scholarly journals Attempts of EFL Teachers at Kuwait University for Enhancing Their EFL Learners’ Oral Skills

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. p1
Author(s):  
Mohammad Almutairi
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Experienced Teachers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Kuwait University ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Oral Skills

This study aims to investigate the attempts of six EFL teachers at various colleges and faculties of Kuwait University to develop their EFL students’ oral skills. In a qualitative method using semi-structured interviews, the EFL teachers described their students’ levels of English as very good or good, but they needed to encourage their students to use their oral English widely so that they could, therefore, improve it to better levels. The qualitative method was chosen to get in-depth details and information about the individual experiences of the experienced teachers. The findings showed that the participants used various strategies and techniques, such as using supplementary materials, using drama, listening to tape recorders, working in language labs, having group discussions (with or against), etc. The data also revealed that the improvement of oral skills of EFL students at Kuwait University had been successfully achieved.

scholarly journals Investigating EFL Learners’ Perceptions of Collaborative Writing

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Majed O. Abahussain
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Collaborative Writing ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Individual

Although pair and group work are commonly applied in English language classrooms, research investigating EFL learners’ perceptions of collaborative writing (CW henceforth) is still limited. The present study explores EFL students’ attitudes and perceptions toward CW. The study involved 30 L2 students enrolled in a writing course at one of the largest universities in Saudi Arabia. The course was divided into two parts: individual writing (IW) for the first month (four weeks) and collaborative writing for the second month (four weeks). The study uses a within-groups mixed methods design whereby the same group of students received both the individual writing and collaborative writing assignments for exploring participants’ attitudes toward collaborative writing as compared to their views toward individual writing. The same self-report survey (6-point Likert-scale) was used two times (after each writing condition) to determine the participants’ views of each writing condition. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain qualitative insights while exploring the participants’ views toward the two writing conditions they experienced as well as to find out the benefits and challenges they faced. Results show that participants reported the effectiveness of CW significantly higher than individual writing. The analyses reveal a statistically significant difference where ratings of CW were higher compared to IW, indicating helpfulness of CW in enhancing not only their writing skills but also their learning of all four English language skills. Despite some reservations, the majority of the participants were supportive of the CW experience.

scholarly journals From Instructed Writing to Free-Writing: A Study of EFL Learners

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824402110071
Author(s):  
Saleh Alharthi
Keyword(s):  
Control Group ◽  
Writing Program ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Free Writing ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Structured Writing ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

Writing is an intricate process that encompasses various factors and is a key skill for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. Thus, writing assignments are vital for any curriculum. One of the essential aspects of effective writing includes good grammar knowledge. Advocates of process writing argue that a free-writing journal is a practical approach to teaching EFL students writing. This study is intended to examine the impact of the free-writing journal on EFL learners. This study was conducted on 80 students from a writing course at the University. Thirty-five students were randomly selected to join the free-writing program—the experimental group—and 45 students were kept in their regular structured writing program—the control group. The experimental group selected topics of interest to them and was encouraged to write in English freely without concern for errors, whereas the control group followed a regular structured writing program where the topics were selected for them and they wrote following a clear guideline. Five major areas were investigated to evaluate students’ progress: the number of words written, spelling, capitalization, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 students of the experimental group to elicit their perception of the free-writing program. According to the analysis, students in the free-writing program acquired better grammar acquisition than the control group. The researcher also observed students’ perception of free-writing at the end of the study and found that free-writing improved their writing skills.

scholarly journals A Review of Studies on Cognitive and Metacognitive Reading Strategies in Teaching Reading Comprehension for ESL/EFL Learners

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Aziza M. Ali ◽  
Abu Bakar Razali
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Written Information ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Correct Reading ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Metacognitive Reading Strategies

Being able to read well is important for English language learners. Through the process of reading, the learner becomes an active participant in producing an interaction with the writer of the text through predicting, analyzing, summarizing and using other types of reading strategies. However, building such a connection between the reader and the written information of the text is complex and for English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) students, it can be quite difficult for them to apply different types of reading strategies. This article provides a review of literature on 27 studies on the teaching of reading strategies (particularly cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies) for ESL/EFL learners, which reveals that ESL/EFL teachers need to keep updating their teaching methods to meet the ESL/EFL students’ needs, particularly in the use of correct reading strategies. The authors also highlight some of the main issues that prevent ESL/EFL students from improving and developing their reading comprehension. Furthermore, the authors discuss and conclude the article by suggesting to ESL/EFL teachers some teaching strategies to be applied in the reading lesson to improve the ESL/EFL students’ use of reading strategies.

scholarly journals A Qualitative Study: Investigating EFL Learners’ Self- Confidence To Decrease The Reticence In Speaking Ability

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikrar Genidal Riadil
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Research Result ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Learning Language ◽  
Speaking Skills

Language is a pivotal aspect of human being. By learning, language people can communicate with each other, get information from one to another and interact. Unfortunately, in the real condition, it is still difficult for Indonesian students to practice their English ability in daily conversation. This study deals to increase the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' confidence in English speaking. This research used qualitative analysis by distributing questioner. This study suggest that EFL teachers should seek ways to increase students' collaboration in the classroom to help them gain confidence in speaking. The study involved the students in the fifth semester in the English Department at Tidar University. The researcher compared the gathered data with other relevant researches and theories involved in the study. Based on the research questions, the research result shows that students’ perceptions of self-confidence have a significant to decrease reticence in speaking skills. However, lecturers need to push the students in practice speaking English in front of a class, especially to improve the self-confidence when the students are communicating in English. Two research questions were formulated in this study. There are: (1) what are the factors of the EFL students’ reticence in speaking? (2) Do the students have high self-confidence in speaking skills? In conclusion, this article showed the results that EFL Learners’ self-confidence can be decreased the reticence in speaking ability or not. keywords: Self-confidence, speaking ability, EFL students, qualitative study

scholarly journals EFL Teachers’ and Learners’ Perceptions of Grammatical Difficulties

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maha Alhaysony ◽  
Eid Alhaisoni
Keyword(s):  
Rank Order ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The One

This paper investigates grammatical difficulty from the perspective of Saudi university students, of EFL as well as from the perspective of university teachers. It aims to find out which English grammar features are more difficult/less difficult than others. Furthermore, it attempts to determine the reasons and causes that account for such grammar difficulty. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were the two research instruments used in this study. A total number of 103 students and 85 university teachers took part in the questionnaire, while only 20 teachers and 25 students responded in the interview. All the participants were from Aljouf University (males and females). The results showed that some English grammar features were more difficult and some were less difficult than others. The obtained difficulty order determined by EFL learners and the one obtained by the teachers’ perceptions were compared. Some similarities and differences were found to exist in the rank order of the features for the two groups. The findings of the study may be beneficial to syllabus designers, material developers, teachers and EFL learners. 

scholarly journals Teachers’ Perceptions on Code-Switching in EFL Classroom Discourse

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-53
Author(s):  
Alireza Bonyadi ◽  
Mehdi Kheyrollahi Kalvanagh ◽  
Minoo Bonyadi
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Classroom Teaching ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Efl Classrooms ◽  
Linguistic Proficiency

Abstract Feasibility of maintaining an educational sustainable development (ESD) depends on exploring teachers’ concepts on their common practices in classroom settings. Speakers in multilingual contexts commonly switch their codes, languages, during their numerous social interactions. Nowadays, the phenomena, code switching, has expanded to cover any situation in which speakers switch from one accepted code into another. Through this perspective, various studies have been conducted to investigate different aspects of code-switching in EFL classrooms. The present study qualitatively investigated teachers’ perceptions on code-switching in their classrooms addressing two research questions, namely what types of code-switching EFL teachers were practicing in EFL classrooms and what were their perceptions on their code-switching. Four EFL teachers participated in the study. The analysis of the data collected through manual and electronic observations as well as structured interviews, indicated that intra-sentential and inter-sentential types of code-switching were practised throughout the classroom teaching processes. The main motives for resorting to code-switching were found to be EFL students’ lack of linguistic proficiency, keeping solidarity with the students and managing the classrooms.

scholarly journals EFL LEARNERS � FACED PROBLEMS IN LISTENING COMPERHENSION

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Seli Siti Syadiah
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Private University ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Efl Students

This research focuses on the EFL learners� problems in listening comprehension. The present research attempts to investigate listening problems encountered by a group of low level at seniors of a private university in Kuningan. This qualitative case study involved 10 participants who took TOEFL course in 7th semester. The data was gathered by means of questionnaires and interviews. The result of the research showed that accent, pronunciation, speed of speech, insufficient vocabulary, different accent of speakers, lack of concentration, anxiety, and bad quality of recording were the major listening comprehension problems encountered by EFL students. This research also found that most students (60%) used compensation strategy to overcome the problems by guessing the answer, while the others (30%) used memory strategy by using their knowledge or experiences, and the rest 10% of the students used affective strategy by motivating themselves to try answering the questions. Knowing students� learning difficulties may enable EFL teachers to develop the effective learning strategies and ultimately improve their English listening abilities. Suggestion is made for addressing problems regarding how students can help themselves and the teachers can help their students to overcome the listening comprehension problems encountered by the students.Keywords: EFL Learner, listening comprehension, listening problem

scholarly journals EFL students’ attitudes towards learner autonomy in English vocabulary learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Thao Quoc Tran
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Higher Institution ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Shed Light

Whether EFL learners can use English well or not depends much on vocabulary they possess. Learner autonomy (LA), however, plays a pivotal role in amassing EFL learners’ vocabulary. This study endeavored to explore students’ attitudes towards LA in English vocabulary learning. Two hundred English majors from a Ho Chi Minh City based higher institution, Vietnam got involved in answering the closed-ended questionnaire, and ten students took part in semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that participants were cognitively aware of the importance of LA in English vocabulary learning, but affectively and behaviorally they showed low interest in LA in English vocabulary learning. Such findings may shed light on how to improve the teaching and learning of the English language in general and English vocabulary in particular at the research context and other similar EFL contexts.

Investigating the Impacts of Coaching and Mentoring Through Induction on the Experienced Teachers

2021 ◽  
pp. 181-208
Author(s):  
Gulcin Cosgun ◽  
Derin Atay
Keyword(s):  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Experienced Teachers ◽  
Positive And Negative Affect ◽  
Induction Programs ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Induction Program ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
One Year ◽  
Comprehensive Induction ◽  
Newly Hired

Since induction programs are generally implemented for beginning teachers, those designed in response to experienced teachers' pedagogical needs are rare, and their impacts on these teachers are not so widely researched. This chapter reports the process of a one-year comprehensive induction program that is designed for 11 experienced teachers who are newly hired at the English preparation program of a highly competitive English medium university in Turkey and its impacts on the emotions of the participants. The study encompassed the concurrent embedded strategy of mixed methods approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS-SF). The present study has supported multiple aspects of previous data regarding induction programs for beginning teachers and provided valuable findings supporting the benefits that comprehensive induction programs that provide coaching and mentoring can bring for experienced EFL teachers when they start working in a new institution.

“Am I qualified to be a language tester?”: Understanding the development of language assessment literacy across three stakeholder groups

2020 ◽  
pp. 026553222092992
Author(s):  
Xun Yan ◽  
Jason Fan
Keyword(s):  
Language Assessment ◽  
Assessment Literacy ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Assessment Practice ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Assessment Development ◽  
Stakeholder Groups ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
The Individual

Recent investigations into language assessment literacy (LAL) suggest that stakeholder groups might differ in interests, needs, and expectations in assessment practice, resulting in different LAL profiles. This qualitative study furthers this line of research by examining the effect of contextual and experiential factors on the LAL profiles and development of different stakeholder groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 20 participants from three stakeholder groups in China, including language testers, EFL teachers, and graduate students. Results indicate that LAL profile differences existed at both group and individual levels. At the group level, language-testing researchers and students demonstrated greater familiarity with assessment concepts than did EFL teachers; however, EFL teachers were able to understand and link those concepts with assessment practices. At the individual level, each participant experienced a different LAL development process; yet, these processes share some common patterns. Based on these patterns, a common LAL development model for all stakeholders is proposed. Assessment training should consider the resources in stakeholders’ assessment contexts and their experiences in assessment development, use, and research and develop realistic expectations in LAL development for different stakeholders.

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