Thesis Writing Challenges Facing Palestinian EFL Master’s Students: A Qualitative Case Study (Published)
This study probed challenges of writing thesis among Palestinian English as a foreign language (EFL) master’s students (MA). A qualitative case study was employed, and the data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The participants were eighteen MA students and ten supervisors from the department of English at the Islamic University of Gaza. The main findings identified in the study included, among others, selecting an appropriate research topic, limited research and methodology training, linguistic and academic writing inadequacies, insufficient feedback from supervisors and course instructors, and limited resources and online digital materials. To minimize these challenges and empower MA students, the study offered some recommendations and suggestions for further future studies.
Keywords: Challenges, EFL, MA students, Qualitative research, Thesis writing, supervisors
Active Learning: An Effective Metacognitive Strategy for Language Acquisition (Published)
Citation: Sylvia D’mello (2022) Active Learning: An Effective Metacognitive Strategy for Language Acquisition, International Journal of English Language Teaching, Vol.10, No.2, pp., 45-52
Abstract: Active learning has gained momentum since the past decade as an effective instructional approach which draws students out of their comfort zone and drives them to take an active part into their own learning. This paper addresses the research proven metacognitive strategies that support the utilization of cognitive activators which encourages students to take a vital role in their own learning process. These cognitive activators are a set of meaningful activities which are embedded in the pedagogical framework to encourage more complex thought processes in students to promote language acquisition. This research is contextualized to English language teaching (ELT) in higher education institutions because ELT teaching has experienced a fascination towards the techniques and strategies applied in active learning. Furthermore, it emphasizes the use of these instructional interactive techniques in the classroom to have a strong impact upon students’ learning to develop students’ writing, speaking and critical thinking skill.
Keywords: Qualitative research, active learning, cognitive activators, student centered
The Contribution Made By Qualitative Research to Tesol (Teaching English To Speakers Of Other Languages) (Published)
Students and researchers of different disciplines — such as sociology, psychology, health care, nursing, education, arts and humanities, and so on — employ qualitative methods for their research project. In education, TESOL researchers increasingly use qualitative research enquiry. This study aimed to appraise the contributions of qualitative research to TESOL. In order to achieve this aim, the study demonstrated a critical understanding of theoretical debates in qualitative research. Then, two articles related to English language teaching to speakers of other languages were chosen with a view to arguing that qualitative research paradigm contributes to TESOL more than any other research paradigms. The key findings were characteristics of qualitative research: description-understanding-interpretation, dynamic, no single way of doing something- multiple realities, inductive thinking, holistic, in-depth study, words-themes-writing, and non-linear; existence of nexus between interpretivism and qualitative research; and positive impacts of qualitative research on TESOL.
Keywords: Contribution, Interpretivism, Meaning, Perspective, Qualitative research, TESOL