An exploration of target L2 morphemes in the oral production of young EFL learners in Croatia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena O'Reilly ◽  
Eva Jakupčević

Although the second language (L2) acquisition of morphology by late L2 learners has been a popular research area over the past decades, comparatively little is known about the acquisition and development of morphology in children who learn English as a foreign language (EFL). Therefore, the current study presents the findings from a longitudinal oral production study with 9/10-year-old L1 Croatian EFL students who were followed up at the age of 11/12. Our results are largely in line with the limited research so far in this area: young EFL learners have few issues using the be copula and, eventually, the irregular past simple forms, but had considerable problems with accurately supplying the 3rd person singular -s at both data collection points. We also observed a be + base form structure, especially at the earlier stage, which appears to be an emergent past simple construction.

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.


Author(s):  
Xiaopeng Zhang ◽  
Baoshan Zhao ◽  
Wenwen Li

Abstract This study examined n-gram use in oral production by Chinese college-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners at four distinct proficiency levels. Thirty indices regarding range, frequency, and association strength of bi- and tri-grams obtained from retelling and monologic samples were analyzed. Results suggest that, i) the four proficiency levels differed in measures for frequency and association strength of bi- and tri-grams, ii) academic bi- and tri-gram proportions and association strength (captured by MI- and t-scores) were predictive of EFL speaking proficiency for both the retelling and monologic samples but the effects were small, and iii) EFL learners used more well-attested bi- and tri-grams in monologues than in retelling, demonstrating that higher rated samples tended to contain more strongly-associated bi- and tri-grams, a greater proportion of frequent attested academic tri-grams, and that EFL n-gram use was task-sensitive. These findings help enrich our understanding on EFL development of multi-word sequences and have potentially useful implications for EFL pedagogy.


Author(s):  
Azizah Maulina Erzad

Listening comprehension becomes one of the most difficult skills for most of English learners especially EFL learners. As a foreign language, English is rarely used in communication by EFL learners in their daily life. Therefore, the learners or students always face some difficulties/problems in listening comprehension. It can be seen from the results of their tests. The purpose of this study is to investigate the problems occur in listening class of EFL students at IAIN Kudus and the solutions to overcome those problems. The EFL students in this study refer to the English Education Department students of IAIN Kudus. The participants of this study are the second semester of English Education Department students. This study is a qualitative research. Observation, interview and documentation were conducted to collect the data. By conducting this study, several problems in listening comprehension can be revealed. The listening problems encountered by the EFL students are the pronunciation (accents), speedy delivery and length of the listening, physical conditions, unfamiliar vocabularies and terminologies, and limited facility for listening. Some actions should be done to overcome these obstacles occurred during listening process. The solutions to overcome the problems are students should be focus, practice more in listening English, memorize vocabularies, and prepare a language laboratory.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Norizan Abdul Razak ◽  
Amr Abdullatif Yassin ◽  
Tengku Nor Rizan Bt Tengku Mohamad Maasum

This study aimed to investigate the gender differences in terms of anxiety among Yemeni university EFL learners. It also aimed to investigate the correlation between the level of anxiety and the academic achievement of the students. The participants of this study were 155 students chosen from the population through stratified random sampling. The participants are selected from English Department, Faculty of Arts, Ibb University, Yemen. The data was collected by using a questionnaire adopted from Yassin (2015), and the data was analysed by using 22nd version of the SPSS. The data of the first question was analysed by using T-test and the result of the analysis showed that the females experienced higher level of anxiety than male students, but the difference between both groups is not significant. The second question was analysed by using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and the result showed that there is not significant correlation between the level of anxiety and the academic achievement of the students.


Author(s):  
Hiroya Tanaka ◽  
Akio Ohnishi ◽  
Ken Urano ◽  
Shinya Ozawa ◽  
Daisuke Nakanishi

This paper reports on the learning framework integrating a web e-portfolio and two mobile applications. It also reports on a preliminary study on how learners used different systems or materials to study for vocabulary tests in a particular general English course at a Japanese university, and how they recognized the usefulness of each system and material. Participants were 66 Japanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students from two intact classes who completed a questionnaire survey at the end of the course. The results of the survey revealed that, although the participants generally evaluated the usefulness of the different systems and materials in a similar way, one of the mobile applications was most often used to prepare for the in-class vocabulary tests followed by the e-portfolio and the wordlist.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 4117
Author(s):  
Ömer Gökhan Ulum

Whether we should teach culture or not when we teach English as a Foreign Language has been great concern for a long time. Which one should be contained in EFL course books? The culture of the target language or the own culture of EFL learners? Regarding this issue, many researchers have a diversity of opinions, however; this study was conducted having resource to descriptive research design, in that it aims to understand the perspectives of the Syrian EFL students on cultural elements in their course books. A questionnaire and an interview,which were administered to 103 Syrian EFL students,were used in order to gather the required data. SPSS(v20.0), aStatistical Program for Social Sciences was employed in order to analyze the collected data. As a result of the findings, it was found out that Syrian EFL students had generally positive perspectives on the cultural elements of the target language contained in their course books


2021 ◽  
pp. 173-191
Author(s):  
Marta Segura ◽  
Helena Roquet ◽  
Carmen Pérez-Vidal

In an attempt to explore the effects of different kinds of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning contexts, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) have been at the centre of FL acquisition research over the past decade. Studies have focused on the features and gains this setting brings, whether content is learnt at the same level of success as when taught in the learners’ L1, and whether that L1 is negatively affected by CLIL. However, to our knowledge, very little attention has been brought to how the seniority of the programme affects learner progress in the target language. This study aims to fill such a gap in the understanding that the programme will have developed and improved in terms of quality of exposure and interaction, and that learners’ EFL performance will be higher. To do that, we measured the efficacy of a long-standing CLIL programme in Barcelona twelve years after it was launched and examined the reading, writing, and lexico-grammatical abilities of CLIL EFL learners aged 8, 11, and 14 compared with results obtained by learners measured at the onset of the programme in 2005. The results showed that the quality of the programme has increased over the last decade, guaranteeing a higher level of EFL student proficiency when raw scores are considered, but not in terms of linguistic gains, in which only improvement in older students’ grammar and reading skills can be observed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Khaled Aldossary

This study aimed to investigate the attitudes of female Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) learners towards the current practices and the challenges of teacher feedback. Utilizing a quantitative approach, 87 female Saudi EFL students completed a questionnaire about their experience with teacher feedback and the problems they encountered with this during the semester. The study aimed to explore two main aspects, including the students’ attitudes towards the current practices of teacher feedback and the challenges encountered, and the students’ suggestions for improving teacher feedback practices. The study outcomes revealed that the students receive direct and positive feedback. Additionally, the students perceived the teachers’ feedback to be useful and of good quality. The findings also indicated that students expect and prefer detailed feedback on their written tasks. However, the participants reported some concerns regarding the punctuality of teacher feedback and provided suggestions to improve such practices. The study also presents the limitations and recommendations for future research.


Author(s):  
Elias Bensalem

The current study was motivated by recent interest in the effect of positive and negative emotions in the context of foreign language learning resulting from the rise of the positive psychology movement (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2016; MacIntyre & Mercer, 2014). It examines the construct of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and its relationship with foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) among a group of 487 English as a foreign language (EFL) students (340 females, 147 males) enrolled in public universities in Saudi Arabia. A measure of FLE based on Likert scale ratings of ten items (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014), and a measure of FLCA based on eight items extracted from the FLCAS (Horwitz et al., 1986) were used. Male and female students had the same levels of FLE and FLCA. Correlation analysis showed that the relationship between students’ FLE and FLCA was significantly negative. Qualitative analysis of the participants’ learning experiences revealed the causes of FLCA and FLE among Saudi EFL learners.


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