The role of task-supported language teaching in EFL learner’s writing performance and grammar gains

Recent research in SLA advocates the use of task as a useful class activity claiming that task approximates language use in the context of classroom to the way language is used in the real world. Framed under a cognitive framework to task-based language teaching, this study was set out to investigate whether task-based oriented activities bear any superiority to that of more traditional ones evident in PPP (Presentation-Practice-Production) model. Twenty eight female pre-intermediate participants studying English in one language school in Urmia, Iran, took part in the study. They participated in ten half-an-hour long sessions of instruction during which they were instructed four structural points: simple past, simple present, present continuous, and ‘There is/There are/How much/How many’ structures. PPP group received their treatment through conventional approach and task-based group, through task-oriented activities. The quantitative analysis performed on the post-test (consisting of a grammar recognition test and a writing activity) suggested that participants in the PPP group did significantly better in the grammar recognition section of the post-test. However, their counterparts in the task group gained better scores in the writing section of the test. Further findings and implications are discussed in the paper

Instantly Decodable Network Coding for Real-Time Scalable Video Broadcast over Wireless Networks

In this paper, we study a real-time scalable video broadcast over wireless networks in instantly decodable network coded (IDNC) systems. Such real-time scalable video has a hard deadline and imposes a decoding order on the video layers.We first derive the upper bound on the probability that the individual completion times of all receivers meet the deadline. Using this probability, we design two prioritized IDNC algorithms, namely the expanding window IDNC (EW-IDNC) algorithm and the non-overlapping window IDNC (NOW-IDNC) algorithm. These algorithms provide a high level of protection to the most important video layer before considering additional video layers in coding decisions. Moreover, in these algorithms, we select an appropriate packet combination over a given number of video layers so that these video layers are decoded by the maximum number of receivers before the deadline. We formulate this packet selection problem as a two-stage maximal clique selection problem over an IDNC graph. Simulation results over a real scalable video stream show that our proposed EW-IDNC and NOW-IDNC algorithms improve the received video quality compared to the existing IDNC algorithms

The effect of linguistic context on EFL vocabulary learning

There is limited literature on the role of linguistic context in learning and remembering new vocabulary items by EFL learners. To fill this gap in literature and to further explore the relationship between surrounding linguistic context and learning, and retention of new words, this study was set out to investigate whether systematically changing the amount of surrounding context has any significant effect on learning and retention of new vocabulary items. Forty-seven Iranian female advanced EFL learners within the age range of 18-24 were employed in this study and were taught 100 new vocabulary items (unknown words) in ten sessions and in three different contextual conditions (i.e., 1. one known word, one unknown/new word; 2. two known words, one unknown/new word; and 3. three known words, one unknown/new word). Known words for contextual conditions were selected from the previous units of World Pass which the participants had covered before. Furthermore, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary was used for some of the contexts. The researchers made an attempt to use simple and high-frequency words from the units covered and/or from the dictionary. The results of one-way ANOVA for both immediate and delayed post-tests revealed that extending the number of known words (that is, adding to the amount of surrounding linguistic context) does not have any significant effect on learning and retention of new vocabulary items. It can be claimed that two or three known words context is still as small as one word context and they do not have differing contextual roles. Further results and implications are discussed in the paper

Delivery Time Reduction for Order-Constrained Applications using Binary Network Codes

Consider a radio access network wherein a base-station is required to deliver a set of order-constrained messages to a set of users over independent erasure channels. This paper studies the delivery time reduction problem using instantly decodable network coding (IDNC). Motivated by time-critical and order-constrained applications, the delivery time is defined, at each transmission, as the number of undelivered messages. The delivery time minimization problem being computationally intractable, most of the existing literature on IDNC propose sub-optimal online solutions. This paper suggests a novel method for solving the problem by introducing the delivery delay as a measure of distance to optimality. An expression characterizing the delivery time using the delivery delay is derived, allowing the approximation of the delivery time minimization problem by an optimization problem involving the delivery delay. The problem is, then, formulated as a maximum weight clique selection problem over the IDNC graph wherein the weight of each vertex reflects its corresponding user and message's delay. Simulation results suggest that the proposed solution achieves lower delivery and completion times as compared to the best-known heuristics for delivery time reduction

English as a Foreign Language Teachers’ Motivation: An Activity Theory Perspective

Drawing upon Activity Theory, this mixed-methods study explored L2 teachers’ (de)motivation factors, motivation change, and voice in adopting strategies that could motivate L2 teachers. Semi-structured interviews, a motivational timeline diagram, and a researcher-developed scale were used to collect data from 226 in-service L2 teachers. The interview data collected from 15 participants were analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding using MAXQDA Analytics Pro version 12.3. Individual participants’ motivational timelines were also carried over into a collective diagram to illustrate motivational trajectories. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data collected from 211 teachers. The findings identified a number of (de)motivation factors and indicated that L2 teachers experienced changes in their motivation due to some primary and secondary level contradictions in their motivational activity systems. Moreover, L2 teachers’ commitment to their profession revealed the significant role of teachers’ beliefs and agency in resolving those contradictions. The theoretical and practical implications of the study were accordingly discussed