ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Improving Summarizing Skills with TED Talks: An Account of a Teaching Lesson Using Explicit Instruction
Author: Hashimoto, Shin'ichi
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Students,English for Special Purposes,Writing Skills,Writing Improvement,Documentation,Writing Instruction,Science Education,Technology Education,Writing Attitudes,Lecture Method,Teaching Methods,Homework,Writing Assignments

This paper reports on a study which investigated the effectiveness of an explicit instruction approach in a Japanese university setting with third-year science and technology students in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course. The two aims of this study were: 1) to explore changes in students' attitudes and understanding of summary writing, and 2) to observe changes in the ability of students to incorporate specific ideas of summary writing. First, students were given a short questionnaire about their current knowledge and background related to summary writing to provide a base measure. Next, the instructor presented information about specific features of summary writing. Then, students were introduced to a short TED Talk on a technical topic as the content material. Using this content, students were put into groups to discuss and identify the main points of the talk. For homework, they were assigned to write individual summaries. In the next class, students shared their individual summaries with their group members and produced a second draft to be evaluated. Finally, a post-questionnaire about summary writing was given to students. In the future, the researchers aim to make lessons like the above part of an on-line Learning Management System (LMS) that they are currently developing. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
An Investigation of a Multimedia Language Lab Project in Turkish State Universities
Author: Karatay, Yasin
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Multimedia Instruction,Multimedia Materials,State Universities,Student Attitudes,Language Laboratories,Questionnaires,Performance Factors,Usability,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Likert Scales

This paper reports on a nation-wide study designed to investigate the use of Multimedia Language Labs (MLLs) and the attitudes of students toward MLLs at tertiary level. The study will also explore the factors affecting students' attitudes towards MLLs. In an attempt to catch up with the technology, many institutions have invested in MLLs and included them in their curricula. In the same vein, in 2012, the Council of Higher Education in Turkey equipped all state universities with MLLs. Since they are new in Turkey and they have many differences from traditional labs available in almost all of the schools of foreign languages, a nation-wide study is needed to explore how they are perceived by students. The purpose of this study is to investigate, a) the attitudes of students towards MLLs, and b) the factors affecting students' attitudes towards MLLs. Questionnaires were used as a data collection instrument. Since this is the first research conducted on MLLs in Turkey, it has the potentiality of taking a snapshot of a country in terms of the current use of these labs. This study also reveals suggestions for material designers. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
Toward Implementing Computer-Assisted Foreign Language Assessment in the Official Spanish University Entrance Examination
Author: Sanz, Ana Gimeno
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Program Implementation,Second Language Programs,Spanish,College Entrance Examinations,Computer Assisted Testing,High School Students,Pretesting,Program Validation,Participant Satisfaction,Usability,Questionnaires,Foreign Countries

In 2008 the Spanish Government announced the inclusion of an oral section in the foreign language exam of the National University Entrance Examination during the year 2012 (Royal Decree 1892/2008, of 14 November 2008, Ministerio de Educación, Gobierno de España, 2008). Still awaiting the implementation of these changes, and in an attempt to offer the Government a cost-effective technological solution, the CAMILLE Research Group at Universidad Politécnica de Valencia set about creating an online language examination platform complying with the official examination parameters based on the &quot;InGenio&quot; Learning Management System. Once the system had been created, the researchers implemented several test exams and conducted a pilot study with 183 high school students. The quantitative analysis of the study shed light on the learners' attitudes toward using such a system in the context of a high stakes examination. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
A Comparative Study of the Effect of CALL on Gifted and Non-Gifted Adolescents' English Proficiency
Author: Tai, Sophie
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Computer Assisted Instruction,Educational Technology,Adolescents,Academically Gifted,Comparative Analysis,Technology Uses in Education,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Language Proficiency,Grade 7,Mixed Methods Research,Web Based Instruction,Language Tests,Scores,Questionnaires,Diaries,Reading Skills,Listening Skills,Student Attitudes,Pretests Posttests,Intelligence Tests,Children,Semi Structured Interviews,Foreign Countries

Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has gained increasing acceptance since it provides learners with abundant resources. Most researches confirm the beneficial effect of CALL on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' cognitive, metacognitive, and affective developments. However, the diversity of students' intelligence is associated with different language learning needs. The study aimed to compare the effect of CALL on gifted and non-gifted EFL adolescents' English proficiency and their perceptions of CALL. The study included 20 EFL seventh graders with similar English proficiencies. Six were recognized as gifted and fourteen were non-gifted with reference to their IQ score in the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). Participants received 8-weeks of the VoiceTube online learning programme. A mixed method was employed to analyze the data obtained from General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) scores, learning logs, questionnaires, and interviews. The result revealed the gifted students' English reading and listening proficiency outperformed the non-gifted ones in the post-test. They were motivated and enthusiastic in challenging themselves with &quot;I&quot;+1 online learning material. By contrast, most non-gifted students held passive attitude toward CALL and doubted its effectiveness for their exams. Some felt anxious about the miscellaneous online learning materials. CALL should be an enhancement, not a replacement, in balance with conventional instruction. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
An EFL Flipped Learning Course Design: Utilizing Students' Mobile Online Devices
Author: Ishikawa, Yasushige
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: English (Second Language),Teaching Methods,Handheld Devices,Electronic Learning,Blended Learning,Courseware,Mentors,Pretests Posttests,Control Groups,Experimental Groups,Self Evaluation (Individuals),Curriculum Design,College Freshmen,Foreign Countries,Second Language Learning,Language Tests,Likert Scales

This paper reports on a research project in a university English as Foreign Language (EFL) program in Japan which explored ways to sustain active participation in e-learning tasks. The tasks were intended to improve students' scores on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a test used by businesses to make hiring decisions. The research adopted a Flipped Learning (FL) approach to Blended Learning (BL). A web-based courseware, ATR CALL BRIX (http://www.atr-lt.jp/products/brix/index.html), which featured e-learning materials for the TOEIC Test, was used. The students used mobile devices to access the courseware before class in order to prepare for in-class teacher-student analysis of their performance on the learning tasks. The teaching methodology integrated the online and in-class tasks in a single learning environment by means of an e-mentoring system used in conjunction with an in-class student self-evaluation task. The findings of pre- and post-TOEIC testing showed a significant degree of TOEIC score improvement in the experimental group. Post-course evaluations revealed that the combination of e-mentoring and the in-class self-evaluation system had encouraged sustained engagement in outside-of-class learning activities. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
Integrating Telecollaboration for Intercultural Language Acquisition at Secondary Education: Lessons Learned
Author: Jauregi, Kristi
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Language Acquisition,Intercultural Programs,Learning Processes,Computer Mediated Communication,Communicative Competence (Languages),Secondary School Teachers,Secondary School Students,Student Teachers,Synchronous Communication,Student Surveys,Teacher Surveys,Interviews,Motivation,Content Analysis,Blended Learning,Cooperative Learning,Mixed Methods Research,Likert Scales,Foreign Countries

The TILA project originated from the need to explore whether and how telecollaboration affects language learning processes for communication, intercultural understanding and motivation of youngsters learning foreign languages at secondary schools and to empower teachers to pioneer meaningful pedagogical innovation in the curriculum of foreign languages at secondary schools. In the 2,5 year project, 837 pupils, 300 student teachers and 48 teachers participated in telecollaboration exchanges. The results show that task-based telecollaboration can be successfully integrated in the foreign language curriculum by blending different pedagogical activities. These exchanges can contribute to enhance pupils' communicative competence, intercultural awareness and motivation. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
Computer-Mediated Synchronous and Asynchronous Corrective Feedback Provided by Trainee Teachers to Learners of French: A Preliminary Study
Author: Vidal, Julie
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Synchronous Communication,Asynchronous Communication,Preservice Teachers,Feedback (Response),Second Language Instruction,French,Semi Structured Interviews,Responses,Videoconferencing,Learning Modalities,College Students,Student Attitudes,Language Teachers,Foreign Countries,Coding

In this paper, we investigate whether trainee teachers' practices, with respect to multimodal feedback, differ from current research, and to what extent it may affect students' language development. More specifically, the goal of the present study is threefold: (1) it observes how trainee teachers responded, whether synchronously, asynchronously, or a combination of both, to their students' incorrect language while or after interacting orally with them in French via a videoconference platform, (2) it considers the trainee teachers' beliefs regarding the efficacy of their feedback in light of semi-structured interviews, and (3) it explores the students' responses to corrective feedback received in synchronous and asynchronous settings through recorded videoconferencing sessions and interviews. The data set used for this preliminary study is drawn from a multimodal learning and teaching corpus, the InteractionS and Multimodality in lAnguagE Learning (ISMAEL) Project, a large collection of multimodal interactions and productions occurring between French trainee teachers in France and learners of French at university level in Ireland. Results show that asynchronous written feedback might strengthen the reception of oral synchronous feedback, thus leading to internalisation. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
Feedback on Feedback--Does It Work?
Author: Speicher, Oranna
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Feedback (Response),Computer Mediated Communication,Case Studies,Language Teachers,Electronic Learning,Technology Uses in Education,Instructional Effectiveness,Student Attitudes,Foreign Countries,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,German,College Students,Learner Engagement

It is well documented that providing assessment feedback through the medium of screencasts is favourably received by students and encourages deeper engagement with the feedback given by the language teacher (inter alia Abdous &amp; Yoshimura, 2010; Brick &amp; Holmes, 2008; Cann, 2007; Stannard, 2007). In this short paper we will report the results of a case study where students moved from passively receiving feedback to actively entering into a feedback dialogue with their language teachers: screencasts were used not only by the teachers to provide audio and visual feedback to students on their written work, but also by the students themselves to comment in depth on the feedback they had received. Participants in the case study were surveyed at the end of the semester, and we will report on the survey findings as well as discuss the limitations and implications of the case study. The paper will reflect on the potential role of technology in providing feedback, the effectiveness of elicitation feedback in the context of this case study and the students' perception of the usefulness of creating their own screencasts in response to the feedback they have received. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
Experimental Analyses of the Factors Affecting the Gradience in Sentence Difficulty Judgments
Author: Koirala, Cesar
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Reading Comprehension,Difficulty Level,Sentence Structure,Word Frequency,Readability,Computational Linguistics,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Classification,Language Teachers,Evaluation Methods

Although a reader's text-level comprehension is affected by the comprehension of individual sentences in a text, little attention has been paid to the difficulty of sentences. This study investigates whether measures (features) of text difficulty affect the &quot;gradience&quot; observed in sentence difficulty judgments. We examine two traditional features (&quot;sentence length&quot; and &quot;number of low-frequency words&quot;) and six nontraditional features (&quot;counts of clauses,&quot; &quot;dependent clauses,&quot; &quot;coordinate phrases,&quot; &quot;t-units,&quot; &quot;complex t-units,&quot; and &quot;Wh nominals&quot;). Five English language instructors participated in a sentence difficulty behavioral experiment. They had to judge how difficult the sentences were on a scale of 1 to 4, where &quot;1&quot; means &quot;very easy,&quot; &quot;2&quot; means &quot;easy,&quot; &quot;3&quot; means &quot;moderately difficult,&quot; and &quot;4&quot; means &quot;difficult.&quot; The scale of 1-4 allowed the subjects to treat perceived difficulty as a relative point on the scale rather than as categorical values (&quot;easy&quot; and &quot;difficult&quot;). It was found that both traditional and nontraditional measures of text difficulty correlate with participants' perceived difficulty suggesting that both types of features play roles in the perception of sentence difficulty. In addition, a tree-based readability model was implemented using the same sentences and features. The preliminary data suggests that the traditional features are more important while classifying new observations. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
Integrating CALL into an Iranian EAP Course: Constraints and Affordances
Author: Mehran, Parisa
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Computer Assisted Instruction,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Teaching Methods,Educational Technology,English for Academic Purposes,Undergraduate Students,College Faculty,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Attitude Measures,Barriers,Females,Questionnaires,Semi Structured Interviews,Observation,Diaries

Iranian universities have recently displayed a growing interest in integrating Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) into teaching/learning English. The English for Academic Purposes (EAP) context, however, is not keeping pace with the current changes since EAP courses are strictly text-based and exam-oriented, and little research has thus far been conducted on using computers in EAP classes. Hence, this study was conducted to explore CALL experiences of an EAP class in an Iranian university while focusing upon the participants' attitudes toward CALL, the constraints and affordances of CALL integration in EAP, and its effectiveness in enhancing language skills &quot;in a low-resource setting&quot;. To this aim, 25 undergraduate students, their instructor, and a teaching assistant participated in this study. Several instruments were employed to collect data quantitatively and qualitatively. The outcomes of these e-experiences were also analyzed. The findings revealed that the participants generally held positive attitudes toward implementing CALL. They also believed that incorporating CALL into the classroom contributed to the improvement of English language skills. Yet, some challenges emerged in terms of the following barriers in using CALL within EAP courses: infrastructural, institutional, technological, pedagogical, psychological/personal, and sociocultural/ political. Finally, several potential solutions were suggested to ameliorate the opportunities and minimize the costs of CALL in the Iranian context. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
Using Language Corpora to Develop a Virtual Resource Center for Business English
Author: Ngo, Thi Phuong Le
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Computational Linguistics,Data Analysis,Business Communication,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Computer Simulation,Task Analysis,Grammar,Language Processing,Problem Solving,Decision Making,Memory,Foreign Countries,Independent Study,Program Descriptions,Business English,English (Second Language),Student Surveys,Student Attitudes,Learning Activities

A Virtual Resource Center (VRC) has been brought into use since 2008 as an integral part of a task-based language teaching and learning program for Business English courses at Nantes University, France. The objective of the center is to enable students to work autonomously and individually on their language problems so as to improve their language skills. We are currently developing the center by applying the theory of Data-Driven Learning, (DDL, Johns, 1991), with the hope to encourage more students' engagement in the center. This paper will describe how micro-tasks have been designed based on DDL theory and integrated to the VRC in order to help learners overcome their grammar problems. The researcher will follow the activities on the VRC of a group of 30 students over six weeks in order to raise students' awareness about the VRC and encourage them to work on their grammar problems on the center. The expected outcome is that students will engage more in the VRC and through a series of processing stages, i.e. thinking and reasoning, solving problems and making decisions, and regular practice, information can be transferred to the long-term memory to be retrieved in the future (Ellis, 2008). [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
Exploring the Interaction between Learners and Tools in E-Learning Environments
Author: Meri, Serpil
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Subjects: Interaction,Electronic Learning,Educational Technology,Observation,Interviews,Foreign Students,English for Academic Purposes,Integrated Learning Systems,Technology Uses in Education,Blended Learning,College Students,Foreign Countries,Qualitative Research,Protocol Analysis,Semi Structured Interviews,Student Attitudes

The present research explores the interaction between learners and tools in e-learning environments. In order to explore that issue, this study analyzed and interpreted the findings obtained through observation and interview with 10 international students who wished to improve their learning of English by using the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) toolkit equipped and accessed in Blackboard, where learners can easily use it. Along with data from three-time observations and interviews, an in-depth dataset was provided by means of the think-aloud protocol method, which indicated what the students were doing with and thinking of their experiences in the process of learning in the toolkit. The findings showed that there was a substantial indication of the interaction between learners and tools in e-learning environments and the perceptions about their experience in learning in a self-directed e-learning environment, which might help designers to consider some aspects while they are setting up and improving the tools and online learning resources. In addition, the results provide more issues to discuss in terms of the benefit of promoting interaction in self-directed e-learning environments. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]
Cross-Cultural Discussions in a 3D Virtual Environment and Their Affordances for Learners' Motivation and Foreign Language Discussion Skills
Author: Jauregi, Kristi
Date: 2015-08-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Case Studies,Foreign Countries,Debate,Computer Simulation,Teaching Methods,Computer Assisted Instruction,High School Students,Student Motivation,Language Proficiency,Computer Mediated Communication,Cooperative Learning,Intercultural Communication,Control Groups,Self Efficacy,Anxiety,Questionnaires,Student Attitudes,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Discussion,Pretests Posttests

Within the European TILA project a case study was carried out where pupils from schools in Finland and the Netherlands engaged in debating sessions using the 3D virtual world of OpenSim once a week for a period of 5 weeks. The case study had two main objectives: (1) to study the impact that the discussion tasks undertaken in a virtual environment have on the discussion skills and motivations of high school pupils, and (2) to explore how the presence of a peer from a different culture might influence the discussions and pupils' engagement. The discussion tasks in virtual worlds were very much appreciated by the participants. Telecollaboration, or the possibility to interact with pupils across borders, was found to have an additional motivational effect on pupils. Even if participants with varying linguistic resources may successfully work together in many authentic situations, telecollaboration in a Lingua Franca with focus on debates, for example, requires careful matching of the participants according to their proficiency levels. Otherwise the experience might increase anxiety levels of the less proficient pupils. [For full proceedings, see ED564162.]