published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

In this thesis, I examine the influence of institutional control on three teachers' and twelve linguistically and culturally diverse childrens' perceptions and constructions of literacy meaning making in English and French in two grade six English and in two grade six French classrooms in the province of Quebec. The children in this study represent a cultural and linguistic mosaic of new arrivals, second-generation immigrant and native Montreal families that include Cambodian, East Indian, French, Italian, Lebanese and Portuguese families. Similarly, the three teachers come from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds that include a native Montreal anglophone, an immigrant from Egypt who is fluent in Arabic, English and French, and a second-generation Italian Quebecer who is fluent in Italian, English and French. The diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the participants add a further dimension to the research project, that is, an understanding of the dialogic encounters between multilingual children and teachers during literacy events in two languages and two classroom contexts. / I draw from Halliday's (1978, 1985) social theory of language use, Bakhtin's (1981, 1984) dialogical theory of discourse and Vygotsky's (1978, 1981, 1986) socio-cultural theory of language and learning to provide a theoretical lens for viewing the childrens' appropriation of literacy meaning making practices. I audiotaped, transcribed and interpreted the literacy events, teachers' discourse and discursive practices and the childrens' literate actions and artifacts for emerging patterns. In addition, interviews were transcribed, coded for emerging patterns and interpreted as socially negotiated texts. / The findings led me to four major conclusions. First, while institutional controls such as textbooks, programs, evaluation, and teacher beliefs about literacy continue to maintain power of literacy meaning making practices in these four classroom contexts, the reconstruction and negotiation of this power varies across the classroom contexts and amongst the teachers and children. Second, the teachers' discourse and discursive practices, as well as, situational complexities such as the intersections of cultures, communities, classrooms and languages shape the childrens' literacy perceptions, interpretations and constructions in English and French within and across the classroom contexts. Third, teaching practices for literacy meaning making are neither solely analytical or experiential nor are they solely explicit or implicit. The three teachers' literacy practices appear to be more along a continuum than a dichotomy, that is, they appear to be local, strategic and contexts-related. Fourth, the recognition of a plurality of literacies suggest that childrens' cultural stances and viewpoints need to be considered, as well as, the kinds of literacy experiences they are and are not being asked to engage in their English and French classrooms.

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何萬貫. / 呈交日期: 2000年10月. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2001. / 參考文獻 (p. 235-253) / 中英文摘要. / Cheng jiao ri qi: 2000 nian 10 yue. / Available also through the Internet via Dissertations & theses @ Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / He Wan'guan. / Lun wen (Zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2001. / Can kao wen xian (p. 235-253) / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

In 1989, Herrmann reported that the lack of computer use in schools is not because the schools are not purchasing computers, but because computers "...in classes, such as English, ... are not being used as effectively as they might be" (p. 112). Thus, this current thesis is a relational study that sought to understand how high school English teachers' attitudes towards, perceptions of, and experiences with computers affected their reported implementation of word processors in the teaching of written composition. The findings of this study were based on the results of 52 surveys completed by high school English teachers teaching in a large urban centre. The survey was a combination of multiple-choice, Likert-scale, and open-ended questions and the data were analysed to note relationships between and trends among variables. Ninety percent of the respondents reported spending no time teaching written composition with a word processor, and only 3% of the respondents said they felt confident in their ability to integrate computers into the teaching of written composition. Further data analysis indicated that these teachers exhibited varying and conflicting attitudes, perceptions, and experiences. Teachers' "Readiness to Implement" (i.e., their willingness to receive word processors in the classroom and some self-reports of present computer-related practices) produced the strongest correlation with "Current Practice" (e.g., teaching the writing process and using the word processor to teach pre-writing, drafting, revising, and editing), while "Attitude," "Perception," and "Professional Development Experience" showed limited and localized effects (correlating with some gender, age, or years of experience groups and not others). Consistent with the findings of previous studies, only negligible differences were noted between male and female respondents. However, the two respondents over the age of 60 scored higher (M =4.4) on the "Attitude" scale than their junior colleagues, and the one respondent with 0-1 year of experience scored lower (M = 2.0) than her colleagues with more English-Language Arts teaching experience. Respondents in this study reported a limited amount of access to computer labs and a weak infrastructure for supporting implementation.

In 1989, Herrmann reported that the lack of computer use in schools is not because the schools are not purchasing computers, but because computers "...in classes, such as English, ... are not being used as effectively as they might be" (p. 112). Thus, this current thesis is a relational study that sought to understand how high school English teachers' attitudes towards, perceptions of, and experiences with computers affected their reported implementation of word processors in the teaching of written composition. The findings of this study were based on the results of 52 surveys completed by high school English teachers teaching in a large urban centre. The survey was a combination of multiple-choice, Likert-scale, and open-ended questions and the data were analysed to note relationships between and trends among variables. Ninety percent of the respondents reported spending no time teaching written composition with a word processor, and only 3% of the respondents said they felt confident in their ability to integrate computers into the teaching of written composition. Further data analysis indicated that these teachers exhibited varying and conflicting attitudes, perceptions, and experiences. Teachers' "Readiness to Implement" (i.e., their willingness to receive word processors in the classroom and some self-reports of present computer-related practices) produced the strongest correlation with "Current Practice" (e.g., teaching the writing process and using the word processor to teach pre-writing, drafting, revising, and editing), while "Attitude," "Perception," and "Professional Development Experience" showed limited and localized effects (correlating with some gender, age, or years of experience groups and not others). Consistent with the findings of previous studies, only negligible differences were noted between male and female respondents. However, the two respondents over the age of 60 scored higher (M =4.4) on the "Attitude" scale than their junior colleagues, and the one respondent with 0-1 year of experience scored lower (M = 2.0) than her colleagues with more English-Language Arts teaching experience. Respondents in this study reported a limited amount of access to computer labs and a weak infrastructure for supporting implementation. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this study is to examine the development of writing in first grade children. It provides information about the changes that take place in the children's writing over an eight-month period. The writings of the entire classroom were collected; from these six children's writings were chosen for cross-sectional analysis. Two children from this group were further selected for in-depth case studies. Interviews, parent surveys, and observations were employed to monitor the children's writing development. The data are categorized according to (1) the child's general background, (2) the child as a writer, (3) the child's use of conventions of the writing and spelling systems, and (4) an overview of the child's construction of meaning. The subjects already had a rich, though varied, background of experience with writing when they entered first grade. Many invitations to write were given during the year, which resulted in three major types of writing: journals, notes, and stories. The children were eager to communicate in writing. They grew and developed during the year in a way similar to the way they once learned to speak, learning how to write through their interactions and experiences with others. They became aware of the needs of an audience, could determine the type of writing appropriate to a particular setting, used syntactic features that other writers use, and wrote to fulfill personal needs. As the children wrote, they discovered that certain conventions, such as spelling and punctuation, are used by writers to allow their message to be understood. The rate of development varied according to how critical these conventions were to the ability to communicate. The study demonstrated that children who have a message to communicate construct meaning as their first priority. As they use writing, they gain knowledge of the writing system and change occurs in their understanding of the syntactic, semantic and orthographic systems, allowing them to create more complex meanings for their readers.