This study was designed to gather the meaning-perspectives and interpretations teachers gave to their language teaching practice using their voice and the voice of learners. The complex and paradoxical language situation in Creole-speaking communities like Belize has been well documented by researchers and linguists including Craig (1978), Roberts (1994), Robertson (1997), and Young (1995). There are a number of education reports on the English language teaching situation at the primary school level in Belize; however, very little attention has been given to English language teaching at the secondary level. In this study, the teachers' practice was examined using Clandinin's (1985), Elbaz's (1983), and Jarvis's (1999) definitions of teachers' knowledge. Nespor's (1987), Pajares' (1992) and Richards and Lockhart's (1996) articles and research on teachers' beliefs served as theoretical support on the role and importance of beliefs in teachers' practice. The language teaching strategies offered by Kumaravadivelu (1994), and those recommended for bidialectal communities by Corson (1997), Craig (1978), Robertson (1995), Rubinstein (1977), Sato (1989), and Young (1995) were used to compare the strategies found in the data.Two secondary school teachers and two students participated in the study. Data were gathered using short teacher questionnaires, teachers' lesson plans, pre-observation and follow-up interviews with teachers, audio-taped and video-taped class observations, stimulated recall sessions with teachers and students, and the researcher's field notes and reflective journal. The analysis of data produced four themes: (a) teachers' English language practice, (b) teachers' knowledge about their practice, (c) teachers' pedagogical beliefs, and (d) the learners' voice: the other perspective.The study's findings suggest that the teachers' personal, practical, and situated knowledge resides in their practice. A practice informed by their pedagogical beliefs, and reflected in the choice of English language teaching strategies developed from a complex fusion of pedagogical beliefs, learner needs, and the sociolinguistic context. The findings did not support the view that English language teachers are ill-prepared for the bidialectal situations in Creole communities, nor were the teachers poor models of English. This study will contribute to the understanding of English language teaching in Belize's secondary schools. / Department of Educational Studies

Since English is increasingly being taught worldwide, questions about the importance of teaching context continue to grow. But studies of EFL (English as a foreign language) educational systems in various contexts are rare. This holistic study was intended to describe and analyze one European setting where English is taught as a foreign language, to uncover the underlying assumptions and needs that drive EFL education, to hear teacher and student voices about the confidence they have in the system, and to identify factors in the layers of context that make this system unique.The study relies mainly on qualitative methods, but uses also some quantitative data to support and/or refute information obtained through qualitative research methods. The ethnographic field work was conducted on location in Finland from January to December of 1992.The findings indicate that the Finnish EFL education system is unique because of various social, political, and linguistic factors that are characteristic of the nation itself. Several factors contribute to the effectiveness of the system, such as highly qualified instructors, excellent instructional materials, and up-to-date teaching methods. More importantly, however, it is Finland's commitment to quality foreign language education that seems to be decisively instrumental in achieving the expected results. Thus, the nation as a whole invests in the development and research of foreign language education. It appears that the key to the relative success of the English education system in Finland involves just the right combination of interrelated factors and level of confidence found at every layer of the context.Since most EFL systems consist of the same universal elements' (teachers, students, materials, methods, etc.), the study proposes an EFL Contextual System Model, which is applicable to other settings. The Model can be used to analyze and interpret the parts and interrelationships of EFL systems in various educational contexts.By learning about the EFL context in Finland, the worldwide TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) community can gain a better understanding of the importance and function of the broader teaching/learning context itself and draw parallels between EFL educational systems in various nations. / Department of English

This thesis is a curriculum development program. It suggests the introduction of English as a Foreign Language at the elementary school level in Greece for ages ten to twelve and it gives the rationale for such a program and why for the ages suggested. The program suggests introductionof the language aurally at first without speaking, then speaking followed by reading and writing. It deals with teacher training policies, recent developments in language learning and acquisition, syllabus design trends, methods of language teaching, testing and evaluation. It also suggests procedures of teaching the various skills. The program deals with some pronunciation and grammar problems the Greek learners may have and ways to overcome them. Finally, it gives the structures and vocabulary of the program and the rationale of sequencing and selecting them.

Based upon a study of a ten-county area of north central Indiana, this paper attempts to report the national origins of the residents, and more specifically those people whose native language is other than English. The paper describes all the English-language programs offered to those people whose English is deficient. The ten counties surveyed include Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Grant, Howard, Madison, Miami, Tippecanoe, Tipton, and Wabash, For each county census figures from the 1980 census are given. In Howard County a more in-depth study was made of nationality or language groups to find where the people are employed, what they do, and language problems encountered.

Communicative language teaching (CLT) has been extensively discussed and researched, especially in an English as a second language (ESL) context. Some literature has also explored the adaptation of CLT in English as a foreign language (EFL) environments, such as in Asian countries like China. No research, however, has been conducted with consideration given to a specific group of teachers who teach non-English major students at the tertiary level in China. The present study was designed to investigate Chinese university teachers' perception of the implementation of CLT in non-English major programs in China. / This study first differentiates ESL and EFL environments, and then distinguishes the characteristics of CLT and of the traditional Chinese teaching methodology. Second, this study examines how the implementation of CLT is perceived by the university teachers of non-English major programs and whether there exist some constraints that impede the implementation of CLT at the tertiary level in China. / The results show that the adaptation of CLT to the Chinese context is welcomed by university teachers of non-English major programs. However, in the implementation of CLT in the teaching of non-English major students, there are difficulties arising from four directions, namely, the educational system, the EFL context, the cultural tradition, and the students. The results suggest that only by overcoming the difficulties from those four sources and by creating more favorable conditions for the implementation of CLT can teachers of non-English major programs in China implement CLT in their daily teaching practice.

No description available.

To evaluate what is actually happening within a High School subject curriculum, the annual parade of marks, percentages and symbol distributions is not by itself adequate, especially in assessing progress towards such English syllabus goals as: That pupils expand their experience of life, gain empathetic understanding of people and develop moral awareness. (3.1. 4 HG) How too, from examination results alone, can a subject head of English assess the success of his objective "to woo his pupils into the reading habit"? (School 1: Goals 1988) Decisions on English department policy and procedures are frequently based on personal hunches and examination results. Few subject departments engage in proper evaluations of their curricula to support decisions made, or to impart meaning upon the countless daily transactions between child and adult, individual and institution in the learning process. This study demonstrates the efficacy of "illuminative evaluation" techniques in opening out an educational innovation (1986 First Language English syllabi of the Cape Education Department) at two High Schools for comment and appraisal. The array of information gathered should be useful in planning and implementing further curricula initiatives. The inherent flexibility of illuminative evaluation procedures and their freedom from large-scale data base requirements needed for 'scientific' models of evaluation are advantageous in investigating the untidy complexities of English teaching. Both 'closed' and 'open' response questionnaires, interviews, and perusal of relevant documents informed the researcher of the views of pupils, parents, English teachers, other subject heads, the two school principals and the education authorities on what waS and ought to be happening in English classes. From the considerable array of information generated, the distress of conscientious English teachers facing unreasonable work-loads emerged clearly. Such teachers are likely to occupy key roles in the non-racial state schools of the future and cannot be regarded as expendable. 'Open schools' present new challenges to existing curricula and the position of English may prove to be critical. Thus it is submitted that English subject heads should be concerned with evaluating their departments so that informed decisions can be taken on future directions. Illuminative evaluation is demonstrably useful in such analyses.

D.Litt. et Phil. / This study proposes that there has been and will be a need for Afrikaans Foreign Language (Third Language) as a subject in South African schools. Multilingual proposals and models for school education advocate the inclusion of three language subjects. It can be argued that a logical choice would be an African language, English and Afrikaans. The study is done from different perspectives: Following a general introduction, a broad, conceptual framework for language planning lays the basis for the study. A comparative analysis is made where a parallel is drawn between language planning in general and education in South Africa and other post-colonial countries. The analysis concludes that past practices continue to influence current policies and planning. The history of language planning in South Africa, with specific reference to Afrikaans, is traced from 1652 to the present. It becomes apparent that the linguisistic practices which were followed in the past directly influence current planning. An analysis is made of the position of Afrikaans and other languages in South Africa using empirical data obtained from the SABC, HSRC, AMPS and the Department of Education. It is noted that no extensive language study has been done since the change in government in 1994 and that the current position is therefore difficult to determine. Current proposals and models for language policy in education are discussed in detail. It becomes apparent that the multilingual nature of our society will have to be reflected in a language policy for education and that three language subjects should be promoted and may, in time, become the norm. The very specific problems of Foreign Language Teaching is addressed in the penultimate chapter. It is acknowledged that there are differences between Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Learning and that these differences call for other strategies in teaching. It is proposed in the study that recent democratic planning has leveled the playing fields in education. Every child's basic linguistic rights are acknowledged and guaranteed. Although Afrikaans and English have lost their privileged position, they can be promoted by cultural organisations or institutions. Finally it is suggested that language is a commodity, analogous to other marketable products.

Canada has two official languages: French and English. Each province must allow for an educational program in both languages where the number of students warrant such programs. Although minority language schools exist in all Canadian provinces, some provinces are so overwhelmingly English that the Francophone school programs struggle constantly to survive and threaten to become extinct. Yet a vigilant group of parents and partisans work incessantly to maintain these minority language school programs. This thesis will examine why these schools exist in British Columbia and whether or not they can promote the Francophone minority language and culture in the overwhelming Anglophone environment. Bilingual Canadian wonder that more Canadians are not bilingual. Some Canadians are dedicated to educating their children in their official minority language while others do not understand why Canada is officially bilingual. Yet, to take the example of just one province, British Columbia is and remains an Anglophone province. A Francophone parent would, I shall argue, be doing her child a great disservice to insist on schooling in Francophone minority programs. Family is only part of a child's world. The media, friends, neighbors, the stores, the community centers and the people that surround us make up our language and culture. In British Columbia, the language is English and the cultures are as diverse as the people who are part of them. The purpose of this study is to investigate and present an historical, religious, political and economic analysis of the reasoning behind the existence of Francophone minority language schools and programs in British Columbia, and to evaluate whether or not it is possible for these programs and schools to fulfill their mandate. My initial sentiments were biased in favor of Francophone minority programs and though I still believe that official minorities have an unquestionable constitutional right to their schools and to the administration of these schools, I no longer believe that these schools and programs alone can provide a rich ethnic sanctuary that could permit the minority language and culture to flourish. In fact, I no longer believe that it is in the student's best interest to attend these schools and programs. The students can only be crippled by their lack of knowledge of English and by their limited exposure to the Francophone world. I visited two of the three homogeneous Francophone schools and four Programme cadre programs in the mainstream Anglophone and French immersion schools in BC. I interviewed and videotaped students, parents, teachers, language education experts and attended conferences and meetings, examined pertinent historical, political, legal and pedagogical data, and concluded (not surprisingly) that language and culture are expressions of our everyday lives. My research strategy thus combined elements of historical, legal, sociological, and socio-linguistic method, relying both on direct observation and reference, and on considerable secondary literature. I conclude that one can teach the French language, but unless it is expressed and alive as part of our world, it is but a code with limited value. One cannot teach the Francophone culture. One either lives it (or a limited part of it) in a setting that must exclude the majority, thereby confining the world around and restricting opportunity, or one quickly becomes assimilated. Providing community schools where minority language is strictly enforced and reinforced at home is only the beginning. To date these ethnocentric shelters are not available in British Columbia. Perhaps the recently acquired right to administer some of the Francophone programs by the Francophone minority will empower the Francophone minority in B.C. and provide higher academic standards, a more attractive image of the minority language and culture and force the Francophone community to assume a sense of identity and belonging. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

Some second language learners are more successful than others. Students in the University of British Columbia/Ritsumeikan Joint Academic Exchange Programme, a sheltered English-as-a-second-language (ESL) immersion program, have in the past exhibited varying degrees of gain in English proficiency in their writing, reading, speech, and academic achievement during their stay in Vancouver. The explanation of why some learners become proficient in a second language may lie in our understanding the interactions of such individual attributes as the learner's age, language aptitudes, autonomy and motivation, attitudes, personality, cognitive style, learning strategies, background in language and knowledge of other languages. In this study the gain in English proficiency of all the students in the program was examined first and then the gain of two different groups of students who were categorized and "low" and "high" on the basis of their entry level scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The standardized tests used in this program were supplemented with two additional tests to measure gain in proficiency. A language experience questionnaire was given to all students and interviews of selected students from each group were conducted. The results of the standardized tests were analyzed and a significant difference in the gain of English proficiency between these two groups was found. An evaluation of the individual language learning histories and the interview data was conducted to further understand the language proficiency gains found from the psychometric measures. Implications for instruction and further research were reached. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate