scholarly journals Conveying the self in a foreign language: Exploring JFL learners’ self-introduction

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-101
Author(s):  
Kiyomi FUJII ◽  
Naomi YANAGIDA
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Video Data ◽  
The Self ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Alternative Approaches

In this study, the authors researched how learners of Japanese as a foreign language introduce themselves and what they want to convey, as well as what kind of skills the speakers need to effectively communicate these points to the addressee. The self-introduction video data were collected from a project in which JFL learners interacted with EFL learners through Facebook. The survey data included learners' evaluations of their own self-introductions. Interviews were conducted with students in counterpart schools to evaluate the learners’ self-introductions. The authors analyzed the data and extrapolated the most useful skills for effective conveyance from the most successful self-introductions. The results showed discrepancies between learners’ self-evaluations and the opinions of the addressees. Non-verbal communication strategies were also shown to play an important role in successful conveyances. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the project and report salient results obtained through the analysis of the data. We also share pedagogical implications of the results, and suggest alternative approaches to language pedagogy.

scholarly journals A Revival of Life Writing Genres in Language Pedagogy Settings: The Case of Diary Writing

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (2 (4)) ◽  
pp. 78-92
Author(s):  
Elena Xeni
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
Written Language ◽  
The Self ◽  
Literary Genre ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Diary Writing ◽  
Writing Genres

The article discusses a number of issues contributing to the efficient teaching of a foreign language. Studying Diary Writing as a unique literary genre (a text disclosing the self of the author) the author of the article believes it is very important that students should have diaries since such an assignment highly contributes to the improvement of a written language.

scholarly journals University Students’ Perceptions of Videotaping as a Teaching Tool in a Public Speaking Course

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
Latifa El Mortaji
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Public Speaking ◽  
Major Effect ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Independent Learning ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Freshmen Students ◽  
Speaking Skills

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of videotaping on college students’ public speaking skills development in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) from the learners’ perspective. Twenty Moroccan freshmen students majoring in Engineering, Business, and Humanities at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, participated in the study. Using 60 videotaped extemporaneous speeches, pre and post-videotaping surveys together with self-reflection essays, the researcher reports on students’ perceptions of and attitudes towards the effectiveness of videotaping on their public speaking competence development. Results revealed that the students’ public speaking skills improved over the course of a semester in terms of content, followed by non-verbal communication, verbal communication, organization, and language. In line with some previous research, this study confirms that a combination of videotaping and self-reflection has a major effect on improving students' public speaking skills, developing confidence of EFL learners, and fostering independent learning

scholarly journals DEVELOPING EFL LEARNERS’ ACHIEVEMENT COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES IN A SPEAKING CLASS

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-89
Author(s):  
Syarifudin Syarifudin
Keyword(s):  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Compensatory Strategies ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Topic Avoidance ◽  
Cooperative Strategies ◽  
Communication Problems ◽  
Head Nodding ◽  
Linguistic Strategies ◽  
Reduction Strategies

Communication strategies should be included in a speaking class in order to enable learners have strategies to cope with the communication problems  both as message delivers (speakers) and as message receivers (listeners) in taking turns speaking. When the learners face problems in taking turns speaking, they may employ achievement/compensatory strategies as an attempt to deal with problems in communication directly by using alternative in order to get the message across. The use these strategies are regarded as good learners’ behaviors because they are able to maintain communication, such as use of  word coinage, language switch, paraphrase, circumlocution, cooperative strategies, non-linguistic strategies, and so forth.  Otherwise, the learners may rely on the avoidance/reduction strategies if they are not able to convey or understand the message to or from the interlocutors. These behaviors affect interaction negatively and are common among low proficiency learners. The  avoidance message as such  topic avoidance, message abandonment, replace the message, reduce the content of the intended message, and so forth.  Learners as message delivers (speakers)  and  message receivers (listeners) may use verbal communication strategies to cope with communication problems, such as topic avoidance, message abandonment, approximation, word coinage, circumlocution, literal translation (interlingual transfer), language switch, appeal for assistance, foreignizing (interlingual transfer), paraphrase, self-correction, self-repetition, asking for repetition, asking for clarification, and so forth. Meanwhile, nonverbal CSs which may be employed by learners  as message senders (speakers) and  message receivers (listeners) are smiling, head nodding, head shaking, hand raising, hand moving, thumb up, drawing something, and so forth.

Task type completion in lower level EFL classes: A conversation analytic study

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882098795
Author(s):  
Yujong Park
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Case Analysis ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Task Completion ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Task Types ◽  
Middle School English ◽  
Deviant Case

This study assesses a range of task-based interaction (i.e. structured vs. unstructured tasks) between lower-English-proficiency middle school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in a task-based learning (TBL) class employing conversation analytic methodology. From the video data, which allowed for an emic analysis of the students’ vocal and non-vocal actions when engaging in the different task types, it was found that in both the structured and unstructured task interactions, because the students were mainly focused on task completion, there were frequent minimal turns and sequences. A deviant case analysis revealed that the participants prioritized task completion as the focus of activities even when engaging in social talk by evoking various types of roles (e.g. students, friends). The study proposes several pedagogical suggestions for employing tasks in lower-level EFL contexts.

scholarly journals Communicative Techniques Used by EFL Learners to Accomplish Strategic Proficiency

2018 ◽  
pp. 35-56
Author(s):  
Omran Abushama
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Literal Translation ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Communication Ability ◽  
Learning English

Effective communication is of paramount importance in all aspects of life. To achieve this, verbal and nonverbal techniques may be utilized. These techniques are called Communication Strategies (CSs). The primary objective of this study was to investigate the verbal and nonverbal communication strategies used by EFL (English Foreign Language) learners in the classroom to enhance their communication ability and to achieve strategic proficiency in their communication. It also explored which strategies are more effective or successful for accomplishing strategic proficiency in communication and for compensating the limited knowledge. Data came from two sources: questionnaires which were accomplished by the 20 student participants and 2 teacher participants and an observation administered by the researcher. The results showed that the most common communication strategies used are repetition and paraphrasing, while the less used strategies are literal translation and nonverbal strategies. The findings also confirmed that paraphrasing, repetition and replacing words are more effective than literal translation and nonverbal strategies. In addition, the correlation analysis revealed that the greater experience students have in learning English, the more strategies they use and the Pearson correlation approved that paraphrasing clearly correlated with years of learning English, r = .44, p = .05. Therefore, the communicative technique paraphrasing is used by the students who have greater experience in learning English confirming that using it is dependent on the years or the experience of learning the language.

scholarly journals COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES: WHAT INDONESIAN EFL LEARNERS DO IN CASUAL CONVERSATION?

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fadhila Yonata ◽  
Dewi Amalia Saptani
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Intended Meaning ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Communication Breakdowns

In tackling casual conversation, most foreign language learners have problems in negotiating the intended meaning smoothly. One of the reasons is the lack of optimization of communication strategies to compensate communication breakdowns.  This study attempts to reveal Indonesian advance English learners actual competence in engaging in a casual conversation. The data were taken from two recorded conversations lasted for 15 minutes which were then transcribed and analyzed with respect to communication strategies by implementing spoken discourse analysis. The percentage of kind of communication strategies results suggest that filler is the most frequent strategy used by speakers, followed by repetition, appeal for help and self-repair. These findings show that the participants have enough linguistic resources but having problem in verbalizing their mental concept due to insufficient practice.

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.

INVESTIGATING ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS’ FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPEAKING ANXIETY: A CASE STUDY IN UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA, INDONESIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Dyas Intan Rachmawati ◽  
Jurianto Jurianto
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
English Department ◽  
Common Phenomenon ◽  
Speaking Anxiety ◽  
Pearson Product Moment Correlation ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Achievement Score ◽  
Anxiety Levels

Anxiety during a speaking performance is a common phenomenon experienced by any EFL learners, including students majoring in English. Focusing on the issue, this study investigates the correlation between students’ foreign language speaking anxiety and speaking achievement. Moreover, this study also observes the levels and the sources of the speaking anxiety among the English Department’s fifth-semester students of Universitas Airlangga. This study used the Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Scale (FLSAS) by Öztürk and Gurbuz (2014). The FLSAS questionnaire was distributed to 114 students in order to explore the correlation between speaking anxiety and speaking achievement, the speaking anxiety levels, and the speaking anxiety sources. The data collected through questionnaire were analyzed with SPSS 25.0. Pearson Product Moment Correlation isused to determine the correlation, while descriptive statistic alanalys is isused to investigate the levels and the sources for speaking anxiety. Horwitz, Horwitzand Cope’s(1986) theory and Horwitz and Young (1991) about the source and the levels of foreign language speaking anxiety are also used in this study. This study found that there is a significant negative correlation between speaking anxiety levels and speaking achievement. This means the higher the speaking anxiety they experience, the lower the achievement score they get. Most of the students have moderate levels of speaking anxiety, which is mainly due to the fear of negative evaluation.This study indicates that although the EFL learners are often exposed to English, they still experience speaking anxiety. These findings suggest that the lecturers should be more aware of students’ anxiety and use strategies that might encourage the students to speak more confidently.

An exploration of target L2 morphemes in the oral production of young EFL learners in Croatia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena O'Reilly ◽  
Eva Jakupčević
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Simple Construction ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
The Past ◽  
Base Form ◽  
Production Study ◽  
Efl Students

Although the second language (L2) acquisition of morphology by late L2 learners has been a popular research area over the past decades, comparatively little is known about the acquisition and development of morphology in children who learn English as a foreign language (EFL). Therefore, the current study presents the findings from a longitudinal oral production study with 9/10-year-old L1 Croatian EFL students who were followed up at the age of 11/12. Our results are largely in line with the limited research so far in this area: young EFL learners have few issues using the be copula and, eventually, the irregular past simple forms, but had considerable problems with accurately supplying the 3rd person singular -s at both data collection points. We also observed a be + base form structure, especially at the earlier stage, which appears to be an emergent past simple construction.

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.

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