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As phrasal verbs are one of the most difficult topics of English grammar and many errors are made while using these verbs, one has to pay attention to the problem and the results of this thesis. This study endeavors to investigate the main causes of the avoidance or incorrect use of phrasal verbs among the Estonian learners of English studying at the University of Tartu. The first part includes the theoretical background of the use of phrasal verbs and defines the important terms for the thesis., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5414443*est

This master’s thesis studies Estonian native speaker students’ views on English-medium instruction (EMI) at the University of Tartu. The growth of EMI in higher education is a situation many countries face, including Estonia. It is accompanied by a set of problems ranging from societal to personal. The opinions of Estonian native speaker English as a foreign language (EFL) students at the University of Tartu on this topic have not been researched before. The aim is to answer three research questions: 1. What are Estonian native speaker EFL students’ general attitudes towards EMI in Estonia and at the University of Tartu? 2. What do Estonian native speaker EFL students consider the benefits of EMI? 3. What challenges do Estonian native speaker EFL students experience in EMI?, https://www.ester.ee/record=b5461663*est

The lack of engagement is a problem for many students in school and a number of potential ways to solve this issue have been proposed. One such solution is the implementation of gamification. Gamification is “the use of game design elements in non-game contexts” (Deterding et al. 2011: 2). Since games have been characterised as fun, gratifying, involving, and motivating (Prensky 2001: 106), including elements from games into non-game contexts should lead to increased engagement in students. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse whether a gamified activity has any positive effect on the engagement of younger, 6th grade students – a relatively underexplored age group. Additionally, this thesis aims to analyse how three game elements – points, time constraints, and cooperation – affect the engagement of these students. The scope of the study conducted in this thesis is small, but since the students participating in it are part of an underrepresented age group, this thesis still hopes to provide valuable data for further research., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5414717*est

This paper aims to bring more attention to the understudied field of equestrian terminology. It studies the semantic change of 15 terms in equestrian specialty field which have been divided into two categories: ‘colours’ and ‘gaits and movements’. The purpose is to determine whether the terms originate from equestrianism or outside of the field, whether one of the categories is more likely to originate from either one of them, if the terms that originated in equestrianism have their meanings broadened outside of it, and processes of semantic change are identified., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5375760*est

This bachelor’s thesis aims to analyse idioms describing three basic emotions – happiness, sadness, and anger – in the British and American varieties of English using Corpus of Contemporary American English and British National Corpus for frequency counts. Idioms make language colourful and vivid. Idioms are frequently used to express emotions. However, learning and understanding idioms can be difficult. Furthermore, materials, such as textbooks and idiom dictionaries can often contain idioms that are not frequently used, making the studying of said idioms impractical. The findings of the thesis at hand show which emotion idioms are used frequently and which are not., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5375260*est

Slang can be found in all spoken languages in the world, and it has affected the shaping of language itself over time, for better or for worse. The different ways of using slang in one’s daily life can often vary based on region and culture. This work specifically focuses on the English-speaking regions of Great Britain, America and Australia, and compares and contrasts the slang terms for the word “insanity” in those areas, and includes some more modern internet slang in contrast to the more classical one. The aim of this work is to contrast how different regional slangs have affected one another and how they have developed., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5375806*est

This bachelor’s thesis analyses how future is expressed in English and Estonian. This analysis is based on comparing the English book Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett and its Estonian translation Vahid! Vahid!. The aim of this bachelor’s thesis is to find out how the meanings of the English verb constructions will, shall, and be going to are conveyed in the Estonian language., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5375640*est

A translator's work on a novel can be regarded as impactful and often times can be considered the item which could support the success of work. For that reason, translations should usually try to convey the meaning of the text, but also attempt to keep the original style and narrative tools in place. Attempting to keep those things intact could prove a challenge to translators for various reasons, and diverting from the original form can end the translation up with translational deforming tendencies, most famously listed by Antoine Berman. The aim of this Bachelor’s thesis is to analyze the deforming tendencies visible in the translation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, specifically focusing on the journal entries of Jonathan Harker., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5375277*est

The aim of this thesis is to give an overview of the terminology and a summary of studies that have been done on genitive alteration. Both native and non-native English will be covered. The thesis features a forced choice questionnaire that was carried out with Estonian high school students to see their genitive choice. The results of the questionnaire are compared to the results of the same questionnaire carried out with native speakers of English. The first part of the thesis will introduce important terminology. Previous studies on genitive alteration with both native and non-native speakers will be analysed. The empirical part contains the forced choice questionnaire where the method is described and results are given as graphs. The third part will be the discussion of the results of the questionnaire, followed by the conclusion of this thesis., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5304644*est

Although language makes use of formulaic patterns, knowing and using these formulaic patterns of words can prove to be quite difficult for non-native speakers of English. Since knowledge on formulaic language can both improve learners’ comprehension and production of the language, it might be important for learners to familiarize themselves with these formulaic patterns. The aims of this thesis are to analyze whether or not non-native speakers use formulaic language more in their writing or in their speech as well as to compare the formulaic language use between native and non-native spoken language. Therefore a corpus-based analysis was conducted, which utilized the Tartu Corpus of Estonian Learner English (TCELE) for the written corpus, Loucain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage (LINDSEI-EST) for the non-native spoken corpus, and Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MICASE) for the native spoken corpus., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5375614*est

Although CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is gaining momentum across the world due to its dual focus, the implementation of the methodology faces several challenges. One of the obstacles is the lack of adequate CLIL teaching materials. The current thesis aims to fill in the gap by compiling teaching materials on the principles of the CLIL methodology for teaching medieval towns in the UK and Estonia in form 7. The created teaching materials were piloted in two schools in history and English lessons. Two practising teachers (one of history and the other of English) were asked to evaluate the materials to receive feedback on their quality and enhance the learning process by providing suggestions for further improvements., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5304652*est

When translating a foreign language text, especially a literary text targeted at a specific age group, the choice of a translation method may prove to be difficult. The aim of this paper is to map and determine possible translation strategies used for the translation of flora, fauna and the setting in C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5375754*est

Phrasal verbs are an integrate part of English grammar and often difficult for foreign learners of English (EFL) to grasp. In addition to understanding the meaning of phrasal verbs, it is important for learners to know how and when it is most appropriate to use them. The aim of this thesis is to analyze, by replicating the study by Gilquin (2015), the use of phrasal verbs by Estonian-speaking EFL learners in spoken and written language. More specifically, this paper investigates how often Estonian-speaking EFL learners use phrasal verbs in spoken and written language, which phrasal verbs are used most frequently, and how their use compares to the use of phrasal verbs by native speakers of English. To achieve this, a corpus-based analysis was carried out. The corpus used for written language analysis was the Tartu Corpus of Estonian Learner English (TCELE) and for spoken language analysis, the Estonian subcorpus of the Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage (LINDSEI-EST) was used., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5376042*est

This thesis analyses a set of 20 recent Japanese loanwords from the Oxford English Dictionary Online, which have appeared most recently in an English context to find out which loanwords and how often they occur in the English Web 2015 corpus and what topic they are related to., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5374937*est

The purpose of this MA thesis is to research motivation to learn English by the students who are already more advanced in the language than their classmates. In addition, factors that may have contributed to students becoming advanced are studied. Being a basic school English teacher, I have come into contact with many students who are more advanced in English than their classmates. For this reason I decided that for my MA thesis I would like to know what are the factors that have contributed to such results and what are the opportunities that the more advanced students have had for learning English compared to regular students. The research questions posed in the current thesis are as follows: How does students‟ social background influence their English skills? How do students‟ everyday habits influence their English skills? What are the motivators for regular and advanced students to learn English?, https://www.ester.ee/record=b5237221*est

The present thesis focuses on the analysis of the EOP (English for Occupational Purposes) coursebook Career Paths: Beauty Salon. The author of the paper is an English teacher at Tartu Vocational Education Center and is bound to use the book. The aim of this thesis is to determine how beneficial the coursebook is for students having to deal with specialized English. The goal is to detect if students reach the necessary professional requirements in addition to language skills. The study takes into consideration two different specialties from Tartu Vocational Education Center: cosmetology and hairdressing. This analysis is done by comparing the coursebook itself to the curricula, provided by the school and conducting a questionnaire among some of the students., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5239047*est

Literature provides valuable authentic material for language learning. Reading expands vocabulary, develops reading and writing skills, and, through the acquisition of new vocabulary, also speaking and listening skills. Still, there are several reasons why both teachers and students are apprehensive about reading. In order to facilitate reading in the classroom, online reading courses could be used. Teacher can have students write blog posts about what they have read, as this develops students’ writing skills and digital competences. In order to find out if an online reading course boosts students’ motivation to read, and develop their writing skills, an elective course was compiled. This thesis provides the literature review on the bases of the course and the description and outcomes of the course developed., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5237184*est

Writing is often seen as culturally specific, learned behaviour (Brown 2001: 334). A student who is able to write an excellent essay in one’s mother tongue might not be able to do it in a foreign language (Kaplan 2001). Thus, essay writing is a skill which needs to be taught consistently. When writing an English essay, one has to consider several aspects; in addition to using appropriate vocabulary and grammar along with correct spelling and punctuation, development of ideas, as well as requirements established to organisation, are to be paid attention to. To foster that students focus on the content rather than just the accuracy of their essays, principles of the process approach could be beneficial., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5195645*est

The aim of this master thesis is to design a set of study materials for welding students at Viljandi Vocational Training Centre (VIKK). The author’s interest in the topic arose from the practical point of view; namely, from the experience of lacking suitable study materials for ESP courses generally and more precisely, for welding students at VIKK. The main research question that arose when compiling such a study was what vocabulary should be taught for welding students at VIKK? The first chapter of this paper gives an overview of ESP and materials design; in addition, examines ESP and corpus studies and analyses the national curriculum and school curriculum of welding. The second chapter describes the Brigham Young University Wikipedia corpus and how a welding sub-corpus was built by using its online application. The results of the analysis were used for creating a welding word list for students at VIKK. The created vocabulary list includes terms in English and Estonian. Additionally, based on this vocabulary list six exemplary exercises were compiled., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5237861*est

A great deal of studies have been conducted on vocabulary learning; however, there are still relatively few effective vocabulary learning materials available for upper secondary school students. Research has shown that in the aspect of language learning, mobile apps are quite helpful for memorization and vocabulary learning due to the fact that language learning apps are equipped with vocabulary-learning flashcards and games. The aim of this study is to determine whether mobile app Memrise helps improve the memorization of vocabulary and how Memrise can be integrated into 10th grade students’ regular class learning routine., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5237242*est

The current Master’s thesis illustrates how a literary analysis course in English based on the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe was created and taught in one of the upper secondary schools in Estonia to develop critical thinking skills in students. The thesis consists of a literature review and an empirical part. The literature review concentrates on the aims and methods of teaching literature and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The empirical part focuses on the process of creating, teaching and analyzing the course taught. Firstly, it explains the reasons for choosing the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Secondly, the main aims of the course are provided. Thirdly, the introspective analysis of the teaching experience is presented. The conclusion summarizes the main findings of the thesis., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5237160*est

Computer learner corpora (CLC) are electronic stored collections of either written or spoken texts which are produced by learners of a language, as a foreign language (Granger 2004: 124). Computer Learner Corpus research is a fairly new and growing discipline. The problem with most corpora which have been compiled so far is that they are not publicly available, thus they are not accessible for researchers outside of the specific corpus team. In Estonia, studying learner language and using corpora has become more and more popular during the recent years, yet there is still much to learn about the Estonian learners of English. There have been some studies about written learner corpora but studying and compiling a spoken learner corpus is not a common practice yet, mainly because compiling a spoken corpus is a more time-consuming process., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5237234*est

This BA thesis investigates the effect of the linguistic interference phenomenon known as ‘false friends’ among Russian-speaking school students who study English as a foreign language. The thesis focuses on one particular type of false friends - partial false friends. The hypothesis of the thesis is: semantic (partial) false friends are the source of negative transfer (direct influence of the mother tongue on the target language) for Russian-speaking learners of English. The thesis consists of two main parts: the theoretical and the empirical part. The theoretical part gives an overview of the main concepts of the field and describes the error and a contrastive analysis used in the thesis., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5239051*est

The present thesis focuses on the study of the students` awareness of the varieties of English. The aim of the present thesis is to find out to what extent the students of English studies at the University of Tartu are aware of three most popular varieties of English (British, American and Australian), which factors influence the usage of a particular variety and which variety the students use the most. Furthermore, two thesis statements were formed: 1. Students know and use American and British English more than Australian English; 2. Students are able to differentiate between the varieties and in their language use stick to one particular variety., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5238984*est

Finding activities that would motivate students so that they want to study and, as a result, make them acquire information better has always been an important issue for teachers around the world. One possible solution could be using teaching methods that would match students’ personality types. The aim of this MA thesis, therefore, is to find out if students, in fact, like the activities they should presumably prefer based on their personality type, establishing, thus, a connection between students’ preferences for learning activities and their personality types. The study was conducted in a group of 8th grade students in Estonia and the DISC personality testing model was used., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5237249*est

Listening was considered a passive skill for a long time, but recently the approach to teaching listening has evolved and systematically developed. Nowadays listening is acknowledged as a macro skill in foreign language learning which provokes awareness of the target language (Renukadevi 2014). Thus, listening is a skill which needs to be taught consistently. Many scholars, for example Vandergrift (2004), Rost (2009), Masalimova (2016) and Gilakjani (2016) claim that listening comprehension is an interactive process and needs to be taught with the help of special strategies. They have brought out the advantages of using the strategies in foreign language classrooms to improve students listening comprehension., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5237871*est

During the recent years, an increasing number of students with learning difficulties (LD) has been considered as a global trend. When learning difficulties occur and are proved by the consultants of special education, further learning according to the Simplified National Curriculum for Basic Schools (SNCBS) may be suggested. In Estonia, in the academic year of 2018/2019 there were 1311 students in the second and third stage of basic education studying according to the SNCBS. Although Estonian educational system is offering students an opportunity to study according to the SNCBS, teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) is not supported by suitable study materials teachers can rely on. The aim of the present MA thesis is to discuss the principles used when teaching EFL to students with LD and to compile a study material for students with LD learning EFL according to the SNCBS. The main focus is on teaching reading. However, the created study material does not cover the entire course. The author of the present paper has just started compiling the material and on the basis of the experience the conclusions are drawn how the process of creating materials can be organized and what should be taken into account., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5237187*est

The aim of the current thesis is to find out what are the Estonian ninth grade students’ beliefs about learning English in and outside the classroom. This thesis is influenced by similar research conducted by Alastair Henry and Christina Cliffordson in Sweden in 2017. Their research shows that there are many factors that affect how actively students engage in learning in formal situations. English in the context of Estonia and Sweden are somewhat similar and students tend to spend a lot of their free time doing English-mediated activities outside classroom. This trend indicates that looking at students’ use of English outside the classroom is a potential research area also in the context of Estonia., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5237212*est

Many researchers, for example, Day and Bamford (1998), Prowse (2002), Maley (2008) and Grabe (2009) have brought out a number of key characteristics of extensive reading in language learning. Simply put, extensive reading is reading a lot of books that are easy to understand without a dictionary, so that the activity is enjoyable and fun. It is different from intensive reading which is reading a short and troublesome text slowly and deliberately. (Donaghy, 2016) The main purpose of the thesis is to answer the questions whether the amount of reading done has diminished recently and if it has, then how to motivate students to read more literature or any other interesting text during their free time. It also tries to find out the attitudes of students towards home-reading and, based on the results of the research carried out, to suggest procedures that could be used in home-reading lessons. In order to study students’ home reading activities and to enquire into their interest in reading books in general, the author of the present thesis carried out a questionnaire, in three schools in Tartu and one near the city (schools designated with the letters A, B, C and D). Schools A and B are schools with selective student in-take, which are compared to one regular school in Tartu (C) and one outside of the city (D). Making use of other research papers done in the same field and comparing the findings with the author’s own research, the author of the present thesis will suggest activities for an extensive reading programme. The thesis will consist of an introduction, three chapters (chapter I will contain the review of pertinent literature, chapter II will talk about study methodology, its data, analysis and the results, chapter III will contain the materials of home reading lessons that could be added to the extensive reading program) and a conclusion. The conclusion summarizes the results of the paper., https://www.ester.ee/record=b5156574*est

Käesoleva magistrtiöö eesmärk on uurida, millised on inglise keele õpetajate arusaamad kollegiaalsest tagasisidestamisest ja selle praktiseerimisest, toetamaks õpetajate professionaalset arengut. Töös on püstitatud järgmised uurimisküsimused: 1) Millised on õpetajate arusaamad kollegiaalsest tagasisidestamisest enne tunnivaatlusprotsessis osalemist? 2) Millised on inglise keele õpetajate arusaamad kollegiaalsest tagasisidestamisest pärast kollegiaalses tagasisidestamisprotsessis osalemist?, http://www.ester.ee/record=b5142555*est

The topic for this research was influenced by the discussions in the field of education on the topics of 21st century learning skills and the concept of a changed learning approach. The aim of this paper is to use authentic texts found in English newspapers with the purpose to teach higher order thinking skills to students at upper-secondary school level as part of English as a second language classes. So as to answer the research question on how newspaper articles could be implemented to teach and assess the acquisition of higher order thinking skills, a set of exemplary tasks are compiled and conclusions are drawn from both the studentsʼ answers and lesson observations. The study is organised into three chapters. The first chapter gives an overview of the researches of thinking and higher order thinking processes. The second chapter of this thesis looks upon the advantages and disadvantages of using newspaper articles as authentic material in language classes. This chapter also focuses on the issues of choosing suitable material as well as on the production of different tasks that could be designed and used in an English class. The third chapter includes an empirical case study conducted among my students from forms 10 and 11 at Rocca al Mare School. An introductory questionnaire was conducted to map the understanding of critical thinking as the highest of the thinking skills, as well as the studentsʼ attitude to the texts found in course books., http://www.ester.ee/record=b5147720*est

Teksti sõnaliikideks jaotamine sündis koos lingvistikaga, kuid selle protsessi automatiseerimine on muutunud võimalikuks alles viimastel kümnenditel ning seda tänu arvutite võimsuse kasvule. Tekstitöötluse algoritmid on alates sellest ajast iga aastaga üha paranenud. Selle magistritöö raames pannakse üks selle valdkonna lipulaevadest proovile korpuse peal, mis hõlmab eesti keelt emakeelena kõnelevate inglise keele õppijate tekste (TCELE korpus). Korpuse suurus on antud hetkel ca. 25 000 sõna (127 kirjalikku esseed) ning 11 transkribeeritud intervjuud (~100 minutit). Eesmärk on hinnata TCELE ja muude sarnaste korpuste veaprotsenti. Töö esimeses osas tutvustatakse lugejale korpuse kokkupanemist, annoteerimist ja väljavõtet (ingl. ​retrieval​ ) ning antakse ülevaade sõnaliikide määramisest ja veaprotsendist. Pärast seda antakse ülevaade varasematest uuringutest ning vastatakse muuhulgas, järgnevatele küsimustele: mida on eelnevalt tehtud? Mis olid uuringute leiud? Millised automaatsed märgendajad (ingl. ​taggers) ja sõnaliikide loendeid (ingl. ​tagset​ ) kasutati?, http://www.ester.ee/record=b5142572*est

The MA thesis titled “YouTube video-based additional teaching materials to the textbook series I Love English: Grades 7, 8 and 9” presents teaching material based on YouTube videos. The author chose four topics from the I Love English textbooks published in 2005 and 2008: “Scotland”, “On the Farm”, “Reading Books” and “Travelling Tips” and complemented the textbooks with video material. The first chapter gives an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of using videos in teaching languages generally and then more specifically, using YouTube videos in teaching. According to researchers, using videos appropriately in teaching may assist the development of several language skills simultaneously and can be highly beneficial to learners. In contrast, using videos in teaching can be time consuming and depends on the equipment available. The second chapter explains why in the author’s opinion was it necessary to complement the textbook series and how video material could be additionally used. To better match some of the criteria of the National Curriculum of Basic Schools in Estonia (2011) and the communicative approach suitable for today’s learners, the author compiled additional video material complementing the textbooks that were published before 2011. In addition to four language skills (listening, reading, writing and speaking), the video material compiled focused on developing digital competence and communicative skills. The author took into consideration the literature review, students’ feedback on the conducted lessons and analysed the video material compiled, examining the strengths and drawbacks of the video material., http://www.ester.ee/record=b4775526