scholarly journals Strategic Use of English to Study Science: A Perspective from Communities of Practice

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Aneta Hayes ◽  
Nazia Al-Amri
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
English Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Sociocultural Perspective ◽  
Strategic Actions ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
Educational Backgrounds ◽  
Writing Strategy ◽  
Self Reporting Questionnaire

This research is underpinned by the sociocultural perspective of communities of practice which situates learning and students’ use of strategic actions to achieve the desired goals in the practices of their communities. Strategic use of the English language is the focus of this study and the aim of this research was to establish whether differences in the strategic use of writing skills in English exist between students of various educational backgrounds. A self-reporting questionnaire on the writing strategy use was distributed among 94 students enrolled in the Foundation Year in one university. The questionnaire items were classified into subgroups, including cognitive, metacognitive, social, affective, compensation, memory, and negative strategies. The results showed that no differences exist among students in all groups in terms of the overall strategy use and in each questionnaire subgroup. Data was analysed using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. All results were statistically insignificant. The findings from this study have implications for the theory of communities of practice, suggesting that sources of student choices regarding the use of English skills to study science might be related more to their individual agency rather than specific communities of practice.

scholarly journals Book Reviews

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
John Sivell ◽  
Ellen Pilon
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Reading And Writing

Reviews of: 'How to Teach English: An Introduction to the Practice of English Language Teaching,' by Jeremy Harmer; and 'Focusing on IELTS: Reading and Writing Skills,' by Kerry O'Sullivan and Jeremy Lindeck.

scholarly journals Analysis of Teacher Beliefs and Efficacy for Teaching Writing to Weak Learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 208
Author(s):  
Tunku Mohani Tunku Mohtar ◽  
Charanjit Kaur Swaran Singh ◽  
Napisah Kepol ◽  
Ahmad Zainuri Loap Ahmad ◽  
Sasigaran Moneyam
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Beliefs ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Language Needs ◽  
Teacher's Beliefs

The present study investigated the beliefs and efficacy of a teacher teaching English to students who were weak at the language. The objective of the study was mainly to investigate the beliefs and efficacy of the ESL teacher for teaching writing to weak learners. The research was a case study of the English Language teacher teaching Form Three class of students whose English proficiency was very low. An interview was conducted with the teacher to further probe the instructional strategies applied to enhance her beliefs and efficacy in her own capabilities to make learning happen in her classroom. Observations were made to investigate the teacher’s efficacy in teaching and the performance of the students specifically for writing. Results show the teacher’s beliefs of her students’ capabilities and their language needs helped shape the teacher’s instructional strategies. The teacher’s efficacy enabled her to decide to undertake the task of teaching writing to her students because she was confident in her ability. The teacher provided clues to the students to facilitate their learning. This kind of feedback from the teacher indirectly motivated them to learn. The teacher’s beliefs and efficacy contributed to her teaching practice and the instructional strategies that she used in turn enhanced her beliefs and efficacy. The study implicates that teacher’s beliefs and efficacy can assist the weak learners in improving their writing skills and also facilitate language learning.

scholarly journals Dynamic Transfer and Relations between First Language (L1) Proficiency and Second Language (L2) Writing Skills Performance

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulelah Alkhateeb
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Arabic And English ◽  
L1 And L2

This study investigates the transfer relationship between first language (L1) (Arabic) proficiency and second language (L2) (English) performance in writing skills of a Saudi bilingual graduate student. Several studies have discussed the transfer issues in language learning, yet a few of them focus on the transfer relationships between Arabic and English language writing skills. Regardless of the huge linguistic distinction between the English language and Arabic language, it is presumed that Arabic and English writing skills positively, negatively, and neutrally transferred in a dynamic relationship. The researcher has conducted observations and interviews with Fatimah, the participant of this study, and analyzed her texts in both languages to illustrate how dynamic relationships between L1 and L2 in the composition skills is and what the effects of language transfer in the composition skills between L1 and L2 are. The data were collected and analyzed in January 2018. The results demonstrate effects of L2 on L1 as the following; first, a reverse or backward transfer implemented in three ways; positive, negative, and neutral transfer. Second, they indicate that there is a dynamic relationship between second language performance and first language proficiency in composition particularly. It is hoped that this knowledge will assist students in being aware of the effects of L2 on L1 specifically in composition and taking the advantages to accelerate the rate of language learning. It is recommended for future research to conduct studies in bilingual writings to investigate how L1 could be a resource and advocate of language development.

scholarly journals Russian Validation of Homophobia Scale (HS)

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogdan Tuziak
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
English Language ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Partnership Status ◽  
Negative Cognition ◽  
Sex Orientation ◽  
Behavioral Aggression ◽  
Farmer Workers ◽  
Self Reporting Questionnaire

Introduction: A three-factors self-reporting questionnaire, consisting of 25 items, related to behavior/negative affect, affect/behavioral aggression, and negative cognition towards homosexual people, was administered to a sample of 200 farmer workers recruited in various ways from two Bryansk and Kursk regions of Russian Federation. Aim: The objective of this paper is to validate the HS in the Russian sample in Russian language. Methods: A Russian translation of the HS was carried out by two bilingual translators, after which an English native translated the Russian test back into the English language. Main Outcome Measures: Together with the translated version of HS was administrated a biodata questionnaire including the main information as age, level of education, partnership status, faith and sex orientation. Results : Analyzing obtained data of 200 subjects (100 (50%) female and 100 (50%) male) with ages ranging from 18 to 50 years (mean age = 21.19±2.65; SD: 8.82) showed an overall Cronbach’s α coefficient 0.92 of the internal consistency. All three domains had a good alpha coefficient (three higher than .91), whereas in the total score was .87. The test-retest reliability results: behavior/negative affect was r = 0.79 (P < 0.0001), affect/behavioral aggression was r = 0.82 (P < 0.0001), negative cognition was r = 0.74 (P < 0.0001) and the HS total score was r = 0.93 (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: This study offers a new tool to assess homophobia in Russian population. The Russian validation of the HS in Russian language revealed the use of this self-report test to have good psychometric properties. Therefore, this scale is a necessary diagnostic instrument to detect subtle homophobic attitudes toward homosexual people and useful in the preventive programs of homophobic behavior, in the clinical praxis.

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