scholarly journals On the Teaching and Learning of Culture-Loaded Words: The Case of Moroccan EFL Learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Driss Benattabou

This paper sets out to investigate an uncharted research area in the field of applied linguistics concerned with the teaching and learning of culture-loaded words among Moroccan learners of EFL at the university level. Relying on a comparative analysis, this study delineates some problematic areas foreign language students may face as a result of their being unaware of the cultural connotative meanings some words may carry in the target language. The inappropriate use of these words may often lead to gross misunderstandings contributing most of the time to the perpetuation of intercultural confusions and conflicts. EFL teachers may do a great disservice to their students if they leave them fully unaware of the extra cultural meanings some words may convey besides their basic denotation. The last part of the paper suggests some implications on how to develop the teaching and learning of these culturally-loaded words.

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Larssen ◽  
Ion Drew

This study aims to explore the influence of Lesson Study on the teaching of a 2nd grade English as a foreign language (EFL) picture book-based lesson conducted by a group of student teachers during teaching practice in Norway. Lesson Study is an investigative educational method originating in Japan. A group of teachers plan a research lesson which one of them teaches and the others observe, their attention focussing on a few selected pupils. The lesson is reviewed, re-planned and re-taught to a different class. The data presented here was collected through video-recordings of two lessons (a lesson taught and the same lesson re-planned and re-taught) and their corresponding pre-, mid-and post-supervision sessions. Lesson Study appeared to have had an influence on the activities, especially the type and number of questions being asked by the teacher, the timing of activities, and the use of the target language. It also appeared to have had an influence on the attitudes of both the mentors and students to using picture books with young EFL learners. Lesson Study has previously been little used and researched in foreign language teaching. This study demonstrates its potential to enhance teaching and learning in that context.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 139-144
Author(s):  
Muhammad Badrus Sholeh ◽  
Sahril Nur ◽  
Kisman Salija

Task-Based Learning (TBL) is one of the contemporary approaches, which has attracted a great deal of study in recent decades. It is a language education approach that offers students the opportunity to use authentic target language use by tasks. Task-Based Learning drives skill-based teaching and learning, engages students in the learning process, motivates and enhances student imagination. This paper focuses on some fundamental aspects of TBL in literature: (1) the task-based learning definition, (2) the task-based learning characteristics, (3) the task-based learning framework, (4) the task-based learning benefits, and (5) a proposed task-based learning practice for EFL learners. The paper gives useful suggestions to EFL teachers who have similar teaching strategies to help students meet such learning goals in their classrooms and continue positive TBL patterns in teaching and learning.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 967 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abbas Pourhosein Gilakjani ◽  
Narjes Banou Sabouri

One of the important parts of foreign language teaching and learning is English pronunciation because it impacts learners' communicative competence and performance. Lack of pronunciation skills reduces learners’ self-confidence and limit their social interactions. EFL teachers can help their learners obtain the necessary skills of pronunciation they need for effective communication. In this paper, the researchers define the term pronunciation, explain the importance of pronunciation, declare the goals of English pronunciation, state the aspects of English pronunciation, elaborate the reason of integrating pronunciation in EFL classes, express techniques for teaching English pronunciation, and mention implications for the learning and teaching of English pronunciation. The review of literature indicates that EFL teachers play a vital role in improving the learners’ pronunciation skill.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-56
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ilyas

Some students in the university got some difficulties to express their ideas, especially expressing in foreign language such as English. How to start comunication and interaction sometime need someone to stimulate. The phenomenon often encountered in various levels of education even to the students college. The students tended to be very subjective towards topics, their peer or even partner. In the teaching and learning process, the teacher not only transfer the information to the students but also facilitate the students, stimulate to learn English and provide the technique suitable with the students’ need. Teaching English language might be carried out through several techniques, one of them was CLL (Community Language Learning). In this technique, students were treated as clients who could express their problems to the counselor as well as in the community. In addition, the teacher played the role of translator to help students express themselves using English. This means that learners had enough opportunities to speak without worrying about their limitations in using English. The results showed that CLL helped students to express ideas systematically. The ideas were organized well, understandable, and standardized. In addition, CLL improved the result of students’ score in speaking skill. The mean score increased from 54.74 in pre-test to 72.86 in post-test. It means that CLL gave good influence on students’ speaking skill.


Author(s):  
Kim Carter-Cram

This case discusses the development and delivery of a course designed to teach elementary French at the university level in a fully online environment. Included in the discussion are issues related to the problematics of creating an interactive locus where effective communication in the target language can take place both between the instructor and the student and between students. The study examines attitudes about teaching (and learning) language online, how the textbook industry has attempted (or not) to deal with the advent of more online second language instruction, and how advances in tools available to instructors in the Learning Management System can both help and hinder the successful development and deployment of a course in second language instruction. Also examined here are questions of student motivation and retention, and proposed solutions to both problems via innovative quest-based gamification of course lessons and materials.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Walter Cañarte Ávila ◽  
Ned Quevedo Arnaiz ◽  
Nemis García Arias

Aprender inglés como lengua extranjera presenta varias posibilidades de realización que se expresan en  las modalidades que se emplean desde lo presencial a lo virtual o la combinación de ambos. En los tiempos actuales se ha priorizado cómo transformar la tecnología y las herramientas de enseñanza aprendizaje antes que las diferentes formas cómo se aprende con ellas, por ello el problema que se atiende en este trabajo es cómo lograr la interacción mediante la tecnología sin que se obstaculice el desarrollo armónico en la lengua extranjera a los estudiantes de las carreras técnicas. El objeto es el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje del inglés en la Universidad y su campo la contribución al desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa oral del inglés en la modalidad combinada en las carreras técnicas. El objetivo perseguido es la elaboración de una estrategia metodológica que contribuya al desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa oral en la modalidad combinada para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera en las carreras técnicas en la Universidad, lo que constituye el principal aporte del trabajo, y el cual se evaluó mediante la metodología del criterio de expertos. El trabajo subrayó con la propuesta de estrategia que el aprendizaje del inglés requiere de interacción constante entre los estudiantes en contextos virtuales y presenciales. Palabras claves: Estrategia, enseñanza aprendizaje, modalidad combinada, criterio de expertos   Learning and teaching: a pro virtual proposal for English in the present university level context  Abstract  To learn English as a foreign language has several possibilities to be done that are expressed in the way of learning that are used, from the face- to- face teaching to the virtual one or the combination of both. In the current times a thought has been prioritized on how to transform the technology and the tools used for teaching and learning instead of the forms of learning with them, for that reason the problem of this work is how to achieve the interaction by means of technology leading towards the development of the foreign language by the students in the technical degrees. The pursued objective is the elaboration of a methodological strategy that contributes to the development of the oral speaking competence in the blended learning for English teaching and learning as a foreign language for the technical degrees at the University, what constitutes the main contribution of this work and was corroborated by means of the experts’ analysis.  The paper underlined that leaning English requires constant interaction in virtual and face to face contexts as in the case of this strategy.  Key words: Strategy, teaching and learning, blended learning, experts' analysis


Author(s):  
Tariq Elyas ◽  
Bayan AlHashmi ◽  
Fan Fang

With a theory-driven interest in the factors that make some language learners more successful than others, this study attempts to measure the cognitive diversity level of EFL learners at a Saudi university. To achieve this purpose, the Ehrman and Leaver’s questionnaire of learners’ cognitive profiles (Ehrman & Leaver, 2003) was adapted, translated into Arabic, and then randomly distributed to foundation year students taking English as a Foreign Language as a main course. The overall results reveal that the cognitive diversity among students is considerable. It ranges between moderate to high, according to the Simpson Diversity Index (Simpson, 1949). On this account, several implications are suggested to improve the quality of EFL teaching at the university level. These implications and recommendations are mostly directed to the committees concerned with qualification assurance or professional development.


Author(s):  
Eda Elmas ◽  
Selami Aydin

While research skills seem significant for effective and successful foreign language teaching and learning, few studies focused on how English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers perceive research skills in the EFL teaching and learning processes. Research also lacks how EFL teachers perceive research skills and to what extent they are aware of the role, teacher as researcher. Thus, this study aims to explore pre-service EFL teachers’ perceptions of research skills for a deeper understanding of how their perceptions of research skills affect or contribute to the teaching and learning processes. The sample group in the study consisted of 44 pre-service EFL teachers studying at a state university. A background questionnaire, diaries, reflections and interviews were the tools to collect qualitative data. Results showed that research activities develop pre-service EFL teachers’ content knowledge, research skills and target language proficiency, while they perceive several problems during the process. The study suggests that research skills should be a must course in pre- and in-service teacher education programs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Atta Galali ◽  
Emrah Cinkara

Two main opposing approaches exist regarding the impact of first-language (L1) use in the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language: the monolingual and bilingual approaches. Some linguists assume that students’ L1 should be banished from their English classes, whereas others assert that it facilitates the process of learning a target language. The purpose of this study was to investigate learners’ attitudes towards the use of L1 in their English classes, both by the students themselves and by their teachers. The current study also determined which factors caused the learners to switch from the TL to their L1.  This study was conducted at Salahaddin University, Erbil, at the end of the first semester of the 2016-2017 academic year. It employed a mixed-method approach of data collection and analysis. Two hundred and fifty-eight EFL learners participated in the quantitative data collection, by completing a questionnaire and the qualitative data were collected via face-to-face semi structured interviews with eight EFL learners. The findings revealed that participants had a slightly positive attitude towards the use of their L1 in the facilitation of their TL learning.  By referring to current theories of TL acquisition and reviewing recent literature, it can be inferred that learners’ L1 has a necessary and facilitating role in acquiring a foreign language under certain conditions.


2014 ◽  
pp. 1181-1194
Author(s):  
Kim Carter-Cram

This case discusses the development and delivery of a course designed to teach elementary French at the university level in a fully online environment. Included in the discussion are issues related to the problematics of creating an interactive locus where effective communication in the target language can take place both between the instructor and the student and between students. The study examines attitudes about teaching (and learning) language online, how the textbook industry has attempted (or not) to deal with the advent of more online second language instruction, and how advances in tools available to instructors in the Learning Management System can both help and hinder the successful development and deployment of a course in second language instruction. Also examined here are questions of student motivation and retention, and proposed solutions to both problems via innovative quest-based gamification of course lessons and materials.


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