scholarly journals Multiple voices: Learners reflect on literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessamy Kromhout ◽  
Eileen Scheckle
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Group Meeting ◽  
Informal Group ◽  
Multiple Voices ◽  
Focus Group Meeting ◽  
Model C

Background: Much of the research in literacy focuses on what learners fail to do, especially in the early grades, but it is equally important to research successful readers. In particular learners’ experiences with literature contribute to our understanding of the possibilities literary texts offer. This article focused on learners’ responses to Advanced Programme (AP) English, which was an optional subject offered at an ex-Model C school, to understand how the learners had taken up these literary texts.Objectives: This study explored how matric learners spoke about the literature they had studied, in their AP English, in an informal group meeting.Methods: A qualitative case study was used to explore learners’ responses to literature. A final focus group meeting at the end of their matric year provides the data for this article. The transcriptions were coded using repeated patterns for themes to explore the stances taken in relation to the literature whether efferent or aesthetic.Results: The data showed how learners had incorporated fragments from the literature into their own utterances so that their language use echoed the literature. In addition to an efferent exam focus, the literature and AP English practices were used in both Art and Home Language English examinations.Conclusions: Learners need opportunities to talk about the multiple voices of literature in their lives. This kind of talk offers a different perspective on how literature can enrich, disrupt and extend learners’ thinking about literature and themselves. This research offers a counterpoint to examination results and contributes to building a nation of readers.

A Chinese Australian family’s language use and attitudes

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-66
Author(s):  
Bo Hu
Keyword(s):  
Family Communication ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Family Language

Abstract This paper presents a qualitative case study of a Chinese Australian family’s multilingual experiences in Melbourne. Couched in the framework of family language policy, I examine language shift patterns and mother tongue attitudes and analyse reasons and consequences. The findings show that the first generation uses Mandarin for general family communication, while relegating regional Chinese to functions that are, typically, private and familial and for use with older generations. The second generation uses English the most. While their Mandarin use is enhanced through community-based schooling and can be activated depending on the communicative environment, regional Chinese does not play an active role. This nested, hierarchical ecology of language shift with two dominant language constellations causes parental confusion about the children’s mother tongue and problematises grandparent-grandchild communication with a possible decrease of family intimacy.

scholarly journals “That German stuff”: Negotiating Linguistic Legitimacy in a Foreign Language Classroom

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Ennser-Kananen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
School Classroom ◽  
High School Classroom

This qualitative case study of one German suburban high school classroom in the Midwestern United States examines how learners of German negotiate their linguistic legitimacy, which is defined as discursively constructed acceptance or validation for their language use. Specifically, it investigates how the students negotiated legitimacy for using their target language German in their classroom. Based on the premise that linguistic legitimacy is crucial for the maintenance and development of speakers’ languages, data was collected and analyzed from classroom recordings, semi-structured interviews, and participant observations. Findings revealed that, while English dominated the lessons as the default legitimate language among the students, using German was accepted and valued under certain circumstances. Such instances of linguistic legitimacy included the use of German for entertainment or in role plays, a pattern which points to the students’ desire to mitigate investment and display “uninvestment” in learning or using German. Implications for foreign language (FL) pedagogy and teacher education are discussed.

scholarly journals Scaffolding multilingualism in kindergarten children: A case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 16-29
Author(s):  
Laxman K.C.
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Kindergarten Children ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
Language Of Instruction ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Language Identity

This qualitative case study research entitled ‘Scaffolding multilingualism in kindergarten children: A case study’ explored how kindergarten children face learning and communication barriers when they have different home language which is not the language of instruction at school and language of others at school. In addition, it revealed how kindergarten children's language identity and cognitive investment are not allowed by the monolingually biased pedagogical approach. It has presented the scenario of scaffolding monolingual children to multilingual basing their home language as the founding scaffold ingredients. A newly admitted kindergarten girl in pre-kindergarten school was the main source of the case study including her mother and her teacher for supporting information. Interviews and notes of observation and informal communication were the research tools used for data collection. Multilingual development of the home monolingual child is the thematic issue of this study.

scholarly journals DYSFUNCTIONAL SEMANTIC ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN LITERARY TEXTS: A CASE STUDY ON HAROLD PINTER’S MOUNTAIN LANGUAGE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-138
Author(s):  
Yadgar Faeq Saeed ◽  
Areen Ahmed Muhammed
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Semantic Role ◽  
Social Violence ◽  
Language And Literature ◽  
Gricean Maxims ◽  
Class Status ◽  
Modern Era

Language and literature are two inseparable subjects, one of which cannot be fully functional with the absence of the second part. This article shows the dysfunction of semantics in Harold Pinter’s Mountain Language. For many years, scholars and linguists work separately on different cases regarding literary texts or linguistics obstacles. From this paper, a new path will be saved for future references and works to bring both cases together and show their roles on one another. Moreover, literary works pay less attention to grammatical rules and plenty of dysfunctional languages can be examined and seen. In addition, several external factors can be the obstacle of using functional and accurate language use semantically and systematically. Moreover, political or social violence have become major points in many literary topics in the modern era. This study deals with theoretical aspects of society starting from family up to community and government. Additionally, the absence of semantics in the language of this drama is not neglected arbitrarily; whilst, there is a loop of violence. There are some basic theories related to the topic that this paper will examine. It includes the theory of Grice’s maxims (Gricean maxims) and the role of semantics when it comes to politics and power.  Finally, the paper alienates all the curtains and shows the role of power, gender differences, class status, and diversity on language use in many areas.

scholarly journals Writing short stories to describe literary language use and perceptions as writer

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-28
Author(s):  
José Alonso Hernández Martín
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Literary Language ◽  
Religious School ◽  
Written Production ◽  
Poetic Function ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Ninth Grade Students

This qualitative case study aims at describing the process followed by ninth grade students at a private religious school when using and analyzing literary language. The instruments used to carry out this study were: students’ artifacts to identify and analyze the literary language used, field notes, and interviews. During this process, the learners as authors generated the construction of meaning and developed their competence in writing. The results show that students used metaphors and similes (literary features) to express ideas and details about their contexts in written production. In turn, students profited from the poetic function of the language where their voices as authors describe their perceptions and experiences as writers.

Exploring and Supporting Home Language Maintenance in Informal Playgroups: Working with Pacific Communities

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-250
Author(s):  
Liam Morgan ◽  
Andrew Chodkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Parental Home ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Home Language Maintenance ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Group Workers ◽  
Play Group

This paper draws on three years of fieldwork within informal supported play-groups in inner Sydney. In Australia, some 40% of children reach school age without attending formal preschools. Aboriginal and immigrant groups are greatly overrepresented in this statistic. For these children, informal playgroups, funded from a range of government and non-government sources are important sites for learning. For children who speak a language other than English in the home, the playgroups also offer an opportunity to strengthen and support the use of the home language and connection to heritage cultures. Using data from observations, audio and video recordings, interviews with mothers and carers as well as interviews with play-group workers, literacy specialists and community workers, this paper will examine the challenges facing these families as their children prepare for schools in which their home language will be ‘submerged.’ The case study includes an evaluation of a bilingual program within informal playgroups aimed at strengthening home language use among children from the Maori and Tongan communities. The program was designed and implemented in collaboration with these communities as a part of research discussed in this paper. The evaluation will examine the benefits and limitations of such programs as well as foregrounding those strategies that engage and support families in their efforts to maintain their home language. The effects of these programs in terms of strengthening parental home language support cannot be underestimated and the results of this study highlight the importance of supporting home language in early childhood education settings through structured programs that are responsive to local needs.

scholarly journals A tool to enhance the planning of children’s literature lessons for Setswana as Home Language

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elma Marais ◽  
Carisma Nel ◽  
Dolly Dlavane
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Questioning Techniques ◽  
Faculties Of Education

Background: Universities, specifically faculties of education, have the responsibility to ensure that student teachers are introduced to the complexities involved in planning conceptually sound, coherent and cohesive lessons.Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine how prepared students teachers are to plan children’s literature and develop a tool for use by teachers specializing in Setswana to support them when planning and preparing for children’s literature lessons.Methods: A Qualitative case study design was chosen for this study.Results: The results of this study indicated that primary pre-service teachers in South Africa do not receive cohesive and coherent as well as intensive preparation in the planning of lessons focusing on children’s literature. In addition, most primary pre-service teachers were not familiar with the titles, some genres and levelled questioning techniques used in planning children’s literature lessons. The results indicated that student teachers studying at a distance and specialising in Setswana as a Home Language were experiencing difficulties relating to the literature planning and preparation.Conclusion: Skillful planning, entails taking into account the knowledge and developmental level of learners, their specific social and cultural contexts, knowledge of subject matter and learning goals, as well as knowledge of teaching strategies and practices.

Qualitative Case Study Research Design

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Tetnowski
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Real World ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Study Research

Qualitative case study research can be a valuable tool for answering complex, real-world questions. This method is often misunderstood or neglected due to a lack of understanding by researchers and reviewers. This tutorial defines the characteristics of qualitative case study research and its application to a broader understanding of stuttering that cannot be defined through other methodologies. This article will describe ways that data can be collected and analyzed.

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