scholarly journals A Video-driven Approach to Promoting Pragmatic Development in the Context of English as a Foreign Language

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuha Abdullah Alsmari
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Experimental Group

While pragmatic competence has proven to be teachable over the past three decades, determining the most appropriate and effective approach to facilitating English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ pragmatic development is still a central concern for researchers of interlanguage pragmatics (ILP). An investigation into the effects of video-driven prompts on less-studied and more complex teaching speech acts, such as complaints, will significantly supplement the inconclusive results of pragmatic interventional studies in foreign language contexts. To this end, the present study aims to investigate the effects of metapragmatic instruction on English complaints through the implementation of video-driven prompts to raise Saudi female EFL students’ awareness of the pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic aspects associated with the production of appropriate and accurate target-like complaints during one academic semester. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data from 62 English majors, assigned to an experimental group (n = 31) and a conventional group (n = 31), at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. To elicit the required data, a proficiency test and pre-/post-test written discourse completion tests (WDCT) were distributed among participants. The results of the post-test demonstrated significant improvement in participants’ pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic skills in the production of English complaints. The experimental group immensely outperformed the control group due to their exposure to authentic, contextualized video excerpts. The study supports the teachability of complaints as well as the benefits of incorporating metapragmatic awareness tasks based on contextually authentic input, which can, in turn, accelerate EFL students’ ability to produce pragmatically appropriate and accurate target-like complaints.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of an Engaging Program to Reduce Saudi Female University EFL Students’ Foreign Language Anxiety and to Enhance Their Motivation to Learn English at Taif University

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasrah M. Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Attitude And Motivation ◽  
Experimental Group

<p>Teaching a language is a complex but interesting process. It involves teacher, learner, curriculum, and learning environment. Also this process is affected by certain social, cultural and psychological factors. This study is aimed at investigating the effectiveness of a proposed program for developing EFL learners’ engagement in learning English. The sample of this study consisted of 103 females (M = 19.260, SD = 0.876 years), it was divided into two groups; the experimental group consisted of 53 girls and the control group consisted of 50 girls. Students’ engagement was measured by the Handelsaman, Briggs, Sullivan, and Towler (2005) questionnaire, while their foreign language anxiety was measured by the Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) questionnaire. Students’ motivation was measured by Gardner’s (1985) Attitude and Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). The research applied continued for three months which included the proposed program. The data proved that there were statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group on the post-test of the engagement questionnaire, the foreign language anxiety scale as well as the students’ motivation dimensions, showing a significant increase in students’ engagement and motivation in favor of the experimental group. The findings also indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the pre-test and post-test results for the experimental group on the students’ engagement and motivation. This shows that the experimental group had an increase in skills after having participated in the program as seen on the post-test. In light of these results, the study provides a number of procedural recommendations that may contribute to raising the degree of the importance of students’ engagement and motivation training for the students with foreign language anxiety. The paper concludes that more training should be given in using all engagement activities by embedding them in regular classroom activities. Suggestions are offered for future research.</p>

scholarly journals Towards a Moodle-based assessment of Algerian EFL students’ writing performance

2021 ◽  
pp. 231-248
Author(s):  
KAMILA GHOUALI ◽  
RAÚL RUIZ-CECILIA
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
English Department ◽  
Writing Performance ◽  
Teaching Support ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study examines the effect of a technology-based assessment on the writing performance of Algerian English Foreign Language (EFL) students. Forty-two first-year EFL at the English Department at Tlemcen University (Algeria) took part in the experiment. They were divided into an experimental group (n = 21) and a control group (n = 21). A pre-test and a post-test were used as research instruments before and after the administration of the treatment, respectively. The data were analysed quantitatively using IBM SPSS (20.0). The results revealed that the Moodle-based e-assessment had a significant effect on the performance of the experimental group. We argue that the proposed type of assessment had some pedagogical, practical, and emotional attributes that explained students’ improved scores. We also believe that the e-assessment acted as pedagogical teaching support to traditional evaluation.

scholarly journals The Effects of Teacher’s Use of Interactional Strategies on EFL Students’ Speaking Performance

2021 ◽  
pp. 152-166
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thanh Nha ◽  
Phuong Hoang Yen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Speaking Performance ◽  
Experimental Group

This paper reports an experimental study to investigate whether Interactional Strategies (ISs) have any significant effects on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ speaking performance. The study is defined as amixed-method research with two research instruments namely speaking tests and semi-structured interviews.Twenty-five participants were divided into 2 groups namelya control group and an experimental group. Theintervention was implementedfor ten weeks. The findings show that there was no significant difference about speaking performance between the control group and the experimental group although there was a significant difference in oral performance mean score of the pre-test and post-test given to both groups. Moreover, the majority of the participants in the experimental group held positive attitudes toward the teacher’s use of ISs in improving their speaking performance. Implications for practical applications of Interactional Strategies are also presented.

Pragmatic instruction in L2-Russian

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-95
Author(s):  
Daniele Artoni ◽  
Valentina Benigni ◽  
Elena Nuzzo
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Instructional Treatment ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
National Corpus ◽  
Pragmatic Instruction

Over the last three decades, a growing number of studies have investigated the effects of instruction on the acquisition of pragmatic features in L2. The bulk of this research has focused mainly on the teaching of English as a second/foreign language. However, instructional pragmatic studies in L2-Russian are lacking. The main purpose of our study is to contribute towards filling this gap by analysing the effects of pragmatic instruction on the acquisition of two speech acts by Italian learners of Russian. Furthermore, we aim to explore whether the Multimodal Russian Corpus (MURCO), a multimedia subcorpus of the Russian National Corpus, can be an effective tool for teaching speech acts in L2-Russian. Our research was composed of one experimental group (n = 18) and one control group (n = 11); each was composed of two intact classes of Italian university students at an intermediate level of L2-Russian, who were pre- and post-tested using a written discourse completion task. The experimental group was subjected to a programme of pragmatic instruction – eight thirty-minute MURCO-based lessons devoted to requests and advice, while the control group was taught according to the standard syllabus, that is, with no pragmatic instruction. The results revealed that the use of the target pragmatic features varied significantly in the experimental group, but not in the control group, thus showing a general positive effect of the instructional treatment based on the MURCO corpus. However, some limitations were identified with regard to the usability of this tool by teachers and learners.

The Effect of Using Students Peer Teaching on Iraqi EFL Students' Achievement in the Course of Library and Research Work

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (33) ◽  
pp. 693-714
Author(s):  
. Muntaha Sabbar Jebur
Keyword(s):  
Basic Education ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Peer Teaching ◽  
Control Group ◽  
College Of Basic Education ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Experimental Group

          Peer teaching is a strategy that allows the students to teach the new content to each other, and they must be accurately guided by instructors.     The researcher proposes that the use of students peer teaching  may promote students' achievement  and ensure the engagement of all the students in the learning process. Therefore, the researcher employs it as a teaching method aiming at investigating its  effect on Iraqi EFL students' achievement in the course of Library and Research Work .      The study hypothesizes that there is no significant difference between the students' achievement who are taught library and research work by students peer teaching  and that of the students taught by the traditional way. The experimental design of the study is Parallel Groups, Random Assignment, posttest. Each group consists of 35 students, chosen randomly from the Third Year Students at the Department of English in the College of Basic Education. Both groups were matched in terms of their age and parents' education. The experiment was fulfilled in the first course for 15 weeks during the academic year 2016-2017.       The same materials were presented to both groups. This included   units from Writing Research Paper by Lester D. . Post-test was constructed and exposed  The t-test for  independent samples was used to analyze the results and it is found out that there is a statistical difference between the two groups in their achievement because the calculated t- value 2.635 is bigger than the tabulated t- value which is 2.000, and also shown the superiority of the experimental group. The results indicate that the experimental group, who was taught Library and Research Work by peer teaching   was better than the control group, who was taught according to the traditional way. So, the null hypothesis is rejected. Finally, some recommendations and suggestions are presented in the light of the study findings. to a jury of experts to verify its validity and it was administered to both groups.

Electronic texts or learning through textbooks: An experimental study

ReCALL ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
NINETTE CARTES-ENRIQUEZ ◽  
M. I. SOLAR RODRIGUEZ ◽  
R. QUINTANA LETELIER
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Computer Lab ◽  
Electronic Texts ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Search For Information ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Traditional Class

This is an experimental study in the area of Didactics applied to the learning of English as a foreign language and complemented by CALL. The main objective of this work is to know the degree of incidence existing between two groups of students: one, based on conference-style classes where students, guided by the teacher, have to search for information about a topic in the computer lab and present it in front of the class and, in the other, where students are taught by the teacher according to a printed text. The experimental design consisted of a pre-test/post-test plus the application of different techniques to develop the different linguistic and cognitive strategies, between these tests. The methodology used by the Experimental Group forced learners to generate their own knowledge, so they had to apply the information and work by themselves in Workshops; and the Control Group participated in the classroom according to the communicative approach, guided by the teacher in the traditional class. Statistics were applied to the scores obtained between both tests, and the scores obtained weekly in the different competences contributed to knowing whether there were significant differences between both groups.

The impact of computer-assisted language learning on Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 210-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Rahimi ◽  
Samira Mouri
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This study aimed to explore the impact of computer-assisted language learning on Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary learning. Participants of the study were 76 students – 29 males and 47 females – learning English as a foreign language in Parto, Sadr, Poyesh and Andishe Institutes in Ahvaz who were selected after taking the Nelson English Language Test as a proficiency test. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group was taken as control and the other as experimental group. Both groups participated in the teacher-made test of vocabulary, Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), and Word-Associates Test (WAT) as pre-test. During class sessions the control group was taught the vocabulary, in the conventional way, through the printed textbook while the experimental group taught by the software version of the same book. Three ANCOVAs were run to compare the performance of experimental and control groups after the treatment period. The results of the ANCOVAs revealed that using vocabulary learning software was more effective than using printed book on vocabulary learning, vocabulary breadth, and vocabulary depth of the participants. The results of the present study could help EFL course book designers, foreign language institutes, educational planners, material developers, teachers, and learners to provide a better context for EFL learning. Keywords: computer-assisted instruction, computer-assisted language learning, information communication technology, vocabulary breadth, vocabulary teaching software.  

scholarly journals The University Students’ Beliefs towards Corrective Feedback in Learning English as Foreign Language in Pakistan

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 4094-4100
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Time Correlation ◽  
Test Time ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Feedback Group ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Written Test ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study is carried out in English as a foreign language (EFL) experimental classroom at Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan to investigate the Pakistani EFL learners' beliefs towards written CF in L2 writing. Two types of Written CF: Direct and Indirect feedback, were provided during four weeks of study period in written tasks to the two groups (direct feedback and feedback group) and third was provided only metalinguistic information (Controlled group). The students were divided into two groups: experimental group provided with CF (Direct and Indirect), control group. The students in the experimental group were compared to a control group which was provided with no corrective feedback. BS level adult learners (n= 40) were randomly assigned to write short essay/Gap Fill/ Timed grammatical Task during four successive weeks. Afterwards, they were asked to fill in a questionnaire (k=21), at the post-test time. Correlation between participants’ beliefs about written CF and the effectiveness of those beliefs was measured by an attitudinal questionnaire. The students’ performance was also checked through written test battery. The results of this study revealed the learners’ beliefs about errors’ corrections, the writing activities, and various types of CF. The study also suggested the significant role of learners’ beliefs in mediating language accuracy in writing tasks.

scholarly journals Can Explicit Written Corrective Feedback Develop Grammatical and Lexical Accuracy of Saudi EFL Learners?

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nahla Al-Hazzani ◽  
Sultan Altalhab
Keyword(s):  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Saudi Students ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Made In

Saudi students encounter many problems in writing skill as several studies revealed (e.g. Alhazmi, 2006; Alsamdani, 2010). Providing effective and useful feedback may help to overcome these challenges. Therefore, this study examines the effect of teachers’ written corrective feedback on female Saudi EFL students’ written essays and to what extent it affects students’ written grammatical and lexical accuracy. The sample comprises 50 foundation level students, across two groups: an experimental group (n=29) and a control group (n=21). Data were gathered over a 10-week period using a pre-/post-test/delayed post-test design for comparable groups. The findings show that although many errors were made in the writing performances, the students in the experimental group had significantly better achievements than the students in the control group on the measure. The results lend support to the efficiency of teachers’ written corrective feedback, showing it has a significant positive effect on the participants’ grammatical and lexical accuracy.

scholarly journals Investigation the Effect of Colloconstructural Corpus-based Instruction on Pragmalinquistic Knowledge of Request Speech Act: Evidence from Iranian EFL Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Batoul Sabzalipour ◽  
Mansour Koosha ◽  
Akbar Afghari
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Mazandaran Province ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
On Line ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Methods Of Learning ◽  
Experimental Group

The current study investigated the effect of using colloconstructional corpus-based instruction on enhancing the pragmalinguistic knowledge of speech acts of request among intermediate EFL learners. The fundamental idea was that whether providing students with on-line corpora through using colloconstruction had any effects on enhancing their pragmalinguistic knowledge of request speech act. In such doing, 60 intermediate-level subjects from several institutions in Mazandaran province, in Iran, participated in the study. Then, the subjects took a standard Oxford Placement Test (OPT) to demonstrate their English proficiency. Based on the obtained scores, they were randomly administered as two equal groups (N=30). A WDCT pre- test was conducted in each group to examine their ability and knowledge in using speech acts of request.  After 15 sessions of treatment, a WDCT posttest was conducted. The experimental group received corpus-based instruction through colloconstructional practices. In contrast, the control group only practiced learning the same speech act through traditional and old methods of learning speech acts like textbooks, audios and videos. The data were analyzed using paired and independent sample t- test. To boost the results validity, the researcher used observation and interview, too. The results revealed that speech act learning was enhanced by corpus-based instruction. Some theoretical and pedagogical implications of the study were then presented. 

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