Digital transformation is a challenging undertaking for most businesses. It disrupts prior organizational processes and structures and affects the way leadership is manifested. Leadership literature has historically focused a great deal on the leader’s perspective, even so in discussions concerning digital transformation. Scholars agree that followers are an essential part to leadership, yet their perspective is often overlooked in the discussion. This study focuses on the follower experience in digital transformation. Based on a review of extant literature, I structure a theoretical framework comprising several concepts such as; AIT, context, leadership style, digital mindset and digital fluency. I have collected data through semi-structured group-interviews and have adopted a narrative analysis to interpret the data collected from 21 respondents, from three different sectors, that have experienced digital transformation as followers. The insights from the study deepen our understanding of the follower’s perspective of digital transformation and highlight three areas of import for a successful digital transformation; trust, stress and work-life balance. I conclude the study by outlining directions for future research. / Digital transformation är en utmaning för de flesta företag. Det är disruptivt och utmanar tidigare organisatoriska processer och strukturer och påverkar hur ledarskap manifesteras. Ledarskapslitteraturen har historiskt fokuserat på ledarperspektivet, även så i diskussioner om digital transformation. Forskare är överens om att följare är en viktig del av ledarskap, men deras perspektiv förbises ofta i diskussionen. Denna studie fokuserar på följarupplevelsen i digital transformation. Baserat på en genomgång av befintlig litteratur, strukturerar jag ett teoretiskt ramverk som omfattar flera begrepp så som; AIT, kontext, ledarstil, digitalt mindset och digitalt flyt. Jag har samlat in data genom semistrukturerade gruppintervjuer och har antagit en narrativ analys för att tolka data som samlats in från 21 respondenter, från tre olika sektorer, som har upplevt digital transformation som följare. Insikterna från studien fördjupar vår förståelse av följarens perspektiv på digital transformation och lyfter fram tre viktiga områden för en framgångsrik digital transformation; tillit, stress och balans mellan arbete och privatliv. Jag avslutar studien med att föreslå riktningar för framtida forskning

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This study uses a predominantly quantitative approach to explore the effect of different error correction feedback mechanisms on students’ English as a Second Language writing (narrative and descriptive) amongst high school students in Botswana. A longitudinal, quasi-experimental design is used, with a control group that received no correction feedback while the experimental groups received direct, coded and uncoded feedback. Three hypotheses define the study in terms of fluency, correction success and accuracy development over time. No significant increases in fluency were found between the pretests and posttests. Correction success achieved by the three treatment groups when rewriting texts reflected the explicitness of the feedback, with the direct group highest, followed by the coded and uncoded groups. Findings were mixed on the important issue of accuracy development, although they strongly suggest that for spelling, any type of feedback is significantly better than none and that coded feedback is better than direct feedback despite the latter being more explicit. Students from all the treatment groups expressed similarly positive opinions on correction feedback. / Applied Language / M.A. (Spec. in Applied Linguistics)

Thesis (MPhil (Centre for Health Sciences Education)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Doel: Te min spraak-taalterapeute (STT’e) wêreldwyd spreek vlotheidsversteurings aan. Dit mag aan hul gevoelens van onbevoegdheid in die hantering van persone wat hakkel toegeskryf word. Nuut-gegradueerde STT’e, in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks, het dikwels nie toegang tot ondersteuning en leiding van ervare klinici om hul vaardighede en bevoegdheid in die hantering van persone wat hakkel, te ontwikkel nie. Die doel van hierdie studie was om voorgraadse STTstudente se persepsies van hul eie bevoegdheid om persone wat hakkel te hanteer, te ondersoek en beskryf 1) direk na die voltooiing van hul teoretiese module en voor kliniese plasing, en 2) na blootstelling aan ‘n bykomende opleidingskomponent waar hulle waargeneem het hoe intervensieprosedures op ‘n gesimuleerde pasiënt toegepas word. Metodes: ‘n Beskrywende opnameontwerp, met pre- en post-intervensie-vraelyste is gebruik om die andragogiese benadering se impak op studente, voor en nadat hulle die bykomende opleidingsgeleentheid ontvang het, te evalueer. Resultate: Voor die intervensie het die meeste studente hulself nie as bevoegd geag om persone wat hakkel te evalueer of behandel nie. Na die intervensie is statisties beduidende veranderinge in die studente se self-ervare bevoegdheid vir die meeste aspekte verwant aan die evaluering en behandeling van mense wat hakkel, gerapporteer. Opsomming: Daar is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die studente hierdie tipe innoverende opleidingsmetodologie hoog op prys stel en dat dit ‘n nodige aanvulling tot studente se bestaande kliniese plasings is.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the effect of the increased use of a second language (L2) (English) as language of teaching and learning on the bilingual individual in a specific bilingual higher education context. The specific interest is in the development of conceptual fluency, and the role that bilingualism and the increased exposure to an L2 in a teaching and learning context plays in such development. In order to serve the interest of the study, the theoretical framework includes theories developed in language and cognition, bilingualism and cross-linguistic influence. The theoretical stance that is taken in this thesis is one that: recognises that bilingual individuals cannot be expected to exhibit the same kind of linguistic and conceptual knowledge as monolinguals, investigates the possibility that language can affect certain aspects of cognition, acknowledges that bilingual individuals themselves can contribute to the knowledge about the bilingual mind. The participants in the study are L1 speakers of Afrikaans who finished their secondary schooling in Afrikaans. At university they are increasingly exposed to more English as language of teaching and learning than in previous formal education. The effects of the increased use of English on conceptual fluency, academic achievement and self-perception of language proficiency were investigated. The study used university records, language tests and interviews to collect data. No concrete evidence could be found that English has a significantly positive or negative effect on 'conceptual fluency', academic achievement or self-perception of language proficiency. The study however provided valuable information about how bilinguals use the languages they have in their repertoires. The findings from the study suggest that increased exposure to an L2 leads to a unique form of language competence. This 'multi-competence' enables the participants in the study to use both languages in the understanding and learning of concepts in their respective fields of study. Thus this dissertation provides evidence that bilinguals can transfer knowledge and skills between the languages they know. Theories developed by Cook (1999, 2003) and Jarvis and Pavlenko (2008), that suggest transfer is bidirectional, is partly supported by the findings of the study. The study has various implications for the field of bilingualism in education. It illustrates how a multilingual context such as the one we have in South Africa complicates the use of certain methodologies and theoretical frameworks. This also means that models of bilingual education designed elsewhere cannot be implemented in the South African context without considered modification. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Hierdie studie het die effek van die toenemende gebruik van Engels (tweede taal) as medium van onderrig, op die tweetalige individu in 'n spesifieke tweetalige hoër onderwys konteks probeer peil. Die spesifieke belangstelling is in die ontwikkeling van konseptuele vlotheid en die rol wat tweetaligheid en die toenemende blootstelling aan 'n tweede taal (T2) in 'n onderrig en leer konteks speel in sodanige ontwikkeling. Om die belangstelling van die studie te dien, sluit die teoretiese raamwerk teorieë oor taal en kognitiewe vaardighede, tweetaligheid, en kruislinguistiese taal invloed in. Die teoretiese standpunt wat in die tesis geneem word, is een wat: erken dat tweetalige individue nie noodwendig dieselfde talige en konseptuele kennis as eentaliges vertoon nie, die moontlikheid ondersoek dat taal sekere aspekte van kognisie kan beïnvloed, en erken dat tweetalige individue kan bydra tot kennis oor die tweetalige denke. Die deelnemers aan die studie is eerstetaal sprekers van Afrikaans wat hulle sekondêre skoolloopbaan in Afrikaans voltooi het. In hulle universiteitsopleiding word hulle toenemend blootgestel aan meer Engels as taal van leer en onderrig as in hul vorige formele opleiding. Spesifiek is die effek van die gebruik van Engels op die Afrikaanse 'konsepsuele vlotheid', algehele akademiese prestasie en self-persepsie ondersoek. Die studie het universiteitsrekords, taaltoetse en onderhoude gebruik om data in te samel. Geen konkrete bewyse kon gevind word dat die gebruik van Engels, enige van die aspekte beduidend negatief of positief beïnvloed nie. Die studie het egter waardevolle inligting verskaf oor hoe tweetaliges die tale tot hul beskikking gebruik, en het ook bewyse gelewer dat toenemende blootstelling aan die tweede taal, 'n unieke vorm van taalvaardigheid tot gevolg het. Hierdie "multi-vaardigheid" het tot gevolg dat die deelnemers aan die studie toenemend beide tale gebruik in die leer en verstaan van konsepte in hul onderskeie studievelde. Die studie het ook ondersteuning gebied dat tweetaliges kennis en vaardighede kan oordra tussen die tale wat hulle ken. Teorieë wat deur Cook (1999, 2003) en Jarvis en Pavlenko (2008) ontwikkel is, wat voorstel dat oordrag bi-direksioneel is, word dus gedeeltelik ondersteun deur die studie. Die studie het verskeie implikasies vir die terrein van tweetaligheid in opvoedkunde. Dit illustreer hoe 'n veeltalige konteks soos ons dit in Suid-Afrika vind, die gebruik van sekere metodologieë en teoretiese raamwerke kompliseer. Dit beteken ook dat huidige modelle van tweetalige onderrig wat elders ontwikkel is nie sonder meer gebruik kan word in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks sonder om dit aan te pas nie.

Motivation has been widely studied in the field of second language learning as one of the most important predictors of linguistic proficiency. Initial studies suggested that socio-cultural factors such as attitudes toward the target group were strongly associated with a desire to learn and the effort expended in learning the target language. Though a second wave of studies emphasized more individual contributions to learner motivation, there has recently been a return to a more contextualized view of learning and the role that motivation plays within a given social context. The present study examines the specific socio-cultural context of the Southwestern U.S. in which Anglos, the dominant socio-linguistic group, have chosen to study Spanish, a minority language. Analyses address intensity of motivation, attitudes toward Spanish and Spanish speaking populations, and motivational orientations; this study also examines issues of social distance and discusses differences in perception regarding Spain and Mexico based on self-report questionnaires from the participants involved. Results indicate that Anglo learners of Spanish are moderately motivated to learn Spanish; though they responded quite positively on items related to desired fluency, participants do not seem necessarily willing to invest the time and effort required to achieve that fluency. Findings suggest that participants have somewhat neutral attitudes toward the Spanish language and Spanish speakers. Participants seem generally positive about the need for English speakers to understand and appreciate Hispanic culture; they are more reticent, however, on issues of language learning responsibilities. It also appears that participants have slightly more negative perceptions of Mexico than of Spain. In addition, results show that motivational intensity is moderately associated with attitudes, supporting many of the initial studies of motivation in language learning that found that more positive attitudes are associated with higher levels of motivation. Although many participants responded that they were only taking Spanish courses to fulfill the language requirement, they also seemed to recognize that there were other compelling reasons to study Spanish. Participants indicated that the usefulness of Spanish was the most important reason for studying the language and that a desire to have a more personal connection with the target group and culture was the least important reason. / text

The development of category knowledge is in part a function of one's experiences with the world. The types of errors produced during category generation tasks may reveal the boundaries of these experiences and the ways in which they are organized into lexical networks. Examining the errors made by bilingual children with and without language impairment (LI) and bilingual adults may help to distinguish the effects of ability versus experience on the development and organization of lexical-semantic categories. The purpose of this study was to examine the types of errors made by bilingual (Spanish-English) children with (n=37) and without (n=35) LI and bilingual adults (n=26) on category generation tasks in both their languages and at two category levels: taxonomic and slot-filler. Results revealed a main effect for level (taxonomic vs. slot-filler) and error type (semantic vs. other) and suggest that bilingual seven to nine-year-old children's and adults' proportions and types of errors produced on category generation tasks differ significantly based on ability (i.e., TD or LI) but not on experience (i.e., TD or Adults). / text

Drawing upon the writing literature and the task-based language teaching literature, the study examined two cognitive complexity dimensions of L2 writing tasks: rhetorical task varying in reasoning demand and topic familiarity varying in the amount of direct knowledge of topics. Four rhetorical tasks were studied: narrative, expository, expo-argumentative, and argumentative tasks. Three topic familiarity tasks were investigated: personal-familiar, impersonal-familiar, and impersonal-less familiar tasks. Specifically, the study looked into the effects of these two cognitive complexity dimensions on L2 writing quality scores, their effects on complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) of L2 production, and the predictive power of the CAF features on L2 writing scores for each task. Three hundred and seventy five Chinese university EFL students participated in the study, and each student wrote on one of the six writing tasks used to study the cognitive complexity dimensions. The essays were rated by trained raters using a holistic scale. Thirteen CAF measures were used, and the measures were all automated through computer tools. One-way ANOVA tests revealed that neither rhetorical task nor topic familiarity had an effect on the L2 writing scores. One-way MANOVA tests showed that neither rhetorical task nor topic familiarity had an effect on accuracy and fluency of the L2 writing, but that the argumentative essays were significantly more complex in global syntactic complexity features than the essays on the other rhetorical tasks, and the essays on the less familiar topic were significantly less complex in lexical features than the essays on the more familiar topics. All-possible subsets regression analyses revealed that the CAF features explained approximately half of the variance in the writing scores across the tasks and that writing fluency was the most important CAF predictor for five tasks. Lexical sophistication was however the most important CAF predictor for the argumentative task. The regression analyses further showed that the best regression models for the narrative task were distinct from the ones for the expository and argumentative types of tasks, and the best models for the personal-familiar task were distinct from the ones for the impersonal tasks.

The present study compared the effects of an errorless stimulus shaping procedure to an errorful fluency based procedure for teaching difficult letter sound discriminations using a counterbalanced multielement experimental design. For 2 participants, letters fsteai were taught using the errorless procedure and letters bpdvou were taught using the errorful procedure. For the other 2 participants the conditions were reversed. All participants had considerably fewer errors and fewer trials to criterion with the errorless than with the errorful procedure. Tests of retention and generalization indicate that the errorful procedure generalized and was retained at a higher frequency than the errorless procedure. For 3 participants preference for the errorless procedure over the errorful procedure was demonstrated; whereas, the fourth participant demonstrated preference for the errorful procedure.

The relative efficacy of training procedures emphasizing accuracy versus those which add a rate criterion is a topic of debate. The desired learning outcome is fluent responding, assessed by measures of retention, endurance, stability, and application. The current study examined the effects of these two procedures on fluency outcomes using a matching-to-sample paradigm to train participants to match English to Japanese characters. An explicit FR-3 observing response was added to an accuracy-only condition to assess the extent to which it may facilitate learning. Total time spent responding in practice drills in accuracy-only conditions was yoked to total time spent in drills achieving rate aims in accuracy+rate (AR) conditions. One participant clearly demonstrated superior fluency outcomes after AR training while another displayed superior endurance and stability outcomes after such training. The remaining two participants did not demonstrate significantly different fluency outcomes across conditions.