Browsing by Author "Abudukeremu, Mayinuer"

One of the main problems faced by both teachers and learners in English for Academic Purposes pertains to the question of which words are worth focusing during teaching and learning. This corpus-based lexical study aimed to explore the use of words in Coxhead’s (2000) ‘A New Academic Word List (AWL)’ in academic journal articles in the field of Islamic studies. Around 472,621 word corpus, called the Islamic Academic Research Articles (IARA) corpus, was created for this study. The corpus consisted of 66 research articles written in English that were published in more than 10 different Islamic academic journals. In order to simulate rich natural contexts, these articles were selected for being both authentic and academic covering a wide range of topics in the field of Islamic studies. The study found that the most frequent 317 AWL words which occurred in the IARA corpus was only 56% of Coxhead’s AWL of 570. This finding points to the need for a special AWL for students of Islamic studies. The findings suggest the need to produce field-specific academic word lists incorporating all frequent academic lexical items necessary for the expression of the rhetoric of the specific research area. The findings also revealed that some of the words which were found in the present study were not found in Coxhead’s influential Academic Word List. This may be due to the general nature of the AWL. This suggests that vocabulary needs of students in the Islamic studies are characteristically different from those of students in other disciplines. Researchers and teachers therefore need to deal with these learners separately. Key words: English for Academic Purposes (EAP), Corpus Based Study, Islamic Academic Research Articles (IARA) Corpus, Word Family.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ understanding and the implementation of Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) in culturally diverse ESL classrooms at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). The study employed a phenomenological case study method, a qualitative research design, to explore the cultural awareness and use of CRT among teachers in classroom setting. Students’ perceptions towards their teachers’ knowledge and their practice with regards to CRT in an Islamic context is also investigated. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to collect data from six teachers’ and three students to elicit perceptions of CRT from theory to practice. Field notes were also written to triangulate the data. The themes that emerged from the study affirmed that teachers did have the traits of CRT. The first phase of the study, which involved the investigation of teacher awareness on CRT, revealed that the teachers showed enthusiasm for cultural sensitiveness and integration of Islamic values in the context of teaching Muslim students. The second phase of the study revealed discrepancies among teachers on how to put knowledge into practice on CRT. The findings also further suggest that just as teachers have high expectations of students, students also expressed their expectations of teachers. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that though the English language teachers seem to practise CRT and generally embrace CRT strategies, they do not have a genuine understanding of CRT. Based on the in-depth analysis and discussions of the themes, this study draws implications and suggests recommendations for teachers to use CRT effectively in the teaching of English language to students of diverse backgrounds.