The Effect of Activating Metacognitive Strategies on the Listening Performance and Metacognitive Awareness of EFL Students

This study investigates the effect of activating metacognitive strategies on the listening performance of English as a foreign language (EFL) university students and explores the impact of such strategies on their metacognitive awareness of the listening task. The participants were N = 50 students of English literature at the state university of Qom, Iran. After screening the participants from among 60 students, they were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group (n = 25) received the metacognitive strategy instruction based on the models proposed by Vandergrift and Tafaghodtari (2010), while the control group (n = 25) received just the listening input with no strategy instruction. The listening module of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) was utilized to evaluate the listening performance of the participants in both groups in pretests and posttests, and the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) instrument was applied to measure the metacognitive awareness of the treatment group before and after the treatment. The results of the IELTS test revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on the posttest and according to the analysis of the MALQ instrument there was a significant improvement in the students’ level of metacognitive awareness after strategy instruction. The interview results in the discussion section also supported the findings and shed more light on the details.     

A Task-based Language Teaching Approach to Developing Metacognitive Strategies for Listening Comprehension

In second (L2) or foreign language (FL) learning, learning strategies help learners perform tasks, solve specific problems, and compensate for learning deficits. Of the strategy types, metacognitive strategies manage and regulate the construction of L2 or FL knowledge. Although learning strategies are frequently taught via teacher demonstration, an alternative but underresearched approach is through embedded instruction in tasks. To develop strategy awareness in language learning, the present study aimed to investigate how well a task-based teaching framework was able to develop intermediate Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students’ metacognitive awareness of listening comprehension. Eighty-eight sophomores participated in the study, which used a quasi-experimental design. The experimental group received strategy-embedded task-based listening instruction for 18 weeks, whereas the control group received only strategy-based instruction. Listening tests and questionnaires were used in the pretest and posttest stages. The results showed that the experimental group improved their metacognitive awareness of strategies for listening and outperformed the control group in the listening test. The students in the experimental group considered tasks to be an important medium of input enhancement for improving listening ability.     

The Role of Metacognition in the Development of EFL Learners’ Listening Skill

This study investigated the impact of metacognitive instruction on the listening skill, and metacognitive knowledge of a group of male students (N = 30) who were learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Iran. The study participants spoke Persian as a first language and were high-intermediate EFL learners. The participants received a guided lesson plan in metacognition (planning, monitoring, and evaluation) through a pedagogical cycle approach over a semester (eight weeks). International English Language Testing System listening tests (practice) were used to track the participants’ listening performance. Participants also completed a Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire, which examined their use of metacognitive awareness when engaged in listening tasks. Results indicated that the students improved their listening skill after being taught about metacognition; however, no significant use of metacognitive awareness was reported. This study concludes with a discussion of some potential implications, and provides scope for future research.     

Intercultural language educators for an intercultural world: action upon reflection

Abstract

Bearing in mind that learning a new language is much more than acquiring a new code, but a new way of being in the world, the aim of the article is to briefly raise and discuss relevant issues relating to language teacher education in these contemporary times, especially in the area of English Language Teaching (ELT). Emphasis is placed on the importance of teacher education responding to the new demands of this globalised world, proposing among several aspects, new political and pedagogical postures which are to lead into preparing students to become more critical of their own realities and more sensitive to the intercultural encounters they are supposed to engage with this highly complex and ever increasingly intercultural world.     

Intercultural praxis: Australian diploma of early childhood education preservice teacher visual literacy comparisons between Australia and Vietnam

ABSTRACT

This research investigates an intercultural praxis approach to using visual research methods, in Australia and Vietnam, with preservice teachers in a Diploma of Early Childhood (DEC) course. The paper results from limited research with DEC preservice teachers exploring the development of intercultural praxis and limited research in teaching whilst using visual images (photos). The methodology is supported by using Bennett’s developmental continuum for intercultural sensitivity and draws on sociocultural theories to consider how these DEC preservice teachers’ histories and situational contexts are relevant in understanding the development of intercultural communication. Mixed methods include a comparative analysis of student-produced visual multiliteracy images (photographs) generated in Australia and Vietnam, during 2015 and 2016, annotations on those photos and interviews with two cohorts of students (n = 27) six months after their experiences in Vietnam. Analysis is reinforced with Sorrells’ intercultural praxis framework to understand students’ capacity to use inquiry, framing, positioning, and dialogue processes as a result of their study tour to Vietnam. The paper outlines and reinforces the importance of being explicit in developing intercultural sensitivity in dynamic teaching contexts and illustrates the increasing awareness of intercultural communication with these DEC students.     

The Department of Literature and the Department of English: Transforming Aspects of ‘English Studies’ in South Africa

Abstract

This article begins with a brief survey of the different manifestations of ‘English studies’ at various South African universities, demonstrating the lack of clarity regarding the roles and responsibilities of the ‘English Department’: should it teach literature in English, or should it teach the English language? Such inconsistency makes the ‘Department of English’ as it currently exists unable to contribute towards the intellectualisaton of African languages (Alexander, 2005) and the transformation of South Africa's universities, particularly with regard to the use of African languages for learning and teaching. The article thus proposes that the ‘Department of English’ and the ‘Department of Eiterature’ should be separated. The former should take its place alongside other language departments and, at English-language universities, be primarily responsible for English language teaching and support (for those students to whom English-medium instruction presents a barrier to learning). The latter should pursue literary studies – not only ‘literatures in English’, but also texts in translation – a pursuit that calls attention to the potential for dialogue between literary texts across linguistic, ethnic, and national divides.     

Intercultural literacy dialogue: international assessment moderation in early childhood teacher education

ABSTRACT

This research reports intercultural dialogue of meaning making in literacy by lecturers, engaged with an assessment moderation process of early childhood education (ECE) preservice teacher education across Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. The purpose of the dialogue was to inform pedagogical and conceptual knowledge in their courses. The research question is: How does intercultural dialogue inform teacher education literacy practices? Methods include (1) a blind assessment review process using 30 examples from ‘high’ to ‘low’ exemplars of ECE students’ literacy assessment annotations, some from each country, and (2) textual analysis of intercultural student feedback and reflection from student forum comments and, semi-structured reflexive interviews with students about the assessment moderation process. Rich academic reflections on the data have led to our recommendations that the conceptual framework of intercultural praxis could be applied in early childhood preservice teacher education practice. Further, we suggest there are increased possibilities for the use of intercultural literacy with ECE preservice student teachers using virtual and explicit collaborations and texts as explained in this research.     

Teaching intercultural awareness in the English as a foreign language classroom: a case study using critical reading

This paper reports on an educational intervention study that used linguistic and rhetorical approaches to critical reading, in order to teach intercultural awareness. The intervention was implemented with a group of Mexican college students learning English as a foreign language. The study focuses on changes between participants’ pre- and post-intervention articulated understandings of the targeted cultural context, namely the USA. The data was coded and analyzed using a complexity theory perspective and directed qualitative analysis. The results indicate that drawing students’ attention to the cultural situatedness of language use can increase their awareness of the multiple ideological positions existing in a cultural context. Based on these results, the paper argues that the field of intercultural education needs to take a linguistic turn in order to further its goals.     

Developing intercultural understanding for study abroad: students’ and teachers’ perspectives on pre-departure intercultural learning

This study reports on students’ and teachers’ perspectives on a programme designed to develop Erasmus students’ intercultural understanding prior to going abroad. We aimed to understand how students and their teachers perceived pre-departure materials in promoting their awareness of key concepts related to interculturality (e.g., essentialism, stereotyping, otherising) during an intercultural education course for mobile students. Twenty pre-departure Erasmus undergraduate students from an Italian university, four teachers and one observer participated in the study. Seven hours of audio/video recordings of classroom discussions and teachers’ retrospective narratives were analysed thematically. Although students initially subverted the goals of one of the tasks, they demonstrated foundations of intercultural thinking; followed by movement from self-interest to intercultural awareness of the other; and finally, developing intercultural awareness, supported through opportunities to express emotions/feelings and discussion and application of key concepts of interculturality. Teachers’/observer’s perspectives confirmed the quality and flexibility of the materials in developing students’ intercultural awareness. The findings suggest that pre-departure materials can help students to recognise variety and complexity in self and others in intercultural encounters. But students’ primary needs for practical information should first be satisfied; interactive spaces for expressing emotion and feelings are important for understanding self and others; and scaffolding activities help students to understand intercultural concepts.     

Personal Growth Towards Intercultural Competence Through an International Field Education Programme

Abstract

An international social work field education programme at the University of South Australia provides social work students with the opportunity to develop intercultural skills and intercultural sensitivity. The programme is conceptualised within a developmental framework that enables the identification of stages of personal growth and professional development from ethnocentrism to ‘interculturality’ or intercultural sensitivity. This framework, alongside the use of a clear ethical perspective and the reflective practice process, is a useful resource to assist students to identify their level of sophistication of cross-cultural competence and to respond to them in ways that facilitate their growth and development towards competent social workers working with difference and across cultures.     

Facilitating intercultural education in majority student groups in higher education

ABSTRACT

The present article critically analyses the pedagogical efforts of two teachers to promote values education and intercultural reflection in their own educational practice. They teach in higher education in Norway and most of their students have majority backgrounds. Based on their teaching experiences with VaKE (Values and Knowledge education), the article discusses opportunities and challenges when working with values education in majority student groups. It concludes that discussing values is difficult but can be eye opening. It also raises the question of which dilemmas can prevent stereotyping and foster more complex intercultural thinking and shows that intercultural education requires a discussion of one’s own cultural position. The article highlights the teacher’s crucial role in the VaKE-process regarding the aims of intercultural values education.     

Intercultural education in everyday practice

While there is substantive work in intercultural education, especially that which proposes intellectual or conceptual road maps for pedagogic interculturalism and, more specifically for the classroom, there is a need to surface the complexity of everyday intercultural classroom practices. This article reflects on some Singapore students’ responses to materials designed to help them engage critically with intercultural issues. These responses can be categorized into three types of tajectories: reifying, critical and conflicted. Reifying practices basically mean that students essentialize individuals, communities and countries despite (and perhaps because of) the intercultural approach to the teaching of communication. Critical trajectories, on the other hand, showcase students’ ability to identify stereotypes and provide much more nuanced characterizations of individuals and countries. Conflicted trajectories, however, seem to be the most dominant classroom practice: these are attempts of students to be critical but, in practice, their criticality is enmeshed in reifying tendencies. In other words, ‘criticality’ as it is envisioned is always incomplete on the ground. Thus, we need micro-lenses in interculturalism and intercultural education to help us critically reflect on and surface essentialisms, tensions and struggles in everyday classroom practice.     

Transformative Intercultural Learning: A Short-Term International Study Tour

ABSTRACT

This article draws on and contributes to the body of knowledge on the development of cultural competence and study abroad experiences. The study program has been well established for several years and blends a 12-day intercultural immersion experience with preparatory classroom teaching and relevant assessment. This study builds on an earlier evaluation, adopting a robust qualitative approach. The study confirms that such experiences can significantly contribute to transformation in students’ capacity to challenge superficial cultural stereotypes and critically engage in the interplay among disadvantage, contextual factors, and sociopolitical structures. Developing critical reflection skills is an integral component in promoting transformation.     

Are Turkish EFL pre-service teachers ready to manage intercultural challenges?

English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers, as the backbone of language teaching system, are expected to raise the awareness level of students’ intercultural communication competence by helping them relate their own culture to foreign cultures, empathise with foreign cultures’ perspectives and tolerate the ambiguities or differences. This study examines the relationship between certain personal factors such as age, gender, year of study, overseas experience and students’ preferences for Turkish movies over foreign ones and three predictors of intercultural communication competence namely, ambiguity tolerance, empathy and open-mindedness. The sample group of the study consisted of 145 prospective English teachers in the Educational Faculty of a state university in Turkey. The participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire consisting of two parts which investigated their background and perceived levels of ambiguity tolerance, open-mindedness and empathy in Turkish EFL context. The results indicated that half of pre-service EFL teachers had poor intercultural communication competence. In particular, males, the final-year students and those who had been abroad indicated higher levels of tolerance than their respective counterparts. Besides, age and students’ preferences for Turkish or foreign movies were not significant factors in any of the predictors of intercultural communication competence.     

Qur’anic education and non-confessional RE: an intercultural perspective

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the reported experiences of Muslim students that regularly shift between Muslim ‘supplementary education’ (including its traditional confessional focus on learning to read Arabic and then memorise and recite the Qur’an) and mainstream school education (including its ‘inclusive’ form of religious education’). The aim has been to better comprehend how these students make sense of this dual educational experience while negotiating the knowledge, skills, and values that are taught to them by two often seemingly disparate institutions. A further aim is to place our findings within the growing field of intercultural education. Though both types of education are often thought to be distinct and oppositional – the former as non-confessional and ‘modern’, the latter as confessional and ‘outmoded’ – both English and Swedish students were able to identify a degree of symbiosis between the two, particularly in relation to the process of memorisation. Thus, it became increasingly clear to the researchers that Muslim student reflection on their participation in both traditions of education had an intercultural dimension in the sense of encouraging dialogue and discussion across educational cultures prompting new knowledge and understanding. This article lays out some of the evidence for this conclusion.     

Cultural Responsiveness: a framework for re-thinking students’ interculturality through study abroad

While intercultural competence is commonly a goal of university study abroad programmes, debates around criteria for assessing this competence have highlighted the challenges in appropriately identifying students’ intercultural learning in relation to specific university programmes. To overcome these issues, this research moves beyond conceptualising the intercultural in terms of ‘competence’ and instead proposes a framework termed Cultural Responsiveness to illustrate students’ intercultural learning. Through questionnaires and interviews, the experiences and perceptions of undergraduate students after a year of exchange in France or Switzerland were collected and analysed. Using the Cultural Responsiveness framework, three parameters of students’ intercultural experiences emerged: Awareness, Engagement and Bringing Knowledge Home.     

Intercultural education through a bilingual children’s rights project: reflections on its possibilities and challenges with young learners

Despite the growing importance of intercultural education, literature is still lacking in related research with young learners. This study reports on a yearlong university–school collaborative research project that aimed to promote students’ intercultural competence and critical bi-literacy skills through their exploration of the issue of children’s rights. Grounded in the critical perspectives of intercultural pedagogy and dynamic bi-/multilingualism, the two collaborating Grade 3 teachers engaged their students in critical inquiry of children’s rights in both English and French. Through a range of hybrid translanguage literacy practices and experiential learning activities, students came to understand what children’s rights are and appreciate the importance of solidarity, equity, and compassion. Apart from highlighting some activities developed during this project and the impact of the activities on student participants, the study also attempts to critically reflect on some of the challenges in conducting intercultural education with young learners, in particular their emergent but conflicted understanding of other cultures. Further, the study speaks to the issue of how such an important education can be practiced in a non-reductionist and non-simplistic manner yet still be accessible to young learners.     

Mobile MyPlate: A Pilot Study Using Text Messaging to Provide Nutrition Education and Promote Better Dietary Choices in College Students

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the acceptance and effectiveness of repetitive nutrition-related text messages on college students’ nutrition knowledge and fruit and vegetable consumption. Participants: One hundred fifty undergraduate (18–24 years old) non–health major students with a texting mobile phone. Methods: The intervention group received biweekly text messages of the MyPlate icon and the United States Department of Agriculture's Dietary Guidelines (DGs) for 7 weeks. The control group received the same information in a mailed brochure. A pre and post online survey assessed the students’ knowledge and behavior. Results: The intervention resulted in greater MyPlate food group recognition (p <.05) compared with control and a trend toward improved knowledge of the DGs. In the intervention group, fruit consumption was elevated (p <.05) and a trend toward elevated vegetable consumption was determined. No gender differences in intervention effectiveness exist. Conclusion: Texting repeated messages appears to be an acceptable and effective way to increase nutrition knowledge and promote positive diet-related behaviors in college students.     

Evaluating the Efficacy of Traditional and Web-Assisted Instruction in an Undergraduate Social Work Practice Class

SUMMARY

This article addresses the dearth of research utilizing a quasi-experimental design and student performance measures in assessing web-assisted instruction in social work undergraduate practice courses. Social work students were randomly placed into two sections of a practice course. The experimental section (n = 18) students received 50% of course lectures with web-assisted instruction while the comparison class (n = 18) received identical lectures delivered in traditional face-to-face format. There were no statistically significant differences on assignments, the midterm exam and a final videotaped exam project between the two sections. These results suggest students in an undergraduate social work practice course learn similarly regardless of course format.