scholarly journals Effective Foreign Language Teaching: a Matter of Iranian Students’ and Teachers’ Beliefs

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahyar Ganjabi

This paper reports on a study that investigated the beliefs about language learning of 120 Iranian EFL students and 16 EFL teachers. The primary aim of the study was to reveal whether there was any difference between the beliefs of Iranian students and teachers regarding different aspects of language learning such as grammar teaching, error correction, culture, target language use, computer-based technology, communicative language teaching strategies and assessment. Data were collected using a 24-item questionnaire. It was concluded that there were some differences between the Iranian students’ and teachers’ beliefs regarding what procedures were most effective in bringing about language learning. Discussion of the findings and implications for further research are also articulated.

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Ahmed Alghamdi

This study aims to explore the pedagogical beliefs of Saudi instructors of English as a foreign language (EFL), and the extent to which they apply the values of the communicative language teaching (CLT) approach in their classroom practice. The study was conducted with 42 Saudi EFL teachers and employed a mixed methods approach. A descriptive analysis of classroom observation data was conducted. The results showed that teachers hold positive views of CLT, but that there are some discrepancies between their beliefs and their implementations of the approach. For example, most of the instructors continued to apply traditional teaching methods (i.e., grammar translation and the audio-lingual approach). The study concludes that it is essential in the Saudi EFL context for teachers to cultivate relations between their beliefs and practices to assure better language learning outcomes. The key contribution of this study lies in disclosing the reasons for the discrepancies between Saudi EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices to help them develop congruence, and in highlighting the pedagogical implementations.  


English Today ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulker Shafiyeva ◽  
Sara Kennedy

During the Soviet era, language teaching methodology in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was premised on promoting a deep knowledge of a language's grammar and vocabulary. To this end, the selection of texts was centrally mandated, and teaching techniques and activities were carefully controlled and monitored. This rigorous approach to language teaching had both benefits and drawbacks for teachers and students. In response to the drawbacks of traditional Soviet methodology, some teachers and teacher trainers in former Soviet republics are currently promoting communicative language teaching, also known as the communicative approach. Communicative language teaching, as opposed to more traditional Soviet teaching methodology, emphasizes learning to use language to communicate rather than learning language solely as a linguistic system. However, the implementation of communicative language teaching has been problematic, for reasons ranging from government policies to teachers' beliefs and training to students' expectations. The purpose of this article is twofold. We first describe important characteristics of traditional Soviet language teaching methodology and the consequences of that methodology for language learning. Then, we explore the challenges of transforming traditional language teaching methodology (for the teaching of English as a foreign language, in particular) in post-Soviet republics, using Azerbaijan as a specific example.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Raissi

Nowadays most of the scholars in the field of foreign/ second language teaching emphasized on learner centered approaches of language teaching and replacing them by old ones. In this research, researcher examined two different teaching approaches which are very common in Iran where English considered as a foreign language, namely Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Grammar Translation Method (GTM). Two groups of thirty participants have been participated in this study namely control and treatment groups. Students of the treatment group have received the CLT instruction in which they had high amount of interaction in the considered classes during 14 weeks of the classes while students in the control group didn’t receive any interaction in the target language by implementing GTM approach. Pretest and delayed posttest have been used in this study for measuring student’s proficiency during the course instruction. Results of the experiment have been analyzed descriptively which shows that by implementing CLT among nonnative students, their general knowledge of English can be improved significantly. At the end of the research some useful pedagogical implications have been proposed by the researcher.   Keywords - Language teaching and learning, interaction hypothesis, Communicative Language Teaching, Grammar Translation Method, English as a Foreign Language.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-146
Author(s):  
Muhammad Badrus Sholeh ◽  
Kisman Salija ◽  
Sahril Nur

Task-based Learning is increasingly prevalent worldwide. It emphasizes on authentic language use and asks students to perform meaningful tasks. English teaching by tasks is considered useful in a language classroom because the students are expected to learn better the target language when tasks are used in language teaching. The tasks are designed to establish a real language use objectives and to create a natural language acquisition setting. Task-based Learning, often considered being the powerful Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) version, gradually becoming second-language learning. This article describes the Task-based Learning definition, to recognize the principles and characteristics of Task-based Learning, to examine how to implement Task-based Learning in the English classroom, and to clarify the advantages of this approach.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-140
Author(s):  
Ērika Sausverde ◽  

Numerous reviews of the language teaching subject show that, in spite of the impressive diversity of methods and approaches, certain basic ideas are repeated and reinterpreted, Recognition of the complexity and diversity of language learning contexts has led some to suggest that we have moved ‘beyond methods’ to a ‘postmethod’ condition (Kumaravadivelu 2002; Savignon 2007). It seems there is a big gap between CLT (communicative language teaching - one of the most popular methods today) as an approach and its implementation. This paper considers that dialogue, one of fundamentals of CLT, should be born within the free communication of learners who are taught to produce a monologue. The method of constructing lectures around good texts along with plenty of (grammar) drills is presented with the idea that such a method would help the learner to move rather speedily from the phase of interlanguage to the target language.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 141-147
Author(s):  
Kosay Alshwater

This paper aims to explore the experiences of Jordanian English as a foreign language (EFL) student concerning communicative language teaching. Classroom surveys were used to gather data from three separate sources. The quantitative method was applied to collect and evaluate data through classroom surveys, which were statistically assessed using suitable methods. Female students (N = 115) who participated in the research. In terms of the significant conclusions, data interpretation revealed gaps in the subjects' experiences of EFL Learning. Furthermore, the results showed that EFL teachers in Jordan face various difficulties when introducing communicative language learning in their classrooms. Three points of concern were regularly identified: student challenges, institutional issues, and problems with the administrative structure. Overall, the findings showed that despite the problems, Jordanian EFL learners regard the CLT method favourably.


English for Academic Purposes course focusing on the academic language needs of students is a subfield of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It is a type of specialized course to integrate specific subject matter, language content, and material based on learners’ needs. The study aims to evaluate the British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursebook in terms of content, sequencing, learners’ autonomy, motivation, feedback and focus on language skills. Furthermore, the study tries to provide a general perception of the usefulness and effectiveness of the coursebook for undergraduate students. The EAP Students’ Manual coursebook is used as a primary source for the data collection. The researcher has chosen Nation & Macalister (2010) model of language teaching principles to analyze and discuss the data. The study found the coursebook a useful, effective and an appropriate source of English language learning in terms of the investigated aspects of the book. The findings report that the coursebook provides practice and practical usage in all domains of the academically required English language skills. It helps the students to build language competency and to be more independent learners. In addition, it provides an opportunity to the learners to think in the target language, use the language more practically and learn it in a natural type of environment. The study concludes and suggests that the content needs to be supplemented with English language audios and videos presenting the students relevant documentaries and helping material in order to make the coursebook and the learning process more useful, effective, interesting and motivating. Furthermore, the study recommends that while choosing /designing a coursebook for a certain course, it needs to be evaluated following the various criteria and language-teaching-principles suggested by different language researchers.


English for Academic Purposes course focusing on the academic language needs of students is a subfield of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It is a type of specialized course to integrate specific subject matter, language content, and material based on learners’ needs. The study aims to evaluate the British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursebook in terms of content, sequencing, learners’ autonomy, motivation, feedback and focus on language skills. Furthermore, the study tries to provide a general perception of the usefulness and effectiveness of the coursebook for undergraduate students. The EAP Students’ Manual coursebook is used as a primary source for the data collection. The researcher has chosen Nation & Macalister (2010) model of language teaching principles to analyze and discuss the data. The study found the coursebook a useful, effective and an appropriate source of English language learning in terms of the investigated aspects of the book. The findings report that the coursebook provides practice and practical usage in all domains of the academically required English language skills. It helps the students to build language competency and to be more independent learners. In addition, it provides an opportunity to the learners to think in the target language, use the language more practically and learn it in a natural type of environment. The study concludes and suggests that the content needs to be supplemented with English language audios and videos presenting the students relevant documentaries and helping material in order to make the coursebook and the learning process more useful, effective, interesting and motivating. Furthermore, the study recommends that while choosing /designing a coursebook for a certain course, it needs to be evaluated following the various criteria and language-teaching-principles suggested by different language researchers.


Author(s):  
Juan Francisco Coll-García

This chapter investigates student perceptions toward an international collaboration that involved an online role-play simulation, Engineers Without Borders (EWB). Forty-two undergraduate students enrolled in an engineering course at a university in the United States were paired with 56 engineering students based at a university in Spain. The simulation was designed and developed not only to foster problem-solving skills, but also to provide opportunities for participants to develop communication skills, teamwork, and professionalism. The simulation also provided opportunities for EFL students to communicate in English and develop their intercultural skills through the use of a variety of electronic collaboration tools. This chapter reports on participant feedback and highlights the benefits of the computer-based nature of the telecollaboration.


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