Articles

Exploring English-majored Students’ Academic Stress and Coping Strategies: A Mixed Method Research at a Private University

/in /by

Academic stress has long been a subject of interest among researchers. University students often face significant levels of stress due to a variety of stressors. This study aims to (1) examine the prevalence of stress and the factors contributing to it, and (2) explore students’ views on stress and their coping strategies among undergraduate English studies students. A survey was conducted with a randomly selected sample of 125 students from a private university, using a questionnaire. The questionnaire addressed both academic and non-academic factors, revealing an average stress level of 2.72. Female English studies students reported a slightly higher stress level compared to their male counterparts. The findings revealed that, among academic stressors, fear of failure was the primary contributor, while limited time for recreation and homesickness were identified as the main non-academic stressors. The second data is derived from a case study design with semi-structured interview with 12 English-majored university students at the private university. The results identify 3 main coping strategies used by students when facing school stress: (1) evasion, (2) diversion, and (3) resolution. These findings highlight the critical importance of teaching about stress and coping strategies in health and life skills education.

The Impacts of Computer-Assisted Translation Tools on Learning Autonomy of Students in English Translation Courses

/in /by

Computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools have played an important role in professional translation work. Nevertheless, integrating CAT tools in translation training effectively has remained a conundrum in educational institutions. This research investigates the impact of CAT tools on the learning autonomy of English-majored students in translation courses. Several CAT tools were employed in the training process of 64 students majoring in English translation for 10 weeks. The Learner Autonomy Perception Questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data for pre-test and post-test. Qualitative data was also collected from 15 individual interviews. Findings reveal that the integration of CAT tools has positive impacts on components of learner autonomy, including belief about teachers’ role, metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive skills, and freedom, but it has no significant influence on motivation. Furthermore, although CAT tools facilitate opportunities to foster self-confidence, independence of learning and critical thinking skills, they may cause an over-reliance on technology and a lack of creativity and sense of ownership. Accordingly, several teaching implications are drawn in this study.

The Effect of Using Project-based Learning on Improving Self-Regulated Language Learning among English-majored Students at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University, Viet Nam

/in /by

Project-based learning (PBL) is one of the powerful instructional approaches for students in the classroom (Bender, 2012). PBL is an exciting, innovative instructional approach to motivate students in problem-solving (Baran, 2010). It may be defined as a real world project, based on motivating and engaging tasks, problems, questions to teach students academic content in the context of working cooperatively to solve the problem (Bell, 2010). These authors implied that if teachers utilize PBL, they change their traditional roles into the new mode of teaching. According to Dewey (1959), when students implement meaningful tasks related to problems in real-world situations, they can achieve more profound comprehension. PBL is considered an alternative choice for teaching because it is a powerful tool to encourage students to solve real-world problems (Berger, 1999). It is also believed that PBL assists students to take part in learning activities as active and confident participants (Marx, 1994). This paper examines PBL that influences the self-regulated language learning (SRLL) surveyed at BVU. The study used a quantitative approach with a positivist paradigm. The quantitative approach is deductive because it tests theories, develops models and hypotheses, and collects empirical data (Schunk, 1990). A survey tool was used to collect data from respondents across students of English Studies. The results show that PBL develops the students’ SRLL, and setting goals are the centre of SRLL to help the students study better and better at higher education.