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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1999

Barbara F.H. Allen

The field of teaching English as a second or foreign language has become increasingly important at colleges and universities. Academic libraries must provide TESL students and…

4596

Abstract

The field of teaching English as a second or foreign language has become increasingly important at colleges and universities. Academic libraries must provide TESL students and professionals with an adequate selection of journals in the field. This annotated bibliography and summary chart of TESL‐related journals will aid collection development librarians in evaluating and building their collection, provide TESL students with an overview of available professional journals, and help TESL faculty and professionals identify journals in which to publish articles.

Details

Collection Building, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0160-4953

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2010

Madhu Viswanathan, Carlos Torelli, Sukki Yoon and Hila Riemer

This paper aims to study English as second language (ESL) consumers in the USA. The authors seek to focus on consumers who are literate in their native country, yet akin to fish…

1364

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study English as second language (ESL) consumers in the USA. The authors seek to focus on consumers who are literate in their native country, yet akin to fish out of water due to language difficulties and unfamiliarity with the marketplace.

Design/methodology/approach

Using qualitative interviews of 31 informants and shopping observations of a small subset, the authors examined cognitive predilections, decision making, emotional trade‐offs, and coping strategies of ESL consumers.

Findings

The findings relate to cognitive predilections, decision making and emotional trade‐offs, and coping strategies of ESL consumers.

Originality/value

The authors analyze ESL consumers from a situational literacy perspective, viewing the situations faced by ESL consumers in terms of functional literacy skills. The findings provide a variety of new insights, and have important theoretical and practical implications for theory and practice.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 27 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 November 2014

Nicole Johnston, Helen Partridge and Hilary Hughes

This paper aims to outline research that explores the information literacy experiences of English as a foreign language (EFL) students. The question explored in this research was…

2503

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to outline research that explores the information literacy experiences of English as a foreign language (EFL) students. The question explored in this research was: how do EFL students experience information literacy?

Design/methodology/approach

This study used phenomenography, a relational approach to explore the information literacy experiences of EFL students. Phenomenography studies the qualitatively different ways a phenomenon is experienced in the world around us.

Findings

This research revealed that EFL students experienced information literacy in four qualitatively different ways. The four categories revealed through the data were: process, quality, language and knowledge. This research found that language impacted on EFL students’ experiences of information literacy and revealed that EFL students applied various techniques and strategies when they read, understood, organised and translated information.

Research limitations/implications

This research was conducted in a specific cultural and educational context; therefore, the results might not reflect the experiences of EFL students in other cultural or educational contexts.

Practical implications

The findings from this research offer an important contribution to information literacy practice by providing important insights about EFL students’ experiences and perceptions of information and learning that can be used to inform curriculum development in second language learning contexts.

Originality/value

There is currently a lack of research using a relational approach to investigate EFL students’ experiences of information literacy. There is also limited research that explores the impact language has on information literary and learning in EFL or English as a second language (ESL) contexts.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 42 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 December 2023

Cheri Chan

This chapter traces one student teacher's (Joan) experiences of learning to teach English as a second language in a cross-cultural context during a teaching practicum in Hong…

Abstract

This chapter traces one student teacher's (Joan) experiences of learning to teach English as a second language in a cross-cultural context during a teaching practicum in Hong Kong. The school-based practicum is a core component of many initial teacher education programmes. During this induction period, usually an 8-week block, student teachers are placed in local schools to learn how to integrate theories into practice in real teaching situations. Specifically, I uncover how Joan grappled with the tensions and complexities of teaching young learners from a different cultural and linguistic background, in a small elementary school situated in the borderland between Hong Kong (an autonomous region of China) and Shenzhen (a province of Mainland China).

Critical incidents from Joan's practicum experiences were analysed to uncover how she dealt with the tensions and dilemmas in confronting difference and marginalising practices while learning to teach English as a second language (ESL) in the practicum school. Implications on how to develop initial teacher education programmes so that student teachers learning to teach across cultural contexts can be encouraged to explore, confront and ‘deal with the emotional terrain of understanding difference’ will be discussed (Boler & Zembylas, 2003, p. 123; Zembylas, 2010).

Details

Smudging Composition Lines of Identity and Teacher Knowledge
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-742-6

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 June 2015

David J. Patterson

This qualitative case study explored the information literacy acquisition of 23 students enrolled in a learning community consisting of an advanced English as a Second Language

Abstract

This qualitative case study explored the information literacy acquisition of 23 students enrolled in a learning community consisting of an advanced English as a Second Language (ESL) writing class and a one-unit class introducing students to research at a suburban community college library in California. As there are no other known learning communities that link an ESL course to a library course, this site afforded a unique opportunity to understand the ways in which ESL students learn to conduct library research. Students encountered difficulties finding, evaluating, and using information for their ESL assignments. Strategies that the students, their ESL instructor, and their instructional librarian crafted in response were enabled by the learning community structure. These strategies included integration of the two courses’ curricula, contextualized learning activities, and dialogue. ESL students in this study simultaneously discovered new language forms, new texts, new ideas, and new research practices, in large part because of the relationships that developed over time among the students, instructor, and instructional librarian. Given the increasing number of ESL students in higher education and the growing concern about their academic success, this study attempts to fill a gap in the research literature on ESL students’ information literacy acquisition.

Details

Advances in Library Administration and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-910-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 12 November 2012

Neriko Musha Doerr

This chapter shows how the community college plays a unique role in producing American citizens with “global competence,” one of the main aims of institutions of higher education…

Abstract

This chapter shows how the community college plays a unique role in producing American citizens with “global competence,” one of the main aims of institutions of higher education under the banner of its internationalization. While much discussion on how to achieve that aim has centered on study-abroad programs and curriculum changes targeting American-born students, this chapter focuses on the community college's contribution to producing “globally competent” American citizens through extensive classes in English as a Second Language (ESL) for immigrants. Based on ethnographic fieldwork from 2001 to 2002 in ESL classes at a community college in the northeastern United States, this chapter examines three ways a community college's ESL classes foster such “global competence” in immigrants of various backgrounds: (1) by grooming them to be “American educated subjects” by disciplining them and teaching them “common sense” knowledge of American life, (2) by providing them with a space to develop a supportive community that goes beyond their ethnic networks, and (3) by nurturing students’ self-esteem in their new home. This chapter highlights the worldwide importance of the type of higher education, such as a community college, that serves the needs of local communities, including internationalized and underserved local communities – that of immigrants. It also points out the imbalance in the discussion of “global competence,” which focuses mainly on study abroad, and opens up a field of enquiry about “global competence” from another angle.

Details

Community Colleges Worldwide: Investigating the Global Phenomenon
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-230-1

Article
Publication date: 3 February 2020

Lih-Juan ChanLin

This study aims to analyze the engagement of community members in an English as a second language (ESL) live broadcast. A platform for encouraging language and culture learning in…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the engagement of community members in an English as a second language (ESL) live broadcast. A platform for encouraging language and culture learning in ESL was planned and implemented. Research purposes were to explore the following aspects for engaging students’ participation: operation-monitoring, planning and implementation, incentives and motives, interactions with multiple formats and challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

The platform used for the ESL live broadcast was Open Broadcaster Software Studio. Through the live videos and instant messages delivered by the network, real-time interactions from different virtual sites were achieved. Observations and operation documentation were recorded. Interviews with the teacher, the library administrator and the students were carried out for collecting data. Inductive analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data from the different sources.

Findings

It was observed that the ESL broadcast reached a great number of users weekly. To engage the ESL broadcast community, efforts to monitor and plan for implementation were made. Students were encouraged by both external incentives and internal motivation. Managing the connectivity problems was essential for guaranteeing the quality of the real-time interactions. From their experiences, the participants were positive about the broadcast approach to learning ESL. More diverse topics and alternatives for oral interactions in the class are suggested in future implementations.

Research limitations/implications

The implementation of the ESL live broadcast provides a model for inviting members within the university community to engage in the language and culture learning. The research is preliminary and is limited to a specific university. Future research on diverse learning settings is needed.

Originality/value

The findings of this study will contribute to the research in streaming media interactions. The case might be applied to other settings and other subject domains.

Details

The Electronic Library , vol. 38 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 July 2020

Hasan Mohsen Alwadi, Naashia Mohamed and Aaron Wilson

This study arises from a recent school-based professional development (PD) programme conducted for English language teachers (ELTs) in a secondary school in the Kingdom of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study arises from a recent school-based professional development (PD) programme conducted for English language teachers (ELTs) in a secondary school in the Kingdom of Bahrain, where a participatory lesson study (PLS) strategy was implemented to develop four ELTs' teaching skills and their senior teacher's leadership. The influence of the PLS on creating a participatory PD experience for the participants was investigated through exploring their perceptions of their professional growth during their PLS experience.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a qualitative interpretive approach, a total of eight lesson study cases and 16 meetings were conducted and analysed.

Findings

The main factors that influenced the participants' perceptions of their professional growth in PLS were high self-efficacy and confidence; dominancy of their peers; the informality of the PLS practice; and reflective practice. Relatedly, the results revealed critical thoughts about PLS as a means for ELT's self-directed PD in non-native English-speaking contexts.

Originality/value

The study provides an alternative approach to PD that can be offered for ELTs in any ESL/EFL context that focusses on supporting non-native English-speaking teachers' practices by associating theory with practice. This approach has enabled them to gain the practical skills they need and develop their awareness about the theoretical principles of these practices. For the first time, teachers were given the role to act as the trainers and the theorisers of their own teaching practices.

Details

International Journal for Lesson & Learning Studies, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2006

Megan Miller and Volker Hegelheimer

Despite their motivational appeal to learners, innovative and technologically advanced computer simulation games targeting native English speakers frequently remain beyond the…

1076

Abstract

Despite their motivational appeal to learners, innovative and technologically advanced computer simulation games targeting native English speakers frequently remain beyond the competence of ESL learners as independent didactic tools. Guided by Chapelle’s (2001) criteria for determining CALL task appropriateness, this paper illustrates how the popular authentic simulation, The SIMs, can be adapted to enhance vocabulary learning through supporting materials. Adult ESL learners completed a five‐week unit, experiencing different conditions of supplemental materials while completing tasks using The SIMs. The participants received mandatory supplemental materials in one condition, voluntary access to supplemental materials in the second, and no supplemental materials in the third. The results indicate a statistically significant increase in vocabulary acquisition for the first condition. Student feedback suggests the supplemental materials were beneficial for successful task completion. Thus, how authentic computer simulation tasks are structured and supported appears to have a considerable bearing on the appropriateness of the task.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. 3 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2021

Nahla Mohamed Moussa

As there are many Arab students seek to earn an international degree, this research article aims to explore the factors that influence Arab students' adaptation to the foreign…

Abstract

Purpose

As there are many Arab students seek to earn an international degree, this research article aims to explore the factors that influence Arab students' adaptation to the foreign cross-culture of the USA and how it is related to their academic achievement. Exploring these factors will introduce different insights into the effectiveness of adaptation and studying in a foreign country and earning an international degree. Besides, this study contributes to the body of knowledge of international higher education by including Arab students as a less-researched group. Arab students' adaptation process is explained in terms of the Cross-cultural Adaptation Theory (Kim, 2001).

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative research study was conducted using a focus group discussion (FGD). Multiple face-to-face interviews were conducted to obtain data from the participants. Participants were divided into four groups, each female group contained nine participants and each male group contained seven participants. The researcher explained to each group independently about their perception, beliefs and attitude toward earning international degrees, the adaptation to the host culture and their academic achievement. The researcher carried out five FGDs for each group. Each interview continued for 60 minutes in length. All participants received a consent form. The discussions were audio-recorded and then transcribed.

Findings

Arab students are a group of enthusiastic learners; however, their feelings of homesickness enable them to develop overwhelming sorrowful emotions, howbeit their communication with their ethnic group facilitates the adaption and acceptance of the host cultures, which requires quite some time to adjust to new surroundings. Arab students are recognized with high academic achievements; nevertheless, they require prolonged periods to complete course assignments. American society gives international students a warm welcome; this may encourage other Arab students to consider earning an American degree and prepare themselves for this intercultural transition.

Research limitations/implications

This is subjective qualitative data; some limitations need to be addressed when interpreting the findings. Participants are English as a Second Language (ESL)learners, which may influence their word choice during the discussion. Interesting future research could be related to designing an assessment model to evaluate the academic achievement of ESL in different methods that focus on their achievement motivations and communication skills.

Practical implications

Based on the findings, professors can integrate the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to help multi-cultural students to learn and earn an international higher education degree.

Social implications

Higher education institutions can offer more social multi-cultural opportunities to include multi-cultural students and develop their social skills to facilitate the adaptation process to the new host culture.

Originality/value

This qualitative research study represents an original work of the researcher, and it has not submitted elsewhere. All research ethical codes were followed by the researcher and participants. There is no fund for this research project.

1 – 10 of 898