scholarly journals Language use in the classroom: Identity in classroom discourse

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhlisin Muhlisin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Classroom Discourse ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Identity Theory ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
English Instruction

AbstractThis study concerned group of Indonesian EFL learners’ perceptions regarding the use of Indonesian (L1) and English language (L2) by their teachers in the classroom. In particular, the study aimed to unravel how these learners perceived the use of their L1 and L2 during the course of English instruction in the classroom and how their perceptions might have been shaped by different aspects of “identity construction” to which they were oriented. Data were gathered through administering a questionnaire to one hundred seventy-three adult Indonesian EFL learners. Analysis of the learners’ responses suggested that they maintained different perceptions with regard to the use of their L1 and L2 and that their perceptions may be subsumed into two broad categories, each of which reflects the differences in their perceptions. Factors that might have affected the learners’ perceptions were then critically discussed in the light of identity theory in the context of L2 pedagogy. In particular, the theory suggests that different aspects of identity construction to which learners are oriented affect their perceptions of the use of theirL1 and L2 in the classroom. Further, these different aspects of identity construction may also affect how learners are likely to respond to the use of an L1 and L2 in the classroom (and beyond).Keywords: English as a foreign language (EFL), language use, identity theory in L2 pedagogy

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.

Machine Translation for EFL

Relay Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 228-235
Author(s):  
Paul J. Moore ◽  
Phil Murphy ◽  
Luann Pascucci ◽  
Scott Sustenance
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Machine Translation ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Technical Developments ◽  
English Language Institute ◽  
Changing Role

This paper reports on an ongoing study into the affordances of free online machine translation for students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) at the tertiary level in Japan. The researchers are currently collecting data from a questionnaire, task performance, and interviews with 10-15 EFL learners in an English Language Institute in a university in Japan. The paper provides some background on the changing role of translation in language learning theory and pedagogy, before focusing literature related to technical developments in machine translation technology, and its application to foreign language learning. An overview of the research methodology is provided, along with some insights into potential findings. Findings will be presented in subsequent publications.

scholarly journals Cultivating student understanding of context through drama and scriptwriting

2016 ◽  
Vol X (2) ◽  
pp. 22-36
Author(s):  
Matthew Michaud ◽  
Todd Hooper
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Private University ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
Student Understanding ◽  
Language Aptitude ◽  
Japanese Students ◽  
Communicative Abilities ◽  
English Instruction

This paper presents an English as a foreign language (EFL) drama in language acquisition scriptwriting project that took place at a four-year private university located in Japan. The focus of this project was two-fold: firstly, to see if students’ cognition of situational context improved after completing scriptwriting exercises, and secondly to see if role-playing the scripts increased awareness in the identification of setting, roles of speakers, and purpose while increasing language aptitude. Furthermore, this study addresses the insufficient communicative competence abilities of Japanese students who have had years of structured English study. Their lack of communicative abilities may be attributed to the method of English instruction used in Japan such as focusing on grammar and vocabulary in isolated example sentences. This lack of context in second language (L2) instruction may leave students with limited communicative competence (Brown, Collins & Duguid 1989; South, Gabbitas & Merrill 2008). If students improve their understanding of the context of language use, they may become better equipped to use the language they know. One approach that may help students improve this understanding of context is scriptwriting and drama (Belliveau & Kim 2013; Davies 1990). The results of this study indicate that participating in scriptwriting activities may improve students’ ability to identify the context of conversations.

scholarly journals Effects of Bilingualism on Reading Fluency: An Analysis of Pausing Patterns of Iranian Learners of English as a Third Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Zahra Banitalebi ◽  
Ali Akbar Jabbari ◽  
Shouket Ahmad Tilwani ◽  
Mohammad Hasan Razmi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Oral Proficiency ◽  
Bilingual Learners ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Third Language ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Significant Difference

Fluency is one of the most important components of oral proficiency, which can be affected by a number of variables including frequency, duration, and place of pause phenomena. The present study aimed at investigating the effect of bilingualism on learning a foreign language from the angle of fluency and pausing patterns by comparing the pausing patterns of monolingual (Persian speakers) and bilingual (Iranian Turkish speakers; L1: Turkish and L2: Persian) EFL learners. To this end, a sample of 40 male and female advanced EFL learners were selected from Yazd University and several English-language institutes. An English reading passage test was used to measure students’ fluency in terms of their pausing patterns in prepared mode of speech. As learners started to read the passage, their speeches were recorded. The collected data were analyzed by Praat software. The statistical analyses revealed a significant difference between monolingual and bilingual learners in the frequency, duration, and placement of the pauses they had produced while they were reading the English passage. The results showed that bilingual learners outperformed monolingual participants, suggesting the superiority of bilinguals in their pausing patterns. The implications are discussed.

scholarly journals An investigation into teacher’s L1 and L2 use in Indonesian EFL classroom

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-79
Author(s):  
A Amriana
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Research Result ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Approach ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
L1 And L2

Teacher’s L1/L2 use in Indonesian EFL classroom has been the object of debate among practitioners of a second language and foreign language teaching. Despite the considerable amount of the research that has been conducted on the phenomenon, the focus has often been the advantages and disadvantages. This study reports on a study that investigated subject teacher’s language use on Indonesian EFL classroom. It reports research conducted in a private secondary school in Makassar. An Ethnography research has been employed to collect data on how the teacher perceives the L1/L2 use and the extent to which the approaches they adopt impact on students’ achievement. The research result demonstrates that the more active the teacher in promoting L2 learning, the more he is aware of the teaching practices used in the classroom. Also, the research result also reveals that the more he improves the quality of his teaching approach, the better language learning his students acquire.

scholarly journals A Text-Driven, Task-Based Approach to the Design of Materials for Teaching Intercultural Communicative Competence

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
John Harper
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Guangdong Province ◽  
Materials Design ◽  
Teacher Preparedness ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Materials Used

<p>Although a large body of research points to the need of providing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners with intercultural communicative competence (ICC), questions remain as to exactly how ICC should be incorporated into the EFL curriculum. These questions arise in part due to issues of already-packed curricula which seem not to leave time for the teaching of ICC and in part due to issues of teacher preparedness. Additionally, questions arise concerning which culture should be taught. Taking into account materials used in the English Language Center (ELC) of Shantou University (Guangdong Province, China), this paper argues that a text-driven, task-based method of materials design allows for the inclusion of ICC across the EFL curriculum. It also argues that such a method lends itself to the teaching of ICC through a consideration of a variety of cultures.</p>

scholarly journals Collocational Differences Between L1 and L2: Implications for EFL Learners and Teachers

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karim Sadeghi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Private Language ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
L1 And L2

Collocations are one of the areas that produce problems for learners of English as a foreign language. Iranian learners of English are by no means an exception. Teaching experience at schools, private language centers, and universities in Iran suggests that a significant part of EFL learners’ problems with producing the language, especially at lower levels of proficiency, can be traced back to the areas where there is a difference between source- and target-language word partners. As an example, whereas people in English make mistakes, Iranians do mistakes when speaking Farsi (Iran’s official language, also called Persian) or Azari (a Turkic language spoken mainly in the north west of Iran). Accordingly, many beginning EFL learners in Iran are tempted to produce the latter incorrect form rather than its acceptable counterpart in English. This is a comparative study of Farsi (Persian) and English collocations with respect to lexis and grammar. The results of the study, with 76 participants who sat a 60-item Farsi (Persian)- English test of collocations, indicated that learners are most likely to face great obstacles in cases where they negatively transfer their linguistic knowledge of the L1 to an L2 context. The findings of this study have some immediate implications for both language learners and teachers of EFL/ESL, as well as for writers of materials.

scholarly journals Investigating the Needs and Drawbacks of L1 in L2 Education: Students’ Perception

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
AbdulMahmoud Idrees Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Analysis And Evaluation ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
L1 And L2

This paper aims at exploring the EFL Students’ Perspective of the Use of the Arabic (L1) in English language (L2) learning. The relevant literature reviewed concerning the development of some fundamental issues in L1 usage shows that this technique plays a vital role in breaking the language barriers, promoting better communication, and contributing to linguistic competence. The statistical analysis and evaluation of the responses of the questionnaire exhibited that the need for (L1) in L2 was rated higher. The students claimed that their mother tongue is effective since it increases their awareness of similarities and differences between (L1) and (L2) and helps in explaining the difficult areas in the foreign language. Likewise, they confessed that L1 has drawbacks. It could be said that (L1) is a helpful technique in (L2) learning process, but it should be handled with care.

scholarly journals Usporedba brzine govora u materinskome hrvatskome (L1) i stranome engleskome (L2) jeziku

Fluminensia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-96
Author(s):  
Mirjana Matea Kovač
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Chronological Sequence ◽  
Language Condition ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Production Mechanisms

This paper aims at investigating the differences regarding speech rate between the Croatian (L1) and the English language (L2). The selected tasks include descriptions of dynamic entities which require careful planning and a chronological sequence of speech acts in real time, as well as the description of static spatial arrangements and their relations. The speech tasks were first performed in the native language, followed by the performance of the same tasks in the foreign language. A significantly faster speech rate was hypothesized in the foreign language condition for each investigated speech task due to the unautomated nature of L2 speech production mechanisms. The obtained results point to the conclusion that the speech rate is significantly slower in L2 in narrative tasks due to the conceptual complexity of the task. However, no significant differences in the speech rate were found between the two languages in the case of highly structured tasks with shorter duration, or in the case of repeated tasks. Due to the fact that the tasks have already been performed in the native language, the processing demands on the level of conceptualization decrease, freeing up the attentional resources, which, in turn, assist the formulation and articulation stage by reducing the processing pressure. Also, the fact that no significant differences were found might be explained by the existence of strong associative links between L1 and L2, as well as by the occurrence of highly frequent words which can be easily retrieved from the mental lexicon, especially if they have previously been activated in the native language. Introduction of new topics, on the other hand, implies higher cognitive demands in the conceptualization stage, resulting in a slower speech rate in both languages.

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