Exploring the lexical and semantic access afforded by novice and experienced Namibian physical science teachers’ talk during electricity and magnetism lessons
- Authors: Muzambani, Efraim Hiamueze
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Knowledge, Theory of , Education, Secondary Aims and objectives Namibia , Science Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia , Systemic functional linguistics , Lexical density , Electricity Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia , Magnetism Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405346 , vital:70163
- Description: Challenges to learners’ meaning-making in the topic of electricity and magnetism contributes to underperformance in grade 10 Physical Science in Namibian schools. Teacher talk in content-based classrooms not only contributes to learners’ language development (Gibbons, 2003), but also facilitates meaning-making and cumulative knowledge-building (Halliday, 1999). However, it is possible that there are differences between the classrooms talk of novice and experienced Namibian Physical Science teachers. An understanding of differences between experienced and novice Namibian science teacher talk could inform teacher training and professional development and potentially help improve learners’ meaning-making in topics such as electricity and magnetism. However, no study could be found in the Namibian context which explored whether novice and experienced teacher talk afforded similar semantic and lexical access to meaning-making. This research gap provided a strong rationale for undertaking the study reported in this thesis. The study sought to investigate the extent to which novice and experienced grade 10 Namibian Physical Science teachers’ classroom talk provides semantic and lexical access to learners for the topic of electricity and magnetism. The research is informed by Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Research has shown that the two theories are complementary and can be used to characterize teachers’ pedagogical practices (Maton, 2014). A quantitative case study methodology was followed in this study with LCT’s semantic density and SFL’s lexical density as analytical tools to analyze the two teachers’ classroom talk. The results from a t-test for semantic density show that there is a significant difference in the means for “semantic density waving” criterion (t-value of -2.331; p-value for 2 tail test at 95% level of 0.0040) and for the “linking downward escalators or single references” criterion (t-value of 4.649; p-value for 2 tail test at 95% level of 0.001) of teacher talk by the teachers. The overall results for semantic density indicate that the experienced teacher affords better epistemological access through semantic waves than the novice teacher, whereas the novice teacher affords better epistemological access through semantic range and semantic flow. In terms of lexical density, both teachers afforded similar access, characterized by their talk veering towards the level of information density associated with written text. The study makes a methodological contribution to science education research through its characterization of novice and experienced teachers’ talk in terms of semantic waves and lexical density. This study also provides empirical insight into the differences between language use by novice and experienced Namibian Physical Science teachers, which can inform the work of educational institutions, advisory and inspectorate services in the ministry of education, and school managers. Relevant Namibian stakeholders are encouraged to consider including the topics of semantic density and lexical density, in continuous professional development programmes towards improving the meaning-making affordances of science teachers’ talk. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Muzambani, Efraim Hiamueze
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Knowledge, Theory of , Education, Secondary Aims and objectives Namibia , Science Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia , Systemic functional linguistics , Lexical density , Electricity Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia , Magnetism Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405346 , vital:70163
- Description: Challenges to learners’ meaning-making in the topic of electricity and magnetism contributes to underperformance in grade 10 Physical Science in Namibian schools. Teacher talk in content-based classrooms not only contributes to learners’ language development (Gibbons, 2003), but also facilitates meaning-making and cumulative knowledge-building (Halliday, 1999). However, it is possible that there are differences between the classrooms talk of novice and experienced Namibian Physical Science teachers. An understanding of differences between experienced and novice Namibian science teacher talk could inform teacher training and professional development and potentially help improve learners’ meaning-making in topics such as electricity and magnetism. However, no study could be found in the Namibian context which explored whether novice and experienced teacher talk afforded similar semantic and lexical access to meaning-making. This research gap provided a strong rationale for undertaking the study reported in this thesis. The study sought to investigate the extent to which novice and experienced grade 10 Namibian Physical Science teachers’ classroom talk provides semantic and lexical access to learners for the topic of electricity and magnetism. The research is informed by Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Research has shown that the two theories are complementary and can be used to characterize teachers’ pedagogical practices (Maton, 2014). A quantitative case study methodology was followed in this study with LCT’s semantic density and SFL’s lexical density as analytical tools to analyze the two teachers’ classroom talk. The results from a t-test for semantic density show that there is a significant difference in the means for “semantic density waving” criterion (t-value of -2.331; p-value for 2 tail test at 95% level of 0.0040) and for the “linking downward escalators or single references” criterion (t-value of 4.649; p-value for 2 tail test at 95% level of 0.001) of teacher talk by the teachers. The overall results for semantic density indicate that the experienced teacher affords better epistemological access through semantic waves than the novice teacher, whereas the novice teacher affords better epistemological access through semantic range and semantic flow. In terms of lexical density, both teachers afforded similar access, characterized by their talk veering towards the level of information density associated with written text. The study makes a methodological contribution to science education research through its characterization of novice and experienced teachers’ talk in terms of semantic waves and lexical density. This study also provides empirical insight into the differences between language use by novice and experienced Namibian Physical Science teachers, which can inform the work of educational institutions, advisory and inspectorate services in the ministry of education, and school managers. Relevant Namibian stakeholders are encouraged to consider including the topics of semantic density and lexical density, in continuous professional development programmes towards improving the meaning-making affordances of science teachers’ talk. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
The invisible teacher: The teacher envisaged in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) English First Additional Language (EFAL) Further Education and Training (FET) Phase
- Authors: Dowejko, Diane Agnieszka
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Educational sociology South Africa , Systemic functional linguistics , Curriculum-based assessment South Africa , Linguistic analysis (Linguistics) , Educational evaluation South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406714 , vital:70301
- Description: Educational policy documents, which are intended to enlighten teachers about what they should teach and how they should assess learners, contain both language and knowledge. How this knowledge is construed through language may reveal the kind of teacher envisaged by the document, and the assumptions made regarding the dispositions of these educators. There is a plethora of research on the relationship between the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement for English First Additional Language in the Further Education and Training Phase (CAPS-EFAL) and its impact on the learner in the classroom, but little evidence of research related to how curriculum documents envisage the teacher, and linguistic research pertaining to CAPS-EFAL. This research aims to use linguistic analysis to discover how the teacher is envisaged in this document, while speaking to the broader subject of the relationship between teacher and curriculum policy. This study adopts a framework which inspects this language using Systemic Functional Linguistics to analyse language in relation to its functions in social contexts, and the instructional knowledge built in CAPS-EFAL through applying elements of Legitimation Code Theory, analysing processes of knowledge production and recontextualisation. An investigation of the language revealed assumptions that the envisaged teacher is one who is already highly trained in aspects of language teaching and classroom methodology and pedagogy. While the analysis also revealed a high level of guidance for the teacher, there was a strong focus on the knowledge within the curriculum, and several assumptions made regarding the teacher’s prior knowledge before encountering or utilising the document. The analysis also revealed that CAPS-EFAL acknowledges that the teacher requires a sound knowledge of technical terminology related to language teaching, as well as general classroom pedagogies and routines. In addition, the document assumes that the disposition of the teacher is one who can make decisions without the need for absolute confirmation or authority from curriculum documentation. Overall, the analysis revealed an élite code in terms of Specialization; CAPS-EFAL is therefore based on the legitimacy of both specialised knowledge and the disposition of the teacher. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Dowejko, Diane Agnieszka
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Educational sociology South Africa , Systemic functional linguistics , Curriculum-based assessment South Africa , Linguistic analysis (Linguistics) , Educational evaluation South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406714 , vital:70301
- Description: Educational policy documents, which are intended to enlighten teachers about what they should teach and how they should assess learners, contain both language and knowledge. How this knowledge is construed through language may reveal the kind of teacher envisaged by the document, and the assumptions made regarding the dispositions of these educators. There is a plethora of research on the relationship between the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement for English First Additional Language in the Further Education and Training Phase (CAPS-EFAL) and its impact on the learner in the classroom, but little evidence of research related to how curriculum documents envisage the teacher, and linguistic research pertaining to CAPS-EFAL. This research aims to use linguistic analysis to discover how the teacher is envisaged in this document, while speaking to the broader subject of the relationship between teacher and curriculum policy. This study adopts a framework which inspects this language using Systemic Functional Linguistics to analyse language in relation to its functions in social contexts, and the instructional knowledge built in CAPS-EFAL through applying elements of Legitimation Code Theory, analysing processes of knowledge production and recontextualisation. An investigation of the language revealed assumptions that the envisaged teacher is one who is already highly trained in aspects of language teaching and classroom methodology and pedagogy. While the analysis also revealed a high level of guidance for the teacher, there was a strong focus on the knowledge within the curriculum, and several assumptions made regarding the teacher’s prior knowledge before encountering or utilising the document. The analysis also revealed that CAPS-EFAL acknowledges that the teacher requires a sound knowledge of technical terminology related to language teaching, as well as general classroom pedagogies and routines. In addition, the document assumes that the disposition of the teacher is one who can make decisions without the need for absolute confirmation or authority from curriculum documentation. Overall, the analysis revealed an élite code in terms of Specialization; CAPS-EFAL is therefore based on the legitimacy of both specialised knowledge and the disposition of the teacher. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
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