ImpacT2 project: preliminary study 1: establishing the relationship between networked technology and attainment

This report explored teaching practices, beliefs and teaching styles and their influences on ICT use and implementation by pupils. Additional factors explored included the value of school and LEA policies and teacher competence in the use of ICT in classroom settings. ImpaCT2 was a major longitudinal study (1999-2002) involving 60 schools in England, its aims were to: identify the impact of networked technologies on the school and out-of-school environment; determine whether or not this impact affected the educational attainment of pupils aged 816 years (at Key Stages 2, 3, and 4); and provide information that would assist in the formation of national, local and school policies on the deployment of IC

Assessing L2 listening in CALL and listening strategy use

This longitudinal study examines students’ learning strategies of 222 Spanish intermediate learners when taking several listening tests. It also examines the effect of different instructional formats (online-hybrid vs. face2face-blended) on the learners’ strategy use. There were four versions of the same text: an audio format, a video format, a redundancy-enhanced version in audio format, and a redundancy-enhanced version in video format. A pseudo-cross over design was utilized for this study with four listening tests used with each group. Participants completed a questionnaire immediately after each listening test to learn about learners’ strategies before, during and after listening in order to elicit information about the particular strategies that learners used to complete each listening test. Results indicated that there was a listening comprehension strategy development over time without explicit instruction, but participants from different instructional formats developed different strategies. There was a statistically significant difference for intermediate-low learners when perceiving the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies, but the effect of redundancy does not seem to have an impact. Intermediate-mid learners did not perceive a difference with the use of strategies when completing listening tests with or without redundancy

Effects of web-based metacognitive listening on Chinese university EFL learners' listening comprehension and metacognitive awareness

The present study examined the effects of web-based metacognitive listening practice on L2 learners’ listening comprehension over 14 weeks. Participants (N  = 67) came from two intact classes of intermediate EFL university learners in China. The experimental group was involved in the web-based metacognitive listening practice built on the metacognitive listening principles. The control group undertook a traditional web-based listening practice with the same listening materials texts, yet without training on their metacognitive awareness. TOEFL tests and MALQ were used to track the development of listening achievements and metacognitive awareness. ANCOVA was employed to detect the differences between the two groups regarding listening achievements and metacognitive development. The results show that the experimental group made significantly greater gains than the control group in listening achievements. However, the development of metacognition remained inconclusive. The study concludes that metacognitive listening practice under web-based environment could outperform the traditional web-based listening practice in improving listening achievements among Chinese intermediate EFL learners. Besides, some recommendations for further study are discussed

Adoption of Computer Assisted Language Learning Software among Nigerian Secondary School Students

Learning a language can be a daunting task especially if a learner has acquired his/her first language. In second or foreign language learning (L2 or FL), an effective learning strategy can contribute very much to one‟s success. Hence, computer assisted language learning (CALL) materials could be used in teaching to facilitate the language learning process. CALL encompasses broad range of information and communication technology applications and approaches. CALL materials are useful for two reasons; they are focused on learning rather than instruction or teaching and student-centered which enables a learner to learn at his/her pace. The four skills covered by CALL are listening, speaking, reading and writing. There are evidences in the literature that CALL has performed well in promoting three skills; listening, speaking and reading while substantial gains have not been made in writing skill. CALL, like other educational software has the potential to facilitate, accelerate, motivate and deepen skills in language learning. This study therefore examined the level of adoption of CALL among secondary school students in Nigeria. The study covered two geopolitical zones (North-central and South-west) in Nigeria. Four states were randomly selected; two from each zone. The states are Kogi and Kwara from Northcentral, and Lagos and Ogun from South west. Eight secondary schools from each of the state participated in this study. Twenty students were selected from each of the thirty-two schools (371 girls (58%), 269 boys 42%)). The ages of the participants range from 12-18years with mean age of 14.63years and standard deviation of 2.08. All the participants had English language as one of their subjects while 23% had French language in addition. CALL Adoption Questionnaire (CAQ) was designed and used to measure adoption. Four research questions were raised and answered. The findings revealed that only 147 students representing 23% adopt CALL applications in their language learning activities. The factors that promote the adoption of CALL include; educational qualification of fathers, type of school, peer influence and class of students. The study concluded that the adoption of CALL is low among secondary school students and recommended that parents, government and proprietors of private schools should procure and enforce the use of CALL in our secondary schools to reduce abysmal failure rate in English and French languages

Learning English as a Foreign Language in a Blended Mode of Face-to-face and Online Discussions: A Case Study in a University in Taiwan

Learning English as a Foreign Language in a Blended Mode of Face-to-face and Online Discussions: A Case Study in a University in Taiwan Previous studies have documented many beneficial results arising from integrating online discussion with face-to-face instruction for language learning, yet the interactive process of students within both formal and informal contexts remains to be explored. This research examined the dynamics of student learning in blended face-to-face and online discussions in and after class in the context of learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in a university in Taiwan. An embedded case study was applied with a mixed-methods approach to investigate how students jointly accomplished tasks, and how this blended approach had contributed to their English learning. The data collected include the qualitative data of observations on three groups of 14 participants, three focus groups with 11 participants, 72 online discussion logs of the three groups and the quantitative data of 45 questionnaire responses. The findings revealed that students learned primarily through mediation of L1 and L2, through collaborative interaction, through co-construction of meaning, and from teacher and peer scaffolds. Students tended to provide information and suggestions in face-to-face discussions by using L1, but they expressed thoughts, gave comments and probed questions in online discussions by using L2. Students changed their interactive patterns from passive to active by mutually assisting each other in accomplishing tasks. Data also showed that students recognised that blended discussions had contributed to their cognitive, language, interactional and affective gains. Blended discussions were perceived as learner-centred undertakings that increased participation, collaboration and engagement. Four key factors were observed to have affected learning in this blended instruction. The research concludes that blended discussions changed the conventional EFL classroom culture and had a positive influence on student learning in terms of interaction, processes of meaning construction and perceptions. Keywords Online Discussion, Computer-Mediated Communication, Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Blended Learning, Collaborative interaction, Co-construction of Meanin

A systematic review of technology-enhanced L2 listening development since 2000

Since 2000, technology-enhanced L2 listening development (TELD) has been increasingly investigated. However, systematic reviews concerning the technologies, learning tasks, and outcomes of TELD remain limited. To fill this gap, we conducted a systematic review of publications from 2000 to 2022 on TELD from the perspectives of technologies, learning tasks, and learning outcomes. Forty-six articles from Web of Science were screened by predefined criteria and analysed based on a step-by-step procedure using the PRISMA framework. The findings revealed 13 types of technology and 19 learning tasks useful for TELD. TELD was effective both in terms of building listening skills and enhancing learner emotions. The studies showed that TELD supported learner interactions, encouraged active engagement, and augmented various learning tasks. Based on the findings, we developed a TELD model consisting of two parts: “Within cognitive systems,” in which learners deal with cognitive schemata, listening strategy application, and listening practice via solid attention; “outside of cognitive systems,” in which TELD can construct and reconstruct cognitive schemata, support listening practices, encourage and guide listening strategy application, and improve learner emotions and attention by providing learning materials and activities based on listening-related knowledge, listening exercises with feedback, prompts and feedback on listening strategy application, and a sense of enjoyment and comfort

Research on the learning/teaching of L2 listening: A bibliometric review and its implications

This bibliometric study examined the development of research on the learning and teaching of second language (L2) listening from 1948 to 2020 (73 years). Specifically, the study involved: (1) a search and analysis of all the noun phrases to identify important research topics in the abstracts of the published journal articles on L2 listening over the 73 years (divided into three periods) using self-made Python scripts and (2) three co-citation analyses of the references in these articles regarding highly cited authors, publications, and journals, respectively, via the VOSviewer program. The keyword/phrase analysis produced results that helped uncover and delineate the research trends in L2 listening across the three time periods. The co-citation analyses identified the most highly cited authors, publications, and journals as well as the interrelations among the most highly cited items in each of the three categories illustrated with network maps. The results of the analyses and their implications are discussed

AN EXPLORATORY RESEARCH: ELT AND ELL STUDENTS’ TENDENCIES TOWARDS WEB 2.0 TOOLS

The research aims to reveal ELT and ELL students’ tendencies towards the application of Web 2.0 tools in language learning process and to reveal whether the department and gender had a significant effect on the attitudes towards Web 2.0 tools for academic purposes. The research also investigated the sorts of Web 2.0 tools ELT and ELL learners use for academic purposes. The participants were 94 students from English Language Teaching (ELT) and English Language and Literature (ELL) departments at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University. The overall results of the research have shown that majority of learners use Web 2.0 tools to enhance vocabulary, listening comprehension, reading, speaking skills and finally their writing skills. The findings also illustrate that participants are conscious of the existence of these tools and they generally have a positive tendency towards the implementation of these tools in their language learning process. Furthermore, social networking sites were the most favored tools by students for academic purposes.  Article visualizations

DEVELOPING MULTIMODAL DIGITAL LITERACY: THE APPLICATION OF DIGITAL STORYTELLING AS A NEW AVENUE FOR EFFECTIVE ENGLISH LEARNING WITH EFL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN KOREA

The purpose of this mixed method research study is to investigate the educational effects of digital storytelling as a communicative language learning strategy in an EFL elementary school class in Korea. In order to find out the benefits and challenges of digital storytelling in EFL class, this study was conducted for 12 weeks in a rural elementary school. Digital storytelling was selected and utilized in the after-school English class, as main teaching and learning tool. Guiding research questions were 1) what are the potential benefits and challenges of digital storytelling for young EFL learners when it is employed in a rural context as a language learning activity? i. e.) the change of motivation, reading, writing, listening, speaking ability, and 2) What does the English teacher find to be benefits and challenges of using a digital storytelling as pedagogical strategies in Korean EFL classroom?. In order to answer those questions, a survey questionnaire on students’ learning attitude was distributed, and pre- and post-test were employed to investigate the difference in terms of the ability of reading, writing, listening and speaking over time. In addition, student’s reflective self-evaluation log, teacher’s lecture report, classroom observation and in/formal interviews with focal students and the teacher were also collected to figure out the factors which gave an influence to students and the teacher. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed based on the characteristics of each data set. The quantitative data results indicated that students show overall improvement in academic performance in terms of reading, writing, listening and speaking. In addition to English proficiency, the learning attitude and motivation toward English learning was elevated, followed by the increase of their critical, creative thinking, and digital literacy skills. The other results of qualitative data highlighted that the English teacher and students were satisfied with the learning experience with digital storytelling in that it played a key role in motivating the learning process and was an effective tool for active learning. To sum up, it seems clear that the digital storytelling activity, as integrated instructional strategy has the potential to shed light on helping EFL learners in a rural school to develop English skills as well as to change their learning attitude toward studying English. In addition, digital storytelling also increased skills other than academic skills related to learning English, and it also helped to improve students’ communicative ability, encouraging their collaboration, motivation and creativity to be heightened