USING A SURVEY FOR LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING:

A STUDY OF CONCEPTS OF LITERACY OF THAI EFL TEACHERS

Jakraphan Riamliw University of Pittsburgh, USA

University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Thailand

April 22, 2011

Overview of the Presentation

Purposes of the study & Research questions

How a survey fits the purposes of the study

Methods and procedures

Data analysis and interpretation

Purposes of the Study

To investigate:Thai university-level teachers’ concepts of

literacy for EFL instruction their connections of concepts of literacy to

EFL instructiontheir classroom instructional practices the challenges of EFL literacy instruction

that they face

Research Questions

1. What concepts of literacy do Thai teachers of university-level Foundation English courses hold for their L2 literacy instruction? a. Are they traditional or contemporary concepts of literacy?b. What is the relationship between the concepts

of literacy and the demographic backgrounds

of the teachers (e.g., age, gender)?

Research Questions

2. How do Thai teachers of university-level Foundation English courses connect their concepts of literacy to EFL instruction?a. What is the relationship between the

connections of the concepts of literacy to EFL

instruction and the demographic backgrounds

of the teachers?

Research Questions

3. What are the literacy instructional practices of Thai teachers of university-level Foundation English courses?a. What is the relationship between the

literacy instructional practices and the

demographic backgrounds of the teachers?

Research Questions

4. What are the challenges of EFL literacy instruction of Thai teachers of university-level Foundation English courses? a. What is the relationship between the

challenges of EFL literacy instruction and the

demographic backgrounds of the teachers?

How a survey fits the purposes of the study

* A large number of participants

Instruments: • Self-administrated and paper-based surveys• Interviews• Classroom Observations

Methods and Procedures (1)

Participants: Approx. 200 Thai teachers of university-level Foundation

English courses in 20 universities in Thailand + Approx. 60 teachers in 4 Universities (Case Study)Data collection:

- University-based survey coordinators - Researcher

Methods and Procedures (2)

Teachers from 167 Institutions

Teachers from Top 50 Institutions

Target Population -----> Sampling Population -----> Sample/Representative Figure 1. An Overview of Sampling (Purposive

Sampling)Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18132067/Determining-How-to-Select-a-Sample

Teachers from 20 Institutions

Methods and Procedures (3)

Geographical Representation ofthe Representative Universities

Limited Admission University (8)

Autonomous University (7)

Open Admission University (1)

Private University (4)

Methods and Procedures (4)

Designing survey questions Consider:

- purposes of the study and purposes of the questions- types of questions (closed-ended and open-ended)

Validity and reliability of the instrument Reliability: - Using multiple questions in both closed-ended and open-ended

response formats - Conducting pilot testing

Validity: - ‘Content validity’ (the judgment about content questions of the

survey by experts)

Data Analysis and Interpretation (1)

Data analysis and presentation will be carried out through:

Quantitative analysis (PASW statistics 18)

Qualitative analysis (only for further explaining the

quantitative findings)

Data Analysis and Interpretation (2)Examples of identifying variables and level of

measurementIndependent VariablesAge (ratio): open-ended data Teaching experience (ratio): open-ended dataGender (nominal): male and femaleGeographical area of the institution (nominal): north, northeast, center, east,

and southDegree earned (ordinal): bachelors, masters, doctorate, and other

Dependent VariablesConcepts of literacy (nominal): traditional and contemporaryLiteracy addressed by syllabus (nominal): yes and no Satisfaction with teaching activities/techniques/strategies (ordinal): very satisfied, satisfied, little satisfied, dissatisfied

Data Analysis and Interpretation (3)

Summary of Data Analysis and Interpretation ProceduresLevel of

Measurement of Independent

Variables

Level of Measurement of

Dependent Variables

Permissible Statistics

Correlation Techniques

nominal nominal

- Frequency counts and percentages, n(%)- Mode

- Chi-square Test- Phiordinal nominal- Chi-square Test- Cramer’s V

nominal ordinal

- Spearman’s rho

ordinal ordinal

ratio nominal Point-Biserial Correlation Coefficient

ratio ordinal Biserial Correlation Coefficient

Thank you.

Enjoy your lunch!