English Language Teaching Course Research Articles

Development of a case method learning model to hone students' translation competence in language teaching courses

In 2020-2024, the Ministry of Education and Culture launched one of the main objectives of developing a strategic plan, namely optimizing the quality of learning in innovative forms in order to realize student success in achieving maximum learning outcomes that include attitudes, knowledge and skills. Hodijah, S & et al (2022) argue regarding the development goals of the Ministry of Education and Culture that the expected innovative learning can be implemented from learning created in the form of collaborative and participatory classes. Furthermore, according to the 2022 edition of EF English First Proficiency, Indonesia is in 81st place out of 111 countries with a score of 469 which falls into the Low Proficiency category in every aspect of the English language, one of which is Translation. Based on these things, to overcome the low level of students' English proficiency, especially in terms of Translation and to answer the demands of the Ministry of Education and Culture for Higher Education in creating innovative classes . It is recommended for lecturers to use the Case Study learning model because it has been proven to be effective in improving translation skills in various previous studies. Based on these things, this research aims to developCase Study Learning to Improve Students' Translation Ability in the Translation in English Language Teaching (ELT) Course, Department of English Language and Literature, Medan State University The development of the Case Study Learning Model was carried out using the ADDIE Development model which consists of 5 stages, namely; (1) Needs analysis, (2) Design of the Case learning model 3) Development of the Case Study Learning Model in Translation in ELT Learning (4) Implementation, namely trial of the Case Study learning model in the Translation in ELT course (5) Evaluation of Case Study model-based learning . This research uses a qualitative and quantitative descriptive approach in analyzing data. Validity tests, Practicality Tests and Effectiveness Tests was carried out on the development product to ensure that the Case Study Learning Model developed valid, practical and effective in improving students' translation skills in the Translation in ELT course. The results of the research show that the model developed is valid, practical and effective.

A CEFR-based comparison of Cambridge English Teaching Course Book and Ministry of National Education Course Book in terms of writing skills requirements

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which the competencies outlined in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) are met in English language teaching course books in terms of writing skills in foreign language instruction. With this in mind, writing exercises from the public school textbooks “That's It” for teaching English as a foreign language and “Own It Two” for teaching English as a foreign language were contrasted and evaluated in terms of their conformity with the CEFR's listed writing skills. The analysis of these two books was made on writing activities. The correspondence, coherence and creative writing skills in the CEFR and the total number of activities were taken into account. As a consequence of the content analysis, it was discovered that the book "Own It 2" included more writing activities, the writing activities in the book "That's It" were observed less. However, when the use of coherence, correspondence and creative writing skills in activities is examined, it seems that the "That's It" book lags behind the "Own It 2" course book. Although both course books assert to have been produced in accordance with the CEFR, research has shown that they do not achieve the learning goals for writing skills according to CEFR at the same rate. Basically, the study reached the conclusion that “Own It 2” and “That's It” emphasize production qualities. The findings also highlight the necessity for these two course books to be updated and restructured to conform to the CEFR at A2 level. This study found that the course books do not progress toward the learning goals for writing skills in the CEFR at the same rate. It turned out that both books needed more updates on the writing skill.

English Literature: An Authentic/Interesting Teaching/ Learning Material/Resource for English Language Development

This study is focused on finding how English literature assists to ameliorate English language in English language teaching (ELT) class attempting to analyze how literature attunes students with various language skills in ELT classroom. Commencing with the debate about teaching English language whether using only exponents of English language or teaching English language through literature, it proposes to research on how English literature assists as both content and language for ELT. Furthermore, it quests to answer many queries concerned with the relationship between language and literature. The research project is library based research utilizes secondary source of required data. Regarding the debate on the basis of analysis and discussion of the secondary data, it is argued that as an authentic teaching and learning materials, literature imparts knowledge about language, cultural, and religion entertaining readers assists to ameliorate language skills and knowledge of culture and religion of the target language. So, understanding its authenticity, it is prescribed in ELT courses of Nepali universities under Bachelor and Masters of Education English program but that is limited portion. To increase learners’ awareness about language, culture, religion and philosophy, it seemed necessary to increase portion of literature in ELT courses. Furthermore, for effective learning, it is better to prioritize epali writers’ literary writing in English or their authentic translated versions from Nepali to English too.

Building an Open Sharing Platform for ELT Courses: The Example of MOOC Network

English language teaching (ELT) has become an essential and indispensable part of primary education in today’s increasingly frequent international exchanges, and MOOC, as a massive online teaching model integrating content and learning support services, is leading a pedagogical transformation, providing a historic opportunity to build an open sharing platform for ELT. However, developing an open sharing platform around MOOC networks is still challenging, especially for English courses, where various course designs significantly increase the difficulty of tracking students’ learning status. Therefore, we introduce RNN-based sequence-to-sequence knowledge tracing models as the software foundation of the shared platform. The transformer model is further chosen to simulate students’ historical learning trajectories to solve the problem of long-term dependency in traditional models. The research results have important theoretical and practical implications for building an open sharing platform for ELT courses.

TEACHING EAP TO DIGITAL GENERATION LEARNERS: DEVELOPING A GENERATION-SPECIFIC TEACHING STRATEGY

The article focuses on developing an English language teaching course for the students of the digital generation in non-linguistic specialties. To develop the course, a theoretical analysis of the scholarly literature on the digital generation student characteristics and their attitude to online and blended learning environments was conducted. In addition, the empirical data obtained through pre/post-tests and a survey of the students who enrolled in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course was analysed. The experimental groups were offered an EAP course specially designed for digital generation students and the control groups were offered a traditional EAP course. The pre-instructional questionnaire was developed to identify the behaviour of the digital generation students in the context of foreign language learning. The end-course survey was used to analyse whether the participants’ perception of foreign language learning changed after completing the course. The pre-instructional and post-study language proficiency scores were compared across the experimental and control groups. The research findings indicated that the experimental groups showed a significant advantage over the control groups and expressed more positive attitudes to learning EAP. Practical implications suggest that tailoring foreign language teaching to the basic characteristics of digital generation learners can significantly improve its efficiency, resulting in a higher level of foreign language proficiency and leading to increased motivation to study a foreign language. 

Is The Natural Order of Morpheme Acquisition Being Appropriately Presented In English Language Teaching Course Books?

This study sought to determine the sequence of L2 morpheme presentation, as well as to determine whether or not the sequence of morpheme presentations correspond with the recognized natural order of morpheme acquisition in English Language Teaching course books utilized with young adult learners at a public sector vocational education institution in Thailand. Qualitative analysis was employed in the scrutinizing of twelve beginner and elementary level ESL and EFL learners course books that have been utilized as the primary teaching material for over a decade by the general education department of the institute. This examination revealed that the morpheme presentation sequence within the selected ELT course books was not analogous with the conclusions in the supporting literature. The findings further indicated that the widely accepted viewpoint of natural order morpheme acquisition was likewise not substantially reflected within the analyzed texts. Albeit, earlier studies have found that an unnatural sequence of morpheme presentation in EFL course books may hamper communicative competence in English, further study is required to establish if this may be a contributing factor for the overall low English proficiency of adult L2 learners in Thailand.

Is The Natural Order of Morpheme Acquisition Being Appropriately Presented In English Language Teaching Course Books?

This study sought to determine the sequence of L2 morpheme presentation, as well as to determine whether or not the sequence of morpheme presentations correspond with the recognized natural order of morpheme acquisition in English Language Teaching course books utilized with young adult learners at a public sector vocational education institution in Thailand. Qualitative analysis was employed in the scrutinizing of twelve beginner and elementary level ESL and EFL learners course books that have been utilized as the primary teaching material for over a decade by the general education department of the institute. This examination revealed that the morpheme presentation sequence within the selected ELT course books was not analogous with the conclusions in the supporting literature. The findings further indicated that the widely accepted viewpoint of natural order morpheme acquisition was likewise not substantially reflected within the analyzed texts. Albeit, earlier studies have found that an unnatural sequence of morpheme presentation in EFL course books may hamper communicative competence in English, further study is required to establish if this may be a contributing factor for the overall low English proficiency of adult L2 learners in Thailand.

The magic of storytelling: Does storytelling through videos improve EFL students’ oral performance?

This study aimed to examine the EFL (English as a foreign language) students’ oral presentation of storytelling. The students performed retelling of narratives such as fables, legends, myths, and fairy tales using their smartphones and video recorder. The participants of the study were 19 students enrolled in the Drama in ELT (English Language Teaching) course at Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. It employed participant observation and interviews to collect data. The results of the study revealed that for non-language aspects, the lowest score was for ‘dress code’ (M=2.1), meaning that the students did not make any efforts to dress and use props that were related to the stories they were telling. While for the language aspects, the lowest score was for ‘communicative abilities with the audience’ (M= 1.2). This shows that even though the participants recorded their performance, and there was no audience watching them directly, they still faced barriers and a lack of confidence when presenting the storytelling. The interviews further supported the findings from the observation such as not being able to use appropriate props for their performance, lack of eye contact, switching voices, use of gestures, difficulty in remembering the script, and needing somebody else to do the recording for them. Therefore, the students need more practice in front of audiences to overcome the problems in the future to ensure that the use of storytelling can improve their oral performance.

An Analysis of EFL students' questions in Research on ELT class at University of PGRI Ronggolawe Tuban

This research was conducted to analyze the questions used by EFL students in Research on ELT ( English Language Teaching ) Class  at  University of PGRI Ronggolawe  Tuban. This research was conducted to know the types of questions applied by the students, the most dominant questions used based on the cognitive domains of Bloom’s taxonomy, and the students’ responses towards the questions. Descriptive qualitative research design was applied in the research. The subject of the study were the sixth semester students who took Research on ELT course. To collect the data, observation using Telegram application and interview were applied. The data were analyzed qualitatively to determine the cognitive level of each question according to revised Bloom’s taxonomy. The result of the data analysis showed that the students used empirical questions as the type of questions. The dominant question used based on the cognitive domains of Bloom’s taxonomy was Analyzing level or C4 which appeared 48%. It showed that HOTS questions were the most used at the classroom with the total 64%, while the LOTS questions only got 36%. The students claimed that they felt interested and glad to answer the questions. It can be concluded that the students of Research on ELT class had shown that they had ability to think critically.    

English as a Foreign Language: Insights from a Public University in Bangladesh

This study intends to examine the perspective of learners from a public university regarding English Language Teaching (ELT) syllabus and pedagogy. The learners in this study are studying Masters (MA) in ELT at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University (MBSTU). MBSTU is a public university situated in Tangail, Bangladesh. Being their direct teacher, I thought it would be interesting to find out how my students are perceiving ELT courses, in fact the process of data collection and analysis has been an important learning experience for myself, allowing me to delve into the loopholes and strengths of the current ELT curriculum.  The survey questionnaire was sent to thirty of the currently enrolled MA students but fourteen responses were obtained due to the current Corona virus pandemic situation. It is worthwhile to mention that this is the first cohort of students for the MA in ELT program at MBSTU. The MA in ELT program was introduced in the university in 2019. This study was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire, and data was analyzed qualitatively. The findings from the study suggest that the students prioritize speaking English fluently and pronouncing English vocabulary correctly. The MA syllabus was highly commended by students as it focuses on pronunciation through the course of Phonetics and Phonology.

Towards the Development of an Exhaustive Translation Theory

Systematic studies on translation began only after its introduction as a separate discipline in the 1970s. The movements of the mid-twentieth century established translation theories like functional, post-colonial, and systems and proved relevance for translation works. Thus, a brief survey of translation theories that were developed and applied in the Western countries is significant, rational, and timely. In this context, the present paper focuses on the delineations of the translation theories developed in the West. Further, these theories have been included within applied linguistics and English language teaching courses. Since the wholistic expansion of all of them is impossible and unnecessary in such a small-scale study, this article presents a brief survey of only contemporary theories, which have been developed from the 1970s to the present date. A survey of these theories exhibits that none of them is exhaustive enough within itself and therefore, a new theory that is intelligible, practical and relevant is yet to be developed The implication of this study in English language teaching is that the translation and the transtlation theories offer insights into the sensitivities of language and culture for language teachers while teaching.

An Anthropocentric Approach to Evaluate English Language Teaching Course Books

The new geological epoch Anthropocene poses a significant problem to people because it shows how human activities have started to change and shape the world negatively to a big extent. One way to deal with this problem is education, including English language teaching. In English language teaching, course books can be used to deal with the Anthropocene. When the literature was reviewed, it was seen that English language course books were evaluated according to English language teachers’ and students’ perspectives, but not with an Anthropocentric perspective. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate an English language course book used in Turkey with an Anthropocentric approach. It was designed as a qualitative study. The data collected were documented analyzed. Qualifications of the researcher and thick description were used for the trustworthiness of the research. The findings have indicated that the course book has units and parts of units related to nature. They have also shown that students can understand the relationship between people and nature by studying this course book. The results were discussed, and suggestions for further research were made.

Approaches and Activities Adopted by M. Ed. Student Teachers of English to Teach Reading: A Critical Assessment

Literature on second language reading suggests that the effectiveness of teaching reading depends largely on theoretically-guided and contextually-informed classroom methodology. In this study, we investigated the classroom methodology adopted by the students of Master of Education (M. Ed.) specializing in English from Mahendra Ratna Campus, Tahachal, who were teaching Bachelor of Education (B. Ed.) reading courses during their practice teachinghence defined as ‘student teachers’ (STs). Foregrounding the role of reading in the overall language development and academic achievement of English as a foreign language (EFL) students, the present B. Ed. English curriculum under Tribhuvan University has adopted a content-based approach to teaching reading. In order to understand how those reading courses were taught, we purposively selected ten M.Ed. STs and observed two classes of each, employing a semi-structured classroom observation scheme. In order to cross-compare STs' classroom performance with their theoretical knowledge about reading pedagogy and overall objectives of the reading courses, we also analyzed the English language teaching course the STs had studied in the M.Ed. program as well as B. Ed. reading courses and coursebooks they were teaching. The collected data were coded and analyzed thematically. The findings show that the teaching methodology adopted by the STs goes counter to the principles of ESL/EFL reading and expectations articulated in the reading courses. These findings illustrate the urgent need to reassess the methodology of teaching reading at the tertiary level and minimize the gap between the M. Ed. English students’ pedagogical knowledge and their classroom performance.

The Development of Learning Material for Seminar on English Language Teaching Course Based on Flipped Learning

The objective of the research was to develop learning materials for Seminar on English Language Teaching based on Flipped Learning for fifth semester students of English Educational Study Program, English and Literature Department  FBS, UNIMED. This is a Research and Development-R&D Research.  This research was done in three stages: First Survey and Evaluation Stage, second designing the material and finally validating the teaching material. Having done the three stages it was obtained that there were Introduction to Seminars, The Basic Concepts and Terms of Seminars and Paper Presentations, Understanding Seminar Themes, Developing Relevant Topics, Developing Paper Outline, Writing Paper Draft, Editing and Finalizing Paper, Designing Paper Presentations, Developing Power Point Presentation, Rehearsing Presentation, Paper Presentation, Running Productive Seminar. The feasibility test of teaching materials by the expert team of the results stated that the teaching materials developed were appropriate, relevant and good for students of English Education Study Program with an average score (4.32).The material was upload to E-Learning FBS UNIMED to be used by the students.

TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION – SKILLS IN DEMAND

Skills in language teaching are a challenge in heterogeneous classes. The article aims to describe, analyze and interpret teaching based on classroom observations, activities and narrations. Combining the classroom activities and data collection, a range of observation method and non-observation methods were considered. The observation methods are observing, noting, recording. The non-observation methods are surveying, interviewing and journaling. Significant reflections and events were captured in Checklist, Content Parameters and Framework for classroom discourse analysis. The data collected from the personal contact programs of the post graduate English Language Teaching course were recorded, analyzed and reflected. The participants in the course are teachers in various schools and colleges across the state. Reflections on personal values, theoretical assumptions and gaps of knowledge are the focus of the study. To investigate the descriptions of teaching from the perspective of a participant observer, two reflection approaches, reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action were used for data analysis. Reflection-in-action is the spontaneous reflection on the needs of the teachers. These are discussions on the gaps between their current teaching and what they would like to see happening. The open ended relaxed conversations clarify what the teachers want to know, understand and do in a better way. Reflection-on-action is meta-thinking on what happened. This is reflecting on the decisions made by my learners and my own responses, reactions and thoughts and feelings about the lesson. For a period of three years, the method of the cyclical AR model of Plan-Action-Observe-Reflect was followed. The present study offers ideas and insights that teachers can develop as skills in the service of their students’ needs and contributes to better understanding of teaching experiences and communication among teaching challenges. The findings establish that teacher-centered learning operates in reciprocal relationship binding the instructor and the teacher, both sharing resources and becoming resources themselves.

Exploratory Talk and Task-based Learning: A Case Study of a Student’s Learning Journey on an MA (Education) English Language Teaching Course

ABSTRACTThis article records and evaluates a student’s learning journey in two modules on an MA (Education) English Language Teaching (ELT) programme: an Oracy and ELT Pedagogy module and an Educational Technologies module. The notions of ‘exploratory talk’ and ‘task-based learning’ are explored using a single case study with material drawn from the student’s autobiography and diary, the spoken and written assignments, and the student and lecturers’ reflections on completion of the modules. We show, through the use of autobiography and critical reflection, what the student brings to the course and how this reflection allows him to use and transfer knowledge from one module to another. We analyse the ways in which the modules complement each other and how this influences the student’s learning and teaching practice. We then identify the key features of his learning in relation to ELT pedagogy.

Opening Pandora's Box: A Culturally-oriented Look at the Covert Content of Passages 1

This study investigates the cultural content and covert syllabus of one well-known widely printed English Language Teaching (ELT) course book: Passages 1. In order to analyse the content, two coding systems the Five Dimensions of Culture and the Categories of Culture by Chao (2011) were used. The findings indicate that Passages 1 has encouraged various aspects of culture with an emphasis on the presentation of products, persons and viewpoints of the West. The partiality for the Target Culture (countries with English as the native language) is clear throughout the course book in terms of the selection of reading texts, listening tracks, and the images. Findings indicate that there is a minimal focus on the introduction of local and the Middle Eastern cultures. The theme of 'universality across cultures', as a specific classification in this study, is mostly placed in the speaking practices which revolves around sharing personal experiences rather than engaging in intercultural thinking and awareness. Based on the findings, some recommendations are given to ensure some aspects of the target culture are adequately addressed in the writing of ELT course books.

Enhancing Learning Interaction through Inter-Forum Group Discussion in Online Learning: A Case Study on Online Teaching of Research in English Language Teaching Course

This research aimed to develop a model of Inter-Group Discussion Forum (IGDF) application   as media to increase students’ interaction and participation in the discussion forum during the online learning. Data were collected through the process of the implementation of discussion forum using IGDF application during the online learning of Research in English Language Teaching (ELT) courses during the teaching period of 2014.2. Data of the students participation were collected through online observation, and data about the students’ perception of the IGDF model were collected by providing an online close and open ended questionnaires and analyzed by calculating the percentage. The results of this study indicated that the application of IGDF is applicable in online learning. The amount of participation and the quality of the interaction from the discussion through IGDF has not shown significant improvement. The main obstacle came from the technical problems associated with passwords and the ability to follow the discussion in a discussion forum between groups. However, the variety types of posting has increased. Each group is able to post presentations, questions, responses, and commands. Students' perceptions toward the IGDF proved significant where there was 88.46% of them stated that the discussion forum with IGDF is very good discussion among the group and it can increase interaction among students in the online learning.

The effectiveness of the ELT component at the B.Ed. programme in Bangladesh: A critical perspective

The study determines the level of effectiveness of the English course at the B.Ed. programme in Bangladesh in developing professionalism of the prospective English language teachers. Recently, English language teaching has gained momentum because of its local as well as global instrumental use. But, Bangladesh is still facing an acute shortage of skilled English language teachers. Hence, the study investigates the existing structure and the scope of English Language Teaching (ELT) in the teacher training programme of Bangladesh. For this purpose, data has been collected both from trained English language teachers and pre-service trainees to find out the level of success of the ELT course at the B.Ed. programme in Bangladesh. Hence, the study investigates the scope of English language teaching and teacher training with reference to the training institutions in Dhaka, Mymensingh and Comilla. Stamford Journal of English; Volume 6; Page 261-284 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/sje.v6i0.13918

Intercultural challenge to language learning

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative research project set to investigate the piloting process of an innovative language program for university students. It challenges traditional English language teaching courses celebrating a view centered on learning; classes become spaces for students to understand the language they are learning through the development of small projects. The approach moves from a teaching transmission paradigm to one where the most important agent is each student who has to engage with a topic of his or her interest. Students are seen as individuals whose knowledge and understanding of the world is valued and not as people whose lack of language skills prevents them from engaging in discussions of complex topics. The objective of this innovation is to enhance students’ understanding and use of academic English in their field of interest. In this project, we argue that knowledge and understanding of the mother tongue and culture play key roles in the development of a second language. A number of studies suggest that students who had strong first language literacy skills achieved higher proficiency levels in their second language. Based on this argument and Vygotsky’s sociocultural learning theory, we designed disciplinary content language learning workshops for first-degree students. The main tenet is that students can develop academic English given that they know about their discipline. Findings so far reveal the difficulty of students to take distance from their previous learning experiences. They also show that students’ ideas expressed in English are far more complex than what would be expected of them given their second language skills. The complexity is not only related to thecontent, but to the way they construct their paragraphs and the understanding of how the register of their field  may be used.