Issue Information

Literacy skills play a crucial role in the ongoing education and social interaction of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). For instance, the ability to read serves as an essential basis for their academic accomplishments, and higher academic achievements have been shown to lead to improved employment prospects and financial advantages. Additionally, there is a significant correlation between a child's reading proficiency and their adaptive communication skills within the ASD population. Nevertheless, a significant number of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) demonstrate challenges in reading, characterized by a wide range of variations in both decoding and reading comprehension abilities. Although this population has challenges with reading comprehension, the current literature does not have enough information on effective interventions to solve the problem. The present study aims to improve the reading comprehension skills of individuals with ASD by using thought bubbles. Three participants with ASD attended. A multiple-baseline design across participants with a follow-up design was utilized. As a result, the thought bubble strategy successfully improved reading comprehension. Recommendations for future research are discussed.

Teacher absenteeism significantly impacts student achievement in the EFL acquisition process, as it is a strong predictor of exam scores and has a direct negative impact on learning. Previous studies have shown that teacher absenteeism leads to low exam scores, disrupting the learning process and thwarting psychological enthusiasm. This paper aims to understand the impact of teacher absenteeism on student achievement in EFL classes in the Algerian LMD system through questionnaires submitted to both teachers and students. The results show that teacher absenteeism significantly disrupts the EFL acquisition process, resulting in lower scores and poor performance compared to regular achievements of students. Students are highly disillusioned, and rigorous measures should be taken against this prevalence to improve student outcomes.

This paper analyzes the three major characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray based on Freud’s Pleasure Principle and Reality Principle. The pleasure principle stimulates human beings to satisfy their instinctual desires. On the contrary, the reality principle motivates human beings to conform to the social conventions, instead of chasing instinctual desires. In this novel, the three major characters, Dorian Gray, Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton clearly reveal the paradoxical nature during the process of making a choice between pleasure principle and the reality principle. Based on the detailed analysis, this thesis is going to provide readers with a relatively comprehensive understanding of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and hopefully it will be conductive to make a further study of Oscar Wilde’s other works.

For the past 30 years, English has occupied the position of being the most important foreign language in the world. English serves the purpose of being the language for international communication, science, commerce, advertising, diplomacy and transferring advanced technology. In addition, in the era of globalisation, the interdependence and interlinkedness of countries necessitates a need for having a global language and English qualifies for this better than other languages. As a result of this necessity for having a global language, a number of countries including Tanzania have put much efforts and emphasis on the teaching of English as a foreign language. The role of English is of significant important in promoting economic growth and developing skilled man powers, hence, improvement in English language teaching and learning has become the prior concern. Based on the literature review, this article highlights several key issues: historical, political, and social conditions of English in Tanzania, status of English language education in national education policies, factors affecting the implementation of communicative language teaching approach, validity of students’ assessment and its wash back effect on teaching, and deficiencies of existing teacher development programmes in language teachers’ capacity building. The article concludes with several implications and recommendations to improve the situation of English language teaching in the country and specifically the probable solutions to overcome the discussed problems.

In this era, ICT is viewed as a tool to make life easier by affecting every aspect of human life. These effects appear in all the activities of modern man. In the field of education, the teaching and learning of a foreign language was also greatly affected by ICT. This situation led to the emergence of this article due to three specific objectives. The first objective was to identify the contribution of ICT in the teaching and learning of a foreign language in four selected secondary schools in Rusizi District-Rwanda. The second objective was to analyze the disadvantages of the misuse of ICT in the teaching and learning of a foreign language in selected schools. The third objective was to determine how ICT can be used in the teaching and learning of a foreign language. Data was collected using text analysis, observation, interview, and questionnaire. The sample was Kiswahili teachers and students of senior four in Kiswahili combination. This sample was obtained by the purposive sampling method. The research that spawned this article was guided by Connectivism Learning Theory. The results of the study show that ICT is an effective tool in the teaching and learning of a foreign language. This is due to the fact that it is effective to teach vocabulary, grammar, and the four language skills. However, teachers and students often use YouTube 80% and seem to ignore other tools. Research has also revealed that if ICT is not used properly, it may harm the teaching and learning process. Therefore, this study showed how ICT should be used in the teaching and learning of a foreign language in the Rwandan context where a Competency-based Curriculum is given priority.

This study was done in order to explore the students' and lecturers' need for the development of teaching material for BIPA at the basic level. By utilizing the EDDIE procedure, the BIPA teaching material is developed. This study is one of the parts of the procedures. There were questionnaires and interviews applied in the gathering and were distributed to 15 students and three lecturers. The data then they were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The result of the analysis of the questionnaires and interviews shows that the characteristics of the BIPA teaching materials needed by students and lecturers are 1) appropriate to the age of the student, 2) not too dense with writing, 3) simple and easy-to-understand material, 4) incorporates elements of Betawi culture, 5) contains examples of how to pronounce sentences, 6) easy to use, 7) easy to carry, 8) provide feedback, and 9) guides to practice speaking Indonesian.

This research explores how the use of home language and the language environment influence the development of English speaking skills in Thai children attending Australian kindergartens. Using a mixed-methods approach, it investigates the relationship between home language exposure and English proficiency. The study involves Thai children, their parents, and kindergarten teachers, collecting data through questionnaires and language assessments. The findings will help us understand the impact of home language and the kindergarten environment on language development and can inform educational strategies for these children.

In this study, "Ben Gönen’de Doğdum", a biographical novel based on the life of poet and writer Ömer Seyfettin, the indisputable leading storyteller of Turkish literature, is examined in terms of intertextuality. Document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, is used in the study. The data collected from this biographical novel written by Salim Nizam were analyzed by descriptive analysis method. According to the findings obtained as a result of the analysis, the most informative and event-based texts were applied for intertextuality while the biographical novel was being fictionalized, and references were made through poems and the literary styles of the authors. As a result, it is understood that the provability of this work, which is a biographical novel, is supported by real documents and periodical publications in accordance with the type of biography, and also the postmodern fictions are drawn skillfully by making references to the life, relationships and literary works of the central author.

This research focused on explore the digital environments used by visually impaired Turkish teacher candidates. The research was carried out in a qualitative phenomenology design. The participants of the study are two visually impaired students studying in the Department of Turkish Education. The data of the study were obtained from in-depth interviews with two visually impaired students. The findings obtained from the research were analysed by content analysis method. The data obtained from the student interviews were thematically coded. The findings of this research are as follows: visually impaired Turkish teacher candidates use digital media effectively in language teaching, digital environments facilitate the education process of students, screen readers are the most used digital media and help students in the learning process, digital  and programs are mostly used in writing and listening language skills. It has been shown that Turkish education and digital resources in the field of education are insufficient, and that the computer is preferred more than the phone in using the media.

The aim of this study is to reveal the level of appropriateness of reading comprhension questions in 4th grade primary school Turkish coursebook. In addition, the distribution of text types have been analyzed. In this study, PIRLS results of 2021 application have been evaluated in Turkish context. Results have been evaluated in line with 4th grade Turkish teaching program which was published in 2019. The application procedure and the content of PIRLS is explained together with the attainments targeted in Turkish teaching program. In this study, the compatibility of 4th grade Ministry of Education Turkish book with the higher order thinking domains of PIRLS is evaluated. Those thinking levels are : Finding information clearly given in the text (20%), Making direct inference (30%), Interpreting by combining information and ideas (establishing a relationship between them) (30%), Examining and evaluating the elements, content and language use of the text (20%). For evaluation, in each unit the texts have been categorised according to text type and the utilized comprehesion questions for each text. Findings have shown that the distribution of comprehension questions according to four levels of higher order thinking targeted in PIRLS applications is not in a balanced number in each unit. In line with the findings in this study, suggestions for Turkish lessons and Turkish coursebooks are given.