Reassessing the English Course Offered to Computer Engineering Students at the National School of Applied Sciences of Al-Hoceima in Morocco: an Action Research Project

ABSTRACT

In computer engineering education, specific English language practices are needed to enable computer engineering students to succeed in professional settings. This study was conducted for two purposes. First, it aimed at investigating to what extent the English courses offered to computer engineering students at the National School of Applied Sciences in Al-Hoceima were successful in fulfilling the job requirements of the prospective engineers. And the second objective was to devise an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course that is rather related to the field of specialization of the respondents and attends to their communicative needs as well. For these purposes a ‘needs analysis questionnaire’ was devised to identify these students' perceptions of the English language practices used, the importance of these practices, the areas of language use that they need training/teaching in, and their preferences for the English language course. The results stressed the significance of English for computer engineering students. They also identified the students' lacks, needs and interests with regard to English language practices. The study concluded with pedagogical implications.     

Teachers’ involvement in high-stakes language assessment reforms: The case of Test for English Majors (TEM) in China

As important stakeholders in language assessment, teachers’ perceptions of language test design and implementation are key factors influencing test impact. This study investigated how English teachers perceived the recent reform of Test for English Majors Grade 4 (TEM4) - a high-stakes English proficiency test targeting English-major undergraduates in China. Furthermore, this study explored the convergence and divergence between teachers’ perceptions of the reform and the intentions of the TEM4 Committee. Findings of this study indicate that teachers in general commented favourably on the revised TEM4 and felt that most of the reform measures were appropriate; however, some divergence between teachers’ perceptions and the intentions of the TEM4 developer was uncovered, particularly in relation to the listening section. This study underscores the importance of soliciting teachers’ perspectives on high-stakes assessment reforms and signals the need for building more effective communicative mechanisms between language assessment providers and stakeholders.     

Analysis of English Majors’ Expressiveness of Chinese Culture in English

Currently English has spread around the world so extensively that it has become a link language across many cultures.Since 1980s,China saw a warm discussion of language,culture and cross-cultural communication.An increasing number of researchers and educators began to be aware of the vital importance of culture in EFL teaching and learning and cultural content has been available in classrooms teaching.However,the development of English teaching and cross-cultural communicative competence is target culture-oriented and the ability of expressiveness of home culture in English is almost ignored.Thus,the thesis seeks to collect the students’ perceptions on expressiveness of Chinese culture in English and the culture teaching in EFL in China.     

The long-term washback effects of the National Matriculation English Test on college English learning in China: Tertiary student perspectives

The Chinese National Matriculation English Test (NMET) aims to select higher-achieving students for tertiary education. This study presents student perceptions of the effectiveness of NMET preparation for after-test college English learning. Through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, tertiary students reported that the NMET facilitated their learning of college English. However, they also felt that having more English speaking and listening skills for the NMET would have better prepared them to handle college workloads. The students’ perceptions correlated with province of origin, senior high school and college status. Students’ suggestions for the NMET included making the speaking and listening NMET subtests obligatory, and adopting the same national standards for all English curricula to narrow the gap between secondary students’ English competence and the demands of tertiary education. Studying long-term washback effects of high stakes language tests and adopting the new China’s Standards of English could improve test preparation and the tests themselves.     

English language teaching and whole school professional development in Tanzania

This paper reports a two-year in-depth qualitative enquiry into English language teaching in a typical primary school in an economically disadvantaged ward of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The research found that modest but significant changes to teachers’ pedagogy, practice and understanding of the teaching of English could be achieved. One of the most important changes was the teachers’ increased understanding of the benefits of engaging learners in a greater range of interaction styles. Another important change was greater understanding of the importance of communicative intent and semantics in the teaching of English. The whole school approach to teacher development, including the research team's sustained engagement with the head teacher of the school, was an important context for the changes to practice.     

跨文化交际与大学英语教学

语言与文化互相影响,互相作用,学习外语就必须学习其文化,因此外语教学应与其文化教学相结合。大学英语教学目的是培养具有跨文化交际能力的人才,大学英语教学应以跨文化交际理论为指导,重视以下几方面的教学：采用对比教学法,结合词汇文化内涵进行词汇讲解;利用英语成语了解西方文化传统;讲解结合语篇分析,重视文化因素导入;强化阅读输入;善于利用直观教具进行外语文化教学等。     

回归语言教学其本质,归还英语课堂于学生——论交际教学法对英语教师提出的新挑战

语言交际功能和情感功能客观上决定了语言教学必须突破传统的语言教学的理念,真正实现在课堂上训练和培养学生实际运用语言的能力,丰富学生的情感,增强学生的跨文化意识,提高学生的人文素养和思考问题以及解决实际问题的能力。该文将从交际教学法的基本概念,交际教学法在英语课堂中的应用和交际教学法对英语教师提出的新挑战三个方面论述交际教学法在英语教师职业技能提升的过程中所发挥的作用。     

Transformation of text in the English classroom: does ‘context’ really matter?

This paper investigates the language demands of creating texts in the English classroom, which involve transformations in context. In particular, it focuses on the tensions inherent in tasks which require more traditional textual analysis to be presented in ways other than traditional ‘essay’ format. These tasks are interpreted differently by students and can result in texts which vary in terms of their choice of ‘written‐like’ or ‘spoken‐like’ styles. This paper uses data from year nine English students presenting speeches to an imagined jury arguing for Shakespeare's Macbeth's guilt or innocence and explores the implications of shifts along the mode continuum evident in the students' language. It raises the question of the relative importance of transformations of language and context and the extent to which control of mode is valued. Language analysis of student responses focusing on genre, periodicity, use of vocatives and endophoric reference suggests the imagined context required by the task is less important than the literary context in assessing student responses and can act as a distraction. Findings have implications for alignment of teaching and assessment practices in English classrooms.     

A Short Discussion on How to Use Communicative Language Teaching(CLT) to Improve Speaking Competence

Though China’s present situation in English language teaching is quite favorable,some problems are still very outstanding.It seems that the communicative competence of Chinese students is not that satisfactory.The Communicative Language Teaching(CLT) approach,which regards"communicative competence"as the goal of language teaching,is becoming more and more popular in China’s English language teaching.This paper shows that the CLT approach does work in improving students’ communicative competence to some degree,through reviewing relevant literature on this approach.However,it is not a panacea to solve all the problems occurring in students’ communicative competence for it also has some weak points.Several suggestions were proposed to enhance students’ grammatical competence as well as the communicative block due to cultural differences.It is also advisable for teachers to be as flexible as possible in choosing the teaching techniques and adding whichever input needed to effectively achieve the main goal of making students both grammatically accurate and communicatively proficient.     

大学英语教学中传统教学法与交际教学法的比较研究

交际教学法已经发展成为一种世界规模的外语教学理论和教学方法,成为当今我国外语教学界普遍承认和接受的基本原则。本文通过对传统教学法和交际教学法的进一步比较分析,阐述了运用交际教学法组织大学英语教学的模式和交际教学法在大学英语听力教学中的应用,指出教师应充分运用交际教学法的基本原理来更好地提高英语教学水平。     

Do Educators See and Honor Biliteracy and Bidialectalism in African American Language Speakers? Apprehensions and Reflections of Two Grandparents/Professional Educators

Educators often do not recognize biliteracy and bidialectalism in African American Language (AAL) speakers. Chronicling the experiences of twin four/five-year old AAL and emergent Standard English speakers, we discuss the importance of recognizing and building on the routines and identities of African American children and families. We present three strategies for supporting the learning of African American children who are biliterate and bidialectal. Using the academic literature which illustrates African American children’s communicative virtuosity as a backdrop, we use language samples from twin AAL-speakers to illustrate key points. Emphasis is placed on the importance of building on African American children’s communication styles in classrooms and helping them to negotiate and move between two different discourse communities for both oral and written language.     

浅议语篇分析理论在大学英语教学中的应用

语篇分析理论对外语教学产生了深远的影响,语篇分析的运用不仅有助于学生语言能力的提高,而且有助于学生交际能力的培养.本文通过对大学英语语篇分析教学的理论依据,着重阐述了语篇分析教学在大学英语学习中所起的促进作用.     

Using digital board games for genuine communication in EFL classrooms

EFL learners in Taiwan have a low-level communication ability because many learners are still not provided opportunities to use language for genuine communication in classrooms and receive insufficient language input due to the environment. This study examines the use of digital board game language learning set in a task-collaborative platform, digital learning playground, designed for classroom learning. This study investigates whether communicative skills and intrinsic motivation could be improved by seeing relevant context and receiving adequate practice through gaming. Ninety-six high school Taiwanese students (n = 96), who were randomly assigned to an ordinary instruction group, a board game language-learning group, or a digital board game language-learning group, engaged in a 50-min English class. Analysis of covariance was used for comparing learning performance through a speaking test between the three groups. A modified intrinsic motivation inventory was conducted to assess learners’ perceptions of learning experience and an interview was held for details. The quantitative data presents a higher learning performance for the instruction set at digital learning playground. The qualitative data confirms computerized simulation adapted from board game entails context-relevant immersion, encouraging communication and efficient game instruction management for EFL language learning.     

从意义范畴谈大学英语词汇教学改革

意义范畴的相关理论表明：一个多义词就是一个语义范畴,包括原型意义、非原型意义和隐喻意义,它们都可以通过各自潜在的意象图式予以解释。因此,大学英语教学对常用词不能满足于字面的局部意义,要有全面的认知,要从词义、搭配和语体等方面指导学生充分挖掘其潜在的交际价值;在教学中要适当运用认知语言学的相关知识,以引导学习者化抽象思维为形象思维,促进其词汇习得;要让学生认知英语常用词汇的词义特征,以帮助其有效运用,并促进其自然朴实话语风格的形成。     

英语口语教学中的“信息差”

外语教学的最终目标是培养学生运用语言的能力,即交际能力。英语口语教学中学生的情景交际是否存在“信息差”对英语口语教学起着至关重要的作用。文章主要依据克拉申的第二语言习得理论,阐述“信息差”在英语口语教学中的重要性。     

如何用浸泡式快乐交际教学法进行语法教学

浸泡式快乐交际教学法是交际教学法的一个分支,它的主要目的是培养学生良好的语言交际能力。在英语语法教学实践中,运用浸泡式快乐交际教学法有利于提高学生学习的积极性,培养学生的语言交际能力,提高课堂教学效率。今后,为了更好地运用浸泡式快乐交际法进行语法教学,提高学生的学习效率和课堂教学效果,需要根据实际情况采取相应的策略。     

旅游英语教学中本土文化的渗透

英语是一种交际工具,英语教学的目的就是培养和发展学生使用这种交际工具的能力。交际策略是提高学生英语口语交际能力较快捷的方式,是英语学习者为了克服由于原有水平较低而造成的交流障碍而采用的手段。拟以我校2008级非英语专业一年级学生为研究对象,分析英语听说口语交际能力的交际策略使用、存在的问题、研究方法和改进措施     

Present Research on the Flipped Classroom and Potential Tools for the EFL Classroom

ABSTRACT

The flipped classroom can support the implementation of a communicative, student-centered learning environment in the English as a foreign language classroom. Unfortunately, there is little research which supports the incorporation of flipped learning in the English as a foreign language classroom. Numerous studies have focused on flipped learning and other subject areas, but more research needs to be done on the English as a foreign language classroom. With this in mind, there are many effective tools available to enable teachers to create a communicative, English as a foreign language learning environment. Even though technology is constantly changing, the tools presented here will give teachers an idea of how to incorporate and use technology when developing an active, communicative learning environment.     

The Unfamiliar and the Indeterminate: Language,Identity and Social Integration in the School Experience of Newly-Arrived Migrant Children in England

Research into the language socialisation of migrant-background children in new educational contexts has pointed to a complex relationship between language, identity, and social integration. This article helps us to further define this relationship in two main ways. Firstly, through focusing on the specific (and largely neglected) context of the experiences of newly-arrived migrant school children from disadvantaged backgrounds and with little initial command of English, in the East of England, which has in recent years seen a steep rise in the population of children from Eastern Europe in particular. Secondly, through inductive analysis of the pupils’ accounts of their experience in the new environment, the article identifies four key themes which shed light on the overlap between language, identity, and social integration in this context: perceptions of exclusion in the new language environment, the social boundaries of language use, L1 exchange as communicative capital, and languages and identity simulation.     

ICT/media uses and college entry for students from diverse backgrounds

This study examined the effects of two types of Information communication technology and media (ICT/media) use on college access using ICT/media to obtain college information as a mediator paying focused attention to English language learners. The study analyzed the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS) from the US Department of Education, employing a survival analysis with structural equation modeling components. The results demonstrated that the frequent use of a computer for independent learning had significantly positive direct, indirect, and total effects on college entry for both English language learners and native English-speaking students. However, the digital gameplay had significantly negative effects. The study discusses the implications of using ICT/media.