Analysis of Digital Resource Implementation on Students’ Speaking Performance

Academic Roles of English Language Teachers: A Study of the Perceptions of Pakistani Teachers and Students Farhana Yasmin, Muhammad Islam Resume The roles of English language teachers in Pakistan have been a critical issue since its foundation. This case study explores perceptions of Pakistani English teachers and students regarding the academic roles of English language teachers in classrooms. It is an effort to identify the gaps between the perceptions and the practices to be bridged to make ESL a living language for students. This case study is exploratory and it falls in qualitative paradigm. The sampling is purposive as the participants of the study are English language teachers and students of an army public school and college in Cantonment area Lahore. The tools of the study are interviews from teachers and students of the school. The data is analysed by applying grounded theory as a research method. The themes emerged as a result of open, axial and selective coding are employed to develop a core category. As a result, a model of versatile English teacher emerged as a core category. The roles of English language teachers as instructors, facilitators, helpers, guides are explored besides the prerequisites as command on subject, teaching practices, teaching experience, examiner and teaching training which may prove the turning points in their students‟ performance in English towards a better direction. In this perspective, some recommendations are forwarded for English teachers in Pakistan to be versatile to make their students proficient in English. In future, a comparative study to explore the perceptions of English language teachers and students of suburban or rural areas public and private schools regarding roles of English teachers needs to be conducted in Pakistan to explore the gap between perceptions and practices. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jflcc.v6n1a2

This study deals with the voices of English teachers and their students on the use of blended culture as a model of English language teaching at vocational high schools in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It primarily aims at describing the voices of the utilisation of blended culture and documenting the difficulties encountered by English teachers and their students. To obtain the objectives, the researcher invited 20 English teachers and 300 students from 9 vocational high schools in Yogyakarta to be involved in this study on voluntary bases. The research instruments were questionnaires, observation sheets, and interview guides. To back up the data collection, the researcher provided video recording. The data were analysed by using descriptive qualitative techniques. Research findings are as follows. First, most of the English teachers of vocational high schools tend to focus more on the development of microskills (grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation) than on the macroskills of English: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Second, most English teachers state that they have not been familiar with the model of blended culture used in the process of English language teaching and learning (ELTL). This is supported by students’ responses during the interviews, reporting that their English teachers do not highlight the incorporation of target and local culture in the process of ELTL. Third, teachers show strong supports for the utilisation of blended culture as a model of ELTL at vocational high schools. Fourth, efforts are needed for designing lessons that incorporate blended culture and importing local and target culture into the textbooks in the teaching of English at vocational high schools. In summary, blended culture has to be applied in the process of ELTL because blended culture represents the use of language according to the contexts to facilitate students to maximally acquire the target language. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n3p459

Extended Abstract Introduction: This paper provides an overview of principals and teacher's opinions on Leonardo Da Vinci Project in Manavgat Vocational Training High School and Vocational High School. The aim of this research is to classify the opinions of the principals and teachers working in Vocational Training High school and Vocational High School on Leonardo Da Vinci Project as the reasons of joining this Project, the preparations before the Project and the benefits of the Project. Method: The sample of this research consists of two principals and eight teachers who participated in the project and worked in at Manavgat Vocational Training High School, Vocational High School and Vocational High School for Girls during 2007-2008 academic year in Manavgat in Antalya. The research is a qualitative study with a multiple holistic case study design. A qualitative approach was selected for this study because this research was more concerned with understanding principals and teachers' opinions on the Leonardo Da Vinci Project. Data were collected via interviews by using half structured interview forms. At these interviews willingness was observed. Semi-structured interviews were used. During data analysis, the data were organized categorically. Interview transcripts were regularly reviewed. Comparisons were made with the data obtained from those interviews Results: At the end of the research, conclusions were emerged under three themes and their sub-themes. The first one was that vocational training high school and vocational high school principals and teachers' main reasons for joining Leonardo Da vinci project were to see European Union countries, willingness for participating in project, having a part in a project before, having information about historical and places of tourist interest, observing vocational education in a European union country, learning a different country's education system, learning European Union countries' good examples, to broaden their horizon. The second one was that preparations of vocational training high school and vocational high school principals and teachers before participating to Leonardo Da Vinci Project were searching European Union country's cultural properties on internet, preparing cd and brochures for telling our education system, learning European Union country's daily language, learning European Union country's working hours, searching Turkish national education system deeply, searching maps showing historical and cultural places, preparing travel plan, searching European Union country's education system, following national agency's internet site. And the final one is that benefits of Leonardo Da vinci Project for vocational training high school and vocational high school principals and teachers were learning European Union country's point of view to education, having new friendships, learning European Union country's education system, practicing with colleagues, comparing difficulties of teaching language, comparing education system of two countries, introducing Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, telling our point of view to Europe, telling importance of peace and world for us, to see different cultures, introducing Turkey, changing Turkish point of view to education, to understand importance of education for finding a job, to understand importance of security in a job, age being unimportant for learning, having an idea about different jobs, searching method of teaching foreign language, abolishing prejudice among the cultures, constituting conscious of European, to see Europe by eight teacher, searching vocational and technical education in a Europe country, broadening participants' joining to project horizon, meeting with a different culture, learning European Union countries' good examples and recognizing Europe. Recommendations: According to the findings, some recommendations were developed as follows: The web site of National Agency http://www.ua.gov.tr should be re-organized in a format which will present visual and written documents for the participants who are to visit European countries due to the European projects. Teachers should be informed about the aim of project. The aim of the Project is not only to travel a foreign country but also to compare different cultures and to learn new useful information. The studies seeking the views of the participants from European countries visiting Turkey due to the Leonardo Da Vinci Project should also be done. Key Words: Leonardo Da Vinci Project, vocational high school teachers and principals, EU countries

The selection of appropriate teaching materials can be very important to make the student easier in learning English, especially in vocational high school. Teaching English at vocational school is also related to contextual teaching which must be related to the use of materials that are closer to the real world where the learners interact. Therefore, authentic materials become one of the materials that can be used in the teaching-learning process because it is made contextually or is related to real-life material. Additionally, the integration of local content-based materials also provides many benefits for the students in learning English. The goal of this study is to find out teachers’ perceptions on the implementation of authentic materials in English classrooms in vocational high schools. The participants were five English teachers from five vocational high schools located in Pacet, Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia. The data of this research were gathered using a semi-structured interview. The data analysis technique included data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusions. The result reports that all teachers in vocational high schools in Pacet have positive perceptions of the use of authentic materials in teaching English. It also can be concluded that all the teachers are implemented authentic materials as well as integrate local content in their teaching.

Abstract: This article explores the perspectives of English teachers in a vocational high school regarding the implementation of Kurikulum Merdeka. This study investigates various aspects of Kurikulum Merdeka through questionnaires and interviews, including its basic concept, teaching modules, learning processes, and assessment methods. The findings reveal that teachers perceived Kurikulum Merdeka positively. They considered it an improvement over the previous curriculum. Moreover, teachers appreciated the flexibility of Kurikulum Merdeka, although they also emphasized the importance of adequate training and collaboration among teachers for successful implementation. Regarding the learning process, teachers recognized the potential of Kurikulum Merdeka to foster student creativity and social responsibility, mainly through integrating the Pancasila Student Profile Enhancement Project (P5). In terms of assessment, teachers emphasized the importance of diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments in providing continuous feedback. This study provides valuable insights into English teachers' perceptions of Kurikulum Merdeka regarding educational practice in Indonesia's vocational high schools.Keywords: English teachers’ perspectives; Kurikulum Merdeka; vocational high school.

This research discusses the teacher’s strategies in teaching listening at a Vocational High School in Indonesia during online class. The aims of the research are to know the strategies teacher in teaching listening and how the implementation of those strategies especially in situation which online class must be conducted in a Vocational High School in East java, Indonesia. The method used by the researchers is descriptive qualitative research method. The subject of the research is the English teacher in the Vocational High School while the methods of data collection were Observation checklist, interview guidline, and documentation. The data analysis techniques used data collection and documentation. The result of this study indicates that the teaching strategies used by the teacher was Planning, Monitoring, Evaluating, Cognitive, Metacognitive. The implementation of teacher strategies was the teacher looked at the syllabus with the lesson plan, material to teach in the lesson plan must match the class to be taught, the instructions in the listening learning process, then the teacher played the video in learning process. Hopefully, this study might be useful for other researchers as well as teachers who teach English in general and listening in particular.

Introduction. The large number of unemployed vocational graduates at this time is a matter of consideration for vocational high school to manage the programme well. This is important because vocational high schools need the help of other institutions to collaborate in improving student competencies.Aim. This research aimed to reveal the forms of partnership and partnership management framework that can be used between vocational high school and industry.Methodology and research methods. This study uses a qualitative method with a multiple case study approach. This research was conducted in vocational high school and industrial enterprises. To determine the participants, the purposive sampling was used. The research was conducted in six stages applying the case study model design from K. R. Yin (plan, design, preparation, data collection, analysis, sharing research results). Data triangulation was employed to establish the validity of research results. Data analysis was carried out with the help of ATLAS.ti Software version 8.3.Results and scientific novelty. The results of this research showed that the forms of partnership that can be used between vocational high school and industry are internship, industrial learning, work-based learning, and experiential learning. The partnership framework needed are planning, organising, actuating and monitoring, coordinating, and evaluating. The novelty from this research is a cooperation model for vocational high school to improving student competence according to industry needs. The model is also one part of the relevant objectives of vocational high schools for industry.Practical significance. The current research is useful for the Ministry of Education of Indonesia, vocational high schools, and industry, especially policy makers in decision making, principals, and Human Resources Development (HRD) in industry. A significant benefit is related to the importance of partnerships that need to be developed through joint programmes. This partnership is necessary to strengthen relationships between different roles (school and industry) to prepare vocational high school graduates in the transition from school-to-work in industry.

Learning English in Vocational High School (SMK) is different from teaching English in Senior High School. In SMK, the orientation is to prepare students to be able to take part in the work field. Consequently, English teachers in vocational school are expected to have the ability to analyze the needs of the students so that they can design an appropriate teaching-learning process. The aim of this study was to identify some factual information about the needs of learning material in vocational students in learning English, especially in the some of language components in English (Vocabulary). The subjects in this study were the vocationalstudents of 2 (two) SMK which organized the TKJ and Hotels Tourism department in Bojonegoro. The results showed that the needs of students towards learning English is to meet the academic professions and the future needs of the students, which involved the skills of the language and some of the language components. Whereas in the case of conformity between the content of the English textbooks and the vocational students’ needs, it was found that the English textbooks was more focused on describing the English language competences generally and not directed to the Department of TKJ and Hotel Tourism itself.

Introduction: Campus bullying has attracted widespread attention in China. While previous research has focused extensively on the individual and familial factors of campus bullying, school environmental factors have been insufficiently explored. This study primarily examines the mechanisms by which the school environment influences campus bullying by contrasting vocational and regular high schools, two school ecosystems with distinct cultures. By investigating the frequency, characteristics, and significant influencing factors of campus bullying in both types of schools, this study aims to further explore how the school environment affects the occurrence of campus bullying. Methods Participants comprise 1348 students from 17 vocational high schools and 5341 students from 65 regular high schools in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, China. Moderation analysis is applied to examine the different effects of individual and family factors on school bullying in the two types of high schools. Mediation analysis is carried out to examine the mechanism of school bullying under the two types of school ecosystems. Results and Conclusion: Results show that the risk of explicit physical bullying in vocational and regular high schools is roughly equivalent. However, the risk of less noticeable forms of bullying, such as verbal bullying, relational bullying, and cyberbullying, is significantly higher in regular than vocational high schools. Further analysis reveals that the higher risk of campus bullying in regular high schools is attributed to significantly lower evaluations of teacher student relationships, poorer peer relationships, and heavier academic burden compared to vocational high schools.

The implementation of the National Examination (NE) in Indonesia in elementary to high schools is considered as high-stakes testing and affects the teachers’ practice particularly in vocational settings. As material developers, English teachers in Vocational High Schools (VHS) are demanded to develop appropriate and suitable materials to meet the students’ specific needs. The incompatibility of the NE materials prescribed by the government and the vocational students’ needs put the teachers in a dilemma. The teachers should deal with the pressure of the NE and their roles as materials developers. This article tries to reveal how high-stakes testing impacts their roles as material developers particularly in the absence of specifically prescribed materials for VHS students. A case study design was used in this research with 31 participants of English teachers from nine state VHS in Pontianak, Indonesia. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. The result revealed that the role of teachers as materials developers somehow becomes diminishing because of the presence of the NE as high-stakes testing in the learning process, especially in VHS. This condition is detrimental to the teachers’ professional development since their roles as materials developers are limited and even under-developed. With the cancellation of NE by the end of this year, it is expected that the teachers are able to play their roles as materials developers and conduct evaluations based on the students’ specific expertise.

In the era of modernization, people are very dependent on technology, Information Communication Technology (ICT) in education itself has important role in teaching and learning process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the kind of ICT used by the teachers, the utilization of ICT in learning process, the problems and solutions in teaching by using ICT, and the role of schools in assisting teachers to overcome the problems at vocational high schools in Sekayu. This study applied descriptive qualitative research design. The data were collected by using questionnaire, interview, observation, and document review. The participants of this study were the teachers of English, the vice-principal of facility and infrastructure, and the students. The findings of this study showed that the teachers of English at vocational high schools in Sekayu used hardware such as projector, laptop, speaker, headset, and smartphone, while software such as internet, dictionary application, e-book, Microsoft office, and browsing application. The teachers used discovery learning to utilize ICT in the syntax of the learning model. The main problem faced by the teacher was the unavailability of students� personal ICT devices. The school also had the role to assist teachers in overcoming the problems. The conclusion was the teachers had applied ICT in the learning process however they did not fully apply ICT in each syntax of the learning model used.

The use of technology-based applications is an interesting innovation in education. The use of digital applications is important in vocational schools because it supports interactive learning, improves practical communication skills, and prepares students to face the technology-based world of work. This research aims to analyze the implementation and examine the students' and teachers' perceptions of the Hello Talk in teaching English speaking at vocational high schools. This research used qualitative descriptive methodology. The research instruments used observation and interviews to obtain the necessary data. Observation is used to find out the implementation of the Hello Talk application in teaching speaking. Interviews find out more about the perceptions of students and teachers about the use of the Hello Talk application in learning to speak. The respondents of this study were 96 students divided into three groups and 2 English teachers. The data analysis technique used the Miles and Huberman model. The results show that the implementation of the Hello Talk application effectively enhances students' engagement, enthusiasm, and speaking skills while also supporting teachers in planning and evaluating lessons. Its features, such as voice-to-text conversion and tandem partner interactions, improve pronunciation and fluency, emphasizing the need for proper guidance and digital literacy. Integrating digital tools into language teaching can foster a more engaging and interactive learning environment. This study contributes to providing insight for teachers in utilizing technology to create interactive and innovative learning. Concrete steps to integrate digital tools into the language curriculum must be accompanied by adequate infrastructure and training to optimize results.

The number of students interested in attending Vocational High School (VHS) has increased year by year. However, the quality of graduates is at low level and the unemployment rate of VHS graduates accounts for largest proportion among other levels. According to some previous research, there have been the unemployment of the Business Management Vocational High School graduates. This study aims to: (1) explore information related to the partnership management model currently in Vocational Schools; and (2) creating a partnership management model expected by the industry and work sector. The research method used was an instrumental case study. The object of this research was Methodist Vocational School and Nur Azizi Vocational School, and the industry and work sector. Informants from the school are the principal, vice principal of curriculum, vice principal of student affairs, vice principal of infrastructure and facilities, vice principal of partnership relations, head of expertise program, head of principal, supervising teachers, and teachers of productive subjects. The subject of research in the industry and work sector was the field work practice instructor. Data collection techniques using interviews, documentation, and observation. The data analysis technique used was ATLAS.ti 9 software. The data validation was carried out by triangulation through Chief Section of Vocational School and the other related Vocational Schools. The results of the study indicated that (1) the partnership management model currently in Vocational Schools was still limited to planning, implementing, and evaluating students; and (2) the management model desired by the industry and work sector included guidelines for partnership, education and training standards, student guidance systems, skills testing standards, and student competency assessment standards. Keywords: Partnership Management, Mutual Benefit, Vocational High School

Different learner’s educational levels need different teaching method orientations. Adult and young learners are certainly treated by using different teaching method orientation. The independency of college students as adult learners in learning is still oftentimes found in low level. Both college students and lecturers still have big chance to be involved in a learning process which is not yet entirely supported by principles of independent learning.. This condition is quite contradicted with their status as adult learners who should have applied independent learning, and still experienced by the students at English Education Department of Muria Kudus University (EED MKU). The high independency of learning refers to the adult learners that should be involved in Andragogically oriented teaching methods (AOTM), while the low independency of learning refers to the young learners that should be involved in Pedagogically oriented teaching methods (POTM.) This study is aimed at comparing the effectiveness of implementing AOTM and POTM to the students graduating from vocational and non vocational high schools. This is a quantitative study with the population of 87 students joining Speaking for Instructional Purposes (SIP) classes at EED MKU. Teaching practice pre and post tests are used as the instrument of this study. The results indicate that AOTM and POTM give impact to improve the teaching practice achievement of the students both graduating from vocational and non-vocational high schools when comparing the scores of pre-tests and post-tests, but the AOTM and POTM implemented in SIP classes with students graduating from vocational schools and from non-vocational schools do not result in impact on their teaching practice. However, in a certainly different condition the implementation of AOTM and POTM might give more impact to the teaching practice achievement of the students graduating from vocational schools than those graduating from non-vocational schools

Despite numerous studies on ICT-ELT integration, little is known about how English teachers in vocational schools in Asia and particularly in Indonesia integrate ICT into their English lessons. To fill this gap, this study aims to investigate how vocational English teachers integrate ICT into their English teaching practices in vocational high school settings. It specifically examines vocational high school English teachers’ reasons for using ICT, the ways the English teachers integrate ICT into their English lessons, and their perceptions of benefits and challenges of incorporating ICT into English classrooms. Guided by a case study design, three EFL teachers teaching at vocational high schools where ICT tools were readily available were recruited to participate in the study. Empirical data were collected through interviews and classroom observations. It was found that the teachers were self-motivated to use ICT in their English lessons due to their interests and positive attitudes towards ICT. This study also showed that the English teachers integrated ICT into their English lessons for different reasons. All the teachers agreed on the benefits of ICT-ELT integration to facilitate their learning and teaching process. They also shared the same view on the challenges they encountered when using ICT tools in the classroom. They voiced the need for training on ICT in ELT. This study highlights the importance of school support so as to promote ICT-based language teaching by providing adequate technology access and facilities as well as professional training in ICT for language teachers.