Students’ Perceptions Towards the Use of Podcasts in EFL Classroom: A Case Study at a University of Uzbekistan

Integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has emerged as a significant factor in the realm of language education, yielding notable impacts. To shed light on this phenomenon, a case study was conducted to delve into the perceptions of students and attitudes of teachers regarding the utilization of podcasts in the teaching-learning process. The research problem addressed in this study aimed to explore students' perceptions toward the incorporation of podcasts in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom, as well as their understanding of the limitations and impact of podcasts on their language skill development. The study recruited 40 students and 2 teachers from the National University of Uzbekistan as participants. Data collection involved the distribution of questionnaires to students and conducting interviews with teachers. The questionnaires comprised 17 statements to gauge the participants' viewpoints. The findings revealed that a majority of respondents expressed their fondness for podcasts (80.2%), strongly agreeing that the use of podcasts is enjoyable (69.9%). Moreover, the researcher observed positive attitudes from both students and teachers toward the integration of podcasts in the EFL classroom. Students believed that podcasts had the potential to enhance their listening and speaking skills. Teachers, on the other hand, perceived podcasts as an effective tool for fostering students' collaborative and cooperative work skills, as well as their creative thinking strategies. However, challenges associated with the effective utilization of podcasts in the classroom also surfaced, prompting further exploration into optimal implementation strategies

Incorporating Facebook in an Intermediate-Level Chinese Language Course: A Case Study

This qualitative case study examined four undergraduates in anintermediate-level Chinese language class. We investigatedparticipants’ perceptions of Facebook as a pedagogical tool in Chineselanguage learning and their engagement in free posting and onlineChinese communication on Facebook. Data include all participants’Facebook posts and comments, a semi-structured survey questionnaire,semi-structured interviews, and researchers’ online observations andfield notes. Our analysis revealed that participants engaged in a freeFacebook posting activity mainly through (a) affective expression, (b)interactive communication, and (c) group-oriented salutations. TheseFacebook-supported social interactions offered many opportunities forlanguage-learners to use Chinese in a relatively authentic environmentwhile carrying out familiar on-line activities. Participants alsoreported that they favored both the concept of free writing in Chineseand its integration into Facebook posting. The study suggests thatlanguage-learning tasks should be authentic and that the use oftechnological tools such as Facebook can provide such tasks

Οι απόψεις των εκπαιδευτικών πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης για τη συμβολή της ψηφιακής αφήγησης (digital storytelling) στην καλλιέργεια των δεξιοτήτων του 21 ου αιώνα με έμφαση στη δημιουργικότητα, την κριτική σκέψη και τη συνεργασία

Η ένταξη και η χρήση των νέων τεχνολογικών μέσων στην εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία αποτελεί ένα σημαντικό βήμα ενίσχυσης της διδασκαλίας καθώς ενδυναμώνει τους μαθητές, τους δημιουργεί μεγαλύτερη σιγουριά και αυτοπεποίθηση για τις ικανότητές τους και ταυτόχρονα δίνει κίνητρο στους εκπαιδευτικούς ώστε να επικαιροποίησουν τη διδασκαλία τους και να έλθουν πιο κοντά στους μαθητές τους. Η παρούσα εργασία εστιάζει στην ψηφιακή αφήγηση ως μέσο το οποίο έχει την δυνατότητα να συμβάλει στην επίτευξη των διδακτικών στόχων, παρέχοντας ταυτόχρονα την ευκαιρία στους μαθητές να μιλήσουν με την δική τους φωνή και να εκφραστούν με τα μέσα που θεωρούν οι ίδιοι ως τα πλέον κατάλληλα. Ταυτόχρονα, στην εργασία εξετάζονται οι δεξιότητες του 21ου αιώνα και το πώς αυτές συνδέονται με την εφαρμογή της ψηφιακής τεχνολογίας και ειδικά της ψηφιακής αφήγησης στην τάξη. Σκοπός της έρευνας αποτελεί η εξέταση των στάσεων και απόψεων των εκπαιδευτικών πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης αναφορικά με την ψηφιακή αφήγηση και τη συμβολή που έχει στην εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία. Δια μέσου πρωτογενούς ποσοτικής έρευνας στην εργασία διαπιστώνεται ότι οι εκπαιδευτικοί, στην ευρεία τους πλειοψηφία έχουν θετική άποψη και αντίληψη για την ψηφιακή αφήγηση, καθώς και για την συμβολή της στην απόκτηση των δεξιοτήτων του 21ου αιώνα. Συγκεκριμένα, από την έρευνα διαπιστώνεται ότι η ψηφιακή αφήγηση συμβάλει στην ενσυναίσθηση, στην καλύτερη συνεργασία τόσο μεταξύ των μαθητών μεταξύ τους, όπως επίσης και τη συνεργασία μαθητή-εκπαιδευτικού, ενώ επίσης ενισχύει τη δημιουργικότητας των μαθητών. Ωστόσο, στην πρωτογενή έρευνα επισημαίνονται εμπόδια και δυσχέρειες στην εφαρμογή της ψηφιακής αφήγησης, όπως η απουσία εκπαίδευσης στις ΤΠΕ, η έλλειψη υποδομών και το έλλειμμα υποστηρικτικής ηγεσίας.The incorporation and usage of new technological tools in the educational process is an important step in enhancing teaching, as it empowers students, gives them greater confidence in their abilities, and at the same time motivates teachers to update and improve their teaching. The current study focuses on digital storytelling as a means of helping teachers to achieve teaching objectives while providing students the opportunity to speak with their own voice and express themselves through the means they consider appropriate. At the same time, the study examines the 21st century skills and how they relate to the application of digital technology and especially digital storytelling to the classroom. The purposw of the research is to identify the attitudes and opinions of primary school teachers regarding digital storytelling and its contribution to the educational process. Through primary quantitative research, it is found that teachers, in their vast majority, have a positive outlook and understanding of digital storytelling as well as its contribution to 21st century skills acquisition. Specifically, research shows that digital storytelling contributes to empathy, better collaboration between students, as well as student-teacher collaboration, while also enhancing students' creativity. However, primary research points to obstacles and difficulties in implementing digital storytelling, such as the lack of ICT training, lack of infrastructure and a lack of supportive leadership

Collaboration through blogging to develop writing and speaking skills in English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

The primary aim of this research was to explore peer collaboration through blogging to support English language learning within English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses at a university setting. This thesis provides an exploration of whether the integration of a blog in university ESP courses might help support students’ English language learning skills, as well as an exploration of the students’ perceptions about using blogging in their ESP courses. I integrated blogs in the English for Specific Purpose courses that I teach: Business Communication for Management and English for Computer Science Majors. I evaluated the use of blogging through action research. The use of weblogs for enhancing writing and speaking in a foreign language is supported in research literature, particularly through the use of peer feedback. However, the use of blogging in an ESP context has not been thoroughly researched. To provide an understanding of the role of blogging in my ESP courses, I gathered and analyzed three data sets: i) the students’ blog posts, blog comments, and written and spoken assignments (which were analyzed using error analysis), ii) focus group discussions and iii) individual interviews (both were analyzed using thematic analysis). Data were gathered from five student groups over three teaching semesters. The error analysis of the written tasks identified common patterns of error repetition. The error analysis indicated that, following posting and peer feedback on the blog, most of the mistakes recorded during the course were not repeated in the final examination. Findings suggested that the blogs had played a positive role in supporting students’ language learning with respect to the accuracy of their writing and speaking skills. Interview and focus group analysis revealed that students felt positively about the integration of a blog in their English language courses. They felt that it was a novel, fun way to learn and practice language, it was easy to use, and it allowed them the possibility to learn in their own time and place and at their own pace. They also stated that engaging in peer feedback allowed them to become aware of their classmates’ errors and then to reflect on their own work to check whether they had made similar errors and, if they had, to correct them. Some implications that can be drawn from the findings are that the integration of blogging in an ESP course can support learners to enhance their English writing and speaking skills, by helping them become more aware of the learning process and more reflective of their own learning. The value of the learning designs used in this study lie in the use of blogging as a platform for language learners to engage in practicing their English language written and oral skills both inside and outside the classroom through written and oral tasks, as well as through engaging in online peer feedback. Students can also enhance their critical thinking skills via blogging and become autonomous and active participants in learning by engaging in online collaborative peer feedback

Digital Storytelling in Primary-Grade Classrooms

abstract: As digital media practices become readily available in today's classrooms, literacy and literacy instruction are changing in profound ways (Alvermann, 2010). Professional organizations emphasize the importance of integrating new literacies (New London Group, 1996) practices into language-arts instruction (IRA, 2009; NCTE, 2005). As a result, teachers search for effective ways to incorporate the new literacies in an effort to engage students. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the potential of digital storytelling as participatory media for writing instruction. This case study was conducted during the fall semester of 2012 in one first-grade classroom and one second-grade classroom in the Southwestern United States. The study addressed ten interrelated research questions relating to how primary-grade students performed in relation to the Common Core writing standards, how they were motivated, how they formed a meta- language to talk about their writing, how they developed identities as writers, and how they were influenced by their teachers' philosophies and instructional approaches. Twenty-two first-grade students and 24 second-grade students used the MovieMaker software to create digital stories of personal narratives. Data included field notes, interviews with teachers and students, teacher journals, my own journal, artifacts of teachers' lesson plans, photographs, students' writing samples, and their digital stories. Qualitative data were analyzed by thematic analysis (Patton, 1990) and discourse analysis (Gee, 2011). Writing samples were scored by rubrics based on the Common Core State Standards. The study demonstrated how digital storytelling can be used to; (a) guide teachers in implementing new literacies in primary grades; (b) illustrate digital storytelling as writing; (c) develop students' meta-language to talk about writing; (d) impact students' perceptions as writers; (e) meet Common Core State Standards for writing; (f) improve students' skills as writers; (g) build students' identities as writers; (h) impact academic writing; (i) engage students in the writing process; and (j) illustrate the differences in writing competencies between first- and second-grade students. The study provides suggestions for teachers interested in incorporating digital storytelling in primary-grade classrooms.Dissertation/ThesisPh.D. Curriculum and Instruction 201

Theory to Practice, Practice to Theory: Developing a Critical and Feminist Pedagogy for an English as a Second Language Academic Writing Classroom

Although many aspects of English as a second language (ESL) academic writing instruction have been well researched, Leki, Cumming, and Silva (2008) note that, There have been surprisingly few research-based descriptions of L2 writing classroom instruction (p. 80). Although research related to the use of critical and feminist pedagogy in ESL is increasing, Kumaradivelu (2006) notices that it is still not clear how the critical awakening “…has actually changed the practice of everyday teaching and teacher preparation” (p. 76). The purpose of this study was to provide an individual response to the gaps identified by both sets of authors by investigating how critical and feminist theories could be utilized to develop an orientation to interactions in the everyday practices of an ESL academic writing classroom. In order to achieve this purpose, an autoethnographic study of an eight-week ESL academic writing course in an Intensive English Program (IEP) was conducted. The participants in this study included the teacher-researcher and seven learners. The data collected included the following: lesson plans, instructional materials, teacher field notes, teacher reflexive journal, transcripts of everyday class interactions, transcripts of multiple interviews with learners, learner written reflections, and learners’ written assignments for the course. Analysis of findings revealed that the critical and feminist theories selected for the course were realized even though there were some internal and external obstacles. Learners experienced positive shifts in their feelings about the topic of academic writing and their own abilities as academic writers. Learners’ written texts also reflected positive shifts with respect to the teacher’s goals for learners. These findings suggest that critical and feminist theories can be enacted in everyday classrooms and can be helpful with regard to improving teachers’ and learners’ experiences of everyday ESL academic writing classrooms

AN EXPLORATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATORS’ COGNITIONS AND PRACTICES IN RELATION TO THE PEDAGOGICAL PURPOSES AND EFFICACIES OF 21ST-CENTURY DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

This multiple case study investigates English language (EL) teacher educators’ cognitions and practices related to pedagogical technology integration. The focus concerns five native-English speaking teacher educators (TEs) within a teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) training program at a South Korean university. The goal was to determine 1) TESOL-TEs’ cognitions regarding the pedagogical purposes and efficacies of 21st–century digital technologies, 2) TESOL-TEs’ uses of such technologies in their practice, and 3) factors related to TESOL-TEs’ decisions of whether and how to integrate technologies into their praxis. Data collected over twenty weeks in 2013 included four rounds of semi-structured interviews and two sets of classroom observations for each of the five focal participants, interviews with program administrators, written reflections, field notes, photographs, and document review. Data were coded using King’s (2004) template analysis method. Categories were based on constructs from the technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra and Koehler, 2006) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT, Venkatesh et al., 2003) and UTAUT 2 (Venkatesh et al., 2012). The focal participants displayed high levels of TPACK and used Web 2.0 applications extensively to facilitate interactions in their roles as teacher educators. It was found that UTAUT factors guided TEs’ decisions and use behaviour to varying degrees, but that the mediating factor of age did not relate to TEs’ decisions in the manner predicted by the UTAUT. TEs’ cognitions both coincided with and diverged from their practices. This study contributes to research gaps on the roles, cognitions, and technology-related practices of TESOL-TEs in South Korea. Research on TEs in different contexts is recommended to gain further insights into the connections among these factors. TESOL program administrators and TEs will particularly benefit from the light shed on teacher educator cognitions and practices in this study.