Indonesian parental perspectives of international school partnerships involving millennial learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-119
Author(s):  
Ahmad Bukhori Muslim ◽  
Herli Salim ◽  
Sri Setyarini
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
International School ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Partnerships ◽  
International Partnership ◽  
Parental Perspectives

Despite being long-standing practice among schools across the world, most studies on international school partnerships focus on its benefits and challenges as perceived by teachers and students. Little emphasis has been given to parental perspectives and support, particularly among low-income families. With the increase of community involvement in education, how this partnership program may benefit the foreign language learning of millennials has become a matter of increasing concern among parents. This qualitative study explores Indonesian parents’ perspectives of international school partnerships between Indonesian and Australian schools, and how these partnerships support the learning of English as a foreign language and technology utilization. Results from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews indicate parental belief that the program reviewed is an authentic approach to foreign language learning and an appropriate mode of technology-based self-expression. To facilitate their children’s learning of English and development of cross-cultural understanding, most parents, despite economic limitations, are willing to support their children’s involvement in the international partnership that is the focus of this study.

scholarly journals Analyzing Foreign Language Test Anxiety among High School Students in an EFL Context (Note 1)

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 190
Author(s):  
Esim Gursoy ◽  
Tuba Arman
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Test Validity ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Students ◽  
Affective Factors

<p>With the increasing need to learn languages as a result of globalization there is a great demand on the part of the learners to communicate in a second/foreign language, which is also supported downwards by the governments and upwards by the parents. Among the many aspects of foreign language learning, affective factors are researched a lot as they are dependent on contexts, individual differences, cultural background, teaching methodology etc., which cause a variation in the results. The current research focuses on test anxiety as one of the major affective factors. Thus it aims to identify the level of test anxiety and its relationship with gender, grade level, and academic achievement. Moreover, the causes of test anxiety were investigated according to students’ own perceptions. A test anxiety scale and semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather the qualitative and quantitative data. The overall results showed that the participants had a moderate level of test anxiety. Females were found to be more anxious than males only in some aspects; low achievement scores provoked test anxiety with regard to a few items, and 9<sup>th</sup> graders were found to be more anxious than the 10<sup>th</sup> graders. According to participants’ own perceptions, test validity, time limit, teacher attitudes, test techniques, proctors, length of the test, testing environment and clarity of test instructions were the causes of test anxiety.</p>

scholarly journals A CREATIVE ALLIANCE BETWEEN LEARNER AUTONOMY AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING: PAKISTANI UNIVERSITY TEACHERS’ BELIEFS

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Musarat YASMIN ◽  
Ayesha SOHAIL
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Language Learning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
University Teachers

Learner autonomy has been a focus of research for last three decades. Not only the nature of phenomenon was investigated but also its role in foreign language learning attracted researchers’ interests. The present paper examines the mutual creative relationship between learner autonomy and target foreign language acquisition. Following an interpretive paradigm, this qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to explore the beliefs of 16 university teachers of English language teaching in four public sector universities of province Punjab, Pakistan. Results revealed a close creative connection between learner autonomy and English language learning. Teachers believed that autonomy in learners accelerates language learning. Major aspects of learner autonomy were reported fulfilling the perceived needs of foreign language learning. The study implied that fostering of autonomy in learners accelerates target language proficiency.

scholarly journals Adapting Board Games to Stimulate Motivation in Vocabulary Learning in Six Year Old Learners - A Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Fotini Gerovasiliou ◽  
Makrina Zafiri
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Language Level ◽  
Experimental Group

The particular study focuses on the use of board games and argues that they are a useful and practical tool in order to stimulate six year old students’ motivation in learning topic vocabulary in a foreign language classroom. It explains how a number of ready-made board games can be adapted, according to the educational aims, the students’ age and language level in order to maximize positive results in foreign language learning. Through playing board games, young students not only become much more active, but they also anticipate coming to the learning classroom more eagerly since they involve the elements of joy, interaction, cooperation and competition. Moreover, games place the teacher in a background role, acting more as a facilitator; therefore they allow students to take on more responsibility for their learning.To this end, an experimental study design, employing both qualitative and quantitative data research tools, was adopted. The participants, who were eight students of six year old age, were divided into two groups. In the experimental group, only board games were applied in order to give students the opportunity to practise the disseminated topic vocabulary while the control group practised their vocabulary through the activities proposed by the coursebook and the worksheets which were constructed by the researchers. A pre-test and post-tests were administered to students before and after the action research and semi-structured interviews with the students of the experimental group were conducted in order to probe into the students’ views concerning the proposed tool and method of instruction. The analysis of the tests indicated a difference in favor of the experimental group. Finally, the findings of the students’ responses revealed the beneficial effects of using board games to stimulate vocabulary learning to students of the specific age group and language level. 

scholarly journals Exploring the Causes of Listening Comprehension Anxiety from EFL Saudi Learners’ Perspectives: A Pilot Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Otair ◽  
Noor Hashima Abd Aziz
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Preparatory Year ◽  
High Level

Anxiety is an important factor in foreign language learning. Very few studies have been done on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Saudi students in listening classes. Therefore, this pilot study was aimed at exploring the causes of listening comprehension anxiety from EFL Saudi learners’ perspectives at Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia. The pilot study involved two students who were selected based on the following criteria: 1) Only Saudi male undergraduate students who enrolled in Preparatory Year Program (PYP) at Majmaah University would be involved in this study, 2) The students who had studied or lived in native English speaking countries would be excluded. The researcher used pseudonyms to refer to the participants as Mohammad and Ismail. This study employed a qualitative case study research design. The data were collected through Semi-structured interviews with the participants. The interview sessions were audiotaped and transcribed. The results show that the participants experienced a high level of anxiety when doing the listening comprehension tasks. Three main causes of listening comprehension anxiety emerged from this study: 1) the problematic nature of listening comprehension, 2) the classroom atmosphere, and 3) the low English proficiency of the students.

scholarly journals Promoting Critical Literacy in the EFL Context: Implementing a Project to Young Learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaak Papadopoulos ◽  
Dr. Eleni Griva
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Structured Interviews

In response to the continually growing demands of this era, the society needs active members who are able to cooperate with each other and show a critical stance in what they read, see, touch, smell or come across. Thus, modern language education should aim at developing critical readers and writers. As a result, the critical literacy programs in which students are turned into active participants of their learning process and accept something after they have already remarked it, are more than necessary in the education of the 21st century. This paper outlines the rational for and the purpose of designing and implementing a thematic pilot project aiming at developing students’ critical literacy in an EFL (English as a foreign language) classroom. This pilot project was implemented to 20 Greek-speaking students of the 5th primary school class (aged 11 years old) who had been learning English for 4 four years. It was initiated with the purpose to provide insights into developing students’ critical literacy skills as well as their four language skills in the foreign language. The project was carried out in 25 two hour sessions focused on the thematic area of the “Sports”. This topic was selected because of the nature of the sports and their popularity among the teenagers. Moreover, sports are a ‘controversial’ subject/concept that students can express different opinions and examine it from different perspectives. Special emphasis was placed on the creation of an environment promoting critical thinking and critical stance. Moreover, an attempt was made for a pleasant and creative foreign language learning environment to be developed, where students actually could enhance personal and interpersonal skills. In order to estimate the feasibility of this project, we used three basic tools a) a pre- and a post- test about the language assessment, b) journals kept by the teacher/researcher throughout the intervention and c) structured interviews conducted by the researcher with students individually to record the students’ different perspectives based on a text. The findings showed a significant improvement of the students’ language skills in EFL, as well as their critical thinking and ability to examine a text from different perspectives.

scholarly journals Love and enjoyment in context: Four case studies of adolescent EFL learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liana Maria Pavelescu ◽  
Bojana Petrić
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Adolescent Students

This study explores the foreign language learning emotions of four EFL adolescent students in Romania and the ways in which their emotions emerge in their sociocultural context. Multiple qualitative methods were employed over a school semester, including a written task, semi-structured interviews with the learners and their teachers, lesson observations and English-related events outside the classroom. It was found that, while all four participants reported experiencing positive emotions in language learning, a distinction was identified in the intensity and stability of their emotions. Two participants expressed a strong and stable emotion of love towards English, while the other two participants experienced enjoyment in their English language learning without an intense emotional attachment to English. Unlike enjoyment, love was found to be the driving force in the learning process, creating effective coping mechanisms when there was a lack of enjoyment in certain classroom situations and motivating learners to invest greater effort into language learning in and out of the classroom. The findings thus revealed that, unlike enjoyment, love broadened cognition and maintained engagement in learning. The study emphasizes the role of strong, enduring positive emotions in teenage students’ language learning process.

scholarly journals Foreign Language Teaching to Romani Students Through the Use of Differentiated Instruction and Portfolio Assessment. A Case Study.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodoropoulou Aristea Aikaterini ◽  
Makrina Zafiri
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Differentiated Instruction ◽  
Alternative Assessment ◽  
Portfolio Assessment ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Structured Interviews

Abstract The socio-cultural changes taking place in Greek classrooms render the modification and the revising of the existing teaching material imperative. In classes with cultural minorities students’ needs are put into the forefront and the teaching objectives are also adapted accordingly. However, such a challenging project requires trained teaching staff and the provision of relevant guidance.The aim of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of Differentiated Instruction and Alternative Assessment in the teaching of English to diverse population classes. The research focuses on the effect the aforementioned approaches have on triggering students’ motivation and overall linguistic development. In particular, the study is an Action Research examining the outcomes of two groups of students attending the third grade of primary school. The experimental group was being taught through differentiated instruction, while the control group attended the lessons of a traditional class. For the collection of data several tools were employed regarding qualitative and quantitative information in order to render the conclusions reliable. A Needs Analysis questionnaire was distributed to the students, a pre- and post- test was also assigned, portfolio evaluation checklists were administered and student semi-structured interviews were conducted interpreted and analyzed.The findings of the study revealed the astounding effects that the implementation of alternative hands-on tasks and holistic skills development had on Romani students’ participation and foreign language learning. More specifically, the young students were more motivated and willing to become actively involved in the learning process.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document