2013 JAN by TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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In this issue: Feature Articles Spelling Errors of Arab learners of EFL: A Two-Way Analysis - Abdulmoneim Mahmoud Vocabulary Learning: An Electronic Word Card Study - Marina Dodigovic The Application of Bar-Onâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Model of Emotional Intelligence to the Self-perceived Communication Competence of Iranian EFL Learners - Reza Zabihi, Azizollah Dabaghi

Lesson Idea Educational Technology Reviews Networking TESOL Arabia News Chapter Reports SIG Reports

Volume 20

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January 2013

TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Guidelines

Contributors for

General Editorial Policies TESOL Arabia Perspectives is the official publication of TESOL Arabia, designed to meet the organization’s professional objectives by publishing articles that discuss the teaching and learning of English as an additional language at all levels and with a particular focus on the region (the Gulf, Middle East, North Africa and South Asia). TESOL Arabia Perspectives invites previously unpublished manuscripts that address the diverse topics that make up our profession, including, but not limited to, methodology, pedagogy, curriculum and materials development, assessment, classroom inquiry and research, teacher education and language and culture.

Submission Categories & Guidelines Feature Articles Features should generally be between 2000-4000 words in length, and address educational issues (theory leading to practice) relevant to the membership. The articles can document a critical survey of a particular aspect of the field, detail and analyze pedagogical issues, describe and discuss research findings, or highlight contextual factors and their implications for educational practice. All submissions should be thought through, organized, and clearly written. APA style format will be strictly adhered to regarding referencing. Submissions must be in Times New Roman, font size 12, double spaced. Submissions not meeting APA standards will not be reviewed. Every feature article will go through a review process where the reviewers consider how well it: ■ ■

■

discusses issues that seek to inform practice; contributes to the knowledge base for teaching and teacher education in general, and in the region in particular; addresses educational issues and needs of ELT in the region; identifies an educational research agenda.

Reviews Reviews should evaluate any recent textbook, resource book, CD/DVD audio or video title, or website. Reviews should be 500–1000 words in length and evaluate materials for their approach, content, appropriateness, adaptability, and relevancy. A list of

materials received for review will be made available periodically in Perspectives. Please contact Paul Dessoir, the Reviews Editor, at pdessoir@uaeu.ac.ae.

Educational Technology This section will document short articles of about 5002000 words that provide overviews of educational technologies, their utilities and incorporation into practice. This could include software, hardware, and web-based resources.

Networking This section will feature conference and country reports. Reports will be about 500 words. Conference reports should provide the readers with a good overview of the conference in question as well as some personal insights of how it impacted the author. Photos with captions must accompany the submission.

Reader’s Response Reader’s Response gives the readers a forum to respond to articles published in previous issues or respond to a critical issue in the region. Responses should focus on the content of an article and provide reasoned feedback. Responses should be between 500-2000 words.

Lesson Ideas Do you have a great lesson idea or an activity that others should know about? Lesson Ideas offers teachers the opportunity to share their activities in context. Submissions should be between 500-2000 words and detail the activity as well as provide a context for usage. Lesson ideas can be a one-off lesson or a series of lessons.

Photographs and other images In order to avoid poor quality images, please submit the largest size and best resolution images you have. This should be at least 300 dpi and saved as a tiff, eps, or jpeg (in order of preference). Headshots and brief bios including the author's current professional affiliation must accompany all submissions.

Send your submissions to: Melanie Gobert & Tandy Bailey TESOL Arabia Perspectives Editors perspectives@tesolarabia.org

TESOL Arabia Perspectives is published three times a year: November, January and June

Deadline for next issues: April 15, 2013 and September 15, 2013 Volume 20

No. 1

January 2013

TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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C o n t e n t s

Pers p e c t ives Volume 20 No. 1 January 2013

From the Editors

Message from the President

Message from the Conference Co-Chairs

Feature Articles Spelling Errors of Arab learners of EFL: A Two-Way Analysis

Abdulmoneim Mahmoud

Vocabulary Learning: An Electronic Word Card Study

Marina Dodigovic

Reza Zabihi, Azizollah Dabaghi

13 22

Rebecca Belchamber

Barraq Ali

English Explorer 2 & 4 Micheline Habib Outcomes: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced Rania Jabr PTE General Practice Tests Tamas Lorincz The BIG Picture, A2 ELEMENTARY Student’s Book Amina Saif Mohammed Al Hashamia The BIG Picture, B1 PRE-INTERMEDIATE Student’s Book

37 39 41 43

The Application of Bar-On’s Model of Emotional Intelligence to the Self-perceived Communication Competence of Iranian EFL Learners

Lesson Idea Critical English Language Teaching

Educational Technology Teacher and Student Views of Technology in Saudi Arabia

Reviews

Networking 16th Annual Current Trends in English Language Testing Conference MENAWCA Conference: Creating a Culture of Writing

Christine Coombe

Ileana Hilton

TESOL Arabia News 48

Special Interest Group Reports Chapter Reports SIGs Chapter Representatives Executive Council Volume 20

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January 2013

51 54 55 56 TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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From Feature the Article Editors

Dear Readers,

Editors

Perhaps like us one of your New Year’s resolutions is to become an even more effective teacher. Keeping up to date on current discussions in the field is an excellent way to inform our practice. With that in mind, we hope you find something in this issue of Perspectives to help you fulfill your goal.

Melanie Gobert Abu Dhabi Men’s College

Our first two features focus on words; spelling them correctly and learning them. We start off with Abdulmoneim Mahmoud’s study “Spelling Errors of Arab learners of EFL: A Two-way Analysis,” in which he looks more deeply into why Arab English language learners make the spelling errors they do. Our second feature, “Vocabulary Learning: An Electronic Word Card Study” by Marina Dodigovic, asks the question, “Do students benefit more from teacherdesigned flashcard activities than they do from those they designed themselves?”You might be surprised by the answer. Our third feature, “The Application of Bar-On’s Model of Emotional Intelligence (EQ-i) to the Self-perceived Communication Competence of Iranian EFL Learners” by Reza Zabihi and Azizollah Dabaghi, looks at the relationship between EFL learners’ Emotional Intelligence and self-perceived communication competence. Our Lesson Idea, “Critical English Language Teaching” by Rebecca Belchamber, will get you thinking about your fundamental beliefs about what it means to be an English language teacher - just what the New Year calls for. In our Educational Technology article, “Teacher and Student Views of Educational Technology in Saudi Arabia,” Barraq Ali reiterates the importance of training for the uptake of new technologies to be successful. This is something teachers everywhere are clamoring for. In this issue you will also find our regular Networking, SIG, Chapter, and TESOL Arabia news sections, as well as our regular Reviews section. Julie Riddlebarger joins our team in this issue as our new TA News/Copy Editor. An excellent way to enrich your professional life this year is to review a book for Perspectives, so why not contact our Reviews Editor, Paul Dessoir at pdessoir@uaeu.ac.ae and get started? Another excellent idea is to attend the 19th TESOL Arabia International Conference & Exhibition March 14-16, 2013, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, in Dubai. Go to http://tesolarabia.org/conference for more information. Finally, we hope this New Year is full of personal and professional joy. We look forward to hearing back from you and hopefully meeting you at the Conference. Happy New Year!

Tandy Bailey Abu Dhabi Women’s College

Reviews Editor Paul Dessoir United Arab Emirates University

TA News/Copy Editor Julie Riddlebarger

Advisory Panel Christopher Morrow Daniel Mangrum Janet Olearski Kourosh Lachini Nagwa Soliman Mohammad Azaza Rania Jabr Paul James Dessoir Peter McLaren Sally Ali Hala Nur Neil McBeath Rachel Lange Lobat Asadi Ibrahim M. Shaabi Julie Riddlebarger Laura Lau Richard Lau Indrani Ibrahim Suhair Al Alami

CREDITS Layout / Artwork

Melanie Gobert

Sudeep Kumar

Tandy Bailey

Editors, Perspectives

Printing

The editors would like to remind the readers that the views expressed in this periodical are those of the individual authors.

International Printing Press Dubai, UAE

These views are not necessarily shared by the other authors in this issue or by TESOL Arabia. Responsibility for the content and opinion of articles and advertisements rests with the authors. TESOL Arabia is a non-profit organization based in the United Arab Emirates with membership from the Arabian Gulf and beyond. TESOL Arabia does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, gender, national origin, disability, religion, age, or native language. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.tesolarabia.org

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January Cover Photo Peter Waters Higher Colleges of Technology

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Message Feature Article from the President

Dear Colleagues, I hope you all had a very restful winter break and a happy beginning to 2013. The holiday break seems to have rushed by, at least for me, and I am sure you all are busy coming back up to speed at work. TESOL Arabia has a great deal on its plate these days as we head towards our March Conference. I know the Chapters and SIGs have several joint and independent events scheduled so please check the calendar on our website for dates and times. One important task we have started is a review of the governing documents of TESOL Arabia. It is important for an organization to periodically reflect and modify its governance, and we are currently in the process of doing so. A committee has been formed to formally review our Standing Rules, Bylaws, SIG and Chapter Guidelines and the descriptions of positions for the Executive Council. When these documents were authored eight years ago, TA had a different profile as an organization, and we have grown. It is time, as we approach our 20th anniversary, to look at these guidelines and revise them to reflect our organization now in 2013. It indicates to our membership and other external agencies that we are evaluating and adjusting leadership to meet the needs of the association and the community we serve. The objective is to have this work completed before the May meeting of the Executive Council. These amendments will be voted on by a general membership vote to ensure that the decisions on the changes are completely objective. The nomination process for our upcoming elections has closed and I am happy to report that there has been strong interest from the membership about stepping into leadership roles on the Executive Council. We now have confirmed candidates for the positions of Vice President (President-Elect), Member-at-Large, Publications Coordinator (Conference Proceedings), Executive Treasurer, Executive Secretary, Dubai Chapter Representative, Al Ain Chapter Representative, and Eastern Region Chapter Representative. Voting for positions with multiple candidates will run until February 28, 2013 and positions will be announced in early March. We are still looking for an acting representative to restart the Ras Al Khaimah Chapter. It is a wonderful and rewarding opportunity to get involved with TESOL Arabia. If you are interested in being considered for the post, please send a current CV and letter of interest to james.mcdonald@zu.ac.ae. Work on the upcoming conference is moving along smoothly. As I mentioned in my previous letter, please check our website regularly for updates and remember that membership will save you a considerable amount of money in the long run. Also, with limited spaces available, our pre-conference series on Mobile Learning will fill up quickly so registering early ensures a spot for you. This year we have had a record number of conference proposals submitted, 455 to be precise, and have accepted 184. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Les Kirkham and Sandra Oddy for the months of hard work they have put into this year’s conference. I would also like to thank committee members Beth Wiens, Trace Manuel, Melanie Gobert, Maria Brown, Rehab Rajab, Christine Coombe, Tandy Bailey, Konrad Cedro, Sufian Abu Rmaileh, Racquel Warner, and Paul Sirban for all of their efforts on this year’s event. Many of these committee members have been responsible for making our conferences a success for years. Their generous volunteerism has paved the way for TESOL Arabia to become the meaningful and effective organization it is today and we are grateful for that. This is my last letter as president of TESOL Arabia, so in closing I would like to thank you all for the opportunity and privilege to serve the organization. I have learned so much about the governance of the affiliate and the challenges of leading a very unique group of dedicated professionals. I have been very lucky to have a supportive, hard-working team on the Executive Council, in the Chapters and SIGs, and I would like to thank them and their committees for making it such a productive and seamless year. I know I am leaving you in good hands with the in-coming president Rehab Rajab. She has been instrumental in many of the positive changes that have occurred this year and I know that under her guidance and leadership the best is yet to come. I wish her the best of luck. See you all in March! Warm regards,

James McDonald President TESOL Arabia

Volume 20

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January 2013

TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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19th TESOL Arabia International Conference & Exhibition 2013 Thursday, March 14 to Saturday, March 16, 2013 Pre-Conference Professional Development Courses on Wednesday, March 13, 2013 Hyatt Regency Hotel, Deira Corniche, Dubai

From KG to College to Career Look for details at http://tesolarabia.org/conference

Presentations, Workshops, an Exhibition, a Job Fair, Demonstrations, Poster Presentations, and much, much more

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Message the Conference Co-Chairs Featurefrom Article

The 19th TESOL Arabia International Conference and Exhibition from March 14-16, 2013 promises to be an exciting and memorable event. This year it is being held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the Deira Corniche, at the mouth of Dubai Creek. We have a strong international line-up of guest speakers and a large pool of break-out sessions from which to choose. This year the theme is “From KG to College to Career,” so teachers of English to all age groups will find a lot of value in the event. This applies not only to English teachers but also to teachers of other subjects who teach in English to students whose first language is not English. Special guest speakers for the plenary presentations are Carolyn Graham, Luke Prodromou, Jack Richards, and Barbara Sinclair. Featured speakers this year are David Gibson, Kurt Kohn, Linda Price, Pauline Rea-Dickins and Ken Wilson. Our invited speakers are Andrew Blackmore and Troy Priest. The range of special courses this year also promises to be more “special” than ever. The day-long preconference on March 13 address issues of prime importance to the region.The pre-conference course, Mobile Learning for the 21st Century Classroom, will be led by Linda Price from the Open University in the UK, in collaboration with Andrew Blackmore and Troy Priest from Zayed University, UAE. This course will explore the potential of mobile technologies in supporting student learning, and as a participant you will have the chance to consider how such technologies may best be utilized in your own teaching and assessment contexts. Also, the Certificate Course that will be held during the main conference from March 14-16, Masterclass in ELT, has a stellar array of presenters drawn from our list of guest Plenary and Featured speakers. In order to allow participants full access to the main conference, these sessions will be held outside normal conference hours. You will have the chance to attend the Showcase Strand which gives companies and institutions an opportunity to showcase their latest products and services. You will find all the regular features too, the 20x20 by PechaKucha event, discussion sessions, a large Exhibition featuring major companies and institutions in the region, and a Job Fair for Volume 20

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those conference attendees seeking employment opportunities. Altogether, there are over 200 sessions covering the full range of ELT topics. Information on all of these can be found on our conference webpage at http://tesolarabia.org/conference. This is the highlight of the English Language Teaching year in the region, and one of the most significant ELT conferences in the world, so we very much hope that we will all see a great many friends, old and new. Find out about the latest ideas in the profession and keep in touch with friends and acquaintances. So, do come and support the conference and all our sponsors, who have done us proud by generously supporting TESOL Arabia for the coming year! Les Kirkham & Sandra Oddy Co-Chairs i

Further information? Contact the Conference Chairs at TACON2013@tesolarabia.org

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Feature Article

Spelling Errors of Arab Learners of EFL: A Two-Way Analysis This study is intended to constitute a departure from the traditional single-minded classification of spelling errors according to surface manifestations: addition, omission, substitution, transposition. This traditional classification is too broad and general to allow for practical and realistic pedagogical recommendations to be made. Hence this study aims to provide a twoway analysis combining these four types of errors with their underlying psycho-cognitive strategies. To this end, 376 spelling errors were detected and analyzed in essays written by third-semester Arabicspeaking university students presently majoring in English. These errors were classified on the basis of the underlying interlingual and intralingual learning and communication strategies. This strategy-based analysis coupled with the traditional classification constitutes the focus of the paper. The paper concludes with some learner-centered techniques for teaching spelling.

Importance of Spelling

Spelling is a language skill whereby sounds (phonemes) are represented by letters (graphemes) which constitute the smallest building blocks of written language. The structure and texture of written language begins with spelling. Most researchers, past and present, highlight the importance of spelling in writing. Al-Hassan (2006), Smedley (1983), and Cronnell (1979), for example, stress the fact that good spelling is key to efficient written communication. According to Malatesha, Treiman, Carreker and Moats (2008-2009), “Good spelling is critical for literacy and it makes writing much easier - allowing the writer to focus on the Volume 20

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Abdulmoneim Mahmoud Sultan Qaboos University Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

ideas to be conveyed, not the letters needed to put those ideas on paper” (p.6). In addition to the linguistic problems of misspelling, they point out its negative social and psychological effects. Cronnell (1979), for instance, states that incorrect spelling is a “serious social error, making a person, at least, illiterate if not outright ignorant” (p.202). Malatesha et al. add that misspelling frustrates and embarrasses the writer. It is worth mentioning in this connection that some people might downplay the role of spelling in writing believing that an electronic spell checker can do the job. However, as Jones (2009) says, a spell checker has undeniable drawbacks and may mitigate against language learning. It cannot detect the error when the writer produces a correct word when s/he misspells the intended word (e.g., flow instead of follow, from instead of form, made instead of maid, arrest instead of a rest). Jones (2009) also points out that a spell checker may not give the correct word even if it recognizes an error. She says that when a writer writes *definantly instead of definitely, the spell checker may give defiantly. No doubt spell checkers constitute an obstacle to the learning of spelling when writers rely on them believing that they can get their mistakes detected and corrected by these devices. Being at the heart of the structure of written language, spelling is equally important for reading and enhances comprehension and vocabulary development, (Ankandh, 2011; Chiappe, Glaser, & Ferko, 2007; Fender, 2008; Torgeson, Roshotte, & Alexander 2001). Jones (2009), for instance, shows that homophones such as rain, rein, reign would be difficult to understand if TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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they were spelled the same way. A homograph such as wind (/wind/ - /waind/) can help in vocabulary learning since it is two words in one form. No doubt, sound-letter correspondence facilitates reading.

Spelling in Learning EFL

Researchers (e.g., Waller, 2002) agree that English spelling is problematic because it is not phonetic, that is, there is no sound-letter correspondence. Knowing the pronunciation of a word does not presuppose knowing its spelling (Tavosanis, 2007). Conversely, as William (2008) says, “You can never tell what sound a letter is going to make. Sometimes a letter doesn’t make any sound at all, and then you’ll find a letter that makes more than one sound” (p. 5). This is most probably one of the reasons why people tend to economize and regularize English spelling in informal writing by using (a) sound-based spelling (e.g., kwik = quick , foto = photo), (b) single letters and digits (e.g., 4u = for you, cu = see you), (c) abbreviations (e.g., AC = air-conditioner , ID = identity), or (d) English letters to write first language words (e.g., salam in Arabic “greeting”). There are, of course, some spelling rules in English (see e.g., Burton, 1984) but they are nowhere near enough to describe English spelling as regular and rule-governed. Scarcity of rules together with the lack of phoneme-grapheme correspondence make English spelling difficult to learn, especially for those whose first language enjoys a rule-governed phonetic spelling. Arabic-speaking learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), for example, face spelling problems for these two reasons. Kharma and Hajjaj (1989) attribute the spelling problems of Arab learners of EFL to the irregularity of English spelling whereas Tavosanis (2007) attributes them to the differences between the spelling systems of the two languages. Arabic-speaking learners of EFL share the intralingual problem of the irregularity of English spelling with learners from other linguistic backgrounds including, of course, native speakers of English. However, Arab learners, like other EFL learners, have their own interlingual problems caused by the differences between the spelling systems of English and the first language. Arabic spelling is phonetic and regular with very few exceptions. As Smith (1987) says, “Arabic orthography is a cursive system, running from right Volume 20

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to left. Only consonants and long vowels are written. There is no upper and lower case distinction” (p. 146). In addition to direction and capitalization, Arabic does not have hyphenation; connection of letters is rule-governed. Doubling of letters in indicated by a diacritic mark above the letter. Short vowels (/ə/ , /i/ , /u/) are pronounced but not always represented graphically. For more information about the differences between Arabic and English writing systems see, for example, Taouk and Coltheart (2004). Thus, Arab learners commit both interlingual and intralingual errors in spelling. The former are due to the differences between English and Arabic systems and the latter are due to the irregularity of English spelling. The studies that address the spelling problems of EFL learners in general and Arab learners in particular are relatively scarce. The present writer reviewed a random sample of 297 error analyses published around the world. A total of 149 were general covering all linguistic levels. Among the studies that were devoted to only one language area, the ones that deal with spelling ranked last (15 studies, 5%) after grammar (70 studies, 24%), pronunciation (20 studies, 7%) and vocabulary (18 studies, 6%). Therefore, one aim of this study is to augment spelling studies, especially those that address the problems of Arab learners of English. This study also gained impetus from the fact that the classifications of spelling errors are too broad and general to allow for practical and realistic pedagogical recommendations to be made. Classification of spelling errors as addition, omission, substitution and mis-ordering as in, for example, Al-Harrasi (2012), Cook (1999) and Emery (1997), is not enough since these categories are nothing more than surface manifestations of the underlying sources, that is, the learning and communication strategies employed by the learners. Another problem inherent in this manner of classification is that it does not account for the fact that a student may commit more than one type of spelling error in one word (e.g., *discribtion = description) or two or more students may commit different types of errors when spelling the same word, (e.g., *permition, *permision, *permmission = permission). Cook (1999) lists “sound-based” errors as a separate category with addition, omission, substitution and mis-ordering. However, sound-based spelling is a TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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strategy that can lead to one of the four surface manifestations. Emery (1997) talks only about omission, addition and mis-ordering of vowels as if learners do not omit, add or mis-order consonants. The author mentions consonants in relation to substitution only. Other researchers (e.g., Al-Jarf, 2008) confine their classification to interlingual and intralingual errors without any clarifying examples or an in-depth analysis. Tavosanis (2007, p. 100) is concerned with misspellings in web texts. Tavosanis classifies them into three main categories: (a) misspellings due to ignorance of orthography, (b) typos made for mechanical reasons, and (c) intentional mistakes. The last two categories are beyond the scope of this study because we are concerned with EFL learners’ errors in handwritten essays as we shall see later. Tavosanis lists “linguistic interference” as one of two types under the misspellings that are “due to ignorance of orthography.” The other type is “unspoken words,” a type that requires explanation with examples. It seems as if it is an intralingual error since the first type is interlingual.

Purpose of the Study and Methodology

This brief review indicates that there is a need for further studies to address the drawbacks inherent in these error classifications, so that any teaching techniques suggested could be based on sound grounds. Thus, the present study aims to provide a two-way classification of spelling errors of Arab learners of EFL: the underlying strategies together with their surface manifestations. It is also intended to present an in-depth analysis of the main sources of error (interlingual and intralingual transfer) and to propose some teaching techniques in light of these cognitive learning and communication strategies. For the purpose of this study, a total of 376 spelling errors were collected from 60 essays written by 30 Abdulmoneim Mahmoud is an associate professor with a BEd, MA and PhD degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). He teaches courses in language skills, language acquisition, TEFL methods, and translation. He is interested in classroom-oriented research in TEFL. He has published articles in refereed national, regional and international journals. He can be contacted at amahmoud@squ.edu.om.

third-semester Arabic-speaking university students majoring in English. The essays were written as part of the requirements for a post-intermediate writing course. They ranged from one and half to Volume 20

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two pages in length and were written in two-hour class sessions. The writing task was process-oriented and the students were allowed to seek each others’ assistance at all stages of the writing process. It is worth mentioning that the students were studying to be teachers of EFL. They had to be models of good English; hence the essays had to be handwritten so that they could practice handwriting and spelling among other writing skills. The students were being trained to have confidence in themselves. Therefore, they were not encouraged to rely on electronic devices in writing. The essays were photocopied before correction and the original copies were corrected and returned to the students. Two copies were made and given to two EFL writing instructors to indicate only spelling errors. The errors that were repeated by the same student or other students were counted as one error. Ambiguous misspellings such as *I have a phone beside a laptop,(spelling vs vocabulary) and performance slips such as *departmet (department) and *tress (trees) were ignored together with cases where a word was misspelled once (*housemade) then correctly spelled (housemaid) throughout the essay. The 376 errors were then listed with the sentences in which they occurred and given to two Arabicspeaking EFL instructors to indicate the ones that could possibly be interlingual (i.e., misspellings that could be due to the influence of Arabic). Out of the 376 errors, a total of 97 (26%) were judged to be interlingal. The remaining 279 (74%) were intralingual. It is axiomatic that the more proficient the learners become in EFL, the less they rely on their first language as a learning and communication strategy; hence the low percentage of interlingual errors. The irregularity of the English spelling system could also be the reason behind the large number of intralingual errors. Interlingual and intralingual transfer are the two most common cognitive strategies of learning and communication employed by second and foreign language learners. These strategies lead to errors of omission, addition, substitution and mis-ordering. In the following sections we will further scrutinize the spelling errors to see their types and how they were made and, accordingly, suggest some teaching techniques that EFL teachers may find useful in teaching this important language skill.

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Interlingual Errors

As indicated earlier, 97 (26%) of the misspellings were believed to be due to the influence of the first language (Arabic). Upon further scrutiny, three main types of interlingual errors could be discerned. The first type was made because some English phonemes (/p/, /v/, /t ∫/, /3/) do not exist in modern standard Arabic (MSA). These are often replaced by /b/, /f/, /∫/ and /d3/ in pronunciation respectively which leads to pronunciation-based substitution errors such as * cabable (capable) * shatting (chatting)

* lifes (lives) * televition (television)

Some phonemes exist in both English and MSA but not in some non-standard varieties of Arabic. The substitution error in *traffic gam (jam) is most probably due to the fact that the phoneme /d3/ is not common in Gulf Arabic. The second type of interlingual errors is related to consonant clusters. Arabic is a CVCV language; hence consonant clusters are not common. Pronunciation-based spelling leads Arab students to insert vowels when spelling English words with clusters: * belonges (belongs) * demonestirator (demonstrator) * buluetooth (Bluetooth) * multipule (multiple)

It is interesting to note that in Gulf Arabic, some tribal names are pronounced with an initial consonant cluster. This could possibly be the reason behind the omission of the vowels in *Al-Blushi (Al-Bulushi) and *Al-Hssaini (Al-Husseini). Thus, absence of clusters in MSA leads to addition of vowels while their existence in some non-standard Arabics (NSAs) leads to omission. Loan words constitute the third type of L1-based errors. Cross-linguistic borrowing is a natural phenomenon and Arabic has a large stock of words borrowed from English. Such words are usually phonetically adapted to the pronunciation system of the host language. This could account for the soundbased errors in * acadimy (academy) * badawin (Bedouin) * bas (bus) * gazal (gazelle)

The omission error in *standar (standard) and the addition and substitution errors in *secrab (scrap) Volume 20

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and *darzen (dozen) are most probably due to transfer from NSA.

Intralingual Errors

Most of the spelling errors detected in the data (279, 74%) were intralingual (L2-based). These could be classified into four main types. The first type includes sound-based misspellings induced by phonemegrapheme correspondence in Arabic as well as by the irregular nature of the English spelling system. Sound-based errors can be divided into two subcategories. The errors in the first sub-category were due to the fact that a single phoneme in English may have more than one graphic representation. The following are examples of this type. • The consonant sound /s/ could be written as “s” or “c.” * fasiltate (facilitate) * embrase (embrace)

*plase (place) *servise (service)

• The vowel sound /i/ could be “i” or “e.”

* benifit (benefit) * distory (destroy)

*benefecial (beneficial) *stratigic (strategic)

• The diphthong /ai/ could be “i,” “ai,” or “ay.” * bay (buy) * lay (lie) * faine (fine) * haired (hired)

The second sub-category of sound-based intralingual errors includes cases of omission resulting from redundancy reduction strategies as in the following examples: * mised (missed) * imagin (imagine) * safty (safety) * que (queue)

This category also includes cases of substitution, addition or omission based on correct pronunciation of some words and incorrect pronunciation of some others. Examples of the errors based on correct pronunciation: * oppertunity (opportunity) * experiance (experience) * intresting (interesting) * clozed (closed)

Examples of errors based on incorrect pronunciation of words: * moderen (modern) * semister (semester) * interresting (interesting) * james (games)

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The second main type of intralingual errors includes misspellings based on a homophonous word or part of a word or based on another form of the same word. The following examples are in order in this respect. • Based on a homophonous word: * waist (waste) * through (threw) * there (their) * forth (fourth)

• Based on a part of a word: * tought (taught) (based on e.g., thought) * untill (until) (based on till)

• Based on a homophonous suffix:

* finantial (financial) * expretion (expression) * benefitial (beneficial) * permition (permission)

• Based on another form of the word:

* comitt (commit) (based on committed, committing) * arguement (argument) (based on argue)

•

Based on separate words: * miss use (misuse) * no thing (nothing) * there fore (therefore) * can not (cannot)

The third main category of intralingual errors is concerned with ignorance of spelling rules or their over-generalization. Examples of ignorance of rules include: * applyed (applied) * stoping (stopping)

* applyes (applies) * especialy (especially)

These examples show that the students were not aware of the rule of (a) changing the “y” to “i,” (b) doubling the final consonant, and (c) “i” before “e” except after “c,” or when sounded as “a” in “neighbor” and “weigh.” The errors of overgeneralization were related to pluralization; the plural suffix was incorrectly used with some nouns. * photoes (photos) * monthes (months) * museumes (museums) * Omanies (Omanis)

The fourth and last category of L2-based errors includes anomalous misspellings where plausible strategy-based explanations were not possible. EFL learners may add, omit, replace or mis-order letters for reasons that elude the error analyst. Such Volume 20

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misspellings could be due to performance problems. The following are examples of such errors. * payement (payment) * instituetion (institution) * dielects (dialects) * waitting (waiting) * convienced (convinced) * dangerouse (dangerous)

As indicated earlier, there are compound errors where a student commits more than one error in the same word for one or more of the reasons (strategies or sources) listed above. The following are some words containing compound errors. * gramer (grammar) (omission of “m” due to sound-based spelling) (substitution of “a” due to over generalization of the suffix “-er”) * defer (differ) (substitution of “i” and omission of “f ” both due to sound-based spelling) * tempreture (temperature) (omission of “e” and substitution of “a” because of sound-based spelling) * despensible (dispensable) (sound-based substitution of “I”) (substitution of the suffix “–able” due to over-generalization) A category that can be added to the two major categories of interlingual and intralingual errors is that of induced errors. EFL learners may misspell some words due to exposure to faulty language. In the data collected for the purpose of the present study, two words, “welcome” and “restaurant,” were incorrectly spelled more than once by more than one student as *wellcome and *resturant respectively. Upon consultation, these students said that they had seen the words spelled that way in some advertisements and television commercials, on the doors of some shops, restaurants and offices and in some locally designed EFL booklets sold in some bookshops. Such errors can also be attributed to interlingual and/or intralingual transfer whether they were made by the learners or by the original writers.

Pedagogical Implications

Cronnell (1979, p. 206) says that there is no need to teach EFL learners the whole spelling system of the language. “For them, diagnostic testing may be most useful.” In line with Cronnell’s belief, detection and TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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analysis of spelling errors may help EFL teachers achieve a learner-centered approach to the teaching of spelling. Many researchers (e.g., Al-Mezeini, 2010; Jones, 2009; Malatesha et al., 2008-2009) conclude their studies with some general comments about the importance of teaching spelling. Some others (e.g., El-Hibir & Altaha, 1993) present an unnecessarily long list of suggestions that are not substantiated by a systematic and in-depth analysis of the psychocognitive compensatory strategies underlying the errors. Such general comments and teachercentered lists of suggestions are usually based on an enumeration of the surface manifestations (addition, omission, substitution, mis-ordering), not on the learning and communication strategies that students employ when they commit errors. Accordingly, it was one of the aims of this study to present a detailed strategy-based two-way analysis of the spelling errors as a basis that underpins the techniques of teaching spelling. Needless to say, exposure to the written language is essential for mastering spelling. Equally important is controlled, guided and free handwritten production. The use of electronic devices in writing may mitigate against learning spelling and therefore should be discouraged as explained earlier, especially if the learners are going to be EFL teachers. Spelling instruction is important also to offset the detrimental effect of the bizarre writing system to which EFL learners are exposed through on-line messages and chat rooms where a whole word is reduced to only one letter or digit or a mixture of both. Spelling needs to be taught and practiced not only as a separate classroom activity but also as part and parcel of reading, writing, pronunciation and vocabulary instruction. Ignorance, that is, incomplete learning, is at the root of all of the problems that a language learner faces at any linguistic level. In order to solve these problems, the learner resorts to various compensatory learning and communication strategies. Spelling problems are no exception. The most commonly used cognitive strategies are interlingual and intralingual transfer as we saw in analysis of the data. With a view to achieving learner-centeredness, teachers need to take these strategies into account. Teaching techniques can be informed by the learning and communication strategies that the students use when learning and practicing spelling. Since students commit interlingual errors, reference to the first language could be an effective technique when teaching Volume 20

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cognitively mature EFL students. Students need to be made aware of the interlingual transfer strategy as a possible source of some of their errors. They can be presented with brief and simple contrastive comparisons when teaching problematic phonemes with their corresponding graphemes, consonant clusters and loan words. Similarly, the learners’ use of the intralingual transfer strategy necessitates reference to homophonous words (e.g., whether-weather), suffixes (e.g., –tion –sion, -ance -ence) and parts of words (e.g., conscious – precious). It also calls for awareness of the other forms of a word (e.g., commit – committed – committing, affect – effect). Sound-based misspelling requires reference to the various graphic representations of a single phoneme (e.g., /∫/: s, ss, sh, ch). In addition, students need to be taught some common spelling rules together with their exceptions. Highlighting spelling-pronunciation differences is of paramount importance in teaching English, the spelling of which is not phonetic. Teachers of similar groups of EFL learners may find the analysis presented in this study helpful and the proposed teaching techniques effective. However, more strategy-based analyses of spelling errors are needed so that teaching techniques become more learner-centered and hence more effective. Learner-centered teaching techniques are those that are based on the students’ interlingual and intralingual learning and communication strategies.

References

Al-Harrasi, K. (2012). The most common spelling errors among Omani learners. Arab World English Journal, 3 (2), 96-116. Al-Hassan, S. (2006). An alternative approach to teaching of spelling in Grade 5. In S. Borg (Ed.), Classroom Research in English Language Teaching in Oman (pp. 81-87). Muscat, Oman: Oriental Press. Al-Jarf, R. (2008). Sources of spelling errors in EFL Arab college students. Retrieved from http://repository.ksu.edu.sa/jspui/ bitstream/123456789/7716/1/Listeningspelling%20strategies%20in%20EFL%20Arab%20 college%20students.pdf Al-Mezeini, H. (2010). Does teaching spelling rules make a difference? Retrieved from http:// www.moe.gov.om/Portal/sitebuilder/Sites/ EPS/Arabic/IPS/Importa/tesol/3/Does%20 teaching%20spelling%20rules%20make%20a%20 difference_.pdf TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Ankandh, K. (2011). Action research in English spelling. Retrieved from http://ankandhk. hubpages.com/hub/English-spelling Burton, S. (1984). Spelling. Harlow, UK: Longman. Chiappe, P., Glaser, B., & Ferko, D. (2007). Speech perception, vocabulary and the development of reading skills in English among Korean-andEnglish-speaking children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 154-166. Cook,V. (1999). Teaching spelling. Retrieved from http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/ Writings/Papers/TeachingSpelling.htm Cronnell, B. (1979). Spelling English as a second language (202-214.). In M. Celce-Murcia and L. McIntosh (eds.), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (pp. 202-214). Rowley, MA: Newbury House. El-Hibir, B., & Altaha, F. (1993). Tips for dealing with spelling errors. English Teaching Forum, 31(1), 4142. Emery, H. (1997). Four types of misspelled words. In S. Troudi & C. Coombe (eds.), Tradition and Innovation:TESOL Arabia Conference Proceedings (pp. 96-114). Al Ain, UAE: TESOL Arabia. Fender, M. (2008). Spelling knowledge and reading development. Reading in a Foreign Language, 20(1), 19-42. Retrieved from http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ rfl/April2008/fender/fender.pdf Jones, S. (2009). The importance of spelling. Retrieved from http:// www.spellingcity.com/importanceof-spelling.html Kharma, N., & Hajjaj, A. (1989). Errors among Arabic speakers: Analysis and remedy. Harlow, UK: Longman. Malatesha, J., Treiman, R., Carreker, S., & Moats, L. (2008-2009, Winter). How words cast their spell. American Educator, 6-16. Retrieved from http://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/ winter0809/joshi.pdf Smedley, D. (1983). Teaching the basic skills: Spelling, punctuation and grammar in secondary English. London, UK: Methuen. Smith, B. (1987). Arabic speakers. In M. Swan & B. Smith (Eds.), Learner English: A teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guide to interference and other problems (pp.142-157). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Taouk, M., & Coltheart, M. (2004). The cognitive processes involved in learning to read in Arabic. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 17, 27-57. Volume 20

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Tavosanis, M. (2007). A causal classification of orthography errors in web texts. Retrieved from http://research.ihost.com/and2007/cd/ Proceedings_files/p99.pdf Torgeson, J., Roshotte, C., & Alexander, A. (2001). Principles of fluency instruction. In M.Wolf (ed.), Dyslexia, fluency and the brain (pp. 9-14). Timonium, MD:York Press. Waller, S. (2002). The spelling dilemma. English Teaching Professional, 24, 13-15. William, E. (2008). The challenge of spelling in English. English Teaching Forum, 46 (3), 2-11. i

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Vocabulary Learning: An Electronic Word Card Study Learning useful vocabulary in English as a Second Language is essential to improving language skills. This article describes a technology-supported deliberate vocabulary learning study, involving students enrolled in various university preparation programs in Qatar. Study design is based on the comparison of two technology supported flashcard activities: one in which students learn vocabulary using teacher-designed electronic cards and one where they are asked to design their own cards. In addition, a third activity excluding cards serves as a comparison procedure. In this study, which uses a within-sample design, the students’ vocabulary was pre-tested at the beginning of the academic year. Having identified the most useful vocabulary for this group of learners, both the instructor and the students designed interactive flashcards, using an online tool called WordChamp. The learning outcomes were tested for three separate procedures: a) learning vocabulary without cards, b) learning vocabulary with teacher-designed cards and c) learning vocabulary with self-designed cards. At the end of the semester, the vocabulary test was administered again, establishing not only a statistically significant improvement in target vocabulary learning, but a significant difference in the effectiveness of the three approaches. While both the comparison procedure and learning with teacherdesigned cards were similarly effective, learning with self-designed cards was less effective at a statistically significant level.

Introduction

This study investigated the effectiveness of vocabulary learning activities designed with the online vocabulary teaching software called WordChamp (www.WordChamp.com). The research question was: Do students benefit more from Volume 20

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Marina Dodigovic Xi’an Jiaoton-Liverpool University SIP Suzhou, China

teacher-designed flashcard activities than they do from those they designed themselves? Research (Nation, 1990, 2001, 2006; Schmitt, 2010) has suggested that decontextualised and deliberate vocabulary learning strategies facilitate vocabulary growth. According to Nation (1990, 2006), flashcards play a major role in such vocabulary learning. Flashcards traditionally involve paper or cardboard cards with text, image, or numbers on one or both sides (Folse, 2006; Schmitt, 2008). They are held up for a brief period of time to help the learner memorize a word or concept. It has been generally assumed that students would create their own flashcards. However, the depth of processing needed to create one’s own cards is not as conducive to retention as is the “number of word retrievals required” (Folse, 2006, p. 273). This raises the question whether more effective learning could be achieved simply by repeatedly using vocabulary flashcards that have not been designed by the learners themselves.

Literature review

Research has suggested that to understand a text in English, the reader needs to understand a high percentage of its vocabulary (Hirsh & Nation, 1992; Laufer, 1992). According to Waring and Nation (1997), there are vocabulary learning strategies that can greatly expedite the learning of English as a second language. They are based on the assumption that at least 95%-98% of a text’s vocabulary needs to be understood in order for comprehension to take place (Hirsh & Nation, 1992; Laufer, 1992. If vocabulary learning is not properly planned, the learner must understand at least 5,000 different words to be able to understand 90% of most texts (Nation, 1990). However, if vocabulary learning is TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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14 based on what is known about the usual word frequencies, then knowing only 2,570 of the most common words is enough for the learners to understand 90% of most texts. The learning strategy used in a number of studies by Nation (2006; 2009) relies on flashcards. However, more recently, online resources affording the creation of electronic cards have become available. WordChamp, Quizlet, and Hot Potatoes, to name just a few, have this capacity to varying extents. The study described here has been conducted using WordChamp. Apart from Nakata (2008), Christensen, Merril, and Yanchar (2007), Chen, Hsie, and Kinshuk (2008), all of whom have found electronic flashcards effective, not many other studies on the subject seem to be available. This gap, as pointed out by Godwin-Jones (2010), creates a niche to be filled with new research, which would include “independent language study using different combinations of tools…analyzing longer-term [vocabulary] retention” (p. 11). The present study addresses this need.

Methodology Participants and Study Design

In this study, the sample was a non-randomized sample, as scheduling restrictions on both participants and researchers were considerable. One hundred and two 17-19 year old students, 53 female and 49 male, in pre-university foundation programs in Qatar whose schedules allowed for this, chose to participate as respondents. All were native speakers of Gulf Arabic, with Paper Based TOEFL (PBT) scores ranging roughly from 350 to 450. In order to meet Cohen’s (1988) criteria of 85-105 participants per group, required for the desired statistical power of 0.90-0.95 and the significance level of p<0.5, a minimum of 170 participants were needed, but only 102 were available. Since this number was not large enough to allow for the inclusion of a treatment and a comparison group, without risking a decrease in the statistical power of the tests to be subsequently performed with the data, a within-sample or repeated measures design was chosen in which the same participants, rather than two different groups, are exposed to different treatments (Al-Seghayer, 2001; Felix, 2008). An advantage of this design is deemed to be increased reliability, since each participant acts as his or her own control “by taking part in each of the conditions” (Felix, 2008, p. 149). This leads to the Volume 20

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exclusion of some of the confounding variables which often render between subjects designs with small groups unreliable. Participants were exposed to two different types of word card based treatment (teacher-designed and self-designed electronic word cards). In addition, a third activity characterized by the absence of word card based treatment was introduced to serve as a comparison procedure, in order to rule out possible confounding variables (McDonough & McDonough, 1997). The word card activities in the two card based procedures were practiced at intervals recommended by Nation (2006), that is, taking longer breaks between the repetition of the activity. For example, a student would first review the cards 5 minutes after the initial exposure to the same cards, the second time half an hour later, the third time within an interval of 3 hours, and so forth, taking ever longer breaks until the end of the study period. In this case, the study period was one week. This procedure is based on the phenomenon of spaced learning, which requires gradual increase of the interval between recalls and is deemed to be more effective than massed learning, that is, frequent repetition within a shorter time interval (Nakata, 2008; Nation, 2006). Activity logs created by WordChamp provided a complete record of each review session for each participant, a segment of which can be seen in Figure 1 below. In this study, the difficulty of the word group to be studied was another potentially confounding variable. To control the effect of any interaction between the word groups to learn and the type of condition, (i.e., to avoid the coupling of the same condition with the same word sub-list for all participants), word groups were varied across the three conditions, the order of which was in turn also varied. Consequently, there were six possible permutations of condition (1, 2, 3; 1, 3, 2; 2, 1, 3; 2, 3, 1; 3, 1, 2; 3, 2, 1) and word group (e.g., X,Y, Z;Y, Z, X, etc.), leading to 36 (6 x 6) combinations (e.g., 1X, 2Y, 3Z; 3X, 2Z, 1Y, etc.), which were randomly assigned to participants, as modeled by Folse (2006). This was done to ascertain that the results were not affected either by the order of conditions or by the relative difficulty of word sub-lists. The independent variable in this study was the condition, (i.e., work with instructor designed cards, student designed cards or without word cards) while the dependent variable was the learning outcome, as TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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measured by vocabulary tests. Consequently, the activities, focusing on a subsection of the Academic Word List or AWL (Coxhead, 2000), were preceded by a vocabulary pre-test shortly before the start of the condition sequence and followed by an achievement vocabulary test a week after each activity and then a final vocabulary test two months after the completion of all of the learning and achievement testing activities, to measure the overall vocabulary gain. The outcomes of the three achievement tests were to be analyzed for statistical significance and compared.

Instruments

A combination of measurement instruments was used, including Vocabulary Levels Test or VLT (Schmitt, Schmitt, & Clapham, 2001) at the beginning and at the end of the semester and a battery of vocabulary achievement tests, used after each condition and described in more detail in the following paragraph.VLT, used to measure the initial and final vocabulary knowledge within the semester, covers not only the first 2K and AWL words, but also the vocabulary at 3K, 5K and 10K levels. The purpose of the initial VLT was to identify the area of vocabulary weakness. According to Nation (2009), a result below 80% on any subsection of the VLT indicates a deficiency at that vocabulary level. For example, if a student scores 78% on the 10K section, but achieves over 80% on sections 2K, 3K, and 5K, that student will be deemed deficient only in the 10K vocabulary range. The final VLT score was introduced to measure the overall academic vocabulary gain at the completion of the study, since the initial VLT results identified a weakness in the AWL area. To account for vocabulary learning under each condition, similar to Folse’s (2006) study, and taking on board some of Schmitt’s (2010) concerns, a modified Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) (Paribakht & Wesche, 1993) was used as an achievement measuring posttest. This test type was validated both by Paribakht and Wesche (1993) and Folse (2006). Consequently, three versions of the test were generated, each based on one of the three vocabulary sub-lists. It identified one of the following: a) recognition (0 or 1) or b) recall (0 or 1 or 2), with the highest score being 3 for each word (see Table 1 below). While the recognition level, commonly associated with the receptive skills, required supplying an English synonym or Volume 20

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15 translation, recall, or evidence of productive skill, was demonstrated by using the word in a sentence. The score for recall included a point for the correct lexical context and a point for the correct form (see Paribakht & Wesche, 1993). Table 1 Modified Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) 1. I know/ don’t know this word. It means ___________________________________ (If you know the word, underline “know” above and provide an English synonym or a translation in your native language. Otherwise, underline “don’t know”.) 2. I can use this word in a good example sentence. Provide your sentence here: ___________________________________ ___________________________________ (If you do #2, you must also provide a synonym or translation for #1.) This VKS based instrument seemed more useful than Word Associates Format (WAF), a test relying on word association, which does not lend itself to reliable interpretation (Schmitt, Ng, & Garras, 2011). Similarly, another test type known as Schmitt and Zimmermann Scale (Schmitt, 2010), was ruled out as it is a form of self-assessment, which has been found to have limited reliability (Lew, Alwis, & Schmidt, 2010).

Learning materials

The cards included semantic, phonetic, contextual, morphological, or syntactic clues about each word. While this might seem like an ambitious project for pre-university students, in reality it was feasible with the aid of online resources. For this purpose, the students were trained in the use of tools such as online dictionaries, rhyme dictionaries, and concordances, or words as they occur in multiple contexts, in order to get the impression of what the word means, how it is pronounced (i.e., what familiar word it rhymes with), and how it is used. Some examples of word descriptions including various types of semantic, syntactic or pragmatic information are shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1. Word Champ activity log tracking words, definitions, and student progress

While the AWL was identified as the target vocabulary, it was important that the target vocabulary present the same learning burden, that is, the relative difficulty of word form and function (Folse, 2006; Nation, 2006) to all of the study participants. One way of controlling this variable across the three conditions was to limit the range of grammatical categories (Folse, 2006).Verbs and adjectives were, therefore, selected as the only grammatical categories for the target vocabulary across the three conditions because they have been found to have medium difficulty, that is, not too easy or too difficult (Laufer, Elder, Hill, & Congdon, 2004). The second criterion of difficulty was that each target word was unknown to all of the study participants. For this reason, common lexical gaps (Kaur & Hegelheimer, 2005) were identified mirroring a procedure by Horst, Cobb, and Nicolae (2005), where the participants were asked to identify the unfamiliar words in several academic texts. Thirty words, comprising 15 verbs and 15 adjectives in the AWL category that were not known to any of the participants were then selected as target vocabulary for the study, since AWL was identified as the area of common weakness. The selected words were Volume 20

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subsequently divided into three sub-lists of ten words each, according to their relative difficulty, one sublist for each of the conditions (see Table 2). Table 2 The Three Groups of AWL Words Learned in the Study Word Sublist 1 Word Sublist 2 Word Sublist 3 annual conclusive temporary compatible consistent ultimate contemporary inherent occupational technical aggregate principal specific finite rigid conduct complement expand contribute overlap reject erode incline cease contrast consult eliminate acknowledge abandon incorporate

Procedure

At the beginning of the semester, the Vocabulary Levels Test and the Versant were administered within the first week of the classes. The participants scored on average much below 80% on the AWL section of the VLT, establishing that they have a learning need in respect to academic vocabulary. This was followed by the identification of the target vocabulary TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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consisting of thirty academic words, all unfamiliar to each of the participants. Students were then trained in the use of online systems they were to apply for the purpose of this study. The systems included online dictionaries, concordances, and WordChamp cards. Subsequently, the three conditions (i.e., work with instructor designed cards, student designed cards or without word cards) were introduced, as described in the previous section. In order to prevent the variables of procedure sequence and vocabulary itself from skewing the results of the study, both the order of conditions and the word groups were varied among students, with the outcome that only three students at any one time had the same combination of word group and condition, although all of the students had to study the same vocabulary and experience the same conditions, just not the same combination of these at the same time. Each student received three emails, one for each condition, explaining the exact nature of the task. In order to control the learning procedure, while designing their own cards, the students had no access to teacherdesigned cards and vice versa. Whereas using teacher-designed cards involved logging into a specific online class on WordChamp and simply following the homework link to activate the card drill exercise, designing cards from scratch was more complex. Firstly, the user had a choice of several card types, such as definition or question and answer card. Whereas the selected template could then be easily filled with content, the choice of information to include was a more difficult task. The quality of a card largely depended on what the user had decided to associate with a word. If the learner, for example, included a definition which was too vague or too broad and did not include any mnemonics, that learner may not have benefited from using such a card, once it was created. The participants were encouraged to use online monolingual learner dictionaries and concordances to locate and include useful information about a word, including its meaning, form, and possible contexts of use. However, the participants received no help in the design process from the instructor or researcher. The comparison procedure was similar to the two treatment procedures, in that the ten new words

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were first introduced within the context of a reading in which the rest of the vocabulary was mostly familiar to the students. Unlike in the card based treatment procedures, in which the students used electronic cards to study vocabulary, in the comparison procedure, the students were simply asked to look up the new vocabulary and learn it. They had no access to WordChamp resources during this activity. While they were already acquainted with electronic dictionaries and concordances, and it was recommended that they use these for learning purposes, it was left up to them to use the method of studying that worked best for each individual. For the purpose of the second condition (teacherdesigned cards), the students were asked to make spaced use of WordChamp cards produced by the teacher (see Figure 2), for a week. WordChamp logs (see Figure 1) were used to track progress and make sure that all of the students completed the exercise. They had no access to card design at this point. The third condition (self-designed cards) required the students to design their own flashcards, during which phase they had no access to teacher designed cards. Earlier on, they had a training session in which they were shown how to create cards in WordChamp, Marina Dodigovic has taught English and trained ESL teachers in Europe, Australia and Asia, including the Middle East. In addition to directing ESL and writing programs, she has conducted research in applied linguistics and second language acquisition. Her books focus on the uses of educational technology in second language learning.

followed by practice under the supervision of an instructor. Card design was followed by a week of spaced learning with the self-designed cards. The researchers used system tracking to trace the progress of the learning activity. Each of the conditions was followed by a posttest for the respective word group, within a week. Each student was tested on the word group he or she was learning under this condition. Finally, the AWL section of another VLT version was administered to measure the overall AWL gain.

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Figure 2. Drill with a teacher designed card

Results

The results consist of several data columns: 1) initial vocabulary command at the first 2K level; 2) initial command of academic words; 3) results for the comparison procedure (i.e., vocabulary learning which does not involve flashcards); 4) results for the first treatment procedure (i.e., vocabulary learning with teacher-designed cards); 5) results for the second treatment procedure (i.e., vocabulary learning with student-designed cards); and 6) final results of the academic vocabulary test. The knowledge of the first two thousand words was not post-tested, as the

curriculum, as well as the study-related material mainly covered academic words. An initial one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures indicated that the participants differed significantly in their performance on the three test conditions (columns 3, 4 & 5). Table 3 contains an ANOVA analysis summary, with the key indicator of difference. This indicator, F =13.67 (p < .0001), suggests that the learning condition effect was statistically significant. Tukeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s HSD (honestly significant difference) test was subsequently used for multiple comparisons

Table 3 ANOVA Data Summary

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It is interesting that the students achieved the lowest scores when using self-designed cards, a procedure that was the least favorite one in the action research pilot study leading to this project. This contradicts the assumption that the students would learn best from their own flashcards. Nation (2009) previously suggested that writing information down helps remember it, because the central nervous system tends to organize the information on what is written down more effectively. A great deal of organization goes into planning and developing flashcards. However, the depth of processing needed to create oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own cards may not be as directly related to retention as is the â&#x20AC;&#x153;number of word retrievals requiredâ&#x20AC;? (Folse, 2006, p. 273).

design effectiveness was examined as a factor possibly influencing the result of the posttest. For this reason, a teacher took drills with ten random student-designed card stacks, being only able to correctly answer less than two thirds, while correctly answering almost all of the cards designed by another teacher. Upon closer examination, differences could be noticed between teacher-designed and student-designed cards. While the teacher-designed cards integrated dictionary and concordance information using the lexis and notions familiar to the students, the student-designed cards, although including some semantic and grammatical information, contained hardly any contextual clues (see Figure 3). As explained at the beginning of this section, the students were taught how to use concordances, dictionaries and other tools, from which they were able to retrieve and extract such information. However, it seems that considerable practice is needed to achieve skillful use of such information. Folse (2006) points out that students tend to have problems with vocabulary in context, including collocations, use, and meaning, and therefore seem prone to making less informed use of such features in their word card designs. Moreover, the information presented in student-designed cards was less coherent, consequently making these cards a less effective learning tool. This is based on observation made through research that lowknowledge readers do not benefit from less coherent texts (Schnotz & Kurschner, 2007).

While there was no evidence of students spending less time on work with cards of their own design, the card

Overall, within the confines of this study, it seems that teachers have an advantage in terms of skills, when it

between groups of results. While there was no significant difference between the comparison procedure and teacher-designed cards (q = 0.18, p< 0.01), student-designed cards yielded significantly lower results than either the comparison procedure (q = 4.12, p< 0.01) or the teacher-designed cards (q = 4.31, p< 0.01). Overall, comparing the initial and final VLT AWL scores, a t-test established a statistically significant growth in academic vocabulary (t=9.2796, p< 0.0001) over the course of the entire study, from an average of 44.23% to 67.17%.

Discussion

Figure 3. Student created cards in design mode Volume 20

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20 comes to electronic word card design. A greater knowledge of teaching methodology as well as a better understanding of vocabulary learning processes is one possible explanation for the success of their card design. In addition, the electronic medium, due to its complexity, requires a new range of skills that may not be necessary when designing conventional flashcards. A question for further research might be what knowledge and skills are needed in order to create effective electronic word cards.

Conclusions and recommendations

The research question in this study has been: Do students benefit more from teacher-designed electronic flashcard activities than they do from those they design themselves? Although the research so far has assumed that self-designed cards are most conducive to learning, the results of this study suggest differently, at least when using electronic cards. Previous research has examined paper-based cards, designed by consulting conventional sources, such as hard-copy dictionaries or textbooks. In contrast, the electronic environment provides a wide range of online resources which cumulatively afford much more unfiltered information than conventional resources. Before, conventional resources would have been recommended by the teacher, assuring that the content meets the learning needs of students. In the electronic environment, it may be difficult for students to exclude less useful information, although they might be given clear guidelines for doing so. Furthermore, one of the limitations of the present study is its non-randomized sample, which consequently makes it difficult to generalize from the findings. Moreover, the study is limited to the context of English-medium higher education in Qatar. In conclusion, it appears from this study that students learn best when using either their own favorite strategies or teacher-designed cards. While designing one’s own cards may certainly lead to deeper processing, it is the number of word retrievals that leads to word retention (Folse, 2006). Therefore, it is the conclusion of this study that students may benefit more from teacher-designed electronic flashcards, with the caveat that it may be difficult to generalize from the findings, since the sample in this study was non-randomized. It is recommended that students be asked to work with teacher-designed cards. However, if students are expected to design their own vocabulary flashcards, they should be taught the principles of successful design. Such training should include modeling successful card designs and sufficient monitored practice with frequent feedback. In order to facilitate this Volume 20

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approach, further research in electronic card design effectiveness is needed.

References

Al-Seghayer, K. (2001). The effect of multimedia annotation modes on L2 vocabulary acquisition: A comparative study. Language Learning and Technology, 5(1), 202-232. Chen, N. S., Hsie, S. W., & Kinshuk (2008). Effects of short-term memory and content representation type on mobile language learning. Language Learning and technology, 12(3), 93-113. Christensen, E., Merril, P., & Yanchar, S. (2007). Second language vocabulary acquisition using a diglot reader or a computer-based drill and practice program. Language Learning and Technology, 20(1), 67-77. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Coxhead, A. (2000). The academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213-238. Felix, U. (2008). The unreasonable effectiveness of CALL: What have we learned in two decades of research? ReCALL, 20(2), 141-161. Folse, K. S. (2006). The effect of type of written exercise on L2 vocabulary retention. TESOL Quarterly, 40(2), 273-293. Godwin-Jones, R. A. (2010). Emerging technologies from memory spaces to spacing algorithms: Approaches to second language learning. Language Learning and Technology, 15(2), 4-11. Hirsh, D., & Nation, P. (1992). What vocabulary size is needed to read unsimplified texts for pleasure? Reading in a Foreign Language, 8(2), 689-696. Horst, M., Cobb,T., & Nicolae, I. (2005). Expanding academic vocabulary with an interactive on-line database. Language Learning and Technology, 9(2), 90-110. Kaur, J., & Hegelheimer,V. (2005). ESL students’ use of concordance in the transfer of academic word knowledge: An exploratory study. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 18(4), 287-310. Laufer, B. (1992). How much lexis is necessary for reading comprehension? In P. J. Arnaud, & H. Béjoint (Eds.). Vocabulary and applied linguistics (pp. 126-132). London: Macmillan. Laufer, B., Elder, C., Hill, K., & Congdon, P. (2004). Size and strength: Do we need both to measure vocabulary knowledge? Language Testing, 21(2), 202-226. Lew, M. D. N., Alwis, W. A. M., & Schmidt, H. G. (2010). Accuracy of students’ self assessment and their beliefs about its utility. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(2), 135-156. McDonough, J., & McDonough, S. (1997). Research methods for English language teachers. London: Arnold. TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Nakata, T. (2008). English vocabulary learning with word lists, word cards and computers: Implications for cognitive psychology research for optimal spaced learnig. ReCALL, 20(1), 3-20. Nation, I. S. P. (2009, March). How good is your vocabulary course? Vocabulary in learning, learning vocabulary in English. Paper presented at the 15th International TESOL Arabia Conference, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nation, I. S. P. (2006). Language education vocabulary. In K. Brown (Ed.). Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics (2nd Ed.,Vol. 6, pp. 494499) Oxford: Elsevier. Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching & learning vocabulary. Boston: Heinle. Nation, I.S.P. & Waring, R. (1997) Vocabulary size, text coverage, and word lists. In N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy (eds.) Vocubulary: Description, acquisition, and pedagogy (pp. 6-19). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

21 Paribakht, T. S., & Wesche, M. (1993). Reading comprehension and second language development in a comprehension-based ESL program. TESL Canada Journal, 11 (1), 9-29. Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary: A vocabulary research manual. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Schmitt, N. (2008). Review article: Instructed second language vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 12(3), 329-363. Schmitt, N., Schmitt, D., & Clapham, C. (2001). Developing and exploring the behavior of two new versions of the Vocabulary Levels Test. Language Testing, 28(1), 105-126. Schmitt, N., Ng, J. W. C., & Garras, J. (2011). Word associates format:Validation evidence. Language Testing, 12(3), 329-363. Schnotz, W., & Kurschner, C. (2007). A reconsideration of cognitive load theory. Educational Psychology Review, 19(4), 469-508. i

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The Application of Bar-On’s Model of Emotional Intelligence to the Self-perceived Communication Competence of Iranian EFL Learners Introduction

Emotion and intelligence were regarded as detached areas for decades. However, in the 1970s and 1980s the borderline between emotion and intelligence began to blur and in subsequent years the first studies on the interplay of emotion and thinking were conducted (e.g., Mayer, Caruso & Salovey, 1999, 2000; Mayer & Geher, 1996; Mayer & Salovey, 1993; Mayer, Salovey & Caruso, 2002; Salovey, Bedell, Detweiler & Mayer, 2000). In what follows, we first provide readers with some of the most cited definitions of Emotional Intelligence (e.g., Bar-On, 1988; Salovey & Mayer, 1990). Next, we highlight the most well-known models of Emotional Intelligence (EI), to reveal that a large number of research instruments such as Bradberry and Greaves’s (2003) Emotional Intelligence Appraisal (EIA) and Bar-On’s (2002) Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) have been designed based on each model for the specific measurement of people’s emotional intelligence. Accordingly, granted the fact that several studies have been done on the relationship between emotional intelligence and different dimensions of language learning (e.g., Parker, Summerfeldt, Hogan, & Volume 20

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Reza Zabihi University of Isfahan Isfahan, Iran

Azizollah Dabaghi University of Isfahan Isfahan, Iran

Majeski, 2004; Pishghadam, 2009; Pishghadam & Ghonsooli, 2008), and due to the fact that, to the researchers’ best knowledge, no study has been carried out to examine the role of EI in language learners’ L2 communication competence selfperceptions, the researchers examined the role of learners’ EQ in their self-perceived communication competence.

Definitions of Emotional Intelligence

Although the term Emotional Intelligence (EI) was first proposed by Bar-On (1988; 1997) as the understanding of oneself and of others as well as adapting to and dealing with emergent conditions to be more successful in dealing with environmental demands, it was academically developed by Mayer and Salovey in 1990. Mayer and Salovey (1990) defined EI as “a type of emotional information processing that includes accurate appraisal of emotions in oneself and others, appropriate expression of emotion, and adaptive regulation of emotion in such a way as to enhance living” (p. 773). This definition was later revised by Mayer, Caruso and Salovey (2000) to include “an ability to recognize the meanings of emotions and their relationships and to reason and problem-solve on the basis of them; emotional intelligence is involved in the capacity to perceive emotions, assimilate TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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emotion-related feelings, understand the information of those emotions, and manage them” (p. 267). Finally, Goleman (1995) publicized EI in his book Emotional Intelligence:Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.

Bar-On’s Mixed Model of EI

Based on mixed models of EI, Emotional Quotient (EQ) is “a set of perceived abilities, skills, and personality traits” (Ciarrochi & Mayer, 2007, p. 3). A major impression of the mixed models is that less emphasis was placed on reasoning with emotions and using them for improving thought and more emphasis was placed on putting together a variety of positive attributes in order to expand the notion of EI (Mayer, Salovey & Caruso, 2008). Bar-On (1988), who coined the term EQ describes emotional intelligence as a combination of interconnected emotional and social skills and competencies that affect intelligent behavior (BarOn, 2002). Bar-On (1997) proposed five broad areas of mental abilities and characteristics pertaining to emotional intelligence each of which contains different subcategories such as intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies, adaptability, stress management, and general mood: 1. Intrapersonal competency, which includes emotional self-awareness, assertiveness, selfregard, self-actualization and independence; 2. Interpersonal competency, which includes interpersonal relationships, social responsibility and empathy; 3. Adaptability competency, which includes problem solving, reality testing and flexibility; 4. Stress management scales, which include stress tolerance and impulse control; 5. General mood, which includes happiness and optimism.

The Application of EI in ESL/EFL Contexts

A considerable body of research has been carried out on the manifestations of emotional intelligence in language learning. For example, Fahim and Pishghadam (2007) examined the role of EI in university students’ academic achievement. They showed how academic achievement was influenced by several EI subscales such as intrapersonal skills, stress management, and general mood competencies. The findings of their study were in line with Goleman’s (1995) conviction that individuals’ emotional intelligence is much more important than their IQ. Volume 20

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In another study, Parker, Summerfeldt, Hogan and Majeski (2004) examined the role of emotional intelligence in university students’ academic success. The results of their study revealed that total EQ scores were not good predictors of academic success in transition from high school to university. Nonetheless, when they compared highly successful achievers with highly unsuccessful ones, they found strong correlations between students’ academic success and three subscales of EI including: intrapersonal, adaptability and stress management abilities. Moreover, Pishghadam and Ghonsooli (2008) made attempts at examining the effect of emotional intelligence on learners’ academic achievement and second language learning.The results of their study showed that emotional intelligence and two of its subscales (Intrapersonal Skills and Interpersonal Skills) were significantly correlated with learners’ speaking scores. Furthermore, listening comprehension had a significant relationship with learners’ Intrapersonal Skills. In another study, Pishghadam (2009) carried out research to examine the role of emotional intelligence in second language learning in an EFL situation. He concluded that several subscales of emotional intelligence could influence second language learning. For example, intrapersonal skills, stress management and general mood were predictive of learners’ Grade Point Average (GPA). In addition, stress management, adaptability and general mood significantly predicted learners’ reading ability. Moreover, intrapersonal skills and stress management positively predicted high listening scores on the part of learners. Finally, while intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills and general mood influenced speaking scores, stress management and adaptability were good predictors of learners’ high scores on the writing skill. Given the importance of Emotional Intelligence factors in language learning, this study applied Bar-On’s EQ scale to the language learning context of Iran and investigates the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-perceived communication competence among Iranian intermediate EFL learners. With that in mind, this study investigated two research questions: (a) Is there any significant relationship between EFL learners’ Emotional Intelligence subscales and their self-perceived communication competence? and (b) What are the best predictors of Emotional Intelligence subscales in learners’ self-perceived communication competence?

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Method

A sample of 72 male and female language learners participated in this study. They were Intermediate EFL learners selected from five different private language institutes in Mashhad, a city in northeastern Iran. Next, based on the Oxford Placement Test (OPT), intermediate-level learners were selected for the study.The test contained 60 multiple choice items, and it was used to enable the researchers to determine the language proficiency of the learners. This test consisted of grammar (20 items), vocabulary (20 items), reading comprehension (20 items) together with a writing section. The allotted time for answering the questions was 45 minutes. After correcting the papers, 72 learners were selected as the intermediate group based on the OPT manual. The Bar-On EQ-i was used in the present study for the purpose of measuring learners’ EQ level. The reliability of the questionnaire was reported to be high by several researchers (e.g., Bar-On, 1997; Matthews, Zeidner, & Roberts, 2002; Newsome, Day, & Catano, 2000; Petrides & Furnham, 2000). The reliability of the questionnaire in the present study was estimated by Cronbach Alpha to be .68. The Bar-On EQ-i (Bar-On, 1997) was originally devised by Bar-On (1988) to assess his model of emotional-social intelligence. It consists of 133 items that are scored on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very seldom) to 5 (very often) and takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. It gives an overall EQ score as well as scores for five broad areas of skills or competencies. These broad skills comprise 15 sub-skills: Emotional Self-Awareness, Assertiveness, Self-Regard, Self-Actualization, Independence, Empathy, Internal Relationship, Social Responsibility, Problem Solving, Reality Test, Flexibility, Stress Tolerance, Impulse Control, Happiness and Optimism (Fahim & Pishghadam, 2007). Reza Zabihi is a PhD candidate of TEFL at the University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. He is also a member of Iran’s National Elites Foundation (INEF). His major research interests include syllabus design as well as sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic studies. He has published 25 research articles in local and international journals and is currently teaching at the University of Isfahan, Iran. He can be contacted at zabihi@hotmail.com.

The Self-perceived Communication Competence Scale (SPCC)

The Self-perceived Communication Competence scale (SPCC) was designed by McCroskey and McCroskey (1988) and later revised by Richmond Volume 20

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and McCroskey (1998) to gain information regarding the extent to which people feel confident to communicate in a variety of interactional contexts and with a variety of interlocutors. The purpose of this instrument is to let the learner express their perception of their own communication competence. The learners are expected to indicate how competent they believe they are to communicate in each of the situations described in the questionnaire such as public, meeting, group, acquaintance, friend, stranger, and so on. This measure generated a high alpha reliability estimate (.97) in the present study.

Procedures

The aforementioned instruments were administered to 72 intermediate EFL learners studying at English language institutes in Mashhad. Firstly, to explore the relationship between learners’ scores on the EQ and SPCC scales, Pearson product-moment correlation was run. Having conducted the Correlation Analysis, the researchers performed the Multiple Linear Regression Analysis to investigate the extent to which EQ subscales might have predictive power for learners’ self-perceived communication competence. Emotional intelligence data were matched with learners’ scores on the SPCC scale. Moreover, in order to find out the role of total EQ scores on SPCC scores among low-, mid-, and high-EQ learners, Levene’s test of variance homogeneity, Oneway ANOVA, and the post-hoc Scheffe test were conducted, respectively.

Results

Table 1 summarizes the descriptive results of the EQ-I and SPCC. As can be seen in the table, SPCC enjoys a high reliability (0.97). Table 1 Means and Standard Deviations of Learners’ EQ Scores and Self-perceived Communication Competence N

Min

Max

Mean

Alpha

356

562

464.7

5.37

.68

SPCC

1200

756.6

292.9

.97

To examine whether there are significant correlations between learners’ emotional intelligence and their self-perceived communication competence, Pearson product-moment correlation was applied to the data. The results revealed that the total score for proficiency was significantly and positively correlated with Emotional Self-awareness (r = 0.244, p < 0.05),

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Self Regard (r = 0.383, p < 0.01), Self Actualization (r = 0.355, p< 0.01), Empathy (r = 0.312, p< 0.01), Interpersonal Relationship (r = 0.282, p< 0.05), Social Responsibility (r = 0.277, p< 0.05), Problem Solving (r = 0.250, p< 0.05), Stress Tolerance (r = 0.359, p< 0.01), Impulse Control (r = 0.312, p< 0.01), Happiness (r = 0.275, p< 0.05), and Optimism (r = 0.399, p< 0.01) (see Table 2). Table 2 Correlations between EQ Subscales and Self-perceived Communication Competence Subscale

SPCC

Emotional Self-awareness

0.244*

Assertiveness

0.182

Self Regard

0.383**

Self Actualization

0.355**

Independence

0.114

Empathy

0.312**

Interpersonal Relationship

0.282*

Social Responsibility

0.277*

Problem Solving

0.250*

Reality Testing

0.209

Flexibility

0.223

Stress Tolerance

Table 3 Regression Analyses Predicting Self-perceived Communication Competence Predictors R SPCC Optimism

R²

Adjusted F R²

0.399 0.159 0.147

13.269 0.00 0.399

As may be seen in Table 4, optimism alone explained 15% of the total variance in learners’ self-perceived communication competence (R² = .15, p< .05). In other words, having high levels of optimism was the best predictor of high scores in self-perceived communication competence. The researchers also tried to examine whether there is any significant relationship between learners’ EQ and their selfperceived communication competence. The results found a significant relationship between learners’ EQ level and their self-perceived communication competence (r = 0.409, p< 0.01), as can be seen in Table 4. Table 4 Correlations between Learners’Total EQ Scores and their Self-perceived Communication Competence

SPCC

0.359**

Total EQ

0.409**

Impulse Control

0.312**

Happiness

0.275*

** Shows the existence of significant relationship at the level of 0.01

Optimism

0.399**

** Shows the existence of significant relationship at the level of 0.01 * Shows the existence of significant relationship at the level of 0.05 A Multiple Regression Analysis was conducted to examine to what extent the EQ subscales may predict learners’ self-perceived communication competence. Table 3 presents the results for SPCC scores being regressed on the variables of interest in this study. The results reveal which variables are important in predicting learners’ self-perceived communication competence. Volume 20

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To further analyze the data, a One-way ANOVA was conducted so that the researchers could compare the effect of emotional intelligence on self-perceived communication competence among low-, mid-, and high-EQ learners. Prior to conducting Oneway ANOVA, however, Levene’s test, which assesses variance homogeneity in different samples, was employed. As can be seen in Table 5, Levene’s test indicated equal variances (p> 0.05), hence the appropriateness of conducting a parametric test such as ANOVA. Table 5 Levene’s Test of Variance Homogeneity

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Levene Statistic

df1

df2

Sig.

1.517

.227

Table 7 The Results of Post-Hoc Scheffe Test for SPCC

The results from One-way ANOVA revealed that learners’ scores on the SPCC differed significantly across the three subgroups of EQ: F (2, 69) = 4.081, p< 0.05. In other words, the main effect of learners’ EQ on self-perceived communication competence is significant. Table 6 presents the results of One-way ANOVA for low-, mid-, and high-EQ levels and self-perceived communication competence. Table 6 The Results of One-way ANOVA for Levels of EQ and SPCC Sum of Squares

Mean df Square

Between 644503.13 2 Groups

Sig.

322251.5 4.081 .02

Within Groups

5448652.1 69 78965.9

Total

6093155.2 71

In light of the above, the researchers used a post hoc comparison of means in order to locate the differences among means. The results of the posthoc Scheffe test indicated that, at the level of 0.05, there was a significant difference between the selfperceived communication competence scores of the two low- and mid- groups. Moreover, the difference between the communication competence scores of Dr Azizollah Dabaghi has been involved in second language teaching and learning for the last fifteen years at college and university levels that included teaching English to Iranian students as well as modern Farsi to non-Iranians. He completed his doctoral studies in language learning and teaching at the University of Auckland in 2006 through a prestigious full doctoral scholarship grant awarded by the University of Auckland. Currently, he is an assistant professor of applied linguistics at the University of Isfahan, teaching second language acquisition, ESL writing, and sociolinguistics. His main research interests include corrective feedback, attention, and focus on form. He can be contacted at dabaghi@fgn.ui.ac.ir.

the high group and those of the two other groups was significant; the communication competence score of the high group was greater than those of the mid-and low groups (see Table 7). Volume 20

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Subset for alpha = .05

low

637.2222

mid

712.9167

high

Sig.

712.9167 863.4000

.661

200.

Discussion

As mentioned earlier, there is a high relationship between emotional intelligence and second/foreign language learning success. It means that those who have higher levels of EQ are more successful in language learning (e.g., Fahim & Pishghadam, 2007; Parker, Summerfeldt, Hogan, & Majeski, 2004, etc.) With that in mind, we examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-perceived communication competence among Iranian intermediate EFL learners in order that we might widen and enrich our understanding of this relationship and also shed more light on the nature of communication competence. In the present study, we used Bar-On’s (1997) mixed model of emotional intelligence as a frame of reference. Our results suggest that there is a significant relationship between eleven out of fifteen subscales of EQ and learners’ high scores on the SPCC scale (McCroskey & McCroskey, 1988; Richmond & McCroskey, 1998), which may suggest that learners with high levels of EQ are more likely to rate their own communication competence as high. Further, in order to examine whether EQ scores can predict high scores on the SPCC scale, the researchers ran a regression analysis, the results of which revealed that, out of fifteen subscales of EI, only “Optimism” explained 15% of the variances in self-perceived communication competence scores. That is to say, those learners who are more optimistic tend to perceive their communication competence to be higher than less optimistic learners. Moreover, the researchers made attempts at exploring the effect of total EQ scores on learners’ self-perceived communication competence. To this end, Levene’s test of variance homogeneity, Oneway ANOVA, and the post-hoc Scheffe test were conducted. The results of these analyses showed that there was a significant difference between the selfperceived communication competence scores of the TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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two low- and mid-EQ groups and between those of the high-EQ group and the two other groups; that is to say, the self-perceived communication competence scores of the high-EQ group was greater than those of the mid- and low-EQ groups, and the scores of the mid-EQ group was higher than those of the low-EQ group. These results thus suggest that emotional intelligence plays an important role in predicting language learners’ self-perceptions regarding their communication competence. Therefore, in the context of the English language teaching profession, our results continue to demonstrate the important role that English language teachers play in making learners aware of the importance of their emotional competencies. Considering the fact that emotional intelligence can be increased and trained (Elias et al., 1997) and that we can help low-EQ learners enhance their emotional capabilities to better discern, express, and regulate their feelings (Mayer & Geher, 1996), language policy makers are recommended to develop programs with the aim of enhancing the emotional competencies of language learners. Syllabus designers and materials developers should also seek to educate learners about the value of emotional abilities such as interpersonal relationships, optimism, independence, flexibility, and so on. Moreover, English teachers are strongly recommended to be familiar with the notion of EI and its components, trying hard to enrich their own emotional abilities as well as those of language learners. Materials developers are expected to develop strategies which focus on emotional factors, raising learners’ consciousness as to the importance of developing emotional competencies.These strategies include, among other techniques, group-work and pair-work, listening to music and watching emotional video clips through which they can express and manage their feelings, impulses, and emotions. By and large, there is hope and cause for being optimistic, as signs emerge that outlooks on language teaching may be changing. It seems that by reallocating the role of teachers from language teachers to educational language teachers (Pishghadam, Zabihi, & Kermanshahi, 2012) and through designing different life syllabi (Pishghadam & Zabihi, 2012) there is hope for future language education. For this to happen, confident professionals who are able not only to acquire complete knowledge of language teaching but also to acquire sufficient knowledge of other disciplines are required.

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However, the present study had certain limitations. First, the study only covers one country in the Middle East. Second, the research team and their respective institutions had difficulty gathering some of the information necessary to conduct a mixed methods analysis of the traits under investigation. Third, one may speculate whether the scales which have been designed and validated for native speakers of English can be used for EFL learners from a different culture. In the end, it is recommended that other researchers examine the relationship between learners’ emotional intelligence and other variables of interest such as, among other things, willingness to communicate, burnout and second/foreign language anxiety, which may, in one way or another, affect language learning success. Finding any association between these variables and learners’ emotional competencies helps us have a better understanding of the role of these emotional factors in second language learning research.

References

Bar-On, R. (2002). Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I):Technical manual. Toronto, Canada: Multi-Health Systems. Bar-On, R. (1997). Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I):Technical manual. Toronto, Canada: Multi-Health Systems. Bar-On, R. (1988). The Development of an operational concept of psychological well-being. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Rhodes University, South Africa. Bradberry, T., & Greaves, J. (2003). Emotional intelligence appraisal:Technical manual. San Diego, CA: TalentSmart, Inc. Ciarrochi, J. & Mayer, J. (Eds.). (2007). Applying emotional intelligence: A practitioner’s guide. New York: Psychology Press/Taylor & Francis. Elias, M. J., Zins, J. E., Weissberg, R. P., Frey, K. S., Greenberg, M. T., Haynes, N. M., Kessler, R., Schwab-Stone, M. E., & Shriver, T. P. (1997). Promoting social and emotional learning: Guidelines for educators. Alexandria,VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Fahim, M., & Pishghadam, R. (2007). On the role of emotional, psychometric, and verbal intelligences in the academic achievement of university students majoring in English language. Asian EFL Journal, 9(4), 240-253. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence:Why it can matter more than IQ. London: Bloomsbury. TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Matthews, G., Zeidner, M., & Roberts, R. D. (2002). Emotional intelligence: Science and myth. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., & Salovey, P. (2000). Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an intelligence. Intelligence, 27(4), 267-298. Mayer, J. D., & Geher, G. (1996). Emotional intelligence and the identification of emotion. Intelligence, 22, 89-113. Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1993). The intelligence of emotional intelligence. Intelligence, 17, 433-442. Mayer, J.D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. (1999). Competing models of emotional intelligence. In R. J. Sternburg (Ed.), Handbook of human intelligence (2nd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. Mayer, J.D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. (2002). MSCEIT userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manual. Toronto, ON: MultiHealth Systems. Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2008). Emotional intelligence: New ability or eclectic traits. American Psychologist, 63(6), 503-517. McCroskey, J. C., & McCroskey, L. L. (1988). Self-report as an approach to measuring communication competence. Communication Research Reports, 5, 108-113. Newsome, S., Day, A.L., & Catano,V.M. (2000). Assessing the predictive validity of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 1005-1016. Parker, J. D. A., Summerfeldt, L. J., Hogan, M. J., & Majeski, S. A. (2004). Emotional intelligence and academic success: Examining the transition from high school to university. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 163-172. Petrides, K.V. & Furnham, A. (2000). On the dimensional structure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 313-320. Pishghadam, R. (2009). A quantitative analysis of the relationship between emotional intelligence and foreign language learning. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 6(1), 31-41. Pishghadam, R., & Ghonsooli B. (2008). On the role of emotional intelligence in second language learning and academic achievement. Studies in Foreign Languages, 43, 41-56. Pishghadam, R., & Zabihi, R. (2012). Life syllabus: A new research agenda in English language teaching. TESOL Arabia Perspectives, 19(1), 23-27. Pishghadam, R., Zabihi, R., & Kermanshahi, P. Volume 20

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(2012). Educational language teaching: A new movement beyond reflective/critical teacher. Life Science Journal, 9(1), 892-899. Richmond,V. P., & McCroskey, J. C. (1998). Communication apprehension, avoidance and effectiveness (5th Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Salovey, P., Bedell, B., Detweiler, J., & Mayer, J. D. (2000). Current directions in emotional intelligence research. In M. Lewis & J.M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd Ed., pp. 504-520). New York: Guilford Press. Salovey, P. & Mayer, J.D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9, 185-211. i

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Critical English Language Teaching Rebecca Belchamber South Australian College of English Adelaide, Australia As an English language teacher, do you consider your subject as a body of facts to be conveyed to learners? Or do you encourage students to examine and question the presented texts rather than just accept them as vehicles for the language point or skills development? These two possible approaches represent English Language Teaching (ELT) and Critical ELT, respectively. Uncritical ELT involves the teacher as technician, and the maintenance of the status quo, according to Hall (2000). In contrast, Akbari (2008) defines critical pedagogy (CP) in ELT as â&#x20AC;&#x153;an attitude to language teaching which relates the classroom context to the wider social context and aims at social transformation through educationâ&#x20AC;? (p.276).

What Constitutes Critical ELT?

Consider some issue-based topics in coursebooks: deforestation, nuclear accidents, addictions, or changing gender roles (househusbands). Does this constitute Critical ELT? Pennycook (1999) argues that a critical approach demands more than opening up an issue for discussion. Students need to have the strategies and skills to question a text, to deconstruct it and investigate both the surface content and implied meaning. It is not the definition of Critical ELT that I want to examine here, or the degree to which it should be implemented to qualify as deserving of the label. It may well be a case that there are strong and weak versions of Critical ELT and that they are practised as such in different classrooms. It is the relevance of Critical ELT that will be addressed, whether teachers should be embracing it, and to what extent. Volume 20

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Before trying to answer this question, it is important to consider other aspects of ELT, culture and content. Akbari (2008) highlights the unavoidable connection between these two elements, coming together as they do in language teaching coursebooks.

The Role of Coursebooks

The content or subject matter of coursebooks is where controversy sometimes arises. Gray (2010) lists the topics that materials writers are advised to avoid, many of which could be considered inappropriate in the Middle East context; these are summarized by the acronym parsnip and include politics, alcohol, religion, sex, narcotics, isms (such as communism), and pork. In General English classes, this group of topics may exist as background to themes in a coursebook. In academic preparation classes, sexual references may be involved in an argumentative essay on fertility issues or abortion. An essay on addiction might refer to narcotics or alcohol. Faced with such content, learners might be distracted or feel uncomfortable. Krashen (1982) suggests that high anxiety can inhibit second language acquisition, anxiety being one of several affective variables that can act as a filter for the potential uptake of language. With this the case, teachers aim to reduce any anxiety by making the classroom experience positive in terms of materials, class activities and topics covered. This is where the tension between English Language Teaching and Critical ELT becomes evident.

The Current Debate

An initial examination of Critical ELT seems to prompt debate on several levels. Firstly, Thornbury TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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(2012), in his Blog excerpt, “C is for Critical Pedagogy,” plays devil’s advocate by raising the argument that the language teacher’s job is to teach language, rather than content. If one is persuaded otherwise, then language teachers should at least be confident that they are provided with a syllabus containing all the necessary elements to achieve that goal. This leads us to a second area of criticism. As Hall (2000) indicates, there are problems or dilemmas surrounding critical approaches to ELT, one being that there is a reluctance to provide solutions. This is later qualified: “Critical pedagogy cannot prescribe solutions; it can only present theoretical positions from which individual teachers and learners can develop their own agendas and strategies in their search for understanding and empowerment” (p.12). How can this be achieved when the contexts for ELT, with an increasingly global application, are so varied and dissimilar?

The Application of Critical ELT

This leads us to an essential focus in applying critical pedagogy, which is responding at a local level (Akbari, 2008). For Akbari, some of the elements of critical pedagogy are culture, communication and change. Culture is intrinsic to CP because learners want to discuss their own cultural values and practices. With English an international resource, it frequently becomes a medium for communication globally; if learners are discussing their own culture, they can suggest or enact change at a personal or social level. Thus the elements of CP are interconnected, as indicated in Figure 1. communication

culture

change

Figure 1. The elements of critical pedagogy

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The suggestion is also made to allow the learner’s L1 in the classroom, and introduce first culture content, to validate the learners’ background and prevent any feelings of inferiority if learners think their origins are being dismissed (Akbari, 2008). This certainly makes sense. However, I return to my earlier question: What is the relevance of Critical ELT? Should it be a feature of all English language classrooms? If applied in all classroom settings, Critical ELT may be met with resistance. It needs to be implemented sensitively, and according to local, or individual, receptivity. Following are some ideas that can serve as guidelines for teachers thinking about implementing Critical ELT. Consider the student’s cultural background and the exposure to issue-based topics they might have encountered so far. Barnawi (2011) makes the point that there are many cultures where social values, such as group harmony and teacher authority, are highly regarded. This may make it uncomfortable for the students to raise alternative views, as is required by Critical ELT. The skills for disagreeing and contesting ideas need to be introduced and developed before the learners can be expected to use them more independently. Likewise, the students may not have the vocabulary to discuss certain topics. Again, support and skills development for the learner are essential. An approach I have used here is to begin with a set of pictures and have students work with a partner to form questions related to the picture content. Then they label the issue. The next stage is to form issue-based questions. This can be followed by pairs asking others their questions (they are not going to be exactly the same). The second time the activity is done with the class, Student A and Student B use different pictures, thus providing an information gap in terms of topic focus. (See Appendix 1 for an example of a worksheet for this activity.) If you decide to apply Critical ELT, consider the materials. When faced with bland coursebooks, remember they are not the only source of texts. Consider using authentic materials, which many teaching centers encourage. Even if there is not a resource bank, you can start building your own, beginning with the Internet. TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Another aspect to be aware of is the brief or remit of the language teacher, which is tied to the curriculum focus of the course. It may be just to teach language, as mentioned above. It may be an Academic English preparation course for an educational setting where the development of critical thinking skills is vital. However, what if the student is in an exam preparation class and wants to focus on elements pertaining to a particular exam format? Each of these contexts will influence the relevance of applying Critical ELT in the classroom.

Student and Teacher Responses

Students will respond pragmatically to the expectations of the teacher, with respect to developing both critical thinking and discourse features. Tran (2011) investigated the academic writing practices of international students at Australian universities and noted three modes of adaptation. Surface adaptation involves face value changes where a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new way of writing is not always what they believe in and feel positive about. In committed adaptation, students adopt a new writing approach which they consider to be superior. The third approach is hybrid adaptation in which the students demonstrate a critical and creative connection with the requirements of their discipline and consider their first language and culture as an asset to draw on. Considering the diverse categories of adaptation to academic writing, teachers in the ELT field need to respond to learners as a heterogenous group. For some cultures, certain words are considered taboo (such as condom, kissing, homosexual and heterosexual) and Jordanian students have refused to use them in class, according to Khuwaileh (2000), who reports discomfort caused by some teaching materials. Students enrolled in English for Science and Technology in Jordan, particularly females, refused to write on certain topics. These areas included AIDS, sexual diseases and contraception, despite the lesson focus being on topical issues. The cultural barriers that exist can negatively influence English language learning opportunities for students. One respondent was so definite in her refusal to use certain words, stating that her integrity was worth more than the qualification involved. This was a reaction in the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; home country.

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For those who make the choice to study abroad, there are adjustments required in some cases. In a liberal setting, citizens are exposed to a broad range of topics, but it is not always appropriate to discuss abortion or sex trafficking in mixed classes of international students. Even when it is important for learners to develop critical thinking, teachers can negotiate the range of topics introduced. At the other end of the topic spectrum, I have had a student investigate arguments around red light districts as a focus of Taiwanese tourism, but that was her/his choice and s/he was quite comfortable with her/his nominated topic. If we let students select their own topics for essays, it is more democratic, though there might need to be some filtering of content if oral presentations are involved. So, in addition to focusing on culture, communication and change, CP involves choice, as shown in Figure 2. communication

culture

change

choice

Figure 2. The elements of critical pedagogy with the addition of choice

From Linguistic Competence to Critical ELT

The four elements in Figure 2 represent the growing complexity in what it means to know a language. It was once enough to demonstrate linguistic competence, seen as a mastery of the grammatical rules; the advent of the communicative approach to TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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language teaching demanded more components be addressed. Canale and Swainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (1980) model provided a foundation for the concept and showed the areas to be considered beyond that of vocabulary and grammatical structures. Their components are: grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence. These can be represented in a hierarchy of ELT elements, moving from linguistic competence to critical ELT, as shown in Figure 3.

critical cultural awareness involves an evaluation, based on criteria, of perspectives, practices and products in both oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first culture and those one encounters. This entails developing critical thinking skills related to cultures. Critical pedagogy dealing with content beyond that of cultural themes further develops the skills necessary in academic or tertiary preparation courses, requiring students to analyse and evaluate Rebecca Belchamber has been teaching English since 1994. Currently, she teaches in the ELICOS programme at the South Australian College of English. Her particular interests are EAP, curriculum design, socio-cultural linguistics and teacher training.

Critical ELT

Intercultural competence Communicative competence: sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence

a range of topics. At this stage, communication and culture intersect with both degrees of choice and an ability to engage in transformation, either at an individual or community level. Considering the elements of critical ELT, teachers need to be encouraging and sensitive regarding skills development.

References Linguistic competence - control of vocabulary and grammatical structures

Figure 3. A taxonomy of ELT elements

The distinct layers are steps in a range of competencies. In reality the demarcations are not as clear cut. For example, communicative competence, with a focus on speech acts and language functions, leading to role plays, may have initially been developed with the intention of the learner engaging with a speaker from the target culture. However, with contemporary global mobility (through travel or the Internet), the interaction is just as likely to be between two speakers of English as a lingua franca or as an international language. Thus communicative and intercultural competence have a similar end, which is a comprehensible exchange between two or more speakers. There is also an overlap between intercultural competence and critical ELT. Considering Byramâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (2000) components of intercultural competence, Volume 20

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Akbari, R. (2008). Transforming lives: Introducing critical pedagogy into ELT classrooms. ELT Journal, 62(3), 276-283. Barnawi, O. Z. (2011). Finding a place for critical thinking and self-voice in college English as a foreign language writing classrooms. English Language Teaching, 4(2), 190-197. Byram, M. (2000). Assessing intercultural competence in language teaching. Sprogforum, 18(6), 8-13. Retrieved from http://inet.dpb.dpu. dk/infodok/sprogforum/Espr18/byram.html Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 1-47. Gray, J. (2010). The construction of English: Culture, consumerism and promotion in the ELT global coursebook. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan Hall, G. (2000). Local approaches to critical pedagogy: An investigation into the dilemmas raised by critical approaches to ELT. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. Retrieved from http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/groups/crile/ docs/crile48hall.pdf TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Khuwaileh, A. A. (2000). Cultural barriers of language teaching: A case study of classroom cultural obstacles. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 13(3), 281-290. Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition, First internet edition, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.sdkrashen.com/ Principles_and_Practice/index.html Pennycook, A. (1999). Introduction: critical approaches to TESOL, TESOL Quarterly, 33(3), 329-348. Thornbury, S. (2012, June 3). C is for critical pedagogy [Web log post]. Retrieved from http:// scottthornbury.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/c-isfor-critical-pedagogy/ Tran, L. T. (2011). Committed, face-value, hybrid or mutual adaptation? The experiences of international students in Australian higher education. Educational Review, 63(1), 79-94.

1. Write 2 questions about what can be seen in the picture. u u 2. What word or phrase can be used to summarise the issue? 3. Write 2 questions about the issue arising from the picture. u u

SPEAKING TASK for Student B

Appendix 1 SPEAKING TASK for Student A

Image from Cactus Thorns http://www.vote29.com

Image from http://chat-with-pushpee.blogspot.com.au/

1. Write 2 questions about what can be seen in the pictures. u u 2. What word or phrase can be used to summarise the issue? 3. Write 2 questions about the issue arising from the picture. Image from http://www.australianblogs.com.au/ blog/costs-of-graffiti-in-australia/

u u

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Educational Feature Technology Article

Teacher and Student Views of Educational Technology in Saudi Arabia

Barraq Ali Second Year EdD Student Exeter University Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The aim of this small scale research project was to find out what the TESOL teachers and students at Saudi Aramco’s Dhahran North Industrial Training Center in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, think of and feel about the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at their training center.The technology in question is represented by computers, smart boards, CD players, overhead projectors, the Internet and the company’s e-learning courses. Another objective of the research was to explore the concerns of these teachers and their students regarding ICT, engage them in brief discussions of these concerns and encourage them to suggest solutions to the problems and challenges they had faced using the technology.

various departments at the end of their training. To explore the research participants’ thoughts, opinions, feelings, attitudes and concerns, eight interviews with eight TESOL teachers were conducted. Four of these teachers had taught lower levels (2, 3, and 4). The other four had taught upper levels (5, 6, and 7). To investigate the perceptions of the students, two group interviews were conducted. The first group was made up of students from the lower levels (2, 3, and 4) and the second was comprised of students from the upper levels (5, 6, and 7). Each of the above levels was represented by one student that had been randomly chosen by the researcher.

Research Context

Advantages

Dhahran North Industrial Training Center is one of several training centers that form the Saudi Aramco training organization. The organization is charged with the task of preparing Saudi high school and vocational college graduates for future employment in the company. To achieve this task, the training organization runs a two-year apprenticeship program (one year for vocational college graduates) during which the company’s apprentices receive only English language instruction for the duration of levels 2, 3, and 4. At level 5, the apprentices start receiving instruction in IT, Mathematics and Science. Having completed level 5, some apprentices are placed at job skills programs in other units in order to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to perform technical roles for the company after the completion of their training. The rest of the apprentices move up to levels 6 and then 7 to complete the training program that will enable them to perform administrative roles in the company’s Volume 20

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In discussing the advantages of classroom technology, the teachers thought that the students they taught liked to see something visual rather than just looking at books. The technology tools were more interesting and more interactive than books and they made the students feel involved in classroom activities. The interviewees also pointed out that they were able to do a variety of activities using tools such as the smart board. They could display pictures, documents and moving images on it. Teacher A, one of the interviewees, stated that, “Technology has provided me with a nexus point of data—movies, photos, video clips and aural material that could be stored on my computer’s hard drive then shared with the students.”

Learner Collaboration and Engagement

Another important use of technology was the ability of the learners to make use of it in a collaborative TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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manner. When one student or a group of students sent a piece of writing done in the classroom with the help of the teacher to the rest of their classmates, it gave all of them confidence and a sense of independence. Using technology to entertain the students where need be was another important benefit. Teacher B, for example, stated that, “I was able to alleviate the stress and fatigue by showing them an entertaining video clip towards the end of the class. My students appreciated it, which improved my relations with them.” Having the smart board installed in front of the learners helped to focus their attention and engagement in the learning process.

Learner-Centered Approach (LCA)

The use of technology also encouraged the adoption of a learner-centered approach (LCA) in the classroom. Teacher C stated that, “The use of these ICT tools encourages the use of the learner-centered approach (LCA) in the classroom. This approach gives the students more time to talk and participate in classroom activities and reduces teacher talk. The tools also help the teachers use games and vocabulary exercises and allow the students to come up to the front of the class and use the interactive board.”

E-Learning

Saudi Aramco provided its training centers with e-learning courses that both the teachers and students found useful. These courses ranged from Barraq Ali was born and brought up in Iraq. He graduated from the University of Baghdad in 1972 with a BA in English and was awarded a postgraduate TEFL diploma by the University College of North Wales in Bangor, UK, in 1978 and a MSc in translation and interpreting by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1983. He is currently enrolled in the University of Exeter’s Doctor of Education Program, Dubai, UAE. He has been a TESOL teacher for over 25 years and has taught in Iraq, Libya, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. He joined HCT Fujairah Men’s College in August 2011 and is currently a member of the Foundations Program Faculty.

language courses to health and safety ones and can be accessed by the students in the center and outside it. In this regard, Teacher D said, “I feel that both the Saudi Aramco e-learning courses and other online courses are very useful resources. Our learners are quite keen on these courses because they give them the opportunity to work unsupervised, which gives them a sense of freedom and independence.”

Learning Styles

The teachers also believed that classroom technology catered for learners’ different learning styles. The Volume 20

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students who wanted to work on their own were able to do so. Others who enjoyed collaborative work could work with their classmates on group projects. Those who found language games appealing had ample opportunity to indulge themselves, while those who wanted to receive immediate feedback on their work spent time working on interactive tasks. Finally, the teachers stressed that the most notable advantage of technology is that it helped the students learn by doing: What I hear I forget; what I see I remember; what I do, I understand.

The Internet - a Distractor?

The most notable disadvantage cited was how the Internet could be a great distracter.Teacher E was concerned that, “The Internet distracted the students because it was so easy for these young apprentices to get side-tracked by what the Net offers.”The other problem the teachers discussed was the difficulty of managing and supervising classes efficiently when the learners worked at various paces and on different tasks.

Learner Autonomy or Isolation?

Some learners referred to the fact that having access to technology meant that the learner was tempted to work alone, thus depriving himself or herself of the opportunity to share knowledge and exchanges ideas with other learners. “Despite the ‘connectedness’ of the Internet, we are isolated from each other in ways which affect how we experience teaching and learning” (Wright, 2005, 82).

The Smart Board

Some teachers were not happy with the smart board. They thought it was cumbersome and the writing on it was not as clear as an MS Word document for a task like writing a short text with the class. Furthermore, teachers had to face the board and not the students when writing on it, whereas they were facing the learners when using MS Word. In addition, orienting the board correctly seemed to be essential but time-consuming.

Technology Malfunctions

The teachers also cited various problems that are inherent in any context when technology is in use. Technical problems and break-downs could disrupt the flow of the learning process, especially when sometimes fixing technical glitches took a long time. Student A, an apprentice interviewee, believed that, “Technical problems adversely affect both the teaching and learning processes. When they occur, TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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the teacher has no choice but to go back to the traditional tools: the chalkboard, textbooks and handouts. Going back to these tools makes one feel that he has made no progress at all. This is very frustrating.”

Computer Viruses and Technology Dependency

Computer software is vulnerable to computer virus attacks. It was also noticed by some teachers that some of their colleagues had the tendency to rely too heavily on the technology tools available in their classrooms. The implication is that some teachers failed to prepare their lessons and sometimes tried to “wing it” it by walking into the classroom and getting the students to play online games or showing them irrelevant YouTube video clips. Similarly, the students, seduced by the ease of accessing the Internet, failed to put in the required effort to complete assigned tasks.

Convenient and Time-Saving

Not unlike their teachers, the students in the two interview groups saw several advantages in using ICT in their training. They first pointed out the benefits of convenience and saving time. As one student remarked, “One can access the Internet wherever they are: at school, at home, in a coffee shop or a public library.” The speed at which a student can complete a task using a computer was another attraction. Color, variety, interaction and animation were all features the students found very appealing and in their opinions helped to stimulate learning, engage the learners and improve retention rates.

Harmful Material and Plagiarism

The most serious disadvantage cited by the students was the fact that some material obtained online was unreliable, of dubious nature and morally and socially harmful.The temptation to plagiarize from the Internet was great. It was pointed out that some learners resorted to plagiarism mainly because they were too lazy to do the work themselves or did not have adequate language skills to produce their own work.

Training

Sufficient and systematic training on the use of technology tools was lacking in the training organization. In fact, in some cases no training whatsoever was provided leaving users to teach themselves through trial and error, sometimes individually and sometimes in groups. Volume 20

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Technical Support

Experience showed that an amazing amount of resources were needed to make technology tools work smoothly and efficiently. The majority of such resources were not available at the training center. Sufficient, efficient and timely technical support was missing most of the time and there was a lack of awareness on the part of management of the importance of providing such support. This was clearly expressed when Teacher F was asked to comment on the level of technical support available at the center and said, “In addition to the lack of the necessary training on the use of technology, I do not have easy access to the necessary technical support which ensures that these tools remain in good working condition.”

Conclusion

For ICT to work smoothly and efficiently, three conditions have to exist: a) organized and systematic introduction to the technology preceded by consultation with would-be users; b) systematic and ongoing training that meets the needs of the users; and c) sufficient, efficient and regular technical support that helps keep these technologies working at an optimal level. Teachers and students alike would benefit from professional training on the best uses of classroom technologies. The appointment of a professional or a team of professionals with both pedagogical and technical expertise would be extremely helpful. Furthermore, administrators, supervisors, teachers and students should be encouraged to form communities of practice in which good and innovative practices using technology would be shared.

References

Wright, T. (2005). Classroom Management in Language Education. London: Palgrave MacMillan.

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Feature ReviewsArticle

English Explorer 2 & 4 Helen Stephenson Heinle Cengage, 2011/2012 ISBN: 978-1-111-06187-6 (2), 978-1-111-22304-5 (4) 127 pp.

English Explorer is an ESL course book intended for students at secondary level. It is a four-level series consisting of a student’s book that has a free MultiROM, a workbook with an Audio CD, a Teacher’s Book with an Audio CD and a Teacher’s Resource Book (a valuable component which provides teachers with additional material for mixedability classes; struggling students are not left behind and the teacher’s life is made easier. This is hardly found in other books). In addition to all that, it has another fascinating component, a DVD featuring astonishing National Geographic films: remarkable people, places and customs; a real treat. Volume 20

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English Explorer’s strongest feature is its partnership with the widely known National Geographic which makes it a rich resource of different cultivating and exciting topics throughout. It’s full of real stories, real people, real adventures, real places and different cultures which are well chosen in terms of the age group and the level that each book in the series addresses. Moreover, this partnership builds on the students’ background knowledge which is a contributory element in language learning. They might have heard about the story or have watched it, and here comes the book to provide them with a chance to explore it and explore English at the same time. What’s better than killing two birds with TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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one stone? Hence, raising the students’ curiosity and interest is guaranteed. There is no way that a topic won’t get the student’s curiosity and eye; eye, because the texts are supported by real life stunning images that give a hint about the content and make whoever is looking eager to know more, and to do so they have to read the book. This plays a great part in the learning process because attention and interest are two crucial elements in learning in general and in language learning in particular. The interesting nature of the texts and their variety make it possible for the teacher to be selective without missing out on any exciting story. It is also possible for the teacher, in case they do not want to stick to the book entirely, to just choose a text and build the lesson upon it without referring to every exercise in it. In other words, it makes room for the teacher to be creative, or more accurately, it inspires them without limiting their creativity. Added to that, it also gives the students a lot of possibilities to practice and reinforce the learned material on their own without any frustration. English Explorer is an engaging, motivating and interactive student’s book due to its rich content. There is substance for speaking throughout the book. The originality of the topics gives way for extended conversations, discussions, and research. In that, the book lives up to its publisher’s claim that it develops critical thinking and other real world skills. The grammar section called Working with Words focuses on practice more than learning the rule or stating the rule. The practice leads to the rule inductively and encourages critical thinking and independent learning. The publisher’s claim is also backed up by special sections in all the series, which are rarely found in other student’s books, the Culture sections and dedicated CLIL sections. These cover science and technology, maths, nature, history, and geography, all subjects that relate to students and to their everyday life. This provides wonderful chances for using the language which students will need in real-life situations. It’s also up to date and modern, for instance, there is material on present Hollywood films and American icons where students learn words for mass media, TV programs and films. All these are areas of interest to teens.

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It is true that many textbooks have interesting texts. However, the texts in English Explorer give ways for teaching almost all of the skills through the text due to its fresh factual nature and conciseness. What is also different about the texts is that once you read them, you do not forget them and that’s another positive factor in language learning, that is, memory stimulation. Thus, using the text as a starting point to teach other skills is made possible and easy. Furthermore, the diversity and the well thought out selection of topics make the books cross cultural and fit for any society and definitely suitable for students in the Middle East. English Explorer has many things in common with other ESL books, such as the pronunciation exercises, questionnaire section, the audios (which are not that great, there is no sound actually, just exercises to practice on the computer), the application exercises (fill in the gaps), the listening parts and the review exercises at the end of every 2 units. However, this is a book that relates to its audience tremendously. It is inspiring to the teacher and the learner. It makes their teaching and learning experience more fun and easier while widening their general knowledge. It acquaints teens with new cultures, and is a real boost for students in general, and students who do not like to read in particular. The interesting short texts offer a lot of information and would stimulate the students to read further about a topic, a person or a writer they have encountered in English Explorer while studying English. To a great extent, it does “change the way the world learns English” as the publisher and writer have intended.

Micheline Habib Freelance Educational Advisor & ESL Trainer Abu Dhabi, UAE

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Reviews Feature Article

Outcomes: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced Hugh Dellar & Andrew Walkley Heinle Cengage, 2011 ISBN: 978-1-111-07129-5 (Elementary) 184 pp.

I know we all have different reasons for wanting to choose a new coursebook. I am also aware that we are all different and that our students and groups are all different, too. These are the ten most important things I look for when choosing a new coursebook. I have used my own system of evaluation, where 10 means excellent, 5 is acceptable and 1 unsatisfactory in reviewing the coursebook Outcomes.

1. Topics (7 out of 10) If I asked you to write down the 16 topics you would expect to find in a coursebook, I bet you would guess at least 12 of the topics in Outcomes. I find this less concerning at Elementary-Intermediate level but I think that a coursebook for advanced learners should try to tackle some more exciting topicsâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a general problem that advanced coursebooks tend to become stuffy, snobbish, and irrelevant. I believe many of the topics in Outcomes are difficult for teachers to make interesting or fun for the students. However, the book covers many of the topics of general interest and exam requirements. With that said, there is some culturally inappropriate material (partying, relationships, and alcohol consumption), which might make using this book in more conservative Middle Eastern settings problematic. 2. Useful vocabulary (10 out of 10) I love words, learning, using and teaching them, experimenting with them. The very handy little Vocabulary Builder is a real plus, as it encourages students to familiarize themselves with the new vocabulary, and serves as a great resource for Volume 20

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independent learning. The authors claim to have natural, real-world vocabulary in the books, and this is true. Even at lower levels, the vocabulary is colorful, well-presented and useful. 3. Electronic components (8 out of 10) The learning management system supporting the Heinle coursebooks is pretty impressive. Unit-byunit extra materials are available for students to use with the books. Teachers can register a teacher account and can supervise and follow studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; independent work in MyOutcomes. The activities are fairly predictable and repetitive, though. I wonder TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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if students who start using the lower levels would find it engaging enough as they move on. There is no sense of a learning community, the students work on their own, everything is automated and/or based on self-evaluation. 4. Learner autonomy (8 out of 10) The main sources of independent learning are the Vocabulary Builder, the MyOutcomes online activities and the Workbook. I have already mentioned the first two, so here I’ll concentrate on the Workbook. I have only seen sample pages on the website but I have the impression that the Workbook is the type which offers extensive extra material in addition to offering practice for the grammar and vocabulary covered in the coursebook. This may serve as a great resource for differentiated learning. Materials can be assigned for students who progress faster than the others. The materials in the workbook are interesting and relevant to the topics covered in the coursebook.

5. End-of-book materials (8 out of 10) The writing course at the end of each level is an excellent resource that can be used either at the end of every lesson or as an independent writing course, depending on the system of instruction the coursebook is used in. The pair and groupwork activities are also well presented, and I love a coursebook which includes the tapescripts. The grammar reference section follows the relatively new practice of summarizing the unit’s grammar points and then offering a few fairly standard activities for practice. There could be a few more project/taskbased activities at the back.

materials and not by an editorial decision on how long the units should be.

8. Creativity within activities (6 out of 10) I would have liked to see some tasks that encourage more innovative practice.

9. Number of components (9 out of 10) The lesson materials are well presented in the coursebook and there is ample extra practice in the workbook and the MyOutcomes website. The Teacher’s Book will be a very useful aid for teachers with little experience, but even seasoned teachers can find useful ideas and tips.

10. Cohesion within the unit (7 out of 10) Outcomes seems to fare quite well but often the unit topics are too broad and the activities try to cover too many different aspects of the topic which leads to occasional halts to the flow within the unit. My overall impression is that teachers and students will be able to follow the progression of the units quite well. My overall score for this series is: 78 out of 100. This makes it a safe choice and probably well useable in most teaching contexts in the Middle East (provided the cultural appropriacy is carefully examined before a decision is made to use this coursebook).

Tamas Lorincz Freelance Teacher Trainer Dubai, UAE

6. Length of the units (7 out of 10) The 6 page units are just about the right length. They cover different aspects of the fairly wide topics, so even if the topic is not very exciting or relevant to the students, a unit can be covered in about 6 teaching periods. There is a very good balance of skills work with a strong emphasis on useful vocabulary and grammar.

7. Simplicity of the layout (8 out of 10) While the 6 pages per unit work well at the lower levels, with the increased length of the reading materials at the higher levels, the pages become a bit busy and difficult to navigate. I firmly believe that the layout should be determined by the amount of Volume 20

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Reviews Feature Article

PTE General Practice Tests Katrina Gormley Heinle Cengage, 2012 ISBN: 978-960-403-800-8 152 pp. Since Pearson English language tests (PTE academic) are recognized by institutions in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and around the world, this new edition is a must have. The aim of this test is to assess whether non-native English speakers are ready to participate in university-level English classes. So, do we really need a new text? Certainly, both teachers and students can never have enough of these self-study or classroom supplementary materials in a general English course. This book is aimed at students at Level 3 or B2, which is the upper-intermediate to advanced band of students in intensive English programs in university level courses. This covers both teenagers and adults taking EFL courses. Such learners are confident when using the language, can produce written texts, and are able to manipulate their language in a variety of contexts. The book offers eight complete tests; however, unlike similar texts with practice tests, the book succeeds in dedicating sufficient time and space to providing “guidance for test takers” and “tips.” Both give detailed instructions about what to expect as a test taker and also how to tackle specific types of questions. Tests are important and being a good test taker makes a difference. So both the individual learner and the teacher would greatly benefit from these guidelines. I am particularly impressed by the thorough explanations of why certain answers are correct and even more importantly the detailed explanation of why others seem right but are in fact wrong. My students always say that this other answer seems so “right.”We call it the only 90% correct answer. And certainly there is a reason.This seemingly small explanation is essential as it gives the learner confidence to proceed with the remaining parts of the test. Most students are worried about making mistakes as they speak, but by working through the tests using Volume 20

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the CDs and following the detailed guidance that is offered with each section, a new confidence can be developed as they are informed of duration, optimal answers, and expectations. The speaking test prompts are also a very valuable part of the book, as the learner can practice how to respond to each prompt point by point and even add some other counter-arguments. The topics included are new and form a welcome balance between the academic and the general. Not too old or too new may I add. For example, the Internet, paying fees, space, and uniforms go well with the mindset of students worldwide. There is also something for everyone, the younger students and the adults. There are passages on environmental TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Feature Reviews Article

disasters and the gap year, which are all the rage. We as teachers should not underestimate the effect of the topics on student readers; they can totally switch off if the content is too culturally bound. The content is geared to the students’ proficiency level as the author succeeds in balancing between creating challenging questions for the more advanced students and offering manageable questions for the core of this B2 level band of students. The examples are clear, simple, and to the point. This is one of the strengths of the book as it allows the self-learner to formulate a clear idea of what is expected of him/her. The layout is lovely and clearly outlines the content with the use of pictures, color, and diagrams, generating interest and making the book a professional and attractive package. The glossary at the end of the book is very useful, being divided according to skill and test number.Vocabulary learning is challenging yet it is vital for progress in writing, speaking, and reading. Therefore, learners and teachers ought to make use of this tool to recycle familiar words or explore the meanings of unfamiliar ones. I would even recommend going through the glossary before attempting to tackle the practice tests.

Although the book consists of a series of practice tests, a teacher can use ideas from the readings for speaking, discussion, and even debates. Learners may also be asked to reflect on their own experiences as they go through the various tests. It is a great springboard for discussion, especially if we as teachers attempt to use the book with Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in mind, thus making the content educational and informative. There are many activities that can be introduced beyond the skills practice mode, so go ahead and seize the opportunity to create practical, challenging tasks that will motivate your students.

Rania Jabr The American University in Cairo Cairo, Egypt

Upcoming Events March 2013 8-10. (Europe and Eurasia). TESOL-Spain, “Teaching with Technology and the Human Touch,” Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain. Website: www.tesol-spain.org/en/pages/1/convention-2013.html 14-16. (Middle East). 19th International TESOL Arabia Conference & Exhibition, “From KG to College to Career,” Hyatt Regency, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Website: www.tesolarabia.org/conference 17-18. (Middle East). 4th Annual Gulf Comparative Education Society Symposium, “Bridging the Policy/ Research Divide in Education in the GCC,” Muscat, Oman. Email: soha@alqasimifoundation.rak.ae 20-23. (North America). TESOL 2013 International Convention & English Language Expo, “Harmonizing Language, Heritage, and Cultures,” Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas, USA. Website: www.tesolconvention.org 30-31. (Europe and Eurasia). TESOL Greece, “Innovation - Motivation - Education,” Hellenic American Union, Athens, Greece. Email: chair@tesolgreece.org. Website: www.tesolgreece.org Volume 20

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Reviews Feature Article

The BIG Picture, A2 ELEMENTARY Student’s Book Ben Goldstein & Ceri Jones Richmond Publishing, 2011 ISBN: 978-84-668-1055-5 168 pp.

The BIG Picture, B1 PREINTERMEDIATE Student’s Book Bess Bradfield & Carol Lethaby ISBN: 978-84-668-1058-6 168 pp.

The BIG Picture is a general English course that is intended for adults and young adults. I believe that the title stands for the vast coverage of the language areas and topics in the series. The material is divided into six levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. The series includes many formal and informal learning resources, including the Student’s Book, Workbook and Student’s Audio CD, the Teacher’s Book, Class Audio CDs, The Big Picture Learning Platform, The Big Picture Test Generator, The Big Picture Digital Book and the website. For the purposes of this review, only two levels have been reviewed, the A2 and B1 workbooks and student books. Volume 20

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The material suits the intended level of learners. Each student book comprises twelve units. Each topic-based unit covers the language systems which are grammar, vocabulary, phonology and the four language skills. Topics of the student books are interesting, fresh, communicative and contemporary. These include topics like Back to Nature, A Global Market and Icons from the B1 Pre-Intermediate Student’s Book. Others like One World, In the News, Listmania and Hungry Planet are in the A2 Elementary Student’s Book. The topics included cover most of day-to-day life. This makes language TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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44 learners more involved and interested in these issues using English. To a large extent, the book is highly visual and easy to use. The images in the book are really supportive and expressive which helps learners to get the intended ideas and eventually leads to the achievement of the set objectives. The book provides real life, relevant and various international contexts, written, visual and audible. This has been done very well which is highly appreciated. Unfortunately, a few images and vocabulary can be culturally inappropriate for the Middle East. Examples of these are: • Punk and hippy on page 65, Task 2 and the caption It’s No Pants Day beside the image on page 112 in Task 1 in the A2 Elementary Student’s Book. • Images on pages 48 and 107 in the B1 PreIntermediate Student’s Book. • There is also the short reading on Unexpected Romances: How We Met? in the B1 Pre-Intermediate Student’s Book, which can be a topic to avoid teaching for students who have just finished high school and joined co-education. I really liked the various assigned tasks in each unit in the student books. These types of tasks really attract learners and are communicative and engaging. The exercises in the workbooks are no less engaging. In addition, students have to complete a Progress Test at the end of each unit which helps them monitor their learning. Grammar tasks have also been intelligently covered in the two books, and students have the opportunity to practice the items in context. Then, there are follow up exercises which help students absorb the ideas they have learned. I also liked the idea that the CD includes both native and non-native speakers which shows that they really consider the diversity of spoken English from all around the world. I believe that students of any nationality will always find something related to their culture or nationality in the series. There is one thing regarding the opening of each unit. The pre-unit questions and discussions could have been more effective if placed before the images.This helps to prepare students better for the unit topic.

succeeded in covering many of the key language areas. The design and format of the series are attractive, comfortable and easy to use, which also applies to the format of tasks and exercises. Teachers will find good and useful ideas for creativity inside the classroom. They will also find enough supplementary material to support their teaching and achievement of objectives. Neither the teacher nor the learner will feel boredom or repetition using this series.

Amina Saif Mohammed Al Hashamia College of Applied Sciences Nizwa Sumail, Oman

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materials, apps, or websites? Why not write a review for Perspectives?

Contact Paul Dessoir,

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Generally speaking, The Big Picture series has Volume 20

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Feature Article Upcoming Events

45 I feel the breadth of the modules, the enthusiasm of the tutors in their subject areas and the Calendar of Upcoming discussion between participants Events makes top-notch. March 2013 this programme 8-10. (Europe and Eurasia). TESOL-Spain, “Teaching with Technology and the

‘‘

Human Touch,” Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain. Website: www.tesol-spain. org/en/pages/1/convention-2013.html

EdD TESOL student, Dubai

14-15. (Middle East). 19th International TESOL Arabia Conference & Exhibition, “From KG to College to Career,” Hyatt Regency, Dubai, TESOL Programmes United Arab Emirates. Website: www.tesolarabia.org/conference The Graduate School of Education is recognised as a leading School of Education with a diverse and highly successful track record, including:17-18. (Middle East). 4th Annual Gulf Comparative Education Society Symposium, “Bridging the Policy/Research Divide in Education in the GCC,” • Ranked 5th in the UK for world leading and Email: internationally excellent research (RAE 2008) and Muscat, Oman. soha@alqasimifoundation.rak.ae influencer of national Education policy 20-23. (North America). TESOL 2013 International Convention & English • PhD studentships available through the ESRC South West Doctoral Training Centre – a hub of Language Expo, “Harmonizing Language, Heritage, and Cultures,” Dallas world-class social sciences research Convention Center, Dallas, Texas, USA. Website: www.tesolconvention.org • International community with postgraduates from over 70 countries studying in the School 30-31. (Europe and Eurasia). TESOL Greece, “Innovation - Motivation - over the last five years Education,” Hellenic American Union, Athens, Greece. Email: chair@tesolgreece.org. Website: www.tesolgreece.org

Doctor of Education (EdD) – available in Dubai

Programme Coordinator: Dr Salah Troudi, email: s.troudi@exeter.ac.uk April 2013 8-12. (Europe and Eurasia). 47th Annual IATEFL Conference and Exhibition, This is a professionally-oriented taught doctorate degree suitable for EFL/ESL professionals, including primary Liverpool, UK.Website: www.iatefl.org/information/annual-conference-andprogramme coordinators. The degree is taught part-time over and secondary teachers, college lecturers, and exhibition four years and local tutors are available for your support. 17-18. (Middle East). 13th Oman International ELT Conference, “Changing The programme consists of two compulsory research methodologyinmodules, the following three content Times, Emerging Opportunities ELT,” Theplus Language Center, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. Website: www.squ.edu.om/LanConference modules: 17-19. (Asia and Oceania). International English Language Teaching • Critical Issues in Teaching English Conference (iELT-Con) 2013, “Support & Development for ELT Professionals: • TESOL Classrooms and Pedagogy: Theory and Practice Challenges & Opportunities,” Bayview Hotel, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. • The Meaning and Practice of Professionalism Website: http://eltcon.webs.com/ You will then complete a research-based thesis of up to 50,000 words. 8-21. (Europe and Eurasia). 21st Annual HUPE Conference, Croatia, Opatija, Grand Hotel Adriatic. Website: http://www.hupe.hr

MPhil and PhD – available in Dubai

The School has an outstanding reputation for research training and offers MPhil and PhD degrees involving May 2013 study under two supervisors, 10-11. (Central and South Argentina TESOL Annual Conference, independent culminating in theAmerica). presentation of a written thesis. Full- and part-time Mar del Plata, Argentina. Website: http://http://www.artesol.org.ar/ study is available. This programme can also be studied via distance learning. 27-29. (Asia and Oceania). National University of Singapore, Centre for English–Language Communication, “Alternative Masters programme (MEd) intensive summer study optionPedagogies in the English Language & Communication Classroom,” UTown, National University of The Masters in TESOL is aimed at professionals working at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The Singapore, Singapore. Website: http://nus.edu.sg/celc/symposium/ programme is flexible, allowing you to choose from the wide range of modules available. Prior to starting, a member of our academic staff will help you plan out the best programme to meet your needs. The MEd is July 2013 1-3. (Europe and Eurasia). Gulf Research Meeting, “Educational Challenges in available full-time (1 year) and through an intensive summer programme that takes place in July over two the GCC in the 21st Century,” Gulf Research Center, Cambridge, UK. Website: consecutive summers. This programme is available in Exeter. http://grm.grc.net/index.php?pgid=Njk%3D&wid=NjY%3D&yr=2013 November 2013

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27-29. (Oceania). The Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand & Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALANZ & ALAA) Conference, “Knowing, Graduate SchoolLinguistics,” of Education Being, Doing in Applied Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Website: http://www.alanz2013.org.nz/callforpapers.html For more information please visit www.exeter.ac.uk/education telephone + 44 (0) 1392 724739 or email ssis–admissions@exeter.ac.uk January 2013

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16th Annual Current Trends in English Language Testing Conference Dubai Men’s College Dubai, UAE

Dr Christine Coombe Chair, CTELT Conference Co-chair, TESOL Arabia Testing, Assessment and Evaluation SIG

organized by the TESOL Arabia Testing, Assessment, and Evaluation (TAE) SIG and the TESOL Arabia Dubai Chapter.

The 16th Annual Current Trends in English Language Testing (CTELT) Conference took place at Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai Men’s Campus on November 22-23, 2012. Over 150 educators attended the conference. The theme was “Evaluating Teacher and Program Effectiveness.” The goal of the conference was to explore the fundamentals of both teacher and program effectiveness in highlyinteractive sessions so as to provide teachers in the region with the necessary professional development to better evaluate themselves, their students’ work and the programs they work in. This annual conference is

Plenary speakers included Dr Deena Boraie of the American University of Cairo and President-elect of TESOL; Dr Phil Quirke, Director of Madinat Zayed and Ruwais Higher Colleges of Technology; Dr Amanda Howard of British University in Dubai and Peter Davidson of Zayed University and Co-chair of the TAE SIG. The event was sponsored by TESOL Arabia and Core Education and Consulting Solutions and hosted by the Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai, Men’s Campus. CTELT was the last TAE SIG event for the 2012 academic year. See the TESOL Arabia website for details of 2013 events and activities.

Dr Deena Boraie of the American University of Cairo and TESOL President-elect gives the opening plenary at CTELT 2012. Volume 20

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TESOL Arabia Perspectives www.tesolarabia.org Conference participants attend a session at CTELT 2012.

Networking Feature Article

MENAWCA Conference: Creating a Culture of Writing College of the North Atlantic - Qatar Doha, Qatar

Ileana Hilton TESOL Arabia Travel Grant Recipient

The Middle East-North Africa Writing Centers Alliance (MENAWCA) invited all those working toward supporting and teaching student writers to share their experiences, innovations and research at their third biennial conference hosted in Qatar from November 16-18, 2012. There were 50 presentations over two days, with 140 presenters and attendees representing 13 countries and 40 institutions, all about writing centers and related areas of research, issues, practices and experiences. Students and institutions in the MENA region benefit from efforts that encourage the continuous development of a writing culture. As a regional affiliate of the International Writing Centers Association, MENAWCA is a network of writing center directors, employees, tutors and others interested in supporting student writing in the Arab world. Founded in November 2007, the MENAWCA affirms its purpose to foster communication among writing centers and provide a forum for concerns for writing centers in the region. MENAWCAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s membership includes directors and staff of writing centers at universities, two-and-four-year colleges, and elementary and secondary schools in the region, as well as those persons interested in writing center theories and applications. Keynote speaker Dr Terry Myers Zawacki, directs George Mason Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highly ranked Writing across the Curriculum (WAC) program and, Volume 20

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until stepping down in 2010, also directed their well-regarded University Writing Center. Her publications include the co-authored Engaged Writers and Dynamic Disciplines: Research on the Academic Writing Life, the co-edited Writing across the Curriculum: A Critical Sourcebook, and articles on writing centers and writing fellows, alternative discourses, writing in learning communities, feminism and composition, writing assessment, and WAC and second language writing. The latter was the subject of her keynote address at the 2010 International WAC conference and continues to be the focus of her scholarship, most recently a special issue of Across the Disciplines, which she coedited and which includes collaborative articles by scholars in the WAC and ESL fields. She is currently working on a co-edited collection on the same topic with articles featuring similar collaborations and international voices. Dr Zawacki called on conference participants to build on the recent and impressive research that is rooted in the MENA experience and also encouraged participants to share their research in a variety of formats. MENAWCA was strongly represented with attendees from all Gulf countries, Egypt, Lebanon and Nigeria. In addition, there were presenters and participants from the USA and Australia. This year they were especially pleased to have in attendance student peer tutors from universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar contributing to the program with poster displays and presentations. Finally, MENAWCA 2012 was an opportunity for the host institution, College of the North AtlanticQatar, to showcase its Advanced Writing Centre. With the simultaneous growth of writing centers in the region and the increased emphasis on writing instruction, the culture of writing continues to be enhanced in the context of the linguistically and culturally diverse nature of our population. TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Special Interest Group Article Reports Feature

3rd Annual Teacher Leadership Academy Dhaka, Bangladesh Konrad Cedro, TESOL Arabia Webmaster For the third year in a row, the Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai, Men’s Campus and Gulf-based language educators traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh to deliver two days of teacher training in leadership during the UAE National Day holiday from December 1-2, 2012. The theme of this year’s event was “Teacher Effectiveness.”

Dr Christine Coombe, Audrey Renton, Konrad Cedro, Guy Brooksbank, Mouhamad Mouhanna and Fife MacDuff (United States Department of State Regional English Language Of fi cer) facilitated this year’s workshops. Caspar Cedro, Guy Brooksbank and Konrad Cedro are currently working on a video documentary about the event. A selection of photos is also available on TESOL Arabia’s Facebook page.

The TESOL Arabia Leadership and Management (LM) SIG organized this event in collaboration with the Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association (BELTA). Eighty Bangladeshi English language teachers attended training on topics such as leadership styles, time management, professional development and intercultural communication.

According to the event organizer and co-chair of the LM SIG, Dr Christine Coombe, “Giving back to the profession is a major LM SIG mandate.” Further teacher development academies are planned for the coming year in Cambodia,Vietnam, Sudan, Uruguay and Argentina.

(From left) Konrad Cedro, Audrey Renton, Fife MacDuff, Dr Christine Coombe, Guy Brooksbank, and Mouhamad Mouhanna present at the 3rd Annual Teacher Leadership Academy in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Over 80 participants and presenters attend the 3rd Annual Teacher Leadership Academy in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

TESOL Arabia now has a facebook page! Volume 20

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Special FeatureInterest Article Group Reports

Teacher Training and Development SIG Activities Marion Engin, TTD SIG Co-Chair & Editor Who are the Teacher Training and Development (TTD) SIG committee members? Radhika O’Sullivan

British University in Dubai

radhika.osullivan@buid.ac.ae

Marion Engin

Zayed University, Dubai

marion.engin@zu.ac.ae

Helen Donaghue

Sharjah Higher Colleges of Technology

hdonaghue@hct.ac.ae

Mary Mayall

British University in Dubai

mary.mayall@buid.ac.ae

Mick King

Middlesex University, Dubai

micjak66@gmail.com

What are the aims of the TTD SIG? • To emphasize the concept of professionalism in relation to English language Teacher Training • To promote Teacher Training (TT) and Teacher Development (TD) activities among educational institutions in the TESOL Arabia area • To create a community of professionals involved in TT and TD • To carry out TT and TD activities such as miniconferences, workshops, and seminars on a variety of topics • To carry out a needs analysis amongst TESOL Arabia members in terms of TT and TD • To establish a culture of TT and TD amongst educational institutions in the TESOL Arabia area What have we been up to this year? Saturday, December 10, 2011, Zayed University Keeping the Trainer Out: Maintaining Objectivity in the Training Room Workshops:

• Let Me Think About It: A Teacher’s Portfolio by Ida Dolci • Tech Tools to Support Your First E-portfolio by Jim Buckingham • Create a Professional E-portfolio Using Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro by Helen Donaghue 10, 2012, Sharjah University Community College Teacher Evaluation and Development Workshops: • Can Evaluative Classroom Observation Be Developmental? by Mick King • Professional Development: Many Modes, One Objective by Dr Christina Gitsaki What have we got planned for 2012 – 2013? In February 2013 thereswill be a joint miniconference with the Research SIG and the Abu Dhabi Chapter on classroom research, and in May 2013 there will be a morning session at Middlesex University, Dubai.

• Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by David Palfreyman • Keeping the Trainer and the Teacher Out: Learners’ Perspectives by Dr Amanda Howard and Radhika O’Sullivan • Observation and Feedback Without “Blinkers” by Marion Engin April 14, 2012, Al Ain Men’s College with EdTech SIG E-portfolios and Professional Development Workshops: Volume 20

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Mick King presents at Sharjah University Community College. TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Special Interest Group Article Reports Feature

Reflections on the First ESP/ EAP Conference Sandra Zaher, Special Interest Group Coordinator The first English for Special Purposes/English for Academic Purposes Conference was held on April 23, 2011 at the Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi Women’s College. The theme of the conference was “Excellence in Learning, Teaching, and Leadership.” Over 90 participants from local schools and universities attended the one-day event. The event featured a broad range of presentations and workshops, as well as two plenary sessions by distinguished speakers, Dr Ali Shehadeh (Associate Professor, United Arab Emirates University) and Paul Jaquith (Associate Dean, Academic Central Services, Foundations and English, HCT). Presenters came from Qatar, Egypt, Iran and the UAE. The conference also featured a mini book fair. A range of important issues was brought to the forefront, in particular approaches to EAP instruction in different university and high schools settings. The immediate feedback on the conference was extremely positive

and particular mention was made of the quality of presentations and the stimulating atmosphere of the conference as a whole. The conference survey generated many comments and reflected the value of this type of conference for teachers, coordinators, and school managers. The survey revealed several items that could be improved that the ESP Team will reflect on for this year’s conference. The event was the product of a collaborative effort by the ESP team who met regularly to plan the event, including processing registration, reviewing proposals, and manning the conference desk. Special appreciation goes to the HCT team who assisted in the planning and actual conference day events. We look forward to future ESP Conferences and we would like to invite all current and prospective members and professionals in the field to make a contribution towards their success.

Upcoming Events April 2013 8-12. (Europe and Eurasia). 47th Annual IATEFL Conference and Exhibition, Liverpool, UK.Website: www.iatefl.org/information/annual-conference-and-exhibition 17-18. (Middle East). 13th Oman International ELT Conference, “Changing Times, Emerging Opportunities in ELT,” The Language Center, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. Website: www.squ.edu. om/LanConference 17-19. (Asia and Oceania). International English Language Teaching Conference (iELT-Con) 2013, “Support & Development for ELT Professionals: Challenges & Opportunities,” Bayview Hotel, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. Website: http://eltcon.webs.com/ 8-21. (Europe and Eurasia). 21st Annual HUPE Conference, Croatia, Opatija, Grand Hotel Adriatic. Website: http://www.hupe.hr Volume 20

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Chapter Special Reports FeatureInterest Article Group Reports

TESOL Arabia Dubai Chapter Report Naziha Ali, Dubai Chapter Representative Alejandro Oviedo, Dubai Chapter Newsletter Editor The TESOL Arabia Dubai chapter has had an eventful 2012 with a new chair and a new committee thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finally taken shape. We are now

Dr Naziha Ali Chapter Chair

Alejandro Oviedo Newsletter Editor

Reem Al Meshari Executive Secretary & Treasurer Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been fortunate in that new TESOL Arabia members have also volunteered to help in some capacity at events. Saadia Wajid, from the City School Dubai, is one such volunteer who is learning Volume 20

a group of five working together to support the professional development of teachers in Dubai:

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Hafeez Rehman PR & Events Coordinator

Tamas Lorincz Blog Manager the ropes and will hopefully join as a committee member this year. As a PD organization, we like to know that there are members who are willing to participate in some way. TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Chapter Article Reports Feature

Our events schedule for the year included the following: June 2, 2012

Promoting Fluency This was a joint event with the Young Learners’ SIG held at The City School International, Dubai and was a fun filled morning of events with participants from Al Ain, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi & Dubai. Our presenters included: • • •

October 6, 2012

Dr Negmeldin Alsheikh Strategies for Figuring Out Words: Phonological Awareness, Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Mohammed Molhim Teaching English to Young Learners: An Integrated Skills Approach. Micheline Habib The Role of Drills in Language Learning and Teaching

Unlocking inspiration: Engaging Learners across the Curriculum A second joint event with the Young Learners’ SIG was held at the Emirates Aviation College–B in Garhoud, Dubai. This event included a variety of themes and interests from young learners to college graduates. Once again we had participants from all over the UAE. Our presenters for the event were: Peter Davidson The Future Is Now–What Tomorrow’s Schools Will Look Like • Rehab Rajab iPads in the Classroom! Now What? • Melanie Gobert Classroom Games for Learning • Sandra Zaher 21st Century Literacy:Young Learners, Teachers & IT possibilities With a turnout of almost 70 participants, the day concluded successfully with several raffle draws. •

November 2324, 2012

Current Trends in English Language Testing 2012 Our third major event for the year was the 16th Annual Current Trends in English Language Testing Conference with the TESOL Arabia Testing, Assessment & Evaluation SIG at Dubai Men’s College. The plenary speaker was Dr Deena Boraie of the American University of Cairo and featured speakers included Dr Amanda Howard and Peter Davidson. The interactive sessions provided teachers with the necessary tools to evaluate themselves, students and programs they implement.

Upcoming Events in 2013 Dates for our forthcoming events in Dubai include April 27 and May 26. The lineup is exciting and we will keep you informed through various channels. Social Pages More information about past and upcoming events as well as resources are available on our blog: http://dubaichapter. edublogs.org/ The TESOL Arabia website: http://www.tesolarabia.net/ta/ And on the TESOL Arabia Facebook page: Facebook.com/tesolarabia Joining Our Team To be part of TESOL Arabia Dubai Chapter committee or for more information, please get in touch with the team at dubaichapter@gmail.com. We always welcome new volunteers even if it’s a short term commitment. There’s room for contributing in many different ways from assisting with event organization to sharing resources to presenting or even just showing up at events to lend a hand.

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Chapter Feature Reports Article

Al Ain Chapter and ESP SIG Joint Event Success Ian Taylor, Al Ain Chapter Representative Recent events in Al Ain have made for a very crowded PD market, raising the competitive stakes among providers and producing an exciting atmosphere for English educators. So, while the iPad frenzy continues unabated, the TESOL Arabia Al Ain Chapter in conjunction with the English for Specific Purposes Special Interest Group managed to create a calm oasis where other areas of development could be explored. Held in November at the Abu Dhabi University Campus in Al Ain, the event produced three excellent lectures on subjects allied to ESP. The large turnout underlined the importance of specific purpose teaching. Tough questioning and debate followed the lectures again highlighting the importance of the subject. Dr Ali Shehadeh from the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) spoke about the teacher being a syllabus designer, a materials writer and a learner while teaching a specialist subject. Dr Shehadeh said as long as the teacher remains positive there is only one outcome–success, noting that “Quite often the ESP teacher is called upon to play a wide range of roles [compared] to the normal function of a regular classroom teacher...the teacher can take on all these

Dr Ali Shehadeh presents on the multi-roles of the ESP teacher.

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roles and turn them into a productive outcome and successful experience.” Former Al Ain Chapter representative Mouhamad Mouhanna, from the UAEU, spoke on the use of first language in the classroom. He said that L1 in the classroom is almost universally seen as an impediment to learning another language but this argument is not borne out by some research findings. Contentious and controversial, the lecture, as expected, produced a lively debate afterwards. Leila Mouhanna, also from the UAEU, spoke about another burning issue, plagiarism. As plagiarism increases worldwide the need to combat it is becoming more acute. Leila suggests one solution would be the use of more source-based writing tasks in the EFL classroom. By encouraging students to write source-based texts “EFL teachers will not only contribute to minimizing the incidence of plagiarism, but also assist in the enhancement of students’ English language proficiency,” she argued. Plagiarism, multi-role teachers and first language use are very much still on the agenda, and the Al Ain event showed that whatever other issues are out there, we will be looking to bring them to the public’s attention.

Mouhamad Mouhanna makes a point about the use of L1 in the classroom.

No. 1

January 2013

Leila Mouhanna discusses plagiarism at the Al Ain Chapter/ESP SIG event.

TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Special Interest Groups SpecialFeature Interest Article Groups

60 54

TESOL Arabia Special Interest Groups English for Special Purposes SIG Phone: 02 644 0339 Email: esptesolarabia@gmail.com

Saad Rabia Chair

Leadership & Management SIG

Najaat Saadi Hezber Co-Chair

Literature, Literacy & Language Arts SIG

Phone: 050 619 4796 Email: christine.coombe@hct.ac.ae

Phone: 050 527 7685 Email: tarabialit@gmail.com

Phone: 050 813 3148 Email: pquirke@hct.ac.ae Dr Christine Coombe Co-Chair

Hala El Muniawai Chair

Phil Quirke Co-Chair

Teacher Training & Teacher Development SIG

Email: tatdsig@gmail.com Radhika Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Sullivan Dr Marion Engin Webmaster Co-Chair/Editor

Helen Donaghue Co-Chair

Young Learners SIG

Independent Learning SIG

Phone: 050 151 3613 Email: kathygardner007@gmail.com

Email: tailearn@yahoo.com Website: http://ilearn.20m.com

Kathya Garder AlPhone: Haddad 050 616 8059 (Bridie) Kathy Gardner Secretary

Testing, Assessment & Evaluation SIG

Mary Mayall Treasurer

Cozens SamahPhil El Shal Treasurer Webmaster

Bridie Farah Chair

Read SIG

Phone: 050 619 4796 Email: christine.coombe@hct.ac.ae

Yasser Salem Phone: 050 266 8937 Email: yassersalem@yahoo.com

Phone: 050 843 8782 Email: peter.davidson@zu.ac.ae Dr Christine Coombe Peter Davidson Co-Chair Co-Chair

Daniel Stebbins Phone: 050 464 5002 Email:Daniel.Stebbins@moe.gov.ae Yasser Salem Chair

Daniel Stebbins Treasurer/Webmaster

Educational Technology SIG Email: edtechsig@gmail.com Ning: http://taedtech.ning.com edtecharabia.twitter.com #taedtech James Buckingham

Heather Baba

Vance Stevens

Teresa Murphy

Research SIG Phone: 050 780 3988 Email: amelki22@yahoo.com researchsig22@gmail.com

Mohammad Azaza Denise Mcqueen Sevhan Acar Hammudeh Helene Demirci Secretary/Networking Treasurer/Event Ozdeniz Chair Event Coordinator Coordinator Coordinator

Volume 18 Volume 20

No. 3 No. 1

November 2011 January 2013

TESOL Arabia Perspectives TESOL Arabia Perspectives

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Chapter Feature Representatives Article

Abu Dhabi Representative

Ian Taylor

Al Ain Chapter Representative Higher Colleges of Technology/CERT P.O. Box 17155, Al Ain, UAE 050 277 3981 (mobile) itaylor1@hct.ac.ae

Amr El Zarka

Madaras Al Ghad (MAG) 050 711 7980 (mobile) amr2000r@yahoo.com

Dr Naziha Ali (EdD TESOL)

Emirates Aviation College - B P.O. Box 28444, Dubai, UAE 050 646 1788 (mobile) nazihaali2005@yahoo.co.uk

Jill Hill

Ruwais Colleges P.O. Box 12389, Ruwais,Western Region, UAE 050 128 6802 (mobile) 2 894 3800 ext. 866 (office) jhill@hct.ac.ae

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January 2013

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Executive Council Executive Council Executive Council Executive Council Executive Council Feature Article

TESOL Arabia Executive Council TESOL Arabia Executive Council TESOL Arabia Executive Council TESOL Arabia Executive Council President President President President

Executive Treasurer Executive Treasurer Executive Treasurer Executive Treasurer

Vice-President/President-Elect Vice-President/President-Elect Vice-President/President-Elect Vice-President/President-Elect

Conference Co-Chair/Membership Secretary Conference Co-Chair/Membership Secretary Conference Co-Chair/Membership Secretary Conference Co-Chair/Membership Secretary

Executive Secretary Executive Secretary Executive Secretary Executive Secretary

Conference Treasurer Conference Treasurer Conference Treasurer Conference Treasurer

JamesJames McDonald McDonald James McDonald Academic BridgeBridge Program Academic Program Academic Bridge Program James McDonald ZayedZayed University University Zayed University Academic Bridge Program Dubai,Dubai, UAE UAE Dubai, UAE Zayed University (office) 402402 1371 (office) 04 1371 (office) Dubai, UAE04 402041371 james.mcdonald@zu.ac.ae james.mcdonald@zu.ac.ae james.mcdonald@zu.ac.ae 04 402 1371 (office) james.mcdonald@zu.ac.ae

Rehab Rejab Rehab Rejab Rehab Rejab Dubai, UAE Dubai, UAE Rehab Rejab Dubai, UAE 050 637 5957 (mobile) 050050 637637 5957 (mobile) Dubai, UAE 5957 (mobile) rehab.rajab@tesolarabia.org rehab.rajab@tesolarabia.org 050 637 5957 (mobile) rehab.rajab@tesolarabia.org Twitter: @tesolarabia || #tesolarabia Twitter: @tesolarabia || #tesolarabia rehab.rajab@tesolarabia.org Twitter: @tesolarabia || #tesolarabia Twitter: @tesolarabia || #tesolarabia

DavidDavid Mulvihill Mulvihill David Mulvihill Instructor, Academic BridgeBridge Program Instructor, Academic Program David Mulvihill Instructor, Academic Bridge Program ZayedZayed University – Dubai University – Dubai Campus Instructor, Academic Bridge Program Zayed University –Campus Dubai Campus P.O. Box 19282 P.O. Box 19282 Zayed University – P.O. Dubai Campus Box 19282 Dubai,Dubai, UAE UAE P.O. Box 19282 Dubai, UAE 056 724 7927 (mobile) 056056 724724 7927 (mobile) Dubai, UAE 7927 (mobile) David.Mulvihill@zu.ac.ae David.Mulvihill@zu.ac.ae 056 724 7927 (mobile) David.Mulvihill@zu.ac.ae David.Mulvihill@zu.ac.ae

Perspectives Editors Perspectives Editors Perspectives Editors Perspectives Editors

Melanie Gobert Melanie Gobert Melanie Gobert Abu Dhabi Men's College Abu Dhabi Men's College Abu Dhabi Men's College Melanie Gobert Colleges of Technology Colleges of Technology Higher Colleges of Technology Abu Dhabi Higher Men'sHigher College P. O. Box P. BoxBox 25035 P.25035 O. 25035 Higher Colleges ofO. Technology Abu Dhabi, UAE Abu Dhabi, UAE Abu Dhabi, UAE P. O. Box 25035 mgobert@hct.ac.ae Abu Dhabi,mgobert@hct.ac.ae UAEmgobert@hct.ac.ae mgobert@hct.ac.ae

Sufian Abu Rmaileh Sufian Abu Rmaileh Sufian Abu Rmaileh University - UGRU UAE University - UGRU UAE University - UGRU Sufian AbuUAE Rmaileh P. O. Box O. BoxBox 17172 P.17172 O. 17172 UAE University -P.UGRU Al Ain, AlUAE Ain, UAE Al Ain, UAE P. O. Box 17172 03 706034562 (home) 706706 4562 (home) 03 4562 (home) Al Ain, UAE 050 713 1803 (mobile) 050050 713713 1803 (mobile) 1803 (mobile) 03 706 4562 (home) sabu-rmaileh@uaeu.ac.ae sabu-rmaileh@uaeu.ac.ae sabu-rmaileh@uaeu.ac.ae 050 713 1803 (mobile) sabu-rmaileh@uaeu.ac.ae

Les Kirkham LesLes Kirkham Kirkham c/o Alc/o Ain College AlWomen’s AinAin Women’s College c/o Al Women’s College Les Kirkham Higher College of Technology Higher College of Technology Higher College of Technology c/o Al Ain Women’s College P. O. of Box Al17258, P. Technology O. BoxBox 17258, Al Al P.17258, O. Higher College Ain, UAE Ain, UAE P. O. Box 17258, Al Ain, UAE leskirkham@gmail.com Ain, UAE leskirkham@gmail.com leskirkham@gmail.com leskirkham@gmail.com

Beth Beth Wiens Wiens Beth Wiens ZayedZayed University University Zayed University Beth Wiens P. O. Box Dubai, UAE P. O. BoxBox 19282, Dubai, UAE P.19282, O. 19282, Dubai, UAE Zayed University 04 40204 1350 (office) 402402 1350 (office) 04 1350 (office) P. O. Box 19282, Dubai, UAE 04(office) 402041003 (fax) 402402 1003 (fax) 04 1003 (fax) 04 402 1350 050 4620566 (mobile) 050050 4620566 (mobile) 4620566 (mobile) 04 402 1003 (fax) beth.wiens@zu.ac.ae beth.wiens@zu.ac.ae beth.wiens@zu.ac.ae 050 4620566 (mobile) beth.wiens@zu.ac.ae

Tandy Bailey Tandy Bailey Tandy Bailey Tandy Bailey College Abu Dhabi u Dhabi Women's College AbAb uWomen's Dhabi Women's College Women's College Abu Dhabi Higher Colleges of Technology Higher Colleges of Technology Higher Colleges of Technology Higher Colleges of Technology P.O. Box 41012 P.O. BoxBox 41012 P.O. 41012 P.O. Box 41012 Abu Dhabi, UAE Abu Dhabi, UAE Abu Dhabi, UAE Abu Dhabi,tbailey-seffar@hct.ac.ae UAEtbailey-seffar@hct.ac.ae tbailey-seffar@hct.ac.ae tbailey-seffar@hct.ac.ae

Member-at-Large/Conference Co-Chair Conference Proceedings Editor /Editor Publications Coordinator Member-at-Large/Conference Co-Chair Member-at-Large/Conference Co-Chair Conference Proceedings Editor / Publications Coordinator Conference Proceedings / Publications Coordinator Member-at-Large/Conference Co-Chair Conference Proceedings Editor / Publications Coordinator Sandra OddyOddy Sandra Sandra Oddy Al AinAlWomen's College AinAin Women's College Al Women's College Sandra Oddy Higher Colleges of Technology Higher Colleges of Technology Higher Colleges of Technology Al Ain Women's College P. O. Box P. BoxBox 17258 P.17258 O. 17258 Higher Colleges ofO. Technology Al Ain, AlUAE Ain, UAE Al Ain, UAE P. O. Box 17258 03 709035319 (office) 709709 5319 (office) 03 5319 (office) Al Ain, UAE Sandra.Oddy@hct.ac.ae Sandra.Oddy@hct.ac.ae Sandra.Oddy@hct.ac.ae 03 709 5319 (office) Sandra.Oddy@hct.ac.ae

PeterPeter Davidson Davidson Peter Davidson Peter Davidson ZayedZayed University University Zayed University Zayed University Dubai,Dubai, UAE UAE Dubai, UAE Dubai, UAE050 843 8782 (mobile) 050050 843843 8782 (mobile) 8782 (mobile) 050 843 8782 (mobile) peter.davidson@zu.ac.ae peter.davidson@zu.ac.ae peter.davidson@zu.ac.ae peter.davidson@zu.ac.ae

Webmaster Webmaster Webmaster Webmaster

Acting SIG Coordinator Acting SIGSIG Coordinator Acting Coordinator Acting SIG Coordinator

Konrad A Cedro Konrad A Cedro Konrad A Cedro Men's College Dubai Men's College Dubai Men's College Konrad A Dubai Cedro Dubai, UAE Dubai, UAE Dubai, UAE Dubai Men's College 7680 (mobile) 050050 144144 7680 (mobile) 7680 (mobile) Dubai, UAE050 144 konard.cedro@hct.ac.ae konard.cedro@hct.ac.ae konard.cedro@hct.ac.ae 050 144 7680 (mobile) konard.cedro@hct.ac.ae

Sandra Zaher Sandra Zaher Sandra Zaher Higher Colleges of Technology Higher Colleges of Technology Sandra Zaher Higher Colleges of Technology Abu Dhabi, UAE Abu Dhabi, UAE Higher Colleges of Technology Abu Dhabi, UAE 616 0934 (mobile) 050050 616616 0934 (mobile) Abu Dhabi,050 UAE 0934 (mobile) 2 692 (office) 22535 692 2535 (office) 050 616 0934 (mobile) 2 692 2535 (office) szaher@hct.ac.ae 2 692 2535szaher@hct.ac.ae (office) szaher@hct.ac.ae szaher@hct.ac.ae

Volume 18 1818No. 3No.No. 20112011 Arabia Perspectives Volume 3 3November November TESOL Arabia Perspectives www.tesolarabia.org Volume November 2011TESOL TESOL Arabia Perspectiveswww.tesolarabia.org www.tesolarabia.org Volume 18 No. 3 20 November Perspectives www.tesolarabia.org Volume No. 1 2011JanuaryTESOL 2013 Arabia TESOL Arabia Perspectives www.tesolarabia.org

Feature Article IPP WINS 8 AWARDS AT

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL

PRINT AWARD 2011 1 AWARD IN 2006

2 AWARDS IN 2007

4 AWARDS IN 2008

6 AWARDS IN 2009

8 AWARDS IN 2011 THE QUEST UEST FOR QUALITY CONT CONTINUES

5 GOLD 2 SILVER 1 BRONZE

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Feature Article

Volume 20

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TESOL Arabia Perspectives