scholarly journals An Investigation into the Benefits of the Intercultural Approach to EFL Learning and Teaching: A Case Study of Taif University, KSA

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir H. Abdalla

The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential benefits of using the intercultural approach to teaching English as a foreign language in the preparatory –year programme (male branch), Taif University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The intercultural approach is considered a viable means of foreign language education that seeks to address issues of culture in foreign language learning and teaching and how best to address them. Hence, this study intends to explore the attitudes of first year EFL Taif university students to the potential benefits of the intercultural approach to EFL. A sample of 200 EFL students participated in the study. Participants’ views on the topic of the study are collected via a questionnaire the researcher designed and administered to the participants. In addition, the views of 50 EFL instructors teaching in the preparatory programme were gathered by a questionnaire regarding the topic researched. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the collected data.

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Schumacher

AbstractBy adopting “functional plurilingualism” – a recurring concept in its new curriculum, “Lehrplan 21” – Switzerland is pursuing new avenues in foreign language education. The term refers to a goal-oriented approach to foreign language learning and teaching in primary and secondary schools, and implies that barriers to communication can be overcome by exploiting the sum of the individual’s linguistic capacities. In future, language learners will be expected to build on the interrelatedness of languages instead of developing abilities in languages that they keep separate from one another. This view of foreign language education coincides with the recommendations of the Council of Europe’sHaving reached the highest level specified by the CEFR, some learners continue their studies, seeking to maintain or reinforce their competences or to address individual weaknesses. In this article, a group of C2+ learners of German as a foreign language reflect on their desire for linguistic perfection and the notion of “functional plurilingualism” against the background of their own biographies. These learners have a high awareness and knowledge of German (often their third language) and of the learning process, which allows them to make informative statements. The data was analysed qualitatively and subjective theories were reconstructed – an approach that took account both of the multiperspectivity of the topic and of the uniqueness of the individual cases.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raniah Kabooha ◽  
Tariq Elyas

The present study sought to examine the improvement in vocabulary comprehension and retention of Saudi English as foreign language female students at King Abdul Aziz University as a result of integrating YouTube in their reading classes. The study also investigated the perceptions of both students as well as teachers towards the inclusion of YouTube on the development of vocabulary. One hundred female intermediate level students aged between 18-20 years old participated in the study. Students were divided into two groups: an experimental group who watched YouTube during the reading activities and a control group who was not exposed to the videos. Data were collected using pre-tests and post-tests in addition to questionnaires. The findings of the study reveal that the group who viewed the YouTube clips outperformed the group who was not exposed to YouTube videos in the posttest. The results clearly show that YouTube provided statistically significant effects on the students' vocabulary acquisition. The findings of the study indicate that the participants positively viewed the use of YouTube in their lessons. The findings also revealed significant improvement in the students’ vocabulary achievement. The implications of the findings are discussed within the context of foreign language learning and teaching.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 01071
Author(s):  
Irina M. Solodkova ◽  
Elena V. Grigorieva ◽  
Liliya R. Ismagilova

The paper dwells on the problem of identifying the most crucial factors affecting the quality of foreign language learning from the students’ perspective. Quality foreign language education is a disputable issue in 21 century due to the increased global workforce competition. Human capital has a great impact on education as an important factor in shaping a new quality of country’s economy and well-being of society. Foreign language skill is an integral component of highly qualified professionals as the global economic processes make them participate in cross-border business communication. In these conditions the aim of higher education establishments is to provide quality of language learning and teaching that allows future specialists not to distort the meaning in written and oral communication within their professional framework. The two-phase survey conducted among 67 students of the Institute of Management, Economics and Finance of the Kazan Federal University provided with quantitative data. The respondents ranked differently the factors determining the quality of language learning and teaching responses after two years of completing their foreign language education and were generally satisfied with the quality of service rendered. The obtained results give optimistic forecasts regarding the improvement of foreign language education and help reconsider the way of teaching a foreign language basing on the chosen factors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (S3) ◽  
pp. 814-822
Author(s):  
Isa Spahiu ◽  
Naim Kryeziu

Making mistakes is an unavoidable element of learning and teaching a foreign language. Because there are virtually always exceptions to the "rules," English can be tough to master. This study focuses on the most prevalent grammatical errors made by Albanian students during the EFL (English as a foreign language) learning process, as well as the sources of these errors, in order to consider them while teaching English grammar. The purpose of this study is to find out to what extent Albanian EFL students to be successful in the use of prepositions, and how much impact their mother tongue has on their errors. Being aware of such mistakes in teaching and learning English grammar for communicative purpose may help the teacher in choosing the right teaching option that would pose fewer difficulties and problems to their learners and therefore, enhance students learning of English grammar. In this study, the terms error and mistake are used interchangeably to refer to the generation of incorrect forms in learners' linguistic output. It has been highlighted that the effect of the learners' native language is responsible for many of the errors. 


2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cem Alptekin ◽  
Sibel Tatar

This is an overview of research on applied linguistics and foreign language education in Turkey, surveying nearly 130 studies from the period 2005–2009. Following a brief presentation of the history and current sociopolitical situation of foreign language education in Turkey, the article focuses on research that characterizes the most common interests of academics and practitioners in the following areas: foreign language teaching and teachers, foreign language learning and learners, foreign language teacher education, the four language skills, measurement and evaluation, and the relationship between language and culture. Our discussion of each area is based on information extracted from local professional journals, conference proceedings and papers and Ph.D. dissertations. The studies examined reveal that, in general, practical concerns assume priority over theoretical issues, a substantial proportion of research being conducted on EFL learning and teaching.


Author(s):  
Jelena Filipović ◽  
Ana Kuzmanović Jovanović

In line with the understanding of the role of critical pedagogy in intercultural language education, in this paper we focus on critical discourse and sociolinguistic analysis of contemporary textbooks of Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL). We search for neoliberal gender ideologies in educational discourses targeting international audience of students of SFL. Even though new textbooks are said to promote the “feminization” of educational contexts (Gray 2010), we interpret them as sources of latent hegemonic influences favoring highly regulated and standardized neoliberal capitalist worldviews toward gender. Based on previous research of textbooks of SFL (Bori 2018; Kuzmanović Jovanović 2016), we herein present results of an instrumental qualitative case study (emancipatory focus group research) taking a critical stand toward neoliberal gender ideologies among predominantly female university students of Spanish at the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade who are exposed to the above outlined teaching and learning materials. Our objective is to create a new educational space in our SFL classrooms in which contextualized knowledge construction takes place leading to the maturation of SFL users and teachers, who are “capable of changing their reality in ways related to formal and informal educational settings” (Filipović 2015: 105).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dao Thi Lai

Learning vocabulary is an important element of foreign language learning, since the meaning of new terms is emphasized often in books and classrooms. It is an important part of language learning. It is also essential in language education and for language students. Research recently shows that it is difficult to learn vocabulary. The most popular methods of learning and teaching in language classrooms around the world have been proposed by researchers, in which the use of illustrations is highly appreciated by them. Illustrations play an important role in teaching and learning vocabulary of the language. Images connect students and previous knowledge with a new story, thereby helping them learn new words. A word can be described with an illustration and an illustration can contain many words. The main objective of this study was to study the benefits of using illustrations (pictures) to help non-English majors at HUFI learn English vocabulary. Evaluation and analysis are the most important ways to make research more authentic. The findings show that the usage of illustrations has a lot of benefits to students' vocabulary learning.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Đào Thị Lài

Learning vocabulary is an important element of foreign language learning, since the meaning of new terms is emphasized often in books and classrooms. It is an important part of language learning. It is also essential in language education and for language students. Research recently shows that it is difficult to learn vocabulary. The most popular methods of learning and teaching in language classrooms around the world have been proposed by researchers, in which the use of illustrations is highly appreciated by them. Illustrations play an important role in teaching and learning vocabulary of the language. Images connect students and previous knowledge with a new story, thereby helping them learn new words. A word can be described with an illustration and an illustration can contain many words. The main objective of this study was to study the benefits of using illustrations (pictures) to help non-English majors at HUFI learn English vocabulary. Evaluation and analysis are the most important ways to make research more authentic. The findings show that the usage of illustrations has a lot of benefits to students' vocabulary learning.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Pokrivcakova

Abstract As any other area of human lives, current state of foreign language education has been greatly influenced by the latest developments in the modern information communication technologies. The paper focuses specifically on the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI), which includes a wide range of technologies and methods, such as machine learning, adaptive learning, natural language processing, data mining, crowdsourcing, neural networks or an algorithm, into foreign language learning and teaching. First, the paper is concerned with changes brought to foreign language education specifically through the application of AI-powered tools and discusses ICALL (intelligent computer assisted language learning) as a subset of CALL. Second, it summarizes eight types of AI-powered tools for foreign language education and related results of the existing research, however scarce it is. Third, it discusses the frame for effective preparation of foreign language teachers in order to integrate AI-powered tools into their teaching to make it easier, less time-consuming and more effective. The author argues for reconsideration of the existing frames of requirements for CALL teachers.


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