Category: Language Learning and Teaching
ESL Functions, Purposes, & Didactic Implications: A Grounded Theory on Codeswitching Linguistic Phenomenon
This article fittingly considered the descriptive-correlational method of research to delineate written and oral code-switching prevalence in discourse of 80% purposively selected participants considering ESL context. The main instrument employed by the researchers was the transcribed/recorded oral recitation of the respondents and the written essays. The data gathering commenced October 8 to 12, 2018 two …
Developing Students’ Academic Writing Identity through Alternative Genres
Two recent assignments in East Asian Studies courses at a large public university suggest the benefits of introducing students to academic writing through alternative genres rather than essays. Particular to Western education, the essay form is often intimidating, and many multilingual students in this department find it difficult to develop critical ideas, use evidence effectively, …
Self-directed Language Learning: Which Tasks and Tools Are Most Effective for Promoting Reflection on Learning?
This presentation explores how learners majoring in English language at a university in Japan planned, managed, and reflected on their self-directed language learning over one semester. Self-directed learning is a system of personalised study in which learners are responsible for setting goals, choosing resources and strategies, implementing a plan, and reflecting on both the process …
Shaping Self-awareness, Introspection and Resilience: Why Language Learners Need Training in Reflective Writing
Committing to language learning is an emotional endeavour (Dewaele, 2015) that requires individuals to make a staggering number of decisions about how, what and why they learn. In particular, self-directed learning requires individuals to critically assess and subsequently modify contextual and situational conditions (Gao, 2013) to allow for the optimal pursuit of their language goals. …
L2 WTC and Relatedness in Social Online Classrooms: Findings from a Longitudinal Action Research Project in a Japanese University Classroom
Synchronous, video-mediated online classrooms offer a range of challenges that do not exist in traditional, face-to-face classrooms in terms of enacting L2 willingness to communicate (WTC). Social proximity, which facilitates group cohesion and relatedness, is often reduced in online spaces resulting in significant implications for L2 learners’ desire to communicate. As the second iteration of …
Reflection in Language Learning: An Institutional Integration Project
Reflection on language learning is when language learners become more aware of their abilities, strategy use, and task performance by thinking deeply about their linguistic knowledge and self-regulatory skills (Huang, 2021). The process is a necessary initial step in developing metacognitive awareness which is “the foundation for learning and success” (Fleming, 2014). After giving a …
Encouraging Reflection on Speaking Performance in Class: Findings and Suggestions
This presentation will provide a recount from the beginning stages of a research project which began in September 2018 until its official conclusion in February 2020 at a mid-sized university in central Japan. The purpose of the project was to encourage students to become more reflective about their speaking performance in class. Effective learning will …
Lessons Learned From Teaching Japanese for Medical Purposes to International Students
This work shows the lessons learned from the online course on Basic Medical Japanese for international students conducted between May and July 2020 at Tokushima University. The participants were five graduate students from China, Bangladesh, Thailand, including one male and four females. This course was designed for the learners to master basic medical terms and …
Preparing Future Educators to Support the Language Needs of All Students
Due to the increasing number of English as a Second Language (ESL) in United States classrooms, educators in higher education must provide experiences to prepare students to support all learners. Educators can support learners to naturally build in opportunities to speak in their native language. Gonzalez (2014) shares “allowing students some use of their first …
Gammified Tools in the Development of Communicative Production in Remote EFL Learning
One of the most critical challenges of Foreign Language teaching is developing students’ oral communicative competences, enhancing productive skills, and expressing thoughts in another language. This teaching process requires using different resources to acquire cognitive experiences that promote meaningful learning. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers emphasized virtual learning environments (VLE) and other digital resources …
Evaluating Year One University English Course Material in Taiwan
Language textbooks play a major role in language teaching and learning, providing a structured approach to teaching and learning (Tomlinson, 2012). In particular, the vocabulary employed in textbooks provides the foundation for successful communication and serve as the core of language proficiency (Nation, 2001). The purpose of this study is to evaluate an in-house developed …
Teaching Burmese as a Foreign Language: A Case Study
The development of Myanmar as a country has led to an increased interest from foreign NGOs, businesses, labourers and professionals alike. One significant barrier that has arisen is their ability to learn the Myanmar language. The Myanmar language is comprised of a speaking format and a writing format. The current study explored the writing ability …
Mediating Language Learning in Virtual Exchanges: The Role of the Teacher in Institutional Integrated Teletandem
Virtual exchange is an approach to teaching and learning in which groups of learners from different countries work virtually and collaboratively with the support of a teacher over an extended period of time (O´Dowd, 2008). This paper aims at discussing the professor´s dual role in a bilingual model of virtual exchange, the institutional integrated teletandem …
Using Prosodic Notations to Help Adult ESL Learners Read Fluently
Prosody is essential for developing reading fluency (Grabe, 2010; Rasinski, 2012). The goal of this study is to examine whether pausing patterns in reading can be taught to adult ESL learners. Two sections of high-intermediate level college students from East Asia served as experimental and control groups. Pre and post-tests consisted of oral reading, listening …
Contribution of General and Academic Vocabulary Size to Chinese L2 Learners Academic Speaking Ability
An emerging number of empirical studies have found vocabulary size is closely related to L2 learner’s general speaking ability. However, few studies are conducted to investigate the extent to which vocabulary size can explain L2 learners’ speaking ability in academic/formal contexts. This study, therefore, is aiming to examine the relationship between L2 learners’ receptive vocabulary …
The Poetry Box: A Student Centered Constructivist Approach to Poetry Lessons in Secondary Education
Poetry has often been compared to abstract paintings over the years. However, it doesn’t mean poetry composition lessons have to be always elusive and highbrow. In fact, even ESL students at any level can enjoy writing poems in English and develop their English language skills as well as literary talents through a simple method. Let …
Implementation of an Integrated Program of English and Character Education in an EFL Classroom
Character Education is usually reflecting some good values in order to empower students to have a better development of individual growing. Hence, language teachers can expend their curricula with different disciplines for increasing their variety of teaching and training their students with some life skills. However, most of teachers in Taiwan have tried to accomplish …
The Ratios of CEFR-J vocabulary Usage Compared with GSL and AWL in Elementary EFL Classrooms and Its Implications
This is a corpus-based study using an elementary English classroom corpus to examine a) the ratios of vocabulary usage of four levels, A1, A2, B1, and B2, which pertain to the CEFR-J wordlist; b) the ratios of the usage of vocabulary items belonging to the General Service List (GSL) and Academic Word List (AWL); and …
Compiling Learner Corpora on Four Types of Common Errors Made by Chinese EFL Students
A number of EFL studies have been conducted in China to analyze different types of common lexico-grammatical mistakes made by college students in English writing. However, there has been very little research attempted to explore how instructors can practically utilize the resource of a learner corpus to help students improve their writing proficiency. The proposed …
The Advantages of Using Image-schematic Animation in Teaching English Prepositions
In recent years, many researchers have examined how second and foreign language learners benefit from cognitive linguistics insights, especially in their acquisition of polysemy. However, teachers are not linguists and usually do not have enough knowledge about cognitive linguistics to apply it to their everyday teaching. This paper proposes using animation in teaching English prepositions, …
How the ‘Productive Failure’ Instructional Design Encapsulates the ‘Active Learning’ Essence of Eliciting L2 Output Using the ‘Information Gap’ Construct
Productive failure’ (Kapur, 2015) is an instructional design based on the contrast between learners’ intuitive assumptions and proven solutions to problems analyzed for educational purposes in a given discipline. This design involves learners attempting creation of concepts or solutions before being taught, which is thought to enhance learning in that it prepares learners to comprehend …
Comparative Review of the Foreign Language Learning History of a Japanese and a Flemish-Dutch Native Speaker
How we learn a foreign (second, third, fourth, …) language contains diverse approaches. It depends on, to the great extent, each learner’s personal background and aptitude such as the starting age, native language, motivation, goal(s), learning context, and life history. It is also dynamic, in the process of learning the target language, in a sense …
Applying Cooperative Development in Exploring College English Teaching in a Large Class Format
Large class size as a growing phenomenon in developing countries is closely related to two reasons: initiatives to achieve universal education and rapid population growth (Bendow, Mizrachi, Oliver, & Said-Moshiro, 2007; Shehu & Tafida, 2016). Given the fact that the large class phenomenon cannot be eliminated within a reasonable amount of time, it is important …
A Snapshot of e-learning: Vocabulary Retention in Academically-advantaged Background
Vocabulary is significant to academic achievement. Instructional curricula are usually designed to include vocabulary teaching, learning, and assessment to help retention. Researchers have addressed the essence of vocabulary learning by providing a plethora of learning strategies across the wide English for Academic Purposes (EAP) spectrum. As learners progress in school, academic vocabulary accumulates in content …
Valuing Diversity: Content based EFL Teacher Training
This paper presents a decade of collaborative teaching between two Israeli lecturers: one, a Palestinian-Moslem from Nazareth, the other, a Jewish-Israeli from Jerusalem. The course they developed aims to achieve a dual purpose: First, developing future EFL teachers’ awareness of their potential role in a multicultural society and second, accompanying students on a journey that …
A Proposal to Develop Explicit Grammar Knowledge as an Expansion of the Presentation Stage in the Three P’s Framework
From a theoretical point of view in second language learning, it is crucial to understand the importance of explicit knowledge and learning when teaching adolescents and adults to develop automatization of abstract grammatical structures. Dekeyser (2008) acknowledges this idea, claiming that “the instructional approach should be different depending on age: full-scale immersion is necessary for …