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A Meta-Analysis of Extensive Reading Research / Takayuki Nakanishi.
// TESOL Quarterly Volume 49, Issue 1, March 2015. 2015pages6–37 The purposes of this study were to investigate the overall effectiveness of extensive reading, whether learners age impacts learning, and whether the length of time second language learners engage in extensive reading influences test scores. The author conducted a meta-analysis to answer research questions and to identify future research directions. He included two types of empirical studies—those including group contrasts based on a comparison of a control group and experimental groups, and pre–post contrasts that only include experimental groups—in the analysis. After a thorough literature search with numerous search engines and manual and electronic examination of related journals, the meta-analysis included 34 studies (two PhD dissertations and 32 research articles) that provided 43 different effect sizes and a total sample size of 3,942 participants. Findings show a medium effect size (d = 0.46) for group contrasts and a larger one (d = 0.71) for pre–post contrasts for students who received extensive reading instruction compared to those who did not. In sum, the available research to date suggests that extensive reading improves students reading proficiency and should be a part of language learning curricula.
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Conflict, Militarization, and Their After-Effects: Key Challenges for TESOL / Cynthia D. Nelson and Roslyn Appleby.
// TESOL Quarterly Volume 49, Issue 2, June 2015. 2015pages 309–332. Skyrocketing military spending, ongoing military conflicts, and human displacement worldwide have significant consequences for the teaching and learning of English. TESOL increasingly requires a robust research base that can provide informed, critical guidance in preparing English language teachers for work in and near conflict zones, for teaching refugees and asylum seekers, and, more broadly, for teaching English in highly militarized times. This investigation, which takes the form of a transdisciplinary, translocal literature review, consolidates and extends TESOL s peace–conflict studies through a close examination of two areas that are connected but rarely considered in tandem: TESOL s multiple involvements and entanglements in armed and militarized conflicts and their aftermath, and the challenges of teaching English in a conflict zone or for students who have escaped or been exiled from one. Implications for pedagogy and further research are suggested. The argument is, in short, that the dialectical relationship between TESOL and conflict is in urgent need of collegial scrutiny, that teachers need to be equipped to facilitate critical and creative engagement with English not apart from broader sociopolitical realities but in relation to these, and that the implications of conflict for language learning are relevant across the wider TESOL community, given world developments.
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Reading Comprehension in Test Preparation Classes: An Analysis of Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge in TESOL / Christine Irvine-Niakaris and Richard Kiely.
// TESOL Quarterly Volume 49, Issue 2, June 2015. 2015pages 369–392. This article examines the pedagogical content knowledge which underpins the practices in reading lessons of experienced teachers in test preparation classes. It takes as a starting point the assumption that practice is shaped by teacher cognitions, which are established through professional training and classroom experience. Thus, the study explores the nature of reading comprehension pedagogy and also the ways teachers vary and adapt their approach. The study, carried out in upper intermediate TESOL classrooms in Greece, draws on video-recorded classroom data, field notes, and interviews with four teachers. The analysis focuses on lesson structures, reading and test-taking strategy awareness raising, and teachers’ knowledge about texts. It validates the established reading skills lesson structure—pre-, while-, and postreading—but shows how this can vary in implementation. It suggests that the attention to strategies is not only explicit strategy instruction, but also situated demonstration by the teacher of how strategies can unlock the meaning of the text. The pedagogy overall is conditioned by the test preparation context of the program; the teachers are mindful of this goal and integrate references to the test to anchor the pedagogy in students’ current reality and to demonstrate how specific strategies can aid comprehension.
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Understanding the Quality of Out-of-Class English Learning / Chun Lai, Weimin Zhu and Gang Gong.
// TESOL Quarterly Volume 49, Issue 2, June 2015. 2015pages 278–308. Out-of-class learning constitutes an important context for human development, and active engagement in out-of-class activities is associated with successful language development. However, not all out-of-class experiences are equally beneficial to learning, and it is of paramount importance to understand what quality out-of-class English language learning entails. This study surveyed 82 middle school EFL students on their out-of-class English language learning in order to identify the characteristics of the experiences that are associated with good learning outcomes. The study found that out-of-class learning composed of diversified constituents that met the varied needs in language learning and complemented in-class learning by striking a balance between focus on meaning and focus on form were positively associated with good English grades, English language learning efficacy, and enjoyment. It also found that parents and teachers were significant sources of influence on the quality of students out-of-class learning.
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