scholarly journals The Iraqi EFL Learners’ Use of Conversational Maxims at the University Level

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. p43
Author(s):  
Mohammed Jasim Betti ◽  
Karrar Salim Yaseen
Keyword(s):  
Recognition Test ◽  
College Of Education ◽  
The Other ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Gricean Maxims ◽  
University Level ◽  
Recognition Level ◽  
The University

The current study is an attempt to measure the Iraqi EFL learners’ use of conversational maxims at the recognition level. The study aims at testing whether the Iraqi EFL learners observe or flout the Gricean maxims, assessing the Iraqi EFL learners’ mastery of the conversational maxims, and identifying which maxim(s) is/are frequently flouted. The study hypothesizes that the Iraqi EFL learners flout all the maxims of conversation, the maxim of relation is the least flouted one, the Iraqi EFL learners find the maxims difficult to adhere to, and the maxim of quantity is mostly flouted. The subjects of the study are a hundred Iraqi EFL learners at the fourth-year, Dept. of English, College of Education for Humanities, University of Al-Muthanna. The data elicitation toolis a recognition test designed in accordance with nature of the study. The study brings forth the conclusions that the subjects have a difficulty in utilizing the maxims altogether, they flout all the conversational maxims in relatively different degrees, and the learners are mostly abided by the maxim of relation more than the other ones.

scholarly journals Difficulties of Understanding English Breaking News Headlines by Iraqi EFL Learners at the University Level

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Abdulqader Talib Naeem ◽  
Juma’a Q. Hussein
Keyword(s):  
College Of Education ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Breaking News ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Research Instrument ◽  
University Level ◽  
The University ◽  
News Headlines

Understanding breaking news necessitates a special attention, since they are written with a special style. The study aims at identifying the difficulties faced by the Iraqi university EFL learners in comprehending English breaking news. The study included 10 fourth year students enrolled at the Department of English, College of Education for Humanities, University of Anbar. Thus, a questionnaire as a research instrument, was sent online to the students. The questionnaire points were related to the identification of difficulties faced by the learners in comprehending English breaking news. The data of the study were (10) headlines selected purposively from Euronews website. The data were qualitatively analyzed based on quantifying the quality procedure. The findings showed that (54%) of the total number of the students stated that the headlines are difficult to understand, and (46%) considered them easy. Based on these findings, the study has concluded that students faced four main difficulties: neologism, difficult vocabulary, ellipsis, and passive voice when reading news headlines. Neologism has scored the highest percentage (32.4324%), while passive voice has been the lowest (5.4054%).

scholarly journals Contrastive error analysis of Turkish EFL learners in writing

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 236-242
Author(s):  
Şahin GÖK
Keyword(s):  
Error Analysis ◽  
Negative Transfer ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
The Other ◽  
Final Examination ◽  
Contrastive Analysis ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
University Level ◽  
The University

The aim of this study is to find out to what extent Turkish EFL students make interlingual (interference) and intralingual (developmental) errors in writing at the university level. The mid-term and final examination papers of 50 Turkish EFL students were taken and their errors were categorized into interference and developmental errors. The results of our research have shown that they made a mean of %14.6 interference errors.  Thus, this proportion does not confirm the contrastive analysis hypothesis claiming that all errors are due to the negative transfer from the mother tongue. On the other hand, they made a mean of %85.4 developmental errors which are not related to L1. So the results of T?Test indicate that Turkish EFL students made significantly more (p<.001) developmental errors.

The Effect of Using Flipped Classroom Model to Improve Iraqi EFL Learners’ Pronunciation in English at University Level

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (40) ◽  
pp. 631-654
Author(s):  
Khaldoon Waleed Husam Al-Mofti
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
University Level ◽  
The University ◽  
And Control ◽  
Experimental Group

For Iraqi EFL learners who are studying English pronunciation in a traditional instruction method often requires more effort and hard work. Thus, using new methods of teaching such as the flipped classroom model (FCM) is necessary to facilitate learning and improve performance. Hence, this study reports on explanatory research that investigates the effect of using the FCM in the teaching of English pronunciation for Iraqi EFL learners at the university level. The study implemented mixed research methods for data collection in a quasi-experimental analysis. Therefore, two tests were conducted on the assigned groups to measure the effect of the FCM before and after the intervention. Besides, a questionnaire and interviews were used on the experiment group students to collect data about their perceptions of the FCM. The study length (lasted)  was 15 weeks and is comprised of 60 students from the department of English, College of Arts at the University of Anbar. The students were divided into two groups, experimental, and control with 30 students in each group. The findings revealed that there was a significant statistical difference between the two groups in favour of the experimental group with better performance, indicating that the FCM has considerably assisted the Iraqi EFL learners to improve their English pronunciation. Moreover, the students expressed their positive feedback and satisfaction on the use of the FCM in their responses to the questionnaire and the interviews. As such, the current study recommends further research to study the effect of applying the FCM in areas and disciplines other than language learning.

scholarly journals Discourse markers in academic and non-academic writings of Thai EFL learners

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1209-1226
Author(s):  
Sumit Choemue ◽  
Barli Bram
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
University Level ◽  
The University

The ability to use discourse markers (DMs) to create cohesion and coherence of a text is essential for EFL learners at the university level to express ideas and thoughts in various types of writing assignments, such as academic papers and reflections. Hence, this study attempted to shed more light on the use of DMs in academic and non-academic writings of Thai EFL learners. The main objective was to investigate the types, overall frequency, and differences, and similarities of discourse markers in both styles of writing. Sixty essays, consisting of 20 academic essays and 40 non-academic ones, were selected as the primary data. Academic essays were selected from the Critical Reading and Writing course of Xavier Learning Community (XLC), Thailand, while the non-academic ones were selected from the XLC English Newsletter. The data were analyzed based on Fraser’s taxonomy (2009). The results showed that 2.521 DMs distributed in five types, namely contrastive discourse, elaborative discourse, inferential discourse, temporal discourse, and spoken discourse markers, were identified in the 20 academic and 40 non-academic essays.  The most frequently used DM was elaborative discourse markers (EDM), F=1,703. This study concluded that raising awareness of DMs would assist Thai EFL learners in producing an effective and coherent piece of writing. 

scholarly journals The Impact of Outside Social Support on EFL Iraqis Learners’ Motivation at University Level

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Khaldoon Waleed Husam Al-Mofti ◽  
Juma’a Qadir Hussein
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
English Language ◽  
College Of Education ◽  
Statistical Correlation ◽  
Motivation To Learn ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Future Income ◽  
University Level ◽  
The Impact

There are many reasons for learning a foreign or a second language. It might be for some learners, a kind of future income; while for others, it is only a hobby to learn about a new culture of a foreign country. The present study aims to investigate what factors play in learning English language. This paper also highlights the influence of the factor of outside social support such as good income job on the other factors of motivation. Data were gathered through scale questionnaire distributed to 60 EFL learners and 10 semi-structured interviews with randomly selected students from two different departments of English in two colleges, College of Arts and College of education for humanities at Anbar University, Iraq. The data were analyzed using SPSS tool.  The results indicated that the motivation to learn English varied according to students’ intentions, goals and, attitudes towards learning. In addition, it shows a clear statistical correlation between the outside social support – finding better career and future opportunities and goal factors. Henceforth, the outside social support appears a significant contributor to the motivation of the EFL Iraqi learners.

scholarly journals How Well Can Arab EFL Learners Adequately Use Discourse Markers?

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Written Compositions ◽  
The University

Discourse markers are words or phrases used in both speech and writing to signal relationships between discourse segments, including clauses, sentences and even larger portions of texts such as paragraphs. Their proper use in writing effectively contributes to textuality standards, particularly cohesion and coherence. On the other hand, learners’ misuse, underuse or overuse of these markers may negatively impact the quality of the texts that these learners produce. This paper examined the ability of a group of Arab learners of English as a foreign language (ALEFL) from the University of Sharjah to recognize and produce discourse markers in written compositions. Using two elicitation techniques, the researchers collected data for this research from a sample of one hundred Arab learners studying English at the University of Sharjah. A test consisting of four parts was specially designed to evaluate participants’ ability to recognize and produce discourse markers in context. In addition, two hundred compositions written by ALEFL were analyzed to investigate their ability to produce discourse markers. The data analysis revealed that the participants’ ability to recognize and produce discourse markers was relatively low and their ability to recognize the functions of discourse markers in context was below expectations.

Untangling Multimedia Effects on EFL Incidental Vocabulary Learning via Playing an Online Hidden-Object Game

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emad A. Alghamdi
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Recognition Test ◽  
Retention Rate ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
The Other ◽  
Vocabulary Retention ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Better Than

The present empirical study examined the efficacy of coupling L1 or L2 definitions with pictorial glosses on incidental vocabulary learning when L2 learners exclusively play a purposely designed hidden-object game. Elementary EFL learners (n= 162) took a vocabulary pretest and a picture recognition test (PRT) and a word recognition test (WRT) immediately after playing the game, and again two weeks later. ANOVA analyses were conducted to measure vocabulary acquisition and retention. The findings revealed that the L1 text + picture gloss group did significantly better than the other two groups in the immediate acquisition of vocabulary. Concerning vocabulary retention, the two vocabulary measurements yielded different outcomes. In PRT, the L1 text + picture gloss group kept the highest retention rate, whereas in WRT, the L2 text + picture group did better than the other groups. This study suggests that assessment methods may yield different outcomes in multimedia vocabulary learning studies.

scholarly journals On the Teaching and Learning of Culture-Loaded Words: The Case of Moroccan EFL Learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Driss Benattabou
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Inappropriate Use ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
University Level ◽  
The University

This paper sets out to investigate an uncharted research area in the field of applied linguistics concerned with the teaching and learning of culture-loaded words among Moroccan learners of EFL at the university level. Relying on a comparative analysis, this study delineates some problematic areas foreign language students may face as a result of their being unaware of the cultural connotative meanings some words may carry in the target language. The inappropriate use of these words may often lead to gross misunderstandings contributing most of the time to the perpetuation of intercultural confusions and conflicts. EFL teachers may do a great disservice to their students if they leave them fully unaware of the extra cultural meanings some words may convey besides their basic denotation. The last part of the paper suggests some implications on how to develop the teaching and learning of these culturally-loaded words.

scholarly journals COGNITIVE DIVERSITY AMONG EFL LEARNERS: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Tariq Elyas ◽  
Bayan AlHashmi ◽  
Fan Fang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Diversity Index ◽  
Cognitive Diversity ◽  
Cognitive Profiles ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
University Level ◽  
The University ◽  
Teaching In Higher Education

With a theory-driven interest in the factors that make some language learners more successful than others, this study attempts to measure the cognitive diversity level of EFL learners at a Saudi university. To achieve this purpose, the Ehrman and Leaver’s questionnaire of learners’ cognitive profiles (Ehrman & Leaver, 2003) was adapted, translated into Arabic, and then randomly distributed to foundation year students taking English as a Foreign Language as a main course. The overall results reveal that the cognitive diversity among students is considerable. It ranges between moderate to high, according to the Simpson Diversity Index (Simpson, 1949). On this account, several implications are suggested to improve the quality of EFL teaching at the university level. These implications and recommendations are mostly directed to the committees concerned with qualification assurance or professional development.

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