Thesis (M.ED.) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / This study was intended to investigate how teacher discourse moves influence comprehensibility of language content by the English First Additional Language (EFAL) learner and promote active participation by the learner in classroom interaction. The research is a Case Study which was conducted at a primary school in the Greater Sekhukhune District in Limpopo Province The Qualitative research approach was applied in the Case Study since the research is concerned with experience as it is lived ‘or felt’ or ‘undergone’ by participants. the key concern of this research is understanding the phenomenon of interest, from the participants’ perspectives, not the researcher’s. The situation in most Black schools is that first of all, teachers who teach English First Additional Language (EFAL) are not first speakers of English themselves. Secondly, learners have a problem of acquiring information through English as an additional language hence the question of comprehensibility of English language content. Teachers and especially learners are de-motivated as they lose interest in what goes on in Englishclassroom interaction due to the comprehensibility of English First Additional Language content As participant observer the researcher in this study concludes that the use of discourse moves by the teacher in classroom interaction enables the learner to comprehend the language content. Also that the teacher’s code-switching and code-mixing into the learners’ home language develops not only comprehensibility of EFAL language content but most of all promotes active learner participation in classroom interaction. This in turn helps the teacher to achieve the desired learning outcomes.

Abstract not available

Abstract not available

In Australian schools in the late nineties approximately one quarter of all students are from a language background other than English. Although many of these students are fluent in English in informal conversational contexts, there is evidence that such students are not always able to control the more academic registers of English associated with school learning and literacy. A major challenge for teachers is therefore to integrate subject learning with English language learning, and to find ways to support the language development of students concurrent with the construction of curriculum knowledge. This study addresses that challenge. Drawing on data from two classrooms of nine and ten year olds in the curriculum area of science, the study explores how the discourse of the classroom can be enabling of language development. It does not attempt to make claims about what might be common to all classrooms, but rather points to those practices which are shown to be supportive of second language learning. The aim therefore is not to suggest what is common to all classroom discourse but what its potential can be for second language development. The study takes as a basic principle the notion that language development interacts dynamically with the socio-cultural context in which it occurs, and cannot be fully understood without taking account of this context. Although the analysis draws on systemic functional linguistics it does not purport to be a study 'in' linguistics, but rather, through a theorisation of practice, seeks to contribute to a theorisation of second language pedagogy in the mainstream classroom. To this end, the analysis is also informed by a neo-Vygotskian approach to learning and teaching, by second language acquisition (SLA) research, and by critically conceived notions of minority education. A number of conclusions are drawn from the study. First, it shows how, through a process of recontextualisation of student talk, the teachers jointly construct with the students aspects of the science register. It concludes that when teachers encourage the dialogic function of discourse to develop, (that is, when knowledge is seen as co-constructed between teacher and learners, rather than transmitted from teacher to learners), this also leads to the kind of teacher-student talk which is most enabling of second language development. The study demonstrates that even apparently minor changes in interactional patterns can have quite major effects on the progress of the discourse as a whole, and can make the difference between discourse which is likely to constrain or facilitate language development and learning. The thesis also shows how the discourse incorporates a range of interactional patterns, each of which tend to be used for distinct pedagogical purposes, and thus how the role of the teachers correspondingly changes at different phases of the teaching and learning cycle. The study concludes that a reconceptualisation of pedagogy is required which foregrounds the relationship between teaching and learning and the nature of teacher mediation in the teaching and learning process. The study identifies other significant factors for language development in the classrooms examined: the language knowledge of the teachers, the explicitness of the discourse, (including explicitness about language and about the social aspects of participating in the class), the sequence of teaching and learning activities, and the importance of the intertextual links, the 'dynamic' context, which were the result of this sequence. Finally, the study points to the value of approaching SLA research and pedagogy with a model of language which goes beyond a description of its phonology, morphology and syntax, one which allows for the study of discourse and for the study of language development in terms of socio-linguistic competence, and for the value of a socio-cultural and classroom-based approach to research into second language learning and pedagogy.

Research into how learners acquire second language has established that there are developmental stages but has not established the nature of variation within these stages. On the basis of a longitudinal study of the speech of six learners acquiring English as a Second Language (ESL), this thesis investigates the proposals which have been made about variation in stages within the paradigm established by the Multidimensional Model (MDM). Of particular interest is the variational option hypothesis in Processability Theory (PT), the theoretical framework of this thesis. The findings indicate that these variational options and the variational features are not satisfactory in three main respects. They are based on a theoretical construct which makes problematic assumptions about the learner’s knowledge of the second language, they do not reliably predict variation and they exclude important aspects of variation. This thesis proposes a new approach termed ‘developmental style’ which suggests that learner orientation at each stage can be defined in terms of a learner’s lexical or grammatical orientation. The findings demonstrate support for the developmental hypothesis and show that learners are consistent in their particular developmental style at the different stages investigated. The results indicate that learners vary in terms of their general grammatical development at any stage. This study also finds that language background, gender and task are variables which need to be controlled (informally) in order to demonstrate developmental styles. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The problematic areas of the teaching of Korean as a foreign language have been largely neglected in the past. Few studies combine the following three aspects: 1) an examination of learner Korean; 2) the provision of substantial linguistic and pedagogical explanations; and 3) the devising of teaching or learning strategies based on empirical evidence. By studying KFL learners and their language production, insights can be gained relating to the learning of KFL and instructors will be able to provide appropriate corrective measures. This study investigated errors produced by KFL learners, focusing primarily on high frequency orthographic, lexical and grammatical errors in written language production. The study attempts to identify key areas of difficulty in learning Korean, to investigate the possible cause of difficulties and to provide more adequate information for the teaching and learning of KFL. To this end the study uses two classes of textual data and employs both statistical and descriptive analyses. At an orthographic level the study has identified four main error categories: 1) mismatch in three series consonants, 2) mismatch in vowel sounds, 3) misuse of nasals and laterals, and 4) omission and addition of ???h???. Overall the cause of key error types correlates strongly with the differences in sound quality and sound patterns between Korean and English, with some intralingual features. At a lexical level, the study found nine types of errors including 1) semantic similarity, 2) lexical misselection and 3) overgeneralization. The findings suggest that learners have a great deal of difficulty in differentiating lexical items with similar meaning and in selecting words appropriate to particular contexts or situations. As for grammatical errors, the study identified the five most active error categories, which made up more than 80% of the total grammatical errors. An overwhelming majority of grammatical errors and case particle errors in particular were errors of substitution. Many high frequency grammatical errors had distinctive triggering factors such as particular types of verb and sentence construction. The findings of the study have several pedagogical implications. First, there are key common errors for English L1-KFL learners and these common errors need increased linguistic and pedagogical attention. Secondly, the results reinforce the need to pay more active attention to the usage of the main case particles, along with the triggering constructions causing substitutions. Thirdly, the findings suggest that different types of analysis should be done in order to facilitate a plausible description of the problematic KFL items. The study argues that despite being problematic, the items discussed in this thesis are learnable and worthy of being taught with explicit or intentional strategies and that there is a need for pedagogically effective and adequate instructional input to maximize the potential of the learner???s language development in Korean.

The study reported in this thesis is a single-shot case study, which aims to provide a detailed description ofthe reading comprehension strategies used by fifteen student teachers ofEnglish from Indonesian- and Javanese-speaking backgrounds in the last year of their four-year Strata-One study at a university In Yogyakarta, Indonesia. These readers were above average among their peers in that their average indexes of grades in Reading and Speaking classes were 3.22 and 3,34 respectively, while the average indexes ofthe peer group were 271 and 2.63, respectively, out ofa scale of 0 to 400. In addition, while students in this university may complete their study by course work or by research, these readers were all enrolled as research students. As studying comprehension strategies involves complex issues, a multi-method approach is required, not only for breadth of coverage, but also to allow for a check on the validity of individual methods. To achieve the goal of the study, thinka1oud tasks, retellings, a reading comprehensIon test, indepth interviews and observations were employed to explore the strategies used. An analysis of the recorded data indicates that these readers used thirty strategies classified under five clusters: infomiation gathering, information processing, text interpretation, comprehension monitoring, and comprehension utilisation. In general, readers started gathering information by silent reading, interpreted the text by an inference or a paraphrase, and ended the task by making selfreflections relevant to the text. Most readers managed to identify problems when they occurred, and monitored their comprehension when they doubted their interpretation, as could be seen from their rereading the text or vocalising its pail(s). When direct interpretation was difficult, readers associated the text with prior knowledge or interrelated parts of the text, The readers in this study share characteristics of both poor and good native readers, in the sense that there was evidence ofgood strategy use butthe readers did not manage to maintain it consistently. As a result, even the successful readers were not able to maximise their potential. The implication is that in order to develop students into independent readers, strategy instruction should be part of and appropriately embedded in, the reading instruction. There is a need not merely to teach strategies as such, but rather to teach flexibility in strategy use. While there was sufficient evidence that thinkaloud tasks and their complementary methods worked to achieve the goals ofthe present study, similar studies with different cohorts are suggested for crosschecks.

No research to date has involved ESL students as researchers in investigations of community language practices. This study examined the research processes of 23 international college students in an advanced ESL course. The students worked on an original curriculum, the Language Research Project, through which they performed ethnographic and discourse analytic tasks and engaged in collaborative action research. As the students uncovered the tacit rules that regulate communicative practices in the university community, they sought to improve their own performance in academic interactions. The teacher-researcher simultaneously observed and analyzed students' perspectives, seeking to improve her teaching practice. An analysis of the classroom dialogues showed that intertextual links made by the teacher and the students served to build a system of scaffolds for the group. These intertextual links acted as cognitive and affective support for reflection and evaluation of ideas. The students' comments to each other resembled comments made by the teacher, which indicates that they appropriated the teacher's expert role. Thus, this study reveals that learners of similar levels can offer each other expert assistance in the completion of tasks. The students developed a high level of metacognition. Their reflections uncovered serious conflicts between themselves and native English speakers. They observed that they performed better in social settings. Conversely, they felt awkward in academic settings when interacting with domestic classmates and professors, who were often unsupportive and unwilling to engage in communication. This denial of access by Americans resulted in feelings of inadequacy and inferiority for the students. Nevertheless, some students rejected and transformed certain dominant practices of the community. By adopting the identity of researchers, the students were empowered to engage in their own realities from a position of strength and to assert their individual needs. These findings demonstrate that the students developed a sense of critical language awareness. This dissertation portrays an emerging Vygotskian sociocultural perspective on second language acquisition research. The findings support social constructivist teaching approaches that incorporate students' lived experiences. Finally, this study reveals an urgent need to sensitize faculty and students in higher education in the United States about the experiences of language-minority students. / Graduation date: 2003

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