Mid Term Test Final Version

A Framework for developing self-directed technology use for language learning

-Outline-

·         Purpose: To understand the determinants of self-directed technology use through the construction of a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework of factors and interactions.

·         Thesis: Various psychological and sociocultural factors interact to influence language learners’ use of technology outside school.

·         Audience: Teachers of English as a second language

 

I.                   Introduction

A.    Definition of Self-directed learning

B.     Frequency and type of technologies used

C.     Factors that affect students’ adoption of technology for learning

 

II.                Theoretical Framework

A.    Theory of Planned Behaviour

a.       Attitudinal components

b.      Perceived Behavioral Control

c.       Social components

 

III.             Research Methodology

A.    Participants

B.     Materials

C.     Modeling and Analysis

 

IV.             Results and discussion

A.    Conceptual model

B.     Final model

C.     Endogenous variables

1.      Technology use

2.      Perceived usefulness

3.      Educational Compatibility

4.      Computer self-efficacy

5.      Self- regulation

D.    Interactions of Attitudinal, Perceived Control and Social influence components

E.     Discrepancies between the Conceptual and the Structural Model

 

V.                Implications on educational intervention framework

VI.             Conclusions

                                        References

 

Lai, C. (2013). A Framework for developing self-directed technology use for language learning. The University of Hong Kong. June 2013, Volume 17, Number 2 pp. 100-122. Retrieved October 2014, from http://IIt.msu.edu/issues/June2013/lai.pdf

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Framework for developing self-directed technology use for language learning

Reference pages analysis

 

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the reference pages of the article written by Lai, C. (2013)  A framework for developing self-directed technology use for language learning. June 2013, Volume 17, Number 2 pp. 100-122.

 As regards format, the word “reference” should be written on a separate page from the main text , it should also be centered at the top of the page and it should not be written in italics or bold type.. Another aspect to be mentioned is that entries are not double spaced.

The reference list is arranged in alphabetical order so as to help readers locate the sources the author refers to. Most of the sources are books and in the case of an internet source it is not mentioned when the article was retrieved. Except for the date of the internet source which has been previously mentioned, all the necessary information is included in each entry, such as , authors, publication dates, sources, publishers and places to retrieve the information.

To conclude it  must be said  that, in general, the requirements for what to include in reference lists are achieved so that another researcher is able to refer to the same source included and it also enhances the credibility with academic readers.

A Book Critique- Integrative Assignment Unit 4- Villegas-Garcia

A critique of Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students (2nd ed.) by Sthepen Bailey

Writing academic texts may be a major concern for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. Virtually all of them need training to improve their literacy skills at some point of their lives. Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students (2006) was written by Bailey to address these needs. In this handbook, Bailey states that “virtually all courses contain a large degree of written assessment and it is essential to ensure that your writing skills meet the necessary standard” (p. i). Basically, his work aims at guiding students throughout the writing process.

As regards format, this handbook is divided into four main chapters, each of which is, then, divided into four units. These units deal with different topics such as: grammatical structures, vocabulary, styles and register and are followed by exercises for students to practise. After the four units, there is a tests section for students to assess three different aspects of the writing process: accuracy, cohesion and comparison. At the end of the handbook, the author provides the readers with the key to the exercises previously proposed.

In Chapter One, the author explains the writing process; he examines its different stages and provides students with different tips to follow during this process. The second chapter deals with elements of writing, according to Bailey (2006) “the various skills that are needed for most types of academic writing” (p. 65). Some of them are: cohesion, generalizations, reference, quotations and synonyms. Again, Bailey provides students with theory and explanations and then exercises to put it into practice. Chapter three focuses on accuracy, an aspect students should aim at, to steadily improve to make their work as clear and readable as possible (Bailey, 2006 p.119). The last unit presents different writing models, including academic and non-academic texts, to be used as outlines.

From our point of view, Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students (Bailey, 2006) is a valuable education tool for ESL students. It helps them to improve their literacy skills and guides them through the writing process. To begin with, the layout and organization of the handbook is very clear and accessible. It allows readers to easily find each of the topics dealt with in the handbook. Furthermore, Bailey provides a significant and varied amount of exercises to practise each of the aspects presented in the handbook accompanied by its key. However, especially noteworthy is what he explains as regards the possibility of having different answers to the same activity, “Teachers need to use common sense, and accept any reasonable answer” (Bailey, 2006 p. 204). Based on this, we believe that Bailey’s (2006) book might not be useful for self-study as a teacher’s guidance is required.

 

 

References

Remember references take a page to themselves.

Bailey, S. (2006). Academic Writing: A handbook for international students (2nd ed.). Retrieved November 2013 from http://npu.edu.ua/!e-book/book/djvu/A/iif_kgpm_t27.pdf

Academic Summary- Integrative assignment Unit 3- Villegas-Garcia

Developing academic literacy skills through research projects 

In her article “Writing for the World: Wikipedia as an Introduction to Academic Writing”, Tardy (2010) states that academic literacy skills can be developed through small-scale research projects . Throughout the article, Tardy shows how the online encyclopedia Wikipedia helps second language (L2) students to become academic writers by developing academic literacy skills. The author describes the process to write an article step by step, providing the readers with different activities to carry out. According to Tardy C., "The Wikipedia-writing Project described here introduces students to many skills of academic research writing in a manageable and intersting way"  (Tardy 2010, p.18) 

The author starts by defining the term wiki, a collaborative web-based space that can be modified by users. Then, she continues explaining that Wikipedia is one of the most well-known online enciclopedias. This website gives students the opportunity to develop their academic writing skills and also to be aware of the credibility and reliability of the information they may include, once the articles are available to a worldwide audience.

Moreover, Tardy, C. mentions eight steps that should be followed in the writing process. The first one is to examine Wikipedia by analysing the website as regards topics covered, information included and general guidelines for contributing. After this, students select a topic and do their research. Afterwards, they create an outline of the content they are going to develop and move on to the drafting stage. The fifth step has to do with revising, they ask their peers to review their drafts and receive feedback to introduce the necessary changes. Citation is the next step, students focus on how to cite sources in two different formats. After having cited the sources properly, they are ready to move on the polishing stage and finally after registering as Wikipedia users they can publish their articles.

To conclude, even though academic writing presents different challenges for L2 students, small-scale research projects may help them to improve their academic literacy skills and become academic writers. The described project introduces students to different skills developed in academic research writing. According to Tardy C., "in producing a text for Wikipedia, students gain a real sense of audience and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing their work published on a high-traffic global website". (Tardy, 2010. p. 18). 

References

Tardy, C. M. (2010). Writing for the World: Wikipedia as an introduction to Academic writing. English Teaching Fórum, 1 pp. 12-19, 27.

Citation In Academic Writing-Unit 2 Integrative Assigment- Villegas-Garcia-

Citation in academic writing

Academic writing does not only imply using proper language and vocabulary but also knowing how to cite or document sources when we are using someone else's words. There are many systems to avoid plagiarism and several manuals can be used. In this paper, we will use the American Psychological Association (APA) manual for the analysis of in-text references. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of in-text citations, signal phrases and the reference list form the article by Dalvit, , Murray, and Terzoli, (2005), Providing increased Access to English L2 students of computer science at a South African University, published in  US-China Education Review, Sep. 2005, Vol 2 (9).

When using APA format, in-text citations include the author's last name, the date of publication and if the quote is direct, the page number separated by commas. In the case of this article, these citations include only the date placed in parentheses and not the author's name, on page 73 for instance the following example can be observed for a signal phrase: "Halliday and Martin (1993)" , however, when making reference to a study, both the author's last name and the year are placed in parentheses as in the following example (Boughey, 2002). In-text citations may also refer to an institution or group, such as "Webster's Online Dictionary, 2005" or "Council on Higher Education, 2001", in both cases the full name of both sources has been included in the reference list.

As regards signal phrases, authors use them in different ways when they include quoted or cited material into their texts. Referring to the article, the only expression used is "according to" as in most of the cases the name of the author or the institution is included at the end of the sentence. For instance, on page 72 the following signal phrases can be observed: “According to Heugh (2002), little has changed since the end of Apartheid.”

Concerning reference lists, they are placed at the end of any paper so that the reader can find and refer to the same sources the author has included. It is important to emphasize that every single citation that has been included in the body of the paper should be properly included in the reference list and every source that has been included in the reference list should appear in the body of the paper. In this particular case, the word "references" is not centered at the top of the page and the list is not written on a separate page from the main text. Moreover, each entry in the list is not double-spaced and it does not have one-inch margins. However, the entries are alphabetically ordered and different types of sources are included such as books, reports or websites.

To conclude, academic writing is not only related to using proper language and vocabulary but also to knowing how to cite sources when using someone else's words in order to avoid plagiarism. Although the analyzed article complies with the APA style for documenting sources avoiding plagiarism, the reference list does not fully apply to the required guidelines.

References

 

 Dalvit, L., Murray, S. and Terzoli, A. (2005). Providing increased access to English L2 students of computer science at a South African University. US-China Education Review, Sep. 2005, Vol. 2 (9)