University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English

The study is based on Lev Vygotskijs and John Dewey's learning theory. Such is “the zone for immediate development” and “learning by doing”. Purpose: The study's purpose was to examine how four teachers´ work with bilingual children's language development in a preschool and in a preschool class. These questions will be answered in my study: 1). which view of bilingualism have been the educators? 2). which language development approach has been the educators of preschool/ preschool class have chosen to promote the bilingual children's language development in the Swedish language? 3). what similarities and differences, I find the teachers' way of working with bilingual children? Method: To investigate and answer the purpose of this study was therefore qualitative approach through interviews are used. Results: The results show that both teachers in a preschool and preschool class are working with language development in order to encourage bilingual children's language development. Conclusions: The conclusions are to be able to speak several languages is an asset. Teachers should encourage bilingual children to speak their native language. To encourage bilingual children's language development using a variety of language development methods in the form of music, singing, rhymes and chants. Reading many books and to retell.

The purpose of my study has been to find out how mother tongue teachers working in preschools where a majority of the children have a mother tongue other than Swedish make use of fictional children’s books during the mother tongue support lessons. In order to determine this, I am asking the following questions: - What is the range of children's books in the children's mother tongue available at the preschool? - In what ways are the native language teachers encouraging literacy development through the usage of children's books? - How do native language teachers view the childrens’ linguistic development as well as the enhancement of cultural identity through the usage of the books? These questions have formed the basis of the methodical approach, which is based on a qualitative research method. The data collection consists of three parts; the observation of mother tongue support, interviews with language teachers as well as with the nursery manager and lastly a survey of children's books in languages other than Swedish at the preschool. The essay has as its theoretical basis the socio-cultural view of learning and development. Previous research is composed of studies showing that children with a mother tongue different from that of the majority population should be supported in the development of their native language for several reasons, including for the development of the Swedish language and for the enhancement of cultural identity. Also referred to is research which suggests that reading aloud and conversations about books is important for children's language development and future success in reading and writing activities. The results show that the range of children's books written in the mother tongue of the children which are available at the preschool is small. However, the language teachers' work with children’s books in the native languages has a prominent place in the native language support. By reading aloud, through conversation and interaction with the books, the children are given the opportunity to obtain many of the skills required for the future development of reading and writing skills. Moreover, the results show that native language teachers consciously involve the children's cultural and linguistic backgrounds in the native language education through the usage of books concerning the minority group's traditions and other specific phenomena related to the children and the cultural background of their family However, reading aloud in the mother tongue sometimes has to give way to other activities and the mother tongue education suffers when staff are absent. The conclusion I can draw from these results is that knowledge of the language support exists but that this knowledge must be connected and realized in the preschool environment.

In most African countries, and indeed other parts of the world, multilingualism is the rule rather than the exception. One could, for example, investigate in which domain each of the languages in a multilingual situation is used. It is also possible to study in linguistic terms the influence of one language on another. One may also wish to examine what is known as code switching, i.e. the use of more than one language in speech.

Abstract In this dissertation I draw on the Nessana papyri corpus and relevant comparable material (including papyri from Petra and Aphrodito and inscriptions from the region) to argue that ethnic, linguistic and imperial identities were not significant for the self-definition of the residents of Nessana in particular, and Palaestina Tertia in general, in the sixth- to the seventh- centuries AD. In contrast, this dissertation argues that economic considerations and local identities played an important role in people's perceptions of themselves and in the delineations of different social groups. The first chapter, is intended to provide a basis for further discussion by setting out the known networks of class and economics. The second chapter begins the examination of ethnicity, which is continued in the third chapter; but the second chapter concentrates on external definitions applied to the people of Nessana, and in particular on the difference between the attitude of the Byzantine Empire to the village and the attitude of the Umayyad Empire. Building on this ground, the third chapter tackles the issue of ethnicity to determine if it was at all operative in Nessana, determining that though ethnonyms were applied in various cases, these served more as markers of outsiders and were situational. Chapter four moves to the question of language use and linguistic identity, examining the linguistic divisions within the papyri. An examination of the evidence for Arabic interference within the Greek leads to the conclusion that Arabic was the vernacular, and that Greek was used both before and after the Muslim conquest for its connotations of power and imperial rule rather than as a marker of self identity. The conclusions reached in this chapter reprise the discussion of imperial identity and the questions of centralization first raised in chapter two. This return to previous threads continues in chapter five, which deals with the ties between Nessana and neighboring communities and local identities. The chapter concludes that the local village identity was indeed very strong and possibly the most relevant and frequently used form of self-identification. Overall, it appears that many of the categories we use in the modern world are not relevant in Nessana, and that in those cases where they are used, the usage implies something slightly different. / Dissertation

The French colonizer from 1912–1956 brought not only the French language to Morocco but also a colonial administration that reinforced divisions between various indigenous social groups. European, Jewish, Muslim, and Berber communities were segregated into separate schools providing different levels of French-language education. As a result, French linguistic dominance and economic opportunity were assured among some groups more thoroughly than others. Acquisition of the French language for European and Jewish communities through advanced educational opportunities at the European lycées and Jewish Alliance Israélite Universelle granted certain higher educational, economic, and administrative privileges within the colonial administration and workforce. Meanwhile, those attending schools created for Muslim and Berber Moroccans where curricula insisted on rudimentary French skills were unable to seek advanced educational or economic opportunity. This research describes the different types of access to the French language that were intended for the diverse European, Jewish, Berber, and Arab speech communities through the various educational institutions created by the French government during the French protectorate in Morocco. Through the application of Bourdieu’s language market theory, this dissertation examines the ways that access became linked to the job market and the attainment of symbolic, economic, and cultural capital. This research offers explanations of how language shift occurred among European and Jews in Morocco and how French continued to confer socioeconomic value long after independence, despite efforts to oust the “colonizer’s language” for all Moroccans. Furthermore, in contradiction to Bourdieu’s language market theory, this research exposes how multiple language markets in Morocco emerged for Muslim and Berber communities as a result of access to different kinds of instruction and how both French and Arabic became legitimate languages with very different social functions. / text

This dissertation, based on pilot research in the U.S. and Kenya in 2002 and fieldwork in two secondary schools in Kenya in 2004, has a twofold focus. First, it examines language ideologies of English, Kiswahili, and Kenya's 53 indigenous languages, in particular Gikuyu [Kikuyu], in the context of Kenyan discourses of nationalism, education, and development. Second, it shows how these language ideologies are contributing to the language endangerment of Kenya's indigenous languages.The stable trilingualism enjoyed by the parents of today's young Kenyans is not shared by their children. The research question that drove this dissertation was, Why are trilingual parents raising bilingual children? This dissertation seeks to answer that question by drawing on ethnographic observations, consultant interviews, and newspaper data from Kenya's largest newspapers, the Nation and the Standard. Rapid language shift, occurring in just the past 20 years in Kenya, has put even large languages like Gikuyu into an endangered status. A historically contextualized understanding of the reasons behind the shift is necessary in order for the trend to be reversed.

My purpose with this essay is to examine the relationship between esthetic learning processes and language development to find good practices in my work with multilingual children. In my report, I describe a few activities from my work as a preschool pedagogue in a multicultural area, with a large group of children where age and knowledge of Swedish varies. The background to this essay is the problems I experienced in my work with children´s language development in an organization that, in my opinion, is limited by economic factors. The questions I poses are about the way esthetic learning processes can help children develop their language skills as well as their participation in preschool activities. I also pose the question whether there is a connection between the musical ear and children´s development of language. Finally, I wonder what abilities I need to have as a pedagogue in order for the esthetic learning processes to be language developing. Besides the essay method I have used fenomenological-hermeneutical method. I interpret events and meetings in work situations and process my practical knowledge by allowing it to meet the different theoretical perspectives. In the survey I let the research from the socio-cultural perspective take a central place because I found this closely tied up to my research questions. I have come to the conclusion that the joyful and creative properties of the esthetic learning processes opens our minds to learning and development. In a group with multilingual children the chance increases to participate in the preschool activities though esthetic learning processes because the children can participate in different ways in addition to the verbal language. In the social environment interaction and communication is critical for multilingual children developing Swedish as a second language. In this context we use the esthetic languages as cultural tools. I have also come to the concusion that music and language have common parameters, which means that they follow each other in children´s development. Early in life children develop their  musical ear and uses it both in linguistic and musical activities. Finally, I have concluded that a group of mixed ages can be an advantage for language development when children learn from each other. I aslo conclude that the pedagogues knowledge, experience, attitudes and qualities are important for the esthetic learning processes to support the language depelopment. / Mitt syfte med denna essä är att undersöka sambanden mellan estetiska lärprocesser och språkutveckling för att hitta väl fungerande metoder i mitt arbete med flerspråkiga barn. I den inledande berättelsen skildrar jag ett par aktiviteter från mitt arbete som pedagog på en förskola i ett mångkulturellt område, i en stor barngrupp där ålder och kunskaper i svenska varierar. Bakgrunden till uppsatsen är de problem som jag upplevt i mitt arbete med barnens språkutveckling i en organisation som, enlig min åsikt, begränsas av ekonomiska faktorer. De frågor jag utgår från handlar om på vilket sätt de estetiska lärprocesserna kan hjälpa barn att utveckla sin språkförmåga samt hur de kan hjälpa flerspråkiga barn till delaktighet i förskolans verksamhet. Jag ställer också frågan om det finns ett samband mellan musikaliskt gehör och barns utveckling av språket. Slutligen undrar jag vilka förmågor jag behöver ha som pedagog för att de estetiska lärprocesserna ska vara språkutvecklande. Förutom metoden att skriva essä har jag använt mig av fenomenologisk-hermeneutisk metod. Jag tolkar händelser och möten i min arbetssituation och bearbetar min praktiska kunskap genom att låta den möta olika teoretiska perspektiv. I undersökningen låter jag forskning från det sociokulturella perspektivet ta en central plats eftersom jag i denna funnit kopplingar till mina forskningsfrågor. Jag har kommit fram till att de lustfyllda och kreativa egenskaperna hos de estetiska lärprocesserna öppnar våra sinnen för utveckling och lärande. I en grupp med flerspråkiga barn ökar chansen till delaktighet i aktiviteterna med hjälp av estetiska lärprocesser eftersom barnen kan delta på olika sätt utöver det verbala språket. I den sociala omgivningen på förskolan finns det samspel och den kommunikation som är avgörande för de flerspråkiga barnens utveckling av svenska som andraspråk. I denna kontext använder vi de estetiska språken som kulturella redskap. Jag har också kommit fram till att musik och språk har gemensamma parametrar som innebär att de följs åt i barnens utveckling. Barn utvecklar tidigt i livet sitt musikaliska gehör och använder detta både i språkliga och musikaliska aktiviteter. Slutligen har jag kommit fram till att en åldersblandad barngrupp kan vara en fördel för språkutvecklingen då barnen kan lära av varandra. Jag kan också konstatera att pedagogens kunskaper, erfarenheter, förhållningssätt och egenskaper spelar stor roll för att de estetiska lärprocesserna ska vara språkutvecklande.

D. Tech. Language Practice. / The objective of this study is to draw out, and establish, the attitudes held by Setswana first language (L1)-speaking university students toward their L1, in a context of that L1 being one of the many spoken in a multilingual society, South Africa. The study also aims to test the potential influence of the following nine variables on attitudes toward Setswana: (1) gender; (2) age group; (3) years at university; (4) level of study; (5) competence in Setswana; (6) linguality; (7) location of nurture; (8) field of study; and, (9) type of university attended. The following variables are new in language attitudes studies in South Africa: competence in ones L1; linguality; location of nurture; and, type of university attended.

This dissertation explores the complex interactions among written text, language choice, and political context in Wales in the late-eleventh and early-twelfth centuries. I argue that writers in medieval Wales created in both their literary compositions and their manuscripts intricate layers of protest and subversion in direct opposition to the authority of the Anglo-Norman political hegemony and the aggrandizing spread of the Canterbury-led church. These medieval literati exploited language and script as tools of definition. They privileged Welsh or Latin when their audience shifted, and they employed the change from early Insular script to the Caroline script of the Normans as not just a natural evolution in script development, but as a selective representation of mimicked authority. The family of Bishop Sulien at Llanbadarn Fawr has been the focal point of this study, as they were active during a time of Anglo-Norman intervention in their community that is reflected in the shifting script of their manuscripts and the apprehensive though proud tone of their compositions, which include the vitae of saints David and Padarn and the poetry of Ieuan and Rhygyfarch ap Sulien. My work provides a much-needed cohesive portrait of the multilingual medieval Welsh literary culture at the turn of the twelfth century. Questions of audience and authority come into play, particularly when considering the growing hybridity of learned communities during the Anglo-Norman infiltration of Wales. Manuscripts themselves are viewed as vehicles of identity, for the evolution of script and design offers clues as to the methods of compromise practiced by Welsh intellectuals. This compromise in the written word can be viewed as an embodiment of the Welsh desire and need to mediate fraught political boundaries, as they did using both the ‘nation’-defining Welsh language and the vehicular prestige language of Latin, resulting in an intertextual exploration of identity through the act of writing itself. Writing is a critical demonstration of Welsh authorship and agency in medieval Britain, and one that can be used to reflect upon notions of Welsh identity. / Celtic Languages and Literatures