Learning writing in ESL and EFL classes is usually associated with teaching grammar, writing paragraphs, essays, etc. Although acquiring these skills help students develop their formal writing abilities, these activities are assumed dull and meaningless for many of them. Introducing more modern, meaningful, communicative activities to EFL contexts such as Iranian schools may yield multi –purpose results, among those, motivating students particularly the reluctant ones to write without having the fear to be judged or punished and developing students’ positive attitudes toward writing, can be mentioned as the most important aims. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of Dialogue Journals Writing (DJW) as an informal, communicative activity on writing proficiency of intermediate Iranian high school students and their attitudes toward writing .The participants were 42 Iranian female students. The students in the experimental group wrote dialogue journals daily in a period of two months while the students in the control group wrote weekly compositions. An attitudinal questionnaire was administered twice, before and at the end of the project and both groups took pre- and post-tests. The results revealed that DJW improved students’ writing although the amount of improvement was not very significant and they hold positive attitudes toward DJW as students believed that journals enhanced their motivation to write and increased their fluency.
Tag: EFL
Vol. 4 Issue 16 – Research Paper: ‘Regional Component In Foreign Languages Teaching To The Students Of Non-Linguistic Specialties’ by Mayur Agravat & Rita Dabhi
Kamala Das, in spite of her royal background, was a woman of spirit, a spirit which was like a sparrow, who can not be caged. It was the century when women of reputed families were not allowed to express publically their views or experiences related to ‘sex’, but Das wrote unflinchingly of her sexual encounters and that too in a period when women were treated not more than a pat animal. Kamala Das’s poetry can rightly be called her ‘poetic autobiography’ as it reveals all about her ideology, conception, psychology formation and her experiences. Her field gives immense knowledge about poetic genius.
Vol. 4 Issue 15 – Video: Universality in Linguistics and Human Rights
If humans have a common, in-born capacity for language, and for such complex behaviors as morality, might the faculties be somehow linked? Noam Chomsky perceives a mere thread of a connection. At breakneck speed, Chomsky leads us through a history of language theory, concluding with the revolutionary model he championed: a universal grammar underpinning all languages that corresponds to an innate capacity of the human brain.
Vol. 4 Issue 15 – Webinar: Using social networks and media to support our continuing professional development
Many teachers have found that social networks and media can provide valuable support for their continuing professional development. However, knowing where to start can be a problem. Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere aren’t always easy places to move in and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the multitude of posts that appear and disappear in rapid succession.
Vol. 4 Issue 15 – Webinar: The learner-centred classroom
This webinar will explore different aspects of learner-centred teaching. What does it mean to be ‘learner-centred’? Why is it important? We will examine some of the practical issues. What problems might arise? Is learner-centred teaching possible in all contexts? We will consider these and other questions, and also introduce some ideas which can help teachers to become more learner-centred
Vol. 4 Issue 15 – Research Article: ‘Is a Uniform Curriculum Possible? The Clash between the Needs-based and Means-based Curriculums and Ideal Language Courses’ by Manash Pratim Borah
In the present educational system of India the disparity between the needs-based and means-based language courses will be an obvious factor in practical field. Whether the curriculums prepared by states councils or central board in India which need to address and operate with a wide variety of cultures, ethnicities and languages of states and of the country as well can be reduced to any unified notion of compiling based on uniform standard and material or not is certainly a debatable issue. Specifically in North-East India, the institutes and colleges adopting the CBSE/NCERT course contents always have faced serious problems to meet up the needs of students coming from heterogeneous language background and remote areas. Even within a single territory or in colleges/institutions under an affiliated university, the curriculum that does well in some situations may not give expected results in another (Dudley-Evans and St. John 124). There should be provisions for compiling curriculums of language courses by mixing up both the needs and means analysis methods and every educational institute should be asked to compile the means-based part of own depending on the requirements of the students and the environment.
Vol. 4 Issue 15 – Research Paper: ‘Regional Component In Foreign Languages Teaching To The Students Of Non-Linguistic Specialties’ by D.K. Kurmanayeva
The higher education institutions of non-linguistic specialties are now facing a problem of students to be professionally trained and graduated from not only in their respective qualifications and specialties but also in the faculty of comprehensive thinking and acquiring knowledge along with multicultural issues. This requires providing such important arrangements to be made for the foreign languages teaching process as various kinds of intercourse related to a given social and cultural ambience, sociopolitical activity along with the main professionally (specialization) adjusted intercourse as the dominating one. It will comprehensively define and shape the professional terms of reference and lights of a given specialist in the course of the higher education process thus incorporating all personal lights what allows the specialist to properly employ and accomplish his/her professional activity by more efficient way, what in turn also provides for further mental development of individuals. In this aspect, the communication component shall be the key one.
Vol. 4 Issue 15 – Book Of The Week: ‘Effective Reading’ by Amanda French, Chris Gough, Jackie McAvoy and Scott Miles
Writing in Paragraphs takes students from sentence formation to paragraph writing through an innovative process approch. This not only develops students’ paragraph writing skills, but also encourages them to become independent and creative writers. The back of the Student’s Book contains peer review forms and a grammar reference section.
Vol. 4 Issue 15 – BBC TeachingEnglish Article: Global English and the teaching of pronunciation
The emergence of so many different kinds (or ‘varieties’) of international English has caused a number of linguists to question the use of native speaker pronunciation models in the teaching of English. This article presents my research into the pronunciation of global English and gives some teaching implications.
Vol. 4 Issue 15 – Research Paper: ‘Evaluation of the English Language Teacher Education Program in Turkey’ by Ali Karakas
The article reports on an evaluative review of the current English Education Program in Turkey by focusing on both strengths and weaknesses identified through the analysis of the program based on the related theories, models and previous empirical research and comparison of the present program with the preceding English language teacher education program. The research paper shows that the program has more weaknesses than the strengths it does. It was seen that pedagogical and theory components are quite well covered. Yet, there are some weaknesses, as well, which can be summarized as being out-of-date, less practically-oriented, and lack of culture specific courses within the program. Consequently, a number of suggestions are offered to the stakeholders in the implications of the critical evaluation. In closing, the study stresses the importance of systematic evaluation for educating and training highly qualified English language teachers and successful foreign language education.