Learner Resistance to English-medium instruction practices: a qualitative case study

The internationalization of higher education has resulted in the growth of English-medium instruction (EMI) practices and research. The existing EMI research has documented learners’ favorable attitudes toward EMI but not necessarily its practices. Learners’ dissatisfaction has not been viewed as a form of resistance. Through the notion of learner resistance that underscores agency in defiance, this study examined the occurrences of learner resistance and the reasons for it by investigating Chinese learners’ experiences in an undergraduate business English-taught program in Taiwan. Multiple sources of data, including interviews, stories, and class observations, were gathered for analysis. The findings showed that most Chinese learners resisted an unhelpful curriculum, pedagogy, and context. Their resistance may be related not simply to academic disciplines but more importantly to a Confucian Heritage Culture of learning. Such findings highlight learner agency in resisting actions and call for further investigation into potential learner resistance in EMI practices.     

English-medium instruction in law and the humanities in higher education: the role of teacher identity

ABSTRACT

Recent research on English-medium instruction (EMI) has examined university instructors’ professional identities in science and social science rather than in the humanities. To fill the gap, this qualitative case study explores the ways in which 13 university instructors in law and the humanities in Taiwan perceived their identity and exercised their agency as teachers. The findings indicated that these instructors had three ideal teacher identities, including educators in global and local contexts, subject matter instructors, and EMI instructors. Each determined teachers’ choice, design, and enactment of EMI practices, as well as their notions of language use and objectives. This study highlights the primacy of preferred teacher identities in the manifestation of teacher agency, identifies enabling and constraining effects of teacher agency, and emphasizes the significant roles of discipline-specific communities and ethnicity and nationality in EMI practices. As such, teacher identities should be taken into consideration in professional development to empower instructors to take actions that maintain their commitments to EMI.     

高职中英文双语教学的论证与思考

提出了开展高职中英文双语教学的语言学理据,对高职中英文双语教学的目的、意义以及开展该教学将面临的问题和对策逐一进行了论述.     

Supporting English-medium pedagogy through an online corpus of science and engineering lectures

As English-medium instruction (EMI) spreads around the world, university teachers and students who are non-native speakers of English (NNS) need to put much effort into the delivery or reception of content. Construction of scientific meaning in the process of learning is already complex when instruction is delivered in the first language of the teachers and students, and may become even more challenging in a second language, because science education depends greatly on language. In order to identify important pedagogical functions that teachers use to deliver content and to present different ways to realise each function, a corpus of lectures related to science and engineering courses was created and analysed. NNS teachers and students in science and engineering involved in EMI higher education can obtain insights for delivering and listening to lectures from the Online Corpus of Academic Lectures (OnCAL).     

双语教学在医学教学中的应用

双语教学非常适合在医学教学中运用。它是通过英语教授医学专业知识,用英语进行课堂学习之间的交流和互动的一种教学模式。教学过程中,与单纯的英语教学相比,用汉语介绍一些相关的背景知识,可以帮助学生理解教学内容,以降低学生在英语理解上的难度。另一方面,在每节课结束时让学生用英语对所学的内容进行总结发言更能激发他们学习的主动性,进而提高他们用英语来表达和交流医学专业知识的兴趣和水平。     

The dynamics of supply and demand chain of English-medium schools in Bangladesh

This research concerns English-medium schools (EMSs), which are emerging as a popular new educational sector in Bangladesh. Because these schools have gained immense popularity, we seek to identify how these schools respond to parental demand and retain their clientele. In addition to English language demand, our findings reveal a symmetrical relationship between the supply of EMSs and parental demand. EMSs’ strategic business planning and market forces, which emphasise deficiencies in the supply chain of Bangla-medium schools (BMSs), have motivated parents to send their children to EMSs. We conclude that although English-medium education is a high-cost educational alternative, its introduction as a new educational initiative is based on its transnational quality and acceptance.     

在数学课上率先实行双语教学的可行性研究

本文分析了在数学课上实行双语教学的必要性和所具有的各种优势条件，提出率先在数学课上实行双语教学不仅是必要的，而且是可行的。     

中国高校双语教学与加拿大高校双语教育比较研究

自21世纪开始双语教学在我国高校蓬勃开展起来,取得了一定成绩,但也存在一些问题。与加拿大双语教育相比较,我国高校双语教学与其在属性和目的方面存在着相似性,都属于强式的添加型双语教育,但在师资力量、学生二语水平、教材及教法方法等方面又存在着差异性。加拿大高校双语教育的成功经验可以为我国高校开展双语教学提供教学启示。     

双语教学与大学英语教学改革

我国高校的双语教学是以提高外语(主要是英语)水平为主的教育,其目标是培养大批能同时使用母语和英语进行交际的复合型专业人才。高校双语教学为打破大学英语教学的严重的应试倾向开辟了道路。要搞好双语教学,必须借鉴国外的成功经验,采用依托式教学模式。教师能用全英语讲授专业课,学生达到中等以上英语水平,是搞好双语教学必备的条件。     

The effectiveness of computer-based EFL instruction among primary school students in Israel

This paper presents an effectiveness study of a computer-based English reading program, the Waterford Early Reading Program (WERP), among first and second grade students in Israel. Students who used the program were compared to a control group only receiving English as a foreign language (EFL) instruction as part of the school curriculum. First grade students who used the software during the study period experienced significantly greater gains than control group students on all four measures of reading ability. Second grade students in the treatment group experienced greater gains than control group students on the nonsense word and phoneme segmentation measures. These results indicate that adaptive English reading software has a place in an EFL education system, especially among young students with complex linguistic backgrounds. Adaptive programs like WERP may produce better EFL results than non-adaptive programs because they are able to adjust based in part on a student’s linguistic proficiency.     

Cross-border flows of students for higher education: Push–pull factors and motivations of mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong and Macau

Within the context of broad literature on cross-border flows for higher education, this article examines the distinctive case of mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong and Macau. These territories are a sort of bridge between the fully domestic and the fully international. Hong Kong and Macau higher education plays a dual role, as a destination in itself for higher education and as a stepping-stone for students’ further international development. Patterns in Hong Kong are slightly different from those in Macau, and the territories may thus be usefully compared with each other as well as taken as a pair for comparison with other parts of the world. The paper begins by noting the literature on the ways that push and pull factors influence student mobility, and then turns to motivations in pursuit of academic and professional growth, economic benefit, individual internationalisation, and enhanced social status. The paper shows that flows of mainland Chinese students are driven by both excess and differentiated demand. Analysis of the distinctive features of this pair of territories adds to wider conceptual understanding of the nature of cross-border flows for higher education.     

The potential of supplemental instruction in engineering education: creating additional peer-guided learning opportunities in difficult compulsory courses for first-year students

Supplemental Instruction (SI) can be an efficient way of improving student success in difficult courses. Here, a study is made on SI attached to difficult first-year engineering courses. The results show that both the percentage of students passing a difficult first-year engineering course, and scores on the course exams are considerably higher for students attending SI, compared to students not attending. The study also shows that a higher percentage of female students attend SI, compared to male students. However, both genders seem to benefit to the same degree as a result of attending SI meetings. Also all students, independent of prior academic ability, benefit from attending SI. A qualitative study suggests that SI meetings provide elements important for understanding course material, which are missing from other scheduled learning opportunities in the courses.     

A case study of reading instruction in a Philippine classroom

In this article, we describe the reading practices in a public and high-achieving 6th grade English classroom in the Philippines. By utilizing a four resources model, we discuss the different roles that students assume in this classroom. Students in this class are mainly code breakers and text users and have limited opportunities to assume the other two roles of the four resources model. This case study provides a different view of reading, specifically a view of a culture of reading wherein higher status is given to oral reading performance rather than comprehension. We describe the way a high-achieving 6th grade Philippine classroom perceives reading. Through this article, we would like to contribute to the research literature on Philippine education and increase our knowledge of reading practices as they are conceived and practised in this particular classroom.     

Teachers’ perceptions of the benefits of online instruction for students with special educational needs

This article discusses the perceptions of ‘virtual’ teachers with regard to the benefits of online education for students with special educational needs. Surveys were distributed to teachers from one educational management company about their experiences of teaching in asynchronous (self‐paced) virtual school classrooms. The survey responses revealed the following findings: online education has made it easier for students with limitations to access learning activities; improvements have been made in student academic performance; students have had success with asynchronous (self‐paced) education; student motivation has increased; and more individualised support has been available. Even though these results focused on positive outcomes, some negative perceptions were also recorded. These included discrepancies related to cyber‐bullying in asynchronous learning programmes, matters related to student accommodations, and problems associated with student use of online classroom resources.     

Influence of instruction in mathematics for low performing students on strategy use

Effects of two subtraction instruction types for low achieving children were compared. The first was based on constructivist ideas. The second was more or less traditional but did include interaction opportunities comparable to those in constructivist classrooms. Sixteen students (eight in each condition) with an average age of 10.5 years were trained during 34 lessons. Results showed no performance differences between the two groups on the subtraction problems instructed. There was a performance advantage for the traditional group on transfer problems without regrouping. The constructivist group used more different strategies but was not able to use this bigger repertory in a flexible way; instead, they used their strategies rather randomly. These findings pose questions on the usefulness of constructivist teaching in mathematics for low performers.     

保持型教学模式在对外汉语双语教学中的应用

根据我国的语言环境和高等院校特点及生源的实际情况,探讨适合对外汉语专业的保持型双语教学模式。从保持型双语教学步骤的设计、双语教学材料的组织、双语教学方法的创新、合理有效的双语教学评价体系的建立四个方面进行了论述。     

The effects of cognitive strategy instruction on Chinese reading comprehension among Hong Kong low achieving students

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive strategy instruction (CSI) on Chinese reading comprehension of Hong Kong low achieving students. A total of 88 Grade 7 students from four intact Chinese language remedial groups were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. Students in the treatment group received a 6-week Chinese CSI Program in their regular Chinese language lessons. The findings in this study generally supported that the Program had a positive impact on the reading development of low achieving students. Students who received strategy instruction made superior gains in comprehension performance, used more strategies during their reading process, had more knowledge about, strategy use, and showed a more positive attitude toward the reading instruction than did their peers who received traditional Chinese language instruction. Students’ improvements on their strategy use and reading comprehension were maintained 4 months after the termination of the Program. However, the positive treatment effects of the Program were not transferred to other school subject materials, and students’ reading motivation did not have significant changes after the Program. Factors contributing to the success of the Program as well as its limitations are discussed.     

Influence of science instruction reform on academic performance of eighth grade students in Chinese inner-Mongolia autonomous region

Abstract

The Chinese government has implemented centralised science curriculum standards to change science teaching from a didactic to inquiry-based approach to support all students in acquiring science literacy. Framed through theoretical perspectives of inquiry-based instruction and cultural pedagogy, this study examined the influence and impact of these reforms on Chinese science teaching and the performance of 8th grade Chinese students in the Inner-Mongolia Autonomous Regions using instruments developed by TIMSS 2007. It revealed that mixed, lecture-based, more inquiry-based and practice-based science teaching approaches were popularly practiced in classrooms, with the mixed-teaching approach being the most popular. While a mixed approach was positively associated with performance, the frequent practice of a more inquiry-based approach had a significant negative relationship. Neither lecture-based nor practiced-based teaching approaches were found to be related to performance. This finding questions the assumption that inquiry-based science teaching is central to improving the science performance of all students in China.     

Direct instruction as a pedagogical tool in religious education

Recent advances in the cognitive sciences along with theoretical perspectives from a Vygotskian learning paradigm are used to provide a justification for direct instruction in religious education. Direct instruction is not seen as the end of the learning process but one way in which students can be equipped to engage in more complex learning tasks which both challenge and engage them. To be pedagogically effective, direct instruction must be part of a wider teaching strategy and be based on a number of key principles, such as coherence, signalling and recognition of prior learning. The paper argues that direct instruction is especially relevant when dealing with conceptually difficult material. In addition, it also has a place when working with students who lack strong content knowledge.     

加强高职生职业指导工作的探讨

加强职业指导工作是适应全面建设小康社会和学生就业的需要。高职院校要做好职业指导工作必须强化创业教育,帮助学生树立创业意识,提高学生的就业技巧和就业能力;科学规范有序地进行职业指导,开展职业模拟教学,建立职业指导基地,做好就业安置工作,狠抓专业技能训练以及注重学生的个体特征。