Secondary students' English language learning beliefs and oral proficiency : a Hong Kong case study

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheung-oi, Gary Yuen
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Cigdem Hursen

From the Editors Huseyin Uzunboylu, Cigdem Hursen Dear Colleagues It is a great honour for us to welcome you as Editors of Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences which has accepted publications indexed in qualified databases since 2006. Our main aim is to increase the quality of the journal day by day. We are ready to publish the new issue of Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences which has 5 articles written by authors from Cyprus, Portugal and Turkey.   The aim of this issue is to give the researchers an opportunity to share their academic studies. First of all, I would like to thank all authors who have contributed to this issue. There are different focuses in the articles. For example, Sibel Ersel Kaymakamoğlu aimed to explore the English language learning beliefs of the students studying in the Guidance and Counseling Department at one of the Universities in Northern Cyprus. It also explored if the participants’ perceptions about English language learning showed differences according to gender and age. The findings revealed significant differences between the male and female participants’ perceptions about English language learning beliefs. On the other hand, İshak Kozikoğlu aim of this research is to analyze the studies concerning challenges faced by novice teachers in terms of various aspects and compare challenges according to location of the studies conducted in Turkey and abroad. Another study conducted by Fernando Almeida. They describe the experience of using a serious game in the entrepreneurship field in the context of the classroom. For that, they adopt a quantitative research technique based on a survey research to measure the different characteristics experienced by higher education students when using serious games in the classroom to learn entrepreneurship. The students have multidisciplinary competences, coming from courses with strong emphasis in the area of management and technology. The use of the serious game allowed students to develop skills mainly in terms of innovation, leadership, strategic thinking, problem solving, business launch and risk management. Also, Belkıs Tekmen aim of this study is to review and discuss some of these components of preschool teacher education in the Turkish context such as the student selection policy, faculty development, recruitment policies and competencies of the graduates. Finally, Huseyin Bicen and Senay Kocakoyun aimed to determine the opinions of students who participated in the development and application process of an Android application named NEU-CEIT about the mobile learning environment, educational and sharing structure of the developed application. According to the results, it was revealed that outcomes related with the usage structure of the developed application were positive, educational structure of the application is appropriate to follow the curriculum, it is rich in terms of materials and it might be one of the applications that students can use for communication. I would like to express my thanks to all authors preferring Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences to publish their articles, and also all reviewers working seriously in this process.  Best regards, Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. Huseyin Uzunboylu Executive Editor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cigdem Hursen


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sibel Ersel Kaymakamoglu

Abstract Since contemporary views of learning and teaching place learners in the center of learning process, most of the researchers and practitioners have directed their attention to understanding what goes on in the mind of the learners during the process of learning and teaching. In the area of English language learning and teaching this perspective have also been adopted and for more than three decades one of the main concerns of the researchers and practitioners have been on exploring the factors influencing the language learners in the learning and teaching process. ‘Learner beliefs’ have been identified as one of the main the sources of learners’ actions and decisions in this process. Therefore, in this study the researcher aimed to explore the English language learning beliefs of the students studying in the Guidance and Counseling Department at one of the Universities in Northern Cyprus. It also investigated whether there were any differences in the student teachers’ perceptions about English language learning regarding gender and age. 132 first year student teachers studying in the Department of Guidance and Counseling Department at a University in North Cyprus were the participants of the study. 65 female and 67 male student teachers participated in this investigation. In order to collect data about the student teachers’ perceptions regarding English language learning “English Language Learning Beliefs Inventory (BALLI)” version 2 (Horwitz, 2013) was utilized. The questionnaire consisted of 44 items and the participants replied to each item according to the 5-point Likert Scale. The findings revealed that there were significant differences between the male and female participants’ perceptions about English language learning beliefs. The participant student teachers’ perceptions about language learning beliefs differed significantly in relation to age. Key words: Learner beliefs, gender, age, learning and teaching.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 219
Author(s):  
Khaleel Bader Al Bataineh

English language learning beliefs play a key role in the language learning process, especially among EFL (English as a foreign language) learners. This study seeks to clarify English learning beliefs among EFL students in Jordan, and to examine whether female and male learners differ in these beliefs. Horwitz’s (1987) Language Learning Beliefs Inventory (BALLI) was adapted to gather relevant data from 83 English major participants at a private university during regular classes. Frequency analysis and T-tests were then performed utilizing SPSS. The findings demonstrate that while Jordanian students are not sure about language difficulty, they are highly enthusiastic about learning the English language. Furthermore, female and male students only had significantly different results in two aspects of BALLI: 1) motivation and expectations and 2) difficulty of language learning. Hopefully, the results will provide constructive insights to lecturers concerning students’ beliefs about learning English, which will help improve the English-learning process in Jordanian universities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wachyu Sundayana ◽  
Panusak Meekaeo ◽  
Pupung Purnawarman ◽  
Didi Sukyadi

Washback refers to influences of testing on teaching and learning. In Thailand and Indonesia, washback of the Ordinary National Educational Test (O-NET) and Ujian Nasional (UN) inevitably occurs on teaching and learning in classrooms at every level. This present study aims to explore and compare the washback effects of the O-NET and UN on English language learning as perceived by Thai and Indonesian ninth-grade students. It is a multi-case study (Thailand case and Indonesia case) by using triangulation design as the research design. The questionnaires concerning washback effects of national exams on English language learning were distributed to 200 ninth-graders in the two cases. In addition, six students from each case were interviewed. The results reveal that in both cases, the participants focus to learn on contents and skills that were likely to appear in the national exams. The participants learned English harder to perform well in the tests rather than to improve their English ability. Moreover, the students had high anxiety during the test preparations and feared for low O-NET and UN scores. The results of the study contribute to future washback study and improvement of English language teaching and learning at ninth-grade in Thailand and Indonesia.


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