ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Competency Development of Southern African Housing Officers
Author: Dunn, Munita
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Housing,Housing Needs,Professional Personnel,Staff Development,Educational Needs,Training Methods,Competency Based Education,Professional Development,Educational History,Organizational Objectives,Administrative Organization,Participant Satisfaction,Teaching Experience

The Report on the Ministerial Committee for the Review of the Provision of Student Housing at South African Universities (Department of Higher Education and Training, 2011) has provided a comprehensive review of residences across several housing functional areas. In one of the residence management and administration recommendations it stated, &quot;The professionalisation of housing staff is an urgent priority&quot; (p. 141). This coupled with the report's estimated &quot;current residence bed shortage of approximately 195,815 beds […] with a cost of overcoming this shortage over a period of ten years is estimated at R82.4 billion&quot; (pp. xvii-xviii) will mean the hiring and training of hundreds of housing professional staff to meet not only the demand of the additional residence beds but the training of current housing staff. In 2010 The Association of College and University Housing Officers--International Southern Africa Chapter (ACUHO-I SAC) initiated a Student Housing Training Institute (SHTI) first held in 2011 to meet the demands for professionalising housing staff. The SHTI was organised using a competency development model first used to develop the Association of College and University Housing Officers--International (ACUHO-I) James C. Grimm National Housing Training Institute (NHTI) held in the US.
The Role of Research and Scholarship in the Professionalisation of Student Affairs
Author: Carpenter, Stan
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Personnel Services,Professionalism,Professional Identity,Definitions,Scholarship,Professional Development,Evidence Based Practice,Educational Practices,Administrative Principles,Theory Practice Relationship,Foreign Countries

In this article the authors first explicate a particular conception of the occupational sociology term &quot;professional&quot; and engage in a short discussion of how student affairs as a field conforms to the definition, and ways in which it might benefit from some intentional reframing. Attention is next directed to the definition of what the authors call scholarly practice and its interaction with scholarly outlets such as journals, conference proceedings and professional development. Reflecting the now longstanding call for student affairs and academic affairs professionals to unite in service of facilitating student development and learning, the authors propose a set of guiding values for student affairs administrators that promote data- and theory-based intentionality of practice. These guiding values also require continual professional reflection and renewal, including actively interacting with journals and other peer-reviewed professional outlets. Particular attention is given throughout the article to the pivotal role to be played at this time in the development of the student affairs profession by the &quot;Journal of Student Affairs in Africa.&quot;
First-Year Seminar Intervention: Enhancing First-Year Mathematics Performance at the University of Johannesburg
Author: Jacobs, Melanie
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: First Year Seminars,College Mathematics,Foreign Countries,Mathematics Achievement,Problem Solving,College Freshmen,College Science,Pretests Posttests

South Africa has opened up access to higher education over the past 20 years. The massive increase in enrolments (with almost 70% first-generation students) substantially affects progress and graduation rates in Science programmes in higher education. First-year students in Science realise that university mathematics requires knowledge and skills that are not part of their academic repertoires. Science students at the University of Johannesburg register for a two-week, credit-bearing First-year Seminar (FYS). The research question that this paper addresses is: What is the relationship between the First-year Seminar and the mathematics performance of first-year students in Science? The specific purpose is to determine the relationship between: (1) students' school mathematics background; (2) the problem-solving skills sessions of the FYS; and (3) their first-year performance in mathematics. It was found that the FYS enhances students' ability to make a successful transition to university, with problem-solving ability acting as a fair predictor of performance in first-year mathematics. The empirical data was collected through a before-and-after test performed by the 2014 cohort with regards to students' attendance of the FYS. Notably, the data indicate that the value added by the problem-solving test can be applied to identify and engage students who have high probability of becoming students at risk (STARs).
Do Tutors Matter? Assessing the Impact of Tutors on First-Year Academic Performance at a South African University
Author: McKay, Tracey Morton
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Freshmen,Tutors,Teacher Effectiveness,Academic Achievement,Intervention,Graduate Students,Attendance,Scores,Comparative Analysis,Achievement Gains,Tutorial Programs,Peer Acceptance

This research sought to determine if a teaching intervention using tutors in a South African university could promote epistemological access to university for first-year students. Although hiring, developing and managing tutors takes money, time and energy, the effectiveness of tutors in the South African context is underreported. The first-year class under study was diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity and geographical origin. The tutors were all postgraduate students, and similarly diverse. In terms of research design, student test results were compared from one test to another. The students also rated the tutors. Students who attended the majority of the assigned tutorials improved their marks by an average of 20%. Even students whose tutorial attendance was haphazard fared better academically than those who did not attend at all. Students who skipped all the tutorials saw a dramatic decline in their marks, suggesting that tutorial attendance should be obligatory. Individual tutors matter, however. It seems that some tutors can explain, facilitate understanding and engage their students better than others. Students assigned to such tutors achieved the greatest academic gains. Thus, recruitment strategies and tutor training are crucial. Tutor popularity (based on student ratings) did not correlate with positive academic improvements. Thus, student ratings should not by themselves strongly influence hiring decisions. In conclusion, resources allocated to tutors were worthwhile and the tutors enabled epistemological access for many.
Reading and Vocabulary Acquisition: Supporting Evidence and Some Objections
Author: Krashen, Stephen
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading,Vocabulary Development,Language Acquisition,Cognitive Processes,Reading Instruction,Direct Instruction,Reading Research,Language Research,Silent Reading,Reading Aloud to Others,Story Telling

I continue here the long-standing discussion on the familiar topic of whether subconscious language acquisition is more powerful than conscious language learning, with a focus on vocabulary, adding recent studies as well as older ones I missed in previous publications on this topic (e.g. Krashen, 2004).
The Key for Holding a Successful ELT Conference: Some Nuts and Bolts
Author: Sadeghi, Karim
Date: 2013-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Conferences (Gatherings),Success,Planning,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Committees,Foreign Countries,Guides,Role,Budgets,Administration

Conferences are gatherings that attract attendants from various places and serve both academic and social purposes. Organizing an international conference is, accordingly, a very challenging, demanding and time-consuming task. In order for the conference organizers to hold a successful conference, there is a need for a comprehensive guide to use as a departure and reference point. No academic paper seems to have attended to do's and don'ts of organizing a successful conference in ELT/Applied linguistics. Drawing on the very positive evaluation of a recent international ELT conference held in Urmia, Iran, in May 2013, the authors (as the academic and executive organizers of this conference) share, in this paper, their experiences in holding what was viewed as a &quot;mammoth success&quot; and a &quot;magnificent conference&quot; by the attendants (http://www.urmia.ac.ir/elt2013/doclib/testimonials.aspx). The paper discusses conference organizing tasks in terms of two major categories: academic and executive, each with different phases and sub-activities. The paper is hoped to provide a resourceful piece of first-hand information to conference, especially first-time, organizers in the field of ELT and related disciplines.
The Role of Written Corrective Feedback in Enhancing the Linguistic Accuracy of Iranian Japanese Learners' Writing
Author: Shirazi, Masoumeh Ahmadi
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Japanese,Feedback (Response),Written Language,Accuracy,Writing (Composition),Writing Evaluation,Essays,Language Usage,Form Classes (Languages),Nouns,Phrase Structure,Control Groups,Experimental Groups,Comparative Analysis,Statistical Analysis,Scores,Correlation,Interrater Reliability,Error Correction,Pretests Posttests

This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of direct and indirect feedback on the writing performance of Iranian learners of Japanese as a foreign language. During one academic semester, three indirect feedback types including underlining, coding and translation were used as well as direct type of feedback in order to see which one makes a difference in the written essays of students. The study targeted the impact of these feedback types on the correct usage of prepositions, adjective and noun phrases. Sixty students participated in the study. They were divided into control and experimental group; both were asked to write expository essays each session during a 10-week period; the experimental group were given feedback, either direct or indirect, every other session. Independent samples t-test showed that there is a significant difference between groups with the experimental group having a higher mean of accuracy in the use of three linguistic categories. Having time series design, we conducted repeated measure ANOVA which showed that just direct feedback enhanced the linguistic aspect of written essays of students with indirect feedback having little or no role to play in writing practice.
An Explication of Concordance between Man's Mental Structure and the Narrative Structure in the Light of Vygotsky's SCT
Author: Azabdaftari, Behrooz
Date: 2013-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Theory of Mind,Literacy,Literary Devices,Literary Styles,Story Grammar,Narration,Social Theories,Cultural Influences,Reader Text Relationship,Nature Nurture Controversy

This paper seeks to throw light on the concordance between man's mental structure and the structure of narrative with regard to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. In so doing, the author first provides the backdrop of the literature on the topic by first explaining Vygotsky's approach to the genesis of mind, and then gives a synoptic account of the views expressed by the men of letters regarding the structure and function of short stories. According to Vygotsky, man's higher mental development is mediated by cultural inheritances--the process whereby man wins over his biological constraints, manages to control his internal processes as well as the external world, and accumulates his cultural assets throughout history. In literary studies, views regarding the effect of structure and function of story on shaping up the child's mind are rampant. Almost all of the literary critics are committed to the belief that the formal structure of story (a) affects the child's emergent mind, (b) helps him to store, organize, and recall events in the story, (c) aids him, as he grows up, to understand the working of social life, and (d) serves as a means for the child to record events and things in the fashion of narrative when receiving any data. All these points attest to the viable fact that man's mind is genetically attuned to order and organization.
Instrumental and Integrative Orientations: Predictors of Willingness to Communicate in the Iranian EFL Context
Author: Ghanbarpour, Mahsa
Date: 2014-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Communicative Competence (Languages),Intention,Predictor Variables,Interpersonal Communication,Questionnaires,Likert Scales,Learning Motivation,Path Analysis,Multiple Regression Analysis,College Students,Correlation,Statistical Analysis

Given that promoting learners' communicative competence in a second language (L2) is one of the primary foci of communicative language teaching approaches, the late 1980s saw an expansion in research into willingness to communicate (WTC), which is deemed to affect individuals' predisposition towards the initiation of L2 communication. The principal aims of this study are (a) to reveal whether instrumental motivation and integrative orientation are correlated with WTC, (b) to delve into the contribution of instrumental and integrative orientations to the explanation of WTC, (c) to examine which of the two motivational propensities is a better predictor of WTC, and (d) to find whether 3 groups of learners with low, medium, and high levels of instrumental and integrative orientations differ in terms of their level of reported WTC. To this end, 188 Iranian EFL learners, who were randomly selected, filled out a WTC questionnaire and a language learning motivation questionnaire. Results of path analysis and standard multiple regression revealed that although both motivational orientations significantly contributed to the explanation of WTC, instrumental motivation, which uniquely explained 3.7% of the variance in total WTC, was a better predictor of WTC. Informed by the results of one-way between-groups ANOVA, a significant difference was encountered among the reported L2 WTC levels of the 3 groups of learners with various levels of both instrumental orientation and integrative motivation. The findings could cast light onto the nexus between motivation and WTC in the Iranian EFL context and the intricacies and dynamics of the WTC process.
Creativity in Language Teaching
Author: Richards, Jack C.
Date: 2013-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Creative Teaching,Second Language Instruction,Teacher Characteristics,Educational Environment,Creativity,Knowledge Level,English (Second Language),Sociolinguistics,Self Esteem,Student Needs,Learning Activities,Technology Uses in Education,Educational Technology,Foreign Countries

One quality among the many that characterize effective teachers is the ability to bring a creative disposition to teaching. In second language teaching, creativity has also been linked to levels of attainment in language learning. Many of the language tasks favored by contemporary language teaching methods are believed to release creativity in learners -- particularly those involving student-centred, interaction-based, and open-ended elements. Drawing on teacher narratives and conversations with teachers, the notion of creativity in language teaching is explored from three different perspectives: 1. &quot;the qualities creative teachers possess.&quot; 2. &quot;how teachers apply creativity in their teaching.&quot; 3. &quot;how creativity can be supported in the school.&quot; Examples illustrate how creative teachers' conceptualize their approaches to teaching.
Putting the Learner in the Spotlight--Future Directions for English Teachers
Author: Swan, Anne P. A.
Date: 2013-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English Teachers,Educational Trends,Context Effect,Qualitative Research,Interviews,Self Efficacy,Performance Factors,Native Speakers,Second Language Learning,Professional Identity,Professionalism,Correlation,Teacher Attitudes,Foreign Countries

This paper asserts that English teachers' understanding of their professionalism enables them to &quot;put the learner in the spotlight&quot; through their highly-developed awareness of local contexts of English use. Changing attitudes to English language teacher identity include a revaluation of the &quot;native-non-native speaker&quot; dichotomy which is fast becoming irrelevant as teachers assert new identities based on factors such as professional beliefs about their teaching, understanding their students' needs and understanding the role of English in their contexts. In a globalising world, these aspects no longer require &quot;so-called&quot; native speaker skills, such as pronunciation and knowledge of &quot;English&quot; culture. In fact, dwelling at length on the issues surrounding native and non-native speaker teacher identity tends to cloud understanding of what qualities English teachers need. Interviews with multilingual teachers of English, working in a variety of countries, have revealed an understanding of the diminishing importance of the &quot;native speaker&quot; and the concomitant growth in the confidence of the multilingual teacher. This confidence has been acquired through depth of linguistic knowledge, through observance of other cultures, and through resistance to the encroachment of English by finding a place for the language which satisfies the needs of multilingual users without requiring subservience. In discovering these strengths of multilingual teachers, I show how stepping outside the boundaries of one's own limited environment allows English language teachers, wherever they come from, to develop a truly enlightened international professionalism which puts learners firmly in the spotlight.
The Effect of Intertextuality on Iranian EFL Learners' Critical Writing
Author: Ahangari, Saeideh
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Critical Literacy,Writing Instruction,Writing Skills,Critical Thinking,Control Groups,Writing (Composition),Experimental Groups,English Language Learners,Statistical Analysis,Pretests Posttests,Age Differences,Language Tests

Intertextuality is the relation of each text with the texts surrounding it. Any word or phrase we are writing or saying has relationship with what we have heard or seen before. This shared language makes others understand us. On the other hand, critical thinking is the ability to think reasonably, reflectively and skillfully. Since it is believed that intertextuality results in critical thinking, this study aimed to focus on the effect of intertextuality on learners' critical writing skill. To do so, the researchers selected 60 Advanced EFL students from three intact classes at the Iran Language Institute and assigned them randomly into three groups. After assuring the groups' homogeneity in terms of their general English proficiency and writing skill in the beginning of the study, the researchers asked the first group, considered as the control group, to write a composition about Generation Gap. Then the first experimental group read two texts about Generation Gap and then wrote a composition about it; the second experimental group watched a short film about Generation Gap besides reading the texts and then wrote a composition about it. Having compared the written compositions in terms of critical thinking elements, the researchers found out that there is a meaningful relationship between intertextuality and critical writing. That is to say, the more intertextual relationship (in our case print and visual texts) the learners are involved with, the more critical elements they utilize in their writing. Findings of this research have some pedagogical implications.
Foreign Language Teaching and Intercultural Citizenship
Author: Byram, Michael
Date: 2013-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Intercultural Communication,Critical Thinking,Self Concept,Educational Objectives,Citizenship Education,Cultural Awareness,Nationalism,Theories

In the &quot;cultural turn&quot; which has taken place in recent decades--in theory if not yet in practice--the crucial question is &quot;What should a language teacher's aims be?&quot; This will be the main focus of this paper. There are however other questions which are frequently raised in the new context, questions about the relationships among &quot;language&quot;, &quot;identity&quot; and &quot;culture&quot;. If language learning influences identity or even creates new identities, should this be one of the aims of teaching? At the same time it is important to place foreign language teaching in the wider context of all language teaching: national languages, heritage languages, and minority languages. I will attempt to take these other factors into account while addressing the main issue of teaching aims. Teachers' aims should be both functional and educational. Language teaching of all kinds--but my main concern will be foreign language teaching as practiced in general education--should develop competence for communication and interaction whilst stimulating critical thinking and action in the world. In order to illustrate this, I will turn to some recent work which realises new theory in practice and combines the aims of language education and education for citizenship in the concept of intercultural citizenship.
Corrective Feedback in Teacher Guides and SLA
Author: Ellis, Rod
Date: 2013-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Feedback (Response),Error Correction,Second Language Learning,Teaching Methods,Teaching Guides,Educational Strategies,Language Acquisition,Relevance (Education),Educational Practices,Educational Research,College Second Language Programs

The kind of technical knowledge found in teacher guides is fundamentally different from the kind of technical knowledge found in published research about language learning. I refer to the former as &quot;pedagogic discourse&quot; and to the latter as &quot;research-based discourse&quot;. The purpose of this article is to examine how links can be made between these two types of technical discourse. I will discuss two different ways. The first involves familiarizing teachers with what researchers have found out about L2 learning and then applying the findings to language pedagogy (i.e. SLA research [right arrow] Language pedagogy). The second way is to start with commonly held views about how to teach (as reflected in the teacher guides) and then consider these in the light of how learners learn (i.e. Language pedagogy [right arrow] SLA research). I will present arguments in favour of the second approach and illustrate it through an examination of commonly held pedagogic views about corrective feedback and the extent to which these are supported or questioned by what is known about corrective feedback in SLA.