Suchergebnisse

In the simplest term, democracy may be defined as a set of views and standards towards freedom, however it includes an array of approaches which have been framed over the history of mankind. In short, democracy is the systematized form of freedom. A democratic country is not possible without the freedom of expression. Freedom of expression fosters publics to clearly put forward their demands on how the authorities should perform their duties. Thus, this study inquires the visionary underpinnings of third persons in a phenomenological custom. The data of the study were gathered through a questionnaire designed by Yildirim and Türko?lu (2017) and semistructured interview questions structured by the researchers. Through a mix method research design, this paper employed both qualitative and quantitative ways to collect the required data. 180 EFL prep-class students at a state university in Turkey participated in the study. 160 of the informants responded to the questionnaire while 20 informants answered the semi-structured interview questions. Convenience sampling, where the very first accessible data is employed, was utilized in the study. The findings of the study show that the need of democratic participation is felt in EFL classrooms. Related implications to raise the awareness of EFL students and teachers on democracy and democratic citizenship were given at the end of the paper. © 2020 JLLS and the Author - Published by JLLS. ; 2-s2.0-85086176532

Throughout much of the history of research into second language acquisition (SLA), the role of learners' first language (L1) has been a hotly debated issue. Prodromou (2000) refers to the mother tongue as a 'skeleton in the closet', while Gabrielatos (2001) calls it a 'bone of contention'. Such views are but a mere reflection of the different methodological shifts in English Language Teaching, which have brought about new and different outlooks on the role of the mother tongue. The conflict itself is taking place in academic circles rather than in classrooms, where the use of L1 is still considered unacceptable owing to the predominance of the communicative method in language teaching.

Research on the role that mother tongue has for the non-native learners of English has been conducted around the world, however none in North Macedonia. This research aims to explore some of the controversy regarding the use of the student's first language (L1), as well as to suggest translation activities as a beneficial tool for the students of South East European University in Tetovo, North Macedonia. It also provides insights into native language interference in the process of translating from students' mother tongue into English, and vs.

Researchers have long been interested in the characteristics associated with "good" teaching. However, most relevant studies have been conducted in Western contexts. As cultural background has a strong influence on the way good teaching is perceived, it was considered important to explore this issue in the Arab Gulf. The current study sought to compare Omani school students' and teachers' perceptions of the characteristics of good English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in the Omani context. To achieve this, 171 Omani students and 233 English teachers responded to a seven-category, 68-item questionnaire utilizing a 4-point Likert-type response key. Descriptive statistics and t tests were used to determine perceptions of good teacher characteristics and differences between students' and teachers' responses. Results indicate that Omani students and teachers generally agree about the importance of all characteristic categories, with those related to English language proficiency and treating students equally being of special importance. Participants also agreed that knowledge of Western culture/s and the use of technology were relatively unimportant. Implications of these findings for EFL teaching in Oman are discussed.

In the last decades, we have witnessed a revolutionary spread of English worldwide. This global spread of English can be attributed to the combination of various historical, political, economic, cultural, and technological factors. This led to the emergence of new varieties of English, multiple linguistic and cultural identities. However, for decades, the Western paradigm of English language teaching has occupied a prestigious position in Asia, including Indonesia. This paradigm neglects the emerging varieties of English. Furthermore, it is important to recognize that language teaching and learning is affected by a host of factors ranging from the macro political and cultural environments of a country or region to the micro perceptions and practices of individual teachers or learners, which calls for different methodologies for different learners or learning situations. This article attempts to discuss briefly the current issues in English language teaching (ELT) in Indonesia from English as lingua franca (ELF) perspectives, particularly by taking a close look at all the local features and limitations in the established theories and practices in ELT in Indonesia.

This study investigated teacher cognition and behavior in a high-stakes, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) school context where no common rating scale exists. 24 EFL teachers at the upper secondary level in Norway were asked to rate the performance of a student taking her oral English exam and to give an account of what kind of performance aspects they pay attention to in the rating process. The study showed that while the raters had the same general ideas of the constructs to be assessed, there were differences in how they perceived the relative importance of these constructs, particularly as regards topical knowledge. The study has implications for language teaching and assessment practices at the intermediate to upper-intermediate levels (Common European Framework of Reference, level B1/B2), particularly with regard to the role of topical knowledge.

AbstractThis article examines teacher professional change and compares two 10thstandard English as a Foreign Language teachers employed in a Marathi-medium secondary school in Pune (India) at different stages in their careers. Wenger's (1998) three interconnected Community of Practice dimensions (i.e. mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoire) highlight pertinent facets of the teachers' professional lives as viewed from the sociocultural perspective (Vygotsky, 1978). Case study methodology was utilized within a qualitative, ethnographic research paradigm. The aim is to uncover how the two EFL teachers engage in their professional community of practice and their career trajectories. Firstly, the data analysis indicates that periphery member status is established through active engagement in the professional community which creates trajectories along which novices may travel. Secondly, the accessing and sharing of information, ideas and experiences is beneficial for all members as it strengthens professional relationships and reconfirms already existing members' central position. Lastly, active engagement in a professional community of practice offers a means of potential growth for novice teachers and central members. Access to communal resources such as new knowledge, stories and artifacts is acquired and aids in establishing novices' competency.

This study focuses on motivation in foreign language learning among undergraduate students in Kazakhstan. Motivation is an integral part of any skill, and a number of applied linguistic studies have shown that language learning is more successful if the learner is motivated. There are many different factors that cause a learner to be motivated, thus affecting the way one is learning a language. It can be the need to get a well-paid job, a desire to communicate with people from different countries, and so on. There are various factors that affect the way one is motivated. For example, research has shown that gender might play a role here, saying that female learners are more motivated, have more favorable attitudes toward learning a foreign language and, therefore, perform better on achievement tests, while some researchers have argued that the difference between boys and girls' motivation and performance is insignificant or does not exist at all. The differences in EFL (English as a foreign language) learner's motivation factors might also be affected by social, cultural, ethnic or political reasons. This study shows how undergraduate students in Kazakhstan identify what motivates them in learning English as a foreign language and what exactly might be causing any differences in the results obtained.

In diesem Artikel geht es um die Rolle des aktiven Lesens als Schlüsselqualifikation für lebenslanges Lernen in unserer globalen, mehr und mehr von Texten bestimmten Welt. Die Autorin betont zuerst die allgemeine Bedeutung des Lesens in Englisch als Zweit- und Fremdsprache und skizziert dann das Wechselspiel zwischen Strategien und Interessen beim fremdsprachlichen Lesen. Zwei empirische Studien - die erste aus den Jahren 1994 bis 1999, mit deutschen Schülerinnen und Schülern sowie amerikanischen und taiwanesischen Kontrollgruppen durchgeführt, die zweite zur Zeit in Deutschland laufend - belegen die eingangs formulierte These, dass kritisches Leseverständnis für den modernen Bürger und für ein demokratisches, selbstbestimmtes Leben unabdingbar ist. Daraus erwächst die Notwendigkeit, diese Kompetenz mit allen Mitteln im schulischen und außerschulischen Kontext zu fördern. Die Ergebnisse der beiden besprochenen Studien können dabei wertvolle Hinweise für die Umsetzung in die Praxis des Lesetrainings liefern.

Abstract
Textbooks, authorized by the national education agency to be major teaching materials used in schools in China, are a kind of cultural capital. Textbooks assimilate and spread the culture of a certain society, which standardizes and restricts the compilation of textbooks. The culture of a society, especially the main ideology inevitably permeates textbooks. Therefore, what content is chosen in textbooks, how to organize the knowledge and how to present it to the target readers and evaluate it,are surely influenced by ideology. And the influence is neither obvious nor hidden. EFL teaching materials, the bridge between students and their teachers, are indispensable from English language instruction. Within the framework of Critical Linguistics, this paper studies the complicated relationship between language, power and ideology, based on one of the widely used EFL textbooks in Mainland China Fun with English. It tries to expose hidden sexism in Fun with English through quantitative analysis, textual analysis and comparative analysis. Moreover, it shows how sexist EFL teaching material affects their users and tentatively suggests several practical suggestions for overcoming negative effects of such materials.