Search results

This study examines the test's predictive validity of English language performance and compares test constructs to identify the most effective predictors of English language performance.

Data were collected and analysed from test scores of students enrolled in the foundation year (N = 84) and level 2 (N = 127) in the faculty of English at a Saudi university using correlation and regression tests.

The findings revealed that the General Aptitude Test (GAT) is effective in predicting English performance for students in level 2 and that the error detection task is the most effective predictor of performance in English reading.

The study provides support for the validity of the GAT as a university admission requirement for English language courses in the Arabic-speaking world.

This study examines the GAT's power using a fine-grained approach by deriving scores from its breakdown constructs to predict the performance of English skills at the university level.

This research aimed to identify the levels of stress students experience, the different sources that generate them and the relationship between the stress levels and the students' gender.

A mixed-methods design was used, focusing on the quantitative stage. The qualitative section was designed to obtain supporting information. 86 Ecuadorian undergraduate polytechnic students enrolled in an English course took part in this study. Quantitative data are obtained using the Telecollaborative Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (T-FLAS), while online interviews supply insight from students.

The present research identified four types of anxiety related to emergency remote teaching (ERT). Communication anxiety is one of them that has also been found in regular foreign language classes (Horowitz et al., 1986). However, the actual contribution is regarding the other three sources of ERT-related anxiety: Online interaction anxiety, ERT anxiety and technology anxiety. Also, it was identified that girls experience higher anixety levels than men do.

A limitation of this study is the T-FLAS, a tool that has not been widely used. However, as Fondo and Jacobetty (2020) reported, other papers have made use of this novel tool. Another limitation to this research is the number of participants; although it is not very small, it might not be considered large enough for generalization purposes. Also, this study was limited by its scope, which only looked at the relationship between the students' genders and anxiety levels.

First, this researcher recommends that language departments use the survey at the beginning of each semester. That way, there will be a clear idea of the sources of anxiety students are experiencing, and measures can be taken to lower those anxiety-causing factors. Also, this study shows students experiencing a high level of anxiety when they are required to interact with their peers using a foreign language. Thus, supplying practice through guided discussions and role-plays should allow learners to reduce their anxiety levels and perform better during these kinds of exchanges in the short term.

Another issue reported by this study is the feelings of uneasiness when turning cameras on to do an exercise or taking quizzes and exams, as learners feel like their classmates and teachers are invading their homes. It is recommended that the Student Welfare Department of the educational institutions deal with this and other issues. They can design intervention, relaxation and yoga programs for students who are feeling anxious to help them lower those feeling and allow them to have better interactions in class during these times of remote learning.

This paper's originality lies in the fact that it looks at anxiety from the point of view of the COVID-19 pandemic and the move it had to be made to the digital realm. It identifies three factors that are new and related 100% to emergency remote teaching–learning. It is also valuable as it is looking at data emerging for a South American country, as data are scarce from this continent and especially from Ecuador.

This paper aims to examine the migrant dilemma about operating extensively in migrant enclaves vs integration in host communities.

The paper is a critical literature review contrasting views and perspectives of the role of migrant enclaves in migrant integration and contribution in new societies. Research in the area of ethnic enclaves has been polarised: on the one hand, the optimists argue the critical benefits of migrant and ethnic community networks, thus downplaying potential drawbacks of such networks and the disadvantage externally imposed on migrants; on the other hand, the pessimists overemphasise the disadvantages of ethnic enclaves, portraying them as ghettos of alienation.

Based on the social solidarity integration model and immigrant-host and social interaction theory, the paper posits that migrant community networks could intentionally or unintentionally engender cultural alienation, worsening an already precarious educational, cultural and economic exclusion. Thus, migrants could remain in lower societal roles and experience limited upward social mobility if they operate exclusively within migrant and ethnic networks. However, ethnic enclaves, at the same time, offer the initial psychological nurturing on which future successful socialisation work with migrant communities can be built.

From a research angle, the theorisation of migrant enclave requires a new approach, which identifies dynamism and contextualisation as central to the debate.

From a policy perspective, the research suggests the rethinking of the role of community support systems (and the wider enclave debate). The organisational implications the research suggests a shift of the organisational paradigm in the way migrant organisations manage themselves and support members in the enclave.

This paper’s contribution is to take a duality approach to studying the ethnic enclave and posits that this will engender effective social policy that helps reduce economic inequality.

This chapter highlights the growing body of international research into the benefits of residence abroad for foreign language students, surveying studies from the past 35 years originating in both the U.S.A. and the U.K. It examines some of the problematic issues confronting researchers in this area and shows how these issues have contributed to a paucity of studies in the area and led to a diversity in research design. It reports on longitudinal study, the first of its kind in the U.K., which examined the linguistic benefits of residence abroad for a cohort of modern language students from a leading university. This 4-year study used repeated measures proficiency testing, involving a C-test, a grammar test and a range of qualitative measures, to chart the progress made by students on 6- and 12-month study placements in Germany. Findings confirm substantial proficiency gains on both of the main measures but fail to confirm gender and length of residence abroad as predictors of progress. Results also reveal strong differential individual performance during residence abroad. The chapter concludes with recommendations for future research aimed at exploring this key finding further.

This research study aims to examine: whether preschoolers at risk form a homogenous or a heterogeneous group of high‐risk children; and in case preschoolers form a heterogeneous group, what are the distinctive characteristics of specific language impairment and mild intellectual disabilities groups in language acquisition and social competence that make differential early intervention necessary.

A total of 143 Greek preschoolers aged 4.5 through 5.5 participated in the study. Among them, according to DTLA‐P:3, 42 with mild intellectual disabilities and 41 with specific language impairments were detected. A total of 60 typically developed children were also detected. Children's categorization to the above groups was verified by the Λ‐α‐T‐ω Language Competence Test Level I, which was used to estimate intra‐individual differences in language competence. To assess peer relations, a peer relation checklist was developed and standardized.

The findings of this study support the approach of the two distinct groups of high‐risk preschoolers in terms of their language and social characteristics.

Research findings highlight the different educational needs of high‐risk preschoolers, which make necessary the differential use of preschool curricula.

Travel and tourism has played an instrumental role in the growth of a progressive Indian economy. Contributing 6.3 per cent to the total Indian gross domestic product in 2015 and expected to rise by 7.3 per cent in 2016, the sector has exhibited positive signs of growth and is delivering to its forecasted potential (WTTC, 2017). To manage this growth, it is estimated that there is an incremental need of 4.9 million people to take up varied job roles. To cater to the growing need and take advantage of being the youngest economy, Skill India mission was launched with a view to training 400 million people by 2022. This paper aims to explore the recruitment of Skill Initiative-certified candidates for Luxury Hotels in India, identify the challenges in recruiting Skill Initiative candidates and explore whether the knowledge of the English language is important to the recruitment of skilled personnel by employers.

Primary information was gathered via conversations with industry practitioners to gauge the effectiveness of the hospitality-based curriculum design and to explore the concept of employability and the challenges they face. To measure the effectiveness of a course designed to develop English language proficiencies, interviews were conducted with language trainers.

Skill India initiative is not delivering the promise that was expected. The key findings were that the initiative is being perceived as a program for those not willing to help themselves or the marginalized who would have opted out or failed to complete formal education. There should be structural changes in primary education to develop English language skills in particular. The program needs to reconsider the time it allocates to developing soft skills. The biggest barrier to the absorption of candidates after being skilled and certified via the Government’s skilling agenda is poor English language communication, especially verbal expression.

Although the issue discussed is a genuine bottleneck, there has been no prior formal research on this topic in relation to the Skill India initiative. There is an abundance of literature on the topic of communication skills as it relates to employment and growth, but there is very limited work in the Indian context, especially in relation to the Skill India Initiative. The research forms a platform for various stakeholders, government planners/agencies (for understanding gaps and making necessary changes), training providers (to identify requisite profile of trainers), researchers and industry specialists (to recognize their role and contribution) to build upon and develop.

Based on a 15‐country study in western Europe, examines management and communication styles through a wide‐ranging interview schedule. In the context of national and business cultures, explores the dimensions of communications beliefs and practices, and draws out their interrelationships with managerial style. Conclusions indicate some unexpected cultural clusters and point to future research directions.

In this chapter, we explore the interrelationships between team member cultural intelligence (CQ) and multinational team functioning and performance. We argue that CQ, an individual's capability to adapt to different cultural contexts, can be enhanced through experience working in a multinational team, suggesting that CQ is not simply a stable individual difference. We propose a conceptual framework, and demonstrate empirical support through a longitudinal study, that links the effectiveness of team experience to shared norms and positive performance feedback. Additionally, we present evidence that mean level of team member CQ predicts intragroup trust, cohesion, and performance for the multinational team.

Given the significance of willingness to communicate and its integral role in the field of foreign/second language acquisition (F/SLA), this quantitative study intends to examine the relationship between sensory emotioncy types and teacher immediacy with second language learners' willingness to communicate (WTC).

A total number of 280 students majoring in teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), and English Language and Literature completed three scales of Sensory Emotioncy Type (SET), Willingness to Communicate and Teacher Immediacy (TI). For data analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were employed.

The results of SEM showed that learners' WTC was significantly predicted by emotioncy and teacher immediacy. Further, reports from correlational and regression analyses revealed a significantly positive correlation, first, between teacher immediacy and learners' WTC, secondly, between emotioncy and learners' WTC.

The main limitation of this study was that the participants were selected from one context with relatively a small sample which might restrict the generalization. Nonetheless, the present study findings might extend ancillary horizons and provided worthwhile insights into the perception of teacher immediacy and emotioncy on students' willingness to communicate.

The significance of the current study lies in its theoretical contribution to the notion of WTC and its pedagogical implications and suggestions to the benefits of rejuvenating second language teaching and learning. Findings of this study help pre-service and in-service teachers in providing them more robust picture of learners' individual differences; and hence exert the most appropriate tasks which learners have the most degree of familiarity and better to say, emotioncy.

In the current study notable results were obtained which would be efficacious to the present literature on the EFL teacher immediacy, emotioncy and willingness to communicate. First and foremost, the findings added to a growing body of literature on emotioncy as a relatively novel concept in academic settings and teacher immediacy , and willingness to communicate which have gained scant attention in the field.