De Rol Van Affectieve Variabelen Bij Begrijpend Lezen in Een Vreemde Taal

1990 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
Kees van Esch

In the study of the use of context and reading comprehension in a foreign language by Van Esch (1987) a more explorative research question dealt with the relation between the performances of learners of Spanish in context use and reading comprehension on the one hand and affective variables as the learners' perception of their attitude, their self-confidence and their context use in reading-comprehension on the other. These variables were measured by questionnaires of the Likert-type. To improve reliability and empirical validity, factor-analyses were carried out which yielded three factors: Attitude, Self-Confidence and Context-Use. The learners with better than average results on context-use and reading comprehension (the 'good' context-users) proved to be also more than average in these three factors. After a training programme in context-use, the perceptions of an experimental group of less than average ('poor') context-users were significantly higher in two of the three factors, Attitude and Context-Use, than the perceptions of a control group of poor context-users who did not follow this training programme. The third factor, Self-Confidence yielded contradictory results. Conclusions are drawn from the results of this study, which ends with an examination of the implications for the theory and practice of the teaching of foreign language reading comprehension.

Author(s):  
Shiva Grami ◽  
Mahmood Hashemian

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of paper and e-dictionaries on Iranian intermediate learners' reading comprehension. To this end, 90 female English Foreign language learners were randomly selected and assigned into 2 experimental groups (e-dictionaries and paper dictionaries groups) and 1 control group. All the groups took a pretest using no dictionaries. After 2 weeks of treatment design for the experimental groups, all the 3 groups took part in the posttest. The experimental groups did their task with their relevant dictionaries, whereas the control group did their task without using any kind of dictionary. Data were analyzed through analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and paired samples t test. Results showed that the participants’ reading comprehension improved from the pretest to the posttest in both experimental groups. Results also indicated that the learners in the e-dictionaries group outperformed those in the paper dictionaries group. The outcome of study reveals that e-dictionaries could improve students’ reading comprehension by motivating them, shortening the time of searching words and reading a text, and increasing the number of look ups. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Giveh

The present study tried to investigate one of the options for improving self-directed learning in Iranian EFL learners, i.e., contemplative L2 instruction with a flavor of transformative instruction. Accordingly, it adopted a quasi-experimental design to investigate the influential effects that contemplative teaching would exert on Iranian EFL learners’ L2 self-directed learning and reading comprehension abilities. To this end, two groups of Iranian EFL learners were taught on the L2 through either contemplative teaching (Experimental Group) or a traditional method (Control Group). The results of the study indicated that contemplative teaching, accompanied with transformative instruction, would in fact have significant effects on Iranian EFL learners’ L2 autonomy, i.e., self-directed L2 learning, and L2 reading comprehension skills. In addition, the analysis of the qualitative indicated that the participants in the Experimental Group held positive attitudes towards contemplative and transformative L2 instruction and believed these instructional strategies would create a supporting and viable classroom atmosphere. The findings of this study would have significant implications for both theory and practice on L2 contemplative teaching, self-directed learning, and reading comprehension.


2003 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 91-103
Author(s):  
Petra Jongmans

A CI (Cochlear Implant) is a medical device that electrically stimulates the hearing nerve in the cochlea (inner ear). Combined with actively training the hearing, it allows Cl-patients to hear again. In my research, I approached the model underlying the training programme linguistically, to see which theories on speech perception could also apply to the speech perception of CI-patients. Specifically, I examined their speech perception on phoneme level using VC-word lists. With the goal of contributing to an effective hearing training, I have tried to answer the following questions: - which phonemes are particularly difficult for patients? - what kind of confusions are made between phonemes? Mainly based on the literature on hard-of-hearing and normally hearing people, some hypotheses and a research question were formulated. Data-analysis was used to further investigate these hypotheses. A number of significant differences in difficulty were found between different phoneme categories, as well as patterns in the confusion of phonemes. It was found, for example, that long vowels are easier to perceive than short vowels and that for consonants a division can be made between plosives and fricatives on the one hand and nasals and approximants on the other, the latter group causing more problems. The research results are now being used for training CI-patients in Leiden.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 794
Author(s):  
Hooshang Khoshsima ◽  
Mahboobeh Khosravani

The main concern of most researchers in the field of second and foreign language teaching is lessening the problems and eliminating the hinders on the way of learning a language. The importance of reading skill in the process of teaching and learning different languages is undeniable for everyone. The main aim of this study was to examine the effects of group discussion strategy as a pre- activity task on reading ability. To this aim, 27 Iranian EFL learners, who were at the same level –intermediate- studying at Shokuh and Safir Institutes, Birjand, Iran were chosen. Two groups- one control and one experimental group- were studied. In control group the conventional method was used in teaching reading, while in experimental group, group discussion pre-activity task was administered. Both groups met the same level -Intermediate. At the end, the obtained data of the tests was analyzed by SPSS software. According to the obtained data, it can be strongly concluded that group discussion has no significant effect on reading comprehension. This study can help teachers and syllabus designers in choosing and applying an effective pre-activity task which really help the learners in reading classes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arafat Hamouda ◽  

Lexical inference strategy plays an important role in increasing the level of reading comprehension of second or foreign language learners. Lexical inferencing as an efficient strategy to deal with unfamiliar words has attracted much attention in the comprehension literature. However, few studies on lexical inferencing have been conducted in an English as a foreign language (EFL) setting. To fill in the existing gap, the current study aimed at investigating the effect of lexical inferencing strategy instruction on Saudi EFL students’ reading comprehension. Additionally, it sought to identify the lexical inferencing strategies used by Saudi EFL learners while they were inferring unknown words in a text. Last, the current study attempted to find the relationship between lexical inference strategies and reading comprehension among Saudi EFL learners. Sixty students from the English department were selected based on their scores on the Oxford Placement Test, indicating that they were at intermediate levels of English proficiency. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: control and experimental (each consisting of 30 students). The participants in the control group received regular instruction, while the participants in the experimental group were treated using lexical inference strategies. The instruments used for collecting data were Oxford Placement Test, reading comprehension test, and think-aloud protocol. A pre-test and post-test were administered for control and experimental groups. The results of the independent samples t-test revealed that teaching inference skills had a significant effect on reading comprehension performance among EFL learners. The results of the paired t-tests showed that lexical inferencing instruction had a statistically significant effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension development. The results of the Spearman correlation coefficient indicated that there was a significant relationship between lexical inferencing strategies and reading comprehension. The findings revealed the profound impact of lexical inferencing strategy instruction on the experimental group's performance in understanding reading text. Hence, it was concluded that lexical inferencing strategies were recommended to teach to improve the students’ reading comprehension performance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-27
Author(s):  
Alex Kozulin ◽  
Tziona Levi

Little attention has been paid to the question about generality versus modularity of the learning potential (LP). The main research question of our study was: Is the students’ LP established with the help of a dynamic assessment of their English as a foreign language (EFL) oral proficiency general enough to predict their subsequent EFL reading and writing scores? Eighty students (38 boys, 42 girls) received a dynamic assessment of their EFL oral proficiency in a pretest – mediation – posttest format. Six months later they took a standard EFL reading comprehension and writing exam. The results indicate that the correlations between oral LP scores and both reading (r = .42) and writing (r = .45) are significant and much stronger than the correlations with the static oral pretest. Oral LP appears to be general enough to predict students’ subsequent reading and writing achievements.


Author(s):  
Eli Skjeseth

In this chapter, 60 reflection notes written by 20 students of continuing education for advisors in NAV are analysed. The research question is: What do the texts tell about the students’ learning within the relationship between theory and practice? The intention of the chapter is to shed light on how the writing activity affects the students’ thinking about their practice. The analysis follows two axes: on the one hand, the level of learning found in the texts is examined – how the learning is expressed in changes in behaviour/actions, and in thinking/assessment. The second axis shows the students’ capacity for abstraction (theory formation) and for concretization based on theories. When these axes are put together, four categories emerge, which show different nuances in the relationship between theory and practice: 1) Synthesis (think ‘up’), 2) Analysis (think ‘down’), 3) Concepts promoted for practice, and 4) Testing of new methods. The analysis shows that the students commute unproblematically between these categories. Practice is both a necessary breeding ground for learning and a benchmark for learning. Practice does not contradict theory. The writing activity helps to clarify theory and develop students’ abstraction abilities. The teachers’ responsibility is to formulate high quality assignment texts that bind together theory and practice and that would prompt the students to stretch their mental borders. The analysis categories developed in this chapter can help teachers successfully face this task.


The purpose of this research is to highlight the contribution of our programme to improving balance in beginner skiers included in the experimental group; these improvements develop the participants’ ability to learn skiing much faster, more efficiently and more correctly. Implementing a training programme exclusively dedicated to balance improves this skill and leads to better results in the final tests performed at the end of the work period. The participants in this study were 28 subjects divided into two groups, namely an experimental group and a control group. The subjects are first-year students at UNEFS Bucharest, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport. The research methods used in this study are the following: experiment method, test method, mathematical and statistical method, as well as graphical method. The tests used to conduct the research are: Balance on a gym ball with a diameter of 65 cm, Stork Test and Bass Test. Following the application of the differentiated training programme including workouts dedicated to balance, the experimental group recorded significantly better results in terms of balance compared to the scores obtained by the control group. The information collected from the testing of both groups has revealed that, in the case of beginner skiers, exercises for the development of balance help to learn skiing, which answer the research question.


XLinguae ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 254-263
Author(s):  
Kulyash Duisekova ◽  
Saule Issabekova ◽  
Aliya Zagidullina ◽  
Gulshat Beysembayeva ◽  
Aitkali Bakitov ◽  
...  

At the present stage of development of linguistic science and in context of global trends towards constant cooperation in various fields and spheres of activity, there is a need for comparative typological studies aimed at a comprehensive and large-scale study of various linguistic categories. First of all, this is explained by the fact that it is in these categories, as in a mirror, that the peculiarities of the mentality, history and secular culture of the speakers of a particular language are reflected. The object of language sciences consists of two series of phenomena: on the one hand, it is made up of everything that is inherent in human language, that is to say language as such in its relation to thought and to reality; on the other hand, we are talking about the specifics and the variety of properties and categories of each language compared to another. Researchers' attention has largely shifted from the question of how the language of speakers of a particular language works. Research plays an important role in the study of the specificities of the nominative means of the language. Contrastive linguistics has the great advantage that the practical areas of its application are clearly visible. These are mainly the methodology and methodology of foreign language teaching, bilingual lexicography, theory and practice of translation.


2020 ◽  
pp. 93-96
Author(s):  
Darya Dmitrievna Trudnikova ◽  
Galina Veniaminovna Sorokoumova

The authors of the article emphasize that modern realities require the development of skills of confident and worthy behavior in all situations, etc. It is noted that skills must be developed in learning process using various methods and techniques in the classroom and off-hour work using various psychological trainings to create a psychologically safe and comfortable educational environment. The study of the impact of applying personal-oriented teaching methods in English language learning process on the formation of self-confidence, improving academic performance and increasing interest in a foreign language is described in the article. The purpose, hypothesis, tasks, methodological and theoretical basis of the research, methods and experimental base of the research are defined in the article; the results of the research of the summative, formative and control stages are analyzed. The method of Yakubovskaya P. was chosen as a diagnostic method at the summative and control stages of the study. P. Yakubovskaya's assessment test is aimed at the ability to distinguish between confident, insecure and aggressive behavior of an individual. The summative stage of the study showed that the majority of students do not see the line between confident and insecure behavior of the individual in situations that were taken as examples. It is mentioned that some guys couldn't tell the difference between confident and aggressive behavior. At the formative stage of the study, students in the control group studied using the classical method. For students of the experimental group, English lessons were developed and tested using specially designed tasks of a personality-oriented nature. During the control stage of the study, students who were part of the experimental group showed a significant increase in correct answers while doing the test. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the use of personality-oriented approach in the educational process positively affects the formation of self-confidence, improving academic performance and increasing interest in a foreign language in general, as well as contributing to the formation of a strong and self-confident personality.


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