The role of the English language in the context of national development vision 2025 with specific reference to agriculture in Tanzania

After thirty years of vacillation, the Tanzanian government has made a firm decision to Swahilize its secondary education system. It has also embarked on an ambitious economic and social development programme (Vision 2025) to transform its peasant society into a modern agricultural community. However, there is a faction in Tanzania opposed to Kiswahili as the medium of education. Already many members of the middle and upper class their children to English medium primary schools to avoid the Kiswahili medium public schools and to prepare their children for the English medium secondary system presently in place. Within the education system, particularly at university level, there is a desire to maintain English as the medium of education. English is seen to provide access to the international scientific community, to cutting edge technology and to the global economy. My interest in this conflict of interests stems from several years' experience teaching English to students at Sokoine University of Agriculture. Students specialise in agriculture and are expected to work with the peasant population on graduation. The students experience difficulties studying in English and then find their Kiswahili skills insufficient to explain to farmers the new techniques and technologies that they have studied in English. They are hampered by a complex triglossic situation in which they use their mother tongue with family and friends, Kiswahili, the national language for early education and most public communication within Tanzania, and English for advanced studies. My aim in this thesis was - to study the language policy in Tanzania and see how it is understood and implemented; - to examine the attitudes towards the various languages and their various roles; - to investigate actual language behaviour in Tanzanian higher education. My conclusion is that the dysfunctionality of the present study has to be addressed. Diglossic public life in Tanzania has to be accommodated. The only solution appears to be a compromise, namely a bilingual education system which supports from all cases of society by using Kiswahili, together with an early introduction of English and its promotion as a privileged foreign language, so that Tanzania can continue to develop internally through Kiswahili and at the same time retain access to the globalising world through the medium of English.

English-for-teaching:rethinking teacher proficiency in the classroom

The expansion of English teaching in state education systems places increasing demands on English language teachers and how they are trained. A major thrust of these efforts has focused on improving teachers' English language proficiency. This expectation is manifested in policy and pedagogical directives that teachers 'teach English in English'. We argue for a reconceptualization of teacher language proficiency, not as general English proficiency but as a specialized subset of language skills required to prepare and teach lessons. This concept of English-for-Teaching as a bounded form of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) for the classroom builds on what teachers know about teaching, while introducing and confirming specific classroom language. This article describes how the construct was developed and then describes sample classroom tasks and the language needed to enact them in three major areas: managing the classroom, understanding and communicating lesson content, and assessing students and giving feedback.

Bernstein's theory of pedagogic discourse: linguistics, educational policy and practice in the UK English/literacy classroom

In “The English Patient: English Grammar and teaching in the Twentieth Century”, Hudson and Walmsley (2005) contens that the decline of grammar in schools was linked to a similar decline in English universities, where no serious research or teaching on English grammar took place. This article argues that such a decline was due not only to a lack of research, but also because it suited educational policies of the time. It applies Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic discourse (1990 & 1996) to the case study of the debate surrounding the introduction of a national curriculum in English in England in the late 1980s and the National Literacy Strategy in the 1990s, to demonstrate the links between academic theory and educational policy.

The National Literacy Strategy and knowledge about language in the English school curriculum

In “The English Patient: English Grammar and teaching in the Twentieth Century”, Hudson and Walmsley (2005) contend that the decline of grammar in schools was linked to a similar decline in English universities, where no serious research or teaching on English grammar took place. This article argues that such a decline was due not only to a lack of research, but also because it suited educational policies of the time. It applies Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic discourse (1990 & 1996) to the case study of the debate surrounding the introduction of a national curriculum in English in England in the late 1980s and the National Literacy Strategy in the 1990s, to demonstrate the links between academic theory and educational policy.

The environmental control of reproduction in the female dace, Leuciscus leuciscus

An investigation was made into the nature and control of the annual reproductive cycle of the dace, Leuciscus leuciscus. It includes 1) a study of the natural reproductive cycle, 2) the use of Carp Pituitary Extract (CPE) to induce final maturation and ovulation in captive fish, 3) the effect of artificial light treatments on ovarian development and 4) the measurement of serum melatonin levels under different photoperiod regimes. Ovarian development was monitored by endocrinological data, notably serum cycles of 17-oestradiol (E2), testosterone (T), and calcium (as an index of vitellogenin), oocyte diameter, the gonadosomatic index and histological studies of the ovary. Under natural conditions, ovarian development can broadly be divided into 4 stages: 1) oogenesis which occurs immediately after spawning; 2) a primary growth phase (previtellogenic growth) prevalent between spawning and June; 3) a secondary growth phase (yolk vesicle plus vitellogenic growth) occurring between June and December and 4) final maturation and ovulation which occurs in mid-March. During the annual ovarian cycle, the sex steroids E2 and T showed two clear elevations. The first occurred initially in April followed by a rise in serum calcium levels. This subsequently initiated the appearance of yolk granules in the oocytes in June. The second rise occurred in September and levels were maintained until December, after which there was a decline in serum E2 levels. It is proposed that in the dace, high serum E2 levels between September and December were required to maintain vitellogenin production and therefore its uptake into the developing oocytes which occurred during this time, albeit at a slower rate than in the summer months. After December, prior to final maturation, whereas serum E2 and calcium levels declined, serum T levels remained elevated. In captivity, final maturation beyond the germinal vesicle migration stage failed to occur suggesting that the stimuli required for these events were absent. However ovulation could be induced by a single injection of CPE, which induced ovulation between 6 and 14 hours after treatment. Endocrine events associated with the artificial induction of spawning included a rise in serum levels of E2, T and the maturation inducing steroid 1720-dihydroxy progesterone. Photoperiodic manipulation demonstrated that whereas short or increasing daylengths were stimulatory to ovarian development, long days delayed development. Changes from long to short and constant short daylengths early in the reproductive cycle advanced maturation (up to 5 months), suggesting that the stimulus for ovarian development and maturation was a short day. However, experiments conducted later in the reproductive cycle demonstrated that only a simulated ambient photoperiod could induce final maturation. It is proposed therefore that under natural conditions the environmental stimulus for ovarian development and final maturation are short and increasing daylengths respectively. Further support that photoperiod is the dominant timing cue in this species was provided by the pattern of serum melatonin levels. Under different photoperiod treatments, serum melatonin, which is believed to be the chemical transducer of photoperiodic information (similar to other photoperiodic species) was elevated for the duration of the dark phase, indicating that the dace at least has the ability to `measure' changes in daylength.

Exploring supply chain related graduate programmes in the UK:a view on their structure, content and approaches

Research in skill requirements needed by supply chain/logistics (SCL) managers has been published since the early nineties, however, research on what is really taught (e.g. curriculum, learning philosophies) by universities is scant. This paper's aim is to fill in this gap by analysing SCL graduate teaching in the UK. Data from 50 SCL MSc programmes were collected from 43 universities. Findings indicate that there seems to be a gap emerging between industry's needs and the content of the programmes being offered. This gap concerns employability, problem based learning, international business and the acquisition of softer interpersonal and problem solving skills.

Grammar in the curriculum for English: what next?

It is clear from several government reports and research papers published recently, that the curriculum for English in primary and secondary schools is about to change, yet again. After years of a bureaucratic stranglehold that has left even Ofsted report writers criticising the teaching of English, it seems as if the conditions are right for further revisions. One of the questions that inevitably arises when a curriculum for English is reviewed, relates to the place and purpose of the teaching of grammar. This paper outlines a possible curriculum for grammar across both primary and secondary phases, arguing that for the teaching of grammar to have any salience or purpose at all, it has to be integrated into the curriculum as a whole, and not just that of writing. A recontextualised curriculum for grammar of the kind proposed here, would teach pupils to become critically literate in ways which recognise diversity as well as unity, and with the aim of providing them with the means to critically analyse and appraise the culture in which they live.

Teacher use of personal narratives in the Japanese university english language classroom

While storytelling in conversation has been extensively investigated, much less is known about storytelling in the English language classroom, particularly teachers telling their personal experience stories, termed teacher personal narratives in this study. Teacher personal narratives, a combination of the ancient art of human storytelling and the current practices of teaching, offer an innovative approach to language teaching and learning. This thesis examines teacher personal narrative use in Japanese university English language classrooms and is of relevance to both practicing classroom teachers and teacher educators because it explores the role, significance, and effectiveness of personal stories told by teachers. The pedagogical implications which the findings may have for language teaching and learning as well as for teacher education programs are also discussed. Four research questions were posed: 1. What are the characteristics of teacher personal narratives? 2. When, how, and why do language teachers use personal narratives in the classroom? 3. What is the reaction of learners to teacher personal narratives? 4. How do teacher personal narratives provide opportunities for student learning? A mixed methods approach using the tradition of multiple case studies provided an in-depth exploration of the personal narratives of four teachers. Data collection consisted of classroom observations and audio recordings, teacher and student semi-structured interviews, student diaries, and Japan-wide teacher questionnaires. Ninety-seven teacher personal narratives were analyzed for their structural and linguistic features. The findings showed that the narrative elements of orientation, complication, and evaluation are almost always present in these stories, and that discourse and tense markers may aid in student noticing of the input which can lead to eventual student output. The data also demonstrated that reasons for telling narratives mainly fall into two categories: affectiveoriented and pedagogical-oriented purposes. This study has shown that there are significant differences between conversational storytelling and educational storytelling.