Towards Enhancing EFL Academic Literacy : The Effect of Genre-Based Instruction on Summary-Response Writing

This study investigates the effect of genre-based instruction on the process of teaching summary-response writing to EFL university students at an advanced level of language proficiency. A quasi-experimental research design (one-group pre- and post-test) was followed and quantitative and qualitative methods to collect and analyse the data were employed. The participants were one instructor, two raters and an intact group of 46 EFL students attending the fourth year of five-year Teacher Training, Licentiate and Translation Studies Programmes in an Argentinian university. The subjects were administered a pre-test requesting them to write a summary-response before instruction. After a ten-week period of instruction following the genre-based approach, a post-test was administered. Two independent raters scored students’ summary-responses using an analytic scoring scale designed for this study. The quantitative data collected from the tests were analysed using two statistical tests, namely, Cohen’s Simple Unweighted Coefficient and Wilcoxon Rank Sums (matched pairs). Results indicated that the difference in means between pre- and post-test scores was statistically significant. The information gathered was triangulated with the analysis of summary-response writing strategies carried out by the researcher, the data provided by pre- and post-study questionnaires and self-assessment checklists administered to the students, and interviews held with the instructor. The results provided by these measures support the hypothesis that genre-based instruction is an effective pedagogical tool to teach summary-response writing to EFL university students at an advanced level of language proficiency

Self-monitoring based on agreed-on assessment criteria in EFL writing.

Fostering learner autonomy has become more important than ever before and, as a result, the relevance of language learning strategy training is widely acknowledged. Strategies-based instruction is a learner-focused approach to teaching that emphasizes explicit integration of learning strategies in the classroom, which may assist students in learning the target language more effectively. Despite the importance of metacognitive strategies, Lam (2009) argues that there is need for further research in English as a second and foreign language. Besides, some studies show that learners use strategies only sporadically. In fact, investigations of second and foreign language learning have revealed that students use crucial metacognitive strategies, such as self-monitoring, less often than cognitive and social affective ones.Fil: Dalla Costa, Natalia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Lenguas, Argentina.Fil: Gava, Ileana Yamina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Lenguas, Argentina.Lingüístic

Self-monitoring based on agreed-on assessment criteria in EFL writing

Learner autonomy has become a very important aspect of English Language Teaching and, as a result, the relevance of language learning strategy training to foster learners' autonomous behaviour is now widely acknowledged. Strategies-based instruction is a learner-focused approach to teaching that emphasizes explicit integration of learning strategies in the classroom, which may assist students in learning the target language more effectively. Despite the importance of metacognitive strategies, the number of studies in English as a foreign and second language contexts still remains small. Besides, some studies show that learners use these strategies only sporadically. In fact, investigations of second and foreign language learning have revealed that students use crucial metacognitive strategies, such as self-monitoring, less often than cognitive and social affective ones. The current study, carried out with EFL university students at an upper-intermediate level in an English Language II class in the teacher training, translation and licentiate programs at the School of Languages, UNC, examines the effects of metacognitive strategy training on the writing skill. Its general objective is to determine whether scaffolding metacognitive strategy use by means of guidelines for self-monitoring based on agreed-on assessment criteria leads to positive changes in students' self-perceptions and to observable strategy use in their essays. It is expected that metacognitive strategy training and use will eventually lead to improved performance in EFL academic writing, a better understanding of teachers? assessment criteria and greater learner autonomy. The outcome of this project will be used to outline more comprehensive research that provides training in a wider range of strategies aimed at enhancing academic writing skills and promoting learner autonomy. This study concludes with limitations, pedagogical implications and avenues for further research.http://www.faapi.org.ar/downloads/FAAPI2015.pdfFil: Dalla Costa, Natalia Verónica. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Lenguas; Argentina.Fil: Gava, Ileana Yamina. Universidad Nacional deCórdoba. Fcultad de Lenguas; Argentina.Lingüístic

Estrategias de escritura a partir de fuentes de estudiantes avanzados de ILE a nivel universitario.

En los últimos años, ha experimentado un auge la investigación sobre las relaciones entre la lectura y la escritura y de ella ha surgido la necesidad de instrucción en un aspecto fundamental de la alfabetización académica a nivel avanzado: la escritura a partir de fuentes múltiples, es decir, la integración de información obtenida de la lectura en la producción de textos. A pesar de que escribir a partir de fuentes múltiples es una tarea común en el ámbito académico, muchos estudiantes de Inglés con Fines Académicos (EAP por su sigla en inglés) no poseen esta habilidad. Esta situación da cuenta de la dificultad por la que atraviesan los alumnos de grado al enfrentarse al desafío de las prácticas lectoras y escriturarias en la universidad, y de la necesidad de realizar investigaciones que aporten no sólo a la teoría sino también a la práctica áulica. El objetivo general del estudio, una parte del cual se reporta en este trabajo, es promover la autonomía en la alfabetización académica en Ingléscomo Lengua Extranjera (ILE) de estudiantes universitarios a un nivel avanzado. Los objetivos específicos son: 1) Analizar el contexto situacional, 2) Enseñar la escritura del ensayo argumentativo a partir de fuentes múltiples en el marco de la pedagogía del género y evaluar si produce efectos positivos y 3) Esbozar un posible modelo teórico emergente de las relaciones entre la lectura y la escritura a partir de fuentes en el contexto de este estudio. En el presente trabajo, se presentan los resultados del análisis de las estrategias de escritura a partir de fuentes empleadas por los alumnos para escribir un ensayo argumentativo a partir de fuentes en un pre-test antes de recibir instrucción basada en el género

Desafíos de la evaluación de la escritura en lengua extranjera en el Nivel Superior: Percepciones de docentes sobre la aplicación de una escala analítica

La evaluación de la escritura en lengua extranjera es un campo de acción complejo, que suele generar ansiedad y aprehensión entre docentes debido a sus efectos e implicancias, tanto a nivel pedagógico como ético y político (Ruecker y Crusan, 2018) y que continúa siendo un área de permanente investigación, especialmente debido a la variedad y complejidad de contextos en los que se lleva a cabo. La evaluación de ensayos en lengua extranjera (inglés) por parte de docentes en las carreras de Profesorado, Traductorado y Licenciatura en Inglés en la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC) ha sido nuestro objeto de investigación en los últimos seis años. Se aplicaron distintos instrumentos de evaluación y una escala analítica de evaluación demostró ser la más adecuada para este contexto académico específico: la cátedra de Lengua Inglesa II. Con el fin de determinar la confiabilidad de dicha escala analítica, se llevó a cabo un proceso de validación de los descriptores que conforman cada una de las categorías de la escala. Se conformó un corpus de ejemplos textuales para ilustrar los descriptores y así lograr mayores niveles de confiabilidad, y se implementó un programa de entrenamiento de evaluadores en línea previo a la aplicación de la escala. El objetivo de este trabajo, que forma parte de un proyecto de investigación mayor cuyo objetivo es la validación del instrumento diseñado de evaluación de la escritura en lengua extranjera, es presentar las percepciones de los docentes evaluadores obtenidas a través de entrevistas.&nbsp

La evaluación del aprendizaje: la importancia de unificar criterios de corrección y calificación en el área de gramática inglesa

En este trabajo presentaremos los resultados de un proyecto de investigación bianaual 2008-2009 y que fuera avalado por SECyT UNC. En dicho trabajo abordamos la elaboración de criterios de evaluación estandarizados con el objetivo de evitar la disparidad de criterios existentes y asegurar fiabilidad en las calificaciones de los exámenes de la asignatura Gramática Inglesa I, dictada en el segundo año de las carreras de Profesorado, Traductorado y Licenciatura en Inglés en la Facultad de Lenguas de la UNC. Los sujetos estudiados fueron, por un lado, un grupo de 60 alumnos regulares que cursaron la asignatura durante el ciclo lectivo 2008 y, por otro, todos los profesores a cargo del dictado, desarrollo y evaluación de los contenidos teórico-prácticos de la asignatura. A tales efectos, se recolectó la muestra, que consistía en 60 exámenes finales escritos elegidos en forma aleatoria, los cuales fueron corregidos individualmente por cada uno de los docentes. De esta manera, se pudo verificar que en algunos casos no existía uniformidad de criterios de evaluación y, por ende, la calificación dada a cada uno de los alumnos, variaba según el sujetocalificador. Seguidamente, se procedió a analizar, describir e interpretar los distintos tipos de errores detectados en la muestra a los fines de ordenarlos jerárquicamente según su relevancia para elaborar, de este modo, bandas consensuadas de suficiencia con respecto a la habilidad gramatical requerida por parte de los alumnos para acceder a la promoción de la asignatura.Los resultados de este trabajo de investigación condujeron a implicancias relevantes para mejorar la calidad del proceso de calificación de las evaluaciones de los alumnos, asentando dichas calificaciones sobre un constructo informado de fiabilidad

Voices and views : English language issues from different perspectives

The articles in this collection were produced within the framework of the MA program “Maestría en Inglés”, Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. They are based on selected MA theses and dissertations on Applied Linguistics and Literary Studies. The collection focuses on EFL teacher training, pronunciation assessment, academic writing, Critical Discourse Analysis and Literature

A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β=0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β=0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

A Many-analysts Approach to the Relation Between Religiosity and Well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N = 10, 535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β = 0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β = 0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges