Teaching the pragmatics of English as an international language: A focus on pragmatic markers

The current era of globalization and emergence of English as an international language (EIL) has brought about new opportunities for L2 pragmatic learning and teaching. The common view of pragmatic learning as an approximation to native-likeness is changing towards conceiving pragmatic ability as a tool to interact with people of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, the majority of whom are non-native speakers (NNSs) of English. While such reality is widely acknowledged, few attempts have been made to teach pragmatic competence in EIL. Addressing this concern, the present study investigates the effects that a pedagogical intervention on EIL pragmatics has on the oral use of pragmatic markers (PMs): a key tool for successful communication in the current increasingly multicultural and multilingual society. Seventy-three Spanish EFL students were divided into an instructional ( n = 34) and a control group ( n = 39). The instructional group received 4 interventional sessions that included (1) awareness of the legitimacy of EIL, (2) meta-pragmatic awareness of pragmatic behavior across the world, (3) task-supported instruction on PMs, and (4) strategy-based instruction. Pragmatic competence was assessed by students’ use of PMs in oral academic presentations. The results revealed that the instructional group had more significant changes in the frequency and variety of PMs used than the control one, as they widened the repertoire of PMs uttered in their academic presentations. These findings project the future of pragmatic instruction in EIL and provide directions for reorienting the EIL curriculum towards the integration of L2 pragmatics.

Impact of the Order of EAC and SOS During Instruction on Ratios

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, a set of instructional materials surrounding proportional reasoning with ratios (particularly the understanding of the multiplicative relationship between the quantities within the ratio, referred to as functional reasoning throughout this thesis) were created using the free online tool, Desmos, with a goal of determining the impact of the lesson materials on student understanding. The second goal was to explore the impact of the order in which two instructional strategies, Explicit Attention to Concepts (EAC) and Students’ Opportunity to Struggle (SOS), had on student understanding. The lesson materials consisted of 5 lessons. These 5 lessons had two forms: EAC then SOS or SOS then EAC. In each of these instructional groups, all EAC and SOS sections were identical in each of the five lessons, the difference between materials in each of these groups was the order in which the EAC and SOS sections occurred. Students’ understanding was assessed anonymously, and answers were scored dichotomously (i.e. correct or incorrect). There was a total of 22 items on the full assessment with 8 items addressing functional reasoning specifically. The major findings of this study include that the lesson materials led to an increase in understanding for both overall understanding and the sub-area of functional reasoning, and the EAC then SOS instructional group’s understanding of functional reasoning was higher than that of the SOS then EAC instructional group.

Students Exploring Educational E-learning Technology of Podcasts on Fine Arts Instruction in Nigeria Universities

The podcast is an e-learning technology which came into existence asresult of digital age, to dissimilates information but it has evolved tobecome as powerful media of instruction globally. Despite its usefulnessand relevance to the educational context, the awareness and utilise inaiding learning have not been established. Therefore, the study examinedthe effectiveness of Podcast and Lecture strategies on the undergraduatestudents of fine arts. The study also looked into how moderatingvariables of gender and attitude have the influence on fine arts whenPodcasts is used as an instructional strategy. Purposive SamplingTechnique was employed to select two study centres of University ofAdo Ekiti, Nigeria. 40 undergraduate from two intact classes to Podcastsand lecture instructional group. Podcast and Fine Arts Achievement Test(FAAT) were used as treatment while t-test statistics were used for dataanalysis. Findings indicated that undergraduate students taught fine artsusing podcast performed better and students exposed to Podcastslearning strategy had a positive attitude to fine arts. However, students'gender had no influence on their performance. Based on the findings, itwas recommended that fine arts lecturers should be encouraged to usePodcasts to improve students’ cognitive and affective earning outcomesof fine arts.

Current Evidence on the Effects of Intensive Early Reading Interventions

Many students at risk for or identified with reading disabilities need intensive reading interventions. This meta-analysis provides an update to the Wanzek and Vaughn synthesis on intensive early reading interventions. Effects from 25 reading intervention studies are analyzed to examine the overall effect of intensive early reading interventions as well as relationships between intervention and student characteristics related to outcomes. The weighted mean effect size (ES) estimate (ES = 0.39), with a mean effect size adjusted for publication bias (ES = 0.28), both significantly different from zero, suggested intensive early reading interventions resulted in positive outcomes for early struggling readers in kindergarten through third grades. There was no statistically significant or meaningful heterogeneity in the study-wise effect sizes. Exploratory examination of time in intervention, instructional group size, initial reading achievement, and date of publication are provided.

Comparison of Three Instructional Approaches to Enhance Tactical Knowledge in Volleyball among University Students

This study investigated the decision-making process of three instructional groups (i.e., teacher-centered, student-centered with tactical questioning and student-centered without tactical questioning) in practical courses in volleyball among university students. All students (N = 122) performed a Tactical Awareness task on the correctness of the decision-making process at three testing phases (i.e., pretest, posttest and retention test). The results revealed that the tactical awareness of all students ameliorated after five lessons (posttest) and this effect persisted over time after six weeks (retention test). However, the tactical knowledge of the student-centered instructional group with tactical questioning improved significantly more than the two other instructional groups. These findings highlight the importance of a student-centered approach with an active involvement of students in evaluative skills to enhance the tactical decision-making process.

The Effects of Motivational versus Instructional Self-Talk on Improving Motor Performance

This study examined the effectiveness of different self-talk strategies on increasing performance in different motor tasks. Specifically, four laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the effect of motivational versus instructional self-talk strategies on four different tasks. Included in the experiments were a soccer accuracy lest, a badminton service test, a sit up test, and a knee extension task on an isokinetic dynamometer. Results of the first two experiments indicated that only the participants of the instructional group improved their performance significantly more than the motivational and control groups. Results of the third experiment indicated no significant differences between the three groups, although all groups showed improvements across trials. Results of the fourth experiment showed a significant improvement for both the motivational and instructional groups compared to the control group. It appears that when the task requires fine motor movements, an instructional self-talk strategy is more effective, whereas when the task requires predominantly strength and endurance, both motivational and instructional strategies are effective.

The Use of Theory-Based Computer-Assisted Instruction in Correctional Centers to Enhance the Reading Skills of Reading-Disadvantaged Adults

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of theory-based CAI for reading with incarcerated adults reading below the ninth grade level. The participants were offenders drawn from participating correctional centers in Oklahoma who were randomly assigned to a CAI or a non-CAI instructional group. Reading assessment instruments were administered on a pre-test/post-test basis. Results showed a significant reading achievement gain for computer-assisted reading instruction when compared to traditional instruction for entry levels of 0–3.0 Grade Equivalency Level (GEL). Higher entry levels showed approximately the same gain for both groups. These findings are consistent with a cognitive components model of reading.

Technological Advances Linking the Assessment of Students' Academic Proficiency to Instructional Planning

Teachers' use of objective, ongoing assessment to help them formatively and empirically develop effective instructional programs is one signature feature of model special education programs. Despite their demonstrated efficacy, as well as frequent calls for their implementation, these assessment methods have failed to progress from model to typical special education practice due to feasibility problems. In this article, we describe a research program conducted over the past 8 years to address how technology can be used to surmount these implementation difficulties. The research program focused on one variety of objective, ongoing assessment known as curriculum-based measurement, in the areas of reading, spelling, and math. First, we discuss research on the use of computers to assume the mechanical aspects of measurement. Then, we discuss research on the use of computers to help teachers translate the assessment information into feasible instructional adaptations, even within the context of large instructional group size. Implications for the fields of special education, technology, and assessment are drawn.

Effect of Computer-Assisted Instruction on Development of Cognitive and Psychomotor Learning in Bowling

The purposes of this study were to compare psychomotor and cognitive bowling skills following traditional and computer-assisted methods with 90 students enrolled in college bowling classes. Bowling scores were significantly higher for the CAI group; however, no differences were found between the groups in cognitive test scores. The CAI groups tended to have a more favorable perception of their instructional process than did the traditional instructional group.