Strategy-based English language instruction: the impact on the language proficiency of young gifted learners

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rana Yildirim ◽  
Duygu Ispinar Akcayoglu
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Gifted Learners ◽  
English Language Instruction ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals A Corpus-based Study on the use of Phrasal Verbs in Malaysian Secondary School Textbooks

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Ainul Azmin Md Zamin ◽  
Mahmoud Elfeky ◽  
Rafidah Kamarudin ◽  
Faizah Abd Majid
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Phrasal Verbs ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
English Language Instruction ◽  
Linguistic Approach ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools ◽  
Selection Of

Phrasal verbs (PVs) are one of the most notoriously puzzling aspects of English language instruction. Despite their difficulty and idiosyncrasies, they are of high relevance for ESL/EFL learners because mastery of PVs is often equated with language proficiency. Different from prior researches, this content analysis study seeks to identify the PVs used in the Malaysian upper secondary school textbooks and the frequency count of each PV in each textbook using a corpus linguistic approach. The most frequently PVs in each textbook were compared to the list provided by Biber et al (1999)’s Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English corpus. Findings from this study revealed that the selection and presentation of these combinations in the secondary school textbooks used in Malaysia depended more on authors’ intuition rather than on empirical findings and pedagogical principles. There were no clear explanations of Phrasal Verbs in both textbooks that were analysed. Despite the large number of PVs in the corpus, their presentation in the textbooks was far from satisfactory with some being over-repeated at the expense of some others. This paper makes a few suggestions to further improve the present treatment of PVs in the textbooks used at upper secondary schools in Malaysia. It is suggested that accurate definitions and appropriate selection and presentation of PVs should be considered. Rather than relying on intuition, Malaysian textbook writers must consider integrating the use of corpus into their selection of PVs to be presented to students.

‘I'm Telling You … The Language Barrier is the Most, the Biggest Challenge’: Barriers to Education among Karen Refugee Women in Australia

2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula G. Watkins ◽  
Husna Razee ◽  
Juliet Richters
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Well Being ◽  
English Language Education ◽  
Barriers To Education ◽  
Refugee Women ◽  
Education Participation ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

This article examines factors influencing English language education, participation and achievement among Karen refugee women in Australia. Data were drawn from ethnographic observations and interviews with 67 participants between 2009 and 2011, collected as part of a larger qualitative study exploring the well-being of Karen refugee women in Sydney. Participants unanimously described difficulty with English language proficiency and communication as the ‘number one’ problem affecting their well-being. Gendered, cultural and socio-political factors act as barriers to education. We argue that greater sensitivity to refugees' backgrounds, culture and gender is necessary in education. Research is needed into the combined relationships between culture and gender across pre-displacement, displacement and resettlement and the impact of these factors on post-immigration educational opportunities. Training is needed to sensitise educators to the complex issues of refugee resettlement. The paper concludes with recommendations for service provision and policy.

A case for decolonizing English language instruction

ELT Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J Meighan
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Letters To The Editor ◽  
English Language Instruction ◽  
Current Concern

Abstract Comment is a feature that allows contributors to express a personal, and sometimes controversial, view about a matter of current concern in the profession outside the format of a reviewed academic article. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Editor or the Publisher. Reaction to Comment features, in the form of letters to the Editor, are especially welcome.

scholarly journals The Impact of Blended Learning on the Twelfth Grade Students’ English Language Proficiency

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Hussein Al Noursi
Keyword(s):  
Blended Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Twelfth Grade ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

The blended learning approach utilizes modern technologies and electronic media in teaching to create a technology-based environment. However, it is not an exclusive online environment because the teacher and the students have to be present in a traditional face-to-face classroom. It is widely believed that adopting a blended learning approach will enable learners to have quality educational opportunities and improve their performance. The incentive for conducting the research is to evaluate the effect of the blended learning approach on high school students’ English proficiency. Specifically, the study aimed at answering the question: is there a significant difference in the Twelfth-Grade students’ English language proficiency as measured by IELTS due to the model of delivery (Blended learning model and the traditional delivery model)? To achieve the study’s goal, the researcher applied the experimental method and used IELTS to measure language proficiency. The study sample selected purposively consisted of 63 male twelfth-grade students in one of the private schools in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study sample was assigned to two groups: the experimental group taught using blended learning consisted of 31 students, and the control group led by the traditional method consisted of 32 students. The results showed statistically significant differences at the level of (a<0.01) between the means of the results of the two groups on the post achievement test in favor of the experimental group. These results illustrated the impact of adopting the blended learning approach in an English Foreign Language (EFL) setting on students’ achievement in standardized tests. However, the successful implementation of blended learning largely depends on how responsible and committed students are towards active learning.

scholarly journals What happens to international students’ english after one semester at university?

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 4.1-4.17
Author(s):  
Neomy Storch ◽  
Kathryn Hill
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Language Test ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
The Impact

There is a common expectation, particularly amongst international students, that studying in an English-medium university should automatically produce a significant improvement in their English language skills. However, there is growing evidence to suggest that this is not necessarily the case.This paper reports on a study which investigated the impact of one semester of study at a university on the English language proficiency of a sample of 40 international students. This was measured by comparing the students’ scores on a diagnostic English language test at the beginning and end of their first semester. A comparison of discourse measures of writing in terms of fluency, complexity and accuracy was also undertaken. Background information, including details of ESL support, if any, was collected for all participants via questionnaires, and interviews were conducted with a subset of the participants.It was found that studying in an English-medium university generally led to an improvement in English language proficiency. The paper identifies a number of factors which appear to support language development, as well as factors that may inhibit it.

scholarly journals Using Pictionary Game to Increase Learners’ Vocabulary Mastery in English Language Instruction

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-51
Author(s):  
Welliam Hamer ◽  
Ledy Nur Lely
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Smart Board ◽  
Unsatisfactory Result ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
English Language Instruction ◽  
Learning English

This article aims at sharing information on how pictionary game is used to increase the learners’ vacabulary mastery in the process of teaching and learning. It is clear that vocabulary is one of components of English language. When the learners are reading, they need to master vocabulary related to certain topic. Therefore vocabulary is important thing in learning English. However, mastering English vocabularies is not easy. English is foreign language in which learning English is often considered to be difficult to comprehend. This problem can be seen from the unsatisfactory result when learning English. The learning processs commonly used in the classroom just puts the teacher as a center of learning. It means that the teacher always dominates him/herself to teach, not to focus on how the learners learn effectively. This makes the learners passive and less interested in following the course of learning. In fact the learners’ interest is the most important factor in the study. Interest can be developed if the learning process run with fun, vary, and conducive athmosphere. There are many factors that can support the existance of an increase in the study, i.e. teachers, learners, materials, media, methods, and other learning sources. One factor that can help the learners learn vocabulary is the use of pictionary game. In this study, pictionary game is a classic game of drawing and guessing pictures. Pictionary game can also increase the imagination of learners, where learners are asked to draw according to the word given by the teachers. Things that are needed to play pictionary game are a list or card of vocabulary items, whiteboard, calkboard, or smart board and markers. Pictionary game will help learners to get involved in classroom activities. Other advantages of using pictionary game can be concluded that it provides fun language practice in the various language skills.

scholarly journals ENGLISH PERFECT IN COGNITION OF SLOVAK ISCED3 LEARNERS OF ENGLISH – PRELIMINARY EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomáš Hlava
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Proficiency Test ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Procedural Knowledge ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Declarative Knowledge ◽  
Present Perfect ◽  
The Past ◽  
English Language Instruction ◽  
Different Types

In English language instruction in Slovakia, a strong preference for declarative knowledge at the expense of procedural knowledge development has been reported over the last two decades. However, the cognitive aspects of language attainment predict no impact of instructional efforts, since mental representations of language to be attained are told to be supported by different cognitive systems than associative learning develops. Language variation materializes differences among languages based on differences in digitalizing the experience and thus understanding the world. For Slovak learners, the English present perfect is one such anomaly in categorization. This paper aims to answer what the specific interactions between past simple and present perfect are and how the predicted cognitive aspects of language attainment influence the use of different types of knowledge. A proficiency test focusing on declarative knowledge and language use without context and in context was distributed to 600 Slovak learners of English at the ISCED3a level. In Past simple conditions, students proved highly proficiency in all 3 types of tasks. In present perfect conditions, declarative knowledge strongly dominated over language use in context. In Present perfect conditions, substitutions by past simple were significantly more frequent than substitutions of present perfect by past simple. Cognitive funneling was recognized as a process inhibiting fast proceduralization of the English present perfect compared to fast and reliable proceduralization of the past simple.

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