TRANSFORMING PRACTICE THROUGH AN UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIO – CULTURAL CONDITIONS IN THE CLASSROOM

Much of the debate on the teaching and learning of English and academic writing occurs largely from Eurocentric or Western perspectives on local contexts. This paper explores the role of the local English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in transforming the way English for Academic Purposes is taught and learnt, particularly in higher education settings in Malaysia. In order to challenge Western notions, ESL teachers need to know their local contexts and students well enough in order to explain the complexities that arise within an education system that is continually shaped by historical and socio-political shifts in the country. The purpose of this paper is to inform ESL and academic writing teacher-researchers that it is possible to transform practice by paying close attention to the complexities of socio-cultural conditions. Using action research methodology, the case study presented here illuminates and exemplifies the recognition and explicit inclusion of socio-cultural conditions within academic literacies in a tertiary English language class for engineering, computing and business discipline students in a Malaysian university. Three narratives are critically selected using the Critical Incidents Technique and examined from a pool of qualitative data which comprised student letters, student interviews and teacher diaries. Green’s typology of operational, cultural and critical dimensions of literacy events is used to analyse how socio-cultural conditions within and beyond the classroom can affect the kinds of literacy which are identified by the teacher and used to improve student engagement and performance in the language besides enhancing the quality of teaching and learning academic writing. Findings reveal the need for greater leadership support for grass root level decision-making by the ESL teacher and a deeper understanding of the use of mediation as a tool to maximize social interaction. Even traditionally used teaching materials for language teaching can be brought into connection with broader genres and conceptual ideas by focusing on social interaction in classes. An extensive use of the English language through social interaction with explicit attention to social and cultural ESL contexts proves to be a highly significant means to aid the rapid development of students’ English language learning, so that students can be better prepared to meet global challenges

Maximized The Young Language Learners’ Motivation Via Songs and Increasing Their Speaking Skill Ability

This article is aimed to describe the advantages of why songs are important to support the English language learning process. This article also explains the position where English is learned as the foreign language in Indonesia. Songs are learning resources with many advantages, including linguistics resources, affective/psychological resources, and cognitive resources. Songs can be good learning sources as teaching media for English language classes. As the world of children goes with songs and like to sing it. They love saying chants in rhythm and enjoy repeating phrases that rhyme. Moreover, they enjoy moving to the rhythm, clapping hands, tapping the feet, and dancing. Therefore, music and movement naturally connect to children's hearts, minds, and bodies. Teaching young learners has to be enjoyable for the classroom as young learners often use songs and movement to engage children in the class. Using songs and movement is one of the best ways to teach young learners. Making the learning process interesting for children is important, especially for young learners who learn English as a foreign language. Songs can also support the four skills for the learners such as speaking, reading, writing, and listening. Another language advantages are that pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar are provided in learning through songs. It is such a duty for teachers to create a fun and enjoyable atmosphere in teaching. Using the textbook is no longer efficient for teaching young learners nowadays. The teacher tends to be more creative and tend to find more variation in delivering teaching materials, whether using songs from the internet, CD or tape recorder, or television. There are several benefits for language learning using songs for young English learners' classes. Music and songs can do the following: provided authentic, meaningful context, introduce children to the target culture, emotional and social effects, provide opportunities to practice oral language, Aid in retention and comprehension

DRAMA TECHNIQUES BEST SERVE TO ENHANCE THE LEARNING OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Teachers need the training to use Drama as a methodology in the classroom as Dorothy Heathcote did in the UK. But teachers of High School may use elements of drama such as asking students in the class to adopt different roles and act them out, watch how they improvise, use their imagination which urges their creativity and speaks about their own life experiences in different situations. Sometimes unknowingly teachers have used it by just asking students' opinion to express their ideas in group works or write questions after reading a story aloud. Drama may be used as a teaching methodology not only during drama or literature classes but also in other ESL classes like Business English, PR classes or research methodology. The primary aim of this qualitative research is to use drama as a method in the classroom to teach English as a foreign language and to use it as an emancipating praxis. What do I mean by emancipating praxis?By using a well-selected drama, students not only acquire language skills but also grow and evolve as social human beings through drama practice and rehearsal. The impact my practices have on the personal and artistic development of students is examined while integrating drama in the instructional process (language use, writing and acting to involve the whole class). This is written from the perspective of a reflective practitioner researcher using reflection in action to guide the research in the classroom. The work demonstrates how reflections inform practice in Drama classes. Drama as a method contributes evidence of students potential to change, analyze and improve whilst roleplaying a certain piece of drama. Drama is used to improve their ability to speak and learn English.Keywords: research on practice, reflective notes, drama elements, action research, etc

An Exploration to the Advancement of Methodologies in TEFL/TESOL: A Book Review

Teaching is still in its early form. More discoveries from recent studies and investigations have steered different teaching recommendations. Moreover, more revelations are yet to come up to the present time. As days, months, and years progress, the view on teaching strategies evolves and requires an upgrade for better educational outcomes. Teaching the English language is indeed essential in the whole world since it is still considered the universal language. Whether in business, academe, or big industries, English is widely used. English teachers must know how to teach the English language to their learners to produce students with high proficiency in the English language. Many researchers must be keen to uncover more strategies that we can apply and execute in English language teaching. This paper intends to review and discuss the different advanced language strategies in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). More ideas are being pondered as the researcher thoughtfully scrutinized the concepts mentioned in the material’s contents. In addition, the author emphasized the ideas about concepts and practices in English language teaching. While this article deliberately elucidates all the book's contents being reviewed, the researcher also imparts his experiences and realizations as an English teacher. Being a reviewer of this book, the researcher learned a lot about teaching English more effectively. The first chapter is Teaching English at the Secondary School. This chapter tackles TEFL’s processes, challenges, and aims at the secondary stage. Here, it is highlighted that teaching at secondary schools might be exigent, for the level of the learners is higher, and that the target lessons are more complex than those lower levels. Generally, the exams used in English subjects and the old teaching style are the top trials an English teacher encounters. Moreover, TEFL purposefully wants us to supply learners with three (3) skills: study, language, and thinking skills. If so, the production of secondary-level students with competent English communicators is expected. Chapter Two (2) is Classroom Management, highlighting matters concerning motivation, discipline, and respect. Accordingly, when a teacher fails to have the control to manage the classroom, eventually, it will be more difficult for him/her to bring that authority back. This chapter concluded that a teacher must be an “organizer” or a “manager” to have a successful activity exchange for teaching and learning since classroom management is a must. The third chapter holds and explains Situated Language Learning. Situated Language Learning is an approach to learning in which it occurs in the same authentic context in which it applies. Thus, it is then appealed to its seriousness in English language teaching. Though there is a veer from “acquisition” to “participation” metaphor, to engage in an authentic learning place is the best way to learn a language. Situated Language Learning is a significant term that encompasses many forms of learning like Task-Based Language Learning, Authentic Language Learning Pedagogy, Virtual Language Learning, and so on; it is the teacher’s duty to apply these learning modes in the classroom. The next chapter is Assessment and English Language Testing. Here, placement test, progress test, achievement test, proficiency test, and other varieties of the testing instrument are tackled as some of the many reasons there is a need for testing the English language. This chapter also indicates suitable tests and different test types and their categories. Though some testings are bound for subjectivity and bias, making clear-stated and detailed marking scales can help. A good assessment can gauge the student's level, leading to better procurement of valid results. Thus, it can lead to the conclusion of better strategies to use. Chapter Five (5) focuses on Social Networking & Language Learning that clearly states how we can use these modern media in learning a language. Facebook, as being focused on this material, is beneficial to both teachers and learners, for it can be used as a tool for teaching-learning activities that can indeed be creative and innovative. The following chapter, Chapter Six (6), Fun and Humour in English Language Teaching, talks about how we can integrate joy in learning—creating fun and humorous classes while learning can indeed promote a better learning mood. In addition, more social activities, developing well-being and self-esteem, and memory retention are sure to be achieved. Through games and songs, we can learn English more lightly. Virtual Language Learning Environment, Chapter Seven (7), is one of the most modern ways to consider. The 21st century brings us to the realization of maximizing the technology we have right now. Though the requirements and the implementation of the VLE sound so demanding, it has noted a lot of importance and advantages. In this timely world where technology is very fast-paced, taking advantage of it is beneficial to us. It can bring forth vast opportunities to both teachers and learners. Gone are the days when we were very traditional; technology does not only help make our lives better and promotes more innovative and futuristic learning. The eight-chapter, which holds Teaching Writing, first talks about the definition of writing, then it states its sub-skills. Again, through technology, writing skills have been strengthened. Collaborative writing, threaded discussions, and connective writings are some of the many products of the effects made by the technology in writing. Though we enjoy the convenience of technology's aid to writing, teaching writing is still essential. This chapter highlights the difference between writing as a process in reverse to writing as a product. Also, some factors have been influencing the teaching of writing, like deciding genres, attitudes towards writing, writing habits, and the relevance of writing should be in consideration. Lastly, writing activities that can fully engage students are being discussed in this chapter. The last three chapters: CALL & Online Language Learning, Multiple Intelligences-Based Language Learning Strategies, and Glossary of Some Educational Language Learning Terms are discussed. First, Chapter Nine (9) discusses the expansive possibilities of using computers and the internet to be used in language learning. It is indeed suggested that we should fully maximize the use of computers since it can be a tool for successful maximum learning benefits. To add, this chapter talks about the possible benefits of web-based tools that can induce learning. Web search engines, for example, Google, Microsoft Bing, and Yahoo are some of the widely used tools internet users have, and using them can make us locate pieces of information we can use in language learning. There are more websites that one can fully utilize that can aid in learning a language. Next, the ninth chapter deals with Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences as the basis of learning a language. This technique is more commonly known as Multiple Intelligences-Based Instruction. Though it is limited to language learning, it is very familiar for educators since it has been proven that learners have different intelligences. This idea may sound cliche, but this theory opposes the belief of “one size fits all”. Teachers must know how to fully tap the learners' potentials even though it dramatically shows varieties in which teachers can provide a suitable learning environment for the development of each learner. Lastly, the last chapter defines all the language learning terms a language teacher must know. It provides a brief description of each term for further comprehension. These terms, old and new, are still known as parts of the practice in classroom learning. After reviewing the contents of this material, the researcher/reviewer highly recommends it. This book is rich in concepts and ideas that can benefit language teachers. Moreover, this book has suggested lots of comprehensive ideas based on empirical studies that are proven. Suppose language teachers, especially the English language teachers, know all the proposed practices and principles of these advanced language teaching/learning strategies in a TEFL/TESOL class, beyond any doubt. In that case, these language teachers can indeed improve and upgrade their teaching styles that can be a fruitful outcome of producing more competent English language learners. Moreover, this book has analyzed more recent practices that surely adapt well to the changes the world brings in this 21st century. Being aware of different techniques, challenges, and needs in an English classroom can broaden the minds of the language teachers and, hopefully, the language researchers to conduct more studies that can suffice the needs in the lacking knowledge to these changes through modernization. For my constructive suggestion as a reviewer, the reviewer would like to see more studies made from Asian countries, so English teachers from Asia can be more relatable to the backgrounds of the research. This book is alluring, and its comprehensive knowledge of concepts about English Language Teaching should be read by English teachers, for the ideas and concepts are crucial to the actual practice in an English classroom. As English teachers, we must be more equipped with more advanced teaching methodologies in TESOL/TEFL that can highly increase the potential to produce more English competent learners in this ever-changing, ever-challenging, and ever-demanding modern world

A Case study of students' first additional language reading and response in the faculty of education at the University of Fort Hare: Eastern Cape

Although reading ability alone cannot guarantee academic success, it is highly likely that a lack of reading can function as a key barrier to academic achievement. There are many other factors that are part of the causality. Of these, socio-economic status, teaching methods, parental involvement and lack of exposure to LoLT are probably the most important. Classroom teaching for reading instruction needs to be considered as the critical factor in preventing reading problems and must be the central focus for change. As such, teachers’ acquisition of the teaching skills necessary to bring about the development of literate language competency are critical especially in South Africa where many assumptions have been largely unquestioned about how to teach reading and writing, which languages to use and what counts as high quality practice in classrooms (Banda, 2000). The main aim of the study was to investigate principally reading with the use of English first additional language (FAL) in South African Universities. The objectives included enabling students to successfully learn reading in order to promote their’ reading to such a level that they can continue reading to learn and not learning to read. The researcher was particularly interested in exploring broader trends in reading strategies, instructions and training for students with the intention of contributing possible strategies to address the training of students for their role as literacy instructors in English as well as in multilingual education in South Africa. Methodologically, the study is premised within the interpretivist paradigm based on a qualitative research method. It is a case study design. It is a longitudinal study that covered a total of four years, the duration for a B Ed degree. The population comprises all forth year English teaching methods class and ten lecturers in the programme. The data collection tools included documents, participant observation, journal entry, assessments and focus groups. Interviews were granted to a purposively selected number of students (9) based on their academic performance over the years. There were three weak, three medium and three strong students that were interviewed. A total of 10 teachers were randomly selected from the Faculty to get their input about students’ reading. The ages of the respondents ranged from 18-60. The study concluded that students prefer to be taught in English although most see it as a barrier to learning. The findings showed that language learning can be easier if it is considered as social practice with academic purpose. The researcher recommends that there is need for a reduction of administrative duties from the lecturers to create more time for consultation. She or he also see a need for tutorials which can help to expose learners even more to interaction in EFAL

THE IMPACT OF THE WIKI-ENHANCED TBLT APPROACH ON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL IN A BOYS’ PUBLIC SCHOOL IN AL AIN, UAE

This study investigated the impact of the wiki-enhanced task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach on students’ writing skill in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In addition, it explored the students’ and teacher’s views and perceptions toward the implementation of the wiki-enhanced TBLT approach. The study data were collected quantitatively and qualitatively from two classrooms in a public high school in the UAE, which consisted of 30 students. The quantitative data were collected via a pretest–posttest design from the two assigned groups of students: the control and experimental groups. The qualitative data were collected via a survey of the students and a semi-structured interview with the teacher. The study was conducted during a whole academic semester. The findings of the study show that implementing the wiki-enhanced TBLT technique considerably improves EFL learners’ writing skills in relation to the four language components examined in this study: syntactic complexity, grammatical accuracy, fluency, and lexical complexity. In addition, the students enjoyed working together on writing tasks using the wiki-enhanced TBLT approach. Their responses showed that the TBLT approach encourages better performance in collaborative writing tasks and classroom engagement. Moreover, the classroom teachers indicated that the implementation of this approach played a significant role in promoting students’ performance, communication, collaboration, and engagement in the target language (English) in the experimental group. Furthermore, the findings showed that students can construct new knowledge with the aid of their peers, thereby improving their capacity to devise and discuss original ideas. As students can practice collaborative writing while at home, the wiki-enhanced TBLT approach is beneficial for online learning. Adopting this approach increased students’ participation in class because they were more comfortable working together while using technology, improving the quality of their writing and assignments. Several theoretical and pedagogical implications regarding the implementation of this approach have been drawn. The first theoretical implication of this study is that the wiki approach supports previous efforts to move the socio constructivist perspective of learning from the spoken discourse to the written discourse. The second theoretical implication is that it provides support to Chapelle\u27s framework (2003) where learning should be focused on tasks that require the use of the target language. Learning should take place in meaningful and real-life contexts, and instruction should be tailored to the individual needs of the learner. The third theoretical implication is that his study is the first to be conducted in the Gulf region, especially in the UAE. Regarding the pedagogical implications of the TBLT approach, the first pedagogical implication is that teachers need to consider the wiki-enhanced TBLT approach a standard and favored classroom strategy. The second pedagogical implication is that the wiki approach can be used by teachers as a teaching strategy to promote students’ participation and engagement and create a friendly social environment in the L2 classroom. The third pedagogical implication is that technology has proved to be integral in the classroom in teaching and learning the target language. The fourth pedagogical implication is for course designers who need to consider the wiki-enhanced TBLT approach as part of the curriculum. Based on these findings, future research can consider examining the effect of the wiki-enhanced TBLT approach on EFL learners’ writing skill at different levels, such as primary, college, or university students. Future research might also investigate the effect of Google Docs–based TBLT approach on developing students’ writing skill and explore students’ perceptions toward using this approach

The Writing Skill of The Eleventh Grade Students of SMK Tunas Harapan Pati Taught By Using Dictocomp Technique In The Academic Year 2013/2014

English is an important language for many purposes, as in communication, science, culture, education fields as well as international affairs. As we know that language can be spoken and written. In the world of education, students are expected to master in the English competence to support their skill, here is writing. But, sometimes the students have difficulties to express their writing because of many factors, they have to write and reconstruct some text. So they feel find difficult to determine their writing. Dictocomp is dictation and composition in group that has four stages of learning; preparation, dictation, reconstruction, and analysis and correction. It’s one of the techniques that is easy to learn and can be effective way to teach writing recount text. Recount is a type of genre, which has a social function to retell events for the purpose of informing or entertaining. So, dictocomp can help the students easily to reconstruct recount text. The objective of the research is to find out whether there is any significant difference of the writing skill of the eleventh grade students of SMK Tunas Harapan Pati in the academic year of 2013/2014 before and after being taught by using dictocomp technique. This is an experimental research. The writer uses quasi experiment research because its study done by giving pre-test and post-test for one class. The writer will discuss several possibilities for solving an actual problem by gathering data, analyzing and interpreting them. This intended to make systematic and accurate that concerning the fact and the feature of research. From the analysis, the writer finds that the best score that the students achieve before being taught by using dictocomp technique is 86 and the lowest score is 48. While the average score (mean) of the students is 66,93.; the median and the standard deviation is 10,54. With that result, the student’s ability is Adequate as highest score. After they have been taught by using dictocomp technique, the English score that the students achieve is 94 and the lowest score is 60. Meanwhile, the average is 77 and deviation standard is 11,72. The level of the writing skill of the eleventh grade students of SMK Tunas Harapan Pati in the academic year of 2013/2014 after being taught by using dictocomp technique is Good as highest score although it was several students get it and most of them in the Adequate grade. The result of ttest is 7. 81. So, there is a significant difference between the writing skill of the eleventh grade students of SMK Tunas Harapan Pati in the academic year of 2013/2014 before and after being taught by using dictocomp technique. Based on the fact, the students should pay more attention in teacher’s explanation and also practice a lot in writing. Dictocomp technique can be effective to teach writing in order that the teaching learning process is more interesting. Because using dictocomp technique as teaching can develop the students in all four language skills in an integrative way. It can also help the students to develop short-term memory. Students practice retaining meaningful phrases or whole sentences before writing them down. The other hand it can motivate to the students to write English

The Writing Ability in Recount Text of the Tenth Grade Students of SMA 1 Mejobo Kudus in Academic Year 2013/2014 Taught by Using Estafet Writing

Language is something important for human living. Because only human being speaks language. As a language which is used by more a half of population in the world, English is most of the most widely use of international language. English is a tool of communication among peoples of the worls to get trade, social culture, science and technology goal. As we know that language can be spoken and written. In the world of education, students are expected to master in the English competence to support their skill, here is writing. But, sometimes the students have difficulties to express their writing because of many factors. The problem faced by the students in writing are starting to compose, expressing the ideas, organizing ideas, developing good paragraphs and making a lot of grammatical mistakes, spelling mistake and punctuation mistake. Estafet Writing is one of the active learning technique and also an innovative learning model in which one the students starts writing a short story which is continued again one after another. It’s one of the techniques that is easy to learn and can be effective way to teach writing recount text. Recount is a type of genre, which has a social function to retell events for the purpose of informing or entertaining. So, Estafet Writing can help the students easily towrite and identify the recount text. The objective of the research is to find out whether there is a significant difference between the writing ability in recount texts of the tenth grade students of SMA 1 Mejobo Kudus in academic year 2013/2014 before and after being taught by using Estafet Writing. This is an experimental research. The writer gave pre-test and post-test for one class. The writer discussed several possibilities for solving an actual problem by gathering data, analyzing and interpreting them. This intended to make systematic and accurate that concerning the fact and the feature of research. From the analysis of the data, the writer found that the highest score that the students achieve before being taught by using Estafet Writing is 75 and the lowest score is 47. While the average score (mean) of the students is 63.86 and the standard deviation is 8.31. The result shows that the writing ability in recount text of the tenth grade students of SMA 1 Mejobo Kudus in academic year 2013/2014 before being taught by using Estafet Writing categorized Sufficient. The English score that the students achieve after being taught by using Estafet Writing is 95 and the lowest score is 66. Meanwhile, the average score (mean) is 79.53 and the standard deviation is 8.46. The level of the writing ability in recount text of the tenth grade students of SMA 1 Mejobo Kudus in academic year2013/2014after being taught by using Estafet Writing is Good. The result of ttest is 12.24.So, there is a significant difference between the writing ability in recount text of the tenth grade students of SMA 1 Mejobo Kudus in academic year 2013/2014 before and after being taught by using Estafet Writing. Based on the research, the students should pay more attention in teacher’s explanation and also practice a lot in writing. Estafet Writing can be effective to teach writing in order that the teaching learning process is more interesting. Because using Estafet Writing in teaching writing can develop the students in all four language skills in an integrative way and help the students to share their idea. It can also help the students to develop short-term memory. The other hand it can motivate to the students to write English

Exploring the Impact of Teacher Collaboration on Student Learning: A Focus on Writing

In this yearlong case study, six English teachers in an urban high school in Northern California engaged in sustained collaboration focused on developing and enacting strategies to improve the writing skills of their culturally and linguistically diverse freshmen. The study was conducted between August 2018 and June 2019, to determine the connections, if any, between teacher collaboration and student learning. Qualitative data were analyzed from teacher collaboration and observation of classroom practices, focus groups and teacher-created artifacts. Students’ on-demand writing assessments in fall and spring were compared with instructionally supported writing. Student surveys were analyzed in a mixed methods approach. Findings suggest that students’ writing skills improved and students reported increased confidence in writing and other literacy practices. The lessons developed in the collaboration meetings and observed in practice, in tandem with student and teacher self-reports suggest a positive relationship between teacher collaboration and student learning outcomes

Academic practice as explanatory framework: reconceptualising international student academic engagement and university teaching

This paper joins growing interest in the concept of practice, and uses it to reconceptualise international student engagement with the demands of study at an Australian university. Practice foregrounds institutional structures and student agency and brings together psychologically- and socially-oriented perspectives on international student learning approaches. Utilising discourse theory, practice is defined as habitual and individual instances of socially-contextualised configurations of elements such as actions and interactions, roles and relations, identities, objects, values, and language. In the university context, academic practice highlights the institutionally-sanctioned ways of knowing, doing and being that constitute academic tasks. The concept is applied here to six international students’ ‘readings’ of and strategic responses to academic work in a Master of Education course. It is argued that academic practice provides a comprehensive framework for explaining the interface between university academic requirements and international student learning, and the crucial role that teaching has in facilitating the experience