English Experts Research Articles

Identities of Non-English-Dominant Teachers-In-Training: Alignments and Tensions

ABSTRACT This study examines how non-English-dominant English language teachers-in-training who undertake transnational language teacher education represent their language teacher identities (LTIs) in terms of four facets: claimed, assigned, practised, and imagined identities. It examines the alignments and tensions between and within these facets of LTI. Photo-elicitation data was collected from 10 non-English-dominant teachers-in-training who were international students undertaking language teacher education in Australia. Through a qualitative content analysis, seven representations of LTIs were identified across the four facets of LTI: knowledge transmission, learner-centredness, nurturing, teachers as learners, English experts, teacher dispositions, and professional uncertainty. Although alignments between these facets of LTI were identified, tensions within and between the facets of LTI tended to figure more prominently in the LTI representations of the teachers-in-training in this study. These tensions appeared to emerge from discrepancies between professional aspirations and external expectations. The study has implications for raising the awareness of teachers-in-training and their ability to reflect on teacher identities.

Effective practice in EAL education: enacting distributed school leadership

ABSTRACT This article reports on research conducted in New South Wales, Australia, which investigated why students from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds in some schools achieve consistently higher levels of educational growth than students in other schools with similar demographics. The purpose of this research was to learn more about high growth schools, and the factors that contributed to their students’ educational success. Based on analysis of data from six high growth schools, the article argues that the intersecting elements of building constructive relationships within and between staff and students; of valuing expertise in English as an Additional Language (EAL) education; building teacher professional knowledge; and promoting systematic school-wide implementation of EAL pedagogical principles were pivotal to students’ successful educational outcomes. However, it also argues that the effective implementation of these factors is dependent on the nature and quality of leadership in the schools – a leadership that recognises and values these factors in school-wide programs and provides space and support for their implementation.

Co-journeying with ChatGPT in tertiary education: identity transformation of EMI teachers in Taiwan

ABSTRACT This paper responds to the prevalent discourse on the ‘lack of English proficiency’ among EMI teachers in contexts where English is used as an additional language. It explores how AI-powered tools, particularly ChatGPT, enable EMI teachers in Taiwan to leverage their expertise and teach in English with more confidence. This study first describes the training of an EMI PD programme. Then it reports on the challenges and strategies, and the extended and innovative use by EMI teachers after the training. By reporting on the experiences of three EMI teachers, this study shows how collaborating with ChatGPT contributes to developing an empowered EMI teacher identity. This study fills a research gap, shedding light on the transformative potential of collaborating with ChatGPT to transform content teachers’ identities into an EMI teacher identity.

Psycho-Sociocultural Determinants of Code-Switching among Igbo- Speaking English Language Undergraduates in Southeastern Region, Nigeria

The present investigation aimed to ascertain the psychological, social, and cultural determinants propelling code-switching behaviours among Igbo-speaking English Language undergraduates in the southeastern region of Nigeria, as perceived by students enrolled at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, in Anambra State, and Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri, in Imo State, Nigeria. Employing a quantitative descriptive survey research design, the study comprised the entire population of regular Igbo-speaking English language students from the aforementioned region, with a sample size of 735 participants selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. Guided by four research questions and two null hypotheses, data were collected utilizing a 34-item researcher-structured questionnaire entitled the Psycho-sociocultural Determinants and Code-switching Questionnaire (PDCQ). The validity of the instrument was established through extensive use of relevant literature and also peer-reviewed by experts in English, Research Methods, and Psychology all from the Faculty of Education at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α = 0.76). Analysis of the research questions relied on measures of central tendency and dispersion, while Simple Linear Regression was employed to test the hypotheses. Findings unveiled a prevalent pattern of code-switching among undergraduates, attributed to a complex interplay of psychological, social, and cultural incentives, including the desire to foster solidarity and belongingness within diverse social circles, the conveyance of bilingual prestige, and the authentic expression of personal identity and ideas. In light of these findings, recommendations were proffered for governmental, policy-making, and university administrative entities to collaborate in formulating inclusive language policies that acknowledge and respect the cultural diversity of students, thereby fostering an educational milieu that is both inclusive and culturally attuned.

Cultural diversity in organizational communication management at English course in Vietnam

English serves as the global lingua franca, facilitating communication and bridging cultural differences worldwide. Its significance in various sectors, such as business, technology, science, and media, solidifies its position as a universal means of communication. This study explores the increasing importance of English in Vietnam, particularly in major cities like Hanoi, where it plays a crucial role in business, tourism, and higher education. The focus is on Mercury Center, a prestigious language institution in Hanoi, which collaborates with foreign travelers as volunteer teachers to enhance Vietnamese citizens’ English proficiency. Using qualitative research methods, including interviews, direct observations, and literature reviews, the study assesses the impact of foreign volunteer teachers on language education in Vietnam. It reveals that students and parents highly value and trust foreign teachers for their perceived authenticity and expertise in English. These findings underscore the significance of cultural diversity in English language education. By embracing foreign volunteer teachers and creating a cross-cultural learning environment, language institutions like Mercury Center can provide a more enriching and impactful learning experience for Vietnamese students. Understanding and managing cultural diversity can lead to improved communication and contribute to the success of language education initiatives in Vietnam. The recommendation from these findings is to optimize the utilization of cultural diversity within educational institutions to enhance organizational performance, create an inclusive work environment, and improve workgroup efficiency by considering consumer preferences and needs while developing more effective marketing strategies.

Translation ideology analysis in the English and Indonesian subtitles of Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou. on Muse Youtube channels

Today, Muse YouTube channels are deemed to be the most prominent platforms for watching anime for people in many Asian countries, including Indonesia. Making use of the concept of Extralinguistic Culture-bound Reference (ECR) and seven translation strategies proposed by Pedersen, this quantitative research sought to identify the dominant translation ideologies of the English and Indonesian subtitles of the anime series Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou. on Muse Asia and Muse Indonesia and analyze the choices of translation strategies found in the subtitles of both languages. The Indonesian and English subtitles of thirteen episodes of Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou. were analyzed by two judges with expertise in Japanese, English and Indonesian. The judges agreed on 91% of the data and discussed the rest to reach an agreement. The results indicated that five among seven translation strategies offered by Pedersen were found in the subtitles, and both the Indonesian and English subtitles share the same dominant ideology: foreignization. In spite of the same dominant ideology, the two languages exhibited fundamental differences when it comes to rendering the ECRs. In addition, the research also drew an interpretive conclusion that also serves as a practical implication that the audiences' familiarity with Japanese culture, time and space's availability, and the guideline based on other factors outside of the field of translation were three reasonable components that had a part in the subtitling team's choices of strategies.

Compare Eileen Chang's Theories on Chinese Life and Fashion and Her Self-translated Work Geng Yi Ji Based on Functions

Zhang Ailing is a famous modern Chinese female writer. Due to the influence of her family atmosphere and her own educational experience, she has a high level of expertise in both traditional Chinese studies and English. Her profound literary background in both English and Chinese has enabled her to create many excellent literary works and literary translations. Her articles published in the English monthly magazine of the 20th Century have made her stand out in the literary world, Therefore, Chinese Life and Fashions, as their first English prose published in this journal, has great research value. This article is based on Eugene Nida's principle of functional equivalence, the differences between Chinese and English languages, and some translation strategies to compare and analyze the two texts. These translation strategies include addition, deletion, domestication, etc. The employment of various translation procedures is based on the target language readers' diverse cultural backgrounds, as well as the target language readers chosen by Zhang Ailing. And the use of these strategies also reflects Eugene. Nida's theory of functional equivalence.

Investigating Saudi EFL Female University Students’ Command of Journalistic Writing: An SFL-based Study on Textual Organization

This study examines written literacy outcomes among Saudi female university students undertaking an EFL journalistic course over fourteen weeks. It specifically aims to explore their competence in the English hard news genre. It, thus, seeks to address the following question: after completing the course, to what degree did students create texts structurally matching the conventional English news report? The significance of this study lies in its integration of media and education, employment of linguistic analysis based on Systemic Functional Linguistics, and use of English expert news reports for comparison with students’ journalistic texts. It deployed the genre-based pedagogy devised within the Sydney School to design the news writing course. Twenty-five students undertook such a course during the 2022 academic year. This study gathered those students’ writing to subject it to linguistic scrutiny, assessing each student over one news report after completing the course. It reports that, after the course, half of the class developed their ability to produce the genre of the standard English language hard news report. Those students created texts that matched the professional news articles in the corpus, thus effectively following the textual features of such a genre.

Adapting the teacher formative assessment literacy scale into Turkish: Validation and reliability study

In the present study, the Teacher Formative Assessment Literacy Scale (TFALS), developed by Yan and Pastore (2022a), was translated into Turkish to examine the factor structure and psychometric characteristics of the scale in a Turkish sample. Data was collected from 318 teachers, of whom 168 were males and 150 were females, working in different state schools in a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Türkiye. As the first step, the scale items were translated and back-translated by experts in both English and Turkish. Afterward, experts were presented with the scale to check for consistency and accuracy based on the feedback received. A pilot study was carried out to establish the linguistic equivalence of the scale, followed by an examination of its structural validity in a Turkish sample. To demonstrate evidence of the confirmed factor structure of TFALS with 22 items, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted. The CFA results demonstrated that the three-factor model of the TFALS-Turkish-version had adequate fit indices. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the total scale was found to be .93. The Cronbach’s alpha for each of the dimensions of TFALS was .90 for the conceptual dimension (7 items), .86 for the practical dimension (8 items), and .88 for the socio-emotional dimension (7 items). Composite reliability coefficients of the dimensions ranged from .78 to .84. The results of this study provide important evidence for the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the TFALS, confirming that it has good psychometric properties in a Turkish sample

Development and content validation of a financial and functional outcomes tool for diabetes-related foot disease in patients undergoing major lower limb amputation: a prospective observational study from Pakistan

ObjectiveTo develop and content validate a questionnaire to assess the financial and functional impact of major lower limb amputation in patients with diabetes-related foot disease.DesignProspective observational study.SettingThis study was conducted...

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Iranian Voice Quality of Life Profile into Brazilian Portuguese.

To cross-culturally adapt the Voice Quality of Life Profile (IVQLP) into Brazilian Portuguese (BP). The cross-cultural adaptation process was performed in five stages: translation of the IVQLP into BP by three native BP experts fluent in American English; preparation of a consensus version; back-translation by a native American English expert fluent in BP; analysis by a committee of five experts and preparation of the final version of the instrument in BP, which was named IVQLP-Br; and pre-testing. The IVQLP-Br aims to assess the impacts of the voice more comprehensively, encompassing various areas of an individual's life. It has 43 items and a five-level response key. For the pre-test, the alternative "not applicable" was added as a response option. Thirty-six adults with self-reported risk of dysphonia participated in the pre-test. In the translation stage, ten items were modified, and during the back-translation, 15 items required adjustments. No questions required reformulation after the application of the IVQLP-Br in the target population, because the option "not applicable" appeared in 12 responses without statistical significance. The version of the IVQLP translated into BP, named the IVQLP-Br, exhibited cross-cultural equivalence and was administrable for a more detailed analysis of the impact of the voice in different domains of an individual's life. After validation, the IVQLP-Br will be able to contribute both to clinical practice and to research with BP speakers.

L1 novice writing as a missing piece in the Learner Corpus Research puzzle

Abstract This paper investigates the possible benefits of integrating an L1 novice corpus into the study of learner writing, through a study on hedging adverbials and complement clauses. A more traditional tripartite comparison is first drawn between French EFL learner writing, L1 English novice writing, and English expert writing. Then, a comparison is made between L1 French novice writing and French EFL learner writing. The study uses data from the following corpora: the Varieties of English for Specific Purposes dAtabase (VESPA; Paquot et al., 2022) (French EFL learner writing), the British Academic Written English (BAWE; Heuboeck et al., 2008) corpus and the Michigan Corpus of Upper-level Student Papers (MICUSP; Ädel & Römer, 2012) (both L1 English novice writing), the Kulturell Identitet i Akademisk Prosa: nasjonal versus disiplinavhengig (KIAP‑EN; Fløttum et al., 2006) corpus (English expert writing), and the The French Academic wRiting (FAR) corpus (L1 French novice writing). The results speak to the importance of including a L1 novice component to the current methodologies employed in Learner Corpus Research (LCR), since such inclusion helps to provide a better and more nuanced interpretation of the findings obtained by means of a more traditional tripartite approach.

Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Amharic Version of the World Health Organization's Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) Screening Tool Among Pregnant Women in North West Ethiopia, 2022: A Psychometric Validation.

The prevalence of prenatal common mental disorders afflicting the global community, including Ethiopia, is thriving. Therefore, a time-efficient and valid screening tool is required. This study aimed to culturally adapt and validate the self-reporting questionnaire-20 tool developed by the World Health Organization among pregnant mothers in Ethiopia. A total of 310 pregnant women completed the questionnaire at two selected health centers in the regional state of Amhara. The World Health Organization's Self Reporting Questionnaire-20 tool was first translated into Amharic by two experts. The back translation was done by two English experts. Internal consistency and reliability were assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Convergent and discriminant validity were assessed using composite reliability and extracted mean variance. SRQ-20 was tested for reliability and validity using principal components analysis and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sample adequacy with a cutoff value of 0.50 for each item. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure (KMO = 0.733) for sample adequacy and the Bartlett's sphericity test for the identity matrix indicated that the data were amenable to exploratory factor analysis. Principal components analysis identified six factors that explained 64% of the variation in the self-report questionnaire 20. Cronbach's alpha was 0.817 for the entire scale and the extracted mean variance was greater than 0.5 for all factors, indicating convergent validity. The extracted mean variance, composite reliability, and factor loadings were all greater than 0.75 for all factors in this study, indicating that convergent validity was satisfactory and that discriminatory validity was also satisfied. The composite factor reliability scores ranged from 0.74 to 0.84, and the square roots of the mean variances were greater than the factor correlation scores. The interview-based, culturally-adapted 20-item Amharic version of the SRQ-20 tool demonstrated good cultural adaptation and was also found to be valid and reliable in the present context.

Первая биография Д.П. Святополк-Мирского на родине

A review of the book “Svyatopolk-Mirsky” (Moscow, 2021) by a well-known researcher of Russian émigré literature and culture M.V. Efimov and the oldest English expert of Russian literary studies G. Smith is presented. The authors based their research on the Russian and European tradition of biographical studies and used the methods of literary history and sociocultural theory. The book is the first full-scale reconstruction of prince D.P. Svyatopolk-Mirsky’s biography in Russia. The authors widely used archival materials, testimonies and memoirs of contemporaries, hardly accessible English and émigré periodicals, which enable them to present the main events of Mirsky’s life and work. The biographers’ interest to the inner world and psychology of the hero’s acts is combined with a subtle philological analysis of his literary studies and critical essays. At the same time, the obvious sympathy for the hero did not prevent the authors from maintaining a research objectivity, which ensured the credibility and persuasiveness of their conclusions. According to the reviewers, the book is an event in national literary studies, political and cultural history of Russia and Russian emigration.

Seeing teacher identity through teachers’ beliefs: Narratives of pre-service EFL teachers in China

In the field of foreign and second language (L2) teacher education, existing literature has emphasized the importance of examining language teacher identity in uncovering how L2 teachers grow professionally. However, there have been relatively few investigations into emerging pre-service L2 teachers’ language teacher identity at an early stage of professional development. Focusing on a group of pre-service teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in China who were in their first semester of study in English teacher education, the present research was set out to explore these emerging pre-service teachers’ beliefs and how their beliefs connected to teacher identities. Analyses of participants’ survey narratives showed that pre-service EFL teachers highlighted three significant aspects of their English language teacher identities, which were English teachers as ‘instructors’, as ‘individuals’, and as ‘English experts’. Results of three focal pre-service EFL teachers’ interviews provided further evidence to demonstrate how teachers’ beliefs linked to teacher identities. The significance of these findings and directions for future research were discussed. This study concluded with suggestions for supporting emerging pre-service L2 teachers’ professional growth in language teacher education.

Improving English language skills through learning Mathematic contents: From the expertise reversal effect perspective.

Previous research in the field of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has not yet comprehensively investigated the interaction between learners' expertise and the instructional effectiveness. Taking cognitive load theory as the theoretical framework, a study was conducted to investigate the expertise reversal effect on learning English and mathematics simultaneously: whether an integrated approach (i.e. learning both English and mathematics simultaneously) could facilitate the acquisition of mathematic skills and English linguistic skills as a foreign language more effectively and efficiently than a separated learning approach (i.e. learning Mathematics and English separately). The materials for the integrated learning approach were in English-only, and the materials for the separated learning approach were in English-and-Chinese. Both sets of materials were given as reading content for teaching mathematic skills and English as a foreign language. The study adopted a 2 (language expertise: low vs. high) × 2 (instruction: integrated vs. separated) between-subject factorial design with instructional approaches and learners' expertise in English as independent variables, the learning performance in Mathematics and English with the cognitive load ratings as the dependent variables. Sixty-five Year-10 students with lower expertise in English and 56 Year-2 college students with higher expertise in English in China were recruited and allocated to two instructional conditions respectively. An expertise reversal effect was confirmed: the English and mathematics integrated learning approach was more effective for higher expertise learners while the English and mathematics separated learning condition was more beneficial for lower expertise learners.

Analysis of MCQs in Summative Exam in English: Difficulty Index, Discrimination Index and Relationship between them

This paper aims to assess the quality of a summative test items to improve its ability to measure students' knowledge acquisition. This test was used in the English subject for11th grade students. This study was administered at a Western district secondary school in Saudi Arabia. The test consisted of  22 multiple-choice questions used to collect data from 94 students randomly. The Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20) was used for test items, to determine the internal consistency reliability, which reaches a good reliability of α = 0.70. Difficulty and discrimination indices were used as well to evaluate the quality of the test. In addition, the relationships between difficulty and discrimination indices are measured. The difficulty index analysis showed that 50% of the items are in the average level, while the rest of the items fluctuate among too difficult, moderately difficult, and too easy levels. Moreover, the difficulty index analysis showed that 45.0% of the items are in the good level, while the other items ranged differently among poor, acceptable, and excellent levels. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) to estimate the relationship between the difficulty index and the discrimination index has a value of (-0.936), which indicates that there is a statistically significant relationship at the level (α≤0.05) between the difficulty index and discrimination index of the multiple-choice question summative test. To enhance the quality of this test, to better assess students' knowledge acquisition, this study recommends that items with too difficult and too easy levels of difficulty index, and items with poor discrimination index are to be reviewed and modified by English experts. Moreover, reevaluation of the content validity by an English teacher could further improve its quality as well.

Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale in Hindi: Toward capturing palliative needs and concerns in Hindi speaking patients

Background: Culturally relevant patient-centered outcomes tools are needed to identify the needs of patients and to assess their palliative care concerns. Aim: To translate and culturally adapt the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale (IPOS) into Hindi. Design: The study applied a standardized methodology entailing six phases for translation and content validation: equivalence setting through a three-step process; forward translation; blind backward translation; expert review by a panel of the POS team; cognitive de-briefing with patients; and proof-reading of the final tool. All interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using content analysis. Setting/participants: (1) Healthcare professionals including doctors, nurses, psychologists, counselors, and volunteers working in Indian palliative care settings with expertise in both English and Hindi languages; (2) Hindi speaking patients diagnosed with cancer who were receiving palliative care in community settings. Caregivers, palliative care experts, and language translators contributed to the translation procedure. Results: Phrases like nausea, poor appetite, drowsiness, and depression were difficult to translate into Hindi. Response categories “occasional” and “sometimes” were overlapping. All items, instructions and response categories were simple to understand. A visual thermometer is a unique feature of Hindi IPOS to facilitate responses from less educated patients. Conclusion: Hindi IPOS has face and content validity for use in clinical practice and research. The Hindi IPOS has implications beyond Indian palliative care settings. Millions of Hindi speakers can now respond to IPOS, and have a tool for communicating their palliative care needs in their mother tongue to inform patient-centered care.

Stance construction viathat-clauses in telecommunications research articles: a comparison of L1 and L2 expert writers

AbstractGiven the unsettled debate about the role of nativeness and/or expertise in academic writing, we compared the first language (L1)-English expert writers and the Second language (L2)-English (Chinese L1) expert writers with a similar expertise level in the use of stance complementthat-clauses. For our analysis, we selected equal numbers of published research articles written by the L1 and the L2 experts in the field of Telecommunications. We found considerable differences between the two groups of writers in terms of frequency, range, and semantic classes of words controllingthat-clauses. First, although both the L1 experts and the L2 experts overwhelmingly used verb +that-clauses, they demonstrated relatively different syntactic preferences for stance construction. The L2 experts used more verb +that-clauses than the L1 experts, while the L1 experts utilized more noun +that-clauses. Second, the L2 experts were more likely to express greater certainty towards the claims inthat-clauses than the L1 experts. Third, the L2 experts employed a narrower range of words controllingthat-clauses than the L1 experts in all the semantic classes. These findings suggest that the nativeness status of academic writers still influences their use of evaluativethat-clauses even at an advanced level.

English Reading Difficulties and Strategies for Improvement at Primary Level: A Phenomenological Study

English is an alien language. The teachers and students are facing difficulties in reading competency regarding, comprehension, speed, shyness, stuttering and stammering, jerks, fluency, pronunciation, accent intonation, and stress. The purpose of the study is to explore the difficulties in English reading competency and to develop strategies for the improvement of reading competency at the primary level. The key objectives of the study were to explore the difficulties in reading competency and to develop strategies for the improvement of reading competency of 5th-grade students at the primary level. These research questions were framed. What are the difficulties in reading competency faced by 5th-grade students? What strategies are needed to develop the reading competency of 5th-grade students? The study was qualitative and phenomenological in nature. The study was carried out through interviews with primary-level teachers and 5th-grade students. The sample was 12 participants, 6 were teachers and 6 were 5th-grade students. The analysis of the gathered data was made with the thematic analysis of Clarke and Braun (2019). Major findings were that students’ lack of interest, mal-recruitment of engineers, MBA degree holders and lack of relevant educational background, adhocism, contract appointment and hiring teachers’ trend, poor and uneducated parents and incompetency of teachers in the subject of English were the key difficulties in reading competency. These strategies were recommended. The teachers may be recruited who have Master's degrees in English with educational qualifications like B.Ed., M.Ed., MPhil, and Ph.D. in English or education. It was recommended that English Language teachers must provide basic reading skills to students to equip themselves with reading strategies for improvement in reading skills. It is also suggested that teachers may be given refresher programs through English experts for the improvement of reading competency.