In light of the growing demands for English language acquisition, various stakeholders within the domain of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) have directed their focus towards the elaboration of ...learner needs and the attainment of learning objectives and outcomes. Thus, the aim of this paper was to illustrate the importance of needs analysis in ESP by defining relevant learning objectives and outcomes, as well as to investigate teachers' attitudes towards the challenges of ESP course design. The course syllabuses and coursebooks of four ESP courses were subjected to analysis. Moreover, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four ESP teachers in order to gain an understanding of the challenges that emerge in the process of ESP course management. The results of the study revealed that learner needs, objectives, and outcomes generally align with recent research within different fields of study; however, the development of interpersonal communication skills and intercultural competence requires further consideration. In addition, it was found that ESP teachers need more support in the process of dealing with subject-specific phenomena and material selection. Furthermore, as informed by the results of this research, the attainment of learner autonomy within large heterogeneous environments is another challenge that still needs to be overcome.
Using research investigating the effect of teacher assessment practices in secondary schooling in Croatia on student perceptions of fairness, this paper points out participating students’ perception ...of fairness of assessment, focusing on teacher assessment in three secondary school subjects, but particularly in the subject of English. The research overall included enquiry into the fairness of teacher assessment practices in three secondary school subjects. The implemented research was both of a quantitative and qualitative nature. The research design was intended to be both empirical, measuring students’ perception, and quasi-ethnographic, seeking to interpret these perceptions through understanding the context. Student questionnaires, involving a total of 330 students, teacher interviews, involving a total of 12 teachers, and analysis of teachers’ assessment documents were used to collect data that were then analysed within case studies. Each case study, totalling six in number, represented a teacher with two classes of students studying one of the chosen three subjects. Classes of secondary school students from two high schools studying the subjects of Biology, Croatian or English as a foreign language formed the sample groups. These students were asked to complete a questionnaire based on Likert response type items founded on the Student Perception of Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) and open-ended questions based on a questionnaire developed at the Centre for Schooling and Learning Technologies (CSaLT). The SPAQ items were measured by five scales. The teachers of these students were interviewed and also provided documents that illustrate how they assessed students in these three subjects. The investigation uncovered variations in responses to teachers and subjects and differences in student response between classes of the same teacher which are possibly indicative, among other elements, of the role of teacher personality factors. This investigation revealed that from the three secondary school subjects researched, students’ perception of the secondary school subject of English achieved the most positive rating among the sample of students involved in the research.
In order to investigate and understand the relations between different social groups participating in copious Anglophone settings, this paper sets out to present and discuss the findings of a ...quantitative analysis of culture, race and gender in nine English language textbooks for first-year secondary school students in Croatia. The first section of the paper offers a theoretical background of the three previously mentioned social phenomena in the light of the importance of English in modern education, frequently associated with various systems of social inequality. What follows are the results of the content analysis of sampled English language textbooks. The results of the study indicated significant differences regarding the representation of specific social groups as well as the intersections between gender and employment status. Thus, an inherent partisanship towards specific social groups was revealed, indicating a subliminal reproduction of social power through education. Such results align with numerous other studies on the topic, both in the Croatian and the foreign contexts.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Recent reforms in the Croatian national educational system due to the Republic of Croatia's accession to the European Union have as one focus to raise the level of critical thinking required by ...students. An important component of national education is the high stakes matriculation or 'matura' examinations. A study was made of biology examinations in both the countries of Australia and the Republic of Croatia. The comparison aimed to determine the level of critical thinking demanded based on the questions in the examination. This analysis of examination questions relied on the presumption of consequential validity of high stakes examinations; matriculation papers, where, if demanded by the examination, students will adopt certain skills, in this case, critical thinking. A hierarchical critical thinking taxonomy was subsequently developed based on similar taxonomies in existing literature to research the questions in the matriculation examination papers of biology in Australia and the Republic of Croatia respectively. The examination questions were classified according to this taxonomy and the results are displayed according to the level of critical thinking demanded in these examination papers.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Recent reforms in the Croatian national educational system due to the Republic of Croatia’s accession to the European Union have as one focus to raise the level of critical thinking required by ...students. An important component of national education is the high stakes matriculation or ‘matura’ examinations. A study was made of biology examinations in both the countries of Australia and the Republic of Croatia. The comparison aimed to determine the level of critical thinking demanded based on the questions in the examination. This analysis of examination questions relied on the presumption of consequential validity of high stakes examinations; matriculation papers, where, if demanded by the examination, students will adopt certain skills, in this case, critical thinking. A hierarchical critical thinking taxonomy was subsequently developed based on similar taxonomies in existing literature to research the questions in the matriculation examination papers of biology in Australia and the Republic of Croatia respectively. The examination questions were classified according to this taxonomy and the results are displayed according to the level of critical thinking demanded in these examination papers.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Ovaj je rad usredotočen na učeničke predodžbe o pravdenosti vrjednovanja u trima srednjoškolskim predmetima na temelju provedenoga istraživanja koje ispituje utjecaj nastavničkoga ocjenjivanja na ...učeničke predodžbe o pravednosti ocjenjivanja u srednjoškolskome sustavu obrazovanja u Republici Hrvatskoj. Provedeno istraživanje ujedno je kvantitativno i kvalitativno. Dakle, ono je bilo namijenjeno kao empirijsko, mjereći učeničke predodžbe, i kvazietnografsko, interpretirajući ove predodžbe razumijevanjem konteksta. Učeničkim anketama, na temelju uzorka 330 učenika, intervjuima s nastavnicima, na temelju uzorka 12 nastavnika, i analizama nastavnikove dokumentacije za vrjednovanje koristilo se sa svrhom prikupljanja podataka, koji su kasnije analizirani unutar studija slučaja koje su predstavljale pojedinoga nastavnika s dvama razredima učenika koji uče određeni predmet. Dva srednjoškolska razreda koji uče predmete Biologija, Hrvatski jezik i Engleski jezik, kao strani jezik, predstavljaju uzorak skupine. Od ovih se učenika zatražilo ispunjavanje upitnika koji je sadržavao čestice odgovora po Likertovoj ljestvici na temelju SPAQ-a (Upitnik o učeničkim predodžbama o vrjednovanju) i pitanja otvorena tipa na temelju upitnika razvijena u CSaLT-u (Centar za obrazovne tehnologije i tehnologije učenja). SPAQ čestice doprinose pet ljestvica. Nastavnike navedenih učenika intervjuiralo se i zatražilo dokumentaciju koja pokazuje načine vrjednovanja učenika u ovim trima predmetima. Istraživanje je pokazalo razlike među nastavničkim odgovorima i predmetima te razlike među učeničkim odgovorima u različitim razredima istoga nastavnika, što vjerojatno upućuje na ulogu čimbenika nastavnikovih crta ličnosti. Ovo istraživanje također otkriva kako su među trima istraženim srednjoškolskim predmetima učeničke predodžbe o predmetu Engleski jezik procijenjene najpozitivnijima u uzorkovanoj skupini učenika.
This paper is based on research investigating how assessment practices used by
teachers in secondary schools in Croatia affected student perception of fairness. In
particular, this research focussed ...on the extent to which teachers consistently implemented
assessment practices and made judgements of student achievement, and how these judgements
were likely to affect these student perceptions. Consequently, studying the application of
teacher assessment led to an evaluation of the effects of teacher assessment practices on
student perceptions of fairness. The need to assess influences the creation and implementation
of assessment, which in turn influences the end result of assessment. Three secondary school
subjects, including English taught as a second language in Croatia, involving 6 teachers from
two Croatian secondary schools formed the research sample. Ensuing results in terms of
student perception of teacher performance is focused on with results showing students rated a
teacher of English the most favourably in terms of student perception of teacher fairness in
implementing fair assessment practices.
Podizanje razine kritičkoga mišljenja kod učenika jedan je od fokusa nedavnih reformi u hrvatskom odgojno-obrazovnom sustavu kao rezultat ulaska Republike Hrvatske u Europsku uniju. Važna je ...komponenta nacionalnog odgoja i obrazovanja ispit državne mature. Predmet su ovoga istraživanja hrvatski i australski ispiti državne mature iz nastavnoga predmeta biologije. Cilj je ove usporedbe utvrditi traženu razinu kritičkoga mišljenja na temelju uzorkovanih ispitnih pitanja. Navedena analiza ispitnih pitanja oslanja se na pretpostavci posljedične valjanosti ispita državne mature u objema državama u kojem bi učenici usvojili određene vještine, u ovom slučaju kritičko mišljenje, ako se to od njih traži u ispitu. Hijerarhijska taksonomija kritičkoga mišljenja potom je razvijena na temelju sličnih taksonomija u postojećoj literaturi kako bi se analizirala ispitna pitanja državne mature nastavnoga predmeta biologije kako u Australiji tako i u Republici Hrvatskoj. Ispitna su pitanja kategorizirana prema navedenoj taksonomiji, a rezultati su prikazani prema traženoj razini kritičkoga mišljenja u ispitima.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Zbog porasta interesa za usvajanje engleskoga jezika u profesionalnim kontekstima, također
je porasla potreba za redefiniranjem nastavnih ishoda i ciljeva u kontekstu aktualnih potreba
studenata u ...stručnim okružjima. Shodno tome, cilj ovoga rada bila je analiza aktualnih
nastavnih ciljeva i ishoda nastave engleskoga kao jezika struke. Nadalje, istraživanje je za
cilj također imalo razumijevanje stavova profesorica prema mnogim izazovnim aspektima
predavanja engleskoga jezika struke. U svrhu postizanja istraživačkoga cilja, izvedbeni planovi
i nastavni materijali četiriju sveučilišnih kolegija engleskoga jezika struke podvrgnuti
su analizi. Osim toga, provedena su četiri polustrukturirana intervjua u svrhu razumijevanja
procesa izrade i provedbe kolegija engleskoga jezika struke u hrvatskim kontekstima. Iako su
rezultati istraživanja ukazali na relativnu dosljednost između nastavnih ishoda engleskoga
jezika struke i suvremenih istraživanja unutar različitih okupacijskih sfera, u određenim nastavnim
kontekstima engleskoga jezika struke izostaje interes za razvoj međuljudskih komunikacijskih
vještina i međukulturalne kompetencije. Štoviše, pokazalo se kako profesorima
engleskoga jezika struke nisu omogućeni adekvatni resursi u procesu svladavanja tehničke
terminologije te razumijevanja i odabira nastavnih materijala. Konačno, učenička autonomija
u kontekstu mnogobrojnih i heterogenih studentskih populacija, prema rezultatima ovoga
istraživanja, još uvijek ostaje neostvareni ideal u nastavi engleskoga jezika struke u Hrvatskoj.
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