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The Addition of an Affect test and Self-assessment into ESL Writing Assessment: Process and effect. A Case Study in a Non-English Major Postgraduate ESL Writing Class
This paper introduces both affect test and self-assessment into the traditional assessment scheme of non-English major post-graduates ESL writing classes. Learning results after the actual application of a whole semester are analyzed and compared to see whether such addition can improve or encourage ESL learner’s writing performance.
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.
Teaching /l/ and /r/ to Japanese EFL Learners: Support for Segmental-Level Pronunciation Instruction
It is common knowledge that Japanese native speakers have difficulty producing the English sounds of /l/ and /r/. While recent literature has recommended abandoning minimum pair drills and beginning pronunciation instruction with the teaching of suprasegmentals, some researchers have found that English learners still benefit from being taught the physical differences behind the production of these sounds.
Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in China: Some Common Concerns
In February 2004, Chinese Ministry of Education launched a teaching reform featuring the integration of the computer and networking in College English learning to stimulate students’ motivation and to improve their communicative competence. Up to now, Chinese CALL is still in infancy.
Chinese Students’ Motivation to Learn English at the Tertiary Level
This study investigated Chinese university students’ attitudes towards and motivation to learn English and the correlations of the said variables with the students’ English proficiency. A modified 44-item survey adapted from Gardner’s (1985) and Clėment et al.’s (1994) was administered to 202 third-year non-English majors in a southern university in China.
A Survey of the Students and Interns’ EFL Writing Problems in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences
Writing is a complex process reflecting the writers’ communicative skills. To help EFL students write in English appropriately, the teachers must take their major problems in writing into account if they are expecting a favorable outcome.
Theme and Rheme in the Thematic Organization of Text: Implications for Teaching Academic Writing
This paper explores the insights concerning the relationship between Theme and Rheme derived from theory of Systemic-Functional Grammar, with the aim to improve cohesion in academic texts. The paper shows that, by analyzing Theme and Rheme in a text, the students can learn to perform the same analysis in their own writings, and thus improve cohesion in their own work.
Developing “The Course†for College Level English as a Foreign Language Learners and Faculty Members in Vietnam
In November, 2005, I was informed I would be sent for four months to Vinh University, Nghe An Province, Vietnam, as part of the Fulbright visiting lecturer program. Before this point I knew I would be going to Vietnam sometime in the first half of 2005, although I did not know where, nor what I would be teaching, nor precisely when I was to start.
The Contribution of EFL Programs to Community Development in China
This article examines the link between the contributions of EFL programs and sustainable community development in China by examining the recent developments in a small northeastern city. It seeks to spur greater dialogue on the value of EFL education initiatives as a means toward greater community empowerment for developing nations throughout Asia…
