First steps toward critical literacy: Interactions with an English narrative text among three English as a foreign language readers in South Korea

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Ju Lee
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
English Text ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Korean Children ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Sociocultural Practices ◽  
Vital Component ◽  
Reading Test Scores

Three Korean children, whose English reading test scores were comparably lower than their peers' and who showed a tendency to withdraw from class activities or resist texts, participated in a reading tutoring programme in South Korea. By reflecting on the three students' interactions with an English text, the current paper argues that resistant readers' mere understanding of texts can be deepened while they diversify their perspectives for viewing textual messages and beliefs. In the process, with a range of explicit scaffolding, the students' resistance could be harnessed as a meaningful opportunity to promote multiple perspectives regarding texts and sociocultural practices. This article suggests that letting students develop multiple perspectives based on critical reflections on texts and sociocultural practices, by being exposed to a variety of books and engaging in critical analysis, should be a vital component of literacy classrooms.

TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION USING JIGSAW TECHNIQUE

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 461
Author(s):  
Cucu Sumiati ◽  
Dede Zulkaidah ◽  
Kaswan Kaswan
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Skill ◽  
English Text ◽  
Teaching Reading ◽  
Paired Samples ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Jigsaw Technique

English is foreign language in Indonesia. In English, reading is one of skill that must be mastered by students. By mastering reading skill, it can be easier for student to comprehend the text that they read. However many students not understand how to comprehend the English text well, it caused by inapropriate technique used by the teacher in English teaching. According to the problem an appropriate technique should be applied to improve their reading comprehension. The aims of the research is to find out whether there is any improvement in the students’ reading comprehension using jigsaw technique. In this research, the writer uses pre-experimental design.The researcher takes 30 students as the sample of this research. The instrument of this research is a test uses in pre-test and post-test.The result of this research presents that the jigsaw technique is successful to improve the students’ reading comprehension. It can be sees from paired samples t-test that there is a significant difference for the pre-test score (M = 52.33 SD = 22.234) and post-test (M = 80.17 SD = 9.048), t (29) = -9.275 , p <0.05. It can be concludes that the jigsaw technique improves the students’ reading comprehension.

scholarly journals Addressing Religious Diversity through Children’s Literature: An “English as a Foreign Language” Classroom in Israel

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rawia Hayik
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Practitioner Inquiry ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Reader Responses ◽  
Region I ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Efl Students

Conflicts between different religious groups occasionally arise in my Christian and Muslim Israeli-Arab EFL students’ school and area. In an attempt to increase students’ knowledge of and respect for other faiths in the region, I conducted practitioner inquiry research in my religiously diverse Middle-Eastern classroom. Grounded in critical literacy, I used a book set of religion-based literature alongside critical literacy engagements to effect some change in students’ tolerance towards other faiths. This article describes my journey of exploring students’ reader responses to religion-based texts and issues.

Creating Critical Literacy Praxis: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822098266
Author(s):  
Tsung-han Weng
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Speakers Of Other Languages ◽  
Literacy Implementation ◽  
Critical Literacy Pedagogy ◽  
Literacy Research

Although research in critical literacy has long been conducted in English as a second language contexts, a modicum of critical literacy research in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts in which English is seldom used outside the classroom environment has also been undertaken. This article aims to discuss the introduction of critical literacy in the Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL) profession, which has been neglected by TESOL researchers and practitioners in EFL contexts. The article reviews and synthesizes the existing literature by providing conceptualizations of the critical literacy approach to TESOL, examples of critical literacy implementation, and the benefits and challenges of implementing critical literacy pedagogy. The article concludes by calling for more critical literacy research in EFL contexts.

scholarly journals Cross-Sectional Study of Varicella Zoster Virus Immunity in Healthy Korean Children Assessed by Glycoprotein Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and Fluorescent Antibody to Membrane Antigen Test

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 492
Author(s):  
Yunhwa Kim ◽  
Ji-Young Hwang ◽  
Kyung-Min Lee ◽  
Eunsil Lee ◽  
Hosun Park
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Fluorescent Antibody ◽  
Seroconversion Rate ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Varicella Vaccine ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Korean Children ◽  
Post Vaccination

The prevalence of varicella is especially high among children in the age group of 4–6 years in South Korea, regardless of vaccination. We investigated the immune status of healthy children enrolled in day-care centers and compared pre- and post-vaccination immunity. Antibody titers were measured using a glycoprotein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (gpEIA) kit, and the seroconversion rate was assessed using a fluorescent antibody to membrane antigen (FAMA) test. Among 541 vaccinated children, 109 (20.1%) had breakthrough varicella. However, 13 (72.2%) of the 18 unvaccinated children had a history of varicella. The gpEIA geometric mean titers (GMTs) of pre- and 5 weeks post-vaccination in 1-year-old children were 14.7 and 72 mIU/mL, respectively, and the FAMA seroconversion rate was 91.1%. The gpEIA GMTs of 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old children were 104.1, 133.8, 223.5, 364.1, and 353.0 mIU/mL, respectively. Even though the gpEIA GMT increased with age, the pattern of gpEIA titer distribution in 4- to 6-year-old vaccinees without varicella history represented both waning immunity and natural boosting immunity. These results suggest that some vaccinees are vulnerable to varicella infection. Therefore, it is necessary to consider a two-dose varicella vaccine regimen in South Korea.

Using comprehension strategies for students' self-efficacy, anxiety, and proficiency in reading English as a foreign language

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hung-Chang Liao ◽  
Ya-Huei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Comprehension Strategies ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Verbal Persuasion ◽  
Reading Comprehension Strategies ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Experimental Group

We examined whether or not instructing Taiwanese students in the use of comprehension strategies when they are reading English as a foreign language, reduces their English reading anxiety and increases their English reading self-efficacy and proficiency. We used a quasiexperimental design and conducted a 15-week course. The experimental group (n = 31) received instruction in reading comprehension strategies and the control group (n = 31) received instruction by traditional teaching methods. The results show that the experimental group had less anxiety when reading English and higher proficiency than the control group. In regard to self-efficacy when reading English, the experimental group also performed better than the control group in terms of self-affirmation, perseverance, verbal persuasion, and performance overall. However, there was no statistically significant difference for learning attitude between the groups.

scholarly journals Literature and critical literacy pedagogy in the EFL classroom: Towards a model of teaching critical thinking skills

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 677-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Bobkina ◽  
Svetlana Stefanova
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Literary Work ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Rudyard Kipling ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Critical Literacy Pedagogy

Drawing on the numerous benefits of integrating literature in the EFL classroom, the present paper argues that the analysis of a fictional work in the process of foreign language acquisition offers a unique opportunity for students to explore, interpret, and understand the world around them. The paper presents strong evidence in favour of reader-centered critical reading as a means of encouraging observation and active evaluation not only of linguistic items, but also of a variety of meanings and viewpoints. The authors propose a model of teaching critical thinking skills focused on the reader’s response to a literary work. The practical application of the method, which adopts the critical literacy approach as a tool, is illustrated through a series of activities based on the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling.

scholarly journals Effects of Bilingualism on Reading Fluency: An Analysis of Pausing Patterns of Iranian Learners of English as a Third Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Zahra Banitalebi ◽  
Ali Akbar Jabbari ◽  
Shouket Ahmad Tilwani ◽  
Mohammad Hasan Razmi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Oral Proficiency ◽  
Bilingual Learners ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Third Language ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Significant Difference

Fluency is one of the most important components of oral proficiency, which can be affected by a number of variables including frequency, duration, and place of pause phenomena. The present study aimed at investigating the effect of bilingualism on learning a foreign language from the angle of fluency and pausing patterns by comparing the pausing patterns of monolingual (Persian speakers) and bilingual (Iranian Turkish speakers; L1: Turkish and L2: Persian) EFL learners. To this end, a sample of 40 male and female advanced EFL learners were selected from Yazd University and several English-language institutes. An English reading passage test was used to measure students’ fluency in terms of their pausing patterns in prepared mode of speech. As learners started to read the passage, their speeches were recorded. The collected data were analyzed by Praat software. The statistical analyses revealed a significant difference between monolingual and bilingual learners in the frequency, duration, and placement of the pauses they had produced while they were reading the English passage. The results showed that bilingual learners outperformed monolingual participants, suggesting the superiority of bilinguals in their pausing patterns. The implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Reading Skill among Malaysian ESL Lower Secondary Students: Which Girls and Which Boys are Achieving and Underachieving?

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-111
Author(s):  
Kamal J I Badrasawi ◽  
Noor Lide Abu Kassim
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Reading Skill ◽  
Literacy Skill ◽  
English Reading ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Low Performance

The literature on educational achievement has shown consistently that boys are underachieving. They are disengaged with learning, and their dropout rates in schools are higher than those for girls. Although the problem of underachievement and disengagement with learning is largely associated with boys, not all boys are underachieving or disengaged with learning, and not all girls are achieving and engaged with learning. There is also strong evidence to suggest that differences within gender are more significant than the difference between gender. Recent research findings have shown that educational performance is highly influenced by socio-demographic factors such as school location, race or ethnicity, socio-economic status, and parents’ education. Given that reading is a critical literacy skill for academic achievement and English is an important second language in Malaysia, this study sought to identify groups of Malaysian lower secondary students who are at risk of underachieving in English reading skill. A sample of 944 Malaysian ESL Form 1, 2 and 3 students, randomly selected from national-type schools, participated in the study. A test of English reading skill, consisting of 60 multiple-choice items was used. The Rasch Model analysis as well as selected descriptive statistics were used to answer the research questions. The results showed that students’ performance in English reading differed from one group to another, implying that gender did not exclusively influence student performance. Based on the findings, more sound and informed decisions on students’ performance in English reading skill and the most effective teaching methods can be made. Qualitative investigation of the factors behind high or low performance among these groups of students is also needed to further understand the influence of these factors on achievement and underachievement .

The Role of Translation in Language Teaching

2015 ◽  
pp. 118-135
Author(s):  
Anna Maria D'Amore
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
First Language ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Modern Language ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
English Reading

With the development of approaches and methods in Modern Language teaching that favoured oral communication skills and advocated more “natural” methods of second/foreign language acquisition, methodology calling for translation in the classroom was shunned. Nonetheless, translation used as a resource designed to assist the student in improving his or her knowledge of the foreign language through reading comprehension exercises, contrastive analysis, and reflection on written texts continues to be practiced. By examining student performance in problem-solving tasks at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, this chapter aims to demonstrate the validity of “pedagogical translation” in ELT in Mexico, particularly at undergraduate level where it is an integral part of English reading courses in Humanities study programmes, not as an end in itself, but as a means to perfecting reading skills in a foreign language and furthermore as an aid for consolidating writing and communication skills in the student's first language.

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