Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-77).

This study examines the importance of teaching culture in foreign language education. Different goals for teaching culture are reviewed, emphasizing the advantages and implications of having the Standards for Foreign Language Learning Preparing for the 21st Century (1996, 1999, 2006). A historical overview of varied approaches to teaching culture is presented, starting with the traditional facts-oriented approach, and leading to modern approaches that focus on developing critical thinking skills. The report analyzes the use of videos in foreign language teaching, highlighting their many advantages. Empirical studies supporting the use of videos in teaching culture are reviewed. The literature review indicates that videos have only been used to teach cultural facts so far. In response, a pedagogical model based on videos is proposed that encourages a critical-thinking approach to culture. The model is explained using a video-based lesson for intermediate level learners. / text

Many studies have shown that use of the target language second and/ or foreign language (in this case English) teaching has greatly improved students' learning, albeit, not all teachers use the target language exclusively but rather switch between the first and target language. This particular study has shown that the teacher in compulsory school does alternate between the target language and the first language for various reasons, while teachers in upper secondary school exclusively use the target language both within and outside the classroom and there are rarely any occurrences of codeswitching among students and teachers. The reasons for this are, because the content which has been taught has been too difficult for the students to understand, or the students have refused to interact in English with both their teacher and fellow students. The teachers' view on the matter tells us that even though they have tried to exclusively use the target language in the English classroom, it has not been working in the manner they wanted it to have. In order to gather data for this research, seven classroom observations have been carried out and to complement them interviews with three teachers have been conducted to get their view on the use of English in their own teaching and why they think codeswitching occurs among students and themselves.

This study investigates students', parents' and teachers' beliefs about first language literacy experiences at home and at school. Written questionnaires and interviews were used as tools of inquiry. The students were grade five, majority language students in an early immersion program. Students, parents and teachers were asked about their beliefs on first language reading development, literacy experiences at home as well as at school, second language impact on first language and related topics. / Results showed that all students in the study had similar types of literacy experiences at home, regardless of reading ability. By adhering to an Emergent Literacy perspective, parents provided many diverse opportunities for their child(ren) to engage in literacy activities at home. The school had similar views about the importance of literacy practices. Students' literacy experiences at home appear to be in synchrony with their literacy experiences at school. This finding aligns with the aims of a Social Construction of Literacy perspective. / Learning to read in a second language did not hinder a child's development of first language reading, although for students having difficulty reading in the first language, the addition of a second language seemed to pose some difficulties for some students. / Recommendations are made for future research into family literacy in immersion programs and a follow up study. Research on individual differences among siblings could provide insight into why some children appear to have difficulties reading in their first language while others do not. A follow up study on some or all of the participants would provide continuing data on immersion students' literacy at home and at school.

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This thesis is a qualitative study of the strategic competence of Arab English majors at Yarmouk University in Jordan. Its aim is to fill the gap found in communication strategy (CS) research, which has at present little relevance to the Jordanian situation. Its main aim is to determine which communication strategies (CSs) are used by English majors while communicating in Ll Arabic and L2 English. Furthermore, since meaning is very important in language teaching, it aims to examine whether the messages transmitted by the learners are successful and comprehensible or not. This will increase our knowledge of how and by means of which strategies Arab English majors overcome their communication problems, and which strategies they use in communicating in their native language. The subjects of the study are 30 English majors at Yarmouk University, a typical Jordanian university, put into three proficiency levels according to an adapted TOEFL test. The sample represents a full range of English majors' ability at the English Department of the same university. Their ages range from 19-23. ... The main finding of the research is that English majors make wide use of CSs. These strategies are mostly L2- English based strategies. Another finding is that in spite of their limited linguistic knowledge, English majors manage to communicate their intended meaning by making use of CSs. It is also found that the learners' use of CSs is related to their proficiency level, in that Ll-Arabic based strategies decrease as proficiency improves. One of the most interesting additional findings is the effect of the mother tongue/Arabic which increases the variety of strategy use. For example, literal translation and word coinage are widely influenced by mother tongue interference. It is found that Arabic speakers use many communication strategies when compared with speakers of other languages in CS research. The subjects' use of CSs is also related to the type of task they are performing. Finally, Arab learners use CSs in their native language, but when compared to the CSs used in their target language, these are fewer in terms of frequency and vary in terms of type. Pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research are presented in light of the findings.

国立情報学研究所で電子化したコンテンツを使用している。

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University of Pennsylvania. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1961. / Sponsor: Gerald Dykstra. Dissertation Committee: Harry Robert Wilson. Bibliography: leaves 246-252.