ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Using Debate in EFL Classes
Author: Alasmari, Ali
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Teaching Methods,Debate,Instructional Effectiveness,Skill Development,Prediction,Student Motivation,Oral Language,Language Skills

The countries that use English as a foreign language need effective activities which propel students to practice skills of the language properly inside as well as outside classrooms. Debating is a practice that inspires learners to open their mouth, get into discussion, defend their own positions, place counter arguments and also conduct research on related issues. While debating in English, the debaters get involved into a challenging and thrilling activity; moreover, they find themselves well-conversant in the aforesaid language. This paper presents the rationale behind using debate in EFL classes and proposes a few modules of debating which, if practiced properly, will make students confident users of English language in academic, social and professional settings. The paper also examines utilities of the modules and exhibits how students while practicing debate can improve their English language as well as presentation skills. The modules can be practiced in EFL classes, English language centers, debating clubs or other formal and informal settings where teaching-learning of English language is concerned.
Language Learning Strategies of English for Specific Purposes Students at a Public University in Malaysia
Author: Shah, Mohamed Ismail Ahamad
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Second Language Learning,Learning Strategies,English (Second Language),Foreign Countries,Teaching Methods,Course Content,Language of Instruction,Standards,College Students,Universities,Measures (Individuals),Gender Differences,Statistical Analysis,English for Academic Purposes

Studies on strategy research have shown the usefulness and importance of language learning strategies (LLS) for ESL and EFL learners. However, research on content-based learners in relation to English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) has yet to be undertaken. This study, therefore, investigated the learning strategies of students at a public English medium university in Malaysia. The study was mainly motivated by concerns about the standards of English of graduates of Malaysian universities. These concerns have also been expressed by the university authorities. The purpose of the research was to investigate the patterns of LLS as reported by the students according to gender, courses, and undergraduate programmes. A total of 312 students from three degree programmes participated in this study. Their learning strategies were investigated based on the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) (Oxford, 1990). The findings of the study indicated that the students from the different degree programmes differed in the use of LLS. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between LLS and gender.
English as a Foreign Language at the University of Yaounde 1: Attitudes and Pedagogic Practices
Author: Enongene, Eric Ekembe
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Student Attitudes,Goal Orientation,Educational Practices,Teacher Surveys,Student Surveys,Teacher Attitudes,Student Motivation,Questionnaires

Learners' goals and attitudes constitute an essential determinant of how they learn the target language. Whether positive or negative, they determine classroom practices and are affected by what happens in the classroom (Dörnyei 2003). The complex relationship between learners' attitudes and the actual teaching of English as a foreign language at the University of Yaounde 1 challenges the purpose for which English is learned. Given the increasing space and awareness English is gaining around the world, its teaching deserves more attention than is given at the university level in Cameroon. From a survey of 966 students and 27 teachers this paper examines how the attitudes of current EFL learners at the Yaounde 1 University are affected by the actual teaching of English from a process oriented perspective. Teacher practices account for learners' negative attitudes towards English on a significant note. While this has implications for both academic policies and professional training in general, the question of a more situated framework for training is emphasised.
The ESP Instruction: A Study Based on the Pattern of Autonomous Inquiry
Author: Zhang, Jianfeng
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English for Special Purposes,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Independent Study,Inquiry,Goal Orientation,Models,Problem Solving,College Students,College Instruction

Autonomous inquiry learning is a kind of learning model, which relies mainly on learners and emphasizes that learners should inquire knowledge actively; moreover, ESP, which emphasizes the combination of language learning and specific purposes learning, is a goal-oriented and well targeted instruction system. Therefore, ESP and autonomous inquiry can be mixed to construct a new model of instruction, which makes the learners explore and construct the knowledge as well as solving problems through acquired knowledge. The ability of autonomous learning will be strengthened. Meanwhile, English language teaching and professional skills can be mixed as well, so the performance of college English instruction can be improved significantly and the needs of national economic development and international communication can be met.
Analysis of Mongolian Students' Common Translation Errors and Its Solutions
Author: Zhao, Changhua
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Translation,Error Analysis (Language),Error Patterns,Cultural Awareness,Language Patterns,College Students,Teacher Student Relationship,Interpersonal Communication,Grammar

In Inner Mongolia, those Mongolian students face lots of difficulties in learning English. Especially the English translation ability of Mongolian students is a weak point. It is worth to think a problem that how to let our students use the English freely on a certain foundation. This article investigates the problems of Mongolian English learners by analyzing some errors in their English-Chinese translation in three ways. Such as their inflexible use of translation skills, mistakes in idiomatic usage, inflexible and boring statements and the lack of knowledge in cultural background. The paper also offers some solutions to the problems.
Inference Strategies to Improve Reading Comprehension of Challenging Texts
Author: Attaprechakul, Damrong
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Reading Comprehension,Reading Improvement,Graduate Students,Education,Economic Development,Interviews,Help Seeking,Inferences,Reading Strategies,Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Readability Formulas,Readability

This study aimed to explore inference strategies necessary to successfully read journal articles. Eighty-eight graduate students read a set of texts on education and economic growth and answered comprehension questions. Twenty-four of these participants also volunteered for an in-depth interview. The findings revealed that students usually relied on their bottom-up processing. They skipped difficult parts, especially technical information and graphic illustrations. They sought help from friends to enhance their understanding. Overall, they were successful at interpreting the thesis statement, the gist of the section, the meaning of the tested words and clause. However, they were less able to infer the underlying argument, the tone of the article, and the attitudes of others toward the research findings. A substantial number of students also failed to utilize information from section headings and the organization of research articles to guide their reading tasks.
Language Learning Motivation among Malaysian Pre-University Students
Author: Muftah, Muneera
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Student Motivation,College Students,Questionnaires,Student Attitudes,Positive Attitudes,Demography,Likert Scales

The study describes and examines Malaysian pre-university students' integrative and instrumental motivation toward learning English language. In this study, 182 non-English major students in one of the Malaysian public universities are selected to fill out a questionnaire reflecting their attitudes and motivation towards learning English. The findings indicate that Malaysian pre-university students have very high motivation and positive attitudes towards leaning English and that they are more instrumentally motivated. Based on the findings some suggestions and recommendations for teachers have been highlighted.
&quot;Sort of&quot; in British Women's and Men's Speech
Author: Miettinen, Hanna
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Usage,Computational Linguistics,Gender Differences,Language Patterns,Affective Behavior

This paper (Note 1) examines the form sort of in British men and women's speech, and investigates whether there is a gender difference in the use of this form. We do so through corpus analysis of the British National Corpus (BNC). We contend there is no quantitative difference in the use of sort of in men and women's speech. Contrary to general belief, we claim women do not use hedges more than men. However, there is a functional difference. Men and women use the item sort of for slightly different functions: in particular, women use these forms as politeness devices more often than men. The results of this study do not present any evidence to support the widespread claim that women use the forms sort of more than men do. There is no significant gender difference in the frequency of sort of. In the light of these results, women's allegedly greater usage of these forms could be regarded as persistent folklore. Furthermore, sort of has been treated mainly as a sign of powerlessness and uncertainty. Yet, this study indicates that it is a useful interpersonal resource, which both men and women seem to appreciate. When examining the affective function in greater detail, some marked gender differences emerge. The main finding is that positive affect is more common in women's speech, whereas negative affect is clearly more frequent in men's speech. In much of the research on gender differentiated conversational strategies, women's language is presented as co-operative and men's language as competitive. The results of this study show that, with respect to sort of, such a distinction cannot be drawn. Even if negative affect is more common in men's than in women's speech, by far the most instances of interpersonal function occur in essentially co-operative behaviour not only in women's but also in men's speech. This notion does not fit the description of men's speech style being competitive and prone to conflict. Hence, the results of this study suggest that men use the marker sort of more co-operatively than many researchers allow for.
Impact of English Orthography on L2 Acquisition
Author: Sipra, Muhammad Aslam
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Phonology,Spelling,Urdu,Phoneme Grapheme Correspondence,Inferences,Pronunciation,Literary Genres,Cognitive Processes,Contrastive Linguistics

English language has become unavoidable being a global language in the present era. Whether it is a field of business, technology or education, its significance can't be denied. Thus, majority of the world is learning and speaking English owing to its dire need. Unfortunately, despite staining through different reforms, the orthography of English language failed to become learners' friendly as it seems to be a queer language for the beginners. The present study describes the ways how English orthography becomes impediment for EFL learners. It elucidates how learners in general and Urdu learners of English language in particular, are influenced by its deep orthography. The article reviews the interesting history of English orthography. Moreover, it reveals the phonological relationship between Urdu and English Consonants that causes inferences based on grapheme to phoneme conversion. The study highlights problems posed by English vowels resulting in wrong assumptions by L2 learners from English orthography. It sums up showing the significance of phonological awareness of English spellings to avoid wrong L2 phonology.
Scenarios for the Use of OpenCourseWare in the Context of Student Mobility
Author: Truyen, Fred
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Courseware,Student Mobility,Electronic Learning,College Students,Foreign Countries,Lifelong Learning,Open Education,Online Courses,Study Abroad

In the context of a European OpenCourseWare project, funded by the EU Lifelong Learning Program, a handbook has been created with the purpose of showing how students and universities throughout Europe can get the most out of OpenCourseWare in order to become part of new learning communities and facilitate virtual exchange across borders. The main part of the handbook is the presentation of the Student Mobility Cycle that has been developed within the project and that defines five phases in the process of a student participating in Student Mobility. This article describes the five phases, each consisting of one or more scenarios that show the added value of OpenCourseWare in that particular phase. [This paper was presented at the 2014 OpenCourseWare Consortium Global Conference, held in Ljubljana (Slovenia) in April 2014.]
Problem-Based Learning in the English Language Classroom
Author: Othman, Normala
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Problem Based Learning,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Course Content,Control Groups,Experimental Groups,Comparative Analysis,Language Proficiency,Undergraduate Students,Pretests Posttests,Writing Tests,Grades (Scholastic)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the problem-based learning approach (PBL) on students in language classes in two areas: course content and language development. The study was conducted on 128 students, grouped into the experimental and control groups, and employed an experimental research design. The syllabus, textbook, and instructor were controlled for both groups. The findings of the study showed that in terms of course content, both groups improved but in terms of language the PBL group showed more improvements. The PBL group showed improvements in the post-writing test, that is, their essays were richer in terms of support and arguments for each point, while the non-PBL did not show much difference in their post-writing test. This indicates that students could still acquire the course content with minimal content instruction. The limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are offered at the end of the paper.
The Formation and Development of Chinese EFL Learners' English Mental Lexicon
Author: Dai, Zhongxin
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Language Proficiency,Vocabulary Development,Word Recognition,College Students,Language Tests

This paper investigated some dominant features and influential factors in the formation and developmental process of the English mental lexicon of Chinese EFL learners. Data were collected by means of word tests. The result of the data analysis shows: (1) Chinese EFL learners acquire very little of the overall word knowledge; and (2) aspects of the multifaceted word knowledge increase with the improvement of their language proficiency.
The Impact of Good Quality Instructions of Early Education on the Performance of University Newcomers
Author: AL-Othman, F. H.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Educational Quality,Outcomes of Education,Prior Learning,Early Childhood Education,College Freshmen,Academic Achievement,Adjustment (to Environment),Intervention,Tutors,Educational Benefits,Barriers,Cognitive Development

Good quality instruction in the early years of education has a positive impact in helping newcomers in universities and colleges to adapt to the new environment. This concept is widely applied in contemporary higher education because of the numerous benefits it offers to the students and the instructors. It, is not therefore, subject to the context from which the writer comes from but it is considered a global issue which requires rigorous investigation from researchers and educators from different academic backgrounds on the grounds that newcomers in institutions of higher education are faced with numerous challenges that render them incapable of adapting, and performing well in their first days. Intensification of good quality instruction is inevitable for students to perform well in such an academic climate. Therefore, this article focuses on numerous components of good quality instruction, interventions made by university tutors, and the negative effects of lack of good quality instruction on the educational process of learners at a later stage. Moreover, the paper focuses on the importance of quality education to newcomers in preparation for higher levels of educations in order to be prepared for life challenges after graduation. It also attempts to describe the nature in which contemporary higher learning has evolved to necessitate adoption of good quality instruction in the curriculum.
Superintendent Response to the Financial Downturn
Author: Starrett, Teresa Martin
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Superintendents,Economic Climate,Financial Problems,Retrenchment,School District Spending,Administrator Attitudes,Online Surveys,Educational Policy,Change Strategies

In this study, 79 local school district leaders from the state of Texas were contacted and asked for their input relating to strategic practices used during an economic downturn. Findings describe how the recent funding cuts affected the varied districts; how the districts fared in comparison with similar districts in the area; steps the district took before and after budget cuts were mandated to ameliorate the financial situation; and strategies/procedures they wished the district had undertaken. Generally, leaders expressed pleasure in the way the downturn had been addressed by policies/strategies/personnel within their own district. The study offers helpful and interesting information to educational leaders who are faced with difficult economic circumstances.
Students' Perceptions of Electronic Feedback as an Alternative to Handwritten Feedback: One University's Inquiry
Author: Edeiken-Cooperman, Nanette
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,Feedback (Response),Preferences,Computer Mediated Communication,Handwriting,Formative Evaluation,Summative Evaluation,Mixed Methods Research,Education Majors,Online Surveys,Elementary Education,Special Education,Teacher Student Relationship,Efficiency,Readability

This study explored the area of effective feedback and whether undergraduate students prefer electronic or handwritten feedback. In teacher training programs this determination has become crucial because of the escalation in the number of formative assessments replacing summative assessments. A mixed methodology design was completed that involved participants that were undergraduate students who were education majors enrolled in the spring of 2013. An online application of a survey was used for data collection that was composed of 29 close-ended questions and 4 open-ended questions. The survey's closed-ended questions referred to demographic information, as well as preference questions concerning feedback in the form of handwritten or electronic responses. The researchers found that the participating undergraduate students who were either Elementary Education majors or double majors in Elementary Education and Special Education were equally split in their preference, with 50% preferring handwritten and 50% preferring electronic feedback. In addition, the results consisted of four identified themes; personal, efficiency, legibility, and individualization. The striking conclusion was that students reported overwhelmingly that handwritten feedback was preferred because it gave them the ability to establish a more personal rapport with their professors.
Unfold the Veil Covering News--A Case Study of English Language and Ideology in Both American and Chinese Press
Author: Gao, Li
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: News Reporting,Chinese,Grammar,Language Research,Law Enforcement,English,Ideology,Contrastive Linguistics,Teaching Methods,Foreign Countries,Language Usage,Discourse Analysis

By taking Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) as research approach, this study analyzes and discusses two news reports related to the event that a Uyghur man was sentenced to death by the Intermediate People's Court in Xinjiang, a western province of China. Both news reports on that event are taken respectively from two newspapers published in English language but with clearly opposed ideology, &quot;CNN&quot; and &quot;China Daily&quot;. We have found that, however, these two news reports are quite different and even completely opposite in making use of three saliently patterned linguistic features, that is, transitivity, naming of news actor and quotation patterns. We argue that the different even opposite selection in the three aspects in the two news reports are not arbitrary, but rather are ideologically motivated. Finally, we suggest that teachers are supposed to teach and help students read news reports with critical eyes.
The Nature of Reflective Practice and Emotional Intelligence in Tutorial Settings
Author: Gill, Gobinder Singh
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reflective Teaching,Emotional Intelligence,Teaching Methods,Tutoring,Self Concept,Focus Groups,Teacher Competencies,Faculty Development,Statistical Analysis,Questionnaires,Empathy,Motivation,Self Control,Interpersonal Relationship,Scores,Age Differences

The purpose of this paper was to assess the nature of reflective practice and emotional intelligence in tutorial settings. Following the completion of a self-report measure of emotional intelligence, practitioners incorporated a model of reflective practice into their tutorial sessions. Practitioners were instructed to utilise reflective practice and emotional intelligence with their students during weekly tutorials for three weeks. It was postulated that a relationship between reflective practice and emotional intelligence would emerge. Results indicated that reflective practice enabled practitioners to enhance their emotional intelligence skills, specifically self-awareness. In addition, focus group interviews identified that practitioners adopted a range of strategies to increase their own emotional intelligence skills and improve reflective practice. Considerations for future investigations would include a longitudinal design that would use semi-structured interviews to enable deeper understanding of reflective practice and emotional intelligence.