ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Defining English Language Proficiency for Malaysian Tertiary Education: Past, Present and Future Efforts
Author: Heng, Chan Swee
Date: 2012-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Definitions,Language Proficiency,English (Second Language),Postsecondary Education,Educational Policy,Educational History,Language Tests,College Second Language Programs,Language of Instruction,Language Skills,Benchmarking,Educational Practices,Educational Change,Foreign Countries

Any attempt to define English language proficiency can never be divorced from the theories that describe the nature of language, language acquisition and human cognition. By virtue of such theories being socially constructed, the descriptions are necessarily value-laden. Thus, a definition of language proficiency can only, at best, be described as developmental, following changes that are linguistic, pragmatic, cultural and political. In defining English proficiency for tertiary education, the context is naturally also linked to the focus on university education. The argument has been that an &quot;acceptable&quot; level of language competence of a university applicant is anything but constant. Tremendous social changes have seen traditional values of elitism in university education giving way to the &quot;massification&quot; of education. As Kaplan and Baldauf (1997:257) affirms, &quot;The principal problem in tertiary education is not declining literacy standards but rather it is about meeting changed societal, cultural and informational requirements and circumstances&quot;. In the light of these changes, this paper attempts to trace influencing factors that help define an &quot;acceptable&quot; level of English proficiency for Malaysian tertiary education. The paper examines past and present efforts of establishing an English language policy and assessment practice for tertiary education, and concludes with some views on future development that could evolve from the current indicative pursuits of establishing language learning and ability.
A Study of the Effect of Entrance Examination of the Universities (EEOU) on the EFL Teaching Methodology in Iran
Author: Salehi, Hadi
Date: 2012-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Entrance Examinations,English (Second Language),Teaching Models,Instructional Effectiveness,Secondary School Teachers,Interviews,Testing Problems,Testing Programs,Test Preparation,Performance Factors,Qualitative Research,Cloze Procedure

Researches and educators' recognition of positive and negative effects of tests on teaching and learning activities goes back at least four decades. Although educators frequently claim that they do not want to teach to a test, the reality is that every educator wants his/her students to be successful. Decision makers, teachers, and students equate this success in large part with high test scores, resulting in classroom instruction that is reflective of test practices and/or expectations. The effect that testing has on teaching and instruction is a phenomenon referred to as washback. However, this phenomenon has been examined empirically by only a few studies in the field of language testing. This qualitative study aimed to (i) investigate the existence and nature of the washback effect, and (ii) examine the role of EEOU context in promoting beneficial washback. The findings confirmed the existence of washback phenomenon in general and negative washback effects of EEOU context on language teaching and learning in particular.
Educating the Ablest: Twenty Years Later
Author: Culross, Rita R.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Academically Gifted,High School Students,Outcomes of Education,Educational Attainment,Social Media,Internet,Longitudinal Studies,Academic Aspiration,Occupational Aspiration,Individual Development,Case Studies,Cohort Analysis

This study examines the current lives of thirty-five individuals who participated in high school gifted programs twenty years ago. The research specifically looked at educational attainment and career goals in terms of expressed aspirations in high school, using social media and other Internet sources. Results indicated continued support for the positive life outcomes found in previous longitudinal research of the gifted.
Grade Expectations: More than Meets the Eye
Author: Samad, Arshad Abd
Date: 2012-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Writing Evaluation,Writing Achievement,Interrater Reliability,Scoring Formulas,Grading,Questionnaires,Beliefs,Interviews,Writing Ability,Teaching Styles,Teacher Attitudes,English (Second Language),College Second Language Programs,College Faculty,Achievement Rating,Foreign Countries

Raimes (1983) has identified nine components necessary to produce a piece of writing that is clear, fluent and effective. These are also the aspects that are considered when assessing writing. The common practice is to have raters score the essays and they are provided with a rating scale for this purpose. A training and practice session is also included. A consensus is usually the objective but McNamara (1996) comments that training has a limited effect on raters. This paper is an attempt to find out how teachers perceive &quot;good writing&quot; and how their perception influences the outcome of the rating procedure. To do so, ten English Language teachers from various backgrounds are asked to rate a short essay of about 150 words. They are also asked to complete a questionnaire on their beliefs about writing assessment and this is followed by an interview to elicit a more extended response on the area.
Non-Native University Students' Perception of Plagiarism
Author: Ahmad, Ummul Khair
Date: 2012-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Graduate Students,Plagiarism,Foreign Students,Student Attitudes,Misconceptions,Questionnaires

Plagiarism is a complex issue especially among non-native students and it has received a lot of attention from researchers and scholars of academic writing. Some scholars attribute this problem to cultural perceptions and different attitudes toward texts. This study evaluates student perception of different aspects of plagiarism. A small group of postgraduate students in a Malaysian university were asked to categorize ten cases of plagiarism instances. They were also asked to identify plagiarized paraphrased versions of five excerpts of different source texts provided. The findings showed that students had misconceptions about different aspect of plagiarism including citation conventions, collusion, using another writer's idea, and style of writing. Further analysis has shown that students were aware that plagiarism is wrong but they could not correctly identify the multiple forms in which plagiarism could happen. These findings indicate that students need to be taught and exposed to various forms and layers of plagiarism so that they would know how best to avoid it in their own writing.
Educational Turning Point in Albania: No More Mechanic Parrots but Critical Thinkers
Author: Alhasani, Mirela Dubali
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Academic Discourse,Writing (Composition),Writing Instruction,Best Practices,Writing Skills,Critical Thinking,College Students,Educational Change,Socialization,Educational History,European History,Reading Skills,Barriers,Skill Development,Definitions,Democracy

Since 2004 Albanian academics have been making efforts to establish the best Western practices of academic writing associated with critical thinking and writing skills for university students. In this article, I will shed light upon the special challenges and peculiarities the establishment of Academic Writing discipline has encountered in Albania over the years of educational transformation in the broad framework of democratic political transition. I argue that the socio-political indoctrination of the society during five decades of communist dictatorship has delayed the cultivation of critical thinking, reading and, consequently, critical writing skills for academic and occupational opportunities. Moreover, the research will not be limited only to causal factors of delay, instead, it will pave the way to recommendations that accelerate the successful acquisition and possession of such crucial academic writing skills for Albanian university graduates and academia in general. First, I provide literature on definition of critical thinking and its improvement through writing courses; next I depict the typical political indoctrination of students during communist dictatorship tracing the legacy of mechanic reading and the huge lack of critical discourse even among the academic staffs themselves; later on I discuss the contemporary academic focus being placed upon the need of critical academic writing to prepare independent thinkers successful to face the democratic transition. Finally, and most importantly, I offer substantial suggestions and recommendations how to implement successfully the Western Academic writing tradition in the higher education curricula by taking into consideration Albania's educational legacy.
Therapeutic Programs for Students with Behavior Disorders in Public Schools
Author: Kuo, Nai-Cheng
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Public Schools,Behavior Disorders,Behavior Modification,Compliance (Legal),State Government,Public Agencies,Investigations,State Programs,Therapy,Disabilities,Educational Legislation,Equal Education,Federal Legislation,Urban Schools,Elementary School Students,Statistical Analysis,Qualitative Research,Civil Rights Legislation,Program Effectiveness

The Department of Justice has a responsibility to ensure that all programs serving students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) abide by laws, as do state governments. This study took a close look at a Department of Justice's investigation of the appropriateness of a behavior intervention program (that is, the Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support; GNETS) and how the state government responded to inquiries. This study further explored how students with behavior disorders learned in a GNETS Program and what their progress was within an assessment and across assessments. Due to the fact that government-funded therapeutic services typically are more cost-efficient than private therapeutic services and may prevent students from being placed in residential or more restrictive placements, this study will help improve not just the services of GNETS programs but also the services of related programs for students with EBD in public school settings.
Doctoral Students' Perceived Barriers That Slow the Progress toward Completing a Doctoral Dissertation: A Mixed Analysis
Author: Hwang, Eunjin
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Graduate Students,Doctoral Programs,Doctoral Dissertations,Barriers,Mixed Methods Research,Student Attitudes,Gender Differences,Grade Point Average,Incidence,Correlation,Schools of Education,Academic Persistence

The non-completion of doctoral degrees has been a concern due to its economic, social, and personal consequences. In the current study, the researchers investigated perceived barriers of select doctoral students in completing their doctoral degrees by utilizing a fully mixed sequential mixed research design. The quantitative and qualitative data were concurrently collected using identical samples (n = 205) via a Reading Interest Survey questionnaire. A sequential mixed analysis revealed 6 emergent themes: &quot;external obligations&quot; (36%), &quot;challenges to doctoral-level researchers&quot; (34%), &quot;practical/logistical constraints&quot; (23%), &quot;emotional concerns&quot; (15%), &quot;program structure&quot; (9%), and &quot;support for completion&quot; (8%). Also, 3 meta-themes were identified (i.e., &quot;dissociation,&quot; &quot;external/internal barriers,&quot; and &quot;institutional/personal barriers&quot;), which aided in explaining the relationships among the 6 primary themes. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Examining the Relationship between Teacher Candidates' Individual Values and Leadership Orientations
Author: Cansoy, Ramazan
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Values,Relationship,Leadership,Predictor Variables,Correlation,Preservice Teachers,Leadership Qualities,Multiple Regression Analysis,Foreign Countries,College Students,Orientation,Data Analysis,Factor Analysis,Statistical Analysis

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher candidates' individual values and leadership orientations. The participants of the study were a total of 452 teacher candidates studying in the pedagogical formation program of Karabük University in the 2016-2017 academic year. The Leadership Orientations Scale and Portrait Values Scale were employed to gather the research data. In data analysis, arithmetic mean, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient, and Multilinear Regression Analysis were used. According to the results, the teacher candidates' preferences of values were universalism, security, conformity and benevolence, self-direction, stimulation, traditionalism, hedonism, achievement and power in order of importance, respectively. The highest level of leadership orientation that the teacher candidates had was in the human resources frame, which was followed by structural, symbolic and political frames. Positive and significant relationships were revealed between all dimensions of individual values and those of leadership orientations. The individual values of power and achievement were found to be predictors of structural, symbolic and political frames. Two of the remaining individual values, self-direction and benevolence, were found to be significant and common predictors of all frames of leadership orientations. The findings revealed from the present study were discussed with reference to the literature, and various inferences were made.
A Comparative Study of Students' Access to and Utilization of Learning Resources in Selected Public and Private Universities in Southwest, Nigeria
Author: Lawal, B. O.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Comparative Analysis,Foreign Countries,Access to Information,Information Utilization,Educational Resources,Public Colleges,Private Colleges,Questionnaires,Surveys,Research Design,Statistical Analysis

The study investigated students' access to and utilization of some learning resources in selected public and private universities in southwest Nigeria. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 585 (295 public and 290 private) students from 12 (six public and six private) universities in southwest Nigeria. Two instruments--Cost and Quality of University Education Questionnaire (CQUEQS) with a reliability coefficient of 0, 87 and Availability of Learning Resources Observation Schedule (ALROS) which had been used in a previous study-were used to collect data for the study. Frequency counts and simple percentages were used to analyse the data while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed a significant difference between public and private universities in terms of access to learning resources while there was no significant difference between public and private universities in the utilization of some learning resources. It was recommended that public universities should endeavour to provide more learning resources in their institutions while university authorities should ensure that learning resources that are provided are adequately utilised by students.
Developing a Principled Framework for Materials Evaluation: Some Considerations
Author: Alkhaldi, Ali Ata
Date: 2010-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Instructional Material Evaluation,Second Language Learning,Material Development,English (Second Language),Models,Applied Linguistics

Published language materials are widely used around the world, but many Foreign Language (FL) and/or Second Language (SL) learners still fail to develop their communicative competence satisfactorily and they are still not happy with their language materials. Materials design has recently been characterized by two important developments: first, published materials are now used more widely than ever before; second, and it is this which makes the spread of published materials very significant, materials themselves have evolved into much more complex objects. Therefore, there is a need to develop a principled framework for evaluating and developing the language materials in a comprehensive approach. In this article, the author starts the discussion with the importance of English language materials and the process of materials evaluation. After that the author will elaborate on a potential design for developing a principled framework for materials evaluation. Implications of the framework and its contribution to the field of applied linguistics have been also elaborated.
Computational Text Analysis: A More Comprehensive Approach to Determine Readability of Reading Materials
Author: Aziz, Anealka
Date: 2010-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Readability,Computational Linguistics,Reading Materials,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Difficulty Level,Computer Software,Reading Fluency,Sentences,Readability Formulas,Comparative Analysis,Reliability,Evaluation Methods

Reading materials are considered having high readability if readers are interested to read the materials, understand the content of the materials and able to read the materials fluently. In contrast, reading materials with low readability discourage readers from reading the materials, create difficulties for readers to understand the content of the materials and prevent readers to read the materials fluently. The study presented in this article intends to propose a comprehensive approach to analyze reading materials so that not only the overall readability of the materials can be determined, but information about sentence and word difficulty as well. This study was interested to analyze reading materials at three levels: (1) text; (2) sentence; and (3) and word levels. Three computational tools were used to extract information related to readability of reading materials at the three levels: (1) A readability formula was used to estimate materials difficulty at text level; (2) writing enhancement software was used to estimate materials difficulty at sentence level; and (3) concordance software was used to estimate materials difficulty at word level. It was found that conventional readability formulas usually provide estimates of overall readability of reading materials. However, the composite computational tools proposed in this study, are able to provide more information about readability of reading materials at sentence and word levels. These tools enable estimation of materials difficulty to be performed objectively and reliably.
Investigating Teachers' and Students' Beliefs and Assumptions about CALL Programme at Caledonian College of Engineering
Author: Ali, Holi Ibrahim Holi
Date: 2012-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Computer Assisted Instruction,Teaching Methods,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Engineering Education,Questionnaires,Learning Motivation,College Students,College Faculty,Foreign Countries,Program Implementation,Educational Technology,Language Laboratories,Access to Computers,Educational History

This study is set to investigate students' and teachers' perceptions and assumptions about newly implemented CALL Programme at the School of Foundation Studies, Caledonian College of Engineering, Oman. Two versions of questionnaire were administered to 24 teachers and 90 students to collect their beliefs and assumption about CALL programame. The results shows that the great majority of the students report that CALL is very interesting, motivating and useful to them and they learn a lot form it. However, the number of CALL hours should be increased, lab should be equipped and arranged in user friendly way, assessment should be integrated into CALL, and smart boards, black boards should be incorporated into the programme.
Investigating CALL in the Classroom: Situational Variables to Consider
Author: Liutkus, Darlene
Date: 2012-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Computer Assisted Instruction,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Language Proficiency,Mixed Methods Research,Questionnaires,Student Motivation,Independent Study,Feedback (Response),Linguistic Input,Student Attitudes,Instructional Design,Observation,Ethnography,Likert Scales

A new paradigm in second language pedagogy has Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) playing a significant role. Much of the literature to-date claims that CALL can have a positive impact on students' second language acquisition (SLA). Mixed method of research produces data to investigate if CALL positively affects student language proficiency, motivation and autonomy. Classroom observation of participants in their natural environment is a qualitative technique used but has situational variables that could skew results if not structured. A questionnaire is a quantitative tool that can offer insight regarding participants' perception of performance but can contradict what the researcher has observed. This paper will take an in-depth look at variables such as: instructor's pedagogical application; blending CALL into the curriculum; types of CALL implemented; feedback received and their implications for design of the data collection tools.
Language Anxiety as a Major Impediment in Learning/Teaching English
Author: Choubey, Asha
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Anxiety,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Rural Areas,Urban Areas,Communication Skills,Communication (Thought Transfer),Language Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Engineering Education,Humor,Relaxation Training,Foreign Countries,College Students,Classroom Techniques

Feelings of anxiety, apprehension and nervousness are commonly expressed by second/foreign language learners in learning to speak a second/foreign language. These feelings are considered to exert a potentially negative and detrimental effect on communication in the target language. I shall dwell on my own experience as a practitioner of ELT, and narrate the lessons that I learnt by trial and error method. I can divide my class in four distinct groups, (the Rural Hindi group /the Urban Hindi group/ the Classroom Exposure group and the Classroom &amp; Social Exposure group; RH/UH/CE/CSE) as they sit together in the Engineering class. Since I am more interested in the psychological aspect of language anxiety, I have used humour, relaxation and even distraction to therapeutic effects.
Intertextuality in Text-Based Discussions
Author: Ismail, Hamidah Mohd
Date: 2011-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Language Teachers,Teacher Education,Classroom Communication,Creativity,Critical Thinking,Undergraduate Students,Reading Materials,Cooperative Learning,Teaching Methods,Thinking Skills,College Faculty,Foreign Countries

One of the main issues often discussed among academics is how to encourage active participation by students during classroom discussions. This applies particularly to students at the tertiary level who are expected to possess creative and critical thinking skills. Hence, this paper reports on a study that examined how these skills were demonstrated by a group of university students who employed intertextual links during a follow-up reading activity involving small-group text discussions. Thirty undergraduates who were in their fifth semester of a TESL degree programme were prescribed reading texts consisting of two chapters taken from a book. Findings reveal that intertextual links made during text discussions created successfully a &quot;collaborative environment&quot; where beliefs and values were shared judicially among participants. Pedagogical implications for ESL classroom practice include heightening the awareness amongst academics and students of the role of intertextuality in order to promote students' use of their critical and creative thinking skills in a supportive classroom environment.