scholarly journals Learning Arabic Media Related Vocabulary through Twitter at the University of Alabama

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saad Bushaala ◽  
Safa Elnaili ◽  
Maysoun Ali
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
Students Attitudes

This research paper aims to investigate the effect of utilizing Twitter in a foreign language classroom and how it would affect students’ attitudes towards learning Arabic media related vocabulary. The researchers used qualitative and quantitative methods as a methodological approach to the study. The subjects of the study are American undergraduate students studying Arabic for their third semester, 11 participated in the study. The participants were asked to open Twitter accounts in order to practice reading up-to-date tweets from global news agencies. Participants took pre and post-tests, then were asked to take a questionnaire; a structured interview was also carried out along with reflections to have a better understanding of the students’ attitude towards the use of Twitter in the classroom. The data were gathered throughout the semester and analyzed qualitatively and the participants’ responses were coded for certain themes and then analyzed. The findings indicated that the students had a positive attitude towards the use of Twitter in learning vocabulary for specific topics -in this study media/political-related vocabulary- in the foreign language classroom. In addition, the quantitative data used as confirmation and showed vocabulary gains after the Twitter treatment. The study’s findings can be applied to any foreign language and can have important implications and recommendations for language teachers and educators in the field. The findings will add valuable recommendations on how to integrate social media platforms in a foreign language classroom.

scholarly journals University Students’ Attitudes towards the Use of YouTube in the EFL Classroom

HOW ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-158
Author(s):  
María Victoria Fernández-Carballo
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Education Degree ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Method Approach

Noticing the generally lower-than-desirable English language proficiency level with which Spanish students start university, I considered trying a different approach in which the use of a familiar application would be introduced in the classroom. The main objective of this work is to explore Primary Education degree programme students’ attitudes towards the integration of YouTube in the English language classroom. To this end, 46 third-year intermediate-level students participated in the study. It adopted a mixed-method approach, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The results show that, although participants mentioned some drawbacks, they reacted positively to the use of the platform. Given these results and the benefits offered, the integration of YouTube in the foreign language classroom is highly recommended.

Using Classroom Assessment Data to Guide Instruction

2019 ◽  
pp. 227-251
Author(s):  
Toni P. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Classroom Assessment ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Assessment Data ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
Authentic Data

It is important that assessments used in a classroom reflect the standards that students are expected to achieve. When this occurs, the data collected can be used as indications of a student's proficiency in a language. This chapter focuses on how the data collected in the classroom can be used to guide instruction. The author begins with an overview of assessments that are available to foreign language teachers. This is followed by information on data collection and analysis. The second half of the chapter focuses on how to use the data to develop lessons that provide all students with the instruction they need in order to be successful in the foreign language classroom. Examples of analysis of authentic data and changes in classroom elements, as well as the need for a mastery mindset, are also presented.

Institutionalized utterances, literature, and language teaching

2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian MacKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Epic Poetry ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Huge Number ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
Lexical Phrases

Linguists have recently suggested that a large proportion of linguistic performance in naturally acquired languages is enabled by the internalization of a huge number of institutionalized utterances, or lexical phrases, or fixed and semi-fixed expressions. This research parallels the discovery, earlier this century, of the oral-formulaic nature of Homeric poetry. Furthermore, although written literature (as opposed to oral epic poetry) is generally assumed to be anything but formulaic, it can be shown that it too necessarily contains a lot of institutionalized expressions, or at least transformations of them, and that our own repertoire of memorized phrases almost certainly comes from literary as well as oral sources. Foreign language teachers clearly need to give serious consideration to the prevalence of lexical phrases, in both speech and writing. Literature can be used in the foreign language classroom as (among many other things) a source of institutionalized phrases.

scholarly journals Teachers and Students’ Attitudes towards the Integration of the Target Culture in the English as a Foreign Language Class: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 253-266
Author(s):  
Simon Pierre DABOU ◽  
Abdelhak HAMMOUDI ◽  
Romaissa CHIBANI
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Language Class ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Target Culture

Language and culture are like two sides of the same coin, the music on a radio or the soul in a body. The two are so interrelated that separating them is almost impossible. Therefore, teaching a foreign language implies integrating the target culture. In this context, this study aimed to investigate teachers and students’ attitudes towards the integration of the English culture in the EFL curriculum at the University of Sétif 2.  A Semi-structured interview with six English language teachers and a questionnaire to 53 third-year English students were the tools used to collect the necessary data. The analysis of the data showed that all the teachers were for the integration of the target culture in the EFL classes. The study also revealed that students who had positive attitudes towards the target culture represented only 28% of the sample. Therefore, the researchers suggested that the concept of target culture be properly defined within the EFL class and appropriately approached to sustain interest. Moreover, teachers are encouraged to integrate certain aspects of the target culture, such as language, norms, and values, to avoid misunderstanding, and respect each other’s cultural rights.

scholarly journals Changes in and Effects of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and Listening Anxiety on Chinese Undergraduate Students’ English Proficiency in the COVID-19 Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meihua Liu ◽  
Renqing Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Listening Anxiety ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
Listening And Speaking ◽  
Classroom Anxiety

The present longitudinal survey study explored changes in and effects of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and listening anxiety (FLLA) on Chinese undergraduate students’ English proficiency over a semester in the COVID-19 context. A set of 182 matching questionnaires was collected from first-year undergraduate English as a foreign language learners at two time points of a 16-week semester. Analyses of the data revealed the following major findings: (1) the participants experienced high levels of FLCA and FLLA both at the beginning and end of the semester, neither of which changed significantly during the semester, (2) FLCA and FLLA were highly positively related to each other, (3) FLCA and FLLA significantly predicted students’ self-rated proficiency in listening and speaking English, and (4) confidence in using English, efforts and motivation to learn English and interaction with instructors and peers mediated FLCA and FLLA to exert effects on students’ self-perceived proficiency in listening and speaking English. These findings indicate that the learning environment is critical in influencing the levels of and changes in FLCA and listening anxiety and that these two types of foreign language anxiety are serious issues in the pandemic foreign language learning context.

scholarly journals Using Rasch Analysis to Create and Evaluate a Measurement Instrument for Foreign Language Classroom Speaking Anxiety

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Apple
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Rasch Model ◽  
Measurement Instrument ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Speaking Anxiety ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Instrument Creation

Despite the existence of skill-specific anxiety instruments measuring reading anxiety, writing anxiety, and listening anxiety, there is still no single measurement instrument specifically designed to measure levels of speaking anxiety. This research had two purposes. The first was to provide for classroom-based foreign language teachers and researchers an example of the advantages of Rasch model analysis, the use of which is increasing in first-language educational contexts for measurement instrument creation and validation. The second purpose was to create and evaluate an instrument for measuring foreign language speaking anxiety within the classroom in an EFL learning context, in which few native speakers of the language are available for interaction. Using data from a sample of Japanese university students (N = 172), the Rasch model identified misfitting items and examined the construct validity of a 20-item questionnaire to measure levels of Foreign Language Classroom Speaking Anxiety (FLCSA). リーディング、ライティング、リスニングといった特定のスキルに関する不安を測定する手段はあるが、スピーキング不安のレベルを測定する手段は現在のところ存在しない。本研究の目的は二つある。一つ目は、教室で教える外国語教師や研究者にラッシュモデル分析の利点の例を示すことである。ラッシュモデルによる分析は、第一言語の教育環境において、測定手段の作成やその妥当性を高める目的でますます使用されるようになっている。本研究の二つ目の目的は、母語話者とのやりとりの機会がほとんどない「外国語としての英語」を学ぶ教室において、外国語スピーキング不安を測る手段を作成し、評価することである。日本の大学生（N=172）のデータを使用し、外国語スピーキング不安（FLCSA）の度合いを測定する20項目からなる質問紙からラッシュモデルにより不適当な項目を割り出し、構成概念妥当性を検証した。

scholarly journals Response during picturebook read alouds in English as a foreign language

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 58-76
Author(s):  
Sandie Mourão
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Read Alouds ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
Linguistic Repertoire

This paper begins by discussing the picturebook and its picture-word dynamic and follows with a discussion of their relevance to teachers in a foreign language classroom. Thereafter, a theory of literary understanding is suggested, as a way to support foreign language teachers to interpret their learners’ responses to picturebooks and to help them recognize the relevance of response to the storytelling experience. The final section describes two picturebooks with concrete examples of the different ways that they enable and promote authentic responses, using the children’s linguistic repertoire, and through both the pictures and the words.

scholarly journals Lower Secondary Students’ Arabic Speaking Anxiety: A Foreign Language Literacy Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Mohd Ieruwan Mohamed Mokhtar
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Speaking Anxiety ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
And Performance

Speaking in a foreign language classroom can be extremely anxiety-provoking for some students. There are many studies on foreign language anxiety (FLA). The studies show that anxiety influences achievement and performance in speaking. However, most of the previous studies have investigated FLA in English-speaking contexts. Hence, this study aims to investigate speaking anxiety among Arabic Language learners in secondary schools from the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The students (n=40) were selected following the random sampling method. The established questionnaire of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz et al. (1986) was used for collecting the data. This questionnaire consists of four factors namely test anxiety, communication apprehension, anxiety in the classroom and fear of negative evaluation. The researcher followed descriptive statistical methods including means and standard deviation values to address the research questions. The study shows that the process of learning the Arabic Language has significant impact on students in learning a foreign language, especially in daily secondary schools. The findings show several concerns exist among the students while speaking Arabic in the classroom. The results can help Arabic Language teachers to understand students’ anxiety in the process of teaching the language in the daily/non-boarding secondary schools which will contribute to literacy of Arabic Language at large.

scholarly journals Anxiety in adult foreign language learning: The case of Ghanaian undergraduate students of Spanish

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-81
Author(s):  
Benedicta Adokarley Lomotey
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Classroom Anxiety

This study investigates students’ anxiety levels through the administration of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) among Spanish learners at a Ghanaian University. The differences according to level of instruction, the association between classroom anxiety and performance, as well as the possible relationship between language immersion and anxiety are also analysed using descriptive statistics, and Pearson’s Moment Correlation Coefficient. The findings indicate that the majority of student participants experienced foreign language classroom anxiety. Nonetheless, contrary to previous research findings, anxiety was not found to decrease systematically as proficiency increased. Additionally, as confirmed by previous studies, the result of the Pearson correlation analysis showed that students’ overall Spanish classroom anxiety and their classroom achievement had a negative association.

scholarly journals Using Movies in the Foreign Language Classroom: The Movie Journal Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Eric Bray
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Rich Source ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom

Foreign language teachers often want to use movies in the classroom because movies are a rich source of both language and culture and contain themes that can stimulate thought and discussion. However, showing movies to students without doing the time-consuming preparation of tasks for students to do before, during, or after watching the movie can limit the educational benefits. Using a movie journal solves this problem, and contains questions that students answer after watching a section of the movie in class. Writing in a movie journal before discussing the movie leads to more productive discussions as students have a chance to think about what they want to say and how best to express these ideas in the foreign language. 映画は言語と文化の宝庫である。思考や活発なディスカッションを促進させるテーマを含んでいるため、外国語教師はよくクラスで映画を使っている。視聴前・視聴中・視聴後に学生たちが行うタスクを準備して使用している。しかし、その準備には多大な時間がかかる。だからと言って、課題の準備もせずに、ただ映画を見せるだけでは教育学的利益は損なわれる。映画のセクション毎に学生が質問に答える形式のMovie Journalは、その問題を解決することができる。映画について話し合う前にMovie Journalで事前学習をすることで、学生たちが何を言いたいのか、自分の考えを外国語でどのように表現すれば一番伝わるのかを考える機会が生まれ、それがより活発なディスカッションにつながる。

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