ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Readiness for Autonomy in English Language Learning: The Case of Indonesian High School Students
The notion of learner autonomy has attracted the close attention of scholars, teachers, policy makers and researchers in various countries. In Indonesia, while its scope remains limited, learner independence is one of the highlights of the current curriculum. The purpose of this study was threefold: to investigate how Indonesian secondary school students conceptualized the construct of learner autonomy; to ascertain the extent to which students were motivated to learn English; and to estimate how ready they were to participate in the teaching-learning process as autonomous learners. The study employed a mixed-methods approach and recruited 391 participants – EFL students and teachers – from urban and suburban schools, classified as state and private institutions. The data were collected using questionnaires and focus group interviews. The findings revealed that many students were not familiar with the concept of learner autonomy. They also had fairly low motivation to learn English and generally were not ready to act as autonomous learners, lacking the typical skills and competences. The results indicate that Indonesian students need to be trained in planning their learning process, setting objectives and taking a more active role in negotiating the teaching-learning process.
https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120695_15fe7bfb234f992de23d6a9d79a82c66.pdf
2019-07-01
1
18
10.30466/ijltr.2019.120695
readiness for learner autonomy
independent learning
EFL learners
secondary schools
motivation
Andrzej
Cirocki
andrzej.cirocki@york.ac.uk
1
Department of Education, University of York, York, UK
AUTHOR
Syafiul
Anam
syafiul.anam@unesa.ac.id
2
Department of English, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Surabaya
LEAD_AUTHOR
Pratiwi
Retnaningdyah
pratiwiretnaningdyah@unesa.ac.id
3
Department of English, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Surabaya
AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
English as an International Language and English Language Teaching: The Theory vs. Practice Divide
English as an international language (EIL) is considered by applied linguists to be a new paradigm for research, practice and English language teaching (ELT). However, it appears that English language teachers have little voice in these discussions, and the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom has remained largely unaffected by EIL, hinging upon the native speaker (NS) ideal. This is hardly surprising as insufficient attention has been devoted to EIL pedagogy, and to helping teachers integrate theoretical understandings of EIL into their teaching. This paper aims to address this gap by examining EFL teachers’ (non-native speakers - NNS) perspectives on the implications of EIL for classroom practice. Through an analysis of data gathered from an online questionnaire and 10 semi- structured interviews, this study examined the attitudes of 53 EFL teachers working in Croatian public schools towards: a) the EIL paradigm, b) NS/NNS models in ELT, and c) the implications of EIL for language teaching. The findings show that although the teachers are familiar with and open to the notion of EIL, when conceptualized as a paradigm for teaching, it becomes a rather elusive concept, and a second best NNS English. Overall, the teachers are largely unaware of the potential of EIL for ELT, and rely on the NS as the benchmark and authority. They maintain that the EIL theory-ELT practice link is complex and difficult to operationalise. It is argued that, if EIL is to become a new paradigm for teaching, greater collaboration is required between applied linguists and ELF teachers, and explicit guidelines are needed to help teachers integrate EIL into ELT.
https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120696_c9af3b742b12f0ccdb24dcb968c913e2.pdf
2019-07-01
19
38
10.30466/ijltr.2019.120696
EFL teacher
EIL paradigm
ELT
native speaker
NS English
NNS Englishes
Irena
Vodopija-Krstanovic
ivodopija@ffri.hr
1
English Department, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Croatia
AUTHOR
Mladen
Marinac
marinac@veleri.hr
2
Polytechnic of Rijeka
LEAD_AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Interpersonal Meanings in Children’s Storybooks
Semiotics as a broad field of study encompasses Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). SFL has paved the way for Multimodality which is the study of different sources of meaning. This study was conducted to analyze the visual sources of meaning in children’s storybooks on the basis of what Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) developed and called visual grammar. The chosen books for this study consisted of A, Apple Pie, Princess Rose and the Golden Bird, Tyrone the Horrible, and Terrible Tommy Tom Cat. The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the interaction between the viewer and the represented participants. Accordingly, interactional meta-function was analyzed through interpreting the frequencies of each dimension of interactional meta-function in all pictures. It is supposed that there are differences in interactional meanings in storybooks in which the characters are animals and in storybooks in which the characters are human beings. The results of the present study prove the assumption of differences between the two types of storybooks. The viewer can enter into relation with represented participants in stories with human characters easier than the ones with animal characters. The findings may help teachers and syllabus designers. Specifically, teachers can choose the stories with human characters in order to make easy the process of involvement of the children with intended subject. They also can choose stories with animal characters in order to teach some strange concepts in which they do not want their students to be involved.
https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120697_468dd07eed703fe4ac2a2eaa8c46382d.pdf
2019-07-01
39
64
10.30466/ijltr.2019.120697
semiotics
systemic functional linguistic
interactional meaning
visual grammar
Mohammad
Zohrabi
mohammadzohrabi@gmail.com
1
University Of Tabriz
LEAD_AUTHOR
Leila
Dobakhti
l.dobakhti@tabriziau.ac.ir
2
Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran
AUTHOR
Elnaz
Mohammadpour
elnazmohammadpour@gmail.com
3
English Department Faculty of Farsi Literature University of Tabriz Tabriz Iran
AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
EFL Teachers’ Effective Classroom Management and Learners’ Anxiety and Learning Strategies
This study was an attempt to investigate the relationship between EFL teachers’ effective classroom management and EFL learners’ anxiety and learning strategies. Accordingly, two questionnaires and a checklist were used: Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), and Murdoch’s checklist. A total of 750 male and female learners and their 30 teachers participated in this study. Once the questionnaires were administered and the checklist was filled, the researchers conducted the relevant descriptive and inferential statistical analyses and the results supported the notion that teachers’ classroom management was positively correlated with language learners’ learning strategies while it was negatively correlated with their anxiety. Hence, the major implication of this study is that EFL teachers can engage in employing more effective classroom management techniques in order to encourage EFL learners to use more strategies in the process of their learning and at the same time reduce their anxiety.
https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120698_5c20280a42cad0f42fb64fe579d448d6.pdf
2019-07-01
65
82
10.30466/ijltr.2019.120698
teacher variables
learner variables
effective classroom management
learners’ anxiety
learning strategies
Hamid
Marashi
hamid.marashi@iauctb.ac.ir
1
Islamic Azad University at Central Tehran
LEAD_AUTHOR
Faezeh
Assgar
fz.asgar@yahoo.com
2
Islamic Azad University at Central Tehran
AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Teacher Talk in Higher Education as a Language for Specific Purposes: Its Features and LSP Teachers’ Awareness
There is scarce evidence of publications pertaining to the phenomenon that a foreign teachers’ language in fact is a language for specific purposes. In the field of (foreign) languages for specific purposes, traditionally linked to a vast variety of professional and academic domains, it seems that LSP teachers’ language has not yet gained due attention. However, any FL or LSP teacher’s language is used for professional, teaching purposes; yet it does not seem that FL teachers for specific purposes are aware of their teacher talk, either in class or conceptually. On the basis of classroom observation and semi-structured interviews among 17 Slovenian teachers of foreign languages for specific purposes this paper attempted to identify differences in the teacher talk used by them in class, and the level of their awareness of their own teacher talk. The results of the quantitative analysis indicate that there are some specific features in LSP teacher talk which led us to conclude that it could be identified and categorised as a separate LSP category. However, the related LSP teacher’s awareness about their own teacher talk varied from highly profiled to absent, and there was a perceptible impact on working efficiency in the class. All discussed phenomena require further research.
https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120699_86cc8ea240a1ed02bf2fa9bbeeb499ac.pdf
2019-07-01
83
99
10.30466/ijltr.2019.120699
foreign languages for specific purposes
teacher talk as a professional language
teaching LSP
LSP teacher talk features
LSP teacher talk awareness
Darja
Mertelj
darja.mertelj@guest.arnes.si
1
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts
LEAD_AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
An Evaluation of Practicum Courses at Farhangian University
This study was an attempt to evaluate practicum courses at Farhangian University. Since practicum is a significant component of teacher education which links theory to practice and prepares student- teachers for their work, this study was intended to explore the extent to which (1) the practicum objectives stated in the ‘Curriculum Document of TEFL’ at Farhangian University were actualized, (2) the students’ language teaching profession needs were fulfilled, and (3) the participants were satisfied with the courses. To this end, based on the data gathered from interview, focus-group discussion and the University documents, a questionnaire was developed and administered to 144 student-teachers and mentors. Findings revealed that although the courses were relevant to the student-teachers’ occupational needs, and improved participants’ motivation, self-confidence, and class management skills, they failed to fulfill a number of their needs and course objectives to a considerable degree. Findings also indicated that the way courses implemented in practice was not satisfactory. The findings are discussed and some implications are provided for student-teachers, EFL teacher educators, and syllabus designers.
https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120700_d3455aa6917d98f2196388ea42b42808.pdf
2019-07-01
101
119
10.30466/ijltr.2019.120700
Farhangian University
language teaching profession needs
objectives
practicum
Zahra
Masoumpanah
zmasoumpanah1356@yahoo.com
1
Farhangian University
LEAD_AUTHOR
Mohammad Hassan
Tahririan
tahririan@shbu.ac.ir
2
Department of English, Sheikhbahaee University, Isfahan, Iran
AUTHOR
Katayoon
Afzali
k.afzali@shbu.ac.ir
3
Sheikhbahaee University
AUTHOR
Ahmad
Alibabaee
ahmadalibabaee@shbu.ac.ir
4
Sheikhbahaee University
AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
A Nationwide Study of Iranian Language Teachers’ and Content Teachers’ Cognitions and Practices of Collaborative EAP Teaching
Many studies have addressed the issue of collaborative teaching in EAP courses; however, there is a gap in the literature concerning EAP teachers’ cognitions and actual practices regarding collaborative EAP teaching, especially in contexts like Iran where EAP courses are taught by either language teachers or content teachers - subject specialist teachers - with little or no cooperation between them. Therefore, the current nationwide study explored the cognitions and practices of language teachers and content teachers at medical sciences universities in Iran regarding collaborative EAP teaching. The participants were 128 representative language teachers and 190 representative content teachers, teaching at all five types of universities across the country. The instruments included questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that the differences between the two groups of EAP teachers overshadow the similarities between them. The findings also disclosed inconsistencies between the two groups of EAP teachers in terms of their cognitions and actual practices. The conclusions outline implications for the EAP community throughout the world and specifically accentuate the urgent need for teacher education programs in Iran and micro- and macro- policy reforms in the Iranian EAP educational system.
https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120701_390ae96439d84b3427c91dc52493d5fe.pdf
2019-07-01
121
139
10.30466/ijltr.2019.120701
EAP
language teachers
content teachers
teacher cognition
collaborative teaching
Reza
Taherkhani
r.taherkhani@basu.ac.ir
1
Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
LEAD_AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
BOOK REVIEW: Teaching Graphic Novels in the English Classroom: Pedagogical Possibilities of Multimodal Literacy Engagement
The book is an edited volume made of three sections, each divided into several chapters. The first section focuses on different possibilities for the adoption of sequential art in the classroom, from introductory to advanced composition writing. In the second section, the graphic novel is foregrounded as a unique literary genre where the editor makes reference to authors who advocate graphic novels to be regarded as literature in their own right. The third section is concerned with graphic novels’ potential for triggering discussions that create opportunities for students to gain insights into the notions of social justice, identity, and empathy. In the introductory chapter of the book, which is a collection of essays on the use of graphic novels in the English classrooms, Burger enumerates the outstanding benefits of teaching graphic novels such as engaging reluctant readers, encouraging students to view familiar knowledge from a new perspective, activating, and developing students’ multiple literacy skills due to the inextricable combination of text and image in graphic novels.
https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120702_99124adf5959150d66e986f4808e509a.pdf
2019-07-01
140
143
10.30466/ijltr.2019.120702
graphic novels
pedagogical possibilities
multimodal literacy engagement
Mohammad
Salehi
m_salehi@sharif.edu
1
Sharif University of Technology
LEAD_AUTHOR
Afsaneh
Farhang
farhang.afsaneh@gmail.com
2
Sharif University of Technology
AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
BOOK REVIEW: A Systemic Functional Grammar of English: A Simple Introduction
David Banks’ A Systemic Functional Grammar of English: A Simple Introduction has been written for learners of English as a foreign language and those interested in learning about English linguistics. The book comprises nine chapters and aims to serve as an easy-to-read introduction for Halliday’s (2004) Systemic Functional Linguistics. This work is a fundamental introduction to this linguistic theory and is targeted at PhD students, researchers and linguists interested in a functional systemic perspective to studying language. As the book includes practical activities and exercises with an answer key, it has the potential to be used as a textbook in educational contexts with small groups of learners. The book also includes a glossary which also includes some terms not used in this book but which can be helpful especially for students and researchers who are not familiar with Systemic Functional Grammar. It, furthermore, has an index which alphabetically lists the terms and topics mentioned in the book.
https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120703_bfae7f73ab4d3a4a93b75a5ba2892bc3.pdf
2019-07-01
144
146
10.30466/ijltr.2019.120703
systemic functional grammar
English
Süleyman
Kasap
kasap_hakan@hotmail.com
1
Van Yuzuncu Yil University
LEAD_AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
INTERVIEW: An Interview with Professor Stephen Krashen
https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120704_e75838db0c71071a30b91afd569fe923.pdf
2019-07-01
147
152
10.30466/ijltr.2019.120704
Karim
Sadeghi
k.sadeghi@urmia.ac.ir
1
Urmia University
LEAD_AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Abstracts in Persian
https://ijltr.urmia.ac.ir/article_120705_514ce3d71a92b969da7b198b7d239ce8.pdf
2019-07-01
153
158