skipper

rss feed

skipper's Latest Posts

Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Writing:A Genre Approach to Teaching Narrative Writing

Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Writing:A Genre Approach to Teaching Narrative Writing

| June 26, 2008

econd language (L2) writers often have an incomplete control of English and rely on teachers to help them develop the linguistic resources necessary for them to express themselves effectively. Genre-based pedagogies were developed to address the language needs by offering students explicit and systematic explanations of the way language functions in social context

Continue Reading

Effectiveness of Recasts in the Teaching of EFL

Effectiveness of Recasts in the Teaching of EFL

| June 26, 2008

The present study assessed the effectiveness of oral recasts in an EFL classroom. Thirty-eight college students and a female teacher participated in the study in a western state in Venezuela. Students were expected to learn the right use of the auxiliary verb ‘to have’, and the use of past participles in the present perfect tense. They were divided into two groups.

Continue Reading

The Application of Learning Portfolio Assessment for Students in the Technological and Vocational Education System

The Application of Learning Portfolio Assessment for Students in the Technological and Vocational Education System

| June 26, 2008

The study intends to offer an alternative assessment method—learning portfolio assessment—for writing classes to enable students in the technological and vocational education system to complete English writing courses with comfort, ease, and confidence. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether students under portfolio assessment experience greater satisfaction in writing class than those under traditional test assessment.

Continue Reading

How Does Context Contribute to EFL Learners Assessment of Vocabulary Gain

How Does Context Contribute to EFL Learners Assessment of Vocabulary Gain

| June 26, 2008

In this article, I describe the development and trial of three measurement techniques each of which will be providing varying degrees of context for the assessment of the subjects’ lexical knowledge. These are the word-definition matching task with a complete lack of context; the gap-filling task with reduced context at the sentence level; and the rational cloze which provides discoursal clues extending to the whole of the text.

Continue Reading

Improving an EFL Class: Starting from Classroom Observations

Improving an EFL Class: Starting from Classroom Observations

| June 26, 2008

This study was based on the belief that observing existing classroom practices could bring forth insights into improving a language teacher’s instruction. The main sources of data collection were videotaped classroom observations, a classroom observation protocol, a post-study open-ended questionnaire to the students and a post-study interview with the teacher.

Continue Reading

Research on EFL Writing Strategy Using SRP:  An Empirical Study in DUT

Research on EFL Writing Strategy Using SRP: An Empirical Study in DUT

| June 26, 2008

In the past 20 years, research in the field of ESL writing has made great progress. However, research on EFL writing strategies is still a latecomer, especially in China. A review of the previous studies at home shows that most of the research subjects are adults; research on local techniques outnumber those on global strategies and the researchers employed either qualitative or quantitative instrument in the research.

Continue Reading

Creating Constructivist Learning Environment for Japanese EFL Students: A Digital Story Program

Creating Constructivist Learning Environment for Japanese EFL Students: A Digital Story Program

| June 26, 2008

This study assesses the effectiveness of FM Magic, a web-based multimedia English program that teaches EFL in a Japanese university. It uses the Constructivist Multimedia Learning Environment Survey (CMLES) and a Student Open-ended Questionnaire. Results indicate that FM Magic creates a positive learning environment for these EFL students.

Continue Reading

Pragmatic and Discourse Transfer of Combination of Compliment Response Strategies in Second Language Learning and Usage

Pragmatic and Discourse Transfer of Combination of Compliment Response Strategies in Second Language Learning and Usage

| June 26, 2008

When it comes to learning a second language (L2), learners have already possessed and usually bring with them the native speaker’s knowledge of their first language(s) and culture. The influence of the first language (L1) and culture on L2 use is described in technical terms as pragmatic and discourse transfer.

Continue Reading

The Role of Children’s Literature in the Teaching of English to Young Learners in Taiwan

The Role of Children’s Literature in the Teaching of English to Young Learners in Taiwan

| May 28, 2008

Continue Reading

Unplanned Vocabulary Instruction in the Adult EFL Classroom

Unplanned Vocabulary Instruction in the Adult EFL Classroom

| May 2, 2008

A large proportion of the direct vocabulary instruction an adult learner will receive in the EFL classroom will be unplanned (McDonald, 2006). Although unplanned vocabulary instruction can provide many of the conditions learning theorists recognise as being necessary for learning to take place, its spontaneous nature means it has certain limitations.

Continue Reading