Tuesday Onsite Presentation Session 3 Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics

Session

13:40-14:05

Chair: Joel Weinberg

67447 | The Development of the ESP Process-Genre Writing Course for Thai Business Administration Undergraduates: The Closer Look at the Student Experiences

Tanassanee Jitpanich, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

Samah Ali Mohsen Mofreh, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

Anis Binti Shaari, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

In Thailand, English writing is crucial for career advancement and workplace communication. Nevertheless, empirical evidence has suggested that English writing is not typically emphasized in English language curricula offered at Thai universities, and there are limited English writing courses tailored to specific needs of business administration students. Thus, this study aims to develop the ESP writing course based on the process-genre approach for Thai business administration undergraduates. Drawing on the ESP approach and the process-genre pedagogy, the course was developed according to seven course development processes adapted from Graves’ (2000) framework of language course development, namely defining the context and articulating beliefs, assessing needs, formulating goals and objectives, conceptualizing content, organizing the course, developing materials, and designing an assessment plan. Following the course development phase, the course was implemented with 40 business administration undergraduates, and their experiences were explored with the use of two main instruments, namely the student logs and semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that the students were satisfied with the course, citing numerous favorable elements of the course and perceived benefits of the course in enhancing their English writing skills. Some unfavorable aspects of the course were also reported for future course refinement. The results imply that the custom-made ESP course is suitable and satisfactory to learners. On this basis, it is encouraged that ESP courses be developed to carter to student needs by primarily focusing on appropriate sub-skills and technical knowledge for each group of students.

14:05-14:30

68834 | The Investigation of the Relationships Between Classroom Goal Structures, EFL Learners’ Engagement With Teacher Written Corrective Feedback, and Their Self-Perceived Writing Competence

Jui-Jung Tsao, Ming Chuan University, Taiwan

L2 learning experience, an essential component of the L2 Self-motivational system, is defined as the quality of learner engagement with different tasks during the language learning process (Dörnyei, 2009, 2019). Learner engagement, in turn, can be significantly influenced by classroom environments (i.e., classroom goal structures; Patrick, et al., 2001). However, empirical research on how classroom goal structures impact learner engagement with feedback remains limited. Hence, the quantitative study attempted to scrutinize the relationships between EFL learners’ perceptions of classroom goal structures, engagement with teacher written corrective feedback, and their self-reported writing competence. Three hundred and thirty-five Taiwanese first-year college students, who comprised the sample, completed two questionnaires: the L2 writing classroom goal structures scale and the learner engagement with teacher written corrective feedback scale. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) show that mastery goal structures could predict all engagements (i.e., affective, social, behavioral, and cognitive); performance avoidance classroom goal structures also had a predictive power, but simply for cognitive engagement with written corrective feedback. In addition, only affective engagement with teacher written corrective feedback could impact the participants’ writing competence. The findings offer a deeper understanding of learner engagement with teacher written corrective feedback and of the under-explored topic of the relationship between classroom goal structures and learner engagement with teacher written corrective feedback.

14:30-14:55

67465 | Teachers and Peers – How They Contribute in Young Learners’ English Pronunciation Development?

Peicheng Ina Wei, National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan

Pronunciation learning lays critical foundations for young learners’ later language development. How language educators assist young learners’ pronunciation is of great importance. Yet limited research has addressed young language learners’ pronunciation and teachers’ instructional strategies. To address this important gap, this study investigated the effectiveness of two corrective feedback techniques in facilitating the young learners’ pronunciation development. The study followed a three-group field experiment design: 84 fourth-grade participants were recruited and assigned to teacher corrective feedback (TCF), peer corrective feedback (PCF), and the control group. After receiving respective treatments, a pair-sample t-tests and one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were employed to compare and evaluate scores of pronunciation pre- and post-test. The findings show that PCF group made the most progress in the targeted pronunciation. Comparing to the control group, both PCF and TCF are effective in enhancing participants’ pronunciation yet these two feedback techniques did not vary in the effectiveness. Given the important roles feedback play, it seems necessary for language educators to increase their awareness of feedback application and young learners’ feedback uptake. To this end, relevant pedagogical implications are provided.

14:55-15:20

68321 | Should More Class Time Be Spent on Vocabulary?

Joel Weinberg, Meiji University, Japan

The purpose of this research was to determine whether students’ vocabulary quiz scores would improve, and if so, how long that improvement would last, after intensively studying vocabulary words for three weeks. Students in this research studied vocabulary words and completed vocabulary exercises in their textbooks. The research group of students spent more time focused on the vocabulary words by completing additional classwork and homework assignments than the control group. The research group far outperformed the control group in their shortterm test scores. However, after their two-month summer break, the students were tested again and all of their gains were lost. Average scores in both the research and control group actually fell below what they were at the beginning of this study. Teachers can extrapolate from the findings in this research that students can achieve significant short-term gains in quiz scores by devoting more time to studying vocabulary, but there will be no medium-term advantage for the students.