scholarly journals EFL Textbook Analysis: A Case Study

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harison Mohd Sidek

The purpose of the present study was to determine how well Malaysian EFL Secondary Curriculum prepares upper secondary students for tertiary reading in English. This study is explorative in nature. The data for this study were acquired from a Malaysian national EFL upper secondary textbook. The data were in the form of comprehension reading passages in the selected EFL textbook. In this case study, reading instructional design in the EFL textbook was analyzed in terms of types and the grade-level length of passages used in the textbook. The findings show that reading instructional design in the EFL textbook significantly emphasizes the use of narrative passages with the majority of the passages being below grade-level texts.

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (44) ◽  
pp. 95-110
Author(s):  
Mohd Shafie Mohamad ◽  
Rozita Radhiah Said ◽  
Azhar Md. Sabil ◽  
Mohd Mursyid Arshad

The Bahasa Melayu question paper is divided into two papers ( Paper 1 and Paper 2), with both papers require written essay responses. The literature section is the part of the questions that students are required to answer in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exam. There are 13 marks awarded for 4 questions, two of them are questions in the form of KBAT. The aim of this study was to improve secondary school students' skills in writing KBAT answers using drill method. In addition, the researchers compared students' responses to four parts of the questions in the literature section of Bahasa Melayu Paper 2 (1103/2) before and after the drilling method. This study used a qualitative approach in the form of a case study (document analysis). In data collection, 5 classes in Maahad Control were subjected to pre-test and post-test. The study revealed that the pre-test scores of 10 students randomly taken from 5 classes, 3 of them were at the weak level and 7 students were at intermediate level. However, after 6 drilling sessions, the researcher found that the performance of the students improved in the post-test. 2 students reached an intermediate level and 8 students reached a good level in answering literature questions. This proves that students trained with drill method mastered the techniques of answer writing due to the influence of answer discussion which highlights the key words in each question. Meanwhile, teachers still need to guide students on punctuation and the use of appropriate cohesive devices in each part of the answer.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Öhman ◽  
Johan Öhman

Conflict or harmony between economic, ecologic and social sustainability are two opposing perspectives that have appeared in the current debate about sustainable development. The aim of this studyis to investigate how the relations between these sustainability aspects are established in a concrete school practice. The present study is a case study and investigates two classes of Swedish upper secondary students presenting a three-weeks thematic assignment concerning sustainable urban planning.The empirical material consists of field notes, audio-recordings, video-recordings and students’texts. In order to analyse the students’ meanings about sustainable development a method inspired from pragmatic discourse analysis is used. The findings show how the students in their language usage constitute a harmony perspective on sustainable development. The results and implications for teaching and learning are finally discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-72
Author(s):  
Rajiah Hassan ◽  
Tunku Badariah Tunku Ahmad

This case study was conducted to investigate the extent and prevalence of Internet plagiarism among a group of upper secondary students taking Chemistry as an elective subject at a selected public school in Kuala Lumpur. Eighty-seven (N=87) Form Four Chemistry students were required to write a two-page essay on acid rain as part of the School-Based Assessment exercise. The essays were examined in a quantified document analysis to record the occurrences and prevalence of plagiarism from Internet sources. Researcher-coded scores and Turnitin similarity indexes were used as the measures of Internet plagiarism. The results show that Internet plagiarism in this student body was widespread (99%) as almost everyone plagiarized, except one female student. The amount of information copied was extremely high at an average of 90% for Turnitin similarity indexes and 91.3% for researcher-coded scores. Gender wise, both boys and girls plagiarized at about the same extent, and the slight difference between them did not account for any statistical significance. Most were involved in high-scale plagiarism, and appeared to have lifted their essays completely off the Internet. However, the study could not completely ascertain whether students' lack of ability in English and Chemistry was the actual reason for their plagiarism act as measures of the two subjects turned out to be weak correlates of plagiarism. Based on the findings, the study recommends that students be explicitly taught the proper skills of writing and educated about the nature and implications of Internet plagiarism.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-114
Author(s):  
Hemamalini Shelvam ◽  
Aireen Aina Bahari Aireen Aina

Most of the researchers and experts are prompted to investigate why English as second language students (ESL) are running out of radar during their online classes especially for writing lesson conducted via Google Classroom. In order rectify the issues, the researchers of this study, wanted to find out how English as second language learners (ESL) secondary school students experienced about participating in online writing classes delivered via Google Classroom. This research focuses on the three upper level secondary students at SMK Batu Gajah in Perak. The students were introduced to the advantages of engaging with online writing class via Google Classroom, especially during this pandemic, to improve their writing ability, which can be measured, as it is the most difficult skill for students to master. This study is important for upper secondary students to enhance their writing skills before sitting for their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exam. As it is a case study, the interview sessions were accomplished via Google Meet with the learners at various times to maintain the validity and reliability of the instrument. The recorded interview sessions were then transcribed after the interview session. The researcher judiciously categorised and analysed the relevant key notes that strongly support the research questions in order to jot down the findings. The findings clearly show that all of the students are enthusiastic about their participation in a writing class facilitated via Google Meet during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the students believed that Google Classroom has improved their writing abilities to some extent, despite some difficulties in familiarising with the new learning platform. However, the students mentioned that Google Classroom, the new teaching and learning platform, had boosted their motivation to improve their writing skills.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-363
Author(s):  
David A. Hernández-Ontiveros ◽  
Diego-Oswaldo Camacho-Vega

Academic performance between disabling hearing loss (DHL) and hearing students is unclear when considering students in the same classroom. The main objective of this study is to identify significant differences in grade by semester between DHL students who study in the same classroom supported by sign language interprets. Second, this study looks to identify what school subjects show significant differences between DHL and hearing students. N= 35 upper-secondary students from a Mexican school with an inclusive educational methodology (deaf and hearings share the same classroom supported by an interpreter) participated in the study (M = 17; SD = 2.2), n = 21 disabling hearing loss students (52% males) and n = 14 hearing students were followed during three years (six semesters). The first step was to obtain the previous grade earned in their low-secondary studies. Second, we got the overall rate by semester identifying grades by subject and comparing results between groups. Results indicated significant differences in academic performance, showing higher mastery for DHL students in the fourth and fifth semesters, particularly in computer-logical subjects and social subjects. In conclusion, this research provides evidence that supports the success of an inclusive methodology where DHL and hearing students share the same instructional design supported by a sign language interpreter. Additionally, DHL students performed better in the computer-logical subjects, an important skill daily but even more in the current COVID -19 crisis, as well as a social subject, an important factor suggested by prior evidence.


Seminar.net ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61
Author(s):  
Inés Matres García del Pino

Newspapers help teachers to connect their classes with the real world. Their role in education is widely researched, but the use of historical newspapers has attracted little attention. Using social practice theory, this article examines the practices they enable, and how such practices relate to the skills and knowledge upper-secondary students are expected to acquire in school. These questions are pertinent today, as the digitization of newspaper heritage is generalizing access to materials traditionally considered for scholarly research. My approach is ethnographic, involving in-depth interviews, focus-group discussion, and participant observation. The teachers’ accounts motivated me to consider the tradition of using newspapers in school. The class projects demonstrated that historical newspapers reflect attributes that make present-day newspapers popular. Closer examination of students’ work demonstrated that the digital library that houses historical newspapers facilitated and constrained the students’ freedom and capacity to go deep when conducting research. The main finding is that historical documents can support the students’ digital skills. By considering digitization and preservation processes of media heritage, the scope of media education can be widened from its focus on production and consumption. In practice, a better understanding of these materials, will help educators give adequate guidelines to their students.


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