scholarly journals The Effectiveness of an Engaging Program to Reduce Saudi Female University EFL Students’ Foreign Language Anxiety and to Enhance Their Motivation to Learn English at Taif University

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasrah M. Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Attitude And Motivation ◽  
Experimental Group

<p>Teaching a language is a complex but interesting process. It involves teacher, learner, curriculum, and learning environment. Also this process is affected by certain social, cultural and psychological factors. This study is aimed at investigating the effectiveness of a proposed program for developing EFL learners’ engagement in learning English. The sample of this study consisted of 103 females (M = 19.260, SD = 0.876 years), it was divided into two groups; the experimental group consisted of 53 girls and the control group consisted of 50 girls. Students’ engagement was measured by the Handelsaman, Briggs, Sullivan, and Towler (2005) questionnaire, while their foreign language anxiety was measured by the Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) questionnaire. Students’ motivation was measured by Gardner’s (1985) Attitude and Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). The research applied continued for three months which included the proposed program. The data proved that there were statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group on the post-test of the engagement questionnaire, the foreign language anxiety scale as well as the students’ motivation dimensions, showing a significant increase in students’ engagement and motivation in favor of the experimental group. The findings also indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the pre-test and post-test results for the experimental group on the students’ engagement and motivation. This shows that the experimental group had an increase in skills after having participated in the program as seen on the post-test. In light of these results, the study provides a number of procedural recommendations that may contribute to raising the degree of the importance of students’ engagement and motivation training for the students with foreign language anxiety. The paper concludes that more training should be given in using all engagement activities by embedding them in regular classroom activities. Suggestions are offered for future research.</p>

scholarly journals The Effect of Group Counselling Based on the Modification of Negative Self-Statements on Reducing Gender-Biased Foreign Language Anxiety among Ajloun National University Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 730
Author(s):  
Mohammad H. Abood ◽  
Nadia Ahouari-idri
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
National University ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
And Control ◽  
Experimental Group

This study investigated the effectiveness of a training program, based on themodification of negative self-statement, to reduce foreign language anxiety (FLA) among EFL students at university in Jordan. To achieve this goal, the foreign language classroom anxiety scale was used. Participants were 30 male and female students from Ajloun National University, who scored high in FLA, and randomly dispensed to one of the two groups: experimental and control. The experimental group received a pilot programme to modify the negative self-statement and the control group did not. Results showed that the modification of negative self-statement program (MNSP) was effective in reducing FLA. A statistically significant difference (.05) was found between the two groups in the effectiveness of the self-statement programme.

Heritage Language Anxiety in Two Spanish Language Classroom Environments: A Comparative Mixed Methods Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 92-113
Author(s):  
Josh Prada ◽  
Paola Guerrero-Rodriguez ◽  
Diego Pascual y Cabo
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Classroom Environments ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Experimental Group

While research into foreign language anxiety (i.e., nervousness towards using the second/additional language) has increased substantially in the last decade, little is known about how language anxiety operates among heritage speakers. Following Tallon’s early works on the topic (2009, 2011) and recent publications (e.g., Sevinç & Dewaele, 2018), the present study further conceptualizes and explores the nature of heritage language anxiety in two different classroom environments at the university level: the traditional Spanish (for second language learners) class, and the Spanish for heritage speakers class. Thirty participants completed (i) the DASS21 scale (Rehka, 2012), (ii) a modified version of the foreign language anxiety scale (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014), and (iii) semi structured individual interviews. Participants were distributed between two groups: those in the control group (N=14) were enrolled in a Spanish class for second language learners and those in the experimental group (N=16) were completing a Spanish for heritage speakers course. Results show consistently lower language anxiety rates among participants from the experimental group than among participants from the control group. Additionally, our analyses reveal the role of contextual variables in language anxiety emergence in these two commonly available types of Spanish classrooms.

scholarly journals A Video-driven Approach to Promoting Pragmatic Development in the Context of English as a Foreign Language

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuha Abdullah Alsmari
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Experimental Group

While pragmatic competence has proven to be teachable over the past three decades, determining the most appropriate and effective approach to facilitating English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ pragmatic development is still a central concern for researchers of interlanguage pragmatics (ILP). An investigation into the effects of video-driven prompts on less-studied and more complex teaching speech acts, such as complaints, will significantly supplement the inconclusive results of pragmatic interventional studies in foreign language contexts. To this end, the present study aims to investigate the effects of metapragmatic instruction on English complaints through the implementation of video-driven prompts to raise Saudi female EFL students’ awareness of the pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic aspects associated with the production of appropriate and accurate target-like complaints during one academic semester. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data from 62 English majors, assigned to an experimental group (n = 31) and a conventional group (n = 31), at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. To elicit the required data, a proficiency test and pre-/post-test written discourse completion tests (WDCT) were distributed among participants. The results of the post-test demonstrated significant improvement in participants’ pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic skills in the production of English complaints. The experimental group immensely outperformed the control group due to their exposure to authentic, contextualized video excerpts. The study supports the teachability of complaints as well as the benefits of incorporating metapragmatic awareness tasks based on contextually authentic input, which can, in turn, accelerate EFL students’ ability to produce pragmatically appropriate and accurate target-like complaints.

scholarly journals Towards a Moodle-based assessment of Algerian EFL students’ writing performance

2021 ◽  
pp. 231-248
Author(s):  
KAMILA GHOUALI ◽  
RAÚL RUIZ-CECILIA
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
English Department ◽  
Writing Performance ◽  
Teaching Support ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study examines the effect of a technology-based assessment on the writing performance of Algerian English Foreign Language (EFL) students. Forty-two first-year EFL at the English Department at Tlemcen University (Algeria) took part in the experiment. They were divided into an experimental group (n = 21) and a control group (n = 21). A pre-test and a post-test were used as research instruments before and after the administration of the treatment, respectively. The data were analysed quantitatively using IBM SPSS (20.0). The results revealed that the Moodle-based e-assessment had a significant effect on the performance of the experimental group. We argue that the proposed type of assessment had some pedagogical, practical, and emotional attributes that explained students’ improved scores. We also believe that the e-assessment acted as pedagogical teaching support to traditional evaluation.

scholarly journals The Effects of Teacher’s Use of Interactional Strategies on EFL Students’ Speaking Performance

2021 ◽  
pp. 152-166
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thanh Nha ◽  
Phuong Hoang Yen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Speaking Performance ◽  
Experimental Group

This paper reports an experimental study to investigate whether Interactional Strategies (ISs) have any significant effects on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ speaking performance. The study is defined as amixed-method research with two research instruments namely speaking tests and semi-structured interviews.Twenty-five participants were divided into 2 groups namelya control group and an experimental group. Theintervention was implementedfor ten weeks. The findings show that there was no significant difference about speaking performance between the control group and the experimental group although there was a significant difference in oral performance mean score of the pre-test and post-test given to both groups. Moreover, the majority of the participants in the experimental group held positive attitudes toward the teacher’s use of ISs in improving their speaking performance. Implications for practical applications of Interactional Strategies are also presented.

The Effect of Using Students Peer Teaching on Iraqi EFL Students' Achievement in the Course of Library and Research Work

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (33) ◽  
pp. 693-714
Author(s):  
. Muntaha Sabbar Jebur
Keyword(s):  
Basic Education ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Peer Teaching ◽  
Control Group ◽  
College Of Basic Education ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Experimental Group

          Peer teaching is a strategy that allows the students to teach the new content to each other, and they must be accurately guided by instructors.     The researcher proposes that the use of students peer teaching  may promote students' achievement  and ensure the engagement of all the students in the learning process. Therefore, the researcher employs it as a teaching method aiming at investigating its  effect on Iraqi EFL students' achievement in the course of Library and Research Work .      The study hypothesizes that there is no significant difference between the students' achievement who are taught library and research work by students peer teaching  and that of the students taught by the traditional way. The experimental design of the study is Parallel Groups, Random Assignment, posttest. Each group consists of 35 students, chosen randomly from the Third Year Students at the Department of English in the College of Basic Education. Both groups were matched in terms of their age and parents' education. The experiment was fulfilled in the first course for 15 weeks during the academic year 2016-2017.       The same materials were presented to both groups. This included   units from Writing Research Paper by Lester D. . Post-test was constructed and exposed  The t-test for  independent samples was used to analyze the results and it is found out that there is a statistical difference between the two groups in their achievement because the calculated t- value 2.635 is bigger than the tabulated t- value which is 2.000, and also shown the superiority of the experimental group. The results indicate that the experimental group, who was taught Library and Research Work by peer teaching   was better than the control group, who was taught according to the traditional way. So, the null hypothesis is rejected. Finally, some recommendations and suggestions are presented in the light of the study findings. to a jury of experts to verify its validity and it was administered to both groups.

Electronic texts or learning through textbooks: An experimental study

ReCALL ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
NINETTE CARTES-ENRIQUEZ ◽  
M. I. SOLAR RODRIGUEZ ◽  
R. QUINTANA LETELIER
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Computer Lab ◽  
Electronic Texts ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Search For Information ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Traditional Class

This is an experimental study in the area of Didactics applied to the learning of English as a foreign language and complemented by CALL. The main objective of this work is to know the degree of incidence existing between two groups of students: one, based on conference-style classes where students, guided by the teacher, have to search for information about a topic in the computer lab and present it in front of the class and, in the other, where students are taught by the teacher according to a printed text. The experimental design consisted of a pre-test/post-test plus the application of different techniques to develop the different linguistic and cognitive strategies, between these tests. The methodology used by the Experimental Group forced learners to generate their own knowledge, so they had to apply the information and work by themselves in Workshops; and the Control Group participated in the classroom according to the communicative approach, guided by the teacher in the traditional class. Statistics were applied to the scores obtained between both tests, and the scores obtained weekly in the different competences contributed to knowing whether there were significant differences between both groups.

The impact of computer-assisted language learning on Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 210-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Rahimi ◽  
Samira Mouri
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This study aimed to explore the impact of computer-assisted language learning on Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary learning. Participants of the study were 76 students – 29 males and 47 females – learning English as a foreign language in Parto, Sadr, Poyesh and Andishe Institutes in Ahvaz who were selected after taking the Nelson English Language Test as a proficiency test. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group was taken as control and the other as experimental group. Both groups participated in the teacher-made test of vocabulary, Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), and Word-Associates Test (WAT) as pre-test. During class sessions the control group was taught the vocabulary, in the conventional way, through the printed textbook while the experimental group taught by the software version of the same book. Three ANCOVAs were run to compare the performance of experimental and control groups after the treatment period. The results of the ANCOVAs revealed that using vocabulary learning software was more effective than using printed book on vocabulary learning, vocabulary breadth, and vocabulary depth of the participants. The results of the present study could help EFL course book designers, foreign language institutes, educational planners, material developers, teachers, and learners to provide a better context for EFL learning. Keywords: computer-assisted instruction, computer-assisted language learning, information communication technology, vocabulary breadth, vocabulary teaching software.  

scholarly journals The Effect of E-mail and WhatsApp on Jordanian EFL Students' Reading Skill

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Kafa Mohammad Bani Khalaf
Keyword(s):  
Potential Effect ◽  
Instructional Program ◽  
Combination Group ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Tenth Grade ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
E Mail

This study aims to examine the potential effect of an e-mail and WhatsApp based instructional program on Jordanian EFL tenth-grade students' skimming and scanning skills of reading. To collect the data, two instrument were utilized: a pre-test and a post-test. The study used a quasi-experimental design. The participants of the study were 60 Jordanian tenth-grade female students from four sections who were purposefully chosen from Bahraini Basic School for Girls in Jordan. 15 students comprised the control group and 45 comprised three experimental groups of 15 students each. The findings reveal significant differences (at 0.05) in the students' mean scores on the post-test, in favour of the students in the WhatsApp group, the e-mail and WhatsApp combination group and the e-mail group respectively. The findings also reveal a significantly high effect of the instructional program on scanning than on skimming. A number of implications and recommendations for future research are put forth.

scholarly journals The University Students’ Beliefs towards Corrective Feedback in Learning English as Foreign Language in Pakistan

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 4094-4100
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Time Correlation ◽  
Test Time ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Feedback Group ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Written Test ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study is carried out in English as a foreign language (EFL) experimental classroom at Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan to investigate the Pakistani EFL learners' beliefs towards written CF in L2 writing. Two types of Written CF: Direct and Indirect feedback, were provided during four weeks of study period in written tasks to the two groups (direct feedback and feedback group) and third was provided only metalinguistic information (Controlled group). The students were divided into two groups: experimental group provided with CF (Direct and Indirect), control group. The students in the experimental group were compared to a control group which was provided with no corrective feedback. BS level adult learners (n= 40) were randomly assigned to write short essay/Gap Fill/ Timed grammatical Task during four successive weeks. Afterwards, they were asked to fill in a questionnaire (k=21), at the post-test time. Correlation between participants’ beliefs about written CF and the effectiveness of those beliefs was measured by an attitudinal questionnaire. The students’ performance was also checked through written test battery. The results of this study revealed the learners’ beliefs about errors’ corrections, the writing activities, and various types of CF. The study also suggested the significant role of learners’ beliefs in mediating language accuracy in writing tasks.

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