ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Pragmatic Competence and Social Power Awareness: The Case of Written and Spoken Discourse in Non-Native English Environments
Author: Pérez-Sabater, Carmen
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Pragmatics,Interpersonal Competence,Written Language,Discourse Analysis,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Guidelines,Goal Orientation,Language Styles,Persuasive Discourse,Oral Language,Language Fluency,Work Environment,Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,Metalinguistics,Adult Students,Power Structure

Following one of the new challenges suggested by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, a treatment was developed to enhance pragmatic competence, since this competence is not easy to acquire by non-native speakers. Within this context, we focused on pragmatic awareness in the workplace, an area of expertise in growing demand today. Specifically, we centred on the power variable and the distinction between powerful and powerless speech styles through negotiation, co-planning and goal-oriented interactions. Powerful speech has been envisaged as the language of success; however, the positive implications of powerless speech in the workplace have been recently posited. After an instruction phase, the results confirmed that powerless markers were prone to be used adequately in writing, while in oral interactions non-native speakers were not able to employ them fluently or, at least, naturally. The treatment encouraged the critical engagement of students in the process of learning new ways of communicating at work.
Factors Affecting Willingness to Communicate in a Spanish University Context
Author: Lahuerta, Ana Cristina
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Predictor Variables,Interpersonal Communication,English (Second Language),Questionnaires,Language Tests,Regression (Statistics),Student Motivation,Second Language Learning,Oral Language,Self Concept,Competence,Anxiety,Language Skills,Student Attitudes,Gender Differences,English for Special Purposes,Factor Analysis,Reliability

The present study examines the relationships among the variables believed to affect Spanish undergraduates' willingness to communicate in English. The participants were 195 students majoring in several degrees at the University of Oviedo. A questionnaire and a standardized English Test were administered to the students in February-March 2013. Regression analysis showed that the Spanish undergraduates' motivation to learn English had a significant relationship with their willingness to communicate in English. Results also showed a significant positive relationship between self-perceived communication competence and willingness to communicate, and a significant negative relationship between anxiety and self-perceived communication competence. Finally, results show a significant relationship between self-perceived communication competence and L2 competence. A gender difference in the effect of self-perceived competence on actual L2 competence was another finding of the present study.
Lexical Transfer in the Written Production of a CLIL Group and a Non-CLIL Group
Author: Manzano Vázquez, Borja
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Transfer of Training,Teaching Methods,Error Analysis (Language),Language Proficiency,Writing (Composition),Content Area Writing,Student Placement,Language Tests,Comparative Analysis,Linguistic Borrowing,Secondary School Students,Foreign Countries

Previous research on the difference in terms of lexical transfer between CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and non-CLIL students has revealed that CLIL students produce fewer lexical transfer errors than non-CLIL students. This study aimed at comparing the lexical transfer production of two groups of students (CLIL and non-CLIL) and determining whether language proficiency was a key factor when predicting differences between both groups (Bruton, 2011a). The sample for the research consisted of 36 students in grade 7. Subjects' language proficiency was assessed through the English Unlimited Placement Test, whereas their lexical transfer production was tested through a written composition in English. The results indicated that there was no significant difference in language proficiency between both groups and that the difference in lexical transfer lied in the influence exerted by a few participants on the results.
Dictogloss and the Production of the English Third Person &quot;-s&quot; by CLIL and Mainstream EFL Learners: A Comparative Study
Author: Basterrechea, María
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Comparative Analysis,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Teaching Methods,Morphology (Languages),Morphemes,Syntax,Task Analysis,Foreign Countries,Cooperative Learning,Questionnaires,Secondary School Students,Scoring

This study compares focus on form in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and mainstream English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts in the production of a specific morphological feature, the English 3rd person singular present tense marker &quot;-s.&quot; Research conducted in CLIL contexts to date examining morphosyntactic features has yielded disparate results. Thus, little is known about how this methodology affects learners' attention to form while completing a dictogloss task (Wajnryb, 1990). In the study 116 adolescent learners (CLIL, n = 54; mainstream EFL, n = 62) in the Basque Autonomous Community completed a dictogloss collaboratively and individually. Results showed that CLIL learners noticed and produced more instances of the 3rd person singular &quot;-s&quot; than mainstream learners, but not in a significant manner, and that those working in pairs in the CLIL group obtained significantly better results.
Massive Open Online Courses for Africa by Africa
Author: Oyo, Benedict
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Access to Education,Sustainability,Open Education,Online Courses,Mass Instruction,Educational Finance,College Preparation,Accreditation (Institutions),Educational Practices,Higher Education,Program Content,Curriculum,Government Role,Federal Aid,Electronic Learning,Management Systems,Foreign Countries,Secondary School Students

Africa is known for inadequate access to all sorts of human needs including health, education, food, shelter, transport, security, and energy. Before the emergence of massive open online courses (MOOCs), open access to higher education (HE) was exclusive of Africa. However, as a generally affordable method of post-secondary education delivery, MOOCs place the developing countries at the centre of universal access to HE. This paper provides the strategy for MOOC implementation in the context of limited resources in Africa. The strategy is clustered under five baseline requirements: national accredited MOOC curriculum, electronic content development, development of an online and offline eLearning platform, establishment and funding of MOOC coordination units at public HEIs, and establishment of MOOC access hubs at strategic locations. Emerging from this paper is the insight that a new era of universal access to HE in Africa is achievable through MOOCs only if initial requirements are met by the respective governments.
An Investigation of Faculty Perspectives on Barriers, Incentives, and Benefits of the OER Movement in Turkey
Author: Kursun, Engin
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Investigations,Barriers,Incentives,Educational Resources,Open Source Technology,Shared Resources and Services,Sharing Behavior,Faculty Publishing,Instructional Materials,Online Surveys,College Faculty,Teacher Surveys,Teacher Attitudes,Foreign Countries,Interviews

The purpose of this survey study is to investigate faculty's perceptions of the main incentives, barriers, and benefits to publishing their course materials for free within the open educational resources (OER) movement. Data were collected from an online survey of 1,637 faculty from 56 universities in Turkey. Results showed that even though the majority of the participants' perceptions of OER benefits and their attitudes toward publishing their course materials were positive, legal issues were perceived as an obstacle to effective application. Intellectual property protection mechanisms were perceived as the most important incentive to facilitate their contribution.
Teaching the Disembodied: Othering and Activity Systems in a Blended Synchronous Learning Situation
Author: Cunningham, Una
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Blended Learning,Synchronous Communication,Graduate Students,Student Attitudes,Beliefs,Expectation,Social Distance,Electronic Learning,Student Participation,Learner Engagement,Student Experience

This study examines what happens when online and campus students participate in real time in the same campus classroom. Before this study, postgraduate students studying online in a course intended primarily as professional development for language educators were taking the course through reading the course literature including assigned articles, writing reflective texts in the asynchronous forum and doing the course assignments. They had a very different experience than the campus students who met weekly for discussion of the reading. Some online students were not active enough in the course, and showed low levels of engagement. The online students were invited to participate in scheduled campus classes via Skype on iPads. After some hesitation, four of the six online students took up this real-time participation option. Initial difficulties with the technology were addressed after seeking input from campus and online students. A series of adjustments were made and evaluated, including a move to a model in which three online students in different locations participated in a single Skype group video call on a laptop in the campus classroom rather than on multiple individual Skype calls on iPads. After the course, the online and campus students were asked to evaluate the experience of having physical and virtual participants sharing a physical space and to relate this experience to the asynchronous channels previously available to the participants. The comments of both groups of participants were interpreted in the light of previous work on social presence and of activity theory. It appears that student beliefs and student expectations lead to hidden challenges associated with mixing these groups of students, and the study concludes that unless teaching assistance is available, it is not easy to afford online students the same right to speak as campus students.
Identity and the Itinerant Online Learner
Author: Koole, Marguerite
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Electronic Learning,Graduate Students,Self Concept,Semi Structured Interviews,Models,Distance Education

This paper outlines a preliminary study of the kinds of strategies that master students draw upon for interpreting and enacting their identities in online learning environments. Based primarily on the seminal works of Goffman (1959) and Foucault (1988), the Web of Identity Model (Koole, 2009; Koole and Parchoma, 2012) is used as an underlying theoretical framework for this research study. The WoI model suggests that there are five major categories of &quot;dramaturgical&quot; strategies: technical, political, structural, cultural, and personal-agential. In the data collection, five online master of education students participated in semi-structured, online interviews. Phenomenography guided the data collection and analysis resulting in an outcome space for each strategy of the WoI model. The study results indicate that online learners actively employ a variety of strategies in interpreting and enacting their identities. The outcome spaces provide insights into ways in which online learners can manage their identity performances and strategies for ontological re-alignment (reconceptualization of oneself). Further study has the potential to elucidate how learning designers and online instructors might facilitate such identity-work in order to shape productive online environments.
Developing Open Education Literacies with Practicing K-12 Teachers
Author: Kimmons, Royce M.
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Open Education,Learning Activities,Elementary Secondary Education,Elementary School Teachers,Secondary School Teachers,Teacher Education,Literacy,Professional Development,Institutes (Training Programs),Teacher Attitudes,Misconceptions,Copyrights,Expectation,Longitudinal Studies,Teacher Surveys,Pretests Posttests,Teaching Experience,Regression (Statistics),Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis

This study seeks to understand how to use formal learning activities to effectively support the development of open education literacies among K-12 teachers. Considering pre-and post-surveys from K-12 teachers (n = 80) who participated in a three-day institute, this study considers whether participants entered institutes with false confidence or misconceptions related to open education, whether participant knowledge grew as a result of participation, whether takeaways matched expectations, whether time teaching (i.e., teacher veterancy) impacted participant data, and what specific evaluation items influenced participants&apos; overall evaluations of the institutes. Results indicated that: 1) participants entered the institutes with misconceptions or false confidence in several areas (e.g., copyright, fair use), 2) the institute was effective for helping to improve participant knowledge in open education areas, 3) takeaways did not match expectations, 4) time teaching did not influence participant evaluations, expectations, or knowledge, and 5) three specific evaluation items significantly influenced overall evaluations of the institute: learning activities, instructor, and website/online resources. Researchers conclude that this type of approach is valuable for improving K-12 teacher open education literacies, that various misconceptions must be overcome to support large-scale development of open education literacies in K-12, and that open education advocates should recognize that all teachers, irrespective of time teaching, want to innovate, utilize open resources, and share in an open manner.
The Influence of Personality and Chronotype on Distance Learning Willingness and Anxiety among Vocational High School Students in Turkey
Author: Randler, Christoph
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Personality Traits,Distance Education,Scores,Questionnaires,Student Attitudes,Foreign Countries,Vocational Education,High School Students,Individual Differences,Anxiety,Measures (Individuals),Personality Measures,Neurosis,Gender Differences,Age Differences,Extraversion Introversion,Learning Processes,Correlation,Statistical Analysis,Multivariate Analysis

There are many studies related to distance learning. Willingness and anxiety are important variables for distance learning. Recent research has shown that anxiety and willingness towards distance learning are moderated by personality. This study sought to investigate whether distance learning willingness and distance learning anxiety are associated with age, gender, occupation, chronotype and personality in a Turkish vocational high school students sample. Two measures of individual differences were implemented: chronotype (morningness/eveningness preference) and BIG-5 dimensions (agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness). Seven hundred and sixty-nine vocational high school students from Turkey filled out a self-administered questionnaire. Evening types, older, and female students had higher distance learning willingness scores than morning types, younger, and male students. No significant difference was found between chronotype groups with respect to distance learning anxiety. Furthermore, extraverted students reported a lower distance learning anxiety. Openness to experience was associated with high distance learning willingness. We conclude that evening types may benefit from distance learning more than other types.
Online Instruction, E-Learning, and Student Satisfaction: A Three Year Study
Author: Cole, Michele T.
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Online Courses,Electronic Learning,Student Attitudes,Participant Satisfaction,Instructional Effectiveness,Student Surveys,Instructional Design,Mail Surveys,Performance Factors,Business Administration Education,College Students

This article presents the results of a three-year study of graduate and undergraduate students' level of satisfaction with online instruction at one university. The study expands on earlier research into student satisfaction with e-learning. Researchers conducted a series of surveys over eight academic terms. Five hundred and fifty-three students participated in the study. Responses were consistent throughout, although there were some differences noted in the level of student satisfaction with their experience. There were no statistically significant differences in the level of satisfaction based on gender, age, or level of study. Overall, students rated their online instruction as moderately satisfactory, with hybrid or partially online courses rated as somewhat more satisfactory than fully online courses. &quot;Convenience&quot; was the most cited reason for satisfaction. &quot;Lack of interaction&quot; was the most cited reason for dissatisfaction. Preferences for hybrid courses surfaced in the responses to an open-ended question asking what made the experience with online or partially online courses satisfactory or unsatisfactory. This study's findings support the literature to date and reinforce the significance of student satisfaction to student retention.
Students' Perceived Challenges in an Online Collaborative Learning Environment: A Case of Higher Learning Institutions in Nairobi, Kenya
Author: Muuro, Maina Elizaphan
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Electronic Learning,Cooperative Learning,Student Attitudes,College Students,Student Surveys,Questionnaires,Public Colleges,Private Colleges,Case Studies

Earlier forms of distance education were characterized by minimal social interaction like correspondence, television, video and radio. However, the World Wide Web (WWW) and online learning introduced the opportunity for much more social interaction, particularly among learners, and this has been further made possible through social media in Web 2.0. The increased availability of collaborative tools in Web 2.0 has made it possible to have online collaborative learning realized in Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs). However, learners can perceive the online collaborative learning process as challenging and they fail to utilize these collaborative tools effectively. Although a number of challenges have been mentioned in the literature, considerable diversity exists among countries due to diversity in infrastructure support for e-learning and learners' background. This motivated this study to investigate components of online collaborative learning perceived as challenging by learners in HLIs in Kenya. Using a questionnaire, a survey was conducted in two public universities and two private universities to identify students' perceived challenges in an online collaborative learning environment. Through purposive sampling the questionnaire was distributed to 210 students using e-mail and 183 students responded. Based on descriptive analysis the following five major challenges were rated as high: lack of feedback from instructors, lack of feedback from peers, lack of time to participate, slow internet connectivity, and low or no participation of other group members. There was also a relationship between the university type (private or public) with the perceived challenges which included: lack of feedback from the instructor (p = 0.046) and work load not shared equally among group members (p = 0.000). Apart from slow internet connectivity the rest of the challenges were in line with the observed challenges in the literature.These key challenges identified in this study should provide insight to educators on the areas of collaborative learning that should be improved in order to provide access to quality education that supports effective online collaborative learning in HLIs in Kenya.
Level of Proficiency and Professional Development Needs in Peripheral Online Teaching Roles
Author: González-Sanmamed, Mercedes
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Online Courses,Teacher Role,Teacher Competencies,Teacher Competency Testing,Faculty Development,Teacher Improvement,Needs Assessment,Educational Needs,College Faculty,Questionnaires,Educational Quality,Instructional Effectiveness,Statistical Analysis,Likert Scales,Technological Literacy,Teacher Leadership,Counseling Services,Educational Counseling,Teacher Attitudes,Teacher Surveys,Foreign Countries,Regression (Statistics)

Teaching in virtual environments demands mastery of several teaching competencies. Although the most accepted ones are pedagogical, in order to successfully teach online it becomes necessary to acquire and develop some other competencies, sometimes referred to as peripheral roles (Denis et al., 2004). The aim of this study is to analyse perceptions on the level of proficiency that online teachers have regarding these peripheral roles (social, evaluator, manager, technologist, advisor/counsellor, personal, and researcher), and their professional development needs required to improve their online teaching competencies. A questionnaire was specifically created and validated by experts, and data was gathered from 166 university teachers. The findings show that teachers highlight the importance of the peripheral roles for quality teaching, and thus, professional development programmes should be based on a balance between central and peripheral roles to better train online teachers and increase the quality of their teaching.
Promoting Distance Learners' Cognitive Engagement and Learning Outcomes: Design-Based Research in the Costa Rican National University of Distance Education
Author: Joo, K. P.
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Distance Education,Learner Engagement,Outcomes of Education,Curriculum Design,Undergraduate Students,Engineering Education,Courses,Student Surveys,Grades (Scholastic),Self Evaluation (Individuals)

To explore effective learning design for students' cognitive engagement, a design-based case study was conducted in a quality control course in the Costa Rican National University of Distance Education between the 2011 and 2012 academic years. The course was revised for the 2012 provision in terms of the assignment structure, the number of face-to-face sessions, and facilitation strategies. This study documents how the course redesign impacted the distance learners' cognitive engagement and learning outcomes. Theories of cognitive engagement and transactional distance informed the design-based investigation. Research findings indicate that the design revisions positively influenced both students' cognitive engagement and learning outcomes within this distance higher education context; however, the student performance represented by their assessment grades might not always reflect this improvement.