Thesis (M.S. in Software Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Man-Tak Shing. Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-102). Also available online.

The pedagogical debates within language learning and language teaching have emphasized motivation as one of the key factors. Conversely, the broadness of motivation and its complexity has been acknowledged as a challenging concept which is difficult to grasp. This study aims at examining motivation as a concept determined by different internal and external factors which also shape individuals’ attitudes towards language learning. With the aim of understanding the existence of motivation and attitudes in a variety of contexts, individuals’ level of language knowledge is the point of departure in this study. Motivation and attitudes in language learning are examined in the light of individuals’ learning experiences, personal beliefs, self-determination and personal goals.

Published Article / The paper seeks to engage constructively with the challenges and opportunities Indigenous Knowledge (IK) may offer disciplines in Language Practice. The approach will be contextualized in terms of the theoretical shift in knowledge production and use, as well as the current debate pertaining to the feasibility of the incorporation of IK into curricula. Specific attention will be rendered to topics of Africanizing scholarship, a performance model of knowledge, the socio-cultural embeddedness of language, and brief thoughts on the translation of the oral. These thematic issues are of particular importance to Language Practice, perceived here to be at the gateway between theory of language/communication and receiver communities.

This study investigated grammatical difficulty from the perspective of second language (L2) learners in relation to their overall L2 proficiency and L2 performance and knowledge. The design included the administration of a student questionnaire, an interview, a proficiency test, and oral production and metalinguistic tasks. The proficiency test and questionnaire were administered to 277 university-level Chinese EFL learners in Taiwan. The questionnaire explored learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty of 20 English grammar features. Thirty of the students who completed the questionnaire met with the researcher individually to complete a grammatical difficulty ranking activity, 2 grammar exercises and 2 stimulated recalls, all of which aimed to further explore why the learners considered the selected features to be more (or less) difficult for them to learn. The oral production tasks were administered to 27 of the students who completed the questionnaire. The metalinguistic task was administered to 185 of the students who participated in the questionnaire survey. The questionnaire results indicate that, overall, the participants did not perceive the 20 target features to be difficult to learn. Notwithstanding, the ranking results of the questionnaire suggest that learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty are based on whether the rules to describe the formation of language features are easy or difficult to articulate. The qualitative results show that the learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty were influenced by several factors including their L2 knowledge, L2 grammar learning experience, and L1 knowledge, all of which were examined with reference to syntactic, semantic, and/or pragmatic levels. In terms of the relationship between learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty and their overall L2 proficiency, results show that learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty do not vary at the syntactic level, but that there is some variation at the pragmatic level. Regarding the relationship between learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty and their L2 knowledge, results suggest that learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty vary according to their implicit/explicit knowledge of the features in question; at the explicit knowledge level, the feature perceived to be less difficult to learn is used more accurately, while at the implicit knowledge level, this is not the case.

This study investigated grammatical difficulty from the perspective of second language (L2) learners in relation to their overall L2 proficiency and L2 performance and knowledge. The design included the administration of a student questionnaire, an interview, a proficiency test, and oral production and metalinguistic tasks. The proficiency test and questionnaire were administered to 277 university-level Chinese EFL learners in Taiwan. The questionnaire explored learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty of 20 English grammar features. Thirty of the students who completed the questionnaire met with the researcher individually to complete a grammatical difficulty ranking activity, 2 grammar exercises and 2 stimulated recalls, all of which aimed to further explore why the learners considered the selected features to be more (or less) difficult for them to learn. The oral production tasks were administered to 27 of the students who completed the questionnaire. The metalinguistic task was administered to 185 of the students who participated in the questionnaire survey. The questionnaire results indicate that, overall, the participants did not perceive the 20 target features to be difficult to learn. Notwithstanding, the ranking results of the questionnaire suggest that learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty are based on whether the rules to describe the formation of language features are easy or difficult to articulate. The qualitative results show that the learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty were influenced by several factors including their L2 knowledge, L2 grammar learning experience, and L1 knowledge, all of which were examined with reference to syntactic, semantic, and/or pragmatic levels. In terms of the relationship between learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty and their overall L2 proficiency, results show that learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty do not vary at the syntactic level, but that there is some variation at the pragmatic level. Regarding the relationship between learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty and their L2 knowledge, results suggest that learners’ perceptions of grammatical difficulty vary according to their implicit/explicit knowledge of the features in question; at the explicit knowledge level, the feature perceived to be less difficult to learn is used more accurately, while at the implicit knowledge level, this is not the case.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Computer Science)) - Rhodes University, 2007.

En vue de l’importance de l’évaluation dans l’enseignement et l’apprentissage des langues étrangères, notre projet vise à comparer et analyser les pratiques d’évaluation utilisées dans les cours de langue étrangère au sein de trois pays : l’Iran, la France et les États-Unis. L’objectif de cette recherche n’est pas de mettre en valeur un système éducatif à proprement parlé, mais de comprendre si les pratiques évaluatives de ces contextes sont universelles ou culturellement spécifiques. In fine, il convient de comprendre quelle est la dynamique qui met en jeu leurs spécificités, c'est-à-dire les réalités sociales, politiques ou économiques qui les forment. Pour la réalisation de cette étude, nous avons mené des entretiens compréhensifs semi-directifs auprès de 48 enseignants de langues (français, anglais et persan) dans les trois pays. À travers ces entretiens nous avons extrait les représentations de ces enseignants autour de quatre concepts clés de pratiques d’évaluation, c'est-à-dire les objectifs d’apprentissage des langues, les pratiques et les instruments évaluatifs, l’examen, et la perception des enseignants des langues (étrangères). L’analyse qualitative de ces entretiens nous a montré que les pratiques d’évaluation utilisées dans les différents contextes académiques et universitaires dans ces trois pays, sont plutôt universelles ; fait principalement dû aux règles et exigences particulières du contexte institutionnel d’évaluation que les enseignants doivent respecter et satisfaire, ainsi qu’au niveau élémentaire des étudiants, qui nécessite l’intégration des activités évaluatives des niveaux inférieurs de la Taxonomie de Bloom. En même temps, nous avons également constaté des différences significatives qui relèvent des particularités culturelles telles que les traditions d’enseignement et d’évaluation, les rôles de l’enseignant, de l’apprenant et de l’institution, ainsi que des contextes d’emploi de la langue, situations qui dépendent, à leur tour, des contextes et des enjeux politiques, économiques, sociaux et géographiques de chacun des trois pays étudiés. / Given the importance of assessment in the teaching and the learning of foreign languages, this dissertation aims at comparing and analyzing the assessment practices used in university-level foreign language classes in three countries: Iran, France and the United States. The goal of this research is not to valorize one of these countries’ educational systems, but to understand if the assessment practices used in these countries are universal or culturally specific and if specific, what social, political or economic realities are involved. For the completion of this study, a set of semi-directive comprehensive interviews were conducted with 48 language instructors (French, English and Persian languages) in these three countries. These interviews provided us with the representations of the participants of their assessment practices, which enabled us to establish four images that reflect the key concepts relating to assessment: these images were course objectives, assessment tools and practices, exam and instructors’ perception of (foreign) languages. Through a qualitative analysis of these interviews revealed that assessment practices in academic (university) settings were in part universal, due to their institutional contexts, which require the implementation of certain rules and regulations, as well as the elementary level of students involved in these assessment practices, which favored the use of the activities that lie in the inferior levels of the Bloom’s Taxonomy. At the same time, we also able to observe significant differences among the assessment practices used in these three countries, which raise from the specificities of these three cultures and education/teaching traditions, as well as the uses of the language in question, which depend on the political, economic, social and geographic situations of each of these three countries.

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The purpose of this essay is to compare the integration policy between Socialdemokraterna, Moderaterna and Sverigedemokraterna with focus on labor-market integration, housing segregation and language knowledge. The international immigration has in recent years increased significantly and this has also enriched the receiving countries and still the numbers of extreme right parties have increased. In Sweden a racist populist party, Sverigedemokraterna, are only a few steps away from entering the parliament.</p><p> </p><p>The question in focus is: <em>What differences or similarities are there between the integration politics between Moderaterna, Socialdemokraterna and Sverigedemokraterna with focus on the areas housing, work and language? </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p>By applying the theoretical framework to the data, I have been able to present answers and build up an analysis. The study concludes that there are more similarities than differences in the integration policy between Moderaterna and Socialdemokraterna. Sverigedemokraterna on the other hand have very radical integration politics in comparison to the two other parties.</p>

Abstract This work studies how ninth grade students of Finnish secondary school interpret sentences using the tools offered by school grammar. My research maps out the ability of students to analyse the content and structure of the sentences. The study is also part of text skills research. Both reading and writing are part of text skills. In order to acquire these, knowledge of language and grammar are required. The material used for the research has been the written tests and interviews of ninth grade secondary school students. I have combined the material acquired by a written test and interviews and I will use them as complimentary forms of material. The written test was taken by hundred students and twenty students were interviewed. The analysis of the material shows that ninth grade secondary school students are able to analyse sentences both in a syntactic and semantic form. They are able to use the knowledge they have learned at school in their interpretations. They however base their interpretations on the general contextual knowledge of the world. Their natural sense of language is also clearly combined into thinking about the semantic and syntactic structure of the sentences. The study also reveals how different models of grammar and researchers have offered different kinds of solutions to sentence analysis and that there are no simple answers to these problems. This diversity and duality is also apparent in pedagogic grammar. The research puts an emphasis on the dialogic approach in teaching and learning of knowledge of language. In order for the student to be able to use the acquired knowledge of language, he or she should be able to use it by application and discussion. This way he or she would learn to analyse and separate texts and would be habituated into a critical reader. / Tiivistelmä Tarkastelen tutkimuksessani sitä, miten peruskoulun yhdeksännen luokan oppilaat tulkitsevat lauseita koulukieliopin tarjoamien välineiden avulla. Tutkimukseni kartoittaa oppilaiden kykyä analysoida lauseiden sisältöjä ja rakenteita. Liitän aiheen myös osaksi tekstitaitojen tutkimusta. Tekstitaitoihin kuuluvat sekä hyvä kirjoitus- että lukutaito. Näiden saavuttaminen puolestaan edellyttää sekä kielen että kieliopin tuntemusta. Tutkimusaineistona ovat peruskoulun yhdeksäsluokkalaisten tekemät kirjalliset testit ja heidän haastattelut. Olen yhdistänyt kirjallisen testin ja haastattelun avulla kerätyn aineiston ja käytän niitä toisiaan täydentävinä aineistomuotoina. Kirjallisen testin on tehnyt 100 oppilasta ja haastatteluun on osallistunut 20 oppilasta. Aineistoni analyysi osoittaa, että peruskoulun yhdeksännen luokan oppilaat kykenevät analysoimaan lauseita sekä syntaktisesti että semanttisesti. He osaavat käyttää koulussa oppimaansa tietoa hyväksi tulkinnoissaan. Oppilaat kuitenkin nojautuvat tulkinnoissaan yleiseen kontekstuaaliseen tietoonsa maailmasta. Lisäksi heidän luontainen kielitajunsa yhdistyy selkeästi lauseiden semantiikasta ja syntaktisesta rakenteesta lähtevään pohdiskeluun. Tutkimukseni tuo esiin myös sen, miten eri kielioppimallit ja tutkijat ovat päätyneet erilaisiin ratkaisuihin lauseiden analyysissa ja miten yksiselitteisiä vastauksia lauseanalyysin ongelmiin ei ole. Tämä kirjavuus ja kaksijakoisuus näkyvät myös pedagogisessa kieliopissa. Tutkimuksessani korostuu keskusteleva ote kielitiedon opettamisessa ja oppimisessa. Jotta oppilas pystyisi parhaiten hyödyntämään oppimaansa kielitietoa, hänen pitäisi saada käyttää sitä soveltaen ja keskustellen. Näin hän itse oppisi analysoimaan ja erittelemään tekstejä ja harjaantuisi kriittiseksi lukijaksi.

The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to analyse chosen factors involved in foreign language acquisition, compare three types of assessment strategies of foreign language knowledge and skills to look for correlations between students' outcomes, their school and out-of-school background and time factors. In this mixed research study the data collected from documents, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were analysed. State language examination candidates and upper- secondary students who were to take the new state school-leaving examination are involved in the study. The results show statistically significant relationship between the formal assessment by the teachers, through standardised examinations and by self-evaluation and factors as age when the learners started the foreign language learning, learning materials used and teachers' background. These findings may be used to provide feedback for strategic changes in study achievements to students, teachers and examiners.