scholarly journals Measuring Language Gains in a Foreign Language Context

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-86
Author(s):  
Ana Muñoz Restrepo ◽  
Isabel Valderrama Carvajal ◽  
Alejandra Lopez Muñoz ◽  
Ricardo Avendaño Franco
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Learning Gain ◽  
Assessment Task ◽  
Relevant Evidence ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Language Context

Learning gain can be defined as the difference between students’ language competences demonstrated at two different points in time. In this article, we reported on a small-scale study aimed at measuring learning gains and piloting the methods chosen. Fourteen students of English as a foreign language participated in the study. We employed a student self-report survey, an oral performance assessment task and a standardised test for data gathering, and we applied them at three different moments during the eight-month study. Our data analysis includes the comparison of percentages rendered by test scores, the estimation of means for oral task scores and grouping and coding for qualitative data in the survey. Results show the gradual pattern of language improvement and the suitability of methods. These results can help stakeholders or policymakers in selecting relevant evidence to improve accountability in decision-making. We have provided conclusions and recommendations below for a larger scale study.

scholarly journals Planning and Performance: The Effect of Form Focused Guided Planning on Learner Performance

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 92-104
Author(s):  
Suman Laudari
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Learner Performance ◽  
Linguistic Code ◽  
Grammar Rules ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Language Context

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has been a dominant approach in the field of ELT for some time now. However, it has complexities regarding its use in a foreign language context. It is said that focusing only on interaction may not be enough in guiding learners to use language correctly, so learners need exposure to grammar rules, and teachers presume that TBLT does not allow it. But, learners’ attention could be directed to the grammar forms during task planning to facilitate noticing of linguistic code. To this end, this small-scale study collects discourse data from an adult EFL learner to evaluate whether guiding learners’ attention to grammar during pre-task planning is of any help. The study concludes that guiding learners’ attention facilitates in producing more accurate and complex discourse than leaving learners on their own during the task planning. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v18i1-2.10333 Journal of NELTA, Vol 18 No. 1-2, December 2013; 92-104

The use of audio description in foreign language education

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marga Navarrete
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Audio Description

Abstract Audio description (AD) is a type of audiovisual translation (AVT) used for making video content accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Over the last decade, the pedagogic potential of AVT in foreign language learning (FLL) has gained increasing recognition by experts. However, AD as a didactic tool in FLL is an innovative area that has received very little attention so far, despite its significant potential for language learners. In addition, many experts in Applied Linguistics have shown a growing interest in the study of fluency, pronunciation and intonation. With these ideas in mind the author of the present article has carried out a small scale preliminary experiment with university students of Spanish as a foreign language. This article presents the methodological framework of the experiment which includes the instruments for data gathering. Although only six students completed the experiment, their responses were positive and encouraging as they found active AD tasks useful for language learning. It is hoped that the lessons learnt will inform the methodological framework for larger scale studies.

scholarly journals Foreign language anxiety

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Maria Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
High Anxiety ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Knowledge Requirements ◽  
Multiple Case

Although foreign language anxiety is a widely studied construct assumed to develop from negative experiences of language instruction, few researchers have focused on young learners in this regard. This multiple case study investigates levels and triggers of language anxiety in Swedish primary classrooms under rather favorable learning conditions with a supportive, non-competitive atmosphere, and without formal knowledge requirements or grades. A total of 225 learners, aged 8–12, studying English as their first foreign language completed a self-report questionnaire, a modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986), eliciting learners’ reactions to oral classroom participation. Foreign language anxiety was found along a continuum among learners. To investigate similarities and differences among students of differing anxiety levels, they were grouped into three categories: low, medium and high anxiety. The high anxiety group included 18.2% of learners, and for most of them, this anxiety was situation-specific and closely related to their own oral performance during English lessons. However, many classroom situations triggered language anxiety in other learners as well. It may therefore be advisable for teachers to reflect on common classroom practices that induce anxiety, rather than viewing language anxiety as a disadvantageous characteristic of individual learners. The results call for in-depth studies of classroom contexts where language anxiety develops. Moreover, the study’s contribution encompass new perspectives on research methodology with respect to young learners and in relation to foreign language anxiety.

scholarly journals Self-assessment of ESP oral performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-162
Author(s):  
Nijolė Burkšaitienė
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Covering Problem ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Assessment Task ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
The Future

Aim. Research to date acknowledges the learning, instructional and assessment advantages of self-assessment used in different fields of study in higher education contexts, yet little known research has focused on its use for learning and raising learner awareness while studying English for Specific Purposes (ESP). To this end, the present small-scale study examines the use of self-assessment of philology students’ ESP oral performance at a university in Lithuania. Method. The data for this research was collected from undergraduate students’ written reports on their project presentations on the chosen ESP topics. To analyse the data, qualitative methodology of inductive content analysis was used. Results. The study resulted in the identification of five major dimensions covering problem areas in the students’ ESP oral performance. The findings indicate that self-assessment enabled the students not only to identify some gaps and difficulties in their ESP oral performance that call for action but also to establish the reasons which caused them, foresee how the gaps can be closed or the difficulties coped with. Furthermore, it allowed the students to make decisions that reached far beyond the self-assessment task. The results also demonstrate that self-assessment raised the students’ awareness of themselves as learners by giving them direction on how to perform better in the future. Conclusion. Self-assessment, as used in the present research, proves to be a valuable tool both for the students of ESP and their teachers as it reveals areas in the students’ performance that call for improvement, which enables ESP teachers to support their students to achieve better results in the future.

scholarly journals Teaching Ideas for Improving Oral Performance through Formulaic Language Instruction

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-54
Author(s):  
Chie Ogawa ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Language Context ◽  
Teaching Ideas

This article suggests three teaching ideas to help L2 learners improve speaking performances through form-focused instruction using formulaic language. Formulaic language is considered an effective way to foster speaking fluency because prefabricated chunks are faster to retrieve than constructing sentences word by word (Wray, 2002). In spite of the benefits of learning formulaic language in L2 learning theory, few empirical studies were found which examined the effects of formulaic language instruction in intact classrooms, in particular in the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context. By introducing some effective classroom tasks to foster L2 learners’ speaking fluency focusing on formulaic language in this article, the author emphasizes the need for empirical research involving EFL learners.

Indirect Assessment of Attitudes with Response-Time-Based Measures

2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliane Degner ◽  
Dirk Wentura ◽  
Klaus Rothermund
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Incremental Validity ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Implicit Measures ◽  
Scale Theory ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Predicting Behavior ◽  
Social Cognitive Theories

Abstract: We review research on response-latency based (“implicit”) measures of attitudes by examining what hopes and intentions researchers have associated with their usage. We identified the hopes of (1) gaining better measures of interindividual differences in attitudes as compared to self-report measures (quality hope); (2) better predicting behavior, or predicting other behaviors, as compared to self-reports (incremental validity hope); (3) linking social-cognitive theories more adequately to empirical research (theory-link hope). We argue that the third hope should be the starting point for using these measures. Any attempt to improve these measures should include the search for a small-scale theory that adequately explains the basic effects found with such a measure. To date, small-scale theories for different measures are not equally well developed.

scholarly journals Comparison of In-Situ and Retrospective Self-Reports on Assessing Hearing Aid Outcomes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Hsiang Wu ◽  
Elizabeth Stangl ◽  
Octav Chipara ◽  
Anna Gudjonsdottir ◽  
Jacob Oleson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Outcome Data ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Outcome Difference ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Ecological Momentary

Abstract Background Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a methodology involving repeated surveys to collect in-situ self-reports that describe respondents' current or recent experiences. Audiology literature comparing in-situ and retrospective self-reports is scarce. Purpose To compare the sensitivity of in-situ and retrospective self-reports in detecting the outcome difference between hearing aid technologies, and to determine the association between in-situ and retrospective self-reports. Research Design An observational study. Study Sample Thirty-nine older adults with hearing loss. Data Collection and Analysis The study was part of a larger clinical trial that compared the outcomes of a prototype hearing aid (denoted as HA1) and a commercially available device (HA2). In each trial condition, participants wore hearing aids for 4 weeks. Outcomes were measured using EMA and retrospective questionnaires. To ensure that the outcome data could be directly compared, the Glasgow Hearing Aid Benefit Profile was administered as an in-situ self-report (denoted as EMA-GHABP) and as a retrospective questionnaire (retro-GHABP). Linear mixed models were used to determine if the EMA- and retro-GHABP could detect the outcome difference between HA1 and HA2. Correlation analyses were used to examine the association between EMA- and retro-GHABP. Results For the EMA-GHABP, HA2 had significantly higher (better) scores than HA1 in the GHABP subscales of benefit, residual disability, and satisfaction (p = 0.029–0.0015). In contrast, the difference in the retro-GHABP score between HA1 and HA2 was significant only in the satisfaction subscale (p = 0.0004). The correlations between the EMA- and retro-GHABP were significant in all subscales (p = 0.0004 to <0.0001). The strength of the association ranged from weak to moderate (r = 0.28–0.58). Finally, the exit interview indicated that 29 participants (74.4%) preferred HA2 over HA1. Conclusion The study suggests that in-situ self-reports collected using EMA could have a higher sensitivity than retrospective questionnaires. Therefore, EMA is worth considering in clinical trials that aim to compare the outcomes of different hearing aid technologies. The weak to moderate association between in-situ and retrospective self-reports suggests that these two types of measures assess different aspects of hearing aid outcomes.

scholarly journals Visual Simulation of Detailed Turbulent Water by Preserving the Thin Sheets of Fluid

Symmetry ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Hyun Kim ◽  
Wook Kim ◽  
Young Kim ◽  
Jung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Turbulent Flows ◽  
Visual Simulation ◽  
Numerical Dissipation ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Thin Sheets ◽  
Global Flow ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Water Simulation ◽  
Turbulent Water

When we perform particle-based water simulation, water particles are often increased dramatically because of particle splitting around breaking holes to maintain the thin fluid sheets. Because most of the existing approaches do not consider the volume of the water particles, the water particles must have a very low mass to satisfy the law of the conservation of mass. This phenomenon smears the motion of the water, which would otherwise result in splashing, thereby resulting in artifacts such as numerical dissipation. Thus, we propose a new fluid-implicit, particle-based framework for maintaining and representing the thin sheets and turbulent flows of water. After splitting the water particles, the proposed method uses the ghost density and ghost mass to redistribute the difference in mass based on the volume of the water particles. Next, small-scale turbulent flows are formed in local regions and transferred in a smooth manner to the global flow field. Our results show us the turbulence details as well as the thin sheets of water, thereby obtaining an aesthetically pleasing improvement compared with existing methods.

scholarly journals Analysis of livestock breeders’ perceptions and their adaptation measures to climate change in Morocco‘s arid rangelands

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Wadii Snaibi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Eastern Morocco ◽  
Climate Analysis

AbstractThe high plateaus of eastern Morocco are already suffering from the adverse impacts of climate change (CC), as the local populations’ livelihoods depend mainly on extensive sheep farming and therefore on natural resources. This research identifies breeders’ perceptions about CC, examines whether they correspond to the recorded climate data and analyses endogenous adaptation practices taking into account the agroecological characteristics of the studied sites and the difference between breeders’ categories based on the size of owned sheep herd. Data on perceptions and adaptation were analyzed using the Chi-square independence and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Climate data were investigated through Mann-Kendall, Pettitt and Buishand tests.Herders’ perceptions are in line with the climate analysis in term of nature and direction of observed climate variations (downward trend in rainfall and upward in temperature). In addition, there is a significant difference in the adoption frequency of adaptive strategies between the studied agroecological sub-zones (χ2 = 14.525, p <.05) due to their contrasting biophysical and socioeconomic conditions, as well as among breeders’ categories (χ2 = 10.568, p < .05) which attributed mainly to the size of sheep flock. Policy options aimed to enhance local-level adaptation should formulate site-specific adaptation programs and prioritise the small-scale herders.

The Impact of Domestic Violence on Women’s Self-Attitude in Kazakhstan

2020 ◽  
pp. 77-83
Author(s):  
Zhanna Kalmatayeva
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Attitude Test ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Student’S T ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of the article was to study the problems of domestic violence of women and its consequences in Kazakhstan. The analysis of the results of the study of self-attitude and self-esteem of women subjected to domestic violence. Revealed there is a correlation between the level of self-attitude of domestic violence victims and the non-differentiated I-concept. 140 women participated in the present study, 70 women are control group which not subjected to domestic violence and 70 women of them who have currently reported domestic violence in the Crisis Center "Umit" in Nur-Sultan in the period from November 2017 to October 2019. Quantitative research method was used in terms of survey model by implementing a psychological test “The self-attitude test questionnaire (SA)” that assesses self-relation, differentiated by self-esteem, self-sympathy, self-interest, and expectations of self-reliance of participants. Also, during the study was used personal questionnaire “Who am I?” a variant of non-standardized self-report, approaching the projective methods of personality research. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the answers in terms of their levels of the participants’ self-esteem and self-relation and further, since it was revealed according to the results reflect the difference in the two groups by the values obtained from these scales, the Student's t-test for independent groups was used [2] was used to reveal whether there is any correlation between the components of the scale. The obtained results can be used to interventions and training of family for counselors in order to promote women's self-esteem and self-relation.

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