Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The central aim of the study is to present a proposal of how academic literacy development across the curriculum in secondary school can be facilitated through the use of content subject texts in isiXhosa. This is demonstrated by making use of History texts, which can be incorporated in the isiXhosa Home Language (HL) subject for teaching the writing skills of academic texts. The Genre-based approach to literacy development, which has been employed with great success, especially in Australia, over the past thirty years, is assumed in presenting an analysis of the variety of genres exemplified by the History texts. The analyses of genres will be demonstrated by three texts selected from the grade 11 History textbook and the grade 11 assessment question paper, translated into isiXhosa, respectively. For example, genres such as chronological texts in which historical recounts are grouped into and non-chronological genres in which the factorial and consequential explanation genres are grouped under. The schematic structure of the selected genres is identified and related to the language system represented by the systemic functional linguistics. The study makes use of the method of text analysis and written discourse analysis within the genre framework underpinned by systemic functional linguistic for the data collection. The findings demonstrate that that the effective development of knowledge of language in the Home Language class through the use of texts from content subjects can play a crucial role in advancing academic writing skills, for both the Home language and History. Furthermore; the availability of resources in isiXhosa, teachers training and support on the implementation of genre-based approach underpinned by the systemic functional linguistics can enhance the understanding of genres across the curriculum and will in that effect, promote the use of African languages for academic purposes. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die sentrale doelwit van die studie is om ‘n voorstel aan te bied van hoe akademiese geletterdheid in die sekondêre skool gefasiliteer kan word deur die gebruik van inhoudsvaktekste in isiXhosa oor die kurrikulum. Hierdie doelwit word gedemonstreer deur die gebruik van Geskiedenistekste wat geïntegreer kan word in die isiXhosa huistaalvak vir die onderrig van skryfvaardighede van akademiese tekste. Die genre-gebaseerde benadering, wat met groot sukses in veral Australië gebruik is die afgelope dertig jaar, word aanvaar vir die aanbieding van analises van ‘n verskeidenheid genres soos vertoon deur geskiedenistekste. Die analises van genres word geïllustreer deur drie tekste wat geselekteer is uit die Graad 11 Geskiedenisteksboek en ook die Graad 11 assesseringsvraestel, vertaal in isiXhosa, respektiewelik. Byvoorbeeld, genres soos chronologiese tekste, waarin historiese herroepings (‘recounts’) gegroepeer word, en nie-chronologiese genres, waaronder die faktoriale en gevolg-verduidelikings-genres gegroepeer is. Die skematiese strukture van die geselekteerde genres word geïdentifiseer en in verband gebring met die taalsisteem soos gerepresenteer in sistemiese funksionele linguistiek. Die studie maak gebruik van die metode van teksanalise en geskrewe diskoersanalise binne die genre-raamwerk wat onderlê word deur sistemiese funksionele linguïstiek vir dataversameling. Die bevindings demonstreer dat die doeltreffende ontwikkeling van kennis van taal in die Huistaalvak en klasse deur die gebruik van inhoudsvak tekste ‘n belangrike rol kan speel in die bevordering van akademiese skryfvaardighede, in sowel die Huistaalvak as Geskiedenis. Voorts, kan die beskikbaarheid van leermateriaalbronne in isiXhosa, onderwysersopleiding en ondersteuning in die implementering van die genre-gebaseerde benadering waaraan die sistemiese funksionele linguistiek onderliggend is, die begrip van leerders van genres oor die kurrikulum heen verhoog, en dus die gebruik van die Afrikatale vir akademiese doeleindes verhoog. / isiXHOSA ABSTRACT: Injongo ephambili yesi sifundo kukuzisa ingcebiso kuphuhliso lolwimi ukuze lube kumgangatho wamaziko emfundo ephezulu, nophuhliso kwiKharityhulum ngokusebenzisa imibhalo kwizifundo ezingundoqo “content-subjects”. Oku kuza kuboniswa ngokusebenzisa okubhaliweyo kwimbali (history text), okunokuthi kufundiswe kwigumbi lokufundisa lesiXhosa njengolwimi lweenkobe, ukufundisa izakhono zokubhalwa kokubhaliweyo ukuze kube kumgangatho wamaziko aphezulu ezemfundo ukuya kumaziko emfundo enomsila. Indlela yokufundisa ekuphuhliseni ukufunda nokubhala esekelwe kokubhaliweyo ebizwa ngokuba “yiGenre- based approach” neye yasetyenziswa ngempumelelo enkulu, ingakumbi kumazwe afana ne-Ostreliya, kwiminyaka engamashumi amathathu eyadlulayo, ibonwa njengeyona isebenzayo ekuhlalutyeni iindidi ezahlukeneyo zokubhaliweyo ezibonakaliswa yimibhalo yezembali. Ukuphicothwa kwale mibhalo kuza kubonakaliswa ngemibhalo echongiweyo kwincwadi yebanga lethoba (ibakala leshumi elinanye) kwakunye namaphepha ovavanyo eli bakala nathe aguqulelwa esiXhoseni. Umzekelo: okubhaliweyo okubonakalisa indlela yokubhala apho kudweliswa iziganeko, izehlo eziyinyani nezo zifuna ingcaciso ephuhlisa isiphumo okanye isiganeko esithile, njalo njalo. Ubume bokubhaliweyo buza kuphichothwa ngokwendlela ulwimi olume ngayo ngohlobo olukhuthazwa yi“systemic functional linguistics”. Esi sifundo sisebenzisa olo hlobo lokuphicotha okubhaliweyo noluquka ukuphicothwa kokubhaliweyo okukhuthazwa yigenre, ingakumbi ekuqokeleleni idatha. Iziphumo ziphawula ukuba ukuphuhlisa ulwazi olusulungekileyo ngolwimi lweenkobe, lusetyenziswe ingakumbi kwiklasi yolwimi lwenkobe, kunganegalelo elikhulu ekuphuhliseni ukufundiswa kwezakhona zokubhala, nezokuhlalutya okubhaliweyo kwezifundo ezingundoqo “content subjects”. Obu budlelane phakathi kwezifundo zolwimi nezo zingundoqo zinganegalelo elikhulu ekuphuhliseni izakhono zokubhala ezikwizinga eliphezulu. Ngapha koko, ukufumaneka kwale mithombo ngesiXhosa, uqeqesho lwabafundisi- ntsapho nokubaxhasa ekufundiseni ngale ndlela ekhuthazwa yi-“genre ne-systemic functional linguistics” kunganefuthe elihle kwizifundo jikelele, nakuphuhliso kusetyenziso lweeLwimi zesiNtu njengeelwimi zokufunda nokufundisa kumaziko emfundo enomsila.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a direct test of higher-order and lower-order writing abilities needed for police report writing. This test was specifically designed to address report writing deficiencies experienced by police in the training academy. Descriptive statistics were examined, and relationships between this test and writing ability dimensions included on a separate, indirect, multiple choice test were investigated. Direct and indirect scores were correlated with training academy performance. Because both tests assessed higher-order and lower-order writing abilities, comparisons were made to determine which type of test was most appropriate for assessing the different types of writing skills. Results indicated that the direct test was a valid predictor of academy performance. Direct methods of measurement were found to be better than indirect methods for assessing higher-order writing skills. For lower-order writing skills, the indirect method appeared to be a better measure than the direct method.

Writing skills are important for social and civic participation, educational achievement and employment (European Commission, 2012). However, a third to a half of Scottish students did not attain required writing standards at upper elementary and lower high school grades in 2014 (Scottish Government, 2015). Similarly, many students do not obtain the required skills in the USA (Graham et al., 2014). This study aimed to improve the writing skills of mainstream upper elementary and lower high school students. It took place in a largely rural Local Authority in Southern Scotland which was mid-range on measures of deprivation. The literature was reviewed on effective writing interventions for school-aged mainstream students. The interventions with the largest impacts around the target grades were: CIRC (Durukan, 2011); Collaborative Dialogic Learning (Alfassi, 2009); CSRI (Torrance et al., 2007); Jigsaw (Sahin, 2011); individual IT access in lessons (Snyder, 1993); individual IT access at home and school (Lowther et al., 2003); peer assistance with revision (Boscoli et al.,2004); process and product goals (Schunk et al., 1993); SRSD (Brunstein et al., 2011); summarisation (Chang et al., 2002); visualisation/imagery instruction (Jampole et al., 1994). An online survey of teachers’ current practices and beliefs about the teaching of writing was administered. The response rate was 23% (N=345) of the 1490 Local Authority-employed teachers in the region. Notable findings were: the respondents’ most frequently used practice was grammar instruction, an ineffective intervention (Graham et al., 2012; Graham et al., 2007). Many were using some evidence-based practices but not at optimum frequencies, and some were never using some of them. About 40% of respondents felt students had insufficient IT to support their writing and most would use IT more frequently if they had more up-to-date equipment, better internet access and extra training. Under half of elementary and high school respondents with English degrees felt Initial Teacher Education was adequate preparation to teach writing, while only 29% of high school respondents without English degrees felt adequately prepared to teach writing. Most viewed In Service Education more favourably but substantial numbers of respondents still felt inadequately prepared, particularly high school teachers without English degrees. All the high school respondents with English degrees and 91% of elementary respondents felt they were effective teachers of writing, but only 48% of high school respondents without English degrees felt they were effective at teaching writing. An evidence-based intervention was developed, the six-week Write Away programme, which included writing strategy instruction, self-regulation strategies and peer revision. It shared many features with CSRI (Torrance et al., 2007) and SRSD (Harris et al., 2009). Distinctive differences included that it incorporated Boscolo et al.'s (2004) model of peer revision rather than the think alouds used in CSRI, pupils did not create their own self-regulatory statements, pupils did not collaborate during drafting, pupils needed not spend long planning provided they revised their work, the finished essays would be displayed and peer revision continued following the teaching phase. This study was quasi-experimental and used both quantitative and qualitative methods. Participation was offered to large elementary schools which had two P6 (grade 5) pupil-only classes to allow for control and intervention classes. Two schools volunteered. Which pupils were in which condition depended on which teachers delivered the interventions. The control classes in both schools followed an on-going parallel intervention – the Big Writing programme (Wilson, 2012). Both schools were in towns and had similar pupil numbers (Eastfield=390, Westfield =361). The percentage entitled to Free School Meals in P4 to P7 at Eastfield was 11.8%, at Westfield it was 9.9%. The average age of the pupils was 10 years 7 months and numbers of male and female participants were broadly the same. Participation was also offered to all the region’s high schools. Only one responded with the requisite conditions for participation. This school (roll= 544) was in the largest town in the region. The percentage entitled to Free School Meals was 13.8%. The average age of the S2 (grade 8) students was 13 years 6 months and there was a preponderance of female participants. The online survey had shown that intervening with non-English specialists might be beneficial. This was compared with delivery by, or in combination with, English teachers. Social Studies was chosen because of its writing demands. A control and three different intervention conditions were used: English teacher only; Social Studies teacher only; English teacher and Social Studies teacher. Which students were in which condition depended on which teachers delivered the interventions. This was determined by the school, either by self-selection or randomly. Measures at both elementary and high school were the same. Teacher and student questionnaires were administered pre and post-test. Participant students were given written tasks pre and post-test. The length of the written tasks and plans were recorded. The written tasks were assessed by the researcher using a rubric developed by the researcher. There was a post-test focus group of intervention teachers at each level. Implementation fidelity was assessed through teacher logs and lesson observations by the researcher. Descriptive statistics were produced for the pupil/student questionnaires, task and plan word lengths and the written task scores for different elements and overall writing quality. Responses to open questions were categorized into themes and tabulated where possible. The teachers’ responses in the focus groups were collated into themes. Intervention and control writing scores pre and post-test and task and plan word length were analysed using Student’s t-tests. Student questionnaire post-test responses from the different conditions were compared with a theoretical distribution of equal values using the Chi-square test. Effect sizes were calculated for mean pupil/student questionnaire responses, task and plan mean word lengths and written task scores. High school student questionnaire responses at post-test were analysed using the Mann-Whitney test because the students were unlikely to be normally distributed. The Write Away programme led to large positive effect sizes for writing quality at P6 (ES: Eastfield= 2.89, N=25; Westfield = 2.70, N=19) and S2 (ES: Social Studies intervention = 1.37, N= 17; Social Studies and English intervention= 1.20, N=20; English intervention = 0.87, N=21). Effect sizes at P6 were double those of the most successful condition at S2. The Social Studies teacher and elementary intervention teachers felt the intervention improved writing quality and intended to do it again. However, the English specialists did not feel it made an impact and did not like it. The intervention successfully included peer revision of each other’s texts (Boscolo et al., 2004) at both elementary and high school levels in a programme of strategy instruction and self-regulation which resulted in large writing quality improvements. The study showed that high school Non-English specialists could deliver interventions with large effects on writing quality. The Social Studies teacher delivered the intervention with the greatest fidelity, improved writing quality the most and reported an increase in understanding of the subject, especially for more able students. The survey showed a need for In Service and this intervention could be used at upper elementary level and with high school non-English specialists in the appropriate genres. This applies to the UK and USA. Implications for practice, policy and future research are further discussed. This was the first study to investigate writing strategy instruction and self-regulation as part of an evidence-based intervention in Scotland.

Argumentive writing is not an easy skill to master. Students from middle school through college demonstrate weaknesses. In particular they fail to take a dialogic perspective, emphasizing their own position without considering addressing alternatives. Research has shown that engaging in dialog with peers is effective in enhancing students’ argumentive thinking and writing. The present study examines whether college students (n=30) show similar benefits when asked to engage individually in a dialogic argumentive writing task. They were asked to construct a dialog between two people holding opposing positions on an issue. Students in a comparison group (n=30) were asked to write an essay on the same issue. Subsequently students in both groups were asked to write a brief TV script conveying their view. Differences in students’ argumentive skills produced in the dialogs and essays were examined. Results showed that the dialog group more frequently included opponent-directed statements (sum of Critical single evaluation, Compare, Integrate other, and Integrate own/other) and integrative statements (sum of Integrate own, Integrate other, and Integrate own/other) in their writing, compared to the essay group. Differences in students’ writing of their TV scripts were also examined. On this assessment, the effect of the dialog largely disappeared, with students in both the essay and dialog groups focusing largely on their own position. Students’ level of epistemological understanding was also examined – that is, whether they regarded knowledge claims as largely facts (absolutist level), opinions (multiplist level), or judgments subject to scrutiny in a framework of alternatives and evidence (evaluativist level). Level of epistemological understanding was assessed immediately after the writing task to determine if constructing a dialog influenced students to take on a more evaluativist perspective in which the need for comparison of multiple perspectives is recognized. Students who had constructed a dialog were more often assessed to be at the multiplist or evaluativist levels of epistemological understanding (and never at the absolutist level), compared to students who had written an essay rather than constructed a dialog. Although the benefit of the dialogic writing task largely did not generalize to the more self-focused TV script writing task, these findings indicate that promoting a dialogic perspective, even without engaging in dialog with an actual person, can be beneficial in supporting argumentive thinking and writing and mature epistemological understanding.

Some students are entering college and graduating with the inability to write scholarly and professionally. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to examine the perceptions of college instructors and students about the essential writing skills of entering first-year college students within a Southwestern university. This study provided insight into strategies to engage students in the writing process, both before and after entering college. Vygotsky's social constructivism provided the framework for this study. The research questions included an examination of the perceptions of students' writing skills based on what instructors, students, and writing center personnel observed; what instructors and students believed to be essential writing skills necessary for entering first-year college students to be academically successful; and what the writing center personnel and students' perceptions were regarding writing resources that were deemed beneficial to entering first-year college students to help improve their writing skills. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 12 participants: 4 instructors, 5 students, and 3 writing center personnel. Data analysis included theme identification based on key words from the interviews. According to study results, findings revealed factors that contributed to poor writing, common writing errors, required writing skills to be academically successful, and writing resources. These findings led to the development of a 3-day professional development (PD) workshop. Participation in the PD workshop may lead to modifications in the curriculum at local high schools and entry-level courses taught to entering first-year college students, resulting in positive social change.

Abstract This thesis discusses the music idea, music aesthetics and writing skills of the author¡¦s composition JING. The music idea and aesthetics of the JING are inspired by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The common important issue that these three isms concern about and also the point inspires the author is Nature. The author uses Repetition as the music writing skills to represent the constancy of the nature. In other words, music repetition and the variation of the repetition is what the author wants to experiment in the composition JING. In order to learn how the repetition used and represents the Nature in the three isms, the author also studies and analyzes important ritual music for the rites of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Furthermore the author discusses how repetition works and means in western music. Concluding the discussions on the three pieces of ritual music and the western music, the author comes out her own point of view which becomes the important material and creating process in JING. JING is consisted of three movements. The first movement is JI, the second is ZHI, and the third is JIE. Although the three movements are titled differently, the points that the author wants to present are all the same and is about Constant Nature. The author experiments the skills of repetition in the piece throughout to show her intention for understanding Constancy of Nature.

<p>The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of current writing practices in the intermediate phase at a multilingual primary school on the Cape Flats and then to explore the possible benefits of a genre-based approach in this context. The study focused on the development of learners' writing skills in two Grade Six English classes. The aims of this study are to understand the writing curriculum plan and as practiced by two teachers with different levels of exposure to current approaches to the teaching of writing and different class profiles.</p>

Bakalauro darbe analizuojami aukštesniųjų klasių mokinių, turinčių vidutinių specialiųjų ugdymosi poreikių (SUP), rašymo gebėjimai. Tyrime dalyvavo 63 bendrojo lavinimo klasėse ugdomi 5-6 klasių mokiniai, turintys vidutinių SUP ir 50 lietuvių kalbos mokytojų, ugdančių 5-6 klasių mokinius. Kontrolinėmis rašymo užduotimis ir anketinės apklausos metodu tirta: 1) kokius rašymo gebėjimus įgyja 5 – 6 klasių mokiniai, turintys vidutinių SUP, mokydamiesi bendrojo lavinimo klasėse; 2) mokytojų požiūris į mokinių, turinčių vidutinių SUP, mokomų bendrojo lavinimo klasėse rašymo pasiekimų kokybę. / This undergraduate work analyzes the writing abilities of the pupils from higher levels, who have medium-sized special educational needs (SEN). The study involved 63 pupils with medium-sized SEN from the 5th – 6th grades in general education schools, 50 Lithuanian language teachers working in the 5th – 6th grades. The control-writing tasks and the questionnaire survey methods were used to examine: 1) what writing skill pupils with medium-sized SEN from the 5th – 6th grades gain in general education classrooms; 2) what is teachers' attitude to the quality of writing achievements of the pupils with medium-sized SEN in general education classes.

<p>The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of current writing practices in the intermediate phase at a multilingual primary school on the Cape Flats and then to explore the possible benefits of a genre-based approach in this context. The study focused on the development of learners' writing skills in two Grade Six English classes. The aims of this study are to understand the writing curriculum plan and as practiced by two teachers with different levels of exposure to current approaches to the teaching of writing and different class profiles.</p>

ROCHA, Flávia Cavalcante. O texto autobiográfico na sala de aula: uma proposta de ensino da produção escrita para alunos do 9° ano. 2016. 219f. – Dissertação (Mestrado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras, Fortaleza (CE), 2016. / Submitted by Gustavo Daher (gdaherufc@hotmail.com) on 2017-02-14T11:32:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_dis_fcrocha.pdf: 8341770 bytes, checksum: f0ab8ae12e0c18845852c082f980feec (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-03-03T13:24:53Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_dis_fcrocha.pdf: 8341770 bytes, checksum: f0ab8ae12e0c18845852c082f980feec (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-03T13:24:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_dis_fcrocha.pdf: 8341770 bytes, checksum: f0ab8ae12e0c18845852c082f980feec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016 / Reading and writing are two essential learnings in a knowledge-based society, and a citizen who does not master these two competencies sees his academic success and his possibilities for social inclusion compromised. This work aims to contribute to the teaching and learning of written production by students of the 9th grade of Elementary School of a public school in Fortaleza-CE through the production of autobiographical texts. Based on the proposal of Dolz, Noverraz and Schneuwly (2004), a didactic sequence is conceived as a methodological resource to verify students' performance in written texts as well as to prove the efficiency of such a procedure as a proposal for teaching textual production. In order to develop students' competence in the texts’ production, especially the written ones, the guidelines of the National Curriculum Parameters of the Portuguese Language, which guide the work with textual genres in the classroom and certify that it is necessary to contemplate the diversity of texts and genres, not only because of their social relevance, but also because texts belonging to different genres are organized in different ways, are also followed. In this perspective, we work on writing in the procedural approach according to Vieira (2005), aiming to value the students' identity and to emphasize their importance as participatory and critical individuals in the society where they live. The analysis of the data makes it possible to verify significant progress in the texts produced after the application of the didactic sequence and proves the effectiveness of this procedure as a proposal for intervention for the teaching of text production in the 9th year of Elementary School. It also allows teachers great satisfaction in verifying students' development, as well as providing these students with a visible sense of well-being in the face of the progress achieved in their textual productions. In summary, this work proposes to invest in the improvement of the reading and writing practices of Elementary School students and can be constituted as an applying pedagogical initiative to the Ideological Model of Reading and writing skills advocated by Street (2014). / Ler e escrever são duas aprendizagens essenciais numa sociedade baseada no conhecimento, e um cidadão que não tenha o domínio dessas duas competências vê comprometido seu sucesso escolar e suas possibilidades de inclusão social. Este trabalho objetiva, então, contribuir com o ensino e a aprendizagem da produção escrita de alunos do 9º ano do Ensino Fundamental de uma escola pública municipal de Fortaleza-CE, por meio da produção de textos autobiográficos. É concebida uma sequência didática, baseada na proposta de Dolz, Noverraz e Schneuwly (2004), como recurso metodológico para verificar o desempenho dos alunos nos textos escritos assim como para comprovar a eficiência de tal procedimento como proposta de ensino da produção textual. Para desenvolver a competência dos alunos na produção de textos, sobretudo os escritos, seguem-se, ainda, as orientações dos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais de Língua Portuguesa, que norteiam o trabalho com gêneros textuais em sala de aula e certificam que é necessário contemplar a diversidade de textos e gêneros, não apenas por sua relevância social, mas também porque textos pertencentes a diferentes gêneros são organizados de diferentes formas. Nessa perspectiva, trabalhase a produção escrita na abordagem processual segundo Vieira (2005), intencionando valorizar a identidade dos alunos e ressaltar a sua importância como indivíduos participativos e críticos na sociedade em que vivem. A análise dos dados possibilita a constatação de progressos significativos nos textos produzidos após a aplicação da sequência didática e comprova a eficácia de tal procedimento como proposta de intervenção para o ensino da produção de textos no 9° ano do Ensino Fundamental. Permite, ainda, aos professores uma grande satisfação em constatar o desenvolvimento dos alunos, além de também proporcionar a esses estudantes uma visível sensação de bem-estar diante do progresso alcançado nas suas produções textuais. Em síntese, este trabalho se propõe a investir na melhoria das práticas de leitura e escrita dos alunos do Ensino Fundamental II e pode ser constituído como uma iniciativa pedagógica de aplicação do Modelo Ideológico de Letramento preconizado por Street (2014).