An action research study into the role of student negotiation in enhancing perceived student engagement during English speaking classes at university level in Turkey

A major issue in English language teaching in Turkey and other monolingual countries is the teaching of spoken English. This article reports the initial and final stages of an action research study which used student negotiation to enhance student engagement in speaking classes. The research was conducted in the English Language Teaching Department of a university in Turkey and involved the provision of student-negotiated speaking classes for one term during which qualitative and quantitative data collected from students through questionnaires on a weekly basis informed the design of the speaking activities. The results of content analysis and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests showed that student negotiation promoted student engagement through providing speaking classes appropriate to students’ needs and interests, which resulted in more positive perceived speaking ability and greater willingness to communicate. This study demonstrates the significance of student negotiation in speaking classes and has implications for enhancing student engagement in speaking classroom activities.     

The application of podcasting as an instructional tool to improve Turkish EFL learners’ speaking anxiety

The present study was designed to investigate: (a) the effect of podcasts in EFL students’ oral performance, (b) the effect of podcasts in EFL students’ speaking anxiety, (c) the relationship between speaking anxiety and oral performance, and (d) EFL students’ perceptions of using podcasts. This study was conducted in a high school in Istanbul, Turkey. The students in two ninth-grade classes in the subject school were given the anxiety questionnaire, consisting of 24 items related to general foreign language class anxiety and in-class activities. A total of 30 students with the highest anxiety levels were chosen among these students. The oral performances of these students were evaluated through the Test of Spoken English and the students were also interviewed about their speaking anxiety and their oral performances. For 12 weeks, the control group followed the course book and did the speaking activities in it, while the experimental group created podcasts in addition to those activities. At the end of 12 weeks, the participants were given the anxiety post-test, the post-interview, and the oral performance post-test. The perceptions of the students in the experimental group of podcasts were examined through three interviews during the study. The results of the study showed that students who used podcasts had higher oral performance and lower speaking anxiety levels than the students who didn’t use podcast; and there was a negative relationship between the participants’ oral performances and speaking. The analysis of the interviews on podcasts revealed that the students believed podcasts helped them feel not or less anxious, and more confident; improve their oral performances and pronunciation; and expand their vocabulary.     

Discomfort as a means of pre-service teachers’ professional development – an action research as part of the ‘Research Literacy’ course

This paper focus on defining a research question while conducting action research among third-year students attending a course on Research Literacy at a teacher education college. This paper discusses the process of preparing for and conducting action research among third-year students attending a course on Research Literacy at a teacher education college. The students were asked to conduct an action research on their classroom activities. The aim of this article is to present the process and pinpointing the discomfort of the students in formulating a research question suited to action research thanks to two prerequisite conditions: the ‘safe space’ and the ‘tender spot’. The research findings illustrate that the students had difficulty defining their ‘tender spot’. It was necessary to create a ‘safe space’. Furthermore, the findings show that the ‘tender spot’ issues were associated with disciplinary content far more than with generic lesson management or classroom management issues. The approach discussed here is leading to positive change and it may be that this professional development tool can facilitate the induction of novice teachers everywhere.     

聋校语文教学知识可视化途径研究

聋生由于存在听觉障碍,视觉补偿优势非常明显,因此在聋校语文课堂重视知识可视化教学显得尤为重要。教师教学中让聋生在游戏、体态、绘画等情境中以玩、看、画等形式进行识字,极大地提升了聋生对于所学字词的接受能力;以看图说、演、想、写等形式进行说写训练,有效的提高了聋生的语言表达能力;让聋生通过想象阅读,感受美、体悟情,较好地培养了聋生的阅读和想象力。     

浅析大学英语视听说课堂教学之模式——看英文电影，提高英语听说能力

英语学习最佳途径就是使学生置身于英语的情景中,语言环境的缺乏,严重影响语言输入量的摄取。并制约着英语学习活动和效果。最好的方法之一就是让学生欣赏英文原声电影。电影语言内容丰富、会话真实鲜活,使学生有身临其境的感觉,充分调动了学生训练英语听说的积极性。学生在欣赏电影画面时,同步感受语言材料,进而通过问答、讨论、复述、表演等一系列训练活动,提高英语听说水平。该文从理论和实践的角度出发．浅析如何通过欣赏英文电影有效地进行听说课程教学。     

If first-year students are afraid of public speaking assessments what can teachers do to alleviate such anxiety?

Public speaking and oral assessments are common in higher education, and they can be a major cause of anxiety and stress for students. This study was designed to measure the student experience of public speaking assessment tasks in a mandatory first-year course at a regional Australian university. The research conducted was an instrumental case study, with a student-centred focus. Surveys were designed to elicit student perceptions of their emotions and experience before and after engaging in public speaking skill development exercises and a public assessment task. After undertaking public speaking desensitisation and assessment, students experienced increased satisfaction and decreased fear, indecision and confusion. However, students’ perceptions of their confidence to control nerves, maintain eye contact, use gestures and comfortably speak in front of 25 people reduced – an unexpected outcome of the research. The reasons for this remain unclear, which provides a window for further research. Public speaking assessment tasks should be aligned with learning activities, and opportunities to minimise the impact of barriers to students engaging in the learning activities or tasks should be incorporated into curriculum.     

The effect of hands-on ‘energy-saving house’ learning activities on elementary school students’ knowledge,attitudes, and behavior regarding energy saving and carbon-emissions reduction

Energy saving and carbon-emissions reduction (ESCER) are widely regarded as important issues for progress towards ensuring sustainable forms of economic development. This Taiwanese study focuses on the effects of a series of educational activities about ESCER on students’ knowledge, attitudes and behavior. Sixty fifth-grade students from two elementary school classes were assigned to an experimental group, and 59 from two others to the control. Covariance and qualitative data analysis were conducted after 14 lessons on the topic in both ‘treatments.’ The following key findings emerged. First, hands-on ‘energy-saving house’ learning activities seemed to have positive effects on students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behavior toward ESCER, even as the design of authentic learning activities was recognized as not being as closely aligned to the students’ daily lives as they could have been for achieving behavior-related outcomes. Second, students demonstrated slight gains in conceptual knowledge and procedural knowledge via the hands-on activities, but some ESCER misconceptions persisted. We conclude that students’ learning processes, prior learning and authentic contexts for ESCER-related work should not be ignored in the attempt to link knowledge to action in teaching and learning activities.     

以行动研究探索高职高专英语教学设计的策略

教学策略行动研究是一种通过教学科研来实现教师自身教学实践活动升华的形式,它促进教师加强对自己的教学目标、教学过程和教学效果的关注和重视,对自己的教学实践不断提出质疑、将反思的意识和探究活动纳入教学活动过程,并创造性地解决教学活动中存在的问题,追求教学不断完善的实践过程。文章遵循建构主义倡导的"以学生为中心,教师为指导"的教学理念,以项目为依托根据不同的教学内容和学生的英语水平的差异采取相应的教学模式,并在教学中不断研究、反思,以行动导向探究学生英语应用能力(听、说、读、写和译)中所存在的问题,并制定出相应的教学设计策略以达到提高学生英语应用能力的教学目标。     

Professional competences to teach English at primary schools in Turkey: a Delphi study

This research aimed to uncover the teacher competences that are necessary to provide age-appropriate English language teaching to primary school students in Turkey. The Delphi technique was implemented to propose a list of competences created through consensus among a panel of experts that consisted of 15 teachers and 16 teacher educators. The data were collected by administering three questionnaires in three rounds. Central tendency and consensus were measured through median and inter-quartile range, respectively. The findings led to a list of 29 teacher competences which were categorised into five groups: ‘theoretical and practical knowledge’, ‘knowing the young learner’, ‘planning and organising teaching’, ‘managing teaching’, and ‘competence in English’. Implications were made for improving the effectiveness of English language teaching to young learners: these included the design of pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes to equip teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge to teach English to young learners.     

Pre‐twentieth century literature in the Year 9 classroom: Student responses to different teaching approaches

This article arises from an action research investigation that sought to understand the ways in which different approaches to teaching pre‐twentieth century literature in Year 9 English lessons might influence students’ experiences of texts. It examines the proposition that some students need to have a secure understanding of the text before they can benefit from more creative approaches which require them to undertake independent and personal responses. Although creative methods of teaching are often posited as being superior to more teacher‐led approaches, student responses suggest that requiring them to participate in creative activities as a means of exploring an unfamiliar text without first ensuring they have a solid understanding of the overarching narrative and a good grasp of unknown language can lead to resistance and disengagement. In this case study, some students benefited from and appreciated a structured approach that included more ‘traditional’ methods of teaching pre‐twentieth century literature, which they said helped them to learn more effectively.     

Studying English with Thai and native‐speaking teachers

This research examined how students in foundation English classes perceive their Thai and native‐speaking teachers. The researchers surveyed students at five universities and compared a group of 600 students studying with native‐speaking teachers with another group of 600 students studying with Thai teachers in order to investigate three areas: (1) students’ previous background in English‐language learning, (2) students’ general opinions and preferences for studying English with Thai or native‐speaking teachers, and (3) student perceptions of studying with their current English teachers. Overall, most students had similar backgrounds and thought positively about their classroom teachers. However, there were differences in students’ teacher preferences for studying English; students more commonly preferred the type of teacher that was presently teaching them. This suggests that the type of teacher in the classroom does have some effect on students’ preferences and should be considered a factor when analysing research related to native‐speaking and nonnative‐speaking English teachers.     

从视频研究透视课堂教学对学生学习的影响及其路径——基于GTI视频研究上海数据的实证分析

教学的有效性是教育研究的一个核心议题,而相关的课堂教学研究大多基于间接性的课堂数据,使得教师效应长期处于“黑箱”状态.本研究利用OECD发布的全球教学洞察(GTI)视频研究对教师和学生的课堂行为进行的教学视频观测而生成的实证数据,聚焦中国上海的初中数学课堂,探析特定的教师课堂教学实践对其学生的学习兴趣、自我效能和成绩的...     

探索激发研究生自主学习英语的选修课新模式

研究生教育的深入改革要求英语教学与时俱进。在教学中激发学生自主学习的潜能对研究生来说意义尤为重大。用专题讨论会的形式激发学习自主性的教学实践经实践证明是一个深受学生欢迎,效果显著的教学方法。调查结果显示当前学生有强烈的提高口语能力的要求,希望教师能够提供练习机会。在新模式中,教师的作用由教授知识转变为创造氛围,鼓励引导,在学生需要时提供帮助。     

Socialisation for learning at a distance in a 3-D multi-user virtual environment

This paper reports findings of a pilot study that examined the pedagogical potential of Second Life (SL), a popular three‐dimensional multi‐user virtual environment (3‐D MUVE) developed by the Linden Lab. The study is part of a 1‐year research and development project titled ‘Modelling of Secondlife Environments’ ( http://www.le.ac.uk/moose ) funded by the UK Joint Information Systems Committee. The research question addressed in this paper is: how can learning activities that facilitate social presence and foster socialisation among distance learners for collaborative learning be developed in SL, a 3‐D MUVE? The study was carried out at the University of Leicester (UoL) within an undergraduate module on Archaeological Theory, where two tutors and four students took part in four learning activities designed to take place in SL within the UoL Media Zoo island. The learning activities and training in SL were based on Salmon's five‐stage model of online learning. Students’ engagement in SL was studied through interviews, observations and records of chat logs. The data analysis offers four key findings in relation to the nature and pattern of in‐world ‘socialisation’ and its impact on real‐world network building; the pattern of in‐world ‘socialisation’ stage in Salmon's 5‐stage model; perspectives on students’ progress in‐world through the first stage of the model—‘access and motivation’—and perspectives on their entry into, and progress through, the second stage of the model—‘socialisation’—and the role of identity presented through avatars in the process of socialisation. The paper offers implications for research and practice in the light of these findings.     

Teachers’ conceptions of effective teaching and their teaching practices: a mixed-method approach

This study investigated Iranian high school teachers’ conceptions of effective teaching and examined the relationship of those conceptions to their teaching practices. The authors tried to achieve the purpose through questionnaires, observation, and interview. These teachers identified ‘being student-focused’ and ‘being exam-oriented’ as the most important indicators of effectiveness. ‘Encouraging the students’ involvement in learning,’ ‘being exam-oriented,’ and ‘using the novelty of methods’ were identified as the most common teaching practices. A high consistency between the teachers’ conception of effective teaching and their corresponding teaching practices was observed. Interview and observation confirmed the results of the survey. Implications for teacher professional development, teaching standards, and teacher improvement are discussed.     

再论大学英语读写课程教学模式的改革

大学英语听说课程的兴起使教育研究者们不再把读写课堂作为他们的关注焦点,然而读写能力却始终是掌握语言最基本的能力之一。读写课程枯燥、低效的根本原因在于教育者们固守成规,没有让学生成为课堂的主体,没有把语言应用作为学习的目的。改革读写课堂应该让课堂摆脱教材和教师的束缚和管控,让学生充分发挥自主学习的能力,同时进一步开发教师作为学习指导者和帮助者的作用,最终为英语语言的实际应用服务。     

网考背景下的大学生英语听说能力培养模式探索

基于对我国网络环境下的大学英语听说行动研究的总结,该研究力图找出提高大学生听说能力和培养其自主能力的教学模式。在网络听力教学中,元认知知识传授与融入教学内容的元认知策略运用、形成性评估体系的引入,学生为主体的档案袋学习记录的建立,是有效听力教学模式的重要环节。四、六级网考的实施促进英语口语能力培养的研究。英语听说综合能力培养教学模式还未形成,在听说任务的科学组合、口语评价标准的确立、口试的设计实施等方面的行动研究有待深入。     

Creating a safe place: SRE teaching as an act of security and identity formation in government schools in Australia

This study seeks to analyse the components that contribute to Special Religious Education (SRE) classes in government schools in Australia being considered as a ‘safe place’ and the ways in which they facilitate an understanding of the students’ own religious and cultural identity. Our research focuses on one of the small faiths, Judaism, as a case study through observation of the Jewish SRE/SRI classes in the two largest Jewish population centres, Sydney and Melbourne. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 90 participants, and classroom observations were undertaken in both cities. This paper draws on Kymlicka’s concept of the rights of minority groups in a liberal society and discusses the distinction between thin and thick multiculturalism. Our findings show that the Jewish SRE teachers implemented Jackson’s interpretive approach, ensuring that the students’ educational experience is meaningful. As a result, they are able to develop their unique identity capital, which is important in a multifaith society to ensure ‘thick’ multiculturalism. Our argument is that students need to have an understanding of their own particularistic identity, as well as learning to respect other religions.     

Undergraduate students’ actorship in studying an educational sciences course in a Swedish context

The study aimed to investigate how students in an introductory educational sciences course experienced and understood their own actorship during the course, in relation to conditions for learning created by the teachers. The analyses were based on students’ answers to an evaluation questionnaire that produced both quantitative and qualitative data. Those students who experienced opportunities to influence the course activities also stated that they had contributed to the development of the course to a greater extent than did those who experienced no such opportunities. There was no correlation between not feeling informed about the conditions for the course and seeking complementary information. The analysis also generated five different categories based on how the students viewed their own actorship, varying from ‘no actorship since it is not meaningful’ to ‘Real actorship exists’. The results are discussed in relation to methodological reflections and as implications for increasing students’ actorship.