scholarly journals ENGLISH LEARNING NEEDS OF ESP LEARNERS: EXPLORING STAKEHOLDER PERCEPTIONS AT AN INDONESIAN UNIVERSITY

Author(s):  
Dwi Poedjiastutie ◽  
Rhonda Oliver

The current study explores the challenges facing an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) program at an Indonesian university in Indonesia. As a part of their commitment to improvement, this university is working to better prepare students for employment so that they may function well in workplace. However, currently students’ English proficiency is deemed to be less than adequate for such purposes and to date there has been no systematic analysis of students’ needs to inform curriculum development and classroom instruction for the ESP courses. Clearly a rigorous evaluation is required to improve the teaching of English at this university. It was the aim of this study to achieve this and to do so by means of a Needs Analysis. To do this an ethnographic approach was undertaken focusing on the multiple realities of the three groups of stakeholders at this institution – employers, teachers and students. The findings show that each group acknowledged the importance of English as a global and international language. The results also suggest that within the university as a whole, at the faculty level, and in classrooms, some problems exist and potentially may inhibit the effectiveness of the ESP programs. The findings provide useful direction for policy makers, curriculum writers and English language teachers. 

Author(s):  
Amir Mohammed Albloly

This paper was basically conducted to explore the potential for Social Network: Facebook use as new trends towards teaching electronic portfolio in teaching English at the university level. The researcher adopted the quantitative and analytical methods using the test and the questionnaire as the main tools for collecting the data. The participants included (50) English language teachers from various Sudanese universities along with (25) students majoring English in different levels at the University of Kassala. They have Facebook accounts and they were taught within an online group. According to the results, it was evident that there were practical and effective use for Facebook to be applied as a teaching electronic portfolio for academic and educational purposes especially at university levels. In these respects, learners’ performance can easily be monitored and assessed through social network, teachers and students can collaborate in a secure, closed environment on Facebook group, teachers can maintain a personal content library and share content with students and finally, students can instantly access their files through their e-based ‘Library’.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huda Alqunayeer

The primary goal of the present study is to identify the problematic areas in the pronunciation of the letter “g” in English written words made by Saudi female learners of English as a foreign language, and the reasons for the weakness associated with mispronunciation of English written words which contain this letter. The population of the study was the female students (90 students) and their English language teachers (12 teachers) at the Qassim University during the academic year (2014-2015). There were two types of instruments used in this study. The first was a pronunciation test for the student participants in order to investigate the problematic areas of pronouncing “g” in different environments in different words; and the second a questionnaire for the teacher participants to provide comprehensive data about the causes of these errors of pronouncing “g” committed by EFL female students at Qassim University. Ninety female students were included for the pronunciation test and 12 teachers were asked to answer the questionnaire. Simple percentage was used for analyzing the data of recording words (pronunciation test). Results of the students’ recording words revealed that the participants mispronounced “g” before nasals (68%). According to the results of the teachers’ responses to the questionnaire suggested many factors that can cause difficulties for students in terms of pronouncing “g” in English written words. According to them, these difficulties are concerned with reading difficulties, nonstandard spellings, letters that follow “g” (many of them may become combinations), loan words, orthography (no correspondence between the English alphabets and their sounds). The researcher offers recommendations that might help teachers and students to overcome and reduce these mispronunciations of this letter in English written words.


IIUC Studies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
Md Morshedul Alam

This paper tries to identify the factors that hinder implementing Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in the secondary schools in rural Bangladesh. This article takes a qualitative approach, and it is carried out in four rural schools in Banskhali, which is situated in Chittagong district in Bangladesh. Eight secondary level English language teachers were interviewed to generate data about the problems in implementing CLT in their respective institutions. The findings indicate several challenges that include: shortage of skilled teachers, unusually large class size, deficiency of modern materials used in CLT oriented classrooms, etc. This research may provide implications for the language policy makers and the practitioners for the improvement of CLT practices in the rural contexts of Bangladesh.IIUC Studies Vol.13 December 2016: 93-102


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Shahnaz Mahmud

English language teachers customarily rule out the use of mother tongue for teaching English. Reflecting on the theoretical underpinnings and empirical research on the use of mother tongue (L1) in English classroom and its ongoing debate the present study aims to explore teachers’ and students’ perceptions of it. A mixed method approach using questionnaire and interview is employed to analyze Bangladeshi university teachers’ and students’ belief and perceptions of teaching English with the help of L1. The study also attempts to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of using L1. Results indicate that both teachers and students perceive the necessity of judicious use of L1 to facilitate learning and acquisition of English as a foreign language (EFL).


Author(s):  
Faizah Abd Majid

This paper examines TESL curriculum and how the curriculum relates to the training of the super skills needed in Industry Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0). Specifically, a comparative study on several TESL programmes offered in several public universities in Malaysia will provide the common trend among the universities and specific strengths of each university. Focus of comparison includes the programme outcomes (PO), discipline core courses offered, methods of delivery and assessment. The comparisons are made to shed some lights on how universities are providing relevant training for the pre-service English language teachers in meeting the demand of Industry Revolution 4.0. In addressing the relevance of the curriculum, a discussion on the super skills needed for IR 4.0, IR characteristics and components will be briefly provided. Findings that address the strengths and rooms for improvement in the current TESL programme curriculum in meeting the need of IR 4.0 could benefit policy makers, curriculum developer and TESL trainers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-156
Author(s):  
Titus Terver Udu

This survey tested the null hypothesis that teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards reading and writing do not simultaneously predict students’ achievement in the English language. The researcher utilized a sample of 38 teachers and 492 senior secondary school students from 12 schools in Benue State, Nigeria, for the study. The researcher developed and utilized the English Language Students’ Attitude Scale (ELSAS), English Language Teachers’ Attitude Scale (ELTAS), and Reading and Writing Achievement Test (RWAT) for data collection. An estimate of internal consistency was obtained through Cronbach’s Alpha and Kuder Richardson’s reliability methods and found to be 0.76 for ELSAS, 0.68 for ELTAS, and 0.81 for RWAT. Data analysis was by multiple regression statistics. The findings revealed that both English language teachers and students have a positive attitude towards reading and writing (F3, 492 = 0.160, p0.05) implying that teachers and students’ attitudes towards reading and writing jointly predicted students’ achievement in the English language in senior secondary schools. To conclude, learning would be facilitated if both teachers and students hold positive attitudes towards reading and writing, and this, in turn, could impact the students’ achievement in the English language. It was recommended that teachers should plan reading and writing instruction that can help students develop positive attitudes to these skills and parents should help in the development of these skills at home.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mazen Ismaeel Ghareb ◽  
Saman Ali Mohammed

Although the benefits of blended learning have been well documented in educational research, relatively few studies have examined blended mobilities in education in Kurdistan region government and in Iraq. This study discusses a blended mobility approach for a teacher training program designed for in-service English language teachers (ELT) and investigates its effectiveness by comparing the latest participation of the University of Human Development for computer science and proposing the same program for training English for lecturers and students. The research involved proposes new mobility program for teaching and learning English language and using their language skills in an ongoing business project using several software for communication and management of their projects. Results will show the framework for new blended learning and blended mobilities of many different English language teaching (ELT) aspects.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-55
Author(s):  
M. John Britto

Counselling plays a significant role in bringing out a remarkable change in an individual’s personal and professional life. It has entered a number of domains including education. As human problems are mushrooming day by day in this hi-tech world, there is a dire need for finding solutions to those problems. It is counselling that comes to one’s aid to solve one’s problems that are psychological and personal. In English language teaching and learning too, there are multiple problems encountered by teachers and students as well. This paper discusses how counselling is indispensable to English Language Teaching (ELT) for finding solutions to problems faced by English language learners. Exploring the relevance of counselling to ELT, it also seeks to highlight the benefits of integrating it with ELT. It brings out the need for introspection of English language teachers to provide counselling to students. It enumerates various counselling skills, and presents an account of problem-solving method in ELT and eight approaches to counselling.


Author(s):  
Abdul Karim ◽  
Zohur Ahmed ◽  
Faheem Shahed ◽  
Mohammad Rahman ◽  
Abdul Mohamed

Numerous donor-sponsored in-service training programs have been operated in Bangladesh for English language teachers. EIA was the last donor-funded project that incorporated school-based training. It claimed to acquaint teachers with technology coupled with a lot of interactive activities to be incorporated in the classroom. The aim of the study was to identify the challenges faced by the secondary-school English language teachers in incorporating the elements learned in EIA training into their classroom practices and to identify the solutions to overcome the challenges. The present study undertook reflective theory developed by Wallace (1991). To conduct this study, semi-structured interview with the teachers and semi-structured classroom observation were carried out. Teachers reported some issues that potentially precluded them from employing different activities in their classrooms. In addition, teachers elicited suggestions to overcome the challenges. The interview data were organized thematically. This study was intended as an eye opener for the policy makers in the small states.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-510
Author(s):  
Faizah Idrus ◽  
Nur Afini Zainal Asri ◽  
Nurin Najihah Baharom

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is a classroom strategy that helps teachers to cater their teachings to students with different abilities and learning needs. The issue here is whether DI is still relevant in the online teaching and learning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore selected ESL teachers’ practices of differentiated instructions in their online classes. It also seeks to examine challenges these teachers withstand while implementing DI in their online classrooms. A qualitative design employing the semi-structured interviews and teachers’ reflection notes are used as data collection instruments. A total of six English language teachers from three selected schools in Malaysia took part in this investigation. Thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke (2006) is applied. The findings revealed that environmental strain, resources constraint and students’ and parents’ attitudes are the main challenges in DI while teaching in an online platform.


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