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Orientations and Motivation in English Language Learning: a Study of Bangladeshi Students at Undergraduate Level
This paper analyzes and determines the various socio-psychological orientations of the undergraduate students of private universities of Bangladesh towards learning English. The study focuses on the most important social psychological variables: attitude and motivation. The domain where English is used mostly, is also investigated to know the present linguistics reality of Bangladesh.
Change and Continuity: English Language Teaching in Singapore
This paper focuses on change and continuity in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Singapore as revealed by a study of the English language syllabuses and their respective textbooks since the time of Singapore’s evolvement from a British colony to the modern independent nation it is today.
The Importance of Teaching Pronunciation to Adult Learners
If the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) is valid, what can be gained from attempting to teach pronunciation at the college level? According to Vitanova and Miller (2002), students were excited about their improvement in segmentals, supra-segmentals, self-monitoring and self-correction. Improvement is important and attainable even though native speaker like pronunciation may be impossible after a certain age.
On the Effects of Economization and Disambiguation in the Production of EFL Learners
This study explored the effect of “Economization and Disambiguation” paradigms on English language production in order to seek psychological validity for the cognitive accounts of language processing involving Iranian learners of English. The participants consisted of 41 junior students of English Translation at Shiraz Azad University.
‘Negative Capability’; A Successful Indicator of Second Language Learner Aptitude
In this research article, I shall attempt to prove that the literary concept first coined by the English romantic poet, John Keats is a successful indicator of second learner aptitude. In recent years this concept, ‘negative capability’ has become increasingly popular in such areas as psychoanalysis and leadership training for corporate executives.
Rude Thoughts About IT in Language Education
Information Technology in language teaching probably began with papyrus. It has attracted admirers and detractors ever since. This paper takes a slightly irreverent look at current IT, as well as its actual and potential uses in foreign and second language education.
The “Unknown Unknowns” of Plain English
Dr. Roger Nunn considers the pragmatic implications of some of the double speak that politicians enter into. He considers Donald Rumsfeld’s “Plain English Campaign” ‘Foot in the Mouth’ Award, for his now notorious statement on “known, knowns” and “unknown, unknowns”.
Developing oral skills by combining fluency- with accuracy-focused tasks: A case study in China
This paper reports an evaluative case study in which the researcher working as facilitator, assessor and evaluator critically analyzed the value of his contribution to a Spoken English program offered at Shanghai Normal University in China. The subjects who participated in this research were 268 Chinese third-year college students pursuing different majors excluding English.
Shifting paradigms: from a communicative to a context-based approach
This paper offers a critical examination of the communicative approach (CA) with specific reference to a study of the teaching and learning experiences of a group of Thai university practitioners and students. It is argued that although the fundamental tenets of the approach have served the profession well, it is now time to consider an emerging alternative paradigm in the form of a context-based approach (C-bA).
Perception, Practice and Progress – Significance of scaffolding and zone of proximal development for second or foreign language teachers
Vygotskian approaches to second or foreign language (L2) learning and teaching have been gaining momentum in the field of L2 studies. This paper examines the significance of these approaches, especially scaffolding and the zone of proximal development (ZPD), in the perception, practice and progress of L2 learning and teaching.
