published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

Social reform in the 1960's initiated growth in two seemingly separate educational movements in response to dissatisfaction with the traditional positivistic education system. These two movements, writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC) and homeschooling, share pedagogy and methodology based upon social epistemology, and they share two teaching techniques stemming from this methodology: collaboration and writing. While homeschooling was the successful method of education for centuries, the last two centuries have seen an evolution through the one-room schoolhouse to present day positivistic educational institutions. Language-centered teaching techniques have existed as long, beginning with such educators as Isocrates and continuing with such educators as Aristotle, Quintilian, Augustine, Erasmus, George Campbell, and Fred Newton Scott, and during the past two decades, WAC proponents have incorporated the use of collaboration and writing as instruments of learning in every discipline. Unfortunately, it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of these teaching techniques in existing WAC programs because of the number of variables involved. These techniques were measured in a homeschool situation, however, where the variables could be controlled. This ethnographic study, which took place during the Spring 1994 semester with three ninth-grade female students placed in a homeschool situation, used both quantitative and qualitative methods to measure the effectiveness of collaboration and writing in all disciplines. Pre-tests revealed that, at the beginning of this study, these three students performed at very different levels of ability ; regardless of ability, however, each experienced dramatic increases in learning. The quantitative measures, Wechsler Individual Achievement Test and Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test, revealed unprecedented gains in math reasoning, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, oral expression, written expression, language composite, and critical thinking skills. These pre/ post-tests, triangulated with assessment of reading journals, daily journals, individual essays, collaborative essays, and video-taped sessions, produced a narrative which describes each student's characteristics, learning style and response to these learning/teaching methods. The results imply that homeschool education has been successful due to collaboration and writing. Furthermore, this study strongly suggests that collaboration and writing effect learning in all disciplines and recommends restructuring of traditional education to implement these teaching/learning techniques. / Department of English

This comparative case study examines how writing teachers comment on basic writing students' papers, how students respond to these comments, and how students take risks in their revising process. Four U.S., four ESOL basic writing students, and four basic writing teachers participated in the study. Three writing samples of the students' choices including drafts, revisions, and final papers were collected, coded, and analyzed to see the amount of risk-taking. Students were asked to complete the Daly and Miller's Writing Apprehension Test along with a Demographic Information Check Sheet. Each student was interviewed three times: once for each writing sample, and each teacher was interviewed once. The study revealed that students in the study appreciated teachers' written comments on their multiple-draft papers, and that teachers' comments, particularly the ones on content and organization, did help improve their writing ability and motivated these students to take risks in trying new ideas in revision. The ESOL writers tend to take fewer risks and regard revision as making lexical changes because of their unfamiliarity with the English usage and writing conventions, while the U.S. writers take more risks and view revision as a recursive process with different levels of attention.The main purpose of the study was to find out what major factors motivated students' risk-taking in their revisions so that writing teachers will be able to provide comments that motivate students to become better writers. This study will contribute to the understanding of what students really think of teachers' written comments. / Department of English

Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The financial sector of South Africa is increasingly under pressure to ensure that the language used in all communication is aligned with international best practice and, furthermore, that the correct business terminology is applied. Standards of language proficiency and usage have, however, deteriorated over the past few years. This appears to be due mainly to lack of good language education at school level. In Nedbank, specifically, the language used by employees in written external communication is not always on par as is evident from the documentation that Nedbank Editorial and Language Services (Nels), the “language custodian” of the bank, has to edit and translate. Nels decided six years ago that, instead of rewriting all these documents, which is not timeor cost-efficient, to rather give business-writing training across the bank to enable Nedbank employees to increase their general writing proficiency of English. This study aims to establish whether there are discrepancies in the type of error made in English as used by Coloured Afrikaans mother tongue speakers and White Afrikaans mother tongue speakers in order to determine how to customise the business-writing training materials to the benefit of each cultural grouping in Nedbank. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die finansiële sektor in Suid-Afrika is toenemend onder druk om te verseker dat die taal wat in alle kommunikasie gebruik word in ooreenstemming is met internasionale “beste praktyk”, en verder dat die korrekte besigheidsterminologie gebruik word. Taalvaardigheids- en taalgebruiksvlakke het egter oor die afgelope aantal jare verswak, waarskynlik a.g.v. onvoldoende taalonderrig op skool. In Nedbank is die taalgebruik van werknemers in geskrewe eksterne kommunikasie nie altyd van ’n aanvaarbare standaard nie, soos duidelik blyk uit die dokumentasie wat Nedbank Editorial and Language Services (Nels), die bank se “taalbewaarder”, moet redigeer en vertaal. Nels het ses jaar gelede besluit om besigheidskryfkursusse vir die hele groep aan te bied, eerder as om al die eksterne kommunikasie oor te skryf, wat nie tyd- en koste-effektief is nie. Sodoende kan werknemers hulle algemene skryfvaardighede in Engels verbeter. Hierdie studie probeer vasstel of daar moontlike verskille is in die soort foute wat in Engels deur gekleurde Afrikaans-moedertaalsprekers en wit Afrikaans-moedertaalsprekers gemaak word, in ‘n poging om doeltreffende opleidingsmateriaal te ontwikkel vir elke kulturele groepering in Nedbank.

O trabalho de dissertação apresentado sob o título: Um estudo sobre concepções de língua e práticas docentes frente às atividades de produção textual, resulta do desejo de investigar quais as perspectivas que norteiam os trabalhos docentes no 5 ano do Ensino Fundamental no que se refere à produção textual. Considerando a relevância do domínio da escrita e o uso dos gêneros textuais em nossa sociedade, vê-se a importância de a escola, no papel de principal agência de letramento, promover o trabalho com produção textual desde as séries/anos iniciais, devido à necessidade de nossos estudantes dominarem desde cedo as habilidades para o desenvolvimento das competências que assegurem sua proficiência para produzir textos com autonomia. O objetivo geral dessa pesquisa é verificar de que forma a concepção de língua adotada pelas professoras investigadas são refletidas no processo de mediação das atividades de produção textual escrita. Para tanto, têm-se por objetivos específicos i) compreender a concepção de língua das docentes, identificando sua relação com o estudo dos gêneros textuais ii) relacionar as respostas ao questionário com a prática das professoras, verificando se o que foi dito em relação à condução do processo de produção textual se concretizava nas aulas e, finalmente, iii) analisar os aspectos relevantes para as professoras na realização das correções dos textos dos estudantes. Preocupou-se, para tanto, em analisar: registros de aulas ministradas por três professoras da rede pública de ensino dos municípios do Recife e de Jaboatão dos Guararapes, questionários aplicados às mesmas professoras e exemplares de textos produzidos por seus estudantes. A base teórica foi fundamentada em autores como Antunes (2003), Morais e Brandão (2007), Marcuschi (2008), Travaglia (2009), Koch (2010), que defendem a língua enquanto lugar de interação entre os sujeitos e o texto como evento comunicativo no qual se articulam conhecimentos linguísticos, cognitivos e interacionais, bem como o uso das sequências didáticas, abordadas por Schneuwly e Dolz (2010), como estratégia de desenvolvimento do trabalho com produção de gêneros orais ou escritos na escola. Contudo, a análise do corpus demonstrou a concepção de língua que subjaz a prática das professoras analisadas, o que define a condução das estratégias no processo de produção textual e formação do escritor. O que pôde ser visualizado como resultado final da pesquisa é que a concepção de língua das docentes (língua enquanto expressão do pensamento ou como forma de comunicação) é refletida nas produções dos estudantes, embora as referidas professoras tenham o conhecimento acerca da necessidade da exploração dos gêneros textuais que circulam socialmente e do uso das sequências didáticas como meio para promover essa exploração de forma planejada e articulada na sala de aula. Outra observação importante é a de que já é observado o uso dessas estratégias de forma a promover a interação dos estudantes com o conhecimento e com os gêneros durante o processo de produção textual, demonstrando, assim, um grande avanço no que concerne à qualidade no ensino da língua em se tratando do trabalho com a produção textual. / The dissertation presented under the title : A study on conceptions of language and teaching practices in the face of textual production activities , results from the desire to investigate what are the prospects that guide teachers work in the 5th year of elementary school in relation to production textual. Considering the relevance of the domain of writing and the use of textual genres in our society , we see the importance of school , in the role of lead agency for literacy , encourage work with textual production from the series / early years , due to the need for our students master early skills for the development of skills that ensure their proficiency to produce texts independently. The overall goal of this research is to verify how the conception of language adopted by the teachers surveyed are reflected in the mediation of textual production activities writing process. So, we have for specific objectives i ) understand the design of the language faculty , identifying their relationship to the study of textual genres ii ) relate the answers to the questionnaire with the practice of teachers , checking if what was said about the conduct of textual production process is concretized in class , and finally iii ) analyze the relevant aspects for the teachers in carrying out corrections of texts students. Worried , therefore, to examine : records of classes taught by three teachers of the public schools of the cities of Recife and Jaboatão Guararapes , questionnaires given to the same teachers and copies of texts written by their students. The theoretical basis was based on authors such as Ali (2003 ), Society and Brandão (2007 ) , Marcuschi (2008 ) , Travaglia (2009 ) , Koch (2010 ) , who argue the language as a site of interaction between the subject and the text as an event communication in which they articulate linguistic , cognitive and interactional expertise as well as the use of didactic sequences , and addressed by Schneuwly Dolz (2010 ) , as the work with production of oral or written genres in school development strategy . However, analysis of the corpus has shown the design of language that underlies the practice of teachers analyzed , which defines the conduct of strategies of textual production and training of the writer process. What might be viewed as the final result of the research is that the design of the language faculty ( language as an expression of thought or as a means of communication ) is reflected in the productions of the students , although these teachers have the knowledge about the necessity of exploiting textual genres that circulate socially and use of didactic sequences as a means to promote such exploitation in a planned and articulated in the classroom . Another important observation is that the use of these strategies in order to promote the interaction of students with the knowledge and genders during the process of text production , thus demonstrating a breakthrough regarding the quality of teaching is already observed the language of work in dealing with textual production.

The majority of learners in South Africa are not native speakers of English, yet English is the dominant language of learning and teaching (LoLT). South African teachers, therefore, have the challenge of ensuring that their learners' literacy skills in English are adequately developed so as to facilitate learning in other curricular areas. This study investigated the way in which two Grade 5 teachers employed at different primary schools in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa taught writing to their English first additional language (EFAL) learners. English is the LoLT at both schools. A qualitative interpretive approach was used to identify factors that shape the ways these teachers handle the teaching of writing. The theoretical framework was informed by Borg's model of teacher cognition (2003) Shulman's conception of teacher knowledge (1987). Data collection methods consisted of interviews, classroom observations and document analysis. In-depth interviews, comprising two semi-structured interviews, two post-lesson informal conversational interviews and one stimulated recall interview were conducted with each teacher. Five of each teacher's writing lessons were observed and audio and video recorded. Samples of learners' written work were also collected. Analysis of the data reveals that the two teachers' beliefs, their experiences as learners themselves and subsequently as teachers, impacted on their pedagogy, as did other contextual factors (including the support they received from subject advisors, time management, and the number and range of learners in their classrooms). It was found that both teachers focused primarily on ensuring that their learners completed their written work so that it could be marked and graded in response to demands from their superiors, rather than on engaging deeply with the processes of writing (brainstorming, drafting, revising etc). Not only does this run counter to the writing pedagogy recommended in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS), but it also denies learners the scaffolding needed to help them develop the self-regulation skills needed to become independent writers. These findings demonstrate the need for assisting teachers to shift away from focusing only on learners' performance (testing and grading) towards a stronger emphasis on the process of writing. This would require that teachers develop a deeper understanding of the process/genre approaches to teaching writing advocated by CAPS.

Development and evolution of Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) is becoming recurrent in the development of complex software-intensive systems. However, despite many advances in Software Language Engineering (SLE), DSLs and their tooling still suffer from substantial development costs which hamper their successful adoption in the industry. We identify two main challenges to be addressed. First, the proliferation of independently developed and constantly evolving DSLs raises the problem of interoperability between similar languages and environments. Second, since DSLs and their environments suffer from high development costs, tools and methods must be provided to assist language designers and mitigate development costs. To address these challenges, we first propose the notion of language interface. Using language interfaces, one can vary or evolve the implementation of a DSL while retaining the compatibility with the services and environments defined on its interface. Then, we present a mechanism, named model polymorphism, for manipulating models through different language interfaces. Finally, we propose a meta-language that enables language designers to reuse legacy DSLs, compose them, extend them, and customize them to meet new requirements. We implement all our contributions in a new language workbench named Melange that supports the modular definition of DSLs and the interoperability of their tooling. We evaluate the ability of Melange to solve challenging SLE scenarios. / Development and evolution of Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) is becoming recurrent in the development of complex software-intensive systems. However, despite many advances in Software Language Engineering (SLE), DSLs and their tooling still suffer from substantial development costs which hamper their successful adoption in the industry. We identify two main challenges to be addressed. First, the proliferation of independently developed and constantly evolving DSLs raises the problem of interoperability between similar languages and environments. Second, since DSLs and their environments suffer from high development costs, tools and methods must be provided to assist language designers and mitigate development costs. To address these challenges, we first propose the notion of language interface. Using language interfaces, one can vary or evolve the implementation of a DSL while retaining the compatibility with the services and environments defined on its interface. Then, we present a mechanism, named model polymorphism, for manipulating models through different language interfaces. Finally, we propose a meta-language that enables language designers to reuse legacy DSLs, compose them, extend them, and customize them to meet new requirements. We implement all our contributions in a new language workbench named Melange that supports the modular definition of DSLs and the interoperability of their tooling. We evaluate the ability of Melange to solve challenging SLE scenarios.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:24:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 josiane_almeida_silva.pdf: 2777937 bytes, checksum: 9831920b856f0a8e5e24a84de30e4bc8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-05-27 / The dissertation presented under the title : A study on conceptions of language and teaching practices in the face of textual production activities , results from the desire to investigate what are the prospects that guide teachers work in the 5th year of elementary school in relation to production textual. Considering the relevance of the domain of writing and the use of textual genres in our society , we see the importance of school , in the role of lead agency for literacy , encourage work with textual production from the series / early years , due to the need for our students master early skills for the development of skills that ensure their proficiency to produce texts independently. The overall goal of this research is to verify how the conception of language adopted by the teachers surveyed are reflected in the mediation of textual production activities writing process. So, we have for specific objectives i ) understand the design of the language faculty , identifying their relationship to the study of textual genres ii ) relate the answers to the questionnaire with the practice of teachers , checking if what was said about the conduct of textual production process is concretized in class , and finally iii ) analyze the relevant aspects for the teachers in carrying out corrections of texts students. Worried , therefore, to examine : records of classes taught by three teachers of the public schools of the cities of Recife and Jaboatão Guararapes , questionnaires given to the same teachers and copies of texts written by their students. The theoretical basis was based on authors such as Ali (2003 ), Society and Brandão (2007 ) , Marcuschi (2008 ) , Travaglia (2009 ) , Koch (2010 ) , who argue the language as a site of interaction between the subject and the text as an event communication in which they articulate linguistic , cognitive and interactional expertise as well as the use of didactic sequences , and addressed by Schneuwly Dolz (2010 ) , as the work with production of oral or written genres in school development strategy . However, analysis of the corpus has shown the design of language that underlies the practice of teachers analyzed , which defines the conduct of strategies of textual production and training of the writer process. What might be viewed as the final result of the research is that the design of the language faculty ( language as an expression of thought or as a means of communication ) is reflected in the productions of the students , although these teachers have the knowledge about the necessity of exploiting textual genres that circulate socially and use of didactic sequences as a means to promote such exploitation in a planned and articulated in the classroom . Another important observation is that the use of these strategies in order to promote the interaction of students with the knowledge and genders during the process of text production , thus demonstrating a breakthrough regarding the quality of teaching is already observed the language of work in dealing with textual production. / O trabalho de dissertação apresentado sob o título: Um estudo sobre concepções de língua e práticas docentes frente às atividades de produção textual, resulta do desejo de investigar quais as perspectivas que norteiam os trabalhos docentes no 5º ano do Ensino Fundamental no que se refere à produção textual. Considerando a relevância do domínio da escrita e o uso dos gêneros textuais em nossa sociedade, vê-se a importância de a escola, no papel de principal agência de letramento, promover o trabalho com produção textual desde as séries/anos iniciais, devido à necessidade de nossos estudantes dominarem desde cedo as habilidades para o desenvolvimento das competências que assegurem sua proficiência para produzir textos com autonomia. O objetivo geral dessa pesquisa é verificar de que forma a concepção de língua adotada pelas professoras investigadas são refletidas no processo de mediação das atividades de produção textual escrita. Para tanto, têm-se por objetivos específicos i) compreender a concepção de língua das docentes, identificando sua relação com o estudo dos gêneros textuais ii) relacionar as respostas ao questionário com a prática das professoras, verificando se o que foi dito em relação à condução do processo de produção textual se concretizava nas aulas e, finalmente, iii) analisar os aspectos relevantes para as professoras na realização das correções dos textos dos estudantes. Preocupou-se, para tanto, em analisar: registros de aulas ministradas por três professoras da rede pública de ensino dos municípios do Recife e de Jaboatão dos Guararapes, questionários aplicados às mesmas professoras e exemplares de textos produzidos por seus estudantes. A base teórica foi fundamentada em autores como Antunes (2003), Morais e Brandão (2007), Marcuschi (2008), Travaglia (2009), Koch (2010), que defendem a língua enquanto lugar de interação entre os sujeitos e o texto como evento comunicativo no qual se articulam conhecimentos linguísticos, cognitivos e interacionais, bem como o uso das sequências didáticas, abordadas por Schneuwly e Dolz (2010), como estratégia de desenvolvimento do trabalho com produção de gêneros orais ou escritos na escola. Contudo, a análise do corpus demonstrou a concepção de língua que subjaz a prática das professoras analisadas, o que define a condução das estratégias no processo de produção textual e formação do escritor. O que pôde ser visualizado como resultado final da pesquisa é que a concepção de língua das docentes (língua enquanto expressão do pensamento ou como forma de comunicação) é refletida nas produções dos estudantes, embora as referidas professoras tenham o conhecimento acerca da necessidade da exploração dos gêneros textuais que circulam socialmente e do uso das sequências didáticas como meio para promover essa exploração de forma planejada e articulada na sala de aula. Outra observação importante é a de que já é observado o uso dessas estratégias de forma a promover a interação dos estudantes com o conhecimento e com os gêneros durante o processo de produção textual, demonstrando, assim, um grande avanço no que concerne à qualidade no ensino da língua em se tratando do trabalho com a produção textual.

Writing instruction that reflects the variety or represented pupil intelligences and learning styles in a special day classroom can significantly increase a child's opportunity for success. Attending to these areas while simultaneously taking into account student strengths, interests, and desires can facilitate the academic process. Written language skills and achievement must be addressed in a supportive and encouraging climate motivating children and maximizing their willingness to undertake new concepts.

This thesis was written in hope that it will serve as a stimulant to spur innovative ideas in EFL teaching and learning in Taiwan.