The Impact of Gamification and Individual Differences on Second Language Learning Among First-Year Female University Students in Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
pp. 104687812110565
Author(s):  
Maram Almufareh
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Video Gaming ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
The Impact

Background The Technology-Enhanced Training Effectiveness Model (TETEM) has been used to assess the effectiveness of various technology-driven solutions in improving students’ outcomes in multiple academic fields. However, limited research is available on the use of TETEM in the context of second language learning. Using a modified TETEM, this study seeks first, to assess the direct effects of students’ attitudes and experiences with video gaming on their achievement; and second, to evaluate the effects of students’ attitudes and experiences that are mediated by their motivation. Methods This study was conducted among preparatory year students at Al-Jouf University, Saudi Arabia. Students were randomly assigned to the technology-enhanced group (Duolingo® + workbook) or the control group (classroom workbook group). We started by comparing student performance between the two groups to evaluate the effect of the intervention. Subsequently, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis to establish homogenous latent variables for experience, attitude, and motivation. Finally, we used structural equation models to evaluate the presence of direct and mediated effects. Results Students in the Duolingo® + workbook group scored higher on reading, grammar, vocabulary, and writing compared to the workbook group. Positive attitude toward video gaming had both a direct and mediating positive correlation with student achievement. Additionally, motivation toward ESL learning was independently and positively correlated with student achievement. As expected, the technology-enhanced group performed better in reading, grammar, and vocabulary while the control group showed more participation and timely completion of assignments. Conclusion Technology enhancement improves students’ performance for ESL, however, adequate integration of technology in the course curriculum is needed to minimize interference with class participation. Positive attitudes toward video games and motivation toward ESL learning are positive predictors of student achievement while experience with video games has no significant effect.

First Person Singular

2012 ◽  
pp. 22-40
Author(s):  
Shaoqun Wu ◽  
Ian H. Witten
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Digital Library ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
First Person ◽  
Library Collection ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Library Technology ◽  
The Web

We use digital library technology to help language learners express themselves by capitalizing on the human-generated text available on the Web. From a massive collection of n-grams and their occurrence frequencies we extract sequences that begin with the word “I”, sequences that begin a question, and sequences containing statistically significant collocations. These are preprocessed, filtered, and organized as a digital library collection using the Greenstone software. Users can search the collection to see how particular words are typically used and browse by syntactic class. The digital library is richly interconnected to other resources. It includes links to external vocabularies and thesauri so that users can retrieve words related to any term of interest, and links the collection to the web by locating sample sentences containing these patterns and presenting them to the user. We have conducted an evaluation of how useful the system is in helping students, and the impact it has on their writing. Finally, language activities generated from the digital library content have been designed to help learners master important emotion related vocabulary and expressions. We predict that the application of digital library technology to assist language students will revolutionize second language learning.

The provision and uptake of different types of recasts in child and adult ESL learners

2010 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 26.1-26.22
Author(s):  
Rhonda Oliver ◽  
Ellen Grote
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Conversational Interaction ◽  
Adult Esl ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Facilitative Role ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
The Impact

The role of conversational interaction in second language research has increasingly been seen as playing a facilitative role in second language learning. As such there have been a number of studies focussing on different types of interaction, including feedback such as recasts, and their potential role in second language learning. In this study, using Sheen’s (2006) taxonomy, we compare various types of recasts delivered to child ESL learners. Further, we examine two variables: context (teacher-fronted classrooms versus pair work, including NNS-NNS and NNS-NS dyads) and age (the results of this study with children are compared with the results from Sheen’s (2006) study of adults) and the impact these factors have on this form of feedback. We also examine the opportunity for, and the actual uptake that may follow these recasts, for child ESL learners. The findings suggest that age and context make a difference, both in relation to the provision of recasts (in terms of their type and characteristics), as well as in relation to their uptake, though to a lesser extent. Context also influences the opportunity for uptake afforded to child learners. The theoretical and pedagogical implications of these results are outlined at the conclusion of this paper.

Understanding the nature of performance

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Scrimgeour
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Test Procedures ◽  
Language Programs ◽  
The Impact ◽  
At Home

While Chinese language learning in Australian schools is characterised by predominantly second language programs for learners who have had no prior exposure to the target language, there is increasing participation by Australian-born children who speak Putonghua (Mandarin) or another dialect at home. Curriculum and assessment frameworks and syllabuses at senior secondary level have responded to the diversity in learner background through the provision of separate curricula and assessment schemes for different learner groups based on country of birth, prior educational experience and languages used at home. However the impact of learner background on learning and achievement as learners progress through Chinese language programs both in primary and secondary school remains under-researched. In particular, evidence of how the performance of second language learners differs from that of learners who a) speak the language at home and b) may have substantial community schooling experience beyond the school classroom, or c) were born and initially educated in Chinese, is very limited. This paper reports on the results of the Student Achievement in Asian Languages Education (SAALE) Project (Scarino et al., 2011; Scarino, this issue and Elder, Kim & Knoch, this issue) with regard to student achievement in Chinese. It focuses on the writing performance of Year 10 learners of Chinese and considers specifically the impact of language background by comparing performances between Australian-born students who do and do not speak Chinese at home. Scores assigned to students’ writing gathered on common test procedures confirms the expectation that background language learners perform at significantly higher levels and suggests that the two groups also differ in the nature of that performance. The implications of this data for the teaching, learning and assessment of Chinese in schools, and for the appropriate provision of programs for these different groups of learners is discussed.

scholarly journals A Study of the Difficulties in Learning of English Faced by Hindi and Urdu Speaking Students in India and Indian Expatriates in Saudi Arabia

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Qudsia Iqbal Hashmi
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Learning Difficulties ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Statistical Inferences ◽  
Better Than

Main aim of the study was to explore and analyze the learning difficulties faced by Hindi and Urdu speaking-students in India and Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia. It is generally felt that learning of English varies in different context. Learners having background of Urdu, Hindi differ on account of learning achievements. Similarly those who enjoy more English learning environment may perform better than their counterparts. In order to carry out the study, three types of subjects were purpose. The study, though was descriptive-qualitative in nature, quantification was used to arrive at statistical inferences. The results indicated that most of the learner’s problems arose due to L1 interference on second language learning process.

scholarly journals How does CLIL affect the acquisition of reading comprehension in the mother tongue? A comparative study in secondary education

2017 ◽  
pp. 7-26
Author(s):  
Esther Nieto
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Secondary Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Do So

In the last two decades, CLIL (content and language integrated learning) programmes, in which school subjects such as history, geography or mathematics are taught by means of an additional language, have rapidly spread over all the world, since CLIL has been deemed to be an innovative and effective approach for second language learning. Therefore, research on CLIL has precisely focused on the acquisition of the L2, while other aspects, such as the assimilation of the content taught by means of the second language or the impact of CLIL programmes on the mother tongue have received less attention.In this sense, this paper examines how CLIL programmes affect the development of reading comprehension in the mother tongue. To do so, the outcomes in a test of reading comprehension of CLIL (n = 1,119) and non-CLIL students (= 15,984) enrolled in the 2nd year of secondary education (13-14 years-old) were compared. The results indicated that the acquisition of literal reading comprehension and inferential reading comprehension in the mother tongue significantly benefit from CLIL, whereas no significant differences have been detected in critical reading comprehension. The reading skills most benefited by CLIL were global comprehension, lexical comprehension, understanding of space-time relationships, integration of extra-textual information, and identification of extra-textual relations.These data are explained by the critical importance of reading strategies to succeed in CLIL settings, and by the transfer of these strategies between L1 and L2 and vice versa. This hypothesis is supported by previous research on immersion programmes.

scholarly journals Collaborative Instructional Strategies and Attitudes toward Second Language Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 60-67
Author(s):  
Carolyn F. Pardo-Tolentino ◽  
Rischelle G. Aggabao
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Mind Mapping ◽  
Collaborative Strategies ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Experimental Group

This paper examines the effectiveness of using collaborative instructional strategies in teaching second language and presents the attitudes toward using these collaborative strategies among Grade 8 students. To determine the results, the experimental research design was used to test the relationship between the variables. Findings revealed that five collaborative learning strategies namely think-pair-share, jigsaw puzzle, mind mapping, round robin, and send a problem were assessed as satisfactory by the respondents. Though the data show these collaborative strategies received the same assessment, “send a problem” has the highest average mean. With regard to the respondents’ performance in the pretest and posttest, students who belong in the experimental group show a slight increase in scores than those students in the control group. Students from both groups have the same perception in using these collaborative strategies. Thus, the researchers believe that using collaborative instructional strategies help learners understand better the second language.

scholarly journals THE IMPACT OF INTELLIGENCE AND APTITUDE IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING: A BRIEF STUDY

2017 ◽  
pp. 199-206
Author(s):  
Hitendra Vyas
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Dimensions Of Learning ◽  
Language Capacity ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Impact

This paper focuses on the relationship between Intelligence and Aptitude, and second language learning. The definition of aptitude refers to cognitive abilities rather than attitudes and affective dimensions of learning. Aptitude measures can predict achievement in cognitive language capacity rather than ability to communicate on an interpersonal level. Two sets of intellectual abilities are involved in learning a L2. One of them is intelligence, “a general academic or reasoning ability” (Ellis 1986). As Mc Donough (1981) suggests, intelligence refers to “the capacity rather than the contents of the mind.” Initial attempts to identify successful and unsuccessful language learners focused mainly on the concept of intelligence (Gardner 1985). Intelligence is involved in the learning of other school subjects as well as an L2. It underlies “our ability to master and use a whole range of academic skills” (Ellis 1986)

scholarly journals COUNTERPOINT PIECE: THE CASE FOR VARIETY IN CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK RESEARCH

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Lyster ◽  
Leila Ranta
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Impact

Goo and Mackey (this issue) outline several apparent design flaws in studies that have compared the impact of different types of corrective feedback (CF). Furthermore, they argue that SLA researchers should stop comparing recasts to other types of CF because they are inherently different kinds of phenomena. Our response to their article addresses (a) the claim that the recast-learning relationship has been “settled,” (b) the misleading representation of our views on uptake, (c) the characterization of the CF comparison studies as being weak and invalid, and (d) Goo and Mackey’s recommendations concerning the most appropriate approach to investigating the effect of feedback on second language learning.

The Impact of Reading on Second Language Learning

1983 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warwick B. Elley ◽  
Francis Mangubhai
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
The Impact
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