http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/68 2026-02-04T11:41:42Z 2026-02-04T11:41:42Z Karaim, Nedal Omran Abdulsalam http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/6672 2026-01-29T16:09:29Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: An investigation into the effects of applying the activities of communicative language teaching approach on English learners’ speaking skills in Libya Authors: Karaim, Nedal Omran Abdulsalam Abstract: The central research question guiding this study is as follows: ‘To what extent do specific Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) activities enhance the speaking skills of university students compared to Grammar Translation Method?’. In the Libyan context, studies such as Alhmali (2007) and Orafi and Borg (2009) have investigated English language teaching, yet there has been limited emphasis on enhancing the speaking skills of Libyan English language learners. The significant gap in research on enhancing the speaking skills of Libyan English language learners is underscored by the considerable challenges they face in developing speaking proficiency, primarily due to an education system traditionally focused on grammar and a lack of exposure to spoken English in daily life. The combination of a GTM-focused educational approach and limited exposure to English creates a significant barrier for Libyan learners aspiring to achieve speaking proficiency. To address the gap identified by Richards and Rodgers (2014) suggest that CLT activities can enhance learners' speaking skills. Therefore, this study explores the impact of CLT activities specifically problem-solving and role-play on Libyan learners' speaking skills. The study hypothesizes that learners exposed to CLT activities will improve their speaking abilities more than those taught using the Grammar Translation Method (GTM). Using an experimental design, data from 45 participants were analysed over six weeks. Participants were divided into three groups: a control group using GTM, and two experimental groups engaged in CLT activities one focusing on role-play and the other on problem-solving. The study employs pre- and post-tests to assess speaking proficiency, measuring fluency, accuracy, and vocabulary use. The control group followed GTM instruction, while the experimental groups practiced CLT activities, with the role-play group simulating real-life situations and the problem-solving group tackling communicative challenges through collaboration and verbal interaction. The outcomes of the analysis reveal that all groups improved between pre- and post-tests. The CLT role-play and CLT problem-solving groups showed greater improvements than the GTM control group, with the overall largest improvement observed in the CLT role-play group, across all measures of speaking skills studied in this research. Description: PhD Thesis

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Alsulami, Abdulelah Wazen http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/6632 2025-12-12T14:51:45Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Overgeneralisation in L2 morphosyntax and the role of alphabetic literacy Authors: Alsulami, Abdulelah Wazen Abstract: The study is aimed firstly to examine the role of literacy in adult immigrant learners’ development of English morphosyntax using the stages of Organic Grammar (or OG). Literacy—from the perspective of generative linguistics—is not thought to have a direct influence on the development of syntax. This does not mean that it plays no role in the acquisition of certain aspects of functional morphology, and emerging research on oral production of non/low-educated/literate learners shows some connection between literacy and the development of morphosyntax. To achieve this aim, 60 participants (with varying levels of literacy and amounts of native language schooling) were recruited to participate in a study. Data were collected through production tasks (picture descriptions) and comprehension tasks (computerized tasks). The results show that the developmental path of acquisition is systematic. There is a positive connection between literacy and the acquisition of morphosyntax. The second aim is to further explore learners’ overgeneralisation of functional mor- phemes (the use of non-target function words or multi-word utterances) during the acqui- sition of second language (L2) English morphosyntax and to confirm the specific Organic Grammar stage of L2 morphosyntax development at which L2 learners engage in such an overgeneralisation. The results indicate that: (1) overgeneralisation occurs after the Verb Phrase (VP) stage. (2) Overgeneralisation does not alter the general developmen- tal path of acquisition (i.e., the stages of Organic Grammar). (3) Overgeneralisation can involve morphemes, words, and multi-word sequences. (4) Overgeneralised forms are placeholders that learners temporarily use as they work on identifying the relevant heads in the input. (5) the use of certain function words (as placeholders) seems to be peculiar to the VP-stage learners, and higher OG-stage learners use different types of place-hold- ers (e.g., the copula be or personal pronouns), thereby supporting the recent predictions of placeholders through the stages of Organic Grammar. Description: Ph. D. Thesis.

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z Miller, Sheradan Christopher James http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/6473 2025-05-12T11:45:34Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Speaking to reading in English : investigating the relationship between prosody and reading comprehension with Year 3 children Authors: Miller, Sheradan Christopher James Abstract: Prosody is often described as the melody of language, and an important linguistic feature to comprehend speech. However, there is a lack of research investigating the relationship between prosody and reading comprehension with children learning to read. Prosody was measured with the PEPS-C 2015 (Peppé, 2015), and investigated in relationship with measures of reading comprehension. This relationship was also analysed with measures representing the aspects of The Simple View of Reading as control variables, which have been well-evidenced as predictors of reading comprehension in prior research. The project worked with 51 children aged between seven and eight in a primary school in the North-East of England. The results suggested that in agreement with previous research prosody does contribute to reading comprehension ability, though this relationship is altered by the presence of the components of the SVR. The exploratory simple mediation analyses further reinforced this. We concluded that children’s understanding and use of prosody in our study was predictive of reading comprehension ability on the tasks. The current project is limited by the cross-sectional design, making conclusions about the causal impact of prosody on reading comprehension not feasible at this time. Further research should follow the relationship between prosody and reading comprehension through a longitudinal study, and could utilise alternative methods (e.g. eye-tracking) to assess more fine-grained aspects of this relationship. Description: PhD Thesis

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z Sun, Shimeng http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/6462 2025-05-01T13:27:09Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Using the various technological affordances of a videoconferencing platform for epistemic search sequences : a multimodal conversation analytic investigation into online social meetings Authors: Sun, Shimeng Abstract: While online videoconferencing has existed since the 1990s (Fetterman, 1996), the outbreak of Covid-19 has greatly increased its use (Maulana, 2023). Videoconferencing platforms are used across the world for remote work, online education, and also more social activities such as casual conversations for shared interest groups (Lorenz et al., 2020). Although a large number of studies have emerged that investigate online social activities in educational settings (e.g., Rusk & Pörn, 2019), further studies are needed to understand more video-mediated online social meetings. Data collected for the current study are 26 hours of video-recorded group meetings organized by a church in the UK. Participants are church volunteers and international students, and these meetings are held to facilitate intercultural friendships. In these meetings, participants routinely invoke knowledge imbalances, and use different technological features of the videoconferencing platform to reduce such imbalances. While the platform has various technological features (e.g., screen-sharing, chat box, and video feeds), there is little understanding of how participants use them to accomplish social activities during real life interactions, particularly in sequences when knowledge imbalances emerge. Using Multimodal Conversation Analysis (Mondada, 2019), the current study reveals that when participants work to reduce knowledge imbalances, they routinely orient to three technological features (screen-sharing, chat box and video feeds) using a series of verbal and embodied resources. Firstly, participants activate the screen-sharing and use various verbal and embodied methods to make particular on-screen contents the focus of the collective attention. Aspects of on-screen contents are then incorporated into participants’ talk as a resource to request or provide information. Secondly, more knowledgeable (K+) participants post chat box messages to provide less knowledgeable (K-) participants with information in written form. These messages are then used as a resource for K- participants to develop an understanding. Thirdly, K+ participants work towards generating a shared understanding by making physical objects, gestural practices and body posture shifts visible on the video feed. In summary, this study shows that participants invoke knowledge imbalances in online conversation groups, and shows how different technological features are oriented to and activated in sequences when knowledge imbalances emerge. In the process, participants draw upon a series of multimodal resources including verbal and embodied resources to make efforts in reducing knowledge imbalances. The findings add to the existing body of Multimodal Conversation Analysis research in Video-mediated Interaction (VMI), and also to the body of research on epistemics in interaction. Description: PhD (Integrated) Thesis

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z