Connecting OER with mandatory textbooks in an EFL classroom: A language theory–based material adoption
Published | April 2018 |
Journal | The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning Volume 19, Issue 2, Pages 89-110 |
Publisher | AU Press |
Country | Canada, North America |
ABSTRACT
Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) theory focuses on developing language learners’ meta-linguistic understanding of the interrelation among linguistic form (grammar/vocabulary), meaning, and context. Guided by SFL when using a mandatory textbook and open educational resources, this study investigates how exposure to this blended teaching and learning context may impact English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners’ adjustment to materials used in their learning, as well as their learning practices. By drawing on the written documents of four students written, and on interviews conducted with these students over an academic semester in an EFL writing course, this qualitative study, through content analysis and discourse analysis, shows that the SFL theory-based material adoption did a good job of supporting EFL students in their internalization of language knowledge from both open educational resources and traditional textbooks, while also enabling students to use materials flexibly instead of passively following along with the content in the mandatory textbook. The flexibility of the students participating in the study was particularly reflected by their ability to construct principled knowledge informed by SFL and to independently apply such knowledge to effectively navigate literacy practices (e.g., critical construction and deconstruction of discourses).Keywords | language teaching · mandatory textbook · material adoption · OER · systemic functional linguistics |
Published at | Athabasca, Alberta |
ISSN | 1492-3831 |
Refereed | Yes |
Rights | Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) |
DOI | 10.19173/irrodl.v19i2.3479 |
URL | http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3479 |
Export options | BibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar |
AVAILABLE FILES
Viewed by 30 distinct readers
CLOUD COMMUNITY REVIEWS
The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cloud editors.










Click a star to be the first to rate this document
▶ POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS
Revisiting Textbook Adaption Through Open Educational Resources: An Inquiry into Students' Emotions
Zhang, Xiaodong
This qualitative study explored the emotional trajectories students experienced when faced with open educational resources (OER) that expanded the learning available from a required textbook. Data included students’ ...
Match: Zhang, Xiaodong; OER
Open educational resources and global online learning
McGreal, Rory
This piece highlights how Open Educational Resources (OER) can help bridge the knowledge divide to achieve equity in education. The author discusses the different digital barriers set in place to prevent free access to ...
Match: OER; Canada; North America
OER by discipline guide: McMaster University
Kehoe, Joanne; Perkovic, Olga
The OER by Discipline Guide: McMaster University is an in-progress (open creation) that lists a broad range of open educational resources organized by disciplines at McMaster University.
Match: OER; Canada; North America
Book Review: Adoption and impact of OER in the Global South
Kirk Perris
Match: OER; Canada; North America
Expert panel report on the future now: Canada’s libraries, archives, and public memory
Beaudry, Guylaine; Bjornson, Pam; Carroll, Michael; Couture, Carol; et al.
Since the 1950s debate has raged about the impact of new technologies on print culture in the broadest sense and on the publishing industry, libraries, and archives in particular. Succinctly put, “The Death of the ...
Match: OER; Canada; North America
Open textbooks, Open Education Resources and MOOCs in the Commonwealth
Balaji, Venkataraman
Presented by Dr Venkataraman Balaji, Director: Technology and Knowledge Management, Commonwealth of Learning, at the 20th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers, 19 February 2018, Nadi, Fiji.
Match: OER; Canada; North America
Structuring actions for open educational resources adoption
Wang, Shouhong; Wang, Hai
Open educational resources (OER) are growing over the past decade. While OER can make educational resources widely available to all students and educators for free, OER are still untried by the majority of instructors, ...
Match: OER; Canada; North America
Open universities in the time of MOOCs: Reaching the unreached?
Kanwar, Asha; Balasubramanian, K.
Transcript and presentation slides of the 19th Prof. G. Ram Reddy Memorial Lecture, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), India, 2 July 2014, Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar (co-written with Dr. K. ...
Match: OER; Canada; North America
Exploring the practices of educators using open educational resources (OER) in the British Columbia higher education system
Porter, David Alexander; McClaren, Milton; Xin, Cindy
This thesis details a study that investigated the role of open educational resources (OER) in the work of post-secondary educators in British Columbia. An aim of this study was to assess the current state of knowledge ...
Match: OER; Canada; North America
Moving to open educational resources at Athabasca University: A case study
Ives, Cindy; Pringle, Mary Margaret; Conrad, Dianne; McGreal, Rory
Since the birth of the World Wide Web, educators have been exchanging ideas and sharing resources online. They are all aware of the turmoil in higher education created by freely available content, including some hopeful ...
Match: OER; Canada; North America