ELT course descriptions in tertiary education : a critical-interpretative investigation
The course description is a brief, yet comprehensive, written account of a course teachers produce and give to their students at the beginning of courses. Course descriptions (CDs) are routinely produced and used in many educational institutions. However, with the exception of few passing references to them in Elliot (1997) and Swales (1990), discourse analysis has not sought to provide good understanding. This study is an attempt to fill in such a gap in knowledge by exploring the CD in the context of higher education in the United Arab Emirates, where the researcher has been working up to the completion of the present study. Employing the technique of triangulation, the study forms a methodology that combines Foucaultâs approach to discourse, action research and the critical and interpretative paradigms as a basis for analyzing data from 12 CDs, questionnaires and interviews. On the level of analysis, Foucaultâs approach to discourse has been operationalized by Systemic Functional Linguistics and Bernsteinâs theory of pedagogic discourse. Within the framework of the Systemic Functional Linguistics, the CD as a text is approached from three perspectives: Field, Tenor and Mode. This has revealed the
Ould Hende, El Moctar
ELT course descriptions in tertiary education : a critical-interpretative investigation. The course description is a brief, yet comprehensive, written account of a course teachers produce and give to their students at the beginning of courses. Course descriptions (CDs) are routinely produced and used in many educational institutions. However, with the exception of few passing references to them in Elliot (1997) and Swales (1990), discourse analysis has not sought to provide good understanding. This study is an attempt to fill in such a gap in knowledge by exploring the CD in the context of higher education in the United Arab Emirates, where the researcher has been working up to the completion of the present study. Employing the technique of triangulation, the study forms a methodology that combines Foucaultâs approach to discourse, action research and the critical and interpretative paradigms as a basis for analyzing data from 12 CDs, questionnaires and interviews. On the level of analysis, Foucaultâs approach to discourse has been operationalized by Systemic Functional Linguistics and Bernsteinâs theory of pedagogic discourse. Within the framework of the Systemic Functional Linguistics, the CD as a text is approached from three perspectives: Field, Tenor and Mode. This has revealed the
elt course description tertiary education critical interpretative investigation course description brief yet comprehensive write account course teacher produce give student begin course course description cds routinely produce use many educational_institution however exception passing reference discourse_analysis seek_provide good understanding study_attempt fill_gap knowledge explore context high_education united_arab_emirates researcher work completion present_study employing technique triangulation study form combine foucault discourse action critical interpretative paradigms basis analyze data cds questionnaire_interview level analysis foucault discourse systemic functional linguistics theory pedagogic discourse within_framework systemic_functional_linguistics text approach perspective field tenor mode reveal