Thesis and Research Data Repository Leeds Beckett University
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Editorial
No full textCollaborating with our students and showcasing students’ work has produced a forth issue of critical reflections from the module Contemporary Society and Social Futures! AS always, the pieces collected in this volume emerged from a third year sociology undergraduate module called ‘Contemporary Society and Social Futures’, which introduces students to a broad range of contemporary thought about the social world. Students were asked to write a ‘critical reflection’, reflecting on the core concepts and theories discussed on the module.</p
What is the Speaking Skill and How can we Teach it
No full textThe main aim of this thesis was to research how to improve the way speaking is taught in a language classroom in secondary technical schools where students are mainly oriented towards vocational subjects. This aim emerged from a perception that speaking is regarded as inferior to other language skills.
The research question investigated in this thesis is:
What is the speaking skill and how can we teach it in a Polish secondary school context?
To address this question the researcher examined the following aspects of the teaching and learning process: materials used during language lessons; types of activity and task used by teachers when they work on the skill of speaking, and teachers’ and students’ preferences in teaching/learning a foreign language. The researcher was also interested in how and when students are assessed.
The research data presented in this thesis were collected based on mixed methods research. To investigate the way speaking skills are taught in the classroom, the researcher designed questionnaires for teachers and students. The answers to the research questions were collected from students’ and teachers’ perspectives. Apart from questionnaires the researcher used lesson observations to obtain a wider picture of the language classroom. Additionally, the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching Observation Scheme (COLT) was used to research the communicative aspects of lessons observed. In this way triangulation was achieved.
The data collected from surveys and observations show that coursebooks are the main source of materials used in classrooms. In spite of declarations from questionnaires that they enjoy teaching speaking the most, teachers most frequently use individual work and whole class work, which was also indicated by students as their favourite. The task that is most frequently used for practising the skill of speaking, as declared by teachers in their questionnaires, are dialogues, which are either read aloud from books or written down and then read. The research, based on students’ answers, shows that students associate speaking with any activity in which they are asked to say something aloud in a foreign language, e.g. reading homework or reading texts from books.
Teachers’ and students’ preferences in learning/teaching the language also differ. Students made it clear in their answers that the most important aspect of learning the language is to be able to communicate in a foreign language in different aspects of life (communication with other language users, work opportunities). From the teachers’ point of view students need examination preparation the most. As far as assessment is concerned, the research shows that teachers rarely or never assess their students for spoken performance. If learners are assessed, it is based on teacher’s subjective feelings, not against clearly defined criteria and assessment is impressionistic.
Research results show that teaching the speaking skill is an area that needs attention and development. It should start with changing teachers’ attitude to speaking as a language skill. This can be achieved by modifying training at college/university.
Later on, during their professional career, teachers should constantly be provided with support and training in methodology, materials development and assessment of oral performance.</p
More-Than-Moshing: a Sensuous Exploration of Women’s Participation in Leeds’ Extreme Metal Scene
No full textResearch on extreme metal and moshpit practices has focused, predominantly, on men’s participation and the discursive and symbolic significance of extreme metal music. Furthermore, extreme metal music and its practices have been closely aligned to notions of masculinity. There has been minimal attention paid to women’s participation in moshpit practices and the affective dimensions of doing female fandom. This thesis addresses these empirical gaps within the literature by sensuously exploring the role and significance moshpit practices play in the lives of female metal fans in Leeds’ extreme metal music scene, thus, troubling metal’s relationship with masculinity and the male body. Although the focus is on women’s experiences within a working class, male-dominated music scene, this research also highlights how larger socio-spatial and musical shifts within the scene impacts women’s subcultural visibility and participation. This thesis draws upon non-representational theory (Thrift, 2007), Butler’s (1990) theory of performativity and the feminist framework of intersectionality in order to capture the complexities of women’s corporeal and sensual experiences of moshing and everyday scenic practices.
This thesis is based on eighteen months of in-depth ethnographic fieldwork I undertook between February 2012 and August 2013 with female moshers, male and female musicians, and prominent scene members whom I encountered at metal music gigs in Leeds. The research is situated within a sensuous research epistemology, which centralises the role senses play in identity construction and in the ways in which metal music fans come to know the world. My research method, what I term a ‘moshography’, consisted of in-depth, unstructured qualitative interviews, informal conversations, observations and participation in the extreme metal scene.
This research offers a unique and original contribution by focusing on the sensual aspects of moshpit participation for women, attending to the affective dimensions of music-making practices and performances in Leeds, and simultaneously synthesising three diverse analytical frameworks which work to capture the ‘more-than-ness’ of subcultural leisure practices. The findings demonstrate the ways in which gender, sexuality, class, and space are performed and embodied within a localised subcultural context. Examining the affective, sensual and embodied dimensions of becoming a metal fan within Leeds’ metal scene illustrates the fragility, multiplicity, fluidity and unpredictability of subcultural subjectivities and encounters. The research findings offer important contributions to the fields of metal music studies, feminist research, cultural geography, popular music, and leisure studies. Overall, the study highlights the ‘more-than-ness’ of subcultural practices as they continually open up spaces for meaningful, and potentially transformative, leisure experiences for women
The Invisible Backbone: Intersections of Class, Race and Gender in a Global Information Economy
No full textWith the growth of information technology, there has been an impact upon the way in which both society and its members work. This has, for many, heralded the beginning of a new age (Lyon, 1988). Some theorists argue that contemporary society has developed into a ‘knowledge’ or ‘information’ economy, which has seen the rise in high skilled, professional, meaningful work and the decline of low skilled work due to the need for a competitive advantage in a global economy (Grint and Nixon, 2015). However, in this critical reflection I will argue that the information economy is a misnomer that distorts the position of women and presents a one sided image of the global economy.</p
How Neoliberalism Puts Profit Over People
No full textOver the past thirty years Neoliberalism has become the deining economic paradigm of our time" (McChesney, 1999:7). After the decline of the post-war boom, both the UK and the USA started to look towards free market politics which insisted that previous policies of welfare support had created economic crisis and Neoliberalism was the best way forward (Callinicos, 2003). This reflection discusses how Neoliberalism does not sufficiently meet people's needs and that it exacerbates global inequality. It will also discuss the many inconsistencies and falsities of the neoliberal agenda and instead present Neoliberalism as a political system which places profit accumulation for a small rich elite at the expense of the livelihoods of the majority of people globally.</p
Buying Love Online: the Commodification of Intimacy in a Technological World
No full textThe concept of paying huge amounts of money and traveling around the world in order to find a partner may be bewildering to some. However, the increasing popularity of modern form of intimate international relationships could be considered a sign of the times. This reflection will delve into the connections between several critical sociological concepts, including globalization and technology, and commodification. It can be said that the state of intimate relationships is indicative of society as a whole and thus by exploring these unions it may provide a critical insight into society today.</p
Scores for high scores: Addressing ludonarrative dissonance in video game music through integrated design
No full textThis thesis examines the inherent conflict between player autonomy and musical structure in video games. Many of the rhythmic and expectation based structures thought to evoke strong emotions in response to music are difficult to achieve given the temporal uncertainties of gameplay, where the player has the autonomy to act at any time. This dichotomy has long been recognized but its implications have not yet been fully articulated or understood, and the lack of an empirically tested solution represents a significant gap in existing knowledge. A range of existing concepts are analysed from a Self-Determination Theory perspective in order to develop a new model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for engagement with video games. In analyzing the video game soundtrack through the perspective of this model it is identified that the inability to reconcile player autonomy and musical structure creates a fundamental dissonance between and within the ludic and narrative roles of music in video games. It is argued that much of the current practice within video game development places music in the reactive position of responding to game events, and that a more interactive position involving two-way communication between music and the game system may represent an opportunity to address this seemingly intractable problem. In developing and empirically testing a new integrated design paradigm for reconciling the conflicting nature of player autonomy and musical structures within representational video games, expertise and musicality are identified as critical factors in the analysis of the player experience. A new area of future research, that of isocrony between musical structures and player actions, is identified as a pre-requisite for further understanding these relationships
Motivating Polish Matura Students to Write in English
No full textThe thesis presents the action research that was conducted among 129 students and 5 teachers in th e Polish secondary school in Łódź. The main research question investigated in this thesis is: how can Polish Matura students be best motivated to write in English. Before starting this action research a questionnaire was prepared to elicit the students' and teachers' attitudes to writing in English. The participants put the language skills in the order of importance and the results showed that writing was considered as the skill most difficult to teach and learn. To investigate this problem in more detail, the action research started with the preliminary stage, when the researcher analysed the participants' background and factors influencing their opinions about writing in English. The results showed the negative perception of writing skills as difficult and time consuming. The research evidence indicated that although the students were generally motivated to write in English, this motivation was mostly influenced by grades and exams, and rarely triggered independent development for future purposes. As far as teachers were concerned, the research evidence showed that there was a mismatch between teachers' and students' perceptions of what is interesting, relevant and motivating in writing activities. In the students' view, there was a need to extend the range of types of activities and topics, to rethink their relevance to students' individual needs and interests, to relinquish teacher’s control to encourage the students’ autonomy and incorporate the students’ motivation gained outside the school context.
A set of innovative techniques was designed to be consistent both with the results of the preliminary research, and with current theoretical and methodological theories of EFL writing and motivation. The process of implementing these techniques during Intervention 1 is presented. After Intervention 1 the results were analysed and interpreted and the modified techniques were implemented during Intervention 2 to address the remaining difficulties such as reluctance to engage personally in designing tasks and discouraging influence of failure. At this stage the potential usefulness of these techniques in motivating Matura students to write in English was assessed and validated. The results showed a number of positive outcomes such as significantly better motivation and self perception of the students, positive response to audience, critical involvement with the text, and sharing ideas for writing.
In the light of theoretical arguments and the research evidence presented, the thesis concluded that it is possible and desirable to design innovative techniques of motivating Matura students to engage in independent development of writing skills for future purposes. Considering wider implications, these innovative techniques, or parts of them, could be adapted and applied in other contexts.</p
The socialisation and motivation for participation of visually impaired and blind athletes in the sport of goalball
No full textGoalball was invented in 1946 by Hanz Lorenzen (Austria), and Sepp Reindle (Germany) for the visually impaired and blind World War II veterans. In 1976 goalball became a Paralympic sport and remains popular in special schools attended by people with visual impairment. Within mainstream schools goalball remains on the margins of the school curriculum. Physical activity and sport participation for people with disabilities is an area that has been researched widely. However, limited attention has been given to visually impaired people’s involvement in sport and specifically in goalball. In order to address this gap in research knowledge, this study adopted a mixed method approach to explore the initial socialisation and the motivation for goalball participation by visually impaired athletes engaging in recreational and elite levels.
The study encompassed two phases including quantitative and qualitative data collection. The first phase involved the completion of a battery of validated questionnaires. Fifty-two athletes took part in this first phase which included twenty-nine (56%) males and twentythree (44%) females. The mean age of all the participants was M = 28.24 (SD = 9.010) :M = 28.6 (SD = 10.4) for males, M = 27.7 (SD = 7.0) for females. Phase Two involved qualitative semi-structured interviews with athletes selected from Phase One. Twenty-three British athletes were selected for the second phase of the research study and eighteen interviews were conducted. Theoretically, this study draws on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and social model understandings of disability to explore the socialisation and participation in goalball for this specific sample.
The results from Phase One were descriptive offering insights into the specific population studied. Additionally, motivation was measured with regards to basic psychological needs, perceived autonomy, competence and motives for participation in goalball. The results from the second qualitative phase provide understandings about initial socialisation, motivation to play goalball, and engagement and investment in goalball. These data position schooling and PE as an important site in which visually impaired young people may, or may not, develop their goalball careers. Friends, family and organisations were also critical contributors for the initial and on-going goalball involvement. Reasons for playing goalball and challenges encountered appear to be similar to those experienced by people without disabilities engaged in sport. The results also reveal that motivation was affected by intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. Relationships within the goalball community were cited as key reasons for ongoing engagement in goalball. This study concludes by arguing that the way society is constructed can impact on people with visual impairments and their experiences v of sport including goalball. Despite feeling motivated to play goalball, it appears that the opportunities to be active members of the goalball community were influenced by wider societal factors.</p
Demystifying Community Sport Development: An Examination of Practice and its Empowering Potential
No full textInclusion in sport and recreation activities is consistently utilised as a pragmatic response for many contemporary social issues. The understanding of participation in sport as an ‘unambiguously wholesome’ endeavour (Smith and Waddington, 2004) is exemplified in the wide array of ‘Community Sport Development’ (CSD) initiatives and programmes in England. These programmes have at their heart, to varying degrees, an acknowledgement of the transformational potential for personal and communal betterment through sport participation. However CSD in England is an under-researched and under-theorised practice, due in part to the resilience of ‘dominant uncritical narratives’ (2011a) that continue to frame participation as a functional apolitical mechanism for positive social change. CSD is in need of theoretical refinement if its potential for contributing towards social outcomes is to be fully understood.
This thesis demystifies ‘CSD’ in the mixed economy of sport provision, with particular emphasis placed on exploring the empowering capacity of CSD programmes. Drawing upon the notion of researcher-as-bricoleur (Denzin and Lincoln, 1998; Kincheloe, 2001), this study utilises a selection of critical sociological concepts to provide an apt theoretical frame through which to demystify CSD. The thesis draws upon Giddens’ (1984; 1998) notion of the duality of structure’ to provide an ontological premise for theorising CSD practice. In addition, Bourdieu’s (1977; 1990; 1998) concepts of habitus and doxa are utilised to enable a deeper theoretical focus on the constitution of CSD practice.
The research fieldwork consisted of a two-stage emergent methodology. The first stage consisted of semi-structured telephone interviews with practitioners who self-identified as practicing CSD, or whose activities resonated with preexisting conceptions (Haywood, 1994; Coalter, 2002; Hylton and Totten, 2013). Constant comparative techniques (Corbin and Strauss, 2008) provided the methodological toolkit through which to conduct chain referral sampling iv with practitioners; the aim of which being to explore the range and characteristics of contemporary CSD practice. In building upon conceptual foundations established during fieldwork stage one, the second stage of data collection comprised of two case studies of organisational practice. Through these case studies the research sought to identify the processes that lead to the purported aims of organisations, whilst also illuminating the principles and philosophies underpinning ‘empowering’ CSD practice. This research concludes that, far from a benevolent and politically neutral activity, CSD practitioners negotiate and embed dominant conceptions of desirable social change through sport and recreation within ‘communities’. Whilst an examination of the two case studies demonstrates that both organisations practices warrant merit, the cases highlight that the creation and development of participatory communal structures, the fostering of community ‘assets’, and a more critical engagement with the ideas and conventions underpinning ‘mainstream’ provision are conducive to sustainable and empowering CSD practice.</p