This research considers the perceptions of an academic writing task held by a lecturer and first year students in the Philosophy department at the University of Zululand. The research takes as its starting point the following premises: that language is inextricably linked to learning; that each academic discipline has a particular discourse which students have to acquire in order to participate as accepted members of the academic community; that learning proceeds most effectively when teaching starts with what is known and moves into the unknown; and that learning takes place through experience and involvement, rather than transmission. The research suggests that many first year students bring with them to university an understanding of the nature of learning and of knowledge which makes it difficult for them to understand the implicit rules of the discourse of analytical philosophy. My investigation uncovered several of these rules in the study guide written for the course, but it appears that students were not able to discover them and, as a result, experienced great difficulty in fulfilling the assignment task in a way which promoted their understanding of the content. The research also shows that the lecturer's expectations of the task were far removed from the manner in which the students implemented the task. It is argued that the students appear to have reverted to their established writing strategies which consisted of simply repeating what the 'authority' has said. From this it is argued that unless rules of the discourse are made explicit to students, and students understand the content of the course, they will revert to copying and relying on other sources to tell them what to write. One way of making these rules explicit and encouraging students to integrate new knowledge with previous knowledge which they bring with them to university is through providing well-structured writing tasks, and where necessary, developing clearly defined assessment procedures. Writing is the principal means of mediation between the lecturer, who is trying to offer students entry into the discipline, and the student apprentice trying to make sense of the discipline and find his or her own 'voice' within that discipline.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:24:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_shalimar_silva.pdf: 843614 bytes, checksum: 9a4d3e3f4bd74a42436b3badf65c745b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-16 / Before the huge social, cultural and geographic diversity, which characterize which country, it s been noticed that all of these aspects reflect on the behavior, habits, as well, the customs of the people s country and therefore in their language. Named as linguistic variation, it may be considered unsteady according to the linguistic patterns of a privileged economical social class and it meets with an enormous load of prejudices and negatives pre-judgments. However, it s been ascribed to this understanding, the concepts which prevent to visualize the human being s history, which is based in an on going process. Thus, in the middle of this on going process, the language is included. Hence, this research work aims at analyzing the categories which lead to a (mis)understanding in the written language of the students from the Educação de jovem e adultos (Education for the young and adults) at the second level, particularly, the diastratic variation. Here, it s been considered two categories: one based on the historical grammar and the another one is based on the school concept. Both are based on the concepts of Linguistics, Pedagogy and Sociolinguistics, having as a support the studies of Labov, Bagno Coutinho, Freire, Matos, Soares e Souza. Thus, we ve attended lessons in the classrooms in order to get to know how the teachers deal with the linguistic variations in a classroom with their students, as well as, how the didactic books deal with this subject. In order to reach the objectives of this work, concerning the methodology, it s been chosen the ethnographic study. To make this ethnographic study, this work has been based on the theories of the historical grammar. According to the collected data originated from this research and the data taken found in the ground work of this subject, it s been noticed that the (mis)understandings found in this research comes from the conception of a human being in an endless and an on going process of the history of the humanity / Diante da imensa diversidade geográfica, social e cultural que caracteriza cada país, percebe-se que toda ela se reflete nos comportamentos, hábitos e costumes do seu povo e, conseqüentemente, na sua linguagem. Nomeada por variação lingüística, esta diversidade da linguagem, por sua vez, por ser variável a uma norma legitimada, por uma classe em ascensão, depara-se com uma excessiva carga de preconceito e estereótipos. No entanto, atribuem-se a este entendimento, concepções que impedem visualizar a historicidade do homem, a qual se configura no movimento contínuo, característica desse mesmo homem. E, entrelaçado a este movimento, encontra-se toda produção humana, inclusive a linguagem. Nessa perspectiva, este estudo buscou analisar categorias que apontassem para uma (in)compreensão no que diz respeito à variação lingüística na escrita dos alunos da turma do módulo 2 da Educação de Jovens e Adultos, em especial a variação diastrática. Tomam-se por categorias, os diferentes olhares destinados à variação lingüística: um lançado pela Gramática Histórica e, outro, pela escola. Ambos fundamentados, a partir das contribuições da Lingüística, Sociolingüística e Pedagogia, tendo, por aporte, os estudos de Bagno, Coutinho, Freire, Labov, Matos, Soares e Souza. Para a consecução dos objetivos propostos e atendimento aos pontos constitutivos do objeto, foi utilizado no encaminhamento metodológico o estudo etnográfico. E, dessa forma, houve integração da pesquisadora nas ações docentes em sala de aula, buscando-se, nelas, apreender e compreender os significados que esses docentes apresentavam sobre a temática da variação lingüística e, de igual modo, os demais que contribuíam para a aprendizagem do aluno e mediava na interação professor/aluno, como o livro didático. Paralelo ao estudo etnográfico, foi necessário, ainda, fundamentar, teoricamente, a análise de todo material coletado, no decorrer da Pesquisa, recorrendo, desde modo, aos estudos da Gramática Histórica. Confrontados os dados obtidos no campo de pesquisa com os relacionados ao estudo histórico da linguagem, percebe-se que as (in)compreensões alcançadas nesta investigação são oriundas de uma concepção de um homem em movimento, construtor de sua história e das demais histórias

This thesis examines how composition studies have been, and continue to be, shaped by the cultural values of exclusion; this field is "continually magnif[ied] and reproduc[ed] in the complex social conditions connected with those values in fundamental ways much like educational systems in general."

Beginning with an analysis of current problems in English education in South Korea, this project is intended to suggest various ways to implement effective English education, especially for writing instruction. The project is designed for students who have low English proficiency in South Korean colleges and universities.

Previous research has established the importance of the nouns and noun modification in academic writing because of their commonness and complexity. However, little is known about how noun modification varies across the rhetorical sections of research articles. Such a perspective is important because it reflects the interplay between communicative function and linguistic form. This study used a corpus of empirical research articles from the fields of applied linguistics and language teaching to explore the connection between article sections (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion; IMRD) and six types of noun modification: relative clauses, ing-clause postmodifiers, ed-clause postmodifiers, prepositional postmodifiers, premodifying nouns, and attributive adjectives. First the frequency of these six types of noun modification was compared across IMRD sections. Second, the study also used a hand coded analysis of the structure and structural patterns of a sample of noun phrases through IMRD sections. The results of the analyses showed that noun modification is not uniform across IMRD sections. Significant differences were found in the rates of use for attributive adjectives, premodifying nouns, and prepositional phrase postmodifiers. There were no significant differences between sections for relative clauses, ing-clause postmodifiers, or ed-clause postmodifiers. The differences between sections for attributive adjectives, premodifying nouns, and prepositional phrases illustrate the way the functions of these structures intersects with the functions of IMRD sections. For example, Methods sections describe research methods, which often have premodifying nouns (corpus analysis, conversation analysis, speech sample, etc.); this function of Methods sections results in a higher use of premodifying nouns compared to other sections. Results for structures of noun phrase across IMRD sections showed that the common noun modification patterns, such as premodifying noun only or attributive adjective with prepositional phrase postmodifier, were mostly consistent across sections. Noun phrase structures including pre-/post- or no modification did have differences across sections, with Introduction sections the most frequently modified and Methods sections the least frequently modified. The different functions of IMRD sections call for different rates of usage for noun modification, and the results reflected this. The results of this research benefit teachers of graduate students of applied linguistics in students' research reading and writing by describing the use of noun modification in the sections of empirical research articles and aiding teachers in the design of materials to clarify the use of noun modification in these IMRD sections.

Thesis (M.A. (English Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Although several interventions have been in place to address the writing difficulties of students, research reveals that student writing is still one of the major challenges experienced by English Second Language (ESL) students worldwide; specifically, in the context of higher education institutions. As such, writing centres have been deemed as facilitators that are paramount for the transition of first-year students’ high school literacies to the academic writing conventions of higher learning. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the efficiency of the Reading and Writing Centre (RWC) as a supporting structure of the University of Limpopo (UL) through a case study of services rendered to first entering dietetics students. The study was guided by Vygostsky’ zone of proximal development and scaffolding theories to determine how the knowledgeable other can support the less knowledgeable students in developing their academic writing skills. An analysis of students’ assignments for the first semester and the second semester was conducted. The study also used semi-structured interviews to allow the current researcher to gain a detailed description on the challenges confronted by the dietetics students, and whether RWC is efficient in improving the academic writing skills of the dietetics students. The research established that academic writing appeared to be difficult for first-year entering dietetics students in the first semester prior to the assistance from RWC, and relied on the centre for the transition of the academic writing demands of higher learning. The study further discovered that although the students still committed slight grammatical mistakes, they showed improvement from the assistance they obtained from the feedback received from the RWC, ultimately signifying that the centre played a pivotal in scaffolding first-year students who came to higher learning underprepared for the academic writing conventions.

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This research explores peer review in the academic writing of ESL university students. It investigates the problem from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Overall findings showed no significant differences between the holistic coherence ratings given to the original and final drafts of the group of students exposed to a process approach to writing with peer review. Similarly, there were no significant differences between the holistic coherence ratings of this experimental group and control group on their final drafts. However, the findings of finer-grained comparative analyses of each experimental group student's original and final drafts revealed both positive and negative results with respect to changes made. The study also explores the changes in terms of the peer review process, so attempting to analyse in more qualitative detail how coherence is constituted in student academic writing. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)

The research aimed to assess the feasibility of using podcasts in mobile devices to teach research proposal writing for masters’ students of University of South Africa. To aid in this, a general objective was developed which was supported by specific research objectives that guided the study. The research looked at the evolution of open distance learning (ODL) including the use of M-learning. I reviewed literature on the history of podcasts as an entertainment tool being highlighted as a revolution in the academic world especially in the area of distance learning. To create a foundation to give strength to the use of podcasts, theories of education were evaluated and criticised to give reason and foundation for the use of podcasts as a technology to support teaching and learning in ODL. All major aspects of learning were traversed in the theoretical aspect. This is in a bid to assess the ability of the use of podcasts to meet the needs of the learners. A methodology for conducting the research that included the deployment of a pilot project for the research proposal writing module in year 2011-2012 class was developed and justified accordingly. The use of both qualitative and quantitative methods was necessitated by the objectives of the research. This was implemented at data collection and analysis stages of the research. The analysis was fruitful and successful for that matter, giving reasonable backing to the proposal by the researcher of adopting the use of podcasts using mobile devices. The analysis deemed the pilot project successful for the period within which it was operated. Hurdles or challenges were present and the study gives them as majorly, the lack of sufficient skills to handle the content of the website, that is, generally, the use of the technology. Also, the study pinpoints that the availability of mobile devices is also a challenge that the students will face. Recommendations were derived from the challenges and include a framework that should be used in creating a podcast support system that will be based on the findings to create a successful project. Regarding the objectives of the study, the conclusion that indeed it is feasible to use podcasts to teach research proposal writing in Unisa is valid. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

The research aimed to assess the feasibility of using podcasts in mobile devices to teach research proposal writing for masters’ students of University of South Africa. To aid in this, a general objective was developed which was supported by specific research objectives that guided the study. The research looked at the evolution of open distance learning (ODL) including the use of M-learning. I reviewed literature on the history of podcasts as an entertainment tool being highlighted as a revolution in the academic world especially in the area of distance learning. To create a foundation to give strength to the use of podcasts, theories of education were evaluated and criticised to give reason and foundation for the use of podcasts as a technology to support teaching and learning in ODL. All major aspects of learning were traversed in the theoretical aspect. This is in a bid to assess the ability of the use of podcasts to meet the needs of the learners. A methodology for conducting the research that included the deployment of a pilot project for the research proposal writing module in year 2011-2012 class was developed and justified accordingly. The use of both qualitative and quantitative methods was necessitated by the objectives of the research. This was implemented at data collection and analysis stages of the research. The analysis was fruitful and successful for that matter, giving reasonable backing to the proposal by the researcher of adopting the use of podcasts using mobile devices. The analysis deemed the pilot project successful for the period within which it was operated. Hurdles or challenges were present and the study gives them as majorly, the lack of sufficient skills to handle the content of the website, that is, generally, the use of the technology. Also, the study pinpoints that the availability of mobile devices is also a challenge that the students will face. Recommendations were derived from the challenges and include a framework that should be used in creating a podcast support system that will be based on the findings to create a successful project. Regarding the objectives of the study, the conclusion that indeed it is feasible to use podcasts to teach research proposal writing in Unisa is valid. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)