Creative, imaginative English-as-a-foreign-language using storytelling and drama

With a view to improve English teaching, this project provides creative teaching methods for English teachers of elementary schools in Taiwan. Storytelling, creative writing, and creative drama are interesting and lively activities that are used to motivate students to learn English

Implementing Writing Skills through The Genre Approach

Despite being largely regarded as a foreign language; English plays an undeniably significant part in Palembang's economy and educational system. Contrarily, research reveals that English proficiency among Palembang pupils’ declines. This article details a study that looked at how much EFL English majors at PGRI Palembang University improved their ability to write argumentative essays after being subjected to genre-based writing exercises with their writing instructors. The findings showed that students consistently struggled to criticize or refute opposing viewpoints and come up with more powerful rebuttals, even after being exposed to the preparation of genre-based argumentative essays. However, they were able to demonstrate development in their ability to recognize the rhetorical structures (genres) and lexicon-grammatical characteristics of the full argumentative essay. The strategy received favourable feedback from the participants. The paired sample t-test also revealed that students' post-intervention argumentative texts significantly outperformed their pre-intervention drafts. It is commonly accepted that students may regulate the linguistic aspects of the type of text with a specific communicative aim and comfortably enhance their writing skills by studying through a genre-based approach to writing. The consequences for teaching writing in an EFL setting are demonstrated in this essay. Additionally, it urges the adoption of a genre approach in EFL writing classes

Developing the scales on evaluation beliefs of student teachers

The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to investigate the validity and the reliability of a newly developed questionnaire named ‘Teacher Evaluation Beliefs’ (TEB). The framework for developing items was provided by the two models. The first model focuses on Student-Centered and Teacher-Centered beliefs about evaluation while the other centers on five dimensions (what/ who/ when/ why/ how). The validity and reliability of the new instrument was investigated using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis study (n=446). Overall results indicate that the two-factor structure is more reasonable than the five-factor one. Further research needs additional items about the latent dimensions “what” ”who” ”when” ”why” “how” for each existing factor based on Student-centered and Teacher-centered approaches

Becoming more resilient: perceptions of resiliency development education in post-secondary students

Students leaving home for college face new challenges and adversities as they experience newfound independence. Their abilities to be resilient or to bounce back from various challenges determine their successes as students and eventually throughout life. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of eleven students who participated in resiliency development education (RDE) during the first semester of their freshmen year at college and to explore the meaning they discovered in their experience with resiliency education.;The themes ubiquitous within this study were: (1) the efficacy of learning resiliency through the pedagogy of storytelling; (2) the value of learning in community; and (3) the transformative resiliency development of post-secondary student. Thus, the fundamental structure of becoming more resilient, as perceived by the participants, was a self-recognized transformative development resulting from making personal meaning through stories and experiences within a community of learners, and then intentionally applying the learning to their own lives. This complex statement is potent with possible options to explore for students and educators alike.;This dissertation followed the alternate format that included three journal articles. Each journal article addressed a specific theme apportioned through the data, and which was recognized as key in understanding and applying resiliency in the lives of the participants. The first article addressed the meaning post-secondary students derived from the exposure to storytelling as a medium of instruction in RDE. The second article addresses the impact that learning in community had on the development of resiliency in the participants. The final article addressed the transformative development that occurred within the participants as they made personal meaning with resiliency through application into their everyday lives.;The responses of the participants supported findings of previous research that resiliency can be taught. A curriculum was introduced, adaptable in nature, to be used at the post-secondary level with the express purpose of introducing resiliency development to college students

Creativity, Innovation and Job Creation in Afghanistan Universities

Since human resources as one of the most important agents in the mental, managerial and technological terms hold a highly significant place in the production and job creation process, in the same way, universities serve as the ground in flourishing the creativity and innovation, thus, university campus is a better educational place in promoting the quality of knowledge, and training creative students. On the other hand, creativity, innovation and job creation in the university are vital matters, and can create business in different fields through offering unique and creative ideas; and, rescue the society from the economic and social issues and difficulties. As creativity and innovation are similar and are in close ties, in the same token, the basic categories which play roles in the creativity, innovation and job creation, are naturally similar and in alignment. The university campus atmosphere, the educational environment, creative professors, better curriculum and education area, education managers, research methodology and educational goals,  national strategy in job creation, determining financial budgeting for the job services, relationship of students with the work market and skill education, all are the key factors in developing creative and innovative ideas, and contribution to  job creation; however, due to lack of conformity between the education system and the work market demand, the unemployment of university graduates poses as one of the biggest economic and social problems in Afghanistan

Player agency in interactive narrative: audience, actor & author

The question motivating this review paper is, how can computer-based interactive narrative be used as a constructivist learn- ing activity? The paper proposes that player agency can be used to link interactive narrative to learner agency in constructivist theory, and to classify approaches to interactive narrative. The traditional question driving research in interactive narrative is, ‘how can an in- teractive narrative deal with a high degree of player agency, while maintaining a coherent and well-formed narrative?’ This question derives from an Aristotelian approach to interactive narrative that, as the question shows, is inherently antagonistic to player agency. Within this approach, player agency must be restricted and manip- ulated to maintain the narrative. Two alternative approaches based on Brecht’s Epic Theatre and Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed are reviewed. If a Boalian approach to interactive narrative is taken the conflict between narrative and player agency dissolves. The question that emerges from this approach is quite different from the traditional question above, and presents a more useful approach to applying in- teractive narrative as a constructivist learning activity

Competence in communication for ESL/EFL speaking curriculum

This project provides a background on English instruction in Korea and features a literature review that builds theoretical aspects of this project. This project also presents a model of communicative competence applied to the speaking process which incorporates the application of speaking strategies