ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
The Application of Humorous Song in EFL Classrooms and Its Effects on Listening Comprehension
Author: Rafiee, Marzieh
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Singing,Humor,Listening Comprehension,Correlation,Recall (Psychology),Pretests Posttests,Language Tests,Control Groups,Experimental Groups,Comparative Analysis,Teaching Methods,Females,Statistical Analysis

Language learners need to feel secure and to be free of stress so they can focus on language tasks (Ellis, 1994). A language teacher should use different tools to encourage students and make them involved in learning process. Humor and song are effective tools, as they develop creativity and make the class environment an appropriate setting for language learning. This paper examines the effects that humorous songs may have on listening comprehension and on immediate and delayed recall by a group of EFL learners. To achieve this aim, an experimental research study was conducted in Iranian English Institutes. A pre-post design was applied to explore whether humorous songs could enhance listening comprehension in EFL learners. The findings show that the experimental group outperformed the control group in a listening comprehension test, but humorous songs' effect does not make much difference between immediate and delayed recall test scores.
An Empirical Study of the Role of Output in Promoting the Acquisition of Linguistic Forms
Author: Song, Zhaojuan
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Form Classes (Languages),Language Acquisition,Translation,Chinese,English,Lexicology,Linguistic Competence,Interlanguage,Attention,Pretests Posttests,English (Second Language),Interviews,Recognition (Psychology),College Students,Role Perception,Foreign Countries

This study examines the effectiveness of an output practice, i.e., Chinese-to-English translation, on promoting noticing and acquisition of a type of grammatical form, i.e., lexical phrases. It is confirmed that output is vital in facilitating learners' noticing and acquisition of the targeted linguistic forms.
Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development: Instructional Implications and Teachers' Professional Development
Author: Shabani, Karim
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Problem Solving,Ability,Scaffolding (Teaching Technique),Professional Development,Language Teachers,Alternative Assessment,Theory Practice Relationship,Evaluation Methods,Interaction,Interpersonal Relationship

The current paper examines the instructional implications of Vygotsky's (1978) seminal notion of Zone of Proximal Development, originally developed to account for the learning potential of children, and investigates ZPD applications to the concept of teacher professional development. Specific attempt has been made to see how a number of assets at the teacher's disposal namely diary writing, peer and mentor collaboration, action research, practicum and TESOL discourse can serve as scaffolders to affect the progression of ZPD in language teachers. The contributions of ZPD to the concepts of scaffolding and dynamic assessment (DA) are explored extensively and the controversial issues are addressed. There is a consensus that the notion of the zone of proximal development and socio-cultural theory of mind based on Vygotsky's ideas are at the heart of the notion of scaffolding. This study highlights the limitations of the metaphor of scaffolding in interpreting the zone of proximal development. The concept of ZPD, as seen through the approach of DA, offers an operational view of the learners' actual level of development and a measure of emerging and imminent development. Utilizing the concept of ZPD, DA unites traditional assessment, instruction, intervention, and remediation. Though the concept of ZPD provides an attractive metaphor for designing instruction and analyzing learning, it poses a real challenge when put into practice. The present research highlights a procedure to provide a more tangible account of ZPD, but research on this area is scanty and further explorations and investigations are needed to reflect the implications of ZPD in instructional context.
Predicting Student Success, Ameliorating Risk, and Guarding against Homogeneity in Honors
Author: Carnicom, Scott
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Success,Honors Curriculum,At Risk Students,Educational Quality,College Admission,Admission Criteria,Reader Response,Predictive Validity,Prediction

This essay is written in response to Jerry Herron's essay, &quot;Notes toward an Excellent Marxist-Elitist Honors Admissions Policy,&quot; which inquired how honors administrators predicted student success and how they used that predictive power wisely and objectively to admit students and maintain quality. The author of this essay, Scott Carnicom from Middle Tennessee State University, points out that such algorithms ideally could also predict students at risk so that institutional personnel could mobilize support efforts more proactively. The author cautions that if honors leaders fail to rectify the practice of putting academic quality at the top of their list of priorities, they may eventually violate the original spirit in which honors was created. [For &quot;Notes toward an Excellent Marxist-Elitist Honors Admissions Policy,&quot; see EJ1081987.]
The Meanings of the Preposition &quot;By&quot; in the IX-XIX Centuries with Their Azerbaijani Equivalents
Author: Anvar Ghizi, Aliyeva Shalalah
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Form Classes (Languages),English (Second Language),Turkic Languages,Definitions,History

The article deals with the meanings of the English preposition &quot;by&quot; in the IX-XIX centuries and their Azerbaijani equivalents. During that period the preposition &quot;by&quot; had more than 10 variants of writing. From the IX to the XIX centuries the preposition &quot;by&quot; was used in 6 main meanings: the meanings were connected with position, motion (or action), time, mental proximity, circumstances (condition, manner), medium (or means). Each of these meanings of the preposition &quot;by&quot; included a lot of small meanings or sub-meanings.
Notes on Teaching English Pronunciation to EFL Learners: A Case of Iranian High School Students
Author: Hayati, A. Majid
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Pronunciation,High School Students,Context Effect,Interpersonal Communication,Questionnaires,Language Teachers

Some believe that a learner must acquire the ability to produce and recognize all speech sounds used by the speaker of the target language while others think that if the goal is communication it is not necessary to teach all phonemic aspects. In fact in teaching (especially the phonology of) a language, the learners' objectives are to be taken into account. If their goal in the long run is either to teach the language or to use it in radio news broadcasts, they should learn pronunciation accurately, correctly, and authentically; otherwise, when communication is possible, there is no obligation to strive for perfect pronunciation. One way to achieve this purpose is by sensitizing students to the conversational tactics they use naturally when talking in their native tongue: turn-taking, supporting, challenging, questioning, expanding on statements, and so on; they do not tend to use these when interacting in English (Counihan, 1998).
An Analysis of College Students' Attitudes towards Error Correction in EFL Context
Author: Zhu, Honglin
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,College Students,Student Attitudes,Error Correction,Student Surveys,Teacher Role,Peer Teaching

This article is based on a survey on the attitudes towards the error correction by their teachers in the process of teaching and learning and it is intended to improve the language teachers' understanding of the nature of error correction. Based on the analysis, the article expounds some principles and techniques that can be applied in the process of EFL teaching.
Upper Primary Teachers' Perceptions of PSLE English Oral Assessment
Author: Noor, Norashikin Binte Mohamed
Date: 2010-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Exit Examinations,Language Tests,Oral Language,Elementary School Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Semi Structured Interviews,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis

This small scale study investigated upper primary teachers' perceptions of the PSLE English oral assessment. It sought to find out the challenges that teachers faced in conducting PSLE English oral assessment and if the assessment format provides a good gauge of pupils' oral competence. Semi-structured interviews were the main research instruments used in this study. The data collected was analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Findings from the data showed that there is heterogeneity in teachers' views of the PSLE English oral assessment. The study found that 1) there is much variance in the challenges identified by teachers; 2) there are limited common perceptions among teachers regarding the extent that PSLE English oral assessment is a good gauge of pupils' oral competence; and 3) teachers are for the idea of review and modifications to the current PSLE assessment format however, they did not make any concrete suggestions for improvement.
The Confidence Game in Honors Admissions and Retention
Author: Guzy, Annmarie
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Honors Curriculum,Academic Persistence,School Holding Power,Admission Criteria,Educational Policy,Educational Practices,Academic Achievement,Educational Quality,Scholarship,Beliefs,Program Effectiveness,College Admission

Annmarie Guzy, an expert with almost three decades of experience in post-secondary honors education, responds to Jerry Herron's essay, &quot;Notes toward an Excellent Marxist-Elitist Honors Admissions Policy,&quot; which argues that &quot;a well-conceived admissions policy tells us much more than whom to recruit; it becomes the basis for a quantitative defense of what we do with data and puts a convincing dollar value on the good evangel of excellence.&quot; Annmarie Guzy is skeptical about administration's increasing overreliance upon quantitative data to the exclusion of all other assessment measures. In this essay, she addresses whether numbers effect authentic, productive change in institutional and educational practices, or if instruments are merely rotated or existing ones revised until the desired results are achieved. Administration may be satisfied with attractive numbers that they can sell to their constituencies, but educators with their boots on the ground in the classrooms need something a little more substantial to guide honors students to successful program completion. As a faculty member, the author sees the results as simply a way to satisfy administration rather than as any true reflection of instructional quality or student performance. [For &quot;Notes toward an Excellent Marxist-Elitist Honors Admissions Policy,&quot; see EJ1081987.]
&quot;I'm So Offended!&quot;: Curriculum Flashpoints and Critical Arts Education
Author: Kraehe, Amelia M.
Date: 2015-10-31
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Art Education,Critical Theory,Feminism,Qualitative Research,Preservice Teachers,Art Teachers,Social Differences,Cultural Differences,Curriculum,Elementary Secondary Education,Methods Courses,Grounded Theory,Identification,Knowledge Base for Teaching

Inspired by critical race and feminist perspectives, this paper complicates the conversation on preparing arts educators for diversity and equity. The authors ground their research on the premise that arts educators committed to challenging social inequalities must understand sociocultural influences on art, curriculum, teaching, and learning. The paper reports a qualitative study that investigated how pre-service arts educators make sense of sociocultural differences (i.e., the dynamics of race, class, gender and sexuality). Findings articulate key curriculum flashpoints that emerged when art teacher candidates engaged with sociocultural knowledge. These flashpoints include identity formation, questioning knowledge, and discourses of offense. The authors argue that these flashpoints present curricular provocations that can assist in developing the critical capacities of art educators. The conclusion explores the implications of these findings for organizing and teaching sociocultural content as foundational knowledge for arts educator preparation.
Collaborative Creativity in STEAM: Narratives of Art Education Students' Experiences in Transdisciplinary Spaces
Author: Guyotte, Kelly W.
Date: 2015-10-12
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: STEM Education,Art Education,Cooperative Learning,Creativity,Student Experience,Interdisciplinary Approach,Educational Benefits,Personal Narratives,Case Studies,Creative Thinking,Studio Art,Visual Arts,Focus Groups,Student Journals

Current efforts to promote STEAM (STEM + Arts) education focus predominantly on how partnering with the arts provides a range of benefits to STEM students. Here we take a different approach and focus on what art and art education students stand to gain from collaborating with STEM students. Drawing on a variety of student field texts, we present three visual-verbal, constructed narratives of art education students who, in the context of a transdisciplinary design studio, were challenged to experiment with collaborative forms of creative thinking. Their stories point to STEAM as an opportunity for art students to question the notion of the &quot;lone artist,&quot; reflect upon the tension between product and process, and expand disciplinary-based understandings of creative thinking. These potential benefits align with contemporary visual arts practices that strive to move beyond the individual and embrace dialogue, collaborative action, and interdisciplinarity as vital aspects of the creative process.
Real-Life Solutions to Real-Life Problems: Collaborating with a Non-Profit Foundation to Engage Honors Students in Applied Research
Author: Stark, Emily
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Honors Curriculum,Partnerships in Education,Nonprofit Organizations,Student Research,Undergraduate Students,Research Skills,Methods Courses,Student Projects,Capacity Building,Training Methods,Instructional Effectiveness,Educational Practices,Educational Strategies,Service Learning,Team Training,Problem Based Learning

Colleges and universities have long emphasized undergraduate research experiences as valuable activities for students. Collegiate honors programs in particular have embraced the role of student research as an integral experience for high-ability students, leading the way in developing the thesis-based model of undergraduate research that is increasingly common in institutions of higher learning. However, one difficulty in getting honors students involved in research, particularly early in their years at college, is that they misunderstand what research entails or see it only as the province of laboratory-based science majors. Since the spring of 2012, the Minnesota State University, Mankato Honors Program has partnered with the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) to implement two separate approaches to developing honors students' research skills and broadening their understanding of the research process. Applied research opportunities for honors students were incorporated in two different settings: a course on research methods and an independent study research experience. Each approach was successful at building students' confidence in their research skills, giving them experience with applied research practices, and broadening their understanding of what constitutes research. This article describes the pros and cons of each approach and provides recommendations for how to form connections with community groups.
Meaning and Authority: The Social Construction of an &quot;Author&quot; among Information Behaviour Researchers
Author: Olsson, Michael
Date: 2005-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Social Influences,Researchers,Authors,Information Management,Behavior,Semi Structured Interviews,Qualitative Research,Comparative Analysis,Interaction,Interpersonal Relationship,Knowledge Level,Information Science,Power Structure

Introduction: The study explores the social processes that influence the construction by academic (information behaviour) researchers of the meaning(s) and significance of an author and her work prominent in the literature of their field (Brenda Dervin). Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews, based in part on the &quot;Life-Line&quot; and &quot;Time-line&quot; techniques developed by Dervin and her collaborators. Participants were purposefully sampled to reflect a range of experience levels and conceptual approaches. Analysis: The study adopted an inductive approach to data analysis, based on the &quot;constant comparison&quot; approach of Glaser and Strauss. Feedback from participants was sought throughout the analysis process by e-mail. Results: &quot;Interactions and Relationships&quot; describes the social contacts involved in their construction of the author; &quot;The Role of Existing Constructions&quot; deals with participants' existing knowledge and understandings; and &quot;Accepted and Contested Constructions&quot; demonstrates how they drew on their existing constructions in order to accept or contest the constructions of the author conveyed to them. Conclusions: Participants' constructive processes involved drawing on their previous experience (&quot;existing constructions&quot;) in order to accept or contest the constructions of the author conveyed to them in each new encounter. Participants' constructive processes had two interdependent aspects: the construction of meaning and the construction of authority.
Information Literacy of Medical Students Studying in the Problem-Based and Traditional Curriculum
Author: Eskola, Eeva-Liisa
Date: 2005-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Information Literacy,Medical Students,Problem Based Learning,Conventional Instruction,Medical Education,Foreign Countries,Qualitative Research,Interviews,Diaries,Observation

Introduction: This paper reports on part of a research project on relationships between learning methods and students' information behaviour in Finland. It has been suggested that student-centred learning methods, such as problem-based learning, influence students' information needs, seeking and use. The focus of this paper is on the concept of information literacy as a part of the students' information behaviour. Method: In 1998, sixteen theme interviews were conducted at the Tampere University Medical School, which applied the problem-based learning curriculum and fifteen interviews at the Turku University Medical School in which the traditional curriculum with an early patient contact programme was implemented. Transcripts of the interviews formed the data for analysis. Analysis: Qualitative analysis was carried out with the assistance of the NUD*IST program. Results: Three different types of information literacy skills emerged from the analysis: 1. Developed information literacy skills 2. Simple information literacy skills, and 3. Undeveloped information literacy skills. The developed information literacy skills tended to appear more in the problem-based learning curriculum than in the non-problem-based curriculum. The results are reflected against Bruce's seven faces of information literacy. The study confirms earlier studies results of the superiority of small group instruction compared to lecturing as a teaching method on information literacy courses, and the importance of correct timing with integration to subject courses. Conclusion: The findings indicate that student's information literacy is developed on one hand through active use of information and sources in connection with real information needs, on the other hand through an educational context which offers opportunities to get different viewpoints on issues.
Speaking of Users: On User Discourses in the Field of Public Libraries
Author: Hedemark, Ase
Date: 2005-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Public Libraries,Users (Information),Discourse Analysis,Discourse Modes,Classification,Journal Articles,Content Analysis,General Education,Instruction,Information Technology,Information Management,Foreign Countries

Introduction: The aim of the study reported is to examine user discourses identified in the Swedish public library field. The following questions are posed: What user discourses can be found and what characterises them? How are users categorised and what does this categorisation imply? The departure point in this paper is that the ways users are categorised may influence their information behaviour. Plausible consequences for the relation between the interest of the public library and the users are discussed. Method: The empirical focus of the paper is a discourse analysis with a starting-point in Ernesto Laclaus and Chantal Mouffe's discourse theory. Analysis: Sixty-two articles from three established Swedish library journals are analysed through a model in four phases. These phases include designations of users, user categories, themes within which users are described and user discourses. Results: Four user discourses are revealed: a general education discourse, a pedagogical discourse, an information technology discourse and an information management discourse. Conclusion: The discourses hold both levels of idealizing and experience-related rhetoric. The dominant general education discourse is based on a tradition of fostering and refining as well as educating the general public and thereby reproduces inequality between the user and the library.
Information Seeking and Use Behaviour of Economists and Business Analysts
Author: Thivant, Eric
Date: 2005-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Information Seeking,Information Utilization,Economics,Business,Professional Personnel,Interviews,Questionnaires,Qualitative Research,Foreign Countries

Introduction: The aim of this paper is to deal with the information seeking and use problem in a professional context and understand how activity can influence practices, by taking as examples, the research undertaken by economic analysts. We analyse the relationship between the situational approach, described by Cheuk, the work environment complexity (with social, technological and personal aspects), and the information seeking and use strategies, which relied on Ellis and Wilson's model, with Bates's comments. Method: We interviewed eight economists, using a questionnaire and the SICIA (Situation, Complexity and Information Activity) method. The SICAI method is a qualitative approach, which underlines the relationship between situations, professional contexts and strategies. Both methods allow better understanding of how investment analysts find out what they need for their job. We can clarify their information sources and practices of information seeking, which are very particular because of their activities. We complete our analysis by interviewing analysts from financial institutions. Analysis: A qualitative mode of analysis was used to interpret the interviewees' comments, within the research framework adopted. Results: We find similarity in information seeking and use strategies used by these two groups and environmental levels meet in most situations. But some differences can be also found, explained by the activity frameworks and goals. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the activity and also the professional context (here the financial context) can directly influence practices.