scholarly journals Calling the Bluff: A Critique of English-language Literary Curriculum in the Slovene Secondary Education

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 53-85
Author(s):  
Sašo Podobnik
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
English Language ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Additional Training ◽  
English Curriculum ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Current State ◽  
State Of Affairs

Literature has enjoyed a long and colourful tradition as a part of the English curriculum in Slovene secondary education. After almost half a century of excerpt-based literary curriculum, the reform of 1994 established a holistic study of English-language literary works with advanced-level Matura testing as an integral part of the new paradigm. The reform proved ill-conceived: the students' proficiency level was overestimated, the teachers did not receive additional training, and there proved to be incompatibilities with the Slovene literary curriculum. Over the years, these shortcomings have not been addressed; moreover, there was a turn for the worse in certain areas. As a response to the current state of affairs, certain potential modifications and changes to the programme are reviewed, including the discontinuation of English literary curriculum in Slovene secondary schools.

scholarly journals Relationship between Teachers’ Competency Level in Teaching English Language and Students’ English Language Proficiency in Secondary Schools in Rwanda

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 104-122
Author(s):  
Girimbabazi Serge ◽  
◽  
Mrs Adegoke Oyebimpe ◽  
Dr. Hesbon Opiyo Andala ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
English Language Teachers

The improvement of students’ English proficiency depends on the level of teaching English language and the competency of teachers in teaching career. The purpose of this study therefore, was to investigate the relationship between teachers’ competency in English language and students’ English language proficiency within secondary schools of Karongi in Rwanda. The study adopted correlation research design research design. Data collection tools were questionnaire and interview guide. The target population was 1794 people comprised of 1560 students, 14 Sector Education Officers, 20 Head Teachers, 200 teachers. A simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to get a sample size of 395 respondents. The study findings revealed that majority of the students with a total of 290 (91.2%) agreed that in their school, teachers are not competent enough in English language. Moreover, almost 292 (91.8%) of the respondents agreed that in their school, students English reading, writing, listening and speaking proficiency level is low and 70 (90.9%) of key informants agreed that both in public and private secondary schools of Karongi District, students’ English language proficiency level in reading, writing, speaking and listening is low. The correlation results showed the association between between teachers’ inability to teach in English, teachers’ inability to read classroom interactions in English language, teachers’ incompetency in English language, teachers’ inability to express themselves in English language as well as teachers’ inability to develop English language educational materials) and dependent variables (students’ reading, writing, speaking and listening English language proficiency and students’ English language proficiency (reading, writing, speaking and listening English proficiency) is positive. The study recommended the Ministry of Education through Rwanda Basic Education Board to avail enough English teaching and learning materials, including charts, textbooks and dictionaries which are adequate in enhancing English language proficiency mastery among students at an early age. All stakeholders of the education sector are recommended to support English teaching and learning activities in Rwanda, as it is the only and one shortcut for making Rwandans master the English language. Keywords: Teachers’ competency, English Language, English proficiency, Rwanda

Introspection

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-215
Author(s):  
Artem P. Besedin ◽  
Dmitry B. Volkov ◽  
Anton V. Kuznetsov ◽  
Evgeny V. Loginov ◽  
Andrey V. Mertsalov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Mind ◽  
Summer School ◽  
English Language ◽  
Conscious State ◽  
Consciousness Studies ◽  
Current State ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Transparency Of Experience ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Representative System

The article is a review of the philosophical problems of introspection as a method of cognition that are actively discussed in the contemporary analytic philosophy of mind. The article is the result of discussions that were held during the Summer School “Consciousness and Introspection” organized in July 2020 by the Moscow Center for Consciousness Studies and led by Professor D. Stoljar, one of the top experts in this field. The purpose of the article is to describe to readers the current state of affairs in the English language research in this area. Modern theories of introspection have been formed as a result of discussions in the philosophy of mind and epistemology in the XX century. One of them is S. Shoemaker’s critique of the perceptual model of introspection and the related problem of self-blindness. Another topic is the transparency of experience (G.E. Moore, G. Evans). Finally, D. Dretske offered an influential critique of introspection in general. The discussion of these topics led to the arising of various modern theories: rationalistic (A. Byrne, D. Stoljar), acquaintance theories (B. Gertler, D. Chalmers), constitutive (S. Shoemaker), simple (D. Smithies), and others. An important area in which introspection finds their application is the philosophy of consciousness. The article considers the thesis of revelation, according to which the conscious state reveals its essence in introspection: the relation of this thesis to folk psychology is analyzed (D. Lewis, D. Stoljar), arguments against physicalism based on it are considered (P. Goff). Finally, the authors consider illusionist approaches to introspection based on the understanding of introspection as a representative system (D. Dennett, K. Frankish). Proponents of these approaches suggest the most acute criticism of introspection, pointing out its unreliability as a method of cognition, and, accordingly, the inapplicability of introspection in the philosophy of consciousness. Objections to this position are represented by M. Nida-Rumelin. This work does not pretend to consider all the existing theories of introspection and related problems. However, this review can give an idea of the main positions and problems in this area and assess the prospects for its development.

scholarly journals Integrating corpus work into secondary education: From data-driven learning to needs-driven corpora

ReCALL ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Braun
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Language Classes

AbstractThis paper reports on an empirical case study conducted to investigate the overall conditions and challenges of integrating corpus materials and corpus-based learning activities into English-language classes at a secondary school in Germany. Starting from the observation that in spite of the large amount of research into corpus-based language learning, hands-on work with corpora has remained an exception in secondary schools, the paper starts by outlining a set of pedagogical requirements for corpus integration and the approach which has formed the basis for designing the case study. Then the findings of the study are reported and discussed. As a result of the methodological challenges identified in the study, the author argues for a move from ‘data-driven learning’ to needs-driven corpora, corpus activities and corpus methodologies.

scholarly journals World Englishes and English Language Teaching: A pragmatic and humanistic approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subrata Kumar Bhowmik
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Current State ◽  
Teaching Goals ◽  
Humanistic Approach ◽  
State Of Affairs

Seidlhofer (2005) describes the current status of English as an “unstable equilibrium.” In many ways this analogy regarding the current state of affairs with English language teaching (ELT) is appropriate. Taking World Englishes (WE) perspectives, this paper presents various mismatches between teaching goals and objectives vis-à-vis the teaching and learning outcomes in ELT. The paper then makes the argument that in order for more successful English language teaching and learning to take place a pragmatic and humanistic approach needs to be adopted. An outline of such an approach is discussed. 

scholarly journals Communicative Approach in the Five Curricula of English Subject for Secondary Schools: A Paradox in English Language Teaching in Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
HARITS MASDUQI ◽  
Novi Prihananto
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
National Level ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
English Curriculum ◽  
Communicative Approach ◽  
English Subject

The English curriculum implemented in the Indonesian secondary schools has undergone some development in the past few decades. The development is meant to ensure that the curriculum remains up to date with the development of English language teaching theories and practices in the world. This paper discusses the English curricula which were developed in 1984, 1994, 2004, and 2006 and critically analyses the communicative approach that has been implemented in Indonesian secondary schools. The newest 2013 curriculum is also discussed, but only superficially as the curriculum was just officially implemented at national level in the end of 2019. The writers finally offer some recommendations for future curriculum developers and government officials in order to improve English language teaching and learning in Indonesia.

scholarly journals An Exploration of Classroom Practices in Secondary Schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Mehnaz Tazeen Choudhury
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Teacher Beliefs ◽  
English Language ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Minimal Amount ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teacher Training Programs ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
State Of Affairs

This study was undertaken in the secondary schools of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Students from Bengali medium schools of Bangladesh do not achieve even a minimal amount of proficiency in English even after completing high school. Moreover, they are seen to remain teacher dependent even at tertiary level. Learner autonomy is seen as a crucial need of the time in the context of Bangladesh. Either classroom practices or teacher beliefs, or both are responsible for this state of affairs. Therefore, it became imperative to research to find out the classroom practices of English language teachers and see whether they were autonomy supportive. This was exploratory qualitative research, and the participants were class VII English language teachers from five government and non-government Bengali medium schools. Classroom observations and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. Findings of this study have implications for teacher training programs and how they need to be redesigned to bring about a change in teacher beliefs and approaches.

scholarly journals Communicative Approach in the Five Curricula of English Subject for Secondary Schools: A Paradox in English Language Teaching in Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
HARITS MASDUQI ◽  
NOVI PRIHANANTO
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
National Level ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
English Curriculum ◽  
Communicative Approach ◽  
English Subject

The English curriculum implemented in the Indonesian secondary schools has undergone some development in the past few decades. The development is meant to ensure that the curriculum remains up to date with the development of English language teaching theories and practices in the world. This paper discusses the English curricula which were developed in 1984, 1994, 2004, and 2006 and critically analyses the communicative approach that has been implemented in Indonesian secondary schools. The newest 2013 curriculum is also discussed, but only superficially as the curriculum was just officially implemented at national level in the end of 2019. The writers finally offer some recommendations for future curriculum developers and government officials in order to improve English language teaching and learning in Indonesia.

POST-COSMISM AND POST-HUMANISM: TWO STRATEGIES IN THE MOD-ERN PHILOSOPHY OF THE HUMAN

Chelovek RU ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 217-220
Author(s):  
Natalia Rostova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Exceptionalism ◽  
Current State ◽  
Human World ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Post Humanism

The article analyzes the current state of affairs in philosophy in relation to the question «What is hu-man?». In this regard, the author identifies two strategies – post-humanism and post-cosmism. The strat-egy of post-humanism is to deny the idea of human exceptionalism. Humanity becomes something that can be thought of out of touch with human and understood as a right that extends to the non-human world. Post-cosmism, on the contrary, advocated the idea of ontological otherness of the human. Re-sponding to the challenges of anthropological catastrophe, its representatives propose a number of new anthropological projects.

Can-Do descriptors – Realigning English Language Curriculum at Higher Education Institution to CEFR

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Erda Wati Bakar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
English Curriculum ◽  
The Common ◽  
The University

The Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) has become the standard used to describe and evaluate students’ command of a second or foreign language. It is an internationally acknowledged standard language proficiency framework which many countries have adopted such as China, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan. Malaysia Ministry of Education is aware and realise the need for the current English language curriculum to be validated as to reach the international standard as prescribed by the CEFR. The implementation of CEFR has begun at primary and secondary level since 2017 and now higher education institutions are urged to align their English Language Curriculum to CEFR as part of preparation in receiving students who have been taught using CEFR-aligned curriculum at schools by year 2022. This critical reflection article elucidates the meticulous processes that we have embarked on in re-aligning our English Language Curriculum to the standard and requirements of CEFR. The paper concludes with a remark that the alignment of the English curriculum at the university needs full support from the management in ensuring that all the stakeholders are fully prepared, informed and familiar with the framework.

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