This thesis explores the teaching and learning of English for Medical Purposes (EMP) in a Syrian Arab university (Tishreen University). It investigates the inherent contradictions in the position of EMP in an Arab-medium university by drawing on the socio-political and economic factors shaping English language education policy in Syria. It also critiques “mainstream” ESP through examining the “purpose” in English for Medical Purposes. Rather than viewing learning as an end product, this study suggests that learning English is part of a dynamic process of learning to become a doctor in Syria and as part of constructing the 21st Century Syrian “doctor” identity. I draw on aspects of poststructuralism and complexity theory to take the analysis of English for Specific Purposes beyond issues of needs analysis, content, and materials development. ESP, from its outset, has been proposed for decades as a commodity that meets students’ linguistic and communicative needs. However important these concerns are for the development of the discipline, as I argue in this thesis, ESP seems to adopt a “mechanistic” approach by predetermining “needs” and “purposes” which fails to account for the complexity of human beings’ behaviours and responses in educational contexts. The deterministic conceptualisation of ESP places rigid boundaries between ESP and the reality of the medicine profession, therefore, fails to meet students’ needs which transcend boundaries of classroom in aspiration for recognition by the medical community worldwide. English for Medical Purposes, in this study, goes beyond “specific purposes” to account for the role of English as a foreign language in constructing doctor identity and in the process of becoming a doctor. Data in this qualitative research were collected through focus groups with students of medicine in Tishreen University, semi-structured interviews with medical tutors and management officials in the Faculty of Medicine and the Higher Institute of Languages, as well as ESP teachers. Policy documents were analysed, and field notes were taken in classroom and hospital observations. Based on the analysis of these sources, a deeper understanding of EMP at Tishreen University is reached through the lens of poststructuralism and complexity theory. Finally, this thesis ends by drawing an ESP/Applied Linguistics relationship among the implications the findings have for policy makers, teachers and medical students, alongside recommendations for future ESP research directions.

This three-article dissertation explores the first year of a sheltered university bridge program (also commonly known as "pathway" programs-see Winkle, 2011) for ESL students at a large public university in the American southwest. "Sheltering" is the practice of offering "academic courses taught in the second language" where "native and non-native [...] students are not mixed in any one class" (Snow & Brinton, 1984, p. 8), a model commonly found in K-12 settings (Echevarria & Graves, 1998; Freeman, Freeman & Gonzalez, 1987; Weinhouse, 1986), though there are sheltered programs in university settings (see, for example, the University of Ottawa Program-Burger, Weinberg & Wesche, 2013). The labels "bridge" and "pathway" refer to pre-matriculation programs that "feature a hybrid of credit-bearing coursework and instruction in English language and academic skills" (Redden, 2010, para 1). Bridge and Pathway Program (BPP) curricula typically follow the adjunct model in which ESL courses are linked with mainstream, unsheltered university courses, with the ESL course providing support. The model in the current study follows the sheltered convention of ESL-only cohorts, but adds the adjunct convention of offering linked support. As international student interest in studying at U.S. universities has grown over recent decades (Open Doors Report, 2015), a subset of international students has emerged that may have lower-than-institutional-benchmark English proficiency for admission based on exams like the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam. BPPs primarily serve this subset of students by offering non-testing curricular paths (linked ESL/university courses) to full matriculation that focus on "achievement, as opposed to proficiency alone" (Dooey, 2010, p. 185). One can expect that BPPS will continue to proliferate given that they bring in previously inadmissible international enrollees to add to the now essential revenue stream that international students represent for universities (Andrade, 2006; Marshall, 2005; Redden, 2010; 2014). This dissertation adds to a growing body of recent research (e.g. Dooey, 2010; Fiocco, 2006; Redden, 2010; 2014, Winkle, 2011) about these models. Article 1 (Appendix A): The Past, Present, and Future of Combined ESL/University Study Programs: From Ad Hoc ESL Interventions to Bridge and Pathway Programs. This article is both a critical literature review and "state-of-the-field" piece (Canagarajah, 2006) that situates the evolution of postsecondary ESL support historically. It explores how postsecondary ESL has gone from an ad hoc, situational endeavor focused on remediating language deficiencies to a multifaceted field of program offerings replete with varying curricular models and dedicated faculty and recruiting structures, a field that has evolved into current BPPs. Article 2 (Appendix B): Exploring Dynamics and Dimensions in Two Linked Adjunct/Content Courses in a Sheltered University Pathway Program for ESL Students: A Case Study. This case study considers the nuances of a sheltered university pathway program for ESL students in its first year of existence. It follows the research framework of an Unlu and Wharton (2015) study using grounded theory analysis. By reconciling classroom observations in two university general education courses (Introduction to Anthropology and US History) and their linked EAP courses (EAP Bridge to Anthropology and EAP Bridge to American History) with participant interviews, I explore the dynamics between students, content instructors, and EAP support instructors. I form a theory about the pedagogy constituted by (and constitutive of) participant actions and beliefs in the observed classes, and argue that the current program may uphold uncritical, remedial predispositions vis-à -vis EAP, as well as content instruction and learning. Finally, I discuss future considerations for this, and other, linked course programs couched in EAP literature. Article 3 (Appendix C): Team-Teaching in a First-Year Composition Course for ESL Students: A Participant-Observational Reflexive Account of One Sheltered University Pathway Context. This case study takes place in a first-year composition course in a sheltered university pathway program for ESL students. It focuses on a specific and complex essay assignment: the Text-in-Context essay (TICE). I consider the assignment parameters, primary and secondary texts offered for completion, interviews with students and instructors, field notes, notes from tutoring sessions, written student reflections, the assignments themselves, and a reflexive narration of my research experience to describe the milieu of the TICE. The description suggests a community of practice (Wenger, 2002) in which a team-teaching approach helps to facilitate the completion of a complex analytical task, while also fostering the growth of the ESL students as academic writers.

The main topic of this thesis is the translation of the food-related cultural references. The theoretical part is primarily focused on translation techniques and strategies which are usually used for the translation of cultural elements. Furthermore, the other objective of this part is to introduce this topic in the context of the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language. Specifically, it deals with the incorporation of a sociocultural component in the Spanish courses and the translation as a pedagogical tool. The theoretical foundations are put into practice in a translation techniques analysis and there is also a didactic proposal designed for Czech students of Translation and Interpreting.

<p>This dissertation investigates the linguistic features of engagement in spoken academic online and face-to-face instruction in mathematics on two platforms: Khan Academy and MIT OpenCourseWare. In particular, the study analyses involvement features (personal pronouns and deixis) and interactional features (response elicitors, direct hypothetical reported speech). Using corpus linguistics methodology and register analysis framework (Biber &Conrad, 2009), I investigated normed frequency of occurrence for these features and multi-word expressions which contain them to reveal patterns of use. Additionally, I investigated the function of these features in concordance lines to reveal their use to engage audience in the learning process. The findings of this study suggests that Khan Academy instruction in mathematics relies on using conversational and academic spoken features similar to those found in the MIT lecture corpus, including frequent use of personal pronouns (especially <i>we)</i>, and response elicitors (<i>right?)</i>. The format of online video instruction also elicits more use of spatial deixis to draw attention to the elements on the virtual board. The findings of this exploratory study add to the growing literature on language used for educational purposes in online environments, especially the online academic spoken discourse.</p>

O presente trabalho tem como objeto o ensino do italiano jurídico para estudantes brasileiros, propriamente o papel do léxico específico na área do direito para o desenvolvimento de competências orais e escritas. A fundamentação teórica desta pesquisa concentra-se nos estudos realizados por Saussure (2006) em relação ao uso da linguagem e por Orlandi (2002) para a Análise do Discurso. No que tange aos gêneros textuais e aos gêneros do discurso, baseamo-nos principalmente nos pressupostos de Bakhtin (2003) e Marcuschi (2008), além de outros autores (HILA, 2009; BHATIA, 2009; MOTTAROTH, 2008). No que diz respeito à análise dos textos jurídicos, fundamentamo-nos em DellAnna (2017) e Tullio (2012). Para a escolha da didática a ser aplicada nos cursos e na produção dos materiais, nossos referenciais foram os trabalhos de Ortale (2016), Vieira (2012, 2017) e Souza (2018). Com relação às estratégias de leitura, os escritos de Dota (1994) e Solé (1998) nos guiaram. A metodologia deste estudo é baseada na pesquisa-ação (THIOLLENT, 2009) e a coleta de dados se dividiu em duas partes: na primeira, preparamos e ministramos um curso no qual utilizamos videoaulas de direito italiano material autêntico (VIEIRA, 2012, 2017) , além de prepararmos algumas videoaulas de italiano para iniciantes. Esse curso foi planejado segundo a abordagem comunicativa (ALMEIDA FILHO, 1998, 2005, LEFFA, 1088,1996, 2008a, 2008b), sendo priorizadas as habilidades de compreensão oral e escrita e, em segundo plano, a produção oral e a produção escrita. No segundo curso que ministramos, decidimos utilizar os parâmetros da pedagogia do pós-método e empregar as macro e as microestratégias (KUMARAVADIVELU, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2006a, 2006b, 2012). As macroestratégias foram concretizadas por meio das microestratégias de leitura que elaboramos especialmente para a leitura dos textos jurídicos (DOTA, 1994; SOLÉ, 1998) e que nos conduziram na realização do segundo curso sobre compreensão de textos jurídicos em italiano. Ao final, avaliamos os resultados dos dois cursos e chegamos a algumas conclusões sobre o ensino do italiano jurídico, tanto em relação ao uso da abordagem comunicativa como em relação ao emprego da pedagogia pósmétodo. Consideramos a utilização de materiais próprios para estudantes brasileiros de relevante importância para o ensino do italiano jurídico e esperamos que esta pesquisa contribua para a área de italiano com fins específicos. / The present work has as its target the teaching of juridical Italian for Brazilian students, specifically, the role of lexicon specificity for development of oral and written skills in law field. The theoretical basis of this research spotlights the studies carried out by Saussure (2006) regarding the use of language and Orlandi (2002), for Discourse Analysis. In terms of textual and discourse genres, we were mainly substantiated on the assumptions of Bakhtin (2003) and Marcuschi (2008), besides other authors (HILA, 2009, BHATIA, 2009 and MOTTA-ROTH, 2008). Concerning the analysis of legal documents, we focused on Dell\'Anna (2017) and Tullio (2012). For the didactics technique choice to be applied to the courses and production of materials, our references were Ortale (2016), Vieira (2012, 2017) and Souza (2018) works. With regard to reading strategies, writings of Dota (1994) and Solé (1998) guided us. The methodology of this study was based on action research (THIOLLENT, 2009) and the data collection was divided into two parts: First, we prepared and gave a course in which we use video classes of Italian law - authentic material (VIEIRA, 2012, 2017) - as well as prepared Italian video classes for beginners. This course was designed according to the communicative approach (ALMEIDA FILHO, 1998, 2005, LEFFA, 1088, 1996, 2008a, 2008b), in which oral and written comprehension skills were priority, being followed by oral and written production. The second part was composed by a course in which it was settled the use the parameters present on the post method pedagogy and use of macro and microstrategies (KUMARAVADIVELU, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2006a, 2006b, 2012). The macrostrategies were carried out through the microstrategies of reading that we elaborated specifically for the reading of legal documents (DOTA, 1994; SOLÉ, 1998) and guided us to the second course on understanding legal documents in Italian. In the end, obtained results of the courses were evaluated and conclusions about the teaching of legal Italian were drawn, both in relation to the use of the communicative approach and in relation to the use of post-method pedagogy. We considered pertinent for the juridical Italian teaching the use of material made specifically for Brazilian students and expects that this research contributes to the area of Italian for specific purposes.

[pt] O objetivo deste estudo é identificar as necessidades da situação de aprendizagem (necessidades dos alunos) da língua inglesa dos estudantes de um curso técnico em Turismo e Hotelaria em uma escola técnica estadual, e da situação-alvo (necessidade do mercado de trabalho), comparando-as com a proposta curricular existente. Para levantar os dados, foram utilizados como instrumento de coleta: questionários, entrevistas semi- estruturadas e documentos sobre o curso de Turismo e Hotelaria e sobre a disciplina Inglês Instrumental. O principal arcabouço teórico que norteou esta pesquisa está fundamentado nos trabalhos de Hutchinson e Waters (1987/1996), Dudley-Evans e St. John (1998/2005) e Robinson (1991), autores da linha de estudo de ensino de línguas denominado Inglês para Fins Específicos - ESP (English for Specific Purposes), ou Abordagem Instrumental, termo adotado no Brasil. A análise dos dados confirma a extrema necessidade da situação de aprendizagem e da situação-alvo da compreensão auditiva e da produção oral. No entanto, o ensino da habilidade de leitura de gêneros discursivos tais como sites, folhetos, regulamentos, entre outros, precisa ser redimensionado. Esta pesquisa pretende dar subsídios para uma adequação do curso de Inglês Instrumental atualmente implementado na escola técnica onde esta pesquisa foi realizada, tendo em vista as necessidades dos alunos desta unidade escolar e do mercado de trabalho. / [en] The aim of this study is to identify, first, the learning needs of students that study English as a foreign language in a technical course in Tourism and Hotel Management in a state school, and, second, the target needs for work in the market; in addition, the study compares the students` needs and market needs with the course syllabus followed in the school. The data were collected through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and documents about the Tourism course and about the English course. The main theoretical framework of this study is based on Hutchinson & Waters (1987/1996), Dudley-Evans & St. John (1998/2005) and Robinson (1991), authors of the approach called ESP - English for Specific Purposes, or Inglês Instrumental, as it is known in Brazil. The analysis of the data confirms that, in both learning and target situations, speaking and listening skills are extremely important. However, the teaching of reading skills for genres such as web sites, brochures, and regulations must be reevaluated and adjusted to the reality of student and market needs. Suggestions are presented for new directions toward making the ESP course under study more suitable for both the learner and the market.

Com a presença cada vez maior de sistemas computacionais e novas tecnologias no cotidiano das pessoas, garantir que eles não falhem e funcionem corretamente tornou-se algo de extrema importância. Além de indicar a qualidade do sistema, assegurar seu bom funcionamento é essencial para se evitar perdas, desde financeiras até de vidas. Uma das técnicas utilizadas para esta finalidade é a chamada verificação formal de programas. A partir da especificação do sistema, descrita numa linguagem formal, são definidas propriedades a serem satisfeitas e que certificariam a qualidade do software. Estas propriedades devem então ser implementadas para uso num verificador, que é a ferramenta responsável por executar a verificação e informar quais propriedades foram satisfeitas e quais não foram; no caso das propriedades terem sido violadas, o verificador deve indicar aos desenvolvedores os possíveis locais com código incorreto no sistema. A desvantagem do uso da verificação formal é, além do seu alto custo, a necessidade de haver pessoas com experiência em métodos formais para definir propriedades a partir da especificação formal do sistema, e convertê-las numa representação que possa ser entendida pelo verificador. Este processo de definição de propriedades é particularmente complexo, demorado e suscetível a erros, por ser feito em sua maior parte de forma manual. Para auxiliar os desenvolvedores na utilização da verificação formal em programas escritos em Java, propomos neste trabalho a geração de representação de propriedades para uso direto num verificador. As propriedades a serem geradas são objetivos de teste derivados da especificação formal do sistema. Estes objetivos de teste descrevem o comportamento esperado do sistema que deve ser observado durante sua execução. Ao estabelecer que o universo de propriedades corresponde ao universo de objetivos de teste do programa, garantimos que as propriedades geradas em nosso trabalho descrevem o comportamento esperado do programa por meio de caminhos de execução que levam a um estado de aceitação da propriedade, ou a um estado de violação. Assim, quando o verificador checa o objetivo de teste, ele consegue dar como resultado o veredicto de sucesso ou falha para a propriedade verificada, além de dados da cobertura dos caminhos de execução do programa que podem ser usados para análise do comportamento do programa que levou ao sucesso ou falha da propriedade verificada. / The task of guaranteeing that computational systems do not fail and work correctly has become extremely important with the growing presence of new technologies in people\'s lives. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that such systems work properly to confirm their high-quality and to avoid financial and even life losses. One of the techniques used to this purpose is called formal verification of programs. From the system specification, which should be described in a formal language, we define properties that must be satisfied during system execution to guarantee the software quality. Then, these properties are checked using a verifier, which is the tool responsible for running the verification and for notifying whether the property was satisfied by the program; if the property was violated, it indicates to software developers the possible location of faults in the system. The disadvantages of using formal verification are the high cost to apply this technique in practice, and the necessity of having people with experience in formal methods to derive the properties from system specification and define them in a formal representation that can be read by a program verifier. This particular task of deriving a property from system specification and defining it to be checked by a verifier is complex, time-consuming and error-prone, since it is usually done by hand. To help software developers in the application of formal verification in Java programs, we propose in this work the generation of properties formal representation for direct use in a verifier. The generated properties are test purposes, which are derived from system formal specification and present the desirable system behavior that must be observed during the system execution. Establishing that the universe of properties correspond to the universe of test purposes of a program, we guarantee that the generated properties describe the expected program behavior through execution traces that lead to either an accept state or a refuse state. Thus, when the verifier checks the test purpose, it can give a success/fail verdict for the property, and provide traces coverage data that can be used to analyze the program behavior that led to that verdict.

Esta tese trata do problema da escrita de artigos científicos em inglês como língua estrangeira. Do ponto de vista teórico, foram investigados métodos e técnicas de duas áreas da Inteligência Artificial - Lingüística Computacional e Raciocínio Baseado em Casos -, em busca de soluções para a construção de ferramentas de software que diminuíssem os problemas de interferência da língua materna e de falta de coesão e coerência nos textos escritos por estudantes da área de física experimental, principalmente. Do ponto de vista prático, foram desenvolvidas duas ferramentas de auxilio a escrita. Uma primeira, chamada Ferramenta de Referência, foi implementada utilizando-se o método de análise de corpus para a geração de uma Base de Expressões que contém as colocações do tipo expressões padrão, comumente encontradas em textos científicos de artigos e livros de subáreas de física e informática. O acesso às colocações pode ser feito de três maneiras: através de componentes e sub-componentes da estrutura esquemática de artigos da área de pesquisa experimental, através de palavras-chave pertencentes a este gênero, e pelos padrões retóricos mais comuns que este gênero utiliza. Uma ferramenta de aquisição de conhecimento esta acoplada a Ferramenta de Referência, permitindo extensibilidade, fácil personalização, e transporte (portability) para novos domínios. Testes com alunos de pós-graduação em um curso de Escrita Cientifica no IFQSC-USP comprovaram a eficácia da ferramenta, urna vez que seu uso auxiliou na superação do bloqueio inicial em se produzir um primeiro rascunho de texto, e forneceu input adequado para a escrita de textos coesos. Como se observou também, que esta ferramenta é adequada para usuários com boa recepção da língua inglesa e alguma experiência em escrita cientifica, uma nova ferramenta foi implementada para urna classe de usuários que possuem problemas mais severos quanto à coesão e interferência da língua materna. Ela foi denominada Ferramenta de Suporte, e para sua implementação utilizou-se, alem do método de analise de corpus, a abordagem baseada em casos para modelar as fases da escrita. A análise de corpus nesta segunda ferramenta foi mais detalhada, ficando assim restrita a Seção Introdutória de Artigos Experimentais. Esta análise identificou trinta estratégias retóricas encontradas em artigos científicos, geralmente realizadas por três ou quatro mensagens (denominação para os tipos diferentes de informações) tomadas de um conjunto de quarenta e cinco tipos. A base de casos da implementação atual da ferramenta conta com cinqüenta e quatro instancias de introduções autenticas das revistas Physical Review Letters e Thin Solid Films, um número ainda pequeno que deve ser aumentado para que uma avaliação quantitativa do método de busca seja realizada. Uma ferramenta para auxiliar o engenheiro de conhecimento na aquisição de novos casos e vários filtros para automatizar o processo de edição dos casos foi implementada, tornando o processo de geração de novos casos semi-automático. Os trabalhos futuros com relação a esta segunda ferramenta devem tratar principalmente do acréscimo de casos na base, da avaliação da precisão e revogação da busca, e de testes com usuários, que, com certeza, contribuirão para o aperfeiçoamento de ferramentas construídas nestas bases / This thesis considers the problem of writing scientific papers in English as a foreign language. From the theoretical point of view, techniques from two areas of Artificial Intelligence, namely Computational Linguistics and Case-based Reasoning, were investigated in the search for possible solutions to minimize mother tongue interference and lack of cohesion and coherence in student\" texts, especially in experimental physics. Two writing tools were then developed. The first one, named Reference Version, employed corpus analysis for creating a sentences base containing collocations frequently used in scientific writing. Such collocations could be accessed in one of three ways: according to the components and subcomponents of the schematic structure of a scientific paper, by searching keywords and communicative goals. An acquisition mode was also implemented so that the tool can be customized easily thus allowing portability to other domains and possible extensions within a given domain. Experiments in a technical writing course at IFQSC-USP for graduate student\" have demonstrated the efficacy of the tool. It was particularly useful in helping students to overcome the initial block in the preparation of a first draft and also in providing contextualized linguistic input for producing a cohesive text. It was also observed that this first tool was only helpful for students possessing reasonable reception of the English language and some experience in scientific writing. A new, more sophisticated tool was then proposed and implemented. It is named Support Version and utilizes corpus analysis and the case-based approach as a framework for modeling the different stages of the writing process. Because a more detailed analysis had to be performed, the tool was restricted to the Introductory Section of papers on experimental physics. In this analysis 30 rhetorical strategies were identified which were generally realized linguistically using 3 or 4 rhetorical messages from a set of 45 types of message. The implemented cases base has 54 introductions from the Physical Review Letters and Thin Solid Films journals, which has been shown to be a far too small number for reasonable recall and precision figures to be obtained. A scheme has been incorporated into the tool for adaptations to be made in the cases recovered, by making use of revision rules. In future the tool may be extended in a straightforward way to other parts of a scientific paper or to other areas of research with a semi-automatic edition process of new cases that has been built into the Support tool. This certainly opens the way for customization, which will greatly facilitate the assessment of the tool according to usability criteria

Available empirical data relating to quality generally and the application of quality assurance principles to language education at tertiary-level are scanty. This study explores how higher education institutions in Ghana apply QA mechanisms to enhance the teaching and learning of English for Academic Purposes. It examines how institutional contexts and cultures of the four case study institutions impact their QA processes. First, the rhetorical tensions and the apparent lack of consensus on the definition of the term “quality” are acknowledged alongside the enviable status of English as a “global lingua franca”; the relevance and pervasiveness of the EAP discipline in tertiary educational circles within and without Ghana and the resultant need for quality assurance and enhancement in its teaching and learning. One particular component of quality in higher education: the need for ensuring that programmes and services are fit for the purpose for which they were designed, and that the “clients” (students) are getting value for their money serves as the focus of the empirical research. The QA dimension of the research attempts to answer the question of whether students provide written feedback on their teaching and whether this is acted upon by the case study institutions in order to improve the EAP course. A combination of qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method approaches and documentary research is adopted to provide the framework for exploring QA and quality issues at each of the institutions involved in this study. The study first considers the quality challenges of higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa and Ghana within the context of policy. Subsequently, the unique features of each case study institution are quantified. To enhance the depth of understanding so as to establish each case study institution’s QA mechanisms and processes for enhancing EAP teaching and learning, a comparative/multiple case study approach is adopted. The blend of methods facilitated exploring the issues and the drawing of conclusions as the strengths of each complements the other. The assessment of QA practices used in the teaching and learning of EAP in the case institutions revealed a number of interesting similarities and differences in terms of institutional context, quality culture, quality assurance mechanisms, pedagogy, and curriculum designs. Based on these findings, suggestions for EAP teaching quality enhancement in the case study institutions are subsequently made. Unique practices identified in the institutions are recommended for replication in other tertiary educational institutions. Suggestions for further and future research are also made followed by a brief account of the author’s professional and personal development during the DBA programme.

Performance monitoring is commonly portrayed as providing a uniquely objective, rational foundation for decisions, based on a single-stranded feedback loop between setting objectives and measuring results. In this thesis, I investigate whether this portrayal is accurate. I analyse whether the linear model underlying performance monitoring provides an adequate basis for understanding decisions about access to rural water supply in Ethiopia. My examination focuses primarily on the politics of knowledge production from three angles. First, I examine whether the assumptions underlying the definition of ‘access' to rural water used in performance monitoring in Ethiopia, adequately represent the divergent notions of access among the relevant actors. My findings show that formal framings of access, codified in national and international guidelines and benchmarks, focus on technical aspects of the water supply infrastructure. I bring to light that the goal of performance monitoring in relation to achieving ‘access' is driven by the methods used to measure it, mainly the parameters of infrastructure, volume, distance and quality, suggesting a circularity between framings of the inputs to and objectives of appraisal. In this self-referential process, a particular image of the world determines the meaning of performance, which is used as a yardstick. The power of this dynamic is apparent in Ethiopian stakeholders' characterisations of access, which, even when critical, revolve narrowly around these dominant parameters. This one-dimensional and technical framing of access, constantly reproduced in self-referential monitoring circles, contrasts starkly with the multi-dimensional and dynamic nature of the water access experiences of local residents in Ethiopia. Second, I test whether, in reality, monitoring processes conform to the linearity assumed by the feed-back function of performance monitoring. The process tracing method used to illuminate the political and power dynamics of monitoring processes, shows that sector government actors at different administrative levels, with different rationales, provide different stories of ‘access'. Viewed from this perspective, performance monitoring can be seen not, as conventionally asserted, as a uniquely rational appraisal of performance, but rather as being about ‘performing monitoring' – the playing out on a management stage of certain politically-necessary performances. At the same time, I find that numerous less formalised monitoring practices proceed in parallel with the formal PM process, which, together, form a body of largely ‘tacit' knowledge that informs sector stakeholders' daily work. It is this wider body of knowledge, rather than only formalised PM results, that informs decisions. Third, I investigate the mechanisms that led to the formulation of specific decisions associated with rural water access and the role in these of performance monitoring. I find that particular decisions, such as repairs to rural water schemes, have multiple causes, among which performance monitoring is a contributory and necessary, but not sufficient factor. My investigation of criteria affecting budget allocations highlights that sector offices' limited control over them contributes to making strategic planning a rubber stamping exercise whose processes can be characterised as ‘muddling through' as opposed to adhering to the linear model suggested by Results-based Management. My findings highlight the need to break the self-referential cycle of narrowly framed performance monitoring exercises. They suggest greater attention to the ‘tacit' monitoring practices in local settings, and a focus on the process of monitoring and the power relations within it, to complement the dominant focus on monitoring targets and indicators.