A Brief Examination of Some Earlier Grammar-based Methods through Brown’s Twelve Principles of Language Teaching

This article briefly explores the twelve principles of language teaching and learning formulated by H. Douglas Brown and also the underlying principles of some of the earlier grammar-based methods to calculate how consistent these principles are with those of Brown’s. The grammarbased approaches chosen for evaluation are the Grammar Translation Method, the Direct Method, the Audiolingual Method, the Silent Way and Suggestopedia. Interestingly enough, many of Brown’s principles are found to be in complete or partial agreement with some of the principles of the earlier grammar-based methods

Prodding Shy Students into Active Participation through Gossiping

 This article explores one possible way of exploiting one of our human weaknesses – a tendency to gossip – for language practice. It attempts to show how a number of interpersonal exchanges can be made by making use of our feelings for the people around us. The activity presented in this article, therefore, stresses the humanistic aspect of learning, and is intended to provide the learners with opportunities to talk and to listen with a communicative purpose in mind, thereby helping them to improve their fluency in English

Textbook Analysis: Headway Upper-Intermediate Student’s Book

This paper examines a book entitled Headway Upper-Intermediate Student’s book, an English textbook popularly used in many academic institutions of the EFL countries more than ten years ago, and identifies what activities it suggests. The paper specifically discusses the issues of whether the activities/ exercises in the book give input, or are designed for output practice, ending with the final evaluation of whether the input is roughly- or finely-tuned, and the output activities are for practice or communication

Modelling morphological and physiological responses of tomato introgression lines to drought stress

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a major vegetable crop grown in both outdoor fields and greenhouses. Water shortage is a significant problem in field-grown tomatoes. Genetic variation in the adaptation strategies to water shortage influences the differing water use and agronomic performances, in connection to varying climatic factors. Understanding the mechanisms of the adaptation to water deficit in the context of genetic implications is needed for better management and crop improvement. This work aims at investigating the adaptation mechanism of tomato to water deficit under a set of climatic condition, identifying the associated genome regions involved in the adaption, and predicting and evaluating the agronomic performances of virtual ILs in different climatic scenarios. This study was conducted using 50 tomato introgression lines (ILs) and two parent lines S. pennellii and S. lycopersicum cv. M82, in greenhouse conditions. Terminal drought stress was given at seven 7th leaf stage. There was a high (R2= 0.67 -0.75) causal relationships between unstressed and stressed performances for leaf areas increased, water transpired and shoot dry mass produced. The change in plasticity of shoot dry weight was mainly explained by that of leaf area while plasticity of cumulative transpiration was mainly attributed to that of specific transpiration. With the input of unstressed values and QTL-derived parameters from the response to water shortage of leaf expansion and stomatal conductance, stressed transpiration of all ILs was well predicted with high accuracy within the tested vapour pressure deficit ranges. With the implications of climatic factors, genotype-specific parameters (including drought reaction ones) were incorporated into an eco-physiological model, which consisted of three modules mainly for leaf growth, transpiration and dry matter production. With or without the inputs of leaf area and soil water, model performance was evaluated separately for target agronomic traits. The aggregated model could have well predicted the unstressed performances of leaf area, transpiration, shoot dry matter (accuracy = 0.69 - 0.84) and the fraction of transpirable soil water under stress (accuracy = 0.66). However, there was 20 to 30% of overestimation for the stressed performance (accuracy = 0.55 - 0.77). With the input of leaf area, the model performance was much improved for total water transpired and soil water. The genome-based eco-physiological model worked well as a tool to predict the stressed agronomic performances of tomato introgression lines.Die Tomate (Solanum lycopersicum L.) ist eine wichtige Gemüsepflanze, die sowohl im Freiland als auch in Gewächshäusern angebaut wird. Wasserknappheit ist ein bedeutendes Problem bei Freiland-Tomaten. Genetische Unterschiede in den Anpassungsstrategien an den Wassermangel beeinflussen den unterschiedlichen Wasserverbrauch und die agronomischen Leistungen in Verbindung mit unterschiedlichen klimatischen Faktoren. Das Verständnis der Mechanismen der Anpassung an Wassermangel im Zusammenhang mit den genetischen Implikationen ist für ein besseres Management und eine Verbesserung der Kulturpflanzen erforderlich. Diese Arbeit zielte darauf ab, den Anpassungsmechanismus von Tomaten an Wassermangel unter einer Reihe von klimatischen Bedingungen zu untersuchen, die damit verbundenen Genomregionen , die in die Anpassung einbezogen sind zu identifizieren, und die agronomischen Leistungen virtueller ILs in verschiedenen klimatischen Szenarien vorherzusagen und auszuwerten. Verwendung von 50 Tomaten-Introgressionslinien (ILs) und zwei Elternlinien: S. pennellii und S. lycopersicum cv. M82, wurde diese Studie unter Gewächshausbedingungen durchgeführt, indem ein terminaler Trockenstress im siebten Blattstadium festgestellt wurde. Es bestand ein hoher (R2= 0,67 -0,75) kausaler Zusammenhang zwischen unbelasteten und belasteten Leistungen für erhöhte Blattflächen, transpirierte Wasser und produzierte Sprosstrockenmasse. Die Änderung der Plastizität des Trockengewichts der Triebe wurde hauptsächlich durch die Blattfläche erklärt, während die Plastizität der kumulativen Transpiration hauptsächlich der spezifischen Transpiration zugeschrieben wurde. Mit der Eingabe von unbelasteten Werten und QTL-abgeleiteten Parametern aus der Reaktion auf Wassermangel von Blattausdehnung und stomatärer Leitfähigkeit wurde die betonte Transpiration aller ILs mit hoher Genauigkeit innerhalb der getesteten Sättigungsdefizit-Bereiche gut vorhergesagt. Um die Auswirkungen der klimatischen Faktoren zu untersuchen, wurden genotypspezifische Parameter (einschließlich der Parameter für die Dürrereaktion) in ein ökophysiologisches Modell integriert, das aus drei Modulen bestand, die hauptsächlich für das Blattwachstum, die Trockenmasseproduktion und die Transpiration bestimmt waren. Mit oder ohne den Input von Blattfläche und Bodenwasser wurde die Modellleistung getrennt nach agronomischen Zielmerkmalen bewertet. Das Modell in aggregierter Form sagte für die bewässerte Pflanze die Blattfläche, die Transpiration und die Sprosstrockensubstanz (Genauigkeit = 0,69 - 0,84) und den transpirierbaren Bodenwasseranteil (Genauigkeit = 0,66) gut voraus. Allerdings gab es eine Überschätzung der gestressten Leistung um 20 bis 30% (Genauigkeit = 0,55 - 0,77). Mit der Eingabe der Blattfläche wurde die Modellleistung für das gesamte transpirierte Wasser und das Bodenwasser deutlich verbessert. Ein genombasiertes ökophysiologisches Modell kann als Werkzeug zur Vorhersage gestresster agronomischer Leistungen in Tomaten-Introgressionslinien verwendet werden

Article Review: A Critical Look at the Communicative Approach (1) and (2) (Michael Swan)

A lengthy discussion by Michael Swan on the strengths and weaknesses of the Communicative Approach is really insightful. Bringing some confusions resulting from the mistaken conception of the Communicative Approach to light, the author not only provides us with theoretical justification for his belief in language teaching, but also suggests better ways of exploiting any approach–old or new. The core of his argument will be divided into three parts in this report for the sake of clarity; namely, (I) Communicative Approach as asserted by its proponents, (II) Critical examination of the Communicative Approach and (III) Effective teaching through an integrated approach

Some Structure-Awareness Activities to Help Weak Learners of English Improve Their Structural Knowledge

Not being able to construct structurally correct sentences is one of the major problems facing our students nowadays. Unless we teachers can help them overcome this serious problem with some effective methodology, our attempt to help them improve their proficiency in English, especially in writing skills, will not make much headway. Of the numerous ways that I have used to help my learners familiarize with English structures, the ones I am going to discuss in the article below have proved to be more effective without causing much boredom among the learners

Authenticity in Our Language Classrooms

In order to help our students learn English more effectively, we teachers of English need to place an equal emphasis both on designing suitable teaching materials and making use of effective teaching methodologies. Of the two types of teaching materials; namely authentic and non-authentic materials that are being used nowadays in schools and universities in most EFL countries, the use of the former type is becoming increasingly more popular. The textbooks we are currently using to teach English to our students in our university, especially the English I and English II textbooks, carry both types of the materials. This article briefly examines to what extent our students can exploit the authentic materials presented in our textbooks to their advantage, and also explores some of the recommendations made by experienced scholars with regard to the important factors to be considered in the selection of the required authentic teaching materials

Article Review: Ten Characteristics of a Good Teacher (Author- Patricia Miller)

Entitled Ten Characteristics of a Good Teacher, Patricia Miller discusses characteristics of a good teacher in her article in English Teaching Forum 2012, Volume 50, Number 1 - the first of the 50th anniversary series. Though the article is written by a well-experienced language teacher, it is written solely from her perspectives as a learner of English.Obviously, the purpose of the author in writing this article is to share among fellow teachers some personal beliefs she holds regarding what makes a good teacher. It may well be that she is probably aware of the different yardsticks used by both teachers and students throughout the globe in their interpretations of an ideal teacher, which prompts her to venture her own ideas of a good teacher

A Study of Eastern Culture from the Philosophical Perspective

In the world philosophies the Eastern has investigated everything in their aesthetic component on the other hand the Western has investigated these things in their theoretic component. The main objective of this paper is intended to study on Eastern culture from the philosophical Perspective. Most of the Easterners emphasized on man than on his natural world and one of the characteristics of Eastern culture is fundamentally religious in character. The research problem of this paper is “why the Easterners’ ways of thinking seems to emphasize on the human concern in aesthetic component?” The solution of this paper is that Easterner’s ways of thinking generally based on emotional sense than rational sense. Hence they place emphasis on knowledge by intuition and on contemplation of everything in their aesthetic immediacy. This research paper will contribute to promote understanding that people can put into practice reconciliation of the philosophical perspective of the East and the West in order to achieve a comprehensive integration. As a consequence we enable to establish mutual understanding and good communication among different cultures