Integration of project-based learning to develop english oral production in sophomore students at Liceo José Ortega Y Gasset

To prove the validity of Project-Based Learning in the development of English Oral Production in sophomore students at Liceo José Ortega y Gasset in the school year 2021-2022.Los estudiantes de segundo año de Bachillerato en el Liceo José Ortega y Gasset, en Quito Ecuador, se preparan para certificarse como B2 al finalizar el tercer año. En la enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera el reto es desarrollar una adecuada producción oral del idioma. Existen enfoques pedagógicos y estrategias de enseñanza que promueven la producción oral como el aprendizaje basado en proyectos (ABP) que es una metodología activa que permite a los estudiantes aplicar el idioma en situaciones reales. El objetivo de la investigación es comprobar la validez del ABP en el desarrollo de la Producción Oral en inglés en estudiantes de segundo año del Liceo José Ortega y Gasset en el curso escolar 2021-2022. La investigación tuvo un enfoque cualitativo y cuantitativo, con entrevistas a los docentes sobre el dominio de ABP, encuestas a los estudiantes sobre sus intereses personales para el aprendizaje y se aplicó el pretest de habilidades del habla en inglés como lengua extrajera de Cambridge, se creó un folleto sobre ABP interdisciplinario y se validó la propuesta mediante el posttest con un incremento del 6% en los resultados de producción oral con respecto al pretest. El folleto fue eficaz con estrategias y técnicas específicas y ejemplos, lo que permitió a los docentes enriquecer sus prácticas docentes y promover un aprendizaje más dinámico. Los profesores están dispuestos a trabajar en proyectos de una a dos semanas, optimizando su carga de trabajo. Los estudiantes mostraron una actitud positiva hacia estos proyectos, alineándose con las preferencias de la Generación Z por resultados a corto plazo. La implementación de ABP en el Liceo José Ortega y Gasset mejoró con éxito la producción oral en inglés. Los estudiantes demostraron un mayor compromiso y motivación con la participación en proyectos interdisciplinarios, aplicando el idioma en contextos auténticos.MAESTRÍ

The influence of a listening training programme on students' performance in listening comprehension : a study at teachers' college in the southwest region of Saudi Arabia

The primary concern of the present study is to investigate the influence of a listening training programme on students' performance in listening comprehension at the Teachers' College in the Southwest region of Saudi Arabia, with reference to their attitudes, motivation, parental encouragement, satisfaction with English courses taught at the secondary schools and their socio-economic status as independent variables. These variables were investigated after the pre-tests of both the experimental and control groups and were considered to be an attempt to analyse and discover the learners' interests, needs, strengths, weaknesses, difficulties and their level of proficiency in English language. It was hypothesised that there would be no significant correlation between the students' scores in these variables and their scores on the listening tests. It was also hypothesised that there would be no significant differences between the students' scores in the pre-tests and post-tests of the experimental and control groups.The data for the investigation were gathered from 240 male first year undergraduate students with an age range of 19-22 years at the Gizan Teachers' College in the Southwest region of Saudi Arabia. Three different questionnaires were administered in this study namely, Students' Attitude/Motivation Questionnaire, before the training programme, Students' Evaluation Questionnaire, after the training programme, and Teachers' Evaluation Questionnaire.In addition, interviews and observations were carried out with the supervisors of English at Gizan Educational Directorate, teachers of English in secondary schools, English native speakers staff in the British Council in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and at Hull University English Language Centre in the U. K. in order to gather more data concerning the learning and teaching of listening-based methods and the recent teaching methodology and modern facilities used in teaching ESL/EFL in both centres.The data results were analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package For Social Science) with statistical techniques of frequency-distribution, Pearson's Product-moment correlation and t-tests for independent and paired samples.Analysis of the data revealed that in the pre-test, the scores on the listening comprehension test of the experimental group were relatively similar to the scores of the control group and had mostly significant relationships with the independent variables at 0.05, 0.01 and 0.001 with very low correlations ranging from r= -0.10 to r= 0.40. Post-tests results were also compared between the two groups in order to determine the differences of the two scores. Students in the experimental group scored more highly in the listening comprehension tests than those in the control group with mean difference of 42.75 in favour of the experimental group. The mean scores in the pre-tests and post-tests of the experimental group were also highly significant, p<0.001 showing a difference in means of 43.50 and a difference in standard deviations of 2.30. No differences were found between the means and standard deviations in the pre-tests and post-tests of the control on the listening comprehension tests (mean difference =0.02 and standard deviations difference = 0.27, p=<0.05). This indicated that participants in the experimental groups performed better and displayed greater improvements when they received training in listening tasks than those in the control group who received no training. Therefore, the hypotheses were rejected and it can be said that there were significant and high correlations between the pre-tests and post-tests of the experimental groups after -the training, r=0.8 5, p<0.001. Students were found to be instrumentally oriented with negative attitudes before the training programme in both the experimental group (EXG) and control group (COG). Students' attitudes in the experimental groups were changed from negative to positive after the training programme and their motivation was changed from instrumental orientation to integrative orientation. They emphasised learning English as a means of interaction with people who speak English inside and outside the college. Further research is needed to be carried out in other regions of Saudi Arabia regarding the findings of the present studies. Parents played a significant role in their children's progress in English and students were found to be satisfied with their level of proficiency in listening comprehension, speech production and reading pronunciation, with fewer errors in favour of the experimental group, although their socio-economic status was modest r=0.20, p<0.01.In the light of these results, certain recommendations were made for learning and teaching listening comprehension at Teachers' Colleges in Saudi Arabia as well as for the teachers' and students' training. The researcher particularly recommended that training in listening comprehension should be introduced into the Saudi education system for all levels of English proficiency, in order to facilitate the development of comprehension skills and increase students' acquisition of the target language. Andy Braithwaite, from the British Council in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia emphasised this by stating that "listening is an important skill. It should be taught at all levels and should be part of any course for better spoken English" (1997, p. 6 Teachers' Questionnaire). The choice of the listening materials should be left to the Ministry of Education to select what is appropriate to the levels of the learners graduating from simple to complex.Teachers' training should be regarded as an on-going process and should be taken seriously and implemented with the utmost zeal. A first step would be to hold specialised interviews and language proficiency tests in order to determine their level of proficiency and needs. Moreover, there should be scheduled and well-arranged meetings, particularly at the beginning of each semester, in order to keep both the supervisors and teachers up-to-date with developments in teaching methods and new techniques and facilities used in teaching the target language as well as to develop their competence in oral speech.In this respect, the recommendations for training programmes and the scheduled meetings were mainly based on the fact that 94% of the 50 teachers and lecturers at the secondary schools and teachers' colleges were in agreement with the use of the listening-based methods to teach listening comprehension, although they had not had any previous experience in learning or teaching using these methods either pre-service or in-service. Only 6% of them had undertaken training in the listening-based methods during their spare time in the summer, at the American University in Egypt or at the British Councils in Egypt, Sudan, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.Finally, it is of great and vital importance to point out that the habit of translating the grammatical rules and the reading passages from English into Arabic should be abandoned during the teacher/student interaction in the classroom. Concentration on the target language would train the learners to develop their comprehension skills and their thinking strategies in spoken English (Hashim and Sahil, 1994, pp. 1-3)

Chinese elements : a bridge of the integration between Chinese -English translation and linguaculture transnational mobility

[Abstract] As the popularity of Chinese elements in the innovation of the translation part in Chinese CET, we realized that Chinese elements have become a bridge between linguaculture transnational mobility and Chinese-English translation.So, Chinese students translation skills should be critically improved; for example, on their understanding about Chinese culture, especially the meaning of Chinese culture. Five important secrets of skillful translation are introduced to improve students’ translation skills

Authenticity And The Assessment Of Modern Foreign Language Learning: The Problems Of Designing Authentic Tasks And Devising And Applying Criteria For Moderated Assessment And Evaluation In The Examinations Of The International Baccalaureate for Modern Foreign Languages

Notions of authenticity often determine aims in communicative language teaching and learning. This research describes and develops theories of authenticity in assessing and evaluating such activity. Concepts are defined for mapping and exploring the International Baccalaureate Organisation's Diploma Programme for Group 2 Languages. The empirical focus is Language B, Standard Level, a programme for intermediate foreign-language learners. Attention is paid to formal assessment in listening and speaking, reading and writing in French. It includes the delineation of boundaries, investigation of rubrics, design of tasks and their standardisation, language use in criterion-referenced assessment, with the moderation and evaluation of results by grades. In measuring performance, 'target' language communication is investigated, insofar as definable and assessable through reference to authenticity. Commonly-used theoretical and practical categorisations emerge as subjective, imprecise and contestable. Three methods are employed to identify, describe and understand the programme, together with the language use it entails. They provide complementary perspectives for conceptualising authenticity. First, samples of IBO documentation are analysed for illuminating theory. Understandings are developed and refined through observation of the programme in practice. Alternately, constraints on learner participation in assessed language-production for authentic communication are examined. Influential in any situation, they appear particularised in 'high-stakes' evaluation. Understandings are also derived from analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, sampled from a range of formal assessment sessions and manipulated experimentally. Responses to specific tasks are scrutinised. Through developing criteria for identifying, analysing and evaluating language-based authenticity from this data, the research seeks: • to assess validity in devising standardised tasks for authentic language use within set rubrics; • reliably to correlate qualitative, criterion-referenced assessments with quantitative evaluation; • to determine regularity in grading significant qualities of formally-assessed language; • better to understand authenticity as a concept for guiding these aims; • to identify theory and practice that distinguish the programme researched as a view of pedagogy and learning, through investigation of its products. The research offers description, analysis and critique of programme planning, administration and outcomes. Its conclusions indicate authenticity as conceptually viable for assessing language use. Without decreasing reliability, construct validity may be enhanced. Anomalies previously found 'difficult to assess', are reduced in incidence and the fit improved between programme philosophy and practice. Through measuring task-based language for authenticity in determinate settings, evaluation verdicts may be more consistently and explicitly justified, enhancing the potential credibility of the given programme amongst its users

Перекладацькі інновації

У матеріалах подані тези XІІ Всеукраїнської студентської науково-практичної конференції «Перекладацькі інновації». До збірника ввійшли наукові дослідження, присвячені актуальним проблемам сучасного перекладу, мовознавства, лінгвістики, стилістики, методики та методології сучасних літературознавчих досліджень. Для мовознавців, перекладачів, викладачів і студентів філологічних та перекладацьких факультетів

The Correlation Between Teaching Collocations and Lexical Bundles and the Improvement in the Writing Skill of First-Year University Students

This study explores the correlation between the teaching of collocations and lexical bundles and the improvement of the writing skill of first-year university students. The thesis addresses three research questions. First, to what extent can the explicit teaching of collocations and lexical bundles assist the students in learning them and can later use the acquired collocations and lexical bundles morphologically and grammatically accurately in writing? Second, the study asks if there is a correlation between using the collocation and lexical bundle and improving the writing grade. Finally, the study investigated if there is a relationship between the increase in the number of collocations and lexical bundles and the difference in the writing grade and whether such an increase leads to improvement in the overall score. It is worth mentioning that the collocations and lexical bundles are two of the leading representatives of the Formulaic language. Many studies discussed the significant role that collocations and the lexical bundles play in helping English as a foreign language students (EFLs) to express themselves accurately in writing, besides providing them with the knowledge to produce coherent and precise text. The study implemented quantitative research, and the findings were the outcome of the statistical analysis of the pre-test and post-tests and written assignments of the control and experimental groups. The findings concluded that the explicit instruction of the collocation and lexical bundles significantly improved the overall writing grade of the experimental group. The study identified some commonly used collocations and lexical bundles among the high-achieving participants, and the number of the collocations and lexical bundles used in writing positively correlated with an improved overall grade. More suggestions will be discussed on how more attention should be given to incorporating the collocation and lexical bundles in the English for Academic Purposes programmes in universities

The impact of a critical reading course in the Turkish High School context

Recent research, which argues that discourses shape and are shaped by social reality, has contributed to the development of Critical Literacies and Critical Language Awareness in education. Critical Language Awareness researchers argue that, unless challenged, discourses reproduce dominant ideologies based on the understanding that discourse is a social process and that it is inherently ideological. Therefore, the social aspect of language should not be ignored in literacy education. However, in the context of this study, i. e. Turkey, the current approach to literacy, and in particular to reading, is a traditional one, which does not take the social aspect of language into account. Sharing the principles of Critical Language Awareness, this study seeks to find out the impact of a critical reading course in the Turkish Anatolian High School context. The first chapter opens by exploring the theoretical foundations of Critical pedagogy, later on moving to the principles and practices of Critical Literacies and Critical Language Awareness. In this chapter, student motivation and resistance as a recurring theme in Critical Language Awareness practices is also explored together with theories on motivation. Chapter 2 reviews studies of Critical Discourse Analysis, where Critical Language Awareness has its roots, together with the use of Systemic Functional Grammar as a tool for textual analysis in Critical Language Awareness. In this chapter, I also briefly consider the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and Turkish language as a case of linguistic relativism and linguistic determinism. In Chapter 3,1 discuss the overall action research approach and particular research instruments (questionnaires, interviews and repeated reading activity) adopted in this study, and this is followed by an account of the critical reading course, given in Chapter 4. Findings of the research are presented in Chapters 5 and 6. In Chapter 5, the findings are presented in relation to the impact of the course on students' approach to written texts. 'Students involved in this study reported and showed in repeated reading activity an increase in recognition of reading as a social process and of the effect of lexicogrammatical structures in texts. In Chapter 61 present findings in relation to the impact of the course on students' motivation. There was some resistance to the course due to the current exam system, but the students who participated in this study reported increased motivation for reading lessons. in Chapter 7,1 present an overall discussion and implications of these findings. Finally, in the Conclusion, which includes limitations to the study and implications for further research

Instructional technology, L2 writing theory, and IFL: a case-study conducted in a British university among tutors and students

This study reviews a series of theoretical models and educational experiences, in order to examine how some of the claims made in the existing literature regarding the role of IT - mainly computer technologies - in writing instruction play out in the case of Italian as a Foreign Language (IFL). With this purpose in mind, this study examines a specific context - three IFL modules taught at the University of Warwick - and uses relevant teaching and learning experiences as a case-study and data sample. By using qualitative analysis supported by some quantitative methodologies, this study triangulates data from questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus-groups, field notes, classroom observation rubrics, as well as classroom artefacts, including online resources and educational software used over the course of the academic years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. The data collected is filtered through a tripartite framework - learning/instructional environment, IFL tutors, and IFL students - designed to address the need expressed in the literature for analysis of multiple dimensions in complex interactions (Abbott, 1997; Athanases and Heath, 1995; Ramanathan and Atkinson, 1999; Snyder, 1997). The salient themes which emerge from the study are the critical roles of IFL tutors' and IFL students' expectations as well as the framework of values underlying these, along with particular features of information technologies themselves, in shaping participants' experiences and practices with respect to IT and writing, sometimes in unanticipated ways. Finally, the study considers the ways in which the results of the present research support, contradict, or expand existing literature, especially in relation to a number of specific factors, such as: the type of IT used in writing instruction; the physical configurations of IT-enhanced classrooms; and students' as well as tutors' approaches to learning and teaching IFL writing with and without technology. While the present work, like many other studies in the field of SLA and L2 writing, does not provide complete answer to the complex questions of language learning, it highlights the importance of both the instructional environment as well as the participants' framework of values. Only then, IT will be able to potentially enhance language instruction and become an integral component of learning. This research raises new questions, providing the basis for further research in the area of SLA theory and pedagogy