scholarly journals College Students’ Possible L2 Self Development in an EFL Context during the Transition Year

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhan ◽  
Zhi Hong Wan
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Language Learning Motivation ◽  
Self Development ◽  
English Major ◽  
Cyclical Process ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Journal Entries ◽  
Academic Year

<p>In the field of second language learning motivation, the studies on process-oriented nature of possible L2 selves are scarce. In order to address this research gap, this study explored how a group of five Chinese non-English-major undergraduates developed their possible L2 selves during the transition year from high school to university. The content analysis of 4 focus group interviews, 202 journal entries, and 50 post-diary interviews show that in the first academic year, the five participants experienced a four-stage cyclical process of developing their possible L2 selves, namely, (a) generating multiple possible L2 selves, (b) selecting a possible L2 self to pursue, (c) realizing the selected possible L2 self, and (d) incorporating the realized possible L2 self into the present self scheme. More specifically, the selected possible L2 self was realized through elaboration of relevant imagination and alignment with a larger community. The study has enriched our understanding of the mechanism of possible L2 self development and shed light on motivating undergraduates to learn English in an EFL context.</p>

scholarly journals Pre-Service Social Studies Teachers’ Views About Teacher Training (Focus Group Interviews)

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 204
Author(s):  
Selçuk İlgaz
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Focus Group Interview ◽  
Social Studies Teachers ◽  
Professional Experience ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Interview Technique ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Academic Year

The purpose of this study is to reveal the pre-service social studies teachers’ opinions about teacher training. This study is carried out via qualitative research method. The study group consisted of 6 4th year students studying in the department of social studies teaching in Kazım Karabekir Education Faculty of Ataturk University in 2018-2019 academic year. The data obtained with focus group interview technique was analysed via content analysis.Considering the results, the pre-service teachers argued that the purposes of the education faculties were to graduate students or only tell subjects based on memorization. According to the pre-service teachers, education faculties generally fail in teacher training. They stated that only existing applied courses would make contributions to their professional experience. In addition to this, they mentioned focusing more attention on practices and stated that the training practices should be increased. They determined that the courses in social studies program should be redesigned according to their functionality.

scholarly journals LANGUAGE CAMP IN MALAYSIA: ASNAF STUDENTS’ NEEDS AND PERCEPTION

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-295
Author(s):  
Nur Yasmin Khairani Binti Zakaria ◽  
Maslawati Mohamad ◽  
Fazilah Idris
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Learning ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Addie Model

Purpose of the study: This study aims to identify Asnaf students’ needs in language learning and their perception of the implementation of the language camp module that had been developed by researchers using the ADDIE model Methodology: In-depth analysis of focus group interviews with Asnaf students was conducted, and the data obtained were analysed thematically according to several categories Main Findings and Novelty: The findings of this study revealed that students believed that their anxiety was lowered when they were given the opportunity to cooperate with their friends in a fully immersive and fun English language learning context Applications of this study: The modules and the findings of this study could be used by any English language educators to conduct English language camps especially to Asnaf children who stay in charity homes.

scholarly journals Language Learning in Outdoor Environments: Perspectives of preschool staff

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Norling ◽  
Anette Sandberg
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Verbal Language ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Outdoor Environments ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
Preschool Staff

Language environment is highlighted as an important area in the early childhood education sector. The term language environment refers to language-promoting aspects of education, such as preschool staff’s use of verbal language in interacting with the children. There is a lack of research about language learning in outdoor environments; thus children’s language learning is mostly based on the indoor physical environment. The aim of this study is therefore to explore, analyse, and describe how preschool staff perceive language learning in outdoor environments. The data consists of focus-group interviews with 165 preschool staff members, conducted in three cities in Sweden. The study is meaningful, thus results contribute knowledge regarding preschool staffs’ understandings of language learning in outdoor environments and develop insights to help preschool staff stimulate children’s language learning in outdoor environments.

scholarly journals English Language Student-Teachers Developing Agency Through Community-Based Pedagogy Projects

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilson Hernández Varona ◽  
Daniel Felipe Gutiérrez Álvarez
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Narrative Inquiry ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Public University ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Journal Entries

This paper presents a narrative inquiry study on agency development in student-teachers of an English language teacher program at a public university in the south of Colombia. Our goal was to understand how student-teachers develop agency when narratively inquiring their community by planning and conducting community-based pedagogy projects on issues they found pertinent to investigate. The data were gathered through semi-structured focus group interviews, individual journal entries, and video-recorded talks about their inquiries. As a conclusion, we acknowledge that certain social and narrative practices such as interacting within their inquiry groups, interacting with their communities, voicing their communities’ necessities, and acting upon the inquired necessities facilitated developing agency and contributed to rethinking their roles as transformative members of their communities.

scholarly journals An Investigation into the Role of Tablet Devices in Facilitating Collaborative Learning in EFL Language Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (04) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haifa Albadry
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Tablet Devices ◽  
Log Files ◽  
Collaborative Interaction ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Potential Use

The following paper outlines research concerning the ways in which learners use tablet devices, namely the iPad device, to learn English both in and outside of the classroom and how students’ interdependence and collaborative learning may be fostered by such an approach. The study comprised of 21 Saudi university students at Dammam University, who were provided with the iPad device over a 12-week period. The potential use of the device as a mediating learning tool, in order to develop students’ collaboration and interaction, is discussed with reference to data compiled from students’ learning diaries, focus group interviews, and online log files. The results suggest tablet devices aid learning by providing meaningful opportunities to use the target language in context and encouraging collaborative interaction. The findings also indicate that various types of teacher support, as well as interaction with the teacher and other students, remain necessary alongside tablet-assisted language learning.

Chinese Participation in Adventure Tourism

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 496-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Gardiner ◽  
Anna Kwek
Keyword(s):  
Generation Y ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Consumer Decision Making ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Physical Ability ◽  
Adventure Tourism ◽  
Self Development ◽  
Group Interviews

This study explores Chinese Generation Y’s perceptions of adventure tourism experiences and their reasoning in deciding to participate. Focus group interviews reveal that Chinese youths have a unique generational sociocultural perception of participation in adventure activities. Much like their Western counterparts, members of China’s Generation Y want to experience the freedom of international travel that enables self-development and maturity, but they also have a strong sense of familial obligation and distinctive cultural beliefs that underpin their consumer decision making. Safety concerns of both the young people and their parents, along with self-efficacy beliefs regarding their physical ability to participate in the experience, can also reduce their likelihood of participation in adventure activities that they consider to be too risky or physically challenging. The study emphasizes that the design and marketing of adventure experiences must consider the unique Chinese generational psychology of this cohort and has implications for practice and future research.

scholarly journals Enacting Agency and Valuing Rural Identity by Exploring Local Communities in the English Class

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-142
Author(s):  
Lucelly Paredes-Mendez ◽  
Ingrid Alexandra Troncoso-Rodriguez ◽  
Sandra Patricia Lastra-Ramirez
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Rural Identity ◽  
English Class ◽  
Group Interviews

This article reports on an action research study about the exploration of local communities to enact agency and value rural identity. Thirty-three students from a rural public school in Colombia participated in the study. Our aim was to examine ways in which students enacted agency as a result of participating in local community inquiry to realize the predominant value of their identity as farmers. Data were gathered through a focus group, interviews, students’ artifacts, and teacher journals. Results showed that when communities are linked with classroom practices and foreign language learning, English becomes a vehicle to explore their places, who they are as members of the community, and how to promote decision making to help others.

Students’ Perceptions of Video-based Tasks in the “American English File” Series: a Survey at People’s Security University

2022 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-144
Author(s):  
Huu Ngoc Nguyen ◽  
Thi Lam Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Survey Design ◽  
American English ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Main Research ◽  
English Major ◽  
Student Volunteers ◽  
Listening Ability ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
File Series

This study was a survey design conducted with the aim of exploring non-English major students' perceptions of video-based tasks in listening classes. The data were collected both quantitatively and qualitatively through two main research tools, namely Likert-scale questionnaires and semi-structured focus group interviews respectively. First, quantitative data was collected through the questionnaires delivered to 86 non-English major students with the use of Google forms to investigate how they perceive video-based tasks in the AEF series in terms of three components, namely Goals, Input, and Procedures. Then, qualitative data, which was gathered from two focus groups of student volunteers, was used to confirm and supplement the findings from the first tool. It was then discovered that the student participants' responses to the video-based tasks in American English File (AEF) series are generally positive. Moreover, students can improve their listening ability, have more motivation in listening lessons as well as better acquire real-life input from the videos.

scholarly journals Promoting Writing Competence and Positive Attitudes among College Students in a CLIL English Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sulaiman Alrabah ◽  
Shu-hua Wu
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Microsoft Excel ◽  
Category System ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Writing Competence ◽  
Academic Year

The study targeted a group of 27 students at a college in Kuwait who were enrolled in a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) English course during the academic year 2015-2016. The purpose of the study was to monitor students’ assessments of their writing competence in English and to measure their attitudes toward the CLIL course. Data collection utilized a total of five focus-group interviews with the students which were recorded and transcribed, and a category system was generated to describe the commonalities in the participants’ responses. Additionally, an online survey using Google Forms was based on the categories delineated from the interview data. The Microsoft Excel program was used for counting the means, standard deviations, and percentages for each of the survey items. The results of the study indicated that the majority of the students (80%) thought that the CLIL course enhanced their writing competence both within and beyond the sentence level. Writing skills within the sentence level included the accurate use of punctuation marks and capitalization rules. Writing skills beyond the sentence level included paragraph organization, use of proper transition words, and writing cause-and-effect paragraphs. Approximately 20% of the students did not think CLIL improved their writing competence beyond the sentence level. Furthermore, the students displayed highly positive attitudes toward all aspects of the CLIL course. Implications were drawn for specialized teacher training to cope with the demands of CLIL courses, and longitudinal studies to track students’ development of writing competence over time.

scholarly journals Autonomous Language Learning: Bangladeshi Undergraduates' Attitudes and Perceptions

BELTA Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-142
Author(s):  
Iram Mehrin
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Independent Learning ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Survey Questionnaire ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Educational Culture ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Attitudes And Perceptions ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Learning Data

Development in learner centered approaches in education has brought with it the significant notion of ‘learner autonomy’ which refers to the readiness of learners to be responsible for their own learning. However, this is an issue which is not independent of educational culture and context as context and culture construct the site within which the whole learning process takes place. Since autonomy depends on learners’ readiness to take charge of their own learning, it is dependent, to a large extent, on learners’ attitudes and perceptions of autonomy. These attitudes and perceptions, in turn, are shaped by the context and culture where learners live. Therefore, in any given context, it is necessary to assess the level of learners’ autonomy to predict the success or failure of a learner centered approach. This paper investigated tertiary level Bangladeshi learners’ attitudes and perceptions towards autonomous or independent learning. Data were collected from eighty undergraduates of the Department of English, University of Dhaka, using a survey questionnaire and focus-group interviews. The findings of the study revealed that learners share a highly teacher-dependent attitude and they perceive autonomous learning helpful only when there is a teacher to assist and guide them.

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