scholarly journals Elements Hindering Vietnamese Tertiary Students’ Participation in Group Activities: A Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Lien Thi My Tong
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Group Activities ◽  
National University ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Efl Students

Plenty of meticulous research has been conducted to investigate the entire process for implementing group activities in language classrooms. Nevertheless, few detailed empirical investigations have been pursued in the sub-area of what influences the participation of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students in group discussions. Thus, the present study was conducted to examine the elements impacting the group-work participation of first-year EFL students at University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS), Vietnam National University (VNU). Ten EFL freshmen and four teachers of English participated in the study over a four-week period by attending semi-structured interviews. The findings highlighted a variety of elements discouraging the learners’ participation related to themselves, pedagogy, and culture and also revealed internal elements as the most significant.

scholarly journals Supplementing Coursebooks--How, Why, and to What Effect: A Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 207
Author(s):  
John Harper
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Form Part

This article reports on a case study of one instructor’s use of supplementary materials in an English as a Foreign Language course in China. Starting with the notion that no coursebook can be perfect and that supplementary materials therefore should form part of an English course, the study employed qualitative research methods to analyze the types of supplements used, the instructor’s rationale behind his use of the supplements, and the students’ interpretations of the supplements. Class observations, semi-structured interviews with the teacher, and focus-group discussions with students allowed for the triangulation of data. Findings indicated that the instructor provided a variety of types of supplementary materials in order to cater to different learner needs (specifically, affective needs, language-learning needs, course-content needs). While findings also indicated that learners generally appreciated the instructor’s use of supplementary materials, significant mismatches between instructor goals and learner interpretations suggested that the purpose of the supplements was not always clearly defined. The article addresses these mismatches and provides suggestions for their future avoidance.

Investigating preservice classroom teachers’ practices and views about teaching physical education lessons: An exploratory case study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1356336X2110509
Author(s):  
Niki Tsangaridou ◽  
Ermis Kyriakides ◽  
Charalambos Y. Charalambous
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Field Placement ◽  
Exploratory Case Study ◽  
National University ◽  
Student Practice

Focusing on preservice classroom teachers (PCTs) with a physical education (PE) specialization, this exploratory case study aimed at investigating the teaching quality in the lessons offered by these teachers during their field placement, as well as examining their views about teaching PE. Toward this end, seven volunteer female PCTs studying at a national university in Cyprus were recruited; all had attended three PE specialization courses before their field placement. Data were gathered through systematic observations, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS and the qualitative data using case and cross-case analysis. These analyses suggested that the PCTs could effectively employ classroom and time management as well as skill demonstration; they could also provide quality student practice. In contrast, task progression, accountability of student practice, and task explicitness appeared to be more challenging for them to successfully enact. Interestingly, their lesson plans foreshadowed how effectively most of the examined practices would be employed by the PCTs. This study contributes a new understanding of PCTs’ PE teaching during field placement and their views thereof. The implications of the findings for PCTs’ education are discussed.

Correlation between Listening Anxiety and Listening Strategies of Chinese Postgraduate Students of Science and Engineering: A Case Study at SUES

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengli Wang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Listening Anxiety ◽  
Medium Level ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
Listening Proficiency ◽  
Listening Strategies

<p>English listening is one of the five basic skills such as listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation that a Chinese postgraduate should acquire, and it is also the most significant one. In this study, 194 first-year postgraduate students at Shanghai University of Engineering Science were invited to report their strategies use and listening anxiety in the questionnaire with the 5-Likert Indirect Foreign Language Listening Strategies Scale and the 5-Likert Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale. The SPSS13.0 was used to analyze the descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, Chi-square test and One-way ANOVA, which indicated a medium listening anxiety and a medium level of strategies use. Metacognitive strategies were more frequently used than social and affective strategies, the correlation between listening proficiency and listening anxiety was significantly negative, correlation between listening proficiency and indirect listening strategies was significantly positive, and that between indirect listening strategies and listening anxiety was significantly negative. Indirect listening strategies were useful to allay listening anxiety and would be incorporated into our normal classroom teaching.</p>

scholarly journals Implementing English-medium instruction

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-153
Author(s):  
Kari Sahan
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
State University ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Language Preference ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
English Medium Instruction ◽  
University Department

Abstract As part of the trend toward internationalization of higher education, governments and universities have introduced policies to encourage the expansion of English-medium instruction (EMI). However, top-down policies do not necessarily translate to teaching and learning practices. This article provides a case study examining the implementation of undergraduate EMI engineering programs at a state university in Turkey to explore the gaps that exist between national- and institutional-level EMI policies and classroom-level practices. Data were collected through policy documents, classroom observations, semi-structured interviews with teachers, and focus group discussions with students. The findings suggest that the implementation of EMI varies across classrooms, even within the same university department. Despite policies that envision one-language-at-a-time instruction, the EMI lecturers in this study varied in terms of language preference and teaching practice in their EMI lectures. Implications are discussed with respect to policy planning, teacher training, and the expansion of EMI across university contexts.

scholarly journals Reading Accuracy in EFL Students with a Transparent L1 Background – a Case Study from Poland

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-40
Author(s):  
Monika Łodej
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Regular Instruction ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Reading Accuracy ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
L1 And L2

Research indicates that L2 reading competence is influenced by L1 reading ability, L2 proficiency, and L2 decoding competence. The present study investigates the significance of two variables, regularity and frequency, in relation to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading accuracy in students with a transparent L1. Fifteen 6th grade students in their sixth year of regular instruction in English took part in this study. Their mother tongue is Polish whereas English is their foreign language; thus, their language competence in L1 and L2 differs substantially. The research design followed Glusko (1979), Plaut (1996), and Wang and Koda (2007). There are four sets of real words. Two features of real words are manipulated for regularity and frequency. The study reveals that both conditions of script, regularity and transparency, affect reading accuracy in EFL students. However, the dimension of regularity is a stronger predicator of accuracy than the frequency with which the students encounter a word. From the pedagogical perspective, the collected data supports the use of structured reading instructions in the EFL classroom in order to restrain negative transfer of L1 to L2 reading strategies.

scholarly journals IMPROVING TEACHING PRACTICUM: SUGGESTIONS FROM THE ANALYSIS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION CURRICULA

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ha Le Kim Anh
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Real Life ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Teaching Practicum ◽  
Pedagogical Competence ◽  
National University

Teaching practicum is an important component of a foreign language teacher education program, which helps future teachers to learn and develop pedagogical competence in a real-life context. Within the scope of this article, we focus on analyzing the foreign language teacher education curricula of 9 universities in Vietnam, and offer our recommendations for improving foreign language teacher education in general and English teaching practicum in particular at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

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
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Preparatory Year ◽  
Study Participants

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.

scholarly journals Developing intonation skills in English: A systemic functional linguistics perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-20
Author(s):  
Renata Fabiana Cardinali ◽  
Maria Celina Barbeito
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
National University ◽  
Oral Skills

This paper explores whether the teaching of English intonation within the framework of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) contributes to the development of intonation skills of Argentine Spanish speakers to become teachers of English as a Foreign Language. The findings of the study that focused on the oral production of students in the first course of phonetics in the programme offered at the National University of Rio Cuarto are presented. This paper reports the analysis of recordings of first-year students reading an English text aloud and the results obtained in the pre- and post-tests reveal that there was improvement in students’ oral production such as in tone system considering the three systems of intonation in SFL after a series of training sessions. Hence, this approach seems promising for the development of intonation skills and oral skills in foreign language learners. These results favour for teacher trainers as well as for trainers   Keywords: EFL, intonation, systemic functional linguistics, teacher training.

scholarly journals Saudi EFL Students’ Use and Perceptions of Blackboard before and during Online Learning Amid COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zainab Alsuhaibani
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Management Systems ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Institutional Policies ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Three Phases

Online learning becomes the means of education during COVID-19. Blackboard is one of the learning management systems that has been widely used before and during the pandemic. This study focuses on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ use and perceptions of Blackboard. It explores and compares EFL students’ use and perceptions of Blackboard considering three phases: before COVID-19 in 2019, during online learning in 2020, and during online learning in 2021. A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. A total of 381 Saudi EFL students participated in the study. The results show that there are statistically significant differences in EFL students’ use of Blackboard between the three phases. EFL students’ use of Blackboard increased during online learning in 2020 compared to 2019, especially concerning the frequency of visiting Blackboard and the time students spent using it. Further, EFL students’ use of Blackboard increased significantly during online learning in 2021 compared to 2019 with regard to visit frequencies, time spent, and Blackboard tools used. Considering perceptions, the results indicate that there are statistically significant differences in students’ perceptions of Blackboard in terms of easiness and usefulness between the three phases. Interestingly, students had more positive perceptions of Blackboard before COVID-19 in 2019 and during online learning in 2021. The technical problems that students faced while using Blackboard during 2020 might have affected their perceptions. The study results of students’ use and perceptions of Blackboard are discussed in light of institutional policies and support.

scholarly journals Involvement in Extracurricular Activities and Overcoming High Levels of Communication Apprehension among Saudi EFL Majors

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lubna Alnaeem
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Extracurricular Activities ◽  
Communication Apprehension ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Relationship

This study attempted to examine the relationship between participation in extracurricular activities and levels of Communication Apprehension (CA) among English as a foreign language (EFL) students and explore the students’ perspectives of how extracurricular activities affect their communication skills. The study addressed the following two questions: a) what is the relationship between EFL students’ involvement in extracurricular activities and their level of Communication Apprehension?, b) What are the EFL students’ perspectives regarding the effect of extracurricular activities on their communication skills?. The participants were 40 EFL students among 80 who participated in extracurricular activities at the College of Languages and Translation at Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh. The participants were asked to complete a Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) to examine their levels of CA as well as a questionnaire about their attitudes toward extracurricular activities. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 participants to explore their perspectives in depth. The findings showed that most participants had moderate levels of CA and that 100% of the participants agreed that participation in extracurricular activities helped them reduce CA and improve their communication skills. The study also showed that extracurricular activities were more helpful than classroom activities in improving communication skills. This study is significant in that it shed the light on the importance of involvement in extracurricular activities and their role in improving EFL students’ communication skills and lowering CA levels. Thus, it is recommended to encourage EFL students to participate in extracurricular activities and consider including such activities in course requirements and teaching materials.

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