage, 231 students and 60 teachers took the questionnaire. Then, 19 students (in groups) and teachers (individually) were interviewed. The results indicated that there was a big difference between the perceptions of teachers and students and teachers were more negative about the program. Especially, pre-intermediate group teachers were quite dissatisfied with the program. Implementation and quality of the materials and lack of communication between teachers and administrators were considered as probable reasons. In terms of materials, reading was the skill most successfully developed. Moreover, students found handouts much more useful than the books. Writing seemed to be the most problematic area in the program. Finally, as a result of time limitation, teachers were perceived to be more active in class and pair/group work were considered as ineffective.

Under the direction of Dr. Lynn Henrichsen, a group of students has developed numerous units for the Basic Training and Resources for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (BTRTESOL) program. This program is currently located on a website and will someday be published in book and DVD format. These units provide general training for novice teachers who teach domestically or abroad. With little or no training, volunteer English language teachers are often left with questions that BTRTESOL strives to answer in its 52 units. As this audience may or may not have university education or heavy commitment, these units are kept short and to the point with easy to read and understand language. The program uses a minimalist approach so each unit includes only "The least you should know" while connecting users to additional resources in a "where to go to learn more" section. This master's project describes the creation, evaluation and revision of two units for the BTRTESOL program, "Content-Based Language Classes" and "Multiple Skills in One Class." The first unit introduces the idea of integrating content teaching and language teaching into one course. In addition, it explains different types of scaffolding and teaching techniques that will aid novice teachers in creating successful content-based instruction courses. The second unit will help teachers to integrate different linguistic modalities into one course. Suggestions on how to pick themes, manage class time, and plan lessons are addressed

Intresset för studien väcktes ur gemensamma diskussioner kring lärares vardagsarbete i relation till skolans organisation och ledning. Vi fann därför ett förändringsarbete från traditionell till temabaserade undervisning på gymnasieskola intressant att studera. Studiens syfte var att undersöka och söka förståelse för hur förändringsprocessen upplevs och påverkar lärarna samt att vara en del i utvärderingen av lärarnas nybildade tematiska arbetslag. Vi valde att använda aktionsforskning som metod med en hermeneutisk ansats som innebär tolkning och reflektion. När vi studerade tidigare forskning uppmärksammade vi att Blossing (2000) i sin studie konstaterar att bland annat skolkulturen och skolledaren har betydelse för förändringarbetets utveckling. Vi använde oss av reflexiva intervjuer eftersom de erbjuder flexibilitet vid intervjutillfällena och vi relekterade över olika aspekter som framkom. Analysarbetet innebar att vi rörde oss mellan delar och helheter i en ständigt pågående process. Resultatet visar på flera olika aspekter som påverkar lärarna och vi valde att presentera dessa med innehållet i fokus framför individen av hänsyn till lärarnas integritet. Vi fann att personliga erfarenheter och egenskaper påverkade inställningen till förändringsarbetet och dess innehåll. Andra faktorer som synliggjordes var vikten av struktur för arbetet och möjligheter för reflektion. Planeringstidens betydelse och hur den organiseras och disponeras framkom och vi konstaterar att skolledningen har en viktigt roll i förändringsarbetet genom att leda och skapa struktur samt vara lyhörd för arbetslagets signaler. / Our interest for the study was an outcome from our mutual discussions about teachers every day work related to schools leadership and organisations. Therefore we found a developing project from traditional teaching to theme based team work teaching in an upper secondary school interesting for our study. The main purpose of our study was to examine and understand teachers experiances of the change from traditional teaching to theme based teaching. The purpose is also to be a part in the teachers’ team work evaluation. The empirical approach was hermeneutic and the chosen method was action research. As method to collect the empirical material we used reflective interviews that gave us the opportunity to be flexible during the interviews. During the process we reflected over different parts that appeared and how they interact as a totality. When we looked for former research we found that Blossing (2000) establishes that school culture and head of schools are of great importance for the outcome of developing work. From the result we can understand that there are several different factors that affect the teachers in a developing work. Their individual personalities and experiences affect their attitude towards the process of change and the containment of the same. The teachers need time for reflection and they find that they have not got enough time for planning the teaching in the theme based team work. Our conclusion is that the head of school has an important role in leading, creating structure and being attentive to the teachers needs.

<p>Intresset för studien väcktes ur gemensamma diskussioner kring lärares vardagsarbete i relation till skolans organisation och ledning. Vi fann därför ett förändringsarbete från traditionell till temabaserade undervisning på gymnasieskola intressant att studera. Studiens syfte var att undersöka och söka förståelse för hur förändringsprocessen upplevs och påverkar lärarna samt att vara en del i utvärderingen av lärarnas nybildade tematiska arbetslag.</p><p>Vi valde att använda aktionsforskning som metod med en hermeneutisk ansats som innebär tolkning och reflektion. När vi studerade tidigare forskning uppmärksammade vi att Blossing (2000) i sin studie konstaterar att bland annat skolkulturen och skolledaren har betydelse för förändringarbetets utveckling. Vi använde oss av reflexiva intervjuer eftersom de erbjuder flexibilitet vid intervjutillfällena och vi relekterade över olika aspekter som framkom. Analysarbetet innebar att vi rörde oss mellan delar och helheter i en ständigt pågående process.</p><p>Resultatet visar på flera olika aspekter som påverkar lärarna och vi valde att presentera dessa med innehållet i fokus framför individen av hänsyn till lärarnas integritet. Vi fann att personliga erfarenheter och egenskaper påverkade inställningen till förändringsarbetet och dess innehåll. Andra faktorer som synliggjordes var vikten av struktur för arbetet och möjligheter för reflektion. Planeringstidens betydelse och hur den organiseras och disponeras framkom och vi konstaterar att skolledningen har en viktigt roll i förändringsarbetet genom att leda och skapa struktur samt vara lyhörd för arbetslagets signaler.</p> / <p>Our interest for the study was an outcome from our mutual discussions about teachers every day work related to schools leadership and organisations. Therefore we found a developing project from traditional teaching to theme based team work teaching in an upper secondary school interesting for our study. The main purpose of our study was to examine and understand teachers experiances of the change from traditional teaching to theme based teaching. The purpose is also to be a part in the teachers’ team work evaluation.</p><p>The empirical approach was hermeneutic and the chosen method was action research. As method to collect the empirical material we used reflective interviews that gave us the opportunity to be flexible during the interviews. During the process we reflected over different parts that appeared and how they interact as a totality. When we looked for former research we found that Blossing (2000) establishes that school culture and head of schools are of great importance for the outcome of developing work.</p><p>From the result we can understand that there are several different factors that affect the teachers in a developing work. Their individual personalities and experiences affect their attitude towards the process of change and the containment of the same. The teachers need time for reflection and they find that they have not got enough time for planning the teaching in the theme based team work. Our conclusion is that the head of school has an important role in leading, creating structure and being attentive to the teachers needs.</p>

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本研究在探討主題式教學法對台灣國小學生英語口說溝通能力之成效以及此教學法對學生英語學習態度與動機的影響。此研究以來自雲林縣某國小五年級二個班級學生為研究對象，這兩班級隨機指派為實驗組跟對照組。實驗組實施主題式口語教學法而對照組則實施傳統口語教學法，每週均上課一次。經過12週的教學後，兩組皆進行英語口說能力測驗並施以英語學習態度與動機問卷。研究結果顯示學生受過主題式教學法學習後在口說溝通能力有顯著進步，而且其英語學習態度與動機也有正向的改變。希望本研究結果能為英語老師在教學實務上提供助益。 / The present study mainly aimed at investigating the effects of theme-based oral instruction (TBOI) on elementary school students’ oral communicative competence. Meanwhile, this paper also aimed at examining learners’ perceptions of the use of TBOI, and the changes of learners’ attitudes and motivation towards English learning after the implementation of TBOI. Two fifth-grade classes in a public elementary school in Yunlin County were randomly assigned to be the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group received TBOI, while the control group took the traditional oral instruction once a week. After the 12-week treatment, an English oral proficiency test and an English learning attitudes and motivation questionnaire were administered to examine learners’ oral communicative competence and their learning attitudes and motivation respectively. The findings showed that TBOI had helped learners gain significant progress on oral communicative competence, and that the learning attitudes and motivation towards English learning had changed positively after the treatment of TBOI. Hopefully, the findings of the study may provide English teachers with some useful pedagogical implications.

音樂分段在研究音樂分析相關的領域是很重要的研究題目。音樂的分段可以提供作音樂結構分析、音樂瀏覽、音樂內容查詢與音樂摘要等應用。本論文的研究目的就是對音樂作自動分段，以幫助使用者能快速瀏覽音樂的內容。因此，我們針對音樂的主題作主題式的分段。 音樂的主題是取決於作曲者的動機，動機是構成音樂主題的基本因素。為了能夠以主題為基礎作音樂分段，我們必須找出決定音樂主題的因素。動機會有規則性的出現在整首音樂當中，所以我們可以利用動機出現的規則來探勘音樂的動機。 我們提出一個以主題對音樂作分段的方法，總共分為四個主要的步驟。第一，我們從原始的音樂資料擷取出主旋律的部分。第二，將主旋律做粗略分段。我們利用探勘Non-trivial重複樣式的技術[17]，來找出粗略段落。第三，從粗略段落中探勘動機。我們利用Stein所提出來的動機變化規則，修改傳統探勘重複序列的方法，做動機的探勘。最後，我們利用探勘出來的動機對主旋律作精細分段。我們針對MIDI音樂檔案利用提出來的方法，實做出一個系統，找出音樂的主題段落。 先前研究在評估實驗結果時，多採用Precision與Recall去評估實驗的結果。然而，這樣的評估方法並不能表現出實驗結果與正確答案之間的相似程度。所以我們提出新的評估方法，根據實驗結果與正確答案之間的相似程度來評估實驗的準確率。根據實驗結果顯示，我們的方法準確率約65%。 / Music segmentation is one of the important issues in music analysis. Music segmentation can be utilized for music structure analysis, music browsing, content-based music retrieval, and music summarization. In this theis, we proposed a music segmentation method based on the music theme to provide users the capability to browse music segments by theme. Motives, the concepts of the composer, are the basic elements of music themes. Music themes were constructed by motives. In order to segment music by themes, we have to discover motives. Most motives repeated in the music by some motivic treatment rules. Therefore, motives can be discovered by these rules. We proposed the theme segmentation method. There are four steps. Firstly, we extract main melody from original music. In the second step, rough segments are generated from main melody by mining non-trivial repeating patterns. Then, motives are detected from rough segments. We modify the mining algorithm for discovering frequent patterns by applying motivic treatment rules proposed by Stein. Finally, we segment main melody based on the generated motives. Moreover, a system for segmentation of music in MIDI format was implemented. Concerning the effectiveness evaluation of music segmentation, precision and recall are used in previous research. We proposed an effectiveness measure and corresponding algorithm to evaluate the accuracy of music segmentation. Experimental results show that our proposed music segmentation method achieves 65% accuracy.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:25:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3883.pdf: 2717797 bytes, checksum: 640ba1f54870aea329d5f04ef4bbb07f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-07-27 / This qualitative, ethnographic-interpretative research aimed at analyzing the development of communicative competence of English Language undergraduate students of a private college in the center-western region of the state of São Paulo during their participation in a Thematic Task-Based Planning for English teaching and learning through classes guided by the use of a theme, the history of Great Britain, and communicative tasks with focus on meaning. The students' perceptions, feelings and how they behave throughout the process have also been investigated in this study. In order to collect the data, the following instruments have been used: initial and final cloze tests, three written evaluations throughout the process, audio recordings of tasks and written production of the tasks which have been previously performed orally and transcribed for analysis, plus questionnaires administered to students in different moments of the course. The framework is based on theoretical studies of theme and taskbased teaching of authors such as: Almeida Filho (1993, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009); Barbirato (1999, 2005); Bygate, Skehan, Swain (2001); Candlin (1987, 2001); Crandall (1994, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006); Ellis (2000, 2003); Nunan (1989, 2004); Prabhu (1987, 1990); Skehan (1998, 2001); Skehan, Foster (1997, 1999, 2001); Van den Braden (2006,2008); Willis (1996); Willis, Willis (2007), among others. The analysis has shown that the work combining theme-based teaching and communicative tasks could be an alternative for the teaching and learning of English in the context investigated, where it was previously found that most participants had limited linguistic and communicative competence in the target language. It was also possible to verify that the work with communicative tasks with focus on meaning and based on the theme of the history of Great Britain provided collaborative efforts among the students and opportunities for noticing the form, vocabulary or pronunciation of the target language. The data analysis also showed considerable improvement in the oral proficiency of the students in the target language. / A presente pesquisa, qualitativa e de base etnográfica interpretativista, teve como objetivo analisar como se dá o desenvolvimento da competência comunicativa (CC) em aprendizes de curso de Letras de contexto adverso de uma faculdade particular do centro-oeste paulista durante a sua participação em um Planejamento Temático Baseado em Tarefas para o ensinoaprendizagem de língua inglesa por meio de aulas pautadas pelo uso de um tema, a história da Grã-Bretanha, e tarefas comunicativas com foco no sentido. Também foram investigados a percepção dos alunos, os seus sentimentos e comportamentos ao longo do processo. Para a coleta de dados foram utilizados testes cloze inicial e final, avaliações escritas ao longo do processo, gravações em áudio das tarefas, posteriormente transcritas para análise, e questionários aplicados aos discentes em momentos diferentes do curso. O arcabouço teórico se fundamenta em estudos sobre tarefas e ensino temático de autores como: Almeida Filho (1993, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009); Barbirato (1999, 2005); Bygate, Skehan, Swain (2001); Candlin (1987, 2001); Crandall (1994, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006); Ellis (2000, 2003); Nunan (1989, 2004); Prabhu (1987, 1990); Skehan (1998, 2001); Skehan, Foster (1997, 1999, 2001); Van den Braden (2006,2008); Willis (1996); Willis, Willis (2007), entre outros. A análise dos resultados demonstrou que o trabalho em que coexistiram ensino temático e tarefas comunicativas pode ser uma alternativa para o ensino-aprendizagem de língua inglesa no contexto investigado, em que havia limitação linguístico-comunicativa prévia na línguaalvo na maioria dos participantes.Também foi possível averiguar que o trabalho com tarefas comunicativas com foco no sentido e baseadas no tema da história da Grã-Bretanha motivou os participantes e possibilitou esforço colaborativo entre eles e momentos de explicitação da forma, léxico ou pronúncia da língua-alvo. Houve indícios de que o ensino com base em conteúdo temático e tarefas problematizadoras é ponto importante para colaborar para a aquisição de LE no contexto estudado. A análise dos dados revelou ainda que o trabalho desenvolvido resultou em considerável melhora da proficiência oral dos alunos na línguaalvo.