Browsing by Author "McMenamin, James W."
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- ItemRe-interpreting English for academic purposes in a trinational Bachelor's degree in Business Administration(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-12) McMenamin, James W.; Van der Walt, Christa; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the conceptualisation of the English curriculum in a trinational and trilingual Bachelor's programme in Business Administration shared between France, Germany and Switzerland, and seeks to understand the influences that have led to the curriculum taking its current form. A challenge confronting the study is that there are conflicting notions of best practice, even if one accepts that the curriculum should include some element of academic language support, or preparation for the world of work. In order to shed light on this issue, the literature review investigated trinational language policy in respect of macro (supranational), meso (national and regional) and micro (institutional) levels. This approach itself raised a further question, namely whether the language policy landscape would reveal consistent development of policy from level to level. To address these questions, the study considered two data sets, firstly relevant documents from the language policy landscape and secondly English curricula from the trinational Bachelor's programme in Business Administration. Significant themes identified from the policy review were used as themes that informed a content analysis of the English language curricula in the trinational programme. It was revealed that in the trinational context, the existence of a coherent policy continuum was doubtful, and that other factors may have influenced the conceptualisation of the curriculum, including policies such as the Bologna Declaration which were not primarily intended to apply to language issues. To investigate another possible influence on the language curriculum, the study turned its attention to teacher agency. Teacher agency was revealed to be a de facto influence on the language curriculum at micro level. Where institutional policy is concerned, it has been argued that micro-level language planning has received comparatively little critical attention and that it should therefore be the object of further research.