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Review of Pronunciation Instruction in English for Academic Purposes: An Investigation of Attitudes, Beliefs and Practices
No full textPronunciation Instruction in English for Academic Purposes: An Investigation of Attitudes, Beliefs and Practices by John Hodgetts, 2020, 267pp., $169.99 (Paperback). ISBN 978303056118
Rater judgments and word difficulty: Conceptualizing the substantive validity of the VST
No full textThe substantive component of construct validity requires a confrontation between empirical test results and content relevance. The Vocabulary Size Test (VST) has been extensively validated in terms of empirical results. Less is known, however, about expert judgments of content relevance. The VST was constructed and validated according to the principle that frequency underlies vocabulary acquisition. This does not mean, however, that the two are equivalent. To better understand the construct of word difficulty as it is measured in VSTs, the results of two Rasch analyses, one on the VST, the other a Multi Facet Rasch Model (MFRM) of a questionnaire distributed to education practitioners were correlated (n = 80, r = 0.67, p < 0.001, 95% CI = [0.53, 0.77]). Semi-structured interviews were then conducted to explore how practitioners understand the concept of word difficulty. Findings indicate that word difficulty is understood to encompass more than frequency, validating recent research into the predictive power of lexical sophistication variables
Tasks, self-efficacy, and L2 motivational self system in an online emergency EFL speaking class: A mixed-methods study
No full textSince the World Health Organization initially declared the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, new issues have arisen in English language teaching (ELT). Although task-based language teaching (TBLT) and task-supported language teaching (TSLT) have received significant academic attention and recognition in traditional classroom settings, there is insufficient research on their effects on students’ L2 motivational self system and speaking self-efficacy in an online emergency EFL classroom. Therefore, this mixed-methods study aims at investigating the impacts of TBLT, TSLT, and PPP on the L2 motivational self system and speaking self-efficacy of students at Hanoi University (HANU). After collecting 117 questionnaires from three English-major speaking courses and performing a group interview with 12 students, the researchers examined the quantitative and qualitative data using one-way ANOVA, sentiment analysis, and content analysis. The findings revealed that task-based instruction was more successful than the PPP approach in increasing student speaking self-efficacy and L2 motivational self system in the online emergency EFL speaking classroom. Moreover, teachers should pay attention to five elements related to the application of PPP, TBLT, and TSLT, including the teacher’s role, time allocation, content, group work and peer support, and pre-task/activity preparation, which influence learners’ perceived motivation and speaking self-efficac
Metalanguage for enabling immigrants and refugees: Relevance of Natural Semantic Metalanguage and Minimal English
No full textWe should seek every possible method for educating immigrants and refugees and facilitating communication for them – especially during the current difficult times due to the spread of a killer-pandemic (i.e., Covid-19). To this end, I discuss the role which “metalanguage” could play in this regard, with reference to Natural Semantic Metalanguage/NSM and Minimal English/ME (e.g., Goddard & Wierzbicka, 2007; Goddard & Wierzbicka, 2018). This mainly theoretical contribution will demonstrate how NSM and ME can be powerful pedagogical tools for ethnopragmatic instruction and a mitigator to cross-cultural misunderstanding in intercultural/ international communication. The main merit which I claim is raising awareness about the significance of this well-established project in applied linguistics and demonstrates how it can tie in with the immigrant-and-refugee situation
Language use, technology and professionalisation in higher education: Preliminary considerations
No full textIntroduction to the special issue: Language use, technology and professionalisation in higher education: Preliminary considerations. This special issue seeks to explore some of the links between technology-mediated and/or face-to-face language use and professionalisation in Higher Education
The linguistic demands of learning at work: Interactional competences and miscommunication in vocational training
No full textBecoming a professional worker involves a wide range of cognitive, social, and cultural processes that have received extensive attention over the past decades amongst various disciplines. It is also not external to language use and communication. Novices in any occupation have to learn technical terms and are expected to master specific discourse and communication genres. They also face explicit or implicit demands regarding how to deal with interactional tasks. This paper discusses the theoretical conditions under which connections between work, language use and learning can be investigated both conceptually and empirically. It illustrates some of these ideas by using empirical data, focusing on a specific educational context, that of the apprenticeship system as it exists in Switzerland. A fine-grained analysis of this material highlights some of the characteristics of verbal and non-verbal inter-actions between apprentices and trainers as they occur in workplaces. To finish, the paper elaborates on some practical implications and applicationsof these analyses for the field of teachers’ training and language teaching and learni
Online machine translation for L2 writing across languages and proficiency levels
No full textUsing machine translation (MT) tools for language learning has become a common practice among language students in recent years. Studies have investigated how students use MT, how students and teachers perceive its benefits and drawbacks and how helpful it is for language learning. These studies indicate that students think MT tools are helpful in L2 writing due to their quick and easy access and use them in many aspects of L2 writing, such as vocabulary search, grammar checking, and writing revisions. However, concerns for the accuracy of outputs, the effectiveness of MT for language learn-ing and academic integrity are shared among students and teachers. This present study is based on a survey of 12 teachers and 150 students across five different languages and three proficiency levels at a tertiary institution in New Zealand. The quantitative and qualitative data were analysed to compare MT use and perceptions among proficiency levels and languages as well as between teachers and stu-dents. The findings reveal patterns that indicate different practices and perceptions between students of non-alphabet-based and alphabet-based languages. The analysis also demonstrates correlations between advanced-level students and more sophisticated and critical use of MT. With the proliferation of MT tools with neural machine translation (NMT) systems and improvement in their accuracy, the findings of this study contribute to the understanding of MT literacy to ensure effective and critical use of MT with an awareness of unique contexts and expectations of L2 writing in different language courses
Exploring the data-driven approach to grammar instruction in the ELT context of Turkey
No full textThis study aims at a rediscovery of the extent to which a Data Driven Learning (DDL)-based intervention could become instrumental in facilitating grammar instruction with a specific focus on EAP and learner autonomy in a preparatory program mostly by Turkish-L1 learners. It provides a context-restricted longitudinal depiction of the effectiveness of a DDL-based grammar instruction endorsed by teacher mentorship across groups asynchronously, thus re-testing the limits of DDL-oriented corpus pedagogy in contexts where a control group is not available. To this end, a corpus was compiled out of the existing reading and listening materials in use ad hoc the Alternative Corpus of Academic Texts (ACAT), and a total of 19 grammar lessons covering topics in the curriculum of the second level of the grammar course were developed using the ACAT. Blind pre and post-test procedures were administered with all four experimental groups independent of each other to gradually build up an understanding of the governing pattern of learner achievement through DDL and corpus-based teacher-prepared materials. The analysis demonstrated a rise in student achievement across all groups despite the lack of a teacher disseminating knowledge to students in class in the traditional sense, thus showing that a sense of autonomy could be gained through DDL-enhanced teaching. With the design being unorthodox, this study shows that the triple powers of DDL, self-discovery, occasional teacher supervision, and corpus-based teaching materials, could help learners survive autonomously no matter how hectic the curriculum run at an institution is. Further research is needed to deepen this insight so that this sort of DDL practice could be implemented at the institutional leve
“Why this and not that social media?” Reasons for using technology during online practice teaching
No full textRecent research has revealed increased use of social media platforms for English as a foreign language (hereafter, EFL) teachers’ English language teaching (hereafter, ELT) practices. However, the reasons for such adoption have received little attention, particularly among EFL preservice teachers who lack teaching experience using technology. Thus, this study examined the rationales and concerns surrounding the use of specific social media platforms for ELT purposes. This study employed a basic qualitative approach by recruiting 18 EFL preservice teachers. The data were collected through interviews and document analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring these participants to perform emergency remote teaching. The data revealed various reasons why EFL preservice teachers chose to incorporate WhatsApp and YouTube into their English classrooms but not Facebook or Instagram. This study offers three recommendations for improving EFL preservice teachers’ technology integratio
The role of university teachers’ 21st-century digital competence in their attitudes toward ICT integration in higher education: Extending the theory of planned behavior
No full textDue to the massive integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in higher education, teachers need to be highly digital competent and have positive attitudes to manage their classes effectively. In this regard, the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) introduces a paradigm known as 21st-century competence that all teachers should acquire. Recently, scholars have explored the dimension of teachers’ digital competence in the 21st century relating to a digital context. Thus, this explanatory study wants to take a step forward to add to the literature the role of university teachers’ 21st-century digital competence in their attitudes toward ICT integration. To meet the end, a questionnaire was designed and administered to 350 Iranian university teachers who implemented ICTs in their classes. The result of partial least squares analysis (PLS-SEM) reveals the significant relationship between university teachers’ information and data literacy, digital content creation, communication and collaboration, and problem-solving skills with three antecedents of behavioral intention and actual behavior for employing ICTs. Related pedagogical implications are addressed, such as running some teacher training programs for teachers to escalate their 21st-century digital competencies and making teachers aware of the role of these factors in managing their classes with ICTs