Learner Identity and Learner Beliefs in EFL Writing

Education / By /
Learner Identity and Learner Beliefs in EFL Writing

Author: Olga Majchrzak

Publisher: Springer

ISBN: 9783319695600

Category: Education

Page: 269

View: 599

This book focuses on the concept of learner writer identity in the context of foreign language writing. The author demonstrates that the process of writing in a foreign language is much more complex and personal than many writing instructors may assume. The book’s theoretical chapters address such concepts as bilingualism, the process of L2 writing, and identity in L2 writing. The book’s empirical section discusses the students’ views on writing in L1 and in L2, the students’ writing processes in both languages, and the students’ identities in L1 and L2 writing. It is shown that writing in L2 poses problems of a linguistic nature; however, for the advanced EFL learners writing in L2 also creates opportunities they would never have when composing in their mother tongue.

Teaching and Researching Chinese EFL/ESL Learners in Higher Education

Language Arts & Disciplines / By /
Teaching and Researching Chinese EFL/ESL Learners in Higher Education

Author: Zhongshe Lu

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9781000395259

Category: Language Arts & Disciplines

Page: 344

View: 868

China has attached great importance to teaching students to become proficient users of English. Yet, despite a plethora of studies and practice on Chinese ESL/EFL (English as a second/foreign language) learners, the large student population, its complicated composition and the complex nature of second and foreign language learning have rendered it difficult to offer a panoramic view on ESL/EFL teaching and learning of Chinese learners. This book provides a new and up-to-date perspective on the teaching and learning of Chinese ESL/EFL learners. The book collects 15 case studies, falling into two parts—Curriculum Development and Teaching Practice and Skills-Based Research. The collected studies deploy qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods to explore patterns, features, developments and causes and effects of a variety of issues in the sphere of ESL/EFL teaching and learning. Moreover, the cases offer insights that are relevant beyond the mainland Chinese context such as Hong Kong, Macau, Britain and Australia. Students and scholars of TESOL and applied linguistics will be interested in this title.

Developing Advanced English Language Competence

Education / By /
Developing Advanced English Language Competence

Author: Armin Berger

Publisher: Springer Nature

ISBN: 9783030792411

Category: Education

Page: 369

View: 571

This volume presents a systematic approach to developing advanced English language competence at tertiary level. It includes the reflections of experienced language teachers and teacher-researchers in the English Language Competence programme at the University of Vienna and provides examples of good practice, amalgamating teaching expertise and research with aspects of curriculum design and programme management. The book addresses a growing academic and professional interest in understanding advanced language learning and use. To date, research has tended to investigate advanced proficiency from a specific theoretical viewpoint, for example cognition, psycholinguistic processing strategies, or the assumption of a critical period or the age factor. In contrast, this work examines advanced proficiency from a curricular and instructional perspective by providing a profile of advanced-level language development in a specific institutional context. It brings together three areas of language education: curriculum design, pedagogical practice, and research. Within this triangle, advanced English language education is the focus or, conversely, advanced English language education provides the lens through which links between curriculum design, teaching, and research can be established.

Autobiographical Writing and Identity in EFL Education

Education / By /
Autobiographical Writing and Identity in EFL Education

Author: Shizhou Yang

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9781135076115

Category: Education

Page: 290

View: 802

The book explores the pedagogical potential of autobiographical writing in English-as-a-foreign language, approaching the topic from an educational, longitudinal, dialogical, and social perspective. Through a number of case studies, the author delineates four phases that EFL writers may experience in their identity construction processes, illustrating the complexity of EFL writers’ social identities. This book will provide a valuable resource for language teachers and researchers interested in the pedagogical applications of autobiographical writing.

Teaching Writing in English as a Foreign Language

Education / By /
Teaching Writing in English as a Foreign Language

Author: Huan Zhao

Publisher: Springer Nature

ISBN: 9783030999919

Category: Education

Page: 178

View: 906

This book explores teachers’ cognitions about the teaching of writing in English as a foreign language (EFL) and their teaching practice, as well as factors influencing the formation and reformation process of their cognition. Taking stock of Bakhtin’s dialogism as the theoretical framework, the authors argue that the formation and reformation of teacher cognition is a dialogic process. A systematic analysis of participating teachers’ cognition formation and re-formation process suggests the highly individual nature of teachers’ cognitions. EFL researchers and teachers, teacher educators, teacher education policymakers, university administrators and EFL textbook writers could draw on the findings of the study to provide better resources to implement the teaching of EFL writing more effectively. The study has adopted a mixed-methods approach, whose quantitative results show the patterns and differences of teacher cognition among teachers of different backgrounds and with different schooling, education and working experiences. The qualitative findings show in detail teachers' cognition formation and reformation processes and the factors contributing to such processes, revealing convergence and divergence of teachers’ stated cognitions, with a focus on the discrepancy between teacher cognition and teaching practice. These are useful lenses through which researchers and teachers will find significant implications for offering EFL writing instruction more effectively.

Beliefs About SLA

Education / By /
Beliefs About SLA

Author: P. Kalaja

Publisher: Springer

ISBN: 9781402047510

Category: Education

Page: 249

View: 555

This edited collection of articles illustrates recent work on beliefs about second language acquisition, drawing on the thinking of educational philosophers and discursive psychologists including Dewey, Bakhtin, Vygotsky, and Potter. Coverage extends to beliefs held by second/foreign language learners and as well as teachers. The book includes detailed accounts of starting points, definitions, methods of data collection and analysis, main findings and implications for further research.

Rethinking Languages Education

Education / By /
Rethinking Languages Education

Author: Ruth Arber

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9781351608671

Category: Education

Page: 252

View: 978

Rethinking Languages Education assembles innovative research from experts in the fields of sociocultural theory, applied linguistics and education. The contributors interrogate innovative and recent thinking and broach controversies about the theoretical and practical considerations that underpin the implementation of effective Languages pedagogy in twenty-first-century classrooms. Crucially, Rethinking Languages Education explores established understandings about language, culture and education to provide a more comprehensive and flexible understanding of Languages education that responds to local classrooms impacted by global and transnational change, and the politics of language, culture and identity. Rethinking Languages Education focuses on questions about ways that we can develop farsighted and successful Languages education for diverse students in globalised contexts. The response to these questions is multi-layered, and takes into account the complex interactions between policy, curriculum and practice, as well as their contention and implementation. In doing so, this book addresses and integrates innovative perspectives of contemporary theory and pedagogy for Languages, TESOL and EAL/D education. It includes diverse discussions around practice, and addresses issues of the dominance of prestige Languages programs for ‘minority’ and ‘heritage’ languages, as well as discussing controversies about the current provision of English and Languages programs around the world.

Methodologies for Effective Writing Instruction in EFL and ESL Classrooms

Foreign Language Study / By /
Methodologies for Effective Writing Instruction in EFL and ESL Classrooms

Author: Al-Mahrooqi, Rahma

Publisher: IGI Global

ISBN: 9781466666207

Category: Foreign Language Study

Page: 417

View: 547

Educators continue to strive for advanced teaching methods to bridge the gap between native and non-native English speaking students. Lessons on written forms of communication continue to be a challenge recognized by educators who wish to improve student comprehension and overall ability to write clearly and expressively. Methodologies for Effective Writing Instruction in EFL and ESL Classrooms brings together research and practices for successful written communication teaching among students of diverse linguistic backgrounds. With technological advancements and resources, educators are able to implement new tools into their lesson plans for the benefit of their students. This publication is an essential reference source for professionals, educators, and researchers interested in techniques and practices for written communication in English language teaching geared towards non-native English speaking students.

Willingness to Communicate in the Chinese EFL University Classroom

Language Arts & Disciplines / By /
Willingness to Communicate in the Chinese EFL University Classroom

Author: Jian-E Peng

Publisher: Multilingual Matters

ISBN: 9781783091553

Category: Language Arts & Disciplines

Page: 220

View: 379

This book presents mixed-methods research into Chinese students' willingness to communicate (WTC) in an EFL classroom context. The interrelationships between WTC and motivation, communication confidence, learner beliefs and classroom environment are examined using structural equation modelling on data collected in a large-scale survey. These results are then complemented and expanded upon in a follow-up multiple case-study that identifies six themes which account for fluctuations of WTC over time and across situations. The qualitative and quantitative data provide the grounds for the proposition of an ecological model of WTC in the Chinese EFL university classroom, which reveals that WTC is socioculturally constructed as a function of the interaction of individual and environmental factors inside and beyond the classroom walls.

Understanding the Professional Agency of Female Language Teachers in a Chinese University

Education / By /
Understanding the Professional Agency of Female Language Teachers in a Chinese University

Author: Xiaolei Ruan

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9781000523676

Category: Education

Page: 272

View: 958

Centering on a qualitative study of three female English teachers in Shanghai, China, the book explores female language teachers' perceived discrepancies and agency exercised in their teaching, research and teacher learning practices. By adopting multiple research methods, such as narrative questionnaire, metaphor, timeline, interview and classroom observation, this study reveals that female language teachers’ agency is a dynamic entity manifested in the ongoing negotiation of agency belief, agency practice, and agency inclination, as well as the interaction of individual and the environment. Though there are certain limitations concerning representativeness and generalizability, the author provides a thick description of how female language teachers in China are exercising agency to fulfill their career development, which offers insightful suggestions to language education in both China and broader areas globally. The book will appeal to researchers studying teacher education and foreign (English) language teaching, university teachers, especially female foreign language teachers, PhD students and graduate students, as well as career women.

Futuristic and Linguistic Perspectives on Teaching Writing to Second Language Students

Foreign Language Study / By /
Futuristic and Linguistic Perspectives on Teaching Writing to Second Language Students

Author: Hanc?-Azizoglu, Eda Ba?ak

Publisher: IGI Global

ISBN: 9781799865100

Category: Foreign Language Study

Page: 353

View: 479

The aptitude to write well is increasingly becoming a vital element that students need to succeed in college and their future careers. Students must be equipped with competent writing skills as colleges and jobs base the acceptance of students and workers on the quality of their writing. This situation captures the complexity of the fact that writing represents higher intellectual skills and leads to a higher rate of selection. Therefore, it is imperative that best strategies for teaching writing speakers of other languages is imparted to provide insights to teachers who can better prepare their students for future accomplishments. Futuristic and Linguistic Perspectives on Teaching Writing to Second Language Students examines the theoretical and practical implications that should be put in place for second language writers and offers critical futuristic and linguistic perspectives on teaching writing to speakers of other languages. Highlighting such topics as EFL, ESL, composition, digital storytelling, and forming identity, this book is ideal for second language teachers and writing instructors, as well as academicians, professionals, researchers, and students working in the field of language and linguistics.