Examining the Part-of-speech Features in Assessing the Readability of Vietnamese Texts

The readability of the text plays a very important role in selecting appropriate materials for the level of the reader. Text readability in Vietnamese language has received a lot of attention in recent years, however, studies have mainly been limited to simple statistics at the level of a sentence length, word length, etc. In this article, we investigate the role of word-level grammatical characteristics in assessing the difficulty of texts in Vietnamese textbooks. We have used machine learning models (for instance, Decision Tree, K-nearest neighbor, Support Vector Machines, etc.) to evaluate the accuracy of classifying texts according to readability, using grammatical features in word level along with other statistical characteristics. Empirical results show that the presence of POS-level characteristics increases the accuracy of the classification by 2-4%

A comparative analysis of comprehension questions in three California state-adopted Spanish and English basal readers

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if there was a variation in the number of questions within a given taxonomy level between parallel Spanish and English basal readers at primary grade levels. A secondary purpose was to determine if questions in parallel Spanish and English series, that extended to fourth grade, facilitated the transition from the Spanish to the English reader. Specifically, the tasks to be accomplished in the study were: (1) to classify reading questions contained in California state-adopted parallel Spanish and English basal readers utilizing Barrett\u27s Taxonomy, (2) to determine the number of questions each level of the taxonomy contained, (3) to determine if the number of questions within each level of the taxonomy differed by reading series among grade levels and between languages, and (4) to ascertain the readability level of each reader utilized in this study. Three California state-adopted parallel Spanish and English basal series were selected. A total of 114 lesson plans: fifty-four from the Spanish series and sixty from the English series, were selected. A total of 5,797 reading comprehension questions were classified according to the four major divisions of the Barrett Taxonomy. Chi Square values revealed that differences do exist on the number of questions assigned to each taxonomy level among the three basal series in both languages. Chi Square values also revealed that differences do exist on the number of questions assigned to each taxonomy level between the basal series at the first, second, and third grade level. At all grade levels, and in both languages, literal level questions were highest in frequency and percentage, followed by inference, evaluation, and appreciation level questions respectively. These findings seem to indicate that there is a tendency among basal readers, to emphasize questions which require literal comprehension more than critical interpretation. Differences were also found in the readability level between the Spanish and English text at each grade level. All readers, with the exception of the first grade English readers, were above the stated reading level and in most cases the readability level of the Spanish readers was higher than that of the English readers

INTEGRATING EXTENSIVE READING INTO THE LESSONS: ITS EFFECTS ON EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ READING PERFORMANCE

This one-group experimental study attempts to investigate the effects of integrating extensive reading, especially the integration of the two main reading skills namely skimming and scanning skills into the reading lessons on EFL high school students’ reading performance. The participants were 62 grade-10 students studying in a high school in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The four main instruments used to collect the data included Reading Tests (consisting of Pre-test and Post-test), a questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and a pre-program survey, respectively. The results of the data analysis indicated a relatively significant impact of extensive reading on students’ reading performance, especially the improvement of two reading skills, namely skimming and scanning. In addition, it confirmed that the participants had a positive attitude towards the integration of extensive reading into the reading lessons. The present study showed the main implication that the incorporation of extensive reading into the reading lessons should get more attention in language teaching programs at secondary education. Article visualizations

Dynamic conceptions of input, output and interaction: Vietnamese EFL lecturers learning second language acquisition theory

Although research into language teacher learning and cognition and teaching innovations oriented to communicative tasks has been abundant, little has addressed EFL teachers’ learning and conceiving of SLA principles underlying task-based language teaching. The study reported in the present thesis aims to fill this gap, specifically investigating teachers’ learning and conceiving of the notions of rich comprehensible language input, and authentic output and interaction, referred to as ‘SLA facilitating conditions’. The study explores three issues: teachers’ conceptions of the SLA facilitating conditions based on their practices in the tertiary English classroom; teachers’ perceptions of implementing the conditions, including factors affecting the implementation; and teachers’ perceived learning or change as a result of the process. Data for the study were obtained from six Vietnamese EFL lecturers who voluntarily participated in two short professional development workshops focusing on language input, and output and interaction. The data collection process was cumulative, beginning with pre-workshop interviews, followed by collection of lesson plans, lesson-based interviews, reflective writing, observation of lesson recordings, and a questionnaire. Analysis and interpretation followed a process of triangulation, and drew on the author’s knowledge of the context and the teachers’ backgrounds. The results showed that the six teachers held contextualised conceptions of language input, and output and interaction. Although they believed that these conditions are important for language learning, their conceptions based on their implementation of the conditions reflected a synthetic product-oriented view of language learning and teaching. The teachers demonstrated an accommodation of the notion of comprehensible input into their existing pedagogical understanding, and revealed a conception of language output oriented to accuracy and fluency of specific target language items. Tasks and activities for interaction were mainly to provide students with contexts to use the target language items meaningfully rather than to communicate meaning. Most teachers delayed communicative tasks until their students were acquainted with the language content of the day. Such conceptions and practices had a connection with both conceptual/experiential and contextual factors, namely their prior training and experience, time limitations, syllabus, and students’ characteristics. The study also showed that although the teachers’ perceptions of the feasibility of promoting rich language input and authentic output and interaction were neutral, they thought promoting these conditions was relevant to students’ learning, congruent with their pre-existing beliefs about teaching English, and this granted them a sense of agency. The teachers also reported they became more aware of input, and output and interaction in teaching, confident, and purposeful in actions, and some reported a widened view of English language teaching. The study confirms that teacher learning and cognition is conceptually and contextually conditioned (Borg, 2006). In terms of this, it provides a model of how EFL teachers’ learning SLA is constrained by prior pedagogical beliefs and contextual conditions. In conjunction with previous research, the study provided evidence to suggest that communicative and task-based language teaching would appear to run counter to existing beliefs about teaching and practical conditions in Asian EFL situations. This lends support to a more flexible organic approach to employing tasks, perhaps considering the extent to which and in what ways communicative tasks are pedagogically useful to the EFL classroom. An implication is that for any new approaches like task-based language teaching to be incorporated into teachers’ existing repertoire, teachers’ conceptions of language input and interaction, and the conceptual and practical constraints influencing their thinking and practice should be considered and addressed. In a broader sense, approaches to teacher education and development should take a constructivist perspective on teacher learning, taking into account the local context of teaching and teachers’ existing cognition

Humor Me: Using Humor Writing to Teach First-Year Composition Students Rhetoric and Composition

A perennial problem for many first-year composition (FYC) instructors is deciding what curricular materials to use to teach their students about rhetoric and composition and how to use those resources to enable their students to practice and hone their writing skills. This dissertation argues that humor writing is a viable option as it offers unique points of connection between students and the curricular material that aid them in learning about, and achieving, college-level writing. Furthermore, humor writing can provide opportunities to teach FYC students how to engage consciously with and analyze the integral concepts of audience awareness and situated knowledge through a medium that is engaging and familiar. Thus, this dissertation’s research is guided by three questions: 1) How might humor writing be used as a teaching tool in FYC? 2) How might humor writing be used to teach FYC students how to engage consciously with and analyze audience awareness and situated knowledge? 3) What are some of the risks of using humor writing to teach rhetoric and composition in FYC, and how can they be minimized?Interestingly, two of the greats in rhetoric and composition, Aristotle and Quintilian, praised humor for its mastery of rhetoric and used it to teach their students. However, humor fell out of favor during the Industrial Revolution because entertainment was seen as anathema to “serious” curricular work. Humor is now making a slight and tentative return due to academia’s increased acceptance of popular culture. In conjunction with an exploration of rhetoric and composition’s historical on-again-off-again relationship with humor, this dissertation uses rhetorical analysis to ascertain how modern humor writers use audience awareness and situated knowledge.The analyses’ findings imply that much of humor writing liberally employs audience awareness and situated knowledge, thereby making it fertile ground for teaching FYC students about said concepts. In light of these findings, this dissertation offers activities, lesson plans, and assignments for FYC, and it discusses the benefits and possible risks of using humor writing and how those risks may be mitigated. Ultimately, this dissertation concludes that humor writing is a possible answer to FYC instructors’ challenge of including engaging material that lends itself to students practicing and honing their writing abilities, particularly their knowledge and skills regarding audience awareness and situated knowledge

Handbook of Easy Languages in Europe

The Handbook of Easy Languages in Europe describes what Easy Language is and how it is used in European countries. It demonstrates the great diversity of actors, instruments and outcomes related to Easy Language throughout Europe. All people, despite their limitations, have an equal right to information, inclusion, and social participation. This results in requirements for understandable language. The notion of Easy Language refers to modified forms of standard languages that aim to facilitate reading and language comprehension. This handbook describes the historical background, the principles and the practices of Easy Language in 21 European countries. Its topics include terminological definitions, legal status, stakeholders, target groups, guidelines, practical outcomes, education, research, and a reflection on future perspectives related to Easy Language in each country. Written in an academic yet interesting and understandable style, this Handbook of Easy Languages in Europe aims to find a wide audience