Thesis (M. A. (English Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2020 / Conventional laboratory report writing skills present an enormous challenge to first entering science students including the Bachelor of Science (BSc) students at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMHSU). First entering students are expected to meet essential tertiary discourse requirements and standards consistent with their scientific community. The purpose of this study was to explore how content lecturers in cognate departments assess laboratory report writing skills of first entering BSc students. The research design was exploratory and a mixed approach was used. Students sat for a criterion-referenced test and interviews were conducted with content lecturers to collect data; quantitative basic statistical interrogation of the basic data points and post interview analysis were performed. Some of the key findings of this exploration was that most first entering BSc students are in a dire situation regarding the laboratory report writing genre; they are unable to communicate comprehensive and intelligible information in the written laboratory reports. Thus, content lecturers and English language lecturers from the Department of Language Proficiency (DLP) need to strategically collaborate in order to improve the performance of first entering BSc students.

Abstract Streblow, Heike (2022). Autism in School - Evidence Based Methods to Develop Writing Skills of Students with AutismType of Essay: Master’s thesis (15 credits) Master’s degree, 120 credits, Malmo University, Department of School Development and Leadership Malmo University  There is a great number of international and national studies on younger pupils with autism. Some research indicates that there is a gap between what research results show and what impact it has on classroom activities. Aim: The aim of this study is to find out what evidence-based methods four students with autism and four teachers find successful when developing students’ writing skills. The participating students of this study were between 14 and 15 years old. Research questions: 1.                      What methods do students use to develop their writing skills? 2.                      What methods do students consider helping them the most? 3.                      What methods do teachers use to develop students' writing skills? 4.                      What methods do teacher consider helping students with autism to develop their writing skills? 5.                      How do teachers describe successful teaching to develop students' writing skills in mainstream classrooms versus self-contained classrooms? Theoretical framework: Dewey's democracy and education and learning by doing (hands-on thinking), Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and Bandura's social cognitive theory are used when analyzing the results. Method:This study uses triangulation with both quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews) methods. Results:The results of this study show that there are similarities but differences, too, in what evidence-based methods students or teachers use to develop the students’ writing skills. Students for example rate to use technical devices (with text-to-speech and speech-to text software), writing in pairs and to have extended time when writing highest, their teachers on the other hand rate supporting questions, model texts and goalsetting highest. Teachers consider modelling and scaffolding as being very important.The results of this study also show that effective methods proven by Asaro-Saddler et al. (2017) are both used in mainstream and self-contained classrooms in Sweden.Teachers point out that each student with autism is an individual and that there isn´t one solution that fits all because of that. They discuss furthermore that there should be flexible circumstances in school organization that make it possible to act quickly. Future Research: Future research should be conducted on older students with autism and their development of writing skills.  Implications for special education: The results of this study show the importance of:·      organizing school environments in a way that students with ASD can participate in the curriculum, ·      providing them with digital assistant devices and if necessary,·      giving them the opportunity to fulfill their education in self-contained classrooms.Special educational needs coordinators need to organize, together with the principals, rich opportunities for teachers to plan their lessons together in a way that students with ASD will meet the same teaching scaffolding methods to develop and improve their writing skills. It is also important to have a dialogue with teachers to deepen their understanding of working with students with ASD.It is necessary to build consistent relationships between the students and their teachers.

Despite a constant rise in the attainment of Sats results year on year, the perception remains that British primary school children are underachieving and that they are reluctant readers and writers. In order to motivate their students, some teachers use films as a visual stimulus to provide students with ideas and create a personal and emotion connection with the written text. In the school years of 2013/14 I followed 21 primary classes which were taking part in a ‘film literacy’ scheme run by Bradford UNESCO City of Film. This initiative saw the training of teachers in the use of film as a tool in literacy lesson with the hope to raise attainment and motivation. Students and teachers completed questionnaires and interviews which were analysed in conjunction with observations and the students’ literacy grades. The research showed that both students and teachers recorded an increase in motivation. Further, significant progress in attainment also became evident: film literacy students raised their grades by 23.3% beyond the expected year-on-year increase. Improvements in inference, comprehension and vocabulary were especially praised. Students from schools with a low-income environment benefitted in particular. The research discusses six potential reasons for these changes, two of which are based on the belief that film is a particularly suitable medium for teaching as it engages students emotionally. Although the thesis acknowledges that Bradford involved a unique group of schools in the film literacy training and research, it nevertheless argues that film could be useful addition to primary classrooms due to its potential ability to raise standards and engage reluctant young writers.

Dans une perspective de psychologie développementale appliquée à l’objet Écrit, la recherche présentée dans cette thèse s’articule autour de deux grands temps et notions : l’évaluation des compétences à l’Écrit d’une part et la remédiation des difficultés sur l’Écrit d’autre part. Le concept d’appropriation de l’Écrit développé par Besse constitue la base de ce travail et permet de faire le lien entre ces deux dimensions, en prenant en compte le rapport à l’Écrit dans sa globalité (aspects cognitifs, sociaux ou plus personnels). Dans un premier temps, les compétences et représentations de l’Écrit de 159 enfants scolarisés à l’école élémentaire sont mises en évidence à l’aide des outils DMA-Enfants (rencontres individuelles autour d’activités sur le lire-écrire-parler). Les analyses et observations alors conduites ont permis de suivre le développement des compétences en lecture-écriture et le cheminement sur l’Écrit des enfants du CP au CM2. Différents profils sur l’Écrit ont également été identifiés, venant notamment souligner les particularités des enfants en difficulté sur l’Écrit. Dans un second temps, 21 enfants de CM2 ont participé pendant trois mois à des ateliers de remédiation sur l’Écrit autour du Journal Scolaire, visant à les accompagner vers une autre réflexion et appropriation de l’Écrit. Les résultats obtenus sont encourageants et témoignent d’une certaine influence de la remédiation sur les représentations et les comportements face à l’Écrit des enfants concernés. / This doctoral research on the Written language takes place in the field of developmental psychology. It can be focused on two main concepts and two main steps: reading and writing skills assessment on one hand, remediation of difficulties on the other hand. The reading and writing appropriation concept developed by Besse is used to link assessment and remediation and the Written language in all its dimensions (cognitive, social and more personal aspects) is taken into account. Based upon the use of the DMA method, 159 children from 1st to 5th grade were first met individually and activities relating to reading, writing and oral skills were proposed to highlight their Written language skills and representations. We were able to monitor the progress and we could analyze the development of reading and writing skills throughout elementary school. Different profiles of reading and writing skills were also identified, especially to differentiate children having problems with Written language.In a second step, remediation workshops were set up for three months with 21 5th grade children. The purpose was writing articles for the school newspaper in order to support children to another thought and appropriation of the Written language. The results are encouraging : they show some influence of remediation on representations and behaviors about reading and writing.

Skrivning är en central del av undervisningen för elever i årskurs 4–6. Under vår verksamhetsförlagda utbildning har vi märkt att elevers attityder till skrivande ser olika ut beroende på om texten skrivs för hand eller på dator. Litteraturstudien undersöker hur användandet av datorer i undervisningen påverkar elevers skrivutveckling i årskurs 4–6. De frågeställningar som besvaras är: Vad är avgörande för att en datorbaserad undervisning ska bli gynnsam för elevers skrivutveckling? Vilka effekter har datorn på elevers skrivutveckling?   Litteraturstudien bygger på internationell och nationell forskning om hur en datorbaserad undervisning påverkar elevers skrivutveckling med utgångspunkt i årskurs 4–6. Även forskning gällande övriga elever i grundskolan samt gymnasiet har inkluderats. Studien innehåller tio vetenskapliga artiklar, en doktorsavhandling samt ett konferensbidrag.   Resultatet av litteraturstudien visar att datorn har positiva effekter på elevers skrivande då de upplever att de kan ägna mer tid åt textens innehåll och mindre tid åt formandet av bokstäver och eventuella stavfel. Litteraturstudiens resultat visar att för att användandet av datorer ska vara gynnsamt krävs det att eleverna ges möjligheter att utveckla sina kunskaper om datorns utformning och hantering. Litteraturstudiens resultat visar även att lärares intresse och kunskaper är avgörande i alla årskurser, för att datorn ska kunna användas som ett arbetsverktyg i undervisningen. Slutligen har vi i litteraturstudien kommit fram till att lärare behöver erbjuda en varierad undervisning där eleverna ges möjlighet att skriva texter både för hand och med dator för att tillgodose alla elevers förutsättningar och behov.

Abstract The study aims to develop knowledge through Storytelling Dramas where teachers and students learn together. The ambition is to investigate if drama variation in teaching, can increase more students' motivation to learn and develop their writing skills concerning more content rich and imaginative lyrics. Theorists believe that learning occurs through interaction; that learning concerns relationships and that language and communication are fundamental elements. Interaction, motivation, curiosity and interest is needed for learning. With an action research approach through we have investigated how the content of the students' stories come to expression for dramatization in conversation and writing. The empirical material consists of log books, students 'written stories, group discussions, and focus group interviews. After that a qualitative analysis was made.The results are presented in two parts. Part 1: The dramatization of different perspectives and Part 2: Students' perspectives on writing qualities. During the analysis, we also discovered that our approach covers the entire Illeris educational triangle. We saw how Storytelling Dramas highlighted narratives content from different perspectives and to students' focus was on different qualitative levels. The conclusion is that Storytelling Dramas is a teaching method based on co-operative learning that provide different perspectives of learning objects, which helps broaden the teachers' and pupils' learning as to make visible the content of students' stories.  Keywords: action research, co-operative learning, , learning styles, writing skills and Storytelling Dramas. / Abstrakt: Studiens syfte är att utveckla kunskap genom Storytelling Dramas där pedagoger och elever lär tillsammans. Vår ambition med studien är att undersöka om vi genom drama som variation i undervisningen kan öka fler elevers motivation att lära och därmed utveckla deras skrivförmåga vad gäller att skriva mer innehållsrika och fantasifulla texter. Teoretiker menar att lärande sker genom samspel; att lärande har med relationer att göra och att språk och kommunikation är grundläggande element. Förutsättning för lärande är samspel, motivation, nyfikenhet och intresse.. Med aktionsforskning som ansats lät vi elevernas skrivna berättelser synliggöras genom dramatisering för att eleverna skulle få syn på det som ger kvalité i berättelseskrivningen och därmed ett bra innehåll. Efter våra aktioner gjordes en kvalitativ analys. Analysen av loggböcker, gruppsamtal samt elevernas skrivna berättelser, där vi undersökte hur innehållet i elevernas berättelser kom till utryck efter dramatisering i samtal och skrift, mynnade ut i två delar. Del 1: Dramatiseringens olika perspektiv och del 2: Elevernas perspektiv på skrivandets kvalitéer. Under analysarbetet upptäckte vi även att vårt arbetssätt täcker hela Illeris lärotriangel.  Vi såg hur Storytelling Dramas belyste berättelsers innehåll ur olika perspektiv och att elevernas fokus befann sig på olika kvalitativa nivåer. Den övergripande slutsatsen med vår studie är att Storytelling Dramas är en undervisningsmetod som bygger på samlärande som ger olika perspektiv av lärandets objekt, vilket bidrar till att bredda pedagogers och elevers lärande såsom att synliggöra innehållet i elevers berättelser. Nyckelord: aktionsforskning, samlärande, lärstilar, skrivutveckling och Storytelling Dramas.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how some students in the early school years experience their literary learning environment, as well as their own thoughts and experiences of how the learning environment can be designed to support them in developing their literacy skills. The theoretical framework is a sociocultural perspective on learning. The survey was conducted as a group interview with students in third grade. The questions focused on how students experience a positive learning environment, and a learning environment that adversely affects their reading and writing skills. The study also examines the students’ views on how the learning environment can be developed. The results show that students at the beginning of the study did not attach any importance to the learning environment in terms of developing their literacy skills. But in the continued discussion they became aware of a number of factors that they believe characterizes a positive literary learning environment. The individual teacher’s attitude and interaction with the students is considered the single most important factor to achieve a literary learning environment that stimulates their reading and writing skills. The students also believe that there is a potential for the development of the literary learning environment, particularly the physical aspects and they give a number of concrete suggestions for improvements, such as expanded access to books and furniture that is more suited for literary activities. In the research review some factors for success are discernible as individual teachers’ attitudes and skills, a structured environment and an environment that provides physical access to reading material. / Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur några elever i de tidiga skolåren upplever sin litterära lärmiljö, samt deras egna tankar och erfarenheter kring hur lärmiljö kan utformas för att stötta dem i deras läs- och skrivutveckling. Studien analyseras utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv på lärande. Undersökningen har genomförts i form av en gruppintervju med elever i årskurs tre. Frågeställningarna har fokuserat hur eleverna upplever en positiv lärmiljö, respektive en lärmiljö som inverkar negativt på deras läs- och skrivutveckling. Likaså utforskar studien vilka möjligheter eleverna ser för utveckling av lärmiljön. I resultatet framgår att eleverna inledningsvis inte tillmäter lärmiljön någon betydelse för deras läs- och skrivutveckling. I diskussionen blir de emellertid medvetna om en rad faktorer som de tycker utmärker en positiv litterär lärmiljö. Den enskilde lärarens bemötande och interaktion med eleverna betraktas som den i särklass viktigaste faktorn för att åstadkomma en litterär lärmiljö som stimulerar deras läs- och skrivutveckling. Eleverna anser även att det finns utvecklingspotential för den litterära lärmiljön, framförallt de fysiska aspekterna och ger en rad konkreta förbättringsförslag, såsom till exempel en större tillgång till böcker samt möbler som är mer anpassade för litterära aktiviteter. I forskningsöversikten har vissa framgångsfaktorer kunnat skönjas, som till exempel enskilda lärares förhållningssätt och kompetens, en strukturerad miljö, en miljö som erbjuder fysisk tillgång till läsmaterial.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Since a number of studies on textbooks in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) have shown that textbooks hold a major place in education (De Guzman, 2000; Oakes & Saunders, 2004), this study proposes to investigate the content of an English Language Teaching (ELT)/ English as a Second Language (ESL) textbook used in 6th form secondary school (Grade 12) in the DRC, Go for English 1RE. It aims to identify and evaluate the content of this ELT textbook so as to deduce and derive main insights for the determination or not of its appropriateness and relevance in terms of its contribution to language use and literacy in the ELT/ESL curriculum of the DRC. The study draws its theoretical underpinning from two theories: the Cunningsworth’s textbook analysis theory and McDonough and Shaw evaluation theory. As research design, the study adopts an a descriptive, exploratory and interpretive design which draws on both quantitative and qualitative data collected on the basis of textbook evaluation checklist and semi-structured interviews. In regard to the procedural orientation, the study uses descriptive and content analysis to analyze, interpret and examine both interviews and textbook evaluation likert-scale checklist data. In respect of its data, the study uses ‘mixed methods approach’. Both qualitative and quantitative data come from 259 teacher and student participants on the basis of two different samples. The quantitative data comes from 209 student participants and 25 teacher participants and the qualitative data from 10 student participants and 15 teacher participants. The findings attest to the general content of "Go for English 1RE ELT" textbook in regard to language activities and tasks related to its subject matter, to the quality and nature of language it contains, and finally to the diversity in its subject matter and its cultural aspects, is suitable for language use and literacy skills development. However, even though its content is suitable, the findings also indicate that this ELT textbook is not well adapted to Congolese 6th form secondary school students’ level.

In this study, 78 kindergarten and first-grade children were interviewed about their writing to identify indicators of self-assessment. Writing samples for each participant were saved over a three month period, then compared and discussed by the child. Results indicated that these young children did engage in self:-assessment behaviors. The classroom teachers were asked to place the participants in their classes along a writing continuum known as a Writing Band. Graphs were presented to show the writing levels of the children by classroom. In addition, each classroom was surveyed to document events which promote literacy development within the framework of an integrated curriculum. Writing samples for each child were collected and kept in a portfolio. Participants were interviewed regarding the contents of the portfolio. Children in two of the kindergarten classes were interviewed using 5 samples collected over a 2 1/2 month time period, and all other participants were interviewed using 6 writing samples collected over a 3 month period. Findings indicated that not only did these young children recognize growth in their writing, but they also assessed that growth based on outward, physical features of their writing. The writing ability of each child at the beginning of the study did not appear to affect the child's ability to self-assess writing growth. Children on the first 4 Writing Bands, A, B, C, and D self-assessed using similar criteria. Additional findings suggested that many of these young children knew there was a thought process involved with choosing topics to be written about. The results of this study suggested implications for continued investigations into using self-assessment with young children. For example, it was proposed that varying the learning environment may change the criteria that children use for self-assessment. Further research was recommended that would identify student and teacher behaviors that enhance self-assessment.

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of the essay writing process of first year undergraduates at Chancellor College (University of Malawi) and to a lesser extent those of the lecturers responsible for teaching academic skills. A mixed methods design, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques, was employed in order to obtain richer data for deeper understanding of the students’ writing process. Two hundred students from the humanities and social science faculties responded to a self-completion questionnaire towards the end of semester one. Based on the students’ responses, an open-ended questionnaire was administered to four full time English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instructors. Findings from this study indicate that most students find it very challenging to obtain sufficient and relevant source text information, paraphrase or summarise information, and use an appropriate academic writing style. As solutions to these challenges, the students suggested the need for timely essay writing instruction, availability of resources for essay writing, increased amount of time spent on essay writing instruction, and discipline specific instruction in essay writing. EAP instructors identified lack of teaching and learning materials, large EAP classes, and students’ negative attitude towards the EAP course, as some of the challenges they encounter when teaching the course. The EAP instructors proposed an increase in the number of staff members, making students aware of the significance of the EAP course at an early stage, and the availability of up to date resources, as some of the ways in which the teaching of the course can be improved. Overall, the findings seem to suggest that difficulties that students encounter during the writing process and teaching challenges that EAP instructors face, have great impact on students’ perception of academic writing as well as their approach to writing tasks. The findings also suggest a lack of dialogue between the students and their lecturers. This is evident in students’ unawareness of the nature of the writing demands of their lecturers and disciplines; students’ desire to have timely essay writing instruction; and the lecturers’ concerns about students’ negative attitude towards the EAP course.