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Educational Settings and Second Language Learning
A general distinction can be drawn between ‘natural’ and ‘educational’ settings. The former arise in the course of the learners’ contact with other speakers of the L2 in a variety of situations—in the workplace, at home, through the media, at international conferences, in business meetings, etc.
The Globalization of English: Its Impact on English Language Education in the Tertiary Education Sector in Taiwan
The overall agenda for the research reported here grew out of semi-structured interviews with senior educational managers from a tertiary educational institution in Taiwan. These managers raised a number of issues, including the changing profile of tertiary students, the changing nature of English curricula, the increasing need for English teaching staff to be adaptable, highly qualified and research-active, and the growing pressure on institutions to introduce English language proficiency benchmarking. Each of these issues can be related to the impact of globalization and, in particular, the impact of the globalization of English, on the education sector.
An Exploration of the Relationship Between Learner Autonomy and English Proficiency
Students’language proficiency has been shown to be influenced by learner autonomy. This study investigated the relationship between learner autonomy and English proficiency in a sample of 129 non-English majors in a teacher college in China by means of a questionnaire and an interview.
A blog as a Tool for Reflection for English Language Learners
Educators have reported a number of benefits for language learners keeping blogs; however, none of the available research focuses on the potential for a blog to be a medium for reflecting on learning. This paper draws on preliminary data collected from female Japanese college students.
The Theoretical Study of Motivational Transfer and Entertainment Use in Self-study CALL
This study is aimed at describing and interpreting the communication strategies (CS) used by speakers of English as an international lingua franca (EILF). The participants in the research were members of an EILF focus group that met once a week during the northern summer of 2006, near a university in Seoul, South Korea. The group included one Mongolian and five Korean university students.
The Theoretical Study of Motivational Transfer and Entertainment Use in Self-study CALL
This study investigates how best to integrate entertainment aspects into self-study CALL in order to improve L2 learners’ motivation both effectively and systematically. Three theoretical approaches will be taken to this research question: the synthesis of L2 motivation theories and classroom CALL studies addressing motivational transfer, the extension of classroom CALL application into self-study CALL, and the incorporation of motivational entertainment factors into self-study CALL motivating mechanisms.
The Influence of Learner Motivation on Developing Autonomous Learning in an English-for-Specific-Purposes Course
This study adopts both quantitative and qualitative approaches to identify factors which motivate and hinder the science majors to take charge of their language learning in a course-based SALL program at the University of Hong Kong. The study attempts to find out the cognitive and psychological factors that differentiate learners’ levels of development of autonomous learning, and the contextual and social influences surrounding the learners’ participation in course-based SALL.
A micro-study of English as an international lingua franca in a Korean context
This study is aimed at describing and interpreting the communication strategies (CS) used b y speakers of English as an international lingua franca (EILF). The participants in the reseal ch were members of an EILF focus group that met once a week during the northern sum me r of 2006, near a university in Seoul, South Korea. The group included one Mongolian and five Korean university students.
Affective (pre) dispositions towards task-based English L2 learning: A study of third-year Japanese university learners
This dissertation examines the affective nature of task-based (hereafter TB) L2 English learning, with respect to Japanese third-year university students. In a three-part study, which included: a) a questionnaire b) an experiment incorporating both TB and Structural-functional orientated activities (hereafter SF) and c) a follow-up interview, the data was collected both qualitatively and quantitatively, measuring aspects of learners’ attitudes, motivation and anxieties towards TB classroom methods. Thus the title: “Affective (pre)dispositions towards task-based English L2 among third-year Japanese university learners: a case study†was reformulated into the following three hypotheses:
Project-Based Learning Activities for Short-Term Intensive English Programs
This paper examines the effectiveness of the project-based teaching approach in a short-term intensive English program for Japanese university EFL students. Four distinct projects are described and evaluated, and the benefits and limitations of the four projects are given.
