Effectiveness of English Preposition Learning through Data-Driven Learning (DDL)

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of paper-based data-driven learning (DDL) method in developing young Thai students in learning three English prepositions, which are 'during', 'among' and 'between', and to examine the attitudes of the participants towards learning through the DDL activities. The convenience-sampled participants were 30 Thai grade 4 students who have A2 CEFR level, studying in a private school in Nakhonsawan province, Thailand. They were taught the target preposition using DDL for 6 weeks. In order to analyse the data, the mean scores of pre-test and post-test were compared by using pairedsamples t-test. The tests consist of gap-filling, grammaticality judgement test and sentence building. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in their mean scores (p < 0.001), which increased from the pre-test to the post-test after DDL activities were introduced to the students. According to the test results, it was found that the participants could develop their grammatical consciousness and produce more meaningful and grammatical sentences with a variety of complexity. Moreover, the questionnaire and interview responses revealed the positive attitudes of the participants towards learning through the DDL method as they found it fun, interesting and challenging, and they considered this method as a helpful resource for learning new grammatical knowledge. Thus, this study yields an instructive result that DDL can be applied with young EFL learners and could be an encouraging teaching method for EFL/ESL teachers.

Effects of Data-Driven Learning on College Students of Different Grammar Proficiencies: A Preliminary Empirical Assessment in EFL Classes

“…Whereas the students of, Hirata and Hirata (2013), Hirata et al (2013), and Liu and Jiang (2009) were asked to consult electronic corpora by themselves, the students in the current study were presented with paper-based, short-listed concordance lines cherry-picked by the researcher. The latter material, containing clear and targeted linguistic features, may be easier for students, even those of lower-level proficiency, to understand and interpret (Boontam & Phoocharoensil, 2018; Boulton, 2010; H. Lee et al, 2017, 2019; Moon & Oh, 2018).…”

“…Likewise, when compiling the printed material, the present researcher not only chose precisely sentences that were complete and stand-alone but also excluded those containing information too difficult to understand, for instance, carrying too much sophisticated vocabulary or requiring field-specific knowledge. However, the paper-based DDL material used in the study of Lin (2016) clearly did not consider such principles, thus probably increasing the difficulty of the task for his DDL students (Boontam & Phoocharoensil, 2018; Moon & Oh, 2018; Yoon & Hirvela, 2004), especially the lower-proficiency learners.…”

“…To judge the pedagogic effects of DDL adequately, the grammar performance, learning motivation, and self-efficacy of both groups were examined and compared before and after the experiment. These two attitude variables are particularly important and should be examined together with grammar performance because motivation and self-efficacy have long been considered critical indications of students' learning attitudes (Bandura, 1986(Bandura, , 1997Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2013;Pajares, 2003). They have also been found to correlate strongly to learners' performance (Zuffianò et al, 2013), in such areas as grammar (Lin, 2016) and writing (Lin, 2014).…”

Corpusbased Approach in the Saudi EFL Context Learners Attitudes Towards Utilizing

“…Learners should have opportunities to develop a feel for language and enhance their discovery learning through given direct access to corpora use as stated by Huang (2011). One of the recent corpus studies is Boontam and Phoocharoensil (2018) which was conducted on 30 Thai learners to investigate the effect size of employing corpus-based approach. The researcher applied a treatment for six weeks (one 50-minute class every week).…”

Effects of a 4D program on blood sugar control among patients with type 2 diabetes in Pathumthani Province

“…Behaviors could only be modified by educational interventions. [5][6][7] Three main determinants of health are physical and social environment, health care environment and health behaviors. 8 In designing an intervention to change or enhance positive health behaviors, three categories of factors, namely, predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors should be considered.…”