title: Sentence initial lexical bundles in Chinese and New Zealand PhD theses in the discipline of General and Applied Linguistics

authors: Li, Liang

abstract: Lexical bundles are recurrent multiword combinations and often function as discourse building blocks. Lexical bundles have been analysed in university students’ writing to detect linguistic errors, measure writing competence, and investigate the divergence between L1 and L2 writing. Few studies, however, have focused on the high-stakes genre of PhD thesis and investigated the bundle productions of the same genre within the same level and discipline. This paper compares sentence initial lexical bundles in the corpora of English theses written by Chinese and New Zealand PhD students in the discipline of General and Applied Linguistics. Forty-six bundles from a Chinese corpus and forty-two bundles from a New Zealand corpus were generated. Among them, 94% of sentence initial bundles were identified as metadiscursive bundles. Chinese and New Zealand doctoral students showed considerably different preferences in their bundle selection. The paper examines the possible impact of these preferences and suggests there is a need to extend the metadiscourse knowledge of doctoral students in terms of lexical bundles.

text: Sentence initial lexical bundles in Chinese and New Zealand PhD theses in the discipline of General and Applied Linguistics Lexical bundles are recurrent multiword combinations and often function as discourse building blocks. Lexical bundles have been analysed in university students’ writing to detect linguistic errors, measure writing competence, and investigate the divergence between L1 and L2 writing. Few studies, however, have focused on the high-stakes genre of PhD thesis and investigated the bundle productions of the same genre within the same level and discipline. This paper compares sentence initial lexical bundles in the corpora of English theses written by Chinese and New Zealand PhD students in the discipline of General and Applied Linguistics. Forty-six bundles from a Chinese corpus and forty-two bundles from a New Zealand corpus were generated. Among them, 94% of sentence initial bundles were identified as metadiscursive bundles. Chinese and New Zealand doctoral students showed considerably different preferences in their bundle selection. The paper examines the possible impact of these preferences and suggests there is a need to extend the metadiscourse knowledge of doctoral students in terms of lexical bundles.

year: 2022-09-21

title: Pululima Faifai Pea: Establishment of Sāmoan Immersion Early Childhood Education Centres & Bilingual Units in Primary and Intermediate Schools

authors: Vaitimu Tuāfuti, Patisepa

subjects: Samoan Bilingual/Immersion Education

abstract: Sāmoan Immersion Preschools (Ā’oga ‘Amata) and Bilingual Education units covering from year one to year eight of school have become well established in some areas in the Auckland region since the 1980s, due to the commitment, support and contributions of parents, the Sāmoan community, church leaders, families and some schools. Given that parents, families and communities appeared to have played such a seminal role in their establishment, this research was set out to investigate Sāmoan parents’ lived experiences in relation to the establishment of ā’oga ‘amata and Sāmoan bilingual education units. Fa’afaletui phenomenology, a term I developed in the process of conducting the research, was employed as a culturally appropriate coupling methodology. Phenomenology is about lived experiences and fa’afaletui is a process and procedure of revealing participants’ lived experiences. Insights into parents’ lived experiences were obtained by using various methods namely: questionnaire, focus group discussions, individual interviews, couple interviews and testimonies. The lived experiences were collated from the recounts of past events. The recounts were analysed for themes, which arose from the comments and interpretations of the past events, and the expressions of emotions attached to the events. Observations and analyses of past events highlight many challenges that the participants experienced. Challenges ranged from financial difficulties and lack of resources, to lack of understanding about bilingual/immersion education. What the results make clear is the resilience of the participants in defending what they believe is right as far as fa’asāmoa is concerned, and the powerful role of emotions in personal and educational lives. Resilience and emotions are coefficients in the results and they have theoretical importance in understanding the research findings.

text: Pululima Faifai Pea: Establishment of Sāmoan Immersion Early Childhood Education Centres & Bilingual Units in Primary and Intermediate Schools Sāmoan Immersion Preschools (Ā’oga ‘Amata) and Bilingual Education units covering from year one to year eight of school have become well established in some areas in the Auckland region since the 1980s, due to the commitment, support and contributions of parents, the Sāmoan community, church leaders, families and some schools. Given that parents, families and communities appeared to have played such a seminal role in their establishment, this research was set out to investigate Sāmoan parents’ lived experiences in relation to the establishment of ā’oga ‘amata and Sāmoan bilingual education units. Fa’afaletui phenomenology, a term I developed in the process of conducting the research, was employed as a culturally appropriate coupling methodology. Phenomenology is about lived experiences and fa’afaletui is a process and procedure of revealing participants’ lived experiences. Insights into parents’ lived experiences were obtained by using various methods namely: questionnaire, focus group discussions, individual interviews, couple interviews and testimonies. The lived experiences were collated from the recounts of past events. The recounts were analysed for themes, which arose from the comments and interpretations of the past events, and the expressions of emotions attached to the events. Observations and analyses of past events highlight many challenges that the participants experienced. Challenges ranged from financial difficulties and lack of resources, to lack of understanding about bilingual/immersion education. What the results make clear is the resilience of the participants in defending what they believe is right as far as fa’asāmoa is concerned, and the powerful role of emotions in personal and educational lives. Resilience and emotions are coefficients in the results and they have theoretical importance in understanding the research findings.

year: 2016

title: The adaptation of cognitive behavioural therapy for adult Maori clients with depression: A pilot study

authors: Bennett, Simon T.

subjects: Maori

abstract: A semistructured cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) programme for depression was adapted for use with Maori adult clients with depression. Adaptations were developed in consultation with an advisory group consisting of Maori clinical psychologists and kaumatua with experience working in mental health services. The programme was piloted with 2 participants who were clients of a Maori mental health service. The programme builds on a more traditional CBT treatment programme by integrating concepts such as whakatauki, whanaungatanga, whanau involvement, and whakapapa into the therapeutic context. Despite limitations the results demonstrate considerable promise. Depressive symptoms increased substantially in both cases and both clients reflected positively on the adaptations incorporated into therapy.

text: The adaptation of cognitive behavioural therapy for adult Maori clients with depression: A pilot study A semistructured cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) programme for depression was adapted for use with Maori adult clients with depression. Adaptations were developed in consultation with an advisory group consisting of Maori clinical psychologists and kaumatua with experience working in mental health services. The programme was piloted with 2 participants who were clients of a Maori mental health service. The programme builds on a more traditional CBT treatment programme by integrating concepts such as whakatauki, whanaungatanga, whanau involvement, and whakapapa into the therapeutic context. Despite limitations the results demonstrate considerable promise. Depressive symptoms increased substantially in both cases and both clients reflected positively on the adaptations incorporated into therapy.

year: 2008