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Understanding Students’ Perceptions of Identity in Digital Connectivism Learning Environments
Get PDFConnectivist learning theory has been widely discussed with higher-order thinking skills and critical reflection in online learning environments. Yet it is unclear how students negotiate their own identity within an academic collective learning context. To gain insights into the interrelations of learner identity, i.e. construction of learner position in one's own learning community, this study examines the manner in which the identity of a writer is negotiated intra-community of writer (how do they represent themselves while learning from others in writing tasks). A qualitative case study, involving interviews and observations in Oman higher education, was conducted with 56 Omani college students after engaging in online and face-to-face research course. Analysis of results of this study indicates a degree of success in terms of students navigating their digital, individual and group academic learner identities. However, some tensions are seen in terms of balance of participation in group work and difficulties of harnessing the benefits in mixed-ability groups of writers. More research which builds on the successes and looks for ways to address the challenges from a range of perspectives is recommended
Developing a Grammar Learning/Use Strategy Questionnaire: A Mixed Model
Get PDFDespite the numerous endeavours made to develop questionnaires to assess learners' strategic behaviour in general and learning/use strategies across different language areas and skills, one can surprisingly find no inventories to address learners' grammar learning /use strategies. This study aims to validate a measure of additional language learners' grammar strategies. The validation of the instrument, grammar learning/use strategy questionnaire, involved three phases. To generate an item pool as the first phase, the researcher drew on Oxford's instructional modes of L2 learning, Oxford's strategic self-regulated model of learning, Larsen-Freeman's three-dimension model of grammar, grammar strategies in the inventories of language skills and Brigg's classroom task-based grammar learning strategies. The second phase of the study involved submitting the instrument to extensive piloting in an adequate sample, followed by the third phase, which comprised evaluating the psychometric properties of the revised instrument through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The results indicate that the developed instrument has satisfactory psychometric characteristics and that the hypothesized theoretical model has a great fit with the data. The article closes with some tentative pedagogical recommendations and implications as well as guidelines on how grammar learning strategies could be utilized and investigated
The Scope of Second Language Teacher Education Research from 1980 to 2020: A Systematic Review
Get PDFThis paper presents a comprehensive and rigorous systematic review of the trajectories and challenges in Research Articles (RAs) of Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE) from 1980 to 2020. The RAs were carefully retrieved from two sources: (1) a pool of 100 top-tier journals based on SCImago Journal Ranking (SJR) in Linguistics and Language category and (2) seven well-known electronic databases. This study used thematic analysis. After conducting full-text screening and data extraction, each study was systematically coded for publication contents, themes, theories, and variable levels. Each study was further coded for methodological features, including research design, analyses, and sampling. The findings indicate a rapid and consistent growth in SLTE research with a notable emphasis on Teacher Professional Development Programs (TPDP), research in teacher education, psychology in teacher education, culture, knowledge-based teacher education, and CALL. In addition, analysis of the data revealed several trajectories, including fewer publications in teacher education journals compared to other journals, lack of adherence to a clear theoretical framework in 27% of the studies, limited use of software in qualitative studies, and underdeveloped themes that received little attention. This review sheds light on the most significant and emerging areas of research in the field, and the article concludes with implications for SLTE scholars, researchers, and practitioners
An ESL specialist in a composition writing center: Is experience the same as expertise?
Get PDFWriting centers across the U.S. have experienced an influx of writers who speak English as a second language (ESL) over the last three decades, which has led to the hiring of ESL specialists as writing center tutors. Some ESL specialist have derived their specialist status from career-long experience tutoring ESL writers, not necessary from any direct training in second language acquisition or ESL teaching. This study examines the attitudes, sympathies, and practices of an ESL specialist with 30 years of tutoring experience to determine how her self-reported approach differed when working with native and non-native English writers. Her insights were subjected to discourse analysis, and results demonstrated that while her attitudes and sympathies showed deference to ESL writers, her self-reported practices were nearly identical for both groups and favored traditional writing center practices rather than recommended ESL practices. Insights from this specific case suggest that ESL tutoring experience is unlikely to be a sufficient proxy for specialized ESL training and expertise
Exploring learner attention and processing in second language writing: The role of eye-tracking and written corrective feedback
Get PDFThis paper highlights the importance of the timing of feedback and distinguishing between instruction and feedback in the context of written corrective feedback (WCF) for second language (L2) learners. It proposes the integration of eye-tracking and qualitative data collection methods to assess learner attention and WCF processing. The reviewed eye-tracking studies demonstrate the potential of this approach, revealing correlations between learners’ noticing and subsequent writing improvements. However, the limited studies utilizing eye-tracking in this area calls for further research to explore the benefits of metalinguistic explanations provided before or after writing production. Additionally, the paper emphasizes the need to address the dominance of quantitative approaches in WCF literature and encourages the combination of eye-tracking with qualitative data sources to broaden our understanding of revision as negotiation. It suggests investigating the impact of different feedback modes and languages, especially in younger L2 writers and diverse writing systems. Moreover, the paper advocates for ecologically valid experiments that involve eye-tracking during revision with feedback present, considering the various types of feedback and their influence on learners’ noticing and subsequent writing improvements. Addressing these concerns will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of WCF, noticing and processing feedback, L2 writing production, and effective pedagogical practices
Teacher-Related Factors as Predictors of Classroom Behaviours: Implications for Teaching Reading Skills to the Students with Learning Disabilities
Get PDFTeacher classroom behaviour has been documented as a main determinant of the classroom learning activities, interactions, and student outcomes. The study investigated the predicting influence of three teacher-related factors (teacher self-efficacy, year of teaching experience, and level of teachers’ school which could be primary level or secondary level) on teachers’ classroom behaviours. The descriptive research design of the correlational type was adopted. The sample size was 132 (female=76, male=56) primary and secondary school teachers in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria. The respondents had the average age of 20-59 years ( = 39.5 years). Two validated and relevant instruments namely, teacher self-efficacy and teacher classroom behaviours scales were used in this study. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation and multiple regression analysis. The result revealed that is a positive relationship between teacher self-efficacy, years of teaching experience and teacher classroom behaviour. The independent variables jointly contributed 16.9% of the variance to the prediction of teacher classroom behaviour when taken together. Teacher self-efficacy was most potent on predicting teacher classroom behaviour. The study has implications for teachers, especially those who teach reading skills to students with learning disabilities. The study recommends that teachers should develop high teaching self-efficacy that is capable of enabling them to perform their duties effectively
Determinant of Role Stressors on Job Stress and Counterproductive Work Behavior among Employees in the Automotive Industry
Get PDFThis study investigates the influence of role stressors (workload, role ambiguity, and role conflict) on Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB) and job stress as a mediator variable. A total of 310 questionnaires were distributed, and employees in Banten, Indonesia's automotive industry, provided the information. The Structural Equation Models (SEM) via the Lisrel software was used for path analysis along with the descriptive method in this study. The findings indicated a significant correlation among job stress and counterproductive work behavior and workload, role ambiguity, and role conflict. In CWB, the relationship among workload, role ambiguity, and role conflict was also mediated by job stress. The research's conclusions indicate that role stressors should be managed to reduce CWB. Therefore, lowering the role stressors leads to less job stress and CWB
A preliminary investigation into student writers’ perception of corrective feedback focus
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to investigate whether second language student writers’ perception or lack of perception of targeted error type influences corrective feedback effectiveness. The targeted linguistic error type in this study involved subject-verb agreement errors. Thirty-six college students from northern Taiwan were assigned into one control group without receiving error correction, one experimental group receiving error correction without perceiving the targeted error type, and another experimental group receiving error correction and perceiving the targeted error type. The results showed that when student writers received corrections and perceived the subject-verb agreement errors as the targeted error type, they made more improvements than those who received corrections but did not perceive the targeted error type in immediate posttests. Furthermore, the learning benefit of student writers’ perception of corrective feedback focus was retained in delayed posttests. Student writers who received the corrections and perceived the targeted error type of subject-verb agreement errors significantly outperformed not only those who received corrections but did not perceive the targeted error type but also those who did not receive corrections in terms of learning gains in delayed posttests. Implications for the present study for the written corrective feedback research community were discussed
Working with Jack – An Influential Quarter Century Experience
Get PDFProfessor Jack C. Richards has been an enduring and highly influential contributor to the field of applied linguistics and English language teaching for the best part of 60 years. He has touched the professional lives of many people working in these fields all over the world – researchers and academic colleagues, materials writers, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students, teacher educators and teachers, and language learners, and publishers. His publication output is legendary and it continues to guide and inspire the ELT profession. To provide an example of how Professor Richards influences, supports and mentors those he works with, in this paper I trace my own personal history and experiences of my encounters with his publications, and my collaborations with him as an author. My intention is to tease out, at least in part, the scope of his many professional interests and the way in which they have affected my own work. These works include a focus on the teaching of speaking and listening, second language teacher education, language teaching, pedagogy and curriculum development, and language learning. The account is necessarily and unavoidably selective, as it is derived from my personal experiences of working with him for the last quarter century. However, my overall intention is to pay tribute to his remarkable career
What is Morphological Awareness and How Can You Develop it?
Get PDFBuilding on Jack Richard’s interest in vocabulary, this paper looks at the importance of morphology (how words are formed) in language learning and teaching. It describes why knowledge of morphology is important, and how it affects vocabulary learning. It provides clear guidelines on what word parts to focus on, how much time to spend on word parts and what a teacher (and learners) should do about word parts. Morphological knowledge involving derivational affixes becomes particularly important when learners know the first 2000-3000 words of English. One of the major activities for developing morphological awareness is cutting words into parts and relating the meanings of the parts to the meaning of the whole word. Teachers should help learners develop morphological awareness, train learners in word part strategies, and help learners to learn frequent word parts. The paper includes activities to achieve these goals in the classroom, as well as links that provide material for classroom use