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Papers by Joseph Mallia

U of K- Annual Conference of Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research-Humanities and Educatio... more U of K- Annual Conference of Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research-Humanities and Educational Studies February 2013- Khartoum-Sudan: Conference Proceedings Volume Two

Arab World English Journal, 2017

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

Adult learners’ perceptions on inductive and deductive teaching approaches for English grammar we... more Adult learners’ perceptions on inductive and deductive teaching approaches for English grammar were examined. The written performance of two student groups taught via an inductive and deductive approach, respectively, and created by random allocation was also contrasted. Specifically, the form, meaning and use of the past perfect were assessed on the day of explanation, and ten days later, using a reading text and practice and production exercises. Learners overwhelmingly preferred the deductive approach, but minimal differences between the inductive and deductive groups’ performance were found, probably related to the underpinning use of local cultural contextualization while language teaching both groups. The study shows a deductive approach with terse explanations, and aided by the systematic use of concrete, meaningful examples during the procedure, particularly when drawn from a familiar local cultural context, is both successful and relates to learners’ expectations. Teachers ...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016

Communicative language teaching (CLT) has made inroads into global communities that extend to bey... more Communicative language teaching (CLT) has made inroads into global communities that extend to beyond Western societies where it was developed. While CLT has contributed innumerable beneficial effects for both learners and teachers, its rapid expansion has not been without challenges. Developed under a Western socio-cultural milieu, CLT‘s ‗one size fits all‘ strategy does not always adequately consider the local culture of learning and the local culture in learning. This has led to several pedagogical issues experienced by teachers of English with non-Western learners. This report has collected information stemming from teachers, analysed their input via the general inductive approach based on grounded theory, and suggested techniques to minimize the problems associated with CLT as directly presented by participant teachers. Therefore while CLT has numerous benefits, using techniques that reflect a more eclectic outlook beyond those normally associated with CLT may be helpfulwith non...

Arab World English Journal

Non-native English-speaking students at, or about to enter British Universities and other Western... more Non-native English-speaking students at, or about to enter British Universities and other Western universities where the language of instruction is English may experience challenges with academic writing, often one of the most important means of assessing students. Pre-sessional and in-sessional English academic writingcourses have been developed to aid students, and traditionally covered a range of topics. This paper discusses essential 'pre-writing' tasks. It then outlines some of the essential elements of academic writing; these often focus on paragraph structure, basic components of an essay, and different functional types of essays. Other features covered by this paper include aspects of language such as level of formality, cohesive devices, caution and hedging, supplying evidence, and avoiding plagiarism, amongst others. This paper also emphasizes the growing importance of collaborative learning, critical thinking and autonomous leaning which may be insufficiently familiar to students from non-Western learning environments where traditionally factual recall is given the greatest importance. Inductive and deductive approaches to paragraph organization, and also essay development have also been introduced. These approaches may also contrast with the rhetorical features familiar to non-native students from various cultures around the world and require special attention. Contemporary pre-sessional courses are also becoming more specialized, targeting English suitable for specific sets of disciplines at the undergraduate at postgraduate level. For example, courses focusing in STEM subjects (science technology, engineering and mathematics) are replacing more 'generic' academic English courses. Introduction to academic writing and style Non-native English-speaking students at, or about to enter British Universities and other Western universities where the language of instruction is English may experiencelinguistic challenges. They may also encounter a series of broader academic expectations that may differ to some,or a greater extent than the models experienced in the home country.Pre-sessional and in-sessional course courses are aimed to help non-native students understand and improve language and academic skills needed for success in a tertiary level education scenario.

Educators teaching English, or via English worldwide are often subject to highly contrasting idea... more Educators teaching English, or via English worldwide are often subject to highly contrasting ideas on 'the best teaching practices' to use, particularly for grammar pedagogy. Four different nationality groups of learners and three diverse groups of educators of English from non-Western educational institutions were included in the study. A questionnaire was administered to enquire on preferences for grammar pedagogical instruction which was presented in various combinations or alternatives of: explicit or implicit instruction, deductive or inductive pedagogy, and with or without local cultural contextualization. In all learner groups there was a strong preference for explicit vs. implicit, deductive vs. inductive and local contextualized vs. foreign/non-contextualized pedagogy. Therefore among groups there was no significant difference in the proportion of deductive choices and proportion of inductive choices (p = 0.09), no significant difference in the proportion of deductive choices and proportion of delayed deductive choices (p = 0.18), no significant difference in the proportion of explicit choices and proportion of implicit choices (p = 0.16), no significant difference in the proportion of local context choices and proportion of other/no context choices (p = 0.74), and no significant difference in the proportion of explicit deductive choices and proportions of explicit inductive choices across all groups (p = 0.051 ≥ 0.01, Bonferroni correction). Paradoxically, among the educator groups, there was a significant difference in all the above proportions (p = 0.00, p = 0.00, p = 0.00, p = 0.01, p = 0.00, respectively). Descriptive statistics suggest the difference rests mainly with educators that have undergone substantial Western-type 'communicative language training'. Exposure to exogenous forms of grammar pedagogy may influence educators more than learners, accentuating differences between educators' grammar-teaching practices and learners' expectations in non-Western educational scenarios; this study found a significant difference between learners' and educators' pedagogical choices for teaching grammar (p = 0.00). Key words: deductive and inductive pedagogy, explicit and implicit pedagogy, grammar teaching and learning, teaching with local culture and contextualization

Canadian Journal of Animal Science, 2000

Animal Genetic Resources Information, 1999

... and breast (Merat, 1986). The featherless areas in the chickens observed in this study were f... more ... and breast (Merat, 1986). The featherless areas in the chickens observed in this study were fairly consistent across the population, consistent with the Na gene being fully dominant as stated by Stevens (1991). The Na gene is ...

Animal Genetic Resources Information, 1998

ABSTRACT The presence and role of indigenous turkeys in Oaxaca and Quintana Roo, Mexico, were inv... more ABSTRACT The presence and role of indigenous turkeys in Oaxaca and Quintana Roo, Mexico, were investigated by means of on-site assessment and an orally administered questionnaire. Questions included breed characteristics, uses, management conditions, advantages and limitations of the breed. An indigenous breed of turkey in Oaxaca and Quintana Roo was described. A strong interest in the raising and commerce of turkeys in Oaxaca was noted, however in Quintana Roo substantial reductions in numbers of turkeys have occurred over the last two decades. Mortalities of turkey poults ranging from 50–100% due to a disease with symptoms compatible with Histomonas meleagridis infection were reported. This appears to be the most significant limiting factor to raising turkeys in a back-yard type of system in Oaxaca and Quintana Roo. Raising turkeys separately from chickens is probably the most effective strategy for decreasing indigenous turkey poult mortality of this type.

Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Vol.6, No.1. March 2015 ... more Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Vol.6, No.1. March 2015
Pp.50-67

Embedding Grammar while Developing Communicative Competence in English: Relevant Cultural Contexts and Teaching Approaches

Joseph George Mallia
British Council, Sudan
&
Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Malta

Abstract
This article examines Arab-heritage learners’ preferences on how grammar is taught in English classes with a communicative competence focus, serving as a basis for developing principled teaching practices and teacher-training. Data was collected via a questionnaire from 336 adult learners that attend a private teaching facility using primarily Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) methods. In the study, learners were pooled into lower-level, or higher-level groups depending on their Common European Framework (CEF) language level. Data was collected on learners’ preferred teaching/learning strategy choices including (i) deductive or inductive approaches, (ii) embedding grammar in local or ‘international’ cultural contexts, (iii) use of tasks and exercises or activities, and (iv) immediate or delayed teacher intervention. Results indicate Arab learners’ overall preference of grammar instruction practices based on deductive approaches, conditional to teaching practices being embedded in meaningful contexts. Lower-level learners prefer local cultural contexts, while higher-level learners prefer Western/international ones. Very few Arab-heritage learners prefer methods based on guided inductive approaches using tasks and exercises with periodic teacher-intervention, and almost none chose the deep-end CLT inductive approach. Conversely, shallow-end inductive approaches, with contextualized tasks, activities and delayed teacher intervention are almost as popular as contextualized deductive approaches. This study indicates the importance of meaningful cultural contexts for embedding grammar instruction, reappraising contemporary deductive methods, and the balanced use of shallow-end CLT and inductive approach. These results should therefore help teachers and teacher-trainers realign popular Western beliefs about English teaching and teacher-training when operating in Arab-heritage communities.
Keywords: Arab heritage learners, communicative competence focus, cultural contextualization, embedding grammar, inductive and deductive approaches, teacher-training

AWEJ Volume.5 Number.2, 2014 ... more AWEJ Volume.5 Number.2, 2014

Pp.221 -235

Inductive and Deductive Approaches to Teaching English Grammar

Joseph George Mallia
Department of English, Faculty of Arts,
University of Malta, Malta
&
British Council, Sudan

Abstract
Adult learners’ perceptions on inductive and deductive teaching approaches for English grammar were examined. The written performance of two student groups taught via an inductive and deductive approach, respectively, and created by random allocation was also contrasted. Specifically, the form, meaning and use of the past perfect were assessed on the day of explanation, and ten days later, using a reading text and practice and production exercises. Learners overwhelmingly preferred the deductive approach, but minimal differences between the inductive and deductive groups’ performance were found, probably related to the underpinning use of local cultural contextualization while language teaching both groups. The study shows a deductive approach with terse explanations, and aided by the systematic use of concrete, meaningful examples during the procedure, particularly when drawn from a familiar local cultural context, is both successful and relates to learners’ expectations. Teachers can therefore bring grammar ‘to their notice’ deductively, through rules and socially-relevant examples. However, tasks that promote grammar-noticing and consciousness-raising ‘inductively’ were generally shown to be as effective, and the inductive approach was used successfully if local contextualization was adopted. Importantly, teachers therefore need not feel constrained to predominantly use a deductive approach, assumed to be more suitable for non-BANA countries.
Keywords:British-Australasian-North American countries (BANA), contextualization, deductive and inductive approach, noticing and consciousness-raising, tertiary, secondary and primary educational sectors (TESEP)