Tuesday Onsite Presentation Session 2

Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics

Session Chair: Shih-Chieh Chien

11:25-11:50

68792 | A Systematic Bibliometric Review of Technology in English Language Education: Research Trends Update for the PostPandemic Era

Toshiyuki Hasumi, Ming Chuan University, Taiwan

In facing the challenges of compulsive online learning during the COVID pandemic, educators quickly adapted and contributed to the global digital transformation. As the world enters the post-pandemic era, the need to reexamine the role of technology in English language education with an updated review to better improve and advance the field is more essential than ever. This systematic review aimed to address this gap by providing nascent and veteran scholars with the current research fronts and identify both emerging topics and missing gaps. Using innovative bibliometric approaches, this study employed both co-word analysis and bibliographic coupling on 1,768 English articles and reviews published in the Web of Science from 2017 to 2022. Co-word analysis revealed seven themes including (1) computer-assisted language learning (CALL), (2) technology, (3) teacher, (4) education, (5) mobile-assisted language learning (MALL), (6) flipped learning (FL), and (7) COVID-19. Bibliographic coupling further reveal seven research fronts with studies concentrated on: (1) MALL, (2) FL, (3) issues and challenges, (4) acceptance, (5) pedagogy, (6) tools, and (7) informal learning. Overall results showed that each respective cluster is associated with specific language related skills, instruction approaches, and associated challenges. This review further identified affective factors and out-of-class learning as emerging trends for future research.

11:50-12:15

68019 | Taiwanese University Teachers’ Motivation and Language Choice for Scholarly Publishing

Shih-Chieh Chien, National Taipei University of Business, Taiwan

Within a global trend of academic publishing in English, publication in indigenous languages, nevertheless, in many contexts, continues to thrive. Multilingual scholars often need to negotiate international engagement and local commitment by publishing both in English and their first language. The study, based on individual in-depth semi-structured interviews with university bilingual teachers from social sciences in Taiwan, focuses on examining their motivation and language choice (i.e., first language only, English only, or both English and first language) for publishing their research articles, and factors that may influence their motivation and language choice. The study showed that (1) against the widely-held view of utility in getting published in English as the single most important driving force, it pointed to a complex picture of Taiwanese university teachers’ motivation and language choice for scholarly publishing; (2) the privilege attached to publishing in internationally indexed journals stood out as the major factor orienting Taiwanese university teachers toward writing in English and using various strategies to facilitate successful publication; (3) international publication in English nonetheless increases, but Chinese would still retain its position as the language of research and publication; and (4) the tension in the negotiation was likely to grow with the continuous push toward the globalization of the academia which had a great impact on university teachers. This study provides useful insight into understanding university teachers’ motivation and language choice for scholarly publishing. Some recommendations are made when guiding school planners for helping university teachers to cope with international publication versus local publication.

12:15-12:40

67981 | The Impact of Project-Based Writing Instruction on Critical Thinking Skills in Thai EFL Undergraduate Students

Apapan Ruengkul, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand

Sawaros Jaiprasong, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand

With the rapid change of the world, it is undeniable that critical thinking skills play a vital role in students’ lives to support their thinking and prepare themselves for the future workplace (Mahyuddin et al., 2004). To prepare students and sharpen their thinking, project-based learning has been implemented as an instructional method to promote students’ critical thinking skills (Larmer, 2020; Yimwilai, 2020; Zhang, 2018). Therefore, this present study aimed to examine the impact of project-based writing instruction on critical thinking skills in Thai EFL undergraduate students and explore the attitudes of Thai EFL undergraduate students towards using project-based writing instruction. This study employed a mixed-method research design with a one-group, pre-test-post-test design to collect both quantitative data and qualitative data. The data were collected from 24 first-year undergraduate students. To elicit data, there were three research instruments used including the pre-test and post-test of critical thinking skills, the attitude questionnaire, and the semi-structured interview protocol. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, pairedsample t-test, and content analysis. The findings showed that students’ critical thinking skills increased with statistical significance and students had positive attitudes towards project-based writing instruction. Such findings proved that project-based writing instruction could be effectively applied to enhance critical thinking skills of Thai EFL Undergraduate students.