The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has represented a substantial challenge to educators worldwide with almost no predefined plans to deal with the negative outcomes of such crises and emergencies. The closure of schools and universities has forced public and private educational institutions to look for alternative methods for students to continue learning and understanding the remaining syllabi. Since attending on-campus classes has become impossible, and congregating in public places has become limited, self-access and virtual learning have become popular teaching modes implemented through self-access platforms. This paper sheds light on the negative consequences of COVID-19 on L2 learning and the different pathways self-access and virtual learning provide to students who have been deprived of face-to-face instruction. It also outlines the opportunities and challenges of these digital learning forms and online platforms that enhance self-access learning. Moreover, this paper provides an analysis of the practical mediums that foster learner autonomy in L2 settings and the responsibilities of students, teachers, and educational authorities in facilitating self-access learning. This paper eventually proposes that disrupted classes do not necessarily mean disrupted learning when self-access learning is facilitated, appropriate training is given, and students’ motivation and autonomy are enhanced.
As a special approach in discourse analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) aims to study the discursive conditions and consequences of power abuse practised by dominant groups or institutions (van Dijk, 1995). It contributes to raising awareness of the discursive strategies employed by elite groups in order to control the minds of minor ones. It permits them to free themselves from the compulsions and limitations that deprive them of their right to think critically and have the freedom of choice. In the discipline of language learning, learners' awareness of CDA enables them to read critically and produce language in more logical manner. It is one way to empower them with adequate reading and writing strategies and to enhance their consciousness of using speech acts in meaningful context. This paper analyses a text following the framework of text analysis proposed by Fairclough (1992). The authentic text was selected reflecting one aspect of the British culture that does not have the common agreement of the ruling parties in the British community. It holds significant debate between representatives of the Conservative Party and the Labour Party that was taking over at that time. The analysis shows how the lexical and syntactic connotations reflect the attitudes of each Party and the newspaper publishing this article as well. The paper provides insights into how CDA can enhance learners' sociolinguistic competence and language use.
Peer feedback is applauded in many writing courses for fostering students’ independence and collaboration and for creating a wider learning environment in which students can benefit from the feedback and diversity of input they get from other peers (Stubbe, 2013). It improves students’ writing skills by developing their use of effective composing processes since they can share ideas while planning, drafting, and revising writing forms (Richards and Schmidt, 2010). It also reduces the anxiety of students who can get constructive feedback on their writing from other peers instead of their teachers (Phillipson, 2007). However, application of peer feedback in writing courses is a complex process since it requires provision of rubrics and guidelines for students to follow; this is in addition to explaining the areas they need to focus on. It also requires having cultural awareness of the level of corrections Arab students can accept. This paper reflects on a practical experiment conducted with a group of undergraduate students for showing how peer feedback is approached and practised by students in English language courses. Students’ views and perceptions about peer feedback are also surveyed showing their appreciation of the level of collaboration peer feedback encourages among them. Nevertheless, the results also show a number of concerns students have about peer feedback.
Within the humanistic tradition of language education, there is a pedagogical partnership between teachers and learners, and this partnership develops to further independence the more learners have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to play an active role in planning, monitoring, and evaluating their own learning. Given that enhancing learners' independence in the TESOL landscape currently constitutes the pedagogical ideology of many language educators, there are still some challenges. Learner independence is a multi‐faceted theme with psychological and philosophical ramifications, which does not exist in one form or degree in all contexts. In addition, learners with different ethnic identities and of different cultural backgrounds do not perceive the linguistic and affective gains of being independent in the same way. Moreover, the mechanisms of reinforcing learner independence are not universally agreed upon by language teachers in the TESOL world. This entry addresses these issues and considers the empirical implications of learner independence on L2 pedagogy.
Relevant research studies show an outstanding effect of the collocational competence on reinforcing the language proficiency of students learning a foreign or second language (Ellis, 2001). Students' awareness of word combinations enables them to produce language with native-like accuracy and increases their ability to use different levels of formulaic language, idioms, and fixed expressions. The argument of Firth (1957) that "a word is known by the company it keeps" implies that knowing how words are combined facilitates using them efficiently. This entails dedicating more time and effort to increase students' awareness and acquisition of collocations. However, as argued by Chan and Liou (2005), explicit teaching of collocations is not given the deserved attention in language classes possibly because of the difficulty of teaching them in a way that facilitates their storage and retrieval. It is also due to the shortage of user-friendly materials that could be utilised for teaching collocates. In addition, it could be rendered to native language interference and the nature of interlanguage. This study explores how apt undergraduate Arab students are in using collocation in written works. It also analyses the very common errors they make in written activities. This study concludes that students' ill-formed expressions are a shared responsibility between them and language teachers. It proposes a tri-polar model for enhancing students' use of collocation. They are elicitation, fixation, and creation. This study eventually provides pedagogical implications that facilitate addressing collocation in language classes.
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