Attitude, Self-efficacy and English communication skills become an integral part to provide appropriate careers to students. Learners suffer from low self-efficacy which is an impediment in their involvement in learning tasks. Poor learning strategies diminish their motivation and consequently their language proficiency. It has been proved that self-efficacy is used an instrument to amplify positive attitude among learners towards English Communication Skills. There is a positive relationship among the attitude, self-efficacy and English language achievement of learners. It provides a framework to understand communication practices of engineering students in India. This book aims to help the language practitioners and educators to look for concrete ways to assist learners to develop a positive attitude and learn more effectively by empowering them to take ownership of learning and to manage their own learning.
Neuroscience contributes to the basic understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying human development and learning. Educational neuroscience is an interdisciplinary research field that seeks to translate research findings on neural mechanisms of learning to educational practice and policy and to understand the effects of education on the brain. It is an emerging multidisciplinary field where the aim is to link basic research in neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive science, with educational technology. Educational neuroscience is often associated with the ‘science’ of learning and encompasses a broad range of scientific disciplines, from basic neuroscience to cognitive psychology to computer science to social theory. It is an interdisciplinary research field that seeks to translate research findings on neural mechanisms of learning to educational practice and policy and to understand the effects of education on the brain. Neuroscience research usually focuses only on learning, but there is a developing subfield within neuroscience called “Mind, Brain and Education” (MBE) that attempts to link research with teaching. MBE researchers consider how to take advantage of the natural human attention span, how to use studies about memory systems to inform lesson planning, and how to use research on the role of emotions in learning. In neuroscience research, progress has been extraordinary, including advances in both understanding and technology. Scientists from a wide range of disciplines are being attracted to the challenge of understanding the brain. In spite of discoveries regarding the structure of the brain, we still do not understand how the nervous system allows us to see, hear, learn, remember, and plan certain actions. Educators and schools around the globe are increasingly relying on the knowledge, techniques, and programs developed based on a new understanding of how our brains work. This knowledge is being applied to the classroom. A growing amount of attention is being paid to neuroscience and how the results of empirical research may be used to help individuals learn more effectively. In this Research Topic, academic scientists, researchers, and scholars will share their experiences and research results on all aspects of brain-based learning and educational neuroscience. Furthermore, it provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners, and educators to present the latest developments, trends, and concerns. In addition, it discusses practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the field of Educational Neuroscience. The focus of this Research Topic is to bring together academic scientists, researchers, and scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research findings related to brain-based learning and educational neuroscience. Researchers, practitioners, and educators will also be able to present and discuss the newest innovations, trends, and concerns. This will include practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in Educational Neuroscience as well as in related fields. All original and unpublished papers describing conceptual, constructive, empirical, experimental, or theoretical work in any area of Brain Based Learning and Educational Neuroscience or studies that explore the intersections between neuroscience, psychology, and education are highly encouraged. Aspects, topics, and critical issues of interest include, but are not limited to: neuroscience applications in enhanced-learning, how students learn mathematics and language, personal motivation, social and emotional learning, motivation, the biology of learning, brain functions and information processing, and many others.
This book presents original, empirical data from quantitative and qualitative research studies in the field of language learning aptitude, ability, and individual differences. It does so from the perspectives of Second Language Acquisition, psychology, neuroscience and sociolinguistics. All studies included in the book use a similar and uniform layout and methodology. Each chapter contains a study examining factors such as memory, personality, self-concept, bilingualism and multilingualism, education, musicality or gender. The chapters investigate the influence of these concepts on language learning aptitude and ability. Several of these chapters analyse hypotheses which have never been tested before and therefore provide novel research results. The book contributes to the field both by verifying and contesting existent findings and by exploring novel approaches to devising research in the subject area.
This edited volume examines a number of topics related to the roles of individual and contextual factors in English as second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) settings by presenting chapters across the three sections of theoretical and pedagogical approaches, teacher and learner research, and research into the roles of technology. The book has a focus on practical actions and recommendations related to individual and contextual factors in ESL/EFL, with a specific concern with issues of cognition, metacognition, emotion, and identity, and offers perspectives from a diverse range of international education settings. For teachers of ESL/EFL, the effective recognition and integration of individual and contextual factors into the classroom may represent a significant challenge. This is often the case in those settings where native English speaking teachers work in foreign language contexts where they may have limited understanding of local cultures and languages, or where language instructors have class groups that are culturally and linguistically diverse. In these, and similar, contexts, the types and extent of individual and contextual factors impacting on language learning may challenge both learner and instructor expectations of what an effective and supportive classroom is. While such a situation offers numerous opportunities for learners and teachers to expand their knowledge of themselves and each other, it also presents the possibility for ineffective teaching and learning to occur. It is within this framework that the book presents the latest theoretical, pedagogical, and research perspectives from around the world, thereby providing a resource for all stakeholders with an interest in the roles individual and contextual factors play in the English learning process.
Ernesto Macaro brings together a wealth of research on the rapidly expanding phenomenon of English Medium Instruction. Against a backdrop of theory, policy documents, and examples of practice, he weaves together research in both secondary and tertiary education, with a particular focus on the key stakeholders involved in EMI: the teachers and the students. Whilst acknowledging that the momentum of EMI is unlikely to be diminished, and identifying its potential benefits, the author raises questions about the ways it has been introduced and developed, and explores how we can arrive at a true cost–benefit analysis of its future impact. “This state-of-the-art monograph presents a wide-ranging, multi-perspectival yet coherent overview of research, policy, and practice of English Medium Instruction around the globe. It gives a thorough, in-depth, and thought-provoking treatment of an educational phenomenon that is spreading on an unprecedented scale.” Guangwei Hu, National Institute of Education, Singapore Additional online resources are available at www.oup.com/elt/teacher/emi Ernesto Macaro is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Oxford and is the founding Director of the Centre for Research and Development on English Medium Instruction at the university. Oxford Applied Linguistics Series Advisers: Anne Burns and Diane Larsen-Freeman
