Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2010. / "Graduate Program in Urban Systems." Includes bibliographical references (p. 224-233).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2005-05-20Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:12:10Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 buranello_ec_me_assis.pdf: 314574 bytes, checksum: 12d7e8c072948f5d595c1a0af6c21ff2 (MD5) / A pesquisa desenvolve um estudo sobre atividades de leitura. Em seu curso, percebemos a necessidade de confrontar alguns aspectos teóricos com determinada prática escolar, o que nos levou à aplicação de questionários para verificar, além do nível de afinidade dos alunos envolvidos em relação a tais atividades, seu ponto de vista diante do modo como sua escola lida com o processo de leitura. Em complemento, implementamos certas atividades propostas nos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais, muitas distantes das salas de aula, e ainda outras possibilidades de tornar a leitura mais atraente para o jovem e mais eficaz para a formação de leitores proficientes. / The research purposes to develop a study about reading activities. In its progress, we realized the necessity of comparing some theoretical aspects with determined school practice, what conducted us to the application of questionnaires to verificate, beyond of the level of kindred of the students involved in relation of such activities, their point of view in the presence of the way how their school manages the reading process. In complement, we implement some activities proposed by the PCN's, some far of the classroom, and other possibilities to become the reading more attractive to young people and more efficacious to the formation of proficient readers.

Radiotelephony between air traffic controllers and pilots utilises standard phraseology as the medium of communications. Standard phraseology employs specific structure, terminology and pronunciation to ensure effectiveness and accuracy. On occasions when standard phraseology is found insufficient, plain language is used to efficiently relay vital information. By default, English is the designated language of communication between controllers and pilots of international flights. Deviations from the usage of standard phraseology and lack of language proficiency had been identified as one of the causal factors in safety occurrences. Language deficiencies, specifically of the non-native speakers of the English language, had raised much concern but there is limited information in the area. This research attempted to fill a small segment of this knowledge gap. It was focussed on the usage of standard phraseology and English language in an air traffic control environment involving English Second Language users. Audio data was sourced from routine radiotelephony recordings of ‘live’ air traffic control facilities in Malaysia to capture realistic communications between controllers and pilots in the Terminal Approach Radar, Area Radar and Aerodrome Control environments. A detailed cross sectional investigation of the radiotelephony characteristics, deficiencies and errors of transmitted messages revealed the radiotelephony performances of controllers and pilots in the environments. The recurrence of deviations from standards and occurrence of errors implied the likelihood of such deficiencies taking place. Demographic groups’ descriptions complemented the radiotelephony analyses as background information on language related training. The results were comparative to other similar studies and offered new information on English Second Language speakers in the Air Traffic Control environment.

Orientador: Odilon Helou Fleury Curado / Banca: Antonieta Laface / Banca: Martha Augusta Corrêa e Castro Gonçalves / Resumo: A pesquisa desenvolve um estudo sobre atividades de leitura. Em seu curso, percebemos a necessidade de confrontar alguns aspectos teóricos com determinada prática escolar, o que nos levou à aplicação de questionários para verificar, além do nível de afinidade dos alunos envolvidos em relação a tais atividades, seu ponto de vista diante do modo como sua escola lida com o processo de leitura. Em complemento, implementamos certas atividades propostas nos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais, muitas distantes das salas de aula, e ainda outras possibilidades de tornar a leitura mais atraente para o jovem e mais eficaz para a formação de leitores proficientes. / Abstract: The research purposes to develop a study about reading activities. In its progress, we realized the necessity of comparing some theoretical aspects with determined school practice, what conducted us to the application of questionnaires to verificate, beyond of the level of kindred of the students involved in relation of such activities, their point of view in the presence of the way how their school manages the reading process. In complement, we implement some activities proposed by the PCN's, some far of the classroom, and other possibilities to become the reading more attractive to young people and more efficacious to the formation of proficient readers. / Mestre

Exploring the relationship between early oral reading fluency ability and reading comprehension achievement among an ethnically and racially diverse sample of young learners from low-income families, attending elementary school within a large public school district in southeast Florida is the purpose of this longitudinal study. Although many studies have been conducted to address the relationship between oral reading fluency ability and reading comprehension achievement, most of the existing research failed either to disaggregate the data by demographic subgroups or secure a large enough sample of students to adequately represent the diverse subgroups. The research questions that guided this study were: (a) To what extent does early oral reading fluency ability measured in first, second, or third grade correlate with reading comprehension achievement in third grade? (b) To what extent does the relationship of early oral reading fluency ability and reading comprehension achievement vary by demographic subgroup membership (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status) among a diverse sample of students? A predictive research design using archived secondary data was employed in this nonexperimental quantitative methods study of 1,663 third grade students who attended a cohort of 25 Reading First funded schools. The data analyzed derived from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills Oral Reading Fluency (DIBELS ORF) measure administered in first, second, and third grades and the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test of the Sunshine State Standards (FCAT-SSS) Reading administered in third grade. Linear regression analyses between each of the oral reading fluency and reading comprehension measures produced significant positive correlations. Hierarchical regression analyses supported the predictive potential of all three oral reading fluency ability measures toward reading comprehension achievement, with the first grade oral reading fluency ability measure explaining the most significant variance in third grade reading comprehension achievement. Male students produced significant overall differences in variance when compared to female students as did the Other student subgroup (i.e., Asian, Multiracial, and Native American) when compared to Black, White, and Hispanic students. No significant differences in variance were produced between students from low and moderate socioeconomic families. These findings are vital toward adding to the literature of diverse young learners.

The purpose of this study was to find out whether factors such as the learners’ learning styles, their cultural backgrounds, instructional approaches and strategies used by teachers and the lack of exposure to relevant resources had an influence on the declining English proficiency among learners. The researcher is currently an English teacher in one of the schools in the Qumbu Education District. The researcher expressed concern about the learners’ declining performance in aspects of English language like reading, writing and speaking. The idea of carrying out this study became necessary as English is a compulsory first additional language for most of the schools. Most of the subjects offered in South African schools are taught in English; moreover, English is an internationally-recognized medium of communication. One therefore, has to master the use of English to a certain extent so as to be a successful scholar. The sample consisted of 20 English senior phase teachers who were randomly selected from 13 schools in various circuits around the Qumbu Education District. Data was collected through the use of questionnaires which focused specifically on the learners’ learning styles, their cultural backgrounds, instructional approaches and strategies used by teachers, and also the lack of exposure to relevant literature. These questionnaires were administered by the researcher in person. The data were analyzed and interpreted statistically and also presented through tables and discussions. The findings of this study revealed that the geographical locations of the selected schools for the research study, limited exposure to English-related resources, workload of English teachers, teaching and learning approaches, and knowledge acquisition strategies employed by teachers and learners contribute to the decline in English proficiency among the learners. If these could be attended to effectively, English proficiency could improve among learners. In conclusion, recommendations have been made both for action and possible further research.

M.A. (Applied Linguistics)) / The aim of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of two techniques of assessing writing proficiency. Both measuring techniques, Le. objective (multiple-choice question) and subjective (essay-type question) have their advantages as well as limitations and little agreement regarding their validity and reliability has been reached to date. Today great pressure is put on educational bodies to ensure that tests are fair to all those who attempt them and the cry for common standards is steadily increasing. The importance, therefore, of investigating the suitability of a multiple-choice test as a valid and reliable technique of assessing writing proficiency, is self-evident. Literature relevant to the following fields was reviewed: * Applied linguistics in relation to its application to pedagogy, especially to the teaching and testing of English as a second language * Perspectives concerning the methodology of teaching English as a second language, for example the traditional and functional/notional methods as well as the shift in emphasis from grammar oriented syllabuses to the new communicative approach * The writing process and the language skills and abilities involved * The validity and reliability of the essay-type test as opposed to multiple-choice testing as a measure of writing proficiency * The measurement of writing proficiency * Various scoring techniques...

The purpose of this study is to understand the factors behind Chinese student’s English-speaking proficiency. The hypothesis formed to answer this issue follows: “Large factors influencing Chinese students’ English speech proficiency is an examination-oriented education system, degree of childhood exposure to English and motivational, stress-free learning environments.”  Data has been collected by sending out an anonymous online questionnaire to Chinese students at Swedish Universities, asking about their learning experiences. A criterion for participation was to have taken either the IELTS or the TOEFL. Stephen Krashen’s theories on second language acquisition was used as source material because of its reliability and well-established ideas. Additionally, previous research and data from the IELTS or the TOEFL has also been included. The participants were also asked to include their results from the IELTS or the TOEFL for the purpose of comparing the different categories of reading, writing, speaking and listening ability, with focus placed on factors affecting speech proficiency. Our study found some support for our hypothesis. The results showed that the Chinese English education system places a lot of attention on reading which might deprioritize other parts of language learning such as speaking. The system also promotes examinations, which shapes curriculum into focusing on test results. In short, the testing-based system influence the way students are taught. Participants considering “speaking” to be highly important, but many received low speaking scores.  Our questionnaire showed that many students experienced nervousness when speaking English, the reason for this might be that they have not received comprehensible input and sufficient time to acquire the language, meaning that they are not yet ready to produce natural speech.  Ideally, a larger sample of participants, more survey questions and an in-depth interview with the students would have been preferable and resulted in more reliable results, which can be taken into consideration for future research.

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