Dr Dexter Da Silva

Dexter Da Silva has taught English as a Second Language at junior high school, language schools, and universities in Sydney, and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Laos and Japan. He has been living and teaching at the tertiary level in Japan for the past 15 years. He is currently a Professor at Keisen University in Tokyo, where he teaches courses in EFL, Second Language Acquisition, EFL Teaching Methodology, Psycholinguistics, and Educational Psychology. He is also an adjunct instructor for the Columbia University Teachers’ College MA TESOL Program in Tokyo, where he teaches Reading Methodology and Practicum courses. He visits schools throughout Japan regularly for observations of teachers and student teachers. He has presented at conferences in Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Italy, on student motivation and teaching methodology, and has written articles on student motivation, autonomy, Japanese university English language programs, and content-based language teaching.

Qualifications

BA, DipEd, MA (Sydney)

Thesis title

The Motivation of Female Japanese University Students Towards the Study of English as a Foreign Language at University in General

Abstract

The motivation of first-year female Japanese university students is being examined using an inventory of university motivation, based on Maehr’s multiple goal model of Personal Investment. Two forms of the inventory were used for collecting data: one referring to the study of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), the other to general university study. The results of exploratory Principal Components Analysis (PCA) provide support for the applicability of the Personal Investment Model, as well as for the validity of both forms of the measurement instrument in this sociocultural context. General descriptive statistics show the relative importance of intrinsic motivational goals, and conversely the unimportance of extrinsic rewards. Multiple Analyses of Variance (MANOVA) show similarities and differences amongst students in different departments at the university where data were collected. Multiple regression analyses are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the scales derived from the PCAs in predicting academic English proficiency, as measured by TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores, and end of semester grades on compulsory first year English classes.

Supervisors

Professor Dennis McInerney, Associate Professor Valentina McInerney & Professor Herb Marsh

 

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