2nd Global Report on Adult Learning and Education:Rethinking Literacy

Drawing on data gathered from 141 countries, the second Global Report on Adult Learning and Education reviews progress in implementing the Belém Framework for Action, the set of recommendations made by governments at the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI) in Belém in December 2009. The report adopts a global perspective, describing the commonalities and differences of Member States as they work to improve their adult education sectors. This second Global Report has as its special theme ‘Rethinking Literacy’. UNESCO hopes that this will help to position literacy as the foundation for lifelong learning. The report shows that, despite progress in increasing the global numbers of literate people, many millions are still excluded from learning opportunities

Foreign aid and social development in Burundi

This study scrutinized foreign aid and social development in Burundi. It analysed the relationship between the amount of foreign aid received and enrolment in basic education in Burundi, the relationship between the amount of foreign aid and educational equality in Burundi, the relationship between the amount of foreign aid and the teaching and learning process in Burundi and finally explored the problems in basic education that need solutions. This study made use of various related literature on social development, basic education and foreign aid. It mainly scrutinised literature on basic education in Burundi. This study used a case study research design where both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. A quantitative approach was used to quantify the effectiveness of foreign aid on social development, while a qualitative approach was adopted to descriptively explain the events linking the findings to the objectives of the study. Thirty six respondents from the provincial education administration office were interviewed and observed and document analysis was performed. These were the main instruments for data collection. This study found that despite incoming foreign aid, the gender issues affecting education were not addressed, residents from marginalised areas had not adequately accessed foreign aid and net development assistance in Burundi was affected by politics, preventing a number of areas from benefitting. It also highlights shortages in school learning materials, late disbursement of education funds and civil conflict, among others. This study recommended the incorporation of government ministries and departments in donor-funded projects to reduce stand-alone projects, to emphasise project monitoring and evaluation, to emphasise mutual accountability and to encourage donor support for national educational priorities, to work on joint and coordinated analysis and missions, to address gender disparities and finally, to separate national politics from foreign aid projects and agencies

Helping NSU\u27s Multilingual and International Students Overcome Language Limitations: A Recommendation Report

For decades, scholars in Rhetoric and Composition, like Matsuda, Braine, Lieb, Ferris, and Hedgecock, among others, have argued the importance of second language learners in heterogeneous college writing classrooms. This thesis, in the form of a recommendation report, examines the best practices for multilingual international students in the college writing classroom and the current institutional efforts of Nova Southeastern University to help them. The study identifies the importance of multilingual learners in the international community of NSU, and looks at how the OIA (Office of International Affairs), QEP (Quality Enhancement Plan), the School of Communication, Media, and the Arts (SCMA) interact to aid international students. An analysis of the needs, curriculum, faculty development, and writing program administration surrounding multilingual international students works as the foundation for the recommendations in the report. Overall, the report offers NSU leadership opportunities of improvement in academic practices in order to provide multilingual international students stronger resources and institutional systems to support academic success, including: 1) a revision to the system of classification for multilingual international students; 2) a reexamination of learners\u27 academic writing needs; 3) a formalized collaborative relationship between academic departments and student affairs offices; and 4) an expansion of the college writing curriculum with professional development for those who teach multilingual international students

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

EXAMINING THE LIVED-EXPERIENCES OF INTERNATIONAL L2 PHD STUDENTS: A NARRATIVE STUDY

The primary purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to explore the lived experiences of international PhD students who used academic English literacy during their research for their theses/dissertations. The second purpose of this study was to identify ways international PhD students mitigated academic language challenges for their theses/dissertations. This qualitative narrative study was founded on the theoretical framework of constructivism and sociocultural theory created by Vygotsky. The research participants were three L2 international PhD students who lived in America while conducting research for their dissertations or theses. Video recorded semi-structured interviews were conducted with all participants to gather rich, detailed information about their lived experiences, while using academic English literacy and conversational English. Data collected from the interviews were transcribed, verified for accuracy from the participants, coded and analyzed to determine emergent themes. The two themes of this study were conversational English and academic English literacy. Findings from this study suggested that domestic and international universities should provide English speaking and literacy supports for L2 students

The Importance of Mentoring for Returnee Doctoral Graduates

Doctoral studies abroad are an important component of higher education faculty training in Pakistan. A significant number of trained academics return to the country following the completion of their studies and assume high-level positions in the higher education sector. The assumption is often that the returnees are highly trained and, therefore, well prepared for responsible academic roles. As a result, no mentoring arrangements are in place to prepare young academics for their subsequent roles. The study sought to examine and explore various aspects of research performance of the young academics, their challenges and expectations, how the gender aspect unfolds in the context of a patriarchal society as well as the coping mechanism for young academics. Among the findings, it is evident that the infant research culture and administrative overload have a negative influence on and are compounded by cultural dynamics linked to gender roles. However, the research also highlights a strong influence of foreign academics in Pakistan in enabling returnees to cope with the absence of formal mentorship at home

Lessons from Best Practices for English Language Educational Reform in Thailand

Lessons from other countries where digital technology is integrated into English classroom will shed lights to digital Thailand. This study, therefore, analyzed the best practices to extract and describe key success factors that could help increase national competitiveness. The conclusion of the study was drawn from an interpretive analysis and synthesis of the review of literature. Five purposefully selected best practices included Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and South Korea. This was a documentary study. The results revealed that key success that all these best practice countries share includes these ten issues: free, accessible, equalized education, ICT in English education, starting learning English in early age, professional development for teachers, stress on qualification of teachers, teacher compensations and welfares, small class size, assessment and testing reform and homework reform. Policy implications indicate that if the Thai government want to reach the educational efficiency of the best practice countries, it should take these issues into consideration. Future inquiry should include more countries to get a wider, more practical and more insightful holistic scope of the study