This study investigates patterns of dyadic interaction in the context of an advanced level ESL class, where the learners work in pairs on language focused tasks. It also considers reasons why different patterns of interaction form and the links between these patterns and second language development. (For complete abstract open document)

The aim of this Portfolio is to provide insight into some characteristics of I lungarian learners of English, and to use this as evidence in pointing out the need for a change in current teacher education practices in the preparation of English teachers. The Portfolio comprises two projects. Project `A, ' Ihingal-ia» t ieivs about Native Eiiglislr , Sppeakiiig Insiniclors, explores the positive and negative experiences of Hungarian learners with native English speaking instructors. With the help of qualitative research and analysis the learners' needs and expectations are highlighted. Project `B, ' The L inguaage Leariii, ig SIralegie Used by Ilungariarl Learners of English, investigates the learning strategies of I lungariann learners and their general approach to learning. From the qualitative analysis of the data particular features emerge which have not been documented in the literature before. The research results point out those features of the learner which prevailing teacher education models do not prepare novice teachers for. The portfolio is based on I lungarian experience but an international relevance is also demonstrated. The two projects are each placed in the wider context of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL), and thus they provide evidence that besides preserving some universally valid elements of teacher education models, it is necessary to find ways of catering for particular local needs. Instead of imposing the values and beliefs represented by Anglo-American teacher education approaches, textbooks or methods, there are local, context-specific features which have to also be taken account of. At a time when English is primarily used for international communication, teachers can only be prepared in a training program which, instead of the present Anglo-American cultural dominance, adopts an intercultural approach. The final section of the portfolio outlines the possible elements of such a culture-sensitive teacher education model for teaching English as a foreign language.

This study investigated the use of intrasentential code switching on Facebook. The corpus included 1000 screenshots of Facebook comments collected from 10 Saudi female Facebook friends who were bilingual in Arabic and English. The data were examined through statistical and content analysis. The results showed that intrasentential code switching occurs frequently in informal Facebook interactions. Further, the occurrence of code-switching was analyzed in relation to 10 topics of Facebook interactions, including gossip, humor, technology, compliments and thanking, achievement, movies and songs, family and intimacy, makeup, travelling, and religion. Among these 10 topics, gossip and humor elicited significantly higher frequencies of intrasentential code-switching. Moreover, the qualitative results showed that the most frequent English words within Arabic sentences were technical and academic terms, whereas the most frequent Arabic words within English sentences were religious words. Overall, this study shows that the use of intrasentential code-switching among Arabic-English female friends on the social network Facebook is a natural part of their interactions and the frequency with which they employ code-switching is related to the topic of their communication, their language environment, their cultural experiences, and their religion.

This research describes and investigates comprehension monitoring strategies of 16 EFL Thai second and fourth year undergraduate students at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, reading an English expository text. All 16 subjects were selected from the Faculty of Communication Arts and all performed well academically. The subjects were placed into two English language proficiency levels — higher and lower — as assessed by their grades in English and TOEFL scores. The subjects were asked to verbalize their thoughts while reading, using the think-aloud technique. The subjects were also asked to summarize the text after the completion of the think-aloud task. In the first analysis, 28 strategies were identified and were arranged into six categories according to their functional purposes. In the second analysis, the study explored whether different English proficiency levels have an effect on the subjects’ strategy use. The results demonstrated that there were only three strategies which had statistically significant differences between the two groups of proficiency. The findings also showed the six most frequently used strategies for each proficiency group were the same in rank order. The findings suggest that differences in English proficiency may not have much impact on strategy use by Thai readers who are successful in their academic performance. They may use their acquired learning strategies and their high cognitive and academic abilities to compensate for their limited English language competence. The third analysis investigated whether a two-year time difference in academic setting between the second and fourth year students would have an effect on different strategy usage. The findings showed that there was not much difference in strategy use between these two groups. The findings suggest that a two-year time difference in the foreign language academic setting may not play an important role in different reading behaviours. In addition, since these subjects were all young adults studying at the university level in the same area of study, age might not be a key factor in the differences in the performance of these two groups. This research also compares the strategies identified in this study with the strategies in the literature, and identifies efficient and inefficient reading behaviours. Individual differences of reading behaviours among these 16 subjects are also noted. Furthermore, these subjects are also placed into five types of categories according to their reading behaviours. The research includes pedagogical and research implications, acknowledges its limitations and concludes with suggestions for future research. / Graduate

M.A. (African Languages) / Correct pronunciation of a language is essential since deviations in pronunciation may change the meaning of a word or render it meaningless. This study investigates the pronunciation of Zulu, as second language, by English speaking learners. Similar deviations have been studied with reference to other languages and resulted in theories such as 'Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis', 'Markedness Differential Hypothesis', 'The Error Analysis', 'Autonomous System Analysis' and 'Inter language'. A brief discussion of this research creates the theoretical framework for this study. Differences in the orthography of Zulu and English seem to be problematic. In certain instances, English utilises a variety of letters to represent identical sounds in written form, whilst Zulu is phonetic. When comparing the pronunciation of vowels and consonants of Zulu and English, it is clear that learners find sounds with a similar pronunciation especially confusing. In addition to this, sounds foreign to English often cause problems. Possible reasons for replacement of Zulu sounds by that of English sounds are indicated by this dissertation. The conclusion of this dissertation is that second language Zulu educators should be aware of these possible pitfalls and affords it special attention in order to improve the quality of pronunciation amongst second language learners.

This research investigated the effect of teaching text organisation on reading in English second language to schoolgirls. All subjects underwent a training programme of five one-hour sessions on consecutive school days. The experimental group were trained in the use and recognition of top-level organisation as a reading strategy, based on work done by Bartlett (1978) and Carrell (1985). The control group were trained in unrelated grammar exercises. A pre-test was administered to each group before their programme began. Post-test 1 was administered immediately after the training was completed, and Post-test 2, three weeks later. These tests required a written recall of two passages once they had been read, and an answer to a question on their organisation. The null hypotheses stated that the experimental group's training in the use and recognition of top-level organisation as a reading strategy would make no difference in their ability to read and recall information or to recognise and use top-level organisation in their recalls. For the quantity of information recalled, no differences were found in the Pre-test and Post-test 1; a statistically significant difference was found in Post-test 2 in favour of the experimental group. For the quality of information recalled, the control group remembered more top-level idea units in the Pre-test; there was no difference in Post-test 1; the experimental group did better in three out of five levels in Post-test 2. There was no difference in the Pretest in either group's use of the passage's top-level organisation to structure recalls, but the experimental group did better in both post-tests. The control group did better in the Pre-test in recognising the passage's top-level organisation, but the experimental group did better in both post-tests. The null hypotheses were rejected as the experimental training made a difference, although this difference only became apparent three weeks later, and not immediately after the training. The experimental group's nullifying the control group's Pre-test advantage in Post-test 1 and surpassing it in Post-test 2, powerfully supports Bartlett's and Carrell's findings that teaching the strategy did make a difference and that this effect could be maintained over three weeks

While native speakers adjust their speech to accommodate non-native speakers on syntactic and prosodic levels, they also make adjustments on the level of discourse. It has been argued that these interactional adjustments are crucial to the promotion of language learning. A quasi-experimental, factorial study compared the frequencies of nine interactional features used in the speech of four ESL teachers as they taught beginner and advanced level adult classes. It was expected that teachers would change their use of each feature accordingly as students neared native proficiency. Nine two-way analyses of variance were employed to capture three sources of variation in the use of the interactional features: proficiency level, teacher and proficiency level by teacher interaction. As predicted, display questions and self-repetitions were used significantly less often with advanced students than with beginners. High variability in teacher behaviour was discovered, and seemed to be primarily an artifact of lesson content. In fact, discourse usage seemed to vary as a function of lesson content, as well as proficiency level of the students. One result, the marked reduction in use of display questions at the advanced level, was discussed in light of prevailing ESL goals. As research addresses the question of whether and which adjustments do promote language acquisition, there will be implications for teacher training. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

The ability to read and write academic discourse in a second language often determines an ESL student's scholastic progress. Recent related research has focused on the academic reading of ESL university students at the text level, often at the single or multi-paragraph level (Block, 1986; Carrell, 1985, 1987), and has looked at categories that were general across subject areas. This study explores how first year university ESL students cope with the reading demands of two specific credit courses, English Literature and Introductory Psychology, within the context of the course requirements, the instruction, and the nature of the academic discipline itself. The research method focused on ethnographic interviews with ten students from various Asian countries and their Canadian instructors, on classroom observations, and on the researcher's extensive field diary. Analysis of the findings identified three major coping strategies: self-management, background knowledge and experience, and reliance on the instructors in the disciplines. The nature of the genre, the students' interest in the discipline, and their perseverance in reading comprehension appear to influence their choice of strategies in meeting specific academic objectives. These strategies contributed to the background knowledge component of the academic tasks that the students face. Their efforts at academic tasks were guided by the concern to do what was required to complete course assignments. Essentially, course assignments directed the action component or agenda, of the students' academic tasks. Reading-to-learn involved approaching the genre-specific reading tasks at the whole text level within the context of what was required to successfully fulfil the course requirements of the particular genre. The primary reality of the students was to demonstrate an adequate level of academic proficiency. In contrast with previous research, findings indicated the importance of genre-specific reading tasks at the whole-text level rather than generic reading at the paragraph level, and the importance of relating coping strategies to the context of what was required to fulfil course requirements rather than the study of strategies in isolation. Thus, the findings were consistent with a theoretical model (Mohan, 1986) analyzing academic tasks into an action component and a knowledge component. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

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This research paper investigates the effectiveness of an intensive literacy program, Comprehensive Early Literacy Learning (CELL), to teach second language learners to read and write in English. Since this program provides numerous opportunities to practice the English language through literacy activities, the researcher believes it is a good method to teach English in its oral and written forms.