scholarly journals Communication challenges: Saudi EFL Speaking Skills and strategies to overcome speaking difficulties

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayat Ahmad Kashmiri
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
English Class ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Communication Challenges

The purpose of this study to present the findings of research conducted to challenges faced by Saudi English as foreign language (EFL) learners and to formulate some strategies to overcome their speaking difficulties. In Saudi Arabia, there is a widely held perception that it is possible for the EFL learners to attain the high levels of proficiency in writing reading and listening, but they cannot speak English as compared to their peers from around the globe. This is quite concerning as these students have selective and compulsory English courses that run through their almost ten years of compulsory school education. The challenges to speaking by these students had formerly been addressed by sorting out the challenges of deficiencies in teacher development and teacher education, learners’ autonomy lack of material and technology in the EFL classes and anxiety in learning a foreign language. The purpose is to seek answers to the challenges of speaking English from the Saudi speaking EFL students themselves. In order to do that a sample of 66 students who have enrolled in year one of intensive preparatory English class will be used. A mixed method research design will be used in the triangulation of the findings for higher validity. Quantitative data will be analyzed with software for data analysis while qualitative data will be analyzed by making use of descriptive analysis. The findings will help to identify the reasons why speaking English is a challenge for Saudi EFL students which will help in the formulation of strategies to overcome such challenges.

scholarly journals Communication challenges: Saudi EFL Speaking Skills and strategies to overcome speaking difficulties

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-61
Author(s):  
Hayat Ahmad Kashmiri
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
English Class ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Communication Challenges

The purpose of this study to present the findings of research conducted to challenges faced by Saudi English as foreign language (EFL) learners and to formulate some strategies to overcome their speaking difficulties. In Saudi Arabia, there is a widely held perception that it is possible for the EFL learners to attain the high levels of proficiency in writing reading and listening, but they cannot speak English as compared to their peers from around the globe. This is quite concerning as these students have selective and compulsory English courses that run through their almost ten years of compulsory school education. The challenges to speaking by these students had formerly been addressed by sorting out the challenges of deficiencies in teacher development and teacher education, learners’ autonomy lack of material and technology in the EFL classes and anxiety in learning a foreign language. The purpose is to seek answers to the challenges of speaking English from the Saudi speaking EFL students themselves. In order to do that a sample of 66 students who have enrolled in year one of intensive preparatory English class will be used. A mixed method research design will be used in the triangulation of the findings for higher validity. Quantitative data will be analyzed with software for data analysis while qualitative data will be analyzed by making use of descriptive analysis. The findings will help to identify the reasons why speaking English is a challenge for Saudi EFL students which will help in the formulation of strategies to overcome such challenges.

scholarly journals Challenges in EFL Speaking Classes in Turkish Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Eray Kara ◽  
Aycan Demir Ayaz
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
English Class ◽  
Learning Anxiety ◽  
One Year

This article presents the results of a research study conducted to reveal the reasons of problems Turkish EFL learners face while speaking in L2. In Turkey, there is a perception that although the learners can reach high levels of proficiency in reading, listening, and writing skills, they cannot speak in English like their peers do in other parts of the world. This is substantially concerning as these students have compulsory and selective English courses throughout their ten years of compulsory school education. The problem has formerly been addressed by language learning anxiety, learners’ autonomy, deficiencies in teacher education and teachers’ development, and lack of material or/and technology in EFL classes (Aydın-Zengin, 2008; Büyükyavuz-İnal, 2008; Haznedar, 2010; Solak- Bayar, 2015). This paper directly seeks answers from the students themselves. The study was conducted with 66 students who have to enroll one year of intensive preparatory English class before being accepted to their own departments. A mixed method research design was used to triangulate the findings for higher validity. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS 22.0 software package and qualitative data was analyzed using descriptive analysis. The findings showed that students have difficulty in speaking English mainly because of educational and social reasons, while personal reasons are not as influential as the others are.

scholarly journals Millennials as Dictionary Users: A Study of Dictionary Use Habits of Serbian EFL Students

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110084
Author(s):  
Ljiljana Knežević ◽  
Sabina Halupka-Rešetar ◽  
Ivana Miškeljin ◽  
Mira Milić
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Unknown Words ◽  
Dictionary Use ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Method Approach

The article addresses the use of dictionaries among the new millennium generation of English as a foreign language (EFL) undergraduates. Applying the mixed-method approach (a questionnaire and interviews), the study examines the frequency of dictionary use, the types of dictionaries used, activities initiating dictionary consultation, information searched for, and problems faced in using dictionaries. The findings suggest that the participants are most fond of bilingual online dictionaries and use them mostly for looking up the meaning of unknown words. They also show that despite being high consumers of technology, participants do not benefit much from online dictionaries, as they neglect most of the entry information. The qualitative data reveal that the participants perceive various digital tools of questionable quality as online dictionaries. Overall, the study sheds light on the characteristic behavior of the new generation of EFL learners regarding their dictionary use and points to the necessity of developing their digital competence in the realm of dictionary use.

scholarly journals Language Proficiency through Vocabulary Development: A Framework

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boumediène BENRABAH
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Threshold Level ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Language Proficiency Test ◽  
Experimental Group

The global aim of the present research paper is an attempt to reach a threshold level of the learning of a foreign language (English) through the development of vocabulary. Observing the very limited rate of use of English in the Algerian community, English as Foreign Language (EFL) students, actually, need to progress in the mastery of that language by reading and/or listening to texts or messages intensively. To achieve this goal, subsequent procedures should take place by giving the foreign language a rather more appreciable position in the community such as the one held by a second language. To be down-to-earth, a brief survey on the linguistic situation in Algeria is exposed where neat clarification of second-foreign language status in the community is laid out to show that the more a (foreign) language is explicitly exposed in its manifold forms, the more are learners, in that community, likely to acquire it as a second language. However, the assumption of presenting the receptive skills (reading and listening) as the most appropriate means for the growth of foreign language vocabulary is supported by Krashen’s input theory where any input to be understood, should come at EFL learners’ capacity to read/listen and decode easily the meaning. In due course, First year EFL students have been subject to a language proficiency test-‘a pre-test then a post-test’. This typical experimental design is an intervention study which contains two groups: ‘the treatment or experimental’ group which receives the treatment, or which is exposed to some special conditions of intensifying vocabulary learning through a varied, comprehensible input; and a second group of EFL learners- the control group- whose role is to provide a baseline. The findings showed better scores among the experimental group compared to the other group. Actually, the results proved the adequacy of the adopted theory.

scholarly journals The Non-Native Students’ Motivation in Learning English at STIE Perbanas Surabaya

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-202
Author(s):  
Kartika M. Budiana ◽  
Djuwari Djuwari
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
Compulsory Subject ◽  
English Subject ◽  
Learning English

ow competence in English for the students of Non English native speakers has been crucial so far for the teachers in language teaching in Indonesia. This study attempts to explore students ‗motivation in learning English at STIE Perbanas Surabaya. This is a qualitative research and a case study. This study analyzed the data by means of a descriptive analysis. This method was chosen to describe the qualitative data taken from the students at STIE Perbanas Surabaya who were taking English subject. The data were collected using questionnaire. Some of the students were also interviewed in depth to triangualize the data related to their motivation in learning English. It was found that there are two types of motivation by the students of STIE Perbanas in learning English: intrinsic and extrinsic. They agreed (78%) that they are studying English because it is a compulsory subject in this college. Besides that, they have several factors of motivation affecting the students‘ learning English as foreign language such as local education system, attitudes to the target language, and teacher factor.

Study of Consonant Pronunciations Errors Committed by EFL Learners

2019 ◽  
pp. 48-56
Author(s):  
Ali Akbar Khansir ◽  
Afsaneh Salehabadi
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Listening Skill ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Knowledge Of Language

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.

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

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena O'Reilly ◽  
Eva Jakupčević
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Simple Construction ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
The Past ◽  
Base Form ◽  
Production Study ◽  
Efl Students

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.

scholarly journals Towards Understanding EFL Teachers’ Conceptions of Research: Findings From Argentina

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72
Author(s):  
Darío Luis Banegas
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Research Findings

This paper investigates the conceptions of research held by English as a foreign language teachers in Argentina. Quantitative data from 622 participants from an online questionnaire were followed by qualitative data from online interviews with 40 of those participants. Results show that the teachers conceptualised research through conventional notions closer to a quantitative paradigm. They felt research was not part of their job, and a lack of time was the main reason for not engaging in/with research. Teacher development, agency, empowerment, and autonomy could be sought by engaging teachers with forms of research which are meaningful to them, such as action research.

scholarly journals The effect of flipped learning on EFL learners’ public speaking in Taiwan

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Rachid Bezzazi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Public Speaking ◽  
Flipped Learning ◽  
Conventional Instruction ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Learning Group ◽  
Convenience Sampling ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods ◽  
Reflective Essay

<p>This study investigates the effectiveness of flipped learning on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ public speaking. An experimental design was implemented throughout the study, for which the researcher used convenience sampling. Seventy-nine sophomore students, from two intact English Public Speaking classes, were divided into a flipped learning group (FLG) and a conventional instruction group (CIG). This happened over a 12-week period where the focus was to investigate how a language learner’s experience of flipped learning or conventional instruction affected their English public speaking. The author used quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data: a pre- and post-in-class speech and a 250-word post-treatment reflective essay. Both an independent and paired t-test were used to analyze the scores of the speeches, whereas coding was used to specify the themes that emerged from the qualitative data. The results revealed that the FLG significantly outperformed the CIG in the areas of body language and paralanguage. In addition, they did better in the areas of content and organization, and developed other skills as will be detailed later. The findings can be an impetus for EFL instructors to adopt flipped learning in an English public speaking course.<strong></strong></p>

scholarly journals EXPLORING ENGLISH LISTENING PROBLEMS AMONG EFL STUDENTS AT IAIN KUDUS

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Azizah Maulina Erzad
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
English Education ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Listening Process

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.

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