scholarly journals Morphological Make-up as the Predictor of English Word Accent

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Mohammad Ali Salmani-Nodoushan
Keyword(s):  
English Word ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Stress Levels ◽  
English Spelling ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Stress Placement

For years, phoneticians have tried to simplify pronunciation for EFL/ESL learners. Some have identified four degrees of primary, secondary, tertiary, and weak stress, and others only three degrees: primary, secondary, and weak. Still others have concentrated on two stress levels: accented versus unaccented, or stressed versus unstressed (Bowen, 1975; Stageberg, 1964; Chomsky & Halle, 1968). None, however, has followed an orthography-based approach to English accent. Because orthography is the most static way of representing words in English, spelling- or orthography-based rules of accent/stress placement may come as a relief to ESL/EFL learners. In this article I present four spelling-based rules for stress placement to help EFL/ESL learners master pronunciation.

scholarly journals The Effect of Teaching English through Literature on Creative Writing at HSSC Level in Pakistan

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 142
Author(s):  
Mamuna Ghani ◽  
Muhammad Din
Keyword(s):  
Creative Writing ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Achievement Test ◽  
Teaching Tool ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Language Areas ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
And Task

Creative writing means the ESL/EFL learners’ capacity to respond vividly and spontaneously, and to convey responses freely in their writing. This study brings to light the fact that teaching English through literature does not render any positive pay off in developing and honing the EFL/ESL learners’ creative writing. In the Pakistani context, literature seems to be inadequate and improper language teaching tool at HSSC level. To achieve the set objectives of this study, the researcher went for the quantitative research methodology. So, a questionnaire comprising of 15 items encompassing the different aspects of creative writing was designed to collect data from 600 subjects (male/female) of intermediate level. The researcher also conducted an achievement test so that a correlation might be drawn between their attitude towards “developing creative writing through literature” and the score of their achievement test. The collected data were analyzed through software package (SPSS XX). The findings of this study explicitly reveal that the EFL learners remain unable to develop both the language skills (particularly writing skill) and language areas when they are taught English through literature. This study recommends that the teaching of English should be application oriented and task-based strategies and activities should be resorted to by the EL educators.

scholarly journals Accounting for L2 learners’ errors in word stress placement

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Clara Herlina Karjo
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
English Word ◽  
Stress System ◽  
Word Stress ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Repetition Task ◽  
Stress Placement ◽  
Vowel Height

Stress placement in English words is governed by highly complicated rules. Thus, assigning stress correctly in English words has been a challenging task for L2 learners, especially Indonesian learners since their L1 does not recognize such stress system. This study explores the production of English word stress by 30 university students. The method used for this study is immediate repetition task. Participants are instructed to identify the stress placement of 80 English words which are auditorily presented as stimuli and immediately repeat the words with correct stress placement. The objectives of this study are to find out whether English word stress placement is problematic for L2 learners and to investigate the phonological factors which account for these problems. Research reveals that L2 learners have different ability in producing the stress, but three-syllable words are more problematic than two-syllable words. Moreover, misplacement of stress is caused by, among others, the influence of vowel lenght and vowel height.

scholarly journals Native Language Interference in English L2 Word Recognition and Word Integration Skills

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Nazanin Biglari ◽  
Esli Struys
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Native Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Word ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Positive Aspect ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
French Speaking

The current study was planned to investigate the interference of the native language in English word recognition and word integration skills in L1 speakers of French and Persian. The participants of the study were 48 intermediate and upper intermediate native Persian and French-speaking EFL learners studying in VUB and ULB universities in Brussels, Belgium. All in all, based on the results of ANCOVA, there was a strong and positive relationship between EFL learners' word recognition and word integration skills and their L1(first language). The RT (reaction time) resulting from the LDT (lexical decision task) showed that the Persian EFL participants were able to outperform French EFL participants, though Persian and English are orthographically and typologically distant languages. On the other hand, in a word integration task, French participants showed superiority over Persian participants in the direct object reading time that emphasized the positive aspect of L1 interference as facilitation.

scholarly journals An Overview of the Persian EFL learners’ Spelling Difficulties

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Maryam Alipour ◽  
Khazriyati Salehuddin ◽  
Siti Hamin Stapa
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Comprehensive Literature Review ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
English Spelling

Spelling is considered a difficult skill for foreign and second language learners of English as the ability to spell in English language comes with a lot of effort, particularly when the English spelling system is known to be a complex system, even among native speakers. The difficulties could be linguistic and extra-linguistic. This conceptual paper reviews the differences and similarities between English and Persian spelling system, the sages of spelling difficulties among children, particularly the approach suggested by Tabrizi, Tabrizi, and Tabrizi (2013)in which the stages of learning spelling among Iranian learners are analyzed. The types of morphological, phonological, and orthographical spelling difficulties, factors contributing to the spelling difficulty, as well as a comprehensive literature review of EFL studies conducted on English spelling are provided in this paper. Finally, the mental processing and the role of memory are discussed briefly. It was concluded that examining the differences between the learners’ first language and English language may provide useful insights into the English spelling problems faced by EFL learners.

scholarly journals Speech Acts across Cultures: A Comparative Study of Chinese and Pakistani Students’ Request and Politeness Strategies

sjesr ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Amina Shahzadi ◽  
Abdul Ghaffar Bhatti ◽  
Munir Khan
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Politeness Strategies ◽  
Request Strategies ◽  
Esl Learners

The examines are the different request strategies in English used by Pakistani and Chinese students according to social distance and power of interlocutors. Data comprises students from Pakistan and China enrolled in an undergraduate program at International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan. Blum-Kulka, House, and Kasper's (1989) taxonomy of request strategies is taken as a theoretical framework to compare the request speech act patterns of Pakistani and Chinese students. This study analyzed the request speech act in terms of head act strategies used by participants. Blum-Kulka et al. (1989) categorized the request speech act into three request strategies i.e. direct, conventionally indirect, and non-conventional indirect strategies. The study identifies similarities between Pakistani ESL learners and Chinese EFL learners in making use of mood derivable as the preferred strategies for making requests in situations of different social distance, power, and familiarity between the interlocutors.

The Acquisition of English Word-Final Consonants by Cantonese ESL Learners in Hong Kong

2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Y.W. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word List ◽  
English Word ◽  
Relative Difficulty ◽  
Second Language Phonology ◽  
Hong Kong Cantonese ◽  
Esl Learners

AbstractThis study investigates the acquisition of English word-final consonants by Hong Kong Cantonese learners of English as a second language and assesses the validity of the Markedness Differential Hypothesis for second language phonology acquisition by these learners. Twelve participants and three native speakers performed four speech tasks: reading a word list, reading three passages, describing pictures, and participating in a conversational interview. The results show that: (i) word-finally, more non-target laterals were produced than voiceless obstruents; and (ii) non-target productions of voiced obstruents were the highest. We argue that the Markedness Differential Hypothesis does not explain the acquisition of English word-final singleton consonants by Cantonese ESL learners in Hong Kong. We conclude that markedness alone cannot be used as a predictor for the relative difficulty of acquiring the target segments of a second language.

scholarly journals Developing Lexical Competence Through Literature: A Study of Intermediate Students of Pakistan

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 164
Author(s):  
Muhammad Din ◽  
Mamuna Ghani
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Intermediate Students ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Lexical Competence ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
And Task

This study brings to light the fact how much teaching English through literature renders any pay off in developing and honing the EFL/ESL learners’ lexical competence. This study strives to investigate the role of literature in developing the ESL/EFL learners’ lexical competence, find out the ESL/EFL learners’ attitude towards teaching lexical competence through literature, know the lexical competence level of the ESL learners, examine ESL/EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge and get insight into the difference between the ESL/EFL learners’ receptive and productive knowledge of vocabulary. In the Pakistani context, literature seems to be inadequate language teaching tool at HSSC level. To achieve the set objectives, the researcher went for the quantitative research methodology. So, a questionnaire comprising of 15 items encompassing the different aspects of vocabulary was designed to collect data from 600 subjects (male/female) of intermediate level. The researcher has also conducted “Vocabulary Level Test” and “Word Associate Test” as achievement tests. The collected data were analyzed through software package (SPSS XX). The findings of this study explicitly reveal that the EFL learners remain unable to develop lexical competence when they are taught English through literature. This study recommends that the teaching of English should be application oriented and task-based strategies and activities should be resorted to by the EL educators.

scholarly journals Arab ESL Secondary School Students’ Spelling Errors

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bandar Mohammad Saeed Al-Sobhi ◽  
Sabariah Md Rashid ◽  
Ain Nadzimah Abdullah ◽  
Ramiza Darmi
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
School Students ◽  
Spelling Errors ◽  
Spelling Test ◽  
Spelling Instruction ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
English Spelling ◽  
Esl Learners

English spelling has always been described by many language researchers and teachers as a daunting task especially for learners whose first language is not English. Accordingly, Arab ESL learners commit serious errors when they spell out English words. The primary objective of this paper is to determine the types as well as the causes of spelling errors made by Arab ESL secondary school students. In order to collect the data, a fifty-word standardised spelling test was administered to seventy Arab student participants. The students’ types of spelling errors were detected, analysed and then categorised according to Cook’s (1999) classification of errors namely substitution, omission, insertion and transposition. In total, 2,873 spelling errors of various categories were identified. The study findings revealed that errors of substitution constituted the highest percentage of the students’ type of errors. In addition, the study indicated that the main causes of the students’ spelling errors were possibly attributed to the anomalous nature of the English spelling system, the Arab students’ lack of awareness of English spelling rules as well as L1 interference. Despite being conducted in an ESL context, the study was almost consistent with the findings indicated by other studies which were carried out in many Arabic EFL context. The findings suggest that spelling instruction should be emphasised while teaching English and should also be integrated with the skills and subskills of reading, writing, pronunciation and vocabulary in order to develop the students’ spelling accuracy.

scholarly journals The Metaphorical Use of Collocations: A Corpus-Based Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Yanqin Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Physical World ◽  
English Word ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Bodily Experience ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
The World ◽  
British National Corpus ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
National Corpus

The meanings of collocations, which have been accepted as an abstraction at the syntagmatic level, may have been defined by the way human beings conceptualize the world. The patterns in the use of the English word “contain” are summarized using the British National Corpus and an attempt is made to use conceptual metaphors to interpret how these patterns came into being and how they could have derived from human beings’ earliest bodily experience in the physical world. Such insight into English collocations may help improve the teaching of collocations to EFL learners.

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