ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Bridging the Gap between Teaching Styles and Learning Styles: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
Author: Xiao, Lixin
Date: 2006-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Cultural Differences,Second Language Instruction,Cognitive Style,Cross Cultural Studies,Foreign Countries,Questionnaires,Observation,Asians,Asian Culture,Immigrants,College Students,English (Second Language),Semi Structured Interviews,Qualitative Research,Likert Scales,Student Attitudes,Educational Environment,Learning Activities,Communication Strategies,Classroom Techniques,Student Characteristics,Learning Strategies

This paper investigates the nature of the mismatch caused by culture-based differences in perceptions and expectations of L2 teaching and learning style preferences between Irish English teachers and Chinese students. A survey was conducted which included a questionnaire, interview and class observation at two language institutes in Dublin, Ireland. The findings suggest the mutual awareness of the &quot;cultures of learning&quot; should be required. It is mutual responsibility to gain intercultural understanding so as to ensure effective teaching and learning outcomes. Teachers ought to develop awareness of their learners' culture of learning including their needs, wants, capacities, potentials and learning style preferences to meet learners' expectations and to foster their guided style-stretching. In the meantime, Chinese students also need to learn to develop sense of cultural sensitivity to reflect their own learning styles and strategy use to gradually adapt to the Irish school culture. Finally appropriate bridging strategies are recommended to native English-speaker teachers who are engaged in teaching Chinese ESL learners in their home institutions.
Teaching Literature in the Muslim World: A Bicultural Approach
Author: Alkire, Scott
Date: 2007-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Muslims,Western Civilization,Biculturalism,Second Language Learning,Literature,Religious Cultural Groups,Cultural Differences,Higher Education,Reading Material Selection,Teaching Methods

Although most universities in the Muslim world publicly recognize and support the teaching of Western literature, the exploration of some Western literary themes (for example, self-determination, sexual liberation, and gender equality) is viewed negatively by authority figures as well as by some professors and students. To reconcile this concern with Lewis's view that the mutual study of literature between Westerners and Muslims is essential (1993), it is proposed that the judicious selecting and teaching of bicultural literature (Western writers on the Muslim world and vice versa) can introduce Muslims to Western literature and its themes with a minimum of cultural conflict. This article summarizes attitudes towards foreign language learning and literature in Muslim societies, identifies cultural divides between Muslims and Western literature, shows how bicultural literature can help bridge these divides, and concludes with a suggested list of bicultural literary works.
Concept-Based Grammar Teaching: An Academic Responds to Azar
Author: Hill, Kent
Date: 2007-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grammar,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Error Correction,Teaching Methods,Sociocultural Patterns,Schemata (Cognition),Correlation,Cognitive Processes,Concept Formation

This response to Azar (this volume) intends to discuss from an academic's perspective the main points raised in her paper (i.e., grammar-based instruction and its relation to focus on form and error correction) and, to encourage a more concept-based approach to grammar instruction (CBT). A CBT approach to language development argues that the conceptual nature of grammatical forms is best expressed through underlying cognitive schemata. With L2 learners, conceptual development has already taken place and so the L2 morphology may be very opaque conceptually. Thus, introducing schematic depictions for grammatical forms similar to the ones learners developed when learning their L1 can assist the L2 learner to link the underlying concept through deduction to the overt grammatical expression. CBT views language development as a sociocognitive process and this entails the compatibility between cognitive or construction grammars and sociocultural theory. The concept also holds a central position in the synthesis of these perspectives. The response concludes with the proposition that grammar instruction can become more concept-based using a CBT task-based methodology which integrates focus on form, error correction, and the initiation-response-feedback teaching-exchange triad.
Timed versus At-Home Assessment Tests: Does Time Affect the Quality of Second Language Learners' Written Compositions?
Author: Kenworthy, Roger
Date: 2006-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Writing (Composition),Writing Tests,Timed Tests,Second Language Learning,English Language Learners,Statistical Analysis,Computer Assisted Testing,Incidence,Statistical Significance,Grammar,Error Analysis (Language),Essays,Diagnostic Tests,Placement,Intermode Differences,College Students,Educational Practices,Home Study,Educational Environment,Foreign Countries

This preliminary study examines what the effects of additional time and different media have upon the overall quality of English language learner's written assessment tests. Sixteen intermediate-level students (L1 Cantonese), enrolled at a satellite campus of an American university within Asia, manually wrote a 45-minute timed placement test in the confines of an educational setting. Based upon identical topics provided for this first set of writings, several weeks later these same students were allotted one week to complete a computer-generated essay at their personal residence. Statistical analyses (t-tests) revealed mostly insignificant differences between the frequency counts of selected lexical features found within both sets of writings. By contrast, there were statistically significant differences in the number of reported grammatical errors. On the whole, when compared to the timed writings, the at-home essays were characterized as having fewer numbers of grammatical errors and greater holistic scores which supports the idea that participants efficiently used additional time to affect overall textual quality.
Standard Setting for Next Generation TOEFL Academic Speaking Test (TAST): Reflections on the ETS Panel of International Teaching Assistant Developers
Author: Papajohn, Dean
Date: 2006-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Standard Setting,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Oral Language,Writing Skills,Reading Skills,Listening Skills,Standards,Language Tests,Interviews,Teaching Assistants,Foreign Students,Cutting Scores,Computer Assisted Testing,Test Construction,Meetings

While many institutions have utilized TOEFL scores for international admissions for many years, a speaking section has never before been a required part of TOEFL until the development of the iBT/Next Generation TOEFL. So institutions will need to determine how to set standards for the speaking section of TOEFL, also known as TOEFL Academic Speaking Test (TAST). International Teaching Assistant (ITA) developers as a group have a long history of assessing oral English through semi-direct tests, interviews, and performance tests (Ginther, April, 2004; Briggs et al., 1997; Briggs, 1994; Smith et al., 1992; Plakans &amp; Abraham, 1990). Educational Testing Service (ETS) convened a panel of nineteen ITA developers in Philadelphia on Sept. 24, 2004. This article reflects on that panel specifically and about standard setting in general. Although the focus here is on the speaking component of TOEFL, the process for standard setting recommended by ETS for the other three sections of TOEFL, namely writing, listening, and reading, is similar. Resulting cut off scores are only as good as the standard setting process from which they are derived. Understanding the standard setting process will lead to a more accurate interpretation of standards.
Current Approaches to Assessment in Self-Access Language Learning
Author: Reinders, Hayo
Date: 2007-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Interviews,Administrator Attitudes,Evaluation Methods,Learning Resources Centers,Access to Education,Institutional Research,Educational Opportunities,Educational Practices,Barriers,Best Practices,Self Evaluation (Groups),Tests,Peer Evaluation,Language Acquisition,Language Skills

Assessment is generally seen as one of the key challenges in the field of self-access learning (Gardner &amp; Miller, 1999; Champagne et al., 2001; Lai, 2001; Kinoshita Thomson, 1996). Many researchers and practitioners point to difficulties with assessing language gains in an environment in which variables cannot comprehensively be controlled for. Furthermore, assessing the development of learning gains, such as the ability to plan and manage independent learning or to approach a learning task strategically (a key aim of self-access learning) relies on underdeveloped methodologies and assessment tools. This article reports on a study of current approaches to assessment in self-access in 46 centres in 5 countries (Germany , Hong Kong , New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland). These centres were visited and extensive interviews were conducted with their managers. The interviews were based on a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) of each centre. Data from the interviews were analysed to identify current assessment practice. It was found that more than half of all centres conducted no form of assessment at all. The remaining centres showed a wide range of assessment measures such as self-assessment, which was the most common type of assessment, collaborative assessment with an advisor, external examinations and tests, teacher assessment, advisor assessment, peer evaluation and assessment through a panel. There was little evidence of a consistent approach to assessment in the centres, and its application seemed haphazard. There was no evidence that the instruments were checked for validity or reliability.
The Effects of Implicit and Explicit Instruction on Simple and Complex Grammatical Structures for Adult English Language Learners
Author: Andrews, Karen L. Ziemer
Date: 2007-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grammar,Teaching Methods,Second Language Instruction,Secondary School Students,Statistical Analysis,Pretests Posttests,Language Proficiency,Private Schools,College Preparation,Language Tests,Asians,English (Second Language)

This empirical study of the effects of grammar instruction was conducted at a college-prep, private school on 70 participants in grades seven through twelve. The dependent variable was the number of correct items over the forms from a pre-test, post-test, and delayed-post-test. Chi-square was used to find if there was a significant difference between the two treatments at the 0.05 level of confidence. The results supported the premise that teaching does make a significant difference in learning, that explicit instruction is significantly better than implicit for the complex rule, that both methods are equally effective for the simple rule, and that structures do not have to match proficiency levels or be sequenced by complexity for significant learning to take place.
An Investigation of Three Chinese Students' English Writing Strategies
Author: Mu, Congjun
Date: 2007-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Asians,Writing Strategies,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Metacognition,Native Language,Chinese,Transfer of Training,Graduate Students,Foreign Countries,Writing Processes,Semi Structured Interviews,Affective Behavior,English (Second Language),Anxiety,Revision (Written Composition),Student Motivation,Self Concept,Qualitative Research,Questionnaires

The purpose of this study is to investigate the writing processes of second language (L2) writers, specifically examining the writing strategies of three Chinese post-graduate students in an Australian higher education institution. The study was prompted by the paucity of second language writing strategies of Chinese students in an authentic context. Data collected from a semi-structured interview, questionnaire, retrospective post-writing discussion, and written drafts of papers were analysed. The findings indicate that the three participants employed rhetorical strategies, metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies and social/affective strategies in their writing practice. This study supports Silva's finding that L2 writing process is strategically, rhetorically, linguistically different from first language (L1) writing process (1993). Data demonstrated that metacognitive, cognitive, and social/affective strategies except rhetorical strategies (organisation of paragraphs) transferred across languages positively.
Grammar-Based Teaching: A Practitioner's Perspective
Author: Azar, Betty
Date: 2007-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grammar,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Teaching Methods,Communicative Competence (Languages),Role,Language Usage,Morphology (Languages),Concept Formation,Teacher Attitudes,Instructional Materials

This article addresses the role of grammar in second language instruction from the point of view of a longtime practitioner. It outlines the basic methods and assumptions underlying Grammar-Based Teaching (GBT), which the author sees as an effective, ever-evolving, and widespread pedagogical practice. The article discusses the importance of fundamental understandings of grammar concepts to effective language use by native and non-native speakers alike and explains that GBT engenders conceptual awareness of language structures even as it focuses on morphological particulars. Distinctions are made between GBT and other ways of including a grammar component in L2 curricula. With the fading of the naturalist movement in language teaching, the author sees a blending of GBT with Communicative Language Teaching and growing accord among academics and practitioners in terms of the positive role grammar teaching can play in balanced programs of second language instruction.
Grammar, Meaning and Pragmatics: Sorting out the Muddle
Author: Swan, Michael
Date: 2007-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grammar,Pragmatics,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Semantics,Interpersonal Communication,Language Usage,Communicative Competence (Languages),Speech Acts,Cultural Influences

The term &quot;pragmatics&quot; is commonly used in two quite different senses. In linguistic discourse, &quot;pragmatics&quot; refers to the strategies (exploitation of shared knowledge, assumptions about communicative intent, etc.), by which language users relate the dictionary/grammar meaning of utterances to their communicative value in context. &quot;Pragmatics&quot; in this sense deals with what is not encoded in language, and applies to all language use. In language teaching, on the other hand, &quot;pragmatics&quot; generally refers to the encoding of particular communicative functions, especially those relevant to interpersonal exchanges, in specific grammatical and lexical elements of a given language. Confusion between the two senses leads to the common and mistaken claim that all the structures of a language encode two levels of meaning, &quot;semantic&quot; and &quot;pragmatic,&quot; both of which must be learnt for communicative competence. A further common claim, that earlier language teaching failed to consider pragmatic aspects of language, is equally unfounded.
Towards More Context and Discourse in Grammar Instruction
Author: Celce-Murcia, Marianne
Date: 2007-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grammar,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Drills (Practice),Teaching Methods,Discourse Analysis,Instructional Innovation,Surveys

This paper first discusses why the sentence-level drills still being used extensively in the teaching of grammar to second language learners have not been successful. What follows is a presentation of an innovative approach; namely, using context and discourse to present and practice grammar in more authentic and effective ways.
Grammar Texts and Consumerist Subtexts
Author: Sokolik, M. E.
Date: 2007-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grammar,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Check Lists,Textbooks,Social Bias,Socioeconomic Status,Content Analysis,Sentences,Discourse Analysis,Consumer Economics,Merchandise Information

While several checklists exist for the evaluation of ESL/EFL textbooks, none includes suggestions for looking for specific biases, especially those found in the content of examples and sample sentences. Growing awareness in publishing has reduced problems in the presentation of gender-based and racial biases in most ESL/EFL grammar textbooks, but socio-economic bias still persists. This article looks at example sentences taken from several recent grammar textbooks, and discusses the potential impact of socio-economic bias and the promotion of consumerism in these books.
&quot;I'm Not Agree with You.&quot; ESL Learners' Expressions of Disagreement
Author: Kreutel, Karen
Date: 2007-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Language Tests,Native Speakers,North American English,Second Language Instruction,Speech Acts,Linguistic Theory,Pragmatics,Language Proficiency,Grammar,Comparative Analysis,College Students,Pretests Posttests,Communicative Competence (Languages),Questionnaires

In recent years, increasing emphasis has been put on pragmatic competence as part of foreign language curricula. This article analyzes the devices used by learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) in order to perform the &quot;speech act of disagreement&quot; in their L2. Data from 27 ESL learners were gathered by means of Discourse Completion Tests and compared to baseline data from 27 native speakers of American English. It was found that non-native speakers use mitigational devices such as hedges or explanations less frequently than native speakers, but often resort to undesirable features such as the &quot;blunt opposite&quot; or message abandonment. Moreover, three additional features of target-like disagreement expression were identified, namely, suggestions, exclamations, and a &quot;sandwich pattern of mitigation.&quot; The data suggest that high lexico-grammatical proficiency does not necessarily imply high pragmatic competence. The findings are discussed in light of Wolfson's Bulge Theory, and teaching implications are discussed.
Multimedia Games for Fun and Learning English in Preschool
Author: Agudo, J. Enrique
Date: 2015-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Preschool Education,Hypermedia,Web Based Instruction,Information Technology,Preschool Children,Questionnaires,English (Second Language),Grouping (Instructional Purposes),Educational Games,Computer Games,Computer Interfaces,Elementary School Students

Based on the assumption that educational software addressing Primary school learners must comprise a set of features to encourage children's creativity and development, the appropriate design of second language hypermedia adaptive games for Primary School children can pose a wide range of challenges both for the language teacher and computer specialist alike. Factors such as the educational context, cognitive abilities, linguistic constraints, conceptual and psychomotor restrictions, and so on, contribute to challenging professionals. This means they must deal with linguistic, content and technology adaptation queries. Based on the results from multi-factorial analysis, this paper aims firstly to demonstrate that the design of hypermedia tasks can be optimally implemented by following previous phases of data collection on preferred items. In this sense, the questioning approach for the creation of a hypermedia system has led us to analyze learning factors in order to deal with the possible linguistic, conceptual and technological demands in the children's learning environment. General results in the preliminary phases of the study show the need to steer the learning path towards an effective adaptation to children's cognitive abilities. These are the findings from which we have devised a set of hypermedia tasks which provide the adaptation of the information presented to the student according to individual objectives, interests and/or knowledge.
The Effects of the WebQuest Writing Instruction Program on EFL Learners' Writing Performance, Writing Apprehension, and Perception
Author: Chuo, Tun-Whei Isabel
Date: 2007-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Writing Instruction,Writing Apprehension,Foreign Countries,Writing Skills,Web Based Instruction,Teaching Methods,Writing Improvement,Instructional Effectiveness,Correlation,Student Attitudes,Learning Experience,Language Teachers,Asians,Computer Assisted Instruction,Pretests Posttests,Control Groups,Statistical Analysis

This study investigated the effects of the WebQuest Writing Instruction (WQWI) program on Taiwanese EFL learners' writing performance, writing apprehension, and perception of web-resource integrated language learning. Participants were students from two junior college classes. One class received traditional classroom writing instruction and the other class, the WQWI program. The results indicated that students in the WQWI class improved their writing performance significantly more than those in the traditional classroom writing class. The WQWI class also experienced significant reduction in writing apprehension; however, no significant difference in reduced apprehension could be found between the two classes. In addition, students had a favorable perception of the WQWI program, recognizing more advantages than disadvantages of language learning through web resources. Nonetheless, no significant correlation could be detected between students' perception and their improved writing performance. Neither was there a significant relationship between students' perception and their reduced writing apprehension. The findings suggested that integrating web resources into EFL writing instruction, using the WebQuest model, was effective for enhancing students' writing performance and provided a positive learning experience.
The Interrelatedness of Affective Factors in EFL Learning: An Examination of Motivational Patterns in Relation to Anxiety in China
Author: Wei, Ming
Date: 2007-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Correlation,Affective Behavior,Learning Motivation,Anxiety,Asians,Foreign Countries,Surveys,Questionnaires,Predictor Variables,Undergraduate Students,Environmental Education,Student Attitudes,Language Proficiency

This study examines the motivational pattern in relation to the anxiety of Chinese learners of English. Based on a survey consisting of an anxiety questionnaire and a motivation questionnaire, the findings revealed an unbalanced pattern of two types of motivation clusters that resembled the integrative-instrumental duality, with the level of instrumental motivation significantly higher than that of integrative motivation. Although anxiety and motivation overall were not significantly correlated, integrative motivation was found to be a predictor of low anxiety. The school requirement was the only motivation for English learning that was significantly positively correlated with anxiety. This study suggests a context-specific approach to understanding the interrelatedness of affective factors in English learning; it provides implications for policy making in EFL settings like China where learners have limited exposure to the target language instruction is examination oriented and English is mostly emphasized as a tool for attaining instrumental goals.