ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Factors That Influence English Teachers&apos; Acceptance and Use of E-Learning Technologies
Author: Al-Anezi, Yousif H.
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Teachers,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Teacher Attitudes,Technology Integration,Distance Education,Electronic Learning,COVID-19,Pandemics,Intention,Value Judgment,Context Effect,Educational Facilities,Social Influences,Usability,Higher Education,Educational Technology,Foreign Countries

The world has witnessed a major pandemic that has threatened the status of education across the globe. Such a crisis highlights the importance of education technology, which has not been an influential part of Kuwait's education until the onset of COVID-19. Delays and interruptions of the academic year disrupted the lives of many students around the world, including Kuwait. Since e-learning technologies are not traditionally used in Kuwaiti higher education, this study aims to investigate the acceptance of technology and whether that has changed with the pandemic. It seeks to find useful strategies that could assist teachers in effectively using electronic distance-learning digital resources. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) has been developed to investigate the degrees of usage and acceptance of technology. This paper adopts an improved model that also includes the educational experience of teachers, in an attempt to understand the context of Kuwaiti higher education. Therefore, this quantitative study examines the use and acceptance of educational technologies of English language instructors in higher education. The study uses an online survey among 33 English language instructors at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) to also account for the perceptions and experiences of the teachers. The results revealed an overall high acceptance level of educational technology, with varying degrees of implementation.
Exploring High School Students&apos; Cognitive Structures for Energy Concept through Word Association Test
Author: Türksever, Ömer
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: High School Students,Cognitive Structures,Concept Formation,Misconceptions,Energy Conservation,Association Measures,Instructional Program Divisions,Student Development,Correlation,Foreign Countries

This research, which was conducted in order to reveal the cognitive structures of high school students regarding the concept of energy through the word association test, was designed in a survey model. Word association test was used as a data collection tool. After the necessary information was given to the students, they were given three minutes and they were asked to write the first words that came to mind about the key concept. The study group of the research consists of 202 students studying in a high school in the province of Malatya in the 2019-2020 academic year. 58 of these students are 9th grade, 46 are 10th grade, 45 are 11th grade and 53 are 12th grade. While choosing the study group of the research, one of the purposeful sampling types was chosen based on easily accessible situation sampling. The words obtained related to the concept of energy are tabulated using Microsoft office excel program. The cut-off points of the tables, which were examined in detail and repeated words were taken into account, were determined. Concept networks were created in line with the determined cut-off points. In the research, 189 different words were produced for the concept of energy by high school students. While 114 of these words were not included in the analysis because they had 4 or less frequencies, 75 words were included in the analysis. Among the words included in the analysis, the most repeated word in the 9th grade was &quot;petrol&quot; (f = 30), the most repeated word in the 10th grade was &quot;fossil fuel&quot; (24), the most repeated word in the 11th grade &quot;electricity&quot; (19), the most repeated word in the 12th grade was found to be &quot;potential&quot; (28). In the comparison between the classes, a difference in quantity and quality is observed. It has been observed that as the grade level increases, the quality of the answers given increases.
Comparative Error Gravity: Toward a Cross Linguistic Theory
Author: Lotze, Nathaniel
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Transfer of Training,Semitic Languages,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Interference (Language),Error Analysis (Language),Linguistic Theory,Teaching Methods,Teacher Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Grammar,Native Language,Contrastive Linguistics,Teacher Characteristics,Language Teachers,Undergraduate Students,Foreign Countries

Negative transfer is a difficulty for Arabic-speaking students of English. This study juxtaposes eight categories of Arabic-to-English transfer errors with equivalent and near-equivalent errors in Arabic. It compares their error gravity as rated by teachers and students to discover whether there are any differences between teacher and student perceptions that might inform teaching practices. It is also the first step toward a cross-linguistic theory of comparative error gravity based on the functional equivalence approach to translation. It finds that teachers tend to perceive grammatical errors as graver than mechanical or lexical errors, with most differences in perception appearing to stem from cultural background. Among students, there is very little consensus, in line with previous studies. This study concludes that teachers and students might benefit from a better understanding of both their own tendencies in perceiving errors and those of the other party in the learning process. It also recommends the development of a full-fledged theory for moving between languages for the purpose of studying error gravity comparatively in languages other than Arabic.
Do You Like My English? Thai Students&apos; Attitudes towards Five Different Asian Accents
Author: Kalra, Rusma
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Pronunciation,Language Variation,English (Second Language),Language Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Peer Relationship,Undergraduate Students,International Education,Foreign Students,Language of Instruction,Likert Scales,Identification,Preferences,Speech Communication,Foreign Countries,Audio Equipment

This research aims to explore how Thai speakers of English perceive their Asian peers' accented English and evaluate the acceptability of their accents namely Burmese English, Chinese English, Indian English, Japanese English, and Vietnamese English. The participants were eighty undergraduate students at an International University in Thailand where English is used as a medium of instruction. They were asked to listen to five recorded speech extracts taken from five different intermediate-level reading passages. A triangulated study is used to examine the data from different angle including a questionnaire survey in a Likert-type scale and a follow-up semistructured interview. The Index of Item Objective Congruence (IOC) and Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient were also applied to assure the content validity of the research methodology. The results in this study indicated that Thai student participants were easily able to identify that five speakers were all non-native speakers of English. The majority preferred Indian accented English to other accented Englishes. Most participants showed negative attitudes towards Japanese and Burmese accented English. It is somewhat conclusive that the participants still believe that a native-like accent is overvalued their perceived English accents.
English Language Teachers&apos; Perceptions of PAAET&apos;s Professional Development Programs: Implications on Guideline Formulation for Training Programs
Author: Alzankawi, Maisoun A.
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Teachers,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Foreign Countries,Faculty Development,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Career Development,Academic Achievement,Teacher Attitudes,Soft Skills,Teaching Skills,Teacher Effectiveness,Comparative Analysis

Teachers' professional development is a life-long and continuous process in which teachers are expected to upgrade their knowledge, master new skills, and change their practices, since advancement in their teaching career has an impact on their students' achievement and education reform. This study determines the teachers' assessment of professional development programs at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) in Kuwait. The study utilized a quantitative research method using a survey questionnaire, which was distributed online to 31 in-service teachers. Results indicated the infrequency of teachers' development program in the institution. Teachers who had stayed at least nine years had undergone 1 to 3 training programs. Training on soft skills is perceived to be relatively more effective than training on hard skills. Nevertheless, majority of the teachers attended relatively more hard-skills training than soft-skills training programs. Thus, hard-skills training should further be planned to improve effectiveness since more training is provided in these areas.
The Use of Metadiscursive Markers in Letters of Recommendation: An Investigation of Gender Variations
Author: Alotaibi, Hmoud S.
Date: 2021-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Gender Differences,Letters (Correspondence),Discourse Analysis,Linguistic Theory,Language Usage,Computational Linguistics,Morphemes,Teaching Methods,College Faculty,College Applicants,Student Characteristics,Graduate Study,Teacher Student Relationship,Undergraduate Students,Foreign Countries,Teacher Attitudes

This study aimed to investigate gender variations in letters of recommendation. It used the metadiscourse theory with respect to the following resources: hedges, boosters, attitude markers, engagement markers, and self-mentions. The findings showed that hedges devices were the least frequent in both groups, but at the same time were used more by males compared to female recommenders. Boosters, on the other hand, were highly frequent in both corpora and, like hedges, were employed more frequently in the male group. Interestingly, while both gender groups shared using specific hedging and boosting tokens, each gender group appeared to favor using certain devices. The attitude markers were the most frequent in the two samples and appeared more in the female group. Similarly, while both groups used specific attitude markers, each gender group seemed to use specific attitude markers. The engagement markers revealed the highest divergence between the two groups, as they appeared more frequently in female letters. Finally, both gender groups employed self-mentions equally, but female letters seemed to favor using the plural forms. The study closes with some pedagogical implications by highlighting how the theory of metadiscourse can be of importance for academics.
Tailoring Potent Courses for ESP Learners: A Way to Better Fulfil Their Demands
Author: Zaghar, Fatma
Date: 2021-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English for Special Purposes,Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Language Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Computer Science Education,Student Attitudes,Positive Attitudes,Needs Assessment,Instructional Design,Learning Motivation,Case Studies,Academic Achievement,Educational Change,Language Attitudes,Undergraduate Students

In this day and age, it is absolutely indispensable for acquiring competence in English to grapple with the real impediments and huge challenges of the modern epoch. The emergence of English as a global language is among the factors that could explicate its vitality and its expansion. The basic burden of making language courses more relevant to learners' needs resulted in the advent of languages for specific purposes movement, known in English Language Teaching circles as English for Specific Purposes. ESP then, has since its inception in the early 1960s become one of the most dynamic branches of applied linguistics in general, and of Teaching English as a Foreign Language in particular. To amass relevant data, a case study was conducted through a combination of a questionnaire, classroom observation, and informal interviews with language teachers and subject specialists. The main aim of this present paper is to precisely delineate the teaching/learning process of ESP in the department of Computer Sciences at the University of ORAN1 in Algeria, and the learners' attitudes towards this teaching. For this purpose, it is necessary to explore the utility of ESP as perceived by learners, and to address problems faced by instructors. The results indicate that the students have a positive attitude towards ESP and that their poor achievement was due to multiple reasons. This digest concludes by offering some suggestions and implications as remedial actions to the major confronted concerns.
Online Learning Amid COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Vocabulary Learning Strategies
Author: Shamsan, Muayad Abdulhalim Ahmad
Date: 2021-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,COVID-19,Pandemics,School Closing,Online Courses,Vocabulary Development,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Educational Technology,College Students,Majors (Students),Nonmajors,Learning Strategies,Grade Point Average

The outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led countries to implement measures to prevent its spread. One of these measures included shutting down schools and universities. Consequently, the teaching, learning and assessment processes were entirely shifted from face-to-face to online. The current study aimed to investigate online vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) amid COVID-19 pandemic used by Saudi EFL students. It attempted to find out the online strategies Saudi EFL astudents use to get the meaning of new vocabulary, the strategies they use to study new vocabulary and the strategies they follow to revise the learned vocabulary and keep them as part of their repertoire. The sample of the study was 119 male and female English and non-English majors. The study modified Kulikova's (2015) questionnaire. This study was conducted at the University of Bisha, Saudi Arabia, during a fully online learning period in September and October 2020 at the time of COVID-19 outbreak. The data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire form. It was distributed via teachers of the English Department. The study found out that English majors used vocabulary learning strategies more than non-English majors. It also showed that students do not ask their teachers about the meaning of new vocabulary (77%), they also do not ask their classmates (92%), nor they ask their friends (85%), which could be attributed to online study and due to social distance during coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
Development of 5 Cs Educational Value Scale for eSport Games
Author: Ye, Jhen-Ni
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Games,Cooperative Learning,Communication Skills,Critical Thinking,Self Esteem,Student Attitudes,Attitude Change,Cognitive Processes,Affective Behavior,Psychomotor Skills,Educational Benefits,Athletics,Physical Education,Foreign Countries

With the growing popularity of eSport games, eSport-related issues have gradually gained attention and discussion in academic research. However, the positive benefits (values) brought by playing eSport have not received too much attention in current research. Therefore, after reviewing related research in the past, this study proposed that eSport has the 5 Cs educational Value of cultivating the cooperative attitude, communication skills, critical thinking, self-confidence and continuous improvement attitude based on the three-domain model (TDM) of cognitive, affective and psychomotor, and developed an eSport educational values scale. In this study, a conceptual sampling method was adopted and players with eSport experience were invited to fill out the questionnaire. A total of 316 participants filled out the questionnaire, 51 invalid samples were deleted, the number of effective participants was 265, and the effective recovery rate was 83.9%. Then SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 20.0 were used to analyze the reliability and validity of the scale, and the verification results show the scale developed by this study has good reliability and validity. In addition, in this study, it was also found that the participants had a positive view (M &gt; 3.9) on the 5 Cs educational value of the MOBA type eSport, which shows that eSport is not only a casual game, moderate playing this game can also bring educational significance to players.
Faculty&apos;s Use of Social Media in Flipped Classrooms: A Mixed-Method Investigation
Author: Alharthi, Majed
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Technology Integration,College Faculty,Social Media,Flipped Classroom,Foreign Countries,Teaching Methods,Teacher Attitudes

This paper reports a sequential mixed-method study on Saudi Arabian (SA) faculty's use of social media (SM) in flipped classrooms (FC). The study also examined SA faculty's related attitudes and identified factors that had limited faculty use of SM in Saudi higher education. In particular, the study explored how SA faculty used SM to address students' needs and preferences as per the Read, Reflect, Display and Do (R2D2) framework. 391 eligible SA faculty members (199 male and 192 female) participated in the online survey, among which 8 (4 male and 4 female) were also selected for individual, semi-structured interviews afterwards. A wide range of factors were identified to understand what may have prevented or limited faculty's SM uses in teaching. Research and practical implications were discussed, as well as suggestions to promote the use of SM for teaching in SA and countries with similar cultures.
Using an Online Homework System for Fostering Self-Directed Learning
Author: Wiggins, Harry
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Homework,Educational Technology,Learning Strategies,Independent Study,Undergraduate Students,College Freshmen,Engineering Education,Mathematics Education,Self Management

Self-directed learning is learning in which the conceptualization, design, conduct and evaluation of new content is directed and driven by the learner itself. This is an essential skill for students in the 21st century. Many large undergraduate courses use an online homework system to engage the whole class in the course material simultaneously. A very important advantage of using an online homework system is the quick feedback that gives students an immediate indication on how well they understand the work. The purpose of this study firstly focuses on constructing a framework along which to determine the role and success of an online homework system towards making students self-directed learners. The second purpose of this study is to give an example of how the framework can be used. The sample group consists of both engineering and mainstream first year mathematics students using the online homework system WebAssign. The study investigates the extent to which the online homework system fosters independent learning in these cohorts of students. The article concludes by discussing the findings, some discussion and conclusions of this framework.
Virtual Mini-Lecture in Distance Learning Space
Author: Palatovska, Olena
Date: 2021-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Virtual Classrooms,Lecture Method,Video Technology,Asynchronous Communication,Distance Education,Higher Education,Electronic Learning,COVID-19,Pandemics

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally affected all the spheres of human life, including education. Universities worldwide have established distance learning, which demanded combining and improving both traditional and innovative education forms. The article offers a comprehensive analysis of pre-recorded mini-lectures in the educational space of distance learningfor different scientific-educational Internet projects (Coursera, PostNauka, Udacity, edX, LinguaLeo, EdEra, etc.). Mini-lectures are complete pieces of speech limited in time and accessible to multiple reproductions; that is why they are quite a representative material for the research of the generation of cognitive processes and perception of a verbal educational message in asynchronous online learning. The significant results of the study include: the definition of invariable characteristics of virtual mini-lectures (distance, virtuality, mediation, situational incorrigibility, multimodality), defining cognitive strategies of the speaker and the listener in an asynchronous lecture interaction, finding the points of contact (motivation and interest in transferring and receiving information) between them. The article also describes the linguistic features of virtual mini-lecture. These conclusions can find practical application in the development of methodology for the distance teaching of linguistic disciplines.
Involvement in Extracurricular Activities and Overcoming High Levels of Communication Apprehension among Saudi EFL Majors
Author: Alnaeem, Lubna
Date: 2021-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Student Attitudes,Communication Skills,College Students,Communication (Thought Transfer),Extracurricular Activities,Program Effectiveness,Anxiety

This study attempted to examine the relationship between participation in extracurricular activities and levels of Communication Apprehension (CA) among English as a foreign language (EFL) students and explore the students' perspectives of how extracurricular activities affect their communication skills. The study addressed the following two questions: a) what is the relationship between EFL students' involvement in extracurricular activities and their level of Communication Apprehension?, b) What are the EFL students' perspectives regarding the effect of extracurricular activities on their communication skills?. The participants were 40 EFL students among 80 who participated in extracurricular activities at the College of Languages and Translation at Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh. The participants were asked to complete a Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) to examine their levels of CA as well as a questionnaire about their attitudes toward extracurricular activities. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 participants to explore their perspectives in depth. The findings showed that most participants had moderate levels of CA and that 100% of the participants agreed that participation in extracurricular activities helped them reduce CA and improve their communication skills. The study also showed that extracurricular activities were more helpful than classroom activities in improving communication skills. This study is significant in that it shed the light on the importance of involvement in extracurricular activities and their role in improving EFL students' communication skills and lowering CA levels. Thus, it is recommended to encourage EFL students to participate in extracurricular activities and consider including such activities in course requirements and teaching materials.