First and Second Language Acquisition Commons^™

Cognitive Load And Its Major Pedagogical Implications, Focus On Education In Jordan, Bassam Kutkut

MA TESOL Collection

Through my teaching experience in Jordan, I noticed the amount of work students had to do. I noticed the tremendous amount information they received from their teachers on a daily basis. I also noticed that students forgot most of the information they learned in class right after their exams. I was wondering if that’s the right way of teaching. Then, after my study at SIT, I learned that this is a cognitive overload that can impair the learning process.

Cognitive load refers to the information processing abilities in the human memory system which has limitations. When these limitations are exceeded, …

Massachusetts Adult Basic Education And Esol Distance Learning Programs: How To Assess Student Readiness For Distance Learning?, Berna Kahraman, Amelia Mallona, Donna H. Friedman, Sarah Kuck Jalbert

Center for Social Policy Publications

This report presents the findings from the pilot screening process prepared by the Center for Social Policy (CSP) and implemented during December 2008-March 2009 by the adult basic education (ABE) online learning programs in MA which are funded by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE). The purposes of the pilot process were:

• To determine the effectiveness of screening tools in assessing participant characteristics, such as the skills, demographics, and life circumstances that are associated with success in online learning;
• To identify supports and interventions which students need in order to persist and succeed in online learning.

At the …

Balance In Language Teaching And Learning: Honoring Tradition And Celebrating Innovation, Natalia Tsarikova

MA TESOL Collection

This paper presents a study aimed at finding a flexible approach to teaching that is responsive to learner needs and preferences whilst at the same time utilizing communicative language teaching and form-focused instruction. In other words, the author aims to find a balance between CLT (learner centered approaches) advocated by many trainers and teachers in Uzbekistan and the Grammar Translation method (teacher centered approaches) that has been widely practiced as well. The author’s primary purpose is to find an approach which is centered principally on learning rather than on the teacher or the learner. The author maintains that teaching is …

A Framework For Teaching A Foreign Language Class Based On The Principles Of Chaos/Complexity Theory, Michael Kozden

MA TESOL Collection

Chaos/complexity theory first emerged in the study of the natural sciences over thirty years ago. Through the years, experts from a variety of fields have held this theory up as a new way in which to view the world around us, including its applications to the study of second language acquisition. The language classroom, like the natural world, can also be observed from this perspective because it exhibits many features of chaotic/complex systems. Language instruction in a classroom setting not only produces strange attractors and fractals, but is dynamic, complex, nonlinear, chaotic, self-organizing, unpredictable, sensitive to initial conditions, open, feedback …

Tasks In Tbl: What Kinds Of Tasks Promote Meaningful Communication?, Anna Fatneva

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines the process of developing and implementing TBL tasks in the EFL classroom. A title page is included. A non-specific abstract was created and included. The structure of this IPP is outlined in the Table of Contents. Teaching context as well as the reasons for my choice of the topic are described in the introduction. Research into ESL/EFL source literature on the topic is illuminated in Chapter 1. Classroom Observations based on the teaching journal kept throughout the project are depicted in Chapter 2. Implications for the use of this paper are considered in terms of advantages for …

Integrating The Six Skills In Every Esl/ Efl Class, Monica M. Catramado

MA TESOL Collection

The main purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of integrating listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammaring and vocabulary in the ESL/EFL classroom.

Through this paper, not only will the reader gain an understanding of how to design a theme or content-based syllabus, which integrates all six skills, but also he/she will find numerous activities that will help develop those skills in every student.

Readers will also be shown how students can learn another language and develop these skills through practical every day topics and different materials, which depend on the students’ developmental stage of learning, stage of knowledge …

Multiple Intelligences In The Efl Classroom: A Perspective In Context, Irena Vodopija- Krstanoviæ

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines the implication of Multiple Intelligences Theory for learning styles in the EFL classroom. The multiple intelligence profiles of students and teachers at two secondary schools were obtained in order to determine their strengths and weaknesses in the different intelligences. In addition, the teachers’ and learner’s preferences for EFL activities catering for the intelligences were defined. Furthermore, the frequency of use of the EFL activities was examined in order to determine how the various intelligences were actually addressed in the teaching and learning processes. The research was conducted in Rijeka, Croatia, thus providing insights into a specific cultural …

Promoting Student Self-Evaluation Of Their Learning Process, Diane Steigerwald

MA TESOL Collection

This paper describes classroom research on promoting student initiative through self and peer correction, record keeping, goal setting and evaluation. Promoting Student Self-Evaluation of Their Learning Process starts with a look at the author’s experience of self-initiative and authentic interaction among her students which sparked her awareness and began the transformation of her teaching beliefs and approaches. The old belief centered on the need to be the authority in control. The new belief focuses on empowering the students to see themselves as authorities. The paper then describes the forms and activities used in an adult high-intermediate English as a Second …

Foreign Languages And Learning Disabled Students: Research And Potential Solutions, Todd Christopher Wheelden

MA TESOL Collection

This paper reviews the latest research on the struggles learning disabled (LD) students have in the foreign language (FL) classroom. Over the last ten years, there have been significant advancements in recognizing the fact that LD students do in fact face greater obstacles when acquiring a FL than their peers do. Over the past five years, advances have been made taking the information garnered from these discoveries and developing appropriate solutions. The paper attempts to summarize the most significant comprehension, reference, and implementation.

The paper begins with an overview of second language acquisition learning disabilities and how they may surface …

Error Analysis And Curriculum Development In An Efl Classroom In Taiwan, Meng Teh Wu

MA TESOL Collection

It is the premise of this paper that errors provide invaluable information for guiding teachers and learners in the process of language acquisition. They offer insights for the teacher in constructing curricula and help the students with their ingerlanguage development. Errors should not be regarded as negative indicators. They are significant guide posts in the learning process. When and how to correct errors and what errors to correct has been the focus of Error Analysis studies. In this respect this paper is no exception. Special emphasis has been laid, however, on how to translate theoretical concepts into the author’s classroom …

Written Feedback In The Classroom And Beyond, Karen Gould Peltola

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is an in-depth look at the experimentation with and use of written feedback with middle school foreign language students and their parents. It includes my own learning about giving written feedback, the process by which I have trained my students to give written feedback, and finally the extensions of written feedback beyond the classroom, to the parents. Examples of written feedback forms and formats are included, as well as completed examples.

“Pass The Remote…! Interactive Classroom Review For The 21st Century: Bringing Remote Response Pads Into Your Classroom, Lisa Michelle Lucas

MA TESOL Collection

This project describes a form of computer-assisted interactive classroom instruction, which is particularly useful in the ESL context. Not only does this project show how to integrate instruction with ever advancing technology, it also demonstrates how to integrate interactive class work with the diverse and relevant learning styles of each learner in the classroom. This project will show how easy it is to use this technology in conjunction with thematic units or projects-whatever the level of the ESL student. Enclosed are examples of instructional materials, created for the ESL High Beginner and examples of how they relate to the paper …

Toward Student-Led Reading Discussion In The Classroom: A Teacher’S Journey With Reader Response, Judy Davis

MA TESOL Collection

This paper traces an ESL teacher’s learning curve with student-based reading discussion, both teacher-guided and student-led. It comments on her pre-teaching experience with formalist and reader response theory as a reader, student, writer, editor, and then as teacher experimenting with student-led discussion in three consecutive terms. Special attention is given to the strategies that were used to build a reading community and to facilitate the release of students’ voices in the reading discussions. The taped, transcribed discussions are summarized for their intellectual content and examined to assess the social and linguistic benefits to the students. Also evaluated are the uses …

National Michigan Test Score Improvement Averages For The International Students Of English At The School For International Training Of Ten Programs From January 1974 Through June 1976, Robert J. Thomas

MA TESOL Collection

This project contains student data, consisting of nationality, test scores, and age, from ten programs of International Students of English at the School for International Training. The data has been calculated to produce national test score averages which are helpful when comparing the various national and language group abilities of performance on the Michigan Test. In general this material supports the hypothesis that the closer a student's native language is to English linguistically the greater his score improvement will be on the Michigan Test.

A Teacher Manual Of Self-Learning Instruction, William C. Harshbarger

MA TESOL Collection

No abstract provided.

A Description And Evaluation Of The Summer Camp On Pawleys Island, South Carolina - Operation Compenso, Shirlee Eames

MA TESOL Collection

No abstract provided.

Aspects Of An Esl Program In An Immigrant Community: A Compilation Of Work Written For The Ibero-American Center In Fall River, Massachusetts, Donald L. Bouchard

MA TESOL Collection

No abstract provided.

Oaxtepec: A Summer Language Camp For Children, Susan Adams

MA TESOL Collection

No abstract provided.