scholarly journals Strategies of Teaching Writing at Saudi Tertiary-Level Institutions: Reality and Expectations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Abkar Alkodimi ◽  
Arif Ahmed Mohammed Hassan Al-Ahdal
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Educational Aims ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teaching Of Writing ◽  
Pedagogical Changes

Teaching writing in English is a particularly daunting task for EFL teachers. Much of it concerns teaching accuracy in text production, development and thought expression which is usually not the teachers’ stated aim. Thus, teachers’ perceptions to the teaching of writing and the actual classroom practices need examination, which is the aim of this study, a prerequisite to recommending pedagogical changes to bridge the gap that exists between educational aims and outcomes so far as the teaching of writing to EFL learners in Saudi tertiary level educational institutions is concerned. The study applies a quantitative approach via a survey conducted with one hundred EFL teachers at Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMBSIU, henceforth), Qassim University and King Khaled University, Saudi Arabia. Results suggest that inadequate English resources and inefficient teaching methods are, in general, the main causes of poor writing skills. Further, the teachers perceive limited lexis, irregular sentences, and orthographical differences with the mother tongue as impediments in the learners’ ability to write well in English. The study concludes with some pertinent recommendations to remedy the situation.

scholarly journals Strategies of Teaching Writing at Saudi Tertiary-Level Institutions: Reality and Expectations

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 399-413
Author(s):  
Khaled Abkar Alkodimi ◽  
Arif Ahmed Mohammed Hassan Al-Ahdal
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Educational Aims ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teaching Of Writing ◽  
Pedagogical Changes

Teaching writing in English is a particularly daunting task for EFL teachers. Much of it concerns teaching accuracy in text production, development and thought expression which is usually not the teachers’ stated aim. Thus, teachers’ perceptions to the teaching of writing and the actual classroom practices need examination, which is the aim of this study, a prerequisite to recommending pedagogical changes to bridge the gap that exists between educational aims and outcomes so far as the teaching of writing to EFL learners in Saudi tertiary level educational institutions is concerned. The study applies a quantitative approach via a survey conducted with one hundred EFL teachers at Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMBSIU, henceforth), Qassim University and King Khaled University, Saudi Arabia. Results suggest that inadequate English resources and inefficient teaching methods are, in general, the main causes of poor writing skills. Further, the teachers perceive limited lexis, irregular sentences, and orthographical differences with the mother tongue as impediments in the learners’ ability to write well in English. The study concludes with some pertinent recommendations to remedy the situation.

scholarly journals Exploring the Perceptions of Moroccan EFL Teachers Towards Task-Based Language Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-31
Author(s):  
Mohammed Mettar
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
English Language ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Level Of Use ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
High Level

Moroccan students do not have many opportunities to use English outside the classroom setting. The adoption of task-based language learning (TBLL) is deemed to be an appropriate language instructional method for the Moroccan EFL context. Hence, teachers are explicitly urged in the official Moroccan English language guidelines documents to adopt tasks in their teaching practices. However, no known empirical research has been conducted to investigate teachers’ perceptions and use of TBLL. To fill this gap, this study attempted to investigate high school EFL instructors’ familiarity with TBLL and their views on the use of tasks in their classrooms. An online survey provided quantitative data from 90 participants. Results showed that although Moroccan EFL teachers have a good understanding of the key concepts of this approach, their use of tasks is limited. Lack of task-based materials, large class sizes, and students’ use of their mother tongue to complete the task are identified as the main obstacles facing a high level of use of tasks in teachers’ classroom practices. Several implications for the successful integration of TBLL in the Moroccan EFL context are suggested at the end of the article.

scholarly journals Tourism Education at the Tertiary Level and Competitive Advantage: A Comparison between Thailand and Malaysia

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thavorn Thitthongkam
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Service Support ◽  
Level Of Satisfaction ◽  
Tourism Education ◽  
Tourism And Hospitality Industry ◽  
Tourism And Hospitality

Language plays an imperative role in business as a means and a source of power. It is particularly important in the tourism industry when international customers may be unable to communicate directly with service providers in the receiving country, and this has a direct effect on the level of satisfaction that they enjoy during their experience. To address this issue, countries attempt to various degrees to manage their labour markets so as to produce a number of graduates from secondary and tertiary level educational institutions commensurate with the demand from the sector. However, this is quite a young industry at the global level, and it is not clear to what extent the number and quality of such graduates with international language ability will be required. This paper studies the comparative extent of such education at the tertiary level of individuals in both Thailand and Malaysia. It aims to compare the number and variety of people being trained in the tourism and hospitality industry and the extent to which languages are being taught. Results show that there is something of a disconnection between the languages provided and the languages that tourists desire in terms of their mother tongue. Those tourists who can speak English or Chinese may receive service support in those languages, while those who cannot may be disappointed.

West Papuan Teachers’ Perceptions on Translanguaging Practices in EFL Classroom Interaction

ELT-Lectura ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-84
Author(s):  
Rahmawansyah Sahib ◽  
Najiba Nawing ◽  
Hamra Sari ◽  
Syamsir Bin Ukka
Keyword(s):  
Junior High School ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Material Transfer ◽  
The West ◽  
Local Language ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers

The belief that the West Papuan teachers applied translanguaging practice as strategy to enhance their students in ELT classroom. This study, investigated the West Papuan EFL teachers’ perceptions on translanguaging practices. It focused to explore the teachers’ knowledge and the teachers’ experience on translanguaging practice in EFL Classroom interaction in West Papuan. The participants of the study were three English language teachers (EFL) who work at state Islamic junior high school of Manokwari in West Papuan. The utterances of teachers’ interview were analyzed descriptive qualitatively using discourse analysis and the data gathered from classroom observations and semi-structured interviews were exposed to structural-coding analysis. The results showed that the EFL teachers have some perceptions about knowledge on translanguaging practice. There were translanguaging is a combination of Indonesian and English in the ELT Classroom, Translanguaging is a material transfer tool, Translanguaging is a safe and productive zone for students to do communication, Translanguaging is the moment for using mother tongue and local language in explaining material, Translanguaging is a strategy to improve and facilitate the understanding of material, Translanguaging is a strategy to enliven the classroom atmosphere. The EFL teachers also have experiences to apply translanguaging practice in ELT classroom. They used translanguaging to appreciate students in process of asking and answer the questions, to facilitate the transfer of material toward students, to assist the students in apply the target language, to respect the students’ questions that use the local language, and translanguaging as a challenge for teachers to master the local language of students.

scholarly journals Unravelling Teachers’ Beliefs about TPACK in Teaching Writing during the Covid-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 317-326
Author(s):  
Lailatun Nurul Aniq ◽  
Nur Arifah Drajati ◽  
Endang Fauziati
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Teaching Strategy ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Efl Teachers

The purpose of this research is to explore the teacher’s belief about TPACK in teaching writing during the Covid-19 pandemic era. It is in regards to content, technology, and pedagogy that in-service EFL teachers reflect appropriate technology integration and proper teaching strategy that support teaching writing during the Covid-19 pandemic era. This case study used semi-structured interviews and artefact analysis. Three in-service EFL teachers participated in this study. Although there were significant differences in their practical views, this study found how teachers elaborate their belief about in teaching writing, i.e. utilizing familiar smartphones apps, engaging content-based curriculum, and applying student-oriented teaching method. Moreover, the study confirms previous findings of the importance of TPACK in the EFL context. The study highlights the need for the acknowledgement of practical ways in classroom practice of the TPACK framework in teaching writing. Finally, this study might have implications for educational institutions to provide a better improvement in the future.

scholarly journals Indonesian Novice EFL Teachers' Perceptions of the Use of Peer Assessment in Speaking Class

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-79
Author(s):  
Ika Wulandari ◽  
Oikurema Purwati ◽  
Slamet Setiawan ◽  
Syafi'ul Anam
Keyword(s):  
Learning Process ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Valuable Alternative ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Undergraduate Study ◽  
Efl Teachers

There is convincing evidence of the potential advantages of peer assessment; however, earlier studies on peer assessment in the learning process have largely focused on students’ views on it. Although much can be inferred from the students’ views about peer assessment in the learning process, there is a limited empirical study on the practical use of peer assessment by teachers and their responses. This study attempts to offer salient information for educational institutions, especially on the importance of peer assessment as a part of their instructional design for novice EFL teachers. This qualitative study aims to investigate Indonesian novice EFL teachers’ perceptions of the use of peer assessment in a speaking class as well as its’ benefits and challenges. The data was obtained from six Indonesian novice EFL teachers through a semi-structured interview. Findings revealed the two groups of teachers’ different perceptions, benefits, and challenges of peer assessment which were affected by their understanding of peer assessment and undergraduate study experiences. Hence, educational institutions for pre-service EFL teachers should take peer assessment into account to be integrated into their instructional designs to enable them to experience and perceive peer assessment as a valuable alternative way of language assessment.

scholarly journals STUDENTS’ VOICES ON ACADEMIC WRITING ACTIVITIES AT TERTIARY LEVEL

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Muhammad Furqan ◽  
Maulidia Rahmawati Nur ◽  
Syfa Athifah
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Ibn Khaldun ◽  
Know How ◽  
Teaching Of Writing

<p>Academic writing activities play an important role for students at the tertiary level. Because students are required to be mastered to write academically. The aim of this research was to know-how is the teaching of writing for academic purposes, to know how students perceive the teaching of writing for academic purposes, and to know how a teacher perceives the teaching of writing for academic purposes. Case study was used as the research design in the paradigm of the qualitative and 20 students (in the 5th semester) and 1 teacher from Bogor Ibn Khaldun University were invited as a research participant. Observation, interview, photovoice, voice recorder, and documents were used as a research instrument to get the data. The result of this study showed the teacher taught the materials before each student was required to write an essay. The teacher provided feedback and comment on their essay in the process of writing an essay. Students did the revising process to make their essays better. The students also had a positive perception of the teaching of writing for academic purposes. There were three aspects that students perceive on the teaching writing for academic purposes those were the teaching practice, teachers’ feedback, and students’ problems or challenges. Besides, the teacher perceives there were some problems encountered in the teaching of writing for academic purposes. The problems encountered were students’ level proficiency, students’ motivation, technical problems in the classroom, the production of the students’ essay, and the support from the leader.</p>

scholarly journals TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON USING FIRST LANGUAGE IN NORTHERN CYPRUS EFL CLASSROOMS

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-41
Author(s):  
Gülsen Burat ◽  
Çise Çavuşoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Northern Cyprus ◽  
Years Of Teaching Experience ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Efl Classrooms

The use of the first language (L1) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes has been a controversial topic in the field. There are several approaches towards using L1 in EFL classrooms; While some teachers claim that L1 should not be used, others think that it has an important role in facilitating EFL learning. The present study aimed at investigating EFL teachers’ perceptions about using L1 and the cases in which they do so in the context of state schools in northern Cyprus. In addition, possible differences in their perceptions and practices based on age, gender, first language, level of education, place of graduation, faculty of graduation, years of teaching experience and grade level taught were analyzed. In total, 170 EFL teachers participated in the study, where a researcher-made questionnaire was employed to collect data about their perceptions. Data were analyzed quantitatively through descriptive statistics and parametric inferential tests were also run to identify possible differences based on the given categories. The results showed that the majority of the teachers had a neutral approach towards using L1 in EFL classrooms; they preferred to use L1 when there was a need. The results also revealed that while there is no difference in their perceptions regarding using L1 in the classroom based on gender, several differences were identified in terms of years of teaching experience, year group taught, level of education, school of graduation and first language. Keywords: use of first language, L1, English as a foreign language, teachers’ perceptions, mother tongue use in EFL  

scholarly journals Teachers’ Perceptions of Developing Writing Skills in the EFL Classroom

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Lisjeta Thaqi Jashari ◽  
Mateja Dagarin Fojkar
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Writing Anxiety ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Weak Structure ◽  
Writing Practice

Despite the fact that English is taught as a foreign language in schools from an early age, students often face difficulties when it comes to the development of their writing skills. This paper aims at exploring teachers’ perceptions regarding the development of the writing skills of elementary and secondary school EFL learners. Altogether, 85 Kosovar teachers were included in the survey. Even though the teachers believe that writing is important, they do not give the same emphasis to developing it as to other skills. According to their responses, some common difficulties learners experience while writing are a lack of vocabulary, writing anxiety, lack of ideas, mother tongue interference, grammar difficulties, weak structure organization and poor spelling. The teachers suggest that these difficulties might stem from a lack of reading and writing practice, ineffective teaching methods and low motivation for writing. We recommend various actions, such as teacher development courses to help them acquire more effective strategies of teaching writing, increased writing practice in the classroom, and the use of different learning strategies to meet all students’ needs.

scholarly journals TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DISCOURSE-BASED ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING WRITING SKILLS TO ENGLISH MAJORS - THE CASE OF UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 128 (6B) ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Nguyễn Hoàng Bảo Khanh ◽  
Đỗ Thị Xuân Dung
Keyword(s):  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
Efl Writing ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
English Majors ◽  
Crucial Part

Discourse competence has been widely acknowledged as a crucial part of communicative competence (Canale &amp; Swain, 1980; Usó-Juan &amp; Martínez-Flor, 2006; Celce-Murcia, 2007). Given this fact, the communicative approach to EFL teaching inevitably involves developing learners’ discourse knowledge. Particularly, in teaching EFL writing skills, the integration of discourse knowledge and implementation of discourse-based activities plays an essential role as it allows learners to compose written products that are grammatically correct, logically organized, and culturally appropriate. This paper explores EFL teachers’ perceptions towards the application of discourse-based activities in teaching writing to English majors at University of Foreign languages, Hue University. Results obtained from the study unveils that the use of discourse-based activities is deemed to have valuable potentials for the overall development of learners’ writing skills, especially in terms of the organizational and communicative aspects.

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