Improvement of Students’ Autonomous Learning Behavior by Optimizing Foreign Language Blended Learning Mode

Given the significance of cultivating students’ autonomous learning ability, there is a need to develop an instructional model that can improve students’ awareness and behavior of autonomous learning, as well as to explore the effectiveness and optimization of this model effectively. Taking college English course as a case study, this paper constructs a blended learning mode based on SPOC, which combines advantages of online and offline teaching. 15 types of nonredundant sets resulting from 500 questionnaires has been explored, and the optimal factor combinations have been found out from 15 types with the technology of data mining to optimize the mode constructed previously. Optimized blended learning mode, emphasizing the optimal factors more, has been applied to College English curriculum design and teaching practice in China. Surveys of students’ achievement and autonomous learning behavior have been conducted after experiment. The results of the research indicate that the optimized blended learning mode will stimulate foreign language learners’ learning motivation, cultivate their autonomous learning ability, so as to construct and improve their autonomous learning behavior further.

The Use of Scaffolding Theory in the Teaching of Writing

"English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School (2017)" puts forward higher requirements for the writing ability of students: students can use the language knowledge and cultural knowledge they have learned to create new texts according to different purposes and audiences. Writing is a difficult point. However, the current domestic English writing teaching effect is not satisfactory. English writing teaching has not been paid enough attention, and students lack the initiative to learn English writing. Scaffolding theory encourages teachers to follow the "student-centered" classroom teaching model and build scaffolds based on the students' recent development areas, so as to promote students' knowledge construction and meaningful learning, stimulate students' interest in English learning, and improve their English writing level. This article analyzes the teaching of English writing from the perspective of scaffolding theory. First, it introduces the research background, expounds "Zone of Proximal Development" and scaffolding theory, and discusses in detail the five steps of scaffolding theory applied in high school English writing classrooms. Finally, three teaching inspirations and suggestions are provided in order to improve the teaching effect of high school English writing.

Four C’s Skills Integration in the Lesson Plans of Grade 7 English Teacher

Four C skills’ integration in English curriculum has been investigated in recent years. Unfortunately, those studies focused on the integration of 4Cs in lesson plans carried out in elementary schools. Thus, this research aimed to analyze how the 4C skills were implemented in English lesson plans of 7th grade. The data were collected through content analysis on ten lesson plans of public and private junior high schools in Jakarta and Bekasi. It was found that all analyzed lesson plans have incorporated the 4Cs skills; communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. However, there were indicators of each skill that more dominantly appeared in a certain topic or were seen not to be incorporated in any examined lesson plans. In addition, teachers mostly incorporated the 4Cs skills in the learning activity and assessment. Although all the analyzed lesson plans have integrated 4Cs, the fulfilment of the indicators of each skill still needed to be improved. These findings are expected to be a recommendation for educators especially English teachers in designing lesson plans which integrated the 4C skills as the keys to a lifetime of learning and creative work as the current world of work is required leads to the need for integration of 4Cs in the classroom.

Application of Neural Network Algorithm Combined with Bee Colony Algorithm in English Course Recommendation

The traditional BP neural network has the disadvantages of easy falling into local minimum and slow convergence speed. Aiming at the shortcomings of BP neural network (BP neural network), an artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC) is proposed to cross-optimize the weight and threshold of BP network parameters. This study is mainly about the application of BP neural network algorithm in English curriculum recommendation technology. It includes the application of BP neural network algorithm in English course recommendation technology, English course teaching design mode, the application of BP neural network algorithm in English course, and the optimal combination of bee colony algorithm and BP neural network. After 4690 iterations, the neural network reaches the target accuracy, and the training is completed. At the same time, the prediction error of the model is less than 10%, which further shows that the performance of the prediction model is good. Therefore, the combination model is recommended in this paper. The results show that the optimization algorithm improves the solution accuracy and speeds up the convergence speed of the network.

The role of leadership in promoting and supporting the Basic English curriculum design and delivery at two Vietnamese universities

<p>The purpose of this research study was to explore the role of leadership in supporting the Basic English curriculum design and delivery at two selected Vietnamese non-language major universities specialising in Finance and Accounting. Studies on academic leadership and distributed leadership in higher education are well documented in Western literature (Bolden, Gosling, O’Brien, Peters and Haslam, 2012; Bryman, 2007; Cardno, 2012); however leadership in higher education is largely under-researched in developing countries like Vietnam. Moreover, curriculum design impacts on the wellbeing and effectiveness of higher education (Barnett & Coate, 2005). Leadership is necessary to effect change (Oliver & Huyn, 2010) and therefore potentially to impact on curriculum design and delivery. The role of leadership in making the Basic English curriculum more relevant for graduate students and ensuring that they are better prepared for the workplace is of particular interest in the Vietnamese university context. This qualitatively-focused case study design, with a small quantitative component, guided by an interpretivist/ constructivist theoretical framework aimed to explore how academic leaders promote the Basic English curriculum design and delivery in the Vietnamese university context. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews with senior academic leaders and company directors, focus group interviews with English as a foreign language (EFL) lecturers, observations of a curriculum meeting, and an online survey by graduates from the two selected universities. The study employed thematic data analysis techniques. Research shows that the curriculum framework in Vietnamese universities promulgated by the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) results in heavy workloads for academic staff (Gropello, Thomas, Yemenez, Chchibber, & Adams, 2008; Van, 2011). This negatively affects their wellbeing and may reduce their effectiveness as teachers and researchers. The findings from the study provided evidence that leadership practices in Vietnam were influenced by Confucian values. It also showed that the personal barriers academic leaders and EFL lecturers face vary according to gender. However, academic leadership in Vietnamese higher education contexts in this study reveals a mixture of distributed and collaborative leadership in curriculum design and delivery which can provide insights for other Vietnamese universities. It also revealed that senior leaders and EFL lecturers appear to work collaboratively to solve the issue of curriculum design and delivery. The findings have implications for policy development and practice. Suggestions made by employers and graduates to institutional leaders, curriculum developers and lecturers are to consider redesigning the curriculum to have a more communicative focus and more oral practice to ensure graduates are better prepared for work. The study has brought insights for senior leaders on how to create successful collaboration with their colleagues and partners in curriculum design and renewal and provided guidance on the enhancement of educational leadership practices in the two chosen universities. The results of this study have contributed to closing the current gaps in understanding how leadership at all levels in higher education impact on curriculum design and delivery. This study will be useful not only in the Vietnamese context but also in other countries where English is taught as a second or foreign language.</p>

The role of leadership in promoting and supporting the Basic English curriculum design and delivery at two Vietnamese universities

<p>The purpose of this research study was to explore the role of leadership in supporting the Basic English curriculum design and delivery at two selected Vietnamese non-language major universities specialising in Finance and Accounting. Studies on academic leadership and distributed leadership in higher education are well documented in Western literature (Bolden, Gosling, O’Brien, Peters and Haslam, 2012; Bryman, 2007; Cardno, 2012); however leadership in higher education is largely under-researched in developing countries like Vietnam. Moreover, curriculum design impacts on the wellbeing and effectiveness of higher education (Barnett & Coate, 2005). Leadership is necessary to effect change (Oliver & Huyn, 2010) and therefore potentially to impact on curriculum design and delivery. The role of leadership in making the Basic English curriculum more relevant for graduate students and ensuring that they are better prepared for the workplace is of particular interest in the Vietnamese university context. This qualitatively-focused case study design, with a small quantitative component, guided by an interpretivist/ constructivist theoretical framework aimed to explore how academic leaders promote the Basic English curriculum design and delivery in the Vietnamese university context. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews with senior academic leaders and company directors, focus group interviews with English as a foreign language (EFL) lecturers, observations of a curriculum meeting, and an online survey by graduates from the two selected universities. The study employed thematic data analysis techniques. Research shows that the curriculum framework in Vietnamese universities promulgated by the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) results in heavy workloads for academic staff (Gropello, Thomas, Yemenez, Chchibber, & Adams, 2008; Van, 2011). This negatively affects their wellbeing and may reduce their effectiveness as teachers and researchers. The findings from the study provided evidence that leadership practices in Vietnam were influenced by Confucian values. It also showed that the personal barriers academic leaders and EFL lecturers face vary according to gender. However, academic leadership in Vietnamese higher education contexts in this study reveals a mixture of distributed and collaborative leadership in curriculum design and delivery which can provide insights for other Vietnamese universities. It also revealed that senior leaders and EFL lecturers appear to work collaboratively to solve the issue of curriculum design and delivery. The findings have implications for policy development and practice. Suggestions made by employers and graduates to institutional leaders, curriculum developers and lecturers are to consider redesigning the curriculum to have a more communicative focus and more oral practice to ensure graduates are better prepared for work. The study has brought insights for senior leaders on how to create successful collaboration with their colleagues and partners in curriculum design and renewal and provided guidance on the enhancement of educational leadership practices in the two chosen universities. The results of this study have contributed to closing the current gaps in understanding how leadership at all levels in higher education impact on curriculum design and delivery. This study will be useful not only in the Vietnamese context but also in other countries where English is taught as a second or foreign language.</p>

When Princesses Become Dragons

In this article we offer curricular suggestions for teaching Elana K. Arnold’s young adult title Damsel, a subverted fairytale rewrite, using a critical literacy framework. In doing so, we outline how English curriculum has often upheld oppressive systems that harm women, and how our teaching can challenge such systems. We situate this work through the retelling of a fairytale trope given the ubiquity of such stories in secondary students’ lives. Our writings have teaching implications for both secondary English language arts classrooms and higher education fields such as English, folklore, mythology, and gender studies. We end by noting the limitations of such teaching.