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The collocational competence of EFL students in relation to their cognitive and affective predispositions.
Kacafírková, Petra ; Kucharská, Anna (advisor) ; Betáková, Lucie (referee) ; Šulová, Lenka (referee)
The dissertation deals with the collocational competence of English language students and its relation to the naturalness of language production. In addition to the theoretical foundations of the research, the main focus is first given to the definition of collocational competence, followed by the presentation of the research project itself - a teaching intervention with students from Charles University (n = 39) over the course of one semester. Students were divided into an experimental group with explicit collocation instruction and a control group where teaching was conducted in a traditional way. The primary aim was to explore whether instruction inspired by lexically-oriented approaches contributes to the successful development of collocational competence. At the same time, we monitored individual differences, such as foreign language aptitude, anxiety, motivation, and learning strategies, and their impact on the learning process. The results suggest that explicit instruction of language in general is beneficial for students with higher levels of anxiety and weaker foreign language aptitude. Systematic lexically-oriented instruction proved to be effective in enhancing collocational competence and also contributed to naturalness of written production regardless of individual differences. The...
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Integration of European and Global Issues intoUpper-Secondary English Classes
Němečková, Jana ; Kasíková, Hana (advisor) ; Betáková, Lucie (referee) ; Walterová, Eliška (referee)
Němečková, J. (2018). Integration of European and Global Issues into Upper-Secondary English Classes (unpublished Ph.D. thesis). Praha: Univerzita Karlova, Filozofická fakulta, Ústav anglického jazyka a didaktiky. Abstract The thesis deals with the integration of a selected cross-curricular subject of the national curriculum for upper-secondary schools (Framework Educational Programme for Upper- Secondary Schools, Rámcový vzdělávací program pro gymnázia), namely Education towards Thinking in European and Global Contexts, into English classes. The thesis contains an overview of academic literature and research studies dealing with the integration of global education and language and culture education. It presents the global simulation method as an innovative method of foreign language teaching in the context of contemporary language teaching approaches and psychological theories. The paper includes an original teaching model of an integrated subject called "Model United Nations", namely its syllabus, guide for teachers, and worksheets. This model was tested both with regard to its suitability for the integration of the listed educational areas, as well as to its impact on the development of the students' self-perceived communication competence in the English language. The action research took place in three...
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Teaching Future Tenses to University Students of English Philology
Šteflová, Hanna ; Malá, Marcela (advisor) ; Klégr, Aleš (referee) ; Betáková, Lucie (referee)
1 Abstract This thesis deals with teaching the following seven future forms: the Future Simple, Be going to, the Present Simple and the Present Continuous with a future reference, the Future Continuous, the Future Perfect Simple and the Future Perfect Continuous to students of English Philology. The deductive and inductive approaches to teaching grammar were employed to teach these future forms. The quantitative part of the study had two main objectives. The first objective was to revise and improve the students' knowledge of the seven future forms taught by the study. The results revealed that out of all the seven future forms, the students' knowledge of the Future Continuous, the Future Perfect Simple and the Future Perfect Continuous was the least satisfactory, and these tenses required further explanation and practice. The participants' knowledge of the rules of use for all seven future forms was rather low in general and required significant improvement. The second objective was to investigate which approach to teaching grammar, the deductive or inductive approach, was more effective for teaching future tenses. The deductive approach proved to be more effective for teaching all seven future forms. The difference between the results of the pre-test and the post-test for the Future Continuous, the Future...
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Accuracy and fluency in the speech of the advanced learner of English
Gráf, Tomáš ; Klégr, Aleš (advisor) ; Šebesta, Karel (referee) ; Betáková, Lucie (referee)
The thesis analyses the accuracy and fluency exhibited in the spoken advanced-learner English of Czech students of English philology. It draws its data from a learner corpus comprising fifty 15-minute interviews with these learners and from a parallel native-speaker corpus of forty-nine 15-minute interviews. As regards accuracy, the learner data is analysed using techniques of error analysis. Salient features of advanced learner English are identified and the subsequent quantitative analyses reveal that throughout the entire group of students (which is characterized by what revealed itself to be a wide proficiency span) two groups of error types are found to be much more frequent than any other, namely errors in the use of articles and tenses. For the fluency measurements a small selection of variables has been chosen to describe speed fluency (speech rate) and breakdown fluency (the frequency of unfilled and filled pauses), and the results are compared with those for the parallel native-speaker corpus. The analysed native speakers are found to produce speech at a generally much higher rate than the majority of the learners. There does not appear - at least in the light of the given sample - to be any direct correlation between fluency and the frequency of errors. Moreover, the learners are found...
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The Pre-listening Stage in L2 Listening Instruction to A2 - B1 Adult Learners.
Ždímalová, Hana ; Mothejzíková, Jarmila (advisor) ; Betáková, Lucie (referee) ; Mánek, Bohuslav (referee)
The Pre-listening Stage in L2 Listening Instruction to A2 - B1 Adult Learners By Hana Ždímalová This dissertation deals with listening instruction to adult EFL learners in the Czech Republic and the phenomenon of pre-listening, which is currently under-researched. It examines adult EFL students' perspectives and perceptions of listening instruction and of the inclusion of different pre-listening techniques, particularly at CEFR A2-B1 proficiency levels. The theoretical part of the study focuses on current developments in listening research and the historical context of the development of listening instruction in classical FLT methodology. The pre-listening stage has been integral to L2 listening instruction since the beginning of Communicative Language Teaching. However, some controversial issues have recently been raised. For example, teachers are sometimes suspected of spending too much time on the pre- listening stage (Field 2002; 2008) and the overall usefulness of previewed comprehension questions in testing listening has been challenged (Sherman 1997). Moreover, adult students' listening needs and their perceptions of listening instruction have not yet been thoroughly researched (Graham 2006; Graham and Macaro 2008). This study argues that we should ask the students about their perceptions...
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Positive aspects of the state graduation exams in terms of English language teaching
Píšová, Eva ; Betáková, Lucie (advisor) ; Hanušová, Světlana (referee) ; Chvál, Martin (referee)
Title: The Positive Impact of the State School Leaving Exam on ELT Methodology. The Influence of Testing Writing on Teaching English at Czech Secondary Schools. Author: Eva Píšová Department: Department of English language and ELT Methodology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Lucie Betáková, MA, Ph.D. Abstract This thesis deals with the topic of testing writing in the context of the state school-leaving exam in English language. The research assesses the impact of clearly specified standards on teaching English to Czech secondary school students, and thus focuses on the field which no systematic investigation has dealt with. The research concentrates on specific subskills assessed within distinctive criteria, analyses the relationships between them and estimates their complexity regarding both student success and teaching challenges. Three major research strategies were used: (1) a quantitative analysis of the large-scale data, (2) a small-scale pedagogical experiment and (3) a survey. To examine the relationship between various subskills of language ability we analysed test score data from the school- leaving exams in the years 2014-2017. Data from secondary vocational schools students were mainly used, as the level of these students' language skills should correspond the most...
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Radio role play: possibilities and limitations of use of fictional radio broadcast in English language teaching
Žďárek, Karel ; Betáková, Lucie (advisor) ; Mazáčová, Nataša (referee) ; Suda, Stanislav (referee)
This dissertation thesis focuses on the use of drama in English language teaching. In the theoretical part the field of drama in ELT is elaborated in terms of its principles, methods and examples of practical use. Based on the outlined theoretical basis the technique radio role play is introduced. The main aim of the thesis was to identify and verify possibilities and limitations of the technique applied in English language teaching. To meet the aim of the thesis action research was used as the research design employing a range of data collection methods, e.g. questionnaires with pupils; interviews with pupils, teachers and critical friends. Content analysis was used to process the collected data and the analysis was further interpreted with the support of contextual information regarding educational setting in which the research was carried out and contextual material (lesson plans, teaching material, audio and video recordings). Within the four cycles of action research initial hypotheses, which were formulated before the actual research, were verified. The research findings show that the radio role playing contributes to the development of speaking as a language skill (mainly fluency and spontaneity of speech), improvisation skills, creativity and non-verbal communication. The main limitation...
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Teaching Future Tenses to University Students of English Philology
Šteflová, Hanna ; Malá, Marcela (advisor) ; Klégr, Aleš (referee) ; Betáková, Lucie (referee)
1 Abstract This thesis deals with teaching the following seven future forms: the Future Simple, Be going to, the Present Simple and the Present Continuous with a future reference, the Future Continuous, the Future Perfect Simple and the Future Perfect Continuous to students of English Philology. The deductive and inductive approaches to teaching grammar were employed to teach these future forms. The quantitative part of the study had two main objectives. The first objective was to revise and improve the students' knowledge of the seven future forms taught by the study. The results revealed that out of all the seven future forms, the students' knowledge of the Future Continuous, the Future Perfect Simple and the Future Perfect Continuous was the least satisfactory, and these tenses required further explanation and practice. The participants' knowledge of the rules of use for all seven future forms was rather low in general and required significant improvement. The second objective was to investigate which approach to teaching grammar, the deductive or inductive approach, was more effective for teaching future tenses. The deductive approach proved to be more effective for teaching all seven future forms. The difference between the results of the pre-test and the post-test for the Future Continuous, the Future...
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Accuracy and fluency in the speech of the advanced learner of English
Gráf, Tomáš ; Klégr, Aleš (advisor) ; Šebesta, Karel (referee) ; Betáková, Lucie (referee)
The thesis analyses the accuracy and fluency exhibited in the spoken advanced-learner English of Czech students of English philology. It draws its data from a learner corpus comprising fifty 15-minute interviews with these learners and from a parallel native-speaker corpus of forty-nine 15-minute interviews. As regards accuracy, the learner data is analysed using techniques of error analysis. Salient features of advanced learner English are identified and the subsequent quantitative analyses reveal that throughout the entire group of students (which is characterized by what revealed itself to be a wide proficiency span) two groups of error types are found to be much more frequent than any other, namely errors in the use of articles and tenses. For the fluency measurements a small selection of variables has been chosen to describe speed fluency (speech rate) and breakdown fluency (the frequency of unfilled and filled pauses), and the results are compared with those for the parallel native-speaker corpus. The analysed native speakers are found to produce speech at a generally much higher rate than the majority of the learners. There does not appear - at least in the light of the given sample - to be any direct correlation between fluency and the frequency of errors. Moreover, the learners are found...
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