Exploring Saudi EFL Students' Perceptions of Code-Switching as a Communicative Technique in EFL Classes

This article aims to explore how the EFL teachers and students treat the development of speaking fluency in the EFL class in terms of the teachers’ willingness of promoting speaking fluency for their students and the students’ demand and preference of the speaking fluency in the EFL class in China. This study also attempts to identify whether there is a dynamic between these two variables. However, the participants in this study including 40 EFL students with a female dominated demography and 10 domestic EFL teachers were randomly convened from a college. Two sets of questionnaire for these EFL teachers and students are a way to observe the result, since the demand of fluency development is a motivational factor for the EFL learners to practice it, while the teachers’ willingness of implementation is an effective variable to promote it. Thus, a t-test is applied to precede this outcome and the results indicated that the teachers’ willingness of developing speaking fluency for their students is not sufficient. Their students consequently are not familiar with the way of practicing the speaking fluency. Though these EFL students demand a fluent communicative competence in conversations, there is a lack of time, activity, effort and relevant principle of guiding in the current EFL class. The conclusion of this article is that speaking fluency strand is necessary to the college students and therefore further researches should draw attention on its development in the EFL class in China.

Motivation plays a key role in EFL students’ academic accomplishment and engagement in learning. With a growing interest in exploring various tactics to foster student motivation, teachers’ use of motivational practices has received extensive attention. The present study aimed to explore the influence of digital motivational quotes on Saudi EFL students’ overall attitudes and motivation toward learning English. To this end, one hundred undergraduates majoring in English were selected, through random sampling, to respond to the mini version of the Attitudes/Motivation Test Battery (Gardner & MacIntyre, 1993). Divided into control and experimental groups, the latter received a set of digital motivational quotes for ten weeks. To detect any possible effect, both groups responded to the same scale. Qualitative data was also obtained to further confirm the quantitative data. Results showed that motivation levels were moderate before the treatment and increased significantly among the experimental group students afterward. The increase was evident in all categories of motivation. Qualitative data analysis indicated that the intervention fostered students’ motivation, specifically by empowering them to overcome challenges and maintain a positive attitude and a determined mindset. These findings have informative implications for teachers, educators, and syllabus designers.

This study aims to investigate the effects Twitter has as a social networking platform on the development of Saudi EFL psychological variables (attitude, confidence, motivation, interest in L2 culture, social interaction and engagement), actual learning outcomes and the relationship between these psychological variables and their results. Twitter provides a valued accessible window to the target culture and promotes cross-cultural competence and comprehension that is focused on meaning rather than form, as well as repeated exposure to L2 cultural products, practices, perspectives and the target language. A sample of 39 students enrolled in an English course during the second semester of the 2014-2015 academic year, as well as two non-native English speakers (NNSs) working at the English Program, agreed to participate in the study. It adopts a combined inductive-deductive research approach to fulfil the research purpose and answer the research questions. The findings of this study underscore the latent use of the Twitter microblogging platform in EFL classes, as well as revealing the positive impact upon Saudi EFL students’ social interaction (engagement), enthusiasm and interest in learning more about L2 culture in English language classes.

Technology has literally become inseparable from modern day living as it always stays with us in all places and times. Therefore, prudence demands that teachers too, make positive use of it for language learning/teaching. This study compares the impact of WhatsApp based learning activities (WBLA) with conventional activities on boosting the four language skills of Saudi EFL students. The study also investigates Saudi EFL students' perceptions on using WBLA as a tool of English language learning, motivation and autonomy. A close-ended questionnaire was developed to collect data from 100 Saudi EFL undergraduate students at Duba, University of Tabuk, the subjects of this study. The investigation showed that WBLA has a positive impact on shaping the Saudi EFL undergraduates’ perceptions to language learning. Moreover, results indicate that male learners outperformed females in all the four skills. The study, therefore, concludes that WBLA should be integrated in all EFL classes. This study establishes that novel use of technology offers effective assistance in the language classroom.

Peer assessment (PA) is a kind of evaluation which allows the learners to assess their peers’ work with the instructions of the teachers and agreed upon criteria. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR) has worked on reforming the higher education system since 2008. It tries to apply the student-centered approach of learning and prepare graduates to be lifelong learners and critical thinkers. One of the alternative methods of assessment in the Student-centered approach is PA. This paper aims to investigate the use of peer assessment in EFL classes at university level. Further, it tries to find out whether peer-assessment is used correctly! Finally, it discovers the challenges encountered by EFL students while implementing PA in the Essay Writing classes. In this study both qualitative and quantitative method are used. The study has conducted in the colleges of Education, Basic Education, and Languages at SUE with the third stage students. The study concludes that peer assessment is used in EFL classes, but it is not used as correct as it should be. The instructors who used it have to illustrate its procedures in the class before using it.

Literature and language are intricately interconnected. Literature is built by means of language, and in turn all aspects of language are enriched due to the creative and innovative use of language in literary works. Teaching literature is a truly demanding task, particularly, in the context of teaching EFL where practically little or no room is left for dealing with literary pieces. A number of studies have proved that the benefits of incorporating literature in EFL classes are numerous; still, literature seems to be grossly neglected in the foreign language classrooms. The study at hand attempts to shed some light on future English teachers’ perspectives on teaching literature in EFL classes. More precisely, by conducting structured interviews with second cycle students majoring in the English language and literature at the Faculty of Education – Bitola and doing detailed analysis of their lesson plans, we aimed at ascertaining whether their position towards teaching literature is positive or not; what literary genres they find most suitable for EFL classes; what teaching methods and techniques they would prefer to use in an attempt to integrate literature in EFL classes, and how they feel about utilizing ICTs as a tool for organizing, engaging and stimulating activities for their EFL students.

The present study aimed to set a plan for teaching EFL classes based on the identification of university students’ dominant multiple intelligences in EFL classes, and the differences in the types of intelligence between female and male students in terms of their gender. The problem the present study aimed to address is that the traditional concept that “one size fits all” is still adopted by many EFL teachers, and that EFL students’ differences and preferences are noticeably unheeded. It is believed that identifying students’ dominant intelligences is a sound remedial solution for such a problem before embarking on any teaching program. Moreover, getting students aware of their different types of intelligence will motivate and encourage them in the classroom. The researchers used a questionnaire as a research instrument for data collection. The results arrived at showed that there were no significant differences in the types of intelligence between female and male students in terms of their gender, except for bodily- kinesthetic intelligence. They also showed that the dominant intelligences were ranked from the highest to the lowest as follows interpersonal, linguistic, spatial, logical-mathematical, bodily kinesthetic, intrapersonal, musical, and naturalistic.

The purpose of this study was to study grade 11 students’ awareness and use of vocabulary learning strategies in EFL classes at Woreta Secondary and Preparatory School. To conduct this study, mixed research (qualitative and qualitative) method was employed due to the nature of the research problem. The population of the study were Grade 11 students who were enrolled in the year 2009 E.c and five Grade 11 EFL teachers. As it was impossible to incorporate all students in this study, 120 (14%) out of the total population of 841 students were selected using simple random sampling method. Hence, 120 students were all selected for questionnaire. Furthermore, six students were randomly selected from those 120 students and 2 EFL teachers who were teaching English were selected for interview. Data were collected using questionnaire, interviews and observations. The data obtained from the samples were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The quantitative data were presented using frequency and percentage. The findings of this study indicated that the students did not know many vocabulary learning strategies and did not think that these vocabulary learning strategies are important to increase their word power. The students employed only a few vocabulary learning strategies. Finally, it was concluded that the students lack awareness about the vocabulary learning strategies and they did not use as many vocabulary learning strategies as they can. Based on the find of the study the researcher recommended that teachers must create awareness about vocabulary learning strategies and should give opportunities for their students to practice different vocabulary learning strategies. Key terms : vocabulary learning strategies, memory strategies, cognitive strategies, social strategies, awareness DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/76-02 Publication date: February 28 th 2021

Epistemic curiosity’s popularity has expanded exponentially thanks to the rising inclination to put curiosity-based instruction into practice in EFL classes. Accordingly, the number of publications measuring its influence on EFL students’ linguistic performance has quadrupled in the last decade. On the other hand, an unbridgeable gap has been noticed in the Iraq setting, where there are few studies on epistemic curiosity’s role in developing EFL learners’ speaking skills. In this regard, this study attempted to investigate the influence of epistemic curiosity on improving first-year students’ speaking skills at a private university in Erbil, Iraq, spanning 9 months in the 2023-2024 academic year via appealing presentations. To fulfill this aim, 66 experimental or control group students were chosen through stratified random sampling. After doing in-depth research at home, the first experimental group of students presented the catchy topics in units after studying thoroughly; however, the second experimental group of students made a 10-minute knowledge-seeking attempt about the assigned topics within the class and shot their speech. However, control group students followed the official curriculum. SPSS 28 and NVivo were tools to analyze speaking exams and verbal responses. The findings revealed that the students whose presentations were addressed after studying thoroughly at home outperformed other groups. It hints that assigned speaking presentations are more fruitful when they can study further at home. This study’s findings can have implications for stakeholders contemplating inserting curiosity-driven exercises in EFL classes.

In the context of EFL teaching, teachers often make it a principle to avoid the first language of the learners as much as possible. However, it is generally remarked that, in situations of teacher-student conflicts, a good number of EFL teachers in Cameroon use French systematically to perform a myriad of acts: trans language turns into a powerful resource. This therefore means that code switching, which is the usual bone of contention between EFL teachers and students, becomes a weapon. The present article focuses on the use of code switching in EFL classes. It seeks to find out how EFL teachers and students code-switch in the context of conflicts; it equally aims at discovering their pragmatic functions as well as their perlocutionary effects. The data collection method was classroom observation in 35 classes. A total of 73 hours of English were observed and recorded in 20 secondary schools located in 6 regions of Cameroon. Upon transcription of the recorded lessons, 70 teacher-student classroom exchanges were selected for the purpose of analysis in accordance with Austin & Searle’s theory of speech acts and Leech‘s theory of politeness. The findings revealed that though code-switching is generally avoided during English classes but it is frequently used by EFL teachers and students in classroom conflict situations in Cameroon. It was equally found out that there exists a correlation between language use and teacher-student conflict in the EFL class in Cameroon

Blended learning has become an emerging trend in the field of education and has caught the attention and interest of many researchers as a new approach to encourage students in their learning process, especially during COVID-19 disruption. Blended learning is also known as ‘hybrid learning’, ‘mixed-learning or ‘flipped learning’ in the literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of blended learning for improving EFL students’, from the eleventh grade, English writing skills and the student's perception of the blended learning environment at a high school. In this study, a mixed-research method was used. The quantitative data was collected through an online questionnaire, pre-test, and post-test writing scores written by 92 participants, and the qualitative data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with 8 volunteer participants. Data were analyzed with SPSS t-tests and content analyses. The research findings showed that blended learning had a significant effect in improving participants’ writing skills. Participants significantly outperformed in writing exams. The participants had a positive attitude and perspective towards using blended learning in EFL classes. The limitations of blended learning highlighted by the minority of the participants were the burden of the online activities and lack of internet or mobile device accessibility. Further research on blended learning models in EFL classes in the K-12 context is highly recommended.

This study examines the usage of Zoom platform features and functions in managing EFL classes from the perspectives of students and their instructors. The study used a mixed-method approach. Quantitively, a questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate EFL students enrolled in advanced English courses (B2) in the first semester of the academic year 2023/2024 in a Palestinian university. The questionnaire was complemented by interviewing nine EFL instructors who have utilized the Zoom platform in their EFL classes. The quantitative data were subjected to statistical analysis whereas the interview data were analyzed thematically to obtain qualitative insights. The findings of the study revealed that Zoom features and functions significantly boost the online language learning experience in the EFL classes according to the students’ views. The students highly appreciate the features of recording, raising hands, screen-sharing, mute/unmute controls, file-sharing, and chat box while learning the English language. The results also indicate that both male and female students have similar views on the efficiency of Zoom features and functions. The analysis of the qualitative data reveals that EFL instructors largely utilize Zoom features and functions in their EFL classes and appreciate the benefits of these tools. Nevertheless, the results demonstrate that the instructors encounter some challenges primarily related to technical issues. The findings provide valuable views to the field of language learning and teaching through building on the experiences of undergraduate students and instructors with the context of EFL.

Using English as a medium of communication has become a demanding skill to pursue better academic and occupational opportunities. EFL learners need a practical method of learning English to communicate effectively and speak more fluently. Hence, this study aims to investigate teachers’ perspectives on the use of communicative language teaching to foster fluency and oral communication skills of Saudi female students majoring in English during their first year. It employs a mixed methods approach to data collection. A questionnaire of a five-point scale was used to collect data about teachers’ perspectives on using communicative language teaching in EFL classes. 32 English teachers at Taif University participated in the attitudinal questionnaire. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with two teachers to have an in-depth discussion about the quantitative data and answer the research questions. The findings revealed that teachers have a positive perspective toward using CLT to improve Saudi EFL students’ fluency and oral communication skills. Interviewed teachers significantly support implementing communicative activities, indicating the advantages of communicative-based classrooms. Thus, it is highly recommended to conduct an experimental study, presenting the difference between a communicative-based EFL class and a non-communicative EFL class in the Saudi context.

<p>The 21st century has seen the emergence of blogs as an authentic writing practice that provides students with a sense of immediacy by allowing them to document their lives as stories or to engage their classmates with real or imaginary tales. In this study, Saudi EFL students were asked to post their writing in a blog and collaborate with their peers to edit that writing. This research used Storybird.com to offer students an opportunity to blog on curriculum topics. By sharing their entries with each other, students developed collaboration skills, individual voices, and responsibility for their writing. This research concludes by discussing the project’s implications (the peer collaboration involved gave students ownership of their writing and a better understanding of standards), challenges (time and privacy constraints), recommendations specifically for the Saudi context, and general recommendations for implementing blogging in the curriculum.</p>

The present study 'Use of test-teach-test method in EFL classes' aims to find out the effect of teach-test-teach method in developing vocabulary, grammatical and reading comprehension skills of Bachelor level first year EFL students in the faculty of education, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. For this experimental research, the sample population consisted 42 B. Ed. students from a Public College, Pokhara who were selected using purposive non-random sampling procedure. The students were divided into two groups; experimental and controlled; each consisted 21 students on the basis of odd even ranking system. The main tools for data collection were test items. A pre-test was administered before they were taught for 4 weeks. Then, the experimental group was taught using test-teach-test method. After experimental teaching, post-test was administered by using the same set as that was used in pre-test. The results of both the tests were compared and determined using simple statistical tool; mean. The findings revealed that the experimental group was found to be performed significantly higher than controlled group.Journal of NELTA Surkhet Vol. 5 January, 2018, Page: 15-27