scholarly journals Al-mihna wa’l-huwiyya. Motivational Dimensions of Arabic Heritage Learners in a Professionally-Oriented Education Setting

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Aurelio Golfetto
Keyword(s):  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Motivational Factors ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Education History ◽  
Heritage Learners ◽  
Arab Descent ◽  
Teaching Setting

This study investigates motivational and professional orientations and identity issues of students of Arab descent majoring in Arabic in a teaching setting oriented to develop vocational and professional language skills. Their motivations for learning the target language were investigated and compared with those of their colleagues of non-Arab descent through a questionnaire that explored motivational factors, job expectations and education history. Apparently, students were prompted to take Arabic classes because of employment concerns and they proved keen on undertaking most of the proposed professions, providing that they were connected with the Arab world. It is also possible to highlight how the study of the language of origin was determined by thoroughly intrinsic motives. Cultural interests and especially identity needs provided the strongest push for the respondents, even in the surveyed education setting, where instrumental motivation was clearly expected to play a major role. Implications can be drawn as regards curriculum design and classroom practice.

scholarly journals The Importance of Pragmatic Competence in the EFL Curriculum: Application and Implications*

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Mohamed Amine Choraih ◽  
Ayoub Loutfi ◽  
Abdullah Mansoor
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Suggested Approach ◽  
Grammatical Competence ◽  
And Training

The field of language teaching and curriculum development has been characterized by its constant development, with a concomitant impact on the quality of education and training. The drive is mostly due to the rapidly changing world characterized by globalization and the result of openings on other fields of research. One area that has informed this field is the teaching of L2 pragmatic competence, with the commonly expressed generalization being that there is a gap between what research in pragmatics has found and how language is generally taught today (Ishihara & Cohen, 2010). On this view, this paper purports to investigate the role of pragmatic competence in the teaching of English. We provide evidence that language proficiency should not only be equated with grammatical well-formedness, but also with how to use it appropriately and efficiently in the target language. This being the case, however, we will show that the implementation of this view is far from being easy, especially in a trend that has for long been characterized by a focus on the grammatical competence, both in terms of training and curriculum design. This is paired with a similar difficulty in terms of how to translate the pragmatically-based approach into L2 classroom practices and how to identify modes of assessment. Addressing these issues, we believe, will shed light on some of the challenges and implications on the teaching of English along with the applicability of the suggested approach to the current ELT reform in the Arab world in general and in Morocco in particular.

British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Manual: A Critical Analysis of the Coursebook Taught at Pakistani Universities for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Manual: A Critical Analysis of the Coursebook Taught at Pakistani Universities

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching Principles

English for Academic Purposes course focusing on the academic language needs of students is a subfield of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It is a type of specialized course to integrate specific subject matter, language content, and material based on learners’ needs. The study aims to evaluate the British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursebook in terms of content, sequencing, learners’ autonomy, motivation, feedback and focus on language skills. Furthermore, the study tries to provide a general perception of the usefulness and effectiveness of the coursebook for undergraduate students. The EAP Students’ Manual coursebook is used as a primary source for the data collection. The researcher has chosen Nation & Macalister (2010) model of language teaching principles to analyze and discuss the data. The study found the coursebook a useful, effective and an appropriate source of English language learning in terms of the investigated aspects of the book. The findings report that the coursebook provides practice and practical usage in all domains of the academically required English language skills. It helps the students to build language competency and to be more independent learners. In addition, it provides an opportunity to the learners to think in the target language, use the language more practically and learn it in a natural type of environment. The study concludes and suggests that the content needs to be supplemented with English language audios and videos presenting the students relevant documentaries and helping material in order to make the coursebook and the learning process more useful, effective, interesting and motivating. Furthermore, the study recommends that while choosing /designing a coursebook for a certain course, it needs to be evaluated following the various criteria and language-teaching-principles suggested by different language researchers.

British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Manual: A Critical Analysis of the Coursebook Taught at Pakistani Universities

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching Principles ◽  
Language Needs

English for Academic Purposes course focusing on the academic language needs of students is a subfield of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It is a type of specialized course to integrate specific subject matter, language content, and material based on learners’ needs. The study aims to evaluate the British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursebook in terms of content, sequencing, learners’ autonomy, motivation, feedback and focus on language skills. Furthermore, the study tries to provide a general perception of the usefulness and effectiveness of the coursebook for undergraduate students. The EAP Students’ Manual coursebook is used as a primary source for the data collection. The researcher has chosen Nation & Macalister (2010) model of language teaching principles to analyze and discuss the data. The study found the coursebook a useful, effective and an appropriate source of English language learning in terms of the investigated aspects of the book. The findings report that the coursebook provides practice and practical usage in all domains of the academically required English language skills. It helps the students to build language competency and to be more independent learners. In addition, it provides an opportunity to the learners to think in the target language, use the language more practically and learn it in a natural type of environment. The study concludes and suggests that the content needs to be supplemented with English language audios and videos presenting the students relevant documentaries and helping material in order to make the coursebook and the learning process more useful, effective, interesting and motivating. Furthermore, the study recommends that while choosing /designing a coursebook for a certain course, it needs to be evaluated following the various criteria and language-teaching-principles suggested by different language researchers.

scholarly journals Good Practices for Primary-Level Content-based Foreign Language Instruction Identified in Finland

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taina M Wewer
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Language Instruction

This practice-oriented article, also applicable for general foreign and second language instruction, outlines experiences and classroom practices recognized as functional and effective in CLIL (content and language integrated learning) contexts. CLIL can be defined as a comprehensive approach to foreign language teaching because it aims at learning language through various content across the curriculum. Since one of the guidelines in the Finnish basic education is teacher autonomy, the fluctuation in materials, practices and methods is notable. Therefore, there is no sole authenticated model of CLIL implementation, but the practices rather vary significantly from one classroom to another. Furthermore, the extent of the target language (TL) exposure has an impact on the instructional choices as well as the pre-negotiated and defined learning objectives. In most cases, the primary aim is that the child learns to read and write in the mother tongue or the main language of instruction (most often Finnish in Finland), and the target language (in this case English) is gradually and increasingly incorporated into the everyday classroom practice. Hence, instruction is bilingual. Research on foreign language teaching and learning helps to formulate some of the recurring linguistic practices in CLIL classrooms which is important in shaping the language used for social purposes. The integration of language and content and academic language need special attention in CLIL. In a similar manner, assessment of the target language, has to be specifically addressed. I will touch upon all these issues in the three main sections drawing on CLIL instruction with approximately 25% English exposure of total instruction.  

scholarly journals Linguistic Loneliness and Study Abroad

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-58
Author(s):  
Cynthia Slagter ◽  
Marcie J. Pyper
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Test ◽  
Before And After

This article considers the conflict between students’ desire to improve their target language skills and their desire for belonging and community . The stud y, conducted over three years, examines student perceptions of barriers to target language gain during semester long study abroad. Participants completed surveys, took the Versant Language Test before and after their study abroad experience, and partici pated in a post program interview . Results suggest that students experience conflicting priorities in decisions governing native language versus target language use during study abroad. Although some persist in speaking the target language with their co national peers, they find it unsatisfying because they are unable to meet their social needs . Valuing relationships over linguistic improvements, students resort to speaking their native language among themselves during study abroad . The research ers suggest strategies for how to best prepare students to reconcile these tensions.

Dynamic Assessment of Learners of a Spoken Language

2021 ◽  
pp. 87-99
Author(s):  
Natalie Hasson
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Dynamic Assessment ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Test Taker ◽  
Learning Potential ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Assessment Of Learning ◽  
Language Difficulties

Dynamic assessment (DA), or the assessment of learning potential, is becoming recognized as an alternative method that has wide application within the assessment of language. In moving away from comparison to normative data, the assessment enables a wider range of children to be assessed, including all of those for whom the norms do not apply, such as children with autistic spectrum conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), hearing loss, and bi- or multilingual children. In addition to differentiating language difficulties due to lack of experience with the target language from developmental language disorders (DLD), the DA procedure contributes a considerable amount of qualitative information about the learning skills of the test-taker. This chapter reviews the multiple models and methods of DA and the work that has been done to develop tools to assess language skills in first language learners.

scholarly journals Translation Practice – A Means for Enhancing Student Employability

Dialogos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 38/2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viorela-Valentina DIMA
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Business English ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Business Operations ◽  
Translation Practice ◽  
Domain Specific Knowledge ◽  
The One ◽  
Remedial Work

Recent studies on employers’ expectations regarding the language skills of their employees, as well as the language-related tasks the latter are expected to perform, show that translation activities are essential for everyday business operations. With this in mind, the paper aims to explore the benefits of using translation activities in developing ESP learners’ language skills, as well as domain-specific knowledge, so as to meet the demands on the labour market. The case study describes the following steps: student exposure to minimal training in translation steps and strategies, classroom practice on excerpts from economic articles, home translations of full-length economic articles. Feedback exchange on classwork and homework points to the relevance of such activities embedded in Business English lessons: on the one hand, students increase their awareness of language and employabilityrelated aspects; on the other hand, the teacher identifies best practice examples, apart from needs regarding remedial work.

scholarly journals USING LITERARY TEXTS IN NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE TEACHING

2021 ◽  
pp. 505
Author(s):  
Danica Piršl ◽  
Tea Piršl
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Cultural Patterns ◽  
Authentic Material ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Teaching Language ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Target Culture

The use of literary texts in teaching language has varied from the strict focus on translation and essential grammar and vocabulary lists derived from the text to the more creative uses like acting, writing and debating. Nowadays, communicative language approach prevails in most classrooms and insists on immersing students into both the target language and culture. In this paper, the author argues that to accomplish this, one can use literary texts in a number of ways and help the students learn, practice and master various language skills, while at the same time relating the texts to the students' interests, goals and lived experiences and help them relate to the society whose language they are learning. Literature is presented as a great source of authentic material that can contribute to students' language enrichment and cultural awareness. According to the data obtained from the research conducted for the purpose of this paper, students learning the Norwegian language by extensive use of literature reported better understanding of the target culture, raised awareness of the different cultural patterns and improved language skills. The pedagogical implications of the research are that more authentic literary texts should be used in language classroom to boost successful language acquisition.

scholarly journals NEEDS ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES AT POLITEKNIK GIHON

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-88
Author(s):  
Wiwik Damanik ◽  
Erika Sinambela ◽  
Arsen Nahum Pasaribu
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Needs Analysis ◽  
Teaching Material ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
English Teaching ◽  
Future Career ◽  
Need Analysis

The needs analysis cannot be separated from the development of materials and curriculum design for language learning, especially ESP. The research about ESP, especially the topic of need analysis still needs to be explored. Thus, this research aims to identify language skills needed and develop English teaching materials at Politeknik Gihon. The subjects of this study were 45 ongoing students and six former students. The result of the study revealed the perceptions of the students’ needs for their current studies and future career and how the English material should be designed in this institution. This study contributes in developing the teaching material and proposed a redesigned of ESP course.

scholarly journals Medical Students’ English Language Learning: Needs and Perceptions

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-190
Author(s):  
Amin Karimnia ◽  
Mohammad Reza Khodashenas
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Needs Analysis ◽  
English Language Learning ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Skills Use ◽  
English Language Skills

Summary This study investigated the medical students’ English language learning needs and their perceptions of ESP courses in an academic environment. To do this, 100 medical students studying medical sciences in the faculty of medicine in Mashhad, Iran, were selected as the participants. Hutchinson and Waters’ target language needs analysis framework was drawn on as the analytic model guiding the study. A needs analysis questionnaire was used for data collection. The questionnaire designed to identify the learners’ perceptions of the frequency of English language skills/sub-skills use, the importance of English language learning, their ability in using language skills, their needs of language learning and their preferences of an English language course. After gathering and analyzing the data, it was found that reading skill is given priority by the students in terms of frequency of use, importance and proficiency. It also revealed that students need and prefer training in speaking, listening and communication skills. Considering the students’ perceptions of the current ESP course, the findings implied that the English language skills incorporated in the current ESP book for the medical students and the allocated time for this course are not compatible with the English language learning needs and wants of the students.

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