This research study aims to identity the shifts in form and function of English writing in Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) and determine whether writing changed through CMC. It critically evaluates English writing in CMC in South Africa, and includes a case study of both synchronous and asynchronous forms of CMC. Chapter 1, outlines the problem concerning the changes of writing in both form and function in the present age of CMC. This chapter, also gives a detailed description and outlines the methodology of this study. Chapter 2, centres on the historical and theoretical aspects of writing using the work done by scholars such as McLuhan, Shlain and Baron. The literature is divided into two subsections. The research and theories highlights the importance and complexity of writing in human history. It also gives insight into understanding the impacts of different mediums on writing. This chapter similarly depicts an understanding in the use of writing to represent language, and in particular, how speech and writing divvied up communication functions in literature societies. Chapter 3, gives a detailed theoretical and critical outline of writing in the present age of CMC. Based on the nature of the computer medium, writing in CMC often has its own characteristics which can serve both developmental and social purposes. The aim of this chapter is to grasp an appropriate analogy through which to capture the changes the computer technology would engender in writing communication, and re-examine the relationship between writing and speech in CMC. Chapter 4, comprises of an empirical research study done in South African on-line discourse, focusing on the changes of writing in CMC. The hypothesis of this case study is that writing in CMC differentiates the conventional writing in a variety of ways. Therefore, the study looks at the particular writing style in CMC and determines whether computer-mediated writing is gradually becoming a mirror of speech. This chapter explains methodology and the process of data coding in this case study. It also includes a summary of the survey results, as well as a discussion of the findings from this case study. Chapter 5, includes a conclusion of this study and suggestions for further research. It is the hope of the researcher that this study will provoke questions and thoughts for further inquiries.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

As a reader and as a teacher of introductory reading and writing courses, I am persuaded by the concept of a genuine authority in which all readers both value and seek to examine their early readings of texts. What I have come to regard as a pretended authority or mastery, on the other hand, is troubling to me as a teacher and reader. This more traditional way of reading and writing, in which readers seek to "find" an author's "meaning" and to communicate this meaning with an assured and knowing voice, has seemed in my experience as both an instructor and student to ignore or brush over the real complexity in both written texts and in the texts of students' and others' lives. In spite of my belief in the importance and efficacy of a questioning rather than a masterful authority, I sometimes, in my teaching and reading and writing, still search for and value what I perceive as author's meanings. I have encountered this tendency in many of my students, as well, and in many of my own past reading and writing teachers; tradition has deeply lodged in us the looming image of the Great Author, and the notion that we must master this author's meanings to be successful readers of their texts. Perhaps one of the most powerful dilemmas facing instructors of reading and writing courses--a dilemma which helps to shape this thesis--is that of fostering an authority based on self-valuing, self-conscious reading while at the same time communicating to readers that the texts we are reading can be as complex as the meanings we make of them. While the formal, institutionalized authority of authors must be challenged by all readers, these authors' genuine authority as writers--as makers of meaning like ourselves and our students--must be respected as we respect our own developing and individual authority. / Graduation date: 1994

The main purposes of this thesis are to investigate the difference between the written English of deaf children and the written English of hearing children and to make recommendations on how to improve the writing of deaf children. In order to achieve this goal, both quantitative and qualitative research was done. The comparison of the writing of deaf and hearing children relies on quantitative research while the recommendations are based on qualitative analysis. The dissertation is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter discusses the problem, the significance of the research, the purpose of the study, the background to the problem and the theoretical framework. This chapter indicates the prevalence of deafness worldwide and in South Africa and its negative impact on the writing abilities of children. The second chapter provides a literature review on the theory behind reading and writing, with specific emphasis on emergent literacy and its relevance to the language acquisition and print language learning of deaf children. Another aspect of this chapter is the effect of different aspects of deafness on language acquisition and learning. The chapter also highlights the challenges for deaf children in South Africa and debates regarding the language of instruction that should be used to teach deaf children writing/reading, as well as arguments concerning bottom-up, top-down, and interactive approaches to writing. The third chapter provides the overall philosophical framework for the quantitative and qualitative research as well as the methodology used for the qualitative research. This is followed by the results of the quantitative research and a discussion of these results in Chapter 4. The fifth chapter is in the form of a second literature review that contains recommendations for improving the writing of deaf children. Following this, in Chapter 6, is a discussion of some of the theory behind interview interaction, as well as an analysis of how to develop a valid study. The researcher also sets out the interview structure. The seventh chapter contains a discussion of the findings of the interview to see if they confirm the findings in Chapter 5, as well as overall conclusions about assisting deaf children with their writing, a reflection on the study as a whole and suggestions for future research. This study argues that in order for deaf children in South Africa to develop their writing, immediate government assistance is necessary in order to implement countrywide newborn hearing screening, followed by medical and/or language-based ii intervention to minimise the impact of deafness on the language and writing abilities of deaf children. This is an essential foundation from which parents and teachers can build and play a key role in helping their children reach age-appropriate levels of written English.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-120). / ix, 120 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This study attempts to investigate the teaching of written English in Vietnam with special attention to the main problems encountered by teachers of English at the main language institutions in the light of the literature and practices in general ELT. The first chapter is the introduction of the study. It covers the aim and scope to be achieved in the study, and explains the sources of data to be used for the study. Terminology of some phrases and abbreviations for convenient use are also given. Chapter 2 focuses on general ELT developments. Major trends in ELT and their practices are brought into discussion. Then in the light of the literature in ELT, the teaching of writing is taken into consideration. Being an important component in ELT, the teaching of writing has to satisfy this need of learners - the need for effective communication - without overlooking correctness, accuracy and other features of good writing. However, there is no single approach that can provide a perfect answer to all the learners' problems. Chapter 3 discusses the teaching and learning situation in Vietnam in three stages from 1959 to 1986. It is made clear that the situation is not satisfactory due to the methods, techniques, materials and the quality of teachers. Then special investigation is made into the writing area. It is discovered that complex writing is avoided because of the teachers' low standard and their methods and techniques in teaching written English. Improvement courses have been held, but they did not include writing programmes for teachers. Chapter 4 analyses the main problems affecting the teaching of writing in Vietnam, such as teachers' unawareness of language appropriateness and correctness, their difficulty at discourse level and lack of cultural knowledge. Teachers' misconceptions about errors and lack of methods and techniques in dealing with errors also result in ineffective teaching. In Chapter 5 some recommendations are made for teaching writing to inservice teachers in the upgrading course. They focus on the methods and techniques to be used in such a writing course. Some techniques for composition correction are also suggested. Unfortunately, there is no single book that is ideal for such a course. A selection of current writing coursebooks is given in the hope that teachers will find material to suit the needs of their students in them. The last recommendations are for teaching academic writing which involves more sophisticated skills than writing on general topics. Finally the writer makes some comments on her own work and suggests further research into the writing area.

<p>It is important to think about how to correct an essay and what the students should learn from it. My aim in this paper, is to look into what different researchers have said about feedback on written assignments and carry out a study of the kind of feedback that is actually used in secondary school today – and of what students and teachers think about it.</p><p>The results show that underlining is the marking technique mostly used in the secondary school where I did my investigation. This technique was also mostly preferred amongst the students. Two teachers were interviewed and both said that they used underlining because experience has shown that this marking technique is the most effective one. Furthermore, the results from the essays differed when analyzing errors corrected with complete underlining, partial underlining, crossing out and giving the right answer. One marking technique got good results when dealing with one kind of error, and worse in others. My conclusion is that teachers need to vary their marking technique depending on the specific kind of error.</p><p>Also, the results from a questionnaire showed that most of the students would like to get feedback on every written assignment. Not many of them said that they were already getting it, although this was what both teachers claimed. To conclude, there are many different ways to deal with marking and feedback. The key-word seems to be variation. As long as teachers vary their ways of dealing with marking and giving feedback, they will eventually find one or two that are most effective. Involving the students in this decision can also be a good idea, if they are interested.</p>