ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Special Education Practice at Elementary Level in European Union Countries and Turkey
Author: Akmese, Pelin Pistav
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Special Education,Educational Practices,Elementary School Students,Foreign Countries,Access to Education,Educational Opportunities,Age Differences,Special Needs Students,Comparative Education,Equal Education

An individual's development and education process that starts in the family environment continues in the educational institutions. The primary school education period, which is the basis for the children's future achievements, should include regulations based on the equality of opportunity and access to education. The aim of this study is to examine in a comparative manner the school starting age of students with special requirements in Turkey and European Union countries and educational model applied, supports provided to students and classroom teachers, and the variables relating to other personnel. This study is a descriptive study aiming at determining the existing circumstances. In most of the EU countries integration, inclusion and separate training model for children with special educational requirements are applied together and as a whole in the primary school age. In addition, in the countries in which the integration and inclusion implementations are applied densely, families are provided with family training, health, financial and transportation supports together with support to academic skills for school teachers, and guidance and training service for families in terms of behavioral management.
An Evaluation Framework for CALL
Author: McMurry, Benjamin L.
Date: 2016-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Computer Assisted Instruction,Periodicals,Researchers,Guidelines,Evaluation Methods,Teaching Methods,Evaluation Criteria

Searching prestigious Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL) journals for references to key publications and authors in the field of evaluation yields a short list. The &quot;American Journal of Evaluation&quot;--the flagship journal of the American Evaluation Association--is only cited once in both the &quot;CALICO Journal and Language Learning and Technology&quot; (Blyth &amp; Davis, 2007). Only two articles in these journals have cited Robert Stake, Robert Yin, Daniel Stufflebeam, Michael Scriven, or Michael Patton, five of the most influential evaluators of our generation. Prestigious CALL journals lacked references to formal evaluation literature, which provides a wealth of information regarding effective evaluation processes. We reviewed prominent CALL evaluation frameworks and literature in formal evaluation. A comparison of CALL evaluation with formal evaluation showed some gaps in CALL evaluation. Practices and insights from the field of evaluation would benefit CALL researchers and practitioners with regard to conducting systematic evaluations that report evaluation findings that other researchers and practitioners find useful. The proposed evaluation framework includes common evaluation tasks conducted by evaluators in the field of formal evaluation to produce a workflow model for designing and conducting evaluations in CALL. Implications for CALL evaluators and stakeholders indicate several areas for improvement in CALL evaluation.
German-Polish Borderscapes: Bordering and Debordering of Communication--An Example of Slubice
Author: Janczak, Barbara Alicja
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Usage,Communication Strategies,Foreign Countries,Geographic Regions,Polish,German,Intercultural Communication,Bilingualism,Morphology (Languages),Syntax,Oral Language,International Cooperation,Interviews,Code Switching (Language)

Due to the fact that Germany and Poland are both members of the Schengen Treaty, the role of the political borders between these two states has been reduced to a minimum. On account of the four freedoms, debordering processes have enabled the creation of borderscapes--places of transition, where time and space interact and where cultures and languages underline a cross-border hybridization. The aim of this paper is to present the linguistic behavior and communication strategies of Polish inhabitants on the German-Polish borderland. It presents the partial results of the research project which is being conducted on the Polish side of the German-Polish border. The analysis is focused on the communication strategies of the inhabitants of German-Polish borderscapes (on the example of Slubice inhabitants) and aims at answering the question about bordering (with reference to language choice and use) or debordering of communication as an everyday practice in German-Polish communication.
The Design of Immersive English Learning Environment Using Augmented Reality
Author: Li, Kuo-Chen
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Semi Structured Interviews,Schemata (Cognition),Teaching Methods,Curriculum Design,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Computer Simulation,Computer Assisted Instruction,College Faculty

The study uses augmented reality (AR) technology to integrate virtual objects into the real learning environment for language learning. The English AR classroom is constructed using the system prototyping method and evaluated by semi-structured in-depth interviews. According to the flow theory by Csikszenmihalyi in 1975 along with the immersive factors from Trevino and Webster in 1992, the proposed system uses the computer information systems with augmented reality technology to create flow experiences and embodied cognition. The effects of the English AR classroom are evaluated by semi-structured in-depth interviews. Based on the opinions of the domain experts, the AR prototype system validates the possibility of carrying out digital immersive language learning and embodied cognition. In addition, the concerns of the curriculum designs based on this system are discussed to show the intension of the practical uses.
65 Years &amp; Counting: AASL and School Librarians--Still Champions of Intellectual Freedom
Author: Adams, Helen R.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Libraries,Intellectual Freedom,Librarians,Library Associations,Internet,Access to Information,Constitutional Law,Freedom of Speech,Religion,Leadership,Leadership Role,Leaders,Group Membership

The American Association of School Librarians and its members have always been champions of intellectual freedom. It is a core value of school librarians and has been--and remains--an integral part of AASL's culture. Intellectual freedom is deeply embedded in AASL's standards, position statements, member-focused publications, conferences, award criteria, and leaders. In this article, the author discusses the issues school librarians are facing when it comes to intellectual freedom, including challenges to their resources and internet filtering. A chart is presented with examples of AASL's strong support for intellectual freedom.
The Effect of Terrorist Incidents on the Occupational Attitude of Teachers
Author: Üstün, Ahmet
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Terrorism,Teacher Attitudes,Teaching (Occupation),Gender Differences,Marital Status,Geographic Location,Employment Level,Statistical Analysis,Foreign Countries,Likert Scales,Teacher Surveys

This study examined how many terrorist incidents affected the teachers' occupational attitude by the variables of gender, marital status, birthplace, the term of employment and occupational status with &quot;the effect of terrorist incidents on the occupational attitude of the teacher&quot; scale. In this study, &quot;descriptive scanning method&quot; among quantitative research methods was employed. The sample of the research was determined by the &quot;simple random sampling&quot; selection among the probabilistic sampling choices, and it consisted of 116 teachers who served in Bulanik district of Mus Province during the 2015-2016 academic year. In the analysis of the data, arithmetic mean, frequency, percentage, t-test, ANOVA and Tukey tests were employed. The levels of being affected by terrorist incidents in the occupational sense of the teachers who participated in the study were found to be at the medium level. While significant differences were not observed according to the gender, marital status and occupational status of the teachers, significant differences were determined according to their birthplaces and term of employment. As a result of the study, it was suggested to provide in-service training to improve the occupational attitudes of the teachers serving in a terror zone in the positive direction.
Presenting Lexical Bundles for Explicit Noticing with Schematic Linguistic Representation
Author: Thomson, Haidee Elizabeth
Date: 2016-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Phrase Structure,Teaching Methods,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Retention (Psychology),College Students,Asians,Foreign Countries,Pretests Posttests,Metalinguistics,Translation,Statistical Analysis

Lexical bundles are essential for fluency, but their incompleteness is a stumbling block for learners. In this study, two presentation methods to increase awareness of lexical bundles through explicit noticing are explored and compared with incidental exposure. The three conditions in this study were as follows: noticing with schematic linguistic representation (n = 15), noticing with context completion (n = 26) and meaning focused exposure (n = 24). Participants were English language learners at a university in Japan. Following treatments, the ability to produce lexical bundles in written English was measured. Immediate learning gains were significantly greater for the schematic linguistic representation method; however, no significant difference in gains between the conditions appeared in the two week delayed post-test. Results suggest that while noticing lexical bundles with schematic linguistic representation is an effective initial learning intervention, this is no guarantee for long-term knowledge retention.
The Effects of Writing to Learn (WTL) on Academic Achievement and Attitude to Lesson in English Classes
Author: Incirci, Ayhan
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Academic Achievement,English for Special Purposes,Writing (Composition),Student Attitudes,Grade 11,High School Students,Structured Interviews,Questionnaires,Learning Strategies,Statistical Analysis,Experimental Groups,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Mixed Methods Research,Foreign Countries,Morphemes,Achievement Tests,Language Tests,Control Groups,Quasiexperimental Design,Pretests Posttests

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of applying the writing letter activity of writing to learn strategies on the English Language Academic Achievement and Attitude level of 11th grade students. The research was carried out with 84 students (43 male, 41 female) at one of the state schools in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Mixed method was used in the research. A non-equivalent control group model which is one of the quasi-experimental methods was used in the quantitative part of the research. Simple Past Tense Achievement Test (SPTAT) developed by the researcher and Attitude to English Lesson Questionnaire (AELQ) developed by Erdem (2007) were used to obtain the quantitative data. Structured interview questions were asked to the six students chosen from the experimental groups using the maximum variety technique. At the end of the research, it is detected that using writing to learn strategies in English classes makes a statistically significant difference for the benefit of experiment groups on the level of academic success and attitude to lesson.
Measuring the Impact of Language-Learning Software on Test Performance of Chinese Learners of English
Author: Nicholes, Justin
Date: 2016-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Courseware,Teaching Methods,Quasiexperimental Design,Pretests Posttests,Scores,High Stakes Tests,Language Tests,Higher Education,Asians,Chinese,Native Language,Correlation,Gender Differences,Language Teachers,Foreign Countries,Statistical Analysis,Web Sites,Student Placement

This classroom quasi-experiment aimed to learn if and to what degree supplementing classroom instruction with Rosetta Stone (RS), Tell Me More (TMM), Memrise (MEM), or ESL WOW (WOW) impacted high-stakes English test performance in areas of university-level writing, reading, speaking, listening, and grammar. Seventy-eight (N = 78) Chinese learners of English in a cross-border higher education program with a Midwestern U.S. state comprehensive university made up the participants. From the pretest/posttest repeated-measures design, quantitative results included (1) no practice-and-drill software group (RS, TMM, and MEM) significantly outperforming the reference software group (WOW) although statistically significant improvements appeared among subsections of the test and among test totals; (2) no significant correlation between number of hours spent using technology and posttest scores; and (3) statistically significant differences between female and male participants in all groups in the areas of pretest scores, posttest scores, and total number of hours using language-learning software over the study's 15-week period. These findings offer insight into supplementing language classroom instruction with language learning software in Mainland China, with implications for language teachers across Asia.
Using Turnitin to Provide Feedback on L2 Writers' Texts
Author: Kostka, Ilka
Date: 2016-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Computer Software,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Writing (Composition),Writing Evaluation,Plagiarism,Feedback (Response),Teaching Methods,Language Teachers,Undergraduate Students,Instructional Effectiveness,Scoring Rubrics,Writing Instruction,Academic Discourse

Second language (L2) writing instructors have varying tools at their disposal for providing feedback on students' writing, including ones that enable them to provide written and audio feedback in electronic form. One tool that has been underexplored is Turnitin, a widely used software program that matches electronic text to a wide range of electronic texts found on the Internet and in the program's massive repository. While Turnitin is primarily known for detecting potential plagiarism, we believe that instructors can make use of two features of the program (GradeMark tools and originality checker) to provide formative and summative feedback on students' drafts. In this article, we use screenshots to illustrate how we have leveraged Turnitin to provide feedback to undergraduate L2 writers about their writing and use of sources. We encourage instructors who have access to Turnitin to explore the different features of this tool and its potential to create opportunities for learning.
Measuring Japanese EFL Student Perceptions of Internet-Based Tests with the Technology Acceptance Model
Author: Dizon, Gilbert
Date: 2016-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Internet,Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Technology Uses in Education,Educational Technology,Student Attitudes,Second Language Instruction,Questionnaires,College Students,Correlation,Difficulty Level,Intention,Computer Assisted Testing,Hypothesis Testing,Summative Evaluation,Language Tests,Likert Scales,Second Language Learning

The Internet has made it possible for teachers to administer online assessments with affordability and ease. However, little is known about Japanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' attitudes of internet-based tests (IBTs). Therefore, this study aimed to measure the perceptions of IBTs among Japanese English language learners with the technology acceptance model (TAM), the most influential and widely employed model to predict a user's adoption of new technologies (Lee, Kozar, Larsen, 2003). However, TAM has yet to be utilized in the context of English education in Japan. Thus, the study also sought to determine the correlational relationships between three TAM variables--perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), and the behavioral intention (BI) to use IBTs. An adapted TAM questionnaire was administered to 80 Japanese university students. The results showed that the relationships between PU, PEOU, and BI were positively and highly correlated. More importantly, students' attitudes towards the PU, PEOU, and BI to use IBTs were found to be moderately favorable, with PU and BI more favorably perceived than PEOU. The findings verified that the four proposed hypotheses were supported, providing evidence that IBTs are viewed positively by Japanese EFL students.
An In-Depth Investigation into the Relationship between Vocabulary Knowledge and Academic Listening Comprehension
Author: Teng, Feng
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Vocabulary Development,Listening Comprehension,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Correlation,Multiple Regression Analysis,Scores,Language Tests,Predictor Variables,Associative Learning,Asians,College Students,Foreign Countries,Statistical Analysis

The present study was conducted in the context of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) with the purpose of assessing the roles of breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge in academic listening comprehension. The Vocabulary Size Test (VST, Nation &amp; Beglar, 2007) and the Word Associates Test (WAT, Read, 2004) were administered to measure breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge, respectively. EFL listening comprehension was measured with an academic version of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The findings indicated that (a) both dimensions of vocabulary knowledge were positively and significantly correlated with academic listening comprehension, but depth of vocabulary knowledge indicated a higher correlation; (b) multiple regression analysis revealed that depth of vocabulary knowledge was a stronger predictor of listening comprehension success; and (c) a lexical coverage of 98% only yielded a listening comprehension percentage of 66.4%, which is less than the level of adequate listening comprehension, defined as scoring higher than 70% (Staehr, 2009). Although the present study confirmed the important role of vocabulary knowledge in successful EFL listening comprehension, other linguistic or non-linguistic factors might also affect the participants' listening comprehension success.
Responding to School Library Cuts: My 2010-2011 Presidential Initiative
Author: Everhart, Nancy
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Libraries,Librarians,Budgets,Educational Finance,Budgeting,Library Services,Program Effectiveness

In this article, the author reflects on some cuts that were presented during her term as the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) President. The author developed a plan to showcase what an excellent school library program looks like so that school libraries and school librarians could escape the cuts. She asked each AASL state affiliate organization to provide the name of an outstanding school library in the state that she could visit and they could celebrate. Out of fifty states, thirty-five participated in what was named the &quot;Vision Tour,&quot; providing the general public with a vision of outstanding school libraries. Why didn't every state participate? Some state leaders maintained they could not choose only one school in their state. The author shares her experiences from this tour.
The Educational Efficacy of a Values-Based Online Tool in a Public Health Ethics Course
Author: Tripken, Jennifer L.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Public Health,Ethics,Teaching Methods,Academic Achievement,Learner Engagement,Graduate Students,Student Surveys,Focus Groups,Ethical Instruction,Case Studies,Research Methodology,Qualitative Research,Student Satisfaction,Computer Software

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the educational efficacy of an online software decision-making program, The Values Exchange. While ethics is a vital aspect of educating public health professionals, it is both difficult to teach and assess. There is a need to identify best practices in the pedagogy of public health ethics and in the teaching methodologies that enhance student learning and engagement in both theoretical and practical applications of ethical concepts. Method: Ten students enrolled in a graduate level public health ethics course completed a survey and participated in a focus group about the efficacy of the Values Exchange upon completion of the five-week course. Educational efficacy was identified as the effect on student awareness of their thought process, engagement, satisfaction, and usability of the tool. Descriptive statistics and a priori qualitative thematic analysis were used to interpret the data. Results: Students reported high levels of increased awareness of their thought process, engagement, satisfaction, and usability after using the Values Exchange. Seven themes were identified that related to the educational efficacy constructs: (1) thoughtful decision making, (2) considering other viewpoints, (3) novelty of the program, (4) enhanced curiosity, (5) climate of respect, (6) reluctance and concerns, and (7) organization. Students positively evaluated the Values Exchange and noted an improved learning experience as a result of using the tool. Conclusions: This small scale study demonstrated the potential of the Values Exchange as an innovative tool to enhance student understanding of public health ethics and the complexity of decision making in challenging situations. Future studies should continue to assess the efficacy of the program with larger, more diverse populations.
Using the 7C Framework for Teaching &amp; Learning Health Education &amp; Promotion
Author: Becker, Craig M.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Health Education,Health Promotion,Teaching Methods,Skill Development,Health Behavior,Eating Habits,Exercise,Competence,College Students,Student Projects,Service Learning,After School Programs,School Community Programs

Health Professionals are needed to address and improve health status. This paper presents a teaching technique that will help students acquire and develop applied health education and promotion skills. This paper introduces a 7C Framework to encourage teachers to use Challenge, Courage, Commitment, Competence, Connection, Contribution, and Consequences. The results of three innovative student initiated health promotion projects, provoked by these methods, are provided as evidence of its effectiveness. The innovative 7C framework provides a preparatory framework educators can use to help future health professionals not just meet, but exceed expectations.