Learning EAP at university: perceptions of high-achieving first-year ESL undergraduates

ELT Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Wai-Ho Yung ◽  
Natalie Fong
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
High Achievers ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Essential Component ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
University Studies ◽  
Written Assignments ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractThis study focuses on the perceptions of learning EAP of first-year undergraduates with high ESL proficiency admitted to an English-medium university in Hong Kong. Two in-depth individual interviews were conducted with nine participants and their written assignments were analysed. The data reveal several challenges facing the high achievers in learning EAP. One evident aspect is how to properly cite academic sources. The participants struggled with selecting suitable texts from sources, paraphrasing them, and using them to support their arguments. They also perceived a need to abandon the recited formulaic expressions which may have helped them score highly in the secondary school examination. This study reveals gaps between the English learnt in secondary school and EAP and offers insight into what first-year students need when they transition from secondary school to university studies. It argues that EAP should be made an essential component of first-year undergraduate programmes.

scholarly journals Study of Live Lecture Attendance, Student Perceptions and Expectations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnathan Emahiser ◽  
John Nguyen ◽  
Cheryl Vanier ◽  
Amina Sadik
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Study Materials ◽  
Class B ◽  
Second Year ◽  
To Come ◽  
Perceptions And Expectations ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractDeclining lecture attendance has been an ongoing concern for educators involved in undergraduate medical education. A survey was developed (a) to gain insight into the reasons students skipped class, (b) to identify the type of study materials they were using, and (c) to determine what they thought would motivate them to come to class. The survey was sent to 317 first-year and second-year medical students, and 145 (45%) responded. Only 63% of first-year students and 53% of second-year students attended any lectures that were not mandatory. The attendance was higher for students who aspired to less competitive specialties such as pediatrics and family medicine. The most popular reasons for not coming to class were related to the efficiency of information intake and instructor or class style. The most heavily used resources (> 60%) were materials or recorded lectures provided by the instructor. The second-year students also heavily used outside study materials for Board exams, such as Pathoma (50%). Students’ ideas for what might increase their attendance suggest that they perceive that the lectures may not prepare them for Board exams, and they would like faculty to address Board related content more often in class and on assessments. Respondents also suggested that teaching practices might be improved through faculty development. Faculty awareness of and references to Board exam content, embedded in strong teaching practices, may help students find more value in live lectures. Carefully designed active learning sessions may change students’ minds regarding the relevance and value of these sessions.

scholarly journals Qualitative Analysis of Student Perceptions: “Some Advisors Care. Some Don't.”

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-54
Author(s):  
Ruth V. Walker ◽  
Alexandra I. Zelin ◽  
Carolyn Behrman ◽  
Rachel Strnad
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Academic Advising ◽  
State Institution ◽  
Transition To College ◽  
Guidance Counselors ◽  
First Year ◽  
Perceived Effectiveness ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
School Guidance

University-based academic advising at a large, Great Lakes state institution was designed to support first-year students' transition to college. We conducted individual interviews and facilitated story circles with 162 students to determine their perceived effectiveness of advising. Analyses revealed four overarching themes: student difficulty making the distinction between roles of high school guidance counselors and postsecondary academic advisors, advisor communication, student desire for a relationship, and advisor accessibility. On the basis of data gathered, we developed a model for understanding the formation and maintenance of student advising perceptions.

Perceptions of Effectiveness of Rewards and Punishments: A Comparison of High- and Low-Achievers in Secondary School

1992 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 56-70
Author(s):  
Sam Winter ◽  
Leung Yuk-Wah ◽  
Ma Kwai-Heung
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Low Achievers ◽  
High Achievers ◽  
Junior Secondary School ◽  
Initial Analysis ◽  
Junior Secondary ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
High Level ◽  
High Degree

Two Hong Kong studies are described which investigate the perceptions of junior secondary school pupils (high- and low-achieving) concerning the effectiveness of rewards and punishments. Both studies employ versions of Caffyn’s questionnaire. Initial analysis reveals that (a) there is a relationship between disaffection and achievement, and (b) pupils of both achievement levels have more favourable perceptions regarding the effectiveness of rewards than they do of punishments. A focus on the relationships between achievement and perceptions reveals that (c) high-achievers perceive a large number of rewards as more effective than do low-achievers, (d) low-achievers perceive very few other rewards as being more effective than do high-achievers, and (e) the situation is a little more balanced for punishments. The paper includes a discussion regarding particular reward and punishment items perceptions about which differentiate low-and high-achievers. Finally, it is noted that there is a high level of consistency between findings in the two studies reported in this paper. Where it is possible to make comparisons with other research findings from Hong Kong and elsewhere, a high degree of agreement between such findings is found.

Certainty of career choice at the beginning of university studies - general strategies and attributions in achievement situations, and career motives

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 35-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Hirsto
Keyword(s):  
Career Choice ◽  
Stepwise Regression ◽  
First Year ◽  
Paper Sample ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
On Certainty ◽  
University Studies ◽  
Task Avoidance ◽  
Career Motives ◽  
And Task

Certainty of career choice at the beginning of university studies - general strategies and attributions in achievement situations, and career motives The focus of this paper is on certainty of career choice at the beginning of university studies, and how this relates to students' career motives and more general strategies and attributions in achievement situations. The paper sample comprised 137 first-year students of theology, who completed a questionnaire developed on the basis of earlier studies on motives for studying theology and certainty of career choice. The questionnaire included a section on strategies and attributions in achievement situations (SAQ), a section covering the reasons and motives for starting to study theology and a scale measuring uncertainty of career choice. According to the results, uncertainty of career choice related positively to being assured of a place to study, and negatively to having a spiritual calling, a helping orientation and self-fulfillment. In the first year of university studies it also related positively to task avoidance and social pessimism, and negatively to success expectation. Stepwise regression analysis showed that being assured of a place to study, having a spiritual calling and low self-fulfillment explained 57 percent of the total variance. The strategies and attributions the students used in achievement situations were very modest predictors of uncertainty in career choice. Success expectation and task avoidance explained nine percent of the variance.

scholarly journals Easing the transition from secondary school to higher education through recognition of the skills of our students

2016 ◽  
pp. 51-55
Author(s):  
Orla C Kelly ◽  
Odilla E Finlayson
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Short Communication ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Physical Sciences ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Business Innovation ◽  
University Level ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Chemical Events

This short communication discusses research, which has investigated students‟ self-perception of their skills. This was to identify which skills they felt most and least confident in upon starting university. General and scientific and practical skills as well as skills related to improving learning were explored. The results suggested that students felt most confident in working in groups, interacting with people to obtain the necessary information and assistance, and observing chemical events and changes among others. In contrast students felt least confident in planning and presenting an oral presentation, analysing and evaluating experimental data, and using the internet and other resources to gain information. Details of how the findings were used to make effective changes to an existing module will be discussed. Furthermore, the relevance of this in terms of supporting our first year students in their transition to university-level work and subsequently planning appropriate modules will be discussed in relation to the recently published results from the UK Physical Sciences Centre Review of the Student Learning Experience in Chemistry and in light of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills Higher Ambitions and Skills for Growth papers.

scholarly journals Book Review: The First-Year Experience Cookbook

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 146
Author(s):  
Kyndra Valencia
Keyword(s):  
Lesson Plans ◽  
First Year Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Library Instruction ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Essential Component ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Staffing Requirements ◽  
Busy Schedule

In any university library, the first-year experience is an essential component of capturing students’ interest and engagement from the very beginning and of publicizing what the library offers them. However, it is always a struggle to determine how exactly to capture freshmen’s attention and disseminate information about the library’s various resources. Coming up with fresh, relevant ideas on top of an already busy schedule is enough to stress almost any librarian. Pun and Houlihan’s book attempts to alleviate this stress by presenting a “cookbook” of ideas, activities, and lesson plans that librarians across the nation have found effective in engaging first-year students, giving library staff a wealth of options to consider, duplicate, or alter according to their own needs. The book itself is divided into four sections—orientations, library instruction, programs, and assessment. Each section’s activities and lesson plans are detailed and well described, offering excellent variety as well as suggestions for accommodating a wide range of program sizes, budget constraints, and time and staffing requirements. Many of the included projects also feature photographs of the activities or reproducible versions of handouts, increasing the ease of replicability for interested librarians.

scholarly journals Socio-Psychological Training as a Tool for Correcting Antivital Experiences in First-Year Students

2021 ◽  
pp. 26-29
Author(s):  
Elena Victorovna Odinochkina
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
University Studies ◽  
Psychological Training ◽  
The Individual

The article discusses the approaches to understanding antivital experiences, their actualization in first-year students in the process of adaptation to university studies; an empirical study of the effectiveness of socio-psychological training, built taking into account the individual results of the diagnosis of antivital experiences and vitality, is analyzed.

scholarly journals Students’ experiences of study-related exhaustion, regulation of learning, peer learning and peer support during university studies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milla Räisänen ◽  
Liisa Postareff ◽  
Sari Lindblom-Ylänne
Keyword(s):  
Peer Support ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Peer Learning ◽  
Large Individual ◽  
First Year ◽  
Measurement Point ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
University Studies

AbstractThe present mixed-method longitudinal study examines students’ experiences of study-related exhaustion, regulation of learning, peer learning and peer support during university studies. At the first measurement point, 188 first-year students completed the questionnaire. At the second measurement point, 91 of the 188 students participated in the follow-up study at their fourth study year and completed the same questionnaire again. Of these, twelve students were interviewed. The results showed that experienced study-related exhaustion and self-regulation of content increased during studies. However, the results also showed a large individual variation in experienced study-related exhaustion. The students whose exhaustion decreased described experiences of peer support that helped them to develop their self-regulation skills. Students whose study-related exhaustion remained low evaluated their self-regulation skills as good. They experienced that they did not need other students’ support in the regulation of learning. The students whose study-related exhaustion increased or remained high described more problems in self-regulation. Most students relied on peer support because of self-regulation problems. However, not all students used other students’ support despite of problems in studying. It can be concluded that regulation skills have a key role in experienced study-related exhaustion during studies.

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