Constructing and validating a questionnaire on barriers to EFL learners’ reflective writing

The purpose of the current study was to develop and validate a scale to assess the inhibitors to reflective writing of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. The other aim of this study was to assess the reliability of the questionnaire. To prepare the first item pool of the questionnaire, the researchers reviewed the previous related literature and prepared the first item pool with 62 items. At the next stage, based on the judgments of some experts in the field regarding the items of the questionnaire, 31 items were deleted and the next draft included 31 items. Then, 265 EFL teachers were invited to fill out the questionnaire. As the next step, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to investigate the construct validity of the scale. Based on the results of EFA, 10 items were deleted. The final draft of the questionnaire included 21 items with three factors including ‘teachers’ issues’, ‘students’ issues’, and ‘institutions and educational system issues’. In addition, a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was run to measure the internal consistency of the scale and the findings indicated a satisfactory level of reliability. The findings have implications for pedagogy as well as further research.

EFL supervisors’ written feedback focus and language functions: a mixed methods study

The objectives of this study were to examine the EFL supervisors’ written feedback focus, and language functions at selected public universities in Ethiopia. To address the objectives of the study, qualitative and quantitative approaches with concurrent mixed methods design was adopted. 55 supervisees were randomly selected out of 205 for the questionnaire survey. Besides, four supervisors were selected for interviews. Moreover, feedback comments on five theses drafts were utilized as data sources. To decide the language functions and feedback foci, frequency counts and percentages were used. Nonetheless, content analysis was used to analyze the interview data. The results showed that thesis supervisors used the directive feedback language function most prevailingly over the expressive function. Besides, the result indicated there was no balance of praise, criticism, and suggestions in the provision of feedback comments. The supervisors largely focused on content knowledge, followed by genre knowledge, and then linguistic accuracy and appropriateness (forms), respectively. Based on the results, supervisors were recommended to write their feedback comments in helpful and constructive ways based on the needs and preferences of their supervisees for the development of writing skills.

The effect of gender and language proficiency on the metaphor use in the writing of TEFL students

The ubiquitous nature of metaphor in everyday life and its significance in second language learning has triggered plethoric research on the relationship between metaphor and language learning. To contribute to the still growing literature, the current study explore the effect of learner variables, namely gender and proficiency, on metaphor use in TEFL students’ writing. To achieve that objective, 27 intermediate and 23 upper-intermediate Iranian TEFL students were asked to write on an IELTS Writing Task 2 topic. Fifty essays were analyzed for metaphor use through Metaphor Identification Procedure (Pragglejaz Group in Metaphor Symb 22(1):1–39, 2007) and Vehicle Identification Procedure (Cameron in Metaphor in educational discourse, Continuum, London, 2003). The data analyzed through t-test and multiple regression analysis revealed the advantage of upper-intermediate students over intermediate students concerning metaphor use in their writing. Gender, on the other hand, did not play an influential role in the students’ metaphor use. The findings of this research and the implications they might have for the field of English language teaching will be discussed.

Innovation research on foreign language teaching theory with Chinese characteristics based on Whitehead’s process philosophy

Since China’s reform and opening up, foreign language teaching (FLT) in China has achieved rapid development under the guidance of foreign language teaching theories both at home and abroad. However, problems such as ‘time-consuming and inefficient foreign language learning’ and the presence of ‘dumb foreign languages’ in FLT in China have not been fundamentally solved. Based on Whitehead’s process philosophy, this research aims to put forward feasible solutions to the existing problems in FLT in China so that the level of FLT in China can be promoted by discussing the purpose, contents, processes and stages of FLT and the relationship between teachers and students in both FLT and FLT evaluation systems.

Assessing learning transfer and constraining issues in EAP writing practices

The aim of this study was to investigate what learners carry over from a general academic writing course to disciplinary writing settings and the variables constraining the quality of the outcome. Seven EFL university writing teachers and 58 students were selected using purposive and stratified sampling techniques. Data were generated using in-depth interview and document analysis. Thematic analysis and non-parametric statistical tools were employed to analyze the data. The findings showed that the students made limited learning transfer from the writing course to their writing settings across academic discourses. While surface level knowledge of grammatical features show better transfer, skills of discourse level writing processes, thinking strategies and vocabulary showed very poor transfer. A number of reasons are identified for the failure of learning transfer in the study setting. Among others, EAP teachers’ failure to bridge the EFL writing and content area writing practice contributed to this problem. The other variable causing this problem is students’ failure to make significant moves to adapt skills of writing processes and thinking strategies to new situations. Based on these evidences, alternative ways of improving the carryover impact of such courses have been put forward.

Optimizing auditory input for foreign language learners through a verbotonal-based dichotic listening approach

The quality of the physical language signals to which learners are exposed and which result in neurobiological activity leading to perception constitutes a variable that is rarely, if ever, considered in the context of language learning. It deserves some attention. The current study identifies an optimal audio language input signal for Chinese EFL/ESL learners generated by modifying the physical features of language-bearing audio signals. This is achieved by applying the principles of verbotonalism in a dichotic listening context. Low-pass filtered (320 Hz cut-off) and unfiltered speech signals were dichotically and diotically directed to each hemisphere of the brain through the contralateral ear. Temporal and spatial neural signatures for the processing of the signals were detected in a combined event-related potential (ERP) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment. Results showed that the filtered stimuli in the left ear and unfiltered in the right ear (FL-R) configuration provided optimal auditory language input by actively exploiting left-hemispheric dominance for language processing and right-hemispheric dominance for melodic processing, i.e., each hemisphere was fed the signals that it should be best equipped to process—and it actually did so effectively. In addition, the filtered stimuli in the right ear and unfiltered in the left ear (L-FR) configuration was identified as entirely non-optimal for language learners. Other outcomes included significant load reduction through exposure to both-ear-filtered FL-FR signals as well as the confirmation that non-language signals were recognized by the brain as irrelevant to language and did not trigger any language processing. These various outcomes will necessarily entail further research.

Profiling the pausing behaviour of EFL learners in real-time computer-aided writing: a multi-method case study

Technologically enhanced means and devices in language education and research have enabled an in-depth exploration of the dynamics of writing. This study investigated the pausing behaviour of eight Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners at the tertiary level in performing an online writing task. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a combination of methods and techniques, including keystroke logging, screen recording videos, think-aloud protocols, and stimulated recall interviews to establish a profile of each learner’s pausing behaviour. The learners’ pause profiles were extensively analyzed with a comparative focus on similarities and differences in EFL learners’ pausing behaviour across writing skill levels. Overall, the findings revealed a general tendency for the learners to pause most frequently at a low text unit level, i.e., the lexical level. More specifically, less-skilled writers tended to pause more frequently than more-skilled writers at lower-level text units, whilst more-skilled writers chose to make more strategic pauses to gain overall control of their writing. Furthermore, these findings help reveal the intricate self-monitoring patterns that undergird individual writer’s pausing behaviour and relate these patterns to self-monitoring awareness, writing knowledge and experience, and writing habit. This small-scale multi-method study offers a glimpse into how EFL learners at different skill levels would respond to a real-time online writing task by using resources at their disposal and under conscious monitoring. Methodologically, it adds empirical evidence to previous literature on researching the computer-aided writing process with computer-aided tools and considers productive complementation and triangulation across research approaches and paradigms.

Corpus-informed application based on Korean Learners’ Corpus: substitution errors of topic and nominative markers

This study aims to demonstrate the need for learner-corpus-informed applications and proposes methods of application that promote the proper use of Korean topic and nominative markers. This study extracted 3004 pieces of error from the error-annotated corpus of the Korean Learners’ Corpus, the largest Korean learner corpus to date. A detailed examination of the above data was conducted to subdivide the types of substitution errors related to the topic and nominative markers, and to analyze the error rate according to the type of error and level of proficiency. The statistical data revealed no consistent correlation between the error rate and proficiency level. Furthermore, based on the proportion of error types by proficiency level, this study proposes the use of common mistake boxes with real errors; these errors are generally committed by learners of all proficiency levels and are not presumed problematic by grammarians or intuition-based teachers. These boxes can, therefore, be utilized as a practical tool for inclusion in pedagogical materials, such as learner’s dictionaries and textbooks.