Identifying Taiwanese University Students' Physics Learning Profiles and Their Role in Physics Learning Self-Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Tzung-Jin; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2015-01-01

The main purposes of this study were to identify Taiwanese university students' physics learning profiles in terms of their critical conceptions of learning physics and to compare their physics learning self-efficacy with the different learning profiles. A total of 250 Taiwanese undergraduates who were majoring in physics participated in this…

Correlates of gender dysphoria in Taiwanese university students.

PubMed

Lai, Meng-Chuan; Chiu, Yen-Nan; Gadow, Kenneth D; Gau, Susan Shur-Fen; Hwu, Hai-Gwo

2010-12-01

There have been no published reports regarding the epidemiological and psychiatric features of gender dysphoria in non-clinical young adults. The current study aimed to investigate the demographics, co-occurring psychiatric symptoms, and perceived parenting style and family support in Taiwanese young adults with gender dysphoria. The sample consisted of 5010 university freshmen (male, 51.6%) with a mean age of 19.6 years (SD = 2.7) from a national university in Taiwan. The questionnaires used for this university-based survey included the Adult Self Report Inventory-4 for psychopathology (including gender dysphoria), the Parental Bonding Instrument for parenting style, and the Family APGAR for perceived family support. Results showed that gender dysphoria was more prevalent in females (7.3%) than males (1.9%). Young adults with gender dysphoria were more likely to meet a wide but specific range of co-occurring psychiatric symptoms. The most significantly associated symptoms for males were agoraphobia, hypochondriasis, manic episode, and pathological gambling, and for females dissociative disorder, hypochondriasis, and body dysmorphic disorder. Both males and females with gender dysphoria perceived significantly less support from their families and less affection/care from both parents. Findings suggest that gender dysphoria, associated with a specific range of psychopathology and family/parenting dissatisfaction (with both similar and dissimilar patterns between sexes), is not uncommon in Taiwanese university students, particularly in females. This implies the importance of attention and specific measures to offset psychiatric conditions and to promote mental well-being of this population.

Using Picture Books in EFL College Reading Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Hsiang-Ni

2015-01-01

This study examined 39 Taiwanese adult EFL learners' responses to reading children's literature in a non-major freshman English class. Exposed to authentic illustrated storybooks along with a variety of literacy practices, the students' end-of-the-semester feedback has shown that they generally enjoyed the books and felt they had made progress in…

EFL Instructors' Perceptions of Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) at University Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tawalbeh, Thaer Issa

2018-01-01

The present paper aims to investigate EFL instructors' perceptions of Blackboard learning management system (LMS) at Taif University in Saudi Arabia. To achieve this purposes, the researcher attempted to answer two questions. The first question investigates EFL instructors' perceptions of Blackboard LMS. The second question aims to identify…

Experimenting with Snapchat in a University EFL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freyn, Amy L.

2017-01-01

This article illustrates one professor's experiment with using Snapchat in a university EFL classroom. Snapchat has become impossible to ignore and this study proves that it can be beneficial to students. This study shows how the use of Snapchat can engage students and encourage them to practice English outside the classroom.

Needs Analysis of Saudi EFL Female Students: A Case Study of Qassim University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alqunayeer, Huda Sulieman; Zamir, Sadia

2016-01-01

This research study analyzes the target needs of EFL female Saudi students to choose EFL as their specialization. The population of the research is the female students enrolled in Bachelors in English program, at the Department of English Language and Translation, Qassim University Saudi Arabia. Adapting the Hutchinson and Waters model of Needs…

The Effectiveness of Using Mobile on EFL Learners' Reading Practices in Najran University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazaea, Abduljalil Nasr; Alzubi, Ali Abbas

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the efficiency of using mobile technology in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading classroom of 30 male students at Preparatory Year, Najran University. Specifically, the study aims to explore the role of this new integrated method in enhancing the EFL learners' reading practices. Integrating Freebody and Luke's…

From Particular to Popular: Facilitating EFL Mobile-Supported Cooperative Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lan, Yu-Ju; Sung, Yao-Ting; Chang, Kuo-En

2013-01-01

This paper reports the results of an action research-based study that adapted a mobile-supported cooperative reading system into regular English as a foreign language (EFL) classes at one Taiwanese elementary school. The current study was comprised of two stages: adaptation and evaluation. During the adaptation stage, a mobile-supported…

Difficulties EFL Jordanian University Students Encounter in Translating English Idioms into Arabic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alrishan, Amal; Smadi, Oqlah

2015-01-01

This study aimed at investigating the difficulties that Jordanian EFL University students encounter in translating English idioms into Arabic. The participants of the study were all M.A translation students at Yarmouk University and the University of Jordan who were selected purposefully. The total number of the students who participated in the…

Listening Strategy Use and Linguistic Patterns in Listening Comprehension by EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shang, Hui-Fang

2008-01-01

This study mainly focused on investigating listening strategy uses at different proficiency levels for different linguistic patterns. Three main questions were examined in regards to Taiwanese listeners of English as a foreign language (EFL): (1) For listeners with different proficiency levels, which pattern may result in a higher level of…

Perceptual Learning Style Preferences for EFL Students in Junior Colleges in Taiwan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Hsiang-Pao; Shen, Shan-shan

This study investigated the learning style preferences of Taiwanese junior college students of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and student characteristics, language experience, and attitudes that appeared related to learning style preference. Subjects were approximately 1,000 EFL students in the first through third years of study at seven…

Strategies Used by Jordanian EFL University Graduate Students in Translating Idioms into Arabic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smadi, Oqlah; Alrishan, Amal

2015-01-01

This study aimed at investigating the strategies utilized by Jordanian EFL University graduate students in translating idioms into Arabic. The participants of the study were all M.A translation students at the University of Jordan and Yarmouk University who were selected purposefully. The total number of the students was 90 who participated in a…

A Narrative Inquiry of Identity Formation of EFL University Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Xiangli

2016-01-01

Drawing on narrative inquiry, the present study aims to investigate the trajectory of identity formation of EFL university teachers. Two types of data are collected. One type comes from life histories of Hyland (2014), Nunan (2011) and Widdowson (2009), and the other type comes from semi-structured interviews with three excellent university…

Applications of Universal Grammar (UG) in the ESL/EFL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkwold, Lorne O.

2007-01-01

The article proposes Stern's (1983) framework for classifying issues related to instruction in order to ascertain the relevance of Universal Grammar (UG) in the ESL/EFL classroom. Discussed in this article, particularly as UG pertains to them, are issues related to: (a) L1 transfer; (b) teaching rules and giving error correction versus presenting…

Students' Perceptions of Effective EFL Teachers in University Settings in Cyprus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kourieos, Stella; Evripidou, Dimitris

2013-01-01

This study sought to identify what characteristics and teaching behaviours describe effective EFL University teachers as perceived by Cypriot students. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and focus group interviews. Findings have provided evidence that effective language teaching seems to be related to a more learner-centred approach…

Sustained Silent Reading in University Courses in EFL for Academic Purposes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ducy-Perez, Ellen

This paper summarizes a study conducted to determine whether sustained silent reading (SSR) can contribute to improvement in grammar and reading comprehension in university academic English as a foreign language (EFL) courses. A total of 186 beginning and intermediate students enrolled in the English for Academic Purposes program at the…

Correlations between Taiwanese University EFL Learners' Frequency of Use of Language Learning Strategies and Their Pragmatic Awareness and Grammatical Awareness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Wei-Teh

2010-01-01

The problem: Many previous studies have pointed out that EFL learners tend to face communication breakdowns with native speakers because their traditional classroom and textbooks are not able to provide learners with sufficient pragmatically appropriate input (Bardovi-Harlig, 1996; Rose, 1994, 1997). On the contrary, they are exposed to rich input…

Influence of Grade Level on Perceptual Learning Style Preferences and Language Learning Strategies of Taiwanese English as a Foreign Language Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Mei-Ling

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between grade level, perceptual learning style preferences, and language learning strategies among Taiwanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in grades 7 through 9. Three hundred and ninety junior high school students participated in this study. The instruments for data…

Promoting Communicative Skills and Cultural Understanding among Saudi EFL Students Joining Summer English Programs at US Universities: A Web-Based Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-wossabi, Sami Ali Nasr

2016-01-01

As English is one of the most spoken languages in the globally interconnected world of today, many Saudi universities are enrolling their EFL students in summer intensive English programs at US universities. The main purpose is to enhance their EFL students' oral competencies. This new policy is, in fact, the result of the failure of CLT practices…

Investigation of Teaching Competencies to Enhance Students' EFL Learning at Taif University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tawalbeh, Tha'er Issa; Ismail, Nasrah Mahmoud

2014-01-01

The paper aimed to investigate the teaching competencies implemented by instructors to enhance EFL students at Taif University in Saudi Arabia. The first two questions discussed the degree of implementing the teaching competencies, which either enhance or hinder learning. The third and fourth questions were an attempt to examine if there were any…

Promoting University Students' Engagement in Learning through Instructor-Initiated EFL Writing Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mutwarasibo, Faustin

2014-01-01

This article examines how to promote university students' engagement in learning by means of instructor-initiated English as a foreign language (EFL) writing groups. The research took place in Rwanda and was undertaken as a case study involving 34 second-year undergraduate students, divided into 12 small working groups, and one instructor. The…

Conceptions of Critical Thinking from University EFL Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marin, Matias A.; de la Pava, Luisa

2017-01-01

Critical Thinking has become an educational and social ideal. English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching has not been apart from the discussion on the importance of implementing Critical Thinking into the educational process. However, research on Critical Thinking has broadly been carried out in other fields of knowledge rather than in EFL.…

Examining EFL Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and the Adoption of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning: A Partial Least Square Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Liwei

2016-01-01

This study examines EFL (English as a foreign Language) teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and how such knowledge affects the adoption of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL). A total of 158 in-service Taiwanese English teachers were surveyed. Two frameworks were employed to examine latent constructs: TPACK and the…

EFL Learning and Identity Development: A Longitudinal Study in 5 Universities in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gao, Yihong; Jia, Zengyan; Zhou, Yan

2015-01-01

Combining psychological and social perspectives and using mixed methods, this 4-year longitudinal study examined the EFL learning and self-identity development of about 1,000 students from 5 universities in Beijing, China. The self-designed questionnaire, administered 5 times during the 4 years, consisted of 7 identity categories of identity…

Code-Switching in Vietnamese University EFL Teachers' Classroom Instruction: A Pedagogical Focus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grant, Lynn E.; Nguyen, Thi Hang

2017-01-01

This study examines the under-explored phenomenon in Vietnamese tertiary settings of code-switching practised by EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers in classroom instruction, as well as their awareness of this practice. Among the foreign languages taught and learned in Vietnamese universities, English is the most popular. The research…

In Their Own Voices: Reflections of Native and Nonnative English Speaking TESOL Graduate Students on On-Line Pragmatic Instruction to EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eslami, Zohreh R.

2011-01-01

In this paper I discuss a study that involved incorporating instructional pragmatics into an ESL Methodology course. Graduate students who were taking an ESL Methodology course were required to read the literature on interlanguage and instructional pragmatics and teach requestive speech act strategies to Taiwanese EFL students through…

Listening: The Ignored Skill in EFL Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ulum, Ömer Gökhan

2015-01-01

Listening is clearly the weakest skill of EFL students who encounter different kinds of listening problems. It is the most underestimated skill in EFL context, though. This study seeks to examine the listening problems faced by a group of first year university students whose English proficiency level is elementary. 50 EFL students from three…

Using the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy plus to Develop University EFL Students' Vocabulary Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khodary, Manal Mohamed

2017-01-01

This study was carried out to examine the effectiveness of using the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy Plus (VSSPlus) on developing university EFL students' vocabulary learning. It adopted the quasi experimental design which included two groups design. The participants were first level students at Languages and Translation Department, Arar…

Quizlet in the EFL Classroom: Enhancing Academic Vocabulary Acquisition of Japanese University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dizon, Gilbert

2016-01-01

This study examined the efficacy of using Quizlet, a popular online study tool, to develop L2 English vocabulary. A total of 9 Japanese university EFL students participated in the study. The learners studied Coxhead's (2001) academic vocabulary list (AWL) via Quizlet over the course of 10 weeks. Results of the pre- and post-tests revealed that the…

An Exploratory Study on the Digital Identity Formation of Korean University EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Jang Ho; Kim, Heyoung

2014-01-01

The present study aims to sketch the contours of new media ecology for Korean university students as well as to examine how these learners shape and negotiate their digital identity by using social networking services and digital devices. It also investigates their use of digital media for learning English as a foreign language (EFL). In total,…

A Model of Reading Teaching for University EFL Students: Need Analysis and Model Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamra, Arifuddin; Syatriana, Eny

2012-01-01

This study designed a model of teaching reading for university EFL students based on the English curriculum at the Faculty of Languages and Literature and the concept of the team-based learning in order to improve the reading comprehension of the students. What kind of teaching model can help students to improve their reading comprehension? The…

Citation Behaviors Observed in Japanese EFL Students' Argumentative Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamimura, Taeko

2014-01-01

Effective use of outside source texts is one of the key components of successful academic writing. This study aims at clarifying Japanese university EFL students' citation behaviors in producing argumentative writing. Twenty-six Japanese university EFL students wrote an argumentative essay. Their essays were analyzed quantitatively by six…

Effect of Foreign Language Anxiety on Gender and Academic Achievement among Yemeni University EFL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Razak, Norizan Abdul; Yassin, Amr Abdullatif; Maasum, Tengku Nor Rizan Bt Tengku Mohamad

2017-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the gender differences in terms of anxiety among Yemeni university EFL learners. It also aimed to investigate the correlation between the level of anxiety and the academic achievement of the students. The participants of this study were 155 students chosen from the population through stratified random sampling. The…

Willingness to Communicate in English: A Case Study of EFL Students at King Khalid University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahdi, Dawood Ahmed

2014-01-01

The main purpose of learning a foreign language is to use it for meaningful and effective communication both inside and outside the classroom. This paper is devoted to identifying the main communication difficulties faced by EFL students at King Khalid University (KKU) and exploring the reasons that lie behind these difficulties. The paper…

Memorization and EFL Students' Strategies at University Level in Vietnam

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oanh, Duong Thi Hoang; Hien, Nguyen Thu

2006-01-01

Experience and observation as learners and teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) convince us that memorization seems to be one of the learning methods that helps EFL students learn and use the English language, provided that memorization is used appropriately to help learners to internalise what they have learned to apply in actual…

Acculturation Experiences of Taiwanese Students during Exchanges in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Annie (Ya-Ping); Bei, Lienti; DeVaney, Sharon A.

2007-01-01

This phenomenological study examined the acculturation experience of Taiwanese students who attended universities in the United States as exchange students. Hofstede's four dimensions of culture provided a framework for developing questions. Eight exchange students were interviewed. Taiwanese students realized there was a lower power distance…

Prospect for Cell Phones as Instructional Tools in the EFL Classroom: A Case Study of Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Begum, Roksana

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the potentiality of cell phone use in the EFL classroom of Bangladesh as an instructional tool. The researcher conducted a case study on Jahangirnagar University of Bangladesh. For the study, some SMS based class tests were conducted in the English Department of the university where one hundred…

Learning Effects of an Experimental EFL Program in Second Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Charles Xiaoxue; Calandra, Brendan; Hibbard, Susan T.; McDowell Lefaiver, Mary L.

2012-01-01

This paper reports on the effects an experimental English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program in Second Life (SL) had on Chinese student EFL learning. The study took an evaluative approach using quasi-experimental design with participants from one Chinese university and one American university in the southeastern United States. Results indicated…

A Case Study of Chinese University English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Students' Attitudes toward Learning Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, Kenneth Michael

2010-01-01

This qualitative case study investigates Chinese university English in the context of foreign language (EFL) learners' attitudes about video-aided instruction (VAI), video recording instruction, and mobile phone instruction (learning technologies). When I was working as an English teacher in Mainland China, several instructors and students stated…

On Reflective Teaching of EFL Teachers in Local Universities of China--A Case Study of Leshan Normal University, Sichuan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Zou; Ye, Zhou

2016-01-01

Presently, China plays a vital role in the world. Therefore, Chinese passion for English has reached an unprecedented level. Nevertheless, various problems occur in EFL teaching. Thus, EFL teachers must make the teaching qualities better by reflective teaching, an effective way to improving EFL teaching. The paper is to study the definitions,…

Using Key Part-of-Speech Analysis to Examine Spoken Discourse by Taiwanese EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Yen-Liang

2015-01-01

This study reports on a corpus analysis of samples of spoken discourse between a group of British and Taiwanese adolescents, with the aim of exploring the statistically significant differences in the use of grammatical categories between the two groups of participants. The key word method extended to a part-of-speech level using the web-based…

Testing University Learners' Interlanguage Pragmatic Competence in a Chinese EFL Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Lan; Wannaruk, Anchalee

2016-01-01

Speech acts are the major concern of interlanguage pragmatists. The present study aimed to 1) examine the reliability and validity of an interlanguage pragmatic (ILP) competence test on speech acts in a Chinese EFL context, and 2) investigate EFL learners' variations of ILP competence by language proficiency. Altogether 390 students participated…

Multiple Intelligences-Based Planning of EFL Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zebari, Sanan Shero Malo; Allo, Hussein Ali Ahmed; Mohammedzadeh, Behbood

2018-01-01

The present study aimed to set a plan for teaching EFL classes based on the identification of university students' dominant multiple intelligences in EFL classes, and the differences in the types of intelligence between female and male students in terms of their gender. The problem the present study aimed to address is that the traditional concept…

Becoming Researchers: A Narrative Study of Chinese University EFL Teachers' Research Practice and Their Professional Identity Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Yueting

2014-01-01

This article reports on a narrative study of university EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers' research practices and their identity construction as researchers in China. Drawing upon data from narrative frames among 104 teachers and in-depth interviews with four teachers, the study reveals that teachers' increased research engagement, as…

Turkish EFL Instructors' Perceived Importance of Motivational Strategies: A Descriptive Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ustuk, Özgehan

2018-01-01

This study investigated how important Turkish EFL teachers perceive the ELT motivational strategies that are implemented in adult EFL teaching. 52 EFL instructors working in preparatory schools of foreign languages in four state universities in Turkey participated in the current study. The perceived importance of ELT motivational strategies was…

Attitudes of Jordanian Students towards Using Group Work in EFL Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ababneh, Sana'

2017-01-01

This paper addresses itself to the outcomes of a field study which was carried out to identify Jordanian EFL students' attitudes towards using group work in EFL classrooms. The study sample consisted of 179 students enrolled in English 101, an elementary language skills course taught at Al- Huson University College, Al -Balqa' Applied University,…

Integrating Vocabulary Learning Strategy Instruction into EFL Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lai, Ying-Chun

2013-01-01

In the current study, explicit vocabulary learning strategy instruction was integrated into an EFL curriculum to investigate its effects on learners' vocabulary acquisition. A total of 180 EFL learners enrolled in the freshmen English program at a university in Taiwan participated in the study. The participants were guided to explore and practice…

The Relationship between Listening Strategies Used by Iranian EFL Freshman University Students and Their Listening Proficiency Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bidabadi, Farinaz Shirani; Yamat, Hamidah

2011-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to identify Iranian EFL freshman university students' listening proficiency levels and the listening strategies they employed to investigate the relationship between these two variables. A total of 92 freshmen were involved in this study. The Oxford Placement Test was employed to identify the learners'…

The Role of Academic Motivation in Predicting Preservice EFL Teachers' Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkagaç, Senay; Öz, Hüseyin

2017-01-01

This study sought to investigate the possible relationship between academic motivation and academic achievement among preservice English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. A total of 200 university students enrolled in an EFL teacher education program at a major state university voluntarily participated in the study. Data were collected using…

Effects of CDA Instruction on EFL Analytical Reading Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazaea, Abduljalil Nasr; Alzubi, Ali Abbas

2017-01-01

Discourse-based approaches to EFL reading have shifted the students' passive role to become 'text resistant'. This paper examines the extent to which Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) enhances analytical reading practices in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading context among Preparatory Year students at Najran University. The paper…

Toward a Taxonomy of Errors in Iranian EFL Learners' Basic-Level Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salmani Nodoushan, Mohammad Ali

2018-01-01

This study attempted at classifying common errors found in the written performance of lower- and upper-intermediate Iranian EFL learners. It engaged a rich corpus of EFL writing samples collected over a course of 20 years (between 1992 and 2011) from lower- and upper-intermediate EFL learners studying at various Iranian universities to provide a…

Effects of Three Questioning Strategies on EFL Reading Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El-Koumy, Abdel Salam A.

This study investigated the effects of three classroom questioning strategies on the reading comprehension of learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Subjects were 86 first-year EFL students in the school of education of Suez Canal University (Egypt), randomly assigned to three treatment groups. The same instructor taught the three groups…

Enhancing Sensitivity to Human Needs: EFL Learners in Taiwan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Li-Te

It is proposed that English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) instruction can go beyond learning driven by structures and tests and address universal human needs through an orientation toward meaning and discussion. Application of the concepts of the Whole Language Approach to EFL instruction is explored, drawing on experience with junior college…

A Cross-Cultural Study of Taiwanese and Kuwaiti EFL Students' Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Shu-hua; Alrabah, Sulaiman

2009-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to relate the findings of a survey of learning styles and multiple intelligences that was distributed among two different cultural groups of Freshman-level EFL students in Taiwan and Kuwait in order to confirm its consistency for developing teaching techniques appropriate for each group's general profiles. Data…

Vocabulary Learning Strategies of Iranian Upper-Intermediate EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khatib, Mohammad; Hassanzadeh, Mohammad; Rezaei, Saeed

2011-01-01

This study examines the preferred vocabulary learning strategies of Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners. In order to identify the aforementioned group in terms of language proficiency, a TOEFL test was administered to a population of 146 undergraduate EFL students at the university of Vali-e-Asr in Rafsanjan, Iran. Those scoring above 480 were…

Acculturation Level, Perceived English Fluency, Perceived Social Support Level, and Depression among Taiwanese International Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dao, Tam K.; Lee, Donghyuck; Chang, Huang L.

2007-01-01

This study examined the relationship between acculturation, perceived English fluency, social support, and depression among 112 graduate Taiwanese international students. Ordinary Least Squares analyses were conducted on 112 graduate Taiwanese international students from a university in southeastern United States. Results indicated that those…

Why Do They Want to Become English Teachers: A Case Study of Taiwanese EFL Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Chih-Min

2016-01-01

Although it has been argued that knowledge on initial motivation for choosing teaching as a career is necessary for improving teacher education programmes and teacher education policies, there is a lack of research investigating this issue in the fields of English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL). Grounded in Watt…

A Case Study about Communication Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Grace Hui Chin

2011-01-01

The primary purpose of this case study was to identify what were Taiwanese University English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' perceptions about learning communication strategies. This study collected qualitative data about students' beliefs and attitudes as they learned communication strategies. The research question guiding the study was:…

EFL Oral Communication Teaching Practices: A Close Look at University Teachers and A2 Students' Perspectives in Thailand and a Critical Eye from Serbia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruner, David Allen; Sinwongsuwat, Kemtong; Radic-Bojanic, Biljana

2015-01-01

This paper aimed to reexamine current EFL oral communication teaching practices from the perspectives of teachers and A2 students at two universities, namely Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Thailand and University of Novi Sad (UNS), Serbia. The main objectives were: (1) to analyze current practices from the perspectives of teachers and…

Chinese and Taiwanese International College Students' Participation in Social Organizations: Implications for College Counseling Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsai, Pei-Chun; Wong, Y. Joel

2012-01-01

This qualitative focus group study explored the meaning of Chinese and Taiwanese international students' lived experiences in social organizations. Participants were 9 Chinese and Taiwanese international college students in a midwestern U.S. university. The analyses uncovered 7 themes: social support, recreation, emotional support, practical…

Effectiveness of a Metacognitive Reading Strategies Program for Improving Low Achieving EFL Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ismail, Nasrah Mahmoud; Tawalbeh, Tha'er Issa

2015-01-01

As the training of language learners was a main concern of EFL teachers, this study aimed to assess the effectiveness of metacognitive reading strategies instruction (MRSI) on Taif University EFL students who achieved low results in reading. The final sample of this study was (21) female university students. The sample was divided into two groups;…

Why Taiwanese Companies and Foundations Donate to Public Colleges and Universities in Taiwan: An Investigation of Donation Incentives, Strategies, and Decision-Making Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Hsien Hong

2009-01-01

The purpose of this investigation was to build the blueprint of Taiwanese public higher education's fundraising. This study applied three surveys (NSH, NSC, and NSF) to three populations' samples (public universities, corporations, and foundations in Taiwan) as well as qualitative interviews toward these three populations in order to explore…

A Study of Comparatively Low Achievement Students' Bilingualized Dictionary Use and Their English Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Szu-An

2016-01-01

This study investigates bilingualized dictionary use of Taiwanese university students. It aims to examine EFL learners' overall dictionary use behavior and their perspectives on book dictionary as well as the necessity of advance guidance in using dictionaries. Data was collected through questionnaires and analyzed by SPSS 15.0. Findings indicate…

Students' Perspectives on E-Portfolio Development and Implementation: A Case Study in Taiwanese Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsieh, Pei-Hsuan; Lee, Chun-I; Chen, Wei-Fan

2015-01-01

This study explores students' perceptions related to the implementation of e-portfolios in the context of Taiwanese higher education. Thirty Taiwanese university students were interviewed, and data analysis includes 14 interviewees' e-portfolios and responses to 281 valid surveys from non-interviewed students. The study presents students'…

Teaching Oral English in Higher Education: Challenges to EFL Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Zan; Goh, Christine

2011-01-01

This paper investigates difficulties that teachers encounter in teaching oral English in higher education in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Open-ended question surveys and semi-structured interviews were used to elicit data. There were 331 EFL teachers from 44 universities in 22 cities across China that responded to the survey…

Identifying Taiwanese University Students' Physics Learning Profiles and Their Role in Physics Learning Self-Efficacy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Tzung-Jin; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2015-08-01

The main purposes of this study were to identify Taiwanese university students' physics learning profiles in terms of their critical conceptions of learning physics and to compare their physics learning self-efficacy with the different learning profiles. A total of 250 Taiwanese undergraduates who were majoring in physics participated in this study and were invited to complete two instruments, physics learning profile and physics learning self-efficacy (PLSE). The main results indicated that, first, the two instruments developed in this study had satisfactory validity and reliability. Second, three fundamental physics learning profiles, the reproductive, transitional, and constructive profiles, were characterized based on the cluster analysis. It is also evident that the three learning profiles demonstrated different levels of self-efficacy for the five PLSE dimensions. The students with a reproductive profile tended to possess the lowest PLSE across the five dimensions. The students with a transitional profile may possess higher confidence in higher-order cognitive skills and laboratory activities than those with a reproductive profile. However, only those with a constructive profile, highlighting a comprehensive understanding of physics knowledge/concepts as well as de-emphasizing physics learning as preparing for tests and calculating and practising tutorial problems, possessed stronger PLSE in applying what they learned to real-world contexts as well as in scientifically communicating with others.

An Automatic Collocation Writing Assistant for Taiwanese EFL Learners: A Case of Corpus-Based NLP Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Yu-Chia; Chang, Jason S.; Chen, Hao-Jan; Liou, Hsien-Chin

2008-01-01

Previous work in the literature reveals that EFL learners were deficient in collocations that are a hallmark of near native fluency in learner's writing. Among different types of collocations, the verb-noun (V-N) one was found to be particularly difficult to master, and learners' first language was also found to heavily influence their collocation…

Apps and EFL: A Case Study on the Use of Smartphone Apps to Learn English by Four Japanese University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mindog, Emily

2016-01-01

This study explores, describes and analyzes the utilization of smartphone apps by four Japanese university students to support learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Findings indicate that intermediate language learners use apps to access content and communicate on SNS and are not keen on studying discrete language parts. Participants…

Safety leadership in the teaching laboratories of electrical and electronic engineering departments at Taiwanese Universities.

PubMed

Wu, Tsung-Chih

2008-01-01

Safety has always been one of the principal goals in teaching laboratories. Laboratories cannot serve their educational purpose when accidents occur. The leadership of department heads has a major impact on laboratory safety, so this study discusses the factors affecting safety leadership in teaching laboratories. This study uses a mail survey to explore the perceived safety leadership in electrical and electronic engineering departments at Taiwanese universities. An exploratory factor analysis shows that there are three main components of safety leadership, as measured on a safety leadership scale: safety controlling, safety coaching, and safety caring. The descriptive statistics also reveals that among faculty, the perception of department heads' safety leadership is in general positive. A two-way MANOVA shows that there are interaction effects on safety leadership between university size and instructor age; there are also interaction effects between presence of a safety committee and faculty gender and faculty age. It is therefore necessary to assess organizational factors when determining whether individual factors are the cause of differing perceptions among faculty members. The author also presents advice on improving safety leadership for department heads at small universities and at universities without safety committees.

Second Language Listening Instruction: Comparing a Strategies-Based Approach with an Interactive, Strategies/Bottom-Up Skills Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeldham, Michael

2016-01-01

This quasi-experimental study compared a strategies approach to second language listening instruction with an interactive approach, one combining a roughly equal balance of strategies and bottom-up skills. The participants were lower-intermediate-level Taiwanese university EFL learners, who were taught for 22 hours over one and a half semesters.…

A Survey of EFL Instructors' Mediative Knowledge across Contexts of Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rezaee-Manesh, Najafquli; Tahriri, Abdorreza

2014-01-01

The current mixed-method study probed EFL instructors' mediative knowledge across four different contexts of teaching including language institutes, universities, and senior and junior high schools in Iran. To this end, 181 EFL instructors, 80 males and 101 females, completed mediative closed-questionnaire which composed of twelve items to measure…

The Relationship between Iranian EFL Learners' Stress and Their Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peyman, Somayeh; Sadighi, Firooz

2011-01-01

This investigation intended to find out the relationship between EFL learners' stress and their reading comprehension. The subjects who included ninety EFL juniors from Shiraz Azad University were asked to answer a standardized reading comprehension test and a stress questionnaire. After finding out the results of stress questionnaire, 10% of the…

The Flipped Classroom Model to Develop Egyptian EFL Students' Listening Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmad, Samah Zakareya

2016-01-01

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of the flipped classroom model on Egyptian EFL students' listening comprehension. A one-group pre-posttest design was adopted. Thirty-four 3rd-year EFL students at the Faculty of Education, Suez University, were pretested on listening comprehension before the experiment and then posttested after…

Speaking L2 in EFL Classes: Performance, Identity and Alterity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forman, Ross

2014-01-01

When teachers and students use L2 in Expanding Circle, Asian EFL classes, what kind of interpersonal roles do they perform, and what does this mean for the development of L2-mediated identity? The notion of alterity, or otherness, is used here to analyse the extent to which identity work occurs in EFL classes located in a Thai university context.…

An Exploration of Asynchronous and Synchronous Feedback Modes in EFL Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shang, Hui-Fang

2017-01-01

In the English as a foreign language (EFL) writing context, most of the research studies on the feedback process are conducted in a face-to-face context and few research studies have been conducted to investigate what actually happens in online feedback conditions. Thus, this study aimed to compare 44 EFL university students' experience of…

Risk Factors for Suicide in Taiwanese College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gau, Susan Shur-Fen; Chen, Ying-Yeh; Tsai, Fang-Ju; Lee, Ming-Been; Chiu, Yen-Nan; Soong, Wei-Tsuen; Hwu, Hai-Gwo

2008-01-01

Objective: The authors investigated the personality characteristics, psychopathology, parenting style, and family function among Taiwanese college students with high, moderate, and low suicidal risks. Participants: The sample included 2,919 first-year college students (1,414 men, 1,505 women) from a university in Taipei, Taiwan. Methods: A…

Using Blended Learning for Enhancing EFL Prospective Teachers' Pedagogical Knowledge and Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Badawi, Mohamed Farrag

2009-01-01

The basic objective of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of using blended learning model in developing EFL prospective teachers' pedagogical knowledge and performance. The study sample included 38 EFL Saudi prospective teachers (fourth-year students) at the Faculty of Education & Arts, University of Tabuk, KSA. To collect…

Optimizing EFL Learners' Sensitizing Reading Skill: Development of Local Content-Based Textbook

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arifani, Yudhi

2016-01-01

The development of local wisdom based sensitizing reading material is aimed at penetrating one of the imperishable gaps between authentic and non-authentic reading materials dispute in an EFL teaching context. Promoting EFL learners' needs for the first semester students of English department at university level, who rarely or even never have a…

Reflective Thinking, Self-Efficacy, Self-Esteem and Academic Achievement of Iranian EFL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asakereh, Ahmad; Yousofi, Nouroddin

2018-01-01

The present study investigated the relationship between reflective thinking, general self-efficacy, self-esteem and academic achievement of Iranian EFL students. To this end, 132 Iranian EFL students from three state universities were recruited. To collect the data, the participants completed four questionnaires, namely background information…

Towards an Eclectic Framework for Teaching EFL Writing in a Chinese Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yan, Yi

2010-01-01

The challenges of writing itself and lack of appropriate teaching methodology demotivate EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners in some Chinese universities to write more, especially as the only incentive for students to write is the compulsory tests. The main objectives of this article are: (1) to discuss the background of the EFL learners…

Influence of Speech Anxiety on Oral Communication Skills among ESL/EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khan, Said Muhammad

2015-01-01

The realization of speech anxiety among ESL/EFL learners is important. Once understood, these feelings of fear or nervousness may be relieved and the desired objectives of learning the target language may be achieved. The study has attempted to measure the level of anxiety among ESL/EFL learners at HITEC University, Taxila, Pakistan. The current…

Integration of Web 2.0 Tools in a VLE to Improve the EFL Spanish University Entrance Examination Results: A Quasiexperimental Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin-Monje, Elena

2014-01-01

The article shows the results of a research project designed to improve the results in the English section of the Spanish University Admission Examination, or PAU, Prueba de Acceso a la Universidad (EFL-PAU henceforth). Using a quasi-experimental methodology relevant data was collected from both groups during a whole academic year just before…

Assessing Taiwanese College Students' Intercultural Sensitivity, EFL Interests, Attitudes toward Native English Speakers, Ethnocentrism, and Their Interrelation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Su, Ya-Chen

2018-01-01

The development of travel opportunities and technology in the 21st century has brought people from different cultures and countries more opportunities to closely interact. The purposes of the study are to assess the degree of Taiwanese college students' intercultural sensitivities, ethnocentrism, and attitudes toward native English speakers (NES)…

A Study of EFL Curriculum of China's Science and Technology Institutes under Graded Teaching Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Chunyan; Han, Fei

2018-01-01

Recent years, most universities and colleges have been reforming the English as a foreign language (EFL) curriculum system in China. Some reformed EFL curriculum into English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses, for instance, while some conducted a graded teaching model in EFL teaching. However, the effect of this reform was not so good,…

The Effect of Expansion of Vision Span on Reading Speed: A Case Study of EFL Major Students at King Khalid University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kana'an, Basim Hamdan Ibrahim; Rab, Salahud Din Abdul; Siddiqui, Ahlullah

2014-01-01

The objective of the study is to demonstrate how and to what extent the expansion of vision span could be a decisive factor in enhancing the reading speed of EFL major students in the English Department at King Khalid University while maintaining their previous level of comprehension. The reading speed of students in the English Department at KKU…

Political Ideology and Taiwanese School Curricula

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Su, Ya-Chen

2006-01-01

Taiwanese textbooks play a central role in Taiwanese education. In the wake of the political reform and social protest movements of the 1970s and 1980s that prompted Taiwanese educational reform, critics have charged that traditional curricula tend to reinforce the dominant national Chinese cultural identity. The purpose of this article is to…

EFL Teachers' and Learners' Perceptions of Grammatical Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alhaysony, Maha; Alhaisoni, Eid

2017-01-01

This paper investigates grammatical difficulty from the perspective of Saudi university students, of EFL as well as from the perspective of university teachers. It aims to find out which English grammar features are more difficult/less difficult than others. Furthermore, it attempts to determine the reasons and causes that account for such grammar…

What Makes a Successful EFL Teacher in China? A Case Study of an English Language Teacher at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Zhi

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the traits of a successful EFL teacher at a Chinese University by collecting qualitative data, including surveys with questionnaires and interviews, from Miss H and a group of her students and her colleagues. The purpose is to detect what special qualities she has and what other roles she undertakes in her teaching…

What Teachers Say about Addressing Culture in Their EFL Teaching Practices: The Vietnamese Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nguyen, Long; Harvey, Sharon; Grant, Lynn

2016-01-01

This paper examines Vietnamese EFL teachers' beliefs about the role of culture in language teaching. It also considers how they address culture in their teaching practices in a Vietnamese university. Ethnographic data collected from semi-structured interviews indicated that opportunities for culture to find its way into EFL classroom activities…

Shaping Learner Contributions in an EFL Classroom: Implications for L2 Classroom Interactional Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Can Daskin, Nilüfer

2015-01-01

This study investigated the interactional patterns for shaping learner contributions in an EFL classroom with reference to Walsh's classroom interactional competence (CIC). In doing so, an EFL class at an English preparatory school in a Turkish state university was both videotaped and audiotaped in the course of six classroom hours. Conversation…

Self-Efficacy and Anxiety within an EFL Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dogan, Cemile

2016-01-01

The current study is a quantitative research that aims to investigate the university students' self-efficacy levels and their relation to their anxiety within an EFL context. To do this, a quantitative research was conducted to scrutinize the self-efficacy and anxiety levels of students at a state university. The participants of the study were 150…

A Structural Equation Modeling of EFL Learners' Goal Orientation, Metacognitive Awareness, and Self-Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zafarmand, Atefeh; Ghanizadeh, Afsaneh; Akbari, Omid

2014-01-01

This article sets out to examine the relationship between EFL learners' goal orientation, metacognitive awareness and self-efficacy in a single framework. One hundred fifteen EFL students from two universities of Mashhad, a city in north-eastern Iran took part in this study. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to examine the…

EFL Teachers' Perceptions on Using ICT in Their Teaching: To Use or to Reject?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silviyanti, Tengku Maya; Yusuf, Yunisrina Qismullah

2015-01-01

This study focused on identifying EFL teachers' perceptions on the use of ICT in their teaching. A number of 42 EFL teachers from two state universities in Indonesia were involved. A closed-ended questionnaire based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw, 1989) was distributed and interviews were conducted. The…

Learning English Pragmatics in China: An Investigation into Chinese EFL Learners' Perceptions of Pragmatics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuan, Yifeng; Tangen, Donna; Mills, Kathy A.; Lidstone, John

2015-01-01

This paper reports the findings of a study investigating Chinese English language learners' perceptions of pragmatics in the EFL learning context in China. A total of 237 Chinese EFL first--year university students participated in the study. A questionnaire and focus group interviews were used to collect data about learners' pragmatics insights…

An Exploration of Speaking Anxiety with Kurdish University EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, Nehad Faisal

2016-01-01

The issue of language learning anxiety has been widely researched and investigated in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) settings. However, there have been very few studies conducted on this issue in Kurdistan, specifically about speaking anxiety in English classes. This study, therefore, aims to investigate Kurdish students' perceptions about…

Orienting EFL Teachers: Principles Arising from an Evaluation of an Induction Program in a Japanese University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenton-Smith, Ben; Torpey, Michael John

2013-01-01

Despite the ubiquity of teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) globally and the weight of evidence about the importance of training for new expatriate staff in international settings, the process of orienting EFL instructors to new workplaces and unfamiliar cultural surroundings has yet to be researched. This article presents the results…

Antibacterial activity of propolins from Taiwanese green propolis.

PubMed

Chen, Yue-Wen; Ye, Siou-Ru; Ting, Chieh; Yu, Yu-Hsiang

2018-04-01

Taiwanese green propolis is a prenylated flavonoid rich honeybee product and propolins isolated from Taiwanese green propolis exert a broad spectrum of biological activities, such as anti-cancer and anti-oxidant. However, the anti-bacterial effects of Taiwanese green propolis or propolins are still poorly understood. In the current study, the antibacterial effects of Taiwanese green propolis and propolins were evaluated. Results show that the maximum dry matter yields of Taiwanese green propolis were observed in the 95% and 99.5% ethanol extracts compared to other extraction methods. Consistently, the highest concentration of propolins C, D, F and G from Taiwanese green propolis was obtained in 95% and 99.5% ethanol extracts. Propolins inhibited the growth of gram-positive bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Listeria monocytogenes and Paenibacillus larvae). The average minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of propolins from ethanol extracts were 20 μg/ml. Among the propolins, propolin C had the highest antibacterial activity. Furthermore, Taiwanese green propolis also showed antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). In conclusion, these results demonstrate that Taiwanese green propolis and propolins have significant antibacterial activity, particularly against gram-positive bacterial strains. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Using Wikis to Promote Collaborative EFL Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Zelilha; Yildiz, Senem

2014-01-01

This study focuses on the use of wikis in collaborative writing projects in foreign language learning classrooms. A total of 34 intermediate level university students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) were asked to accomplish three different wiki-based collaborative writing tasks, (argumentative, informative and decision-making) working…

The Impact of Time-Series Diagnostic Tests on the Writing Ability of Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atashgahi, Bahareh Molazem

2014-01-01

This study aimed to show whether administering a battery of time-series diagnostic tests (screening) has any impact on Iranian EFL learners' writing ability. The study was conducted on the intermediate EFL learners at Islamic Azad University North Tehran branch. The researcher administered a homogenizing test in order to exclude the exceptional…

Re-Defining Language Teacher Cognition through a Data-Driven Model: The Case of Three EFL Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Öztürk, Gökhan; Gürbüz, Nurdan

2017-01-01

This study examined the main sources of the participant English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' cognitions, their classroom practices and the impact of institutional context on these practices. The participants included three Turkish EFL instructors working at English preparatory programs at university level. The data were collected through…

Detection of Common Errors in Turkish EFL Students' Writing through a Corpus Analytic Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demirel, Elif Tokdemir

2017-01-01

The present study aims to explore Turkish EFL students' major writing difficulties by analyzing the frequent writing errors in academic essays. Accordingly, the study examined errors in a corpus of 150 academic essays written by Turkish EFL students studying at the Department of English Language and Literature at a public university in Turkey. The…

EFL Teachers' Perception of University Students' Motivation and ESP Learning Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dja'far, Veri Hardinansyah; Cahyono, Bambang Yudi; Bashtomi, Yazid

2016-01-01

This research aimed at examining Indonesian EFL Teachers' perception of students' motivation and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) learning achievement. It also explored the strategies applied by teachers based on their perception of students' motivation and ESP learning achievement. This research involved 204 students who took English for…

Exploring the Causes of Listening Comprehension Anxiety from EFL Saudi Learners' Perspectives: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Otair, Ibrahim; Aziz, Noor Hashima Abd

2017-01-01

Anxiety is an important factor in foreign language learning. Very few studies have been done on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Saudi students in listening classes. Therefore, this pilot study was aimed at exploring the causes of listening comprehension anxiety from EFL Saudi learners' perspectives at Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia. The…

Taiwanese Married Women's Lived Experience of Zen Meditation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, Hsin-Ru

2014-01-01

Due to the impact of Confucianism on Taiwanese society, Taiwanese married women play multiple family roles including being a daughter-in-law, wife, mother, and working woman. Having to play multiple roles usually brings Taiwanese married women burdens and stress. It is reported that Zen meditation improves people's physical and mental wellbeing.…

Correlations between Learners' Initial EFL Proficiency and Variables of Clicker-Aided Flipped EFL Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yu, Zhonggen; Yu, Liheng

2017-01-01

Although the flipped class has been hotly discussed, the clicker-aided flipped EFL class (CFEC) still remains a mystery for most scholars. This study aims to determine the correlations between the initial EFL proficiency and other variables of the clicker-aided EFL flipped class. The sample was made up of randomly selected 79 participants (Female…

Taiwanese Early Childhood Educators' Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Ching-Yun

2008-01-01

This study was designed based on a qualitative paradigm to explore the professional development of Taiwanese early childhood educators. The method of phenomenology was employed. The main research question addressed was "How do early childhood educators construe their professional development experience?" Seven Taiwanese early childhood…

Algerian EFL University Teachers' Attitudes towards Computer Assisted Language Learning: The Case of Djilali Liabes University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bouchefra, Miloud; Baghoussi, Meriem

2017-01-01

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is still groping its way into Algerian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom, where Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) are defined in terms of occasional use of computers and data projectors for material presentation in the classroom. Though major issues in the image of the lack of…

The Challenges of Teaching EFL Listening in Iraqi (Kurdistan Region) Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Avci, Rauf; Doghonadze, Natela

2017-01-01

The article is dedicated to the issue of teaching EFL listening in Kurdistan region of Iraq. The important role of listening skills in a FL learning is presented, and the difficulties of listening are analyzed, including language (vocabulary, grammar) and psychological (low motivation and self-confidence as well as a high level of listening…

Self-, Peer-, and Teacher-Assessment: An Investigation into Iranian EFL Students' Attitudes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abolfazli Khonbi, Zainab; Sadeghi, Karim

2013-01-01

Student-directed teaching and assessment techniques are gradually dominating educational systems almost all over the world. This study investigated a cohort of male and female Iranian EFL students' attitudes toward self-, peer-, and teacher-assessment experiences. Sixty three students at Urmia University and Tabriz Islamic Azad University, in the…

An Investigation of the Relationship between Iranian EFL Learners' Cultural Intelligence and Their Performance on the IELTS Listening Modules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rafie, Arezoo; Khosravi, Robab; Nasiri, Mahdi

2016-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Iranian EFL Learners' Cultural intelligence (CQ) and their performance on the IELTS Listening Module. Sixty advanced EFL students majoring in English translation at University of Zanjan were matched for the study through the Oxford Quick Placement Test. Cultural Intelligence Scale developed…

Learner Perceptions of Chinese EFL College Classroom Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peng, Hui

2016-01-01

This study, carried out at a major technological university in China and based on a convenience sample of 116 students, is designed to identify which aspects of their classroom environments had the greatest effect on the students. Students completed a 26-item questionnaire which elicited general as well as specific views on the EFL classroom…

Metatext in Results-and-Discussion Sections of ESL/EFL Research: A Contrastive Analysis of Philippine English, Taiwanese English, and Iranian English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tarrayo, Veronico N.

2011-01-01

This paper looked into the interplay between language and culture based on the metatext categories utilized by the writers in three speech communities: Philippines, Iran, and Taiwan. Specifically, it answered the following subproblems: (1) What metatext categories exist in the results-and-discussion section of ESL/EFL research articles written in…

Emotions that Experienced English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teachers Feel about Their Students, Their Colleagues and Their Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowie, Neil

2011-01-01

This study examines what contribution emotions make to the professional lives of experienced EFL teachers. Interviews with EFL teachers working in Tokyo universities revealed that the teachers had very positive feelings of emotional warmth regarding students, which they expressed through their identity as carers and moral guides. On the other…

Taiwanese medical students' narratives of intercultural professionalism dilemmas: exploring tensions between Western medicine and Taiwanese culture.

PubMed

Ho, Ming-Jung; Gosselin, Katherine; Chandratilake, Madawa; Monrouxe, Lynn V; Rees, Charlotte E

2017-05-01

In an era of globalization, cultural competence is necessary for the provision of quality healthcare. Although this topic has been well explored in non-Western cultures within Western contexts, the authors explore how Taiwanese medical students trained in Western medicine address intercultural professionalism dilemmas related to tensions between Western medicine and Taiwanese culture. A narrative interview method was employed with 64 Taiwanese medical students to collect narratives of professionalism dilemmas. Noting the prominence of culture in students' narratives, we explored this theme further using secondary analysis, identifying tensions between Western medicine and Taiwanese culture and categorizing students' intercultural professionalism dilemmas according to Friedman and Berthoin Antal's 'intercultural competence' framework: involving combinations of advocacy (i.e., championing one's own culture) and inquiry (i.e., exploring one's own and others' cultures). One or more intercultural dilemmas were identified in nearly half of students' professionalism dilemma narratives. Qualitative themes included: family relations, local policy, end-of-life care, traditional medicine, gender relations and Taiwanese language. Of the 62 narratives with sufficient detail for further analysis, the majority demonstrated the 'suboptimal' low advocacy/low inquiry approach (i.e., withdrawal or inaction), while very few demonstrated the 'ideal' high advocacy/high inquiry approach (i.e., generating mutual understanding, so 'intercultural competence'). Though nearly half of students' professionalism narratives concerned intercultural dilemmas, most narratives represented disengagement from intercultural dilemmas, highlighting a possible need for more attention on intercultural competence training in Taiwan. The advocacy/inquiry framework may help educators to address similar disconnects between Western medicine and non-Western cultures in other contexts.

Teaching Local Lore in EFL Class: New Approaches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yarmakeev, Iskander E.; Pimenova, Tatiana S.; Zamaletdinova, Gulyusa R.

2016-01-01

This paper is dedicated to the up-to-date educational problem, that is, the role of local lore in teaching EFL to University students. Although many educators admit that local lore knowledge plays a great role in the development of a well-bred and well-educated personality and meets students' needs, the problem has not been thoroughly studied.…

Research Paper Writing Strategies of Professional Japanese EFL Writers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matsumoto, Kazuko

1995-01-01

Four Japanese university professors were interviewed on their strategies for writing a research paper in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Results indicate that these writers use strategies similar to those used by skilled native English writers and proficient writers of English as a Second Language. (35 references) (Author/CK)

Bringing Japan and Taiwan Closer Electronically: A Look at an Intercultural Online Synchronic Chat Task and Its Effect on Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freiermuth, Mark R.; Huang, Hsin-chou

2012-01-01

This study examines the motivation of 20 Japanese students of English as a foreign language (EFL) who chatted electronically with 19 Taiwanese EFL students using online synchronous chat software. In particular, we were interested in four factors that affect task-based motivation: the willingness to communicate, task attractiveness, task…

An Exploration of EFL Teachers' Attributions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghonsooly, Behzad; Ghanizadeh, Afsaneh; Ghazanfari, Mohammad; Ghabanchi, Zargham

2015-01-01

The present study investigated English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' attributions of success and failure. It also set out to investigate whether these attributions vary by teachers' age, teaching experience, gender and educational level. To do so, 200 EFL teachers were selected according to convenience sampling among EFL teachers teaching…

EFL Instructors' Perception and Practices on Learner Autonomy in Some Turkish Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dogan, Gizem; Mirici, Ismail Hakki

2017-01-01

Learner autonomy has become a central ability to develop in learners for a fruitful language learning/teaching process in EFL classes. Particularly, in this world of knowledge, teaching learners how to access resources and how to use them for their learning needs has become increasingly important. Teachers' perception on learner autonomy is…

Taiwanese Students in Malaysia and Interculturality: When National Identities Take Primacy over Individualities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Machart, Regis; Lim, Sep Neo; Yeow, E-Lynn; Chin, Sin Zi

2014-01-01

Using a liquid approach, the authors analyze the intercultural discourse of Taiwanese students who had taken part in a short term exchange program with a Malaysian university. The four participants were graduating in Mandarin Chinese in their home institution and were following a Chinese program in multilingual Malaysia. Data were collected…

EFL Students' Attitudes towards Self-Regulated Learning Strategies in Academic Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abadikhah, Shirin; Aliyan, Zahra; Talebi, Seyed Hassan

2018-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate EFL university students' attitude towards self-regulated learning strategies in writing academic papers. A further aim of the study was to compare the attitudes of two groups of university students (third and fourth years) in the employment of self-regulated learning strategies to find out whether…

A Chinese EFL Teacher's Classroom Assessment Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Xiaoying

2017-01-01

This article reports on a case study of how an experienced EFL teacher assessed her students in her oral English course at a university in China. Data were collected over one semester through document analysis, classroom observation and recording, interviews, and student journals. Analysis revealed that the teacher assessed her students through…

Language Learning Strategies Profiles of EFL Learners in Nepal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dawadi, Saraswati

2017-01-01

This study investigated language learning strategies (LLS) used by English as foreign language (EFL) learners in Nepal. For this study, 370 undergraduate level students from a university in Nepal responded to a questionnaire. The quantitative software SPSS was used to analyse the data. Results indicated that students were moderate users of those…

The Effects of Audiobooks on EFL Students' Listening Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kartal, Galip; Simsek, Harun

2017-01-01

This study investigates the effects of audiobooks on listening comprehension skills of EFL Students, and their attitudes towards using audiobooks in a foreign language classroom. The participants are 66 first-year students of a state university in Turkey. The research follows a pre- post-test control group research design using quantitative and…

EFL Teachers' Self-Initiated Professional Development: Perceptions and Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simegn, Birhanu

2014-01-01

This study assessed perceptions and practices of secondary schools (Grade 9-12) EFL teachers' self-initiated professional development. A questionnaire of likert scale items and open-ended questions was used to gather data from thirty-two teachers. The teachers were asked to fill out the questionnaire at Bahir Dar University during their…

Suggestions for an Effective Drama-Based EFL Course at a Korean University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reed, Jennifer; Seong, Myeong-Hee

2013-01-01

This paper aims to suggest pragmatic instructions for conducting an English course that focuses on speaking and listening skills through using drama as a language teaching activity. Recent research on drama in the ESL/EFL classroom has been about the benefits of drama and methods one can use, but research on techniques, activities, and methodology…

Reiteration Relations in EFL Student Writing: The Case of Moroccan University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hellalet, Nadia

2013-01-01

This study looks into the use of reiteration relations in EFL student writing. The aim is to determine the extent to which Moroccan college students rely on lexical cohesion to produce native-sounding texts. Twenty essays written by college students from two different levels were analyzed quantitatively using Halliday and Hasan's (1976) and Hoey's…

Analyses of Receptive and Productive Korean EFL Vocabulary: Computer-Based Vocabulary Learning Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Scott Sungki

2013-01-01

The present research study investigated the effects of 8 versions of a computer-based vocabulary learning program on receptive and productive knowledge levels of college students. The participants were 106 male and 103 female Korean EFL students from Kyungsung University and Kwandong University in Korea. Students who participated in versions of…

the impact of personality on depression among university students in Taiwan.

PubMed

Chang, Shu-Man; Law, Daniel W; Chang, Her-Kun

2011-01-01

Depression in Taiwanese university students is a significant problem in terms of life and financial costs. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of four selected personality traits, namely interpersonal problems, ideas of being persecuted, social students in introversion, and self depreciation, on the inclination to be depressed among students in Taiwanese university. A self-report survey was administered to students at a Taiwanese university and consisted of three parts: demographics, the Chinese version of the Basic Personality Inventory (BPI), and the Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire. The level of depression among students was assessed, and the relationships among the various variables were explored using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression. Altogether, 255 students successfully completed the survey. Overall, 37.62% of students were suffering from depression, including 4.7% who indicated that they were severely depressed, 18.30% who were moderately depressed, and 14% who were mildly depressed. In a multiple-regression model, ideas of being persecuted and self depreciation were both significant when predicting an inclination to be depressed. Depression is a problem for many university students in Taiwan. Understanding which personality traits are related to depression in Taiwanese students is important for student affair administrators and medical professionals and will help them to prevent and treat this debilitating illness.

Roles of Position, Stress, and Proficiency in L2 Children's Spelling: A Developmental Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hong, Su Chin; Chen, Shu Hui

2011-01-01

This study investigated the roles of phoneme position, stress, and proficiency in L2 spelling development by Taiwanese students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL), an alphabetic writing system typologically different from the learners' L1 logographic system. Structured nonword spelling tests were administered to EFL sixth-graders with…

Scores Assigned by Inexpert EFL Raters to Different Quality EFL Compositions, and the Raters' Decision-Making Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Turgay

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the variability in and reliability of scores assigned to different quality EFL compositions by EFL instructors and their rating behaviors. Using a mixed research design, quantitative data were collected from EFL instructors' ratings of 30 compositions of three different qualities using a holistic scoring rubric.…

Lexical Diversity and the Use of Academic and Lower Frequency Words in the Academic Writing of EFL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akbari, Neda

2017-01-01

This study focuses on lexical diversity and the use of academic and lower frequency words in essays written by EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students enrolled in Years 1 and 2 at the undergraduate university level. The purpose of this study is to find out the extent to which EFL students become more proficient in their use of academic and…

Asynchronous Group Review of EFL Writing: Interactions and Text Revisions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saeed, Murad Abdu; Ghazali, Kamila

2017-01-01

The current paper reports an empirical study of asynchronous online group review of argumentative essays among nine English as foreign language (EFL) Arab university learners joining English in their first, second, and third years at the institution. In investigating online interactions, commenting patterns, and how the students facilitate text…

Iranian EFL Students' Emotional Intelligence and Autonomy in Distance Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valizadeh, Mohammadreza

2016-01-01

The present study aimed to clarify EFL learners' conceptions of autonomy and whether their autonomy was correlated with their emotional intelligence. The research was carried out with the participation of 110 learners at Distance Education University in Urmia, Iran. Questionnaires were emailed to the participants. Results of statistical analyses…

Effect of Instruction in Story Grammar on the Narrative Writing of EFL Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El-Koumy, Abdel Salam A.

A study investigated the effects of explicit versus implicit instruction in story grammar on the narrative writing skills of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students at the university level. Subjects were 83 freshmen enrolled in English at the Faculty of Education at Suez Canal University (Egypt). The subjects were randomly assigned to…

COMPARING 3D FOOT SHAPE MODELS BETWEEN TAIWANESE AND JAPANESE FEMALES.

PubMed

Lee, Yu-Chi; Kouchi, Makiko; Mochimaru, Masaaki; Wang, Mao-Jiun

2015-06-01

This study compares foot shape and foot dimensions between Taiwanese and Japanese females. One hundred Taiwanese and 100 Japanese female 3D foot scanning data were used for comparison. To avoid the allometry effect, data from 23 Taiwanese and 19 Japanese with foot length between 233 to 237 mm were used for shape comparison. Homologous models created for the right feet of the 42 subjects were analyzed by Multidimensional Scaling. The results showed that there were significant differences in the forefoot shape between the two groups, and Taiwanese females had slightly wider feet with straighter big toe than Japanese females. The results of body and foot dimension comparison indicated that Taiwanese females were taller, heavier and had larger feet than Japanese females, while Japanese females had significantly larger toe 1 angle. Since some Taiwanese shoemakers adopt the Japanese shoe sizing system for making shoes, appropriateness of the shoe sizing system was also discussed. The present results provide very useful information for improving shoe last design and footwear fit for Taiwanese females.

Thai EFL Learners' Attitudes and Motivation towards Learning English through Content-Based Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lai Yuanxing; Aksornjarung, Prachamon

2018-01-01

This study examined EFL learners' attitudes and motivation towards learning English through content-based instruction (CBI) at a university in Thailand. Seventy-one (71) university students, the majority sophomores, answered a 6-point Likert scale questionnaire on attitudes and motivation together with six open-ended questions regarding learning…

PA-EFL: A Phonological Awareness Program For Indigenous EFL Students with Hearing Disabilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yonovitz, L.; Yonovitz, A.; Palmer, Juan C.

2000-01-01

Australia's indigenous populations have endemic levels of otitis media with conductive hearing loss. PA-EFL is a phonological awareness program designed for indigenous Australians who are at high risk for hearing disabilities and who are learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Hearing support services were provided; remarkable literacy gains…

Writing II for 2nd Year EFL Student Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abdallah, Mahmoud M. S.

2015-01-01

Writing is a very important skill that should be mastered properly by university students, especially pre-service language teachers (e.g. EFL student teachers). In order to present their ideas efficiently in the context of their academic study, they have to be trained well on how to write meaningful pieces (e.g. essays, academic reports,…

Scaffolding EFL Students' Writing through the Writing Process Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faraj, Avan Kamal Aziz

2015-01-01

This research reports a study conducted at Koya University/English Language Department, and it aims at presenting the effect of scaffolding on EFL students' writing ability through the writing process. In this study, the students have taken the role of writers, so they need to follow the same steps that writers apply during their writing process.…

Trait Based Assessment on Teaching Writing Skill for EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asrobi, Maman; Prasetyaningrum, Ari

2017-01-01

This study was conducted in order to investigate the effectiveness of trait based assessment on teaching writing skill for EFL learners. Designed as pre-experimental study with one group pretest and posttest design, it examined 20 students of the second semester of English Department of "Hamzanwadi University" in the academic year…

Is Peer Review Training Effective in Iranian EFL Students' Revision?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Esmaeeli, Hadiseh; Abasi, Maasumeh; Soori, Afshin

2014-01-01

This study aims to investigate the effect of peer review training on the Iranian EFL students' subsequent revision in an advanced writing class in Larestan Islamic Azad University. After 12 weeks class demonstration, teacher-reviewer conferences with 20 male and female students, the students' first drafts, revisions, and reviewers' comments were…

The Effects of Portfolio Assessment on Writing of EFL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nezakatgoo, Behzad

2011-01-01

The primary focus of this study was to determine the effect of portfolio assessment on final examination scores of EFL students' writing skill. To determine the impact of portfolio-based writing assessment 40 university students who enrolled in composition course were initially selected and divided randomly into two experimental and control…

Indonesian EFL Students' Perspective on Writing Process: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hermilinda Abas, Imelda; Aziz, Noor Hashima Abd

2016-01-01

The study was aimed at understanding the EFL Indonesian students' perspective on the writing process. The pilot study involved two male Indonesian postgraduate students in Universiti Utara Malaysia. The Indonesian students were selected based on the following criteria: (1) had enough knowledge in English writing, indicated by the completion of…

Extraversion and Female EFL Learners as Listeners: A Qualitative Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akdemir, Ahmet Selçuk; Takkaç, Mehmet

2016-01-01

This study aims to investigate extraversion as a personality trait of female EFL learners as listeners. The study is based on qualitative research design. Five students, who were studying as freshman students at English Language Teaching Department of a public university in Turkey, are the participants of the study. All participants have been…

The Relationship between Critical Thinking and EFL Learners' Speaking Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramezani, Raana; Larsari, Ebrahim Ezzati; Kiasi, Mohammad Aghajanzadeh

2016-01-01

The current study sought to investigate the relationship between critical thinking and speaking ability among EFL students at Payame Noor University (PNU) of Rasht. This research concerned determining the fact that whether language students who are as critical thinker, perform better in their speaking ability or not. In order to answer the…

Iranian EFL Teachers' Perceptions of the Difficulties of Implementing CALL

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hedayati, Hora; Marandi, S. Susan

2014-01-01

Despite the spread of reliable technological tools and the availability of computers in Iranian universities, as well as the mounting evidence of the effectiveness of blended learning, many Iranian language teachers are still reluctant to incorporate such tools in their English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. This study inspected the status…

Assessment of Language Learning Strategies Used by Palestinian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khalil, Aziz

2005-01-01

This article assesses the language learning strategies (LLSs) used by 194 high school and 184 university English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners in Palestine, using Oxford's (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL). It also explores the effect of language proficiency and gender on frequency of strategy use. The findings show…

Learners' Motivation and Identity in the Vietnamese EFL Writing Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tran, Ly Thi

2007-01-01

The study reported in this paper explores issues of motivation and learners' identity in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing classroom in Vietnam from the perspectives of the learners. It was conducted with thirty English-major students at a university in central Vietnam. While relevant literature appears to place much emphasis on…

An Examination of Academic Coping among Taiwanese Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Shu-Shen

2015-01-01

The author explored the relations among Taiwanese eighth-grade students' satisfactions of the basic psychological needs (i.e., the needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy), engagement versus disengagement coping with academic stress, self-regulated learning, and academic burnout. Three hundred and ninety-six eighth-grade Taiwanese students…

Getting Their Feet Wet: Trainee EFL Teachers in Germany and Israel Collaborate Online to Promote Their Telecollaboration Competence through Experiential Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waldman, Tina; Harel, Efrat; Schwab, Götz

2016-01-01

The paper presents a telecollaboration project between 54 pre-service teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) studying at a teacher training college in Israel and a university in Germany. The telecollaboration involved a collaborative Project Based Learning Task (PBLT) in which the students compared and evaluated the ways EFL is taught in…

Exploring the Role of Reformulations and a Model Text in EFL Students' Writing Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Luxin; Zhang, Ling

2010-01-01

This study examined the effectiveness of reformulation and model text in a three-stage writing task (composing-comparison-revising) in an EFL writing class in a Beijing university. The study documented 10 university students' writing performance from the composing (Stage 1) and comparing (Stage 2, where students compare their own text to a…

The LMS Development for a Blended EFL e-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Okada, Takeshi; Sakamoto, Yasunobu; Sugiura, Kensuke

2014-01-01

This paper illustrates the general idea of an on-going project for the development of a new blended e-learning package for the English as a foreign language (EFL) reading instruction in Japanese universities. The authors want to draw the attention of the readers to the Learning Management System (LMS) of the package and focus on the role a new…

Using a Facebook Closed Group to Improve EFL Students' Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodliyah, Rojab Siti

2016-01-01

This study investigates how social media, in this case Facebook, can be incorporated in ELT through e-dialogue journal writing shared in a Facebook closed group. Fifteen EFL students participated in this case study. They were second, third, and fourth year students of English Education Department of a university in Bandung, who voluntarily joined…

Attitudes towards English Language Learning among EFL Learners at UMSKAL

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, Shameem

2015-01-01

This paper analyses the result of a survey on 238 undergraduate EFL students at a public university in Malaysia. The survey focused on their attitude towards English learning and causes that might have hindered their learning. For data collection, a 19 item questionnaire were designed and administered on 238 students. The objective of this study…

Promoting EFL Teacher Research Engagement through a Research Support Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Maamari, Faisal; Al-Aamri, Kamla; Khammash, Samar; Al-Wahaibi, Munira

2017-01-01

Existing initiatives purporting to promote teacher research are often found to be inadequate to encourage EFL teachers to engage in research due to the fact that they impose a top down, expert model approach to research engagement. This study reports on a pioneering programme at Sultan Qaboos University Language Centre in the Sultanate of Oman…

Effects of a Multimodal Approach on ESL/EFL University Students' Attitudes towards Poetry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freyn, Amy L.

2017-01-01

Poetry is a specific genre of literature that has been long argued as being too difficult for ESL/EFL learners. However, poetry is considered a valuable and authentic material for teaching language learners and teaching poetry in the language classroom can lead to a meaningful language learning experience. This study examined the implementation of…

Conceptions of Memorizing and Understanding in Learning, and Self-Efficacy Held by University Biology Majors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Tzu-Chiang; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2015-01-01

This study aims to explore Taiwanese university students' conceptions of learning biology as memorizing or as understanding, and their self-efficacy. To this end, two questionnaires were utilized to survey 293 Taiwanese university students with biology-related majors. A questionnaire for measuring students' conceptions of memorizing and…

How Universal Are Universal Symbols? An Estimation of Cross-Cultural Adoption of Universal Healthcare Symbols.

PubMed

Joy Lo, Chih-Wei; Yien, Huey-Wen; Chen, I-Ping

2016-04-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of universal health symbol usage and to analyze the factors influencing the adoption of those symbols in Taiwan. Universal symbols are an important innovative tool for health facility wayfinding systems. Hablamos Juntos, a universal healthcare symbol system developed in the United States, is a thoughtful, well-designed, and thoroughly tested symbol system that facilitates communication across languages and cultures. We designed a questionnaire to test how well the selected graphic symbols were understood by Taiwanese participants and determined factors related to successful symbol decoding, including participant-related factors, stimulation factors, and the interaction between stimulation and participants. Additionally, we further established a design principle for future development of localized healthcare symbols. (1) Eleven symbols were identified as highly comprehensible and effective symbols that can be directly adopted in Taiwanese healthcare settings. Sixteen symbols were deemed incomprehensible or confusing and thus had to be redesigned. Finally, 14 were identified as relatively incomprehensible and could thus be redesigned and then have their effectiveness evaluated again. (2) Three factors were found to influence the participants' differing levels of comprehension of the Hablamos Juntos symbols. In order to prevent the three aforementioned factors from causing difficulty in interpreting symbols, we suggest that the local symbol designers should (1) use more iconic images, (2) carefully evaluate the indexical and symbolic meaning of graphic symbols, and (3) collect the consensus of Taiwanese people with different educational backgrounds. © The Author(s) 2016.

The Role of Big Five Personality Traits in Predicting Prospective EFL Teachers' Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkagac, Senay; Öz, Hüseyin

2017-01-01

This study sought to find out the possible relationships between personality traits and academic achievement of prospective English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. A total of 200 university students from a major state university voluntarily participated in the study. Data were collected through the International Personality Item Tool (IPIP)…

A Mixed-Methods Approach to Demotivating Factors among Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghonsooly, Behzad; Hassanzadeh, Tahereh; Samavarchi, Laila; Hamedi, Seyyedeh Mina

2017-01-01

This study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate Iranian EFL learners' attitudes towards demotivating factors which may hinder their success in a language learning course. In the quantitative phase, a sample of 337 undergraduate students from universities in Mashhad, Yazd and Gonabad completed a 34-item questionnaire. They also completed…

Teacher-Guided Interactive Multimedia for Teaching English in an EFL Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsai, Roland; Jenks, Michael

2009-01-01

This quasi-experimental study explored the effect of a "Teacher Guided Multimedia" CD-ROM program as a supplement in teaching vocabulary acquisition to EFL students. Eighty seven juniors in the Food and Beverage Management Department at Yuanpei University in northern Taiwan participated in the study. Students from two intact classes were…

An Investigation into Ambiguity Tolerance in Iranian Senior EFL Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marzban, Amin; Barati, Hossein; Moinzadeh, Ahmad

2012-01-01

The present study aimed to explore how tolerant of ambiguity Iranian EFL learners at university level are and if gender plays a role in this regard. To this end, upon filling in the revised SLTAS scale of ambiguity tolerance 194 male and female Iranian teacher trainees were assigned to three ambiguity tolerance groups; namely, high, moderate and…

Homework: Voices from EFL Teachers and Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amiryousefi, Mohammad

2016-01-01

Previous studies have mainly focused on homework in courses such as math and physics with little attention to homework in EFL (English as a foreign language) classes. The main purpose of the study reported in this paper was to give a voice to both EFL teachers and learners with regard to English homework. To this end, 8 EFL teachers and 19 EFL…

E-learning Constructive Role Plays for EFL Learners in China's Tertiary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shen, Lin; Suwanthep, Jitpanat

2011-01-01

Recently, speaking has played an increasingly important role in second/foreign language settings. However, in many Chinese universities, EFL students rarely communicate in English with other people effectively. The existing behavioristic role plays on New Horizon College English (NHCE) e-learning do not function successfully in supplementing EFL…

Identifying Sources of Bias in EFL Writing Assessment through Multiple Trait Scoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salmani-Nodoushan, Mohammad Ali

2009-01-01

For purposes of the present study, it was hypothesized that field (in)dependence would introduce systematic variance into EFL learners' performance on composition tests. 1743 freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior students all majoring in English at different Iranian universities and colleges took the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). The…

The Effect of Lexical Bundles on Iranian EFL Learners Linguistic Production Fluency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ranjbar, Nosrat; Pazhakh, Abdolreza; Gorjian, Bahman

2012-01-01

The present study attempted to investigate the effects of lexical bundles on Iranian EFL learners' paragraph writing production fluency. To achieve this purpose, an English language proficiency test was administered to 120 language learners studying TEFL at Islamic Azad University of Dehloran. Ultimately, 90 language learners were selected and…

Critical Literacy Practices in EFL Reading Classroom--An Experimental Study towards Chinese University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Yang

2017-01-01

English as a world language is more than a way to exchange information but a means to solidify certain social hierarchy and represent certain social interests. English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers should instruct critical awareness to empower students to transform social injustice and fulfill responsibilities as global citizens. This…

The Impact of Smartboard on Preparatory Year EFL Learners' Motivation at a Saudi University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmad, Waqar; Ali, Zuraina; Sipra, Muhammad Aslam; Taj, Imtiaz Hassan

2017-01-01

Smartboards, which are now widely used in the teaching and learning process in Saudi Arabia, have turned the traditional environments of the classrooms, especially the EFL classrooms to be more interesting and encouraging. Literature reviews suggest that Saudi students usually lack motivation for studying English as a foreign language. This study…

Turkish EFL Academicians' Problems Concerning Translation Activities and Practices, Attitudes towards the Use of Online and Printed Translation Tools, and Suggestions for Quality Translation Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zengin, Bugra; Kacar, Isil Gunseli

2011-01-01

This mixed method research study aimed to highlight the problems of EFL academicians concerning their current translation practices, their attitudes towards the use of various translation tools, and offer suggestions for more quality translation practices. Seventy-three EFL academicians from three Turkish universities participated in the study.…

Innovating EFL Teaching in Asia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muller, Theron, Ed.; Herder, Steven, Ed.; Adamson, John, Ed.; Brown, Philip Shigeo, Ed.

2012-01-01

This collection offers a distinctly Asian voice for English language education and addresses some of the unique needs of Asian learners in EFL contexts. Teachers and researchers from nine Asian countries present some of the most current and innovative research in five distinct and fascinating areas of EFL teaching and learning. This book is…

Association of Sociodemographic and Perceived Environmental Factors with Public Bicycle Use among Taiwanese Urban Adults.

PubMed

Liao, Yung

2016-03-19

This study examined the sociodemographic and perceived environmental factors associated with public bicycle use among Taiwanese urban adults. A random-digit-dialing telephone-based cross-sectional survey was administered to Taiwanese urban adults aged 20-64 years in 2015. Data on sociodemographic variables, perceived environmental factors (for attributes identified in the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Environmental Module), and public bicycle use were obtained from 1002 adults in three cities. Adjusted logistic regression was used. After adjustment for potential confounders, the results showed that adults aged 20-29 years (odds ratio (OR) = 4.42) with a university degree or higher (OR = 2.03) were more likely to use public bicycles. In addition, adults living in Kaohsiung City were less likely to use public bicycles (OR = 0.24). Adults who saw people being active (OR = 1.76; 95% CI: 1.05-2.86) and had positive aesthetic experiences of their environment (OR = 1.69) were more likely to use public bicycles. Our findings suggest that seeing physically active people and positive aesthetic perceptions of the environment are key factors for developing transportation policies and intervention strategies for promoting public bicycle use among Taiwanese urban adults.

Korean EFL Learners' Perspectives on Speaking Tasks: Discussion, Summary, and Information-Exchange Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mihye, Kim

2014-01-01

This study investigates Korean university English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners' task preference among three different speaking tasks. Quantitative data were collected through questionnaires and qualitative data were collected from interviews. Quantitative data were obtained from 88 survey respondents and qualitative data from 50 interview…

The Effect of Activating Metacognitive Strategies on the Listening Performance and Metacognitive Awareness of EFL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rahimirad, Maryam; Shams, Mohammad Reza

2014-01-01

This study investigates the effect of activating metacognitive strategies on the listening performance of English as a foreign language (EFL) university students and explores the impact of such strategies on their metacognitive awareness of the listening task. The participants were N = 50 students of English literature at the state university of…

New Software to Help EFL Students Self-Correct Their Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawley, Jim

2015-01-01

This paper describes the development of web-based software at a university in Spain to help students of EFL self-correct their free-form writing. The software makes use of an eighty-million-word corpus of English known to be correct as a normative corpus for error correction purposes. It was discovered that bigrams (two-word combinations of words)…

English Learning Websites and Digital Resources from the Perspective of Chinese University EFL Practitioners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shen, Huizhong; Yuan, Yifeng; Ewing, Robyn

2015-01-01

English language learning (ELL) websites and digital resources have been recognized as an important source of linguistic and cultural knowledge for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners to explore. The up-to-date information carried by authentic materials is invaluable for learners to develop an understanding of the target language/culture.…

Total cardiovascular risk profile of Taiwanese vegetarians.

PubMed

Chen, C-W; Lin, Y-L; Lin, T-K; Lin, C-T; Chen, B-C; Lin, C-L

2008-01-01

Although the health benefits of vegetarian diets have been well documented among Western population, there are geographic differences of vegetarian diets and the health benefits of the Taiwanese vegetarian diet have not been studied extensively. In addition to conventional risk factors, homocysteine and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels have been found to predict first atherothrombotic events. We undertook this study to examine the total risk profile of Taiwanese vegetarians. A total of 198 healthy subjects (99 vegetarians and 99 omnivores) were recruited. Fasting blood samples were analyzed for glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), white blood cell count, hs-CRP and homocysteine. There was no significant difference in age, body mass index, blood glucose, white blood cell count, triglyceride and HDL-C between the two groups. The vegetarian group had significantly more females (65.7 vs 46.5%); lower body weight (58.66+/-11.13 vs 62.88+/-12.24 kg); shorter height (159.14+/-7.88 vs 162.53 +/-8.14 cm); lower total cholesterol (184.74+/-33.23 vs 202.01+/-41.05 mg/dl); and lower LDL-C (119.63+/-31.59 vs 135.89+/-39.50 mg/dl). Hs-CRP was significantly lower (0.14+/-0.23 vs 0.23+/-0.44 mg/dl, P=0.025), whereas homocysteine was significantly higher (10.97+/-6.69 vs 8.44+/-2.50 micromol/l, P=0.001) in vegetarians than omnivores. Taiwanese vegetarians have lower total cholesterol, LDL-C and hs-CRP levels, and higher homocysteine levels than omnivores. Owing to different predictive value of each risk factor, the Taiwanese vegetarians had a better cardiovascular risk profile than omnivores. Whether the Taiwanese vegetarian diet should be supplemented with vitamin B(12) to lower serum homocysteine level remains to be addressed.

EFL Learners' Vocabulary Consolidation Strategy Use and Corresponding Performance on Vocabulary Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lai, Ying-Chun

2016-01-01

This study describes English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' use of vocabulary consolidation strategies and explores the connection between strategy use and vocabulary learning outcomes. This study included 218 participants who were students from five freshman English classes at a university in Taiwan. Students' self-reports on their use of…

An Investigation of the Difficulties Faced by EFL Undergraduates in Speaking Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Jamal, Dina A.; Al-Jamal, Ghadeer A.

2014-01-01

Since speaking well in English is crucial for English language literature undergraduates, the present study aimed at describing difficulties that may be encountered at an EFL setting. The sample was stratified random as drawn from six Jordanian public universities. Survey questionnaires as well as semi-structured interviews were constructed. 64…

Comparison of Word Recognition Strategies in EFL Adult Learners: Orthography vs. Phonology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sieh, Yu-cheng

2016-01-01

In an attempt to compare how orthography and phonology interact in EFL learners with different reading abilities, online measures were administered in this study to two groups of university learners, indexed by their reading scores on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). In terms of "accuracy," the less-skilled…

Online Corpus Tools in Scholarly Writing: A Case of EFL Postgraduate Student

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kotamjani, Sedigheh Shakib; Razavi, Ommehoney Fazel; Hussin, Habsah

2017-01-01

Some studies have reported the positive outcome of using concordancers and dictionaries in (ESL) context. This study aims to examine how an EFL writer consulted with concordancers and dictionaries along with Google and Google Scholar when engaging in academic writing at university level. The researcher investigated a non-English-major postgraduate…

The Impact of Online Autonomous Learning on EFL Students' Reading Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shang, Hui-Fang; Chen, Yen-Yu

2018-01-01

With the rapid growth of technology, many language acquisition approaches have been added to computer-assisted language learning applications. Thus, this study investigated the impact of online autonomous learning on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' reading ability. Sixty-five students from two reading classes at One University in…

Using Learners' First Language in EFL Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alshehri, Eman

2017-01-01

This study explores the attitudes of EFL teachers towards using learners' first language (L1) in their classes. It also considers the frequency and functions of using L1 in EFL classes. A mixed-methods study using questionnaires and follow-up interviews was conducted to collect data from EFL teachers of the preparatory year at a state university…

An EFL Flipped Learning Course Design: Utilizing Students' Mobile Online Devices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ishikawa, Yasushige; Akahane-Yamada, Reiko; Smith, Craig; Kondo, Mutsumi; Tsubota, Yasushi; Dantsuji, Masatake

2015-01-01

This paper reports on a research project in a university English as Foreign Language (EFL) program in Japan which explored ways to sustain active participation in e-learning tasks. The tasks were intended to improve students' scores on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a test used by businesses to make hiring decisions.…

Journal between Peer Learners: An Innovative Project to Motivate EFL Writers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Xiaohong; Shen, Lei; Lu, Xiao

2016-01-01

Writing is one of the most challenging skills for many EFL learners to master. It is also considered to be the most difficult to teach. To motivate students to write more without burdening teachers with additional rating work, college English teachers at a university in China introduced a journal project. Peer learners were paired anonymously and…

"We Are More than EFL Teachers--We Are Educators": Emancipating EFL Student-Teachers through Photovoice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villacañas de Castro, Luis S.

2017-01-01

The prevailing pedagogical orientations of English as a foreign language (EFL) education in Spain oppress learners intellectually in ways that are counterproductive to their learning. As a reaction to this, 129 EFL student-teachers (STs) took part during the 2013/14, 2014/15, and 2015/16 academic years in a workshop which drew on the methodology…

Designing an EFL Reading Program to Promote Literacy Skills, Critical Thinking, and Creativity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferrer, Erica; Staley, Kendra

2016-01-01

This article details the design and implementation of a reading program in a university EFL setting as a strategy to encourage creativity, critical thinking, collaborative learning, and reading for enjoyment (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001; Richards & Renandya, 2002). This student-centered project challenged ELLs to address issues such as…

Using the L1 "Errors" of Native Speakers in the EFL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rebuck, Mark

2011-01-01

While it is common for teachers to focus on learners' errors in the EFL classroom, little attention is given to the "errors" that native English speakers make in their mother tongue. This paper reports on a study to assess the reaction of Japanese university students to an activity that primarily required identifying…

EFL Learners' Use of Direct Strategies in Competitive and Cooperative Learning Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zarei, Abbas Ali; Layeq, Hamide

2016-01-01

This study investigated the effects of competitive and cooperative teaching techniques on Iranian adult EFL learners' use of direct strategies. To this end, a sample of 88 non-English major university students at Sohrevardi Nonprofit College in Qazvin were assigned to two groups, and each group received instruction under one of the treatment…

Use of Authentic-Speech Technique for Teaching Sound Recognition to EFL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sersen, William J.

2011-01-01

The main objective of this research was to test an authentic-speech technique for improving the sound-recognition skills of EFL (English as a foreign language) students at Roi-Et Rajabhat University. The secondary objective was to determine the correlation, if any, between students' self-evaluation of sound-recognition progress and the actual…

Wiki and Digital Video Use in Strategic Interaction-Based Experiential EFL Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dehaan, Jonathan; Johnson, Neil H.; Yoshimura, Noriko; Kondo, Takako

2012-01-01

This paper details the use of a free and access-controlled wiki as the learning management system for a four-week teaching module designed to improve the oral communication skills of Japanese university EFL students. Students engaged in repeated experiential learning cycles of planning, doing, observing, and evaluating their performance of a role…

An Exploratory Study of ICT Use in English Language Learning among EFL University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tri, Dang Hoang; Nguyen, Nhung Hong Thi

2014-01-01

There has been a large volume of published studies describing the attitudes of teachers and students towards ICT usage to study English; nevertheless, limited research has been conducted to examine the use of ICT in terms of frequency of use, purposes, perceptions, and expectations among EFL students. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to…

How Does Australian-Based Digital English Resource Stack Up? Chinese University EFL Teachers' Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuan, Yifeng; Shen, Huizhong; Ewing, Robyn

2017-01-01

For a long time, Australian English and culture have not been viewed in China as an equal to its American and British counterpart. This is reflected in teachers' choice of destination when it comes to English teaching and learning resources. This paper examines Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' perceptions of the contents and…

On the Correlation between Iranian EFL Learners' Use of Metacognitive Listening Strategies and Their Emotional Intelligence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alavinia, Parviz; Mollahossein, Hassan

2012-01-01

The researchers in the current study were after gauging the would-be correlation between emotional intelligence (and its subcomponents), on the one hand and the use of listening metacognitive strategies by academic EFL learners on the other. The study at hand benefited from 72 female and 40 male university students from Urmia University, Urmia…

The Effect of Presentation Strategy on Reading Comprehension of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khoshsima, Hooshang; Rezaeiantiyar, Forouzan

2014-01-01

The present experimental study primarily aimed at examining the effect of presentation strategy on reading comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. To determine the effect of this strategy, 61 students who enrolled in English Language Center of Chabahar Maritime University were initially selected and then divided randomly into two…

Towards an Ecological Understanding of Willingness to Communicate in EFL Classrooms in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peng, Jian-E.

2012-01-01

This article reports on a multiple-case study designed to investigate factors influencing willingness to communicate (WTC) in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom in China. Four university students participated in this study; data were collected through semi-structured interviews, learning journals recorded by the students, and…

Saudi EFL Preparatory Year Students' Perception about Corrective Feedback in Oral Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alhaysony, Maha

2016-01-01

This study sought to investigate the attitudes of Saudi EFL students towards corrective feedback (henceforth CF) on classroom oral errors. The subjects were 3200 (1223 male and 1977 female) students enrolled in an intensive English language programme in the preparatory year at the University of Ha'il. A questionnaire was the main instrument. This…

Enhancing the Autonomous Use of CALL: A New Curriculum Model in EFL

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Karen; Craig, Hana

2013-01-01

This action research study evaluates the effectiveness of a CALL Learner Autonomy (CALL LA) course at a Japanese university. The "C course" blends face-to-face instruction and independent study in a CALL environment. It aims to enhance learners' autonomous use of CALL in the acquisition of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). In this…

A Descriptive Study on EFL Learners' Perceptions of Facebook

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Selami

2017-01-01

There is a strong need to investigate English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' perceptions of Facebook as a language-learning environment, as their perceptions that directly influence their language development and achievement have not been examined within the EFL learning context. Thus, this study aims to investigate EFL learners'…

Internet-Assisted Technologies for English Language Teaching in Turkish Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Celik, Serkan

2013-01-01

Although the enormous potential of the Internet has gained attention in Internet-assisted language teaching (IALT), a solid background of research is still lacking about/investigating English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' use of Internet assistive technologies. This study set out to determine Turkish university level EFL instructors'…

From Students' and Teachers' Perspectives: Metaphor Analysis of Beliefs about EFL Teachers' Roles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wan, Wan; Low, Graham David; Li, Miao

2011-01-01

The paper reports on a study about how a group of Chinese university teachers and two groups of their English major students used personal "teacher" metaphors via a metaphor prompt "An English teacher is...because..." to represent their beliefs relating to EFL teachers' roles. Data sources also included follow-up individual…

Towards Understanding Listening Comprehension in EFL Classroom: The Case of the Saudi Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bano, Farah

2017-01-01

The present study aimed at making a pedagogical exploration into listening comprehension skills and examining the problems faced by learners in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom situation at Jazan University, Jazan city, Saudi Arabia. To analyze the problems, two very important processes were considered; namely, top-down and…

Perception and Acoustic Correlates of the Taiwanese Tone Sandhi Group

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuo, Chen-Hsiu

2013-01-01

This dissertation investigates how the Taiwanese Tone Sandhi Groups are perceived, and the acoustic/phonetics correlates of listeners' judgments. A series of perception experiments have been conducted to scrutinize the following topics--Taiwanese tone neutralization, Tone Sandhi Group (TSG) as a prosodic domain, perceived boundary strength in…

Collaborative Repair in EFL Classroom Talk.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iles, Zara

1996-01-01

Drawing data from audiotaped lessons with 10 native-speaker English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) teachers and 12 EFL learners of varied linguistic backgrounds, a study explored some of the ways in which classroom talk by learners is collaboratively built to repair errors, misunderstandings, and non-communication. Focus is on both explicit and…

The Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Writing Ability of Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadeghi, Karim; Farzizadeh, Bahareh

2012-01-01

The relationship between multiple intelligences and learning of L2 language skills is a burgeoning area of research. This study aimed at finding the relationship between Multiple Intelligences (MI) and the writing ability of EFL learners. For this purpose, the body of female BA sophomores in TEFL at Urmia University (N = 47), within the age range…

Contextual EFL Learning in a 3D Virtual Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lan, Yu-Ju

2015-01-01

The purposes of the current study are to develop virtually immersive EFL learning contexts for EFL learners in Taiwan to pre- and review English materials beyond the regular English class schedule. A 2-iteration action research lasting for one semester was conducted to evaluate the effects of virtual contexts on learners' EFL learning. 132…

Reading in EFL: Facts and Fictions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paran, Amos

1996-01-01

Examines the representation of the reading process in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) texts. The article argues that many of these representations are dated and based on a theory that was never a mainstream theory of first-language reading. Suggestions for exercises to strengthen automatic word recognition in EFL readers are provided. (33…

The Impact of Reading for Pleasure on Georgian University EFL Students' Reading Comprehension (IBSU Case)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goctu, Ramazan

2016-01-01

Reading is one of the most significant skills, particularly for EFL students. Many students today do not have the reading skills needed to do effective work in their courses. This paper explores reading for pleasure, its importance and impact on reading comprehension. Pleasure reading helps students to communicate, listen and, most importantly, to…

The Uniqueness of EFL Teachers: Perceptions of Japanese Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Joseph J.

2010-01-01

Building on the work of Borg (2006), this article reports on a study of Japanese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' perceptions of some of the unique characteristics of EFL teachers that distinguish them from teachers of other subjects. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire to which 163 college-level EFL students in Japan…

EFL Teachers' Beliefs about the Use of Reading Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Çakici, Dilek

2016-01-01

This study aims to investigate EFL teachers' beliefs about the use of reading strategies and what strategies they employ through reading stages in EFL classrooms. In addition, the study aims to compare the teachers' gender and the schools where they are working with the strategies they use. A total of 44 EFL teachers (18 females, 26 males) working…

An Investigation on the Use of Oral Corrective Feedback in Turkish EFL Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Öztürk, Gökhan

2016-01-01

This classroom research study investigates corrective feedback implications in a sample of Turkish EFL classrooms. The types of corrective feedback, their distribution and the reasons of error ignorance were the foci. Four speaking classes in the English preparatory program of a Turkish state university were video-recorded for 12 hours in total…

Using a Multimedia-Based Program for Developing Student Teachers' EFL Speaking Fluency Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diyyab, Eman Aly; Abdel-Haq, Eman Muhamad; Aly, Mahsoub Abdel-Sadeq

2013-01-01

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of using a multimedia-based program for developing EFL speaking fluency skills among second year, English section student teachers. The sample of the present study consisted of thirty students at Sadat Faculty of Education, Minufiya University, Egypt. The study sample was…

The Arab University Students' Use of English General Service and Academic Vocabulary: A Lexical Development Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El-Dakhs, Dina Abdel Salam

2015-01-01

In recent years, a number of studies have attempted to assess the English vocabulary knowledge of high-school students and undergraduate university students in contexts where English is a foreign language (EFL). The present paper explores the lexical development of Arab undergraduates at a Saudi University where EFL is the medium of instruction.…

EFL Writing Revision with Blind Expert and Peer Review Using a CMC Open Forum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Wen-Chi Vivian; Petit, Emily; Chen, Ching-Huei

2015-01-01

This exploratory computer assisted-language learning (CALL) study used a computer-mediated communication (CMC) interface to allow English as a foreign language (EFL) writing students in classes at two universities to give each other anonymous peer feedback about essay-writing assignments reacting to selected news stories. Experts also provided…

How Creative Are Iranian EFL Teachers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khany, Reza; Boghayeri, Mahnaz

2014-01-01

The study of creativity has been of great interest to educationalists in general and language teaching practitioners in particular. With all these, very little if any has been reported on the issue in Iranian EFL context. Having this in mind and drawing on the latest profile of creativity, effort was made to see how creative Iranian EFL teachers…

Understanding EFL Students' Errors in Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phuket, Pimpisa Rattanadilok Na; Othman, Normah Binti

2015-01-01

Writing is the most difficult skill in English, so most EFL students tend to make errors in writing. In assisting the learners to successfully acquire writing skill, the analysis of errors and the understanding of their sources are necessary. This study attempts to explore the major sources of errors occurred in the writing of EFL students. It…

Taiwanese Arithmetic and Algebra

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lo, Jane-Jane; Tsai, Feng-Chiu

2011-01-01

Taiwanese students consistently rank near the top on international exams on mathematics and science. In 2007, Taiwan recorded the highest TIMSS math score for eighth grade. The central education agency in Taiwan publishes detailed mathematics curriculum guidelines, which textbooks and national exams follow closely. In May each year, all ninth…

The Effect of Time-Management Training on Test-Anxiety and Self-Efficacy of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Behnam, Biook; Jenani, Shalaleh; Ahangari, Saeideh

2014-01-01

The present study aimed to examine the effect of time-management training on Iranian EFL learners' test-anxiety and self-efficacy. A quasi-experimental design was used. The study was carried out in Tabriz Azad University and University of Applied Sciences and Technology. Thirty-eight BA students majoring in TEFL who enrolled in the above mentioned…

A Qualitative Case Study of Japanese University Students and Personal Smartphone Use in English as a Foreign Language Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forsythe, Edward M., III

2017-01-01

Japanese university English instructors are increasingly requiring students to use their personal smartphones for activities in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom activities. Because of this, it has been recommended that studies be conducted to ascertain Japanese university students' perceptions of using smartphones in EFL language…

Strategies Used by Saudi EFL Students to Determine the Meaning of English Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baniabdelrahman, Abdallah Ahmad; Al-shumaimeri, Yousif

2014-01-01

This study investigated the strategies which first-year Saudi university EFL students used to derive the meaning of unfamiliar words while reading English texts. Using cluster sampling method, participants chosen to be included in the study consisted of six male and six female classes (120 male and 120 female students) of the preparatory year…

The Effects of Warm-Up Tasks on the Iranian EFL Students' Writing Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estalkhbijari, Zahra Pakdel; Khodareza, Mohammadreza

2012-01-01

This study aims to investigate the effects of warm up tasks as classroom activities on foreign language written production. For showing these effects, sixty out of one hundred forty Iranian sophomore EFL students from the Islamic Azad University of Lahijan branch, Iran were selected after following the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). Then, they were…

The Correlation among EFL Learners' Test Anxiety, Foreign Language Anxiety and Language Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cakici, Dilek

2016-01-01

The main aim of this study was to investigate the correlation among test anxiety (TA), foreign language anxiety (FLA) and language achievement of university preparatory students learning English as a foreign language. The sample of the research consisted of 301 (211 females, 90 males) attending a one-year EFL preparatory school at Ondokuz Mayis…

The Effect of Corpus-Based Activities on Verb-Noun Collocations in EFL Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ucar, Serpil; Yükselir, Ceyhun

2015-01-01

This current study sought to reveal the impacts of corpus-based activities on verb-noun collocation learning in EFL classes. This study was carried out on two groups--experimental and control groups- each of which consists of 15 students. The students were preparatory class students at School of Foreign Languages, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University.…

Improving EFL Majors' Critical Reading Skills and Political Awareness: A Proposed Translation Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abdel halim, Safaa M.

2011-01-01

Surveying the existing situation and considering the pilot study conducted by the researcher, it was clear that there is a problem concerning weaknesses in critical reading and translation skills aside from the lack of political awareness on the part of fourth year EFL majors at the Faculty of Education, Helwan University. The majority of…

The Impacts of Emotional Intelligence Enhancement on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners' Writing Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ebrahimi, Mohammad Reza; Khoshsima, Hooshang; Zare-Behtash, Esmail

2018-01-01

The current study tried to empirically examine the influence of enhancing Emotional Intelligence on writing skill. The method of doing the study was giving an "Interchange Placement Test" to the university students who majored in English (EFL learners) in Iran. After selecting intermediate level students for participating in the study,…

EFL Students' Perceptions of a Blended Learning Environment: Advantages, Limitations and Suggestions for Improvement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al Zumor, Abdul Wahed Q.; Al Refaai, Ismail K.; Eddin, Eyhab A. Bader; Al-Rahman, Farouq H. Aziz

2013-01-01

This study explores King Khalid University English as Foreign Language (EFL) students' views regarding the advantages and limitations of merging the features of face-to-face language instruction and online language learning via the Blackboard learning management system in a new pedagogical approach called Blended Learning. The study also examines…

Exploring and Contrasting EFL Learners' Perceptions of Textbook-Assigned and Self-Selected Discussion Topics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolf, James P.

2013-01-01

In an attempt to explore the significance of a "willingness to communicate" (WTC) variable in second language (L2) acquisition, this article reports on a survey study that investigated 101 Japanese university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' perceptions of textbook-assigned and self-selected discussion topics. Additionally,…

Exploring Long-Term Productive Vocabulary Development in an EFL Context: The Role of Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zheng, Yongyan

2012-01-01

The paper reports on a longitudinal multiple-case study that probed into four advanced university-level Chinese EFL learners' situated vocabulary learning experiences and explored the role of L2 motivation in their productive vocabulary development. In the study, Lexical Frequency Profile analysis and semi-structured interviews were conducted with…

The Utility of Blended Learning in EFL Reading and Grammar: A Case for Moodle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bataineh, Ruba Fahmi; Mayyas, Mais Barjas

2017-01-01

This study examines the effect of Moodle-enhanced instruction on Jordanian EFL students' reading comprehension and grammar performance. The study uses a quasi-experimental, pre- /post-test design. A purposeful sample of 32 students, enrolled in a language requirement course at a Jordanian state university, was randomly divided into an experimental…

Ethiopian EFL Teachers' Perceptions and Utilization of Mediational Potentials of the Internet in ELT

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boersma, Emily; Getu, Tesfamichael

2016-01-01

The Internet has immense mediational potential in ELT in terms of providing learners with comprehensible input, a platform for social interaction, and opportunities to produce linguistic output. This study explores EFL teachers' perceptions and utilization of the Internet in ELT at Bahir Dar University (BDU) in Ethiopia; it also identifies the…

The Impact of Computer-Based Instruction on the Development of EFL Learners' Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zaini, A.; Mazdayasna, G.

2015-01-01

The current study investigated the application and effectiveness of computer assisted language learning (CALL) in teaching academic writing to Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners by means of Microsoft Word Office. To this end, 44 sophomore intermediate university students majoring in English Language and Literature at an Iranian…

On the Viable Linkages between Extroversion/Introversion and Academic Iranian EFL Learners' Writing Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alavinia, Parviz; Hassanlou, Adel

2014-01-01

The current study was aimed at investigating the relationship between academic Iranian EFL learners' extroversion/introversion and their writing performance. The participants of the study were some 52 BA learners majoring in English language literature in Urmia and Tabriz state universities. The chosen sample comprised of both males and females…

Cultural Issues in Syrian EFL Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ulum, Ömer Gökhan

2016-01-01

Whether we should teach culture or not when we teach English as a Foreign Language has been great concern for a long time. Which one should be contained in EFL course books? The culture of the target language or the own culture of EFL learners? Regarding this issue, many researchers have a diversity of opinions, however; this study was conducted…

Perception of musical and lexical tones by Taiwanese-speaking musicians.

PubMed

Lee, Chao-Yang; Lee, Yuh-Fang; Shr, Chia-Lin

2011-07-01

This study explored the relationship between music and speech by examining absolute pitch and lexical tone perception. Taiwanese-speaking musicians were asked to identify musical tones without a reference pitch and multispeaker Taiwanese level tones without acoustic cues typically present for speaker normalization. The results showed that a high percentage of the participants (65% with an exact match required and 81% with one-semitone errors allowed) possessed absolute pitch, as measured by the musical tone identification task. A negative correlation was found between occurrence of absolute pitch and age of onset of musical training, suggesting that the acquisition of absolute pitch resembles the acquisition of speech. The participants were able to identify multispeaker Taiwanese level tones with above-chance accuracy, even though the acoustic cues typically present for speaker normalization were not available in the stimuli. No correlations were found between the performance in musical tone identification and the performance in Taiwanese tone identification. Potential reasons for the lack of association between the two tasks are discussed. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

Factors Related to Taiwanese Adolescents' Academic Procrastination, Time Management, and Perfectionism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Shu-Shen

2017-01-01

There is a shortage of studies that explore adolescents' academic procrastination. The author hence attempted to examine the mechanisms determining Taiwanese adolescent students' perfectionistic tendencies, time management, and academic procrastination. A total of 405 eighth-grade Taiwanese students completed a self-reported survey assessing their…

Effect of "Tell Me More" on EFL Undergraduate Students' English Language Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gyamfi, George; Sukseemuang, Panida

2017-01-01

This descriptive study aimed at finding the impact of Tell Me More (TMM), an online language-learning program, on English as a foreign language (EFL) undergraduate learners' achievement in a University in Thailand. The study also looked at whether the time of use of TMM had an effect on learners' achievement. Data was collected from the scores of…

Peer Observation: A Professional Learning Tool for English Language Teachers in an EFL Institute

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, Ejaz; Nordin, Zaimuariffudin Shukri; Shah, Sayyed Rashid; Channa, Mansoor Ahmed

2018-01-01

The key aim of this study is to explore the perceptions of English as foreign language (EFL) teachers about peer observation as a tool for professional development that is implemented in an English Language Institute of a Saudi Arabian university. This paper reviews literature on peer observation to develop a conceptual and theoretical…

Polite Requestive Strategies in Emails: An Investigation of Pragmatic Competence of Chinese EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Wuhan

2012-01-01

This paper is motivated by the premise that little is known about the use of requestive strategies in request emails in Chinese English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) context. Specifically, the paper examines and compares requestive strategies in request emails between two groups of university students, namely English majors (EM) and non-English…

Instructional Model of Critical Literacy in an EFL Context: Balancing Conventional and Critical Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huh, Seonmin

2016-01-01

This article explores the general patterns of interactions between the teacher and students during the different instructional steps when the teacher attempted to incorporate both conventional skill-based reading and critical literacy in an English as a foreign language (EFL) literacy class in a Korean university. There has been a paucity of EFL…

Collocational Differences between L1 and L2: Implications for EFL Learners and Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadeghi, Karim

2009-01-01

Collocations are one of the areas that produce problems for learners of English as a foreign language. Iranian learners of English are by no means an exception. Teaching experience at schools, private language centers, and universities in Iran suggests that a significant part of EFL learners' problems with producing the language, especially at…

The Indonesian EFL Learners' Motivation in Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salikin, Hairus; Bin-Tahir, Saidna Zulfiqar; Kusumaningputri, Reni; Yuliandari, Dian Puji

2017-01-01

The motivation will drive the EFL learners to be successful in reading. This study examined the Indonesian EFL learners' motivation in reading activity based on Deci and Ryans' theory of motivation including intrinsic and extrinsic. This study employed mixed-method design. The data obtained by distributing questionnaire and arranging the group…

Turkish EFL Pre-Service Teachers' Pronunciation Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bardakçi, Mehmet

2015-01-01

This classroom research deals with pronunciation problems that Turkish EFL teacher candidates would encounter. The participants were 22 EFL pre-service teachers with B2 level of proficiency in English. The presentations which were carried out by these participants were analyzed both by the participants themselves and the researcher. The results…

Motivating and Justifiable: Teaching Western Literature to EFL Students at a University of Science and Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Su, Shao-Wen

2010-01-01

While literature-based instruction has been highly praised for its pedagogical benefits, it confronts entrenched learning hindrances, both linguistic and cultural in EFL settings. Whether the literature instruction in practice is motivating or demotivating is an issue worthy of concern. In response to the issue, this paper examines a literature…

Creating a Communicative Language Teaching Environment for Improving Students' Communicative Competence at EFL/EAP University Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farooq, Muhammad U.

2015-01-01

The present research focuses on teachers' perceptions and practices regarding Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and its impact on communicative competency of the students. A questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data from teachers. The results show that the EFL teachers are aware of the CLT characteristics, its implementation and…

Cultural and age differences of three groups of Taiwanese young children's creativity and drawing.

PubMed

Wei, Mei-Hue; Dzeng, Annie

2013-06-01

This study investigated the cultural and age effects on children's overall creativity and drawing. 1,055 children ages 6 to 8 from three groups--urban and rural Taiwanese children and Taiwanese children of immigrant mothers, all in public schools--were given a creativity test, a people-drawing test, and a free-drawing test. The results showed that the older Taiwanese children scored higher than the young Taiwanese children on people-drawing and free-drawing, but not overall creativity. Drawing and creativity scores increased in accordance with age. In the six-year-old group, a group difference was found only on the scale of people-drawing. Urban Taiwanese children in the eight-year-old group scored higher than the other two groups of children on creativity and free-drawing. Results are discussed in terms of educational opportunities.

A Corpus-Based Study of Chinese EFL Learners' Employment of "Although"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Jingwen

2017-01-01

"Although" is a frequently used subordinating conjunction in English. However, non-nativeness is often observed in Chinese EFL learners' "although" output during pedagogical practice. This paper aims at exploring the characteristics of Chinese EFL learners' "although" employment in Chinese EFL learners' writing. The…

The Effects of Using Microsoft Power Point on EFL Learners' Attitude and Anxiety: Case Study of Two Master Students of Didactics of English as a Foreign Language, Djillali Liabes University, Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benghalem, Boualem

2015-01-01

This study aims to investigate the effects of using ICT tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint on EFL students' attitude and anxiety. The participants in this study were 40 Master 2 students of Didactics of English as a Foreign Language, Djillali Liabes University, Sidi Bel Abbes Algeria. In order to find out the effects of Microsoft PowerPoint on EFL…

EFL Reading Instruction: Communicative Task-Based Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sidek, Harison Mohd

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the overarching framework of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) reading instructional approach reflected in an EFL secondary school curriculum in Malaysia. Based on such analysis, a comparison was made if Communicative Task-Based Language is the overarching instructional approach for the Malaysian EFL…

The Project of Critical Reflexive Education: American-Trained Taiwanese English Teachers' Identity-in-the-Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeh, Fang Ping

2012-01-01

This dissertation explores what happens to American-trained Taiwanese English teachers when they return to teaching in Taiwan. Using a method of "collective biography", it inquires into three American-trained Taiwanese English teachers' life stories and the researcher's own as an American-trained Taiwanese English teacher and researcher.…

The Impact of Gloss Types on Iranian EFL Students' Reading Comprehension and Lexical Retention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farvardin, Mohammad Taghi; Biria, Reza

2012-01-01

Research has shown that the effect of marginal glosses on reading comprehension and vocabulary retention is a controversial issue. The purpose of this study was to investigate this issue among Iranian university EFL students. Three types of glosses were applied in this study: single gloss in participants' first language (SL1G), single gloss in…

Exploring the Oral Communication Strategies Used by Turkish EFL Learners: A Mixed Methods Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demir, Yusuf; Mutlu, Gülçin; Sisman, Yavuz Selim

2018-01-01

This study set out with a threefold purpose: to examine (1) the oral communication strategies (CSs) employed by tertiary-level Turkish EFL learners, (2) the use of CSs based on exposure to English through audio-visual tools, university subject domain and gender differences, (3) the correlation between use of CSs and oral proficiency scores. To…

Oral Discourse Generated through Peer Interaction While Completing Communicative Tasks in an EFL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tulung, Golda J.

2013-01-01

Drawing on qualitative observation data from a case study of an EFL classroom for pre-medical students in an Indonesian university, this article examines the oral discourse generated through peer interaction while completing two types of communicative tasks in terms of how much language was generated, including the amount of the L2 generated and…

Perceptions of Turkish EFL Students on Online Language Learning Platforms and Blended Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Istifci, Ilknur

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of EFL students studying English at the School of Foreign Languages, Anadolu University (AUSFL) on blended language learning and online learning platforms. The participants of the study consisted of 167 students whose English language proficiency level was B2 according to the Common European…

The Effect of Google Earth and Wiki Models on Oral Presentation Skills of University EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Awada, Ghada; Diab, Hassan B.

2018-01-01

This article reports the results of an experimental study that investigated the effectiveness of Google Earth and Wiki tools in improving the oral presentation skills of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and boosting their motivation for learning. The participants (n =81) are enrolled in writing classes at two English-medium…

Understanding Taiwanese Students' Decision-Making Factors regarding Australian International Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Ching-Huei; Zimitat, Craig

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the motivators for Taiwanese students to study higher education in a western society. The behavioural motivations of Taiwanese students intending to undertake higher education in Australia and the USA were analysed using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Design/methodology/approach:…

Classroom EFL Writing: The Alignment-Oriented Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haiyan, Miao; Rilong, Liu

2016-01-01

This paper outlines the alignment-oriented approach in classroom EFL writing. Based on a review of the characteristics of the written language and comparison between the product-focused approach and the process-focused approach, the paper proposes a practical classroom procedure as to how to teach EFL writing. A follow-up empirical study is…

A Pedagogic Cycle for EFL Note-Taking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siegel, Joseph

2016-01-01

More attention has been given to note-taking in EFL classrooms in recent years, probably due to growing numbers of EFL students who attend lectures given in English and the importance of note-taking during language proficiency tests. While textbooks and materials for note-taking practice are readily available, classroom techniques for teaching EFL…

Examining the Impact of Scoring Methods on the Institutional EFL Writing Assessment: A Turkish Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Turgay; Huang, Jinyan

2017-01-01

Using generalizability (G-) theory and rater interviews as both quantitative and qualitative approaches, this study examined the impact of scoring methods (i.e., holistic versus analytic scoring) on the scoring variability and reliability of an EFL institutional writing assessment at a Turkish university. Ten raters were invited to rate 36…

The Effect of Virtual Language Learning Method on Writing Ability of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khoshsima, Hooshang; Sayadi, Fatemeh

2016-01-01

This study aimed at investigating the effect of virtual language learning method on Iranian intermediate EFL learners writing ability. The study was conducted with 20 English Translation students at Chabahar Maritime University who were assigned into two groups, control and experimental, after ensuring of their homogeneity by administering a TOEFL…

Facing aliens under globalization: changing meanings of home for Taiwanese employers of foreign domestics.

PubMed

Cheng, Shu-Ju Ada

2005-01-01

This paper is concerned with changing meanings of home for Taiwanese employers of foreign domestics under globalization. Shifting sense of home occurs for Taiwanese employers as well as foreign domestics in the process of labor migration. The author argues that Taiwanese employers, facing aliens at home, have adopted various rhetorical strategies to redefine their relationships with foreign domestics and deployed diverse practices of management within their households. As foreign domestics do housework at home, Taiwanese employers also do their own "homework," struggling to understand and cope with the process of becoming and being household employers. Their "homework" is an integral part of the globalization of domestic service.

Classroom Silence: Voices from Japanese EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harumi, Seiko

2011-01-01

This article explores Japanese EFL learners' classroom silence in a Japanese EFL context. The existence of silence in second language learning contexts can be a source of conflict between students and teachers and even among students themselves. It can also be an obstacle to acquiring the target language. In order to tackle this problem and to…

Identifying and Combating Sexism in EFL Textbooks--With a Case Study into China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tao, Baiqiang

2008-01-01

This paper explores methodologies of identifying and combating sexism in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) textbooks. The writer of this paper has found out there exists sexism or gender inequality in the Chinese high school EFL textbooks. The writer hopes that future EFL curriculum designers, EFL textbook writers, textbook censors in textbook…

On the Effect of Gender and Years of Instruction on Iranian EFL Learners' Collocational Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ganji, Mansoor

2012-01-01

This study investigates the Iranian EFL learners' Knowledge of Lexical Collocation at three academic levels: freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. The participants were forty three English majors doing their B.A. in English Translation studies in Chabahar Maritime University. They took a 50-item fill-in-the-blank test of lexical collocations. The…

"Coded and Uncoded Error Feedback: Effects on Error Frequencies in Adult Colombian EFL Learners' Writing"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sampson, Andrew

2012-01-01

This paper reports on a small-scale study into the effects of uncoded correction (writing the correct forms above each error) and coded annotations (writing symbols that encourage learners to self-correct) on Colombian university-level EFL learners' written work. The study finds that while both coded annotations and uncoded correction appear to…

The Relationship between EFL Learners' Self-Regulation and Their Listening Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fatemi, Mohammad Ali; Alishahi, Maral; Khorasani, Maryam Noori; Seifi, Monir

2014-01-01

Self-regulated EFL students can comprehend better what they listen. The present study sought to investigate the relationship between EFL learners' listening comprehension and their self-regulation. To achieve the goals of this study, 103 intermediate EFL learners were selected in Torbat-e- Heydarieh, Iran. Two instruments were employed and the…

Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Mutational Profile in Taiwanese Population | Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research

Cancer.gov

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a major oral cancer subtype that is the fourth most common cancer affecting Taiwanese men. Despite known risk behaviors such as cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, and betel nut chewing often indulged by Taiwanese men, the genetic contribution to the incidence or progression of OSCC has yet been elucidated in the Taiwanese population.

Chinese Students' Perceptions of Native English-Speaking Teachers in EFL Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rao, Zhenhui

2010-01-01

The article reports the views of 20 Chinese English as a foreign Language (EFL) students on the strengths and weaknesses of native English-speaking (NES) teachers in EFL teaching. Responding to an open-ended questionnaire and in-depth interviews, EFL students named the following as NES teachers' strengths: native language authenticity, cultural…

Pilot Evaluation of a Sexual Abuse Prevention Program for Taiwanese Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Yi-Chuen; Fortson, Beverly L.; Tseng, Kai-Wen

2012-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to develop and evaluate the efficacy of a school-based child sexual abuse prevention program for Taiwanese children. Forty-six Taiwanese children age 6 to 13 were divided into one of two groups based on their school grade and then randomly assigned to a skills-based child sexual abuse prevention program who…

A Critique of Recent Trends in EFL Teaching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newman, Marianne

1997-01-01

English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers should not reject traditional methods of imparting knowledge. Storytelling, repetition through chanting, memorizing, and logical analysis all have a place in EFL instruction alongside contemporary approaches. Each child has a different mind and deserves to be taught appropriately. Whole brain teaching,…

Vietnamese Female Spouses' Language Use Patterns in Self-Initiated Admonishment Sequences in Bilingual Taiwanese Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Li-Fen

2014-01-01

This paper aims to identify how Taiwanese and Mandarin (the two dominant languages in Taiwan) are used as interactional resources by Vietnamese female spouses in bilingual Taiwanese families. Three Vietnamese-Taiwanese transnational families (a total of seventeen people) participated in the research, and mealtime talks among the Vietnamese wives…

L1 Influence on the Use of English Deictic Motion Verbs for Chinese EFL Learners and French EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ziyan, Xu

2013-01-01

Based on Sloin's (1996b) thinking for speaking approach, the study examines L1 influence on the use of English deictic Motion verbs for Chinese EFL learners and French EFL learners. The aim is to find out whether language learners will be influenced by the particular Thinking for Speaking acquired in L1 in the process of L2 acquisition. It is…

Pragmatic Difficulties in the Production of the Speech Act of Apology by Iraqi EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Ghazalli, Mehdi Falih; Al-Shammary, Mohanad A. Amert

2014-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the pragmatic difficulties encountered by Iraqi EFL university students in producing the speech act of apology. Although the act of apology is easy to recognize or use by native speakers of English, non-native speakers generally encounter difficulties in discriminating one speech act from another. The…

Exploring Culture-Related Content in the COCA with Task-Based Activities in the EFL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopes, António

2013-01-01

The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) at the Brigham Young University website has been used in the English as a Foreign language (EFL) classroom to help learners better understand how language works at different levels of analysis and also to develop their writing skills. However, it also allows learners to explore culture-related…

The relationship between spiritual well-being and psychosocial adjustment in Taiwanese patients with colorectal cancer and a colostomy.

PubMed

Li, Chia-Chun; Rew, Lynn; Hwang, Shiow-Li

2012-01-01

We examined relationships among demographic and clinical characteristics, spiritual well-being, and psychosocial adjustment in Taiwanese patients with colorectal cancer and a colostomy. A descriptive, cross-sectional, exploratory study design was used to answer research questions. Participants were recruited from the outpatient ambulatory clinic in the gastrointestinal surgical department at the medical center of National Taiwan University. Forty-five Taiwanese patients aged 42 to 83 years who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer and underwent colostomy surgery participated in the study. Participants completed a personal data questionnaire designed for this study, along with 2 validated instruments, the Spiritual Well-Being Scale and the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale-Self Report. Forty-five persons participated in the study; 69% reported a moderate level of spiritual well-being. Participants reported strong adjustment to extended family relationships, but poor adjustment in sexual relationships. Spiritual well-being was significantly associated with psychosocial adjustment (r = -0.52, P < .01), and 4 predictors (income change after surgery, self-rated disease severity, time since surgery, and spiritual well-being) accounted for 53% of the variance in psychosocial adjustment. Spiritual well-being plays an important role for Taiwanese patients when faced with psychosocial adjustment related to life with colorectal cancer and a colostomy.

Peer-Assessing Peers' Contribution to EFL Group Presentations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saito, Hidetoshi; Fujita, Tomoko

2009-01-01

The aim of this study is three-fold: (1) to examine the similarities and differences between instructor and peer assessments of EFL group presentations; (2) to understand the utility of peer assessment for discriminating each group member's contribution to group presentations in college EFL classrooms; and (3) to investigate the relationship…

A Descriptive-Comparative Analysis of Apology Strategies: The Case of Iranian EFL and Malaysian ESL University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farashaiyan, Atieh; Amirkhiz, Seyed Yasin Yazdi

2011-01-01

This paper reports on a study that was carried out to describe and compare the apology strategies utilized by Iranian EFL and Malaysian ESL learners in confronting identical apology situations. For this purpose, data were elicited from 15 Iranian and 15 Malaysian students through a "Discourse completion tasks" questionnaire. The…

The Status of Pragmatics among Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohammad-Bagheri, Mehri

2015-01-01

The present study attempted to investigate the status of pragmatics among Iranian EFL learners. Status of pragmatics was analyzed in terms of the amount of pragmatic knowledge EFL learners believed to have and the amount of pragmatic knowledge they believed to receive from teachers, classmates, course books, and exams. Additionally, attempts were…

Critical Friends Group for EFL Teacher Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vo, Long Thanh; Nguyen, Hoa Thi Mai

2010-01-01

For the best student outcomes, teachers need to engage in continuous professional development. As a result, models of teacher professional development have been developed, among which is the Critical Friends Group (CFG) technique. However, whether it works well with EFL teachers in an Asian context like Vietnam, where EFL teachers in particular do…

The Effect of Online Peer Feedback on the Academic Writing Ability of Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moradi, Mohammad Reza; Karimpour, Zahra

2012-01-01

This paper reports an exploratory study of 60 English as a foreign language (EFL) student's experiences of online peer feedback in an essay writing course at Islamic Azad University, Dezful Branch. They were required to comment on their peers' writing essays using the checklist to whom had been made available, but in different ways. The groups…

An Analysis of Errors in Written English Sentences: A Case Study of Thai EFL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sermsook, Kanyakorn; Liamnimit, Jiraporn; Pochakorn, Rattaneekorn

2017-01-01

The purposes of the present study were to examine the language errors in a writing of English major students in a Thai university and to explore the sources of the errors. This study focused mainly on sentences because the researcher found that errors in Thai EFL students' sentence construction may lead to miscommunication. 104 pieces of writing…

The Effects of Repetition and L1 Lexicalization on Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition by Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heidari-Shahreza, Mohammad Ali; Tavakoli, Mansoor

2016-01-01

Based on a prior study by Chen and Truscott, the present study investigated the possible effects of repetition (repeated exposure) and L1 lexicalization on the incidental acquisition and retention of 10 English target words by 90 Persian-speaking EFL learners at an Iranian university. Seven aspects of vocabulary knowledge were measured, including…

Iranian EFL Teachers and Learners Perspective on Potentiality of Top Notch Series for Intercultural Competence Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmadi Safa, Mohammad; Moradi, Mohammad; Hamzavi, Raouf

2015-01-01

The current study aimed at investigating the nature of EFL teachers and learners' perspectives on the intercultural competence potentiality of an EFL textbook, i.e. "Top Notch Series," which is used extensively in Iranian institutional EFL context. To this end, forty EFL teachers and eighty-eight advanced EFL learners from private…

Taiwanese Students' Alternative Conceptions of Animal Biodiversity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yen, Chiung-Fen; Yao, Tsung-Wei; Mintzes, Joel J.

2007-01-01

This study explored and documented Taiwanese students' alternative conceptions of animal classification. We examined the understanding of the "animal", "vertebrate" and "invertebrate", "fish", "amphibian", "reptile", "bird", and "mammal" concepts among elementary,…

Ungrammatical Patterns in Chinese EFL Learners' Free Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sun, Xiaohui

2014-01-01

This paper investigated a number of common ungrammatical patterns that were found in Chinese EFL leaners' free writings, in order to find useful pedagogical implications for English grammar teaching in EFL setting, especially in China. The corpus of writing data is examined by the author together with a native English teacher. Our findings suggest…

Fostering EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension: Animation Film Technique

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torabian, Asefeh; Tajadini, Massoud

2017-01-01

The current study investigated the effect of implementing animation films on developing reading comprehension texts among EFL learners of a language institute in Kerman. For this purpose, two groups of pre-intermediate EFL learners were chosen (30 participants in each group). After three months of instruction, twice a week, 2story books named the…

Taiwanese and Sri Lankan students' dimensions and discourses of professionalism.

PubMed

Monrouxe, Lynn V; Chandratilake, Madawa; Gosselin, Katherine; Rees, Charlotte E; Ho, Ming-Jung

2017-07-01

The definition of medical professionalism poses a challenge to global medical educators. This is especially pronounced in settings where professionalism frameworks developed in the west are transferred into different cultures. Building upon our previous study across Western contexts, we examine Taiwanese and Sri Lankan medical students' conceptualisations of professionalism in terms of what professionalism comprises (i.e. dimensions) and how it is linguistically framed (i.e. discourses). A qualitative group interview study was undertaken comprising 26 group interviews with 135 participants from one Taiwanese (n = 64; Years 4-7) and one Sri Lankan medical school (n = 71; Years 2-5). Through thematic framework analysis we examined the data for explicit dimensions of professionalism. Through discourse analysis we identified how participants constructed professionalism linguistically (discourses). Thirteen common dimensions across Taiwanese and Sri Lankan talk were identified, with the dimensions (contextual, integration and internalised self) being identified only in Sri Lankan data. Professionalism as knowledge and patient-centredness were dominant dimensions in Taiwan; in Sri Lanka, attributes of the individual and rules were dominant dimensions. Participants in both countries used four types of discourses previously identified in the literature. Individual and interpersonal discourses were dominant in Taiwanese talk; the collective discourse was dominant in Sri Lankan talk. Findings were compared with our previous data collected in Western contexts. Despite some overlap in the dimensions and discourses identified across both this and Western studies, Taiwanese and Sri Lankan students' dominant dimensions and discourses were distinct. We therefore encourage global medical educators to look beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to professionalism, and to recognise the significance of context and culture in conceptualisations of professionalism. © 2017 The Authors

A Journey into the Future: Using Sci-Fi Stories with EFL Learners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Anson

2001-01-01

Discusses using science fiction stories in the English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) classroom. Presents experiences in a science fiction course with some successful methods in eliciting EFL students' discussion. Concludes that using both film and text versions of science fiction stories can be useful devices in helping EFL students participate…

Taiwanese Medical Students' Narratives of Intercultural Professionalism Dilemmas: Exploring Tensions between Western Medicine and Taiwanese Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Ming-Jung; Gosselin, Katherine; Chandratilake, Madawa; Monrouxe, Lynn V.; Rees, Charlotte E.

2017-01-01

In an era of globalization, cultural competence is necessary for the provision of quality healthcare. Although this topic has been well explored in non-Western cultures within Western contexts, the authors explore how Taiwanese medical students trained in Western medicine address intercultural professionalism dilemmas related to tensions between…

EFL Teachers' Conceptions of Speaking Competence in English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baleghizadeh, Sasan; Nasrollahi Shahri, Mohammad Naseh

2014-01-01

The present article lies at the intersection of research on teacher cognition and speaking competence in a second language. It is a qualitative analysis of teacher accounts of speaking in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Iran. More specifically, the study is an exploration of three EFL teachers' conceptions of learning and…

Moving with Modernisation and Civilisation: Taiwanese Nativist Education in the Early 1930s

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Hsuan-Yi

2017-01-01

This study examines localisation endeavours in contemporary Taiwan to explore the history of the Taiwanese localisation movement as a way of reimagining meanings of "Taiwaneseness" constructed under different historical circumstances. It focuses on the "xiangtu" (nativist) literature movement in colonial Taiwan in the early…

Use of Communication Strategies by Tourism-Oriented EFL Learners in Relation to Gender and Perceived Language Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhao, Tao; Intaraprasert, Channarong

2013-01-01

This study was intended to explore the relationship of gender, perceived language ability with communication strategy use by tourism-oriented EFL learners studying at the universities in the Southwest China to improve and maintain their oral communication in English. The Communication Strategy Questionnaire was used for data collection, and the…

Employing Concept Mapping as a Pre-Writing Strategy to Help EFL Learners Better Generate Argumentative Compositions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Shaer, Ibrahim M. R.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of employing concept mapping at a pre-writing stage on English as a foreign language (EFL) students' ability to generate better argumentative essays. Thirty-eight participants were randomly assigned to two groups participating in Writing II course at Al-Quds Open University (QOU). Both groups…

A Study of the EFL Writing of Chinese Learners: A Critical Narrative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ai, Bin

2015-01-01

Writing is often a massive challenge for the learners who study English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Many EFL practitioners are searching for solutions to help learners improve the level of their writing. In this auto-ethnographic study, two narratives are discussed. In the first narrative, the primary challenges of EFL writing encountered by a…

Clinical characteristics of central diabetes insipidus in Taiwanese children.

PubMed

Liu, Shih-Yao; Tung, Yi-Ching; Lee, Cheng-Ting; Liu, Hon-Man; Peng, Shinn-Forng; Wu, Mu-Zon; Kuo, Meng-Fai; Tsai, Wen-Yu

2013-10-01

Data on the clinical features of children with central diabetes insipidus (CDI) are lacking in Taiwan. This study investigated the clinical manifestations and etiology of CDI in Taiwanese children. From 1983 to 2012, 62 children with permanent diabetes insipidus were enrolled in the study. They were diagnosed at the Department of Pediatrics of National Taiwan University Hospital. Their medical records were thoroughly reviewed and their clinical symptoms and signs, laboratory data, and etiologies were analyzed. The patients' median age at diagnosis was 10 years and the median interval between initial manifestations and diagnosis was 0.5 years. The most common symptoms and signs were polyuria, polydipsia, nocturia, and growth retardation. Most patients had low urine osmolality and elevated plasma osmolality on diagnosis. Absence of a posterior pituitary hyperintense signal and thickening of the pituitary stalk were common findings on magnetic resonance imaging. Approximately 80% of the patients had anterior pituitary hormone deficiency and all patients had growth hormone deficiency. Approximately 60% of patients had intracranial lesions, the most common causes of which were germ cell tumor and Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Two patients were initially believed to have idiopathic CDI but intracranial lesions were detected during the follow-up period. Because a delayed diagnosis of CDI is common in Taiwanese children, a high index of suspicion is important. The underlying etiology of CDI in children may not initially be obvious. Long-term surveillance is therefore necessary, especially for the early detection of evolving treatable intracranial lesions. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Revisiting Cyberbullying: Perspectives from Taiwanese Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Yun-yin; Chou, Chien

2013-01-01

Cyberbullying among students has received extensive attention from researchers and educators. Most research is, however, based on student reports while teachers' perceptions of this aggressive behavior among students have rarely been studied. We surveyed 2821 Taiwanese teachers on their perceptions of cyberbullying among students, including the…

Evaluation Study for Secondary Stage EFL Textbook: EFL Teachers' Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al Harbi, Abdullah Abdul Muhsen

2017-01-01

This study aimed at evaluating EFL textbook for secondary stage in Saudi Public schools. Participants consisted of (100) male teachers and (73) female teachers teaching secondary stage students in two cities: Madinah and Dowadmi. The tool of the study designed to cover five dimensions: layout and design, the objectives of the textbook, teaching…

Discourse Markers in EFL Setting: Perceptions of Turkish EFL Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asik, Asuman

2015-01-01

Discourse markers are seen as one of the fundamental units in spoken discourse due to their frequent and multifunctional use by native speakers of English. Discourse markers also have significance in foreign language instruction. In this respect, this study explored the perceptions of Turkish EFL teachers towards the use of discourse markers in…

Listening to Their Voices: An In-Depth Study of Language Anxiety and Cultural Adjustment among Taiwanese Graduate Students in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Yi-Wen

2009-01-01

The goal of this study is to understand ten Taiwanese graduate students' personal experiences with language anxiety and cultural adjustment while studying in an American university. This study focuses not only on language anxiety but also on cultural factors in participants' daily lives inside and outside of the classroom. The study utilized an…

A Story-Telling Approach to Teaching English to Young EFL Iranian Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalantari, Farzaneh; Hashemian, Mahmood

2016-01-01

This study investigated the effects of the storytelling approach on improving of EFL learners' vocabulary knowledge. To this end, 30 upper-beginner EFL learners (out of a population of 134) were selected by means of an OPT test and were assigned to 2 groups: 1 experimental and 1 group. The participants were selected from among young EFL learners…

The Effect of iPad Assisted Language Learning on Developing EFL Students' Autonomous Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albadry, Haifa

2015-01-01

This paper will present the experience of using iPads with a group of 21 students in a Saudi university over a period of one semester. The purpose of this ongoing study is to explore how students learn to collaborate and interact in English by participating in a teacher-designed English as a Foreign Language (EFL) course. The course aimed at…

History of EFL Teacher Education Programs in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ulum, Ömer Gökhan

2015-01-01

English as a foreign language gains importance in a highly ascending order day by day. Almost all countries empower their EFL teachers according to what they need in terms of employment goals in the long run. In this article the case of educating EFL teachers in Turkey is viewed in its historical process. English is now the most popular foreign…

Stirring the Waters: University INSET in Greece

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mattheoudakis, Marina; Nicolaidis, Katerina

2005-01-01

In view of the increasing demand for in-service training in Greece, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki launched English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher training courses, offered for the first time by a Greek state university. This paper discusses issues regarding the design and running of the courses as well as briefly presenting trainee…

Essential Characteristics of EFL Practicum Supervisors from Their Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dakhiel, Maysoon A.

2017-01-01

The present study aims to identify the essential characteristics required for the EFL practicum supervisors from their perspective. The questionnaire validity and reliability was tested through application to a sample of (7) supervisors. Then the questionnaire was distributed to the participants, which consisted of (20) EFL supervisors for the…

Improving the EFL Learners' Speaking Ability through Interactive Storytelling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marzuki; Prayogo, Johannes Ananto; Wahyudi, Arwijati

2016-01-01

This present research was aimed to improve the EFL learners' speaking ability and their classroom activities through the implementation of Interactive Storytelling Strategy. Therefore, this study was directed to explore the beneficial of Interactive Storytelling that closely related to the EFL learners' everyday activities at their home and…

The Effect of Using Some Democratic Practices on the University Students' Attitudes towards English Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aly, Mahsoub Abdul-Sadeq

2005-01-01

The present study aimed at identifying the democratic practices that can be followed in the EFL university classes and investigating their effect on the students' attitude towards the English language learning at the postgraduate level. A democratic practices list was identified. These practices were followed in EFL classes all the academic year…

Benefits of Using Short Stories in the EFL Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erkaya, Odilea Rocha

2005-01-01

The purpose of this article is to familiarize English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors with the effectiveness of using literature in language instruction. While some instructors may still believe that teaching EFL encompasses focusing on linguistic benefits only, so eventually their students will communicate in the target language, others…

Ubiquitous Knowledge and Experiences to Foster EFL Learning Affordances

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

García-Sánchez, Soraya; Luján-García, Carmen

2016-01-01

This article explores the implementation of experiential learning affordances to improve skills in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in higher education. The administration of an online anonymous survey to 100 students of different undergraduate degrees presents current learning reflections from EFL students at the Universidad de Las Palmas de…

A Deep Look into Learning Strategy Use by Successful and Unsuccessful Students in the Chinese EFL Learning Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qingquan, Ni; Chatupote, Monta; Teo, Adisa

2008-01-01

This article focused on the investigation of the differences in the frequency of language learning strategy use by successful and unsuccessful first-year students of a Chinese university. The study found that successful students used a wider range of learning strategies for EFL learning significantly more frequently than unsuccessful students. It…

A Web-Based EFL Writing Environment as a Bridge between Academic Advisers and Junior Researchers: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reynolds, Barry Lee

2013-01-01

In the age of "publish or perish," publishing academic journal articles is a must, not only for professors but also for graduate students in Taiwan. Increasingly, Taiwanese research universities are requiring masters and PhD students to write theses and dissertations in English, with an added caveat for PhD students to publish two or…

Integrating Multimedia Technology in a High School EFL Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayora, Carlos A.

2006-01-01

The author describes a Technologically Enhanced Language Learning program in Venezuela and how it helped improve high school EFL instruction. The author presents six challenges of teaching EFL and describes the context for the program. The author then provides a rationale for using multimedia in language teaching, based on theoretical frameworks.…

Spoken Grammar: An Urgent Necessity in the EFL Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-wossabi, Sami A.

2014-01-01

Recent studies in corpus linguistics have revealed apparent inconsistencies between the prescriptive grammar presented in EFL textbooks and the type of grammar used in the speech of native speakers. Such variations and learning gaps deprive EFL learners of the actual use of English and delay their oral/aural developmental processes. The focus of…

Written Corrective Feedback: The Perception of Korean EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chung, Bohyon

2015-01-01

This paper reports on the perception of Korean EFL learners toward feedback types on their written errors. The survey was administered using an adopted questionnaire from previous studies (Ishii 2011; Leki, 1991). This further allows a comparison of Korean EFL learners' attitudes with the responses to an identical questionnaire by Japanese EFL…

A Comparison of Life Stress and Depressive Symptoms in Pregnant Taiwanese and Immigrant Women.

PubMed

Tsao, Ying; Creedy, Debra K; Gamble, Jenny

2016-09-01

An increasing number of women from other countries, mostly Mainland China and Southeast Asia, are marrying Taiwanese husbands and settling in Taiwan. Immigration, marriage abroad, and pregnancy may be stressful and adversely affect maternal health. Relatively little research has compared the life stress and depressive symptoms of pregnant women of different ethnic groups living in nonmetropolitan areas in Taiwan. This study investigates the levels of life stress and depressive symptoms in pregnant Taiwanese women and Vietnamese "foreign brides" currently living in southern Taiwan. Eligible women in their last trimester of pregnancy who attended their local antenatal clinic were recruited for the study. Participants completed standardized measures, including the Difficult Life Circumstances Scale, Social Support APGAR Scale, and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Two hundred thirty-six Taiwanese women and 44 Vietnamese women participated. Major life difficulties for both groups of women were related to their marital relationship, housing, or health problems. Taiwanese participants reported perceiving financial strain more often than their Vietnamese peers, whereas Vietnamese participants reported perceiving greater concerns regarding their children's development and about recent physical abuse than their Taiwanese peers. Furthermore, the Vietnamese participants reported less social support and higher rates of antenatal depression than Taiwanese participants. Clinical nurses and midwives should be sensitive to the particular difficulties and insufficient social support faced by pregnant women from different backgrounds in Taiwan. Women from foreign countries or those under unique challenging circumstances may face a particular risk of adverse outcomes. Identifying stresses informs the development of effective nursing interventions and support activities for new mothers and their families.

Taiwanese immigrant mothers' childcare preferences: socialization for bicultural competency.

PubMed

Uttal, Lynet; Han, Ching Yun

2011-10-01

This paper explores how middle-class Taiwanese immigrant mothers in the United States defined the benefits of placing their children in predominantly White American childcare centers instead of using more culturally familiar forms of care. From in-depth interviews with seven Taiwanese immigrant mothers, it was learned that they viewed these settings positively, even though their children were not in cultural environments that mirrored their homes and ethnic communities. Mothers explained that they purposefully chose this type of setting because 1) they desired to develop their children's social competency in U.S. society; 2) they perceived U.S. childcare settings as multicultural and accepting of diverse cultures even if they were in the minority; and 3) they were confident that their children's participation in their own Taiwanese ethnic community would ensure the maintenance of their children's ethnic identity and knowledge of their parents' culture. For these reasons, they did not seek out race matching or cultural congruity between childcare centers and their homes. Instead, mothers viewed the childcare center as part of their overall socialization strategy for developing their children's bicultural competency in both their heritage culture as well as U.S. society.

International exchange program: findings from Taiwanese graduate nursing students.

PubMed

Shieh, Carol

2004-01-01

This study explored Taiwanese graduate nursing students' transcultural experiences in the United States during an international exchange program. A qualitative method with content analysis was used to analyze journal entries on perceptions of American culture, American nursing, and reflections on personal and professional growth written by nine graduate nursing students from Taiwan. The mean age of the participants was 32 (range, 29-45). Taiwanese nursing students perceived American culture as full of hospitality and patriotism, valuing human rights and social welfare, and favoring direct and expressive affection. American nursing was viewed as a combination of independence, confidence, autonomy, and knowledge, with caring being the core element, fostered by an environment conducive to patient care. In personal and professional growth, three themes surfaced: reinforcement of holistic care, nursing without borders, and lifelong learning and changing. American culture and nursing were perceived by Taiwanese students as a paradigm of Western culture valuing individual rights, autonomy, and independence. A caring and supportive patient care environment was a positive perception of American nursing; it was the desired practice standard that was lacking in these students' homeland. Overall, the exchange program was thought by these students to foster their personal and professional growth.

Connections between Learning and Teaching: EFL Teachers' Reflective Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nguyen, Chinh Duc

2017-01-01

This study explores six Vietnamese, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' reflections on their experiences of English language learning during the early 1980s to the late 1990s. Data collected in narrative interviews with the participating teachers revealed a wide range of issues that arose during their EFL learning, central to which was…

Fast-Mapping and Deliberate Word-Learning by EFL Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Chieh-Fang

2012-01-01

This study examined the abilities of young English as a foreign language (EFL) learners to identify quickly new words from a nonostensive, indirect teaching context (known as fast- mapping) and their ability to commit the words to memory. Seventy-five fourth-grade EFL learners heard novel words embedded in sentences. They were then tested for…

Compensation Strategies: Tracking Movement in EFL Learners' Speaking Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karbalaei, Alireza; Negin Taji, Tania

2014-01-01

The present study aimed to determine the compensation strategies used by Iranian elementary EFL learners across the speaking skill. The participants of this study were a sample of 120 EFL elementary male and female learners whose ages ranged between 11 and 25 at a language institute in Rostam, Iran. The main participants were homogenized through…

Exploring EFL Learners' Lexical Application in AWE-Based Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Zhihong; Li, Zhenxiao

2016-01-01

With massive utilization of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tools, it is feasible to detect English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' lexical application so as to improve their writing quality. This study aims to explore Chinese EFL learners' lexical application to see if AWE-based writing can bring about positive effects of lexicon on…

Power Perceptions and Negotiations in a Cross-National Email Writing Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Yichun

2011-01-01

The present study investigates EFL students' perceptions of power differentials and their negotiation strategies when communicating with native English-speaking students via emails. The study involved 28 Taiwanese and American undergraduates who participated in a semester-long cross-national email writing activity. Findings show that students in…

Using Movies in EFL Classrooms: A Study Conducted at the English Language Institute (ELI), King Abdul-Aziz University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kabooha, Raniah Hassen

2016-01-01

The present study sought to examine the attitudes of Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) learners as well as teachers towards the integration of English movies in their classes as a tool to develop students' language skills. Fifty female intermediate level students studying English in their Preparatory Year Program (PYP) in the English…

Examining the Effectiveness of Digital Video Recordings on Oral Performance of EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Göktürk, Nazlinur

2016-01-01

This study reports the results of an action-based study conducted in an EFL class to examine whether digital video recordings would contribute to the enhancement of EFL learners' oral fluency skills. It also investigates the learners' perceptions of the use of digital video recordings in a speaking class. 10 Turkish EFL learners participated in…

Using L1 to Enhance the Grammar Learning and Having Only English Policy in EFL Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uyar, Yusuf

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine the differences of grammar learning, if any, between the EFL classes in which native language (L1) is sometimes used and only target language (L2) is used. Participants were 42 prep year students from one of the universities in Turkey. They have been studying English for 9 months, and now they are in level…

The Relationship between Demotivation and EFL Learners' English Language Proficiency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Rou-Jui Sophia

2011-01-01

To what extent does demotivation affect EFL learners' English language proficiency attainment? The present study addresses this question by investigating the relationship between technological institute EFL students' past demotivating factors and their English language proficiency. Although the role of demotivation in foreign language achievement…

An Investigation into Academic Burnout among Taiwanese Adolescents from the Self-Determination Theory Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Shu-Shen

2015-01-01

The present study attempted to explore the relations among Taiwanese eighth graders' perceptions of teachers' autonomy support versus psychological control, satisfaction of need for autonomy, work engagement, and academic burnout. Four hundred and seven eighth-grade Taiwanese students completed a self-reported survey assessing the variables…

The Role and Use of Course Books in EFL

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charalambous, Angeliki Constantinou

2011-01-01

Course books continue to play a significant role in EFL teaching and learning by providing useful ready-made material to both teachers and students. However, inappropriate use of course books may de-skill teachers and tire students. This paper explores the role of course books in EFL teaching and examines how teachers can make effective use of the…

Sociocultural Theory as an Approach to Aid EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Behroozizad, Sorayya; Nambiar, Radha M. K.; Amir, Zaini

2014-01-01

Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) has long been regarded a challenging task. Said challenge is clearly evident in the many studies attempting to delineate some of the major problems faced by EFL learners while trying to uncover both the sources and the solutions. This paper turns to the Vygotskian approach to language learning, in…

Functions of autobiographical memory in Taiwanese and American emerging adults.

PubMed

Liao, Hsiao-Wen; Bluck, Susan; Alea, Nicole; Cheng, Ching-Ling

2016-01-01

The study addresses cultural and person-level factors contributing to emerging adult's use of memory to serve adaptive functions. The focus is on three functions: self-continuity, social-bonding and directing-behaviour. Taiwanese (N = 85, 52 women) and American (N = 95, 51 women) emerging adults completed the Thinking about Life Experiences scale, and measures of trait personality, self-concept clarity and future time perspective. Findings show that individuals from both cultures use memory to serve these three functions, but Taiwanese individuals use memory more frequently than Americans to maintain self-continuity. Culture also interacted with person-level factors: in Taiwan, but not America, memory is more frequently used to create self-continuity in individuals high in conscientiousness. Across cultures, having lower self-concept clarity was related to greater use of memory to create self-continuity. Findings are discussed in terms of how memory serves functions in context and specific aspects of the Taiwanese and American cultural context that may predict the functional use of memory in emerging adulthood.

Ambiguity Tolerance and Perceptual Learning Styles of Chinese EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Haishan; He, Qingshun

2016-01-01

Ambiguity tolerance and perceptual learning styles are the two influential elements showing individual differences in EFL learning. This research is intended to explore the relationship between Chinese EFL learners' ambiguity tolerance and their preferred perceptual learning styles. The findings include (1) the learners are sensitive to English…

Making It "Authentic": Egyptian EFL Student Teachers' Awareness and Use of Online Authentic Language Materials and Their Learning Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abdelhafez, Hanan A.; Abdallah, Mahmoud M. S.

2015-01-01

This paper reports a research study that sought investigating Assiut University College of Education (AUCOE) EFL student teachers' awareness and use of online authentic materials on the basis of their actual language leaning needs, and how this relates to their language learning motivation. To accomplish this, a mixed-method research methodology…

Origins of Print Concepts at Home: Print Referencing during Joint Book-Reading Interactions in Taiwanese Mothers and Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Chien-ju; Luo, Ya-hui; Wu, Rosalind

2016-01-01

Research Findings: This study examines the amount of attention to print paid by Taiwanese mothers and children during joint book reading over time and the relationship between the use of print referencing by Taiwanese mothers and the print concepts skills of their children measured at age 3;0. A total of 42 Taiwanese mother-child pairs from…

EFL Learners' Perceptions of Blog Assignments and Instructors' E-Feedbacks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aliakbari, Mohammad; Mohammadi, Saeedeh

2016-01-01

The use of blogs in EFL settings considerably supports learner-centered interactive learning and constructivist environments. Moreover, using blogs to provide instructor's feedback has a crucial role in the language learning process. The present study aimed to explore Iranian EFL learners' perceptions of blog assignments and instructor's…

English Teaching & Learning, 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

English Teaching & Learning, 2003

2003-01-01

These four issues contain the following articles: "A Case Documentation of English Instruction at the Elementary School Level: The Cross-Cultural Impact of Native Speaker Teachers" (Hsien-Chin Liou) [written in Chinese]; "A Collaborative Tale with Two Taiwanese EFL College Groups" (Feng-Ming Chi); "A Developmental Study on…

The Development of Individual Learners in an L2 Listening Strategies Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeldham, Michael; Gruba, Paul

2016-01-01

This study examined the idiosyncratic development of second language (L2) learners in a listening strategies course. The progress of four Taiwanese EFL learners was examined longitudinally through a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques as the learners participated in a course combining direct instruction of strategies with their…

Reasons for College Students to Plagiarize in EFL Writing: Students' Motivation to Pass

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al Darwish, Salwa; Sadeqi, Abdul Azeez

2016-01-01

EFL students acquire their writing skill through practice and hard work. However, there seems to be a lot of reasons why EFL students should find the task of composing an essay so difficult that leads them to plagiarize. For that, the present paper tries to find out the real motivation for EFL students to plagiarize in writing. This research was…

Teaching Vocabulary in EFL Classrooms: A Tried-Out Technique

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

A'lipour, Javad; Ketabi, Saeed

2010-01-01

One of the complaints made by EFL learners is that when it comes to the instruction of the linguistic sub-skills, i.e., grammar and vocabulary, the class tends to become boring. In many classes, there is as of yet no collaborative activities to facilitate the learning of these two important sub-skills. Most of EFL classes are reminiscent of the…

How European American and Taiwanese mothers talk to their children about learning.

PubMed

Li, Jin; Fung, Heidi; Bakeman, Roger; Rae, Katharine; Wei, Wanchun

2014-01-01

Little cross-cultural research exists on parental socialization of children's learning beliefs. The current study compared 218 conversations between European American and Taiwanese mothers and children (6-10 years) about good and poor learning. The findings support well-documented cultural differences in learning beliefs. European Americans mentioned mental activities and positive affect more, whereas Taiwanese mentioned learning virtues and negative affect more. Mothers, especially European American, reciprocated their children's talk about mental activities, learning virtues, and negative affect. Children, especially Taiwanese, reciprocated their mother's talk about positive affect. Mothers invoked more mental activities and positive affect when discussing good learning, but more learning virtues and negative affect when discussing poor learning. These findings reveal a source of cultural differences in beliefs and potential enculturation. © 2013 The Authors. Child Development © 2013 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Risk factors for suicide in Taiwanese college students.

PubMed

Gau, Susan Shur-Fen; Chen, Ying-Yeh; Tsai, Fang-Ju; Lee, Ming-Been; Chiu, Yen-Nan; Soong, Wei-Tsuen; Hwu, Hai-Gwo

2008-01-01

The authors investigated the personality characteristics, psychopathology, parenting style, and family function among Taiwanese college students with high, moderate, and low suicidal risks. The sample included 2,919 first-year college students (1,414 men, 1,505 women) from a university in Taipei, Taiwan. A self-administered questionnaire assessed domains covering demographics, personality, psychopathology, frequency of substance use, parenting style, family functioning, and suicidal behaviors. The authors used mixed models for data analysis. The authors observed a positive linear trend between increased suicidal tendency and levels of neuroticism, harm avoidance, novelty seeking, psychopathology, and parenting styles of low affection, overprotection, and authoritarian controlling. Use of tobacco and alcohol and impaired family adaptation and cohesion were associated with high and moderate suicidal risks. Personality, psychopathology, substance use, and familial factors are important correlates of suicidal risks among college students in Taiwan. Optimal suicide prevention strategies in the college setting should incorporate the multiple facets of suicidal risks.

AWE-Based Corrective Feedback on Developing EFL Learners' Writing Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Zhihong; Li, Xiaowei; Li, Zhenxiao

2015-01-01

The effective design and use of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tools in developing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' writing skill and learner autonomy have remained great challenges for system designers, developers, and EFL instructors compared with that of the pencil-paper writing in the context of regular teacher-fronted…

The Effects of Need Satisfaction on EFL Online Learner Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Po-Hsuan; Adesope, Olusola

2016-01-01

This study explored the effects of need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) on English as a foreign language (EFL) online learner satisfaction and validated the Chinese versions of the need satisfaction scale (NSS) and online learner satisfaction scale (OLSS). We collected data from a questionnaire administered to 199 EFL students…

Inculcating Character Education through EFL Teaching in Indonesian State Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qoyyimah, Uswatun

2016-01-01

This paper describes how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in Indonesia have implemented the recent character education policy within an era of school-based curriculum reform. The character education policy required all teachers, EFL teachers included, to instil certain values in every lesson whilst the school-based curriculum reform…

EFL Writers' Attitudes and Perceptions toward F-Portfolio Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Selami

2014-01-01

Atitudes toward and perceptions of using Facebook as a portfolio-keeping tool in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) writing. In general, existing research reveals primarily positive effects of Facebook on educational activities, and research on portfolio keeping in EFL writing shows both benefits and problem areas. Thus, the current…

Reference value of impulse oscillometry in taiwanese preschool children.

PubMed

Lai, Shen-Hao; Yao, Tsung-Chieh; Liao, Sui-Ling; Tsai, Ming-Han; Hua, Men-Chin; Yeh, Kuo-Wei; Huang, Jing-Long

2015-06-01

Impulse oscillometry is a potential technique for assessing the respiratory mechanism-which includes airway resistance and reactance during tidal breathing-in minimally cooperative young children. The reference values available in Asian preschool children are limited, especially in children of Chinese ethnicity. This study aimed to develop reference equations for lung function measurements using impulse oscillometry in Taiwanese children for future clinical application and research exploitation. Impulse oscillometry was performed in 150 healthy Taiwanese children (aged 2-6 years) to measure airway resistance and reactance at various frequencies. We used regression analysis to generate predictive equations separately by age, body height, body weight, and gender. The stepwise regression model revealed that body height was the most significant determinant of airway resistance and reactance in preschool young children. With the growth in height, a decrease in airway resistance and a paradoxical increase in reactance occurred at different frequencies. The regression curve of resistance at 5 Hz was comparable to previous reference values. This study provided reference values for several variables of the impulse oscillometry measurements in healthy Taiwanese children aged 2-6 years. With these reference data, clinical application of impulse oscillometry would be expedient in diagnosing respiratory diseases in preschool children. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The Effect of Mind Mapping on EFL Students' Idea Development in Argumentative Writing across Gender Differences and Learning Styles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ningrum, Ary Setya Budhi; Latief, Mohammad Adnan; Sulistyo, Gunadi Harry

2016-01-01

The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of mind mapping as a strategy in generating ideas before writing on the EFL students' idea development in argumentative writing as perceived from their gender differences and learning styles. By conducting an experimental investigation at university level in Indonesia, two existing TOEFL classes…

"Organizing the Mess in My Mind": EFL Teachers' Perceptions and Knowledge of English Orthography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kahn-Horwitz, Janina

2015-01-01

English foreign language (EFL) literacy achievement is a major challenge for EFL pupils in Israel. To better understand this challenge, this study used a quantitative approach to examine differences between experienced and preservice EFL teachers' content knowledge of the English orthography and the impact of a semester course on this knowledge. A…

Primary EFL Teachers' Technology Use in China: Patterns and Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Guofang; Ni, Xiaopeng

2011-01-01

Drawing on survey data, this paper examines the patterns and perceptions of technology use by primary EFL teachers in China. Findings suggest that although Chinese EFL teachers hold positive attitudes toward the value of technology for teaching and learning, they use technology mainly for teacher-centered purposes, such as teaching preparation and…

Factors Causing Demotivation in EFL Teaching Process: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Selami

2012-01-01

Studies have mainly focused on strategies to motivate teachers or the student-teacher motivation relationships rather than teacher demotivation in the English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching process, whereas no data have been found on the factors that cause teacher demotivation in the Turkish EFL teaching contexts at the elementary education…

Holistic versus Analytic Evaluation of EFL Writing: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghalib, Thikra K.; Al-Hattami, Abdulghani A.

2015-01-01

This paper investigates the performance of holistic and analytic scoring rubrics in the context of EFL writing. Specifically, the paper compares EFL students' scores on a writing task using holistic and analytic scoring rubrics. The data for the study was collected from 30 participants attending an English undergraduate program in a Yemeni…

Code-Switching in Iranian Elementary EFL Classrooms: An Exploratory Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rezvani, Ehsan; Street, Hezar Jerib; Rasekh, Abbass Eslami

2011-01-01

This paper presents the results of a small-scale exploratory investigation of code-switching (CS) between English and Farsi by 4 Iranian English foreign language (EFL) teachers in elementary level EFL classrooms in a language school in Isfahan, Iran. Specifically, the present study aimed at exploring the syntactical identification of switches and…

The Effect of Self-Assessment on EFL Learners' Self-Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baleghizadeh, Sasan; Masoun, Atieh

2013-01-01

This study investigated the continuous influence of self-assessment on EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' self-efficacy. The participants, divided into an experimental and a control group, were 57 Iranian EFL learners in an English-language institute. The participants' self-efficacy was measured through a questionnaire that was the same…

Validation of a New Measure of the Concept of Good Death among Taiwanese Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Shu Ching; Lai, Sih-yi

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an instrument to measure dimensions of the concept of a good death held by Taiwanese children. The sample consisted of 1,698 Taiwanese children, approximately 12-14 years of age. Participants completed the self-administered Good Death Concept Scale (GDCS), which consists of 30 statements…

Cultural Competence and Related Factors Among Taiwanese Nurses.

PubMed

Lin, Chin-Nu; Mastel-Smith, Beth; Alfred, Danita; Lin, Yu-Hua

2015-12-01

Taiwan is a multicultural and multiethnic society with a growing number of immigrants who have diverse ethnic, racial, and cultural needs. Although this diversity highlights the pressing need for culturally competent healthcare providers, cultural competence is a concept that is little understood and implemented only sporadically in Taiwan. This study investigates the cultural competence of Taiwanese nurses and the related factors of influence. An online self-report survey was used to collect data from 221 Taiwanese nurses from December 2012 through January 2013. Data from the demographic questionnaire, the Nurses' Cultural Competence Scale, and the Perceived Nurses' Cultural Competence Rating were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, independent sample t tests, and multiple regressions. The cultural competence of the participants was in the "low to moderate" range, with relatively higher mean scores for the subscales of cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity and relatively lower scores for the subscales of cultural knowledge and cultural skills. Participants generally perceived themselves as being "not culturally competent." Variables found to predict cultural competence included years of work experience, hours of continuing education related to cultural nursing care, and frequency of caring for clients from culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds. Participating Taiwanese nurses rated their level of cultural competence as in the low-to-moderate range and self-perceived as being not culturally competent. These findings support the need to further expand and enhance cultural-competence-related continuing education and to address the topic of cultural care in the nursing curricula.

EFL Foreign Teacher Stress in Korea: Causes and Coping Mechanisms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brundage, Gregory C.

2007-01-01

Survey study of 53 foreign EFL teachers in Jeonju City, South Korea looks at causes of teacher stress and coping mechanisms between the years of 2004 and 2006. Results show foreign EFL teachers report moderate levels of stress and attribute stresses in roughly equal measures to student misbehavior and school director/administrative sources. Survey…

Learner-Centeredness and EFL Instruction in Vietnam: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Dang, Hung

2006-01-01

Although learner-centeredness has been widely applied in instruction in the world, this approach has only been cautiously adopted in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching at some institutions in Vietnam. Taking a social constructivist view, this case study explores how a learner-centred perspective is employed in EFL teaching at a teacher…

Do Polish Higher School Students Prefer Speaking in Person, Listening, Reading or Writing during EFL classes? A Brief Commentary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Butler, Norman L.; Davidson, Barry S.; Mroz, Liliana; Brown, Veda E.; Griffith, Kimberly Grantham; Kritsonis, Willam Allen

2007-01-01

The purpose of this brief commentary is to determine which language skill Polish higher school learners think ought to be practiced most frequently during EFL classes. Twenty-seven male and female undergraduate students who study at AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland were surveyed, and the authors found that most learners (70%)…

Achieving and Sustaining Universal Health Coverage: Fiscal Reform of the National Health Insurance in Taiwan.

PubMed

Lan, Jesse Yu-Chen

2017-12-01

The paper discusses the expansion of the universal health coverage (UHC) in Taiwan through the establishment of National Health Insurance (NHI), and the fiscal crisis it caused. Two key questions are addressed: How did the NHI gradually achieve universal coverage, and yet cause Taiwanese health spending to escalate to fiscal crisis? What measures have been taken to reform the NHI finance and achieve moderate success to date? The main argument of this paper is that the Taiwanese Government did try to implement various reforms to save costs and had moderate success, but the path-dependent process of reform does not allow increasing contribution rates significantly and thereby makes sustainability challenging.

Building up Thai EFL Students' Positive Attitudes toward Their Non-Native English Accented Speech with the Use of Phonetics Website

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tananuraksakul, Noparat

2017-01-01

This paper examined the hypothesis that Thai EFL students' positive attitudes toward their non-native English accented speech could be promoted by the use of University of Iowa's "Sounds of American English" website, known as the "number 1 phonetics website". Fifty-two undergraduate students in the field of sciences…

Gender differences in recreational sports participation among Taiwanese adults.

PubMed

Tsai, Liang-Ting; Lo, Feng-En; Yang, Chih-Chien; Keller, Joseph Jordan; Lyu, Shu-Yu

2015-01-15

This study examines the gender differences in the enjoyment of recreational sports participation among Taiwanese adults. Data were obtained using the 2007 Taiwan Social Change Survey. The questionnaire included a topical module of the International Social Survey Program regarding leisure time and sports. Results showed that male subjects were more likely to participate in recreational sports to improve their appearance and on account of their personal interest. In addition to these factors, female subjects also experienced greater motivation to participate when Taiwanese athletes performed well in international sporting competitions. This study confirmed that the factors influencing enjoyment of recreational sports participation differ among men and women. These results can be used to better inform public health professionals and other regulatory organizations formulating physical activity intervention strategies.

Factors Influencing Motivation and De-Motivation in Mexican EFL Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Connie R.

It is observed that teacher motivation can change drastically over the course of an individual teacher's career. This is particularly the case in Mexico with regard to teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), because the situation and role of Mexican EFL teachers has changed so significantly--especially in the wake of the passage of the…

Spacing Effects in Vocabulary Learning: Young EFL Learners in Focus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lotfolahi, Amir Reza; Salehi, Hadi

2017-01-01

This study used a novel method to explore different schedules of spacing in young EFL learners. In doing so, we taught young EFL learners English-Farsi word pairs using different spacing schedules (massed vs. spaced). In the massed condition, learners studied five-word pairs in session one and five-other word pairs one week later. In the spaced…

Anxiety as It Pertains to EFL Writing Ability and Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nodoushan, Mohammad Ali Salmani

2015-01-01

This paper reports the results of a study conducted to find (a) the impact of anxiety on EFL learners' writing performance, and (b) the relationship between anxiety and foreign language writing ability. 137 (N = 137) EFL learners took the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), the Oxford Placement Test (OPT), and a writing task on a…

Acquisition of Formulaic Sequences in Intensive and Regular EFL Programmes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Serrano, Raquel; Stengers, Helene; Housen, Alex

2015-01-01

This paper aims to analyse the role of time concentration of instructional hours on the acquisition of formulaic sequences in English as a foreign language (EFL). Two programme types that offer the same amount of hours of instruction are considered: intensive (110 hours/1 month) and regular (110 hours/7 months). The EFL learners under study are…

Exploring Children's Picture Storybooks with Adult and Adolescent EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malu, Kathleen F.

2013-01-01

This article presents a theoretical framework to support the use of children's picture storybooks in teaching EFL to adults and adolescents. The author presents ways to use these books, addresses the twin goals of teaching mechanics and culture, and includes a list of books and a wide variety of activities that EFL teachers can use to effectively…

Empirical Study on Learners' Self-Efficacy in ESL/EFL Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shi, Lihong

2016-01-01

With the popularity of learner-oriented approach in language teaching, research on learners is gaining more and more importance. This paper attempts to review the empirical researches on self-efficacy in the ESL/EFL settings during the past 10 years with the purpose of depicting the extent to which the self-efficacy research in ESL/EFL has…

Ethical Conflicts Experienced by Iranian EFL Teachers in the Classroom Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alimorad, Zahra

2014-01-01

Recently, EFL teachers' ethical conflicts in the situated classroom context have got paramount importance. This paper presents findings from an empirical study of ethical conflicts Iranian EFL teachers encounter while engaged in classroom assessment. Critical incidents generated by 49 practicing teachers revealed that a majority of reported…

EFL Learners' Perspectives on ELT Materials Evaluation Relative to Learning Styles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Bokyung

2015-01-01

This paper presents the relationship between Korean EFL learners' self-reporting learning style preferences and their perspectives on ELT materials evaluation. Quantitative data was acquired from 521 subjects' responses to a learning style survey and a questionnaire of materials evaluation checklist. The findings show that Korean EFL learners'…

Perception and Practice of Taiwanese EFL Learners' Making Vocabulary Flashcards on "Quizlet"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chien, Chin-Wen

2013-01-01

The new generation is digital natives and they enjoy using the latest technology such as online resources, mobile phones, and applications. Linking technology and English learning can be an alternative to motivate the new generation to learn English. The participants in this study included 76 freshmen in a university in Taiwan. The major data in…

The Role of Opportunities to Learn in Teacher Preparation for EFL Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

König, Johannes; Tachtsoglou, Sarantis; Lammerding, Sandra; Strauß, Sarah; Nold, Günter; Rohde, Andreas

2017-01-01

The study examines the connection between domain-specific learning opportunities in English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher preparation and preservice EFL teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Using a sample of 444 preservice EFL teachers for secondary schools, it contrasts groups at the end of the 2 phases required in German teacher…

A Community of Practice Facilitated by Facebook for Integrating New Online EFL Writing Forms into Assiut University College of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abdallah, Mahmoud Mohammad Sayed

2013-01-01

This paper reports on a design study conducted within the Egyptian context of pre-service EFL teacher education, which implemented a Community of Practice (CoP) design facilitated by Facebook, to integrate some new forms of online writing. Based on some preliminary empirical results triangulated with literature review, a preliminary design…

Development of new core competencies for Taiwanese Emergency Medical Technicians.

PubMed

Chang, Yu-Tung; Tsai, Kuang-Chau; Williams, Brett

2018-01-01

Core competencies are considered the foundation for establishing Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and paramedic curricula, and for ensuring performance standards in the delivery of prehospital care. This study surveyed EMT instructors and medical directors to identify the most desirable core competencies for all levels of EMTs in Taiwan. A principal components analysis with Varimax rotation was conducted. An online questionnaire was distributed to obtain perspectives of EMT instructors and medical directors on the most desirable core competencies for EMTs. The target population was EMT training-course instructors and medical directors of fire departments in Taiwan. The questionnaire comprised 61 competency items, and multiple-choice and open-ended questions were used to obtain respondents' perspectives of the Taiwanese EMT training and education system. The results identified three factors at EMT-1 and EMT-2 levels and five factors at the EMT-Paramedic level. The factors for EMT-1 and EMT-2 were similar, and those for EMT-Paramedics identified further comprehensive competence perspectives. The key factors that appear to influence the development of the Taiwanese Emergency Medical Services (EMS) education system are the attitude of authorities, the licensure system, and legislation. The findings present new core competencies for the Taiwanese EMT system and provide capacity to redesign curricula and reconsider roles for EMT-1 and EMT-2 technicians. At the EMT-Paramedic level, the findings demonstrate the importance of incorporating competency standards in the current skills-based curriculum. Moreover, the core-competencies gap that exists between Taiwanese EMT-1s, EMT-2s, and EMT-Paramedics and internationally recognized core competencies needs to be addressed. By identifying the key factors that potentially impact the development of the EMS education system, such as the attitude of authorities, the licensure system, and legislation, these findings will inform

Development of new core competencies for Taiwanese Emergency Medical Technicians

PubMed Central

Chang, Yu-Tung; Tsai, Kuang-Chau; Williams, Brett

2018-01-01

Objectives Core competencies are considered the foundation for establishing Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and paramedic curricula, and for ensuring performance standards in the delivery of prehospital care. This study surveyed EMT instructors and medical directors to identify the most desirable core competencies for all levels of EMTs in Taiwan. Methods A principal components analysis with Varimax rotation was conducted. An online questionnaire was distributed to obtain perspectives of EMT instructors and medical directors on the most desirable core competencies for EMTs. The target population was EMT training-course instructors and medical directors of fire departments in Taiwan. The questionnaire comprised 61 competency items, and multiple-choice and open-ended questions were used to obtain respondents’ perspectives of the Taiwanese EMT training and education system. Results The results identified three factors at EMT-1 and EMT-2 levels and five factors at the EMT-Paramedic level. The factors for EMT-1 and EMT-2 were similar, and those for EMT-Paramedics identified further comprehensive competence perspectives. The key factors that appear to influence the development of the Taiwanese Emergency Medical Services (EMS) education system are the attitude of authorities, the licensure system, and legislation. Conclusion The findings present new core competencies for the Taiwanese EMT system and provide capacity to redesign curricula and reconsider roles for EMT-1 and EMT-2 technicians. At the EMT-Paramedic level, the findings demonstrate the importance of incorporating competency standards in the current skills-based curriculum. Moreover, the core-competencies gap that exists between Taiwanese EMT-1s, EMT-2s, and EMT-Paramedics and internationally recognized core competencies needs to be addressed. By identifying the key factors that potentially impact the development of the EMS education system, such as the attitude of authorities, the licensure system, and

The Impact of Textual Input Enhancement and Explicit Rule Presentation on Iranian Elementary EFL Learners' Intake of Simple Past Tense

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nahavandi, Naemeh; Mukundan, Jayakaran

2013-01-01

The present study investigated the impact of textual input enhancement and explicit rule presentation on 93 Iranian EFL learners' intake of simple past tense. Three intact general English classes in Tabriz Azad University were randomly assigned to: 1) a control group; 2) a TIE group; and 3) a TIE plus explicit rule presentation group. All…

EFL Primary School Teachers' Attitudes, Knowledge and Skills in Alternative Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Nouh, Nowreyah A.; Taqi, Hanan A.; Abdul-Kareem, Muneera M.

2014-01-01

The study investigated female EFL primary school teachers' attitudes as well as teachers' knowledge and skills in alternative assessment. Data was collected via a questionnaire from 335 EFL primary school teachers randomly selected from six educational zones. An interview with principals and head teachers and a focus group interview with EFL…

The Role of EFL Teachers' Self-Regulation in Effective Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toussi, Mohammad Taghi Monshi; Boori, Ali Akbar; Ghanizadeh, Afsaneh

2011-01-01

This article investigated the relationship between EFL teachers' self-regulation and teaching effectiveness. In so doing, 76 EFL teachers were selected according to a convenience sampling from different English language institutes in Mashhad, a city in north-eastern Iran. The findings of the study indicated that there is a significant relationship…

Gender Differences in Recreational Sports Participation among Taiwanese Adults

PubMed Central

Tsai, Liang-Ting; Lo, Feng-En; Yang, Chih-Chien; Keller, Joseph Jordan; Lyu, Shu-Yu

2015-01-01

This study examines the gender differences in the enjoyment of recreational sports participation among Taiwanese adults. Data were obtained using the 2007 Taiwan Social Change Survey. The questionnaire included a topical module of the International Social Survey Program regarding leisure time and sports. Results showed that male subjects were more likely to participate in recreational sports to improve their appearance and on account of their personal interest. In addition to these factors, female subjects also experienced greater motivation to participate when Taiwanese athletes performed well in international sporting competitions. This study confirmed that the factors influencing enjoyment of recreational sports participation differ among men and women. These results can be used to better inform public health professionals and other regulatory organizations formulating physical activity intervention strategies. PMID:25599374

The Effectiveness of a Programme-Based Vocabulary Learning Strategies for Developing English Vocabulary for EFL Female Students at Taif University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ismaiel, Nasrah Mahmoud; Al Asmari, AbdulRahman Awadh

2017-01-01

The study of vocabulary can be considered a chief issue which the second language students encounter within the learning of another language especially, for non-English major students. This study aims at assessing the influence of a suggested program for enhancing EFL students` vocabulary and vocabulary learning strategies use. The sample of this…

EFL Teachers' Knowledge of the Use and Development of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dashtestani, Reza

2014-01-01

Even though there are a plethora of CALL materials available to EFL teachers nowadays, very limited attention has been directed toward the issue that most EFL teachers are merely the consumers of CALL materials. The main challenge is to equip EFL teachers with the required CALL materials development skills to enable them to be contributors to CALL…

The Impact of Concept Mapping on EFL Learners' Critical Thinking Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khodadady, Ebrahim; Ghanizadeh, Afsaneh

2011-01-01

The present study investigated the influence of concept mapping as a post-reading strategy on EFL learners' critical thinking ability. The study utilized a pretest-posttest control and experimental group design. To do so, thirty six EFL learners at upper intermediate and advanced levels were randomly assigned to experimental (n=18) and control…

Implementing Keyword and Question Generation Approaches in Teaching EFL Summary Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chou, Mu-hsuan

2012-01-01

Summary writing has been considered an important aspect of academic writing. However, writing summaries can be a challenging task for the majority of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Research into teaching summary writing has focused on different processes to teach EFL learners. The present study adopted two methods--keyword and…

Characteristics and User Acceptance of Peer Rating in EFL Writing Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saito, Hidetoshi; Fujita, Tomoko

2004-01-01

Lack of research on the characteristics of peer assessment in EFL writing may inhibit teachers from appreciating the utility of this innovative assessment. This study addressed the following research questions: (1) How similar are peer, self- and teacher ratings of EFL writing?; (2) Do students favour peer ratings?; and (3) Does peer feedback…

Technology Integration in EFL Classrooms: A Study of Qatari Independent Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chaaban, Youmen; Ellili-Cherif, Maha

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of teachers' individual characteristics and perceptions of environmental factors on the extent of technology integration into EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms. To this end, a national survey examining EFL teachers' perceptions was conducted at Qatari Independent Schools. A total of…

A Critical Reflection on Integrating Informational Technology into EFL Curriculum: An EFL Teacher's Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Jin-Shan

2011-01-01

This paper examines the reflective practices of integrating informational technology into English curriculum of an EFL (English as a foreign language) teacher in Taiwan over a decade. The teaching experiences have been reconstructed and represented through first person narrative inquiry, highlighting the conflicts the teacher encountered, the…

The Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS): translation and validation of the Taiwanese version.

PubMed

Kao, Yu-Chen; Liu, Yia-Ping

2010-04-09

Over the last few decades, research concerning the insight of patients with schizophrenia and its relationships with other clinical variables has been given much attention in the clinical setting. Since that time, a series of instruments assessing insight have been developed. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Taiwanese version of the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS). The BCIS is a self-administered instrument designed to evaluate cognitive processes that involves reevaluating patients' anomalous experiences and specific misinterpretations. The English language version of the BCIS was translated into Taiwanese for use in this study. A total of 180 subjects with and without psychosis completed the Taiwanese version of the BCIS and additional evaluations to assess researcher-rated insight scales and psychopathology. Psychometric properties (factor structures and various types of reliability and validity) were assessed for this translated questionnaire. Overall, the Taiwanese version of the BCIS showed good reliability and stability over time. This translated scale comprised a two-factor solution corresponding to reflective attitude and certain attitude subscales. Following the validation of the internal structure of the scale, we obtained an R-C (reflective attitude minus certain attitude) index of the translated BCIS, representing the measurement of cognitive insight by subtracting the score of the certain attitude subscale from that of the reflective attitude subscale. As predicted, the differences in mean reflective attitude, certain attitude and R-C index between subjects with and without psychosis were significant. Our data also demonstrated that psychotic patients were significantly less reflective, more confident in their beliefs, and had less cognitive insight compared with nonpsychotic control groups. In light of these findings, we believe that the Taiwanese version of BCIS is a valid and reliable instrument for

Context-Model-Based Instruction in Teaching EFL Writing: A Narrative Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Zheng

2016-01-01

This study aims to re-story the provision of the context-model-based instruction in teaching EFL writing, focusing especially on students' development of the context model and learning to guide EFL writing with the context model. The research data have been collected from the audio recordings of the classroom instruction, the teacher-researcher's…

The Formation and Development of Chinese EFL Learners' English Mental Lexicon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dai, Zhongxin; Wang, Kemin

2013-01-01

This paper investigated some dominant features and influential factors in the formation and developmental process of the English mental lexicon of Chinese EFL learners. Data were collected by means of word tests. The result of the data analysis shows: (1) Chinese EFL learners acquire very little of the overall word knowledge; and (2) aspects of…

Movie Effects on EFL Learners at Iraqi School in Kuala Lumpur

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yaseen, Bilal Huri; Shakir, Hani

2015-01-01

Previously, one of the vital tasks of English learning is to find new methods and resources to make the EFL students more stimulating and productive. Recently, the usage of movies (in DVD format) in courses became popular or supplementary resources to learn English among EFL learners. Many researchers stated that authentic video is an advantage…

Iranian EFL Teachers' Attitudes towards Lesson Planning Based on Their Gender

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heidari, Mina; Azizifar, Akbar; Gowhary, Habib; Abbasi, Zahra

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine Iranian EFL teachers' attitudes towards lesson plan based on their gender. The research is a quantitative study in which the data is obtained to get a great understanding on the relationship between lesson plan of Iranian English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and teachers' gender. The population…

The Effect of Online Dictionaries Usage on EFL Undergraduate Students' Autonomy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tananuraksakul, Noparat

2015-01-01

Due to EFL undergraduate students' ineffective learning strategies, which mirror lack of autonomy, this paper is a pilot study into how use of Cambridge Dictionaries Online can affect undergraduate students' autonomy or self-reliance in a Thai EFL context. The link was selectively integrated in a writing classroom as a tool to improve their…

Pedagogical Implications of Score Distribution Pattern and Learner Satisfaction in an Intensive TOEIC Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, Che Chang

2014-01-01

The study aimed at investigating TOEIC score distribution patterns and learner satisfaction in an intensive TOEIC course and drew implications for pedagogical practice. A one-group pre-test post-test experiment and a survey on learner satisfaction were conducted on Taiwanese college EFL students (n = 50) in a case study. Results showed that the…

The relation between perceived parental involvement and academic achievement: the roles of Taiwanese students' academic beliefs and filial piety.

PubMed

Chen, Wei-Wen; Ho, Hsiu-Zu

2012-01-01

The excellent academic performance among East-Asian students has drawn international attention from educators and psychologists. However, the process that underlies student academic achievement for this particular group has rarely been documented. The present study examines how the relation between perceived parental involvement and Taiwanese students' academic achievement is mediated by student academic beliefs (i.e., beliefs about effort, academic self-concept, and perceived control). The study further explores whether this mediating effect varies with types of filial piety. Participants were 468 first-year students from colleges and universities in Taiwan. Multiple-group mediating models were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results indicated that, for the Taiwanese sample, students' academic beliefs mediated the relation between perceived parental involvement and academic achievement. Furthermore, the mediational effect was significant for the reciprocal filial type, but not for the authoritarian filial type. The importance of the quality of the parent-child relationship and the internalization process related to children's assumptions of their parents' educational values indicate the need for a contextual view when examining predictors of student academic achievement.

Psychosocial Predictors of Taiwanese Secondary Students' Self-Esteem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hong, Zuway-R; Veach, Patricia McCarthy; Lawrenz, Frances

2004-01-01

This study investigated the relationships between psychosocial factors and self-esteem for 1,672 Taiwanese senior high school students (779 boys, 893 girls). Students from Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, completed a Chinese version of the Secondary Student Questionnaire (SSQ), which measures self-esteem, depression, anxiety, stereotyped thinking,…

Variation in the Prediction of Cross-Cultural Adjustment by Ethnic Density: A Longitudinal Study of Taiwanese Students in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ying, Yu-Wen; Han, Meekyung

2008-01-01

The study examined variation in the prediction of adjustment in Taiwanese students by ethnic density. A total of 155 Taiwanese students were assessed via survey pre-departure and three times post-arrival in the United States. Hierarchical regression analysis showed students on campuses with fewer other Taiwanese peers formed more friendships with…

Indicators of satisfaction in clickers-aided EFL class.

PubMed

Yu, Zhonggen

2015-01-01

How to identify whether students are satisfied with clickers-aided EFL class might be largely a mystery for most researchers since satisfaction is deeply hidden in human psychology which is subtle and intangible. This study, by using bivariate correlation analysis and structural equation modeling, survey scales claimed both valid and internally consistent, and data collected from randomly selected 227 participants, explored the indicators of satisfaction in clickers-aided EFL class, together with gender differences in the indicators. It was concluded that satisfaction was positively correlated with interaction, self-efficacy and self-regulation in clickers-aided EFL class without statistically significant gender differences. Furthermore, interaction, self-efficacy and self-regulation were mutually and significantly correlated. Although indicators of satisfaction might not be limited to these three factors, the findings should be helpful to future researchers who desire to determine whether users are satisfied with the polling technology. Then teachers could decide what teaching style and contents should be adopted. In order to satisfy users of clickers, future lecturing might be designed to promote peer interaction, self-efficacy and self-regulation.

Indicators of satisfaction in clickers-aided EFL class

PubMed Central

Yu, Zhonggen

2015-01-01

How to identify whether students are satisfied with clickers-aided EFL class might be largely a mystery for most researchers since satisfaction is deeply hidden in human psychology which is subtle and intangible. This study, by using bivariate correlation analysis and structural equation modeling, survey scales claimed both valid and internally consistent, and data collected from randomly selected 227 participants, explored the indicators of satisfaction in clickers-aided EFL class, together with gender differences in the indicators. It was concluded that satisfaction was positively correlated with interaction, self-efficacy and self-regulation in clickers-aided EFL class without statistically significant gender differences. Furthermore, interaction, self-efficacy and self-regulation were mutually and significantly correlated. Although indicators of satisfaction might not be limited to these three factors, the findings should be helpful to future researchers who desire to determine whether users are satisfied with the polling technology. Then teachers could decide what teaching style and contents should be adopted. In order to satisfy users of clickers, future lecturing might be designed to promote peer interaction, self-efficacy and self-regulation. PMID:25999898

Postpartum cultural practices are negatively associated with depressive symptoms among Chinese and Vietnamese immigrant mothers married to Taiwanese men.

PubMed

Chen, Tzu-Ling; Tai, Chen-Jei; Wu, Tsai-Wei; Chiang, Ching-Ping; Chien, Li-Yin

2012-01-01

The objectives of researchers in this study were to examine acceptance and adherence to mainstream Taiwanese postpartum cultural practices and their association with postpartum depressive symptoms among Chinese and Vietnamese immigrant mothers married to Taiwanese men. While the postpartum cultural practices in China are similar to mainstream Taiwanese practices, those of Vietnam differ from Taiwanese practices. This cross-sectional survey was conducted in Taiwan from October 2007 through March 2008, and included190 immigrant mothers from China and Vietnam who had delivered a child within the past year. Immigrant mothers from China had higher levels of acceptance and adherence to mainstream Taiwanese postpartum cultural practices and a lower rate of postpartum depressive symptoms than immigrant mothers from Vietnam, but the association between adherence to "doing-the-month" practices and postpartum depressive symptoms did not vary significantly between Chinese and Vietnamese mothers. Adherence to these practices was negatively associated with postpartum depressive symptoms among immigrant mothers (OR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.90-0.96) after adjustment for social support, duration between moving to Taiwan and delivery, and country of origin. Adherence to mainstream postpartum cultural practices was negatively associated with postpartum depressive symptoms for both Chinese and Vietnamese immigrant women married to Taiwanese men.

The Effect of Flipped Model of Instruction on EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension: Learners' Attitudes in Focus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karimi, Mehrnoosh; Hamzavi, Raouf

2017-01-01

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of flipped model of instruction on EFL learners' reading comprehension ability. Moreover, this study aimed at identifying EFL students' attitudes toward flipped model of instruction. To this end, 60 EFL learners studying at an accredited private language institute in Isfahan were first…

Advantage Management Strategy in Competition via Technological Race Perspective: Empirical Evidence from the Taiwanese Manufacturing Industry

PubMed Central

Hung, Tsu-Yi; Hsiao, Yu-Ju; Wu, Shih-Wei

2014-01-01

This study investigated the advantage management strategies of a firm regarding the technological race in the manufacturing sector. This is to reveal whether firms adopt a catch-up or leapfrogging strategy in the competition for innovation. The results show that competition is fierce in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. Taiwanese manufacturing firms (mostly SMEs) tend to adopt the “catch-up” strategy to keep up with their competitors in order to remain in the technological race. The result indicates that, under financial constraints, Taiwanese manufacturing firms attempt to invest in R&D to catch up with their rivals or to avoid being eliminated from the race. PMID:25295307

Advantage management strategy in competition via technological race perspective: empirical evidence from the Taiwanese manufacturing industry.

PubMed

Hung, Tsu-Yi; Hsiao, Yu-Ju; Wu, Shih-Wei

2014-01-01

This study investigated the advantage management strategies of a firm regarding the technological race in the manufacturing sector. This is to reveal whether firms adopt a catch-up or leapfrogging strategy in the competition for innovation. The results show that competition is fierce in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. Taiwanese manufacturing firms (mostly SMEs) tend to adopt the "catch-up" strategy to keep up with their competitors in order to remain in the technological race. The result indicates that, under financial constraints, Taiwanese manufacturing firms attempt to invest in R&D to catch up with their rivals or to avoid being eliminated from the race.

Ambiguity as Deliberate Strategy: The "De-Politicized" Discourse of National Identity in the Taiwanese Citizenship Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hung, Cheng-Yu

2016-01-01

This article aims to investigate how the discourse on national identity is approached in the new Taiwanese citizenship curriculum. The differing opinions on Taiwan's relationship with China and the constant threat from this rising superpower have deterred the explicit promotion of either a Taiwanese or Chinese identity. The new curriculum follows…

The Effect of Context on the EFL Learners' Idiom Processing Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rohani, Gholamreza; Ketabi, Saeed; Tavakoli, Mansoor

2012-01-01

The present study investigated the effect of context on the strategies the EFL learners utilized to process idioms. To do so, ten Iranian intermediate EFL learners were randomly assigned to two groups who then attended a think-aloud session. The 5 subjects in the first group were exposed to an animated cartoon including 23 unfamiliar idioms while…

The Effect of Video Games on Iranian EFL Learners' Vocabulary Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vahdat, Sedigheh; Rasti Behbahani, Amin

2013-01-01

This study explored the effect of video games as a new tool for Iranian EFL (English as a foreign language) vocabulary learning. To conduct the study, 40 intermediate EFL learners, both male and female, were chosen through a TOEFL proficiency test. The participants were divided into two groups (10 males and 10 females in each): a control group and…

Test-Taking Strategies of Arab EFL Learners on Multiple Choice Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al Fraidan, Abdullah; Al-Khalaf, Khadija

2012-01-01

Many studies have focused on the function of learners' strategies in a variety of EFL domains. However, research on test-taking strategies (TTSs) has been limited, even though such strategies might influence test scores and, as a result, test validity. Motivated by this fact and in light of our own experience as EFL test-makers, this article will…

Review of EFL Learners' Habits in the Use of Pedagogical Dictionaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

El-Sayed, Al-Nauman Al-Amin Ali; Siddiek, Ahmed Gumaa

2013-01-01

A dictionary is an important device for both: EFL teachers and EFL learners. It is highly needed to conduct effective teaching and learning. Many investigations were carried out to study the foreign language learners' habits in the use of their dictionaries in reading, writing, testing and translating. This paper is shedding light on this issue;…

EFL Secondary School Teachers' Views on Blended Learning in Tabuk City

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alfahadi, Abdulrahman M.; Alsalhi, Abdulrhman A.; Alshammari, Abdullah S.

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate EFL Secondary School Teachers' Views on Blended Learning. It also aims to investigate (a) the teachers' views on blended learning content and process, and (b) how blended learning is effective in developing teachers' performance. The study sample included 35 EFL Saudi teachers in Tabuk City, KSA. In order to…

English as a Foreign Language--Teachers' Perspectives on Implementing Online Instruction in the Iranian EFL Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dashtestani, Reza

2014-01-01

This study set out to explore Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' perceptions on the implementation of online EFL instruction. A mixed-methods design, including semi-structured interviews and questionnaires, was employed for the specific purposes of this study. A total of 242 EFL teachers participated in the questionnaire phase…

Using Eye-Tracking to Measure Lexical Inferences and Its Effects on Reading Rate during EFL Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dolgunsöz, Emrah

2016-01-01

Inferring unknown word meanings by using contextual clues is a common strategy employed by EFL learners during reading. This study aims to (a) investigate the effect of familiarity on lexical inferences in EFL reading; (b) examine inference efficiency among EFL readers with different levels of vocabulary knowledge and reading proficiency; and (c)…

Mother vs. Father Custody Effects for Taiwanese Preschoolers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Honig, Alice Sterling; Su, Pang-Chieh

2000-01-01

Examined effects of divorce and custody arrangements on Taiwanese preschoolers' emotional adjustment and gender role development 2 years after divorce. Found no differences in maladjustment of children from divorced versus two-parent families. Found children with same-sex custodial parents were better adjusted than children in custody with…

Rethinking Taiwanese Nationality and Subjectivity: Implications from Language Issues in Colonial Taiwan in the 1920s

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Hsuan-Yi

2017-01-01

This historical study reflects on history curriculum debates over the last 20 years in Taiwan. To open up possibilities for contemporary Taiwanese to rethink themselves in terms of national culture and subjectivity, this paper explores the construction of Taiwanese subjectivity in the past. It focuses on the history of Taiwan under Japanese…

ESL, EFL and Bilingual Education: Exploring Historical, Sociocultural, Linguistic, and Instructional Foundations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zimmerman, Lynn W.

2010-01-01

This collection of essays examines the historical, social, cultural, and educational foundations of ESL/EFL/Bilingual Education. The four themes of this book are: (1) Historical, Legal and Political Foundations of Bilingual/ESL Education; (2) Linguistic and Sociocultural Issues in ESL/EFL Education; (3) Educational Reform and English Language…

Chinese University EFL Teachers' Perceptions of Plagiarism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lei, Jun; Hu, Guangwei

2015-01-01

Although Chinese university students' perceptions of plagiarism have been extensively investigated, those of their teachers have been surprisingly under-researched. This study sought to address this gap by investigating 112 Chinese university English teachers' knowledge of and attitudes towards plagiarism. While 57 participating teachers had…

Factor Structure, Reliability and Validity of the Taiwanese Version of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yen, Cheng-Fang; Yang, Pinchen; Wu, Yu-Yu; Hsu, Fan-Ching; Cheng, Chung-Ping

2010-01-01

The aims of this study were to examine the factor structure, internal consistency 1 month test-retest reliability and the discriminant validity for the diagnosis of anxiety disorder of the Taiwanese version of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC-T). A total of 12,536 Taiwanese children and adolescents in the community were…

Effects of Storytelling to Facilitate EFL Speaking Using Web-Based Multimedia System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hwang, Wu-Yuin; Shadiev, Rustam; Hsu, Jung-Lung; Huang, Yueh-Min; Hsu, Guo-Liang; Lin, Yi-Chun

2016-01-01

This study applied storytelling in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom in order to promote speaking skills. Students were asked to practice speaking EFL through producing individual and interactive stories with a Web-based multimedia system. We aimed to investigate an effectiveness of applying individual and interactive storytelling…

Korean EFL Teachers' Perspectives about Their Participation in an Extensive Reading Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byun, Ji-Hyun

2010-01-01

The purpose of this research was to explore the overall perceptions of EFL teachers toward the extensive reading approach as they experienced the approach first hand. More particularly, EFL teachers' perspectives on the applicability issues of extensive reading for secondary level curriculum in Korea were captured. Also, their personal experience…

Effective Behavior of EFL Teachers as Perceived by Undergraduate Students in Indonesia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Said, Mashadi

2017-01-01

This study attempts to explore the effective behaviors of teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) as perceived by undergraduate students in Indonesia. For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered to 270 Indonesian undergraduate students. The questionnaire addressed seven dimensions of EFL teachers' behavior, which are the following:…

Does Multimedia Support Individual Differences?--EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension and Cognitive Load

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Hui-Yu

2014-01-01

The present study examines how display model, English proficiency and cognitive preference affect English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' listening comprehension of authentic videos and cognitive load degree. EFL learners were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The control group received single coding and the experimental group received…

Cross-National Cultural Competency Among Taiwanese International Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Lei; Wang, Kenneth T.; Heppner, Puncky P.; Chuang, Chi-Ching

2017-01-01

Taiwanese international students are among 1 of the top 10 international populations on American campuses; thus, more research is needed to address the particular issues related to their transition process. This is among the first studies to empirically test the cross-national cultural competence model as a conceptual framework by examining…

Revisiting the Continuing Bonds Theory: The Cultural Uniqueness of the Bei Dao Phenomenon in Taiwanese Widows/Widowers.

PubMed

Lee, Wan-Lin; Hou, Yi-Chen; Lin, Yaw-Sheng

2017-10-01

In the present study, we used the phenomenological approach to rediscover the ontological meaning of relationships with the deceased in Taiwanese widows/widowers. We first revised the original Western definitions of grief, bereavement, and mourning to fit Taiwanese culture. We used the word bei dao to indicate the mixed nature of grief and mourning in the Taiwanese bereavement process. Then we reanalyzed data from a previous study, which was conducted in 2006. In the previous qualitative research, each subject was interviewed 3 to 4 times in the mourning state over an 18-month interval that began at the point of the spouse's death. Results showed that two main themes emerged in the present analysis: (a) a blurred boundary of life and death and (b) a transformation of ethical bonds. The present study reveals the culturally unique aspects of the Taiwanese bei dao process. Limitations of the present study and future directions are discussed and reflected.

Factors Affecting Intrinsic Motivation among University Students in Taiwan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tang, Li-Ping Thomas

1990-01-01

Studies the effects of the Protestant work ethic and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation in a sample of Taiwanese university students. Divides subjects into three groups according to work ethic measurement: high, intermediate, and low. Suggests students with a low work ethic exert more effort when challenged. (NL)

The Comparison of American and Taiwanese Parents' Expectations of Their Children Learning a Second/Foreign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kung, Chih-Chin

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the comparison between American and Taiwanese parents' views on their young children learning a second/foreign language, the ideal language and learning age, and parents' perceptions regarding language. There were 24 U.S. and 44 Taiwanese participants who had at least one child studying in the day-care…

EFL Learners' Satisfaction with the Online Learning Program, Tell Me More

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gyamfi, George; Sukseemuang, Panida

2018-01-01

This study investigated EFL learners' satisfaction with the asynchronous online learning program Tell Me More (TMM). 340 EFL learners' satisfaction with the TMM program was surveyed. In addition, a semi-structured focus group interview was conducted with 10 of the participants to gain in-depth insight into their satisfaction. The findings showed…

Primary School EFL Teachers' Attitudes towards Creativity and Their Perceptions of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Nouh, Nowreyah A.; Abdul-Kareem, Muneera M.; Taqi, Hanan A.

2014-01-01

Teachers perform an important job by encouraging creativity in their lessons and among their pupils. Thus, the present study aims to examine primary school EFL teachers' attitudes towards creative thinking and their perceptions of what goes on in the classroom. Participants were 434 female primary school EFL teachers, chosen randomly, teaching all…

Relating EFL Teachers' Professional and Institutional Identity to Their Teaching Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rozati, Fatemeh

2017-01-01

The main purpose of the present study was to systematically scrutinise the possible relationship between English as a foreign language (henceforth EFL) teachers' professional and institutional identity with their teaching efficacy. In doing so, 100 EFL teachers and instructors, within the age range of 30 to 50 (mean age = 40), and teaching…

Analysing Culture and Interculture in Saudi EFL Textbooks: A Corpus Linguistic Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almujaiwel, Sultan

2018-01-01

This paper combines corpus processing tools to investigate the cultural elements of Saudi education of English as a foreign language (EFL). The latest Saudi EFL textbooks (2016 onwards) are available in researchable PDF formats. This helps process them through corpus search software tools. The method adopted is based on analysing 20 cultural…

Learning with Literature in the EFL Classroom. Anglo-American Studies. Volume 49

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delanoy, Werner, Ed.; Eisenmann, Maria, Ed.; Matz, Frauke, Ed.

2015-01-01

"Learning with Literature in the EFL Classroom" provides a comprehensive, in-depth and state-of-the-art introduction to literature learning in EFL contexts. Paying attention to both theoretical and practical concerns, the study focuses on a wide range of literary genres, different age and ability groups and new topics for literature…

A Study of Students' Attitude toward Teachers' Affective Factors in EFL Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ranjbar, Nahid Amini; Narafshan, Mehry Haddad

2016-01-01

In any teaching-learning situation, teacher plays a significant role in the classroom. This study aimed at investigating the students' attitude toward teachers' affective factors in EFL classrooms. In this study, the students' population was 300 pre-intermediate (based on the institutes' placement test) female EFL students (10 to 25 years old) in…

The Multifaceted Ecology of Language Play in an Elementary School EFL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, Dae-Min

2017-01-01

Language play (LP) in second language (L2) classrooms has attracted increasing attention in recent years, but descriptions and explanations of LP construction in English as a foreign language (EFL) settings remain insufficient. This paper reports the discursive processes of LP construction in an elementary school EFL classroom in Korea. I found…

The Relationship between Classroom Environment and EFL Learners' Academic Self-Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daemi, Masoumeh Naghsh; Tahriri, Abdorreza; Zafarghandi, Amir Mahdavi

2017-01-01

The present study sought to examine the relationship between classroom environment and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' academic self-efficacy. To this end, a sample of 200 advanced EFL learners (146 females and 54 males) completed the "What is Happening In This Class?" (WIHIC) which consists of seven scales including…

Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Daily Function between Taiwanese and American Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Kuan-Lin; Tseng, Mei-Hui; Hu, Fu-Chang; Koh, Chia-Lin

2010-01-01

The study described the psychometric properties of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) when used in Taiwanese normally developing children and illustrated the ethnic differences in determining capacity and independence in daily function between Taiwanese and American children. The Chinese version of the PEDI (PEDI-C) was…

Revisiting Lexical Inferencing Strategies in L2 Reading: A Comparison of Successful and Less Successful EFL Inferencers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anvari, Sahar; Farvardin, Mohammad Taghi

2016-01-01

There are many questions about how EFL learners infer word meanings from context and what distinguishes successful from less successful inferencers. This study explored the lexical inferencing strategies used by EFL learners and the characteristics which distinguish successful from less successful inferencers. To this end, 15 EFL students in an…

The Effect of Cultural Integration on the Development of Listening Comprehension among Iranian Upper-Intermediate EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fatemi, Mohammad Ali; Montazerinia, Fatemeh; Shirazian, Sharifeh; Atarodi, Maliheh

2014-01-01

Cultural integration can be used as an effective learning practice in contexts of English as Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. The present study aimed at investigating the effect of cultural integration on the development of Iranian EFL upper-intermediate learners' listening comprehension. To this end, fifty-two upper-intermediate EFL learners…

From Early Aspirations to Actual Attainment: The Effects of Economic Status and Educational Expectations on University Pursuit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Ching-Ling; Bai, Haiyan

2015-01-01

This study investigated the effects of economic status and the educational expectations of significant others on early university aspirations and actual university attainment. The study analyzed two-wave longitudinal data collected from 1,595 Taiwanese students in their 9th grade in middle school and in their freshman year at universities. The…

Taiwanese Middle School Students' Materialistic Concepts of Sound

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eshach, Haim; Lin, Tzu-Chiang; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2016-01-01

This study investigated if and to what extent grade 8 and 9 students in Taiwan attributed materialistic properties to sound concepts, and whether they hold scientific views in parallel with materialistic views. Taiwanese middle school students are a special population since their scores in international academic comparison tests such as TIMSS and…

Dilemma and Conflicts in Taiwanese Women's Leisure Participation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsai, Chiung-Tzu Lucetta

2011-01-01

This article analyses the gender relationship of men and women in Taiwan. Firstly, it employs power relation to explore what the gender relationship is and how this gender relationship has produced. Secondly, it describes how this gender relationship has influenced Taiwanese society. It also explains the gender inequality of both sexes in Taiwan…

Humanistic Pedagogies and EFL Experiments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Grace Hui Chin; Chien, Paul Shih Chieh; Jarvie, Douglas S.; Purcell, John Anthony; Perkins, Lawrence Larry

2012-01-01

This paper argues that all research should be based on humanistic pedagogies with educational functions. While conducting research associated with issues of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL), researchers should pay attention to whether the samples have also been well educated. This study emphasizes that when focusing on significances of…

Students of Different Subjects Have Different Levels of Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation to Learn English: Two Different Groups of EFL Students in Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Kieran; Fujita, Junichi

2016-01-01

Here is documented investigation to assess the motivational drivers of a group of Japanese, first-year, dental-university students taking part in compulsory EFL classes and to compare those motivational drivers with an investigation into the motivational drivers of a group of Japanese IT students. There was a clear difference between extrinsic and…

Efficient Personalized Mispronunciation Detection of Taiwanese-Accented English Speech Based on Unsupervised Model Adaptation and Dynamic Sentence Selection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Chung-Hsien; Su, Hung-Yu; Liu, Chao-Hong

2013-01-01

This study presents an efficient approach to personalized mispronunciation detection of Taiwanese-accented English. The main goal of this study was to detect frequently occurring mispronunciation patterns of Taiwanese-accented English instead of scoring English pronunciations directly. The proposed approach quickly identifies personalized…

Principled Eclecticism: Approach and Application in Teaching Writing to ESL/EFL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alharbi, Sultan H.

2017-01-01

The principal purpose of this paper is to critically examine and evaluate the efficacy of the principled eclectic approach to teaching English as second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) writing to undergraduate students. The paper illustrates that this new method adapts mainstream writing pedagogies to individual needs of learners of ESL/EFL in order to…

EFL Teachers' Stress and Job Satisfaction: What Contribution Can Teacher Education Make?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadeghi, Karim; Sa'adatpourvahid, Morteza

2016-01-01

The present study was conducted to find out the level of job satisfaction and stress among Iranian EFL teachers. More precisely, an attempt was made to investigate the main sources of EFL teachers' stress, their level of satisfaction with the job and the relationship between occupational stress and instructors' age, marital status and tenure.…

On the Awareness of English Polysemous Words by Arabic-Speaking EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alnamer, Sulafah Abdul Salam

2017-01-01

This study measures the extent to which Arabic-speaking EFL learners are aware of polysemy in English. It also investigates whether the English proficiency level of Arabic-speaking EFL learners plays a role in their ability to distinguish between the various meanings of English polysemous words, and whether they face problems when they encounter…

The Role of Metacognition in the Development of EFL Learners' Listening Skill

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bozorgian, Hossein

2014-01-01

This study investigated the impact of metacognitive instruction on the listening skill, and metacognitive knowledge of a group of male students (N = 30) who were learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Iran. The study participants spoke Persian as a first language and were high-intermediate EFL learners. The participants received a guided…

A Computer-Assisted Multiliteracies Programme as an Alternative Approach to EFL Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Kyungmee; Ardeshiri, Minoo; Cummins, Jim

2016-01-01

The aim of this article is to introduce a computer-assisted multiliteracies programme (CaMP) as an alternative approach to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction in order to overcome the educational limitations that are inherent in most EFL settings. In a number of monolingual societies with a dominant language other than English,…

Assessing Learning Control of English Hedges among Tertiary Cantonese-Speaking EFL Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siu, Fiona Kwai-peng

2014-01-01

This project was designed to try to investigate the difficulties EFL learners would have in learning to use hedging as a rhetorical device in academic writing. The participants were 136 native Cantonese-speaking EFL students who enrolled in the one-year course "English for Academic Purposes" offered by a language centre at a university…

Toward an Understanding of EFL Teacher Culture: An Ethnographic Study in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Hong; Yuan, Rui; Wang, Qiang

2018-01-01

Informed by an ethnographic approach, this study aims to investigate the professional culture of a group of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in a high school in China. Relying on data gathered through extended field observation and in-depth interviews, this study seeks to uncover the distinctive characteristics of EFL teacher culture…

The role of simultaneous and successive processing in EFL reading.

PubMed

Filickova, Marta; Kovalcikova, Iveta; Ropovik, Ivan

2016-10-01

This study examines the relationship between simultaneous and successive processing (the Planning, Attention, Simultaneous and Successive processing [PASS] theory processes) and reading skills in English as a foreign language (EFL). A group of 81 children were administered two batteries of tests. One was used to measure EFL reading skills, while the other one assessed simultaneous and successive processing. We hypothesised (a) cognitive processes to predict reading ability, as well as (b) the presence of a significant relationship between (c) simultaneous processing and reading comprehension and (d) successive processing and letter and word decoding. The findings confirmed that the anticipated relationships between these domains exist and are of moderate effect size. The research has helped to contribute to the understanding of how simultaneous and successive processing can affect EFL reading skills both on the level of basic word and letter decoding and reading comprehension. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

On Taiwanese Pupils' Ability to Differentiate between English /l/ and /r/: A Study of L1/L2 Cross-Language Effects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eika, Evelyn; Hsieh, Yining

2017-01-01

Students in South East Asia often struggle with English /l/ and /r/. This study therefore set out to examine how Taiwanese pupils' perception of these sounds is influenced by cross-language effects. Most Taiwanese students have Mandarin as L1 and Taiwanese as L2 or vice versa, and English as L3. A same-different discrimination experiment was…

Investigating Pre-Service EFL Teachers' Self-Concepts within the Framework of Teaching Practicum in Turkish Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yilmaz, Cevdet

2018-01-01

The present study aimed at understanding the nature and potential dynamism of five pre-service EFL teachers' self-concepts in the domain of English as a foreign language (EFL). To this end, the effects of pre-service teachers' experiences gained alongside the practicum on their EFL self-concept development were also discussed. Data were generated…

The Effect of Explicit Affective Strategy Training on Iranian EFL Learners' Oral Language Proficiency and Anxiety Reduction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mostafavi, Fatemeh; Vahdany, Fereidoon

2016-01-01

The current study aimed at investigating the possible effects of explicit teaching of affective strategies on Iranian EFL learners' oral language proficiency and the extent of their anxiety in EFL classroom. First, PET test was administered to a total number of 120 female third grade high school EFL students. Then, 60 participants whose score fell…

The Relationship between EFL Teachers' Critical Thinking and Use of Motivational Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parsi, Gholamreza

2017-01-01

The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between EFL teachers' critical thinking and use of motivational strategies. The participants of this study were 101 EFL teachers. These teachers were both male and female between 21 to 36 years old, and they taught intermediate and advanced levels and varied in their experience from 3…

Second Language Writing and Assessment: Voices from within the Saudi EFL Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Obeid, Rana

2017-01-01

This small scale, quantitatively based, research study aimed at exploring one of the most debated areas in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL); and that is, the perceptions and attitudes of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers as well as EFL learners at an English Language Institute (ELI) at a major…

On the Acquisition of the Prenominal Adjective Order by Kuwaiti EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alotaibi, Maye A.; Alotaibi, Abdullah M.

2017-01-01

This study aims to test the extent to which 80 Kuwaiti EFL learners are aware of prenominal adjective ordering system in English, particularly how it affects Kuwaiti EFL learners' grasp on English grammar. In addition, it checks whether the English proficiency level of the participants plays a role in their answers on the test. Therefore, a…

The Voices of Thirteen Chinese and Taiwanese Parents Sharing Views about their Children Attending Chinese Heritage Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liao, Li-yuan; Larke, Patrica J.

2008-01-01

Many Chinese and Taiwanese parents in the United States see benefits of Chinese schools in providing their children the opportunity to learn Chinese culture and language. The results of this qualitative study involving interviews with thirteen Chinese and Taiwanese parents indicated that there were three main reasons why parents want to send their…

Validation of the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire for Taiwanese College Students (TSSRQ).

PubMed

Chen, Yang-Hsueh; Lin, Yu-Ju

2018-01-01

While self-regulation has long been recognized as an important characteristic of an individual, instruments assessing the general aptitude of self-regulation remain limited especially in Asian countries. This study re-validated Carey et al.'s (2004) Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire based on a national sample of Taiwanese college students ( N = 1,988). Item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) yielded 22 items in five internally consistent factors. Descriptive findings showed that, a lack of proactiveness and volitional control, and a decrease of self-regulation throughout the college span appeared to be an overarching problem among Taiwanese college students. Furthermore, male students achieved lower self-regulation scores than female ones, and students in Services and STEM-related majors are in the need of self-regulation enhancement. Due to the generic measurement of individual's self-regulation traits, the Taiwanese Short Self-regulation Questionnaire (TSSRQ) can be flexibly applied to various contexts and used to deal with different issues beyond learning such as college students' Internet or smartphone addiction. Through this study, we hope the validated TSSRQ can promote studies on self-regulation and associated antecedents and outcomes, in turn leveraging college students' life adjustment and well-being.

Marine Environmental Awareness among University Students in Taiwan: A Potential Signal for Sustainability of the Oceans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Chung-Ling; Tsai, Chen-Hao

2016-01-01

University students are regarded as future decision-makers in society and have a high likelihood of becoming opinion-shapers in terms of the environment. Their awareness of the marine environment will therefore have a significant effect upon sustainable marine development. This study examines Taiwanese university students' marine environmental…

Reflections on the Pedagogical Imports of Western Practices for Professionalizing ESL/ EFL Writing and Writing-Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Lawrence Jun

2016-01-01

The teaching of writing in English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) has been a challenging task for many teachers due to its multifaceted nature. This paper is a reflection on ESL/EFL writing teaching in three countries, namely China, Singapore, and New Zealand, with particular reference to professionalizing ESL/ EFL writing and ESL/EFL…

Teaching the Students and Not the Book: Addressing the Problem of Culture Teaching in EFL in Argentina

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moirano, María Carolina

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to discover teachers' attitudes towards culture in the EFL classroom in three different institutions in La Plata, Argentina. In order to do this, eleven EFL teachers who were using three different EFL textbooks (World English 3, Laser B1+, and Upstream B2+) were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Also,…

The Impact of Teacher Questioning on Creating Interaction in EFL: A Discourse Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Zahrani, Mona Yousef; Al-Bargi, Abdullah

2017-01-01

This study examines the effect of questions on fostering interaction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. It also seeks to determine the characteristics of questions that promote increased classroom interaction. Data were collected through video recordings of EFL classrooms which were analyzed using Discourse Analysis techniques.…

A Complex Distribution of Elongation Family GTPases EF1A and EFL in Basal Alveolate Lineages

PubMed Central

Mikhailov, Kirill V.; Janouškovec, Jan; Tikhonenkov, Denis V.; Mirzaeva, Gulnara S.; Diakin, Andrei Yu.; Simdyanov, Timur G.; Mylnikov, Alexander P.; Keeling, Patrick J.; Aleoshin, Vladimir V.

2014-01-01

Translation elongation factor-1 alpha (EF1A) and the related GTPase EF-like (EFL) are two proteins with a complex mutually exclusive distribution across the tree of eukaryotes. Recent surveys revealed that the distribution of the two GTPases in even closely related taxa is frequently at odds with their phylogenetic relationships. Here, we investigate the distribution of EF1A and EFL in the alveolate supergroup. Alveolates comprise three major lineages: ciliates and apicomplexans encode EF1A, whereas dinoflagellates encode EFL. We searched transcriptome databases for seven early-diverging alveolate taxa that do not belong to any of these groups: colpodellids, chromerids, and colponemids. Current data suggest all seven are expected to encode EF1A, but we find three genera encode EFL: Colpodella, Voromonas, and the photosynthetic Chromera. Comparing this distribution with the phylogeny of alveolates suggests that EF1A and EFL evolution in alveolates cannot be explained by a simple horizontal gene transfer event or lineage sorting. PMID:25179686

The effects of teachers' homework follow-up practices on students' EFL performance: a randomized-group design

PubMed Central

Rosário, Pedro; Núñez, José C.; Vallejo, Guillermo; Cunha, Jennifer; Nunes, Tânia; Suárez, Natalia; Fuentes, Sonia; Moreira, Tânia

2015-01-01

This study analyzed the effects of five types of homework follow-up practices (i.e., checking homework completion; answering questions about homework; checking homework orally; checking homework on the board; and collecting and grading homework) used in class by 26 teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) using a randomized-group design. Once a week, for 6 weeks, the EFL teachers used a particular type of homework follow-up practice they had previously been assigned to. At the end of the 6 weeks students completed an EFL exam as an outcome measure. The results showed that three types of homework follow-up practices (i.e., checking homework orally; checking homework on the board; and collecting and grading homework) had a positive impact on students' performance, thus highlighting the role of EFL teachers in the homework process. The effect of EFL teachers' homework follow-up practices on students' performance was affected by students' prior knowledge, but not by the number of homework follow-up sessions. PMID:26528204

The effects of teachers' homework follow-up practices on students' EFL performance: a randomized-group design.

PubMed

Rosário, Pedro; Núñez, José C; Vallejo, Guillermo; Cunha, Jennifer; Nunes, Tânia; Suárez, Natalia; Fuentes, Sonia; Moreira, Tânia

2015-01-01

This study analyzed the effects of five types of homework follow-up practices (i.e., checking homework completion; answering questions about homework; checking homework orally; checking homework on the board; and collecting and grading homework) used in class by 26 teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) using a randomized-group design. Once a week, for 6 weeks, the EFL teachers used a particular type of homework follow-up practice they had previously been assigned to. At the end of the 6 weeks students completed an EFL exam as an outcome measure. The results showed that three types of homework follow-up practices (i.e., checking homework orally; checking homework on the board; and collecting and grading homework) had a positive impact on students' performance, thus highlighting the role of EFL teachers in the homework process. The effect of EFL teachers' homework follow-up practices on students' performance was affected by students' prior knowledge, but not by the number of homework follow-up sessions.

Taiwanese life scientists less "medialized" than their Western colleagues.

PubMed

Lo, Yin-Yueh; Peters, Hans Peter

2015-01-01

The article presents results from surveys of life scientists in Taiwan (n=270) and in Germany (n=326). Fewer Taiwanese than German researchers have frequent contact with the media and they rate their experiences with journalists less positively. Furthermore, they are less prepared to adapt to journalistic expectations and to a greater extent than German researchers they expect journalists to consider scientific criteria in their reporting. These findings are interpreted in Weingart's "medialization of science" framework as indicators of lower medialization of science in Taiwan than in Germany. However, Taiwanese scientists are more willing than German scientists to accept journalistic simplification at the expense of accuracy. This is explained as an adaptation to the media system and to the perceived scientific literacy of the media audience. We hypothesize that cultural differences regarding the relative priority of relational vs. rational communication goals may also contribute to more tolerance of journalistic simplification in Taiwan. © The Author(s) 2013.

The Effects of Advance Organizers and Subtitles on EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Hui-Yu

2014-01-01

The present research reports the findings of three experiments which explore how subtitles and advance organizers affect EFL learners' listening comprehension of authentic videos. EFL learners are randomly assigned to one of two groups. The control group receives no treatment and the experimental group receives the experimental conditions of one…

Private Speech in Teacher-Learner Interactions in an EFL Context: A Sociocultural Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gheisari, Nouzar

2017-01-01

Theoretically framed within Vygotskyan sociocultural theory (SCT) of mind, the present study investigated resurfacing of private speech markers by Iranian elementary female EFL learners in teacher-learner interactions. To this end, an elementary EFL class including 12 female learners and a same-sex teacher were selected as the participants of the…

Teaching Iranian Elementary EFL Learners to Say "No" Politely: An Interlanguage Pragmatic Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sa'd, Seyyed Hatam Tamimi; Gholami, Javad

2017-01-01

This quasi-experimental study adopted a pretest/posttest design to investigate the effect of instructional intervention in teaching polite refusal strategies explicitly on Iranian EFL learners' performance of the speech act of refusing. The participants, consisting of 24 male elementary EFL learners aged 12-18, responded to a discourse completion…

Using News Articles to Build a Critical Literacy Classroom in an EFL Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Yujong

2011-01-01

This article examines an effort to support critical literacy in an English as a foreign language (EFL) setting by analyzing one college EFL reading classroom in which students read and responded to articles from "The New Yorker". Data include transcribed audiotapes of classroom interaction and interviews with students, classroom materials, and…

An Exploration of Planning for English-as-Foreign-Language (EFL) Academic Language Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Elizabeth

2012-01-01

This paper arises from a concern that in English-as-foreign-language (EFL) curricula there are apparently unsystematic and linguistically under-theorized approaches to language development. The paper explores EFL unit plans across upper primary and lower secondary schooling, in a context where secondary school graduates need English mainly for…

Teachers' Sense of Self-Efficacy, English Proficiency, and Instructional Strategies: A Study of Nonnative EFL Teachers in Iran

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eslami, Zohreh R.; Fatahi, Azizullah

2008-01-01

This study examined the efficacy beliefs of nonnative English speaking (NNES) Iranian EFL teachers. EFL teachers' perceptions of their teaching efficacy in terms of personal capabilities to teach English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and their perceived English language proficiency level were examined. A modified version of the Teacher Sense of…

The Effect of Brain-Based Teaching on Young EFL Learners' Self-Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oghyanous, Parastoo Alizadeh

2017-01-01

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of brain-based teaching on the self-efficacy of young EFL learners. The initial participants of the study were 90 learners within the age range of 13-16 who were selected based on convenience sampling. Theses 90 young EFL learners were given a Flyers test the scores of which were used to choose 60…

Contribution of Morphological Awareness and Lexical Inferencing Ability to L2 Vocabulary Knowledge and Reading Comprehension among Advanced EFL Learners: Testing Direct and Indirect Effects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Dongbo; Koda, Keiko

2012-01-01

Within the Structural Equation Modeling framework, this study tested the direct and indirect effects of morphological awareness and lexical inferencing ability on L2 vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension among advanced Chinese EFL readers in a university in China. Using both regular z-test and the bootstrapping (data-based resampling)…

Pragmatic Transfer in Thai EFL Refusals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wannaruk, Anchalee

2008-01-01

Communication breakdowns can occur during cross-cultural communication due to different perceptions and interpretations of appropriateness and politeness. This study investigates similarities and differences between refusals in American English and Thai and incidences of pragmatic transfer by Thai EFL learners when making refusals. The…

Investigating Attitude and Motivation of Iranian University Learners toward English as a Foreign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sayadian, Sima; Lashkarian, Anita

2010-01-01

This paper discusses the attitudes and motivation Iranian learners have toward learning EFL at their university level. Although research of a similar nature has been done in other countries, the present study complements others by following 500 university learners and it provides another avenue for examining the language situation in Iran. To…

The Use of L1 as a Teaching Strategy by Native and Non-Native EFL Instructors at a Language Preparatory Program in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balabakgil, Burcin; Mede, Enisa

2016-01-01

The purpose of this research study is to find out and compare the use of L1 as a teaching strategy by native and nonnative instructors in elementary level EFL classrooms at a preparatory program of a foundation (non-profit, private) university in Istanbul, Turkey. Specifically, the study aims to investigate the perceptions of native and non-native…

The Effect of Talking Story Books on Saudi Young EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alsamadani, Hashem Ahmed

2017-01-01

The current research study investigated the effects of talking story books on Saudi young EFL learners' reading comprehension skills. A sample of Saudi-young-EFL learners were randomly selected and divided into two groups: an experimental group (40 students) and a control group (39 students). Students of both groups took a pre reading…

Assessing Learning Opportunities in EFL Classroom Interaction: What Can Conversation Analysis Tell Us?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cancino, Marco

2015-01-01

The present paper seeks to assess the opportunities for learner involvement and negotiation of meaning that teachers provide in the unfolding interaction in an EFL setting. Classroom data from a Chilean EFL setting were collected in order to assess how teachers deploy a number of interactional features when managing contingent learner turns. The…

Challenges of First Years of Teaching in Turkey: Voices of Novice EFL Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sali, Pinar; Kecik, Ilknur

2018-01-01

The present study aims to describe the challenges as perceived by novice teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL). The participants of the study were seven (7) novice EFL teachers in public primary and secondary schools in Turkey. The data sources include semi-structured interviews, diary entries, video-recorded classroom observations and…

Investigating the Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Professional Identity of Iranian EFL Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alaee, Mitra

2015-01-01

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers' Professional Identity and their types of Multiple Intelligences. Moreover, it aimed to see the extent to which their multiple intelligences can predict their professional identity. The participants of the study were 137 Iranian EFL teachers teaching in…

Practitioners' Perspectives on the Application of Integration Theory in the Saudi EFL Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almalki, Mansoor S.; Soomro, Abdul Fattah

2017-01-01

There is a close connection between reading and writing. Several studies suggest integrating reading in the instruction of teaching writing skills to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learner. This study seeks to determine the extent Saudi EFL teachers support, apply and understand the theory of integration between reading and writing. To…

Teacher Electronic Portfolio and Its Relation to EFL Student Teacher Performance and Attitude

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alshawi, Areej T.; Alshumaimeri, Yousif A.

2017-01-01

E-portfolio is a promising approach to develop teachers into reflective practitioners who show that they can adapt to new technologies, new criteria, and new environments. The current research explored the quality of EFL student teachers' e-portfolios and their attitudes towards using them. The research was conducted on 30 EFL female student…

Developing an Instrument for Iranian EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension Problems and Listening Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noroozi, Sara Sara; Sim, Tam Shu; Nimehchisalem, Vahid; Zareian, Gholamreza

2014-01-01

In the body of literature on listening strategies to EFL learners, what seems to be lacking is that the focus is on teaching listening strategies to learners with little attention to their listening comprehension problems. No local research has been conducted on the nature of the Iranian tertiary level students' EFL listening comprehension…

Literature in EFL/ESL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khatib, Mohammad; Rezaei, Saeed; Derakhshan, Ali

2011-01-01

This paper is a review of literature on how literature can be integrated as a language teaching material in EFL/ESL classes. First, it tracks down the place of literature in language classes from the early Grammar Translation Method (GTM) to Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) era. The paper then discusses the reasons for the demise and…

Exploring the Evolution of a Teacher Professional Learning Community: A Longitudinal Case Study at a Taiwanese High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Peiying; Wang, Ting

2015-01-01

This article presents findings of a longitudinal case study conducted at a Taiwanese high school from 2006 to 2010. This school participated in the 'High Scope Programme' (HSP), which was sponsored by the Taiwanese National Science Council to promote curricular innovation in science education. Utilising interview data with 11 participating…