MPPZ1323/MPB 1343 - Critical ReviewPaper (10%)

Pre- Task :

  • In pairs or a group of 3. You are required to CRITICALLY DISCUSSED the 2 articles below:

Pair1 / Group 1 :ARTICLE AARTICLE B

Pair2/ Group 2 :ARTICLE 1ARTICLE 2

  • RECORD your discussion and save as TITLEOFARTICLE.mp3 using the SANAKO lab system (to be done at the lab).
  • You may want to follow the Instructions below on how to discuss the 2 articles critically.

Task Assignment:

  • Select two empirical research journal articles related CALL(OTHER THAN THE ONE YOU DISCUSSED ABOVE) of the same theme such as CALL pronunciation/reading/writing/listening, perceptions on CALL, effectiveness of CALL materials/software etc.
  • Get the approval of your lecturer on your selected empirical research journal articles.
  • Upon approval by your lecturer, read both articles and then write a 5-8 page critical review paper on both articles.

Instructions:

  • At the top of your critical review, write your name and metric number. Then write the full bibliographic entryof both articles you are reviewing, for example:
  • Lafford, P. A. & Lafford, B. A. (2005). CMC Technologies for Teaching Foreign Languages: What’s on the Horizon? CALICO Journal 22(3), 679-709.
  • Read through both articles first and try to understand it.Be critical when reading.
  • Note the subheadings and the main ideas discussed.
  • Begin your review by:

stating the title of each article, how the article was divided, and perhaps the significance of these subheadingsin the Introduction paragraph with a clear thesis.

  • Summarize concisely in 1-2 paragraphs the empirical study on CALL in each of the article
  • aims/objectives/research questions,
  • type of research,
  • research instruments,
  • participants,
  • procedure
  • findings
  • Then in the proceeding paragraphs, review critically by generally answering these questions:
  • What do you think of the article? – is it appropriate or relevant, useful, informative, interesting, timely?
  • What are your opinions or views on the article? Why? Support this with examples from the article and maybe from other similar articles (please attached reference list).
  • Do you agree/disagree with the author’s/s’ ideas/article? State specific examples to show this or by creating certain theme/s that you could extract from the article. (Cite or quote certain phrases or sentences from the article to support your point using correct and appropriate format for making citations)
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of each article? Support this with examples from the article.
  • Finally in the next few paragraphs, critically synthesise both articles by addressing these questions:
  • What are the similarities between both articles? Support with examples in the articles.
  • What are the differences between both articles? Support with examples in the articles.
  • The critical review should be typed using Times New Roman Font 12, 1.5 spacing and should be in the range of 5-10 pages.
  • Please submit your assignment in 2 formats (softcopy and hardcopy):
  • Uploadthe softcopy onto yahoogroups by saving the document like this yourname_criticalreview
  • Submit to your lecturer the hardcopy in class with your name and metric no at the top of the first page (Do not submit a cover page)

B - POWERPOINT SUMMARY - to be done in Googledocs Presentation (5%)

  • For sharing purposes, do a Powerpoint Summary. Present the slides in class.
  1. The first slide should be the full bibliographic entry as the example above.
  2. Please summarize by using the subheadings and keywords/phrases as used in the article – THIS IS JUST A SUMMARY AND NOT YOUR OWN CRITICAL REVIEW.
  3. Save the document by putting the last name of the author of the article and year in one phrase followed by your name such as this laffordnlafford2005_yourname.
  4. Then share the URL of the Googledocs with our CALL Yahoo!group in the LINKS section of our Yahoo Group.