scholarly journals Voicing up in Debate Competition: Oral Development of Two Malaysian ESL Learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Farzaneh Amiri ◽  
Moomala Othman ◽  
Maryam Jahedi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Communicative Strategies ◽  
English Second Language ◽  
Oral Development ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
The Impact

This research used a qualitative approach to focus on the classroom debate between Malaysian English second language learners (ESL). Since debate has been often perceived as not a suitable activity for low proficiency students due to their limited linguistic resources, there has not been much emphasis on the impact of debate on incompetent ESL learners; however, this study was an attempt to concentrate on two students who were not competent in English to investigate their oral development via debate. The study observed the communicative strategies employed in this challenging task during the five debate rounds. Although the progress made was quite limited, the study showed that debate competition can be a relevant and meaningful practice for speaking activity among low proficiency students. Moreover, it showed that debate can be used to scaffold students’ practice in speaking.

scholarly journals The Impact of Unfamiliar Proper Names on ESL Learners' Listening Comprehension

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Polina P Kobeleva
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Recognition Rate ◽  
Lower Amount ◽  
News Story ◽  
Proper Name ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
The Impact

<p>Vocabulary knowledge is a prerequisite to successful comprehension for native speakers and second language learners alike. Proper names, a peculiar and diverse group of lexical items, have long been the focus of discussion in general linguistics but have received practically no attention in second language vocabulary acquisition research. This study is the first attempt to assess whether proper names impact on second language learners' listening ability. First, I examine the question of how proper names can be adequately defined and discuss their semantic, structural, pragmatic and functional properties. I analyze proper names in light of the prototype theory and argue that personal, deity and pet names constitute the core of the proper name category. Names of places and enterprises occupy an intermediate position while names of events and artefacts are considered the least prototypical, i.e. peripheral members of the category. After identifying essential properties of prototypical proper names, I argue that in a spoken (as opposed to a written) text proper names cannot be considered automatically known items and place high demands on the listeners' cognitive resources. English as a second language (ESL) learners have to bring in a large amount of linguistic and encyclopaedic knowledge in order to cope with proper names in the flow of speech. I propose a 3-level model of such knowledge: recognition -> categorization -> referent properties. I then subject this model to empirical testing. The first experiment shows that among intermediate to advanced ESL learners the proper names recognition rate is around 60 percent. It is harder for ESL listeners to recognize proper names when the percentage of difficult common vocabulary in the text is high. The participants' proficiency level and the structure of a specific text were also found to affect the ability to recognize unfamiliar names. Well over a third of proper names are missed, which suggests that in real life listening, ESL learners mistake unknown common expressions for proper names and vice versa. In the second experiment, the participants' comprehension of a news story is tested under two conditions: Names Known (all proper names are familiar prior to listening) and Names Unknown (all proper names are unfamiliar). Results indicate that the presence of unfamiliar proper names hinders the intermediate to advanced proficiency learners' comprehension of a short news text as measured by immediate free recall and the ability to evaluate proper names related statements. The effect is local; it concerns comprehension of details, particularly those details that are associated with processing the proper names themselves. The Names Unknown group produced fewer details and more incorrect inferences in their recalls, scored significantly lower on the measure of proper names related comprehension, and selfreported a lower amount of comprehension. In contrast, the Names Known group produced more details and fewer incorrect inferences in their recalls, scored much higher on the measure of proper names related comprehension, and self-reported a greater degree of comprehension. The experiment also shows that participants in the Names Unknown treatment were not always able to ascertain from context what the referent of an unfamiliar proper name is, and in cases when they did, they could not extract as much information about the referent as the participants in the Names Known treatment had available. It is evidently unrealistic to expect ESL learners to determine what unfamiliar proper names refer to from context. On average, after 2-3 attempts at listening participants in the Names Unknown group were able to extract just over 40 percent of the information about the referents of unfamiliar proper names. Also participants' difficulty ratings of experimental tasks confirmed that the presence of unfamiliar proper names definitely makes the text seem harder to understand. The last experiment replicated the findings of the previous one on a larger sample. The Names Known group performed significantly better on open-ended questions and true-false-don't know statements. A substantial effect of unfamiliar proper names on the overall comprehension scores was found. Around 17 percent of the variance in the scores was accounted for by familiarity/lack of familiarity with proper names. The findings also provide some evidence in support of the claim that a name form that hints at the cognitive category its referent belongs to is less likely to adversely affect comprehension than a form that does not. Unfamiliar proper names contribute to raising the vocabulary threshold in second language listening, which should be taken into account by teachers, test-developers and other TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) professionals.</p>

scholarly journals The Impact of Unfamiliar Proper Names on ESL Learners' Listening Comprehension

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Polina P Kobeleva
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Recognition Rate ◽  
Lower Amount ◽  
News Story ◽  
Proper Name ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
The Impact

<p>Vocabulary knowledge is a prerequisite to successful comprehension for native speakers and second language learners alike. Proper names, a peculiar and diverse group of lexical items, have long been the focus of discussion in general linguistics but have received practically no attention in second language vocabulary acquisition research. This study is the first attempt to assess whether proper names impact on second language learners' listening ability. First, I examine the question of how proper names can be adequately defined and discuss their semantic, structural, pragmatic and functional properties. I analyze proper names in light of the prototype theory and argue that personal, deity and pet names constitute the core of the proper name category. Names of places and enterprises occupy an intermediate position while names of events and artefacts are considered the least prototypical, i.e. peripheral members of the category. After identifying essential properties of prototypical proper names, I argue that in a spoken (as opposed to a written) text proper names cannot be considered automatically known items and place high demands on the listeners' cognitive resources. English as a second language (ESL) learners have to bring in a large amount of linguistic and encyclopaedic knowledge in order to cope with proper names in the flow of speech. I propose a 3-level model of such knowledge: recognition -> categorization -> referent properties. I then subject this model to empirical testing. The first experiment shows that among intermediate to advanced ESL learners the proper names recognition rate is around 60 percent. It is harder for ESL listeners to recognize proper names when the percentage of difficult common vocabulary in the text is high. The participants' proficiency level and the structure of a specific text were also found to affect the ability to recognize unfamiliar names. Well over a third of proper names are missed, which suggests that in real life listening, ESL learners mistake unknown common expressions for proper names and vice versa. In the second experiment, the participants' comprehension of a news story is tested under two conditions: Names Known (all proper names are familiar prior to listening) and Names Unknown (all proper names are unfamiliar). Results indicate that the presence of unfamiliar proper names hinders the intermediate to advanced proficiency learners' comprehension of a short news text as measured by immediate free recall and the ability to evaluate proper names related statements. The effect is local; it concerns comprehension of details, particularly those details that are associated with processing the proper names themselves. The Names Unknown group produced fewer details and more incorrect inferences in their recalls, scored significantly lower on the measure of proper names related comprehension, and selfreported a lower amount of comprehension. In contrast, the Names Known group produced more details and fewer incorrect inferences in their recalls, scored much higher on the measure of proper names related comprehension, and self-reported a greater degree of comprehension. The experiment also shows that participants in the Names Unknown treatment were not always able to ascertain from context what the referent of an unfamiliar proper name is, and in cases when they did, they could not extract as much information about the referent as the participants in the Names Known treatment had available. It is evidently unrealistic to expect ESL learners to determine what unfamiliar proper names refer to from context. On average, after 2-3 attempts at listening participants in the Names Unknown group were able to extract just over 40 percent of the information about the referents of unfamiliar proper names. Also participants' difficulty ratings of experimental tasks confirmed that the presence of unfamiliar proper names definitely makes the text seem harder to understand. The last experiment replicated the findings of the previous one on a larger sample. The Names Known group performed significantly better on open-ended questions and true-false-don't know statements. A substantial effect of unfamiliar proper names on the overall comprehension scores was found. Around 17 percent of the variance in the scores was accounted for by familiarity/lack of familiarity with proper names. The findings also provide some evidence in support of the claim that a name form that hints at the cognitive category its referent belongs to is less likely to adversely affect comprehension than a form that does not. Unfamiliar proper names contribute to raising the vocabulary threshold in second language listening, which should be taken into account by teachers, test-developers and other TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) professionals.</p>

An investigation into the early literacy skills of English second language learners in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-154
Author(s):  
Aileen Manten ◽  
Mia le Roux ◽  
Salomé Geertsema ◽  
Marien Graham
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Early Literacy Skills ◽  
English Second Language ◽  
Literacy Success ◽  
The Impact

This study employs the Comprehensive Emergent Literacy Model (CELM) theoretical framework, as it refers to the impact of context on learning early literacy skills. It is relevant to this study as the participants were English second language learners from cultures, communities, and demographics different from those of English first language speakers in South Africa. Early literacy skills, specifically phonological awareness (PA), are predictive of later literacy success. Many English second language (EL2) learners are unable to develop language and early literacy skills. Foundational skills such as general PA skills, often need explicit instruction to prepare the learners to learn to read in English. Twenty-one EL2 Grade 1 learners in an English medium private school in South Africa were selected as participants. Early literacy skills were assessed at the beginning of Grade 1. Reading, spelling, and reading comprehension skills were assessed after two terms in Grade 1 to determine if there is a correlation between early and later literacy skills. Results indicated significantly strong positive correlations between early literacy and later literacy skills. These results and previous research suggest that EL2 learners must be exposed to high-quality early literacy skills as early as possible to provide them with a foundation for future literacy success.

scholarly journals The impact of English as medium of instruction on the academic performance of second language learners in the Further Education and Traning band at schools in KwaZulu-Natal

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rajendren Sabapathy Dorasamy
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
English Second Language ◽  
The Impact

This study, in adopting a phenomenological approach, provides an overview of the contextual realities surrounding language choice and usage as it impacts on the academic performance of English second language learners. There have been concerns that the majority of learners with indigenous mother tongues can be seen to fare badly in a post liberation educational system in which English or Afrikaans is still used as medium of instruction. The focus of this study was therefore the impact of English as the medium of instruction on the academic performance of English second language learners. Using a mixed method approach, through a case study, data from questionnaires, interviews and observations were analysed using various statistical packages and the findings were reported on. It was established that it was not so much the language per se which had a negative impact on the academic performance of English second language learners: it was rather the efficacy of usage of the chosen language and other periphery issues in the formal environment, such as lack of interactions with target language speakers, code-switching, and teacher competence, which resulted in the poor academic performance of English second language learners. Furthermore, it was also established that the informal environment, consisting of learners’ culture and traditions, family educational qualifications, absenteeism and appropriate resources at home and community libraries, which also had a negative impact on academic performance. It was therefore recommended that, amongst other things, the Language in Education Policy be amended to provide for more opportunities for learner interaction with the target language. Furthermore, given that the efficacy of education is contingent upon the competence of the teachers, relevant skills and competencies among teachers should be developed to enhance their performance in class. It was also found that code-switching was counterproductive to learning the target language, thus holding back ESL learners’ acquisition of content knowledge. As such, code-switching should be used very restrictively, if at all, in the Further Education and Training phase. It was also recommended that necessary lexicons and registers of the indigenous languages be developed sufficiently so that these are worthy of use as media of instruction, without necessarily being seen as a replacement of English as medium of instruction. There should also be greater involvement of all stakeholders in the choice of and availability of resources which are relevant to the context of learners. Other issues requiring intervention from a broader stakeholder involvement include iii interdepartmental integration to alleviate poverty, and provision of transport so that learners might report regularly and timeously to school, thus reducing absenteeism. The solution to improving learner academic performance requires concerted and co-ordinated inter-governmental, community and other stakeholders’ effort and the necessary will of the government to ensure that learners receive quality education.

scholarly journals Reading strategies used by Grade 9 English Second Language learners in a selected school

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Madoda Cekiso ◽  
Nophawu Madikiza
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
English Second Language ◽  
Esl Learners

Knowledge of the reading strategies used by English Second Language learners can help teachers to plan appropriate lessons and apply relevant methods of teaching reading in order to enhance learners’ reading comprehension. The main objective of this study was to investigate the reading strategies used by Grade 9 English Second Language (ESL) learners and also to establish if there was any significant difference between perceived strategy use and gender. The respondents (192) were all ESL learners in Grade 9 in 2011 in a selected school. The study employed a quantitative research method. The study used convenience sampling on a group of 192 Grade 9 learners. The data collected through questionnaires was analysed by means of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The findings revealed that the learners did not employ a wide range of reading strategies. The results further indicated that there was no significant difference between boys and girls in terms of strategy use. Based on the above findings several suggestions were made to help teachers improve their teaching and help learners improve their reading comprehension and also about possible areas for future research.

scholarly journals The Impact of Wait Time Instruction and Teaching Experience on Teachers’ Feedback in Moroccan Speaking Classes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Sana SAKALE
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Wait Time ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Post Facto ◽  
The Impact

Instruction plays a major role in the development of speaking skills for second language learners. Different approaches and methods have emerged throughout the history of language learning/teaching based on the influence of different theories of language, psychology, and related domains such as psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, pragmatics and cultural studies. Two major trends in language teaching emerged under the influence of these mentioned language theories, namely, accuracy based versus fluency based approaches. This article gives a historical sketch up to these trends in an attempt to provide a historical background and to empirically bring evidence that wait time instruction and teaching experience can impact classroom feedback in Moroccan classes. Relevant questions related to the role of teachers’ experience in leading different types of feedback, the effect of the number of teaching years as well as the correlation between wait time instruction and the corresponding teaching experience are closely investigated. This article adheres to a mixed design or what has been identified in research methodology as ex-post facto (Cohen, Manion, Morrison, 2007). Therefore, it is both a qualitative and a descriptive one. For the type of instructions used, the results obtained show the insignificance of the impact of experience on this variable. On the other hand, results retained that wait- time instruction in comparison to other items recorded a higher significance of the impact of experience. Therefore, current article brings empirical evidence on how wait- time instruction plays a crucial role in spoken activity for second language learners.

scholarly journals “Reduced Forms” Influence on Second Language Learners’ Listening Input-Intake Conversion

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 194-199
Author(s):  
Yueyang Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Comprehension Ability ◽  
Input Hypothesis ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Reduced Forms

This article analyses the factors influencing the process of input-intake conversion and focuses on the effect of “reduced forms” on English as a Second Language (ESL) learners’ listening comprehension. The Input Hypothesis, the Noticing Hypothesis, the input-intake relationship, and the factors influencing the input-intake relationship are critically reviewed and analyzed. The empirical study of Brown and Hilferty [1] is reviewed and discussed to show reduced forms’ influence on ESL learners’ listening comprehension. The results prove that integrating reduced forms into ESL lessons is both necessary and meaningful for improving students’ listening comprehension ability.

scholarly journals ‘transformative’ potential of translanguaging and other heteroglossic educational practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-289
Author(s):  
M. Rafael Salaberry
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
The Us ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Heritage Speakers Of Spanish

Over the last few decades, there has been an increased awareness about imprecise, inaccurate and, thus, unfair conceptualisations of language based on monoglossic views of language that delegitimise the linguistic repertoire of multilingual minorities as is the case of heritage speakers of Spanish in the US or speakers of Lingua Franca English worldwide. At the same time, there are theoretical and educational proposals that offer new conceptualisations of multilingualism focused on the concept of heteroglossia, which, in contrast with monoglossic views, focuses our attention on the fluid and full use of all linguistic resources available to language learners/users as they engage in the process of interacting with their interlocutors. In the present paper, I describe an important challenge that compromises the valuable agenda of heteroglossic approaches to develop multilingualism: the effect of listeners’ biases and reverse linguistic stereotyping. That is, educational programmes designed to counteract the negative effect of monoglossic approaches to second language learning in general cannot adopt a segregationist approach (neither in their theoretical design nor in their practical implementation). To place this challenge in context, I describe in detail the specific example of Spanish heritage second language learners at the tertiary level of education in the US setting and I also provide a broad outline of potential improvements in the curricular design of such programmes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document