School of Languages and Linguistics - Theses
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ItemBilingual language practices in a migrant community: language shift and code-switching in a Serbian language community in Melbourne, Australia( 2005)The dissertation describes bilingual language practices in a Serbian language community in Melbourne, Australia at the macro-social and the micro-interactional level. The analysis is based on sociolinguistic interviews with twenty first and second generation female Serbian-English bilinguals. All twenty participants are members of the same church-school community, referred to in the study as the St Vitus community. Patterns of language choice at the community level, expressed as ratings on a maintenance to shift continuum, suggest an ongoing intergenerational shift to English. Features of bilinguals' social networks are revealed to be strongly implicated in the maintenance of Serbian. In particular, statistically significant correlations are found to exist between bilinguals' language maintenance ratings, on the one hand, and the ratio of primary network contacts to whom bilinguals report using Serbian to contacts to whom use of English is reported and bilinguals' involvement in practices that foster language maintenance, expressed in terms of degree of community integration, on the other. Code-switching practices are revealed to have both participant-related and discourse-related functions in conversation. The sequential analysis of code-switching is situated within a structural description of the phenomena of Serbian-English bilingual speech, creating an opportunity to explore the difference between external, i.e. conversational, motivation for language contact phenomena and motivation internal to the bilingual grammar. The dissertation makes a contribution to the study of language maintenance and shift in providing further evidence of the significance of bilinguals' social networks. It demonstrates the interaction of the structural and the sequential levels of analysis and its importance for a more complete understanding of the phenomena of bilingual speech. Finally, the dissertation adds to the growing body of research on community languages in Australia.
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ItemA socio-linguistic study of the Iranian community in Melbourne( 1994)This paper examines aspects of the sociolinguistic interactions of individuals within the Iranian community in Melbourne. The focus is on first generation Farsi speakers in the Iranian community and their relationships to their language and culture. The study goes on to examine the Iranian community in the light of its attitudes, beliefs, self-image and language as a small, isolated and fragmented ethnic community. The major points discussed are the concepts of interaction, language and the environment in which Iranians interact with each other. The study moreover seeks to examine how Iranians see themselves in a multi-cultural environment like Melbourne and how they perceive their country of origin. In adopting a socio-linguistic approach, the author will examine in detail the influence of the environment in Melbourne on this speech community. This includes a brief examination of how the speakers of this speech community cope emotionally with what is happening in their country of origin and the ways that they develop and maintain relationships with other groups in Melbourne.
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ItemWhy bother: What motivates male students to continue learning a language other than English in the middle secondary school?( 1999)The study of a language other than English has become a compulsory part of the school curriculum. While this can be seen as a welcome development, it is also the cause of anxiety for many teachers faced with what they perceive as a captive but reluctant audience for language learning. At the same time the government has set ambitious targets for students completing a second language at VCE level. One area of concern is the small proportion of males continuing with the study of a second language. This thesis presents the results of a study into the motivational factors influencing male students in the middle years of secondary school to continue with their study of a language. Data was gathered from all Year 9 LOTE (French and Japanese) students in an all-boys school in a large regional centre using questionnaires and a set classroom task. A number of key staff were also interviewed. This triangulation of data allowed for different perspectives on the issue of motivation for this cohort of students as well as on the nature of the classroom program. Results suggest the strong influence of instrumental factors in students' choice to continue with their study of a language. Results also highlight the importance of providing a wide range of active language learning opportunities linked to boys' interests.
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ItemThe importance and effectiveness of moderation training on the reliability of teacher assessments of ESL writing samples( 1993)This thesis reports the findings of a study of the inter-rater reliability of assessment of ESL Writing by teachers in the Australian Adult Migrant Education Program, using the ASLPR, a language proficiency scale used throughout the program. The study investigates the individual ratings assigned to 15 writing samples by 83 teachers, both before and after training aimed at moderation of raters' perceptions of descriptors in the scale by reference to features of other 'anchor' writing samples. The thesis argues the necessity for on-going training of assessors of ESL writing, at a time of change in the program, from assessment of language proficiency to that of language competencies, since both forms of assessments are increasingly having consequences which affect the lives of the candidates. The importance and necessity for moderation training is established by reference to the problems of validity in the scale itself and in its use in the program, and by reference to the literature of assessor-training and features of writing which influence rater-judgements. The findings indicate that training is effective in substantially increasing inter-rater reliability of the subjects, by reducing the range of levels assigned to the samples and increasing the percentages of ratings at the mode (most accurate) level and at the Mode +/- 1 level (an allowance for 'error' due to the subjective nature of the assessment), after training. The paper concludes that on-going training is effective in achieving greater consensus i.e. inter-rater reliability amongst the assessors, but suggests that variability needs to be further reduced and offers suggestions for further research aimed at other assessors and variables.
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ItemThe predictive validity of the IELTS and TOEFL: a comparison( 1994)This study compared two groups of overseas students who entered Melbourne and Monash universities in Melbourne in semester 1 1993. One group entered on the basis of an IELTS score and the other group entered on the basis of TOEFL score. Their academic performance at the end of semester 1 1993 was compared. Predictive validity coefficients were also compared. Differences were minimal with a slight tendency for the TOEFL to correlate more strongly than IELTS with undergraduate academic performance. The assumption made by admissions officers who use the two tests to make admissions decisions that the two tests are equivalent in their predictive validity was not refuted.