Effectiveness of an after-school English program at a community childcare center in Korea

Community childcare centers in Korea are established mainly for students from low-income family for the purpose of protecting and educating children in the community. English program is one of the most important program at the centers. This study investigated the effectiveness of an after-school English program at a community childcare center in a region of Seoul, Korea. Students registered in this English program were encouraged to participate in an online survey using a google form to fill out the questionnaire via a computer or mobile phone. Survey questions included effectiveness of the program, students’ satisfaction, and most helpful class activity for learning English. A semi-structured interview was conducted to gather students’ views on the program. Nine students among who completed online survey and volunteered for interview. Collected survey data were statistically analyzed using SAS Enterprise Guide 7.12. Final survey data set includes 11 respondents. The overall satisfaction with the after-school English program was high for both contents and effectiveness. High school students and student who participated in the program for more than six months chose the free conversation activity as the most helpful. The mean score for debates was the highest among all activities for English writing. The survey provided an opportunity for students to report their levels of satisfaction with the program. Results of this study indicate that students are satisfied with the English program at the community childcare centers overall and, that the performance of the lecturer can be categorized very well. This study provides insights into the need and direction of English education for students from low-income families. This study will serve as a basis to develop specialized and quality English programs for successful English learning of low-income students, and facilitate the continuous improvement process.

An Analysis of Mitigating Devices of Request Used by Saudi EFL Learners

This study aimed at exploring the linguistic mitigating devices of requests used by Saudi EFL learners. The participants of this study were 97 students enrolled in the English program at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. The data of this study were collected by Discourse Completion Test (DCT) questionnaire designed for the purpose of this study. The questionnaire contained five different situations of request and the factor of Social Distance (SD) was incorporated to investigate any differences of the learners’ request strategies attributed to this factor. The data were classified according to the Cross-Cultural Study of Speech Act Realization Patterns (CCSARP) by Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984). The findings of this study revealed that the participants preferred to use internal mitigating devices more frequently than external ones. They also were more direct when making requests and it seems that social distance does not play a significant role in the students’ modification strategies of requests.

"Excuse my Misunderstanding": Using Intercultural Approach to teach English as a Foreign Language in France

In France, the intercultural approach has been largely associated with teaching French as a Foreign language due to the multicultural and multilingual nature of the classes. There is very little research on the use of such an approach in teaching English as a Foreign language. This is due to the fact that the majority, if not all the students, share a similar culture and common linguistic codes. The intercultural experience, in that case, is encountered through the English program as presented by the teacher, who in most cases is also French. This paper examines the use of the intercultural approach in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to French learners (middle school /university students) by a foreign teacher and the consideration of social representations (stereotypes) as a strategy to develop classroom participation in verbal communication. It discusses theoretical understanding of the intercultural approach and how this approach could be used in practice by drawing examples from the teacher and the learners' experiences. Data was collected through participatory observations and questioning. The research findings will show that using social representations as a strategy in intercultural approach can be instrumental to the development of verbal communication.

Virtual Reality Software as Preparation Tools for Oral Presentations: Perceptions From the Classroom

Although there is a wealth of studies on the role of virtual reality (VR) technology in language acquisition, little research has been done on the utilization of virtual reality mobile applications in English language acquisition, especially in developing oral presentation skills. The main purpose of this case study is to investigate the usefulness of VirtualSpeech, which is a virtual reality mobile application, as a preparation tool for oral presentations via the perceptions of international students and their instructor. The participants are five Academic English Program (AEP) students and their English language instructor at Saint Michael’s College. Qualitative analyses were performed on data collected from: (1) learning logs that were shared between the students and the researcher, (2) surveys that were sent to the students and their instructor, (3) one-to-one interviews with the students, and (4) the researcher’s fieldnotes of the students’ oral presentation performances. The results of the study show that all of the participants recommend using VirtualSpeech as a tool to prepare for oral presentations. Most of the students reported higher confidence levels while speaking English after their use of VirtualSpeech. Thus, this case study can be considered as a contribution to the research on VR mobile applications in English language acquisition.

Beyond Cherub-- A Library and English Department Collaborate to Encourage Diverse Reading

During this session, Erin will be presenting our lower secondary program for diverse reading. The aim of this program is to introduce students to a wide range of texts featuring a variety of characters, authors, settings, and perspectives. This program is supplementary to the core English program. It encourages students to read widely for pleasure, to explore different ideas, and representations and to be able to discuss and give their opinions on the books they have read.

Next Generation Mobile Learning: Leveraging Message Design Considerations for Learning and Accessibility

Online machine translation (OMT) tools are not exclusively designed for language learners; however, these tools are popular among them. This quantitative study investigated the perceptions and attitudes of Turkish speaking EFL learners and instructors in a university English program regarding the use of OMT tools. Two online questionnaires were administered to 462 Turkish-speaking learners and 34 instructors. The results revealed that 94% of the learner participants reported using OMT tools for their language learning studies. The learners predominantly used these tools for single-word or phrase translations. Reading and writing assignments were the main areas where the learners most frequently referenced to OMT tools. The learner participants thought the accuracy of the tools was not high, and the ethicality of using them depended on how they were used. Three-quarters of the instructor participants reported using OMT tools, and their judgements concerning the accuracy of these tools were more positive than the learners’. The results also revealed a mismatch between learners’ and instructors’ perceptions and attitudes regarding OMT tools in foreign language learning. Accordingly, the instructors often overestimated how much learners use OMT tools, while learners underestimated the instructors’ interest in them. These findings suggest policies should be developed within language learning institutions to guide students’ use of OMT tools, as well as improve the mutual understanding between students and teachers in terms of their ethicality.

Machine Translation in the Language Classroom: Turkish EFL Learners’ and Instructors’ Perceptions and Use

Online machine translation (OMT) tools are not exclusively designed for language learners; however, these tools are popular among them. This quantitative study investigated the perceptions and attitudes of Turkish speaking EFL learners and instructors in a university English program regarding the use of OMT tools. Two online questionnaires were administered to 462 Turkish-speaking learners and 34 instructors. The results revealed that 94% of the learner participants reported using OMT tools for their language learning studies. The learners predominantly used these tools for single-word or phrase translations. Reading and writing assignments were the main areas where the learners most frequently referenced to OMT tools. The learner participants thought the accuracy of the tools was not high, and the ethicality of using them depended on how they were used. Three-quarters of the instructor participants reported using OMT tools, and their judgements concerning the accuracy of these tools were more positive than the learners’. The results also revealed a mismatch between learners’ and instructors’ perceptions and attitudes regarding OMT tools in foreign language learning. Accordingly, the instructors often overestimated how much learners use OMT tools, while learners underestimated the instructors’ interest in them. These findings suggest policies should be developed within language learning institutions to guide students’ use of OMT tools, as well as improve the mutual understanding between students and teachers in terms of their ethicality.

Politeness Maxims Used by English Students Program Study at STKIP Tama Siswa Bima

The aims of this research are to find out the types and the function of most dominant types of politeness maxim used by students in classroom interaction during learning process. The subject of this research is the students of English Program Study, the STKIP Taman Siswa Bima. This research used descriptive-qualitative method. Samples on this research consist of 25 students. To collect the data video recorded was used to record the students’ utterance and interaction in the class. The students’ utterances transcribed and analyze based on types and function of most dominant type’s politeness maxim. The result of this research there were six types of politeness maxim applied in classroom interaction, they were Tact Maxims, Generosity Maxim, Approbation maxim, Agreement Maxim, Sympathy Maxim, Modesty Maxim. The dominant types were used by students is tact maxim, and it plays several functions such as declarative function, interrogative function, imperative function, the apology function