scholarly journals Rethinking the Insights from Good Language Learner Studies: Moroccan Learners of EFL as a Case Study

Author(s):  
Bendaoud Nadif ◽  
Driss Benattabou

Over the recent decades, there has been a growing research interest in placing learners at the heart of any enterprise pertaining to foreign language learning and teaching. Alongside the growth of new perspectives and theories in cognitive psychology and foreign language learning and teaching, research has shifted its focus from the teacher and learning outcomes to the learners and the learning processes. Correspondingly, researchers emphasize the significance of making the learning and teaching paradigms more supportive and responsive to learners’ needs and interests to fully play more active and participatory roles. Drawing on researchers’ contributions in the area of good language learner studies, this paper sets out to examine the relationship between the characteristics of GLLs and language achievement. For this purpose, a sample of (N = 98) senior Moroccan high school students took an EFL achievement test and responded to the GLL questionnaire as designed and developed by Constantinides (2013). Using a Spearman correlational coefficient test and regression analysis, results show that GLLs’ scores significantly correlate (r = .81) and reliably predict the respondents’ achievement test scores. The paper ends with a conclusion and some pedagogical implications to promote EFL learning and teaching.

Author(s):  
Hesti Lestari ◽  
Misnawaty Usman ◽  
Hasmawati Hasmawati

There are many factors that can influence students' vocabulary mastery in foreign language learning. This study aims to determine the relationship between logical thinking skills and students' mastery of German vocabulary. Research is an experimental study involving only the experimental class without the control class. Data collection techniques are done through writing test and logical thinking test in the form of Intelligent Structure Test (IST). The sample in this study were 21 high school students selected through random sampling techniques. The results of the analysis of this study indicate that there is a significant relationship between the ability to think logically with students' mastery of German vocabulary. Students who have good critical thinking skills, tend to more easily remember and understand new vocabulary in learning foreign languages.


Author(s):  
Claudia Repetto ◽  
Anna Flavia Di Natale ◽  
Daniela Villani ◽  
Stefano Triberti ◽  
Serena Germagnoli ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 190
Author(s):  
Esim Gursoy ◽  
Tuba Arman

<p>With the increasing need to learn languages as a result of globalization there is a great demand on the part of the learners to communicate in a second/foreign language, which is also supported downwards by the governments and upwards by the parents. Among the many aspects of foreign language learning, affective factors are researched a lot as they are dependent on contexts, individual differences, cultural background, teaching methodology etc., which cause a variation in the results. The current research focuses on test anxiety as one of the major affective factors. Thus it aims to identify the level of test anxiety and its relationship with gender, grade level, and academic achievement. Moreover, the causes of test anxiety were investigated according to students’ own perceptions. A test anxiety scale and semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather the qualitative and quantitative data. The overall results showed that the participants had a moderate level of test anxiety. Females were found to be more anxious than males only in some aspects; low achievement scores provoked test anxiety with regard to a few items, and 9<sup>th</sup> graders were found to be more anxious than the 10<sup>th</sup> graders. According to participants’ own perceptions, test validity, time limit, teacher attitudes, test techniques, proctors, length of the test, testing environment and clarity of test instructions were the causes of test anxiety.</p>


Neofilolog ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 103-117
Author(s):  
Ariadna Strugielska

The role of affective factors in the process of foreign language learning and teaching is undeniable. Still, despite growing interest in the role of attitudinal variables in foreign language training, the problem has not been much researched from the perspective of multidimensional cognition. Thus, the focus of the article is the architecture of foreign language learners’ cognition situated within a multimodal framework and shaped by particular socio-linguistic experience. It is postulated that the conceptual system of a foreign language learner is unique in being highly susceptible to processing in terms of affective parameters. This hypothesis is corroborated by the results of a pilot study which show that concrete words in the conceptual systems of foreign language learners are associated with affect more than in the case of native speakers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-65
Author(s):  
David Felipe Espinosa Torres ◽  
Iván Camilo González Bejarano ◽  
Juliana Moreno Restrepo

Feedback is a powerful tool that has a significant influence on student success. Its meaningful impact on learning and teaching processes has been well-documented. However, there is minimal research concerning the impact of feedback strategies on foreign language learning. This article seeks to provide a theoretical and practical understanding of the impact of feedback on foreign language teaching and learning processes. This is done through a case study research conducted in a private institution in Bogotá, Colombia. The evidence demonstrates that the feedback strategies used and the manner in which they are administered influence their effectiveness. Three main strategies were observed and analyzed: corrective, motivational, and developmental. This article concludes with a suggestion to make feedback an explicit policy of teachers’ education programs in the country.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-482
Author(s):  
Irina E. Beliakova ◽  
Marina A. Kecherukova ◽  
Julia S. Murzina

Introduction. Developing students’ creative thinking is one of the current global trends in higher education. Despite the existence of a number of studies focusing on creativity enhancement, including its development by means of foreign language learning, the problem of the correlation of students’ creativity levels, academic profile (track) (STEM and humanities) and academic progress in mastering a foreign language remains open. The purpose of this study was to identify possible correlations: between the creativity of university students and their academic performance in a foreign language and between their creativity and specialization areas. Materials and Methods. The sample consisted of 300 students (150 majoring in humanities and 150 in engineering) from two Tyumen universities. The study used an abridged version of the Torrance test of creative thinking, the second subtest “Incomplete Figures Task”. The collected data were processed using mathematical statistics methods in Microsoft Office Excel and Statistica 10.0. Results. According to the results of the study, a low level of students’ creativity was discovered in terms of originality and flexibility of thinking. These indicators were lower than those of the high school students in 1994. At the same time, two other indicators, fluency and elaboration, were higher than statistical norms. A positive correlation was found between academic performance in English as Foreign Language and elaboration. No relationship between academic performance in EFL and other indicators has been registered. There were no statistically significant differences in the level of creativity between students majoring in engineering and humanities. Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the study point to the need to find new ways to foster students’ creativity in the classroom, including creation of a creativity stimulating environment, pedagogical monitoring of students’ creativity, and measures to encourage creative teaching.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-195
Author(s):  
Alba Milena Flórez González

This action research study sought to incorporate students’ local identity as the set of traditions, language, history and norms of conduct as a potential element to enhance the foreign language learning process. The purpose of this study was to strengthen local cultural identity in high school students, facilitating a meaningful foreign language learning process and promoting the active participation of students in their local communities (Sharkey, Clavijo, & Ramirez, 2016), through inter-generational dialogue. The research questions proposed were: a) what were the perceptions students had about their local identity? and b) how did high school students strengthen their identity by writing chronicles in English class about their family history? Findings posit the impact of the study on students’ perception about their local identity, how they proudly identify themselves as Villanuevas (people from Villanueva), their active involvement in the community by fostering an intergenerational communication, the improvement on the students’ L2 competence as well as the impact of the sutdy on the researcher teaching process and its cross curricular influence. 


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanna Carloni ◽  
Federica Franzè

This chapter shares the reflections on a joint international research educational project, involving Columbia University students studying Italian, and Italian pre-service teachers enrolled in an MA in Teaching Italian as a Foreign Language at the University of Urbino, Italy. The northern hemisphere autumn term 2014 iteration of the project is taken as a case study to discuss the effectiveness of teleconferencing for foreign language learning and teaching. The results showed that the videoconference sessions positively affected the learning process of students, and simultaneously fostered reflective teaching in pre-service teachers.


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