Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe communicative interactions of hearing impaired students with hearing peers and regular teachers( 2001)This project examined the levels of control used in interaction by regular teachers and normally hearing peers with mainstreamed hearing impaired students. The communicative interaction of thirteen students; ten normally hearing and three hearing impaired, and their teacher was observed. Observations were recorded and then analysed based on the characteristics of communication developed by Wood.D, Wood.H, Griffiths.A & Howarthl (1986). The interactions experienced by hearing impaired students are important to the development of their communicative competence. It is through interaction with more mature users of language that communicative development takes place (Wood, Wood, Griffiths & Howarth,1986). The literature suggests that the hearing-impaired student experience high levels of control in interactions with others, in particular from their parents and teachers. Webster (1986) used the expression that mothers of deaf students 'command' the child. High control does not allow the hearing-impaired child freedom in response, or the development of extended communication acts in which both partners, can participate, learn and share responsibility. Both partners, parents and children, need to search for meaning in their communication with each other (Webster, 1986). It is through accessing meaning that language makes sense. Paul (1994) suggests that hearing impaired students are exposed to a lower quality of oral communication because they are labelled as deaf. Activities, such as speech or listening training, often take the place of meaningful conversation. The data suggests little difference in the level of control used by teachers when interacting with hearing and hearing impaired students. Similarly, there was little difference found with the level of control used by hearing students in their interactions with either normally hearing of hearing impaired peers. Interactions were short involving few exchanges. The characteristics of the language used consisted of mainly wh type questions, personal contributions, instructions and gesture. The information gathered would suggest that the input to interaction in this regular mainstream setting are not consistent with research of parent -child interaction and pre-school settings and provide opportunity for interaction and promotion or development of communicative skills.
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ItemMentoring in nephrology nursing : implementation of a mentor program for clinical nurse specialists( 2001)Mentoring as an approach to workplace learning has been adopted by many organisations. It uses the skills and abilities of staff (mentors) already in the organisation to provide role development for less experienced staff (mentees). The purpose of this project was to trial a mentor model that clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) in nephrology could use to facilitate the workplace learning of less experienced nurses. This recognised the important role that CNSs fulfil in the clinical education of other nurses. Research participants completed a self administered questionnaire, were interviewed by the researcher, and took part in a two-hour workshop. Following the workshop they negotiated a mentor contract to provide workplace learning opportunities for their mentee. Regular workplace contact and support, initiated by the researcher, or at the request of the research participants, was provided. Research participants completed a second questionnaire after the contracts were completed. The CNSs were influenced by their workplace culture in the way they approached mentoring, and the use of a mentor program provided, benefits to the CNSs and their mentees. The study demonstrated that the CNSs were able to implement the mentor model to provide effective clinical education that met the needs of their mentees, and enabled them to develop their repertoire of clinical skills. This study has implications for enhancing the clinical practice of CNSs, by developing their skills in the planning and delivery of workplace education.
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ItemGuiding, guiding : constructing leadership for young women( 2001)Guiding Guiding, Constructing Leadership for Young Women by Felicity Wightwick seeks to answer the research question: To what extent are young women's perceptions of leadership experiences shaped by formal training?' The reactions of several young women from Guides Australia to their leadership experiences, in particular the Guides Australia/BHP Young Leader (Leading Edge) seminar held in July 1999, are explored. Although the number of participants is small and therefore the findings limited, some interesting and worthwhile themes emerged from the research. This includes a leadership model that provides a possible structure upon which training that seeks to further the concept of community capacity building could be based.
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ItemA cohesion analysis of texts written by adult Mandarin ESL students( 2001)This project aims to explore the written cohesive strategies employed by Mandarin English as a Second Language (ESL) learners, which knowledge will enable educators to better address their specific needs. The participants were members of an adult literacy class of both native and non-native speakers. Students completed several preliminary tasks in order to establish their familiarity with the specific grammatical resources utilised in English. Using a prompt, they wrote letters of complaint, which provided the research data. These were analysed from a functional systemic perspective, identifying patterns of usage of cohesive devices. Questionnaires and individual interviews provided qualitative insights into students' language practices. The study demonstrated that Mandarin students employed a higher percentage of cohesive ties than did the native speakers, which phenomenon may be explained by factors including level of first language literacy, years of formal English language study, and years of residency in Australia. The study suggests that Mandarin ESL learners might moderate their density of cohesive ties, to attain native-like written rhetorical structure. Secondly, register variables proved to have significant implications for cohesive paradigms, in conjunction with contrastive rhetoric cultural conventions. Lexical cohesive patterns point to the crucial role of vocabulary acquisition, an aspect of language acquisition which ought to be addressed in the teaching field. The study also explores the eclectic nature of the language practices acquired by students who have received considerable EFL teaching, and have often lived in English speaking communities for extended periods. Ultimately, this research highlights the need for further study in adult literacy contexts; drawing on larger samples from more diverse language backgrounds, with a specific focus on the role of politeness theory, register variables and contrastive rhetoric.