Trialing project-based learning in a new EAP ESP course: A collaborative reflective practice of three college English teachers

Currently in many Chinese universities, the traditional College English course is facing the risk of being ‘marginalized’, replaced or even removed, and many hours previously allocated to the course are now being taken by EAP or ESP. At X University in northern China, a curriculum reform as such is taking place, as a result of which a new course has been created called ‘xue ke’ English. Despite the fact that ‘xue ke’ means subject literally, the course designer has made it clear that subject content is not the target, nor is the course the same as EAP or ESP. This curriculum initiative, while possibly having been justified with a rationale of some kind (e.g. to meet with changing social and/or academic needs of students and/or institutions), this is posing a great challenge for, as well as considerable pressure on, a number of College English teachers who have taught this single course for almost their entire teaching career. In such a context, three teachers formed a peer support group in Semester One this year, to work collaboratively co-tackling the challenge, and they chose Project-Based Learning (PBL) for the new course. This presentation will report on the implementation of this project, including the overall designing, operational procedure, and the teachers’ reflections. Based on discussion, pre-agreement was reached on the purpose and manner of collaboration as offering peer support for more effective teaching and learning and fulfilling and pleasant professional development. A WeChat group was set up as the chief platform for messaging, idea-sharing, and resource-exchanging. Physical meetings were supplementary, with sound agenda but flexible time, and venues. Mosoteach cloud class (lan mo yun ban ke) was established as a tool for virtual learning, employed both in and after class. Discussions were held at the beginning of the semester which determined only brief outlines for PBL implementation and allowed space for everyone to autonomously explore in their own way. Constant further discussions followed, which generated a great deal of opportunities for peer learning and lesson plan modifications. A reflective journal, in a greater or lesser detailed manner, was also kept by each teacher to record the journey of the collaboration. At the end of the semester, it was commonly recognized that, although challenges existed, the collaboration was overall a success and they were all willing to continue with it and endeavor to refine it to be a more professional and productive approach

Interpreting English language and literacy in China: EFL practitioner perspectives

English as a foreign language has been studied as a compulsory subject by all senior high school students in China since the early 1980s. However, little research has delved into how English foreign language literacy (L2 literacy) is understood by teachers and students nor how it has been enacted in classrooms. This study aims to add to the research in this area by building an understanding of senior high school English teachers’ perceptions of L2 literacy and presenting a picture of their teaching practices. This study also gave voice to students who shared their experiences and perceptions of how foreign language teaching was enacted in their classrooms. A phenomenological case study design was utilised. Drawn from interviews and classroom observations with six English teachers as well as focus-group interviews with students in two case schools, the data provided a comprehensive perspective of current L2 literacy teaching and learning in both school contexts. The picture was enriched by an analysis of the curriculum documentation and the textbooks. This study aimed to answer the questions regarding Chinese EFL teachers’ perceptions of L2 literacy and their teaching practice. The collected data however indicated that in attempting to answer the questions it actually raised more questions that I have been unable to answer. The teacher participants’ perspectives of L2 literacy differed from the prevailing views or practice on literacy and L2 literacy in western literature (e.g. Luke & Freebody, 2000; Kress, 2003; Gee, 2008; Cope & Kalantzis, 2009), in spite of official curriculum documentation having some parallels with western perspectives. The traditional Chinese beliefs and practices with respect to literacy development continue to shape the teachers’ perceptions and practices of English teaching and learning. Moreover, the findings of this study identified tensions between what were expected of students’ L2 literacy development and what actually occurred in the classroom due to the social, cultural and historical contexts in China. Given my background as a school EFL teacher in China and the experience of conducting academic study in Australia, this study was not only about the investigation of the teachers in case study schools but also a reflection of myself. Based on the findings of the study and my self-reflection, a number of recommendations were provided for EFL teachers, schools, policy makers as well as those who have an intention to study in a country where English is the medium of instruction and socialization

Student Response Toward Humor Based Instructional Media (Descriptive Study on Students of Grade II SMAN 1 Bontonompo)

nnovation on supporting the success of learning process is needed to be developed. One of innovation in the classroom is involving instructional media innovation. Humor-based instructional media is one of media that can make the learning process more fun. This study aims to determine student’s response toward humor-based instructional media in the learning process. This research is descriptive study with the entire population of students on grade XII SMAN 1 Bontonompo in school year 2016-2017, while the research sample was grade XII IPA 1 and XII IPA 6 with totally 52 students. The result of this study showed 100% (52 student) feel interested by the use of humor-based instructional media with the level of interst is in strong catagory (74.63%). This research outcome is indicating that humor-based instructional media can support in increasing of student’s interst in learning process

INVESTIGATING ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN DEVELOPING TPACK AND MULTIMODAL LITERACY

Technology in every field is snowballing. Likewise, the use of technology in education requires knowledge and understanding of English teachers. The fact that most of the technology for enhanced language learning workshop did not continue into the classrooms. Another case is that teachers do not want to use technology at all in their classrooms because of lacking time and facilities. TPACK namely Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge provides insight for pre-service teachers and in-service teachers of English to optimize three things for education; those are the aspect of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge. With the use of this learning model, excellent technology, pedagogy, and knowledge will support and produce a comprehensive learning process. The purpose of this study was to examine the perception and implementation of pre-service teachers and in-service teachers about the literacy of the three above aspects. By using quantitative research, we get the data from questionnaires of 100 pre-service teachers and in-service teachers. The findings describe the demographic teacher with technology, pedagogy and content knowledge literacy (TPACK). The three points of the TPACK literacy are Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Multimodal Literacy, Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (21st C Learning), and Knowledge about digital media tools. The implications of this research give direction and the alternatives to the implementation of the TPACK model for English classroom. In future, it provides the advantages to developing the quality of English teachers’ professional development. Keywords

Online Gamification Platforms for Practicing EFL Students’ Reading Skills: A Systematic Review

Currently, gamification is one of the highly discussed topics among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) practitioners. It is worth mentioning that the rising interest in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) increases the preference for learning towards online gamification. This study aims to provide a review regarding online gamification platforms for practicing EFL students’ reading skills. This research used library research method and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline developed by Page et al. to collect and reduce data, and finally present a transparent, complete, and accurate review. The data were 20 articles published worldwide between 2012 and 2022 and sourced from journal finders of ScienceDirect, Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Google Scholar. Furthermore, this study used NVIVO 14 and Microsoft Excel 2016 to analyze the selected data and Mendeley for reference management. The results showed that Kahoot!, Quizizz, Socrative, Bibliobattle, Classcraft, ClassDojo, Duolingo, Genially, Into the Book, M-reader, Memrise, Padlet, Quizlet, and ReadTheory.org are feasible to be used to practice EFL students’ reading skills, with Kahoot! and Quizizz as the most popular. In addition, the context of the studies involved as the research data such as the year published, educational level, national origins, and methodologies were also mentioned. Further, it is implied that EFL teachers can use online gamification platforms to leverage not only students’ motivation and engagement in practicing students’ reading skills but also their learning achievements through enjoyable and interactive learning while allowing students to acquire ICT skills

Fostering students’ Multimodal Communicative Competence through genre-based multimodal text analysis

The multiplicity of semiotic resources employed in communication, the rapid advancement of information, communication, and technology (ICT), and burgeoning interdisciplinary research into multimodality have led to a paradigmatic shift from a mono-modal to the multimodal perspective of communication. Conversely, actualising multimodal concepts in teaching and learning practises remains underexplored, notably in developing the students’ multimodal communicative competence (MCC). For this reason, this study endeavoured to probe genre-based multimodal text analysis in fostering the students’ MCC. Grounded on Action Research (AR), the present study facilitated students to cultivate their MCC through the activities of Genre-based multimodal text analysis (hereafter, GBMTA). Practically speaking, students performed the analysing practises in the course at an English Education Department of a state university in Tasikmalaya, West Java, Indonesia, namely Grammar in Multimodal Discourse (GiMD. Four Indonesian EFL students were recruited as the participants. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed with thematic analysis. The findings showed that the students could: (1) build their knowledge on multimodality, (2) engage with theoretical and practical learning activities, (3) assign analytical and reflective task-based learning activities, and (4) provide constructive feedback about their learning performances, and (5) raise awareness of the contributions of multimodality to prospective English teachers’ competences. The main implication of this study is the promotion of increased awareness of deploying multimodal aspects to English language teaching, learning, and investigative practises to attain optimum MCC

Interpersonal Meaning in Textbooks for Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China: A Multimodal Approach

There is increasing awareness among linguists that discourse analysis inevitably involves analyses of meanings arising from the combination of multiple modes of communication. The evolving multimodal pedagogic environment for teaching English as a foreign language (henceforth EFL), among other communicative contexts, calls for a social, semiotic, and linguistic explanation. Situated within the theoretical landscape of social semiotics and in the pedagogic context of EFL education, the present study aims to elucidate how linguistic and visual semiotic resources are co-deployed to construe interpersonal meaning in multimodal textbooks. The data drawn upon are eighteen EFL textbooks for primary and secondary schooling, published by People’s Education Press between 2002 and 2006. The research design consists of three complementary sub-studies. First, it investigates the ways in which the semantic regions of ENGAGEMENT and GRADUATION can be modelled in multimodal texts, with special reference to the interplay of voices in textbook discourse. The second sub-study analyzes how verbal and visual semiotic resources are co-deployed to construe the ‘emotion and attitude’ goal highlighted in curriculum standards, with a particular focus on verbiage-image relations. Third, it extends the linguistic concept ‘modality’ to multimodal discourse, exploring coding orientation in texts for different educational contexts and between different constituent genres. The main findings of this thesis are as follows: (1) A range of multimodal resources (i.e. labelling, dialogue balloon, jointly-constructed text, illustration and highlighting) are identified as enabling editor voice to negotiate meanings with reader voice and character voice. It is found that the way in which an ENGAGEMENT value can be scaled is strongly associated with the intrinsic property of the given multimodal resource. The interaction between multiple voices is closely related to contact, social distance, and point of view. (2) It is shown that images play an essential role in realizing attitudinal meanings. Together with verbal APPRAISAL resources, visual semiotic features work to position the readers in ways that align them to set pedagogic goals, guiding them in completing jointly-constructed texts. Moreover, an attitudinal shift from an emotional release to a more institutionalized type of evaluation can be identified as students advance through the school years. (3) It is argued that what counts as real in multimodal texts is socially defined and specific to a given communicative context. The nature of pedagogic discourse should be taken into account when visual displays are produced for pedagogic materials. The implications of this study include both theoretical and pedagogic aspects。Theoretically it adapts and extends APPRAISAL analysis to multimodal discourse, exploring the intersemiotic complementarity and co-instantiation in construing global evaluative stance. This semiotic exploration, in return, suggests ways in which discourse analysis may help textbook users better understand and interpret the multimodal features. With the affordances as well as limitations of semiotic resources made explicit, we may have one step further towards a comprehensive and critical understanding of multimodal construal of interpersonal meaning in pedagogic materials

Analysis of Research Papers on the Use of English Movies in Chinese Senior High School English Teaching in the Past Three Years

Much attention has been paid to using English movies in senior high school English teaching in China since the release of 2017 edition of Senior High School English Curriculum Standards that lists English Movie Appreciation as an optional compulsory course. Senior high school teachers have conducted substantial research over the past three years regarding the practical application of English movies in their teaching, yet there has been a lack of thorough and systematic of analysis of the large number of relevant papers published, which, more or less, limits the understanding and further advancements of this study area. This paper attempts, in light of the emerging systematic review methodology, to present an overview of the research papers spanning the period 2019 to 2022 on the use of English movies in Chinese senior high school from the four perspectives: language ability, cultural awareness, thinking quality, and learning ability based on the concept of core literacy of English as an academic discipline in the new curriculum standard. With focus on the discussion of the common problems and corresponding countermeasures that have been sorted out from the works of front-line teachers, the paper also puts forward suggestions and prospects for further studies

The effectiveness of ER on reading proficiency: A meta-analysis

A meta-analysis was performed to investigate the impact of extensive reading (ER) on reading proficiency. This study gathered 71 unique samples from 49 primary studies published from 1980 to 2014 involving a total of 5,919 participants. Effect sizes were generated separately according to two different study designs: experimental-versus-control contrasts and pre-to-post-test contrasts. Small to medium effect was found in both study designs. Moderator analysis showed growing interest in ER in the field over the last 30 years. Also, a higher effect was found in the adults than in the children and adolescents group. English as a foreign language (EFL) settings showed a higher effect than English as a second language (ESL) settings; and web-based stories had a higher effect than paper books. Finally, ER as a part of curriculum showed the highest mean effect among ER types. Suggestions are made on how to implement ER in ESL and EFL settings effectively

Portfolio-Based Assessment in English Language Learning: Highlighting the Students’ Perceptions

Portfolio-based Assessment (hereafter, PBA) plays an indispensable role in language assessment. PBA represents the development of the students’ learning process outcomes, trains autonomous learning, and stimulates metacognitive awareness. Conversely, a few investigative attempts, addressed the students’ perceptions of PBA in the Indonesian EFL Context. Therefore, this study aimed to decipher the perceptions of EFL students in Indonesia on PBA use in the English subject. Empirically speaking, two female students were involved as the participants in this study. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview and analyzed with Thematic Analysis (TA) (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The findings revealed that students articulated their perceptions in three major themes, namely developing self-monitoring from the students’ learning processes, generating discipline, responsible and autonomous language learning attitudes, and mitigating perceptual mismatches among teachers and students. Pedagogically speaking, this study indicates that PBA employment can provide opportunities for students to monitor their learning progress, and enhance their self-confidence and learning motivation