The study aims at investigating the problems that learners of English as a foreign language in three secondary schools in Tripoli, Libya, have in developing English reading skills. The study is conducted within a conceptual framework for the study of reading and the development of reading skills, developed on the basis of a literature study. Information was obtained by requesting 60 Grade 11 learners in the three selected schools to complete an English comprehension test (to determine their ability to interpret a written text), by observing teachers teaching English reading in these schools, by conducting interviews with the learners and by interviewing selected lecturers at a Teachers' Training College in Tripoli. The information obtained in this way was analysed and interpreted in order to answer the following questions: <ul><li> What problems do learners in Libyan secondary schools experience with reading in EFL? </li> <li> What are the main causes of these problems? </li> <li> Do the curricula for EFL reading and the didactic approaches of educators contribute to the problem? </li> <li> What are the possible ways to resolve these problems? </ul> </li><ul>Findings include: <li>EFL learners in Tripoli cannot recognise sentences and paragraphs. </li> <li>They have restricted vocabulary knowledge. </li> <li>They are not able to extract correct information from texts. They cannot understand both implied and explicitly stated information. </li> <li>They do not understand figurative language. </li> <li>They cannot express the technical relations between parts of texts through the use of cohesive devices. </li> <li>They cannot determine or identify the main idea of texts. </li></ul> The reasons for these problems are that the learners do not have a structured knowledge of the English language, their English reading skills are underdeveloped and non-appropriate didactic approaches are used by educators in EFL classrooms. Possible ways to resolve these problems are that EFL learners must acquire better proficiency in English, their English reading skills must be developed properly, and educators in EFL learners' classrooms must use more appropriate didactic approaches to enable EFL learners to acquire proficiency in English and to develop their reading skills, by following the steps prescribed in the EFL reading curriculum. The curriculum that is used in the Teachers' Training College must be implemented more effectively in teacher training programmes, and lecturers must ensure that teacher trainees have a proper understanding of the curriculum of EFL reading skills when they graduate. / Dissertation (MA(Applied Language Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Afrikaans / unrestricted

This study, which was carried out in Mdantsane township in the Eastern Cape, attempts to explain why some learners from the former Department of Education and Training, and whose mother-tongue is Xhosa, are more proficient English Second Language (ESL) writers than others. As one who grew up as an ESL learner, and has taught as an ESL teacher in this area, my interest in this field of study has been triggered by the concern of one who has experienced educational disadvantage. My understanding of what it means to be an ESL writer, given the status that English enjoys in South Africa presently, has been the motivating force behind this study. The study focuses on competent ESL writers. It is hoped that other researchers, teacher educators and teachers will learn something from the practices and strategies used by the learners in this study. In its investigation this study employs case studies. For purposes of triangulation, multiple sources of data collection have been used. The major areas of focus are on the learners and their ESL writing practices. Collection of data includes formal interviews with both ESL learners and their teachers, informal interviews with the learners' Xhosa teachers, observation as well as text analysis. The findings of the study suggest, among other things, that more often than not, it is learners who are motivated extroverts, ambitious go-getters and uninhibited survivors who become excellent ESL writers. Like any study, this has certain limitations. As a result the interpretation of data has been expressed in tentative terms. This does not mean that there is nothing to be gained from a study of this nature. Instead, the aim is to challenge more researchers to take up this issue, so that generalis ability across case studies can be achieved.

This research study seeks to explore and understand the way a Form C (the third year of high school) teacher asks questions in an English second language (ESL) classroom in a high school in Lesotho. As this is a small-scale study on a teacher’s questions in a familiar setting, an ethnographic stance was adopted. The researcher adopted the role of non-participant observer, recorded three different lesson types and took observational notes. She transcribed the lessons and used the transcription to interview both the teacher and the students. The interviews were recorded and transcribed by the researcher. She then analysed the classroom and interview data and invited the teacher to respond to the analysis she had made. The interview was also recorded and transcribed. The findings indicated that the teacher asked most questions in the three lesson types. He asked mainly lower order question. However, the nature of the questions varied according to the intentions of the teacher, even when the lesson type was the same. Although it is difficult to generalize from a small-scale study like this one, it is believed that this study has been beneficial in raising awareness about the nature and role of questions in classroom interaction, and also in raising awareness of the teacher. Consciousness raising may be essential to educators and researchers. Moreover, this research may enable educators to theorize their practice. This research demonstrates the need for teacher development. It argues that knowledge should be linked with the skills. Therefore, it proposes the need for teacher education to include an explicit focus on questioning since questions are an integral part of teaching and learning. It further proposes the need for teachers to plan their questions carefully as good questioning strategies may facilitate learning. To my knowledge, existing research on teachers’ questions has not linked the cognitive, linguistic and pedagogic functions of teachers’ questions. This study draws from literature on these three areas while acknowledging the importance of taking into account contextual issues in analysing teachers’ questions. It therefore concludes that, content, curriculum, and the teacher’s intentions and his/her ideologies cannot be ignored in the study of a teacher’s questions.

Curriculum 2005 and outcomes-based education was introduced to South African educators in 1996 by the Minister of Education, Prof. S.M.E. Bengu as an alternative to the racially divided education system prior to the first democratic elections of 1995. The new curriculum was designed to transform the education system into a more equitable system by focussing on creating learners who would become creative thinkers, independent, productive workers and responsible, non-racial citizens. Learners would take a greater role in their own education and teachers would take on new roles as facilitators in the learning process. The new approach was introduced into grade 1 in 1998 and grade 2 in 1999. By using a modified ethnographic approach, this research project studies how one teacher has begun to think about Curriculum 2005 and implement an OBE approach to ESL teaching in a grade 2 classroom. It also focuses on gaining insights into how the teacher has attempted to make sense of the new curriculum in terms of her current practice and the training she has received in OBE. The ethnographic approach of the thesis has allowed the researcher to draw on many forms of data providing a holistic view. Tentative findings show that the teacher is experiencing difficulty in “unpacking” the underlying principles of OBE in terms of her current methods of teaching ESL. She continues to work from tacit knowledge. Because she has received very little training in OBE, she lacks the tools to become a more reflective practitioner. Despite this, her ESL lessons show a positive communicative approach to language teaching by focusing on stories, rhymes and songs as comprehensible input for the learners. The findings of this thesis tentatively suggest that unless teachers are given more adequate training and learning support materials, their classroom practices will remain relatively unchanged.

Research suggests numerous views to account for the influence on practice of teachers’ beliefs. One view states that teachers’ lived experiences shape their beliefs about practice. Another view attributes the influence to school experiences. This research sets out to gain insight into teachers’ beliefs on the role of extensive reading in second language learning. A case study of 9 teachers from 3 schools in Grahamstown, South Africa selected purposefully and conveniently was utilised. The teachers were viewed to be knowledgeable on this matter by virtue of their profession while the 3 schools were selected to represent a private school, a former Model C and former Department of Education and Training (DET) school. Data was mainly collected by means of semi-structured interviews, which utilised in-depth open-ended questions to yield teachers’ past experiences. The findings revealed the following: all the teachers appeared to believe that extensive reading was invaluable and enhanced language skills. However, white and black teachers differed in terms of their early experiences of reading. Whereas for white teachers early experiences with literacy were encountered in the home, for black teachers the school was where they had their first exposure to literacy. In addition formal training in the form of an ACE (Advanced Certificate in Education) seemed to have influenced black teachers’ beliefs about the subject at hand, whereas the role of teacher education/ training was not as significant for white teachers.

Adult learners face many difficulties in their learning programmes, particularly due to the fact that having mastered literacy in their mother tongues, they move on to further educational programmes which are mostly produced in English. In contemporary society, people need to be adept in a number of literacies, termed multiliteracies. Adult learners are rarely taught visual competence as visual images are relegated to illustrations for written texts, and attention is mainly focussed on the all-important written word. Adult basic education learners need to be able to interpret pictures in books, newspapers and magazines, just as much as they need to be able to read and write. It is the premise of this research that visual literacy enhances thinking skills and that adult learners need to be actively taught how to interpret visual images in order to more ably deal with the written word, the more 'important' part of literacy. The goals of this research are to develop understanding of the processes which go into understanding images and text, and to examine how pictures can be used to help adult learners develop proficiency in English. Another goal is to teach learners the basics of visual literacy so as to improve their comprehension of the plethora of images surrounding them. The research findings could help to inform adult educators facing the current crisis in Adult Basic Education and Training in South Africa, focusing on a little-studied aspect of literacy, visual literacy, one of the critical outcomes in the new South African curriculum for Adult Education and one of the multiliteracies required by citizens of today's world.

The purpose of this research project was to explore the English communicative competency of management and supervisory level employees within the South Mrican hospitality industry. The Pro lit English Written Assessment, a competency-based assessment tool, was used to establish a relatively objective measure of the English communicative competency of nineteen managers and supervisors. Thereafter thirteen of these respondents were interviewed to determine their perceptions of their English communicative competency and the impact thereof on their work situation, as well as their perceptions of their learning needs and recommendations for intervention. The researcher selected a multi-method approach to the investigation and sought both quantitative and qualitative data. The assessment revealed that the English reading and writing ability of the respondents is distinctly lower than their recorded education level and inadequate in relation to the tasks they are expected to perform at work. The interviews indicated that the respondents are not aware of their lack of English communicative competency or the implications thereof. However, the respondents expressed important insights into the factors that should be taken into account when planning an educational intervention III an organization. These included the need to incorporate English second language learning principles, to treat the learner as an individual, to involve the learner in the decision-making process, to consider the practical concerns of the learner and to ensure that the programme content is appropriate. Recommendations for human resource practices and research in the hospitality industry are presented.

This research addressed two major questions: (1) what effect does instruction in writing heuristics have on the expository writing of E.S.L. students? (2) is one writing heuristic better than another? In an experiment involving 116 twelfth-graders in eight classes, the subjects were randomly assigned within classes to one of three groups. Each of the three groups received ten hours of instruction: two groups in writing heuristics, and a third group which served as an experimental control received instruction in grammar. The study was a pretest/posttest design where essays were administered as the tests. The students' essays were scored for quantity (number of words) and quality. Scores were analyzed in a repeated measures design. The results revealed that there were no significant differences between the three groups on either the quantitative or qualitative measures. Although a review of the literature indicated support for the use of writing heuristics with E.S.L. students, the experimental evidence in this study does not substantiate this view. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Recent research in second language acquisition makes a strong argument for the importance of promoting language learning tasks in the classroom which allow students to engage in authentic information exchange for which the main focus is meaning. The current emphasis on language learning through meaningful use has highlighted the role of negotiation of comprehensible input in second language learning. This has led to a psychololinguistic rationale for advocating group work in the classroom. Discussion on a topical issue provides a specific and natural group work task for ESL learners to use language in a problem-solving and decision-making context. As well, this type of task provides a productive context in which to study the processes of effective language use and the strategies of competent language users. The research reported here is exploratory; this document reports on a case-study of eight adult learners enrolled in an English for Academic Purposes discussion course. Their performance in discussion leadership was ranked globally by instructor and class peers using a leadership criteria checklist. These two subjective rankings correlated highly and were used as a central indicator of leader effectiveness. The study investigated the question: how might we better understand a number of variables which relate to these global rankings? This was explored through objective measures of discourse, self-reported learning strategies, an integration index and a learning style preference measure, which were analysed statistically for correlation. Discourse variables were measured on data collected during the group discussions. Strategy use, integrative motivation and learning style flexibility were determined by analysing what the students reported in a semi-structured interview. Results showed that the global ranking correlated positively with the objective discourse measures and learning style flexibility, but not with learning strategy use nor with integrative motivation. Qualitative examination of two high achievers was conducted. These two detailed cases reinforced some aspects of quantitative findings, but also shed light on possible individual differences between high achievers. The findings from both quantitative and qualitative data are reported together with their implications for future work in this area. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Assessing English-as-a-second-language (ESL) children in their native and second languages (L1 & L2) is likely to result in a better estimate of their academic potential than in the L2 alone. In the present study, the Hong Kong-Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (HK-WISC), the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SB: FE), and the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery (WLPB) were administered to 32 Cantonese-speaking children from Hong Kong. The mean age of these children was 11.01 years. Their mean age on arrival (A0A) was 9.27 years, while their mean length of residence (L0R) was 1.74 years. Results of the multiple regression analyses and analysis of variance indicated that AOA and LOR are significant predictive variables for ESL immigrant's verbal performance. In addition, variables such as family socioeconomic status, frequency of speaking Cantonese at home, gender, and having studied English before are also useful to make predictions of these children's performance. The present sample had a high nonverbal and low verbal profile of performance on the English IQ measure. However, this profile of performance was not present on the Chinese IQ measure. These findings add to the cumulative data that Orientals have a characteristic intellectual profile. Finally, this study suggests that, if feasible, immigrant children should be assessed in both LI and L2. Standardized tests can be used to assess ESL immigrant children, even in their first few years of arrival to a new country. The results of the assessment should be kept as a record so that comparisons can be made with future assessment results. However, all these results need to be interpreted with extreme caution because inappropriate labelling and misplacement of these children are unacceptable. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate