scholarly journals Criteria for public speech planning : characteristics of language learning

Linguistica ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 381-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomaž Petek
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Public Speaking ◽  
Public Speech ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Verbal Language ◽  
Correct Pronunciation ◽  
Speech Cues ◽  
Selection Of

Public speaking is understood as monological discourse production, directed at a wider or narrower public or group of people. The theoretical part of this article introduces the characteristics of effective public speaking; criteria were designed for the preparation of a public speech, and four main sections defined, i.e. a) construction of public speech (consideration of text type characteristics, appropriateness of the topic and selection of content, appropriateness of the mode of topic development, formation of a meaningful, comprehensible and integrated text); b) integral mode of public speech (fluent, natural and free speaking, clear diction); c) verbal language (social genre, selection of words consistent with the speech, grammatical correctness, correct pronunciation, formal constructions, formal [dynamic] accent), non-verbal language (auditory non-verbal speech cues, visual non-verbal speech cues). The fulfilment of these criteria was tested in practice, namely on second and third year undergraduate students (prospective teachers) (N = 211). On the whole, all the average marks of third year students were better than those of the second year students. The most common difficulty facing the students was fluent, natural and free speaking as well as appropriate topic development, whereas the most successfully fulfilled criteria were those of appropriate topic selection and consideration of text type characteristics. 

scholarly journals Motivation and Autonomy in Learning English as Foreign Language: A Case Study of Ecuadorian College Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Cevallos Bravo ◽  
Eder A. Intriago ◽  
Jhonny Villafuerte Holguin ◽  
Gustavo Molina Garzon ◽  
Luis Ortega Arcia
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Attitudes ◽  
Correct Pronunciation ◽  
Different Levels

This quantitative research aims to examine how different levels of motivation relate to frequency of occurrence of autonomous language learning activities undertaken by undergraduate students. Eight hundred and sixty-two college students from 10 vocational training programs of a public university located in Ecuador, South America, participated in this study. Spratt’s questionnaire that regards ‘autonomy and motivation’ as a cyclical interaction in the language learning process, was updated by the researchers, adding digital education elements. The data were analyzed using the program SPSS v24.0.0 The results showed that there was a significant relationship between: the language learning stimulation generated by professors and the participants’ learning attitudes. In addition, it was determined that the most frequent language practices in which the participants showed greatest autonomy were: listening to songs in English language, worrying about the correct pronunciation, and noting down interesting words or expressions in English.

scholarly journals Glossophobia: The Fear Of Public Speaking In Female And Male Students Of University Of Karachi

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Kausar Perveen ◽  
Yamna Hasan ◽  
Abdur Rahman Aleemi
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Public Speaking ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Factorial Anova ◽  
Fear Of Public Speaking ◽  
Opposite Gender

Individuals who have fear speaking publically suffer from strong fear in social performance situations and social sphere. (Stein, Walker, & Forde, 1996).This research aims to investigate (a) if the level of anxiety is higher in females then males while speaking publically. (b) if students tend to be more anxious while speaking infront of opposite gender (c) if there is an association between reduction in public speaking fear in students and adaptation of effective psycho-physiological strategies for language learning. Samples of 126 undergraduate students have been selected in an equal ratio of male and female students from university of Karachi. Frequency and percentage analysis has been made to determine the level of public speaking fear in male and female students. A factorial ANOVA has been applied for comparative analysis of anxiety levels in males and females while presenting in front of the opposite gender. Further, a paired t-test has been applicable to determine if psychophysiological strategies for language learning are effective for reduction in glossophobia. The study affirmed that female students get more anxious then males while giving speech publically. It has also found that there is no effect of gender of audience on anxiety level of students during public speaking. Public speaking anxiety has a strong relationship with the adaptation of psycho-physiological strategies and can be reduced effectively.

scholarly journals USE OF INTERNET RESOURCES IN ORGANIZING INDEPENDENT WORK OF BACHELOR STUDENTS IN TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5(74)) ◽  
pp. 30-36
Author(s):  
E.A. Kovalyova ◽  
O.M. Loksha
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Internet Resources ◽  
Use Of Internet ◽  
Independent Work ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Learning English

The article considers the possibilities of using internet resources to organize independent work of undergraduate students, addresses the issues arising from internet-based student independent work in the process of English language learning. Recommendations for the selection of internet resources for educational purposes are provided as well as an overview of internet resources that describes their functions and possible ways of usage for teaching English; samples of tasks and assignments for independent work created with the help of internet resources are presented as well as the results of their testing. As a result of the accomplished testing of created tasks and assignments, the students were able to understand the effectiveness and expediency of usage of internet resources in learning English and additionally managed to overcome their difficulties. The results of the repeat study proved that there is potential for more successful usage of internet resources for the organization of student independent work in learning English.

scholarly journals Changes in Prospective Teachers’ Beliefs about Foreign Language Learning in a Teacher Training Program

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Adel Abu Radwan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Sultan Qaboos University ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
The Right

This study examines changes in the beliefs of a group of undergraduate students about learning and teaching English as a foreign language. Learners’ beliefs are thought to shape students’ language learning experience and often guide their future teaching practices. Thus, any mistaken beliefs could negatively affect student learning and teaching experience for decades (Peacock, 2001). While some studies suggest that students’ beliefs are stable, inflexible and resistant to change, others show that students’ beliefs are amenable to change with proper intervention. This study uses a questionnaire to collect data from 212 students in the English Department at Sultan Qaboos University. The results show that learners hold strong beliefs about the role of vocabulary, grammar and practice in learning a foreign language. Moreover, their beliefs did not undergo any significant changes during the duration of the program though slight shifts in their beliefs could be noticed in the final year of their training. The study suggests that special attention should be given to this area to eliminate any detrimental beliefs held by prospective teachers. Early intervention may steer students in the right direction and could equip them with the theoretical and pedagogical beliefs necessary to positively influence their future students.   

British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Manual: A Critical Analysis of the Coursebook Taught at Pakistani Universities for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Manual: A Critical Analysis of the Coursebook Taught at Pakistani Universities

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching Principles

English for Academic Purposes course focusing on the academic language needs of students is a subfield of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It is a type of specialized course to integrate specific subject matter, language content, and material based on learners’ needs. The study aims to evaluate the British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursebook in terms of content, sequencing, learners’ autonomy, motivation, feedback and focus on language skills. Furthermore, the study tries to provide a general perception of the usefulness and effectiveness of the coursebook for undergraduate students. The EAP Students’ Manual coursebook is used as a primary source for the data collection. The researcher has chosen Nation & Macalister (2010) model of language teaching principles to analyze and discuss the data. The study found the coursebook a useful, effective and an appropriate source of English language learning in terms of the investigated aspects of the book. The findings report that the coursebook provides practice and practical usage in all domains of the academically required English language skills. It helps the students to build language competency and to be more independent learners. In addition, it provides an opportunity to the learners to think in the target language, use the language more practically and learn it in a natural type of environment. The study concludes and suggests that the content needs to be supplemented with English language audios and videos presenting the students relevant documentaries and helping material in order to make the coursebook and the learning process more useful, effective, interesting and motivating. Furthermore, the study recommends that while choosing /designing a coursebook for a certain course, it needs to be evaluated following the various criteria and language-teaching-principles suggested by different language researchers.

Needs Analysis and Teachers' Perceptions: A Study of the English Undergraduate Students

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Needs Analysis ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Visual Aids ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Teaching Aids

Needs Analysis in the context of language-learning-teaching is an important process to design a certain course and syllabus. It helps course designers to set objectives, choose content, method of instruction, appropriate teaching aids, and classroom activities for different courses. This paper reports the perceptions of the researchers on the English language learning needs of the English undergraduate students of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Pakistan. The data is based on the researchers’ personal experience and first-hand observation of the population as the researchers have been teaching in the target context for about a decade. Furthermore, the researchers have always been in discussion with their students and colleagues about the target students’ English learning needs, preferred learning styles, motivation in learning English, interest, strengths/weaknesses, and attitude toward English learning in the target setting. Learners’ assignments, exam answer sheets, and presentations have also been used is a source of data collection. A needs analysis model proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) has been applied in order to analyze the data. The results show that the students lack well grammatical sentences, have poor spellings, capitalization problems, limited vocabulary, unaware of collocations, poor/slow reading comprehension, and lack of effective presentation skills. Furthermore, most of the students have a lack of involvement in classroom activities and feel shy about speaking the English language. It was reported that the provision of authentic material, interesting activities, suitable audio-visual aids, relevant texts, language labs, and other logistic arrangements can better help them in learning the English language. The findings demonstrate that the students wished to have a learner-centered-course that helps them excel in their academic life and learning the English language.

British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Manual: A Critical Analysis of the Coursebook Taught at Pakistani Universities

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching Principles ◽  
Language Needs

English for Academic Purposes course focusing on the academic language needs of students is a subfield of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It is a type of specialized course to integrate specific subject matter, language content, and material based on learners’ needs. The study aims to evaluate the British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursebook in terms of content, sequencing, learners’ autonomy, motivation, feedback and focus on language skills. Furthermore, the study tries to provide a general perception of the usefulness and effectiveness of the coursebook for undergraduate students. The EAP Students’ Manual coursebook is used as a primary source for the data collection. The researcher has chosen Nation & Macalister (2010) model of language teaching principles to analyze and discuss the data. The study found the coursebook a useful, effective and an appropriate source of English language learning in terms of the investigated aspects of the book. The findings report that the coursebook provides practice and practical usage in all domains of the academically required English language skills. It helps the students to build language competency and to be more independent learners. In addition, it provides an opportunity to the learners to think in the target language, use the language more practically and learn it in a natural type of environment. The study concludes and suggests that the content needs to be supplemented with English language audios and videos presenting the students relevant documentaries and helping material in order to make the coursebook and the learning process more useful, effective, interesting and motivating. Furthermore, the study recommends that while choosing /designing a coursebook for a certain course, it needs to be evaluated following the various criteria and language-teaching-principles suggested by different language researchers.

Ethnic Identity in English Language Textbooks: Considerations for a Multicultural Society

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Puspalata C A/P Suppiah ◽  
Ramesh Nair
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
English Language ◽  
Multicultural Society ◽  
Verbal Language ◽  
Language Textbooks ◽  
Selection Of

There is evidence to suggest that young children more readily absorb the subtle messages that are encoded in any type of text and talk, and what they take away from these texts contributes in helping them develop their own identity in relation to their role in society. In this paper, we examine the construction of ethnic identity in a selection of English language textbooks targeted at young Malaysian children in primary schools. Based on a content analysis of visual and verbal language in two Primary Three English language textbooks, we report on the encoded messages that are transmitted to young Malaysian children about their place in society. The findings reveal significant imbalances in the way characters of different ethnic backgrounds are represented. This imbalance is a cause for concern as the message conveyed to young Malaysian children could be potentially damaging. Keywords: textbook, ethnicity, identity construction

Frazeolohichnyy minimum z ukrayinsʹkoyi movy dlya slovʺyanomovnykh studentiv (rubizhnyy ta vysokyy rivni, B1-B2)

2020 ◽  
pp. 97-104
Author(s):  
Halyna Kuz’
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Competence ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Qualitative Structure ◽  
Selection Of

The article deals with the volume and composition of the phraseological minimum as a necessary and effective element of the formation of linguistic and cultural competence in the process of language learning at intermediate and upper intermediate levels, outlines the quantitative and qualitative structure of the phraseological minimum for learning the Ukrainian language by Slavic students, and offers a list of phraseological units as a component of the described minimum. The material presented in the textbooks of the Ukrainian language as a foreign language was used to form the list of phraseological units, which was minimized according to the criteria of selection of the phraseological minimum for levels B1-B2.

“English is the best way to communicate” - South African Indian students’ blind spot towards the relevance of Zulu

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-171
Author(s):  
Sana Jeewa ◽  
Stephanie Rudwick
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
South African ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Language Management ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
The Status ◽  
Indian Students

AbstractThe South African University of KwaZulu-Natal has developed an ambitious language policy aiming “to achieve for isiZulu the institutional and academic status of English” (UKZN LP 2006/2014). Part of this ambition is a mandatory Zulu language module that all undergraduate students have to pass if they cannot prove knowledge of the language. In this article, we examine attitudes of South African Indian students towards this compulsory module against the strained history and relationship between Zulu and Indian people in the province. Situated within the approach of Language Management Theory (LMT), our focus is on students as micro level actors who are affected by a macro level policy decision. Methodologically combining quantitative and qualitative tools, we attempt to find answers to the following broad question: What attitudes do South African Indian students have towards Zulu more generally and the UKZN module more specifically? The empirical findings show that students’ motivations to learn Zulu are more instrumental than integrative as the primary goal is to ‘pass’ the module. South African Indian students have developed a blind spot for the prevalence and significance of Zulu in the country which impacts negatively on the general attitudes towards the language more general and the module more specifically. Language ideologies that elevate the status of English in the country further hamper the success of Zulu language learning.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document