Toward an integrated Framework for Language Testing and Intervention

An integrated framework for language testing and intervention with a paradigm was proposed and illustrated. The proposed framework combines approaches from Error Analysis, Need Analysis and Systems Instruction. The operation of the framework was illustrated based on data derived from a corpus consisting of the transcripts of hundred (100) students from a college in Yola metropolis. The transcripts were analyzed using the COMPFORM-MARKCHART method of error correction. The test served as a pre-intervention language test and the first component of the framework (T?). The result of the analysis was then used to design the ERROR PROFILE of the students based on which a Language Intervention technique (LI) comprising of two sub-components: Language Teaching for Common and Specific Errors [LTCSE], and Language Task for Specific Students [LTSS] was designed. The last component of the framework is a post language intervention test [T?] which was designed to test the efficacy of the language method/approach adopted. The paper concludes with a discussion on the prospects of the framework within the context of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL)

Toward an Integrated Framework for Language Testing and Intervention

An integrated framework for language testing and intervention with a paradigm T??LI?T? was proposed and illustrated. The proposed framework combines approaches from Error Analysis, Need Analysis and Systems Instruction. The operation of the framework was illustrated based on the data derived from a corpus consisting of the transcripts of hundred (100) students from a college in Yola metropolis. The transcripts were analyzed using the COMPFORM-MARKCHART method of error correction. The test served as a pre-intervention language test and the first component of the framework (T?). The result of the analysis was then used to design the ERROR PROFILE of the students. Based on this profile, a Language Intervention technique (LI) comprising of two sub-components was designed; that is Language Teaching for Common and Specific Errors [LTCSE] and Language Task for Specific Students [LTSS]. The last component of the framework is a post language intervention test [T?] which was designed to test the efficacy of the language method/approach adopted. The paper concludes with a discussion on the prospects of the framework within the context of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL).Keywords: Pretest, language Intervention, Post-test, EDP, LTCSE, LTSS.

Structuring Team Teaching to Enhance Teaching and Learning of Literature-in English and English Language in Secondary Schools

The prospects of team teaching in enhancing language teaching and learning in the secondary school was examined. An integrated framework with a structural paradigm [T??LI?T?] proposed by Kamai & Badaki (2011) was adopted as a framework for the study. The data was derived from a pre-intervention test [T?] where seven (7) English language teachers of Concordia College, Yola, Nigeria were constructively assessed while teaching English language and Literature in English in their various classes and the performance of students in pre and post Language Intervention [LI] tests. A post-test[T?] indicated that team teaching was responsible for the enhanced performance of students. Equally, the results of the teacher evaluation show that team teaching  provides opportunity for teachers to identify their strengths  and weaknesses. The study concludes that team teaching is a relevant technique for enhancing the teaching and learning of English and literature in the secondary schools. Keywords: Integrated Language Framework , Language Intervention ,Team Teaching, Secondary School

Re: An investigation of public attitudes towards dementia in Bristol and South Gloucestershire using an online version of the Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire

Letter accepted for publication in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatr

Sample preparation and introduction for analytical atomic spectroscopy

Issued as Technical reports no. [1-2], and Final technical letter report, Project no. G-33-628 (co-project is E-19-655/Michael J. Matteson/School of Chemical Engineering; subproject is E-16-623

Does personal experience of dementia change attitudes? The Bristol and South Gloucestershire survey of dementia attitudes

Background: it is unclear how attitudes towards people with dementia are formed and whether, for instance, increased contact with people with dementia, either through work or personal experience alters attitudes. This study used a validated questionnaire (the Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire or ADQ) to examine whether having experience of dementia (either as a result of work, or by being affected by dementia) is associated with differences in attitudes towards dementia.Methods: a modified version of the ADQ was completed by 2,201 participants, either on-line or in written form. Participants also recorded their age, gender and ethnicity as well as whether they worked with people with dementia, or had been personally affected by dementia.Results: increased contact with people with dementia was associated with increases in both total ADQ scores and across both sub-scales reflecting more positive person-centred attitudes toward dementia. The highest levels of increase were found amongst non-white participants.Conclusions: this study is, we believe, the first attempt to look systematically at whether greater contact with people with dementia is associated with changes in attitudes. The results strongly support the contention that increased contact with people with dementia leads to more person-centred attitudes, and by inference, less stigmatising views

Introduction to the Sage Handbook of E-learning Research, 2nd ed.

The publication of the second edition of the SAGE Handbook of E-learningResearch attests to the continued need for study and understanding of learningpractices in contemporary technology-supported and technology-enabled educational, work and social settings. In preparing the first edition (Andrews &Haythornthwaite, 2007a), we found that while there had been considerabledevelopment in teaching and learning online, and in learning design, there wasno coherent view of what constituted research in the field. Writing for this 2016edition, we find there has been much progress in research, but it has taken many new directions, each wrestling with how to analyze and represent learning in an era of continuing change in technologies, learning practices, and knowledge distribution. This volume, like the last, takes stock of progress in e-learning research, highlighting advances as well as new directions in studies and methods for approaching and keeping up with changes in learning in an e-society

The Relationship of E-Commerce Readiness to Technology Acceptance: The Case of Barbados

This is an exploratory study that examines the relationship between selected components of ecommerce readiness and dimensions of Davis’ (1989) Technology Acceptance Model. Building upon the notion that there exists some linkage between ecommerce readiness and technology Acceptance, this study seeks to examine these linkages in e-businesses within Barbados. Three relationships are proposed – a relationship between technology acceptance and the existing e-Readiness infrastructure, a relationship between technology acceptance and current telecommunications access, and a relationship between technology acceptance and education. The results of this study demonstrated that there are strong relationships between e-commerce readiness components and various technology acceptance dimensions

Effects of Feedback Intervention on Team-teaching in English Language Classrooms in Nigeria

The typical Nigerian English language classroom has a large class size and lacks qualified language teachers. These factors reflect in the quality and quantity of teaching in the English as a Second Language classroom. Team teaching or co-teaching is an intervention strategy which language teachers can use to address these issues.  Not only does the final school leaving Certificate reveal a growing concern ,but the assessment result in schools, as well as students attitude towards the learning of English Language reveals this trend in our schools. The purpose of this research was to study the effectiveness of Feedback Intervention Strategy (FIS) or Co-generative Dialogue (CgD) in maximizing Team Teaching in a Nigerian Senior Secondary School.  In this study, an attempt is made to investigate the effectiveness of feedback on team-teaching as against the traditional one-teacher method of teaching the English Language with its broad and comprehensive aspects.  While some have argued that the one teacher method was effective in the past, research shows that the method seems to have lost its effectiveness in recent time; it suggests – from the research conducted – that a lack of holistic content capacity affects teaching methodology; hence, the need arises to adopt the Team-teaching Methodology in teaching English Language in our Secondary schools. The participants for this study were chosen from senior secondary school students in North Eastern Nigeria. Two certified English language teachers and two classes participated in this study. One each of the teachers' two classes was selected to be the experimental group (30 learners), and the remaining two classes (30 learners) were the control group. A mixed method research design was adopted for the study. The data sources for the study included student’s Achievement scores and a survey on the perception of co-teachers and learners on team teaching. Research findings were then triangulated across data sources and discussed. The research findings showed that the average final exam scores of students receiving team teaching were higher than those of students receiving traditional teaching. The two teaching methods showed significant difference in respect of students' achievement. More than half of the experimental students preferred team teaching to traditional teaching. The discrepancy between team teachers' expectations of team teaching and its implementation was apparent. The differences in the teaching strategy also exposed team teachers to challenge and being compared with each other by students in class. Besides, the team teachers had been unprepared for this comparison, especially in regard to class management. The implementation of team teaching, however, did not win the support of the school administration, which impeded teachers in holding team meetings and caused students doubts regarding team teaching. Research findings were triangulated across data sources. Feedback gives team-teaching impetus for improvement. The in-built mechanisms of monitoring, thorough supervision of notes, test, and assignments; the students’ clinic and teachers’ consultation forum make the feedback process easy, consistent, and reliable. Unlike the traditional one-teacher style where there is little or no supervision or an in-built mechanism for sourcing reliable feedback, team-teaching provides the enabling environment for teachers and students to assess their progress or lapse. Feedback in itself strengthens team-teaching both for the students, the teachers, and the school. Keywords: Education, Team- teaching, Co-teaching, Feedback, English language, Nigeri