scholarly journals Developing an Evaluation Checklist for English Majors’ Textbooks in China: Focus on Intercultural Communicative Competence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wanrong Lei ◽  
Kittitouch Soontornwipast
Keyword(s):  
Native Speaker ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Textbook Evaluation ◽  
English Majors

With the rising interest in the Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) in language teaching, evaluating the ICC attributes in EFL textbooks is becoming a great concern. This study aimed to find out the evaluation criteria for the ICC attributes in EFL textbooks generated from the literature and from EFL experts, and then construct an evaluation checklist for assessing the ICC attributes of the English majors’ textbook in China. The findings revealed that thirty-six items were identified from the literature and another thirty-six new items were generated from the interview with nine experts in the fields of ICC research and textbook selection. These items were constructed into a draft checklist and checklist was validated by another nine EFL teachers and native-speaker teachers. Consequently, a try-out checklist with two dimensions, eight themes and sixty-one items was developed. Given the vital role of ICC in English teaching, it is essential to understand the ICC attributes in EFL textbooks, which is a relatively new construct. The proposed checklist was a critical step towards a better evaluation of ICC attributes in English majors’ textbooks and would be a helpful tool for teachers in textbook evaluation. Future research is required to refine the try-out checklist.

The Role of Classroom-Situated Game-Based Language Learning in Promoting Students' Communicative Competence

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiao Wang
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Simulation Game ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Linguistic Support ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Language Classrooms

The study is the second in a series of mixed-methods studies on the integration of The Sims 4, a life-simulation game, into language classrooms. In this study, the researcher explores the effect of game-based language learning (GBLL) on students' English communicative competence from three aspects, interaction, fluency and content, in a Japanese university. In class, students received instruction from the teacher on game language and gameplay skills, played the game on their own and presented gameplay stories. The presentations were recorded for evaluation. Surveys were also administered for students' perceptions on the GBLL classroom. Results showed that no clear improvement in communicative competence was suggested by quantitative evaluation. Qualitatively data, however, indicated that the game afforded students interesting events and proper expressions in presentations and that the teacher played a vital role in ensuring ample interactional opportunities and linguistic support. Suggestions for future research in classroom-situated GBLL were also proposed.

Mobilizing in Black Boxes: Social Networks and Participation in Social Movement Organizations

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Kitts
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Black Boxes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Movement Organizations ◽  
Movement Participation

Recent research has focused on the role of social networks in facilitating participation in protest and social movement organizations. This paper elaborates three currents of microstructural explanation, based on information, identity, and exchange. In assessing these perspectives, it compares their treatment of multivalence, the tendency for social ties to inhibit as well as promote participation. Considering two dimensions of multivalence—the value of the social tie and the direction of social pressure—this paper discusses problems of measurement and interpretation in network analysis of movement participation. A critical review suggests some directions for future research.

scholarly journals Exploring the Role of M-learning in Elementary Education

10.28945/3873 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 459-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsiu Ju Chen
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Elementary Education ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mediated Learning ◽  
Elementary School Learners

Aim/Purpose: This study explores the associations between elementary school learners’ m-learning and learner satisfactions based on the technology-mediated learning model. Background: M-learning (mobile learning) is emerging, but its role in elementary education still needs clarification. Methodology: Questionnaires were mailed to several different elementary schools, located in different areas that adopted m-learning. Due to the possible limited cognitive ability because of age, short measures were adopted in the study. Finally, data from eighty-six elementary school learners who had experience in mobile learning were gathered and analyzed with Partial Least Square (PLS) for the limited sample size. Contribution: The results implied the vital role of m-learning in providing different form of interaction in class to activate elementary school learners’ course participation. They also indicated that mobile learning not only activated learners’ active course participation but linked students, teachers, courses, and schools. Findings: The results showed that m-technology quality of mobile learning was signifi-cantly associated with learners’ active course participation and satisfaction to-ward apps/tablets in m-learning that contributed to different learner satisfac-tions. Recommendations for Practitioners: The findings suggested that with good interaction quality facilitated by apps/tablets in m-learning, m-learning could be a suitable medium for teachers to have interaction with students and increased students’ different satisfactions in schools at alternative collective learning environments in elementary education. Future Research: Future studies to measure and reflect different impact of student-teacher interaction in m-learning are suggested.

scholarly journals El papel de la movilidad estudiantil en el desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa intercultural: un estudio de caso

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-43
Author(s):  
Marjana Šifrar Kalan
Keyword(s):  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Limited Sample ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
The University ◽  
Interpretative Research

The objective of this case study is to investigate the role of student mobility in the development of intercultural communicative competence in university students. In order to indicate the changes in the participants, especially about their attitudes towards Spanish culture, Spaniards and their stereotypes, an interpretative research with an ethnographic approach has been carried out, namely, we have interviewed several students of Hispanic Philology from the University of Ljubljana (level C1 of Spanish), who had spent at least one semester with the Erasmus scholarship studying in Spain. The article does not pretend to achieve a statistical generalization due to its limited sample, however it can be useful as a preliminary study.

scholarly journals The use of Polish and Czech as a lingua receptiva in comparison with English as a lingua franca – some remarks on multilingual modes of communication with reference to CSS and ICC

Neofilolog ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 237-257
Author(s):  
Magdalena Steciąg ◽  
Urszula Majdańska-Wachowicz
Keyword(s):  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Listening Skills ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Negotiation Strategies ◽  
Language Choices ◽  
The Mean

The present study aims to investigate the use of Polish and Czech as a lingua receptiva (LaRa) in comparison with English as a lingua franca (ELF) between Polish and Czech students when making semi-spontaneous dialogues. With this aim in mind, the notion of intelligibility together with communication strategies (CSs) and intercultural communicative competence (ICC) are discussed. The study is inspired by Bulatović’s et al. (2019) who investigated the effectiveness of LaRa and ELF between Croatians and Slovenes. The study investigated listening skills and showed that the mean of intelligibility was high irrespective of the mode. The study in question aims to expand prior research with reference to spoken interactions between Polish and Czech speakers. In particular, it examines the role of communication strategies and intercultural communicative competence in achieving intelligibility in two multilingual modes. The results of the study show that the level of intelligibility is high irrespective of the mode. In LaRa and ELF sessions intelligibility and negotiation strategies are determined by careful language choices, certain communication strategies, and intercultural communicative competence (intercultural attitude towards the partner and modes of communication).

scholarly journals The role of caregiver touch in early neurodevelopment and parent-infant interactional synchrony

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Carozza ◽  
Victoria Leong
Keyword(s):  
Infant Development ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Endogenous Opioid ◽  
Interactional Synchrony ◽  
Endogenous Opioid Systems ◽  
Psychosocial Behavior

Though rarely included in studies of parent-infant interactions, affectionate touch plays a unique and vital role in infant development. Previous studies in human and rodent models have established that early and consistent affectionate touch from a caregiver confers wide-ranging and holistic benefits for infant psychosocial and neurophysiological development. We begin by providing a brief review of how affectionate touch tunes the development of infant somatosensory, autonomic (stress regulation) and immune systems. Affective touch also plays a foundational role in the establishment of social affiliative bonds and early psychosocial behavior. These touch-related bonding effects are known to be mediated primarily by the oxytocin system, but touch also activates mesocorticolimbic dopamine and endogenous opioid systems which aid the development of social cognitive processes such as social learning and reward processing. We conclude by proposing a unique role for affectionate touch as an essential pathway to establishing and maintaining parent-infant interactional synchrony at behavioural, physiological and neural levels. The limitations of the current understanding of affectionate touch in infant development point to fruitful avenues for future research.

Global, international, and intercultural learning in university classrooms across the disciplines

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51
Author(s):  
Katharine C. Krebs
Keyword(s):  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Degree Programs ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Intercultural Learning ◽  
The World ◽  
Basic Features ◽  
University Classrooms

Classroom pedagogies that foster global, international, and intercultural (GII) learning across academic disciplines have the potential to reach all matriculated students, preparing them for diversity in their immediate communities, the international reach of their professions, and their responsibilities as citizens in the world. A number of empirical research studies and professional reports present instructors’ experiences with innovative pedagogies that embed GII learning within existing courses or lead to the design of new courses totally dedicated to the development of intercultural communicative competence. In this article, a review of these studies summarizes the basic features of these efforts, identifies commonalities across practices, and takes note of innovations showing promise for emulation or further study. Of particular value is the analysis of the outcomes the authors report from their efforts and the ways they have assessed their results. These assessments reveal degrees of success in meeting stated learning goals as well as limitations with regard to what has been achieved. The article concludes with a proposed research agenda that would help academics strengthen GII classroom learning. Future research could (a) provide an understanding of GII competencies needed by alumni in their professions and civic engagement, (b) consider how GII learning might take place with an intentional plan across the course of degree programs, and (c) examine how to address gaps and limitations in current classroom practice.Keywords

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