Skip to main content

Papers

Original investigations into language education, including theoretical perspectives and implications for practice. Any medium accepted.

Search results for “”

Results 31 to 40 of 62

Enhancing International Students’ Experience with Formative Feedback through Audio Feedback

Date
Category

Formative feedback can have a transformative impact on learning. Therefore, learners need to interact with this feedback to develop and achieve in their studies. This article outlines how international students’ study experiences were further enhanced by audio formative feedback and how it added value to their overall learning. The small-scale case study employed a mixed methods approach (quantitative via a questionnaire and qualitative via a focus group interview) to a cohort of 16 international students and it evidenced that audio formative feedback was a positive experience. The results showed it promoted student agency, developed their listening and academic skills, encouraged them to revisit feedback to check their understanding and progression and engaged them with formative feedback. The primary message promulgated by this case study is that audio feedback re-engages international students with formative feedback as a tool for learner development which in turn will aid progression and achievement in their studies.

Are our students ready for a shift in how grammar is taught and the format in which is presented for practice?

Date
Category

A shift in how Spanish grammar has been traditionally taught has been advocated for some time now, thus moving from a behaviourist approach, with a focus on the form and the linguistic structure, to a communicative approach in which the communicative intention and the context are taken into account. On the other hand the use of digital tools has been increasingly applied to the field of second-language teaching. More specifically, the benefits of using online games and digital tools in the form of gamification for teaching have been highlighted in some studies. However, after years of explaining and presenting the grammar based on a behaviourist approach and by using a specific format, are our students ready for a change in the concept of how grammar should be taught as well as for a change in the way it is presented for practice? The main aim of this paper is to analyse, on the one hand, students’ reactions to different approaches to how the same grammar content is taught and, on the other hand, to find out which benefits or constraints students find in doing the activity in different formats, namely, on a piece of paper or using a digital tool. Students had to complete two different activities. One of the proposed activities was designed according to a traditional approach to grammar teaching and was presented on a piece of paper, the other activity followed a cognitive approach to teaching the grammar and used the online tool Twine to create a game and was accessed online. In both activities students were practising the difference between Spanish indicative and subjunctive modes in relative clauses, and after completion they were asked about their experience by filling out a questionnaire. Students’ mixed answers with regards to both activities raises some questions, namely, to which extent are advanced students willing or ready to shift the ways in which they have been traditionally taught, and what are the benefits and constraints of using a digital tool or a piece of paper in terms of enhancing learning.

Interdisciplinary EAP: Moving Beyond Aporetic English for General Academic Purposes

Date
Category

This article documents and reflects on the development of an interdisciplinary English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) course. Historically, there has tended to be a dichotomous discourse within the EAP community regarding the relative merits and shortcomings of adopting either a general or specific approach to teaching English for Academic Purposes. The arguments for both of these positions are explored and particular attention is paid to the often very underwhelming arguments for EGAP. Having explored the arguments for general and specific orientations to teaching EAP, one of the authors reflects on her experience of developing and teaching on an EAP course with an interdisciplinary focus as a means of overcoming the often unimaginative approaches to dealing with cohorts of students from different disciplines. The final section of this article critically examines understandings of specificity, interdisciplinarity and disciplinarity from within EAP, and, based on these observations, we make some tentative suggestions as to how interdisciplinarity can provide a useful platform for discussions with students on the social and ideological dimensions of knowledge production.