scholarly journals African Immigrant Teachers Teaching Young EFL Learners: A Racial Discrimination Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-76
Author(s):  
Chinaza Solomon Ironsi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
African Immigrant ◽  
Immigrant Teachers ◽  
Second Language Teachers

Teaching English language to young learners in an English as a Foreign Language/English as a Second Language context could be challenging especially for African immigrants, as they face varying arrays of challenges ranging from low wages, staff abuse, and other racial discriminations. A lot has been written about racially related issues in our school system yet there are limited works of literature that focus on the challenges of African immigrant English as a Second Language teachers with regards to racial discrimination. To investigate this, a mixed-method research design was used to elicit information from 68 African immigrant English as a Second Language teachers, teaching young English as a Foreign Language learners in 3 countries. The participants were purposively chosen after obtaining written and oral consent from them. A structured questionnaire and semi-structured interview questions were instruments for data collection. Reliability and validity checks were carried out before administering the questionnaire. After analysis, a notable finding was that African immigrant teachers felt unaccepted by the host communities and this made it difficult for the English as a Second Language learners to listen to classroom instructions given by these immigrant teachers. Again, the parents of these learners find it difficult to accept African immigrant teachers teaching their children as they deemed them incompetent to teach them. Other findings of the study were vital in making pedagogical conclusions on racial discrimination issues encountered by African immigrant English as a Second Language teachers. The ways forward for an all-inclusive educational system devoid of ethnic, religious, sexuality and racial issues were suggested.

scholarly journals Laulun sanoja lausumalla taitavaksi ääntäjäksi?

2018 ◽  
pp. 18-44
Author(s):  
Leena Maria Heikkola ◽  
Jenni Alisaari
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
The Future ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
Song Lyrics ◽  
Teaching Pronunciation

The aim of the study was to investigate how different teaching methods, singing, listening to songs and reciting song lyrics, affect the development of pronunciation of Finnish as a foreign language pronunciation. The second objective of the study was to investigate whether future classroom teachers and future Finnish as a second language teachers evaluate the strength of foreign accent differently. The results indicate that reciting song lyrics is the most beneficial for the development of pronunciation. This teaching method is especially useful for beginners’ level language learners. The future class teachers gave stricter evaluations of foreign accent than the future Finnish as a second language teachers. Based on the results of the study, it could be argued that reciting song lyrics could be used for teaching pronunciation. Further, the results support previous findings that more experienced listeners give milder evaluations than more unexperienced. Thus, it would be valuable for future teachers to gain experience in listening diverse accents.

scholarly journals Y TÚ, ¿POR QUÉ VAS A CLASE? EXAMEN DE LA MOTIVACIÓN DE ESTUDIANTES DE INGLÉS EN LA UNIVERSIDAD ESPAÑOLA.

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 541
Author(s):  
Alba Gutiérrez Martínez ◽  
José Antonio Del Barrio Del Campo
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Motivation Factors ◽  
Learning Success ◽  
Language Learning Motivation ◽  
Second Language Teachers

Abstract:WHY DO YOU GO TO CLASS? A STUDY ABOUT ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING MOTIVATION FACTORS OF STUDENTS IN A SPANISH UNIVERSITY.Research on Second Language Acquisition has stand out the importance of students’ motivation as a crucial individual variable in the learning success (Gardner 2001, 2010, Dörnyei y Ushioda 2011, for instance). The present study reports on motivation factors of a group of English as a Foreign Language students (EFL) from the University of Cantabria. Data was collected through questionnaires and has important pedagogical implications because understanding motivation is an important factor not only for our students but also for parents, instructors and editorials (Babaae, 2012). Moreover, Europe is moving into a multilingual society that requires second language teachers not simply to teach English, French or German but to develop a multilingual and multicultural conscience on students (Lorenzo, Trujillo & Vez, 2011). This data can shed light to the issue by explaining what motivates our students.KEY WORDS: MOTIVATION, SECOND LANGUAGE MOTIVATION, ENGLISH TEACHING, FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNINGResumen:Gran parte de la investigación en la adquisición de segundas lenguas ha resaltado el papel de la motivación del alumnado como una importante variable individual para el éxito del aprendizaje (Gardner 2001, 2010, Dörnyei y Ushioda 2011, por ejemplo). El presente estudio reporta los factores de motivación de un grupo de alumnos y alumnas de inglés de la Universidad de Cantabria relacionados con su nivel, edad y sexo. Los resultados han sido recogidos a través de cuestionarios y tienen una gran importancia pedagógica ya que conocer la motivación tiene un papel crucial no solo para nuestro alumnado, sino también para padres y madres, profesorado y editoriales (Babaae, 2012). Además, no hay que olvidar que, con los cambios que nos están llevando hacia una sociedad plurilingüe, el profesorado debe ampliar sus competencias docentes y dejar, por tanto, de enseñar solo inglés, francés o alemán, para pasar a desarrollar una conciencia plurilingüe y multicultural en su alumnado (Lorenzo, Trujillo & Vez, 2011). Estos datos pueden contribuir en gran medida a ello arrojando luz sobre qué motiva a nuestros estudiantes.PALABRAS CLAVE: MOTIVACIÓN, MOTIVACIÓN EN SEGUNDAS LENGUAS, ENSEÑANZA DE INGLÉS, APRENDIZAJE DE SEGUNDAS LENGUAS

scholarly journals Parameters Inducing Motivational Surges in Second Language Learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zana Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
New Information ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
Novel Concept

Motivational surges in language learning occur when a number of personal and contextual parameters come together to induce intense and long-term motivational experiences. In the second language learning literature, this phenomenon is known as the directed motivational current (Dörnyei, Muir, & Ibrahim, 2014). As a novel concept in the field, little is known about what might induce this extraordinary motivational surge. The current study empirically examined the parameters of nine participants who provided accounts of the conditions around the initial stages of their motivational currents. The qualitative analysis found that five factors triggered the motivational currents in the participants: emergent opportunities, negative emotion, moments of realization/awakening, new information, and meeting others who shared the goal. The study also revealed two main conditions necessary for a DMC to begin: goal/ambitions and perceived feasibility. The final section of this paper presents practical implications of the current findings in relation to how second language teachers and educators might benefit from the findings to help incite motivational surges in their language learners.

scholarly journals The Tourism Students’ Awareness of Communicative Competence in an English as a Foreign Language Context

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 184
Author(s):  
Ercilia Loera Anchondo
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Ciudad Juarez ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Context

The present research aimed to find out the students’ awareness towards the concept of communicative competence and to discover if exposure serves as a tool in the development of the latter. Applying a mixed-method research design, quantitative and qualitative data were gathered with three different instruments: a face-to-face questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and a structured observation. The subjects consisted of forty-six English as a Foreign Language learners in the intermediate and advanced levels in the Tourism major at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez. Eleven questions were designed to find out the students’ awareness on communicative competence and its components. The interview was based on the elements of communicative competence and the activities related to exposure to the target language. The observation considered details in regards to the students’ performance in the linguistic and pragmatic components of communicative competence. Results indicated that participants are aware of the concept under study and its components. Their answers to the interview and their performance in the observation proposed that exposure to the target language have been used towards the development of certain elements in their communicative competence. Recommendations derived from the present study include making students comprehend what the acquisition of a communicative competence encompasses, which is to manage the target language through the use of the four skills. Secondly, it is of great importance to promote in students the habit of practicing the target language outside the classroom. Finally, it is necessary to pay attention to phonological features such as word stress, pitch, and intonation to improve pronunciation.

scholarly journals Reflecting on the Japan-Chile Task-Based Telecollaboration Project for Beginner-Level Learners

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 175
Author(s):  
B. Greg Dunne
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Collaboration Project

Using O’Dowd and Ritter’s (2006) Inventory of Reasons for Failed Communication in Telecollaborative Projects as a barometer, this article details the considerations and procedures followed in a task-based, asynchronous email tele-collaboration project between EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners in Japan and Chile. In a climate where current research surrounding telecollaboration continues to gravitate toward the dual foci of intercultural communicative competence and multimodal technology, this article exemplifies how the adoption of a task-based framework can greatly assist the induction of beginner-level EFL students into a telecollaborative learning environment. It also encourages EFL and ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers throughout the world to seek task designs that will help them do the same. The project experienced its share of logistical and technical challenges but by adopting the currently unconventional stance of designing tasks that highlight individual identity and downplay cultural identity the project appeared to minimize intercultural tension, unmanageable levels of incomprehensibility and inability to arrive at task outcomes.Utilisant l’article de O’Dowd et Ritter (2006) Inventory of Reasons for Failed Communication in Telecollaborative Projects comme baromètre, cet article décrit en détail les considérations et les procédures d’un projet de télécollaboration asynchrone, par courriel et basé sur les tâches entre des apprenants d’anglais langue étrangère (ALE) au Japon et au Chili. Dans le climat actuel où la recherche portant sur la télécollaboration continue à se tourner vers la compétence communicative interculturelle et la technologie multimodale, cet article démontre les bienfaits significatifs d’adopter un cadre basé sur les tâches pour accueillir les élèves débutants en ALE dans un milieu d’apprentissage télécollaboratif. L’article encourage également les enseignants d’ALE et d’ALS partout au monde à rechercher des tâches qui les aideront à en faire autant. Le projet a connu sa part de défis logistiques et techniques, mais en adoptant la position originale de concevoir des tâches qui soulignent l’identité individuelle et diminuent l’identité culturelle, il semble avoir minimisé la tension interculturelle, l’incompréhensibilité et l’incapacité à arriver aux résultats voulus.

The Role of Technology Acceptance Model in Constructing Unbounded Learning Environments for Second Language Learners

2021 ◽  
pp. 282-298
Author(s):  
Nurdan Kavaklı ◽  
Rabia Ölmez
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Technology Acceptance Model ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
Acceptance Model

This chapter provides a foundation as to why second language teaching and learning as a discipline should be refocused with caution in the world of technology, what sort of theoretical and practical implications should be in place for second language teachers to employ in unbounded learning environments, what the roles of technology acceptance model (TAM) in shaping unbounded language learning environments for second language teachers and learners are, in what ways it can be possible to provide an ecological perspective on learning to utilize web-based technologies for second language learners, which is basically different from traditional learning models. More specifically, this chapter takes an informed look at the significance of teachers' technology acceptance in constructing unbounded learning environments to teach a second language.

Foreign and second language anxiety

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine K. Horwitz
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Anxiety State ◽  
Unique Form ◽  
The Relationship

The possibility that anxiety interferes with language learning has long interested scholars, language teachers, and language learners themselves. It is intuitive that anxiety would inhibit the learning and/or production of a second language (L2). The important term in the last sentence is ‘anxiety’. The concept of anxiety is itself multi-faceted, and psychologists have differentiated a number of types of anxiety including trait anxiety, state anxiety, achievement anxiety, and facilitative-debilitative anxiety. With such a wide variety of anxiety-types, it is not surprising that early studies on the relationship between ‘anxiety’ and achievement provided mixed and confusing results, and Scovel (1978 – this timeline) rightly noted that anxiety is ‘not a simple, unitary construct that can be comfortably quantified into ‘high’ or ‘low’ amounts’ (p. 137). Scovel did not, however, anticipate the identification in the mid-1980s of a unique form of anxiety that some people experience in response to learning and/or using an L2. Typically referred to as language anxiety or foreign language anxiety (FLA), this anxiety is categorized as a situation-specific anxiety, similar in type to other familiar manifestations of anxiety such as stage fright or test anxiety.

scholarly journals I Meant to Say That: How Adult Language Learners Construct Positive Identities Through Nonstandard Language Use

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Szabo
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Adult Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of this article is to raise awareness in L2 education about the relationship between second-language learners' linguistic choices in the L2 and their identities. The author reviews empirical research and language-learning narratives that show that L2 learners may purposely use nonstandard L2 forms. Using a poststructuralist framework to conceptualize identity, the author argues that these second-language learners use nonstandard language in the L2 in order to create positive identities, and in some cases to resist social inequalities, in the L2 community. The implications of this research for second-language teachers are discussed and suggestions for classroom practice are offered.

Second language teachers’ reasons for doing/not doing action research in their classrooms

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3-2019) ◽  
pp. 255-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahid Rahmani Doqaruni ◽  
Behzad Ghonsooly ◽  
Reza Pishghadam
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Mixed Methods Design ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
Language Context

This study aims to explore the extent to which Iranian teachers do research, and their reasons for doing so in the English as a foreign language context, with a special emphasis on action research (AR). The present study used a mixed methods design, i.e. questionnaire and interview, to gain a richer understanding of the teachers’ reasons for doing AR. The participants were 65 English teachers from 5 private English language teaching institutions. Despite the fact that many teachers in the present study considered AR useful in solving their immediate teaching problems and improving their teaching practices, the analysis of the teachers’ reasons showed that there are serious barriers in the way of conducting AR which are in nature practical (lack of time), logistic (not having enough knowledge and support), and attitudinal (teachers believe that their job is only to teach).

scholarly journals Vocabulary Teaching Based on Semantic-Field

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Cao Wangru
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Acquisition Strategies ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Communicative Teaching

<p>Vocabulary is an indispensable part of language and it is of vital importance for second language learners. Wilkins (1972) points out: “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”. Vocabulary teaching has experienced several stages characterized by grammatical-translation method, audio-lingual method and communicative teaching method before obtaining great attention from second language teachers and researchers finally.</p><p>This study states four proposals for the improvement of vocabulary teaching, which refer that: (1) apply componential analysis to vocabulary teaching; (2) foster learners’ awareness of the difference between English and Chinese; (3) introduce lexical phrases; (4) develop effective word meaning acquisition strategies.</p>

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