Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2023-2029
Duy Van Vu
Abstract Recent research has investigated predictors of English Medium Instruction (EMI) academic success in Higher Education in various contexts; however, mixed findings have been reported, and empirical research in emerging contexts like Vietnam is relatively scarce. In addition, little is known about the associations between tertiary EMI outcome, gender, and high school performance. To fill these research gaps, the present study was conducted to explore the roles of gender, high school grades, English language proficiency and vocabulary knowledge (both receptive and productive knowledge) in Vietnamese tertiary EMI academic achievement. To this end, 78 Vietnamese undergraduates majoring in business studies participated in the study. The participants took the Vocabulary Levels Test (Schmitt et al. 2001) and Productive Vocabulary Levels Test (Laufer and Nation 1999) to measure their receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. Their English language proficiency test scores, EMI course grades, and high school grade point average (GPA) were also collected for data analysis. Simple linear regression analyses revealed that high school GPA, English language proficiency together with both receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge significantly predicted EMI academic outcome while gender did not. The results are discussed with implications for EMI in Higher Education.
最近的研究调查了不同背景下高等教育英语媒介教学(EMI)学业成功的预测因素;然而，报告的结果好坏参半，在越南等新兴背景下的实证研究相对较少。此外，我们对第三代EMI结果、性别和高中表现之间的关系知之甚少。为了填补这些研究空白，本研究旨在探讨性别、高中成绩、英语语言能力和词汇知识(包括接受性知识和生产性知识)在越南高等教育EMI学业成就中的作用。为此，78名越南商科专业本科生参与了研究。被试采用词汇水平测试(Schmitt et al. 2001)和生产性词汇水平测试(Laufer and Nation 1999)来衡量他们的接受性词汇知识和生产性词汇知识。他们的英语能力测试成绩、EMI课程成绩和高中平均绩点(GPA)也被收集起来进行数据分析。简单的线性回归分析显示，高中GPA、英语语言能力以及接受性和生产性词汇知识对EMI学业成绩有显著的预测作用，而性别对EMI学业成绩没有显著的预测作用。研究结果对高等教育中EMI的影响进行了讨论。
{"title":"Predictors of English Medium Instruction academic success in Vietnamese Higher Education","authors":"Duy Van Vu","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2023-2029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-2029","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Recent research has investigated predictors of English Medium Instruction (EMI) academic success in Higher Education in various contexts; however, mixed findings have been reported, and empirical research in emerging contexts like Vietnam is relatively scarce. In addition, little is known about the associations between tertiary EMI outcome, gender, and high school performance. To fill these research gaps, the present study was conducted to explore the roles of gender, high school grades, English language proficiency and vocabulary knowledge (both receptive and productive knowledge) in Vietnamese tertiary EMI academic achievement. To this end, 78 Vietnamese undergraduates majoring in business studies participated in the study. The participants took the Vocabulary Levels Test (Schmitt et al. 2001) and Productive Vocabulary Levels Test (Laufer and Nation 1999) to measure their receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. Their English language proficiency test scores, EMI course grades, and high school grade point average (GPA) were also collected for data analysis. Simple linear regression analyses revealed that high school GPA, English language proficiency together with both receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge significantly predicted EMI academic outcome while gender did not. The results are discussed with implications for EMI in Higher Education.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"222 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135810740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2023-2027
Anna Barnau
Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic brought about new cultural and social phenomena that changed social interaction and communication. In this new situation, teachers teaching English for Medical Purposes (EMP) at the Jessenius Faculty of Medicine of Comenius University in Martin (JFM) had to adapt the courses to the educational needs of the students. This study explores the effects of traditional and distance education on learning outcomes in advanced English learners during three academic years. The sample consisted of 346 students. Three groups (G1, G2, G3) of first-year students attended online as well as face-to-face English courses and took EMP exams at the end of each summer semester. The test results were compared and evaluated. The methods of EMP teaching and testing were different in each group. G1 attended asynchronous online classes, G2 participated in synchronous online classes conducted in real-time, and finally, G3 participated in traditional classes. G1, G2 took online tests, and G3 took a pen-and-paper test. The questionnaire revealed that students appreciated the self-organization of study during online classes, but most criticized the lack of face-to-face communication, the classroom atmosphere, and technical difficulties during online teaching. Students participating in traditional classes missed their own time management and appreciated discussion in the classroom as well as teachers’ feedback on EMP performance.
{"title":"Testing English for Medical Purposes: the effects of traditional and distance education on learning outcomes","authors":"Anna Barnau","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2023-2027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-2027","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic brought about new cultural and social phenomena that changed social interaction and communication. In this new situation, teachers teaching English for Medical Purposes (EMP) at the Jessenius Faculty of Medicine of Comenius University in Martin (JFM) had to adapt the courses to the educational needs of the students. This study explores the effects of traditional and distance education on learning outcomes in advanced English learners during three academic years. The sample consisted of 346 students. Three groups (G1, G2, G3) of first-year students attended online as well as face-to-face English courses and took EMP exams at the end of each summer semester. The test results were compared and evaluated. The methods of EMP teaching and testing were different in each group. G1 attended asynchronous online classes, G2 participated in synchronous online classes conducted in real-time, and finally, G3 participated in traditional classes. G1, G2 took online tests, and G3 took a pen-and-paper test. The questionnaire revealed that students appreciated the self-organization of study during online classes, but most criticized the lack of face-to-face communication, the classroom atmosphere, and technical difficulties during online teaching. Students participating in traditional classes missed their own time management and appreciated discussion in the classroom as well as teachers’ feedback on EMP performance.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135810728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2023-2025
Joaquim Guerra
Résumé Cette recherche explore l’utilité des technologies mobiles en classe de langue, en se concentrant sur le système de feedback permis par l’application Padlet ( ARS ) utilisée dans la discipline de Langue et Culture Française VI des cursus en langues. En nous appuyant sur un modèle de recherche-action, nous avons visé à améliorer les compétences orales des étudiants après avoir constaté que les différents confinements pendant la crise sanitaire du covid-19, l’absentéisme et le manque d’investissement à l’oral ont donné lieu à une plus faible performance dans cette compétence. Les étudiants étaient appelés à télécharger sur Padlet un minimum de trois fiches de lecture, trois critiques de films et les activités collaboratives ou individuelles réalisées en classe. Leur point commun réside dans l’utilisation unique de la compétence orale. Ainsi, les élèves devaient poster des vidéos ou des podcasts et commenter les publications de leurs pairs en essayant de mettre en évidence leurs difficultés dans le cadre de leur pratique orale et de problèmes de contenus. Les données ont été recueillies à travers un questionnaire comportant des questions fermées et ouvertes. Les réponses démontrent que les étudiants ont une attitude positive sur l’utilisation de technologies numériques en classe et que cette expérience a eu un résultat positif sur leur compétence orale. Les étudiants ont aussi précisé que le feedback a engendré une meilleure conscience de leurs difficultés.
{"title":"“Mur de paroles” – ou tentative de promotion de l’expression orale en langue française","authors":"Joaquim Guerra","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2023-2025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-2025","url":null,"abstract":"Résumé Cette recherche explore l’utilité des technologies mobiles en classe de langue, en se concentrant sur le système de feedback permis par l’application Padlet ( ARS ) utilisée dans la discipline de Langue et Culture Française VI des cursus en langues. En nous appuyant sur un modèle de recherche-action, nous avons visé à améliorer les compétences orales des étudiants après avoir constaté que les différents confinements pendant la crise sanitaire du covid-19, l’absentéisme et le manque d’investissement à l’oral ont donné lieu à une plus faible performance dans cette compétence. Les étudiants étaient appelés à télécharger sur Padlet un minimum de trois fiches de lecture, trois critiques de films et les activités collaboratives ou individuelles réalisées en classe. Leur point commun réside dans l’utilisation unique de la compétence orale. Ainsi, les élèves devaient poster des vidéos ou des podcasts et commenter les publications de leurs pairs en essayant de mettre en évidence leurs difficultés dans le cadre de leur pratique orale et de problèmes de contenus. Les données ont été recueillies à travers un questionnaire comportant des questions fermées et ouvertes. Les réponses démontrent que les étudiants ont une attitude positive sur l’utilisation de technologies numériques en classe et que cette expérience a eu un résultat positif sur leur compétence orale. Les étudiants ont aussi précisé que le feedback a engendré une meilleure conscience de leurs difficultés.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135810935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2023-2034
Yavuz Kurt, Yasemin Bayyurt
Abstract The rise of English-medium instruction (EMI) and the increasing number of international students in Turkish universities call for a change in the language support programs that prepare students for EMI. English as a lingua franca (ELF) is a promising perspective to achieve a more linguistically and culturally inclusive pedagogy. This paper reports the views of 10 English language instructors who took a teacher training course on ELF and experimented with ELF-aware teaching with several lessons in the classroom. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the instructors to explore how they conceptualized the relationship between ELF and their teaching context, and how they evaluated their teaching experiences. Results reveal that when preparing students for EMI, instructors saw ELF as a useful frame of reference that promoted students’ confidence, motivation, and critical thinking. Instructors’ teaching preferences were shaped by the curriculum they were supposed to follow, the materials at their disposal, and the characteristics of their learners. Findings highlight the need to equip students for the variability in the English language, and become more confident with their linguistic skills as multilingual speakers, as well as engage in critical thinking about English and its use in their context.
{"title":"University English-medium instruction in Türkiye – what instructors say","authors":"Yavuz Kurt, Yasemin Bayyurt","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2023-2034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-2034","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The rise of English-medium instruction (EMI) and the increasing number of international students in Turkish universities call for a change in the language support programs that prepare students for EMI. English as a lingua franca (ELF) is a promising perspective to achieve a more linguistically and culturally inclusive pedagogy. This paper reports the views of 10 English language instructors who took a teacher training course on ELF and experimented with ELF-aware teaching with several lessons in the classroom. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the instructors to explore how they conceptualized the relationship between ELF and their teaching context, and how they evaluated their teaching experiences. Results reveal that when preparing students for EMI, instructors saw ELF as a useful frame of reference that promoted students’ confidence, motivation, and critical thinking. Instructors’ teaching preferences were shaped by the curriculum they were supposed to follow, the materials at their disposal, and the characteristics of their learners. Findings highlight the need to equip students for the variability in the English language, and become more confident with their linguistic skills as multilingual speakers, as well as engage in critical thinking about English and its use in their context.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135810742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2023-2032
Vicent Beltrán-Palanques
Abstract Advances in digital and audiovisual communication have contributed to the remediation and emergence of genres (Luzón and Pérez-Llantada 2022, giving rise to new discourse practices. Against this backdrop, it becomes important to review ESP pedagogy to better prepare students to communicate effectively in professional settings. For this purpose, ESP teachers should move beyond traditional literacy to embrace multimodality and develop students’ multimodal literacy. This study presents a multimodal genre-based approach to teaching PechaKucha (PK) presentations (Querol-Julián and Beltrán-Palanques 2021) and reports on students’ learning experiences. This pedagogical approach allowed students to explore the genre of PK presentations and reflect on how to construct their own version. The recipients of this approach were 127 ESP students, of which 44 voluntarily completed a survey purposely designed to explore their learning experiences regarding the preparation and performance of a digital PK presentation. Findings suggest that students made a great effort to effectively construct a digitalised PK mainly because of the format requirements. The students were faced with the challenge of making decisions about what and how to represent ideational, textual, and interpersonal meanings through a PK. Finally, this study suggests that students seemed to have become aware of the complexity of expressing meanings through the multimodal genre of PK presentations.
{"title":"Digital multimodal PechaKucha presentations in ESP: insights from students’ learning experiences","authors":"Vicent Beltrán-Palanques","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2023-2032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-2032","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Advances in digital and audiovisual communication have contributed to the remediation and emergence of genres (Luzón and Pérez-Llantada 2022, giving rise to new discourse practices. Against this backdrop, it becomes important to review ESP pedagogy to better prepare students to communicate effectively in professional settings. For this purpose, ESP teachers should move beyond traditional literacy to embrace multimodality and develop students’ multimodal literacy. This study presents a multimodal genre-based approach to teaching PechaKucha (PK) presentations (Querol-Julián and Beltrán-Palanques 2021) and reports on students’ learning experiences. This pedagogical approach allowed students to explore the genre of PK presentations and reflect on how to construct their own version. The recipients of this approach were 127 ESP students, of which 44 voluntarily completed a survey purposely designed to explore their learning experiences regarding the preparation and performance of a digital PK presentation. Findings suggest that students made a great effort to effectively construct a digitalised PK mainly because of the format requirements. The students were faced with the challenge of making decisions about what and how to represent ideational, textual, and interpersonal meanings through a PK. Finally, this study suggests that students seemed to have become aware of the complexity of expressing meanings through the multimodal genre of PK presentations.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135810491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2023-2021
Nathalie Kirchmeyer, Kristina Knauff
Abstract The field of language learning has undergone considerable changes with the emergence of new technologies. This digitalization process has led us to reconsider the format of our language courses and has subsequently had an impact on course design, the teacher’s role as well as the student’s role. Language courses at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (KTH) aim to prepare students for their future professional lives and have a strong focus on language for specific purposes (LSP). Our experience has shown that a blended learning course design as well as student-owned learning are especially well suited for these language courses. In this report, we wish to present a multi-dimensional course-design which provides several pedagogical added values by combining three dimensions of teaching and learning; online/face-to-face, synchronous/asynchronous and teacher-led/student-owned. We will illustrate the combination of the three dimensions by presenting how we have integrated international collaborative activities in French and German courses for engineers. Collaborative online international learning projects (COIL) are well suited for our teaching model as they combine online meetings with asynchronous work and are typically a student-owned activity. As a virtual mobility experience, this activity assists students in creating a global engineer profile by emphasizing collaboration and developing intercultural and multilingual competence.
{"title":"International collaborative tasks in language courses for engineers integrated in a multidimensional teaching format","authors":"Nathalie Kirchmeyer, Kristina Knauff","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2023-2021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-2021","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The field of language learning has undergone considerable changes with the emergence of new technologies. This digitalization process has led us to reconsider the format of our language courses and has subsequently had an impact on course design, the teacher’s role as well as the student’s role. Language courses at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (KTH) aim to prepare students for their future professional lives and have a strong focus on language for specific purposes (LSP). Our experience has shown that a blended learning course design as well as student-owned learning are especially well suited for these language courses. In this report, we wish to present a multi-dimensional course-design which provides several pedagogical added values by combining three dimensions of teaching and learning; online/face-to-face, synchronous/asynchronous and teacher-led/student-owned. We will illustrate the combination of the three dimensions by presenting how we have integrated international collaborative activities in French and German courses for engineers. Collaborative online international learning projects (COIL) are well suited for our teaching model as they combine online meetings with asynchronous work and are typically a student-owned activity. As a virtual mobility experience, this activity assists students in creating a global engineer profile by emphasizing collaboration and developing intercultural and multilingual competence.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135810493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2023-2026
Anila R. Scott-Monkhouse
Abstract With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing total lockdown in 2020, the EAP course for STEM doctoral students at Parma University (Italy) was suddenly forced to online delivery, like many courses in academic institutions worldwide. Confined at home and with no previous experience in remote teaching, the teacher had to redesign the course and rethink strategies and techniques in a matter of days and with little material at hand. The aim was to maintain the interactivity of the face-to-face course and consolidate the group dynamics of a course that had yet to start. As online teaching took centre stage, the teacher and students alike were confronted with didactic issues stemming from the restyling of a traditionally highly interactive course based on face-to-face tuition, and technical problems, which added to the emotional and psychological factors related to an unknown, unexpected situation. In addition to soft skills, students from different academic backgrounds needed to develop productive rather than receptive language skills, so activities focused mainly on collaborative tasks to develop writing and speaking modes but did not concentrate on academic language only. This paper shares insights into the experience of being ‘thrown in at the deep end’, and attempts to highlight the elements which contributed to its overall positive outcome, the strong social connotation it came to bear, the development of class dynamics, and the learning points that emerged. It also hopes to provide some practical suggestions which can add to the creative solutions found by (language) teachers globally.
{"title":"From face-to-face tuition to online classes: ‘Re-styling’ a course of English for academic purposes","authors":"Anila R. Scott-Monkhouse","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2023-2026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-2026","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing total lockdown in 2020, the EAP course for STEM doctoral students at Parma University (Italy) was suddenly forced to online delivery, like many courses in academic institutions worldwide. Confined at home and with no previous experience in remote teaching, the teacher had to redesign the course and rethink strategies and techniques in a matter of days and with little material at hand. The aim was to maintain the interactivity of the face-to-face course and consolidate the group dynamics of a course that had yet to start. As online teaching took centre stage, the teacher and students alike were confronted with didactic issues stemming from the restyling of a traditionally highly interactive course based on face-to-face tuition, and technical problems, which added to the emotional and psychological factors related to an unknown, unexpected situation. In addition to soft skills, students from different academic backgrounds needed to develop productive rather than receptive language skills, so activities focused mainly on collaborative tasks to develop writing and speaking modes but did not concentrate on academic language only. This paper shares insights into the experience of being ‘thrown in at the deep end’, and attempts to highlight the elements which contributed to its overall positive outcome, the strong social connotation it came to bear, the development of class dynamics, and the learning points that emerged. It also hopes to provide some practical suggestions which can add to the creative solutions found by (language) teachers globally.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135810330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2023-2028
Hümeyra Can
Abstract This study focuses on the development of lexical competence of tertiary level EFL learners who have reached C1 level according to CEFR during their course of study, but who still have difficulty in recognizing and producing academic words in terms of their correct and appropriate use in various contexts. Following a data-driven learning (DDL) approach within an action research paradigm, this study aims to discover whether corpus investigation makes a difference in students’ vocabulary knowledge and how they react to corpus data in learning vocabulary. To this end, the study was carried out in a listening/speaking course of two C1 level classes in an EFL classroom at an English preparatory school in Higher Education. In one of the classes, conventional lesson materials, and in the other, corpus-based lesson materials were used to teach the selected vocabulary items. The effect of corpus-based lesson materials on vocabulary learning was examined in relation to conventional materials. The data obtained from pre and post-tests showed that although there was a significant increase in students’ scores from pre-test to post-test, corpus use made statistically no significant difference in their scores as compared to the conventional method that had been adopted during the regular course of study based on the contextual guesswork involved in the coursebook. Students’ reactions throughout the implementation of corpus-based materials and the feedback sessions held with the students, shed light on the results and suggested some pedagogical guidelines for using corpora in teaching L2 vocabulary.
{"title":"Using corpora in teaching vocabulary to advanced EFL learners in a higher education context","authors":"Hümeyra Can","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2023-2028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-2028","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study focuses on the development of lexical competence of tertiary level EFL learners who have reached C1 level according to CEFR during their course of study, but who still have difficulty in recognizing and producing academic words in terms of their correct and appropriate use in various contexts. Following a data-driven learning (DDL) approach within an action research paradigm, this study aims to discover whether corpus investigation makes a difference in students’ vocabulary knowledge and how they react to corpus data in learning vocabulary. To this end, the study was carried out in a listening/speaking course of two C1 level classes in an EFL classroom at an English preparatory school in Higher Education. In one of the classes, conventional lesson materials, and in the other, corpus-based lesson materials were used to teach the selected vocabulary items. The effect of corpus-based lesson materials on vocabulary learning was examined in relation to conventional materials. The data obtained from pre and post-tests showed that although there was a significant increase in students’ scores from pre-test to post-test, corpus use made statistically no significant difference in their scores as compared to the conventional method that had been adopted during the regular course of study based on the contextual guesswork involved in the coursebook. Students’ reactions throughout the implementation of corpus-based materials and the feedback sessions held with the students, shed light on the results and suggested some pedagogical guidelines for using corpora in teaching L2 vocabulary.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135810484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-01DOI: 10.1515/cercles-2023-2030
Emily Morgan
Abstract Over several decades, small group work has been studied in first language (L1) and second or subsequent language (L2) education, including English language learning contexts. Group work has been shown to be beneficial to language learning and general learning. L2 English students from non-student-centred educational backgrounds have limited experience of group work and often have poor attitudes towards it. Student attitudes can affect how well a student performs and engages with group work, so that poor attitudes may prevent them from accessing the full range of benefits of this learning method. Group work is common in English-medium education contexts, including university settings and work settings. Therefore, it is important to ensure that L2 English language students wishing to study or work in English-medium contexts develop a positive attitude towards group work. This can be done through scaffolding. In the present project, scaffolded group work was used in an English writing program for L2 students at a Japanese university. Student perceptions of group work were collected throughout the program to assess the change of attitude over time. Results showed that students’ perceptions of group work changed positively, particularly regarding personal learning and collaborative processes. Implications for language learning are discussed.
{"title":"Japanese tertiary students’ perceptions of group work with explicit scaffolding","authors":"Emily Morgan","doi":"10.1515/cercles-2023-2030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-2030","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Over several decades, small group work has been studied in first language (L1) and second or subsequent language (L2) education, including English language learning contexts. Group work has been shown to be beneficial to language learning and general learning. L2 English students from non-student-centred educational backgrounds have limited experience of group work and often have poor attitudes towards it. Student attitudes can affect how well a student performs and engages with group work, so that poor attitudes may prevent them from accessing the full range of benefits of this learning method. Group work is common in English-medium education contexts, including university settings and work settings. Therefore, it is important to ensure that L2 English language students wishing to study or work in English-medium contexts develop a positive attitude towards group work. This can be done through scaffolding. In the present project, scaffolded group work was used in an English writing program for L2 students at a Japanese university. Student perceptions of group work were collected throughout the program to assess the change of attitude over time. Results showed that students’ perceptions of group work changed positively, particularly regarding personal learning and collaborative processes. Implications for language learning are discussed.","PeriodicalId":53966,"journal":{"name":"Language Learning in Higher Education","volume":"117 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135809415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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