scholarly journals Students’ Perspectives towards Using Youtube in Improving EFL Learners’ Motivation to Speak

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luluh Abdullah Alkathiri

<p><em>It is beneficial for educators to apply the use of modeling strategies to assist English language learners (ELLs) and their ability to improve their understanding of word diction and the movements that are needed to create English sounds using their mouths and tongues. The purpose of this study is to determine whether Youtube, as a media source that is able to model language practice in an engaging manner, can be used to help ELLs gain improve word pronunciation skills. A questionnaire was administered to students to assess the attitudes that students had towards using Youtube to improve their motivation to speak and practice language in class. The results demonstrated that the use of Youtube in the English language classroom represents an engaging method, and this motivates students to participate in these lessons. Furthermore, participation in English speaking lessons using Youtube videos increased student confidence about their English-speaking abilities. It is therefore reasonable for educators to continue to use Youtube and other video media as a part of instruction in the ELL classroom because this motivates students to learn and to practice their speaking skills aloud with confidence, enabling them to achieve their language attainment goals.</em></p>

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-178
Author(s):  
Maritza Collazos Moná ◽  
Luis Fernando Gómez Rodríguez

This article reports the fndings of a descriptive case study that analyzed how unfair social relationships established in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom influenced a group of adolescent English language learners’ academic investment and identity construction at a school in Bogotá, Colombia. Data associated with students’ social behaviors and identities were collected through feld notes, a questionnaire, and an interview. Norton’s theory of identity and investment served as the basis to analyze the data from a social perspective. Three main fndings emerged from the data: First, EFL learners identifed themselves as high investors and low investors in their learning, depending on their own opinions about the usefulness of English in their lives. Second, power relationships based on domination and oppression reduced productive investment in the classroom. Third, some high investors resisted unfair relationships of power by investing through collaborative learning. Consequently, participants created diverse English learners’ identities (dominant, submissive, resistant, and productive), which influenced their academic investment negatively or positively.


2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 73-79
Author(s):  
Sara C. Steele ◽  
Deborah A. Hwa-Froelich

Nonword repetition performance has been shown to differentiate monolingual English-speaking children with language impairment (LI) from typically developing children. These tasks have been administered to monolingual speakers of different languages and to simultaneous and sequential bilingual English Language Learners (ELLs) with mixed results. This article includes a review of the nonword repetition performance of monolingual and bilingual speakers and of internationally adopted children. Clinical implications for administration and interpretation of nonword repetition task outcomes are included.


Author(s):  
Ali Akbar Khansir ◽  
Afsaneh Salehabadi

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.


2003 ◽  
Vol 141-142 ◽  
pp. 301-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Pica ◽  
Gay N. Washburn

This study sought to identify and describe how negative evidence was made available and accessible in responses to learners during two classroom activities: a teacher-led discussion, which emphasized communication of subject matter content, and a teacher-led sentence construction exercise, which focused on application of grammatical rules. Data came from adult, pre-academic English language learners during six discussions of American film and literature, and six sets of sentence construction exercises. Findings revealed little availability of negative evidence in the discussions, as students' fluent, multi-error contributions drew responses that were primarily back-channels and continuation moves. Greater availability and accessibility of negative evidence were found in the sentence construction exercises, as students were given feedback following their completion of individual sentences. Results from the study suggested several pedagogical implications and applications.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-37
Author(s):  
Remart Padua Dumlao ◽  
Trixia Mengorio

The numbers of English language learners and limited domestic English language teachers have grown exponentially in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as to the ASEAN region over the past decades due to the demand of globalization. Given the huge cultural and linguistic diversity among learners, educating these populations of English language learners can be a challenging but also beneficial for foreign language teachers. This study aimed to analyse the experiences of fifteen Non-native English Speaking Foreign Teachers (NNESFT) teaching in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The results of this study suggested that although teachers’ reasons in teaching English language in a foreign classroom were more extrinsic reasons rather that intrinsic and altruistic. NNESFT recognized benefits of teaching in foreign classroom, namely, financial aspects, personal development, and building cultural awareness. Meanwhile, challenges were reported include as a non-native English speaking teachers in a foreign classroom, on the part of textbooks and curriculum, and cultural differences in the classroom. Implications were discussed in light of the findings and recommendations formulated for future research directions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
Seyyed Hatam Tamimi Sa’d ◽  
Fereshte Rajabi

Vocabulary constitutes an essential part of every language-learning endeavour and deserves scholarly attention. The objective of the present study was three-fold: 1) exploring Iranian English language learners’Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLSs), 2) examining language learners’ perceptions of vocabulary learning, and 3) exploring Iranian English language teachers’ Vocabulary Teaching Strategies (VTSs). In total, 145  intermediate learners of English as a foreign language, consisting of 114 males and 31 females aged 15 to 27, participated in the study. The triangulated data were collected using three tools: questionnaires, interviews, and class observations. Sixty-seven learners (31 females and 36 males) filled out a 56-statement questionnaire, adopted and adapted from Takač (2008) and translated into Persian. The questionnaire comprised two parts, enquiring as to the learners’ VLSs and the teachers’ VTSs. The findings indicated that females and males differed significantly in their reported VLSs and their teachers’ use of various VTSs. Additionally, 78 learners were interviewed as to their perceptions of effective and ineffective VLSs as well as VTSs. The findings revealed that the most effective VLSs were reported to be: a) reciting, repeating and listening to words, b) using words, and c) memorising words while the most effective VTSs revolved around: a) explanation, b) repetition, and c) dictation. The observations also confirmed the findings obtained via the questionnaire and interviews. In general, the findings are indicative of the limited repertoire of vocabulary acquisition techniques employed by Iranian EFL learners, hence the need for strategy training in how to acquire vocabulary. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 178
Author(s):  
Hamid Ashraf ◽  
Mona Tabatabaee Yazdi ◽  
Aynaz Samir

Since SLA literature remains researchers unaware of the mental processes involved in the X-Test taking (in contrast to C-Test which there are plenty of available related studies), this article aims at exploring cognitive strategies that EFL learners may use while answering an English X-test, which like the C-Test has been modified, adapted and used in many research papers. To this aim, thirty EFL respondents from Mashhad, Iran, were randomly asked to answer a reliable and valid X-test. All of them participated in introspective methods of think-aloud and retrospective interviews during and after the test administration. To analyze the data only the exact word scoring procedure was employed. The results showed participants used various cognitive strategies in taking the X-Test. It was also revealed that respondents experienced more strategies when filling out an X-Test comparing to related literature of C-test, which could be an indicator of the importance job of cognition in X-Test taking. It is hoped that the article can shed light on the underling cognitive strategies that English language learners’ use, and provide a chance for educators who want to better understand the learners’ cognitive processes in order to assist them identify problems and improve their English instruction.


2018 ◽  
Vol 79 (11) ◽  
pp. 617
Author(s):  
Kelly McElroy ◽  
Laurie M. Bridges

It is widely accepted that English is the current lingua franca, especially in the scientific community. With approximately 527 million native speakers globally, English ranks as the third most-spoken language (after Chinese and Hindu-Urdu), but there are also an estimated 1.5 billion English-language learners in the world.The preeminence of English reflects the political power of the English-speaking world, carrying privileges for those who can speak, write, and read in English, and disadvantages to those who cannot. This is also the case in scholarly communication. Linguist Nicholas Subtirelu identifies three privileges for native English speakers: 1) easier access to social, political, and educational institutions; 2) access to additional forms of capital; and 3) avoiding negative opinions of one’s speech.For example, we were both born into families that speak American English at home, we were surrounded by English books and media growing up, and our entire education was in English. Even defining who counts as a “native” speaker can be refracted through other social identities. As college-educated white Americans, our English is never questioned, but the same is not true for many equally fluent people around the world. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Iman Tohidian ◽  
Ali Khorsandi Taskoh

To be literate, students need to able to think critically and read between the lines to find the implicit meanings and ideologies. To help Iranian English language learners learn writing as a social action and not independent of social (in)justices and (in)equalities, we included critical literacy in a writing course at the University of [for anonymity]. We intend to illuminate teacher’s narration about raising students’ awareness towards (mal)practices, (in)justices, and (in)equalities of the society in their writings.To do so, all 52 undergraduate 3rd-year-EFL learners of English Literature and Translation participated in our writing class. The teacher was also an associate professor (50 years old) with critical literacy as his main area of research. Students were required to write essays as mid-term and final exams. The teacher’s reflection on the course in general and on the EFL learners’ reflective essays highlighted that teaching writing through critical literacy helped students realize that writing is a process dependent on different social and political issues.Students’ growth in critical consciousness through their writing reminds teaching practitioners, policy-makers, and teacher educators to provide innovation in their classrooms to empower language learners with teaching methodologies contrary to what they are accustomed to during their learning.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 874
Author(s):  
Ehsan Alijanian ◽  
Saeed Ketabi ◽  
Ahmad Moinzadeh

From the sociocultural point of view, the investigation of private speech is important in seeing how the mind works. Yet, not much is known about the form and content of private speech. A group of English language learners were required to talk about some topics of their reading courses. Their voices were recorded and the private speech used by them were identified. It was found that the main role of the loud and silent forms of the private speech in the data is to help learners manage the interaction. Private speech is embedded within the speech context and it needs to be explained in the context in which it happens.


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