International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies [IJELS]

The interview you are about to read here was recorded before Kunnan’s plenary talk at the 4th International Conference
on English Language Teaching (ICELT2015) in Melaka, Malaysia. My colleague, Dr. Seyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi,
managing editor of the International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature (IJALEL) also accompanied
us during the interview.

This study examined the influence of insecurity of school environment on the behavior of secondary school students. A
total of 200 students responded to a self-structured validated questionnaire designed for the study. Three hypotheses
were formulated to guide the study. Independent samples t-tests were used in analysing the data. The findings revealed
that Isiala-Ngwa North and South Local Government Areas were significantly different (p < .001) with regard to the
insecurity of their schools, with northern schools having a higher rate of school insecurity. Furthermore, the analysis of
data revealed no significant difference (p > .05) between the insecurity of private and public schools although private
schools turned out to be slightly more insecure. Finally, no significant difference (p > .05) was found between male and
female students’ behaviour due to school environment insecurity. It is recommended that the government should
strengthen and motivate its supervisory unit in the ministry of education to enable them carry effective supervision and
monitoring of the state secondary schools.

Good critical thinkers possess a core set of cognitive thinking skills, and a disposition towards critical thinking. They are able to think critically to solve complex, real-world problems effectively. Although personal emotion is important in critical thinking, it is often a neglected issue. The emotional intelligence in this study concerns our sensitivity to and artful handling of our own and others’ emotions. Engaging students emotionally is the key to strengthening their dispositions toward critical thinking. Hence, a study involving 338 male and female graduate students from a public university was carried out. They rated the Emotional Intelligence Scale and Critical Thinking Disposition Scale. Findings suggested that emotional intelligence and critical thinking disposition were positively correlated (r=.609). Differences in terms of age, gender, and course of study also formed part of the analysis.

Feedback plays a fundamental role in writing development. The present study seeks to investigate the impact of teacher's written feedback on the writing performance of Iranian undergraduates. The subjects were 400 students majoring in the fields of English language translation and English language literature in four universities, namely Shahaid Bahonar, Vali-e-Asr, Isfahan and Shiraz, in Iran. Writing tasks, questionnaires and interviews were used in the process of the present study. Mixed methods research design was adopted in this study. Therefore, this research used the triangulation of data collection techniques. For data analysis, the thematic coding was used for analyzing semi-structured interview. In the writing task, inter-rater agreement (Cohen kappa) was used and the Pearson correlation coefficient was run for analysis of the questionnaire. The result shows a significant relationship between teacher's written feedback and students' writing performance.

One of the major issues that concerns tertiary institutions around the world is the student retention rate. In general, higher rates of completion give more positive image about the academic, administrative and financial statues of these institutions. However, improving the student completion and retention rates can be a challenging task. One way toward this goal is utilising strategies and techniques that are informed by the findings of theoretical models and empirical studies. Therefore, this paper reviews some of the contemporary studies in the student retention literature from different higher educational contexts around the world followed by a list of the variables that are commonly linked to the student retention phenomenon in higher education and a discussion of the factors that are most frequently associated with student attrition as reported by these studies. A summary of the factors associated with the student attrition phenomenon suggested that, the central factors were the quality of students' institutional experiences and their level of integration into the academic and social systems of their academic institutions. These factors relate to students' experiences with the administrative system of their academic institution, including the admission, registration and disciplinary rules and policies and the availability and quality of student services and facilities.

Recently, despite the high budget allocating for education in Malaysia, the educational performance among students is low (Blueprint, 2013). Pascarella and Terenzini (2005; 1991) have identified four theories and models that affect students' learning: (a) psychosocial, (b) cognitive-structural, (c) typological, and (d) person-environment interaction. This study focuses on person-environment interaction. The interactionist approach emphasizes that neither personal characteristics nor situational factors alone are unable to identify the attitudes or responses of people, but the interaction of them can be highly influential (Schneider, 1982; Terborg, 1981). Person-environment fit arguments were raised by interactionists who discussed that particulars attitudes, behaviours and cognitions are the results of the interaction between situational factors and individuals (Chatman, 1989; Muchinsky & Monahan, 1987; Ostroff & Schulte, 2007). The present study used academic achievement that is one of the outcomes of person–environment (P–E) fit. This research employed different types of P-E fit such as objective and perceived interest major fit. The main aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between the P-E fit and academic achievement. The present study is carried out in The Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). The participants of the study were 2503 undergraduate students of 12 faculties at UPM. Findings of the relationship between the P-E fit and academic achievement have shown a highly positive relationship between the perceived interest major fit and the academic achievement, but there is no significant relationship between the objective interest major fit and the academic achievement.

Access and quality of higher education are among the major criteria for assessing the product of any institution of higher learning. This paper discusses access and quality in Nigeria's higher education; need for a pragmatic approach for sustainable transformation'. It discusses problems of access in the areas of carrying capacity of universities, process of admission, poverty, location and corruption. The problems of quality were traced to poor recruitment procedure, inadequate infrastructure, poor funding, corruption and lack of adequate practical experience. The problems of quality also extended to poor research development and underutilization of research findings. Pragmatic approach to solving each of these problems was discussed which include abolishing policies that have not benefited the education system like quota system. The paper advocates for merit at this crucial stage of national development, at least seventy percent of admissions into tertiary institutions should be based on pure merit. Recruitment of academic and non-academic staff should be purely on merit. Funds should be made available for the provision of adequate infrastructure. Research findings and recommendations should be urgently appraised and utilized.

Students' different background knowledge determines their quality of conceptions towards a specific subject in college. This research sought to uncover the profile of misconceptions experienced by 48 students of Primary School Teaching Major, studying Science in University of Muhammadiyah Gresik. The educational background of the students in high school were different. They came from natural science, social science and culinary departments and were divided into three groups accordingly. The identification method used was CRI (Certainty of Response Index) which is a model of correct and incorrect statements accompanied by reasons and level of confidence in answering questions. The research instrument was also supported by interviews. The findings of the study were: (1) The misconception of natural science was experienced by all the three students; (2) of the three groups, natural science students had the lowest misconception compared with the social science and culinary students; (3) the causes of misconceptions of natural sciences were related to improper answers due to certain terms and expressions; the relationship between the concept and meaning of the sentence which is too general or too narrow; not understanding the concept completely, lack of curiosity in doing exam items, never studying the concept before, and the incomplete delivery concept of high school teachers; and finally (4) psychological factors that accompany the occurrence of misconceptions included the feeling of tense and embarrassment in the interview of this research. The researcher suggests that there should be a matriculation program of five major subjects in the department of Primary School Teaching Major especially in the first year of courses supported by the reasonable ratio of students in one class that meets its capacity.

The importance of the relationships between industry and academia is stressed by strategists, politicians, Vocational Education Training (VET) policy makers, and industrial planners. Industry without knowledge surely dies, and knowledge without application of that knowledge is valueless. This paper focuses on the relationships between the VET providers and industries. More specifically, the purpose of this paper is (1) to discuss the factors which enhance or constrain the strategic partnership, (2) to present the experiences of this relationship in the developing and developed countries, (3) to propose a model that links the two institutions, the VET providers and industries, in the Vietnamese context.

This research is aiming at describing: (1) the implementation of community empowerment training of PKH companions, (2) types of participative evaluation used in the PKH companion training, and (3) obstacles and supporting factors in PKH companion training using the participative evaluation. The study employed qualitative approach with case study framework. It was conducted in PKH companion training in Klojen district, Malang. The subjects of this research were companions as facilitators of the community empowerment training. The data collection was carried out by deep interview, focus group discussion, observation, and documentation. The data obtained were reduced according to the objectives of the research. Later on, it was presented in description of fact, then conclusion or verification was drawn. The finding of the research showed: (1) the learning method used in the PKH companion training was andragogy approach which emphasized on active participation and participants' experiences, (2) the evaluation employed in the PKH companion training was participatory rural appraisal (PRA) method by conducting focus group discussions (FGD) and questionnaires, (3) the weakness of employing this participative evaluation was it took relatively long time and the discussion tended to be out of the context. Meanwhile, the strength of the participative evaluation was the openness of information which made the training participants feel the democratic atmosphere during the training evaluation process.

In order for the community to bring meaningful and sustainable environmental conservation and change, it must take action in implementing environmental education values acquired from environmental learning programmes and organizations. This study therefore aimed at assessing factors conditioning community implementation of environmental education in forest conservation. Cultural, neoclassical, political-ecology and impoverishment theories were used to guide this study. Case study research design and qualitative approach were employed. A sample of 20 informants was used and data were collected by the use of interview among community members. Content analysis was used in analysis of qualitative data whereby themes were established as sub headings. Findings indicate that land tenure, traditional beliefs (culture), poverty, and community involvements in logging activities are among the factors conditioning community implementation of environmental education values. Others findings were animal hunting and farming. Findings show that Land tenure system, community involvement in logging; traditional beliefs in sacred forests, animal hunting and farm preparation were factors conditioning community implementation of EE in Uluguru Mountains. This implies that these factors are the contributing factors to poor utilization of EE knowledge and therefore continued environmental degradation in the Uluguru Mountains.

Childhood overweight and obesity have been increasing over recent years and, more than ever, we are being called to act, whether as clinicians, parents or educators. The aim of this empirical research is to assess children's cognitive and emotionally internalized mental representation of a Preferred and Healthy Meal, using drawing as methodological instrument. This is a cross-sectional, exploratory and descriptive study using a qualitative methodology – content analysis. In the present research, conducted in two moments, with 1013 children (aged 4-10 years), from Lisbon metropolitan area, we've asked children to draw a Preferred Meal and a Healthy Meal, trying to evaluate the child's implicit knowledge and habits of drink intake and food cooking methods. 2026 drawings were collected: 1013 representing a Preferred Meal and 1013 a Healthy one. Drawings were evaluated using a content analysis instrument specifically developed for this study, using ATLAS.ti 6. For purposes of obtaining a descriptive analysis, data were treated using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 19.0 for Windows. The obtained results on Cooking Methods (sub-categories Meat, Fish and Potatoes) reveal that children, regarding the Preferred Meal, selected both healthier and unhealthier cooking methods like Fried (Meat and Potatoes), Stewed and Grilled (Meat). Representations of healthy cooking methods, on the other hand, show conspicuous disparities by age-group as children aged 4 and 5 years take frying as a healthy meat cooking method, whereas children aged 6 years are virtually unanimous in choosing grilling as the best representation of healthy meat cooking method. As to Potato and Fish healthy cooking methods, most children elect boiling. Regarding the beverages that children included in their Preferred Meals, we found some discrepancies with selection of fresh juices in the age-groups 4YG and 5YG with clear contrast with the dominance of soft drinks (carbonated beverages sweetened with sugar) in the older groups. Regarding healthy drink choices, soft drinks decrease drastically, being consensually replaced by Water in all age groups or by Natural / Fresh Juices in the younger age groups, despite an undeniable presence of soft drinks, disguised of " natural ". The results obtained in the study points out that preferred cooking methods and drinks are internalized during childhood and are connected to early experiences with food and to pathogenic (family and society) nutritional patterns. They also testify to the children's ability to learn to select healthy cooking methods, despite being an abstract cognitive construct, at a very early age. Despite that knowledge, when it comes to drinks, this study evidences that children's reveal some erroneous representations influenced by exposure to media, namely related to advertising soft drinks bearing a 'healthy food' label. These are the stronger arguments to support the need for developing health education ludic-pedagogic instruments for children.

This study was conducted on year 4 students enrolled in the Bachelor of Education program for Cycle one teacher candidates. The effect of practicing mental calculation strategies in improving students' numeracy proficiency was put under some tests to measure its effect in a scientific way. A Pre-quiz was conducted before with no prior practice done in order to check the strategies the students were using in performing calculations. After four weeks practice and implementation which focused mainly on addition and subtraction questions, as a result a post quiz was written by the students. The improvement results were recorded and analyzed. After four weeks of practicing multiplication and division questions, another post quiz was written by the students as a result of that. Once again, the improvement results also were recorded and analyzed. Furthermore, interviews and observations also were used to record changes in the students' perspectives about using the mental strategies and their feelings toward their numeracy level. The results of the study showed that practicing the mental strategies had a significant impact on the students' numeracy proficiency and their perspective toward their mental strategies. The study also showed that more practice had a significant impact on the students' confidence as well as their ability to perform different mental strategies in their daily life.

Management by Objective through Open Performance Review and Appraisal System (OPRAS) was introduced in Tanzania for evaluation of public servants work performance in 2004. The aim of this study was to investigate how teachers perceive the implementation of OPRAS as a mechanism of assessing their work performance and making them accountable for their teaching. The study was mainly qualitative with some aspects of quantitative data. It involved 108 informants, where 90 were the primary school classroom teachers, 10 headteachers, 6 school committee members and 2 district educational officials. The data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussion. While some teachers think if OPRAS contract could well be worked out it to improve the performance, there are those teachers who think OPRAS is impractical and unrealistic to the Tanzanian context where pupils are congested in classrooms with shortage of desks. During the sc hool visit in both Kinondoni Dar es Salaam and Mbeya City findings indicated that OPRAS had been abandoned as it created hostility between headteachers and teachers. Teachers complained of the expenses involved in duplicating the copies and the time consumed for discussion. I argue in this paper that although evaluation of teachers is important, the adoption of the type of assessment for their work performance has to be considered because of the nature of the field and the complications involved in dealing with human mind. Teaching is a labour-intensive process. Teachers cannot, by means of their teaching, determine how many pupils will pass a given exam and how well they will do in their exams under the OPRAS requirements.

There exist many factors, affecting reading ability. Multiple intelligence and motivational strategies are among the factors that seem to make significant contribution to the reading process. Thus, the present study probed the probable significant relation between Iranian language learners' multiple intelligences and reading ability. The study also probed the effectiveness of implementing motivational strategies and language learners' reading ability. Finally, it probed the significant correlation with implementing certain motivational strategies and reading ability. The design of this study is correlational design since the relationship between dependent and independent variables were investigated through correlation coefficient. The participants were females in the final year of the secondary education level. Using treatment and the two questionnaires of motivational strategies and multiple intelligences, the findings demonstrated significant correlation between verbal/linguistic intelligence and reading ability as well as the significant correlation between implementing certain motivational strategies and reading ability. In addition, the essence of teaching motivational strategies was confirmed through the significant difference between the results of pretest and posttest as the result of teaching the participants certain motivational strategies by the researchers. The findings have pedagogical implications for language teachers to improve the reading ability of the students substantially.

The aim of the present study was to illuminate the differences between Persian and English in online headlines in terms of applying metadiscourse markers in the first two months of the year 2015. To fulfill this purpose, 100 Persian and English online headlines (each 50 headlines) were chosen randomly from English and Persian newscasts such as VOA, CNN, Bistosi (20:30), and Bashgahkhabarnegaran. The specific research areas of interest was whether online Persian and English headlines differed in making use of metadiscourse markers. The corpus was recorded and divided in two groups of Persian online headlines and English online headlines. According to Hyland's (2005) model, interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers were identified in online headlines. Corpus analysis showed that according to descriptive statistics, Persian and English were not significantly different in using metadiscourse markers in online headlines. The findings can help to keep journalism students aware of this aspect of metadiscourse.

Forty families with four-to five-year-old Chinese children were chosen as experiment participants and equally divided into four groups for an eight-week parent-child reading experiment in different reading modes. (1) Groups A, B, and C read one of three kinds of Chinese-English audio bilingual picture books respectively: touch reading books, electronic books, and printed books + CDs, 30 minutes per day with their parents in the approach of Early Synchronous Bilingual Reading (ESBR). After the eight-week experiment, children participants cultivated good habits of and interest in reading and their reading comprehension, retelling and expression competence were improved significantly. Performance of each group in weekly reading time and frequency, proportion of recognized Chinese and English words was A>B>C>>D and differed significantly (p<0.01). The results show that reading bilingualism synchronously is effective and economical, and it not only enhanced children's bilingual competence, but broadened their multicultural international horizon and developed their creative thinking and leadership. (2) Group D kept their original family reading mode and did not progress significantly in reading habits and test indicators (p-value=0.5-1). (3) Determinants of reading effect are parents' awareness and choice of reading material, mode, frequency and time. The experiment results suggest that parents can choose bilingual picture books, cultivate their preschool children's reading habits, and develop their children's bilingual reading, listening, and speaking competence through interactive parent-child reading.

The study determined the methods adopted by teachers in prose literature-in-English classrooms, activities of teachers and students, teachers' perceived effectiveness of techniques used. It also examined the objectives of teaching prose literature that teachers should address and the extent teachers believe in student-identified difficulties of studying prose literature. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 85 schools in Owerri metropolis and in each school, all literature teachers of senior secondary I and II were involved. In all, 246 literature teachers participated out of which 15 were purposively selected for observation. The two instruments were: Teachers' Questionnaire (r = 0.87) and Classroom Observation Schedule (r = 0.73). Data were analysed using frequency counts and percentages. Results revealed that teachers adopted lecture (28.4%), reading (10.9%) and discussion (7.3%) methods. Teacher's activities during the lesson include: giving background information, summarizing, dictating notes, reading aloud and explaining and asking questions. The adopted techniques include: questioning, oral reading, silent reading and discussion. Teachers' perceived questioning as the most effective technique followed by debating and summarizing. Teachers identified development of students' critical faculties and analytical skills, literary appreciation and language skills to be of utmost concern. It was concluded that the methods adopted by teachers are not diverse enough to cater for the needs and backgrounds of students.

In recent years, there has been much interest in the development of thinking skills in the education circles in Malaysia. Nevertheless, more effort needs to be placed on providing skills in developing the critical thinking literacy level of English as a second language (ESL) secondary school students, and its implication on the practice of teaching and learning. This is especially so for rural secondary school students. This paper presents findings of a preliminary case study which analyzes the critical thinking literacy level of twenty students of a rural secondary school in Malaysia as measured by the Cornell Critical Thinking Test (CCTTX). Overall, the findings show that students struggled to answer the critical thinking questions posed in the CCTTX. The analysis point to the fact that students encountered problems with questions on 'judging what is assumed in an argument' section of the standardized critical thinking test. Interview responses from students revealed that they found the 71-item-test challenging to answer. Despite the national education agenda to develop world-class thinkers, our study suggests that there appears to be a lack in exposure to thinking-based activities in Malaysian classrooms

Various studies about the environment consider different factors as sources of environmental deterioration. Such studies have not paid much attention on education as the remedy for environmental sustainability. Other studies have rarely considered environmental education approaches as the reason for lack of success in environmental education arrangements. This research had a focus on the adequacy of environmental education approaches, techniques and strategies employed in Uluguru Mountains in Morogoro. Social constructivist theory by Vigortsky (1958) was employed while case study research design and qualitative approach were deemed important for this research. Data collection was done by using interview and Focus Group Discussion methods. Objectives of the research were to: investigate adequacy of Environmental Education content, methods, awareness as well as the use of indigenous environmental knowledge. The findings show that, environmental education methods implemented in Uluguru Mountains are not satisfactory enough to improve environmental conditions. Again, indigenous knowledge has been less integrated into Environmental Education. Different environmental education methods need to be improved and integrated to create sustainable learning outcomes within Environmental Education.

Adopting a qualitative case study methodology, the present study illuminates how two multilingual students enrolled in a U.S. community college ESL class negotiated the sociocultural norms valued in their multiple communities to make investment in learning English in college. Drawing on Gee's theory of Discourse and identity (1996) and Norton's theory of investment (2000), the study found that each student's investment in learning the language practices of the classroom was shaped by the diverse Discourses in which they participated across time and space. Despite confronting structural constraints, the focal students were able to mobilize their multiple Discourses to negotiate the existing sociocultural norms and invest in identities that have the potential to transform their lives. These findings suggest that multilingual students' learning at the college is shaped by their socio-cultural milieu and future aspirations. Thus, language educators should recognize their multiple identities as well as their agency, and broaden the curriculum goals to accommodate their diverse linguistic and educational needs.

A number of educational reform attempts, chief among which are pedagogy by objectives, competency-based approach, and pedagogy of integration, have been made to establish pedagogical reform in Moroccan public primary school. However, results have not been up to par. Failure of school reform has been largely rationalized in terms of technical problems associated with innovation delivery system. By adopting a " technicist " stance towards issues of pedagogical reform, decision makers and curriculum developers have paid a scant attention to the fact that pedagogical innovations are social constructions, and as such value-laden. The institutionalization of pedagogical frameworks import has so far failed to take into account the local sociocultural meanings. A close look into our classrooms shapes an understanding why prevailing traditional practices persist in spite of the progressive ideals advocated in reform packages. Pedagogy is more than techniques; it is deeply embedded in the sociocultural context. Upgrading pedagogical practice requires a sociocultural approach in which the nature of the cultural perspective of pedagogy is recognized and failure of pedagogical reform is also sought in the workings of the enveloping social structure. Such a cultural undertaking of pedagogy can be fulfilled by probing teachers' cultural models of pedagogy. Without proper examination and understanding of teachers' conceptualization of pedagogy and how it reflects on classroom practice, it will be difficult to determine an appropriate focus for pedagogical reform. Therefore, the study of teachers' cultural models of pedagogy has the potential to provide reflective insight into many facets of teachers' thinking and practice. Attentiveness to cultural models of pedagogy can lead and enlighten educational practice towards directions that current research has not explored yet.

This article looked at the maturity of the Nigerian educational system from independence until now. As a comprehensive and historical review of the educational system/standard in Nigeria, this article examine some of the educational issues/shortcomings confronting the Nigerian people, and their inability to anticipate and strategically plan a course of action to handle the stressors. Additionally, this article also discussed the effects of globalization and how it has transformed/reshaped the fundamentalism of educational practices in Africa. As such, the problem with the Nigerian educational system is that it is lacking in many educational areas. It is recommended that the Nigerian government facilitate the development/construction of new infrastructures. For any society to grow/function properly, economically, developmentally, and/or fundamentally it needs certain infrastructures in place, i.e., standardized and structurally sound school buildings. Keywords: Nigerian educational system, UPE in Nigeria, UBE in Nigeria, Public and private universities in Nigeria

Legal translation of contract agreements is a challenge to translators as it involves combining the literary translation with the technical terminological precision. In translating legal contract agreements, a legal translator must utilize the lexical or syntactic precision and, more importantly, the pragmatic awareness of the context. This will guarantee an overall communicative process and avoid inconsistency in legal translation. However, the inability of the translator to meet these two functions in translating the contract item not only affects the contractors' comprehension of the contract item but also affects the parties' contractual obligations. In light of this, the purpose of this study was to find out how legal collocations used in contract agreements are translated from Arabic into English by student-translators in terms of (1) purely technical, (2) semi-technical, and (3) everyday vocabulary collocations. For the data collection, a multiple-choice collocation test was used to be answered by 35 EFL Iraqi undergraduate translator-students to decide on the aspects of weaknesses and strengths of their translation, thus decide on the aspects of correction. The findings showed that these students had serious problems in translating legal collocations as they lack the linguistic knowledge and pragmatic awareness needed to achieve the legal meaning and effect. They were also unable to make a difference among the three categories of legal collocations, purely technical, semi-technical, and everyday vocabulary collocations. These students should be exposed to more legal translation practices to obtain the required experience needed for their future career.

E-portfolio is a promising approach to develop teachers into reflective practitioners who show that they can adapt to new technologies, new criteria, and new environments. The current research explored the quality of EFL student teachers' e-portfolios and their attitudes towards using them. The research was conducted on 30 EFL female student teachers at Princess Noura bint Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia. The participants were engaging in practical training at schools and reflecting their skills and experiences in their e-portfolios. This research posed further questions about the relationships between the quality of EFL student teachers' e-portfolios, their attitudes towards using them and their teaching performance. In order to explore the possible answers, the participants' teaching performance were observed, their e-portfolios were evaluated by a rubric, and a 24-item questionnaire was administered to them. The results proved high proficiency level of the EFL student teachers' e-portfolios and positive attitudes towards using e-portfolios among EFL student teachers. Furthermore, the results denoted a statistically significant positive relationship between the quality of EFL student teachers' e-portfolio and their teaching performance. The results of this study may encourage policy makers to integrate the idea of e-portfolio and reflection as an effective component in teacher education and development.

This study explores the role of literacy in disadvantaged environments and the interplay between self-generated literacy practices and their conceptualization of literacy in 7 to 10-year-old Chilean pupils from two different schools located in Santiago, Chile. The study was framed within a participatory approach focused on promoting the children's agency and voice in the research. A range of second-level data materials were collected through interviews with parents, photographs and existing documents. Although at a resources-associated level the sociocultural context did not inhibit the emergence of literacy practices, the context did contribute to the children's understanding of literacy. This study raises the need for considering how children's understanding of literacy influence their involvement and learning about reading and writing as their experiences and perceptions have an important role in their learning process, particularly on how they develop their reading and writing practices. The findings implied that by raising the participants' awareness of the relevance of everyday practices in relation with reading and writing, they are likelier to feel more comfortable and empowered towards their own literacy practices. Particularly, the empowerment of children coming from a disadvantaged background would give them more opportunities to support their learning. By making the children aware of the relevance of their own perceptions and practices, the pupils could gain in confidence, be agents of their learning processes, and have more resources to succeed on the demanding school environment.

In order to verify that English speeches produced by Ethiopian speakers fall under syllable-timed or stress-timed rhythm, the study tried to examine the nature of stress and rhythm in the pronunciation of Ethiopian speakers of English by focusing on one language group speaking Amharic as a native language. Using acoustic analysis of the speeches recorded from four Amharic speaking learners and two Canadian native speakers of English, comparison was made between pitch contours and length of speeches between speech samples of Amharic speakers with native speakers who are used in this study as a point of reference. The result of acoustic analysis showed that Amharic native samples displayed actual peaks on almost all words, taking longer time of articulation. It can be said that acoustic measures the study used for prosodic assessment of Ethiopian English exemplified the most occurring production tendencies of pronunciation that learners should give attention to. English pronunciation teaching to Ethiopians should involve the practice of stressing, un-stressing and rhythm to help learners improve their pronunciation from the influence of the syllable-timed rhythm of their mother tongue.

Language assessment can be a valuable tool for providing information regarding language teaching. Given the importance of assessment that has undergone much change, there are important issues that warrant investigation, particularly those related to language instructors. Understanding the assessment beliefs of ESL instructors, especially at the tertiary level, is important since it can help improve the quality of assessment practices as well. Therefore, this study investigated English language instructors' assessment beliefs in the Malaysian context. This study adopted a cross-sectional research design. The survey method was utilized to collect data from six Malaysian universities using a purposive sampling strategy. English language instructors (n=83) were selected via purposive sampling for the study. Findings of the study revealed that English language instructors believed that the purpose of assessment was to improve teaching and learning. Regarding the assessment beliefs that are related to the assessment purposes, analyses of data showed that the items that received the highest percentage of agreement were diagnosing strength and weaknesses in students, providing information about students' progress and providing feedback to students as they learn, respectively. Although they reported using both formal and informal assessment of their students' work, English language instructors relied heavily on paper and pencil assessment while giving more weightage on formative assessment. The majority of English language instructors reported employing marking schemes for the courses they taught, carrying out sample marking and providing feedback. Finally, English language instructors reported using different types of assessments for every language skill taught in their language unit/center. The findings highlight the fact that English instructors should be more empowered in their role as the assessors of students. Their knowledge about what, how, when to assess should be developed through long professional development courses; one-shot workshops or seminars would not be enough to improve instructors' assessment literacy.

As a research methodology, qualitative research method infuses an added advantage to the exploratory capability that researchers need to explore and investigate their research studies. Qualitative methodology allows researchers to advance and apply their interpersonal and subjectivity skills to their research exploratory processes. However, in a study with an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach, the advantageous elements of the study quadruple because of the bonding relationship that the approach allows for the researchers to develop with their research participants. Furthermore, as a qualitative research approach, IPA gives researchers the best opportunity to understand the innermost deliberation of the 'lived experiences' of research participants. As an approach that is 'participant-oriented', interpretative phenomenological analysis approach allows the interviewees (research participants) to express themselves and their 'lived experience' stories the way they see fit without any distortion and/or prosecution. Therefore, utilizing the IPA approach in a qualitative research study reiterates the fact that its main objective and essence are to explore the 'lived experiences' of the research participants and allow them to narrate the research findings through their 'lived experiences'. As such, this paper discusses the historical background of phenomenology as both a theory and a qualitative research approach, an approach that has transitioned into an interpretative analytical tradition. Furthermore, as a resource tool to novice qualitative researchers, this paper provides a step-by-step comprehensive guide to help prepare and equip researchers with ways to utilize and apply the IPA approach in their qualitative research studies. More importantly, this paper also provides an advanced in-depth analysis and usability application for the IPA approach in a qualitatively conducted research study. As such, this paper completely contrasted itself from many books and articles that are written with the premise of providing useful and in-depth information on the subject-matter (phenomenology, as a qualitative approach).

The development of a literate society is a prerequisite for the emergence of a knowledge economy. The thesis advanced in this paper is that, without massive investment and promotion of literacy education, development that is targeted at the 17-point sustainable development goals (SDGs) will be bereft of citizen's empowerment, engagement, experiential values and evidential consequences in social change. Therefore, using a qualitative approach conceptual), this study explored the causal correlation that subsists between literacy education, emergence of knowledge economy and sustainable development. The study established that, literacy is basic in andragogical context for facilitating citizens' values reorientation attitudinal change for the acquisition of vocational or functional skills and operational knowledge that is beneficial to individual as well as the collective drive for a literate society for the reduction of vulnerability and increase in sustainability in development respectively as expected in the SDGs. Consequently, the resultant outcomes will be a knowledge driven economy which is essential for the attainment of the sustainable development goals as envisaged by the United Nations declaration of 25th of September, 2015.

Language learners' productive role in teaching and learning processes has recently been the focus of attention. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the effect of oral vs. written output-based instruction on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' vocabulary learning with a focus on reflective vs. impulsive learning styles. To this end, 131 learners were chosen among 182 learners by taking Nelson vocabulary proficiency test. Next, the participants received a valid Persian version of reflective thinking (Kember et al., 2000) and Barratt, Patton and Stanford (1975) BIS (Barratt's Impulsiveness Scale) 11 impulsiveness questionnaires, based on which both experimental groups were divided into impulsive and reflective subgroups, but the control group consisted of both impulsive and reflective learners. After 15 sessions of intervention and based on the results through one-way ANOVA and independent t-test it was concluded that both oral output and written output had significant effect on vocabulary learning of reflective and impulsive EFL Learners. It was also observed that the effect of both oral output and written output on impulsive (oral group's mean=21.04; written groups' mean= 21.75) learners and reflective learners (oral groups' mean=22.38; written group's mean: 22.23) is not significantly different. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

It has been found that translation is an efficient means to teach/learn grammar, syntax, and lexis of a foreign language. Meanwhile, translation is good for beginners who do not still enjoy the critical level of proficiency in their target language for expression. This study was conducted to examine the teachers and learners' perceptions of employing translation in the foreign language classroom; i.e., the effects, merits, demerits, limitations, as well as its use as a method, strategy or technique. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to collect and analyze the data from graduate and undergraduate learners (n=56) and teachers (n=44), male and female, who responded to two questionnaires. Additionally, only the teachers were interviewed to gain richer insight into their perceptions and attitudes. According to the results of independent samples t-test, there was no significant difference between teachers and learners' attitude to applying translation as a method, strategy, or technique in learning a foreign language. Based on the interview results, some teachers believed that employing translation in the foreign language context was helpful but not constantly. They claimed that translation was only effective in teaching vocabulary and grammar apart from leaners' proficiency level as it can clarify meaning. But some other teachers noted that mother tongue would interfere with learning foreign language; they considered translation as a time-consuming activity through which students cannot capture the exact meaning.

Gardener's (1985) socio-cultural model shows that culture is among the variables that can affect learning languages. In addition, a series of studies were prompted by Dörnyie (2005) to gauge the effect of motivation on language learning. This correlational study endeavored to find out any possible interaction between these variables, i.e., cultural identity, intrinsic motivation, and pronunciation knowledge of Iranian EFL learners at intermediate level. To this end, 9 items from Mathews' Cultural Identity Questionnaire (2007) (as cited in Bazrafshan, 2015) along with intrinsic/extrinsic motivation questionnaire developed by Noels, Pelletier, Clement, and Vallerand (2000) were given to the 49 intermediate Iranian EFL learners who were selected among 74 learners studying at Mahan Language Institute in Birjand. The participants' pronunciation knowledge was also measured through an interview. The results of the data analysis through Pearson correlation revealed that cultural identity shows no relationship with pronunciation knowledge of the participants, whereas more intrinsically motivated language learners gained higher scores on the pronunciation test. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

In recent years attention has been accorded to language learners' affective factors and learning styles. Two of the significant learning styles are impulsivity and reflectivity which have not been studied as much as other styles such as introversion and extroversion. This study endeavored to find out whether or not impulsivity and reflectivity have any effect on reading comprehension of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Seventy two language learners were selected from 4 intact classes out of 112 learners. Nelson proficiency test was given to the participants as homogeneity test. Next, Barrat's (1995) impulsiveness questionnaire was given to the participants. Based on the results of the questionnaire, the participants formed 3 different groups, i.e., a reflective group (n=25), impulsive group (n=25) and a control group (n=22). The control group consisted of less impulsive and less reflective learners based on Barrat's scale. An IELTS reading test (general module) was administered to the participants. Based on the results of independent samples t-test, it was found that impulsivity and reflectivity do not have any effect on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

English spelling has always been described by many language researchers and teachers as a daunting task especially for learners whose first language is not English. Accordingly, Arab ESL learners commit serious errors when they spell out English words. The primary objective of this paper is to determine the types as well as the causes of spelling errors made by Arab ESL secondary school students. In order to collect the data, a fifty-word standardised spelling test was administered to seventy Arab student participants. The students' types of spelling errors were detected, analysed and then categorised according to Cook's (1999) classification of errors namely substitution, omission, insertion and transposition. In total, 2,873 spelling errors of various categories were identified. The study findings revealed that errors of substitution constituted the highest percentage of the students' type of errors. In addition, the study indicated that the main causes of the students' spelling errors were possibly attributed to the anomalous nature of the English spelling system, the Arab students' lack of awareness of English spelling rules as well as L1 interference. Despite being conducted in an ESL context, the study was almost consistent with the findings indicated by other studies which were carried out in many Arabic EFL context. The findings suggest that spelling instruction should be emphasised while teaching English and should also be integrated with the skills and subskills of reading, writing, pronunciation and vocabulary in order to develop the students' spelling accuracy.

This study investigated the effects of morphological instructional packages as determinants of inferring word meanings in reading comprehension among secondary school students in Ekiti State. The study adopted pre-test, post-test and control quasi-experimental research using two experimental groups and one control group with a sample of 270 Senior Secondary II students selected from nine public senior secondary schools using multi-stage sampling procedure, stratified random sampling and purposive sampling. The selected schools were assigned into three major groups, with each group made up of three schools of 30 students per school (two experimental groups and one control group). Three instruments were adapted, validated and used for data collection for the study namely: Morphological Production Task on Students' Academic Ability (r = 0.74), Morphological Analysis Task of Students' Academic Ability (r = 0.83) and Achievement Test in Comprehension (0.75). Data collected were analysed using Mean, Standard Deviation, Analysis of Covariance, Scheffe post-hoc and Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA). The study showed that there was significant difference in the achievement mean score of students in reading English language comprehension between the experimental and control groups. It showed that students exposed to a combination of morphological instructional packages with Eclectic and Problem-Solving methods achieved more in inferring word meanings. It was recommended that teachers of English language should be encouraged to use morphological instructional packages combined with Problem-Solving and Eclectic methods should be given enough orientation through seminars and workshop on the importance of morphological instructional packages combined with eclectic and Problem-Solving methods towards the teaching of languages and reading comprehension in particular.

Twenty-first century education has undoubtedly witnessed changes of the definition of literacy to cope with the economic, social, and intellectual trends. Technological advances, which include skills of communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration have become key in education, especially when dealing with literacy and reading motivation. As motivation hinges around two major theoretical approaches, intrinsic and extrinsic, numerous studies argue for the first to be more sustainable in enhancing reading motivation. Accordingly, many research-based interventional programs have emerged since the late nineties with increasing popularity to offer answers to the dwindling rates in reading among youth. This article discusses traits of 21 st century education in light of trends and challenges as it probes the effectiveness of some interventional programs that are meant, and argued for, to enhance literacy skills and reading motivation.

The purpose of this study was to examine the existing practices and challenges of Integrated Functional Adult Literacy Program in eastern Ethiopia. To achieve this objective, the researchers used mixed research design. Questionnaires, interview and focus group discussions were used as viable instrument for data collection. The questionnaires were filed by 302 adult learners and 153 facilitators. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that since the introduction of adult education programs with an integrated manner, harmful traditional practices are reduced, community participation in environmental conservation are growing; societal life skills and usage of new agricultural technologies are improved. However, dysfunctional management structure, poor institutionalization, integration and coordination among the sectors, lack of financial package, trained personnel and low and inconsistent salary were the major bottlenecks in the implementation of the program. Therefore, collaborative efforts among government, NGOs and the community need to put in place to alleviate both human and non-human related problems for the effective realization of the program with pioneering structure, financing,organization and management to achieve transformational and sustainable development goals.

Several studies have been conducted to investigate the grammatical errors of Iraqi postgraduates and undergraduates in their academic writing. However, few studies have focused on the writing challenges that Iraqi pre-university students face. This research aims at examining the written discourse of Iraqi high school students and the common grammatical errors they make in their writing. The study had a mixed methods design. Through convenience sampling method, 112 compositions were collected from Iraqi pre-university students. For purpose of triangulation, an interview was conducted. The data was analyzed using Corder's (1967) error analysis model and James' (1998) framework of grammatical errors. Furthermore, Brown's (2000) taxonomy was adopted to classify the types of errors. The result showed that Iraqi high school students have serious problems with the usage of verb tenses, articles, and prepositions. Moreover, the most frequent types of errors were Omission and Addition. Furthermore, it was found that intralanguage was the dominant source of errors. These findings may enlighten Iraqi students on the importance of correct grammar use for writing efficacy.

It is important to determine whether the school attitude of secondary school students has an influence on the reading attitude. For this purpose, such a study was conducted at secondary school level. In addition, the extent to which such variables as mother tongue are determinative in this context has been examined.The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between the attitudes of 5 th , 6 th , 7 th and 8 th grade secondary school students toward the school and reading. In addition, the study also examines whether the attitude towards reading and school differs according to gender, class, and mother tongue variables. A total of 513 students (235 females, 278 males) attending secondary school in the province of Van in Turkeyparticipated in the research. In the study, Attitude Scale toward Reading developed by Alıcı (2013) is used in order to measure the attitudes of the students towards the school. Additionally, Reading Attitude Scale for Elementary Second Grade Students developed by Özbay and Uyar (2009) isused to measure the students' attitudes towards reading. According to the results, there is a moderate significant relation between students' attitudes toward the school and attitudes toward reading. According to the findings obtained from the study,it is seen that the attitudes of female students toward the school are more positive than those of male students. It is concluded that the attitudes of 5 th grade students toward the school are more positive than those of the other students. Furthermore, students whose mother tongue is Turkish have more positive reading attitudes than the students whose mother tongue is Kurdish or one of other languages (Arabic, Persian, and so on).

Vocabulary knowledge is considered important in second and foreign language learning because learners' insufficient vocabulary has been consistently reported as a significant problem in their achievement of second-language (L2) learning. Despite of numerous vocabulary studies, few of them have implemented a learner-centered and interactive approach. The current study attempted to implement an interactive explicit vocabulary instruction in an English-medium course in Taiwan. Students' attitudes and perceptions on the implementation were explored. Data were collected using both quantitative and qualitative methods via questionnaires and interviews. Fifty-six students participated in this study. The results showed that students had positive attitudes toward this approach. In addition, students' interview feedback demonstrated the most and least appreciated aspects of this approach. Educational and pedagogical suggestions for English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) teachers were given.

The study aimed at investigating the attitudes of Jordanian undergraduate students towards using computer assisted-language learning (CALL) and its effectiveness in the process of learning the English language. In order to fulfill the study's objective, the researchers used a questionnaire to collect data, followed-up with semi-structured interviews to investigate the students' beliefs towards CALL. Twenty-one of Jordanian BA students majoring in English language and literature were selected according to simple random sampling. The results revealed positive attitudes towards CALL in facilitating the process of writing assignments, gaining information; making learning enjoyable; improving their creativity, productivity, academic achievement, critical thinking skills, and enhancing their knowledge about vocabulary grammar, and culture. Furthermore, they believed that computers can motivate them to learn English language and help them to communicate and interact with their teachers and colleagues. The researchers recommended conducting a research on the same topic, taking into consideration the variables of age, gender, experience in using computers, and computer skills.

Of the four English language skills, speaking enjoys a superior status. Accordingly, it should be given high priority while teaching. In spite of its importance, teaching English speaking skill to Arab EFL learners has always been an exacting task for Arab teachers of English because it is considered a foreign language, i.e. not widely spoken or used in everyday interactions. For such a reason, Arab teachers of English are required to persistently implement new teaching strategies to tackle the problems regarding speaking skills in the classroom. Although a number of studies have been carried out to investigate the difficulties related to teaching English language skills to the Arab students in the Arab World, the current study is regarded the first study which highlights the problems in learning and teaching English speaking skill in the Saudi School in Kuala Lumpur where English is actively spoken as a second language. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the common problems which affect the teaching of English speaking skills to the Arab learners in the Saudi School in Kuala Lumpur. Additionally, it aims at exploring the areas of difficulty that prevent the Arab students from learning to speak in the English classes. This research also scrutinises the role of Kuala Lumpur ESL context on the Arab students' English language speaking skills. The current study adheres to qualitative method, and its data were collected via classroom observations and face-to-face interviews with four teachers of English and four students selected purposively. Findings included areas like learning and teaching difficulties. The study suggested some techniques to improve the teaching quality and enable the students to overcome their lack of speaking ability such as implementing communicative approach in the English classes.

Emotions are an indispensable part of second language learning. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between the use of language learning strategies and positive emotions. The present study adopted a sequential mixed methods design. The participants were 300 Malaysian ESL undergraduates selected through stratified random sampling from 5 public universities in Malaysia. The quantitative data were collected through two sets of questionnaires: (a) Oxford's (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), and (b) Fredrickson's (2009) modified Differential Emotional Scale (mDES). The qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. With regard to the quantitative data analysis, a series of t-tests and correlational analyses were used. The data from the interviews were analysed qualitatively. A positive significant correlation was found between positive emotions and overall language learning strategy use. Also, the qualitative results of the study indicated that the learners who experienced more positive emotions tended to use a greater variety of language learning strategies. The findings of the study emphasise the importance of students' positive emotions in their use of language learning strategies. It might be suggested that teachers by designing the classroom settings and instructions which promote positive emotions can inspire learners to use language learning strategies more frequently and with a greater variety which in sequence relate to learners' language learning proficiency.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) has potential to help language learners; however, it has received scant attention. The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of NLP techniques on reading comprehension of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners at an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course. To achieve this goal, two intact classes of students were selected to form an experimental group (n=30) and a control group (n=30). A reading pretest (based on the course content) was given to all participants. The sensory learning styles of the participants were diagnosed using Reid's (1987) leaning style questionnaire, and the participants in the experimental group were familiarized with NLP techniques to be able to implement these techniques in their reading. In the control group, the conventional approach to teach ESP reading was used. Considering the analysis of posttest results through ANCOVA, it was found that implementation of NLP techniques can have significant effect on reading comprehension of Iranian undergraduate EFL learners. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

This study aims to examine the EFL learners' perception and process of writing development through using a digital storytelling tool, called Storyjumper. To do so, 15 intermediate-level students were participants of the study. The participants' writing development was frequently assessed through a series of repeated writing tests before and after the treatment during one term of study, and the significance of change was examined by Repeated measure ANOVA (rANOVA). The researcher also used paired sample t-test to compare mean difference between two sets of observations. In addition, to gain an in-depth picture of fluctuations of the process of writing development, learners' views were obtained through both semi-structured interviews and self-reported reflective journals which were also recorded and analyzed. The qualitative independent variable (stories produced via Storyjumper) was the within-subjects factor, and the dependent quantitative variable on which each participant was measured (repeated writing tests) was the between-subjects factor. The findings of both quantitative and qualitative data analyses show that there was a significant difference between EFL learners' writing development before and after receiving the treatment. Moreover, majority of the learners admitted that their experiences in using Storyjumper were positive. As a result, this study is contributory in its own rights as it underscores the significance of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool for the EFL learners' writing enhancement.

The first year of teaching poses massive challenges that lead to attrition among novice teachers. School communities often fail to provide adequate support to novice teachers to help them adapt to their new professional environments. In Saudi Arabia, attrition among novice teachers is a significant problem that hinders the development of the educational system. This study was conducted to examine the challenges that Saudi Arabian EFL novice teachers face as they transit into their first teaching jobs, and to determine whether these teachers have adequate support or would benefit from a formal induction process. Two kinds of data collection methods were used in this study, namely quantitative and qualitative. In this mixed methods study, 150 novice teachers were surveyed and 5 teachers were selected for semi-structured interviews. The quantitative analysis of the data was accomplished using descriptive and inferential statistics to answer the research questions. The qualitative analysis of the data was accomplished by interpreting the responses provided to the interview questions. The findings indicated that the challenges surrounding novice teachers hinder them in their development as new teachers. The most conspicuous challenges reported by the study participants were dealing with low English proficiency students and managing the negative attitudes of students toward learning English. This report also determined additional perceptible challenges: adoption of various teaching methods and the establishment of a student-centered approach, student behavior management, course planning, dealing with individual differences, and communication with parents. This study showed that these teachers had left their pre-service training with a very limited knowledge and skills for dealing with the reality of teaching. Mentoring and observing veteran teachers were identified by novice teachers as the two most beneficial strategies for implementing a teacher induction program that could mitigate the challenges they face in their first few years.

This research paper analyzes the extent to which Arabic-speaking EFL learners are aware of the English plural morphemes and whether they are able to recognize them in context. The study also investigates whether the participants' English proficiency level may play a role in their ability to recognize these morphemes. For the purpose of the study, we designed a Grammaticality Judgment Task (GJT), which was by sixty students from Al Ain University of Science and Technology, Al Ain, The United Arab Emirates (UAE), to elicit data. The sentences used in the test were adapted and modified from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) in order to suit the students' English proficiency level. The results revealed that there is a little awareness of the English plural morphemes among Arabic-speaking EFL learners. In addition, the participants' English proficiency level had a little effect on the participants' use of English plural morphemes. Finally, the paper concluded with some pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research.