scholarly journals The Use of Digital Portfolios to Enhance English as a Foreign Language Speaking Skills in Higher Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (24) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
Paola Cabrera-Solano
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Digital Portfolios ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
English Major ◽  
Google Drive ◽  
Oral Skills ◽  
Speaking Skills

The purpose of this study is to analyze the use of digital portfolios to enhance EFL (English as a Foreign Language) speaking skills in English-major under-graduate students at Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja, in southern Ecuador. The participants were 42 students at the A2 level, according to the CEFR (Com-mon European Framework of Reference for Languages). All of them were en-rolled in an English Language Integrated Skills course. A mixed-method ap-proach was used to collect and analyze data in this study. Pre and post-questionnaires, observation sheets, and speaking rubrics were applied as instru-ments. Students used their smartphones to create digital portfolios in Google Drive, which included videos and audios about certain topics considered in the course syllabus. The speaking activities consisted of recording information in dif-ferent locations of the university campus (cafeteria, laboratories, library, chapel, sports ground), and other places of the city. The students worked individually, in pairs or groups to carry out different speaking activities during an academic term of 5 months. Personalized feedback was provided by analyzing the students’ oral performance through the speech artifacts uploaded in each portfolio. The findings show that digital portfolios were effective to enhance students’ pronunciation and fluency. It was also confirmed that the implementation of digital portfolios through Google Drive can increase students’ motivation to practice oral skills in the target language.

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES OF VERBS IN ENGLISH AND ALBANIAN

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 2245-2249
Author(s):  
Suzana Ejupi ◽  
Lindita Skenderi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Part Of Speech ◽  
Grammatical Categories ◽  
Learning English

Working with English learners for many years, gives you the opportunity to encounter linguistic obstacles that they face while learning English language as a foreign language. Additionally, teaching for 13 years and observing the learning process, it enables you to recognize the students’ needs and at the same time, detect linguistic mistakes that they make, while practicing the target language. During my experience as a teacher, in terms of teaching and learning verbs in general and its grammatical categories in specific, it is noticed that Albanian learners find it relatively difficult the correct use of verbs in context and even more confusing the equivalent use of verbs in Albanian. Since verbs present an important part of speech, this study aims to investigate several differences and similarities between grammatical categories of verbs in English and Albanian. As a result, the Albanian learners of English language will be able to identify some of the major differences and similarities between the grammatical categories of verbs in English and Albanian; overcome the usual mistakes; gain the necessary knowledge regarding verbs and use them properly in English and Albanian.

scholarly journals Teaching English in India —The Use of Technologically Enhanced Realia in the Classroom

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Priya K. Nair
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Job Market ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Listening And Speaking ◽  
Speaking Skills

In India acquisition of English language is imperative if one wants to sell oneself in the increasingly competitive job market. With a booming population the nation is filled with educated, technologically literate youth. English is not merely a foreign language in India. As India is separated by a plethora of languages knowledge of English is imperative. As the teachers in India are not native speakers of English the language they teach is not free from errors. The articulation is quite problematic as the mother tongue influence is quite pronounced. Technology helps to reduce these errors. Movies as a tool can enhance the listening and speaking skills of our students. It is quite boring to work with disembodied voices and the recorded conversations available in language labs do not sustain the learner’s interest. However learners are often forced to listen to recorded conversations of people they never see, the conversation is often stilted and contemporary idiom is hardly used. However, a completely new dimension to aural practice can be added in the classroom by using movies. <br /><p><strong> </strong></p>

English Major Students' Attitudes towards Movies and Series as Language Learning Resources

2015 ◽  
pp. 276-295
Author(s):  
Buğra Zengin ◽  
Duygu Doğan ◽  
Feryal Çubukçu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Learning Resources ◽  
Original Language ◽  
English Major ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Low Exposure

This chapter focuses on the attitudes of the fourth-year English Language Teaching (ELT) students towards strategies related to using movies and series as foreign language learning resources. The subjects were teacher candidates (at a state university in the west of Turkey). The current study demonstrates that foreign-language majors are not immune to downsides of a low-exposure EFL setting. The participants also state that only their family members - but not friends - are likely to cause a shift to the dubbed version of movie/series they want to view in the original language and with L2 captions (intralingual captions / in the source language) otherwise. This study suggests that backseat TV systems on buses can provide solutions. The backseat TV systems are welcome by most of the participants, in particular by those whose intercity travelling habits are found to be quite high.

scholarly journals The Impact of Native Language Use on Second Language Vocabulary Learning by Saudi EFL Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Saleem Khan
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
The Impact

<p>This paper strives to explore the impact of Native Language use on Foreign Language vocabulary learning on the basis of empirical and available data. The study is carried out with special reference to the English Language Programme students in Buraydah Community College, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. The Native Language of these students is Arabic and their Second Language is English. The participants in this research study are the post-secondary students of Buraydah Community College in Intensive Course Programme. The instrument used in this study was in the form of two tests. It is well known that in language assessment tests play a pivotal role in evaluating the EFL learners’ language proficiency. The use of native language as a semantic tool for assessing second language learners’ understanding shouldn’t be rejected altogether especially for the undergrad Saudi EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. The outcomes of the study show that in learning the vocabulary of target language is significantly helped by the use of translation method of native language (Arabic) in understanding the meaning of novel words and expressions of foreign language (English). This method is widely welcomed by majority of the students of Buraydah Community College. It’s recommended to use this method in order to take the students directly to the core meaning of the word or expression. It also, sometimes, gives a sense of accuracy of the meaning of native language equivalents.</p>

scholarly journals PERCEPTIONS OF SPEECH COMPETENCES IN FIRST AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS (Percepcija govornih kompetencija u materinskome i stranome jeziku kod učenika završnih razreda srednje škole)

2019 ◽  
Vol X (28) ◽  
pp. 203-224
Author(s):  
Ivana Odža ◽  
Mirjana Matea Kovač
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Grammar School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Speech Disfluency ◽  
Insufficient Knowledge ◽  
Speaking Skills

The paper examines the attitudes of secondary school students, e. g. grammar school and craftmanship secondary school, toward their own language competences in the native (Croatian) and foreign (English) language. The testing instrument is a questionnaire with statements compiled according to questionnaires used to study attitudes toward the native and / or foreign language. The aim of the research is to observe the level of awareness of the respondents about their own language competences. The results of the statistical analysis indicate that the students of both populations are satisfied with their speaking skills in both languages. They also claim to recognize their own errors, as well as the errors and speech disfluencies of others. Grammar school students, unlike students from the craftmanship secondary school, find the introduction of a course that would further develop speaking skills useful. The obtained results are not in line with the dominant curricular guidelines for teaching the native language, especially those related to the area of speaking competences, emphasizing the need to strengthen the basic, spoken, and consequently written competences of students. The reasons for such attitudes could be explained by insufficient knowledge of the underlying features of highly developed communication competence and consequently of insufficient awareness of their own, as a necessary prerequisite for successful interaction in the contemporary society. The research results point to the necessity of acquiring a more objective perception of students about their own language competences. Keywords: speaking competences; speech errors; speech disfluency; students’ attitudes.

scholarly journals Emphasizing the use of literature as an effectual technique for teaching Language: A Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (37) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhibunnisha Begum
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Literature Teaching ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Basic Language ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Oral Skills

This paper aims at emphasizing the use of literature as an effectual technique for teaching both basic language skills (i.e. reading, writing, listening and speaking) and language areas (i.e. and vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation). Reasons for using literary texts in foreign language that is English and the main criteria for selecting apposite literary texts in foreign language classes are hassled as the only language in which all subjects travel is English. Moreover the teaching of language skill’s benefits is obtained through altered genres of literature (i.e. poetry, short fiction, drama and novel). Literature in a language classroom provides adequate space for the learners to observe, validate and mirror themselves. The purpose of using literature in a language classroom is to formulate the class interactive and it can be assured that an interactive class can apparently develop communicative competence of the learners and remain an enduring impact on their mind. Such a class can develop the decisive thinking abilities of the learners and at the same time preserve a learner centre environment. The use of literature is to focus on the positive contributions of a literary text as it exposes the learner to different registers, types of language use. Literature plays an important role in the English programs of many non-English speaking countries. However, there are some problems encountered by language teachers within the area of teaching English through literature. First, there are very few pedagogically-designed suitable materials that can be used by language teachers in a language classroom. Second, there is a lack of groundwork in the area of literature teaching in TESL / TEFL programs. Third, there is the nonexistence of clear-cut objectives defining the role of literature in ESL /EFL. The teacher has a significant role in teaching English through literature. Literature is not only a device for developing the written and oral skills of the students in the intention language but also is a window opening into the culture of the target language, building up a cultural proficiency in students.

scholarly journals The speaking difficulties of Chinese EFL learners and their motivation towards speaking the English language

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-69
Author(s):  
Seth Amoah ◽  
Joyce Yeboah
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Oral Proficiency ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Grammar Rules ◽  
Integrative Motivation ◽  
English Major ◽  
Speaking Confidence ◽  
Oral Presentations

One of the most important skills to acquire in learning a foreign language is speaking. It is however, viewed as one of the most difficult. This study involved the observation of non-English major students in the foreign language department of Nanjing Tech University. Its aim was to assess critically the factors that affect the speaking performances of Chinese EFL Learners, find out their motivational levels and explore ways to improve EFL proficiency. Two survey questionnaires, as well as an interview item, were constructed. Seventy-five respondents were conveniently sampled for the Chinese EFL learner’s speaking difficulty questionnaire and, the English motivational scale, and ten out of the Seventy-five were randomly selected to respond to the interview. The factors that inhibit speaking performances were categorized as either linguistic or psychological. The outcome of the study revealed that Chinese EFL learners have speaking problems that relate more to psychological factors like anxiety, fear of mistakes, unwillingness, and fear of negative evaluation than linguistic factors such as lack of vocabulary, pronunciation, insufficient knowledge of grammar rules, reading and oral presentation. Furthermore, the researchers investigated the motivational levels of respondents toward speaking English as motivation is considered a fundamental element in achieving oral proficiency. The findings showed that Chinese EFL learner’s instrumental motivations are slightly dominant than their integrative motivation. The study recommends that instructors or teachers should create a conducive environment that will help reduce anxiety or shyness and gather adequate strategies like regular oral presentations or classroom debates to boost EFL learners' speaking confidence.

scholarly journals Implementation of plurilingual approach into the foreign language teaching

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Zuzana Straková
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
School Context ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
The European Union

Abstract Teaching foreign languages has adopted various approaches over the history. The last decades of dominance of the Communicative language teaching brought the tendency to insist on the target language use in the classroom in order to allow the immersion into the language. The European Union, however, started to support linguistic diversity more than two decades ago and it has left an imprint on the way foreign language teaching is approached today. Inclusion of plurilingualism in traditional school context requires the readiness of language teachers to use other languages as well as encourage learners to use their prior language experience. The present study presents the results of a questionnaire survey among student teachers measuring their attitudes and readiness to implement more than one additional language in their practice. The participants of the study (n = 118) are all future teachers of English language at both undergraduate and graduate level. The results of the survey indicate a generally positive attitude towards plurilingualism and at the same time ability of the students to rely on more than one language while teaching. The results, however, raise quite a few questions and imperatives for the content of teacher training programmes as well as for the organisation of language education in general.

scholarly journals Interventionist Dynamic Assessment’s Effects on Speaking Skills Testing: Case of Elt Teacher Candidates

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Zeynep Çetin Köroğlu
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Dynamic Assessment ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Speaking Performance ◽  
Interventionist Model ◽  
Speaking Skills

EFL learners’ oral proficiency plays an important role in the representation of their productive skills. Especially, English language learners’ speaking skills are considered as main reflection of their proficiency in foreign languages. Speaking in L2 is accepted as a vital competence for language teachers as well, who are going to teach the target language in the future. The related literature puts an emphasis on the assessment of speaking skills utilizing various techniques. However, the number of research studies, examining how dynamic assessment (DA), especially the interventionist model of dynamic assessment, can be utilized as a technique in the assessment of L2 speaking performance, is relatively limited. Thus, the main aims of the current research study are both to investigate the efficacy of the interventionist model of DA in the assessment of student teachers’ speaking skills performance and to figure out their attitudes towards dynamic assessment. The participants of the current research were 29 student teachers, enrolled in the English Language Teaching Department of a state university in Turkey. To collect the quantitative data questionnaire survey was adopted and utilized as a checklist due to the number of the participants. On the other hand, to collect the qualitative data, a written structured interview was administered to the participants. The data were analyzed with the SPSS package and through the content analysis method. The findings of the current research revealed that participants were satisfied with the interventionist model and developed positive attitudes towards this assessment type. The participants stated that the interventionist dynamic assessment provided an authentic, creative and relaxing atmosphere, which decreased the level of their speaking anxiety. It can be asserted that DA can be administered to test foreign language speaking performance in language classrooms. Additionally, it was concluded that the interventionist model sustained and boosted the student teachers’ oral skills achievement.

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