Why the Buddhist Pali Canon? Why the Brahmajala Sutta? Will this dissertation contribute anything new and valuable towards Orality-Literacy Studies? It was with much anxiety and apprehension as well as intimidation in remembering the words of Jousse (1990): "A man who writes a book deriving solely from other books contributes nothing new." ...... that the choice of this topic became finalised. The Brahmajala Sutta commences with the words: "Evam me sutam" (Thus I have heard) It is the written representation of an oral form that came into existence as the culmination of an established authentic oral tradition that had its origins in the 5th Century B.C. It became preserved in written form in the 1st Century B.C. with the purpose of canonizing the Discourses of Gotama Buddha. These were and still are oral elements transmitted orally and the written text abounds with such as mnemotechniques, repetitions, refrains, sound and rhythmic patterns, silences and pauses that are germane to the content and comprehension of the sutta (discourse). This text which has survived many centuries holds much fascination as it attaches a meditative dimensions to the Orality-Literacy continuum since the meditative repetition of its verses aims at the spiritual transformation and enhancement of the individual. Le Roux (1991: 48) asks, "Is it possible to rekindle a live relationship with this ancient text, which is now only available in printed form?" In answering her question she states, "It is possible when the present day reader realises that this sutta has a dynamic vitality of its own, that it is able to challenge, communicate and demand a response from the interpreter. Inevitably, the reader is drawn into an involvement with the message of the sutta which Ricoeur (1967:354) calls, "a passionate, though critical relation with the truth value of each symbol." When the two horizons meet, that of the present day reader and the ancient text itself, understanding becomes a reality. That is possible notwithstanding immense differences in time, language and religio-philosophical beliefs." This dissertation is not intended to be an exegetical analysis of the Brahmajala Sutta, for which, in any case, it affords neither scope nor range. What it seeks to do is to explore how the text came to be fixed in its present form, as well as to appreciate the processes that lie behind its formulation, and most important of all, to attempt to understand what intrinsic qualities it possesses that give it its "dynamic vitality." In the first three chapters, the text is placed against the historical, sociological and cultural contexts of the Buddhist Pali Canon. This information is essential as it provides the background necessary for the comprehension of important aspects of the sutta. Chapter Four locates the position of the Brahmajala Sutta within the giant corpus of material embraced by the Buddhist Pali Canon and Chapter Five presents the structural formulation of the text. In Chapters Six and Seven, the oral compositional process with its use of formulaic devices comes into focus within a semantic, morphological and phonological analysis. I emphasise that since I consider my knowledge of the Pali Canon to be relatively limited, I have had to rely on the works of the many eminent researchers whose names appear in the Bibliography, for the information contained in the first three chapters. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1992.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Natal, Durban, 1994.

Este trabalho apresenta uma investigação sobre as concepções e práticas referentes à avaliação da aprendizagem de língua inglesa em comunidades do Ensino Fundamental. Os registros dessa investigação são aqui analisados e servem como ponto de partida para uma discussão sobre o tema segundo a perspectiva das teorias de letramentos predominantes nas últimas décadas. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa-interpretativa de caráter etnográfico (André, 2003), cujas perguntas direcionadoras são: I. Como se caracteriza hoje a avaliação da aprendizagem nas aulas de inglês em algumas comunidades do Ensino Fundamental? II. Como pensar a concepção de avaliação da aprendizagem de línguas sob a perspectiva dos novos estudos de letramento? Diante das observações de aulas, das entrevistas com as professoras e da análise dos documentos, pudemos identificar a recorrência de uma concepção de avaliação pautada no paradigma da modernidade, cujos problemas mais evidenciados foram seu entendimento como sinônimo de mensuração, a ênfase ao ensino de conteúdos objetivos e estáveis e ainda a prioridade do uso de provas escritas. Tais evidências, porém, não se fizeram de modo linear e homogêneo, uma vez que as narrativas e práticas pedagógicas dos sujeitos de pesquisa mostraram-se descontínuas e contraditórias. Assim é que pudemos curiosamente identificar concepções estruturalistas de língua acompanhadas de uma prática avaliativa formativa e concepções progressistas de ensino ao lado de uma concepção convencional de avaliação. No que diz respeito à discussão da avaliação de línguas diante das transformações epistemológicas assinaladas pelos novos estudos de letramento, concluímos que sua reconceituação deverá abarcar elementos até então negligenciados pela concepção convencional de educação. Trata-se, pois, de uma re-conceituação em curso e que requererá maior expansão de conhecimento por meio de pesquisas acadêmicas. / The aim of this study is to investigate both conceptions and practices regarding English language assessment in some Elementary School communities. The reports of this investigation are then analyzed and serve as a starting point for a discussion about the theme from the perspective of the prevailing new literacy studies in the last decades. It is an interpretative-qualitative research, with ethnographic aspects (André, 2003), whose guiding questions are: I. How does language assessment evolve in English classes in some Elementary School communities? II. What would the conception of language assessment be like from the perspective of the new literacy studies? Through research field, interviews with teachers and documentation analysis, we could identify a recurring conception of evaluation based on the paradigm of Modernity, whose most evident problems were its interpretation as measurement, the emphasis on objective and stable contents, and also the predominant use of written assessments. These findings, however, did not occur in a linear and homogeneous way, since both narratives and teaching practices appeared to be discontinuous and contradictory. Thus, we could curiously notice language structuralist conceptions together with formative evaluation and progressist views of language beside a more conventional evaluation concept. Regarding the discussion of language assessment towards the epistemological transformations signaled by the new literacy studies, we come to the conclusion that its re-conceptualization should enclose certain elements hitherto neglected by a conventional education conception. This, therefore, refers to a current reconceptualization, which will demand more academic research outcomes.

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This thesis investigates how teachers navigate Common Core State Standards, high-stakes testing, and teacher evaluation while creating their own curriculum to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. As a former teacher, I conducted a practitioner research case study of four successful colleagues in a bilingual Pre-K-8 school in Washington, DC. When given flexibility in curriculum, teachers integrated knowledge from their relationships with students to foster a caring environment that supports learning and created their own systems of accountability by deciding what data matters. Teachers centered student engagement as what drives their curriculum and used a variety of differentiation methods based on their own “toolbox” of instructional strategies. Findings suggest a flexible curriculum model allows teachers to be curriculum makers who actively go beyond the standards to integrate knowledge from their practice and relationships with students to create curriculum that successfully supports language learners.

In this investigation an attempt is made to show that in the world of radio communications in South Africa the oral mode of expression or radio oralism is manifestly more valued than the literate mode. The study deals with three basic issues: firstly, the new electronic culture which, to a large extent, depends on the spoken word, secondly, the significance of the spoken word that new mass media has developed; and, thirdly, what is likely to happen in broadcasting as a whole in South Africa, where the new oralism already had a decisive impact. The study explores the structure of the oral poetic language of radio grammar by examining black announcers' language usage. The thesis focuses on the individual announcer, her or his repertoure of repetitions and styles, and the quality of her or his practice of the traditional artistic expressions. It explores why one phrase is used and not another; it examines the many forms of repetition, their meanings, sounds, and the sound patterns formed by what precedes and follows them. starting with the individual announcer, the study worked outwards to the group to which she/he belongs, namely to other announcers who have influenced him or her and then to South African black society as a whole. The language of black South African radio announcers is in many respects stylised and ordered. In their creations, these announcers have incorporated praise names, geneologies and formulas which show their reliance both on the more specialized bardic repertoire and on the wider Izibongo tradition. At the end of this study, four things are noted: 1. The meaning of word in radio is controlled by what Goody and Watt (1968:28) call 'direct semantic ratification', that is by the real-life situations in which the word is used here and now. Words acquire their meanings only from their insistent actual habits - these include gestures, vocal inflections, and the entire human existential setting in which real, spoken words always occur. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1993.

The thesis is a description and analysis of the oral style devices on four collections undertaken by G.Beutler, G. de Granda, F. Dougherty and G. Hersalek in Colombia. Themes and their transmitters are analysed. Oral features such as formulas, the uses of repetition and parallelism as well as variability are explored in individual chapters which are illustrated with Colombian texts. The thesis consists of an introduction to the theme of the Oral Spanish Balladry and its collections; a summarized description of the primary sources; an annotated transcription of our compilation of texts in the department of Boyaca and five chapters of analysis and description of oral style mechanisms. Charts showing the themes collected in Colombia and the number, gender and age of its repositories are included. Maps indicate the departments in Colombia where those themes were found. Graphs have the purpose to show a clearer perspective on the distribution of the Spanish Balladry in Colombia, thus, offering a guide for new researchers. This analysis shows that the Colombian transmitters have made use both of the oral style devices inherited from Spain as well as their own initiative that has produced innovations at different levels in this tradition. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.