scholarly journals Students’ Power Relationships within an EFL Classroom

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lila Maribel Gutiérrez Pulido

This paper reports the results of a research study whose main purpose was to identify aspects related to power relationships in a group of ninth-grade English learners. An EFL classroom was used as the setting to analyze power relationships among students. A qualitative case study was carried out in a public school from Sogamoso; the participants were 8 students, selected at random from a group of 35. The data was gathered through field notes, video recordings and focused interviews. After analyzing the data, it was found that aspects connected to power relationships sometimes either helped or hindered the participants’ English language learning process. Positive and negative features concerning power relationships within the EFL classroom were identified. Positive features include the use of power to motivate the accomplishment of tasks.  Negative features include the use of power to suppress others thereby limiting their ability to express opinions in class.

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Rogers ◽  
Kristen Weatherby

English is considered by many to be the global language of business and communication and, as such, parents and educators in countries in which English is not a native language are now encouraging children to study English at a young age. Much second language teaching and learning, however, does not take into account the real-world context within which language will be put to use. Little Bridge has developed an English language learning platform for students aged 6−12 years, within which learners acquire English vocabulary and skills and are able to apply what they have learned in real conversations with other English learners around the world. As part of UCL’s EDUCATE research accelerator programme, Little Bridge worked with a mentor to design and conduct mixed-methods research into the relationship between this social aspect of their platform and students’ achievement in learning English. Findings suggested that Little Bridge users who are the most active participants in the platform’s social network also complete more of the platform’s learning activities and achieve better results than those with the lowest social participation rates. The relationship between the academic mentor and Little Bridge enabled the company to develop a research mindset, understand the value of the data that they already have, and improve their understanding of the platform.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wachyu Sundayana ◽  
Panusak Meekaeo ◽  
Pupung Purnawarman ◽  
Didi Sukyadi

Washback refers to influences of testing on teaching and learning. In Thailand and Indonesia, washback of the Ordinary National Educational Test (O-NET) and Ujian Nasional (UN) inevitably occurs on teaching and learning in classrooms at every level. This present study aims to explore and compare the washback effects of the O-NET and UN on English language learning as perceived by Thai and Indonesian ninth-grade students. It is a multi-case study (Thailand case and Indonesia case) by using triangulation design as the research design. The questionnaires concerning washback effects of national exams on English language learning were distributed to 200 ninth-graders in the two cases. In addition, six students from each case were interviewed. The results reveal that in both cases, the participants focus to learn on contents and skills that were likely to appear in the national exams. The participants learned English harder to perform well in the tests rather than to improve their English ability. Moreover, the students had high anxiety during the test preparations and feared for low O-NET and UN scores. The results of the study contribute to future washback study and improvement of English language teaching and learning at ninth-grade in Thailand and Indonesia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-257
Author(s):  
Winnie Sin Wai PUI ◽  
ZHANG Heyi ◽  
DING Ming ◽  
ZHONG Cai E

Play is an important vehicle for developing literacy, cognition, and social competence in early years settings. In this paper, a qualitative case study in a private kindergarten in China indicated how children could learn and appreciate their own culture in a thoughtfully designed play-based setting. Thirty kindergarten teachers from 15 classes consisting of 431 children in total participated in this study. Based on field notes, audio and video recordings, and teachers’ self-reflective notes, the study explored the play-based setting within a curriculum framework, i.e. the Early-years Whole-person Global-mindset Curriculum Framework (ewgc). The results showed that the play-based setting supported young children to form their own cultural identities and enhanced children’s development in general.


The purpose of this descriptive research study is to find out the perceptions of students and teachers about the problems and challenges in learning and teaching of English language in Madrassas located in urban area of District Mardan. The main objectives of the study are to assess the attitude of both the students and teachers towards English language; to find out the required facilities for the teaching and learning of English and to put forward the recommendations of the students and teachers for the eradication of the problems and challenges to English language learning and teaching in Madrassas. The population of the research study consist of all Madrassas and all male students and teachers in Urban Madrassas in District Mardan. The researchers use convenient sample for the selection of Madrassas. Selection of students is based on thirty percent proportionate sample; while teachers are selected on the basis of hundred percent proportionate samples accordingly. Two separate questionnaires are the instrument for data collection. The questionnaires comprised on both closed and open ended items. The collected data were analyzed using percentage and thematic analysis. Findings of the study revealed that there are no proper facilities for the teaching of English language. The results of this research study may be helpful for the policy makers to emphasize more on the importance of English language learning in Madrassas across Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular.


Author(s):  
Desfitranita Desfitranita ◽  
Bayu Senjahari

Speaking skill in English language learning is sometimes difficult for learners. Some students in second semester in IAIN Curup at English study program experienced errors in daily communication. This research tried to disclose what errors that the students did, to what extent the errors occurred. Qualitative approach was considered appropriate in this research because it did not try to generalize the findings but to deepen the case. Observation and open-ended Interview were applied to gather the data. As the instruments, field notes and voice recorder were utilized. The result shows that the students made errors in the four categories namely error in the using of be + adjectives, misplace be present time and past time, missing verbs and error in applying preposition. Errors occurred in the circumstances of choosing sentence verbs time signal and the lack of awareness in placing be for a sentence. Keywords: Speaking errors, grammar, sentence construction


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