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A Call for New Benchmarks at Saudi Language and Translation Schools

A Call for New Benchmarks at Saudi Language and Translation Schools

| December 28, 2008

Since the year 2000, Saudi universities have cancelled all admission tests and have adopted an open admission policy that depends on high school GPA only. Many high school graduates in Saudi Arabia, especially females, show a great interest in joining colleges of languages and translation and admission to those colleges has been highly competitive.

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Vocabulary Size, Background Characteristics and Reading Skills of Korean Intensive English Students

Vocabulary Size, Background Characteristics and Reading Skills of Korean Intensive English Students

| December 28, 2008

This study examines the relationship between breadth of vocabulary, background experiences in learning English and student skill in the reading of an academic text. The author used the Swansea Levels Tests to estimate vocabulary sizes and collected information on background characteristics via questionnaire from eleven Korean students enrolled in an Intensive English program and five Korean undergraduate students at Utah State University.

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Learner Beliefs and Language Learning

Learner Beliefs and Language Learning

| December 28, 2008

This article explores the nature of learner beliefs, how these beliefs can change over time and how their beliefs relate to learners’ developing proficiency. It reports three studies of learner beliefs. Ellis (2002) used metaphor analysis to explore the beliefs of six beginner classroom learners of L2 German.

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Motivating Writers: The Power of Choice

Motivating Writers: The Power of Choice

| September 26, 2008

Motivation plays a key role in education. This action research study evaluated the effectiveness of the power of choice of proximal academic goals as a strategy for boosting student motivation in an undergraduate composition and rhetoric course. Students were given choices to select easier or more difficult assessment tasks prior to essay examinations.

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Monolingual and Bilingual English Learners in one Classroom: Who is at a Disadvantage?

Monolingual and Bilingual English Learners in one Classroom: Who is at a Disadvantage?

| September 26, 2008

As Cook (2004) states learning another language does seem to change people’s ‘thinking’ to some extent. This study intends to investigate how monolingual and bilingual ESL learners perform on reading comprehension tests in mixed-mono/bilingual classrooms. To this end the interaction between mono/bilinguality with gender and reading ability in respect to general English proficiency has been taken into account.

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A Descriptive Study on Turkish Teachers of English Regarding Their Professional Needs, Efforts for Development and Available Resources

A Descriptive Study on Turkish Teachers of English Regarding Their Professional Needs, Efforts for Development and Available Resources

| September 26, 2008

The purpose of this study was to provide Turkish EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers’ profiles with a specific emphasis on their professional needs. In addition, it describes the major sources of reference Turkish EFL Teachers make use of, the endeavours they are engaged in for professional development, preferred teaching methods and the available sources at their disposal in schools.

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English Language General Secondary Certificate Examination Washback in Jordan

English Language General Secondary Certificate Examination Washback in Jordan

| September 26, 2008

Washback is a common term in applied linguistics referring to the influence of testing on teaching and learning, which is a prevailing phenomenon in education. This study examined the nature and scope of the impact of the English General Secondary Certificate Examination (GSCE) on English second secondary language teachers in Al-Karak district located in Jordan.

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Review of Interest In The Learning Of English in the Chinese Context

Review of Interest In The Learning Of English in the Chinese Context

| September 26, 2008

This paper explores ‘interest in learning English’ from motivational perspectives and how ‘interest’ changes when extrinsic factors intrude. We have looked mainly into ‘interest in learning English’ in the Chinese context because we find ‘interest in learning English’ weakens as students progress from low grades to higher ones.

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Differential Effects of Etymological Elaboration and Rote Memorization on Idiom Acquisition [1] in College EFL Learners

Differential Effects of Etymological Elaboration and Rote Memorization on Idiom Acquisition [1] in College EFL Learners

| September 26, 2008

This study investigates differential effects of etymological elaboration and rote memorization on idiom acquisition and retention in Chinese college EFL learners.The sample (N = 70) involved two intact groups of college students.

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The Role of Multiple Intelligences (MI) in Listening Proficiency: A Comparison of TOEFL and IELTS Listening Tests from an MI Perspective

The Role of Multiple Intelligences (MI) in Listening Proficiency: A Comparison of TOEFL and IELTS Listening Tests from an MI Perspective

| September 26, 2008

TOEFL and IELTS listening tests have been said to be different in terms of theoretical foundations, research background, history and appearance and it has also been proposed that IELTS is more content based, task oriented and authentic (Farhady, 2005; Kiany, 1998).

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