scholarly journals Out-of-Class Learning of Spanish During COVID-19: A Case Study in Trinidad and Tobago

2020 ◽  
pp. 199-219
Author(s):  
Diego Mideros
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Trinidad And Tobago ◽  
Focus Group Interview ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Study Habits ◽  
Group Interview ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Learner Engagement ◽  
Face To Face

This paper describes the experiences of 15 students who reported on their study habits and studying of Spanish outside of the classroom during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when suddenly face-to-face classes had to be delivered remotely. The paper features the voices of eight teachers on how they promoted out-of-class learning. The inquiry took the form of a small-scale qualitative case study with beginner learners of Spanish and Spanish teachers at a language centre. The aim was to explore how students studied Spanish independently after their synchronous live classes by making use of some additional resources recommended by their teachers. Therefore, this paper attempts to look at how students made use of such resources and if they benefited from them. Data for this study were retrieved from an open-ended survey administered to three groups of Spanish students and a focus group interview with eight Spanish teachers. The emerging findings of the study suggest that although students engaged with additional materials, much work is needed in this context to raise more awareness and promote more learner engagement and exploration outside of the classroom.

scholarly journals Stress and burnout in anesthesia residency: an exploratory case study of peer support groups

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Spence ◽  
David Smith ◽  
Anne Wong
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Support Groups ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Focus Group Interview ◽  
Maslach Burnout Inventory ◽  
Group Interview ◽  
Survey Responses

Stress and burnout are alarmingly prevalent in anesthesiologists, with the highest risk occurring during anesthesia residency training. To better understand this phenomenon, we conducted a mixed methods case study of our anesthesia training program to explore the residents’ accounts of stress and burnout and the potential value of peer support groups. Eight out of thirty eight residents participated in nine monthly peer support group (PSG) meetings followed by a focus group interview about stress and burnout in training and the value of PSG. We compared the participants’ mean pre-and post-PSG Maslach Burnout Inventory® (MBI) and Perceived Stress Scale® (PSS) and analysed the focus group interview for recurring themes. We captured the perspectives of twenty seven out of thirty residents who did not participate in support groups (non-participants) through an online survey on stress and burnout. We found evidence of a high prevalence of stress and burnout from the MBI and PSS scores and survey responses. Analysis of the focus group interview showed that the specific stressors of anesthesia training included: an individually-based model of training that predisposes to isolation from peers, an over-reliance on the quality of the faculty-resident relationship and the critical, high stakes nature of the profession. Residents strongly endorsed the value of PSG in decreasing isolation, enhancing validation, and support through the sharing of experiences. Lack of dedicated time and integration into the training program were major barriers to PSG participation. These barriers need to be overcome in order to fully realize its role in mitigating stress and burnout.

Focus group interview through storytelling

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 1300-1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tjaša Jug ◽  
Polona Vilar
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Focus Group Interview ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Group Interview ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Small Children ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research With Children ◽  
Books And Reading

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an adapted form of a qualitative research method, focus group interview, for use with small children and demonstrate its use in a small-scale study. Researchers often avoid direct study of children, and study them indirectly by asking adults. This was frequent before 1990s, but today, researchers increasingly discuss research with children rather than on children. Nevertheless, in research with young children it is not possible to use all research methods, therefore the authors modified and tested one. The additional research objectives, besides verification of methodology, were to determine the pre-school children’s attitudes to books, book-related places, reading. Design/methodology/approach – The adaptation of the focus group interview involved merging the content questions of the research with a story and using a toy as the storyteller. This resembled storytelling and enabled the children to directly participate by talking to the animation toy instead of the researcher. The authors tested the method on a purposive sample of 13 pre-school children aged four and five in one public kindergarten. Findings – Despite of the belief of some experts, who claim that focus group interview is not an appropriate method to explore habits or opinions of children, the authors found that adaptation of this method for the use with small children by means of storytelling and toy animation brings positive results because it enabled gathering data directly from the children. The content results show positive attitudes towards books and reading, differences in reading interests between boys and girls, daily exposure to books and reading, both in kindergarten and at home, and quite good knowledge of book-related places, especially libraries, somewhat less bookstores. Research limitations/implications – Since this is only the first attempt to use this adapted methodological approach, it is necessary that the method is tested on different user groups and in different circumstances to further validate its suitability for this user group. Regarding the content of the study, the results cannot be generalized due to non-probability purposive sampling. Originality/value – This is the first attempt to use the adapted methodological approach for researching young children. The research may serve as a beginning and incentive for further research in this area, since only high-quality results provide good modifications and adaptations of educational programmes and activities to ensure proper development of children’s reading competences and attitudes to books and reading.

scholarly journals TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ RECOUNT TEXTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Kadek Fredina Elsie ◽  
Ni luh putu sri Adnyani ◽  
I wayan Suarnajaya
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Focus Group Interview ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Group Interview ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Verbal Process ◽  
Material Process

<p>This study aimed at identifying the process types that characterize the students’ recount texts, identifying the process types which are dominantly used, and identifying the circumstantial elements that characterize the students’ recount texts. This study applied a descriptive qualitative method with a case study research. The recount texts written by class XI <em>Usaha Perjalanan Wisata</em><em> (UPW)</em> 2 at SMK Wira Harapan were used as the sources of data collection of the study. There were 26 students taken as the subjects of the study. The data of the study which are in the form of sentences and clauses were analyzed based on transitivity system, and the problems experienced by the students in writing the recount texts were discussed through focus group interview in order to determine whether the students made mistakes or errors in their texts. The study discovers that, first, the process types that characterize the students’ recount texts are material process, intensive attributive process, mental process, circumstantial attributive process, verbal process, possessive attributive process, intensive identifying process, existential process, circumstantial identifying process, and behavioral process, which respectively appears 566 times (60.66%), 149 times (15.97%), 100 times (10.72%), 35 times (3.75%), 29 times (3.11%), 21 times (2.25%), 17 times (1.82%), 9 times (0.96%), 4 times (0.43%), and 3 times (0.32%). Second, the process type which is dominantly used in the students’ recount texts is material process with the frequency of occurrence of 565 times (60.82%). The material process was used dominantly since the topics written by the students were related to past activities. Third, the circumstantial elements characterizing the students’ recount texts are location, cause, manner, extent, accompaniment, matter, and role. The results of the focus group interview and the text analysis show that the students made many mistakes and errors in their recount texts, such as the uses of past tense, article, spellings, modal auxiliary, capital letter, plurality, and preposition in a clause. The two aspects leading the deviations are interlingual and intralingual errors.</p><strong></strong><strong></strong><p align="center"><strong> </strong></p>

scholarly journals THE EFFECT OF USING A MOBILE APPLICATION ON EFL LEARNERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT LANGUAGE LEARNING (BALL)

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebeca Soler Costa ◽  
Turgay Han
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Focus Group Interview ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Attitudes Toward Learning ◽  
Positive Attitudes

Abstract.This qualitative case study aimed to examine the effects of using a mobile application (WhatsApp) on on Turkish EFL learners’ BALL. This study demonstrates that following 4-week WhatsApp EFL classes changed 40 Turkish EFL learners’ BALL. Open-ended questions and a focus group interview were used to collect the data. The findings showed that students’ opinions towards using such mobile devices and applications in classrooms are positive and they changed their BALL. It is implicated that such applications can help students to develop positive attitudes toward learning EFL.Keywords: mobile application, health, qualitative study, education.

Examining the Intersections of Music Making and Teaching for Four String Teachers

2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Pellegrino
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Focus Group Interview ◽  
Group Interview ◽  
Classroom Observations ◽  
Music Making ◽  
String Teachers ◽  
Phenomenological Case Study ◽  
Model Technique

The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to examine the intersections of music making and teaching for four string teachers. Data included background surveys, three interviews per participant, videotaped classroom observations (jointly viewed during the second interview), and a focus group interview that included music making. Findings revealed that the meanings participants attributed to their past music-making experiences mirrored their beliefs about why their students make music and informed their content knowledge. Music making outside the classroom had personal and professional benefits; participants described music making as something that provided renewed excitement and inspiration, increased compassion toward students as musical learners, was a catalyst for solving pedagogical problems, and maintained their ability to model for their students. Participants’ music making inside the classroom helped them to be more present in their teaching. They also used music making to inspire their students and themselves, to bring students’ attention to the teacher and the music, to gain credibility, to model technique and musicality, and to create a culture based on the love of making music.

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