ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Ambivalences: Voices of Indonesian Academic Discourse Gatekeepers
Author: Basthomi, Yazid
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Academic Discourse,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Interviews,Editing,Evaluators,Attitudes,Individual Differences

This article presents voices of academic discourse gatekeepers in the Indonesian context. It reports on results of an attempt to re-read (re-analyze and re-interpret) the transcripts of interviews with Indonesian journal editors/reviewers in the area of English Language Teaching (ELT). The interviews were made with five editors/reviewers of two Indonesian-based journals. An interesting surfacing issue is the ambivalences or paradoxes experienced by the editors/reviewers. Directions for future research and implications of the ambivalences for more balanced world academic discourse will conclude the essay.
An Analysis of English Business Letters from the Perspective of Interpersonal Function
Author: Xu, Bo
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Business Communication,Letters (Correspondence),Business English,Interpersonal Competence,Literary Styles,Content Area Writing,Discourse Modes,Writing Skills,Text Structure,Foreign Countries

The purpose of the present study is to find out the features of English business letters. Halliday's systemic functional linguistics is used as the theoretical framework, mainly, interpersonal fucntion. The English business letter (EBL) is an important written text used for international business communication and it has its own features of text. This paper explores the interpersonal function of EBL in terms of mood, modality, interaction and negotiation and finds that EBL has its unique interpersonal features.
An Empirical Study on New Teacher-Student Relationship and Questioning Strategies in ESL Classroom
Author: Sun, Zuosheng
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Teacher Student Relationship,Questioning Techniques,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Questionnaires,Affective Measures,Feedback (Response),Error Correction

Teacher-student relationship and questioning strategies are extremely crucial elements in English teaching and learning. Questioning strategies can influence learners' emotional changes in classroom and the relationship between teachers &amp; students. The affective factors play a very important role in language teaching &amp; learning. Questioning strategy is a fine effective strategy in teacher-student interaction, and it benefits the construction of new teacher-student relationship. Based on the questionnaires concerning current survey of &quot;teacher-student relationship&quot; and &quot;questioning strategies in English classroom&quot;, we get the conclusion that the current teacher-student relationship and the questioning situation are not optimistic in teaching English as a second language (ESL). Most of students desire the new, harmonious, democratic teacher-student relationship, and want to show a nice performance in English class, and hope to be questioned in a proper and respectful way. Meanwhile, the paper, based on the affective factors and construction of new teacher-student relationship, puts forward some questioning strategies for construction of new teacher-student relationship.
A Comparative Study of Intensity Markers in Engineering and Applied Linguistics
Author: Behnam, Biook
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Applied Linguistics,Engineering Education,Literary Devices,Educational Research,Journal Articles,Faculty Publishing,Academic Discourse,Data Analysis,Incidence,Rhetorical Invention,Literary Styles

Writers use intensity markers as one of strategies in order to negotiate their claims and to make their writings persuasive and credible. This study is an attempt to examine the type, frequency, and functions of intensity markers in research articles of two disciplines of Applied Linguistics and Electrical Engineering by analyzing surface linguistic features. Based on a corpus of forty research articles, the overall rhetorical and categorical distribution of intensity markers were calculated across two rhetorical sections of Abstract and Conclusion of research articles. The results indicates that the overall distribution of intensity markers in Applied Linguistics articles is higher than Electrical Engineering ones. These findings may have some implications for the teaching of academic writing to EFL students.
Monolingual Dictionary Use in an EFL Context
Author: Ali, Holi Ibrahim Holi
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Dictionaries,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,College Faculty,College Students,Vocabulary Development,Questionnaires

Caledonian College of Engineering, Oman, has been encouraging its students to use monolingual dictionaries rather than bilingual or bilingualized ones in classroom and during the exams. This policy with has been received with mixed feelings and attitudes. Therefore, this study strives to explore teachers' and students' attitudes about the use of the dictionary and its training. Questionnaires were administered to 20 teachers and 100 students to collect their perceptions about the use of monolingual dictionaries at the expense of bilingual dictionaries. The results revealed that the vast majority of the teachers prefer their students to use monolingual dictionaries because they will help them acquire foreign language more effectively and that the bilingual dictionaries are likely to encourage translation, whereas most of the students would prefer to use bilingual and bilingualized dictionaries because they feel they are practical and easy to use. The study puts forward some recommendations and strategies for the effective use of the dictionary, the basis of a good learner dictionary, challenges of using monolingual dictionaries and possible training strategies for dictionary use.
Communicative Approach: An Alternative Method Used in Improving Students' Academic Reading Achievement
Author: Irmawati, Noer Doddy
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Communicative Competence (Languages),English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Teaching Methods,Grammar,Vocabulary Development,Action Research,Pronunciation,Course Descriptions,Socialization,Learning Activities,Cooperation,Academic Discourse,Reading Comprehension,Foreign Countries,Student Characteristics,College Students,Student Attitudes,Language Attitudes,Student Motivation,Observation,Interviews

Academic reading is a difficult subject to be mastered. It is needed because most of books or references are written in English. The emphasis is on academic reading which becomes a compulsory subject that must be taught and understood in Faculty of Letters UAD Yogyakarta. Communicative approach is used and applied as an alternative method in the process of teaching-learning that focuses on language as a medium of communication. Communication ability involves in understanding fully the vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, and all aspects of English skills such as reading, listening, speaking and writing. One main focus of the classroom action research that appears from communicative approach which is applied in the process of teaching-learning academic reading will be discussed. The objectives are (1) How is the application of communicative approach?, (2) How far is the influence of using communicative approach in teaching academic reading? It includes the study intensity of the students, the benefit and the weakness of using the approach. The results showed the application of communicative approach effectively improved the students' ability in academic reading. It could be seen from the improvement of some aspects, (1) aspects of reading ability, (2) aspects of English: vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, communication, and ability of cooperation, collaboration, socialization, sharing ideas, opinion, and suggestion. The objective of teaching, the model of syllabus, the form of teaching-learning activity, and the kinds of learning material used by the teachers were consistent with those which were recommended by communicative approach.
Taboos in China: To Be or Not to Be
Author: Chen, Fuyu
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Cross Cultural Training,Cultural Literacy,Cultural Awareness,Ceremonies,Health Services,Monetary Systems,Numbers,Indigenous Knowledge,Social Change,Cultural Traits,Chinese,Asians

With powerful influence on the people, taboos should be noticed with keen awareness and handled with cautious respect for international visitors in China, a traditional country in its process of modernization, if successful cross-cultural communication is to be achieved. In the ever changing and integrating world, Chinese taboos are never free from differentiation: some are permanent; some are newly shaped; some are weakening; and some have even totally disappeared. The introduction of Chinese taboos in different aspects of life and their tendency of development should hopefully provide help for those from the rest of the world to overcome cultural barriers in relation with the Chinese people.
A Proposed Program to Develop Teaching for Thinking in Pre-Service English Language Teachers
Author: Alwehaibi, Huda U.
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Preservice Teachers,Preservice Teacher Education,English Teacher Education,English (Second Language),College Students,Thinking Skills,Classroom Observation Techniques,Check Lists,Student Teachers,Skill Development,Pilot Projects,Field Experience Programs,Data Analysis,Teaching Skills,Practicums,Formative Evaluation,Summative Evaluation

Students' thinking is an integral part of English language pedagogy. Teachers need the pedagogical competence to teach thinking effectively. This research suggests a program to develop the teaching skills for thinking of pre-service teachers (fourth-year college students) in the English Department of the Faculty of Education at Princess Noura University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The program aims to provide the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary for preparing teachers of thinking to invite, maintain, and enhance students' thinking in the EFL classroom. A classroom observation checklist was developed to assess teaching for thinking skills, to understand the student teachers progress in developing such skills. The program was pilot tested on five fourth-year student teachers during their field experience. Data analysis and results of the pilot test have shown that the proposed program can be effective in developing the pre-service English language teachers' skills in teaching for thinking. [This paper has been presented at The International Conference on Education and New Learning Technology, EDULEARN09, in Barcelona, Spain (6-8 July 2009).]
Research on Three-Part Argumentative Writings for English Majors in China
Author: Mingli, Luo
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Majors (Students),College English,English Instruction,Scaffolding (Teaching Technique),Writing Strategies,Persuasive Discourse,Teaching Methods,Educational Practices,Writing Skills

Writing is a kind of creative thinking activity. The teaching of three-part argumentative writing is crucial in college English instruction. Many English majors that fail to write well lack sufficient input of English argumentative reading materials, use Chinese thinking and structure to express their ideas, and lack frequent and sufficient writing practice in English. This paper reviews the application of scaffolding theory and schema theory in writing, and proposes a series of training strategies of blank-filling writing, guided writing, controlled writing, and free writing. Through this series of training that is based on the process approach, the product approach as well as the genre approach, students can gain better writing skills. They can learn how to plan before writing and improve their abilities to write argumentative essays in English effectively.
Exploring the Language Learning Needs across Different Levels: A Case for the Iranian Undergraduate and Postgraduate Genetics Students
Author: Boroujeni, Fatemeh Abbasian
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Graduate Students,Undergraduate Students,Student Needs,Second Language Learning,Interviews,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis,Teacher Attitudes,Student Surveys,Genetics,Science Education,Foreign Countries,Qualitative Research,English for Special Purposes,Needs Assessment

The present research was conducted with the aim of examining the foreign language learning needs of graduate and postgraduate students of Genetics in Iran in order to help students to meet the growing present and emerging future language demands. The study was designed on a qualitative-quantitative survey basis using interviews and questionnaires which was administered to 35 undergraduate students, 18 postgraduate students, and 4 subject-specific instructors. To see whether the graduate and postgraduate students differed significantly in terms of their language needs, an independent sample t-test was used. Chi-square analysis was also conducted to examine the possible discrepancies across the perceived needs of the students and their parallel counterparts in the instructors' corpus. The findings of the study revealed some minor discrepancies with regard to the language needs and perceptions across different levels. The chi-square results also revealed very few differences between the students' and instructors' perceived needs.
Peer Evaluation of Oral Presentations in Croatia
Author: Kovac, Mirjana Matea
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Peer Evaluation,Oral Language,Public Speaking,Communication Skills,Sciences,English (Second Language),Serbocroatian,Student Attitudes,Positive Attitudes,Questionnaires,Undergraduate Students

This paper aims to explore student engagement in peer evaluation activities related to giving scientific presentations in English (L2) and to investigate student attitudes towards this form of evaluation in the course Communication skills in Croatian (L1). The participants in this study were first-year students of engineering in Split, Croatia. Peer review grades have shown that the verbal part of delivering oral presentations in English is the most demanding and challenging part in presentations. The results on student attitudes have shown that the students hold positive attitudes towards peer evaluation. Moreover, they claim to have become aware that speech disfluencies (filled and silent pauses, repetitions, false starts, grammatical errors) negatively affect the overall oral performance, pointing out that efforts should be made in order to reduce them, therefore, the course Communication skills is by the vast majority of students regarded as a valuable course in times of increasingly complex communication requirements.
Textbook Evaluation: EFL Teachers' Perspectives on &quot;Pacesetter Series&quot;
Author: Alemi, Minoo
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Textbook Evaluation,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,Questionnaires,Teacher Attitudes,Statistical Analysis,Student Needs,Communicative Competence (Languages),Oral Language,Cultural Awareness,Cultural Differences,Teaching Methods,Check Lists,Likert Scales

The present paper is an attempt to evaluate &quot;Pacesetter&quot; Series (Strange and Hall, 2005), an EFL course book series, in four levels of &quot;starter&quot;, &quot;elementary&quot;, &quot;pre-intermediate&quot;, and &quot;intermediate&quot;, being currently instructed at several language institutes in Iran. The purpose of this study is to determine the appropriateness of the series in Iranian EFL contexts. Litz (2000) questionnaire was exploited to examine the series thoroughly in all essential aspects. Sixty four EFL teachers rated the series. The results of descriptive statistics indicated that there is an overall consensus among the teachers that Pacesetter rightly addresses the needs of the learners in a communicative curriculum. However, two salient points are still worth further addressing. The first issue is that the series does not sufficiently underscore the speaking skill. The other concern involves the incorporation of European culture in every skill and skill-related activities as it may cause frustration and bafflement on the part of Iranian adolescent foreign language learners since they are unfamiliar with certain aspects of the target language culture. One way to remedy the two aforementioned issues is that the teachers using this series can think of other substitute exercises to solve the problem.
Do Language Proficiency Levels Correspond to Language Learning Strategy Adoption?
Author: Gharbavi, Abdullah
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Proficiency,Learning Strategies,Language Tests,Correlation,Classification,Second Language Learning,Language Teachers,Course Descriptions,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,Majors (Students),College Students,Teacher Education,Statistical Analysis,Questionnaires

The primary focus of research on employment of language learning strategies has been on identification of adoption of different learning strategies. However, the relationship between language learning strategies and proficiency levels was ignored in previous research. The present study was undertaken to find out whether there are any relationship between the employment of different strategies and learners' levels of language proficiency. To this end, initially, a simulated TOEFL test (Bailey, R. F., Seetharaman, S., Gavin, C. A., Shukla, N., Penfield, J., and Subramanian, R., 1993) was administered to classify the learners into three classes of proficiency levels: beginning, intermediate, and advanced. Then, Oxford's Strategy Inventory, SILL, (Oxford, 1990b) was used to determine the frequency of the language learning strategies applied by learners. The results indicated that there is a direct relationship between employment of different strategies and proficiency levels. Therefore, the findings, in general, seem convincing enough to enable one to claim that there is a correspondence between the employment of different strategies and proficiency levels. The results of the present study are by no means complete. More research is needed to substantiate the outcome of the current study. One pedagogical implication of the study is that language instructors and syllabus designers should be advised to inform language learners about language learning strategies. Other implications have been discussed.
The Impact of Portfolio Assessment on EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension Ability
Author: Charvade, Mahshid Rostami
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Comprehension,Portfolio Assessment,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Experimental Groups,Pretests Posttests,Language Tests,Females,Institutes (Training Programs),Control Groups,Second Language Instruction,Statistical Analysis,Foreign Countries

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of portfolio assessment on EFL learners' reading comprehension ability. 50 EFL language learners at intermediate level all female from a private institute were selected for this purpose. Then they were randomly divided into the control and experimental group. The control group received the traditional assessment while the experimental group received the portfolio assessment. Two reading comprehension tests as pretest and posttest were given to the students of both groups to find out their reading comprehension ability at the beginning and at the end of the study and the treatment. The results of data analysis revealed that the students in the portfolio assessment group outperformed the students in the control group in their reading comprehension ability. Finally the findings of this study suggest that portfolio assessment empowers students' reading comprehension ability.
Attitudes towards English Language Learning among EFL Learners at UMSKAL
Author: Ahmed, Shameem
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Student Surveys,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Student Attitudes,Questionnaires,Qualitative Research,Educational Environment,Phenomenology,Statistical Distributions

This paper analyses the result of a survey on 238 undergraduate EFL students at a public university in Malaysia. The survey focused on their attitude towards English learning and causes that might have hindered their learning. For data collection, a 19 item questionnaire were designed and administered on 238 students. The objective of this study was to investigate (1) The attitudes of the learners towards the use of English in different areas; (2) Causes that may have influenced the effect of English learning for students (3) Perspectives of English learning among non-major English learners in Malaysia. Results of the qualitative analysis show that the attitude towards English language learning and using the language in various domains of usage is extremely positive. The data also revealed that most of the students had negative feelings or fear regarding classroom instructions in their learning experience. Students of different fields varied in attitudes towards English language learning in terms of domains of usage and focus of learning skills, which shows that a single curriculum or teaching methodology is not adequate. Several suggestions have been made regarding teaching methodology, curriculum, teaching materials, and the status of English in Malaysia from this point of view.
Evaluation of Critical Thinking and Reflective Thinking Skills among Science Teacher Candidates
Author: Demir, Sibel
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Critical Thinking,Reflection,Thinking Skills,Science Teachers,Preservice Teachers,Undergraduate Students,Likert Scales,Problem Solving,Self Efficacy,Skill Development

The aim of this study was to evaluate and determine the critical thinking and reflective thinking skills of science teacher candidates. The study was performed with the participation of 30 teacher candidates enrolled in the science teaching department of a university in Turkey. Scales administered during the study included the California Critical Thinking Scale and the Reflective Thinking Skills for Problem Solving Scale. Frequency distributions were calculated for data obtained from both scales. Based on the study results, it was determined that while the teacher candidates generally provided responses that displayed effective critical and reflective thinking skills, the frequency of the responses for some of the scale items lacked a clear distribution in terms of illustrating the teacher candidates' stance towards these thinking skills.