scholarly journals The Cultural Dimension of SLA Attitudes of Philological and Non-Philological Learners to English Language Speakers

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 1207-1227
Author(s):  
Jelena V. Grubor
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
English Language ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cultural Dimension ◽  
Indirect Contact ◽  
Main Research

Attitudes towards target language (TL) speakers present an aspect pertaining to the cultural dimension of learning a foreign language. Consequently, the main goals of the study were to determine the participants’ attitudes towards the British and Americans, and the degree of social distance the participants felt towards these groups by comparing evaluations of their willingness to identify with TL and L1 speakers. The participants included in the study (N=239) represented two age groups (secondary and tertiary students), and two educational profiles: philological (Phil) and non-philological (Non-Phil) groups. The main research instruments were an adapted Bogardus Social Distance Scale, which showed good internal consistency on all the subscales, and an English language contact scale, whose aim was to test the participants’ actual interaction with the target language speakers (the length of stay in a TL community, potential mobility via school/university exchange programmes). The main finding suggests that Phil groups, being more familiar with the TL culture, evaluated its speakers much more positively and were generally more willing to identify with TL members, even at the most intimate level (spouse). Accordingly, the practical implications would be to encourage foreign language teachers to keep acquainting learners with different cultural elements and work towards fostering positive attitudes to the TL and its culture. What our study has failed to determine, though, is whether the actual contact with real, flesh-and-blood people in contrast to indirect contact with ‘imaginary TL speakers’ that are the product of one’s perception makes a difference in attitudes.

Impact of Language-Oriented Extracurricular Activities on Academic Achievement in Language Preparation Schools

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunus YILDIZ
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Extracurricular Activities ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Preparatory Schools ◽  
Special Approach

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) requires learners’ exposure to what educators call the language skills: reading, speaking, writing and listening. Language teachers’ aim is to make students acquire language skills to ensure achievement both in oral and written communication.  Language teachers at Preparatory Schools try to do their best to teach those students who did not reach the level of target language skills that would enable them to study in that language. According to observations, the researcher came to conclusion that those students have difficulty reaching the proficiency level needed for study in the language at their departments for the following year need a special approach, additional to their curriculum studies. The idea was instead of giving abundant homework to students to be completed, it is better to draw their attention to English language-oriented extracurricular activities (ECAs). Via these activities students will use the language beyond the classroom, have sufficient real-life-like practice, but, on the other hand, be devoid of the stress typical for both classroom and first contacts with people not speaking one’s native language. This, hopefully, will also let students increase students’ level of language skills. The experimental research, in which 34 students of Ishik University (Iraq, Erbil) were involved, the idea was confirmed.

scholarly journals Implications of Selected Use of Learner’s First Language in English Language Teaching

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Kang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
Limited Effect ◽  
Negative Impacts

This academic essay is an assessed coursework in Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching for taught postgraduate in School of Languages, Linguistics, Queen Mary University of London. This essay seeks to identify the necessity of inclusion of First Language  in foreign language teaching and its following positive and negative impacts. Involving Target Language in language lessons is a bright idea due to its cognitive, communicative and social functions, though it might cause a few problems, such as the limited effect on elite students, the inefficient and time- consuming learning process, student’s over-reliance of L1. In the end, the essay provides a few teaching suggestions for language teachers.

On professional identity of English language teachers

10.12737/3591 ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-108
Author(s):  
Галина Чудайкина ◽  
Galina Chudaykina
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Professional Background ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
English Speaking

A vast majority of English language teachers in Russia are not native speakers with no or inadequately little personal experience of living in an English-speaking country. What are the specifics of teaching in view of such an authenticity-lacking professional background, and how does the personality of a teacher reveal itself and is transformed in the course of teaching? How does language teaching affect self-identification? What should a teacher focus on attaining or, by contrast, avoiding in view of the above-raised issues? A significant number of foreign language teachers who are not native speakers demonstrate a clear non-target-language-specific accent, thus, either inadvertently or purposefully, revealing and asserting their national identity. The author of the article aims at identifying the problems that the teacher’s explicit target-language-alien accent may cause to both learners and teachers, and the root causes of the accent resilience.

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES OF VERBS IN ENGLISH AND ALBANIAN

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 2245-2249
Author(s):  
Suzana Ejupi ◽  
Lindita Skenderi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Part Of Speech ◽  
Grammatical Categories ◽  
Learning English

Working with English learners for many years, gives you the opportunity to encounter linguistic obstacles that they face while learning English language as a foreign language. Additionally, teaching for 13 years and observing the learning process, it enables you to recognize the students’ needs and at the same time, detect linguistic mistakes that they make, while practicing the target language. During my experience as a teacher, in terms of teaching and learning verbs in general and its grammatical categories in specific, it is noticed that Albanian learners find it relatively difficult the correct use of verbs in context and even more confusing the equivalent use of verbs in Albanian. Since verbs present an important part of speech, this study aims to investigate several differences and similarities between grammatical categories of verbs in English and Albanian. As a result, the Albanian learners of English language will be able to identify some of the major differences and similarities between the grammatical categories of verbs in English and Albanian; overcome the usual mistakes; gain the necessary knowledge regarding verbs and use them properly in English and Albanian.

scholarly journals Measuring Digital Competence and ICT Literacy: An Exploratory Study of In-Service English Language Teachers in the Context of Saudi Arabia

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Abdulteeef M. Al Khateeb
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ict Literacy ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
English Language Teachers

The purpose of this research is to measure in-service English language teachers' digital competence, particularly for the enhancement of teaching English as a second/foreign language in schools in Saudi Arabia. Information and communication technology (ICT) knowledge is currently considered as a vital skill for foreign language teachers in addition to their linguistic competence. Recently, there has been a focus on digital competence, since it can be regarded as a gateway for enriching knowledge, economies, societies and individuals. There is also a massive need for teachers to assess their own digital competence according to non-conventional norms (i.e., having the ability to share content and manage information). In light of this rationale, this paper investigates the following research question: to what extent are English language teachers in Saudi Arabia digitally competent and in what aspects? This study used a standardized questionnaire that was constructed using a validated comprehensive framework. This instrument was designed to assess the professional capability of English language teachers in terms of their willingness and readiness to use ICTs along with their current digital competence used throughout their teaching and educational practices. The research included a diverse range of participants who come from various backgrounds, genders and experiences. The study was concluded with a presentation of useful recommendations and key research questions for future research.

Teachers’ perceptions and the implementation of the adapted communicative approach in Libya

2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdurahman Milad ◽  
Dwi Rukmini ◽  
Dwi Anggani ◽  
Rudi Hartono
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Communicative Approach ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
The City ◽  
Meaningful Communication

This study instigates the teachers’ perceptions towards the implementation of the adapted communicative approach to teach English language in Libyan high schools in the city of Khoms. The participants were six teachers of different gender-based high schools. The study followed a pure qualitative method to collect and analyze the date, and the data were collected using an open-ended questionnaire. The findings reveal that the majority of English language teachers in Libyan high schools in Khoms city have positively perceived the implementation of the communicative approach (CA) to teach English language in their high schools’ contexts. They agreed to the majority of the questionnaire’s items such as: the CA emphasizes the communication in the target language and emphasizes that the learners need meaningful communication. All the participants said that they modify the principles of the communicative approach to meet the students’ needs and goals and most of them have agreed that the allocated time is not enough to complete the lesson in the classroom. This study draws out the pedagogical implication that the implementation of the adapted CA to teach English language in high schools in Libya can be quite adaptable, especially when the teachers have to fulfil the students’ needs.

scholarly journals Pronunciation Errors of Letter “G” in English Language Made by Saudi Undergraduate Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huda Alqunayeer
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Academic Year

The primary goal of the present study is to identify the problematic areas in the pronunciation of the letter “g” in English written words made by Saudi female learners of English as a foreign language, and the reasons for the weakness associated with mispronunciation of English written words which contain this letter. The population of the study was the female students (90 students) and their English language teachers (12 teachers) at the Qassim University during the academic year (2014-2015). There were two types of instruments used in this study. The first was a pronunciation test for the student participants in order to investigate the problematic areas of pronouncing “g” in different environments in different words; and the second a questionnaire for the teacher participants to provide comprehensive data about the causes of these errors of pronouncing “g” committed by EFL female students at Qassim University. Ninety female students were included for the pronunciation test and 12 teachers were asked to answer the questionnaire. Simple percentage was used for analyzing the data of recording words (pronunciation test). Results of the students’ recording words revealed that the participants mispronounced “g” before nasals (68%). According to the results of the teachers’ responses to the questionnaire suggested many factors that can cause difficulties for students in terms of pronouncing “g” in English written words. According to them, these difficulties are concerned with reading difficulties, nonstandard spellings, letters that follow “g” (many of them may become combinations), loan words, orthography (no correspondence between the English alphabets and their sounds). The researcher offers recommendations that might help teachers and students to overcome and reduce these mispronunciations of this letter in English written words.

scholarly journals A Study of Language Anxiety among English Language Learners in Saudi Arabia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Badia Muntazer Hakim
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Self Awareness

Classroom anxiety is a recurrent phenomenon for language learners. There are various factors that cause language anxiety, the most common of which include learners’ excessive self-consciousness and self-awareness concerning their oral reproduction and performance and their peculiar, and quite often misplaced and mistaken, views and beliefs regarding different approaches. Other potential reasons for this problem could include the fear, and the consequent deterrence occasioned thereof, of encountering difficulties in language learning, specifically learners’ individual problems regarding the culture of the target language and the varying social statuses of speakers. The most important fear is, perhaps, the deterrent fear of causing damage to one’s self-identity. Therefore, while needing to paying special attention to language learners’ anxiety reactions, language teachers have a crucial role in helping their students achieve the expected performance goals in the target language. Another factor that could potentially lead to language anxiety is simply the poor command of the target language. This problem could be attributed to linguistic barriers and obstacles language learners encounter in learning and using the target language. In the current study, using a qualitative, semi-structured interview and the focus-group discussion technique, the researcher aims to investigate the factors that contribute to language anxiety among Arab language learners. It focuses on learners both within the classroom setting and without, i.e. in the social context, and recommends a number of approaches to manage and overcome this problem.

scholarly journals Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Iraq

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-446
Author(s):  
Bushra Saadoon Al - Noori
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
College Of Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
First Year ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Ibn Rushd ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Government ◽  
Daily Plan

Baghdad University is located in Baghdad; the Capital of Iraq, consists of many colleges via Sciences and Humanities , for example: College of languages, College of Arts, College of Education for Women and College of Education /Ibn Rushd and others. Each one of these Colleges consists of various departments. Our department is the English Department for four academic years. In the First year, we have four sections of more than fifty students each. Our students are boys and girls and all of them are going to be English Language Teachers because all these four academic years will make them qualified to be so. The government helps them to find jobs immediately after graduation. In these four years, our students spend 45 days in schools as a student - teacher and the staff members are visiting those two or three times to evaluate them in relation to the method of teaching and daily plan. Staff members will evaluate the way of treating the pupils in the secondary school, their way of teaching, their confidence inside the classrooms and many other points.

scholarly journals An Attitudinal Study of English as a Foreign Language in Sukkur Sindh Pakistan

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Ashfaque Hussain Soomro ◽  
Zaheer Ahmed Bango ◽  
Imran Khan Mahesar
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Learning Attitudes ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Complex Process

<p><em>Foreign language learning is a complex process and is influenced by various factors. The attitude of students towards language learning is a major decisive factor in this process; therefore, the current study was carried out to explore this phenomenon. The students of English Works Program Sukkur, Sindh, Pakistan were the target population for the current study. The said program was initiated by a Karachi based organization which enrolled fifty students for a 240 hours certificate course in English language. The students already had some formal education ranging from Intermediate to Masters level and belonged to different age groups. The aim of this quantitative study was to investigate their language learning attitudes from three aspects: behavioral, cognitive and emotional. For data collection purposes, a questionnaire comprising 30 closed-ended items was adapted from Eshghinejad, (2016), Boonrangsri, Chuaymankhong, Rermyindee, &amp; Vongchittpinyo, (2004) and Gardner (1985). This was followed by descriptive and inferential statistical analysis by using independent sample t-test (SPSS-22). The results show that the students have positive attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language.</em></p><p> </p>

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