Facilitating second language acquisition (SLA) through computer-mediated communication (CMC) in an English for Civil Engineering (ECE) environment

This study explores the application of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in an English for Civil Engineering (ECE) learning setting. The aim is to examine the interactional opportunities present in the computer-mediated environment for evidence of conditions deemed facilitative of second language acquisition, based on the tenets prescribed by the Interaction Hypothesis. This theory emphasizes the importance of interaction in language learning and the necessity for learners to have access to meaningful and comprehensible input. It is based on the premise that acquisition will occur through interaction where learners arc provided opportunities to negotiate meaning in order to develop mutual understanding. In tum, this allows for hypothesis testing related to learners\u27 developing interlanguage systems. It also provides opportunities for learners to produce comprehensible output and have access to feedback related to their attempts. All these are regarded as crucial for language acquisition. Most of the studies on interaction work reported in the literature are related to oral interaction. Nevertheless, studies on the use of CMC have reported that this medium can promote meaningful interaction that can foster interlanguage development through meaning negotiation and focus on form. The participants in this study consist of one English language teacher and a group of seventy-three students. The task employed for this study is based on one of the requirements of the ECE program, specifically for the students to engage in a discussion forum on current and relevant social, economic and environmental issues related to the civil engineering field and profession. For a more in-depth and thorough understanding of the entire perspective in the application of CMC in this ECE setting, both qualitative and quantitative procedures are adopted for the purpose of data analysis. The analysis of interactional exchanges reveals that this on-line platform serves as a suitable context and a conducive environment for interlanguage development. Both student-to-teacher and student-to-student interactional exchanges provide evidence of opportunities for modified input, feedback and modified output. The interview responses also provide important insights into the subjective dimension of learning in terms of students\u27 overall opinion and perception of the on-line interactional exchange

Role of teachers in facilitating language learning through the use of technology

Levy (1997) defines ‘computer-assisted language learning’ (CALL) as “the search for and study of applications of the computer in language teaching and learning”(p.1). Computer technology has taken its rightful place as an important element of language teaching and learning. It has been reported in the literature that there are many advantages for the application of CALL. It has been further suggested that CALL activities can be created in ways that may extend the potential of the computer beyond just a ‘tool’ to facilitate the language learning process

Improving Coherence In Paragraph Writing Among ESL Learners: A Case Study

This study sets out to examine the problems faced by ESL learners of the Faculty of Education, UTM in relation to coherence in writing. The objectives of this study are to assess the coherence of ESL learners’ writing as well as to present ideas and suggestions to help students to improve coherence in their writing. Ten first year TESL students of UTM were involved in this study. The instrument used to assess and analyze coherence in writing was topic-based analysis adapted from Todd (2004). Scores of coherence and coherence breaks as well as interviews were used for data analysis. Finally, this study hopes to be a valuable resource for not only the learners to overcome incoherence in their writing, but also to both content and English language instructors of these learners. It would provide insights to the language teachers on how to help students become more aware of elements of coherence in writing and what can be done to improve coherence in writing

Facilitating content acquisition through language : the “Wall Poster” Technique

The ‘wall poster’ activity is one of the tasks conducted in English for Civil Engineering (ECE) classrooms aimed at facilitating learners’ acquisition of the content area of the subject in their specialized discipline of civil engineering. The English for Civil Engineering programme is based on a research project on English for Specific Purposes conducted in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The research was an attempt to create a programme which is derived from and integrated with the Faculty of Civil Engineering’s mainstream academic programme through collaboration between the English language instructors and the subject specialists. (Please refer to Khairi et al, 1995 for a description of the programme; Masputeriah et al., 1995 and Abdul Halim et al., 1996 for a discussion on the approach to materials preparation, nature of activities and the role of language instructors and language learners)

Training the trainers: addressing challenges and meeting expectations

Efforts toward making Malaysia an effective global competitor in this challenging era call for communicative competence and mastery in English and/or other languages to ensure competency and effectiveness in our human capital. as such, various measures, drastic at times, have been undertaken by the Government to achieve the country’s aspirations. one such measure is the teaching of Mathematics and science in English in schools

Development of ESP courseware via the world wide web (WWW): a computational linguistics analysis approach

english language programmes that are being designed to meet specific needs of the learners would benefit not only the learners themselves but also their stakeholders. An example of an English language programme that has been designed to meet the english for Specific Purpose (ESP) needs of Civil Engineering (CE) students of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is the programme called English for Civil Engineering or ECE. This programme was a three- semester programme that has been planned through very close collaboration between the faculty of Civil Engineering (FCE) and the Department of Modern Languages (DML). The ECE programme ‘rests on the principle that language learning is and should be part of the mainstream CE programme (DML of UTM, 1996). Its ultimate aim was to be able to assist CE students in using English for executing their academic work assigned by their faculty, the FCE. In general, the ECE programme was mainly intended to ‘serve as the foundation of the long term objective of enhancing the marketability of CE graduates by integrating language training into the overall training plans of the FCE’ (DML of UTM, 1996). The ECE programme offered three different courses which are UHB1312, UHB1322, and UHB2332, to the CE students. Although it is subdivided into three courses, that is, one course per semester, the courses should be regarded as a continuous and coherent training scheme. Hence, in general, the ECE programme intends to assist the CE students in extracting information for written and oral communication for both academic and professional purposes. In relation to the second course of the programme, UHB1322, in every phase of the course, the students are required to perform two parallel and complementary types of activities – the core activities and the support activities (also called pedagogic activities). The core activities are activities which would train the CE students to extract information from texts related to Civil Engineering Materials (one of the core topics in Civil Engineering), that are written in English, and consequently, make notes from them. These notes would then be used to write essays and reports related to Civil Engineering Materials (CEM). As for the pedagogic activities of the UHB1322 course, they are activities which lead to and support the core activities of the course. All pedagogic activities such as the reading of texts, vocabulary/glossary work and language exercises, will be related to the topic on Civil Engineering Materials. In relation to the above pedagogic activities, they are very time-consuming as they require several classroom sessions with the language instructor. They also require frequent referencing to an extremely limited number of monolingual and bilingual Civil Engineering dictionaries as well as English CEM textbooks in the UTM library. In order for the CE students to perform the pedagogic activities much more efficiently and efficaciously, a unique self-access courseware that can be accessed via the WWW (World Wide Web, Web or Internet) using the computational linguistic analysis approach, has been designed for the ECE programme in UTM, which will be referred to as ‘UNITEKMA ECE Courseware’. This chapter aims to describe the process of producing the prototype of the above courseware in which its lessons focus both on content words and language structures taken from texts on Civil Engineering Materials. The following sections of this chapter will discuss related literature to the design of the courseware

Developing a profile of workplace written communication

This paper reports on our study to determine the expectations of employers in respect of graduating students’ written communication. Our study is guided by two research questions: (i) what criteria do employers adopt in evaluating written assignments and (ii) what is the minimum level expected for acceptance of completed tasks in the workplace? Interviews were conducted and samples of graduating students’ written works were shown to informants (human resource personnel) from various fields, among others, the automotive, oil & gas, media, medical and higher education, to elicit their responses to performances of these students. The students had earlier on been given a task to analyse information presented in non-linear texts and to write their analyses in not more than 250 words. The informants were expected to give their responses on whether the quality of written analyses is acceptable or not, their criteria adopted in determining the acceptability of the written analyses, their views of good and poor writing and their expected minimum level of written work quality. Additional preliminary information had also been gathered on type, length, evaluation of the quality of written output and criteria used to assess the quality of written output through a questionnaire survey as a basis for the design of the set task. Results revealed that employers place importance on accuracy of reporting, conciseness, correct use of expressions and terminologies and maturity of thought, among others. From these informed responses, a draft rating scale of the expected writing ability of graduating students deemed relevant for the workplace was developed. Further refinement of the rating scale would follow with validation from the potential employers

Establishing the construct of workplace written communication

This paper explores our attempt to determine the construct of workplace written communication through a study involving graduating students and workplace professionals. Information regarding written tasks, minimum standards and quality expected from new graduate employees were gathered through interviews of human resource personnel from various fie lds. Based on the information gathered, a test of written communication was designed and administered to a group of sixty graduating students. The end products were collected, from which five were selected, believed to be representative of the product of the ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’, ‘modest’, ‘weak’ and ‘very weak’ writers. The scripts were then shown to the human resource personnel for assessment. Results were analysed to establish the different categories of criteria applied by the professionals in their assessment. From the analysis, the construct of workplace written communication was devised and subjected to validation

Training the trainers : addressing challenges and meeting expectations

Efforts toward making Malaysia an effective global competitor in this challenging era call for communicative competence and mastery in english and/or other languages to ensure competency and effectiveness in our human capital. as such, various measures, drastic at times, have been undertaken by the Government to achieve the country’s aspirations. one such measure is the teaching of Mathematics and science in english in schools