Browsing by Subject "Second language learning"

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    Assessing mentalworkload in dual STEM–Air Force language listening practice
    (MDPI, 2024-02-11) Roca-González, José Luis; Vera-López, Juan-Antonio; Navarro Pérez, Margarita; Filología Inglesa; Facultad de Letras
    Cognitive workload analysis is an important aspect of safety studies at the Spanish Air Force Academy where students must complete a dual academic curriculum based on military pilot training combined with an industrial engineering degree. Recently, a mental workload assessment (MWA) and forecasting model based on Shannon’s law from information theory (IT) has been published; it proposes a new mathematical procedure (MWA-IT) that defines a workload index that could be extrapolated to other case studies. The aim of this study was to adapt this model to the Spanish University Centre of Defence to calculate the mental workload caused by the listening practice in English as a foreign language. In addition, a contrasting methodology, the NASA task load index (NASA-TLX), was applied to validate the proposed model using the error study provided by SMAPE and MSE. The results established an expected reference baseline for MWA-IT in English listening that is between 36 and 92 at the end of the four courses, which corresponds to the students that start with the lowest English level (higher workload = 92) and the ones with the highest English level certification (lowest workload = 36); meanwhile, the NASA-TLX result was between 49.8 and 193.7 for the same circumstances. The main difference is that MWA-IT can be predicted with 41% less deviation than can NASA-TLX and does not require the completion of a questionnaire following the activities. Finally, the study also highlights the fact that that nearly 65% of the workload was caused by the first two courses, when the advanced STEM subjects were taught and the pilot learning and practice program had not yet begun. This methodology may help the teachers in charge to redesign or add new content depending on the expected workload reference.
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    “It improves our writing enthusiasm”: Exploring multimodal resources for teaching contemporary College English writing in China
    (Universidad de Murcia. Servicio de Publicaciones, 2022) Xiaoyan, Sun; Hicks, Troy
    As Chinese college students work toward writing proficiency in English, a tension between direct, teacher-led instruction that focuses on proper usage conflicts with changes in literacy practices enabled by technology. As a visiting scholar to an American university, Author 1 was eager to use strategies she saw in Author 2’s first year writing seminar. In this classroom research project, a mixed method design is used by Author 1 to report on three changes to her teaching practices in College English courses – the use of multimedia presentation software, social network communication, and the Pigaiwang writing assistance tool. By comparing survey results, interview themes, and test scores between control and experimental sections, results demonstrate that students in the experimental group had generally more favorable ratings of the College English experience. Based on these outcomes in a limited study, implications for future changes in College English instruction in China are discussed.