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Online learning can be considered an important means of education during emergencies. However, educational institutions, including students and teachers, need to have enough preparation, as a result, many issues, such as challenges, the effectiveness of assessment methods, and attitudes toward learning online, have emerged. This study describes the reality of using the Blackboard platform to learn EFL listening and speaking skills from a student perspective. It examines students' experiences and attitudes in learning EFL listening and speaking skills via Blackboard. Also, it reflects students' views on the acquired EFL listening and speaking skills, challenges of learning via Blackboard, and the effectiveness of assessment methods. The study followed the descriptive-diagnostic approach to achieve its objectives. The results showed that students highly valued the Blackboard platform to learn listening and speaking skills. Also, they liked to be assessed using the online assessment methods. In addition, students' most technical problems were recorded during exams and virtual classes due to poor Internet. Furthermore, they improved their learning of listening and speaking skills via Blackboard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An educational priority in a curricular approach to education is an idealistic assertion that defines what students will learn due to participating in educational opportunities provided by an institution or division at a particular college or university (What Is Educational Priority | IGI Global, n.d.). There is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic has created the necessity of many educational priorities (beyond traditional teaching-learning practices) at different levels of education, which can play a significant role in ELT pedagogy in the present time. Therefore, this study follows a qualitative approach where I conducted semi-structured interviews with 6 tertiary-level EFL teachers from 5 private universities and 4 TESOL students from 2 private universities in Bangladesh, to determine the extent those institutions have incorporated the post-pandemic educational priorities, mainly digital resources, empathy, mental well-being, blended classrooms, alternative assessments, 21st-century education and skills, SDG (Sustainable Development Goals), and benignant usage of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in ELT. I analyzed the interview data through a thematic analysis while considering the participants' beliefs, attitudes, insights, and experiences. Finally, this research has explored all these priorities and provided pertinent recommendations on incorporating such priorities for further development of the Bangladeshi EFL context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers as educators should have adequate competency in using a variety of media and knowledge to deliver the information to their students in order to use information and communication technologies (ICT) effectively. This study explores teachers' competencies of ICT in their teaching and students' attitudes toward ICT in learning English. Three English teachers and their 90 students of eleven graders at one secondary school in one district in East Kalimantan participated in this study. The data were gathered from semi-structured interviews, observations, and questionnaires. Using a qualitative approach design concerning phenomenological perspective, the content analysis results have revealed that approximately 70% of the students had a positive attitude toward ICT, while the teachers' competencies were varied from mostly incorporating all the ICT tools to rarely using them in their classroom. The results suggest that English teachers need to have more professional development programs related to ICT in order to understand and be able to operate the ICT media and tools to teach English. EFL students should aware of their attitude toward ICT in this modern era and firmly use the advancement of ICT for educational purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the developments of the internet and digital technology, teachers can have better opportunities to apply technology to improve learning and teaching a second or foreign language. When opting for any kind of technology, educational authorities should consider different aspects of employing technological tools in the process of learning and teaching. This study set out to explore the attitudes of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers toward the educational use of Skype and its integration into the EFL classroom. The participants were five university professors who had experienced Skype-based instruction at Mustansiriya University in Iraq. A qualitative methodology, involving semi-structured interviews, was adopted for data collection. The findings indicated that there was a general positive tendency towards Skype-based instruction in higher education. Moreover, the results showed that teachers' beliefs, intentions, and perspectives on technology are significant factors which can determine how technology is integrated into the classroom. The teachers who had traditional views of language teaching and learning preferred blended instruction (in favor of more traditional methods). Those who held more constructivist conceptions of teaching and learning desired dominant technology-based EFL classrooms. The findings of this study may shed some light on how educational authorities can facilitate the integration of social media into EFL contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on self-efficacy questionnaire data collected at the beginning and end of the TOEIC course, TOEIC scores and focus group discussions data from participating students at a technical university in Vietnam. While the quantitative data reveal positive effects in terms of TOEIC self-efficacy, the qualitative data show how changes in self-efficacy were moderated by the way students cognitively processed self-efficacy information. Results indicate there was a positive change in students' self-efficacy after joining the course. Self-efficacy was an important variable of students' TOEIC achievements and affected their achievement positively. Mastery experiences appeared to be the most influential source of TOEIC self-efficacy. Results are discussed as they relate to previous research and recommendations are made to include the development of self-efficacy in TOEIC instruction. The paper highlights that by targeting sources of self-efficacy, teachers can empower students with control over their own TOEIC ability development. Generally, TOEIC courses should promote learning environments that foster important sources of self-efficacy. Besides, course material and feedback should be delivered in a way that levels of self-efficacy are increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of English Teaching & Learning is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this study, combined method using pre and post oral proficiency tests, observation, and focus group interviews were used to examine the effectiveness of using flipped classroom model on English speaking performance. The study population consists of 27 undergraduate students who were attending the course of Advanced Communication Skills, in the academic year of 2018. A purposeful sampling technique, specifically quasi-experimental procedure was employed in this study. The analysis of quantitative and qualitative data showed that the application of FCM was an effective approach in the EFL speaking classroom. The results of paired-sample t-test indicated that there was a significant difference between pre and post oral proficiency tests t (26) = - 14.83, p<0.001. Moreover, it was found that students' involvement and willingness to participate in the English conversational tasks and their level of commitment and English speaking performance have increased gradually. In light of the findings, the study recommended encouraging teachers to employ modern technologies in their teaching strategies, particularly FCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of technology in educational settings all around the world has changed the methods of teaching and assessment in the last few decades. Unfortunately, the shortcomings of e-learning in Iran have deprived students of many advantages of it. This research paper tries to answer the questions regarding the effect of e-portfolio on the students' writing proficiency in the context of learning English as a foreign language and the learners' use of self-regulated learning strategies. Furthermore, the attitude of students towards the use of e-portfolio in the writing class was investigated based on the data obtained through the survey, teacher's field notes, and teachers' observations. The data obtained from English majors at State and Azad Universities in Rasht, north of Iran, was both qualitatively and quantitatively analysed. The findings revealed that the use of e-portfolio had a significant effect on students' writing proficiency and their use of self-regulated strategies. The evidence from the study also showed learners' positive attitude towards the use of e-portfolio, mainly due to its accessibility, convenience, and the feedback they could receive through it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between English Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' willingness and conformity with post-method pedagogy and their teaching effectiveness. The participants comprised 134 EFL teachers teaching and 487 EFL learners studying at different language institutes in several cities of Iran. Their selection was based on random sampling and the participation was entirely voluntary. In this study, two instruments were used: post method questionnaire and Effective teaching questionnaire. Pearson's correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling (SEM) were run to analyze the causal relationships among the components. The results of Structural Equation Modeling demonstrated that effective teaching is positively and significantly predicted by all three subscales of post-method: teacher autonomy, teacher sense of social justice, and their sense of academic enthusiasm. Also, effective teaching is positively and significantly associated with total post method. Furthermore, effective teaching has the highest positive correlation with teacher enthusiasm, and the lowest positive correlation with teacher autonomy. Finally, these findings were discussed with reference to the context of Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Instruction is the property of International Journal of Instruction and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Communicative Language Teaching is highly advocated by many applied linguists and English language teachers as an effective language teaching approach. But, the implementation of CLT in English as Foreign Language (EFL) context has encountered a huge number of difficulties. These difficulties vary widely from country to country. Bangladeshi English teachers also mention some problems that they face in applying CLT approach. They also uphold perceptions about the CLT principles. These perceptions and beliefs have direct impact on their teaching practice in the classroom. This study tries to find out a co-relation between their perceptions of CLT and impediments to implementation of CLT in secondary level English classes. This study also tries to find out whether the current approach-fetish ELT education system needs to be changed. The study was based on data collected from 20 secondary level English teachers of Bangladesh through questionnaires with fixed alternatives and unstructured interviews with the teachers. The answers were tabulated numerically and analyzed for interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was an endeavor to investigate Iranian EFL teachers' awareness of critical pedagogy and its principles. It also intended to look for their viewpoints about the practicality of implementing critical pedagogy in our classrooms. In addition, the study made attempts to seek the barriers that hinder the application of critical pedagogy in Iranian teaching contexts. In order to achieve the goals of this study, 20 Iranian EFL instructors teaching at university, high schools, and language institutes were interviewed. Since the study employs a mixed-method design, the researcher benefited from both a critical pedagogy questionnaire, developed by Maki (2011), and in-depth interviews. Approaches based on grounded theory were utilized in order to analyze the qualitative data; in addition, statistical procedures such as descriptive statistics and factor analysis were used to analyze the quantitative data. The results indicated that the majority of Iranian EFL instructors are aware of the principles of critical pedagogy and support the helpfulness of such pedagogy and its premises. The study revealed that in spite of language teachers' awareness of critical pedagogy and their agreement with the positively effective CP principles, they rarely apply this methodology in their teaching. Further investigations revealed that the top-down educational system, class size, issues related to teachers' burn-out, limited class time and teachers' insufficient information about the learners' background and learning styles are the main barriers which prevent Iranian language teachers from applying the principles of critical pedagogy in their teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to carry out a theoretical survey on the development of evaluation theories for foreign language textbooks. This study also focuses on recognizing the importance of textbook development in the field of not only teaching English as a foreign language, but also teaching Korean as a foreign language. Recently, the field of teaching Korean as a foreign language has made progress and we should admit that the theoretical basis of Korean as a foreign language is closely related to English as a foreign language. So it is necessary to adapt the theories for evaluating EFL textbooks in the field of KFL. Hence, this study intends to pursue three aims: the first is to study the existing theories of English textbook analysis, classifying them by the time (1970s, 1980s and 1990s), the second is to examine the transitional aspects of theoretical analysis of English textbooks, in order to develop a textbook of Korean as a foreign language, and the third purpose is to suggest a direction for which the future textbooks of KFL (Korean as a foreign language) and EFL (English as a foreign language) should progress through studying the theoretical analysis of textbooks for teaching English as a foreign language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology is the property of Editorial of the University of Almeria (Spain) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of genre-based in-class L2 writing instruction on Korean middle school students' writing ability and their perception change toward L2 writing. The research was conducted with 595 middle school students in the third grade from two co-ed schools in Gwangju Metropolitan City, Korea. Five sessions of writing instruction using a diary genre over five weeks were provided to an experimental group, while no explicit writing instruction was provided to a control group. The experimental group was exposed to 13 writing sample texts, analyzed and identified the characteristics of the target genre, and then constructed a diary text in collaboration with their peers. Following the treatment, both groups were required to write a diary entry in 40 minutes and the students' writings were rated on content, organization, and language use. The results showed that only the experimental group, provided with explicit genre-based L2 writing instruction, showed statistically significant improvement in each category in the post-test. In addition, a set of questionnaires and interview data revealed that the participants' attitudes and perceptions toward L2 writing were positively affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a qualitative research into EFL undergraduate students' intercultural experiences with a focus on feelings of security and dignity in a Thai context. Thirty-eight students voluntarily participated in the study and their encounters revealed that they had to go through processes of constructing and negotiating their multiple identities in three different stages. The identities they constructed and negotiated associated with not only English inability they perceived but also their negative and positive emotions they felt before, during and after interactions. Their Thai cultural background deeply embedded in their being, such as reluctance to impose (kreng-jai) upon interactions and fear of face-loss, appeared to influence the processes. Being refused, majoring in Business English, expectation in effective communication and unintelligibility were key situational features attacking their face leading the students to intercultural conflicts and lack of security and dignity. Their foreign interlocutors' friendliness, willingness to interact and language accommodation were key situational features restoring their face. The study offers useful insights for EFL teachers and learners as well as implications for the present context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The developments in technology with prompt growth of the Internet use in education have resulted in a proliferation in distance education. Distance learning can be a real alternative to on-campus learning provided that programme designers do not neglect the core issues of education, i.e., the accommodation of learners' needs and requirements. Addressing learning styles of individuals help the instructor respond appropriately to learners' expectations and recognize the patterns in which learners tend to concentrate more. Lack of close monitoring of learners in distance education and observing their step by step progress can create problems for those students who are not properly equipped to take charge of their own learning process. Undoubtedly, this adjustment for EFL learners involving in conventional face-to-face English classrooms is not easy and may lead to more challenges and struggles on the part of learners. The current research on different learning style models aims at investigating which of the frequently cited models might be more appropriate to an EFL context. Therefore, it may be of particular interest to e-instructors and instructional designers of online education, especially in the context of the study, Iran, to find out which learning style model might be more suitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]