6,702 research outputs found

    An exploration of the attitudes and beliefs of teacher trainers and teacher trainees concerning the use of the L1 in the EFL classroom

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    One important conflict within English language teaching methodology is concerning the use or exclusion of learners’ first languages (L1) when learning English. Perspectives on the topic range from those in favour of complete avoidance of the L1 in the EFL classroom, constantly striving for an exclusively L2 classroom to those who believe in the value and learning benefit of allowing and, to some extent, encouraging the use of all manner of languages available to the learner. This thesis conducted interviews and surveys in order to provide an in-depth exploration of the attitudes and beliefs of teacher trainers and teacher trainees in North Rhine Westphalia concerning the use of the L1, as well as other potential languages, in the English language classroom. Although the two groups of participants held many similar attitudes and beliefs concerning L1 use, some significant and interesting differences were found. Teacher trainees showed themselves to be more open concerning the use of the L1 than their more experienced counterparts. It remains, however, unclear what exactly the reason for these differences is. A further aspect which became apparent is how the pressures of language choice and of exclusive L2 instruction in the EFL classroom during observed and examination lessons is felt by teacher trainees. This is potentially adding to the overall burden of the teacher training period in NRW. The thesis concludes that an increase in evidence-based teacher education, concerning not only the aspect of L1 use in the EFL classroom but also many other aspects of language teaching could be prudent in the continued development of well-informed best-practice approaches. This thesis holds the standpoint that complete eradication of the L1 in the EFL classroom is counterproductive to successful language learning. Judicious use of the L1 and the development of a more plurilingusitic attitude to language learning, enabling learners to make use of any available linguistic resources, can offer both learners and teachers helpful scaffolding which can facilitate the successful learning of further languages

    The discursive construction of higher education policies in Greece during the financial crisis (2011-2014): a critical discourse analysis of the debate around the policy-making of the 4009/2011 framework act

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    During the past decade Greece has been experiencing a tremendous fiscal crisis. The recession ensued by the crisis along with the adopted austerity measures have dealt a severe blow not only to the basic, daily operations of Greek HE institutions but even to their very survival. Within this adverse financial context, a major framework act was passed (Law 4009/2011 “Structure, function, quality assurance of studies and internationalisation of institutions of higher education”) with a view to address some of the deficiencies and challenges in the sector. The major changes that this law brought referred to a new governance and structure model and the reintroduction and strengthening of quality assurance procedures, with the aim to set the Greek higher educational agenda one step closer to the Bologna process and the European Union directives. Albeit being voted by a wide political margin in the Greek parliament the 2011 Law failed to be efficiently implemented within the specified time period. This failure can be attributed to the interweavement of various structural and political factors, such as the strong opposition by the academic community and the inconsistent political communication and amendments taking place after the 2011 Act’s enactment. Consequently, these developments gave rise to a variety of new competing ideas and discourses about the character of higher education reform and its social and economic implications. This thesis critically explores the role and function of the competing discourses between the various political and public actors (politicians, academics, students, etc.) in the construction and (de-) legitimation of the Greek HE reforms during the financial crisis, from 2011 until 2014 focusing on the enactment of the 4009/2011 Law. The objectives of this study are (a) to explore how the political and public debate regarding the HE reforms that were introduced by the 4009/2011 Law in Greece has been developed in the light of the recent financial crisis; (b) how the debate has impacted on the construction and dissemination of the HE policies introduced by the 4009/2011 Law; and (c) to examine the co-articulation of the debate with the structural and contextual features that surround it. The research is rooted in a critical realist theoretical approach that acknowledges the co-articulation and interaction between policy, discourses and contextual/ structural factors. A qualitative approach was adopted, which involved the analysis of parliamentary policy speeches and face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with actors that have been specifically involved in the policy-making process of the 2011 reforms (i.e. rectors, academics, journalists, trade union members and politicians). The framework of Critical Policy Discourse Analysis (CPDAF) was used for the analysis of the textual data. The analysis of the data revealed two overarching discourse themes: (a) University Governance and the issue of University Councils and (b) Quality Assurance and Internationalisation of Greek Higher Education. Overall, the thesis has identified a division between the ideas, imaginaries, goals and/or interests that underpin policy actors’ discourses - which was discursively built upon a political and ideological polarisation. Two discursive coalitions thus emerged: those who support the 2011 reforms and those who oppose them. However, the new knowledge discovered through this research indicated the existence of moderate or even similar opinions - especially with regard to the implementation of quality assurance and accreditation processes. The external policy actors’ influence (such as the EU and OECD) along with the pivotal historical moment of financial crisis have been crucial to building the common ground found in the actors’ discourses. Overall, the commonly accepted imaginaries tend to be promoted by different coalitions in such a way that contribute to a hyperbolic account of the various differences that separate the political parties. This results in the misconception of having two distinct, polarised coalitions involved in the policy process. This has influenced the way policy problems have been defined as well as what solutions are being offered by the policy actors, creating more conflict and increasing ambiguity in regard to core issues such as the purpose of HE, its governance, academic freedom and the character of higher education degrees. This study provides novel insights about the discourse dynamics that take place within the Greek HE policy sphere. At the same time, it contributes to relevant literature through the adoption and use of a critical discursive approach to policy-making while at the same time providing a robust analysis of the interaction between policy discourses and contextual and structural factors (such as the financial crisis)

    Internal structure of intonational categories: The (dis)appearance of a perceptual magnet effect

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    The question of whether intonation events are speech categories like phonemes and lexical tones has long been a puzzle in prosodic research. In past work, researchers have studied categoricality of pitch accents and boundary tones by examining perceptual phenomena stemming from research on phoneme categories (i.e., intonation boundary effects—peaks in discrimination sensitivity at category boundaries, perceptual magnet effects—sensitivity minima near the best exemplar or prototype of a category). Both lines of research have yielded mixed results. However, boundary effects are not necessarily related to categoricality of speech. Using improved methodology, the present study examines whether pitch accents have domain-general internal structure of categories by testing the perceptual magnet effect. Perceived goodness and discriminability of re-synthesized productions of Dutch rising pitch accent (L*H) were evaluated by native speakers of Dutch in three experiments. The variation between these stimuli was quantified using a polynomial-parametric modeling approach. A perceptual magnet effect was detected: (1) rated “goodness” decreased as acoustic-perceptual distance relative to the prototype increased (Experiment 1), and (2) equally spaced items far from the prototype were more frequently discriminated than equally spaced items in the neighborhood of the prototype (Experiment 2). These results provide first evidence for internal structure of pitch accents, similar to that found in color and phoneme categories. However, the discrimination accuracy gathered here was lower than that reported for phonemes. The discrimination advantage in the neighborhood far from the prototype disappeared when participants were tested on a very large number of stimuli (Experiment 3), similar to findings on phonemes and different from findings for lexical tones in neutral network simulations of distributional learning. These results suggest a more transient nature of the perceptual magnet effect in the perception of pitch accents and arguably weaker categoricality of pitch accents, compared to that of phonemes and in particular of lexical tones

    Endogenous measures for contextualising large-scale social phenomena: a corpus-based method for mediated public discourse

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    This work presents an interdisciplinary methodology for developing endogenous measures of group membership through analysis of pervasive linguistic patterns in public discourse. Focusing on political discourse, this work critiques the conventional approach to the study of political participation, which is premised on decontextualised, exogenous measures to characterise groups. Considering the theoretical and empirical weaknesses of decontextualised approaches to large-scale social phenomena, this work suggests that contextualisation using endogenous measures might provide a complementary perspective to mitigate such weaknesses. This work develops a sociomaterial perspective on political participation in mediated discourse as affiliatory action performed through language. While the affiliatory function of language is often performed consciously (such as statements of identity), this work is concerned with unconscious features (such as patterns in lexis and grammar). This work argues that pervasive patterns in such features that emerge through socialisation are resistant to change and manipulation, and thus might serve as endogenous measures of sociopolitical contexts, and thus of groups. In terms of method, the work takes a corpus-based approach to the analysis of data from the Twitter messaging service whereby patterns in users’ speech are examined statistically in order to trace potential community membership. The method is applied in the US state of Michigan during the second half of 2018—6 November having been the date of midterm (i.e. non-Presidential) elections in the United States. The corpus is assembled from the original posts of 5,889 users, who are nominally geolocalised to 417 municipalities. These users are clustered according to pervasive language features. Comparing the linguistic clusters according to the municipalities they represent finds that there are regular sociodemographic differentials across clusters. This is understood as an indication of social structure, suggesting that endogenous measures derived from pervasive patterns in language may indeed offer a complementary, contextualised perspective on large-scale social phenomena

    Navigating the Context: Implementing Inquiry in the Middle School Social Studies Classroom

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    Abstract Despite over a century of advocacy by social studies scholars and professionals and the development of curricular resources to promote inquiry-based learning (IBL) in K-12 social studies, inquiry is not a defining element of the K-12 social studies classroom (Saye, 2017). Teachers face significant barriers to the use of inquiry-based learning. In particular, contextual barriers such as curriculum breadth, high-stakes testing, and lack of context-specific resources are indicated (e.g., Konopack et al., 1994; Martell, 2020; Voet & Wever, 2016). However, recent research presents applications of IBL in K-12 social studies classrooms, which suggests the potential to overcome barriers. This qualitative case study explored teachers’ practices to address contextual barriers to implement inquiry in middle school (6th-8th) social studies. This study aimed to identify and describe these exemplary practices to inform professional development and learning focused on increasing the use of IBL in social studies classrooms. The study was limited to contextual barriers and potentially transferable practices. The findings reveal that teachers’ backgrounds and experiences informed their practices, contextual barriers were dynamic, and teachers’ practices addressing contextual barriers related to their knowledge of students, and long-term instructional planning, collaboration, scaffolding, and facilitation skills. Recommendations are offered for professional development and learning

    An exploration of the language within Ofsted reports and their influence on primary school performance in mathematics: a mixed methods critical discourse analysis

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    This thesis contributes to the understanding of the language of Ofsted reports, their similarity to one another and associations between different terms used within ‘areas for improvement’ sections and subsequent outcomes for pupils. The research responds to concerns from serving headteachers that Ofsted reports are overly similar, do not capture the unique story of their school, and are unhelpful for improvement. In seeking to answer ‘how similar are Ofsted reports’ the study uses two tools, a plagiarism detection software (Turnitin) and a discourse analysis tool (NVivo) to identify trends within and across a large corpus of reports. The approach is based on critical discourse analysis (Van Dijk, 2009; Fairclough, 1989) but shaped in the form of practitioner enquiry seeking power in the form of impact on pupils and practitioners, rather than a more traditional, sociological application of the method. The research found that in 2017, primary school section 5 Ofsted reports had more than half of their content exactly duplicated within other primary school inspection reports published that same year. Discourse analysis showed the quality assurance process overrode variables such as inspector designation, gender, or team size, leading to three distinct patterns of duplication: block duplication, self-referencing, and template writing. The most unique part of a report was found to be the ‘area for improvement’ section, which was tracked to externally verified outcomes for pupils using terms linked to ‘mathematics’. Those required to improve mathematics in their areas for improvement improved progress and attainment in mathematics significantly more than national rates. These findings indicate that there was a positive correlation between the inspection reporting process and a beneficial impact on pupil outcomes in mathematics, and that the significant similarity of one report to another had no bearing on the usefulness of the report for school improvement purposes within this corpus

    Examples of works to practice staccato technique in clarinet instrument

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    Klarnetin staccato tekniğini güçlendirme aşamaları eser çalışmalarıyla uygulanmıştır. Staccato geçişlerini hızlandıracak ritim ve nüans çalışmalarına yer verilmiştir. Çalışmanın en önemli amacı sadece staccato çalışması değil parmak-dilin eş zamanlı uyumunun hassasiyeti üzerinde de durulmasıdır. Staccato çalışmalarını daha verimli hale getirmek için eser çalışmasının içinde etüt çalışmasına da yer verilmiştir. Çalışmaların üzerinde titizlikle durulması staccato çalışmasının ilham verici etkisi ile müzikal kimliğe yeni bir boyut kazandırmıştır. Sekiz özgün eser çalışmasının her aşaması anlatılmıştır. Her aşamanın bir sonraki performans ve tekniği güçlendirmesi esas alınmıştır. Bu çalışmada staccato tekniğinin hangi alanlarda kullanıldığı, nasıl sonuçlar elde edildiği bilgisine yer verilmiştir. Notaların parmak ve dil uyumu ile nasıl şekilleneceği ve nasıl bir çalışma disiplini içinde gerçekleşeceği planlanmıştır. Kamış-nota-diyafram-parmak-dil-nüans ve disiplin kavramlarının staccato tekniğinde ayrılmaz bir bütün olduğu saptanmıştır. Araştırmada literatür taraması yapılarak staccato ile ilgili çalışmalar taranmıştır. Tarama sonucunda klarnet tekniğin de kullanılan staccato eser çalışmasının az olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Metot taramasında da etüt çalışmasının daha çok olduğu saptanmıştır. Böylelikle klarnetin staccato tekniğini hızlandırma ve güçlendirme çalışmaları sunulmuştur. Staccato etüt çalışmaları yapılırken, araya eser çalışmasının girmesi beyni rahatlattığı ve istekliliği daha arttırdığı gözlemlenmiştir. Staccato çalışmasını yaparken doğru bir kamış seçimi üzerinde de durulmuştur. Staccato tekniğini doğru çalışmak için doğru bir kamışın dil hızını arttırdığı saptanmıştır. Doğru bir kamış seçimi kamıştan rahat ses çıkmasına bağlıdır. Kamış, dil atma gücünü vermiyorsa daha doğru bir kamış seçiminin yapılması gerekliliği vurgulanmıştır. Staccato çalışmalarında baştan sona bir eseri yorumlamak zor olabilir. Bu açıdan çalışma, verilen müzikal nüanslara uymanın, dil atış performansını rahatlattığını ortaya koymuştur. Gelecek nesillere edinilen bilgi ve birikimlerin aktarılması ve geliştirici olması teşvik edilmiştir. Çıkacak eserlerin nasıl çözüleceği, staccato tekniğinin nasıl üstesinden gelinebileceği anlatılmıştır. Staccato tekniğinin daha kısa sürede çözüme kavuşturulması amaç edinilmiştir. Parmakların yerlerini öğrettiğimiz kadar belleğimize de çalışmaların kaydedilmesi önemlidir. Gösterilen azmin ve sabrın sonucu olarak ortaya çıkan yapıt başarıyı daha da yukarı seviyelere çıkaracaktır

    Internal structure of intonational categories: The (dis)appearance of a perceptual magnet effect

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    The question of whether intonation events are speech categories like phonemes and lexical tones has long been a puzzle in prosodic research. In past work, researchers have studied categoricality of pitch accents and boundary tones by examining perceptual phenomena stemming from research on phoneme categories (i.e., intonation boundary effects—peaks in discrimination sensitivity at category boundaries, perceptual magnet effects—sensitivity minima near the best exemplar or prototype of a category). Both lines of research have yielded mixed results. However, boundary effects are not necessarily related to categoricality of speech. Using improved methodology, the present study examines whether pitch accents have domain-general internal structure of categories by testing the perceptual magnet effect. Perceived goodness and discriminability of re-synthesized productions of Dutch rising pitch accent (L*H) were evaluated by native speakers of Dutch in three experiments. The variation between these stimuli was quantified using a polynomial-parametric modeling approach. A perceptual magnet effect was detected: (1) rated “goodness” decreased as acoustic-perceptual distance relative to the prototype increased (Experiment 1), and (2) equally spaced items far from the prototype were more frequently discriminated than equally spaced items in the neighborhood of the prototype (Experiment 2). These results provide first evidence for internal structure of pitch accents, similar to that found in color and phoneme categories. However, the discrimination accuracy gathered here was lower than that reported for phonemes. The discrimination advantage in the neighborhood far from the prototype disappeared when participants were tested on a very large number of stimuli (Experiment 3), similar to findings on phonemes and different from findings for lexical tones in neutral network simulations of distributional learning. These results suggest a more transient nature of the perceptual magnet effect in the perception of pitch accents and arguably weaker categoricality of pitch accents, compared to that of phonemes and in particular of lexical tones
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