Theo Iyere (PhD) Assistant Professor /Senior Lecturer | National Open University of Nigeria (original) (raw)
Uploads
Papers by Theo Iyere (PhD) Assistant Professor /Senior Lecturer
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Work in Progress, 2024
The paper discusses how AI language models, such as ChatGPT, can be used for automated essay scor... more The paper discusses how AI language models, such as ChatGPT, can be used for automated essay scoring (AES) in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) by leveraging the GPT-3 model to score essays and comparing the scores to benchmark levels. Recently, some colleagues and I experimented with an AI essay grader, accessible even to non-tech-savvy users and found that it performs the basic function of grading essays, provides additional features like summarizing content, detecting plagiarism, identifying errors, and even offering feedback-making it an excellent tool for marking essays in an Open and Distance Learning institution like the National Open University of Nigeria where essay answers are still being manually marked by lecturers. This experiment further validates the fact that AI can be used to score essays by utilizing natural language processing, machine learning techniques, and pre-training models. These AI-powered systems can analyze the syntax, semantics, grammar, and content of written essays to provide accurate grading and feedback. The paper further reviews the various approaches that have been proposed, including the use of graph-based techniques to assess the similarity of sentences and the integration of multi-level semantic features. Models such as BERT, convolutional neural networks, and recurrent neural networks are employed to extract deep semantic features, while feature fusion techniques enhance the accuracy of scoring. Pre-training and fine-tuning mechanisms, along with prompt feature fusion and auxiliary tasks, have also been explored to improve performance in essay scoring systems. The paper concludes, that these advancements in AI technology have the potential to revolutionize the evaluation and feedback process in essay grading, providing more efficient and accurate assessments especially in ODL institutions such as the National Open University of Nigeria.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Academia Letters
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Academia Letters, 2022
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Spoken English course is a vital component of the B.A. English language programme in many Ope... more The Spoken English course is a vital component of the B.A. English language programme in many Open and Distance Learning institutions in Nigeria. The course provides the base for growth in other courses related to grammar, reading and writing abilities. As learning and applying the skills of spoken English are so closely related, the ODL classroom should be a place where the use of spoken language is sensitively supported and where active listening is developed and valued. The act of speaking enables students to make connections between what they know and what they are learning, and listening helps them to acquire knowledge and explore ideas. Although many students have mastered basic listening and speaking skills, some students are much more effective in their spoken communication than others. And those who are more effective communicators experience more success in school and in other areas of their lives. Indeed, the skills that can make the difference between minimal and effecti...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
International Journal of English and Literature, Dec 31, 2013
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
International Journal of English and Literature, Jul 31, 2013
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This paper presents an overview of the challenges often faced when teaching the Spoken English co... more This paper presents an overview of the challenges often faced when teaching the Spoken English course in the Open and Distance learning system in Nigeria. The Spoken English course is a vital component of the B.A. English language programme in many Open and Distance Learning institutions in the country, and provides the base for growth in other courses related to grammar, reading and writing abilities. As learning and applying the skills of spoken English are so closely related, the ODL classroom should be a place where the use of spoken language is sensitively supported and where active listening is developed and valued. The strategies required to successfully teach Spoken English to the students in the ODL environment are carefully outlined in this study.
Keywords: Spoken English, Open and Distance Learning (ODL), Open & Distance Learning Quality Council , on-line learning (e-learning), synchronous and asynchronous technologies.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This paper reports the findings of an investigation of lexical errors in the Open and Distance Le... more This paper reports the findings of an investigation of lexical errors in the Open and Distance Learning students’ essays at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). The study made use of tagged sample essays to find out the frequency and types of lexical errors in different registers of guided writing administered to randomly selected 300 and 400 level students undergoing the B.A English programme in the university. These categories of students were selected because the university regulation stipulates that all their examinations have to be manually written. The findings of the study reveal that ODL students in the B.A English programme in NOUN committed lexical choice errors more than lexical form errors. Lexical choice includes individual and combined choice of lexical items. Lexical form involves derivational errors and spelling errors. There are broadly two kinds of errors including interlingual errors and intralingual errors. Transfer errors mean a failure to keep a conceptual separation between L1 and L2. They represent interlingual errors. Transfer errors are different for each L1-L2 pair, while intralingual errors are the result of inadequate knowledge of the second language. The study postulates that simplification and over generalization errors might be made by any language learner based on low L2 proficiency. It then concludes that lexical errors are a natural and a necessary phenomenon in language teaching and learning and they benefit learners immensely, especially as they will try to avoid committing such errors in subsequent writings. Indeed, teachers should not prevent students from making errors but should always find ways to identify and correct them in the ODL classroom.
Keywords: Lexical Errors, Open and Distance Learning, L1-L2 Proficiency, Language Teaching, Pedagogical Techniques.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This study is aimed at evaluating some critical factors associated with computer-based versus pap... more This study is aimed at evaluating some critical factors associated with computer-based versus paper-based testing in Open and Distance Learning institutions. The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is used as a case study. The factors considered in this investigation are computer familiarity/literacy of test takers, content familiarity and competitiveness. 100 randomly selected 100 level undergraduate students undergoing the GST 101 – Use of English course were randomly assigned to either a computer-based or identical paper-based test. The study used several but simple quantitative and qualitative instruments to gather data which subsequently showed that the computer-based test group performed better than the paper-based test group. Although content familiarity and computer literacy were related to this performance difference, gender competitiveness was not. Students with high scores appeared to have benefitted immensely from the computer-based assessment when compared with the students who performed very well under paper-based testing. Our submission therefore, is that with the fast rate of technological innovations in computer related facilities in Nigeria, coupled with the current increase in computer – based assessment, Open and Distance Learning institutions must consciously anticipate and plan for possible test mode effects as it is now practised in the National Open University of Nigeria.
Key words: Computer-based test, Paper-based test, Open and Distance Learning (ODL), National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Computer familiarity, Content familiarity.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
ENG 141 is a three - unit course that is taught in the first semester of the B.A English Programm... more ENG 141 is a three - unit course that is taught in the first semester of the B.A English Programme. It introduces you to the basic concepts and techniques of spoken English. It is also designed to equip you with the ability to speak English in a variety of social and academic situations, and to enhance your understanding of academic and non-academic
spoken discourse.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The emerging technological revolution – especially in electronic communication in different parts... more The emerging technological revolution – especially in electronic communication in different parts of the world has inevitably led to the introduction of a sizeable number of English words. Subsequently, contemporary Nigerian university students have systematically embraced this tide of ‘Techno-Linguistic’ globalization which has combined to shape the linguistic engineering process commonly witnessed in most university campuses in Nigeria. This study was therefore undertaken to investigate the extent to which undergraduates of English studying at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) could accurately pronounce some commonly used communication technology – related words with regard to the English consonant and vowel sounds that often pose pronunciation challenges to the students. A total of 50 students were randomly selected from the 300 level undergraduate category in the department of English and were given the opportunity to pronounce each of the selected words as well as read a passage where the same words were embedded. The students’ performance was recorded and subjected to qualitative analysis. The result showed that the frequencies of pronunciation errors was high when the words were pronounced in isolation and very high when the words were read aloud (in the given passage) by the students. A clear case of Mother Tongue interference was evident in the data collected. This clearly confirms the fact that many undergraduate students of English in NOUN still experience some difficulty in pronouncing English vowels and consonants not present in their Mother Tongue (L1). This study therefore posits that teachers/lecturers of spoken English in Nigerian universities need to devote more pedagogical and research attention to these ‘problem sounds’ as such a move will ensure the practicability of training the students to become proficient language users.
Key words: Pronunciation errors, Technology – related words, Mother Tongue Interference.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Drafts by Theo Iyere (PhD) Assistant Professor /Senior Lecturer
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Work in Progress, 2024
The paper discusses how AI language models, such as ChatGPT, can be used for automated essay scor... more The paper discusses how AI language models, such as ChatGPT, can be used for automated essay scoring (AES) in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) by leveraging the GPT-3 model to score essays and comparing the scores to benchmark levels. Recently, some colleagues and I experimented with an AI essay grader, accessible even to non-tech-savvy users and found that it performs the basic function of grading essays, provides additional features like summarizing content, detecting plagiarism, identifying errors, and even offering feedback-making it an excellent tool for marking essays in an Open and Distance Learning institution like the National Open University of Nigeria where essay answers are still being manually marked by lecturers. This experiment further validates the fact that AI can be used to score essays by utilizing natural language processing, machine learning techniques, and pre-training models. These AI-powered systems can analyze the syntax, semantics, grammar, and content of written essays to provide accurate grading and feedback. The paper further reviews the various approaches that have been proposed, including the use of graph-based techniques to assess the similarity of sentences and the integration of multi-level semantic features. Models such as BERT, convolutional neural networks, and recurrent neural networks are employed to extract deep semantic features, while feature fusion techniques enhance the accuracy of scoring. Pre-training and fine-tuning mechanisms, along with prompt feature fusion and auxiliary tasks, have also been explored to improve performance in essay scoring systems. The paper concludes, that these advancements in AI technology have the potential to revolutionize the evaluation and feedback process in essay grading, providing more efficient and accurate assessments especially in ODL institutions such as the National Open University of Nigeria.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Academia Letters
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Academia Letters, 2022
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Spoken English course is a vital component of the B.A. English language programme in many Ope... more The Spoken English course is a vital component of the B.A. English language programme in many Open and Distance Learning institutions in Nigeria. The course provides the base for growth in other courses related to grammar, reading and writing abilities. As learning and applying the skills of spoken English are so closely related, the ODL classroom should be a place where the use of spoken language is sensitively supported and where active listening is developed and valued. The act of speaking enables students to make connections between what they know and what they are learning, and listening helps them to acquire knowledge and explore ideas. Although many students have mastered basic listening and speaking skills, some students are much more effective in their spoken communication than others. And those who are more effective communicators experience more success in school and in other areas of their lives. Indeed, the skills that can make the difference between minimal and effecti...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
International Journal of English and Literature, Dec 31, 2013
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
International Journal of English and Literature, Jul 31, 2013
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This paper presents an overview of the challenges often faced when teaching the Spoken English co... more This paper presents an overview of the challenges often faced when teaching the Spoken English course in the Open and Distance learning system in Nigeria. The Spoken English course is a vital component of the B.A. English language programme in many Open and Distance Learning institutions in the country, and provides the base for growth in other courses related to grammar, reading and writing abilities. As learning and applying the skills of spoken English are so closely related, the ODL classroom should be a place where the use of spoken language is sensitively supported and where active listening is developed and valued. The strategies required to successfully teach Spoken English to the students in the ODL environment are carefully outlined in this study.
Keywords: Spoken English, Open and Distance Learning (ODL), Open & Distance Learning Quality Council , on-line learning (e-learning), synchronous and asynchronous technologies.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This paper reports the findings of an investigation of lexical errors in the Open and Distance Le... more This paper reports the findings of an investigation of lexical errors in the Open and Distance Learning students’ essays at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). The study made use of tagged sample essays to find out the frequency and types of lexical errors in different registers of guided writing administered to randomly selected 300 and 400 level students undergoing the B.A English programme in the university. These categories of students were selected because the university regulation stipulates that all their examinations have to be manually written. The findings of the study reveal that ODL students in the B.A English programme in NOUN committed lexical choice errors more than lexical form errors. Lexical choice includes individual and combined choice of lexical items. Lexical form involves derivational errors and spelling errors. There are broadly two kinds of errors including interlingual errors and intralingual errors. Transfer errors mean a failure to keep a conceptual separation between L1 and L2. They represent interlingual errors. Transfer errors are different for each L1-L2 pair, while intralingual errors are the result of inadequate knowledge of the second language. The study postulates that simplification and over generalization errors might be made by any language learner based on low L2 proficiency. It then concludes that lexical errors are a natural and a necessary phenomenon in language teaching and learning and they benefit learners immensely, especially as they will try to avoid committing such errors in subsequent writings. Indeed, teachers should not prevent students from making errors but should always find ways to identify and correct them in the ODL classroom.
Keywords: Lexical Errors, Open and Distance Learning, L1-L2 Proficiency, Language Teaching, Pedagogical Techniques.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This study is aimed at evaluating some critical factors associated with computer-based versus pap... more This study is aimed at evaluating some critical factors associated with computer-based versus paper-based testing in Open and Distance Learning institutions. The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is used as a case study. The factors considered in this investigation are computer familiarity/literacy of test takers, content familiarity and competitiveness. 100 randomly selected 100 level undergraduate students undergoing the GST 101 – Use of English course were randomly assigned to either a computer-based or identical paper-based test. The study used several but simple quantitative and qualitative instruments to gather data which subsequently showed that the computer-based test group performed better than the paper-based test group. Although content familiarity and computer literacy were related to this performance difference, gender competitiveness was not. Students with high scores appeared to have benefitted immensely from the computer-based assessment when compared with the students who performed very well under paper-based testing. Our submission therefore, is that with the fast rate of technological innovations in computer related facilities in Nigeria, coupled with the current increase in computer – based assessment, Open and Distance Learning institutions must consciously anticipate and plan for possible test mode effects as it is now practised in the National Open University of Nigeria.
Key words: Computer-based test, Paper-based test, Open and Distance Learning (ODL), National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Computer familiarity, Content familiarity.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
ENG 141 is a three - unit course that is taught in the first semester of the B.A English Programm... more ENG 141 is a three - unit course that is taught in the first semester of the B.A English Programme. It introduces you to the basic concepts and techniques of spoken English. It is also designed to equip you with the ability to speak English in a variety of social and academic situations, and to enhance your understanding of academic and non-academic
spoken discourse.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The emerging technological revolution – especially in electronic communication in different parts... more The emerging technological revolution – especially in electronic communication in different parts of the world has inevitably led to the introduction of a sizeable number of English words. Subsequently, contemporary Nigerian university students have systematically embraced this tide of ‘Techno-Linguistic’ globalization which has combined to shape the linguistic engineering process commonly witnessed in most university campuses in Nigeria. This study was therefore undertaken to investigate the extent to which undergraduates of English studying at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) could accurately pronounce some commonly used communication technology – related words with regard to the English consonant and vowel sounds that often pose pronunciation challenges to the students. A total of 50 students were randomly selected from the 300 level undergraduate category in the department of English and were given the opportunity to pronounce each of the selected words as well as read a passage where the same words were embedded. The students’ performance was recorded and subjected to qualitative analysis. The result showed that the frequencies of pronunciation errors was high when the words were pronounced in isolation and very high when the words were read aloud (in the given passage) by the students. A clear case of Mother Tongue interference was evident in the data collected. This clearly confirms the fact that many undergraduate students of English in NOUN still experience some difficulty in pronouncing English vowels and consonants not present in their Mother Tongue (L1). This study therefore posits that teachers/lecturers of spoken English in Nigerian universities need to devote more pedagogical and research attention to these ‘problem sounds’ as such a move will ensure the practicability of training the students to become proficient language users.
Key words: Pronunciation errors, Technology – related words, Mother Tongue Interference.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact