English language teachers’ implementation of curriculum with action-oriented approach in Turkish primary education classrooms

Vol. 6  Issue 2
Year:2016
Issue:Apr-Jun
Title:English language teachers’ implementation of curriculum with action-oriented approach in Turkish primary education classrooms
Author Name:P. Yeni-Palabiyik and A. Daloglu 
Synopsis:
The aim of the study is to explore English language teachers' implementation of a curriculum innovation with an actionoriented approach in the context of teaching English to very young learners in Turkish primary schools. As a part of exploratory case study design, data from multiple sources were gathered in the form of observational field notes, followup interviews and document analysis. Findings indicated a variation in teachers' instructional practices ranging from traditional to constructivist. Even if factors such as presence of instructional materials and facilities of the school influenced the implementation, this study indicated that the teacher is the main factor in effective delivery of any imposed change. Besides, the positive influence of proficiency in subject-matter knowledge and curricular knowledge to achieve coherence between the intended and delivered curriculum was revealed. The results showed that providing an ongoing support and including teachers in the process of curriculum development helped to promote the effective implementation of the curriculum innovation.

Is it too Late Now to Say Sorry? – the Language of Public Apologies in the Contexts of American and Philippine Television

Vol. 6  Issue 2
Year:2016
Issue:Apr-Jun
Title:Is it too Late Now to Say Sorry? – the Language of Public Apologies in the Contexts of American and Philippine Television
Author Name:John Paul O. Dela Rosa and Lorna B. Castro 
Synopsis:
This pragmatic study of the speech act of apology aims to look into the apology strategies and felicity conditions fulfilled in the public apology statements of an American and a Filipino TV host after alleged faults done during the pageant nights of Miss Universe 2015 and Binibining Pilipinas 2015, respectively. Specifically, the study purposes to establish similarities and differences between the apology strategies and felicity conditions employed in both American and Filipino public apologies. It was found that the American TV host provided a more direct apology expression as compared to the more intensified expression of the Filipino TV host. On the basis of the apology strategies used, the American TV host made emphasis on self-blame, self-embarrassment, and on a more empathetic type of apology. On the other hand, the Filipino TV host made her apology more self-justifying which highlights explicit lack of intent and denial of self-responsibility. As regards felicity conditions, the apology statement of the American TV host is more felicitous than that of the Filipino TV host. The emergence of less common apology strategies was also traced from the statement of the Filipino TV host-the transfer of guilt towards the “apologizee” and the expression of gratitude to a certain group of people to counter the negative impact of the mistake or fault committed.

Investigating the Representation of Multiple Intelligences Theory in TPSOL Textbooks

Vol. 6  Issue 2
Year:2016
Issue:Apr-Jun
Title:Investigating the Representation of Multiple Intelligences Theory in TPSOL Textbooks
Author Name:Saman Ebadi and Maryam Beigzadeh
Synopsis:
As the main applicable language resources in classrooms, textbooks provide the primary source of information, and they serve the foundation of instruction and transfer the curriculum objectives. Therefore, teachers should be conscious in choosing the right textbooks and activities for their students. The purpose of this study is to investigate one series of commonly used TPSOL textbooks in light of Multiple Intelligences Theory. Three Textbooks of Farsi Biyamuzim series were analyzed using a MI checklist developed by the present researchers based on the review of the related literature and frameworks of the theory. Careful analysis of the activities revealed that textbooks mostly catered for verbal/linguistic, visual/spatial, logical/mathematical, and interpersonal intelligences. The least dominant intelligence were intrapersonal, musical, and naturalist intelligence types and no example of the bodily/kinesthetic intelligence was observed in the analyzed textbooks' activities. In addition, the results of the study did not show any significant effect of proficiency level on application of intelligence types in textbooks. The findings of the study suggest the administrators and material developers to consider the necessity of applying various intelligence types in designing TPSOL textbooks.

Insight Of Teachers On Problems Of Students In Acquiring Communicative Skill In English

Vol. 6  Issue 2
Year:2016
Issue:Apr-Jun
Title:Insight Of Teachers On Problems Of Students In Acquiring Communicative Skill In English
Author Name:G. Singaravelu and M. Paramasivam
Synopsis:
The study examined the insight of English Teacher towards students of standard XI in acquiring communicative skill in English. The main objective of the paper was to identify the problems of the students in acquiring communicative skill in English. The Normative survey method was adopted in the study. One hundred teachers were considered as a sample for the study. Problem inventory for the teacher was selected as a tool for the study. After establishing Reliability and validity of the tool, it was considered for the final study. Findings of the study is a significant association between the Male and Female teachers on the opinion of problems of the learners in Listening skill with respect to stress pattern, cohesive device, Distinctive sound, Intonation, Contextual meaning and Homophones. Communicative skill can be practiced in the classroom transaction by using role play, pandemonium, discussion, interaction, translated version of Tamil cinema, etc. Written communicative skill can be developed by conducting essay competition, preparing advertisement, preparing projects, etc.

English language publishing in Chemical Engineering Journals from an Indian academic’s point of view - a broad scientific perspective

Vol. 6  Issue 2
Year:2016
Issue:Apr-Jun
Title:English language publishing in Chemical Engineering Journals from an Indian academic’s point of view - a broad scientific perspective
Author Name:Sukanchan Palit 
Synopsis:
Scientific vision and scientific understanding in today's world are in the path of new glory. Chemical Engineering science is witnessing drastic and rapid changes. The metamorphosis of human civilization in this century is faced with vicious challenges. Progress of Chemical Engineering science, the vision of technology and the broad chemical engineering applications together will go a long way in the true emancipation of scientific publishing and scientific editing. The author as a Chemical Engineer deeply delves into the world of chemical engineering science and unfolds the vast and visionary domain of publishing and editing. The author with deep and cogent insight uncovers the various branches of chemical engineering subject, its vast and varied applications and the futuristic vision of publishing in Chemical Engineering Journals. Scientific writing in today's world is in the path of newer regeneration. Plagiarism issues are changing the face of global scientific writing. It is a burning as well as a vexing issue. The human scientific endeavour is in the state of a difficult crisis. The sole aim and objective of this treatise is to address the need of lucid and plagiarism-free scientific writing in India. The message of plagiarism free writing in India needs to be strong and far-reaching. In today's scientific perspective, the need for scientific writing, whether it is of Engineering or Medicine, is immense and also needs to be targeted to the common mass. Chemical engineering is also in the path of new regeneration and newer reenvisioning. The domain of chemical engineering is now diversifying into different areas of Bio-engineering, Biotechnology and Medicine. In a separate section, the author delineates the visionary scientific endeavours in scientific writing especially medical science writing. There is an immense need for Chemical Engineering writing as India moves into a new eon of scientific cognizance and greater scientific vision. Mankind's vision and scientific prowess will be emboldened as India moves into a new scientific era. The basic upshot of scientific writing with targets towards sustainable development needs to be re-envisioned. The author touches upon the wide world of interdisciplinary areas of chemical engineering particularly, biotechnology, bioengineering and rural development in India. These aim and objectives will open up newer future thoughts and newer future vision in the years to come.

Metadiscourse In Book Prefaces Of Filipino And English Authors: A Contrastive Rhetoric Study

Vol. 6  Issue 1
Year:2016
Issue:Jan-Mar
Title:Metadiscourse In Book Prefaces Of Filipino And English Authors: A Contrastive Rhetoric Study
Author Name:Leonardo O. Munalim and Rachelle B. Lintao 
Synopsis:
Grounded on the tradition of Contrastive Rhetoric (CR), this paper aimed at contrasting the presence of metadiscourse resources in a book preface of Filipino and English authors. It especially sought to see the similarities and differences of interactive and interactional markers between two cultures. A total of thirty book prefaces on language areas, fifteen in each culture were culled. They were identified, classified, and interpreted based upon the taxonomies by Hyland and Tse (2004) with the interlarding frameworks by Crismore, Markkanen, and Steffensen (1993); Hyland (2007); Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik (1985); and Yagiz and Demir (2015). Results show that a book preface is calibrated by authors from both cultures with a profuse use of interactional MD resources, that is, a book preface has to be more interactional than interactive. The results also put forth that differences in metadiscourse resources reside in the text due to the differing cultures of individualism and self-accolade among the English, and humility and text-economy among Filipino authors. In a nutshell, practical and pedagogical implications are offered in this present study.

Rhetorical analysis of the doctoral abstracts on English language teaching in Turkey

Vol. 6  Issue 1
Year:2016
Issue:Jan-Mar
Title:Rhetorical analysis of the doctoral abstracts on English language teaching in Turkey
Author Name:Kemal Sinan Ozmen
Synopsis:
Doctoral dissertation has an important role to embark on an academic career confidently. The case is much more challenging for the early career doctorate who strives to contribute to the wider academic community. Using Swale's IMRD model, this study analyzed the rhetorical organization of English abstracts of 147 doctoral dissertations written between 2010 and 2015 in national graduate programs on English Language Teaching in Turkey. The results revealed 38 DAs with IMRD model and at least 22 rhetorically deficient DAs, lacking critical moves and linguistic realizations. Most DAs seem to exclude the conceptual framework, gap and important submoves. Omission of the Discussion move was also found to be a problem among the DAs. In addition, DAs from the half of the programs do not comply with the word limits offered by the official guidelines. Based on the results, a guideline was prepared to offer a remedy for the responsible bodies.