ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
An Empirical Study of Chinese EFL Learners&apos; Understanding and Translation of Expressions of Multiplication Entailing &quot;Times&quot;
Author: Li, Jing
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Translation,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Foreign Countries,Multiplication,Student Attitudes,Majors (Students),College Students,Universities,Language Usage,Language Processing,Information Sources,Internet,Ambiguity (Semantics),Error Patterns,Language Teachers,Teacher Competencies

The debate on how to understand such expressions of multiplication entailing &quot;times&quot; as &quot;n times more than&quot; and &quot;increase (by) n times&quot; has been on and off in China since the 1980s. A review of literature seems to suggest that despite early-stage divergence in understanding, there is a general consensus among the Chinese academia at present that the English word &quot;times&quot; entails the base number, and therefore expressions of multiplication like &quot;n times more than&quot; and &quot;increase (by) n times&quot; are equivalent to the expression &quot;n times as much/many as&quot;. This paper intends to find out whether this consensus is reflected in Chinese EFL learners' understanding of those expressions. Altogether 16 English majors from one of the key universities in the northern part of China were tested on their understanding and translation of two passages with embedded arithmetic comparisons using &quot;n times more than&quot; and &quot;increase n times&quot; respectively. It is found that a sizable proportion of them (62.5% for the former and 56.25% for the latter) gave inaccurate translation and that their rendering manifests not only their misunderstanding but also indiscretion in the translating process. Such factors as students' indiscriminate use of information from the Internet, ambiguity and errors in popular grammar books, the presumed disjunction between EFL research and EFL teaching, and the untimely updating of English competence on the part of Chinese EFL teachers in China are proposed as possible reasons.
Factors Affecting Yi Ethnic Minority EFL Learners&apos; English Pronunciation Learning in Leshan Normal University, Sichuan, China
Author: Min, Gu
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Pronunciation,Ethnic Groups,Foreign Countries,Minority Group Students,Student Attitudes,Geographic Regions,Pronunciation Instruction,College Students,Nonmajors,Language Proficiency,Phonetics,Mandarin Chinese,Native Language,Language Minorities

In recent years, along with the development of Chinese economy, the Chinese government pays more attention to English education in ethnic minority areas. Chinese ethnic minority EFL learners' passion has reached an unprecedented level. Nevertheless, a series of complicated factors affect Chinese ethnic minority EFL learners' English pronunciation learning. The paper adopts an in-depth interview method among Yi ethnic minority EFL learners in Leshan Normal University, and analyzes the main factors that affect learners' English pronunciation learning. Finally, the paper draws a conclusion to trigger the further study.
Saudi EFL Teachers&apos; Interpretation toward Creativity
Author: Aldujayn, Norah Nasser
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Creativity,Teaching Methods,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Females,Language Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Creative Teaching,Positive Attitudes,Self Efficacy,Definitions,Foreign Countries,Secondary School Teachers

Creativity is an important skill that should be promoted throughout the educational system. However, teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in high schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) generally do not appear to use creative approaches for reasons that are not well understood. Understanding EFL teachers' attitudes about creativity would provide valuable insights into their practices in the classroom and facilitate the planning and evaluation efforts to promote creativity in classrooms. Using a validated survey instrument adapted from Al-Qahtani (2016), the researcher collected attitudes toward creativity among 85 female Saudi EFL teachers. The study found that the participating teachers had positive attitudes toward creativity. However, they lacked certainty about the definition of creativity and were not confident in their application of creative methods. The implications of these findings in light of the research are discussed in greater detail.
Study on Cultivating College Students&apos; English Autonomous Learning Ability under the Flipped Classroom Model
Author: Du, Yanxia
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: College Students,Independent Study,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Blended Learning,Teaching Methods,Self Management,Student Motivation,Nonmajors,Learning Processes,Student Behavior,English (Second Language),Comparative Analysis,Pretests Posttests,Foreign Countries

Since the 21st century, the cultivation and improvement of college students' English autonomous learning ability have become an important symbol of deepening the reform of College English teaching. The reform of teaching model is the critical to it. With the help of the self-constructed flipped classroom teaching model, this paper designs the corresponding teaching process, aiming at investigating the three dimensions of self-management learning ability, self-learning psychology and self-learning behavior of non-English majors. After the investigation and experiment on the control class and the experimental class for the whole semester, the experimental results show that the self-regulated learning model of College English based on the flipped classroom can greatly improve the comprehensive English level of College students, and the flipped classroom teaching model of College English can effectively improve the students' self-management learning ability, stimulate students 'motivation of autonomous learning and activate students' autonomous learning behavior. Thus, it opens up a new path for the cultivation of College Students 'autonomous learning ability.
The Effect of Sentence-Making Practice on Adult EFL Learners&apos; Writing Anxiety: A Comparative Study
Author: Liu, Yuanyuan
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Writing Apprehension,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Feedback (Response),Student Attitudes,Adult Students,Writing Instruction,Scores,Teaching Methods,Sentences,Writing Skills,Comparative Analysis,Language Proficiency,Language Tests,Majors (Students),Measures (Individuals),Factor Analysis,Test Items,Negative Attitudes,Writing Processes,Anxiety,Communication (Thought Transfer),Likert Scales,Tests,Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students

Writing anxiety is one of the most essential factors influencing language learning. The current study is to explore the effect of sentence-making practice on reducing writing anxiety of two classes of adult EFL learners, one in low-intermediate level (LI learners), the other in high-intermediate level (HI learners). Two classes received two-week sentence-making practice, before completing the questionnaire designed specifically for the present study and attending the semi-structured interview. The descriptive statistics and independent t-test demonstrate that both mean scores of two classes are below 3 points, showing that they are in low or moderate anxiety levels. Moreover, the mean scores of HI class are lower than LI class in all four dimensions (classroom experience; while-writing experience; feedback experience; further effects), despite no significant difference, except for in the third dimension (feedback experience). Both statistic results and qualitative analysis with learners' attitudes towards sentence-making practice illustrate that the learners in two classes have less writing anxiety after sentence-making practice, and this teaching method has also brought beneficial effects on learners' writing.
Diagnosing Students&apos; Misconceptions of Astronomy through Concept Cartoons
Author: Serttas, Seçil
Date: 2020-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Diagnosis,Misconceptions,Scientific Concepts,Cartoons,Grade 7,Student Attitudes,Foreign Countries,Middle School Students,Scientific Literacy,Science Curriculum,Public Schools,Science Instruction,Astronomy

The purpose of the study was to diagnose students' misconceptions of a number of basic astronomy concepts, namely, the Universe, the Sun, Comets and Constellations. The study was designed as a mixed method research and the sample was composed of a total of 110 seventh grade students. Data were collected through concept cartoons and interviews. In the concept cartoons prepared for each concept, there were four expressions, one of which is a scientific judgment, while the others were misconceptions. Students were asked to choose one of these expressions and explain why s/he thinks in that way. After the analysis of concept cartoons, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five of the students who were found to hold misconceptions. Findings of the study showed that students held several misconceptions on the concepts being studied. Students had misconceptions mostly about comets and they had limited understanding about constellations. Defining a comet as an image of a dying star falling from the sky was quite common among the students, and the number of students who defined constellations as a group of stars connected by lines among them was considerable. The findings of the study also showed that concept cartoons are functional tools for detecting misconceptions.
Building Journal Impact Factor Quartile into the Assessment of Academic Performance: A Case Study
Author: Orbay, Keziban
Date: 2020-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Faculty Publishing,College Faculty,Faculty Evaluation,Periodicals,Foreign Countries,Citations (References)

This study aims to provide information about the Q Concept defined as the division of journal impact factors into quartiles based on given field categories so that the disadvantages resulting from the direct use of journal impact factors can be eliminated. While the number of &quot;Original articles published in the Web of Science (WoS) database-indexed journals like SCI, SSCI and A&amp;HCI&quot; is an important indicator for research assessment in Turkey, neither the journal impact factors nor the Q Concept of these papers have been taken into account. Present study analyzes the scientific production of the Amasya University researchers in journals indexed in WoS database in the period 2014-2018 using the Q concept. The share of publications by Q category journals as well as the average citations received by the works from Amasya University were compared to the average situation in Turkey and other different countries in the world. Results indicate that the articles published by Amasya University researchers were mostly published in low impact factor journals (Q4 journals) (36.49%), in fact, only a small share of papers were published in high impact journals (14.32% in Q1 journals). The share of papers published in low impact journals by researchers from Amasya University is higher than the Turkish average and much higher than the scientific leading countries. The average citations received by papers published in Q1 journals was around six times higher than papers published in Q4 journals (8.92 vs. 1.56), thus papers published in Q1 journals received 30.02% citations despite only 14.32% of the papers was published in these journals. The share of papers published which were never cited in WoS was 27.48%, increasing from 9.68% in Q1 to almost half (48.10%) in Q4. The study concludes with some suggestions on how and where the Q Concept can be used.
Comparison of Decision Making Skills and Self-Efficacy Perception Levels in Adolescents in Terms of Gender and Grade Variables
Author: Sarisan-Tungac, Asli
Date: 2020-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Decision Making,Self Efficacy,Adolescents,Gender Differences,Secondary School Students,Science Education,Public Schools,Foreign Countries,Correlation,Skill Development,Scientific Literacy,Instructional Program Divisions,Student Characteristics

In this study it is aimed to reveal the relationship between secondary school students' decision-making skills in adolescence and their self-efficacy perceptions regarding science learning. The sample of the study consists of a total of 564 students from six public schools located in four city centers in the Central Black Sea Region. 251 of these students are female and 313 are male. The research was carried out with the descriptive survey model. As the data collection tools, Self-Efficacy Perception scale regarding Science Learning (SEPRSL) and the Adolescent Decision Making Scale (ADMS) are resorted to. The analysis of the data is carried out with a statistical package program. When the self-efficacy scores are examined depending on gender, it is found that the self-efficacy belief levels of female students are higher than male students, yet not significantly. Also, students have decision-making skills below the average level. When the results of the study are evaluated in general, it is determined that there is a relationship between self-efficacy perception for science learning and adolescent decision-making skills, and when evaluated in terms of gender, there is generally a difference in favor of female students. Based on these results, it can be said that it will be useful to produce and implement projects that include activities in which students will use their decision-making skills in order to increase their self-efficacy perceptions of science learning.
Effectiveness of the Big Math for Little Kids Program on the Early Mathematics Skills of Preschool Children with a Bilingual Group
Author: Kumas, Özlem Altindag
Date: 2020-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Program Effectiveness,Mathematics Instruction,Preschool Children,Mathematics Skills,Bilingual Students,Bilingualism,Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Program Implementation,Number Concepts,Mathematics Tests,Scores

The objective of this study is to explore the effect of the Big Math for Little Kids Program (BMKL) on the mathematical development of bilingual preschool children. For this purpose, an experimental design with pre-test/post-test with control group was employed. A total of 60 children from Diyarbakir were included in the research sample. Of these, 30 were assigned to the experimental group and 30 to the control group. In the study pretest-posttest with control group experimental model was used. The data of the study were collected through the Tests of Early Language Development Test (TELD-3) to determine children with adequate language skills of their own age group, and Test of Early Mathematical Ability (TEMA-3) to assess early mathematical development of children. BMLK program were applied to the experimental group for 12 weeks by the researcher. The main themes of the four units are numbers, shapes, patterns and measurement skills. After the experiment, TEMA-3 test and TELD test were applied to the experimental and control groups as post-test. The obtained data were analyzed by using Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests. As a result of the study, it was identified that the Big Math for Little Kids Program has a statistically significant effect on early mathematical skills of children in favor of the experimental group when compared to the control group.
The Effect of the Item&apos;s Type and Cognitive Level on Its Difficulty Index: The Sample of TIMSS 2015
Author: Ilhan, Mustafa
Date: 2020-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Test Items,Difficulty Level,Cognitive Processes,Responses,Achievement Tests,Foreign Countries,International Assessment,Mathematics Tests,Elementary Secondary Education,Mathematics Achievement,Grade 8,Grade 4,Test Format,Predictor Variables

In this research, the effect of an item's type and cognitive level on its difficulty index was investigated. The data source of the study consisted of the responses of the 12535 students in the Turkey sample (6079 and 6456 students from eighth and fourth grade respectively) of TIMSS 2015. The responses were a total of 215 items at the eighth-grade level (115 multiple-choice and 100 open-ended) and 178 items at the fourth grade level (93 multiple-choice and 85 open-ended) in the mathematics test. In the present study, the difficulty indices for the items of different types and cognitive level were calculated firstly. Then, the item type was defined as a dummy variable and multiple regression analysis was applied to test for the predictive effect of the type and cognitive level of the items on its difficulty index. In the study, it was determined that both the type and the cognitive level of the item had a statistically significant effect on its difficulty index. Compared to multiple choice items, it was detected that students had more difficulty in open-ended items. The effect of item type on difficulty index was found to be higher in eighth grade items than the fourth-grade ones. It was ascertained that difficulty index moved toward zero as its cognitive level increased at both grade levels. However, the effect of cognitive level on the difficulty index was higher in the fourth-grade items compared to the eighth grade items.
The Mediating Role of Parenting Efficacy in the Association between Preschool Father-Child Relationship and Parental Stress
Author: Durmosoglu Saltali, Neslihan
Date: 2020-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Parenting Skills,Correlation,Preschool Children,Parent Child Relationship,Fathers,Stress Variables,Foreign Countries,Competence

The most important relationships in the life of the preschool children are their relationships with their parents. Until recently, when the child's relationship with their parents is considered, the relationship with their mother has been taken into account, while recently the father-child relationship has become one of the subjects that researchers are increasingly interested in and thus is emphasized. In this study, it was aimed to determine the mediating role of parenting efficacy in the association between father-child relationship and parental stress in preschool period. The research was carried out on fathers who have children between 48-72 months who continue preschool education. The study group consisted of 421 fathers selected among these fathers by random sampling method. Child-Parent Relationship Scale, Parenting Efficacy Scale and Parental Stress Scale were used to collect the research data. The results obtained from the research are as follows: Firstly, parental stress is a significant predictor of father-child relationship and parenting efficacy. Secondly, parenting efficacy is a significant predictor of father-child relationship. Finally, parenting efficacy has a partial mediating role in the relationship between father-child relationship and parenting efficacy. The results of the research may lead to the development of policies and practices that support parenting competence in terms of reducing the parental stress of fathers with preschool children and improving their relationship with their children.
Career Counselling and Sustainable Decent Work: Relationships and Tensions
Author: McMahon, Mary
Date: 2020-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Career Counseling,Social Justice,Labor Market,Civil Rights,Counselor Role,Occupational Safety and Health,Work Environment,Job Security,Sustainable Development,Developing Nations,Foreign Countries,Technological Advancement,Automation

The concept of decent work is intuitively desirable, an ideal to strive for, and a human right. Awareness of the decent work agenda has been raised in career counselling and is posing challenges about what role, if any, career counselling can play towards the achievement of sustainable decent work for all. Feeding into the social justice values of career counselling, the decent work agenda has drawn considerable attention. To date, however, limited suggestions have been provided about career counselling's potential contribution toward the achievement of decent work for all, the focus of this special issue. In this article we consider the contexts of decent work, career counselling, and social justice and the relationships and tensions between them. In particular, we raise questions about what exactly is being asked of career counselling in the promotion of decent work. In view of proponents of the decent work agenda in career development questioning whether decent work is achievable for many people, especially in developing countries, the purpose of this article is to consider the potential role of career counselling in the contemporary and emerging labour market.
The Development of a Universal and Cultural Values Scale for Values Education
Author: Elçi, Ebru
Date: 2020-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Test Construction,Values Education,Elementary School Students,Grade 5,Construct Validity,Foreign Countries,Test Reliability,Attitude Measures,Student Attitudes,Social Values,Cultural Influences,Career Awareness,Career Planning,Children

The aim of the study reported on here was to develop a universal and cultural values scale (UCVS) to measure the universal and cultural values to be incorporated in primary education. The items measured were derived from an item pool prepared with expert consultation. The study was conducted with 360 fifth-grade students who attended primary schools in Istanbul during the 2018-2019 academic year. The construct validity of the scale was determined with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The internal consistency obtained for the whole scale was reasonably strong ([alpha] = 0.81). The utility of the scale as a valid and reliable measure for use in determining elementary school students' attitudes toward universal and cultural values is discussed.
Connecting Conscious Knowledge with Subconscious Advice through Career Construction Counselling to Resolve Career Choice Indecision
Author: Maree, Jacobus Gideon
Date: 2020-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Career Choice,Career Counseling,Decision Making,Graduate Students,Psychology,Case Studies,Intervention,Career Development,Vocational Interests,African Languages,Native Language,English (Second Language),Language of Instruction,Second Language Learning,Masters Programs,Foreign Countries

In this article I report on how conscious knowledge could be connected with subconscious advice through career construction counselling to resolve the career choice indecision of a postgraduate psychology student. The participant was purposively selected from a number of people attending a course in narrative career counselling. An explanatory, single case study design was adopted, and a qualitative approach was employed as the research framework. A career construction counselling intervention was used to generate data that was analysed according to the analytic style recommended by Savickas. The findings demonstrate the value of this kind of intervention in enabling the participant to reflect critically on key facets of his career-life story. Doing so revealed the difference between his conscious view of a possible future career-life trajectory and his subconsciously regulated perspective on that trajectory. The findings also reveal the value of career construction counselling in helping the participant proceed from functioning as a social actor displaying motivated agency to furthering his career-life story as an autobiographical author. Future research should focus on larger groups of participants and include different assessment instruments to examine the longitudinal influence of the intervention described here, in group contexts with diverse groups of young people.