scholarly journals Some Possible Methods to Introduce Content-Based Instruction (CBI) for the Development of Communication Skills of Technical Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pratibha Mallu
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Technical Students ◽  
Equal Importance ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Different Sources

<p><em>It is customary in language classrooms to upgrade the teaching methods to make it more learner-centred. Students’ attention could be drawn easily towards language learning through the content. The main objective of the present study is, to suggest possible ways to introduce content-based instruction (CBI) for the development of communication skills of technical students. The content of CBI can be teacher presentations, video sequences, guest lecture talks, relevant newspapers articles, scholarly articles, essays, informative texts, etc. Using this content, teachers can conduct student presentations, discussions, JAM sessions, role plays, note taking, summarizing, etc. An ideal content-based instruction class gives equal importance to both content and language through conversations that encourage student language use and development. Taking information from different sources, re-evaluating and restructuring that information can help students to develop very valuable thinking skills that can then be transferred to other subjects. Thus, CBI can be motivating and rewarding.</em></p>

scholarly journals Ideologies of language at Hippo Family Club

Pragmatics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-227
Author(s):  
Chad Nilep
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Approach To Learning ◽  
Japanese Schools ◽  
State Language

Ethnographic study of Hippo Family Club, a foreign language learning club in Japan with chapters elsewhere, reveals a critique of foreign language teaching in Japanese schools and in the commercial English conversation industry. Club members contrast their own learning methods, which they view as “natural language acquisition”, with the formal study of grammar, which they see as uninteresting and ineffective. Rather than evaluating either the Hippo approach to learning or the teaching methods they criticize, however, this paper considers the ways of thinking about language that club members come to share. Members view the club as a transnational organization that transcends the boundaries of the nation-state. Language learning connects the club members to a cosmopolitan world beyond the club, even before they interact with speakers of the languages they are learning. The analysis of club members’ ideologies of language and language learning illuminates not only the pragmatics of language use, but practices and outcomes of socialization and shared social structures.

scholarly journals Doing role-play successfully in Japanese language classrooms

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Eric Bray
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Role Play ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Language Practice ◽  
Mass Market ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
English Textbooks ◽  
Set Up

Roleplay is a traditional EFL technique included in many books on EFL methodology as well as mass-market English textbooks. However, roleplay can be a challenge in Japanese EFL classrooms, and teachers are often wary of the uncomfortable silence that can result when trying this relatively open-ended activity with students accustomed to teacher-fronted classes and tightly controlled language-practice activities focused on form. In fact, roleplay can be a great tool for language learning and considerable fun for students and the teacher alike if set up and monitored carefully with attention to a few key points. When done successfully, roleplays can also transform the atmosphere of the classroom as students manage the risk and unpredictability of freer language use. ロールプレイは市販の教科書で使われているだけでなくＥＦＬ方法論テキストにも明記されている従来からあるテクニックである。しかしながら、教師主導型の授業や厳しく制限された言語形態重視の練習に慣れている学生相手に、この比較的無制限の言語活動を行うと不快な沈黙を伴うことが多く、日本の授業で行うには課題の多いテクニックである。だが実際、いくつかのカギとなる点を考慮に入れて注意深く組み立て調整すれば、学生にとっても教師にとっても言語学習の効果的、かつ楽しみを与えてくれる手段でもある。ロールプレイがうまく作動すると、学生は自由な言語活動が持つ危険性と予測不能性にうまく対処し、クラスの雰囲気は大きく変わるのである。

The impact of explicit strategy instruction on EFL secondary school learners’ reading

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882199415
Author(s):  
Muthita Chinpakdee ◽  
Peter Yongqi Gu
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Strategy Instruction ◽  
Reading Tests ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Explicit Strategy Instruction ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Reading Test Scores ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
The Impact

This article reports findings from a larger research project which aimed to promote learner autonomy among Thai secondary school learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) through strategy-based instruction (SBI). The study involved 30 learners from an intervention class and 32 learners from a comparison class. Nine strategies were introduced to the intervention class learners over a semester with the purpose of helping them develop essential skills for strategic and autonomous language learning. This article focuses on examining how explicit teaching of strategies in class affected learners’ reading scores and approaches to reading. It also observes the effects of SBI on learners’ perceptions of their ability to read English. Findings from the pre-, post- and delayed reading tests and think-aloud reading sessions showed significant increase in the intervention class learners’ reading test scores and their enhanced strategic approaches to reading. Group interviews further revealed learners’ positive attitudes towards English reading and increased confidence in their ability to manage their reading process independently. This article argues that explicit strategy instruction can help language learners develop essential strategic skills to process English texts. It also discusses how SBI can be effectively implemented in language classrooms.

scholarly journals Developing learner autonomy in language learning: A study in the Thai EFL secondary school context

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Muthita Chinpakdee
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
School Context ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Autonomous Learning ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Based Instruction

<p>Learner autonomy, primarily defined as “the ability to take charge of one’s own learning” (Holec, 1981, p. 3), has gained much research interest in the field of language learning and teaching due to its potential contribution to effective language learning. Although the concept of learner autonomy has been extensively discussed in the literature, little research has empirically investigated how this concept is realized in language classrooms.  This research explored learner autonomy and its development in the Thai secondary school context. The research was structured in two phases. The first phase of the study was an exploratory phase conducted to identify the Thai teachers’ perspectives towards learner autonomy and how their classroom practices prepared learners for autonomous learning. Data were collected through class observations, teacher interviews and learner group interviews. The findings revealed that although the teachers shared positive views about learner autonomy and regarded it as a useful concept, they did not sufficiently promote autonomous learning in their classroom practices. Learners’ accounts of their learning experiences also indicated that their classrooms did not prepare them methodologically and psychologically to take responsibility for their own learning. Findings from the exploratory phase indicate that the teachers’ use of the teacher-led teaching method as well as the learners’ lack of skills and confidence in their ability to direct their learning process could pose significant challenges to learner autonomy development. Building on findings from the first phase, the second phase of the study featured a strategy-based intervention program designed to promote learner autonomy. This intervention phase involved 30 learners from an intact class in which the strategy-based instruction program was implemented, and 32 learners from a comparison class who received regular English lessons. Data regarding the intervention’s impacts on learners’ development of knowledge and skills to direct their learning were obtained from learner group interviews and weekly learning journals while the intervention’s influence on learners’ language proficiency was observed through reading think-aloud sessions and three sets of reading tests. Findings revealed that strategy-based instruction was an effective means to raise learners’ awareness of their learning process and foster autonomous learning. First, the intervention lessons significantly contributed to learners’ gradual development of knowledge and skills to independently direct their learning process. Secondly, learners’ learning experiences during the intervention also motivated them to create learning opportunities in which they can interact purposefully and creatively with English. Furthermore, learners’ strategic approaches to learning appeared to have led to their increased scores in English reading. In sum, this study indicates that learner autonomy is a viable goal in the Thai educational context. It also provides empirically-grounded insights into the process of developing learner autonomy in language classrooms and reveals factors that can mediate the process. Findings from this study contribute to the current understanding about learner autonomy in language learning and offer practical implications for teachers in creating a learning space to promote autonomous learning.</p>

Augmenting the Use of Mobile Devices in Language Classrooms

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Revathi Viswanathan
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Teaching Language ◽  
Changing Trends ◽  
Language Classrooms

Do students use varied types of technological devices for enhancing learning? If not, how can educators motivate students to use them within or outside the classroom? How can teachers facilitate mobile learning in a traditional classroom? With the changing trends in the field of language teaching and the introduction of various technologies, these questions must be addressed for enhancing learning, particularly among tertiary level students. To promote language learning using mobile devices, teachers must first learn the special features of various mobile devices that could be used for teaching language skills to students. This article highlights the possibility of using some of the devices for teaching communication skills through a description of the devices and a pilot study conducted with tertiary level students. It further indicates effective ways of enhancing the concept of mobile learning.

scholarly journals Where do we go from here? Method and pedagogy in language teaching

ExELL ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny Ur
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Task Based Instruction ◽  
Language Teaching Methods ◽  
Theoretical Conceptualization ◽  
Or Task

Abstract Language-teaching methods such as audio-lingualism or task-based instruction have been promoted at different times as the ‘best’ way to teach a foreign language. Each such method prescribes a set of learning procedures rooted in a particular theoretical conceptualization of the nature of language and language acquisition, based on linguistic and applied linguistics research. It is suggested in this article that the principles guiding teachers in selecting procedures should not be dictated by any particular method recommended by researchers or theoreticians, but should be rather defined as a pedagogy of language teaching, shaped by various general pedagogical – not only language-learning – considerations, as well as by local factors, and determined by the teacher her- or himself.

scholarly journals Using Computer-assisted Language Learning in Classrooms: What Does Research Say about Teachers' Beliefs and Practices?

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 723
Author(s):  
Zainab Alsuhaibani
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Equal Importance ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Beliefs About Technology

The last decades have witnessed the introduction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into the field of education. This introduction has brought in major changes in the traditional view of language teaching and learning. Accordingly, the implementation of technology through Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and its success has become of particular interest. However, the success of CALL implementation does not merely depend only on economic investments. In fact, teachers play a major role in using technology successfully in classrooms (Galvis, 2012). Thus, it is important to investigate teachers' beliefs about CALL implementation and see whether they practically practice their beliefs in classrooms. Of equal importance is to investigate and question why some teachers do not practice their beliefs. This paper attempts to shed light on teachers' beliefs and practices of CALL implementation in classrooms. First, teachers' beliefs are defined and their importance and formation process are presented.  Then, teachers' beliefs about CALL implementation in language classrooms are discussed along with the factors that affect them. A discussion of whether teachers' beliefs about technology entail their actual practice is then provided. Finally, barriers hindering teaches' practices of technology in language classrooms are explained.

scholarly journals Implementing Task-Based Instruction to Facilitate Language Learning: Moving Away from Theory

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Aileen Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Task Based Instruction

The use of tasks has gained growing acceptance in the field of language teaching. In the task-based teaching, the organization of the language lassroom is learner-centered and the learning activities involve communicative language use. This paper discusses task-based teaching by presenting a brief overview of its underlying rationales. The rationales for infcoporating taskbased activities are dirived from the psycholinguistic and pedagogical perpectives. Some practical in-sights in this paper might be useful for English teachers and language experts.

scholarly journals Communicating and Resisting Oppression: using Drama for Communication Skills and Social Consciousness in Language Classrooms

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3S2) ◽  
pp. 173-176
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
National Development ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Rabindranath Tagore ◽  
The Social ◽  
Language Classrooms

The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence. (Rabindranath Tagore) This statement made by Tagore highlights the most prominent objective of education as a means not only to provide information but most importantly to imbibe the sense of respect, love and fellow feeling that is the main ingredient required to usher in peace and harmony in a nation. Here, information denotes the skills that education imparts whereas the harmony that he refers to speaks of a social responsibility that can bring about harmony and national development. However the syllabi in most of the educational institutions related with language learning and communication skills especially in technical institutions are questionable as to whether they serve to impart both these aspects. A formidable query arises as to whether we are moulding humans equipped with technical and social skills or are we merely manufacturing living and breathing machines sans any form of moral and emotional attachment to their surroundings. The present paper is a case study conducted to determine whether the inclusion of literature in the form of drama in a language learning classroom for engineering students would help to hone the communication skills and inculcate the social responsibility and imbibe consciousness in them.

The authenticity continuum: Towards a definition incorporating international voices

English Today ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Pinner
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Authentic Materials ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Authentic Language

The choice of what materials to use in the language classroom is perhaps one of the most fundamentally important and difficult decisions teachers and those responsible for choosing textbooks are faced with. Authenticity is often seen as a desirable component in the content we select and adapt for our language learners, and it has been shown that authentic materials are more motivating, even for low-level learners (Peacock, 1997). The term authentic is often used to describe materials which were not originally designed for the purpose of language learning, but that were designed to have some purpose within the target language culture, such as a newspaper or novel. An unfortunate consequence of this is that authenticity is still often defined in reference to the target language's ‘native speakers’ or L1 community, particularly in EFL contexts, or what Kachru (1985) would label the Outer Circle communities. In other words, where English is taught as a foreign language, both teachers and students often regard ‘native-speakers’ as being the ideal model and therefore an example of authenticity. For example, Tan (2005) criticises corpora investigations of learner English for holding the view that authentic language use is equivalent to ‘native-speaker’ usages. She goes on to criticise not only corpus research but also textbook publishers for still not taking into account ‘the inextricable link between language and culture’ (2005: 127). In the academic world, culturally embedded notions of authenticity relating to ‘native-speakers’ have been challenged for decades (Smith, 1976). And yet I would argue that in mainstream textbooks and in most EFL language classrooms the native speaker still retains a ‘privileged position’ (Clark & Paran, 2007: 407). As Widdowson (1996: 68) puts it:Authenticity concerns the reality of native-speaker language use: in our case, the communication in English which is realized by an English-speaking community. But the language which is real for native speakers is not likely to be real for learners […] They belong to another community and do not have the necessary knowledge of the contextual conditions which would enable them to authenticate English in native-speaker terms. Their reality is quite different.

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