Physical, Hybrid, and Digital Escape Rooms

Contemporary society has demanded innovative solutions for the uncertainties that the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed in our educational system. Gamification has long demonstrated that students' active engagement provides positive results if taken into account in the design of the educational strategies. One of the innovative solutions that this chapter proposes through the use of gamification is the tool of educational escape rooms. In order to do this, it provides three study cases implemented in the ESL classroom and the classroom of “Introduction to Literary Techniques” at the University of Granada. Doing so, it provides solutions and recommendations for the identified challenges to use these tools in the classrooms by introducing escape rooms within different educational scenarios as well as proposing affective pedagogies as a robust theoretical and methodological framework.

It's Fliptastic

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the importance of implementing the flipped classroom model with the use of the web-based platform, Playposit. The chapter first provides an overview of the benefits of the flipped classroom model as well as the platform in a concise review of literature, and then it offers a comprehensive description of Playposit including its features, methods of designing creative videos and interactions, and applications in an ESL classroom. A lesson plan and its description are presented at the end of the chapter, providing a sample of incorporating the flipped classroom model using technology to boost learners' engagement and achievement.

Use of Poetry in the English as a Second Language Classroom: A Study of Second Year Undergraduates in Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka

This study focuses on the effectiveness of the use of literature among English as a Second Language (ESL) students. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether poetry has an impact on language teaching and learning in undergraduates in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom. This study focuses on poetry as a motivation factor and as a productive method to practice language in the ESL classroom. The target population was randomly selected from the second-year students who offer Center for English Language Learning (CELL) as their core subject for their degree program. The students were chosen at random from the sample, with 20 individuals divided into two groups. After the class, the first group was tested using non-literature content, and their scores were recorded. The second group received the identical instruction as the first, with the same test results. As a result, after learning the lesson through a poem, the second group was tested again, and their scores were recorded. They were also given a questionnaire to gauge their degree of satisfaction. The effectiveness of using poetry in learning and teaching was examined by comparing the independent variables. When the effectiveness of the employment of poetry in second language learning students is measured, the outcome-oriented examination shows no difference. There seem certain positive and negative effects.

In-service Teachers’ Familiarisation of the CEFR-aligned School-based Assessment in the Malaysian Secondary ESL Classroom

The main purpose of this study is to investigate in-service teachers’ familiarization of the CEFR-aligned school-based assessment (SBA) in the Malaysian secondary ESL classroom. It also intends to explore teachers’ knowledge, understanding, and perceptions of the CEFR-aligned SBA. The study also examined the implementation of the SBA and the challenges that TESL teachers faced embracing the CEFR-aligned SBA in their ESL classroom. An exploratory mixed-method research design was employed. Data were collected by administering a survey to 108 in-service teachers, and 12 in-service teachers participated in the interview. The results show that the in-service teachers have rather a good level of familiarization with CEFR-aligned SBA and a moderate level of awareness and comprehension of the CEFR-aligned SBA. However, the in-service teachers are aware of the importance of CEFR-aligned SBA to assist students to improve their proficiency. In-service teachers exhibit a good understanding of selecting the appropriate assessment tools and methods to assess students’ learning. In-service teachers expressed their struggles and concerns regarding implementing CEFR-aligned SBA effectively, including lack of training, sourcing for good materials to teach, students'' negative attitude towards the teaching and learning process, students’ attendance, time constraint and their workload. In conclusion, the implementation of the CEFR-aligned SBA is crucial as it is a national agenda and teachers’ involvement in executing the assessment is obligatory.

Promoting ESL Students’ Critical Thinking Skills Through a Transitivity Analysis of Authentic Materials

Using authentic materials in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom can develop students’ critical thinking (CT) skills, expose them to more realistic English, and support their motivation. Carrying out text analyses of authentic materials in the ESL classroom can also help students become more critical in their approach to reading. Grounded in systemic functional linguistics (SFL) concepts, this paper puts forward a series of text analysis tasks, so ESL teachers can introduce their adult students to the concepts of transitivity and intentionality found in opposing newspaper articles dealing with conflict. Overall, these analyses show how the active voice can highlight the semantic value of intentionality via material processes, and how writers use strategies such as passivization and fronting of items in clauses to emphasize the responsibility for wrongdoing when reporting news. The analyses also show that context is important in determining degrees of intentionality, and intentionality can be attributed to the material processes of human actors portrayed as non-human actors. Understanding these concepts can help adult ESL students become better critical readers/thinkers. Utiliser des matériaux authentiques dans la classe d’anglais langue seconde (ALS) peut développer la pensée critique (PC) des étudiants et les exposer à un anglais plus réaliste et soutenir leur motivation. Effectuer des analyses de textes de matériaux authentiques dans la classe d’ALS peut aussi aider les étudiants à devenir plus critiques dans leur approche de la lecture. Enraciné dans les concepts de la linguistique systémique fonctionnelle (LSF), cet article présente une série d’exercices d’analyse de texte, de façon à ce que les enseignants d’ALS puissent présenter à leurs étudiants adultes les concepts de transitivité et d’intentionnalité qu’on retrouve dans des articles de presse contradictoires qui traitent du conflit. Dans l’ensemble, ces analyses montrent comment l’utilisation de la voix active peut mettre en lumière la valeur sémantique de l’intentionnalité par l’entremise de processus matériels, ainsi que la façon dont les écrivains utilisent des stratégies comme la passivisation et la mise en avant d’éléments dans les propositions pour accentuer la responsabilité d’actes répréhensibles quand ils font un reportage. Les analyses montrent également que le contexte est important pour déterminer les degrés d’intentionnalité et que celle-ci peut être attribuée aux processus matériels des acteurs humains dépeints comme des acteurs non-humains. Comprendre ces concepts aide les étudiants adultes d’ALS à devenir de meilleurs lecteurs ou penseurs critiques.

Causes of Language Anxiety in an ESL Classroom: Towards a Mentally Healthier Learning Environment

In a typical English language classroom, learners are expected to produce written sentences that are grammatically correct, and they are expected to sound native-like in their pronunciation. However, such expectations may cause anxiety and could potentially hinder the success of creating functional and successful language learners. This study aimed to understand undergraduate students’ language learning anxiety and their perceived success in an ESL classroom in the hopes of creating a mentally healthier language learning environment. Through a quantitative approach, the results of the questionnaire showed that reasons that led to undergraduate students’ anxiety in an ESL classroom were fear of tests, fear of comprehension, and fear of negative evaluation by peers. The results also showed that undergraduate students felt less anxious when lecturers provided non-threatening or mentally healthier environment for students to learn in their classroom. It can be concluded that a lecturer’s teaching styles and strategies affected students’ level of anxiety and can help ensure a mentally healthier language learning environment. From the findings, it is recommended that lecturers create a less formal and friendlier classroom atmosphere by providing psychological support and making students aware of the possible channels to seek help when needed.