ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
An Investigation into the Characteristics of Iranian EFL Teachers of Senior Secondary Schools and Language Institutes
Author: Afshar, Hassan Soodmand
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Characteristics,Likert Scales,Oral Language,Semi Structured Interviews,Secondary School Students,Statistical Analysis,Questionnaires,Language Teachers,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Content Analysis,Teacher Attitudes,Foreign Countries

The present study explored the characteristics of 147 Iranian EFL teachers teaching at senior secondary schools (N = 62) and those teaching in private language institutes (N = 85). Data were collected through a Likert-scale teacher characteristics questionnaire mainly adapted from Borg (2006). Also, for data triangulation purposes, 20 teachers from each group (i.e., 40 in total) were randomly selected and attended a semi-structured interview. The results of Independent Samples t-test indicated, overall, there was a significant difference between the characteristics of senior secondary school teachers and those of language institute teachers. Moreover, the results of Chi-square analysis and content analysis of interviews revealed that EFL teachers of language institutes and senior secondary schools were significantly different regarding some specific characteristics commonly ascribed to successful teaching including good command of aural-oral skills, &quot;being disciplined and punctual&quot;, &quot;being open to criticism&quot;, &quot;respecting the personality of students&quot;, &quot;listening to students' opinions and letting them express themselves&quot;, and &quot;showing interest in students and their learning&quot;. The findings of the study might prove fruitful for syllabus designers, teacher educators and pre-service EFL teachers as discussed in the paper.
The Available Lexicon: A Tool for Selecting Appropriate Vocabulary to Teach a Foreign Language
Author: Muñoz, Antonio Manuel Ávila
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Vocabulary Development,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Mathematical Concepts,Linguistic Competence,Standards,Guidelines,Word Frequency,Computational Linguistics,Foreign Countries,Correlation

This study aims to provide foreign language professionals with a sound methodology for selecting a suitable lexicon apropos of their students' level in the language. The justification of said selection is, herein, rooted in a cognitive argument: If we are able to observe the manner in which words are organized within the mind, we will be better able to select the words needed for the natural process of communication. After analyzing over lists of lexical availability compiled by previous analyses, this study puts forth a glossary filtered by way of an objective procedure based on the mathematical concept known as &quot;Fuzzy Expected Value.&quot; I begin first by rigorously defining the concept of lexical availability and then thoroughly examining and explaining the manner in which I have obtained the results. Next, I employ the cognitive theory of prototypes to expound upon the organizational apparatus which arranges words within speakers' minds. Subsequently, and in accordance with objective criteria, a lexical selection is proposed. To end, I contemplate and muse upon the significance of a program that would enable us to identify the most appropriate vocabulary according to the students' level of linguistic competence. In order to further substantiate this study, it will be juxtaposed with the specific notions outlined by the curriculum of The Cervantes Institute. Moreover, it will relate to the teaching levels proposed by the &quot;American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages&quot; (ACTFL) and &quot;Common European Framework of Reference&quot; for Languages (CEFR).
Lived Experience as Pedagogical Resource: Towards an Auto-Ethnographic Pedagogy of Writing
Author: Voorhees, T.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Autobiographies,Ethnography,Writing (Composition),Writing Instruction,Curriculum,Self Esteem,Cultural Awareness,Social Environment,Semi Structured Interviews,College Freshmen,Case Studies,Data Analysis,Writing Attitudes

The key element of auto-ethnography, as distinct from memoir and autobiography, is the positioning of the writer within the social, cultural, economic, and political framework of what is being observed. T. Voorhees saw immense value in this positioning for students today, especially newer college students who understand their relationship to higher education differently than the students of ten or twenty years earlier did. In this article Voorhees describes a study focused on answering the following questions: (1) How does the participation in an auto-ethnography based writing pedagogy foster the creation of participants' writing selves? (2) What role might an auto-ethnography based writing curriculum play in developing students' writing confidence? and (3) How might students use these tools enhance the quality of their writing? To answer these questions, Voorhees designed a multiple case study using four participants and their writing instructor. The study was conducted at a small private college in New England. An auto-ethnography pedagogy was piloted in all fifteen sections of the first course in the two-course first-year writing program. The basic premise of the pedagogy is that students, through various printed and visual media, would be exposed to a variety of ethnographic or ethnographic-like depictions of various cultures, and would then be asked to create an auto-ethnographic account of what it was like to grow up in their respective social contexts and what that means in terms of who they have become. The primary data source were semi-structured interviews conducted on the focus students and their professor. Students' writing (which included formal and informal assignments, journals, and in-class writing) and in-class observations constituted additional data sources. Three major themes emerged from the findings: (1) all of the participants provided data that supported the notion of a connection between writing, this course, and identity; (2) the increased level of confidence the participants gained in relationship to their ability to write; and (3) all of the participants felt that their writing quality had improved through activities in the course.
Prioritizing Student Skill Development in the Small College Literature Survey
Author: Kalata, Kristianne
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Small Colleges,Skill Development,English Curriculum,Needs Assessment,Educational Strategies,Institutional Characteristics,Cultural Influences,Creative Writing,Literary Criticism,Integrated Curriculum,Student Projects,Student Research,Teaching Methods,Introductory Courses,English Literature

This essay describes the successes and challenges of skills-based literature survey courses in the small liberal arts college setting of Westminster College (New Wilmington, PA). It considers the overall purpose of the survey in the skills-based English curriculum and then focuses on the integration of literary theory and creative writing as means of developing student skills and meeting program objectives.
Doesn't That Sound Smarter?: An Analysis of the Writing Style of a Group of Advanced First-Year Writers
Author: Shehi, Monika
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Writing Skills,Literary Styles,Freshman Composition,Sentence Structure,Semi Structured Interviews,Academic Discourse,Student Attitudes,Difficulty Level,Writing Instruction,Action Research,Preferences

This project was born out of my preoccupation with my students' struggle to articulate their ideas at the sentence level. After being assigned an English 102 Honors class, I realized that although the sentences of these advanced writers were grammatically correct, they were stylistically problematic because they were often obscure and evasive instead of precise and to the point. When the students resisted my request for clarity, I decided to conduct semi-structured interviews with each of them in order to better understand the motivations behind their stylistic choices. In this paper I analyze the interviews in the context of composition scholarship that has examined the style of academic discourse in order to determine what the interviews reveal about how this group of first-year writers tried to negotiate the stylistic requirements of academic writing.
Black Lives Matter: Teaching African American Literature and the Struggle
Author: Gross, Jeffrey
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: African American Literature,African Americans,Social Justice,Racial Bias,Consciousness Raising,Civics,Cultural Awareness,United States History,African American History,Teaching Methods,Higher Education,Undergraduate Study,Reading Material Selection,Novels,Democracy,Role of Education,Praxis

In theorizing how we should pedagogically approach African American literature, especially in courses for undergraduates, I argue that we have to move away from questions of what was or even what is African American literature and, instead, find ways to teach African American literature in both its historical contexts--artistic and political--and its contemporary resonances. We can embrace the ways the field and each piece of literature simultaneously was and is. Importantly, we can think about what both African American literature and the course on this literature need to be in ways that focus on past, present, and future. For students, African American literature can be a living voice in a broader trajectory of civil and social death, de jure and de facto discrimination, and the struggle for social justice. Our current moment demands it, and the persistence of the Black Lives Matter movement--from its origins in the wake of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown's deaths into the early stages of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaigns' warrants, or perhaps even necessitates, a pedagogy that positions African American literature courses as spaces on campuses where the vulnerabilities of and violent acts against black lives can be discussed. In this paper, I am particularly interested in examining both the praxis of teaching African American literature as part of a cultural and civic literacy program for our students and then in examining the larger stakes of our moment, both for racism in the United States and the role of literature courses of programs.
Teaching with Socio-Scientific Issues in Physical Science: Teacher and Students' Experiences
Author: Talens, Joy
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Science and Society,Science Instruction,Physical Sciences,Science Teachers,Teacher Researchers,Teaching Experience,Student Experience,Controversial Issues (Course Content),Energy,College Students,Qualitative Research,Nonmajors,Foreign Countries

Socio-scientific issues (SSI) are recommended by many science educators worldwide for learners to acquire first hand experience to apply what they learned in class. This investigated experiences of teacher-researcher and students in using SSI in Physical Science, Second Semester, School Year 2012-2013. Latest and controversial news articles on sources of energy were chosen for analysis. Based on the findings, the teacher-researcher was able to choose issues based on a set of criteria and students related what they learned inside the classroom with real life situations and its positive and negative impact to people and environment. A model of learning approach for teaching SSI in Physical Science was proposed.
Preference of Students on the Format of Options in a Multiple-Choice Test
Author: Oyzon, Voltaire Q.
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Student Attitudes,Preferences,Test Format,Multiple Choice Tests,Student Surveys,Statistical Analysis,Preservice Teachers,Teacher Education Programs

Schools in the Philippines, especially those that are offering teacher education programs, are advised to construct examinations that are Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET)-like test items. This is because &quot;if any aspect of a test is unfamiliar to candidates, they are likely to perform less well than they would do otherwise on subsequently taking a parallel version, for example. &quot;Using the education students of Leyte Normal University, Southern Leyte State University-Tomas Oppus Campus, and Visayas State University, this study determined the students' preference on the arrangements/format of options in a multiple-choice test through a survey questionnaire. Moreover, it tried to find out the reasons behind the preferences. Mean, frequency and Chi-square tests were used in the analysis of data. Results revealed that the cascading arrangement is the most preferred arrangement of options and the one-line horizontal arrangement is the least preferred arrangement of options in a multiple-choice test. The reasons identified were organized and easy to read, less confusing and easier to distinguish and vertically arranged thus require less eye movement. Moreover, the reasons for the lower case preference were it is usual and commonly used in a multiple-choice test, clear and gives less eye and mental pressure and easier to read and write. And lastly, the relationship between the students' preference of the arrangement of options in a multiple-choice test and the letter case options were tested using the Chi-square test. Hence, it is argued that in constructing a multiple-choice test, one has to consider using the cascading arrangement.
Midwives Performance in Early Detection of Growth and Development Irregularities of Children Based on Task Commitment
Author: Utami, Sri
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Allied Health Personnel,Obstetrics,Child Development,Identification,Foreign Countries,Job Performance,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis,Models

The purpose of this study was to analyze the performance of midwives based on the task commitment. This was an observational analytic with cross sectional approach. Multistage random sampling was used to determine the public health center, proportional random sampling to selected participants. The samples were 222 midwives in the public health center of Surabaya City. Data were collected by questionnaires on exogenous variables and sheet of data collectors for the performance of midwives. Data was analyzed by Partial Least Square (PLS). This study found the results of the self leadership directly affects the performance with the value of T-statistic of 3.852 &gt; T-table (1.96) with the value of the path coefficient of 0.257, while the value of the indirect influence on the strategy of self leadership performance through mediator task commitment with path coefficient value of 0.053. These models can be used as a reference in improving the performance of midwives in other activities related to maternal and child health services.
Supporting Parents to Help Toddlers with Autism Risk Make Social Connections
Author: Schertz, Hannah H.
Date: 2017-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Early Intervention,Parents,Toddlers,At Risk Persons,Autism,Interpersonal Competence,Interpersonal Communication,Family Programs,Interaction,Communication Skills,Parent Child Relationship,Attention,Child Behavior,Nonverbal Communication,Imitation,Verbal Communication,Pervasive Developmental Disorders

The purpose of this article is to help early interventionists who work with families of toddlers showing early signs of autism think through the &quot;what&quot; and the &quot;how&quot; of early intervention for toddlers with social communication difficulties, even though the child has not yet been diagnosed. Questions include the following: (1) What is most important for toddlers and families to learn; and (2) How can interventionists provide families with the tools to make good decisions in everyday interactions with their toddlers? This article provides strategies to engage toddlers with early signs of autism to expand their interests to include interaction with people and promote social communication. Parent-invented &quot;idea starters&quot; to promote preverbal parent-toddler social interaction are provided. The frame work presented provides a conceptual base upon which parents can create their own activities that match the child's current social communicative competencies.
Effects of an Employer-Based Intervention on Employment Outcomes for Youth with Significant Support Needs Due to Autism
Author: Wehman, Paul
Date: 2017-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Autism,Pervasive Developmental Disorders,High School Students,Intervention,Employment,Job Skills,Randomized Controlled Trials,Positive Behavior Supports,Job Training,Education Work Relationship,Outcomes of Education,Employment Potential,Statistical Significance,Interviews

The purpose of this study was to develop and investigate an employer-based 9-month intervention for high school youth with autism spectrum disorder to learn job skills and acquire employment. The intervention modified a program titled Project SEARCH and incorporated the use of applied behavior analysis to develop Project SEARCH plus Autism Spectrum Disorder Supports. A randomized clinical trial compared the implementation of Project SEARCH plus Autism Spectrum Disorder Supports with high school special education services as usual. Participants were 49 high-school-aged individuals between the ages of 18 and 21 years diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and eligible for supported employment. Students also had to demonstrate independent self-care. At 3 months post-graduation, 90% of the treatment group acquired competitive, part-time employment earning US$9.53-US$10.66 per hour. Furthermore, 87% of those individuals maintained employment at 12 months post-graduation. The control group's employment outcomes were 6% acquiring employment by 3 months post-graduation and 12% acquiring employment by 12 months post-graduation. The positive employment outcomes generated by the treatment group provide evidence that youth with autism spectrum disorder can gain and maintain competitive employment. Additionally, there is evidence that they are able to advance within that time toward more weekly hours worked, while they also displayed increasing independence in the work setting.
A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Interventions Aimed to Prevent or Reduce Violence in Teen Dating Relationships
Author: De La Rue, Lisa
Date: 2017-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Intervention,Violence,Dating (Social),Adolescents,Meta Analysis,School Activities,Middle Schools,High Schools,Statistical Analysis,Prevention,Program Effectiveness

The incidence of violence in dating relationships has a significant impact on young people, including decreased mental and physical health. This review is the first to provide a quantitative synthesis of empirical evaluations of school-based programs implemented in middle and high schools that sought to prevent or reduce incidents of dating violence. After a systematic search and screening procedure, a meta-analysis of 23 studies was used to examine the effects of school-based programs. Results indicated school-based programs influence dating violence knowledge (g-bar = 0.22, 95% confidence interval [0.05, 0.39]) and attitudes (g-bar = 0.14, 95% confidence interval [0.10, 0.19]); however, to date, the results for dating violence perpetration and victimization indicate programs are not affecting these behaviors to a significant extent. The results of this review are encouraging, but they also highlight the need for modifications to dating violence prevention programs including the incorporation of skill-building components and a need to address the role of bystanders.
The Role of Information Literacy Competence and Higher Order Thinking Skills to Develop Academic Writing in Science and Engineering Students
Author: Kumari, B. Kranthi
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Information Literacy,Thinking Skills,Academic Discourse,Writing (Composition),Engineering Education,Science Education,Undergraduate Students,Writing Skills,Skill Development,Intervention,Writing Instruction,Cognitive Processes,Units of Study,Discussion (Teaching Technique)

This article discusses a study organized to develop academic writing skills in undergraduate students pursuing engineering courses. The target group consisted of 30 students pursuing a Bachelor of Technology in their third year. The classroom observations regarding teaching writing revealed that writing proficiency for most of the students was at a very low level. Followed by this, an intervention program was organized in one college, where the researcher taught academic writing to the students. Units comprising tasks that focused on raising awareness of the academic texts and involving the students in the cognitive processes of writing were designed. The study focused on raising student awareness regarding the nature and characteristics of academic texts in order to develop academic writing skills. The study also emphasized that involving the students in the cognitive processes of writing (e.g., defining the rhetorical problem, identifying the rhetorical situation, determining the audience, setting goals for writing, planning for the text by generating, and organizing ideas) is necessary. The study further suggests that discussions between students and teachers regarding the construction of a text and the way language works in various text types facilitates better writing.
Empowering Engineering Students through Employability Skills
Author: Kaushal, Urvashi
Date: 2016-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Empowerment,Employment Potential,Job Skills,Engineering Education,College Students,Foreign Countries,Skill Development,College Role

A professional course program like engineering strives to get the maximum number of its students placed through campus interviews. While communication skills have been added in all the engineering courses with the aim to improve their performance in placement, the syllabus mostly concentrates on the development of four language skills. The students are not made aware of the employability skills and their significance. This essay intends to enlist the importance of skills and why students need to be aware of the skills they possess and how they can work on packaging their candidature around a few skills. The discussion starts by addressing the apparent gap between academic programs for engineering students and industry skills requirements. A list of vital employability skills from the standpoint of engineering students follows, with a discussion on how to potentially develop such skills through campus life. The essay stresses the role of academia in filling this gap by acting as facilitators in a three-step process (i.e., awareness, self-analysis, and acquisition). The author concludes that the combination of both employability skills along with an engineering degree should ensure students meet the high expectations of the employers.