Search results for: English school

Authors: Sobia Rana

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The study intends to explain the problems of English collocational use faced by college students in Rawalpindi, Pakistan and recommends some authentic ways that will help in removing the learning barriers in light of the concerning methodological issues. It will not only help the students to improve their knowledge of the phenomena but will also enlighten the target teachers about the significance of authentic collocational use and how it naturalizes both written and spoken expressions. Data from both the students and teachers have been collected with the help of open/close-ended questionnaires to unearth the genuine cause/s and supplement them with the required solutions rooted in the actual problems. The students fail to use authentic collocations owing to multiple reasons: lack of awareness about English collocational use, improper teaching methodologies, and inexpert teachers.

Keywords: English collocational use, teaching methodologies, English learning barriers, vocabulary acquisition, college students of Rawalpindi

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Authors: Ugwu Elias Ikechukwu

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Discussions on bilingualism have always dwelt on how the mother tongue interferes with the target language. This interference is considered a serious problem in second language learning. Usually, the interference has been phonological. But the objective of this research is to explore how the target language interferes with the mother tongue. In the case of the Igbo language, it interferes with English mostly at the phonological level while English interferes with Igbo at the realm of vocabulary. The result is a new language \"Engligbo\" which is a hybrid of English and Igbo. The Igbo language spoken by about 25 million people is one of the three most prominent languages in Nigeria. This paper discusses the phenomenal Engligbo, and other implications for Igbo learners of English. The method of analysis is descriptive. A number of recommendations were made that would help teachers handle problems arising from such mutual interferences.

Keywords: reciprocal interferences, bilingualism, implications, language pedagogy

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Authors: N. Khiati

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The present paper attempts to report on some findings that emerged out of a larger scale doctorate research into English language needs of a renowned Algerian company of Hydrocarbon industry. From a multifaceted English for specific purposes (ESP) research perspective, the paper considers the English needs of the finance/legal department staff in the midst of the conflicting needs perspectives involving both objective needs indicators (i.e., the pressure of globalised business) and the general negative attitudes among the administrative -mainly jurists- staff towards English (favouring a non-adaptation strategy). The researcher’s unearthing of the latter’s needs is an endeavour to concretise the concepts of unmet, or unconscious needs, among others. This is why, these initially uncovered hidden needs will be detailed questioning educational background, namely previous language of instruction; training experiences and expectations; as well as the actual communicative practices derived from the retrospective interviews and preliminary quantitative data of the questionnaire. Based on these rough clues suggesting real needs, the researcher will tentatively propose some implications for both pre-service and in-service training organisers as well as for educational policy makers in favour of an English course in legal English for the jurists mainly from pre-graduate phases to in-service training.

Keywords: English for specific purposes (ESP), legal and finance staff, needs analysis, unmet/unconscious needs, training implications

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Authors: Bersufekad Wubie

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Introduction: Near visual impairment is presenting near visual acuity of the eye worse than N6 at a 40 cm distance. Teachers' regular duties, such as reading books, writing on the blackboard, and recognizing students' faces, need good near vision. If a teacher has near-visual impairment, the work output is unsatisfactory. Objective: The study was aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors near vision impairment among school teachers at Gondar city Northwest Ethiopia, August 2022. Methods: To select 567 teachers in Gondar city schools, an institutional-based cross-sectional study design with a multistage sampling technique were used. The study was conducted in selected schools from May 1 to May 30, 2022. Trained data collectors used well-structured Amharic and English language questionnaires and ophthalmic instruments for examination. The collected data were checked for completeness and entered into Epi data version 4.6, then exported to SPSS version 26 for further analysis. A binary and multivariate logistic regression model was fitted. And associated factors of the outcome variable. Result: The prevalence of near visual impairment was 64.6%, with a confidence interval of 60.3%–68.4%. Near visual impairment was significantly associated with age >= 35 years (AOR: 4.90 at 95% CI: 3.15, 7.65), having prolonged years of teaching experience (AOR: 3.29 at 95% CI: 1.70, 4.62), having a history of ocular surgery (AOR: 1.96 at 95% CI: 1.10, 4.62), smokers (AOR: 2.21 at 95% CI: 1.22, 4.07), history of ocular trauma (AOR : 1.80 at 95%CI:1.11,3.18 and uncorrected refractive error (AOR:2.01 at 95%CI:1.13,4.03). Conclusion and recommendations: This study showed the prevalence of near vision impairment among school teachers was high, and it is not a problem of the presbyopia age group alone; it also happens at a young age. So teachers' ocular health should be well accommodated in the school's eye health.

Keywords: Gondar, near visual impairment, school, teachers

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Authors: Benjawan Tipprachaban

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This research aims to investigate mistakes in translation, particularly from Thai to English, which cause translation problems for undergraduate students in Thailand. The researcher had the non-English major students of Suratthani Rajabhat University as samples. The data were collected by having 27 non-English major students translate 50 Thai sentences into English. After the translation, lots of mistakes were found and the researcher categorized them into 3 main types which were the grammatical mistake, the usage mistake, and the spelling mistake. However, this research is currently in the process of analyzing the data and shall be completed in August. The researcher, nevertheless, predicts that, of all the mistakes, the grammatical mistake will principally be made, the usage mistake and the spelling one respectively, which will support the researcher’s hypothesizes, i.e. 1) the grammatical mistake, mainly caused by language transfer, essentially leads to considerable translation problems; 2) the usage mistake is another critical problem that causes translation problems; 3) basic knowledge in Thai to English translation of undergraduate students in Thailand is at low level.

Keywords: English, language, Thai, translation

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Authors: Samanik

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This writing is correlated with English teaching material development, Contextual Teaching Learning (CTL). CTL is believed to facilitate students with real world challenge. Contextual Teaching and Learning is identified as a promising strategy that actively engages students and promotes skills development. It is based on the notion that learning can only occur when students are able to connect between content and context. It also helps teachers link between the materials taught with real-world situations and encourage students to make connection between the knowledge possessed by its application. Besides, it directs students to be critical and analytical. In accordance, this paper looks for the opportunity to improve EFL learners’ English speaking skill through tour guide presentation. A single case study will be conducted to highlight EFL learners’ experience of doing tour guide presentation in the English class room setting. The writer assumes that CLT will contribute positively to EFL learners’ English speaking skill.

Keywords: English speaking skill, contextual teaching learning, tour guide presentation

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Authors: Rani Silvia

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English has surpassed other languages to become the most widely taught and studied foreign language in Indonesia. This reflects the tendency of the Indonesian public to participate in global mainstream culture, which is longstanding but has been greatly facilitated by the widespread availability of television, the traditional media, and more recently the Internet and social media. However, despite increasing exposure and a history of teaching and study, mastery of English remains low, even as interest and perceived importance continue to increase. This along with Indonesia’s extremely complex linguistic environment has increased the status and value associated with the use of English and is changing the dynamic of language use nationwide. This study investigates the use of English in public settings in Indonesia as well as the attitudes of Indonesian speakers towards English. A case study was developed to explicate this phenomenon in a major Indonesian city. Fifty individuals, including both professionals and lay people, were interviewed about their language preferences as well as their perceptions about English as compared to other languages, such as the local language, Indonesian as the national language, and other foreign languages. Observations on the use of language in the public environment in advertising, signs, and other forms of public expression were analyzed to identify language preferences at this level and their relationship to current language policy. This study has three major findings. First, Indonesian speakers have more positive attitudes towards English than other languages; second, English has encroached on domains in which Indonesian should be used; and third, perceived awareness of the importance of Indonesian as an introduced national language seems to be declining to suggest a failure of policy. The study includes several recommendations for the future development of language planning in determining and directing language use in a public context in Indonesia.

Keywords: English, Indonesia, language attitudes, language policy

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Authors: Hadiza Lawan Ismail

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Academic writing in Nigeria is fraught with a lot of grammatical errors which brings backward to education specifically at the tertiary institution level. This paper deals with the use of English quantifiers in academic writing, with particular emphasis on the use of ‘MANY.’ NCEI students of the Federal College of Education, Kano were used as the case study. The paper attempts to highlight the problems that arise due to incorrect use of quantifiers as well as identifying the causes of difficulties in the use of English quantifiers by some NCE1 students. To achieve this objective, the data was collected through sentence writing test by testing the students’ use of quantifiers, using only one quantifier as the variable of the study, which is MANY. In analyzing the data, the sentence writing tests are analyzed item by item and the scores of the correct responses as well as the wrong responses are converted into percentage forms. The findings revealed that students have difficulty in remembering and grasping the grammatical restrictions that control the use of English quantifiers specifically MANY; mother tongue also affects the use of quantifiers by some NCE1 students to the extent that they use one word to represent about three or four English quantifiers. The causes of difficulty in the use of English quantifiers by the students are attributed to poor background and inadequate use of English language and quantifiers, because we cannot use quantifiers alone and get the desired meaning without putting them in a sentence.

Keywords: academic writing, English quantifiers, grammatical restrictions, tertiary institution students

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Authors: Halima Musa Kamilu

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This paper discusses the effective strategies for teaching English language to learners in primary schools in Nigeria. English language development is the systematic use of instructional strategies designed to promote the acquisition of English by pupils in primary schools whose primary language is not English. Learning a second language is through total immersion. These strategies support this learning method, allowing pupils to have the knowledge of English language in a pattern similar to the way they learned their native language through regular interaction with others who already know the language. The focus is on fluency and learning to speak English in a social context with native speakers. The strategies allow for effective acquisition. The paper also looked into the following areas: visuals that reinforce spoken or written words, employ gestures for added emphasis, adjusting of speech, stressing of high-frequency vocabulary words, use of fewer idioms and clarifying the meaning of words or phrases in context, stressing of participatory learning and maintaining a low anxiety level and boosting of enthusiasm. It recommended that the teacher include vocabulary words that will make the content more comprehensible to the learner.

Keywords: effective, strategies, teaching, beginners and primary schools

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Authors: Wang Jiankun

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This paper analyses how different educational backgrounds affect the mathematics performance of middle and high school students in terms of three dimensions: parental involvement, school teaching ability, and demographic variables and personal attributes of the student. Based on the analysis of Beijing High School Mathematics Competition in 2022, it was found that students from high level schools won significantly more awards than those from low level schools. In addition, a significant positive correlation (p<0.05) was identified between school level and students' mathematics performance. This study also confirms that parents' education level and family environment show a significant impact on the next generation’s mathematics learning performance. The findings suggest that interest and student’s habits, the family environment and the quality of teaching and learning at school are the main factors affecting the mathematics performance of middle and high school students.

Keywords: educational background, academic performance, middle and high school education, teenager

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Authors: Maliheh Rezaei

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As demand for learning English as the global language remains high, scholars are increasingly encouraged to explore the potential of this medium for creating hegemony and positive changes in human communities. This makes English Language teachers the potential agents of positive change who play a major role in fostering the culture of peace in their classes. The purpose of this literature review was thus evaluating the implementation of peace pedagogies by English language teachers. More specifically, it addressed a) the role and characteristics of English language teachers as peace agents and b) the pedagogies that they used to construct the culture of peace. Literature review was used, and several inclusion criteria were applied. Only papers published in English, which contained the keywords of English language teaching (ELT) and other related terms and acronyms such as teaching English to speakers of other languages, and teaching English as a second/foreign language as well as peace, peace education, and similar derivatives such ‘peacebuilding’ in their title and/or abstract were included in this review. Moreover, only papers that dealt with the actual implementation of peace education theories were investigated. Findings highlighted that most English language teachers relied on pedagogies adopted from social justice, global citizenship, and positive psychology. They specifically aimed to foster positive human traits such as resilience, empathy, and reflection that were also believed to play an important role in peacebuilding efforts. Nevertheless, the role of English language teachers in educating for peace was found to be peripheral. The main challenge to incorporate the tenets of peace education was the shortage of English language teachers who were skilled and qualified enough to incorporate and promote the culture of peace in their classes. This literature review presents the body of research that has linked peace education to ELT; therefore, it informs language teachers about the potential roles they have in creating a peaceful and sustainable future. It also presents them with more effective pedagogies and practices to successfully integrate peace-related activities in their classes.

Keywords: English language teachers, English language teaching, culture of peace, peace pedagogies

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Authors: Paulina Dwuznik

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For students of legal English, the skill of mediation is of special importance as it constitutes part of their everyday work. Developing the skill of mediation requires developing linguistic, communicative, textual, pragmatic, interactive, social, and intercultural competencies. The study conducted at the Open University of the University of Warsaw compared the results of a questionnaire concerning the needs of legal professionals relating to mediation tasks, which they perform at work with the analysis of the content of different legal English handbooks with special stress on the development of intercultural competence necessary in interlinguistic mediation. The study found that legal English handbooks focus mainly on terminology study, but some of them extend students' intercultural competence in a way which may help them to perform tasks of mediating concepts, texts, and communication. The author of the paper will present the correlation between intercultural competence and mediation skill and give some examples of mediation tasks which may be based on comparative intercultural content of some chosen academic legal English handbooks.

Keywords: intercultural competence, legal English, mediation skill, teaching

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Authors: Sona Lorencova, Beata Hornickova

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The study deals with the presentation of the results of qualitatively oriented research, the aim of which was to find out the attitudes of parents to the planned compulsory pre-school education in the Slovak Republic. The research was conceived as an entry into the field of the researched issue and its aim was to support the validity and effectiveness of items in the questionnaire, which was created based on the statements of parents. The research method was an interview with 15 parents whose children attended kindergarten. The main question of the interviews was to find out what are the parents' expectations from compulsory pre-school education, which will be compulsory in the Slovak Republic from 2021 for all 5-year-old children. From the introduction of compulsory pre-school education, the professional public expects in particular greater participation of children from marginalized Roma communities in pre-school education, as well as children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, better preparation of children for primary school and better results in international testing. The research found that the expectations of parents are different and depend on their socio-economic status, in accordance with which they place greater importance on the upbringing and education of children. The findings from interviews with parents contributed to the formulation of items in the questionnaire, which will be distributed to parents whose children will attend compulsory pre-school education in the Slovak Republic from 2021.

Keywords: compulsory pre-school education, kindergarten, education of pre-school children, parental expectations from pre-school education

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Authors: Yuqing Sun

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Nowadays, English has been taught in many countries as a second language. One of the major ways to learn this language is through the class teaching. As in the field of second language acquisition, there are many factors to affect its acquisition processes, such as the target language itself, a learner’s personality, cognitive factor, language transfer, and the outward factors (teaching method, classroom, environmental factor, teaching policy, social environment and so on). Flipped Classroom as a newly developed classroom model has been widely used in language teaching classroom, which was, to some extent, accepted by teachers and students for its effect. It distinguishes itself from the traditional classroom for its focus on the learner and its great importance attaching to the personal learning process and the application of technology. The class becomes discussion-targeted, and the class order is somewhat inverted since the teaching process is carried out outside the class, while the class is only for knowledge-internalization. This paper will concentrate on the influences of the flipped classroom, as a classroom affecting factor, on the the process of English acquisition by the way of case studies (English teaching class in China), and the analysis of the mechanism of the flipped classroom itself to propose some feasible advice of promoting the the effectiveness of English acquisition.

Keywords: second language acquisition, English, flipped classroom, case

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Authors: Park Jin Hee

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The purpose of this research is to analyze the meaning and essence of stress experiences school counselors experience while providing counseling. For this research, interviews were conducted with ten school counselors and analyze the interview findings by using phenomenological method of Colaizzi. As for the conclusion in this research, several of types of emotions and mindset of school counselors were examined, and the positive and negative effects of such emotions and mindset on counseling process were shown.

Keywords: counseling stress experience, meaning, school counselors, phenomenological study

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Authors: Vahid Bairami Rad, Shapoor Norazar, Moslem Talebi Asl

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The fast growing accessibility and capability of emerging technologies have fashioned enormous possibilities of designing, developing and implementing innovative teaching methods in the classroom. Using teaching methods and technology together have a fantastic results, because the global technological scenario has paved the way to new pedagogies in teaching-learning process. At the other side methods by focusing on students and the ways of learning in them, that can demonstrate logical ways of improving student achievement in English as a foreign language in Iran. The sample of study was 90 students of 10th grade of high school located in Ardebil. A pretest-posttest equivalent group designed to compare the achievement of groups. Students divided to 3 group, Control base, computer base, method and technology base. Pretest and post test contain 30 items each from English textbook were developed and administrated, then obtained data were analyzed. The results showed that there was an important difference. The 3rd group performance was better than other groups. On the basis of this result it was obviously counseled that teaching-learning capabilities.

Keywords: method, technology based environment, computer based environment, english as a foreign language, student achievement

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Authors: Josée Charette

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The academic and educational success of immigrant students is a current issue in education, especially in western societies such in the province of Quebec, in Canada. For people who immigrate with school-age children, the success of the family’s migratory project is often measured by the benefits drawn by children from the educational institutions of their host society. In order to support the academic achievement of their children, immigrant parents try to develop practices that derive from their representations of school and related challenges inspired by the socio-cultural context of their country of origin. These findings lead us to the following question: How does strategies implemented by immigrant parents to manage the representational distance between school of their country of origin and school of the host society support or not the academic and educational success of their child? In the context of a qualitative exploratory approach, we have made interviews in the French-, English- and Spanish-languages with 32 newly immigrated parents and 10 of their children. Parents were invited to complete a network of free associations about «School in Quebec» as a premise for the interview. The objective of this communication is to present strategies implemented by immigrant parents to manage the distance between their representations of schools in their country of origin and in the host society, and to explore the influence of this management on their child’s academic and educational trajectories. Data analysis led us to develop various types of strategies, such as continuity, adaptation, resources mobilization, compensation and "return to basics" strategies. These strategies seem to be part of a continuum from oppositional-conflict scenario, in which parental strategies act as a risk factor, to conciliator-integrator scenario, in which parental strategies act as a protective factor for immigrant students’ academic and educational success. In conclusion, we believe that our research helps in providing a more efficient support to immigrant parents and contributes to develop a wider portrait of immigrant students’ academic achievement. In addition, we think that by improving the experience of immigrant families in Quebec schools, a greater number of migratory projects will be effective.

Keywords: immigrant students, family’s migratory project, school of origin and school of host society, immigrants parental strategies

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Authors: Yasser Aminifard, Hamdollah Askari

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This study aimed at investigating any difference between Iranian senior high school students' performance on Academic Words (AWs) and Everyday-Life Words (ELWs). To this end, in the first phase, a number of 120 male senior high school students were randomly selected from among twelve high schools in Gachsaran to serve as the participants of the study. In the second phase, using purposive sampling, six high school teachers holding an MA in TEFL and with over twenty years of teaching experience were interviewed. Two multiple-choice tests, each comprising 40 items, were given to the participants in order to determine their performance on AWs and ELWs and follow-up semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore teachers' opinions about participants' performance on the two tests. To analyze the data, a paired-samples t-test was carried out to compare the results of both tests and the interviews were also transcribed to pinpoint important themes. The results of the t-test indicated that the participants performed significantly better on AWs than on ELWs. Additionally, results of the interviews boiled down to the fact that the English textbooks designed for Iranian high school students are fundamentally flawed on the grounds that there is a mismatch between students' real language learning needs and what is presented to them as "teaching-to-the-test" materials via these books. Finally, the implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Keywords: everyday-life words, academic words, textbooks, washback

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Authors: Agnieszka Kałdonek-Crnjaković

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Research on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is abundant but not in the field of applied linguistics and foreign or second language education. To fill this research gap, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of ADHD on skills and systems development in a second and foreign language from the teacher's perspective. The participants were 51 English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in Poland working in state pre-, primary, and high schools. Research questions were as follows: Do ADHD-type behaviors affect EFL learning of the individual with the condition and their classmates to the same extent considering different educational settings and specific skills and systems? And To what extent do ADHD-type behaviors affect ESL/EFL skills and systems considering different ADHD presentations? Data were collected by means of a questionnaire distributed via a Google form. It contained 14 statements on a six-point Likert scale related to the effect of ADHD on specific language skills and systems in the context of an individual with the condition and their classmates and situations related to inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity presentations of the condition, where the participants needed to identify skills and systems affected by the given ADHD manifestation. The results show that ADHD affects all language skills and systems development in both the individual with the condition and their classmates, but this effect is more significant in the latter. However, ADHD affected skills and systems to a different degree; writing skills were reported as the most affected by this disorder. Also, the effect of ADHD differed depending on the educational setting, being the highest in high school and lowest in the first three grades of primary school. These findings will be discussed in the context of foreign/second language teaching in the school context, considering different phases of education as well as future research on ADHD and language learning and teaching.

Keywords: ADHD, EFL teachers, foreign/second language learning, language skills and systems development

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Authors: Nguyen Quynh Trang, Nguyễn Thị Hông Nhung

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The study aimed to identify the effectiveness of using the mind map technique to enhance students’ medical vocabulary retention among a group of students at a higher education institution - Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy during the first semester of the school year 2022-2023. The research employed a quasi-experimental method, exploring primary sources such as questionnaires and the analyzed results of pre-and-post tests. Almost teachers and students showed high preferences for the implementation of the mind map technique in language teaching and learning. Furthermore, results from the pre-and-post tests between the experimental group and control one pointed out that this technique brought back positive academic performance in teaching and learning English. The research findings revealed that there should be more supportive policies to evoke the use of the mind map technique in a pedagogical context. Aim of the Study: The purpose of this research was to investigate whether using mind mapping can help students to enhance nursing students’ medical vocabulary retention and to assess the students’ attitudes toward using mind mapping as a tool to improve their vocabulary. The methodology of the study: The research employed a quasi-experimental method, exploring primary sources such as questionnaires and the analyzed results of pre-and-post tests. The contribution of the study: The research contributed to the innovation of teaching vocabulary methods for English teachers at a higher education institution. Moreover, the research helped the English teachers and the administrators at a university evoke and maintain the motivation of students not only in English classes but also in other subjects. The findings of this research were beneficial to teachers, students, and researchers interested in using mind mapping to teach and learn English vocabulary. The research explored and proved the effectiveness of applying mind mapping in teaching and learning English vocabulary. Therefore, teaching and learning activities were conducted more and more effectively and helped students overcome challenges in remembering vocabulary and creating motivation to learn English vocabulary.

Keywords: medical vocabulary retention, mind map technique, nursing students, medical vocabulary

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Authors: S. Chee Choy, Pauline Swee Choo Goh, Yow Lin Liew

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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the English version and a Malay translation of the 21-item Learner Awareness Questionnaire for its application to assess student learning in higher education. The Learner Awareness Questionnaire, originally written in English, is a quantitative measure of how and why students learn. The questionnaire gives an indication of the process and motives to learn using four scales: survival, establishing stability, approval, and loving to learn. Data in the present study came from 680 university students enrolled in various programs in Malaysia. The Malay version of the questionnaire supported a similar four-factor structure and internal consistency to the English version. The four factors of the Malay version also showed moderate to strong correlations with those of the English versions. The results suggest that the Malay version of the questionnaire is similar to the English version. However, further refinement for the questions is needed to strengthen the correlations between the two questionnaires.

Keywords: student learning, learner awareness, questionnaire development, instrument validation

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Authors: Iva Buchberger, Vesna Kovač

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Global education policy trends and recommendations underline the importance of (distributive) school leadership as a school effectiveness key factor. In this context, the broader aim of this research (supported by the Croatian Science Foundation) is to identify school leadership characteristics in Croatian schools and to examine the correlation between school leadership and school effectiveness. The aim of the proposed conference paper is to focus on the school leadership characteristics which are additionally explained with school leadership facilitators that contribute to (distributive) school leadership development. The aforementioned school leadership characteristics include the following dimensions: (a) participation in the process of making different types of decisions, (b) influence in the decision making process, (c) social interactions between different stakeholders in the decision making process in schools. Further, the school leadership facilitators are categorized as follows: (a) principal’s activities (such as providing support to different stakeholders and developing mutual trust among them), (b) stakeholders’ characteristics (such as developed stakeholders’ interest and competence to participate in decision-making process), (c) organizational and material resources (such as school material conditions, the necessary information and time as resources for making decisions). The data were collected by a constructed and validated questionnaire for examining the school leadership characteristics and facilitators from teachers’ perspective. The main population in this study consists of all primary schools in Croatia while the sample is comprised of 100 primary schools, selected by random sampling. Furthermore, the sample of teachers was selected by an additional procedure taking into consideration the independent variables of sex, work experience, etc. Data processing was performed by standard statistical methods of descriptive and inferential statistics. Statistical program IBM SPSS 20.0 was used for data processing. The results of this study show that there is a (positive) correlation between school leadership characteristics and school leadership facilitators. Specifically, it is noteworthy to mention that all the dimensions of school leadership characteristics are in positive correlation with the categories of school leadership facilitators. These results are indicative for the education policy creators who should ensure positive and supportive environment for the school leadership development including the development of school leadership characteristics and school leadership facilitators.

Keywords: distributive school leadership, school effectiveness , school leadership characteristics, school leadership facilitators

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Authors: Mohammed Riyas Pp

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This study aimed at investigating major issues in translating the Arabic Hadith terminologies into English, focusing on choosing the most appropriate translation for each, reviewing major Hadith works in English. This study is confined to twenty terminologies with regard to classification of Hadith based on authority, strength, number of transmitters and connections in Isnad. Almost all available translations are collected and analyzed to find the most proper translation based on linguistic and translational values. To the researcher, many translations lack precise understanding of either Hadith terminologies or English language and varieties of methodologies have influence on varieties of translations. This study provides a classification of translational and conceptual issues. Translational issues are related to translatability of these terminologies and their equivalence. Conceptual issues provide a list of misunderstandings due to wrong translations of terminologies. This study ends with a suggestion for unification in translating terminologies based on convention of Muslim scholars having good understanding of Hadith terminologies and English language.

Keywords: english language, hadith terminologies, equivalence in translation, problems in translation

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Authors: Abdul Amir Hazbavi

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The present study is an attempt to provide a relatively comprehensive preview of the Iranian English translators’ perception on Machine Translation. Furthermore, the study tries to shed light on the status of implementation of Machine Translation among the Iranian English Translators. To reach the aforementioned objectives, the Localization Industry Standards Association’s questioner for measuring perceptions with regard to the adoption of a technology innovation was adapted and used to investigate three parameter among the participants of the study, namely familiarity with Machine Translation, general perception on Machine Translation and implementation of Machine Translation systems in translation tasks. The participants of the study were 224 last-year undergraduate Iranian students of English translation at 10 universities across the country. The study revealed a very low level of adoption and a very high level of willingness to get familiar with and learn about Machine Translation, as well as a positive perception of and attitude toward Machine Translation by the Iranian English translators.

Keywords: translation technology, machine translation, perception, implementation

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Authors: Antonieta Heyden Megale

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With the advent of globalization, the social, cultural and linguistic situation of the whole world has changed. In this scenario, the teaching of English, in Brazil, has become a booming business and the belief that this language is essential to a successful life is played by the media that sees it as a commodity and spares no effort to sell it. In this context, it has become evident the growth of bilingual and international schools that have English and Portuguese as languages of instruction. According to federal legislation, all schools in the country must follow the Curriculum guidelines proposed by the Ministry of Education of Brazil. It is then mandatory that, in addition to the specific foreign curriculum an international school subscribes to, it must also teach all subjects of the official minimum curriculum and these subjects have to be taught in Portuguese. It is important to emphasize that, in these schools, English is the most prestigious language. Therefore, firstly, Brazilian teachers who teach Portuguese in such contexts find themselves in a situation in which they teach in a low-status language. Secondly, because such teachers’ actions are guided by a different cultural matrix, which differs considerably from Anglo-Saxon values and beliefs, they often experience intercultural conflict in their workplace. Taking it consideration, this research, focusing on the trajectories of a specific group of Brazilian teachers of Portuguese in international and bilingual schools located in the city of São Paulo, intends to analyze how they discursively represent their own professional identities and practices. More specifically the objectives of this research are to understand, from the perspective of the investigated teachers, how they (i) rebuilt narratively their professional careers and explain the factors that led them to an international or to an immersion bilingual school; (ii) position themselves with respect to their linguistic repertoire; (iii) interpret the intercultural practices they are involved with in school and (v) position themselves by foregrounding categories to determine their membership in the group of Portuguese teachers. We have worked with these teachers’ autobiographical narratives. The autobiographical approach assumes that the stories told by teachers are systems of meaning involved in the production of identities and subjectivities in the context of power relations. The teachers' narratives were elicited by the following trigger: "I would like you to tell me how you became a teacher in a bilingual/international school and what your impressions are about your work and about the context in which it is inserted". These narratives were produced orally, recorded, and transcribed for analysis. The teachers were also invited to draw their "linguistic portraits". The theoretical concepts of positioning and the indexical cues were taken into consideration in data analysis. The narratives produced by the teachers point to intercultural conflicts related to their expectations and representations of others, which are never neutral or objective truths but discursive constructions.

Keywords: bilingual schools, identity, interculturality, narrative

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Authors: Premvadee Na Nakornpanom

Abstract:

Language mixing in spontaneous speech has been widely discussed, but not in virtual situations; especially in context of the third language learning students. Thus, this study was an attempt to explore the characteristics of the mixing of Japanese, English and Thai in a mobile chat room by students with their background of Japanese, English, and Thai. The result found that Insertion of Thai and English content words was a very common linguistic phenomenon embedded in the utterances. As chatting is to be ‘relational’ or ‘interactional’, it affected the style of lexical choices to be speech-like, more personal and emotional-related. A Japanese sentence-final question particle“か”(ka) was added to the end of the sentence based on Thai grammar rule. Moreover, some unique characteristics were created. The non-verbal cues were represented in personal, Thai styles by inserting textual representations of images or feelings available on the websites into streams of conversations.

Keywords: code-mixing, Japanese, English, Thai, line chat

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Authors: Anochao Phetcharat

Abstract:

This research aims to study problems of translation basic knowledge, particularly from English into Thai. The researcher used 38 2nd-year non-English speaking students of Suratthani Rajabhat University as samples. The samples were required to translate an A4-sized article from English into Thai assigned as a part of BEN0202 Translation for Business, a requirement subject for Business English Department, which was also taught by the researcher. After completion of the translation, numerous problems were found and the research grouped them into 4 major types. The normally occurred problems in English-Thai translation works are the lack of knowledge in terms of parts of speech, word-by-word translation employment, misspellings as well as the poor knowledge in English language structure. However, this research is currently under the process of data analysis and shall be completed by the beginning of August. The researcher, nevertheless, predicts that all the above-mentioned problems, will support the researcher’s hypothesizes, that are; 1) the lack of knowledge in terms of parts of speech causes the mistranslation problem; 2) employing word-by-word translation technique hugely results in the mistranslation problem; 3) misspellings yields the mistranslation problem; and 4) the poor knowledge in English language structure also brings about translation errors. The research also predicts that, of all the aforementioned problems, the following ones are found the most, respectively: the poor knowledge in English language structure, word-by-word translation employment, the lack of knowledge in terms of parts of speech, and misspellings.

Keywords: problem, student, Thai, translation

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Authors: Chaiwat Tantarangsee

Abstract:

The purposes of this study are 1) to study the frequent English writing errors of students registering the course: Reading and Writing English for Academic Purposes II, and 2) to find out the results of writing error correction by using coded indirect corrective feedback and writing error treatments. Samples include 28 2nd year English Major students, Faculty of Education, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. Tool for experimental study includes the lesson plan of the course; Reading and Writing English for Academic Purposes II, and tool for data collection includes 4 writing tests of short texts. The research findings disclose that frequent English writing errors found in this course comprise 7 types of grammatical errors, namely Fragment sentence, Subject-verb agreement, Wrong form of verb tense, Singular or plural noun endings, Run-ons sentence, Wrong form of verb pattern and Lack of parallel structure. Moreover, it is found that the results of writing error correction by using coded indirect corrective feedback and error treatment reveal the overall reduction of the frequent English writing errors and the increase of students’ achievement in the writing of short texts with the significance at .05.

Keywords: coded indirect corrective feedback, error correction, error treatment, English writing

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Authors: Yessica A. Aguilera

Abstract:

English is currently the only foreign language included in the national educational curriculum in Chile. The English curriculum establishes that once completed secondary education, students are expected to reach B1 level according to the Common European Reference Framework (CEFR) scale. However, the objective has not been achieved, and to the author’s best knowledge, there is still a severe lack of English language skills among students who have completed their secondary education studies. In order to deal with the fact that students do not manage English as expected, team-based learning (TBL) was introduced in English language lessons at the Universidad Federico Santa María (USM). TBL is a collaborative teaching-learning method which enhances active learning by combining individual and team work. This approach seeks to help students achieve course objectives while learning how to function in teams. The purpose of the research was to assess the implementation and effectiveness of TBL in English language classes at USM technical training education. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from teachers and students about their experience through TBL. Research findings show that both teachers and students are satisfied with the method and that students’ engagement and participation in class is higher. Additionally, students score higher on examinations improving academic outcomes. The findings of the research have the potential to guide how TBL could be included in future English language courses.

Keywords: collaborative learning, college education, English language learning, team-based learning

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Authors: Saeed Musaid Alzahrani

Abstract:

Shared values, beliefs, norms and assumptions within the organisation can affect personal and team effectiveness. Organisational culture can also affect the performance of organisational members. The nature of middle leadership in a primary school is largely influenced by organizational culture. The effectiveness of middle leadership in primary schools and their performance is strongly determined by the circumstances in which they work and can be political or institutional. This study aims to examine the influence of organisational culture and government policy on the performance and effectiveness of middle managers, using the English and Saudi education systems as case studies. To examine how education policy conditions educational discourse, and answer the research questions, there is a need to collect qualitative data on middle manager’s perceptions and experiences in the English and Saudi Arabian contexts. The study involved a qualitative and interpretative approach. In-depth interviews with 6 middle managers and school supervisors in 3 English primary schools and 6 middle managers in 3 Saudi Arabian primary schools were conducted to answer the research questions. The study also included ethnographic tools such as observations of a sample of three primary schools in both England and Saudi Arabia where the researcher observed middle managers’ interactions with their peers. The sample of three enabled the study to identify trends and make comparisons between leadership approaches in both systems based on observations without the bias of prescriptions. The use of ethnographic tools not only makes the study empirical but also increases the reliability and validity of the findings by reducing prescriptive bias. The observations will be triangulated with the results of the interviews to draw comparisons and conclusions on whether middle managers act as leaders or as followers in their respective political contexts.

Keywords: education management, government education policies, middle managers, organisational culture

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