The Causes of Anxiety in Highly Anxious Students in Japanese Communicative EFL Classes

The purpose of this study was to identify the causes of speaking anxiety in highly anxious students, of which their teachers might not have been aware, and solutions to alleviate the problem. Sixteen students from a Japanese language-oriented university participated in an interview survey. The participants’ anxiety levels were measured using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire that included five items related to foreign language classroom anxiety. The results were compared to the results of interviews with their teachers, and interesting responses from the student interviews that their teachers did not raise were highlighted. The main causes of anxiety were an unpleasant classroom environment, peer pressure, and non-ideal class types. Students argued for several strategies to reduce the anxiety associated with speaking practice, increase their use of English, and improve their proficiency. To achieve these strategies, teachers need to take into account the opinions of students they did not previously focus on.

English Language Teaching, Vol. 15, No. 1, January 2022

English Language Teaching, Vol. 15, No. 1, January 2022

Radio Drama Competition as an Effective Tool to Boost the Motivation and Self-Confidence of Primary and Secondary School English Learners in Hong Kong

In this report, we investigate the use of a radio drama competition to boost motivation, self-confidence, and cooperation in language learning for primary and secondary school students in Hong Kong. The results suggest the radio drama competition had a positive impact on increasing motivation, collaboration, and confidence in language learning.  For the study, we used online surveys and interviews with students and teachers who participated in the radio drama competition to examine their perceptions of the competition. We have included the surveys and interview results of two competitions in consecutive years, and both years’ results indicate students had positive views about their experience. Both students and teachers believed the competition enhanced collaboration and teamwork, confidence, and communication skills most.  This paper contributes to the literature by shedding light on the pedagogical implications of English teachers incorporating more radio drama and language arts into their classrooms to improve students’ language learning. Well-selected language arts materials could increase students’ language learning process as well as their motivation and self-confidence to learn the target language.

A Study on English Collocation Errors of Thai EFL Students

Collocation is an often-neglected language form that foreign language teachers and students should focus on to achieve competence in a target language. In this research, the researchers studied purposely to facilitate both second language teachers and students to produce correct and appropriate collocations. The purposes of this research were 1) to study the collocation error levels of Bachelor of Arts English and Business English students studying at Northern Rajabhat University, 2) to study the relationship between first language (L1) and second language (L2) transfer collocation errors in students’ writing, and 3) to compare the collocation errors between high-proficiency students, medium- proficiency students and low-proficiency students. The research sample included 285 Thai EFL students enrolled in second-year English and Business English programs at Northern Rajabhat University during the first semester of the academic year 2021. The research instrument was a collocation proficiency test with 54 questions, which was divided into 2 sections: 1) 36 questions with 4 multiple-choice tests, and 2) 18 Thai to English translation questions. The items were chosen from the Oxford 3000™, and were common vocabulary appearing in various contexts. Research data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, t-test (Dependent), and Friedman test. The research found that 1) the level of Grammatical Collocation errors of high-proficiency EFL students was at a moderate level, medium-proficiency and low-proficiency EFL students were at a high level, and for Lexical Collocation errors, all three groups of students were at a high level; 2) the EFL students’collocation errors were caused by the language transfer from their first language (L1) to their second language (L2), synonyms, and lack of collocation competency; and 3) the most Lexical Collocation errors found in all student groups were Adverb + Adjective. For Grammatical Collocation, all groups could use Verb + Preposition better than Noun + Preposition, and the high proficiency and medium proficiency students could perform Adjective + Preposition the least, whilst the low proficiency students were better at Adjective + Preposition.  

Mobile-Learning-Based Exploration of English Reading Teaching Reform for Non-English Majors in China

Under the development of the information age, traditional Chinese teaching model of college English reading courses can no longer meet the needs of the times, and needs to be reformed urgently. From the perspective of mobile learning, this paper tries to combine modern educational technology with classroom teaching by using an online English reading learning platform, and explores the construction of a new teaching model. This model tries to form effective teaching supervision and assessment through the combination of online and offline teaching model, in-class and after-class teaching model, as well as real-time and dynamic big data monitoring, which breaks the closed classroom teaching environment, enriches the teaching content and means, complements and improves the teaching method of traditional Chinese college English reading courses. The aim of this study is to enrich teaching content, reform traditional teaching model and construct a new teaching model for English reading courses through the teaching practice of the online English reading platform, and further optimize the use of the platform by collecting and analyzing effective assessment and feedback, so as to make full use of the online reading platform and improve the mobile reading teaching model. 

Constructing the Global Diversity or Reproducing the Orientalist Gaze: Evaluating Identity Options and Cultural Elements in an English Intercultural Communication Textbook

English is often ideologically constructed as a global language to facilitate intercultural communication between people of diverse cultural backgrounds. However, it still remains unknown to what extent English learning can enhance English learners’ awareness of global diversity. Given the dominant population of English learners in China, it is of great significance to investigate how English learning might facilitate Chinese learners’ global vision and cultivate their intercultural competence. Seeing language textbooks as a key site of cultural and linguistic representation, this study scrutinizes the hidden ideologies discursively constructed in an English Intercultural Communication (EIC) textbook targeting Chinese English learners. Data are collected from dialogues, case studies, reading passages, cultural notes, exercises in the textbook. Informed by concepts of orientalism and banal nationalism, the study reveals that the distribution of characters is nation-based, essentialized, and even stigmatized. There is an inconsistency between the discursive construction of English as a global language and the actual representation of USA/UK-centered ideology. Chinese and other non-English learners are linguistically and culturally subjected to orientalist interpretation. The internal orientalist representation of Chinese speakers is also reproduced within the diverse backgrounds of Chinese population. Based on the findings, we argue that the simplified, unbalanced and unequal representations of cultural elements may hinder English learners’ awareness of cultural diversity. The study suggests that a more diversified representation of cultural practices should be adopted in EIC textbooks to cultivate the global citizenship through English language education.

Proposal for Need Analysis in an Exam Preparation Course: A Descriptive Study

Need analysis is an essential element in the process of designing any language course as it seeks to cater for what learners need in their lessons. This study proposes a framework to analyse learners’ needs for exam preparation courses. The proposed framework adopts the works of Macalister, Nation, and Brindley to address different linguistic and non-linguistic needs. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, no framework has ever been provided for teachers to carry out need analysis in the context of preparing for international exams. In this study, therefore, the framework was applied to find learners’ needs in an exam preparation course for an A2 English level international exam. The participants were 10 learners aged 10-12 enrolled on a course in a private language centre. The data were collected through a combination of quantitative and qualitative tools, that is to say, by questionnaires, tests, and classroom observations. Results revealed that the framework herein proposed gives a detailed understanding of the learners’ needs prior to the course showing that learners from this study have difficulties in the skills of reading, writing, and listening. Findings also revealed learners’ preference for a variety of classroom activities, online games, and art-crafts. 

Item Objective Congruence Analysis for Multidimensional Items Content Validation of a Reading Test in Sri Lankan University

This paper presents the findings of a study that intended to seek the content validity (CV) evidence of an instrument to measure the reading ability of university students in Sri Lanka. The reading passages and items were adapted from CEFR aligned Learning Resource Network (LRN) materials. The items were designed based on the cognitive processing involved in completing each reading task as prescribed by Khalifa and Weir (2009). As a part of collecting evidence for content validation of the instrumentation, Item Objective Congruence (IOC) analysis is used in this study. In IOC, the congruence between the cognitive processing of reading and the test items were studied providing quantified data for CV. A pool of twelve experts examined a total of 41 test items against eight cognitive processing effectively. As the experts had chosen more than one objective for an item, the IOC formula simplified by Crocker and Aligna (1986) for multi-dimensional assessment of multiple combinations of skills was applied in the present study. The findings of the IOC indicate the experts’ varying degrees of agreement in terms of what some of the items were designed to assess. 38 items had acceptable IOC indices, one item was removed from the study and two items were modified. Items having high congruence show that they test only one skill and those indicating low congruence notify that, items assess more than one cognitive processing skill. The study demonstrates the utility of the IOC method in gathering evidence for CV. Test development and validation are crucial in assessment which is the first and foremost process to evaluate educational management.   

Investigation of Teacher Support and Teacher Training During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Tools and Skills Moving the Classroom Forward

Teaching remotely from home is now compulsory for lecturers as schools across the globe have closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A marriage of technology and teacher training is required to help educators deliver lessons effectively online. This research aimed to 1) investigate the type of technological support teachers need to teach online during and after the COVID-19 pandemic; 2) identify the type of teacher training needed during and after the pandemic; and 3) assess teachers’ satisfaction towards their training in relation to their needs. This study utilized a mixed methods research design and included a sample of 59 teachers studying for a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction, majoring in English language at an open university in Thailand. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to compute means and standard deviations. In addition, qualitative data derived from a questionnaire were analyzed using typological analysis. The research findings showed: 1) the “fundamental technologies” teachers need for online teaching include computers or other computing devices, a reliable and stable-as-possible internet connection, a microphone, and a headset and camera; and 2) the task of implementing engaging lessons online and supporting students to use ICTs for projects or class work placed particular training demands on teachers. Specifically, they required: (1) training to build knowledge of the basic functions for undertaking virtual teaching and learning; (2) access to meaningful and relevant content to create lessons for students, and (3) online worksheets and projects for students.   

The Effect of Using KWL (Know-Want-Learned) Strategy on Reading Comprehension Of 5th Grade EFL Students in Kuwait

Metacognitive reading strategies play an essential role in improving reading comprehension. This study explores the effects of English metacognitive reading strategies and reading comprehension in Kuwaiti primary school students as foreign language learners; this experimental study tries to find a relationship between students' metacognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, and students' reading performance. Participants were fifth grade EFL students in Kuwait primary education government public schools. The students' reading comprehension was evaluated. Comprehension tracking strategies were measured using Metacognitive strategies (K-W-L Plus). While the experimental groups (B) received instructions according to (K-W-L Plus) techniques, the control (A) group was trained with the traditional teaching approach based on the Kuwait national curriculum school textbooks. A questionnaire investigating the use of English and perceived English proficiency was also conducted. The results revealed that Perceived proficiency in English was not determined by the early or late pre-school age of second language acquisition. Also, bilingual students with perceived proficiency in English had better meta-cognitive reading skills than low perceived proficiency in English. Comprehension monitoring and (K-W-L) strategy was adequate and the most important predictor of reading comprehension among all students in the research sample.