Jay Tanaka

This study investigates the impact of sharing research findings on lexical coverage and vocabulary size with L2 English students. This practical knowledge can be applied toward reading books and other materials. Research has suggested that knowing approximately 98% of the words in a text can lead to adequate reading comprehension (Hu & Nation, 2000). Such information, paired with knowledge of a student’s own vocabulary size (Nation & Beglar, 2007), can potentially aid students in setting L2 vocabulary and reading goals. Ninety-nine university students in Thailand participated in this study. It utilizes a pretest-posttest design, with the sharing of research findings on lexical coverage and vocabulary size with students as the treatment. Surveys PASAA Vol. 55 January June 2018 | 79 measuring motivation and attitudes toward studying L2 vocabulary were conducted before and after the treatment. Results were analyzed using principal component analysis, revealing three clear components am...

Few would disagree that high quality thinking is a necessary condition for high quality writing. Yet, writing courses in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) often focus only marginally on principled and rigorous development of dialogical thinking and idea generation in preparation for written work. This study examines the effect of a model of critical thinking instruction (CTI) in a university level EAP writing course. Recent studies on CTI in EAP (Alnofaie, 2013; Hashemi & Ghanizadeh, 2012; Liaw, 2007; Shirkhani & Fahim, 2011; Yang & Gamble, 2013) have utilized models of CTI that, while reflecting varying degrees of attention to social context, inevitably center on the more traditional concepts of logicality and rational thinking skills. In contrast, this study’s distinct model of CTI is based on Paul’s (1995) concept of dialogical and dialectical thinking and guides students to consider and understand social issues and controversy through the analysis and evaluation of the differi...

Critical thinking is a term used to describe one of the aims of higher education programs around the world. As an example, the Council of Writing Program Administrators (2011) clearly lists critical thinking as one of five inherently desirable educational outcomes in post-secondary writing in the United States. However, the definition of critical thinking is complicated by a large variety of philosophical concepts and a lack of clarity as to what students should actually learn and do (Moore, 2013). Too often, university courses impose unclear expectations on students, which adds unnecessary difficulty, particularly for multilingual, multicultural, and international students, who might not be socialized into the use of critical thinking in academic work. (Robertson, et al., 2000; Tran, 2011). Even university instructors themselves admit to a lack of comprehensive understanding of critical thinking and how it can be taught (Hang, 2011). In so far as standards for critical thinking in academic work will be imposed on students, there is a need for a clarification of critical thinking, leading to practical directions for classroom instruction.

In this chapter, I propose a pedagogically focused definition for critical thinking and illustrate how this definition can be applied to a teaching approach involving the exploration and presentation of information on social media. It begins with an explanation to students regarding the epistemology of critical thinking, dispositions that support or deter its practice, and integrated skills. Adhering to this framework of critical thinking, students then explore a variety of comments on social media in order to deepen their understanding of social issues and of society itself. This approach to teaching critical thinking also provides a structure for academic presentations or written assignments that may serve as final products of the learning experience. The nature of student perspectives with regards to this approach to teaching critical thinking is also discussed.

Download Available at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mitesol/vol3/iss1/3  -  Abstract: 
Attending a second language (L2) teaching conference is assumed to have a positive impact on teaching practice. Currently, however, there are very few studies that examine empirical evidence of such impacts. Given the substantial cost and effort involved in attending a conference, it is important to clarify the nature of conference impacts, so that both language teachers and conference administrators can reflect on how to best generate meaningful improvements in L2 teaching. Questionnaire and interview data were used to examine L2 teaching conference attendees’ perceived impacts on their teaching practice and beliefs. Results reveal generally positive impacts, in the form of changes to L2 teaching approaches, teaching beliefs, motivation to learn more about teaching, and the expansion of professional networks. However, questionnaire data suggest that impacts on teaching practice were of a relatively small magnitude. Implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations for enhancing the impact of L2 teaching conferences are offered.

Recommended Citation
Tanaka, Jay and Díez-Ortega, María (2021) "The Impact of Attending Second Language Teaching Conferences," MITESOL Journal: An Online Publication of MITESOL: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1 , Article 3.

Tanaka, J. & Shannahan, J. (2015). Reviewed work: Longman academic reading series. Reading in a Foreign Language, 27(1) 113-116.      -        This article and others are available to read without cost at the journal [Reading in a Foreign Language]: https://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/item/316

Few would disagree that high quality thinking is a necessary condition for high quality writing. Yet, writing courses in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) often focus only marginally on principled and rigorous development of dialogical thinking and idea generation in preparation for written work. This study examines the effect of a new model of critical thinking instruction (CTI) in a university level EAP writing course. Recent studies on CTI in EAP (Alnofaie, 2013; Hashemi & Ghanizadeh, 2012; Liaw, 2007; Shirkhani & Fahim, 2011; Yang & Gamble, 2013) have utilized models of CTI that, while reflecting varying degrees of attention to social context, inevitably center on the more traditional concepts of logicality and rational thinking skills. In contrast, this study’s distinct model of CTI is based on Paul’s (1995) concept of dialogical and dialectical thinking and guides students to consider and understand social issues and controversy through the analysis and evaluation of the distinct belief systems behind opposing viewpoints. After the course, student interviews were conducted and analyzed through grounded theory and narrative analysis. Interview data revealed that CTI was found to be a practice that was typically unavailable in the students’ home countries and previous L2 English education, and was perceived as a challenging yet valuable addition to this EAP course curriculum. To varying degrees, students found the activity of critical thinking to align with their personal values and expressed a perceived need for critical thinking in order to succeed in future studies at the university level. The data contained frequent reports of students using critical thinking in their personal lives as a result of CTI. In addition, findings revealed a need to carefully position critical thinking as a tool with specific domains of use and limitations. These findings raise important questions about the inclusion of CTI in EAP and what forms are appropriate.