Alternative Techniques for Teaching Writing

Writing as one of language skill is often considered very difficult. It is due to the fact that writing needs to produce and organize ideas using appropriate vocabulary, language use, paragraph organization, and mechanism. It also needs to turn the ideas into a readable text and for foreign language learners, they should also transfer ideas from their native language into target language (foreign language). It raises any problems for them to create a good text. Moreover, the situation in the class does not always supportthem in which the techniques of the teacher in teaching writing is boring and monotonous, do not give enough attention to help students explore their writing skills. So that they attend the writing class only for procedural formality.Thus, it is considered important to elaborate various techniques to build nice classroom atmosphere as well as to improve students’ writing skills.

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The development of a CEFR-based scale for assessing young foreign language learners’ writing skills

Linguistica ◽

10.4312/linguistica.54.1.241-259 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 54 (1) ◽

pp. 241-259

Author(s):

Karmen Pižorn

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Classroom Assessment ◽

Writing Skills ◽

Age Group ◽

Young Learners ◽

Foreign Language Learners ◽

The Common ◽

Literacy Research ◽

Insight Into

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) was designed with adults in mind, which is clearly reflected in the six levels encompassing a range of proficiency that represents lifelong learning. Therefore, any use of the CEFR levels as a basis for describing the ability of young learners requires adapting the content of each level, as well as identifying which levels on the scale are appropriate for children.The present article examines the contribution that feedback, in the form of an assessment scale, can make to valid classroom assessment of the writing of young learners, in the age group of 9–13 years. It shows that a scale of descriptors adapted from the CEFR can play a central role in this assessment. The article presents the AYLLIT (Assessment of Young Learner Literacy) research project, which developed a CEFR-based writing scale and guidelines for teachers, enabling them to provide their students with feedback, and to gain a clearer insight into their students’ progress. After describing the procedures followed in the project, the article examines the extent to which its outcomes may enable teachers to give feedback that could contribute to valid classroom assessment.

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Teaching Sociolinguistics: A Medium for Cultural Awareness of Indonesian University Foreign Language Learners

Humaniora ◽

10.21512/humaniora.v5i1.3008 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 192

Author(s):

Agnes Herawati

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Cultural Awareness ◽

Target Language ◽

Language Usage ◽

Research Results ◽

Foreign Language Learners ◽

Language Classrooms

This paper tries to show the evidences that indicate how teaching Sociolinguistics can result in a number of valuable outcomes, including helping students understand and appreciate other cultures different from theirs. Sociolinguistics provides useful examples of language usage in different genres, including how culture influences people in using a language. The opportunities of learning other cultures through language will take the students to the higher level of appreciation of the culture of the target language. To determine how this outcome can be achieved in the language classrooms, this paper provides a review of closely connected literature about how to bridge the gap between cultures in particular. However, to increase its completeness and relevance, this paper also provides some research results that reveal how teaching Sociolinguistics has taken its new applicability and importance, and furthermore adds the effects on how students become more proficient and enthusiastic about their learning.

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Do not give up! The importance of mistakes in the process of teaching and learning foreign languages

BELT – Brazilian English Language Teaching Journal ◽

10.15448/2178-3640.2018.1.31053 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 244

Author(s):

Eduardo Dias da Silva ◽

Romar Souza-Dias ◽

Juscelino Francisco do Nascimento

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Communicative Competence ◽

Point Of View ◽

Target Language ◽

Foreign Languages ◽

Learning Needs ◽

Foreign Language Learners ◽

Learning Programs

This paper aims to highlight the importance of errors and mistakes as an essential part in the process of teaching and learning foreign languages (FL). We understand that, while trying to produce meanings in the foreign language, learners, through some errors and mistakes, can develop the mental structures necessary for the consolidation of the target language. In this way, mistakes can e a strong tool indicator for teachers to assess and also to understand how far learners are in relation to the intended knowledge, according to objectives outlined in learning programs. The theoretical approach that orients our way of thinking is based on the point of view of some theorists, such as: Brito (2014); Corder (1967; 1985), Cavalari (2008); Richards and Rodgers (2004); Silva (2014); Simões (2007), among others. The results have demonstrated that the teacher, as a mediator of knowledge, must have a balanced attitude towards the students’ learning needs in order to help the learners to reach their best in the learning process. So, with this study, we expect that, in Teacher Education, mistakes could not be seen as something negative, but positive and necessary for the development of the student’s communicative competence.

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A contextualised examination of target language use in the primary school foreign language classroom

Australian Review of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1075/aral.27.1.08car ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 104-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

David R. Carless

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Primary School ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Language Use ◽

Study Data ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Target Language ◽

Foreign Language Learners ◽

Language Classroom ◽

Classroom Language

Abstract This article discusses an issue which is of longstanding and central importance to foreign language teachers in a variety of contexts, namely teacher use of classroom language. It uses detailed qualitative case study data to explore how and why an expert practitioner uses English in her Hong Kong Primary school language classroom. Through the interplay between teacher beliefs, experiences and classroom transcript data, the paper develops a contextualised picture of classroom language use with young foreign language learners. The paper suggests that it is not necessarily the language proficiency of the learners which plays a major role in the quantity of target language use, but the teachers’ own proficiency, experience and beliefs.

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An Error Analysis of Writing Skills Among English Foreign Language Learners at University Utara Malaysia

English Language Teaching Research in the Middle East and North Africa ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-98533-6_23 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 507-527

Author(s):

Ahmed Basher ◽

Fadil Elmenfi ◽

Ahmed Gaibani

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Error Analysis ◽

Language Learners ◽

Writing Skills ◽

Foreign Language Learners

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Variable future-time reference in French: A comparison of learners in a study-abroad and a foreign-language context

The Canadian Journal of Linguistics / La revue canadienne de linguistique ◽

10.1017/cnj.2016.27 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 61 (3) ◽

pp. 259-285 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Aarnes Gudmestad ◽

Amanda Edmonds

Keyword(s):

Study Abroad ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Developmental Trajectories ◽

Target Language ◽

Learning Context ◽

Future Time ◽

Foreign Language Learners ◽

Language Proficiency Test

AbstractThis study seeks to advance understanding of second-language (L2) acquisition of future-time reference in French, by comparing the developmental trajectories of learners living in and away from the target-language setting. Study-abroad learners in France (n= 45), foreign-language learners living in the US (n= 37), and native speakers of Hexagonal French (n= 30) participated in this study. They completed a written-contextualized task, a language-proficiency test and a background questionnaire. For each written-contextualized-task item, participants selected from among three responses that differed with respect to the form (inflectional future, periphrastic future, present). Items were designed to test for the influence of three factors on the form selected: presence/absence of a lexical temporal indicator, temporal distance, and (un)certainty. Additionally, two extra-linguistic factors were examined: learning context and proficiency level. The analyses of frequency and the multinomial logistic regressions suggest that, despite developmental similarities between learning contexts, acquisitional paths of study-abroad and foreign-language learners were not identical.

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Are foreign language learners’ enjoyment and anxiety specific to the teacher? An investigation into the dynamics of learners’ classroom emotions

Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching ◽

10.14746/ssllt.2020.10.1.3 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 45-65 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jean-Marc Dewaele ◽

Livia Dewaele

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Single Point ◽

Target Language ◽

School Students ◽

Foreign Language Learners ◽

Frequency Of Use ◽

Language Classroom ◽

Item Level ◽

Group Characteristics

Previous research has considered fluctuations in students’ foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) over months or years (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014, 2016). However, there has been no investigation of the effect of the teacher on these emotions at a single point in time. In this study, we investigate the question whether FL learners experience similar levels of FLE and FLCA in the same language if they have two different teachers. Participants were 40 London-based secondary school students studying modern languages with one Main Teacher and one Second Teacher. Statistical analysis revealed that while FLCA was constant with both teachers, FLE was significantly higher with the Main Teacher. Predictors of FLE such as attitudes towards the teacher, the teacher’s frequency of use of the target language in class and unpredictability were also significantly more positive for the Main Teacher. Item-level analysis revealed that the teacher creating a positive emotional atmosphere in class contributed to the higher FLE score. Items that reflected more stable personal and group characteristics varied less between the two teachers. The findings suggest that FLE is more teacher-dependent than FLCA, which is more stable across teachers.

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IMPROVING WRITING SKILLS WITH GENRE-BASED INSTRUCTION FOR TURKISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNERS

International Journal of Languages Education ◽

10.18298/ijlet.475 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 1 (UDES 2015) ◽

Author(s):

Banu Griffin

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Writing Skills ◽

Foreign Language Learners ◽

Improving Writing ◽

Based Instruction

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Dunkin’ the Donut: A Study on Students’ Patterns of Language Use through Technology Applications in Independent Language Learning

Jurnal Intelek ◽

10.24191/ji.v15i1.275 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 125-132

Author(s):

Norizul Azida Darus ◽

Norhajawati Abdul Halim

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Language Learners ◽

Language Teachers ◽

The Other ◽

Target Language ◽

Foreign Language Teachers ◽

Foreign Language Learners ◽

Language Classroom ◽

Technology Applications

Any language can be acquired at any time, but to acquire the language, one needs to learn the language. Learning a second or foreign language is not a favourite among second or foreign language learners. This is because learning a language is a very intense time-consuming activity. Learning is often unsuccessful because learners receive impoverished or insufficient input and lack of motivation. To this, second language or foreign language teachers play the most significant role to help and motivate the students to acquire the said language. The preferred method is to be immersed into the actual ecosystem of the target language and become part of the language ecosystem. The other way is to dunk the learners into the artificial ecosystem of the language classroom. In dunking, the learners are immersed temporarily and repeatedly into the simulated ecosystem language. As can be seen now, technology remains the only viable option to get enough interactive contact with the target language. Using interesting software is one of the methods in making learning more interesting. Furthermore, the students are able to practice the language not only during class time, but on their own free time outside of class hours, that is during students’ independent time of learning. The findings revealed that most students found using the applications has improved their language learning. The role of teachers on the other hand is to provide instructions and assist whenever necessary and needed by the students.

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