Academic English Course Research Articles

How Does the Test Modality of Weekly Quizzes Influence Learning the Spoken Forms of Second Language Vocabulary?

AbstractThe study investigates how the test modality (spoken or written) of classroom weekly quizzes influences vocabulary learning strategies and facilitates learning the spoken and written knowledge of form‐meaning connection in L2 words. Japanese university students in academic English courses were assigned to two experimental conditions (spoken test and written test groups). The spoken test group prepared for and took weekly quizzes delivered in spoken format, whereas the written test group took the same quizzes delivered in written format. Over 10 weeks, learners were presented with the spoken or written forms of 20 English words and asked to provide the L1 translations of those words. Before and after the semester‐long treatment, 45 target words were tested in both spoken and written format via L2‐to‐L1 translation tasks. Additionally, a questionnaire survey on vocabulary learning strategies was conducted to examine how learners prepared for weekly quizzes outside of the classroom. Results revealed that learners in the spoken test group showed a significantly larger gain in spoken vocabulary than did the learners in the written test group. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups for written vocabulary learning. The spoken test group tended to rely on studying target vocabulary in a spoken form more frequently, whereas the written test group studied vocabulary in written form more frequently. This study provided implications for how teachers should administer classroom testing with the aim to develop learners' L2 spoken vocabulary knowledge effectively.

Practicing Reading for Pleasure in the EFL Classrooms: Using [The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time] in a College English Cou rse

This paper explores a college EFL course designed to practice reading for pleasure during the pandemic. Sixty EFL college learners in a required English course read Mark Haddon’s (2004) [The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time] within the structure of a regular reading and writing focused academic English course. Reading for pleasure is often considered unfit for inclusion in regular curriculum. Nevertheless, for digital natives, the act of pleasurable reading especially in L2, should be actively implemented into classroom activities. This study follows a case study which practices reading for pleasure by utilizing weekly quizzes, discussion questions and response paper. Students’ feedback was collected and analyzed in order to share students’ experiences in completing the tasks. The feedback shows how weekly quizzes and class discussions have encouraged them to continue reading the text, influenced their attitude on reading English books and how they were able to empathize with the characters. This paper invokes the need to include reading young adult literature into general English courses for college learners to make them lifelong readers of L2.

Integrating English for Academic Writing Virtual Lab Setting in Pre-Service Math and Science Teacher Education Programs

This research focuses on identifying the effect of integrating English for academic writing virtual lab setting in pre-service math and science teacher education programs. Four instruments were utilized in the different process of the research and the test was reported in the results. It utilized English for academic writing questionnaire to identify the academic writing skills needed for the participants, while a virtual academic writing module was used in the instruction of the target skills. English was utilized for the academic writing test and its rubric was used in the pre-post testing of the participants and their assessment. The participants were pre-service students (N=58) from math and science departments at Hurghada Faculty of Education, South Valley University, Egypt. Using a one-group quasi-experimental design, the research followed a pre and post testing procedure before and after applying the virtual academic writing lab. Results of the study were obtained quantitatively and qualitatively through the test of academic writing and the reflection sheet, respectively. Quantitative results showed that there were significant mean differences between participants' scores at level 0.05≥ in the pre and post testing procedure. These differences were in favor of the post testing of both basic academic writing concepts’ variable and academic writing skills variable (000), as well as the total score of participants’ academic writing (sig .002). Qualitative results also showed the positive attitudes of the participants and their satisfaction with the online module based on the feedback provided during the writing process. Recommendations of the research included integrating online virtual writing labs in pre-service math and science teachers’ education programs as well as integrating academic writing in their academic English courses.

An Exploratory Reform in Separation of Teaching and Examination for Postgraduate Academic English Course Based on POA

Based on the survey of academic English abilities and learning needs of non-English major postgraduates at Inner Mongolia University, China. The study explores the curriculum reform scheme of general academic English for postgraduates under the guidance of Production-oriented Approach, and carries out the separation reform in teaching and examination of postgraduate academic English. The teaching concept of “promoting learning with pragmatic purpose” in Production-oriented Approach (POA) is applied to the teaching of graduate students’ academic English writing. Combined with computer technology and related products developed by Beijing Tianyan Rongzhi Software Co., Ltd., a number of open question banks conforming to POA summative evaluation are constructed, and the POA teaching evaluation model is applied to the summative assessment of the course. The results indicate that the new teaching model based on POA realizes the transformation of students from merely learning English to pragmatically using English. The academic writing task assigned by the teacher promotes postgraduates to earnestly apply what they have learned in class to practice, which is of great help to their writing academic abstracts and research papers in English, and greatly enhances their confidence in reading English literature and publishing English academic papers independently. The curriculum assessment adopting separation between teaching and examination enables students to show more initiative to expand their academic knowledge and their English thinking while learning the classroom content, so that the cases of getting high scores via a frantic last-minute effort will be apparently reduced, and the assessment for their achievements in the course will become more efficient and fair.

The Effects of Direct Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) on Language Preparatory School Students` IELTS Independent Writing Section Score

A wealth of research has examined the effects of varied types of Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) in Academic Writing courses. However, there has been an ongoing discussion on adopting one of them. In this regard, this study investigated the effects of direct feedback on IELTS Academic Writing Section Score of Foundation English students` over 24 weeks using pre-test and post-test. Considering this aim, 40 students were separated into two groups as control or experimental group through systematic sampling method. Experimental group students were exposed to direct feedback, whereas control group students were engaged in metalinguistic feedback. Each student wrote 6 essays related to IELTS Writing Task 2 regardless of being in control or experimental group. Quantitative data were analyzed by IBM SPSS 23 through independent sample t test and paired sample t test. Independent sample t test and paired sample t test post test results were recorded as .001 respectively, indicating that there were highly significant differences in experimental group. On the other hand, control group progressed to an extent, but it was not as significant as the experimental group. Likewise, the questionnaire and interview analysis show that direct feedback was supported by more students when compared to metalinguistic feedback. Findings of this study may have some insightful points for educators who have been covering or managing Academic English courses at universities globally.

Are the Socio-Economic Factors Predictors of EFL Students’ Writing Anxiety? A Study of Bangladeshi Tertiary Students

Writing is a very complex productive process that involves a number of socio-psycho-cognitive factors. So, a study on how all these factors affect students’ performance in Academic English courses could enable ELT practitioners to help them improve their writing ability. Hence, the objectives of this study were to explore the probable correlation between tertiary level students’ socio-economic background and their anxiety towards English writing, particularly with reference to their academic writing performance. Taking a quantitative approach, a survey design was employed to collect data from 78 EFL undergraduate students. Multiple regression was used for the data analysis. The results of the study revealed that most of the participants, irrespective of having an extrovert or introvert life, suffered from writing anxiety. The medium of school and an educated family background emerged as key points in the data analysis to lessen writing anxiety among the students. In addition, more prominently, father’s education was responsible for having less anxiety level in students’ English writing. Not only was father’s education the most contributing predictor of students’ anxiety in writing but it also had the largest effect on explaining students’ anxiety in writing. The findings of this study would have implications for EFL practitioners who deal with, and facilitate tertiary students’ effort to overcome writing anxiety, particularly in the context where the students come from various socio-economic backgrounds, along with distinctive affective factors.

Synchronous Online Learning through Microsoft Teams at Tertiary Level: Academic English Course

As for a recent learning platform as synchronous online learning through Microsoft Teams (MS Teams) in Academic English course based on particular three learning domains, very few previous studies were conducted and explored in Thailand and Asia. Due to the unending epidemic of COVID-19, the pedagogy in EFL context at every level of educational institutes has to be shifted to an online approach that has never been implemented in Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna Tak (RMUTL Tak), Thailand. The current study has mainly addressed the research gap by determining underlying cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects in synchronous online learning. Therefore, this paper aimed to investigate perceptions and difficulties of synchronous learning in Academic English course through MS Teams. Academic English skills are not only acquired during the early years of Thai educational system but also at tertiary level. RMUTL Tak has currently provided an Academic English course as a mandatory subject that every undergraduate student has to pass this course before graduation. Promoting synchronous learning to Academic English course allows students have greater learning motivation. In the study, two hundred and fifty four undergraduate students studied in three faculties comprising Business Administration and Liberal Arts, Engineering, and Sciences and Agricultural Technology at RMUTL Tak. They were all enrolling in an Academic English course in the first semester, academic year 2020. Additionally, an online questionnaire including twenty one items and one open-ended question was employed in the study. All obtained data was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings revealed that most of the participants have positively perceived synchronous learning as their fruitful online platform. Nonetheless, it was found that poor internet signal was considered as a dominant factor preventing them from learning online. Received: 8 March 2021 / Accepted: 2 August 2021 / Published: 5 September 2021

Effort as a Mediator of the Relationship between English Learning Self-Efficacy and Reading Comprehension Performance in the EFL Field: A Longitudinal Study

English language skills are considered of great value in the labor market and in the field of research. As such, learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) becomes of great importance, especially for foreign students and employees working in international settings. The goal of the present study was to explore students’ self-efficacy in language learning (LSE), in contrast with general self-efficacy (GSE) and effort (EF) as predictors of students’ reading comprehension performance in English. Moreover, we hypothesized that effort mediates the relationship between LSE and reading comprehension performance. We explored the EFL learners who enrolled in academic English courses during a period of three months, one academic semester. Using a longitudinal design, at Time 1, the sample of 265 participants completed three questionnaires: GSE, LSE and EF scales. At Time 2, reading comprehension test was given to the participants who had completed the questionnaires previously. Results indicated that LSE, in contrast with GSE, is positively correlated with reading comprehension performance. Furthermore, the data showed that LSE is positively correlated with effort, and that effort is positively correlated with reading comprehension performance. Findings revealed that effort mediates the relationship between LSE and reading comprehension performance. Thus, our study contributes to the development of more effective teaching methods and provides EFL teachers the necessary tools to predict and enhance students’ achievements in the field. Implications and limitations for future research are discussed.

Harnessing online course development skills: A crisis- prompted but carefully planned EAP course

This paper explores how lessons learned from developing blended and fully online courses were employed in the momentous move to online delivery in the late spring and summer of 2020. Our context was one in which, rather than having to get through to the end of semester, we were embarking on what would normally be large-scale intensive academic English courses which would run throughout the summer. While the pivot online did mean as Gacs et al. (2020, p. 380) says ‘crisis‐prompted remote teaching’, our previous experiences enabled us to provide effective, principled templates to support course designers, and teachers who would deliver courses. Drawing on principles of effective online learning, constructive and social constructivist pedagogies for both language and content learning, we show how these flipped courses were planned and scaffolded. We also illustrate how teacher induction incorporates not only pedagogical and content knowledge but also technical knowledge, thus starting to address aspects of Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) technical, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPCK) framework. Support for teachers was also provided by organising teams of teachers with a variety of experience. There was a deliberate emphasis on peer planning and discussions of lessons, thus ensuring opportunities to share expertise and to meet the need for social interactions for teachers.
 The resulting courses were quite different from the face-to face classroom-heavy immersive learning provision. Yet our reflection will show how the careful but essentially simple approaches used in course design afforded engaging and ultimately very successful outcomes. While we will reflect on aspects that need further development, these can be built on as colleagues develop the skills and confidence to continue online delivery. This paper, then, aims to show that essential skills sets can be developed with relatively minimal but carefully thought out principled, structured and streamlined support from the outset.

THE IMPACT OF METACOGNITIVE READING STRATEGIES ON MASTER STUDENTS’ EFL READING PROFICIENCY AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

The paper deals with direct influence on reading proficiency and other advantages of application of metacognitive strategies by master students in order to improve ESL when learning Academic English course. There have been given definitions of the terms “reading strategy”, “metacognitive reading strategy”. The main structural components and functions of metacognitive strategies have been described, their role and priority of application by master students in academic texts processing have been estimated and discussed. Highly effective metacognitive reading strategies have been selected and correlated to academic performance level of readers. The main theoretical approaches regarding metacognition in reading have been overviewed and analyzed. The study has been conducted in Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University. Data was collected by means of focus groups interview and selected scales of the MARSI (Metacognitive Awareness Reading Strategy Inventory) questionnaire. The highlighted research is of a descriptive character; it has been completed with the aim of collecting the information at the initial stage of the experiment on postgraduates’ usage of metacognitive reading strategies in their university course of Academic English. Data analysis was carried out with help of visualization of images of the text, main ideas/top sentences selection, scanning the text, summarizing information, self-questioning, connecting new information with the previously learnt one. Theoretically the study contributed by giving promising results about the impact of application of metacognitive reading strategies on reading proficiency of master students at Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University. The practical implication presupposes incorporation of syllabus based reading comprehension courses for EFL master students as supplementary to the core courses or optional ones, based on practical teacher manuals on using metacognitive strategies in teaching reading comprehension; seminars for ESL teachers.

The Implementation of Flipped Classroom Approach in an Academic English Course

Since flipped classroom (FC) approach was first implemented over a decade ago, it has been gathering great momentum with more and more research conducted in different fields over the past years. As an attempt to better understand this promising new model, this study aimed to apply it in an academic English language course and examine its effects on student’s perception and the quality of their assignment together with the instructor’s self-reflection. The participants were 21 sophomores attending an academic English course (integrated reading and writing section) at a state university in Hanoi, Vietnam. Combining both quantitative data from survey and qualitative data from feedback forms together with the instructor’s reflection and analysis of students’ work, findings of the study indicated positive perception towards flipping learning mode from both the students and instructor’s perspective and the analysis of the submitted end-of-course assignments showed a good mastery of essay genres, argument development and text selection. However, synthesizing skill as well as the use of APA in-text citations and references needed more guidance and required more practice. The study also pointed out some limitations and recommendations which further research should take into consideration for a better implementation of a flipped classroom.

Improving students' speaking skills in an academic English course

This article summarizes the results of teaching Academic English course to the first year Intermediate level students. The article encompasses the activities for improving the speaking skills of learners. As re- quired in the Academic English curriculum, optimizing the speaking skills of students is of those in macro skills that should be focused and enhanced with the aid of myriads of teaching tools. There were four In- termediate groups with a total of 32 students. Speaking tests were included in the first attestation midterm exam and final examination. Practice has shown that students also need to get rid of the fear of speaking in English, thereby helps to minimize or completely eliminate the fear associated with speaking English, which means constant and confident practice in the learning environment and beyond using various tech- nical tools when studying or teaching English. The subject of the research is the improvement of speech skills among first year students, where students, learning a new vocabulary, train their speech skills during the semester. The study guidelines, various platforms for learning and teaching were used for the research. The study was conducted at one of the higher educational institutions of the city of Almaty, the Inter- national University of Information Technology. The results showed that thirty-two students had better results in the final exam than the midterm exam. Key words: teaching foreign languages, speaking skill, assessment.

Investigating Impact of Analysis Matrix Summarization Technique on Iranian University Students’ Reading Comprehension Enhancement

The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of the analysis matrix, a type of graphic organizer, as a language improvement supportive attempt on fostering reading comprehension in an EFL academic context. The main question this study tried to answer was whether using this technique might enhance reading comprehension abilities among Iranian non-English majors. To achieve this goal, 120 nursing and microbiology majors were randomly selected from a population of the non-English majors enrolled for the Academic English course. They were divided into four groups of 30 and were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and two control groups. A pre-test of reading comprehension was administered to all groups. Then, they were taught passages to read for eight sessions with different methods; the experimental groups received a treatment of analysis matrix technique instruction while the control groups were taught with the traditional method, including no summarization instruction. A post-test of reading comprehension was finally administered to all groups. The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to control the effects of the pre-test on the outcomes. The results indicated a statistically significant difference due to pedagogical intervention; the two experimental groups outperformed on the post-test after being treated with analysis matrix technique for eight sessions.

On the Significance of Students’ Appraisals of Their Language Learning Experiences at University: A Phenomenological Approach

This study focusses on students’ appraisals of their language learning experiences at university. Forty students in the third and final academic English course at a university in the UAE participated in the study. The participants completed a written survey which was developed based on Scherer’s (1987, 2001, 2011, 2013) framework of appraisals, i.e. pleasantness, novelty, goal-conduciveness, coping potential and self-compatibility checks. The analysis of the qualitative data indicates that almost all of the participants evaluate their language learning experiences positively and consider the programme to be of great value in enabling them to achieve their academic and professional goals. On the other hand, some participants do not see much novelty in terms of the materials presented to them and believe this reduces the level of challenge and motivation for them. Almost all of the participants feel strongly about the use of their first language, i.e. Arabic and the fact that learning English should not affect their use of the first language negatively. One important pedagogical implication of the study is that students’ positive appraisals of the course are largely attributed to the teacher’s method of teaching. Another important pedagogical implication of the study is that correct placement of the students in an academic programme can create the proper level of challenge and hence motivation for the students.

Feedback behaviour and preference in university academic English courses: associations with English language self-efficacy

While there has been much research detailing how English as a foreign language (EFL) students attending English for academic purposes (EAP) courses struggle with a wide array of challenges when adjusting to university English-medium instruction, how these students use feedback to self-regulate their academic English learning and what contributes to or hinders this remain unknown. This study investigates Chinese university students’ feedback behaviour and preferences in academic English course settings and their associations with English language self-efficacy within the context of recent feedback research in higher education. Apart from a dominant preference for teacher evaluative feedback, the students were found to be more likely to act on teacher feedback than to proactively seek feedback. English language self-efficacy was also shown to have significant influence on both feedback behaviour and preference. In the light of these results, this paper argues for a pressing need to extend the notion of feedback in academic English courses from viewing it as information transmission or ‘telling’ to recognising it as an iterative process whereby students make sense of information from various sources and use it to enhance their academic English learning.

A Study on the Background and Process of Postgraduates’ Academic English Learning in China

In order to provide reference for postgraduate academic English teaching in China, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive survey in learning background and process before learners go to the graduate school. This study focuses on the academic English course for postgraduates in a key university of China, and the in-depth investigation was carried out from the aspects of students’ majors, graduation colleges, English learning foundation, learning attitudes, English learning and especially academic English learning experience, motivation and knowledge of academic English learning. The triangulation combining the quantitative method and qualitative method was used to analyze the research data. The results shows that the English learners have weak academic English foundation but strong English learning motivation and employ single English learning strategy. The learners reported the effective learning methods of academic English from two aspects: basic English learning skills and academic English learning ability. Accordingly, how to develop the teaching model, carry out the teaching process and define the teaching content are discussed in this research.

English for Academic Study: An Open Access Academic English Course. Review of a FutureLearn Course

A recent global trend in the domain of self-access learning has been MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), enabling flexible participation and open access to online learning resources via the web. Educational institutes and universities across the world now offer MOOCs, including the self-accessed English language courses. FutureLearn a digital education platform—offers a handful of English language courses created by reputed universities in the United Kingdom, and also the British Council.

A comparative study of academic English course between western countries and China

A comparative study of academic English course between western countries and China

Implementation of Guided Group Academic Writing Using Online Learning Tools

Writing is an important skill necessary for students pursuing a higher level of education. The challenge for second language learners would be to write accurate academic essays as required by the course for students that has been aligned to the Common European Framework (CEFR) B1 standard since 2015 at a public institution of higher learning. The academic English course offered at a public institution of higher learning was subjected to a guided academic writing using online tools by Harju and Åkerblom (2017) description of the teacher’s role in facilitating learning to achieve the intended learning outcome which is to write an academic essay focusing on its features. The participants in this study were second year undergraduates in the second semester of their study who struggled to write an essay early in the semester. This study used a quantitative analysis collected from 10 participating students (n=10). The results found that the students made improvements to the feature of their essay and their feedback of the intervention were processed using frequency analysis indicated a hundred percent preference of the students to learn by their own discretion guided by the instructor and supported with online learning tools.

A Comparative Study on Teacher Talk of Australian and Chinese English Teachers in an Academic English Writing Course in Chinese EFL Classrooms

Research on teacher talk has shown that many different teaching behaviors between native English speaking teachers and non-native English speaking teachers may result form their different English proficiency. This paper aims to examine the differences between Australian English teachers (AETs) and Chinese English teachers (CETs) in an Academic English Writing course in ELF classrooms in China in terms of language use, linguistic complexity, and linguistic variety. Two university teachers (one AET and one CET) were recorded and observed for two weeks in October of 2017 in SHU-UTS Business School of Shanghai University. Data were collected via classroom observation and analyzed by a qualitative research method. The findings revealed although there are some differences in language use, linguistic complexity and linguistic variety, both teachers are highly aware of the marking criteria for the writing task of the academic English writing course and emphasize their teacher talk quality input for their students. The results, therefore, can help teachers from Australian and Chinese cultures to continuously work on high quality teacher talk and facilitate the development of a specific language skill-academic English writing for English learners in EFL Chinese classrooms.