ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Online Extensive Reading in EAP Courses
Author: Zhou, Jing
Date: 2021-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English for Academic Purposes,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Reading Attitudes,Language Proficiency,Longitudinal Studies,Student Attitudes,Books,Reading Material Selection,Handheld Devices,Positive Attitudes,Electronic Publishing,Computers,Telecommunications,Teacher Attitudes,Language Teachers,Attitude Change,Graduate Students,Undergraduate Students,Course Descriptions

Extensive reading (ER) has been shown to be an effective approach in helping second language (L2) students learn to read the target language. Of particular interest is how L2 learners in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses that included ER would react to ER since ER involves L2 learners reading easy, interesting books that they select themselves. We examined the reactions of 57 EAP university students to ER. The study was conducted longitudinally for two semesters in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018, where two groups of learners read online books for ten and twelve weeks respectively. We used the Xreading Library, an online subscription-based graded-reader library that allows students unlimited access to more than 1000 books on their computers, tablets or mobile devices. We gathered both quantitative and qualitative data to determine the extent to which online ER affected the learners' attitudes toward reading in English, their academic reading, and English proficiency in general and their instructor' reactions to Xreading. The study revealed that L2 learners' reading attitudes were significantly improved after reading graded readers online. The results also suggested that, in general, the learners felt that their reading rates, vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, writing and speaking were all improved through online ER. Though learners perceived the effects of online ER on their academic reading differently, the instructors held positive attitudes toward online ER. [The page range on the .pdf (p103-125) is incorrect. The correct page range is p103-126.]
The Ability of Teachers to Identify Grade 1 Learners in Low Socio-Economic Environments with Possible Developmental Coordination Disorder
Author: du Plessis, Aletta M.
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grade 1,Foreign Countries,Elementary School Students,At Risk Students,Low Income Students,Disability Identification,Developmental Disabilities,Psychomotor Skills,Physical Disabilities,Elementary School Teachers,Test Validity,Check Lists

Background: Early identification of learners in low socio-economic environments with possible developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is important. Although various screening tools are available, it is unclear whether teachers can use the movement assessment battery for children - second edition checklist (MABC-2 checklist) to identify learners with possible DCD. Aim: To establish teachers' ability to identify Grade 1 learners in low socio-economic environments with possible DCD. Setting: The study was conducted in the Mangaung Metro, Motheo District of the Free State Province, South Africa. Grade 1 learners aged 6-8 years (n = 200) from a low socio-economic environment attending quintile one to three schools were randomly selected for assessment. Twenty-nine teachers participated in the study. Methods: Kinderkineticists identified learners with possible DCD (displaying motor skills far below the child's age) by means of the MABC-2 performance test. The teachers used the MABC-2 checklist to identify possible DCD. The convergent validity of the MABC-2 performance test and checklist was compared. Results: The convergent validity between the MABC-2 performance test and the MABC-2 checklist indicated a kappa (k) coefficient of 0.17, indicating a slight agreement between the performance test and the checklist. Overall, the specificity was 58% (105/180), and the sensitivity was 85% (17/20). Conclusion: Teachers could effectively identify learners with possible DCD. However, they demonstrated a low ability to identify learners without possible DCD when using the MABC-2 checklist. It is therefore recommended that the performance test should be used in conjunction with the checklist to obtain the most reliable results.
Reading Performance and Perceptions of Lao EFL Pre-Service Teachers Following a Culture of Thinking Implementation
Author: Phonekeo, Say
Date: 2021-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Thinking Skills,Reading Comprehension,Preservice Teachers,Language Teachers,Laotians,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Comparative Analysis,Teacher Education Programs,Foreign Countries,Student Attitudes,Reading Instruction,Teaching Methods,Pretests Posttests,Effect Size,Instructional Effectiveness,Metacognition,Critical Reading

A culture of thinking (CoT) is defined as &quot;a place where a group's collective as well as individual thinking is valued, visible, and actively promoted as the regular, day-today experience of all group members&quot; (Ritchhart et al., 2011, p. 219). This study aimed to determine the effects of a CoT implementation on Lao English as a foreign language (EFL) pre-service teachers' reading comprehension development and to investigate their perceptions towards the CoT-based reading instruction. To achieve the objectives, two intact classes of year three EFL pre-service teachers were randomly assigned to implementation and control conditions and measured with pre-, post- and delayed post-reading tests. Focus group interviews were also conducted to obtain in-depth insights into their perceptions of the CoT-based learning. The findings revealed that the implementation class outperformed the control class in terms of reading comprehension development and had a strong effect size (&quot;Cohen's d&quot; = 1.0183). In the focus group interviews, pre-service teachers generally expressed positive views towards the CoT-based reading instruction.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Training Outcomes for Grade R Teachers in an Urban and Semi-Rural Context
Author: de Jongh, Marguerite
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preschool Children,Preschool Education,Preschool Teachers,Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,Students with Disabilities,Teacher Competencies,Faculty Development,Urban Schools,Rural Schools,Program Effectiveness

Background: Preschool learners with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may develop problems with emergent literacy and more explicitly, phonological awareness necessary for the development of reading and writing. A need for support of Grade R teachers in inclusive schools was identified, and a programme developed. Aim: The main aim of this article is to report on the outcomes of a support programme for Grade R teachers on ADHD in two contexts within a specific school district. Setting: Participants were recruited from urban schools and township schools in a semi-rural context of a specific school district in Tshwane. Methods: The outcomes of this support programme was determined from data obtained with self-constructed questionnaires, which consisted of mainly closed-ended questions, supported by a limited number of open-ended questions. The quantitative data was statistically analysed and described, whereas the qualitative data was described through inductive analyses. Participants consisted of 44 teachers from semi-rural and 21 from urban, inclusive schools who attended the training workshops. Results: The results of the training indicated that urban teachers demonstrated better overall knowledge before the training. The post-training results indicated no statistically significant differences in knowledge after the training. Both groups benefitted from the programme. The rural participants showed more improvement as a result of the training. Conclusion: The participants from semi-rural schools benefitted more from the training, emphasising underlying inequalities in the education levels of the two groups. This research provided a starting point and needs to be expanded to facilitate Grade R teachers' awareness and knowledge of ADHD.
&quot;I Speak English, but I&apos;m Still a Malay&quot;: Language Attitudes and Identity amongst Bilingual Bruneians Living in London
Author: Noorashid, Najib
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Attitudes,Language Usage,Native Language,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Government Employees,Place of Residence,Language Variation,Indonesian Languages,Foreign Countries,Self Concept,Work Environment,Language Maintenance,Vignettes,Educational Environment,Overseas Employment,Bilingualism,Language Proficiency

This paper highlights the findings of a study into the language use, identity and attitudes of some Bruneian Malay government officers and students living in London. It is found that their allegiance towards the Malay language and Bruneian culture remains strong, despite their living in a largely Anglophone metropolis which requires them to communicate predominantly in English. As highly proficient bilingual speakers, the respondents are highly aware of the importance of maintaining their vernacular Brunei Malay as a marker of their identity. Through the use of observation and semi-structured interview methods, it emerges that predicted patterns of language shift towards the global language do not occur, and there is evidence of maintenance of strong Malay identity precisely because of their requirement to use more English in out-group communication contexts. The 'zero-sum game' notion, of more English equaling less Malay, is not applicable. This paper includes vignettes which show the participants negotiating between their languages in work and study contexts. It also demonstrates the need to consider how English interconnects with the other languages that are found in the repertoire of globally mobile South-East Asians.
&quot;Read It Like You Mean It&quot;: Developing Prosodic Reading Using Reader&apos;s Theater
Author: Lekwilai, Panya
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Intonation,Suprasegmentals,Oral Language,Language Fluency,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Pronunciation Instruction,Teaching Methods,Theater Arts,Oral Reading,Undergraduate Students,Majors (Students),Correlation,Linguistic Input,Foreign Countries,Task Analysis,Scores,Auditory Perception,Pretests Posttests

Prosody is a linguistic feature in spoken English that is complex yet plays an important role in oral communication. Nevertheless, many EFL pronunciation classes in Thailand have not adequately emphasized the importance and functions of prosody to learners. This research study aims to investigate effect of an oral fluency instructional method called Reader's Theater on Thai EFL university students' perception and production of the prosodic features of pausing and sentence final intonation. The participants of this study are 22 Thai university students majoring in English. The results revealed that the students' perception of these prosodic features increased and that the production of prosody shows correlation with comprehensibility. These results also suggest that effective modelling of oral fluency as an input is crucial to the perception of learners, and ultimately that prosody should be implemented in pronunciation classes in the EFL curriculum.
The Development of an Academic Collocation List for Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Students
Author: Siengsanoh, Boonyakorn
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Phrase Structure,Word Lists,Engineering Education,English for Academic Purposes,Computational Linguistics,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Specialists,Textbooks,Research Reports,State Universities,Word Frequency,Teaching Methods,Majors (Students)

Acquiring collocations is widely considered to be essential in language learning. The question arises, however, as to what collocations merit students' and teachers' attention in ESP classes at a tertiary level. Thus, this corpus-based study aims to systematically develop an academic collocation list for undergraduate mechanical engineering students who learn English as a foreign language. To identify such a collocation list, the current study relied on a corpus-based approach and an expert-judged approach. The Sample Corpus of Mechanical Engineering containing 2.1 million words was compiled from required and supplementary textbook chapters, reading texts and research articles as specified in the course syllabi for the undergraduate program in Mechanical Engineering at a public university in Thailand. The development of the list involved five stages: 1) compilation of materials 2) creating a specialized corpus 3) extracting high-frequency node words and identifying lexical collocations 4) expert judgement; and 5) ordering the entries. These steps are in line with those proposed by Ackermann and Chen (2013) with some modifications. It is expected that this corpus-informed collocation list consisting of 282 entries will be highly useful for students majoring in Mechanical Engineering as well as ESP teachers and material developers. The complete list of collocations is provided in the appendix.
For-Profit Colleges: Neither Educationally nor Economically Equivalent
Author: Tucker, Frederick
Date: 2021-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Proprietary Schools,Colleges,Outcomes of Education,Student Loan Programs,Debt (Financial),Public Colleges,Probability,Graduation Rate,Two Year Colleges,Bachelors Degrees,Associate Degrees,Federal Aid,Grants,Educational Legislation,Federal Legislation,Higher Education,Wages,Postsecondary Education,Student Characteristics

Deregulation of for-profit colleges led to a precipitous rise in enrollments from 1990 to 2010. Since 2010, regulation, investigations, and sanctions have led to enrollment declines in for-profit postsecondary institutions. Initially barred from receiving Title IV federal funds, in the form of Pell Grants and Stafford Loans, for-profit colleges gained access to Title IV funds in 1972 on the grounds that these institutions were educationally equivalent to, or more economical than public and non-profit institutions. This paper examines Beginning Postsecondary Student longitudinal data from 2012/17, utilizing regression analyses to determine whether the for-profit college sector produces similar educational outcomes and student loan debt compared to the public higher education sector. Findings indicate that degree-seeking students enrolling in 2-year programs at for-profit colleges have approximately half the odds of degree attainment as demographically similar students at public colleges; students entering 4-year, for-profit programs have approximately a quarter the odds of achieving a bachelor's degree as their public college counterparts. Students at for-profit colleges, moreover, take on significantly greater student loan debt than demographically similar students at public colleges. Federal funds might better be spent subsidizing under-funded, overcrowded public colleges than enabling America's most disadvantaged students to incur debt at for-profit colleges that are neither educationally nor economically equivalent.
EFL Students&apos; Perspectives on the Employment of Language Learning Strategies
Author: Duong, Tham My
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Student Attitudes,Learning Strategies,High School Students,Metacognition,Memory,Scores

It is widely acknowledged that language learning strategies (LLSs) are beneficial to learners' academic achievements, learner autonomy, and motivation; however, it is indicated that Vietnamese students, particularly high school students, have found it hard to employ LLSs. This paper aims at exploring language learning strategies used by high school students and underlying reasons at a high school located in Ho Chi Minh City. The study involved 238 EFL high school students in responding to a closed-ended questionnaire and twenty of them in answering the semi-structured interview questions. The quantitative data collected from the questionnaire were processed by SPSS version 25.0 in terms of descriptive statistics, and the qualitative data were analyzed by the content-based approach. The results of the study indicated the EFL high school students' moderate use of LLSs. Remarkably, metacognitive strategies were the most commonly used category, compared to memory strategies -- the least employed category. The findings may serve as a guideline for EFL teachers on facilitating high school students' English language learning. It is also hoped that the results of this study may contribute to the literature about English language learning strategies in EFL contexts.
The Lingering Effects of Zero-Tolerance: Perceptions of Educators and Former Students
Author: Borrego, Ruben
Date: 2021-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Zero Tolerance Policy,Student Attitudes,Educational Change,Expulsion,Justice,School Safety,Hispanic American Students,Administrator Attitudes

Long-term effects associated with the use of zero-tolerance policies and lack of restorative discipline strategies used with expelled students in a local Lower Rio Grande Valley school district revealed that students' lives were impacted negatively by educators who practiced a one-size-fits-all approach to school discipline. Marginalization of expelled students impacted transition back to their home campuses. This study informs a gap in the literature and overarching concerns regarding whether zero-tolerance policies have made schools safer (Hyder &amp; Hussain, 2015). Results from the participant data in this inquiry divulged two perspectives. The educator perspective was that zero-tolerance was good for the school, minimally impacted the student body as a whole, taught students limits, and was an effective way to control student behavior. The former students' perceptions were very different as they revealed the escalation, separation and stigmatization as part of their lived experiences (Clandinin, et al., 2006).
Inductive Teaching Approaches in Business English Writing in an EFL Context: Paper-Based and Product-Based Instructions
Author: Rungwaraphong, Piyawan
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Business English,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Writing Instruction,Majors (Students),Grounded Theory,Foreign Countries,Scores,Grammar,College Students,Comparative Analysis,Writing Evaluation

The study reported in this article compared two different inductive instructional methods implemented in a Business English writing training, including paper-based instruction (PPI) and product-based instruction (PDI). It assessed the effectiveness and examined practical issues of the implementation of each method. A total of 46 Thai students majoring in a Business English program at a Thai university participated in this study. The students were randomly divided into two groups and put into either the PPI or PDI training module. The researcher collected data from direct observations, focused-group discussions, and students' writing scores. Qualitative data from the focused-group discussions and observation field notes were analyzed thematically using the grounded theory, while cross-examination was utilized for students' writing scores. The study results indicate that the fundamental dichotomies between both approaches include tangibility, authenticity, and contextuality. Students' difficulties in formulating grammar and writing rules on their own and students' perception of learning as a burden were found as challenges in both modules. The findings also indicate that both the PPI and PDI modules trigger classroom dynamics and a positive atmosphere; however, PDI resulted in more vigorous dynamics as student movements and interactions were relatively higher. Finally, this study's findings are beneficial for instructors seeking innovative instructional methodology to improve their Business English writing teaching. The study has contributed to the field of teaching Business English writing. The study's findings have helpful implications for lecturers of Business English writing, who are looking for a teaching approach that enables them to create opportunities for students to learn in authentic, professional environments, contexts, and cultures cast in real-life business situations.
Views of Turkish EFL Teacher Trainees toward Technology-Integrated PBL Practices
Author: Kirkgöz, Yasemin
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Problem Based Learning,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Preservice Teachers,Preservice Teacher Education,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Language Teachers,Teaching Methods,Integrated Learning Systems,Program Effectiveness,Student Attitudes,Barriers

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is increasingly becoming popular in teacher education, just like the prevalence in the use of Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (Moodle) which is an instructional socio-constructivist online tool providing collaborative learning. PBL where learning occurs through real-life problem solving practices is also included in the constructivist approach. This study was designed as a mixed methods research in which English as Foreign Language (EFL) teacher trainees were involved in PBL through Moodle with the aim of solving problems related to language teaching and learning which they encountered at practicum schools. Participants were 93 EFL teacher trainees studying at a state university in Turkey. The study aimed to reveal the participants' views of their PBL experiences within the scope of a Materials Evaluation and Adaptation Course. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews; and analyzed through descriptive statistics and content analysis consecutively. Results demonstrated that the teacher training activities delivered through PBL yielded promising benefits for EFL teacher trainees' professional development despite some minor flaws faced in the process. Thus, PBL can be considered as a useful method to deliver such courses offered in any branches of teacher education.
The Changing Landscape for Funding Research and Development
Author: Ulferts, Gregory W.
Date: 2021-05-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Research and Development,Financial Support,Scientific Research,Federal Aid,Innovation,Private Financial Support,Economic Development,COVID-19,Pandemics,Trend Analysis,Retrenchment,Foreign Countries,Drug Therapy,Medical Research,Research Universities,Change,Immunization Programs

This research seeks to describe the continuing predicament of R&amp;D funding in the U.S. and to provide support for a return to higher R&amp;D spending as a proportion of GDP to maintain American leadership in innovation. Historically, government investment has funded most foundational scientific research leading to technological advances in communications, recording, and networks, including global positioning systems to the Internet. The U.S. has been leading in research and development. However, that investment leadership position is in question due to declining proportionate government support for R&amp;D. The R&amp;D function in private enterprise is ill-equipped to support long-term innovation, which will reward competitors. Past and current research evidence shows that public R&amp;D investment leads private investment and furthers the strategic goals of innovation and economic growth. The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented public research commitments to the rapid development of drugs, vaccines, and various protective and medical equipment. The long-term impact of this public investment on innovation is not clear. According to some theories, the trend of declining U.S. public investment in R&amp;D will negatively impact U.S. economic growth.