scholarly journals Investigation of Instructors' Views on the Accreditation Process of Schools of Foreign Languages

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-290
Author(s):  
Orhan Ataman ◽  
Abdullah Adıgüzel

The main purpose of this study is to determine the views of instructors who work at accredited schools of foreign languages about the accreditation process that they have been through. This study follows the qualitative case study research design. The participants were 31 English instructors working at 12 different foreign language schools in Turkey. A set of semi-structured interview questions created by the researchers were used as the data collection tool. The collected data were then subjected to content analysis. It was found that documentation was the most problematic area for the institutions during the accreditation process, so it was the most labor-intensive area for the instructors. Also, it was found that there were significant improvements in the learning and teaching process at these institutions, which resulted in a higher quality of instruction. In addition, it was observed that the accreditation process triggers creation of a culture of quality and continuous development among the instructors. It can be recommended that all teaching staff should be well informed about the accreditation purpose and process, ensuring staff readiness. Furthermore, the burden of work involved in accreditation should be shared by all the staff, with a well-planned and balanced division of labor among them.

2019 ◽  
pp. 172-176
Author(s):  
Otegbulu M. I. ◽  
Ezeagu A. Agbo ◽  
Agbo Genevieve N.

Security is pre-requisite for the development of human beings and the society. It is a pre-condition for the survival, development and advancement of individuals and groups. The school is an organization that needs to have a planned safety rules and regulations to protect it components so that the culture of learning and teaching is enhanced. Security threat within the school environment could hamper the peaceful atmosphere in the school, and disrupt academic exercises and panic among the personnel in the school. The government, security agents, parents, school administrators and the community has a lot of role to play to make school environment safe and conducive. However, security gadgets and apparatus should be provided to nip these issues in the bud, as well as train the teaching and non-teaching staff on security issues.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-243
Author(s):  
Ana-Maria CHISEGA-NEGRILĂ

Abstract: As the time in which online teaching and learning was still an element of novelty has long been gone, virtual learning environments have to be studied thoroughly so that they will provide students not only with the necessary knowledge, but also with the proper tools to meet their learning objectives. The advancement in information technology and the access to an almost inordinate number of learning and teaching tools should have already been fructified and, as a result, not only teachers, but also learners should have already picked up the fruit of knowledge grown in the vast virtual environment of the Internet. However, as education has recently moved almost entirely online, some questions have arisen. Are the Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) enough to offer ESL students both motivation and knowledge? Will foreign languages benefit from this growing trend or will traditional, face-to-face interaction, prove to have been more efficient? The present article will look into some of these questions and into the benefits of VLEs in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.


Author(s):  
Eman Elmahjoubi ◽  
Mufida Yamane

Background. The safe use of medicines largely relies on consumers reading the labeling and packaging carefully and accurately, and being able to comprehend and act on the information presented. We aimed to conduct local study on consumers’ perceptions, attitudes and use of written drug information. Methods. A survey included 200 adults of the public in 13 community pharmacies and one main hospital (the University Hospital) in Tripoli city of Libya, using a structured interview technique. Results. The results showed that 73% of participants read drug labels with variation from always (39.72 %) to rarely (10.95%). About 42.46% of pharmacy customers read the Patients Package Inserts (PPIs) routinely, however; 53.42% of them faced difficulties in understanding the labelling. Foreign languages and small font sizes of written information were the most barriers to participants` comprehensibility (44.69 %, 34%) respectively. The findings indicated that 59 % of the respondents were used to obtain information from pharmacists. Despite the relatively high rate of reading to drug labels among pharmacy customers; more than half of them were unable to interpret information correctly. Conclusion. The study demonstrated the need for the implementation of educational and awareness programs for patients by pharmacists to improve the health literacy of medication labels. Steps must be taken to ensure that medicines in Libyan market are supplied with bilingual and non-technical language labels.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 711-739
Author(s):  
Isis da Costa Pinho ◽  
Marilia dos Santos Lima

This paper reports on a case study research focusing on digital fluency as a new competence for teaching foreign languages through technology. The data were generated on a training course having as its main purpose the investigation of pre-service and in-service teachers' perceptions about the relevance of digital fluency and the pedagogical use of digital technologies for foreign language (FL) teaching and learning. The trainee teachers were asked to work in groups with the purpose of exploring Windows Movie Maker software in order to create a movie addressing the importance of digital fluency and the potential of this digital tool in FL teaching and learning. The results suggest that digital fluency was considered a necessary competence for the creation of more attractive and dynamic lessons that motivate meaningful FL production.


Author(s):  
Aleksey Shilikov

The article introduces a sociological survey that featured the development of conflict management skills in municipal employees of the Belgorod region. The methods involved a questionnaire survey and a semi-structured interview of Belgorod municipal authorities, teaching staff of the Higher School of Management of the Belgorod State University, and employees of the Institute of Regional Personnel Policy of Belgorod. The reasons behind the conflicts were divided into those caused by the specifics of the municipal service, the peculiarities of team relations, and the individual characteristics of a municipal employee. The results of the study can improve the practical work of municipal personnel departments or be used in teaching sociological disciplines. Further study is required to develop diagnostic methods to identify the conflict management skills in municipal officials, collect information, define conditions and patterns of development, draft resolution procedures, etc.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Zeynep Genc

Instruction materials help students to acquire more memorable information. Instruction materials have an important effect on providing more permanent and simple way of learning in every step of education. Instruction materials are the most frequently used by primary school teachers. Primary school teachers should support their lectures with instruction materials in order to provide permanent learning. The Teaching Technologies and Material Designing (TTMD) course which is one of the compulsory courses that students must take aims to acquire students the information and skills related with the preparation and use of materials. Evaluation of TTMD course is important in terms of the effectiveness of the course which provides the opportunity of motivating the students to learn by attracting their attention, keeping their attentions alive, making abstract concepts more concrete, facilitating the acquisition of knowledge in an organized way in the process of learning and teaching. In this context, it was aimed to determine the opinions of students in the department of primary school teaching about preparation and use of materials through teaching practice which is done within TTMD course in this study. This study is a descriptive study based on qualitative data. The sample of this research included 37 students from the department of primary school teaching who took TTMD course in the second semester in 2014-2015 academic year at Ataturk Education Faculty of Near East University or students who took this course in previous academic years. The data of this research were collected with structured interview form. According to the results, it was revealed that primary school teachers’ candidates attach importance to prepare and use materials based on their answers about the use and preparation of materials in instruction. When the opinions of primary school teachers candidates about the criteria that they give value in preparing and using materials, it was figured out that they emphasize the criteria such as suitability for student level, suitability for aim, simplicity and easy comprehensibility. Furthermore, the results indicated that primary school teachers’ candidates mostly experience difficulty in finding suitable materials and tools for the aim. It was also revealed that the majority of primary school teachers’ candidates stated that they will use materials and a few of them indicated that they will not use materials since they find materials as insufficient based on their answers about the question asking if they will use the materials which they prepared in TTMD course when they begin teaching profession. Keywords: primary school, primary teaching candidates, teaching technologies and material designing (TTMD) course, material design, instruction materials


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-89
Author(s):  
Astrid Schmidhofer ◽  
Enrique Cerezo Herrero ◽  
Melita Koletnik

The teaching of foreign languages to students in Translation and Interpreting (TI) programmes should be framed within the field of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP). This would make it possible to pinpoint specific curricular content and methodological traits that contribute to the enhancement of the communicative competence and initial development of TI competences. This paper analyses the students’ perspectives on L2 teaching in a TI programme and how it should be undertaken to best comply with the linguistic demands imposed by translation and interpreting. A thematic analysis of 117 open questionnaires returned by students from Austria, Slovenia and Spain identified five areas to which the students attribute particular importance, and which should be considered when developing TI-oriented curricula.


Author(s):  
James Arvanitakis ◽  
Madelaine-Marie Judd ◽  
Shelley Kinash ◽  
Trina Jorre de st Jorre ◽  
Trish McCluskey

 Universities are both a source of employable graduates and careers. This paper examines universities as developers and employers of their own graduates from the perspective of employees and recruited positions. Research questions were: what do learning and teaching careers look like at universities, and; what are the occupational patterns, satisfactions and concerns of the staff in those careers? An autoethnographic account of employees’ career journeys (all of whom were employed in learning and teaching or closely related areas) from five different universities were shared, compared and contrasted. Two of these universities are profiled as having a large proportion of students from target equity groups and therefore have intentionally recruited learning and teaching staff to widen student participation. A desktop review of six months of university employment vacancies from these two universities was conducted. A consistent theme across the autoethnographic stories was a feeling of being an outsider. The authors’ hypothesis is that this is related to haphazard preparation for learning and teaching positions. Of the 322 university vacancies, 84% were for professional staff, 23% of which were in learning and teaching, with the most prevalent role being Coordinator. Fourteen per cent were for academic staff, 64% of which involved learning and teaching, and the most prevalent title was Lecturer/Senior Lecturer. Key takeaways include recommendations for universities to intentionally enhance the employability of graduates who pursue learning and teaching positions within universities, and for prospective university learning and teaching staff to enhance their employability.


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