Indonesian JELT
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Learning environments and the use of vocabulary learning strategies: a case study of Chinese learners
Get PDFThis paper reports a survey study of how Chinese students use strategies when learning second language vocabulary. The focus of the study is on the effect of learning environments (EFL vs. ESL) on the use of vocabulary learning strategies. The subjects are Chinese secondary school students learning English in China (EFL context) and in Singapore (ESL context).The questionnaire used in the survey was a modified version of Gu and Johnson (1996). 450 secondary school students, aged from 16 to 19, from two secondary schools in Harbin, China, and one boarding school in Singapore participated in the survey. The profile of the students’ learning beliefs, sources and strategies was examined in relation to their learning environments. The t-test results showed that learning environment was significant factors in affecting vocabulary learning beliefs, sources and strategy use. The findings suggest that language environments can influence individuals’ vocabulary learning profile. Thus, the combined effects of the teaching emphasis and the amount of exposure to the target language in and out of the classroom should be considered closely in order to understand the strategy choice of Chinese EFL and ESL learners
Word recognition or social behaviour? Literacy issues in Second of Foreign language readers of English in developing countries
Get PDFThis paper critically examines the four resources model of literacy (Freebody & Luke, 1999) in the context of the ESL/EFL reader in a poorly resourced public education system such as exists in many parts of the developing world. It critically examines the impact that issues such as globalization may have on the learning and teaching of English literacy. It argues that the special literacies that are often portrayed as essential in the so-called changed socio-political climate are, in fact, only relevant at best to certain social and economic groups in society and at worst to certain types of developed society. It argues that aspects of the four resources model and critical literacy in general are important aspects to take into account in literacy programmes, but they will impact differently at different stages of literacy and in different social and economic circumstances. The paper suggests that more attention needs to be paid to basic word recognition skills in second language readers and will review recent research done in Malaysia and Singapore with Bahasa Malayu speakers and Chinese which suggests that word recognition procedures in ESL readers of English may be radically different, that these differences should be taken into account when designing decoding programmes and thus when designing initial literacy programmes
The use of scaffolding strategies among ESL learners in the comprehension of literary texts
Get PDFResearch involving comprehension among adult learners has been tremendously influential in the field of learning. This has led researchers across various disciplines to study the strategies adult learners use in an attempt to gain understanding of materials read. For example studies conducted by O’Malley and Chamot (1985) involving beginning and intermediate ESL students resulted in identification of 26 language learning strategies. On the other hand, Kalmbach (1986) identifies retelling as a form of strategy that could enhance comprehension among learners. One interesting aspect highlighted by the sociocultural theory is the use of scaffolding as a form of strategy to make sense of information. Various researches carried out in this field have shown the importance and effectiveness of scaffolding strategy. For example, studies by Donato & McCormick (1994) and Anton & DiCamilla (1998) on second language users of English have identified several scaffolding strategies that assist learners in gaining knowledge. Bearing this view in mind, this paper discusses how a group of teacher trainees of differing proficiency levels attempt to create meaning of two selected short stories. The study mainly focuses on the types of scaffolding utilized by teacher trainees from three different levels of proficiency; dyads of high proficiency, dyads of low proficiency and dyads of mixed proficiency. Based on the transcripts of the recorded discussions, the findings indicate that the types of scaffolding utilized by the respondents differ based on their proficiency levels
Investigating cognitive and metacognitive strategy use during an English proficiency test
Get PDFThis paper reports on the results of a study of cognitive and metacognitive strategy use and its effect on the students’ test performance at the tertiary level in a Chinese EFL context. A 18-item survey involving 526 undergraduate non-English majors revealed that: (1) the students had a medium use of both cognitive and metacognitive strategies during the test; (2) cognitive and metacognitive strategy use was closely related to each other, but neither was a predictor for the other; and (3) though cognitive and metacognitive strategy use significantly correlated with the students’ performance in certain parts of the proficiency test, only the metacognitive strategy of evaluating one’s performance proved to be a positive predictor of the students’ performance in listening and reading comprehension and the overall written test. Based on the results, some implications and suggestions for future research are discussed
measurments and perceptions of writing development: Omani academic writers in English
Get PDFUsing collaborative research methodology, this study reports on the writing development of a number of Omani teachers of English studying for a UK BA degree in Oman. It identifies the most useful criteria for measuring writing development, critiquing some previous measures. The measurements with the students’ own perceptions of their development as writers were compared and the two ways of tracking writing development were evaluated. The discussion deals with some of the problems of interpreting data in the light of experience and background knowledge. It analyses some findings concerning the relationship between grammatical complexity and accuracy, and highlights the importance of affective factors in academic writing skills development
Contributions of L1 reading sub-skills to L2 reading development in English as a Foreign Language among school aged learners
No full textThis study examined the cross-linguistic relationship in morphological awareness in two typologically diverse languages, Chinese and English and their relative contributions to L2 reading comprehension among Grades 5 and 6 students in China. Morphological awareness refers to the ability to analyze and identify a word’s morphological constituents. As such, this ability is believed to play a critical role in reading comprehension. Previous research suggests that the acquisition of morphological awareness necessitates substantial print exposure and experience. This implies that EFL learners may have difficulty in acquiring morphological awareness to its fullest extent. Theory of transfer posits, however, that once developed in one language, reading sub-skills, including morphological awareness, become available in learning to read in another language. This being the case, L1 morphological awareness, in principle, may compensate for restricted L2 print exposure in promoting L2 morphological awareness. Based on these insights, we hypothesized that (1) L2 morphological awareness would be closely related to L2 morphological awareness; (2) L1 morphological awareness is a stronger predictor of L2 morphological awareness than L2 print exposure; and (3) L1 morphological awareness facilitates L2 reading comprehension both directly and indirectly through L2 morphological awareness. These hypotheses were tested by measuring and comparing L1 and L2 morphological awareness and L2 reading comprehension. The results provide strong empirical support for the hypotheses. Their implications for EFL pedagogy are discussed
What can SLA learn from contrastive corpus linguistics? The case of passive constructions in Chinese learner English
Get PDFThis article seeks to demonstrate the predictive and diagnostic power of the integrated approach that combines contrastive corpus linguistics with interlanguage analysis in second language acquisition research, via a case study of passive constructions in Chinese learner English. The type of corpora used in contrastive corpus linguistics is first discussed, which is followed by a summary of the findings from a published contrastive study of passive constructions in English and Chinese based on comparable corpora of the two languages. These findings are in turn used to predict and diagnose the performance of Chinese learners of English in their use of English passives as mirrored in a sizeable Chinese learner English corpus in comparison with a comparable native English corpus
Expertise research in language teaching: Some examples and some issues
No full textLATEX (for Language Teaching Expertise) is a research group which focuses on expertise studies in areas of language teaching. The paper describes a number of research projects LATEX has been involved in. One set of these are concerned with expertise in task and materials design, considering the procedures so-called experts follow when engaged in these activities. A further project concentrates on materials evaluation and researches how teachers with differing degrees of experience go about the pre-use evaluation of a textbook. Another study comparing the classroom performance of ‘novice’ and ‘expert’ teachers is described. All these studies involve forms of introspection – concurrent verbalization and stimulated recall - and the use of these techniques is regarded as a defining feature of LATEX research. In the final section, two problematical areas related to expertise research are discussed. The first is concerned with how experts are identified. Secondly, a question related to the training of expertise is considered - how central characteristics of expertise can be distinguished from peripheral features, so that training programmes can focus on what is important
Australian and Indonesian university students' understanding of plagiarism
Get PDFThis article is part of a larger report of research which explored and compared Australian and Indonesian university students’ attitudes toward plagiarism, understanding of plagiarism, and understanding of university policy on plagiarism. It focuses on whether or not Australian and Indonesian students differed in their understanding of the notion of plagiarism and its various forms. Data of the Australian and Indonesian subjects’ understanding of plagiarism were gained using a questionnaire and focus group interviews. The results showed that the Australian students were more knowledgeable of the notion of plagiarism and its various forms than the Indonesian students. The differences may be attributed to the academic context of the study. The Indonesian students were not familiar with the Western norm in academic writing, the norm which is regularly practiced in the Australian context. This study strongly recommends that the Indonesian students’ awareness of plagiarism be increased in order to avoid plagiarism
Plagiarism across cultures: Is there a difference?
Get PDFTrying to define plagiarism has been one of the most controversial issues in L2 writing classes. Much of the discussion has been about the relationship between how plagiarism is viewed in China and in the West, in part because there is a long, shared literacy tradition between them. This paper argues that while there are critical differences between how plagiarism is viewed, the relationship is often more complex than is sometimes thought. A study of this relationship can help us understand not only the nature of plagiarism but also concepts of imitation, originality, and authorship, which underlie how plagiarism is viewed. While the focus of this paper is on a comparison of Chinese- and English-language viewpoints, this perspective can help both researchers develop a framework for examining plagiarism across cultures and for teachers to develop a pedagogy for teaching about plagiarism that helps our students see its subtleties and contradictions involved in thinking about plagiarism in the same way they learn about any other aspect of literacy