17.2535, Diss: Applied Ling/Socioling: El Hussari: 'The Concept of Cultural ...'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-17-2535. Sat Sep 09 2006. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 17.2535, Diss: Applied Ling/Socioling: El Hussari: 'The Concept of Cultural ...'

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1)
Date: 08-Sep-2006
From: Ibrahim El Hussari < ihousari at lau.edu.lb >
Subject: The Concept of Cultural Awareness within the Lebanese New National Curriculum and the National English Textbook : A case study of policy and practice at secondary school level 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sat, 09 Sep 2006 22:31:30
From: Ibrahim El Hussari < ihousari at lau.edu.lb >
Subject: The Concept of Cultural Awareness within the Lebanese New National Curriculum and the National English Textbook : A case study of policy and practice at secondary school level 
 


Institution: University of Leicester 
Program: Applied Linguistics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2002 

Author: Ibrahim Ali El Hussari

Dissertation Title: The Concept of Cultural Awareness within the Lebanese New
National Curriculum and the National English Textbook : A
case study of policy and practice at secondary school level 

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
                     Sociolinguistics


Dissertation Director(s):
Hugh Busher
Hywel Coleman
Angela Creese
Martin Kortazzi

Dissertation Abstract:

This study focuses on the concept of cultural awareness as a new
education/language policy prescribed by the Lebanese New National
Curriculum and pursued in school and classroom practice through the
national English textbook intended for secondary-age students. The thesis
examines the educational policy prescribing cultural awareness and the
pedagogical impact of its instructional objectives on language teachers and
students in the context of foreign language education. Ever since the new
language curriculum was put into effect at school level, many educational
symposia and teacher training workshops have been organized to discuss the
new educational policy and classroom implementation. However, little has
been documented about the effectiveness of policy and practice in terms of
cultural awareness.
   
Through adopting case study as an interpretive methodology, school heads
and program coordinators were interviewed individually; language teachers
and students were asked to take two different questionnaires; school
documents were examined; and secondary English classes were observed while
in session. The last data collection instrument provided me with tools to
examine how the new educational policy was played out in practice.

My research findings in this thesis showed that the concept of cultural
awareness, as an educational goal of the New Language Curriculum in the
Lebanese secondary school, was under-theorized and under-resourced in its
implementation.

This study also found that there is a need for policy makers and textbook
writers to consider the views of teachers and students delivering the new
curriculum; and that an independent, external educational authority should
take part in the process of program evaluation if the policy is going to work.

The concluding remarks of this thesis summarized the research findings,
highlighted the educational implications as well as the significance of the
study, and identified directions for further research. 




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