ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Developing EFL Writing Skills through WhatsApp Dialogue Journaling
Author: Noyan, Ebru
Date: 2019-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Social Media,Computer Mediated Communication,Skill Development,Writing Skills,Journal Writing,College Students,Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Writing Improvement,Outcomes of Education,Vocabulary Development,Scores,Grammar,Electronic Learning

The present study attempts to explore the effects of WhatsApp and Pen/Paper dialogue journal writing techniques on university students' writing performance. 45 freshmen students from Sociology department of State University in Turkey, participated in the current study forming three homogenous groups of 15, namely WhatsApp dialogue journaling (WDJ), pen/paper dialogue journaling (Pap DJW) and the control group. The experimental groups (WDJ and Pap DJW) received 12 treatment sessions expecting students to create dialogues through dialogue journaling while the control group had no treatment except weekly class requirements. Data were collected through a pre- and post-writing test administered to all groups and an open-ended questionnaire on attitudes administered just to the experimental groups. Paired-samples T-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to determine the differences among the three groups while a content analysis was carried out to examine the attitudes. The findings related to the pre- and post-tests of all groups indicated a significant progress in overall writing production. When considering each of writing components separately; however, the differences between the pre and post tests revealed no improvement in vocabulary competence of WhatsApp group or organization skills of control group. On the other hand, pen and paper group students made a remarkable progress in all writing components. In addition, ANOVA results showed no significant difference among the groups regarding writing overall production or any component performance. Finally, both pen and paper and WhatsApp group indicated positive attitudes and a great desire towards utilizing dialogue journaling in EFL writing classes. This study will help teachers and learners of English and researchers to find out the efficacy of target writing techniques and thus make appropriate decisions concerning EFL learning
Why Are Certain Accents Judged the Way They Are? Decoding Qualitative Patterns of Accent Bias
Author: Shah, Amee P.
Date: 2019-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Dialects,Pronunciation,Bias,Stereotypes,Listening Comprehension,Oral Language,Recognition (Psychology),Geographic Regions,Accuracy,Mass Media Effects,Inferences

While it is well-established that listeners judge accents different from their own, and that this listener bias has pervasive consequences to the speakers, we have only offered a cursory attention to understand the nature of this accent bias. This paper explores listeners' judgments, ratings, and qualitative comments associated with psychosocial, personality and behavioral attributes of seven accents. Fifty-five respondents evaluated six different attributes of seven regional and foreign accents on a Likert scale. Means, Standard Deviations, and statistical significance of the difference in the respondent ratings from the Midwestern standard were computed, as well as qualitative analyses of the judgments were conducted. Results showed that perceptual biases for many attributes of the regional and foreign accents were significant at the 95% level. Results also showed that the accent recognition was consistent across a group of people from the same region, and the identification of the region of the accent was largely accurate. Qualitative analyses revealed that the underlying bases of listener judgments are typically borne out of the influence of media, TV, and movies. Besides character traits, the listeners also frequently inferred occupations/professions from the accents. Accent judgments are not reserved for foreign accents alone; regional accents are also subject to judgments and stereotypes. Findings provide important insights for clinicians and teachers working in the area of accent interventions, specifically in improving understanding about how listeners judge accents and how those messages need to be addressed in developing awareness and empowerment for clients in accent interventions. Other implications in the field of speech language pathology, education, social science, communication and business are also discussed.
Investigating the Impediments to Reading Comprehension in Junior Secondary Schools: Evidence from JSSII Students in Nsukka Metropolis
Author: Agbo, Isaiah I.
Date: 2019-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Comprehension,Junior High School Students,Foreign Countries,Educational Background,Instructional Materials,Teacher Qualifications,Reading Instruction

There has been an outcry concerning Junior Secondary School students' abysmal performance in reading comprehension in internal and external examinations in Nsukka Metropolis; hence, the reason to investigate the factors responsible for this abysmal performance becomes necessary. We adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population of this study comprises one hundred (100) Junior Secondary School II students from five (5) randomly selected secondary schools in Nsukka Metropolis. The sampling technique which the researchers adopted was the simple random sampling and utilized questionnaire as research instrument which was developed on a 4-point scale of strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree and disagree. Again, a reading comprehension test was administered to the students for correlational purposes. Statistical analysis was used. The findings showed that students performed very poorly in reading comprehension as a result of inadequate and unqualified language teachers, inadequate instructional materials, poor educational background of both students and parents, and the language style and background of some comprehension texts. The implication is that students' comprehension ability maybe determined by their ability to recognize individual words in a passage or text, group words into units and relate those units into meaningful sentences or paragraphs. When students are able to do the above, they will surely have a meaningful comprehension of a text at these three distinct levels of comprehension: (i) factual; (ii) interpretative; and (ii) evaluative. Thus the researchers made strong suggestions and recommendations that would mitigate these problems.
The Use of Humanoid Robots with Multilingual Interaction Skills in Teaching a Foreign Language: Opportunities, Research Challenges and Future Research Directions
Author: Tuna, Ayse
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Robotics,Multilingualism,Interaction,Second Language Instruction,Teaching Methods,Feedback (Response),Man Machine Systems,Information Technology,Educational Benefits,Student Needs,Technology Uses in Education

Since a humanoid robot does not get tired regardless of how many mistakes a student makes, and because it can be equipped with novel teaching techniques and updated with the most current knowledge, it can be useful for achieving many educational goals. The rationale behind this is that it has been shown in the literature that robots are more useful as teaching aids than computers or other instructional tools, as they can mimic human responses. Furthermore, humans, especially children, prefer robot interaction to other interaction types. Adults generally struggle to learn a foreign language, but this is true of some students, too. With their multilingual interaction capabilities, their ability to provide real-time feedback, and their humanlike physical shape, some types of humanoid robots can be of great assistance to students in learning a foreign language. The use of humanoid robots leads to a personal connection with the students, and this can help overcome issues related to shyness, reluctance, frustration and lack of confidence that may emerge in dealing with a human teacher. Moreover, as humanoid robots can be programmed to know specifically what each individual student needs to learn, they can be quite useful for one-on-one speaking activities. Considering the many possibilities that can be offered by information and communication technology tools, particularly by humanoid robots, this paper reviews the roles and functions of humanoid robots in teaching a foreign language, presents novel approaches in this domain, provides research challenges, and finally outlines future research directions.
Using Visual Social Media in Language Learning to Investigate the Role of Social Presence
Author: Fornara, Fabrizio
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Role,Social Media,French,Italian,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Teaching Methods,Computer Mediated Communication,Communities of Practice,Content Analysis,Student Attitudes,Self Concept,College Students,Telecommunications,Handheld Devices,Teacher Student Relationship,College Faculty,Language Teachers,Visual Aids

In this paper, we attempt to investigate the pedagogical value of visual social media platforms, specifically Instagram, for the development of the online social presence of language classes. Students in intermediate university-level French and Italian classes used Instagram for a six-week period to reply to a series of questions prompted by the instructor as a way to engage in interaction with their own classmates. This research examines how students establish a community of inquiry (CoI) and investigates the development of social presence in students' posts. Using a mixed methods approach, we performed a content analysis of the transcripts of Instagram posts, coding for social presence. Given the visual nature of Instagram, we also conducted a visual analysis of representative posts to investigate the multimodal projection of social presence. Additionally, we administered voluntary pre-questionnaires to capture demographic data and students' experience with Instagram. We analyzed the data using the social presence density calculation and performed basic statistical analyses. Findings indicate that students did build online social presence, which can promote the development of a CoI. Both language groups performed in similar ways, which may be a result of the tool rather than the language and context. This finding is consistent with the general use of visual social media as a tool for self-expression, self-identity, and community building.
Sentence-level vs. NP-level Genericity: Are Arabic Learners of English Sensitive to Genericity Type?
Author: Alzamil, Abdulrahman
Date: 2019-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Nouns,Phrase Structure,Semitic Languages,Morphemes,Task Analysis,Language Tests,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Foreign Countries,English,Native Language,Language Proficiency,Decision Making,College Students,Transfer of Training

The study was conducted to investigate the L2 acquisition of English generics by L1 Arabic speakers. The present study considered the two types of genericity (NP-level vs. sentence-level). Since generics in Arabic are always definite, the study investigated whether L1 Arabic speakers perform similarly in both types. The study recruited 43 participants (36 Saudi-Arabic-speaking participants and seven native English speakers). The Saudi-Arabic-speaking participants were assigned to two proficiency levels (23 elementary and 13 lower intermediate) in accordance with the Oxford Quick Placement Test. An Acceptability Judgement Task was administered to test their use of English generics. Five types of nouns were used (definite singulars and plurals, indefinite singulars and plurals, and bare singulars). The results revealed that: a) statistically, the Arabic speakers were significantly less accurate than the native English speakers; b) the Arabic speakers rated the non-target definite plurals highly in both types of genericity; and c) they rated the target indefinite singulars low with sentence-level genericity. These findings demonstrated that Arabic speakers were sensitive to genericity type, and that their selections cannot be explained solely in terms of their L1.
The Analysis of a Tour Guide Yong Ding Earth Building Based on Systemic Functional Grammar
Author: Cui, Huanle
Date: 2019-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grammar,Tourism,Economic Development,Living Standards,Foreign Countries,Guides,Translation,Linguistic Theory,Discourse Analysis,Oral Language,Written Language,Power Structure,Interpersonal Communication,Intercultural Communication,Language Usage,Form Classes (Languages)

It is widely believed that tourist trade has been the fastest developing trade in the world. In China, with the development of economy and the improvement of people's living standard, travelling has been an indispensable part of living. Therefore, tourism text becomes one of the most effective publicity tool to attractive tourists. A tour guide presentation is a kind of tourism texts. And as a new text type, it arouses many scholars' attention. Many scholars pay much attention to analyze the tour guide presentation based on translation, such as principles and strategies of translation. Few scholars try to analyze it from an angel of linguistics. Both spoken language and written language are tools of human communication. And they all bear different function. According to Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar, he holds an idea that language has three metafunctions. They are ideational, interpersonal and textual function. This paper tries to analyze a tour guide presentation based on Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar. And this paper points an asymmetrical power structure between a tour guide and tourists. And this paper also presents some suggestions about how to write a good tour guide presentation for effectively delivering information and attracting tourists.
Digital Making in Educational Projects
Author: Bosco, Alejandra
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Creative Activities,Cooperative Learning,Active Learning,Student Projects,Technology Integration,Foreign Countries,Educational Innovation,Manipulative Materials,Teacher Education,Elementary Education,Audiovisual Aids,Independent Study,Student Motivation,Time Management,Young Adults,Preservice Teachers

Digital Making as an Educational Project is an innovative educational experience that has been carried out with students of the Primary Education and Social Education degrees for three consecutive years. The experience introduces digital making as an activity in which students create an object using digital technology. In the process, they not only gain an insight into how the technology works, but also learn the content and competences of the curriculum. This innovative teaching practice was carried out as action research in order to improve traditional higher education practices. In this sense, the proposal puts the student at the centre of the process as the author and protagonist of their own learning process. The experience is based on their own interests: they decide what to make based on a given context. The students work in groups and look for what they need to learn to overcome a particular challenge, while the teacher supports the process as a facilitator, offering guidance and resources when necessary. The evaluation of the whole process is regulated via a group diary (a shared online document) and an individual diary (a blog) that the students produce. The final evaluation is not only of the printed product; the students also produce a video in the form of storytelling, in which they explain how the process evolved from the initial idea to the final impression of the object. They also reflect on what they have learned, how teamwork has worked and what possibilities they believe digital making offers in the primary and non-formal educational contexts in which they will work. All of the processes are compiled in the students' blogs, as well as in the teachers' field notebooks. The experience was executed in collaboration with the Digital Fabrication Centres of Barcelona. The results were organised to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of using technologies to improve higher education offering an approach in which students are at the centre of the whole process. Strengths: strong student motivation, promotion of self-directed and collaborative learning and learning by doing, and familiarisation with a transforming integration of technology as protagonists. Weaknesses: hesitance and resistance to facing the challenge, management of scarce time, large time investment by the teachers, and the difficulty of achieving in-depth reflection on how digital fabrication could be introduced in educational contexts such as primary school and non-formal contexts.
Investigation of Reading and Writing Strategies Used by Future Teachers: Do Good Readers Write Well?
Author: Topuzkanamis, Ersoy
Date: 2019-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Strategies,Writing Strategies,Preservice Teachers,Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Writing Improvement,Gender Differences,Outcomes of Education,Reading Writing Relationship

The number of studies regarding determining reading and writing strategies that students use and the effect of strategy training on skills development is quite abundant. However, no study has ever investigated whether there is a correlation between reading and writing strategies in terms of frequency of use. In spite of this, there have been several resources indicating that reading and writing skills are interrelated. Based on the assumption that this indication might possibly impact the use of strategies to some extent, current research aimed to determine the types of strategies used by first grade undergraduate students at a faculty of education together with their frequency of use and if there is a correlation between two scores. To conduct the research, 420 first-grade participants from various departments of Necatibey Faculty of Education, Balikesir University were selected. As for the data collection, these students were administered a Reading Strategies Survey (RSS) developed by Karatay (2007) and a Writing Strategies Survey (WSS) developed by Ülper (2011). Related statistical analyses were conducted based on the data gathered from the scale, revealing that females used reading and writing strategies more often than males, and there was a moderate and positive correlation between the frequencies of the uses of writing and reading strategies. Apart from that, no difference was detected in terms of departments.
Effects of L1/L2 Captioned TV Programs on Students&apos; Vocabulary Learning and Comprehension
Author: Wang, Yangting
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Television,Programming (Broadcast),Authentic Learning,Layout (Publications),Comparative Analysis,Vocabulary Development,College Students,Native Language,Teaching Methods,Instructional Effectiveness,Multimedia Instruction,Foreign Countries,Listening Comprehension

This study investigated the effects of different types of captions on English as a Foreign Language Learners' (EFL) vocabulary learning and comprehension. Eighty students in a Chinese university participated. Students were divided into four groups with two classes of freshmen, one class of juniors, and one class of graduate students. Each group watched four video clips with four caption conditions: L1 Chinese, L2 English, dual (L1 and L2), and no captions. The order and caption conditions were counterbalanced. The purpose of the study was to find which caption condition is more effective for EFL learners. Four by four mixed ANOVAs were used to compare the differences among the four conditions and groups. Results indicated that students' performances were statistically significantly different across captions and class levels. In general, students in L1, L2, and dual captions statistically outperformed the no caption condition in vocabulary and comprehension. Results of the effects of L1, L2, and dual captions on vocabulary learning and comprehension were mixed. The pedagogical implications of using authentic TV series and multimedia captions were discussed.
The Relationship between TESOL Teachers&apos; Attitudes towards Grammar Teaching and Their Grammatical Knowledge
Author: Al Balushi, Khadija
Date: 2019-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Attitudes,Grammar,Language Teachers,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Correlation,Knowledge Level,Gender Differences,Teaching Experience,Age Differences,Foreign Countries,Elementary Secondary Education

Grammar teaching continues to be a controversy matter in the field of teaching and teacher Education. It is generally agreed that attention to grammatical form is necessary and useful, but many issues related to teaching grammar still needs further research (Barnard &amp; Scampton, 2008:59). This study investigated the relationship between Omani TESOL (teaching English to speakers' of other languages) teachers' attitudes towards grammar teaching and their grammatical knowledge. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 40 respondents teaching English in Omani schools. The findings showed that there was a positive correlation between teachers' attitudes towards grammar teaching and their grammatical knowledge. However, there were no effect of gender on teachers' grammatical knowledge and no effect of teaching experiences on attitude towards grammar teaching. The findings indicated that the final model of standard multiple regression showed that teachers attitudes towards grammar, gender, experience, age and the educational phase they teach in did not make a statistically significant unique contribution to the prediction of their grammatical knowledge. Such findings suggest directions for further studies in investigating the influence of language teachers' attitudes/knowledge on their classroom practices.
On the Gender Discrimination in English
Author: Lan, Tian
Date: 2019-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Gender Discrimination,Gender Bias,Interpersonal Communication,English,Language Usage,Word Order,Semantics,Psycholinguistics,Nouns,Vocabulary Development

Language, as a tool for people's daily communication, has no gender bias itself. With the development of society, the language has changed correspondingly. Language serve as the mirror of society, inevitably reflecting people's minds or ideology as well as the culture and social conditions of a society. While in English, as the mother tongue of many western countries, amounts of gender discrimination expressions are embodied. To some extent, the gender bias toward females serves as the embodiment that females are considerably insignificant and share a low social status. In this paper, the author will analyse the phenomenon of gender discrimination in English language, and find the reason behind it to make people realize the importance of eliminating this phenomenon. If people keep using sexism language unconsciously, it will become the hindrance of the social harmony