Indonesian JELT
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Autonomy and control in EFL programme management
Get PDFThis article argues that issues of autonomy and control – who has autonomy and who has control over which decisions – are endemic in programme design, implementation and evaluation, and seriously impact programme success. This argument is illustrated using data from an evaluation of an EFL Mentoring Programme designed to train local EFL teachers to supplement and eventually replace expatriate teachers. It is concluded that ownership and commitment on EFL programmes are directly related to issues of autonomy and control, and that striking a balance between autonomy and control is a very difficult aspect of programme management. 
Teacher training and development in ELT: A professional approach
Get PDFEnglish Language Teaching (ELT) has no professional body controlling entry to the profession, and there is a lack of clarity in the literature on the role and content of both pre-service teacher education and in-service teacher development. This paper builds on socioeconomic models of professionalism in an attempt to develop valid criteria for both. Professionalism as a system of rewarding and controlling expert labour is defined and the legitimacy of forming professional bodies is discussed. The criteria are then applied to ELT as a critique of existing pre-service and in-service teacher education, and suggestions are made for the professionalization of ELT
Grammar consciousness-raising: Research, theory, and application
Get PDFThis article reviews a number of studies that proved the efficacy of consciousness-raising (C-R), showing at the same time the inherent flaws that these studies suffer. It then proceeds to discuss the theoretical assumptions underpinning C-R, the application and the intended outcomes of C-R. In doing this, teachers can obtain a comprehensive picture of C-R, and in particular understand its typical characteristics that differentiate it from the traditional teaching method such as the Grammar Translation. Implications from C-R studies for language teaching are also discussed. 
The role of awareness in L2 development: Theory, research, and pedagogy
Get PDFCognitive psychology and cognitive science appear to agree that attention to stimuli is needed for long-term memory storage and that little, if any, learning can take place without attention. One strand of psycholinguistic research that has drawn quite a lot of interest, both from a theoretical and empirical perspective, is the role awareness plays in second language acquisition (SLA). To promote a further understanding of the role of awareness may potentially contribute to L2 development. This article will (1) briefly describe current theoretical approaches to the role of awareness in language learning, (2) review recent studies that have employed verbal reports to investigate the effects of awareness on L2 development, and (3) provide, based on the review, some awareness-raising pedagogical tasks for the L2 classroom setting
Intonation meaning in English discourse: A study of Thai speakers
Get PDFAt the heart of cross-cultural misunderstandings lie problems associated with intonation features of learners of English (Gumperz et al., 1979; Gumperz, 1982). The successful use of discourse intonation contributes to effective cross-cultural communication, and failure to make use of the appropriate pragmatic discourse features of English intonation jeopardizes effective communication, possibly resulting in serious communication breakdown between native and non-native speakers. Despite its crucial role in communication and language learning, many English language learners have difficulty in using appropriate intonation. A number of studies of second language intonation have an underlying assumption of the role of cross-linguistic interference contributing to a “foreign intonation” (Lepetit, 1989; Hewings, 1990; Wennerstrom, 1994). However, this line of research is in an early stage and the findings are as yet inconclusive. This paper compared the speech of five Thai speakers who were studying for their advanced degrees in science and business in the U.S with the speech produced by five native speakers. The speech elicited from three different tasks was analyzed using Pierrehumbert & Hirschberg’s 1990 model of intonational meaning. The extent to which the intonation produced by Thais diverged from that by native speakers was assessed. In light of the findings, pedagogical suggestions were offered to help improve the teaching of pronunciation, in general, and the teaching of intonation, in particular
The learning strategies of Taiwanese university students: English majors versus non-English majors and males versus females
Get PDFThis study intends to investigate the learning strategies of Taiwanese university students. Two groups of students – 66 English majors and 86 non-English majors – were the subjects of the study. They responded to the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) (Oxford, 1989) of ESL or EFL version of 50 questions. The responses were calculated through statistical analysis in terms of frequency, mean, and standard deviation. It was found that all subjects use compensation strategies most frequently, and affective ones most infrequently. When English majors were compared with non-English majors, the former used learning strategies more frequently than the latter. Similarly, when gender was compared, female students tended to apply learning strategies more frequently than male students did. The top one and two strategies employed by all subjects were “If I can’t think of an English word, I use a word or phrase that means the same thing,” and “To understand unfamiliar English words, I make guesses.” The strategy least used was “I write down my feelings in a language learning diary.” The paper concludes by discussing the pedagogical implications of the findings
Why we should teach grammar: Insights for EFL classroom teachers
Get PDFControversies about whether or not to teach grammar still reign in the current language pedagogy. Those who are against grammar teaching hold the view that grammar should not be taught since grammatical features can be acquired unconsciously in a natural setting. The protagonists of grammar teaching, however, argue that grammatical features need to be taught in order to facilitate the process of acquisition. Without questioning the legitimacy of the fact that grammatical features can be acquired unconsciously, this article argues that formal instruction is needed particularly in EFL contexts. Given this argument, the article addresses three important questions: (1) On what theoretical grounds should grammar teaching be based? (2) When should grammar instruction be given? and (3) How should grammar be taught
Negotiation of meaning in communicative tasks
Get PDFThe adoption of task-based teaching in Indonesia classrooms has not been widely accepted for two major grounds. First, teachers seem to cast some doubts as to what degree such an approach can contribute to their students’ language development. Second, classroom management issues, such as discipline and noise become another challenge to cope with. While these issues deserve serious attention, teachers’ unwillingness to venture the use of tasks seems to put their awareness of the learning process at stake. It is through task-based teaching, students’ language development can be nurtured. This study is an attempt to probe the benefits of using two types of communicative tasks: picture comparison and picture drawing. The study involving two female Taiwanese native speakers learning English found that the interactional mechanisms created through a task and, negotiation of meaning provided a potentially rich forum for students’ language development. There are at least two prime elements accounting for this benefit. First, the type of direct indicators employed by the student creates linguistic urgency fostering the limit of their language capacity, and the use of embedded negotiation of meaning promotes students’ active involvement. Second, one way communicative tasks, to some degree, can yield greater opportunities for students to negotiate, thus enriching acquisition
Joint maximum likelihood estimates on items-examinees using the prox method: A study on the reading subtest of TOEFL
Get PDFItem response theory (IRT) emerges as an accurate solution to the weaknesses of the classical test theory (CTT). IRT provides more advantages than CTT does. The advantages include the requirements of unidimension for items, local independence between examinees and items, and examinee-item parameter invariance. The requirements are needed in test construction. TOEFL is so far known as the test which meets the requirements in language testing. It however concerns IRT. In this case, the research deals with the reading subtest of TOEFL with regard to IRT. The research is designed to estimate examinee-item parameters. As a parameter logistic (1PL) model in IRT, the Prox method is employed to estimate the parameters jointly. This is named joint maximum likelihood estimates. The method requires dichotomous data. Therefore, TOEFL as a good test instrument is chosen. It includes 30 persons as the examinee measure θ parameter and 20 items as the item difficulty b parameter. Unlike CTT, IRT using Prox method is able to estimate the examinee-item parameters jointly. As a result, the values of θ and b prove the ranges as the model intended in IRT, which is commonly named as the item characteristic curve
Discourse awareness and issues in EST materials design
No full textUnderstanding text structure (knowledge of discourse and genre) within specific contexts plays a very important part in EST materials development for language teaching and learning. It is argued that for students to comprehend particular texts and to learn a language well, language teaching should begin with an understanding of text structure. It is thus essential for EST teachers to be aware that linguistic patterns exist across stretches of text within different text types and an understanding of these patterns would make text comprehension and reading to learn in the content area easier. Thus, teachers need to be trained to develop discourse-based materials as an understanding of different text types can enhance language learning. This paper discusses the importance of discourse awareness and issues of design, development and application in the development of EST materials in relation to written texts by introducing frameworks for designing discourse-based materials