scholarly journals Challenges to Studying English Literature by the Saudi Undergraduate EFL Students as Perceived by Instructors

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Hammad Ali Alshammari ◽  
Elsayed Abdalla Ahmed ◽  
Mukhled Atta Abu Shouk
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Instructional Processes ◽  
Efl Students

Studying English literature is interrelated to studying English as a foreign language (EFL), and thus incorporating literary texts into EFL learning curricula is important for providing EFL learners with the necessary language skills and emotional growth. However, EFL learners prefer to avoid studying English literature due to several challenges that may extend from difficulties inherited in literature itself to the learning and instructional processes. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the reasons that   may discourage EFL learners to study English literature as perceived by their instructors. The sample of this study consisted of 20 English instructors at one of the northern Saudi universities. Two instruments: a survey and a semi-structured interview developed by the researcher were employed to collect the data. Descriptive statistics and qualitative methods were employed to interpret the gathered data. The findings revealed that there were six main different types of challenges that played an important role in the phenomena under investigation, namely: a) literature inherited difficulty, b) learners' cultural misperceptions, c) learners' negative attitudes, d) learners' intrinsic demotivating factors, e) unfamiliarity/ learners' poor prior knowledge, and f) instructional difficulty. Implications for addressing these problems were included.

Study of Consonant Pronunciations Errors Committed by EFL Learners

2019 ◽  
pp. 48-56
Author(s):  
Ali Akbar Khansir ◽  
Afsaneh Salehabadi
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Listening Skill ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Knowledge Of Language

As the topic suggests, the research paper presents Study of Consonant Pronunciations Errors Committed by EFL Learners. Error analysis always tries to resolve language learners’ problems in acquiring second or foreign language setting. Learning to English pronunciation is perhaps as important as learning listening skill, speaking, and spelling. Errors in English pronunciation create several problems for English language learners in their works. In other words, most of the English language errors of pronunciation are due to the lack of knowledge of language learners. However, all the students in our sample are of age group (16-25) at Bushehr language institute and they are all Iranian nationals. In addition, all of them were female learners. An English pronunciation (consonant) test was used to get information about the knowledge of the learners in English pronunciation. Findings of this article indicated that the first and second hypotheses of this article were accepted, but the third hypothesis was rejected. However, the findings of this paper showed that the Iranian EFL students have problem to pronounce English sounds correctly.

An exploration of target L2 morphemes in the oral production of young EFL learners in Croatia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena O'Reilly ◽  
Eva Jakupčević
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Simple Construction ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
The Past ◽  
Base Form ◽  
Production Study ◽  
Efl Students

Although the second language (L2) acquisition of morphology by late L2 learners has been a popular research area over the past decades, comparatively little is known about the acquisition and development of morphology in children who learn English as a foreign language (EFL). Therefore, the current study presents the findings from a longitudinal oral production study with 9/10-year-old L1 Croatian EFL students who were followed up at the age of 11/12. Our results are largely in line with the limited research so far in this area: young EFL learners have few issues using the be copula and, eventually, the irregular past simple forms, but had considerable problems with accurately supplying the 3rd person singular -s at both data collection points. We also observed a be + base form structure, especially at the earlier stage, which appears to be an emergent past simple construction.

scholarly journals EXPLORING ENGLISH LISTENING PROBLEMS AMONG EFL STUDENTS AT IAIN KUDUS

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Azizah Maulina Erzad
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
English Education ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Listening Process

Listening comprehension becomes one of the most difficult skills for most of English learners especially EFL learners. As a foreign language, English is rarely used in communication by EFL learners in their daily life. Therefore, the learners or students always face some difficulties/problems in listening comprehension. It can be seen from the results of their tests. The purpose of this study is to investigate the problems occur in listening class of EFL students at IAIN Kudus and the solutions to overcome those problems. The EFL students in this study refer to the English Education Department students of IAIN Kudus. The participants of this study are the second semester of English Education Department students. This study is a qualitative research. Observation, interview and documentation were conducted to collect the data. By conducting this study, several problems in listening comprehension can be revealed. The listening problems encountered by the EFL students are the pronunciation (accents), speedy delivery and length of the listening, physical conditions, unfamiliar vocabularies and terminologies, and limited facility for listening. Some actions should be done to overcome these obstacles occurred during listening process. The solutions to overcome the problems are students should be focus, practice more in listening English, memorize vocabularies, and prepare a language laboratory.

scholarly journals TEFL and COVID-19: use of digital materials and their impact on efl learners' speaking accuracy and fluency

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3B) ◽  
pp. 729-741
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hossein Besharati ◽  
Golnar Mazdayasna ◽  
Ali Akbar Jabbari
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Digital Storytelling ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Promising Technique ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Quasi Experimental

Digital storytelling has been around in foreign language contexts for at least two decades and showed to be a promising technique for teaching different language skills. This study aimed at investigating the effect of using two types of digital storytelling, i.e. asynchronous and synchronous digital storytelling, on the EFL learners' speaking performance in terms of accuracy and fluency. To this end, a quasi-experimental design with an experimental and a comparison group was devised. Sixty-five intermediate EFL learners were conveniently selected based on their scores on Oxford Placement Test. The speaking module of Preliminary English Test (PET) was used to measure the participants' speaking accuracy and fluency before and after the intervention. The results of the study indicated that both groups made a significant improvement after the course. Nevertheless, the asynchronous digital storytelling group outperformed the synchronous one after the intervention.

The role of stylistics in Japan: A pedagogical perspective

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masayuki Teranishi ◽  
Aiko Saito ◽  
Kiyo Sakamoto ◽  
Masako Nasu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
English Studies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Efl Students

This article surveys the history of English studies and education in Japan, paying special attention to the role of literary texts and stylistics. Firstly, the role of literature and stylistics in Japan is discussed from a pedagogical point of view, including both English as a foreign language and Japanese as a native language. Secondly, the way in which stylistics has contributed to literary criticism in the country is examined, with reference to the history of literary stylistics since 1980. Finally, this article considers further applications of stylistics to language study in Japan, offering two examples: analysis of thought presentation in Yukio Mishima’s Megami (2006[1955]), and the teaching of an English poem and a Japanese haiku to Japanese EFL students. The overall aim of this article is to demonstrate that literature as language teaching material and stylistics as a critical and teaching method are significant not only in understanding English, but also in appreciating our own native language if it is not English.

scholarly journals Effect of Foreign Language Anxiety on Gender and Academic Achievement among Yemeni University EFL Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Norizan Abdul Razak ◽  
Amr Abdullatif Yassin ◽  
Tengku Nor Rizan Bt Tengku Mohamad Maasum
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Random Sampling ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
English Department ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Department Faculty

This study aimed to investigate the gender differences in terms of anxiety among Yemeni university EFL learners. It also aimed to investigate the correlation between the level of anxiety and the academic achievement of the students. The participants of this study were 155 students chosen from the population through stratified random sampling. The participants are selected from English Department, Faculty of Arts, Ibb University, Yemen. The data was collected by using a questionnaire adopted from Yassin (2015), and the data was analysed by using 22nd version of the SPSS. The data of the first question was analysed by using T-test and the result of the analysis showed that the females experienced higher level of anxiety than male students, but the difference between both groups is not significant. The second question was analysed by using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and the result showed that there is not significant correlation between the level of anxiety and the academic achievement of the students.

scholarly journals Can Literature Teaching Be Functional for Students?

2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 141-156
Author(s):  
Meta Grosman
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Experimental Examination ◽  
Literature Teaching ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
Critical Understanding ◽  
The Rich ◽  
New Curricula

The essay discusses the dilemmas of literature teaching as first raised by student unrest towards the late 1960s because of the inefficiency and lack of interest of the established forms of literary studies and literature teaching of the time, and the later resolutions of these dilemmas towards the end of the century. The process of long-term experimental examination of the existing alienating forms of studies and teaching started when the criticism of students came to be supported by some of the most distinguished professors of literature. The second section centres on some more successful efforts to surpass such inefficient old forms of literature teaching with the major shift from teaching data about literature to the discoursal analysis of texts and to promoting students’ competence of critical understanding of literary texts and the functioning of language. The third part deals with trends in literature teaching within the framework of English literature as anticipated by the new Slovene curricula for English as a foreign language and the preparation of teachers for it. It emphasises the importance of the intercultural dimension of teaching according to the new curricula and the rich possibilities for the understanding of intercultural contacts in the process of reading literature in English.

scholarly journals How EFL learners react to a learning framework integrating learning records on multiple systems

2019 ◽  
pp. 345-349
Author(s):  
Hiroya Tanaka ◽  
Akio Ohnishi ◽  
Ken Urano ◽  
Shinya Ozawa ◽  
Daisuke Nakanishi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Multiple Systems ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Japanese English

This paper reports on the learning framework integrating a web e-portfolio and two mobile applications. It also reports on a preliminary study on how learners used different systems or materials to study for vocabulary tests in a particular general English course at a Japanese university, and how they recognized the usefulness of each system and material. Participants were 66 Japanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students from two intact classes who completed a questionnaire survey at the end of the course. The results of the survey revealed that, although the participants generally evaluated the usefulness of the different systems and materials in a similar way, one of the mobile applications was most often used to prepare for the in-class vocabulary tests followed by the e-portfolio and the wordlist.

scholarly journals Cultural issues in Syrian EFL classrooms

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 4117
Author(s):  
Ömer Gökhan Ulum
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Efl Students

Whether we should teach culture or not when we teach English as a Foreign Language has been great concern for a long time. Which one should be contained in EFL course books? The culture of the target language or the own culture of EFL learners? Regarding this issue, many researchers have a diversity of opinions, however; this study was conducted having resource to descriptive research design, in that it aims to understand the perspectives of the Syrian EFL students on cultural elements in their course books. A questionnaire and an interview,which were administered to 103 Syrian EFL students,were used in order to gather the required data. SPSS(v20.0), aStatistical Program for Social Sciences was employed in order to analyze the collected data. As a result of the findings, it was found out that Syrian EFL students had generally positive perspectives on the cultural elements of the target language contained in their course books

scholarly journals EFL Learners’ and Teachers’ Perception toward the Use of Online Videos in EFL Classes

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 215-228
Author(s):  
Doniazad Sultan Alshraideh
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Effective Technique ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Online Videos ◽  
Preparatory Year

This study aims at analyzing the English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ and teachers’ perception toward the use of online videos in EFL classes. The current study used a mixed method to answer the question of the study which is: What is the perception of EFL learners and teachers toward the use of online videos in EFL classes? It includes both quantitative and qualitative techniques, namely a questionnaire and an interview. To get the required data and to answer the question of the study, the researcher collected information by distributing a relevant questionnaire among 120 EFL Saudi female students who are studying English in their preparatory year “Unified Scientific Track” at Taibah University. Their ages range between 18 to 21 years old. The questionnaire of the study consists of 10 items. For the first nine items, Likert Scale is used to let the respondents range the statements on a five- point scale. The tenth item asks the respondents to rate the usefulness of the online video regarding language skills and other aspects. The researcher also conducted an interview with six EFL teachers who teach English language skills in the English Language Centre (ELC) at Taibah University. The responses of the participants showed that the use of online videos is an effective technique and has a positive influence in EFL classes.

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