Exploring ESL Teachers’ Insights on Corrective Oral Feedback in a Malaysian Secondary Education Context

Feedback is one of the most significant elements in the process of teaching and learning. It serves as a tool to enhance students’ second language proficiency. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate how oral feedback is viewed and how it has been maneuvered to assist second language learner’s linguistic competence from the viewpoint of English teachers. Teachers’ perception of feedback is very important because it will determine the amount of feedback used in the process of teaching and learning. This is a qualitative study employing case study research design. It was conducted to 10 English language teachers from secondary schools in Malaysia The instrument used in this study was a semi-structured interview. Data collected from the interview were analyzed using thematic analysis. Several themes have been found during data analysis such as feedback as tool for motivation, oral feedback and learning from mistakes, students’ acceptance of teachers’ oral feedback and feedback as a medium to develop language proficiency. The result indicated that English teachers in Malaysia generally showed positive perception of oral feedback. Furthermore, teachers also reported to have noticed improvement in students’ language competence by listening to teachers’ feedback. Therefore, appropriate measure should be taken to ensure that teachers can provide effective oral feedback during teaching and learning.

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Relationship between Teachers’ Competency Level in Teaching English Language and Students’ English Language Proficiency in Secondary Schools in Rwanda

Journal of Education ◽

10.53819/81018102t5030 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (7) ◽

pp. 104-122

Author(s):

Girimbabazi Serge ◽

◽

Mrs Adegoke Oyebimpe ◽

Dr. Hesbon Opiyo Andala ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Secondary Schools ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

English Language ◽

English Proficiency ◽

English Language Proficiency ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Teaching English ◽

Proficiency Level ◽

English Language Teachers

The improvement of students’ English proficiency depends on the level of teaching English language and the competency of teachers in teaching career. The purpose of this study therefore, was to investigate the relationship between teachers’ competency in English language and students’ English language proficiency within secondary schools of Karongi in Rwanda. The study adopted correlation research design research design. Data collection tools were questionnaire and interview guide. The target population was 1794 people comprised of 1560 students, 14 Sector Education Officers, 20 Head Teachers, 200 teachers. A simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to get a sample size of 395 respondents. The study findings revealed that majority of the students with a total of 290 (91.2%) agreed that in their school, teachers are not competent enough in English language. Moreover, almost 292 (91.8%) of the respondents agreed that in their school, students English reading, writing, listening and speaking proficiency level is low and 70 (90.9%) of key informants agreed that both in public and private secondary schools of Karongi District, students’ English language proficiency level in reading, writing, speaking and listening is low. The correlation results showed the association between between teachers’ inability to teach in English, teachers’ inability to read classroom interactions in English language, teachers’ incompetency in English language, teachers’ inability to express themselves in English language as well as teachers’ inability to develop English language educational materials) and dependent variables (students’ reading, writing, speaking and listening English language proficiency and students’ English language proficiency (reading, writing, speaking and listening English proficiency) is positive. The study recommended the Ministry of Education through Rwanda Basic Education Board to avail enough English teaching and learning materials, including charts, textbooks and dictionaries which are adequate in enhancing English language proficiency mastery among students at an early age. All stakeholders of the education sector are recommended to support English teaching and learning activities in Rwanda, as it is the only and one shortcut for making Rwandans master the English language. Keywords: Teachers’ competency, English Language, English proficiency, Rwanda

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Criteria of Ideal English Language Teachers as Perceived by Secondary and Tertiary Indonesian Students

Journal of Social Transformation and Regional Development ◽

10.30880/jstard.2020.02.03.022 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Nur Salam ◽

◽

Aulia Nourma Putri ◽

Tundung Subali Patima ◽

Azmi Abdul Latiff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Language Proficiency ◽

English Language ◽

English Education ◽

Classroom Interaction ◽

English Teachers ◽

English Language Proficiency ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Research Technology ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

The Republic

This study presents English teachers' professional, personality, social, leadership, and classroom interaction attributes which senior high school and university students expect from their English teachers. By knowing those attributes, English teachers are expected to be able to help their students attain better English language proficiency. For the investigation, five sets of questions were distributed in order to find out the respondents’ favourite English teachers attributes. The respondents consisted of senior students of three high schools and undergraduates of three universities who had high, mediocre and low English language proficiency. The results show that the students' levels of education and English language proficiency influence the students' perceptions on their English teachers' attributes. This study suggests that English teachers recognize the attributes that their students highly expect from them. It is suggested that English teacher training institutions should conduct more professional English language and language teaching trainings that help teachers to develop the attributes. It is also suggested that the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia to monitor and evaluate universities and institutions which establish English Education Departments.

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Challenges in Implementing the CEFR in English Language Classrooms

LSP International Journal ◽

10.11113/lspi.v8.17977 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 115-128

Author(s):

Nur Athirah Mohammed ◽

Abdul Halim Abdul Raof ◽

Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusof

Keyword(s):

Language Proficiency ◽

Primary Schools ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

English Language ◽

Language Education ◽

English Language Proficiency ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Proficiency Level ◽

Language Classrooms ◽

English Language Teachers

The adoption of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in the English Language Education Roadmap 2015-2025 is a reform effort to enhance the standard of our students’ English language proficiency level. While it is a commendable initiative, its implementation in schools has received mixed reactions especially from teachers who are confronted with a number of challenges. Hence, this study was carried out to investigate the nature of challenges encountered by English language teachers in implementing the CEFR in their classrooms. Data for this study were collected from questionnaires gathered from 117 English language teachers in primary schools in Johor Bahru district. The findings revealed the challenges were related to teachers’ English language proficiency level, designing class activities, students’ participation in class, the textbooks used, teachers’ workload, and students’ proficiency level. The challenges were found to be inter-related and could be traced to lack of CEFR-related training, insufficient teaching and learning materials, constraint of time, and the policy which does not allow for students to be streamed based on their proficiency level. All this seemed to make it more difficult for the teachers to implement the CEFR successfully.

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Pre-service English language teachers’ perceptions towards teaching grammar

Journal of NELTA ◽

10.3126/nelta.v23i1-2.23353 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (1-2) ◽

pp. 90-104

Author(s):

Mohan Singh Soud

Keyword(s):

English Language ◽

Relevant Information ◽

English Teachers ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Inductive Method ◽

Teachers Perceptions ◽

Grammar Teaching ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

Teaching Grammar

This article explores the perceptions of pre-service English language teachers studying at Master’s level under Education faculty at Tribhuvan University Nepal towards grammar and grammar teaching employing a qualitative research design. Three pre service English teachers were involved in this study, out of which two were females and one was male. The research participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview technique to collect relevant information to fulfill its purpose. The finding several that pre-service English teachers are in favour of teaching grammar. However, they believe that grammar should not be taught giving rules directly. All of the participants favour the use of inductive method of teaching grammar though they were taught through the use of deductive method at school.

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Teachers’ perspectives toward the implementation of bilingual immersion program in Indonesian private schools

EduLite Journal of English Education Literature and Culture ◽

10.30659/e.5.1.118-125 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 118

Author(s):

Haris Ma'ruf ◽

Huyi Intan Sari

Keyword(s):

Language Proficiency ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

English Language ◽

English Language Proficiency ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Immersion Program ◽

Main Challenge ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

Teachers Perspectives

This research was to find out teachers’ perspectives of the immersion program. For the mathematics, science and social subject teachers, it could ascertain how teachers cope with new challenges because using English to teach was a professional development experience and also could establish baseline approaches for implementing the immersion program. This study provided a picture of non-English teachers’ perception on implementing an immersion program at SMA Islam Sultan Agung 1 Semarang. The data was obtained from questionnaires and observation. The main challenge facing non-English language teachers was teaching and learning Mathematics, Sciences (Physics, Chemist, and Biology) and Social Subjects (Sociology, Economics, and Geography) in English. The study also showed that there were specific situations when teachers felt frustrated teaching an immersion class. This frustration always relates to lack of English language proficiency. In conclusion, this study shows the lack of English language proficiency is the main challenge faced by non-English language teachers and students in immersion classes at SMA Islam Sultan Agung 1 Semarang.

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Corpus-Based Vocabulary Analysis of English Podcasts

RELC Journal ◽

10.1177/0033688220979315 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 003368822097931

Author(s):

Ulugbek Nurmukhamedov ◽

Shoaziz Sharakhimov

Keyword(s):

Teaching And Learning ◽

Public Discourse ◽

English Language ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Television Programs ◽

University Professors ◽

Word Families ◽

Proper Nouns ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

Ted Talks

In addition to movies, television programs, and TED Talks presentations, podcasts are an increasingly popular form of media that promotes authentic public discourse for diverse audiences, including university professors and students. However, English language teachers in the English as a second language/English as a foreign language contexts might wonder: “How do I know that my students can handle the vocabulary demands of podcasts?” To answer that question, we have analyzed a 1,137,163-word corpus comprising transcripts from 170 podcast episodes derived from the following popular podcasts: Freakonomics; Fresh Air; Invisibilia; Hidden Brain; How I Built This; Radiolab; TED Radio Hour; This American Life; and Today Explained. The results showed that knowledge about the most frequent 3000 word families plus proper nouns (PN), marginal words (MW), transparent compounds (TC), and acronyms (AC) provided 96.75% coverage, and knowledge about the most frequent 5000 word families, including PN, MW, TC, and AC provided 98.26% coverage. The analysis also showed that there is some variation in coverage among podcast types. The pedagogical implications for teaching and learning vocabulary via podcasts are discussed.

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THE EFFECTIVENESS AND THE PROBLEMS FACED IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN A SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASSROOM IN MALAYSIA

European Journal of Special Education Research ◽

10.46827/ejse.v7i3.3923 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Gunasegaran Karuppannan ◽

Muhantha Paramalingam ◽

Fazal Mohamed Mohamed Sultan ◽

Hatnin Duari

Keyword(s):

Special Education ◽

Effective Teaching ◽

English Learners ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

English Language ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Effective Teaching Strategies ◽

Lesson Delivery ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

Document Review

This qualitative case study investigated the effectiveness of lesson delivery and sequence of content and learning expectations of two English Language attached to a special education (Integration programme) school in Petaling Jaya. Malaysia. It also focused on the teaching and learning problems encountered in the particular classrooms. This study brings broader understanding of strategies for effective teaching of English in a special education classroom in Malaysia. The rationale for the study stems from the need to gain greater perspective of the teaching of English learners in a special education classroom. Results reflect analysis of classroom observation, face to face interview with two English Language and document review. Emerging from the data are some effective teaching strategies and profound problems that special education English Language teachers can add to their repertoire. Article visualizations:<img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0876/a.php" alt="Hit counter" />

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Professional development of English language teachers in Malang, Indonesia: Institutional and individual perspectives

10.26686/wgtn.17060639 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Anik Nunuk Wulyani

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

English Language ◽

English Proficiency ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Ict Skills ◽

Efl Teachers ◽

Teacher Professional ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

The Individual

Two important areas of professional development for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Indonesia identified in the 2003 Law on National Education System and 2005 Law on Teachers and Lecturers are disciplinary knowledge and ICT skills. The present thesis investigates institutional and individual aspects of EFL teacher professional development (TPD) in Indonesia in relation to the development of these two areas of expertise. Three studies were carried out. The first study measured Indonesian EFL teachers’ target language (English) proficiency as a core component of their professional knowledge and how it is maintained and developed by the teachers. EFL teachers’ language proficiency in this study was operationalised as their lexical, reading and writing proficiency and measured using the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), IELTS-like reading comprehension test and IELTS-like academic writing test, respectively. The results showed that the teachers’ length of service correlated negatively with their knowledge of academic vocabulary, as well as reading and writing proficiency, indicating issues with the outcomes of the TPD in this area. To triangulate the test results, teacher perceptions data were also gathered using questionnaires and interviews. It was found that the EFL teachers tended to overestimate their own overall English language proficiency. The second study used a longitudinal blogging activity with the EFL teachers as a form of personal professional development that targeted their English language and ICT skills while reflecting on topics related to their professional (teaching) activities. Qualitative analysis of the blog entries of three EFL teachers suggested that the individual teachers’ blogging, critical reading and reflective writing skills were very uneven. Interviews with nine teachers and 11 educational stakeholders were then conducted to understand their views on blogging as a form of professional development. The results revealed that the perceived obstacles and drawbacks outweighed the perceived benefits of blogging as a form of personal professional development. The third study examined Indonesian national TPD policy documents, how these policies were translated into local professional development programmes in Malang district. It was found that the needs for EFL teachers to maintain their English proficiency and ICT skills were only partially addressed in TPD policy and implementation. In addition, the interviewed teachers and stakeholders perceived the definitions, goals, administration, evaluation, benefits, and challenges of TPD differently. Taken as a whole, the present findings show that institutional implementation of TPD policies in Indonesia needs to better target individual EFL teachers’ English proficiency and ICT skills, and that opportunities for better professional development need to be sought at both personal and institutional levels. At the individual level, self-motivation to continue learning is crucial for English language teachers who want to keep up with change and innovation in English language teaching. At the institutional level, needs analyses and environmental analyses are essential in designing programs for maintaining and developing teacher professional competency.

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Teaching and Learning Vocabulary: What English Language Learners Perceive to Be Effective and Ineffective Strategies

Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal ◽

10.26529/cepsj.492 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 139

Author(s):

Seyyed Hatam Tamimi Sa’d ◽

Fereshte Rajabi

Keyword(s):

English Language Learners ◽

Language Learning ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

Language Learners ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

English Language ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Strategy Training ◽

Efl Learners ◽

English Language Teachers

Vocabulary constitutes an essential part of every language-learning endeavour and deserves scholarly attention. The objective of the present study was three-fold: 1) exploring Iranian English language learners’Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLSs), 2) examining language learners’ perceptions of vocabulary learning, and 3) exploring Iranian English language teachers’ Vocabulary Teaching Strategies (VTSs). In total, 145 intermediate learners of English as a foreign language, consisting of 114 males and 31 females aged 15 to 27, participated in the study. The triangulated data were collected using three tools: questionnaires, interviews, and class observations. Sixty-seven learners (31 females and 36 males) filled out a 56-statement questionnaire, adopted and adapted from Takač (2008) and translated into Persian. The questionnaire comprised two parts, enquiring as to the learners’ VLSs and the teachers’ VTSs. The findings indicated that females and males differed significantly in their reported VLSs and their teachers’ use of various VTSs. Additionally, 78 learners were interviewed as to their perceptions of effective and ineffective VLSs as well as VTSs. The findings revealed that the most effective VLSs were reported to be: a) reciting, repeating and listening to words, b) using words, and c) memorising words while the most effective VTSs revolved around: a) explanation, b) repetition, and c) dictation. The observations also confirmed the findings obtained via the questionnaire and interviews. In general, the findings are indicative of the limited repertoire of vocabulary acquisition techniques employed by Iranian EFL learners, hence the need for strategy training in how to acquire vocabulary.

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The Dichotomy of Specialization: Is a Literature Teacher Necessarily a Language Teacher?

UJAH Unizik Journal of Arts and Humanities ◽

10.4314/ujah.v21i2.6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 108-133

Author(s):

Mariam Anana

Keyword(s):

Secondary Schools ◽

Literary Criticism ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

English Language ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Oral Literature ◽

Language And Literature ◽

English Language Teachers ◽

Effective Teaching And Learning

This study investigates the dichotomy of specialization in Literature and English language. In many primary and secondary schools in Nigeria, many teachers who teach Literature are the same teachers who teach English Language. This is responsible for lack of ultimate successes in academic performance, foundational establishment and progressive developments in Literature and English language. Set against the backdrop of the inseparability and non-specialization in individual subjects in question, the study examines the need for a dichotomy of specialization in English Language and Literature with a view to reducing the rate of errors and students’ failures in both subjects. Adopting the simple randomisation, the researcher uses selected primary and secondary schools in Lagos State as the case study; the paper raises four questions and these are: Can English Language teachers effectively teach poetic devices? Are segmental phonemes easily taught by Literature teachers? Can English Language teachers proficiently teach oral literature, literary criticism and non-African literature? Can Literature teachers competently teach stress and intonation? This research uses a qualitative approach and adopts The Speech Act Theory as its theoretical framework. Questionnaire of fifteen (15) items was used for data collection and the simple percentage was applied for data analysis. The researcher discovered that: It is not possible for English Languageteachers to effectively teach poetic devices. Segmental phonemes cannot be easily taught by Literature teachers. Students would lag behind in areas where teachers are not proficient in the subjects they teach. Also, it is not possible for a teacher to place equal emphasis on both English Language and Literature in classrooms. The study therefore recommends the need for a dichotomy of specialization in the two subjects so as to ensure effective teaching and learning of these subjects.

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