JLLT Volume 13 (2022) Issue 2

Foreword to the Issue

Articles

K. James Hartshorn (Provo, USA), Norman W. Evans (Provo, USA), Jesse Egbert (Flagstaff, USA) & Amy Johnson (Provo, USA):

Disciplinary Differences for Undergraduate ESL Writers in University Courses in the United States

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 13 (2022) 2, 149-177 (PDF) 

Abstract

Building on previous research, this study explored differences in university professors’ perceptions about writing from the beginning to the end of the baccalaureate experience across five common disciplines including biology, business, computer science, engineering, and psychology. Survey data provide insights regarding the relative importance of various aspects of writing along with information about the volume of writing, the extent to which feedback was provided and resubmissions were allowed, the types of writing completed for exams, the greatest writing challenges, and the most salient writing purposes across disciplines and over time. While factors such as the writing challenges students faced, seemed unaffected by discipline or time in a particular discipline, other factors were noticeably influenced by the students’ specific discipline, whether students were at the beginning or end of their baccalaureate experience, or both. These factors included distinct differences in the purposes of writing as well as different perceptions of the importance of various aspects of writing across disciplines. An understanding of both these commonalities as well as the differences should be useful for practitioners and university administrators as well as the students themselves. 

James Herbach & Kinsella Valies (Shizuoka, Japan):

Supporting Japanese Student’s Confidence and English Fluency through Formative Assessment

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 13 (2022) 2, 179-196 (PDF) 

Abstract

This classroom-based project included the development of clear and concise instructions, an analytic rubric as well as practice and testing materials to assess students’ speaking abilities. The speaking tasks consisted of three parts: reading aloud, describing a picture, and giving an opinion. As an extension of an ongoing departmental project originally focusing on second-year pharmacy students, the researchers have incorporated eleven first-year student groups from all departments.  Six of the groups were offered the module face-to-face, while the other five received instruction, practice tasks, and feedback online.

The aim of the current project was to improve confidence and production of logical arguments by implementing a formative speaking assessment module that provides students with opportunities for advancement through succinct instruction, insight into strengths and weaknesses, self-evaluation and instructor feedback.  Research questions included: 1) To what extent did the use of the assessment tool improve first-year students’ comprehensibility in English? 2) To what extent did classroom instruction help improve student confidence?

This study took a mixed-method approach where data from student grades and surveys were collected and analysed. To obtain a baseline of students’ speaking abilities prior to any formal instruction and gain insight into the assessment process, one class was chosen by each instructor and asked to record themselves describing a picture. A comparison of the baseline assessment and finals resulted in improvement following the introduction of rubrics and explicit instruction. The remaining two aspects also showed a distinct rise both in grades and comprehensibility between midterms and finals. Survey results showed that across departments, students’ confidence in their abilities to express themselves in English increased over the semester. Future research will focus on redesigning and evaluating the speaking assessment rubrics both for first and second years.  

Rashit Emini (Skopje, North Macedonia) & Sharon C. Lee (Dallas, TX, USA):

Teaching and Learning English in Times of the Pandemic – A Case Study in a North-Macedonian Primary School

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 13 (2022) 2, 197-216 (PDF) 

Abstract

The worldwide spread of the coronavirus has caused a huge turmoil in people’s lives, significantly impacting the functioning of educational institutions which imposed a shift from traditional face-to-face teaching to online education. The situation has caused far-reaching changes in teaching and learning practices in all educational institutions worldwide. The current study investigates the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning English as a foreign language online during the pandemic in a primary school in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia. Qualitative and quantitative research methods utilising questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data to reveal the viewpoints and attitudes of school authorities, teachers, and pupils concerning the teaching and learning of English on a virtual basis. Seventy-three 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th-grade pupils, four teachers, and the headmistress of a primary school in Skopje voluntarily participated in this study. The research findings revealed that the pandemic caused a hugely negative impact on the teaching and learning process and it hindered the achievement of the expected learning outcome. Moreover, the school was unprepared for the pandemic; yet, the school managed to shift the mode of teaching and learning from an on-site to an online scenario very quickly, as neither teachers nor pupils had any previous experience with online teaching and learning, and both parties preferred the on-site to the online mode.   

Anna Burnley (Tallahassee (FL), USA):

Pedagogical Strategies to Diminish Concepts of Language Privileging Among Pre-service Teachers 

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 13 (2022) 2, 217-237 (PDF) 

Abstract

Pre-service teachers are simultaneously replacing the English Learner’s home language with a foreign language for a significant segment of the student’s day, creating a situation of potential language endangerment. The literature examined concludes that monolingual privileging in the school setting can replace the student’s home language, with the result that the respective home language becomes, in this context, endangered. The English learner may express a preference for English even at home, further imperiling the use of his or her home language. To mitigate these circumstances, pre-service teachers can learn to view the English learner’s bilingualism or multilingualism as an additive factor, rather than as a deficit, by linking language loss to culture loss, or language endangerment to cultural endangerment. Among pre-service teachers, this shift in language philosophy can facilitate acceptance of the additive qualities of all languages. Additionally, this perspective can explore concepts of colonialism and language privileging, thereby encouraging a concept of language beyond geographic or cultural borders. Following a bibliographic survey, the paper examines current desired language teaching techniques and strategies that support the pre-service teacher in developing cultural and linguistic empathy and appreciation for the support of the home language during classroom acquisition of English as an additional or second or foreign language. A list of teaching resources to support the comprehension of language endangerment that can be incorporated at the university level when the instruction of pre-service teachers is included.

Eleni Peleki (Flensburg, Deutschland):

State-Emotionen vor dem Leseverständnis in heterogenen Klassen der Primarstufe – Implikationen für die Deutschdidaktik

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 13 (2022) 2, 239-258 (PDF) 

Abstract (English) 

For the present empirical study, a random choice of 79 monolingual and multilingual children attending primary school were tested in order to find out whether their competence in reading comprehension was in correlation with any positive or negative state-emotions they were feeling. Furthermore, the question is discussed whether there was a significant difference between the gender and the linguistic socialisation of the pupils tested in regard to their reading comprehension competence and their positive and negative state-emotions.

Abstract (Deutsch)

In der vorliegenden empirischen Studie wird anhand einer Stichprobe von 79 ein- und mehrsprachigen Kindern der Primarstufe untersucht, ob die positiven bzw. negativen State-Emotionen mit dem Leseverständnis korrelieren. Es wird weiterhin auf die Frage eingegangen, ob ein signifikanter Unterschied zwischen den Geschlechtern und der sprachlichen Sozialisation der untersuchten Schüler und Schülerinnen hinsichtlich ihren positiven sowie negativen Zustandsemotionen besteht. Die Befundlage wird in die Deutschdidaktik transferiert.