Vocabulary Retention and Concordance-based Learning in L3 Acquisition

Vocabulary knowledge is considered to be key to language comprehension and speech production. Although there is considerable research literature on vocabulary learning, there is no consensus on which vocabulary teaching / learning strategy is the most successful. The article describes the findings of an experimental research study aimed at analysing the effect of concordance-based learning on L3 vocabulary acquisition and retention. L3 is understood in the present research as a chronologically third language acquired by a speaker (Mayo, 2012). The study features 48 participants learning German as a second foreign language subsequently to English who were divided randomly into experimental and control groups. While the experimental group learnt words with the help of online concordance, the control group worked with conventional vocabulary worksheets. A pre-test, a post test, and a delayed vocabulary recall test were conducted with both groups. The study showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in both post- and delayed tests. The aspect of vocabulary knowledge that was acquired and retained more successfully with concordance-based activities was making up sentences and building collocations with the given key words. The study also demonstrated the usability of concordance-based learning with A1 language level students within the framework of L3 acquisition

Eliciting ELT students’ Understanding of Plagiarism in Academic Writing

Given that the term ‘plagiarism’ is open to multiple interpretations, resulting in confusion among students and teachers alike, research that investigates the current state of empirical evidence and sheds light on students’ ability to define and detect this notion has important pedagogical implications. This study examines undergraduate English Language Teaching (ELT) students’ understanding of plagiarism in academic writing through qualitative data collection methods. After the focus group filled in the open-ended questionnaire, they were exposed to two sets of texts each containing an original, a plagiarized and non-plagiarized copy. The copy in the first set featured mainly word-for-word plagiarism while the copy in the second set was plagiarized in terms of illicit paraphrasing. The students were asked to identify whether there is any plagiarism in each copy and assess the texts regarding their acceptability in the format of an interview and think-aloud protocols. The results of the open-ended questionnaire and interviews were compared revealing that although all the students were able to define plagiarism correctly, most of them failed to identify it in the written text. The study also uncovered discrepancies in how the students view the aforementioned types of plagiarism

Linguistic accessibility of Open Educational Resources: Text Simplification As An Aid To Non-native Readers Of English

Open Educational Resources (OERs) were pioneered with the intent to support education and widen access to knowledge globally. At the same time, most OERs are offered in English, and their language level creates a barrier to many potential learners who are non-native English readers. This does not suit the inclusive rhetoric of OERs. To investigate this problem, this thesis focused on the notion of linguistic accessibility, which is associated with the language level of learning materials, and evaluated text simplification as a potential solution. This thesis dealt with the following major gaps in research on OER linguistic accessibility and text simplification: the level of text complexity of OER course materials and its variability across educational levels and subjects; approaches that experts, such as English teachers, take to simplify texts and the perceived influence of their language background on this practice; and the effect of simplification on text comprehension and processing among non-native English readers. These gaps were investigated through a mixed methods research design in four empirical studies using multiple data sources: reading materials from 200 OER courses, 24 English teachers, and 46 non-native English readers. The first set of key findings related to the text complexity of OERs was that most OERs currently require an advanced level of English language proficiency; no systematic differences in text complexity were yielded across the different educational levels and subjects of the OERs. The second set of key findings related to teachers’ approaches to text simplification was the identification of a taxonomy of 16 text simplification strategies employed by English teachers, and the evidence that text simplification seemed more affected by teachers’ attitudes to this practice than by their language background. The third set of key findings related to the impact of text simplification on non-native English readers was the evidence that simplification not only improves text comprehension but also facilitates higher-level, deep processing. Altogether, this research provided corroborating evidence that urgent action is needed to improve the linguistic accessibility of OERs and supported text simplification as a potential solution to achieve this. In doing so, a holistic picture of the notion of linguistic accessibility was created, along with recommendations to those designing or teaching with OERs, as well as those working in an EMI context

CAN ICT ENHANCE WORKPLACE INCLUSION? THE ROLE OF ICT ENABLED INCLUSION PRACTICES

While workplace inclusion is of strategic importance, it is not easily achievable due to persistent classification, segregation, and stereotyping that are socially embedded in everyday organizational processes. Our research aims to develop a theoretical understanding of how ICT shapes workplace inclusion. Drawing on a qualitative study conducted in one of the most prominent companies in the recruitment sector in the UK, we present in this research-in-progress paper preliminary evidence of ICT-enabled inclusion practices that can enhance workplace inclusion. In particular, we elicit three such practices – Expanding, Orienting, and Enculturating, and explain how they mitigate classification, segregation, and stereotyping. We contribute to literature at the intersection of ICT and inclusion

“As the Twig is bent, so is the Tree Inclined”: Research engagement among pre-service EFL teachers

Teacher research tends to have a low uptake among teachers, which might be due to the fact that they are not generally identified with the role of the teacher as a researcher in initial teacher education programs. Also, as there is little research on the effects of research introduction courses on pre-service teachers, this descriptive study explored pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ attitudes towards research engagement and the benefits and difficulties they experienced throughout this process. To this end, pre-service EFL teachers (N= 32) from a state university in Turkey, who took a course on research engagement, participated in this study. This study adopted a mixed-methods research design: We triangulated quantitative survey data with the qualitative data elicited through an open-ended survey and semi-structured focus-group interviews. The findings described pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards research from self-efficacious, behavioural, cognitive, and affective perspectives, as well as elicited the perceived benefits and challenges from participants’ responses. Overall, we found that participants developed positive views towards research as part of the course and they felt more self-efficacious and overcame their research anxiety. At the same time, our study also showed that while most participants found the research methodology course important, less than one third of them planned to conduct research when they become in-service teachers. The study concludes by discussing the implications for initial teacher education programs

The impact of virtual exchange on East–West social relations: lessons from a China-Portugal foreign language exchange

Student collaboration has always been integral to the learner journey. The current limited opportunities for face-to-face discussions and student mobility due to the pandemic have heightened the need for such online intercultural collaboration initiatives like Virtual Exchange (VE). At the same time, few studies have looked at collaboration patterns between Asian and Western students, while using robust mixed methods research design (i.e., pre-post TPACK, foreign language competence, diaries) and social network analysis. To that end, this study explored an East-West VE of 10 weeks between 16 university students from China and 18 students from Portugal working together online on shared tasks. The study compared the perceived development of technological and foreign language skills between the two groups of students, the extent to which their reported lived experiences in VE were positive for all students, as well as looked at the kind of relations the students developed with each other over the length of the exchange. The study provides important pedagogical implications for educators willing to design VE for the benefit of all students, as well as methodological implications for the use of social network analysis with VE data

“As the Twig is bent, so is the Tree Inclined”:Research engagement among pre-service EFL teachers

Teacher research tends to have a low uptake among teachers, which might be due to the fact that they are not generally identified with the role of the teacher as a researcher in initial teacher education programs. Also, as there is little research on the effects of research introduction courses on pre-service teachers, this descriptive study explored pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ attitudes towards research engagement and the benefits and difficulties they experienced throughout this process. To this end, pre-service EFL teachers (N= 32) from a state university in Turkey, who took a course on research engagement, participated in this study. This study adopted a mixed-methods research design: We triangulated quantitative survey data with the qualitative data elicited through an open-ended survey and semi-structured focus-group interviews. The findings described pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards research from self-efficacious, behavioural, cognitive, and affective perspectives, as well as elicited the perceived benefits and challenges from participants’ responses. Overall, we found that participants developed positive views towards research as part of the course and they felt more self-efficacious and overcame their research anxiety. At the same time, our study also showed that while most participants found the research methodology course important, less than one third of them planned to conduct research when they become in-service teachers. The study concludes by discussing the implications for initial teacher education programs

Six Practical Recommendations Enabling Ethical Use of Predictive Learning Analytics in Distance Education

The progressive move of higher education institutions (HEIs) towards blended and online environments, accelerated by COVID-19, and their access to a greater variety of student data has heightened the need for ethical learning analytics (LA). This need is particularly salient in light of a lack of comprehensive, evidence-based guidelines on ethics that address gaps voiced in LA ethics research. Studies on the topic are predominantly conceptual, representing mainly institutional rather than stakeholder views, with some areas of ethics remaining underexplored. In this paper, we address this need by using a case of four years of interdisciplinary research in developing the award-winning Early Alerts Indicators (EAI) dashboard at a distance learning university. Through a lens focused on ethical considerations and informed by the practical approach to ethics, we conducted a case study review, using 10 relevant publications that report on the development and implementation of the tool. Our six practical recommendations on how to ethically engage with LA can inform an ethical development of LA that not only protects student privacy, but also ensures that LA tools are used in ways that effectively support student learning and development

The impact of virtual exchange on TPACK and foreign language competence: reviewing a large-scale implementation across 23 virtual exchanges

Several studies on Virtual Exchange (VE) have highlighted positive learning experiences, increases in technological pedagogical and content skills (TPACK) and foreign language (FL) competence. However, most VE research to date use qualitative or descriptive case-studies of how VEs have been implemented, and what “might” have worked. In this large-scale quantitative two-study design, we explored how 622 pre-service teachers developed TPACK skills and (perceived) FL competence over time in 23 VEs across 34 institutions in 16 countries. In Study 1, we used a (quasi-) experimental design of 3 VEs in an experimental (n = 151) or control group (n = 77) to explore the impact on TPACK. In Study 2, we used a larger sample of 20 VEs and 394 participants to replicate and contrast the findings from Study 1 in a broader context. In contrast to our expectations, participants in the experimental condition did not have higher TPACK skills growth relative to the control condition in Study 1, which was further confirmed in Study 2. Nonetheless, in Study 2 pre-existing TPACK skills influenced the development of (perceived) FL competence over time, whereby those participants who further strengthened their TPACK skills during the VE were more likely to nurture FL competence. A major lesson from this large-scale implementation is that VEs do not generate TPACK skills and FL competence by osmosis. We encourage CALL researchers to carefully reflect on any positive or negative finding that something has “worked” when there is no comparison or control group included

Can ICT enhance workplace inclusion? The role of ICT-enabled inclusion practices

While workplace inclusion is of strategic importance, it is not easily achievable due to persistent classification, segregation, and stereotyping that are socially embedded in everyday organizational processes. Our research aims to develop a theoretical understanding of how ICT shapes workplace inclusion. Drawing on a qualitative study conducted in one of the most prominent companies in the recruitment sector in the UK, we present in this research-in-progress paper preliminary evidence of ICT-enabled inclusion practices that can enhance workplace inclusion. In particular, we elicit three such practices – Expanding, Orienting, and Enculturating, and explain how they mitigate classification, segregation, and stereotyping. We contribute to literature at the intersection of ICT and inclusion