In traditional English as a foreign language (EFL)-speaking classes, students have insufficient time and opportunities to practice 1. In addition, they lack cultural and communicative contexts 2 to ...improve their speaking skills. Furthermore, a large number of students, especially in Asian countries, have low self-efficacy with regard to their English speaking competence and try to avoid any activities that require speaking in public 3. In this study, we designed social language learning (SLL) activities to bridge the abovementioned gaps and developed a mobile-assisted social language learning system to support students' participation in SLL activities. We explored how our SLL activities affect language learners' speaking performance and self-efficacy and investigated their social language learning networks and perceived acceptance of the mobile-assisted SLL system. Fifty-eight graduate students were recruited for the study and randomly divided into two groups: a control group in which students completed assigned tasks using the traditional method and an experimental group in which students completed assigned tasks using the mobile SLL system. Our results showed that while the speaking skills of students in the two groups improved after the study, the learning gains of the experimental students in EFL fluency, lexis, pronunciation, and content were significantly better than those of the control students. The experimental students significantly outperformed their counterparts on the dimension of culturality, authenticity, and abundance of created verbal content. The self-efficacy of the experimental students was much better than that of the control students. The results also showed that the interaction degree of the experimental students improved, and they positively perceived applications of the mobile-assisted SLL system to EFL learning. Based on the results, several suggestions and precautions were proposed for educators and researchers in the field to consider.
Se presentan los resultados de un estudio de disponibilidad léxica en el cual se encuestó a 350 estudiantes de pedagogía en inglés (1-4 año) en 4 centros de interés de tipo especializado: ...planificación de clases, métodos y enfoques de enseñanza de inglés, evaluación y reflectividad. A pesar de la riqueza de los estudios existentes en el área de disponibilidad léxica, el léxico de las comunidades científicas y/o profesionales ha pasado casi inadvertido para los investigadores. El objetivo de esta investigación es conocer el léxico especializado de estos estudiantes en distintas etapas de su formación inicial docente. Los resultados evidencian que a medida que los estudiantes avanzan en sus estudios el léxico aumenta y se hace más cohesionado. Esto aumenta su nivel de comunicación, lo que se evidencia a través de un incremento sostenido del índice de disponibilidad léxica individual. Este aumento podría explicarse a partir de los conocimientos adquiridos y las experiencias de aprendizaje vividas durante su proceso de formación inicial docente.
How to develop good teaching practices and get the most out of feedback and reflection
Building on existing practice-based TESOL experience, knowledge and research, Practice in TESOL covers a range ...of topics that will comprehensively inform and enhance preparation for classroom practice. The book adopts three underlying principles to offer an accessible and highly practical resource for beginning and novice teachers.
Firstly, it is strongly evidence-based, and mediates the relevant international research so that it becomes useful for beginner teachers. Secondly, it remains true to strong pedagogic foundations, while considering how technology can be appropriately integrated to enhance language teaching and learning. Thirdly, it takes a broader perspective on practice to include detailed discussions about teaching practice and feedback, reflective practice, and professional development and research.
Drawing on the author's own experiences and research as a teacher and educator, incorporating international case studies and examples, and including guided tasks and activities that can be carried out in-class, as well as independently outside the classroom,Practice in TESOLis an invaluable practical resource for TESOL student teachers and practising teachers.
How to develop good teaching practices and get the most out of feedback and reflectionDraws on the author's own experiences and research as a teacher and educatorA practical resource for TESOL student teachers and practising teachers
Sundqvist, Sandlund, Källkvist, and Gyllstad have edited a timely reprint that will help to guide the future of English language teaching and learning. This comprehensive and lucidly written volume ...brings together research on English classroom practices from all levels across the globe with the aim of enhancing our understanding of current developments. All chapters are theoretically informed, as the reprint is both practical in its style and orientation, and pedagogically astute in the recommendations offered. This volume is a welcome resource for teachers, student teachers, teacher educators and researchers around the world.
Sundqvist, Sandlund, Källkvist, and Gyllstad have edited a timely reprint that will help to guide the future of English language teaching and learning. This comprehensive and lucidly written volume ...brings together research on English classroom practices from all levels across the globe with the aim of enhancing our understanding of current developments. All chapters are theoretically informed, as the reprint is both practical in its style and orientation, and pedagogically astute in the recommendations offered. This volume is a welcome resource for teachers, student teachers, teacher educators and researchers around the world.
La actitud hacia el inglés como lengua extranjera es un nuevo campo de estudio en la educación universitaria en los países latinoamericanos, especialmente en Chile. Sin embargo, su relevancia en el ...proceso de aprendizaje de una lengua se ha investigado alrededor del mundo. El presente estudio busca identificar las actitudes hacia el inglés como lengua extranjera de 131 estudiantes universitarios de diferentes instituciones educativas del sur de Chile, cuyas carreras de pregrado incluyen cursos de inglés como parte de su plan de formación. Se analizaron los tres componentes de la actitud por medio de las respuestas de los participantes. Los resultados evidenciaron que los estudiantes tienen una actitud positiva hacia el inglés como lengua extranjera, especialmente en el dominio cognitivo; no obstante, el aspecto conductual obtuvo el promedio más bajo entre los encuestados
Attitude towards English as a foreign language is a new field of study in tertiary education in Latin-American countries, especially in Chile. However, its importance in the process of learning a language has been reported upon around the world. The aim of the current study was to identify the attitudes towards English as a foreign language of 131 university students from different educational institutions in Chile; the students’ programs included English courses as part of their study plan. The three components of attitude were analyzed by means of the participants’ replies to the statements of a questionnaire. Results gave evidence that university students hold a positive attitude towards English as a foreign language; nonetheless, the behavioral aspect of attitude obtained the lowest average of agreement among the respondents
In our globalised world, the need for a common language encouragesthe massive learning of English. Much effort has been dedicated to helping to improve proficiency at different levels of language ...learning, but, as students face more significant levels of complexity, proficiency in pragmatic aspects of language continues to bedeficient (Romero-Trillo, 2002; Mestre-Mestre and Carrió Pastor, 2013). This facet must be addressed in the Foreign Language (FL) classroom (Sperber and Wilson, 1995; Wang, 2007). In this regard, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), grounded in the communicative approach, has provided guidelines for teachingand established Foreign Language proficiency levels. The CEFR Companion Volume proposed more detailed descriptors to identify and outline language proficiency. The present paper displays a 10-year pseudo-longitudinal study of a learner corpus of 125 written texts produced by University students in which pragmatic (coherence and cohesion) errors are analysed. The aim of the study has been to examine improvement in student production in the years subsequent to the publication of the reference book. Results point to errors that have been minimised after training and instruction, but they also identify some recurrent errors in written English as anFL.
En un mundo globalizado, la necesidad de una lengua común está fomentando el aprendizaje masivo del inglés. Se ha dedicado mucho esfuerzo a ayudar a mejorar la competencia en diferentes niveles de aprendizaje dela lengua, pero, a medida que los estudiantes enfrentan mayores niveles de complejidad, la competencia en los aspectos pragmáticos dela lengua extranjera (LE)sigue siendo deficiente (Romero-Trillo, 2002; Mestre-Mestre y Carrió Pastor, 2013). Esta cuestión debe abordarse en el aula de lengua extranjera (Sperber y Wilson, 1995; Wang, 2007). En este sentido, el Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para las Lenguas(MCER), basado en el enfoque comunicativo, ha proporcionado pautas para enseñar y ha establecido niveles de competencia en lenguas extranjeras. El volumen complementario del MCER propuso descriptores más detallados para identificar y representar el dominio de la lengua. El presente artículo presenta un estudio pseudo-longitudinal de un corpus de aprendices de 125 textos escritos producidos por estudiantes universitarios en el que se analizan errores pragmáticos (de coherencia y cohesión). El objetivo del estudio ha sido examinar la mejora en la producción de los estudiantes en los años posteriores a la publicación del libro de referencia. Los resultados apuntan a errores que se han minimizado después de la preparación y la instrucción, pero también identifican algunos errores recurrentes en la escritura del inglés como LE.
Existe abundante bibliografía en la que se abordan las creencias del profesorado de segunda lengua (L2) o lengua extranjera (LE). Sin embargo, son pocos los estudios sobre este tema que consideran al ...profesorado de L2/LE en formación. El objetivo de este estudio es conocer las creencias que tiene el futuro profesorado de inglés respecto a las competencias que debieran identificar al profesorado de inglés como lengua extranjera (ILE) en Chile. Tres dominios de competencia están en escrutinio: (1) competencia lingüística y cultura inglesas, (2) didáctica de la enseñanza del inglés y (3) actitud profesional. Se utilizó un cuestionario tipo Likert para recopilar datos de futuro personal docente de ILE (N=208) que cursa primer (N=129) y cuarto año (N=79) de cuatro universidades chilenas. Los resultados generales muestran que el domino de competencia que el futuro profesorado considera más importante es el de la actitud profesional, especialmente las personas participantes de cuarto año.
This study explored the effects of reading strategy training delivered online through an experimental scaffolding tool in comparison to similar training delivered by a teacher, and a control ...condition. The instructional design of the tool followed scaffolding design guidelines, reciprocal teaching model, and principles of multimedia design. The training provided metacognitive reading strategy instruction to improve reading comprehension through multiple strategies using multiple texts. The participants were 87 college students studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at an English medium university in Turkey. At pretest, the control group had scored significantly higher in reading comprehension based on a standardized measure. Both of the experimental groups significantly improved their reading comprehension and metacognitive strategy awareness, while the control group’s reading and engagement scores decreased. The in-class experimental group also improved on the engagement scale. No significant difference was found between the experimental groups or compared to the control group in reading comprehension. The findings have implications regarding institutional policies for teaching reading in EFL and online reading strategy design at the tertiary level.
Though EFL teachers now generally hold an equity-oriented mindset, they are often blamed for not implementing equitable practices in the actual teaching. The contributing factors causing ...cognition-practice inconsistency should be recognized and highlighted to ensure equitable teaching. Therefore, by taking an interpretative qualitative approach, this study explored in-depth the contributing factors that caused the mismatch between EFL teachers' equity-oriented cognition and practices.
We adopted classroom observation and stimulated recall interviews with 10 university teachers to examine the contributing factors that lead to cognition-practice inconsistency.
Our results showed two experiential factors (unpleasant schooling experiences and limited effective training) and five contextual factors (unfavorable student factors, inharmonious classroom climate, toxic school contexts, equity-deficient education system, and negative social cultures) mediated the relationship between teachers' equity-oriented cognition and practices.
The findings shed light on an association between influential factors and teachers' equity-oriented cognition-practice mismatch. Moreover, an equity-oriented teaching framework was thus proposed to help eliminate the constraining effect of these factors.
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