scholarly journals Testing the Four Basic Language Skills in the English Language Component of the Mature Students' Entrance Examinations: The Case of Six Ghanaian Universities

2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
Ramos Asafo-Adjei
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Entrance Examinations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mature Students ◽  
Basic Language ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Listening And Speaking ◽  
Time Limitations

This study focused on the Mature Students’ Entrance Examinations (MSEE) which is a commonly used Ghanaian university placement examination. The fundamental aim was to evaluate the comprehensiveness of the English language component of the examination in the area of the four basic language skills (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening) tested. A second objective of the study was to explore the reasons behind the choices of the basic language skills tested in the MSEE. The multiple case study design was employed for this study, and the sources of data used were responses from in-depth interviews and the past questions. The data were subjected to analysis via thematic content analysis and document analysis respectively. The analysis highlights the specific contents of the past questions and their related basic language skills tested, as well as the reasons underlying the basic language skills tested. The results revealed that only two of the basic language skills (Reading and Writing) were tested, and time limitations and logistical challenges informed lecturers’ decisions not to test Speaking and Listening. The study recommends that Listening and Speaking tasks be incorporated into the examination to make it comprehensive.   Received: 2 September 2021 / Accepted: 16 November 2021 / Published: 5 January 2022

scholarly journals Benchmarking of the English Language Component of the Mature Students’ Entrance Examinations in Ghana against the WASSCE English Language Component

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 164
Author(s):  
Ramos Asafo-Adjei
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Entrance Examination ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Entrance Examinations ◽  
Mature Students ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Basic Language ◽  
Multiple Case

This paper was purposed on benchmarking the English language component of the Mature Students’ Entrance Examinations (MSEE) (administered in Ghana by universities to select undergraduate candidates) to the English language component of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) which constitutes the mainstream Ghanaian university undergraduate entrance examination. The qualitative design (specifically, multiple case study design) was employed for this study. Using the multi-stage sampling technique, six Ghanaian universities (from whom eighteen English language component of the MSEE past questions were elicited) and three sets of the WASSCE English language component past questions administered in 2016, 2017 and 2018) were used for the study. O’Leary’s (2014) eight steps of conducting document analysis were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that there are major mismatches between the two sets of examinations in the areas of the test types, the basic language skills tested and the competences tested. The study advanced, to policy makers, suggestions such as testing Speaking and Listening for the improvement of the two sets of examinations.   Received: 2 May 2021 / Accepted: 15 June 2021 / Published: 8 July 2021

scholarly journals Lights, Camera, Action! English learning through drama

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Wendy Gorena Becerra Carvajal ◽  
Daniela Lucia Alfonso Colmenares ◽  
Brayan José Forero Gómez ◽  
Lina Katherine Barón Beltrán
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Public Institution ◽  
English Learning ◽  
The Past ◽  
Basic Language ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Eleventh Graders ◽  
Basic English

Over the past few years, learning English has gained significant importance throughout Colombia. In order for students to accomplish proficiency in this language, different strategies and methodologies are used to help improve their basic language skills. This article explores the use of drama as a strategy to develop two basic English language skills: reading and speaking. Additionally, social relationships among eleventh graders at a public institution are examined. Values, such as leadership, and the use of voice, body language, concentration, and shyness displayed during the activities were analyzed among the students. The most relevant findings form this experience are presented and described as a way to encourage teachers and students to think of drama as a useful pedagogical strategy applicable not only in linguistics, but in social and personal fields as well.

Substance Use and Self-Harm: Case Studies From Patients Admitted to an Urban Hospital Following Medically Serious Self-Harm

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (14) ◽  
pp. 2201-2210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsie Breet ◽  
Jason Bantjes
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Urban Hospital ◽  
Adaptive Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Analyze Data

Few qualitative studies have explored the relationship between substance use and self-harm. We employed a multiple-case study research design to analyze data from 80 patients who were admitted to a hospital in South Africa following self-harm. Our analysis revealed, from the perspective of patients, a number of distinct ways in which substance use is implicated in self-harm. Some patients reported that substance intoxication resulted in poor decision making and impulsivity, which led to self-harm. Others said substance use facilitated their self-harm. Some participants detailed how in the past their chronic substance use had served an adaptive function helping them to cope with distress, but more recently, this coping mechanism had failed which precipitated their self-harm. Some participants reported that substance use by someone else triggered their self-harm. Findings suggest that there are multiple pathways and a host of variables which mediate the relationship between substance use and self-harm.

Challenging the Concept of Infinity Retention of Collections in Selected National Museums in Zimbabwe

2018 ◽  
pp. 408-427
Author(s):  
Nyasha Agnes Gurira
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Storage Space ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Collections Management ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
National Museums ◽  
Multiple Case

The chapter challenges the concept of undefined, infinity, and indefinite retention periods of collections in Zimbabwe's state museums and underscores the need for each state museum to develop a collections management policy. The concept of indefinitely retaining collections characterizes Zimbabwe's National Museums. In that regard, this chapter interrogates issues surrounding collections management in Zimbabwe's state museums. Museums in Zimbabwe are overburdened with inherited collections from the past with limited supporting information. This coupled with the need to store contemporary collections congests the storage space in museums. A multiple case study approach was employed to examine the state of collections in three selected state museums in Zimbabwe. Findings revealed that collections in these museums have been inherited from the past collectors who amassed collections with limited information about them. There was no formal collections management policy. The chapter proposes a regime to guide museums in dealing with their collections.

Integrating Online Tools to Motivate Young English Language Learners to Practice English Outside the Classroom

2012 ◽  
pp. 184-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelly Sanchez Terrell
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Older Learners ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Online Tools ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Web Space ◽  
Listening And Speaking

Recent research shows that online tools such as: games, wikis, speaking avatars, and interactive stories can be a positive force for English Language Learners (ELLs). It also shows that when ELLs have access to online tools, they are motivated to practice English outside the classroom (Aydin, 2007; Colombo & Colombo, 2007; Son, 2007). Most of this research is undertaken with older learners. This case study attempts to determine if young learners are motivated to practice English outside the classroom if provided with access to various online tools managed via a wiki. A wiki is a free educational web space, which allows a number of people to work together collaboratively on documents with embedded elements and linking. The teacher interviewed parents and kept observational notes. The study results suggest that the online tools improve the listening and speaking skills of young learners.

A statute is divided into: Vocabulary • sections; Repeal— abolition of all or part of a • sub-sections; previous statute. • paragraphs; Amend— changing part of a previous • sub-paragraphs; statute. • Parts; • Schedules (at the end). Parliament can enact laws about anything—but a law may prove impossible to enforce. Legend records that one particular King of England, Canute, was humbled when he attempted to demonstrate his sovereign power by seating his throne on the beach and ordering the tide not to come in! For come in it did, much to his embarrassment. When approaching a statute as a new law student the most difficult task is understanding, at a basic macro- (wide) level, what the statute as a whole is striving to do and at the micro- (narrow) level what each section is saying. As proficiency is gained in handling statutory rules it will be found that it is not usually necessary to deal with the entire statute. The overall statute can be briefly contextualised and only relevant sections need to be extracted for detailed consideration, analysis, or application. However, ‘sections’, those micro-elements of statutes, will be all the more confidently analysed because, at any given moment, it is known how to relate any aspect of the statute to its general layout. Often, initial understanding eludes the law student. Doubts concerning the meaning of parts of the statute do not occur at the level of sophisticated analysis. They occur at the basic level of combining English language skills and legal skills to obtain foundational understanding. If doubts remain at this level, there can be no possibility of attaining sophisticated analysis! 3.4.4 Case study: breaking into statutes 3.4.4.1 Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 To explore methods of breaking into statutes and understanding statutes at the macro- and micro-level the rest of this chapter will deal with a real statute, the Unfair Contract Terms Act (UCTA) 1977. Figure 3.10, below, builds on the abstract general layout of Figure 3.8, above, by customising it to fit UCTA 1977. This statute will continue to be used for demonstration purposes for the rest of the chapter. The full text of the statute can be found in Appendix 1. Study Figure 3.10, below, carefully. Note which parts are linked and which are not by following the lines and arrows. Reading the summarised headings constructs a basic overview of what the statute is about. Before considering how to break into statutory language in such a way as to be able to confidently précis whole sections for the purposes of such a layout, it is important to study the layout until it is familiar and comprehensible. There are no shortcuts; this takes time.

2012 ◽  
pp. 58-59
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Detailed Consideration ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
To Come ◽  
Law Student ◽  
Micro Elements ◽  
Basic Level ◽  
Sophisticated Analysis

A Boolean Analysis of Structural and Organizational Determinants of Equality and Efficiency Balance in Higher Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 791-821
Author(s):  
Reza Hemmati ◽  
Rasoul Abbasi Taghidizaj
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Past ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Organizational Determinants

Abstract Efficiency and equality are both important goals and values in higher education, and their concurrency (balance) has been one of the main concerns of higher education scholars and policy makers over the past decades. The aim of the present study is to discover the causal mechanism and contextual factors that are likely to result in concurrency of equality and efficiency in higher education. To this end, the combination of two explanatory theories of equality and efficiency were used. The theory of equality focused on three dimensions of equal opportunities, modernization, and cultural differences. Likewise, to explain efficiency, Chalabi’s three-level causal model of sustainable production of science was used. Methodologically, a multiple case study method was adopted, and the cases under study (nine countries) were selected based on purposive sampling. The findings showed that for the concurrency of equality and efficiency in higher education, a set of conditions must be present in the configurational and combinational causality. The preconditions for this concurrency is the presence of some social conditions such as productive economy, the rule of law, inter-societies competitiveness, social cohesion, democracy, universalism, egalitarianism (at macro level), meritocracy, academic autonomy, and organizational competitiveness (at the meso level) and the absence of some other conditions including fatalism (at the macro level).

scholarly journals English language skills for disciplinary purposes: What practices are used to prepare student teachers?

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Nhlanhla Mpofu ◽  
Mncedisi C Maphalala
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Social Constructivism ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Academic Values ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
English Language Skills

In the study reported on in this article, we explored the preparation practices used to prepare student teachers to use English language skills in disciplinary content teaching. Despite studies which emphasise generic academic literacy where language is a subset of this field discourse, there is a dearth of research studies on the use of English in the specific context of disciplines in initial teacher education (ITE), which is addressed here. Guided by social constructivism, we collected data from 102 purposively selected student teachers from 3 universities. A qualitative multiple case study design was used as the methodological tool, and data from focus group discussions and document analysis were collected, documented and analysed. The results of the analysis show that the student teachers were prepared using structured and unstructured English Across the Curriculum (EAC) pedagogical activities. Structured activities are content oriented learning processes that are largely rigid and prescriptive, while unstructured activities are rooted in the academic values and identity that are held in the institution. Although drawn from a relatively small sample, these findings may assist ITE institutions to develop a curriculum that attends to multiple strategies for developing student teachers’ strategic competence in EAC.

scholarly journals Language Difficulties Faced by Saudi Diploma Students at King Abdulaziz University: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amal Ibrahim Shousha
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
English Language ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Language Difficulties ◽  
King Abdulaziz University ◽  
Diploma Program ◽  
Listening And Speaking ◽  
Interesting Reading

This study aimed to explore the language difficulties faced by English diploma students and provide solutions to overcome them. The data collected in the form of a questionnaire administered to 39 female students were compared in percentages for closed – ended questions and thematically for open-ended ones. Results showed that diploma students struggled with listening, speaking and reading’s higher cognitive skills such as guessing the meaning from context and reading between the lines. In addition, tenses, question formations, and reported speech were the most difficult grammatical points for them. These challenges were attributed to the institutional, dispositional, situational, academic, and pedagogical barriers faced by students as adult learners resulting mainly from the students’ study gaps and their lack of contact with the English language. Solutions included the use of more varied activities and up -to -date interesting reading passages, more practice of listening and speaking inside and outside classrooms, and having a placement test before joining the diploma program.

scholarly journals EXPLORING REASONS BEHIND JOINING ENGLISH LANGUAGE CENTERS (ELC): A CASE STUDY OF PASHTO SPEAKING UNDERGRADUATES IN QUETTA CITY

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zainab Akram, Hina Arfeen, Khadija Karim
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Expanding Circle ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Multiple Case Studies ◽  
Spss Software ◽  
Good Environment ◽  
Instrumental Reasons

English language centers prove to be very helpful in being one of the major contributors of English language learning in expanding circle countries of concentric model introduced by Kachru (1989). This study undertakes the theory presented by Stephen Kreshan (1981, 1982) “monitor model” which is basically amalgamation of five hypotheses. This very endeavor was done through quantitative mode of inquiry utilizing survey questionnaire as an instrument for data collection. Total population was Pashto speaker students of Quetta city and sample size comprised of 100 undergraduates, particularly, the Pashto speakers, from Quetta city. Collected data was analyzed through SPSS software. The Findings show various reasons behind students joining English language centers. Some of them include good environment of ELC, along with several academic, personal, and instrumental reasons. It is recommended that in future the research could be expanded to multiple case studies comprising Pashto speakers and multilingual, longitudinal research and comparative study between teaching English at school and language centers.   

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