<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This study focused on the development of reading and writing skills to a group of B1 level learners of English in a private language institute in Athens, Greece with the aid of blogs (a web tool), since Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) enhances foreign language learning. To this end, two groups of young learners were formed; the control group which was taught through the traditional coursebook and the experimental group which was taught through a differentiated approach to language teaching. The differentiated approach which was applied involved eight teaching sessions in a private language institute. Pre-tests and post-tests were administered to both groups in order to evaluate the use of CALL in the improvement of literacy skills. Pre- and post- semi-structured interviews were also conducted with the students of the experimental group to evaluate their attitudes and feelings before and after the instruction. The aim of using blogs, as a web tool, was to enhance collaborative learning and social interaction. This research attempted to prove that blogs create a social interaction between students, and between the students and the teacher. For the purposes of this research, students were involved in process writing by making drafts and writing their posts and in active reading when they read other posts and texts from other web sites.</abstract>

Europaiki Poreia, Foreign Language Institute

Teaching Reading and Writing Skills to Young Learners in English as a Foreign Language Using Blogs: A Case Study

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Foreign language anxiety (FLA) is perceived as a negative factor influencing learners’ language achievement. Targeting Chinese overseas students, this paper investigates whether communicative confidence, fear of negative evaluation, attitude towards using English in workshops and trait anxiety are related to Chinese students’ speaking anxiety. The present study also aims to examine how students perceive their speaking anxiety and coping strategies both from teachers and students. The questionnaire and the semi-structured interview were adopted for data collection. 80 TESOL students at the University of Edinburgh were invited to complete the questionnaires, with 6 students participating in the interviews to get deeper insights into Chinese students’ perception of their speaking anxiety. Research findings revealed that communicative confidence, fear of negative evaluation, attitude towards using English in workshops and traits anxiety were strongly related to Chinese students’ speaking anxiety. In the interviews, 6 respondents commented that instructors’ characteristics, such as patience and humor, and their preparation before class can alleviate their speaking anxiety in workshops. It is hoped that the current study can contribute to a deeper understanding of Chinese students’ speaking anxiety in UK universities.</abstract>

Chinese TESOL Students’ Perception of Their Speaking Anxiety in Workshops

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Problems with staffing play a crucial role among factors influencing the quality of English language teaching at Czech primary and lower secondary schools. Since 1990 the shortage of teachers of English as a foreign language has been repeatedly reported by the Czech School Inspectorate. The shortage is largely caused by the reluctance of English language teacher education study programme graduates to accept teaching positions at primary and lower secondary schools. A drop-out syndrome in the early stages of the teachers’ career is another factor that may contribute to the lack of teachers of English. Unfortunately, it has not been researched in the Czech Republic and it has not been systematically monitored by the state. In the research study focusing on novice teacher drop-out, conducted in 2015–2017, we deal with the process of socialisation of novice teachers in schools and with external factors that influence the socialisation and that can be seen as predictors of novice teachers’ decision to stay in their current school or leave either the school or the teaching profession. The current paper presents partial findings related to drop-out intentions of novice teachers of English as a foreign language in comparison with teachers of other subjects. Our findings indicate that drop-out intentions are more frequent in teachers of English as a foreign language than for other teachers and that teachers of English evaluate their cooperation with colleagues and leadership at their schools more critically than other teachers.</abstract>

Novice Teachers of English as a Foreign Language in the Czech Republic and their Drop-Out Intentions

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Activities and questions to assess knowledge in English for medical purposes were designed to incorporate terminology, academic vocabulary and grammar items in computer-based tests for bachelor students in Dentistry at Medical University - Varna. During the two-semester study course identification of key words, core lexical patterns, specific collocations and emphasis on their recurrent use were the selected strategies for student retention of specialized language and improved learning outcomes. Medical terms as single-word lexical units with straightforward definitions are easy to learn compared to collocations and multi-word terms including polysemous adjectives. In the present paper we concentrate on the process of formation of structures containing attributive adjectives which can be quite a problematic and error-generating area for second language learners. The aim of the on-going research study is to extract current lists of the sub-technical vocabulary and the terminological units in specialized medical domains as linguistic resources. The collection of assessment materials into a test bank for specific educational purposes is a customizable electronic resource, imported into the University platform to facilitate the process of compilation and creation of new tests.By implementing corpus linguistic tools into test design, the instructor aims at providing an authentic e-assessment environment based on the idea of key words in context, concordances, and lexical patterns as per the contents of the selected textbooks and teaching materials during the course. The paper highlights some strategic issues about creating test resources in EMP such as the adherence to a set of selected linguistic items and grammatical structures based on their frequency in the domain.</abstract>

Test Banking in English for Medical Purposes (Dentistry)

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Since the Barcelona objective released on 16 March 2002, European Union met an ambitious goal: to promote learning of “at least two foreign languages from an early age” (European Commission 2019). Thus, bilingualism, multilingualism, and linguistic diversity became a part of European policy (Pokrivčáková 2013a; Pokrivčáková 2013b; Schunz 2012). Nevertheless, English language is still considered to be the global language, used as <italic>lingua franca</italic>. English is the language of international dialogue facilitating further educational and professional development, it is the language of international communication, science, academia, and the Internet (Dearden 2014). English is the first foreign language taught in Slovakia, and therefore majority of Slovak medical students chose the course of Medical English during their study. To develop communicative competence and performance in students, it is necessary to offer a very wide range of stimulating activities in English classes. Videos published on the Internet offer enormous potential for foreign or second language (L2) acquisition at every level according to Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in almost all learning phases, covering a significant variety of authentic topics (Barnau, Džuganová, Malinovská 2018). Our study is particularly aimed at watching of YouTube professional medical videos with/without captions and their effect on English language skills, especially listening comprehension in medical students at Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia (JFM UC).</abstract>

Teaching Medical English through Professional Captioning Videos

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Cultivated speech with correct pronunciation and adequate prosody is important from a social, communicative and also didactic point of view. It can be regarded a “universal quality” of one’s self-presentation. Even though the Czech curriculum sets the development of phonetic aspects as one of the important elements of L1 teaching, various sources show that the educational reality in school differs. Based on a sample of 148 teachers of all educational levels from across the Czech Republic, the study analyses the teachers’ stated beliefs and pedagogical content knowledge of teaching phonetic aspects of Czech, and attempts to give at least an assumption of the actual classroom practices of teaching phonetic aspects in Czech classes and through that the extent of the mismatch between the intended and implemented curriculum. The results show that phonetic aspects are not treated with as much attention as they ought to and that teachers’ beliefs about the actual process of teaching and learning phonetic aspects seem to influence the implemented curriculum more than the intended curriculum and other formal requirements given by the government do.</abstract>

Impact of Teachers’ Beliefs on Teaching Phonetic Aspects: the Case of Czech as L1

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Pronunciation plays an indisputable role in communication; even more so in communication between native and non-native speakers of English. The goals for pronunciation teaching have shifted from accent-free or native-like pronunciation to comprehensibility and teaching practices aimed at non-native English learners vary and are often based on teachers’ opinions rather than research findings. The paper aims to present the current topics in twenty selected research papers dealing with pronunciation teaching (teaching practices in the English language classrooms, selected segmental and suprasegmental features). The analysed papers indicate that a teacher’s good theoretical background can raise students’ awareness and the overall performance of pronunciation phenomena, whether at the segmental or the suprasegmental level. Students may benefit from different strategies applied to pronunciation learning, but traditional teaching methods are still prevalent in the contemporary English language classroom.The contribution presents partial results of the research project KEGA 001TTU-4/2019.</abstract>

Current Issues in Pronunciation Teaching to Non-Native Learners of English

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This study is informed by the observation of some dangerous threats to faith’s missionary and human developmental goals as well as Salvationist stance. The alarm has been sounded that fanaticism of any colour at all is not only inimical to the raison detre of faith’s cardinal objectives but more tellingly, constitutes a serious endangerment of humanity, particularly the Nigerian enterprise. Deploying exemplifications from Chinua Achebe’s <italic>Things Fall Apart</italic> (1958) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s <italic>Purple Hibiscus</italic> (2006) in an eclectic combination of a body of qualitative instances drawn from the Islamic and the Christian faiths the paper underscores the danger inherent in bigoted faith both to faith itself and to the society. The paper urges the painstaking reification/inculcation of the principles of tolerance and patriotism in children in their formative years through literary creativity, the precepts of inter and intra religious tolerance respecting the West African sub-regional stance for secular imperatives and egalitarian. This is to enthrone lasting peace in the African sub continent and the world a piece.</abstract>

Faithful Prodigals, Precarious Polity and Re-Jigging National Discourse: Readings from Two African Novels

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Slovak language and literature belongs to the leading subjects in the system of secondary education in the Slovak Republic. The persistent traditional teaching techniques (encyclopedic-memorization) and the absence of systematic development of critical thinking in the process of education has caused an identified below average state of critical thinking of students at secondary grammar schools. The aim of our half-year experiment was to verify the effectiveness of The Programme of Development of Critical Thinking of Pupils in the Subject of Slovak Language and Literature. To meet the set target we implemented an experiment (a single-factor technique of parallel groups). Out of 16 first-grade secondary grammar schools classes (<italic>N</italic> = 365) two equivalent groups were selected for the experiment – an experimental group (<italic>n</italic> = 32) and a control group (<italic>n</italic> = 30). The main measurement means was the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test. The conclusions of the experiment pointed out the effectiveness of the intervention programme.</abstract>

Teaching Slovak Language and Literature in the 1st Grade of Grammar Schools: the Verification of the Development of Critical Thinking of Pupils

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 11 (2023): Issue 3 (December 2023)

Volume 11 (2023): Issue 2 (October 2023)

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Volume 10 (2022): Issue 3 (December 2022)

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Volume 9 (2021): Issue 3 (December 2021)

Volume 9 (2021): Issue 2 (September 2021)

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Volume 8 (2020): Issue 3 (December 2020)

Volume 8 (2020): Issue 2 (November 2020)

Volume 8 (2020): Issue 1 (September 2020)

Volume 7 (2019): Issue 3 (December 2019)

Volume 7 (2019): Issue 2 (September 2019)

Volume 7 (2019): Issue 1 (May 2019)

Volume 6 (2018): Issue 3 (September 2018)

Volume 6 (2018): Issue 2 (May 2018)

Volume 6 (2018): Issue 1 (January 2018)

Volume 5 (2017): Issue 3 (September 2017)

Volume 5 (2017): Issue 2 (May 2017)

Volume 5 (2017): Issue 1 (January 2017)

Volume 4 (2016): Issue 3 (September 2016)

Volume 4 (2016): Issue 2 (May 2016)

Volume 4 (2016): Issue 1 (January 2016)

Volume 3 (2015): Issue 3 (September 2015)

Volume 3 (2015): Issue 2 (May 2015)

Volume 3 (2015): Issue 1 (January 2015)

Journal of Language and Cultural Education

 Journal of Language and Cultural Education (JoLaCE) is a double-blind peer-reviewed international journal promoting international scholarly exchange among researchers, academics, and professionals. It carries only original, previously unpublished full-length research and survey articles that reflect the latest research and developments in both theoretical and practical aspects of language, literary and cultural education. Review studies, research-in-progress reports, short research notes, commentaries, and in-field publications reviews are invited to be published as well.  Rejection Rate   53,2%   Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 