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The purpose of the research was to assess the impact of the process of professional development of English foreign language teachers in Israel who participated in the Explicit Multisensory Phonics Intervention Programme. Previous research focused on changes in knowledge, practices, student attainment, and beliefs. Changes from negative to positive self efficacy were not examined, and a model for the professional development of the English foreign language teacher did not exist. The conceptual framework is based on an integration of the concept of self efficacy with theories of professional development and literacy acquisition. Literacy acquisition is based on the knowledge and practice components of the process of professional development in this research. The process of professional development is set in motion by a sense of negative self efficacy. The attainment of content knowledge is followed by a change of practices and thereafter improved student attainment, leading to changes in teachers’ beliefs and positive self efficacy. The research questions seek to clarify teachers’ incentives for joining the programme, their standard of content knowledge and perceptions of the impact of the process of professional development. A mixed methods approach was used. The content knowledge of teachers was tested with a pre and post test. A questionnaire about the process of professional development was sent to teachers who had participated in the programme since 1991. Several unstructured interviews were held. Results showed that the teachers’ sense of negative self efficacy and failure in the field initiated their need for professional development. The impact of the process of professional development was: increased knowledge, changed practices and beliefs, claimed student attainment and positive self efficacy. The research contributes to knowledge by empirically supporting a theoretically based model for the impact of the process of professional development of English foreign language teachers. Positive and negative self efficacy are key factors in the process of professional development and knowledge is the basis of this process. These conclusions have practical applications for teacher training.

This study examines the factors that shape decision-making in relation to the development of Learner Teacher Support Materials (LTSMs) in South Africa by focusing on the processes that govern the development of Foundation Phase LTSMs, and on how publishers understand the educational nature of LTSMs that will lead to effective literacy acquisition. Findings are based on elite interviews with members of senior management in the publishing industry, and triangulated with interviews with authors and academic specialists of Foundation Phase. It was found that the close alignment between government directives and processes and the publishing industry form the core of all LTSM development and production, creating some symbiosis as well as restraints. Factors that shape the production of LTSMs include full compliance with the specific outcomes of the curriculum; producing LTSMs that are affordable in terms of set criteria by selection committees; selection committees that, determine acceptance of LTSMs for placement on approved lists; time frames that preclude in-depth research and trialling, a market that is deeply stratified and where this stratification is reinforced by curriculum imperatives relating to language; and the monitoring of classroom productivity through the filling in of Learner Book worksheets. Best practice strategies for literacy acquisition requires materials considerably beyond what the industry is producing for South Africa’s most disadvantaged markets, namely the English First Additional Language market. Teacher training done by both publishers and the Department of Basic Education suggest a different conceptualisation of Teachers’ Guides are required in order for professional development to take place through LTSMs.

<p>Literacy is an important part of communication. Phonological awareness, i.e. the ability to recognise the sound units of language and to manipulate them, has been found to be crucial in literacy acquisition.</p><p>In 2005 the development of a communication device, a talking joystick called the PhonicStick, started at The School of Computing at the University of Dundee in Scotland. The main focus with the project was to help children with physical disabilities to create spoken words by blending sounds together on the PhonicStick. It was also hypothesized that the PhonicStick could act as a support to literacy learning with typically developing children.</p><p>The aim of the present study was to investigate if a group of 10 typically developing South African 5-6 year old children could learn how to use the PhonicStick in three sessions and to see if their phonological awareness improved by using it. The training with the PhonicStick took place over a period of three weeks. The participants’ phonological awareness was screened before and after the sessions with two sub-tests of The Phonological Awareness Test (PHAT). In addition, their ability to produce sounds and words with the PhonicStick was tested.</p><p>The results showed that all the participants appeared to be interested in the PhonicStick and that they found it relatively easy to manoeuvre. The participants’ ability to produce sounds and words on the PhonicStick showed a statistically significant improvement from the first session to the third session. The participants’ phonological awareness skills did not appear to improve after three sessions. More time is needed to find out if this training would result in improved phonological awareness skills.</p>

Literacy is an important part of communication. Phonological awareness, i.e. the ability to recognise the sound units of language and to manipulate them, has been found to be crucial in literacy acquisition. In 2005 the development of a communication device, a talking joystick called the PhonicStick, started at The School of Computing at the University of Dundee in Scotland. The main focus with the project was to help children with physical disabilities to create spoken words by blending sounds together on the PhonicStick. It was also hypothesized that the PhonicStick could act as a support to literacy learning with typically developing children. The aim of the present study was to investigate if a group of 10 typically developing South African 5-6 year old children could learn how to use the PhonicStick in three sessions and to see if their phonological awareness improved by using it. The training with the PhonicStick took place over a period of three weeks. The participants’ phonological awareness was screened before and after the sessions with two sub-tests of The Phonological Awareness Test (PHAT). In addition, their ability to produce sounds and words with the PhonicStick was tested. The results showed that all the participants appeared to be interested in the PhonicStick and that they found it relatively easy to manoeuvre. The participants’ ability to produce sounds and words on the PhonicStick showed a statistically significant improvement from the first session to the third session. The participants’ phonological awareness skills did not appear to improve after three sessions. More time is needed to find out if this training would result in improved phonological awareness skills.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-03-29Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:55:18Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 goncalves_ss_me_arafcl.pdf: 981054 bytes, checksum: 4bfd77bc9752de7af3b9c7cdaf9b97f7 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A aprendizagem da escrita requer mais do que a simples transposição dos sons da fala em um outro plano. É preciso tornar-se consciente das estruturas fonológicas da linguagem e compreender o princípio alfabético. A condição para que a criança internalize procedimentos de um sitema alfabético implica a capacidade de lidar com fonemas, de chegar à noção de que as plavras são compostas pro sons e que estes correspondem a letras que se empregam para escrever. Para se alcançar esse saber a respeito das relações estreitas e precisas entre letras e sons, a criança percorre um longo processo de construção de seus conhecimentos no mundo da escrita. Para um estudo mais objetivo e prático da consciência fonêmica, analisamos dados coletados de um jovem que manifesta dificuldades significativas em termos de domínio da escrita. Percebemos que sua consciência acerca dos fonemas evoluiu, no entanto, ele ainda não consegue perceber e representar unidades distintivas em final de sílabas complexas cuja estrutura é CVC. / Learning how to write requires more than the simple transpositions of speech sounds into another plan. It is necessary to be aware of phonological structures of the language and to comprehend the alphabetical principle. The condition for child to grasp the mechanisms of an alphabetical system implies in the ability of dealing with phonemes, of noting that words are composed by sounds, which correspond to letters used to write. In order to reach that knowledge about the close and precise relationship between letters and sounds, a clhild goes through a long construction process of his/her knowledge into the world of writing. In order to perform a more practical and objective survey of the phonemics awareness, data collected from a teenager who presents significant difficulties in the field of writing. The development of his conscience about the phonemes was noted, even though he was not able to note or represent distinctive units at the end of complex syllables endowed with the CVC structure.

Orientador: Sílvia Dinucci Fernandes / Banca: Ademar da Silva / Banca: Letícia Marcondes Rezende / Resumo: A aprendizagem da escrita requer mais do que a simples transposição dos sons da fala em um outro plano. É preciso tornar-se consciente das estruturas fonológicas da linguagem e compreender o princípio alfabético. A condição para que a criança internalize procedimentos de um sitema alfabético implica a capacidade de lidar com fonemas, de chegar à noção de que as plavras são compostas pro sons e que estes correspondem a letras que se empregam para escrever. Para se alcançar esse saber a respeito das relações estreitas e precisas entre letras e sons, a criança percorre um longo processo de construção de seus conhecimentos no mundo da escrita. Para um estudo mais objetivo e prático da consciência fonêmica, analisamos dados coletados de um jovem que manifesta dificuldades significativas em termos de domínio da escrita. Percebemos que sua consciência acerca dos fonemas evoluiu, no entanto, ele ainda não consegue perceber e representar unidades distintivas em final de sílabas complexas cuja estrutura é CVC. / Abstract: Learning how to write requires more than the simple transpositions of speech sounds into another plan. It is necessary to be aware of phonological structures of the language and to comprehend the alphabetical principle. The condition for child to grasp the mechanisms of an alphabetical system implies in the ability of dealing with phonemes, of noting that words are composed by sounds, which correspond to letters used to write. In order to reach that knowledge about the close and precise relationship between letters and sounds, a clhild goes through a long construction process of his/her knowledge into the world of writing. In order to perform a more practical and objective survey of the phonemics awareness, data collected from a teenager who presents significant difficulties in the field of writing. The development of his conscience about the phonemes was noted, even though he was not able to note or represent distinctive units at the end of complex syllables endowed with the CVC structure. / Mestre

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