From Monolingual Silence to Bilingual Confidence: Investigating Translanguaging Strategies in Middle School English Education

The present study is an attempt to explore the relationship between the breadth (the number of words known) and the depth of vocabulary knowledge (the richness of word knowledge) (the richness of word knowledge), and reading comprehension of EFL learners in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Furthermore, it tries to find the effect of language proficiency level of learners on the breadth and the depth of lexical vocabulary and reading comprehension of Saudi EFL learners. The participants of the study were seventy-five intermediate and advanced level majoring in English Translation at Qassim University in KSA. The level of language proficiency of participants had been checked through an OPT by the department in advance. To collect the relevant data, two tests measuring breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge were administered to all participants. They also received a reading comprehension test in which they were asked to read the passages and answer some multiple-choice questions. The findings obtained from the analysis of the data indicated that there is a significant relationship between breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge and Saudi advanced/intermediate EFL learner’s reading comprehension performance totally. The results further revealed that both dimensions of vocabulary knowledge are positively correlated, that is, those learners who had large vocabulary size had a deeper knowledge of the words, too. The results further showed that language proficiency level of learners have an effect on Saudi EFL learners’ reading performance and vocabulary knowledge. These results confirm the importance and the value of developing students‟ breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge in EFL classrooms.

IntroductionTeaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students is regarded as a major challenge.The aim of the study is to examine the perspectives of DHH students regarding their experiences in the EFL classroom.MethodsUtilizing a qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 former DHH students who learned English at German schools for the DHH.ResultsThe findings reveal various language combinations within the EFL classroom, which entirely depend on the teacher. Several critical aspects of the EFL classes were highlighted, including the insufficient foreign sign language competences of teachers, the juxtaposition of German Sign Language (DGS) signs and spoken English, and the lack of Deaf cultural content and awareness in the teaching. Additionally, the absence of interactive engagement in the EFL classroom was noted as a significant issue. Based on the DHH students’ EFL learning experiences, both English and American Sign Language (ASL) served as foreign languages for young DHH individuals, particularly in the context of international communication and social media engagement.DiscussionThis study underscores the importance of integrating ASL into EFL classrooms to better support DHH students’ language learning needs. The findings highlight the critical role of teacher training in ASL and the necessity for standardized approaches to EFL instruction. By aligning teaching practices with students’ lived experiences and incorporating sign language, educators can foster more inclusive, effective learning environments that not only enhance academic success but also affirm students’ identities and rights.

There have been few researches in Afghanistan that have looked into the relationship between reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge among EFL learners. As a result, the goal of this study is to investigate the relationship between reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge in actual English texts among Afghan students studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL). This research is based on quantitative correlation design. The questionnaire and actual text were utilized to collect data in the study, which were based on Laufer and Sim's (1998) reading and vocabulary testing methodologies. All respondents in this study consisted of forty (n=40) Afghan EFL students from Kunduz University, ten females and thirty males. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and inferential tests in Statistical Software Package (SPSS) Version 24. (Pearson correlation). It is hoped that this study would raise awareness among Afghan EFL instructors about the need to revise their syllabus, particularly in regards to reading courses, in order to deliver effective teaching to their EFL students. More research on university and school EFL students can be performed to gain more reliable and in-depth data about reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge.

Promoting English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ reading comprehension, improving their reading motivation, and reducing their anxiety have always been the focus of EFL researchers. Educational board games have gradually received attention from educators. Various studies have found that board game-based teaching can improve students’ learning performance, motivation, and classroom engagement, and contribute to increasing discussion. However, there are few discussions on board games in the field of EFL, so further discussion is necessary to fill the research gap of board games in EFL reading comprehension. This study developed a dual-hierarchical scaffolding board game activity framework integrating game-based learning (GBL) and scaffolding strategies, and used card board games as teaching materials to promote EFL students’ reading comprehension. The game activity framework provides a scaffolded language learning environment with dual-hierarchy concepts to support students in building successful reading strategies. Moreover, the verbal and visual representations are displayed together on the cards game component. Game mechanics can help students to link verbal and image information. On the other hand, this framework emphasizes allowing students to first use the group discussion and collaborative reading mode to conduct self-directed and game-based learning activities with the dual-hierarchy scaffolding strategy. Then the teacher guides the students to use the concepts learned in the game activities to analyse and read the text so that they can understand the text content. A quasi-experimental design was conducted in a high school English reading course to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. The experimental results showed that the proposed framework not only significantly promoted the EFL students’ reading comprehension and learning motivation and decreased their learning anxiety, but also helped them maintain a high level of learning motivation in the process of the activities. It is expected that the proposed structure can lead to better EFL teaching practices.

Reading comprehension presents persistent challenges for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, yet augmented reality (AR) tools offer promising opportunities to augment reading support. This mixed-methods study investigated the efficacy of AR applications for improving reading comprehension among 98 intermediate-level EFL students (ages 22-36). It also explored six EFL teachers’ perspectives on their use of AR in the classroom through semi-structured interviews. One-way ANCOVA was used to quantitively examine the effects of AR applications on learners’ reading comprehension and thematic analysis was utilized to analyze the data of the interviews. The quantitative results showed the effectiveness of thoughtfully designed AR applications for enhancing EFL reading comprehension. The qualitative findings of the interviews indicated that teachers valued AR technology as an effective and beneficial tool for EFL learners. They recognized its potential for facilitating deep learning of language skills, enhancing learners’ positive attitudes, and increasing their willingness to use AR-based approaches in EFL classes. However, teacher perspectives highlight the complexities and challenges of implementing emerging AR technologies in EFL contexts. The findings of the study called for adopting AR technology to enhance language learning experience, increase learners’ engagement, and create a more favorable environment for language learning. Practical strategies for integrating AR in EFL contexts and pedagogical implications for reading comprehension are discussed.

Reading is an indispensable skill for learners who desire success throughout their academic lives, and vocabulary knowledge is a sine qua non companion of reading comprehension. Despite being inextricably related entities, very little has been written about the necessary vocabulary coverage to understand an expository text and its equivalent in terms of vocabulary size in Turkish EFL context. Therefore, with this study, we focused on the relationship between the vocabulary coverage and reading comprehension of a group of foreign language learners. For this study, 178 university students completed a vocabulary checklist based on the vocabulary items of two different expository texts, and their reading comprehension levels were measured through two piloted reading comprehension tests for each text. The descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation value and regression analysis were employed to analyze the data. The results revealed that the text-based vocabulary knowledge moderately correlated with reading comprehension, and there was a relatively linear relationship between them. It was also concluded that the 98% vocabulary coverage is needed for foreign language learners to comprehend academic texts, and this coverage, in fact, refers to approximately the most frequent 8000 word-families based on the related studies.

This study examined individual differences among beginning readers of English as a foreign language (EFL). The study concentrated on the effects of underlying first language (L1) knowledge as well as EFL letter and vocabulary knowledge. Phonological and morphological awareness, spelling, vocabulary knowledge, and word reading in Hebrew L1, in addition to knowledge of EFL letters and EFL vocabulary, were measured. The study also investigated the effect of socioeconomic background (SES) on beginning EFL readers. Participants included 145 fourth graders from three schools representing two socioeconomic backgrounds in the north of Israel. The results indicate that knowledge of English letters played a more prominent role than knowledge of Hebrew L1 components in differentiating between strong and weak EFL readers. The Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis was supported by L1 phonological awareness, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge appearing as part of discriminating functions. The presence of English vocabulary knowledge as part of the discriminant functions provides support for English word reading being more than just a decoding task for EFL beginner readers. Socioeconomic status differentiated the groups for EFL word recognition but not for EFL reading comprehension.

The issues of whether mobile-assisted English as a foreign language (EFL) reading is effective have become increasingly important for EFL teachers and policy-makers. However, empirical studies investigating EFL students’ reading comprehension performance on mobile phones and students’ perceptions of these reading formats are lacking. The present research employed questionnaire surveys and semistructured interviews to investigate whether differences exist between mobile-assisted and paper-based EFL reading in terms of participants’ reading comprehension accuracy, reading speed, and reading strategy used (i.e. general, problem-solving or support strategies) and explore EFL learners’ perceptions of mobile-assisted EFL reading. A sample of 81 first-year college students participated in a quasiexperiment, 6 participants participated in a semistructured interview, and a sample of an additional 10 students participated in a pilot study. The analyses, including qualitative descriptions, mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVA), paired-sample t-tests, and independent-sample t-tests, indicated that participants achieved superior reading comprehension accuracy when reading from printed paper compared to reading from mobile phones. Superior reading speed from paper was observed only when participants were instructed to read and complete the comprehension test the first time, while no difference in speed between the two reading media was observed the second time. Additionally, participants’ use of reading strategies during mobile-assisted EFL reading was not as effective as that during paper reading. Regarding participants’ preferences, most participants (79%) preferred reading from paper over mobile phones because hard copies provided a better reading experience and promoted active reading engagement. However, participants held positive attitudes toward mobile-assisted EFL learning and wanted to continue to read from mobile phones to assist their foreign language learning due to their convenient built-in functions and portability. The implications for the use of mobile devices to assist language pedagogical practice are discussed.

Lexical inference strategy plays an important role in increasing the level of reading comprehension of second or foreign language learners. Lexical inferencing as an efficient strategy to deal with unfamiliar words has attracted much attention in the comprehension literature. However, few studies on lexical inferencing have been conducted in an English as a foreign language (EFL) setting. To fill in the existing gap, the current study aimed at investigating the effect of lexical inferencing strategy instruction on Saudi EFL students’ reading comprehension. Additionally, it sought to identify the lexical inferencing strategies used by Saudi EFL learners while they were inferring unknown words in a text. Last, the current study attempted to find the relationship between lexical inference strategies and reading comprehension among Saudi EFL learners. Sixty students from the English department were selected based on their scores on the Oxford Placement Test, indicating that they were at intermediate levels of English proficiency. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: control and experimental (each consisting of 30 students). The participants in the control group received regular instruction, while the participants in the experimental group were treated using lexical inference strategies. The instruments used for collecting data were Oxford Placement Test, reading comprehension test, and think-aloud protocol. A pre-test and post-test were administered for control and experimental groups. The results of the independent samples t-test revealed that teaching inference skills had a significant effect on reading comprehension performance among EFL learners. The results of the paired t-tests showed that lexical inferencing instruction had a statistically significant effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension development. The results of the Spearman correlation coefficient indicated that there was a significant relationship between lexical inferencing strategies and reading comprehension. The findings revealed the profound impact of lexical inferencing strategy instruction on the experimental group's performance in understanding reading text. Hence, it was concluded that lexical inferencing strategies were recommended to teach to improve the students’ reading comprehension performance.

The purpose of the present study is to explore cross-cultural differences among teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) on the basic language constructs and the impacts on their perceived teaching ability in English-reading instruction. Chinese EFL (n = 73) and Korean EFL (n = 39) teachers were administered the Reading Teacher Knowledge Survey for testing their implicit and explicit knowledge on phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, phonics, and morphological awareness; and their self-perceived teaching ability on teaching typical readers, struggling readers, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Results showed that both Chinese EFL and Korean EFL teachers' knowledge on the phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, and phonics was implicit rather than explicit. However, the teachers' knowledge on morphological awareness showed cross-cultural difference: Chinese EFL teachers had greater explicit knowledge on morphological awareness than implicit knowledge, while their Korean EFL counterparts showed opposite pattern. Self-perceived teaching ability was also distinct cross-culturally, in that Chinese EFL teachers were only confident in teaching English vocabulary, whereas Korean EFL teachers had generally positive self-perception on teaching typical readers, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Importantly, both groups of EFL teachers' explicit knowledge on the basic language constructs explained additional variance for predicting their self-perception on teaching English reading, controlling for the effects of their years of teaching and implicit knowledge. Educational implications and future research ideas are discussed in relation to the cross-cultural differences of teacher knowledge and their perceived teaching ability.

Many studies have examined literacy and related skills among learners of English as a foreign language (EFL), but little attention has been given to the role of oral language within a cross-linguistic framework despite the fact that English is the most widely spoken additional language today. Oral narratives rely on lexical, morphosyntactic, and conceptual knowledge. An in-depth examination of this modality can shed light on specific associations between cognitive and linguistic L1 and EFL skills and suggest possible mediating variables that assist multilingual speakers in producing complete oral narratives in EFL. The present study examined L1 and EFL contributors to EFL oral narratives produced by native Arabic (n = 85) and Hebrew (n = 86) speaking sixth graders seeking to identify cross-linguistic influences. We assessed general cognitive skills, phonological memory (PM), lexical, morphosyntactic knowledge, and reading comprehension in L1 (Hebrew speakers), Modern Standard Arabic (MSA, L2), L3 Hebrew (for Arabic speakers) and EFL. The “Cookie Theft” task assessed EFL elicited narratives using modified narrative analysis scales to account for microstructure (lexical and morphosyntactic complexity) and macrostructure (understanding story elements), generating a Total Narrative score. Our results yielded different patterns of underlying psycholinguistic profiles, and cross and within language associations for each group. Strong interactions between L1, L2/L3, and EFL morphological awareness and reading comprehension suggested cross-linguistic transfer. Regression analysis identified the most influential skills supporting EFL narratives for each linguistic group: English reading comprehension (ERC) was essential for Hebrew speakers and English morphological awareness (EMA) for Arabic ones. These results suggested different allocations of cognitive and linguistic resources in EFL narratives. The results also allowed to identify a common mediating skill for both groups. Findings are discussed within the theoretical framework of the Interdependence Hypothesis, the Linguistic Proximity Model, as well as accounts of direct and indirect transfer, which illuminate the impact of typological distance, general language proficiency and components of linguistic knowledge on cross-linguistic transfer in EFL oral language production.

This thesis provides the first geographical investigation of the interconnections between international student mobility (ISM), the English as a foreign language (EFL) industry, and homestay student accommodation. In recent years, theorisations of ISM and research on mobile student groups in situ has burgeoned, however, often concerned with students engaged in Higher Education, the patterns, processes and dynamics of the EFL industry remain under-researched. Weaving together disparate scholarship and presenting empirical findings on ISM, student geographies, and the geographies of home, the thesis provides an original and timely contribution to geographical knowledges and contemporary policy-relevant issues, including the regulation of international student mobility, studentification, loneliness and child safeguarding.Drawing on a case study of the EFL industry in Brighton and Hove, and employing a mixed-methods approach comprising GIS mapping; a questionnaire survey; and semi-structured interviews with EFL students, host families, ELT professionals and EFL industry stakeholders, the thesis presents some key findings. First, it is argued that capital theory and the concept of geographical imaginations are valuable frameworks for understanding how mobilities are sold and (re)produced within the EFL industry. Second, the findings expose the central role that governments and education agents play in regulating patterns of ISM, including (im)mobilising different social groups. It is contended that the unique structural conditions in which the UK’s EFL industry operates in has created a seasonal industry that requires homestay accommodation as an alternative form of student residence to that traditionally consumed by university students. Through an exploration of the motivations of the host family population, the role of EFL students in enabling financial flexibility, socialisation, and cultural capital accumulation for host families is identified. For EFL students, homestay accommodation offers intensified non-student social relationships and disrupts ‘traditional’ student-identity making processes. Through these analyses, a tension is highlighted between the role of homestay student accommodation as a form of care, and as commercialised service. Overall, whilst research on ISM, studenthood and studentification have provided useful frameworks for examining student identities and local student geographies thus far, it is argued that the conceptual boundaries should be extended to embrace the wider demographic, socio-cultural, and temporal contexts present within the EFL industry.

Clickers are catching growing attention in education. This study, using data collected from a questionnaire, forty content words, and a vocabulary knowledge scale, aims to identify if clickers can enhance EFL (English as a foreign language) vocabulary knowledge and raise students' satisfaction level compared with the traditional multimedia-based instruction. Gender differences were also explored. Data from 115 EFL learners showed that: (1) Clickers-based instruction significantly increased participants' satisfaction level compared with traditional multimedia-based instruction in an EFL class; (2) Clickers-based instruction significantly enhanced participants' vocabulary knowledge compared with traditional multimedia-based instruction in an EFL class; (3) Males were significantly more satisfied with clickers-based instruction than females in an EFL class and there were no significant gender differences in satisfaction levels under multimedia-based instruction; (4) Males obtained significantly more vocabulary knowledge than females under clickers-based instruction, while females obtained significantly more vocabulary knowledge than males under multimedia-based instruction.

This study investigates the effects of digital reading on third-grade English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ motivation, attitude, reading comprehension, and vocabulary acquisition, supported by student and teacher views on digital reading. Reading is crucial for improving a foreign language, allowing learners to obtain information, gain diverse perspectives, and develop critical thinking. With the rise of digital literacy, understanding how children read on screens is essential for their education in today’s digital world. An explanatory sequential mixed-method research design was used, combining quantitative pretest-posttest quasi-experimental results with qualitative data. The study involved 23 third-grade EFL students from a private primary school in Turkey, participating in a six-week digital reading program. Data were collected through pretests and post-tests using the Digital Reading Motivation Scale (DMS), Attitude Toward Reading Scale (ATRS), and reading comprehension and vocabulary tests, supplemented by semi-structured interviews and teacher journals. Results showed significant positive effects of digital reading on students’ motivation, attitude, reading comprehension, and vocabulary acquisition. Both students and teachers found digital reading lessons beneficial for language development.

The aim of our study was to examine the relationship between NL (Native Language: Polish) phonological processing skills (verbal and phonological short-term memory, phoneme segmentation and blending, rapid automatised naming (RAN)) and the accuracy and fluency of NL and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) word and nonword decoding and word recognition skills of Polish students with and without dyslexia. Sixty-three (45%) high school and junior high school students with and 78 (55%) without dyslexia participated. We found that dyslexia, years of studying EFL at school and privately, NL phoneme blending and RAN predicted word reading accuracy in EFL, and dyslexia, years of studying EFL privately, and NL RAN predicted EFL word reading fluency. Dyslexia and NL phoneme blending predicted the accuracy, and NL RAN—the fluency of EFL nonword decoding. These findings confirm that difficulties in FL acquisition result from NL phonological processing deficits, characteristic of dyslexia. Our results also showed relationships between NL phonological processing and EFL reading that were analogical to the ones observed for NL. The pattern of relations between NL phonological processing, NL reading, and EFL reading was similar for reading fluency, but not for reading accuracy in the compared groups. Both NL phonological processing and NL reading facilitated EFL reading, though it was more conspicuous in the control group, which suggests that readers with dyslexia benefit less from their NL reading skills when learning to read in FL.