<p>English is the most widely spoken language in the world and for this reason it would be of advantage for everyone to learn it. This thesis reports on the language ideologies and attitudes of Francophone learners towards English in the Central Province of Cameroon, a central African country. It offers a critical examination of the different attitudes and motivations of Francophone learners towards English as a third language at secondary schools in the city of Yaound&eacute / . It also presents the most important factors that appear to play a role in shaping their attitudes towards English, a language that many of the respondents appear to find hard to learn. Central to these factors are the prevailing language ideologies in Cameroon.</p>

<p>English is the most widely spoken language in the world and for this reason it would be of advantage for everyone to learn it. This thesis reports on the language ideologies and attitudes of Francophone learners towards English in the Central Province of Cameroon, a central African country. It offers a critical examination of the different attitudes and motivations of Francophone learners towards English as a third language at secondary schools in the city of Yaound&eacute / . It also presents the most important factors that appear to play a role in shaping their attitudes towards English, a language that many of the respondents appear to find hard to learn. Central to these factors are the prevailing language ideologies in Cameroon.</p>

A hybridized society, Kuwait meshes Islamic ideologies with western culture. Linguistically, English exists across both foreign language and second language nomenclatures in the country due to globalization and internationalization which has seen increasing use of English in Kuwait. Originally consisting of listening, speaking, reading and writing, the first grade English curriculum in Kuwait was narrowed in 2002 to focus only on the development of oral English skills, and to exclude writing. Since that time, both Kuwaiti teachers and parents have expressed dissatisfaction with this curriculum on the basis that this model disadvantages their children. In first grade however, the teaching of pre-writing has remained as part of the curriculum. This research analyses the parameters of English pre-writing and writing instruction in first grade in Kuwaiti classrooms, investigates first grade English pre-writing and writing teaching, and gathers insights from parents, teachers and students regarding the appropriateness of the current curriculum. Through interviews and classroom observations, and an analysis of curriculum documents, this case study found that the relationship between oral and written language is more complex than suggested by either the Kuwaiti curriculum reform, or international literature concerning the delayed teaching of writing. Intended curriculum integration across Kuwait subjects is also far more complex than first believed, due to a developmental mismatch between English pre-writing skills and Arabic language capabilities. Findings suggest an alternative approach to teaching writing may be more appropriate and more effective for first Grade students in the current Kuwait curriculum context. They contribute also to an emerging interest in the second and foreign language fields in the teaching of writing to young learners.

Over the past twenty years, classrooms throughout the United States have becomes more ethnically and linguistically diverse with the influx of immigrant residents. The impact of this demographic change has directly affected the makeup of the mainstream classroom. One response to this rapid growth in diversity demographics has been the requirement of additional teacher preparation for instruction of English language learners. The study focuses on the impact of English as a Second Language endorsement (ESL) on the English language acquisition and academic achievement of elementary English language learners (ELL) over a two year period in a large mountain west urbansuburban school district. The rationale for the study was to examine the impact of ESL endorsement as required for continued service in this school district. Data were collected from 1,838 English language learners and their 276 mainstream elementary classroom teachers in grades two through six over a two-year period. A one-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to compare the mean change in language levels during a two year period as measured on the IDEA Proficiency Test (IPT), including the oral, reading and writing scores, between ELL students taught by mainstream classroom teachers with ESL endorsement and those taught by teachers without ESL endorsement. A one-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was also used to compare elementary ELL students’, taught by teachers with and without ESL endorsement, mean Language Arts and mathematics Criterion Referenced Tests score gains using the state’s Neutral Value Table point assignment. Covariates included student gender, socio-economic status, minority status, language level, and teacher’s years of experience. The results of this analysis indicate that teacher endorsement did not account for a significant amount of variance in the dependent measure of change in English language acquisition nor the dependent measure of change in academic achievement in Language Arts and mathematics. The findings raise further questions about the quality of professional development of mainstream teachers of English language learners and the accountability standards required for elementary English language learners. The study concludes with implications and recommendations for policies and practices applicable to teacher preparation for English as a Second Language and accountability levels for English language learners.

This dissertation is focused on the possibilities of using the Internet, especially Internet servers that are focused on English learning, teaching and also practice for lower secondary school learners. One of the aims was to find such servers, to compare and assess them, not only from the didactic point of view. Other aspects have been studied - functionality, orientation in the structure of the internet servers. The text and content of the web pages were also taken into consideration. Another criterion is the utilization of these internet servers by teachers and learners. The aim of this dissertation is to give advice to teachers and learners which servers are appropriate to English teching and learning. The practical part includes a survey based on questionnaires among lower secondary school learners. Its aim is to find out whether they already know and use such servers.

Extramural English (EE) engagement is common amongst young English as a foreign language (EFL) learner in Sweden. However, the ESL students engage in EE activities to varying degrees and their English proficiency could be positively affected by the amount of time spent on EE activities. The present study therefore aims to increase knowledge about grade 6 students’ EE engagement and its possible correlate with the students’ English grades in a Swedish context. Additionally, the study explores which types of EE activities: receptive, productive, and interactive, the students engage most in, and if there is some correlation between type of EE activity engaged in and English grade. This was investigated through mixed-method research, conducting both a quantitative digital questionnaire with 30 participant sixth graders and two qualitative focus group interviews with a total of five sixth graders participating. The findings show that the grade 6 students with high English grades engage most in interactive EE activities, whereas low-grade English students mostly engage in receptive EE activities. Additionally, the qualitative results indicate that grade 6 students perceive benefits of learning English through EE engagement. However, the present study cannot prove any statistically significant correlation between number of hours spent on EE activities per week and English grades. The present study suggests that EFL teachers consider and incorporate the increasing EE engagement of their students in the didactic choices made for English language teaching (ELT). To comprehensively explore the effects that young ESL learners’ EE engagement has on their English acquisition and grades, further research should focus on longitudinal studies, representing a greater variety and number of students participating.

This quasi-experimental Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) study explored whether the vocabulary and reading comprehension mean scores of Hispanic Kindergarten ELs whose teachers were trained to utilize Dialogic Reading (DR) discourse were higher than the mean scores of Hispanic ELs in kindergarten whose teachers were not trained to utilize DR discourse strategies. Sixty-three self-identified Hispanic, English Language Kindergarten students and four teachers participated in the study. The teachers were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (DR trained) or control group by drawing names from a hat. Student assignment to experimental versus comparison group was based on the teacher’s assignment to either the experimental or comparison group. Thirty-one were assigned to the control group and 32 to the experimental group. The teachers were instructed to read the story to a group of six students (maximum) at a time, utilizing the DR discourse strategies they had been trained to implement. Subjects were read a story each week during the 8-week duration of the study. Teachers in the experimental group collaboratively selected 10 words each week from the Read Together Talk Together (RTTT) instructional stories that were utilized for vocabulary instruction. A test of homogeneity was conducted to evaluate whether the variance among the dependent variables was the same across the groups. An Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVA) was applied to analyze students’ vocabulary and comprehension mean scores in the experimental group and the comparison group. The results of the study demonstrated a significant increase in the vocabulary and reading comprehension mean scores for the students whose teachers had been trained in DR discourse strategies. When comparing the two groups, the results revealed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study was conducted to explore how DR discourse may be an effective technique to teach literacy skills. The findings of this study showed that vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension of Hispanic ELs were positively affected by the teachers’ inclusion of dialogue during storybook reading. Its outcomes accentuated the need for teachers to provide assistance to ELs as they develop vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension skills.

<p>Predmet ove doktorske disertacije bio je da se<br />ispitaju te&scaron;koće u čitanju na engleskom kao stranom<br />jeziku kod učenika mlađeg uzrasta u osnovnim<br />&scaron;kolama u Srbiji. Od 2003. godine, kada je engleski<br />jezik uveden kao obavezni predmet od prvog razreda<br />osnovne &scaron;kole, nije bilo nacionalnih istraživanja u<br />vezi sa ranim razvojem ve&scaron;tine čitanja. Po&scaron;to<br />te&scaron;koće u čitanju mogu negativno uticati na<br />samopouzdanje učenika, njihovu motivaciju i<br />stavove, kao i na akademska i profesionalna<br />dostignuća, neophodno je efikasno delovanje u cilju<br />sprečavanja te&scaron;koća u čitanju. Prvi korak u tom<br />pravcu predstavlja ispitivanje faktora koji mogu<br />imati nepovoljan uticaj na razvoj ve&scaron;tine čitanja.<br />U istraživanju je učestvovalo 502 ispitanika<br />uzrasta od 11 godina, koji su pohađali &scaron;est osnovnih<br />&scaron;kola u pet geografski udaljenih gradova Srbije.<br />Primenjena je kombinovana metoda upotrebom<br />osam instrumenata za prikupljanje kvantitativnih i<br />kvalitativnih podataka. Kvantitativni podaci su<br />dobijeni kori&scaron;ćenjem testa čitanja, upitnika o<br />individualnim faktorima, upitnika o kontekstualnim<br />faktorima, upitnika o strategijama, upitnika o<br />te&scaron;koćama u čitanju, i intervjua, dok su kvalitativni<br />podaci dobijeni na osnovu pisanih refleksija učenika<br />i upotrebom intervjua. Rezultati su pokazali da<br />postoji statistički značajna razlika u rezultatima testa<br />čitanja u zavisnosti od individualnih i kontekstualnih<br />faktora, kao i da te&scaron;koće u ranom čitanju na<br />engleskom kao stranom jeziku mogu biti posledica<br />negativnog uticaja nekih individualnih i<br />kontekstualnih faktora, kao &scaron;to su nerazvijene<br />lingvističke i strate&scaron;ke kompetencije učenika,<br />negativan transfer ve&scaron;tine čitanja na maternjem<br />jeziku, neadekvatan pristup razvoju ve&scaron;tine čitanja u<br />nastavi, i nedovoljno čitanje na stranom jeziku van<br />časova. Na osnovu rezultata sastavljena je<br />taksonomija od 25 te&scaron;koća u čitanju na engleskom<br />kao stranom jeziku. Ovi rezultati imaju značajne<br />implikacije za dizajniranje programa ranog čitanja i<br />programa prevencije te&scaron;koća u čitanju, za nastavu<br />ranog čitanja, kao i za obrazovanje i stručno<br />usavr&scaron;avanje nastavnika engleskog jezika.</p> / <p>The primary focus of the present research study<br />was to investigate reading difficulties of young<br />6<br />learners learning English as a foreign language<br />(EFL) in formal school settings in Serbia. Since the<br />introduction of English as a compulsory school<br />subject from primary Grade One in 2003, there have<br />been no research studies in Serbia to verify what can<br />realistically be achieved in early reading skill<br />development. As reading difficulties can negatively<br />affect learners&rsquo; self-esteem, motivation, attitude,<br />confidence, and academic and career prospects, the<br />prevention of reading difficulties has emerged as an<br />issue requiring effective action. The first step<br />towards successful teaching of early reading is<br />exploration of factors that may have an adverse<br />effect on learners&rsquo; reading skill development.<br />The present research study involved 502<br />learners, aged 11, drawn from six state primary<br />schools located in five geographically distant regions<br />of the country. A mixed-method approach was<br />applied in the study, and eight instruments were used<br />to collect both quantitative and qualitative data.<br />Quantitative data was obtained with reading research<br />tool, individual factors questionnaire, contextual<br />factors questionnaire, reading strategies<br />questionnaire, reading difficulties questionnaire,<br />teacher questionnaire and prompted think-aloud<br />protocols, while qualitative data was collected with<br />post-reading reflection protocols and prompted<br />think-aloud protocols. The results showed that there<br />was a considerable difference in reading results in<br />relation to both individual and contextual factors,<br />and that reading difficulties in early EFL reading<br />may have been the result of adverse effects of some<br />individual and contextual factors, like poor linguistic<br />and strategic competences of young learners,<br />negative transfer of L1 literacy, inappropriate<br />teaching approach, and insufficient exposure to L2<br />texts. A taxonomy of reading difficulties was<br />complied, comprising 25 L2 reading difficulties.<br />These results have significant implications for<br />designing EFL reading and prevention programmes,<br />for teaching beginning reading, and for pre-service<br />and in-service EFL teacher education and training.</p>

This diploma thesis deals with the theme of testing young learners in English. The thesis consists of two main parts - theoretical and practical. The theoretical part deals with testing as one form of assessment. Language skills and subskills are studied and Cambridge Young Learners English Tests are described there in detail. This part also tries to find out the answers to essential questions concerning testing. The practical part investigates how the preparation before CYLET tests and their taking influenced the existing level of pupil´s language skills. The second part also asks whether these tests motivate the students for their further development in English. The case study is based on a one-year observation, the results from questionnaires, and an interview with the teacher who prepared pupils for the exam. The thesis is finished by short essay titled: Why are CYLET tests so motivating?