Stage Monologue and its Linguistic Features (Textual and Prosodic Analysis)

Spoken language production is considered to be one of the most difficult aspects of teaching a foreign language. It usually involves mastering pronunciation of sounds and intonation. If nowadays many teachers do not worry about the phonetic details of sounds, there is still focus on intonation as it has a great impact on the comprehensibility of the learner’s English. This is a very important issue for future teachers because correctness of pronunciation is one of the goals of any spoken language programme, with students asked to produce quite extended spoken monologues and to follow the requirements of various intonational styles. The aim of this study is to analyse textual and prosodic characteristics of stage monologue – a text produced on a theatre stage or in a film. Analytical methods were applied in order to obtain information about textual features and prosodic stylistic markers such as pitch level, range, tone modifications, loudness, and tempo, and also to develop style-forming factors in stage monologue. Results show that the stage monologues analysed possess all necessary characteristics of a text: informational content, delimitation, continuum, coherence, cohesion and completeness. Further analysis of stage monologue showed that it can be characterised by such specific features as expressiveness, normativeness, effectiveness, and conversational character. Stage monologues also possess all necessary prosodic markers. Certain style-forming factors of stage monologue were also developed in this study, including delimitation, accentuation of key words, thematic centres and expressively prominent centres, type of composition scheme, and theme. These results will be of significant pedagogical value to students who intend to become English teachers, and to teachers involved in linguistics research.

Pre-teaching Vocabulary in Teaching Reading Skill: A Hindrance to Learner Autonomy?

Pre-teaching vocabulary of unfamiliar words of a reading or listening lesson is a technique used by English language teachers where they define and explain unfamiliar but essential words of the text just before the start of the comprehension task.Conversely, learner autonomy is an educational practice that refers to the learners' responsibility for their own learning, both in terms of what they learn and how they learn. These two diametrical ideals in English Language Teaching (ELT) demand research to justify pre-teaching vocabulary in teaching receptive language skills. Accordingly, this review paper investigated the effectiveness of pre-teaching vocabulary in teaching reading skills to English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners by reviewing recent literature. It sheds light on the concepts of learner autonomy, strategies to teach vocabularies in reading, pre-teaching vocabulary, and the extent pre-teaching is justified. This paper concludes that, while the principle of vocabulary pre-instruction is generally in conflict with that of learner autonomy, this particular strategy in ELT cannot be entirely disregarded to facilitate comprehension of a reading text and thus in promoting the use of target language, and can selectively be used by the teachers in interesting and useful ways. The study will help teachers to better understand to what extent pre-teaching vocabulary is useful and what strategies of this teaching technique can help motivate students to read and comprehend a reading text. Scope for future research is provided

A Study into the Pyramid Discussion Approach with Pre-Service English Teachers in Japan

The main concern of this article is the nature and the role of an EFL classroom speaking activity, known as pyramid discussion, whereby learners progressively form larger groups as they carry out a series of discussions on certain topics. This research interest stemmed from my personal experiences as an English language teacher in the context of Japan in which the majority of the teachers still regard the act of teaching English as the presentation of compartmentalized knowledge, as opposed to the promotion of communicative abilities. In this article, I introduce an action research study into the employment of the pyramid discussion approach in an English Teaching Methods course at a Japanese university and illuminate the effectiveness of the approach on the students, who are pre-service English teachers, in the course. Data will detail how the approach could notably assist the participants in seizing communication opportunities in English and in holding positive attitudes toward their teacher, classmates, and themselves as learners and future teachers of English. Implications are provided as a conclusion

Qualitative Research into Reading in English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia – Quo Vadis?

Reading is a multidimensional, intellectual activity, which requires specific skills and strategies. Indonesian researchers have conducted research addressing various issues in reading in the domain of English as a Foreign Language/EFL. This article reviews the current development of theories and models of EFL reading and qualitative research into EFL reading in Indonesia. Through discussion of theoretical and practical perspectives, it appears that EFL reading researchers and teachers in Indonesia are interested in promoting and conducting studies not only on the effectiveness of intensive reading, but also of extensive reading in their academic institutions. In this way, their students will have sufficient opportunities to gain competence in both types of reading, and will develop the capability of using their knowledge of English to capitalise on the advancement of science and technology in the global world.

Examining the effectiveness of online resources in developing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading skills autonomously

The purpose of this mixed methods study is to investigate the effectiveness of online resources in developing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading skills autonomously among undergraduate students at the Faculty of Letters and Humanities Fes-Agdal as a representative of the socio-cultural and higher education system of Morocco. The sample consisted of an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group consisted of 120 students that were exposed to three main online tools (Newsela.com, mrnussbaum.com, and rewordify.com) and virtual meetings and instruction provision using Facebook. The control group consisted of 120 students that benefited only from the university’s regular reading courses. The experimental intervention period was followed by interviews with a sample of 25 students from both groups providing a qualitative perspective. The overall results show that online resources had a positive effect on the development of metacognitive skills. Students tended to appreciate the inclusion of online resources in the classroom without devaluing the role of their EFL teacher – the students did not expect online resources to fully replace the role of their teachers.

Spoken Error Correction Practices and Beliefs of EFL University Teachers in Saudi Arabia

Despite the wealth of knowledge in the field of oral corrective feedback, empirical evidence is still scarce regarding the EFL teachers’ OCF perceptions and practices in Saudi Arabian context. This study therefore, sought to gain an understanding of teachers’ use of oral corrective feedback (OCF) in the Saudi Arabian EFL context. The following two questions guided the study: 1) According to teachers, what are the methods/strategies by which they provide oral corrective feedback (OCF) in the Saudi Arabian EFL context? 2) Is the teachers’ oral corrective behaviour in this context informed by the research? For this purpose, a short questionnaire was designed and distributed among EFL instructors in Saudi Arabia. The research paper suggests that the OCF practices of EFL teachers in Saudi are mostly inline with the research.

Linguistic Landscape: A Language Learning Media in An Underdeveloped Region

As the result of the implementation of the latest curriculum in Indonesia, namely curriculum 2013, some problematic issues have arisen in its application. The apparent facts of this are the reduced number of hours dedicated to the subject of English, and the hampered distribution of the curriculum properties in rural areas, such as textbooks and teacher training for the curriculum. To resolve this dilemma, there is a need to find another means for teachers in rural areas to teach English, for example by using the authentic and contextual English text that is dispersed in their surroundings (Linguistic Landscape). Therefore, the aims of this research are to investigate the LL as a form of English exposure that students may encounter around their school neighbourhood, and the English language teachers’ perception of LL if it is to be applied as an additional learning resource, taking as an example a school in one underdeveloped region such as in Pulau Maya, Kayong Utara-West Borneo. This research employed a qualitative method by using an educational case study to investigate the teachers and the environment of this sample school. The data were obtained in the form of photographs and interviews. From the analysis, it was found that there are abundant LL signs that could promote students’ learning of English in improving their vocabulary, pragmatic competence, multimodal literacy, grammatical features, and their understanding of social aspects. Despite some sceptical perceptions, most of the teachers also seemed to acknowledge the apparent advantages of using LL in their future teaching.

Exploring the Perceptions of Moroccan EFL Teachers Towards Task-Based Language Learning

Moroccan students do not have many opportunities to use English outside the classroom setting. The adoption of task-based language learning (TBLL) is deemed to be an appropriate language instructional method for the Moroccan EFL context. Hence, teachers are explicitly urged in the official Moroccan English language guidelines documents to adopt tasks in their teaching practices. However, no known empirical research has been conducted to investigate teachers’ perceptions and use of TBLL. To fill this gap, this study attempted to investigate high school EFL instructors’ familiarity with TBLL and their views on the use of tasks in their classrooms. An online survey provided quantitative data from 90 participants. Results showed that although Moroccan EFL teachers have a good understanding of the key concepts of this approach, their use of tasks is limited. Lack of task-based materials, large class sizes, and students’ use of their mother tongue to complete the task are identified as the main obstacles facing a high level of use of tasks in teachers’ classroom practices. Several implications for the successful integration of TBLL in the Moroccan EFL context are suggested at the end of the article.

Online Teaching Self-Efficacy – How English Teachers Feel During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The transition from traditional face-to-face to online teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic happened so rapidly that most teachers started teaching without enough training, preparation, and knowledge of online teaching. In order to better understand this current teaching paradigm, the present research examined how English teachers perceive their own ability to teach online. It investigated English teachers’ self-efficacy to teach online by surveying 138 EFL university teachers in Japan. A survey with 29 Likert-scale and two open-ended questions was developed to examine four latent constructs of online English teaching self-efficacy: technology, pedagogy, communicative language teaching, and self-management. Results of the survey found that English teachers were highly self-efficacious toward teaching online. They were most self-efficacious toward the usage of technology, followed by pedagogy, communicative language teaching (CLT), and least efficacious toward self-management when teaching online. Teachers had high self-efficacy for using different online platforms, organizing group work activities, and conducting formative assessments for evaluation. On the other hand, teachers had lowest self-efficacy for maintaining the balance between research and teaching activities. This paper concludes with some pedagogical implications for English teachers when teaching online.

A Historical Account of Linguistic Imperialism and Educational Policy in Tunisia: From the independence to the ‘Jasmine Revolution’

This article is about foreign languages hegemony in Tunisia. It describes the linguistic situation at the macro and micro levels, the Tunisian and the international linguistic communities, the status of English and French languages throughout the world, and their effects on the Tunisian educational policy. The prevalence of French in Tunisia as the language of science and technology between 1956 and 1987, the way the value of English is promoted in the Tunisian educational system between 1987 and 2011 though Tunisia is a French colonized country, and the tendency to linguistic isolationism since 2011, prove the intrinsic link between language and politics. Political changes at international and local levels shape the local linguistic communities.