scholarly journals The Acquisition of Parameters for Word Stress Production and Perception among Iraqi EFL Learners: A Pilot Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Zainab A. Ali ◽  
Alias Abd Ghani
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Production Test ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Perception Task ◽  
Word Stress ◽  
Stress Placement

<div><p><em>This study investigates the acquisition of the parameters of word stress production and perception by 10 Iraqi learners of English as a foreign language (EFL)</em><em>. It aims at investigating Iraqi learners’ difficulties in resetting the parameters of word stress production and perception in L2. Two experiments are conducted to test the learners’ production and perception of word stress in isolation and in sentences. The first experiment is the production test and the second one is the perception test. The learners’ responses of word stress in both experimental tasks are elicited manually and analysed according to [7]</em><em> model of metrical parameters</em><em>   which is used </em><em>to investigate</em><em> the acquisition of parameters of word stress production and perception by Iraqi learners</em><em>. The findings</em><em> reveal that </em><em>Iraqi EFL learners are able to reset the parameters of L2 but even though they failed in resetting all the parameters completely. Besides, the learners used more ranking level kinds of the parameters in the perception task than in the production task which may cause Iraqi learners assign wrongly the word stress placement.</em></p></div>

scholarly journals perception of the glottal fricative /h/ in onset position by Brazilian learners of English as a foreign language

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-71
Author(s):  
Karine Pinto Manfé ◽  
Paola Gabriella Biehl ◽  
Sidnei Werner Woelfer ◽  
Rosane Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Perception Task

In this study, we departed from the assumption that Brazilian Portuguese (BP) speakers of English have the tendency to mispronounce the English retroflex /?/ as the glottal fricative /h/. With the use of a Picture Elicitation L1 Production Task, a Background Questionnaire and an L2 Transcription Perception Task, the following was investigated: (1) Participants’ L1 rhotic production variations in onset position, and possible Cross Linguistic Influence of these productions in their perception of the English glottal fricative /h/; and (2) Participants’ experience with the TL and its correlation with their perception of the English glottal fricative /h/. 13 learners participated in the pilot study and 15 in the experiment. All of them were BP learners of English in different learning levels, with ages ranging from 26 to 42 years old. The data obtained revealed that all of them produced L1 rhotics as glottal fricatives, and more than 70% of them transcribed the words beginning with <h> using <r>. Moreover, results showed that there is a positive correlation between experience with the L2 and correct perception of TL glottal fricative as a rhotic in onset position.

Effects of three forms of reading-based output activity on L2 vocabulary learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehsan Rassaei
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Recognition Test ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Production Test ◽  
Narrative Texts ◽  
Significant Development ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Treatment Conditions ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

The current study investigated the effects of three forms of output activity on EFL learners’ recognition and recall of second language (L2) vocabulary. To this end, three groups of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) were instructed to employ the following three output activities after reading two narrative texts: (1) summarizing the texts and incorporating target vocabulary in the summary; (2) generating several general comprehension questions out of reading texts and answering those questions while incorporating target vocabulary; and (3) making predictions about what is to occur in the texts and including target vocabulary in the prediction. The results of a cued response production test and a multiple choice recognition test indicated that the three treatment conditions resulted in significant development of vocabulary knowledge. Moreover, the results revealed that making predictions and questioning/answering were more effective than summarizing for promoting L2 words knowledge.

Under- and Over-Estimation

2011 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginie Crollen ◽  
Julie Castronovo ◽  
Xavier Seron
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Numerical Estimation ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Estimation Task ◽  
Reproduction Task ◽  
Perception Task ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Mapping Hypothesis ◽  
Task Perception

Over the last 30 years, numerical estimation has been largely studied. Recently, Castronovo and Seron (2007) proposed the bi-directional mapping hypothesis in order to account for the finding that dependent on the type of estimation task (perception vs. production of numerosities), reverse patterns of performance are found (i.e., under- and over-estimation, respectively). Here, we further investigated this hypothesis by submitting adult participants to three types of numerical estimation task: (1) a perception task, in which participants had to estimate the numerosity of a non-symbolic collection; (2) a production task, in which participants had to approximately produce the numerosity of a symbolic numerical input; and (3) a reproduction task, in which participants had to reproduce the numerosity of a non-symbolic numerical input. Our results gave further support to the finding that different patterns of performance are found according to the type of estimation task: (1) under-estimation in the perception task; (2) over-estimation in the production task; and (3) accurate estimation in the reproduction task. Moreover, correlation analyses revealed that the more a participant under-estimated in the perception task, the more he/she over-estimated in the production task. We discussed these empirical data by showing how they can be accounted by the bi-directional mapping hypothesis ( Castronovo & Seron, 2007 ).

Study of Consonant Pronunciations Errors Committed by EFL Learners

2019 ◽  
pp. 48-56
Author(s):  
Ali Akbar Khansir ◽  
Afsaneh Salehabadi
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Listening Skill ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Knowledge Of Language

As the topic suggests, the research paper presents Study of Consonant Pronunciations Errors Committed by EFL Learners. Error analysis always tries to resolve language learners’ problems in acquiring second or foreign language setting. Learning to English pronunciation is perhaps as important as learning listening skill, speaking, and spelling. Errors in English pronunciation create several problems for English language learners in their works. In other words, most of the English language errors of pronunciation are due to the lack of knowledge of language learners. However, all the students in our sample are of age group (16-25) at Bushehr language institute and they are all Iranian nationals. In addition, all of them were female learners. An English pronunciation (consonant) test was used to get information about the knowledge of the learners in English pronunciation. Findings of this article indicated that the first and second hypotheses of this article were accepted, but the third hypothesis was rejected. However, the findings of this paper showed that the Iranian EFL students have problem to pronounce English sounds correctly.

INVESTIGATING ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS’ FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPEAKING ANXIETY: A CASE STUDY IN UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA, INDONESIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Dyas Intan Rachmawati ◽  
Jurianto Jurianto
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
English Department ◽  
Common Phenomenon ◽  
Speaking Anxiety ◽  
Pearson Product Moment Correlation ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Achievement Score ◽  
Anxiety Levels

Anxiety during a speaking performance is a common phenomenon experienced by any EFL learners, including students majoring in English. Focusing on the issue, this study investigates the correlation between students’ foreign language speaking anxiety and speaking achievement. Moreover, this study also observes the levels and the sources of the speaking anxiety among the English Department’s fifth-semester students of Universitas Airlangga. This study used the Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Scale (FLSAS) by Öztürk and Gurbuz (2014). The FLSAS questionnaire was distributed to 114 students in order to explore the correlation between speaking anxiety and speaking achievement, the speaking anxiety levels, and the speaking anxiety sources. The data collected through questionnaire were analyzed with SPSS 25.0. Pearson Product Moment Correlation isused to determine the correlation, while descriptive statistic alanalys is isused to investigate the levels and the sources for speaking anxiety. Horwitz, Horwitzand Cope’s(1986) theory and Horwitz and Young (1991) about the source and the levels of foreign language speaking anxiety are also used in this study. This study found that there is a significant negative correlation between speaking anxiety levels and speaking achievement. This means the higher the speaking anxiety they experience, the lower the achievement score they get. Most of the students have moderate levels of speaking anxiety, which is mainly due to the fear of negative evaluation.This study indicates that although the EFL learners are often exposed to English, they still experience speaking anxiety. These findings suggest that the lecturers should be more aware of students’ anxiety and use strategies that might encourage the students to speak more confidently.

An exploration of target L2 morphemes in the oral production of young EFL learners in Croatia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena O'Reilly ◽  
Eva Jakupčević
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Simple Construction ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
The Past ◽  
Base Form ◽  
Production Study ◽  
Efl Students

Although the second language (L2) acquisition of morphology by late L2 learners has been a popular research area over the past decades, comparatively little is known about the acquisition and development of morphology in children who learn English as a foreign language (EFL). Therefore, the current study presents the findings from a longitudinal oral production study with 9/10-year-old L1 Croatian EFL students who were followed up at the age of 11/12. Our results are largely in line with the limited research so far in this area: young EFL learners have few issues using the be copula and, eventually, the irregular past simple forms, but had considerable problems with accurately supplying the 3rd person singular -s at both data collection points. We also observed a be + base form structure, especially at the earlier stage, which appears to be an emergent past simple construction.

Machine Translation for EFL

Relay Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 228-235
Author(s):  
Paul J. Moore ◽  
Phil Murphy ◽  
Luann Pascucci ◽  
Scott Sustenance
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Machine Translation ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Technical Developments ◽  
English Language Institute ◽  
Changing Role

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.

scholarly journals Metacognitive Instruction for Sustainable Learning: Learners’ Perceptions of Task Difficulty and Use of Metacognitive Strategies in Completing Integrated Speaking Tasks

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6275
Author(s):  
Weiwei Zhang ◽  
Donglan Zhang ◽  
Lawrence Jun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Metacognitive Strategies ◽  
Production Model ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Metacognitive Instruction

This mixed-methods study investigated English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners’ perceptions of task difficulty and their use of metacognitive strategies in completing integrated speaking tasks as empirical evidence for the effects of metacognitive instruction. A total of 130 university students were invited to complete four integrated speaking tasks and answer a metacognitive strategy inventory and a self-rating scale. A sub-sample of eight students participated in the subsequent interviews. One-way repeated measures MANOVA and structure coding with content analysis led to two main findings: (a) EFL learners’ use of metacognitive strategies, in particular, problem-solving, was considerably affected by their perceptions of task difficulty in completing the integrated speaking tasks; (b) EFL learners were not active users of metacognitive strategies in performing these tasks. These findings not only support the necessity of taking into account learners’ perceptions of task difficulty in designing lesson plans for metacognitive instruction, but also support a metacognitive instruction model. In addition, the findings provide empirical support for the utility of Kormos’ Bilingual Speech Production Model. As the integrated speaking tasks came from a high-stakes test, these findings also offer validity evidence for test development in language assessment to ascertain sustainable EFL learning for nurturing learner autonomy as an ultimate goal.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document