Utilizing Computer-Assisted Vocabulary Learning Tools in English Language Teaching

Author(s):  
Marwa Alnajjar ◽  
Billy Brick

This study explores five in-service teachers' perceptions with regards to the technical and pedagogical usability of digital flashcards in English language teaching. All the teachers were enrolled in a one-year Masters of Art in English Language Teaching program at Coventry University and had previous teaching experience ranging from elementary to university level. The study adopted a quan?QUAL mixed-method research design, combining elements of surveys and case studies, to examine the factors that affected the teachers' perceptions in addition to how they view three specific websites: Cram, Quizlet, and StudyStack. Participants explored these websites and created sets of flashcards in a computer lab, then completed a survey and participated in a focus group interview. Findings suggest that although the teachers were willing to integrate digital flashcards in their future teaching, it is dependent on several factors, including: learners' age, the quality of graphics in the websites, and the teachers' prior experience as students on their MA program. Nonetheless, the “wow” factor seemed to influence their perceptions of the usability of these websites, which can either be extreme positive or negative initial reactions as a result of the websites' presentational scheme.

Author(s):  
Marwa Alnajjar ◽  
Billy Brick

This study explores five in-service teachers' perceptions with regards to the technical and pedagogical usability of digital flashcards in English language teaching. All the teachers were enrolled in a one-year Masters of Art in English Language Teaching program at Coventry University and had previous teaching experience ranging from elementary to university level. The study adopted a quan→QUAL mixed-method research design, combining elements of surveys and case studies, to examine the factors that affected the teachers' perceptions in addition to how they view three specific websites: Cram, Quizlet, and StudyStack. Participants explored these websites and created sets of flashcards in a computer lab, then completed a survey and participated in a focus group interview. Findings suggest that although the teachers were willing to integrate digital flashcards in their future teaching, it is dependent on several factors, including: learners' age, the quality of graphics in the websites, and the teachers' prior experience as students on their MA program. Nonetheless, the “wow” factor seemed to influence their perceptions of the usability of these websites, which can either be extreme positive or negative initial reactions as a result of the websites' presentational scheme.


1970 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bal Ram Adhikari

Fluency-first approaches such as Communicative Language Teaching and Task-based Language Teaching aim at the development of communicative competence in students by engaging them in meaningful interaction. Ability to speak accurate, appropriate and effective English is vital for meaningful interaction that ensures students' communicative competence in English. Unfortunately, in the Nepalese context, especially in government-aided schools and constituent colleges of Tribhuvan University (TU), speaking skill lies on the periphery of English Language Teaching (ELT) owing to several factors. This article attempts to explore those factors that have been a hindrance in developing speaking skill in Nepalese students in general and the students from the above-mentioned institutions in particular. This article draws on the author's experience as a supervisor of student teachers from B.Ed. and M.Ed. programmes and his teaching experience at a constituent campus of TU. Moreover, the article presents some suggestions that can help English teachers to overcome the hindrances.Key words: Speaking skill; Interaction; Teacher-fronted teaching; Learner-centered activitiesJournal of NELTA Vol. 15 No. 1-2 December 2010Page: 1-9Uploaded date: 3 May, 2011DOI: 10.3126/nelta.v15i1-2.4602


2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882093881
Author(s):  
Ian Moodie

Despite its attention in the field of education, occupational commitment has received little attention in language teaching research. To address this gap, the study generates an occupational commitment profile of expatriate English language teachers and investigates how commitment relates to their age, sex, teaching experience, and qualifications. Eighty-two native English-speaking teachers at a private university in South Korea participated in the study by completing a survey measuring their affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the profession of English language teaching (ELT) and to their workplace. The descriptive results indicated that the sample had high affective commitment to the profession of ELT but low overall commitment to their organization. Results from MANCOVA, which controlled for the covariates of age and sex, indicated that respondents with teacher qualifications from their home countries tended to have higher levels of affective and normative commitment to the profession of ELT and to their workplace than respondents without teacher qualifications. However, no differences in commitment were found between respondents with ELT qualifications and respondents without ELT qualifications, nor were any differences found in commitment associated with ELT experience. Because affective-normative dominant profiles are associated with better workplace outcomes, such as effort given to an organization and lower turnover intentions, further consideration of this finding should be of high priority in language teacher commitment research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Aydınlı ◽  
Deniz Ortaçtepe

In this state-of-the-art review, we aim to build on Alptekin & Tatar's (2011) article covering research conducted in Turkey between 2005 and 2009, and survey published research in 31 Turkey-based journals between 2010 and 2016. As the second review paper on Turkey's English language teaching (ELT) agenda, our goal is twofold: first, to introduce the research of those researchers whose high-quality, Turkey-based work may not be known outside Turkish academia; and second, to point to recent scholarly developments that have occurred in Turkey and set these in the context of recent shifts in language teaching research worldwide. This paper presents approximately 140 articles that appeared in locally published peer-reviewed academic journals, and clearly demonstrates that Turkey as an English as a foreign language (EFL) context presents a vibrant research scene in language teaching. The reviewed works cover a wide spectrum of timely topics (e.g., computer-assisted language learning (CALL), the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL), language assessment, affective factors), and present findings that have much to contribute to current discussions in the field. Nevertheless, our review also reveals some concerning trends, including an almost exclusive emphasis on practical concerns over conceptual development; shortcomings in locating research within broader disciplinary debates; and few efforts to bring together and build on local research in a manner that might allow for original and creative influences on the broader discipline. It is therefore the further aim of this article to spark debates on these issues among Turkish scholars and contribute to the strengthening of the local disciplinary community.


Author(s):  
Babak Dadvand ◽  
Foad Behzadpoor

Pedagogical knowledge has been the subject of theoretical and empirical studies. However, no research has so far integrated the existing scholarship with data to develop and validate a framework for pedagogical knowledge in English language teaching informed by lifelong-learning, complex-system perspectives. In the absence of such research, we used a mixed method research design through a systematic review of the literature, semi-structured interviews with experienced teachers (N=10) and teacher educators (N=10), as well as a survey of 336 practising teachers in Iran to: (1) develop a framework for pedagogical knowledge; and (2) validate this framework by designing a self-assessment questionnaire for pedagogical knowledge. Our analyses yielded a nine-component model that included: knowledge of subject matter; knowledge of teaching; knowledge of students; knowledge of classroom management; knowledge of educational context; knowledge of democracy, equity and diversity; knowledge of tests/exams; knowledge of learning; and knowledge of (professional) self. Within this nine-factor framework, each component of pedagogical knowledge consists of a number of subcomponents. The proposed framework highlights the multidimensionality and complexity of pedagogical knowledge, and the mutually constitutive relationships among different knowledge domains.


Author(s):  
Andi Marwan

This paper highlights the findings of a study which was undertaken at a vocational higher institution in Indonesia. The aim of the study was to explore English teachers' perceptions about their English language teaching (ELT) in this institution. Activity theory (AT) was employed as the framework for guiding the study owing to the fact that its focus was on the identification of contradictions occurring in the activity system. From AT analysis, several contradictions could be located within the context of ELT in this institution. Recommendations for the improvement of ELT in this particular institution were also provided.


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