Alternative assessment has been the focus of many educational researches in EFL classroom. This study was carried out to highlight the definition, characteristics and effects of alternative assessment in EFL context by reviewing current research on assessment. The research consisted of a systematic review of the empirical studies on alternative assessment in EFL classroom. Focusing solely on online search, many studies were found but only (n=24) met the inclusion criteria involving a total of (n=1588) participants. Also, it aimed to scrutinize the methods, participants and findings of the selected studies as well as the locations where they were conducted. The findings indicated that most of the studies (18 out of 24) reported positive effects of employing alternative assessment on language learning skills in EFL classroom. The results also show that the dominant method employed in the articles was quantitative where students were the main focal point involved in the research as their participants. The study is further concluded with a discussion on definition, characteristics and effects of alternative assessment in EFL context.
E-learning provides teachers and students with great opportunities and benefits, by enhancing teaching and learning experiences. Although e-learning is widely adopted in educational systems, some countries still use traditional teaching methods with limited use of technology as a medium of teaching and learning. This study investigates the perceptions of Afghan EFL undergraduate students toward e-learning at a public university in Afghanistan. Few studies have investigated the use of e-learning in tertiary-level education in Afghanistan, indicating the need to understand the perceptions of undergraduate students toward it. Students who were the primary beneficiaries of e-learning were included. This quantitative study was conducted in the form of a survey using data gathered via questionnaires. In total, 140 randomly selected respondents participated in the survey. The key finding of this study was that e-learning is perceived to be useful in higher education. However, it was also realized that electronic education is not only expensive but also require strong Information and Communication Technology skills. Additionally, more than half the participants preferred hybrid learning, a combination of online and face-to-face learning methods. The Chi-square test results indicated a significant association between gender and the perceived ease of use of e-learning, whereby a large proportion of males perceived e-learning as user-friendly in education, but females disagreed. However, the Mann-Whitney U test results showed that there were no statistically significant differences between freshman students and senior students’ attitudes toward e-learning. These findings contribute to the field of tertiary-level education regarding the usefulness and flexibility of e-learning. As most participants favored hybrid learning, the implementation of hybrid learning was recommended. These results have significant implications for higher education institutions that use e-learning for teaching and learning. The conclusions of this study might not be generalizable to all universities in Afghanistan; however, to some extent, are reflective of the situation in other universities.
The aim of this article is to explore Afghan undergraduate students’ perceptions towards effective teaching at a public university. Data were collected based on a Likert scale questionnaire containing 32 items from 47 respondents. The results show that although the ability of teachers to teach and help students are vital, their attitudes towards students are considered crucial for judging their effectiveness. Most of the students perceived that a teacher who has excellent knowledge of the subject, well prepared, value students’ opinions and contribution, start sessions on time, provide both group activities and assessment briefs considered very effective. The article concludes by suggesting that notions of effectiveness are predicated less on university teachers having high academic expectations and more on the provision of a supportive environment in which teachers scaffold learning effectively and promote effective interaction with their students.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the scripts entitled ‘‘Sports’’ in terms of processes used and text type based on (Halliday, 1994) Systemic Functional Linguistic approach. Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) is looking into the syntactic structure of a clause based on six processes including material, mental and relational process (major category) and verbal, behavioral, and existential processes (minor category). Forty (40) students of the subject ‘Dynamics of Leadership’ at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia were assigned to write essays about ‘Sports’ in between 300—400 words within thirty (30) minutes and sixteen (16) essays were selected for the analysis. Researchers used mixed-method in order to analyze both quantitative (numerical) and qualitative (descriptive) data. All the collected essays were analyzed and then the percentage of all the six processes has been shown in descriptive statistics and interpreted in tabulations and bar graphs. The findings indicate that the dominant process used in all the scripts was material—doing and happening— and subsequently relational. Focusing more on nominalization, the analyzed manuscripts were found to be wordy.
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