The qualitative case study on which this thesis is based was designed to investigate the relationship between migration and identity construction of three young people who immigrated as children and adolescents, two of them as refugees, from the former Yugoslavia to Germany and finally to Canada. The autobiographical narrative interviews of the manifold migration stories were mainly analyzed from the point of view of Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, which considers speech and thought in a close relation, to illustrate how identity must be understood as both individual and social in nature, and as a complex narrative action. The socialization processes in all countries of migration were viewed in order to investigate how the previous acculturation affects the cultural identity of the young people today and how it is unfolded in the story. The study reveals that these subjects with threefold migration position themselves between their lifeworlds which enable them not only to say where they belong to or which is their homeland but to answer the simple question “Who am I?” This is revealed by the way of their narration which contains a lot of contradictions. The individuals deal differently with their dynamic identity construction, while one of them seems to suffer under the instability of his identity, and of being different in all his lifeworlds, other subjects however can see advantages related to it. The way how they deal with this dynamics has a crucial influence on their view of their migrations today and consequently on their identity construction as a narrative action.

Abstract This study in second language acquisition (SLA) investigates the influence of self-portrayal of language learners in an interactive online L2 learning environment from a social-interactionist research perspective. This thesis has a mainly theoretical focus and will integrate concepts of online communication with SLA methodology. This work reviews some classical perspectives on chats and message boards as environment for online communication in chapter two and develops a list of features to classify them from a second language acquisition perspective. In order to assist the main argument of the thesis that an integrated view of learners within a learning context is necessary to fully use the advantages of an interactive online learning environment, the second language acquisition model of Marysia Johnson (2004) is discussed in chapter three. Using the premises of the model, which result from the application of Lev Vygotskys sociocultural theory and Mikhail Bakhtins dialogized heteroglossia, key features for the later data analysis are pointed out. Those are the dismissal of the separation of language competence and language performance, a view of language that exceeds mere morphosyntactical concerns and the overcoming of the mainstream mentalist SLA approach in favor of a socioculturally oriented dialogical language learning model. The approach of Bonny Norton (2000) to identity is used as an analytical framework to complete Johnsons model developing a methodology for chapter four. The data analysis in chapter five is used to prove the validity of the model in showing that the developed model is applicable for the analysis of an online context. After a description of the course environment and a preliminary analysis, an in depth qualitative approach is used to point out the links between sociocultural theory and identity theory. Afterwards, I will give a short summary of my most important results and finish my thesis with some suggestions for further research.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the special education, for children with language impairment in preschool, was organised in a municipality in Sweden. The study was based on interviews and field studies as the primary research tools in qualitative and ethnographic method. The result showed that special education teachers were localised in different geographic areas of school and that there were preschools that lacked special educational expertise in language impairment. Literature and the importance of playing for language development were emphasised as well as the use of signs and visual aids as augmentative and alternative communication. In the preschool for children with language impairment, the teachers carried their knowledge into practical and pedagogical work. Different professions were involved in the work with the children with language impairment. Analysis based on the special educational perspectives showed that there was an emphasis on the compensatory perspective. There was also a strong main focus in sociocultural theory that highlighted that children acquire and develop language in social interaction with the environment.

The purpose of this action research study is to challenge accepted practice in ESL writing with the implementation of an experimental syllabus informed by a sociocultural approach, specifically Vygotsky's (1987) assertion of the key role that awareness and control of theoretical concepts plays in cognitive development. Following Gal'perin and Davydov, the classroom approach implemented here is essentially concerned with L2 development as the internalization, appropriation and control of conceptual meaning in the context of the goal-oriented activities of teaching and learning. This research and pedagogy calls attention to the importance of the quality and sequence of instruction, in which full and explicit attention is given to an abstract conceptual framework before learners proceed to explore concrete instantiations of the abstract concepts in question.Halliday's (1978) social semiotic understanding of language, text and context was the central concept presented to a mixed ESL and native-speaking composition class, and various activities and exercises were designed in keeping with the principles guiding this 16-week research project. Learners made use of didactic models and verbalization activities, including extensive collaborative writing, as they worked with the concepts and explored the ways in which the target academic discourse reflects Halliday's theory of language in use. These concepts were then applied in the writing of research, re-writing for a new audience, and reflection papers. Writing development was tracked using T-Unit analysis, lexical density measures, rhetorical move analysis and the ratings from three expert raters, who graded the resulting papers for language use, analysis and organization. In analysis, this proficiency development is related to evidence of re-mediated thought as the students collaborate to complete the assigned writing tasks.The findings of three case studies provide general support for the implementation of concept-based instruction and a theoretical and explicit attention to requisite aspects of the target discourse in ESL writing pedagogy. There is clear evidence that the concept-based approach fosters awareness and control over relevant features of the target language necessary for successful participation in academic discourse communities.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This study looked at the implementation of a collaborative learning model at two schools in Sydney designed to realise the principles recommended by reform documents such as the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) and policy documents including Numeracy, A Priority for All (DETYA, 2000). A total of 158 year seven and year eight students ranging in age from 12 to 15 years old from two schools participated in the study. In all, seven classroom teachers participated in the study each completing two topics using the collaborative learning model. Four research questions were the focus of the current study. Three research questions were drawn from eight principles identified in the literature regarding what constitutes effective mathematics learning. These questions related to the nature of collaboration evident in each classroom, the level of motivation and self-regulation displayed by students in the different types of classrooms and the relationship between learning mathematics within the collaborative learning model and real-world mathematics. A final research question examined the degree to which the concerns of teachers relating to preparing students for examinations are met within the collaborative learning model. Several different data collection strategies were adopted to develop a picture of the different forms of activity evident in each classroom and the changes that took place in each classroom during and after the implementation of the collaborative learning model. These included classroom observations, interviews with student and teacher participants, questionnaires and obtaining test results. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to reduce the data collected. Factor scores and test results were compared using t-tests, ANOVAs and Mann Whitney nonparametric tests. Data collected from interviews and classroom observations were analysed using a grounded approach beginning with the open coding of phenomena. Leont’ev’s theoretical approach to activity systems (1972; 1978) was then used to describe the changing nature of classroom activity with the introduction of the collaborative learning model. Within the collaborative classrooms there were a greater number of mathematical voices participating in classroom discussions, a breaking down of traditional roles held by teachers and students, and dominant patterns of collaboration evident in each classroom reflecting pre-existing cultural ways of doing. Furthermore, there was some quantitative evidence suggesting that student levels of critical thinking, self-regulation and help seeking increased and students were also observed regulating their own learning as well as the learning of others. Classroom practice was also embedded in the cultural practice of preparing topic tests, enabling students to use mathematics within the context of a work group producing a shared outcome. Finally, there was quantitative evidence that students in some of the collaborative classes did not perform as well as students in traditional classrooms on topic tests. Comments from students and teachers, however, suggested that for some students the collaborative learning model enabled them to learn more effectively, although other students were frustrated by the greater freedom and lack of direction. Future research could investigate the effectiveness of strategies to overcome this frustration and the relationship between different types of collaboration and developing mathematical understanding.

With the growth of technology-enhanced language learning comes increased use of online applications and interventions in language education. The articles in this dissertation consider the role of technology in online language courses taught at Brigham Young University. Three perspectives on the use of online speaking labs are considered. The first article considers the Conversation Café, an online speaking lab intervention, from an evaluative perspective. Usage, user perceptions regarding effectiveness, and financial viability of the café are evaluated. Findings reveal student usage is not as high as required in coursework, students have a more favorable perception of the intervention than faculty and teaching assistants, and that the café is not offered and staffed appropriately to meet financial viability thresholds set by stakeholders. The second article addresses the common perception that online courses lack elements of sociocultural theory. It reports on the approach the university took to the course development, sociocultural aspects of implemented interventions, and preliminary evaluative findings regarding the effectiveness of the interventions. The final article is a case study examining student experiences in online and face-to-face French speaking labs. This article considers student satisfaction with online and face-to-face labs as well as preference for one type or the other. Findings reveal student preference toward and higher satisfaction of the face-to-face. Negative student comments regarding the online setting in particular tended to focus on elements of convenience rather than aspects essential for learning. Implications for further research are discussed.

The aim of this study is to investigate how teachers use strategies to promote interaction. It is our ambition to find out how teachers perceive interaction and how they think their students may benefit from their use of strategies. The sociocultural theory on learning is used as a theoretical framework for this study. This framework aligns with our research questions as well as the prior research that we present. Prior research suggeststhat in order for the students to develop a foreign language they need to be provided with an authentic context and a variety of opportunities to interact. We conducted three semi-structured interviews with qualified teachers teaching at primary school level. Our gathered results are presented under four different themes connected to our research questions. The results show that these teachers reported using strategies mostly as scaffolding and were somewhat unaware of how to define a strategy. Also, the teachers’ perception of interaction did not always align with prior research. Moreover, research suggests that students need to be taught communicative strategies explicitly in order to implement these when solving problems. Our results show that in order for this to happen the teachers need to use strategies more frequently during lessons. The major conclusions of this study are that the educators we interviewed, did not focus on using strategies as much as researchers suggest theyshould. Also, there was a misconception of what defines as interaction and we got the idea that the educators thought that planning lessons with a focus on interaction and strategies were more time consuming than using the English textbook.

For teachers of freshman English composition, the most time-consuming aspect of teaching is responding to student papers (Anson, 2012; Straub, 2000b). Teachers respond in various ways, but most teachers agree that they should offer written feedback to students (Beach & Friedrich, 2006). However, little research has been conducted to determine how teachers’ written feedback practices reflect their beliefs about the purpose of such feedback. This qualitative study explores the relationship between English composition teachers’ beliefs about written feedback and their actual written feedback practices. The participants were a sample of four instructors of freshman English composition at a mid-sized metropolitan public university. Interviews, classroom observations, course documents, and samples of teachers’ written comments were analyzed to determine teachers’ written response practices and their beliefs related to the purposes of freshman writing and their roles as writing teachers. Results suggest that teachers were aware of their beliefs, and their written response practices were consistent with their beliefs. Teachers utilized different approaches to respond to student writing, but those approaches are consistent with current recommendations for responding to student writing. Three major themes emerged from the study. First, teachers must be given the opportunity to reflect about and articulate their beliefs about written response so they will know why they respond in the way they do. Second, teachers work within the boundaries of their specific writing program to organize their written responses to student writing. Third, teachers must respond to student writing from varying perspectives as readers of the text. The findings support studies which indicate that written response is a sociocultural practice and teacher beliefs are just one aspect of the complex nature of teacher written response. The study should add to the fields of response theory and the formation of teacher beliefs.

Thesis advisor: Diana Pullin / Parents are the primary educators of their children and the consistent teachers throughout their lives. However, with raised expectations through curriculum state standards and high stakes testing for students, teachers and schools, families are being left behind. A particular turning point in students' education is during the middle school years when intellectual, character, social and emotional transitions occur and habits are formed. Therefore, this qualitative, single case study uses data sources of interviews, observations and artifacts to determine the appropriate role of parents at the middle school level as perceived by administrators, teachers with administrative duties, teachers and parents. Additionally, this research sought to determine the unique factors that impede more effective partnerships between home and school and analyze the current situation using the sociocultural theory to determine if beliefs and values match the social structures in place at this particular school and provide implications for practice. Findings reveal the parent role is defined by consistent communication between home and school for unified adult expectations. Unique factors impeding parent participation at this level are based on this particular age of the students. Using sociocultural theory, it is evident that the school community culture prevails over individual beliefs and is impeded by two underlying sub cultures of rationalizations and assumptions, which allow participation to remain infrequent. There are additional overarching issues discussed that go beyond sociocultural theory. Finally, recommendations for practice are made for this particular school and the middle school level. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

Given the fundamental role beliefs play in guiding what individuals think and do, it is important to understand teachers' beliefs and their development in order to facilitate professional growth, which in turn has the potential to promote effective teaching and learning. While research efforts have been devoted largely to investigating teachers' beliefs, it is surprising that, despite its significance, there is little published data concerning vocabulary teaching, not to mention how professional training contributes to teachers' change in relation to the language area. This thesis, therefore, seeks to investigate teachers' epistemological and pedagogical beliefs about vocabulary development, understand their relationship with actual practice, as well as exploring how they develop through a dialogic approach which emphasises interaction and self-reflection. The study reported herein is situated in the context of Hong Kong, where problems relating to the teaching and learning of English vocabulary have been repeatedly highlighted in the literature. It mainly involves six frontline teachers of English as a second language in a local secondary school selected using purposeful sampling. Of these six teachers, four participated in a teacher development programme which focused on dialogic reflection on beliefs and practices regarding vocabulary teaching, whereas the remaining ones did not. Adopting a case study research strategy, the research draws on four major sources of data, including lesson observations, semi-structured interviews, teachers' professional dialogues and reflective writing, to illuminate issues regarding vocabulary teaching and the process of change. The findings of the study reveal the need to promote teacher professional development regarding vocabulary teaching and develop teachers' awareness of their own and alternative beliefs and practices. They also provide empirical support for the notion that dialogic reflection helps foster teachers' change, and enable us to arrive at a better understanding of the complicated nature of teachers' cognitive and behavioural development. These shed new light on sociocultural theory, generate original insights into how dialogic interaction can be used as a mediational tool to facilitate and understand teacher change in beliefs and practice, as well as providing implications for second language education and teacher professional development.