Modern Perspectives in Language, Literature and Education Vol. 3

Assessment of Interaction Patterns among International Class Students and Regular Class Students in Yayasan Pendidikan Shafiyyatul Amaliyyah Medan, Indonesia

Addaratul Hasanah — 2021-05-05

Education system which using international class system and regular class system inflict many types of problems and issues that arise. The problems that arise create the interaction patterns that frequently form a deficient interaction patterns. The purpose of the formation of the education system is caused by the emergence of various challenges of the changing times which are followed by globalization and modernization which demands an increase in human resources. This research aims to know how the interaction patterns which occur in international class and regular class in High School of Yayasan Pendidikan Shafiyyatul Amaliyyah and how to overcome the occurrence the social jealousy among them. This research use qualitative research with descriptive approach. The subjects of the research are International class students, and regular class students, teacher, foundation manager as the main information source. The findings show that there are differences in interactions that occur between regular and international class students. The school form interaction with incorporate the students through activities and programs at school and generate the students in International Class and Regular Class be more effectual to interaction thus the social jealousy among them would be disappear, therefore the interaction which occur be more intense and effective. Therefore, this paper wants to show that curriculum differences that are applied in schools do not necessarily form differences and divide students into certain classes. However, this curriculum difference is to adjust the educational needs and abilities that students want to have.

Better Understanding Pre-service Elementary School Teachers’ Mental Models about Seasonal Change

Jun-Young Oh — 2021-05-05

The goals of this study are to develop an abductive procedure that students can use to build alternative models, as well as to help teachers in building scientific models for their students based on the initial model they were given about seasonal change. Understanding these explanatory mental models can provide important information about the students’ knowledge structure, based on questions’ responses. The data collected from the paper-pencil test and individual interview with students. For this study, 30 pre-service elementary school teachers(1^st grade) were participated. The findings of this study indicate that the students had obvious alternative conceptions, and that the 'distance theory' had the most significant effects on their alternative conceptions. We reconstructed the forming process of their alternative concepts based on abduction inference patterns in order to determine the origin of structure of their alternative conceptions about seasonal change. The expansion, contraction, and revision of main theory is achieved by their early age perceptions of traditional celestial bodies rather than developed specific information, and they have the expansion, contraction, and revision of main theory as their alternative models. The implications for science education for pre-service teachers and related studies were discussed. Teachers must have both the requisite science knowledge and the required abductive inference skills to effectively instruct elementary school students in scientific activities.

Finally, future studies should equate real scientists' research processes to teachers' research processes. This suggestion is based on the assumption that scientists and students use similar processes to develop scientific knowledge.

Is the M.A. English Translation Curriculum Effective for Employers?

Aynaz Samir — 2021-05-05

The current master's curriculum of English Translation in Iranian universities has not met the demands of the society for which it was developed and the translation employers complain that some essential skills are not included in the curriculum. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of current curriculum for M.A. English Translation Studies in Iranian universities regarding the employers’ perspectives in order to find its deficiencies and to propose some recommendations to make the curriculum compatible with market needs. To this end, a quantitative research method was used for this purpose. Data were collected by using “Translation skills and competences” questionnaire. The questionnaire was administrated to 30 experienced translation employers. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results revealed to update the curriculum some practical courses are necessary to be included in the curriculum including advanced writing in English and Persian language, bilingual editing skills, marketing skills, translation aided technology, and interpretation.

Determining the Effectiveness of Imagination Stretch Teaching Strategy in Correcting Misconceptions of Students about Particulate Nature of Matter

Alamina, Jane I. — 2021-05-05

This research was carried out to determine the effectiveness of imagination stretch teaching strategy in correcting misconceptions of students about the particulate nature of matter in Senior Secondary Schools in Rivers State. A proper understanding of the concept of particulate nature of matter provides a solid foundation for understanding and interpretation of concepts of atoms and molecules which are the invisible microscopic components of all phenomena in the natural world. Quasi-experimental design pretest- posttest control group was adopted using ninety-two (92) Secondary School 3 Chemistry Students from intact class as the sample. A four-tier misconception diagnostic test tagged “Particulate Nature of Matter Misconception Diagnostic Test” developed by the researcher was the instrument used for diagnosis of students’ misconception on the particulate nature of matter. The reliability coefficient of 0.76 of the instrument was established using alpha Cronbach method. Mean, percentages, standard deviation and ANOVA were statistical tools used for data analysis and hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. Wrong answers by approximately 20% or above were considered as misconceptions. From the results, it was discovered that imagination stretch teaching strategy caused a significant reduction in students’ misconceptions about the particulate nature of matter. There was a significant difference in mean score of students’ misconceptions about the particulate nature of matter for the experimental and control groups confirming the effectiveness of imagination stretch teaching strategy in correcting students’ misconceptions. Based on the findings, it was recommended that teachers should adopt conceptual change instructional strategy in teaching abstract chemistry concepts to foster students’ understanding and motivate them to the study chemistry as a subject.

“Legislators and Interpreters”: Le Malheur of Deconstructionism

Ramzi Marrouchi — 2021-05-05

When Jacques Derrida accuses the project of the Enlightenment of being totalitarian, illusive, racist, imperialist, devoid of any intellectual merit and moral ground, Jürgen Habermas unexpectedly responds that Derrida’s deconstruction represents a betrayal of what was best known about the Enlightenment since it undermines reason, destroys universality, and renounces the hope of any emancipation. Derrida, from a modern viewpoint, fails to provide norms of judgment, misunderstands the foundations of the Enlightenment, and shows no critical responsibility; while modernity, in Derrida’s logic, is philosophically inconsistent and authoritarian in nature. If the Enlightenment is worse, deconstructionism is more than worse. Deconstructionism, in line with this, appears to have a “tragic fate” since one could no more tell when it has begun and where and how it is has been developing. Deploying an archeological method and a genealogical design, this paper offers an epistemic digging into the structures of thoughts that rest behind Derrida’s deconstructionism. Differently put, it addresses deconstructionism in relationship with its descendants. The concepts of Enlightenment, modernity, postmodernity, philosophy, literature, post-theory, or the demise of theory become fundamental to trace the trajectory and the development of Derrida’s thinking. The legacy of metaphysics has turned out to be the legislator for deconstructionism, and Derrida has functioned as a rebellious interpreter and hunter to history itself.

Future Leaders’ Perception of Democracy in Nigeria

Jere Ndazhaga — 2021-05-05

The leaders in Nigeria are perceived to be largely if not entirely responsible for the present sorry state of affairs in the country. This is basically in relation to the erosion of globally accepted tenets of democracy. There is great concern and uncertainty about whether or not the future leaders will tow the line of the leadership that has been perceived as bad. Therefore, survey was used in this study to explore the future leaders’ perception of democracy. The findings showed that the future leaders are disposed towards towing the line that is better than that of the leadership under review. It is therefore, recommended that adequate punishment should be meted to all for actions or inactions that negate globally accepted correlates of democracy.

Trauma Informed Training Practices in Adult Education

Richard Skiba — 2021-05-05

A qualitative literature review is utilised to highlight the shift to learner-centred methodologies in vocational education and training and profile the applications of trauma informed approaches to address learner needs and increase learner inclusion and chances of success. The discussion begins by identifying the need for trauma informed approaches in delivery related to technical and further education and workplace settings.

The characteristics of trauma informed training environments are then considered such that the professional development needs of trainers can be established. The paper presents a model competency statement that can be used to develop training programs for trainers working in vocational education and training. The model competency statement, entitled ‘Utilise trauma informed training practices’, can be used as a basis for development of accredited programs, nationally recognised units of competence, professional development programs or any other program related to implementation of trauma informed approaches in an adult training setting.

School-Based Management Model and Quality Assurance in Nigerian Secondary Schools

Adeolu Joshua Ayeni — 2021-05-05

There had been a global concerned by the stakeholders in education over the perceived inadequacies in the management of education system, dwindling quality of education and students’ academic achievement in secondary schools. This study therefore examined the School-Based Management Committee’s (SBMC) involvement and effectiveness in school governance, and students’ academic performance in Nigerian secondary schools; the major challenges facing effective SBM practice were identified as low capacity of key members of the SBMCs; poor attendance of members at meetings due to lack of incentives and financial support from the government; lack of cooperation from the schools; and PTA’s resistance to the SBMC initiatives; these resulted in ineffective school management and partly responsible for the low level of students’ academic achievement. It was concluded that a school based management model be adopted to strengthen the operational capacity of SBMCs for efficient service delivery and quality learning outcomes in secondary schools.

Reporting Islam in Non-Western Newspapers: A News Framing Analysis

Isyaku Hassan — 2021-05-05

The media attention to Islam has increased over the past few decades, but meeting the quality standards in reporting the region is of great concern. This is because the media tend to highlight prejudice in news reporting of Islam. Therefore, this study aims to explore how non-western newspapers frame Islam in news reporting. Using purposive sampling, Punch and Vanguard were chosen from Nigeria while The Star and New Straits Times were chosen from Malaysia based on their popularity and readership. A total of 599 news articles focusing on Islam or Muslims were collected from the selected newspapers using an internet-based search from November 2015 until September 2016. These news articles were subjected to content analysis to explore how Islam is framed in the selected newspapers. The findings showed that more than one-third (41.6%) of the overall Islam-related articles reported Islam using human interest frames and more than one-third (38.1%) of the articles used conflict frames. Further analysis of the findings revealed that Nigerian newspapers used more conflict frames (48.9%) in reporting Islam compared to Malaysian newspapers (30.4%). It was envisaged that the findings of this study would advance our understanding of how non-western media frame Islam in news reporting.

Collaborative and Reflective Practices through Project Approach in Early Years Setting

Masayu Dzainudin — 2021-05-05

The role of collaborative and reflective practices is significant as they help improve teaching and learning in today’s technological dependent environment. This study aims to present and discuss an explorative study on early childhood educational practices of employing the Project Approach (PA) to demonstrate the collaborative work between researchers and practitioners as well as the reflective practices. The study employed an Action Research design involving the researcher, two preschool teachers and six children. Data were gathered through observations, interview and reflective journals. Four objectives were set according to the phases of an action research to: i) observe the existing teaching and learning practices; ii) train teachers to be critical reflectors; iii) do a simulation of project work with children at the fieldwork; and iv) critically reflect the collaborative practice in PA. Findings observed the collaboration and reflective practices between the researcher and the teachers transformed the teacher centred approach to a more child-centred as more opportunity for adult-children interactions were provided. The teachers became more responsive towards the children's needs. It can be concluded that with the right methods and tools provided in the training of teachers, teaching practices can be altered to enhance learning.

“Enkanta Tako”: Initial Stylistic Assessment of Selected Lyrics of Bontok’s “Antoway, Ayoweng, and Chag-Ay” Songs

Jonnelle D. Fagsao — 2021-05-05

Most studies of Bontok songs in Bontoc, Mountain Province, Philippines have focused on the need to preserve an aspect of the “Ifuntok” (people of Bontoc) society, but the major aim of this paper first proposes an understanding of the Tokwifi’s “Antoway”, Bacwaden’s “Ayyoweng”, and Khensay’s “Chag-ay” regarded commonly as songs of the Bontoks during wakes and funerals, taking into consideration its intrinsic potential on literary themes and musicality. This paper then organizes the framework of Prototype and Relevance Theory and applies it to the selected songs found in the three collections. It attempts to express how prototype and relevance theory can improve not only a thematic analysis of the selected songs but also the extra-textual interpretations that can be drawn from them. In doing so, it adds to the contemporary thoughtful understanding of Bontok indigenous tradition as they are deceptively eliminated of the impression of the past, recontextualized in today’s literature and music curriculum, and associated in contemporary free issues and concerns in the Bontok community.

Studies in Second Language Acquisition

Isabel Cantón Mayo — 2021-05-05

Oral communicative competence enables speakers of a language to interact effectively with each other. Oral communicative competence includes a wide semantic field since the oral expression is a way of expression for the thought and it provides feedback and develops by means of the linguistic function (Vygotsky, 1992; [1,2,3]). English communicative competence is based on the use of the language as a tool of communication, both oral and written, of representation, of interpretation and of reality comprehension. This investigation aims to analyse the oral communicative competence in English of students who have finished the stage of Primary Education. It also tries to know if the center where students study, the students’ gender, the attitude towards the English language and attendance to private lessons increase the oral communicative competence. The sample was intentional and stratified (rural-urban schools and ordinary-bilingual schools). It is composed by 265 students and the instrument is a questionnaire provided with reliability and validity. The results show high levels of competence, higher than expected, and with light differences that favor the girls and the urban bilingual schools in the acquisition of the oral communicative competence in English. Obviously, the pupils who dedicate more time to the revision and study of the English subject obtain better results in the acquisition of the linguistic communicative competence in oral expression and oral interaction.