IUJ Repository (International Univ. of Japan)
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An Investigation of the Use and Modification of the ESL Composition Profile at IUJ
Get PDFThis investigation aims to accelerate existing discussion among IUJ's English as a Foreign Language (EFL) faculty members about the desirability of making modifications to the ESL Composition Profile, the writing assessment instrument which is currently used by IUJ's EFL faculty for most writing assessment purposes. After briefly identifying the merits of the ESL Composition Profile, the author will point out that the Profile is based on an approach to composition instruction which is to a considerable extent at variance with the approach used during the centerpiece of IUJ's academic writing program, the Text Skills course in the Intensive English Program. Consistent with its underlying approach to composition instruction, the Profile has overlapping rating components, but this has caused problems for Text Skills composition raters operating in a writing syllabus which they feel requires greater separation of the rating components. The author will suggest that a closer analysis of the variance between the two approaches to composition can yield coherent answers to the question of what modifications Text Skills designers should make to the ESL Composition Profile in order to integrate it into the Text Skills writing syllabus.departmental bulletin pape
The use of TOEFL to measure a change in English proficiency
Get PDFThis study investigates the use of TOEFL as an instrument for measuring change in English language proficiency of graduate students at the International University of Japan. The data, which was analyzed, included entry and exit TOEFL scores of 181 students who participated in the nine-week Intensive English Program during one of the summers between 1994 and 1997. The results suggest that TOEFL scores can be used to show a change in English language proficiency for the students as a group, but should not be used to report to individual students a change in proficiency. It is argued that the results can be explained by the error of measurement associated with TOEFL and a design which measures change in proficiency by comparing pre-test and post-test scores.departmental bulletin pape
Classroom Research in Japan: Issues, Studies and Prospects
Get PDFHow are learner perceptions of task difficulty and the cognitive demands of tasks related? How effective are techniques such as recasting for delivering implicit negative feedback about form during communicative activities? How should syllabus designers operationalise and sequence the units of classroom activity? These issues-all susceptible to empirical research at the interface of language pedagogy and second language acquisition theory-are addressed and provisionally answered by the studies reported in this paper, Prospects for future research arising from the findings, and addressing similar issues, are discussed in the conclusion.conference pape
A General Equilibrium Interpretation of Damage Contingent Securities
Get PDFIn a 1996 Econometrica paper, Cass, Chichilnisky, and Wu show in an endowment economy that mutual insurance and securities contingent on aggregate states support optimal risk-sharing. We extend their result to a model with production in which risk is endogenous and beliefs about the aggregate state vary across individuals. We use the model to interpret the role of new securities that are contingent on measures of total damage from natural catastrophes. Plausible special cases of the model predict the trade pattern in such securities across diverse regions and predict that such securities will not represent actuarially fair gambles.departmental bulletin pape
Speaking Practice Aimed at Enhancing Acquisition of Vocabulary for Beginners
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Figure and Ground in SLA Theory
Get PDFInput-matching models of second language (L2) development assign a primary role to the environment in shaping learning outcomes. The input-maching perspective characterizes language development as an emergent process resulting from the interaction of the learning environment and general learning capacities. In this talk distinguishing features of the input-matching perspective are described and contrasted with other approaches to L2 development. Two kinds of input-matching models in the SLA literature, the Competition Model and connectionist simulations, are then examined. A key destinction is made between the approach as a theory of learning and as an approach to modeling. The scope of the models in accounting for L2 development is evaluated on the basis of this distinction.conference pape
The Future of Chinese Politics: The Fifteenth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and Beyond
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Why verbal conjugation is based on dictionary forms in the teaching of Japanese
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Teacher Talk in the Case Study Approach: Observations from a Case Study
Get PDFThis working paper looks at the activity of classroom discussion. It focuses on teacher talk within the context of a case discussion in a content class. The discussion in this paper is exploratory and mostly descriptive, based on observations from a single classroom discussion. The purpose is to highlight some features of a class that is highly participatory and engaging for students, and in which the teacher plays a crucial role through his questioning within the framework of a specific methodological approach. On the basis of these features, implications are drawn briefly for second language teaching.departmental bulletin pape
