scholarly journals EFL Learners’ English Speaking Difficulties and Strategy Use

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Ming-yueh Shen ◽  
Tzu-yen Chiu
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Body Language ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
The Body ◽  
Primary Reason ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Speaking Performance

This study aimed to explore the factors that caused the EFL learners’ English speaking difficulties and then investigate the successful learners’ strategy use to improve their English speaking performance. A five-level Likert-scale questionnaire was conducted to anonymously investigate 148 EFL sophomore and junior English majors in Taiwan. Results of the analysis showed that (a) psychological problems (e.g. nervousness, fear of making mistakes, and lack of confidence) was the primary reason for English speaking difficulties, followed by linguistic problems (e.g. insufficient vocabulary), and environmental problems (e.g. lack of learning context for English conversation); (b) a majority of successful learners tended to use various speaking strategies to improve their English speaking performance and particularly focused on linguistic accuracy by repeatedly practicing the pitch, pronunciation, and intonation. Furthermore, most of them seized the chances to practice speaking English, such as joining English social activities, or participating in English speech contests etc. They also used the body language (e.g. facial expressions, eye contacts, and gestures) for better communication. The findings suggest pedagogical implications for promoting the EFL learners’ speaking English.

scholarly journals Ability of Children with Learning Disabilities and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder to Recognize Feelings from Facial Expressions and Body Language

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alev Girli ◽  
Sıla Doğmaz
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Body Language ◽  
The Body ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Black And White ◽  
The Face

In this study, children with learning disability (LD) were compared with children with autism spectrum disorder(ASD) in terms of identifying emotions from photographs with certain face and body expressions. The sampleconsisted of a total of 82 children aged 7-19 years living in Izmir in Turkey. A total of 6 separate sets of slides,consisting of black and white photographs, were used to assess participants’ ability to identify feelings – 3 sets forfacial expressions, and 3 sets for body language. There were 20 photographs on the face slides and 38 photographson the body language slides. The results of the nonparametric Mann Whitney-U test showed no significant differencebetween the total scores that children received from each of the face and body language slide sets. It was observedthat the children with LD usually looked at the whole photo, while the children with ASD focused especially aroundthe mouth to describe feelings. The results that were obtained were discussed in the context of the literature, andsuggestions were presented.

scholarly journals EFL LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE IMPROVEMENT OF THEIR ENGLISH SPEAKING PERFORMANCE

LITERA ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siti Mahripah
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Speaking Performance ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Students Attitudes

This study aims to describe EFL learners’ attitudes towards the improvement of their English speaking performance. The data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to 131 students of Department of English Language Education. The results of the dataanalysis show that all respondents show positive attitudes towards the improvement of their English speaking performance. Although female students have more positive attitudes than male students, the difference is not significant. The results also show that students’ attitudes towards their speaking performance change in accordance with their learning time. Their self-assessment of their speaking performance has a significant correlation with their attitudes. Their positive attitudes towards the improvement of their English speaking performance serve as a foundation to the success of the English language learning. Therefore, learners should pay attention to and maintain attitudes to improve their speaking performance.

scholarly journals Effects of smartphone-based collaborative vlog projects on EFL learners’ speaking performance and learning engagement

2021 ◽  
pp. 18-40
Author(s):  
Hui-Wen Huang
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Media Production ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Learning Engagement ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Group Collaboration ◽  
Efl Classrooms ◽  
Speaking Performance ◽  
Collaborative Video

This study examined how smartphone-based collaborative video projects influenced English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ speaking performance and learning engagement using blended learning in China. The collaborative video projects helped students engage in two smartphone-based video filming tasks to combine language learning with real-life experiences simultaneously. A total of 65 college students used smartphones to participate in 3-minute collaborative video tasks that were related to the learning context of the classroom textbook. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected during this 8-week intervention. This included pretest and post-test speaking scores, a questionnaire on group collaboration, students’ final reflections and focus group interviews. A paired-sample t test, descriptive analysis and qualitative content analysis were used to analyse the data. The results indicate that students’ speaking abilities were significantly improved at the end of the intervention. They enjoyed group collaboration in the video projects and appreciated acquiring digital media production skills. Interview results highlight the opportunities for and challenges of the educational application of video projects in EFL classrooms.   Implications for practice or policy: Integrating collaborative vlog projects in EFL classrooms can stimulate students’ speaking performance. Student-made collaborative vlogs can help students develop 21st century skills, especially in digital media production. Smartphone-based vlog projects can increase learners’ engagement and enhance their group collaboration skills.  

scholarly journals Analysis on English Speaking Performance: Exploring Students’ Errors and The Causes

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 130
Author(s):  
Dayat Dayat
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Focus Group Interview ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Causes Of Errors ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Data Credibility ◽  
Speaking Performance ◽  
English Students

<p>This study was aimed to analyze students’ errors and the causes during speaking performance by twenty-nine fourth semester English students of in IKIP PGRI Pontianak who had low speaking performance. In collecting the data, video recordings were used to find errors and frequencies, while, focus group interview investigating factors of speaking errors. The data were analyzedby identifying the errors, grouping and tabulating into category codes. To analyze the interview, 1) listening to talking data, 2) shaping talking data, 3) communicating talking data with an interpretative intent, 4) reproducing or (re)constructing data, and building data credibility. The findings showed speaking errors with five categories: 28% of incorrect omissions, 26% of unnecessary words, 24% of misused forms, 19% of confused forms, and 3% of misplaced forms. Furthermore, other findings mostly included the causes of errors that influenced them in speaking were interlingual transfer, intralingual transfer, learning context, and communication strategies.</p>

Behavioural Correlates of Welfare

2021 ◽  
pp. 43-62
Author(s):  
Marian Stamp Dawkins
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Operant Conditioning ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Day Care ◽  
Body Language ◽  
The Body ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Pet Owners ◽  
Choice Tests ◽  
Behaviour Changes

In everyday life, it is often not practical to conduct choice tests or operant conditioning tests, and what vets, farmers, zoo keepers, pet owners and others concerned with the day-to-day care of animals need are quicker and easier ways of assessing whether animals have what they want. Sounds, gestures, facial expressions or other behaviours often provide information about whether animals have, or do not have what they want and so are potential correlates of welfare. However, deciphering the body language of animals correctly take time and effort and it is often not easy to find behaviour that reliably distinguishes between situations that animals want and those that they want to avoid. In order to establish the valence of behaviour such as stereotypies, anticipation behaviour, changes in activity levels or diversity, it has to be shown that these are reliable indicators of what animals want.

scholarly journals Does Flipped Classroom Model Affect EFL Learners’ Anxiety in English Speaking Performance?

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (01) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Mohamad Yahya Abdullah ◽  
Supyan Hussin ◽  
Kemboja Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Speaking Performance

Learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) face various challenges which impede their efforts to achieve English proficiency, especially in speaking performance. In response, this study sets out to use the Flipped Classroom Model (FCM) as a teaching method to investigate the effective-ness of the FCM on EFL learners’ anxiety in English speaking performance. A mixed-methods research design was utilized whereby 27 Omani under-graduate students majoring in English as a foreign language at Buraimi Uni-versity College (BUC), Sultanate of Oman were selected purposively as the subjects of the study. The collected data involved the Anxiety in English Speaking Performance Questionnaire (AESPQ) that was distributed in three stages: pre, midway and post the implementation of FCM. Another set of da-ta was elicited in the focus group interviews and students’ reflective jour-nals. Findings indicated that after twelve weeks of using FCM, a considera-ble improvement occurred on EFL learners’ anxiety in English speaking per-formance across time. The results of the One-way ANOVA showed that there were significant differences among the EFL learners’ levels of anxiety in speaking English, F (₂, ₅₂) = 111.492, P<0.001, η2= 0.811), and MANOVA results revealed that there was a significant difference between the four di-mensions of AESPQ over time (Wilks Lambda =0.017, F= 134.718, 2=0.983). FCM was found to be appropriate to all the students in this study since it satisfied their needs and suited their learning styles. Essentially, the findings reported in this research would contribute to advancing English language teaching, not only in instructional design but also in promoting EFL instructors to be more interested in using FCM.

scholarly journals A Semiotic Analysis of the Body Language With Reference to the Facial Expressions in Selected Quranic Verses

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shifaa Mohammed Al-Azzawi ◽  
Ambigapathy Pandian ◽  
Sawsan Kareem Al-Saaidi
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Body Language ◽  
The Body ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
The People ◽  
Precise Understanding ◽  
Full Face

This paper investigates body language expressions used in the Glorious Quran as a non-verbal means of communication and it is verbally expressed. It refers to emotions, feelings and intentions expressed by the positioning of the body in different ways, gestures, eye movement and facial expressions. The main goal of this paper is to examine the body language expressions namely facial expressions used in selected Quranic verses semiotically. Therefore, this paper employs Peirce’s theory of semiotics to interpret and analyze the facial expressions with reference to two kinds of people mentioned in the Glorious Quran: the people in the earthly world and the Hereafter. The findings reveal that the facial expressions in the selected Quranic verses provide a precise understanding to the inner feelings which may not be attained verbally. In addition, the emotion expressions range from full-face (darkened and whitened faces) to expressions that are partial-face movements. However, the most influential facial expressions are the emotions of the people of Hereafter.

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