scholarly journals Learning-Oriented Assessment, Critical Thinking and English Language Speaking Skills: Exploratory Study of Saudi EFL Learners

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Mansoor S. Almalki
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
English Language ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
Speaking Proficiency ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
English Speaking

This exploratory study uses the theoretical underpinnings of Learning-Oriented Assessment (LOA) to investigate Saudi EFL learners’ perceptions as well as their progress in the comparative analysis of an LOA group of students and a traditional control class at Taif University English Language Centre (TUELC). The study uses both quantitative and qualitative techniques to assess how learners in the LOA group improve their English speaking proficiency during the course. The data shows that LOA proved to be a successful resource in the whole process. Answering three research questions, the study concludes that LOA may prove to be a daunting task for teachers due to their excessive monitoring responsibilities, yet it plays a vital role in improving the learners’ critical thinking, their abilities for self and peer assessment and improving their overall English language skills.

Tertiary English-majored Students’ Perceptions toward the Role of Pronunciation in English Language Learning and their Practicing Strategies

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-279
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
English Language Learning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
The University

Accurate pronunciation has a vital role in English language learning as it can help learners to avoid misunderstanding in communication. However, EFL learners in many contexts, especially at the University of Phan Thiet, still encounter many difficulties in pronouncing English correctly. Therefore, this study endeavors to explore English-majored students’ perceptions towards the role of pronunciation in English language learning and examine their pronunciation practicing strategies (PPS). It involved 155 English-majored students at the University of Phan Thiet who answered closed-ended questionnaires and 18 English-majored students who participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that students strongly believed in the important role of pronunciation in English language learning; however, they sometimes employed PPS for their pronunciation improvement. Furthermore, the results showed that participants tended to use naturalistic practicing strategies and formal practicing strategies with sounds, but they overlooked strategies such as asking for help and cooperating with peers. Such findings could contribute further to the understanding of how students perceive the role of pronunciation and their PPS use in the research’s context and other similar ones. Received 10th June 2019; Revised 12th March 2020; Accepted 12th April 2020

scholarly journals The Students’ Attitudes towards the NESTs versus NNESTs and their Impacts on the Students’ Motivations to Learn English Language at KAU

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Haneen Saad Al Muabdi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
English Language ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
King Abdulaziz University ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Native English Speaking ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Native English Speaking Teachers ◽  
The Impact

Motivation is one of the crucial aspects of second language acquisition. Students’ motivation can be influenced by their teachers. The present study aims to investigate the impact of the two types of teachers on EFL learners’ motivations to learn English. These are NESTs (Native English-speaking teachers) and NNESTs (native English-speaking teachers). Hence, it examines learners’ attitudes and perceptions towards the two types of teachers. This study employed a mixed method by distributing a questionnaire contains quantitative and qualitative tools. It consists of twenty items of Likert scales and two open-ended questions. The present study subjects are 31 female students at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The results of the study demonstrate that learners have a positive attitude toward NESTs and NNESTs. Despite that, the tendency to learn with NNESTs is higher than NESTs. The findings also show that both types of teachers motivate students to learn English. Moreover, it suggests that the methodology and teachers’ personalities are more important than the teachers’ nativeness.

scholarly journals Using Digital Formative Assessment to Evaluate EFL Learners’ English Speaking Skills

2021 ◽  
pp. 103-123
Author(s):  
Zeynep Çetin Köroğlu
Keyword(s):  
Formative Assessment ◽  
English Language ◽  
Formative Assessments ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Preparation Time ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Speaking Test ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Speaking Skills

As it is known formative assessment focuses on both the learning process and learner's performance. In this study digital formative assessment and traditional speaking tests were utilized comparatively to evaluate 52 upper-intermediate EFL learners' English language speaking skills. The study was designed as a mixed-method. The quantitative data were collected via achievement tests which had been administered both in traditional speaking tests and digital formative tests. The qualitative findings were collected with students' interviews which consisted of four open-ended questions. The results of the study showed that participants outperformed in digital formative tests in comparison to traditional speaking tests. Another significant finding of the study is that participants are satisfied with the digital formative assessments in terms of peer collaboration during tests, enriched test materials, and preparation time for the speaking test. Although they have positive views on digital formative assessment, participants are dissatisfied with it in terms of technical problems that they encountered during the administration of digital formative tests.

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 Reticence is not a Virtue in Aviation: Improving English Speaking Proficiency of Future Aviation Specialists

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 498-515
Author(s):  
Liudmyla Herasymenko ◽  
Svitlana Muravska ◽  
Maryna Lomakina ◽  
Nadiia Martynenko ◽  
Iuliia Mazurenko
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Speaking Proficiency ◽  
Information Gap ◽  
Grammatical Skills ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Speaking Skills

English language proficiency is a vital requirement for air-to-ground communication for aviation specialists. A special attention should be paid to developing speaking skills of future pilots, air traffic controllers and engineers. Our research has shown that future aviation specialists come across certain challenges in the process of communication in English: insufficient aviation knowledge to give an opinion, low motivation to speak, poor grammatical skills and insufficient knowledge of vocabulary items, uneven participation in discussions, and fear of making mistakes. To overcome these challenges some recommendations were formulated for teachers to follow. The problem-solving activities were chosen and designed to enhance students’ speaking skills. They include value-clarification tasks, discussions, role-plays, information-gap activities, describing pictures, and discussing videos. This research aims to define the impact of applying these problem-solving activities on developing students’ speaking skills. 120 second year students in aviation specialties took part in this experiment. They were divided into a control and an experimental group of equal numbers. In both groups, the teachers taught the same Aviation English content which corresponded to the syllabus. In addition, in the experimental group the teacher implemented the problem-solving activities, which contributed significantly to the development of future aviation specialists’ speaking skills.

scholarly journals The use of Self-regulated Language Learning Strategies Among Vietnamese English-majored Freshmen: A Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tran Quoc Thao ◽  
Nguyen Chau Hoang Long
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Language Learning Strategies ◽  
Efl Learners

Self-regulation of learning plays a vital role in improving second/foreign language learning as it can encourage the development of autonomous learners. It is seen that, nevertheless, ESL/EFL learners in different contexts are not fully aware of the importance of self-regulated language learning (SRLL) strategies in their English language learning. The present study, therefore, aims at investigating the use of SRLL strategies by English-majored students at a university in Bac Lieu province, Vietnam. This study involved 100 English-majored freshmen in answering a closed-ended questionnaire. The results showed that students sometimes used SRLL strategies, and they used SRLL strategies for keeping and monitoring records and seeking social assistance more often than for other purposes. The findings imply that students lacked knowledge of how to use SRLL strategies and get engaged in using SRLL strategies. This study recommends that students’ awareness of SRLL strategies should be seriously taken into account in order to facilitate their learner autonomy.

scholarly journals AN INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL FOR ENHANCING EFL LEARNERS’ SPEAKING PROFICIENCY

EDULANGUE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-97
Author(s):  
Syarifudin Syarifudin
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Grammatical Competence ◽  
Speaking Proficiency ◽  
Speaking Skill

Due to the central role of speaking skill and its escalating demands of instruction in various levels of education in Indonesia, a myriad of teaching approaches and strategies have been applied to equip learners with the competences enabling the development of this skill. As a widespread approach to English language teaching (ELT),  which  gains  its  popularity  within  the context  of  EFL, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is geared towards learners’ communicative competence comprising of grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence as the underlying abilities of speaking proficiency. The development of these competences can be better facilitated when learning takes its place both in and outside classrooms as the latter provides potential promises for learners’ speaking proficiency development. For this reason, this paper presents learners’ challenges for learning speaking, the model activities in and outside classrooms, the importance of speaking instruction and the components of communicative competence and speaking proficiency.

scholarly journals The Effect of Peer Assessment and Collaborative Assessment on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners' Writing Ability

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (13) ◽  
pp. 08-16
Author(s):  
Ghasem Aghajanzadeh Kiasi ◽  
Sona Rezaie
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Alternative Assessment ◽  
English Language ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Teacher Assessment ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Collaborative Assessment ◽  
Significant Difference

As an attempt to shed more light on the effectiveness of alternative assessment in second language learning, the current study sought to explore the effects of peer assessment (PA) and collaborative assessment (CA) on the Iranian intermediate EFL learners' writing ability. To fulfil the purpose of this study, 36 Iranian EFL learners studying English at Kadous English Language Institute in Rasht, Iran, were homogenized as intermediate learners based on their performance on Oxford Solutions Placement Test (OSPT). The final pool of qualified candidates was assigned to one control and two experimental groups comprising 12 learners. All the participants sat for a pretest of L2 writing so that their initial level of writing could be appraised and their homogeneity in writing could be determined. The experimental groups received treatment on English writing through utilizing PA and CA strategies. On the other hand, the control group was taught through the conventional method (i.e. teacher assessment, TA). At the end of a twelve-session experiment, a post-test measuring the effectiveness of the treatments and the participants' writing ability was administered. The results of descriptive and inferential analyses revealed a statistically significant difference among CA, PA, and TA strategies. The results also demonstrated that the CA and PA groups outperformed the control group. However, the CA group performed significantly better than the PA group. Based on the findings of this study, language teachers, materials developers, and education authorities can concentrate on employing CA as the main strategy to foster the writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. However, PA may also be utilized to teach writing where possible.

scholarly journals Techniques for Improving Speaking Fluency of Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 113-120
Author(s):  
Sangita Sapkota
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Speaking Proficiency ◽  
English Speaking

This paper presents an action plan and its implementation for enhancing speaking fluency of the EFL learners of lower secondary level. It is based on an action research, which presents my students’ poor speaking fluency, my interventions and implementations. Similarly, it presents different techniques for developing English speaking proficiency, and their implication, effectiveness and ineffectiveness of them as well. It further shows the role of different techniques to help students for developing English speaking proficiency.Journal of NELTA, Vol. 21, No. 1-2, 2016, Page:113-120

scholarly journals “THANK YOU, IT REALLY MAKES MY DAY”: COMPLIMENT RESPONSES REVISITED

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-331
Author(s):  
Shofiyyahtuz' Zahro ◽  
Emy Sudarwati
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Compliment Responses ◽  
Scale Down ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Literature Class ◽  
International English

Complimenting is a typical speaking act and the method in which it is responded to can vary based on the culture of the speakers as well as the influence of other circumstances. The purpose of this study was to provide a more in-depth knowledge of compliment response research based on how it is used by university students learning EFL in everyday life. Furthermore, this study also aims at finding out if exposure to another culture affects university students learning English as a second language while responding to compliments. The data were garnered using data elicitation method by complimenting the participants’ look, possession, character, or aptitude. The finding found that the participants used ten types of responses; listed from the most frequently used type of compliment responses to the least used type of compliment responses: Comment Acceptance (8), Appreciation Token (2), Comment History (2), Question (2), Praise Upgrade (1), Reassignment (1), Return (1), Scale Down (1), Disagreement (1), and Qualification (1). According to the data, the majority of students in an international English literature class at Brawijaya University are likely to accept the compliments. Students tend to take compliments by thanking them and then making related comments. English-speaking countries consider a simple "thank you" to be an adequate response to a praise. This present study also confirms that short term encounterance with foreign culture exposure slightly affect EFL learners’ way of responding to compliments. This shows that the students learn the English language culture in terms of compliment.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document