We have been living with this pain: enquiry-based language learning in Iranian higher education

This article explores an understanding of learning as authentic enquiry and language as a social practice of meaning construction as the theoretical perspectives underlying an educational initiation beyond mainstream tertiary language education. With a general ethnographic approach and relying on multiple data sources, we investigate critical practices of teaching medical English in an Iranian university and illustrate a contextualized instance of enquiry-based language learning that embodies enquiry and discovery in two senses: students’ research and learning about the content for oneself, and moving away from spoon-feeding views of academic language education to experience language in real social contexts. On this basis, we argue for stepping beyond predetermined content-based approaches to university language teaching and call for living the language that is being learned, which involves enquiring, experiencing, discovering, challenging, and owning it.     

任务型语言教学下的ESP课程自主学习

本文从任务型语言教学理论入手,分析TBLT对于促进学习者自主学习的优势,提出在中国的ESP教学中运用任务来实现对学习者自主学习能力的培养与提高,并对可能存在的问题进行了探讨。     

Recognition of prior learning: the accelerated rate of change in Australian universities

The recognition of prior learning (RPL) is a cornerstone of the lifelong learning policies of most developed nations. Yet the scholarly view in Australia has been that, unlike other post‐compulsory education sectors, universities have erected barriers to limit the development of RPL. This paper re‐examines the current policy environment and finds evidence that universities are now more active in developing and promoting RPL, as evidenced by the rich detail of information contained in recent policies, as well as the accessibility of this information on the web. Recognition of prior learning policies are examined in detail to shed light further on the state of play of RPL in the Australian higher education sector.     

Re-integrating academic development and academic language and learning: a call to reason

This paper argues for the re-integration of academic development (AD) and a academic language and learning (ALL) practitioners in Australian higher education. This argument is made as universities aim to develop internationally recognised, inter-disciplinary and standards-based curricula against the backdrop of international comparative education (e.g., Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), the Australian Qualifications Framework and a quality emphasis on English language standards (e.g., Tertiary Education Quality and Assessment Agency). Drawing on Rowland's argument that professional life in the academy has become fragmented across five fault lines ([2002]. Overcoming fragmentation in professional life: The challenge for academic development. Higher Education Quarterly, 56(1), 52–64), I propose a sixth: the pedagogical fault line between language and learning which I argue is institutionally manifest in the historical bifurcation of AD and ALL practitioners in the academy. This paper traces the historical separation of these two fields of practice in Australian higher education in order to disturb the present distinction and show how it is more an accident of history than the result of sound pedagogical decision-making. The paper argues that in the current educational context, it is timely to consider a re-integration of these two aspects of the academic field. It is suggested that such a move will create research and teaching connections that develop synergies in educational development that are able to work with language and learning simultaneously.     

Policies of adult education in Portugal and France: the European Agenda of validation of non-formal and informal learning

This article analyses the influence of the European Union’s educational policies on the implementation of devices for the recognition and the validation of informal and non-formal learning within public policies on education and training for adults in European Union Member States. Portugal and France are taken as examples. The European Union’s statements have influenced the development of devices for recognizing adult competences, regardless of the social, cultural and economic specificities of each country. However, sociocultural and sociopolitical characteristics influence the conditions under which recognition devices and the methods of their experimentation and generalization emerge, and are the vector of conflicts of interests between macro- and micro-sociological levels. There is at the same time a ‘culture of convergence’ impelled by the European Commission, and a process of adaptation in matters of cultural and territorialised practices, which aim to avoid marginalization. Data are drawn from official documents and interviews with people in charge of training institutions.     

Compulsory language studies for university degrees: the challenge of decontextualization in language learning

The present paper discusses the decontextualization of learning in a case of compulsory Swedish language studies for university degrees. In this case learning Swedish is mostly disconnected, not only from the everyday lives of the students in a way typical of formal learning in general, but also from the study activities and contexts that students engage in for their major subject. Learning has been transferred to a specific context, the University Language Centre Swedish courses, where the main purpose is to learn Swedish for possible future needs. The study explored the correspondence between Finnish speaking students' own learning goals and the formal objectives set for these compulsory studies (i.e. learning Swedish for educational and occupational purposes). The sample consisted of 10 student groups from different subject majors. The results suggest that all students do not necessarily share the prescribed formal objectives. First of all, students expressed goals which contradicted the formal objectives, namely learning only discrete words or grammar rules. In addition, only four of the 10 groups mentioned learning goals related to their present studies (educational domain) and only five groups discussed learning goals from the point of view of their future professions (occupational domain). The paper discusses ways to overcome the problems of decontextualization in compulsory language studies for university degrees.     

Teaching the book and educating the person: challenges for university English language teachers in China

Recent accounts of college-level English language teaching in China describe environments that, although constrained by the College English Test (CET), are undergoing changes in a number of curriculum areas, including recognition of the need to incorporate communicative approaches and the assessment of practical language abilities. In such times, tensions between the needs and desires of society, teaching institutions, teachers and students are inevitable. In this article, we report on a study involving a group of university English teachers from across China who attended a professional development programme in Beijing in the summer of 2006. We explored the experiences of 83 teachers in their working environments, using four one-page reflective frames, which we distributed at regular intervals during the 2-week programme. Teachers described tensions between the need to achieve socially-oriented and subject-centred goals, such as passing examinations and developing communicative competence (“teaching the book”), and their desire to bring about enduring personal changes in students' awareness of themselves as learners and their approaches to learning (“educating the person”). Like colleagues in other countries and contexts, they faced ongoing challenges in trying to harmonize students' needs, curriculum obligations, and their own theories of best practice.     

Comparing student learning experiences of in-text commentary and rubric-articulated feedback: strategies for formative assessment

This study compares students’ experiences of two types of criteria-based assessment: in-text commentary and rubric-articulated feedback, in an assessment design combining the two feedback channels. The main aim is to use students’ responses to shed light on how feedback strategies for formative assessment can be optimised. Following action research methodology, the study discusses key categories of student responses from three sources: reflective texts, a questionnaire, and interviews. Results show that different functions were attributed to the two feedback channels: in-text commentary to lower-order concerns related to language proficiency, and rubric-articulated feedback to higher-order concerns related to an overview of writing achievement. We argue that the different functions have the potential of creating a sufficiently balanced assessment design with the possibility of serving both short-term and continuous learning goals. On the other hand, some students found it difficult to navigate between the two feedback channels. The article therefore ends with a ‘lessons learned’ section where we list possible ways in which the current assessment design can be improved for optimal use of the synergy effects emanating from a combination of in-text commentary and rubric-articulated feedback for formative purposes.     

Role of recognition of prior learning for emerging economies: learning from a four sector pilot project in India

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) has increasingly been recognised as a useful way to certify experience and competencies gained in the workplace informally. Particularly pertinent is RPL in the context of international migration or in economies, where system reforms seek to overcome challenges related to access to formal training and qualifications. India has the goal to skill 300 million of its growing workforce and provide them access at various levels to certification and further learning opportunities. As a part of the overall system reforms, the Government of India, jointly with the ILO, pilot tested RPL in four sectors in collaboration with the industry and built the foundation for wider replication for another 26 growth sectors by undertaking a tracer study and evaluation. This paper can empirically establish that RPL has had a positive effect on income opportunities, occupational safety, social status and openness to further learning. The paper further discusses the challenges encountered during the implementation of the RPL projects before concluding with recommendations, highlighting the aspects required for quality RPL in an emerging economy. It closes by emphasising the importance of conducting tracer studies to determine impact and the need to provide complementary training during the RPL process.     

Assessment and recognition of non-formal and informal learning: a Lithuanian case of novice consultants’ experience

This article reports the results of the investigation into institutional support provided to adults by 12 novice consultants on assessment and recognition of their non-formal and informal learning in four institutions of higher education (HEIs) in Lithuania. Using the general systems perspective and perception theory, novice consultants’ perceptions of their experience of guiding and supporting adults was examined with the main aim to provide a better understanding of the challenges that they encountered and the benefits they gained so that to enhance the process. The method of content analysis was employed to investigate novice consultants’ perceptions. The results of their feedback responses revealed four major challenges, including the novelty of the procedure, complexity of the process of portfolio development, difficulty to raise adults’ awareness of the value of the procedure and difficulty to provide moral support to adults, which caused gaps in consultants’ performance. The established benefits included a better understanding of the process, benefits for their professional activity and personal development, improved competence to consult and an impact on the attitude towards others and self. The implications of the findings for fostering consultants’ training to enhance the process of institutional support provided to adults are discussed.     

Podcasting in a virtual English for academic purposes course: learner motivation

In this study we explored the effect of podcasting on the motivation of the students in an online English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course at the university level (N?=?179). By using a mixed-method approach, we analyzed the data collected on the learners' impressions about using podcasts as a learning tool. The particular aim of this study was to help learners do research in English in their specific academic field. In their EAP course the learners are expected to study various types of English texts, listen to media and give lectures on their academic findings. The findings of this study revealed that males found podcasting significantly more relevant and attractive than females. Females, on the other hand, were significantly more satisfied with using podcasts in their EAP class. Further, results showed that learners who had no prior experience of podcasts for academic purposes outperformed the learners with medium experience. For further qualitative investigation, several sources were used for data collection including interviews with the learners, the course forums, emails, the class groupblog, podcasts and open-ended questions. Overall podcasting proved highly effective in motivating the students to learn in the online environment.     

Toward a society where everyone is always studying: access at an elite Chilean research university

After the 1973 coup, Chile swung from a centralized state to a dictatorial decentralized one where education turned from a public to a private good. Since the 1990 restoration of democracy, market-based trends have endured, involving the fomentation of a knowledge society, one where everyone is always studying. The present study, drawn from an action research project to develop English for academic purposes at a top-ranked Chilean university, considers how paradigmatically functionalist research can lead to critical openings for research at an elite Global South university marshalled into public service to promote innovation. As the university in the study fosters innovation to propel Chile from a raw materials to a knowledge-based economy, two points aid our entrée into elite site investigation: the university’s internationalization policy and its focus on graduate students’ getting their work in high-impact journals and conferences. Accessibility remains a challenge for garnering substantive qualitative data at an elite Chilean university, though we suggest that a policy movement toward a knowledge society yields possibilities for researchers able to carry out methodologies with both functionalist and critical aims.     

基于AWL的大学学术英语词汇与阅读教学

以Coxhead学术英语词汇表(AWL)为基础,探讨基于语料库方法的词汇分类方法,以及学术英语词汇表与学术阅读能力之间的关系。结合目前大学英语课程设置和教学的实际情况,提出开设大学学术英语系列课程,指导大学生通过英语学习促进其专业能力的发展。作为学术英语课程的先行课程,大学学术英语阅读课程将学术英语词汇作为积极词汇列入教学重点,并结合学术词汇、句法、语篇多个层面进行教学内容设计。     

Using learning principles as a theoretical framework for instructional consultations

Learning theory provides a powerful framework for analyzing instructional consultations and increasing their effectiveness. In this paper, the authors review the main tenets of learning theory, apply them to consultation scenarios, and present a complex case study to show how they can guide analysis and problem solving around challenging consultations.     

New practices in doing academic development: Twitter as an informal learning space

Using social media platforms to build informal learning processes and social networks is significant in academic development practices within higher education. We present three vignettes illustrating academic practices occurring on Twitter to show that using social media is beneficial for building networks of academics, locally and globally, enhancing information flows, inspiring thinking, and motivating academic practice. Using a reflective and diffractive methodology, we illuminate how different flows of forces and relations are enacted. We argue it is in this fluidity of informal learning that perspectives are contested and shaped, and that academic developers can benefit by encompassing such practices.     

OECD国家终身学习政策与实践分析

本文阐述了OECD及OECD国家的终身学习理念，介绍了20世纪90年代以来OECD国家终身学习发展现状和相应的终身学习政策，并对各自的终身学习政策与实践进行了评价。     

试析我国终身教育制度创新的路径

自党的十六大以来,我国政府将构建终身教育体系、搭建人才成长立交桥纳入国家规划,出台了一系列政策文件。要破解终身教育理念高高在上、现实中却难以落地的问题,就必须要抓住制度与机制创新,以之为抓手来引领各方面改革。论文首先概述了我国终身教育发展的宏观政策背景,特别是当前畅通终身学习通道、构建人才立交桥的重要性;接着讨论了校内管理制度体系中四个方面的机制创新;然后讨论了校外非正规与非正式学习成果认证制度建设问题。最后结合实践探索中的一些问题讨论做了小结。     

Computer science students’ use of the internet for academic purposes: difficulties and learning processes

ABSTRACT

Higher-education students now have more alternatives for searching for information than previous generations had. The Internet is a vast ocean of information sources, albeit with diverse reliability and quality. In Web 2.0 platforms, any participant can be a content creator. This reality is challenging for both the instructors and the students. We conducted interviews with 12 Computer Science students and 8 instructors from two universities to (a) identify the difficulties students encounter, if at all, (b) identify the learning processes that students undergo, if at all, when using the Internet for their CS studies, in particular, programming tasks; and (c) elicit instructors’ perceptions of students’ use of the Internet. Both students and instructors agreed that although using the Internet is not trivial, direct teaching of this skill is unnecessary. Instructors differed in their attitudes towards students’ use of the internet. We found that in the first year the students’ use of the Internet and their difficulties are similar to reports in the empirical literature, and echo the instructors’ concerns. However, after extensive experience, students undergo a learning process, and their ability to navigate the myriad sources, as well as to search, manage, and effectively evaluate Internet sources improves. Students mentioned their improved abilities to code as a means to effectively evaluate information sources.     

Intergenerational learning at a nature center: families using prior experiences and participation frameworks to understand raptors

Using a sociocultural framework to approach intergenerational learning, this inquiry examines learning processes used by families during visits to one nature center. Data were collected from videotaped observations of families participating in an environmental education program and a follow-up task to draw the habitat of raptors. Based on a thematic analysis, researchers developed two themes about the learning processes at play in the nature center, related to the use of prior knowledge. First, families’ prior knowledge used at the nature center came from informal education activities: (a) observation in the outdoors and spaces designed to represent an aspect of nature, (b) media (including books and Internet), and (c) experiences at informal education institutions. Second, when sharing prior knowledge, participation frameworks were created through the conversation that leveled the hierarchy between parent and child allowing for negotiation and collaborative idea formation. In the nature center, families valued social harmony by positioning their children as capable contributors of environmental knowledge. Suggestions to researchers taking a sociocultural approach are given, including the potential of ‘participation frameworks’ as an analytical tool to study learning interactions and as a potential tool for environmental educators to encourage families to create roles and structures for successful learning outcomes in nature centers.     

Microcultures and informal learning: a heuristic guiding analysis of conditions for informal learning in local higher education workplaces

This article contributes to knowledge about learning in workgroups, so called microcultures in higher education. It argues that socially constructed and institutionalised traditions, recurrent practices, and tacit assumptions in the various microcultures influence academic teachers towards certain behaviour. In line with this perspective, we present a heuristic with the potential to differentiate various types of microcultures: the commons, the market, the club, and the square. The heuristic is based on a socio-cultural perspective and research on collective action. Its purpose is to assist academic developers to fine-tune their approaches while engaging with colleagues, but also to aid further inquiry into how institutionalised norms and traditions influence academic teaching and student learning.