scholarly journals Cross-Cultural Pragmatics and Its challenges in EFL context

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dian Rianita

Preprint-The target of teaching and learning a foreign language, like English, is customary to give the learners knowledge in using the target language for communication in an appropriate way. Because of that, it is not enough to teach the learners merely grammar skills, but they have to be provided with the cross-cultural competence in using the target language. Linguists believe that mastering high-level skills in grammar does not mean the learners have the equal pragmatic competence. Thus, the instruction concerning pragmatics is compulsory in term of rising a cross-cultural awareness. This paper discusses the intercultural pragmatics and its importance in second language acquisition. The discussion covers the challenges faced by the learners in becoming proficient at using English as their target language

English Today ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-42
Author(s):  
Syeda Farzana Bukhari ◽  
Xiaoguang Cheng

English is used by more than one and a half billion people as a first, second or foreign language for communication purposes (Strevens, 1992). In this context, the purpose of teaching English has shifted from mastery of the grammatical rules to the ability to use the target language for successful communication. Consequently, the communication aspect of teaching and learning English has become the key issue in the domain of second language acquisition (Yashima, 2002: 54). Therefore, the issue of whether the learners will communicate in English when they have the chance to do so and to what extent they are willing to communicate gain importance. These questions have led to the emergence of an important construct in the field of L2 instruction, i.e. willingness to communicate (hereafter, WTC), which is defined as a learner's ‘readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using a L2’ (MacIntyre et al., 1998: 547). MacIntyre and his associates even proposed that WTC in L2 should be conceptualized as ‘the primary goal’ of language instruction (MacIntyre et al., 1998: 545). This paper explores the important concept of WTC by looking into Pakistani students' WTC in Canada.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Gholam Reza Parvizi ◽  
Jafar Mashayekh ◽  
Yasser Saremi

It has been known that teaching and learning a language in an ESL context is by far easier than teaching and learning it in an EFL context and that learning a language must take place in a social context. Foreign language milieus are those in which students do not have enough opportunities for communication in the target language beyond their classroom settings whereas in second language contexts, the target language is readily available out there (Brown, 2001). Given the important role that language learning resources could potentially play in EFL contexts, in the present study an attempt is made to shed light on the environmental factors and resources which Iranian language learners rely on and to explore the possible resources which exist around them and of which not all of them are necessarily aware. To this end, a group of students studying in Iran Language Institute in Shiraz was chosen. The data of the study were gathered through a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The findings suggested that they rely on very few resources outside the classroom setting. In addition, it was revealed that in an EFL context, such as Iran, there is a range of resources which foreign language learners could rely on and which could present them with opportunities in all four language skills. 


2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882199034
Author(s):  
Amanda Brown

Macaro has stated that the choice between a monolingual, immersive, target language-only pedagogy versus a non-immersive, multilingual pedagogy is ‘probably the most fundamental question facing second language acquisition (SLA) researchers, language teachers, and policymakers’. Recognizing that prior empirical work on monolingual versus multilingual approaches has primarily been (1) descriptive, (2) in the context of English as a second or foreign language, and (3) very short term, often with one brief treatment, this intervention study examines the effectiveness of use of the L1/non-target language in the L2 classroom in a quasi-experimental, 10-week study examining French, a commonly learned foreign language, and Arabic, a less commonly learned foreign language, at beginning levels of proficiency in a community-based setting with 25 hours of instruction. Groups experiencing multilingual instruction outperformed those experiencing monolingual instruction in both languages with different instructors at almost all time periods and in almost all skill areas. Moderate to large effect sizes were found in inferential analyses of aggregated weekly progress quiz scores and scores in writing and vocabulary, and statistically significant differences between groups in Arabic were obtained in analyses of aggregated quiz scores overall and scores for writing. These findings support theoretical position statements and a growing body of empirical research arguing for the potential benefits of inclusion of non-target languages in second language teaching and learning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10346
Author(s):  
Ben Bardis ◽  
Fatoş Silman ◽  
Behbood Mohammadzadeh

A review of literature on pragmatic competence reveals that less attention is given to the enrichment of cross-cultural pragmatic awareness in the classroom. The study focuses on the need to survey and discuss communicative dynamics in classroom situations and the importance of enhancing cross-cultural pragmatic competence in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context. We believe that enhancing students’ cross-cultural pragmatic competence will provide students with a sustainable learning environment, which is crucial for the quality of education. The investigation involves a mixed approach of quantitative and qualitative methods by using a questionnaire for EFL students and interview guide questions for both EFL students and teachers. For quantitative analysis, the participants involved in this research include 200 EFL students of different nationalities, and for the qualitative analysis, the participants include 10 teachers and 20 EFL students in a university in North Cyprus. The study’s findings indicate that students lack cross-cultural pragmatic knowledge and must be provided with classroom activities for social interaction and to develop explicit and implicit communicative competencies in EFL as a target language. Findings further reveal that EFL students are not endowed with cross-cultural pragmatic competence by the EFL teachers who provide little attention to pragmatic knowledge and classroom activities in the EFL context.


Author(s):  
Hapsari Dwi Kartika

This paper explains why learner autonomy is taken into account in language learning where English is a foreign language for the learners particularly in Indonesia. The definition of learner autonomy and its advantages to language learner in EFL contexts will be described within this paper. Many scholars from psychological education and English teaching and learning had proved that language learning can be improved by certain strategy. They revealed the correlation between the autonomous learning with students’ success in learning with different aspect. The definition of autonomy is similar to many different words such as self-regulated and self-determined. Finally, the writer suggests how teacher can promote the autonomous learning atmosphere in the classroom.Keywords: strategy, promoting autonomy, EFL context, Indonesia


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 2245-2249
Author(s):  
Suzana Ejupi ◽  
Lindita Skenderi

Working with English learners for many years, gives you the opportunity to encounter linguistic obstacles that they face while learning English language as a foreign language. Additionally, teaching for 13 years and observing the learning process, it enables you to recognize the students’ needs and at the same time, detect linguistic mistakes that they make, while practicing the target language. During my experience as a teacher, in terms of teaching and learning verbs in general and its grammatical categories in specific, it is noticed that Albanian learners find it relatively difficult the correct use of verbs in context and even more confusing the equivalent use of verbs in Albanian. Since verbs present an important part of speech, this study aims to investigate several differences and similarities between grammatical categories of verbs in English and Albanian. As a result, the Albanian learners of English language will be able to identify some of the major differences and similarities between the grammatical categories of verbs in English and Albanian; overcome the usual mistakes; gain the necessary knowledge regarding verbs and use them properly in English and Albanian.


IIUC Studies ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Md Mohib Ullah

With the progress of time, the aim of teaching and learning English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) changed, and so did the approaches and methods in language teaching. Different methods and approaches emerged and were replaced, influenced or contributed to the emergence of new methods. It is widely acknowledged that one umbrella approach to language teaching that has become the accepted "norm" in this field is the Communicative Language Teaching Approach. This study deals with the theories and practices of CLT at the Higher Secondary level in Bangladesh. Realizing the significance of CLT, The Ministry of Education in Bangladesh made groundbreaking attempts to implement CLT in the new context and also brought some changes in the curriculum in 1990s. Along with attempting to provide a real picture of how CLT is practiced and utilized in an ESL/EFL context, this study focuses on the Practice of CLT approach in Bangladesh. Moreover, this study intends to propose some propositions to be implemented for better practice of CLT in ESL/EFL contexts.IIUC Studies Vol.12 December 2015: 71-86


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Larssen ◽  
Ion Drew

This study aims to explore the influence of Lesson Study on the teaching of a 2nd grade English as a foreign language (EFL) picture book-based lesson conducted by a group of student teachers during teaching practice in Norway. Lesson Study is an investigative educational method originating in Japan. A group of teachers plan a research lesson which one of them teaches and the others observe, their attention focussing on a few selected pupils. The lesson is reviewed, re-planned and re-taught to a different class. The data presented here was collected through video-recordings of two lessons (a lesson taught and the same lesson re-planned and re-taught) and their corresponding pre-, mid-and post-supervision sessions. Lesson Study appeared to have had an influence on the activities, especially the type and number of questions being asked by the teacher, the timing of activities, and the use of the target language. It also appeared to have had an influence on the attitudes of both the mentors and students to using picture books with young EFL learners. Lesson Study has previously been little used and researched in foreign language teaching. This study demonstrates its potential to enhance teaching and learning in that context.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Arini Sabrina

2013 Curriculum now has been implemented so widely in Indonesia, especially in English teaching and learning process. It delineates some focal points like student-centred active learning and contextual teaching which hopefully brings the students to learn more effectively. Furthermore, there is an apparent unanimity that the curriculum may lead the meaningfulness of learning. In relation to English teaching approach, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is likened to the latest curriculum. CLT emphasises on the context and authenticity. Thus, this approach should go along with 2013 Curriculum. This study aims at finding out the implementation of CLT in line with the curriculum, since many previous studies alert some problems happening while CLT is applied not in ESL as its birthplace, yet in EFL context. In fact, Indonesia perceives English as foreign language. But, there are still few studies related to this approach. After observation and document tracking are conducted, it is concluded that Scientific Approach and Communicative Language Teaching Approach are able to blend to create more effective communicative learning.


Author(s):  
Laily Maulida Septiana Harti ◽  

The ever-growing ideology of English as global language has brought significant effect to education. Moving from the want to learn the language, English literacy has become the need. Learning English thus becomes an urge, especially in English as Foreign Language (EFL) context. Teaching English needs to go over teaching the elements of the language itself, but more to encouraging learners to be able to negotiate meaning in their purposeful interaction. In EFL teaching and learning setting, various studies focusing on the pedagogy have been conducted. This study is, indeed, leading to the pedagogy of English, focusing on the resources that teachers can utilize to create a conducive environment for learning and building the students’ reservoir. In addition, the concept of space in educational setting has given a valuable contribution to carry out pedagogical approach multimodally. This paper examines the employment of multimodal classroom in an EFL university context in Indonesia to develop students’ reservoir of English. How multimodality and the use of technology provide affordances and possible constraints to the teaching and learning process is as well presented according to published researches on the same field of study.


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