Aston University Graduate Student Showcase

Sunday, 12:40 pm - 2:50 pm, Room 301

(1) Motivation and the awareness of JTEs as L2 users

David Heywood

The presenter will describe attempts to develop the status of Japanese teachers of English (JTEs), in the eyes of students, as L2 users and role models by bringing them into the classroom as interview guests. Since the JTEs and students share the same ethnicity and non-native speaker status, it will be suggested that the students are motivated by seeing the JTEs use English competently, since their L2 proficiency represents a realistic and achievable goal.

(2) Repair during peer interaction in the classroom

Karen Masatsugu

The presenter will briefly describe her investigation into the type of repair work carried out by learners during peer interactions in first-year university EFL classes, summarize the results, and reflect upon the research process. Tape-recorded data was collected from five different activities, analyzed using techniques from Conversation Analysis, and examined from a sociocultural perspective. The presentation will show how the study enabled this teacher-researcher to develop an ecological perspective on her classroom.

(3) Using concordance lines in high school

Yvonne Beaudry

The presenter will show how concordance lines, generally used in ESP contexts, can be a useful tool at high school level. Using concordance lines to learn vocabulary offers many benefits: it requires active participation, is adaptable to student needs, and can become a powerful autonomous learning tool. The presenter will show how high school students, with minimal teacher support, used concordances to explore collocation, distinguish easily confused words, and notice how meaning and pattern relate.

(4) Supporting situated learning with a web archive

Gerald Talandis

This paper will evaluate a website that enabled Aston MSc course participants to gain direct access to past messages sent through the program's email discussion list. The site was created on the premise that availability to selected academically oriented discussions would benefit the MSc community in meaningful and practical ways. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative data collected over a 12-month period indicated the site was used like a reference book, primarily for interpersonal and course content support.