Personalizing the design of computer‐based instruction to enhance learning

This paper reports two studies designed to investigate the effect on learning outcomes of matching individuals’ preferred cognitive styles to computer‐based instructional (CBI) material. Study 1 considered the styles individually as Verbalizer, Imager, Wholist and Analytic. Study 2 considered the bi‐dimensional nature of cognitive styles in order to assess the full ramification of cognitive styles on learning: Analytic/Imager, Analytic/ Verbalizer, Wholist/Imager and the Wholist/Verbalizer. The mix of images and text, the nature of the text material, use of advance organizers and proximity of information to facilitate meaningful connections between various pieces of information were some of the considerations in the design of the CBI material. In a quasi‐experimental format, students’ cognitive styles were analysed by Cognitive Style Analysis (CSA) software. On the basis of the CSA result, the system defaulted students to either matched or mismatched CBI material by alternating between the two formats. The instructional material had a learning and a test phase. Learning outcome was tested on recall, labelling, explanation and problem‐solving tasks. Comparison of the matched and mismatched instruction did not indicate significant difference between the groups, but the consistently better performance by the matched group suggests potential for further investigations where the limitations cited in this paper are eliminated. The result did indicate a significant difference between the four cognitive styles with the Wholist/Verbalizer group performing better then all other cognitive styles. Analysing the difference between cognitive styles on individual test tasks indicated significant difference on recall, labelling and explanation, suggesting that certain test tasks may suit certain cognitive styles

Fiction vs. Reality: How Students Discover Real-Life Representations in Prose Using Engaged Reading

Background: The reading of fiction texts requires intense effort to integrate mind, emotion, and intrinsic reading motivation, in order to discover real-life representations. There is limited research in this area. Purpose: This study employs the engaged reading strategy combined with discovery learning, in order to investigate improvements in students’ competence in prose appreciation. Method: This study used a mixed-method design. Thirty-two Indonesian Language Education students participated in the study. Data was collected using student worksheets, observation, and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was conducted by identifying and interpreting the results of prose appreciation for each reading activity. Results: This study found that while explaining the theme and through description students were able to activate prior knowledge. The students' reading motivation mainly focused on the intrinsic element of stories. They clearly understood the plot, characterizations, and messages, but supporting details varied because of the differences in students’ knowledge, experience, and social background related to short stories. In the post-reading stage, students revealed new knowledge and mental imagery. Based on our findings, engaged reading combined with discovery learning can enrich students' experience and ability to elaborate information, as well as to discover new knowledge about real-life representation in prose. Conclusion: Based on the research findings, teachers and lecturers are able to utilize the engaged reading strategy combined with discovery learning to promote students’ ability to read literature. Further research should involve more diverse participants. Experimental research could also examine the advantages and disadvantages of engaged reading and discovery learning

Understanding Prose Through Task Oriented Audio-visual Activity: an American Modern Prose Course at the Faculty of Letters, Petra Christian University

The method presented here provides the basis for a course in American prose for EFL students. Understanding and appreciation of American prose is a difficult task for the students because they come into contact with works that are full of cultural baggage and far apart from their own world. The audio visual aid is one of the alternatives to sensitize the students to the topic and the cultural background. Instead of proving the ready-made audio visual aids, teachers can involve students to actively engage in a more task oriented audiovisual project. Here, the teachers encourage their students to create their own audio visual aids using colors, pictures, sound and gestures as a point of initiation for further discussion. The students can use color that has become a strong element of fiction to help them calling up a forceful visual representation. Pictures can also stimulate the students to build their mental image. Sound and silence, which are a part of the fabric of literature, may also help them to increase the emotional impact

Vondel on translation

This essay attempts to gain insight into seventeenth-century conceptions of literary translation in the Low Countries by looking at one of its central figures, Joost van den Vondel. The emphasis will be on the terms of Vondel's discourse on translation as much as on the nature of the views he expounds. The observations that are offered are both preliminary and provisional. Only further study will show to what extent Vondel's approach to matters of translation can be regarded as representative

Getting creative in the languages classroom

The following principles are central to the work of ‘Linguistic Creativity in Language Learning’, a research strand of Creative Multilingualism: We create language every day. Language diversity facilitates creative diversity. Linguistic diversity nurtures diverse expression of feelings, thoughts and identities, and diverse ways of knowing and seeing the world. In this chapter we outline how they might be considered in relation to classroom language learning. One of the authors of this chapter..

The Rhyming Peg Mnemonic Device Applied to Learning the Mohs Scale of Hardness

NOTE: This is a large file, 55.7mb in size! This article describes the use of the rhyming peg mnemonic device to teach Moh's scale of hardness. The "pegs" consist of a set of words, each rhyming with a number from one to ten, to which the mineral names are linked. The mnemonic drawings are incorporated into a poem. This technique is effective because it is meaningful, helps students organize information, provides many associations, uses the creative thinking skill of visualization of images, and focuses student attention. Educational levels: Graduate or professional