STARTING REVISING FOR

PHD ENTRANCE EXAMS

Reviewing previous questions

Dr. BOUKHECHBA Hicham

Lecturer at Djelfa University Algeria

[email protected]
The starting point

 Looking for lessons  Looking for research

axes
 Reading Blindly
 Reading purposefully
 Writing Summaries  Solving problems
( answering previous
PhD questions )

 Developing Writing style

 No clear end  Better understanding of
 Frustration the related concepts
 Giving up  Clear and guided
revision
 Reviewing Previous Questions
2013
 Teacher’ roles / methods
The teachers’ role in the classroom has been shifting over time from strict
 Learner-centeredness
controller to facilitator.
 Classroom Management
Discuss and illustrate the teacher’s role through the most appropriate approaches/

methods

2011

The phrase “ learner-centered” makes it sound as if the teacher is not in control of

the classroom. In the light of your reading discuss fully the notion of learner-

centeredness and its application in a country like Algeria.

2014

Successful classroom management involves not only responding effectively when

problems occur, but rather preventing them. Discuss.

 Reviewing Previous Questions
2015
 Teacher’ roles / methods
Harmer (2001:94) believes that failure in EFL teaching is largely due to the fact”
 Learner-centeredness
that many approaches and teaching methods …are based on a very western idea
 Classroom Management
of what constitutes “ good” learning” . Comment on this statement with
 Culture / teaching / methods
reference to ELT in Algeria

2014

In the field of foreign language teaching/learning, there has been a prominent

shift from the focus on teachers and teaching to the focus on learners and

learning.

What implications might this shift have on such pedagogical practices as choosing

materials, activities, topics, and forms of teaching?

2015

According to academic research, linguists have demonstrated that there is not one

single best teaching method for everyone in all contexts. Comment

 Reviewing Previous Questions
How did psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics influence language learning ?  Teacher’ roles / methods
 Learner-centeredness
 Classroom Management
 Culture / teaching / methods

2015  Psycholinguistics
sociolinguistics / language
Data collection and analysis procedures are critical to effective research. Define learning
 Applied linguistics
each of these two processes providing examples and clarify the difference between

them.

2015

One of the applied linguistics' main objectives is to solve language teaching

problems. Explain.
 Reviewing Previous Questions
2015. From the 1950s to the 1970s emerged different approaches to language
 Teacher’ roles / methods
teaching mostly concerned with communication, yet almost no room was felt for
 Learner-centeredness
literature. The recent developments in language teaching show a significant
 Classroom Management
return of literature in a communicative approach perspective. Do you think that
 Culture / teaching / methods
these claims for using literature I EFL teaching could be credited?  Psycholinguistics
sociolinguistics / language
2016. Researches recently pointed the importance of cognitive and affective learning

factors in the acquisition of a foreign language. Discuss, with particular reference to  Applied linguistics
 Literature and language learning
the acquisition of English as a foreign language.
 Cognitive factors / language
learning
2014

The grammar-translation method, the educationalist monolith” for more than

2000 years successfully resisted attempts to innovate in education until the end

of the nineteenth century that brought a genuine revolution in the teaching of

languages. Contrast method with more modern alternatives.

 Reviewing Previous Questions
2015. From the 1950s to the 1970s emerged different approaches to language
 Teacher’ roles / methods
teaching mostly concerned with communication, yet almost no room was felt for
 Learner-centeredness
literature. The recent developments in language teaching show a significant
 Classroom Management
return of literature in a communicative approach perspective. Do you think that
 Culture / teaching / methods
these claims for using literature I EFL teaching could be credited?  Psycholinguistics
sociolinguistics / language
2016. Researches recently pointed the importance of cognitive and affective learning

factors in the acquisition of a foreign language. Discuss, with particular reference to  Applied linguistics
 Literature and language learning
the acquisition of English as a foreign language.
 Cognitive factors / language
learning
2014

The grammar-translation method, the educationalist monolith” for more than

2000 years successfully resisted attempts to innovate in education until the end

of the nineteenth century that brought a genuine revolution in the teaching of

languages. Contrast method with more modern alternatives.

 Reviewing Previous Questions
2016
 Teacher’ roles / methods
Do you believe that language learning/ teaching is possible with the focus on
 Learner-centeredness
function ( communication ) rather than on the form ( Grammar)?
 Classroom Management
 Culture / teaching / methods
 Psycholinguistics
2016 sociolinguistics / language
learning
It is argued that communicative language teaching creates a learning environment  Applied linguistics
that closely replicates how students will use language in a real-life situation  Literature and language learning

-Discuss  Cognitive factors / language

learning

2017

Why has the teaching concern shifted from teacher-centeredness to learner-

centeredness ?
 Reviewing Previous Questions
2016
 Teacher’ roles / methods
Do you believe that language learning/ teaching is possible with the focus on
 Learner-centeredness
function ( communication ) rather than on the form ( Grammar)?
 Classroom Management
 Culture / teaching / methods
 Psycholinguistics
2016 sociolinguistics / language
learning
It is argued that communicative language teaching creates a learning environment  Applied linguistics
that closely replicates how students will use language in a real-life situation  Literature and language learning

-Discuss  Cognitive factors / language

learning

2017

Why has the teaching concern shifted from teacher-centeredness to learner-

centeredness ?
 Reviewing Previous Questions
2017
 Teacher’ roles / methods
“ At first sight, it may seem rather odd to focus on what learners get wrong
 Learner-centeredness
rather than what they get right. However, there are good reasons for focusing
 Classroom Management
on errors. First, they are a conspicuous feature of learner language, raising the
 Culture / teaching / methods
important question of “ why do learners make errors ?” Second, it is useful for  Psycholinguistics
sociolinguistics / language
teachers to know what errors learners make. Third, paradoxically, it is possible learning
that making errors may actually help learners to learn when they self-correct the  Applied linguistics

errors they make”  Literature and language learning

 Cognitive factors / language
Rod Ellis 2007:15
learning
Comment the quotation giving ample examples and justification.  Errors / teaching / learning
 Communication / culture

2016

Problems of communication and poor dialogue arise when persons from different

social and cultural context fail to understand each other properly

 Reviewing Previous Questions
2013
 Teacher’ roles / methods
Account for the contribution of discourse analysis to language teaching .
 Learner-centeredness
 Classroom Management
 Culture / teaching / methods
 Psycholinguistics
2016 sociolinguistics / language
learning
 Applied linguistics
All languages are dialects, but not all dialects are languages. Discuss  Literature and language learning
 Cognitive factors / language
learning

2019

How can the use of modern technology help in promoting foreign language

learners’ autonomy?
 Reviewing Previous Questions
2019
 Teacher’ roles / methods
What principles would you opt for in designing a syllabus for tourism students?
 Learner-centeredness
 Classroom Management
 Culture / teaching / methods
 Psycholinguistics
2019 sociolinguistics / language
learning
How do cultural and global issues affect communication? knowing that global  Applied linguistics
communication helps to increase business opportunities, remove cultural barriers,  Literature and language learning

and develop a global village.  Cognitive factors / language

learning

2019

Critics say that the teachers' role should no more conform to the dictum “ the

sage on the stage” because the task of education is not to pout information into

learners’ heads but rather to engage learners’ minds with powerful and useful

concepts.
 Reviewing Previous Questions
2019
 Teacher’ roles / methods
Creswell (2002) notes that quantitative research is the process of collecting,
 Learner-centeredness
analyzing, interpreting, and writing the results of a study; while qualitative
 Classroom Management
research is the approach to data collection, analysis, and report writing. This
 Culture / teaching / methods
leads to the conclusion that triangulation could be one of the important processes  Psycholinguistics
sociolinguistics / language
to ensued validity and reliability. learning
Discuss.  Applied linguistics
 Literature and language learning
 Cognitive factors / language
2019
learning
In what aspects is first language acquisition different from second language

acquisition?

Illustrate to support your answer.

 Reviewing Previous Questions
2019
 Teacher’ roles / methods
As a means of global communication, English no longer exclusively expressed the
 Learner-centeredness
culture (s) of English-speaking nations. Discuss.
 Classroom Management
Discuss.
 Culture / teaching / methods
 Psycholinguistics
sociolinguistics / language
learning
2019  Applied linguistics

Nowadays, technology is used as a means to conduct academic researches, be it  Literature and language learning
 Cognitive factors / language
linguistics, literature, didactics, or civilization. discuss the statement in an essay
learning
providing ample examples.

2019

Cognitive linguistics has played a determining role in establishing learner-

centeredness as a key principle in modern language pedagogy. Discuss

 Reviewing Previous Questions
Formal Education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”
 Teacher’ roles / methods
Jim Rohn
 Learner-centeredness
Comment
 Classroom Management
 Culture / teaching / methods
 Psycholinguistics
You are interested in investing the effect of using technology tools in English
sociolinguistics / language
learning
vocabulary acquisition. How would you turn this research problem into a research
 Applied linguistics
proposal? Write down the outline of this proposal explaining each part fully..
 Literature and language learning
 Cognitive factors / language
learning

Write an essay on the following topic

The blending of technology and teaching has generated a myriad of technological

teachings, distance teaching, electronic teaching, and mix mode, to cite a few.

Consider two modes, compare them, and state how challenging they are.
 Reviewing Previous Questions
In view of applied linguists' concern with language in use, at the broadest level of
 Teacher’ roles / methods
analysis, language is studied in relation to the culture and context in which it is
 Learner-centeredness
used. Discuss the relevance of the previous statement in a technology-dependent
 Classroom Management
era.
 Culture / teaching / methods
 Psycholinguistics
sociolinguistics / language
learning
How does the teacher’s feedback following students’ errors affect their motivation  Applied linguistics

to learn a foreign language?  Literature and language learning

 Cognitive factors / language
learning

The complexity of the teaching /learning process with different learners,

practitioners, goals and approaches, materials, and classroom techniques makes

it inconceivable that any one method could achieve optimum success in all

circumstances. Explain
 Reviewing Previous Questions
How can the post-positivist and interpretivist paradigms influence the choice of
 Teacher’ roles / methods
research methodology?.
 Learner-centeredness
 Classroom Management
 Culture / teaching / methods
 Psycholinguistics
sociolinguistics / language
learning
A targeted learning environment is one of the most essential elements that  Applied linguistics

determines an efficient learning/ teaching process  Literature and language learning

 Cognitive factors / language
Discuss the role of the learning environment in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic
learning
experience

Culture has become an integrative part of language learning in EFL classrooms.

Can culture be taught? If yes, via which approach?

 Reviewing Previous Questions
The 21st-century learning skills require critical thinking, technological literacy,
 Teacher’ roles / methods
collaboration, and creativity. To what extent do these new perspectives represent
 Learner-centeredness
a real challenge to previous theories of language learning.
 Classroom Management
 Culture / teaching / methods
 Psycholinguistics
sociolinguistics / language
learning
 Applied linguistics
 Literature and language learning
 Cognitive factors / language
learning