Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / This thesis has been developed to help set up criteria to evaluate the writLen language area of an elementary school. The criteria consist of specific statements indicating desirable conditions and procedures in the written language area of the elementary school program. Such statements should furnish a means for teachers to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of their own work.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / The purpose ot this study is to determine whether the skill ot outlining could be taught successfully at the fifth grade level by means of programmed instruction.

Scores on a state comprehensive assessment test showed that writing skills of 4th grade students enrolled in a K-8 magnet school in the southeastern part of the United States were below target. The assistant principal of the K-8 magnet school explained that a review of 3-year longitudinal data revealed that the number of students who met proficiency for the 4th grade writing assessment decreased by 1% each year. The purpose of this case study was to gain an understanding from teachers about the best practices on how to improve students' writing skills. Denzin and Lincoln's constructivist theoretical concepts of accommodation and assimilation of learning were the basis of the conceptual framework. The research focused on how 3rd and 4th grade magnet school teachers described best practices to improve their students' writing skills. Data were gathered from three sources: (a) semistructured interviews with 5, 3rd grade and 5, 4th grade literacy teachers, (b) review of 10 lesson plans and 10 students' writing samples, and (c) 10 classroom observations. Based on the findings from the data, the following themes led to the professional development training: (a) oral activities to discuss as a class, (b) group discussions to gather feedback, (c) feedback to monitor progress, and (d) corrections. This professional development training is intended to strengthen the participating teachers' abilities to improve the writing skills of their students. The implications for positive social change is training teachers how to effectively instruct diverse elementary students to communicate effectively in writing.

While much is written about the need for literacy and particularly functional literacy, the terms are rarely clearly defined from a linguistic perspective. This dissertation develops a concept of literacy consisting of graphological literacy, functional literacy, and the literacy of thoughtfulness. These three aspects are considered with reference to the US adult educational mandates of Americanization and empowerment. Theory is related to practice through the development of educational objectives for English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction with reference to the literacy neetiq (particularly writing skills) of intermediate level ESL adult students, primarily Mexican immigr-ants to Southern California. These ESL students, who may be seen as representative of other immigrants from developing nations to technologically advanced societies, often have limited first language [Ll] and second language UL21 literacy, but develop fairly high L2 oral communicative competence. The research considers the students' Ll literacy levels and uses, which of these can be transferred to L2, and what must be taught in L2. Furthermore how students' higher L2 verbal sIdIls interrelate with and can be exploited in the attainment of L2 literacy at all three levels is discusse4i The extent to which theory has been realized in practice (and practice has been informed by theory) is analyzed with reference to an experimental adult ESL literacy course taught to young adult Mexican immigrants in Santa Barbara, California. The final evaluation reviews the basic premises and the extent to which these have been substantiated, followed by implications of the project and possible areas for future research.

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University of Zululand, 2019. / Writing is dominant in schools and continues to be important for effective communication. Therefore, learners need to be up- skilled in writing skills as their everyday activities. This study was conducted to investigate the in-service training needs of educators in teaching writing skills in primary schools at eSwatini. The study responded to the questions: (a) To what extent are educators teaching languages, trained in teaching writing skills to primary school learners? (b) What in-service training needs do educators have in teaching writing skills of primary school learners? (c) What competencies do educators possess for teaching writing skills? The mixed method design was adopted for this study which triangulated focus group semi structured interview, documentary analysis and lesson observation. Purposive sampling was used to sample N=56 educators in eight primary schools and N= 6 trainers from three teacher training colleges. The mixed-method approach was used to collect data. Quantitative data were analysed using the statistics, frequencies and percentages as well as cross tabulation. Qualitative data from focus group interviews were analysed by identifying patterns and themes. The study revealed the lack of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in the teaching of writing skills. The findings imply that there no methods of teaching employ in teaching writing skills. In addition, the study findings imply that among other things, there was lack of parental involvement and lack of support from school administrators and government. Recommendations made from this study were that: in-service training department should strengthen workshops with regard to writing skills, there should be preparation of lessons, setting of test, scheme of work and marking of learners’ work. Furthermore, the training colleges should have comprehensive writing skills programmes for all pre-service educators, and not only those who major in languages.

No description available.

The two-year college system operates primarily under an open-door admission policy which admits many students who are academically deficient in their writing skills. To meet the needs of these students, many colleges have designed and implemented developmental English courses which, unfortunately, have not always shown a high degree of success. Many studies have been made to identify characteristics of the developmental student, but research is limited in the area of competencies needed by those who instruct students taking developmental writing courses. It was the purpose of this study to identify these competencies, and the method chosen to do this was the Delphi Technique. A panel of fifty-three experts listed what they perceived to be needed competencies for teaching developmental composition. They listed forty-two competencies which were itemized into three categories: rhetorical, pedagogical, and human interaction. The panel members then rated these according to their perceived importance. The investigator ranked them in order of importance by using a weighted score. / Ed. D.

Writing skills is are an essential requirement to lifelong learner success yet the way teachers teach and provide feedback to their learners on writing is quite challenging. This study sought to explore the teaching strategies to improve writing skills as an essential requirement for effective learning in schools for grade 8 and 9 learners in English First Additional Language. For people living in the townships and rural areas in South Africa, exposure to English is limited, because the majority of people communicate with each other in local languages. With teachers and learners residing in the townships where communication occurs mostly in isiXhosa, problems in language proficiency, in particular writing in English First Additional Language, are often encountered not only by the learners, but by educators as well. This was a case study of four high schools in the Cradock Education District. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight participants in the four schools. There were eight main findings, which are as follows: Lack of support for teachers, lack of a culture of learning amongst learners, and lack of competence in English for both learners and parents, which need to be addressed; and strategies proposed to improve writing skills are: the importance of creative writing; regular feedback and the importance of drafts.