Facilitating English Grammar Learning by a Personalized Mobile-Assisted System With a Self-Regulated Learning Mechanism

This study developed a personalized mobile-assisted system with a self-regulated learning (SRL) mechanism to facilitate English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students’ learning of grammar. A quasi-experimental design, involving an experimental group (n = 278) and a control group (n = 320), was adopted to examine its effectiveness on students’ grammar learning. The experimental group, who had full access to the functions of the system (i.e., recommendations, feedback and an e-portfolio package), used the system to learn grammar, complete grammar exercise, and engage in for a semester, while the control group only use the system to submit weekly assignments. The results suggest that the experimental group obtained significantly higher scores in English grammar tests than the control group and the system benefited both genders with no significant differences. The findings provide empirical evidence in support of the effectiveness of this system in improving students’ grammar test scores, indicating its value as a supplementary tool to conventional classroom teaching of English grammar via supporting learners’ SRL development in a m-learning context. The pedagogical implications for applying this system in classrooms and beyond were discussed.

Positive Effects of Video-based Projects on the Communicative English Grammar Lessons

The present study investigates positive effects of video-based projects on communicative English grammar lessons in the Vietnamese context. A mixed method was used in which the responses of forty Vietnamese learners from a center of English as a foreign language (EFL) were analyzed. The online questionnaires and individual interviews were applied for investigating the perceptions of the learners in the effectiveness of video-based projects in communicative grammar lessons. To measure the dependent variables of the study, the two grammar tests were given to the learners as a pre-test and post-test. The findings propose that implementing video-based projects in communicative instructions of English grammar enhances the learners’ interests and motivation. Generally, the participants show improvements in their English grammar performances. In addition, applications of video-based projects supported the English assessment following the communicative approach in the EFL context. Hopefully, it might be an effective platform for the development of the learners’ self-directed learning abilities and jointly prepare learners for the uncertain changes in the post-Covid-19 era as well.

The Effect of Using Website Games on Fourth Grade EFL Students' Learning of Vocabulary and Grammar in Jijin Secondary School in Jordan

The first and foremost purpose of this study is to investigate if Website Games can be used as a useful tool for teaching vocabulary and grammar to young learners. The importance of the present study is to explore the effectiveness of using Website Games on developing vocabulary and grammar by Jordanian young learners. Since learning vocabulary and grammar plays a significant role for having good language ability, boosting grammar repertoire and vocabulary growth would improve language ability and help the speaker to have a successful communication.The sample of the study consisted of 48 fourth grade students from Jijjin Secondary School in Irbid, Jordan, during the second semester of the scholastic year 2019/2020. They were already divided into two groups: Group one consisted of (23) students that was chosen as an experimental group and was taught vocabulary and grammar via Website Games technology by the researcher and group two consisted of (25) students, which was assigned as a control group and was taught through regular instruction by the teacher.Students in both groups sat for a vocabulary and grammar tests at the beginning of the first semester of the scholastic year so as to determine their actual knowledge before starting the experiment. Eight weeks later, they sat to a post-test. The results of the study indicated that the experimental group performed better than the control group in the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar due to the new strategy of teaching that is using Website Games.

Grammar tests, de facto policy and pedagogical coercion in England’s primary schools

Since their introduction by the Conservative government in 2013, primary school children in England have taken a mandated grammar, punctuation and spelling assessment, which places an emphasis on decontextualised, standardised English and the identification of traditional grammatical terminology. Despite some concise criticisms from educational linguists, there remains no detailed and critical investigation into the nature of the tests, their effects on test takers, and the policy initiatives which led up to their implementation. This article contributes to this gap in knowledge, using critical language testing as a methodological framework, and drawing on a bricolage of data sources such as political speeches, policy documents, test questions and interviews with teachers. I discuss how the tests work as de facto language policy, implemented as one arm of the government’s ‘core-knowledge’ educational agenda, underpinned by a reductive conceptualisation of language and a problematic discourse of ‘right/wrong’ ways of speaking. I reveal how teachers talk about the ‘power’ of the tests, intimidating and coercing them into pedagogies they do not necessarily believe in or value, which ultimately position them as vehicles for the government’s conservative and prescriptive language ideologies.

The role of teachers’ metacognitive awareness on language learners’ knowledge of grammar and critical thinking skills

The present study was an attempt to discover the probable effects of EFL teachers’ Metacognitive Awareness (MA) on Iranian EFL learners’ knowledge of grammar and critical thinking ability. The study aimed to see whether or not teachers’ MA can improve language learner’ knowledge of grammar and critical thinking skill. To this end, 100 EFL teachers were selected and completed Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI). Then, 10 teachers with lowest degree of MA and 10 with highest degree of MA were selected to teach 207 intermediate language learners. The learners selected took a grammar tests and a critical thinking ability questionnaire test before and after the treatment. Collecting and analyzing the data, it was revealed that teachers’ MA affected language learners’ knowledge of grammar, while it did not influence the participants’ critical thinking skills. The findings of the present study might be useful for language teachers and teacher trainers.

Bestämdhet och indirekta anaforer i polska studenters inlärarsvenska

The aim of the research is to investigate how Polish learners of Swedish acquire the category of definiteness narrowed to the so-called indirect anaphors: definite noun phrases without any explicit antecedent, staying in a relation with a kind of “trigger”, an element in the text that is crucial for their interpretation. Previous publications about acquisition of definiteness in Swedish focus on the morphological development rather than the development regarding the choice of form. In my longitudinal study of students of Swedish at the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, I analyse students’ grammar tests and essays with regard to this issue. With Schwarz’s classification of anaphors as a working basis a model for a learning route is developed, covering semantic, conceptual and inferential type of anaphors.

AN ENCOURAGING STRATEGY IN PEER CORRECTION

The purpose of the article is to introduce a strategy in the peer correction. Any correction of the mistake being reluctantly welcomed is usually accepted with a sense of disfavor. Peer correction in speaking activity is no exception. To turn this tedious process into an attractive one we have developed a relatively new strategy. Peer correction in writing activity has long been practiced. Learners enjoy discovering each other’s mistakes in essays, spelling or grammar tests, etc. But correcting speaker’s errors being rarely carried out has gradually almost been forgotten. The paper introduces a new concept in peer correction involving a point system. The students actively participating in a correction process are praised with a surplus point for a corrected mistake, which is further taken into account. The strategy has proved to be a motivating one in teaching English as a foreign language.

POTENSI RUMPUT LAUT Eucheuma cottonii SEBAGAI BAHAN BAKU PEMBUATAN KERTAS KANTONG KRAFT (Eucheuma cottonii Seaweed has a good Potential as Raw Material For Making Kraft Paper Bags)

Ekstrak selulosa yang berasal dari rumput laut Eucheuma cottonii dapat dijadikan sebagai bahan substitusi pembuatan kantong kertas kraft yang biasanya dibuat dari pulp kayu. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui kualitas kantong kertas kertas kraft dari ekstrak rumput laut E. cottonii apabila dibandingan dengan kertas kraft berstandar SNI. Rumput laut E. cottonii yang digunakan berasal dari pantai Krakal, Gunung Kidul, Jogjakarta. Pembuatan kertas kraft dilakukan dengan ekstraksi selulosa dari E. cottonii diikuti dengan pemasakkan hingga hancur, pencetakan dan pengeringan sehingga berbentuk pulp lembaran. Rancangan percobaan yang digunakan yaitu Rancangan Acak Lengkap (RAL), dengan 1 faktor yaitu konsentrasi ekstrak rumput laut E. cottonii dengan tiga taraf yang berbeda yaitu 15%, 20%, dan 25%. Parameter pengujian yang dilakukan adalah ketahanan tarik, ketahanan sobek, daya regang dan derajat kecerahan (CIELAB). Data parametrik yang didapatkan diuji dengan sidik ragam (P<5%), dilanjutkan dengan uji Beda Nyata Jujur (BNJ) untuk melihat perlakuan yang berbeda. Hasil yang didapatkan pada uji ketahanan tarik pada konsentrasi 15%, 20% dan 25% berturut - turut, yaitu 1,80 ± 0,22 kN/m; 5,54 ± 0,42 kN/m dan 7,33 ± 1,28 kN/m, ketahanan sobek 737,62 ± 91,15 mN; 2260,00 ± 173.18 mN dan 2991,90 ± 525.04 mN, daya regang : 3,86 ± 1,78%; 7,24 ± 0,83% dan 7,08 ± 2,15%, untuk uji gramatur : 70 gram; 73,09 gram dan 75,75 gram. Hasil uji perbandingan kualitas kertas kraft paper bag dari subsitusi ekstrak selulosa 20% dan 25% telah memenuhi SNI, sedangkan pada konsentrasi 15% belum memenuhi SNI. Cellulose extract from Eucheuma cottonii seaweed can be used as a substitute for making kraft paper bags. Kraft paper are usually made from wood pulp. The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of kraft paper bags from seaweed extract E. cottonii when it compared to SNI kraft paper. The E. cottonii seaweed used comes from Krakal beach, Gunung Kidul, Jogjakarta. The kraft paper was first made by extracting cellulose from E. cottonii, it was cooked, crushed, printed , dried and finally it was formed to pulp sheet. The experimental design used was Completely Randomized Design (CRD), with 1 factor concentration of seaweed extract E. cottoni with three levels concentration 15%, 20%, and 25% respectively. The test parameters performed were tensile resistance, tear resistance , tensile strength and brightness (CIELAB). Data were analysed using Anova and tested continued Honestly Significant Different test (HSD). The results obtained in the tensile resistance test at a concentration of 15%, 20% and 25% were 1.80 ± 0.22 kN / m; 5.54 ± 0.42 kN / m and 7.33 ± 1.28 kN / m, in the tear resistance test were 737.62 ± 91.15 mN; 2260.00 ± 173.18 mN and 2991.90 ± 525.04 mN, the tensile strength were 3.86 ± 1.78%; 7.24 ± 0.83% and 7.08 ± 2.15%, for successive grammar tests: 70 grams; 73.09 grams and 75.75 grams. The comparison test results of the quality of paper bag kraft paper from cellulose extract 20% and 25% have met SNI, while at a concentration of 15% have not met SNI.