scholarly journals The Impact of Translation Equivalence on Tunisian EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Knowledge and Word-Learnability

Author(s):  
Kamel Boustani

One of the most pivotal challenges that learners may face, during foreign language learning, is building a reliable lexicon. Insufficient vocabulary knowledge may put serious obstacles in the foreign language learning process. Thus, students need to equip themselves with different strategies to cope with these difficulties. Translation equivalence (TE) is one of these strategies. Since the success or failure of any vocabulary learning strategy depends on two main factors: developing the learners’ vocabulary knowledge and the extent of difficulty or ease with which the learner acquires new words, this research aims at investigating the impact of this strategy on EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge and word learnability. 258 Tunisian 9th graders participated in this project. Two vocabulary recognition tests, one using translation equivalence and the other using only-English strategies, were used to test the hypotheses. Different statistical tests and techniques were employed to analyze data. Findings showed that TE has a positive impact on learners’ vocabulary knowledge and revealed that students, at this level of proficiency, learn vocabulary through translation better than any other strategy using only English.

Author(s):  
Kamel Boustani

One of the most pivotal challenges that learners may face, during foreign language learning, is building a reliable lexicon. Insufficient vocabulary knowledge may put serious obstacles in the foreign language learning process. Thus, students need to equip themselves with different strategies to cope with these difficulties. Translation equivalence (TE) is one of these strategies. Since the success or failure of any vocabulary learning strategy depends on two main factors: developing the learners’ vocabulary knowledge and the extent of difficulty or ease with which the learner acquires new words, this research aims at investigating the impact of this strategy on EFL learners’ vocabulary knowledge and word learnability. 258 Tunisian 9th graders participated in this project. Two vocabulary recognition tests, one using translation equivalence and the other using only-English strategies, were used to test the hypotheses. Different statistical tests and techniques were employed to analyze data. Findings showed that TE has a positive impact on learners’ vocabulary knowledge and revealed that students, at this level of proficiency, learn vocabulary through translation better than any other strategy using only English.


Author(s):  
Firooz Sadighi ◽  
Mehdi Dastpak

Foreign language learning anxiety is one of the affective factors which influence language learning negatively. It has several sources and different types. The present study aimed at investigating the sources of foreign language speaking anxiety of Iranian EFL learners. To do so, 154 EFL learners participated in the study. They were required to fill out a foreign language anxiety questionnaire which was developed based on the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986). The results of the study indicated that “fear of making mistakes”, “fear of negative evaluation”, and “lack of vocabulary knowledge” were the main factors which caused anxiety among students. Some strategies are recommended for the students to use in order to cope with the anxiety-provoking factors. 


2021 ◽  
pp. 002205742110319
Author(s):  
Ehsan Namaziandost ◽  
Mohammad Hasan Razmi ◽  
Anastasia Atabekova ◽  
Tatyana Shoustikova ◽  
Bibigul H. Kussanova

There has been an ongoing debate on the effectiveness of spaced and massed distribution instruction in second/foreign language learning. A number of studies in the literature have investigated the impacts of spacing effect on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ vocabulary acquisition. This study aims to expand the body of existing research by exploring the impact of spaced versus massed distribution instruction on EFL learners’ vocabulary recall and retention. To this end, the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) was administered to 120 Iranian EFL students to determine their level of English proficiency. Accordingly, 75 intermediate students were selected and randomly assigned to three equivalent groups: two experimental groups, namely spaced instruction ( n = 25) and massed instruction ( n = 25), and one control group ( n = 25). After administering a pretest, the participants in both experimental groups received two different modes of instruction. The massed instruction group attended one intensive session to learn each set of target vocabularies; the spaced instruction group, on the contrary, had three sessions at irregular time intervals to learn the same vocabularies. The control group studied the same vocabularies but received no vocabulary-focused instructions. Overall, 180 vocabularies were taught to the students during a 12-week period (15 vocabularies per week). The instructions in each group took 60 min each week. Using a pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest design, the students first took a receptive vocabulary pretest before the treatment. One week after the treatment, a receptive vocabulary posttest was administered. Finally, after a 4-week interval, the students took the delayed posttest. The results revealed that the spaced instruction group significantly outperformed the massed instruction group on both immediate and delayed posttests. The findings lend support to the modulation of spaced instruction into the curricula in instructional settings as a valuable vocabulary instruction technique to promote vocabulary learning in real classroom environments.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao Yu ◽  
Hongliang Wang ◽  
Guoping Xia

Due to the arrival of positive psychology (PP) in the development of teaching, the construct of engagement has been thrived and got a notable function in the educational arena. Alternatively, numerous individual differences, containing ambiguity of tolerance, have been taken into consideration as a result of the key role they can play in the process of learning, and thus, on different facets of the learners’ engagement. Furthermore, resilience is recommended to be an alternate and effective way of engaging English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Also, it is a significant feature of the human adaptation system in which students can efficaciously manage and tackle stressful involvements despite their troubles and disasters. Given the eminence of both ambiguity tolerance and resilience in educational settings and the fact that little attention has been given to these constructs in foreign language learning, the present review makes an effort to scrutinize the impact of ambiguity of tolerance and resilience on EFL learners’ engagement. Succinctly, the fundamental roles of ambiguity tolerance and resilience in learners’ engagement were confirmed, and consistent with the conclusions drawn from the present review, some suggestions are set forth concerning the implications of this paper.


Relay Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 228-235
Author(s):  
Paul J. Moore ◽  
Phil Murphy ◽  
Luann Pascucci ◽  
Scott Sustenance

This paper reports on an ongoing study into the affordances of free online machine translation for students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) at the tertiary level in Japan. The researchers are currently collecting data from a questionnaire, task performance, and interviews with 10-15 EFL learners in an English Language Institute in a university in Japan. The paper provides some background on the changing role of translation in language learning theory and pedagogy, before focusing literature related to technical developments in machine translation technology, and its application to foreign language learning. An overview of the research methodology is provided, along with some insights into potential findings. Findings will be presented in subsequent publications.


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.


2014 ◽  
Vol 971-973 ◽  
pp. 2677-2680
Author(s):  
Di Jiao

Factors affecting students’ English learning performances are always debated among language researchers. This research is carried out in art colleges to figure out the students’ preferences in learning styles and learning strategies as well as the relationship between them. Questionnaires have been applied and data have been dealt with by SPSS. This research has shown that students in the art college tend to be visual and individual learners, and thus they prefer to adopt metacognitive, memory and affective strategies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Made Frida Yulia

Due to the minimum language exposure that EFL learners have, one recommended way to promote interest in foreign language reading is through Extensive Reading. This kind of reading has gained popularity over the years, ever since it was introduced to the realm of foreign language learning. Extensive Reading has been shown to bring a lot of benefits for L2 learners in many respects, and, consequently, it has been implemented in a variety of contexts. This paper aims at revisiting Extensive Reading along with its pertaining principles. In addition, it attempts to scrutinize a number of recent studies conducted in the area of Extensive Reading to discover current trends and possible areas which are open for further exploration. 


Author(s):  
Barbara Schmenk

Book reviews reflect the views and opinions of the respective reviewers and do not necessarily represent the position of SCENARIO. Helga Tschurtschenthaler’s study is one of the most important scholarly contributions in recent years to the field of drama-based foreign language teaching. She conducted her research in an EFL class in an upper secondary school in multilingual South Tyrol and presents a plethora of data that demonstrates the impact of drama in foreign language education on students’ sense of self as emerging multilingual subjects (Kramsch 2009). What stands out about this study, besides its detailed presentation and analysis of student data, is the fact that Tschurtschenthaler succeeds in connecting recent theoretical contributions to the fields of language education and identity to more practical considerations. Overcoming the gap between theory and practice in this domain is one of her signal achievements. “You are not you when you speak Italian. It’s as if you become someone else when you change into Italian. You don’t only sound different, but you even behave differently. Then, you’re not the person I know.” (11) These are the opening lines of the book, leading the reader directly to its main subject. Tschurtschenthaler explains that it was a ...


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Hui-Hua Chiang

Researchers have long supported the use of dictation as a test for language learners (Fountain & Nation, 2000), and dictation has been used as a test for learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). With the advantages of productive learning and reinforcing short-term memory, dictation is a commonly used technique to develop language skills, and it can be considered to be an assessment of foreign language learning (Kazazoğlu, 2013). However, the previous research has not fully explored how technology, such as text-to-speech (TTS), can be used in EFL classrooms. To address this issue, the researcher explored the use of traditional teacher-led dictation (TLD) and TTS dictation to compare the vocabulary performance of EFL learners. Forty-two college students participated in the study. The results indicated a significant difference between TTS and TLD on the participants’ vocabulary performance. Additionally, there was a correlation between the scores with TTS and TLD: the students who performed better with TLD also obtained higher grades with TTS. Based on the results, future studies and pedagogical suggestions are presented.


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