scholarly journals Investigating the Relationship between Test-Taking Anxiety and Test-Takers’ Performance on the IELTS Test

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dang Arif Hartono
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Testing System ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Test Taking ◽  
The Relationship

Although there is a growing body of research indicating that anxiety relates to foreign language learning, the correlation between anxiety and learners’ performance on a high-stakes testing context has not been fully explored. To date, studies investigating the relationship between test-taking anxiety and test-takers’ performance are not only limited in number, but also partial in nature as most of them only looked at one aspect of test-takers performance, i.e. listening, speaking, or writing performance only. This study is aimed at investigating the relationship between test-taking anxiety and test-takers’ performance with a holistic view, taking into account the test-takers’ performance on the listening, reading, speaking, and writing modules of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS™) test. The participants in this study were 15 government officials taking an IELTS test preparation program. Two instruments were utilized in this study: (1) a set of test-taking anxiety questionnaire items to measure the level of anxiety and, (2) the official IELTS™ test to measure test-takers’ performance. The results indicated that there was a weak to moderate correlation between test-taking anxiety and the test-takers’ performance across different modules of the IELTS test. These results corroborate the findings from previous studies. 

scholarly journals Listening Skill Requires a Further Look into Second/Foreign Language Learning

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Bozorgian
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Listening Skill ◽  
Reading History

Current English-as-a-second and foreign-language (ESL/EFL) research has encouraged to treat each communicative macroskill separately due to space constraint, but the interrelationship among these skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) is not paid due attention. This study attempts to examine first the existing relationship among the four dominant skills, second the potential impact of reading background on the overall language proficiency, and finally the relationship between listening and overall language proficiency as listening is considered an overlooked/passive skill in the pedagogy of the second/foreign language classroom. However, the literature in language learning has revealed that listening skill has salient importance in both first and second language learning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of each of four skills in EFL learning and their existing interrelationships in an EFL setting. The outcome of 701 Iranian applicants undertaking International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in Tehran demonstrates that all communicative macroskills have varied correlations from moderate (reading and writing) to high (listening and reading). The findings also show that the applicants’ reading history assisted them in better performing at high stakes tests, and what is more, listening skill was strongly correlated with the overall language proficiency.

scholarly journals The Relationship between English Pronunciation Self-Concept and English Learning

2015 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 54-59
Author(s):  
Hossein Talebzadeh ◽  
Leila Gholami
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Global English ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Iranian Context ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
The Relationship

English pronunciation self-concept refers to self-evaluation of a person’s English pronunciation proficiency which is shaped during the time spent for pronunciation learning (Gimson, 1980). The present paper aims at investigating the possible correlation between English pronunciation self-concept and English language learning. Furthermore, the relationship between global English self-concept and classroom anxieties are examined in the Iranian context. To this end, Xiuquan zhu’s (2005) questionnaire was administrated to the total of 100 English as a foreign language (EFL) students. Moreover, to assess students general English performance and their pronunciation proficiency two kinds of tests were taken by the participants. Descriptive statistics was used to turn the raw data to the interpretable forms. The analysis revealed statistically significant correlation between English pronunciation self-concept and global English self-concept with in turn leads to efficient English language performance. However, negative correlation is obtained regarding English classroom anxiety and English pronunciation self-concept. Because of facilitating role of pronunciation self-concept in English language acquisition, the findings of the present study suggest that due attention should be paid on the English pronunciation self-concept in foreign language learning teaching-learning environments

scholarly journals Analyzing the Relationship of English Language Learning Anxiety and English Language Learning Strategy Use Among English Major Undergraduates in Shi Jiazhuang, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 1569-1575
Author(s):  
Wang Fei
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Learning Anxiety ◽  
Language Learning Strategy ◽  
English Major ◽  
Language Learning Anxiety ◽  
The Relationship

The study investigated the general state of foreign language learning anxiety and the relationship between foreign language learning anxiety and foreign language learning strategy among English major college students in Shi Jiazhuang, China. The quantitative research method was adopted in this study. The instruments were Foreign Language Class Anxiety Scale and Strategy Inventory Language Learning. The subjects were 400 English major students from Shi Jiazhuang College. The results showed that there exists a negative relationship between foreign language learning anxiety and the use of foreign language learning strategy. According to the findings of this study, it is necessary to reduce learners’ foreign language learning anxiety so as to apply more types of foreign language learning strategies efficiently, especially for those foreign language learners with high-level learning anxiety. Some suggestions were put forward for pedagogical implications, which will make Chinese learners be more successful during the process for foreign language acquisition.

scholarly journals English language assessment in Bangladesh today: principles, practices, and problems

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Shaiful Islam ◽  
Md Kamrul Hasan ◽  
Shahin Sultana ◽  
Abdul Karim ◽  
Mohammad Mosiur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Assessment Methods ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
English Language Learning ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Goals And Objectives

AbstractThe achievement of curriculum goals and objectives, to a large extent, depends on how assessment methods are designed, implemented, monitored, and evaluated. English language learning in Bangladesh has miserably failed, and ineffective assessment methods may be largely attributed to this failure. This paper attempts to address various aspects and issues of English language assessment in Bangladesh in relation to English language learning as a curricular reform and the education policy of the country. The analysis revealed that there was always a gap between the principles of assessment embedded into the curriculum and the actual assessment practices. Furthermore, heavily hard hit by the high-stakes testing, the curriculum, the learners, and the instructors need to be liberated from this vicious policy. The review concluded with a recommendation that teachers need to develop assessment literacy through teacher education programs that are essential to helping teachers to acquire knowledge, skills, professionalism, and assessment expertise.

Machine Translation for EFL

Relay Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 228-235
Author(s):  
Paul J. Moore ◽  
Phil Murphy ◽  
Luann Pascucci ◽  
Scott Sustenance
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Machine Translation ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Technical Developments ◽  
English Language Institute ◽  
Changing Role

This paper reports on an ongoing study into the affordances of free online machine translation for students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) at the tertiary level in Japan. The researchers are currently collecting data from a questionnaire, task performance, and interviews with 10-15 EFL learners in an English Language Institute in a university in Japan. The paper provides some background on the changing role of translation in language learning theory and pedagogy, before focusing literature related to technical developments in machine translation technology, and its application to foreign language learning. An overview of the research methodology is provided, along with some insights into potential findings. Findings will be presented in subsequent publications.

The emergence of a new phonological feature in Pakistan English

English Today ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Nasir A. Syed ◽  
Shah Bibi
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
Phonological Feature ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
Country Specific ◽  
Learning English

English is used as a lingua franca in most parts of the world (Ozaki, 2011). However, problems and issues related to learning English are country specific (Nagamine, 2011), because most of the difficulties in foreign language learning arise from L1 interference (Flege, 1995). Since this study focuses on acoustic analysis of a phonological feature of Pakistan English (PakE), we outline the historical background of the issue very briefly. Pakistan is a linguistically rich country. More than 70 languages are spoken in Pakistan (Rahman, 1996). Saraiki, Balochi, Sindhi, Punjabi and Pashto are the major indigenous languages of the country. More than 90% of the total population speaks these languages. Pakistan came into being in 1947. It inherited English as a language of education, law, the judiciary and media from the British colonial masters. The British rulers also used the English language in India for official correspondence. Therefore, English became a very effective tool and symbol of power in the subcontinent. As a result, people of the subcontinent feel pride in learning English. Although the colonial period has ended and the English rulers have departed to their homeland, English still remains the language of ruling elite in Pakistan and India.

Engaging Exam-Oriented Students in Communicative Language Teaching by ‘Packaging’ Learning English Through Songs as Exam Practice

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822097854
Author(s):  
Kevin Wai-Ho Yung
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Secondary English ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
Teachers And Students

Literature has long been used as a tool for language teaching and learning. In the New Academic Structure in Hong Kong, it has become an important element in the senior secondary English language curriculum to promote communicative language teaching (CLT) with a process-oriented approach. However, as in many other English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts where high-stakes testing prevails, Hong Kong students are highly exam-oriented and expect teachers to teach to the test. Because there is no direct assessment on literature in the English language curriculum, many teachers find it challenging to balance CLT through literature and exam preparation. To address this issue, this article describes an innovation of teaching ESL through songs by ‘packaging’ it as exam practice to engage exam-oriented students in CLT. A series of activities derived from the song Seasons in the Sun was implemented in the ESL classrooms in a secondary school in Hong Kong. Based on the author’s observations and reflections informed by teachers’ and students’ comments, the students were first motivated, at least instrumentally, by the relevance of the activities to the listening paper in the public exam when they saw the similarities between the classroom tasks and past exam questions. Once the students felt motivated, they were more easily engaged in a variety of CLT activities, which encouraged the use of English for authentic and meaningful communication. This article offers pedagogical implications for ESL/EFL teachers to implement CLT through literature in exam-oriented contexts.

scholarly journals Foreign Language Learning Gamification Using Virtual Reality—A Systematic Review of Empirical Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 222
Author(s):  
Rafael Darque Pinto ◽  
Bruno Peixoto ◽  
Miguel Melo ◽  
Luciana Cabral ◽  
Maximino Bessa
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Traditional Approaches

Virtual reality has shown to have great potential as an educational tool when it comes to new learning methods. With the growth and dissemination of this technology, there is a massive opportunity for teachers to add this technology to their methods of teaching a second/foreign language, since students keep showing a growing interest in new technologies. This systematic review of empirical research aims at understanding whether the use of gaming strategies in virtual reality is beneficial for the learning of a second/foreign language or not. Results show that more than half of the articles proved that virtual reality technologies with gaming strategies can be used to learn a foreign language. It was also found that “learning” was the most evaluated dependent variable among the chosen records, augmented reality was the leading technology used, primary education and lower secondary was the most researched school stages, and the most used language to evaluate the use of gamified technology was by far the English language. Given the lack of directed investigation, it is recommended to use these technologies to support second language learning and not entirely replace traditional approaches. A research agenda is also proposed by the authors.

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