Education Commons^™

Sequencing The Presentation Of Grammar Items To Attract Student Interest, Arshad Abd Samad

Arshad Abd Samad

The teaching of grammar is a challenging task as teachers need to present technical information about the language in such a way that would interest and attract the attention of students. In addition to the lesson itself, the presentation sequence of grammatical items as in the grammar syllabus can also influence how well students respond. Teachers often decide to present and focus on grammatical items to beginner, intermediate and advanced level students based on criteria such as level of difficulty and order of acquisition. Biber (1998), however, proposed that grammar should be presented according to narrative, informational and interactive text …

A Structural Model For Perceptual Learning Styles, The Ideal L2 Self, Motivated Behavior And English Proficiency, Tae-Young Kim, Yoon-Kyoung Kim

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

In order to verify the structural relationship between perceptual learning styles, English learning motivation, and achievement, this study investigated 2682 Korean EFL students' visual, auditory, kinesthetic styles, imagination, ideal L2 self, motivated behavior, and English proficiency. The data collected by means of a questionnaire were explored using a correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. It was found that while visual and auditory styles were positively correlated with motivational variables and English proficiency, kinesthetic style showed negative correlations with them. Furthermore, visual style proved to have the most substantial influence on achieving successful English proficiency, mediated by the ideal L2 self …

Open Educational Resources In The United States: Insights From University Foreign Language Directors, Joshua J. Thoms, Becky L. Thoms

Joshua J. Thoms

This study reports the results of a survey completed by 155 university foreign language (FL) directors in the United States (US) during Fall 2012. Survey respondents come from a variety of institutions and direct a range of FL programs. The objectives of the study are to (a) determine what FL directors know about open educational resources (OER), (b) understand respondents’ perceived benefits and challenges of using OER, and (c) determine what resources and support are critical to establish or expand the use of OER in FL courses in the US. Results indicate that while 66% of FL directors do not …

Raters’ Perceptions Of The Appropriateness Of Textual Borrowing In Integrated Writing Tasks, Gharbeela Sami

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

The History, Nature And Future Of Faith-Informed Research In English Language Teaching, Mary Shepard Wong

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

Although scholarship on Christian faith and education is well established (see Bleistein, Wong, & Smith, 2013), research of Christian faith and English language teaching (ELT) is just starting to emerge. As the recent volume edited by Wong, Kristjánsson, and Dörnyei (2013) demonstrated, what started as a debate on the dilemmas of imperialism in Christian missions (Wong & Canagarajah, 2009a), “has enlarged to include empirical studies that demonstrate the importance of faith to the motivation of language learners, the impact of faith on ELT pedagogical approaches, and the significance of faith for teachers’ professional identity formations” (Bleistein, Wong, & Smith 2013, …

Front Matter

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

No abstract provided.

Editorial: Welcome To The Ijc&Elt!, Michael Lessard-Clouston, Xuesong (Andy) Gao

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

No abstract provided.

Is English A Force For Good Or Bad?, Kitty B. Purgason

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

A survey of university students in China and Kuwait asked for their opinions about the effects of English on various aspects of their life and world: personal character and morals, material well-being, spiritual or religious development, family ties, local social change, international peace or conflict, and international interpersonal harmony. The results were overwhelmingly positive. Both the literature review and specific comments by some respondents suggest positive effects of English that can be encouraged and negative ones that may be countered through language policy, curriculum and materials, or classroom teachers. I also offer suggestions for future research and classroom teachers.

Addressing Reconciliation In The Esl Classroom, Michael K. Westwood

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

The extent to which teachers’ spiritual identities should inform their pedagogy has been a topic of much discussion among TESOL professionals. Under particular scrutiny have been Christian English teachers (CET), whose faith can be disconcerting to a multicultural field that strongly values diversity. Meanwhile, another conversation continues regarding ways in which language teaching can be used as a means of promoting social justice and global citizenship. This article attempts to add to these conversations by proposing that reconciliation should be addressed in the classroom and by suggesting that it is a topic of interest to both CET and others who …

Reviews, Jan Edwards Dormer, William Acton, Marilyn Lewis

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

No abstract provided.

Faith And Pedagogy: Five Voices From Japan, Paul Wicking

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

Despite a recent increase in research into the relationship between faith and practice in ELT, the ways in which actual Christian teachers make meaning of their faith through pedagogy remains largely unexplored. There is little empirical data about the ways in which witnessing and evangelism are (or are not) conducted through English classes. The present study is an analysis of interview data collected from five evangelical Christian teachers living and working in Japan. The participants vary considerably in age and teaching context, yet all share a strong religious faith and a desire to express it through their profession. Each participant …

Nonnative English-Speaking Teachers’ Self-Perceived Language Proficiency Levels, Anxieties, And Learning Strategies, Hiromi Takahashi

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

Research suggests that nonnative English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) suffer anxiety because of their self-perceived inadequate language ability. This paper reports on an online survey of 63 NNESTs and teacher trainees in English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) settings that investigated the participants’ perceived language abilities and their approaches to anxiety and language learning. The results reveal that more than half of the participants were content with their overall language abilities although their levels of contentment varied with distinct skills. The survey results also indicate a complex relationship between NNESTs’ perceived language proficiency levels and …

Entire Issue

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

No abstract provided.

Self-Efficacy In Low-Level English Language Learners, Laura F. Blumenthal

Dissertations and Theses

Accounting for differences in second language proficiency attainment is an important area of inquiry in the study of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Accounts of the language acquisition process have generally come from cognitive or psychological perspectives, which view language learning as primarily an internal mental/emotional process, or from sociocultural or critical perspectives that emphasize the influence of the learner's social environment. Research on variability in language learning has also failed to take into account the learning experiences of low-level learners.

This study adopted a social-psychological perspective on language acquisition that focused on the role of self-efficacy in learning, and applied …

American Sign Language As A Heritage Language, Sarah Compton

Sarah Compton

This chapter considers how American Sign Language (ASL)—a visual-manual language—is a heritage language of deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing people in the United States. Traditionally, heritage language education and maintenance efforts have centered on spoken languages. This chapter aims to broaden the scope to include signed languages. It begins with a historical overview of ASL, explicates for whom ASL is a heritage language, and examines the influence of current policy trends and technological advancements on language shift and language maintenance. Particular attention is drawn to the role of deaf communities in fostering language maintenance despite concerted efforts to restrict …

Norms And Varieties Of English And Tesol Teacher Agency, M. Obaidul Hamid, Lingyan Zhu, Richard B. Baldauf Jr.

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The growing recognition of the plurality of English underling the World Englishes (WE) paradigm has problematised the conventional second language acquisition (SLA) views of errors. If English use in emerging English-speaking contexts is to be judged by local norms, as argued by WE scholars, applying exocentric norms in these contexts can be inappropriate. On the other hand, despite the significant growth of WE, varieties of new Englishes have yet to develop widely acceptable endocentric norms. These developments have raised a critical question: How can TESOL teachers distinguish between errors in the SLA sense and varietal features in the WE sense? …

Differences In Demotivation Between Chinese And Korean English Teachers: A Mixed Methods Study, Tae-Young Kim, Yoon-Kyoung Kim, Qian-Mei Zhang

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

This mixed methods study investigates the differences in demotivation between Chinese and Korean English teachers. A questionnaire on demotivation was conducted on 58 Chinese and 94 Korean in-service teachers in order to find out the dominant factors in teacher demotivation. Follow-up interviews with teachers were conducted in order to explore the reasons as to why teachers found the salient factors to be demotivating. The results indicated that the number of students per English classroom was the detrimental factor for both Chinese and Korean teachers. Moreover, the only factor that Chinese teachers perceived to be more demotivating than Korean teachers was …