Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-90).

Academisch proefschrift--Amsterdam. / "Résumé de l'introduction," in French: p. [188]-190. "Bibliographie": p. [26]-28.

This ethnographic study examines how students learn English through classroom experiences that challenge their current cultural practices. In particular, I examine how learning language through activities affects students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in a Korean university. It is based on the assumption, that learners have knowledge and use what they know to learn when presented with conflicting cultural models of learning. Because of globalization of English instruction, traditional Confucian values now co-exist in many Asian university EFL classrooms. My theoretical framework to explore these issues in Korea includes an examination of English language education policies through effect of globalization in Korean education, Confucianism and Vygotskian theories on language learners. In this ethnographic study, I have a dual role as the classroom teacher and a participant observer. I selected four focal participants for my research. My data include field notes, audio-tapes and notes from interviews, audio tapes from group activities, and notes from triangulations, verifications and peer reviews. Conceptual tools for data analysis are formulated using sociocultural theory together with activity theory (Engestrom, 1996). This perspective allowed me to provide a macro level analysis. In addition, I used Fairclough's Critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2001) for microanalysis of classroom in teaching and interview data. My findings from the macro level show how suggest that group interactions within an “English only policy” classroom re-created power structures derived from Confucian ideologies even though students' level of communicative abilities differed and institutional policies constrained them. Each student struggled in creative ways to respond to ideological conflicts presented to them. I document a shift in their learning ideologies, a shift in their levels of confidence and their identities after reflecting on their past learning experiences in two contrasting Freshman EFL classes. I also learned that as an international scholar educated in the US, I in many ways have become an agent of globalized English practices. Therefore I must also actually review my own biases and reflect on my actions.

In Indonesia, the existence of a national curriculum tends to impose standardization on all levels of formal education, including higher education. The standards anchored in the curriculum are linked to academic needs of children and adults. Private universities in this developing country seem to serve a more diverse student population than their government counterparts, however, they seem to have less flexibility in developing curricula. The present study sets directions for private universities to improve their English language curricula. Students' perceptions about their experience in English language programs serve as guidelines for curriculum improvement. The English language programs in three private universities in Jakarta, Indonesia are selected as the research sites. Three major research questions guided the study: What do the students report as reasons for wanting to learn English? What are strengths and weaknesses of the English language curricula as perceived by the students in three selected institutions of higher education in Jakarta? What directions for improving their English language curriculum do the students recommend? Fifty-eight enrolled students and fourteen recent graduates from three institutions of higher education participated in this study. Data were mainly obtained through open-ended survey questionnaires. The findings revealed that motivations for learning English may be categorized into four variables: Language Competency, Employment Opportunity, Personal Knowledge, and Cultural Communication. The reasons provided by the 58 students currently enrolled are distributed as 38% Language Competency, 32% Employment Opportunity, 19% Personal Knowledge, and 11% Cultural Communication. As for the graduates of the program in English language and literature, 36% were motivated by the need to improve their Language Competency, 36% by the wish to increase their Personal Knowledge, and 29% by the goal of improving Employment Opportunity. Strengths and weaknesses of the English language curriculum centered on subject matter and other components of curriculum such as faculty, teaching methods, evaluation procedures, as well as learning facilities and equipment. Considered to be strengths across institutions were the improvement of skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Increased knowledge about culture and literature, along with helpful faculty members and methods that encouraged student participation in learning were also rated as strengths. Weaknesses included insufficient time for practicing speaking English in class and inadequate amount of composition and translation assignments, as well as uninteresting textual materials for some of the Linguistics courses. Other weaknesses included too much lecturing as teaching method, teacher-oriented approach, and inadequate book collections in school libraries. Recommendations for curriculum improvement included requests for more academically competent faculty, preferred methods of teaching that encouraged participation, and enlargement of library book collections. Administrators are also reminded to inform students of any significant academic changes that could affect their academic studies or completion of their degree. This study indicates that Indonesian students, despite their seemingly submissive demeanor, have very clear ideas of their motivations for pursuing their education in English language. Also these students point out strengths and shortcomings of the language program, together with suggestions for improvements that are likely to increase productive learning. It is the task of the institutions, administrators and faculty alike to utilize the students as a means for designing better curricula that will benefit both the learners and the institutions, instead of waiting for governmental directives.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation reports an ethnographic investigation of the peer group talk of Hawaiian middle school students during an English language arts class. It is concerned with the academic and social agendas of the seventh grade participants. The purpose of the research was to investigate: (a) student labels and descriptions of their interactive accomplishments; (b) communicative features which characterized academic and social engagement; (c) relationships and identities invoked in the conversations. The study was conducted over one school year with primary focus on one group of four students. The analytic categories "doing English" and "socializing" were derived from field notes, video tapes, group and individual interviews, and copies of pertinent written documents. These student terms-for-talk foregrounded their perceptions of what was required to participate appropriately in the language arts classroom and recognition of "socializing" as an acceptable, prominent, and purposeful activity within the small peer group and larger classroom context. Instances-of-the-terms-for-talk were interrogated to identify topic patterns, features-of-the-talk, norms of interaction, and tone of engagement. Patterns of engagement related to peer group harmony included "getting busted," arguing and fighting, preserving the status of group members, using humor, and mediating tensions. Intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamics were examined as dimensions of individual autonomy and group affiliation. Enactments of personhood or identity invoked in the terms for talk "doing English" and "socializing" were rendered as those of 'student' and 'friend' respectively. Monitoring, assessing, directing, clarifying, and confirming were salient interactional strategies associated with academic endeavors, while using humor emerged as the prominent feature of social interactions. The significance of this investigation relates to the value of socializing. Off-task conversations served to promote collective group identity, mediate tensions that arose during academic engagement, and further develop the social and personal identities of the participants. These insights contribute to the literature on face-to-face interactions in classrooms by legitimizing "socializing" or off-task talk as an activity form that can serve to expedite on-task or academic interactions such as "doing English." The results of the study expand our understandings of how students categorize, describe, and construct classroom events.

Thesis (EdD)--Open University. BLDSC no. DX220429.

This study explores the complexities associated with graduate language instructors’ identities and teaching practices, specifically with regard to the teaching of culture in the FL classroom. These areas are important to study because negotiating various identities has been shown to impact language learning and teaching (Dippold, 2006; Kumaravadivelu, 2003; Menard-Warwick, 2008). In addition, instructors’ identities and the influence on their teaching practices may impact pedagogy (Menard-Warwick, 2008). The study investigates the identities and experiences of eight graduate instructors of German – four (two male and two female) native and four (three male and one female) non-native speakers of German – in the spring semester of 2009 at the University of Texas at Austin. The participants included novice and advanced German instructors at different levels in their graduate studies. Three questionnaires, three self-reflective journal entries, three observations, one focus group interview, and individual interviews with each participant provided the data for this study. These data were analyzed using qualitative methods, specifically grounded theory and discursive psychology. The themes and categories, as well as interpretive repertoires and subject positions which are based on Edley’s (2001) analytical framework, offered an in-depth understanding of teacher identities and the impact of identities on teaching practices in regard to culture. Findings illustrate that the participants negotiated their identities in interaction and dialogue with others (Bakhtin, 1981) and in different communities of practice (Wenger, 1998). In discussing their identities, instructors also used various interpretive repertoires, underscoring their individuality and their experiences. The study’s findings suggest, furthermore, that the issue of teacher identities needs to be included in teacher training and must play a significant role in FL education, in order to support language teaching and learning. / text

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Lorna Earl.

This research explored the effects of implementing a curriculum based on important principles of Waldorf education with a Latino student population enrolled in a Transitional Bilingual Education program for gifted Hispanic students attending a public school in central Massachusetts. Qualitative research methods were employed in order to record how the students interpreted specific experiences and to gain insight and understanding concerning the impact of a curriculum based on Waldorf education principles used with bilingual/bicultural students. The study focused on two groups of bilingual gifted classrooms--a sixth grade in a Magnet school and a fourth grade in a community school. All of the students were Puerto Rican with the exception of one girl from El Salvador. Data used for this research study were collected for a period of four months through observation, videotaping, audiotaping, student interviews, and field notes. The finished products of the students were also considered data. The research revealed that the students became connected to the curriculum in three stages--social, physical, and cognitive. The cognitive connection to the curriculum occurred most successfully when artistic activities preceded the introduction of intellectual concepts. This finding is compatible with the research of Martin L. Albert, Lorraine K. Obler, and Kenji Hakuta concerning language formation in bilingual individuals. Increased use of verbal language in the native and second language of the students, a positive sense of self, and increased motivation to learn were noted as results from the students' involvement with the curriculum. Recommendations were made by the researcher to reform traditional public school teaching practices so that a culturally and educationally relevant curriculum might be developed for language and culture minority Latino students.