Search results

1 – 10 of over 3000
Book part
Publication date: 1 November 2012

Raúl Alberto Mora, Juan Diego Martínez, Liliana Alzate-Pérez, Raúl Gómez-Yepes and Laura Mildrey Zapata-Monsalve

This chapter presents the results of the collective experience of two professors and three students in implementing WebQuests in a preservice English education component. The…

Abstract

This chapter presents the results of the collective experience of two professors and three students in implementing WebQuests in a preservice English education component. The first part of the chapter provided a definition of WebQuests, situating this particular proposal within the literature on second language education and the Colombian and Latin American contexts. The authors found that the paucity of studies on designing WebQuests, specifically in Latin America, became one of the strengths of their work. The next section situated how implementing WebQuests in this preservice program enabled an expansion of the actual conceptual framework that is currently in place for WebQuests by adding ideas about competences and socio-cultural and critical thinking theories. However, there is an explanation about how WebQuests became a very feasible alternative to respond to the curricular demands of their institution. Next, the authors shared a multi-vocal account, from every author's vantage point, of how they carried out their work with WebQuests. This implementation process generated a series of changes in the way students saw themselves as learners and future teachers, gaining more ownership of the idea of WebQuests beyond a semester assignment. The instructors, as the result of their work, are now thinking of better ways to redefine how they use WebQuests and how they will get their other cohorts involved in collaborative academic efforts. This chapter is, then, not only an account of an experience, but an invitation to think about how to expand the boundaries of preservice teacher education through technological mediation.

Details

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Online Learning Activities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-236-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1991

Ellen A. Herda and Dorothy S. Messerschmitt

Based on the work of Jurgen Habermas, languageand communication and ways to move from wordsto communicative action in the businessenvironment are discussed. Information is not…

Abstract

Based on the work of Jurgen Habermas, language and communication and ways to move from words to communicative action in the business environment are discussed. Information is not the basis of communication. Rather, it is language and understanding. Language operates on two levels, a technical or linguistic level and a social or communicative level. The latter leads to interpersonal relationships and communicative action which provide the context for critique, change, and organisational competitiveness. The ways for managers to develop communicative competence among members of an organisation are considered.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 May 2022

Abdullah Ahmed Zughaibi

English instructors' pragmatic competence (PC) is an aspect of the overall communicative competence forming the basis of language instructors' knowledge. Their knowledge of…

Abstract

Purpose

English instructors' pragmatic competence (PC) is an aspect of the overall communicative competence forming the basis of language instructors' knowledge. Their knowledge of pragmatics should not be overlooked when seeking to understand foreign language learners' communicative ability. This study aims to investigate the pragmatic awareness and teaching practices of non-native EFL instructors with different qualifications and from various cultural backgrounds in Saudi Arabia.

Design/methodology/approach

To obtain a broader perspective, this study adopted a quantitative research design. An online questionnaire, developed from Ivanova (2018) and Tulgar (2016), was accessed by 320 instructors at one English teaching institute in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire consisted of demographic information about participants and 12 closed Likert-type questions.

Findings

The data analysis showed that most of the language instructors were aware of PC. However, some variations were evident in their views of the importance of pragmatics in teaching and learning and in their actual pragmatic teaching practices.

Originality/value

This study emphasizes the importance of pragmatic awareness for EFL instructors. It indicates that while non-native English instructors' academic levels and cumulative experience in teaching English play a major role in teaching, instructors have several challenges in teaching pragmatics and promoting students' awareness of pragmatics in this context. For effective second language teaching of pragmatics, instructors, managers and policymakers need to recognize the importance of pragmatics and competencies that students need to develop in EFL contexts.

Details

Saudi Journal of Language Studies, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-243X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 June 2021

Thi Hong Le Vo

This paper aims to provide evidence that online well-designed educational tasks can provide more relevant and richer active learning environment for business English learners. The…

2009

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide evidence that online well-designed educational tasks can provide more relevant and richer active learning environment for business English learners. The benefits of online tasks, as an education tool, became more apparent and gained more importance during the events related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The task design is based on task-based interactions and in a sequence of tasks with the support of an online learning management system (LMS). The findings suggest that online task-based learning (and would-be blended learning in the future) enables meaningful and authentic activities promoting interactions and communicative competences to prepare for learners of business English to enter the workplace.

Design/methodology/approach

The overarching aim of the study is to explore how task-design-utilizing online LMS could contribute to enhancing the learning process and to the development of the learner's communicative competences. The study included two aspects, namely: (1) the design of online tasks and (2) pilot evaluation. The task design involved tasks that required interactions between the learners. The pilot evaluation relied on data collection via questionnaires.

Findings

Two aspects relating to the findings: (1) a description of the teaching initiatives which was designed to see how blended learning and online tasks can enhance learning and develop the skills of the learners: with questioning techniques targeting communication skills, simulated workplace situations and timely feedback and peer influence; (2) the findings of the pilot study evaluation to see the actual implementation of online tasks. The students' responses corroborate the teachers' comments. The findings of this research showed that LMS tasks, which were designed for this study, helped the learners to enhance their competence in business English. Such competences included communicative skills needed for learners to enter the workplace such as interpersonal skills, presentation skills and negotiation skills in contexts. These findings lead to significant recommendations regarding the way forward for developing active blended learning.

Research limitations/implications

Firstly, teachers need to be trained and involved in designing such online tasks and materials to be used in active blended learning. More training in language teaching methodologies should be investigated to adapt the transition from a traditional to a computer-assisted language learning teacher. This helps teachers to design and implement online simulated workplace tasks. Secondly, time for the use of online tasks should be allocated satisfactorily. This can be achieved by building online learning sessions into class schedule or developing active blended courses. The time for the use of online simulated tasks should be allocated satisfactorily with lab or simulation room, in which students would be shown how to access the online tasks designed on the university LMS and the way to practice with different kinds of tasks.

Originality/value

In this study context, the online tasks design can initiate at activity-level blending to support face-to-face (F2F) activities, for example, online activities to support tasks for the topic Make a request or Offer for help. This can be extended to course-level blending when more online activities are designed to use with F2F activities such as online comparing and contrasting tasks to develop skills in connections with the awareness of cultures. The findings of the research suggest to develop and to implement online tasks alongside with classroom learning and teaching to enable the objectives of business English programme at university for preparing learners to enter the workplace. The recent pandemic highlighted the need for effective methodologies for active blended learning. It is now required that professionals in higher education to collect evidence base to inform future practice of such methodologies. Further significant research efforts should be directed towards collecting such evidence of the effectiveness and improvements of such methods. The support of higher education management professionals in securing funding for such research will be essential.

Details

Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2515-964X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 July 2005

Nancy L. Southern

This chapter discusses the personal and organizational risk factors of collaboration and shows the necessity of creating organizational cultures that support collaborative action…

Abstract

This chapter discusses the personal and organizational risk factors of collaboration and shows the necessity of creating organizational cultures that support collaborative action. Building collaborative capital is presented as a transformative process requiring a shift in individual and collective beliefs and assumptions and new patterns of action and supporting structures that encourage communicative competence and risk taking. Collaboration is viewed through a relational lens, incorporating hermeneutic concepts. A process is offered that begins a cultural change by strengthening communicative relationships among senior leaders. A city government and public utility in a major city in the United States provide examples of actions taken by senior leaders committed to the endeavor of creating cultures of collaboration.

Details

Collaborative Capital: Creating Intangible Value
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-222-1

Book part
Publication date: 2 January 2019

Haydeé Ramírez Lozada

With the purpose to contribute to the English language teaching-learning process of refugees, as part of a university linking project carried out at the Pontifical Catholic…

Abstract

With the purpose to contribute to the English language teaching-learning process of refugees, as part of a university linking project carried out at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Esmeraldas Campus, to foster refugees’ sustainability and social integration, an educative investigation was carried out with the help of the Applied Linguistics School at the mentioned university, in collaboration with the United Nations Refugee Agency, from 2016 to 2017. The population was formed by 20 student refugees and 4 students from the Applied Linguistics School who worked as teachers. The refugees who attended the course needed English language literacy because they were going to be resettled in other countries, which were English-speaking ones. With the empirical-analytical and hermeneutic methods, and the techniques of observation and survey, a diagnosis of the teaching-learning process was made, which revealed the necessity to teach English to the referred refugees based on their communicative needs, according to their jobs. As a result, an occupation-based didactic model for English language teaching to refugees, with its components, principles, and laws, was designed, which permitted the proposal of a didactic methodology for fostering meaningful learning, motivation, and communicative competence in English in connection with refugees’ occupations.

Details

Language, Teaching, and Pedagogy for Refugee Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-799-7

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 September 2018

Anne Laajalahti

Recently, ethical leadership has become a widely studied research topic. Simultaneously, many studies have begun to emphasise the role of interpersonal communication competence

Abstract

Recently, ethical leadership has become a widely studied research topic. Simultaneously, many studies have begun to emphasise the role of interpersonal communication competence (ICC) in successful leadership. However, there has been little discussion on the links between ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC. To address this research gap, this study aims to compare and combine the research traditions of ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC. The study is based on two literature reviews examining (a) ethical leadership (substudy 1; N = 27) and (b) leaders’ ICC (substudy 2; N = 18). The research questions are as follows: (a) How are the requirements of leaders’ ICC noticed in the literature of ethical leadership? (substudy 1) (b) How are the requirements of ethical leadership noticed in the literature of leaders’ ICC? (substudy 2) The findings reveal that (a) studies in ethical leadership rarely pay attention to leaders’ ICC and (b) studies in leaders’ ICC do not often discuss ethical aspects of ICC, at least explicitly. While a larger sample would have been preferred, the study contributes to previous research by addressing a research gap between ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC and suggests integrating these research traditions to better understand the nature of ethics and ICC in leadership. By promoting novel interdisciplinary research perspectives, the study provides a foundation for further research and development of (a) a competence-based approach to ethical leadership and (b) an ethics-focused approach to competent leadership communication.

Article
Publication date: 25 April 2008

Maria Pinto and Dora Sales

Since every community of practice generates, seeks, retrieves and uses information resources and sources related to the cognitive structure being researched or studied and the…

1396

Abstract

Purpose

Since every community of practice generates, seeks, retrieves and uses information resources and sources related to the cognitive structure being researched or studied and the tasks being performed, the need arises to undertake studies focused on real user communities, which in the case of this paper is the group of translators. This paper aims to investigate this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

In this arena of application, it is important to remember that translators are not only information users, but also information processors and producers. Thus, their documentary competence has to evolve in three dimensions: the informational, the methodological and the strategic. The conceptual model proposed in the paper is based on information literacy (INFOLIT) standards and also the authors' knowledge of translation practice and the competencies it demands, where INFOLIT plays a starring role. This paper is part of a broader research currently in progress, whose main goal is to provide translators and interpreters with a solid instruction in information literacy.

Findings

The paper introduces a model for information literacy specifically intended to develop the information competence of this community of users, it reveals that the model is a gathering of skills, competences, knowledge and values, and it is based on the cooperation between the authors' expert knowledge of information science and professional translation practice.

Originality/value

This paper puts forward the first proposal for information literacy applied to translation training.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 64 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 October 2011

Bernd Kupka

Purpose –– This chapter shows the connection between the reality of intercultural communication training and its importance to the development of intercultural communication…

Abstract

Purpose –– This chapter shows the connection between the reality of intercultural communication training and its importance to the development of intercultural communication competence, symbolised by the Rainbow Model of Intercultural Communication Competence.

Methodology/approach –– 405 useable questionnaires (response rate=19.4%) were used from 56 German MNEs in a convenience sample of companies in the high-tech industry that are suppliers for the automotive, aviation, optical and chemical industry.

Findings –– German MNCs provide traditional intercultural communication training sparingly to expatriates, but with adjustments depending on the target country. Only 41% of training recipients deemed the training helpful for their mission. Non-traditional training methods are administered more consistently.

Practical implications –– The Rainbow Model of Intercultural Communication Competence should guide the implementation of customised intercultural communication training efforts.

Social implications –– Assisting expatriates in their development of intercultural communication competence via intercultural communication training fulfils the social responsibility of multinational enterprises.

Originality/value of chapter –– This chapter provides guidance to human resource specialists in the international arena to design and implement customisable intercultural communication training programmes for expatriates.

Details

The Role of Expatriates in MNCs Knowledge Mobilization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-113-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 May 2020

Mohammad Salman, Showkat Ahmad Ganie and Imran Saleem

This paper follows three objectives. The paper aims to demonstrate a synoptic view of the historical evolution of competence, significant growth and changes in conversation. The…

3361

Abstract

Purpose

This paper follows three objectives. The paper aims to demonstrate a synoptic view of the historical evolution of competence, significant growth and changes in conversation. The second objective is to investigate the meaning and definitional usage of competence and competency. The third objective is to present a synoptic view of different dimensions of competence.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews the selected literature spanning from 1959 to date from various databases using the following keywords: competence, competency, employee competence, employee competency, competency management and competency-based management. A total of 170 studies were selected in the first wave. In the second wave, a detailed assessment was made, as suggested by Tranfield Denyer and Smart, to ascertain the relevance of the articles. In this way, only 63 studies were selected for the review. This study also considers other relevant literature.

Findings

The historical evolution demonstrates that competence scholarship has focused on use of the concept in different fields and contexts, theoretical frameworks for competence development and strategic relevance of competence-based (demand-based) human resource management. Results also suggest that the term competency and competence are interchangeably usable. Finally, the review summarizes a total of 16 dimensions of competence, studied in various contexts and classifies them into hard and soft competence and further dividing them into knowledge, skill and self-actualization-related competence.

Research limitations/implications

This paper discusses various research implications for human resource development scholars and professionals.

Originality/value

This paper is a unique attempt to review the literature on three themes of employee competence.

Details

European Journal of Training and Development, vol. 44 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-9012

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 3000