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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'English literature – Research – Methodology'
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Iida, Eri. "Hedges in Japanese English and American English medical research articles." Thesis, McGill University, 2007. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=99723.
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The present study analysed the use of hedges in English medical research articles written by Japanese and American researchers. The study also examined the relationship between Japanese medical professionals' employment of hedges and their writing process. Sixteen English medical articles: eight written by Japanese and eight by Americans were examined. Four of the Japanese authors discussed their writing process through questionnaires and telephone interviews.The overall ratio of hedges in articles written by the two groups differed only slightly; however, analyses revealed a number of specific differences in the use of hedges between the groups. For example, Japanese researchers used epistemic adverbs and adjectives less frequently than the American researchers. The results were discussed in relation to the problems of nonnative speakers' grammatical competence, cultural differences in rhetorical features, and the amount of experience in the use of medical English.
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TSANG, Fei Yue. "Histrionic translation : a methodology for promoting the translator's inter-subjectivity as co-producer." Digital Commons @ Lingnan University, 2013. https://commons.ln.edu.hk/eng_etd/9.
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This thesis will focus on Ezra Pound’s poem, Histrion, its associations with Stanislavskian method acting and their interface with translation studies. The title of “Histrion” is derived from the Latin word for an actor and Pound clearly wishes to suggest strong parallels between the voice of the poet and the voice of the actor. The work evokes a clairvoyant state of heightened consciousness achieved by the poet, in which he melds the subjectivities of the modern writer and the “souls of all men great” (earlier poets such as Dante and Villon) in a translucent flame of fused form. The thesis will explore the phenomenological implications of merging two identities and then apply the seemingly far-fetched concept of metempsychosis suggested in Pound’s poem to translation studies with reference to contemporaneous (to Pound) Stanislavskian acting approaches. For Pound as creative re-writer, as for the creative method actor, all demarcation between the two subjects dissolves. Likewise, in literary translation, as much of Pound’s work exemplifies, the melding and mingling of the author’s and the translator’s subjectivities can be a viable methodology. Such histrionic translation attempts to enact and even resurrect the persona of the source text in the target version. Thus I propose to meld Stanislavskian acting theories with Pound’s sense of metempsychosis and metamorphosis with application to the study of literary translation.
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Okuni, Akim. "An examination of the ESL/EFL literature teacher education course content and methodology and its influence on literature learning in Ugandan schools." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.326577.
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Ippolito, John. "Exploring a participatory methodology through the conscious experience of co-emergence in the concept and conduct of a research setting in ESL." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/MQ27355.pdf.
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Iliopoulos, Spyridon. "'Out of a medium's mouth' : Yeats's art in relation to mediumship, spiritualism and psychical research." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1985. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/3257/.
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The aim of this thesis is to show that, despite a number of critics who either frowned upon or ignored W. B. Yeats's psychical interests, consideration of his mediumistic encounters between 1911 and 1916 is indispensable to the study of his art. Indeed, Yeats's unpublished records of seances and his other spiritualistic papers often present us with his direct sources of inspiration and point towards an understanding of their subsequent elaboration in some of his celebrated works. Chapter 1 and 2 ('Yeats's Spiritualistic Papers' and 'Yeats as a "Spiritualist" and "Psychical Researcher"') supply general information as regards unpublished material and describe Yeats's involvement with medium's, 'controls', and 'spirit-visitors'. Chapter 3 ('The Words-upon the Window-pane as an Example') deals with Yeats's spiritualistic sources and their dramatic elaboration in his seance-play, his only work where he made direct use of a spiritualistic setting and of the typical personae who frequent seance-rooms. Although Yeats's other works are discussed-in a chronological order, this play is given priority here, for it contains some major, themes and motifs which pervade his art. Chapters 4 and 5 ('Responsibilities: A First Attempt', and 'The Wild Swans at Coole: Ghostly Presences') deal with Yeats's attempts to introduce some major aspects of his psychical interests into his poetry by 'invoking' his dead and by adopting the persona of a medium in poems such as 'To a Shade' and 'In Memory of Major Robert Gregory'. Chapter 6 ('"Ego Dominus Tuus": Yeats, Leo Africanus, and the Process of Self-transformation') deals separately with 'Ego Dominus Tuus', another poem from The Wild Swans at Coole, in relation to Yeats's encounter with his 'opposite', the 'ghost' of Leo Africanus, and his formulation of the concept of the 'Daemon'. Chapters 7 and 8 ('Spiritualistic Scenarios in Michael Robartes and the Dancer' and 'From The Tower to Last Poems') examine Yeats's later use of theme's, motifs, and central situations particular to spiritualism and psychical research. Finally, the Conclusion suggests that, although Yeats's psychical investigations did not answer the 'great question whether the soul be immortal or not', his mediumistic encounters provided with images, symbols, and scenarios which enriched his art and often determined his literary tactics.
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Kuo, Jun-min. "Collaborative action research on critical literacy investigating an English conversation class in Taiwan (China) /." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2006. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3215172.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Language Education, 2006.Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-04, Section: A, page: 1257. Adviser: Jerome C. Harste. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed May 14, 2007)."
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Johnson, Michael C. "Character Development in a Distance Education Literature Course: Perspectives on Independent Study English 395R-Christian Fantasy Literature." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2009. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd3157.pdf.
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Killgren, de Klonia Kim. "The Potential Role of Critical Literacy Pedagogy as a Methodology When Teaching Literature in Upper Secondary School in Sweden : A Quantitative Study of English Teachers’ Literature Choices." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för utbildning, kultur och kommunikation, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-34995.
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Literature’s role in the foreign language classroom has been extensively researched, and the benefits of enjoyable reading firmly established. But could teachers benefit from a new perspective in the form of Critical Literacy Pedagogy when choosing and teaching literary works? Critical Literacy Pedagogy, CLP, is a method of critically examining literature to detect possible power structures e.g. concerning ethnicity and gender. This study examines how teachers and students value a number of criteria and aspects in connection to what literature is used in the class. Two empirical web-based questionnaire surveys were conducted on a total of 23 teachers and 42 students in upper secondary school in Sweden. The results are primarily presented quantitatively with the complement of excerpts from the written answers to the open-ended questions, and has then analyzed with the help of CLP, to see if the method has a possible role in EFL-teaching in upper secondary school in Sweden. In the present study, the participating teachers valued practical characteristics, such as level of difficulty, higher than conceptual characteristics, such as the sexual orientation of an author or character, when choosing what literary works to teach. These ratings were seen as problematic when compared to the teachers’ concrete exemplifications of taught works. Moreover, both teachers and students rated the possibility of critical and ethical discussion very highly in regard to the chosen works. A comparison between the ratings and the exemplified works indicate that CLP could be a valuable method when choosing what literature to teach.
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Eastman, Regina Nadia. "Creating Knowledge about the Literacy Needs of Juvenile Offenders: Reflections on a Qualitative Research Project." PDXScholar, 1996. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/5078.
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This thesis attempts to problematize a collective silence around the concept of race that developed in a Research Methodology English 510 course taught by Dr. Gradin, the Director of Writing at Portland State University, during the Fall quarter of 1995. The members of ENG 510 created a qualitative research protocol that was intended to create knowledge about the literacy needs of juvenile offenders. This was done in partnership with the Juvenile Rights Project, a non-profit advocate for juveniles in the Multnomah county courts, and with Portland Youth Redirection, a program that offers detention alternatives to juvenile offenders. The research was supported by a community-based Learn & Serve Grant through Portland State University's Center for Academic Excellence. I argue that our methods, critical self-reflection and interviews with youth, became fundamentally flawed when we allowed gender issues to displace the more difficult discussion around race. This displacement resulted in a rejection of the concept of self- reflexivity, thereby reproducing a self-serving racist power hierarchy which qualitative research explicitly means to expose. I approach this issue through a critique of Enlightenment philosophy set within the framework of a post-modern theory that denies the truth claims of universalizing metanarratives. The thesis analyses and reflects on theory, class dynamics, and interviews in the field. It also includes quotes from exchanges and spontaneous conversations with youth, juvenile counselors, and class members. Recommendations for further research include highly self-reflexive discussions on the role of race, class, and gender in the researchers' agendas and in their interactions with youth, as well as possible ways to ground the research more strongly and with more visible continuity in a communityrelated context. Here, Portland State University's Writing Center could serve as a nexus.
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Mims, Pamela J., and Carol Stranger. "Bringing Meaningful Grade Aligned English Language Arts to the Classroom: Bridging Research and Practice." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2017. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/3228.
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Instruction in meaningful grade aligned English Language Arts (ELA) content for students with moderate to severe intellectual and developmental disabilities provides a full educational experience that can lead to increased quality of life. Many teachers, however, face barriers in how to teach meaningful, grade aligned ELA. This article bridges research to practice by describing effective strategies for teaching a wide range of strands that fall under ELA, such as comprehension, writing, and student-led research. In addition, a framework is offered as a model of how to put it all together when teaching grade aligned ELA.
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Önnered, Simon. "Generating innovative ideas through systematic literature review and research synthesis : A design of a practical methodological framework for literature review." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för innovation, design och teknik, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-54999.
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This is an action-oriented study aimed at designing a practical methodology for generating evidence backed solutions for practical problems by means of literature review. Three iterations of systematic review are applied which evaluates different search strategies and reporting structures to provide a framework for an ideation technique. Resulting in an adaptation of a previously used framework which can be deployed to different extents that appears to result in design propositions alongside individual interventions.
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Aponte, Ludy Glenn. "A Grounded Theory Approach to Studying Strategic Planning in Higher Education: A Qualitative Research Methodology Utilizing the Literature Review and Interview." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1308566274.
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Battista, Jon Lois. "Me he korokoro kōmako = ’With the throat of a bellbird’ : a Māori aesthetic in Māori writing in English." Thesis, University of Auckland, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2233.
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The primary aim of this thesis Me he korokoro kōmako [‘With the throat of a bellbird’] is to demonstrate the existence of a distinctive Māori aesthetic in Māori literature written in English. Its introductory section, of three chapters, investigates the ways in which mainstream critical discourse in various ways appropriates Māori literature to its own Western-derived models of meaning and values, and proposes instead a definition of a Māori aesthetic grounded in the principle of whakapapa, whose whole cultural components for Māori literature include distinctive textual functions for myth, orality, acts of naming, other aspects of language, and symbolism. The concept of whakapapa also provides the organizing principle and methodology of the central chapters of the thesis, which are divided into two Parts – each of six chapters. These are framed by a Prologue and Epilogue, whose subject is the profound cultural symbolism of the waka in the work of a founding figure for Māori writing in English, Jacqueline Sturm, and in Star Waka, by a major later writer in English, Robert Sullivan. Part One devotes three chapters each to the adult fiction of one female writer, Patricia Grace (Potiki and Baby No-Eyes), and one male writer, Witi Ihimaera (The Matriarch). Part Two, following the principle of whakapapa, devotes six chapters to Māori literature for children. Its primary text is the major anthology of such writing – Te Ara O Te Hau: The Path of the Wind, Volume 4 of Te Ao Mārama, edited by Witi Ihimaera, with Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D.S. Long. It grounds its reading of the volume’s many texts (literary and visual, in Māori and in English) in the many distinctive cultural behaviours and meanings attached to the figure of Māui. Each of the authors and texts has been chosen in order to study and exemplify a particular aspect of the Māori aesthetic defined in the Introduction, through close readings which draw strongly on the work of major Māori social historians, authors of iwi histories and genealogies, and interpreters of cultural meanings attaching to the natural worlds, and recent work on literary stylistics by Geoffrey Leech and others. It also draws on conversations with numerous Māori informants, including some of the authors discussed. The readings are designed to reveal the rich, culturally contextualised knowledges which Māori readers bring to the texts, and which their authors share and invoke through their deployment of the values and practices of whakapapa. While such representations and explorations of self offer new interpretive possibilities for Pākehā readers, they are also part of a global movement in which indigenous peoples engage in the politics of decolonisation from a position of strength, the stance of self-knowledge. E kore e hekeheke he kākano rangatira Our ancestors will never die for they live on in each of us.Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.
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Seydel, Bianca. "Probably certain : Translating hedges in academic research articles from Swedish to English." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-98126.
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While it certainly can be argued that translation is a quite demanding discipline in general, some areas within this field are, naturally, more challenging than others. One of these is hedging, which serves a broad variety of purposes both with regard to the author and to the intended readership, and hence must be translated accordingly. This paper investigates hedges in scientific research articles, the types and frequency of hedges in the analysed Swedish sourcetext (ST) compared to the English target text (TT), and the methods used for translating these hedges and their distribution by means of a short study conducted on two Swedish runology articles. The study’s quantitative analysis shows that the Swedish ST has a clear preference for adverbial hedges, and to an extent, also for modal verb hedges, whereas the English TT – while yielding an even higher preference for adverbials and also for lexical verbs – uses modal verbs much less frequently. It becomes evident that adverbials may feature so strongly in translations because they are easier to recall and to use than more complex structures, especially for L2 speakers. This practice does, however, result in a somewhat less flexible translation. The by far most frequently used translation strategy is faithful translation, particularly for content-oriented hedges. However, a fair number of adaptations (both in modal strength and word class change) and omissions – mostly of modal verbs – as well as numerous additions occurred, initiated by influential factors such as cultural differences regarding natural sounding text, L2 speaker perception of equivalence and/or lack of suitable linguistic equivalents. Thereby, the English translation showed a tendency toward adapting weaker modals compared to their Swedish ST equivalents, confirming the greater reader-orientation of English research articles.
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Slocum, Audra J. "Exploring Community Through Literature and Life: Adolescents Identity Positioning in Rural Appalachia." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1345547728.
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Chien, Ying-Mei. "EXAMINING EXPERIENCES WITH ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES IN TAIWAN AND IN THE UNITED STATES." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2017. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/608.
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The importance of learning English to find success in today’s global community has never been more vital. However, choosing the best method for teaching English language skills in the second language (L2) classroom is still open for debate. This paper examines L2 strategies for teaching English in Taiwan. More important, it examines the notion that English as a Foreign Language (EFL) training in Taiwan could be made more successful by incorporating more effective EFL teaching strategies, including a communicative, or creativity based methodology for second language learning. EFL teaching methodology in Taiwan has and continues to emphasize a teacher centered learning strategy for L2 instruction, one where students do not question the instructor’s opinions or authority—a learning environment where students heavily rely on memorization, where creativity and critical thinking take a back seat in the classroom learning environment, in many ways a receptive style methodology. This paper will attempt to identity and examine what factors determine why Taiwanese teachers continue to rely on the teacher centered approach to L2 training— emphasizing a receptive methodology to EFL instruction, as opposed to a more creative, or communicative approach emphasizing critical thinking and creativity. Data from this study is derived from interviews of multiple Taiwanese university students currently studying in United States. Data is also drawn from the writings of leading researchers and scholars as amplified upon in the literature review section and related discussions. This paper first examines some of the underlying concerns associated with Taiwanese L2 training programs and related EFL research. It also reviews the results of data analysis of student interviewee responses, which point to two main problem areas, or themes, which negatively impact Taiwan L2 training strategies: 1) an over emphasis on teacher centered instruction or a lecture only lesson 2) an over emphasis on student memorization as a learning technique, which may lead to an absence of critical thinking and creativity in the L2 learning environment. Discussions also examine how more effective elements of EFL teaching methodology may positively impact L2 training in Taiwan. The findings of this paper will hopefully add a positive perspective regarding L2 training in Taiwan as well as improve study experiences for those Taiwan students seeking to further their educational opportunities in America.
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Neil, Bronwen, and res cand@acu edu au. "A Critical Edition of Anastasius Bibliothecarius' Latin Translation of Greek Documents Pertaining to the Life of Maximus the Confessor, with an Analysis of Anastasius' Translation Methodology, and an English Translation of the Latin Text." Australian Catholic University. Sub-Faculty of Theology, 1998. http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp231.30042010.
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Part I Anastasius Bibliothecarius, papal librarian, translator and diplomat, is one of the pivotal figures of the ninth century in both literary and political contexts. His contribution to relations between the eastern and western church can be considered to have had both positive and negative ramifications, and it will be argued that his translations of various Greek works into Latin played a significant role in achieving his political agenda, complex and convoluted as this was. Being one of relatively few Roman bilinguals in the latter part of the ninth century, Anastasius found that his linguistic skills opened an avenue into papal affairs that was not closed by even the greatest breaches of trust and violations of canonical law on his part. His chequered career spanning five pontificates will be reviewed in the first chapter. In Chapter 2, we discuss his corpus of works of translation, in particular the Collectanea, whose sole surviving witness, the Parisinus Latinus 5095, has been partially edited in this study. This collation and translation of seven documents pertaining to the life of Maximus the Confessor provides us with a unique insight into Anastasius' capacity as a translator, and into the political and cultural significance of the commissioning and dedication of his hagiographic and other translated works in general. These seven documents will be examined in detail in Chapter 3, and compared with the Greek tradition, where that has survived, in an effort to establish the codes governing translation in this period, and to establish which manuscripts of the Greek tradition correspond most closely to Anastasius' (lost) model. In Chapter 4, we analyse consistency of style and method by comparison with Anastasius' translation of the Historia Mystica attributed to Germanus of Constantinople. Anastasius' methodology will be compared and contrasted with that of his contemporary John Scotus Eriugena, to place his oeuvre in the broader context of bilingualism in the West in the ninth century. Part II contains a critical edition of the text with facing English translation and historical and linguistic annotations.
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Paul, Mary. "Reading readings: some current critical debates about New Zealand literature and culture." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/1974.
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This thesis examines contemporary interpretations of a selection of important texts written by New Zealand women between 1910 and 1940, and also a film and film script written more recently (which are considered as re-readings of a novel by Mander). The thesis argues that, though reading or meaning-making is always an activity of construction there will, at any given moment, always be reasons for preferring one way of reading over another-a reading most appropriate to a situation or circumstances. This study is motivated by a desire to understand how literary criticism has changed in recent years, particularly under the influence of feminism, and how a reader today can make a choice among competing methods of interpretation. Comparisons are drawn between various possible readings of the texts in order to classify methods of reading, particularly nationalist and feminist reading strategies. The over-all tendency of the argument is to propose a more self-critical and self-conscious approach to reading, and to develop a materialist and historical approach which I see as particularly important to the New Zealand context in the 1990s.Thesis is now published as a book. Paul M. (1999) Her Side of the Story: readings of Mander, Mansfield and Hyde. Dunedin: Otago University Press. http://www.otago.ac.nz/press/ for more information.
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Grenardo, Jennifer. "Latino Middle School Students Read to Learn Critical Literacy: Social Justice through Action Research." Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School, 2008. https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd/207.
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This action research study explored if changes in the reading curriculum, specifically implementation of critical literacy approaches that acknowledge bicultural students, increase student learning as perceived by teachers and students in a Catholic elementary school, where students have been chronically performing at the lowest level in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. By using critical pedagogy (Darder, 1991; Freire, 1970; Giroux, 1983; Macedo, 1994; McLaren, 1988) as a theoretical framework, this action research project investigated the effective elements of critical literacy (Cadiero-Kaplan, 2004; Shor & Pari, 1999) that promote academic learning for Latino middle school students in a low-income Catholic elementary school.
This study explored the approaches and perceptions of novel studies, as a form of literacy, to increase student learning in reading at a low-income, urban, Catholic elementary school. Classroom observations, teacher interviews, teacher lesson plans, student work, student focus groups, and a teacher focus group validated the findings that critical literacy approaches positively impacted student learning in reading.
Changes in the school and reading curriculum, specifically the implementation of literacy approaches that acknowledge bicultural students, increased learning for Latino middle school students as perceived by teachers and students in this low-income, urban Catholic elementary school. Teachers implemented effective elements of critical literacy, including direct vocabulary and grammar instruction, analysis of literary tools, incorporation of Spanish, varying forms of assessment, and inclusion of student voice, through the use of novel studies. The school and classroom environments further promoted academic learning for Latino middle school students with high expectations, strict humor, and predictability where teachers, who viewed their students with promising futures, taught as a form of service. Although the school and teachers incorporated literacy practices, teachers fell short of practicing critical literacy because they failed to examine the underlying social ramifications of hegemonic forces.
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McDonnell, Brian. "The Translation of New Zealand fiction into film." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2010.
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This thesis explores the topic of literature-into-film adaptation by investigating the use of New Zealand fiction by film-makers in this country. It attempts this task primarily by examining eight case-studies of the adaptation process: five features designed for cinema release (Sleeping Dogs, A State of Siege, Sons for the Return Home, The Scarecrow and Other Halves), one feature-length television drama (the God Boy), and two thirty-minute television dramas (The Woman at the Store and Big Brother, Little Sister, from the series Winners and Losers). All eight had their first screenings in the ten-year period 1975-1985. For each of the case-studies, the following aspects are investigated: the original work of fiction, a practical history of the adaptation process (including interviews with people involved), and a study of changes made during the scripting and shooting stages. The films are analysed in detail, with a focus on visual and auditory style, in particular how these handle the themes, characterisation and style of the original works. Comparisons are made of the structures of the novels and the films. For each film, an especially close reading is offered of sample scenes (frequently the opening and closing scenes). The thesis is illustrated with still photographs – in effect, quotations from key moments – and these provide a focus to aspects of the discussion. Where individual adaptation problems existed in particular case-studies (for example, the challenge of the first-person narration of The God Boy), these are examined in detail. The interaction of both novels and films with the society around them is given emphasis, and the films are placed in their cultural and economic context - and in the context of general film history. For each film, the complex reception they gained from different groups (for example, reviewers, ethnic groups, gender groups, the authors of the original works) is discussed. All the aspects outlined above demonstrate the complexity of the responses made by New Zealand film-makers to the pressure and challenges of adaptation. They indicate the different answers they gave to the questions raised by the adaptation process in a new national cinema, and reveal their individual achievements.Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.
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Holt, Jill. "Children's Writing in New Zealand Newspapers, 1930s and 1980s." Thesis, University of Auckland, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2315.
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This thesis is an investigation of writing by New Zealand children in the Children's Pages of five New Zealand newspapers: the New Zealand Herald, Christchurch Press and Otago Daily Times in the 1930s and 1980s, the Dominion in the 1930s; and the Wellington Evening Post in the 1980s. Its purpose is to show how children reflected their world, interacted with editors, and interpreted the adult world in published writing, and to examine continuities and changes between the 1930s and 1980s. It seeks evidence of gender variations in writing. and explores the circumstances in which the social role of writing was established by young writers. It considers the ways in which children (especially girls) consciously and unconsciously used public writing to create a public place for themselves. It compares major themes chosen by children, their topic and genre preferences in writing, and the gender and age differences evident in these preferences. The thesis is organised into three Parts, with an Introduction discussing the scholarly background to the issues it explores, and its methodology. Part One contains two chapters examining the format and tone of each Children's Page. And the role and influence of their Editors. Part Two (also of two chapters) investigates the origins and motivations of the young contributors, with a special focus on the Otago Daily Times as a community newspaper. Part Three. of four chapters, explores the children's writing itself, in separate chapters on younger and older children, and a chapter on the most popular genre, poetry. The conclusion suggests further areas of research, and points to the implications of the findings of the thesis for social history in New Zealand and for classroom practice. The thesis contains a Bibliography and an Appendix with a selection of writings by Janet Frame and her family to the Otago Daily Times Children's Page in the 1930s.Note: Whole document restricted at the request of the author, but available by individual request, use the feedback form to request access.
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Mateo, Vázquez Alejandra. "The Use of MAKE and TAKE by Spanish and Italian Learners of English : A Corpus Study." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-157253.
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The present paper investigates the use of two high–frequency verbs: make and take. These verbs are particularly interesting since they express basic meaning (the meaning of the verb is mostly determined by its combinations). Therefore, they do not constitute a problem in learners’ comprehension. However, because they have little semantic content, learning how to use them appropriately has proved to be tricky even for advanced learners (Howarth, 1998; Altenberg & Granger, 2001; Nesselhauf, 2003; Futgi et al. 2008). The aim of this study is to analyse learners’ ability to produce the two high-frequency verbs to uncover features of non–nativeness of learner language in relation to the use of these verbs, such as overuse/underuse of certain verbs, nouns, collocations or structures, focusing on Spanish and Italian learners of English. Corpus Linguistics (CL) is particularly useful for looking for this type of non–native usage patterns. Learner Corpora will be studied using CIA, Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (Granger, 1998) as a method, more specifically NL/IL comparison (native language vs interlanguage) to be able to compare native and non–native speakers’ performances in comparable situations. A second type of comparison will be made between two interlanguages (Spanish and Italian). Including a second L2 variety allows to distinguish general L2 features from characteristics that are exclusive to one particular language. Authentic learner data has been retrieved from the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE). ICLE contains argumentative essays produced by advanced second language learners of English from different mother–tongue backgrounds. The Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (LOCNESS) is used as a control corpus to compare it with the learner corpora. Results bring further evidence that high-frequency verbs are difficult items even for advanced English learners. In addition, the two learner groups share some of the problems, while others, despite the similarities between the two languages, are related to the L1 of the learners. These results have pedagogical implications: teachers should aim to improve learners’ productive capacities of those items that have not been fully mastered yet, such as high-frequency verbs.
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Jones, Laura E. "Inside and Outside 1101: First-Year Student Perceptions of Academic Writing." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2011. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/english_theses/122.
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First-year undergraduate students have vastly different perceptions of academic writing, the writing process, and the value of writing within their specific academic disciplines. These perceptions differ not only from their instructors but also from their peers. Yet, while reams of literature discuss, debate, and decipher student perspectives of writing from a scholarly point of view, the first-year student voice is conspicuously absent from this discussion. This study followed 92 first-year students through their first college composition course, English 1101, in order to capture the student perspective of how writing fits in their academic careers. The results indicate that while most students acknowledge first-year composition to be essential to their academic development, few report writing assignments in courses outside of 1101. This raises questions about how students identify writing activities and also suggests avenues for further inquiry, particularly the need for follow-up research at the culmination of their undergraduate careers.
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Nave, Patience. "English as a Second Language: Evaluation of a Language Program Designed for & Implemented in the Colombian Oil Company's Research Institute." TopSCHOLAR®, 1989. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2692.
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An incredible proliferation of knowledge has generated a critical need for professionals in all fields to have access to current information and research results. Costs for study and research are extremely high, particularly in science fields, and most professionals seek to minimize loss in time and funds by avoiding duplication of efforts. Language is often a handicap, preventing the voluntary sharing of valuable information between individuals and countries, and many recognize the establishment of a universal language as a means of eliminating this unnecessary barrier. English is rapidly becoming accepted as a universal means of communication, but those who seek the skill often cannot afford the time to commit themselves to years of study to acquire it. To meet the needs of such a group of scientists in Bucaramanga Colombia, a program for study in English communicative competence was designed, implemented and evaluated in 1988, through the cooperative efforts of Western Kentucky University and Instituto Colombiano del Petroleo.
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Dunn, Samuel James. "Reconceiving a Necessary Evil: Teaching a Transferable FYC Research Paper." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2013. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3633.
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The place of the research paper in first-year composition (FYC) courses is often debated in composition forums. Many argue that the a-disciplinary nature of FYC doesn't allow instructors to teach the research paper in a way that will be transferable to disciplinary writing tasks, while others say that it is possible, as long as we have a thorough understanding of the kinds of writing tasks students will face in the disciplines and specifically teach writing skills that will be transferable. To identify these more generalizable writing skills to be emphasized, I interviewed 14 professors at Brigham Young University from different disciplines about the research papers they teach within their upper-division disciplinary courses and the kinds of researching and writing skills they expect students to have mastered before enrolling in these courses. I collated the results of the interviews and categorized 22 skills into four categories: writing process knowledge, genre knowledge, rhetorical knowledge, and researching knowledge, finding correlation between the 22 skills I identified with skills identified by both John Bean and Carra Leah Hood, lending credence to the value of my identified skills as worthwhile to be focused on in FYC. I draw on Amy Devitt's idea that the school genres we teach in FYC are antecedent genres to assert that teaching a research paper in FYC outside of the constraints of any one discipline can provide a viable and valuable learning experience, provided that it is taught with an emphasis on these writing skills that are most valued across the disciplines, and provided it is taught as a step along the way to later mastery of disciplinary genres.
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Gottarp, Rickard. "What Can We Learn from Contemporary Research into Dyslexia? : A Didactic Study of Recommendations and Successful Ways to Work With Textbook Material in Teaching English to Second Language Learners With Reading and Writing Disorders in Grade 4-6." Thesis, Mittuniversitetet, Institutionen för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-37332.
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Laurs, Deborah Elizabeth. ""Ungrown-up grown-ups" : the representation of adolescence in twentieth-century New Zealand young adult fiction : a dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Literature at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1255.
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Behaviouralists consider adolescence a time for developing autonomy, which accords with Michel Foucault‘s power/knowledge dynamic that recognises individuals‘ assertion of independence as a crucial element within society. Surprisingly, however, twentieth-century New Zealand Young Adult (YA) fiction tends to disempower adolescents, by portraying an adultist version of them as immature and unprepared for adult responsibilities. By depicting events through characters‘ eyes, a focalising device that encourages reader identification with the narratorial point-of-view, authors such as Esther Glen, Isabel Maud Peacocke, Joyce West, Phillis Garrard, Tessa Duder, Lisa Vasil, Margaret Mahy, William Taylor, Kate de Goldi, Paula Boock, David Hill, Jane Westaway, and Bernard Beckett stress the importance of conforming to adult authority. Rites of passage are rarely attained; protagonists respect their elders, and juvenile delinquents either repent or are punished for their misguided behaviours. ―Normal‖ expectations are established by the portrayal of single parents who behave ―like teenagers‖: an unnatural role reversal that demands a return to traditional hegemonic roles. Adolescents must forgive adults‘ failings within a discourse that rarely forgives theirs. Depictions of child abuse, while deploring the deed, tend to emphasise victims‘ forbearance rather than admitting perpetrators‘ culpability. As Foucault points out, adolescent sexuality both fascinates and alarms adult society. Within the texts, sex is strictly an adult prerogative, reserved for reproduction within marriage, with adolescent intimacy sanctioned only between couples who conform to the middle-class ideal of monogamy. On the other hand, teenagers who indulge in casual sex are invariably given cause to regret. Such presentations operate vicariously to protect readers from harm, but also create an idealised, steadfast sense of adultness in the process.
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Redmond, Robert Stanley. "Female authors and their male detectives: the ideological contest in female-authored crime fiction : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1057.
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In the nineteen-eighties a host of female detectives appeared in crime fiction authored by women. Ostensibly these detectives challenged hegemonic norms, but the consensus of opinion was that their appropriation of male values and adherence to conventional generic closures colluded with a gender system of male privilege. Academic interest in the work of female authors featuring male detectives was limited. Yet it can be argued that these texts could have the potential to disrupt the hegemonic order through the introduction, whether deliberately, or inadvertently, of a female counterpoint to the hegemony. The hypothesis I am advancing claims that the reconfiguration of male detectives in works authored by women avoids the visible contradictions of gender and genre that are characteristic of works featuring female detectives. However, through their use of disruptive performatives, these works allow scope for challenging normal gender practices—without damage to the genre. This hypothesis is tested by applying the performative theories of Judith Butler to a close reading of selected crime novels. Influenced by the theories of Austin, Lacan and Althusser, Butler’s concept of performativity claims that hegemonic notions of gender are a fiction. This discussion also uses Wayne Booth’s concept of the implied author as a means of distinguishing the performative agency of the text from that of the characters. Agatha Christie, P.D. James, and Donna Leon, each with their male detective heroes, come from different generations. A Butlerian reading illustrates their potential for disrupting gender norms. Of the three, however, only Donna Leon avoids the return to hegemonic control that is a feature of the genre. Christie’s women who have agency are inevitably eliminated, while conformist women are rewarded. James’s lead female character is never fully at ease in her professional role. When thrust into a leadership she proves herself to be competent, but not ready or desirous of the senior position. Instead her role is to mediate the transition of her junior, a male, to that position. Donna Leon is different. The moral and emotional content of her narratives suggests an implied author committed to ideological change. Her characters simultaneously renounce and collude with illusions of patriarchal authority, and could lay claim to be models for Butler’s notion of performative resistance.
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Louw, Denise Elizabeth Laurence. "A literary study of paranormal experience in Tennyson's poetry." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002292.
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My thesis is that many of Tennyson's apparently paranormal experiences are explicable in terms of temporal lobe epilepsy; and that a study of the occurrence, in the work of art, of phenomena associated with these experiences, may be useful in elucidating the workings of the aesthetic imagination. A body of knowledge relevant to paranormal experience in Tennyson's life and work, assembled from both literary and biographical sources, is applied to a Subjective Paranormal Experience Questionnaire, compiled by Professor V.M. Neppe, in order to establish the range of the poet's apparently "psychic" experiences. The information is then analysed in terms of the symptomatology of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), and the problems of differential diagnosis are considered. It is shown, by means of close and comparative analyses of a number of poems, that recurring clusters of images in Tennyson's poetry may have their genesis in TLE. These images are investigated in terms of modern research into altered states of consciousness. They are found to be consistent with a "model" of the three stages of trance experience constructed by Professor A.D. Lewis-Williams to account for shamanistic rock art in the San, Coso and Upper Paleolithic contexts. My study of the relevant phenomena in the work of a nineteenth century English poet would seem to offer cross-cultural verification of the applicability of the model to a range of altered-state contexts. This study goes on to investigate some of the psychological processes which may influence the way in which pathology is manifested in the poetry of Alfred Tennyson. But, throughout the investigation, the possible effects of literary precursors and of other art forms are acknowledged. The subjective paranormal phenomena in Tennyson's poems are compared not only with some modern neuropsychiatric cases, but also with those of several nineteenth-century writers who seem to have had similar experiences . These include Dostoevsky and Edward Lear, who are known to have been epileptics, and Edgar Allan Poe. Similarity between some aspects of Tennyson's work and that of various Romantic poets, notably Shelley, is stressed; and it is tentatively suggested that it might be possible to extrapolate from my findings in this study to a more general theory of the "Romantic" imagination.
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Miskin, Kristana. "A Transnational Study: Young Adult Literature Exchanged Between the US and Germany." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2008. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1612.
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Both young adult literature and transnational literature occupy transitional spaces and defy simple classifications. Their commonalities naturally suit the two sets of literature for concurrent study. However, the field is underdeveloped, particularly in the United States. With a concentration on the exchanges taking place between the U.S. and Germany, this thesis addresses the need to assemble primary materials and pertinent critical commentary into a single place available to educators, scholars, and researchers to acquire background on transnational YAL themes. The thesis delineates methods used in conducting and compiling research on U.S.-German YAL exchange and highlights the translation and publication concerns associated with this process. It examines how prizes for translations are granted in each nation, identifying organizations that facilitate the process of exchange and describing transnational trends rising out of these circumstances. The concluding chapter visits concerns and complications raised during the investigation, posing questions for further study of the U.S.-German young adult literature relationship and advocating the pursuit of similar research in other world regions. The appendices provide sites for continued examination. They include lists of award-winning translations available in the U.S., novels by American authors that have been translated and published in Germany, and novels by German-language authors that have been translated and published in the U.S.
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Henriksson, Martina. "An Empirical Study on Teachers’ Choice of Extensive Literature in the Swedish Upper Secondary EFL Classroom." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Engelska, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-21119.
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The importance of extensive literature reading in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context has been given increasing attention in recent research. Literature reading is also a required part of the national syllabi of the (EFL) courses offered to both adolescents and adults at Upper Secondary level in Sweden. This thesis aims to investigate the teachers’ process of making literature choices for extensive reading in upper secondary EFL courses in Sweden. Eight teachers of three different student groups took part in the study, representing adolescent university preparatory programs and vocational programs, as well as programs for adult students. Questionnaires were used and the data was analyzed for patterns revealing three main factors affecting teachers’ literature choice: language proficiency, reading experience and contextual factors. These three factors were fitted into the theoretical framework of psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic reading models, with the addition of a perspective of motivational research. The results of this survey underline the importance of extensive reading, according to teachers, and that motivation for literature choice can be primarily related to factors associated with psycholinguistic reading models. The survey also points to the need for further investigating of teachers’ own experiences of literature reading, searching for deeper motivational factors which influence teaching choices. Another future field of research is the choice of reading activities assigned together with the chosen literature, which probably also influence teachers’ choices in the Swedish EFL classroom.
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Payne, Rachel Page. "Baumrind's Authoritative Parenting Style: A Model for Creating Autonomous Writers." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2013. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3518.
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Though Quintilian introduced the term in loco parentis in his Institutio Oratoria by suggesting that teachers think of themselves as parents of a student's mind, composition scholars have let parenting as a metaphor for teaching fall by the wayside in recent discussions of classroom authority. Podis and Podis have recently revived the term, though, and investigated the ways writing teachers enact Lakoff's "Strict Father" and "Nurturing Mother" authority models. Unfortunately, their treatment of these two opposite authority styles reduces classroom authority styles to a mutually exclusive binary of two less than satisfactory options. I propose clinical and developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind's taxonomy of parenting styles as the ideal way to reform our thinking as a field about the authority model we should adopt in our writing classrooms. While Baumrind includes the inferior models Podis and Podis work from in her authoritarian and permissive parenting styles, she found that the authoritative style, which is both strict and nurturing, promises the best results for parenting children: autonomy and academic achievement. By applying her descriptions of authoritative parents and the outcomes for their children to the practices of composition instructors and their students, I reveal how useful Baumrind's taxonomy of parenting styles could be for a field that often uses nuanced terms for authority without either clearly defining them or backing claims with replicable, aggregable, data-driven (RAD) research. If our field chooses to adopt Baumrind's terminology and definitions, then, we will be able to communicate about classroom authority in terms anchored in a coherent paradigm and garner more respect for our field as we probe the outcomes of Baumrind's authoritative parenting style as a college composition teaching style through our own empirical research.
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Hauptmann, Paul Andrew. "Evaluating the Use of Course Pairing to Increase Academic Success of Undergraduates." Thesis, NSUWorks, 2015. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_etd/35.
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This applied dissertation assessed pairing undergraduate English courses as an innovative delivery method within developmental English courses. Developmental courses are remedial classes students take due to low standardized test scores. Developmental courses usually do not count for college credit. In this study, a developmental English course was paired with a college course. At times, this pairing method is also called a learning community. The study specifically discussed the effectiveness of pairing a developmental English course with the college credit English course next in the composition sequence for freshman college students. Paired courses were compared to the traditional model of 16-week semesters. This study was initiated due to low course completion rates of students taking a developmental course. The research reviewed indicated the challenges of developmental students and addressed possibilities regarding why students may not have finished courses. The literature review also offered research about course delivery. This study assessed whether or not pairing the two courses at the research location led to a higher course completion rate as compared to students taking the 2 courses in the traditional, separate 16-week semester.
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Jones, Harry A. IV. "The Transition from the Psychical to the Psychological: An Examination of William James’ Influence on Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw”." VCU Scholars Compass, 2016. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4218.
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This thesis will show that, in its original form, “The Turn of the Screw” acted as a monument to the intellectual unity shared between Henry James and his brother William. Through evaluating James’ biography, memoirs, and letters with William, this thesis will illustrate the subtle collaborative inspirations that initially helped James write the first twelve-part serial edition of “The Turn of the Screw” for Collier’s Weekly, which ran from January 27, 1898 until April 16, 1898. I will also demonstrate the effect of William’s philosophy and his death on the revisions James’ made to his story as published in the twelfth volume of his New York Edition (NYE).
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Armentano, Ana Luiza Teixeira 1958. "A tarefa 'dictogloss' : aspectos cognitivos e interacionais." [s.n.], 2006. http://repositorio.unicamp.br/jspui/handle/REPOSIP/269443.
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Orientador: Linda Gentry El-DashDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T22:20:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Armentano_AnaLuizaTeixeira_M.pdf: 24731292 bytes, checksum: b14232318057e7b745682681e2635a8a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006
Resumo: Esta pesquisa partiu da nossa observação que muitos aprendizes apresentam fluência, mas não precisão lingüística, em seu desempenho em contexto de aula comunicativo de inglês de nível intermediário como LE. Uma alternativa encontrada na literatura de ASL para promover a precisão lingüística é o uso de tarefas que promovam o esforço cognitivo de produzir e refletir sobre a produção, estendendo e indo além do nível de competência real do aprendiz, ou seja, uma produção mais exigente (pushed output) (Swain, 1985, 1995). A reflexão sobre a produção (output) pode estimular o aprendiz a perceber (notice) formas lingüísticas e fazer uma comparação cognitiva entre as formas de sua interlíngua e as formas de L2/LE (notice the gap), o que pode facilitar a re-estruturação de interlíngua. Nosso objetivo nesta pesquisa é investigar a tarefa dictogloss pelo seu potencial em promover uma produção mais exigente. Para tal levamos em conta aspectos cognitivos e interacionais. Sob a perspectiva cognitiva, nos apoiamos nos estudos sobre tarefas de Skehan (1996, 1998), o modelo de processamento de insumo de VanPatten (1996, 2002), a Hipótese da Produção de Swain (1985) e as diferenças individuais segundo Robinson (2002, 2005). Sob a perspectiva sócio-cultural, levamos em conta o construto do diálogo colaborativo de Swain (2000) e os padrões de interação de Storch (2002). Os instrumentos de pesquisa foram um mini-questionário, uma tarefa dictogloss, cujos procedimentos foram adaptados de Wajnryb (1990), e entrevistas semi-estruturadas com os sujeitos. Cinco pares de alunos universitários do nível intermediário de um centro de línguas de uma universidade pública paulista fizeram parte da pesquisa. Sem a intervenção da pesquisadora, as duplas reconstruíram uma passagem escutada por três vezes. Após a reconstrução em pares, os sujeitos receberam o texto por escrito e compararam as suas versões com a do original. Todas a interações foram gravadas em áudio. Dentre os aspectos cognitivos, os resultados das análises apontam para a complexidade da tarefa implementada em termos do código lingüístico, processamento cognitivo e o stress comunicativo. Observa-se que alguns pares abordaram a tarefa focando mais no significado eoutros na forma, sugerindo um efeito trade-off nos recursos de atenção. Nota-se grandes diferenças individuais entre os sujeitos, entre elas o nível de proficiência e habilidades cognitivas dos sujeitos, tais como a aptidão para notice the gap. Dentre os aspectos interacionais, constatamos que o padrão colaborativo prevalece nas interações, mas que com o decorrer da tarefa, algumas interações mudam para os padrões dominante/passivo, e outras para o padrão dominante/dominante, com alguns momentos de conflito. O diálogo colaborativo gerou construção de conhecimento nos padrões colaborativos mas demonstrou seus limites em outros padrões de interação, como no menos experiente/menos experiente, não geralmente relatado na literatura. Os depoimentos dos sujeitos sugerem que esses perceberam a complexidade da tarefa, mas que a consideram de potencial utilidade para a aprendizagem. Além disso, relataram que o trabalho em pares foi positivo
Abstract: In our teaching practice and within a communicative-oriented instruction of intermediate levelleamers of English as a foreign language, we have noticed that many leamers become fluent but lack accuracy. It has been suggested in SLA that in order to promote accuracy certain kinds of tasks can be used: those that encourage pushed output, defined as the cognitive effort to produce and reflect on production, stretching and going beyond the actual competence of the leamer. This reflection on production may encourage the leamer to notice linguistic form and make cognitive comparisons between their interlanguage form and the L2 form, i.e., notice the gap, which may encourage the restructuring of the interlanguage. Bearing this in mind, this research was designed to investigate cognitive and interactional factors involved in the implementation of the pedagogical task known as dictogloss. Five dyads of college students attending an intermediate leveI course in a language center in a state university in the state of São Paulo in Brazil took part of the experiment. The interaction of the dyads was audiotaped as they carried out the task. It required them to listen, take notes, and produce a written reproduction of the oral text with their partners. After that they received a copy of the written text, and went on to compare and notice differences between their versions and the original. From a cognitive perspective, the theoretical background comes from task-based research of Skehan (1996, 1998), the modeI of input processing of VanPatten (1996, 2002), the Output Hypothesis of Swain (1985, 1995) as well as the investigation of individual differences of Robinson (2002, 2005). From a socio-cultural perspective, the theoretical background comes from the collaborative dialogue proposed by Swain (2000) and the interaction pattems by Storch (2001, 2002). From a cognitive perspective, the findings suggest that the high complexity of the task produced a trade-off effect in attentional resources: attention was either allocated to the meaning or to the formoThe oral comprehension and production and the written comprehension and production revealed individual differences in the subjects' cognitive abilities, such as noticing the gap. From a socio-cultural perspective, the collaborative pattem of interaction prevails, but over time, some of the pairs changed to other pattems such as dominant/passive and dominant/dominant, indicating some conflict in their interactions. The collaborative dialogue shows the co-construction of knowledge, but this does not take place in all interaction pattems, such as novice/novice, which is rarely discussed in the literature. In follow-up interviews, the subjects reported that they found the task complex but useful and that working with a partner helped them perform the task
Mestrado
Lingua Estrangeira
Mestre em Linguística Aplicada
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Smit, Talita C. "The role of African literature in enhancing critical literacy in first-generation entrants at the University of Namibia." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1211.
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Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--Stellenbosch University, 2009.ENGLISH SUMMARY: In this research project the profile and academic literacy proficiency of a group of First-Generation entrants at the University of Namibia were explored in order to obtain insight into the development of their critical literacy proficiency during the course of 2008. The project was undertaken against the backdrop of a Higher Education sector in Namibia that is facing an increasing influx of first-year students – often students who are the first in their families to pioneer the alien territory of tertiary studies. Such students predominantly come from marginalised and poorly resourced educational environments far from the capital of Namibia. These English second language First-Generation students consequently enter Higher Education with insufficient levels of academic literacy proficiency in English, the medium of instruction in tertiary institutions in Namibia. An important aspect of such under-preparedness is their academic literacy which is often still regarded only as knowing how to speak and act within a particular discourse, and the reading and writing that occurs within the discipline as the only skills through which to facilitate learning in the mainstream; this, however, is not enough to assist them in problem-solving and high levels of critical thinking. In response, the University of Namibia has implemented academic support programmes to address the needs of students who enter university with poor school results. One such support programme is the ULEG course for those students who qualified for admission to the university but whose school-end marks for English were a D-symbol. Survey results showed that the majority of the students in the ULEG course in 2008 were First-Generation entrants into Higher Education. It was thus decided to conduct this project with one class group of ULEG students. Only data collected from the FG entrants were employed in this case study. This qualitative, interpretive inquiry was characterised by multiple data collection methods. Qualitative data concerning the perceptions of the participants were generated via semi-structured interviews, observation and content analysis. In addition, quantitative data were collected and this further contributed to the triangulation of rich, in-depth data. An awareness-raising programme about the use of metaphoric language in order to draw appropriate inferences was designed and implemented, the rationale being to enhance the participants‟ critical thinking proficiency. As source material short stories, novels, a play and poetry by African authors written in English were employed. To establish the value of such a programme a mixed methods research methodology was employed where qualitative and quantitative data were collected concurrently. The results of this case study question prevailing notions about under-prepared students as well as the mainstreaming of students, as all of the participants in the project attested to the significant challenges that entry into the academic community posed for them. The findings of this project, while specific to the context in which it was undertaken, contribute to the growing body of knowledge in the field of academic development within Higher Education and the role of critical literacy in student learning.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsingsprojek ondersoek die profiel en die vlakke van akademiese geletterdheid van „n groep Eerste-Generasie eerstejaar studente aan die Universiteit van Namibiȅ om insig te bekom oor die ontwikkeling van hulle vlakke van kritiese geletterdheid gedurende 2008. Die projek is onderneem teen die agtergrond van „n Hoër Onderwys sektor in Namibiȅ met „n toenemende invloei van eerstejaar studente. Hierdie studente is dikwels ook die eerstes in hul families wat die onbekende wêreld van tersiëre studie betree. Hierdie Namibiese studente kom meerendeels van gemarginaliseerde en swak-toegerusde onderwys-omgewings ver vanaf die hoofstad, en die enigste universiteit in Namibiȅ. Hierdie Engels tweede taal Eerste-Generasie studente betree gevolglik Hoër Onderwys met onvoldoende vlakke van akademiese geletterdheid in Engels, die medium van onderrig in Namibiȅ. „n Belangrike aspek van sulke akademiese onvoorbereidheid is die studente se akademiese geletterdheid wat dikwels steeds beskou word as slegs die vermoë om korrek te praat en korrek op te tree in „n spesifieke diskoers, sowel as om te kan lees en skryf na gelang van die vereistes van verskillende hoofstroom akademiese dissiplines. So „n vaardigheidsbenadering is egter nie genoeg om studente te help met problem-oplossing and gevorderde vlakke van kritiese denke nie. Die Universiteit van Namibia het as teenvoeter teen die akademiese onvoorbereidheid van studente akademiese ondersteunigsprogramme geimplementeer. Een so „n program is die ULEG-kursus vir studente wat kwalifiseer vir toelating aan die universiteit maar met slegs „n D-simbool in Engels. „n Vraelys het getoon dat die meeste van die studente in die ULEG-kursus in 2008 Eerste-Generasie studente was. Daarom is besluit om hierdie projek met „n klasgroep ULEG studente te onderneem. Slegs data van die Eerste-Generasie eerstejaar studente in die klas is gebruik vir die doeleindes van hierdie navorsingprojek. In hierdie gevalle-studie is die hoofsaaklik beskrywende ondersoek gekarateriseer deur meervoudige data-versamelingstegnieke en -instrumente. Kwalitatiewe data vi aangaande die persepsies van die studente in die projek is versamel deur middel van semi-gestruktureerde gesprekke, observasies en die interpretasie van geskrewe en mondelinge bydraes van studente. Kwantitatiewe data is versamel en ge-analiseer om by te dra tot die triangulasie van ryk en gedetaileerde bevindings. „n Program om studente bekend te stel aan die gebruik van metaforiese taalgebruik om meer effektiewe gevolgtrekkings te kan maak is ontwerp en geimplementeer. Die beweegrede was om die studente se vlakke van kritiese denke te bevorder. As material vir die program is kortverhale, romans, „n drama en gedigte geskryf in Engels deur skrywers uit Afrika gebruik. Om die effektiwiteit van so „n program te evaluaeer is gebruik gemaak van „n gemengde navorsingmetodiek waar kwalititatiewe tegnieke en kwantitatiewe instrumente gelyktydig en aanvullende gebruik is. Die bevindinge van die projek bevraagteken die heersende opvattings in verband met swak-voorbereide studente sowel as hoofstroom-onderrig, aangesien al die studente in hierdie projek bewys gelewer het van die aansienlike persoonlike probleme wat toegang tot die akademie vir hulle ingehou het. Alhoewel die bevindinge spesifiek is aan die konteks van die projek, dra dit by tot die groeiende korpus van kennis in die veld van akademiese ontwikkeling in Hoër Onderwys, sowel as die rol van kritiese geletterdheid in akademiese studies.
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Hjul, Lauren Martha. "The family in Shakespeare's plays: a study of South African revisions." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001832.
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This thesis provides a detailed consideration of the family in Shakespeare’s canon and the engagement therewith in three South African novels: Hill of Fools (1976) by R. L. Peteni, My Son’s Story (1990) by Nadine Gordimer, and Disgrace (1999) by J. M. Coetzee. The study is divided into an introduction, three chapters each addressing one of the South African novels and its relationship with a Shakespeare text or texts, and a conclusion. The introductory chapter provides an analysis of the two strands of criticism in which the thesis is situated – studies of the family in Shakespeare and studies of appropriations of Shakespeare – and discusses the ways in which these two strands may be combined through a detailed discussion of the presence of power dynamics in the relationship between parent and child in all of the texts considered. The three chapters each contextualise the South African text and provide detailed discussions of the family dynamics within the relevant texts, with particular reference to questions of authority and autonomy. The focus in each chapter is determined by the nature of the intertextual relationship between the South African novel and the Shakespearean text being discussed. Thus, the first chapter, “The Dissolution of Familial Structures in Hill of Fools” considers power dynamics in the family as an inherent part of the Romeo and Juliet genre, of which William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is but a part. Similarly, the impact of a socio-political identity, and the secrecy it necessitates, is the focus of the second chapter, “Fathers, Sons and Legacy in My Son’s Story” as is the role of Shakespeare and literature within South Africa. These concerns are connected to the novel’s use of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, King Lear, and Hamlet. In the third chapter, “Reclaiming Agency through the Daughter in Disgrace and The Tempest”, I expand on Laurence Wright’s argument that Disgrace is an engagement with The Tempest and consider ways in which the altered power dynamic between father and daughter results in the reconciliation of the father figure with society. The thesis thus addresses the tension between parental bonds and parental bondage
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Wu, Ching-Hsuan. "Spoken grammaticality and EFL teacher candidates measuring the effects of an explicit grammar teaching method on the oral grammatical performance of teacher candidates /." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1178218484.
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Amatuzzi, Maria Luiza Lotumulo. "Avaliação metodológica dos artigos publicados na área de ortopedia e traumatologia nos anos de 2004 e 2005." Universidade de São Paulo, 2007. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/5/5140/tde-20082007-163705/.
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A autora avaliou a qualidade dos artigos publicados na literatura brasileira, na área de Ortopedia e Traumatologia. Foi feita a revisão de todos os artigos constantes dos sumários da Acta Ortopédica Brasileira e da Revista Brasileira de Ortopedia, em seus fascículos publicados nos anos de 2004 e 2005. Considerou que o conteúdo dessas duas Revistas retrata a produção científica nacional na área e que sua análise pode responder ao objetivo do trabalho. Após o levantamento da literatura, foi escolhida a classificação de Cook adaptada por Atallah para a classificação dos artigos por Nível de Evidência. Foi utilizada a lista de Atallah para a avaliação metodológica para trabalhos sobre terapêutica, etiologia e diagnóstico. Os artigos de ciência básica foram avaliados por suas características metodológicas e classificados por parâmetros representativos de seu nível e utilizados formulários preenchidos por dois avaliadores. Foram aplicados cálculos de estatística descritiva. A autora conclui que a qualidade metodológica dos artigos publicados nas revistas analisadas é inadequada e tem baixo Nível de Evidência.The author evaluated the quality of articles published within the field of Orthopedics and Traumatology in Brazil. A review was conducted on all the articles appearing in the summaries of Acta Ortopédica Brasileira and Revista Brasileira de Ortopedia, in their issues published in the years 2004 and 2005. The author took the content of these two journals to portray the national scientific production in this field and made the assumption that analysis of these journals would provide answers for the study objective. After surveying the literature, the classification of Cook as adapted by Atallah for classifying articles by evidence level, was chosen. Atallahs list for evaluating the methodology of studies on therapies, etiologies and diagnoses was utilized. Articles on basic science were evaluated according to the methodological characteristics and were classified using parameters that represented their level. Forms filled out by two evaluators were utilized. Descriptive statistical calculations were applied. The author concluded that the methodological quality of the articles published in the journals analyzed is inadequate and provides a low level of evidence.
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Forkapa, Dan. "The Other Side of Fun." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1513106622529833.
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Van, der Mescht Caroline. "Positions on the mat : a micro-ethnographic study of teachers' and learners' co-construction of an early literacy practice." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004333.
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This thesis reports on research into micro-interactions within the reading literacy event Reading on the Mat in three Grade One classrooms. This event is the core of literacy learning in Foundation Phase classrooms in formerly ‘white’, government-funded primary schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and takes place daily for every child. It is literacy practice resembling Group Guided Reading. The research focused on teachers’ identity-forming decisions, actions and discourses as a way of examining micro-interactions within the literacy event. Hymes’s work on the ethnography of communication provided categories for the investigation. Using an ethnographic approach, I entered the sites of the study as a participant observer. There I focused on the central literacy event, in which a group of children and the teacher sit in close proximity. I made field notes, video recordings and audio recordings in three sets of visits spanning the full school year. These were supplemented by teacher interviews, consideration of reports and assessments, and an analysis of the text types used on the Mat, for example, graded readers, flash cards and phonics primers. Beginning with Hymes’ S.P.E.A.K.I.N.G. mnemonic, cycles of analysis using multiple instruments foregrounded the data. The central finding of this research is that in Reading on the Mat children are offered identities through strong normative work and embedded practices. Teachers promote positive identities for children as successful readers and create positive affect for reading activities. This positive positioning work is however undercut by three factors: first, the fact that activities on the Mat focus on decoding text fragments rather than interrogating whole texts. The resultant identity offered to children is one of code breakers alone. A finding subsidiary to this, but important for pedagogic practice, is that teachers’ choice of text types is the most powerful determinant of children’s code breaker identity. A second factor that undercuts children’s identity as successful readers is that, although they are active, they have little agency. This derives from the strong assessment focus of teachers on the Mat and their questioning practices. A third factor which undercuts the positive identity children are offered in this literacy event is that, by focusing primarily on decoding fragmented text and on assessment opportunities, teachers avoid engaging with issues of differentiation and disregard cultural and linguistic differences. Teachers’ choices, therefore, while creating a positive climate in the classroom and developing emergent readers who are effective decoders, construct children as limited literate subjects. The same choices enable teachers to ignore learner diversity.Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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Prentiss, Apryl D. "For the Love of God?! Is there a place for Gay Christians between Faith and Fundamentalism?" VCU Scholars Compass, 2010. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/88.
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Drawing from observation, autoethnography, ethnographic research and audio-taped interviews, this thesis explores the complicated and emotionally charged relationship between homosexuality and Christianity. The current culture war being waged in the media between the Religious Right and members of the LGBT community often results in the isolation and rejection of those who would define themselves as gay Christians. This thesis explores the role of the Bible as it informs and catalyzes this war and other foundational beliefs used as weapons in this rhetorical conflict. Additionally, this thesis analyzes the current battle between the church and the social movement for change in light of the historical battles fought over similar movements. The rhetoric of Christianity, specifically Fundamentalist rhetoric, has been emphatically defended and then dramatically changed in every such battle. Is this a possible resolution for today’s current battle? The thesis explores the historical basis and current application of rhetorical effects on this conflict through the author’s insight as a veteran of both worlds, interviews with major players in the battle such as Randy Thomas and Kristin Tremba of Exodus International and interviews with people who step on the battlefield everyday as pastors, congregants or observers in the fight. With each interview or rhetorical analysis, the viability of dialogue between these two groups is questioned and investigated.
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Miggou, Olga. "A strategic enquiry into the holistic nature of corporate identity to enable its systematic control." Thesis, De Montfort University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/7669.
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This is an unconventional study, which addresses the thematic field and the esoteric nature and essence of Corporate Identity. The thesis concentrates in the understanding of Corporate Identity aiming towards an holistic explanation of the concept appropriate for practical multidisciplinary use. It proposes a systematic methodology and establishes a design practitioner perspective, which aims at reliable co-ordination and control of Corporate Identity operations. The methodology to structure the literature A Strategic methodology of questions was developed to operate as a research methodology, which explored Corporate Identity, by revealing the “Form” of its concepts, its connections and its anomalies, as they occur extensively in the published and public domain. The review of published literature was carried out through a discussion process of published material subjected to diagnostic questions; through which the Terminology, Functional concepts, Methodologies are reported to influence Corporate Identity; contributing to the understanding of Corporate Identity’s Form and to further clarifying research issues. Literature review, was subjected to discussion, provisional observations and conclusions and is presented into 8 chapters. The Strategic Enquiry continued and extended on discussing Corporate Identity Field Examples, to interrogate real life experience material, to reveal an extended understanding of overt and covert issues of Corporate Identity’s Form, and to focus research planning accordingly. This process contributed into bringing together clusters of relevant information, gleaned from a rather fragmented published literature, thus forming a more holistic and broader understanding of the concept. However, from this holistic picture it was observed that certain essential texts are missing. Hence a further information literature search, was carried out which reported on texts which are not sufficiently or at all covered in specialised Corporate Identity literature but were regognised by this researcher as essential for a meaningful development of this thesis. The most important information brought into the context of Corporate Identity, at this stage, was a well established tool applicable to complex design projects, which was considered to be useful towards a more effective and holistic Corporate Identity control. The Field work This systematic approach and treatment of the published material contributed to an holistic understanding of the nature, scope, importance, complexity and topicality, of the subject; and lead to a diagnostic understanding of important problems that continually challenge the field. This was achieved through the research design of the thesis, which incorporated the inferences and observations of the Strategic Enquiry and the tried and tested systems design model for the organisation of complex design projects was used as a reference datum to inform the compilation of the questions of a semistructured interview. The Field study explored how Corporate Identity processes were holistically carried out in a Big UK financial institution specifically looking for practice discontinuities and deviations in the procedures. A diagnostic tool appropriate to investigate Corporate Identity operations was created as a result. The interview material was also subjected to content analysis to explore whether the thesis’ inferences and deductions could d also be grounded in practice. The thesis was then evaluated by relating the thesis material, to the thesis objectives, highlighting the outcomes and limitations employing SWOT analysis. As an epilogue to this thesis, within resources available this study appears to have contributed a substantial insight to the Form and operations of Corporate Identity. It also identified the opportunity for more valuable research, to be carried out.
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Lindle, Rachel L. "LEARNING TO RETELL STORIES THROUGH COMPARATIVE TEACHING: WRITING AND DRAWING." UKnowledge, 2014. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/art_etds/7.
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Students who are emergent readers and writers are often difficult to assess, as they are unable to communicate understanding in writing. From my observations, these students communicate ideas best through concrete forms of expression, rather than the abstract formation of letters and writing that is unfamiliar to them. Drawing provides an alternate form of expression from writing. Based on information found in literature review and personal experiences from working with students who are emergent readers and writers, pictures and drawings are a bridge to communicate ideas with these students. This form of expression and communication may be a useful assessment tool for students at this developmental stage. The purpose of this research study is to test the hypothesis that retelling using visual art representations of the story will yield positive results.
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Harris, Treviene A. "Bleaching To Reach: Skin Bleaching as a Performance of Embodied Resistance in Jamaican Dancehall Culture." FIU Digital Commons, 2014. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1129.
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This thesis examines how skin bleaching can be understood within the cultural context of Jamaican dancehall. I argue that as a cultural practice, skin bleaching can be viewed as a critique of the concomitant structural inequalities precipitated by colorism, which is a by-product of racism. In proposing skin bleaching as a queer performance of color, I attempt to illustrate the manner in which the lightening of the skin exposes the instability of racism and colorism as socially constructed, discursive regimes. If race and skin color are biological and embodied facts dictated by social reality, then bodies, which are racially marked and colored subjects, can be used to project counter discourses that challenge these specific regimes. The space of discursive limit imposed on the racialized or colored body-subject is a space from which critiques of dominant discourses can be projected, and bleaching does precisely that. I conclude therefore, that skin bleaching is performed resistance which challenges the dominating discourses on race by first destabilizing the notion that skin color is an immutable biological fact, and second by contesting subsequent discourses that are contingent on the “facts” of color and race.
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Thurin, Jean-Michel. "Caractériser et comprendre le processus de changement des psychothérapies complexes : modélisation des processus, mécanismes et conditions des changements associés à la psychothérapie de 66 enfants et adolescents présentant des troubles du spectre autistique." Thesis, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017USPCB104/document.
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La méthodologie de l’évaluation en psychothérapie s’est longtemps limitée aux résultats issus d’essais cliniques comparatifs de groupes. L’objectif, engagé dans les années 2000, de comprendre ce qui cause son efficacité a engagé un renouvellement méthodologique. Son application concrète est peu documentée. La première partie présente, à partir d’une revue de la littérature centrée sur l’introduction de la recherche sur le processus associée aux résultats, comment le paradigme interactionnel multifactoriel de la psychothérapie a stimulé le développement de méthodes adaptées à la complexité et à l’observation en conditions naturelles. La seconde partie introduit autour de cinq axes principaux les questions méthodologiques générales et spécifiques de cette nouvelle orientation : 1. une épistémologie interactionnelle et transactionnelle ; 2. Un recentrage sur les études mixtes intensives de cas ; 3. Une investigation clinique et théorique multifocale des processus et mécanismes de changement ; 4. une forte relation clinicien-chercheur ; 5. une approche statistique innovante. La troisième partie expose l’expérience et les questions soulevées par la mise en œuvre de ce programme dans le cadre d’un réseau de recherche clinique centré sur les pratiques, du recueil des données jusqu’à l’analyse des processus et mécanismes de changement, et les résultats qui en sont issus. La quatrième partie présente une revue détaillée de la littérature. Ce travail devrait favoriser les collaborations avec les disciplines connexes et l’efficience des traitements par une meilleure connaissance des conditions et des mécanismes de changement associée au développement d’une base de données issue d’études de casThe methodology of assessment in psychotherapy has long been limited to results from comparative group clinical trials. The objective, expressed in the 2000s, to understand what is causing its effectiveness has involved a methodological renewal. Its concrete application is poorly documented. The first part presents, from a review of the literature focusing on the introduction of research on the process associated with outcomes, how the multifactorial interactional paradigm of psychotherapy has stimulated the development of methods adapted to the complexity and observation in natural conditions. The second part introduces the general and specific methodological questions of this new orientation around five main axes: 1. an interactional and transactional epistemology; 2. A refocusing on intensive mixed case studies; 3. A multifocal clinical and theoretical investigation of the processes and mechanisms of change; 4. a strong clinical-researcher relationship; 5. an innovative statistical approach. The third part presents the experience and issues raised by the implementation of this program as part of a practice-oriented clinical research network, from data collection to analysis of processes and mechanisms of change, and results. The fourth part presents a detailed review of the literature. This work should foster collaborations with related disciplines and treatment efficiency through a better understanding of the conditions and mechanisms of change associated with the development of a case study database
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Butler, Ian. "Integrating language and literature in English studies : a case study of the English 100 course at the University of North West." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/1663.
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This thesis is a case study, conducted within a paradigm of action research, of the English 100 course at the University of the North West (now the Mafikeng campus of North West University), as taught by the author in the years 2000 - 2001. Its aim is to investigate the effect of the integration of language and literature on the first year of the undergraduate programme.
The case study is placed in context through a consideration of educational change in South Africa. This includes changes taking place in the study of English as a second language at tertiary level, as well as the broader innovations to South African education brought about by government legislation. Two aspects of the latter are singled out for special attention: outcomes-based education and quality assurance.
The case study is also contextualized at an international level through a survey of the theory and practice of an integrated approach to the teaching of language and literature to ESOL students. A survey of the literature, mainly in the last twenty years, reveals a growing interest in this approach. An attempt is then made to encapsulate this research in the form of fourteen statements about the supposed benefits of integrating language and literature. Through a detailed analysis of the performance of the first-year students, the case study subsequently attempts to test the validity of these claims.
The study is presented as a process involving syllabus design, materials development, implementation of the course and an evaluation of its efficacy by the teacher-researcher. In line with the methodology of action research, a variety of methods is used to gather data. These include introspection and reflection (through the use of a teacher's journal and lesson reports), the analysis of written work produced by students, classroom observation by a `critical friend', triangulation (through the use of questionnaires, students' journals and self-reflective tasks) and documentation from the Department of English and university administration. The analysis of these data is both quantitative and qualitative. In keeping with the philosophy of action research and current educational practice, an attempt was made to incorporate and act upon the insights of students and colleagues. Reports on work-in-progress were also published in a number of fora: references are given in the thesis. The assumptions of action research are also apparent in the way in which the study is situated within cycles of action, reflection and improvement of pedagogical practice.
The conclusion of the thesis is partly stated in terms of quality assurance: an attempt is made to assess the suitability of the integrated approach with regard to its fitness of and for purpose. It is concluded that a number of contextual factors, such as the conditions under which the English 100 course was taught and the under-preparedness of many of the students, militated against its success. The case-study is also assessed in terms of its contribution to international research in the field, and the personal development of the researcher. As is commonly found both in action research and in case study research, the findings of the study are context specific: consequently, no claim is made that they are generalizable to all other contexts.English Studies
D.Litt. et Phil.
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Barker, Derek Alan. "English academic literary discourse in South Africa 1958-2004: a review of 11 academic journals." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/898.
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This thesis examines the discipline of English studies in South Africa through a review of articles published in 11 academic journals over the period 1958-2004. The aims are to gain a better understanding of the functions of peer-reviewed journals, to reveal the presence of rules governing discursive production, and to uncover the historical shifts in approach and choice of disciplinary objects. The Foucauldian typology of procedures determining discursive production, that is: exclusionary, internal and restrictive procedures, is applied to the discipline of English studies in order to elucidate the existence of such procedures in the discipline. Each journal is reviewed individually and comparatively. Static and chronological statistical analyses are undertaken on the articles in the 11 journals in order to provide empirical evidence to subvert the contention that the discipline is unruly and its choice of objects random. The cumulative results of this analysis are used to describe the major shifts primarily in ranges of disciplinary objects, but also in metadiscursive and thematic debates. Each of the journals is characterised in relation to what the overall analysis reveals about the mainstream developments. The two main findings are that, during the period under review, South African imaginative written artefacts have moved from a marginal position to the centre of focus of the discipline; and that the conception of what constitutes the `literary' has returned to a pre-Practical criticism definition, broadly inclusive of a variety of types of artefact including imaginative writing, such as autobiography, letters, journals and orature.English Studies
D. Litt. et Phil. (English)
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Robinson, David Edwin. "An investigation into the teaching of English literature at senior secondary school level, with a particular emphasis on the reason for teaching literature, the selection of texts, and methodology used." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/17808.
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This thesis addresses three questions regarding education in South African High Schools: Why teach English literature? What English literature should be taught? How should English literature be taught?
The thesis adopts an historical perspective in that it traces the lineages of influence from Britain in particular, and explores the attitudes and concerns of the academics and teachers of South Africa as they attempt to establish a rigorous discipline regarding South Africa’s literary heritage and the education curriculum. Theoretical concerns that are explored include the influence of the Cambridge School, the concepts presented by the Marxists and Cultural Materialists, and the position of Theory as it became more significant in the second half of the 20th Century. There is also recognition of scholarship deriving from the United States of America, in that the work of the New Critics and Harold Bloom are considered.
The work of significant South African critics such as Guy Butler, Mike Kirkwood and Tim Couzens is also explored, and the attempt to grapple with English in a multilingual society is considered. The curriculum documents that emerged in the post-1994 era are critiqued, and there is reference to the work of Taylor and Vinjevold.
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Stewart, Graham Douglas James. "The implications of e-text resource development for Southern African literary studies in terms of analysis and methodology." Thesis, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/9002.
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This study was aimed at investigating established electronic text and information projects
and resources to inform the design and implementation of a South African electronic text
resource. Literature was surveyed on a wide variety of electronic text projects and virtual
libraries in the humanities, bibliographic databases, electronic encyclopaedias, literature
webs, on-line learning, corcordancing and textual analysis, and computer application
programs for searching and displaying electronic texts .The SALIT Web CD-ROM which is
a supplementary outcome of the research - including the database, relational table structure,
keyword search criteria, search screens, and hypertext linking of title entries to the
electronic full-texts in the virtual library section - was based on this research. Other
outcomes of the project include encoded electronic texts and an Internet web site.
The research was undertaken to investigate the benefits of designing and developing an etext
database (hypertext web) that could be used effectively as a learning/teaching and
research resource in South African literary studies. The backbone of the resource would be
an indexed ''virtual library" containing electronic texts (books and other documents in
digital form), conforming to international standards for interchange and for sharing with
others. Working on the assumption that hypertext is an essentially democratic and anti canonical
environment where the learner/users are free to construct meaning for themselves,
it seemed an ideal medium in which to conduct learning, teaching and research in South
African literature.
By undertaking this project I hoped to start a process, based on international standards, that
would provide a framework for a virtual library of South African literature, especially those
works considered "marginal" or which had gone out of print, or were difficult to access for
a variety of reasons. Internationally, the TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) and other, literature based
hypertext projects, promised the emergence of networked information resources that
could absorb and then share texts essential for contemporary South African literary
research.
Investigation of the current status of on-line reference sources revealed that the digital
frameworks underlying bibliographic databases, electronic encyclopaedias and literature
webs are now very similar. Specially designed displays allow the SALIT Web to be used as
a digital library, providing an opportunity to read books that may not be available from any
other library. The on-line learning potential of the SALIT Web is extensive. Asynchronous
Learning Network (ALN) programmes in use were assessed and found to offer a high
degree of learner-tutor and learner-learner interaction.
The Text Analysis Computing Tools (TACT) program was used to investigate the
possibility of detailed text analysis of the full texts included in the SALIT library on the CDROM.
Features such as Keyword-in-context and word-frequency generators, offer valuable
methods to automate the more time-consuming aspects of both thematic and formal text
analysis.
In the light of current hypertext theory that emphasises hypertext's lack of fixity and
closure, the SALIT Web can be seen to transfer authority from the author/teacher/librarian,
to the user, by offering free access to information and so weakening the established power
relations of education and access to education. The resource has the capacity to allow the
user to examine previously unnoticed, but significant contradictions, inconsistencies and
patterns and construct meaning from them. Yet the resource may still also contain
interventions by the author/teacher consisting of pathways to promote the construction of
meaning, but not dictate it.
A hypertext web resource harnesses the cheap and powerful benefits of Information
Technology for the purpose of literary research, especially in the under-resourced area of
South African literary studies. By making a large amount of information readily available
and easily accessible, it saves time and reduces frustration for both learners and teachers.
An electronic text resource provides users with a virtual library at their fingertips. Its
resources can be standardised so that others can add to it, thus compounding the benefits
over time. It can place scarce works (books, articles and papers) within easy access for
student use. Students may then be able to use its resources for independent discovery, or via
guided sets of exercises or assignments. Electronic texts break the tyranny of inadequate
library resources, restricted access to rare documents and the unavailability of
comprehensive bibliographical information in the area of South African literary studies.
The publication of the CD-ROM enables the launch of new, related projects, with the
emphasis on building a collection of South African texts in all languages and in translation.
Training in electronic text preparation, and Internet access to the resource will also be
addressed to take these projects forward.Thesis (Ph.D)-University of Durban-Westville, Durban,1999.