Investigating the learning transfer of genre features and conceptual knowledge from an academic literacy course to business studies: Exploring the potential of dynamic assessment

Academic literacy courses aim to enable higher education students to participate in their chosen academic fields as fully as possible. However, the extent to which these students transfer the academic skills taught in these courses to their chosen disciplines is still under-researched. This article reports on a study that investigated the potential of dynamic assessment (an assessment approach that blends instruction into assessment) in the transfer of genre features and conceptual knowledge among undergraduate business studies students in a UK public university. The data includes three students’ written assignments (N = nine), interviews (N = three) and business studies tutor (N = three) feedback. Drawing on Vygotskian sociocultural theory of learning and a genre theory based on Systemic Functional Linguistics, the data were analysed. The findings suggest that dynamic assessment may contribute to the transfer of genre features and conceptual knowledge to a new assessment context. Implications of this for academic literacy instruction and assessment design are presented

Construct validity of the Nepalese school leaving english reading test

There has been a steady interest in investigating the validity of language tests in the last decades. Despite numerous studies on construct validity in language testing, there are not many studies examining the construct validity of a reading test. This paper reports on a study that explored the construct validity of the English reading test in the Nepalese school leaving examination. Eight students were asked to take the test and think-aloud, followed by retrospective interviews. Additionally, seven experts were asked to make judgments regarding the skills tested by the test. The findings provide grounded insights into students’ response behaviors prompted by the reading tasks, and indicate some threats to the construct validity of the test. Additionally, the study reports a low level of agreement among the experts, and a big gap between the skills used by the students and the skills that the experts thought were being examined by the test

[Book review] From a Trickle to a Torrent: Education, Migration and Social Change in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal. By Geoff Childs and Namgyal Choedup

This is a book review of From a Trickle to a Torrent: Education, Migration and Social Change in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal by Geoff Childs and Namgyal Choedup. The interconnection between migration and education has been widely researched globally. However, few published studies have reported this phenomenon with regard to rural communities—particularly in the context of Nepal. Therefore, this book by Geoff Childs and Namgyal Choedup is a welcome contribution to the field. It documents outmigration for education as a complex flow and evolution of migration with potentially serious consequences, based on more than 20 years of anthropological multimethod research (using ethnographic and statistical data) in Nubri, a valley north of the Gorkha district, Nepal, bordering Tibet—a “Buddhist enclave” (p 5), as the authors note. The authors primarily draw on migration network theory to examine outmigration for education, weaving together aspects of social, economic, and cultural practices

The EAP course design Quagmire – juggling the stakeholders’ perceived needs

This chapter explores perspectives of administrators, ESP teachers and MBA students in a Pakistani university on the English language needs of MBA students. It further tries to explore the strife caused by the administrative differences in opinion and outlook on the university’s system that restrain it from bringing much needed change in the curriculum. In doing so the chapter also looks for a way forward, that is, a way to meet the English language needs of MBA students despite the disparity in the three respective standpoints. It also offers implications of this study to other global EAP contexts

Investigating Students' and Teachers' Perceptions of Using the iPad in an Italian English as a Foreign Language Classroom

Recent research indicates that mobile technologies can support second language learning. However, studies focused on the use of the iPad and teaching in schools is still scarce. This study reports on an action research project that investigated the use of the iPad in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context in an Italian school. The study sought to investigate learners' and teachers' perceptions of mobile learning through the use of the iPad. The data was collected through a survey (N=41), classroom observations (N=4), interviews (N=20), and recorded teacher meetings (N=5). Results show a positive impact on student motivation and on the approach to second language learning tasks. We found that within the duration of the study students and teachers became increasingly independent in the use of the iPad for English language learning and teaching. This study provides educators with hints on how to start integrating mobile devices to perform specific language learning/teaching tasks

sj-doc-1-bcq-10.1177_23294906221109190 – Supplemental material for Business English Needs and Secondary Vocational Business English: The Case of Greek Workplaces

Supplemental material, sj-doc-1-bcq-10.1177_23294906221109190 for Business English Needs and Secondary Vocational Business English: The Case of Greek Workplaces by Marianthi Batsila and Prithvi N. Shrestha in Business and Professional Communication Quarterly</p