PhD Oral Exam - Gina Ward, Education

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

Challenges with English oral skill development have been identified at two levels of an L2 learning system at a public university in Central America: There is a lack of information about the English language skills required in the tourism workplace (external assessment level), and students have low oral English skills (individual level). This dissertation seeks to implement “real-world” solutions to these issues by (1) developing assessment criteria based on input from tourism employers, and (2) providing students with opportunities to improve their English oral skills beyond the classroom. Adopting a complex dynamic systems perspective (Larsen-Freeman, 1997), Bronfenbrenner's (1993) nested ecosystems model was applied in the investigation of these L2 oral skill challenges. Study A developed workplace assessment criteria for the tourism workplace using Pill’s (2016) approach of workshops with domain experts and language educators. The aspects of performance which matter to tourism employers are different from the criteria used by language experts, and focus on the attitudes, skills, and knowledge which allow tourism employees to provide excellent customer service while managing risks to the business. Study B explored suitable mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) resources to improve tourism students’ oral skills beyond the classroom, identifying the most promising resources as virtual reality tools, together with immediate feedback from humans and technology. Study C implemented a pedagogical program using the resources identified in Study B and assessed its pedagogical effectiveness in terms of student perceptions and oral fluency ratings. This multiple case study showed that although student perceptions were very positive, some students showed improvements in fluency whereas others did not. Findings reflect the perspective of complexity theory that, although pre/post test scores may not reflect change, valuable learning could still be taking place. Taken together, these studies highlight certain processes required to generate change across levels of a learning system, particularly at the mesosystem level. By focusing on the fractal nature of complex dynamic systems, this dissertation proposes a conceptual model for determining optimal initial conditions in an L2 system, which may be used to improve L2 speaking experiences and outcomes.