Communication Strategies Used By EFL Students in English Classroom Setting

The main objective of teaching English is to allow the learner to communicate orally and successfully. People all over the place study a foreign language to enable them to communicate effectively. This study investigates a phenomenon about communication strategy used by EFL students in English Classroom Setting. The focus of this study is to investigate the types of communication strategies and the most frequent types of communication strategies employed by EFL Students. It took place in Institut Pendidikan Nusantara Global that located in Central Lombok. The participant of this study was a total of 20 students from the second semester. A qualitative research design was used to collect the data need in this study embarrassing interviews and observation as main instruments; the observation used were field notes and videotape aimed to get the documentation of the study. The finding of the study shows that most of the students employed the types of communication strategy i.e.: Asking for clarification, requesting an explanation, asking for repetition, circumlocution, message abandonment, meaning negotiation, and interaction monitoring. Furthermore, the communication strategies frequently used by students i.e.: asking for clarification, message abandonment, and meaning negotiation. In conclusion, every student has their own communication strategy but the researcher categorized those strategies into several types.

Semiotic modeling of the text-driven conceptual paradigm in language education

The conceptual paradigm of Thomas Sebeok’s modeling systems theory builds a theoretical foundation that modeling and knowing converge and coexist in the process of life evolution, and affords multiple narrative spaces for foreign language education, allowing us to address living and learning concurrently in the process of meaning modeling. The present paper argues that the concept of modeling has elevated us above the long-standing emphasis on the most valuable knowledge with the same (target) language standards and the same discourse power, and has captured the interest of language educators to establish a semiotic connection between knowledge content and knowledge representation through a representation model, the English textbook, which is generally considered as an important carrier of language knowledge. The study of the concept of English textbooks promotes sustainable regeneration of semiotic information on multi-level spatial interpretability so that learning can be regarded as exploration and growth of experience. Based on what these analyses reveal, the paper concludes by confirming that the textbook can effectively construct a diverse cultural signification order, considering the learner’s greater flexibility and social responsibility and providing the curriculum with a modeling nature for meaning negotiation among all parties involved.

Social Functions of humor in telecollaboration

Considering that humorous moments (BELL; ATTARDO, 2010; KIM; PARK, 2017; REDDINGTON, 2015) can arise when language learners interact, this study aimed at understanding the social functions of humor in telecollaborative activities. For the analysis, data from telecollaborative sessions and a mediation session were included. Among other social functions of humor, data analysis revealed “reinforcement of displeasure”, “the lowering of the participants’ affective filter” and “the maintenance of harmony among the participants”. The outcomes indicated that the participants could engage themselves in meaning negotiation with language learners from other cultural horizons as they constructed humor.

Fluency and communication strategy use in group interactions for occupational purposes

Communication strategy use varies with proficiency in the target language and less proficient learners rely on L1 strategies for conversational repair. In an English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) context where the technical register is unfamiliar, little is known on whether communication strategies can enable learners with limited English proficiency to overcome hesitancy in speech. The study examined learners’ use of communication strategies and fluency in group interactions in an EOP context using an integrated problem-solving, interactional and discourse-based framework of communication strategies. A 13-week communication strategy training was conducted focusing on conversational repair strategies (fillers, approximation, code-switching), meaning negotiation strategies (clarification request, comprehension check, confirmation check), response strategies (rephrase, shadowing, reply) and discourse-based strategies (lexical repetition, topic fronting). The results on communication strategy use in three group interaction sessions involving three participants showed that the most frequently used communication strategies were lexical repetition and fillers. The participants’ fluency, as measured in C-units and frequency of fillers, was higher when they interacted on familiar topics. The participants learnt to use discourse-based strategies but not meaning negotiation strategies. The findings suggest that for better negotiation of meaning, the communication strategy training needs to create metacognitive awareness of the interlocutors’ communicative needs.

EFL child peer interaction: Measuring the effect of time, proficiency pairing and language of interaction

Child peer interaction in English as a foreign language (EFL) settings has recently received increasing attention with respect to age, instruction type and first language (L1) use, but longitudinal studies remain scarce and the effects of proficiency pairing and language choice on meaning negotiation strategies are still rather unexplored. Within a primary school EFL context, this paper aims to explore the amount and types of meaning negotiation, and the effects of time, proficiency pairing and language choice in a spot-the-differences task. Forty Catalan/Spanish bilingual children were paired into mixed and matched proficiency dyads, and their oral production was analyzed twice over the course of two years (i.e., 9-10 and 11-12 years old). The analysis included conversational adjustments, self- and other-repetition and positive and negative feedback in the learners’ L1 and second language (L2). Our data show that the amount of meaning negotiation is low, although L2 meaning negotiation is higher than L1 meaning negotiation, and all the strategies are present in the data except for comprehension checks. Time effects are hardly observed. However, proficiency pairing and language effects are more generally found, whereby mixed proficiency dyads tend to negotiate for meaning more than matched dyads and meaning negotiation instances are more frequent in the L2 than in the L1.

THE STRATEGY OF MEANING NEGOTIATION IN PRAGMATIC CLASS

ABSTRACTThis article deals with the analysis of how the strategy of meaning negotiation engage in students’ interaction in pragmatic class, In conducting this study the writers used qualitative research in which descriptive study as the method of the study. Moreover, observation and interview were the instruments used in collecting the data. Based on the results, It was concluded that the meaning negotiation engage the students’ interaction in pragmatic classroom. The students engage emotionally, behaviourally, and cognitively. In addition, the interaction occured between teacher-students and students-students. Furthermore, some problems encountered by the teacher in implementing meaning negotiation strategy in pragmatic class were students’ understanding in comprehending the vocabulary, idiom, and meaning. It means that the teacher used to translate the material of English pragmatic material into Indonesian language. Morever, ther writers suggest to further researchers to investigate kinds of students engagement occured in English teaching learning process.Keywords: Second Language Acquisition, meaning negotiation, classroom interaction, students’ engagementABSTRAKArtikel ini membahas tentang bagaimana strategi negosiasi makna terlibat dalam interaksi siswa di kelas pragmatis. Dalam melakukan penelitian ini penulis menggunakan penelitian kualitatif dimana metode penelitiannya adalah studi deskriptif. Selain itu observasi dan wawancara merupakan instrumen yang digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa makna negosiasi melibatkan interaksi siswa dalam kelas pragmatis. Para siswa terlibat secara emosional, perilaku, dan kognitif. Selain itu juga terjadi interaksi antara guru-murid dan murid-murid. Selain itu, beberapa kendala yang dihadapi guru dalam menerapkan strategi negosiasi makna di kelas pragmatis adalah pemahaman siswa dalam memahami kosakata, idiom, dan makna. Artinya guru biasa menerjemahkan materi materi pragmatis bahasa Inggris ke dalam bahasa Indonesia. Selain itu, penulis menyarankan kepada peneliti selanjutnya untuk menyelidiki macam-macam keterlibatan siswa yang terjadi dalam proses pembelajaran bahasa Inggris.Kata kunci: Akuisisi Bahasa Kedua, negosiasi makna, interaksi kelas, keterlibatan siswa

Pre-service EFL Teachers’ Conceptions of Learning about SLA through online Discussion Forums and WhatsApp in Blended Learning

Online discussion forums are a popular learning tool commonly used in blended learning. Despite the widespread use of this tool, pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ conceptions of learning disciplinary concepts through online-discussion forums are under researched. This study aims at filling this gap by describing the conceptions of learning through such forums held by a group of 16 Mexican, pre-service EFL teachers enrolled in an undergraduate Second Language Acquisition course. Interviews were conducted and analysed using phenomenography. We found three experiential categories: Going over the content, Expanding knowledge metacognitively, and Negotiating knowledge. These involve different ways of approaching course material, writing and responding to messages, and relating to the teacher. WhatsApp was used as a parallel forum to negotiate potential conflicts without the instructor’s presence. The results suggest the need to train pre-service teachers to use online discussion forums (ODFs) with a deep approach to learning that includes meaning negotiation.

Negotiating for meaning in interaction: differences between virtual exchanges and regular online activities

The present research explores the interactional nature of oral tasks carried out in two types of learner dyads in terms of their likelihood to foster negotiation for meaning during Language Related Episodes (LREs). Quantitative data analyses reveal how learners in same L1 dyads, Spanish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, and in different L1 dyads, Canadian learners of Spanish and Spanish learners of English participating in a virtual exchange, modify their speech using negotiations and clarifications to make it comprehensible to their interlocutors. Eighteen different L1 dyads of university learners doing a virtual exchange (Canada-Spain) and eighteen dyads of Spanish-speakers learning English at the Spanish university carried out three oral communicative tasks online following the same procedures. Data were transcribed, LREs were identified, quantified for each dyad, and analyzed to determine their characteristics in terms of types of triggers, modified output, and type of feedback provided. Initial findings point to substantial differences in meaning negotiation occurring during LREs in each group. Different-L1 dyads exhibit more clarifications, meaning negotiation, and provide more feedback, which leads to higher amounts of comprehensible and modified output than learners in same L1 dyads.

Types and Timing of Scaffolding to Promote Meaningful Peer Interaction and Increase Learning Performance in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Environments

This study was designed to examine the effects of negotiation scaffolding for solving complex problems, focusing on peer interaction and learning performance in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment. For this research, 38 undergraduate students performed complex tasks using a collaborative discussion tool that implemented scaffolding strategies including the fading of meaning-negotiation scaffolding (MS) and the provision of position-negotiation scaffolding (PS). The participants were assigned to one of the following conditions: (a) MS is not faded and PS is not provided (Group N), (b) MS is faded and PS is not provided (Group F), (c) MS is not faded and PS is provided (Group P), and (d) MS is faded and PS is provided (Group FP). All groups worked in pairs to complete a comprehension task and a lesson-planning task. The results revealed that Group FP outperformed the others, showing the highest learning performance and a significant increase in meaningful peer interactions, such as divergent and reflective types of discussion.