Galina Kavaliauskienė’s research while affiliated with Mykolas Romeris University and other places

Learning strategies are immensely ambiguous phenomena and nothing is clear-cut about them. Zoltan Dőrnyei The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. Robert M. Hutchins

This paper addresses, first, students‘ attitudes to reading, writing and translating in English as a foreign language for specific purposes and, second, to self-evaluation of proficiency in these skills. The problem of translation is closely confined to the two skills of reading and writing. The investigation has aimed at gathering verbal and written data from the students at university for making informed decisions to ensure effective language learning. Translation trains the reader to search (flexibility) for the most appropriate words (accuracy) to convey what is meant (clarity). A. Duff

Purpose – the focus of this article is to explore self-evaluation of performance in professional English that students have to do in university studies. It is clear that students can have various problems in learning English and make mistakes in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and vocabulary. Speaking and listening are the skills that are more common on an everyday basis than reading and writing. Speaking and listening skills have been known to be more difficult to master. English vocabulary presents another problem for language learners. At the university level, students study professional English, also called English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Students will need it for their future profession, so it is important for them to be able to evaluate their achievements in learning.Methodology/approach – the research paper adopts the qualitative research approach. The questionnaire on learner perceptions of computerized self-evaluation of various activities was administered to students of three different specializations. Students‘ perceptions of success or failure in their performance were analyzed.Findings. The results indicated that attitudes to computerized self-evaluation depended on the difficulty of tasks and chosen future specialization. The findings show that respondents of three investigated specializations encounter similar difficulties, but to a different degree. There are no specific problems in performance due to the complexity of the professional vocabulary that students must learn. The computations of Pearson’s correlations coefficients demonstrate that there are good correlational relationships within each specialization. The ratings of Psychology (PS) students reveal higher mean values and lower scattering of Standard Deviations in Moodle tasks than the ratings of Internet Management and Communication (IMC) students.Research limitations. The investigated samples contain the limited number of respondents, which might raise a question of the reliability of the findings. The statistical computation of the reliability of the obtained responses will prove whether the data are reliable and may be extended beyond the studied samples.The hypothesis for the research: students’ performance might depend on their specialization. Practical implications. The respondents were asked to indicate the degree of difficulty in performing various online tasks on the Likert’s scale ranging from “very difficult” to “very easy”. The analysis of the responses by a means of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software proves that despite the limited number of the respondents, the results may be extended beyond the studied samples. It means that self-evaluation of computerized activities by students studying professional English is recommended at the university level.Originality/Value. The value of this study encompasses the statistical processing of the responses, which should prove whether the findings are reliable or not.Research type: research paper.

Students’ perceptions of difficulties in speaking on professional issues are in the focus of the present article. It is generally assumed that the skill of speaking a foreign language is very difficult to master, while speaking on professional topics involves such difficulties as the usage of specific vocabulary and ability to deal with listeners’ oncoming arguments. The aims of the current research are to investigate learners’ attitudes to the level of difficulty in speaking activi - ties on a subject matter at university and apply an innovative approach to improving their speaking skills. The methodology applied was focused on guided individual learning (GIL), with gradually increasing amount of spontaneity in public talks on the subject matter, starting with prepared short talks on an ESP issue leading to group discussions; moving on to Power Point presentations, involving spontaneous deviations from the subject and followed by question time; further, adding some complex subject matter, such as a discussion on a problematic professional subject suggested by learning materials; and, eventually, speaking impromptu on an issue, with a high level of control of one’s speaking skills. The research method of the learners’ attitudes employed the survey on learner attitudes to four different speaking activities in the classroom, which included short talks, Power Point Presentations, discussions and speaking impromptu. The questionnaire was administered to students of two different specializations by the end of the semester. The respondents were students who studied Psychology and Social Work at the Faculty of Social Policy, at Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius, Lithuania. The respondents were asked to indicate the degree of difficulty they had with the various speaking activities on the Likert’s scale ranging from “very difficult” (1) to “very easy” (5). The results indicated that perceptions of difficulties to developing speaking skills depended, on the one hand, on students’ chosen specialization: students of Psychology were more positive about speaking activities than students of Social Work. The differences of opinions might be caused by the level of proficiency in General English which influences the performance in professional language. On the other hand, the responses depended on the type of assignments: students felt more confident with themselves if they invested more individual learning time for their assignments. By the end of the semester, students self-assessed their achievements in improving speaking skills by contributing written reflections to individual weblogs. The analysis of contributions suggests the usefulness of the approach to perfecting professional speaking skills.

Purpose—the focus of this article is to explore difficulties that are encountered by students during the first term at university. It is well known that students can have various problems in learning English and make mistakes in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The native language of a learner affects learning and using English. Speaking and e-listening are the skills that are more common on an everyday basis than reading and writing. Moreover, these skills are more difficult to master. English vocabulary presents another problem for language learners. Albeit, at the university level students study English for Specific Purposes (ESP), in other words, the foreign language for their future profession, and they might face particular difficulties in their studies of ESP. Design/methodology/approach—the research paper adopts the qualitative research approach. The questionnaire on learner perceptions of difficulties in e-learning was administered to students of three different specializations. Students’ self-assessments of achievements or failures were analysed. Findings. The results indicated that perceptions of difficulties to adapting to university studies depended on their chosen specialization. The findings show that undergraduates of all three investigated specializations encounter the same difficulties, but to a different degree. In other words, there are no significantly specific difficulties due to the complexity of the professional vocabulary that students must learn. The ratings of Psychology, Social Work and Public Policy and Management students reveal higher mean values and wider range of Standard Deviations than reported by other researchers (Berman, Cheng, 2001). The results obtained imply that Lithuanian learners are more positive than their foreign counterparts. Computations of Pearson’s correlations coefficients demonstrate that there are some good correlational relationships within each specialization. Research limitations. A limited number of respondents might raise a question of the reliability of the findings and require a further study into the issue. The respondents in this research were students of three different specializations, namely, Psychology (68), Social Work (26) and Public Policy and Management (52), who study ESP at the Faculty of Social Policy at Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius, Lithuania. Practical implications. The respondents were asked to indicate the degree of difficulty they had with the ESP language skills on the Likert’s scale ranging from “very difficult” (1) to “very easy” (5). The analysis of the responses by a means of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software suggests that despite the limited number of the respondents, the results may be extended beyond the studied samples. Originality/Value. The value of this study encompasses the statistical processing of the responses, which should prove whether the findings are reliable or not. Research type: research paper.

Active participation of students in the self-evaluation of their learning and the development of reflective thinking are the key features of successful learning. This research is aimed at investigating influence of students’ self-assessment on writing in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The study employed a survey on the usefulness of different written tasks and students‘ reflections on their benefits to language mastery. The assignments included various contributions to portfolios such as essays, summaries of professional texts, outlines of oral presentations, creative computer tasks as well as students‘ written self-assessment notes, i.e. their reflections on various classroom activities. The research involved the students who study Social Sciences at Mykolas Romeris University. The results demonstrated that self-assessment was beneficial to students’ linguistic development. The reflections reveal the attitudes to various assignments and judgments of their usefulness in learning. Reflective practice might help teachers develop ways of dealing with specific difficulties and improve the quality of teaching. Training learners to reflect on learning outcomes is beneficial from the perspective of lifelong learning.

The objective of the research is to explore learner attitudes to correction of mistakes or feedback as a language learning tool in oral, electronically-and paper-written work as well as peer correction of mistakes. Feedback is a method used in the teaching of languages to improve performance by sha-ring observations, concerns and suggestions with regard to written work or oral presentation. It includes not only correcting learners, but also assessing them. Both correction and assessment depend on mistakes being made, reasons for mistakes, and class activities. Recently the value of feedback in language studies has been a matter of debate among language teaching practi-tioners. The research into the effects of feedback is far from conclusive. Teachers' and students' expectations toward feedback are found to be opposing, and the most frequent reason given is its negative impact on students' confidence and motivation. However, at the university level the issue of feedback has been examined in passing and there is insufficient research into lear-ner attitudes to feedback in English for Specific Purposes. The hypothesis for the present study is to find out whether criticism has a negative impact on student confidence and whether perceptions of feedback depend on professional specialization.

This paper examines competences in translation and interpreting that students have to acquire in University studies and need for translator's or interpreter's jobs in the European Union (EU) institutions. The research is based on the analysis of responses obtained independently by two questioners. The survey was designed in accordance with the European Master's in Translation document. It was created to define the basic competences essential for translators working in various translation agencies. Two samples of responses, each of which contained opinions of 4 groups of respondents, were analyzed. The respondents in each sample were employers, lecturers, students and alumni. The data reveal respondents' attitudes to acquisition of competences in translation and interpreting at tertiary level. It has been found that responses are well correlated within each sample: the Pearson's coefficients vary between .663 and .913 at the levels of significance either 0.01 or 0.05, which corresponds to the probabilities 99 % or 95 %, respectively. It means that the respondents of all four groups agree that they have acquired the translation and interpreting skills necessary in their jobs. The comparison of the two sets of responses between different samples reveals that the only data for employers are comparable and might be extended beyond the studied sample, while the data for other groups of respondents are not mutually consistent. It means that employers are satisfied with translation and interpreting skills that their employees have acquired at Vilnius University. As there is no agreement between other groups of respondents on the issues of acquisition of translation and interpreting skills, this part of research needs further exploration.

The concept of “e-learning” is ambivalent. On the one hand, it is used to describe the “distant learning”, on the other hand, it refers to “blended learning”. This article focuses on classic “blended learning”, which means combination of face-to-face instruction with online activities. The study examines students’ attitudes to integrating online activities into the traditional English language classroom. The respondents are the University students of three different specializations who study English for Specific Purposes. The frequencies of positive and negative responses to a specially designed questionnaire are analyzed. Not all the students enjoy e-learning in spite of its advantages, which might be expressed due to individual likes and dislikes. Statistical treatment of the students’ responses by means of Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) includes the computations of correlation coefficients, which indicate the strength of relationships, and their statistical significance.

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas Moodle aplinkos taikymas mokant(is) specialybės anglų kalbą. Tyrimai remiasi Mykolo Romerio universiteto Socialinės politi­kos fakulteto psichologijos specializacijos studentų apklausos, savianalizės bei testavimo duomenimis. Gauti rezultatai analizuojami naudojant statistikos metodus: taikomas SPSS (Software Package for Social Sciences) programinės įrangos paketas rezultatų patikimumo Cronbach koeficientams bei Spear­man koreliacijos koeficientams skaiciuoti. Darbe nustatyta, kad psichologijos specializacijos studentų atsakymams Cronbach koeficientų vertės yra tarp 0,7 ir 0,9 esant patikimumo lygiui 0,05 (tikimybė 95 proc.) arba 0,01 (tikimybė 99 proc.). Tokie rezultatai liudija, kad rysys nėra atsitiktinis ir galioja ne tik mažos imties atvejais. Studentų požiūris į e. mokymą(si) naudojant Moodle aplinką yra teigiamas. Kai kurių problemų interpretuojant studentų darbo rezultatus sudaro Moodle programinės įrangos netobulumai, kurie taisytini kompiuterijos specialistų. Darbe pateikiamos studentų refleksijos atliekant Moodle užduotis bei jų interpretacija. Rekomenduojama naudoti Moodle aplinką mokant(is) specialybės užsienio kalbą. http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.19.954