Education Commons^™

The Spelling Detective Project: A Year 2 Explicit Instruction Spelling Intervention, Sally Robinson-Kooi, Lorraine Hammond

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teaching spelling is controversial because teaching approaches vary considerably in the contemporary classroom. Teachers may privilege visual over linguistic strategies, select words based around themes or let students choose spelling words, rather than focus on the explicit teaching of phono-morphological structures of words. A nine-week intervention spelling project that included the phono-morphological structure of words and contextualised sentence dictation was designed to support Year 2 students in a NSW school and is described here. The intervention aimed to support all students including those with learning difficulties and an English as an Additional Language (EALD) background, within a mainstream setting. The …

School Librarians As Literacy Educators Within A Complex Role, Margaret K. Merga

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Librarians in schools are expected to play an important role as literacy educators, and have a positive impact on young people’s literacy learning. However in the context of their diverse workload, relatively little is known about how this aspect of their role sits within its competing demands, and the exact scope of the literacy educator requirements. Using a hybrid approach to content analysis, this article analyses 40 recent job description documents to identify the nature and prevalence of different aspects of the role, and to explore the literacy educator aspect of this profession. Findings suggest that while the literacy educator …

English Proficiency Of Vietnamese Business Graduates: Requirements Of Government, Private Universities, And Foreign Employers, Tien Tung Le

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

English is the global language of business, trade, tourism, technology, science and politics. It is also the official language in many foreign companies (Kam, 2002) and proficiency in English is therefore an advantage for acquiring employment in foreign companies where the working environment is multilingual, professional and highly competitive.

As a dynamic developing country in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has attracted substantial foreign investment since the introduction of Doi Moi or the Renovation policy in 1986. Over the last three decades, a number of foreign companies have established themselves in the country, creating numerous employment opportunities for young Vietnamese people, especially …

Assessment Of Literacy Pedagogy Using Gratitude, Glenn Auld, Andrew Eyers, Joanne O'Mara

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper considers aspects of a course redesign that focuses on motivating Pre-service Teachers to engage in negotiating relevant literacy teaching pedagogies in their discipline. The purpose of this article is to describe how we approached the teaching of literacy with Pre-service Teachers, in ways that valued the Pre-service Teachers’ relationships with secondary students using notes of gratitude. These notes provided the Pre-service Teachers with an opportunity to communicate in plain language to the students what they learnt from them about literacy pedagogy. The shift from the focus on the subject matter of literacy to the enactment of literacy teaching …

Preservice Teachers As Document Detectives, Lorna Quinnell, Radha Iyer, Bronwyn Ewing

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Literacy today relies on a readers’ ability to analyse text critically. This case study investigated preservice teachers’ critical analysis of media text containing visuals and representations. In particular, the analysis focused on mathematical factors that impact on readers’ interpretation of diverse visuals.

Data was gathered from the 23 preservice teachers, enrolled in the Graduate Diploma program at one Australian university. They participated in a series of mathematics learning sessions focused on the critical analysis of a selection of media items.

The paper argues that the ability to critically analyse graphs and visuals relies on mathematical knowledge and that the ability …

The Efficacy Of A Computer Program For Increasing Phonemic Awareness And Decoding Skills In A Primary School Setting For Children With Reading Difficulties, Tiffany Winn, Julia Miller, Willem Van Steenbrugge

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper addresses a gap in research regarding the efficacy of software programs to help children with reading difficulties. Forty-two children aged 5-13 years identified as poor readers participated in a study over twelve weeks using ReadingDoctor, a software program targeting phonemic awareness, orthographic-phonemic mappings, decoding ability and sight word recognition. Measures were taken using the Sutherland Phonological Awareness Test - Revised (SPAT-R), the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE), and the graphemes and decoding subtests of the Phonological Awareness Test 2 (PAT-2). A quasi-experimental one group study with three multiple baseline measures was used. The dependent variables/measures were assessed …

Teachers And Research Practices: Perspectives From English Language Educators In A Philippine University, Veronico N. Tarrayo, Philippe Jose S. Hernandez, Judith Ma. Angelica S. Claustro

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Given the paucity of studies regarding research practices of teachers, particularly English language teaching (ELT) practitioners in the ASEAN region and in the Philippines, this study explores the research practices of English language teachers in the Philippines. Using purposive-convenience sampling, a total of 49 teachers of English from a Philippine university were asked to answer a survey. To validate the data, pertinent public university documents were examined, and interviews with the university research heads were conducted. Findings suggest that the teachers were cognizant of the link between teaching and their own and their schools’ research practices. This research also reports …