scholarly journals Pre and Post Test Evaluations of Students in the Needs-Analysis Based EAP Course at Undergraduate Level

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 207
Author(s):  
Zohreh Nafissi ◽  
Fariba Rezaeipanah ◽  
Roya Monsefi
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Analysis Data ◽  
Needs Analysis ◽  
Entrance Examination ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test

Iran’s education system is exam-based and to gain admission to universities at undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels, candidates have to sit a competitive examination. For this reason, developing an EAP course which prepares the candidates for these examinations is of crucial importance. The present study attempted to develop an EAP course for the selected number of undergraduate students of Statistics at Alzahra University and Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. The aim was to prepare these students for the English language section of the entrance examination for MS degree in Statistics and then to determine if there was any significant difference between students’ performance in their pre and post tests. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied in this study and different instruments such as a questionnaire, semi-structured and structured interviews, and analysis of texts, were used to gather needs analysis data. The results indicated that the majority of participants preferred the presence of more ESP courses at universities. There was also a significant difference between pretest and posttest scores of the participants who took part in the EAP course.  

scholarly journals Exploring the present and target academic English language needs of Iranian undergraduate students: a case at the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-123
Author(s):  
Simin Sattarpour ◽  
Assef Khalili
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Needs Analysis ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Teachers And Students

Background: The content for courses for English for specific purposes (ESP) has been largely determined on the basis of the intuitive judgments and personal preferences of syllabus designers and teachers rather than a standard needs analysis. The present study was an attempt at assessing the current English language abilities of undergraduate students majoring in the medical sciences and identifying their target needs for academic success through quantitative and qualitative methods. Methods: The participants included 197 undergraduate students, 12 Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) teachers, and 15 content teachers from the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Data were collected through a target needs analysis, self-assessment questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. Results: Pronunciation, technical and general vocabulary knowledge, and use of bilingual dictionaries were regarded as ‘important’ and ‘very important’ target needs by the participants, though some significant differences in perceptions were found between content teachers and students. Writing skill, listening comprehension, and speaking were perceived as the weakest points in the students’ current level of ability. There was also a significant difference between the perception of TEFL teachers and students in assessing the students’ linguistic abilities. Furthermore, both students and TEFL teachers voiced their dissatisfaction with certain areas of ESP courses, such as an inadequate number of credits and heterogeneity of classes. Conclusion: To improve the outcome of ESP courses, they should be designed on the basis of a realistic appreciation of all stakeholders’ perceptions in the field, and they should be taught through the cooperation of both TEFL teachers and content teachers working together.

scholarly journals Observing the Effectiveness of Task Based Approach in Teaching Narrative Essay at a Private University

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
Hina Manzoor ◽  
Sahar Azhar ◽  
Fouzia Malik
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Private University ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Lexical Resource ◽  
Post Test

Writing is one of the most challenging skills of English language. Learners in Pakistan seem unable to master this skill even after years of using English as an official/second language. The focus of this research was to prove that within task-based learning (TBL) framework, language learners engage in purposeful, problem-oriented, and outcome-driven tasks that yield much better results as compared to traditional teaching methods which often fail to generate the desired output. The aim of this research was to prove that Task Based Approach is quite effective and successful in teaching narrative essay writing with an only disadvantage of time consumption. This study resorted to semi-structured interviews and post-test for data collection targeting the undergraduate students in Pakistan. This action research used purposive sampling and employed qualitative research design since the data comprised of both; final drafts of narrative essays and open-ended interviews. The data collected in the post-task phase i.e. the narrative essays were assessed via writing assessment rubrics presented in the IELTS guide for the teachers (2015). The bands were awarded on the basis of four parameters: task achievement, cohesion and coherence, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy. The results delineated that majority of students achieved 5 bands and an overall improvement was observed in the narrative writing skills of students. In the same stead, the students in interview presented the view that Task Based Approach was much more successful in teaching them narrative essay writing.

scholarly journals Effects of Extensive Reading on Thai Tertiary Students’ Reading Attitudes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Ketvalee Porkaew ◽  
Ariyadhorn Fongpaiboon
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Structure Interview ◽  
Reading Engagement ◽  
Extensive Reading ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Language Class ◽  
Significant Difference

An exposure to free choice of inspiring reading materials among Thai students has not been largely promoted in English language class, affecting negative language learning attitudes and development of a reading habit. This present study examined the effects of extensive reading (ER) on Thai university students. To measure their attitudes towards comfort, anxiety, intellectual value, practical value and linguistic value before and after 15-week extensive reading. 68 undergraduate students were asked to complete the 5-point Likert scale questionnaire of 23 items adopted from Yamashita (2013). A semi-structure interview was also employed. The results revealed students had positive feelings in which ER increased their comfort and decreased their anxiety at the significance level of 0.05. They also had positive beliefs about the intellectual benefits. However, the practical value that ER might bring advantages to students’ study or future career was lower in the posttest. There was no significant difference between the pretest and posttest in their beliefs about English language study benefits. Qualitative data from the semi-structured interviews showed that students satisfied with their own choice of reading preference. The findings suggested the use of ER approach in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes to increase students’ positive attitudes, decrease their negative ones towards reading, and develop good reading habits through their reading engagement.

scholarly journals The Efficacy of Syllabi of General English Courses at Undergraduate Level in Bangladesh: An Evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 979-989
Author(s):  
Amina Rashid ◽  
Md. Masud Rana
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Real Life Situation ◽  
Almost All

A good syllabus contributes to achieving better learning outcomes. Academic institutions often invest huge amounts in preparing the so-called 'panacea' of a syllabus hoping they could meet the demand of the highly competitive world. Now, however, educationists often get divided on what is instrumental to gaining a higher level of learning outcomes: Is it the quality of syllabus, or the kind of teaching approaches, or quality of teachers and learners, or good academic environment with a proper support system or a combination of all the above? While the academic process around the globe continues amidst these unresolved questions, teaching and learning English in Bangladeshi tertiary institutions for undergraduate students is no exception. Although almost all the students at undergraduate level take some sort of English language course like general English Language (GEL), or foundation English (FE) course, they fail to function when it comes to using the language in a real-life situation. This paper strives to trace out why the students cannot communicate in English properly even after 10 plus years of exposure to the language – 1/2 years at the tertiary level and 8 to 10 years at the primary and secondary levels. The research has adopted both quantitative and qualitative research methods and used two different questionnaires to collect data for the study. Delving into a thorough analysis of the existing syllabuses, the study contends that the syllabus cannot quite prepare the students to be able to function in English in a real-world scenario and, therefore, recommends a revamping of the syllabuses is necessary to produce pragmatic and pedagogical efficacy.

Effectiveness of CLT in developing Technical English Writing Skills at Undergraduate Level in the Context of Pakistan

2021 ◽  
pp. 81-89
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Significant Difference

The Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), has always been considered useful for teaching English Language across the world.Current study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of the Lecture Method (LM) and the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) on teaching ‘Technical English Writing’ to the undergraduate students in Pakistan.The written test is used to assess the five traits of technical writing which are conciseness, precision, clarity, audience recognition, and document design. A classical experimental design was used to measure the comparative progress ofLM group and CLT group. The experimental group was taught through CLT based activities while LM was adopted for teaching the control group. Finally, SPSS-25 was used to analyze the data collected through pre-test, post test score of both CLT and LM groups. The results of study indicated a significant difference between the gain scores of CLT group and LM group. From these results it can be concluded that CLT method is more effective than LM to be used at undergraduate level in Pakistan. Results of the study can be generalized to other students involvedin learning of technical English writing skills.

scholarly journals Teaching English through Drama to Tribal Students of Undergraduate Level at Remote Area of South Gujarat Region in India

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Falguni P. Desai
Keyword(s):  
Creative Thinking ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Test Form ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Experimental Group

Aim: To investigate how learning of English becomes easier through drama, in tribal classroom for learners and how it contributes towards nurturing their creative thinking. Methods: Pre and post tests were taken and Torrance Creative Thinking Test, form (A) was used. The students in control and experimental group were given TTCT form (A). In this study through TTCT form (A) it was tested to what extent teaching through drama nurtured creative thinking of tribal students. It tested the ability of student's individual competence, to be fluent, flexible and original. Results and conclusion: There is a statistically significant difference in mean scores of the pre and post test of the experimental group. The mean of post grades of experimental group is more than the mean of pre grades of experimental group. It indicated that there are statistically significant differences in students' pre and post grades of experimental group. It means teaching English through drama is effective and it fosters creativity of tribal students. Practical application: Teachers in other tribal/rural/urban colleges can teach using drama in their classes to make teaching-learning of foreign language effective and for fostering the creativity of the students. The Torrance test can be used in other research to investigate the influence of teaching subjects other than English. Further research is needed to investigate the influence of teaching English language using drama on teacher’s performance in tribal classroom. Further research can be done to investigate the influence of teaching subjects other than English using drama on the development of tribal students' achievement. Further research can be done to investigate the influence of teaching subjects other than English using drama on the development of tribal students' creative thinking. Originality/Cognitive value: Draws attention toward the effectiveness of teaching English using drama and nurturing students' creative thinking specific for tribal students. Provide teachers with applicable teaching situations using drama for teaching in tribal classroom. Provide results which may be applicable in teaching other subject to different level of students in different eco systems.

scholarly journals Teaching English through Drama to Tribal Students of Undergraduate Level at Remote Area of South Gujarat Region in India

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Falguni P. Desai ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Creative Thinking ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Test Form ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Experimental Group

Aim: To investigate how learning of English becomes easier through drama, in tribal classroom for learners and how it contributes towards nurturing their creative thinking. Methods: Pre and post tests were taken and Torrance Creative Thinking Test, form (A) was used. The students in control and experimental group were given TTCT form (A). In this study through TTCT form (A) it was tested to what extent teaching through drama nurtured creative thinking of tribal students. It tested the ability of student's individual competence, to be fluent, flexible and original. Results and conclusion: There is a statistically significant difference in mean scores of the pre and post test of the experimental group. The mean of post grades of experimental group is more than the mean of pre grades of experimental group. It indicated that there are statistically significant differences in students' pre and post grades of experimental group. It means teaching English through drama is effective and it fosters creativity of tribal students. Practical application: Teachers in other tribal/rural/urban colleges can teach using drama in their classes to make teaching-learning of foreign language effective and for fostering the creativity of the students. The Torrance test can be used in other research to investigate the influence of teaching subjects other than English. Further research is needed to investigate the influence of teaching English language using drama on teacher’s performance in tribal classroom. Further research can be done to investigate the influence of teaching subjects other than English using drama on the development of tribal students' achievement. Further research can be done to investigate the influence of teaching subjects other than English using drama on the development of tribal students' creative thinking. Originality/Cognitive value: Draws attention toward the effectiveness of teaching English using drama and nurturing students' creative thinking specific for tribal students. Provide teachers with applicable teaching situations using drama for teaching in tribal classroom. Provide results which may be applicable in teaching other subject to different level of students in different eco systems.

scholarly journals Teaching English through Drama to Tribal Students of Undergraduate Level at Remote Area of South Gujarat Region in India

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Falguni P. Desai
Keyword(s):  
Creative Thinking ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Test Form ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Experimental Group

Aim: To investigate how learning of English becomes easier through drama, in tribal classroom for learners and how it contributes towards nurturing their creative thinking. Methods: Pre and post tests were taken and Torrance Creative Thinking Test, form (A) was used. The students in control and experimental group were given TTCT form (A). In this study through TTCT form (A) it was tested to what extent teaching through drama nurtured creative thinking of tribal students. It tested the ability of student's individual competence, to be fluent, flexible and original. Results and conclusion: There is a statistically significant difference in mean scores of the pre and post test of the experimental group. The mean of post grades of experimental group is more than the mean of pre grades of experimental group. It indicated that there are statistically significant differences in students' pre and post grades of experimental group. It means teaching English through drama is effective and it fosters creativity of tribal students. Practical application: Teachers in other tribal/rural/urban colleges can teach using drama in their classes to make teaching-learning of foreign language effective and for fostering the creativity of the students. The Torrance test can be used in other research to investigate the influence of teaching subjects other than English. Further research is needed to investigate the influence of teaching English language using drama on teacher’s performance in tribal classroom. Further research can be done to investigate the influence of teaching subjects other than English using drama on the development of tribal students' achievement. Further research can be done to investigate the influence of teaching subjects other than English using drama on the development of tribal students' creative thinking. Originality/Cognitive value: Draws attention toward the effectiveness of teaching English using drama and nurturing students' creative thinking specific for tribal students. Provide teachers with applicable teaching situations using drama for teaching in tribal classroom. Provide results which may be applicable in teaching other subject to different level of students in different eco systems.

Needs Analysis and Teachers' Perceptions: A Study of the English Undergraduate Students

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Needs Analysis ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Visual Aids ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Teaching Aids

Needs Analysis in the context of language-learning-teaching is an important process to design a certain course and syllabus. It helps course designers to set objectives, choose content, method of instruction, appropriate teaching aids, and classroom activities for different courses. This paper reports the perceptions of the researchers on the English language learning needs of the English undergraduate students of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Pakistan. The data is based on the researchers’ personal experience and first-hand observation of the population as the researchers have been teaching in the target context for about a decade. Furthermore, the researchers have always been in discussion with their students and colleagues about the target students’ English learning needs, preferred learning styles, motivation in learning English, interest, strengths/weaknesses, and attitude toward English learning in the target setting. Learners’ assignments, exam answer sheets, and presentations have also been used is a source of data collection. A needs analysis model proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) has been applied in order to analyze the data. The results show that the students lack well grammatical sentences, have poor spellings, capitalization problems, limited vocabulary, unaware of collocations, poor/slow reading comprehension, and lack of effective presentation skills. Furthermore, most of the students have a lack of involvement in classroom activities and feel shy about speaking the English language. It was reported that the provision of authentic material, interesting activities, suitable audio-visual aids, relevant texts, language labs, and other logistic arrangements can better help them in learning the English language. The findings demonstrate that the students wished to have a learner-centered-course that helps them excel in their academic life and learning the English language.

Musical pantophagy: Is there an effect on changes in preference resulting from repeated exposure?

2021 ◽  
pp. 030573562098729
Author(s):  
Rebecca R Johnston ◽  
Gina M Childers
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Affective Response ◽  
Repeated Exposure ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Preference Rating ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Music Consumption ◽  
Post Test

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of musical pantophagy, classical music consumption, and initial receptivity to select musical examples on changes in preference rating resulting from a program of repeated exposure. Participants included undergraduate students enrolled in a section of music appreciation at a large Southeastern university ( n = 67). Data were collected using a research designed preference rating measure (PRM) administered during a 5-week period within which there were eight test measures. Participants were divided into quartiles. Pre- to post-test measures resulted in a general positive trend for all participants. Comparisons of Q1 (lowest pantophagy) and Q3 (highest pantophagy) on PRMs 1–8 yielded no differences between groups, and PRM 8 was significantly different from PRM 1 for both groups. The same comparisons for Q1 (non-Classical music consumption) indicated significant difference with large effect size and for Q1 (lowest initial receptivity) indicated significant difference. Results suggest that regardless of musical pantophagy, repetition is an effective means by which to increase affective response to music, and that students who do not currently consume formal art music and who have low initial receptivity may report greater increases in affective response to music over time.

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