In recent decades, autonomous learning has been a hot issue in the field of second language teaching and learning and the previous studies on autonomous learning have made great progress. However, the researches on the individual efforts affecting achievements of major English language proficiency tests from the cognitive perspectives of autonomous learning are still relatively rare. On the basis of the review of literature on learner autonomy at home and abroad, the present study aims to investigate Chinese learners’ IELTS preparation efforts under the guidance of the cognitive theory with the participants of English-medium tertiary institutions for graduate or undergraduate degrees who got high score(at least 7 or above) in IELTS within 2 years and answer what these Chinese learners have done to maximize their IELTS scores to apply for postgraduate programmes in English medium universities autonomously and why they could undertake these efforts to maximize their IELTS scores. Semi-structure interviews on autonomous learning were conducted to find out IELTS preparation experiences. In terms of the data analysis results, the dissertation tries to provide the present or future graduate degree applicants during their IELTS preparation with some suggestions and implications for enhancing recognition on IELTS taking and help language educators better advise these students on undertaking proper preparations for the language challenge in their overseas studies. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

In Kuwait, the English language is increasingly gaining importance signifying globalisation and internationalisation of the local culture and linguistic environment. Alongside the positive effects of the wide-spread usage of English there are negative tendencies which emerge onto the scene. This thesis is concerned with the educational aspects of such influences where it explored trainee teachers’ conceptualisations of English as an international / global language, and examined the implications of current views of English for teacher preparation in light of the most recent methodological trends such as global English delivery, expansion of teacher knowledge base, the introduction of linguistic rights and instructional policies to educational stakeholders, and the merging of language and culture in English language teaching. Through questionnaires and in-depth interviews the study found that the relationship between the local and global in Kuwait is a complex issue with social, educational and political implications. Multiple functions for English and its status within the local context were voiced and consequently alternative futures for Standard Arabic as the main source and medium of local literacy and language of academia against the background of rapid Anglicisation emerged. The results may attract the attention of Kuwait’s educational theorists and practitioners, and the hopeful outcome would be to inspire teachers to engage in critical thinking and challenge their realities; and encourage Kuwait’s educational policy makers to find a balance between the source and target languages/cultures, as well as bring to the foreground local expertise and knowledge.

Thesis (MA--Applied Language Studies)--AUT University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (ix, 112 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.) in the Archive at the City Campus (T 428.0076 BAI)

In order to examine how children's literature might be translated, two different English translations of two Swedish picture books have been analyzed. The original Swedish books are Rävjakten and Pannkakstårtan by Sven Nordqvist. Rävjakten was translated as The Fox Hunt in 1988 and as The Fox Hunt in 2000. Pannkakstårtan was translated as Pancake Pie in 1985 and as The Birthday Cake in 1999. Literary translation in general, specific translation issues for children's literature, and trends in international English style have been considered. Analysis of the four texts has been made, with consideration given to the following areas: changes in illustrations, layout, or format; text changes; lexical choices; and retention, deletion, or modification of names and culturally specific references. The analysis revealed that the following tendencies were true for the later translations: foreignization of the text, word-for-word translation of the text, and a neutral international English variety.

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 15 novembre 2023) / Cette étude a examiné l'interactivité des tâches d'écriture académique de l'IELTS et leur effet sur les pratiques de préparation des enseignants en anglais langue étrangère. En adoptant une méthodologie de recherche mixte convergente parallèle, cette étude s'est penchée sur la réalité de l'écriture académique dans des contextes réels et a examiné le degré de cohérence entre le test, les exigences d'utilisation de la langue cible et le contenu de la préparation au test. Elle a également examiné le facteur enseignant pour explorer la direction et l'intensité de l'effet de rebond de l'IELTS sur le choix du matériel, des activités en classe et de la méthodologie d'enseignement dans leurs cours de préparation au test. Dix-huit enseignants et 143 étudiants des cours de préparation à l'IELTS dans quatre écoles de langues ont participé à cette étude. La collecte de données qualitatives pour cette étude comprenait une analyse des caractéristiques des tâches effectuées sur des échantillons de tâches d'écriture académique de l'IELTS, des tâches d'écriture académique représentatives dans le contexte d'utilisation cible et des tâches en classe ; des observations en classe et des entretiens, sous forme de groupes de discussion, avec les enseignants. La collecte de données quantitatives comprenait des données provenant de deux questionnaires enseignants et de deux questionnaires étudiants. Les données ont été analysées en deux phases et triangulées afin de répondre aux questions de recherche. Dans l'ensemble, il a été constaté qu'en dépit des caractéristiques communes entre l'écriture de l'IELTS et l'écriture académique de la vie réelle, il existe des divergences majeures entre les compétences requises dans la vie réelle et les tâches du test. Il a été avancé qu'étant donné l'éventail de la diversité démographique des candidats et de l'applicabilité étendue de l'IELTS, la prise en compte adéquate de toutes les compétences requises dans la vie réelle représenterait un défi en termes de pratique pour la conception de l'IELTS. Les résultats ont mis en évidence des différences notables entre l'IELTS et l'écriture universitaire à différents niveaux en ce qui concerne l'interactivité, comme le degré d'engagement métacognitif prévu par l'interdépendance des tâches, l'engagement affectif et l'utilisation de stratégies. En ce qui concerne l'effet de rebond, l'interprétation a permis d'établir un lien entre certaines caractéristiques de la conception du test et les pratiques de préparation des enseignants en matière de préparation à l'examen, soulignant la réduction du programme d'études en raison des pressions exercées par le test, ainsi que les effets bénéfiques de la préparation à l'examen IELTS sur le comportement des enseignants, ce qui profiterait en fin de compte aux apprenants. Des facteurs tels que l'opinion des enseignants sur l'examen, leur philosophie d'enseignement, les pressions exercées par l'administration et les attentes des étudiants, entre autres, ont entraîné une variabilité de la rétroaction, influençant l'intensité et la direction des effets de l'examen sur les pratiques d'enseignement. Les retombées de l'étude comprennent l'importance des preuves de recherche et de la littératie de l'évaluation pour définir des attentes réalistes et des pratiques équitables dans les tests de langue standardisés, en particulier pour l'admission des étudiants internationaux dans les universités. L'étude suggère l'adoption d'un cadre global de littératie académique et la prise en compte de multiples critères, tels que les entretiens, les déclarations personnelles et les échantillons de textes, pour l'évaluation des candidats. Elle souligne également la nécessité pour les enseignants et les autres parties prenantes d'acquérir une littératie de l'évaluation afin de comprendre les limites et l'impact des examens à enjeux élevés. Les implications explorent en outre le potentiel des possibilités de développement professionnel, des communautés d'apprentissage en collaboration et de l'accès à des ressources de haute qualité pour améliorer les connaissances en matière d'évaluation en langue. Les résultats soulignent également le rôle des enseignants dans l'orientation des étudiants et l'influence des effets positifs et négatifs des examens à enjeux élevés. / This study investigated the interactiveness of IELTS academic writing tasks and their washback on EFL teachers' test preparation practices. Adopting a convergent parallel mixed-methods research design, this study looked into the reality of academic writing in real-life contexts and examined the degree of consistency between the test, target language use requirements, and test preparation content. It further examined the teacher factor to explore the direction and intensity of IELTS washback effect on teachers' choice of materials, class activities, and teaching methodology in their test preparation courses. Eighteen teachers and 143 students from IELTS preparation courses in four language schools participated in this study. Qualitative data collection for this study involved an analysis of task characteristics conducted on sample IELTS academic writing tasks, representative academic writing tasks in the target context of use, and classroom tasks; classroom observations, and focus-group teacher interviews. Quantitative data collection included data from two teacher questionnaires and two student questionnaires. Data was analyzed in two phases and triangulated in order to respond to the research questions. Overall, it was seen that despite shared features between IELTS writing and real-life academic writing, there are major divergences between Target Language Use (TLU) and test tasks. It was argued that given the extensive scope of test-taker demographic and wide applicability of IELTS, adequate engagement of all TLU features would pose a practicality challenge for the design of IELTS. Findings pointed to prominent differences between IELTS and university writing at various levels as far as interactiveness was concerned, such as the degree of intended metacognitive engagement via task interdependence, affective engagement, and strategy use. With regards to washback, the interpretation linked some test design features to the teachers' exam preparation practices, highlighting the narrowing of the curriculum due to the pressures imposed by the exam, as well as beneficial outcomes of IELTS exam preparation on the teachers' behavior, which would ultimately benefit the learners. Factors such as teachers' opinions of the exam, their teaching philosophy, pressures from administration and student expectations, among others, caused washback variability, influencing the intensity and direction of exam effects on teaching practices. The implications of the study include the importance of research evidence and assessment literacy in shaping realistic expectations and fair practices in standardized language tests, particularly for admitting international students to universities. The study suggests adopting a comprehensive framework of academic literacy and considering multiple criteria, such as interviews, personal statements, and writing samples, for assessing applicants. It also highlights the need for assessment literacy among teachers and other stakeholders to understand the limitations and impacts of high-stakes exams. The implications further explore the potential for professional development opportunities, collaborative learning communities, and access to high-quality resources to enhance language assessment literacy. The findings also emphasize the role of teachers in guiding students and influencing the positive and negative effects of high-stakes exams.

The study reported in this thesis investigated Emirati students’ claims related to experiences of cultural bias of the reading component of the IELTS examination through a critical realist lens. Critical realism posits a layered reality which allows for the conceptualization of experiences as emerging from the interplay of events and mechanisms found in two other realms of reality – the actual and the real. Experiences, therefore, have a different ontological status than the events and the causal mechanisms to which they are attributed. Social realism was used to further explore the depth of the realm of the real through Archer’s construct of analytical dualism. This allowed for the placement of generative mechanisms into three domains: structure, culture, and agency. There were two parts to this investigation: a content analysis and a focus group study. The first part of the content analysis consisted of analyzing 60 reading passages from 20 IELTS examinations for a number of cultural categories. These included such things as cultural objects, social roles, idiomatic expressions, traditions and festivals, superstitions and beliefs, and political and historical settings. The second part of the content analysis focused on the question types and syntactical structure of the 5 different IELTS examinations that the focus groups students sat. All three components of the analysis – the cultural content, question types, and syntactical structure – were conducted at the level of the actual. Findings indicated that on average, an IELTS examination contained 14 cultural references of various kinds. Only 4% of all geographical references pertained to the Middle East with the biggest share being western locations. The most common question types were matching questions, fill in the blank questions, and yes/no questions with more than 50% of all questions requiring some form of higher order thinking due to text reinterpretation. The study also found that the question types were not consistently distributed over the examinations with each consisting of a different variety of questions and some even having repetitive question types on one reading examination. The second part of the study was the focus groups. Here, 21 Emirati students sat 5 different IELTS examinations. Upon test completion, these students underwent a semistructured interview to relate their experiences of the test. These experiences, at the level of the empirical, all shared 7 ideas: reading is hard, the questions are too difficult, the passages are too long and difficult, the topics are unfamiliar, the topics are not interesting, the vocabulary is too difficult, and there is not enough time. When the processes of retroduction and abduction were applied to both the content analysis and these common experiences, numerous structures and discourses at the level of the real were identified as having contributed to the emergence of the feeling of bias at the level of the empirical. These structures included such things as the students’ school system (eg. curriculum, assessment, instructors etc.), religion, literacy practices, and home. In the cultural domain, a number of discourses were found to contribute to the experiences at the level of the empirical. Amongst these were the ‘Unimportance of Reading’, the culture of ‘Obedience’, the rejection of the ‘un-Islamic’, and the students’ sense of ‘Entitlement’.

[ES] Las artes mejoran nuestras vidas, realzan nuestro sentido de la estética y pueden ser un instrumento valioso para los educadores de idiomas y para los estudiantes de idiomas en el contexto del inglés como lengua extranjera. Este estudio evaluó el papel de las inteligencias múltiples y la educación artística en el desempeño de los candidatos del sistema internacional de pruebas de idioma inglés. (IELTS) en la sección de lectura del examen IELTS y sus motivaciones. El investigador diseñó las tareas de lectura artística visual para las habilidades de lectura del IELTS de acuerdo con las definiciones de Armstrong (2009) de tareas artísticas visuales para las habilidades de lectura, incluidas a) tareas artísticas visuales para el aprendizaje de vocabulario yb) tareas artísticas visuales para las habilidades de comprensión lectora del IELTS. En este estudio participaron 54 candidatos de IELTS que asistieron a un aula de lectura de IELTS en un instituto de inglés. El grupo experimental (N=27) implementó un programa de educación artística para aprender habilidades de lectura IELTS, y el método tradicional de instrucción se utilizó para el grupo de control (N=27). Primero, se administró una prueba previa de lectura IELTS a ambos grupos. Luego, se aplicó a todos los participantes la escala MIDAS de Shearer (1996) en 119 ítems. Al final del curso, todos los participantes realizaron una prueba posterior de lectura del IELTS y un cuestionario de motivación. Los resultados indicaron que el programa de integración artística resultó en un desempeño superior de los candidatos en el grupo tradicional en el examen de lectura IELTS, en comparación con el grupo de control. Además, la motivación de los candidatos al IELTS que asistieron a un programa de educación artística aumentó significativamente y tuvieron actitudes muy positivas sobre la integración del arte en las aulas de lectura del IELTS. Los resultados revelaron que las inteligencias múltiples de todos los candidatos al IELTS impactaron positivamente su desempeño en el examen de lectura IELTS, y Musical, Kinestésico Visual-espacial contribuyó más al desempeño en el examen de lectura IELTS y visual/espacial en tercer lugar, y después de eso, La inteligencia lingüística tuvo un papel importante en la mejora de las puntuaciones de lectura de los candidatos al IELTS. La inteligencia lógica/matemática tiene un impacto moderado, la interpersonal y naturalista, y la inteligencia intrapersonal tuvo un impacto menos significativo en el desempeño de los candidatos del IELTS en la sección de lectura. Además, los resultados indicaron que la inteligencia musical y la inteligencia cinestésica hicieron una contribución única y significativa al desempeño de predicción de los candidatos en el examen de lectura IELTS. Después de eso, la inteligencia visual-espacial y la lingüística desempeñaron un papel importante, respectivamente. / [CA] Les arts milloren les nostres vides, milloren el nostre sentit de l'estètica i poden ser un instrument preciós per als educadors d'idiomes i per als aprenents d'idiomes en el context d'anglès com a lengua extranjera. Aquest estudi va avaluar el paper de les intel·ligències múltiples i l'educació artística en el rendiment dels candidats a l'sistema internacional de pruebas de idioma inglés. (IELTS) a la secció de lectura de l'examen IELTS i les seves motivacions. L'investigador va dissenyar les tasques visuals de lectura artística per a les habilitats de lectura IELTS d'acord amb les definicions d'Armstrong (2009) de tasques artístiques visuals per a les habilitats lectores, incloent a) tasques artístiques visuals per a l'aprenentatge de vocabulari i b) tasques artístiques visuals per a les habilitats de comprensió lectora IELTS. En aquest estudi van participar 54 candidats a l'IELTS que van assistir a una aula de lectura IELTS en un institut d'anglès. El grup experimental (N = 27) va implementar un programa d'educació artística per aprendre habilitats de lectura IELTS, i es va utilitzar el mètode tradicional d'instrucció per al grup de control (N = 27). En primer lloc, es va administrar una prova prèvia de lectura IELTS per als dos grups. A continuació, es va administrar a tots els participants l'escala MIDAS de Shearer (1996) en 119 ítems. Al final del curs, tots els participants van fer una prova posterior de lectura IELTS i un qüestionari de motivació. Els resultats van indicar que el programa d'integració artística va donar lloc a un rendiment superior als candidats en el grup tradicional a l'examen de lectura IELTS, en comparació amb el grup control. A més, la motivació dels candidats a l'IELTS que van assistir a un programa d'educació artística va augmentar significativament, i van tenir actituds molt positives sobre la integració de l'art a les aules de lectura de l'IELTS. Els resultats van revelar que la intel·ligència múltiple de tots els candidats a l'IELTS va afectar positivament el seu rendiment a l'examen de lectura IELTS, i el musical, cinestèsic i visual-espacial va contribuir més al rendiment de l'examen de lectura IELTS i visual/espacial en tercer lloc, i després d'això, la intel·ligència lingüística va tenir un paper important en la millora de les puntuacions de lectura dels candidats a l'IELTS. La intel·ligència lògica/matemàtica té un nivell moderat, interpersonal i naturalista, i la intel·ligència intrapersonal va tenir un impacte menys significatiu en el rendiment dels candidats a l'IELTS a la secció de lectura. A més, els resultats van indicar que la intel·ligència musical i la intel·ligència cinestèsica van fer una contribució única significativa al rendiment de predicció dels candidats a l'examen de lectura IELTS. Després d'això, la intel·ligència visual-espacial i la lingüística van tenir un paper important, respectivament. / [EN] The arts improve our lives, enhance our sense of aesthetics, and can be a precious instrument for language educators and for language learners in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. This study evaluated the role of Multiple intelligences and Art-education in International English Language Testing System (IELTS) candidates' performance in the reading section of IELTS exam and their motivations. The researcher designed the visual Artistic Reading tasks for IELTS reading skills according to Armstrong's (2009) definitions of visual artistic tasks for reading skills, including a) visual artistic tasks for vocabulary learning and b) visual artistic tasks for IELTS reading comprehension skills. 54 IELTS candidates who attended an IELTS reading classroom in an English institute participated in this study. The experimental group (N=27) implemented an art-education program for learning IELTS reading skills, and the traditional method of instruction was used for the control group (N=27). First, an IELTS reading pretest was administered for both groups. Then, the MIDAS scale by Shearer (1996) in 119 items was administered to all participants. At the end of the course, all participants took an IELTS reading post-test and a motivation questionnaire. The results indicated that the art integration program resulted in candidates' outperformance in the traditional group in the IELTS reading exam, compared with the control group. Also, the motivation of IELTS candidates who attended an art education program was significantly increased, and they had very positive attitudes about integrating art in the IELTS reading classrooms. The results revealed that all the IELTS candidates' Multiple intelligences positively impacted their performance in the IELTS Reading exam, and the Musical, Kinesthetic Visual-spatial contributed the most to the IELTS reading exam performance and visual/spatial in third place, and after that, linguistic intelligence had a significant role in enhancing IELTS candidates' reading scores. Logical/mathematical intelligence has a moderate, interpersonal and naturalistic, and intrapersonal intelligence had a less significant impact on the IELTS candidates' performance in the reading section. Furthermore, the results indicated that musical intelligence and kinesthetic intelligence made a significant unique contribution to the prediction performance of candidates in the IELTS reading exam. After that, visual-spatial and linguistic intelligence played a significant role, respectively. / Heidari Panah, L. (2024). The Role of Multiple Intelligences and Art-Education in performance of IELTS candidates on Reading comprehension section of IELTS Exam and their motivations [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/202762

The aim of the research is to explore the differences in final energy consumption and environmental impact of the construction materials related to the atrium alternative and a business-as-usual and evaluate how to improve thermal properties of old buildings that require renovations to fit thermal efficiency standards and comfort in operational conditions while reducing the overall impact of the projects. Results show that for the low-rise atrium most of the parameters related to the final energy demands and environmental impacts of the atrium construction materials are proportional and linear to the increase of the glazing area size. When compared to simply renovating old structures, the atrium alternative can promote a decrease in thermal losses by transmission and increase in incident solar radiation through the glazed area depending on the atrium dimensions and glazing area size. And although cooling, heating, electrical and ventilation demands are raised for the overall demand of the building the construction of an atrium bears less environmental impact than renovating old structures damaged by weather. / <p>2021-04-08</p>