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.