Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

The paper investigates focus marking devices in the scarcely documented North-Ghanaian Gur language Konkomba. The two particles lé and lá occur under specific focus conditions and are therefore regarded as focus markers in the sparse literature. Comparing the distribution and obligatoriness of both alleged focus markers however, I show that one of the particles, lé, is better analyzed as a connective particle, i.e. as a syntactic rather than as a genuine pragmatic marker, and that comparable syntactic focus marking strategies for sentence-initial constituents are also known from related languages.

New evidence is provided for a grammatical principle that singles out contrastive focus (Rooth 1996; Truckenbrodt 1995) and distinguishes it from discourse-new “informational” focus. Since the prosody of discourse-given constituents may also be distinguished from discourse-new, a three-way distinction in representation is motivated. It is assumed that an F-feature marks just contrastive focus (Jackendoff 1972, Rooth 1992), and that a G-feature marks discoursegiven constituents (Féry and Samek-Lodovici 2006), while discoursenew is unmarked. A crucial argument for G-marking comes from second occurrence focus (SOF) prosody, which arguably derives from a syntactic representation where SOF is both F-marked and G-marked. This analysis relies on a new G-Marking Condition specifying that a contrastive focus may be G-marked only if the focus semantic value of its scope is discourse-given, i.e. only if the contrast itself is given.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed Jan. 26, 2010). Additional advisors: Linda Searby, Loucrecia Collins, Margaret Rice, Scott Snyder, Connie Williams. Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-249).

published_or_final_version / Applied Statistics / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Argument coding splits such as differential (= split) object marking and split ergative marking have long been known to be universal tendencies, but the generalizations have not been formulated in their full generality before. In particular, ditransitive constructions have rarely been taken into account, and scenario splits have often been treated separately. Here I argue that all these patterns can be understood in terms of the usual association of role rank (highly ranked A and R, low-ranked P and T) and referential prominence (locuphoric person, animacy, definiteness, etc.). At the most general level, the role-reference association universal says that deviations from usual associations of role rank and referential prominence tend to be coded by longer grammatical forms. In other words, A and R tend to be referentially prominent in language use,while P and T are less prominent, and when less usual associations need to be expressed, languages often require special coding by means of additional flags (casemarkers and adpositions) or additional verbal voice coding (e.g., inverse or passive markers). I argue that role-reference associations are an instance of the even more general pattern of form-frequency correspondences, and that the resulting coding asymmetries can all be explained by frequency-based predictability and coding efficiency.

This study investigates the assessment of creative essays in grade 10 Sesotho home language. Nine participants from a total of six schools took part in the research. For the purpose of this study, no literature was found on the assessment of Sesotho essays (or essay writing in any other African language) in general or specific to creative writing in high schools in South Africa. The literature on English first language teaching and English second language teaching were then used to theoretically contextualise the writing and assessment of creative writing essays in Sesotho home language in South African high schools. Data were collected through questionnaires completed by teachers, an analysis of a sample of marked scripts (representing above average, average and below average grades) and interviews with teachers (tailored to investigate the asset of creativity and the aspect of style in Sesotho creative writing essays). The researcher manually coded open-ended responses in the questionnaires. Interview responses were coded with Atlas.ti version 7. Frequencies were calculated for the close-ended questions in the questionnaire. Participating teachers perceived their assessment of essays with the use of the rubric and the correction to be standardised. This was evident in their awarding of marks. It was found in this study that teachers generally award marks around 60%. However, their report that they use comments as per their responses in the questionnaire was disproven by the lack of comments in the scripts analysed in this study. There was also no relationship observed between the correction code frequencies observed in the marked essays that were analysed and the marks granted for specific sections of the rubric. This study recommends use of the rubric in earlier drafts of the writing process. In addition, it proposes an expansion of the marking grid used to provide clearer feedback via the revised rubric to the learners. Due to the participating teachers’ evident lack of clarity on what style in Sesotho home language essays entail, it was inferred that teachers are not clear on the distinctions between different essay assessment criteria in the rubric. A recommendation was the development of a rubric guide, which would clearly indicate to teachers what each criterion of the rubric assesses.

This study investigates the assessment of creative essays in grade 10 Sesotho home language. Nine participants from a total of six schools took part in the research. For the purpose of this study, no literature was found on the assessment of Sesotho essays (or essay writing in any other African language) in general or specific to creative writing in high schools in South Africa. The literature on English first language teaching and English second language teaching were then used to theoretically contextualise the writing and assessment of creative writing essays in Sesotho home language in South African high schools. Data were collected through questionnaires completed by teachers, an analysis of a sample of marked scripts (representing above average, average and below average grades) and interviews with teachers (tailored to investigate the asset of creativity and the aspect of style in Sesotho creative writing essays). The researcher manually coded open-ended responses in the questionnaires. Interview responses were coded with Atlas.ti version 7. Frequencies were calculated for the close-ended questions in the questionnaire. Participating teachers perceived their assessment of essays with the use of the rubric and the correction to be standardised. This was evident in their awarding of marks. It was found in this study that teachers generally award marks around 60%. However, their report that they use comments as per their responses in the questionnaire was disproven by the lack of comments in the scripts analysed in this study. There was also no relationship observed between the correction code frequencies observed in the marked essays that were analysed and the marks granted for specific sections of the rubric. This study recommends use of the rubric in earlier drafts of the writing process. In addition, it proposes an expansion of the marking grid used to provide clearer feedback via the revised rubric to the learners. Due to the participating teachers’ evident lack of clarity on what style in Sesotho home language essays entail, it was inferred that teachers are not clear on the distinctions between different essay assessment criteria in the rubric. A recommendation was the development of a rubric guide, which would clearly indicate to teachers what each criterion of the rubric assesses.

In the UK examiners assign marks to A level examination scripts using extensive mark-schemes. Examiners work under strict time constraints, and must consider various sources, from script to mark-scheme to exemplar marked scripts. Essay subjects, such as History and English (two subjects which are associated with difficulty of marking), are likely to form a particular cognitive challenge for examiners, and their marking has not been extensively researched. Most examiners mark within accepted variations of reliability, as determined by Awarding Bodies’ monitoring systems. The question is, then, how they make these decisions, given the amount of information and the limited time available. The training process which is intended to bring the examiners’ decisions into line with the standard of the Principal Examiner also represents a lacuna in the literature. This study therefore sought to investigate examiners’ decision-making processes and the process of the training meeting. Five day-long standardising meetings (four examiners’ meetings and one senior examiners’ pre-standardising meeting), split between English and History, were recorded, transcribed and subjected to discourse analysis; three examiners, spread between the four units, provided additional Verbal Protocol Analysis data while undertaking live marking. A survey, which presented preliminary conclusions from that data and some extracts from examiners’ discourse, was used to collect further data from a larger sample of History and English A level examiners. The data are considered in relation to the theory of heuristics, which has been used to consider examining at other levels, or in other subjects, and with other question types. The data are also considered in the light of other theories, including those of expertise and construct-referenced assessment. The data demonstrate that decisions were not usually made in the rule-based way which is suggested as the ideal by the regulations, and which would be assumed from the mark-schemes and rubric issued by the exam boards. The mark-scheme did provide a guide to the foci which should, and can be seen to, attract examiners’ attention. However, a great deal of ‘professional judgement’ was also exercised, and examiners used a number of informal heuristics, and made relative judgements to reach a mark; comparison is established as a major mechanism of their decision-making. These behaviours do not necessarily lead to bias, however, and many were actually suggested during the training process. Some were suggested consciously by senior examiners, but some appeared to be unconsciously modelled during the training meeting. The theory of heuristics is seen to be widely applicable to the data; the choice of material and training mitigated the potential bias which heuristics could cause. A wide range of cognitive processes are demonstrated in the data, which were used to varying degrees by different examiners, at different times within and between scripts.

The purpose of this investigation was to extend the study of possible differences between Negro and white boys on measures of physical fitness and to determine the relationship between certain variables and physical fitness for Negro and white boys.