scholarly journals Feedback practices in language classes in Finnish general upper secondary schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-123
Author(s):  
Toni Mäkipää
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Substantial Effect ◽  
School Students ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
English Classes ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Language Classes ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools ◽  
Different Levels

As feedback and formative assessment have a substantial effect on learning, the aim with this paper is to report on a study of the perceptions of Finnish general upper secondary school students of feedback in Swedish and English classes, and to compare how the perceptions differ at language proficiency (CEFR) levels. The data were collected by using a survey and were analysed quantitatively. The results show that several differences occur in Swedish: students with higher proficiency levels find feedback more useful, feel that they receive feedback from teachers, and are more willing to correct their own mistakes. There were no differences in perceptions according to language proficiency levels in English. The results indicate that Swedish teachers should pay more attention to their feedback practices to make sure that they cater for students with different levels of proficiency.

scholarly journals What Kind of Feedback is Perceived as Encouraging by Finnish General Upper Secondary School Students?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Toni Mäkipää ◽  
Raili Hildén
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Assessment ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
School Students ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Language Classes ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools

Our main aim in this study was to compare encouraging feedback practices in Finnish general upper secondary foreign language classes and examine how students perceive language teachers’ assessment practices. The participants were 160 students of English, 95 students of Swedish, and 27 students of French from six general upper secondary schools. The data comprised one open-ended question and one Likert scale question with nine items. Both qualitative and quantitate methods were used to analyze the data. The results showed that content was the most important feature in feedback that was perceived as encouraging by students. The results further indicated that students considered teacher assessment practices to be primarily summative, but differences were also found between schools. The evidence from this study suggests that students appreciate teacher feedback, but do not perceive it to be an intrinsic part of teacher assessment practices. The importance of formative assessment and feedback should be more heavily emphasized in foreign language teacher education.

scholarly journals Secondary school students’ attitudes to phrasal verbs

2020 ◽  
pp. 73-94
Author(s):  
Dorota Góreczna
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
School Students ◽  
Phrasal Verbs ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools

Phrasal verbs are an essential, though difficult to teach and learn, part of the English language. Although phrasal verbs are commonly used by native speakers, for English learners they pose a considerable challenge as far as their acquisition and use are concerned. The aim of this study is to examine students’ attitude towards phrasal verbs taught at the B2 level in upper-secondary schools, and to analyse the significance of these multi-word verbs. The paper presents an excerpt of a survey conducted among secondary school students, which examined their understanding of phrasal verbs and analysed students’ opinions about the importance of acquiring these demanding multi-word verbs.

scholarly journals Subjective Understanding and Individual Interpretation of the Life Value “HEALTH” by the Second-Year Students of Lower Secondary Schools and of the First- and Second-Year Students of Upper Secondary Schools in Slovakia

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Slávka Krásna
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools ◽  
Individual Interpretation ◽  
Lower Secondary Schools

AbstractThe article focuses on the value “health”, as a component of the value orientation of students of lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools in our country. At the same time, it focuses on the presentation and interpretation of the results of a research conducted on a sample of students of selected schools, which was a part of a more comprehensive research on subjective understanding and individual interpretation of selected life values of lower secondary and upper secondary school students in Slovakia.

scholarly journals Finnish Upper Secondary School Students’ Perceptions of Their Teachers’ Assessment Practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-42
Author(s):  
Toni Mäkipää ◽  
Najat Ouakrim-Soivio
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Assessment Literacy ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Traditional Assessment ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools

The paper addresses Finnish students’ perceptions of assessment practices in upper secondary school. We study what experiences students have about assessment, and how they assess their ability to use and understand teachers’ feedback. The data were gathered on a web-based questionnaire to 918 students in four upper secondary schools. The questionnaire contained both closed-ended and open-ended questions. According to students’ responses, most students consider that they are able to use and understand their teachers’ feedback, and that teachers are prone to apply traditional assessment methods. The results pave the way for enhancing versatility in assessment practices. At the end of this paper, we will discuss the important role of assessment in teaching and how teachers’ assessment literacy could be enhanced and made more visible. We also ponder whether alongside teachers’ assessment literacy we should also consider students’ assessment literacy.

scholarly journals A Corpus-based Study on the use of Phrasal Verbs in Malaysian Secondary School Textbooks

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Ainul Azmin Md Zamin ◽  
Mahmoud Elfeky ◽  
Rafidah Kamarudin ◽  
Faizah Abd Majid
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Phrasal Verbs ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
English Language Instruction ◽  
Linguistic Approach ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools ◽  
Selection Of

Phrasal verbs (PVs) are one of the most notoriously puzzling aspects of English language instruction. Despite their difficulty and idiosyncrasies, they are of high relevance for ESL/EFL learners because mastery of PVs is often equated with language proficiency. Different from prior researches, this content analysis study seeks to identify the PVs used in the Malaysian upper secondary school textbooks and the frequency count of each PV in each textbook using a corpus linguistic approach. The most frequently PVs in each textbook were compared to the list provided by Biber et al (1999)’s Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English corpus. Findings from this study revealed that the selection and presentation of these combinations in the secondary school textbooks used in Malaysia depended more on authors’ intuition rather than on empirical findings and pedagogical principles. There were no clear explanations of Phrasal Verbs in both textbooks that were analysed. Despite the large number of PVs in the corpus, their presentation in the textbooks was far from satisfactory with some being over-repeated at the expense of some others. This paper makes a few suggestions to further improve the present treatment of PVs in the textbooks used at upper secondary schools in Malaysia. It is suggested that accurate definitions and appropriate selection and presentation of PVs should be considered. Rather than relying on intuition, Malaysian textbook writers must consider integrating the use of corpus into their selection of PVs to be presented to students.

scholarly journals Chemistry in crisis? Perspectives on teaching and learning chemistry in Swedish upper secondary schools

1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Broman ◽  
Margareta Ekborg ◽  
Dan Johnels
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
School Students ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
Upper Secondary Level ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools

Explanations for a decline in the number of students studying chemistry at advanced level all over the world have been sought for quite some time. Many students do not find chemistry relevant and meaningful and there have been difficulties in developing school chemistry courses that engage students sufficiently and tempt them to further studies in the field. In this study, Swedish upper secondary school students (Ns=372) and their teachers (Nt=18) answered a questionnaire on their experiences of the content and the working methods of their chemistry course. They were also given the opportunity to express ideas on how to make chemistry courses more interesting and meaningful. The results point out some subject areas as both easy and interesting, e.g. atomic structure; while other areas are hard to understand but still interesting, e.g. biochemistry. The students find chemistry lessons teachercentred, something they appreciate. When teachers and students gave suggestions on how to improve the relevance of chemistry education at upper secondary level, more laboratory work and connections to everyday life were the most common proposals. But on the whole, these students seem quite satisfied with their chemistry courses.

scholarly journals THE FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ CHOICE IN STUDYING ENGLISH AT PRIVATE TUTORING SCHOOLS: A CASE OF THAI UPPER-SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Chan ◽  
Preechaya Mongkolhutthi
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Private Tutoring ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
School Students ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Mainstream School

This study explores the factors leading Thai upper-secondary school students to study English at tutoring school. The students’ perceptions of their EFL private tutors and mainstream school teachers are also a focus of this research. Drawing on statistical data from 80 upper-secondary school students, it shows that these students perceive EFL private tutors to be more effective in the provision of examination support, particularly regarding the university admission examination, compared with mainstream school teachers. Overall, these students have more positive attitudes towards their English tutors than their mainstream school teachers. They agree that tutors have higher English language proficiency and can make them understand the lesson better than their school teachers. The characteristic of the tutors and teaching techniques is considered a significant factor leading students to study English at tutoring schools, particularly the teaching techniques that allow them to do better on university examinations. These findings not only highlight the impact of private tutoring schools on language education systems, but also caution Thai educational policy makers and practitioners to further explore the pressure of the university admission examination on upper-secondary school students in the country.Keywords: Examination support, English language proficiency, private tutoring schools, teaching technique, Thailand.Cite as: Chan, C. & Mongkolhutthi, P. (2017). The factors affecting students’ choice in studying English at private tutoring schools: A case of Thai upper-secondary school students. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 2(2), 44-52.

scholarly journals THE VOCATIONAL UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOLS STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD WOLVES

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 918-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vesna Oražem ◽  
Iztok Tomažič
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Canis Lupus ◽  
School Students ◽  
Animal Conservation ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools ◽  
Effective Conservation

Wolf (Canis lupus) conservation is multidimensional. Its aspects include the consensus between different interest groups. The present research aimed to assess the attitude and knowledge of the students (N = 483 students from three schools age 14-19) enrolled in the environmentalist, veterinary and agricultural technician study programmes through a questionnaire, as their profession represents a part of this multidimensional consensus. The research results indicate that students have neutral to positive attitudes toward wolves, generally. Their knowledge of wolves, however, is limited. Agricultural technicians showed the most negative attitudes toward wolves and the lowest knowledge. Overall, correlations between all attitudinal dimensions and correlations between attitudinal dimensions and knowledge were found, with the highest correlations between conservation dimension and all other dimensions including knowledge. The research findings support the widespread assumption that education within the above-mentioned study programmes should focus also on the current socio-scientific issues of animal conservation. Special attention should be given to the education of agricultural technicians as their utilitarian view could interfere with the effective conservation of large carnivores. Keywords: attitudes toward wolves, knowledge about wolves, vocational upper secondary school students.

scholarly journals Challenges concerning argumentative writing in a second language context

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
May Olaug Horverak
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
School Students ◽  
English Classes ◽  
Detailed Instruction ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Language Context ◽  
Argumentative Texts ◽  
Support Students ◽  
Quasi Experiment

The current study is based on parts of the data collected in a quasi-experiment conducted in four English classes of Norwegian upper secondary school students. The purpose of the quasi-experiment was to explore whether a teaching intervention based on systemic functional linguistics and genre-pedagogy would support students in improving their competence in writing argumentative texts in English. The improvement was measured by comparing evaluations of pre-and post-tests. The current study investigates what seemed to be the main challenges for Norwegian students concerning this type of genre in a second language context based on the pre-tests and the evaluations of the pre-tests. The most challenging aspect seems to be how to write thorough argumentation and discussion and to use sources in an independent and correct manner. Other challenging features seem to be how to structure texts and how to adjust the language to appropriate levels of formality and modality. To meet these challenges, this article advocates introducing genre-pedagogy as a teaching approach in ESL-contexts (English as a second language). This would ensure a focus on how to construct arguments through detailed instruction and to adjust the writing to purpose and situation.

Students of Vietnamese Heritage

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-30
Author(s):  
Anh-Dao Tran ◽  
Hanna Ragnarsdottir
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Multicultural Education ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Early School ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Positive Feelings ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools

Studies of immigrant students in upper secondary school in Iceland often highlight low attendance rates and early school departure. This article interrogates this view through an exploration of the perspectives of 13 students of Vietnamese heritage in two upper secondary schools. The article mobilizes multicultural education which sees education as inclusive, insisting on valuing diversity and equal opportunity regardless of gender, religion, belief, ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, disability, or other statuses. Analysis of interviews shows that students, despite their positive feelings towards their teachers and their belief that their teachers were trying to do their best, understood that they were perceived to be deficient due to their lack of Icelandic language proficiency. Teachers' perceptions were thus limited, and they overlooked the students' academic and heritage resources that could have provided advantages in the learning process and contributed to student motivation and attainment.

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