scholarly journals Linguistic Awareness of the Prepositional Phrase Complexities in the English as a Foreign Language Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Chinger Enrique Zapata-Leal ◽  
María Cecilia Ávila-Portuanto

This essay focuses on a description of the complexities of Prepositional Phrases (PPs) and their challenges for EFL learners. The rationale is to raise language awareness of the multifaceted nature of the PP in teachers and students. The grammatical explanations offered in the literature review are based on Functional Grammar. Moreover, previous research conducted addressing the issues of EFL learners facing problems with PPs are proposed in four configurations: semantic, syntactic, lexical and socio-cultural. Such configurations address scenarios for the identification of multiple meanings, different syntactic functions and structures, regional variations, typology, formal and informal language usage, among others, which represent obstacles and difficulties in the comprehension of the topic by EFL learners. Finally, we conclude that the limited use of syntactic functions, poor internal configuration of PPs, as well as the high frequency of errors reported by previous research indicate PPs are complex to use. Thereby, explicitly reinforcing the teaching of all the configurations of PPs is suggested.

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Lingga Agustina Suganda ◽  
Bambang A Loeneto ◽  
Zuraida Zuraida

This study proposed to investigate the phenomena of code switching which refers to the use of English and Indonesian as a medium of instruction used by the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in their classroom discourse. It depicted the attitudes of EFL teachers and their students towards the patterns, functions, and influence of code switching in two EFL classes in Indonesia. The data were collected from classroom observation, interview, and questionnaire which explored the occurrence of code switching during the teaching and learning process as well as the teachers and students’ perception on its use in the classroom context. The results indicated that the switching between English and Indonesian in the EFL classrooms was very natural since it also became a tool to show the cultural, social, and communicative aspects of each language despite the amount of its use which varied greatly from teacher to teacher due to their students’ English competence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-158
Author(s):  
Carlos Lenin Alvarez Llerena

ABSTRACTThe Backward Design Model (BDM) is a curriculum approach in language teaching, which begins with the specification of learning outcomes that are the basis for developing instructional processes and input (Richards, 2013). This study aims to display a theoretical analysis of how the integration of the BDM has impacted English as a Foreign Language class. Thus, this study provides the results of reviewing research-based articles about how the integration of the BDM has benefited EFL teachers and students. These benefits are related to the main elements of the BDM, namely, designing learning to provide enduring understandings, assessing students’ performance based on acceptable evidence, and planning learning experiences and instructions based on desirable outcomes. The results indicated that the BDM indeed brought benefits to EFL teachers and students, revealing that this model's efficient application can help (a) teachers better understand the procedural knowledge of learning and (b) students improve their English language skills.ABSTRAKBackward Design Model merupakan pendekatan kurikulum dalam pengajaran bahasa yang diawali dengan spesifikasi hasil belajar yang menjadi dasar untuk pegembangan proses dan masukan pembelajaran (Richards, 2013). Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menampilkan analisis teoritis tentang bagaimana integrasi Backward Design Model (BDM) berdampak pada kelas bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa asing. Penelitian ini merupakan hasil dari telaah artikel berbasis penelitian tentang bagaimana integrasi BDM bermanfaat bagi para guru dan siswa EFL. Manfaat ini berkaitan dengan elemen utama BDM yaitu merancang pembelajaran untuk pemahaman yang bertahan lama, penilaian kinerja siswa berdasarkan bukti yang dapat diterima, dan merencanakan pengalaman dan instruksi pembelajaran berdasarkan hasil yang diinginkan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa BDM memang membawa manfaat bagi para guru dan siswa. Hasil penelitian juga mengungkapkan bahwa penerapan model yang efisien ini membantu para guru untuk memiliki pemahaman yang lebih baik tentang pengetahuan prosedural pembelajaran dan juga membantu siswa untuk meningkatkan kemampuan berbahasa Inggris mereka.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-114
Author(s):  
Regina Gutiérrez Pérez

AbstractThe CEFR encourages a more effective international communication. Given that effective communication in a L2 involves the ability to use metaphors, this figure becomes of prime importance to the teaching of languages. The present study applies a methodology for teaching English metaphors and idioms following the tenets of Cognitive Linguistics (CL). It argues the importance of “metaphoric competence”, and, by a conceptual metaphor awareness method, it advocates the usefulness of teaching metaphors and idioms and its explicit inclusion in a language syllabus aimed at increasing proficiency in L2. This conceptual basis for language is almost entirely unavailable to L2 learners in course books and reference materials. This paper reviews the scope of metaphor and metaphoric competence in the context of second-language teaching and learning, and provides some tips on how to teach metaphors and idioms effectively in a foreign language context. By analizing the systematicity and experiential basis of the expressions subject of study, it offers some pedagogical suggestions and teaching material that can facilitate the acquisition of idiomatic expressions by raising awareness of the conceptual metaphors that underlie them.


Author(s):  
Dwi Riyanti

Motivation is undoubtedly an important factor in learning foreign languages. Yet, in English as foreign language context, like Indonesia, especially in West Kalimantan, not all students are motivated to learn English, a compulsory foreign language for secondary students. Thus, it is a necessity that teachers know how to increase students’ motivation. This paper analyses the issue of motivation in learning English as a compulsory subject in a foreign language context which can be useful for teachers and students to know what why motivation is important in learning foreign languages. Through reviewing related literatures to motivation, this paper outlines the role of motivation in learning a foreign language, and the problems of low motivation commonly found in EFL contexts. It also discusses some possible causes of low motivation as well as elaborates ways to increase students’ motivation.


2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882091118
Author(s):  
Thi Ngoc Yen Dang ◽  
Stuart Webb ◽  
Averil Coxhead

With a number of word lists available for teachers to choose from, teachers and students need to know which list provides the best return for learning? Four well-established lists were compared and it was found that BNC/COCA2000 (British National Corpus / Corpus of Contemporary American English 2000) and the New General Service List (New-GSL) provided the greatest lexical coverage in spoken and written corpora. The present study further compared these two lists using teacher perceptions of word usefulness and learner vocabulary knowledge as the criteria. First, 78 experienced teachers of English as a second language / English as a foreign language (ESL/EFL) rated the usefulness of 973 non-overlapping items between the two lists for their learners. Second, 135 Vietnamese EFL learners completed 15 yes/no tests which measured their knowledge of the same 973 words. Teachers perceived that the BNC/COCA2000 had more useful words. Items in this list were also better known by the learners. This suggests that the BNC/COCA2000 is the more useful high-frequency wordlist for second language (L2) learners.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Somé-Guiébré

<p>Error correction is an essential component of language learning. It takes different forms that can affect language learning either positively or negatively. In the foreign language learning context, where the classroom is the only environment where the learners encounter the target language, error correction must be central to learning. It can easily be a demotivation factor to language learning. In this paper, the author examines error correction in High schools in Burkina Faso. The article explores how teachers deal with error corrections in the classroom and error treatment on student learning. The author conducted a qualitative study using classroom observations and interviews with teachers and students as data collection methods.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0882/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-54
Author(s):  
Chie Ogawa ◽  

This article suggests three teaching ideas to help L2 learners improve speaking performances through form-focused instruction using formulaic language. Formulaic language is considered an effective way to foster speaking fluency because prefabricated chunks are faster to retrieve than constructing sentences word by word (Wray, 2002). In spite of the benefits of learning formulaic language in L2 learning theory, few empirical studies were found which examined the effects of formulaic language instruction in intact classrooms, in particular in the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context. By introducing some effective classroom tasks to foster L2 learners’ speaking fluency focusing on formulaic language in this article, the author emphasizes the need for empirical research involving EFL learners.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Chili Li ◽  
Jinghua Qian

This paper reports on a study that investigated the changes of demotivation to learn English over the four college years among Chinese English as a Foreign Language Learners (EFL) from the perspective of Activity Theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on fifteen college EFL learners in China. The interview data were analyzed by means of content analysis to explore the changes in the demotivation among the participants and the reasons why their demotivation changed. The results revealed that: 1) the interviewees experienced changes in their demotivation during the four college years, with a stronger demotivation in the first and fourth year; 2) the dynamic disposition of the respondents’ demotivation is related to such factors as subject (Interest and future career), object (English examinations), tools (textbooks) and community (peers and teachers). The findings are implicative for teachers and students to tackle demotivation in English class for students at technological universities in China and other similar EFL contexts beyond.


Author(s):  
Ali Akbar Khansir ◽  
Afsaneh Salehabadi

As the topic suggests, the research paper presents Study of Consonant Pronunciations Errors Committed by EFL Learners. Error analysis always tries to resolve language learners’ problems in acquiring second or foreign language setting. Learning to English pronunciation is perhaps as important as learning listening skill, speaking, and spelling. Errors in English pronunciation create several problems for English language learners in their works. In other words, most of the English language errors of pronunciation are due to the lack of knowledge of language learners. However, all the students in our sample are of age group (16-25) at Bushehr language institute and they are all Iranian nationals. In addition, all of them were female learners. An English pronunciation (consonant) test was used to get information about the knowledge of the learners in English pronunciation. Findings of this article indicated that the first and second hypotheses of this article were accepted, but the third hypothesis was rejected. However, the findings of this paper showed that the Iranian EFL students have problem to pronounce English sounds correctly.


Author(s):  
Ольга Миколюк

This article examines the communicative approach as one of the most successful methods of teaching English nowadays. The basic principles are aimed at teachers and students, efficient classroom activities and styles of learning. Furthermore, there are some guidelines for teachers and even a critique of communicative language teaching in this article.


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