"I don't think it's the whole story!": a case study of the linguistic face management strategies of dyslexic adults
- Authors: Henderson, Layle
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Dyslexia Case studies Dyslexia -- Social aspects Dyslexia -- Psychological aspects Politeness (Linguistics) Sociolinguistics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2347 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002629
- Description: Dyslexia is primarily a neurobiological disorder and much research has been conducted on this (see for example Coltheart 1996; Shaywitz and Shaywitz 2000 and 2004). However, little has been done which investigates the social construction of dyslexia. Because dyslexia affects reading, writing and spelling to varying degrees, although it may originate from genetic inheritance, it manifests itself in social spheres. Brown and Levinson‟s (1987) Face Theory states that people use strategies to minimise the damage to the positive face of others. My research focuses on how dyslexic individuals use linguistic strategies to minimise potential face-threatening acts or FTAs against themselves and in so doing preserve their own positive face. Using elements of Face Theory and APPRAISAL I constructed a typology reflecting these linguistic face management devices of adults with dyslexia. With this research I hope to contribute to the field in an innovative and meaningful manner through an exploration of the linguistic face management strategies used in the management of positive face.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Henderson, Layle
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Dyslexia Case studies Dyslexia -- Social aspects Dyslexia -- Psychological aspects Politeness (Linguistics) Sociolinguistics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2347 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002629
- Description: Dyslexia is primarily a neurobiological disorder and much research has been conducted on this (see for example Coltheart 1996; Shaywitz and Shaywitz 2000 and 2004). However, little has been done which investigates the social construction of dyslexia. Because dyslexia affects reading, writing and spelling to varying degrees, although it may originate from genetic inheritance, it manifests itself in social spheres. Brown and Levinson‟s (1987) Face Theory states that people use strategies to minimise the damage to the positive face of others. My research focuses on how dyslexic individuals use linguistic strategies to minimise potential face-threatening acts or FTAs against themselves and in so doing preserve their own positive face. Using elements of Face Theory and APPRAISAL I constructed a typology reflecting these linguistic face management devices of adults with dyslexia. With this research I hope to contribute to the field in an innovative and meaningful manner through an exploration of the linguistic face management strategies used in the management of positive face.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
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 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
- 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 case study of the multiple contextual factors that impact on the reading competencies of grade 3 non-mother tongue speakers of English in a Grahamstown Primary School in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Leander, Elizabeth Alice
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Education, Elementary -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Language and education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Language policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2374 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005913
- Description: This study explores what happens in a reading class where grade 3 learners from specific cultural and ethnic backgrounds are taught to read in a language other than their mother-tongue. The research takes place at a primary school in the Eastern Cape, South Africa where English is the Medium of Instruction (MOI).The report on the findings of this research reveals that the teaching strategies and reading theories of the teacher, the literacy backgrounds of the learners, as well as the language preferences of the parents, are some of the contextual factors that impact on reading. One of the major findings in the study constitutes the debilitating effects of the learners' socio- economic circumstances on their reading performances in the classroom. The socio-political factors that impact on the learners, the teacher, and the school as a social unit, proved to be the factors that are remnants of the Apartheid segregation polices as well as the educational policies of the present government, especially, those pertaining to mother-tongue Instruction. Although it is difficult to generalize from a small-scale study like this, its benefits lie in the evidence that confirms the influence of specific contextual factors on reading proficiencies, the evidence that identifies poor and effective teaching practices and the evidence that elucidate the implications of non-mother tongue instruction. This research may thus serve to raise the consciousness of practitioners in reading instruction, parents and policy makers. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Leander, Elizabeth Alice
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Education, Elementary -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Language and education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Language policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2374 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005913
- Description: This study explores what happens in a reading class where grade 3 learners from specific cultural and ethnic backgrounds are taught to read in a language other than their mother-tongue. The research takes place at a primary school in the Eastern Cape, South Africa where English is the Medium of Instruction (MOI).The report on the findings of this research reveals that the teaching strategies and reading theories of the teacher, the literacy backgrounds of the learners, as well as the language preferences of the parents, are some of the contextual factors that impact on reading. One of the major findings in the study constitutes the debilitating effects of the learners' socio- economic circumstances on their reading performances in the classroom. The socio-political factors that impact on the learners, the teacher, and the school as a social unit, proved to be the factors that are remnants of the Apartheid segregation polices as well as the educational policies of the present government, especially, those pertaining to mother-tongue Instruction. Although it is difficult to generalize from a small-scale study like this, its benefits lie in the evidence that confirms the influence of specific contextual factors on reading proficiencies, the evidence that identifies poor and effective teaching practices and the evidence that elucidate the implications of non-mother tongue instruction. This research may thus serve to raise the consciousness of practitioners in reading instruction, parents and policy makers. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
A case study of two teachers' understanding of and attitudes towards bilingualism and multiculturalism in a South African primary school
- Authors: Sutton, Candace
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Bilingualism in children , English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Foreign speakers , English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Education, Bilingual -- South Africa , Language and languages -- Study and teaching , Language policy -- South Africa , Multicultural education -- South Africa , Language and education -- South Africa , Multiculturalism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2363 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002646 , Bilingualism in children , English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Foreign speakers , English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Education, Bilingual -- South Africa , Language and languages -- Study and teaching , Language policy -- South Africa , Multicultural education -- South Africa , Language and education -- South Africa , Multiculturalism
- Description: At present, there is an emphasis in South African education on promoting multicultural classrooms in schools. This thesis examines the classroom culture of a South African English-medium school, where the majority of the learners are Second Language English learners. It first describes, in the form of a case-study, how two teachers have constructed the culture of their foundation phase classrooms. It then considers why the two teachers have constructed their classrooms in such ways by exploring their knowledge and understanding of, and attitudes towards, multiculturalism, second language acquisition and multilingualism. The study also briefly considers whether teacher training has sufficiently prepared these teachers for the challenges of a multicultural classroom. The data is discussed in terms of education and second language acquisition theory and South African education and language policies. The results of this study indicate that for the most part the classroom culture is distinctly Western and that the teachers have two fundamental assumptions that underpin their action and classroom construction. The first is that a lack of exposure to English is the primary cause of language problems for L2 learners and the second is that the L1 does not need to be maintained or promoted in the school environment because learners are sufficiently exposed to their L1 in the home. The thesis concludes that shortcomings in training and information encourages these two assumptions to take root and that more in-service training that focuses specifically on the nature of second language acquisition and multiculturalism is necessary.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Sutton, Candace
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Bilingualism in children , English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Foreign speakers , English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Education, Bilingual -- South Africa , Language and languages -- Study and teaching , Language policy -- South Africa , Multicultural education -- South Africa , Language and education -- South Africa , Multiculturalism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2363 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002646 , Bilingualism in children , English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Foreign speakers , English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Education, Bilingual -- South Africa , Language and languages -- Study and teaching , Language policy -- South Africa , Multicultural education -- South Africa , Language and education -- South Africa , Multiculturalism
- Description: At present, there is an emphasis in South African education on promoting multicultural classrooms in schools. This thesis examines the classroom culture of a South African English-medium school, where the majority of the learners are Second Language English learners. It first describes, in the form of a case-study, how two teachers have constructed the culture of their foundation phase classrooms. It then considers why the two teachers have constructed their classrooms in such ways by exploring their knowledge and understanding of, and attitudes towards, multiculturalism, second language acquisition and multilingualism. The study also briefly considers whether teacher training has sufficiently prepared these teachers for the challenges of a multicultural classroom. The data is discussed in terms of education and second language acquisition theory and South African education and language policies. The results of this study indicate that for the most part the classroom culture is distinctly Western and that the teachers have two fundamental assumptions that underpin their action and classroom construction. The first is that a lack of exposure to English is the primary cause of language problems for L2 learners and the second is that the L1 does not need to be maintained or promoted in the school environment because learners are sufficiently exposed to their L1 in the home. The thesis concludes that shortcomings in training and information encourages these two assumptions to take root and that more in-service training that focuses specifically on the nature of second language acquisition and multiculturalism is necessary.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1995
- 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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1995
A comparative study of syllables and morphemes as literacy processing units in word recognition: IsiXhosa and SeTswana
- Authors: Probert, Tracy Nicole
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3266 , vital:20415
- Description: Word recognition is a core foundation of reading (Invenizzi and Hayes 2010) and involves interactions of language skills, metalinguistic skills and orthography. The extent of the interaction with one another in reading has yet to be fully explored, especially in the Southern-Bantu languages. This comparative study of isiXhosa and Setswana explores this three-way interaction between language skills (effect of Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT)), metalinguistic skills (Phonological and Morphological Awareness) and orthography (conjunctivism vs. disjunctivism). This thesis is novel in three respects, (a) a set of linguistic-informed reading measures were developed in isiXhosa and Setswana for the first-time, (b) to my knowledge, the comparisons made and study of Morphological Awareness in the Southern-Bantu languages have never been done, and (c) the use of d-prime as a way of testing for grain size in reading is an innovative approach. Grade 3 and Grade 4 learners were tested on four independent linguistic tasks: an open-ended decomposition task, a Phonological Awareness task, a Morphological Awareness task and an independent reading measure. These tasks were administered to determine the grain size unit (Ziegler and Goswami 2005, Ziegler et al. 2001) which learners use in word recognition, with the grain sizes of syllables and morphemes being studied. Results showed that syllables were the dominant grain size in both isiXhosa and Setswana, with morphemes as secondary grains in isiXhosa. Grain size differed slightly between the two orthographies. These results are reflected in the scores on the metalinguistic tasks. LoLT was not shown to have a significant impact on word recognition in first-language reading. The Psycholinguistic Grain Size Theory (PGST) was found to be the most applicable model of word recognition to the Southern- Bantu languages, as opposed to the Dual-Route Cascade Model and Orthographic Depth Hypothesis. This thesis concludes with suggested adaptations to this theory in order to allow for morpheme grain size to be included. This study has implications for teaching practice and curriculum design, and contributes to a broader understanding of literacy in the foundation phase in the Southern-Bantu languages.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Probert, Tracy Nicole
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3266 , vital:20415
- Description: Word recognition is a core foundation of reading (Invenizzi and Hayes 2010) and involves interactions of language skills, metalinguistic skills and orthography. The extent of the interaction with one another in reading has yet to be fully explored, especially in the Southern-Bantu languages. This comparative study of isiXhosa and Setswana explores this three-way interaction between language skills (effect of Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT)), metalinguistic skills (Phonological and Morphological Awareness) and orthography (conjunctivism vs. disjunctivism). This thesis is novel in three respects, (a) a set of linguistic-informed reading measures were developed in isiXhosa and Setswana for the first-time, (b) to my knowledge, the comparisons made and study of Morphological Awareness in the Southern-Bantu languages have never been done, and (c) the use of d-prime as a way of testing for grain size in reading is an innovative approach. Grade 3 and Grade 4 learners were tested on four independent linguistic tasks: an open-ended decomposition task, a Phonological Awareness task, a Morphological Awareness task and an independent reading measure. These tasks were administered to determine the grain size unit (Ziegler and Goswami 2005, Ziegler et al. 2001) which learners use in word recognition, with the grain sizes of syllables and morphemes being studied. Results showed that syllables were the dominant grain size in both isiXhosa and Setswana, with morphemes as secondary grains in isiXhosa. Grain size differed slightly between the two orthographies. These results are reflected in the scores on the metalinguistic tasks. LoLT was not shown to have a significant impact on word recognition in first-language reading. The Psycholinguistic Grain Size Theory (PGST) was found to be the most applicable model of word recognition to the Southern- Bantu languages, as opposed to the Dual-Route Cascade Model and Orthographic Depth Hypothesis. This thesis concludes with suggested adaptations to this theory in order to allow for morpheme grain size to be included. This study has implications for teaching practice and curriculum design, and contributes to a broader understanding of literacy in the foundation phase in the Southern-Bantu languages.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
A corpus-based investigation of Xhosa English in the classroom setting
- Authors: Platt, Candice Lee
- Date: 2004 , 2013-06-03
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching (Foreign speakers) -- South Africa , Computational linguistics , Black English -- South Africa , Black people -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2379 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007613 , English language -- Study and teaching (Foreign speakers) -- South Africa , Computational linguistics , Black English -- South Africa , Black people -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Education
- Description: This study is an investigation of Xhosa English as used by teachers in the Grahamstown area of the Eastern Cape. The aims of the study were firstly, to compile a 20 000 word mini-corpus of the spoken English of Xhosa mother-tongue teachers in Grahamstown, and to use this data to describe the characteristics of Xhosa English used in the classroom context; and secondly, to assess the usefulness of a corpus-based approach to a study of this nature. The English of five Xhosa mother-tongue teachers was investigated. These teachers were recorded while teaching in English and the data was then transcribed for analysis. The data was analysed using Wordsmith Tools to investigate patterns in the teachers' language. Grammatical, lexical and discourse patterns were explored based on the findings of other researchers' investigations of Black South African English and Xhosa English. In general, many of the patterns reported in the literature were found in the data, but to a lesser extent than reported in literature which gave quantitative information. Some features not described elsewhere were also found. The corpus-based approach was found to be useful within the limits of pattern-matching. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Platt, Candice Lee
- Date: 2004 , 2013-06-03
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching (Foreign speakers) -- South Africa , Computational linguistics , Black English -- South Africa , Black people -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2379 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007613 , English language -- Study and teaching (Foreign speakers) -- South Africa , Computational linguistics , Black English -- South Africa , Black people -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Education
- Description: This study is an investigation of Xhosa English as used by teachers in the Grahamstown area of the Eastern Cape. The aims of the study were firstly, to compile a 20 000 word mini-corpus of the spoken English of Xhosa mother-tongue teachers in Grahamstown, and to use this data to describe the characteristics of Xhosa English used in the classroom context; and secondly, to assess the usefulness of a corpus-based approach to a study of this nature. The English of five Xhosa mother-tongue teachers was investigated. These teachers were recorded while teaching in English and the data was then transcribed for analysis. The data was analysed using Wordsmith Tools to investigate patterns in the teachers' language. Grammatical, lexical and discourse patterns were explored based on the findings of other researchers' investigations of Black South African English and Xhosa English. In general, many of the patterns reported in the literature were found in the data, but to a lesser extent than reported in literature which gave quantitative information. Some features not described elsewhere were also found. The corpus-based approach was found to be useful within the limits of pattern-matching. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
A critical analysis of oppositional discourses of the ideal female body in women's conversations
- Authors: Pienaar, Kiran Merle
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Conversation analysis Women in mass media Self-perception in women Self-perception in adolescence Body image
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2358 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002641
- Description: Socialisation agents such as the popular media and same age female peers construct and reproduce notions of what is physically ideal, feminine and beautiful in a woman (Hesse-Biber 1996). My interest lies in how a group of young women reproduce, contest and possibly transform such notions in conversations with their same age female friends. The study aims to answer the following question: What ideologies are reflected and perpetuated in the discourses associated with the ideal female body? Since notions of what is ideal and beautiful are indeterminate and in perpetual flux, I focus in particular on areas of contradiction and contestation in the body talk conversations. As such, the analysis examines three extracts in which the young women draw on oppositional discourses to construct notions of female beauty. I believe that these extracts represent discursive struggles in relation to the dominant Western ideal of the slim, toned female body, an ideal which more closely resembles a newly pubescent girl's body than the curvaceous, shapely body of an adult woman (Bartky 2003; Grogan 1998). My analysis is based on conversational data collected from sixteen, white adolescent English-speaking women between the ages of fourteen and eighteen who attend a boarding school in Grahamstown. I elicited the body talk data using three stimulus exercises designed to encourage discussion on topics such as the overweight female body, dieting and the ideal body. I selected three extracts from the recorded conversations and used the methodological framework of Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse the data. This framework proposes three interdependent stages of analysis: 1) the Description of the formal features of the text, 2) the Interpretation of the text in terms of the participants' background assumptions, the situational context and the intertextual context and 3) an Explanation of the text in light of the sociocultural context and the text's contribution to the reproduction or transformation of the status quo. Since I was present during the conversational recordings and contributed to the discussions, part of the interpretation stage of analysis critically evaluates how the asymmetrical power relations between myself and the participants influenced the conversations. In this regard, my findings attest to my coercive role in promoting conservative, reactionary discourses which sustain the dominance of traditional ideologies of female beauty and which stifle oppositional ideologies. My interpretation of the extracts also reveals that, in their discussions of topics such as excess weight, female ageing and cosmetic surgery, the young women negotiate alternative conceptions of what constitutes the ideal female body. However, the articulation of an alternative beauty ideal, one which values women of different body sizes and ages is not sustained in the extracts. By discussing the relationship between these alternative constructions and dominant norms of beauty, I show how the prevailing ideal of the youthful, slim, toned female body wins out in the conversations. The interpretation of the extracts also reveals the participants' preoccupation with the pursuit of health and well¬being. In this respect, the young women construct the ideal body as not only slim and youthful, but also healthy. In my explanation of the extracts, I explore the sociocultural factors which have contributed to the rise of the health ethic. In concluding, I argue that the valorisation of the healthy body in the conversations, far from challenging the imperative to be thin, actually reinforces it by constructing dieting as a necessary adjunct to the pursuit of health. From this perspective, the preoccupation with attaining the ideal thin, toned body can be justified in terms of a desire to be healthy.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Pienaar, Kiran Merle
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Conversation analysis Women in mass media Self-perception in women Self-perception in adolescence Body image
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2358 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002641
- Description: Socialisation agents such as the popular media and same age female peers construct and reproduce notions of what is physically ideal, feminine and beautiful in a woman (Hesse-Biber 1996). My interest lies in how a group of young women reproduce, contest and possibly transform such notions in conversations with their same age female friends. The study aims to answer the following question: What ideologies are reflected and perpetuated in the discourses associated with the ideal female body? Since notions of what is ideal and beautiful are indeterminate and in perpetual flux, I focus in particular on areas of contradiction and contestation in the body talk conversations. As such, the analysis examines three extracts in which the young women draw on oppositional discourses to construct notions of female beauty. I believe that these extracts represent discursive struggles in relation to the dominant Western ideal of the slim, toned female body, an ideal which more closely resembles a newly pubescent girl's body than the curvaceous, shapely body of an adult woman (Bartky 2003; Grogan 1998). My analysis is based on conversational data collected from sixteen, white adolescent English-speaking women between the ages of fourteen and eighteen who attend a boarding school in Grahamstown. I elicited the body talk data using three stimulus exercises designed to encourage discussion on topics such as the overweight female body, dieting and the ideal body. I selected three extracts from the recorded conversations and used the methodological framework of Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse the data. This framework proposes three interdependent stages of analysis: 1) the Description of the formal features of the text, 2) the Interpretation of the text in terms of the participants' background assumptions, the situational context and the intertextual context and 3) an Explanation of the text in light of the sociocultural context and the text's contribution to the reproduction or transformation of the status quo. Since I was present during the conversational recordings and contributed to the discussions, part of the interpretation stage of analysis critically evaluates how the asymmetrical power relations between myself and the participants influenced the conversations. In this regard, my findings attest to my coercive role in promoting conservative, reactionary discourses which sustain the dominance of traditional ideologies of female beauty and which stifle oppositional ideologies. My interpretation of the extracts also reveals that, in their discussions of topics such as excess weight, female ageing and cosmetic surgery, the young women negotiate alternative conceptions of what constitutes the ideal female body. However, the articulation of an alternative beauty ideal, one which values women of different body sizes and ages is not sustained in the extracts. By discussing the relationship between these alternative constructions and dominant norms of beauty, I show how the prevailing ideal of the youthful, slim, toned female body wins out in the conversations. The interpretation of the extracts also reveals the participants' preoccupation with the pursuit of health and well¬being. In this respect, the young women construct the ideal body as not only slim and youthful, but also healthy. In my explanation of the extracts, I explore the sociocultural factors which have contributed to the rise of the health ethic. In concluding, I argue that the valorisation of the healthy body in the conversations, far from challenging the imperative to be thin, actually reinforces it by constructing dieting as a necessary adjunct to the pursuit of health. From this perspective, the preoccupation with attaining the ideal thin, toned body can be justified in terms of a desire to be healthy.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2007
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
- 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
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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1984
- 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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1984
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
A perfect end: a study of syllable codas in South African Sign Language
- Köhlo, Mikhaela Demitria Katebe
- Authors: Köhlo, Mikhaela Demitria Katebe
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: South African Sign Language , South African Sign Language Phonology , Linguistics , Grammar, Comparative and general Syllable
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36127 , vital:24492
- Description: Coda constraints are common in spoken languages. German, for example, can only have voiceless obstruents in the coda position (Lombardi 1999). Most sign language research has been on other sign languages, most notably American Sign Language (ASL). This research serves to contribute to syllable theory and has a methodology that allows for cross-linguistic research, strengthening the understanding of sign languages in general, and enhancing the description of SASL in particular. It is well known that syllables in spoken languages require a vowel nucleus to be well-formed. Sandler and Lillo-Martin (2006) provide evidence of sign languages requiring movement to be considered well-formed: even seemingly stationary signs such as WHO, which occurs at the chin, will have finger wiggling as some form of movement. It is thus natural to assume that movement is akin to vowels in syllable theory (Brentari 1998). Thus, locations are similar to consonants. However, the visual nature of sign allows for simultaneity - holds do not occur by themselves. Next to location, handshapes are phonetically complex features that may impact the constraints at coda position. To my knowledge, there is no formal research on the coda constraints of sign language syllables. The data examined here comes from a video dictionary of approximately 175 words. From this dictionary, a database of coded locations and handshapes are recorded for both the onset and the coda. From this, a consonant inventory is made and patterns are identified. Each source of data is analysed individually based on Brentari’s (1998) Prosodic Model. Patterns that are noticed are then looked at using Brentari’s (1998) framework to account for what phonological rules are dictating constraints. However, as a hearing researcher cannot claim native knowledge of a sign language, the conclusions drawn from the data will be tested using native SASL signers for negative judgement. The preliminary findings of the research suggest that there are constraints on the coda location and handshape of a sign and that this may be a result of the natural classes of handshape and location prohibiting certain onset-coda combinations. The onset and coda on monosyllabic signs mirror each other’s location, while the handshape cannot change in repeated and many monosyllabic signs. These constraints provide more understanding into the rich phonological nature of sign languages.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Köhlo, Mikhaela Demitria Katebe
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: South African Sign Language , South African Sign Language Phonology , Linguistics , Grammar, Comparative and general Syllable
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36127 , vital:24492
- Description: Coda constraints are common in spoken languages. German, for example, can only have voiceless obstruents in the coda position (Lombardi 1999). Most sign language research has been on other sign languages, most notably American Sign Language (ASL). This research serves to contribute to syllable theory and has a methodology that allows for cross-linguistic research, strengthening the understanding of sign languages in general, and enhancing the description of SASL in particular. It is well known that syllables in spoken languages require a vowel nucleus to be well-formed. Sandler and Lillo-Martin (2006) provide evidence of sign languages requiring movement to be considered well-formed: even seemingly stationary signs such as WHO, which occurs at the chin, will have finger wiggling as some form of movement. It is thus natural to assume that movement is akin to vowels in syllable theory (Brentari 1998). Thus, locations are similar to consonants. However, the visual nature of sign allows for simultaneity - holds do not occur by themselves. Next to location, handshapes are phonetically complex features that may impact the constraints at coda position. To my knowledge, there is no formal research on the coda constraints of sign language syllables. The data examined here comes from a video dictionary of approximately 175 words. From this dictionary, a database of coded locations and handshapes are recorded for both the onset and the coda. From this, a consonant inventory is made and patterns are identified. Each source of data is analysed individually based on Brentari’s (1998) Prosodic Model. Patterns that are noticed are then looked at using Brentari’s (1998) framework to account for what phonological rules are dictating constraints. However, as a hearing researcher cannot claim native knowledge of a sign language, the conclusions drawn from the data will be tested using native SASL signers for negative judgement. The preliminary findings of the research suggest that there are constraints on the coda location and handshape of a sign and that this may be a result of the natural classes of handshape and location prohibiting certain onset-coda combinations. The onset and coda on monosyllabic signs mirror each other’s location, while the handshape cannot change in repeated and many monosyllabic signs. These constraints provide more understanding into the rich phonological nature of sign languages.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
A study of the summarizing strategies used by ESL first year science students at the University of Botswana
- Authors: Chimbganda, Ambrose Bruce
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching (Foreign speakers) -- Botswana English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Botswana Science -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Botswana Language and education -- Botswana College students -- Botswana -- Language
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2341 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002623
- Description: One of the major problems faced by speakers of English as a second language (ESL) or non-native speakers of English (NNS) is that when they go to college or university, they find themselves without sufficient academic literacy skills to enable them to navigate their learning successfully, such as the ability to summarize textual material. This thesis examines the summarizing strategies used by ESL first year science students at the University of Botswana. Using multiple data collection methods, otherwise known as triangulation or pluralistic research, which is a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, one hundred and twenty randomly sampled students completed questionnaires and summarized a scientific text. In order to observe the students more closely, nine students (3 high-, 3 average- and 3 low-proficiency) were purposively selected from the sample and wrote a further summary. The nine students were later interviewed in order to find out from them the kinds of strategies they had used in summarizing the texts. To obtain systematic data, the summaries and the taped interview were coded and analyzed using a hybrid scoring classification previously used by other researchers. The results from the Likert type of questionnaire suggest that the ESL first year science students are 'aware' of the appropriate reading, production and self-assessment strategies to use when summarizing. However, when the data from the questionnaire were cross-checked against the strategies they had used in the actual summarization of the text, most of their claims, especially those of the low-proficiency students, were not sustained. As a whole, the results show that high-proficiency students produce more accurate idea units and are more capable of generalizing ideas than low-proficiency students who prefer to "cut and paste" ideas. There are also significant differences between high- and low proficiency students in the manner in which they decode the text: low-proficiency students produce more distortions in their summaries than high-proficiency students who generally give accurate information. Similarly, high-proficiency students are able to sort out global ideas from a labyrinth of localized ideas, unlike average- and low-proficiency students who include trivial information. The same trend is observed with paraphrasing and sentence combinations: high-proficiency students are generally able to recast and coordinate their ideas, unlike low-proficiency students who produce run-on ideas. In terms of the discrete cognitive and meta-cognitive skills preferred by students, low proficiency students are noticeably unable to exploit pre-summarizing cognitive strategies such as discriminating, selecting, note-making, grouping, inferring meanings of new words and using synonyms to convey the intended meanings. There are also greater differences between high- and low-proficiency students when it comes to the use of meta-cognitive strategies. Unlike high-proficiency students who use their reservoir of meta-cognitive skills such as self-judgment, low-proficiency students ostensibly find it difficult to direct their summaries to the demands of the task and are unable to check the accuracy of their summaries. The findings also show that some of the high-proficiency students and many average- and low-proficiency students distort idea units, find it difficult to use their own words and cannot distinguish between main and supporting details. This resulted in the production of circuitous summaries that often failed to capture the gist of the argument. The way the students processed the main ideas also reveals an inherent weakness: most students of different proficiency levels were unable to combine ideas from different paragraphs to produce a coherent text. Not surprising, then, there were too many long summaries produced by both high- and low-proficiency students. To tackle some of the problems related to summarization, pre-reading strategies can be taught, which activate relevant prior knowledge, so that the learning of new knowledge can be facilitated. During the reading process students can become more meta-cognitively aware by monitoring their level of understanding of the text by using, for example, the strategy suggested by Schraw (1998) of "stop, read and think". Text analysis can also be used to help the students identify the main themes or macro-propositions in a text, and hence gain a more global perspective of the content, which is important for selecting the main ideas in a text. A particularly useful approach to fostering a deeper understanding of content is to use a form of reciprocal or peer-mediated teaching, in which students in pairs can articulate to each other their understanding of the main ideas expressed in the text. As part of the solution to the problems faced by students when processing information, we need to take Sewlall's (2000: 170) advice that there should be "a paradigm shift in the learning philosophy from content-based to an emphasis on the acquisition of skills". In this regard, both content and ESL teachers need to train their students in the explicit use of summarizing strategies, and to plan interwoven lessons and learning activities that develop the learners' intellectual ways of dealing with different learning problems so that they can make learning quicker, easier, more effective and exciting.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Chimbganda, Ambrose Bruce
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching (Foreign speakers) -- Botswana English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Botswana Science -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Botswana Language and education -- Botswana College students -- Botswana -- Language
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2341 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002623
- Description: One of the major problems faced by speakers of English as a second language (ESL) or non-native speakers of English (NNS) is that when they go to college or university, they find themselves without sufficient academic literacy skills to enable them to navigate their learning successfully, such as the ability to summarize textual material. This thesis examines the summarizing strategies used by ESL first year science students at the University of Botswana. Using multiple data collection methods, otherwise known as triangulation or pluralistic research, which is a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, one hundred and twenty randomly sampled students completed questionnaires and summarized a scientific text. In order to observe the students more closely, nine students (3 high-, 3 average- and 3 low-proficiency) were purposively selected from the sample and wrote a further summary. The nine students were later interviewed in order to find out from them the kinds of strategies they had used in summarizing the texts. To obtain systematic data, the summaries and the taped interview were coded and analyzed using a hybrid scoring classification previously used by other researchers. The results from the Likert type of questionnaire suggest that the ESL first year science students are 'aware' of the appropriate reading, production and self-assessment strategies to use when summarizing. However, when the data from the questionnaire were cross-checked against the strategies they had used in the actual summarization of the text, most of their claims, especially those of the low-proficiency students, were not sustained. As a whole, the results show that high-proficiency students produce more accurate idea units and are more capable of generalizing ideas than low-proficiency students who prefer to "cut and paste" ideas. There are also significant differences between high- and low proficiency students in the manner in which they decode the text: low-proficiency students produce more distortions in their summaries than high-proficiency students who generally give accurate information. Similarly, high-proficiency students are able to sort out global ideas from a labyrinth of localized ideas, unlike average- and low-proficiency students who include trivial information. The same trend is observed with paraphrasing and sentence combinations: high-proficiency students are generally able to recast and coordinate their ideas, unlike low-proficiency students who produce run-on ideas. In terms of the discrete cognitive and meta-cognitive skills preferred by students, low proficiency students are noticeably unable to exploit pre-summarizing cognitive strategies such as discriminating, selecting, note-making, grouping, inferring meanings of new words and using synonyms to convey the intended meanings. There are also greater differences between high- and low-proficiency students when it comes to the use of meta-cognitive strategies. Unlike high-proficiency students who use their reservoir of meta-cognitive skills such as self-judgment, low-proficiency students ostensibly find it difficult to direct their summaries to the demands of the task and are unable to check the accuracy of their summaries. The findings also show that some of the high-proficiency students and many average- and low-proficiency students distort idea units, find it difficult to use their own words and cannot distinguish between main and supporting details. This resulted in the production of circuitous summaries that often failed to capture the gist of the argument. The way the students processed the main ideas also reveals an inherent weakness: most students of different proficiency levels were unable to combine ideas from different paragraphs to produce a coherent text. Not surprising, then, there were too many long summaries produced by both high- and low-proficiency students. To tackle some of the problems related to summarization, pre-reading strategies can be taught, which activate relevant prior knowledge, so that the learning of new knowledge can be facilitated. During the reading process students can become more meta-cognitively aware by monitoring their level of understanding of the text by using, for example, the strategy suggested by Schraw (1998) of "stop, read and think". Text analysis can also be used to help the students identify the main themes or macro-propositions in a text, and hence gain a more global perspective of the content, which is important for selecting the main ideas in a text. A particularly useful approach to fostering a deeper understanding of content is to use a form of reciprocal or peer-mediated teaching, in which students in pairs can articulate to each other their understanding of the main ideas expressed in the text. As part of the solution to the problems faced by students when processing information, we need to take Sewlall's (2000: 170) advice that there should be "a paradigm shift in the learning philosophy from content-based to an emphasis on the acquisition of skills". In this regard, both content and ESL teachers need to train their students in the explicit use of summarizing strategies, and to plan interwoven lessons and learning activities that develop the learners' intellectual ways of dealing with different learning problems so that they can make learning quicker, easier, more effective and exciting.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Acquiring academic reading practices in History I : an ethnographic study of a group of foundation year students at Rhodes University
- Authors: Niven, Penelope Mary
- Date: 2013-05-29
- Subjects: Compensatory education -- South Africa English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers History -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers College students, Black -- South Africa Black people -- Education (Higher) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2380 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007860
- Description: This thesis reports on a critical, ethnographic investigation into the reading practices of a group of 14 foundation year students at Rhodes University in 2002. The university had identified all the student-participants as 'underprepared' for university learning: they were from poor, socio-economic backgrounds, used English as an additional language, and had been educated in township or rural schools. Using the Socio-cultural model of literacy (Heath, 1984; Gee, 1990 & Street, 1993), the study explores the culturally-shaped attitudes and assumptions about reading that the students brought with them into a tertiary learning context from their homes, communities and schools. It reports on their subsequent efforts to become academic readers in the disciplinary context of History. Framing Theory (Reid and MacLachlan, 1994) was employed to analyse the kinds of matches and mismatches that arose between the students' frames about the nature and purpose of reading, and those implicitly accepted as normative by teachers in the History department. It accounts for the students' difficulties in achieving epistemological access in terms of a conflict of frames: both the students and their teachers usually failed to recognise each others' constructions about the nature and purpose of 'reading for a degree'. The study'S critical purpose required that its potential for generating emancipatory consequences needed to be investigated. Thus the study reports on how both sets of participants began to reframe their understanding of academic reading, by describing the ways in which they reflected on the findings in the final stages of the research process. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Authors: Niven, Penelope Mary
- Date: 2013-05-29
- Subjects: Compensatory education -- South Africa English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers History -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers College students, Black -- South Africa Black people -- Education (Higher) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2380 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007860
- Description: This thesis reports on a critical, ethnographic investigation into the reading practices of a group of 14 foundation year students at Rhodes University in 2002. The university had identified all the student-participants as 'underprepared' for university learning: they were from poor, socio-economic backgrounds, used English as an additional language, and had been educated in township or rural schools. Using the Socio-cultural model of literacy (Heath, 1984; Gee, 1990 & Street, 1993), the study explores the culturally-shaped attitudes and assumptions about reading that the students brought with them into a tertiary learning context from their homes, communities and schools. It reports on their subsequent efforts to become academic readers in the disciplinary context of History. Framing Theory (Reid and MacLachlan, 1994) was employed to analyse the kinds of matches and mismatches that arose between the students' frames about the nature and purpose of reading, and those implicitly accepted as normative by teachers in the History department. It accounts for the students' difficulties in achieving epistemological access in terms of a conflict of frames: both the students and their teachers usually failed to recognise each others' constructions about the nature and purpose of 'reading for a degree'. The study'S critical purpose required that its potential for generating emancipatory consequences needed to be investigated. Thus the study reports on how both sets of participants began to reframe their understanding of academic reading, by describing the ways in which they reflected on the findings in the final stages of the research process. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
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
Agreement and coordination in XiTsonga, SeSotho and IsiXhosa: an optimality theoretic perspective
- Authors: Mitchley, Hazel
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3423 , vital:20491
- Description: This thesis provides a unified Optimality Theoretic analysis of subject-verb agreement with coordinated preverbal subjects in three Southern Bantu languages: Xitsonga (S53), Sesotho (S33), and isiXhosa (S41). This analysis is then used to formulate a typology of agreement resolution strategies and the contexts which trigger them. Although some accounts in the Bantu literature suggest that agreement with coordinate structures is avoided by speakers (e.g. Schadeberg 1992, Voeltz 1971) especially when conjuncts are from different noun classes, I show that there is ample evidence to the contrary, and that the subject marker used is dependent on several factors, including (i) the [-HUMAN] specification on the conjuncts, (ii) whether the conjuncts are singular or plural, (iii) whether or not the conjuncts both carry the same noun class feature, and (iv) the order of the conjuncts. This thesis shows that there are various agreement resolution strategies which can beused: 1) agreement with the [+HUMAN] feature on the conjuncts, 2) agreement with the[-HUMAN] feature on the conjuncts, 3) agreement with the noun class feature on both conjuncts, 4) agreement with the noun class feature on the conjunct closest to the verb, and 5) agreement with the noun class feature on the conjunct furthest from the verb. Not all of these strategies are used by all languages, nor are these strategies interchangeable in the languages which do use them – instead, multiple factors conspire to trigger the use of a specific agreement strategy within a specific agreement featural context. I show that these effects can be captured using Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 2004). The analysis makes use of seven constraints: RES#, MAX[+H], MAX[-H], DEP[-H], MAXNC, DEPNC, and AGREECLOSEST. The hierarchical ranking of these constraints not only accounts for the confinement of particular strategies to specific agreement featural contexts within a language, but also accounts for the cross-linguistic differences in the use of these strategies. I end off by examining the typological implications which follow from the OT analysis provided in this thesis.
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- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Mitchley, Hazel
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3423 , vital:20491
- Description: This thesis provides a unified Optimality Theoretic analysis of subject-verb agreement with coordinated preverbal subjects in three Southern Bantu languages: Xitsonga (S53), Sesotho (S33), and isiXhosa (S41). This analysis is then used to formulate a typology of agreement resolution strategies and the contexts which trigger them. Although some accounts in the Bantu literature suggest that agreement with coordinate structures is avoided by speakers (e.g. Schadeberg 1992, Voeltz 1971) especially when conjuncts are from different noun classes, I show that there is ample evidence to the contrary, and that the subject marker used is dependent on several factors, including (i) the [-HUMAN] specification on the conjuncts, (ii) whether the conjuncts are singular or plural, (iii) whether or not the conjuncts both carry the same noun class feature, and (iv) the order of the conjuncts. This thesis shows that there are various agreement resolution strategies which can beused: 1) agreement with the [+HUMAN] feature on the conjuncts, 2) agreement with the[-HUMAN] feature on the conjuncts, 3) agreement with the noun class feature on both conjuncts, 4) agreement with the noun class feature on the conjunct closest to the verb, and 5) agreement with the noun class feature on the conjunct furthest from the verb. Not all of these strategies are used by all languages, nor are these strategies interchangeable in the languages which do use them – instead, multiple factors conspire to trigger the use of a specific agreement strategy within a specific agreement featural context. I show that these effects can be captured using Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 2004). The analysis makes use of seven constraints: RES#, MAX[+H], MAX[-H], DEP[-H], MAXNC, DEPNC, and AGREECLOSEST. The hierarchical ranking of these constraints not only accounts for the confinement of particular strategies to specific agreement featural contexts within a language, but also accounts for the cross-linguistic differences in the use of these strategies. I end off by examining the typological implications which follow from the OT analysis provided in this thesis.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
An analysis of temporal relations in languages: a comparative study of Mandarin and isiXhosa
- Authors: Ma, Xiujie
- Date: 2013 , 2013-01-30
- Subjects: Chinese language Xhosa language Grammar, Comparative and general -- Temporal constructions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2367 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003055
- Description: This study sought to investigate how temporal relations are expressed in Mandarin and isiXhosa. The objective was to compare how two typologically distinct languages, one isolating and the other agglutinating, cope with the encoding of situations that occur at different positions on the time line. Data was drawn from questionnaire responses from, and interviews with, isiXhosa speakers who provided translations of a wide range of sentences from English into isiXhosa. The study revealed that isiXhosa relies on the grammatical category – tense – to encode temporal relations, while Mandarin relies more on lexical and pragmatic devices – the use of temporal adverbials and the implication of aspectual markings – to locate a situation on the time line. Typically, each sentence in isiXhosa must be marked for tense: temporal adverbials are optional elements and used to more precisely locate the situation on the time line. By contrast, in Mandarin, temporal adverbials have a more central function in that they independently express different positions on the time line: without temporal adverbials, it is extremely difficult to locate a situation on the time line in some sentences. Another important difference between the two languages was revealed in this study: isiXhosa grammar allows speakers to talk about situations in terms of their distance (past or future) from the speech time whereas Mandarin grammar allows its speakers to talk about situations in terms of the internal properties (e.g. completed, ongoing, etc.) of those situations. The study revealed that isiXhosa and Mandarin are similar in one important respect: both languages have no formal properties, i.e. overt tense markers (isiXhosa) and compulsory temporal adverbials or other temporal devices (Mandarin) for marking the temporal location of present situations. The study also revealed that both languages encode ‘pastness’ in terms of whether or not the effects of the situation in question still remain at speech time.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Ma, Xiujie
- Date: 2013 , 2013-01-30
- Subjects: Chinese language Xhosa language Grammar, Comparative and general -- Temporal constructions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2367 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003055
- Description: This study sought to investigate how temporal relations are expressed in Mandarin and isiXhosa. The objective was to compare how two typologically distinct languages, one isolating and the other agglutinating, cope with the encoding of situations that occur at different positions on the time line. Data was drawn from questionnaire responses from, and interviews with, isiXhosa speakers who provided translations of a wide range of sentences from English into isiXhosa. The study revealed that isiXhosa relies on the grammatical category – tense – to encode temporal relations, while Mandarin relies more on lexical and pragmatic devices – the use of temporal adverbials and the implication of aspectual markings – to locate a situation on the time line. Typically, each sentence in isiXhosa must be marked for tense: temporal adverbials are optional elements and used to more precisely locate the situation on the time line. By contrast, in Mandarin, temporal adverbials have a more central function in that they independently express different positions on the time line: without temporal adverbials, it is extremely difficult to locate a situation on the time line in some sentences. Another important difference between the two languages was revealed in this study: isiXhosa grammar allows speakers to talk about situations in terms of their distance (past or future) from the speech time whereas Mandarin grammar allows its speakers to talk about situations in terms of the internal properties (e.g. completed, ongoing, etc.) of those situations. The study revealed that isiXhosa and Mandarin are similar in one important respect: both languages have no formal properties, i.e. overt tense markers (isiXhosa) and compulsory temporal adverbials or other temporal devices (Mandarin) for marking the temporal location of present situations. The study also revealed that both languages encode ‘pastness’ in terms of whether or not the effects of the situation in question still remain at speech time.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
An examination of the drafting-responding process used to develop students' writing in an English Language for Academic Purposes Course
- Authors: Quinn, Lynn
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers , Rhodes University -- Academic Development Programme , Academic writing -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , Educational anthropology -- South Africa , Educational sociology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2359 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002642 , English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers , Rhodes University -- Academic Development Programme , Academic writing -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , Educational anthropology -- South Africa , Educational sociology -- South Africa
- Description: Many students when they arrive at university do not possess the “cultural capital” (Bourdieu 1977) which is favoured by the institution. The purpose of the English Language for Academic Purposes (ELAP) course and the drafting-responding process is to help students to begin to acquire the “cultural capital” required to succeed at university. The research reported on in this thesis examined the drafting-responding process as it is used to develop students’ writing in the ELAP course at Rhodes University. The process involved students submitting drafts of their essays on which they received constructive and formative feedback from their ELAP tutor. This feedback was then used to revise their essays before a final version was submitted for assessment. The research took the form of a case study with an essentially interpretive orientation. I examined the drafts (with the tutor’s comments) and final versions of seven students’ ELAP essays. Additional data was obtained by interviewing the students and the tutor. Underpinning my beliefs regarding the role of writing in learning as well as my orientation to research is an understanding of knowledge and learning as being socially constructed. All writing is embedded in and dependent on, not only the immediate social circumstances, but also the broader social and cultural context. In analysing and discussing the data in this research I used Halliday’s (1985) definition of context, in which he draws a broad distinction between the immediate context of situation and the broader context of culture The research findings showed that the drafting-responding process can help students with the process of developing the academic literacy they need in order to write essays within specific situational contexts, in this case, the context of the ELAP course. In addition, at a broader level, it can help students to begin the process of being initiated into the culture of the university as a whole.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Quinn, Lynn
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers , Rhodes University -- Academic Development Programme , Academic writing -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , Educational anthropology -- South Africa , Educational sociology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2359 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002642 , English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Foreign speakers , Rhodes University -- Academic Development Programme , Academic writing -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , Educational anthropology -- South Africa , Educational sociology -- South Africa
- Description: Many students when they arrive at university do not possess the “cultural capital” (Bourdieu 1977) which is favoured by the institution. The purpose of the English Language for Academic Purposes (ELAP) course and the drafting-responding process is to help students to begin to acquire the “cultural capital” required to succeed at university. The research reported on in this thesis examined the drafting-responding process as it is used to develop students’ writing in the ELAP course at Rhodes University. The process involved students submitting drafts of their essays on which they received constructive and formative feedback from their ELAP tutor. This feedback was then used to revise their essays before a final version was submitted for assessment. The research took the form of a case study with an essentially interpretive orientation. I examined the drafts (with the tutor’s comments) and final versions of seven students’ ELAP essays. Additional data was obtained by interviewing the students and the tutor. Underpinning my beliefs regarding the role of writing in learning as well as my orientation to research is an understanding of knowledge and learning as being socially constructed. All writing is embedded in and dependent on, not only the immediate social circumstances, but also the broader social and cultural context. In analysing and discussing the data in this research I used Halliday’s (1985) definition of context, in which he draws a broad distinction between the immediate context of situation and the broader context of culture The research findings showed that the drafting-responding process can help students with the process of developing the academic literacy they need in order to write essays within specific situational contexts, in this case, the context of the ELAP course. In addition, at a broader level, it can help students to begin the process of being initiated into the culture of the university as a whole.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1997
- 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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1997