ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
From Language Learners to Language Teachers to Language Teacher Trainers: Narrative Stories of Four Instructional Coaches
Author: Chien, Chin-Wen
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Coaching (Performance),Role,Foreign Countries,Elementary School Students,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Self Concept,School Districts,Teaching Methods,Language Teachers,Personal Narratives,Teacher Attitudes,Positive Attitudes

This study discusses how four instructional coaches' roles and identities, as well as the school district context, have influenced their development as instructional coaches. This study thematically analyzes the narrative stories of four elementary school English instructional coaches in New Taipei City, Taiwan. The study concludes that the way they have been taught to learn English has influenced the way they themselves teach English, which in turn has influenced the areas of expertise they have focused on as instructional coaches. The schools and the district where these instructional coaches teach have had a direct impact on their roles as language teachers and language teacher trainers.
Teachers' Beliefs in Teaching English for Kids at a Kindergarten: A Case Study of Students from the Department of Applied English
Author: Chu, Yu-wei
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Attitudes,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Kindergarten,Teacher Student Relationship,Teaching Methods,Curriculum Development,Second Language Learning,Educational Resources,Lesson Plans,Interaction,College Students,Foreign Countries,Semi Structured Interviews,Qualitative Research,Coding,Planning,Barriers

The main purpose of this study was to explore the changes in teachers' beliefs before and after teachings among four students from the Department of Applied English at Hungkuang University, who were conducting English teaching at a kindergarten. Teacher's beliefs included four aspects in terms of English teaching, teacher-student interaction in class, curriculum planning and English learning. The study results revealed that before and after teachings, there were no significant differences in teachers' beliefs between the aspects of English teaching (e.g. teaching resources and the preparation of lesson plan) and English learning (e.g. understanding of the kids' learning conditions). Inconsistent viewpoints in the beliefs of teacher-student interaction in class and curriculum planning were reported. Constructive suggestions to the curriculum plans for Module of Teaching Children English at the Department of Applied English were proposed for assisting students interested in teaching children English and undertaking further research on this topic.
Citation as a Stimulus to Boost Students' Communication Skills at the English Lessons
Author: Sadykova, Aida G.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Communication Skills,English Instruction,Citations (References),Communicative Competence (Languages),Linguistic Competence,Teaching Methods,Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Relevance (Education),Educational Strategies,Educational Practices,Foreign Countries

The study contemplates significance of using citation at the English lessons by exposing its advantages. Quotations represent the enormous linguistic variety, which discloses the modern language that unambiguously assists students to develop skills of oral speech. Special attention is paid to the experiment conducted at the series of lessons in order to enhance students' linguistic interest, incentive and aimed at the development and improvement of communicative competence.
EFL Teachers' Perceptions on Blackboard Applications
Author: Mohsen, Mohammed Ali
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Language Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Integrated Learning Systems,Foreign Countries,College Faculty,Teacher Surveys,Interviews,Teaching Methods,Electronic Learning,Blended Learning,Technology Integration,Likert Scales,Grounded Theory,Comparative Analysis

The widespread availability of technological infrastructure has enhanced the adoption of learning management systems (LMSs) in educational institutions. Blackboard is one of the most popular marketable LMSs adopted in higher education institutions. As some previous studies have viewed that positive perceptions played a vital role in adopting new technologies, this paper aims to investigate teachers' perceptions on blackboard applications in the context of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). To gather data, 32 EFL university teachers from Saudi Arabia were surveyed and interviewed about their perceptions toward the use of the blackboard. The results from the data instruments reveal that EFL teachers have positive perceptions on Blackboard applications to English language teaching. Most teachers view Blackboard as a structured e-learning platform that helps improve the teacher-student relationship in a course and aids to make teaching English more successful. The study findings; however, revealed that the use of blackboard as a blending learning is still focusing on administrative issues rather than pedagogical significance for language learning. Recommendations and directions for future research are highlighted at the end of this article.
Evaluation of English as a Foreign Language and Its Curriculum in Indonesia: A Review
Author: Mappiasse, Sitti Syamsinar
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Curriculum Evaluation,Foreign Countries,Language Usage,Language Role,Diachronic Linguistics,Teaching Methods,Educational Improvement,Labor Market,Language of Instruction,Employment Opportunities,High Schools,Language Attitudes

The most widely used language in research, business, politics and other areas of life in our contemporary world is the English language. The exploration of the world by the British people through colonization and their conquest of North America contribute immensely to the spreading of the language. This paper traces the historical spread of English as a language, the methods that were used to teach it across the ages and its adoption as a foreign language in Indonesia. It also examines its introduction to the senior high school and the effectiveness of the present curriculum. Findings show that the current program requires upgrading, while a lot of administrative adjustments are required to encourage students learning the language as part of the curriculum. It was further concluded that the only way to improve quality of graduates and make them useful in the international labor market is to incorporate English as part of the curriculum and as medium of teaching in Indonesia.
Providing Business English Instruction: Thai Instructors' Practices and Students' Perceptions
Author: Pratoomrat, Panadda
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Business English,English for Special Purposes,Second Language Instruction,College Students,Student Attitudes,College Faculty,English Teachers,Questionnaires,Courses,Course Descriptions,Course Content,Teaching Methods,Student Development,Instructional Materials

The present study aimed to examine how Business English courses are conducted in the Thai Higher Education, and to investigate students' perceptions toward the instructional management of the courses in their universities. The participants were four instructors, and one hundred and forty students enrolling in the courses of four universities in the Bangkok metropolitan areas and the suburbs. The course syllabuses were analyzed, and the questionnaire was administered for data collection. The results revealed that the current situations of the instructional management of Business English courses in their universities were different in terms of course content, a primary focus on learners' development, and instructional materials. Despite the difference among those institutions, Thai learners have positive perceptions toward the instructional management. The results may benefit Business English instructors and course designers in terms of improving and revising the course in the right direction which respond to the present professional world and the trend of Business English instruction.
Cohesive Errors in Writing among ESL Pre-Service Teachers
Author: Kwan, Lisa S. L.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Writing Skills,Error Patterns,Preservice Teachers,Essays,Teacher Education,Connected Discourse,Mixed Methods Research,Error Analysis (Language),Language Proficiency,Language Tests,Language Teachers,Phrase Structure,Writing Instruction,Form Classes (Languages),Taxonomy,Foreign Countries

Writing is a complex skill and one of the most difficult to master. A teacher's weak writing skills may negatively influence their students. Therefore, reinforcing teacher education by first determining pre-service teachers' writing weaknesses is imperative. This mixed-methods error analysis study aims to examine the cohesive errors in the writing of English as a Second Language (ESL) pre-service teachers of differing language proficiency levels--Medium and High-level, as indicated by the band levels achieved in the Malaysian University English Test (MUET). 200-word narrative essays were collected from 30 final-year ESL pre-service teachers from UKM via email. The study found that the Medium-level pre-service teachers made the most errors in lexical cohesion, reference and conjunction cohesion categories. However, High-level pre-service teachers made more errors in lexical cohesion, ellipsis and reference. Collocation proved the most difficult form of cohesion for both groups of pre-service teachers, while High-level pre-service teachers made more errors in ellipsis than the Medium-level pre-service teachers. Nevertheless, this still indicates that the pre-service teachers' overall mastery of cohesive writing is insufficient. Therefore, the teaching of these cohesive devices should be further fortified in the linguistic courses undertaken by ESL pre-service teachers to ensure that they are well-equipped in all aspects of cohesive writing.
Exploring EFL Learners' Perceptions of Integrated Skills Approach: A Grounded Theory
Author: Tajzad, Maryam
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grounded Theory,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Course Descriptions,Interviews,Credibility,Qualitative Research,Student Attitudes,Language Skills,Teaching Methods,Integrated Activities,Learning Motivation,Self Esteem,Foreign Countries

This qualitative study aims at exploring EFL learners' perceptions of the integrated skills approach to language teaching. To this end, the researchers presented the integrated skills approach to a group of 30 participants and interviewed those who were willing to share their views and experience with the researchers. The researchers used grounded theory to collect and analyze interview data. Iterative data collection and analysis continued until theoretical saturation was reached. To establish credibility, transient and final categories were verified through member-checking. The results clearly show that the participants positively perceive this approach. The findings have implications for all stakeholders including policy makers, syllabus designers, practitioners and learners.
Correlation between Receptive Metaphoric Competence and Reading Proficiency
Author: Zhao, Qian
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Receptive Language,Figurative Language,Reading Skills,Correlation,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Foreign Countries,Competence,College Freshmen,Hypothesis Testing,Scores,Reading Tests,Statistical Analysis

Metaphoric competence is an essential part of language concept fluency and communicative competence. Since metaphor is pervasive in language, when Chinese second language (L2) learners are engaged in reading process, one of the barriers to influence their comprehension is metaphor. This paper aims to empirically investigate the relationship between the receptive metaphoric competence and reading proficiency of Chinese learners of English, in order to arouse Chinese English teachers' attention to metaphor instruction. The results show that the two are significantly correlated, however, the metaphoric competence of English learners in China is ranked middle or low, and the L2 learners who are skilled at L2 reading are more inclined to be at a higher level of metaphoric competence.
Two Formats of Word Association Tasks: A Study of Depth of Word Knowledge
Author: Agdam, Seddighe Jalili
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Vocabulary Development,Associative Learning,Task Analysis,English (Second Language),Knowledge Level,Comparative Analysis,Language Proficiency,Language Tests,Statistical Analysis

Vocabulary development is an essential goal in any language teaching program, and considering the multidimensional nature of this construct, achieving this goal needs effective assessment of all dimensions of word knowledge, i.e. breadth, depth and accessibility of word knowledge. Most of the current vocabulary assessment tools measure the breadth dimension of vocabulary (Christ, 2011). However, there have been studies which have developed &quot;Selective&quot; or &quot;Productive&quot; word association tasks (WAT) to measure depth of word knowledge (Meara &amp; Fitzpatrick, 2000; Read, 1998). This study used both selective and productive WAT tasks to measure depth of word knowledge in 82 elementary and 71 advanced EFL learners to explore which format is better for assessing deep word knowledge for each group. Results showed that elementary learners did better in selective format while advanced learners acted better in productive format.
Examining the Effectiveness of Pre-Reading Strategies on Saudi EFL College Students' Reading Comprehension
Author: Al Rasheed, Hana S. S.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Strategies,Reading Instruction,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Reading Comprehension,College Students,Foreign Countries,Quasiexperimental Design,Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Vocabulary Development,Questioning Techniques,Instructional Effectiveness,Prior Learning,Females,Comparative Analysis,Teaching Methods,Second Language Learning,Language Tests

Reading comprehension is a key issue in learning English as a foreign language, and it is critical that teachers utilize pre-reading strategies in reading classes in order to help students enhance their comprehension. The present study investigates the effectiveness of two pre-reading strategies on EFL students' performance in reading comprehension. A group of 46 students from King Saud University, Preparatory Year, participated in this study. A quasi-experimental design was used, with 23 students being assigned to the first experimental group that received one pre-reading strategy (vocabulary pre-teaching) while the remaining 23 students received another pre-reading strategy (pre-questioning). Students in both groups were asked first to perform the pre-reading strategy, read a passage, and then answer comprehension questions. Results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Some implications have been drawn for EFL teachers and material designers.
Choice-Making in Rendering Culture-Bound Elements in Literary Translation: A Case Study on the English Translation Of «????»
Author: Meihua, Song
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Chinese,Literature,Translation,English,Decision Making,Authors,Linguistic Theory,Aesthetics,Second Languages,Foreign Countries,Cultural Traits,Language Processing,Cultural Differences,Music,Imagery

How to render culture-bound elements into a foreign language remains one of the most challenging tasks for all translators, especially, when the source text is a literary one. To retain the aesthetic effects and other stylistic features of importance, some argue that choice can be made from either domestication or foreignization with foreignization being more encouraged for the sake of preserving the foreignness of the original text. This article is a case study of the translator's (author of this article) conscious choice-making in rendering culture-bound elements in her tentative Chinese-to-English translation of «????», a documentary literary work on Tibetan culture and life by a famous Chinese writer Ma Lihua. Based on Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory and some of the translator's previous studies, optimal foreignization is proposed for the rendition of culture-bound elements by analyzing the dynamic cognitive nature of the target reader in text processing and terming &quot;strategy&quot; in a broad sense. In the tentative translation, optimal foreignizaiton is a strategy the translator consciously adopts as an overall guidance for her subsequent choice-making in rendering different categories of culture-bound elements. By reflecting upon her decision-making involved in translating the culture-bound elements, the translator makes decisions in the layers of meaning, structure, function, image, and music, and sometimes image or music might go before meaning in the translator's decision-making as long as the meaning is processible.
Comparative Coh-Metrix Analysis of Reading Comprehension Texts: Unified (Russian) State Exam in English vs. Cambridge First Certificate in English
Author: Solnyshkina, Marina I.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Reading Comprehension,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Syntax,Comparative Analysis,Reading Instruction,Reading Materials,Printed Materials,Readability Formulas,Computer Software,Language Usage,Qualitative Research,Sentences,Readability,Standardized Tests,Reading Tests,Multiple Choice Tests,Scores

The article summarizes the results of the comparative study of Reading comprehension texts used in B2 level tests: Unified (Russia) State Exam in English (EGE) and Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE). The research conducted was mainly focused on six parameters measured with the Coh-Metrix, a computational tool producing indices of the linguistic and discourse representations of a text: narrativity, syntactic simplicity, word concreteness, referential cohesion, deep cohesion, Flesh Reading Ease. The research shows that the complexity of EGE texts caused by lower than in FCE texts cohesion is balanced with a simpler than in FCE texts syntax and higher narrativity thus resulting in about the same text complexity of the two sets of texts studied. EGE and FCE texts demonstrate correspondence to grade six and very similar Means of Flesch Reading Ease (FCE Mean is 71.06; EGE Mean is 78.25) which fit the band FAIRLY EASY.
The Efficacy of Written Corrective Feedback and Language Analytic Ability on Chinese Learners' Explicit and Implicit Knowledge of English Articles
Author: Jiang, Lin
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Error Correction,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Cognitive Psychology,Feedback (Response),Pretests Posttests,Teaching Methods,Second Language Instruction,Writing Tests,Cues,Pictorial Stimuli,Form Classes (Languages),Metalinguistics,Control Groups,Comparative Analysis,Outcomes of Education,Community Colleges,Asians,Statistical Analysis,Foreign Countries

This article reports on an 8-week study that investigated the differential effects of two written corrective feedback (CF) options on 92 low-intermediate EFL students' explicit and implicit knowledge of English articles and the extent to which language analytic ability might influence the effect of written CF. The study used a pretest-treatment-posttest-delayed posttest design with three groups: a direct-only correction (DOC) group, a direct metalinguistic correction (DMC) group, and a control group. The acquisition of explicit knowledge was measured by an error correction test, and implicit knowledge was measured by a picture-cued writing test. It was found that both the DOC and the DMC benefited explicit and implicit knowledge, but no significant differences were reported in their effects on each type of knowledge. This study also showed that language analytic ability mediated the effectiveness of the DOC rather than that of the DMC. These findings are discussed from the perspective of cognitive psychology and implications and suggestions for further research are put forward.
Methodology of a Modern Foreign Language Lesson for Postgraduate Students of Technical Disciplines
Author: Toporkova, Olga
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Modern Languages,Graduate Students,Learning Processes,Scientific Research,Speech Communication,Role Playing,Telecommunications,Simulation,Multimedia Instruction,Educational Technology,Scientists,Science Education,Foreign Countries

The integration of Russia into the international common space of research and education accompanied by modernization of the national system of education puts forward new demands to postgraduate education. The processes of integration and modernization increase the importance of learning a foreign language for a future scientist. The article deals with the methodological content of a foreign language lesson, the components of which are individualization, speech orientation, situatedness, functionality and novelty. Those components define the features, structure, principles and techniques of a modern foreign language lesson. The aim of this paper is to describe how the above-mentioned components are implemented during foreign language classes with postgraduates. In the end, we come to the conclusion that individualization, speech focus and novelty at foreign language lessons are fully implemented through specific lesson arrangement models, based on personal involvement into the learning process in the context of scientific activity. The use of socially-oriented technologies promotes active involvement of postgraduates into speech activity, enhancing the interactive character of scientific communication.
Teaching Vocabulary: The Relationship between Techniques of Teaching and Strategies of Learning New Vocabulary Items
Author: Elyas, Tariq
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Vocabulary Development,Hypothesis Testing,Grade 7,Grade 8,Language Teachers,Questionnaires,Foreign Countries,Learning Strategies,Word Frequency,Syntax,Translation,Definitions,Pictorial Stimuli,Inferences,Dictionaries,Morphology (Languages),Statistical Analysis,Help Seeking,Misconceptions,Error Correction,Instructional Program Divisions,Age Differences

This study aims to investigate the techniques of teaching new lexis which are adopted by non-native teachers of English language. It also aims to investigate the strategies of learning new lexis which are adopted by learners in relation to their level. The work is based on two hypotheses: It is hypothesized that there is a relationship between the techniques and strategies which are used for teaching and learning new English lexis. It is hypothesized that the level of learner, might not affect his or her choice for a particular strategy. To test these hypotheses, the researcher has chosen a purposive sample: the pupils of the seventh class, the eighth class and teachers of English language at the Basic level schools, in the River Nile State, Sudan, in the school year 2014. The instruments which were used to collect data, were two questionnaires (a teachers' version and a pupils' version). To analyze and interpret the data percentages and Chi Square were used. The results showed that there is a relationship between the techniques of teaching and the strategies of learning new lexis.The chi-square test showed that, the results were statistically significant at level 0.05 and this supports the second hypothesis that the learner's stage of learning does not affect his or her choice of a particular strategy.