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Exploring Japanese students’ e-learning habits
No full textSince 2010, both universities in which the authors teach have integrated pc-based e-learning or mobile learning programs into several English courses. Students’ online performances are evaluated and used in determining the grades for each course. The data accumulated over the years indicates both changing and unchanged e-learning habits among Japanese university students. By analyzing the accumulated data, coupled with information obtained from questionnaires, we conclude that while some e-learning habits remain unchanged, several new learning habits have emerged. The unchanged e-learning habits include: predominant use of the iPhone, which remains the most popular mobile learning tool; a deadline rush for completing e-learning tasks; a preference for engaging in e-learning in the evening and at night; e-learning diligence, i.e., frequency of participation and duration of participation, show no change. In recent years some new trends have appeared in students’ e-learning: more students entering university have previous experience with e-learning, and they are less concerned about the cost of mobile phone Internet connection
Critical intercultural communication education: cultural analysis and pedagogical applications
No full textWith continuous advances in communication, technology, and increased mobility, intercultural communication competence has become an essential element to address in foreign and second language education (Kramsch, 2013, Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013). This paper proposes a pedagogical approach to intercultural language education that utilizes the students’ L1 (i.e., Persian) to facilitate cultural awareness and successful intercultural communication. A cultural analysis model is used to show how L1 cultural values contribute to politeness and speech act realization patterns and how that knowledge can be used when making sense of the pragmatics of other languages. Specifically, we place emphasis on learners’ critical awareness and appreciation of their own cultural values and language in order to be able to develop heightened sensitivity to the potential influence of cultural assumptions on communication. Our approach aligns well with the current shift towards critical pedagogy which encourages learners to be critically reflective (Kumaravadivelu, 2008) with awareness and appreciation of their own local cultural values and critical awareness of other cultures. After discussing how cultural conceptualisations of face and politeness influence the use of pragmatics and speech act realization patterns in Persian, we suggest a number of pedagogical activities to raise students’ meta-pragmatic awareness and capacity for reflecting on relationships between language use and culture
The impact of spelling errors on trained raters’ scoring decisions
No full textSecond language (L2) writing assessments seldom allow a spellchecker and often have a time limit. Naturally, test takers often submit responses with spelling errors. However, little is known about whether and how spelling errors in test taker responses affect trained raters’ scoring decisions. In this study, we investigated the impact of spelling errors on trained raters’ holistic evaluation of response quality. We selected 148 responses to four L2 writing tasks, and created error-free versions of the responses by correcting spelling errors in the original responses. Both the original and corrected responses were randomly assigned to trained raters, who scored the responses according to the same holistic scoring rubrics. We compared the resulting scores of original and corrected responses to gauge the impact of spelling errors. We also examined whether the impact of spelling errors varied across different task types and spelling error characteristics. The results showed that the spelling error correction led to an average of more than a half score point increase. The score gains from the error correction varied across task types and the quantity of corrected errors. These findings have multiple implications, including suggestions for rater training and assessment development
A day in the life: Mapping international students' language learning environments in multilingual Sydney
No full textThe challenges of gaining access to opportunities to use the target language in contexts of study abroad, international education and migration are well-documented. In this Sydney-based study, these are reconceptualized as challenges of access to English in an English-speaking, but increasingly multilingual, city. The notion of "context" in overseas study is also reconceptualized in spatial terms as the environmental circumstances of students' everyday lives, which are partly fixed in advance of their arrival but also shaped by their agency. A narrative case study of a recently arrived international student' daily activities and language use draws on online diary and stimulated recall interview data. The case study illustrates both the importance of the spatial dimensions of her everyday life to her use of languages and the how she manages these spatial dimensions to enhance her access to opportunities for English language use and learning
I love Indonesia: EFL learners’ perceptions on web-facilitated language learning
No full textIntegration of computers into Foreign Language (fl) learning has become the allbut-inevitable direction for the future, given the (a) considerable benefits this affords for students of English as a Foreign Language (efl), (b) characteristics of today’s learners as Generation Z (González-Lloret & Ortega, 2014), and (c) widespread use of the internet in the twenty-first century. This situation has spurred a transformation of ComputerAssisted Language Learning (call) into Web-Facilitated Language Learning (wfll) as an alternative paradigm for efl teachers and learners. Furthermore, Task-Based Language Teaching (tblt) is likely to serve as a pedagogical framework in designing the web for the purpose of fl learning. The primary objectives of the present study were therefore to (a) develop a teacher-designed learning website, namely I Love Indonesia, and (b) gather information from high school learners of English in Indonesia with different attitudes towards call (positive/moderate/negative) in correlation with how they perceive wfll (agree/disagree) and perform web-based activities. Descriptive Statistics, if Function in Excel, Correlation Analysis, and Independent-samples T-test were employed in the study. Finally, the study findings demonstrate that (a) the majority of learners participating in the study have positive attitudes towards call, (b) all focused participants have positive perceptions of wfll and (c) learners with positive attitudes are likely to have more positive perceptions (to agree) than moderate and negative attitude learners (ones who disagree) on the use of the website for language learning. In addition, the website seems to benefit efl learners in some specific areas. Consideration should be given to working with 158 The jalt call Journal 2018: Regular Papers a greater number of learners over a longer period of time when conducting further studies on the effectiveness of the website for efl learners in order to be able to shed some light on the development of their language skills
Adopting a dual focus to drive forward the fields of language education and language assessment
No full textExploring assessment for learning practices in the EMI classroom in the context of Taiwanese higher education
No full textThe EMI Classroom Assessment Practices questionnaire was developed and administered to 40 EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction) university teachers in Taiwan with the aim of meeting EMI teachers’ needs to conduct learning-oriented classroom assessment. The questionnaire surveyed the teachers in terms of their assessment practices in EMI and their self-perceived skills in these practices. The effects of the medium of instruction (English vs. Chinese) and teacher- and course-related variables related to assessment practices were also examined. The results revealed a high correlation between techniques that were less commonly practiced and those in which the teachers felt less skilled, signaling the possibility that assessment practices in the EMI classroom were dominated by the teachers’ familiarity with techniques rather than by instructional objectives. In addition, the teachers perceived themselves to be less skilled in certain learning-oriented assessment practices, such as self-assessment and designing test items that assess higher-level cognitive abilities. Compared with courses taught in Chinese, EMI courses showed a tendency to involve fewer classroom interactions and to assess students’ higher-order abilities less often, elements which are critical to the emergence of learning. Although the EMI teachers were aware of students’ difficulties with English, these difficulties were not commonly taken into consideration, and accommodations were seldom made. Finally, the teachers’ assessment practices were found to be mediated by variables such as discipline, course size, and the teachers’ focus of assessment. The findings of this investigation have implications for the development and implementation of useful training programs in support of EMI teachers’ professional development in assessment
An investigation of implicit vs. explicit oral corrective feedback on Chinese pupils’ use of past tense
No full textThis experimental study investigated the relative effectiveness of two broad categories of oral corrective feedback (i.e., implicit vs. explicit feedback) on primary pupils’ use of past tense. Data was collected from a primary school in Hong Kong involving 24 pupils in two experimental groups and one control group. A pre-test was given in the first week to ensure the three groups were equivalent at the beginning. Afterwards, students were asked to retell a story, during which students in one experimental group received implicit oral feedback on their use of past tense, while those in the other experimental group received explicit feedback. The control group did not receive immediate oral feedback. All three groups received an immediate post-test at the end of story retelling, and a delayed post-test two weeks later. Test scores were analysed to examine changes within each group and differences across groups. The study found both experimental groups outperformed the control group, but there was no significant difference between the two experimental groups, except that the group receiving explicit feedback tended to outperform the implicit group, especially in repairing regular verbs. The findings suggest both types of oral corrective feedback could be given to ESL learners during form-related classroom instruction
Evaluating the efficacy of yes-no checklist tests to assess knowledge of multi-word lexical units
No full textOne of the many challenges facing Japanese university students studying English is the multi-word phrase. The English language contains a large number of such multiple-word items, which act as single words with a single meaning. This study is concerned with evaluating the efficacy of yes/no checklist tests to assess knowledge of multi-word units. Participants (n = 206) took a yes-no test of 30 real words and 15 pseudowords. The 30 real words were selected from the students’ textbook, based on the teacher’s intuition of the words and multi-words posing the greatest learning burden for the students. Twenty-one of the selected words were single-word items. The remaining nine were multi-words, such as “get up” and “take turns”. Forty-five minutes following completion of the yes-no test, an English to Japanese translation test of the same 30 real words was taken by the same participants to evaluate the efficacy of yes/no test. Results suggest that the yes-no vocabulary test format may be able to measure student knowledge of multi-word lexical units as (or more) effectively than single-word units