scholarly journals A CASE STUDY ON WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH IN THE IRANIAN TERTIARY EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Zahra Alimorad ◽  
Mina Farahmand
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Procedure ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Linear Interaction ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Language Communication ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Stimulated Recall Interviews

Willingness to communicate (WTC) in English is specifically important because L2 (foreign/second language) communication is considered to be a key factor in L2 learning. When the opportunity to speak English arises, there are generally two options: speaking or avoiding it. Several factors might exert influence on the choice of either option by different individuals. In this vein, the current study investigated the underlying factors that lead to (un)willingness on the part of Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) tertiary students. Through a purposive sampling procedure, this classroom-based case study recruited and examined 10 EFL learners in Iran over a period of three weeks. Data were collected employing semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and stimulated-recall interviews. Thematic analysis was performed to identify common themes from the participating students’ ideas. Results reveal that participants’ L2 WTC emerges as a result of the complex, dynamic and non-linear interaction between individual, contextual, and linguistic factors. These three factors interdependently exerted either facilitative or inhibitive impacts on an individual student’s WTC in class at any point in time. The current study, therefore, reinforces the need for teachers to be aware of the multiple factors which lead learners to be more or less willing to communicate in L2 classrooms.

scholarly journals Chinese EFL Learners’ Decision-making While Evaluating Peers’ Texts

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingjing Ma
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Writing Proficiency ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Chinese Writing

Approaching peer review from a process and contextualized perspective, this exploratory case study investigates two Chinese EFL learners’ decision-making patterns while evaluating peers’ texts in an online peer review and factors influencing these patterns. Detailed qualitative case study data were collected through think-aloud protocols, stimulated recall, semi-structured interviews, classroom observation and document analysis. Analyses indicate that the two learners with higher level of English writing proficiency to a certain extent illustrated contrasting patterns of decision-making, and yet both prioritized specific aspects of peers’ texts. Student-related factors such as perceptions of good English expository writing shaped by previous learning and assessment experiences of English (or Chinese) writing, type of writing task and weaknesses of student text interacted with one another to influence the participants’ decision-making patterns. Pedagogical implications for the findings are discussed.

Exploring dynamism in willingness to communicate

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiqian (Katherine) Cao
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Single Case ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
Reflective Journals ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Stimulated Recall Interviews

This paper examines dynamism in students’ situational willingness to communicate (WTC) within a second language classroom. This longitudinal study involved twelve English as a Second Language (ESL) participants who enrolled in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programme in New Zealand for five months. Based on data from classroom observations, stimulated-recall interviews and reflective journals, the in-depth analysis of a case study reveals that learners’ situational WTC in second language (L2) classes could fluctuate and dynamically change over time. This involved a process where situational WTC was jointly affected by learners’ cognitive condition and linguistic factors, together with classroom environmental factors. The in-depth qualitative analysis of a single case in individual lessons allowed us to see the dynamic nature of WTC.

How do Dutch adolescents translate Latin into coherent Dutch? A Journey into the Unknown

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Luger
Keyword(s):  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Eye Tracker ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Morphological Knowledge ◽  
Dutch Translation ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Problem Solving Strategies ◽  
Stimulated Recall Interviews

Abstract This article discusses translation processes of proficient students who translate Latin fables into Dutch in secondary school. The participants performed two tasks on a computer. They translated a Latin fable and edited a Dutch translation of another Latin fable while their activities were monitored by eye-tracker, screencast and keystroke logging. Immediately after the tasks the participants were invited to view their eye-tracking film and retrace their thoughts at the time of translating (stimulated recall). The article focuses on the stimulated recall interviews, and more specifically on the role of revision in the translation process. It presents a case study of one participant, as well as the strategies participants described to have used in tackling two specific translation problems. Data suggest that proficient participants rely on text comprehension rather than morphological knowledge to solve translation problems. The research shows three key elements as indicators for successful translation process resulting in a coherent target text: (1) a wide variety of problem-solving strategies and the ability to switch strategies, (2) the availability and use of metalanguage to verbalise the chosen strategy, and (3) revision of the target text.

scholarly journals Online Collaborative Writing via Google Docs: Case Studies in the EFL Classroom

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 922-934
Author(s):  
Nakhon Kitjaroonchai ◽  
Suksan Suppasetseree
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Collaborative Writing ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Google Docs ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Language Functions ◽  
Factors Influencing

This article reported a case study investigating small group interaction patterns in online collaborative writing tasks and factors influencing team collaborations. Participants included six Asian EFL university students who formed two small groups and were engaged in two online collaborative writing tasks via Google Docs. Data collection included the participants’ use of writing change functions and language functions during the collaborative writing processes revealed through Google Docs archives and collaborative essays. Semi-structured interviews were employed to examine factors influencing small group collaborations. The findings revealed that the two teams exhibited divergent interaction patterns, but the patterns of interaction remained consistent within each group across both tasks. The qualitative content analysis showed factors that affected team collaborations were individual goals, learners’ English proficiency, individual roles, and the use of collaborative agency. The findings may help elucidate the divergence of online collaborative writing and provide insightful information for instructors to design collaborative writing activities and assist EFL learners in the co-construction of writing tasks.

Examining fluctuations in the WTC of Japanese EFL speakers: Language proficiency, affective and conditional factors

2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882097782
Author(s):  
Rintaro Sato
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Sense Of Security

Willingness to communicate (WTC), which plays a crucial role in second or foreign language learning, has a dynamic and complex nature, fluctuating during communicative events. This study examines how the situational WTC of four Japanese speakers of English as a foreign language (EFL) emerges and fluctuates, focusing on the roles of language proficiency and affective and conditional factors. Low-intermediate and advanced speakers were engaged in an interactive, communicative activity with an interlocutor. All utterances were recorded, transcribed, and analysed and combined with the qualitative data from participants’ self-ratings and a stimulated recall interview after the activity to assess fluctuations in WTC. The findings indicate that levels of WTC are influenced differently between low-intermediate and advanced speakers. Although the WTC of all speakers was negatively affected when they sensed a lack of English proficiency, low-intermediate speakers were affected by interest in the topic, influence of interlocutors on sense of security, and self-confidence, while opportunity to talk about oneself and one’s opinions contributed to the WTC of advanced speakers. It is suggested that teaches of EFL should be considerate of these factors that can affect EFL learners’ WTC.

scholarly journals TBLT Perspectives on Teaching from an EFL Textbook at a Vietnam University

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-126
Author(s):  
Hao Dao ◽  
Jonathan Newton
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Analysis And Evaluation ◽  
Learning Tasks ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Stimulated Recall Interviews ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
And Task

This study investigated the relationship between the affordances for task-based teaching in a textbook and teachers’ awareness of and uptake of these affordances. Specifically, it compared and evaluated the communicativeness and task-likeness of activities in the textbook, New Cutting Edge, Elementary (Cunningham & Moore, 2005) and then contrasted these findings with classroom observation data on the way the activities were implemented by three Vietnamese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers at a Vietnamese university. Interviews with the teachers provided further data on their implementation decisions. The analysis and evaluation of the textbook activities and how they were implemented adopted two coding frameworks, one for evaluating communicativeness (Littlewood, 2004) and the other for evaluating task-likeness (Ellis, 2018). The analysis of communicativeness revealed that while the textbook has a high proportion of activities with low communicative value, the task analysis showed that many of these activities are, in fact, either tasks or task-like. However, form-focused activities typically precede the tasks, which compromises the alignment of the textbook with TBLT. Data from classroom observations of three 90-minute lessons taught by each teacher showed that the teachers consistently reduced the communicativeness and task-likeness of the textbook activities, and replaced them with teacher-centered, explicit grammar explanation and drill practice. Stimulated recall interviews and follow-up semi-structured interviews revealed the teachers’ rationales for their practice, including their concern about the unsuitability of tasks for low proficiency students, exam pressure and time constraints, and their lack of awareness of the nature of language learning tasks.

scholarly journals Students’ and Teacher’s Experiences of the Validity and Reliability of Assessment in a Bioscience Course

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milla Räisänen ◽  
Tarja Tuononen ◽  
Liisa Postareff ◽  
Telle Hailikari ◽  
Viivi Virtanen
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Assessment Criteria ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Level Of Understanding ◽  
Stimulated Recall Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

<p>This case study explores the assessment of students’ learning outcomes in a second-year lecture course in biosciences. The aim is to deeply explore the teacher’s and the students’ experiences of the validity and reliability of assessment and to compare those perspectives. The data were collected through stimulated recall interviews. The results showed that grades did not always reflect the learning outcomes and that the intended level of understanding was not always measured. In addition, the teacher and the students thought that the assessment criteria were unclear, which in turn led to the unreliability of the assessment. These problems with the validity and reliability of assessment led to perceptions that the assessment was unfair. The results imply that grades should be critically evaluated as indicators of the quality of learning outcomes. In addition, practical implications are discussed.</p>

scholarly journals Peer interactions among under three years old children in Malaysian childcare centres: A case study approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Farhana Wan Yunus
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Social Competence ◽  
Focus Group Discussion ◽  
Peer Interactions ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Infants And Toddlers ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Stimulated Recall Interviews

<p>Research on infants’ and toddlers’ peer interactions in childcare centres shows many benefits for children’s social competence. With increasing participation of under-three year olds in group-based early childhood services worldwide, there is also growing interest in the role played by childcare adults in supporting children’s social competence. In the Malaysian context, where the number of childcare settings is growing rapidly, early childhood research remains limited and is non-existent within the field of understanding the complexity of infants’ and toddlers’ peer interactions. At the same time there has been a mounting discourse by Malaysian economists promoting the benefits of non-cognitive skills to a country, thus focussing attention on social skills, of which peer interactions are a form. This study opens up this under-researched field in Malaysia through three qualitative case studies – one in each of three childcare centres in the state of Selangor. Each case study involved individual semi-structured interviews with the childcare practitioners, video-recorded observations of the children’s peer interactions, and video-stimulated recall interviews. A focus group discussion was conducted too with all of the practitioners after that. The aim of the study was to examine how practitioners perceived peer interactions among children under three years old in their childcare centres, and the kinds of peer interactions that occurred among the children. Drawing on constructs from a range of social constructivist theoretical perspectives, the findings revealed that at the start of the study, the practitioners saw themselves as promoting peer interactions by facilitating group activities and managing interactions between children by responding to their conflicts. The observations of children’s peer interactions revealed complex negotiations by the children who were actively creating a sense of belonging and togetherness at their childcare centres like embracing the centre’s routines, and responding to the needs of others including through humour and laughter. In the process of these interactions, children exercised their agency and learned the skills of becoming socially competent participants in their centre. Through video-stimulated recall interviews and focus group discussion, the practitioners deepened their thoughts on children’s peer interactions and saw peer interactions to be linked with learning around three main themes: learning through play; learning through gaining familiarity with others; and learning about having friends. My findings provide a picture of how the children’s peer interactions were understood by largely untrained practitioners, and how the complexity of children’s lived experiences remained hidden to the practitioners until they took part in the video-stimulated recall interviews; the latter opened up and deepened the practitioners thoughts about children’s peer interactions. This study differs from earlier studies in that it is based in Malaysia where the provision of group-based early childhood care and education services is still a relatively new social and educational endeavour staffed by largely unqualified practitioners. This has implications for future childcare training initiatives in Malaysia.</p>

scholarly journals Exploring EFL Teaching and Learning Processes in Two Undergraduate Mandatory Courses

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-160
Author(s):  
Estefanía Durán ◽  
Katherin García
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Stimulated Recall Interviews

This multiple case study explored the influence of English teachers’ methodological practices over undergraduate students’ learning processes in two English as a foreign language mandatory courses for different majors, at Universidad de Pamplona (Colombia). Data were gathered through non-participant observations, field notes, stimulated recall interviews, and semistructured interviews. Findings revealed that teacher-centeredness, the grammar-translation and audiolingual methods dominated the lessons; textbook-oriented classes with an emphasis on listening and writing characterized the courses; teacher and peer correction were encouraged; and classroom tasks and evaluation mostly focused on grammar and vocabulary. Although teachers had methodological practices, these influenced students’ learning processes differently.

scholarly journals The Need-Adapted Approach in Psychosis: The Impact of Psychosis on the Treatment and the Professionals

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pekka Borchers ◽  
Jaakko Seikkula ◽  
Tom Arnkil
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Treatment Processes ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Research Interviews ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Stimulated Recall Interviews ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Harmful Effects

Psychosis is a challenging phenomenon for professionals. In the need-adapted approach (NAA), therapy meetings constitute a deliberate effort to meet the challenges by bringing all the main parties together within a common discussion. The aims of this study are to analyze and evaluate psychiatrists’ experiences of the treatment processes in psychosis. A qualitative multiple case study approach has been used. Between August 2007 and January 2009, co-research interviews (CR-Is) and stimulated-recall interviews (STR-Is) with 10 psychiatrists from 3 different parts of Finland were videoed and transcribed verbatim. The material was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The difficult emotions of the professionals and the critical views expressed had a prominent role. It was almost impossible to proceed with the treatment until the memories of coercive acts had been addressed. There were fewer harmful effects in outpatient than in inpatient care. If the client-centered principles of NAA were not followed, the CR-Is functioned primarily as critical evaluations of the treatment processes. The STR-Is helped the psychiatrists to find words for difficult experiences. For the sake of both practice and research, the experiences of staff in the treatment of psychosis should be taken into account. For better prediction of failure, routine measures to obtain feedback could be included in NAA.

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