Speech and Aural Comprehension of Foreign Students

1965 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Black ◽  
Sadanand Singh ◽  
Oscar Tosi ◽  
Yukio Takefuta ◽  
Elizabeth Jancosek
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
University Students ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Group ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
English Prose ◽  
Intelligibility Test

Each of three groups of university students for whom English was a second language, 24 Japanese-, 24 Hindi-, and 24 Spanish-speaking students, was divided into subgroups on the basis of efficiency in aural comprehension. All of the students recorded lists from an English-language intelligibility test and short segments of English prose. Three sets of measures were obtained: (a) intelligibility scores, (b) ratings of foreignism in speech, and (c) the amount of vocalized time in a set reading task. The object of the study lay in relating aural comprehension to other manifestations of speech behavior, not in comparing the three groups of students. Relative skill in aural comprehension was found to differentiate each language group in intelligibility, in degree of foreignism, and in vocalized time as well.

scholarly journals Eye-tracking in Second Language Reading

2021 ◽  
pp. 416-432
Author(s):  
Ivana Roncevic
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
University Students ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Second Language Reading ◽  
Process Information ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Level Process

In this study eye tracking software was used to analyse the ways in which university students, adult competent speakers of English at C1 level, process information when reading texts in the target language, and which strategies they use in order to summarise a given text. Research results point to four different reading techniques used by the participants in the study: partly selective fast linear, partly selective slow linear, selective structural and nonselective reading strategies. In comparison with previous research with reading tasks in L1, results show that readers take more time when reading in L2. In addition, there is a need for skill enhancement for the purpose of improved text structuring in reading tasks in the English language.

scholarly journals Not just ‘small potatoes’: Knowledge of the idiomatic meanings of collocations

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marijana Macis ◽  
Norbert Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
University Students ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Chilean Spanish

This study investigated learner knowledge of the figurative meanings of 30 collocations that can be both literal and figurative. One hundred and seven Chilean Spanish-speaking university students of English were asked to complete a meaning-recall collocation test in which the target items were embedded in non-defining sentences. Results showed limited collocation knowledge, with a mean score of 33% correct. The study also examined the effects of frequency, semantic transparency, year at university, and everyday engagement with the second language (L2) outside the classroom on this collocation knowledge. Mixed-effects modelling indicated that there was no relationship between frequency and semantic transparency and the knowledge of the figurative meanings. However, a positive relationship was found between this knowledge and year at university, time spent in an English-speaking country, and time spent reading.

scholarly journals Autonomy in language learning: a case study with Italian as a second language

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Vittoria Lo Presti
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
University Students ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Assessment Questionnaire

The aim of this paper is to investigate the development of autonomy in learning Italian as a second language (L2). The analysis is based on the experience of the language advisor of the “Centro per l’Autoapprendimento” (CAP) of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Milan) with sixteen foreign students. In the introduction, the usefulness of university self-access centres (SAC) is briefly introduced, and the CAP is presented. The second part of the article concerns the case study on sixteen foreign university students who participated in a didactic project on the development of the oral production skill that introduced them to the CAP, the language advisor, and the concept of autonomy in learning Italian. The project ended with a final self-assessment questionnaire that allowed the learners to understand their strengths and weaknesses, and enabled the language advisor to verify the effectiveness of the activity.

Teaching sociological subjects in English to university students: a case study of the Polish university

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-107
Author(s):  
Tatiana Kanasz
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Sociology ◽  
Expert Interview ◽  
Methods And Techniques ◽  
Academic Teachers ◽  
Academic Communication

Nowadays, the role of English in teaching sociology has been increasing significantly, as far as the English language is an international medium of academic communication worldwide. Polish universities also follow this global trend. Students are offered not only general English courses but also specialised facultative courses in English. Taking into account the last one, a reflexive qualitative research has been carried out at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, the Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw. The objective of four face-to-face expert interviews with the academic teachers was exploring teaching methods and techniques, as well as difficulties in the process of teaching sociology with the use of English as a foreign language. An expert interview was designed starting from the teaching background, followed by teaching reflections on their didactic practice and ending with the academic teachers’ thoughts on the role of English in sociology. The following issues were considered: 1) methods and techniques of incorporating English in teaching sociology to Polish students; 2) strategies of motivating students to use English in sociology; 3) the perception of difficulties; 4) reflections on empowering students.The research results in the field of the sociological facultative English-based courses revealed the dominance of some ways of using the language over others. All experts acknowledged that they aimed to develop sociological English through the communicative and task-based approaches. They engaged students in reading sociological texts and critically discussed them. Some of the academic teachers referred also to watching and listening to native speakers as important ways to activate students during their classes. Moreover, the experts took into account students specific interests and encouraged them to prepare a presentation or to write a short essay. Some experts used also the collaborative methods when students were involved in group projects and group presentations. In general, the experts developed interesting and important topics of social life and research to strengthen the students’ intrinsic motivation. It was noticed that the presence of foreign students becomes a reasonable factor of improving English-based communication among Polish and foreign students in classroom. The experts pointed out that there were various linguistic, psychological and institutional barriers in teaching sociological subjects in English for Polish university students. Nevertheless, they tried to overcome those obstacles whenever it was possible.

scholarly journals An Investigation of Verb-Forms Errors in the Spoken English of English-Majors and Non-English Majors at Emirates Canadian University College/ U.A.E.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mohammed Hamid Al-Ta’ani
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
University Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
English Majors ◽  
English Major ◽  
Lexical Errors

This study aimed at identifying the strategies used by University students in learning English as a second language and their weaknesses in the grammatical and the lexical use of the English verb-forms. A total number of (8) university students were interviewed personally. Interviews were taped and each student’s speech was transcribed in order to be analyzed. The grammatical and the lexical errors were categorized and put to further analysis and investigation which explained the reasons and strategies behind their occurrences. The findings indicated that: - the learners’ errors were developmental and they benefited from instructions, most of the frequent errors were due to interference of the first language and the majority of errors were interlanguages errors, simplification and overgeneralization proved to be the most two widely used strategies in learning a second language and the learners’ motivation to communicate may exceed their motivation to produce grammatically correct sentences. A major conclusion of this study is the need of the English-major students for a remedial course in which they may have the opportunity to practice the basic structures of the English Language. Finally, based on the results of this study some pedagogical implications for English teachers and university instructors, curriculum designers and policy makers were highlighted.

scholarly journals A Collaborative Action Research on Teaching Writing to the Spanish Speaking Equatorial Guinea Students of an Efl Class at a Malaysian University College

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Abdullah Al Mahmud ◽  
Suparna Gupta
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Second Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Collaborative Action Research ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Equatorial Guinea ◽  
Error Patterns ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
University College

Out of the four universal language skills, writing is the most reliable instrument for assessing one’s proficiency in a foreign language due to its challenge of production with a scope of reflection. So the writing samples of a learner can be a rich source of understanding their error patterns not only of performance but also of competence. The error patterns may be due to a first or second language interruption as well as the learners’ different worldviews, cultural/ethnic features and individual characteristics. However, the aim of this study is to look into the typical mistake patterns in Spanish speaking trilingual students’ English writing. It is based on the performance of a group of students from Equatorial Guinea with Spanish as their first or second language. Their essay samples in an English Communication course of a Malaysian university college are analysed and correlated with the consequent interviews with them. The paper identifies the respective weaknesses to be overhauled and strengths to be utilized in teaching writing to the Spanish speaking trilingual English language learners.

ON LITERATURE AND GRAMMAR: A Selection of Annotated Medieval and Renaissance English Texts for (Spanish) University Students

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gema Chocano Díaz ◽  
Noelia Hernando Real
Keyword(s):  
William Shakespeare ◽  
University Students ◽  
Geoffrey Chaucer ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Christopher Marlowe ◽  
Sir Philip Sidney ◽  
William Langland ◽  
Sir Thomas Wyatt ◽  
Selection Of

On Literature and Grammar gives students and instructors a carefully thought experience to combine their learning of Middle and Early Modern English and Medieval and Renaissance English Literature. The selection of texts, which include the most commonly taught works in university curricula, allows readers to understand and enjoy the evolution of the English language and the main writers and works of these periods, from William Langland to Geoffrey Chaucer, from Sir Philip Sidney to Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and from Christopher Marlowe to William Shakespeare. Fully annotated and written to answer the real needs of current Spanish university students, these teachable texts include word-by-word translations into Present Day English and precise introductions to their linguistic and literary contexts.

The University Student’s Motivation Level on Learning English

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 130
Author(s):  
Esmira Mehdiyev ◽  
Celal Teyyar Uğurlu ◽  
Gonca Usta
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
T Test ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Personal Use ◽  
Motivation Level ◽  
Motivation Scale ◽  
The University

This study aims to determine the university students’ level of motivation in terms of different variables. A study group of this research has been designed through one of the non-random sampling methods, Using appropriate sampling, 606 students from Faculty of Education of C.U. have been involved in this study. Motivation scale in English Language Learning developed by Mehdiyev,Usta,Uğurlu (2015) was used as an instrument of data collection. T-test and one - way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to resolve problems of this research. As a result of the research the motivation level of university students hasn’t been revealed significantly different regarding to the gender variable. However, considering the t-test results of motivation scale dimensions, confidence, attitude and personal use, significant difference is seen in favour of women in personal use dimension. The level of language learning motivation of female students is higher than men’s regarding to personal use dimension. However, men’s and women’s views don’t differ significantly in attitude and confidence dimensions. University students don’t present significant differences in terms of birth place, parent’s education level, total motivation scores and confident, attitude and personal dimensions. Students’ motivation levels are seen not to be influenced by the places such as village, provision or city where they have spent the most of their lifetime. At the same time the findings revealed that parental status variable in terms of primary, secondary and university graduates has no effects on students’ motivation.

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