An action research study designed to implement student negotiation to improve speaking classroom practice in Turkey

This paper reports the second stage of an action research study designed to improve the effectiveness of speaking classes through negotiating the lesson contents with students. The data were collected through interviews, questionnaires and observations as a way of eliciting students’ views. The research, conducted in an English language teaching department at a university in Turkey, comprised eight weekly-based interventions that involved planning, action, observation, and reflection, in which students were given a voice and classroom activities were designed accordingly. Student negotiation allowed for the identification of both structural and affective factors influencing the quality of speaking classes. The teacher’s roles in activities, the number of students in group work activities, the level of control in speaking activities, and the role of input were found to be issues worth considering in designing speaking classes. Issues such as finding the activity ‘interesting’ and ‘useful’, ‘feeling comfortable’ and ‘being competitive’ also influenced the effectiveness of activities. Involving students in this action research study promoted positive attitudes towards classes since students reported feeling valued and important.     

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。     

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.     

Evaluation of a pedagogical model for student engagement in learning activities

Current research suggests that student engagement with academic schoolwork in secondary school classrooms is often insufficient. This issue is of relevance because student engagement is a prerequisite for acquiring knowledge and skills and is also a mediator of achievement and important life outcomes. In response to this, the present study evaluates a pedagogical model for stimulating student engagement in learning activities in secondary school contexts through an action research approach. This model is composed of five facilitators of engagement that, when considered in both the design and implementation of learning activities, can potentially contribute to stimulating behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement in such activities. Nineteen Year 9 students of Spanish from a state school in England, their teacher and the researcher participated in two long-term, learning activities designed using the proposed pedagogical model. Data were collected over two school terms through qualitative student self-reports, interviews with students and their teacher and the researcher’s journal. Thematic analyses were used to examine the effects of the learning activities on student behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement. The results seem to confirm that the application of the proposed pedagogical model could help promote thorough student engagement in learning activities. Findings also suggest that failing to support the model’s facilitators of engagement may have detrimental effects on overall student engagement in learning activities. The study contributes to the improvement of student engagement with academic schoolwork internationally by proposing an assessed pedagogical solution that could be implemented by secondary school teachers with relative ease.     

高职英语听说教学的探析

本文主要针对高职学生学习英语听说的弊端进行分析,对高职英语听说教学进行探讨.从夯实英语基础、设计英语听说情境、采用灵活多样的教学方法和教学手段等几方面入手,强调以学生为学习的主体,提高学习积极性,提升英语听说能力.     

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。     

浅谈大学英语课堂教学中协商的必要性

章从以学习为中心的自主学习这个视角，介绍协商这个新的外语教学理念及其思想渊源。并且从教育心理学、以学习为中心的课程设置以及高校英语教学的现状等方面，探讨了协商在大学英语教学中的必要性。指出协商必将被引入到大学英语教学中，并成为其重要的一个组成部分。     

Transformational instructor-leadership and academic performance: a moderated mediation model of student engagement and structural distance

Abstract

Researchers are becoming increasingly interested in the use of transformational leadership theory in higher education teaching (often referred to as transformational instructor-leadership). Much of this body of research investigates a direct association between transformational instructor-leadership and student outcomes. In the present study, we take a step further by investigating (a) student engagement as a mechanism in the relationship between transformational instructor-leadership and students’ academic performance and (b) structural distance as a moderator of the relationship between transformational instructor-leadership and student engagement. Using a sample of 183 students across the UK, the findings supported student engagement as a full mediator, but did not support structural distance as a moderator. This study contributes to theory by (a) showing a key underlying process through which transformational instructor-leadership is related to students’ academic performance and (b) empirically examining all three dimensions of student engagement. Limitations, suggestions for future research and practical implications are discussed.     

Promoting student agentic engagement through curriculum: exploring the Negotiated Integrated Curriculum initiative

Building on the various works of theorists pertaining to curriculum negotiation, the Negotiated Integrated Curriculum (NIC) initiative detailed in this article attempts to redress the imbalance within curricular decision-making whereby student voice and learner agency is largely absent. The NIC initiative enquires into students’ concerns about life and constructs a curriculum to address these concerns as a mechanism that can be shaped to make learning more meaningful through agentic engagement. Based on a longitudinal study of two primary schools, this small scale, exploratory research details the influence of this process on learners and educators and the challenges that were faced during its implementation. The findings of this study examine two main issues: the first is how student voice, particularly around the decision-making of pedagogical activities, can be practically implemented to enhance the perceived relevance of a curriculum; and secondly the process of negotiation between teachers and students to achieve this. Recommendations for the promotion of learner agency and further research are discussed in the context of Irish curriculum reform.     

The effectiveness of the student response system (SRS) in English grammar learning in a flipped English as a foreign language (EFL) class

ABSTRACT

Flipped classes are well-known for reversing the typical in-class lecture and out-of-class homework structure by instructing students to learn by themselves from on-line learning materials and inviting them to ask questions based on their individual difficulties in class. Many attempts at integrating this teaching method into English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms have proven to be beneficial to students’ learning achievement and motivation. However, there is little research on how to organize interactive, engaging and effective in-class activities for an EFL flipped classroom. In this study, a student response system (SRS) is proposed to support teachers in organizing in-class activities in a flipped class. To investigate the effectiveness of this approach, a quasi-experiment was conducted in an EFL classroom in an engineering school. The experimental group used the SRS to do in-class activities while the control group followed the conventional method. The results showed that the use of the SRS increased students’ learning motivation and self-efficacy in learning English grammar and improved their participation and engagement in the in-class activities of the flipped learning process. Furthermore, the questionnaire results showed that students accepted the SRS as an instructional method in an EFL flipped class. However, the use of the SRS was not effective in improving students’ grammar learning achievement.     

Three constructs of institutional identity among international doctoral students in Australia

Postmodern institutional interactions in Australian universities, among students and staff, entail negotiation of identity, legitimacy, and ‘social capital’. For many international students, this happens in an additional language and culture, in English. The case study presented here profiles four international non-English speaking background Ph.D. students in an Australian university, observes their out-of classroom departmental interactions, and uses a sociocultural perspective of second language in use to map their approaches to the negotiation of institutional identity. Two focus group interviews with the participants illustrated how, despite similarities among the participants in the beginning as newcomers to a Western university, students chose different pathways for integration, engagement in institutional interactions, and identity construction. The discussions highlight the role of agency and intentionality in participation and learning through interaction which leads to a critique of the ‘international student' as a label that underplays student agency.     

基于网络多媒体平台的独立学院大学英语听说课程新教学模式探究

本文分析了网络多媒体技术以及该技术在高职英语听说教学活动的优势,同时通过网络多媒体技术在英语听说教学活动中的实际应用得出,该技术能模拟真实的交流语境,充分发挥学生的自主学习能力,为学生提供个性化学习方式,并改变英语学习思维模式,对英语听说教学活动产生了很好的效果,因此,网络多媒体技术可作为一种新的英语教学模式。     

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。     

从量化的视角分析智能语音系统在英语教学中的应用

智能语音系统因其具有发音标准、资源丰富、操作便捷等特点,已逐步应用于英语课堂教学中。文章通过对智能语音系统支持下的课堂教学活动建构编码表,采用录像研究方法,对应用智能语音系统进行授课的英语课堂教学进行了深度剖析。研究结果表明智能语音系统在创设情境、教师讲授、巩固练习等教学活动中,能够提高学生在标准的英语环境中参与学习的积极性,激发学生听说的兴趣,培养学生学习英语的自信心。同时在师生互动、学生参与等方面也发挥了积极和重要的作用。     

Flipping the laboratory: improving student engagement and learning outcomes in second year science courses

The flipped classroom pedagogy was implemented in two core undergraduate science courses; Animal and Plant Biochemistry II (APB) and Microbiology and Invertebrate Biology II (MIB) to encourage students to prepare for laboratory classes. Students often attend class without little understanding or appreciation of what they are going to learn in the laboratory, the types of techniques they are going to use or the safety precautions required. This is not only hazardous for students but also requires detailed explanations from teaching staff at the start of class, overloading students with information. This disconnection between theory and practice was overcome by ‘flipping the laboratory’ to integrate online, interactive pre-laboratory activities into the curriculum. The aims of this study were to: (1) evaluate student engagement with pre-laboratory content; (2) investigate student performance and learning outcomes; (3) review failure rates following implementation of pre-laboratory activities. Students agreed that the pre-laboratory activities bridged the gap between theory and practice (65%) and enhanced their engagement with course material (79%). The integration of pre-laboratory activities significantly increased student learning outcomes immediately after implementation into the curriculum, despite a 26.8% increase in enrolments from 2011 to 2017. Failure rates significantly decreased in both APB and MIB over three consecutive years.     

Social learning spaces and student engagement

Notable gains have been made in understanding the factors that influence the student experience in higher education, particularly in the area of student engagement. While tremendous effort has been focused on identifying educationally beneficial activities for students, we must also consider where these activities are occurring. In recent years there have been technological advances that have paved the way for blended learning environments, however, physical learning environments continue to dominate the functionality of many universities. The development of purpose‐built informal social learning spaces as a strategy to enhance the student experience is becoming more prevalent, although empirical research in this area is lacking. This study explores the role of social learning spaces on the student experience using the student engagement framework within a qualitative research design. Informal interviews with 103 students were conducted within a social learning space. Findings reveal that social learning spaces can contribute to enhanced student engagement by fostering active learning, social interaction and belonging amongst tertiary students. The study also suggests that design is a contributing factor to students' perceptions of social learning spaces.     

语际语用学理论对高职高专英语口语教学的启迪

高职高专教育以培养高等技术应用性专门人才为根本任务,而其英语口语教学则以培养学生准确、流刹的口头表达能力和交际能力为目标,是培养学生英语应用能力的重要内容。本文从语际语用学理论出发,论述了高职高专英语口语教学的方法,既注重学生英语口语的表达,也注重语言的理解、应用和整个过程的发展。     

The ideology of student engagement research

In a series of recent papers, Nick Zepke has criticised those researching student engagement in higher education for uncritically supporting neoliberalism. The current highly politicised nature of higher education means that clarity about the political implications of engagement research is crucial. This conceptual paper argues that in focusing on literature on students’ engagement in learning, Zepke overlooks another substantial body of engagement literature, on students’ participation in decisions about learning and teaching. By exploring the political alignment of two of the key models used to conceptualise students’ engagement in decision-making, the paper argues that a central element of the research into student engagement is in fact directly opposed to neoliberal approaches to higher education. Student engagement has been deployed both for and against neoliberalism. Zepke has argued that the research on engagement sides with neoliberalism; I show that the research that focuses on student engagement in decision-making supports the opposition.     

基于学习策略研究开展“以学生为中心”的英语词汇教学

词汇在英语学习和教学中非常重要,它是学习英语的基础,但许多学生反映词汇难记,今天背明天忘,导致对英语缺乏信心。在词汇教学课堂上,大多数教师以自身为主向学生灌输词汇知识,没有调动学生自身的主动性和积极性,导致词汇教学的沉闷和低效率。笔者通过探索学习策略,根据研究者对学生学习策略的调查研究及对学生词汇学习的观察,发现学生在词汇学习上存在的问题,并在此基础上提出教师应调整学生学习策略,开展以学生为中心的词汇教学,从而减少词汇教学的盲目性,提高学生学习词汇的积极性和效率,进一步提高学生的英语成绩。