‘Nothing so practical as good theory’: Legitimation Code Theory in higher education
- Authors: Winberg, Christine , McKenna, Sioux , Wilmot, Kirsten
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/445850 , vital:74437 , ISBN 9781003028215 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003028215-1/nothing-practical-good-theory-christine-winberg-sioux-mckenna-kirstin-wilmot
- Description: Universities are grappling with multiple shifts that have made the processes of supporting student learning and enabling the professional development of academic staff ever more challenging. Common sense approaches abound but do little to address the complexities of the issues being faced in our institutions. This book brings together a rich collection of studies that uses a powerful common framework, Legitimation Code Theory, to attend to these concerns about higher education studies. The chapters provide specific real world examples of how this framework acts as conceptual lenses, analytical tools and as teaching resources to open conversations about how it is we come to know and what it is that is deemed worth knowing. In Part I ‘Student Learning across the Disciplinary Map’, the authors explore ways of understanding and supporting student achievement across different disciplinary contexts – from STEM disciplines and fields to the Arts and Humanities – and at different levels – from introductory higher education courses to doctoral-level studies. Part II, ‘Professional Learning in Higher Education’, takes an in-depth look at academic staff development in higher education. Each chapter in the book focuses on pertinent issues in higher education practice, from how to support an increasingly diverse student body, to how to support university teachers in contexts of rapid change and growth. This chapter provides an introduction to the conversation and offers an entry into the LCT tools used in this collection: Specialization, Semantics and Autonomy.
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- Date Issued: 2020
The comprehension of figurative language in English literary texts by students for whom English is not a mother tongue
- Authors: Winberg, Christine
- Date: 1994
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , English literature -- Study and teaching (Higher) , Context (Linguistics) , Metaphor , Figures of speech
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2366 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002649 , English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers , English literature -- Study and teaching (Higher) , Context (Linguistics) , Metaphor , Figures of speech
- Description: This study applies Sperber and Wilson's relevance theory to the comprehension of figurative language in poetry. Students' understanding of metaphor as a linguistic category and comprehension of metaphorical texts are analysed in terms of the principle of relevance. Patterns of comprehension in English first language (Ll) and English second language (ESL) students' analyses of metaphorical texts are discussed and through an analysis of similarities and differences in these patterns of comprehension an attempt is made to develop a pedagogy around relevance theory. Relevance theory's particular emphasis on the role played by "context" in cognition is seen to have significance for the teaching of literature in South African universities. Relevance theory's account of cognition generates a range of educational principles which could be specifically applied to the teaching of metaphor. An appraisal of the strengths and difficulties students experience in expressing their understanding of metaphor in an academic context is included. This was done to further develop relevance theory into a pedagogical approach which takes into account the academic context in which writing occurs. The investigation of the particular difficulties that English metaphor poses for ESL students entailed acquiring a working knowledge of the ways in which metaphor is taught and assessed in DET schools. The interpretations of students of different linguistic, social and educational backgrounds reveal unifying elements that could be incorporated into a pedagogy based on relevance theory. Such a pedagogy would be appropriate to the multilingual/multicultural/multiracial nature of classes in South African universities and would be a more empowering approach to the teaching of English metaphor.
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- Date Issued: 1994