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1
Si, Jinghui. "Is what is taught what is needed? The practicality of ELF-informed teaching in China's Business English Program." Thesis, Griffith University, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/393968.
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The changing role of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has triggered a debate on whether or not English teaching should conform consistently to native-speaker Standard English or should it value the pedagogical implications of ELF. This study investigates the implementation of China’s Business English Program from an ELF perspective and explores the practicality of incorporating ELF-informed teaching in context by comparing what is being taught in the classroom with what is being used in the workplace. The comparison is made through the key concepts involved in the debate over the practicality of ELF-informed teaching, such as language ownership, linguistic and cultural diversity, language authority and authenticity.
This study used an in-depth, inquiry-based case study research approach to investigate the cases of two Business English Programs. The sources of evidence include curriculum documents, coursebook analysis, classroom observations, questionnaires and interviews. The evidence was obtained through a three-phase inquiry using both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Phase 1 involved a content analysis of three curriculum documents, including the National Principles of Teaching Quality for Undergraduate Business English Majors (The National Principles of BE) and the two institutional curricula. Phase 2 started with an analysis of business English coursebooks followed by a series of classroom observations. This phase of enquiry along with document analyses at phase 1 provide substantial evidence regarding what ‘English’ is being taught - an ENL variety through an ‘monolithic’ approach or ELF through a ‘pluricentric’ approach. Phase 3 investigated stakeholders’ (teachers, learners, graduates) attitudes and perceptions towards native-speaker Standard English and ENL-based teaching, ELF and ELF-informed teaching.
The findings revealed that the curriculum documents do not indicate a preference for native-speaker Standard English, ELF or Chinese-English. However, the coursebooks analysed in this study suggested a strong orientation towards native-speaker Standard English, its users and cultures and also, a lack of real-life ELF scenarios. This lack of ELF scenarios was not addressed in the use of the coursebooks as evidenced in the classroom observations. While the concept of English as a lingua franca was understood and discussed, how English is actually used as a lingua franca was not exemplified or analysed. In addition, teachers, learners and graduates have different perceptions towards what should be taught in classroom. The interviews with business English teachers indicate one main conflict and three subsidiary conflicts regarding the practicality of ELF-informed teaching in the Business English Program. The main conflict is between teachers’ general awareness of ELF and their preference for ENL-based teaching. The three subsidiary conflicts are between: 1) learning ENL and teaching ELF; 2) English for test and English for use; and 3) intervention and innovation. Meanwhile, learners’ perceptions towards what should be taught in classroom were found to be influenced by three factors: 1) the communicative effectiveness of the ‘English’; 2) the social value of the ‘English’; and 3) the applicability of ‘English’ in China’s higher education system. Different from business English teachers and learners, graduates expressed more positive attitudes towards ELF and called for an inclusion of real-life ELF scenarios, an introduction of EMI business courses, and classroom practices that encourage bi/multilingualism.
In the light of the above findings, the gaps between what is being taught in the classroom and what is being used in the workplace were summarized. Also, a total of seven factors at individual, institutional, and socio-cultural levels were identified as the most prominent barriers to the effective implementation of ELF-informed teaching in the Business English Program. These barriers formed the basis of the ultimate proposal for an evaluative framework that conceptualizes the most prominent components needed for consideration by a local institution in order to explore the practicality of ELF-informed teaching. The framework could be used to detect, discuss, and defeat the barriers impeding its effective implementation of ELF-informed teaching.
Overall, by unveiling a dynamic interplay of policy, contexts, and stakeholders in the implementation of Business English Program, the findings from the present study are of empirical and practical value to those involved or interested in the fields of English language policy, English language teaching in China, and ELF. This study makes original contributions to the literature through illuminating: a) the extent to which ELF-informed teaching is implemented in China’s Business English Program; b) the existing and potential barriers impeding the effective implementation of ELF-informed teaching; c) the gaps between what is taught in business English classrooms and what is used in workplace; and d) key elements to assist Business English Programs in overcoming these barriers and bridging the gaps. In addition, with a specific focus on China’s Business English Program, this study enriches the literature on stakeholders’ perceptions on ELF and the implementation of ELF-informed teaching in the countries in the Expanding Circle and thus, adds empirical evidence into the debate over the practicality of ELF-informed teaching in these contexts.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Hum, Lang & Soc Sc
Arts, Education and Law
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Lockwood, Jane. "Language programme training design and evaluation processes in Hong Kong workplaces." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2002. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31244543.
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Liu, Yongcan. "Learning as negotiation in communities of practice : an ethnographic study of teachers' learning in the workplace in a university department of English education in China." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.611329.
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Wang, Liang. "Internet-mediated intercultural English language education in China's higher education institutions." Thesis, Open University, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.530497.
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Franklin, Kim Roth. "English in the Workplace: Case Study of a Pilot Program." PDXScholar, 1995. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/5018.
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This study is participant observational research focused on a description of an United States Department of Education grant-funded English in the Workplace pilot program. The survey of the literature shows that there is an increasing need to provide educational opportunities for workers who, for various reasons, are not currently being served by traditional education providers. The study presented here describes a pilot program and asks "How is an English in the Workplace program developed and implemented? What do those characteristics of workplace education programs, as identified in the literature, 'look like' once such a program has been implemented?" The researcher collected data from on-site observation of the classes and staff meetings, interviews, and program final reports and records. The elements that characterize this particular pilot program are common to those described or proscribed in the literature on workplace education. These elements include needs assessment, the physical setting, the participants, the instructional schedule and materials, as well as final evaluation. This study suggests that employers, by working together with educators, strive to meet the educational needs of employees, specifically, English language instruction, by providing and supporting English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction in the workplace. This study recommends that (1) workplace ESL instructors balance employer and employee needs by considering what the employer and the employees consider the program's purpose to be, (2) instructors supplement a general life-skills curriculum with workplace materials, (3) instructors be trained how to implement an English in the Workplace program, (4) instructors meet with the employees, management, supervisors, and trainers on a regular basis to assess whether the program is meeting the goals of everyone involved in the program. This study adds to the understanding of workplace education programs by specifically describing the characteristics of a particular English in the Workplace pilot program. However, additional research is needed to better understand the effects of workplace education, not just characteristics. The researcher concludes that future research is needed that examines the potential impact of workplace education programs.
6
Yu, Weihua. "Teaching English in China's higher education system : a content-based immersion approach." Thesis, Durham University, 2001. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1227/.
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Gil, Jeffrey Allan, and n/a. "English in China: The Impact of the Global Language on China's Language Situation." Griffith University. School of International Business and Asian Studies, 2005. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20060105.113942.
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The language situation of today's world is drastically different from that which existed in the past. English has become the global language -it is used more and is more widespread than any other language has ever been. At the same time we are faced with large-scale language endangerment which could result in the extinction of half or more of the world's languages. While not the only reason for language endangerment, the status of English as the global language has important consequences for all other languages and therefore deserves to be studied carefully. However, exactly what English means for other languages and cultures is far from simple and there is no general agreement on this issue. English has been seen as a destructive language, a pluralistic language and as an irrelevant language. This thesis explores the issue of global English as it applies to China. English language learning and teaching has been, and by all indications will continue to be, an important part of China's reform and modernisation. China is also an ethnically and linguistically diverse country with 55 minority nationalities and over 80 languages. What does the spread of English mean for China's language situation? Drawing on data gained through fieldwork and published sources, I argue that English in China is multifaceted, that is it has destructive, pluralistic and irrelevant elements. English is now used more and has higher status in China than at any time in the past and this has raised some concerns. However, English is not displacing Chinese language or culture. English is actually taking on Chinese features in both form and function. The Chinese language, far from being threatened, is currently expanding both in China and the world at large. Much effort has gone into promoting putonghua and there is great interest in learning Chinese in many parts of the world. China's minority languages, like those elsewhere, are under varying degrees of threat. However, English is not the main reason for this situation. At the present time at least it has relatively little presence in minority areas. Despite the fact that it is not destroying China's languages and cultures, English remains a significant issue for China and must be dealt with thoughtfully and carefully, especially among the minority nationalities. I argue that it is possible for China to acquire English without losing its linguistic diversity. Whether this can be achieved is a question of the resources and political will required to do so rather than any inherent difficulty with speaking two or more languages. To this end, the Context Approach is put forward as a possible way to improve English language teaching and learning among the minorities. In light of the results of this study, I suggest new directions for research, both on language issues in China and in general. I also argue for a new approach to our study of English as a global language and language endangerment. We need to appreciate the complexities of English on a local level as well as a global level and focus our attention more on how English can be taught to speakers of endangered languages in such a way that does not lead to language loss.
8
Gil, Jeffrey Allan. "English in China: The Impact of the Global Language on China's Language Situation." Thesis, Griffith University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365962.
Full textAbstract:
The language situation of today's world is drastically different from that which existed in the past. English has become the global language -it is used more and is more widespread than any other language has ever been. At the same time we are faced with large-scale language endangerment which could result in the extinction of half or more of the world's languages. While not the only reason for language endangerment, the status of English as the global language has important consequences for all other languages and therefore deserves to be studied carefully. However, exactly what English means for other languages and cultures is far from simple and there is no general agreement on this issue. English has been seen as a destructive language, a pluralistic language and as an irrelevant language. This thesis explores the issue of global English as it applies to China. English language learning and teaching has been, and by all indications will continue to be, an important part of China's reform and modernisation. China is also an ethnically and linguistically diverse country with 55 minority nationalities and over 80 languages. What does the spread of English mean for China's language situation? Drawing on data gained through fieldwork and published sources, I argue that English in China is multifaceted, that is it has destructive, pluralistic and irrelevant elements. English is now used more and has higher status in China than at any time in the past and this has raised some concerns. However, English is not displacing Chinese language or culture. English is actually taking on Chinese features in both form and function. The Chinese language, far from being threatened, is currently expanding both in China and the world at large. Much effort has gone into promoting putonghua and there is great interest in learning Chinese in many parts of the world. China's minority languages, like those elsewhere, are under varying degrees of threat. However, English is not the main reason for this situation. At the present time at least it has relatively little presence in minority areas. Despite the fact that it is not destroying China's languages and cultures, English remains a significant issue for China and must be dealt with thoughtfully and carefully, especially among the minority nationalities. I argue that it is possible for China to acquire English without losing its linguistic diversity. Whether this can be achieved is a question of the resources and political will required to do so rather than any inherent difficulty with speaking two or more languages. To this end, the Context Approach is put forward as a possible way to improve English language teaching and learning among the minorities. In light of the results of this study, I suggest new directions for research, both on language issues in China and in general. I also argue for a new approach to our study of English as a global language and language endangerment. We need to appreciate the complexities of English on a local level as well as a global level and focus our attention more on how English can be taught to speakers of endangered languages in such a way that does not lead to language loss.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of International Business and Asian Studies
Griffith Business School
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9
Huo, Ran. "A Critical Examination of China's 2007 College English Curriculum Requirements: A Lifelong Learning Perspective." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1431114330.
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Cheung, Ching Yi. "A comparison of business correspondence writing conducted in two contexts : the classroom and the workplace." HKBU Institutional Repository, 1995. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/88.
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Chen, Pei. "Task-based teaching of English in China's Mainland : a case study of four master teachers." Thesis, University of Macau, 2008. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b1873908.
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Herbert, Jill, and n/a. "English in the workplace: meeting the need of the non English-speaking background staff at the University of Canberra." University of Canberra. Education, 1994. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20050809.120042.
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Limited English proficiency (LEP) amongst non-English-speaking background
(NESB) employees is a major concern for the Government, employers and unions in
Australia. Due to their low levels of English proficiency, NESB employees are often
unable to carry out effectively the required workplace tasks. In the current climate of
rapid change in workplaces, as a result of Award Restructuring, NESB employees
may also lack the communication skills necessary to undertake skill-based training
and, therefore, be further disadvantaged.
In light of these concerns, this study investigated the English learning needs of a
group of NESB non-academic staff at the University of Canberra (UC). It established
that there was a gap between their present levels of English proficiency and the levels
required in their current positions. As a result, these employees are unable to engage
effectively in all communication tasks required in the workplace.
Following a detailed analysis of the current literature on the provision of workplace
English training it is recommended that an English in the Workplace (EWP) program
be provided at the UC for NESB non-academic employees. Specific recommendations
are made regarding the design and implementation of the learning program.
13
Lohrová, Helena. "Internal meetings : the process of decision-making in workplace discourse." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2012. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3490/.
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The thesis argues that by mapping three selected discursive practices – Explanations, Accounts, and Formulations – and by interpreting their respective roles and interrelations, it is possible to assess how, through talk, decisions are developed and implemented in meetings. Drawing on a longitudinal, year-long observation of business meetings undertaken by managerial teams in a large UK Chamber of Commerce and on analyses of authentic audio data, the thesis investigates how decision making is enacted in meetings discourse in the context of organisational change. A structured, Conversation-analytical approach is employed to examine the transcribed data and develops a macro-/micro- matrix within which to understand the behaviour and influences of the practices on decision-making. The research specifically expands the role of Explanations and furthers the established communicative properties of Accounts and Formulations proposed in the ground-breaking work of Scott and Lyman (1968) and Heritage and Watson (1979), respectively. Most importantly, the analysis identifies the significance of long turns in the meetings data, and documents the link between decision-making and the recurrence and clustering of the three practices in or around these.
14
Taylor-Henry, Amy. "Learning work in the ESL classroom : an evaluation of textbooks designed to teach ESL in the workplace." PDXScholar, 1995. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/3604.
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A growing number of American businesses are offering ESL courses at the work site; likewise, more and more textbooks designed specifically for teaching ESL in the Workplace (EWP), are being written and published. The need for an evaluation of these new texts with regard to current teaching methodology, the particularities of EWP, and the social implications of EWP is a vital one. A good EWP text, besides serving as a guide and resource for learners, can also facilitate intercultural understanding, increase awareness of workers' rights and unions, and promote participation in training programs for job flexibility and promotion. Most importantly, a good EWP textbook can develop the skills necessary for learners, not simply to fit into the American world of work, but to become active participants in their workplaces.
This study was intended to determine what EWP texts are currently available, and to evaluate them in light of three primary concerns: the social implications of their contents, their portrayal of workplace culture and relationships, and their effectiveness in exploring issues of conflict and unfairness at work.
15
Taylor, Pimsiri. "Identity and participation in a workplace English language training classroom in Thailand : a community of practice perspective." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2014. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/14462/.
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This ethnographic study investigates identity and participation in a workplace English language training classroom in Thailand. As a practitioner’s enquiry, the research methods of participation observation, interviews and questionnaires were employed in exploring a 40-hour training classroom which acts as a workplace community of practice for both the teacher and the student participants. Through the lens of communities of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991), the research shows the significance, despite common assumptions of shared interests and choice to participate in communities of practice, of gatekeeping and legitimacy defined by the Human Resources department. As a formal corporate training classroom with an outside language instructor, there is evidence of multiple identities and forms of participation. The identities of expert newcomers, semi-expert newcomers as well as non-expert old-timers pose questions about forms of participation, especially legitimate peripheral participation and full participation, in the communities of practice model. Reversal of identities in the classroom between teacher and students emphasise pedagogical roles in the community. Identities are negotiated and constructed amongst the interrelationships of legitimacy, power relations, and social structures of the community of practice. Within the different layers of social practice (classroom, organisation and Thai cultural and social norms), legitimation conflicts arise. English language proficiency, and skills and knowledge regarding the organisation and engineering, coupled with the role of ‘seniority’ in peer relationships expressed in the pseudo-sibling relationship in Thai culture, are common causes of tension. Individual participants must exercise their agency to negotiate their identities and power among these conflicts and tensions. Using both verbal and non-verbal language, language-related identities contribute to identity negotiation and construction. ‘Joker’ and ‘silent member’ identities suggest the use of humour and silence as a discursive practice. Code-switching from English to Thai enables language to be used as a shared repertoire in the community. Specific use of pronouns in Thai represents the identities of classroom participants. The research shows that language use and culture should be central to the analysis of identity and participation in communities of practice. The thesis concludes by discussing implications for researchers on communities of practice, and practitioners in English language corporate training and English for Specific Purposes.
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Tanner, Lindsay Elizabeth. "Testing the Test: Expanding the Dialogue on Workplace Writing Assessment." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2017. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6616.
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This project is a case study of writing assessment practices in a particular workplace called "High Hits," a local search engine optimization (SEO) company. The writing tests given to new hires serve a parallel purpose to academic placement exams, in that they are a high-stress, high-risk situation that aims to evaluate writer ability rather than the quality of the completed task (Haswell 242, Elbow 83, Moss 110). However, while academic assessment measures ability with the aim to improve the students' learning, workplace assessment is driven by market forces and is seen in terms of return on investment. This case study used qualitative and quantitative measurements to examine the writing tests of employees; this examination was followed by analyzing a random sampling of subsequent writing tasks of copywriters to determine whether the assessment methods being used by the company to assess the writing tests adequately predicted the writing ability of the copywriters.
17
Rong, Xiaoyan, and 戎晓燕. "Teacher identity reconstruction in response to China's curriculum reform : a case study of six English language teachers." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/206483.
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Educational reforms have been widely discussed across the world in the 21st century, and recent research suggests that teachers are the mediating agents in implementing educational reforms, particularly curriculum reforms. The eighth curriculum reform in China, which requires a paradigm shift from the teacher-dominated, knowledge-based transmission mode of teaching to the student-centered, experience-based inquiry mode of teaching, has greatly challenged teachers. Notwithstanding the great importance of teachers’ responses to China’s new curriculum reform, there is a little qualitative research that examines teachers’ responses to the new curriculum reform.
The present study sets out to examine teachers’ responses to the new curriculum within the particular social, cultural and institutional context, and to explore the factors that might influence teachers’ responses through a qualitative multiple case study. Three dyads of mentor-mentee senior secondary English teachers in three schools at different levels in Beijing, China were selected as the main research participants. Data were collected over a period of time in each school through interviews, observations and analysis of documents such as teaching logs and students’ homework. Data were analyzed following a grounded approach in an iterative process to provide insights into the process of teachers’ implementation of the new curriculum and to ascertain the mediating factors impacting teachers’ responses.
Findings from case studies reveal that secondary English teachers in China responded to the new curriculum reform at both cognitive and behavioral levels. These responses altogether triggered changes in teachers’ professional world, which constituted teachers’ professional growth. Grounded in Wenger’s theory of identity formation, this study suggests that the changes in teachers’ professional world mediated teachers’ professional identity reconstruction through the participative and reificative dual process of identification and negotiation of meanings, in which teachers’ competences, trajectories, and participation in the new curriculum implementation were negotiated. During this process, secondary English teachers reappropriated the meaning of secondary EFL teaching in China as a student-centered, individually selective, pedagogically integrating communicative and traditional methods, Chinese context-adapted, but still exam-oriented teaching process in relation to the curriculum reform, and also reclaimed that secondary EFL teachers need to be equipped with updated knowledge pool, be aware of individual needs, make compromises to seek a balance between the prescribed curriculum and teaching reality, and allow an interactive teacher-student relationship in response to the curriculum reform. Findings suggest that the process of teacher identity reconstruction was mediated through three-level factors, socially and culturally: national policies, institutional powers, and teachers’ personal factors.
This study contributes to an understanding of teachers’ cognitive and behavioral actions and the interplay between the two in response to a paradigm-shift curriculum reform from a sociocultural perspective. It provides a theoretical lens, namely teacher identity formation to interpret teachers’ responses to the curriculum reform. Situated in a Chinese context where Confucius largely impacted the culture of teaching and learning, this study provides a fresh perspective on Chinese culture of teaching and learning, and raises positive voices from frontline teachers, suggesting that teachers’ responses to the curriculum are not simply mass resistant, but rather complex and dynamic.published_or_final_version
Education
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
18
Hamid, Rohani Abdul. "The teaching of English in secondary schools in Malaysia with specific reference to workplace needs." Thesis, University of Southampton, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.259993.
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Guo, Tao. "A case study of teachers codeswitching behaviours in mainland China's university EFL classrooms and student's reactions to the codeswitching." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2007. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:21bca6e1-95ee-446c-9932-1416e7999e9e.
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This study explores the oral interaction between teachers and their students in university English as a foreign language classrooms in Mainland China with particular focus on teachers' codeswitching behaviours and students' reactions to these behaviours. Codeswitching in foreign or second language classrooms has been the subject of a great deal of research interest from the applied linguistics community in recent years, but patterns of codeswitching in "broadly communicative" classrooms have rarely been studied in great detail nor have students' strategic reactions to codeswitching been directly elicited from learners as a means of gauging the impact of teacher codeswitching. Moreover, there is a clear need to situate the debate about teacher codeswitching in a more rigorous theoretical framework. A case study approach best suited the aims of this research and two teachers were selected in an initial pha e (Phase 1) of the study because they conformed to a number of pedagogical and interaction-related criteria. In the main phase of the study data were elicited through a combination of systematic observation, stimulated recalls and teacher interviews. The codeswitching patterns of the two teachers were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. However, much greater emphasis is placed on the qualitative analysis of the codeswitching and students' reactions towards it. The findings show that the amount of codeswitching was relatively low but varied considerably by lesson. Most codeswitching was for medium-oriented lexical explanations. Students' reactions to their teachers' codeswitching varied by individual not by groups. The findings suggest an interesting pattern of variance between the two teachers in terms of their codeswitching behaviours and enrich our understanding of codeswitching in L2 classrooms and provide hypotheses that could be tested with larger samples. The findings also contribute to an understanding of the functions and consequences of codeswitching from the learners' perspective, which may contribute towards major advances in the field and have direct pedagogical implications.
20
Wattanaboot, Ladawan. "The construction of a Business English curriculum, relevant to the workplace, and making use of word processing in place of handwriting." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2004. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/777.
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Since the Thailand economic crisis in 1997 there has been a sense of urgency expressed in many areas of the society that businesses must modernize their practices and focus more on international trade and communication. Two important components of the changes required are better use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and better use of the English language for business communication. In the education arena this has translated into the need to provide graduates with better skills in the use of English and computers. These two skill areas come together naturally in the study of Business English. In Thailand Rajabhat Institutes have a major responsibility for the training of business professionals and for the improvement of local communities. Therefore research is required to determine how best Thai Rajabhat may improve the provision of Business English to better service the needs of employing organizations and the local community. This study set out to conduct research to address this area of concern.
21
Lazarick, Leonard W. "China's smiling face to the world Beijing's english-language magazines in the first decade of the People's Republic /." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/3276.
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Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2005.Thesis research directed by: Dept. of History. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.
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Stewart, Mary Amanda. "Social Networking, Workplace, and Entertainment Literacies: the Out-of-school Literate Lives of Newcomer Latina/o Adolescents." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2012. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc149668/.
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Studies indicate that Latina/o immigrant youth engage in a wide range of sophisticated literacy practices outside of school that are often transnational, crossing various linguistic, cultural, and social spaces. Technology has further afforded immigrant youth the opportunity to develop transnational capabilities which are rare in the mainstream population, yet needed in the 21st century of global connectedness. However, Latino immigrant youth drop out of school at disproportional rates, suggesting that their literacy practices are not recognized or valued by the educational system. Using a New Literacy Studies perspective that recognizes multiple literacies that are meaningful within their sociocultural traditions, this collective case study investigated the range, form, and purpose of the out-of-school literacies of four Latina/o adolescent English Learners who are new arrivals. The qualitative methodology employed constructivist interviews, digital and actual artifacts, and observations. Findings demonstrated that the most prevalent out-of-school literacies the participants practice take place on the social networking site of Facebook, in their workplaces, and through the entertainment media sources of music and television. A cross-case analysis suggests that the literacy practices in these spaces have unique and purposeful roles for the individuals that allow them to connect to their home countries and maintain their Latina/o identities. Additionally, the participants use their out-of-school literacy practices to acquire English, support themselves, and establish a place to succeed. The five aforementioned spaces that their Facebook, workplace, and entertainment literacy practices fill are virtually absent from their in-school literacies. This study suggests literacy pedagogy and research must not continue to impose a narrow monolingual, monocultural, monoliterate, and monomodal view of Latina/o immigrant students which essentially divests them of their greatest resources. Their literacy practices demonstrate that they are transnational, transcultural, emergent bilinguals who competently engage in multimodal means of communication across multiple linguistic, cultural, social, and geographic borders. Educators must reconceptualize school-based literacy to account for the ways immigrant youth make meaning outside of school to provide them a more equitable education that will nurture their transnational skills needed in modern society.
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Nygren, Josefin. "Using English as a Lingua Franca at an International Company : A Study of the Communication Between Non-native English Speakers in a Swedish Workplace." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för lärande, humaniora och samhälle, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-36582.
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This essay examines the communication in English and use of English at a Swedish company with employees from all over the world. The aim is to investigate how the employees experience speaking English with their colleagues and if they believe that misunderstandings can occur owing to their language differences. The linguistic focus of this study is towards sociolinguistics, including lingua franca, language use and communication as well as a small portion of language acquisition, considering that the majority of employees do not speak English as their native language. The results of the study have shown that all employees at the company speak English daily, but the experiences and opinions of it vary, mostly depending on which department they work in and what kind of education they have had previous to them working at the company.
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Green, Christopher Frank. "Communication in the professional workplace in post-colonial Hong Kong : the roles and statuses of Chinese and English." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30971.
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This study reports the findings of an investigation into the roles of English, standard written Chinese and Cantonese in the workplace in post-colonial Hong Kong. The study was motivated by the paucity of large-scale, broad-spectrum research into language use in workplace communication in Hong Kong. Previous studies, while helpful and suggestive, have tended either to focus on language use within a single profession, or are small-scale in scope. The findings of this study derive from a questionnaire survey of 3,019 subjects employed in both the public and private sectors and by Hong Kong-owned and foreign-owned organisations. Subjects mostly held junior rank within their employing organisations and were drawn from large, medium-sized and small employing concerns within the five broad professional fields of Business Services, Community and Social Services, Construction and Real Estate, Engineering, and Manufacturing. A multi-method approach to data collection was adopted to achieve triangulation: the quantitative survey data were analysed statistically and are interpreted partly by reference to qualitative data elicited from a focus group interview with participating subjects and five individual case study subjects who kept a written record of their language use over a single typical working week. Results indicate that English continues to function as the unmarked language option for internal and external written communication in both the public and private sectors of the local economy. Chinese professionals who work for foreign-owned organisations in Hong Kong make greater use of English in written communication than do their counterparts in Hong Kong-owned companies. Professionals who work for large Hong Kong concerns manifest a slightly greater need to read or write in English than those who work for small local companies. In terms of spoken communication, Cantonese emerges clearly as the unmarked language option for intra-ethnic communication in informal situations.
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Cohn, Mary Louise. "Working It Out: ESL Literacy Skills, Strategies, and Systems in the Workplace." PDXScholar, 1992. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4579.
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This study investigates the strategies and resources a group of non-native English speakers with limited reading ability use to fulfill literacy functions work. The nineteen study subjects are employed as production workers in a large electronics manufacturing company. Using in-depth interview data, limited testing and document analysis, the study addresses three major research questions: 1) For what functions are reading and writing actually used in the workplace? What level of reading and writing do these functions assume? 2) How do these literacy functions relate to the rest of the work system? 3) How do limited readers fulfill these literacy functions? What kinds of individual literacy skills, social networks and alternative approaches do they use? How can findings be applied to workplace, ESL, job training, and employee communications? The findings show that the primary function of literacy in this workplace is to maintain process quality and flow. Secondary functions include maintenance of the social organization and the use of literacy for learning the job or learning English. The study finds that limited readers can accomplish literacy functions even if they cannot read documents connected to the function. They use extensive social networks as one strategy for accomplishing literacy functions. They also use job aids, watch processes being performed, or memorize processes. English verbal skills are necessary for many alternative strategies. The study illustrates systemic relationships among work process design, individual literacy skill, and alternative literacy strategies such as using help networks. The study also finds that participants take ESL class as a means to advance as well as to succeed on the current job. The study suggests that employers support ESL instruction as a long-term skill-improvement strategy, but look at redesigning work systems, job training, and employee communications to solve immediate performance problems with limited readers. The study recommends that workplace ESL instructors balance student and employee needs by using workplace materials as one part of a wider curriculum; it also suggests that ESL instructors may have an important role to play in the workplace by acting as performance consultants. going beyond the classroom to recommend changes in the entire work system as they affect English and literacy learning. Because of the small sample size, more research is needed.
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Crocetti, Gina L. "Second Language Use in the Workplace: A Case Study of a Dental Hygienist." PDXScholar, 1993. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4578.
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This paper describes a case study of a non-native speaking (NNS) dental hygienist in her work environment. The subject learned English by learning to become a dental hygienist rather than through formal language education. Participant observation and discourse, event/network, and componential analyses were the methods used to analyze the subject's communication in her work setting. The philosophical question as to how ESP differs from ESL is raised and elements of the work setting and the NNS workers' communication with interlocutors in that setting are identified to aid educators in teaching ESP courses. Questions ESP educators might address in designing and teaching ESP courses are given as well as suggestions for future research.
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GERDES, CARLA MAGDALENA. "SITUATED AND COOPERATIVE LEARNING WITHIN THE ADULT ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE VOCATIONAL CLASSROOM - FUTURE IMPLICATIONS FOR PROGRAM DESIGN SPECIFIC TO THE WORKPLACE." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2002. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1029529227.
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Landy, Joanna. "Policy and practice regarding involvement and participation in the workplace : how effective is the European Union's approach for the English patient?" Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2014. https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/53404/.
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The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate evidence about the European Union’s approach to involvement and participation (I&P) in the workplace and whether this is the most appropriate policy for the UK. The first part overviews the development of social policy involving I&P in the European Union and the UK. It traces how social policy involving I&P developed from an incidental part of the Treaty of Rome to the point where I&P in the workplace became enshrined in the Treaty on The Functioning of the European. Since 1970 the Commission has put forward a series of legislative measures that required I&P in the workplace. Primary and secondary sources are analysed to identify factors that influenced the development of I&P policy and led to a new style of Directive that has been used in this area since 1994. The second part analyses the anatomy of I&P using six factors found in the literature. Although the importance of the depth and type of I&P was identified, the literature lacked a comprehensive analysis of key terms used in the I&P. An Involvement and Participation Framework is developed to fill this gap. Whilst Chapter 4 investigates features that combine to produce different forms of I&P Chapter 5 shows how they are used in EU legislative measures. The third part uses Workplace Industrial Relations Surveys and Workplace Employment Relations Surveys to examine I&P practice in the UK. It assesses how management, employees and employee representatives approach and value different forms of I&P in the UK. In order to do this five new hypotheses are developed and tested through quantitative analysis; further results are drawn from literature and studies using survey data. The results challenge basic assumptions made by the EU and give rise to doubts about the basis for the EU’s I&P policy.
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Le, Lan Phuong. "Aligning specialist English language curriculum in higher education with development imperatives and workplace communication needs in Vietnam : a case study of the Vietnamese petroleum industry." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/103848/1/Lan%20Phuong_Le_Thesis.pdf.
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The research investigated the alignment between English language communication in multinational joint ventures in the petroleum industry in Vietnam and a university-based English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course for petroleum engineering students. The study identified the types of knowledge necessary for professional workplace communication and the extent to which these knowledge types are currently taught in the university course. The study found levels of misalignment between the two especially in the contextual knowledge needed by petroleum engineers to communicate competently and appropriately in the workplace. Contextually-appropriate communication requires knowledge of participants, the organisation and social norms of interaction. The findings will improve recognition of the features of successful workplace communication and contribute to innovations in ESP course design and teaching.
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Le, Vo Thi Hong. "A study of the extent to which university English education fulfils workplace requirements for Vietnamese graduates and of the extent to which action research can lead to improvements in university English education." Thesis, University of Portsmouth, 2014. https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/a-study-of-the-extent-to-which-university-english-education-fulfils-workplace-requirements-for-vietnamese-graduates-and-of-the-extent-to-which-action-research-can-lead-to-improvements-in-university-english-education(4e7644d9-e668-4d00-b8e7-17a7be4cf27a).html.
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This study focuses on possible approaches that can be undertaken at university to prepare undergraduate students with English language communicative competence required at the workplace. In exploring how English is taught at a university and whether English education met the needs of business, the main concern of this study is how materials design and teacher education can support learners to develop the skills to communicate effectively in the Vietnamese workplace. The purpose of the study was to (1) learn about the reality of English in the workplace to see what graduates’ needs at the workplace are, (2) undertake observational study at a university to see how needs were being met and (3) explore how minor interventions influence teachers and their English teaching practice. The study employed a qualitative research methodology. The data collection methods employed were observations and interviews and a survey was undertaken. This is also to provide the basis for the reliability of studies and the validation of findings in terms of their accuracy, checking for bias in research methods and the development of research instruments. The data from these three resources was analysed through discourse analysis in order to address the analytic issues and the concern for an ‘in-depth’ focus on people’s activities of a qualitative research. There were two main stages of research in the study. In the companies stage, the results reveal that meaningful conversations that required graduates at the workplace are often absent in language classroom and teaching materials. This raises the importance of achieving balance between transactional and relational talk in language teaching materials. It also raises the importance of communicative language teaching at university that can support in various aspects of discourse. In the university stage of the research, the findings disclose that this was not an environment necessarily conducive to supplying the workplace with suitably communicatively competent graduates. There were various problems identified concerning teacher’s contextual realization, their questioning and their use of CLT activities that did not stimulate communication. By contrast, traditional teaching methods were noted, including the patterns of teacher fronted, form focused practice, with few student-student interactions. Importantly, the analyses of the results indicate that action research can help to bring improvement of teachers’ teaching practice. Though limited in number, considerable positive changes made by the teachers were identified. These changes were primarily in terms of materials adaptation and the number of classroom interactions. The other significant finding was that teachers understanding of the study’s interventions had a positive impact on their practice. They also showed their positive attitude towards the changes and were pleased to engage more students through adopting these changes. Based on the findings of the study, major issues are identified. The study’s findings have implications for materials development, teacher development and school management. The research also reveals the importance of conducting a needs analysis for stakeholders. Finally, the study’s limitations, together with recommendations for further research based on authentic transcripts/materials of workplace talk, or further interventions, observations and feedback in terms of teachers’ process in engaging action research, are discussed.
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Andersson, Emil, and Jimmy Olsson. "One for all, all for one? A study regarding collegial efficacy as a means to support English teachers in their teaching." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-35592.
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This study sets out to explore English teachers’ perceptions of aspects concerning theirworkplace and collegial collaborations. At the present time in Sweden, there is a need fornew qualified teachers, and furthermore, a considerable amount of the current teachersemployed are considering resignation. This has resulted in that many unlicensed teachers,who are not properly qualified, have been hired. In some schools, this has causedcompetence development to stagnate, having teachers rely more on getting through theirwork-days rather than to develop the quality of their teaching. Furthermore, reports havesurfaced that reveal heightened stress levels, and workload to be causing more sick leaveand burnout. However, a concept called collective efficacy, have been found to countermany of these issues. By prioritizing collective collaboration and efforts that are wellstructured and supported by the school leadership, personnel have been shown to improvein both efficacy and well-being. This is why we wanted to examine what perceptionsEnglish teachers had of their current workplace situation, communication, opportunities forcollegial exchanges, supportive measures and competence development in regard toteaching English. The study was conducted using a mixed methods approach. We gathereddata through a questionnaire with 34 respondents, and through semi-structured interviewswith two English teachers. A majority of the teachers in the study were positive to theperception that they collectively could improve student results. They were also positive tothe benefits of collegial exchanges. However, time is frequently identified as the leadingfactor as to why they can not, under ruling circumstances, incorporate more structuredcollegial exchanges. This implies that schools and school leadership would need todedicate both time and to structure formal and functioning meetings for these collegialexchanges at their schools - should they chose an approach such as this.
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Romo, Abel Javier. "An English for Specific Purposes Curriculum to Prepare English Learners to Become Nursing Assistants." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2006. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd1407.pdf.
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Frederiksen, Diana. "BELF in the workplace: a linguistic ethnographic study : An observation of English as a lingua franca used by employees at a Swedish company." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-113418.
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This paper was aimed at researching the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in a business context by the use of linguistic ethnography (LE). Previous research has been primarily either survey- or interview-based or strictly qualitative in its investigation. Using shadowing observations of three employees at a Swedish multinational company and subsequently interviewing the participants about their use of Business English as a lingua franca (BELF), the present study set out to investigate for what kinds of functions and how often these employees use English on an everyday basis. English was shown to be the default language of the multinational company and the findings suggest that employees’ use of language is not only determined by the nature of their work and the business setting, but also by their personal backgrounds. Their education, upbringing, and social experiences since moving to Sweden have come to shape their language use at work and in everyday life. Moreover, there could be subsequent implications for them not only in work-related functions and activities at the company but also in their integration and immersion in Swedish society. Using LE to investigate language choice and use in a corporate setting allows for a more nuanced collection of data, providing a context to linguistic research.
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Bausser, Janet Jayne. "The role of language in international business and technical communication : a case study of a non-native speaker of English in the U.S. workplace." The Ohio State University, 2000. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1282744446.
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Bausser, Jaye. "The role of language in international business and technical communication : a case study of a non-native speaker of English in the United States workplace /." The Ohio State University, 2000. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1488195154357425.
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Wisdom, Shannon Warren. "Peer Review in the Contemporary Corporation." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2006. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/english_diss/2.
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My dissertation explores the history, pedagogy, and practice of peer review in academia and in the workplace, so that I could suggest strategies for improving peer review in the contemporary corporation. Several scholars have studied collaborative writing—of which peer review is just one type—but few have specifically and thoroughly treated the subject of peer review. I surveyed the technical writers in my organization as well as other local writers about their thoughts on peer review. For improving peer review in the workplace, two predominant themes emerged: improve the corporate culture and assign a manager to the process. Therefore, I explore how to create a sense of community in the organization, and I propose a leader of the peer review process—the technical editor. My final chapter discusses the pedagogical implications of my study, and includes suggestions for preparing technical communication students (i.e., technicaleditors) for such a leadership role in the workplace.
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Mat, Saat Geshina. "A comparative study of experiences of violence in Malaysian and English hospitals." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2010. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/8418.
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This PhD thesis compared incidents of violence in two Malaysian hospitals and two English hospitals. Using a model of workplace violence, the aims of the thesis were to explore and compare six constructs: extrinsic, intrinsic, triggers, experiences, moderators, and consequences of workplace violence as perceived by Malaysian and English hospital staff. This study used data on experiences of violence gathered in 2005 for incidences in hospitals that occurred up to one year before the survey. The 2004 data from the Incident Report database (IRD) of the English hospitals was also used. Two instruments were developed for this thesis. First was the General Violence Victimization Questionnaire (GVQ), an instrument to identify the types, prevalence, nature, consequences, post-incident support, and reporting trends of violence in hospitals. The second instrument was the Violence Victimization Semi-structured Interview (VicQ) which explored factors leading to the violent incident, the violent incident itself, and psycho-social issues relating to the violent incident. Both instruments were translated into the Malay language for use in Malaysia. 227 people participated in the quantitative survey: 162 people from the Malaysian Government Hospitals (MGH) and 115 people from the National Health Service (NHS). A total of 25 people volunteered to be interviewed as part of the qualitative aspect of the study: 15 from the MGH and 10 from the NHS. Six categories of violence were compared: verbal, nonverbal, threat, physical, sexual, and psychologically-based. A total of 4118 violent incidents (1402 in MGH and 2716 in NHS) were reported. The most common type of violence was psychologically-based violence in the MGH and verbal violence in the NHS. Both samples perceived that the major source of workplace violence was from patients and involved one male perpetrator. There were differences between the two samples indicative of cultural differences. Of those interviewed, the Malaysian participants perceived that offenders were intrinsically motivated to offend. The English participants perceived that offenders had either intrinsic or extrinsic motivation for perpetuating violence. Differences were noted for substance abuse and customer relations as triggers of organisational violence. Comparisons of moderators were different for the two country samples. Comparisons of consequences were not significantly different. Comparisons across several demographic variables (gender, age, and occupational groupings) were not significant between the two country samples with regards to workplace violence victimisation. However, a comparison of length of service was found to be significant. The final path model differed from the original model of workplace violence. Additional findings include a difference between the established definition and participants‘ definition of workplace violence, a lack of anti-violence policies in Malaysian hospitals, under reporting, and unforeseen direct and direct relationships among the six constructs.
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Simmons, Nathaniel. "Negotiating Boundaries in a Globalized World: Communication Privacy Management between Foreign English Teachers and Japanese Co-workers in Japan." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1400259896.
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李慧敏. "《狼圖騰》、《塵埃落定》英譯研究: 從互文性角度分析兩部以中國少數民族邊地為背景的中文小說英譯= A study of wolf totem and red poppies: an intertextual analysis of English translations of two Chinese novels set in China's ethnic minority regions". HKBU Institutional Repository, 2016. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_oa/257.
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本論文從互文性視角研究《狼圖騰》和《塵埃落定》的英譯，通過建立文本內部的話語與文本外部的話語之間的互文聯繫，分析源文內部的話語與源語系統中相關話語的互文性，及英譯內部的話語與目標語系統中相關話語的互文性，進而闡釋源文的文本意義和英譯的文本意義。 全文共分四章。第一章為緒論，介紹本文的選題背景、研究範圍與研究問題、研究方法、文獻綜述、理論框架和章節佈局。第二章是對《狼圖騰》及其英譯Wolf Totem作文本分析。本章通過分析在源文和英譯中圍繞蒙古族草原生態觀而展開對話的四類話語，建立每一類話語在源語系統和目標語系統中的互文聯繫，發現《狼圖騰》的文本意義是強調借蒙古文化的元素使中國變強大的話語，而其英譯Wolf Totem則重在彰顯內蒙古的蒙古文化，弱化了中國崛起的話語。第三章是對《塵埃落定》及其英譯Red Poppies作文本分析。本章通過分析在源文和英譯中圍繞嘉絨族群身份認同而展開對話的五類話語，建立每一類話語在源語系統和目標語系統中的互文聯繫，進而發現《塵埃落定》的文本意義是借追尋族群身份來彰顯嘉絨藏族的主體性。其英譯Red Poppies文本產生的意義則不在於尋找嘉絨族群身份，而是更突出了這一文本與英語世界裡西藏觀的既有話語的互動。第四章為結語部分，總結本論文的研究成果，對本論文運用的理論和方法進行批判性反思，最後是對後續研究的方向作出展望。 This thesis provides an analysis from an intertextual perspective of English translations of Lang Tuteng and Chen Ai Luo Ding, two Chinese novels set in China’s ethnic minority regions published since the 1990s. It is argued that these Chinese novels derive their meaning from a dialogue with various discourses circulating around them, and that English translations of these novels derive their meaning from a dialogue with various discourses circulating around the translations and their source texts. This thesis is organized into four chapters. Chapter One details the research background, delineates the scope of study, sets out the research questions, specifies methodology and theoretical framework for analysis, and provides a review of the literature. Chapter Two provides a detailed analysis from an intertextual perspective of Lang Tuteng and its English translation Wolf Totem. Four discourses concerning the characters’ attitudes towards the Mongolian ecology are identified in Lang Tuteng. A comparative analysis of the source and target texts shows that, whereas the source text privileges the discourse of ‘strengthening China through learning from the Mongolian culture’, the target text puts the emphasis on the Mongolian culture itself, and that the concern with China’s nation building is much less pronounced in the target text than in the source text. Chapter Three provides a detailed analysis of Chen Ai Luo Ding and its English translation Red Poppies. Five discourses concerning the identity of the Jiarong people in relation to China and the Tibetan region are identified in Chen Ai Luo Ding. A comparative analysis of the source and target texts shows that, whereas the source text highlights the issues of identity concerning the Jiarong people, the target text engages effectively in dialogue with existing discourses concerning the Tibetan region in the target language culture. The Chinese novel and its English translation acquire additional layers of meaning when their intertextual relations are teased out and read in their respective cultural contexts. Chapter Four provides a summary of the findings of the thesis, paying special attention to the connections and differences between the two case studies. Both novels are set in ethnic minority regions in mainland China, depict cultures of ethnic minority groups, and discuss the relationship between the ethnic minorities and the majority Han people in mainland China. Lang Tuteng adopts the perspective of the Han Chinese, positions the Mongolian culture as the other, and emphasizes the importance of learning from the other; however, Wolf Totem stresses the marginalization of the Mongolian culture, rather than issuing an appeal for the Han Chinese to enrich their culture and contribute to the rise of the Chinese nation. Chen Ai Luo Ding adopts the perspective of the Jiarong people, positions foreign cultures as the other, and highlights the narrator’s quest for an identity of the Jiarong people. A comparative analysis of the Chinese novel and its English translation shows the ways in which Red Poppies adheres to the discourses in the source text and enters into dialogue with dominant discourses on the Tibetan region in the target language culture. Chapter Four also includes theoretical reflection on the methodology and theoretical framework of this thesis, and suggests possible avenues for future research.
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Setiawan, Dedy. "Workplace English in Indonesia." Thesis, 2014. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/34847/.
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English has become the most important language in the World, and at the same time become the most important foreign language in Indonesia. It is used in many aspects of life and used as a communication tool or lingua franca among people of non-English speaking countries.
Indonesian workplace culture is also developing consistent with the international changes resulting from globalisation and the impact of the information era. While workplace research has been conducted by scholars in many countries around the globe, such research is under-developed in Indonesia. As a consequence, research concerned with how English is used in Indonesian workplaces is virtually unknown; this research seeks to change that situation.
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Gorfinkel, Lauren. "The cultural-politics of English in China's education system." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/151159.
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Nel, Carl Olen. "Workplace English Skills for Grade 9 Languages in C21." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/27767.
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Workplace English skills for Grade 9 languages in C21 argues that a most valuable contribution of any educational programme in a developing country is the imparting of (English) workplace skills to school-leavers. The Introduction ascribes, in part, the current lack of these skills in school-leavers to (British) colonial education policy which was perpetuated and aggravated by the National Party during the apartheid era and which distinguished, on racial grounds, between mental and manual labour. During South Africa’s international isolation – imposed because of its policy of apartheid and leaving it unprepared for major global economic changes – globalisation became a significant force in international commerce, creating an increased demand for workplace skills (in English) that could attract foreign capital and direct investment. The newly elected ruling party’s answer to both the socio-political and educational legacy of apartheid education was Curriculum 2005. In contrast to the National Party’s content-based curriculum, the newer outcomes-based approach to education, revised as C21, initially failed because of poor management and not because of any inherent conceptual flaws. The research methodology that Chapter One outlines is essentially traditional in its use of the scientific method although it reflects the changing face of contemporary research that is often transdisciplinary, heterogeneous, heterarchical, organisationally transient, socially accountable and reflexive. This approach enlists input from many fields and subject experts in the hope of addressing a problem in the community in which the research is conducted. The literature survey shows that this thesis contributes to the corpus of research by exploring the need and relevance of workplace skills in the context of Curriculum 2005 – an approach hitherto not explored in the context of secondary education. Chapter One also outlines the theoretical base of this study. Chapter Two focuses on resolving conceptual obstacles to integrating workplace skills into the outcomes-based language teaching context. Work is described as a phenomenon that comprises both process and product, thus bridging the conceptual chasm that traditionally separates the classroom from the workplace. A brief overview of the structure of Curriculum 2005/C21 shows that this curriculum does not conflict, conceptually, with the teaching of workplace skills. The focus then shifts to the identification of those workplace and workplace literacy skills that are currently in demand and that are in harmony with the fundamental principles of this curriculum design. Chapter Three illustrates the fact that workplace skills do not conflict with generally accepted communicative principles of language teaching. A tentative theory of workplace skills that comprises the principles of the newest curriculum, Curriculum 2005, workplace skills and communicative and task-based English language teaching is proposed. Chapter Four offers a model that can be used to design workplace literacy activities for the language classroom. Two tasks are designed according to this model, then tested in the classroom and, finally, subjected to analysis. The data analysis reveals certain weaknesses in the model. Changes to the model are proposed. The study closes with a synopsis of the argument in each chapter. Finally, the evaluation also briefly describes alternative research avenues.Thesis (Doctor Litterarum (English))--University of Pretoria, 2006.
English
unrestricted
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Hung, Janet Nien-Chen, and 洪念真. "English as Professional Development: Needs of Workplace English Communication Among Middle Managing Administrators in Taiwan." Thesis, 2017. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/pseeee.
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碩士國立臺北科技大學
應用英文系碩士班
105
As a global language, English is a universal instrument for workplace professionals. This study has sought to provide an understanding of how English is used in the workplace. It has also aimed to understand the corporate English policy by exploring the role played by English training programs in talent development. This study adopted a qualitative method, seven administrative professionals and administrators were recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews. The results firstly identified the relation of English in/for use. An EPD (English as Professional Development) model is proposed to represent the position of English by three layers. The first layer is EGC (English for General Communication), the second layer is ESP (English for Specific Purposes), and the core is a new role of English—EPD. Further, regarding the corporate language policy, most companies provided English training programs or established a English criterion in recruitment. These dual directions aimed at the same convergence: EPD. The role of English at workplace is shifting toward professional use, and away from overly general use. The results also revealed English writing and reading skills were performed more than listening and speaking skills in the workplace, and emails were the most common communication tool. Therefore, the tasks of communication, particularly writing and reading emails and their pre-and-post communications, which involve writing, reading and oral communication activities, should be highlighted in ESP courses as an integrated objective.
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Botha, Werner. "English-medium instruction in China's universities : external perceptions, ideologies and sociolinguistic realities." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/13768.
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This thesis examines the results of a large-scale sociolinguistic study on the use of English in two universities in China. The aim of the thesis is to determine the sociolinguistic realities of the use of English in higher education in China. The universities were selected on the basis of their unique status in China’s higher education hierarchy. One university was a private institute reliant on student fees for its income, and the other a state-funded university under the supervision of the Chinese Ministry of Education. A sociolinguistic survey was conducted involving some 490 respondents at these universities between early 2012 and mid-2013. It was specifically aimed at describing the use of the English language in the formal education of students. The study reports on the status and functions of English at the universities, as well as the attitudes of various stakeholders towards English (and other languages). It also examines their beliefs about English. English is considered in a number of contexts: first, the context of language contact, of English alongside other languages and language varieties on the two university campuses; second, of English as part of the linguistic worlds of Chinese students who switch between languages in their daily lives, both in their education as well as their private lives; and third, of the spread and use of English in terms of the physical and virtual movement of people across spaces. The findings of the study indicate that the increasing use of English in the formal education at these universities is having an impact on the ways in which Chinese students are learning their course materials, and even more notably in the myriad ways these students are using multiple languages to negotiate their everyday lives. As university students in China become increasingly bilingual, their ability to move across spaces is shown to increase, both in the ‘real’ world, as well as in their Internet and entertainment lives.Linguistics
D. Lit. et Phil. (Linguistics)
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Wei, Shuge. "To win the west : China's propaganda in the English-language press, 1928-1941." Phd thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/149980.
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This dissertation focuses on China's propaganda in the English-language press from 1928-the establishment of the Nanjing government-to 1941-the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Without a proper news infrastructure, the Guomindang government had to rely on the English-language treaty-port press, a credible source of information for foreign audiences, to present its case abroad. Yet extraterritoriality and the transnational media environment, as well as the underlying tensions among news groups representing different interests made it difficult for the government to regulate the treaty-port press. To harness this medium, the government attempted to limit the extraterritorial privileges of foreign journalists through the postal service and the threat of deportation. Chiang Kai-shek also approached the bilingual Chinese elite, particularly the US-trained Chinese journalist Hollington Tong, to tighten his connections with the foreign journalists. With Chiang's support, Tong built a centralized propaganda system after 1937 and used his treaty-port news networks to strengthen the government's propaganda efforts during the Sino-Japanese war. This study argues that propaganda was an important means for the Guomindang government to resist Japan's threat to its territorial integrity and to restore its legal sovereignty in the absence of a strong military and economic capacity. The development of China's propaganda system was a transnational and trans-social process, shaped in part by the treaty-port English-language press in China and facilitated by the cooperation between bilingual elites and propaganda officials. This project combines examination of the government's news policies and personal networks with analysis of reports in key English-language papers. It traces the interaction between news policy and newspapers and reveals the intricate power struggles among empires in China. It also provides an alternative interpretation to the perceived passivity of China's propaganda apparatus during the conflict with Japan.
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Cheng, Chia-Hua, and 鄭佳華. "Developing Competence Indicators for Workplace English Communication: An Analytic Hierarchy Process Approach." Thesis, 2013. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/41336149553428306662.
Full textAbstract:
碩士銘傳大學
應用英語學系碩士班
101
This study focuses on how to design an English for Business Purposes (EBP) competence framework to address learners’ needs. The competence framework would serve as a guideline for business English communication in conjunction with content-based instructions designed based on real world experts’ perspectives. Program developers can utilize competence indicators synthesized by the present study to design an EBP program which is contextually-specific for learners who are trained to work in a business English context. The following competences are prerequisite for EBP learners: Communicative Competence (including Grammatical Competence, Discourse Competence, Sociolinguistic Competence and Strategic Competence), Intercultural Competence (involving Attitudes, Declarative Knowledge of Cultural Aspects and Ability to Operate in Different Cultural Contexts) and Professional Competence (comprising Cognitive Competence, Personal Competence and Technologically Professional Competence). Students will take the course of EBP designed based on the competence framework before entering the workplace. The research methodology is a quantitative inquiry utilizing AHP (analytic hierarchy process) instrument which was proposed by Thomas L. Saaty in 1980. AHP is applied to uncertainty circumstances which involve the complexity underlying any given decision-making problem. The participants of this investigation consisted of four professional teachers who have researched the ESP field and three experts who are working in business-related fields with a minimal of four-year management experience. The two groups of experts had utilized English to communication with foreigners for years. The AHP questionnaire was administered to collect experts’ opinions by pairwise comparisons of competences. The Result of the study indicated that the communicative and professional competences are important for EBP learners who are expected to possess workplace English communicative abilities. The result of the study bears significance in producing useful and valuable competence indicators for an ESP program for program designers and for those who consider utilizing the framework of indicator to formulate EBP teaching materials; the method introduced has evidenced that AHP are workable prioritizing EBP competences for a contextually-specific group of EBP learners. In sum, the competence indicator framework and AHP method have implementations for practices and future research on shaping competences indicators for a wide variety of ESP needs.
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Yen, Chen Dah, and 鄭大彥. "The Content-Based Workplace English Training Program: A Case of Federal Lock Company." Thesis, 2006. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/36710994278849712135.
Full textAbstract:
碩士南台科技大學
應用英語系
94
Content-Based Instruction (CBI) had been used in a variety of language learning context in the past decade. It is used in English for Specific Purpose (ESP) programs, second language immersion programs and English for Academic Purpose (EAP) programs. More recently, it has wider application in English for Occupational Purpose (EOP) and workplace instructional context. Based on CBI, this study intends to build up a workplace corpus and use it in an English training program. The first half of the study includes corpus construction, corpus analysis and word list formation; the second half focus on the design and application of a computer based interactive program for English training in the products and manufacturing domains. The objective of the training program is to help subjects obtain both the content knowledge and the related workplace English literacy with designed training at the same time. Group discussion was conducted as a means for peer learning. Questionnaire survey, tests, and follow-up interviews were used as instruments for data-collection. An overall discussion was conducted after the training program as a feed-back will also be examined. Suggestions regarding the application of similar programs is made and some pedagogical implications are discussed. The findings of this study are summarized as follows : 1. There are three domains in any workplace content: (a) product and design, (b) manufacturing and quality control system, and (c) business and organization. The content of Workplace CBI. all within these three domains. 2. Learners’ needs are all related to their job requirement or promotion. The need of language skills also vary among learners with different jobs. Most learners’ motivation is instrumental in the workplace and the motivation of their learning are job requirement or promotion. 3. There are five kinds of instructions which can be implemented in the workplace: (a) theme-based instruction, (b) sheltered classes, (c) task-based instruction, (d) whole language, and (e) cooperative learning. 4. There are five types of teaching materials which are suitable for the CBI training program: (a) the interactive program, (b) the corpus and concordance, (c) the key word list, (d) the word game, and (e) the realia.
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HUANG, TZU-HSIN, and 黃子欣. "A Correlation Study of Personal Variables, TOEIC Score and English Competence in Workplace." Thesis, 2016. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/30196650265802766126.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立高雄師範大學
英語學系
104
English proficiency tests are commonly adopted to assess test takers’ English competence, while TOEIC is the preference for Taiwanese enterprises to evaluate employees’ English performance in workplaces. Therefore, this study aims to explore how precisely TOEIC predict test takers’ real performances in completing job-related tasks in English. In addition, it is presupposed that subjects’ personal variables like their personality traits, ages, genders, seniority of service, job positions, and expatriation experiences might predict their performance in TOEIC test and in workplace. Self-assessment questionnaires were delivered to 189 employees who are requested to use English in their daily job commands from Taiwanese job market to collect the target data for this research. The main findings are summarized as follows: 1.Subjects’ TOEIC scores are moderately correlated with their English performance in workplace, and the significance of predictability is also found from TOEIC scores to English performance in workplace. 2.Subjects’ personality characteristics are statistically proved to influence the correlation between TOEIC score and English performance in workplace; while personality dimension of Agreeableness and Openness are the prominent characteristics to influence the interpretation of TOEIC score to English performance in workplace. 3.Among all the target personal variables, subjects’ job position and their expatriation experiences to an English-speaking country correlate with their English performance in workplace but has neglected correlation with TOEIC performance. In short, we statistically proved that personal variables can practically predict employees’ English performance in this study.
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Hondy, Richard. "The role of generic communication in preparing students for engineering workplace practices : the contribution of the communication course towards the student's preparation in genre and contextualized language in the workplace." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/7553.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis argues that generic communication practice plays an important role in preparing
engineering students for the workplace. Engineering courses, being contextually-bound, cannot
prepare students in the same way as generic courses, which can be more flexible in being able to
bring workplace practices, documents and artefacts into the academic domain. Therefore the
thesis promotes the view that the communication course can provide a basic structure in terms of
genre training and technical language from which the students may access further knowledge
from the workplace. In an engineering faculty, the communication course facilitates the student’s
interactions in classroom discourse. The course also plays a vital role in the student’s transition
from academic discourse to the professional discourse of the workplace. This research views this
transition from a social perspective, placing the student within the context of the engineering
faculty’s discourse community, and, subsequently, sees the student-trainee in the workplace as
part of a community of practice. The study concentrates on the contradictions between these two
contexts in order to investigate how the communication course impacts on the progress of the
student’s discourse practices between classroom and workplace. The observable features of
discourse which the investigation focuses on are genre rules, the use of technical language, and
the student-trainee’s interaction with colleagues, supervisors, and artifacts of the workplace.
The study uses discourse theory with an academic literacy underpinning to establish a framework
for the student’s interactions with academic language. These interactions are explored by means
of 100 questionnaires administered to first-intake engineering students at Durban University of
Technology. The findings reveal that, while students say they do not always understand what is
expected of them in terms of using genres to produce documents assigned by the communication
course, they appear to be capable of using genre rules when applied to group tasks. Furthermore,
students do not seem to regard technical language in its wider context, as a feature of classroom
discourse practices. Instead they see it narrowly, as a necessary but isolated skill to be learnt for
workplace discourse practices. The research considers the impact of these perceptions and
practices on the findings and analysis of workplace practices.
The investigation into workplace discourse practices is guided by activity theory which sees a
document’s genre rules in a mediating function, and community of practice theory, which places
the student-trainee’s interactions within the construct, situated learning. The study used the
participant-observer technique to explore workplace discourse in eight engineering companies in
Durban and surrounding areas. The observations were complemented by follow-up questions in
interviews with thirty six student-trainees in these companies. The findings have shown that,
even though students said they had difficulties with technical language in the classroom, they
were able to apply it adequately within the context of the workplace. Furthermore, genre rules
needed to be adapted to suit workplace practices, therefore the rules of document design in
classroom practices should focus on flexibility as well as structure. The findings also suggest that
the communication course should see the classroom and the workplace as two activity systems
which complement each other, and the communication course should be placed in close
proximity to the student’s entrance to the workplace.Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.
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Vanaphuti, Vanvela. "Factors affecting transfer of corporate english training to workplace in the hospital sector in Bangkok." Thesis, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1383609.
Full textAbstract:
Professional Doctorate - Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)The aim of this research is to examine factors which affect the transfer of corporate English language training to the workplace in the context of hospitals in Bangkok, Thailand. There are three research objectives: (i) to investigate the effect of trainee characteristics on the transfer of corporate English language training in an organisation, (ii) to investigate the effect of training design on the transfer of corporate English language training in an organisation, and (iii) to investigate the effect of the work climate on the transfer of corporate English language training in an organisation. This study followed a deductive research approach by examining previous studies on factors that can influence transfer of knowledge gained from the training to workplace. This study also modified the three-factor model originally developed by Lim and Morris (2006) by adding variables suggested by other studies in order to increase robustness of the model. The sample size in this research study is 378 employees of private hospitals in Bangkok, including doctors, nurses, and administrators. The data were collected using questionnaire surveys. When investigating the effect of training characteristics on training transfer, it was found that only two factors (self-efficacy and affective reaction) have positive effects on training transfer. It was also found that five factors related to training design (job helpfulness, perceived quality of training content, instructional level, use of hands-on activity and overall satisfaction) and three factors related to work climate (peer and supervisor feedback, compensation, and incentives and transfer opportunities) showed positive effects on training transfer. The work climate has the strongest effect on training transfer when testing the proposed model using regression analysis. The findings of this study suggest that before considering trainee characteristics or the training design, the work climate must be designed in a way that can facilitate peer and supervisor feedback, provide relevant compensation and incentives to trainees to attend training, and provide opportunities for trainees to transfer their knowledge to the working environment. The theoretical contribution of this study is derived from the analysis that training design and work climate-related factors deserve more attention and refinement in the literature compared to what they have received in the past. These two sets of factors clearly have a strong influence on the trainees’ outcomes, which may be even stronger than the effect observed from the trainees’ personal characteristics.