scholarly journals Internet Use in EFL Writing Classes

E-methodology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 79-83
Author(s):  
Mohammad Amin Mozaheb ◽  
MOSTAFA SHAHIDITABAR

Aim. The present study seeks to investigate the effect of internet use on writing abilities of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students studying in an Iranian university. The students of the study have been advised to use the Internet while searching for collocations and new words. They were also told to use grammar checkers while writing essays in English. After a two months’ period, their writing papers had been corrected by two raters. Compared to scores they obtained before the class equipped with new technologies, the students obtained higher scores, showing that the Internet can be used in language learning especially in writing classes where students have difficulties in using native-like words and structures. Methods. The participant of the present study were 28 Iranian university students studying ELT in an Iranian University in the capital Tehran. The students were divided into two classes consisting of 12 students in the experimental group and 16 students in the control group. The mean age of the students taking part in the study was 20. Additionally, according to a TOEFL iBT the level of the English proficiency of the students was 75. To put it other way, utilizing the test, the students were homogenized by the researchers of the study. Results. The results of the study showed that the use of the Internet in EFL classes can boost the writing abilities of EFL learners. In other words, the writing of the students will be improved in case the check different collocations and grammatical points in the Internet.  Moreover, the use of grammar checker soft wares which can be found on the net can pave the way for EFL students to be better writers of English. Conclusions. To conclude, this study suggests that the use of the Internet can be beneficial to EFL learners while improving their writing abilities which can be seen by many scholars studying different skills as important.

Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Dung

Being accepted as out of the four essential language skills in the language learning process, writing seems to be difficult for numerous EFL learners. This research is an endeavor to explore if learners can grow out of the writing difficulties with topic-based writing activity. 78 third-year students at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Phan Thiet University in Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province participated in the study. These students were in the two writing classes, one class was treated as the experimental group (EG) and the other as the control group (CG). Research findings exposed the benefits of topic-based writing activity in nurturing learners' writing motivation and enhancing their writing skill. Furthermore, this activity gave students good chances to widen their knowledge on the topic, enrich their emotion on disadvantaged people, and build a friendly learning environment outside the classroom. The necessity and usefulness of the application of topic-based writing activity was predominantly recognized among students.


Author(s):  
Hussein Meihami ◽  
Bahram Meihami ◽  
Zeinab Varmaghani

Listening has often played second fiddle to its counterpart, speaking (Brown, 2007). Because of the complexity involved in both teaching listening and assessing it, listening skill hasn’t been overlooked in comparison with other skills, speaking, reading, and writing. This problem has been multiplied when somebody looks at listening skill in EFL contexts. This research describes a study exploring the effect of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) on listening skill of Iranian EFL learners. A total of 74 Iranian Advanced students of English all male and with the age range of 20 to 22 participated in this study. They were divided into one experimental group (N = 37) and one control group (N = 37). While in the experimental group CALL was the dominate instrument in teaching listening skill, in the control group there was no use of CALL material. The findings of this study reveal that CALL materials have significant effect on improving Iranian Advanced EFL learners listening.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Enayati ◽  
Abbas Pourhosein Gilakjani

Regarding the large amount of vocabulary that learners should learn and the limited amount of time available in the EFL classes, Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is considered as an attractive option for learning. One specific benefit of using CALL vocabulary instruction is to provide systematic repetition of words, ensuring that learned words are not forgotten. The objective of current investigation is to examine the effect of CALL on Iranian intermediate learners’ vocabulary learning. The researchers used Tell Me More (TEM) software for this objective. This investigation used Preliminary English Test (PET) as a standardized measurement to seek the level of the subjects in terms of language proficiency. Then, the researchers assigned the participants into two groups: experimental group and control group. Experimental group included 31 EFL students and control group involved 30 EFL students. 80 items were administered as pre-test to evaluate the participants’ previous knowledge of English in respect to the vocabularies. The researchers taught the students of both groups for 12 sessions. The TEM software was used as treatment in experimental group and the control group received no treatment. The taught words were the same in both groups. After 12 sessions, the 65 items were administered as post-test in order to compare the results of the scores of two groups and decide about the effectiveness of the treatment. The data were analyzed through running the Independent sample t-test. The results of post-test showed that the participants of experimental group outperformed the control group and had positive attitudes towards CALL. The results of this study may be useful for EFL teachers, EFL learners, and syllabus designers.


Author(s):  
Hoang Thu Ba

In Vietnam, despite the widespread use of computers and the Internet in the educational settings, little attention has been paid to the role of the Internet in promoting students’ autonomy. Particularly, in the author’s real teaching context at Thuong Mai University (TMU), there exists a serious problem relating to students’ lack of independency in language learning. The study, therefore, was implemented to investigate the effectiveness of the Internet use in promoting business learners’ autonomy and improving their learning skill. To fulfill the study, questionnaires and interviews were conducted to 200 third-year students and 10 teachers of English at TMU respectively. The qualitative approach was adopted to reveal the significant findings of the descriptive case study on the learners’ positive attitudes and awareness of their learning autonomy through the popularity yet ineffective use of the Internet use but the ineffective use of the Internet in improving English study and motivation, what and how teachers and learners do to promote learners’ autonomy in language learning. The study, consequently, came up with some effective pedagogical implications that may help teachers recognize the significant role of the Internet in enhancing learners’ autonomy inside and outside the class.


Author(s):  
Abbas Ali Ahangar ◽  
Mehri Izadi

The internet has developed into an important source of knowledge in recent times. It is used not just for engaging and entertaining users, but also for promoting language learning, especially for English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL and EFL) learners spending long hours using internet, 85% of all web pages are in English. This experimental research investigated EFL learners’ experiences of vocabulary learning while surfing and text processing. In this small-scale study, two homogeneous groups of EFL learners )N=19(, after taking a vocabulary test to ensure that their vocabulary knowledge differences were not significant, were randomly assigned to attend Interchange 3 class in two different groups – one as the Experimental and the other as the Control Group. Each session, there was a free discussion on special topics; while the Experimental Group surfed the internet, processed the online texts, shared and discussed their findings and beliefs on the internet, the Control Group did not use the internet and simply shared their opinions and discussed their personal beliefs. The results of the vocabulary pre- and post-tests indicated that the “internet users” significantly outperformed the “non-internet users”, that is, the Control Group. Based on the findings, internet creates a stimulating environment which helps learners effectively boost their vocabulary knowledge.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 342-350
Author(s):  
Suparna Parwodiwiyono

Abstrak: Bagi generasi pasca milenial penggunaan internet sangat akrab tetapi dengan berbagai tujuan penggunaan. Penelitian ini ingin melihat keterkaitan penggunaan internet oleh penduduk yang sedang sekolah untuk kepentingan penyelesaian tugas sekolah di Indonesia untuk mendapatkan hasil belajar yang baik. Analisis berdasarkan data sekunder dari Survei Sosial Ekonomi Nasional tahun 2018. Hanya saja data yang didapatkan tidak simetris dengan adanya pencilan. Regresi kuantil digunakan untuk meminimumkan pengaruh dari pencilan yang ada. Penelitian mendapatkan hasil bahwa terdapat kaitan yang erat antara akses internet dari penduduk yang sedang sekolah dengan penyelesaian tugas sekolah.  Hasil regresi kuantil menunjukkan bahwa proporsi akses internet untuk penyelesaian tugas sekolah berbeda antar golongan proporsi penggunaan internet. Proporsi penggunaan internet yang tinggi akan digunakan untuk penyelesaian tugas sekolah yang lebih tinggi pula. Abstract: For the post millennial generation the use of the internet is very familiar but with various purposes of use. This study wants to look at the relationship between the use of the internet by residents who are currently in school for the sake of completing school work in Indonesia to get good learning outcomes. Analysis based on secondary data from the 2018 National Socio-Economic Survey. It's just that the data obtained is not symmetrical with outliers. Quantile regression is used to minimize the effect of outliers. The study found that there was a close relationship between internet access from residents who were in school and completion of school work. The quantile regression results show that the proportion of internet access for completing school work differs between groups of proportions of internet use. A high proportion of internet use will be used for completing higher school work.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824402110071
Author(s):  
Saleh Alharthi

Writing is an intricate process that encompasses various factors and is a key skill for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. Thus, writing assignments are vital for any curriculum. One of the essential aspects of effective writing includes good grammar knowledge. Advocates of process writing argue that a free-writing journal is a practical approach to teaching EFL students writing. This study is intended to examine the impact of the free-writing journal on EFL learners. This study was conducted on 80 students from a writing course at the University. Thirty-five students were randomly selected to join the free-writing program—the experimental group—and 45 students were kept in their regular structured writing program—the control group. The experimental group selected topics of interest to them and was encouraged to write in English freely without concern for errors, whereas the control group followed a regular structured writing program where the topics were selected for them and they wrote following a clear guideline. Five major areas were investigated to evaluate students’ progress: the number of words written, spelling, capitalization, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 students of the experimental group to elicit their perception of the free-writing program. According to the analysis, students in the free-writing program acquired better grammar acquisition than the control group. The researcher also observed students’ perception of free-writing at the end of the study and found that free-writing improved their writing skills.


Vocabulary learning is one of the problems in language learning skills. Tackling such problems is to provide useful and effective strategies for enhancing students’ VLSs. Therefore, this study aims to survey vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) utilized among English as a Foreign Language learners (EFL) in Baghlan University of Afghanistan, and to study the high and least frequently used VLSs that contributes to the learners’ vocabulary knowledge. This study utilizes a descriptive quantitative research method with 67 EFL learners who participated in the survey questionnaire adopted from Oxford (1990) taxonomy of VLS from different faculties of Baghlan University. The findings indicated that EFL learners preferably utilize VLSs at a medium level, and the highly used vocabulary learning strategies are the social strategies through which they ask the native speakers, teachers, and classmates for the meanings of new words in English language conversation. Determination, cognitive, and memory strategies are respectively followed by the learners. Whereas, metacognitive strategies are the least used strategies among EFL learners, the reason is that they only focus on the materials related to examination; explore anything about the new words for learning, and rarely think of their improvement in vocabulary learning.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parastoo Alizadeh Oghyanous

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of brain-based teaching on the self-efficacy of young EFL learners. The initial participants of the study were 90 learners within the age range of 13-16 who were selected based on convenience sampling. Theses 90 young EFL learners were given a Flyers test the scores of which were used to choose 60 homogeneous learners whose scores fell within the range of +/- one standard deviation from the mean. The 60 selected learners were then divided into an experimental and a control group. A Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C), developed by Muris (2001) was administered to the participants in both groups before and after the treatment after being translated into Persian and piloted for reliability check. To implement brain-based teaching in the experimental group, the researcher taught the lessons based on the three techniques of Brain Based Teaching Approach (BBTA). The three techniques used were Relaxed Alertness (RA), Orchestrated Immersion (OI) and Active Processing (AP) in line with Thomas and Swamy (2014). The results of statistical analyses indicated that brain-based teaching approach had a significant effect on students’ self-efficacy. The findings of the study can have implications for both students and EFL teachers in the realm of foreign language learning and teaching.


2012 ◽  
pp. 407-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Alnufaie ◽  
Michael Grenfell

This study was part of a PhD research to explore the writing strategies of 121 second-year undergraduate Saudi student writers who are studying English as a foreign language and for specific purposes in one of the Saudi industrial colleges: Jubail Industrial College (JIC). The writing strategies under investigation had been classified into two categories (process-oriented writing strategies and product-oriented writing strategies) based on their instructional philosophies. A strategy questionnaire was designed to collect data. Although JIC writing classes were assumed to be product-oriented as reported by the majority of the participants’ description of their teachers’ writing approach, the results showed that almost all of the participants (95.9%) were mixing the two kinds of strategies. More surprisingly, the top five writing strategies used by the participants were process-oriented.


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