With the evolutionary change in information and communication technologies （ICT）, the definition of literacy has undergone substantial change to include the skills and strategies required to successfully adapt to th...With the evolutionary change in information and communication technologies （ICT）, the definition of literacy has undergone substantial change to include the skills and strategies required to successfully adapt to the rapidly changing ICT contexts. This new definition presents an urgent need to acknowledge the gap between the types of reading experiences students come across at school and those they regularly practice outside the school. One way to bridge such gap is to expand the reading instruction to incorporate electronic reading device, like Kindle, to engage students in electronic reading. Many e-books feature multimodal functionalities, including audio, video, hyperlinks, and interactive tools. Research on this form of reading is still in its infancy in spite of some positive prospects for fostering literacy development and reading comprehension. Therefore, adopting a mixed method approach with 36 college freshmen in central Taiwan, the current study intended to fill in the void by investigating any difference in readers＇ reading comprehension and reading motivation, between the Kindle group and the print-based group. The results indicate that embedding aspects of technology into a traditional reading instruction boosted the participants＇ motivation to read. Nevertheless, the novelty-driven enthusiasm for electronic reading might not sustain students＇ reading motivation long enough to cultivate long-lasting reading habits. The results indicate that there was no significant difference in reading comprehension between two groups. Implications for utilizing electronic readers in EFL classes are also provided.展开更多
This paper deals with the importance of idioms in English as a Foreign Language （EFL） acquisition in general and the effect of three techniques applied in teaching and learning them by the undergraduate university s...This paper deals with the importance of idioms in English as a Foreign Language （EFL） acquisition in general and the effect of three techniques applied in teaching and learning them by the undergraduate university students in particular. To accomplish this aim, the study firstly tried to investigate English students＇ attitude toward learning L2 idioms through a 10-item questionnaire. The second part of the study passed on two stages; a list of 20 unknown idioms was presented to 30 second-year EFL students who were divided into three groups. The first group of students was given the list of idioms with （L2） English definition; the second group was given the same list of idioms with their （L2） English contextual representation these unknown idioms were used, and the third group was given （LI） Albanian translation equivalent. At the second stage, after learning and revising the unknown idioms for a period of four weeks, the participants received a common test consisting of two types of exercises-multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blanks-to check the impact of three techniques used for the long-term retention of idioms： definition, context, and translation. The results of the survey showed that the third-group students performed better than the two other groups who were exposed to English idioms definition and context; i.e., translation was the most effective technique that helped students＇ retention and acquisition of idioms.展开更多
The contemporary social needs inherently emphasize on knowledge, adaptability, and unconventional problem-solving. They require development of skills in communication, collaboration, rapid-reaction in challenges, taki...The contemporary social needs inherently emphasize on knowledge, adaptability, and unconventional problem-solving. They require development of skills in communication, collaboration, rapid-reaction in challenges, taking charge of initiatives, and administration of choices. The educational system needs to adapt in order to meet the contemporary requirements. This introduction deals with the applications of the new technologies through Internet in the school program of the Secondary Greek education when the digital gap is more and more bridged at national and European level. Nowadays, Intemet access is fundamental right to all European citizens and their governments should offer it together with the feeling of responsibility and liability. Through the foreign language education, interculturality and multicultural civilization are enhanced, qualities that the European citizens should have.展开更多
One of the characteristics of good writing is appropriate use of cohesive devices, which many learners often find difficult to do. Although there is a substantial body of research on cohesion in writing, little has be...One of the characteristics of good writing is appropriate use of cohesive devices, which many learners often find difficult to do. Although there is a substantial body of research on cohesion in writing, little has been documented on how to teach it to EFL students. The present study was an attempt to address this under-researched issue by taking a terminological approach, as the diverse and vague terminology used to describe link words has been found to be more of a hindrance than a facilitator in the teaching/learning process. A total of 16 cohesion-related terms were surveyed to find out about the quality and quantity of their use in a self-built corpus of 14 grammar books of different levels. Furthermore, a test was run to measure students＇ familiarity with these terms, and field-notes were taken while scoring the students＇ papers in their presence. The findings, in addition to giving insights into the usage points regarding each of the 16 terms, led to drawing a terminological network, which, if used consistently, could help in teaching and learning to use cohesion effectively.展开更多
文摘With the evolutionary change in information and communication technologies （ICT）, the definition of literacy has undergone substantial change to include the skills and strategies required to successfully adapt to the rapidly changing ICT contexts. This new definition presents an urgent need to acknowledge the gap between the types of reading experiences students come across at school and those they regularly practice outside the school. One way to bridge such gap is to expand the reading instruction to incorporate electronic reading device, like Kindle, to engage students in electronic reading. Many e-books feature multimodal functionalities, including audio, video, hyperlinks, and interactive tools. Research on this form of reading is still in its infancy in spite of some positive prospects for fostering literacy development and reading comprehension. Therefore, adopting a mixed method approach with 36 college freshmen in central Taiwan, the current study intended to fill in the void by investigating any difference in readers＇ reading comprehension and reading motivation, between the Kindle group and the print-based group. The results indicate that embedding aspects of technology into a traditional reading instruction boosted the participants＇ motivation to read. Nevertheless, the novelty-driven enthusiasm for electronic reading might not sustain students＇ reading motivation long enough to cultivate long-lasting reading habits. The results indicate that there was no significant difference in reading comprehension between two groups. Implications for utilizing electronic readers in EFL classes are also provided.
文摘This paper deals with the importance of idioms in English as a Foreign Language （EFL） acquisition in general and the effect of three techniques applied in teaching and learning them by the undergraduate university students in particular. To accomplish this aim, the study firstly tried to investigate English students＇ attitude toward learning L2 idioms through a 10-item questionnaire. The second part of the study passed on two stages; a list of 20 unknown idioms was presented to 30 second-year EFL students who were divided into three groups. The first group of students was given the list of idioms with （L2） English definition; the second group was given the same list of idioms with their （L2） English contextual representation these unknown idioms were used, and the third group was given （LI） Albanian translation equivalent. At the second stage, after learning and revising the unknown idioms for a period of four weeks, the participants received a common test consisting of two types of exercises-multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blanks-to check the impact of three techniques used for the long-term retention of idioms： definition, context, and translation. The results of the survey showed that the third-group students performed better than the two other groups who were exposed to English idioms definition and context; i.e., translation was the most effective technique that helped students＇ retention and acquisition of idioms.
文摘The contemporary social needs inherently emphasize on knowledge, adaptability, and unconventional problem-solving. They require development of skills in communication, collaboration, rapid-reaction in challenges, taking charge of initiatives, and administration of choices. The educational system needs to adapt in order to meet the contemporary requirements. This introduction deals with the applications of the new technologies through Internet in the school program of the Secondary Greek education when the digital gap is more and more bridged at national and European level. Nowadays, Intemet access is fundamental right to all European citizens and their governments should offer it together with the feeling of responsibility and liability. Through the foreign language education, interculturality and multicultural civilization are enhanced, qualities that the European citizens should have.
文摘One of the characteristics of good writing is appropriate use of cohesive devices, which many learners often find difficult to do. Although there is a substantial body of research on cohesion in writing, little has been documented on how to teach it to EFL students. The present study was an attempt to address this under-researched issue by taking a terminological approach, as the diverse and vague terminology used to describe link words has been found to be more of a hindrance than a facilitator in the teaching/learning process. A total of 16 cohesion-related terms were surveyed to find out about the quality and quantity of their use in a self-built corpus of 14 grammar books of different levels. Furthermore, a test was run to measure students＇ familiarity with these terms, and field-notes were taken while scoring the students＇ papers in their presence. The findings, in addition to giving insights into the usage points regarding each of the 16 terms, led to drawing a terminological network, which, if used consistently, could help in teaching and learning to use cohesion effectively.
