Engineering programs have to develop students' teamwork skills. However, the onus on content spec... more Engineering programs have to develop students' teamwork skills. However, the onus on content specialists to teach teamwork skills may be challenging partly because of students' negative attitudes towards and experiences with teamwork. This study investigated 295 engineering students' thoughts on teamwork and the strategies they used to solve problems with underperforming team members. Data were collected using a survey and a discourse completion task. The results revealed that among the key reasons why the students liked such activities was the exchange of information and experience, increased quantity and quality of work, and interpersonal communication. However, they indicated lack of harmony, social loafing, lack of attention paid to tasks, and individual approaches to learning as reasons for skepticism about teamwork. As to problem-solving strategies, emphatic inquiry and judgmental questioning were most common. Based on these results, we suggest that engineering faculty collaborate with communication instructors in planning and executing softskills training for students. Engineering faculty should also be provided with technical support for the incorporation of teamwork activities in virtual environments.
Compliment Response Strategies in Institutional Discourse within an Emirati Context: Focus on Power and Gender Differences in University Student-Professor Exchanges in English., 2023
Background: Context plays a significant role in effective communication. Among various aspects of... more Background: Context plays a significant role in effective communication. Among various aspects of context, culture is particularly important since it necessitates that language be used effectively so that a specific purpose can be achieved successfully. One key element of such communication is the effective use of speech acts including compliment and compliment responses (CR). Aim: This research aimed to identify the CR strategies produced by Emirati users of English in a university setting, as a response to a compliment received from an international professor on their academic performance and the psychological effect such a compliment is likely to have on them. It also investigated the influence of gender on CR strategies. Methodology: The data were collected using a discourse completion task. Fifty-eight students (33 male and 25 female) participated in the study. The CR strategies were analyzed using Holmes' (1988) classification scheme. Results: The results showed that a compliment from a professor, irrespective of his/her gender, would make the students happy, with positive effects on their motivation, self-confidence, and feeling of closeness to the professor. The students also thought a CR was necessary for politeness purposes. The most commonly used CR strategy was that of acceptance. The male and the female students produced similar CR strategies in responding to the professor, irrespective of his/her gender. Yet they were more likely to use micro-level strategies (e.g., appreciation token, comment, and promise) with the male professor. The students also used downgrading and disagreeing but only while responding to the male professor. In their conversation with the female professor, they used the strategies of shifting credit and requesting reassurance. Significance: These results provide evidence for the face-enhancing nature of CR strategies as utilized by Emirati users of English with international faculty in a university setting.
Qualitative adjectives are often used in expressive writing, including reflective writing. They e... more Qualitative adjectives are often used in expressive writing, including reflective writing. They express and (de)intensify feelings and emotions, thereby expressing stance. This study investigates the adjective profiles of 60 first-year EFL students’ reflective essays and compares male and female university students’ utilization of qualitative adjectives and those used as attitudinal stance markers. Data were collected from a reflective writing task after students participated in a seminar on effective listening. Analyses were conducted considering the General Service List (GSL), the Academic Word List (AWL), and words that do not appear in either of the preceding lists. The results indicated that qualitative adjectives accounted for 6% of the words in these reflective writing essays, and the male students used a greater number of adjectives than the female students. This difference, which was at a statistically significant level, likely stems from male students’ greater use of adjec...
Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all... more Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all education levels including college. However, today's younger 'digital-native' generation may often take their computer skills for granted, which impacts their interaction patterns with university professors who often encourage electronic communication when communication is required. This appears to put strain on students who are not accustomed to composing formal emails. The deficiency in students' skills may also have undesirable effects on their professors. The situation can be even more serious for students studying in a foreign language. Given the significance of requestive emails, the current study investigated how the request speech act set is realized by both native speakers of English and Arab university students in an English-medium university in the UAE, as well as whether or not instruction in formal email writing improves students' pragmatic competence. D...
Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, 2021
PurposeThis study investigated the effects of an intercultural communication (IC) course on Emira... more PurposeThis study investigated the effects of an intercultural communication (IC) course on Emirati university students' intercultural sensitivity (IS).Design/methodology/approachThe participants were 89 Emirati students. The course required student involvement in a variety of tasks and activities, both inside and outside the classroom. The development of the students' IS was tracked using two instruments: the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) and a reflective writing task.FindingsThe difference between the students' overall pre-test and post-test scores was at a statistically significant level. The data from the reflective writing papers showed that the course developed the students' IS with a particular effect on their awareness of other cultures, barriers to effective communication and self-confidence.Originality/valueIn an increasingly globalized world, the findings of this study highlight the importance of a course designed to enhance university students'...
The International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2019
While a common refrain among some educators is that many young adults lack personal responsibilit... more While a common refrain among some educators is that many young adults lack personal responsibility for learning, little empirical research exists that examines how tertiary students perceive or operationalize this construct. This research investigated how 124 freshman engineering students perceive responsibility in terms of what responsibility means, its benefits, and the factors that contribute to their own and peers’ learning. Students were surveyed in two project-based learning Communication courses. The survey sought to identify a) students’ perception of responsibility for their own learning and for supporting the learning of their peers, b) particular aspects of the courses that contribute to students’ development of responsibility, and c) the effect responsible behavior has on their own and peers’ learning. Results indicate that most students: 1) believe that they have more responsibility for their own learning than the need to support their peers’ learning; 2) can identify p...
This paper provides a comparison of andragogical and pedagogical orientations to learning, and ar... more This paper provides a comparison of andragogical and pedagogical orientations to learning, and argues that andragogy needs to be viewed as a principle for lifelong learning. Andragogical and lifelong learning assumptions are discussed from the perspective of engineering education in general and project-based learning in particular. The paper also presents the results of a small-scale study conducted on fifty-eight freshman engineering students’ andragogical and lifelong learning orientations in the context of Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Results showed that the students had a greater tendency towards andragogical orientations, and that they had a moderate level of lifelong learning orientation. Data also revealed a positive correlation between andragogical and lifelong learning tendencies, and a negative correlation between pedagogical and lifelong learning tendencies. The results of the study are discussed and recommendati...
Acquiring a foreign language may be a lifelong endeavor, and this requires one to approach it fro... more Acquiring a foreign language may be a lifelong endeavor, and this requires one to approach it from a lifelong learning perspective. However, learners may not always be ready for such an approach. It is important to know where learners stand in their orientations toward learning and consider this when planning educational activities. Therefore, it is necessary to determine language learners’ readiness for lifelong learning (LLL) in order to support their language development. This paper reports the findings of a study conducted to identify the LLL propensities of some Turkish and Emirati university students learning English as a foreign language in their local contexts. The study included 61 Emirati and 47 Turkish students, with a mean age of 19. Data were collected using a research tool with three sections: Demographics, the Lifelong Learning Tendency Scale (LLLTS – developed by Coskun & Demirel (2012)), and a survey with six open-ended questions. Student’s t-test, the Kruskal-Walli...
OZ: Ozet, 10 punto buyuklugunde, iki yana yasli, 150 sozcugu gecmeyecek sekilde yazilmalidir. Oze... more OZ: Ozet, 10 punto buyuklugunde, iki yana yasli, 150 sozcugu gecmeyecek sekilde yazilmalidir. Ozette arastirmanin konusu, temel amaci, yontemi, bulgular ve sonuc yer almali. Bicimlendirmeyi bozmadan bu kismi silip yerine kendi ozetinizi yazabilirsiniz. Ozet, 10 punto buyuklugunde, iki yana yasli, 150 sozcugu gecmeyecek sekilde yazilmalidir. Ozette arastirmanin konusu, temel amaci, yontemi, bulgular ve sonuc yer almali. Bicimlendirmeyi bozmadan bu kismi silip yerine kendi ozetinizi yazabilirsiniz. Ozet, 10 punto buyuklugunde, iki yana yasli, 150 sozcugu gecmeyecek sekilde yazilmalidir. Ozette arastirmanin konusu, temel amaci, yontemi, bulgular ve sonuc yer almali. Bicimlendirmeyi bozmadan bu kismi silip yerine kendi ozetinizi yazabilirsiniz. Ozet, 10 punto buyuklugunde, iki yana yasli, 150 sozcugu gecmeyecek sekilde yazilmalidir. Ozette arastirmanin konusu, temel amaci, yontemi, bulgular ve sonuc yer almali. Bicimlendirmeyi bozmadan bu kismi silip yerine kendi ozetinizi yazabilirsini...
Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all... more Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all education levels including college. However, today’s younger ‘digital-native’ generation may often take their computer skills for granted, which impacts their interaction patterns with university professors who often encourage electronic communication when communication is required. This appears to put strain on students who are not accustomed to composing formal emails. The deficiency in students’ skills may also have undesirable effects on their professors. The situation can be even more serious for students studying in a foreign language. Given the significance of requestive emails, the current study investigated how the request speech act set is realized by both native speakers of English and Arab university students in an English-medium university in the UAE, as well as whether or not instruction in formal email writing improves students’ pragmatic competence. Data were collected u...
Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all... more Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all education levels including college. However, today’s younger ‘digital-native’ generation may often take their computer skills for granted, which impacts their interaction patterns with university professors who often encourage electronic communication when communication is required. This appears to put strain on students who are not accustomed to composing formal emails. The deficiency in students’ skills may also have undesirable effects on their professors. The situation can be even more serious for students studying in a foreign language. Given the significance of requestive emails, the current study investigated how the request speech act set is realized by both native speakers of English and Arab university students in an English-medium university in the UAE, as well as whether or not instruction in formal email writing improves students’ pragmatic competence. Data were collected u...
English language preparatory programs’ focus on academic vocabulary provides university students ... more English language preparatory programs’ focus on academic vocabulary provides university students with the threshold of lexical competence to embark on their freshman studies. However, a lack of interest in a systematic approach to increasing students’ lexical competence can result in limited academic development and cause frustration and boredom among freshman students. The problem can be magnified when instructors’ teaching styles are not geared towards the learning styles of students who often use computer technologies. This paper outlines an initiative taken to tackle this very issue in the local context of the Petroleum Institute (PI) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It presents results from the corpus analyses conducted on texts used in one of the freshman courses at PI and from students’ writing papers, as well as students’ thoughts on the use of traditional and technology-aided teaching materials and activities. The effectiveness of the initiative is discussed, and suggestions are offered ...
T T he engineering discipline is comprised of a range of specialized fields making it difficult t... more T T he engineering discipline is comprised of a range of specialized fields making it difficult to define. However, the roots of the word 'engineering' offer some insights. It derives from the Latin words 'ingenium' and 'ingeniare'. The former means 'cleverness' while the latter means 'to contrive, devise.' The term is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "the work of designing and creating large structures (such as roads and bridges) or new products or systems by using scientific methods." Taken together, these definitions suggest that the engineering discipline aims at inventing, designing and improving tools, materials, machines, etc. in clever and scientific ways with the overall aim of enhancing our lives. Neil Armstrong (cited in Landis, 2013, p. 37) agrees with this sentiment: "Engineering turns … Mühendislerin yaln›zca teknik becerilerle yetinebilece¤ine iliflkin tart›flmalar art›k geçerlili¤ini yitirmifl bulunmaktad›r. Gerek mesleklerinde gerekse yaflam boyu ö¤renme konusunda baflar›l› olabilmek için bir tak›m sosyal becerilere de sahip olmalar› gerekmektedir. Ancak mühendislik e¤itimi veren kurumlardaki müfredatlarda, ö¤rencilerin iletiflim becerilerini gelifltirmelerine yard›mc› olacak türden ders içerik ve uygulamalar› yeterince yayg›n de¤ildir. Bu becerilerin en önemlilerinden bir tanesi, kiflinin kendisiyle (içsel) iletiflimidir. Görüfl türünde haz›rlanm›fl bulunan bu makalede içsel iletiflimin anlam› ve yaflam boyu ö¤renmeye iliflkin önemi tart›fl›lmaktad›r. Bu iletiflim türünün önemine dair fark›ndal›k, kendimizi tan›mam›za, bilinçli, etik ve topluma fay-dal› kararlar vermemize yard›mc› olacakt›r. Yaflam boyu ö¤renmenin, bireylerin ve toplumun geliflmesine iliflkin hedefini göz önünde bulundurarak mühendislerin mesleklerinde yaflam boyu ö¤renme tutumu gelifltirmeleri gerek-ti¤ini savunaca¤›z. Bunun için ise içsel iletiflim becerilerinin gelifltirilmesi ge-rekti¤inin alt›n› çizece¤iz. Ayr›ca içsel iletiflimin, kifliler aras› iletiflimin etkin-li¤i aç›s›ndan önemini tart›flaca¤›z. Bu amaçlar ›fl›¤›nda mühendislerin gerçeklefltirmeleri gereken içsel iletiflim becerilerini ve aktivitelerini betimleye-ce¤iz. Yap›land›rmac› ö¤renme kapsam›nda, yans›mac› düflünme, imgeleme ve geliflim raporu gibi e¤itim uygulamalar›n›n ö¤rencilerin içsel iletiflim becerilerine ve dolay›s›yla yaflam boyu ö¤renmeye katk›lar›n› tart›flaca¤›z. Anahtar sözcükler: Bireyler aras› iletiflim, içsel iletiflim, mühendislik e¤itimi, sosyal beceriler, yans›mac› yazma, yaflam boyu ö¤renme. A discussion as to whether technical skills per se are enough for engineers may no longer be relevant. In order to succeed as lifelong learners, they also need a variety of soft-skills. Despite this, engineering curricula in general seem to pay relatively little attention to cultivating communication skills in students. One of the most essential of these is intrapersonal communication. In this non-research, discussion paper, we discuss the meaning and importance of intrapersonal communication in relation to 'lifelong learning': awareness of the importance of intrapersonal communication helps us understand ourselves as individuals and make informed, ethical and societyfriendly judgments. Considering the overall goal of lifelong learning to make useful contributions to individual development and society, we will argue that improving intrapersonal communication is essential for engineers, who need to adopt a lifelong learning approach to their profession. Intrapersonal communication is also essential for effective interpersonal communication. This paper will briefly describe some intrapersonal activities engineers need to engage in, and the intrapersonal skills that they need to acquire with illustrative extracts from students' writing. We will also discuss how reflective writing, visualization, and progress reports can support intrapersonal communication and experiential learning within a constructivist approach to learning, allowing students to assume lifelong learning responsibilities.
Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes, 2018
Engineering is a discipline that requires its practitioners to learn and use a variety of soft-sk... more Engineering is a discipline that requires its practitioners to learn and use a variety of soft-skills, which include academic and non-academic written and spoken communication, inter- and intrapersonal communication skills, critical thinking ability, an ability to work in teams and an ability to analyze, interpret and synthesize interdisciplinary information from a variety of sources. However, students who pursue their engineering education in English as their second language can face formidable challenges acquiring these skills. It is our observation that such students are often only given assistance through English courses designed to improve their individual linguistic abilities. We believe that although this approach may help in the short term, it may not sufficiently cater for students’ overall needs and well-being in the long term. With this in mind, this paper describes our attempt to reduce this problem in our local context of the Petroleum Institute (PI) through a long term...
Readers' decisions about the relevance and significance of research presented in a journal articl... more Readers' decisions about the relevance and significance of research presented in a journal article are often influenced by the introduction section. Several factors contribute to authors' writing of effective introductions. This descriptive study aimed to explore strategies used by English and Turkish authors in the introduction section of educational sciences research articles published between 2012 and 2018. Towards this end, the creation of a research space (CARS) model and authorial voice were investigated in a 358,068-word collection of 62 journal articles (31 Turkish & 31 English). Results showed that the English collection revealed more frequent use of the submoves in CARS. Additionally, it included other moves (i.e., announcing principal findings and description of the methodology used) which were absent in the Turkish collection of text. The authors of the English introductions and those of the Turkish introductions also differed from each other significantly in their use of authorial voice. The former used the active voice more often than the passive voice. There was also some use of personal pronouns in the English texts while they were never used in the Turkish texts. These results point to a general pattern in education research article introductions in English and Turkish. The results imply that authors' lack of attention to these trends when writing in a foreign language may result in limited visibility in their fields. It is, therefore, recommended that scholars and training students should be informed about the ways they could navigate these issues within their discourse communities.
Language used to report research findings and put forward arguments is at the heart of effective ... more Language used to report research findings and put forward arguments is at the heart of effective communication with readers. To this end, scholars use a variety of stylistic features. One of these is variety in language, which includes structures, lexis, and organization markers. Although much research has been conducted on these aspects, a particular feature has received limited interest from researchers: sentence openers, a strategic use of which helps authors develop an individual style, and avoid stagnant prose. This helps them maintain readers' interest while communicating scientific knowledge. Due to the importance of sentence openers in scientific prose, university students' awareness should be raised about this aspect of academic writing. This requires identification of commonly occurring sentence openers in the texts they study. It is also useful to identify student tendencies regarding sentence openers and their perceived competence in varying sentence openers. Prompted by these necessities, this research investigated a 10,949 running-word corpus compiled from professionally-written texts used in a first-year writing course, as well as a 42,070 running-word student corpus compiled from the reflective writing papers of 35 first-year students. Data on students' perceived competence were collected using a survey. Results showed that the two most frequent sentence openers in both corpora were subject-verb and transition markers. However, the latter were used by the students with significantly higher frequency than they were by the professional writers. Data also revealed that the students lack awareness of sentence openers as a feature for making writing more interesting. Students further reported an inability to use a wide range of sentence openers in their writing. Results are discussed, and recommendations are made for increasing students' skill in composing effective academic texts.
Adults' psychological well-being is greatly influenced by the meaning they attain in life. A lack... more Adults' psychological well-being is greatly influenced by the meaning they attain in life. A lack of an established meaning in life may cause distress, and urge individuals to indulge in activities assisting in their quest for meaning. Immigration, be it a reason for or a result of the quest for meaning, may seriously affect people's psychological well-being. A plethora of research has investigated the issues underprivileged immigrants face, with little attention given to professional immigrants' well-being. These people's lifelong learning propensities relative to acquisition of meaning in life have not received much attention either. The complementarity between the two can increase our understanding of the psychological and educational needs of professional immigrants. To this end, this research investigated 50 professional Turkish immigrants' experiences in the UAE. It involved 30 female and 20 male adults with a mean age of 38. Data were collected using two instruments borrowed from the literature on the topic. Results showed that the participants' scores for presence of and search for meaning were above the threshold level indicating a positive attribute. The participants in the female, mid-adulthood, and greater length of stay categories received higher scores for presence of meaning in life. A weak, positive correlation occurred between presence of meaning in their lives and lifelong learning scores; however, a weak, negative correlation was detected between search for meaning in life and lifelong learning scores. Results are discussed, and recommendations are made to enhance professional immigrants' acquisition of meaning in life through engagement in lifelong learning.
The idea that learning continues throughout life, and cannot be confined to a particular age or p... more The idea that learning continues throughout life, and cannot be confined to a particular age or place is a fact. This has led to the argument that individuals need to be active agents of their own learning. This has caused learning to be viewed as an individual attainment, with little attention to the role of interpersonal communication in advancing lifelong learning skills. With an attempt to bridge this gap, this paper focused on 205 college students' and five professors' thoughts on the interplay between our communication with others and lifelong learning. Considering their views as well as literature on interpersonal communication and lifelong learning, a thirty-item scale with four sub-domains was developed: learning reciprocity, perseverance, engagement with instructors, and motivation. This scale was then used with a total of ninety-two of first year students on two communication courses in the UAE. Results revealed that the students' scores were above average, indicating their relatively developed predispositions for interpersonal communication supporting lifelong learning. The project-based nature of the courses the students were registered in was thought to influence students' scores. Results are discussed, and recommendations are made for both classroom instruction and future research.
International Journal of Social Sciences and Education Research, 2018
A common refrain among many educators is that freshman university students, especially those invo... more A common refrain among many educators is that freshman university students, especially those involved with project-based learning, lack empathy and are mainly concerned with their own well-being. Unfortunately, it is often assumed that students, once put on teams, will acquire, through personal responsibility, the essential interpersonal skills necessary for success. To determine if this is the case within the context of an engineering university in the UAE, 143 freshman students' responsibility and interpersonal communication propensities in two project-based courses were analysed. Data were collected using two questionnaires. Students' scores were analysed according to gender and the courses they attended as well as the relationship between their responsibility and interpersonal communication. Results indicate that both the students' responsibility and interpersonal communication scores were at a moderate level, while students' responsibility scores in the second level course were higher. In addition, female students' interpersonal communication scores were more varied than male students'. Results are discussed and recommendations are made as to how to increase students' responsibility behaviours in courses that require the effective use of interpersonal communication skills.
Engineering programs have to develop students' teamwork skills. However, the onus on content spec... more Engineering programs have to develop students' teamwork skills. However, the onus on content specialists to teach teamwork skills may be challenging partly because of students' negative attitudes towards and experiences with teamwork. This study investigated 295 engineering students' thoughts on teamwork and the strategies they used to solve problems with underperforming team members. Data were collected using a survey and a discourse completion task. The results revealed that among the key reasons why the students liked such activities was the exchange of information and experience, increased quantity and quality of work, and interpersonal communication. However, they indicated lack of harmony, social loafing, lack of attention paid to tasks, and individual approaches to learning as reasons for skepticism about teamwork. As to problem-solving strategies, emphatic inquiry and judgmental questioning were most common. Based on these results, we suggest that engineering faculty collaborate with communication instructors in planning and executing softskills training for students. Engineering faculty should also be provided with technical support for the incorporation of teamwork activities in virtual environments.
Compliment Response Strategies in Institutional Discourse within an Emirati Context: Focus on Power and Gender Differences in University Student-Professor Exchanges in English., 2023
Background: Context plays a significant role in effective communication. Among various aspects of... more Background: Context plays a significant role in effective communication. Among various aspects of context, culture is particularly important since it necessitates that language be used effectively so that a specific purpose can be achieved successfully. One key element of such communication is the effective use of speech acts including compliment and compliment responses (CR). Aim: This research aimed to identify the CR strategies produced by Emirati users of English in a university setting, as a response to a compliment received from an international professor on their academic performance and the psychological effect such a compliment is likely to have on them. It also investigated the influence of gender on CR strategies. Methodology: The data were collected using a discourse completion task. Fifty-eight students (33 male and 25 female) participated in the study. The CR strategies were analyzed using Holmes' (1988) classification scheme. Results: The results showed that a compliment from a professor, irrespective of his/her gender, would make the students happy, with positive effects on their motivation, self-confidence, and feeling of closeness to the professor. The students also thought a CR was necessary for politeness purposes. The most commonly used CR strategy was that of acceptance. The male and the female students produced similar CR strategies in responding to the professor, irrespective of his/her gender. Yet they were more likely to use micro-level strategies (e.g., appreciation token, comment, and promise) with the male professor. The students also used downgrading and disagreeing but only while responding to the male professor. In their conversation with the female professor, they used the strategies of shifting credit and requesting reassurance. Significance: These results provide evidence for the face-enhancing nature of CR strategies as utilized by Emirati users of English with international faculty in a university setting.
Qualitative adjectives are often used in expressive writing, including reflective writing. They e... more Qualitative adjectives are often used in expressive writing, including reflective writing. They express and (de)intensify feelings and emotions, thereby expressing stance. This study investigates the adjective profiles of 60 first-year EFL students’ reflective essays and compares male and female university students’ utilization of qualitative adjectives and those used as attitudinal stance markers. Data were collected from a reflective writing task after students participated in a seminar on effective listening. Analyses were conducted considering the General Service List (GSL), the Academic Word List (AWL), and words that do not appear in either of the preceding lists. The results indicated that qualitative adjectives accounted for 6% of the words in these reflective writing essays, and the male students used a greater number of adjectives than the female students. This difference, which was at a statistically significant level, likely stems from male students’ greater use of adjec...
Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all... more Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all education levels including college. However, today's younger 'digital-native' generation may often take their computer skills for granted, which impacts their interaction patterns with university professors who often encourage electronic communication when communication is required. This appears to put strain on students who are not accustomed to composing formal emails. The deficiency in students' skills may also have undesirable effects on their professors. The situation can be even more serious for students studying in a foreign language. Given the significance of requestive emails, the current study investigated how the request speech act set is realized by both native speakers of English and Arab university students in an English-medium university in the UAE, as well as whether or not instruction in formal email writing improves students' pragmatic competence. D...
Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, 2021
PurposeThis study investigated the effects of an intercultural communication (IC) course on Emira... more PurposeThis study investigated the effects of an intercultural communication (IC) course on Emirati university students' intercultural sensitivity (IS).Design/methodology/approachThe participants were 89 Emirati students. The course required student involvement in a variety of tasks and activities, both inside and outside the classroom. The development of the students' IS was tracked using two instruments: the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) and a reflective writing task.FindingsThe difference between the students' overall pre-test and post-test scores was at a statistically significant level. The data from the reflective writing papers showed that the course developed the students' IS with a particular effect on their awareness of other cultures, barriers to effective communication and self-confidence.Originality/valueIn an increasingly globalized world, the findings of this study highlight the importance of a course designed to enhance university students'...
The International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2019
While a common refrain among some educators is that many young adults lack personal responsibilit... more While a common refrain among some educators is that many young adults lack personal responsibility for learning, little empirical research exists that examines how tertiary students perceive or operationalize this construct. This research investigated how 124 freshman engineering students perceive responsibility in terms of what responsibility means, its benefits, and the factors that contribute to their own and peers’ learning. Students were surveyed in two project-based learning Communication courses. The survey sought to identify a) students’ perception of responsibility for their own learning and for supporting the learning of their peers, b) particular aspects of the courses that contribute to students’ development of responsibility, and c) the effect responsible behavior has on their own and peers’ learning. Results indicate that most students: 1) believe that they have more responsibility for their own learning than the need to support their peers’ learning; 2) can identify p...
This paper provides a comparison of andragogical and pedagogical orientations to learning, and ar... more This paper provides a comparison of andragogical and pedagogical orientations to learning, and argues that andragogy needs to be viewed as a principle for lifelong learning. Andragogical and lifelong learning assumptions are discussed from the perspective of engineering education in general and project-based learning in particular. The paper also presents the results of a small-scale study conducted on fifty-eight freshman engineering students’ andragogical and lifelong learning orientations in the context of Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Results showed that the students had a greater tendency towards andragogical orientations, and that they had a moderate level of lifelong learning orientation. Data also revealed a positive correlation between andragogical and lifelong learning tendencies, and a negative correlation between pedagogical and lifelong learning tendencies. The results of the study are discussed and recommendati...
Acquiring a foreign language may be a lifelong endeavor, and this requires one to approach it fro... more Acquiring a foreign language may be a lifelong endeavor, and this requires one to approach it from a lifelong learning perspective. However, learners may not always be ready for such an approach. It is important to know where learners stand in their orientations toward learning and consider this when planning educational activities. Therefore, it is necessary to determine language learners’ readiness for lifelong learning (LLL) in order to support their language development. This paper reports the findings of a study conducted to identify the LLL propensities of some Turkish and Emirati university students learning English as a foreign language in their local contexts. The study included 61 Emirati and 47 Turkish students, with a mean age of 19. Data were collected using a research tool with three sections: Demographics, the Lifelong Learning Tendency Scale (LLLTS – developed by Coskun & Demirel (2012)), and a survey with six open-ended questions. Student’s t-test, the Kruskal-Walli...
OZ: Ozet, 10 punto buyuklugunde, iki yana yasli, 150 sozcugu gecmeyecek sekilde yazilmalidir. Oze... more OZ: Ozet, 10 punto buyuklugunde, iki yana yasli, 150 sozcugu gecmeyecek sekilde yazilmalidir. Ozette arastirmanin konusu, temel amaci, yontemi, bulgular ve sonuc yer almali. Bicimlendirmeyi bozmadan bu kismi silip yerine kendi ozetinizi yazabilirsiniz. Ozet, 10 punto buyuklugunde, iki yana yasli, 150 sozcugu gecmeyecek sekilde yazilmalidir. Ozette arastirmanin konusu, temel amaci, yontemi, bulgular ve sonuc yer almali. Bicimlendirmeyi bozmadan bu kismi silip yerine kendi ozetinizi yazabilirsiniz. Ozet, 10 punto buyuklugunde, iki yana yasli, 150 sozcugu gecmeyecek sekilde yazilmalidir. Ozette arastirmanin konusu, temel amaci, yontemi, bulgular ve sonuc yer almali. Bicimlendirmeyi bozmadan bu kismi silip yerine kendi ozetinizi yazabilirsiniz. Ozet, 10 punto buyuklugunde, iki yana yasli, 150 sozcugu gecmeyecek sekilde yazilmalidir. Ozette arastirmanin konusu, temel amaci, yontemi, bulgular ve sonuc yer almali. Bicimlendirmeyi bozmadan bu kismi silip yerine kendi ozetinizi yazabilirsini...
Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all... more Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all education levels including college. However, today’s younger ‘digital-native’ generation may often take their computer skills for granted, which impacts their interaction patterns with university professors who often encourage electronic communication when communication is required. This appears to put strain on students who are not accustomed to composing formal emails. The deficiency in students’ skills may also have undesirable effects on their professors. The situation can be even more serious for students studying in a foreign language. Given the significance of requestive emails, the current study investigated how the request speech act set is realized by both native speakers of English and Arab university students in an English-medium university in the UAE, as well as whether or not instruction in formal email writing improves students’ pragmatic competence. Data were collected u...
Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all... more Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all education levels including college. However, today’s younger ‘digital-native’ generation may often take their computer skills for granted, which impacts their interaction patterns with university professors who often encourage electronic communication when communication is required. This appears to put strain on students who are not accustomed to composing formal emails. The deficiency in students’ skills may also have undesirable effects on their professors. The situation can be even more serious for students studying in a foreign language. Given the significance of requestive emails, the current study investigated how the request speech act set is realized by both native speakers of English and Arab university students in an English-medium university in the UAE, as well as whether or not instruction in formal email writing improves students’ pragmatic competence. Data were collected u...
English language preparatory programs’ focus on academic vocabulary provides university students ... more English language preparatory programs’ focus on academic vocabulary provides university students with the threshold of lexical competence to embark on their freshman studies. However, a lack of interest in a systematic approach to increasing students’ lexical competence can result in limited academic development and cause frustration and boredom among freshman students. The problem can be magnified when instructors’ teaching styles are not geared towards the learning styles of students who often use computer technologies. This paper outlines an initiative taken to tackle this very issue in the local context of the Petroleum Institute (PI) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It presents results from the corpus analyses conducted on texts used in one of the freshman courses at PI and from students’ writing papers, as well as students’ thoughts on the use of traditional and technology-aided teaching materials and activities. The effectiveness of the initiative is discussed, and suggestions are offered ...
T T he engineering discipline is comprised of a range of specialized fields making it difficult t... more T T he engineering discipline is comprised of a range of specialized fields making it difficult to define. However, the roots of the word 'engineering' offer some insights. It derives from the Latin words 'ingenium' and 'ingeniare'. The former means 'cleverness' while the latter means 'to contrive, devise.' The term is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "the work of designing and creating large structures (such as roads and bridges) or new products or systems by using scientific methods." Taken together, these definitions suggest that the engineering discipline aims at inventing, designing and improving tools, materials, machines, etc. in clever and scientific ways with the overall aim of enhancing our lives. Neil Armstrong (cited in Landis, 2013, p. 37) agrees with this sentiment: "Engineering turns … Mühendislerin yaln›zca teknik becerilerle yetinebilece¤ine iliflkin tart›flmalar art›k geçerlili¤ini yitirmifl bulunmaktad›r. Gerek mesleklerinde gerekse yaflam boyu ö¤renme konusunda baflar›l› olabilmek için bir tak›m sosyal becerilere de sahip olmalar› gerekmektedir. Ancak mühendislik e¤itimi veren kurumlardaki müfredatlarda, ö¤rencilerin iletiflim becerilerini gelifltirmelerine yard›mc› olacak türden ders içerik ve uygulamalar› yeterince yayg›n de¤ildir. Bu becerilerin en önemlilerinden bir tanesi, kiflinin kendisiyle (içsel) iletiflimidir. Görüfl türünde haz›rlanm›fl bulunan bu makalede içsel iletiflimin anlam› ve yaflam boyu ö¤renmeye iliflkin önemi tart›fl›lmaktad›r. Bu iletiflim türünün önemine dair fark›ndal›k, kendimizi tan›mam›za, bilinçli, etik ve topluma fay-dal› kararlar vermemize yard›mc› olacakt›r. Yaflam boyu ö¤renmenin, bireylerin ve toplumun geliflmesine iliflkin hedefini göz önünde bulundurarak mühendislerin mesleklerinde yaflam boyu ö¤renme tutumu gelifltirmeleri gerek-ti¤ini savunaca¤›z. Bunun için ise içsel iletiflim becerilerinin gelifltirilmesi ge-rekti¤inin alt›n› çizece¤iz. Ayr›ca içsel iletiflimin, kifliler aras› iletiflimin etkin-li¤i aç›s›ndan önemini tart›flaca¤›z. Bu amaçlar ›fl›¤›nda mühendislerin gerçeklefltirmeleri gereken içsel iletiflim becerilerini ve aktivitelerini betimleye-ce¤iz. Yap›land›rmac› ö¤renme kapsam›nda, yans›mac› düflünme, imgeleme ve geliflim raporu gibi e¤itim uygulamalar›n›n ö¤rencilerin içsel iletiflim becerilerine ve dolay›s›yla yaflam boyu ö¤renmeye katk›lar›n› tart›flaca¤›z. Anahtar sözcükler: Bireyler aras› iletiflim, içsel iletiflim, mühendislik e¤itimi, sosyal beceriler, yans›mac› yazma, yaflam boyu ö¤renme. A discussion as to whether technical skills per se are enough for engineers may no longer be relevant. In order to succeed as lifelong learners, they also need a variety of soft-skills. Despite this, engineering curricula in general seem to pay relatively little attention to cultivating communication skills in students. One of the most essential of these is intrapersonal communication. In this non-research, discussion paper, we discuss the meaning and importance of intrapersonal communication in relation to 'lifelong learning': awareness of the importance of intrapersonal communication helps us understand ourselves as individuals and make informed, ethical and societyfriendly judgments. Considering the overall goal of lifelong learning to make useful contributions to individual development and society, we will argue that improving intrapersonal communication is essential for engineers, who need to adopt a lifelong learning approach to their profession. Intrapersonal communication is also essential for effective interpersonal communication. This paper will briefly describe some intrapersonal activities engineers need to engage in, and the intrapersonal skills that they need to acquire with illustrative extracts from students' writing. We will also discuss how reflective writing, visualization, and progress reports can support intrapersonal communication and experiential learning within a constructivist approach to learning, allowing students to assume lifelong learning responsibilities.
Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes, 2018
Engineering is a discipline that requires its practitioners to learn and use a variety of soft-sk... more Engineering is a discipline that requires its practitioners to learn and use a variety of soft-skills, which include academic and non-academic written and spoken communication, inter- and intrapersonal communication skills, critical thinking ability, an ability to work in teams and an ability to analyze, interpret and synthesize interdisciplinary information from a variety of sources. However, students who pursue their engineering education in English as their second language can face formidable challenges acquiring these skills. It is our observation that such students are often only given assistance through English courses designed to improve their individual linguistic abilities. We believe that although this approach may help in the short term, it may not sufficiently cater for students’ overall needs and well-being in the long term. With this in mind, this paper describes our attempt to reduce this problem in our local context of the Petroleum Institute (PI) through a long term...
Readers' decisions about the relevance and significance of research presented in a journal articl... more Readers' decisions about the relevance and significance of research presented in a journal article are often influenced by the introduction section. Several factors contribute to authors' writing of effective introductions. This descriptive study aimed to explore strategies used by English and Turkish authors in the introduction section of educational sciences research articles published between 2012 and 2018. Towards this end, the creation of a research space (CARS) model and authorial voice were investigated in a 358,068-word collection of 62 journal articles (31 Turkish & 31 English). Results showed that the English collection revealed more frequent use of the submoves in CARS. Additionally, it included other moves (i.e., announcing principal findings and description of the methodology used) which were absent in the Turkish collection of text. The authors of the English introductions and those of the Turkish introductions also differed from each other significantly in their use of authorial voice. The former used the active voice more often than the passive voice. There was also some use of personal pronouns in the English texts while they were never used in the Turkish texts. These results point to a general pattern in education research article introductions in English and Turkish. The results imply that authors' lack of attention to these trends when writing in a foreign language may result in limited visibility in their fields. It is, therefore, recommended that scholars and training students should be informed about the ways they could navigate these issues within their discourse communities.
Language used to report research findings and put forward arguments is at the heart of effective ... more Language used to report research findings and put forward arguments is at the heart of effective communication with readers. To this end, scholars use a variety of stylistic features. One of these is variety in language, which includes structures, lexis, and organization markers. Although much research has been conducted on these aspects, a particular feature has received limited interest from researchers: sentence openers, a strategic use of which helps authors develop an individual style, and avoid stagnant prose. This helps them maintain readers' interest while communicating scientific knowledge. Due to the importance of sentence openers in scientific prose, university students' awareness should be raised about this aspect of academic writing. This requires identification of commonly occurring sentence openers in the texts they study. It is also useful to identify student tendencies regarding sentence openers and their perceived competence in varying sentence openers. Prompted by these necessities, this research investigated a 10,949 running-word corpus compiled from professionally-written texts used in a first-year writing course, as well as a 42,070 running-word student corpus compiled from the reflective writing papers of 35 first-year students. Data on students' perceived competence were collected using a survey. Results showed that the two most frequent sentence openers in both corpora were subject-verb and transition markers. However, the latter were used by the students with significantly higher frequency than they were by the professional writers. Data also revealed that the students lack awareness of sentence openers as a feature for making writing more interesting. Students further reported an inability to use a wide range of sentence openers in their writing. Results are discussed, and recommendations are made for increasing students' skill in composing effective academic texts.
Adults' psychological well-being is greatly influenced by the meaning they attain in life. A lack... more Adults' psychological well-being is greatly influenced by the meaning they attain in life. A lack of an established meaning in life may cause distress, and urge individuals to indulge in activities assisting in their quest for meaning. Immigration, be it a reason for or a result of the quest for meaning, may seriously affect people's psychological well-being. A plethora of research has investigated the issues underprivileged immigrants face, with little attention given to professional immigrants' well-being. These people's lifelong learning propensities relative to acquisition of meaning in life have not received much attention either. The complementarity between the two can increase our understanding of the psychological and educational needs of professional immigrants. To this end, this research investigated 50 professional Turkish immigrants' experiences in the UAE. It involved 30 female and 20 male adults with a mean age of 38. Data were collected using two instruments borrowed from the literature on the topic. Results showed that the participants' scores for presence of and search for meaning were above the threshold level indicating a positive attribute. The participants in the female, mid-adulthood, and greater length of stay categories received higher scores for presence of meaning in life. A weak, positive correlation occurred between presence of meaning in their lives and lifelong learning scores; however, a weak, negative correlation was detected between search for meaning in life and lifelong learning scores. Results are discussed, and recommendations are made to enhance professional immigrants' acquisition of meaning in life through engagement in lifelong learning.
The idea that learning continues throughout life, and cannot be confined to a particular age or p... more The idea that learning continues throughout life, and cannot be confined to a particular age or place is a fact. This has led to the argument that individuals need to be active agents of their own learning. This has caused learning to be viewed as an individual attainment, with little attention to the role of interpersonal communication in advancing lifelong learning skills. With an attempt to bridge this gap, this paper focused on 205 college students' and five professors' thoughts on the interplay between our communication with others and lifelong learning. Considering their views as well as literature on interpersonal communication and lifelong learning, a thirty-item scale with four sub-domains was developed: learning reciprocity, perseverance, engagement with instructors, and motivation. This scale was then used with a total of ninety-two of first year students on two communication courses in the UAE. Results revealed that the students' scores were above average, indicating their relatively developed predispositions for interpersonal communication supporting lifelong learning. The project-based nature of the courses the students were registered in was thought to influence students' scores. Results are discussed, and recommendations are made for both classroom instruction and future research.
International Journal of Social Sciences and Education Research, 2018
A common refrain among many educators is that freshman university students, especially those invo... more A common refrain among many educators is that freshman university students, especially those involved with project-based learning, lack empathy and are mainly concerned with their own well-being. Unfortunately, it is often assumed that students, once put on teams, will acquire, through personal responsibility, the essential interpersonal skills necessary for success. To determine if this is the case within the context of an engineering university in the UAE, 143 freshman students' responsibility and interpersonal communication propensities in two project-based courses were analysed. Data were collected using two questionnaires. Students' scores were analysed according to gender and the courses they attended as well as the relationship between their responsibility and interpersonal communication. Results indicate that both the students' responsibility and interpersonal communication scores were at a moderate level, while students' responsibility scores in the second level course were higher. In addition, female students' interpersonal communication scores were more varied than male students'. Results are discussed and recommendations are made as to how to increase students' responsibility behaviours in courses that require the effective use of interpersonal communication skills.
Deveci underscores the role of publications in scholars’ striving for success in academia. It is ... more Deveci underscores the role of publications in scholars’ striving for success in academia. It is noted that becoming a published author can be particularly challenging for emerging scholars based on not only their limited academic literacy skills but also a variety of factors embedded in the course of their lives. Considering both of these, Deveci adopts an auto-ethnographic approach to critically reflect on his journey of academic enculturation. In doing so, he uses Howard McClusky's Power-Load-Margin Theory, a relatively underdeveloped theory of adult learning.
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Papers by Tanju Deveci