Main Editions
The Effect of Paraphrasing Strategy Training on the ReadingComprehension of College Students at the Undergraduate Level
Metacognitive strategy instruction is currently garnering much attention as an effective means of enhancing reading comprehension. This study examined the effect of Paraphrasing Strategy Intervention, based on the model proposed by Schumaker, Denton, and Deshler (1984). A sample of 63 students majoring in English was selected from three colleges in India.The effect of this instruction was measured by the students‘ performance in reading comprehension.
Contrastive Rhetoric: Inflation, Verbal Voices and Polyphonic Visibility in Learners and Native Speakers’ Academic Writing
This study seeks to explore the use of inflation and over-assertion devices, verbal voices and polyphonic visibility in L2 learners’ and native speakers’ academic writing. For specific contrastive goals, special attention has been paid to hedges and downtoners. Deliberate attempts have been made throughout the paper to uncover the reasons underlying the deviation in L2 learners’ use of the target language features. The database for the study consists of two equal-sized corpora, namely, the Interlanguage Corpus of Arab Students of English and a similar size from the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays.
Do teachers reap what they sow? A study of young ESL learners’ perception of what is learned in an English lesson
When teachers plan their lessons, they usually have certain objectives in mind. The objectives may state what they intend to teach or what they hope their learners will learn at the end of the lesson. Research in English as a second language (ESL) classrooms has shown conflicting perceptions of teachers and learners on what has happened or what is considered prominent in their shared classrooms (Allwright, 1988; Allwright and Bailey, 1991; Nunan, 1989; 1995; Breen, 2001; Benson 2001).
The strategic needs of Iranian students in reading literary and non-literary texts: A dialogic approach
The current study sets out 1) to investigate the strategic needs of participants in reading literary and non-literary texts; and 2) to shed light on the differences of reading literary and non-literary texts. To achieve this aim, thirty participants read three literary and two nonliterary texts and wrote down the questions for which they could not find any answer.
L2 Students Use of Rhetorical Consciousness Raising Instructional Materials in Writing Research Articles
This study proposes to explore L2 undergraduate use of three types of rhetorical consciousness
raising instruction (RCRI) materials during the process of research writing. These instruction
materials are schematic structure, rich language features, and text. All the participants received
the RCRI in class through extensive instruction on each type of the RCRI materials.
Washback of National Matriculation English Test on Students’ Learning in the Chinese Secondary School Context
Tests play a powerful role in the Chinese educational system, and exert significant washback on students’ learning. This study investigates the washback effect of the high-stakes National Matriculation English Test (NMET) within a Chinese high school from the students’ perspective. It considers, in particular, the washback effect on the process and product of learning from the standpoint of reading strategies and skills.
Becoming a Counsellor: Between Belief and Behaviour
The preparation of out-of-class learning not only focuses on advice to learners about how to take
responsibility for their own language learning, but also involves helping teachers to become
aware of their roles in guiding learners towards autonomy. Self-access centre use represents one
means for students to engage in out-of-class learning.
An Analysis of a Hypothesized Model of EFL Students’ Motivation Based on Self-Determination Theory
The present study focuses explicitly on how the three psychological needs of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) autonomy, relatedness and competence were determinants of the intrinsic motivation of two groups of students: 203 English majors and 82 business majors. Since intrinsic motivation is an independent pole in which all three psychological needs have strong relationships, and demonstrates the most autonomous conditions on the intrinsic/extrinsic motivation continuum in SDT, this study explicitly focused on intrinsic motivation.
Motivation and EFL University Students in North-East Asia
How can instructors motivate Asian university students in their EFL classrooms? One way is to ask the students directly about their preferences and other motivational factors through survey questionnaires and follow up assessments by the students. Is there a difference in motivation between the cultures of North-East Asia? Does the motivation vary when other group factors are considered? To answer these questions, a survey questionnaire was given to university EFL students in Korea, China, and Japan (669 questionnaires in total).
Investigating the Use of Cohesive Devices by Chinese EFL Learners
This study investigated cohesive errors in expository compositions of People Republic of China (PRC) students, who were learning English as a foreign language in a university in Singapore. It was based upon an error analysis paradigm and Halliday and Hasan‘s (1976) cohesion framework and taxonomy. The purpose was to illuminate the students‘ difficulties in using cohesion by examining the cohesive errors quantitatively and qualitatively.
