This study explores the impact of using TED Talks on improving oral presentation skills of Business English students and vocabulary uptake/retention. It also assesses the impact of improving such hard cognitive skills on increasing Business majors’ speaking anxiety level. Sequential explanatory mixed method was used, which includes both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analyses. Business students’ oral presentation skills were assessed through Oral Presentation Skills Sheet (OPSS), vocabulary retention was assessed through Vocabulary Uptake/Retention Test (VURT), and speaking anxiety level was assessed through Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) (Mörtberg, Jansson-Fröjmark, Pettersson, & Hennlid-Oredsson, 2018). Participants in the study consist 49 students, who were divided into two groups; experimental group consisting of 24 students, and control group that includes 25 Business English majors. Findings of the study revealed that oral presentation skills and vocabulary uptake/retention levels were improved due to the use of TED talks as an ICT tool. Also, it was revealed that Business majors in the experimental group are more enthusiastic, energetic and motivated to give killer presentations as they became more confident and free of anxiety and tension.
The current study aims to investigate the impact of using flipped classroom approach on improving functional writing skills of business majors. Also, it aims to enhance some Higher Order Thinking (HOTs) skills including analysis, evaluation, and creation. Additionally, the study may help in eliminating writer’s block of the study sample. A standardized functional writing skill Pre and Posttest, Higher Order Thinking (HOTs) skills test and writer’s block questionnaire have been used to assess the target gains of students at the end of the study. The Quasi-experimental research design was used to investigate progress achieved by the sample of the study which included (51) business majors; (26) business students for the experimental group and (25) for the control group. The findings revealed large gains in functional writing skills, HOTs in favor of experimental group compared with the control group with minimized writer’s block based on the T-test differences in scores. Also ANOVA statistics among the quizzes targeted individual skills during the experiment showed on-going progress in both targeted skills and reduced writer’s block. It is recommended that flipped learning approach should be used in language learning practices.
The concept of teaching and learning has changed drastically over the past few years by the virtue of both research results carried out in the fields of second/Foreign language learning and acquisition. Of all these researches, findings related to the brain structure and functions in cooperation with cognitive aspects of the education process, including the study of learning styles and intelligence have struck the language learning domain. A due understanding of learners' learning styles, emotional preferences as well as their memory functions help teachers to build their teaching practices to optimize students' learning. Brain Based Learning Approach (BBLA) is a natural, motivating, and a positive way that supports and maximizes learning and teaching. The current study implements Brain Based Learning Approach to improve listening skills of Business students, vocabulary retention and establish positive attitudes with regards to their brain dominance and learning styles. To achieve these aims, listening skills test, vocabulary retention test, adapted form of Robert Gardner Motivation Scale, were developed and used. The sample of the study consists of thirty six Business majors. Findings show that Brain Based Learning is an effective approach for developing listening skills, consolidate vocabulary recalling and retention. It also helps maximize motivation towards learning language skills.
The current study investigates whether English language teachers use scaffolding strategies for developing their students' reading comprehension skills or just for assessing their comprehension. It also tries to demonstrate whether teachers are aware of these strategies or they use them as a matter of habit. A questionnaire as well as structured interviews were basically designed for the purpose of the study. The descriptive qualitative research design was adopted due to suitability for the nature of the study. Results of the study revealed that Non-native English language teachers are not aware of the nature of scaffolding strategies they use; they use such strategies for the purpose of assessing their students' comprehension rather than scaffolding their comprehension. It is recommended that English language teachers have an adequate orientation of the nature of scaffolding strategies, to what extent to be used (when to begin using these strategies and when to stop using them) and the significance in developing comprehension skills of students in the mainstream schools.
The study aimed at investigating the relationship between writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy in English for special education Arab learners of English. It also investigated the use of writing anxiety scores as a predictor of writing self-efficacy. In addition, it explored differences between males and females in both writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy in English. The sample of the study consisted of 90 intermediate school students in the state of Kuwait (47 males and 43 females); the mean age was 8.67 years and the standard deviation was 2.4 years. The descriptive research design was adopted in the study. The researchers used writing anxiety scale, writing self-efficacy scale and an achievement test in English writing skills. Results of the study showed that there is a positive relationship between students' writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy for male students and the overall sample while no relationship was detected among these variables for female students. In addition, results revealed that writing anxiety scores could be used as a predictor of students' writing self-efficacy in English for male students and the overall sample of the study whereas writing anxiety scores could not be used as a predictor of writing self-efficacy for female students. It was found that there were no statistically significant differences between male and female students in their scores of writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy in English Language.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.