scholarly journals It’s Not Just About the Game: A Study on Attitudes and Motivation of Malaysian Secondary Sports School Students in East Malaysia towards Learning English as a Second Language

2018 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 05009
Author(s):  
Nursyaheedah Muhammad Isa ◽  
Noor Azlinda Zainal Abidin ◽  
Nabila Abdul Malek ◽  
Mohamad Hazeem Mohmad Sidik ◽  
Safirul Azli Abu Bakar

In the past few years, Malaysian athletes have gained international recognition with their impressive, world-record breaking accomplishments. As a result of this, Malaysian athletes are finding themselves being interviewed and giving speeches at local and international events. For professional athletes, there is a need and a duty to be able to communicate their stories and experiences as well as giving real insight and opinions about their performances, confidently, to both local and global audiences. In addressing these audiences, it is important for these professional athletes to be confident and are able to converse well using the English language, especially so when addressing a global audience. However, some Malaysian athletes are facing difficulties in communicating confidently and coherently, especially in English. It is a recognised and acknowledged skill gap in which is believed should be tackled during the formative school years. It is possible that the skill gap stems from a lack of motivation and poor attitude beginning from secondary school. This paper discusses the findings of a study undertaken to investigate these issues further by carrying out a questionnaire survey on the attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary sports school students in East Malaysia towards learning English as a second language. The study reveals an overall positive attitude towards learning English by the sports students. In addition, the findings reveal that the sports school students are extrinsically and intrinsically motivated in learning English. The study concludes with recommendations for future research and is expected to make a contribution to the literature of attitudes and motivation especially for but not limited to secondary sports school students.

Author(s):  
Ezekwesili ◽  
Chinyere Chinedu

This paper examines the impact of aliteracy on learning English as a second language in Nigeria. Genuine concern expressed by stakeholders on the poor performance exhibited by Nigerian secondary school students in English language has led to a number of inquiries for solutions to the problem. Many studies have attributed poor language performance to a number of factors but nobody has connected the apathetic stance of students towards reading to poor language performance. Their appalling performance manifests in the plethora of spelling and grammatical errors that riddle essay assignments. Writing is a productive language skill by which a student demonstrates his ability to produce grammatically correct and connected texts. This study searches for the link between students’ lack of interest in reading and their writing competence. Aliteracy is the state of being able to read but being uninterested in doing so. The data for the study were generated from students’ written essay and questionnaire. An analysis of the students’ reading habits juxtaposed with their continuous writing showed that students who were avid readers performed better than those who did not like to read. This result shows that the decline in the level and quality of language written by senior secondary school students in Nigeria can be attributed to poor reading culture.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-199
Author(s):  
Wafaa Ibrahim Alnajjar ◽  
◽  
Reem Yahya Mahmoud Shehadh

This paper examined the attitudes of secondary school students towards the use of saying and words of wisdom in learning English as a foreign language in secondary schools in Gaza. Saying and words of wisdom play a significant role in language learning as a part of gaining cultural knowledge. In addition, this study attempted to find out whether they could motivate students to learn English then improve language acquiring through time. 40 secondary female EFL learners were assigned in questionnaires and interviews. Through observation, the researcher convinced that saying and words of wisdom is an important segment in the English Language, and it is a useful piece that has been used to spread wisdom and truths about life. The study reveals the effectiveness and higher rate of retaining of learning vocabulary through the strategy of sayings and words of wisdom compared to the traditional method.


Author(s):  
Enikő Marton ◽  
Nicholas Joyce ◽  
László Vincze

The present study examines the motivational context of learning and speaking Hungarian as a second language among the Slovenian-speaking youth in the Dolinsko/ Lendvavidék region of Slovenia. Survey data (N = 119) was collected among secondary school students in 2012 and analysed with path analysis. The results provided considerable support for the proposed model. Findings and implications are discussed, and suggestions for future research are made.Kokkuvõte. Enikő Marton, Nicholas Joyce ja László Vincze: Etnolingvistiline vitaalsus, suhtumised ja normatiivne surve motivatsiooni argumenttunnustena ungari keele kui teise keele õppimisel ja rääkimisel Sloveenias. Artiklis uuritakse motivatsiooni õppida ja rääkida ungari keelt teise keelena sloveeni keelt kõnelevate noorte hulgas Dolinsko/Lendvavidéki piirkonnas Sloveenias. Küsitlusandmed koguti 119 keskkooliõpilaselt 2012. aastal ning neid analüüsiti teeanalüüsi abil. Tulemused toetasid autorite esitatud mudelit. Artiklis käsitletakse tulemusi ja järeldusi ning antakse soovitusi edasiseks uurimistööks.Märksõnad: etnolingvistiline vitaalsus, teise keele õppimine, motivatsioon, suhtlustahe, vähemuskeel, ungari keel Sloveenias


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chong Xin Txin ◽  
Melor Md Yunus

Even after undertaking years of formal education to acquire the language in schools, having a poor command of English remains a problem faced by most Malaysians, especially students in rural schools of Sarawak. Based on the error-analysis carried out by recent research, subject–verb agreement (SVA) is one of the most frequent errors committed by students. To overcome this problem, teachers should significantly improve students’ mastery of SVA in the English language through effective teaching methods. Therefore, this research was conducted to explore the effects of Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures in teaching SVA among rural Sarawak learners. In this study, 35 Form 4 students were selected from a secondary school in the Belaga District, Sarawak as the research participants. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used as data collection tools. Overall, findings demonstrated that students showed positive feedback after the intervention was implemented. Results of this research will hopefully provide insights to secondary school students, teachers and the community in the cooperative teaching and learning of grammar.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulelah Alkhateeb

This study investigates the transfer relationship between first language (L1) (Arabic) proficiency and second language (L2) (English) performance in writing skills of a Saudi bilingual graduate student. Several studies have discussed the transfer issues in language learning, yet a few of them focus on the transfer relationships between Arabic and English language writing skills. Regardless of the huge linguistic distinction between the English language and Arabic language, it is presumed that Arabic and English writing skills positively, negatively, and neutrally transferred in a dynamic relationship. The researcher has conducted observations and interviews with Fatimah, the participant of this study, and analyzed her texts in both languages to illustrate how dynamic relationships between L1 and L2 in the composition skills is and what the effects of language transfer in the composition skills between L1 and L2 are. The data were collected and analyzed in January 2018. The results demonstrate effects of L2 on L1 as the following; first, a reverse or backward transfer implemented in three ways; positive, negative, and neutral transfer. Second, they indicate that there is a dynamic relationship between second language performance and first language proficiency in composition particularly. It is hoped that this knowledge will assist students in being aware of the effects of L2 on L1 specifically in composition and taking the advantages to accelerate the rate of language learning. It is recommended for future research to conduct studies in bilingual writings to investigate how L1 could be a resource and advocate of language development.


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