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"Changing landscapes" : raising genre awareness through the meaningful context of project work
Author
Payne, Emmeline
Supervisor
Kramer-Dahl, Anneliese
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to discover whether Singaporean secondary students, participating in the meaningful context of project work and receiving explicit instructional support, could become more aware of genres. In doing so it sought to combine 'Project Work' and the 'English Language Syllabus 2001', two new government initiatives in the Singapore education system.
The focus group for this study was a class of secondary one and two students, and the project, which took the form of weekly enrichment classes, lasted one semester. Called "Changing Landscapes", it looked to explore Singapore's developing skyline from kampong to financial district.
The touchstone for the project was an interview which the students conducted with a senior citizen, after which they wrote two texts for specific audiences, the first was a historical recount and the second a narrative. The students received explicit instructional support while writing these different texts, through the use of a metalanguage.
In particular the study sought to find out whether project work was an effective context for learning about different text types, whether the students could indeed use the metalanguage as a working language and whether they were able to apply it to their own written work; also whether authentic materials and a specific audience empowered the students to write.
The field notes collected consisted of the teacher's diary, the students' completed texts, their oral and written feedback and reflections, their correspondence with their primary school pen-pals and with the teacher, two questionnaires, and the 'class work' which was undertaken along the way.
This thesis, encompassed by the multi-layered metaphor of "Changing Landscapes", charts the inception of the project, from the changing educational landscape for English language teaching in Singapore in Chapter 1, through to the theoretical foundations which underpin the approach to teaching English being advocated by this study, in Chapter 2. It also details the way in which the physical landscape of the project had a strong hand in shaping the actual project (Chapter 3), and how this informed project was realised in the classroom (Chapter 4). The students' journey through the changing social landscape of the genres is described from their starting point or rather starting points in Chapter 5, to their growing understanding of the genres (Chapter 6), and on to their movement into new territory and ultimately their independent writing in Chapter 7. The thesis ends by reflecting on this journey and considering the implications for future journeys of this kind (Chapter 8).
The focus group for this study was a class of secondary one and two students, and the project, which took the form of weekly enrichment classes, lasted one semester. Called "Changing Landscapes", it looked to explore Singapore's developing skyline from kampong to financial district.
The touchstone for the project was an interview which the students conducted with a senior citizen, after which they wrote two texts for specific audiences, the first was a historical recount and the second a narrative. The students received explicit instructional support while writing these different texts, through the use of a metalanguage.
In particular the study sought to find out whether project work was an effective context for learning about different text types, whether the students could indeed use the metalanguage as a working language and whether they were able to apply it to their own written work; also whether authentic materials and a specific audience empowered the students to write.
The field notes collected consisted of the teacher's diary, the students' completed texts, their oral and written feedback and reflections, their correspondence with their primary school pen-pals and with the teacher, two questionnaires, and the 'class work' which was undertaken along the way.
This thesis, encompassed by the multi-layered metaphor of "Changing Landscapes", charts the inception of the project, from the changing educational landscape for English language teaching in Singapore in Chapter 1, through to the theoretical foundations which underpin the approach to teaching English being advocated by this study, in Chapter 2. It also details the way in which the physical landscape of the project had a strong hand in shaping the actual project (Chapter 3), and how this informed project was realised in the classroom (Chapter 4). The students' journey through the changing social landscape of the genres is described from their starting point or rather starting points in Chapter 5, to their growing understanding of the genres (Chapter 6), and on to their movement into new territory and ultimately their independent writing in Chapter 7. The thesis ends by reflecting on this journey and considering the implications for future journeys of this kind (Chapter 8).
Date Issued
2003
Call Number
PE1068.S55 Pay
Description
Pg. 313 is missing
Date Submitted
2003