With the spread of English language around the world and its status as an international language, the need for more communication is felt. One pivoting aspect of this communication is the role of culture which can con...With the spread of English language around the world and its status as an international language, the need for more communication is felt. One pivoting aspect of this communication is the role of culture which can contribute to the success of communication at the global level and the co-construction of identities as individuals from different parts of the world get into interactions. Thus, the role of materials developed for learning English, especially the local ones, in the improvement of individuals＇ intercultural competence is significant. New course books for learning English at Iranian secondary schools entitled Prospect series have been developed recently. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the first and the second books of this series in light of Byram＇s model of Intercultural Communicative Competence （1CC）. Based on this model, ICC consists of three dimensions of attitude, knowledge, skills, and five saviors of knowledge, attitude, discovery, interaction, and critical thinking. To do the evaluation of the course books, the checklist developed based on these five saviors was used to evaluate the tasks for each unit of the books. The evaluation was done separately by each of the researchers in the study and inter-rater reliability showed a high level of Cronbach alpha. The findings indicated that about 90 percent of the activities of Prospect 1 and Prospect 2 lack the skills required for improving English language learners＇ ICC. They mostly focus on Iranian culture which might have been improved via learners＇ first language as well. This might imply the need for the adaptation of Prospect series activities in light of ICC so that Iranian English language learners can take advantage of their communication with the rest of the world.展开更多
Prior studies on classroom discourse research often concluded that a teacher＇s control of classroom interaction greatly affected his/her students＇ response to classroom talk. Students as academic novices are often e...Prior studies on classroom discourse research often concluded that a teacher＇s control of classroom interaction greatly affected his/her students＇ response to classroom talk. Students as academic novices are often expected to accept the teacher＇s deposited knowledge for academic achievement in traditional school contexts. Given little attention being paid to their withdrawal of teacher＇s deposited knowledge for use as meaning-negotiation, this study observes one academically-irrelevant curriculum context----one free and non-compulsory adult Chinese class offered by one local Taiwan Residents government to its foreign residents--to know whether the students＇ motivation for responding to classroom talk is still affected much by the teacher＇s dominance of classroom talk. It employs Courtney Cazden＇s I-R-E （teacher-initiation, student-response, and teacher-evaluation） classroom talk model and Paulo Freire＇s banking education metaphor as theoretical frameworks to discuss the classroom power relations reflected on the students＇ withdrawal of the teacher＇s deposited knowledge. The findings show that when the students＇ academic achievement is not the instructional objective, the teacher＇s thematic control, affects the students＇ motivation for responding more than his/her control of classroom interaction. It concludes that a classroom talk highlighting the students＇ interest activates their participation and allows the instructor to gain access to the students＇ knowledge, values, attitudes, and perceptions.展开更多
文摘With the spread of English language around the world and its status as an international language, the need for more communication is felt. One pivoting aspect of this communication is the role of culture which can contribute to the success of communication at the global level and the co-construction of identities as individuals from different parts of the world get into interactions. Thus, the role of materials developed for learning English, especially the local ones, in the improvement of individuals＇ intercultural competence is significant. New course books for learning English at Iranian secondary schools entitled Prospect series have been developed recently. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the first and the second books of this series in light of Byram＇s model of Intercultural Communicative Competence （1CC）. Based on this model, ICC consists of three dimensions of attitude, knowledge, skills, and five saviors of knowledge, attitude, discovery, interaction, and critical thinking. To do the evaluation of the course books, the checklist developed based on these five saviors was used to evaluate the tasks for each unit of the books. The evaluation was done separately by each of the researchers in the study and inter-rater reliability showed a high level of Cronbach alpha. The findings indicated that about 90 percent of the activities of Prospect 1 and Prospect 2 lack the skills required for improving English language learners＇ ICC. They mostly focus on Iranian culture which might have been improved via learners＇ first language as well. This might imply the need for the adaptation of Prospect series activities in light of ICC so that Iranian English language learners can take advantage of their communication with the rest of the world.
文摘Prior studies on classroom discourse research often concluded that a teacher＇s control of classroom interaction greatly affected his/her students＇ response to classroom talk. Students as academic novices are often expected to accept the teacher＇s deposited knowledge for academic achievement in traditional school contexts. Given little attention being paid to their withdrawal of teacher＇s deposited knowledge for use as meaning-negotiation, this study observes one academically-irrelevant curriculum context----one free and non-compulsory adult Chinese class offered by one local Taiwan Residents government to its foreign residents--to know whether the students＇ motivation for responding to classroom talk is still affected much by the teacher＇s dominance of classroom talk. It employs Courtney Cazden＇s I-R-E （teacher-initiation, student-response, and teacher-evaluation） classroom talk model and Paulo Freire＇s banking education metaphor as theoretical frameworks to discuss the classroom power relations reflected on the students＇ withdrawal of the teacher＇s deposited knowledge. The findings show that when the students＇ academic achievement is not the instructional objective, the teacher＇s thematic control, affects the students＇ motivation for responding more than his/her control of classroom interaction. It concludes that a classroom talk highlighting the students＇ interest activates their participation and allows the instructor to gain access to the students＇ knowledge, values, attitudes, and perceptions.
