Search results for: learners’ voices

Authors: Habibollah Mashhady, Behruz Lotfi, Mohammad Doosti, Moslem Fatollahi

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An exploration of the related literature reveals that all instruction methods aim at training autonomous learners. After the turn of second language pedagogy toward learner-oriented strategies, learners’ needs were more focused. Yet; the historical, social and political aspects of learning were still neglected. The present study investigates the notion of autonomous learning and explains its various facets from a pedagogical point of view. Furthermore; different elements, fields and scopes of autonomous learning will be explored. After exploring different aspects of autonomy, it is postulated that liberatory autonomy is highlighted since it not only covers social autonomy but also reveals learners’ capabilities and human potentials. It is also recommended that learners consider different elements of autonomy such as motivation, knowledge, confidence, and skills.

Keywords: critical pedagogy, social autonomy, academic learning, cultural notions

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Authors: Mahmoud Nabilu

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The present study explored the effect of using Mobile listening applications on developing listening skills by Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Fifty male intermediate English learners whose age range was between 15 and 20, participated in the study. The participants were placed in two groups on the basis of their scores on a placement test. Therefore, the participants of the study were homogenized in terms of general proficiency, and groups were assigned as one experimental group and one control group. The experimental group was instructed by the treatment which was using mobile applications to develop their listening skills while the control group received traditional methods. The research data were obtained from the 40-item multiple-choice tests as a pre-test and a post-test. The results of the t-test clearly revealed that the learners in the experimental group performed better in the post-test than the pre-test. This implies that using a mobile application for developing listening skills as a treatment was effective in helping the language learners perform better on post-test. However, a statistically significant difference was found between the post-tests scores of the two groups. The mean of the experimental group was greater compared to the control group. The participants were Iranian and from an Iranian Language Institute, so care should be taken while generalizing the results to the learners of other nationalities. However, in the researcher's view, the findings of this study have valuable implications for teachers and learners, methodologists and syllabus designers, linguists and MALL/CALL (mobile/computer-assisted language learning) experts. Using the result of the present paper is an aim of raising the consciousness of a better technique of developing listening skills in order to make language learning more efficient for the learners.

Keywords: Mobile listening applications, intermediate EFL learners, MALL, CALL

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Authors: Tsediso Makoelle

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South Africa like in other parts of the world has acknowledged the prevalence of the phenomenon of homosexuality in the society. Due to the number of homosexuality cases in the South African society, questions have been asked about the impact of homosexuality in schools and how teachers and learners deal with homosexuality within the context of an emerging inclusive education system. This qualitative study analysis the experiences of teachers and learners in selected secondary schools in relation to prevalence of transgender in schools. Interviews were conducted with principals, teachers and focus group of learners in schools were cases homosexuality have been reported. Data was analysed using an inductive analysis framework. Among the findings was that homosexuality is still viewed as a taboo in Black-African dominated school communities and that the need to create all-embracing and inclusive environment was evident. The study suggests a needs to open communications in communities about homosexuality in order to develop an all-inclusive environment for all learners regardless of their sexual orientation.

Keywords: homosexuality, inclusive education, sexual orientation, transgender

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Authors: Maassoumeh Bemani Naeini

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Studies on interlanguage have long been engaged in describing the phenomenon of variation in SLA. Pursuing the same goal and particularly addressing the role of linguistic features, this study describes the use of Persian morphology in the interlanguage of two adult English-speaking learners of Persian L2. Taking the general approach of a combination of contrastive analysis, error analysis and interlanguage analysis, this study focuses on the identification and prediction of some possible instances of transfer from English L1 to Persian L2 across six elicitation tasks aiming to investigate whether any of contextual features may variably influence the learners’ order of morpheme accuracy in the areas of copula, possessives, articles, demonstratives, plural form, personal pronouns, and genitive cases.  Results describe the existence of task variation in the interlanguage system of Persian L2 learners.

Keywords: English L1, Interlanguage Analysis, Persian L2, SLA variation

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Authors: Kafuko M. Maria, Namisango Fatuma, Byomire Gorretti

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Mobile learning (m-learning) is steadily growing and has undoubtedly derived benefits to learners and tutors in different learning environments. This paper investigates the variation in benefits derived from enhanced classroom learning through use of m-learning platforms in the context of a developing country owing to the fact that it is still in its initial stages. The study focused on how basic technology-enhanced pedagogic innovation like cell phone-based learning is enhancing classroom learning from the learners’ perspective. The paper explicitly indicates the opportunities presented by enhanced learning to a conventional learning environment like a physical classroom. The findings were obtained through a survey of two universities in Uganda in which data was quantitatively collected, analyzed and presented in a three banded diagram depicting the variation in the obtainable benefits. Learners indicated that a smartphone is the most commonly used device. Learners also indicate that straight lectures, student to student plus student to lecturer communication, accessing learning material and assignments are core activities. In a TEL environment support by smartphones, learners indicated that they conveniently achieve the prior activities plus discussions and group work. Learners seemed not attracted to the possibility of using TEL environment to take lectures, as well as make class presentations. The less attractiveness of these two factors may be due to the teacher centered approach commonly applied in the country’s education system.

Keywords: technology enhanced learning, m-learning, classroom learning, perceived benefits

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Authors: Annette G. Walters Ph.D.

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With a global shortage of qualified educational professionals, school systems continue to struggle with adequate staffing. How might learning communities meet the needs of all students, in particular those with specialized needs. While the task may seem foreboding and certain factors may seem divergent, all are connected in the education of students. Special education has a significant impact on the teaching and learning experience of all students in an educational community. Even when there are concerted efforts at embracing learners with diverse aptitude and abilities, there are often many important local factors that are misaligned, overlooked, or misunderstood. Working with learners with diverse abilities, often requires intentional services and supports for students to achieve success. Developing and implementing specialized instruction requires a multifaceted approach to supports the entire learning community, which includes educational providers, learners, and families, all while being mindful of fiscal and natural resources. This research explores the implications and complexities of special education instruction and specializing instruction, as well as leading and teaching diverse learners. This work is separated into three sections: the state of special education, teaching and leading diverse learners, and developing educational competencies through collaborative engagement. This structured analysis extrapolates historical and current research on special education practices and the role of educators in ensuring diverse students meet success.

Keywords: - diverse learners, - special education, - modification and supports, - curriculum and instruction, - classroom management, - formal and informal assessments

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Authors: Musbah Abdussayed

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The washback effect refers to the influence of assessment on teaching and learning, and this washback effect can either be positive or negative. This study implemented, sequentially, self-assessment (SA) and peer assessment (PA) and examined the washback effect of self and peer assessment (SPA) activities on the writing growth during the revision phase in the writing process. Twenty advanced Arabic as a second language learners from a private school in the USA participated in the study. The participants composed and then revised a short Arabic story as a part of a midterm grade. Qualitative data was collected, analyzed, and synthesized from ten interviews with the learners and from the twenty learners’ post-reflective journals. The findings indicate positive washback effects on the learners’ writing growth. The PA activity enhanced descriptions and meaning, promoted creativity, and improved textual coherence, whereas the SA activity led to detecting editing issues. Furthermore, both SPA activities had washback effects in common, including helping the learners meet the writing genre conventions and developing metacognitive awareness. However, the findings also demonstrate negative washback effects on the learners’ attitudes during the revision phase in the writing process, including bias toward self-evaluation during the SA activity and reluctance to rate peers’ writing performance during the PA activity. The findings suggest that self-and peer assessment activities are essential teaching and learning tools that can be utilized sequentially to help learners tackle multiple writing areas during the revision phase in the writing process.

Keywords: self assessment, peer assessment, washback effect, second language writing, writing process

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Authors: Aziz Soubai

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The primary issue is that English as foreign language learners don’t use English outside the classroom. The only little exposure is inside the classroom, and that’s not enough to make them good language learners! Edmodo, like the other Learning Management Systems, can be used to encourage students to collaborate with each other and with global classrooms on projects where English is used- Some examples of collaboration with different schools will be mentioned and how the Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition (SAMR) model and its stages can be applied in the activities, especially for teachers who are hesitant to introduce technology or don’t have a lot of technical knowledge. There will also be some focus on Edmodo groups and on how flipped and blended learning can be used as an extension for classroom time and to help the teacher address language problems and improve students’ language skills, especially writing, reading and communication. It is also equally important to use Edmodo badges and certificates for motivating and engaging learners and gamifying the lesson.

Keywords: EFL learners, language classroom-learning management system, edmodo, SAMR, language skills

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Authors: Ailene B. Anonuevo

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The aim of the study was to evaluate the quality of life presently available for the IP students in selected schools in the Division of Panabo City. This further explores their future dreams and current status in classes and examines some implications relative to their studies. The study adopted the mixed methodology and used a survey research design as the operational framework for data gathering. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaires and interviews with sixty students from three schools in Panabo City. In addition, this study describes the learners’ background and school climate as variables that might influence their performance in school. The study revealed that an IP student needs extra attention due to their unfavorable learning environment. The study also found out that like any other students, IP learners yearns for a brighter future with the support of our government.

Keywords: IP learners, learning landscape, school climate, quality of life

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Authors: Andrew Laghos

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Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is defined as the use of computers to help learn languages. In this study we look at several different types of CALL tools and applications and how they can assist Adults and Young Learners in learning the English language as a foreign, second or additional language. It is important to identify the roles of the teacher and the learners, and what the learners’ motivations are for learning the language. Audio, video, interactive multimedia games, online translation services, conferencing, chat rooms, discussion forums, social networks, social media, email communication, songs and music video clips are just some of the many ways computers are currently being used to enhance language learning. CALL may be used for classroom teaching as well as for online and mobile learning. Advantages and disadvantages of CALL are discussed and the study ends with future predictions of CALL.

Keywords: computer-assisted language learning (CALL), teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL/EFL), adult learners, young learners

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Authors: Saziye Darendeli

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Motivation has a significant impact on a second/foreign language learning process, so it plays a vital role while achieving the learning goal. As it is defined by Simon (1967, p. 29), motivation is “a goal terminating mechanism, permitting goals to be processed serially.”AccordingtoSimon, if a learning goal is activated and enough attention is given, the learner starts learning. In connection with this view, the more attention is given on a subject, and the more activation takes place on it, the quicker learning will occur. Moreover, today almost every teacher is familiar with the term “distance education” regardless of their student's age group. As it is stated by Visser (2002), when compared to the traditional classrooms, in distance education, the rate and success of language learningdecreasesandone of the most essential reasons is that motivating students in distance education contexts, in which interaction is lower, is much more challenging than face-to-face training especially with young learners(Lim& Kim, 2003). Besides, there are limited numbers of studies conducted on motivational strategies for young learners in distance education contexts since we have been experiencing full time the online schooling process recently, yet online teaching seems to be permanent in our lives with the new technological era. Therefore, there appears to be a need for various strategies to motivate young learners in distance education, and the current study aims to find out the strategies that young learners’ teachers use to increase their students’ motivation level in distance education. To achieve this aim, a qualitative research approach and a phenomenological method with an interpretive design will be used. The participants, who are teachers of young learners, will be interviewed using a structured interview format consisting of 7 questions. As the participants are young learners’teacherswhohavebeenexperiencingteaching online, exploring thestrategiesthattheyusetoincreasetheirstudents’ motivationlevelwillprovidesomesuggestionsaboutthemotivationalstrategiesforfuture online classes. Also, in this paper, I will move beyond the traditional classrooms that have face-to-face lessons and discuss the effective motivational strategies for young learners in distance education.

Keywords: motivation, distance education, young learners, strategies

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Authors: Jamie David Hopkin

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This study aims to contribute uniquely to help colleges and community learning and development institutes to help aid progression within ESOL learning. The study investigates the barriers that migrant and displaced learners face accessing further education in Scotland. The study also includes a set of recommendations both for colleges and CLD institutes to help ESOL learners in their journey to further education. The research found that integration into Scottish society is one of the biggest motivators for ESOL students to learn English. It also found that the place of gender and “gender roles” contribute to the barriers that learners face in terms of progression and learning. The study also reviews all literature related to ESOL learning in Scotland and found that there are only two main policies that support ESOL learning, and both are slightly outdated in terms of supporting progression. This study aims to help bridge the gap in knowledge around the progression from informal learning to formal education. The recommendations that are made in this study are aimed to help institutes and learners on their journey to a positive destination. The main beneficiaries of this research are current and future ESOL learners in Scotland, ESOL institutes, and TESOL professionals.

Keywords: community learning and development, English for speakers of other languages, further education, higher education TESOL, teaching English as a second language

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Authors: A. Olusegun Egunjobi, Samson Sunday Adekunte

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This study investigated the teachers’ and learners’ ICT-readiness assessment for agricultural science instruction in secondary schools in Ogun State, Nigeria. However, the sample population of 6 and 120 agricultural science teachers and learners were randomly selected respectively from 3 public and 3 private senior secondary schools in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design of ex post-facto type was adopted for the study. Two structured questionnaires tagged Teachers’ and Learners’ Questionnaires on ICT-Readiness for Agricultural Science Instruction TQICTRASI and LQICTRASI respectively were used for data collection. The two questionnaires were subjected to Cronbach alpha coefficient with the results 0.86 and 0.82 respectively. Five research hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that teachers in private senior secondary school (SSS) were more ready and prepared than their counterparts in public SSS with the result t-value = 4.25 greater than t-critical = 2.77, df = 4 at p<0.05. Also, learners in private SSS were more prepared and ready for the utilisation of ICT-facilities for agricultural science instruction with the result t-value = 3.51 greater than t-critical = 1.98, df = 118 at p<0.05. However, male and female learners in both private and public SSS were equally prepared and ready for the ICT-facilities utilisation for agricultural science instruction, thus, there were no significant differences in their ICT-readiness. Therefore, the study proffered that, both male and female teachers and learners should be more ICT-compliant and always ready to upgrade their skills and knowledge in ICT-facilities, utilisation for agricultural science instruction and even for other school subjects particularly in Ogun State and in generally in Nigeria.

Keywords: ICT-readiness, teachers’ and learners’ assessment, private and public senior secondary schools, agricultural science instruction

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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: Howard Gomwe, Eunice Seekoe, Philemon Lyoka, Chioneso Show Marange, Dennyford Mafa

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There is arguably a lack of literature regarding body physical fitness and body composition amongst primary school learners in South Africa. For this reason, the study is aimed at investigating and accessing how body composition relates to physical fitness amongst primary school learners in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. In order to achieve this, a school-based cross-sectional survey was carried out among 876 primary school learners aged 9 to 14 years. Body composition indicators were measured and/or calculated, whilst physical fitness was evaluated according to the EUROFIT fitness standards by a 20 m shuttle run, push-ups, sit and reach as well as sit-ups. Out of 876 participants, a total of 870 were retained. Of these, 351 (40.34%) were boys, and 519 (59.66%) were girls. The average age of learners was 11.04 ± 1.50 years, with boys having a significantly (p = 0.002) higher mean age (M = 11.24; SD = 1.51 years) as compared to that of girls (M = 10.91; SD = 1.48 years). The non-parametric Spearman Rho correlation coefficients revealed several significant and negative relationships between body composition measurements with physical fitness characteristics, which were stronger in girls than in boys. The findings advocate for policymakers and responsible authorities to initiate the development of policies and interventions targeted at encouraging physical activity and health promotion among primary school learners in South Africa, especially in girls.

Keywords: BMI, body composition, body fat, children, physical fitness, primary school

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Authors: Yi-Hsiu Lai

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The present study aimed to elucidate the lexical-semantic processing for Chinese as second language (CSL) learners. Twenty L1 speakers of Chinese and twenty CSL learners in Taiwan participated in a picture naming task and a category fluency task. Based on their Chinese proficiency levels, these CSL learners were further divided into two sub-groups: ten CSL learners of elementary Chinese proficiency level and ten CSL learners of intermediate Chinese proficiency level. Instruments for the naming task were sixty black-and-white pictures: thirty-five object pictures and twenty-five action pictures. Object pictures were divided into two categories: living objects and non-living objects. Action pictures were composed of two categories: action verbs and process verbs. As in the naming task, the category fluency task consisted of two semantic categories – objects (i.e., living and non-living objects) and actions (i.e., action and process verbs). Participants were asked to report as many items within a category as possible in one minute. Oral productions were tape-recorded and transcribed for further analysis. Both error types and error frequency were calculated. Statistical analysis was further conducted to examine these error types and frequency made by CSL learners. Additionally, category effects, pictorial effects and L2 proficiency were discussed. Findings in the present study helped characterize the lexical-semantic process of Chinese naming in CSL learners of different Chinese proficiency levels and made contributions to Chinese vocabulary teaching and learning in the future.

Keywords: lexical-semantic processing, Mandarin Chinese, naming, category effects

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Authors: Rendani Mercy Makhwathana

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This paper intends to explore teachers' encounters when teaching English First Additional Language in rural public schools. Teachers are pillars of any education system around the globe. Educational transformations hinge on them as critical role players in the education system. Thus, teachers' encounters are worth consideration, for they impact learners' learning and the well-being of education in general. An exploratory qualitative approach was used in this paper. The population for this paper comprised all Foundation Phase teachers in the district. A purposive sample of 15 Foundation Phase teachers from five rural-based schools was used. Data were collected through classroom observation and individual face-to-face interviews. Data were categorized, analyzed, and interpreted. Amongst the revealed teachers' encounters are learners' inability to read and write and learners' lack of English language background and learners' lack of the vocabulary to express themselves. This paper recommends the provision of relevant resources and support to effectively teach English First Additional Language to enable learners' engagement and effective use of the English language.

Keywords: first additional language, english second language, medium of instruction, teacher professional development

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Authors: Chrysanthi S. Tiliakou, Katerina T. Frantzi

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Writing has always been considered a most demanding skill for English as a Foreign Language learners as well as for native speakers. Novice foreign language writers are asked to handle a limited range of vocabulary to produce writing tasks at lower levels. Adverbs are the parts of speech that are not used extensively in the early stages of English as a Foreign Language writing. An additional problem with learning new adverbs is that, next to learning their meanings, learners are expected to acquire the proper placement of adverbs in a sentence. The use of adverbs is important as they enhance “expressive richness to one’s message”. By exploring the patterns of use of adverbs, researchers and educators can identify types of adverbs, which appear more taxing for young learners or that puzzle novice English as a Foreign Language writers with their placement, and focus on their teaching. To this end, the study examines the use of adverbs on two written Corpora of young learners of English of A1 – A2 levels and determines the types of adverbs used, their frequencies, problems in their use, and whether there is any differentiation between levels. The Antconc concordancing tool was used for the Greek Learner Corpus, and the Corpuscle concordancing tool for the Norwegian Corpus. The research found a similarity in the normalized frequencies of the adverbs used in the A1-A2 level Greek Learner Corpus with the frequencies of the same adverbs in the Norwegian Learner Corpus.

Keywords: learner corpora, young learners, writing, use of adverbs

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Authors: Saleh Mohammad Alqahtani

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Foreign language Anxiety has been found to be a key issue in learning English as foreign language in the classroom. This study investigated the impact of foreign language anxiety on Saudi EFL learners' proficiency in the classroom. A total of 197 respondents had participated in the study, comprising of 96 male and 101 female, who enrolled in preparatory year, first year, second year, and fourth year of English language department at the University of Jeddah. Two instruments were used to answer the study questions. The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was used to identify the levels of foreign language (FL) anxiety for Saudi learners. Moreover, an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test was used as an objective measure of the learners’ English language proficiency. The data were analyzed using descriptive analyses, t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation, and regression analysis. The findings revealed that Saudi EFL learners' experience a level of anxiety in the classroom, and there is a significant differences between the course levels in their level of language anxiety. Moreover, it is also found that female students are less anxious in learning English as a foreign language than male students. The results show that foreign language anxiety and English proficiency are negatively related to each other. Furthermore, the study revealed that there were significant differences between Saudi learners in language use anxiety, while there were no significant differences in language class anxiety. The study suggested that teachers should employ a diversity of designed techniques to encourage the environment of the classroom in order to control learners’ FLA, which in turns will improve their EFL proficiency.

Keywords: foreign language anxiety, FLA, language use anxiety, language class anxiety, gender, L2 proficiency

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Authors: Fadoua Ouamani, Narjès Bellamine Ben Saoud, Henda Hajjami Ben Ghézala

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In the last few years and over the last decades, there was a growing interest in the development of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments. However, the existing systems ignore the variety of learners and their socio-cultural differences, especially in the case of distant and networked learning. In fact, within such collaborative learning environments, learners from different socio-cultural backgrounds may interact together. These learners evolve within various cultures and social contexts and acquire different socio-cultural values and behaviors. Thus, they should be assisted while communicating and collaborating especially in an intercultural group. Besides, the communication and collaboration tools provided to each learner must depend on and be adapted to her/his socio-cultural profile. The main goal of this paper is to present the proposed socio-cultural adaptation approach based on and guided by ontologies to adapt CSCL environments to the socio-cultural profiles of its users (learners or others).

Keywords: CSCL, socio-cultural profile, adaptation, ontology

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Authors: Chalermpol Tapsai

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The objectives of this research were to develop and find the efficiency of integrated online lessons by investigating the usage of online lessons, the relationship between learners’ background knowledge, and the achievement after learning with online lessons. The sample group in this study consisted of 97 students randomly selected from 121 students registering in 1/2012 at Trimitwittayaram Learning Center. The sample technique employed stratified sample technique of 4 groups according to their proficiency, i.e. high, moderate, low, and non-knowledge. The research instrument included online lessons in integration model on the topic of Java Programming, test after each lesson, the achievement test at the end of the course, and the questionnaires to find learners’ satisfaction. The results showed that the efficiency of online lessons was 90.20/89.18 with the achievement of after learning with the lessons higher than that before the lessons at the statistically significant level of 0.05. Moreover, the background knowledge of the learners on the programming showed the positive relationship with the achievement learning at the statistically significant level at 0.05. Learners with high background knowledge employed less exercises and samples than those with lower background knowledge. While learners with different background in the group of moderate and low did not show the significant difference in employing samples and exercises.

Keywords: integration model, online lessons, learners’ background knowledge, efficiency

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Authors: Qiong Hu, Ming Yue

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Language variation signals the newest usage of language community, which might become the developmental trend of that language. However, language textbooks cannot keep up with these emergent usages. Most Chinese English learners nowadays are still exposed to traditional grammar prescribed in the textbook so that some variational usages cannot be acquired. The personal pronoun we is prescribed as a plural pronoun in the textbook grammar, but its number value is more flexible in actual use. Based on the Chinese Learner English Corpus (CLEC), and with the homemade Friends corpus as reference, the present research explores the number value of the first person pronoun we used by Chinese English learners. With consideration of the subjectivity of we, this paper annotated the number value of all the wes in “we+ PCU (Perception-cognation-utterance) verbs” collocations. Results show that though exposed to traditional textbooks which prescribe the plural reference of we, there still exists some unconventional usage (singular or vague in reference) in the writings of Chinese English learners, which is less frequent than that of the native speeches. Corpus data and results from manual semantic annotation show that this could be due to the impact of formulaic sequence on the learners and the positive transfer from their native language. An improved SLA model of native language, target language and interlanguage is put forward to recognize the existence of variation in second language acquisition, which should be given more attention during teaching.

Keywords: Chinese English learners, number, PCU verbs, Personal pronoun we

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Authors: Mohammad J. Rezai, Fereshteh Davarpanah

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Producing a text in a language which is not one’s mother tongue can be a demanding task for language learners. Examining lexical errors committed by EFL learners is a challenging area of investigation which can shed light on the process of second language acquisition. Despite the considerable number of investigations into grammatical errors, few studies have tackled formal and semantic errors of lexis committed by EFL learners. The current study aimed at examining Persian learners’ formal and semantic errors of lexis in English. To this end, 60 students at three different proficiency levels were asked to write on 10 different topics in 10 separate sessions. Finally, 600 essays written by Persian EFL learners were collected, acting as the corpus of the study. An error taxonomy comprising formal and semantic errors was selected to analyze the corpus. The formal category covered misselection and misformation errors, while the semantic errors were classified into lexical, collocational and lexicogrammatical categories. Each category was further classified into subcategories depending on the identified errors. The results showed that there were 2583 errors in the corpus of 9600 words, among which, 2030 formal errors and 553 semantic errors were identified. The most frequent errors in the corpus included formal error commitment (78.6%), which were more prevalent at the advanced level (42.4%). The semantic errors (21.4%) were more frequent at the low intermediate level (40.5%). Among formal errors of lexis, the highest number of errors was devoted to misformation errors (98%), while misselection errors constituted 2% of the errors. Additionally, no significant differences were observed among the three semantic error subcategories, namely collocational, lexical choice and lexicogrammatical. The results of the study can shed light on the challenges faced by EFL learners in the second language acquisition process.

Keywords: collocational errors, lexical errors, Persian EFL learners, semantic errors

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Authors: Nadir Ali Mugheri, Shaukat Ali Lohar

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In a multilingual society like Pakistan, code switching is commonly observed in different contexts. Mostly people use L1 (Native Languages) and L2 for common communications and L3 (i.e. English, Urdu, Sindhi) in formal contexts and for academic writings. Such a frequent code switching does affect EFL learners' acquisition of grammar and lexis of the target language which in the long run result in different types of errors in their writings. The current study is to investigate and identify common elements of L1 and L2 (spoken by students of the Universities in Pakistan) which create hindrances for EFL learners. Case study method was used for this research. Formal writings of 400 EFL learners (as participants from various Universities of the country) were observed. Among 400 participants, 200 were female and 200 were male EFL learners having different academic backgrounds. Errors found were categorized into different types according to grammatical items, the difference in meanings, structure of sentences and identifiers of tenses of L1 or L2 in comparison with those of the target language. The findings showed that EFL learners in Pakistani varsities have serious problems in their writings and they committed serious errors related to the grammar and meanings of the target language. After analysis of the committed errors, the results were found in the affirmation of the hypothesis that L1 or L2 does affect EFL learners. The research suggests in the end to adopt natural ways in pedagogy like task-based learning or communicative methods using contextualized material so as to avoid impediments of L1 or L2 in acquisition the target language.

Keywords: multilingualism, L2 acquisition, code switching, language acquisition, communicative language teaching

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Authors: Gholam Reza Parvizi, Hossein Azad, Ali Reza Kargar

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This article investigated the impact of task-based language teaching (TBLT) on writing performance of the Iranian intermediate EFL learners. There were two groups of forty students of the intermediate female learners studying English in Jahad-e-Daneshgahi language institute, ranging in age from thirteen to nineteen. They participated in their regular classes in the institute and were assigned to two groups including an experimental group of task-based language teaching and a control group for the purpose of homogeneity, all students in two groups took an achievement test before the treatment. As a pre-test; students were assigned to write a task at the beginning of the course. One of the classes was conducted through talking a TBLT approach on their writing, while the other class followed regular patterns of teaching, namely traditional approach for TBLT group. There were some tasks chosen from learners’ textbook. The task selection was in accordance with learning standards for ESL and TOFEL writing sections. At the end of the treatment, a post-test was administered to both experimental group and the control group. Scoring was done on the basis of scoring scale of “expository writing quality scale”. The researcher used paired samples t-test to analyze the effect of TBLT teaching approach on the writing performance of the learners. The data analysis revealed that the subjects in TBLT group performed better on the writing performance post-test than the subjects in control group. The findings of the study also demonstrated that TBLT would enhance writing performance in the group of learners. Moreover, it was indicated that TBLT has been effective in teaching writing performance to Iranian EFL learners

Keywords: task-based language teaching, task, language teaching approach, writing proficiency, EFL learners

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Authors: Sruti Akula

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Assessment criteria are mostly used for assessing skills like writing and speaking. However, they could be used as a pedagogic tool to develop writing skills. A study was conducted with higher secondary learners (Class XII Kendriya Vidyalaya) to investigate the effectiveness of assessment criteria to develop argumentative essay writing. In order to raise awareness about the features of argumentative essay, assessment criteria were shared with the learners. Along with that, self-evaluation checklists were given to the learners to guide them through the writing process. During the study learners wrote multiple drafts with the help of assessment criteria, self-evaluation checklists and teacher feedback at different stages of their writing. It was observed that learners became more aware of the features of argumentative essay which in turn improved their argumentative essay writing. In addition the self evaluation checklists imporved their ability to reflect on their work there by increasing learner autonomy in the class. Hence, it can be claimed that both assessment criteria and self evaluation checklists are effective pedagogic tools to develop argumentative essay writing. Thus, teachers can be trained to create and use tools like assessment criteria and self-evaluation checklists to develop learners’ writing skills in an effective way. The presentation would discuss the approach adopted in the study to teach argumentative essay writing along with the rationale. The tools used in the study would be shared and the data collected in the form of written scripts, self-evaluation checklists and student interviews will be analyzed to validate the claims. Finally, the practical implication of the study like the ways of using assessment criteria and checklists to raise learner awareness and autonomy, using such tools to keep the learners informed about the task requirements and genre features, and the like will be put forward.

Keywords: argumentative essay writing, assessment criteria, self evaluation checklists, pedagogic

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Authors: Eric Enongene Ekembe

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Recent calls on EFL teaching posit the centrality of context factors and argue for a correlation between effectiveness in teaching with the learners’ culture in the EFL classroom. Context is not everything; it is defined with indicators of learners’ cultural artifacts and stereotypes in meaningful interactions in the language classroom. In keeping with this, it is difficult to universalise pedagogic procedures given that appropriate procedures are context-sensitive- and contexts differ. It is necessary to investigate what counts as cultural specificities or stereotypes of specific learners to reflect on how different language learning contexts affect or are affected by English language teaching procedures, most especially in under-represented cultures, which have appropriated the English language. This paper investigates cultural stereotypes of EFL learners in the culturally diverse Cameroon to examine how they mediate teaching and learning. Data collected on mixed-method basis from 83 EFL teachers and 1321 learners in Cameroon reveal a strong presence of typical cultural artifacts and stereotypes. Statistical analysis and thematic coding demonstrate that teaching procedures in place were insensitive to the cultural artifacts and stereotypes, resulting in trending tension between teachers and learners. The data equally reveal a serious contradiction between the communicative goals of language teaching and learning: what teachers held as effective teaching was diametrically opposed to success in learning. In keeping with this, the paper argues for a ‘decentred’ teacher preparation in Cameroon that is informed by systemic learners’ feedback. On this basis, applied linguistics has the urgent task of exploring dimensions of what actually counts as contextualized practice in ELT.

Keywords: cultural stereotypes, EFL, implications, procedures

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Authors: Lina Tenjo, Ilba Rodríguez

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The role of cultural identity in bilingual programs has been barely discussed in regards to SLA. This research focuses on providing relevant information that helps in having more knowledge about the experiences that an elementary student has during the second language learning process in a bilingual program within a multicultural context. This study explores the experience of 18 students in a dual language program, in a public elementary school in Northern Virginia, USA. It examines their dual language experience and the different ways this experience contributes to the formation of their cultural identity. The findings were studied with the purpose of determining the relationship between participants and certain aspects of cultural identity in a multicultural context. The reflections that originate from the voices of children are the key source that helps us to better understand the particular needs that young learners have during their participation in a DLP.

Keywords: acculturation, bilingual education, culture, dual language program, identity, second language acquisition

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Authors: Papitchaya Papangkorn

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Matching the expectations of teachers and learners is significant for successful language learning. Moreover, teachers should discover what their learners think and feel about what and how they want to learn. Therefore, this study investigates International College, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University students’ preferences toward error corrections in order to help SSRUIC teachers match their expectations and their learners because it is important for successful language learning. This study examined the learners’ attitude and preference toward error correction through 50 first year SSRUIC students both male (25) and female (25) in Bangkok, Thailand. The data were collected from a questionnaire and interviews to investigate the necessity and frequency, timing, type of errors, method of corrective feedback, and person who gives error correction in order to answer the overall research question and sub-questions. The findings indicate five suggestions regarding the overall research question. Firstly, errors should be treated, and always be treated. Secondly, treating errors after finish speaking is the most appropriate time. Thirdly, “errors that may cause problems in an understanding of listener” and “frequent spoken errors” should be treated. Fourthly, repetition and explicit feedback were the most popular types of feedback among males, whereas metalinguistic feedback was the most favoured types amongst females. Finally, teachers were the most preferred person to deliver corrective feedback for the learners. Although the results of the study are difficult to generalize to a larger population, which are Thai EFL learners because of the small sample, the findings provide useful information that may contribute to understanding of SSRUIC learners’ preferences toward error corrections and it might reduce the gap between what teachers employ and what students expect when receiving corrective feedback. The reduction of this gap may be useful for the learning process and could enhance the efforts of both teachers and learners in a Thai context.

Keywords: attitude, corrective feedback, error, preference

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Authors: Djamila Meghraoui, Bachir Boudraa, Thouraya Meksen, M.Boudraa

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Parkinson's disease is a pathology that involves characteristic perturbations in patients’ voices. This paper describes a proposed method that aims to diagnose persons with Parkinson (PWP) by analyzing on line their voices signals. First, Thresholds signals alterations are determined by the Multi-Dimensional Voice Program (MDVP). Principal Analysis (PCA) is exploited to select the main voice principal componentsthat are significantly affected in a patient. The decision phase is realized by a Mul-tinomial Bayes (MNB) Classifier that categorizes an analyzed voice in one of the two resulting classes: healthy or PWP. The prediction accuracy achieved reaching 98.8% is very promising.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease recognition, PCA, MDVP, multinomial Naive Bayes

Procedia PDF Downloads 249