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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social language use in Nigeria'
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Salami, L. O. "The social patterns of variation in spoken Yoruba in Ile-Ife, Nigeria." Thesis, University of Sussex, 1987. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.378275.
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Archibong, Mfon Archibong. "Perceptions about Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria: A Qualitative Study of Young Adults Age 18-24." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/2517.
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Despite the ongoing investments in programs to increase sexual health awareness among young adults globally, many youths remain vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Two-thirds of all STDs occur among youths engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors, which put young adults at higher risk of STDs and can result in serious consequences including infertility. Additionally, the social consequences of STD affect families and communities. While a need exists for increased public awareness of STDs among young adults, extant intervention and prevention activities should be informed by a cultural perspective, including the integration of community and government roles. The purpose of this social ecological study was to investigate the perceptions of STDs and the potential factors responsible for the increased frequency of STDs based on the lived experiences of 20 young adults with STDs in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Through a qualitative approach using a phenomenological research design, this study employed semi-structured interviews, and the resultant data were analyzed and coded. The findings indicated that college-aged students increasingly engaged in sexually risky behavior with multiple sexual partners for financial gain and power. Additionally, while institutions promoted abstinence as an effective strategy to reduce STD infections, the findings indicated a strong relationship between the phenomenon and individual interconnectedness with the larger society. Because the sexual behavior of young adults in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, is influenced at multiple ecological levels, effective and sustaining culturally appropriate STD interventions must involve the larger society including young adults in all stages of intervention development and implementation.
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Duru, Malachy. "La Langue Igbo dans la culture de l'école et de la société : une réflexion sociolinguistique sur l'attitude des Igbos vis-à-vis de leur langue." Grenoble 3, 1992. http://www.theses.fr/1992GRE39018.
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Partant de l'hypothese que l'opposition entre la competence communicative des "apprenants" jugee conforme a la norme sco laire et celle jugee conforme a la norme socio-traditionnelle, cette etude a remis la politique linguistique de l'educat ion occidentale pratiquee dans la region du sud-est du nigeria. Certe, le colonialisme britannique a beaucoup apporte a la tradition igbo mais cette meme tradition a aussi souffert la prejudice politique et economique de ce colonialisme. Enfin, la prejudice economique a eu, comme consequence, le deplacement des igbos vers les regions les plus favorisees af in d'y trouver du travail. Leur long sejour en dehors leur region entraine la perte de leur habitude linguistique traditionnelleBased on the hypothesis that the opposition between the learners' communicative competence that is considered as being in perfect conformity with the norms of the school, and that is considered as being in perfect conformity with the norms of the society, this study has questionned the language policy of the western education that is applied in the south-east of nigeria. It is certain that hte british colonialisme brought a lot of good things to the igbo tradition but the igbo tradition has suffered political and economic injustice from this british colonialisme. As aresult of the economic injustice, igbos are forced to move to other regions that are better favoured in search of work. Their long stay in these regions make them loose their traditional linguistics habits
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Omoniyi, Babatunde Omotope. "The sociolinguistics of the Nigeria-Benin border : language use and identity in Idiroko and Igolo." Thesis, University of Reading, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.384907.
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Caulfield, John. "A social network analysis of Irish language use in social media." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2013. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/53228/.
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Statistics show that the world wide web is dominated by a few widely spoken languages. However, in quieter corners of the web, clusters of minority language speakers can be found interacting and sharing content. This study is the first to compare three such clusters of Irish language social media users. Social network analysis of the most active public sites of interaction through Irish – the Irish language blogosphere, the Irish language Twittersphere and a popular Irish language Facebook group – reveals unique networks of individuals communicating through Irish in unique and innovative ways. Firstly, it describes the members and their activity, and the size and structure of the networks they share. Then through focused discourse analysis of the core prolific users in each network it describes how the language has been adapted to computer-mediated communication. This study found that the largest networks of Irish speakers comprised between 150-300 regular participants each. Most members were adults, male, and lived in towns and cities outside of the language’s traditional heartland. Moreover, each group shared one common trait: though scattered geographically, through regular online interaction between core members they behave like communities. They were found to have shared histories, norms and customs, and self-awareness that their groups were unique. Furthermore, core users had adapted the language in new and innovative ways through their online discourse. This study is the first comprehensive audit of who is using the Irish language socially on the web, where they are forming networks online, and how they are adapting the language to online discourse. It makes a unique contribution in re-imagining what constitutes an Irish language community in the context of the Network Society. In the process, it contributes to the growing body of sociolinguistic research into globalisation and local identity on the web.
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Gonzalez, Gwynne. "SPANISH HERITAGE LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE USE, LINGUISTIC INSECURITY, AND SOCIAL NETWORKS." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/144600.
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The field of heritage language maintenance lacks an in-depth look at the social networks that make-up the linguistic interaction of heritage speakers of Spanish. Moreover, the social network studies that have focused on language maintenance have all investigated the maintenance of a first language spoken by immigrants or the use of a dialect. Undoubtedly, there is a lacuna of research with regard to heritage speakers of a language, which is the focus of the proposed study. There is an even greater deficit in the study of linguistic insecurity among heritage language speakers and the correlation that there may be with regard to social networks. The present research fills this gap by examining these issues within a population of heritage speakers of Spanish at the University of Arizona.This study examines correlations between linguistic insecurity, social networks and language use in heritage speakers of Spanish. The population investigated are college aged students registered in the beginning and intermediate courses of the Heritage Language Program at the University of Arizona, Tucson (SPAN 103, 203, and 253). Linguistic insecurity is measured using an adapted version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope, 1986) and language use is measured through an online questionnaire. The subjects' social networks are identified using an adapted on-line version of the Cochran, Larner, Riley, Gunnarson, & Henderson's (1990) social network questionnaire. This study details the social networks of heritage language speakers of Spanish and presents the correlation between these networks, the participants' use of Spanish and their linguistic insecurity in a discussion regarding the speakers' prospects of maintaining the heritage language. Secondly, it presents correlations between the linguistic insecurity of heritage language speakers of Spanish, Spanish language use, oral proficiency and social network structure. The information provided by this study will help in the understanding of the function of social networks in the maintenance of a heritage language. It will further assist in the understanding of linguistic insecurity and provide a foundation for further research into how to address linguistic insecurity in the heritage language classroom.
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Rikhotso, A. M. "Language policy and language use in South African Social Security Agency (SASSA),Limpopo Province." Thesis, University of Limpopo, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10386/1231.
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Thesis (M.A. (Linguistics)) --University of Limpopo, 2015This study is a qualitative descriptive study which analyses the words that the respondents used to provide their answers. The study is on language policy which should be available in each institution and it must also be implemented. Questionnaire and interviews were used to collect data. The questionnaires were distributed to the officials of SASSA and the beneficiaries were interviewed in all six languages that are found in Limpopo province. Data was presented and interpreted in this study. The SPSS software has been used as it does not consume time in analysing data. The main issue was to get the opinions that the officials and beneficiaries has on the absence of language policy in SASSA. The importance of language policy is to control on how language should be used in a particular institution. Language unit are responsible for establishing language policy as they will find facts on how many languages are used by the beneficiaries, how many speakers of each language, within the particular geographical area. When language policy has been established, it has to be implemented to start working. Most institutions have language policy for submission to the government but it cannot be implemented as they mention impossible statements which cannot be implemented. When institutions establish language policy for submission they tend to make vague declarations which are impossible to implement. They are just statements which are kept in offices but are never used.
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Zhou, Yanping. "The Metaphorical Use of Plant Words in Everyday Language." Thesis, Kristianstad University, Department of Teacher Education, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-6621.
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Smith, Janet L. "Integrating language arts and social studies through the use of literature." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1991. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/736.
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Lindström, Caroline. "Teacher attitudes and motivation concerning target language use." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-35514.
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The aim of this paper is to investigate how the actual implementation of target language use might differ from the theoretical standpoint that is promoted in the curriculum in Swedish and teacher attitudes towards the suggested level of TL use. The paper will also investigate teacher motivations behind these differences. It has long been the tradition in language teaching to promote a sole use of the target language in order to expose students to as much of the language as possible. However, research shows that student’s first language (L1) is frequently used in foreign language teaching. The current study is qualitative and investigates four English teachers from three different schools in the south of Sweden, all teaching in K-3. In order to collect data, observations were conducted and a semi-structured interview with each of the participating teachers. The results present a limited use of the target language and a more extensive use of the L1 in class. The results regarding teacher attitudes and motivations towards the use of the target language emerged into three themes: Teachers’ use of the TL and L1; Facilitating young language learners; and Teacher experience and awareness. The study implicates that teacher language choices are highly affected by students understanding and teachers’ own experience with attitudes reflecting inclusion of the L1 and an enjoyable learning environment as the main target.
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Morey, Jennifer P. "Subtle Subversion: Gaskell's use of Scripture in Her Social Purpose Novels." W&M ScholarWorks, 1990. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539625598.
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Lemus, Linda Rafaela. "Portraits of Multilinguals on Social Network Sites| Identity Negotiation and Language Use." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10931985.
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This research examines the multilingual experiences of university Spanish and Portuguese language learning students, all of whom participate on social network sites (SNSs). This longitudinal study is primarily comprised of data collected from Facebook from each student's last semester in high school through their penultimate college semester. These case studies produced portraits through the review of an initial questionnaire, interviews, Facebook and other social media data using discourse-centered online ethnography (Androutsopoulos, 2008). An ethnographic case study methodology is practiced to present, describe and analyze how these university students negotiate their identity through translanguaging practices (García, 2009; Li, 2017) and their communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998).
This qualitative study asks: How do these three language learners of English-Spanish-Portuguese (2 heritage language and 1 second language Spanish; 3 third language Portuguese) use their languages on their social media such as the SNS Facebook? What are the roles of sociolinguistic agency, place and communities of practice in students’ language choices? Do students make space for the languages to coexist (translanguaging practices) in their shared posts? My research expands our understanding of heritage, second and third language students’ language practices and offers an examination of these students negotiating their experiences within their SNSs.
Few studies have researched language practices and identity of university students, especially of heritage language learners, on SNSs. Looking beyond language learning and SNSs in the classroom, this study explores the role that social participation plays in the language learning process (see Wenger, 1998) and looks at how the three students use their languages and agency to participate in online SNSs and navigate their spaces. This research offers an in-depth look at the importance of place and community in the negotiation of translingual identities and takes into consideration places such as the classroom, social media, and study abroad. It also takes into account the importance of social networks on identity construction to better understand the language practices of university students. This research moves from the how-to use SNSs in language learning to what practices language learners take part in their everyday language and SNSs use. The aim of the study is to better inform our language classroom practices and lessen the disconnect between what university educators suggest doing and what students would actually do on SNSs. The value of reducing this disconnect is to engage students to use their second and third languages in their everyday lives.
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Cesarano, Alessandro. "Language Educators’ Perceptions of Their Use of Social Media for Pedagogical Purposes." Scholar Commons, 2018. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7132.
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Technology has changed the way we communicate, teach, and learn. Today’s generation of college students has never known what it is like to be without a cell phone or a computer. Social media is an integral part of their lives. As technology evolves, so do students’ expectations for a learning experience. This experience goes beyond the traditional classroom boundaries’ constrains. Understanding how to take advantage of the pedagogical potential of new technologies is therefore essential for language educators. Broadly speaking, there is much discussion about the integration of social media in language education. However, little is known about how these technologies may work in the language classroom. While many studies focus on the pedagogical benefits, few studies have explored the experiences of language educators who use social media to enhance and transform the traditional learning environment. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to explore language educators’ perspectives on their use of social media for pedagogical purposes. To gain a better understanding of language educators’ experiences in the use of social media, I interviewed a language educator at a large, public, research university, located in the Southeast of the United States. The primary data sources for this qualitative study consists of a semi-structured survey questionnaire, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews, and a researcher reflective journal. Throughout the study, I analyzed the data to build on the respondents’ comments. To ensure the trustworthiness of the study, I employed several techniques, including data triangulation, peer debriefing, member checking, reflexive journaling, and creating an audit trail. Study findings reveal that participants perceived social media as an instructional medium to blend informal learning into formal learning online, face-to-face, and blended environments, to facilitate a participatory culture, and to provide opportunities for students’ self-expression, self-reflection, and social interaction. Based on the findings, I offer recommendations for instructors, instructional designers, and policy developers. Finally, I address possible future research directions.
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Boutemy, Gabrielle C. "Alexithymia as Related to the use of Language and Symptom Reporting." W&M ScholarWorks, 2000. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539626278.
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Owolabi, Kehinde Aboyami. "Access and use of clinical informatics among medical doctors in selected teaching hospitals in Nigeria and South Africa." Thesis, University of Zululand, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10530/1529.
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A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Library and Information Studies) in the Department of Information Studies at the University Of Zululand, 2017This study examined access and use of clinical informatics among medical doctors at University College Hospital, Nigeria and King Edward VIII Hospital, South Africa. The specific objectives of the study were to explain the purposes of using clinical informatics; determine the benefits of using clinical informatics in the selected teaching hospitals; ascertain the availability of clinical informatics infrastructure in the selected teaching hospitals; identify the clinical informatics facilities that are accessible to medical doctors in the selected teaching hospitals; determine the factors that influence the behavioural intention to use clinical informatics by medical doctors in the selected teaching hospitals; determine the policies that guide the effective accessibility and utilisation of clinical informatics among medical doctors in the selected teaching hospitals; and investigate the challenges that faced both the access to and the use of clinical informatics among medical doctors in the selected teaching hospitals. The study adopted the post-positivist paradigm which combines both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The study largely used a survey design. The sample for the study was drawn from medical doctors in two purposively selected teaching hospitals in Nigeria and South Africa. The teaching hospitals were King Edward V111 hospital, Durban, South Africa and University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. The two teaching hospitals were selected because they belong to the first generation of teaching hospitals in Nigeria and South Africa, among other reasons. It was believed that they would be well established in terms of funding towards infrastructure and human development in their respective countries. Convenience sampling was used to select the respondents for the study. The questionnaire was administered to 413 medical doctors, 258 (63%) of whom returned the questionnaire. Interviews were also conducted with the heads of the ICT units at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria, and King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban, South Africa. The quantitative data aspect of the study was analysed using descriptive statistics and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), while the qualitative aspect of the data was analysed through the use of qualitative contents analysis. The study was guided by the Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). The essence of using this theory is to identify the factors that influence the use of clinical informatics. The finding of the study reveals that there was an association between the demographic variables and the use of clinical informatics. It was established that there was a significant association between the medical department and the use of electronic medical records. An assessment of the socio-demographic characteristics and the use of the Clinical Decision Support System revealed that there was a significant association between the years of medical practice and the use of Clinical Decision Support System. The finding also revealed that social demographic variables such as age, years of practice and position were all significant related with the use of diagnostic image archiving. Furthermore, the surveyed medical doctors stated that their main purpose of using clinical informatics is for medical diagnosis. It was also discovered that there is association between the teaching hospitals and the use of clinical informatics for knowledge sharing. In addition, clinical informatics was found to influence the spirit of team work amongst the medical doctors through knowledge sharing with their professional colleagues and their medical students. Similarly, there were association between the teaching hospitals treatment of patients and effective healthcare delivery. In addition, the major benefit of using clinical informatics in the two hospitals was to reduce medical errors. The most available clinical informatics tools in the selected teaching hospitals were the Diagnosis Image Archiving and Clinical Decision Support System. Performance expectancy and effort expectancy were identified as the factors from the UTAUT that influenced the medical doctors’ behavioural intention to use clinical informatics resources in the selected teaching hospitals. The non-availability of clinical informatics resources was identified as the main challenge facing the effective access to and use of clinical informatics. In addition, the two hospitals relied on the ICT policies of other institutions and did not have their own ICT policies, which was problematic. The study concluded that the clinical informatics environments in the two teaching hospitals are inadequate and there is poor access to clinical informatics resources among medical doctors in the selected teaching hospitals. Major recommendations of the study include the need to establish ICT policies and increase investment in clinical informatics resources at the surveyed teaching hospitals in order to promote effective and value-based healthcare delivery. In addition, the hospital management should create awareness on the importance and benefits of clinical informatics particularly for the medical doctors through informal and continuing education and training such as workshops and short courses. Moreover, the hospital managements need to partner with relevant stakeholders such as government, corporate bodies, and departments of health. This is for the provision of adequate and suitable environment to support the access and use of clinical informatics. Further studies on the various types of health informatics such as nursing informatics, pharmacy informatics and veterinary informatics are recommended. It is also suggested that the study should be extended to other regions of Africa. The study is significant and makes tangible contributions to technology acceptance and use in clinical medicine from developing country contexts such as Nigeria and South Africa giving the increasing role of information and communication technology in diagnosis, prescription, treatment, monitoring and overall management of patient care in an environment characterized by complex diseases. The study has the potential to inform policy, practises, and also contribute to this research in the general area of social information in Africa.
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Monks, Judith A. "Describing sickness : talk, social relations and personhood following a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis." Thesis, Brunel University, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.390207.
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Perry, Elizabeth. "The declining use of the Mixtec language the persistence of memory, discrimination, and social hierarchies of power /." Diss., [La Jolla] : University of California, San Diego, 2009. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ucsd/fullcit?p1464887.
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Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009.Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 7, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-126).
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Malieque, Joao A. "A sociopsychological survey of language attitudes in southern Africa : a case study of Mozambique : proposals for language use and language in education in Mozambique." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1998. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/842792/.
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A recent study of the language question in Mozambique criticises the fact that not enough practical attention is being given by the ruling party to the promotion of the Indigenous languages in spite of the rhetorical commitment to this. This research-study intends to argue for the need to empower Mozambican (and other Southern African) indigenous languages for more extended functions in national life. It is hoped that it will make a contribution to the understanding of the sociopsychological, sociolinguistic, and sociopolitical dimensions of language attitudes in the Mozambican language context. Therefore, the first Chapter will analyse the socio-historical foundations necessary for an understanding of current language attitudes in Mozambique. It is important to emphasise, at this point, that a more general sociological approach or an approach considering language attitudes will be adopted in preference to an approach with political analysis (such as Phillipson, R.). Considering that the Chapter presents a brief definition of the subject, a review of the literature and suggestions of areas for future research, I propose to divide it in two ; Part I and Part II. The second will attempt to provide a concise account of the present language situation in Mozambique. In the third Chapter, an investigation of language attitudes research in Mozambique will be carried out, together with pointers as to how such research may contribute to language policy-making, language-planning and action. Then, the study will outline the methodologies to be used in language attitudes research and suggest how future research should proceed. It will show the major findings of the research and discuss important areas for future studies. Finally, the Chapter will explore the attitudinal dimensions of language speaker numbers and power variables. Chapter four will discuss different aspects of the difficult issue of language use in education in Mozambique, in particular, and Southern Africa, in general. Chapter five will stress the need to promote the indigenous languages of Mozambique, in particular, and Southern Africa in general. Chapter six will consider the context of language planning in Mozambique and Southern Africa. The Chapter then will explore some traits of a forward-looking language planning policy for multilingual contexts. The concluding Chapter, will highlight the implications of the entire study for multilingual situations, discuss the implications of the findings for the question of language planning and language teaching in Mozambique, and make recommendations that those in this field may find useful.
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Tomoda, Shizuko. "Cost and benefit in language use: A case study of sentence particles in Japanese." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/185164.
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This thesis purports to introduce a cost and benefit theory of politeness which sheds light upon the politeness system in Japanese. This involves the assumption that a communicative act is a rational act, executed for a communicative goal. Given so, politeness-bearing language use is strategic in nature. This implies that using a certain strategy appropriate in a given communicative situation is a consequence of rationalization. With effective utilization of the cost and benefit concept, broadly defined, linguistic politeness is viewed as a negotiation between the speaker and the hearer on the basis of the speaker's assessment of cost and/or benefit. In order to achieve a characterization of negotiation, the underlying principle, referred to as "Politeness Negotiation Principles," is proposed. The primary task in this thesis is to analyze the use of sentence particles within a framework of the cost and benefit theory. While the majority of studies of politeness phenomena in Japanese have centered around honorifics, which is widely known for its highly developed system, sentence particles have received little attention. In this regard, this study of sentence particles shows a much broader vista of politeness phenomena in Japanese than hitherto assumed. The application of the cost and benefit concept goes beyond the sphere of politeness phenomena. By identifying a cost and/or a benefit involved in a context where the modality item desyoo/daroo and the anaphoric demonstratives sono and ano are employed, the uses of these elements, which reveal interesting dynamics of interaction between the speaker and the hearer, can be explained.
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Kontio, Janne. "Auto Mechanics in English : Language Use and Classroom Identity Work." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik, didaktik och utbildningsstudier, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-286859.
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This is a compilation thesis consisting of three different articles with the purpose to explore the relationships between language practices, identity construction and learning in the context of the Vehicle Program, a vocational program in Swedish upper secondary schools. A feature of the particular setting studied here that sets it apart from the general education of auto mechanics in Sweden is that it was carried out in English. The study focuses on language practices within a community of practice where the norms for second language use, gender arrangements and identity work are negotiated in conversations between students and between students and teachers. The language practices are considered as talk-in-interaction, and identity construction and learning are understood as processes in socially situated activities. The study was conducted through an ethnographic approach, including observation, field notes, approximately 200 hours of video recorded interactions, and interviews with students and teachers. The recorded interactions were analysed using tools from conversational analysis and methods focusing on linguistic activities and interactional patterns. An eclectic approach combining linguistic ethnography, ethnometodological conversation analysis and socio-cultural theory of learning, in particular the concept of communities of practice, form the basis of the theoretical framework. The findings in study I highlight that language alternations are repeatedly used in the workshop as a meta-language to play around with language, which relates to emerging communicative strategies that also produces – and helps contest – local language norms. Study III suggests that teasing in students’ peer relations are not only disruptive, off-task behavior, thereby rendering them important only from a classroom management perspective. Teasing, this study proposes, should rather be seen as an organizing principle by which the students are able to position themselves in relation to an institutionally established language ideology. Study II focuses on how participants invoke and renegotiate conventional forms of masculinity tied to the ability of handling tools. Such micro-processes illuminate how gender is a constantly shifting social category that is done, redone and possibly undone. The findings suggest that new forms of auto mechanic student identities are formed that challenge current dominant discourses about what a mechanic should be.
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Osemeke, Louis. "The effects of different institutional investors and board of director characteristics on corporate social responsibility of public listed companies : the case of Nigeria." Thesis, University of Greenwich, 2012. http://gala.gre.ac.uk/9405/.
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This thesis investigates the effects of institutional investors and board of director (BOD) characteristics on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of Public Listed Companies (PLCs) in Nigeria. This study is motivated by the lack of empirical studies in Nigeria concerning the role of different institutional investors and BOD on CSR. More specifically, this study uses multi-method approaches: firstly, the case study method involving in-depth interviews, documentary data followed by postal survey. Secondly, the Pooled Ordinary Least Square, random effect and fixed effect estimators were used to estimate the balanced panel of 174 PLCs from 2003 to 2009. The study finds no significant relationship between different types of institutional investors and CSR. Also, while the Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) and board size show a positive relationship with CSR, the executive directors and board diversity show a negative and significant relationship with CSR. This thesis not only contributes to the understanding of how BOD characteristics and how the role of institutional investors’ affect CSR, but it also fills the gap in the methodologies employed in the corporate governance and CSR studies in Nigeria. This is useful for an emerging market economy like Nigeria in areas of policy making and for companies to improve on their CSR practices in host communities. In addition, the study reveals the absence of the role of institutional investors and BOD characteristics in strengthening the corporate governance mechanism in developing countries and the significance of filling the gap by supporting the formation of the ethical code of conduct and business standard for best practices. Secondly, the study reveals that CSR in developing countries are strategic in nature and linked to the corporate philosophies of companies. The implications of this study are that the interest of the managers should be aligned to the stakeholder interest; this is to ensure the long term survival of the company and to create a win-win situation between the company and community.
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Waters, Bonney Elizabeth. "Integrating reading, language arts, science, and social studies curriculum with the use of technology." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2002. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2135.
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The purpose of the project was to develop three thematic units for fifth grade that intergrate California State Standards in Reading, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies with the use of technology. The benefits of doing so allows instructional time to be spent on more in depth study of the disciplines, Students make connections across curriculum which allows them to develop a deeper understanding of what is being taught. Also, integrating curriculum with technology engages students and allows them to have more control over their learning environment. When students are actively involved in what is being taught, they will internalize the information for better understanding.
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Caballé, Morera Ester. "Romanian migrant students. A study on use of language and language attitudes." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Lleida, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/671637.
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L'objectiu de la present Tesi Doctoral és analitzar els usos i actituds lingüístiques dels estudiants romanesos d’Educació Secundària a Catalunya, en funció de la seva assistència o no al programa Llengua, Cultura i Civilització Romanesa. Metodològicament, es combinen tècniques d’investigació social qualitativa i quantitativa per tal d’obtenir uns resultats complementaris que ofereixin una més complerta aproximació a l’objecte d’estudi.
Globalment, des d'un punt de vista quantitatiu es va identificar que les actituds cap al castellà i el romanès són força equilibrades, seguit pel català amb les actituds menys positives. Pel que fa a l'ús lingüístic, el castellà és la llengua més utilitzada generalment, però en contextos rurals, és la llengua catalana que predomina, mentre que el romanès queda relegat a l'àmbit privat i en perill de ser substituït per castellà o català.
No obstant això, a nivell qualitatiu es detecta el vincle afectiu amb la seva llengua materna, fent un ús elevat dins del seu cercle familiar i mostrant unes actituds lingüístiques positives. El castellà adquireix un valor social i internacional obtenint les actituds més positives i l'ús més elevat. Finalment, el català obté també un valor social i alhora acadèmic i de progrés, emfatitzant la repercussió que té el seu ús en la integració social en aquest context.
Finalment es discuteixen les implicacions teòriques i contextuals d’aquests resultats.El objetivo de la presente Tesis Doctoral es analizar los usos y actitudes lingüísticas de los estudiantes rumanos de Educación Secundaria en Cataluña, en función de su asistencia o no al programa Lengua, Cultura y Civilización Rumana. Metodológicamente, se combinan técnicas de investigación social cualitativa y cuantitativa para obtener unos resultados complementarios que ofrezcan una más completa aproximación al objeto de estudio. Globalmente, desde un punto de vista cuantitativo se identificó que las actitudes hacia el castellano y el rumano son bastante equilibradas, seguido por el catalán con las actitudes menos positivas. En cuanto a los usos lingüísticos, el castellano es la lengua más utilizada generalmente, pero en contextos rurales es la lengua catalana la que predomina, mientras que el rumano queda relegado al ámbito privado y en peligro de ser sustituido por castellano o catalán. Sin embargo, a nivel cualitativo se detecta el vínculo afectivo con su lengua materna, haciendo un uso elevado dentro de su círculo familiar y mostrando unas actitudes lingüísticas positivas. El castellano tiene un valor social e internacional obteniendo las actitudes más positivas y el uso más elevado. Finalmente, el catalán obtiene también un valor social ya la vez académico y de progreso, enfatizando la repercusión que tiene su uso en la integración social en este contexto. Finalmente se discuten las implicaciones teóricas y contextuales de estos resultados.
The main objective in this doctoral thesis is based on the analysis of the use of language and language attitudes of 131 young Romanians who attended the Romanian Language, Culture and Civilization program in Catalonia. The research uses a mixed method to analyse the main variables that influence the use of language and attitudes. Through the four articles presented, it is contemplated how the identity variables, the length of stay in the host country and language competences affect in those uses and attitudes. Based on a global vision of the results, it was quantitatively identified that attitudes towards Spanish and Romanian are fairly balanced, followed by Catalan with less positive attitudes. Regarding language use, Spanish is the language most often used, but in rural contexts, Catalan is the predominant language, whereas the Romanian is relegated to the private sphere and in danger of being replaced by Spanish and Catalan. However, at a qualitative sphere we recognize the emotional bond with their mother tongue, making high use within their family context and demonstrating positive language attitudes. Spanish acquires a social and international value obtaining the most positive attitudes and the highest use. Catalan also obtains social and academic and progress value, emphasizing the impact of its use on social integration in this context. Finally, the theoretical and contextual implications of these results are discussed.
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Curdt-Christiansen, Xiao Lan. "Understanding the patterns of language use of Chinese children in a Montreal community school." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape7/PQDD_0018/MQ54221.pdf.
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Hedge, Annie. "Talk about discrimination : an analysis of the language we use to talk about equal opportunities." Thesis, Birkbeck (University of London), 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.339218.
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Ryan, Sean Ryan. "Rapport Development and Native Language Use Between U.S. Advisors and Afghan Counterparts." ScholarWorks, 2017. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3540.
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Advisory activities form a central element of the U.S. National Security Strategy to mitigate the need for employment of large military formations. The commitment of large U.S. combat formations has resulted in more than 6,000 fatalities since September 11, 2001; poor relationship skills were cited as contributing factors in 51 or more fratricide-murders of U.S. soldiers by Afghan compatriots in 2012. Informed by social exchange theory, servant leadership theory, and role theory, the Army conceptual rapport framework provided a lens for this phenomenological symbolic interactionism study of rapport between Afghan counterparts and U.S. advisors. Participants included 15 English-speaking Afghan soldiers, police, and government officials. Data from semi-structured interviews conducted via Internet or telephone were manually coded and analyzed for overarching themes. Findings indicated that mutual understanding and respect were principal components to building rapport, and rudimentary use of Afghan languages by U.S. advisors provided symbolic value that contributed to rapport development. Findings may contribute to positive social change by informing advisor employment policies, enhancing preparatory training, and improving relationships between U.S. advisors and the foreign leaders with whom they work.
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Bell, Breeana Lee. "Using a Social Communication Intervention to Increase Emotion Word Use in Children with Language Impairment." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2017. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6842.
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The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the efficacy of an intervention to increase the production of emotion words in five children with language impairment. Participants were between the ages of 5;11 (years; months) and 11;3 (at the onset of enrollment in treatment) and had been identified with language impairment. Each participant completed between three and six baseline sessions, 20 twenty-minute intervention sessions, and three follow-up sessions. Tasks included story reading, story enactment, and journaling. Each session was recorded and then coded for emotion category (sadness, anger, fear, and surprise), errors made, type of production, and valence agreement. Total emotion word production per category is reported along with percentage of non-overlapping data calculations to determine the effectiveness of treatment for each participant for each emotion word category. Based on percentage of non-overlapping data calculations, treatment was moderately effective for four of the five participants in at least one or more emotion word category. Treatment was mildly effective for all five participants in at least one emotion category. Each participant was observed to make between one and five valence errors throughout the intervention. The errors made by participants often involved the substitution of a simple emotion word category for a more complex emotion word category. Participants were more successful with intervention tasks when provided increased support from the clinician, as seen by most productions being made in response to a question or in response to a cue. While results from this intervention were variable, participants generally made improvements from their participation in this intervention. Utilization of a similar intervention framework with a few alterations based on the limitations observed would be beneficial in future research.
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Engle, Bretton C. "Commitment language as a predictor of alcohol and mariajuana use outcomes among adolescents in school - based group treatment." FIU Digital Commons, 2007. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3399.
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Despite widespread recognition of the problem of adolescent alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse, research on its most common treatment modality, group work, is lacking. This research gap is alarming given that outcomes range from positive to potentially iatrogenic. This study sought to identify change mechanisms and/or treatment factors that are observable within group treatment sessions and that may predict AOD use outcomes.
This NIH (F31 DA 020233-01A1) study evaluated 108, 10-19 year olds and the 19 school-based treatment groups to which they were previously assigned (R01 AA10246; PI: Wagner). Associations between motivational interviewing (MI) based change talk variables, group leader MI skills, and alcohol and marijuana use outcomes up to 12-months following treatment were evaluated.
Treatment session audio recordings and transcripts (1R21AA015679-01; PI: Macgowan) were coded using a new discourse analysis coding scheme for measuring group member change talk (Amrhein, 2003). Therapist MI skills were similarly measured using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity instrument.
Group member responses to commitment predicted group marijuana use at the 1-month follow up. Also, group leader empathy was significantly associated with group commitment for marijuana use at the middle and ending stages of treatment.
Both of the above process measures were applied in a group setting for the first time. Building upon MI and social learning theory principles, group commitment and group member responses to commitment are new observable, in-session, process constructs that may predict positive and negative adolescent group treatment outcomes. These constructs, as well as the discourse analysis method and instruments used to measure them, raise many possibilities for future group work process research and practice.
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Leonard, Melinda Apel. "THE ROLE OF PRAGMATIC LANGUAGE USE IN MEDIATING THE RELATION BETWEEN ADHD SYMPTOMATOLOGY AND SOCIAL SKILLS." UKnowledge, 2009. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_diss/779.
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The goal of the current study was to investigate the social skills of a community sample of children that would vary in their level of ADHD symptomatology (e.g., inattention and hyperactivity), with a specific focus on their communication patterns and pragmatic language use (PLU). The study explored whether PLU was associated with, and perhaps accounted for, the social skills problems children with different degrees of ADHD symptomatology experience. Pragmatic language use, ADHD symptomatology, and social skills were examined with traditional standardized measures as well as a detailed investigation of communication patterns and PLU obtained from sampling behaviors from a semi-structured dyadic communication task. A community sample of 54 children between the ages of 9 and 11 years participated.
Pragmatic language use partially mediated the relation between ADHD symptomatology and social skills. These results indicate that although the correlation between ADHD and social skills drops from r = -.649, p < .01 to r = -.478, p < .01, when PLU is entered in the model, the correlation between ADHD and social skills still remains significant. Further, ADHD symptomatology and PLU both predicted social skills scores, and although ADHD symptomatology and PLU were related to one another, PLU provided a unique contribution in the estimate of children’s social skills of 10.5% above and beyond the contribution of ADHD symptomatology. However, ADHD symptomatology was the most influential predictor in uniquely accounting for approximately 19% of the differences in social skills outcomes above and beyond the contribution of PLU.
Possible explanations as to why PLU mediates the relation between ADHD symptomatology and social skills are discussed. Implications and future research are discussed in terms of children with ADHD and peer relations.
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Kim, Ye-Kyoung. "Linguistic and social capitals U.S. immigrant limited English proficient high school students' use of English as a second language and social interactivity /." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1149096608.
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Ding, Dan Xiong Rutter Russell. "Historical and social contexts for scientific writing and use of passive voice toward an undergraduate science literacy course /." Normal, Ill. Illinois State University, 1998. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ilstu/fullcit?p9835902.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1998.Title from title page screen, viewed July 3, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Russell K. Rutter (chair), James R. Kalmbach, Dana K. Harrington. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-248) and abstract. Also available in print.
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Dobnik, Simon. "Teaching mobile robots to use spatial words." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2009. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d3e8d606-212b-4a8e-ba9b-9c59cfd3f485.
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The meaning of spatial words can only be evaluated by establishing a reference to the properties of the environment in which the word is used. For example, in order to evaluate what is to the left of something or how fast is fast in a given context, we need to evaluate properties such as the position of objects in the scene, their typical function and behaviour, the size of the scene and the perspective from which the scene is viewed. Rather than encoding the semantic rules that define spatial expressions by hand, we developed a system where such rules are learned from descriptions produced by human commentators and information that a mobile robot has about itself and its environment. We concentrate on two scenarios and words that are used in them. In the first scenario, the robot is moving in an enclosed space and the descriptions refer to its motion ('You're going forward slowly' and 'Now you're turning right'). In the second scenario, the robot is static in an enclosed space which contains real-size objects such as desks, chairs and walls. Here we are primarily interested in prepositional phrases that describe relationships between objects ('The chair is to the left of you' and 'The table is further away than the chair'). The perspective can be varied by changing the location of the robot. Following the learning stage, which is performed offline, the system is able to use this domain specific knowledge to generate new descriptions in new environments or to 'understand' these expressions by providing feedback to the user, either linguistically or by performing motion actions. If a robot can be taught to 'understand' and use such expressions in a manner that would seem natural to a human observer, then we can be reasonably sure that we have captured at least something important about their semantics. Two kinds of evaluation were performed. First, the performance of machine learning classifiers was evaluated on independent test sets using 10-fold cross-validation. A comparison of classifier performance (in regard to their accuracy, the Kappa coefficient (κ), ROC and Precision-Recall graphs) is made between (a) the machine learning algorithms used to build them, (b) conditions under which the learning datasets were created and (c) the method by which data was structured into examples or instances for learning. Second, with some additional knowledge required to build a simple dialogue interface, the classifiers were tested live against human evaluators in a new environment. The results show that the system is able to learn semantics of spatial expressions from low level robotic data. For example, a group of human evaluators judged that the live system generated a correct description of motion in 93.47% of cases (the figure is averaged over four categories) and that it generated the correct description of object relation in 59.28% of cases.
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Redhaa, Azal, and Jathal Asmael. "Use of digital tools in mother tongue language teaching From the mother tongue teacher's perspective." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-30486.
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Abstract Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur modersmålslärarna använder sig utav digitala verktyg i undervisningen, samt att ta reda på fördelarna och nackdelarna med användning av digitala verktyg som läromedel i modersmålsundervisningen. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ undersökning, där sex modersmålslärare intervjuades och sex lektionsobservationer genomfördes. Resultaten analyserades med hjälp av ett analysverktyg. Analysverktyget heter SAMRmodellen, som handlar om hur informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) används i lärandet. Resultaten visade att alla modersmålsläraren är positiva till att använda olika former av digitala verktyg. Det underlättar deras arbete samt främjar elevernas modersmål. Respondenterna har tillgång till digitala verktyg som kan lånas ut till elever och de får regelbundet kompetensutveckling om hur de kan undervisa digitalt. Det som framkommit i vår studie är att lärarna arbetar utifrån olika nivåer enligt SAMRmodellen, och att modersmålslärare jobbar med digitala verktyg för tre olika syfte: att söka information, att kommunicera och att presentera. Fördelarna med användningen av digitala verktyg var många. Digitala verktyg ökar elevernas intresse och motivation, erbjuder stora möjligheter för att variera undervisningen. Det underlättar uppföljning av elevernas arbete för att ge eleverna feedback och respons, vilket hjälper dem att utveckla sina arbeten. Digitala verktyg främjar elevernas lärande av sina modersmål. Nackdelarna var inte så många jämfört med fördelarna. De negativa upplevelserna var framför allt elever som gör annat vid datorerna under lektionen, vilket tar både tid och fokus från undervisningen. Vad gäller informationssökning så har en del elever inte tålamod att vara källkritiska. Nyckelord: digitala verktyg, IKT, modersmål, SAMR-modell.
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Lipembe, Pembe Peter Agustini. "Exploring the micro-social dynamics of intergenerational language transmission :a critical analysis of parents's attitudes and language use patterns among Ndamba speakers in Tanzania." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2010. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_5270_1297836275.
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The study has several implications
for general theoretical traditions it highlights the point that ambivalent attitudes and incomplete language use are responsible for gradual language decline. Previous studies while acknowledging the role of community based, intuitive conditions on language maintenance and shift, did not show how the process occurred. For policy the study aims toward sensitizing policy makers and raise their awareness about the dire situation in which minority languages currently are in. This would ensure that politicians, bureaucrats, and other state authorities could implement policy decisions that guarantee protection of minority languages and enhance their vitality. One policy strategy that could ensure revitalization of minority languages would be to include them in the school curriculum as supplementary approach to the effort of the home and the community, as McCarty (2002, quoted in Recento, 2006) observes that schools
[&hellip
] can be constructed as a place where children can be free to be indigenous in the indigenous language &ndash
in all of its multiple and everchanging meanings and forms.
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Soya, Nongesiba. "Perceptions of school stakeholders towards the use of English as a language of learning and teaching (LoLT) in grade 9 Social Sciences." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/6447.
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The dawn of democracy in South Africa led to the development of Language in Education Policy (LiEP) as one of the pieces of legislations that promote languages in schools where parents, learners, who have come of age may choose a language for instruction. LiEP, together with the Constitution of South Africa, promote equal value of all eleven official languages spoken in this country. The promotion of language policies clearly shows that language is the bedrock of the academic development of every child. Unfortunately, Spaull, Van der Berg, Wills, Gustafsson and Kotzè (2016) found that South African Foundation Phase learners lack the most basic skill needed for academic achievement, reading for meaning. Spaull et.al (2016) findings show that language problems start during the early years of schooling. This study aimed at finding out the perceptions of school stakeholders about the use of English as LoLT in Grade 9 Social Sciences, and it is located in the Interpretivist Paradigm. In this study, stakeholders are learners because they are central to learning, parents, as they have the responsibility of choosing LoLT for their children and assist them in their schooling career. Lastly, teachers are stakeholders because of their critical role of imparting knowledge and skills during classroom interaction. The researcher uses a Qualitative approach to identify data-collecting tools suitable for this research, and chooses semi-structured interviews and observations. Semi-structured interviews are flexible and allow deeper probing during the interview. The sample consists of nine Grade 9 learners, three teachers of Grade 9 Social Sciences and six parents from the School Governing Body (SGB). The aim of conducting observations was to find out the language used by learners and teachers during classroom interaction. This study found out that most participants prefer learning Social Sciences in English than in isiXhosa. They are aware of the challenges experienced in the classroom when learning in English but they still choose it. From the sample used, participants clearly indicate that learning in English causes some barriers in the learning and teaching process. However, it also became clear that the benefits associated with learning in English make it difficult to put it at the same level as other languages and participants do not link mother tongue to career opportunities. It is also evident that English will enjoy its hegemony until such time that all stakeholders in Education view the mother tongue as a foundation for learning other languages and as a resource as well so that they can use it in the classroom to understand the content. Policy developers must look deeply into the question of LoLT so that learners receive instruction in a language that will assist them in improved academic performance. Teachers must be equipped with adequate skills to assist learners in developing reading and comprehension skills in the classroom. There is a dire need to develop the culture of reading in rural school learners; and teachers must expose learners to a variety of English reading material.
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Moser, Franziska [Verfasser]. "Social Construction of Gender-(un)fairness : An Analysis of Educational Material and Individual Language Use / Franziska Moser." Berlin : Freie Universität Berlin, 2013. http://d-nb.info/1043198032/34.
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Sullivan, Celeste M. "Language use in Lahore : the role of culture, social structure, and economics in shaping communication patterns and language form in a Pakistani multilingual community /." View online version; access limited to Brown University users, 2005. http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/3174680.
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Masocha, Shepard. "How do social work professionals construct asylum seekers as objects of knowledge and targets for intervention." Thesis, University of Dundee, 2013. https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/4d2ac015-dac3-4ff0-85f8-c6d225dd2b49.
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Over the years, the issue of migrants seeking asylum in the United Kingdom has been the subject of increasing media and political attention. The need to provide asylum seekers with culturally sensitive services is widely acknowledged within social work. However, the social work profession continues to draw heavily on outdated views and definitions of racism mainly based on skin colour and biological categorisation. This is in spite of the fact that the late 20th century has witnessed the emergence of “new racism” (Barker, 1981) and xenoracism (Sivanandan, 2001). This thesis uses the concept of xenoracism as a framework for understanding the ever-shifting parameters of exclusionary discourses, and seeks to provide a more in-depth understanding of current social policy for asylum seekers. It achieves this through an analysis of media, governmental and parliamentary discourses on the issues of immigration and asylum. This approach is based on an understanding of how asylum seekers as a social group are constructed and how this process – underpinned by xenoracism – plays a pivotal role in influencing the ways in which social policies relating to asylum seekers are formulated. The study argues that the construction of social policies relating to asylum seekers is inherently racist and as such is in direct conflict with social work’s value system. The study utilises discursive social psychology (Taylor, 2001, Potter and Wetherell, 1987)), as a methodology for understanding the various ways in which asylum seekers are constructed. This strand of discourse analysis is employed to examine the ways in which society talks and writes about asylum seekers, the social cognition that is the basis of the existing discourses, the socio-political and cultural functions of such discourses and their specific roles in the reproduction of social inequalities. The thesis explores the ways in which asylum seekers are constructed in social work professionals’ discourses. The study identifies a number of interpretative repertoires and linguistic resources that are deployed by social work professionals in their attempts to construct asylum seekers as objects of knowledge. The study illustrates that in addition to their professional discourses and repertoires social work professionals also draw on media and parliamentary discourses as discursive resources in their constructions of asylum seekers. These social work professionals’ discourses are shown to be argumentatively organised and oriented to these macro discourses. In this respect, this thesis establishes an understanding of how asylum seekers are constructed by social work professionals as it pays particular attention to the ideological basis of such constructs. The thesis also explores the everyday practices of social work professionals with asylum seeking service users and the specific ways in which these professionals explain and legitimate their practice with asylum seekers. Through paying attention to practitioners’ accounting practices, this study provides an insight into some of the ways in which social work professionals produce accounts of competent social work practice and how this is an integral part of a defensive social work discourse. This thesis highlights the fact that language is one of the central vehicles through which social work takes place. As such, the analysis of social work discourse in its own right as a topic of analysis is a legitimate area of social work research which can lead to an in-depth and enhanced understanding of social work practice. By using discourse analysis as a methodology, this thesis provides a new perspective for understanding not only social work practice with asylum seekers but also some of the concerns regarding the profession’s complicity in racist and oppressive practice.
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Arias, Morel Angela, and Louise Torgén. "The use of learning rubrics in English as a foreign language primary school classrooms in Sweden." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-33599.
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Learning rubrics are adapted to the students’ understanding, and contain a clear focus of what they are supposed to learn. Teachers’ knowledge about them seems to be limited, and assessment rubrics are a more common tool for teachers’ assessment practices (Alm, 2015).Even though the Swedish school curriculum encourages teachers to use formative assessment as an active part of their teaching, due to its beneficial factors for students learning development, studies have shown that summative assessment is a preferred practice among teachers.This paper analyzes the teachers use of learning rubrics in English as a foreign language classroom in the Swedish primary schools. The focus lays on finding out teachers experiences and beliefs about using learning rubrics as a formative assessment tool. According to theories and findings within formative assessment a certain set of criteria must be met, something which learning rubrics do. In order to fulfill this papers purpose, we combined a quantitative study that was carried out on 55 teachers, and a qualitative study that was centered around interviewing 5 teachers. Our results showed that 38 % of the 4-6 EFL teachers used a continuous formative assessment, which occurred during lessons or over a longer span of time. In regards to the use of learning rubrics only 3% used learning rubrics for a formative purpose. Results also revealed that a combination of learning rubrics, and assessment rubrics are more commonly used rather than only the use of learning rubrics in the language classroom. Through the combination of these two types of rubrics it helped in clarifying what was assessed and in what way it was assessed. It would also be used to make teachers’ arguments visible both for the students and the caretakers at home. However, if teachers do not apply the necessary adaptations to the formative process, the benefits are not obtained.
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Cornett, Amy Tucker. "Outcomes of a Social Communication Intervention on the Use of Emotion Words." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2012. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3095.
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Children with language impairment (LI) have often been identified as having social communication breakdowns. A number of these problems are likely the result of deficits in emotional competence. This thesis examines a social communication intervention designed to target the emotional competence of children with LI. Three elementary school-aged children with LI were recruited to receive twenty, 20-minute intervention sessions over the course of four months. Each intervention session involved a combination of activities targeting emotion recognition and emotion inferencing using story retell, story exploration, story enactment, perspectives charts, journal entries, emotion labeling, and personalization. These activities revolved around Mercer Mayer's A Boy, A Dog, and A Frog (1967) wordless picture book series. These books were used because of their age-appropriate subject matter and clear, simple depictions of character actions and facial expressions. To analyze the effectiveness of this intervention package in improving emotional competence, the number of emotion-based words belonging to the emotional categories of happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust that were produced each session was counted. The percentage of appropriate usage was calculated to represent how often the participants used each emotion-based word in a semantically correct manner. Finally, emotion word productions that did not match the intended target word were analyzed for valence agreement. Results were highly variable but all three participants demonstrated improvements in the percentage of accurate productions in at least one emotional category. Although all three participants usually used words of a positive valence in an appropriate manner, inappropriate uses were also observed. When actual emotion-word productions mismatched the intended emotions, all three participants produced low valence agreement for words of positive valence and high valence agreement for words of negative valence. Further research is warranted but results suggested that this particular social communication intervention was effective in improving the production of specific emotion words by children with LI.
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Hernandez, Marisol. "Perceptions of Educators' Use of English as a Second Language Strategies and Research-Based Practices with English Language Learners in Northeast Tennessee." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2009. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1834.
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The purpose of the study was to investigate the level of use of English as a second or subsequent language strategies and research-based practices in the instruction of ELL students in Northeast Tennessee. The researcher sought to ascertain the perceptions of educators in Northeast Tennessee about teaching practices and beliefs in regard to the instruction of ELL students and to determine to what level these educators include ESL strategies and ESL research-based practices when teaching ELL students.
Participants in the study consisted of regular classroom teachers, English as a second language teachers, and principals from districts identified as ELL low density districts and ELL high density districts. A survey instrument was used to collect the data. The survey instrument was developed using a framework based on published research on proven practices identified and delineated in the literature review. The survey consisted of 45 questions and encompassed 5 dimensions: (a) instructional practices, (b) ESL strategies, (c) principles for building English language learners responsive learning environments, (d) staff development, and (e) instructional strategies.
The survey used a 5-point Likert scale with 3 open-ended questions. Findings from the Research-Based Practices Survey were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study used 2-way ANOVA to analyze the data and answer the research questions.
The finding of the study revealed significant difference in the mean scores for staff development between administrators and ESL strategies as a function of density and significant difference in the mean scores for staff development between administrators and all teachers (ESL teachers and regular classroom teachers) as a function of density.
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Robbins, Megan L. "A Social Interaction Analysis of the Daily Conversations of Couples Coping with Breast Cancer." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/222896.
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This dissertation used naturalistically-observed snippets of actual conversations of couples coping with breast cancer to understand how often, with whom, and how couples talk about cancer and other topics, and how these conversations relate to both partners' adjustment to the experience. Fifty-six breast cancer patients undergoing treatment and their spouses wore the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) for one weekend and completed adjustment questionnaires at baseline and a two-month follow-up. The first study revealed that couples discussed cancer in fewer than 10% of their conversations, and that these conversations occurred more frequently with each other than with friends and family. Cancer conversations tended to be informational and supportive, and spouses', rather than patients', discussion of cancer tended to be more related to adjustment. The second study analyzed the social language used within couples' cancer-related and other topics of conversation. Specifically, it examined the associations between we-talk (first-person plural pronouns), I-talk (first-person singular pronouns), and you-talk (second-person pronouns) and couples' adjustment. Results revealed that, contrary to prediction, both partners' we-talk was associated with concurrent, rather than future, adjustment. Further, both partners' focus on the spouse, indicated by I-talk and you-talk, was related to better adjustment for spouses. The findings in this dissertation indicate that psychosocial factors influence spouses' adjustment at least as much as patients' adjustment to breast cancer, and that couples without an exclusive focus on the patient may fare better overall.
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Little, Tanya. "Sociolinguistic factors affecting patterns of emotional language use among multilingual speakers in the Western Cape." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/96141.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to identify factors that affect the language choices and patterns of language use of multilingual speakers in the Western Cape, focusing particularly on emotional language. It is an exploratory study, taking a purely quantitative methodological approach. Data was collected by means of a web-based Multilingualism and Emotions Questionnaire available online for six months. The questionnaire was based on Dewaele and Pavlenko‟s Bilingualism and Emotions Questionnaire (see Pavlenko, 2005) and included multiple choice and Likert scale questions regarding participants‟ language use preferences, as well as their perceptions of each of their languages. Data analysis was split into two stages: firstly the response data was illustrated by means of frequency tables, and secondly the statistical method of Correspondence Analysis was used to show the patterns of variation among the factors investigated. Two hypotheses were proposed, based on previous research: firstly, that the sociolinguistic factors would play a bigger role than the socio-demographic factors in determining language choices and patterns of use, and secondly that there may be differences in patterns of use for speakers of African languages versus speakers of Western languages. The analysis confirmed both hypotheses, while also showing some deviation from the results of previous research, which is attributed to the context in which this study was conducted. The main findings of this study were that English was generally the preferred language even when not the L1, and also that Xhosa tended to follow an entirely different pattern of use in comparison with most other languages in the sample. These findings are attributed to the unique language contact situation in the Western Cape, showing that the widely accepted L1-primacy ideology does not quite hold true across all contexts. An English-bias in the implementation of the language and education policy is also identified as a possible contributing factor to the patterns of language use and language attitudes revealed in this study, hence it is suggested that methodological and practical changes to the language and education policy could lead to a realization of the true multilingual and multicultural potential of South Africa.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie handel oor die identifisering van faktore wat die taalgebruikspatrone en keuses van veeltaliges in die Wes-Kaap affekteer. Die fokus is hoofsaaklik op emosionele taalgebruik. Die studie is verkennend, en volg „n suiwer kwantitatiewe benadering. Data is ingesamel deur die gebruik van „n web-gebaseerde Veeltaligheid en Emosies Vraelys wat ongeveer ses maande op die internet beskikbaar was. Die vraelys is gebaseer op dié van Dewaele en Pavlenko (verwys na Pavlenko, 2005) en sluit in veelvoudigekeuse- en Likertskaal-vrae oor die deelnemers se taalgebruik keuses asook hul taal-persepsies. Data-analise is in twee verskillende fases voltooi: eerstens is die data deur die gebruik van frekwensie tabelle geïllustreer, en tweedens is die patrone van variasie onder die faktore getoon deur die gebruik van die statistiese metode van Korrespondensie Ontleding. Twee hipoteses is voorgestel, gebaseer op vorige navorsing; eerstens, dat sosiolinguistiese faktore „n groter rol as sosio-demografiese faktore sou speel in die bepaling van taal-keuses en gebruikpatrone; en tweedens dat daar dalk verskille sou wees tussen Afrika-taal sprekers en Westerse-taal sprekers in verband met patrone van taalgebruik. Beide van die hipoteses is deur die analise bevestig, terwyl daar ook afwyking was van die bevindings van vorige navorsing, waarvoor die konteks waarin hierdie studie plaasvind as rede voorgestel is. Die studie se hoofbevindings dui daarop dat Engels oor die algemeen die voorgekeurde taal is, selfs wanneer dit nie die eerstetaal is nie, en ook dat Xhosa „n gebruikspatroon volg wat van die ander tale in die studie verskil. Hierdie bevindings word toegeskryf aan die uniekheid van die taal-kontak situasie in die Wes-Kaap, en dui daarop dat die algemeen aanvaarde ideologie van die eerste-taal-voorrang nie noodwendig van toepassing is op alle kontekste nie. „n Vooroordeel ten gunste van Engels in die implementering van die taal- en onderwysbeleid word ook uitgewys as „n moontlike bydraende faktor tot die patrone van taalgebruik en taalhoudings wat in hierdie studie ontdek is. Daar word gevolglik voorgestel dat metodologiese- en praktiese- veranderinge aan die taal- en onderwysbeleid groot bydrae sal kan lewer tot die vervulling van Suid-Afrika se volle veeltalige en multikulturele potensiaal.
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Jackson, Shawna L. "SPORTS FANDOM: A STUDY OF BASKING IN REFLECTED GLORY, SPIRAL OF SILENCE, AND LANGUAGE USE VIA ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1337026237.
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Ardati, Malin, and Michelle Walldén. "How do Teachers use Reading as a Tool of Vocabulary Acquisition, in the ESL Classroom?" Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-30585.
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This degree project aims to investigate which methods five school teachers, in compulsory education, integrate into their practice when teaching ESL learners vocabulary through reading. Moreover, it aims to find out if the reported teacher practices reflect what is currently viewed as effective vocabulary instructions. The research question that guided this study was, what methods or underlying theories do ESL teachers, in South Sweden, find useful when teaching vocabulary through reading? The research used classroom observations, individual interviews, together with a thorough analysis of relevant research on the subject of SLA. Moreover, despite the vast research in this area regarding effective practices of vocabulary acquisition, teachers tend to use old fashioned, and simple methods when teaching and assessing vocabulary acquisition. Underlying reasoning is said to be lack of time, or knowledge of how to incorporate efficient practices in their teaching. To conclude, we believe that teachers would benefit from receiving further education on how to incorporate potent practices, so that they are able to more efficiently integrate them into their current language learning activities.
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Brodén, Stephanie. "Does it help or hinder English language learners to use Swedish when English is taught in a multilingual classroom?" Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-34530.
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The purpose of this study is to find out whether pupils English language learning benefits from using Swedish during the English lessons. I decided to collect my material from interviews in combination with classroom observations. I chose to start with the observation of the class and the teacher during one lesson before I did my interview. It is difficult to draw any conclusions of this with only the two schools I visited. If I were to do it again I would have chosen two schools that both start teaching English at the same age and devote the same amount of time each week to learning English. I did not discover any findings to support my theory that it would be beneficial to exclude Swedish during English lessons, nor did I find the opposite. The teachers from the observations felt it was necessary to use Swedish during the English lessons with the argument that it helped them learn Swedish better. Since that was not exactly my question I felt that my findings were inconclusive.
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Glenn-Smith, Sarah K. "The use of social media as a conduit to promote social justice in the Deaf Community, as a cultural and linguistic minority, through the visual language of American Sign Language: A movement against Audism." Diss., NSUWorks, 2017. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dcar_etd/81.
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This research employed a case study approach to understand emerging themes that may be garnered through documenting the lived experiences of online Deaf activists who have used the video feature available through social media outlets, such as YouTube, as a way to overcome the language barrier typically present for linguistic minorities who are leading social movements within an English-speaking, hearing majority. The focus of this study was the members of the Deaf Community that have taken to an online podium in their fight for autonomy and equality. They champion their Deaf identity, their right to agency and autonomy in areas of language, access, education and employment, in what has exploded into the largest social movement in their cultural history. Therefore, two questions were at the center of this research: 1. "How has experiencing audism affected the lives of Deaf people?", and 2. "How has the use of social media as a platform to fight against audism through natural linguistic expression in American Sign Language impacted that experience?". The growth of individual Deaf identity has created a community action network for the Deaf Community, and access to the technology of videophones and instant access to wireless Internet has brought with it the use of video blogs, or vlogs, within the Deaf Community at explosive rates. The movement from disability to a place of diversity and cultural, ethnic and linguistic minority personhood for the Deaf is a path that is still being forged. Presented in this study is a glimpse into this journey, through a case study of their lived experience.
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Schteinman, Leffler Abigail. "Multilingualism and Multiculturalism in Communication for Development. A Case Study from The Healthcare Prevention Sector in Nigeria." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-21744.
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PurposeThis research takes Nigeria and the healthcare prevention sector as a case study to describe the manner in which the non-profit sector is presently dealing with the challenge of communicating in a multilingual/multicultural environment. The intention is to identify the linguistic factors that affect the design of healthcare prevention interventions, indicate language strategies that are being used and potentially single out opportunities for improvement.Design/Methodology/ApproachTwo data sets were employed: the main one representing phone interviews with Communication for Development practitioners in the healthcare domain in Nigeria and a secondary one including online testimonials from the Here I Am campaign conducted by the Global Fund. The data collected was analysed following the Critical Discourse Analysis three-level framework. In addition to this, the micro level stage incorporated Grounded Theory Method to elicit thematic relations, and Semiotic Analysis and Discursive Analysis to determine the stance of the speakers.FindingsParticipants to this research perceived language and culture as two entwined concepts. Communication in the community’s local language was said to enhance message acceptance. The thematic analysis revealed that the strategy to be used, mainly translation or a combination of community interpreting and cultural mediation, depends largely on the level of literacy of the community. Of the proposed language strategies, training of bilingual individuals and a combination of community interpreting and cultural mediation appeared to be the two pivotal modes of interlingual message transposition. Pictorials are used in extreme situations.Despite the dissimilarity of the two data sets used in this research, the discursive analysis suggested the existence of an aid beneficiaries/non-profit staff binary. The way of expression of aid beneficiaries and individuals working at grassroots level exhibited traits of dependency on other players (in this case donors and non-profit staff). Similarly, the discursive analysis of the interviews put forward that the non-profit staff interviewed tended to distinguish between themselves and Others (in this case, the aid beneficiaries).This research found furthermore that translation and interpreting activities within the non-profit sphere are not always undertaken according to strict professional ethics and praxis.
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Chan, Hiu Nam Helena. "Exploring the language use habits of Hong Kong secondary students : an analysis of some schools of different bandings." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2004. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/554.
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De, Koning Joanne. "Perceptions of “new Englishes”: responses to the use of Swazi English in newspapers in Swaziland." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2798.
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MPhilThe concept of ‘new Englishes’ developed as a result of the relatively new perception of English as an adapting and evolving language within increasingly wider global contexts. According to McArthur (1992:688) the term “new Englishes” refers to "recently emerging and increasingly autonomous variet[ies] of English, especially in a non-western setting, such as India, Nigeria, or Singapore." Such varieties of English develop from an English, traditionally recognised as standard, to become distinctly individual: they retain some cultural and linguistic characteristics of the standard English but additionally represent and include many aspects of the culture and language of the country in which the new English functions. These new Englishes are lexico-grammatically sophisticated and as viable as any of the traditionally recognised standard Englishes. The “new languages” are used intranationally and internationally and so are not only a result of intercultural communication; they also facilitate and enable intercultural communication. This thesis investigates (i) Swazi English (SwE) as a ‘New English’ and (ii) the perceptions that Swazis themselves, as well as speakers from other language communities, have of SwE and its users. Swaziland is a landlocked country in the northeast region of Southern Africa and one of the last remaining monarchies on the African continent. English was introduced to Swaziland during the 1800’s and remained one of the official languages alongside siSwati after Swaziland achieved independence from Britain in 1968. English in Swaziland continued to develop despite increasingly restricted access to input from English first language speakers of British descent thus resulting in SwE developing independently of any external norm. SwE now appears to be a stable variety of English that is not only spoken but also written in newspapers, in government and legal correspondence and in the public relations documents of Swazi companies. The research for this thesis identifies a number of lexical, syntactic and semantic features of SwE that are different from those of standard British or American English. These features of SwE occur frequently and consistently in newspaper articles. Nevertheless, as indicated by the research results of this thesis, SwE continues to be perceived as an error-ridden second language variety rather than as a new English in its own right. Furthermore, the language prejudice is extended to users of SwE as many judge the intelligence, credibility and trustworthiness of writers of SwE negatively on the basis of linguistic features that cannot be indicators of character, skill or competence. This prejudice gives rise to stereotyping which is a barrier to effective intercultural communication.