Primary English Research Articles

Documenting students’ conceptual understanding of second language vocabulary knowledge: a translanguaging analysis of classroom interactions in a primary English as a second language classroom for linguistically and culturally diverse students

Abstract This article aims to build on prior research on translanguaging to document how linguistically and culturally diverse students in a primary ESL classroom mobilise a wide range of multilingual and multimodal resources to demonstrate their conceptual understanding of second language (L2) vocabulary knowledge during classroom interactions. The classroom interactional data will be analysed using Multimodal Conversation Analysis. The analyses of the classroom interactional data will be triangulated with the teacher’s video-stimulated-recall-interview data, which is analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in order to analyse the teacher’s reflections on students’ use of translanguaging to externalise their thought processes. The findings demonstrate that students’ use of translanguaging resources allows for an externalisation of thinking processes which offers visible output for inspection by the teacher. The findings challenge the conventional perspective of L2 acquisition, which commonly involves comparing the learning outcomes of experimental and control groups to evaluate their L2 progress and development. I argue that students’ translanguaging practices can be used as interactional resources for them to visualise their conceptual understanding in progress, which offers valuable diagnostic information for the teacher to assess students’ current knowledge states in the learning process. The findings of this study can provide a comprehensive picture of the process of L2 vocabulary learning as an embodied activity, indicating the need for researchers to conduct fine-grained analysis of students’ translanguaging practices when documenting evidence of students’ L2 learning.

The Effect of Gamification Learning on Primary School Students' Second Language Learning

Primary English teaching consists of two parts: language knowledge including vocabulary and grammar along with comprehensive language ability concerning listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Currently, there are lots of studies showing the positive effectiveness of gamification on primary English learning in different sections individually. However, few studies integrate these sections and explore the effect of them on an overall scale. The research will comprehensively illustrate the effectiveness of gamification and also investigate how it produces positive outcomes in improving primary school students' English learning based on case studies and systematic reviews. It aims to give an integrated synthesis of research findings which gives educators access to evidence-based insights and offers them valuable guidance for seeking to incorporate gamification strategies effectively into their language instruction. The research design will be distributed into three parts which are vocabulary learning, grammar learning, and comprehensive language ability enhancement to discuss the effectiveness of gamification on English language learning respectively.

Analysing Finnish primary EFL textbooks through a Bangladeshi lens

A closer examination of Finland’s exceptional educational achievement reveals that the country’s education system bears fruit from a concerted effort that places a premium on textbooks. With Bangladesh’s predominance of textbook-based methods, their Finnish counterparts appear critical in determining how textbooks can be bettered in offering young learners a more effective teaching-learning experience. This qualitative study applied deductive content analysis to examine five Finnish primary English as a foreign language (EFL) textbooks through a Bangladeshi lens. The analysis found that the textbooks in Finland used their native language, Finnish, to impart narrative-driven multimodal action-based English content as well as exercises. A highly visually rich textbook design accommodatively allowed different English learning approaches to merge with the Finnish teachers’ autonomous method of instruction. Though the size of the content and exercises are upwardly voluminous, they are presented in a way that comes across as very appealing to the children. The study also advises avenues Bangladeshi EFL textbooks should explore. Teacher’s World: Journal of Education and Research, Vol. 48(2), Dec 2022, p.83-101

Development of one translator’s style: A corpus-based investigation of Allan Barr’s style of translating Yu Hua’s works

This paper examines the evolution of translator Allan Barr's style and methodology. Regarded as the primary English translator of Yu Hua's works for fifteen years, Barr's corpus is examined in order to catalogue the development of his translation style. This corpus consists of Yu Hua’s Huanghun li de Nanhai and Siyue Sanri Shijian and their translations Boy in the Twilight: Stories of Hidden China (2003) and The April 3rd Incident: Stories (2018). The mixed-methods approach was applied to analyze Barr's idiosyncrasies in translating Direct Speech (DS) presentations at different stages of his career using the revised S-type model. A quantitative analysis identified a translator’s changing preferences in translating DS. The subsequent qualitative analysis addressed the translation strategies of (Free) Direct Speech and Barr's preferred position of report clauses at different points in time. The results suggest that Barr's translation styles were more influenced by his assumptions and attitude towards the implicit target readers and then dominated his stylistic choices, leading him to be more loyal to the source text and the author in his later translation and more inclined to present the literary world of the source text with less interference and interpretation by the translator. The implications proposed that the development of the translator’s style may be due to the promotion of the author’s familiarity with the literary field of the target language, the influence of the norms of the source language in which the translator is immersed in translation practice, and his increasing knowledge of style.

초등영어교육에서의 창의성 연구 동향 및 지도 방안 탐색

The purpose of this study is to explore creativity research trends and suggest
 instructional guidance in primary English education. To accomplish these objectives,
 researchers first examined 79 research theses and articles with four main categories
 of analysis: 1) research period and status, 2) subjects, 3) methods, and 4) topics. The
 results showed that the number of research articles has increased since the 2009 revised
 national curriculum which stated creativity directly for the first time. Among the
 various subjects, there were more studies on non-human subjects such as teaching
 and learning methods than studies on humans such as students and teachers. The most
 preferred method was quantitative research and the most-discussed topic was teaching
 and learning methods. Moreover, on the basis of literature research and researchers’
 experiences, researchers suggested creativity instructions specifically in primary
 English in four aspects: 1) cognitive and language, 2) contents, 3) teaching and learning
 methods along with ongoing assessment and evaluation, and 4) teachers and
 environment. Teachers and researchers can reference these instructional guidance in
 planning and implementing creativity in primary English education. Above all, to
 enhance creativity education in primary English, teachers need to recognize clear
 creative guidance directions in language education and work with schools and local
 organizations as well as fellow teachers to ensure that creativity education is established
 in the field.

A Systematic Literature Review on Using the Encoder-Decoder Models for Image Captioning in English and Arabic Languages

With the explosion of visual content on the Internet, creating captions for images has become a necessary task and an exciting topic for many researchers. Furthermore, image captioning is becoming increasingly important as the number of people utilizing social media platforms grows. While there is extensive research on English image captioning (EIC), studies focusing on image captioning in other languages, especially Arabic, are limited. There has also yet to be an attempt to survey Arabic image captioning (AIC) systematically. This research aims to systematically survey encoder-decoder EIC while considering the following aspects: visual model, language model, loss functions, datasets, evaluation metrics, model comparison, and adaptability to the Arabic language. A systematic review of the literature on EIC and AIC approaches published in the past nine years (2015–2023) from well-known databases (Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore) is undertaken. We have identified 52 primary English and Arabic studies relevant to our objectives (The number of articles on Arabic captioning is 11, and the rest are for the English language). The literature review shows that applying the English-specific models to the Arabic language is possible, with the use of a high-quality Arabic database and following the appropriate preprocessing. Moreover, we discuss some limitations and ideas to solve them as a future direction.

Reinforcement of Gender Stereotyping in Malaysian Primary English Textbooks

Many primary school students have been exposed to gender stereotyping since they were young, with educators, parents, and their peers shaping their thoughts, behaviors, and their perceptions of gender. While several previous research studies have been done on the depiction of gender-stereotyped roles in Malaysian textbooks, very little has fully explored how stereotypical gender characteristics are assigned to the male and female gender, and how reinforcement of occupational gender roles is done through images and text in Malaysian primary English textbooks. This study seeks to investigate the reinforcement of gender stereotyping in Malaysian Primary English textbooks through images and text. The study addressed the following research question: What stereotypical gender characteristics are assigned to the male and female gender through the images and text incorporated in Malaysian English Primary textbooks? Using the Thematic Analysis approach by Braun and Clarke(2006) the results show that the themes obtained from the analysis were consistent with results from previous studies, which suggested that there was a biased characterization of the male and female gender, and those female characters were still underrepresented leading to the reinforcement of stereotypical gender roles. This study sheds new light on the reinforcement of gender stereotyping and provides important insights into the creation and development of primary English textbooks in Malaysia.

학교 밖 교사학습공동체를 통한 수업 개선 사례 연구: 충남초등영어교육연구회를 중심으로

학교 밖 교사학습공동체를 통한 수업 개선 사례 연구: 충남초등영어교육연구회를 중심으로

Research on the Problems and Countermeasures of the Educational Internship Model of Normal Majors in Higher Vocational Colleges—Take the Primary English Education Major of Hubei Preschool Teachers College as an Example

Research on the Problems and Countermeasures of the Educational Internship Model of Normal Majors in Higher Vocational Colleges—Take the Primary English Education Major of Hubei Preschool Teachers College as an Example

15 years’ experience of teaching English in Saudi Primary Schools: Supervisors’ and teachers’ perspectives

In 2004 English became a compulsory subject in the primary curriculum in Saudi Arabia, yet analyses of this reform have been limited. This mixed methods study examines the perspectives on the primary English reform of 504 long-serving ELT professionals. Based on interviews and questionnaires, the study concludes that respondents were largely supportive of the policy to start English early; they believed it had a positive effect on levels of English among Saudi state school pupils, even though it was also felt that the official targets stipulated by the Ministry of Education were over-ambitious. Most respondents believed, too, that teaching English in primary school had allowed pupils to develop more positive attitudes to English. Despite these positive views about the 2004 reform, it was also felt that primary ELT in Saudi Arabia was still characterised by a number of challenges, particularly regarding the lack of specialised teacher preparation, demanding textbooks and the limited time allocated to English in the curriculum. It is recommended that addressing such challenges should be an important element in any reforms, particularly given the recent decision in Saudi Arabia to introduce English from Grade 1.

Direction of Improving Preservice Teachers’ Competence of Designing Primary English Lesson Plan: Focused on Scaffolding Based on Dynamic Assessment

The purpose of this study is to present the direction of improving preservice teachers’ competence of designing primary English lesson plans focusing on scaffolding based on dynamic assessment. To achieve the purpose, three lesson plans demonstrated for microteaching in the 2023 Lecture of Primary English Methodology were analyzed in terms of scaffolding based on dynamic assessment in alignment with tasks according to the phases of pre-class, during-lass, and post-class. It was found in the result of analyzing the lesson plans that 1) learners’ zone of proximal development (ZPD) was not established based on dynamic assessment for learners to achieve the learning objectives, 2) macro-level scaffolding based on dynamic assessment was not designed appropriately and systematically for learners to improve their communicative competence in the phases of pre-class and post-class, 3) micro-level scaffolding based on dynamic assessment was not designed for learners to interact with a teacher and to answer questions related to lessons’ content in the phase of during-class, and 4) rating scales aligned with tasks were not established based on a variety of scaffolding for learners to effectively solve the problems or complete their tasks in collaboration with classmates. Based on the results, it was suggested that a preservice teacher needs to check and assess learners’ communicative competence considering a rating scale, which involves scaffolding such as feedback for learners to effectively complete their tasks in collaboration with classmates.

Teaching English As A Foreign Language: A Portrait Of Primary English Teaching In Kupang

Teaching English As A Foreign Language: A Portrait Of Primary English Teaching In Kupang

Teachers’ Perception on Implementation of Google Classroom in Primary English as Second Language Teaching: A Literature Review

Teachers’ Perception on Implementation of Google Classroom in Primary English as Second Language Teaching: A Literature Review

INNOVATIVE METHODS TEACHING ENGLISH IN PRIMARY CLASSES.

INNOVATIVE METHODS TEACHING ENGLISH IN PRIMARY CLASSES.

Implementation of Place Based Education in Lower Primary English Class in Southern Part of Trashigang Dzongkhag, Bhutan

Aims: To explore how Place-Based Education (PBE) is implemented in teaching English in lower primary class. It also explored on the challenges and opportunities the PBE offers as a teaching-learning approach.
 Study Design: The qualitative study with an case study design grounded on the social constructivist worldview was used in this study.
 Methodology: Purposive sampling was used and collected data from twenty-two participants; five face-to-face interviews with teachers and four focus group discussions (FGD) with class II and III students, the data was also collected from one principal and analysed using thematic approach.
 Results: The literature shows that PBE principles were used in several fields of education for different purposes. Further, research suggests that principles of PBE can help students to engage in a meaningful learning experience using local community resources and boost students’ communication skills. In addition, the findings revealed that English teachers of lower primary classes implemented few principles of PBE such as learner-centered, inquiry-based, and community as classroom. On the other hand, teachers do not used local to global, design thinking and interdisciplinary approach due to time constraint and lack of experiences. Thus, the teachers do not fully utilize the local and community resources due to lack of competencies of teachers in terms of knowledge and skills to implement PBE approaches.
 Conclusion: The study recommended that teachers be provided with a monthly refresher course on PBE principles to integrate into teaching English. In addition, administrator, parents and teacher colleagues render full support to implement PBE teaching. Therefore, future research is needed to ascertain how the principles of PBE are effective in helping learners improve academic achievement.

Florence Kelley: Pragmatist, Feminist, Socialist

Florence Kelley: Pragmatist, Feminist, Socialist

의사소통 역량 증진을 위한 교수･학습 방안으로서 개인화와 초등영어교육과정 및 교과서에서 개인화

Acknowledging the value of personalization as an effective teaching and learning device to enhance competence in communication, this study aims to examine the 2015 Revised Primary English Curriculum and textbooks to investigate the contents and activities related to personalization. The study examined the curriculum related to speaking and writing for the contents that can be linked to personalization. It also examined three most popular textbook series of grades 3 through 6 to analyze the frequency, language function areas, the periods of a unit, and the types of personalization activities. The results of the study shows that personalization-related contents appear throughout the curriculum. However, more comprehensively and systematically written curriculum is desired in order to provide elementary learners a more personalization-rich learning environment. In terms of the frequencies, language function areas, and the periods of a unit of personalization activities, there was also room for improvement. Suggestions for writing a more comprehensive and systematic curriculum are provided and recommendations are made toward providing a learning environment that is more enriched in personalization activities, more balanced in speaking and writing, and more varied in the periods of units that personalization activities are utilized.

Primary English teacher education in Portugal: An exploratory study

ABSTRACT The expansion of early language learning has fostered the need to prepare qualified teachers of English to young learners. This paper presents findings from a multi-site case study of initial teacher education programmes created in 2015 in Portugal when English became compulsory in grades 3 and 4. The study investigated intended professional learning competences and tasks as described in curricula, as well as teaching and inquiry practices developed in practicum settings. A multi-method approach was used, involving the analysis of ten higher education institutions’ curricula, a sample of practicum reports, the responses of former student teachers to an online survey, and reflective records from student teachers, faculty supervisors, and cooperating teachers. Findings portray a reflective, inquiry-oriented view of professional development and the enactment of current teaching approaches. The study stresses the role of curricula and practicum arrangements in creating meaningful professional learning scenarios and promoting learner-centred teaching in schools.

An a Priori Analysis of Validity Evidence on The Speaking Section of TPELT, a Developed English Proficiency Test for Primary English Teachers

An a Priori Analysis of Validity Evidence on The Speaking Section of TPELT, a Developed English Proficiency Test for Primary English Teachers

Poetry as a Venue for Meaningful Literacy: A Case Study of a Primary English Language Learner

In order to humanize and contextualize ESL/EFL learning, poetry writing has been suggested and considered as an effective strategy for meaningful literacy. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence for the pedagogical significance of poetry writing on language learning. To make up for the dearth of research about poetry writing, the present study explored to what extent a primary English language learner can express herself through poetry writing in an American classroom and the significance of poetry writing as meaningful literacy in ESL/EFL learning. Adopting a qualitative research approach, this small-scale case study conducted textual analyses of a young English language learner’s poetry works and in-depth interviews with her. Findings suggest that poetry writing encouraged the participant learner to express herself with her own voice, enhanced her L2 linguistic awareness, provided meaningful learning opportunities―authorship and readership―, and motivated the learner to overcome challenges as an English language learner. The present study contributes to the understanding of young English language learners’ poetry writing in the field.