This qualitative study describes and interprets the interactions of participants in a community college writing class delivered by computer-mediated communication (CMC). The class represented a best practice model of learner-centered instruction in a CMC class. The description and the discussion are framed by five aspects of CMC instruction: (1) context; (2) technology; (3) communication; (4) learning; and (5) community. Offered via a computer bulletin board system (BBS), the class was an ongoing asynchronous electronic meeting. The participants actively accessed the class to interact and collaborate at all hours of the day and night and on almost every day of the term. The relational communication style adopted by the students reflected the formality, immediacy, and social presence of the instructor. Expressing the tone of friendly letters, most of the messages combined salutations, personal or social content, task-oriented content, closing comments and signatures. The mix of assignments and activities required students to act and interact individually, collaboratively and cooperatively. The students accepted the responsibility for interaction and initiated a majority of the messages. The instructor's communications were predominately responsive, facilitative, and coaching type messages. Assignments and activities that required interaction and information sharing stimulated the development of a sense of community for participants. The qualitative analysis and interpretation of the data generated two hypotheses: Hypothesis One Four elements of CMC instruction have critical impact on student participation, satisfaction, learning, and achievement: (1) the functionality and operational transparency of the technology; (2) the course design; (3) the instructor's attitude, style and expertise; and (4) the students autonomous choices about participation, interaction, and cooperation. Hypothesis Two In CMC instruction student participation, satisfaction, learning, and achievement are positively impacted when: (1) the technology is transparent and functions both reliably and conveniently; or (2) the course is specifically designed to take advantage of the CMC characteristics of time/place independence and interactivity to support learner-centered instructional strategies; or (3) the instructor's style is collegial and he/she operates as facilitator, model and coach; or (4) there is a reasonable level of flexibility to accommodate the autonomous choices students make about interaction and collaboration. / Graduation date: 1996

Creative Imitation is an alternative strategy to help students improve their expository writing in college composition. It combines writing by imitation with process modeling to increase student fluency with both the products and processes of writing. For centuries, a technique of "imitatio" was used to teach oral and written language traditions. Isocrates, Quintilian, and Cicero shaped the tradition of imitating writing models. Their principles were revived in the 60s by two neo-classical educators, Corbett and D'Angelo. Objections to the principles of imitation to teach writing are analyzed: models intimidate students, imitation focuses on the products instead of the processes of writing, and imitation reduces individual creativity. Some teachers have reported success with student-centered writing-by-imitation exercises in college composition classrooms. They assert that imitation exercises increase student awareness of correct usage, grammar conventions, rhetorical strategies, and paradoxically enable students to develop an "authentic" voice in their own writing.

Thesis (M.A. (English Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / This study explored the perceptions of students and lecturers with regard to written and oral corrective feedback in a first-level English course at the University of Limpopo. Specifically, the study was designed to establish the views of first entering students and lecturers around oral and written feedback. This study responds to widely-held views that students do not pay much attention to feedback, that even if feedback is provided, some do not know how use feedback systematically to improve their works, and that some lecturers are not investing sufficiently on provision of detailed, usable feedback. This study made use of classroom observations, questionnaires and focus group interviews to establish from students’ perceptions about oral and written corrective feedback in their studies and overall attainment of study goals. Furthermore, lecturers were also invited to participate in interviews to ascertain their perception on whether they consider written feedback essential and how it improves the students’ written English grammar. The study uncovered among others that students view oral and written corrective feedback as a tool that improves their grammar in English challenging long standing views that students are mostly interested in marks obtained in assessments. Data emerging from this study further suggests that participants view oral and written feedback as a device that helps students to improve in their usage of grammar and highlight the need to provide detailed, timely and constructive feedback in student’s academic work.

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Liu, Li. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 223-236). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; appendixes includes Chinese.

Chan, Ying Shan. / Thesis submitted in: October 2006. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-117). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; appendix also in Chinese. / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.i / ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH --- p.ii / ABSTRACT IN CHINESE --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.v / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.vi / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Statement of Problem --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- Purpose and Method of Study --- p.4 / Chapter 1.4 --- Significance of the Study --- p.6 / Chapter 1.5 --- Organization of the Dissertation --- p.7 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Previous Research on Planning and Oral Performance --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Conceptual Framework of Planning Studies --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Aspects of Linguistic Performance --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3 --- The Role of Planning in Writing --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Writing Models --- p.14 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- The Role of L2 in Writing Models --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- The Role of L1 in L2 Writing --- p.18 / Chapter 2.4 --- Different Types of Planning --- p.22 / Chapter 2.5 --- The Importance of Planning --- p.23 / Chapter 2.6 --- The Relationship between Planning and Written Performance --- p.24 / Chapter 2.6.1 --- Planning Types --- p.26 / Chapter 2.6.2 --- Research on Pre-task Planning --- p.26 / Chapter 2.6.3 --- Research on Online Planning --- p.27 / Chapter 2.6.4 --- Other Research --- p.28 / Chapter 2.7 --- Chapter Summary --- p.29 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- METHODOLOGY --- p.30 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.30 / Chapter 3.2 --- Safeguards for the Research Design --- p.31 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Classroom Situation --- p.32 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Purposeful Sampling --- p.33 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Voluntary Participation and Guarantee of Anonymity --- p.33 / Chapter 3.3 --- The Participants --- p.33 / Chapter 3.4 --- Sources of Data --- p.38 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Pre-task Questionnaires --- p.39 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Written Products --- p.39 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Reflective Questionnaires --- p.40 / Chapter 3.4.4 --- Semi-structured Interviews --- p.40 / Chapter 3.5 --- Procedures of Data Collection --- p.41 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Selecting the Subjects --- p.41 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Gathering the Basic Information of the Participants --- p.42 / Chapter 3.5.3 --- Conducting Pilot Studies --- p.43 / Chapter 3.5.4 --- Writing Sessions --- p.44 / Chapter 3.5.5 --- Semi-structured Interviews --- p.47 / Chapter 3.5.6 --- Collecting Questionnaires and Written Products --- p.48 / Chapter 3.6 --- Analysis of the Data --- p.48 / Chapter 3.6.1 --- Eliciting the Questionnaires and Interviews --- p.48 / Chapter 3.6.2 --- Analyzing the Written Products --- p.49 / Chapter 3.6.3 --- Processing the Data --- p.52 / Chapter 3.7 --- Chapter Summary --- p.52 / Notes --- p.53 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- RESULTS --- p.55 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.55 / Chapter 4.2 --- Effects of the Medium of Planning on Written Performance --- p.55 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- The Effects of Task Sequences on Written Performance --- p.55 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning without the Consideration of Proficiency --- p.57 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning with the Consideration of Proficiency --- p.59 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning and Proficiency Level on Written Performance --- p.65 / Chapter 4.3 --- The Comparison between Two Proficiency Groups on Each Task --- p.67 / Chapter 4.4 --- Questionnaires and Interviews --- p.73 / Chapter 4.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.75 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION --- p.77 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.77 / Chapter 5.2 --- The Relationship between the Medium of Planning and Written Performance --- p.77 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning on Fluency --- p.78 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning on Accuracy --- p.88 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- The Effects of the Medium of Planning on Complexity --- p.92 / Chapter 5.3 --- Comparison of the Two Proficiency Groups on Each Task --- p.94 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Two Groups Performing in English Task --- p.94 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Two Groups Performing in Chinese Task --- p.96 / Chapter 5.4 --- Chapter Summary --- p.100 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX --- "CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIOINS AND RECOMMENDATIONS" --- p.102 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.102 / Chapter 6.2 --- Conclusion of the Study --- p.102 / Chapter 6.3 --- Implications for Teachers --- p.105 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Ways to Improve Fluency --- p.106 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Ways to Improve Accuracy --- p.108 / Chapter 6.4 --- Limitations and Recommendations --- p.109 / Chapter 6.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.110 / REFERENCES --- p.112 / APPENDICES --- p.118

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 432-442). / Microfiche. / 2 v. (vii, 442 leaves), bound 29 cm

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. 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. 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.

D.Litt. et Phil. (Higher Education) / This study investigates the design of a Reading-to-Write programme for students who enter a university with limited literacy competence in English. The history of the design and development of the programme are tracked, examining the design principles that were extracted from the literature and how these were employed in the programme over a period of five years. Having identified that there were no theory-based design principles for literacy programme development in this context, the purpose of the thesis was to capture the evolvement of the literacy course in a design-based format addressing both literacy experts and relevant university administrators. Design-based research has the potential of informing innovative approaches to learning and teaching that can bring about change in educational practice showing how designs develop and require modification. Sustainable innovation, however, requires an understanding of how and why an innovation works within a setting over time and across settings (Brown & Camplone, 1996). The distinct advantage of such a methodological orientation is that it addresses the relationship between research and instructional practices while attempting to find workable solutions that accomplish educational goals (Reinking & Bradley, 2004). In South Africa, where many students come from an impoverished educational background with limited access to books and libraries, the dominant modes and literacy practices of higher education are often unfamiliar and alienating. Because students enter university without the prerequisite intellectual and linguistic basis needed for academic study, there is often a fundamental mismatch between their 'ways of knowing' and the expectations of the institution. For the majority of students the preferred language of instruction is English which is seen to provide access to .a global community. However, English is a primary language for a very small percentage of the South African population and in many instances, students have not acquired it adequately even as a second language at school, because of ineffective teaching methods. At university, students have to expand their often inadequate knowledge of the language of instruction, while they are busy learning their new content subjects.

published_or_final_version / Applied English Studies / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics