A case study of the implementation of the communicative approach to English second language progress testing in one secondary school in the Alexandria Circuit of the Eastern Cape Department of Education
- Authors: Ssemakalu, John
- Date: 1998
- Subjects: Communicative competence , Communicative competence in children , English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Language and languages -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Second language acquisition -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2362 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002645 , Communicative competence , Communicative competence in children , English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Language and languages -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Second language acquisition -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This study explores the implementation of the communicative approach (CA) to English second language progress testing in an African secondary school which falls under the Eastern Cape Department of Education. The goal of the research is to establish how teachers access, conceptualise, and apply the CA to language testing in their specific working conditions. The report of the findings of the research reveals that teachers' understanding of the CA to testing differs from that of the linguists, curriculum designers, innovators, and syllabus writers. This is caused by a combination of factors including teachers' poor working conditions, the lack of focused pre-service training and effective in-service structures for their empowennent as the agents of innovation, coupled with the poor circulation and a lack of clarity in official documents on the CA to language testing. These constraints made it impossible for teachers to implement the CA to language testing. In order to carry on with their work, however, teachers developed coping strategies by drawing, probably unconsciously, on a mixture of structuralist, sociolinguistic-psycholinguistic, communicative and any other testing practices they may have acquired during their years of service. Although based only on one school, the findings of this study indicate that for fundamental innovations such as the CA to take root, there is a need for the adoption of more dedicated, reflective implementation strategies involving proper planning and monitoring, as well as evaluation and re-evaluation of the entire process. This necessarily slow process must go hand-in-hand with a dedicated pre-service and in-service empowerment program based on consultative communication between innovator and agent; and a persuasive education/re-education approach which will encourage teachers to change their entrenched practices.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1998
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.
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- Date Issued: 1998
Crossing boundaries: facilitating conceptual development in relation to culture in an English for academic purposes course
- Authors: Dison, Arona
- Date: 1998
- Subjects: Compensatory education -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers , English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers -- Psychological aspects
- Identifier: vital:2345 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002627 , Compensatory education -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers , English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers -- Psychological aspects
- Description: This research was undertaken as the first cycle of an action research project. The aim was to develop a course within the English Language 1 for Academic Purposes (ELAP) course at Rhodes University, which would facilitate the conceptual development of students in relation to the topic of Culture. The implementation of the course was researched, using students' writing, interviews, staff meeting discussions and video-taping of certain classes. Ten students volunteered to 'be researched'. The types of initial 'commonsense' understandings of culture held by students are outlined and the conceptual development which they underwent in relation to Culture is examined. Students' perceptions of the approaches to learning required in ELAP and the Culture course in particular are explored. The involvement of the ELAP tutors in the course and in the research was a learning experience for them, and this became-another focus of the research. The findings of the research support the argument for using challenging subject matter in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses, provided that the learning process is carefully scaffolded. An underlying assumption is that ways of thinking and learning in university courses need to be explicitly taught to students and the study concludes that lecturers of mainstream courses could also learn from the findings of research such as this. The study also shows the potential power of participatory action research to involve practitioners in research and enhance their understandings of aspects of their practice. Finally, it notes the need to value subtle developments in students and to see them as being part of a longer term process.
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- Date Issued: 1998
Genre analysis and the teaching of academic literacy: a case study of an academic discipline in the social sciences
- Authors: Vorwerk, Shane Paul
- Date: 1998
- Subjects: Lectures and lecturing , Lecture method in teaching , Language and culture , Discourse analysis , Language and culture -- South Africa , English language -- Discourse analysis , Intercultural communication -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Foreign speakers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2365 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002648 , Lectures and lecturing , Lecture method in teaching , Language and culture , Discourse analysis , Language and culture -- South Africa , English language -- Discourse analysis , Intercultural communication -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Foreign speakers
- Description: Students in tertiary educational institutions in South Africa come from many different backgrounds and have varied educational experiences. Some students, especially those from non-English speaking backgrounds, may encounter linguistic difficulties with various academic tasks. In order for students to be successful at university, they must become academically literate. That is, they must master all the reading, writing, listening and comprehension tasks required by the disciplines in which they are studying. One such task is presented by the academic lecture which is an integral part of any course of study. Linguistically, the academic lecture can be seen as a particular genre with unique characteristics. This study investigated some linguistic characteristics of academic lectures. The discipline of Political Science, as a Social Science, was chosen because there is little research that has been done on language in the Social Sciences. The Political Science sub-disciplines of Political Philosophy, South African Politics, and International Relations were used in this research. First year lectures were recorded from each of these three sub-disciplines. The linguistic characteristics of lectures were analysed using techniques drawn from Systemic Functional linguistic theory. The analysis concentrated on the aspects mode and field as they were realised in the lectures. In addition, higher level generic structure was also analysed. The insights gained from the analysis were validated through interviews with the lecturers who gave the lectures. The aim of this research was to develop a linguistic characterisation of the lecture genre as it occurs in the three sub-disciplines of Political Science. The results of this research suggest that although there is a unified academic lecture genre, there is variation according to sub-discipline. The implications of this variation are discussed with reference to their relevance to teaching academic literacy.
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- Date Issued: 1998
An investigation into patterns of interaction in small teaching groups at Rhodes University, with particular emphasis on the effect of gender, mother-tongue and educational background
- Authors: Hunt, Sally Ann
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Tutors and tutoring , Multicultural education--South Africa , Group work in education , Small groups--Study and teaching (Higher)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2350 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002632 , Tutors and tutoring , Multicultural education--South Africa , Group work in education , Small groups--Study and teaching (Higher)
- Description: The assumption underlying this study is that knowledge is constructed through interaction. Small teaching groups, or tutorials, are often regarded as a particularly effective context for learning in the setting of tertiary education in that they provide an environment for free interaction between students, and thus facilitate active learning. Factors which systematically affect the degree of participation of the individual in tutorIals -directly affect the learning experience of that individual and raise questions about the equality achieved in tutorials, in terms of opportunities for learning. This study focuses on one such type of factor: culturally acquired norms of interaction. The individual is seen as a composite of cultural identities, utilising norms acquired through socialisation and experience in appropriate contexts. Previous research has demonstrated that gendered norms of interaction and those associated with the individual's mother-tongue are particularly salient. In the educational context, norms acquired through previous experience of education are likely to be carried over to the new setting of the university. Thus these factors form the focus of this study. One flrst-year tutorial from each of five departments in the Faculties of Arts and Social Science at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, was video-recorded and the data thus obtained was analyzed for patterns of interaction in terms of gender, mother-tongue and educational background. A model of utterance types was developed to provide a structured description of the patterns found in the tutorials. Interviews and video-sessions with a sample of the tutorial members were conducted, which add a qualitative dimension to the investigation and allow for triangulation. The recorded tutorials and interviews reveal a marked awareness amongst students of the composition of tutorial groups in terms of gender and ethnicity and this composition appears to affect the relative participation of students, in that members of numerically dominant groups are more willing to participate. This is particularly clear in the case of female students. With regard to second-language (L2) speakers of English, a number of factors are highlighted which tend to decrease participation. Apart from problems with English as the medium of instruction, these students tend to be reluctant to participate due to cultural norms, according to which students, as subordinates, should not take the initiative in interaction, in order to show appropriate respect. Patterns of interaction by L2 students from racially integrated schools, however, do not conform to this set of norms as strongly. It is argued that sensitivity is required to address this situation and a number of options are presented.
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- Date Issued: 1997
Teaching disciplinary discourse and implementing language-across-the-curriculum at tertiary level problems and prospects
- Authors: Caldwell, Candice Anne
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Rhodes University. Dept. of Psychology , Compensatory education -- South Africa , College students -- Study and teaching , College teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Curriculum evaluation -- South Africa , Discourse analysis , Language arts -- Correlation with content subjects , Learning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2340 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002622
- Description: The premise of this thesis is that "learning", particularly in terms of students and universities, is capable of being seen as a specific and developed culture. This study is a contribution to the ethnography of that learning, the ultimate aim being to produce a descriptive theory of learning as a cultural system. This research was conducted within the context of the recent proposals made by the South African Commission on Higher Education. The proposals relevant to this study were, broadly, increased access to higher education and national funding for academic staff development programmes. There are, however, serious obstacles in the way of realising the aims of the higher education system outlined by the NCHE. Given the limited time and resources available for higher education development, it is imperative that the major flaws and obstacles in the system be identified and addressed as soon as possible. In view of this need, it was the concern of this study to conduct research which would assist in the designing of staff development programmes for academics teaching in English-medium tertiary institutions, like Rhodes University, where more than half the intake of first-year students already speaks English as a second, or other, language. Founded on the social constructionist view of knowledge, the aim of the study was to identify the needs of academic staff as well as the possible obstacles to the implementation of a "Language Across the Curriculum" policy. A genre-centred, ethnographic approach was used to access a disciplinary discourse community (the Psychology Department) in order to describe the practices of the community as well as to analyse the community's orders of discourse, particularly those which occurred at points of contact between lecturers and first-year students. It is argued that staff development programmes should promote the use of collaborative learning, which implies a reframing of the roles of both academic staff and students.
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- Date Issued: 1997
The role of interpreters in medical communication in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Hobson, Carol Bonnin
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Translating and interpreting -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2349 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002631 , Translating and interpreting -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This study aimed to investigate the role of the interpreter in medical communication in the Eastern Cape. This role was found to be a complex and varied one. Interpreters do not only change the words of one language into equivalent words in the other language, but act as advisers, explainers, cultural mediators, supervisors and advocates of the patient. In order to fulfil these functions, they communicate independently within the medical consultation and do not merely interpret what has been said by each participant. Rather, they tailor the message to the participants and the situation by adding to the message, omitting parts of it and changing it where necessary. This does not happen in an arbitrary fashion, but is subject to influence from a number of non-linguistic and linguistic contextual factors. These factors are discussed in this study and included in a suggested model of the interpreted medical consultation, which differs from other models of interpreting which were found to be more adequate for the-situation of conference interpreting than for community interpreting, of which medical interpreting is an example. Data was collected from interviews with interpreters and patients apd from interviews and questionnaires given to medical professionals. The results suggest that using trained medical interpreters in the interpreted medical consultation may solve some of the problems that arise and medical professienals should be encouraged to, learn the languages of their patients to alleviate some of the misunderstanding which occurs. The study also raises questions about the way in which we view interpreting and shows that community interpreting does not always observe the ideals envisaged by theories of interpreting.
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- Date Issued: 1997
A comparative study of L1 and EFL reading abilities amongst junior primary students using different reading schemes in black schools
- Authors: Duncan, Kenneth Foster
- Date: 1995
- Subjects: Black people -- Education (Primary) -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching (Primary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa , Native language and education , Reading (Primary) -- South Africa , Molteno Project
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2346 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002628 , Black people -- Education (Primary) -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching (Primary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa , Native language and education , Reading (Primary) -- South Africa , Molteno Project
- Description: This thesis examines the development of children's reading skills, in both the mother tongue and English as a foreign language, during their first four years of school. It is an attempt to enter the reading world of very young learners in underdeveloped, mainly rural communities in search of practical insights into the teaching of reading in the junior primary classroom. The research focuses specifically on two approaches to reading instruction. The first is the approach traditionally used in black South African schools, characterised by teacher-centredness and rote-recall techniques. The second is a more progressive and communicative approach encapsulated in the language courses of the Molteno Project. Both approaches, and their theoretical underpinnings, are described in some detail. The context of language-in-education policy in South Africa is also reviewed. The research then tests the hypothesis that a communicative approach to reading pedagogy produces measurably better results in pupils than more traditional methods. The research explores the use of quantitative methods of evaluation, giving justification for their use, and examines the practicability of standardised EFL tests at junior primary level. Existing tests are evaluated and found wanting. The process of developing and administering original hybrid-communicative tests is described. The results of these, which were administered over four years to a total of some 6 000 pupils across the first four years of school, are assessed. Implications for testers, teachers, educational administrators and educational NGOs are extrapolated.
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- Date Issued: 1995
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.
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- Date Issued: 1994
The textbook as a major source of difficulty in the teaching and learning of geography through the medium of English in Standard 3 in black primary schools
- Authors: Langhan, David Patrick
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Children, Black -- Education -- South Africa , Geography -- Textbooks , Geography -- Study and teaching (Primary) -- South Africa , Language and education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2335 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002017 , Children, Black -- Education -- South Africa , Geography -- Textbooks , Geography -- Study and teaching (Primary) -- South Africa , Language and education -- South Africa
- Description: This dissertation provides evidence to suggest that teaching/learning difficulties with geography in Std 3 are largely attributable to textbooks which fail as well constructed discourse and include uninterpretable illustrations. The discourse properties most likely to affect the readability of textbooks intended for ESL/EFL pupils are identified. Selected passages from two widely used Std 3 geography textbooks are analysed in terms of these properties, and are shown to fail extensively as well constructed discourse. Following classroom observation and informal interviews which confirmed the inappropriacy of the texts for Std 3 pupils, the passages were re-written, following the necessary properties of well constructed expository discourse. The readability of these two sets of texts was then tested on a group of nine Std 3 teachers in two structured interviews. The findings reveal that the re-written passages are significantly more readable than the textbook passages. Recommendations that affect education authorities, curriculum designers, syllabus makers, textbook authors, publishers and teacher training colleges are provided
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- Date Issued: 1991
The development of the meaning of non-ostensive words in a group of primary school children
- Authors: Segal, Denise Erica
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Connotation (Linguistics) , Children -- Language , Language acquisition
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2372 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004917 , Connotation (Linguistics) , Children -- Language , Language acquisition
- Description: The purpose of the present study was to investigate word meaning and its development in primary school children (6-12 years) . It was argued that the learning and development of the meanings of words such as pain cannot be primarily explained by means of ostensive definition. Furthermore, existing theories of word meaning which deal predominantly with substantive words fail to account for the learning of non-ostensive words. The pertinent psychological, linguistic and developmental psycholinguistic approaches to word meaning are reviewed briefly. The prototype approaches to word meaning are modified to apply to non-ostensive words . The focus is on conceptual meaning, that is, the way in which the senses of a word alter in different contexts. It is argued that the meaning of the word is its use in a diversity of linguistic contexts. The term "grammar" is applied in a unique way to encompass the meaning of the word (which stems in part from the words with which it co-occurs) as well as its selective use with other words in the language. Ninety-five metalinguistically-phrased tasks comprising short questions and picture-story sequences were analyzed in depth. The tasks were administered individually. A flexible interview afforded additional probing for each question. The analysis comprised percentage scores of responses at different age levels together with verbatim transcripts and qualitative descriptions: Uniformity, variation and developmental trends were found on different tasks for any particular word. Developmental trends were noted in children's understanding of particular words (for example, same), thereby extending the findings of previous researchers. There was evidence for a progression in children's ability to take into consideration that a word alters its sense according to the linguistic context in which it occurs (for example, same as it relates to chair versus dress versus pain). A comprehensive account of the words meaning could be established when a diversity of tasks was applied for each word. Children of different age levels employed different strategies in answering the questions posed. A model is proposed to describe the development of the meaning of non-ostensive words during the primary school years. It is suggested that psycholinguistic studies on word meaning be re-evaluated and that language and reading programmes incorporate the notion of "grammar". Application of this approach to the study of substantive word meaning in preschool children has important implications for theories of word meaning and for therapeutic intervention.
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- Date Issued: 1986
Theme in conversational discourse : problems experienced by speakers of Black South African English, with particular reference to the role of prosody in conversational synchrony
- Authors: Gennrich-de Lisle, Daniela
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: English language -- Spoken English -- Foreign speakers , Black English -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2370 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004512
- Description: This study is an investigation of instances of conversational failure in interaction as evidenced by speakers of Black South African English (BSAE) , with a particular focus on the role of prosody in conversational (a)synchrony. The data analysed consist of six conversations, one SAE-SAE (South African English) encounter, four BSAE- SAE encounters and one BSAE- BSAE encounter. After a theoretical framework is set up, the analysis is conducted by means of two triangulation research processes based on Ethnomethodology. The analysis consists of an investigation into selected extracts which participants and informants alike perceived as 'stressful'. An attempt is made to isolate the sources of each instance of pragmatic failure. Prosodic features are found to be important in establishing and maintaining theme and conversational synchrony. But other factors are also involved. The analysis reveals two major influences of asynchrony: deviance in the use of (in order of importance) prosodic, lexical and syntactic cues to discourse functions; and a mismatch in the application of socio-cultural principles guiding conversational behaviour. The study leads into a brief outline of aims, objectives and conversational competence at a tertiary level and concludes with suggestions for further research.
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- Date Issued: 1986
Western influences on the Zulu system of personal naming
- Authors: Dickens, Sybil Maureen
- Date: 1986
- Subjects: Zulu language -- Etymology -- Names , Names, Personal -- Zulu , Names, Zulu
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2378 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007158 , Zulu language -- Etymology -- Names , Names, Personal -- Zulu , Names, Zulu
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- Date Issued: 1986
A critical investigation of the semantic and morphological aspects of terminological incompetence (with special reference to the English-speaking student of Physical Science and History in the Cape Education Department high school)
- Authors: Venter, Malcolm Gordon
- Date: 1984
- Subjects: English language -- Semantics English language -- Morphology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2369 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003810
- Description: From Background to the thesis: It has been said that 'educational failure is language failure'. It can be argued here that there are many other factors which could cause educational failure and that language failure does not necessarily result in lack of academic success. However, it is no doubt true that the schoolchild who does not attain a certain type of language competence will be handicapped as regards academic performance. The underlying reason for this is the fact that our educational system is heavily reliant on language - and espacially the written language - as a medium of learning as opposed to the 'direct learning' experiences advocated by certain educationists today such as Ivan Illich in America and John Holt in Britain. Language is the basis both of learning and of communicating what has been learnt. From the moment the child steps into his first period class in the morning till he leaves the last five hours later the child is involved in what is primarily a verbal experience.
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- Date Issued: 1984
Narrative technique in ʹBeowulfʹ
- Authors: Chaplin, Sherril Edith
- Date: 1979
- Subjects: Epic poetry, English (Old) -- History and criticism , Beowulf , English literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2334 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002016 , Epic poetry, English (Old) -- History and criticism , Beowulf
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1979
Time and tense in English
- Authors: De Klerk, Vivian A
- Date: 1979
- Subjects: English language -- Tense -- Study and teaching , English language -- Adverbials -- Study and teaching , Language and logic -- Study and teaching , Linguistics -- Study and teaching , Generative grammar -- Study and teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2344 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002626 , English language -- Tense -- Study and teaching , English language -- Adverbials -- Study and teaching , Language and logic -- Study and teaching , Linguistics -- Study and teaching , Generative grammar -- Study and teaching
- Description: It has not been my aim to provide conclusive evidence for or against anyone hypothesis regarding Time and Tense. I have simply attempted to collect together and collate much of what has been written on the topic of tense in English, in order to show what the current trends of thought are. In Chapter One I presented a brief survey of some of the more basic notions associated with time and tense, in order to provide a background for the more linguistic approach to follow. I therefore examined such issues as the difference between time and tense, the problem of the passage and directionality of time, of the present moment, time and space , tense as a universal, "and various features of tense systems. I sketched Bull's system of scalars, vectors and axes as representative of our English tense system. Chapter Two dealt with time and logic, but as I am a mere layman in matters logical, I refrained from discussing any individual logical system in depth, and rather discussed various problems which appear to confront the logician in formulating a tensed or tenseless logic. This chapter aimed at providing a better understanding of the linguistic issues to follow, for time and logic are intimately connected with language. Chapter Three was more linguistically oriented, and in it I attempted to provide a broad outline of the development of thoughts about tense before the Transformationalist period (pre 1960). Because of the vast scope involved, I had, perforce, to be brief at times. I gave attention to tense in classical grammatical studies, and summarized how it was seen from about 1500 to 1800. I gave more detailed treatment to the twentieth century, focussing specifically on grammarians like Jespersen (1933), Twaddell (1960), Ota (1963), Palmer (1965) and others - all, writers typical of the structuralist era. At the end of Chapter Three I provided an overall summary of ideas on the main tenses by the end of the structuralist period - ideas which were to change radically within the next few years. In Chapter Four I discussed the ideas of tense of some of the main transformationalist/generativists - Diver (1964), Crystal (1966), Huddlestone (1968), Gallagher (1970), McCawley (1971) and Seuren (1974), in an attempt to show how theories on tense were becoming increasingly abstract, and how most data indicated that it is highly probable that tense is an abstract higher predicate of the sentence in which it appears in surface structure, closely related to temporal adverbs. Chapter Five continued in the same vein. I tried to show, using syntactic tests, that tense is a higher predicate, and used arguments involving Conjunction Reduction (based on Kiparsky (1968)), VP Constituency, Sequence of Tense, Pronominalization, and Quantification. In Chapter Six I focussed more closely on tense-time adverbials, in order to show that they have the same syntactic properties as tense, are also probably deep superordinate predicates, and are closely related to tense. My suggestion was that either tense is derived from temporal adverbs or vice versa, as this would simplify the grammar. The derivation procedures at the end of the chapter (6.8) were largely based on Hausmann (1971). I made no detailed reference to extralinguistic matters which affect tenses, in this study - such factors as are diScussed by G. Lakoff (1971) (presuppositions and relative well-formedness) and by R. Lakoff (1975). Tense is not a matter of pure Structuralism, just as language is not - extralinguistic factors ought to be accounted for before any study can claim to be conclusive. For this reason I do not in any way claim to have made an exhaustive study of time and tense - I have simply attempted to summarize and coordinate thoughts on the subject, and to suggest tentatively that the most adequate grammar of English would probably derive tense from underlying temporal adverbs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1979
A critical investigation of the role of the textbook in the teaching of English grammar (first language, higher grade) in the contemporary Cape senior school
- Authors: Venter, Malcolm Gordon
- Date: 1976
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching -- Textbooks , English language -- Textbooks -- Evaluation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2383 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013355
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1976