Education Commons^™

Chinese-Speaking Undergraduates In Australia: A Lexical Approach To Teaching Academic Writing, Qin Chen, Anne Thwaite, Brian Moon

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Chinese-speaking students enroll in Australian tertiary institutions in large numbers. Success for these international students is heavily dependent upon their mastering the conventions of academic writing in English. How best to ensure such mastery among EAL learners has been a matter of debate among tertiary educators and language specialists, with competing theories and methods proposed. This paper reports on an attempt to improve English academic writing through intensive lexical instruction, a method proposed by Ackermann & Chen (2013), Boers et al. (2016), Lewis (1993), Selivan (2018), Wray (2005, 2018) and others. Nine Chinese-speaking tertiary students were offered training in recognising …

Fifth Graders’ Use Of Gesture And Models When Translanguaging During A Content And Language Integrated Science Class In Hong Kong, Melanie Williams

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Translanguaging in science includes the use of semiotic repertoires complete with non-linguistic modes of meaning (e.g. gesture, tactile) that until recently have gone unnoticed in research into content language integrated learning (CLIL). Currently, there are calls for classroom research in CLIL settings that examines the semiotic processes in the spontaneous translanguaging of emergent bilinguals. In response, this study aims to expand bilingualism research by investigating the ways in which fifth-grade emergent bilinguals’ draw from their semiotic repertoires when translanguaging in content-based science lessons. Multimodal transcriptions made from video recordings of the lessons allow a cross-case analysis of the emergent bilinguals’ …

Community Building, Multiculturalism And The Suburban Public Library: Community, Cohesion And Sustainability. Qualitative Data From Interviews On Western Australian Migrants' Information Needs & Quantitative Web Survey Data On Service Provision At Australian Public Libraries, 2011-2012, Rajeswari Chelliah

Research Datasets

This dataset consists of 3 files:

File 1: Qualitative data enclosed in Microsoft Excel file. Data collection includes one to one interviews with Western Australian migrants.

Content analysis: interview utterances were analysed for content, classified into categories, and coded and entered in Microsoft Excel file columns.

File 2: Qualitative data enclosed in Microsoft Word file. Data collection includes one to one interviews with Western Australian migrants.

Content analysis: interview utterances were analysed for content, classified into categories, and coded and entered in Microsoft Word file columns.

File 3: Quantitative data enclosed in Qualtrics software which includes public librarians’ responses to …

Students’ Perspectives On The Use Of Peer Feedback In An English As A Second Language Writing Class, Kavitha Sukumaran, Rozita Dass

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Peer assessment and peer feedback are considered alternatives to teacher-based feedback and their effects on writing have been substantially researched. This study aims to examine the perspectives of a group of university students, who are mainly second language learners, on peer feedback in an English writing class. Many of the studies conducted on the perspectives of students regarding peer feedback provided conflicting findings. While some found that peer feedback was viewed with doubt and encouraged little revision, others found it helped learners to recognise their strengths and flaws in writing. This study aims to better understand students’ perspectives regarding peer …

A Day In The Park: Emerging Genre For Readers Of Aboriginal English, Ian G. Malcolm

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Despite the fact that varieties of Aboriginal English are widely used in communication in Aboriginal communities across Australia, the use of Aboriginal English in writing has been limited. A significant genre for Aboriginal writers has been the autobiographical narrative. In most published narratives of this genre, Aboriginal English has not been widely used. This paper describes and discusses an autobiographical narrative composed by Aboriginal author Glenys Collard and published by the Western Australian Department of Training and Workforce Development in 2011 in which the only medium of narration (except for utterances by non-Aboriginal characters) is Aboriginal English. Analysis of this …

Computer-Based Oral Exams In Italian Language Studies, Christopher P. Newhouse, Martin G. Cooper

Research outputs 2013

In this paper we report on one component of a three-year study into the use of digital technologies for summative performance assessment in senior secondary courses in Western Australia. One of the courses was Italian Studies, which had an oral communication outcome externally assessed with an oral performance for which students travelled to a central location and undertook an interview with two assessors. Apart from the logistical difficulties for both students and the organising body, this method did not leave an enduring record of the process, and raised questions about the reliability of the assessment. Over the three years of …

Diversity And Equity...Community Building Strategies In Public Libraries For Multicultural Communities, Rajeswari Chelliah

Research outputs 2013

The research project focused on the community building potential in the public library due to increasing diversity in multicultural groups. Diversity in Australia and the world at large, is challenged by groups with backgrounds of traditionally embedded mind-sets, civil unrest, war, intolerance and poverty, and who live within the socio-cultural framework of the host culture. Building cohesion and integration among the residents is vital for all nations. The exploratory research project investigated the current level of public library services to Multicultural groups to obtain library staff views. The views of Multicultural individuals about their local public library experiences and information …

Intent To Action: Reforming The Reform In Nigeria Education, Stephen Dele Bolaji

Research Journeys in Education

No abstract provided.

Public Libraries : Celebrating Diversity, Rajeswari Chelliah, Justin A. Brown, Barbara Combes

Research outputs 2012

No abstract provided.

Supporting International Students To Meet Assessment Expectations, W. Gornisiewicz, O. Bass

Research outputs 2011

This paper offers practical suggestions for teaching strategies that will assist international students. A case study is presented involving the delivery of an introductory engineering unit at the Perth Institute of Business and Technology. The approach detailed allowed the academic staff to identify areas of concern in students’ learning early in the semester. Detecting and addressing these issues led to a signifi cant improvement in preparing these students to meet the exam requirements.

Waiting In Line: African Refugee Students In Western Australian Schools, Yvonne Haig, Rhonda Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

This study has been commissioned by the Westralian Association of Teachers English to Speakers of Other Languages (WATESOL) to determine the perceptions and expectations of those stakeholders involved in the education of African refugee children.

To do this study first a literature review was undertaken in order for the researchers to determine how much information was available and to improve their understanding of the subject matter. It appears that there is a growing body of research in Australia investigating the social, psychological and educational needs of African refugees, particularly those who have faced trauma (Earnest, IIousen, & Gillieatt, 2007; 2004). …

Teaching English As A Foreign Language To Grade 7 Students In Thailand: Genre-Based Versus Traditional Method, Sanguansri Torok, Russell F. Waugh

EDU-COM International Conference

This study compared a genre-based method of teaching English to Prathom (grade) 7 secondary students in Thailand and a traditional method. Rasch-generated linear scales were created to measure reading comprehension (based on 18 items with 300 students) and attitude and behaviour to learning EFL (based on 36 items with 296 students). The data for both scales had a good fit to a Rasch measurement model, good separation of measures compared to the errors, good targeting, and the response categories were answered consistently and logically, so that valid inferences could be drawn. Ninety students from three secondary schools in Ratchaburi, Thailand, …

English Learning Support For Working Staff: A Case Study Of Bimonthly Bilingual Posters For Staff Working In An Academic University, Suthee Ploisawaschai

EDU-COM International Conference

The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of providing English learning support for non-academic staff working in King Mongkut‘s University of Technology Thonburi. Staffs working in fields other than academia lack an opportunity to practice English. To do this, a series of bimonthly bilingual poster called KMUTT: I‘m Learning English was proposed. First released in March, the posters appeared twice a month in restrooms and elevators, as well as on the website. They covered such topics as news, fables, and conversations at work, sayings, and trivia. The researcher examined the impacts of this approach by surveying staff …

Community-Based English Course In Local Perspectives, Ratchaporn Rattanaphumma

EDU-COM International Conference

The paper aims to investigate how a community-based English language course can assist learners in the development of language skills and local cultural knowledge. The samples were 17 undergraduate English major students in Faculty of Education, Rajabhat Rajanagarindra University. The qualitative method was mainly employed in the study. Data were collected through unstructured interviews and participant observation. The strategies used in data analysis were analytic induction and typological analysis. The findings revealed that motivation, experiential learning, and collaboration played significant roles in the process of language and culture learning. The paper also discusses the significance of local perspectives when the …

Learning Better Together : Australian Indigenous Education Conference 4-7 April 2000 Esplanade Hotel Fremantle, Western Australia, Graeme Gower (Ed.)

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Towards More User-Friendly Education For Speakers Of Aboriginal English, Ian G. Malcolm, Yvonne Haig, Patricia Konsignberg, Judith Rochecouste, Glenys Collard, Alison Hill, Rosemary Cahill

Research outputs pre 2011

The project reported on here set out, on a basis of cooperation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal investigators working in university, educational system and classroom contexts, to lead to understandings which would enable a more accessible ("userfriendly") education to be provided for students in primary and secondary schools who are speakers of Aboriginal English.

Specifically, in the context of schools of the Education Department of Western Australia, the project sought to:

1. extend knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal English and its areas of contrast with standard Australian English;

2. provide clarification in the following under-researched areas of Aboriginal English:

a) semantic …

Principles And Practices Of Esl Teachers: A Study Of Adults And Children, Michael P. Breen, Bernard Hird, Marion Milton, Rhonda Oliver, A. Thwaite

Research outputs pre 2011

The study reported here aimed to identify the particular practices and uncover the particular principles of a group of ESL teachers. Some of the teachers were working with adult learners and some were working with young children. The research aimed to answer three main questions:

1. What are the classroom practices of this group of language teachers?

2. What principles do they identify as underlying their work in the classroom?

3. What is the relationship between the principles they held and the practices they adopted?

The study also aimed to find out if there were similarities or differences between teachers …

Profiling Esl Children: How Teachers Interpret And Use National And State Assessment Frameworks: Volume 1: Key Issues & Findings, Michael P. Breen, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Beverly Derewianka, Helen House, Catherine Hudson, Tom Lumley, Mary Rohl

Research outputs pre 2011

The three volumes which make up this study describe in detail how a number of teachers in different school situations in different parts of Australia undertook the assessment of young children's development of English as a second language. Most of the teachers worked in pre-primary to Year 3 classrooms where the majority of the children were aged between five and eight years. The majority worked in a mainstream context in which the number of children speaking English as a second language (ESL) varied from more than half the class to two or three students. About a third of the teachers …

Profiling Esl Children: How Teachers Interpret And Use National And State Assessment Frameworks: Volume 3: The Eastern States Case Studies, Michael P. Breen, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Beverly Derewianka, Helen House, Catherine Hudson, Tom Lumley, Mary Rohl

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Profiling Esl Children: How Teachers Interpret And Use National And State Assessment Frameworks: Volume 2: The Western Australia Case Studies, Michael P. Breen, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Beverly Derewianka, Helen House, Catherine Hudson, Tom Lumley, Mary Rohl

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Where Are The Women? A Report Into Issues Related To Women's Access To Workplace Literacy Programs, Marion Milton

Research outputs pre 2011

This study sought to investigate the provision of workplace literacy courses available for women in female dominated industries, and women's access to and participation in those courses. Further, it was intended to interview women who had dropped out or not accessed available courses.

Prior to discussing the study, it seems appropriate to locate it within the current economic, social and political climate of the Australian workplace, with a particular focus on the increasing demand for literacy skills.

Language And Communication Enhancement For Two-Way Education : Report, Ian G. Malcolm

Research outputs pre 2011

Indigenous Australians command many languages including autochthonous (Indigenous) and contact languages (creoles and Aboriginal English). This project is concerned with the majority who speak English, especially those who speak English as a first language, in an Aboriginal English variety. The project was developed by Edith Cowan University in cooperation with the Education Department of Western Australia as a response to an increasing demand from teachers of Indigenous students for help in providing for their needs as speakers of Aboriginal English. It was funded from the DEBT National Priority (Reserve) Fund to enable the University to develop course modules in Aboriginal …

The Ultra Project (The Universities Language Teaching Research Agreement) : A Joint Investigation By Edith Cowan University, Western Australia And The Guangzhou Foreign Language University, The People's Republic Of China, Into The Use Of Intensive And Immersion Approaches To Language Teaching And Learning At University Level, Alistair L. Mcgregor, Ian G. Malcolm

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Multicultural Education : A Book Of Readings, Gary Partington (Ed.)

Research outputs pre 2011

The problem of obtaining texts with material relevant to the core course in Aboriginal and Multicultural Education in the W.A. College led me to suggest a book of readings selected by those teaching the course. Obviously this was a trap for the unwary, for the diversity of recommendations that I received meant that unless the book was to be of mammoth proportions, some lecturers were bound to be disappointed. This was compounded by difficulties in tracking down authors to obtain their permission in time to publish.

Even so, it is anticipated that the collection of readings finally assembled will contribute …

Functional Language In Vietnam And Australia : Some Differences In The Use Of Functional Language Between Vietnamese And Australian Speakers, Eleanor A. Ensor

Research outputs pre 2011

The linguistic problems encountered in such areas as phonology and syntax by Vietnamese learning English are already dealt with in several publications. This paper however, explores a further avenue of common problems which are socio-linguistic in nature, relating to the settlement process of Vietnamese into Australian society...

The Language Of 5 1/2-Year-Old Children From Homes Where Macedonian, Vietnamese And An Aboriginal Tribal Language Are Used As The Language Of The Home, A. L. Mcgregor

Research outputs pre 2011

Throughout the world migration patterns and changing attitudes towards education and other cultures have led over the past three or four decades to a remarkable growth in the learning of second or foreign languages. Within this area the learning of English by speakers of other languages takes up the largest numbers and is to be found in every part of the globe.

Nevertheless to date comparatively little is known of processes and patterns in second language development. Evidence on phonological and semantic development is exceedingly skimpy. Hernandez (in Ervin-Tripp 1970), Malmberg (1945), Wode (1976) and Ervin-Tripp (1974) have examined the …

Teaching Children Of Different Cultural Backgrounds : A Survey Of 1976-1977 Graduates From Nedlands College Of Advanced Education, M Kaplan

Research outputs pre 2011

The composition of the student population in secondary schools in Western Australia has changed considerably in recent years. The overall increase in the number of students being retained in school at all levels of secondary education has resulted in a growing number of children of Aboriginal/part Aboriginal and/or migrant parents in the secondary streams. These children who previously tended to finish their schooling in the primary school are now entering secondary schools to complete their education.

Report To The Academic Council Of Nedlands College From The Ad Hoc Committee On Aboriginal Education, Aboriginal Education Committee

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

The Development Of English As A Second Language In Aboriginal And Migrant Children : A Pilot Study, A. L. Mcgregor

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Features Of Serbo-Croatian For Language Teachers, Eric G. Vaszolyi

Research outputs pre 2011

Teachers of migrant children experience a great many difficulties in trying to understand and resolve their pupils' language problems. One basic problem is all too familiar: the teacher speaks English and the migrant child does not understand it or only understands it to some, rather limited, extent. Another problem area: the pupil picks up some English in the classroom, on the playground and out in the street but speaks it with a peculiar accent and peppers it with phonemic, grammatical and semantic errors. The child's deviations from the generally accepted patterns of English (i.e. the prevalent variety of English spoken …