Cette thèse met l’accent sur les paroles des enfants-acteurs colligés alors qu’ils vivaient le processus de choix scolaire durant le moment de transition entre paliers élémentaire et secondaire en milieu minoritaire. Ce choix de problématique est motivé par le fait que le domaine du choix scolaire est dominé par des adultes qui décident, qui parlent pour les enfants concernés ou bien qui les catégorisent par ce processus sans pour autant inclure les enfants dans les recherches sur un processus qui les concerne directement. Par ailleurs, l’intérêt particulier pour le choix de la langue d’instruction du projet m’a incitée à mener une étude comparée internationale pour mieux comprendre les particularités et similarités des vécus des enfants de la Corse et de l’Ontario, deux territoires fortement marqués par les questions sociolinguistiques. La question de recherche principale de cette thèse est la suivante : quels processus conduisent les enfants de l’Ontario et de la Corse à poursuivre ou non leur scolarité dans une école ou une filière de langue minoritaire ou majoritaire? Ma position épistémologique de chercheure interprétative, critique et réflexive encadre mon intérêt scientifique aux paroles des enfants-participants. La méthodologie du projet constitue une étude de cas comparative de type ethnographique. En outre, les outils de collecte de données, soit l’observation participante, le questionnaire et l’entrevue semi-dirigée, ainsi qu’une analyse des contextes scolaire, familial et national permettent une analyse plus rigoureuse et holistique des cas étudiés. L’analyse dévoile que le processus de choix scolaire représente une convergence des métiers d’élève, d’enfant et d’enfant-citoyen dans la construction du projet personnel de chaque enfant quant à son avenir scolaire et social. Qui plus est, cette analyse fait poindre le besoin de mieux accompagner les enfants au cours des processus de choix et de transition scolaire qu’ils vivent, de mieux outiller, voire informer, les parents quant à ces processus et à repenser l’éducation civique en milieu minoritaire. La contribution au domaine éducationnel de cette thèse est importante à plusieurs égards, notamment par rapport 1) à la place centrale qu’occupent les paroles des enfants-participants; 2) au regard particulier sur le choix de la langue d’instruction en milieu minoritaire et 3) à la visée comparative et au rapprochement des cas de l’Ontario et de la Corse qui font progresser la compréhension des enjeux de l’éducation en milieu minoritaire. / This thesis focuses on the voices of children, accessed as they were living the school choice process during the transition between elementary and secondary school in minority language contexts. The aforementioned research agenda is motivated by the fact that the field of school choice is dominated by adults who decide, who speak for children or who categorize children without including children in research regarding a process that concerns them directly. Moreover, my particular interest in the choice of language of instruction in minority language communities has prompted me to conduct an international, comparative educational research project to better understand the similarities and particularities of experiences lived by children in Corsica and in Ontario, two contexts strongly influenced by sociolinguistic issues. The following principal research question guides this thesis : what processes lead children of Ontario and Corsica to pursue, or abandon, their education in the minority or majority language?My interpretive, critical, and reflexive epistemological position frames my scientific interest in the voices of child participants. The project’s methodology is a comparative case study that is influenced by an ethnographic lens. The data collection tools, participant observation, questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews—as well analyses of school, family and national contexts—allow for a holistic and rigorous analysis of the cases studied. These analyses reveal that the process of school choice represents a convergence of student, child, and child-citizen occupations (or métiers) in the construction of the child’s personal project regarding his or her own academic and social future. Furthermore, this analysis illuminates the need to better support children during the school choice and transition processes, to better equip and to better inform parents concerning these processes, and to rethink civic education in minority language communities. The contribution of this thesis to the field of education is important in several respects, particularly in relation to 1) its placement of child voice at the forefront of the research; 2) its particular focus on the choice of language of instruction in minority language contexts; and, 3) its comparative element which connects the cases of Ontario and Corsica and, so doing, advances the understanding of minority language education.

Cette étude s’intéresse aux pratiques d’enseignement destinées aux jeunes enfants non francophones scolarisés en français à l’étranger où l'école représente la seule source d'exposition à la langue française. L’objectif de ce travail est de mener une réflexion sur l’enseignement/apprentissage de notre langue dans une école maternelle, tout en se focalisant sur les pratiques des enseignants et les compétences langagières des apprenants face aux exigences des programmes du MENF . L’absence de dispositifs d’accompagnement des enseignants interroge sur l’enseignement dispensé dans ces établissements, non soumis à des critères de recrutement spécifiques, et sur la formation à mettre en place. Cette étude vise principalement à mettre concrètement en évidence des pistes pédagogiques et orientations à considérer pour l'enseignement du et en français à l’étranger, tant en termes de stratégies que d'objectifs linguistiques à atteindre, de façon à aboutir à un cadre didactique pouvant servir de point de départ à l'enseignement du français à l’étranger. / This study deals with teaching practices for non-French speakers following a French curriculum while living outside this country. In this case, school is the only place where they are exposed to the French language. The aim of this research is to look at both teaching and learning French in a nursery school, focusing more specifically on teaching practices and language skills of the learners within the framework of the MEN (French Education Ministry). Our aim is not to describe the existing situation but rather to indicate possible orientations to be taken into consideration for teaching both French and in French. This will take the form of strategies and language targets so as to build a didactic framework useable as a starting point for teaching in French, abroad. To this effect, we will offer strategies and pedagogical accommodation that could be instigated in these schools where the aim is to teach French, a language which is not familiar to the learners but is nevertheless the support of their whole schooling.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Educational Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2012 / This research project was an endeavor to investigate the effects of the languages of instruction (English and Shona), to teach Tsonga (Shangani) speaking children in Chiredzi district of Zimbabwe. Because of the nature of the study, a mixed method design was used where both qualitative and quantitative methods were adopted to study the performance of the Tsonga (Shangani) minority language speaking learners in five purposively sampled schools. 222 learners participated in the study. The main aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the language instruction in teaching Tsonga (Shangani) speaking Grade Seven children in Environmental Science. In fact, the researcher was interested in finding out whether teaching learners in a foreign language was a bridge or barrier to learning. In this case, the research did not only look at the effect of using English for instructional purposes, but also investigated how other major or dominant indigenous languages which are used for instructional purposes affect the performance of minority language speaking children in Chiredzi district of Zimbabwe. Data for this study were collected using lesson observation, document analysis, the questionnaire and a knowledge test. In this case, fifteen lessons were observed. Fifteen Tsonga (Shangani) speaking Grade Seven learners per school were purposively selected and taught in Tsonga (Shangani) only and the other fifteen Shona speaking Grade Seven children per school were also purposively selected and taught the same topic in Shona, and a third group of fifteen Grade Seven learners per school, were randomly selected and taught in English only. A knowledge test was given to each group thereafter. Children from each language condition were allowed to answer questions in their home languages, except for the third group which was taught in English. This group answered the questions in English with the restricted use of Shona. Each of the test results from the knowledge tests were analysed using a One Way Anova of Variance (ANOVA) and conclusions drawn. The results from other data collection instruments were analysed using qualitative methods like narrative discussions of data. A sample of five learners per school had their exercise books analysed. Data were presented in tables. The results from the knowledge tests given showed a significant difference in the mean marks obtained from the three groups (the Shangani, Shona and English group). The result showed that language has a significant influence on the performance of learners since the p – value was 0.000. This implies that the performance of learners between the three groups is significantly different. On the basis of these observations, the Null hypothesis was rejected. The same picture was also shown in document analysis and in the questionnaires. Consequently, conclusions were drawn and recommendations made.

The aim of my study is to investigate if and in that case how the writing process and texts written by students in the upper secondary school are affected by the writing tool; does it matter if they write their texts on a computer or by longhand? Another objective is to compare such an effect with the findings of previous studies performed on earlier generations of writers. The first part of my study was a survey. It showed that two thirds of the 67 students participating thought that they would have written better texts in the national writing test if they had been able to use computers. In the second part of the study each of the fourteen participants wrote one text on computer and another by hand. Unlike the findings of earlier studies that I compared with, these students had a higher writing speed and spent significantly less time to produce their texts. This result could indicate that the students of today not only are accustomed to computers but also are unfamiliar with writing by hand. Furthermore this study, like previous studies, did not show any statistic proof of a correlation between a specific writing tool and the quality of the written text. Hence it did not support the opinion that the students of today have a disadvantage when they have to write their national test by hand. On the other hand the study indicated that such disadvantage still could be the fact for some individuals. Three of the participants took part in the third part of the study where they produced two more texts; one by hand and the other on computer. Their writing processes were recorded and the analyses indicate an individual variation in whether the writing tool had an effect on the writing process and quality of texts. / Syftet med min undersökning är att undersöka om och i så fall hur gymnasieelevers skrivprocesser och texter påverkas av om de skriver för hand eller på dator, men också att jämföra en eventuell påverkan med den som har konstaterats för tidigare generationer av datoranvändare. Bakgrundsenkäten i den första delundersökningen visade att två tredjedelar av de 67 elever trodde att de skulle ha skrivit bättre texter på det nationella provet i svenska om de hade fått använda dator. I den andra delundersökningen medverkade fjorton av gymnasieeleverna genom att skriva två texter, en för hand och en på dator. Ett resultat som skilde sig från dem i de tidigare studier jag jämförde med var att deltagarna skrev snabbare och under kortare tid när de använde dator. Resultatet tyder på att dagens gymnasieelever inte bara är datorvana utan kanske också ovana att skriva för hand. I likhet med tidigare undersökningar visade delundersökningen inte en statistiskt signifikant kvalitetsskillnad mellan deltagarnas datorskrivna och handskrivna texter. Gymnasieelevernas farhågor om att textkvaliteten skulle ha försämrats av att de tvingades skriva det nationella provet för hand fick därmed inget stöd. Samtidigt visade studien att för enskilda individer skulle det faktiskt kunna förhålla sig så. Tre av deltagarna medverkade även i den tredje delundersökningen, där deras skrivprocesser dokumenterades i samband med att de skrev ytterligare en text på dator och en för hand. Resultatet av den andra delundersökningen pekar mot att skrivverktygets påverkan på skrivprocessen och även på texternas kvalitet skulle kunna variera från person till person.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Several recent studies (e.g., Benson and Chik, 2010; Sockett, 2014) suggest that as a result of changes in technology and the concomitant emergence of a globalized culture, highly effective out-of-class, informal English acquisition is becoming more common. The present study compared high-level, well-motivated Central Brazilian classroom-trained learners (CTLs) with fully autonomous self-instructed learners (FASILs) of similar backgrounds. Using linguistic tests, a questionnaire and a structured interview, the study analysed group differences as well as individual differences in language proficiency, learner histories, behaviour, beliefs, and attitudes. The key research question asked whether there existed, in more than rare circumstances, FASILs who attained levels of proficiency at least as high as highly-motivated, well-trained CTLs? Furthermore, if the knowledge and skills of FASILs were, in some respects, superior to those of CTLs, what variables accounted for the advantage? FASILs significantly outperformed CTLs across a battery of linguistic tests measuring a range of knowledge and skills. Test results indicated that while CTLs tended to plateau at upper intermediate levels, FASILs generally improved through advanced levels, often achieving native-like levels of knowledge and use. The strongest contributing factor to proficiency was found to be self-determined motivation driven by a personalized relationship with English often marked by a transnational identity. The evidence suggests this type of motivation, significantly more associated with FASILs than CTLs, led users to engage deeply with the linguistic details of informal sources. The findings challenge dominant paradigms in several fields of SLA which prioritize expert regulation over independent discovery and controlled, collaborative environments over real-world contexts of use entered into for personal reasons. A hoped for consequence of this study is that SLA research and teaching practice will begin to recognize and promote rather than regulate or dismiss the unique learning arcs that more and more English learners experience in their everyday lives.

Notre recherche porte sur l’analyse comparative de ce que nous appelons les Gestes Professionnels d’Adaptation Linguistique (GPAL), dans l'Enseignement d'une Matière Intégré à une Langue Étrangère (EMILE), à l’œuvre en France, notamment dans les sections internationales du primaire. Son but est de comprendre comment les professeurs des écoles exerçant en contexte multilingue s’adaptent à l’hétérogénéité des élèves en Langue de Scolarisation (LSco). Le terrain de notre étude est constitué de classes ordinaires (enseignement en français et section anglaise) et de groupes de français langue étrangère et d’anglais langue seconde, des écoles maternelle et élémentaire d’un établissement international public de la région PACA. À travers une approche comparative, nous cherchons à comprendre dans quelle mesure le statut de la LSco (vernaculaire ou véhiculaire), l'âge des élèves et le degré d’hétérogénéité linguistique, influencent les GPAL utilisés par les enseignants. Pour chacun de ces trois facteurs nous comparons deux séances de classe ordinaire et deux séances des dispositifs d’aide à l'apprentissage des LSco, pour dégager également l’impact du type d’enseignement (ordinaire ou spécialisé) sur le recours des professeurs aux GPAL. Nous comparons le nombre, les catégories et les types de GPAL utilisés par les enseignants, mais aussi les formes qu’ils prennent à travers les ‘préoccupations des enseignants structurant le milieu didactique’ (Bucheton, 2011), les moments où les professeurs y ont recours via ‘le quadruplet de la structure de l’action de l’enseignant’ (Sensevy & Mercier, 2007) et les buts qu’ils poursuivent en y faisant appel en fonction des ‘4 Cs’ (Coyle, 2002). / Our research is based on a comparative analysis of what we call the Professional Skills of Linguistic Adaptation (PSLA) in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) employed in France, and in particular, in international sections at primary school. It is aimed at understanding how primary school teachers, working in a multilingual context, adapt themselves to pupils’ heterogeneity in the language of instruction. Our study focuses on ordinary classes (classes taught in French and English section classes) and groups of French as a foreign language and English as a second language, in the nursery and elementary schools of a state-run International School in PACA. Through a comparative approach, we wish to understand how the status of the language of instruction (vernacular or vehicular), the pupils’ ages and the level of linguistic heterogeneity influence the PSLA teachers use. For each of these three factors, we compare two sessions in ordinary classes and two sessions conducted in support schemes aimed at facilitating pupils’ integration to the language of instruction, in order to illustrate also the impact of the type of teaching (ordinary or specialised) on the primary school teachers’ use of PSLA. We compare the number, category and type of PSLA used by teachers and also the forms they take through “the teachers’ concerns structuring the didactic environment” (Bucheton, 2011), the instances when teachers employ them through “the quadruplet of the structure of the teacher's action” (Sensevy & Mercier, 2007), and for what purposes through the “4 Cs” (Coyle, 2002).

The purpose of this study is to contribute to previous research on the subject of language transition in Tanzania. The aim is also that the information gained in this study can be used to improve students' prospects when they undergo the linguistic transition from primary school to secondary school. This is a qualitative study with quantitative elements, using method triangulation, which examines how students experience the linguistic transition from Kiswahili to English and how it affects them. The study also highlights the students' own opinions about which language they would prefer as the language of instruction in secondary school. Relevant information about the history of Tanzania and the linguistic situation in the country are outlined. Previous research on the subject is also presented. The two theories that are used are Bourdieu’s social theory and Said's theory of Orientalism. The study uses focus groups and surveys in oder to answer the questions at hand. The research itself is conducted in two government schools in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The three questions at issue are as follows: Do the students feel that they have sufficient knowledge of English in order to be ready for the transition of the language of instruction from Kiswahili to English in secondary school? How do the students perceive that the transition of languages affects their performance in school and in their future? If the students had the opportunity to choose, which language would they prefer as the language of instruction in Secondary school in Tanzania? The conclusions are that the students feel that the linguistic transition is difficult and that they lack sufficient knowledge of English. Although several of the students struggle with the vocabulary and the pronunciation, they feel that English is the path to higher education and a good job. These are contributing factors to the fact that the majority of the students prefer English as their language of instruction in secondary school, to their own national language, Kiswahili. / <p>MFS-uppsats</p>

The purpose of this project was to provide teachers with different teaching assessement, tools, approaches, and strategies. The context of this problem was to address the need to develop a teacher handbook proposal entitled Teachers' Handbook For Implementing Learning Styles Through the Multiple Intelligences.

AbstractThe study aims to explore how students’ linguistic resources are used for learning in a school in Gambia. The study is a field study and was conducted at a Senior Secondary School during January and February 2023. As a postcolonial country, Gambia is a culturally and linguistically highly diverse country with English as the official language and several native languages, also called local languages. Despite this fact, English is the only language of instruction. The local languages are used as the main means of daily communication, while English is used in communication with the authorities and as a language of instruction. The students, in other words, do not learn to read and write in their first language, which is one of the local languages.The theoretical framework for the study is Janks’ theory of critical literacy (2010) which emphasizes the concepts of domination, access, diversity, and design. The method is a qualitative research method with an ethnographic approach, based on interviews with both students and teachers, as well as participant observation and documentation of lessons in several school subjects. The material consists of audio-recorded interviews and field notes from the lesson observations. The results show that the majority of the study’s participants expressed advantages in using all their common linguistic resources in school. However, one teacher considers that he, as a state school employee, is obliged to use only English as the language of instruction and sees no reason to question it. Also, according to one student’s opinion, it is right to use English as a common language, and not to use the local languages as a support for students’ understanding.The result from the classroom observations shows that there is a gap between the students’ requesting more language support in teaching and the teachers’ use of multilingualism as a resource for learning. Only occasional examples and no systematic use of local languages were observed during lessons for promoting learning and multilingual development. Despite this, there were teachers, who, although they were obliged through the curriculum to only use the English language, chose to include students' linguistic resources, interests, and earlier experiences in the curriculum. One conclusion of the study is that the issue of linguistic and cultural diversity in the classroom) is not easy to solve, due to the complex language situation in Gambia. Another conclusion is that teachers, through their choice of a didactic design based on students’ linguistic resources, interests, and earlier experiences, can support students’ access to the curriculum and contribute to a more equitable education. Keywords: Access to the Curriculum, Didactic Design, First Language, Language of Instruction, Language Domination, Linguistic and Cultural Diversity, Multilingualism