Overworked And Stressed Teachers Under Market Economy: Case Study In Northwest China, Gulbahar Beckett, Juanjuan Zhao
May 2016
Overworked And Stressed Teachers Under Market Economy: Case Study In Northwest China, Gulbahar Beckett, Juanjuan Zhao
Gulbahar Beckett
This chapter is based on a case study conducted in Xisheng (pseudonym promised to the participants for anonymity purposes) in Northwest China to explore teachers’ perspectives on teaching under the market economy system. The original plan was to study local indigenous teachers, but that was not possible due to political sensitivity of the region at the time of data collection. As a result, we interviewed mostly Han teachers, including as many local indigenous teachers as possible. We think that the study is still useful as it was the first study of its kind and that it was informative regarding the …
Teaching In Northwestern China Under A Market Economy: Opportunities And Challenges, Gulbahar H. Beckett
May 2016
Teaching In Northwestern China Under A Market Economy: Opportunities And Challenges, Gulbahar H. Beckett
Gulbahar Beckett
This article discusses a case study that explored the impacts of a market economy on some Northwestern Chinese teachers’ working and living conditions as well as opportunities and challenges the new economy presented from teachers’ perspectives. Analysis of surveys, interviews, and documents revealed that the participants believed they had benefited from the market economy, citing pay raises as well as improved working and living conditions. Participants thought opportunities under the market economy included additional earnings as well as improved national and international professional development. However, the participants found the shift from the traditional teacher-centered pedagogy to a more student-centered approach …
Project-Based Chinese As A Foreign Language Instruction: A Teacher Research Approach, Gulbahar Beckett
Dec 2013
Project-Based Chinese As A Foreign Language Instruction: A Teacher Research Approach, Gulbahar Beckett
Gulbahar Beckett
This study implements and evaluates an action research project carried out by a teacher in a U.S. high school, where two classes of students studied Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) through project-based instruction (PBI) over an academic year. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of PBI in teaching CFL by eliciting students' and the teacher's experiences and perceptions of PBI. Data collected included student interviews, surveys, project products, classroom observations, and teacher journals. The findings suggest that PBI is an effective approach to teaching and learning of language, culture, and other skills simultaneously. PBI was …
Reflections On The University Of Cincinnati And Salahaddin University Linkage Work, Gulbahar Beckett, Himdad Abdul-Qahhar Muhammad
Dec 2013
Reflections On The University Of Cincinnati And Salahaddin University Linkage Work, Gulbahar Beckett, Himdad Abdul-Qahhar Muhammad
Gulbahar Beckett
This session shares experience of obtaining and implementing a highly successful University Linkages Program between the University of Cincinnati, USA and Salahaddin University, Kurdistan, Iraq. The authors will reflect on practices and make recommendations for setting and implementing achievable goals; negotiating and maintaining personal and institutional relationships; and strategies for addressing potential challenges during and beyond the linkage. This session should be of interest to administrators, faculty, and staff who are currently involved in and/or planning on working with international partners.
A Critical Analysis Of English Language Teaching In Today’S Market Economy In China, Yan Guo, Gulbahar Beckett
Dec 2011
A Critical Analysis Of English Language Teaching In Today’S Market Economy In China, Yan Guo, Gulbahar Beckett
Gulbahar Beckett
Since its open-door policy in 1978, China began a transfonnation fi·om planned
economy to market economy, for which English became an essential requirement.
TI1e Chinese govemrnent sees promoting English language leaming as paramount
in the nation's attempt to become competitive in the global market (Cai, 2006).
Such an emphasis on English resulted in various English language cmricular
refonns, which were strongly influenced by the forces of economic globalization,
as the nation attempted to shape its educational systems to provide the necessruy
skills for a growing global economy. However, we ru·gue that the increasing
dominru1ce of English language is contributing to …
Content-Based English Education In China: Students’ Experiences And Perspectives, Gulbahar Beckett, Fang Li
Dec 2011
Content-Based English Education In China: Students’ Experiences And Perspectives, Gulbahar Beckett, Fang Li
Gulbahar Beckett
This study explores undergraduate students’ experiences and perceptions of the
content-based EFL instruction at a northwestern Chinese university. It is one of the first
empirical studies of content-based EFL in China. Through a three-part open-ended questionnaire
administered with 34 undergraduate students majoring in finance, the study reveals
overwhelming support for this approach to EFL. Participants believed that learning English and
content knowledge simultaneously was helpful and that the spread of English in China can
benefit the nation and its people. The findings also indicate that some participants were critical of
the approach, stating that it is “shallow content teaching” and …
Use Of Resources In Second Language Writing Socialization, Gulbahar Beckett, Miyoung Nam
May 2011
Use Of Resources In Second Language Writing Socialization, Gulbahar Beckett, Miyoung Nam
Gulbahar Beckett
This study investigated five Korean ESL graduate students’ access to and utilization of professional and social resources in the process of socializing into American academic writing discourse. As a pilot study for a larger scale research study, data for the present study were collected during a four-‐month period through interviews. Findings suggest that socialization into American academic writing discourse was difficult, frustrating, and disempowering as well as restricted by lack of coordination among resources. Based on their prior experience and second-‐hand information provided by peers, the participants remained legitimate peripheral passive users of university resources such as the writing center, …
Academic English As A Second Language For Gaps, Gulbahar Beckett
Dec 2008
Academic English As A Second Language For Gaps, Gulbahar Beckett
Gulbahar Beckett
For decades, research has pointed to significant gaps between African American and White
student academic achievement. In this article, I critically discuss the literature on African
American student academic achievement from pedagogical, cultural, and sociolinguistic
perspectives. I then argue for a stronger linguistic and pedagogical approach to bridge the gap
and propose a curriculum idea that teachers may find useful should they decide to adopt this
approach.
The Hegemony Of English As A Global Language, Gulbahar Beckett, Yan Guo
Dec 2007
The Hegemony Of English As A Global Language, Gulbahar Beckett, Yan Guo
Gulbahar Beckett
English, the first language of about 400 million people in Britain, the United States
and the Commonwealth, has become the dominant global language of
communication, business, aviation, entertainment, diplomacy, and the Internet. As
such, an estimated number of over a billion people speak it as their second or
foreign language. These second- and foreign-language speakers of English include
millions of migrant and immigrant English as a Second Language (ESL) schoolage
students (see Faltis, 2006) and over 560,000 international ESL university
students in the United States (Open Doors, 2006) and over 137,000 in Canada
(OECD, 2003). About a billion others in …
What Contributes To Asian Model Minority Academic Success? An Ecological Perspective, Gulbahar Beckett
Dec 2006
What Contributes To Asian Model Minority Academic Success? An Ecological Perspective, Gulbahar Beckett
Gulbahar Beckett
Asians in America are perceived to be model minorities and Asian American students are believed to be exceptional educational achievers. Some believe this is a model minority phenomenon that needs to be demystified as it is a stereotype detrimental to Asian American students social and psychological well-being. Some attribute Asian-American student academic achievement to factors such as parents' and students' attitudes and actions toward schoolwork, economic and ethnic status, human and social capital, family structure, community organization, and cultural and linguistic patterns. Others attribute it to factors such as self-perception, school expectations and organization, students cultural and background knowledge, and …
Moderation, Modesty, Creativity, And Criticalness: A Chinese-American Medical Professor Speaks., Gulbahar Beckett, Jianhua Zhang
Dec 2005
Moderation, Modesty, Creativity, And Criticalness: A Chinese-American Medical Professor Speaks., Gulbahar Beckett, Jianhua Zhang
Gulbahar Beckett
The number of minority scholars in North American universities and
colleges has increased steadily since the 1980s (Harvey, 2003; U.S.
Department of Education, 2002). This has resulted in some publications
that explore various issues encountered by minority scholars in general
(e.g., Belcher & Conner, 2001; Braine, 1999; Kingston-Mann & Sieber,
2001) and female faculty in particular (Li, 2005; Liang, 2005; Lin et al., 2004;
Vargas, 2002). This body of work shows that minority faculty encounter various
challenges in their work. For example, Braine (1999) describes being
underappreciated as an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor in the
United States, …
Reconstructing Culture And Identity In The Academy: Asian Female Scholars Theorizing Their Experiences, Guofang Li, Gulbahar Beckett
Dec 2005
Reconstructing Culture And Identity In The Academy: Asian Female Scholars Theorizing Their Experiences, Guofang Li, Gulbahar Beckett
Gulbahar Beckett
T his book project began over a coffee break at the American Educational
Research Association in Seattle several years ago when we
shared our own experiences and excitement as new faculty members
trying to establish ourselves in the familiar yet strange academy. The academy
was familiar to us because we were the apprentices of the academy for
many years and we had learned the once unfamiliar discourses. Both of us
were happy with our academic positions and were fortunate to have very
supportive colleagues. Yet both of us felt we were "strangers" at times. After
all, as Asian, foreign-born, and …
The Project Framework: A Tool For Language, Content, And Skills Integration, Tammy Slater, Gulbahar Beckett
Dec 2004
The Project Framework: A Tool For Language, Content, And Skills Integration, Tammy Slater, Gulbahar Beckett
Gulbahar Beckett
Project-based instruction is a valuable way to promote the simultaneous acquisition of language, content, and skills, provided that students in academic ESL classes can see the value of learning through projects, which the literature notes has not consistently been the case. This article introduces a methodological tool called ‘The Project Framework’, describes the research which tested it in an undergraduate university ESL classroom, and suggests how it can be used as a cultural tool to help socialize students into a new way of thinking about language and language learning. The Framework allows ESL students to see the value of project-based …
Content-Based Esl Writing Curriculum: A Language Socialization Model, Gulbahar Beckett, Virginia Gonzalez, Heather Schwartz
Dec 2003
Content-Based Esl Writing Curriculum: A Language Socialization Model, Gulbahar Beckett, Virginia Gonzalez, Heather Schwartz
Gulbahar Beckett
In this paper, we propose a content-based, advanced level adjunct English as a Second Language (ESL) instructional approach for writing from a language socialization theoretical framework using basic principles of systemic functional linguistics (Halliday, 1994) and sociocultural theory of learning (Vygotsky, 1986). We emphasize an ESL curriculum that stimulates ESL students to learn domain specific knowledge, to develop cognitive and meta-cognitive learning and thinking processes, and to learn rhetorically and lexico-pragmatically appropriate writing (Raimes, 1983). We provide a complete review of the theoretical principles derived from research based on integrative curriculum for second language (L2) students. We explain how an …
Learning Needs And Adaption Problems Of Foreign Graduate Students, Gulbahar Huxur, Earl Mansfield, Reginald Nnazor, Hans Schuetze, Megumi Segawa
Dec 1995
Learning Needs And Adaption Problems Of Foreign Graduate Students, Gulbahar Huxur, Earl Mansfield, Reginald Nnazor, Hans Schuetze, Megumi Segawa
Gulbahar Beckett
The number of students, including graduate students, who study abroad is on the rise. Although many studies have addressed the political, financial, and organizational dimensions of studying abroad, the learning needs and
adaptation problems of individuals have received little attention. In this article, the five co-authors present their
views, based on their own experiences as foreign graduate students. Along with the findings of other research
studies, they offer recommendations for policy and practice related to graduate study by foreign students.
