scholarly journals THE IMPACT OF VISUAL STIMULI ON THE CONTENT OF WRITING IN TAMIL LANGUAGE: A STUDY AMONG USM UNDERGRADUATES

2022 ◽  
pp. 36-45
Author(s):  
RONI KAE MERY PRANCHIS ◽  
AJUNTHA KUPPAN
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Teaching Resources ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Graphics Software ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

Visual images are increasingly appearing in learning and teaching resources, delivered across a range of media in a variety of formats: digitally Web-based material and multimedia as well as print and as transparencies. The proliferation of image-rich resources is due to the wide availability of digital images and access to the technology and graphics software that facilitates the creation and delivery of visual materials. The main aim of this research is to investigate the role of visual stimuli in enhancing writing skills among USM undergraduates who are taking Tamil as foreign language. Writing is an important skill often emphasized among foreign language learners. However, most foreign language learners face difficulties to pen down their thoughts. The respondents of this research are pursuing LAT 300 (Tamil Language III) course at the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation and are divide into two groups, experimental and control group. The methods used is written assignment; topic with visual stimuli for experimental group and topic without stimuli for control group. The written assignments were graded using the university’s grading rubric. In the questionnaire, the respondents were also asked to give feedback on the use of visual stimuli in writing. The findings of this study revealed that the experimental group performed better as they were given visuals. The experimental group respondents highlighted that they needed stimuli to motivate and trigger their background knowledge on the essay topics. It is hoped that this study will aid language teachers and practitioners to utilize visuals as a support in the teaching of Tamil Language as foreign language.

scholarly journals Do EFL Learners Enhance Their knowledge of Their Home Cultures as a Result of comparing them with other Cultures Through Project-Based Learning?

2021 ◽  
Vol 04 (08) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akharraz Mohamad ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Cultural Products ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

The existing research studies have revealed that project-based learning (PjBL) has significantly helped foreign language learners enhance their cultural understanding as a result of completing their projects (e.g., Bouchouk, 2017; Hsu, 2014; Kim, 2019; Liu et al., 2006; Ngo, 2014). While these studies have congruently proved the utility of PjBL in enhancing students’ cultural awareness, none of them has measured the effect of PjBL together with a comparative and contrastive approach on students’ understanding of their home cultures. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of comparing students’ home cultures with the English cultures through PjBL on students’ understanding of their own cultures in terms of cultural products, cultural practices, and cultural perspectives. Two similar intact groups were randomly assigned to control and treatment groups. The two groups were pretested, administered two different treatments for 24 weeks, and post-tested to assess their differences. The independent sample t-tests results exhibited that the experimental group substantially deepened their understanding of their home cultures as a result of comparing them with the English cultures through PjBL. The study also revealed that while the control group significantly improved their cultural products, those in the experimental group greatly enhanced their knowledge of cultural practices and perspectives.

scholarly journals The Impact of Oral and Written Feedback on EFL Writers With the Use of Screencasts

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Alvira
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Private University ◽  
Written Feedback ◽  
Oral Feedback ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Promising Strategy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Results

<p>This article, based on an action research study performed at a Colombian middle-sized private university, proposes specific strategies to provide feedback to English as a foreign language learners and uses a Web 2.0 tool called screencasting. The findings of the study suggest that the use of coded, written, and oral feedback is widely accepted by students and yields positive results in the improvement of their writing skills at the paragraph level, and that the use of screencasting is a promising strategy that is motivational to students and increases the quality of their uptake.</p>

scholarly journals The Impact of Text Messaging on Iranian University Students as an English as a Foreign Language Instructional Tool to Enhance Learner Autonomy and Perception

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 184-202
Author(s):  
Behnam Behforouz ◽  
Anca Daniela Frumuselu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Text Messaging ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Instructional Tool ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This paper investigates the efficiency of text messaging as an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructional tool to enhance learner autonomy and perception at the Islamic Azad University-South Tehran Branch, Iran. The study considers seventy-four learners to participate in the study after the administration of an Oxford Placement Test to measure their proficiency level. Participants are randomly assigned in experimental and control groups, including 37 participants each. A questionnaire is used as a pretest and posttest to measure learners` autonomy. Participants from the experimental group use text messaging (the treatment) to receive instructions, whereas those from the control group receive traditional classroom instructions in a face-to-face channel. A semi-structured interview is also used to collect date on experimental group participants` perception in using MALL in classrooms. The results reveal remarkable differences between the experimental and control groups’ means on their learner autonomy scores. However, the impact of the independent samples t-test has shown that there is no statistically meaningful gender difference among the learners regarding their autonomy scores. The findings based on the semi-structured interview showed complimentary views on MALL. The current study is beneficial since its outcomes could be relevant for EFL curriculum developers and English language teachers in the use of mobile learning and text messaging in the English classroom.

scholarly journals Effect of Paper and E-Dictionaries on Iranian EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Shiva Grami ◽  
Mahmood Hashemian
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Paired Samples ◽  
Treatment Design

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of paper and e-dictionaries on Iranian intermediate learners' reading comprehension. To this end, 90 female English Foreign language learners were randomly selected and assigned into 2 experimental groups (e-dictionaries and paper dictionaries groups) and 1 control group. All the groups took a pretest using no dictionaries. After 2 weeks of treatment design for the experimental groups, all the 3 groups took part in the posttest. The experimental groups did their task with their relevant dictionaries, whereas the control group did their task without using any kind of dictionary. Data were analyzed through analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and paired samples t test. Results showed that the participants’ reading comprehension improved from the pretest to the posttest in both experimental groups. Results also indicated that the learners in the e-dictionaries group outperformed those in the paper dictionaries group. The outcome of study reveals that e-dictionaries could improve students’ reading comprehension by motivating them, shortening the time of searching words and reading a text, and increasing the number of look ups. 

PRACTICE IS IMPORTANT BUT HOW ABOUT ITS QUALITY?

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 999-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masatoshi Sato ◽  
Kim McDonough
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Declarative Knowledge ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
University Level ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis study explored the impact of contextualized practice on second language (L2) learners’ production of wh-questions in the L2 classroom. It examined the quality of practice (correct vs. incorrect production) and the contribution of declarative knowledge to proceduralization. Thirty-four university-level English as a foreign language learners first completed a declarative knowledge test. Then, they engaged in various communicative activities over five weeks. Their production of wh-questions was coded for accuracy (absence of errors) and fluency (speech rate, mean length of pauses, and repair phenomena). Improvement was measured as the difference between the first and last practice sessions. The results showed that accuracy, speech rate, and pauses improved but with distinct patterns. Regression models showed that declarative knowledge did not predict accuracy or fluency; however, declarative knowledge assisted the learners to engage in targetlike behaviors at the initial stage of proceduralization. Furthermore, whereas production of accurate wh-questions predicted accuracy improvement, it had no impact on fluency.

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.  

The Effects of Explicit Metapragmatic Instruction on Chinese English Language Learners’ Acquisition of Compliment Responses

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhou Wen ◽  
Deng Jun
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Compliment Responses ◽  
English Major ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Experimental Group

AbstractThe present study investigated the effects of explicit metapragmatic instruction on foreign language learners’ performance of compliment responses (CRs). Eighty-two non-English major students participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to two groups, an experimental group that received explicit metapragmatic instruction on compliment responses and a control group that did not. A pretest-posttest research design was adopted. The data were collected through a written discourse completion task (WDCT) with six scenarios concerning the topics of appearance, performance, and personality. The results revealed that learners who received explicit instruction dramatically decreased their use of Accept strategy and increased Combination (CB) strategy at the macro level; more specifically, a decrease in Appreciation and an increase in Accept + Accept at the micro level. The learners of the control group made little progress in their performance. The study sheds light on pragmatics learning in an EFL setting and provides implications for pragmatics pedagogy.

scholarly journals Improving Upper-intermediate EFL Learners’ Communicative Competence through Authentic Materials

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 956
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hossein Keshmirshekan
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Authentic Materials ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of authentic materials on enhancing Iranian English as a foreign language learners' communicative competence. To this end, 106 upper-intermediate participants out of 136 were selected based on their performance an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and randomly assigned to two equal groups- one experimental group and one control group. Then a pre-test was administered to assess the participants' communicative competence at the beginning of the course. Then, the experimental group received the treatment. The control group was taught the course content using the regular communicative method through which students received teacher-course from the textbook. After the treatment, the two groups took the post-test. The data analysis through paired and independent sample t-tests revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the posttest. In other words, teaching authentic materials showed to have a significant effect on improving learners' communicative competence. The implications, limitations, and suggestions of this study are explained at the end of the study.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF THE AFFECTIVE DIMENSION IN SHAPING FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNERS’ CONCEPTUAL SYSTEM

Neofilolog ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 103-117
Author(s):  
Ariadna Strugielska
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Conceptual System ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Affective Factors ◽  
Foreign Language Learners

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.

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