Institute of Education Student-led Research Conference 2015 organising committee Tomasz John Nantikarn Simasangyaporn Munevver Meltem Yige Faizahani AbRahman
Use our official conference hashtag #ioeresearch to disseminate comments and pictures on social media.
Conference programme Time
Event
16.30
Introduction to presentations
Topic
Oral presentations Selma Ashikuti Namibia, Africa
Language equality and language equity in Namibia: what do the best schools tell us?
16.55
Munevver Meltem Yige Turkey, Asia
17.15
Tomasz John Poland & UK, Europe
Teaching Art to students with Special Educational Needs in primary schools: A comparative Case Study of Turkey and the UK The Rhetoric of the Internationalisation of Pedagogy and Curriculum in Higher Education – opportunities and challenges
17.35
Hamda Alnaimi Qatar, Middle East
17.55
Fund raising for Nepal
16.35
12th Qatari students occupational and educational decisions
Break & Poster presentations Faihan Alotaibi Saudi Arabia, Middle East
Teachers’ perceptions of the efficacy of social stories in the development of social skills for students with autism in Saudi Arabia
Harriet Louise Speed UK, Europe
Effects of contextualised grammar teaching using cognitive linguistics strategies on the understanding of Year 9 learners in writing tasks
18.00
Oral presentations 18.15
Nantikarn Simasangyaporn Thailand, Asia
The effect of strategy instruction on Thai learners’ listening comprehension and selfefficacy
18.35
Leah Muteru Kenya, Africa
Parental Participation in English State Schools; the case for Kenyans Point-Based System (PBS) immigrants
18.55
Louise Pagden UK, Europe
UK Free schools vision and reality: the battle between autonomy and accountability
19. 15
Wrap-up & “Farewell” to Alan
Selma Ashikuti (Selma) Supervisors: Dr. Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen & Barbara King Origin: Namibia Background: I am a lecturer at the University of Namibia. I have taught French and English for three and five years respectively at both high school and university level. Interests: I am keenly interested in multilingual education, language policy and planning as well as language management, specifically as these pertain to the role of indigenous languages in education. I believe that indigenous languages need be accorded more space and respect in education in Africa in order for them to not only survive but flourish as well.
Presentation: Language equality and language equity in Namibia: what do the best schools tell us? This study examines language equality and language equity in Namibia’s top ranking secondary schools. Namibia is a medley of languages, and the national language policy for schools promotes multilingualism as it permits most indigenous languages to be part of the school curriculum. While Namibia’s language policy for schools stipulates that all learners must study English and one of indigenous languages as subjects from Grade 1 (Republic of Namibia, 2003), it does not specify which indigenous language should be included and taught. The questions that arise are: (a) Are all indigenous languages made available to learners in the country’s top schools? (b) Are the language options in Namibia’s top schools representative of the country’s mosaic of languages? (c) What conditions, if any, accompany the language options made available to learners? (d) How should schools address concerns of language inequality and inequity? To answer these questions, I carried out a study of school stipulations regarding language options in Namibia’s top 20 secondary schools. The study is guided by theories of language equality and language equity and uses discourse analysis to examine the representation and status of indigenous languages in the country’s top 20 school’s subject option guides. Preliminary results indicate that indigenous languages are gravely underrepresented in the country’s top school with Afrikaans and German being, arguably, overrepresented. Key Words: language equality, language equity, indigenous languages
Munevver Meltem Yige (Meltem) Supervisors: Prof Naz Rassool & Dr. Gil Hopper Origin: Turkey Background: Since early age, I have always been interested in arts and I choose to study teaching arts program. After completing my undergraduate, I got my MA degree from University of Selcuk, Konya, Turkey. My focus was on child book illustrations and their effects on children’s learning. I got my MEd degree from University of Exeter, UK. My research focus was on perceptions of classroom teachers and students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) on art education and art activities in their school in Turkey. I worked part time as a SEN teaching assistant in different special schools. I am in my final year of PhD. Interests: Art education within the inclusive classroom settings is my main focus. I believe art education can be effective tool in inclusive education.
Presentation: Teaching Art to students with Special Educational Needs in primary schools: A comparative Case Study of Turkey and the UK. This paper reports on teaching Art in Primary schools in Turkey and the UK with a specific focus on students with SEN. Under the main research question; ‘What learning opportunities does art education offer to students with SEN?’ issues about primary schools inclusion policy and practices will be investigated from the perspectives of primary school teachers, head teachers and Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs). The focus of this study is on the main concerns and opportunities presented to primary school teachers, head teachers and SENCOs in catering for the needs of SEN children in art lessons. Revealing key school staffs’ perceptions on the effects of art education on students with SEN and reflections on art teachers’ own practices in art classes is the main aim of this study. Exploring participants’ perceptions will help to compare the two countries’ educational practices. Underlining the differences and similarities between the opinions of teachers, head teachers and SENCOs is essential in order to create a more efficient and more inclusive model of art education since the main aim of inclusion is to supply equal education opportunities for all students. Highlighting these similarities and differences in the procedure of inclusion as well as art education in these two countries will enable researcher to comprehend how perspectives evolved on these two subjects throughout history. The most suitable way to pointing out the differences in the policies as well as inquiring on teachers’ and other school staffs’ perceptions in two different countries is utilising multiple case study. The first part of data collection has been done in three primary schools in Turkey and the second part of data collection took place in three primary schools in the UK via semi-structured interviews with head teachers, SENCO’s and Art teachers. A discussion on these results in relation to implications for educational practice will be attempted in this paper. Key words: Inclusive Education, SEN, Art Education
Tomasz John (Tomasz) Supervisors: Prof Viv Edwards & Dr. Daguo Li Origin: Poland Background: I am a highly motivated, entrepreneurial spirited, self-driven and result oriented professional with extensive experience gained over 7 years in international education and language teaching (EAP, ESP, ESOL, EFL). Currently, I am writing up my PhD thesis. I work as the International Pathway Programmes EAP Co-ordinator and I manage Presessional EAP courses at the University for the Creative Arts. Interests: travelling, foreign languages
Presentation: The Rhetoric of the Internationalisation of Higher Education – opportunities and challenges The internationalisation of Higher Education tends to be theorised in the literature at the organisational, strategic level, with an emphasis on marketization. There are still, however, few in-depth investigations of interactions between international students and academics informed by accounts of the experience of practitioners or students. Drawing on contemporary work and thinking in the areas of cross-cultural pedagogy and globalised curriculum, my research seeks to create space for the voices and experiences of both students and staff working in international education. Within a Bourdieusian framework, I explore both cultural and linguistic dimensions, using a case study approach based on a southern English university. Data from surveys, interviews and focus group discussions with international students, academics and senior staff directly concerned with the delivery of the internationalisation agenda point to the need to reconsider contemporary realities and practices. Their accounts confirm that the presence of international students does not automatically enhance internationalisation of learning and teaching and, that more focused initiatives are required. The presentation will explore a selection of emerging themes, including Dynamics of Multicultural Group Work, Internationalisation of Curriculum, Assessment and Feedback, and the impact of IELTS as well as possible ways forward if universities are to translate rhetoric in relation to international students into sound practice. Key words: Internationalisation of learning and teaching, internationalisation of pedagogy and curriculum, English as Lingua Franca, intercultural communication
Hamda Alnaimi (Hamda) Supervisors: Dr. Carol Fuller & Prof Andy Goodwyn Origin: Qatar Background: I work as a counsellor in the Higher Education Institute in Qatar. I deal with students in their transition period from school to work. I came across a lot of students who can’t decide despite all the options and money spent. Interests: To understand how students in the last year of schooling make their occupational decision and what are the factors affecting this decision?
Presentation: 12th grade Qatari students occupational and educational decisions. My research is about Qatari twelfth grade students’ educational and occupational choices and the factors affecting their decisions. Two secondary schools were selected: one boys and one girls. These schools were selected as they had the highest numbers of attendance for Qatari students in twelfth grade. A questionnaire survey was conducted at the beginning of the school year. After analyzing the questionnaire results,21 student volunteers (10 in the boys school; 11 in the girls) were asked to participate in the study; chosen depending on certain criteria. Participants have been interviewed once and will be interviewed a further two times: the first time was when they were still in school, the second interview will be after leaving school and the third one will be four to six months from leaving school. This study is be a mixed methods, longitudinal study centered around this school to work transition. The research aim is to explore how Qatari twelfth students make their educational and occupational decisions and what are the factors affecting this decision. This paper will focus on some of the data collected from the surveys and interviews in relation to this. Key words: Qatar, students’ occupational decisions
Poster presenter: Faihan Alotaibi (Faihan) Supervisors: Dr. Yota Dimitriadi & Dr. Andy Kempe Origin: Saudi Arabia Background: I’m lecturer in special educational needs at King Saud university in Saudi Arabia. I got MA in special needs from Nottingham University. I’m in the beginning the third year in PhD studying. Interests: I’m interesting in an intervention programmes for students with autism and also in ICT for students with autism.
Presentation: Teachers’ perceptions of the efficacy of social stories in the development of social skills for students with autism in Saudi Arabia This study explores Saudi teachers’ perceptions of the efficacy of social stories in the development of social skills in students with autism in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in two phases. Data were collected in sequential quantitative and qualitative phases. Participants in this study were 100 teachers in the quantitative phase and 15 teachers were interviewed. In this poster, the researcher will present the data result in the qualitative second phase in which an understanding of teachers’ experiences was deepened by conducting semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample of fifteen teachers of diverse experience, covering six initial themes: the social story concept; sources of social stories; the effectiveness of social stories in improving social skills in students with autism; barriers to using social stories for students with autism; cultural consideration and context of social stories; and factors which contribute to the best use of social stories to developing of social skills for students with autism. Keywords: Perceptions, social stories, social skills and Autism.
Poster presenter: Harriet Speed Supervisors: Prof. Andy Goodwyn and Dr. Alison Silby Origin: England Background: I am a full-time secondary English Teacher teaching KS3 English, GCSE English Literature, IGCSE English Language and A-Level English Literature. This is my fourth year teaching after completing a BA in English Language and Linguistics at York University followed by a PGCE (Secondary English) also at York. During my years teaching, I also completed a MA in Education (Applied Linguistics) through the Open University, and am currently in my first year of a part-time PhD. Interests: My main interests lie in teaching English Language and grammar to native speakers- particularly exploring how new pedagogies can be established. Learning about Cognitive Linguistics in more detail has also been fascinating, particularly considering how this theory can be applied or adapted to suit classroom activities.
Presentation: Effects of contextualised grammar teaching using cognitive linguistics strategies on the understanding of Year 9 learners in writing tasks The poster will outline and critique the literature around the conceptualized topics of the study, define the scope of the study and identify gaps within the literature to justify originality. These topics include contextualized grammar teaching, cognitive linguistics, writing and attainment. The poster will include proposed research questions and suggested methods and methodology to meet these successfully. Keywords: English language education, contextualised grammar teaching, grammar teaching, cognitive linguistics, cognitive grammar, writing
Nantikarn Simasangyaporn (Nui) Supervisors: Prof.Suzanne Graham & Dr. Jessie Ricketts Origin: Thailand Background: I am an English instructor at a university in Thailand. I have taught English to Thai students for eight years, 5 years in tertiary level. I got my MEd from University of Sydney and Bachelor of Arts from Thailand. Interests: I have interest mainly in foreign language education and social cognitive theory. I believe that language is a tool for students of all discipline to access knowledge without constraint. Learning about social cognitive theory helps me to understand how students think and react to situations and how we could help them cope with it.
Presentation: The effect of strategy instruction on Thai learners’ listening comprehension and selfefficacy Listening is often perceived by language learners to be the most difficult aspects of language learning and could be even more complicated for Thai learners of English because of large language differences. Such difficulties may have a negative influence on learners’ sense of control over their learning and consequently on their self-efficacy for English listening. Some studies have found the use of language learning strategies to increase language learners’ level of self-efficacy for and proficiency in listening comprehension. However, more empirical evidence of the effectiveness of strategy instruction is still needed. The present study focuses on the relationship between listening proficiency, strategy use and self-efficacy, and the effect of strategy instruction on these variables for Thai universitylevel learners of English. Using a quasi-experimental pretest - posttest design, the mixedmethod instruments included in this study are listening comprehension tasks, a set of questionnaires and stimulated-recall protocols. Seven listening strategy lessons were given to intervention groups while comparison groups received regular listening lessons. In this presentation, initial findings from statistical data analyses will be presented.
Keywords: language education, foreign language, English listening, strategy instruction, selfefficacy
Leah Muteru (Leah) Supervisors: Prof Naz Rassool and Dr. Gil Hopper Origin: Kenya Background: I am a secondary school teacher since I graduated 16 years ago. I taught in Kenya for 6 years before I came to England. Interests: My interest lies in exploring issues surrounding Black African children underachievement at school. My current research aims to explore the realities of a small group of skilled Kenyan immigrant parents as they endeavour to support their children through participation at school.
Presentation: Parental participation in English State schools: The case for Kenyan Points Based System (PBS) migrants. This research aims to capture the struggles and triumphs of a small group of skilled Kenyan workers who migrate to the UK for the purposes of work and are accompanied by their school-age children. To try and gain a better understanding of Kenyan, Points Based System (skilled), migrant parents’ experiences of participating in their child’s school, a systematic qualitative enquiry exploring the experiences of Kenyan PBS migrants through interviews and focus groups was carried out. The interviews were transcribed and verified by the participants. After thoroughly familiarizing with the data, coding and organizing the data into themes was conducted using computer-aided software – Nvivo. The main findings of this research are that positive relationships with their children’s’ schools led to more educational participation by parents and more academic success for their Kenyan children. Negative relationships led to children failing to achieve expected academic success or, their parents withdrawing children from UK state schools, moving them into Independent schools or, sending the children back to Kenya to continue with their studies. However, Kenyan PBS parents social capital both in the UK and in Kenya seemed to be an important influence in determining participation in schools, with parents that had strong social capital and ties within the UK leading to more participation in UK state schools while high social capital and ties in Kenya and not the UK led to non-participation in the UK state schools. This suggests that relationships within the destination country are important for PB migrant families, in relation to the educational success of their children. Keywords: Parental Participation, social capital, cultural capital, decision making, vulnerability
Louise Pagden Supervisors: Dr. Carol Fuller Origin: UK Background: I have always been interested in education and the role that this plays in society. From working as a support teacher in the ‘villas’ (shanty towns) of Buenos Aires I was struck by the profound effect that education, or lack of it, could have on people’s lives and society at large. From there I became a primary school teacher in the UK and curriculum leader for several subjects. I later became an education consultant for Hampshire local authority, devising and leading training in primary languages for the 400 schools in the county. For the past five years I have worked in higher education in teacher training and development. I am now a senior lecturer at the University of Winchester where I teach education theory and primary languages to undergraduate and postgraduate trainee teachers. I am in my final year of an EDD which I do around my work commitments. Interests: Autonomy in education, alternatives to mainstream education such as independent schools and Steiner schools. The role that education plays in alleviating (or causing) deprivation. International education.
Presentation: Free schools - the battle between autonomy and accountability. A comparison of vision and reality for Free school governing bodies Since their inception in 2010, Free schools have multiplied rapidly; there are now 250 open in England, with more than 100 opening in the coming year. However there is little empirical evidence on the set-up process and the possible problems and opportunities encountered by the governing bodies. This study aims to address this gap. The research presented in this paper will examine the extent to which Free schools’ and visions and ambitions are reflected in reality. The presentation will focus on two case-study schools: one championed by a consortium of churches and a fourth-sector organisation; the other spear-headed by parents. The paper compares and contrasts the views of governing body personnel in the set-up period with their experiences once the school is open. The data was gathered through 15 semi-structured interviews and analysed using a variety of methods. School documentation, including policies and web-literature has also been analysed. The results highlight pressures that act upon free schools, which either facilitate or prevent their vision from becoming a reality. Despite relative freedom, both schools’ visions remain a relatively traditional approach to schooling. However, elements of their visions, which were intended to set the schools apart, have been more difficult to achieve. Keywords: Free schools, autonomy, accountability, vision, motivation
Fundraising for Language Development Centre, Katmandu, Nepal During the conference we will be fundraising for the Language Development Centre in Katmandu devastated by the Nepali earthquakes on 25 April and 12 May 2015. The centre needs our help to improve the living situation of Nepalese marginalised and disadvantages ethnic and indigenous communities and enhance thier socio-economic status and capacity as well as implement effective, sustainable mother tongue-based literacy and formal education programmes. More information on how to donate on http://ldcnepal.org/donate/