ESP VIRTUAL LEARNING MEDIA EVALUATION: A CASE OF ENGLISH FOR RESTAURANT WORKERS

The development of technology recently demands a shift in the English language teaching and learning process, and to support the independence of language learning, virtual learning becomes an option to bridge the need for technology integration and open-learning access from the internet. This research aimed at finding out the learning media evaluation for teaching English for restaurant workers through virtual learning, i.e. video, podcast, virtual simulation, and PowerPoint presentations. This research was carried out by conducting qualitative research. The data were collected using questionnaires to 57 students in a vocational education institution and an interview with several selected students to clarify and to confirm their unclear statements on the questionnaire. The data were then analyzed by calculating the frequency of students’ responses and classifying the responses toward the learning media application in virtual learning. As a result, it was found that video becomes the most preferable learning media and PowerPoint Presentations become the least preferable learning media in virtual learning for English for restaurant workers. The results also indicated that the mode of the video was more attractive and understandable since it could combine both audio and visual aids in the learning process, and support the students’ skill enhancement. Meanwhile, the single-mode PowerPoint Presentations were less attractive for the students and led them to boredom. Henceforth, the English teachers and lecturers who teach English for Specific Purposes are suggested to provide more video simulations on virtual learning platform to support the engagement of the teaching and learning activities

Rhetorical Move Analysis on the University Students' Presentation: Move in the Oral and PowerPoint Slide Presentation

There is a limited study view on rhetorical moves employed in both students’ oral presentations and PowerPoint slides in the classroom presentation. Few studies are largely realized on oral and slide movement in the conference and thesis presentation. Furthermore, the purpose of this research paper is to expose what are move employed by students in presenting classroom course project presentation orally and on slide, and what moves which is hampered in both. A qualitative survey based on the observation technique was used for data collection purposes. Data are analyzed using two divergent theoretical frameworks. The finding reveals students employ four moves of oral presentation; introduction, body, conclusion, and Q&A move. Otherwise, the Powerpoint slide highlights two moves including the body and conclusion move, the opening move seems optional. Further, orally, the omission of a summarization step in the conclusion move hampers students in reminded any point of the presentation thereby hampers the audience in strengthening their recall and understanding. The transition between spoken and written genres within the PowerPoint slide hampers through the dissipation move in both. Thus, the teacher should take into account the importance of rhetorical  knowledge toward the presentation movement either in the oral or PowerPoint slides

Comparing the effectiveness of explicit EAL feedback through slideshow (text+audio) and captioned video

Research seems to show that captions and subtitles are generally beneficial to learners of English as an Additional Language (EAL), but some research does contradict this. Research on slideware and slide design seems to focus more on attractiveness of slides and less on educational effectiveness. However, research on slide design and specific approaches to slide design continue to become more detailed. This study compared comprehension of explicit feedback received through either slideshow (text+audio) video or captioned video on an EAL writing task in an on-demand university setting. Results (n=163) indicated that approximately 50% of learners clicked the feedback video to advance to the quiz without viewing it completely. Of the learners with at least one full viewing (n=86), slideshow video seems to have engaged students for a longer duration than captioned video. The quiz items were easier for the slideshow video groups, and the quiz items performed better for these groups. The slideshow video groups had slightly higher means, but a significant difference between the effectiveness of slideshow video and captioned video to transmit feedback to students was not found

Improving Nuclear Industry Training Efficiency

Due to economic pressures, the commercial nuclear power industry must reduce operating costs and improve efficiency to ensure its future in the electrical power generation market. With its significant training and worker qualification requirements, this study examines how to improve training efficiency while also maintaining or improving student learning outcomes. The literature on factors that may contribute to the nuclear industry training efficiency problem is examined by applying Bronfenbrenner’s (1995) ecological systems theory to the nuclear industry context. This systems perspective provides a framework from which to examine the industry’s history in the chronosystem, current culture, bodies of knowledge, and practices of industry organizations in the macrosystem, the training, knowledge, skills, and practices of industry instructors in the mesosystem, and the learning support students need in the microsystem to obtain desired learning and task performance outcomes. In particular, methods to improve the interaction between instructional practices and students’ acquisition of content, long-term retention, and transfer of knowledge from training to workplace application are examined. Recommendations for addressing the training efficiency problem at each level on the nuclear industry training system, including leadership in the industry organization macrosystem, professional learning of instructors in the mesosystem, and targets for improvement in learning outcomes in the student microsystem provide a comprehensive approach to improving training efficiency. Of importance, implementation of the recommendations should be ongoing through cycles of data collection and usage to sustain continuous improvement. An initial study design to measure the influence of improved instructor professional learning on specific student outcomes is provided as a first step in the continuous improvement process towards improved training efficiency