Challenges Of Language Learning Research Articles

The Significances of Recursion in Early Language Learning: The Study of Psycholinguistics

This study is to finding out the significances of recursion in early language learning. This study is a qualitative research by using descriptive case study approach. This study describes in details the significances of recursion in early on language acquisition. The participants of this study are 44 participants. Observation and interview are conducted to get the data of the significance of recursion in early language development. Furthermore, the elements of the inquiry examine how recursion affects their capacity to offer feedback. The results show that recursion is important for overcoming stimulus poverty in a second language and producing sentences. According to 16 (36%) of the participants, the recursion notion can address the lack of stimuli in language acquisition. Whereas 28 (64%) of participants claim they can produce sentences because their lecturers apply recursion ideas. It is used to drill and reinforce the supplied input. Students can use their existing knowledge to address language learning challenges since teachers have repeatedly offered a procedure.

MIDDLE-AGED LEARNERS IN LOCAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE ON THEIR BID FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING: A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY

This qualitative multiple case study aimed to unveil the lived experiences, and coping strategies of five middle-aged learners from local colleges in Davao del Norte: single-male, married working-male, single-parent female, married working-female, and married full-time student female, which were chosen through maximum variation sampling. Their experiences and coping strategies were examined using in-depth Interviews. Data triangulation was done by interviewing each case’s family members, colleagues, and friends. Thematic analysis resulted six emergent themes on the experiences: linguistic barriers in communication, strong resolve towards linguistic resilience and growth, aspiration for personal and professional growth, varied ESL engagements, multifaceted support network, and learning challenges. The emergent themes for coping mechanism included reliance on reputable sources, self-directed learning strategies, social support system, optimal use of technology, English language immersion, and stress management technique. The five cases were generally similar in their experiences and challenges, but three cases manifested variation in linguistic barriers, and two for strong resolves towards linguistic resilience and growth. As for coping strategies, five cases adopted varied approaches in time management and prioritization, and three cases differ on self-directed strategies. All cases shared the same coping schemes from the rest of the strategies in dealing language learning challenges. KEYWORDS: middle-aged learners, English language, local college, multiple case study, Philippines

Students’ Awareness in Coping with Pronunciation Problems: A Study Among the Second Semester Students of English Department FKIP at University of Mataram

Students’ awareness is one of the challenges in language learning, one of which is aware of strategies used and the problems in pronunciation to be able to correctly produce and pronounce the sounds in the target language. This study aims at analysing how concerned students are with pronunciation problems of English, the problems in English pronunciation, and the strategies used by students in coping with pronunciation problems. Mixed method, both quantitative and qualitative method is applied in this study. There are 20 students of English department in University of Mataram taken as sample in this study. The data reveals that, with the detail 11 items, most of the students are concerned, and 4 more items are the things that they are not concerned about. Meanwhile for the pronunciation problems, dental fricatives were the most common errors made by the students and followed by vowel sound and alveolar fricative as the second most error sounds, also pronunciation type of alveolar plosive, postalveolar fricative, retroflex plosive, affricative, and labiodental fricative were the least mispronounced. Thus students were also interviewed for pronunciation strategies, the result shows that most students used more than one strategies. This resulst is expected to give the students further information about new alternatives of strategies in coping with pronunciation problems to improve English speaking skill and enhance the theories and methods in the teaching of pronunciation.

Exploring ChatGPT in Language Teaching for Higher Education in China

Nowadays, the application of ChatGPT is of great importance for the improvement and convenience of students learning. Nevertheless, ChatGPT has raised significant concerns about language learning in higher education, which challenges teachers. ChatGPT features high productivity and is a model that serves students to learn conversationally. They can search for information, ask follow-up questions, and even test the premise through utterances. However, with the integration of artificial intelligence and language learning, the challenges of language learning are becoming more serious; particularly in the homogenization of education, there are many views on the limitations and weaknesses of AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools that affect student learning. Despite this well-known study, there isnt much scholarly research on ChatGPTs detrimental effects on teaching and learning languages. Therefore, this paper will contribute to providing the relevance between ChatGPT and language teaching that are interdependent in higher education for Chinese universities through case analysis. The present study utilizes a questionnaire to collect Chinese college students English learning data to explore whether ChatGPT is helpful and valuable in language learning. The main findings of this research are:1) ChatGPT can help students in their language learning. 2) ChatGPT can play a role as a tutorTherefore, this paper will contribute to providing the relevance between ChatGPT and language teaching that are interdependent in higher education for Chinese universities.

Reduced Implicit but not Explicit Knowledge of Cross-Situational Statistical Learning in Developmental Dyslexia.

Although statistical learning (SL) has been studied extensively in developmental dyslexia (DD), less attention has been paid to other fundamental challenges in language acquisition, such as cross-situational word learning. Such investigation is important for determining whether and how SL processes are affected in DD at the word level. In this study, typically developed (TD) adults and young adults with DD were exposed to a set of trials that contained multiple spoken words and multiple pictures of individual objects, with no information about word-referent correspondences provided within a trial. Nonetheless, cross-trial statistical relations could be exploited to learn word-referent mappings. The degree of within-trial reference uncertainty and the novelty of to-be-learned objects (novel or familiar) were varied under different learning conditions. The results show that across all conditions, young adults with DD were significantly impaired in their ability to exploit cross-trial regularities in co-occurring visual-auditory streams to discover word-referent mappings. Observed impairments were most pronounced when within-trial reference uncertainty was the highest. Subjective measures of knowledge awareness revealed greater development of implicit but not explicit knowledge in the TD group than in the DD group. Together, these findings suggest that the SL deficit in DD affects fundamental language learning challenges at the word level and points to greater reliance on explicit processes due to impaired implicit associative learning among individuals with DD. Such a deficit is likely to influence spoken language acquisition, and in turn affect literacy skills, in people with DD.

Supporting learners with special educational needs and disabilities in the foreign languages classroom

AbstractDue to misconceptions about the challenges of language learning, foreign languages classrooms have not always been accessible spaces for all learners. This article seeks to address the needs of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in the foreign languages classroom and challenge the notion that this group of students cannot or should not learn languages. Current research tends to focus on specific learning difficulties in language learning, but little research considers the language learning experiences of children with SEND more broadly. Accordingly, this article delineates the advantages of language learning for learners with SEND, drawing on emerging research that shows that second language acquisition is not only possible but positive for many learners with additional needs. It then considers some of the specific challenges that SEND learners may face in the foreign languages classroom before outlining key strategies to facilitate inclusion among this diverse group of learners. Key points Learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) should not routinely be removed from the foreign languages classroom, but instead should be provided with opportunities to thrive within it. This article discusses the unique importance of foreign language learning for learners with SEND. Research evidence suggests that learning new languages is, on the whole, possible—and perhaps hugely beneficial—for children with developmental differences and learning difficulties, but will depend on the circumstances and profile of the individual child. The article explores some specific challenges that students with different additional needs might encounter in their foreign languages education, based on the four areas of need outlined in the SEND Code of Practice: communication and interaction; cognition and learning; social, emotional and mental health difficulties; and sensory or physical needs. To conclude, the article presents a range of key strategies that foreign languages teachers might implement in the classroom to support learners with different special educational needs and disabilities.

Learning Strategies in English for Academic Purposes Programs:

Learning strategies cannot be separated from language learning programs. This study aimed to reveal language learning strategies (LLSs) used by Indonesian students enrolled in an international management and accounting program (ICMAP) class. It is a case study of ICMAP 23 learners and five EAP lecturers with extensive EAP backgrounds. Data were gathered through questionnaires and interviews. The findings showed that the participants had various LLSs, and several strategies varied according to individual learning styles and learning needs. All the ICMAP students in this study, except for student six, had more than one strategy, but every learner in the sample chose strategies that could be different from other students. They tend to use direct and indirect strategies in their learning, with compensation strategies being the most commonly used. In addition, they employed cognitive, metacognitive, social, and memory strategies, respectively. The significance of employing diverse learning strategies was strongly emphasized by lecturers who were interviewed and recommended many strategies to address language learning challenges. The findings inspire researchers in the SLA field, particularly regarding second language learners’ strategies.

Language policy in the crossfire in Ireland: can Languages Connect deliver in the Republic of Ireland?

ABSTRACT The launch of Ireland’s first official language education policy Languages Connect, Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017–2026 (DES 2017) envisages wide-reaching changes for foreign language learning and teaching, both at primary and secondary sector. This study asks if the policy is equipped to address Ireland’s main challenges in language learning, and to what extent the policy’s aims have been achieved to date. For a critical analysis of documents, both Languages Connect and currently used foreign languages curricula were subjected to Critical Discourse Analysis, and for measures of policy success, latest official statistics on learning uptake were consulted. While the policy documents show some internal consistency and overlap between them in justifying and contextualising language learning for the needs of an outward-facing modern Ireland, they also fail to give coherent answers to key challenges for the Irish context, notably the relation between foreign languages and the Irish language. Comparing aims of Languages Connect with de facto uptake figures validates the limited success of the policy to date. The article concludes that a successful overhaul of foreign language learning in Ireland needs to better align rationales for multilingual competencies with European language policy, and to integrate Irish into these competencies.

Improving Vocabulary Mastery of Junior High School Students by Watching Digital Storytelling

Learning vocabulary becomes one of the challenges in language learning. Choosing the right media will help the student to gain new words. Utilizing stories uploaded into digital applications in learning vocabulary can be helpful. This study aims to seek whether Voicethread as the media delivering story improves vocabulary mastery of junior high school students and to find students’ perception of digital storytelling to improve vocabulary mastery. This research is experimental research using quantitative descriptive methods. There are pre-test and post-test to seek the increasing number of new vocabulary. Also, there is a questionnaire to find the students’ perception of using Voicethread in vocabulary learning. The result of the study reveals that students’ vocabulary increased. The students give positive responses to the use of digital storytelling and recommend using digital storytelling in vocabulary learning. The result also indicates that digital storytelling influences motivation to study independently.

Morphological Deviations in Arabic Loanwords in Turkish and Their Role in Semantic Ambiguity

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the phenomena of morphological deviations appear in a subset of Arabic loanwords in Turkish..
 Methods: Methods: The study utilized a comparative analysis approach, which focuses on studying the similarities and differences between two languages from different linguistic families.
 Results: The study found that certain Arabic loanwords in Turkish are not utilized in their original morphological form from Arabic. Turkish deviates from the original morphological structure, resulting in a different form. The study also discovered that these morphological deviations manifest in a few specific forms, and in most cases, they lead to semantic ambiguity. This ambiguity arises as the deviated forms become false cognates with their Arabic equivalents, presenting challenges in language learning and usage.
 Conclusions: The study identified two categories of morphological deviations based on the resulting semantic gap. The first category involves deviations that cause partial semantic confusion, where the deviated and original forms belong to the same semantic domain. The second category encompasses morphological deviations that lead to severe or complete semantic confusion, as the deviated form falls within a different semantic domain compared to the original form.

Collaboration Between Parents and Teachers in Overcoming Arabic Language Learning Difficulties Among Children at Min Paya Seunara Sabang

The mastery of the Arabic language is essential for Indonesia's individuals to meet global challenges. While formal Arabic language programs in Madrasah serve as a primary means for Indonesian children, students at MIN Paya Seunara, Sabang City, face difficulties in learning Arabic. This research explores the collaborative strategies employed by parents and teachers to address these challenges. The study aims to understand the approaches used by parents and teachers in overcoming Arabic language learning difficulties among students. It investigates whether parents and teachers provide attention, guidance, and necessary resources to alleviate and prevent learning obstacles, especially in Arabic language studies. The research, utilizing a descriptive methodology involving literature review and field research, includes 50 students, 1 principal, 1 Arabic language teacher, and 40 parents at MIN Paya Seunara. Findings suggest that positive collaboration between parents and teachers significantly influences students' academic progress. Efforts such as providing support, sufficient learning resources, and guidance play a crucial role. The study concludes that effective collaboration between parents and teachers is instrumental in addressing Arabic language learning challenges. Recommendations include increasing the number of teachers and fostering closer collaboration between school staff and parents for an enhanced educational process.

Evaluating English Language Learning Challenges among Graduating Nursing Students: A Comprehensive Analysis

This study aims to evaluate the learning complications encountered by nursing students in the English language at the undergraduate level. The study's sample comprised eight principals, eight English lecturers, and 200 students randomly selected from various nursing schools in Karachi. A descriptive and survey approach is adopted, which was subsequently analyzed using SPSS v-20. The findings revealed that 68% of the participants acknowledged that nursing students faced learning difficulties in the English language, while 32% of the participants expressed otherwise. Moreover, 66% of the participants confirmed that English teachers know to provide English language content, while 26% of the participants expressed scepticism, 47% of the participants using ICT-based teaching, and 35% of the participants held contrasting views. The study also revealed that most nursing teachers encountered challenges teaching the English language. The study recommends appointing competent and trained teachers for effective ICT-based teaching.

Challenges in online learning of English as a foreign language during the COVID-19 pandemic: Students’ perspective at Ajman University, UAE

The purpose of this paper was to explore the challenges of online learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) during the spread of COVID-19 from the students' perspective at Ajman University, UAE. The study used the descriptive approach. A questionnaire consisting of 26-items was distributed to a random sample of (282) students from different colleges who were studying online English Language courses during the pandemic. SPSS software was used to analyze the collected data. The results of the study indicated that the perspective of Ajman University students regarding the challenges of online learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) during the COVID-19 pandemic came at a high level, with an overall arithmetic mean of 3.54 and a standard deviation of 0.84. Students' responses varied by gender (in favor of female students) and by academic year (in favor of first year students). Additionally, the student academic evaluation (SAE) variable did not show statistical significance. The findings show that a deeper understanding of instructors' perspectives and experiences regarding the challenges of online English language learning is required. Likewise, developing EFL skills also requires a blended learning approach. The study recommended more understanding of instructors' perspectives and experiences concerning online English language learning challenges.

Caregiver object labels within supported and coordinated joint engagement during interaction with toddlers at elevated and typical likelihood of autism.

Early in development, caregivers' object labelling contributes to children's word learning. Language development is a bi-directional process, and differences in joint engagement (JE) and language among children with developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may provide caregivers varying contexts and opportunities to provide object labels. However, potential variation in caregivers' production of object labels and its relation to language development remain relatively unexplored among toddlers with ASD. This study characterized the structural and functional features of object labels produced by parents of children with typical (TL) or elevated likelihood (EL) of ASD during naturalistic toy play. We examined features of object labels within two JE contexts, supported and coordinated JE, which are differentiated by a child's use of eye contact, as well as their relations with concurrent and future child language skills. The present study included 55 (TL = 12, EL = 43) children who completed a naturalistic parent-child interaction in the home at 18 months of age. Children's expressive and receptive language was assessed at 18, 24 and 36 months. At 36 months, EL children were assessed for ASD and classified as either EL-No Diagnosis, EL-Language Delay or EL-ASD. Videos of interactions were divided into discrete engagement states, including supported and coordinated JE. All parent speech was transcribed and coded to capture structural (types, tokens, mean length of utterance (MLU), sentence position) and functional (follow-in comments, directives, lead-in labels) features of object labels as well as parent prompts for the child to produce a label. Parents of toddlers across outcome groups labelled objects at similar rates within each engagement state. However, parents of EL-ASD children provided the lowest rates of prompts for labels in supported JE and the highest rate of labels as the final word of an utterance (sentence-final position) in coordinated JE. Additionally, parent prompts in supported JE were related to concurrent child expressive language. Labels in sentence-final position were positively related to later language outcome when delivered in supported JE but were associated with poorer language outcomes when delivered in coordinated JE. Subtle differences in parent object labels across outcome groups demonstrate the role that child language and social engagement can play in influencing parent input and the cascading impact of this input on language development. What is already known on this subject Variations in caregiver object labelling can impact child language development. However, child characteristics such as language ability also actively shape the input caregivers provide, demonstrating the bi-directionality of language development. What this paper adds to existing knowledge The present study demonstrates that characteristics of the engagement context in which a label is delivered may be important for understanding how object labelling relates to child language acquisition and whether this relation varies for children who face challenges in language learning. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? As child differences in social engagement emerge, parents may be more attuned to moments their children are engaging with eye contact. Caregiver-mediated interventions might consider strategies that guide caregivers in recognizing engagement without eye contact as a similarly meaningful opportunity for learning and encourage the use of rich input within these moments.

Critical Reading of Tunjuk Ajar Melayu Texts Regarding Humanist Literacy as Conservation Teaching Materials Language Learning in the Millennial Era

This study aims to describe the characteristics of teaching materials for critical reading of Tunjuk Ajar Melayu texts that link the humanist literacy desired by lecturers and students in Riau Province, Indonesia. This research is a qualitative approach with a descriptive method. The research data are in the form of questionnaires and interviews from research respondents. The respondents of this study involved lecturers and students in Riau Province. Data validation is done by triangulation of sources and methods. Furthermore, data analysis was carried out reflectively with the help of TagCrowd and AntCont. Based on the study that has been carried out, it is found that the characteristics of critical reading teaching materials desired by students and lecturers in Riau Province include, (1) teaching materials must be oriented towards humanist literacy activities, (2) use the Tunjuk Ajar Melayu text, (3) be oriented towards an attitude approach. and behavior (psychodidactic), (4) has material that is in accordance with the characteristics of Malay culture, (5) has language that is in line with the context of Malay language and culture, and (6) presentation uses Malay icons which are arranged in detail and systematically. The implications of the results of this study can be to construct and conserve critical reading learning and critical reading teaching materials for the Tunjuk Ajar Melayu text to create student understanding in understanding and integrating humanist values in everyday life. Humanist awareness is important to be formed in facing the challenges of language learning in the millennial era.

Teaching presence predicts cognitive presence in blended learning during COVID-19: The chain mediating role of social presence and sense of community

With the continuous lockdown and staying home strategies of COVID-19, both instructors and learners have met with the presence challenges in language learning. To address the complex and dynamic relationships of different presences in blended learning during COVID-19, based on the Community of Inquiry framework, 215 Chinese English learners were obtained as samples for an empirical test. SPSS 23 and PROCESS for SPSS were utilized to examine the hypotheses. Results indicate that teaching presence (TP) has a significant direct positive impact on social presence (SP), sense of community (SoC), and cognitive presence (CP). SP has a significant positive impact on CP and partially mediates the relationship between TP and CP. SoC is also found to impact CP and partially mediates the relationship between TP and CP. The findings also validate the chain mediating role of SP and SoC between TP and CP. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

Online Education and English Language Learning Among Tribal Students of Kerala

Kerala, a South Indian state, has tribal population in all her districts. About 1.5% of the total population of the state constitute tribal population. They depend upon natural environment and resources for their survival. Children from the same community usually depend on government funded schools for their education. Education for this deprived section during the COVID-19 pandemic was a massive exclusion and an uphill task. Digital divide and medium of communication (Standard Malayalam) were some of the critical concerns to knowledge acquisition among tribal children. This paper primarily focuses on the challenges of online education among tribal students with a clear emphasis on the English language acquisition. This study was conducted in four most tribal populated districts of the State, namely, Wayanad, Malappuram, Palakkad, and Idukki. This is a qualitative explorative study that explores the experiences of the tribal students’ English language learning challenges from the teachers’ perspective in these districts.

Challenges of migrant students in Turkish higher education

ABSTRACT Migrant students, including refugees and international students who begin or continue their education in Turkey, encounter several challenges. This study aimed to identify the challenges that migrant students face in the Turkish higher education system. The sample of the study consisted of 75 migrant students from six universities in Turkey in the 2019–2020 academic year. Demographic information of the students was gathered utilizing a survey that yielded information on students’ gender, age, nationality, length of stay in Turkey, intention to stay in Turkey, ownership of Turkish citizenship, the reason for migration, and future plans. Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Analyses of the data revealed school-related challenges, such as courses and contents, communication, culture, discrimination, exams, homework, physical conditions, registration, and rules. Besides the school-related ones, there were language learning challenges stemming from the Turkish language and English language learning processes.

The Auditory Processing Domains Questionnaire (APDQ): Brazilian–Portuguese version

ObjectiveThe present study aimed to determine the fidelity, reliability, and internal validity of the APDQ when translated from English to Brazilian–Portuguese language. MethodsThe first phase included the APDQ translation into Brazilian–Portuguese including forward translation, translation assessment and back-translation in a group of 10 students. The second phase involved establishing the internal consistency and reliability of the APDQ Brazilian–Portuguese version. Data was collected from 66 students without any risk factor for auditory processing disorder. Subjects were divided into a younger group (7–10 yrs) and an older group (11–17 yrs). ResultsAll items showed appropriate quality in terms of translation. In determining internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha in subscales of auditory processing, attention and language was found to be 0.93, 0.85 and 0.74, respectively. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient for total score was 0.95, ensuring a strong test-retest reliability. ConclusionThe Brazilian–Portuguese version of the APDQ has favorable translation quality, internal validity and reliability. It is now ready for continued study as a differential screening tool for 7- to 17-year-old Brazilian children with listening difficulties who are at risk for auditory processing disorder, attention deficits and language learning challenges.

Smartphone English Language Learning Challenges: A Systematic Literature Review

Innovations and advancements in modern technologies have induced changes in every sphere of human activity, including education. Smartphones represent modern, state-of-the-art gadgets which aim at fostering the teaching and learning process of EFL (English as a foreign language) learners. Students may experience and enjoy considerable benefits of these smart devices such as ubiquity, portability, around the clock availability, or numerous technological features. Despite offering overwhelming advantages to language learners, both students and teachers need to take into account challenges they often meet and face. Being in its infancy, this phenomenon appears to be underexplored since majority of studies focus on benefits of mobile learning rather than on challenges. Concentrating on pitfalls, this review article attempts to examine original, peer-reviewed research articles written on smartphone English language learning challenges by reviewing pertinent articles in the two acknowledged databases, Scopus and Web of Science. The research results reveal that the reviewed studies contain identified drawbacks to varying degrees, while approximately one third of articles did not present any challenges. The detected pitfalls, such as smaller dimensions of smartphones, Internet connectivity issues, readiness level of both practitioners and learners, or unbalanced development of the four language skills (listening, reading, writing, speaking), are further addressed and discussed, followed by suggesting the possible solutions to these issues. Finally, it is emphasized that further research needs to be conducted in this regard to shed more light on challenges that both students and practitioners need to tackle.