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Start date: 2020Subject: search.filters.subject.English language

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    Secondary school English language teacher agency in the aftermath of COVID-19 crises : a study from a West Sumatran Region, Indonesia : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2025-11-26) Yuliandri, Yuliandri
    The COVID-19 pandemic saw the prompt shift to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT), which was challenging for both learners and educators worldwide. This study explores the experiences of secondary school English language teachers working within a resource-limited setting of Lima Puluh Kota Region, West Sumatra, Indonesia. It focuses not only on the ERT period but also on the re-transition to face-to-face teaching post-pandemic. It seeks to answer two research questions: 1) What adjustments did English language teachers make to their practice during and after the pandemic lockdown period, and how did they perceive and articulate these experiences? 2) How did the teachers exercise their agency, negotiate their professional identities, and manage their emotions in response to these experiences? This study adopts a qualitative dominant mixed-methods design. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis are employed to analyse data which was collected from teachers from July to November 2022 through a survey (n=63), two rounds of interviews (n=10), and classroom observations (n=10). The findings indicated that while the teachers were emotionally affected by the abrupt shift to ERT, which was intensified by Digital Divide issues, they tried to negotiate the availability of resources and use their agency to find ways to continue teaching. Some were able to discover benefits beyond the difficulties as ERT exposed them to digital technologies, a wide range of learning modes, and opportunities to pursue professional development (PD). Throughout and after the pandemic, teachers actively negotiated their professional identities, which contributed to their professional growth and increased reflexivity on their current and future practices. This shifted their perspectives about teaching and learning and the role of technology, which proved useful when they encountered challenges re-transitioning to face-to-face classrooms. This study contributes to the literature by 1) adding evidence of how English language teachers exercised their agency during and after the pandemic and illustrating the temporal and contextual aspects involved in the process, 2) revealing different pathways of professional identity negotiation, and 3) breaking down the interplay between agency, identity, and emotions, and outlining the significant role of emotions in both enactment of agency and professional identity negotiation. In addition to these theoretical contributions, practical implications, which focus on the need for school technology infrastructure in the region, and tailored teacher professional development at both school and MoE levels to foster student teachers’ and experienced teachers’ awareness of the intersection of agency, identity and emotion in the teacher education curriculum and training programmes, are discussed.
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    University students’ and staff’s perceptions of third-party writing assistance and plagiarism : a mixed methods study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at Massey University, Manawatū, Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023) Möller, Ami
    Considering plagiarism as the by-product of undeveloped and inadequate composition skills, it seems reasonable for a student to seek assistance to improve their writing. But when does writing assistance stop constituting help and start constituting plagiarism? Little research, especially in Aotearoa New Zealand, investigates perceptions about situations where students use assistance during the process of composing their assessments. This thesis uncovers the intricacies of perceived [un]acceptability of third-party writing assistance scenarios through an examination of what undergraduate students and teaching staff in Aotearoa New Zealand believe about instances of collaborating, editing, repurposing, and ghostwriting. The study uses a convergent mixed methods design comprised of a primary qualitative track and a supplementary quantitative track. Both approaches use an original set of fictional, yet realistic, scenarios of writing assistance that vary in amount, scope, and quality. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with students and descriptive statistics and quantitative content analysis of an anonymous online survey of staff provide insight into both groups’ beliefs. Themes of labour and learning included situational features participants identified as why writing assistance was acceptable or unacceptable. All students and most staff viewed scenarios where a student subverted the labour of writing, like obtaining an assessment composed by someone else, as unacceptable. Participants in both groups considered scenarios that involved collaborating acceptable when situations included an explanatory discussion, which they perceived as active and engaged learning. Between these scenarios, though, existed a distinct lack of certainty regarding the boundaries of acceptability and plagiarism—especially when it came to instances involving editorial interventions, repurposing of text, and technology-based phrasing tools. Contributions from the findings include confirming earlier reports of students’ limited conceptions of plagiarism; illuminating an added complication in determining acceptability based on how a student operationalises assistance; and enhancing our understanding of when writing assistance constitutes plagiarism. The unique implementation of embedding scenarios into qualitative interviews contributes a fresh approach to academic integrity research. And the bespoke set of scenarios offers potential utility as a learning support tool. Implications include refocusing acceptability onto how assistance is utilised; considering cognitive offloading in response to efficiency motives; integrating direct, sustained dialogue about writing assistance into instruction; and requiring transparent declarations of use in assessments.
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    Positive emotions in English language learning in the Vietnamese tertiary contexts : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023) Nguyen, Thi Anh Hong
    This thesis explores the emotions students experienced during their English language learning trajectories in the Vietnamese tertiary context. It specifically focuses on the students’ positive emotions and on the role of hope as a mediating factor in triggering shifts in students’ emotions from negative to positive. Drawing on a sociocultural approach, this study explores the contribution of positive emotions in their English language learning. This qualitative study aims to contribute to our understanding of the complexity, diversity, and dynamics of emotions in English language learning as well as the role of Vietnamese culture in the emotions students experienced. The study is based on written narratives and interviews with students taking English language courses within three affiliated universities in Vietnam. The data were obtained from a total of 185 written narrative responses and 10 student interviews. Narrative analysis (Barkhuizen et al., 2013) was used to analyse small stories in the written narratives and thematic analysis (Talmy, 2010) was used for analysing the interview data. The findings indicate that both positive and negative emotions co-existed in the students’ English language learning experiences. The range of activity-related, success-linked, and failure-linked emotions highlighted by the findings illustrate that activity-related emotions such as enjoyment and excitement positively triggered students’ engagement, while negative emotions such as boredom negatively impacted it. Success-linked emotions originated from students’ self-assessed successes in meeting personal study or learning goals, their parents’ or teachers’ expectations, or the standards imposed by the community or society as a whole, with positive achievement emotions strongly associated with positive outcomes. In contrast, failure-linked emotions were associated with the students’ failure in achieving personal targets and in meeting the expectations others had of them, their recognition of their own shortcomings in relation to accepted social standards, or from negative evaluations from other people. Importantly, the findings showed that emotions are socially and culturally constructed, and in particular associated with the features of the local Confucian cultural heritage. Overall, the thesis illustrates the role of people living around students or in interactions with them in the emergence and development of emotions associated with English language learning. Finally, hope, as an emotion, emerged as playing a significant role in the transition between negative and positive emotions. The insights of the study contribute to the theory of emotions in language learning by delineating in detail the close and reciprocal relationship between emotions, self-efficacy and motivation, and by providing evidence of the role of hope in motivating students. It also contributes to our understanding of the role cultural factors play in shaping students’ emotions. The findings have implications for policymakers, educational trainers, school managers, teachers, parents, and language learners.
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    Expressions of voice and trajectories of writers’ selves in academic writing : transitioning from an academic bridging course to postgraduate programmes : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics and Second Language Teaching at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Butler, Eugenia
    Abstract This longitudinal study explores the use of language involved in the construction of voice in academic scripts, as well as personal perspectives relating to the concept of voice, its perceived role and its usage in an academic script. The main aim is to demystify the perceived elusiveness of voice, and present a number of textual features which are analysed longitudinally in order to identify changes in a writer’s identity. The study draws upon previous research by Halliday (1985), Ivaniç (1998) and Thompson (2014) which has provided a framework for investigating how language contributes to the process of interpersonal communication. The qualitative data resulted from an analysis of novice postgraduate ESOL student scripts, as well as from interviews with the main stakeholders involved in academic writing: the students, ESOL teachers on the bridging programme in which they studied, and lecturers in the postgraduate courses in which they subsequently enrolled. Three longitudinal interviews involving 21 students and email interviews with nine ESOL teachers and four postgraduate lecturers provided opportunities for my participants to share their perceptions of voice in academic writing, particularly on Master’s programmes, in order to show how voice reflects beliefs, past and present circumstances, and social constructions of the self. Analysed through the theoretical framework of the Communities of Practice developed by Lave and Wenger (1991) and Wenger (1998), the findings indicate that students were interested in the textual technicalities surrounding the expression of voice. They had personal views about voice which they openly expressed in interviews and applied in their scripts. Longitudinally, the voice markers used in their texts were in assonance with their willingness to contribute new knowledge to their second language (L2) disciplinary community, an aspect also highlighted in three case studies’ findings. Overall, the expressions of voice through the textual features proposed by this study diminished in scripts in the transition from the academic bridging programme to the postgraduate studies. The teachers’ approaches to voice instruction were primarily informed by their voice acquisition experience resulting from their mainstream studies, both general and academic. The postgraduate lecturers seemed to expect simplicity in the grammatical structures used in a script but held different views relating to students’ authorial contribution to knowledge in a Master’s script.
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    Learner-centred approaches in teaching English in Thailand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Namwong, Ong-Art
    This thesis investigates the implementation of learner-centred pedagogies in English classes in public secondary schools in Thailand. It explores the understanding of learner-centred approaches from a range of stakeholders, how these approaches are implemented within classrooms, and the factors supporting or impeding implementation. The thesis also aims to contribute to understanding on how the Thai culture influences the implementation of learner-centred approaches. Past research in this context has typically been small in scale, with low numbers of participants, and a single participant type, e.g. teachers. The current exploratory case study focused on small and extra-large public secondary schools in the educational service area 25, Khon Kaen, Thailand. Data were obtained from a range of participants from Ministry level to students using three different data collection methods: questionnaires, individual interviews and student focus group interviews. In total, data were obtained from 117 questionnaire respondents, 16 interviewees and six student focus groups. This approach allowed for data to be obtained from a wider range of perspectives than previous studies, and also provided methodological triangulation. The findings revealed that teachers did not have a consensus over what learner-centred approaches constitute. In interviews, they provided very brief responses, and demonstrated limited, and somewhat superficial, understanding. This limited understanding was further evidenced when teachers talked about their implementation of learner-centred approaches. In reality, much of what was discussed reflected practices that were traditional and teacher rather than learner-centred. The main barriers in implementing learner-centred approaches were reported as: other school duties and responsibilities, a limited understanding of learner-centred approaches, large class sizes, and inadequate teaching and learning resources. Other issues related to the level of English language proficiency of teachers, opportunities for students to use English outside the classroom and pedagogical training for teachers. Across all phases of this study, it was apparent that the Thai cultural context is influential, and tensions were seen between the policy intentions and Thai cultural norms. For example, discrepancies were observed between the policy directive of learner-centred teaching and the dominant examination-based assessment, the power distance that exists in Thai society and large class sizes which are typical in many Thai schools. The findings of this thesis have significant implications for policy makers, educational trainers, school management, teachers and students. In particular, there is an urgent need to consider how learner-centred approaches can be adapted to align more closely with the Thai culture. Professional development and support for teachers is another aspect in need of urgent attention so that teachers are supported to make changes to their teaching and pedagogy in line with learner-centred approaches. Additionally, support for teachers to improve their levels of English language proficiency is needed so that teachers are more comfortable using English in their teaching. This will also help to provide students with increased opportunities to communicate in English.