scholarly journals A Study on the Use of Lexical Chunks by Chinese EFL Learners in Writing

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Ling Shi ◽  
Lei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Functional Analysis ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
High Stake ◽  
Evolution Of Language ◽  
College English ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Lexical Approach ◽  
National Test

<p>Lexical Approach put forward by Michael Lewis (1993) is widely acknowledged in EFL teaching and lexical teaching is very important development in the evolution of language teaching (Lowe, 2003).<strong> </strong>For about thirty years of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in China, more and more teachers have realized the importance of teaching and encouraging learners to use ready-made lexical chunks. However, the present study focuses on the overuse of lexical chunks in learners’ writings in a high stake national test (College English Test Band 6 – CET6). The corpus-based data analysis will be done to find the most commonly used lexical chunks by Chinese EFL learners and demonstrate what is meant to be the overuse of lexical chunks. Furthermore, the reasons for misuse and overuse of lexical chunks will be discussed. The findings drawn from structural and functional analysis of lexical chunks also have some pedagogical implications.</p>

Using Activity Theory to understand the contradictions in an online transatlantic collaboration between student-teachers of English as a Foreign Language

ReCALL ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Antoniadou
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Activity Theory ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Initial Training ◽  
Teaching English

AbstractThis article describes the contradictions reported by student-teachers in Barcelona who engaged in telecollaboration with transatlantic peers via Second Life, during their initial training in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. The data analysis draws upon Grounded Theory and is theoretically informed by Activity Theory and the notion of contradictions. The study discusses technology-based, intra- and inter-institutional contradictions, their impact on the development of the telecollaborative activity, and outcomes in bolstering student-teachers’ conceptual understanding of Network-Based Language Instruction.

Teaching English as a private enterprise in China

English Today ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 32-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Lai
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Private Enterprise ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
College English ◽  
English Majors ◽  
Year 2000 ◽  
Populous Country

A report on independent ELT undertakings in the world's most populous country. The teaching of English as a foreign language in China has expanded rapidly in the last two decades. In colleges all over China, from key universities to small provincial institutions, non-English majors have to study English for at least two years and they have to pass the College English Test (CET) Band 4 before they can get their graduation certificates. In the year 2000, over 3.5 million candidates sat for the CET in the summer.

scholarly journals Impoliteness and Threat Responses in an Iraqi-Kurdish EFL Context

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shurooq A. Ali
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Focus Group Interview ◽  
Illocutionary Force ◽  
Group Interview ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
Face Saving

This study shows impoliteness as a form of face-threatening that can be intentionally caused by verbal threats in a particular setting. It investigates: what strategies and mitigators do Iraqi-Kurdish English as a foreign language (EFL) learners use in situations of threat responses? The present investigation paper aims to examine impoliteness strategies and mitigators by these learners when they respond to threatening situations in their context. Thus, it fills a gap in pragmatics literature by investigating the reactions to threats in an Iraqi-Kurdish EFL context. To this end, 50 participants have participated in this study. An open-ended questionnaire in the form of a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) is used to elicit responses from the participants. Besides, a focus group interview is conducted to support the data analysis. The data are coded based on Limberg’s (2009) model of impoliteness and threat responses to figure out the strategies used by the learners. Blum-Kulka, House, and Kasper’s (1989) taxonomy of mitigators is adapted to analyze the mitigators. Overall, the findings reveal that the preferred responses surpass those which indicate dispreference by the learners. They tend to use face-saving acts when they comply with the threatener’s demand and opt for face-threatening acts when they reject that demand indirectly. Moreover, these learners use mitigators to attenuate the illocutionary force of their responses. Finally, this study provides some recommendations and pedagogical implications.

scholarly journals From the Curtain to the Façade: Enhancing ESL/EFL Learners’ Communicative Competence through an Interactive Digital Drama

2012 ◽  
Vol VI (2) ◽  
pp. 61-75
Author(s):  
Ivan Lombardi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Human Factor ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Technological Tool ◽  
One Act ◽  
Meaningful Role

Façade is a one-act interactive digital drama about a marital crisis. The player is asked to play the role of a friend of the couple, and to try to cope with the situation by using his or her interaction skills. In this paper, I argue that Façade may be a valuable tool for teaching English as a second/foreign language, especially for the development of communicative competence. In order show how Façade may be used effectively, I (i) highlight the features of the tool that can play a meaningful role in language teaching; (ii) give examples of drama techniques that best exploit Façade; (iii) trace the techniques back to a methodology of reference; (iv) stress the primary importance of the human factor, the learners and teacher, over the technological tool. I then linger on the role of the teacher in activities that involve Façade, as well as other digital media. My proposal is presented under the metaphor of the edurector.

scholarly journals TEST-TAKING ANXIETY AMONG EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN TOEFL TEST: A CASE STUDY FROM INDONESIAN CONTEXT

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Muliawati ◽  
Nyak Mutia Ismail ◽  
Lismalinda ◽  
Budi Rizka
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
University Students ◽  
High Stake ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Test Taking ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
English Classroom ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose of the study: This research aimed at investigating the extent of anxiety experienced by TOEFL test-takers in the Indonesian context as EFL learners. Methodology: The participants of this study were 50 university students from various non-English majors. They were selected by using purposive sampling. The research design was descriptive quantitative method, in which a 10-question questionnaire was used as the research instrument. The questions were scored by using a five-point scale and the data were analyzed by using the three steps of data analysis. Main Findings: The result of the data analysis showed that more than 80%percent of students experienced moderate anxiety before and during the TOEFL test-taking while the rest (20%) suffered from mild anxiety. Applications of this study: The research findings can benefit TOEFL Preparation classes’ instructors, by which they can take the anxiety variable into account when teaching TOEFL so that the level of students’ anxiety before and during the test can be minimized. Novelty/Originality of this study: Relatively little research examined EFL students’ anxiety in the TOEFL test. Others are much devoted to the anxiety aspects within English classroom contexts such as in anxiety in reading, writing, and speaking skills, the relationship between anxiety and motivation, as well as intelligence dominance among non-low proficiency students. Therefore, this research is devoted to a high-stake test (TOEFL test), which has not been studied previously by any researchers.

scholarly journals How Well Can Arab EFL Learners Adequately Use Discourse Markers?

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Written Compositions ◽  
The University

Discourse markers are words or phrases used in both speech and writing to signal relationships between discourse segments, including clauses, sentences and even larger portions of texts such as paragraphs. Their proper use in writing effectively contributes to textuality standards, particularly cohesion and coherence. On the other hand, learners’ misuse, underuse or overuse of these markers may negatively impact the quality of the texts that these learners produce. This paper examined the ability of a group of Arab learners of English as a foreign language (ALEFL) from the University of Sharjah to recognize and produce discourse markers in written compositions. Using two elicitation techniques, the researchers collected data for this research from a sample of one hundred Arab learners studying English at the University of Sharjah. A test consisting of four parts was specially designed to evaluate participants’ ability to recognize and produce discourse markers in context. In addition, two hundred compositions written by ALEFL were analyzed to investigate their ability to produce discourse markers. The data analysis revealed that the participants’ ability to recognize and produce discourse markers was relatively low and their ability to recognize the functions of discourse markers in context was below expectations.

A Genre Analysis Study of Iranian EFL Learners’ Master Theses with a Focus on the Introduction Section

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 1982
Author(s):  
Shadi Shirani ◽  
Azizeh Chalak
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Genre Analysis ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Teaching Process ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Analysis Study ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Rhetorical Structures ◽  
High Degree

Genre analysis, which is defined as the study of how language is used in a particular context, is considered as a crucial factor in all types of communication especially in writing academic texts. This study aimed at analyzing the rhetorical structure of the introduction section of master theses, to see to what extent they follow the standard frameworks. To fulfill the objectives of the study, 40 master(M.A.) theses written by Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at Islamic Azad University (IAU), Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch were collected and analyzed. The descriptive analysis of the data including frequency and percentage, indicated that most of the rhetorical structures (moves) that are approved by the field professionals were followed with a high degree of occurrence in Iranian EFL learners’ M.A. theses. The results of the study may pave the way for improving the students’ writing and also the teaching process for academic practitioners.

Teaching Conceptual Metaphors to EFL Learners in the European Space of Higher Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-114
Author(s):  
Regina Gutiérrez Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
International Communication ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Second Language Teaching ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Language Context

AbstractThe CEFR encourages a more effective international communication. Given that effective communication in a L2 involves the ability to use metaphors, this figure becomes of prime importance to the teaching of languages. The present study applies a methodology for teaching English metaphors and idioms following the tenets of Cognitive Linguistics (CL). It argues the importance of “metaphoric competence”, and, by a conceptual metaphor awareness method, it advocates the usefulness of teaching metaphors and idioms and its explicit inclusion in a language syllabus aimed at increasing proficiency in L2. This conceptual basis for language is almost entirely unavailable to L2 learners in course books and reference materials. This paper reviews the scope of metaphor and metaphoric competence in the context of second-language teaching and learning, and provides some tips on how to teach metaphors and idioms effectively in a foreign language context. By analizing the systematicity and experiential basis of the expressions subject of study, it offers some pedagogical suggestions and teaching material that can facilitate the acquisition of idiomatic expressions by raising awareness of the conceptual metaphors that underlie them.

scholarly journals Policies and Issues in Teaching English to Arab EFL Learners: A Saudi Arabian Perspective

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashed Al-Tamimi
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Education System ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Values And Beliefs

This paper examines the history, policies, and discussions relevant to the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Saudi Arabia. It investigates the value of EFL within the Saudi education system and surveys the extent to which English has been adapted to suit the needs and customs of Saudi citizens. While focusing on major policy issues related to planning and implementing EFL instruction, the paper examines how stakeholders have worked to preserve Saudi culture, Arabic, and the structure of Saudi society. It seeks to determine whether EFL courses in Saudi schools meet the needs of students, the results of which are compared with Saudi policies on language teaching. The study then presents observations on the compatibility of teaching practices and policies, as well as the issues involved. Saudi Arabia faces several challenges that have greatly hindered the planning and implementation of language-teaching policies. This study proposes strategies for strengthening these policies to fully achieve the desired objectives. It also shows that English is gradually being naturalized in Saudi Arabia, absorbing cultural, religious, and social values and beliefs.

Research on Design & Development for Multimedia Curriculum Resources in Foreign Language and Literature

2014 ◽  
Vol 971-973 ◽  
pp. 2524-2527
Author(s):  
Li Guo Wang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Resource ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Constructivist Learning Environment ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
College English ◽  
Language And Literature ◽  
Self Learning

Internet not only has a wealth of English learning resources, but especially suitable for implementing constructivist learning environment, promote student self-learning personalized. Based on the investigation on the basis of practice and teaching explores the development of college English teaching English using the Internet resource feasibility and effectiveness of proposed future directions and recommendations for reform.

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