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The Importance of Engagement on Social Media Platforms: A Case Study
Get PDFThe tourism sector has long been associated with new technologies, and more specifically with social media. The objective of this study is to analyse the interaction between tourist satisfaction, tourist engagement, and user generated content on social media, especially on Twitter. We propose a model based on these three related variables. The context of the model is tourist related events and locations, and consists of three hypotheses which are supported by the literature. To test our model we conducted our studies in two independent tourist related settings using both surveys and an analysis of the conversations relating to the event on the Twitter platform. We determined that the strongest influence on User Generated Content comes from tourist engagement as a mediator variable. Additionally, we found that achieving engagement among tourists visiting the destination is an effective way to generate positive content in social media. The study makes a new contribution to literature - the proposed model is innovative, in particular with the introduction of engagement as a mediator variable, and the incorporation of an analysis of social media content into the model validation. This information supports decisions at all levels that in turn improve educational process performance further
Improving Communication between Parents and Siblings
Get PDFDIR aims to increase the communication skills of stressed parents and teenagers by the teaching of senior volunteers transformed in coaches through the experience of an intangible European cultural heritage: the art of cooking and dinner together. Our first questionnaire revealed, as we expected, a reluctance to discuss major issues of relevance, a mis-match in what the issues actually were, even the involvement of grandparents or the extended family. In some parents an abdication of parental concern, citing the parents lack of confidence in their own ability, a willingness to leave it to experts and teachers. Our results so far (we have another 12 months to continue our project) lead us to believe that a communicational learning pathway is needed carried out by mentors and senior volunteers. We anticipate the results of our project to be a better understanding of the development needs of parents of disenfranchised adolescents
Enhancing the Revisit Intention of Nature-Based Tourism in Indonesia: The Role of Memorable Tourism Experience and Satisfaction
Get PDFThe nature-based tourism in Indonesia is experiencing rapid growth which also triggered tighter competition. Competitive advantages and innovative strategies are needed by the tourism destination to survive and sustain. Tourism destination has to improve visitors loyalty that is reflected by the intention to revisit. This study aims to gain an understanding of the variables that influence revisit intentions, namely satisfaction and memorable tourism experience. A great and memorable experience’s that the visitors have of a tourism destination will act as a satisfactory factor and drive the intention to revisit. The paper presents a structural model of the research and based on purposive sampling technique, a sample of 124 visitors was selected. The data analyzed by using PLS-SEM. The results indicate that satisfaction mediates the relationship between memorable tourism experience and revisit intention. So, we can suggest that it is crucial to maintaining the visitor’s experience on behalf to satisfy the visitor and encourage the visitor’s intention to revisit
“MulDiLanguaging” for Fostering Intercultural Communicative Competence in Second/Foreign Language Education
Get PDFIn this paper, an attempt is made to develop a framework of a “MulDiLanguaging” approach with the purpose to enhance primary school students’ intercultural competence. This educational framework consists of three interactive – interdependent components: a) Intercultural/multicultural sensitivity and awareness, b) Intercultural cooperation and communication, c) Language and intercultural communication strategies. It includes communicative and creative activities aiming at developing students’ intercultural communicative skills in parallel with their target language skills (EFL). In the “MulDiLanguaging” framework, the students are trained to acquire knowledge of ‘self’ and ‘other’, knowledge of everyday life in different cultural contexts, to function fully in an intercultural situation, as well as to develop language skills and abilities in the target language and intercultural communication strategies. A number of communicative and creative activities are presented with the purpose to create a group-working, cooperative context and enhance students’ intercultural competence. Also, an Intercultural Portfolio is suggested as an alternative tool for assessing students’ linguistic skills and strategies and their intercultural communication skills acquired in the “MulDiLanguaging” setting
Preface to the Special Issue on Task-based Language Teaching and Testing
Get PDFThis special issue brings together cutting edge research and reviews highlighting the issues related to future perspectives and challenges of Task-based Language Teaching and Testing. After a thorough review of the received submissions, this special issue publishes three articles which investigate TBLT from different perspectives in various contexts
A New Approach for Complementing the Earned Value Method for Project Progress Monitoring and Controlling
Get PDFThe earned value management method is commonly used for monitoring and assessing project budget and schedule performance. Although widely used, this method does not consider the time value of money. This paper suggests the inclusion of inflation as a factor affecting project performance and gives a methodology to do so using the net present value. This is done by adjusting the present value and actual cost of the work packages. The result is more realistic progress measurements and performance indicators
The Effect of Collaborative Prewriting Discussions on L2 Writing: Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency
Get PDFThe present study essayed to investigate the impact of collaborative pre-writing discussions on three aspects of writing skill namely, complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF). To reach this goal, 60 intermediate male EFL learners ranging from 22 to 28 years at Shahid Beheshti Language Center in Tehran, Iran participated in the study. For the purpose of homogeneity, the standardized English Proficiency Test (Preliminary English Test) was administered to 88 students and they were divided into two intact experimental and control groups. The experimental group, which was divided into six groups of five was exposed to and performed on a-40- minute essay writing tasks held two sessions per week lasting ninety-minutes for ten weeks with collaborative pre-writing discussions. Moreover, the students in experimental group were required to complete a questionnaire at the end of the study to find out about their feelings regarding prewriting discussions prior to writing in L2. The control group received the same materials and teacher as experimental group, except for, there was no collaborative pre-writing discussions to write the essays. After the raters were trained and familiarized with the rating process, the essays by both groups were collected and scored holistically based on the assessment measure provided to the two raters. In order to provide plausible answers to the research questions posed above, a series of one way ANOVA was employed to evaluate the participants' overall performance in the two conditions. The results indicated that collaborative pre-writing discussions were superior to mainstream methods. Thus, the findings can have an immediate implication for EFL teachers and practitioners who are searching for cutting edge ways of developing EFL learners' writing performance
Learner Preferences for Teacher Corrective Feedback: A Survey Study of Arab Students from Qatar
Get PDFDespite vast research into the effectiveness of teacher corrective feedback (TCF) in second language writing, little is known about its influence on students’ motivation in different contexts and settings. Where teachers complain about their students not responding to their feedback, students do not always find teacher feedback helpful and motivating. This study explores Arab students’ perceptions of TCF and the way it encourages them to continue working on their writing skills. In specific, this study uses survey methods to understand student views about the type, form and method of TCF that enhances their motivation. The findings reveal that Arab students expect their teachers to provide feedback that is corrective and self-explanatory in nature. In addition, students prefer handwritten feedback to oral and electronic, and are highly motivated after receiving their teacher’s feedback on their writings. The results of this study can benefit SLW teachers around the world to make their feedback more appealing to their students in specific contexts and enhance their motivation to make the most out of TCF
The Effect of One-way and Two-way Jigsaw Reading Task on the Writing Performance of Iranian EFL Learners
Get PDFWriting is viewed as one of the most important language skills both in L1 and L2 learning. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of one way and two-way task types through jigsaw reading activities on the writing performance of Iranian EFL learners. The participants of the study were 90 B.A. Students at the intermediate level and they were studying English in intact classes. These 90 learners were divided into three equal groups of 30 and homogenized prior to the administration of the treatment through giving them a PET as a proficiency test. Following that, a pretest of writing was given to the three groups. Next, the two experimental groups received one way and two-way jigsaw reading activities while the control group did not receive such treatment and followed the conventional method of instruction based on the syllabus set by the university. The length of the treatment was ten sessions and each session was 90 minutes. At the end of the treatment, the participants were given the posttest of writing the scores of which were used to address the research question. The results of statistical analyses indicated that two-way tasks were significantly more effective on the writing performance of the participants
The Gestalt Shift: The Role of the Narrator’s Gender in Teaching Literary Texts
Get PDFThis paper explored the role of the narrator's gender in teaching literary texts that Ahlam Mosteghanemi’s makes use of gender in her literary work. This quantitative-qualitative study includes only one novel “Memory in the Flesh” (2008) first published in 1985 as its main sample. This paper argues that the shift in the gender of the narrator in “Memory in the Flesh” employs the aesthetic elements of the narrative to stimulate the thinking skills of the language’s learner in similar situations as assumed by the Gestalt shift concept. The Gestalt theory as the theoretical framework enhances EFL learners to analyse the real identities of the narrators in relation to gender. In doing so, the research constructs a theoretical framework out of two main standpoints: One of the male narrator and the other of the female narrator which are linked to the gender roles in the narration. These learning strategies are used in teaching literary texts for postgraduate students in EFL contexts. This research used two instruments: semi-structured interviews and textual analysis. This mixed-method (quantitative – qualitative) study used only one novel "Memory in the Flesh" (2008) first published in 1985 as its main date. The findings of the study showed that the use of the Gestalt pattern in reading the literary text "Memory in Flesh" as a case, with concern to the role of the narrator's gender improves the thinking skills of the EFL learner and interpretation abilities. This research recommends that further future research be conducted to investigate gender aspect in relevant literary works