Thesis
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:
Motivation among Learners of English in the Secondary Schools in the Eastern Coast of the UAE
Everybody needs to have motivation and a reason for action. Second and foreign language learners should be offered the opportunity to be motivated and fulfill their learning orientations. The purpose of this study is to examine the student’s integrative and instrumental motivation for learning English in the UAE state secondary schools. Additionally, the study aims to recognize the factors affecting the student’s motivation. One hundred students participated in completing a questionnaire reflecting their orientations for learning English and what affects negatively their English learning motivation. Follow up interviews with 20 students, 10 Arab English teachers as well as 3 supervisors were conducted to deepen understanding and interpretation of the results.
A survey of tertiary teachers’ beliefs about English Language Teaching in Indonesia with regard to the role of English as a global language
Its role as an international lingua franca makes English a unique language in the world. The fact that English is mostly used worldwide among people for whom it is a second or foreign language is an indicator of such uniqueness. This distinctiveness does not only refer to the language itself, but also to the ways it is taught as a foreign language. Some of the pedagogical principles that have informed foreign language teaching in the last few decades, that is, need to be reconsidered when the language taught is English.
A Comparative Study of the Effect of Implicit and Delayed, Explicit Focus on Form on Iranian EFL Learners’ Accuracy of Oral Production
The present study was conducted to compare the effect of implicit focus on form through corrective recast with the effect of delayed, explicit focus on form. To fulfill the purpose of the study, 60 intermediate learners of Kish Language Institute were chosen by means of administering an achievement test. These learners were pretested through a structured interview to check their current accuracy level regarding the oral production of four structures.
Designing Communicative Tasksfor College English Courses
The new College English Curriculum Requirements was issued in the year 2004, which put great emphasis on the students’ ability to use English in an all-round way, and sets the ability to study independently so as to solve problems with the target language as the main objective of college English teaching.
CROSS-CULTURAL PRAGMATICS: REFUSALS OF REQUESTS BY AUSTRALIAN NATIVE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH
This study investigates similarities and differences in refusals of requests between Australian native speakers of English (AEs), and Vietnamese learners of English (VEs) using a modified version of the discourse completion task (DCT) developed by Beebe et al. (1990). 40 AEs (20 males and 20 females) and 40 VEs (20 males and 20 females) participated in the study, resulting in 1440 speech acts of refusals.
THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT TASK TYPES ON L2 LEARNERS’ INTAKE AND ACQUISITION OF TWO GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURES
Recent years have seen a growing interest in the role of tasks in second language acquisition. A substantial body of research now exists investigating the effects of different task types and their accompanying instructions on learning. Less is known about how tasks affect intake and the relationship between intake and acquisition.
