The purpose of this enquiry was to explore reading development experiences of adult learners learning English Level 4. The research focused on their early reading experiences and the development of their reading experiences over the years and particularly in the present classes. The research site was an Adult Literacy Centre at a school in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. The study was conducted within a qualitative interpretive paradigm, using a case study approach. Data collection techniques employed included personal interviews, observations and a focus group interview. The data collection instruments used was: interview schedules, observation checklists and audio visual aids. Data was analysed thematically. In exploring the participants’ lived experiences in the development of reading; this study drew on the Landscape Model of reading by David Rapp and Paul van den Broek, as well as Vygotsky’s social constructivism. The themes that emerged from the study were: reading development in Adult Basic Education (ABE) level 4 classes in relation to achieving the learners’ goals, reading development in ABE level 4 classes in relation to achieving the goals of the curriculum, motivation to read, reading and family life, reading and life in general, learners’ difficulties in expressing themselves, language gaps as a barrier to learning in the second language and finally, the functioning of and challenges faced at adult literacy centres. The main reasons for adult literacy centres not being fully functional were: a lack of learning, teaching and support material due to insufficient funds, some educators are not qualified or lacked the skills to teach reading and writing, goals of the curriculum are too academic, the distances that learners have to travel to the centres are too long and the times of the classes are not always suitable to the learners, especially if they are employed. Finally, the study presented recommendations to improve the functionality at adult literacy centres, to enable learners to gain maximum benefit. Recommendations were made for further research. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermartizburg, 2013.

This dissertation reports research into the problem of how to teach mastery of the English writing system (MEWS) to students of English as a second language (ESL). The problem involves the relatedness of English orthography and phonology. The research had two purposes. First was development of classroom instructional materials for improving reading proficiency in ESL students by application of generative phonological principles. Second was use of the instructional materials in a pilot study of fifty-three ESL college freshmen. A major finding was that subjects' reading proficiency was far below that of native speakers at the college level. Another was that the subjects had more difficulty with English vowels than with consonants. The subjects' scores on nonsense-word tests correlated significantly with five other criteria, including measures of ability to use ESL. A uniform disparity between ESL-student and native-speaker scores on tests of nonsense words was identified. Native-speakers generally had perfect scores, and ESL students had low scores. A chief implication is the importance of understanding orthography in reading English. Recommendations are that ESL proficiency be determined by nonsense-word tests and that the MEWS program be used by students of English as a second dialect.

A presente tese analisa as práticas de leitura de estudantes de Cursos Superiores de Tecnologia de uma instituição pública especializada em Educação Profissional e Tecnológica, investigando em que medida os contextos sociocultural e acadêmico atuam sobre essas práticas. A fundamentação teórica baseia-se, principalmente, na Sociologia da Leitura, a partir dos estudos de Horellou-Lafarge e Segré (2010), Chartier (1999a, 1999b, 2001, 2011), Bourdieu (2011, 2015), Petit (2009a, 2009b), Zilberman (1999, 2001, 2012), Escarpit (1968), Candido (2000), Darnton (2010), Manguel (1997), Aguiar (2007) Abreu (2001, 2015) e Carlino (2017), complementada pela perspectiva cognitivo-sociológica de teóricos como Giasson (2000), Marcuschi (1999, 2004, 2008), Paviani (2006, 2013), Kleiman (2013) e Gabriel (2005). A pesquisa, de caráter descritivo e explicativo e motivada pela experiência empírica enquanto docente de Língua Portuguesa e Literatura, deu-se a partir de um estudo de caso com estudantes de cinco Cursos Superiores de Tecnologia do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Sul – Campus Bento Gonçalves, com aplicação de questionários, entrevistas e testes de leitura. Ao longo da tese, demonstra-se que não apenas o contexto sociocultural, como a origem social, as condições econômicas, a trajetória escolar, as atividades sociais e culturais de que os estudantes participam atua sobre as suas práticas de leitura, mas também que o contexto acadêmico possui fundamental importância na configuração dessas práticas, condicionando leituras, restringindo ou promovendo o acesso a determinados gêneros textuais, favorecendo a utilização de um ou outro suporte de leitura. No entanto, apesar de sua relevância, os contextos sociocultural e acadêmico revelam-se condicionantes, e não determinantes das práticas de leitura dos sujeitos, pois, sendo elas constituintes da ação humana, mostram-se sempre dinâmicas e flexíveis. Os resultados evidenciam que as práticas de leitura dos estudantes atendem a necessidades pragmáticas do cotidiano, priorizando textos curtos de tipologia expositiva, e ocorrendo principalmente em suportes digitais, além da leitura com vistas a atender às exigências dos componentes curriculares do curso superior, com destaque para o gênero artigo científico. A leitura de literatura ficcional não constitui uma atividade consolidada e perene entre as práticas socioculturais dos sujeitos pesquisados, sendo que o próprio Curso Superior de Tecnologia não favorece ou estimula essa prática. Além disso, a característica de estudantestrabalhadores dos sujeitos pesquisados implica não apenas menor disposição para os estudos, como também menos tempo disponível para as leituras acadêmicas e de lazer, compreendida aí a literatura ficcional, interferindo nos níveis de competência leitora. Finalmente, como intervenção prática, propõe-se a democratização da leitura no Ensino Superior Tecnológico a partir de duas vias: a) auxiliando os estudantes na compreensão dos textos que circulam no contexto acadêmico; e b) ampliando a diversidade de gêneros textuais lidos pelos estudantes, incluindo a literatura ficcional. / The present thesis analyzes the reading practices of students of Technology Degree Courses of a public institution specializing in Professional and Technological Education, investigating to what extent the sociocultural and academic contexts act on these practices. The theoretical foundation is based mainly on the Sociology of Reading, from the studies of Horellou-Lafarge e Segré (2010), Chartier (1999a, 1999b, 2001, 2011), Bourdieu (2011, 2015), Petit (2009a, 2009b), Zilberman (1999, 2001, 2012), Escarpit (1968), Candido (2000), Darnton (2010), Manguel (1997), Aguiar (2007) Abreu (2001, 2015) e Carlino (2017), complemented by the cognitive-sociological perspective of Giasson (2000), Marcuschi (1999, 2004, 2008), Paviani (2006, 2013), Kleiman (2013) e Gabriel (2005). The research is descriptive and explanatory and motivated by empirical experience as a Portuguese and Literature teacher. It was based on a case study with students of five Technology Degree Courses of the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Sul – Campus Bento Gonçalves. During data collection, questionnaires, interviews and reading tests were applied. Throughout the thesis, it was observed that not only the sociocultural context, such as social origin, economic conditions, school trajectory, social and cultural activities that students participate in act on their reading practices, but also the academic context has fundamental importance in the configuration of these practices, conditioning readings, restricting or promoting access to certain textual genres, favoring the use of one or another reading support. However, in spite of their relevance, sociocultural and academic contexts are conditioning, not determinant, of the individuals' reading practices, being constituents of human action, and also, they are always dynamic and flexible. The results emphasize that students' reading practices meet the pragmatic needs of daily life, prioritizing short texts of expository typology, and occurring mainly in digital media, in addition to reading in order to meet the requirements of the curricular components of the degree course, especially scientific papers.The reading of fictional literature does not constitute a consolidated and perennial activity among the sociocultural practices of the individuals studied, and the Technology Degree Course does not favor or stimulate this practice. Besides, the individuals studied are student-workers, it involves not only less willingness to study, but also less time available for academic and leisure readings, including fictional literature, interfering in the levels of reading competence. Finally, as a practical intervention, we propose the democratization of reading in Technological Higher Education in two ways: a) helping students to understand the texts that circulate in the academic context; and b) broadening the diversity of textual genres read by students, including fictional literature.

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This study steps into a long running discussion of the place of imaginative literature in First Year Composition (FYC) courses. Chapter one surveys the scholarship, including the work of Erika Lindeman and Gary Tate, two compositionists whose debate has been at the center of this discussion, and three scholars' responses to the issues their debate raises. Instructors might be able to include imaginative literature in FYC courses if they use the literature to support the courses' rhetorical goals rather than to "teach the literature" itself.

The aim of the thesis was to clarify how nursery teachers develop children's comprehension of the text read aloud and how they evaluate the possibility of using reading strategies to support children's comprehension during reading. In the theoretical part, I focused on defining the concept of reading literacy and pre-literacy, approaching the concept of the development of reading pre-literacy in the Czech Republic and clarifying the concept of comprehension of the text. Subsequently, I dealt with the issue of reading strategies and introduced those that are suitable for use in preschool age. In the empirical part, I used the qualitative approach of a multi-case study, which involved eight kindergarten teachers. Through in-depth interviews, repeated observation of the teachers' work with the text and subsequent analysis of video recordings of this work, answers to research questions were sought. It has been shown that teachers intend to develop children's comprehension, but only on a literal level, their work with texts is intuitive, without setting specific goals and monitoring the degree of their achievement. It turned out that reading strategies require a willingness of the teacher to work with them regularly and purposefully and to prepare for reading, which does not correspond to the prevailing...

PhD (English) / Department of English / It has been established, through research, that some first-entering science students display levels of under-preparedness for tertiary studies. One area in which this is seen is in students’ lack of academic reading ability. Although, some of these students read fluently they do not display competencies in other reading areas, such as to understand, interpret, infer or critique ideas expressed in science academic texts. This low academic reading proficiency has a negative effect on their studies. The aim of this study was to identify, through the National Benchmarking Tests (NBT), the reading competencies of all (100) students registered in the Science Foundation Programme (SFP) in the University of Venda. SFP caters for students who did not attain the required scores in Mathematics and Physical Science. These students’ overall scoring, including English competency, is less than the required (26) points, even though they obtained university entrance scores in their Matric Examination. A NBT was used to identify students’ reading competencies and based on these results, a reading profile of the students was drawn up and was used to design an intervention strategy to enhance existing competencies and to remedy any shortcomings. To achieve the study’s aim, a mixedmethod approach was used. The method was predominantly quantitative, because of the statistical aspects of the data from NBT, however, it had some elements of qualitative approach through the use of a case study and the designing of an intervention strategy in response to the profile. The results of the study indicated that the majority of students performed at the basic and lower-intermediate levels. This kind of reading profile means that students on SFP do not possess the academic reading skills needed for them to succeed with their required academic reading activities, without some kind of structured intervention. The design of such a tool (appendix 5) forms the second part of this study

Reading is considered to be a vital skill for academic success, yet it is seldom taught to or practised with students. Students begin to `read to learn' during primary and secondary schooling. However, at tertiary level the academic demands are much greater than before and involve more extensive reading of conceptually more complex texts. This study investigates the implementation of an intensive reading programme for post-matric English Second Language Science students, based on the assumption that reading improves reading. In addition, this study investigates the effect that reading ability has on academic performance in Science, which relies inter alia, on the ability to read, comprehend and interpret word problems. An intervention group and a control group were used to ascertain the effects of an intensive reading programme and the findings suggest that any reading (intensive or extensive) improves reading and language skills. This in turn impacts on academic performance in Science, if students have an ability in Science to begin with. / Linguistics / MA - SP APPLIED LINGUISTICS

Many L2 students in Namibia are not adequately prepared for the academic demands of university courses, mainly because of poor reading skills in the L2. University students reading below their maturational levels, can mainly be attributed to their print-impoverished backgrounds, as reading is a skill that develops mainly through reading. Without any assistance, poor readers at university will continue to read poorly and as a result perform weaker in their academic courses compared to their peers who are better readers. The overall aim of this study is to explore the effects of a reading intervention program on a group of university students in Namibia. A quasiexperimental method with a control and an intervention group was employed. The effect of reading ability on academic performance was also investigated. In addition, through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, the pre-literacy experiences of students, the differences between good and poor readers at university, their views about the reading intervention program as well as the attitudes and practices of university lecturers towards reading instruction at tertiary level were examined. / Linguistics / M.A. (with specialisation in Applied Linguistics)

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-10-03T12:32:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Allan de Andrade Linhares.pdf: 2771738 bytes, checksum: 514bb7f51bebc8c5d4ecfb502d9e071c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-03T12:32:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Allan de Andrade Linhares.pdf: 2771738 bytes, checksum: 514bb7f51bebc8c5d4ecfb502d9e071c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-09-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The object of study of this research are the formative processes of the reading instructor-learner of EJA (Brazilian youth and adult education program) revealed from their oral narratives of life and formation, motivated by the following guiding questions: How does the reading teaching happens in the perspective of the discourses produced through the reports of life and the formation of EJA instructor-learners of municipal public schools in Parnaíba-PI? What conceptions and practices of reading, language and teaching do emerge from the discourses present in these narratives? What are the conceptions of reading and the practices adopted by teachers in the proposed guidelines for the study of texts? In order to answer the guiding questions, the following objectives were delineated: Main Objective: To investigate the conceptions and practices of reading, discursively constructed, in the reports of life and formation of the instructor-learner to develop the teaching of reading. Specific: 1) To analyze and characterize, from the observations of classes, the conceptions and strategies of reading adopted by the instructor-learner in the directions for the study of texts; 2) Reflect about discourses produced in the narratives of life and formation, verifying what they interpret about the conceptions and strategies of reading adopted in the daily life of reading orientations; 3) To verify the relationship between the discourses, theoretically constructed by the instructor-learner about their stories of life and reading, and the discourses constructed in the classroom practice; 4) To identify how the story of life and formation influenced the history of reading and teaching of reading performed by the instructor-learners researched; 5) Propose, from the assumptions of Linguistic Education, reflections on more productive referrals to work with some textual genres during pedagogical workshops. A narrative research was developed, with qualitative approach, dialoguing with authors such as Ferrarotti (1988), Clandinin and Connelly (2011), Suárez (2008), Josso (2004, 2010), among others. These authors suggest that the narrative centered on the formative pathways makes it possible to enhance the formative character of this process. For the accomplishment of the research, three instructor-learners of schools of 4º cycle of EJA from Parnaíba-PI collaborated. In order to achieve the objectives sought in the research we made classes observations of the participants during three months. Subsequently, we proceeded to the production of oral narratives in order to provide an unveiling of the occult of their discourse, how was constituted their history of life, reading and formation. The data produced from these first two stages of the research were analyzed in the light of the theoretical reference of the formative experiences and the narratives, besides the framework of the Linguistic Education. The narratives revealed that there is a close relation between the discourses produced for the teaching of reading and the experiences of family contexts, schooling and formation. The third stage of the research consisted of three pedagogical workshops (CANDAU, 1995), active methodology modality (PALMA, 2016; BERBEL, 2011), carried out during the interactive meetings. At the end of the workshops, which involved exchanges of experiences and theoretical studies, which were previously available, it was possible to realize, in the speeches produced by the instructor-learners, the theoretical-methodological collaboration brought by the pedagogical resource / O objeto de estudo desta pesquisa são os processos formativos do aprendente-ensinante de leitura da EJA revelados a partir de suas narrativas orais de vida e de formação, motivada pelas seguintes questões-norteadoras: Como se dá o ensino de leitura na perspectiva dos discursos produzidos por meio dos relatos de vida e de formação de ensinantes-aprendentes de EJA de escolas públicas municipais de Parnaíba-PI? Que concepções e práticas de leitura, de linguagem e de ensino emergem dos discursos presentes nessas narrativas? Quais são as concepções de leitura e as práticas adotadas pelos professores nos encaminhamentos propostos para o estudo dos textos? Para responder às questões norteadoras, foram traçados os seguintes objetivos: Geral: Investigar as concepções e práticas de leitura, discursivamente construídas, nos relatos de vida e de formação do ensinante-aprendente para desenvolver o ensino de leitura. Específicos: 1) Analisar e caracterizar, a partir das observações das aulas, as concepções e estratégias de leitura adotadas pelo aprendente-ensinante nos encaminhamentos para o estudo dos textos; 2) Refletir sobre os discursos produzidos nas narrativas de vida e de formação, verificando os que eles traduzem sobre as concepções e estratégias de leitura adotadas no cotidiano de orientações leitoras; 3) Averiguar a relação entre os discursos, teoricamente construídos pelos ensinantes-aprendentes sobre suas histórias de vida e de leitura, e os discursos construídos na prática em sala de aula; 4) Identificar como a história de vida e a de formação influenciam a história de leitura e ensino de leitura realizadas pelos ensinantes-aprendentes pesquisados; 5) Propor, a partir dos pressupostos da Educação Linguística, reflexões sobre encaminhamentos mais produtivos para o trabalho com alguns gêneros textuais durante as oficinas pedagógicas. Foi realizada uma pesquisa narrativa, com abordagem qualitativa, dialogando com autores como Ferrarotti (1988), Clandinin e Connelly (2011), Suárez (2008), Josso (2004, 2010), entre outros. Esses autores defendem que a narrativa centrada nos percursos formativos possibilita potencializar o caráter formador deste processo. Para a realização da pesquisa, colaboraram três ensinantes-aprendentes de escolas de 4º ciclo de EJA do município de Parnaíba-PI. Para alcançar os objetivos pretendidos na pesquisa, foram realizadas observações das aulas das participantes por três meses. Posteriormente, procedemos à produção das narrativas orais a fim de prover um desvelamento do oculto do discurso delas, como foi constituída a sua história de vida, a de leitura e a de formação. Os dados produzidos a partir dessas duas primeiras etapas da pesquisa foram analisados à luz do referencial teórico das experiências formadoras e das narrativas, além do arcabouço da Educação Linguística. As narrativas revelaram que há estreita relação entre os discursos produzidos para o ensino de leitura realizado e as experiências advindas dos contextos familiares, de escolarização e de formação. A terceira etapa da pesquisa consistiu na realização de três oficinas pedagógicas (CANDAU, 1995), modalidade de metodologia ativa (PALMA, 2016; BERBEL, 2011), realizadas durante os encontros interativos. Ao final das oficinas, que envolviam trocas de experiências e estudos teóricos, os quais foram previamente disponibilizados, foi possível perceber, nos discursos produzidos pelos ensinantes-aprendentes, a colaboração teórico-metodológica trazida pelo recurso pedagógico