Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemAn evaluation of frequency transposition in hearing aids for school age children(University of Melbourne, 2008)This study examined the changes in aided performance observed in children with hearing impairment who trialled alternative hearing aid technology. A key objective when fitting hearing aids to children is to maximise the audibility of high frequency speech cues which are critical in the understanding of spoken English. Recent advances in digital signal processing have enabled the development of hearing aids which offer linear frequency transposition as a new way of accessing these important speech sounds. The rationale behind the research was to evaluate the benefits of this new technology for six hearing-impaired children. The participants were aged between 9 and 14 years and all attended mainstream schools. Results for each participant are presented in a case study format. Objective outcome measures were comprised of tests of speech perception and speech production. These case study results illustrate individual variation, with five of the six participants recording overall positive change in both these metrics. Results also showed statistically significant improvements for the group as a whole. The objective findings were supported by positive subjective benefits measured using formal and informal questionnaires completed by the participants, their family members and their teachers. The introduction of the new technology resulted in improved hearing aid usage, increased selfconfidence, improved listening skills and global improvements in communication abilities. Differences were particularly marked for those children with extreme ski-slope hearing losses fitted with an open ear hearing aid style.
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ItemUsing new media in the drama classroom(University of Melbourne, 2007)This study explores the ways in which primary school drama students engage with new media technologies in the drama classroom. Specifically this study investigates a multi-media project combining live role- based performance and digital role-based performance. The research addresses whether the drama classroom can operate effectively within a digital framework. In particular the study seeks to clarify whether the virtual world and the real world of the drama classroom can come together to produce new dramatic works. Using an action research approach, I draw on my teaching of nine weeks of drama in an all girls K-12 school in Melbourne, Australia. The data was collected through observing and facilitating the drama workshops, conducting interviews with both student and teacher participants and collecting digital discussion forum reflections. A review of the related literature focuses on the current state of drama education and the ways in which drama educators are adapting to the technological changes in their curricula. In the drama classes the girls were challenged to create improvisations and stories from new media pretexts and stimuli. In their dramas the girls also addressed the ways in which new technologies were present in their everyday lives and how these technologies could be used in the drama classroom. This study addresses the possibilities of building a digitally viable drama classroom that still enables students to learn and express themselves through dramatic form. The findings of this study indicate the importance of drama education to connect young people to their real life technological experiences and also the importance of giving young people physically active opportunities that they do not find in their highly mediated world.
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ItemSupporting English as an Additional Language student wellbeing in secondary schools: Teacher perspectives and a group psychoeducational program( 2022)Objectives: There is increasing recognition that English as an Additional Language (EAL) students need additional support to thrive in an English-speaking country, particularly when adapting to a new country and developing English language skills. Yet, the understanding of their acculturative needs is limited. Further, no targeted interventions for their psychological adaptation or wellbeing are available in secondary school contexts. The present study aimed to address this gap in knowledge and practice. Methods: Mixed methods were used. In Phase 1, semi-structured interviews were conducted with three EAL teachers. In Phase 2, the adapted Coping with Study Abroad (CSA) program was piloted with 25 EAL students in an Australian secondary school. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated using a repeated-measures design (n = 20) and a qualitative feedback survey (n = 6). Results: EAL students experienced pervasive stresses in various aspects of school life, including learning (e.g., language barriers to participating in class activities) and wellbeing (e.g., negative emotions due to difficulty communicating in English). While the adapted CSA program provided an opportunity for EAL students to connect with each other, no significant changes were found between the pre- and post-intervention scores in proactive coping behaviours, psychological wellbeing, and negative stereotype about help-seeker. Conclusions: There are strengths and limitations in the current school practice and the adapted program for EAL students. To effectively support EAL students in secondary school, wellbeing support and English language skills development should work in synergy, with each enhancing the other.
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ItemTranslingual language education: towards the resourceful speaker( 2017)The aim of this research report is to outline a preliminary guide of how to implement translingual language education. Currently, language education is based on modernist ideas about language. Learners are expected to master the same standard form as a native speaker does. Few language students achieve this goal. Minority language students are particularly disadvantaged, as this approach to education hinders their ability to access the majority language. Their home languages are often ignored or forbidden by teachers which has led to academic failure. The translingual approach is grounded in the work of multilingual education researchers, and poststructuralist sociolinguistic scholarship. This report answers questions about how a translingual approach can support language minority and majority students to adopt new attitudes and skills in line with modern research. These skills include being resourceful speakers who are able to adapt to the communication needs of the moment. This report uses a literature review of published academic works describing the translingual teaching practices of teachers in Western contexts. The analysis revealed possible ways for teachers to model a new attitude towards languages, and utilise their students’ language resources. The report provides recommendations for facing future challenges in the field.
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ItemTicking boxes, kicking goals: teacher perceptions of their professional learning within the 2014 Victorian performance and development process( 2016)Australian performance and development processes have been viewed by teachers as having little impact on their teaching and were mainly fulfilled out of compliance, according to a 2009 OECD study. This research details how the current Victorian Performance And Development Guidelines (DEECD, 2014a) represent a change in framing from past policies and how teachers interact with and perceive this new process. This project used a narrative inquiry methodology providing participant teachers with opportunities to articulate and reflect on their learning through a six-month period of their review cycle. The narrative of their experience was analysed using Positioning Theory which was useful in exploring the interplay of factors perceived by teachers to shape their learning over time. These include the negotiation of agreement with leaders, developing understanding of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, and a focus on the production of evidence within the goal-setting cycle. Factors were also identified that may need addressing to support the full realisation of the policy’s potential in the lives of teachers and students.
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ItemJust reporting : does the school have a justifiable reporting process?( 2006)This thesis titled `Just Reporting' aimed to explore the question: Does the school have a justifiable reporting process that meets the needs of key stakeholders (parents, students and teachers)? Through a critical review of the research literature relevant to reporting, various ethical issues were noted that assisted in the construction of the questions guiding this study. These ethical issues provided the lens through which I explored the reporting practices at the research school. The title Just Reporting emphasises the justice issues surrounding reporting as a communicative action where the integrity of each individual is maintained and relationships strengthened. The research took the form of a case study involving the participation of thirty-three parents, eleven teachers and twenty-one students from the one school setting in a questionnaire that had both quantitative and qualitative questions that gathered their affective and cognitive responses to the school's written report. I also held one focus group interview with parents to clarify information from the questionnaire. An interactive inquiry with mixed methods approach was chosen as the best way to answer the research questions. The aim was to develop a theory about reporting rather than prove an existing theory. This study examines what reporting is, the audience and purpose of reporting, and the imperatives of justifiable reporting. It gathered the opinions and beliefs about reporting at the research school from key stakeholder groups and sought to discover whether the written report met their needs and fulfilled the requirements of justifiable reporting. Final analysis of the data provided understandings about the nature of reporting at the research school and revealed a number of issues that prevented the process from being fully justifiable.
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ItemThe performance of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) students on a high-stakes writing test( 2016)This study considers the performance of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) candidates compared with L1 candidates on a high-+stakes test of argumentative writing. The test is part of a cross-curricular scaling test used to assist in the ranking of Year 12 students for the purpose of university entrance selection. How do the scores of each subgroup differ and why don’t the CALD candidates achieve in the top score range? The rhetorical strategies used by each subgroup will be considered. The results of this study provide insights into the rhetorical features preferred by each group and may inform the work of secondary teachers, language teacher educators and assessment boards.
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ItemSeeing you seeing me : constructing the learners and their target language speakers in Korean and Australian textbooks( 2006)To be successful in real-life communication with their target language (TL) speakers, language learners need to develop a sound knowledge of modern-day target language society, and an understanding of the beliefs and values most commonly shared by TL speakers. Such knowledge forms the basis of what Clark (1996) calls 'common ground', and is essential for interlocutors to exchange meanings. Removed from natural settings, textbooks are one of the principal resources for foreign language learners to construct a conception of their TL speakers in relation to themselves. This project examines the constructs of the learners' TL speakers provided in, respectively, a Korean language textbook for Australian beginner learners and an English language textbook for Korean beginner learners. By analysing how each presents the other set of people in terms of the attributes the other group assigns to itself in its own books, this study assesses how well each book assists their local learners to begin constructing sound common ground with their TL speakers. Analysis is made of the verbal and visual texts in each whole book with respect to topic and attributes; as well, using Gee's discourse analysis framework, close analysis and comparison is made of the information about the TL speakers and the learners themselves in the first three chapters of each book in relation to the three major beginner learner topics: Self-introduction, family and school. While there are a number of similarities in representation of the TL speakers by both sides, even this small examination shows glaring omissions and contradictions in the construct of the TL speakers proposed for the learners of each language compared to how their actual TL speakers project themselves. Furthermore, these differences would easily lead to confusion over meanings if used in real life. If such mismatches persisted over years of language learning, it can be predicted that learners would fail to create some elements of 'common ground' essential for them to understand what their TL speakers mean in interaction and be understood themselves.
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ItemEvaluating a peer mediation program : the perspectives of key stakeholders( 2006)Peer mediation has developed as a popular means of responding to and managing conflict in schools. Advocates of peer mediation assert that it is an effective method of encouraging students to resolve conflict constructively and can encourage responsible citizenship. This study emerged as a result of the researcher's involvement in a peer mediation program in a large regional girls' secondary college. The study explored the perspectives of key stakeholders (students, teachers and parents) on the impact of the peer mediation program and sought to establish what benefits, if any, were derived from the existence of the program. Specifically, the research focused on whether the program was supported, accepted and used by the school community and whether the perceptions of the program were congruent amongst different stakeholder groups. The study also investigated what outcomes were experienced by the trained mediators themselves. Factors which might encourage or limit students' use of the program were also explored. Data was collected prior to the training of a specific cohort of mediators and in the following year from key groups: the trained students, other students within the school setting, staff and parents. The findings indicate that the presence of a peer mediation program was seen to have a considerable positive effect on school climate by teachers and parents and that, in many cases, it produced positive outcomes for students. The most meaningful outcomes of the specific study, however, appeared to be the benefits for the trained mediators themselves, in terms of the development and enhancement of self confidence and life skills. The implications of the findings for the peer mediation program in the case study school and for other schools implementing peer mediation programs are discussed in this report.
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ItemExploring the identities of English teachers from India and Sri Lanka teaching in Australia( 2015)This study focuses on the experiences of teachers of English from India and Sri Lanka, who have migrated to Australia and are currently teaching in Australia. According to the native speaker/nonnative speaker dichotomy (Kachru, 1990) English teachers who live and work outside native English speaking countries are labelled as Nonnative English Speaking Teachers (NNESTs). Following the impact of colonialism, a number of individuals in former colonies such as India and Sri Lanka use English as a native language/first language (L1)/mother tongue (MT)/co-first language. However, they are not considered to be native speakers (NSs) or Native English Speaking Teachers (NESTs) based on several factors including nationality and country of origin. Instead they are referred to as NNESTs which bears a negative connotation as the prefix ‘non’ suggests a deficit. Therefore, this study proposes a more progressive and inclusive term to address teachers who belong to this category by opting for the term Bilingual English Speaking Teacher (BEST) as used by Jenkins (2003). It is believed that using the term BEST will invest migrant teachers with more agency and a more positive linguistic identity. Studies on English teacher identity reveal that when BESTs migrate to native English speaking countries to teach English, their personal and professional identities are challenged. Therefore, this study aims to explore the identities of these teachers by asking the following questions: What are the differences in BESTs’ linguistic and teacher identities between Australia and the BEST’s home country? What challenges do BESTs face in entering the field of ELT in Australia? The study was largely qualitative, including case studies of four female English teachers (three Indian and one Sri Lankan), using a combination of semi-structured interviews, a classroom observation and narrative inquiry. The data provided insights into the challenges faced by BESTs in their journey of being ELT professionals in two different linguistic and cultural contexts. The findings indicate that there are differences in the way BESTs are perceived in their home country and in Australia. For example, linguistic and teacher identities of BESTs were stronger in the home country as opposed to Australia due to several factors such as the social status of being an English teacher in a postcolonial society, cultural discourses associated with the teacher figure and classroom dynamics such as the power relationship between teachers and students. While some of these findings are useful in creating awareness about the identity of BESTs in the Australian adult ELT context, it is also acknowledged that a larger longitudinal study with a more diverse representation could provide more insights regarding the identity of BESTs in the Australian ELT context.