Action research : exploring the use [of] print media as a resource in the teaching of English as a second language
- Authors: Letsoalo, Matome David
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Action research in education , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2376 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005962 , Action research in education , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers
- Description: South African education has been going through a process of transformation: from a traditional, transmission system to one of a more progressive nature. In the new curriculum, Curriculum 2005 anchored on Outcomes-based Education (OBE), focus is laid on critical reflection, innovation and creativity by classroom participants. Learning situations are expected to promote flexibility, co-operation and relevance of teaching/learning materials. This research looks at these aspects in the English Second Language (ESL) situation where print media articles are used as resource. Other than being a rich resource for language, print media texts have been found to be appropriate for this exploration because of their potential to offer opportunities for critical reflection and interaction with authentic issues. Unlike uncritical reliance on textbooks, the proper use of media articles can give the teachers and learners the space to select relevant and exciting materials for their situations. In this study, the research was done through action research where I (the researcher) actually taught the lessons in collaboration with the English teacher. The teaching method was influenced by the Freirean style of Iiberatory teaching where critical reflection, socio-political relevance and co-operation are crucial elements. The action research was done in two cycles. Experiences in the first cycle pointed to, among other aspects, the fact that the learners could not work in a co-operative way as they were not used to it. Addressing this problem consequently became the basis of the second cycle where the skills of co-operative learning were taught before the learners engaged in further lessons. The conclusions drawn from this research point to the importance of the teacher as an agent in the learning process if the demands of progressive and liberatory teaching are to be met. It has thus been concluded that elements such as critical thinking, creativity, flexibility and selection/development of relevant materials presuppose the existence of a well-trained teacher who is skilled and able to make these possible. In the light of my findings, my major recommendation is that teacher development needs to be strengthened so that more emphasis is placed on enhancing the teacher's ability to critique texts and improve his or her own practice, acquiring the skills to teach in a critical way and achieving the learning competencies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Letsoalo, Matome David
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Action research in education , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2376 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005962 , Action research in education , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers
- Description: South African education has been going through a process of transformation: from a traditional, transmission system to one of a more progressive nature. In the new curriculum, Curriculum 2005 anchored on Outcomes-based Education (OBE), focus is laid on critical reflection, innovation and creativity by classroom participants. Learning situations are expected to promote flexibility, co-operation and relevance of teaching/learning materials. This research looks at these aspects in the English Second Language (ESL) situation where print media articles are used as resource. Other than being a rich resource for language, print media texts have been found to be appropriate for this exploration because of their potential to offer opportunities for critical reflection and interaction with authentic issues. Unlike uncritical reliance on textbooks, the proper use of media articles can give the teachers and learners the space to select relevant and exciting materials for their situations. In this study, the research was done through action research where I (the researcher) actually taught the lessons in collaboration with the English teacher. The teaching method was influenced by the Freirean style of Iiberatory teaching where critical reflection, socio-political relevance and co-operation are crucial elements. The action research was done in two cycles. Experiences in the first cycle pointed to, among other aspects, the fact that the learners could not work in a co-operative way as they were not used to it. Addressing this problem consequently became the basis of the second cycle where the skills of co-operative learning were taught before the learners engaged in further lessons. The conclusions drawn from this research point to the importance of the teacher as an agent in the learning process if the demands of progressive and liberatory teaching are to be met. It has thus been concluded that elements such as critical thinking, creativity, flexibility and selection/development of relevant materials presuppose the existence of a well-trained teacher who is skilled and able to make these possible. In the light of my findings, my major recommendation is that teacher development needs to be strengthened so that more emphasis is placed on enhancing the teacher's ability to critique texts and improve his or her own practice, acquiring the skills to teach in a critical way and achieving the learning competencies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
A case study of feedback strategies in The Open Learning Systems Trust (OLSET) Radio Learning Programmes
- Authors: Kenyon, Jennifer Berry
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , Educational broadcasting , Radio in education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2352 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002634 , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , Educational broadcasting , Radio in education -- South Africa
- Description: The following is a case study of three Foundation Phase teachers' classroom practice while using the Open Learning Systems Education Trust (OLSET) Radio Learning Programmes, "English In Action" Level Two materials with their Grade Two learners. This case study describes and analyses the feedback strategies of the three teachers. The radio learning programmes have been developed to provide teachers with an effective interactive set of materials to assist their learners in the acquisition of English. These audio materials also provide teachers with opportunities to be creative and responsive to their learners' specific needs. The feedback strategies described in this study are the teachers' use of their learners' mother tongue, correction oflearner error, and use of praise and encouragement during the three Teacher-Led Activity (TLA) segments of the radio programmes. These TLAs give teachers approximately 12 minutes per lesson during which they are called on to manage the materials according to their learners' specific needs. The TLAs are specifically designed to give learners the opportunity to use and respond to English in particular contexts. This study examines three teachers' feedback to their learners in order to find out what kind of feedback has been made. An attempt has also been made to analyse the nature of the feedback. It was found, from the description and analysis of the teachers' feedback, that when teachers used their learners' mother tongue this was more often used to translate words or phrases which were part of the radio narrator's instructions to the learners and these translations were then repeated in English. Teachers corrected very few learner errors. The most common form of correction was to model the correct form and have the learners repeat this. In spite of claiming that correction of errors was important and all three teachers said they did correct their learners' errors, there was very little evidence of this practice in the sample described in this study. The use of praise and encouragement was a strategy that all three teachers claimed they practised but almost no instances of the use of praise were described. The three teachers used only the word "good" to praise any of their learners' efforts and, in fact, all three used this only twice in each of the three lessons described in this study. In terms of language learning a number of factors have been compared. Some of these include teachers' repetition oflearners' answers and their correction oflearner responses by modelling. They were also observed allowing a variety of learner response as well as ensuring a number of individual learners were able to respond. These factors appear to have enhanced the language learning in the classrooms. However, it was also observed that the teachers needed more support in order to develop more explicit strategies to use their learners' mother tongue, to praise learners and to correct learner error purposefully in their classroom practice. There is a need for guidance to be given teachers in the development and use of open-ended questions and strategies which could encourage the development of higher order language skills in their learners. These findings will influence OLSET's teacher development curriculum. It is envisaged that strategies and activities designed to provide teachers with opportunities to reflect on their own practice with regard to the feedback they provide will be incorporated into the workshops and teacher support systems provided by OLSET's teacher development team.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1999
- Authors: Kenyon, Jennifer Berry
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , Educational broadcasting , Radio in education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2352 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002634 , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , Educational broadcasting , Radio in education -- South Africa
- Description: The following is a case study of three Foundation Phase teachers' classroom practice while using the Open Learning Systems Education Trust (OLSET) Radio Learning Programmes, "English In Action" Level Two materials with their Grade Two learners. This case study describes and analyses the feedback strategies of the three teachers. The radio learning programmes have been developed to provide teachers with an effective interactive set of materials to assist their learners in the acquisition of English. These audio materials also provide teachers with opportunities to be creative and responsive to their learners' specific needs. The feedback strategies described in this study are the teachers' use of their learners' mother tongue, correction oflearner error, and use of praise and encouragement during the three Teacher-Led Activity (TLA) segments of the radio programmes. These TLAs give teachers approximately 12 minutes per lesson during which they are called on to manage the materials according to their learners' specific needs. The TLAs are specifically designed to give learners the opportunity to use and respond to English in particular contexts. This study examines three teachers' feedback to their learners in order to find out what kind of feedback has been made. An attempt has also been made to analyse the nature of the feedback. It was found, from the description and analysis of the teachers' feedback, that when teachers used their learners' mother tongue this was more often used to translate words or phrases which were part of the radio narrator's instructions to the learners and these translations were then repeated in English. Teachers corrected very few learner errors. The most common form of correction was to model the correct form and have the learners repeat this. In spite of claiming that correction of errors was important and all three teachers said they did correct their learners' errors, there was very little evidence of this practice in the sample described in this study. The use of praise and encouragement was a strategy that all three teachers claimed they practised but almost no instances of the use of praise were described. The three teachers used only the word "good" to praise any of their learners' efforts and, in fact, all three used this only twice in each of the three lessons described in this study. In terms of language learning a number of factors have been compared. Some of these include teachers' repetition oflearners' answers and their correction oflearner responses by modelling. They were also observed allowing a variety of learner response as well as ensuring a number of individual learners were able to respond. These factors appear to have enhanced the language learning in the classrooms. However, it was also observed that the teachers needed more support in order to develop more explicit strategies to use their learners' mother tongue, to praise learners and to correct learner error purposefully in their classroom practice. There is a need for guidance to be given teachers in the development and use of open-ended questions and strategies which could encourage the development of higher order language skills in their learners. These findings will influence OLSET's teacher development curriculum. It is envisaged that strategies and activities designed to provide teachers with opportunities to reflect on their own practice with regard to the feedback they provide will be incorporated into the workshops and teacher support systems provided by OLSET's teacher development team.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1999
A description of the language experiences of English Second-Language students entering the academic discourse communities of Rhodes University
- Authors: Reynolds, Judith Marsha
- Date: 1998
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , English language -- Ability testing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2361 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002644 , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , English language -- Ability testing
- Description: This study is a description of the language experiences of English Second Language students in their first year at Rhodes University. It took place in the context of the changes that are currently occurring in higher education in South Africa in terms of student populations. More and more students are entering tertiary education institutions, including HWESUs, such as Rhodes University, who are considered non-traditional. These students typically have English as their second, or additional, language, and have not been adequately prepared for university study by their secondary education. This study describes the experiences of three such students in their first year at Rhodes University. Entry into a university is seen not just as acquiring knowledge, but as entering, or attempting to enter, a new culture. It is recognised that all students enter universities with other cultures or literacies already in place. In the case of non-traditional students tbese other literacies are usually at some distance from those of the university. The work of James Gee (1990) is particularly useful in understanding this process of adjusting to the demands of university study and the effect that previous experiences have on this process. This study is an attempt to discover and describe the literacies that these three students brought with them to university and the effect these literacies had on their attempts to enter academic discourse communities of the university. An ethnographic research method was adopted in order to do this. The study is also an attempt to evaluate, from the perspective of the three students, the appropriacy of the various changes that Rhodes University has made since the numbers of non-traditional students has started to increase.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1998
- Authors: Reynolds, Judith Marsha
- Date: 1998
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , English language -- Ability testing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2361 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002644 , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , English language -- Ability testing
- Description: This study is a description of the language experiences of English Second Language students in their first year at Rhodes University. It took place in the context of the changes that are currently occurring in higher education in South Africa in terms of student populations. More and more students are entering tertiary education institutions, including HWESUs, such as Rhodes University, who are considered non-traditional. These students typically have English as their second, or additional, language, and have not been adequately prepared for university study by their secondary education. This study describes the experiences of three such students in their first year at Rhodes University. Entry into a university is seen not just as acquiring knowledge, but as entering, or attempting to enter, a new culture. It is recognised that all students enter universities with other cultures or literacies already in place. In the case of non-traditional students tbese other literacies are usually at some distance from those of the university. The work of James Gee (1990) is particularly useful in understanding this process of adjusting to the demands of university study and the effect that previous experiences have on this process. This study is an attempt to discover and describe the literacies that these three students brought with them to university and the effect these literacies had on their attempts to enter academic discourse communities of the university. An ethnographic research method was adopted in order to do this. The study is also an attempt to evaluate, from the perspective of the three students, the appropriacy of the various changes that Rhodes University has made since the numbers of non-traditional students has started to increase.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1998
The comprehension of figurative language in English literary texts by students for whom English is not a mother tongue
- Authors: Winberg, Christine
- Date: 1994
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , English literature -- Study and teaching (Higher) , Context (Linguistics) , Metaphor , Figures of speech
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2366 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002649 , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , English literature -- Study and teaching (Higher) , Context (Linguistics) , Metaphor , Figures of speech
- Description: This study applies Sperber and Wilson's relevance theory to the comprehension of figurative language in poetry. Students' understanding of metaphor as a linguistic category and comprehension of metaphorical texts are analysed in terms of the principle of relevance. Patterns of comprehension in English first language (Ll) and English second language (ESL) students' analyses of metaphorical texts are discussed and through an analysis of similarities and differences in these patterns of comprehension an attempt is made to develop a pedagogy around relevance theory. Relevance theory's particular emphasis on the role played by "context" in cognition is seen to have significance for the teaching of literature in South African universities. Relevance theory's account of cognition generates a range of educational principles which could be specifically applied to the teaching of metaphor. An appraisal of the strengths and difficulties students experience in expressing their understanding of metaphor in an academic context is included. This was done to further develop relevance theory into a pedagogical approach which takes into account the academic context in which writing occurs. The investigation of the particular difficulties that English metaphor poses for ESL students entailed acquiring a working knowledge of the ways in which metaphor is taught and assessed in DET schools. The interpretations of students of different linguistic, social and educational backgrounds reveal unifying elements that could be incorporated into a pedagogy based on relevance theory. Such a pedagogy would be appropriate to the multilingual/multicultural/multiracial nature of classes in South African universities and would be a more empowering approach to the teaching of English metaphor.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1994
- Authors: Winberg, Christine
- Date: 1994
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , English literature -- Study and teaching (Higher) , Context (Linguistics) , Metaphor , Figures of speech
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2366 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002649 , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , English literature -- Study and teaching (Higher) , Context (Linguistics) , Metaphor , Figures of speech
- Description: This study applies Sperber and Wilson's relevance theory to the comprehension of figurative language in poetry. Students' understanding of metaphor as a linguistic category and comprehension of metaphorical texts are analysed in terms of the principle of relevance. Patterns of comprehension in English first language (Ll) and English second language (ESL) students' analyses of metaphorical texts are discussed and through an analysis of similarities and differences in these patterns of comprehension an attempt is made to develop a pedagogy around relevance theory. Relevance theory's particular emphasis on the role played by "context" in cognition is seen to have significance for the teaching of literature in South African universities. Relevance theory's account of cognition generates a range of educational principles which could be specifically applied to the teaching of metaphor. An appraisal of the strengths and difficulties students experience in expressing their understanding of metaphor in an academic context is included. This was done to further develop relevance theory into a pedagogical approach which takes into account the academic context in which writing occurs. The investigation of the particular difficulties that English metaphor poses for ESL students entailed acquiring a working knowledge of the ways in which metaphor is taught and assessed in DET schools. The interpretations of students of different linguistic, social and educational backgrounds reveal unifying elements that could be incorporated into a pedagogy based on relevance theory. Such a pedagogy would be appropriate to the multilingual/multicultural/multiracial nature of classes in South African universities and would be a more empowering approach to the teaching of English metaphor.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1994
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