Volume 8, Number 2, June 2011
The research investigates how English speaking advanced learners of Japanese read an expository text in Japanese. Volunteer learners read the expository text in Japanese and recalled it in English. The study explored the differences between skilled and unskilled readers in their comprehension of this text. It examined
how the readers retrieved the ideas (propositional) from the FL text and integrated them to form rhetorical
units, and then linked these units into hierarchical relationships to build their comprehension of the text. It found that the rate of retrieval of the rhetorical units was a better indicator of overall comprehension than idea retrieval. Skilled learners’ recalled a larger amount of not only the ideas but also rhetorical units in the text, and they comprehended the text better using priming and activating long term-working memory. The systematicities displayed by the skilled learners suggested that their reading comprehension processes may approximate those commonly observed among native speakers.
The study investigates the reading-to-write process of both effective and less effective EFL writers and their written products. The participants were three effective and three less effective EFL college writers from Taiwan. The data included think-aloud protocols, retrospective interviews, and the participants’ written texts for a reading-to-write task. The data from verbal protocols were analyzed to investigate the strategy use during the reading-to-write process, while the written texts were examined for text features and critical thinking. A total 24 strategies were identified. The results revealed that the effective writers engaged in more strategic activities in terms of varieties and frequencies throughout the reading-to-write process. The analyses of text features of the written products showed clear differences in the mean length and scores of grammatical accuracy between the two groups of writers. Although the analyses of critical thinking showed low critical thinking scores for all the writers, the effective writers were found to be better at identifying problems and presenting clear perspectives. An analysis of the writing process and the written products revealed some interesting patterns between the strategy use and the quality of the products, which may indicate possible impacts of strategy use on writing performance and directions for future studies.
Second language writing researchers have demonstrated that the integration of dialogue into ESL writing classrooms can have positive effects on certain aspects of composition instruction, namely in the planning and revision stages. However, the relationship between a highly social classroom and the eventual written
product produced by L2 learners is not yet clear. This study attempts to measure the effects of such a classroom on the writing produced by 43 U.S. university foreign language students enrolled in a multi-section intermediate Spanish grammar and writing course. Pre- and post-treatment writing samples were collected from experimental and control groups and samples were analyzed in terms of overall communicative effectiveness and writing structure, and well as overall comprehensibility. Results indicate no statistically-significant difference between experimental and control groups; talking about writing and talking while writing did not appear to have measurable effects on these students’ writing quality.
In 2004, the Austrian Ministry of Education stipulated an English proficiency of B2 (Independent User/Vantage) according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of
Europe, 2001) as the exit standard for upper secondary education. The present study examines whether this B2 target represents a reliable entrance standard for tertiary education. For this purpose, first-year students (n=3,186) from three Austrian tertiary institutions were subjected to an English placement test. The findings
indicate that only about half the test-takers attained the required B2 level, with freshmen from exclusively English-taught study programmes reaching substantially higher scores. Nonetheless, the figures suggest that
tertiary institutions cannot rely on the majority of freshmen meeting the expected standard. The study also finds that graduates of secondary academic schools score significantly higher results than those from secondary vocational schools. The results therefore indicate that the required B2 standard is not equitable for the different school types involved, nor is it attainable for a clear majority of school leavers. This implies that two of four criteria for appropriate target-setting laid down in Juran’s Quality Handbook (Juran & Godfrey, 1998) are not met, which in turn suggests that a revision of Austrian educational standards for English at the upper secondary level may be in order.
This preliminary comparative study profiles foreign language learning strategy use (LLSU) among 360 undergraduate foreign language majors in Taiwan. Four variables, namely gender, academic foreign language
major subject, fondness of the target language (TL), and previous experience in a TL country, were employed to analyze their relationships with participants’ LLSU. A high frequency of LLSU among these foreign language learners was discovered. The variable of fondness of the TL showed the most significant associations
with participants’ LLSU. Significant effects and interactions were detected among the four variables and the use of individual strategies and strategy categories. Implications for educational practice in Taiwan and for further research are discussed.
Understanding learner beliefs facilitates pedagogic planning; however, to date research in the Korean context has been limited to studies using Horwitz’s (1988) Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI), a questionnaire with deficiencies both in terms of its validity and its coverage. This small exploratory study works towards compensating for these shortcomings by seeking beliefs that appear salient for learners, but yet may be outside the BALLI’s coverage, and by working towards more valid procedures for data collection.
The investigation consisted of two main stages. Firstly, 36 university students wrote to a fictional language learner advising how he could learn English more successfully. This data was used to develop a questionnaire which was administered to 35 university students. As the Cronbach’s alpha of questionnaire scales was lower than is considered acceptable, these quantitative results were treated as somewhat provisional. Nevertheless, the triangulated findings of the two data collection stages indicated potentially important beliefs not covered by previous studies that impact on areas such as classroom interaction, input and interlanguage. Finally, by comparing results to Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory, potential pedagogic implications were also identified.
The use of standardised English proficiency tests like IELTS and TOEFL for admission and placement purposes is widely practised in academic institutions throughout the world. Similarly in Malaysia, many tertiary institutions utilise the results of a localised version of such tests called the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) as a measure of students’ proficiency level, prerequisite for admission, as well as placement in various academic programmes. This paper reports on the predictive validity of MUET as a measure of undergraduates’ English language proficiency and the appropriacy of the MUET cut-off bands for placement purposes. The MUET bands of 2884 undergraduates from various faculties and the grade they obtained in an English language enhancement course were analysed to answer the research questions. The findings indicate a significant positive relationship between the undergraduates’ MUET bands and their grades in the English
language course. Chi square results also indicate that the difference between MUET band 3 undergraduates’ ability to obtain good grades is significantly different compared to undergraduates with MUET bands 1 and 2. Besides providing evidence for MUET’s validity as a measure of students’ English language ability, the findings also recommend a need to review the cut-off MUET band for placement purposes.
E-portfolio has been implemented for students to take responsibility for their studies and to chart student progress but little research has been done on the effectiveness of e-portfolio learning of college students in Hong Kong in relation to their academic ability and motivation. For a group of 84 university students, an electronic-learning portfolio system (e-portfolio) was developed to consolidate learning and guide students to develop specific language skills as they only had two hours of classroom teaching once every two weeks in a professional English language course. To encourage participation, bonus marks were given to students for eportfolio tasks completed, formative feedback was also given and self-evaluation was fostered by the system.
The research aims to find out the impact of e-portfolio on students’ academic performance, their learning styles and motivation. It is found that the e-portfolio tasks have no correlation with students’ academic performance, the students show rather homogeneous learning styles, and self-determination for improvement can
drive the students to do a few e-portfolio tasks voluntarily.