scholarly journals Online English Language Learning: Theory-Based Course Design and Pedagogy

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen Snow Andrade

The demand for higher education is increasing worldwide. To meet this demand, and to provide increased access, flexible forms of delivery are needed. Although online courses are criticized for a lack of interaction, when intentionally designed, they can provide learners with opportunities for collaboration that supports the achievement of desired learning outcomes. The latter may focus on only content mastery, however, rather than on specific learner needs. The diverse learners entering higher education institutions today due to widening access often need help with how to learn and particularly how to learn in an online context. Inclusion of this element in course design supports immediate and future academic success. This study illustrates how online English language courses, based on distance education, learning, and language acquisition theories and related pedagogical approaches, can result not only in improved linguistic skill, but also broader educational outcomes. The significance of this approach is its focus on how to learn and how to facilitate learning rather than simply on what to learn. The theoretical framework is introduced followed by application of the theories for course design and illustrations of instructor/learner interaction.

Author(s):  
Preeti Jaiswal ◽  
Abdulghani Al-Hattami

Abstract- Contemporary higher education institutions place students at the centre of their thinking and emphasize on student centered approaches to help learners construct knowledge during their learning paths in higher education. The study was guided by Bloom’s taxonomy in designing learning outcomes, incorporating engaging learning activities and assessing learning outcomes. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives provides a hierarchical classification system that classifies thinking abilities from basic information acquisition to more complex processes. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using the hierarchical instructional set of cognitive processes delineated in Bloom’s taxonomy for boosting learners’ vocabulary competency in English language learning, in higher education. The sample for this study consisted of 39 students (nine males and thirty females) who were studying course entitled English for Business in Department of English Language & Literature, College of Arts, during the academic year 2018-19 at University of Bahrain. The course aims to enhance learners’ language skills to enable them to communicate constructively in various business contexts. The results revealed that Bloom’s learning approach was successful in augmenting learners ’retention and transfer of productive and receptive vocabulary in language learning and conducive for promoting proficiency in English vocabulary knowledge.


Author(s):  
John Levi Hilton III ◽  
Lane Fischer ◽  
David Wiley ◽  
Linda William

<p class="3"><em>Open Educational Resources</em> (OER) have the potential to replace traditional textbooks in higher education.  Previous studies indicate that use of OER results in high student and faculty satisfaction, lower costs, and similar or better educational outcomes. In this case study, we compared students using traditional textbooks with those using OER at Tidewater Community College to compare their performance on what we call course throughput rates, which is an aggregate of three variables – drop rates, withdrawal rates, and C or better rates. Two self-selecting cohorts were compared over four semesters, with statistically significant results. The study found that, subject to the limitations discussed, students who use OER perform significantly better on the course throughput rate than their peers who use traditional textbooks, in both face-to-face and online courses that use OER. This suggests that OER are a promising avenue for reducing the costs of higher education while increasing academic success.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-129
Author(s):  
Asti Gumartifa ◽  
◽  
Indah Windra Dwie Agustiani

Gaining English language learning effectively has been discussed all years long. Similarly, Learners have various troubles outcomes in the learning process. Creating a joyful and comfortable situation must be considered by learners. Thus, the implementation of effective learning strategies is certainly necessary for English learners. This descriptive study has two purposes: first, to introduce the classification and characterization of learning strategies such as; memory, cognitive, metacognitive, compensation, social, and affective strategies that are used by learners in the classroom and second, it provides some questionnaires item based on Strategy of Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) version 5.0 that can be used to examine the frequency of students’ learning strategies in the learning process. The summary of this study explains and discusses the researchers’ point of view on the impact of learning outcomes by learning strategies used. Finally, utilizing appropriate learning strategies are certainly beneficial for both teachers and learners to achieve the learning target effectively.


Author(s):  
Kirsi Korkealehto ◽  
Vera Leier

This project was conducted in a five credit course in English as a Foreign Language, which was a compulsory module in first year business administration studies. The data includes students’ learning diaries and a post-course online questionnaire (N=21). The data were analysed using a content analysis method. The results indicate that the students perceived the multimodal task design as enjoyable and students’ engagement was fostered by course design, teacher’s activity, student’s activity, and collaboration.


Author(s):  
Pilar Durán Escribano ◽  
Joana Pierce McMahon

As the Bologna Process moves forward, changes in European systems of higher education are expected. The introduction of the ECTS focussing on the students’ achievements described in terms of the learning outcomes and competences acquired is one of the innovations. This process, encouraged by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, signifies a change in teaching focus, from an input model to an output one, which promotes self-assessment in a flexible curriculum, in this case adapted to student’s language profile. To illustrate this new approach in language learning, a pilot experience with Technical English mining engineering students is discussed, with special attention to learner reflection and self-assessment practices. Students’ progress in self-assessment, based on the introduction of learning outcomes in specific language courses, is analysed to conclude that personal engagement and clear purpose -specified in terms of learning outcomes- seem to have become relevant components to student's self-assessment practice.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Zelenková ◽  
Dana Hanesová

Abstract The aim of the authors is to respond to the growing demands on the intercultural competence of university teachers due to intensified internationalization pressures on higher education, especially due to the growing number of students and teachers’ international exchanges. They report on an intercultural course design responding to this need, presenting a case study from Slovakia. First, they define the need of intercultural competence of university teachers, especially those teaching in English-medium study programmes. Then they share a) findings from a needs analysis preceding the design of a new curriculum for an intercultural competence course (ICC) at Matej Bel University (MBU) with three aims (development of linguistic, cultural and pedagogic competences); and b) results from action research during piloting the ICC course. A comparison of 2011 and 2018 surveys pointed to the growing dominance of the English language, including an increasing command of English by MBU teachers. The ICC curriculum, tailored to the pre-identified teachers’ needs, proved to be a feasible way of facilitating their intercultural competence. Its implementation revealed persistent prejudices and difficulties associated with overcoming them. It also confirmed a significant deficit in preparing university teachers for their role as intercultural mediators in English-medium courses.


2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110609
Author(s):  
Kim Murray ◽  
José Reis-Jorge ◽  
Julie-Anne Regan

Research in language learning indicates that process drama (PD), an educational approach where students and teachers work in and out of role to explore themes and issues, can be well suited to the Japanese higher education (HE) context. Despite the benefits highlighted in the literature, PD remains a niche approach to language teaching and learning, with a limited number of practitioners in Japan. This study seeks to uncover language teachers’ experiences of becoming Process Drama Practitioners (PDPs) and using and sharing PD as an English language teaching approach in Japanese HE. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with six experienced PDPs. The findings indicate that prior positive experiences with drama was an encouraging factor of the adoption and self-directed initial use of PD in their teaching practices. Positive student outcomes and feedback were primary motivators for continued use of PD. Experiences of sharing PD led to a perceived need to distinguish PD from theatre-based approaches and establish connections to familiar approaches to language teaching.


Author(s):  
Hamza R'boul ◽  
M Camino Bueno-Alastuey

Teaching English in higher education entails additional factors and considerations that exemplify the complexity of accounting for the diverse population in modern higher education institutions. In particular, the increasing flow of international students and the employment demands of functioning in multicultural contexts render helping students to develop a critical understating of intercultural relations an important aspect of English language teaching. With the increasing adoption of English as a medium of instruction and its use as a lingua franca in intercultural communication, it is important to structure English education in a way that accounts for intercultural relations both in and outside the university. In addition to the postmodern conceptualizations of interculturality that emphasize the fluidity of culture, language and identity intercultural relations are characterized by power imbalances. That is why this chapter makes a case for the necessity of considering sociopolitical realities in intercultural English language teaching in higher education.


Author(s):  
Esperanza Granados-Bezi

The scaffolds of American colleges and universities can no longer protect our institutions from the winds of change that penetrate their walls and appear to be threatening their foundations. They also seem incapable of protecting faculties from persistent criticism due to unsatisfactory performance and reluctance to modify educational approaches to meet society's current demands. This chapter reviews some of the most common concerns pertaining not only to the quality of higher education in general but also to that of foreign language teaching in particular. It analyzes the reasons that there is a general sense of dissatisfaction with the results of traditional practices to language learning and discusses the benefits of implementing the flipped model to enhance the quality of instruction. In addition, it underlines the importance of adopting innovative technologies to increase language development in a world in which instructors are expected to be more productive and students have to reach higher learning outcomes.


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