Blog-based online journals for English As A Second Language learners

The research on the use of blogs as online journals was carried out with a group of twenty five Form Four students in a secondary school in Kuantan, Pahang. The aim of the research is to find out the effects of blogs as a tool in developing writing in English as A Second Language. The instruments include questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and analysis of the blogs content. The research covered students’ perspectives of blogs as the medium for online journals, the effectiveness of blogs as a tool to assist students’ writing skill and to what extent blogs could help students to enhance their writing skills. From the findings, it is discovered that there is a positive impact on the development of students’ writing throughout the research as gained through the instruments. From the research, the students claimed that blogs is an interesting medium for them to write their journals as compared to writing in their log books. Blogs also could help them developed their writing skill in English Language; and through the various features in blogs, students were able to write more effectively

A CURRICULUM FOR IMPROVING CHINESE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS\u27 LISTENING COMPREHENSION SKILLS THROUGH VIDEO GAMES

English has been a compulsory subject in Grades 3-9 in China since 2010, English is also a compulsory subject at the secondary level and widely used at the postsecondary level as well. However, Chinese English teachers spend more time teaching English grammar and vocabulary translation while ignoring the instruction of listening and speaking. The importance of teaching listening has been ignored while listening skill is primary to the acquisition of the other language skills. Chinese students’ incompetence of listening and speaking has become a common phenomenon. Also, due to the exam-oriented education system in China, students are under intense pressure, which may lead to the reduction of their learning motivation. Materials being used are designed based on Guidelines on Graduation Examination, which could be monotonous and stereotyped. According to the problems above, this project is aimed to provide a new way for teachers to instruct listening. It is designed to create an innovative and relaxed learning environment to lower students’ affective filter and increase their motivation

Preparing Tomorrow’s World Language Teacher Today: The Case for Seamless Induction

This essay is a call to action. It offers a comprehensive overview of the challenges facing world language (WL) teacher educators and their employers, the K-12 schools, during the teacher induction period. We propose a new paradigm for WL teacher education based on national accreditation standards, best-practice pedagogy, insights from the professional literature on methods education, and the enhanced role of the methods instructor/supervisor. In order to become successful in the classroom, the pre-service educator undergoes a seamless period of induction that is student-centered and college/university-supported beyond the classroom arena

DEVELOPING COLORING BOOKS TO ENHANCE READING COMPREHENSION COMPETENCE AND CREATIVITY

Developing a reading learning media can be an effort to increase students’ reading comprehension, but there are many teachers who do not put much attention into it. This research aimed at developing a parenting colouring book as a learning media to enhance elementary students' reading comprehension ability and creativity. The method employed was research and development as modelled by Akker. The method consists of three stages, namely analysis, design, evaluation, and revision. The parenting colouring book was firstly validated by experts on the product, which was tested in one-to-one, small groups, and field trial with third graders in one of the elementary schools in Palembang participated in this study. Data collection techniques employed were interviews, questionnaires, and tests. Finally, the study results demonstrate that the parenting-themed coloring book media are categorized as valid, practical, and having potential effect

Incorporating Music, Literature, and Culture in Communities of Second Language Learners

This portfolio is a collection of papers that relate to the field of second language teaching. The papers include the author’s teaching philosophy, three artifacts, and an annotated bibliography. The subjects covered include: the use of literature to teach a second language, the importance of having a community of learners in the classroom, and the incorporation of culture into the second language classroom. The author also includes an annotated bibliography of articles and books that shaped his teaching philosophy

ClipFlair, Audiovisual Translation and Computer Assisted Language Learning: beyond the four-walled classroom

89 p. : il.The purpose of this thesis is to present ClipFlair, a European-funded project aimed at providing a user-friendly, easily accessible online platform to learn foreign languages through captioning and revoicing activities. In order to understand why it was necessary to create a platform like ClipFlair, the thesis will also introduce a theoretical review of the role of translation in the foreign language classroom, gauging ClipFlair against the main theories and contributions on the field. The focus will be on the research fields with which ClipFlair is related: a) translation in language teaching (TILT); b) audiovisual translation (AVT) and the use of captioning and revoicing as a passive and active foreign language learning practice; and d) computer assisted language learning (CALL), since ClipFlair is a CALL pedagogical environment

Restructuring multimodal corrective feedback through Augmented Reality (AR)-enabled videoconferencing in L2 pronunciation teaching

The problem of cognitive overload is particularly pertinent in multimedia L2 classroom corrective feedback (CF), which involves rich communicative tools to help the class to notice the mismatch between the target input and learners’ pronunciation. Based on multimedia design principles, this study developed a new multimodal CF model through augmented reality (AR)-enabled videoconferencing to eliminate extraneous cognitive load and guide learners’ attention to the essential material. Using a quasi-experimental design, this study aims to examine the effectiveness of this new CF model in improving Chinese L2 students’ segmental production and identification of the targeted English consonants (dark /ɫ/, /ð/and /θ/), as well as their attitudes towards this application. Results indicated that the online multimodal CF environment equipped with AR annotation and filters played a significant role in improving the participants’ production of the target segments. However, this advantage was not found in the auditory identification tests compared to the offline CF multimedia class. In addition, the learners reported that the new CF model helped to direct their attention to the articulatory gestures of the student being corrected, and enhance the class efficiency. Implications for computer-assisted pronunciation training and the construction of online/offline multimedia learning environments are also discussed

A Descriptive Study of Male and Female Teachers' Preferences of Strategies Used for Teaching Speaking in SMPN 1 Singaraja,

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan strategi yang dipilih oleh guru pria dan wanita dalam mengajar berbicara di SMPN 1 Singaraja. Penelitian ini menganalisis strategi yang dipilih oleh lima guru bahasa Inggris yang mengajar kelas tujuh dan delapan di SMPN 1 Singaraja. Penelitian ini dirancang sebagai sebuah penelitian deskriptif yang menerapkan teknik analisis isi (content analysis) untuk menunjukkan dan memverifikasi data yang diperlukan. Pengambilan data dilakukan dengan observasi, kuesioner, dan wawancara dengan guru pria dan wanita. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa guru pria dan wanita menggunakan empat dari tujuh strategi mengajar dalam mengajar berbicara pada siswa mereka. Strategi tersebut adalah instruksi langsung, diskusi, bekerja berkelompok, dan aktivitas kinerja. Alasan dari guru pria dan wanita menggunakan strategi tersebut karena strategi tersebut dapat membuat siswa aktif berpartisipasi di kelas. Siswa dapat bertukar pengetahuan, ide atau opini dalam diskusi atau bekerja berkelompok dengan siswa lainnya. Siswa juga dapat belajar berbicara lebih banyak dalam aktivitas kinerja yang dapat membuat siswa percaya diri ketika siswa harus berbicara dalam bahasa Inggris dengan orang lain. Kata Kunci : strategi mengajar, guru pria dan wanita, mengajar berbicara This study was carried out to describe male and female teachers' preferences of strategies used for teaching speaking and the reasons why male and female teachers used certain strategies for teaching speaking in SMPN 1 Singaraja. This study analyzed strategy preferences of five English teachers who taught in grade seven and eight in SMPN 1 Singaraja. This study was designed as a descriptive study by applying seven Killen's teaching strategies that adapted content analysis technique to reveal and verify the needed data. The data collection was done through observation, questionnaire, and interviewing male and female English teachers. The results show that male English teachers used four of seven Killen's teaching strategies in teaching speaking to their students. The strategies were direct instruction, discussion, group work, and performance activity. While female English teachers also preferred four of seven Killen's teaching strategies used for teaching speaking in the classroom. The reasons of male and female teachers used certain strategies because those strategies made students actively participate in the class. They could share their knowledge, ideas or opinion in discussion session or in group work with their partner or their group. They also learned to speak English more in the performance activity that could make them confident when they should speak English with other people

Media Literacy: An Alternative to Censorship

Media literacy education has come a long way since the 1970s, when the first "critical thinking" courses were introduced in a few American schools. Most educators today understand that with the revolutionary changes in communication that have occurred in the last half-century, media literacy has become as essential a skill as the ability to read the printed word. Equally important, media literacy education can relieve the pressures for censorship that have, over the last decade, distorted the political process, threatened First Amendment values, and distracted policymakers from truly effective approaches to widely shared concerns about the mass media's influence on youth