ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
A Longitudinal Study on the L2 Word Depth Knowledge (Meaning and Collocation) Development in China from Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective
Author: Dali, Ning
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Phrase Structure,Longitudinal Studies,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,College Freshmen,Vocabulary Development,Language Tests,Individual Differences,Cognitive Style,Teaching Methods,Foreign Countries,Systems Approach,Semantics

This study, adopting a longitudinal approach, traces the dynamic word knowledge development of two essential dimensions (meaning and collocation) both receptively and productively in Chinese context. Seven freshmen students (from the same class in a university in Guangzhou) of different language levels were selected to be observed of their English word knowledge development over one year's time. The results suggest that word knowledge develops with slowdowns and recessions and the dimensions of knowledge develop in an unbalanced way, an indication of the dynamic and complex nature of language learning. Receptive knowledge shows a much more active development than productive knowledge as it grows faster but with more losses as well. Collocation though always shows poorer acquisition results in the two tests, demonstrates a faster growth than meaning knowledge. As to the individual differences, participants who were tested as the higher level of learners did not always show better development in word depth knowledge during the year. The results also reveal the participants' learning preferences (e.g. passive learning style and active learning style). This study sheds light on the L2 vocabulary learning and teaching in Chinese context.
A Comparative Study on Perceptions of English Teachers&apos; Mediation between Private University Teachers and Students
Author: Lei, Jiang
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Comparative Analysis,Language Teachers,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Barriers,Learning Processes,Mediation Theory,Teacher Role,Cognitive Development,Metacognition,Learning Theories,Teacher Attitudes,Private Colleges,Teacher Student Relationship,College Faculty,College Students,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis,Goal Orientation,Foreign Countries,Qualitative Research,Interviews

Mediation theory facilitates teachers and students to tackle the barriers in English teaching and learning process. It offers a sound systematic theoretical fort on which teachers could rely, redefines teachers' roles and functionings in the process of learners' cognitive development and growing self-regulations. The famous psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1978) raised notions in his ZPD theory, Feuerstein (1980) illuminates capable adults as mediators, and defined twelve main features of mediation, which has empirical study value for English teaching. Thus, through quantitative and qualitative research, this paper aims to investigate the perceptions of English teachers' mediation between private university teachers and students, analyze and compare the similarities and differences between them. The results reveal that both teachers and students coming from the two private universities have been aware of the importance of teachers' mediation, however, have different perceptions in the frequency of teachers' mediation. Teachers' actual employment on mediation is weaker than their beliefs on the importance of it.
English-Medium Instruction in Self-Financing Tertiary Institutions in Hong Kong--Views and Practices from the Students
Author: Yeung, Marine
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Language of Instruction,Foreign Countries,Educational Policy,Sino Tibetan Languages,Mandarin Chinese,Higher Education,Official Languages,Language Proficiency,Focus Groups,Student Attitudes,College Students,Private Colleges,Language Usage,Classroom Communication,Qualitative Research,Semi Structured Interviews

The medium of instruction (MOI) has been a bone of contention in Hong Kong, a former British colony, since its colonial days. Despite the Hong Kong government's effort to promote the &quot;biliterate and trilingual&quot; language policy, advocating Cantonese, English and Putonghua as the three official spoken languages and emphasizing the importance of literacy in both written Chinese and English, most tertiary institutions today still adopt English as the medium of instruction (EMI). However, with the expansion of tertiary education in the early 1990s and the decline in the general English language proficiency of university students, some university lecturers have found it difficult to teach in English as required. This raises the issue of the practicality of the indiscriminate adoption of the EMI policy at tertiary level, particularly at the self-financing tertiary institutions where students are generally known to have under-performed in the English subject. In order to understand whether or how the EMI policy is upheld in these institutions, focus group interviews were conducted with students from various programmes of five self-financing tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. The findings indicate these students' strong preference for English-medium instruction with the belief that it can improve their English proficiency, though their actual approaches to coping with the demand on their limited English and how they view and use the three languages in class deserve policy makers' serious consideration.
Free Voluntary Reading: Promoting Vocabulary Learning and Self-Directedness
Author: Durán Bautista, Diana Carolina
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Action Research,Vocabulary Development,Positive Attitudes,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Recreational Reading,Reading Programs,Observation,Needs Assessment,Reading Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Guidelines,Pretests Posttests,Blended Learning,College Students,Diaries,Student Surveys,Book Reviews,English (Second Language),Foreign Countries,Reading Habits,Private Colleges,Mixed Methods Research

This action research study focuses on measuring the impact of a Free Voluntary Reading Program on students' active vocabulary use and self-direction in language learning in two different programs of English as a foreign language. The impetus for this research came from close observation and a needs analysis that confirmed students' reluctant attitude towards reading, due to deficiency in vocabulary, as well as the limited access to books of their interest in the target language. The implementation of the program took place in blended classes in two university contexts, with 14 and 11 students respectively. All the students from both universities were classified in the A1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and their ages ranged from 16-21 years. The data was collected using a pretest and a posttest, students' diaries, pre and post implementation surveys and book reviews. The program attempted to promote extensive reading, self-direction, reading habits, vocabulary gain and a more positive attitude towards written stories.
Pragmatic Empathy as a Grand Strategy in Business Letter Writing
Author: Zhanghong, Xu
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Pragmatics,Empathy,Letters (Correspondence),Business Communication,Computational Linguistics,Discourse Analysis,Communication Strategies,Business English,International Trade,Speech Acts

This paper examines the employment of pragmatic empathy as a grand strategy in business letter writing. To account for the realization of pragmatic empathy in business letters, we make a corpus-based manual analysis of four types of business letters. It is found that (1) the choice of deixis is a major concern in most letters: while second person is often used in competitive letters, first or third person frequently appears in other three types of letters; (2) conventionalized indirectness strategy is often used in competitive business letters while mitigation strategy is preferred in conflictive business letters; (3) the employment of different strategies is an adaptation to various empathetic concerns in business letter writing. It is concluded that different types of business letters are characterized by different pragmatic strategies to achieve empathy. This paper, which is an attempt to investigate business letters from the empathy perspective, sheds light on business discourse research in general and business letter writing in particular.
Work a Way Out: Breaking Monoethnic Isolation through On-Campus Employment
Author: Su, Mengwei
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Students,Student Employment,Social Isolation,Undergraduate Students,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Language Skills,Student Attitudes,Intercultural Communication,Work Environment,Campuses,Educational Policy,Asians,Interpersonal Relationship,Qualitative Research,Phenomenology

Since the global economic recession in 2008, Chinese undergraduate students have quickly risen to be the largest international student population in American colleges and universities, forming a monoethnic group that often isolates itself from domestic students on campuses. This study explores how twelve Chinese undergraduate students utilized on-campus employment as a means of engaging host nationals to improve language skills and engage in cross-cultural interactions. Thematic analysis affirms the efficacy of the university workplace as an educational space outside of the classroom. Based on these findings, various policy recommendation are proposed to improve the management of international student employees.
Adult Competencies and Employment Outcomes among Older Workers in the United States: An Analysis of the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies
Author: Yamashita, Takashi
Date: 2018-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Older Workers,Job Skills,Employment Patterns,International Assessment,Literacy,Multiple Regression Analysis,Statistical Significance,Labor Force,Employment Level,Statistical Analysis

A growing segment of the U.S. workforce--older workers--face challenges such as a greater chance of being unemployed for a longer period of time than younger workers and skill obsolescence in contemporary societies. In an age of fast-paced economic and technological change, ongoing investment in human capital in the form of skill training represents a potential strategy for improving older workers' employment prospects. However, empirical evidence is lacking on the relationship between basic skill competencies and employment outcomes for older workers in general. This study analyzed nationally representative data of adults aged 45 to 65 years (n = 2,169) from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies. Literacy skills were used as the main measure of competencies. Results from multinomial logistic regression identified statistically significant positive associations between literacy skills and employment among older workers. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.
EFL Learners&apos; Intercultural Competence Development through International News
Author: Gómez, Luis Fernando
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Cultural Awareness,News Reporting,Periodicals,Newspapers,Conflict,Sex Fairness,Justice,Social Problems,Questionnaires,Student Attitudes,Instructional Materials,Communicative Competence (Languages),Undergraduate Students,Foreign Countries,Occupational Mobility,Educational Opportunities

This case study analyzed how a group of English learners built critical intercultural awareness through the discussion of cultural events as reported in news media such as &quot;The New York Times,&quot; the &quot;U.S. News,&quot; and &quot;The Telegraph.&quot; Learners' critical reflections on controversial social conflicts related to injustice, gender inequality, and stereotypes in different cultures constituted the core data collected through field notes, logs, and one questionnaire. Findings revealed that English learners not only gained new knowledge about beliefs, values, and behaviors that cause conflict in other cultural communities, but compared them critically to their own culture. This research concluded that integrating news in EFL education can be a salient instructional material to help EFL speakers become more critical intercultural individuals through topics belonging to deep culture.
A Reflection about Self-Plagiarism
Author: Lopera Medina, Sergio Alonso
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Plagiarism,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Qualitative Research,Case Studies,Editing,Authors,Reading Research,Research Reports,Discourse Analysis

This paper explores self-plagiarism in three different articles that reported results of the same research project on reading in a foreign language. This article follows the qualitative research method and an exploratory case study was used. Results support that both inadequate paraphrasing and adequate paraphrasing were given. Regarding inadequate paraphrasing some similar words and ideas were found. On the other hand, using different authors in a specific idea, having different numbers of words in a common issue, and being versatile to present information might lead to adequate paraphrasing. Conclusions suggest that a dialog between editors and authors must be given in order to clear self-plagiarism up. Finally, conclusions also suggest that editors should consider the inclusion of some similar information in articles written by the same author or the same research members. A bibliography is included.
Partnering for Improved Parent Mathematics Engagement
Author: Mangram, Charmaine
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mathematics Instruction,Intervention,Common Core State Standards,Parent Participation,Mexican Americans,African Americans,Problem Solving,School Community Programs,Workshops,Video Technology,Parent Child Relationship,Program Effectiveness,Parents as Teachers,Middle School Students,Minority Group Students,Educational Games,Grade 6,Grade 7,Summer Programs,Observation

Although the Common Core State Standards call on parents to support professional educators' efforts for improving student academic achievement, we have yet to examine how to best support parents in achieving this goal. The present study addresses this need by examining a five-month mathematics intervention which aimed to increase awareness of the eight Common Core State Standards for the Mathematical Practices (CCSS-MP) in a culturally, linguistically, and generationally diverse group of parents. The intervention consisted of five mathematics workshops designed as part of a multilayered collaboration between a community organization and a teacher educator. One Mexican American and two African American parent-child dyads (n = 3) were video recorded solving &quot;rich&quot; mathematics tasks before and after the intervention. Video recordings were coded using a coding scheme developed from the CCSS-MP. Results indicated parent-child dyads engaged in more and a greater variety of the CCSS-MP after the intervention. Also, the ratio of parent to child talk related to the eight mathematical practices decreased. The results suggest that parents' mathematics assistance practices changed in such a way that allowed for their children to enact more of the CCSS-MP, which means that children were engaged more deeply in the doing of mathematics at the second time period. Implications for parent education curriculum designers are discussed.
Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills through Political Cartoons: A Pedagogical Implementation
Author: Esteban Nuñez, Maria Teresa
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Critical Thinking,Thinking Skills,Cartoons,Political Attitudes,Focus Groups,Teaching Methods,Language Teachers,Video Technology,Workshops,Social Problems,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,Teacher Education Programs,Grounded Theory,Student Attitudes,Action Research,Qualitative Research

This article reports a pedagogical implementation carried out with pre-intermediate English students, in an English teacher preparation program at a public university in Colombia. This pedagogical implementation aimed to provide this population with a space to enhance their critical thinking skills through the implementation of a variety of task-based workshops where they were asked to observe, analyze, reflect and discuss about some political cartoons. The data to answer the research question was collected using class video-recordings, students' artifacts and a focus group. As a result of the pedagogical implementation, it was possible to identify how these students became aware of some social and political issues affecting them and their close context, and the importance of stating a position in front of them. Furthermore, students suggested that the workshops developed had shown them a possible pedagogical path they could follow in their future as language teachers.
Language Assessment Literacy for Pre-Service Teachers: Course Expectations from Different Stakeholders
Author: Giraldo, Frank
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teachers,Student Attitudes,Action Research,Questionnaires,College Faculty,Specialists,Language Tests,Faculty Development,Language Teachers,Course Descriptions,Evaluation Methods,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Instructional Design,Teacher Education Programs,Bilingual Education,Foreign Countries,Grounded Theory,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis

In the field of applied linguistics, for the past fifteen years, there have been discussions about language assessment literacy (LAL)--the knowledge, skills, and principles related to assessing language ability--(Davies, 2008; Fulcher, 2012). However, the field lacks research on the professional development of language teachers, particularly pre-service language teachers, through training in language assessment. Our paper focuses on the preliminary findings of an action research study whose goal is to identify the impact of a language assessment course for pre-service teachers in a language teaching program in a state university in Colombia. Data collection for the diagnostic stage of the action research cycle used a multiple-choice questionnaire for student needs and wants, an open questionnaire for professors, an interview with an expert, and researchers' journals. Preliminary findings indicate that there is a need to combine theory and practice of language assessment, with an emphasis on current methodologies for language teaching, assessment in bilingual education, and local policies for assessment. The paper highlights recommendations and challenges when designing a language assessment course based on insights from existing literature and includes implications for professional development.
Motivating English Language Use by Using the Benefits of Technology
Author: Rivera Barreto, Adriana Maritza
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Learning Motivation,Computer Simulation,Computer Mediated Communication,Cooperative Learning,Action Research,Teaching Methods,Management Systems,Foreign Countries,Law Students,Information Technology,Grounded Theory

This paper shares the results of a small-scale research project focused on using technology to motivate the use of English. Tenth semester students from a University in Tunja was the target group to develop the project. It also had as an objective to promote a virtual learning environment to boost English as a foreign language. A field diary, an online forum, a survey, and students' artifacts were used to gather information in this action research study. Findings revealed two categories, firstly, &quot;Collaborative work to instill motivation&quot; which explains why students tend to work better while working in groups and secondly &quot;The use of technology to enhance language learning&quot; where it is described how the use of technology makes students more confident to learn English.
Transactional Communication Strategies to Influence Pre-Service Teachers&apos; Speaking Skill
Author: Muñoz Julio, Wilfrido
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Communication Strategies,Action Research,Elementary School Teachers,Bilingualism,Educational Policy,Speech Communication,Vocabulary Development,Grammar,Language Fluency,Pronunciation,Preservice Teachers,Preservice Teacher Education,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Teaching Methods,Foreign Countries,Workshops,Self Evaluation (Individuals),Bilingual Education,Qualitative Research

This article is about an Action Research project carried out at a public Institution in Sincelejo, Colombia. The research purpose was to determine the effect of transactional communication strategies (TCS) on pre-service teachers' speaking skill. In a diagnostic stage, problems in the speaking skill were identified then an action stage was carried out consisting of six workshops including TCS; a researcher journal, a student self-assessment survey, and a non-participant observation were used for data collection; results suggested a positive impact of TCS on the participants' speaking skill represented in significant progress related to vocabulary, grammar, fluency, attitude, pronunciation, and interaction. Conclusions ratify the importance of TCS in the preparation of future Elementary School teachers in response to national bilingualism policies.
Reversing the Dehumanization of Families of Color in Schools: Community-Based Research in a Race-Conscious Parent Engagement Program
Author: Yull, Denise
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Racial Attitudes,Parent Attitudes,Parent Participation,Mentors,Program Descriptions,Academic Achievement,Participatory Research,Action Research,Barriers,Minority Group Students,Parent Role,Whites,Teacher Student Relationship,Ethnography,Focus Groups,Interviews,Participant Observation,Disadvantaged,High School Students,Parent School Relationship,Equal Education,Program Effectiveness

Parents' involvement in their children's education is widely understood as a key component of educational success. However, schools typically expect parents to engage with the school system in ways consistent with White, middle-class parenting and behavioral norms and in ways that are deferential to the school's agenda. In this article, we report on findings from a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) project--the Parent Mentor Program--in a racially and economically diverse small city in Central New York. The project uses a race- and class-conscious framework to (1) understand barriers to the involvement of parents of color, and (2) reframe parents' role in the school system as advocates whose primary purpose is to bridge cultural disconnects between White teachers and students of color. Drawing upon ethnographic methods of focus groups, interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, we argue that the Parent Mentor Program, in which marginalized parents of color assist in high school classrooms, increases the engagement of parents of color in the school system, produces a close-knit community that reduces parental isolation and that fosters a collective understanding of shared experiences of injustice, and positions parents of color as empowered advocates who work collaboratively with White teachers to promote educational equity for children of color.