An analysis of foreign language lesson discourse : with special reference to the teaching of English in Tunisian secondary schools.

In this thesis a new model for the analysis of foreign language lesson discourse has been developed. It draws on existing models but provides flexibility by focusing on three levels: Frame, Move, Act. An attempt has been made in this thesis to clarify further the domain of pragmatics by looking at the various fields that have contributed to it. This has led the author to (i) differentiate between foreign language lesson discourse and other discourses and (ii) locate the new model in relation to other approaches to discourse analysis. The foregoing discussion has revealed to the author that many researchers and theoreticians have misunderstood many key terms in pragmatics which have contributed to unwarranted positions concerning the role of the teacher and the importance of textbooks in the classroom. A detailed analysis of discourse in eight English lessons in Tunisian secondary schools (two in each of the four years) has been undertaken. The results of the analysis reflect the influence of the textbooks and suggest different degrees of benefit for the learner. There are seven chapters in the thesis. Chapter One reviews the theoretical foundations of the audiolingual method. Chapter Two discusses Chomskyan theory and its influence on approaches to L2 learning and teaching. Chapter Three deals with pragmatics, particularly its relevance to second language learning studies and its importance for the analysis of second language classroom discourse. Chapter Four looks at the communicative approach to second language teaching and related developments in second language acquisition studies. It also discusses Tunisian learners' communication strategies. Chapter Five gives the reader a general background about the Tunisian linguistic community and the educational system there. It also discusses the textbooks used for the teaching of English in Tunisian secondary schools. Chapter Six gives an account of the procedure adopted for data collection and presents in detail the model for the analysis of Tunisian foreign language lesson discourse. Chapter Seven discusses the results of the quantitative analysis of the Tunisian foreign language lesson discourses, and proposes some reforms. The thesis contains a short introduction and conclusion, as well as eight appendices where the orthographic transcription and analysis of each lesson discourse is given. Habib Abdesslem.