357 research outputs found

    To Moodle or not to Moodle : Can It Be an Ideal e-Learning Environment?

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    The design and integration of ESP content in an upper-intermediate online course

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    [EN] Language instructors who adopt the role of materials writers in order to provide their students with more accurate tailor-made learning resources usually start by closely examining their learners needs and demands, as well as the distinctive features of the teaching context or situation in which those materials are going to be implemented. This idea is especially relevant when the linguistic resources are developed to be used by future engineers who access them to practice and learn a language that will have a dominant presence in their future working environment. This is a fact that encouraged the authors to design an online upper-intermediate level English course which incorporates relevant language resources directly linked to the disciplines and content covered by their students university undergraduate degrees. The course is known as the InGenio FCE Online Course & Tester (Universitat Politècnica de València, 2011). The article illustrates how language instructors try to explore and find new ways, methods, typologies of exercises, and techniques which might help them create, promote, and implement learning systems capable of fostering an integral communicative competence and make the entire learning process more dynamic and attractive. A specific case study dealing with students who seek to make the most of combining Computer-Assisted Language Learning and English for Specific Purposes is described and analysed here. The reader is presented with a description of the steps that were taken to design innovative and engaging online courseware to cater for the learners specific needs and the conclusions that have arisen from conducting a survey to analyse student perceptions and expectations prior to and after completing the said online course.The authors would like to thank the Valencian Regional Government (Generalitat Valenciana) for funding the 4-year pre-doctoral research scholarship awarded to Antonio Martínez Sáez for the development and completion of his PhD, which was successfully defended on 11th December 2015Gimeno Sanz, A.; Martínez Sáez, A. (2016). The design and integration of ESP content in an upper-intermediate online course. Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos. 22(1):31-53. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/85448S315322

    Creating visual aids with graphic organisers on an infinite canvas : the impact on the presenter

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    Instead of the traditional set of slides, the visual aids of a presentation can now be graphic organisers (concept maps, knowledge maps, mind maps) on an infinite canvas. Constructing graphic organisers has a beneficial impact on learning, but this topic has not been studied in the context of giving a presentation. The present study examined this issue by having 199 students prepare a presentation. The control sample created visual aids that are similar to a deck of slides with text and pictures. In the first experimental condition, graphic organisers were inserted in this deck of slides, and in the second experimental condition, visuals aids with interconnected graphic organisers were produced. There were no significant differences in self-reported self-efficacy related to giving a presentation and in motivational variables. To detect if the presentations met the principles set by the conditions, the participants’ products were coded qualitatively, but this analysis also yielded no differences in variables. Further research should therefore explore the interaction between software and presenter

    Current Perspectives in Teaching English for Specific Purposes

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    Interest in Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) courses has grown in recent years (Harding, 2007). For this reason a paper on the current situation in the field is of relevance. The present article provides a discussion of English for Specific Purposes and it does so by reviewing the history and background of this area of teaching, proposing a definition, and describing issues affecting it today, such as course design and needs analysis, context, student and teacher characteristics, materials, and expected directions for the future

    A Needs Based Approach to Teaching and Learning of English for Engineering Purposes

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    The objective of this study was to assess the English language needs of learners of engineering colleges of Orissa.The main purpose was to examine the current English syllabus of different engineering colleges of Orissa and to study how effectively they have been implemented at the classroom level. It also attempted to find out how language skills along with life-skills can be learnt effectively by engineering students for proper utilization by them in real life situations.The study attempted to answer the following questions: First, is there a gap existing between the present English language syllabi in engineering colleges and students’ academic and professional needs? Second, is there a need to modify and revise the present English language course so that it meets the engineering students’ needs to apply it in real-life situations? The study involved 770 students and 63 teachers of 20 engineering colleges located in different regions of the state. The tools used for data collection comprised of questionnaire survey among students and teachers. After validating the validity and reliability of the research instruments, the questionnaire survey was conducted among students of 2nd, 4th and 6th semester Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) students and the teachers’ survey was conducted at a workshop conducted by the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), the only technological university in the state which has around 100 engineering and management colleges affiliated to it. The survey was also conducted among students of other government run autonomous colleges and also at National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, and an institute of national importance. The survey was conducted during the academic year 2008-2009

    Gathering Momentum: Evaluation of a Mobile Learning Initiative

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    CercleS 2022

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    CHAIRPERSON Manuel Moreira da Silva, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Portugal EDITORS Ana Gonçalves, Estoril Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies, Portugal Célia Tavares, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Portugal Joaquim Guerra, Universidade do Algarve, Portugal Luciana Oliveira, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Portugal Manuel Moreira da Silva, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Portugal Ricardo Soares, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, PortugalCercleS 2022 The Future of Language Education in an Increasingly Digital World: Embracing ChangeN/
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