Search results for: Spanish learners of English

Authors: Eunjung Lee

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This study aims to analyze the sentences generated by the beginners who learn ‘e,’ a postposition in Korean and to find out the regularity of learners’ interlanguage upon investigating the usages of ‘e’ that appears by meanings and functions in their interlanguage, and conditions that ‘e’ is used. This study was conducted with mainly two assumptions; first, the learner’s language has the specific type of interlanguage; and second, there is the regularity of interlanguage when students produce ‘e’ under the specific conditions. Learners’ output has various values and can be used as the useful data to understand interlanguage. Therefore, all the sentences containing a postposition ‘e’ by English speaking learners were searched in ‘Learners’ corpus sharing center in The National Institute of Korean Language’ in Korea, and the data were collected upon limiting the levels of learners with Level 1 and 2. 789 sentences that were used with ‘e’ were selected as the final subjects of the analysis. First, to understand the environmental characteristics to be used with a postposition, ‘e’ after summarizing 13 meaning and functions of ‘e’ appeared in three books of Korean dictionary that summarized the Korean grammar, 1) meaning function of ‘e’ that were used in each sentence was classified; 2) the nouns that were combined with ‘e,’ keywords of the sentences, and the characteristics of modifiers, linkers, and predicates appeared in front of ‘e’ were analyzed; 3) the regularity by the novice learners’ meaning and functions were reviewed; and 4) the differences of the regularity by level 1 and 2 learners’ meaning and functions were found. Upon the study results, the novice learners showed 1) they used the nouns related to ‘time(시간), before(전), after(후), next(다음), the next(그다음), then(때), day of the week(요일), and season(계절)’ mainly in front of ‘e’ when they used ‘e’ as the meaning function of time; 2) they used mainly the verbs of ‘go(가다),’ ‘come(오다),’ and ‘go round(다니다)’ as the predicate to match with ‘e’ that was the meaning function of direction and destination; and 3) they used mainly the nouns related to ‘locations or countries’ in front of ‘e,’ a meaning function postposition of ‘place,’ used mainly the verbs ‘be(있다), not be(없다), live(살다), be many(많다)’ after ‘e,’ and ‘i(이) or ka(가)’ was combined mainly in the subject words in case of ‘be(있다), not be(없다)’ or ‘be many(많다),’ and ‘eun(은) or nun(는)’ was combined mainly in the subject words in front of ‘live at’ In addition, 4) they used ‘e’ which indicates ‘cause or reason’ in the form of ‘because( 때문에),’ and 5) used ‘e’ of the subjects as the predicates to match with the predicates such as ‘treat(대하다), like(들다), and catch(걸리다).’ From these results, ‘e’ usage patterns of the Korean novice learners demonstrated very differently by the meaning functions and the learners’ interlanguage regularity could be deducted. However, little difference was found in interlanguage regularity between level 1 and 2. This study has the meaning to try to understand the interlanguage system and regularity in the learners’ acquisition process of postposition ‘e’ and this can be utilized to lessen their errors.

Keywords: interlanguage, interlagnage anaylsis, postposition ‘e’, Korean acquisition

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Authors: I. Salas-Menotti

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Problem-solving courts were created to assist offenders with specific needs that were not addressed properly in traditional courts. Problem-solving courts' main objective is to pursue solutions that will benefit the offender, the victim, and society as well. These courts were developed as an innovative response to deal with issues such as drug abuse, mental illness, and domestic violence. In Brooklyn, men who are charged with domestic violence related offenses for the first time are offered plea bargains that include the attendance to a domestic abuse intervention program as a condition to dismiss the most serious charges and avoid incarceration. The desired outcome is that the offender will engage in a program that will modify his behavior avoiding new incidents of domestic abuse, it requires accountability towards the victim and finally, it will hopefully bring down statistic related to domestic abuse incidents. This paper will discuss the effectiveness of the Duluth model as applied to Spanish-speaking men mandated to participate in the program by the specialized domestic violence courts in Brooklyn. A longitudinal study was conducted with 243 Spanish- speaking men who were mandated to participated in the men's program offered by EAC in Brooklyn in the years 2016 through 2018 to determine the recidivism rate of domestic violence crimes. Results show that the recidivism rate was less than 5% per year after completing the program which indicates that the intervention is effective in preventing new abuse allegations and subsequent arrests. It's recommended that comparative study with English-speaking participants is conducted to determine cultural and language variables affecting the program's efficacy.

Keywords: domestic violence, domestic abuse intervention programs, Problem solving courts, Spanish-speaking offenders

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Authors: Susanna Asatryan

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The author will introduce a single module related to English teaching methodology for master course students getting specialization “A Foreign Language Teacher of High Schools And Professional Educational Institutions” of Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences. The overall aim of the presentation is to introduce learning and teaching strategies within EXE Computer program for Mastery student-teachers of the University. The author will display the advantages of the use of this program. The learners interact with the teacher in the classroom as well as they are provided an opportunity for virtual domain to carry out their learning procedures in association with assessment and self-assessment. So they get integrated into blended learning. As this strategy is in its piloting stage, the author has elaborated a single module, embracing 3 main sections: -Teaching English vocabulary at high school, -Teaching English grammar at high school, and -Teaching English pronunciation at high school. The author will present the above mentioned topics with corresponding sections and subsections. The strong point is that preparing this module we have planned to display it on the blended learning landscape. So for this account working with EXE program is highly effective. As it allows the users to operate several tools for self-learning and self-testing/assessment. The author elaborated 3 single EXE files for each topic. Each file starts with the section’s subject-specific description: - Objectives and Pre-knowledge, followed by the theoretical part. The author associated and flavored her observations with appropriate samples of charts, drawings, diagrams, recordings, video-clips, photos, pictures, etc. to make learning process more effective and enjoyable. Before or after the article the author has downloaded a video clip, related to the current topic. EXE offers a wide range of tools to work out or prepare different activities and exercises for the learners: 'Interactive/non-interactive' and 'Textual/non-textual'. So with the use of these tools Multi-Select, Multi-Choice, Cloze, Drop-Down, Case Study, Gap-Filling, Matching and different other types of activities have been elaborated and submitted to the appropriate sections. The learners task is to prepare themselves for the coming module or seminar, related to teaching methodology of English vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. The point is that the teacher has an opportunity for face to face communication, as well as to connect with the learners through the Moodle, or as a single EXE file offer it to the learners for their self-study and self-assessment. As for the students’ feedback –EXE environment also makes it available.

Keywords: blended learning, EXE program, learning/teaching strategies, self-study/assessment, virtual domain,

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Authors: Chandeera Gunawardena

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The present research analyzes the pronunciation errors encountered by thirty Sinhala speaking learners of French on the assumption that the pronunciation errors were systematic and they reflect the interference of the native language of the learners. The thirty participants were selected using random sampling method. By the time of the study, the subjects were studying French as a foreign language for their Bachelor of Arts Degree at University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. The participants were from a homogenous linguistics background. All participants speak the same native language (Sinhala) thus they had completed their secondary education in Sinhala medium and during which they had also learnt French as a foreign language. A battery operated audio tape recorder and a 120-minute blank cassettes were used for recording. A list comprised of 60 words representing all French phonemes was used to diagnose pronunciation difficulties. Before the recording process commenced, the subjects were requested to familiarize themselves with the words through reading them several times. The recording was conducted individually in a quiet classroom and each recording approximately took fifteen minutes. Each subject was required to read at a normal speed. After the completion of recording, the recordings were replayed to identify common errors which were immediately transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet. Results show that Sinhala speaking learners face problems with French nasal vowels and French initial consonants clusters. The learners also exhibit errors which occur because of their second language (English) interference.

Keywords: error analysis, pronunciation difficulties, pronunciation errors, Sinhala speaking learners of French

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Authors: Svetlana Polskaya

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The study deals with the issue of using the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) concept when teaching Master Program students majoring in neuromarketing and entrepreneurship. Present-day employers expect young graduates to conduct professional communication with their English-speaking peers and demonstrate proper knowledge of the industry’s terminology and jargon. The idea of applying CLIL was the result of the above-mentioned students possessing high proficiency in English, thus, not requiring any further knowledge of the English language in terms of traditional grammar or lexis. Due to this situation, a CLIL-type program was devised, allowing learners to acquire new knowledge of entrepreneurship and neuromarketing spheres combined with simultaneous honing their English language practical usage. The case study analyzes CLIL application within this particular program as well as the experience accumulated in the process.

Keywords: CLIL, entrepreneurship, neuromarketing, foreign language acquisition, proficiency level

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Authors: Surajo Ladan

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English has been in existence in Nigeria since colonial period. The advent of English in Nigeria has caused a lot of linguistic changes in Nigerian languages especially among the educated elites and to some extent, even the ordinary people were not spared from this phenomenon. This scenario has generated a linguistic situation which culminated into the creation of Nigerian Pidgin that are conglomeration of English and other Nigerian languages. English has infiltrated the Nigerian languages to a point that a typical Nigerian can hardly talk without code-switching or using one English word or the other. The existence of English loanwords in Nigerian languages has taken another dimension in this scientific and technological age. Most of scientific and technological inventions are products of English language which are virtually adopted into the languages with phonological, morphological, and sometimes semantic variations. This paper is of the view that there should be a re-think and agitation from Nigerians to protect their languages from the linguistic genocide of English which are invariably facing extinction.

Keywords: linguistic change, loanword, phenomenon, pidgin

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Authors: Maria Zinnia Bardas Hoffmann

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Contrastive Analysis (CA) is the systematic comparison between two languages. It stems from the notion that errors are caused by interference of the L1 system in the acquisition process of an L2. CA represents a useful tool to understand the nature of learning and acquisition. Also, this particular method promises a path to un-derstand the nature of underlying cognitive processes, even when other factors such as intrinsic motivation and teaching strategies were found to best explain student’s problems in acquisition. CA study is justified not only from the need to get a deeper understanding of the nature of SLA, but as an invaluable source to provide clues, at a cognitive level, for those general processes involved in rule formation and abstract thought. It is relevant for cross disciplinary studies and the fields of Computational Thought, Natural Language processing, Applied Linguistics, Cognitive Linguistics and Math Theory. That being said, this paper intends to address here as well its own set of constraints and limitations. Finally, this paper: (a) aims at identifying some of the difficulties students may find in their learning process due to the nature of their specific variety of L1, Rio de la Plata Spanish (RPS), (b) represents an attempt to discuss the necessity for specific models to approach CA.

Keywords: second language acquisition, applied linguistics, contrastive analysis, applied contrastive analysis English language department, meta-linguistic rules, cross-linguistics studies, computational thought, natural language processing

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Authors: Hsiaoping Wu

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With the wide use of Internet, learners are exposed to the wider world. This exposure permits learners to discover new information and combine a variety of media in order to reach in-depth and broader understanding of their literacy and the world. Many paper-based teaching, learning and assessment modalities can be transferred to a digital platform. This study examines the use of e-portfolios for ESL (English as a second language) pre-service teacher. The data were collected by reviewing 100 E-portfolio from 2013 to 2015 in order to synthesize meaningful information about e-portfolios for ESL pre-service teachers. Participants were generalists, bilingual and ESL pre-service teachers. The studies were coded into two main categories: learning gains, including assessment, and technical skills. The findings showed that using e-portfolios enhanced and developed ESL pre-service teachers’ teaching and assessment skills. Also, the E-portfolio also developed the pre-service teachers’ technical stills to prepare a comprehensible portfolio to present who they are. Finally, the study and presentation suggested e-portfolios for ecological issues and educational purposes.

Keywords: assessment, e-portfolio, pre-service teacher, reflection

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Authors: Dan Xie

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The use of discourse markers (DMs) can play a crucial role in representing discourse interaction and pragmatic competence. Learners’ use of DMs and differences between native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (NNSs) in the use of various DMs have been the focus of considerable research attention. However, some commonly used DMs, such as you know, have not received as much attention in comparative studies, especially in the Chinese context. This study analyses data in two corpora (COLSEC and Spoken BNC 2014 (14-25)) to investigate how Chinese learners differ from NNSs in their use of the DM you know and its functions in speech. The results show that there is a significant difference between the two corpora in terms of the frequency of use of you know. In terms of the functions of you know, the study shows that six functions can all be present in both corpora, although there are significant differences between the five functional dimensions, especially in introducing a claim linked to the prior discourse and highlighting particular points in the discourse. It is hoped to show empirically how Chinese learners and NSs use DMs differently.

Keywords: you know, discourse marker, native speaker, Chinese learner

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Authors: Wala A. Bagunaid, Maram Meccawy, Arwa Allinjawi, Zilal Meccawy

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Continuous self-assessment becomes crucial in self-paced online learning environments. Students often depend on themselves to assess their progress; which is considered an essential requirement for any successful learning process. Today’s education institutions face major problems around student motivation and engagement. Thus, personalized e-learning systems aim to help and guide the students. Gamification provides an opportunity to help students for self-assessment and social comparison with other students through attempting to harness the motivational power of games and apply it to the learning environment. Furthermore, Open Social Student Modeling (OSSM) as considered as the latest user modeling technologies is believed to improve students’ self-assessment and to allow them to social comparison with other students. This research integrates OSSM approach and gamification concepts in order to provide self-assessment for English language learners at King Abdulaziz University (KAU). This is achieved through an interactive visual representation of their learning progress.

Keywords: e-learning system, gamification, motivation, social comparison, visualization

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Authors: A. van Staden, A. A. van Rhyn

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The numerous challenges South African, ESL learners experience were highlighted by the results of several literacy surveys and tests, which demonstrated that our learners’ literacy abilities are far below standard and very weak compared to other international countries. This study developed and implemented an interactive storybook intervention program to support the reading development of ESL learners. The researchers utilized an experimental pre-test/post-test research design, whereby 80 ESL learners from five participating schools, were purposively sampled to take part in this study. This paper, inter alia, discusses the key features of this intervention program whilst also reporting the results of the experimental investigation. Results are promising and show a significant improvement in the mean scores of the learners in the experimental group. Moreover, the results show the value of interactive storybook reading in creating responsive literacy environments to develop the literacy skills of ESL learners.

Keywords: ESL learners, reading comprehension, Interactive story book reading, South Africa

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Authors: Peter Ecke

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This research presents insights from a questionnaire study and autobiographic narrative analyses about the language and cultural backgrounds, challenges, interests, and needs, as well as perceptions about bilingualism and language learning of undergraduate students at a Public University in the southwestern United States. Participants were 650 students, enrolled in college-level general education courses, entitled “Becoming multilingual: Learning and maintaining two or more languages” between 2020 and 2024. Data were collected via pre- and post-course questionnaires administered online through the Qualtrix XM platform and complemented with analyses of excerpts from autobiographical narratives that students produced as part of the course assignments. Findings, for example, show that course participants have diverse linguistic backgrounds. The five most frequently reported L1s were English (about 50% of course participants), Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, and Korean (in that order). The five most frequently reported L2s were English, Spanish, French, ASL, Japanese, German, and Mandarin (in that order). Participants also reported on their L2, L3, L4, and L5 if applicable. Most participants (over 60%) rated themselves bilingual or multilingual whereas 40% considered themselves to be monolingual or foreign language learners. Only about half of the participants reported feeling very or somewhat comfortable with their language skills, but these reports changed somewhat from the pre- to the post-course survey. About half of participants were mostly interested in learning how to effectively learn a foreign language. The other half of participants reported being most curious about learning about themselves as bi/multilinguals, (re)learning a language used in childhood, learning how to bring up a child as a bi/multilingual or learning about people who speak multiple languages (distributed about evenly). Participants’ comments about advantages and disadvantages of being bilingual remained relatively stable but their agreement with common myths about bilingualism and language learning changed from the pre- to the post-course survey. Students’ reflections in the autobiographical narratives and comments in (institutionally administered) anonymous course evaluations provided additional data on students’ concerns about their current language skills and uses as well as their perceptions about learning outcomes and the usefulness of the general education course for their current and future lives. It is hoped that the presented findings and discussion will spark interest among colleagues in offering similar courses as a resource for college students (and possibly other audiences), including those from migrant, indigenous, multilingual, and multicultural communities to contribute to a more harmonious bilingualism and well-being of college students who are or inspire to become bi-or multilingual.

Keywords: autobiographic narratives, general education university course, harmonious bilingualism and well-being, multilingualism, questionnaire study

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Authors: Shiao-Wei Chu

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In order to enhance the ability of their graduates to compete in an increasingly globalized economy, the majority of universities in Taiwan require students to pass Freshman English in order to earn a bachelor's degree. However, many college students show low motivation in English class for several important reasons, including exam-oriented lessons, unengaging classroom activities, a lack of opportunities to use English in authentic contexts, and low levels of confidence in using English. Students’ lack of motivation in English classes is evidenced when students doze off, work on assignments from other classes, or use their phones to chat with others, play video games or watch online shows. Cooperative learning aims to address these problems by encouraging language learners to use the target language to share individual experiences, cooperatively complete tasks, and to build a supportive classroom learning community whereby students take responsibility for one another’s learning. This study includes approximately 50 student participants in a low-proficiency Freshman English class. Each week, participants will work together in groups of between 3 and 4 students to complete various in-class interactive tasks. The instructor will employ a reward system that incentivizes students to be responsible for their own as well as their group mates’ learning. The rewards will be based on points that team members earn through formal assessment scores as well as assessment of their participation in weekly in-class discussions. The instructor will record each team’s week-by-week improvement. Once a team meets or exceeds its own earlier performance, the team’s members will each receive a reward from the instructor. This cooperative learning approach aims to stimulate EFL freshmen’s learning motivation by creating a supportive, low-pressure learning environment that is meant to build learners’ self-confidence. Students will practice all four language skills; however, the present study focuses primarily on the learners’ reading comprehension. Data sources include in-class discussion notes, instructor field notes, one-on-one interviews, students’ midterm and final written reflections, and reading scores. Triangulation is used to determine themes and concerns, and an instructor-colleague analyzes the qualitative data to build interrater reliability. Findings are presented through the researcher’s detailed description. The instructor-researcher has developed this approach in the classroom over several terms, and its apparent success at motivating students inspires this research. The aims of this study are twofold: first, to examine the possible benefits of this cooperative approach in terms of students’ learning outcomes; and second, to help other educators to adapt a more cooperative approach to their classrooms.

Keywords: freshman English, cooperative language learning, EFL learners, learning motivation, zone of proximal development

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Authors: Hong Zhang

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The main purpose of this study is to show that machine translation (MT) post-editing (PE) training can help our Chinese students learn Spanish as a second language. Our hypothesis is that they might make better use of it by learning PE skills specific for foreign language learning. We have developed PE training materials based on the data collected in a previous study. Training material included the special error types of the output of MT and the error types that our Chinese students studying Spanish could not detect in the experiment last year. This year we performed a pilot study in order to evaluate the PE training materials effectiveness and to what extent PE training helps Chinese students who study the Spanish language. We used screen recording to record these moments and made note of every action done by the students. Participants were speakers of Chinese with intermediate knowledge of Spanish. They were divided into two groups: Group A performed PE training and Group B did not. We prepared a Chinese text for both groups, and participants translated it by themselves (human translation), and then used Google Translate to translate the text and asked them to post-edit the raw MT output. Comparing the results of PE test, Group A could identify and correct the errors faster than Group B students, Group A did especially better in omission, word order, part of speech, terminology, mistranslation, official names, and formal register. From the results of this study, we can see that PE training can help Chinese students learn Spanish as a second language. In the future, we could focus on the students’ struggles during their Spanish studies and complete the PE training materials to teach Chinese students learning Spanish with machine translation.

Keywords: machine translation, post-editing, post-editing training, Chinese, Spanish, foreign language learning

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Authors: Abdullah Khuwaileh

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While teaching and translating vocabulary is no longer a neglected area in ELT in general and in translation in particular, the psychology of its acquisition has been a neglected area. Our paper aims at exploring some of the learning and translating conditions under which vocabulary is acquired and translated properly. To achieve this objective, two teaching methods (experiments) were applied on 4 translators to measure their acquisition of a number of transparent vocabulary items. Some of these items were knowingly chosen from 'deceptively transparent words'. All the data, sample, etc., were taken from Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) and Yarmouk University, where the researcher is employed. The study showed that translators might translate transparent words inaccurately, particularly if these words are uncontextualised. It was also shown that the morphological structures of words may lead translators or even EFL learners to misinterpretations of meaning.

Keywords: english, transparent, word, processing, translation

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Authors: Aisha Siddiqa

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The knowledge of pragmatic practices in a particular language is considered key to effective communication. Unlike one’s native language where this knowledge is acquired spontaneously, more conscious attention is required to learn second language pragmatics. Traditional foreign language (FL) classrooms generally focus on the acquisition of vocabulary and lexico-grammatical structures, neglecting pragmatic functions that are essential for effective communication in the multilingual networks of the modern world. In terms of effective communication, of particular importance is knowledge of what is perceived as polite or impolite in a certain language, an aspect of pragmatics which is not perceived as obligatory but is nonetheless indispensable for successful intercultural communication and integration. While learning a second language, the acquisition of politeness assumes more prominence as the politeness norms and practices vary according to language and culture. Therefore, along with focusing on the ‘use’ of politeness strategies, it is crucial to examine the ‘acquisition’ and the ‘acquisitional development’ of politeness strategies by second language learners, particularly, by lower proficiency leaners as the norms of politeness are usually focused in lower levels. Hence, there is an obvious need for a study that not only investigates the acquisition of pragmatics by young FL learners using innovative multiple methods; but also identifies the potential causes of the gaps in their development. The present research employs a cross sectional design to explore the acquisition of politeness by young English as a foreign language learners (EFL) in France; at three levels of secondary school learning. The methodology involves two phases. In the first phase a cartoon oral production task (COPT) is used to elicit samples of requests from young EFL learners in French schools. These data are then supplemented by a) role plays, b) an analysis of textbooks, and c) video recordings of classroom activities. This mixed method approach allows us to explore the repertoire of politeness strategies the learners possess and delve deeper into the opportunities available to learners in classrooms to learn politeness strategies in requests. The paper will provide the results of the analysis of COPT data for 250 learners at three different stages of English as foreign language development. Data analysis is based on categorization of requests developed in CCSARP project. The preliminary analysis of the COPT data shows that there is substantial evidence of pragmalinguistic development across all levels but the developmental process seems to gain momentum in the second half of the secondary school period as compared to the early period at school. However, there is very little evidence of sociopragmatic development. The study aims to document the current classroom practices in France by looking at the development of young EFL learner’s politeness strategies across three levels of secondary schools.

Keywords: acquisition, English, France, interlanguage pragmatics, politeness

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Authors: Rubaiyat Jahan, Nasreen Sultana Mitu

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This paper examines the theoretical construct of transformative practices, and reports some evidence of transformative practices from a couple of Bangladeshi English teachers. The idea of transformative practices calls for teachers’ capabilities to invest their intellectual labor in teaching with an assumption that along with the academic advancement of the learners, it aims for the personal transformation for both the learners as well for themselves. Following an ethnographic research approach, data for this study were collected through in-depth interviews, informal talks and classroom observations for a period of one year. In relevance to the English classroom of the Bangladeshi context, from this study, references of transformative practices have been underlined from the participant teachers’ views on English language teaching as well as from their actual practices. According to data of this research, some evidence of transformative practices in the form of critical language awareness and personal theories of practices emerge from the participants’ articulation of the beliefs on teaching; and from the participant teachers’ classroom practices evidence of self-directed acts of teaching, self-directed acts of professional development, and liberatory autonomy have been highlighted as the reflections of transformative practices. The implication of this paper refers to the significance of practicing teachers’ articulation of beliefs and views on teaching along with their orientation to critical pedagogical relations.

Keywords: critical language awareness, personal theories of practice, teacher autonomy, transformative practices

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Authors: Amin Kaveh Boukani

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Foreign language learning is not straightforward and can be affected by numerous factors, among which personality features like tolerance of ambiguity (TA) are so well-known and important. Such characteristics yet can be affected by other factors like learning additional languages. The current investigation, thus, opted to explore the possible effect of linguistic background (being bilingual or trilingual) on the tolerance of ambiguity (TA) of Iranian EFL learners. Furthermore, the possible mediating effect of TA on multilingual learners' language performance (listening comprehension in this study) was expounded. This research involved 68 EFL learners (32 bilinguals, 29 trilinguals) with the age range of 19-29 doing their degrees in the Department of English Language and Literature of Urmia University. A set of questionnaires, including tolerance of ambiguity (Herman et. al., 2010) and linguistic background information (Modirkhameneh, 2005), as well as the IELTS listening comprehension test, were used for data collection purposes. The results of a set of independent samples t-test and mediation analysis (Hayes, 2022) showed that (1) linguistic background (being bilingual or trilingual) had a significant direct effect on EFL learners' TA, (2) Linguistic background had a significant direct influence on listening comprehension, (3) TA had a substantial direct influence on listening comprehension, and (4) TA moderated the influence of linguistic background on listening comprehension considerably. These results suggest that multilingualism may be considered as an advantageous asset for EFL learners and should be a prioritized characteristic in EFL instruction in multilingual contexts. Further pedagogical implications and suggestions for research are proposed in light of effective EFL instruction in multilingual contexts.

Keywords: tolerance of ambiguity, listening comprehension, multilingualism, bilingual, trilingual

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Authors: Austin Vander Wel, Katherin Vargas Henao

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Washington, DC, is a city in which Spanish, along with several other minority languages, is prevalent not only among tourists but also those living within city limits. In response to this linguistic diversity and DC’s adoption of the Language Access Act in 2004, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) committed to addressing the need for equal linguistic representation and established a five-step plan to provide the best multilingual information possible for public transportation users. The current study, however, strongly suggests that this de jure policy does not align with the reality of Spanish’s representation on DC public transportation–although perhaps doing so in an unexpected way. In order to investigate Spanish’s de facto representation and how it contrasts with de jure policy, this study implements a linguistic landscapes methodology that takes critical language-policy as its theoretical framework (Tollefson, 2005). Specifically concerning de facto representation, it focuses on the discrepancies between digital spaces and the actual physical spaces through which users travel. These digital vs. in situ conditions are further analyzed by separately addressing aural and visual modalities. In digital spaces, data was collected from WMATA’s website (visual) and their bilingual hotline (aural). For in situ spaces, both bus and metro areas of DC public transportation were explored, with signs comprising the visual modality and recordings, driver announcements, and interactions with metro kiosk workers comprising the aural modality. While digital spaces were considered to successfully fulfill WMATA’s commitment to representing Spanish as outlined in the de jure policy, physical spaces show a large discrepancy between what is said and what is done, particularly regarding the bus system, in addition to the aural modality overall. These discrepancies in situ spaces place Spanish speakers at a clear disadvantage, demanding additional resources and knowledge on the part of residents with limited or no English proficiency in order to have equal access to this public good. Based on our critical language-policy analysis, while Spanish is represented as a right in the de jure policy, its implementation in situ clearly portrays Spanish as a problem since those seeking bilingual information can not expect it to be present when and where they need it most (Ruíz, 1984; Tollefson, 2005). This study concludes with practical, data-based steps to improve the current situation facing DC’s public transportation context and serves as a model for responding to inadequate enactment of de jure policy in other language policy settings.

Keywords: Urban landscape, language access, critical-language policy, spanish, public transportation

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Authors: Mable Chan

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The present study about the acquisition of tense and aspect by Cantonese and Mandarin ESL learners aims to investigate the relationship between knowledge, the role that classroom input plays in the development of that knowledge, and learners' use of the L2 knowledge they acquire (i.e. their performance). Chinese has been argued as a tenseless language and Chinese ESL learners have to acquire the property from scratch. The study of acquisition of tense and aspect is a very fruitful research area in second language acquisition for a number of reasons. First, tense and aspect are notorious for being difficult for Chinese ESL learners. Second, to our knowledge, no studies have been done to compare Cantonese and Mandarin ESL learners and age effects in one single study. Data are now being collected and the findings from this comparison study of tense-aspect acquisition will shed light on both theoretical and pedagogical issues in second language acquisition, and contribute to a better understanding of both theoretical aspect concerning L2 acquisition of tense and aspect, and pedagogy of tense for L2 Chinese ESL learners.

Keywords: aspect, second language acquisition, tense, universal grammar

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Authors: Bernice Badal

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The South African English curriculum emphasizes the adoption of the Communicative Approach (CA) using Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) methodologies to develop English as a second language (ESL) learners’ communicative competence in contexts such as township schools in South Africa. However, studies indicate that the adoption of the approach largely remains a rhetoric. Poor English language proficiency among learners and poor student performance, which continues from the secondary to the tertiary phase, is widely attributed to a lack of English language proficiency in South Africa. Consequently, this qualitative study, using a mix of classroom observations and interviews, sought to investigate teacher knowledge of Communicative Competence and the methods and strategies ESL teachers used to develop their learners’ communicative competence. The success of learners’ ability to develop communicative competence in contexts such as township schools in South Africa is inseparable from materials, tasks, teacher knowledge and how they implement the approach in the classrooms. Accordingly, teacher knowledge of the theory and practical implications of the CLT approach is imperative for the negotiation of meaning and appropriate use of language in context in resource-impoverished areas like the township. Using a mix of interviews and observations as data sources, this qualitative study examined teachers’ definitions and knowledge of Communicative competence with a focus on how it influenced their classroom practices. The findings revealed that teachers were not familiar with the notion of communicative competence, the communication process, and the underpinnings of CLT. Teachers’ narratives indicated an awareness that there should be interactions and communication in the classroom, but a lack of theoretical understanding of the types of communication necessary scuttled their initiatives. Thus, conceptual deficiency influences teachers’ practices as they engage in classroom activities in a superficial manner or focus on stipulated learner activities prescribed by the CAPS document. This study, therefore, concluded that partial or limited conceptual and coherent understandings with ‘teacher-proof’ stipulations for classroom practice do not inspire teacher efficacy and mastery of prescribed approaches; thus, more efforts should be made by the Department of Basic Education to strengthen the existing Professional Development workshops to support teachers in improving their understandings and application of CLT for the development of Communicative competence in their learners. The findings of the study contribute to the field of teacher knowledge acquisition, teacher beliefs and practices and professional development in the context of second language teaching and learning with a recommendation that frameworks for the development of communicative competence with wider applicability in resource-poor environments be developed to support teacher understanding and application in classrooms.

Keywords: communicative competence, CLT, conceptual understanding of reforms, professional development

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Authors: Rasha Alshaye

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Blended learning has become an innovative model that combines face-to-face with e-learning approaches. The Saudi Electronic University (SEU) has adopted blended learning as a flexible approach that provides instructors and learners with a motivating learning environment to stimulate the teaching and learning process. This study investigates the perceptions of English language instructors, teaching the four English language skills at Saudi Electronic University. Four main domains were examined in this study; challenges that the instructors encounter while implementing the blended learning approach, enhancing student-instructor interaction, flexibility in teaching, and the lack of technical skills. Furthermore, the study identifies and represents the instructors’ aspirations and plans to utilize this approach in enhancing the teaching and learning experience. Main findings indicate that instructors at Saudi Electronic University experience some challenges while teaching the four language skills. However, they find the blended learning approach motivating and flexible for them and their students. This study offers some important understandings into how instructors are applying the blended learning approach and how this process can be enriched.

Keywords: blended learning, English language skills, English teaching, instructors' perceptions

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Authors: Sirirat Choophan Atthaphonphiphat

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The objective of the study is to analyze errors in English essay writing of Thai (Suratthani Rajabhat University)’s students with different English language experiences. 16 subjects were divided into 2 groups depending on their English language experience. The data were collected from English essay writing about 'My daily life'. The finding shows that 275 tokens of errors were found from 240 English sentences. The errors were categorized into 4 types based on frequency counts: grammatical errors, mechanical errors, lexical errors, and structural errors, respectively. The findings support all of the researcher’s hypothesizes, i.e. 1) the students with low English language experience made more errors than those with high English language experience; 2) all errors in English essay writing of Suratthani Rajabhat University’s students, the interlingual errors are more than the intralingual ones; 3) systemic and structural differences between English (target language) and Thai (mother-tongue language) lead to the errors in English essays writing of Suratthani Rajabhat University’s students.

Keywords: applied linguistics, error analysis, interference, language transfer

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Authors: Canan Duzan

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For most language learners, mastery of the speaking skill is the proof of the mastery of the foreign language. On the other hand, the speaking skill is considered as the most difficult aspect of language learning to develop for both learners and teachers. Especially in countries like Turkey where exposure to the target language is minimum and resources and opportunities provided for language practice are scarce, teaching and learning to speak the language become a real struggle for teachers and learners alike. Data collected from students, instructors, faculty members and the business sector in needs analysis studies conducted previously at Middle East Technical University (METU) consistently revealed the need for addressing the problem of lack of confidence in speaking English. Action was taken during the design of the only EAP speaking course offered in Modern Languages Department since lack of confidence is considered to be a serious barrier for effective communication and causes learners to suffer from insecurity, uncertainty and fear. “Confidence building” served as the guiding principle in the syllabus design, nature of the tasks created for the course and the assessment procedures to help learners become more confident speakers of English. In order to see the effectiveness of the decisions made during the design phase of the course and whether students become more confident speakers upon completion of the course, a case study was carried out with 100 students at METU. A questionnaire including both Likert-Scale and open-ended items were administered to students to collect data and this data were analyzed using the SPSS program. Group interviews were also carried out to gain more insight into the effectiveness of the course in terms of building speaking confidence. This presentation will explore the specific actions taken to develop students’ confidence based on the findings of program evaluation studies and to what extent the students believe these actions to be effective in improving their confidence. The unique design of this course and strategies adopted for confidence building are highly applicable in other EAP contexts and may yield similar positive results.

Keywords: confidence, EAP, speaking, strategy

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Authors: Theodorou Kyriaki, Ypsilantis George

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Vocabulary learning has attracted a lot of attention in recent years, contrary to the neglected part of the past. Along with the interest in finding successful vocabulary teaching strategies, many scholars focused on locating learning strategies used by language learners. As a result, more and more studies in the area of language pedagogy have been investigating the use of strategies in vocabulary learning by different types of learners. A common instrument in this field is the questionnaire, a tool of work that was enriched by questions involving current technology, and it was further implemented to a sample of 300 Greek students whose age varied from 9 and 17 years. Strategies located were grouped into the three categories of memory, cognitive, and compensatory type and associations between these dependent variables were investigated. In addition, relations between dependent and independent variables (such as age, sex, type of school, cultural background, and grade in English) were pursued to investigate the impact on strategy selection. Finally, results were compared to findings of other studies in the same field to contribute to a hypothesis of ethnic differences in strategy selection. Results initially discuss preferred strategies of all participants and further indicate that: a) technology affects strategy selection while b) differences between ethnic groups are not statistically significant. A number of successful strategies are presented, resulting from correlations of strategy selection and final school grade in English.

Keywords: acquisition of English, internet technology, research among Greek students, vocabulary learning strategies

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Authors: Geeta Goyal

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Teaching-learning of English as a second language is a challenge for the learner as well as the teacher. Whereas a student may find it hard and get demotivated while communicating in a language other than mother tongue, a teacher, too, finds it difficult to integrate necessary teaching material in lesson plans to maximize the outcome. Studies reveal that task-based teaching can be useful in diverse contexts in a second language classroom as it helps in creating opportunities for language exposure as per learners' interest and capability levels, which boosts their confidence and learning efficiency. The present study has analysed the impact of various activities carried out in a heterogenous group of second language learners at tertiary level in a semi-urban area in Haryana state of India. Language tasks were specifically planned with a focus on engaging groups of twenty-five students for a period of three weeks. These included language games such as spell-well, cross-naught besides other communicative and interactive tasks like mock-interviews, role plays, sharing experiences, storytelling, simulations, scene-enact, video-clipping, etc. Tools in form of handouts and cue cards were also used as per requirement. This experiment was conducted for ten groups of students taking bachelor’s courses in different streams of humanities, commerce, and sciences. Participants were continuously supervised, monitored, and guided by the respective teacher. Feedback was collected from the students through classroom observations, interviews, and questionnaires. Students' responses revealed that they felt comfortable and got plenty of opportunities to communicate freely without being afraid of making mistakes. It was observed that even slow/timid/shy learners got involved by getting an experience of English language usage in friendly environment. Moreover, it helped the teacher in establishing a trusting relationship with students and encouraged them to do the same with their classmates. The analysis of the data revealed that majority of students demonstrated improvement in their interest and enthusiasm in the class. The study revealed that task-based teaching was an effective method to improve the teaching-learning process under the given conditions.

Keywords: communication skills, English, second language, task-based teaching

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Authors: H. Alqunayeer, S. Zamir

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Blended learning, an ideal amalgamation of online learning and face to face traditional approach is a new approach that may result in outstanding outcomes in the realm of teaching and learning. The dexterity and effectiveness offered by e-learning experience cannot be guaranteed in a traditional classroom, whereas one-to-one interaction the essential element of learning that can only be found in a traditional classroom. In recent years, a spectacular expansion in the incorporation of technology in language teaching and learning is observed in many universities of Saudi Arabia. Some universities recognize the importance of blending face-to-face with online instruction in language pedagogy, Qassim University is one of the many universities adopting Blackboard Learning Management system (LMS). The university has adopted this new mode of teaching/learning in year 2015. Although the experience is immature; however great pedagogical transformations are anticipated in the university through this new approach. This paper examines the role of blended language learning with particular reference to the influence of Blackboard Learning Management System on the development of English language learning for EFL learners registered in Bachelors of English language program. This paper aims at exploring three main areas: (i) the present status of Blended learning in the educational process in Saudi Arabia especially in Qassim University by providing a survey report on the number of training courses on Blackboard LMS conducted for the male and female teachers at various colleges of Qassim University, (ii) a survey on teachers perception about the utility, application and the outcome of using blended Learning approach in teaching English language skills courses, (iii) the students’ views on the efficiency of Blended learning approach in learning English language skills courses. Besides, analysis of students’ limitations and challenges related to the experience of blended learning via Blackboard, the suggestion and recommendations offered by the language learners have also been thought-out. The study is empirical in nature. In order to gather data on the afore mentioned areas survey questionnaire method has been used: in order to study students’ perception, a 5 point Likert-scale questionnaire has been distributed to 200 students of English department registered in Bachelors in English program (level 5 through level 8). Teachers’ views have been surveyed with the help of interviewing 25 EFL teachers skilled in using Blackboard LMS in their lectures. In order to ensure the validity and reliability of questionnaire, the inter-rater approach and Cronbach’s Alpha analysis have been used respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been used to analyze the students’ perception about the productivity of the Blended approach in learning English language skills. The analysis of feedback by Saudi teachers and students about the usefulness, ingenuity, and productivity of Blended Learning via Blackboard LMS highlights the need of encouraging and expanding the implementation of this new approach into the field of English language teaching in Saudi Arabia, in order to augment congenial learning aura. Furthermore, it is hoped that the propositions and practical suggestions offered by the study will be functional for other similar learning environments.

Keywords: blended learning, black board learning management system, English as foreign language (EFL) learners, EFL teachers

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Authors: Umar Bello

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Literature has become an invaluable subject which has added a great value and contribution to the teaching of English language and the discovery of many other developed ideas. Literature produces an exhilarating impulse that imprints a lasting picture on the mind of a learner. Many researchers have devised various means and approaches to language Teaching methods which remain unconvinging and which yield little result, but it has remained unconvincing because it has only produced little results. Devicing a method that eliminates monotony and boredome to learners is a good factor that enhances students’ motivation to learning. In this sense, literature and language become unavoidable components that aid intellectual development. This study examines the indispensability of literature as a means of English Language teaching to secondary school classes. The researcher has developed many instructive activities which are believed will help students to improve their study in grammar and vocabulary. The researcher has used quasi-experimental approach using experimental group and control group to find out how literature enhances the students grammar as well as their vocabulary. The findings revealed a positive performance in the experimental group doing better than the control group using simple percentage. The results make it clear that literature allows learners to pay more attention and develop more interest to their studies. In giving a perspicacious linguistic development, literature therefore remains an essential tool for language teaching classrooms, thereby enhancing their grammatical and vocabulary usage.

Keywords: teaching vocabulary, integration, poetry, classroom

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Authors: Sabitha Rahim

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In the context of teaching vocabulary of English as Foreign Language (EFL), the confluence of memory and retention is one of the most significant factors in students' language acquisition. The progress of students engaged in foreign language acquisition is often stymied by vocabulary attrition, which leads to learners' lack of confidence and motivation. However, among other factors, little research has investigated the importance of neuroplasticity in Foreign Language acquisition and how underused neural pathways lead to the loss of plasticity, thereby affecting the learners’ vocabulary retention and motivation. This research explored the effect of enhancing vocabulary acquisition of EFL students in the Foundation Year at King Abdulaziz University through various methods and neuroplasticity exercises that reinforced their attention, motivation, and engagement. It analyzed the results to determine if stimulating the brain of EFL learners by various physical and mental activities led to the improvement in short and long term memory in vocabulary retention. The main data collection methods were student surveys, assessment records of teachers, student achievement test results, and students' follow-up interviews. A key implication of this research is for the institutions to consider having multiple varieties of student activities promoting brain plasticity within the classrooms as an effective tool for foreign language acquisition. Building awareness among the faculty and adapting the curriculum to include activities that promote brain plasticity ensures an enhanced learning environment and effective language acquisition in EFL classrooms.

Keywords: language acquisition, neural paths, neuroplasticity, vocabulary attrition

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Authors: Art Tsang

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In educational research, the scope of investigations has almost always been determined by researchers. As learners are at the forefront of education, it is essential to balance researchers’ and learners’ voices in educational studies. In this paper, a data collection method that helps partly address the dearth of learners’ voices in research design is introduced. Inspired by the repertory grid approach (RGA), the group RGA approach, created by the author and his doctoral student, was successfully piloted with learners in Hong Kong. This method will very likely be of interest and use to many researchers, teachers, and postgraduate students in the field of education and beyond.

Keywords: education, learners, repertory grids, research methods

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