Vol 15 no 5 april 2016

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching And Educational Research

Vol.15 No.5

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research is an open-access journal which has been established for the disChief Editor Dr. Antonio Silva Sprock, Universidad Central de semination of state-of-the-art knowledge in the Venezuela, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of field of education, learning and teaching. IJLTER welcomes research articles from academics, edEditorial Board ucators, teachers, trainers and other practitionProf. Cecilia Junio Sabio ers on all aspects of education to publish high Prof. Judith Serah K. Achoka quality peer-reviewed papers. Papers for publiProf. Mojeed Kolawole Akinsola Dr Jonathan Glazzard cation in the International Journal of Learning, Dr Marius Costel Esi Teaching and Educational Research are selected Dr Katarzyna Peoples through precise peer-review to ensure quality, Dr Christopher David Thompson originality, appropriateness, significance and Dr Arif Sikander readability. Authors are solicited to contribute Dr Jelena Zascerinska to this journal by submitting articles that illusDr Gabor Kiss trate research results, projects, original surveys Dr Trish Julie Rooney Dr Esteban Vázquez-Cano and case studies that describe significant adDr Barry Chametzky vances in the fields of education, training, eDr Giorgio Poletti learning, etc. Authors are invited to submit paDr Chi Man Tsui pers to this journal through the ONLINE submisDr Alexander Franco sion system. Submissions must be original and Dr Habil Beata Stachowiak should not have been published previously or Dr Afsaneh Sharif be under consideration for publication while Dr Ronel Callaghan Dr Haim Shaked being evaluated by IJLTER. Dr Edith Uzoma Umeh Dr Amel Thafer Alshehry Dr Gail Dianna Caruth Dr Menelaos Emmanouel Sarris Dr Anabelie Villa Valdez Dr Özcan Özyurt Assistant Professor Dr Selma Kara Associate Professor Dr Habila Elisha Zuya

VOLUME 15

NUMBER 5

April 2016

Table of Contents Promoting Geoscience STEM Interest in Native American Students: GIS, Geovisualization, and Reconceptualizing Spatial Thinking Skills .......................................................................................................................... 1 Donna M. Delparte, R. Thomas Richardson, Karla Bradley Eitel, Sammy Matsaw Jr. and Teresa Cohn Using Coh-Metrix to Analyze Chinese ESL Learners’ Writing ....................................................................................... 16 Weiwei Xu and Ming Liu The Factors Affecting the Adaptation of Junior High School Students with Severe Disabilities to Inclusive or Segregated Educational Settings ........................................................................................................................................ 27 Li Ju Chen Supporting to Learn Calculus Through E-test with Feedback and Self-regulation .................................................... 43 Yung-Ling Lai and Jung-Chih Chen Authentic Instructional Materials and the Communicative Language Teaching Approach of German as Foreign Language in Uganda ............................................................................................................................................................ 61 Christopher B. Mugimu and Samuel Sekiziyivu An Evaluation of the New School Administrator Assignment System Applied in Recent Years in Turkey ............ 75 Tarık SOYDAN Antecedents of Newly Qualified Teachers’ Turnover Intentions: Evidence from Sweden ...................................... 103 Dijana Tiplic, Eli Lejonberg and Eyvind Elstad Multiple Intelligences in the Omani EFL context: How Well Aligned are Textbooks to Students’ Intelligence Profiles? ............................................................................................................................................................................... 128 Fawzia Al Seyabi and Hind A’Zaabi

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 1-15, April 2016

Promoting Geoscience STEM Interest in Native American Students: GIS, Geovisualization, and Reconceptualizing Spatial Thinking Skills Donna M. Delparte and R. Thomas Richardson Idaho State University Pocatello, Idaho, USA Karla Bradley Eitel, Sammy Matsaw Jr. and Teresa Cohn University of Idaho Moscow, Idaho, USA Abstract. Recent innovations in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geovisualization tools offer new opportunities to promoting interest in geoscience and STEM careers with Native American Students. The place-based educational model is particularly suited to geoscience education and can appeal to Native American students’ connection to local places. Yet the geoscience discipline is heavily imbued with Western Science conceptions of places, spaces, and physical processes that are not in congruence with the interconnected worldview of Indigenous Science. This review of the literature on geoscience education offers three recommendations to promote geoscience and STEM interest among Native American youth. The practice of science is a field that has only been recently contested by the Indigenous Science worldview. This cognitive dissonance between Native American students who have a deep attachment to their local environment can be at odds with the objective perspective of Western science. The placebased educational model aligns with Indigenous Science and prior research has shown that it promotes STEM and geoscience in Native American students. Since GIS and geovisualization tools are well-suited to place based education and promote spatial thinking skills, which have been identified as crucial to geoscience and STEM success, this review provides several examples of research and education projects using these technologies. Yet our understanding of spatial thinking is based on Western Science’s conceptions of space as an abstract quality.

We contend that like other areas of science which are increasingly more open to Indigenous Science practices, spatial thinking research needs to do likewise by developing an analytical framework that accommodates Native American ideas on space and place. We draw on recent research to frame an argument for advancing research on creating an interwoven,

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hybrid conception of spatial thinking that can accommodate both Western and Indigenous Science perspectives.

Keywords: Geoscience education; Native American geovisualization; place-based education; spatial thinking.

students;

1. Introduction: Defining the Issue This review of the literature on promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) geoscience interest among Native American students has three objectives. The first is to propose connections between the practices of Indigenous Science and place-based learning. We begin with a discussion of Indigenous Science and its emphasis on place as distinct from the Western Science tradition, which may dissuade some Native American students from pursuing STEM education. Similarities between Indigenous Science perspectives and place-based educational practices are then compared to establish a common ground for identifying several programs that have successfully integrated these two approaches to engage students in geoscience learning.

The second objective is to extend this connection by describing several recent innovations in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and geographic visualization that apply to developing spatial thinking skills— an important element of STEM competency in geoscience education and careers. These technologies are readily adaptable to placebased learning and can enable all students to understand their local spaces in new ways by developing their spatial thinking skills. Yet the literature on fostering STEM interest among Native American students is sparse in terms of connecting spatial thinking strategies to geoscience programs. Hence, our final objective is to propose means to redefine space and place that are compatible with both the Indigenous Science and Western Science. We capitalize upon the geographic construct of respatialization to frame a proposal for further research and debate between the cognitive science, geoscience, and Indigenous science.

2. Western and Indigenous Science: Issues of Space and Place Native Americans have a rich and deep attachment to locale, especially within their traditional homelands; it is the source of their cultural traditions and knowledge (Cajete, 1994; 2000). Culture and history thus influence their conceptions of natural events, where humanity is part of the natural world (Cajete, 2000; Semken, 2005).

Embedded within Native culture across North America, a strong sense of place is evident; space is both culturally constructed and highly localized (Cajete, 1994, 2000; Doering & Veletsianos, 2008; Semken, 2005). Therefore, spatial awareness (rather than spatial thinking, per se) is of particular, embodied importance to many Native Americans. This is a tradition that is dichotomous with the norms of Western Science’s idea of space as an abstract set of Cartesian coordinates whereby the human and natural environments are separated. Spatial thinking, as seen by Western Science, may be perceived as reductionist in comparison to a more holistic sense of space and place within Native American cultural traditions. This dichotomy between Western and Native American perspectives on space has been expressed through hegemonic Western cartographic practices (Harvey, 1984: Palmer, 2012); maps are used to categorize space in non-Native terms. It is not surprising that studies have documented that American Indian students, like other ethnic or racial minorities, are underrepresented in geoscience education (Riggs & Semken, 2001; Semken, 2005) and STEM education in general (Babco, 2003; Wang, 2013).

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A growing body of research promotes Indigenous Science as a culturally responsive alternative to Western Science (Cajete, 1999; Castagno & Brayboy, 2008; Snively & Corsiglia, 2001).Western Science represents a divergent, even oppositional, view of space and place while Indigenous Science navigates space both synchronously and without division (Cajete, 1999). Some perceive the emergence of Indigenous Science (Cajete, 1999; Snively & Corsiglia, 2001) as a reaction to the hegemonic power and authority of Euro American culture. Researchers have identified ―some form of cultural discontinuity as a root cause‖ (Semken, 2005, p. 150), which may disempower Native American students from pursuing STEM education and careers; they must separate the cultures of their daily lives within the culture of Western Science (Aikenhead, 1998).

Although it is important to acknowledge that Indigenous Science represents an array of relationships and experiences, there is no singular conception of Indigenous Science (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008). Nevertheless, some generalizations may be made. It includes multiple way of knowing that are based on interaction with the local environment (Cajete, 2009). Thus, Indigenous Science generally supports holism rather than reductionism (Cajete 2000) and subjectivity over objectivity (Cajete, 1999); the intertwining of physical and spiritual aspects of the universe (Castagno and Brayboy, 2008); and a person relationship between people and their environment (Deloria, 2003).

Reconciling the divergent analytical lenses of Western and Indigenous Science may allow culture, knowledge, and place to be more interconnected, thereby promoting more STEM engagement among Native American students. Our proposition is more limited in scope. We will focus on how the similarities between place-based education and Indigenous Science are articulated to boost STEM interest in geoscience learning. We will then examine how innovations in spatial thinking, as enabled by new geoscience visualization tools, can be used to foster STEM interest in Native American students.

Emerging from this discussion, suggestions to re-conceptualize the underlying processes of spatial thinking in geoscience education will be proposed for future research and dialogue.

3. Place-Based Learning and Indigenous Science Place-based education, like Indigenous Science, utilizes a holistic, engaged approach to understanding processes and relationships. Sobel (2004) defined place-based education as the process of using the local community and environment as a starting point to teach concepts in language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and other subjects across the curriculum. Emphasizing handson, real-world learning experiences, this approach to education increases academic achievement, helps students develop stronger ties to the community, enhances students’ appreciation for the natural world, and creates a heightened commitment to serving as active, contributing citizens. Community vitality and environmental quality are improved through active engagement of local citizens, community organizations, and environmental resources (p. 7).

A central characteristic and distinguishing feature of place-based education is to break down artificial constructs and barriers such as distinctions between school, community, nature, and humanity. Geoscience education contributes to place-based education (Apple, Lemus & Semken, 2014). Semken (2005) identified five characteristics of place-based geoscience education: (1) content focusses on the geological characteristics of particular locales from an Earth systems perspective; (2) recognize and validate that places have varied meanings for different groups; (3) hands-on, authentic

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research occurs in the locale and is taught by and shared with those who live there; (4) research efforts and results respect environmental and cultural sustainability; and (5) teaching goals are to build a shared attachment to a place amongst students, instructors, and researchers and can have the indirect benefit of promoting STEM engagement. A recent study examining a place-based instructional model to teach geoscience in an urban environment reported an increase in student science interest (DeFelice, Adams, Branco, & Pieroni, 2013). Likewise, positive results with respect to place-attachment have been reported with respect to indigenous-oriented geology courses (Semken & Freeman, 2008; Johnson, Sievert, Durglo, Finley, Adams & Hoffman, 2014), which may play a factor in Native American students’ STEM interest.

Many theorists perceive strong relationships between Indigenous Science and place-based education (Apple et al., 2014; Semken, 2005; Semken & Freeman, 2008; Semken, Neakrase, Dial, & Baker, 2009; Zalles, Collins, Montgomery, Colonesese & Updegrave, 2005). Place-based education ―is advocated as a way to improve engagement and retention of students, particularly members of indigenous or historically inhabited communities (e.g., American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Mexican American) who possess rich culturally-rooted senses of the places studied‖ (Semken & Freeman, 2008, p. 1044). The place-based education model represents a critical reinterpretation of Western education. Place-based learning is holistic, situated, and opposed to globalization because of its emphasis on environmental and socio-cultural sustainability. The constructivist learning modalities used in place-based education include experiential learning, problem-based teaching approaches, interdisciplinary focus on content delivery, peer teaching, recognition of students’ unique abilities, and environmental awareness and appreciation. Place-based education is a particularly useful educational philosophy for engaging with Native American students because of its focus on sense of place, community engagement, and holistic learning that uses creative expression, as well as scientific observation, in studies of place. Rather than basing itself in a cultural framework, however, place-based education uses local environments and communities to teach an integrated curriculum (Sobel, 2004), so it may lack the linguistic and cultural elements of many Native Americanspecific traditional knowledge programs.

Place-based education in many Native communities is realized through formal contexts via indigenous language immersion schools, such as the Aha Punana Leo programs in Hawaii; Cuts Wood School of the Blackfeet Nation; Waadookodaading, the Ojibwe Language Immersion Charter School; and the Nikaitchuat Ilisagviat immersion school of the Qukiktagrukmiut people. In these language immersion programs, the language does not make sense unless the place you inhabit becomes a part of you and you a part of it. Because of this, it makes sense that place-based education’s formal and informal learning contexts agree with indigenous ways of thinking and communicating.

Other programs sponsored through school districts, such as the North Vancouver School District’s Aboriginal Education Program, also provide opportunities for Native and nonnative students to learn Coast Salish traditions and practices within a place-based learning milieu. Since place-based and Indigenous Science practices share numerous attributes, the following sections will discuss their common strategies to promote STEM interest.

4. Indigenous Science, Place-Based Education, and STEM

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Place-based education has been linked to STEM interest. A meta-analysis of the efficacy of place-based teaching in 40 U.S. schools found evidence for increased scientific knowledge, reading, writing math and social studies scores, compared to traditional science course teaching methods using standardized test scores (Lieberman & Hoody, 1998). There is a growing body of evidence connecting place-based geoscience education and Indigenous Science that promotes STEM engagement (Adetunji, Ba, Ghebreab, Joseph, Mayer, & Levine, 2012; Morgan & Semken, 1997; Semken, 2005; Semken & Freeman, 2008; Semken, Freeman, Watts, Neakrase, Dial, & Baker, 2009). This review will focus on several examples of geoscience courses which promote spatial thinking and awareness.

Locally-driven, place-based educational programs may offer a viable option for Native American students that is more culturally-sensitive. Geoscience courses, with their emphasis on place and space, can be relevant to Native American students and thus serve as a gateway to further STEM interest. Collaborative efforts to encourage Native American students to enter geoscience careers have been advanced through the Indigenous Earth Sciences Project and the Sharing the Land Program and, like similar place-based educational initiatives, have increased the number of Native American geoscientists who can apply their expertise in local communities (Riggs, Robbins, & Danner, 2007). There are numerous studies of place-based geoscience instructional programs reporting an increase in student science interest: the Geosciences Awareness Program (Adetunji et al., 2012) and a study of geoscience learning in urban parks ; (DeFelice, Adams, Branco, & Pieroni, 2013) are two recent examples. Zalles et al. (2005) implemented a project to foster STEM interest in a fluvial geomorphology course for high school and undergraduate students (noteworthy here because a large number of Native Americans participated in the study). Although the results of the high school course were inconclusive, increases in STEM interest and attachment to place were statistically significant in the undergraduate course based on a Science Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ) and Place Attachment Inventory (PAI). Similarly, the PAI and the Place Meaning Survey (PMS) indicated a statistically significant increase in identification and attachment to place in a pre- and post-survey of undergraduate students in an indigenous knowledge geoscience course at the University of Arizona (Semken & Freeman, 2008). Similar instruments by Shamai (1991), Kaltenborn (1998), and Williams and Vaske (2003) were used in a variety of studies to also measure place identity/attachment.

There are two studies most pertinent to the argument we will propose to redefine spatial thinking. Tsé na’alkaah, an Indigenous Physical Geology course offered at Arizona State University conceptualizes environmental change as interactions between the Earth (Nohosdzáán) and Sky (Yáhdilhil) and are interweaved in the stories of Navajo tribes living within the area of study (Morgan & Semken, 1997; Semken, 2005).

Western Science terms were given Navajo labels to develop a sense of place imbued with personal meaning. Their resulting Earth systems framework represents a hybrid of Indigenous and Western Science knowledge. Likewise, Palmer (2012) explored the use of the Kiowa language for spatial labels and concepts represented in an indigital geographic information network (iGIN), a ―synthesis of indigenous and scientific spatial knowledge‖ (p. 81). Both Semken and Palmer recognized the importance of language as a carrier of cultural meaning regarding spatial terms and concepts that have traditionally been co-opted by Western cognitive spatial science practices. For example, Palmer noted a lack of research on incorporating Indigenous languages into GIS analysis. We propose extending the Semken and Palmer’s lines of research by advocating for a holistic way of thinking spatially by recapturing the language of space and place—an issue that will be addressed in the final section of this review.

In spite of these examples, many place-based educational programs are located outside of Native communities and, therefore, inaccessible to many Native students

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(Semken, 2005). Complicating this is a shortage of mentors and science role models, inadequate teaching facilities, under-trained teachers (Syed, Goza, Chemers & Zurbriggen, 2012), as well as an absence of earth science courses beyond the middleschool level in many states, perhaps another factor that reflects low completion rates of STEM degrees in tribal colleges (Babco, 2003). Furthermore, traditional science curricula and textbooks tend to present a linear, mechanistic, and process-driven view of environmental systems, which runs contrary to the Native American understanding of the non-linear, cyclical understanding of environmental interactions (Semken, .

Adolescents who experience STEM-related discrimination or stereotyping within the structural power and knowledge relations inherent to public education may question their own abilities or compatibility with STEM study and therefore may be reluctant to explore or pursue these areas (Grossman & Porche, 2013). Yet recent advances in managing and viewing geoscience data can offer new ideas on teaching and learning that have the potential to engage students and teachers from western and non-western pedagogies in new ways.

5. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Geovisualization as Tools to Promote STEM Interest Two specific geoscience technologies are offered as potential means to promote STEM interest in Native American students through place-based instruction: geoscience education using GIS and geovisualization tools to promote spatial thinking. These two examples empower learners to explore their own localities while developing scientific thinking and skills that will benefit them in further STEM education and careers. Although these strategies may have broad appeal to other student populations, testing their educational effectiveness in rural Native American communities must entail a collaborative partnership between educators, researchers, and tribal members. A number of past and current research initiatives will be highlighted as examples of these technologies in action.

5.1. Geoscience education and GIS as spatial learning tools.

Geospatial learning increases higher order cognitive thinking and engages students to use geospatial data to construct their own interpretation of places and spaces, which is consistent with both experiential and constructivist educational theory (Doering & Veletsianos, 2007). The ability to think in spatial terms is considered to be a key skill that is ―universal and useful in a wide variety of academic discipline and everyday problem-solving situations‖ (Lee & Bednarz, 2009, p. 183). The National Academy of Sciences (Downs & DeSouza, 2006), in their study Support for Thinking Spatially: The Incorporation of Geographic Information Science Across the K-12 Curriculum, regarded spatial thinking to be on par with mathematical and verbal thinking skills. Since spatial literacy is a newly recognized area of knowledge, it is an avenue worthy of additional evidence-based research (Bednarz, 2004; Schulz, Kerski & Patterson, 2008) and using it to understand locales makes it a natural fit for place-based educational programs.

GIS is a useful tool for visualizing the interrelationships of spatial attributes.

Studies on the use of GIS as an educational platform in public schools have demonstrated its potential to increase spatial thinking (Doering & Veletsianos, 2007; Lee

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& Bednarz, 2009), as well as positive attitudes to science and technology (Baker & White, 2003). Studies on the use of GIS applications such as Google Earth and ArcGIS Explorer (Doering & Veletsianos, 2008; Lee & Bednarz, 2009) and Virtual Globe (Schultz, Kerski & Patterson, 2008) provide examples of successful, evidence-driven applications of existing GIS tools for teaching both at the K-12 and college levels. GIS applications are, by their very nature, embedded with web functionality, and are also suitable for advancing spatial thinking and geographic knowledge in e-learning environments (Lynch, Bednarz, Boxall, Chalmers, France & Kesby, 2008).

The Western Consortium for Water Analysis, Visualization and Exploration program (WC-WAVE) sponsors the Undergraduate Visualization & Modeling Network Program (UVMN), a training forum for undergraduate students and supporting faculty at regional colleges in Idaho, Nevada, and New Mexico. Native American geoscience students are included in this program and have an opportunity to work collaboratively on GIS-enabled place-based studies and use novel techniques for visualization and data exploration (National Science Foundation award # IA-1301346).

5.2. New frontiers: geovisualization.

Geovisualization takes geographic data, usually from a GIS database, and converts it into interactive and predictive three dimensional models that enables spatial relationships to be viewed in innovative ways (Kinzel, 2009; Kraak, 2003; MacEachren & Kraak, 1997; 2001). Geovisualizations are constructed from highly-detailed spatial models. For example, a digital elevation model (DEM) can be used as a template over which spatial data (Google Earth or other remotely-sensed or field collected GPS data) is layered.

Geovisualizations need not be restricted to maps, however. Photos and video, for example, can be integrated with spatial data in a geovisualization. 360º gigapans allow for the creation of virtual tours based on digitally stitched set of photos that facilitate explorations into sites of interest. This panoramic image of a landscape can contain links to information associated with parts of the image.

Links can display text information, hyperlinks, other maps, video, or reorient the viewer to a new location. An example of a gigapan virtual tour was created for the Portneuf River to facilitate re-visioning by the city of Pocatello through the Managing Idaho’s Landscape through Ecosystem Services (MILES) project. It can be viewed at the following address: http://miles.isu.edu/Greenway/Greenway.html. Another example from the MILES project is a 3-D future urban redevelopment along the Portneuf River channel using ESRI’s City Engine This may be viewed online at http://miles.isu.edu/visualizations.shtml3-D. In this example, objects from mapped data can be associated with rules and attributes and map layers can be toggled to visualize patterns and associations between spatial data. The visualization scenarios for city planning are integrated into Unity 3D and provide an immersive environment on a virtual reality headset (Delparte, Johnson & Tracy, in prep).

Other technologies can also be used to enhance digital maps. For example, photographs from inexpensive digital cameras can be stitched together using Structure from Motion (SfM) technology to create 3-D models (Bolles, Baker, Marimont, 1987; Koenderink & Van Doorn, 1991). Sketchfab software allows for online storage of images. Microsoft’s Kinect sensor can also create 3D scans and are being used to catalogue native artifacts for remote online viewing

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(Youngs & Delparte, in prep). Interactive and predictive 3D models can be created to identify spatial relationships in large geographic datasets. This technology has built predictive 3-D maps of a Native Hawai’ian cultural landscape for environmental monitoring and preservation of Hawai’i’s Lake Waiau (Delparte, Belt, Nishioka, Turner, Richardson & Ericksen, 2014) and coral reef fisheries in the Northwest Hawai’ian islands (Burns, Delparte, Gates & Takabayashi, 2015).

Geovisualization platforms coupled to current research on GIS, mobile computing, and pedagogy have the potential to increase student engagement and learning. Cost need not be a significant obstacle to using these technologies.

Everyday tools (such as cameras, tablets, and cell phones) can be used to capture scientific data and much of the image processing software is freely available online (i.e. 123D Catch is a freeware photo stitching tool that can transform a series of photographs into 3D models).

Recent studies have demonstrated the educational benefits of using geovisualization tools to teach spatial thinking skills (Hauptman & Cohen, 2011; Lee & Bednarz, 2009; Kinzel, 2009; Schultz et al., 2008, Titus & Horsman, 1996), yet additional research on the linkages between visual and spatial thinking and how they can be promoted through geovisualization is needed (Kinzel, 2009; Montello, 2009; Vogler, Ahamer, & Jekel, 2010). The authors are collecting evidence-based research to examine the specific learning benefits and measures of cognitive load associated with the use of geovisualization technologies (Richardson, in prep). An example is an upcoming study comparing learning performance and cognitive load of two dimensional, three dimensional, and tactile feedback geovisualization maps. The goal is to select the most appropriate interface for teaching spatial thinking using maps and to offer suggestions for designing instructional programs that promote spatial cognitive processing in learning.

Geospatial technologies have real-world relevance for jobs that are meaningful to Native students and can thus enhance STEM interest. For example, natural resource professionals working for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in southeast Idaho use ArcGIS Collector on iPads to sample biological data in the field. Many tribes hire GIS professionals to advise and inform natural resource management departments. Therefore, geospatial tools may encourage students to build skills that eventually allow them to find a career within their tribal community, using tools that convey a multiplicity of perceptions in ―symbols of place‖ (Cajete, 1999), a theme that will be explored in the next section.

Semken (2005) criticized geoscience for instruction that ―emphasizes global syntheses over exploration and in-depth understanding of places that have prior meaning for Indigenous students, and may even depict such places in culturallyinappropriate ways‖ (p. 149). We do not deny that geoscience has and can promulgate Western Science thinking to the detriment of other perspectives. In the final section, we propose an alternative approach that respects a dualistic understanding of space and place through geovisualization.

6. Expanding Our Understanding of Spatial Thinking to Incorporate Multiple Perspectives

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Recent research on what constitutes a definition for and characteristics of spatial thinking, from a Western perspective, are rooted in the cognitive sciences. Spatial thinking refers to the cognitive aspects of (1) visualizing and recalling spatial information such as shape, dimension, relative location, or perspective and (2) mentally representing and manipulating objects that are either in a two dimensional or three dimensional format (Downs & DeSouza, 2006; Velez, Silver & Tremaine, 2005). Some researchers consider spatial thinking as distinct from other more generic terms as kinesthetic ability or spatial awareness (Fleishman & Rich, 1963).

There has been a substantial body of research in the realm of spatial thinking as an important, yet overlooked area of skill and knowledge in K-12 American education (Downs & DeSouza, 2006). Numerous studies have further examined spatial thinking and its relationship to Native American learning preferences (Apple et al., 2014; Cajete, 1994, 2000; Bednarz, 2004; Pewewardy, 2002; Semken, 2005). These characteristics include a strong social emphasis, holistic learning, creative expression, respect for cultural traditions, and use of story-telling as an effective medium for delivering knowledge (Pewewardy, 2002). Cajete (1999) recommended less emphasis on verbal learning, preferring kinesthetic, spatial, and visual learning activities and understanding processes from examples, which then lead to abstract concept formation.

Recent studies have been devoted to categorizing the components of spatial thinking (Bednarz & Lee, 2011; Gersmehl & Gersmehl, 2006). A taxonomy of spatial thinking skills have been proposed: defining a location; describing conditions; tracing spatial connections, making spatial comparison; inferring a spatial aura; delimiting a region; fitting a place into a spatial hierarchy; graphing a spatial transition; identifying a spatial analog; discerning spatial patterns; assessing a spatial association; designing and using a spatial model; and mapping spatial exceptions (Gersmehl & Gersmehl, 2006).

From a geographic/cartographic perspective, and couched in the language of Western Science, these characteristics labels are reasonable, particularly when using GIS analysis techniques. Yet, can this conceptualizing of space reconcile with Indigenous Science understandings? Although Western and Indigenous Science may share some of these spatial thinking characteristics, the idea of a taxonomic hierarchy of spatial thinking we regard as counter to the holistic sense of space and place that is held by many Native Americans. We suggest that geoscientists collaborate with Indigenous scientists to define spatial thinking in terms that are context-sensitive. This approach might range from using local languages to relabel the elements of Gersmehl’s taxonomy to de-constructing the notion of a spatial hierarchy and replacing it with other context-specific definitions. These could be derived from oral histories associated with particular locales, as was the case in Semken’s report (2005) on an Indigenous Physical Geology course and Palmer’s (2012) use of iGIN for creating a Kiowa GIS database. The notion of a holistic sense of space must encapsulate a diversity of meanings to recognize the degrees to which individuals find attachment to specific places (Semken & Freeman, 2008). The boundaries of an area, the names given to geographic features, and how they are interrelated and given value are among a myriad of factors to consider when trying to define how individuals and groups may think spatially about a particular locale. Palmer’s (2012) hybrid iGIN model blending Indigenous and Western spatial knowledge can offer a way forward. To build on this proposition, we offer the broader concept of spatial awareness as a descriptor

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that may better suit the more nuanced, holistic understandings of space and how it is linked to an individualized sense of place Although we acknowledge there are likely to be potential dissimilarities between spatial thinking and spatial awareness, we are cognizant of the risk of conflating these two concepts and how that may be construed as deterministic; the Western view of spatial thinking over-riding Indigenous Science’s sense of spatial awareness. We repurpose the concept of respatialization, defined as ―the transformation of spatially referenced data from their original geographic representation to an alternative geographic framework‖ (Goodchild & Janelle, 2010, p. 7) to characterize a process where Native Americans frame their own, unique understanding of what it means to think spatially in a fashion that is grounded in their local context and language. This proposition is informed by the efforts of qualitative geographers to challenge Geography’s positivist tradition (Harvey, 1984; Louis, 2007; Palmer, 2012; Pavlovksya, 2006).

Explicating the differences between these two perspectives and seeking common ground is an important task for cognitive spatial researchers, geoscientists and Indigenous Science practitioners and we recommend it as a topic of further research. Nevertheless, common ground exists to build consensus regarding what it means to think spatially. Western Science and Native Science ontologies can be co-mingled, according to Cajete (1999), as evidenced by a gradual recognition of indigenous knowledge by mainstream science (Couzin, 2007; Semken & Freeman, 2008). Respect for indigenous ways of knowing and a solid base of science knowledge and pedagogy should be complementary (Semken & Freeman, 2008). Of the studies discussed in this review, we regard Palmer’s (2012) iGIN model as an exemplar for future research into how spatial knowledge can be conceptualized and labelled. It argues for a nuanced hybridization of Western and Indigenous terminologies to describe spaces and places and supports its claims with a description of an indigenous-centric travel narrative map integrated into a conventional GIS.

7. Conclusion: Recommendations for Future Research To foster and nurture STEM interest in Native American students, there are a variety of approaches from geoscience research and practice that educators may draw upon. GIS and geovisualization tools in place-based educational program can not only promote interest in STEM education, they can be congruent with Indigenous education practices, provided that both views of what it means to think spatially are presented. As a final caveat, implementing any STEM-focused, place-based educational program within rural Native communities must be conducted with the express permission and contribution of tribal members and governing bodies as equal partners in feasibility studies, research, or implementation.

An awareness of the linkages between Indigenous Science and placebased education allow these two practices to advance an alternative meaning of space and place which is more localized. The important issue is how to reconcile two competing scientific paradigms. We propose that spatial learning, as exemplified by new technologies and research efforts in GIS and geovisualization, offers innovative ways of examining and understanding what

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it means to think spatially in locations that have relevance to students’ communities and daily lives. By utilizing the concept of respatialization the terminology for spatial thinking espoused by Western Science, may be reclaimed

by Indigenous scientists. They can adopt names of places and geophysical processes that have been passed down through oral traditions shaped by the interaction of locale and cultural-linguistic traditions. If Native American students contribute to this process by using GIS and geovisualization tools to critically examine and catalogue their locales from a hybridized WesternIndigenous Science spatial perspective, we believe that it can increase geoscience and STEM interest. We also recommend that geoscientists, spatial-cognitive scientists, and Indigenous scientists collaborate on research that recognizes the variety of possible meanings and labels associated with thinking spatially.

Acknowledgements. This publication was made possible by the National Science Foundation Idaho EPSCoR Program under award number IIA-1301792.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 16-26, April 2016

Using Coh-Metrix to Analyze Chinese ESL Learners’ Writing Weiwei Xu College of International Studies, Southwest University, Chongqing, China Ming Liu School of Computer and Information Science, Southwest University, Chongqing, China

Abstract. Scoring essays is costly, laborious and time-consuming.

Automated scoring of essays is a promising approach to face this challenge. Coh-Metrix is a computer tool that reports on cohesion, sentence complexity, lexical sophistication and other descriptive features at sentence- and paragraph-level. It has been widely used to analyze native English speakers’ essay writing. However, few studies have used Coh-Metrix to analyze essays written by English as a Second Language (ESL) students. In this study, we analyzed the correlation between several Coh-Metrix features combined with a set of newly proposed features and the quality of essays, written by Chinese university students, both English and non-English majors. This study shows that each group of students tends to write essays that have their own signature features. The quality of essays written by English majors highly correlate to the importance of introduction, conclusion and cohesion at the sentence level, while the quality of essays written by chemistry majors are highly related to mechanics errors, sentence complexity and cohesion at the paragraph level.

Keywords: ESL essay writing, Textual feature analysis, Automatic Essay Scoring, Computer in education

Introduction Important constructs, central to ESL writing and proposed by several researchers, are grammatical and spelling errors. Cohesion is also important, although it is a much more difficult aspect of writing to account for due to its deeper nature (Rus & Niraula, 2012). This study focuses on grammatical and spelling errors and cohesion which are directly observed through the explicit presence or absence of specific tokens. Errors may be caused by inappropriate transfer of first language patterns and/or incomplete knowledge of the target

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language, in this case, English. Researchers (Q. Liang, 2004; Liu, 2008) have pointed out that Chinese college students, especially those with low proficiency in English, often make errors at the surface level, such as spelling and grammatical errors (e. g. run-on sentences); errors at high level, such as using Chinglish (ungrammatical English expressions used in Chinese context, having deprecating connotation); and low cohesion or incorrect use of connectives. Even for students with high proficiency, like English majors, writing high quality essays with high cohesion, well-established introduction and conclusion, remains a challenge. Thus, a marking tool, specifically developed to analyze ESL learners’ errors, is very much needed. It should be noted that errors are categorized as word-level (spelling errors) and sentence-level (grammatical errors) and, as mentioned above, are consequences of incomplete knowledge of the target language or of the transfer difficulty due to major dissimilarities between the foreign language and students’ native language. On the other hand, cohesion is a discourse-level aspect of writing and lack of cohesion in an essay may reflect lack of composition training and practice. This distinction is important to make, because one can argue that the only net advantage of native speakers of English over ESL speakers is their knowledge of English vocabulary and grammar. Discourse-level aspects, on the other hand, are governed by general cross-language principles of cohesion and coherence, and are equally impacting for both native and EFL speakers. As is shown in this study, English majors who presumably have mastered the mechanics of the language (vocabulary and grammar) struggle mainly with the compositional aspect, which is in contrast with non-English majors who struggle with both the mechanics and composition aspect of essay writing.

Researches in computer-based essay scoring, referred to as Automatic Essay Scoring (AES), have been going on for more than 40 years. The first known AES system, called Project Essay Grader (Page, 2003) based on a regression model, was developed by Ellis Page in 1966. With the advancement of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Information Retrieval (IR) techniques, four more advanced AES systems were developed during the late 1990s (M. Shermis & Burstein, 2003). In recent years, different approaches to AES were proposed (McNamara, Crossley, Roscoe, Allen, & Dai, 2015; Mark D. Shermis, 2014). AES systems in China is still at an early stage (Ge & Chen, 2007; Han, 2009; Li, 2009; M. Liang & Wen, 2007; M. Liang, 2011). Most of researchers focus on the reviews of existing AES systems and their potential applications to Chinese ESL context (Ge & Chen, 2007; Han, 2009; M. Liang & Wen, 2007). Few researchers (Li, 2009; M. Liang, 2011) have attempted to develop AES systems in Chinese ESL context by using latent semantic analysis technique (Landauer, Foltz, & Laham, 1998).

This paper aims to explore what textual features are good predictors for writing quality and investigate its implication for developing AES system in Chinese ESL context. Textual features such as syntactic patterns, cohesions and connectives were extracted by using the computational tool Coh-Metrix (Graesser, McNamara, Louwerse, & Cai, 2004). Coh-Metrix is used to analyze essays written by Chinese ESL students, and this study analyzed the correlations between features and the quality of essays written by both English and nonEnglish majors.

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Coh-Mextrix Coh-Metrix is a computational tool that provides over 100 indices of cohesion, syntactical complexity, connectives and other descriptive information about content (Graesser et al., 2004). Due to space restriction, only a summary of CohMetrix’s key features is presented here. The current public version available is Coh-Metrix 3.0, which can retrieve 108 scores of textual features. More information can be found on the website http://cohmetrix.Memphisedu/cohmetrixpr/index.html.

A wide-range overview is provided in (Graesser et al., 2004): Descriptive Indices: It includes the number of paragraphs, sentences, words, syllables in words, etc.

Cohesion: It is a key aspect for understanding the discourse structure of a language and how connectives used in a text have an impact on cohesion (Kintsch & van Dijk, 1978).

Sentence Complexity: It indicates human graders’ evaluations of the quality of the text.

Lexical Sophistication: It refers to the writer’s use of advanced vocabulary and word choice to express his or her thought.

New Features This study proposes and extracts 8 new features that are not available in CohMetrix. These features refer to characteristics of ESL learners’ writing styles and reflect on the importance of the introduction section, conclusion section and mechanics in errors including spelling and grammatical errors. Students often make the mistake of jumping straight to answering the essay question in the first paragraph without following a background statement, essay statement or outline statement. In addition, students rush to finish up in conclusion. The conclusion section should restate the author's stance with respect to the essay question, make a brief summary of evidences and finish with some sort of judgment about the topic. Moreover, spelling and grammatical errors are always good indicators of essay quality.

Number of Words in Introduction: the total number of words in the first paragraph considered as introduction.

Number of Words in Conclusion: the total number of words in the last paragraph considered as conclusion.

Introduction Portion: the ratios of number of words in introduction to the total number of words in the essay.

Conclusion Portion: the ratios of number of words in the conclusion to the total number of words in the essay.

Spelling Errors: the number of spelling errors. This study employs an open source spelling error checker called Language Tool (http://www.languagetool.org/), which is a part of the Open Office suite.

Grammatical Errors: the number of sentences with grammatical errors. This study uses the Link Grammar Parser (Lafferty, Sleator, & Temperley, 1992) to check the grammar of a sentence, which is also widely used in ESL context.

Percentage of Spelling Errors: the ratios of the number of spelling errors to the total number of words in the essay.

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Percentage of Grammatical Errors: the ratios of the number of sentences with grammatical errors to the total number of sentences in the essay.

Methodology

Participants Essays were collected from 90 freshmen at one of China’s key universities.

Among them, 41 students were English majors at the College of International Studies, while 49 students were chemistry majors at the School of Chemistry.

English majors are considered to have the higher English proficiency. For the English majors, their average score in English as a testing subject in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination (also called Gaokao) was 131.30, and the standard deviation was 7.37. For the chemistry majors, their average score was 110, and the standard deviation was 10.14. Three experienced English teachers at the College of International Studies at the university volunteered to rate the quality of essays. All of them have at least five years of experience in teaching a composition course for both English and non-English majors.

Task and Instruments The writing task was timed and considered as an assignment in English class.

Students were required to finish it within 30 minutes. The writing task was to write a persuasive essay following the standard of college English essay writing set by the Ministry of Education in China.

The essays were rated by the three experienced English teachers mentioned above. They evaluated students’ essays based on the standardized rubric commonly used to grade college English essay tests on the scale of 1 to 100. They first evaluated 18 essays. If the correlations between the teachers did not exceed r=.50 on each item, the evaluation process were rechecked until correlation was greater an equal to 0.5. After they reached a moderate agreement, each teacher then evaluated the 72 essays that comprised the whole sample used in this study.

It was found out that their inter-rater reliability was high with r=.756, r=.745, r=.607, respectively, p<.001. The scoring rubric included organization (e. g. clear organization of subtopics), content (e. g. clearly expressing ideas, text coherence, interesting and balanced introduction and conclusion) and mechanics (e. g. errors in punctuation and grammar).

These essays were chosen because the types they represented better reflected the conditions under which students usually completed prompt-based essays, such as CET or TEM. In addition, these two student groups can be representatives of most of the university students including English majors and non-English majors. Hence, the results of the selected features and algorithms are more likely to be accurate in the context of Chinese ESL writing. Indeed, the English majors’ essays exhibit more discourse-level issues, while the non-English majors’ essays exhibit both basic-level issues (spelling- and grammar-level) and discourse-level issues. This is the case due to English majors’ more knowledge about the basics of the target language, English.

Results and Discussion Descriptive statistics for the English majors and chemistry majors as well as the hybrid group (the combination of both essays) are reported in TABLE I.

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TABLE I.

DESCRIPTIVE AND ANOVA STATISTICS FOR ENGLISH MAJORS’ AND CHEMISTRY MAJORS’ ESSAYS IN THE DATASET

Features

English Majors

Chemistry Majors

F(1,71)

Hybrid

Raters’ Essay Evaluations

70.45(9.95)

73.30(7.64)

1.362

72.10(8.72)

Number of Words

274(46.28)

136.47(4.00)

203.95*

194.65(76.56)

Number of Sentences

17.23(3.87)

9.30(0.52)

72.23*

12.65(5.14)

Number of Paragraphs

4.41(0.79)

3.03(1.03)

27.12*

3.62(1.16)

Number of Syllables per word

1.41(0.06)

1.61(0.10)

73.03*

1.53(1.31)

Number of Spelling Errors per Document of Words

2.9(1.94)

3(2.91)

8.77*

2.94(2.37)

Number of Grammar Errors per Document of Sentences

4.23(2.28)

6(2.23)

6.05*

4.98(2.40)

The average scores of the English majors’ and chemistry majors’ essays were not significantly different. The English majors and chemistry majors’ essays were significantly different when number of words, sentences, paragraphs and syllables per word are involved. It indicates that the essays written by the English-major students contain more words, sentences and paragraphs, but less complicated words (less syllables), compared with the essays written by the chemistry majors. In addition, the English majors made less grammatical and spelling errors than the chemistry majors did.

Key Features for English Majors’ Essays Top six features were selected by using the same feature selection method used above, but this time applied on the training set (21 essays) written by the English majors. The linear regression yielded a significant model, F(6,14)=10.982, p<0.001, r=.944, r2=.892. Table II shows the six features that correlate with the essay scores. The conclusion portion was positively related to essay quality. But, the feature of the introduction portion was negatively related to the scores. It indicates the importance of the summarization of arguments in the final section of essays, as found in previous study (Freeman & Freeman, 1998). Cohesion as measured by content word overlap and Wordnet overlap were positively related to essay quality, which was similar to the results reported in a previous study (SA Crossley & McNamara, 2010). However, the argument overlap was

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negatively correlated to essay quality. Argument overlap occurred when there were matching personal pronouns between sentences. It is observed that unskillful writers like to use a person’s experience as an example to support the arguments in an illogical way. These essays contain many pronouns such as “he” and “his”. The following text segment is extracted from one poor quality essay from the dataset. Although this example essay has high argument overlap, it lacks logic between the following two adjacent sentences: “My friend Bob, he often helped his parents do household jobs and got reward when he was young.

So up to now, he always the best person I think, his experience makes him learn how to independent.”

TABLE II.

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN FEATURES AND RATERS’ SCORES IN ENGLISH MAJOR GROUP IN THE TRAINING SET

Feature

Type

R

P

Introduction Portion

New feature

-.635

<.050

Conclusion Portion

New feature

.576

<.050

Argument Overlap

Cohesion

-.551

<.050

Content Word Overlap

Cohesion

.521

<.050

Temporal Connectives

Cohesion

-.803

<.001

WordNet Overlap between Verbs

Cohesion

.714

<.050

“Temporal Connectives” was negatively related to essay quality, because some poor-skilled writers incorrectly used some temporal connectives, such as “when”, “since” and “as”. As expected, English majors’ essays showed issues at the discourse level such as temporal connectives and argument overlap which negatively correlated with the quality of the essays.

Regression Model Performance in the English Major Group In order to validate the regression model consisting of six features, the model in these test sets (11 essays) were evaluated. It yielded r=.784, r2=.615. Therefore, this result demonstrates that the combination of six features account for 61.5% of the variance in the test set.

Categorical scores, including “distinction” (80-100), “credit” (70-79), “pass” (6069) and “fail” (0-59), are also one of the common credit systems used at China’s universities, such as Southwest University (University, 2007). These categorical scores are also used in many writing tests (Lawrence M. Rudner & Liang, 2002).

The scores derived from the test set were used to assess categorical accuracy of the regression scores, compared with the human-graded scores. The regression model produced categorical matches for 7 of the 11 essays (64 % accuracy). The

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reported, weighted Cohen’s kappa for the categorical matches was 0.516, demonstrating a moderate agreement. A confusion matrix for this analysis is provided in TABLE III. TABLE III. HUMAN CATEGORICAL SCORE PREDICTION IN THE ENGLISH MAJOR GROUP IN THE TEST SET

System Predicted Scores

Actual Human Scores Distinction

Credit

Pass

Fail

Distinction

2

0

0

0

Credit

0

2

0

0

Pass

0

1

1

1

Fail

0

1

1

2

Key Features for the Chemistry Majors’ Essays The top seven features were selected by using the same feature selection algorithm as before, but this time applied on the training set (27 essays) written by the students majoring in chemistry. The linear regression yielded a significant model, F(7,19)=3.186, P <0.05, r=.709, r2=.503. TABLE IV presents the correlations between these features and scores. Among these features, it is observed that results are similar to those reported in other studies (Scott a.

Crossley & McNamara, 2011; McNamara, Crossley, & Roscoe, 2013; Mcnamara, Crossley, & Mccarthy, 2010). Essay quality is positively related with essay length (number of words) and cohesion (semantic similarity between adjacent paragraphs). As expected, the new features “Percentage of Spelling Errors” and “Percentage of Grammatical Errors” were negatively related to the essay quality.

Surprisingly, the syntactic complexity (incidence score of verbal phrases) was negatively related to essay quality, which was different to the results found in the previous study (Mcnamara et al., 2010). This may be one characteristic of ESL writers, since they are more likely to make grammatical mistakes if they try to write complex sentences. Another cohesion feature, “Standard Deviation of the Semantic Similarity between Sentences”, showed negative correlations with essay quality. It indicates that the semantic inconsistency between sentences was negatively correlated to essay quality. Unlike studies in the past, there is a negative correlation between “Logical Connectivity” and essay scores. It is found out that many essays with poor marks had many “and” as a logical connective.

It was used almost always for connecting two nouns or adjectives, such as “more and more popular”, and “China and the West”. As expected, the non-English majors show more problems at basic-levels of writing, such as spelling and grammatical errors.

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TABLE IV. CORRELATION OF THE FEATURES AND RATERS’ SCORES IN THE CHEMISTRY MAJOR GROUP IN THE TRAINING SET

Feature

Type

R

P

Number of Words

Descriptive

.676

<.050

Percentage of Spelling Errors

New Feature

-.486

<.050

Percentage of Grammatical Errors

New Feature

-.460

<.050

Logical Connectivity

Cohesion

-.450

<.050

Standard Deviation of the Semantic Similarity between Sentences

Cohesion

-.531

<.050

Semantic Similarity between Adjacent Paragraphs

Cohesion

+.528

<.050

Incidence Score of Verbal Phrases

Syntactic Pattern

-.641

<.050

Regression Model Performance in the Chemistry Major Group In order to validate the regression model consisting of seven features, this model in the test set (13 essays) written by the chemistry majors was evaluated. It yielded r=.569. The scores derived from the test set were used to assess the categorical accuracy of the regression scores, compared with the human-graded scores. The regression model produced categorical matches for 8 of the 13 essays (54 % accuracy). The reported, weighted Cohen’s kappa for the categorical matches was 0.404, demonstrating a moderate agreement. A confusion matrix for this analysis is provided in TABLE V. TABLE V. HUMAN CATEGORICAL SCORE PREDICTION IN THE CHEMISTRY MAJOR GROUP IN THE TEST SET

System Predicted Scores

Actual Human Scores Distinction

Credit

Pass

Fail

Distinction 2 0 0 0 Credit 0 2 0 0 Pass 0 1 1 1 Fail 0 1 1 2 This matrix reflects a decrease in the categorical agreement using the model tested in the dataset of the chemistry majors’ essays. The predicted scores tend to be in the “credit” category since 8 of the 13 essays have been predicted in the “credit” category. This level of performance is partially due to the frequent credit scores and small variations of actual human scores (SD: 7.64), which renders the prediction task more difficult.

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Conclusion and Future work This study has used a set of Coh-Metrix indices combined with a set of newly proposed features to analyze ESL essays written by the English majors and nonEnglish majors at a university in China. It showed the predictive values of several features extracted using Coh-Metrix; some of the newly proposed features significantly correlated to essay quality as well. These features include cohesion at the sentence- and paragraph-level, introduction and conclusion portion, syntactical complexity and surface errors. The results indicate the usefulness of Coh-Metrix and the newly proposed new features. Interestingly, different features are more significant for different groups of essays. The English majors emphasize cohesion between sentences, writing a good summarization, whereas the non-English majors focus on making less surface errors, such as spelling and grammatical errors, and cohesion between adjacent paragraphs.

This study has some limitations. For example, the sample size is not big enough, since 72 essays and two groups of ESL writers were analyzed. However, these essays were written by university students in a real scenario and the data analysis process was sound. In the future, improving the performance of the prediction model will be the focus. At the present, most of the studies use a linear regression model for essay score prediction. Non-linear regression models, such as SVM Regression (Shevade, Keerthi, Bhattacharyya, & Murthy, 1999) and other machine learning techniques (Hongbo Chen, Ben He, Tiejian Luo, 2012; Larkey, 1998) will be investigated. Moreover, more ESL essays written by university students from different disciplines will be collected and analyzed.

Acknowledgement: This article was supported by Chongqing Social Science Planning Fund Program [2014BS123], Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [XDJK2014A002], [XDJK2014C141] and [SWU114005] in China.

References Crossley, S. A., & McNamara, D. S. (2011). Understanding expert ratings of essay quality: Coh-Metrix analyses of first and second language writing. International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 21(2/3), 170. http://doi.org/10.1504/IJCEELL.2011.040197 Crossley, S., & McNamara, D. (2010). Cohesion, coherence, and expert evaluations of writing proficiency. In The 32nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp.

984–989).

Austin: TX. Retrieved from http://csjarchive.cogsci.rpi.edu/Proceedings/2010/papers/0310/paper0310.pdf Freeman, Y. S., & Freeman, D. E. (1998). ESL/EFL Teaching: Principles for Success.

Heinemann.

Ge, S., & Chen, X. (2007). Automated Essay Scoring for Chinese EFL learners. Foreign Language World, 122(5), 43–50.

Graesser, A. C., McNamara, D. S., Louwerse, M. M., & Cai, Z. (2004). Coh-metrix: analysis of text on cohesion and language. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36(2), 193–202.

Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15354684

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Han, N. (2009). The theory and practice of Automated English Essay Scoring Systems.

China Test, 3, 38–44.

Hongbo Chen, Ben He, Tiejian Luo, B. L. (2012). A ranked-based learning approach to automated essay scoring. In 2012 Second International Conference on Cloud and Green Computing (CGC) (pp. 448–455).

Kintsch, W., & van Dijk, T. (1978). Towards a model of text comprehension and production. Psychological Review, 85, 363–394.

Lafferty, J., Sleator, D., & Temperley, D. (1992). Grammatical Trigrams: A Probabilistic Model of Link Grammar. In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Probabilistic Approaches to Natural Language.

Landauer, T. K., Foltz, P. W., & Laham, D. (1998). Introduction to latent semantic analysis. Discourse Processes, 25, 259–284.

Larkey, L. S. (1998). Automatic essay grading using text categorization techniques.

Proceedings of the 21st Annual International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval SIGIR ’98, (1), 90–95. http://doi.org/10.1145/290941.290965 Lawrence M. Rudner, & Liang, T. (2002). Automated essay scoring using Bayes’ Theorem. The Journal of Technology, Learning and Assessment, 1(2).

Li, J. (2009). Using latent semantic analysis for automated essay scoring in the Chinese EFL context. Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

Liang, M. (2011). Construting a model for the computer assisted scoring of Chinese EFL learners’ argumentative essays. Foreigh Language Teaching and Research Press.

Liang, M., & Wen, Q. (2007). A critical review and implications of some automated essay scoring systems. Computer Assisted Foreign Language Education, 18-24.

Liang, Q. (2004). Contrastive study on the objectivity of English and Chinese argumentative writing: A survey on the objectivity of Chinese college students’ English argumentative writing. Journal of China West Normal University (Philosophy & Social Sciences), (5).

Liu, X. (2008). A case study of a non-English Major’s Writing: Error analysis. Foreign Language Research, 2, 140–142.

McNamara, D. S., Crossley, S. a, & Roscoe, R. (2013). Natural language processing in an intelligent writing strategy tutoring system. Behavior Research Methods, 45(2), 499– 515. http://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-012-0258-1 Mcnamara, D. S., Crossley, S. A., & Mccarthy, P. M. (2010). Linguistic features of writing quality. Written Communication, 27(1). http://doi.org/10.1177/0741088309351547 McNamara, D. S., Crossley, S. A., Roscoe, R. D., Allen, L. K., & Dai, J. (2015). A hierarchical classification approach to automated essay scoring. Assessing Writing, 23, 35–59. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2014.09.002 Page, E. B. (2003). Project essay grade: PEG. In M. D. Shermis & J. Burstein (Eds.), Automated essay scoring: A cross-disciplinary perspective (pp. 43–54). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Rus, V., & Niraula, N. (2012). Automated detection of local coherence in short argumentative essays based on centering theory. In 13th International Conference on Computational Linguistics and Intelligent Text Processing (pp. 450–461). New Delhi, India.

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Shermis, M., & Burstein, J. (2003). Automated essay scoring: A cross-disciplinary perspective.

Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Shermis, M. D. (2014). State-of-the-art automated essay scoring: Competition, results, and future directions from a United States demonstration. Assessing Writing, 20, 53â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 76. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2013.04.001 Shevade, S., Keerthi, S., Bhattacharyya, C., & Murthy, K. (1999). Improvements to the SMO Algorithm for SVM Regression. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks.

University, S. (2007). Implementation guidances on the reform of credit system in Southwest University. Chongqing. Retrieved from agronomy.swu.edu.cn/up/87.doc

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 27-42, April 2016

The Factors Affecting the Adaptation of Junior High School Students with Severe Disabilities to Inclusive or Segregated Educational Settings Li Ju Chen Chang Gung University, Taiwan Abstract. The aim of this research is to explore the factors of the adaptation of junior high school students with severe disabilities (SD) to inclusive or segregated school environments. The study was based on survey data gathered from 868 students with SD who were studying in junior high schools of Taiwan. The research found that: (1) Language, cognitive, and visual abilities are key factors for succeeding in an inclusive education setting; (2) Language skills are correlated with successful adaptation for students with SD; (3) Children with certain types of disabilities are diagnosed later than children with other disabilities and therefore receive intervention later; (4) The relationships among intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation for children with SD vary by disability types . There are implications for improving interventions for SD based on these research findings.

Keywords: early intervention, inclusive school, intervention timing, language skills, students with severe disabilities

Introduction The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that fifty percentage of students with disabilities spent more than eighty percentage of their time in the general education system (Madden, 2012; Michael & Trezek, 2006). Educators believe social ski lls are crucial to effectively integrate students with disabilities into the general education system. It showed that children with disabilities who study in typical life circle have developed more positive social behaviors than the children studying in more segregated contexts (Alquraini & Gut, 2012; Koegel, Koegel, Frea, & Fredeen, 2001).

Moreover, inclusive education allows students with disabilities to interact with typical students, which prevents students from being labeled. In past decades, many coun tries, including the United States and Taiwan, enacted some regulations to ensure that students with

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disabilities are included in typical education system (Alquraini & Gut, 2012; Special Education Act of Taiwan, 2009).

The exterior placement of students with disabilities into general classrooms does not mean a meaningful inclusion (Brown, Ouellette-Kuntz, Lysaght, & Burge, 2011). Educational adaptation thus is an important clue for evaluating whether the education system is proper for the children or not. It is suggested to develop a way to assess a child’s adaption in school.

Some researches argued that inclusive education should be insisted only when the children could achieve positive academic (Oliver, 2008; Rous, Hallam, McCormick, & Cox, 2010). If a child cannot adapt well to a mainstream environment, transferring to a more segregated learning setting might be a more appropriate placement for the student to have improved academic experience.

The disability of a child should be considered to lead him into certain activities (World Health Organization, 2001). If an education system can afford the students an environment to take part in more school activities than another environment, then the first one is more appropriate for the student than the second . The student is perceived as having a milder disability in the first one than in the second setting. Koegel et al. (2001) and Huang (2003) studied the effect of school adaptation on student’s interactions with their classmates and teachers and on participating in activities. It is claimed that these themes are important supports by the schools when the students study in inclusive schools (Kurth et al., 2015). Based on the literature review, this research evaluate students’ overall school adaptation by their academic progress, activity participation, and social relationships.

Intervention Timing and School Adaptation . This study explored the factors that promoted a student’s adaptation to school in an inclusive or segregated education system. It is thought that early intervention facilitates the children with disabilities adapt to inclusive school (Low & Lee, 2011). Many studies have demonstrated that intensive preschool intervention brings various benefits, including academic, social, and economic issues, and enables the children adapt to inclusive education setting (Zucker, 2010).

Intervention during children’s infancy and preschool stages has produced aggressive results and promote the children’s educability (Rogow, 2005). Neuman (2007) concluded that inter ventions are more effective the earlier they are made. Several studies have indicated that identification and intervention in time can avoid development problems and promote developmental outcomes (Aron & Loprest, 2012; Puig, 2010; Renshaw et al., 2009; Sh onkoff & Meisels, 2002).

Other studies have tried to identify the ideal intervention timing that will maximize children adapting and learning well in an inclusive education setting (Akshoomoff, Stahmer, Corsello, & Mahrer, 2013; Stahmer, Carter, Baker, & M iwa, 2003). In accordance with previous

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researches, the present research will explore the relationship between intervention timing and subsequent school adaptation.

Language Skills and School Adaptation . Akshoomoff et al.

(2013) indicated that a child with a disability’s school adaptation relates to communication skills. The child needs communicat ion to interact with others or participate in activities . An example is that hallway greetings enable children to interact and initiate conversations with other persons. These greetings require oral language delivered (Rossetti, 2011). Language communication is important in mainstream setting for conveying a variety of messages; therefore, children should have ongoing opportunities to improve language skills (Low & Lee, 2011; Puig, 2010; Rogow, 2005). The 1960s’ Head Start Program emphasized improv ing children’s language ability to prevent them from learning failure in future schooling. It is believed that students adapt better when they have better language skill s.

Intervention Timing and Language Skills . Interacting and developing relationships with others in various contexts contribute to a child’s language skills; children’s brain and their innate capacity to develop language skills are stimulated by the persons interacting with them (Puig, 2010). Many hospitals have established intervention programs to provide additional stimulation and organized activities for children with disabilities (Zucker, 2010).

Studies have shown that intervention timing and the acquis ition of language skills are related. Research in Norway, for instance, found that eight-year-old children with disabilities who were involved early intervention had better language ability than those who were not involved. Akshoomoff et al. (2013) found t hat the children who received early intervention obtained better scores in the communication subscale of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale.

According to the reviewed literature, the relationships among early interventions, language skills, and school ad aptation are significant. Therefore, this research will also explore how intervention timing, language skills and school adaptation are related with one another among the students with disabilities.

Children with Disabilities in Different Types and Levels .

Many studies have claimed that intervention effectiveness, intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation vary greatly with disability level and type. Neuman (2007) indicated that interventions for children with mild disabilit ies are generally more effective in intervention than for children with severer disabilit ies.

For example, the abilities required of students with mild visual impairments (VI) to adapt to inclusive schools may be different from those required of students with severe VI. Livneh and Wilson (2003) found that life adaptation was impacted by disability level.

Statistical analyses examining all disability levels simultaneously might lead to incorrect conclusions, the analyses of intervention issues should be performed for various disability level individually.

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Alquraini and Gut (2012) noted that greater part of studies have focused on students with mild disabilities and advocated that more topics be conducted with the students with severe disabilities (SD).

Some researches claimed to explore the critical components to include the students with severe disabilities into typical educational settings (Brock, Biggs, Carter, Cattey, & Raley, 2016; Kurth, Lyon, & Shogren, 2015). The present study focuses on students with SD. Inclusion setting afforded conditions for the students with SD to develop relationships and social abilities by contacting with their typical classmates (Alquraini & Gut, 2012). It is advocated to find the practice factors supporting the students with SD to effective ly study in inclusive education setting (Brock, Biggs, Carter, Cattey, & Raley, 2016; Kurth, Lyon, & Shogren, 2015).

Children with disabilities in different types go through different difficulties to school and social adaptation. Children with severe cognitive impairment are worse at language of reception and expression (Alberta Education, 2009). Most of them also have difficulty learning words and speaking, and their language is typically with spatial terms (Gabel, Cohen, Kotel, & Pearson, 2013).

Children with severe autism (AU) are not interested in communicating; consequently, they lack the abilities needed to effectively initiate, maintain, and end a reciprocal interaction. This limits their opportunities to mentally build the word for social behaviour (Low & Lee, 2011). Their language learning and intervention outcomes therefore tend to be different from those of children with other disabilities. On the children with a severe physical disability (PD), their mobility is restricted and they have restricted in participating in activities (Florian et al., 2006).

Moreover, students with different disability severities in different education systems do not use the same abilities in their school adaptation. It is obvious that the abilities required in an inclus ive setting may be different from those required in segregated environments because the two education systems have different conditions and resource types. Therefore, the present study will examine the relationships among intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation individually for each disability type and education setting.

For the students with SD studying in inclusive school, it needs ensuring them access positive social relationship and learning opportunities (Carter et al., 2015). The purposes of this study are to attempt, based on the research findings, to improve curren t early intervention policies and allow the most students with SD to study and adapt well in an inclusive environment. It also seeks to facilitate the adaptation factors if the student with SD is placed in a segregated environment. Here are some questions this research intends to answer: (1) Do the students with SD adapt well in inclusive education settings or segregated settings? What factors made the children with SD be placed in an inclusive or a segregated education

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system?

(2) How the relationship among intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation differs among the students with different disability type? (3) How the relationship among intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation differs between the students in inclusive a nd segregated educational systems.

Method Research Design. There are three latent variables used for analysis in this study: intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation. These variables were derived from survey data collected from the parents of Taiwanese junior high school students with SD. These data were retrieved from the database of the Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study of Taiwan (SNELS). In accordance with previous studies, a number of observed variables in the survey data w hich were reviewed and revised by 12 special specialist were considered to define the three latent variables. Next, the three latent variables were quantified by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The CFA model contains the three latent variables, and each latent variable is factored by observed variables. The following explains what each latent variable measures and the observed variables identified via CFA in them (see Table 1).

1. Intervention timing. It refers to the time a child starts to receive treatment to improve his/her development. This intervention must be afforded by professionals, who are be either special educators, therapists, or medical professionals. The observed variables of quantifying intervention timing were the earliest age of the child involved the intervention, the earliest age of the child’s disability was identified, the earliest age of the child receiving a disability diagnose, and the earliest age of the child involved special education. The first two variables were chosen using the CFA to quantify the intervention timing latent variable. The unit of the variables was age.

2. Language skills. They refer to the oral communicating skills in expression and reception exhibited. The observed variables in quantifying this latent variable included parents’ evaluations of their kid’s language expression ability compared with peers, their kid’s language comprehension ability compared with peers, their kid’s verbal expression being understood by strangers compared with peers, and their kid’s willingness to initiate language with others compared to peers. The first three variables were determined by CFA to quantify the latent variable. The score of the three observed variables distributed from 1 to 4, where 1 indicated that the student’s language skills were as good as his/her schoolmates’, 2 indicated inadequate language skills, 3 indicated poor language skills, and 4 indicated that the student cannot communicate with others at all.

3. School adaptation. In this study, school adaptation was represented by the children’s social and academic performance in school. The observed variables for quantifying school adaptation included parental

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satisfaction with their children’s interactions with teachers, interactions with classmates, participation in activities, academic performance, and the parents’ overall satisfaction with their kid’s school experience. The CFA indicated that all five variables quantified the latent variable. The score of the observed variables distributed from 1 to 4, where 1 indicated very satisfied, 2 satisfied, 3 unsatisfied, and 4 very unsatisfied.

In CFA, the fitting observed variables are preserved in the model, and the loading factor of each observed variable was determined to quantify the latent variables (see Table 1). After the three latent variables were obtained, ANOVA and correlation analyses were conducted to identify which factors influence the choice of an inclusive or segregated school environment and how intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation related with one another.

Table 1 Factor score weights from a CFA of intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation Latent Variables

Observed Variables

Intervention Timing

Identification age Intervention age Verbal expression

Language Skills

School Adaptation

Language comprehension Understood by strangers Interaction with teachers Interaction with peers Activity participation Academic performance Overall education

Factor Score Weights 0.441 0.303 0.351 0.475 0.307 0.156 0.151 0.084 0.088 0.197

Subjects. The subjects in SNELS were chosen with random from the Taiwanese children with disabilities and age of 19 years or younger. The survey data included the participants’ family background, demographic information, medical histories, education, after-school activities, and responses to several survey questions. The SNELS database was established in 2007 and developed 20 survey waves from 2007 through 2012.

The data used in this study were collected in 2009 survey conducted among the parents of 3180 junior high school students with disabilities.

Because the present study focused on students with SD, 866 subjects with SD were included in the study. Among the 866 subjects, 519 subjects were male and 347 were female. The subjects’ disability type profile is shown in Table 2.

Research Instrument. The SNELS data used in this research were obtained from surveys conducted from 2008 to 2009. The SNELS team manage the survey process, which includes questionnaire development, subjects sampling, survey administration, survey data verification, and report the primal data in their data bank. SNELS group is a survey organization supported by the

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Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan. It comprises of 27 experts of special educators, sociologists, survey experts, statisticians, and data analysts etc.

Results and Discussions Intervention Timing, Language Skills, and School Adaptation of Students in Inclusive or Segregated Settings. Table 2 shows that 39.8% (345) of the students with SD studied in inclusive schools or classrooms, and 60.2% (521) studied in segregated schools or classrooms. Post-hoc tests revealed that children with severe sensory and physical disabilities were more likely to study in inclusive environments than in segregated ones.

However, children with cognitive disabilities, including AU and mental retardation (MR), tended to study in a segregated environment. What factors made the children with SD be placed in an inclusive or a segregated environment? Table 2 indicates that, with the exception of children with VI (F=0.00, p>.05), the language skills of the children studying in an inclusive environment were better than those of the children in a segregated environment. The ANOVA data displayed in Table 3 indicate that, with the exception of students with VI, the students from each disability type in an inclusive environment had significantly better language skills than those in a segregated one. However, the differences in intervention timing and school adaptation between the students in inclusive and segregated environments were insignificant with the exception of students with VI (F=9.60, p<.001).

Considering that most of the students in segregated environments had significantly worse language skills than those in inclusive environments, it is interesting to note that the skills of the students with VI in segregated environments were not significantly worse than those in inclusive environments (see Table 2). This phenomenon can likely be explained by their school adaptation. Table 3 shows that the students with VI in segregated setting adapted themselves to school significantly better than those who were in an inclusive environment. Students with VI in an inclusive environment cannot receive visual feedback when communicating with others and they cannot receive as much visual input during instruction in inclusive classrooms as their classmates do. In contrast, the students with VI in segregated environments have easily access to alternative visual equipment or teaching materials, such as voice basketball and Braille books. These supports helped VI students adapt themselves better and learn more in segregated setting than the students with VI in inclusive school environments. Therefore, the students with VI did not benefit from their good language skill in adaptation to school.

Table 2 also shows that 66.9% (n=111) of the students with a hearing impairment (HI) studied in an inclusive environment, while only 33.1% (n=32) studied in a segregated environment. The language skills of HI students in an inclusive environment (1.97) were worse than most of the students with other disability types in an inclusive environment.

However, the language skills of the HI students in an inclusive setting

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were still significantly better than those of the HI students in segregated environments. This implies that the HI students do not need good language skills as much as other SD students do to adapt well to an inclusive school environment. There are two explanations for this phenomenon. First, students with HI have normal visual ability.

Therefore, although their language skills may not have been as good as those of their typical peers, having some oral language skills allows them to communicate with their peers or teachers by reading their body language and facial expressions. Second, these students have good mobility, which allows them to interact with their peers and teachers well and to participate in campus activities more frequently.

Among the students with SD in an inclusive environment, the students with AU had the worst language skills scores (Table 2). Although students with AU share common deficits in socialization and communication (Low & Lee, 2011), Table 2 shows that when in an inclusive environment, they adapt to school better than any of the other groups. This implies that they utilize abilities other than language skills to effectively adapt themselves to school.

However, because the number of students with severe AU in an inclusive environment was small, further research is needed to confirm this conclusion.

Table 2 shows that most of the students with AU (91.5%) and MR (93.0%) study in a segregated environment. Gabel et al. (2013) indicated children with MR had significant difficulty in learning words and speaking. Children with AU had difficulties in producing functional speech (Low & Lee, 2011). These imply that cognitive ability is another key factor to be considered when choosing an inclusive environment.

In summary, the data in Tables 2 and 3 imply the following three conclusions: (1) Language skills, visual ability, and cognitive ability were the three key abilities for students with SD studying in inclusive education settings. If one of these three abilities was insufficient, the student would eventually transfer to a segregated environment for adaptation. (2) The intervention timing varies with respect to disability type. However, for each disability type (except the MR and health impairments (HeI) groups, which had few subjects to run an ANOVA), the children in inclusive and segregated environments scored similarly in intervention timing. The results showed that earlier intervention did not help the students with SD succeed in an inclusive environment.

However, it does not mean that we should deny the contribution of early intervention in the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. Further research is needed to clarify this result. (3) The students in both the inclusive and segregated groups achieved similar scores on school adaptation. It implies that in Taiwan, the system of special education placement used to assign children with SD to inclusive or segregated environments is appropriate.

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Table 2 Numbers and means of intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation by disability types and educational setting Disability type VI Inc b (N)

Seg

31

HI N

111

PD HeI 65

66

MR AU MD OD a 3

6

44

19

Total 345

% (%) 55.4

66.9 66.3 97.1 7.0 8.5 13.1 65.5 39.8

(N) 25 N (%) 44.6 %

55 33 2 33.1 33.7 2.9

334.02***

40 65 291 10 521 93.0 91.5 86.9 34.5 60.2

Inter- Inc (M) 1.36 ventio n Seg (M) 0.95

1.53 1.39 0.72 0.82 2.36 1.01 0.72 1.22

Lang- Inc (M) 1.08 uage Seg (M) 1.08

1.97 0.99 0.93 2.43 2.51 1.68 1.12 1.44

Adapt Inc (M) 2.08 ation Seg (M) 1.61

1.86 1.90 1.93 2.25 1.60 2.00 1.91 1.92

1.50 1.04 NA

χ2

1.24 2.06 1.19 1.03 1.29

2.87 2.38 3.27 3.10 4.00 3.57 3.29 3.31

1.95 2.08 2.58 1.98 2.10 2.01 1.70 1.99

***p<.001 a OD indicates other disabilities b Inc: inclusive educational setting; Seg: segregate educational setting

Table 3 ANOVA of intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation by educational setting and disability type VI HI PD HeI MD MR AU Interv- F 1.50 0.04 2.40 / 1.86 / / ention Post / Lang- F 0.00 26.51*** 38.31*** / 62.83*** / / uage Post Seg>Inca Seg>Inc Seg>Inc / Adap- F 9.60** 0.98 1.64 / 0 / / tation Post Inc>Seg

OD 1.69

39.45*** Seg>Inc Seg>Inc 1.45

**p<.01. ***p<.001 / indicates that one of the compared group’s sample size is less than 10 and inappropriate for ANOVA a Seg: the children were placed in segregate educational setting; Inc: in inclusive educational setting

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Correlations Among the Three Latent Variables. How do the students with each disability type utilize their language skills to adapt to school? Are intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation related with one another? Table 4 shows the correlations among the three latent variables by disability type and educational setting.

Language Skills and School Adaptation. As shown in Table 4, a high correlation (r=0.44; p<.05) between language skills and school adaptation was found for VI children in a segregated environment but not for those in an inclusive environment. This finding implies that although VI students in an inclusive environment may have good language skills, they do not rely on their language skills for school adaptation as much as VI students in a segregated environment do. This phenomenon is understandable because in general, language skills are an important element in communicating with others in a mainstream environment.

However, for a student with severe VI in a mainstream environment, good language skills may not provide an advantage in school adaptation because good communication requires not only good language skills but also an ability to receive visual clues. However, good language skills may help students with severe VI adapt well in a segregated environment. In a segregated environment, all peers of a student with VI have the same disability and are taught by teachers who are specialized in handling VI studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; needs; therefore, visual clues are not a critical factor for communication in segregated environments, and language skills become the only common tool that VI students use to communicate.

Therefore, better language skills can result in better communication and better school adaptation.

Table 4 also displays that the language skills and school adaptation of students with PD in both inclusive and segregated environments are highly correlated. It is inferred that this phenomenon is caused in part by these studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; insufficient mobility, which limits their opportunities to take part in school activities and increases the physical distance with their classmates (Florian et al., 2006). Therefore, when students with PD interact with others or participate in school activities, they rely heavily on their verbal abilities to compensate for their poor mobility.

This study also found that, in an inclusive environment, the language skills of the students with severe HI correlated with their level of school adaptation.

The hearing impairment of students with HI directly influenced their language skills. Due to the nature of the disability, a child with severe HI typically engages in limited interactions with others (Brehm, 2010). Table 2 shows that the average language skills score of HI students in inclusive settings was 1.97, but the average score of HI students in segregated schools was 2.87. Students with HI who are in a segregated environment rely on skills other than conventional verbal skills, such as sign language, when communicating with their peers and teachers. Thus, the students with HI in segregated schools do not enhance their adaptation using oral language skills as their counterparts in inclusive schools do.

Table 2 also shows that, for students with multiple disabilities (MD) in a segregated environment, language skills correlated with school adaptation.

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Because each student in the MD group had a unique combination of disabilities, this study did not explore the correlation between their language skills and school adaptation.

The analyses failed to find a correlation between the language skills and school adaptation for AU and MR in segregated setting. Table 2 shows that these students’ language skills were poor (3.10 and 4.00 respectively). This result suggests that although language skills are related to school adaptation, if the language skills did not reach a certain cutoff, language skills alone could not facilitate school adaptation. Lastly, the language skills of the HeI did not correlate with school adaptation in an inclusive environment. Students with severe HeI are usually too weak to participate in school activities, and their school adaptation score is generally low. However, their language skills score ( 0.93) was the best among all the students with SD in inclusive setting.

Because their language skills are good, their poor school adaptation may be attributed to their limited mobility. Overall, their language skills did not seem to correlate with their school adaptation based on the Pearson correlation analysis.

Intervention Timing and Language Skills. For the students with non-language-related disabilities, intervention timing should not correlate with language skills because their interventions did not include language programs. For a student with language-related disabilities, the student’s language skills depend on the severity of the student’s disability and on how much and how early the student received intervention. However, students who received an intervention earlier usually had severer disabilities. Therefore, there was a negative correlation (r=-.36, p<.05, see Table 4) between intervention timing and language skills in the AU group in the segregated environment. These results suggest that intervention timing alone does not explain school adaptation.

Table 4 shows that the VI group in the inclusive environment was the only group whose language skills correlated positively and highly with their intervention timing (r=.67, p<.01). The high correlation between intervention timing and language skills in this group can be understood by observing how toddlers acquire language. When a toddler acquires a language, he/she relies on visual feedback in addition to auditory input. Toddlers with VI may have to learn to rely on other senses to compensate for their lack of visual feedback during language acquisition. When a child with VI receives an intervention, the therapist gives most of his/her instructions to the child verbally, which requires the child to engage in language production oftener and earlier. In addition, through intervention, the child can learn how to use his/her other senses and other strategies to compensate for the visual impairment. This may explain why language skills were highly correlated with intervention timing in this group.

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38

Table 4 Correlation among the three latent variables versus disability type in inclusive setting and in segregate setting.

Inclusive Segregate type

L-A

I-L

I-A

L-A

I-L

I-A

VD

.12

.67**

.16

.44*

.16

.13

HI

.26**

-.07

-.18

-.01

-.24

-.29

PD

.41**

-.18

-.04

.43**

-.05

-.18

HD

.13

-.09

-.29*

/

MR

/

/

/

AU

/

/

MD

-.13

OD Total

.30 .09*

/

/

.14

.13

-.1

/

.07

-.36*

-.14

.13

-.04

.31**

.03

-.01

-.06 .16**

.11 -.13*

-.14 .26**

.48 .06

.15 -.02

*p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001 / indicates the sample count is less than 10, and not appropriate to perform Pearson correlation anal ysis.

However, no such correlation was found among the students with VI in a segregated environment. Both VI groups had good language skills (1.08). The average intervention time for the inclusive group and segregated groups was 1.36 and 0.95 years of ages respectively. These results imply that the level of visual impairment among the segregated students was severer than among the students in the inclusive schools, and their disabilities were therefore identified and received intervention earlier. Figure 1 plots the average language skills by average intervention timing for all the students with VI. As this figure illustrates, if the children received intervention before they were 2 years old, the correlation between intervention timing and language skills was weak. However, if they received intervention later, between the ages of 2 and 4, the intervention timing was highly correlated with language skills. This may explain the absence of such a correlation in the segregated VI group, most of whom (24 out of 25) received their intervention before 1.5 years of age.

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39

1.9 1.8

language skill

1.7 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1 0

1

2

3

4

Intervention Timing (age) i

5

6

Figure 1: The correlation between intervention timing and language skills for students with VI

Conclusion Typically, the severer disabilities receive earlier intervention, and for some disabilities, the severity of the impairment negatively impacts students’ language skills and school adaptation. However, it appears that intervention timing affects language development if the intervention begins before 2 years of age. Overall, this study identified three factors that influence the choice of education system (inclusive or segregated) for junior high school students with SD: Early intervention did not make a student more likely to be in an inclusive education system or adapt well to it if the early intervention could not improve the children’s language skills, visual ability, or cognitive ability.

The study found that, except for the students with VI, the current education placement system in Taiwan is appropriate. Because school adaptation is determined by multiple factors, including language skills, visual ability, and cognitive ability, unless the intervention targets these factors directly, intervention timing does not correlate with school adaptation.

Suggestions The findings suggest that language skills are critical for the school adaptation of children with SD, especially for those with certain types of disabilities. Even for non-language-related disabilities, early interventions should also include a language development program to help the children develop sufficient language skills. In these programs, children’s language skills should be regularly examined and tracked to facilitate timely and appropriate training.

Our findings also suggest that it may be more advantageous to begin language development intervention before children are 2 years old. Therefore, a more aggressive identification system is needed to identify children with

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40

disabilities, especially those with HI and AU, whose intervention timing is typically later than other types. As the students with VI, although studying in an inclusive environment generally benefits students with SD, children with severe VI did not appear to significantly benefit from studying in an inclusive environment. It is suggested that more support should be afforded for the students with severe VI in inclusive education setting or they should be considered for placing in a more segregated educational setting. For the students with mild or moderate VI, further research is needed to explain for their situation.

The language skills of the students with VI did not facilitate their inclusive school adaptation. However, it is worthwhile to distinguish school adaptation from societal and workplace adaptation. In certain environments outside of school, communication does not require visual feedback as in education setting, and language skills would thus be a more important factor in this group’s successful adaptation. Language are the important skills that VI children use to communicate. Advocates must stress the need for promoting in these students’ abilities.

Due to the nature of disabilities and education systems, the majority students with MR and AU study in segregated education settings, and most of the students with HeI studied in inclusive environments. Because in our dataset, the numbers of students with severe AU and MR in inclusive environments and HeI in segregated environments were small, future research should target these disability types more specifically to better explore the factors of these students’ school adaptation. In addition, future researches are suggested to record the intensity and duration of participants’ interventions (SNELS database does not have these data). Further data could then be analyzed to get the knowledge of how interventions can affect a child’s language skills and cognitive abilities. Additional efforts are suggested to refine strategies to increase the replicability and sustainability of this intervention.

Finally, this study explored the relationship between intervention timing, language skills, and school adaptation among children with SD. Future research could replicate the present study among students with mild or moderate disabilities or among typically developing students to further examine the relationship between school adaptation and language skills. By comparing the relationships, it can be learned more about the underlying mechanisms of school adaptation. Another suggestion is to conduct researches of societal and workplace adaptation among individuals who have graduated from school and entered into society. A follow-up study to our research could trace the same subjects after they graduate and enter society and the workforce to find the differences in the quality of their academic, societal, and workplace adaptations.

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Alquraini, T., & Gut, D. (2012). Critical components of successful inclusion of students with severe disabilities: Literature review. International Journal of Special Education, 27(1), 42 -59.

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Carter, E. W., Moss, C. K., Asmus, J., Fesperman, E., Cooney, M., Brock, M. E., Lyons, G., Huber, H. B ., & Vincent, L. B. (2015). Promoting Inclusion, social connections, and learning through peer support arrangements. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 48(1), 9 -18.

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Livneh, H., & Wilson, L. M. (2003). Coping strategies as predictors and mediators of disability -related variables and psychosocial adaptation: An exploratory investigation. RCB, 46(4), 194 -208.

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Puig, V. I. (2010). Are early interventi on services placing home languages and cultures “At Risk”? Early Childhood Research & Practice, 12(1), 1-18.

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Rogow, S. (2005). A development model of disabilities. The International Journal of Special Education, 20(2), 1 -4.

Rossetti, Z. S. ( 2011). That’s how we do it: Friendship work between high school students with and without autism or developmental disabili ty.

Research & Practice for Person with Severe Disabilities, 36, 23 -33.

Rous, B., Hallam, R., McCormick, K., & Cox, M.(2010). Practices that support the transition to public preschool programs: Results from a national survey. Early Childhood Research Quart erly, 25, 17-32.

Shonkoff, J. P., & Meisels, S. J.(2002). Handbook of early childhood intervention. NY: Cambridge.

SNELS (2013). Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study of Taiwan.

Retrieved from http://snels.cycu.edu.tw/ Special Education Act of 2009. ( Taiwan).

Stahmer, A. C., Carter, C., Baker, M., & Miwa, K. (2003). Parent perspectives on their toddlers’ development: Comparison of regular and inclusion childcare. Early Child Development and Care, 173(5), 477-488.

World Health Organization, W.H.O. (200 1). Intervention Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Geneva : World Health Organization.

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Correspondence : Li Ju Chen, Associate Professor of Graduate Institute of Early Intervention, Chang Gung University, 259 Wenhua 1st Road, Kwei-shan, Tao-Yuan 33302, Taiwan.

Acknowledgments: The researcher would like to express sincere thanks to the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan for funding this research. The researcher especially would like to express appreciation to the database of the Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study of Taiwan (SNELS) by supporting the database analysis .

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43

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 43-60, April 2016

Supporting to Learn Calculus Through E-test with Feedback and Self-regulation Yung-Ling Lai and Jung-Chih Chen* National Chiayi University Chiayi, Taiwan

Abstract. This study is designed to support students in learning calculus.

Many freshmen are often struggling in calculus. The reasons are many and complex; largely because the students’ backgrounds are insufficient and partly because students are not involved in class, passively listening to the lectures by the traditional teaching methods. Thus, student's learning motivation is often low, and lacking of self-regulation to monitor self-learning goals. Here we intend to arouse the interest of students by technological aids, to inspire their willingness and attitude in active learning, and to train students on effective learning methods.

We not only provide video materials on the campus E-teaching platform for reviews, and set up discussion forums for communication, but also offer E-test for each unit volume with feedback (see appendix) to examine students’ understanding quickly. In general, several types of data including selected interviews are carefully collected and analyzed.

Results in this study indicate that most students express their positive responses about these contexts to support their learning in calculus.

Keywords: E-test; Learning motivation; Scaffolding; Self-regulation

Introduction In this era of educational reforms, all teachers are searching for ways to improve learning environments and instructional approaches. For example, in recent years, flipped classroom has widely challenged attention in the world, students are usually expected to watch video at home then do the exercises in the classroom and discuss the unsolved problem with classmates and teachers.

Basically teacher facilitates the learning environment and provides scaffolding in cases of discussion and interaction. Under this situation, students may feel that such learning process is more funny than boring, and they certainly should have interest and motivation to achieve in these processes (Cleary & Chen, 2009). _______________________________________________________________________ *The corresponding author. ** This study was supported in part by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in Taiwan (Grant number: MOST 103-2511-S-415-008). However, any opinions reflected here are solely those of the authors. ***We are grateful for the valuable comments provided by the reviewers. © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

44

In the technological world, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in the United States pointed out “The curriculum should make appropriate and ongoing use of calculators and computers” (NCTM, 1989) and “Technology is essential in teaching and learning mathematics; it influences the mathematics that is taught and enhances students’ learning” (NCTM, 2000). This means integrating technology in teaching and learning processes is current trend (Chen & Lai, 2015; Karadeniz, 2015; Girard, 2002; Porzio, 1995 ). Likewise, there is no question to extend that technology can support learning and teaching in calculus (Ben-Zvi, 2000). This study is designed for freshmen to learn calculus effectively.

Calculus is an extensive course of general mathematics. Many professional courses in high educational level need calculus as prerequisite or tool to develop further, particularly those courses provided in the college of science or engineering. Since calculus has rigorous and consistent content structures, hence learners should learn it step by step by understanding, otherwise, learners may be off the track and get lost soon. Therefore, when students learn calculus, they need to know some better ways or strategies to make progress on their goals, and teachers can advise students in these cases.

Teaching calculus engaging is really a tough endeavor, and there are no easy ways. In order to make this paper to be brief and focused, more attention is placed upon the achievement involving E-test with feedback. Note that, instead of complexity, E-test items mostly focus on big ideas in each topic and limited computation. In the whole semester, we provide eight E-tests. Besides, formal midterm and final tests generally include high level paper-and-pencil problems such as sketching graph or basic proof.

We provide appropriate learning environments with video materials and guidance, we inspire students to observe and think independently.

Additionally, discussion forums and teaching assistant are lent to the learning processes of exploration, problem solving and team cooperation. Certainly, self-regulatory processes also play an important role of achievement among students (Bandura, 1986). Hopefully students can understand and apply the basic knowledge, skills, and various methods in calculus to solve problems.

Literature and Methods Self-regulation refers to the ability to develop, implement, and flexibly maintain planned behavior in order to achieve one’s goals. It is essential to the learning process (Jarvela & Jarvenoja, 2011; Zimmerman, 2008).

Based on teaching experience in calculus, we fully understand that students’ prior knowledge and motivation may facilitate the development of self-regulation in classroom contexts. Also, research has shown that students who are able to regulate their learning in the face of the difficulties perform better than students who lack of self-regulation (Pintrich, 2000). Hence, teachers need to know influential factors and strategies to promote self-regulated learning and motivation. For instance, we tell students to see the importance in learning calculus step by step, encourage students to set attainable goals such as studying calculus together for a couple of classmates, and ask students to keep a record of the amount of time they spent on calculus every week.

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For each unit about calculus, we provide video materials on the campus Moodle E-teaching platform for students’ reviews at any time, and set up discussion forums for communication. Moreover, we offer E-test for each unit volume with feedback (see appendix) to examine students’ understanding quickly. Basically, E-test is usually open on Friday and Saturday, and students can take test at any place and any time. However, students are only given one hour to take each test, and each item is randomly presented during the test.

For convenient consideration, samples are selected from the computer science department. There are more than fifty freshmen to participate this study for one semester in calculus (II), and they are divided into two groups; Exp group and Control group; depending on the even or odd of their student identification numbers. At the beginning, please note that students in Control group have a bit higher (2 points in average) than students in Exp group regarding their background in calculus (I).

All problems in each E-test are multiple choices, please see samples in appendix. When students in Exp group provide incorrect answer in the first try, then “Hint” feedback will present immediately. At this moment, students can think about again, and they can provide next answer in the second try, and the like. When students in Control group provide incorrect answer in the first try, then there is no “Hint” feedback, but they can provide next answer in the second try based on their knowledge. On the other hand, no matter when students can employ the discussion forums to seek help or clarify their concepts. Actually, many critical data can be collected from the Moodle E-teaching platform, including their spent time in each test. Besides quantitative data, researchers also collect and analyze the interviews data from several samples.

Procedures for E-test on line : E-test ( Exp Group) Incorrect Ans. Retry Next p.

Correct Scored Test Ends Display scores/keys

(a)

Flow chart for experiment group

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Display Hint/scaffold

46

E-test（Con Group）

Incorrect Ans. Retry Next p.

Display incorrect

Correct

Scored Test Ends

Display scores/keys (b)

Flow chart for control group

Findings and Discussions In the whole semester, students are provided eight E-tests, each test contains 10 problems. Note that the correct ratio in the following table is calculated from the (total/10) divided by the number of students who take this E-test. For example: {(197/10) / (29-4) }=78.80%. In addition, the corresponding pie chart indicates the spent time students take this test.

The first E-test： Exp group

Question No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio

Total

29

Correct at first time

Absent

4

Correct at second time

0 2 4 5 2 1 1 1 11 5

32

12.80%

Third and above

0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 11 2

21

8.40%

25 23 21 20 23 23 23 18 3 18 197

Figure 1：Outcomes of the 1st in Exp group

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78.80%

47

Control group

Question No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 26 24 24 22 26 25 25 19 4 22 217 80.37%

Total

29

Correct at first time

Absent

2

Correct at second time

1 1 3 3 1 2 1 4 8 1

25

9.26%

Third and above

0 2 0 2 0 0 1 4 15 4

28

10.37%

Figure 2：Outcomes of the 1st in Control group

Comments: (1) This is the first E-test on line, students try to understand some operating environments.

(2) At the first try, students in Control group perform a bit better.

(3) At the second try, students in Exp group perform slightly better.

(4) Research indicates that feedback(or hint) can assist students in improving their achievement (Nitko & Brookhart, 2010). Also, it can promote students’ motivation (Wigfield, Kauda, & Cambria, 2011) and self-regulation.

The second E-test： Exp group Total

29

Absent 1

Question No. Correct at first time Correct at second time Third and above

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 12 12 10 23 17 19 20 14 16 9 152 54.29% 6 4 7 4 6 5 4 4 3 11 54

19.29%

10 12 11 1 5 4 4 10 9 8

26.43%

Figure 3：Outcomes of the 2nd in Exp group

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74

48

Control group Total

29

Absent

2

Question No. Correct at first time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 17 13 13 21 20 22 17 12 16 15 166 61.48%

Correct at second time 7 8 4 1 2 2 8 5 6 6 Third and above

3 6 10 5 5 3 2 10 5 6

49

18.15%

55

20.37%

Figure 4：Outcomes of the 2nd in Control group

Comments: (1) Students in Control group obviously perform better than students in Exp group do at the first try.

(2) However, at the second try, the outcomes between two groups look very close.

(3) It looks evident that students in Exp group generally spend longer time to take this test.

The third E-test： Exp group Total

29

Absent 1

Question No. Correct at first time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 24 10 21 19 22 20 20 24 21 20 201 71.79%

Correct at second time

3 10 3 7 2 4 6 2 6 5

48

17.14%

Third and above

1 8 4 2 4 4 2 2 1 3

31

11.07%

Figure 5：Outcomes of the 3rd in Exp group

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49

Control group Total

29

Absent

0

Question No. Correct at first time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 29 10 23 20 25 22 22 22 23 20 216 74.48%

Correct at second time 0 12 3 6 2 5 4 4 3 3 Third and above

0 7 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 6

42

14.48%

32

11.03%

Figure 6：Outcomes of the 3rd in Control group

Comments: (1) At the second try, students in Exp group perform slightly better than students in Control group do.

(2) In case we consider the outcomes of the first try and the second try together, two groups almost make no differences.

The fourth E-test : Exp group

Question No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 19 19 16 18 21 24 20 20 21 14 192 76.80%

Total

29

Correct at first time

Absent

4

Correct at second time

1 3 7 1 1 1 4 3 2 5

28

11.20%

Third and above

5 3 2 6 3 0 1 2 2 6

30

12.00%

Figure 7：Outcomes of the 4th in Exp group

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50

Control group Total

29

Absent

4

Question No. Correct at first time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 15 22 16 17 21 21 20 19 21 14 186 74.40%

Correct at second time 7 1 6 3 2 2 1 3 3 4 Third and above

3 2 3 5 2 2 4 3 1 7

32

12.80%

32

12.80%

Figure 8：Outcomes of the 4th in Control group

Comments: (1) At the first try, students in Exp group perform a bit better than the students in Control group do.

(2) No big differences between two groups exist at the second try.

The fifth E-test : Exp group

Question No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 20 18 16 16 17 13 14 6 11 13 144 60.00%

Total

29

Correct at first time

Absent

5

Correct at second time

3 3 3 2 2 6 0 11 6 7

43

17.92%

Third and above

1 3 5 6 5 5 10 7 7 4

53

22.08%

Figure 9：Outcomes of the 5th in Exp group

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51

Control group Total

29

Absent

5

Question No. Correct at first time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 18 20 17 13 13 15 10 14 11 15 146 60.83%

Correct at second time 4 2 4 7 4 4 4 5 7 3 Third and above

2 2 3 4 7 5 10 5 6 6

44

18.33%

50

20.83%

Figure 10：Outcomes of the 5th in Control group

Comments: (1) There is no big difference between two groups.

(2) It seems evident that students in both groups generally spend longer time to take this test.

The sixth E-test : Exp group

Question No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 20 18 10 18 21 16 11 8 21 20 163 65.20%

Total

29

Correct at first time

Absent

4

Correct at second time

3 1 9 3 3 2 8 7 1 3

40

16.00%

Third and above

2 6 6 4 1 7 6 10 3 2

47

18.80%

Figure 11：Outcomes of the 6th in Exp group

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52

Control group Total

29

Absent

0

Question No. Correct at first time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 16 22 16 22 16 22 8 13 20 16 171 58.97%

Correct at second time 8 2 8 4 9 2 6 6 3 9 Third and above

5 5 5 3 4 5 15 10 6 4

57

19.66%

62

21.38%

Figure 12：Outcomes of the 6th in Control group

Comments: (1) At the first try, students in the Exp group perform a bit better than the students in the Control group do.

(2) At the second try, students in the Control group perform a bit better than the students in the Exp group do.

(3) Obviously, students in Control group generally spend longer time to take this test.

The seventh E-test : Exp group

Question No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 24 16 22 18 17 18 15 18 21 26 195 72.49%

Total

29

Correct at first time

Absent

2

Correct at second time

2 3 2 5 5 4 4 4 4 1

34

12.64%

Third and above

1 8 3 4 5 5 7 5 2 0

40

14.87%

Figure 13：Outcomes of the 7th in Exp group

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53

Control group Total

29

Absent

2

Question No. Correct at first time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 24 17 16 16 16 21 18 18 21 22 189 70.00%

Correct at second time 2 5 3 7 8 3 2 6 2 3 Third and above

1 5 8 4 3 3 7 3 4 2

41

15.19%

40

14.81%

Figure 14：Outcomes of the 7th in Control group

Comments: (1) At the first try, students in Exp group perform a bit better than students in Control group do. Conversely at the second try.

(2) Generally, outcomes between two groups look very close.

The eighth E-test : Exp group

Question No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total 22 21 22 13 19 19 5 3 - - 124

Correct ratio 84.35%

Total

29

Correct at first time

Absent

6

Correct at second time

1 2 1 5 4 1 00 - -

14

9.52%

Third and above

0 0 0 5 0 3 01 - -

9

6.12%

Figure 15：Outcomes of the 8th in Exp group

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54

Control group

Question No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 total Correct ratio 24 22 18 13 17 15 1 3 - - 113 71.97%

Total

29

Correct at first time

Absent

5

Correct at second time

0 1 4 5 3 4 00 - -

17

10.83%

Third and above

0 1 2 6 4 5 90 - -

27

17.20%

Figure 16：Outcomes of the 8th in Control group

Comments: (1) This E-test only contains eight items because each has more computation involved.

(2) Students in experimental group perform clearly better than students in control group do.

(3) Close examination on the performances of Exp group indicates that they really make progress in E-test.

Conclusion Note that this study basically covers the content of calculus (II). We know that the road to learn calculus is not always straight and smooth, and successful learning usually requires appropriate pressure and self-regulation, as well as stamina and patience. We believe that “It is sometimes tough, but learners stick with it necessarily.” Based on analyses of collected data, we did find that most students agreed these approaches to help their learning. Comparing with calculus (I) last semester, the results from interviews indicated that students were less anxious about calculus (II) in midterm or final comprehensive tests. In general, more students in experiment group have a higher self-learning motivation, a high percentage of students rated this course as more than interesting and dynamic organization, and more students use video materials for reviews after class. Indeed, almost all students perform calculus (II) better than calculus (I).

Although students in control group perform E-test a bit better than the students in experimental group do in several times. However, students in experimental group increase 11.5% from midterm to final comprehensive test, and students in control group only increase 7.9%. Much more, among 6 (in the experimental group) of 7 students (in the whole class) overwhelmingly increase their scores (more than 20 points) from midterm to final comprehensive test. Thus, our approaches obviously arouse the interest of students. © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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References: Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory.

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Ben-Zvi, D. (2000). Toward understanding the role of technological tools in statistical learning. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 2(2), 127-155.

Boekaerts, M. & Corno, L. (2005). Self-regulation in the classroom: A perspective on assessment and intervention. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 54(2), 199-231.

Chen, J.C., & Lai, Y.L. (2015). A Brief Review of Researches on the Use of Graphing Calculator in Mathematics Classroom. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, Vol. 14, No. 2, 163-172.

Clarebout, G., Horz, H., & Schnotz, W. (2010). The relations between self-regulation and the embedding of support in learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 58(5), 573-587.

Cleary, T.J., & Zimmerman, B.J. (2004). Self-regulation empowerment program: A school-based program to enhance self-regulated and self-motivated cycles of student learning. Psychology in the Schools, 41, 537-550.

Cleary, T.J., & Chen, P.P. (2009). Self-regulation, motivation, and math achievement in middle school: variations across grade level and math context. Journal of School Psychology, 47 (5), 291-314.

De Corte, E., Mason, L., Depaepe, F., & Verschaffel, L. (2011). Self-regulation of mathematical knowledge and skills. In B. J. Zimmerman, & D. H. Schunk (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation of learning and performance (pp. 155-172). New York: Routledge.

Elstad, E., & Turmo, A. (2010). Students’ self-regulation and teacher’s influence in science: Interplay between ethnicity and gender. Research in Science & Technological Education, 28 (3), 249-260.

Girard, N.R. (2002). Students’ representational approaches to solving calculus problems: Examining the role of graphing calculators. (University of Pittsburgh, 2002).

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Graham, A.T. &Thomas, M.O.J. (2003). Building a versatile understanding of algebraic variables with a graphic calculator. Educational Studies n Mathematics 41: 265-282.

Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Jarvela, S., & Javenoja, H. (2011). Socially constructed self-regulated learning and motivation regulation in collaborative learning groups. Teachers College Record, 113(2), 350-374.

Karadeniz, I. (2015). UCSMP Teachers’ Perspectives when Using Graphing Calculators in Advanced Mathematics .

Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5712 Kastberg, S., & Leatham, K. (2005). Research on graphing calculators at the secondary level: Implications for mathematics teacher education. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 5(1). Available: http://www.citejournal.org/vol5/iss1/mathematics/article1.cfm Labuhn, A.S., Zimmerman, B.J., & Hasselhorn, M. (2010). Enhancing students’ self-regulation and mathematics performance: The influence of feedback and self-evaluative standards. Metacognition and Learning, 5 (2), 173-194.

Levine, L.E., Mazmanian, V., Miller, P., & Pinkham, R. (2000). Calculus, Technology and Coordination. THE Journal, 28(5), 18-24.

National Council of Teacher of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: Author.

National Council of Teacher of Mathematics. (1989). Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: Author. © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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Nitko, A. & Brookhart, S. (2010). Educational Assessment of Students, 6th Edition. Prentice Hall, USA. Porzio, D.T. (1995). Effects of differing technological approaches on studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; use of numerical, graphical and symbolic representations and their understanding of calculus. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.ED391665.

Wigfield, A., Klauda, S.L., & Cambria, J. (2011). Influences on the development of academic self-regulatory process. In B. J. Zimmerman, & D. H. Schunk (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation of learning and performance. New York: Routledge.

Zimmerman, B. (2008). Investigating self-regulation and motivation: Historcal background, methodological developments, and future prospects. American Educational Research Journal, 45(1), 166-183.

Zumbrunn, S., Tadlock, J., & Roberts, E. (2011). Encouraging Self-Regulated Learning in the Classroom: A Review of the Literature. MERC, Viginia Commonwealth University.

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Appendix: (E-test 4) 1. Evaluate the definite integral.



ln 4

ln 2

e  x dx

=?

6 1 (B) 16 3 (C) 4 1 (D) 4 (E) No answer Hint: (A)(B)(C)(E): Note the derivative: D(e  x )  e  x and recall the identity: (A)

e ln X  X .  e5 x  1  2. Differentiate the function f ( x )  ln  2 x .  e 1 2e 2 x  1 (A) 5e 2 x  1 5e5 x 2e 2 x (B) 5 x  2x e 1 e 1 5e5 x 2e 2 x (C) 5 x  2x e 1 e 1 e2 x  1 (D) 5 x e 1 e5 x e2 x (E) 5 x  2x e 1 e 1

A B

Hint: (A)(C)(D)(E): Use the property ln( )  ln A  ln B first, then differentiate both sides..

3. Find the indefinite integral.  65 x dx = ?

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

1 5x 6 C ln 6 1 5x 6 C 5 ln 6 5 x 6 C 5 1 5x 6 C 5ln 6 5(ln6)65 x  C

Hint: (A)(B)(C)(E): Recall D(65 x )  ?

4. Find an equation of the tangent line to the graph of y  log2 x at the point (32,5) .

1 ( x  32) (A) y  5  ln 2

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58

1 ( x  32) 2ln 32 1 (C) y  5  ( x  32) 32ln 2 1 (D) y  5  ( x  32) ln 2 1 (E) y  5  ( x  32) 32 Hint: (A)(B)(D)(E): Recall D(log 2 x)  ? Note that slope of tangent line is y’(32).

5. Write the following expression in algebraic form. sin  arccos(2 x)  = ?

(B) y  5 

(A). 1  4x 2 (B). 1  2x 2 (C). 1  2x 2 (D). 1  4x 2 (E).

1  2x 2

Hint: (B)(C)(D)(E) : Recall that if   arccos( 2 x), then cos   2 x t 6. Find the integral  4 dt = ? t  81 1 (A) arctan 9t 2dt  C 18 1 t2 (B) arctan dt  C 18 9 2 t (C) arctan dt  C 81 1 (D) arctan81t 2dt  C 9 t2 (E) arctan dt  C 9 Hint:

(A)(C)(D)(E): Recall

a

2

du ?  u2

7. Find the area of the shaded region for the function y 

(A)

 6

© 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

5 4  x2

.

59

5 6  (C) 2 2 (D) 3  (E) 3

(B)

Hint:

(A)(C)(D)(E) : Recall

8. Find the indefinite integral.

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) Hint:

du



a2  u2

?

 sinh(6  3x)dx

=?

1 sech(6  3x )  C 6 1 sech(6  3x )  C 3 1 cosh(6  3x )  C 6 1 cosh(6  3x )  C 3 1 cosh(6  3x )  C 3 (A)(B)(C)(E) : Recall D[sinh U ]  ? D[coshU ]  ?

9. Find the derivative of the function y  cosh 1 (5x) 5 (A) y   1  25 x 2 5 (B) y    25x 2  1 5 (C) y   25 x 2  1 5 (D) y   25 x 2  1 5 (E) y   1  25 x 2 Hint: (A)(B)(D)(E): Note how to differentiate inverse hyperbolic functions,

D[cosh 1 u]  ?

10. Evaluate the definite integral. 

7

1

7

e7

7

(C)

x

x

dx = ?

 e7

(A) e7 (B)

e7

 e7 7

2( e7

7

 e7 )

3(7)

3

2

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60

(D) (E)

e7

 e7 14 7

2(e7

7

 e7 )

7

Hint: (A)(B)(C)(D): Evaluate the definite integral of an exponential function using substitution. Note that D[eu ]  ?

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61

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 61-74, April 2016

Authentic Instructional Materials and the Communicative Language Teaching Approach of German as Foreign Language in Uganda Christopher B. Mugimu Makerere University, Department of Foundations and Curriculum Studies, Kampala, Uganda Samuel Sekiziyivu Makerere University, Department of Humanities and Language Education, Kampala, Uganda

Abstract. The communicative language teaching (CLT) approach has in recent years gained popularity in promoting communication competences in everyday situations. The CLT approach emphasizes the use of authentic materials in the teaching and learning of languages.

However, in developing context such as Uganda, the requirements of the CLT approach may not be easily achievable due to scarcity of suitable authentic instructional materials. This study was intended to establish the availability and suitability of authentic instructional materials used in the implementation of CLT approach for German language in Uganda. Data was collected using a cross-sectional case study, which was carried out in selected secondary schools. Results from questionnaires, interviews and observations, showed that most of the existing instructional materials were not suitable for CLT. It was therefore recommended that teachers become more creative in improvising locally available instructional materials in order to promote the teaching of German in everyday life, and that teacher training institutions should lay more emphasis on preparing teacher trainees of German in CLT approach.

Keywords: Authentic instructional materials; Communicative Language Teaching; German language; Uganda

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Introduction The communicative language teaching (CLT) approach has in recent years gained popularity because of its strength in enabling learners acquire the language skills needed in real-life situations. Communicative language Teaching (CLT) is based on the concept of communicative competence by which learners of a language are expected to possess the ability to understand a foreign language and be able to use that language for purposes of effective communication (Sekiziyivu & Mugimu, 2015). However, in order for learners to learn to use a language in real-life situations, the classroom learning environment has to be organized in such a way that it closely reflects, as much as possible, the real-life situation outside the classroom. This can be achieved by utilization of authentic instructional materials.

Different scholars understand authentic materials differently. For instance, Tomlinson (2012, p. 163) asserts that “an authentic text is one that is produced in order to communicate rather to teach. And an authentic task is one which involves the learners in communication in order to achieve an outcome, rather than practice the language.” As such, authentic instructional materials are such materials which may not have been specifically designed for classroom use, but for use in real-life situations. In the case of CLT, such materials are obtained from the real life environment, and brought into the classroom without necessarily making any modifications. They may include, among others, newspapers, restaurant menus, recipes, maps, reports, and instructional manuals (Sekiziyivu & Mugimu, 2015). In addition to the use of authentic instructional materials, the teacher in a CLT classroom has to design tasks and activities that also reflect the actual use of language in real-life situations. For instance, such tasks that may involve learners into exchange of ideas through interaction, like group work, and pair work, are desirable in CLT. Thus, authentic instructional materials boost the teaching strategies and promote learners’ active language production.

What makes instructional materials authentic?

Different scholars have endeavoured to explain what makes instructional materials authentic (Harmer, 1991; Jordan, 1997; Morrow, 1977; D. Nunan, 1989; D. Nunan, 1991 ; Taylor, 1994). These scholars contend that authentic instructional materials are resources that closely reflect real life situation in any given context. A critical analysis of their work reveals that the availability and use of authentic instructional materials in classrooms is not something that needs to be taken for granted. It takes creativity of the teacher to select and use suitable authentic instructional materials for specific class activities that can enhance meaningful language outcomes (Sekiziyivu & Mugimu, 2015). This is so because authentic instructional materials by their nature may not be readily available for classroom use and the teacher has to move an extra mile in his/her © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

63

lesson preparations in order to have relevant authentic instructional materials brought from the real-life language community to the classroom. However, in case the teacher cannot obtain the actual authentic instructional materials into the classroom, an effort to imitate real-life situations could be the preferred option that could offer an added advantage. As cited by Jian (2005, p. 29); In order to achieve authenticity, listening materials should be based on real situations, in which readers don’t merely read out materials, they also act out the dialogues with rich intonations and tones. To imitate the authentic communicative situations, some background sounds can be added, since in real-life we cannot avoid disturbances or noise. And all materials are spoken with natural speed and accent, which will help learners understand conversations in real communication that will not be slowed down on purpose.

According to (Jian, 2005), texts meant for classroom language teaching should in effect not be moderated to fit the different levels of language learning, but they should be used in their natural form. This, however, creates a challenge in the case of beginning German language learners in Uganda, who will find the comprehension of such texts very difficult.

Similarly, Marcella (1998, p. 7) gives the following characteristics of authentic instructional materials for a communicative classroom:  

   

The materials are learner-centred and carter for the needs and interests of the student.

The texts place greater emphasis on the social function of the communication than on grammatical correctness. In other words, the language activities in the texts lead to free communication.

The texts provide practice with natural and meaningful communication.

The texts enhance real life language practice.

The texts allow for a great deal of learners’ interaction, for example group work and pair work, role plays, problem solving tasks.

The texts are usually accompanied by tapes for listening.

Marcella’s study further reveals the complexity of developing and using authentic instructional materials in the classroom. This is so because bringing the real life scenarios of German language use into the Ugandan classroom setting may not be easily accessible. For instance, in Uganda, it is quite unlikely to get German speakers using the language in real life situations for a teacher to capture. According to Sekiziyivu and Mugimu (2015, p. 43), it is a widely accepted fact by the teachers of German in Uganda that most of their learners are unable to engage in meaningful real life communications and interaction. To compound this challenge even further, background sounds and images may not be so easy to imitate. This implies that the learner will be disadvantaged in such situations that cannot easily be captured. Nevertheless, the use of authentic © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

64

instructional materials in classroom to promote communicative ability is extremely vital.

In this connection, research evidence further echoes the significance of using authentic instructional materials in a language classroom. For instance, Azri and Al-Rashidi (2014, pp. 250-251) contend that Using inappropriate teaching materials makes learners face difficulties in learning a foreign language. Learners need to be motivated to succeed in learning any language. Therefore, teaching materials must be motivating and raise learners’ interest.

If teaching materials are not interesting and motivating, learners will learn nothing. In order to help learners learn better a lot of research has suggested using authentic materials.

It is therefore of uttermost importance that authentic instructional materials are used both for language teaching and testing, especially if the purpose of language learning is to acquire the skills for communication in the real-life situations. Research on the use of authentic instructional materials, however, has revealed contradicting data on its availability and use in real classrooms. For example, Menking (2001, p. 23) found that 82% of the instructors indicated that they used authentic instructional materials when appropriate. This on the face value appears a very significant level of the use of authentic instructional materials. We, however, have to note that this finding would have been more reliable, if the researcher had triangulated it with other sources of data collection like observation and possibly interviews instead of simply using a survey questionnaire.

On the other hand, Liao (2011, p. 14) notes that “because authentic instructional materials are designed for native speakers, they may be too difficult to many foreign language learners with lower proficiency”. He suggests the use of simpler authentic instructional materials and realia. This suggestion however falls short of the fact that in a country like Uganda where the German language being introduced is not commonly used, as such, getting even the simpler instructional materials may be very difficult if not impossible for the teacher.

Therefore, teacher training institutions have a duty to prepare the teachers.

According to Oguz and Bahar (2008, p. 333) the “use of authentic materials in foreign language teacher training programs is useful both for developing the prospective teacher’s foreign language skills and developing knowledge related to teaching profession adapting to real learning environments.”

Furthermore, teachers need to be oriented with the key characteristics of authentic instructional materials. Marcella (1998, p. 7) emphasizes the following characteristics of authentic instructional materials for CLT:    

The instructional materials used take into account the needs and interests of the learners.

The language activities in the texts lead to free communication.

The texts provide practice with natural and meaningful communication.

The texts use authentic instructional materials.

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 

The texts call for a great deal of student interaction i.e. group work, pair work, role play and problem solving tasks.

The texts are accompanied by tapes for listening which include authentic language use.

We find Marcella’s characteristics for authentic instructional materials viable for consideration when evaluating the authenticity of instructional materials in a developing context. Therefore, these characteristics were used as a benchmark in the development of the tools/instruments of this study. Figure 1 presents our conceptual framework which describes the relationships between the key concepts in the study.

Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between authentic instructional materials, communicative teaching approach and the communicative competences. We conceptualise that availability and use of suitable authentic instructional materials will enhance/support CLT approach leading to the acquisition of viable communicative language competences. And it is our assumption that learners who have gained appropriate communicative language competences could subsequently be able to use these language competences appropriately in real life situations. In that case, such people who are capable of using appropriate German language in real life situations could be used to generate authentic instructional materials to boost German language teaching.

Furthermore, Littlewood (2014, p. 355) contends that “teachers can draw on CLT ideas and techniques… to design classroom practices that are real and meaningful to their learners and help learners towards fulfilling their real communicative needs.”

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The need to use authentic instructional materials to represent real-life situations in the teaching of languages is preferable, but also remains to be challenging particularly in the case of teaching a rare language, such as German in Uganda, where authentic instructional materials and facilities may not be available. This challenge is not an isolated one as it is the case in other countries (Ahmad & Rao, 2013; Raissi & Nor, 2013). On this basis, we investigate the availability and suitability of authentic instructional materials used for the teaching of German, as a foreign language in secondary schools in Uganda.

Purpose The purpose of the study was to establish the availability and suitability of authentic instructional materials being used to promote the learning of German in secondary schools through the CLT approach.

Methodology The study used a descriptive case study design in order to fully understand the availability and suitability of authentic instructional material utilized in the teaching of German. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis were used. The study scope covered all the ten secondary schools offering German in Uganda. Questionnaires: A questionnaire probing for teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; understanding of authentic instructional materials with particular emphasis on their availability and suitability, relevance in meeting the needs and interests of learners, and appropriateness towards enhancing meaningful communication was utilised. Observation check list: an observation checklist was used to find out (1) the types of instructional materials available, and (2) their relevance to the characteristics of authentic instructional materials necessary for CLT in secondary schools. Video recording; video recording was carried out during the process of going around the schools to observe the availability and suitability of authentic instruction materials. Interviews: interviews for eight teachers were conducted to probe for their knowledge of availability and suitability of authentic instructional materials for teaching German language in their schools. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed.

Data Analysis Qualitative data obtained through the use of open-ended questions and interviews, was organised into themes and then summarised according to four categories representing CLT based on Grounded Theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Similarly, data obtained through the observations was video recorded and then organised into themes that describe the characteristics of instructional materials for CLT. The video recordings were carefully observed and interpreted in conjunction with the observation checklist to identify details. On the other hand, quantitative data obtained from questionnaires were analyzed using statistical computer software (SPSS) to generate descriptive statistics such as frequencies, and percentages. These parameters were used to determine the

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67

importance placed to each principle of CLT, and then presented using tables and bar graphs.

Results This section presents salient findings from the study on the availability and suitability of authentic instructional materials to support the communicative teaching approach of German in Ugandan secondary schools.

Availability of authentic instructional materials for teaching German This section presents findings on the availability of authentic instructional materials for enhancing the German communicative competence of learners.

Instructional materials were classified into visual- and audio materials.

Table 1 gives the frequency distribution of the availability of visual materials as reported by the teachers and verified by observation.

Table 1: Availability of visual materials Type of visual Teachers’ responses materials Frequency Percent Course books Newspaper articles Restaurant menus Letters Instructional manuals Traffic sign posts Appeals Petitions Fiction Poetry Autobiographies Notes Summaries Other

17 8

100.0 47.1

2 3

11.8 17.8

10 10 7 10 7 7

58.8 58.8 41.2 58.8 41.2 41.2

Researcher’s observation Frequency

Percent

8 4

100.0 50.0

4 2

50.0 25.0

Findings in Table 1 show that course books were the major materials available in all the schools under study (100%) followed by fiction and poetry (59%). Results also revealed that other critical instructional materials for the CLT such as restaurant menus, traffic sign posts, appeals, and petitions were unavailable in all schools. This was an indication of lack of authentic visual instructional materials that could actually aid the effective teaching and learning processes of German with a meaningful communicative purpose. Table 2 gives the results on the availability of audio materials as reported by the teachers.

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Table 2: Availability of audio materials Type of Audio Teachers’ responses materials Agreement No. of Percent responses Tapes 13 77 Radio 17 100 Any other 7 42

Disagreement No. of responses 4 0 10

Percent 23 0 58

The findings in table 2 clearly revealed that the most common source of audio texts in the schools was the radio followed by tapes. As illustrated in Table 2, there was a general agreement between the report given by teachers and the observation of the researcher that radio was the major audio resource used in the classrooms readily available in most of the schools. Observations also revealed that there were a few newly acquired alternative audio materials (CD players) available in the schools. As reflected in the following quotation: “We have of late acquired a CD player in the department. However, we lack CDs with lessons prepared for listening comprehension. Therefore, the CD player is not optimally utilised.”

[TOG02] It should be noted, however, that even in these cases, there was still lack of the CDs required to carry out a lesson using the CLT approach. This is an indication that most schools were not well equipped with the necessary audio instructional materials for use in effective teaching of German language.

On the other hand, results from the teachers’ interview on availability and suitability of authentic instructional materials show that the instructional materials available in most of their schools were to a large extent not suitable for supporting the CLT approach. For instance, one teacher commented that, “Materials used are got from old course books which were specifically adopted to fit classroom use. There is lack of authentic instructional materials which would actually portray a real-life-like situation. [TOG06] This means that the instructional materials available do not necessarily represent the current language use in Uganda and can therefore not be effectively used to teach learners through the CLT approach.

Similar sentiments were also expressed by another teacher in the following quotation: “We normally use materials from old textbooks. We also have some old posters from Germany which help to show the way of life of Germans.” [TOG01] Furthermore, another teacher noted that, “The materials used at present were designed to address learners at that level of German knowledge, however, the fact that they are [old] they may not capture well the interests and needs of the present day learner. [TOG08] On the issue of learner-centeredness, findings showed that there was generally lack of authentic instructional materials that could be used in such teaching approaches where learners are organised in groups and are required to produce © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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language of their own. As reflected in the following quotation by a teacher, “Materials used are not so much learner-centred because they do not involve the learners in such activities that would require them to work in small groups or in pairs.” [TOG05] This was supplemented by another teacher who observed that, “Language activities in the texts cannot lead to free interactive communication, because they do not aim at the learners’ ability to ably communicate in a free atmosphere. They can only be used in the classroom setting and not outside the classroom.[TOG07] Thus, these materials are not truly authentic because they are not reflecting the real life situation.

In the same vein, teachers were of the view that, “The available texts do not encourage free interaction. Learners simply work out the exercises individually to come up with the required responses. The teacher normally requires each individual learner to read the texts and work out the answers in their exercise books.”[TOG04] This means that the available instructional materials are not designed to promote learners’ communicative language use but are more suitable for teaching about the language, including the rules of grammar as it is in traditional language teaching approaches such as the grammar translations approach. In fact, a teacher commented that, “Most of the texts available mainly aimed at making learners practice grammatical structures. Very little emphasis is put on teaching learners to communicate in the German language, within particular situations.”[TOG01] The findings in this section have demonstrated that the instructional materials available in the schools to a great extent were not authentic enough to promote the CLT approach. This is consistent with Ngoc and Iwashita (2012, p. 29) observation that even when teachers made an attempt to utilize the CLT approaches they were only able to make surface changes to activities, practices and materials.

Suitability of available instructional materials The data presented in this section addresses suitability of the available instructional materials to prepare learners to achieve the desired levels of communicative competence in German. Teachers’ use of suitable instructional materials was organized under four categories that represented the characteristics of CLT materials namely: use of learner-centered instructional materials, social function of communication versus grammatical correctness, use of natural language, and promoting learners’ free interaction. The findings on these categories are summarized in Table 3 showing the level of agreement on how materials are used.

Table 3: Teachers’ responses on suitability of materials used Items Agreement Disagreement No. of Percent No. of Percent responses responses Use of student centered materials 31 91 3 9 Social function of communication 34 67 17 33 versus grammatical correctness Use of natural language 67 79 18 21 Promoting learners’ interaction 28 82 6 18

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It is evident from Table 3 that teachers reported using instructional materials that possess the required characteristics for the CLT approach. This is so because their responses range from 67% to 91%. However, based on the researcher’s observation, as shown in the Figure 2 below, revealed a smaller percentage of each of the categories of characteristics of communicative language instructional materials. For instance, it was observed that only 12% of the instructional materials were learner-centered, 12% emphasized the social function of language as opposed to grammatical correctness, 12% promoted learners’ interaction and 35% used natural language. This discrepancy between teachers’ response and observation results implies that teachers may not be fully aware of the characteristics of authentic instructional materials required to teach German using the CLT approach--so as to assume that the instructional materials they use could promote communicative language learning.

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1

2

3

4

Figure 2: Percentage observation of the use of materials 1 = Use of learner-centered materials, 2 = Social function of communication versus grammatical correctness, 3 = Use of natural language, and 4 = Promote learners’ interaction However, findings from the observation were somewhat in line with the teachers’ view that it was difficult to claim that they were teaching using the CLT approach, when the instructional materials available had not been designed for that purpose. This was evidenced in such teachers’ responses as, “Since the instructional materials available are not suitable for use in the communicative teaching approach, it is difficult to rearrange them for that purpose. We therefore use them the way they are and end up having teacher-centered lessons with very limited learners’ interaction.” [TOG03] The findings in this section have demonstrated that the available instructional materials in the schools are not actually suitable for teaching the German language through the CLT approach. © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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Discussion This article presented findings of the study on availability and suitability of authentic instructional materials to support the CLT approach in teaching German language in Ugandan secondary schools. The findings of the study have revealed that a variety of both visual and audio instructional materials for teaching German are available in the schools. Course books were the major materials available in most of the schools followed by fiction and poetry.

However, results also revealed that the key authentic instructional materials such as restaurant menus, traffic sign posts, appeals, and petitions that are critical in the CLT approach were not available in all schools. This was an indication that instructional materials utilized in the teaching of German language in secondary schools were not authentic enough as required for effective teaching and learning of German within the concept of CLT approach.

Findings further revealed that instructional materials available in most of the Ugandan secondary schools were outdated and did not carter for the current needs and interests of the contemporary present day learner. This is reflected in the quotations given by teachers that follow: “Materials used are not so much learner-centred ….” [TOG05] [and] “… may not capture well the interests and needs of the present day learner. [TOG08] Therefore, teachers that would like to use learnercentered approaches are challenged and consequently learners may be unlikely to develop the necessary communicative competences as applicable in the real life situations.

Furthermore, many of these instructional materials could not even permit free interaction of learners as reflected in the following teachers’ response, “The available texts do not encourage free interaction. Learners simply work out the exercises individually to come up with the required responses.”[TOG04] Yet, free interaction of learners is critical in enabling them construct their own knowledge thus, it compromises the effective teaching and learning process of German through the CLT approach.

Moreover, it was also not easy for the teachers to construct their own authentic instructional materials from their local environment given that German is not a widely spoken language in Uganda. Therefore, it is not surprising that even the way the outdated materials were actually being used in classrooms did not reflect the principles of the CLT approach.

As such, these findings are inconsistent with the argument of Omaggio (1986, p.

313) that relevance and authenticity of instructional materials was important to motivate learners in acquiring communicative language skills. The fact that authentic instructional materials are essential in CLT was further emphasized by numerous scholars (Harmer, 1991; Jian, 2005; Jordan, 1997; Marcella, 1998; Morrow, 1977; D. Nunan, 1989; Taylor, 1994). Nevertheless, in the Ugandan context, much as it may be ideal to use authentic instructional materials, these were not always readily available for use in secondary schools. The reason for this is that German is not a language used by many in Uganda. As such, teachers find it extremely difficult to capture appropriate and relevant authentic instructional materials as the case may be in a German speaking country. © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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However, given that German has been taught in Uganda for over forty years there must be a modest number of German speaking individuals. An important question is: how could such German speaking individuals be used as resource for teachers to generate authentic instructional materials? Hence, there is need to sensitize teachers of German about the importance of developing new innovative styles to create authentic instructional materials from the local environment. This approach should be in line with Weir (1990, p. 39) who notes that, “although full genuineness of text or authenticity of task is likely to be unattainable in the second language reading texts that we develop, we still need to select appropriate texts, to be read for realistic purposes, and we expect the reader to extract an agreed level of meaning under specified performance conditions”. Although, it may be very difficult to find authentic instructional materials that could be used to teach learners’ communicative competence effectively. Teachers are challenged to exercise their creativity and improvisation to make locally available instructional materials authentic and therefore suitable for supporting the CLT approach and promoting acquisition of the German language communicative competences.

Therefore, teachers are expected to generate authentic instructional materials for their classrooms. Unfortunately, findings have revealed that teachers were instead using isolated sentences to teach new grammatical structures. The appropriate use of authentic instructional materials in classrooms, the way they would be used in real-life were found to be lacking in almost all schools teaching German in Uganda. This disadvantages the learners because they may not even be able to do well in assessment and examinations. For instance, Kitao and Kitao (1996) asserts that it is not possible to simulate real-life when the instructional materials used to teach and test language are so far removed from real-life situations. Consequently, the instructional materials which are got from out dated course books do not in any way mirror the way language is being used today.

Generally, the CLT approach is quite demanding in the Ugandan context. For instance, communicative language exercises require that the classroom is large enough and that it is well arranged to allow for free interaction of the learners.

As noted by Galloway (1993) “the scene of a classroom during a communicative exercise is active, with learners leaving their seats to complete a task”. This was not the case for most of the schools, classrooms were much smaller than required to allow adequate free interaction of learners. It is evident from the respondents’ views that even if teachers were willing to introduce CLT approach, their effectiveness was still questionable. This is so because of the amount of space available in Ugandan schools as compared to the number of learners in each class. Organising learners into work groups to perform communicative tasks such as dialogues, skits and games is such a difficult undertaking, that teachers would rather do without it and use only such tasks that do not require learners to move from their seats. Where the classroom practices do not involve such practices that allow for free interaction among the learners, then CLT approach is compromised. Teachers end up, therefore, by © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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simply engaging learners in constructing simple sentences and knowledge of the structure of the language other than emphasizing the ability to put such knowledge to functional use.

Conclusion It is evident that the availability and suitability of instructional materials is extremely vital in supporting the appropriate teaching of German through the CLT approach. However, results from the investigations show that the instructional materials available for teaching German in Uganda do not conform to the principles of communicative language teaching (CLT) approach. This article therefore has identified the challenge of using the CLT approach in teaching and learning of German in Ugandan schools due to the lack of authentic materials.

Consequently, the implementation of the CLT approach is undermined.

Therefore, the Ministry of Education Science, Technology and Sports in Uganda should emphasize the need to use authentic instructional materials that indeed reflect real-life situations. To do this, teachers of German are encouraged to develop authentic instructional materials using the accumulated cohorts of students who studied German within Uganda and the diaspora. By creating opportunities for them to come together in social gathering that require them to freely use the German language thus enabling teachers of German to capture dialogues, presentations, discussions, and conversations (authentic materials) that could possibly be used in schools. Similarly, teachers should be encouraged to creatively modify and make use of the available instructional materials to teach communicative use of the German language. Furthermore, the role of teacher training institutions in preparing well equipped teachers of German in CLT approach and the use of authentic instructional materials reflecting real life situation is critical. However, it should be noted that language in the real life situation, though used in a variety of forms, is normally used when the interlocutors are free to move around and express themselves both by word of mouth and by use of body language. Unfortunately, in Ugandan schools this is difficult to be achieved in most of the classroom settings, but rather in social gathering such as parties, meetings, etc. that could offer opportunities to enable this kind of free interaction to happen. Therefore, further research is needed to explore how to create fora that would bring together all German speakers in Uganda together thus creating opportunities for free interaction to communicate in the German language. Furthermore, given that in Uganda there are only ten secondary schools offering German, there is need to expand this study to neighbouring countries, where German is offered at a large scale.

References Azri, R. H. A., & Al-Rashidi, M. H. (2014). The effect of using authentic materials in teaching. Internationa Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 3(10), 249-254.

Galloway, A. (1993). Communicative language teaching: an introduction and sample activities.

Washington DC.: The ERIC ClearingHouse on Languages and Linguistics.

Harmer, J. (1991). The practice of English language teaching (New edition ed.). London: Longman. Š 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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Jian, Z. (2005). Teaching English in a communicative classroom. Sino-Us English Teaching, 2(12).

Jordan, R. R. (1997). English for academic purposes: a guide and resource for teachers.

Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Kitao, S. K., & Kitao, K. (1996). Testing Communicative Competence. . The Internet TESL Journal,, 2(5). http://iteslj.org/ Liao, X. (2011). Communicative language teaching in the Yemeni EFL classroom: embraced or merely lip-serviced? Journal of Langauage Teaching and Research, 2(4), 859-866.

Littlewood, W. (2014). Communication-oriented language teaching: where are we now?

Where do we go from here? Language Teaching, 47(03), 349-362.

Marcella, F. (1998). The historical development of ESL material in the United States. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the New York State Teachers of English to speakers of other languages, New York.

Menking, S. (2001). The communicative approach to teaching English in post-secondary institutions in shimane, Japan: ERIC Document Reproduction Service.

Morrow, K. E. (1977). Techniques of evaluation for a national syllabus. London: University of Reading.

Ngoc, K. M., & Iwashita, N. (2012). A comparision of learner's and teachers' attitudes toward communicative language teaching at two universities in Vietnam.

University of Sydney Papers in TESOL, 7, 25-49.

Nunan, D. (1989). Communicative tasks and the language curriculum. TESOL QUARTERLY, 25(2), 279-295.

Nunan, D. (1991 ). Communicative Tasks and the Language Curriculum. TESOL QUARTERLY, 25(2), 279-295.

Oguz, A., & Bahar, H. O. (2008). The importancce of using authentic materials in prospective foreign language teacher training. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 5(4), 328-336.

Omaggio, A. (1986). Teaching language in context, proficiency -oriented instruction. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

Raissi, R., & Nor, F. b. M. (2013). Teachers' perceptions and challenges regarding the implementation of communicative language teaching (CLT) in Malasyian Secondary Schools. Paper presented at the Global Summit on Education 2013, Kuala Lumpar.

Sekiziyivu, S., & Mugimu, C. B. (2015). Relationship between learnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; German language communicative abilities and their prior performance in a National Ugandan Certificate Examination. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 6(1), 43-52.

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (Eds.). (1990). Basics of Qualitative Research, Grounded Theory procedures and techniques. London: Sage Publications.

Taylor, D. (1994). Inauthentic authenticity or authentive inauthenticity? Teaching English as a foriegn language. TESL - EJ, 1(2), 1-12.

Tomlinson, B. (2012). Materials development for language learning and teaching.

Language Teaching, 45(02), 143-179.

Weir, C. J. (1990). Communicative Language Testing: Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 75-102, April 2016

An Evaluation of the New School Administrator Assignment System Applied in Recent Years in Turkey TarÄąk SOYDAN

Ankara University, Faculty of Educational Sciences Ankara, Turkey Abstract. As in a range of fields of the public life, an extensive reconstruction process within the education field is ongoing in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x;s Turkey and the changes made upon the educational administrator appointment/assignment system constitute one of the major dimensions of this process. Educational administrator appointment/assignment system in Turkey is a field where new regulations have been prepared, where numerous circulars have been issued and where extensive changes have been made upon all along the time. However, the changes made nowadays are on a level having an effect on all the school system radically by means of their sizes and qualities. This study, in which the new school administrator assignment system in Turkey is evaluated based on the views of the school administrators and teachers in terms of providing an objective evaluation, making a selection based on competences, improving the effectiveness of the school system and encouraging the school administrators and the teachers for professional development, is a qualitative research based on a survey model. Semistructured interview and focus group interview techniques were used as the qualitative research techniques in this study. Working group of this study was consisted of teachers and school administrators who served at the state primary schools, secondary schools and high schools in 20142015 school year. Interviews were done with 34 people and a focus group discussion with 12 people was carried out within the scope of the study. As a result of the study, it was found out that the participants who have already taken administrative roles consider the system majorly positively while the other participants consider it clearly negatively. Doubts and criticisms of the participants, who took on administrative roles before the new assignment system but who were eliminated during the revaluation stage and appointed as teachers, towards the new system are more intense.

Keywords: School administrator; educational administrator appointment/assignment system; objectivity; competence; effectiveness.

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Introduction Almost all of the literature in educational administration mentions that there has been great shift in the World caused by technological changes, which has great impact on economy, social and political life. Also, this shift has had massive effects on education as a social institution. Besides the historical and social reasons, and the structure of the shift, it is obvious that education itself has great changes over time. Schools are the base of education systems. In order for school system to accomplish all its expected functions and aims, school administrators and teachers should effectively fulfil their missions.

School administrators‟ roles and responsibilities change over time as a consequence of changes in the world. School administrators are now considered to be more „humanistic‟ rather than being bureaucratic leaders and are perceived as educational leader who can develop multitasking school systems (Lashway, 2003). In this context, it is very important to construct effective systems for training, selecting and placement strategies for school administrators.

Nowadays, there has been enormous amount of changes occur in Turkish educational system, and one of the important area of the reconstruction is placement and replacement of educational and school administrators. The policies of recruitment and/or placement of the administrators has been changed many times in Turkish history. For example, it can be observed that since 2003 there has been lots of new regulations regarding to school and institution administrators; however, each regulation causes different legal problems and some unjust treatment. Latest regulations in specific are resulted with many trials which are against Ministry of National Education. Yet, Ministry prefer to prepare another regulation in order to solve the problems caused by the previous one.

According to the regulation number 29494 and date 06.10.2015, people who can be assigned as an administrator, should be graduated from higher education, work for public education (for Ministry of Education) at that time, who has not been dismissed from his/her managing position as a result of a judicial and governmental investigation in the last four years. Also, people to be assigned as administrators are to have fulfilled, postponed or have been exempted his/her compulsory services (item 5) According to the same regulation, under special conditions, people who are to be appointed as principals are to work previously as a vice principal, head vice principal for at least two years, founding principal, vice principal and teacher with managerial prerogative or head vice principal for at least three years. Besides, working as departmental administrator or higher positions at the ministry is also claimed (item 6). People to be assigned as head vice principal and vice principal should at least meet one of the requirements which are to have worked as principal, founding principal, head vice principal, vice principal or teacher with managerial prerogative; to have worked as departmental administrator or higher positions at the ministry; to have worked at the ministry at least four years including candidateship (item 7).

Among the candidates who meet the requirements mentioned above, people to be appointed for head vice principal and vice principal status are

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selected according to the results of a written exam, people to be appointed for principal status are selected by results of the assessment and oral exam (item 13).

People who have completed their 4-year mission as a principal or a vice principal or who worked in these positions at the same foundation for eight years and other candidates who fulfil the necessity for application can attend the exam. Those who score at least 75 out of 100 will be successful. The exam results will be valid for a year (item 14). People who have completed their 4-year mission as a principal or a vice principal or who worked in these positions at the same foundation for eight years will be assessed according to the form (Appendix 1) attached to the regulations (item 19). People to be summoned for interview will selected from the list starting with the highest score. Number of the people to be summoned for interview has to be three times greater than the necessary positions. Candidates will be evaluated according to the oral exam subjects and their weights which are presented in the form attached to the candidatesâ&#x20AC;&#x; regulations (Appendix 2) (item 20). All administrators will be appointed for four years. They will not be allowed to work at the same place in the same position for more than eight years (item 27).

The very first steps for this new school administrator appoint system was taken with the number 652 The Legislative Decree on the Organization and Duties of the Ministry of National Education in 2011. According to this enactment, on the condition that school and foundation administrators are successful both at the written and oral examination, governor of the province will be responsible for their assignment. Their service time, performance and competence will also be taken into account in this process. These changes were placed in the regulation of administrator appointment and replacement at February 28, 2013.

School and foundation administrators will be appointed by the governor of the province based on the proposal of director of national education for four years according to the Law on Making Changes on National Education Fundamental Laws and Certain Laws and Secondary Laws, item 11, enactment 8, which was published in official gazette on March 14, 2014. Assignments in the context of this sub-section will not create any employee personal rights, assignment or promotion. Regulation which was prepared on June 10, 2014 based on the provision from laws made dramatic changes in school administrator assignment. According to this, assignments of school administrators will be conducted in every four years and both administrator assignment and administrator replacements will be conducted with oral exams and performance and evaluation forms instead of written and oral exams.

Those mentioned regulations were put into practice, significant numbers of school administrators were assessed and assignments were made according to the results of these assessments. School administrators who were considered unsuccessful were transferred to the teaching positions. Yet, there has been arguments regarding the application and the style of the application of this June 10, 2014 regulation. It was mentioned that competence, objectivity and fairness were ignored in the assessments made via oral exams, performance and evaluation forms. Furthermore, favouritism was the main criteria considered.

That is why this implication caused many problems in school systems.

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There has been a large body of relevant literature in Turkey regarding raising, selecting and appointment/replacement education administrators in educational administration field. On taking a closer look at the subdimensions of the issue, in some studies it is observed that, Can and Çelikten (2000), Balcı and Çınkır (2002) , Günay (2004), Cemaloğlu (2005), Recepoğlu and Kılınç (2014) and Altın and Vatanartıran (2014) conducted research studies about historical perspective of raising school administrators in Turkey; Turan and Şişman (2000), Başaran (2004), Yolcu and Kavalcılar (2005), Gümüşeli (2009), Arıkan (2007), Balcı (2008), Vural (2009), Ağaoğlu, Altınkurt, Yılmaz, and Karaköse (2012), Aslanargun (2012) and Demirtaş and Özer (2014) conducted studies regarding proficiency of school administrators; Yiğit (2008), Önder and Taş (2010), Taş and Önder (2010), Aslanargun (2011), Demir and Pınar (2013), Güçlüoğulları (2013) and Doğan, Demir and Pınar (2014) conducted studies about assessment of regulation for appointment/replacement of school administrators; Şimşek (2004), Şişman and Turan (2004), Thody (2007), Aslan (2009), Balyer and Gündüz (2011), Süngü (2012) and Akın (2012) studied different examples all over the World; Gümüşeli, (2001, 2006), Pont, Nusche and Moorman (2008), Leadership in education. (2011) and Aslan and Karip (2014) conducted studies on leadership and school leadership; Elma, Şener and Çiftli (2011), Özdemir and Yaman (2011), Tonbul and Sağıroğlu (2012), Nartgün, Bayraktar and Akkulak (2012) and Yılmaz, Altınkurt, Karaköse and Erol (2012) conducted studies related to rotation of school administrators.

It is considered to be inevitable to study this never ending reconstruction process from different views. The problem of this research is to investigate how the school administrator appointment/assignment policy which for the time being has a „dynamic‟ characteristic affects the school systems.

Purpose The main purpose of this study is to analyse and assess the existing school administrator assignment system based on the opinions of teachers and school administrators. Questions to be answered in this context as follows: *How is the new administrator assignment system, in terms of -providing an objective evaluation -selection based on competence -improving the effectiveness of school system and -encouraging teachers and administrators for professional development. *According to the dimension mentioned in the first question, what kind of a school administrator appointment system should be implemented?

Method In this section, research model, study group, data collection tools, data collection process and data analysis methods utilized in this study are elaborated.

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Research Model This study is a qualitative research designed with a survey model.

Survey model is a research approach which aims to describe a past or present situation as it was/is (Karasar, 2009). On the other hand, qualitative research is a research paradigm which uses data collection tools such as observation, interview and document analysis and wherein the qualitative aspects of events and phenomena are aimed to be revealed realistically and holistically in their natural contexts (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2011).

In this study, semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews were used as qualitative data gathering techniques. Interview is a research technique based on asking direct questions and claiming answers. The most well-known form of interview is face to face conversation with either a single person or a group. In addition to face to face format, interviews can also be conducted via mailing, phone conversation or question form that can be filled by the subjects themselves (Punch, 2005). In this study, in order to access more participants, the question forms that are to be filled by the participants themselves were preferred.

Interviews can be classified according to their objectives, the number of participants, strictness of rules and to the subjects to be interviewed. Due to the strictness of the rules, they can be categorized as fully-structured, semistructured and unstructured interviews (Karasar- 2009). In this study, semistructured interview form was used. In other words, when and where needed interviews were accompanied by sub-questions and brief explanations that guides and clarifies the participant responses.

In this study, focus group interview was another technique that was utilized. The reason why focus group interview was also used besides semistructured interview form is that this technique makes it possible to gather deeper and more detailed data regarding some special issues. Focus group discussion -which is conducted about a predetermined and limited topic, in an environment in which participants feel comfortable and by a researcher who is an expert in his/her field and skilled at moderating the discussion- should be carried out with groups composed of 6 to 12 people (there is a risk with greater group of splitting sub-groups) whose awareness on the topic are high and who are willing to discuss at periods that last 1 to 2 hours around four or five main high-quality questions and if and when necessary by using also a number of sub-questions (Anderson, 1990; Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2011 and Corrine, 2014).

Study Group Study group of this research consists of teachers and school administrators working at the public elementary schools, public secondary schools and public high schools in Ankara during 2014-2015 academic year. Interviews and focus group interviews were carried out with 34 and 12 people respectively. While selecting the participants for both semi-structured interviews and focus group interview, a sampling method which yields maximum participant diversity was

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used. Table 1 presents the information about participants who replied the interview request and filled the interview forms.

Table 1. Information about Teachers and School Administrators Replied and Filled the Semi-Structured Interview Form

Variable

Workplace

Gender

Professional Status

Seniority

Education Status

Level

n

Elementary School

9

Secondary School

12

High School

13

Total

34

Woman

14

Man

20

Total

34

Teacher

21

Vice Principal

8

Principal

5

Total

34

1-5 Years

7

6-10 Years

10

11 Years and More

17

Total

34

Bachelor‟s

19

Master Thesis

without

8

Master

7

Total

34

As shown in Table 1, 9 participants work at the elementary schools, 12 of them work at secondary schools and 13 of them work at high schools. 14 of them are women and 20 are men. According to status variable, there are 21 teachers, 8 vice principals and 5 principals. Due to seniority; 7 participants have been working between 1-5 years; 10 of them 6 to 10 years and 17 participants have 11 or more years‟ experience. 19 participants have bachelor‟s degree, 8 of them have master degree without thesis and 7 participants have master degree with thesis.

In order to gather more detailed and deeper data regarding the issue of this paper, focus group interview was also conducted with 12 people. Table 2

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presents the information about teachers and school administrators who attended the focus group interviews.

Table 2. Information about Teachers and School Administrators Attended the Focus Group Interviews

Variable

Workplace

Gender

Professional Status

Seniority

Education Status

Level

n

Elementary School

4

Secondary School

3

High School

5

Total

12

Woman

4

Man

8

Total

12

Teacher

8

Vice Principal

2

Principal

2

Total

12

1-5 years

1

6-10 years

2

11 years and more

9

Total

12

Bachelor‟s

8

Master Thesis

without

3

Master

1

Total

12

As shown in Table 2, 4 participants work at the elementary schools, 3 of them work at secondary schools and 5 of them work at high schools. 5 of them are women and 7 are men. According to status variable, that there are 8 teachers, 2 vice principal and 2 principals. Due to seniority, 1 participant has been working between 1-5 years; 2 of them 6 to 10 years and 9 participants have 11 or more years‟ experience. 8 participants have bachelor‟s degree, 3 of them have master degree without thesis and 1 participants has master degree with thesis.

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Data Collection Tools In this study, two forms - an interview form composed of two sections and a focus group discussion form - were developed by the researcher. Data collection tools were developed in accordance with the changes brought about by the June 10, 2014 dated regulations. Latter regulation which was revealed on October 10, 2015 did not bring significant changes regarding the school administrator assignment system. The change that might have an effect on this study is the one in the latter regulation making the exams compulsory during the vice principal assignment process.

While draft forms were being developed and finalized, literature on data collection tools previously utilized in similar studies were reviewed; the opinions of 4 academicians who are expert in the field were appealed and the clarity and compatibility of the questions with the research objectives were tested with a preliminary study carried out with 3 teachers, 1 vice principal and a principal.

The very first sections of both data collection tools are to gather the personal information while the second sections contain interview questions. In this study, school administrator assignment system was evaluated via four categories such as providing an objective evaluation, making a selection based on competence, improving the effectiveness of school system and encouraging teachers and school administrators for professional development. Four main questions and a set of sub-questions were prepared for each category and one question and a number of sub-/clarifying questions were also added to these in order to be able to determine possible solutions/suggestions.

Data Collection and Analysis Interview forms were delivered to the study group composed of the selected school administrators and teachers and then collected by the researcher.

Focus group interview was conducted in a proper, clean and spacious classroom at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of Ankara University. Two recording devices were used to record the interview. Data gathered by the interview forms and recorded & transcribed interviews were filed as word processing documents. Finally, 41 pages of data gathered by the interview forms and 22 pages of focus group interview data were obtained. Both interview data and focus group interview data were delivered to the participants who were requested to confirm them. Next the collected, transcribed, filed and confirmed data was sent to and processed by an experienced academician who -after the analysis- was appealed for his opinions on the revealed patterns of themes and sub-themes. Firstly, gathered data were analysed by using descriptive statistics; secondly they were evaluated regarding the contexts in which they become meaningful. During the data analysis, opinions related to each question were grouped under themes, frequencies of salient themes were calculated and relevant stereotype participant responses/expressions/answers were presented and interpreted. Furthermore, in some occasions, they were also interpreted and evaluated in relation to the participantsâ&#x20AC;&#x; personal information.

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Findings In this section, data gathered for this study was analysed with descriptive statistics, the themes were determined and the themes that emerged were evaluated with the subjects that are relevant. While assessing the research data, internal interpretations were partially presented. Internal and external interpretations regarding findings were presented in Discussion, Conclusion and Suggestion sections.

Findings from Data Regarding Semi-Constructed Interview Technique Firstly, participants were asked what they think of new school administrator appoint system in terms of providing an opportunity to make an objective assessment. When the answers were analysed as negative and positive statements, it was seen that 30 participants considered the new system as negative in terms of its providing an opportunity for objectiveness while 3 participants supported the process as being objective. Only one participant answered with ambiguity. It was found out that participants' understanding of objectivity relies on measurement and evaluation (n=23). In this context, use of interviews which are used in new school administrator appoint system (n=16) and directorate of national education‟s power over selection and the style of commission selection (n=13) were mentioned to be problematic. Some common opinions regarding this issue as follows: Especially, directorate of national education has high score ratio at re-assessment of administrators. It is clear that whoever the management wants will be selected. School administrator has every right when it comes to appoint a school vice principal (VP-4).

It is now revealed that people who are with different views and perform in different unions are expelled from management. There is no way they cannot transform the schools as they wish (T-13).

I do not think that this new system provides an objective assessment. Things were more or less the same before; but, competence has never been ignored this much.

Everything now shares the will that the government wants (T-9).

How does the commission which is responsible for the oral examination of candidates who apply for the first time or for re-assignment get determined? How objective can a person who are appointed by directorate of national education be? (T-7).

A male administrator (P-3) who has 16 years‟ seniority and had been working as a teacher before the new appoint system presents really remarkable opinions: “I do not consider this new system as objective. Individual fells not suited for the position, cannot see his/her future and therefore cannot make plans”. A women participant (T-20) who has 15 years‟ seniority on teaching and a master graduate focuses on the favouritism and politicization in new school administrator appoint system “In order to make an objective assessment, one should intend to do something in an objective and educational way. I do not think the intention here is

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educational. All they desire is to give positions to their people, people who support them”.

Secondly, participants were asked whether the new school administrator appoint system selects people depending on their competence or not. When the answers were classified as negative and positive, it was seen that 2 participants support that the system relies on competence when selecting administrators while 3 participants partially agree this opinion. One participant decided not to express his/her opinion regarding this issue while one participant told that it solely depended on luck. The rest of the participants (n=27) consider new school administrator system not fair to select administrators based on competence.

Participants consider selection depending on competence from measurement and evaluation process (n=18) and criteria (n=11). They frequently express their critics (n=17) about politicization and favouritism.

Some common opinions regarding this issue as follows: This new system is not competence based as it does not evaluate people according to their seniority, level of education and exam results (T-27).

The only purpose of this new system is to give positions to their people (T-6).

As the criteria-in a very unofficial way- for the selection is „people who support the ideology that the government has and who are members of a union which is heavily under influence of the government, favouritism as a selection criterion is not surprising at all (T-13).

In fact, luck plays a huge part. If there happens a good conversation between you and your assessors, then you can get high grades (P-2).

A male school administrator (P-5) who has 14 years‟ seniority remarks that “Appointed administrators are unfairly judged, as competence is not well understood. It is important to observe the success they have accomplished in the schools they worked rather than their personal characteristics” Thirdly, participants were asked if the new system improves the efficacy of the school. When the answers were analysed as negative and positive, most of the participants (n=26) agreed that this new system will have/already has had negative effects on efficacy of the school. Two participants clearly expressed that this new system provides an opportunity to select „active and hardworking‟ school administrators. Therefore, efficacy of the school will be improved.

Another participant defended that people who are to be selected as an administrator should act in a harmony with directorate of national education of state and province. With this way, efficacy of the school could be improved.

Some of the participants (n=5) demonstrated no clear opinion to be classified regarding this issue.

Some typical prominent expressions related this question are given below: Those who are appointed are generally governing force‟s own followers. Tension and a chaotic atmosphere is arising at the school. There is no effectiveness as there is no qualification (T-18).

Problems arise as the school administrators are selected according to specifically fabricated criteria instead of qualification. Teachers fulfil their duties but school is not a

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place where you only fulfil your duties, things like human relations, organizational climate have importance (T-19).

Difficulties will occur between the person and his/her colleagues inside the institution in terms of justice and equality and this will have an effect on school, student and even on the student‟s parents (T-15).

More effort is needed to be made in order to provide the intended competencies in the situation and performance assessment form. Thus, this reflects credit on the operation of the school (V-2).

I think that that those who do not know how to handle the duties of the position and who are brought to their position without deserving it (I think that the majority have these characteristics) cannot display an effective administration.

School administrator‟s establishing healthy relations with Province and District National Education Directorate provides some advantages for the school. For example needs of the school are met and this increases the productivity of the school (VP-4).

Having looked at the answers given to this question, clearly the attention taking finding is that the participants who obtained an administrative position as a consequence of the new assignment system generally tend to affirm the characteristics of the system.

The participants were fourthly asked how they interpret the new school administrator assignment system in terms of encouraging the school administrators and the teachers to improve themselves. Considering the answers to this question as positive and negative, the majority of the participants (n=26) think that the new school administrator assignment system does not encourage the school administrators and the teachers to improve themselves. While 4 participants stated the contrary, 4 of the participants did not provide a view that can be categorized as positive or negative. Considering the answers given to this question, the participants, along with the topics such as attaining in-service educational means (n=9) and as post-graduate study (n=8), mostly developed arguments to support their positive or negative views.

Some typical prominent expressions relating this question are given below: The new system proposes a multi consideration. Gaining a good deal of competences and doing the business adequately are required to become the principal again. Therefore you make effort and improve yourself (V-2).

With regards to the administrators, the answer to the question of “What should I do to make them choose me?” is given as „if I become a member of x union, if I fulfil whatever I told unconditionally and if I keep my good relations with the administrators” and this answer is sufficient. An administrator giving such an answer to this question is natural, therefore he/she does not need to improve himself/herself. On the other hand, this situation is not much different for the teacher (T-18).

The way for a teacher to become a principal goes through the interview and the result of the interview depends on the interviewers‟ initiative. He/she also does not need to improve himself/herself to become a vice-principal. Someone who has good relations with the principal or who knows some others who can pressure/command the district-province National Education Directorates or those who moves through unions can become a vice principal. These make teachers‟ effort unnecessary to go further (T-14).

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Benefiting from in-service training brings points but it is not possible for everyone to reach these trainings (VP-6).

Besides thinking that self-development could not be completely achieved with the previous assignment system, I am of the opinion that the situation will become more desperate with the new system (T-6).

In this respect, the answer of a male participant, who, before the new system and currently has been officiating as a vice principal, who has 9 years of teaching and 6 years of administrating seniority and who studied masters with thesis, is such as to show the reality and summary of the situation: “Why does he/she need to improve himself/herself!”

Lastly, the participants were asked how the school administrators appointment/assignment system should be considering the measures of objectivity, selection based on competencies, improving the effectiveness of the school, and teachers‟ and school administrators‟ self-development, which were brought into question towards the participants in the first four questions of the interview form. The participants expressed that they found examination (n=24), seniority (n=20), post-graduate study (n=12) and decision/selection of the school constituents (n=5) important in terms of a selection based on objectivity and competencies. According to the participants, concrete criteria must be set and political/favouritist approaches must be avoided in the administrator assignment (n=13). One of the necessities that the participants put emphasis on either in the selection or the assignment of the school administrators is in-service training (n=11). Participants also suggested that the administrator candidates must be trained for a certain period of time by the experienced teachers (n=7) and a kind of administration job training system must be implemented (n=6).

Lastly, some participants stated that the administrators must be monitored by the school constituents, particularly the teachers (n=5), moreover it would be good if the administrators could be “unseated” if needed (n=2).

Some typical prominent expressions relating this question are given below: Examination must be held. In case an interview will be held, then the commissions must be built up with individuals representing all the walks, such as union representatives and academicians (T-21).

Competencies of the administrators must be objectively determined. This must be taken out of the effect of the power (T-15).

I think the problem in the assignments can be solved by appointing those who deserve to be appointed, by making an objective assessment (examination, seniority, educational background). In my opinion, assignment with a fair assessment will increase the effectiveness of the school as well as the motivations of the students (T-13).

Seniority must be given importance, experienced teachers must be given priority, and deficiencies must be overcome with in-service trainings (V-1).

The view uttered by a male teacher (T-12), who has 16 years of seniority within this context and who studied for master degree, is quite striking.

According to this participant: “School administrator must be selected by teachers‟ commission, students and students‟ parents among those who have certain competencies.

He must be able to be unseated by the same way if necessary. This will allow the

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subjectivation of the teachers and the students on the decisions to be taken that will have impact on their lives by directly achieving the democracy at schools and it will allow the relationship among the teacher, the student, the students‟ parents and the administrators to be established more healthily.”

Findings Based on the Data Obtained Through Focus Group Discussion The participants were first asked how they interpret the new school administrator assignment system with regard to whether it provides opportunity for an objective assessment or not. Considering the answers given to this question as positive answers and negative answers, majority of the participants considered the system as negative (n=8) while some others indicated that the system had both positive and negative aspects (n=4).

In this regard, a male teacher having 11 years of seniority (T-1) claimed the assessment as a conclusion of the assignment results to be unfair: “If we have a look at how the situation is now, the answer to this question automatically comes up by itself. More than 90 % of the principals and the vice principals officiating within the system are from Eğitim Bir Sen.” Another male teacher (T-5) who became a principal before the new school administrator assignment system and who has 17 years of seniority, stated that there were other “factors” besides the unions: “Actually the situation is not wholly composed of unions or the initiative of the district national education directorate. For example, in my school people were appointed by means of very much high factors.”

The participants indicated their doubts mainly on the interview while considering the objectivity in terms of assessment and evaluation (n=9). For example, according to a female teacher (T-8) with 11 years of seniority, “verbal examination is so irritating, while determining the related commissions distinctive point indicated is that the person who is to be interviewed must not be a relative. Being objective requires being standard but this standardization cannot be provided through verbal interview.” According to a male vice-principal (VP-1) having 13 years of seniority, “There is no other way to ensure objectivity but examination though there are claims that there is something brewing in the examinations, too.” According to a female teacher with 12 years of seniority (T-7), who worked as a vice-principal and who is currently officiating as a teacher, assessment criteria inhibit making an objective assessment: “You can already realize having looked at criteria through which they evaluate us that there cannot be objectivity.”

While a male teacher (T-2), who officiated as a principal and who has 18 years of seniority, expressed his experience while explaining his views on the assignment process as “the commission responsible for the assignment was consisted of newly appointed branch directors and they gave points which were below 75 to many people however, later on those who changed their unions among the ones getting lower than 75 points were appointed as principals getting points over 90“, a female teacher (T-6) with 6 years of seniority expressed her doubt about the objectivity of the system by saying “parents are giving points to you over the parent-teacher association, how and from where does the district director of national education and branch directors know you, how do they evaluate your activity?”.

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While a male director (V-2) with 16 years of seniority expressed his opinion by uttering “when there are activities, there are branch directors. They observe and know the administrators”, a male teacher (T-5), who officiated as a principal before the new system and who has 17 years of seniority, disagreed with this opinion: “The evaluator branch director has just started to officiate in his position for the last 1-2 months, he has never come to the school for even one day, he cannot even know where the school is if you ask, he has no idea what is being done at school.” The assertion that District Director of National Education and branch directors attend the activities and know the administrator seems more problematic for the vice principals and especially the teachers who for the first time apply for being appointed as a principal than for those applying for being re-appointed as the principal. Because it does not seem possible to know these individuals by “attending the activities”!

With regards to the course of the assignment process, the points a male teacher (T-5) with 17 years of seniority, who served as a principal previously, expressed while conveying the evaluation process are quite striking: “Now you have the 40 points which you got from the school. The points that were got from the head of the parent-teacher association, two teacher selected by the teachers‟ commission, the teacher with the highest seniority and the one with the lowest seniority… There are also the points that were given by the district director and the branch directors at the district national education. For example I got 40 from the school, they know me, they see what I do and what I cannot, I got 24 out of 25 from the district director. And the points that I got from the branch directors who were appointed to this position one or two months ago is two in total. Therefore I was left below 75. I went to the court. I got a motion for stay of execution. I was revaluated. This time the district director gave me a low point, too.

His personal expression towards me was: “I could now give you the highest score this time because I am afraid”. My school was selected as the district-wide best school for three consecutive years… There were people insisting to me during the revaluation process as: „Resign from your union, you don‟t even need to register to our union, stay without any union for 10-15 days, you may re-join your union later if you want. We will have done your job‟. I did not resign and I was considered unsuccessful.”

One of the points that the participants doubt about in terms of the objectivity of the new assignment system is that the principals can determine their vice principals (n=5). Regarding this regulation which was changed by the by-law dated October 2015, a male teacher with 16 years of seniority (T-4) expressed his opinion as “The principal‟s selection of his/her vice principal may create cohesion with his team and may increase performance, however, this team may discriminate the teachers who have different views and opinions at the school and this may create tension and problems within the school‟s system.” and a female teacher with 8 years of seniority (T-3), for the same topic, stated that leaving the initiative for the selection of the vice principal into the hands of only one person, the principal, may damage the objectivity.

In order to address this topic within the course of the interview, the principals were asked if they have any limitations on selecting the vice principals. Technically, no other limitation was reported excepting the criteria for being a vice principal in the corresponding regulation. However, according to a male teacher having 17 years of seniority (T-5), who served as a principal before the new assignment system, there are some “limitations”: “Of course there

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are some limitations. You cannot select those whom the union does not approve as vice principal even if you want to. District National Education Directorates send lists as “Those individuals can become a vice principal.” A male principal having 15 years of seniority (V-2) explained the fact that principals are granted with such an opportunity as: “Carrying the business together. In terms of coordination. It was also brought to agenda in the seminars we attended. There were terrific conflicts between the principals and the vice principals. Inspectors said they could not focus on our own business anymore because of dealing with these. This system was brought based on this.”

Another sub-dimension of the same topic is whether the principals have the power to discharge the vice principals whom they selected by themselves, or make them discharged from their positions. Because, how the things will proceed will be an important problem if serious disagreements occur. Vice principals will only be able to be discharged after an investigation as they are appointed by the confirmation of the governorate. In short, in the vice principal assignment system brought with the June 2014 regulations, there is technically no limitations for the principals on selecting the vice principals, but they don‟t have direct authorization to discharge the vice principals.

The participants, secondly, were asked how they evaluate the new school administrator assignment system in terms of competence based selection and the question was materialized as “Does this evaluation system give onto gaining the individuals, who have educational efficacy, whose human relations and organizational skills are high and who distinguish with their leadership skills, to the school system?” Considering the answers to this question as positive answers and negative answers, while the majority of the participants presented their opinions on the system not providing a competence based selection (n=8), some participants stated that the system partially provided competence based selection (n=3) and 1 participant did not give any opinion that could be categorized within this scope. Having looked at the answers to this question, the participants addressed the competence based selection generally in terms of assessment and evaluation process and criteria (n=10) and especially those who had given negative expressions on the system often made criticisms relating politicisation and favouritism (n=7).

In this regard, according to a female teacher (T-8) who has 11 years of seniority, administrator assignment system “is not a system for predicting the competency. If you are searching for competency somewhere, you exhibit the requirements of the competency normatively and you make job – duty analysis.”

According to a male teacher who has 18 years of seniority and who served as a principal before (T-2) “union belongingness of the individuals is rather determinant, not their competences.” According to a female teacher having 8 years of seniority (T-8) “if your beard, clothes, lifestyle is in not a certain shape, they do not appoint you.” What a female teacher having 5 years of seniority expressed is quite striking: “A principal from my school was discharged after the new evaluation system and a new principal was brought. One year passed but I still cannot understand what the new principal is good at doing.”

According to a male vice principal having 9 years of seniority (VP-1) who finds the new system positive in terms of competence based selection, “the previous regulation did not involve the trainings the individuals participated,

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from this point the new system actually includes points relating the prediction of the competences.” Based on this point of view, the participants were reminded that the court, in the regulation for the teacher career steps in the past, cancelled the provision of the regulation relating with in-service training on the grounds that “everybody who wants should be able to reach the in-service training opportunities, however it is not like that” and they were asked “how the points obtained through the trainings received can be evaluated in this respect in the assignment of the school administrator.” The participants generally indicated that reaching the trainings was not possible for everyone and they put emphasize on the fact that this caused injustice.

The participants were thirdly asked how they assess the new school administrator assignment system in terms of improving the effectiveness of the school system. Considering the answers given to this question as positive answers and negative answers, majority of the participants stated that the new system has influenced/will influence the school system in a negative way (n=8), and some other participants indicated that the system would improve the effectiveness of the school system by encouraging the administrator candidates and the administrators to improve themselves (n=3) and 1 participant did not give a clear opinion.

Regarding the effectiveness of the school system, some thoughts were asserted on that the new school administrator assignment system caused tension and polarisation at the schools. Fr example, the statement of a male teacher who has 18 years of seniority and who served as a principal before the new system (T-2) is as follows: “Currently, 4 teachers at my school have ended the term.

They have disagreements with the administrators. They are always absent due to sickness.” Similarly, a statement of a female teacher with 11 years of seniority (T-8) is quite remarkable: “We have similar situations, too. They are either on leave, or sick or they have dispatch note. Uneasiness in the school system creates such problems.” In a similar way, according to a male vice principal having 9 years of seniority (VP-1): “Tension and conflict is arising at the school system. It is being hidden with them being on leave, or being absent due to sicknesses.” Experiences of a male teacher with 11 years of seniority, who stated that tension and polarization arose after the new assignment system, is quite striking: “I encountered something recently. Vice principal came to the classroom to make an announcement. And I realized that he was making the announcement of his trade union.

I objected. He did not insist on much. There are more politics and polarisation at school compared to the past due to the system. People are treated according to their political views. Educational competencies, training activities are being left aside.” According to a male teacher who has 17 years of seniority and who served as a principal before the evaluation process (T-5), “common purposes of the school is not coming to the forefront due to the increasing polarisation and grouping. Teachers, now, are trying to uncover each other‟s mistakes. Let‟s say a mistake was made while carrying out a formal duty. The opposite side is immediately choosing to write the minutes down and punish this person.” According to a female teacher who has 11 years of seniority and who gives a striking explanation on the same topic (T-8), “teacher‟s lounge is sometimes not used as a common room. People are gathering in different rooms. We call them as „parallel rooms‟. There sometimes can be 4-5 different rooms. Even the tea is brewed separately.”

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According to a male teacher who has 16 years of seniority and who presents his opinion on the effectiveness: “Teachers must trust and respect the administrator for the effectiveness in the school system. If a teacher thinks that the administrator is brought to that position through favour and backstage activities and without deserving, he will not rely on the administrator‟s directions. He will not believe the administrator. Therefore the school system will not be effective.” Similarly, a male principal (V-2) having 16 years of seniority put an emphasis on another dimension of the topic: “I agree with this opinion. But from another point of view! An unavoidable prejudice rises towards those selected and appointed. They condition themselves, no matter what you do, you cannot create a coherent working environment.”

A female teacher, who has 12 years of seniority and who officiates as a teacher while she had served as a principal in the past (T-7), put another dimension of the problem forward as follows: “Experienced teachers now got back to being a teacher though they were school administrators in the past. Majority of the new teachers is not experienced. What will they do among these experienced teachers? It is difficult for them to make others respect themselves. It is also difficult to establish coordination.”

The participants were fourthly asked how they evaluate the new school administrator assignment system in terms of encouraging the school administrators and the teachers to improve themselves in the professional context. Considering the answers to this question as positive answers and negative answers, majority of the participants (n=8) are of the opinion that the new school administrator assignment system does not encourage the school administrators and the teachers to improve themselves. While 2 of the participants asserted the contrary, 2 other participants stated that the system partly encouraged the school administrators and the teachers. In this regard, like addressed in the analysis of the data obtained through semi structured interview form, the answers to the questions were mostly categorized as positive and negative, besides topics such as reaching in-service training opportunities (n=6) and post-graduate study (n=5) were also addressed.

Having looked at some answers to this question, according to a male principal having 16 years of seniority (V-2) “teachers and principals who have doubts on being reappointed are participating the trainings unavoidably, the number of those willing to study post-graduate is increasing and this increases the quality of the teachers and the administrators.” According to a male teacher having 16 years of seniority (T-4) “There is also the topic of self-development. Studying post-graduate is the most common way. You can either do that in a short period of time by paying, even from the distance, or you can do it giving your best. In this case, is the person really developed? People can obtain numerous diplomas and certificates without gaining administrative competencies. In fact there are many ways to obtain these in our country.” Similarly, the expression of a male teacher, who has 18 years of seniority (T-2), in the same direction is as follows: “I have a friend, who is a teacher and administrator and who obtained 50 certificates in the last 10 years. By the way I cannot participate the same trainings, this is another issue.” Statement of a female teacher having 5 years of seniority (T-6) is quite striking: “My school was left without principal for five months. Different forces competed and disagreements grew bigger. Finally they sent someone. No point of talking about self-development! The one lobbying better and making the bargain from above won.”

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Similarly, on the topic of self-development through post-graduate study, while a male vice principal having 13 years of seniority (VP-2) said “to me it encourages the individuals to study post-graduate, then makes them get more points”, a female teacher having 11 years of seniority made a different remark as follows: “To me it is not like that. This is my second license. I am not studying it for getting points. I don‟t think that they would appoint me even if I registered in that union. I got my first post-graduate diploma in 2006. What am I getting in return? Maximum 15 liras more in my salary.” According to a female teacher who has a 12 years of seniority and who serves as a teacher currently while having served as a vice principal before the new assignment system (T-7): “That‟s right, people want to study post-graduate to become a principal from the beginning or to continue serving as a principal after revaluation, they want to attend the in-service trainings but whatever they do, the system works other way..” Expressions of a female teacher having 8 years of seniority (T-3) are quite striking: “In the current system, what can a person who knows that he is appointed for four years and who is aware that anytime he can be discharged do? In any case the superiors, province and district national education directorates are taking decisions. Frankly, I were in that position, would I rather focus on self-development or work with the authorities behind the scenes? Somehow or other I will be competing in this league after a short time.”

In the regard whether the new assignment system encourages individuals to professionally improve themselves, there were some remarks affirming or negating the system by placing the competition concept in the centre. For example, while a male principal with 15 years of seniority (V-2) asserted that the system brought competition and increased the motivation, there were also many remarks made oppositely. For example, according to a female teacher having 11 years of seniority (T-8), whenever there is a competitive system, the principal will try to lobby instead of improving himself/herself.

They participants were lastly asked how a school administrator appointment/assignment system must be in terms of objectivity, selection based on competence, effectiveness of the school system and encouraging the teachers and the school administrators to improve themselves professionally, which were brought forward in the previous four questions of the interview form. The participants, similarly with the analysis of the data obtained through the semistructured interview form, indicated that they found examination (n=11), seniority (n=10) and post-graduate (n=7) important for an objective and competence based selection. According to the participants, concrete criteria must be determined (n=6), political/favouritism must be avoided (n=5) and in-service trainings must be given importance in the assignment of the administrators.

Having looked at some expressions given by the participants on this topic; according to a male principal with 16 years of seniority (V-2), “examination must be carried out but trainings relating school administration must be provided after.

Seniority must be effective; total years of working as a teacher must be 5 years or 7-8 years and another examination must be performed after the training.” According to a male vice principal with 13 years of seniority (VP-1), both written examination and verbal interview must be carried out. According to a male teacher who has 18 years of seniority and who officiated as a principal before (T-2), “Knowledge of the person who is accepted to the verbal interview will already have been measured.

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Regulations, ceremonies… If you are carrying out such a verbal interview but still asking the regulations, then it does not mean anything. Psychological evaluations regarding whether he can carry the duties of the position out or not can be made by experts, by people from different disciplines. Or the person may be asked to solve a given case study related with the school system.”

After the approaches bringing examination into the forefront, when the participants were asked „Can school administration be degraded to efficacies that can be predicted by one or more examinations? For example isn‟t the application process needed to be considered, too?‟ the participants were seen to refer to seniority factor.

According to a male principal with 15 years of seniority (V-1), not only teaching experience must be required, “but also the condition of having served as a vice principal for a certain number of years must be established for being a principal.”

The number of the participants who think that the interview as an evaluation method must be abandoned is not few (n=7). Having looked at the remarks of these participants, it can be said that the matter of who, how, and with what content will carry out the interview creates doubts. In this respect, the expression of a female teacher having 11 years of seniority (T-8) is quite striking: “What will we do if they again ask the elephants in the interview?” According to a vice principal who considers the interview as a method of evaluation and who has 9 years of seniority (VP-1), “interview instructions must be set, interviews must be recorded and they must be objective.”

According to a female teacher who has 5 years of seniority and who brings the post-graduate education to the foreground (T-6), “Post-graduate education must be effective but it must be quality!” İn-service training is a suggestion that the participants often emphasize. In this regard, according to a male vice principal with 13 years of seniority “Administrators must be audited at the end of each year and in-service trainings must be conducted according to the determined needs.”

In the interview, response to the remark of a male teacher with 11 years of seniority in which he stated points such as “base control, teachers and even students participating the process, resigning school administrator on certain conditions” was given as “reliance is needed”.

During the interviews, one of the topics mentioned but not included in the research questions was „professionalising the school administration‟. In this regard, according to a male principal having 16 years of seniority (V-2), “school administration must be taken out of the education class and the school administrators must be considered within the directorate class”. Within the progress of the interview, the common answer given by the participants to the question asked by the researcher, which was “how would it be to consider the school administration as a non-teachership based job?”, was “it would be bad”. The participants generally consider having experienced the school system as a teacher as an essential requirement to become an administrator. In this regard, according to a male teacher, who officiated as a principal and who has 18 years of seniority (T-2), “those who will be school administrators must definitely have experienced the teacher‟s lounge.” The answers given to “Must he become estranged against teachership, must he take one of his feet out of teachership?” were not clear.

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While one part of the participants found professionalization essential, others found teachership and relations with the teachers essential. In this regard, remarks of a teacher having 16 years of seniority (T-4) are quite attention grabbing: “We are experiencing a strange situation. Those who were within the administrative staff before but have returned to become a teacher like us with the new evaluation system are experiencing a very strange situation. They are acting like as if they are in a disgraceful situation. They are trying to be appointed to another school immediately. So, teachership field must not be abandoned! It must be the main job on the basis.”

Discussions, Conclusions and Suggestions Nowadays, as in the all aspects of the public life, an extensive reconstruction process also in the education field is ongoing in Turkey. In this context, school administrator appointment/assignment system constitutes one of the important dimensions of the changes within the school system. The system, despite numerous administrator appointment/assignment system regulations prepared so far since 2003 (9 regulations in the years of 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015) and the circulars issued, is intensively discussed and criticised.

Based on the findings of this research, in which the new school administrator assignment system is assessed based on the views of the teachers and the school administrators over four dimensions, it was determined that the participants who have already taken on administrative roles consider the system majorly affirmatively and the other participants clearly consider the system negatively. Doubts and criticisms of those who had taken on administrative roles before the new system, but who were selected during the revaluation process and appointed as teachers, against the system are more intense.

The first topic addressed within the scope of the study was whether the system provided an objective evaluation or not. Objectivity is a term related whether another factor besides the efficacy of the candidates for the job/position is effective on the selection process. While some pretty general criteria, such as having the educational background and serving as a teacher for 3 years successfully, was established for being appointed as an administrator to the educational institutions before 1990s in Turkey, some standards have been started to be created afterwards (Aslanargun, 2011). As of 1999, for the first time competitive examination was brought for the administrator appointments.

According to the regulation made, the candidates scoring 70 out of 100 or higher in the administrator competitive examination were considered successful and these candidates were given 5 years valid administration certificate and right to apply for the administrator positions at schools having vacancies within the permanent staff (Günay, 2004). Afterwards, as emphasized above, several regulations have been made, however an effective appointment/assignment system could not have been reached.

It can be said on this regard that one of the main problems is the “arbitrariness of the administration”.

Aslanargun (2012a) thematically examined 191 court decisions related with the criteria to be appointed as school

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administrators and cancellation reasons and concluded that thoughts and applications on whether the Ministry of National Education and the judicial organs abided by law could reflect somehow a power struggle. Due to the fact that the State Council stopped the execution of the regulations prepared by the Ministry of National Education and appointments that were made retrospectively were cancelled, no appointments could be done principally and many schools were administrated by representatives between the years 20042010. Most especially, between the years 2008-2009, upon the cancellation of educational administrators appointment regulations, the ministry made direct appointments to the school and institution administrative positions based on the authorization that it can appoint the state personnel by transfer to the positions equal to their current one or higher regardless of the duty and title equality of the institutions, which is enacted by the 71st and 76th Articles of the State Personnel Law numbered 657. Among these appointments which were made without any criteria, some of the ones being submitted to the court were cancelled by the administrative courts. In this regard, the reasons put forth by the court were terms and notions such as accordance with the law, requirements of service, public welfare, equality, propriety, objectivity and authoritativeness.

However, the Ministry defended the appointments that she made by similar reasons. (Aslanargun, 2012a, 354).

Regarding the new system, one of the points to be noted in terms of objectivity is that the system is built on “assignment” rather than “appointment”. While appointment provides an institutionally and legally extended protection/assurance for the appointed person, the protection/assurance provided by assignment is proportional. This means that the initiative hold by the administration and the school administrator can be resigned arbitrarily at the disposal of the authority. Therefore, this may take the school system under the control of the politics.

According to the regulations dated October 2015, which is currently in force, among the candidates meeting the general and private conditions those to be appointed as head vice principals or vice principals shall be determined according to the result of a written examination; and those to be appointed as principals shall be evaluated through performance and situation assessment form and the result of a written examination. Objectivity of the system is not possible be mentioned due to a series of factors such as flexibility of the evaluation criteria, authorities assigned to carrying out the evaluation, the way of composing the commissions for the verbal examination and its proceeding.

Yolcu and Arslan‟s (2015) work related with putting the verbal interview into use in order to predict the administrators‟ efficacies confirms this conclusion.

Besides, findings reached within the scope of this study confirm the claims that system is being polarised.

In this regard, considering the results obtained by Doğan, Demir and Pınar (2014), the participants particularly put emphasises on the service duration and experience in terms of the assignment of the school administrators, they generally accepted and supported the written examination‟s objectivity, they rejected the verbal interview as it could lead subjective evaluation and they stated that governorate‟s presence in the assignment system would not be fair.

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At one side of the doubts on the functions of the province governors, there is the fact that the province governors may act with their political powers and on the other side that they may not have the opportunity to know the candidates sufficiently.

Secondly addressed topic within the study was how the system would be considered in terms of making competence based selections. This brings the efficacies of the school administrators to the foreground. According to Başaran (2004), efficacy in the administration is being knowledgeable and skilled in the administrational notions and models, administration technology, human relations, establishment and improvement of the organizational structure, functions of the administration and administrational processes. This efficacy, from the stage of identifying the knowledge and skills related to the administration to the stage of applying the requirements of the administration, may be on different levels School administrators have responsibility areas such as educational situation at school, physical conditions of the school, personnel affairs, student affairs, works related to accounting and belongings and assessment and evaluation (Taymaz, 2005). The mission of the school administration is to keep the school up according to its purposes by using all the human and material sources at the school efficiently. The principal‟s success on this mission depends on his view of school as a system of roles, and on adjusting his behaviours according to the roles and the expectations of the teachers and the other personnel in which he/she is always in contact with (Bursalıoğlu, 2005).

An examination of the literature indicates that it has commonly been emphasized that the topics of pre-service and post-service training for the school administrators, their selection and appointment in line with „leadership efficacies according with the time‟ must be searched for and some standards must be established (Gümüşeli, 2006 ; Aslan ve Karip, 2014). In this regard, it was stated that the administrators, as educational leaders, have many duties and responsibilities such as having a vision, creating a positive learning and teaching environment at school, giving importance to professional development, improving interpersonal communication and collaboration to create a team atmosphere in the school, establishing good relations with the environment of the school, having strategic planning capacity, having the vision for being in the highest position at the school and making the school a part of life-long learning (Balcı, 2002).

It can be said that the new administrator assignment system has serious negative aspects in bringing profession members having the competencies indicated above to the school administration. Hence, according to the findings based on the data obtained within the scope of this study, the system generally has serious problems in terms of assessment and evaluation process criteria and is associated with polarisation and favouritism by the participants.

The topics of improving the effectiveness of the school system and encouraging the school administrators and teachers to improve themselves in the professional context, which were addressed within the scope of the study, were found to be significantly coinciding especially during the stage of focus

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group discussion. Using the material and human sources in the most effective and efficient way for the organisational targets resides in identifying the functions of the administration (Taymaz, 2005). If a public institution is being addressed and if the notion of public service given importance, the term on which the functions of the administration is based must be effectiveness rather than activity and efficiency. Because, while the activity and efficiency is addressed as creating maximum quantity and quality with the minimum cost on the basis of input-output relations, effectiveness is a term based on targets. The aim in the public service is to achieve the public welfare.

According to the results obtained based on the findings of the study, the relation between the new assignment system and the effectiveness of the school system is considered as negative by the majority of the participants. While forming their opinions, the participants generally support their opinions with the thoughts that the selections are not made objectively or are not based on competencies and they emphasize on the tension arising/may arise at the school and the organisational climate being affected by this situation.

When addressing the new assignment system in terms of encouraging the school administrators and the teachers improving themselves in the professional context, factors such as in-service training, post-graduate study, developing various projects and/or taking roles in the projects come to the foreground. According to Bursalıoğlu (2005), if the mission of the administration is keeping the school up according to its purposes, the mission of school administration is also keeping the school up with its purposes. In order for the school administrators to fulfil their responsibilities and duties, they must know the notions and processes regarding the school administration and must be able to actualize them and they must have had academic education in this field.

Although the new assignment system technically seems to encourage the candidates for self-development, its standards which are deemed as encouraging are flexible and unclear, benefiting from the activities to which it is thought to be encouraging is unequal and the consequences of benefiting from the activities are uncertain.

“Arbitrary procedures” and flexible executions brought up by the school administrator assignment system brings non-objectivity during the assignment process and lobbying based on politisation during the post-processes into the foreground. Therefore the system is not a motivator for the education servants who want to pass the revaluation successfully or who becomes a candidate for administrative roles to improve themselves in the professional context.

One of the topics coming to the fore within the scope of the study was the professionalization of the school administration. According to Taymaz (2000), one of the biggest barriers on front of the professionalization and institutionalization of the administration in Turkish educational system is confusing the missions and values of the teachership and the administration with each other. “Teacher-administrator” type of profession emerged in Turkey.

Individuals are educated for being a teacher, but they are expected to carry on both teachership and administration related efficacies and adopt these roles.

According to Bursalıoğlu (1997), until the educational administration is cut free

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from being an additional duty to the teachership, the school system will not be able to be made effective and efficient. School administrators must be educated according to the administrational requirements and then employed.

The topic of professionalization of the school administration was addressed as „transferring from the educational statue to the administrative statue as a permanent staff” within the scope of the study. At one side of the problem, there are the argumentations given above. On the other side, there is gaining the required competencies for becoming an educational leader in the school system and “having experienced the teacher‟s lobby”. From another perspective, when the administration is defined and designated as an area of expertise based on the current assignment system, numerous problems may occur considering the relativity and dynamism of the assignment. For example, what will the situation of someone who previously was within the administrative services staff but found “unsuccessful” during the administrator reassignment process be? During the study, an ironic solution suggested by a participant was taking these people into a “pool”.

Following suggestions can be made on the school administrator appointment/assignment system through the conclusions based on the analysis of the data obtained during the study: Primarily, school administrators must not be assigned, but appointed.

School administrator appointment system must be cleaned of political factors.

A general frame related to the efficacies of the school administrators and concrete criteria having certain borders and edges related to this frame must be created.

The “multi-evaluation” approach must be adopted in the selection of the administrators.

In this respect, teachership seniority/experience for becoming a school administrator, teachership experience/seniority as well as vice principal experience/seniority for becoming a principal must be a condition in general terms.

Examination and verbal interviews can be carried out for the selection of the school administrators. Examination and interview topics must be formed by the support of academic units and experts, examinations and interviews must be oriented at predicting the administrators‟ efficacies, and they must be conducted far from chicanes. For this reason, it can be helpful if the Ministry receives support from the corresponding units of the universities and includes the trade unions in the process equally.

In order to increase the effectiveness of the school system, the school administrator and the teachers must be encouraged to improve themselves. Postgraduate studies and in-service trainings must be given importance in this context and the educational opportunities must be accessible for all educational servants who are interested and who have efficacies.

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As a research suggestion, it will be beneficial to carry out new studies aiming to resolve the relation between the school administrators and the school system by gathering different procedural preferences together.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 103-127, April 2016

Antecedents of Newly Qualified Teachers’ Turnover Intentions: Evidence from Sweden

Dijana Tiplic, Eli Lejonberg and Eyvind Elstad University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Abstract. The purpose of this study was to explore potential predictors of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions. Based on a sample of 249 newly qualified Swedish teachers, structural equation modelling of a cross-sectional survey was used to analyse data. The results indicated three important predictors of turnover intentions amongst newly qualified teachers. First, mutual trust is important amongst school professionals. Second, it is necessary to encourage newly qualified teachers’ emotional commitment to their profession and workplace to diminish turnover intentions. Finally, perceived role conflict has a significant effect on turnover intentions.

Keywords: newly qualified teachers, teacher attrition, Sweden, turnover intention

Introduction Employed teachers may engage in continual assessment of their schools and their occupational status to determine whether their current job is the appropriate choice for them (Darling-Hammond, 2010). If they find that their employment is not competitive, they may decide to seek out a position at another school or even leave the teaching profession entirely. Currently, several countries are experiencing high rates of teacher shortages (Goldhaber, 2015; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2012).

Therefore, teacher attrition has become a major topic concerning educational research and policy analysis in many countries (Ingersoll, Merrill & May, 2014).

The reason for this is obvious: Education is the cornerstone of society, and teachers are considered the most important factor in determining the quality of education (Aaronson et al., 2007; Goldhaber & Hansen, 2010; Rivkin, Hanushek,

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& Kain, 2005). Sweden is among the countries with expected teacher shortages (Lärarförbundet, 2015). Previous research on turnover intentions amongst newly qualified teachers illustrated that organisational and contextual factors are strong predictors of turnover intentions (Tiplic, Brandmo, & Elstad, 2015). In the present study, we use a similar approach to explore the antecedents of turnover intentions amongst newly qualified Swedish teachers. This study aims to evaluate the statistical associations concerning the turnover intentions of this Swedish teacher population and several organisational antecedents, specifically self-efficacy, conflict of roles, a trusting relationship between school professionals, affective commitment and organisational support.

The remainder of the paper is organised as follows: First, we describe the Swedish context. We then posit 10 hypotheses related to the causes of turnover intention amongst newly qualified teachers. Following this, we present our methodological approach. Finally, we present and discuss our findings and their implications for research and practice.

The Swedish Context The OECD (2015) described Sweden as ‘a school system in need of urgent change’ (p. 11). Moreover, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found that between 2003 and 2012, the mathematics scores of Swedish students decreased the most of those from all participating nations, and Sweden had the largest number of weak readers amongst the Nordic countries (OECD, 2013a). Furthermore, in the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) for 2013, Sweden had the largest percentage (62%) of respondents who ‘strongly disagreed’ with the claim that the teaching profession is well recognised by society; only 5% ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ (OECD, 2013b). In addition to problems regarding the perception of teachers by society, in Sweden, new teachers face additional challenges. It has been claimed that the Swedish school is in a state of crisis (OECD, 2013a). The OECD (2015) declared that Sweden had failed to improve its school system despite the series of reforms carried out in recent years. A more ambitious national reform strategy is now urgently needed to improve the quality and equity of education. The OECD recommends that to accomplish this, Sweden should improve both the quality and attractiveness of the teaching profession.

Sweden is also currently experiencing a shortage of teachers and pedagogues (Statistics Sweden, 2012). According to new statistics from the National Agency for Education, other institutions have found that there is a severe shortage of qualified teachers at all levels. In addition, Statistics Sweden (2014) reported that the Swedish educational system will lack roughly 65 000 teachers by 2025.

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However, this estimate is too low: The Swedish Public Service Broadcaster (2016) reported on January 11th, 2016 that the increased migration to Sweden will induce the need for 90 000 full-time teachers. Several goals have been proposed in response to these challenges. The Swedish Ministry of Education has stated that the teaching profession must be made more attractive (Ministry of Education and Research, 2015). Rewards should be introduced to draw welleducated people who are currently in other occupations towards teaching (Dagens Nyheter, 2015). Furthermore, better integration between teacher education and the actual work of teachers has been emphasised as a new policy direction (Ministry of Education and Research, 2015).

Lindqvist, Nordänger and Carlsson (2014) highlighted the working environment and working conditions as potential mitigators of teacher turnover. A report by the University of Gothenburg showed that in Sweden, many newly qualified teachers are not employed in the part of the school system that they prefer (Corneskog & Lundkvist, 2006). As in other countries, the dropout rate of newly qualified teachers in Sweden is becoming problematic, especially because the need for qualified teachers will increase significantly in coming years as a large number of instructors reach retirement (Lindgren, 2005; Statistics Sweden, 2014b). Based on the abovementioned factors, the Swedish education system represents a relevant context for studying antecedents of turnover intentions amongst newly qualified teachers.

Theoretical Framework The term turnover intention denotes an attitude favouring leaving a present profession or workplace (Tiplic et al., 2015). In this study, the phrase ‘turnover intentions of newly qualified teachers’ refers to such teachers who intend to leave their jobs. Turnover intention is used as the dependent variable in this study. To explore the organisational antecedents of turnover intention, several theoretical perspectives are combined in a framework, as follows: 1) teacher efficacy, 2) human resource management and 3) working conditions. The components of this theoretical framework are explained in the following sections.

Teacher Efficacy In prior research, investigators have linked teachers’ experiences with discipline problems and instructional management to their intentions to leave their current position or even the profession as a whole (Martin, Sass, & Schmitt, 2012; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011). These researchers also demonstrated that job satisfaction and teacher burnout are elements that tend to be closely linked to thoughts about leaving, and these can be predicted through teacher self-efficacy

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(Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2010). Bandura (1977) introduced the concept of selfefficacy beliefs as the individual’s perception that he/she is able to attain a target objective in a particular task. According to Bandura (1977), an individual’s confidence in his/her abilities is a powerful force affecting the motivation to act, the amount of effort put into the task and the persistence of his/her coping mechanisms when setbacks occur.

In Bandura’s (1977) proposal, four major factors have an influence on the selfefficacy beliefs of newly qualified teachers. These are as follows: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and physiological arousal.

The most powerful of these factors is mastery experiences; for newly qualified teachers, such experiences arise through teaching pupils in practice. If a newly qualified teacher considers his/her teaching to be successful, self-efficacy is enhanced; this increases the expectation that future endeavours are likely to be successful. Greater self-efficacy amongst newly qualified teachers may inspire them to put more effort into tasks, whereas failures will tend to decrease selfefficacy beliefs, thereby leading to lower motivation (Guskey, 1988; TschannenMoran, Hoy, & Hoy, 1998).

Studies on the self-efficacy of newly qualified teachers has suggested that several factors contribute to teaching efficacy, including self-perceptions related to instructional competence, emotional and pedagogical support from fellow newly qualified teachers, personal characteristics and the teacher training programme (Poulou, 2007; Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2007). Newly qualified teachers may experience classroom management as problematic during their first working years. The need for short-term survival can overshadow the positive aspects of the teaching experience (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2010). The difficulties involved in mastering novel educational strategies can overload the capacity of newly qualified teachers to relate to their work (Leinhardt & Greeno, 1986; Leinhardt, Young, & Merriman, 1995). Based on this background, we posit two hypotheses concerning teachers’ self-efficacy, as follows: Hypothesis 1: Self-efficacy in relation to instruction is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

Hypothesis 2: Self-efficacy in relation to discipline is a negative predictor of the turnover intentions of newly qualified teachers.

The teaching profession’s level of collaboration has increased over time.

Teachers’ perceptions of the efforts of the faculty, which have previously been related to individual teacher efficacy (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007), can in fact be characterised as collective teacher efficacy (Goddard, Hoy, & Hoy, 2000). Teachers

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in Sweden are expected to carry out multiple tasks by collaborating as a team1.

For instance, teachers assigned the same subject or class must work together to a certain level to plan and teach content, carry out assessments, give homework and schedule student–parent conferences. Furthermore, teachers are expected to meet the requirements when students have special educational plans. Because developing a collective perspective to overcoming challenges may help newly qualified teachers when they are struggling with a variety of teaching challenges and issues, collective efficacy may be assumed to contribute to the confidence in their capabilities that teachers develop (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007). Moreover, it can be expected that collective teacher efficacy will contribute to the inclusion of newly qualified teachers in the professional community. In addition, it has been documented that collective teacher efficacy is negatively associated with newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions (Tiplic et al., 2015). Thus, the following hypothesis can be proposed: Hypothesis 3: Collective teacher efficacy is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

Human Resource Management Traditionally, schools are seen as a special organisational case; teachers often spend most of their time in their classrooms, without frequent contact with their peers. Dan Lortie (1976) used the metaphor of an ‘egg-crate structure’ to describe the situation wherein teachers work in separate, isolated classrooms. Although teachers’ collaboration is a growing phenomenon (Vangrieken, Dochy, Raes, & Kyndt, 2015), the teacher is still often the only professional present in the classroom. Teachers work in contexts that are different from other occupations where colleagues engage in direct, immediate interaction. However, teachers talk before and after their lessons, and school managers and teachers converse in formal and informal arenas. Relational trust between school principals and teachers is recognised as a key resource for school improvement (Bryk & Schneider, 2002). Bryk and Schneider (2002) demonstrated that the level of trust amongst school professionals affects students’ achievement. Social trust influences the degree to which schools work for pupils and serve as an element of social capital (Coleman, 1990).

Trust is a key resource in effort to improve the organisation, and ‘collective decision-making with broad teacher buy-in occurs more readily in schools with strong relational trust’ (Bryk & Schneider, 2002, p. 122). Teachers are more likely to continue working at a given school when they perceive that their principals are providing adequate support (Ingersoll, 2001). We assume that vulnerability and uncertainty are less problematic when newly qualified teachers develop 1

http://skl.se/skolakulturfritid/skolaforskola.85.html

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strong relationships with other professionals at the same institution. Thus, this study defines trust in schools as a two-dimensional construct comprising that between teachers and that between teachers and the principal (Bryk & Schneider, 2002). These two elements have been found to ease relations amongst colleagues in the school organisation; thus, they improve the relationships between school employees by leading to job satisfaction (Bryk & Schneider, 2002). A lack of relational trust may induce friction in the school machinery and foster an intention to leave the profession amongst newly qualified teachers. Therefore, we hypothesise that both ‘teacher–teacher trust’ and ‘teacher–principal trust’ influence newly qualified teachers’ intentions to leave their jobs: Hypothesis 4: Mutual trust amongst teachers is a negative predictor of turnover intentions for newly qualified teachers.

Hypothesis 5: Mutual trust between teachers and principals negatively predicts turnover intentions amongst newly qualified teachers.

In a school, the behavioural climate, organisational support and administrative support can significantly affect a newly qualified teacher’s perception of mastery, ultimately influencing occupational retention of that teacher (Aamodt & Havnes, 2008; Hong, 2012; Ingersoll, 2001; Kukla-Acevedo, 2009). Peer teachers who assist newly qualified teachers in their first working year, as well as school managers who facilitate professional collaboration, seem to exert an important influence when it comes to determining the extent to which newly qualified teachers perceive that they have mastered their teaching role (Caspersen & Raaen, 2010; Smith & Ingersoll, 2004): Hypothesis 6: Perceived support from the organisation is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ intentions to leave their jobs.

In teaching and learning, innovation can be important for newly qualified teachers as they transition from student to teacher (Bakkenes, Vermunta, & Wubbels, 2010; Ghaith & Yaghi, 1997). In previous research, it has been demonstrated that teachers and students may perceive their schools as innovative or non-innovative (Giles & Hargreaves, 2006). These views could have significant implications for the job motivation, job autonomy and intention to leave of newly qualified teachers. Thus, we have developed the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 7: Support for innovation is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

Affective commitment to the school organisation has recently emerged as a central concept in the study of teachers’ work attitudes and behaviours (Elias, 2009). The term ‘affective commitment’ refers to a teacher’s emotional

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attachment to, identification with and involvement in the school where he/she works. Affective commitment has attracted educational scholars because of its consequences for teacher retention (Choi & Tang, 2011; Ingersoll et al., 1997; Kelchtermans, 2005; Mayer, 2006; Smethem, 2007; Troman, 2008; Yu, Leithwood & Jantzi, 2002). In a Norwegian study of teachers’ attitudes and behaviours, mutual trust amongst professionals in schools and goal-oriented leadership were clearly associated with teachers’ feelings of affective commitment (Christophersen, Elstad, & Turmo, 2015). In terms of affective commitment, prior research has determined that commitment also has a positive relationship with job satisfaction amongst teachers (Culver, Wolfe, & Cross, 1990; Fresko, Kfir, & Nasser, 1997; Meyer, Allen, & Smith, 1993) and negatively related to newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions (Tiplic et al., 2015). Low affective commitment may result in an intention to leave teaching as a profession. Thus, we have developed the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 8: Affective commitment is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

Working Conditions Starting from their first day at work, newly qualified teachers are expected to behave professionally. There are difficult challenges that arise in the attempt to provide instruction appropriate for individual students (Burke & Greenglass, 1993; Chan, 2002; Grace, 2012; Schwab & Iwanicki, 1982). Lack of clarity concerning the roll of the teacher (Rizzo, House, & Lirtzman, 1970) affects newly qualified teachers intention to leave (Tiplic et al., 2015). Teachers are expected to manage contradictory expectations. There are several competing sources of influence in terms of the teacher’s activities: On the one hand, students have a right to co-determination in issues that pertain to them in their school life. On the other, the teacher carries the responsibility for what the students learn in school. Further, there is a mutually contradictory relationship between taking account of pupils’ immediate desires and the desire for the school to limit the learners’ free will and exert pressure to influence their actions. Good learning demands academic commitment and effort on the part of the pupil, while the student may prefer the teacher to produce inspiring teaching so that the pupils can attain good results. In other words, a tension exists between pupils’ desire to be led easily through a progression of demands resulting in the desired qualification and the professional teacher’s emphasis on problem-solving tasks requiring the pupil’s effort to attain a deep understanding of the subject.

Another example is that in the educational policy in several countries, communication technology has not been directed as a support for the exercise of the teacher's role. When teachers lose their desired control, a typical rational response is to limit the use of technology (Elstad, 2006).

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Clear leadership induces role clarity (Christophersen et al., 2015), which may in turn reduce a newly qualified teacher’s uncertainty. Reduced uncertainty may in turn reduce turnover intention. Thus, we propose the following: Hypothesis 9: Perceived role conflict is a positive predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

Hypothesis 10: Perceived role clarity is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

Methods Sample Data were collected through a digital survey questionnaire that was distributed to 457 newly qualified Swedish teachers with up to 5 years of experience. A stepwise process was used to select the sample. First, a request was distributed to 3687 Swedish institutions registered at the Swedish National Agency for Education (‘Skolverket’), including not only schools but also other educational and non-governmental institutions. Out of these 3687 institutions, we received feedback from schools’ principals who were interested in nominating newly qualified teachers in their respective schools for further investigation. The school types in this case involved primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools. Contact information for 457 newly qualified teachers was collected. A questionnaire was then distributed to each nominated teacher, and 249 completed responses were returned, resulting in an overall response rate of 54%.

Measures The questionnaire contained items that were adapted to match the context, as follows: the Siegel Scale of Support for Innovation (Siegel & Kaemmerer, 1978); an internationally validated instrument called the Norwegian Teacher SelfEfficacy Scale (NTSES; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007); the Three-Component Model of Organizational Commitment (Meyer et al., 1993); the Teacher–Teacher Trust and Teacher–Principal Relations Survey (Bryk & Schneider, 2002); the Role Questionnaire (Rizzo et al., 1970); the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, & Sowa, 1986); and a four-item scale that measured turnover intentions, one of which was adapted from Kuvaas (2007).

The survey was developed based on measurements reported in previous literature. Four to five single items were used to measure the concepts. The internal consistency of each concept was satisfactory. Previously reported instruments of turnover intention (Kuvaas, 2007) and affective commitment (Meyer, Allen & Smith, 1993) were modified according to recommendations by

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Haladyna and Rodriguez (2013). The questionnaire was first developed in Norwegian and used in a study of Norwegian beginning teachers (Tiplic et al., 2015). It was later translated into Swedish.

The following measures were scored on a 6- or 7-point Likert scale: 1) Teacher self-efficacy for maintaining discipline in the classroom (SED; sample item: How certain are you that you can maintain discipline in any class or group of students?); 2) Teacher self-efficacy for instruction (SEI; e.g. To what extent are you certain of your ability to provide instruction and good guidance to all students, irrespective of their ability level?); 3) Collective efficacy (CE; e.g. Professionals at our school can help the most challenging students to become engaged in school work); 4) Teacher–principal trust (PT; e.g. The principal takes a personal interest in teachers’ professional development of teachers); 5) Teacher–teacher trust (TT; e.g. At our school, teachers in this school trust each other); 6) Perceived organisational support (POS; e.g. The school genuinely cares about my wellbeing); 7) Affective commitment (AC; e.g. In considering my school as an organisation, I do not feel a strong sense of ‘belonging’ [reversed]); 8) Innovation support (IS; e.g. Our school can be described as flexible and engaging in continual adaptation to change); 9) Role conflict (RCo; e.g. The policies and guidelines at our school are incompatible with my work); 10) Turnover intentions (TI; e.g. I am actively searching for a new job); and 11) Role clarity (RCl; e.g. I know what my responsibilities entail).

A four-item scale was used to measure turnover intentions; one of these items was adapted from Kuvaas (2007). The following items were included: ‘I am actively searching for another job’; ‘As soon as I find another job, I will quit this school’; ‘I am thinking seriously about changing my workplace’; and ‘I often think about quitting my present job’.

Analysis Based on the theoretical assumptions, we set up a parsimonious structural model and then conducted a stepwise extension of this model to better understand the antecedents of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

Going from a simple model (Model 1) towards more content in the model’s explanatory adequacy (Model 2) can better equip the researcher to analyse and interpret the complexity of statistical associations. In our research endeavour, we started with the essential in explanatory mechanisms of turnover intentions (see

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Model 1). When fundamentals had been captured (perceptions of self-efficacy and relational trust in Model 1), we included other possible independent variables until all of them were tried and analysed. Based on an idea of this stepwise exploration of the data, we extended the analysis by including more independent variables in Model 2. Turnover intention was the dependent variable in Models 1 and 2, but Model 2 included additional antecedent factors.

The selection of additional factors in Model 2 was based on the two following criteria: a) theoretical reasons for including a factor (as hypothesised above); and b) correlations between variables, as indicated in Table 1. Our stepwise exploration resulted in excluding the relational trust variables from Model 2 due to multicollinearity with other organisational variables. In particular, when we included all variables in the analysis, none were significant due to high multicollinearity between the relational trust variable and the remaining organisational variables (see Table 1).

Table 1 Inter-correlations and reliability of the latent variables Variable 1 2

Instructio nal Self-selfefficacy efficacy in Teacher’s

1 .53* ** .35* ** .11

2

.35* maintaini collective ** 4 Trust .008 ng efficacy amongst .23* .16* 5 Trust discipline teachers between * 6 Role -.12 -.06 in the the conflict .47* .37* classroom 7 Role teachers Perceived ** .23* ** .014 8 clarity and *.32* *.12* Innovatio 9 organisati principal onal support ** 1 n Affective .22* .22* support 0 commitme * *1 Turnover 1 nt intention .19* Cronbach’ .28* .80 .90 * * s alpha * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 3

3

4

5

** .37* .37* ** ** .45* ** .67*

.52* ** .38* .19* ** *.54* ** .57*

.69* .41* ** ** .86* ** .59*

** .42* ** -

** .51* ** -

** .58* ** -

.41* .83 **

.46* .81 **

.53* .72 **

.53* ** .41*

6

.39* ** .68* ** .46* ** .46* .50* ** ** .81

7

.47* ** .31*

8

** .35* ** -

.53* ** .56* ** -

.35* .84 **

.52* .89 **

9

10

11

.47* ** .39* .92 **

.62* .94 **

.9 4

We first determined the descriptive item statistics using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The item scores were normally distributed in all variables. The hypothesised model was tested using Mplus and the incorporated latent variables. The structural model assessments considered the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), the standardised root mean square residual (SRMR), the p-value for the χ2 statistic, the comparative fit index (CFI)

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and the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI). Standard criteria were used to determine a good fit (p > .05, RMSEA < .06, SRMR < .08, CFI > .95, and TLI > .95; Brown, 2006; Byrne, 2010; Hu & Bentler, 1999; Kline, 2005).

Results The results showed that the associations between the three teacher efficacy measures and turnover intentions were not significant in either of the two models. Therefore, hypotheses 1, 2 and 3 were not supported in the data.

However, the associations between the two relational trust measures and turnover intentions were significant in Model 1. Therefore, hypotheses 4 and 5 were supported in the data.

Neither perceived organisational support nor innovation support had significant associations with the turnover intentions in Model 2. Therefore, hypotheses 6 and 7 were not supported. In contrast, the results showed that the association between affective commitment and turnover intentions was significant; therefore, hypothesis 8 was supported in the data.

Finally, the results demonstrated that the associations between perceived role conflict and turnover intentions were significant, thereby supporting hypothesis 9. However, the associations between perceived role clarity and turnover intentions were not significant. Thus, hypothesis 10 was not supported in the data.

Table 2 shows both the hypothesised model and the results of the analysis.

Table 2: Hypotheses and results Hypothesis no.

1

2

3

4

Wording

Result

Self-efficacy in relation to instruction is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

The associations between these variables in models 1 and 2 were not significant; therefore, the hypothesis is not supported.

Self-efficacy in relation to discipline is a negative predictor of the turnover intentions of newly qualified teachers..

The associations between these variables in models 1 and 2 were not significant; therefore, the hypothesis is not supported.

Collective teacher efficacy is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

The associations between these variables in models 1 and 2 were not significant; therefore, the hypothesis is not supported.

Mutual trust amongst teachers is a negative predictor of turnover intentions for newly qualified

The association (b(TT→TI) = -.21) in model 1 was significant, supporting the hypothesis.

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teachers.

5

6

7

8

9

10

Mutual trust between teachers and principals negatively predicts turnover intentions amongst newly qualified teachers.

The association (b(PT→TI) = -.36) in model 1 was significant, supporting the hypothesis.

Perceived support from the organisation is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ intentions to leave their jobs.

The association between these variables in model 2 was not significant; therefore, the hypothesis is not supported.

Support for innovation is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

Affective commitment is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

The association between these variables in model 2 was not significant; therefore, the hypothesis is not supported.

The association (b(AC→TI) = -.44) in model 2 was significant, supporting the hypothesis.

Perceived role conflict is a positive predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

The association (b(RCo→TI) = .22) in model 2 was significant, supporting the hypothesis.

Perceived role clarity is a negative predictor of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions.

The association between these variables in model 2 was not significant; therefore, the hypothesis is not supported.

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Model 1.

Teacher self-efficacy, trust and collective teacher efficacy as predictors of the turnover intentions of newly qualified teachers. Sef instruc = teacher self-efficacy for instruction, sef discipl = teacher self-efficacy for maintaining discipline in classroom, collect efficacy = collective teacher efficacy, teach trust = teacher–teacher trust, princip trust = teacher– principal trust. Note: The figure displays standardised coefficients. All correlations between independent variables above .10 were significant at the 5% level, while those above .20 were significant at the 1% level. **p < .01, *** p < .001

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Discussion The findings showed that relational trust between teachers and teacher-principal trust were negatively associated with newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions. This suggests that when newly qualified teachers develop trust in their colleagues and principals, they become less likely to want to leave their workplace or the profession as a whole. In schools, relational trust is a mutual, multifaceted type of social exchange (Bryk & Schneider, 2002). Such an exchange relation can be characterised by the elements of competence, respect, personal regard for others and integrity; these features facilitate the accomplishment of objectives at both the personal and organisational levels. The Swedish findings support the importance of relational trust amongst colleagues, whereas the Norwegian findings concern principal–teacher trust (Tiplic et al., 2015).

Although the teacher–principal relationship exhibits power asymmetry, both parties are vulnerable. A teacher can undermine the school’s goals, thereby impeding the development of the organisation development. However, principals also make many decisions that directly affect teachers. Thus, it is crucial to establish respectful, professional relationships amongst employees and between new employees and their principals.

In this study, another factor that was found to predict newly qualified teachers’ turnover intentions was role conflict. This result supports previous research on the topic (Tiplic et al., 2015) and suggests that ambiguities of newly qualified teachers’ roles represent a significant challenge; this has significant ramifications for their intentions to leave their profession or workplace. While previous research has assessed the presumed effects of perceived role conflicts in schools (Miles & Perreault, 1976), including diminished job satisfaction amongst teachers (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2010), few have considered role conflict per se occurring in school settings (some researchers have considered perceived role conflict pertaining to school leaders, e.g. Eckman, 2004; Gross, Mason, & McEachern, 1958). An earlier study of Norwegian beginning teachers revealed significant associations between role conflict and turnover intention (Tiplic et al., 2015). This similar finding supports the importance of role conflict amongst newly qualified teachers. These findings imply that the prevention of role conflict in schools may also mitigate teacher turnover. In this regard, the inter-correlations between the variables might widen the understanding of role conflict and how to limit it. The results showed that collective efficacy, support and affective commitment were negatively correlated with role conflict (r(CE↔RCo) = -0.37 in Model 2, (POS↔PCo) = -0.68 in Model 2, (IS↔PCo) = -0.46 in Model 2 and (AC↔RCo) = 0.46 in Model 2). These results indicate that efforts to strengthen collective

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efficacy, support and affective commitment can indirectly contribute to the prevention of newly qualified teachers’ turnover intention through reducing perceived role conflict.

As another important predictor of job satisfaction (Culver et al., 1990; Meyer et al., 1993), affective commitment predicted newly qualified teachers’ intentions to leave the profession or workplace. This indicates that amongst newly qualified teachers, their intentions to leave the school or the profession result from lack of a sense of belonging to their school. This result emphasises the effect of affective commitment on individuals’ intentions (Hong, 2010). It also indicates the importance employee–school relationships when it comes to ensuring newly qualified teachers’ professional growth and commitment. This result has implications for how schools should approach staff support, work climate and human relations.

The hypothesis concerning the relationship between a demanding environment related to classroom management and newly qualified teachers’ intentions to leave their workplace or profession was not supported by the results. Moreover, we did not find evidence to support the hypothesis on the relationship between challenges related to the delivery of new teaching content and turnover intentions. It may be that because newly qualified teachers know about such challenges, they accept their lack of experience and do not anticipate immediate success in everyday classroom tasks. Unlike previous research that uncovered the significant association between collective efficacy and intentions to leave one’s profession or workplace (Tiplic et al. 2015), this link was not supported in the present study. This topic is clearly an avenue for further research.

Our results did not support the hypothesis that newly qualified teachers’ perception of organisational support in schools would reduce their intentions to leave their profession or workplace. However, Goddard and O’Brien (2003) previously reported that a lack of staff support is an important predictor of newly qualified teachers’ intentions to leave their workplace or profession in Australia. Mentoring in a Swedish context has historically followed the classical arrangement of supportive mentoring in which individual mentors work with individual mentees. However, in 2011, a new law imposed a probationary process for new teachers that included a process of mentoring as supervision characterised by mentors assessing mentees (Kemmis, Heikkinen, Fransson, Aspfors, & Edwards-Groves, 2014). In sum, in this mentoring practice, new teachers’ competence is evaluated against established teaching standards. It could be that this extensive mentorship in Sweden satisfies newly qualified teachers’ need for support (Kemmis et al., 2014). To some extent, the presence of supportive mentors could replace the requirement for general organisational support.

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We did not find confirmation of the hypothesis that support for innovation in schools mitigates the turnover intentions of newly qualified teachers. The correlation between support for innovation and teachers’ turnover intentions was negative when the other predictors were controlled for; however, this association did not reach statistical significance. It may be that newly qualified teachers, unlike experienced teachers, are not necessarily striving to incorporate new ideas into their everyday tasks in the classroom. Before they start to engage in novel solutions in the classroom, newly qualified teachers may focus on building their self-confidence by gaining greater familiarity with managing challenging everyday tasks. Given that schools’ innovation support is a positive characteristic, the level of innovation in the schools where newly qualified teachers are working may have significant ramifications for their professional development in future (Siegel & Kaemmerer, 1978).

Regarding the independent variables, it was interesting to see which were correlated with the strongest negative predictors of turnover intention (teacher– principal trust, teacher–teacher trust or affective commitment) to determine the factors relevant to keeping newly qualified teachers in their jobs. All three of these independent variables were strongly correlated with collective efficacy (r(TT↔CE) = 0.52 in Model 1, (PT↔CE) = 0.39 in Model 1 and (AC↔CE) = 0.42 in Model 2). This result indicates that these variables overlap to some degree.

Trust is likely to be a precondition for perceived collective efficacy. It also seems likely that those who are affectively committed to their work are more likely to report collective efficacy.

In summary, this study showed that contextual and organisational factors had a significant effect on intentions to leave their profession or workplace amongst newly qualified teachers in Sweden, while perceptions of individual competence did not. Similar patterns were found in the analysis of the sample of Norwegian beginning teachers (Tiplic et al., 2015). These similarities are not surprising. The countries are neighbours, and they share a common teacher ethos, educational values and educational policies (Helgøy & Homme, 2006). Furthermore, from the 1960s onward, educational policies in Norway and Sweden have been oriented to a similar comprehensive educational project (Arnesen & Lundahl, 2006; Telhaug, Mediås, & Aasen, 2006), in which ‘schools should be inclusive, comprehensive, with no streaming and with easy passages between the levels’ (Blossing, Imsen, & Moos, 2014, p. 1). It is expected that these similarities are extended to the values and beliefs amongst Norwegian and Swedish teachers. In addition to the perceived attitudes of employees, the relationships of newly qualified teachers with their organisations and with significant school professionals were the most significant predictors of intentions to leave the workplace or profession.

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The results showed only partial support for previous research findings relating to significant factors in confidence on the job and the wellbeing of teachers (Tiplic et al., 2015). For example, in the analysis of the Norwegian material, we found significant negatively associations between teachers’ collective efficacy and their turnover intention. This pattern is not present in the Swedish material.

Further, in the Swedish data, we found significant negative associations between teacher–teacher trust and teachers’ turnover intentions. This pattern is not present in the Norwegian material.

Limitations One important limitation of this study is related to the sample. We were constrained by data access in this research due to the lack of any database on newly qualified teachers in Sweden. Therefore, our sample consisted of newly qualified teachers whose principals responded to our request for participants.

However, we have no reason to believe that our sample is biased, or even further, that our results are misguiding, since we studied associations between variables that are not sensitive to population representativeness issues.

Another limitation is that we did not have an opportunity to couple newly qualified teachers’ self-reporting data to objective goals in their task performance, such as value-added measures. In addition, we did not include other factors, such as teacher wages and school policies, to assess external factors that affect turnover intentions amongst newly qualified teachers.

Conclusion This study contributes to the literature by showing that the quality of human relations amongst school professionals makes a difference in how teachers perceive attrition and retention. One of our main conclusions is that the quality of the relationships between teachers, as well as between principals and newly qualified teachers, is an important predictor of turnover intention for new teachers. Good relationships between principals and teachers can contribute to reducing the uncertainty and vulnerability of newly qualified teachers, which can benefit the entire school. Another possibility is that mutual trust amongst teachers supports the social norms that generate shared obligations, thereby influencing teachers’ judgement related to the amount effort they should put into their work. Assuming that the statistical correlations represent causality, relational trust is crucial to collegiality in terms of school leaders’ desire to enhance the retention of newly qualified teachers. We consider that the social glue between colleagues influences their retention of their occupational beliefs and wants. Teachers’ affective commitment to the school organisation is often

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described in the literature as influencing teacher behaviour (Firestone, 1996; Toh, Ho, Riley, & Hoh, 2006; Watt & Richardson, 2008; Canrinus, Helms-Lorenz, Beijaard, Buitink, & Hofman, 2012).

Affective commitment is important in sustaining the job motivation of newly qualified teachers, as it serves to reinforce their perceptions of management and collegiality. Affective episodes are also important in sustaining the job satisfaction of newly qualified teachers.

Finally, we found that role conflict was positively associated with turnover intention. Role conflict was also negatively correlated with the potential moderators of turnover intention. These findings are relevant in terms of practice, policymaking and teachers’ perceptions of nation-wide school politics.

Our study provides empirical grounds for minimising newly qualified teachers’ experiences of role conflict. Policymakers can increase teachers’ perceived role conflict by communicating contradictory expectations. The findings presented in this study indicate that in official discussions about schools and teaching, politicians and other relevant actors should acknowledge the difficult issues in teachers’ work, including the perception of role conflict.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 128-139, April 2016

Multiple Intelligences in the Omani EFL context: How Well Aligned are Textbooks to Students’ Intelligence Profiles?

Fawzia Al Seyabi College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman Hind A’Zaabi Ministry of Education, Sultanate of Oman

Abstract. The present study aims at identifying the multiple intelligences (MI) profiles of grade 12 female students in Oman in the light of Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI). It also presents an analysis of the MI profiles of the English textbooks used in grade 12 to determine the extent to which they align or misalign with the students’ profiles. The study used two instruments: 1) an MI survey addressed to 530 students in Muscat Governorate and 2) textbook analysis of grade twelve English textbooks. The results of the study pointed to the existence of misalignment between the sampled students’ intelligence profiles in comparison with the textbooks’ dominant intelligences. The study revealed that grade twelve female students ranked the intrapersonal talent as their strongest intelligence with 84.4%, followed by the bodily-kinesthetic, and the visual-spatial intelligences, whereas the textbooks were found to be heavily based on the verbal-linguistic intelligence with a 100% presence followed by the interpersonal, and the logical-mathematical intelligences. The study urges that future revisions of the Omani EFL curriculum are done through the lens of MI theory in order to improve the quality of students’ learning experiences.

Keywords: Multiple Intelligences (MI); Textbook analysis; Post-basic education; Oman

Introduction The theory of Multiple Intelligence (MI) initially evolved out of Gardner’s work in cognitive psychology in the 1980s (Gardner, 1984). Gardner sought to revolutionize and widen the meaning of intelligence. Instead of defining intelligence in terms of the traditional scholastic concepts of mathematical and © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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linguistic talents, Gardner stated that human intelligence entailed at least seven talents and that people exhibit these intelligences in rather different ways (Campbell, Campbell & Dickenson, 1999; Gardner, 1999).

Gardner’s new concept of intelligence was based upon the results of his studies in cognitive psychology and his examination of both genius people and mentally handicapped. Gardner (1999) confirmed that the brain seems to activate “separate psychological processes” that produce “linguistic, numerical, pictorial, gestural, and other kinds of symbolic systems (p. 5). As a result, Gardner concluded that there are seven distinct intelligences which all people possess and exhibit in rather different ways. Later on Gardner added the naturalist intelligence - observing patterns in nature (Campbell et al., 1999; Gardner, 2006).

The nature of each intelligence and the way the intelligences interact with each other are determined by the surrounding environment and the individual’s genetic makeup. Each intelligence is associated with certain “end-states” and contains central processes (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). Table 1 demonstrates Gardner’s original seven intelligences from 1984, along with their related endstates and core components.

Table 1: MI Theory, its end-states, and core components (Note: Adopted from Gardner & Hatch, 1989 )

Intelligence Logicalmathematical

End-states Scientist Mathematician

Linguistic

Poet Journalist Composer Violinist Navigator Sculptor Dancer Athlete

Musical Spatial Bodily-kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Core Components Sensitivity to, and capacity to discern logical patterns.

Sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, and meanings of words.

Abilities to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch, and timbre.

Capacities to perceive the visual spatial world accurately.

Abilities to control one’s body movements and to handle objects skillfully.

Therapist Capacities to discern and respond Salesman appropriately to the moods of other people.

Person with Access to one’s own feelings and the detailed, ability to discriminate among them. accurate selfknowledge

After a decade of proposing his theory, Gardner weighed the presence of two more intelligences: the naturalist intelligence, and the existential intelligence. © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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Both intelligences scored high on Gardner’s previously mentioned eight criteria of intelligence. However, Gardner could not fully approve of the existential intelligence, as it may be part of human emotions. Hence, the revised list of Gardner’s’ multiple intelligences comprised eight intelligences through including the naturalist intelligence (Gardner, 2006).

Numerous advantages of using MI in education have been pointed out in the literature (Ibnian & Hadban, 2013; Dastgoshadeh & Jalilzadeh, 2011; Chan, 2000; Celik, 2012; Ahmad, Seman, Awang & Sulaiman, 2015; Freedman, 2015). One of these advantages is the suitability of the MI theory for the 21st learner as it caters for the individual growth not only at the educational level but also the emotional and social levels. Furthermore, the theory of MI calls for a fuller appreciation of the human intellect. Maintaining learner motivation is another characteristic of MI. Ibnian & Hadban (2013) carried out a study in Jordan to explore the characteristics of MI theory as well as its possible applications in the ELT field. They suggested that considering all nine intelligences - the ninth intelligence is the spiritual intelligence- in designing classroom tasks and lesson plans plays a significant role in arousing learners’ interests and making them more responsive. They further named procedures to incorporate MI in teaching such as handicrafts, songs, drama, and games. Finally, the researchers concluded that MI theory could be an attractive choice to enhance learners’ motivation.

In spite of these well-acknowledged advantages, some studies described how school curriculum could sometimes fail to address students’ multiple intelligences. Some teaching textbooks are found to be misaligned with MI theory and students’ intelligence profiles (Abbasian & Khanjavi, 2012; Ibragimova, 2011; Taase, Satariyan, & Salimi, 2014), as they are more usually built around the traditional intelligences: the verbal-linguistic, and the logicalmathematical intelligences. To help further investigate this issue, the present study is set to examine the students’ MI profiles in one particular EFL context, that is grade 12 students in Oman and then explore the extent to which the Omani EFL textbooks address these intelligence profiles.

Research Questions The present study is guided by two main questions: 1-What are the MI (Multiple Intelligences) profiles of EFL grade twelve female students?

2- To what extent do the MI profiles of grade twelve English textbooks align (or misalign) with the students’ MI profiles?

Methodology A. Population and Sample The study used a website www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm in order to calculate the student sample size: 530 (15%) out of a population of 3486 with a © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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confidence level of 95% and a confidence interval of 2.8. The student population size comprised of 3486 grade twelve female students in Muscat Governorate for the academic year 2014/2015 according to the Department of Statistics in Muscat Educational Directorate. Cluster sampling was employed to determine the sampled students. The MI surveys were distributed to 530 grade twelve female students; the majority came from intact classes at four randomly sampled schools.

B. Research Instruments The present study used two instruments: (a) a student MI survey, and (b) textbook analysis.

1) MI student survey. A multiple intelligence inventory -originally developed

by McKenzie (1999)- was used in order to identify students’ MI profiles. The survey was first adapted to suit the Omani culture. Then it was translated into Arabic and accompanied with an introduction and a personal section.

The survey targeted grade twelve female students in Muscat governorate. It consisted of two primary sections. The first section asked for student personal information. The second section consisted of eighty MI statements split into four subsections for surveying the eight intelligences; each subsection had twenty MI statements. A yes-no scale was used to identify whether the statements applied or did not apply to the respondents. A panel of eight judges validated the survey.

2) Analysis of grade twelve “Engage with English” textbooks. The “Engage with English” series are textbooks designed and produced by the Ministry of Education in Oman. The researchers categorized the textbooks’ activities (activities in the course book and workbook of “Engage with English” for grade twelve of the second semester) into the eight modalities of intelligences using Campbell et al.’s (1999) instructional menus as a guide. The eight menus list examples of possible instructional objectives that belong to the eight intelligences and thus aid categorization of the activities. A total count of 241 activities was described in terms of their addressed intelligences.

A panel of eight judges validated the textbook analysis. This was done by providing them with a sampled textbook analysis of unit one in theme one along with copies of the coursebook, workbook, related pages from the teachers’ book as well as Campbell et al.’s Instructional Menus (1999). Interrater reliability was employed to ensure the reliability and consistency of categorizing the textbook activities into the eight MI types

Results and discussion Students’ MI Profiles Results concerning students’ MI profiles are presented in Table 2 below. © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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Table 2: Students’ MI Profiles

Types of Multiple intelligence 1. Intrapersonal intelligence 2.Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence 3.Visual-spatial intelligence 4. Naturalist intelligence 5.Logical-mathematical intelligence 6. Musical intelligence 7. Interpersonal intelligence 8.Verbal-linguistic intelligence

Mean (out of 10) 8.44 7.78 7.60 7.33 6.79

Standard Deviation 1.182 1.690 1.714 3.613 1.449

6.40 6.39 6.36

1.842 1.843 1.679

Table 2 presents the results according to the types of multiple intelligences. The mean and the standard deviation of the sampled students’ responses towards the statement are given, bearing in mind that the mean is out of a total of ten. By considering the mean, it seems that students’ intrapersonal intelligence dominates their MI profile since students’ responses to the intrapersonal intelligence scored the highest mean of 8.44. The second strongest intelligence for students is the bodily-kinesthetic with a mean of 7.78. Visual-spatial intelligence ranks third with 7.60. Natural intelligence ranks fourth with a mean of 7.33. Logical-mathematical intelligence occupies the fifth rank with 6.79.

Musical intelligence ranks sixth with 6.40. The interpersonal intelligence and the verbal-linguistic intelligence rank seventh and eighth respectively.

When applying the concept of quartiles to the data obtained from the students’ questionnaire, the intrapersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, and visual-spatial intelligences occupy the upper quartile, whereas all other intelligences occupy the middle quartile.

In terms of the standard deviation, the expected normal standard deviation for this scale of data (out of 10) is 1.67. By considering the values of the standard deviation of the eight variables as illustrated in Table 2, it seems that the standard deviation of six intelligences falls within normal variance. However, the standard deviation of the intrapersonal intelligence (1.182) and the standard deviation of the naturalist intelligence (3.613) are rather different. To explain further, the sample responses of the statements of intrapersonal intelligence seem to be more homogeneous, while the sample responses of the statements of the naturalist intelligence seem to be more heterogeneous than would be expected in normal variance.

Looking back at the ranking of personal intelligences (intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences), it seems that students prefer to work individually © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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and reflect on their own rather than to work cooperatively in groups. Such an inference comes from the fact that students rank intrapersonal intelligence first while they rank interpersonal intelligence seventh. Hence, intrapersonal activities that involve indulging in self-reflection, setting goals, having options, and carrying out an assessment of one’s own learning, feelings, and life can be more attractive for grade twelve students. In terms of bodily kinesthetic intelligence, which ranks second in students’ list of intelligences, grade twelve students are more inclined to engage their bodily-kinesthetic performance to show their understanding rather than sit still in one corner during lessons. The visual-spatial talent of the students is also at a reasonable degree since it ranks third in their MI profile. The involvement of colors, concept maps, posters, collages, and active imagination in learning could enhance students’ understanding as suggested by neuroscience research (Lazear, 2014).

In addition to the three most predominant student intelligences (intrapersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, and visual-spatial intelligences), other intelligences seem to appeal to students but to a lesser degree. For instance, the naturalist intelligence ranks fourth while the logical-mathematical intelligence ranks fifth in their MI profile. Also, musical intelligence does not appear to suit students’ interests.

This may be attributed mainly to cultural factors.

The verbal-linguistic intelligence ranks last in comparison to the rest of the seven intelligences. Although this might suggest that students are less motivated towards languages or language learning, language still composes the major vehicle of expressing and transmitting all other intelligences. The intrapersonal intelligence, for example, is best depicted through writing journals, reflections, and personal aspirations. Without arranging logical meaning in a sentence or paragraph layout, it would be difficult to engage and strengthen intrapersonal reflection. According to Gardner, intelligences do not work separately but they work in combination with each other (2006, p. 8).

Interestingly, Ibragimova (2011) found similar results in terms of students’ MI profiles. In his study, the intrapersonal intelligence ranked first while musical, linguistic, and interpersonal intelligences ranked sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively, similar to the case in this study. Students’ bodily-kinesthetic intelligence in Ibragimova’s study ranked third which is close to the students’ ranking in the present study. Also, students in Ibragimova’s study ranked the naturalist intelligence as the fourth intelligence just as is the case with grade twelve students in the present study. However, the results of the present study run counter to the findings of the study by Modirkhamene & Azhiri (2012) in which students’ preferred intelligences were interpersonal, musical, and naturalist types.

Students’ MI Profile and the Textbooks’ MI Profile This section presents results answering the second research question which addresses the level of alignment (or misalignment) between the EFL textbooks used in grade 12 in Oman and students’ MI profiles.

© 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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Figure 1 shows the difference between students’ MI profiles and the textbooks’ MI profiles in an ascending order as number one stands for the most dominant intelligence while number eight stands for the least dominant intelligence in both profiles.

Students’ MI profile (percentage of the mean)

Textbooks’ MI profile

1- Intrapersonal

84.40%

1- VerbalLinguistic

2- Bodily-kinesthetic

77.80%

2- Interpersonal

100% 54.94%

76%

3- LogicalMathematical

4- Natural

73.30%

4-Intrapersonal

19.09%

5- LogicalMathematical

67.90%

5- Visual-Spatial

11.20%

3- Visual-spatial

6- Musical

64%

6-Natural

7- Interpersonal

63.90%

7- BodilyKinesthetic

8- Verbal - linguistic

63.60%

8- Musical

39.42%

10% 0.83% 0%

Figure 1: Students’ MI profiles versus the textbooks’ MI profile

As Figure 1 illustrates, there is a noticeable degree of misalignment between students’ MI profile and the textbooks’ MI profile. When correlating the ranks in both profiles, the value of the Spearman correlation is -0.48, which indicates a moderate negative correlation between the ranks of intelligences in student profile and the textbook profile. This indicates that the increase of a certain intelligence in one profile is accompanied by the decrease of the same intelligence in the other profile.

To shed more light on the negative correlation between the students’ MI profile and the textbooks’ MI profile, we should consider the verbal-linguistic, the interpersonal, the intrapersonal and the bodily-Kinesthetic intelligences. To begin with, number one intelligence in grade twelve English textbooks is the verbal-linguistic domain with 100% prevalence. On the other hand, the verballinguistic ranks last in students’ MI profile since its mean percentage is 63.60%.

By the same token, the interpersonal intelligence comes second in the textbooks’ MI profile, but it occupies the reversed position in students’ MI profiles. In terms of the visual-spatial intelligence, it ranks third in students’ MI profile with a mean percentage of 76% while it ranks fifth with 11.20% presence in the © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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textbooks’ activities. The logical-mathematical intelligence ranks third in the textbooks whereas it ranks fifth in students’ MI profile. Conversely, the musical intelligence ranks sixth in students’ profile while it ranks last in the textbook MI profile since there is no presence at all for music in the textbook activities. As for the natural talent, there is relatively less misalignment for it ranks fourth in students’ profile while it comes sixth in the textbooks’ profile.

In the section that follows, the nature of the misalignment is further highlighted. Linking students’ preferences in terms of MI theory into the existing MI profile of the English textbooks sheds more light upon the extent of the misalignment, its possible reasons as well as its possible solutions.

Misalignment in the verbal-linguistic and interpersonal intelligences There is a sharp contradiction between the presentation of the verbal-linguistic and interpersonal intelligences in the textbooks as the two most dominant intelligences when compared to their presence in students’ MI profile as the least dominant intelligences. All 241 activities in the textbooks are of a verballinguistic type as 39 out of the 241 activities are purely linguistic, while the rest are merged with other intelligences particularly the interpersonal intelligence.

Even so, the surveyed students ranked both the verbal-linguistic and the interpersonal intelligences as their least favorite ones. Other descriptive studies have also indicated a disparity between English language textbooks and students’ MI profiles such as Ibrgimova (2011); Abbasian & Khajavi (2012); and Taase et al. (2014). The discrepancy in the Omani setting may indicate that the verbal-linguistic and interpersonal nature of the activities in the English textbooks fail to develop students’ positive attitude towards these two intelligences. Here it is important to mention that “Engage with English” textbooks are taught in both grades eleven and twelve. Consequently, the quality of these activities needs to be upgraded and made more varied to appeal to students’ varied interests and satisfy their intelligences.

Misalignment in the intrapersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, and visual-spatial intelligences As mentioned earlier, the intrapersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, and visual-spatial intelligences rank first, second, and third in the students’ profile while they rank fourth, seventh, and fifth in the textbooks’ profile. This trio of intelligences constitutes the students’ preferred intelligences. On the other hand, there is a less emphasis on them in the textbooks, especially the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence that is represented in less than 1% of the activities. It can be concluded that grade twelve students are taught “Engage with English” textbooks without much attention to their dominant learning inputs. This might partially explain what some studies have reported in terms of Omani students lack of motivation and hence lack of command of the English language (Sergon, 2011; Ministry of Education and the World Bank, 2011; Al Maashani, 2011; AlIssa & Al-Bulushi, 2011).

Misalignment in the naturalist intelligence. The naturalist intelligence ranks fourth in students’ profile with 73.30%. As for the textbooks’ MI profile, it ranks sixth with 10%. The environmental nature of the passages in one particular © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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theme in the textbook is what accounts for the 10% presence of the naturalist intelligence. Thus, the tasks and activities in themselves do not invoke naturalist intelligence. Hence the 10% of naturalist material in the textbooks needs to be raised both in quantity as well as quality through the adaptation of more genuinely naturalist tasks.

Misalignment in the musical intelligence. As for the musical intelligence, it ranks sixth in students’ profiles with a mean’s percentage of 64% while it ranks eighth in the textbooks’ MI profile since it is not addressed at all in the activities. The absence of musical activities in the textbooks could partially be attributed to students’ age; there is a stronger presence of music in elementary classrooms (Mills, 2001) compared with post-basic education as students are expected to be more focused on their academic goals, considering that year 12 marks the last stage of their school years. Lazear (2014), however, stresses the importance of musical intelligence in the learning process when he stated “the consciousness altering effect of music and rhythm on the brain is probably the greatest”. Similarly, Eberle (2011) emphasized the connection between the musical and the linguistic talents describing the relationship between them as “complementary”, especially when one attempts to play with the patterns and sounds of the language.

Misalignment in the logical-mathematical intelligence. The logicalmathematical intelligence ranks third in the textbooks’ profile while it ranks fifth in students’ profile. The observed trend in textbooks’ logical-mathematical activities is its presence in the form of answering the question “why” and ordering topics. Since one of the textbooks’ aims is to nurture the students’ higher order way of thinking (Ministry of Education, 2009), such logical activities might not suffice to promote the cognitive domain, taking into consideration that students’ logical-mathematical talent ranks fifth in their MI profile.

Conclusion Based on the apparent misalignments between the textbooks’ MI profile and the students’ MI profile in almost all of the intelligences, it is fair to conclude that there is an MI gap that separates students, on one hand, and the English textbooks, on the other hand. It hence becomes urgent that future revisions of the Omani EFL curriculum (Ministry of Education and the World Bank, 2011) are done through the lens of MI theory in order to improve the quality of students’ learning experiences.

Textbooks are essential tools for teaching English at schools. Thus, textbooks plus their resources need to be reformulated in the light of the MI approach. As Gardner (1999) points out there are three main stages in designing “an MI environment” (p. 145). These steps are (a) establishing practical educational goals, (b) carrying out practices or strategies (based on MI theory), and (c) evaluating the process and the product (based on MI measurements). In this case, syllabus designers need to be precise on their educational objectives. Then, © 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

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after grasping the concepts of MI theory, they can use MI strategies and practices to achieve the clearly stated goals. Finally, syllabus designers along with teachers, students, school administrators, and parents can be involved in evaluating the success of the MI practices and modifying them if necessary.

Saying so, it is still important to acknowledge the fact that textbooks used to teach at schools constitute only one part of school curriculum. Besides textbooks, schools can create other conditions supportive to their students’ most dominant intelligences. This can be achieved through a variety of methods such as raising teachers’ awareness of the importance of considering students’ MI profiles, varying teachers’ teaching techniques to accommodate students’ most dominant intelligences and involving students in a wide range of extracurricular activities that address different intelligence types.

Acknowledgement The authors would like to thank and acknowledge the participation of the grade 12 students from Muscat Governorate who contributed to the completion and success of this study.

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Fawzia Al Seyabi has a PhD in TEFL from the University of Essex, UK in 2002.

She is a faculty member in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University. Her research interests involve EFL curriculum and teaching methods, intercultural communication, humanistic approaches in teaching and the role of culture in foreign language teaching and learning.

Hind Al Zaabi has a Master of Education in Curriculum and Teaching Methods in English language from Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman.

She has been teaching English in Omani schools for more than ten years. Her research interests include teaching methodology and curriculum design.

© 2016 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.