English Conversation Research Articles

The Constructivist Approach in English Language Teaching: A Psychological Review

By allowing students to interact with one another and draw from past experiences, constructivism is a novel approach that creates space for student-centric learning exposure and helps them to develop their language competence. Instead of being teacher-centered, it is student-centered, with the teacher acting as a facilitator. Constructivism held that an instructor at the front of the room cannot impart knowledge to students at their desks. As they create knowledge through an active, mental process of development, learners are the creators and builders of meaning. Students' interests, aptitudes both general and specialised, attitudes, success, goals, and drives all play a role. This method fosters motivation, flexibility, adaptability, creativity, and versatility in both the teacher and the students. It encourages students to learn via their own experiences, as well as with the help of others and relevant educational resources. If constructivism is successful in teaching and learning English, students' learning will be more enjoyable due to these distinctive features. It is an arrangement that will reduce students' reluctance and boost their confidence during English conversation because it involves working in mixed ability groups and rewarding the group based on its overall performance. In view of it, the current paper is focused has been done with a view to highlight the psychological review of constructivist approach in English language teaching.

THE PERCEPTIONS BETWEEN JAVANESE AND MADURESE SPEAKERS TOWARDS THEIR DIALECTS IN ENGLISH CONVERSATION

This study seeks to explore and analyze Javanese and Madurese speakers' use of their respective dialects in English conversation. In the framework of ethnically diverse Indonesian schools, certain Javanese and Madurese-speaker pupils may have trouble performing dialogue which is the reason why the researcher conducted this research. The data was online questionnaires then the result of the questionnaires was analyzed by quantitative method. The Javanese and Madurese students from three primary cities of Pasuruan, Lumajang, and Jember in East Java, Indonesia, were used as the focus of this study. At least 200 persons participated as questionnaire participants. The results of the data from online questionnaires show that the score gathered was 2118 for Javanese perception and 2576 for Madurese perception after that, 2118:3500 was 60% (neutral categorized). After the spread out of the questionnaires and measurements, the result shows both Javanese and Madurese respondents did not have a problem with their dialects each other

WAYS OF ADDRESSING, EXPRESSING POLITENESS

This article discusses the time of speaking in English, the advantages and efficacy of communication, and the various contexts in which it can be used. There are suggestions for language room décor and vocabulary to employ in English conversations with partners. We could delve into the benefits of effective communication in English, such as improved relationships, clearer understanding of ideas, successful negotiation, and enhanced career prospects.

An Analysis Of Code Switching Used By Cinta Laura In The Podcast Ruang Sandi

English is an international language used by many people in various countries. The ability to use English well can open up international standard educational and employment opportunities, because all companies need employees with a certain level of English skills to reach top positions. Currently there is a phenomenon of people who like to mix Indonesian and English in everyday conversations. This happens because it is influenced by the environment, society, education and trends. People who usually speak one language and then switch to another language, either at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of their speech, are called Bilingual. This research aims to identify the most common types of code switching used by Cinta Laura when creating YouTube content with Sandiaga Uno in the Ruang Sandi Podcast on YouTube. This research uses observation techniques, especially non-participatory, and data collection is carried out by watching one of the contents of the Ruang Sandi Podcast in collaboration with Cinta Laura and only focusing on what she said. The research results show that there are 2 speech data from Tag Code Switching, 10 speech data from Intrasentential Code Switching and 8 speech data from Intersentential Code Switching. The resulting percentage is 10% Tag Code Exchange data, 50% Intrasentential Code Exchange data and 40% Intersentential Code Exchange data.

Who said what to whom? Memory for sources and destinations in monolinguals and bilinguals.

Two experiments with monolingual and bilingual participants tested memory for sources (speakers) and destinations (listeners) in conversations consisting of self-referential statements. In Experiment 1, participants directly interacted in English conversations with audio-visually recorded confederates. In Experiment 2, participants observed recorded conversations among confederates. In both conversational situations, source memory was more accurate than destination memory, indicating that the attentional resources consumed by self-focus or sentence production/completion do not explain why destinations are less well remembered than sources in direct-interaction conversations. Source and destination memory were positively associated with item memory at the participant level, indicating that stronger item encoding is associated with stronger encoding of contextual information. In the observed conversations, source and destination accuracy were negatively associated at the trial level, indicating that these features of the memory episode are not encoded independently, and there is a tradeoff in the encoding of these contextual features. Item memory did not differ for monolinguals and bilinguals and was positively associated with proficiency only in conversations with direct interaction. In the observational setting (but not the direct-interaction setting), source and destination memory were more accurate for bilinguals than monolinguals. This finding suggests that bilinguals allocate attention more efficiently than monolinguals when the cognitive demands of sentence production are eliminated. Proficiency in English was positively associated with memory for the appropriate conversational partner only when participants had to produce sentence frames and complete them with self-generated information, suggesting that language proficiency is beneficial when cognitive demands are high.

Indonesian University Learners’ Views on Optimizing English Speaking Skills through the Use of OME TV Media

The present study aims to explore the students’ voices in using OME TV media to improve English speaking skills among students and their reasons for using OME TV media in learning English. Following the qualitative case study method, the research data of this study were collected through semi-structured interviews with six students in Indonesian higher education. The findings revealed that most students view the use of OME TV as beneficial for them in shaping their English-speaking skills, enriching insights through English conversation with foreigners, showing self-existence using English, obtaining information about English, looking for relationships, and networking. In addition, the reasons for using OME TV include having entertainment, looking for friends to play games together, and building relationships and communication with friends. This study presents an implication of the need for learners to make use of technology including social media as a platform for learning English.

SECOND-LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND ERROR ANALYSIS

English has a critical role in creating connection between people from all over the world in a variety of industries. That is why many people in developing countries acquire English as a second language and Azerbaijan is one of them. Many people learn English by taking different English language courses. Speaking one of the challenging skills among language abilities. Students tend to make some errors when they speak in a second language. This paper explains what second language acquisition is and how to do error-analysis. Later the paper analyses the most typical English errors by upper-intermediate level Azeri ESL learners in speaking. The main aim the current research is to identify the most typical speaking errors of Azerbaijani university students who are taking General English lessons at a language centre in Baku, Azerbaijan. The main resources of the data consist of recordings of students when having daily conversation in English with teachers and feedback by teachers for their speech. All feedback by teachers is analysed and typical errors are found out by the researcher. In total, twenty-five students and eight teachers attended in the research. Ninety-six recordings were provided with feedback by teachers and ninety-six feedback samples for students were analysed by the researcher. Three research questions are asked and the researcher analysed three types of errors including grammar, lexical and pronunciation, also their specific error patterns. All results including frequency of above-mentioned errors are shown in tables and figures. This part of the study can serve as an example for large-scale studies on analysing typical errors and benefit students and also teaching English programs. Teachers can use these findings as a resource to teach their students and help them to avoid typical errors while speaking. Keywords: second language, error analysis, common mistakes, language acquisition, speaking.

Investigating the Learners’ Communicative Skills in ESL Classes

This article focuses on the communicative skills of learners in ESL classes. English conversation plays a crucial role in understanding each other and dealing with different kinds of uncovered problems. This means that not only do the soldiers that I teach need English for communication abroad, but Czech teachers also need English to communicate with them. It is always valuable to have a chat with them and ask questions to make sure our judgement colleagues are native speakers. At my work, I have an opportunity to encounter people from various parts of the world, and I am very interested in the way they use English as their mother tongue. These co-workers have a greater supporting role in our teaching process and were right. Even if they come from America, England, or Australia, and their accents differ, it is just a question of time for teachers and students to adjust to their speech and distinguish differences in pronunciation. Being able to keep a fluent conversation with a native speaker is viewed as the main goal of my students, which underlines the importance of speaking skills from a student´s point of view. Therefore, in my thesis, I decided to concentrate on communicative activities that might be helpful for English teachers and enhance their students´ communicative skills. My thesis is divided into two parts – theoretical and practical. In the theoretical part, I deal with the difference between speaking and conversation and explain its practical use in everyday life. I also aim to highlight the importance of motivation in teaching practice and the techniques and approaches used to enhance students´ desire to speak a foreign language. While dealing with communicative activities, I focused on distinguishing them either as accuracy or fluency activities and provided definitions of these terms. The role of a teacher is also discussed, and useful ideas are suggested to make the speaking lesson as effective as possible. The practical part consists of a set of pre-taught communicative activities described minutely and their evaluation for other teachers who would like to apply them in their speaking lessons.

Negotiation of Meaning Strategies to Improve English Conversations between EFL University Students and a Native Speaker

Background and Aims: In English conversations, where interlocutors may have differing language backgrounds or proficiency levels, effective communication relies on employing negotiation of meaning strategies to ensure mutual understanding and clarity. The purpose of this study was to examine the negotiation of meaning strategies used by EFL university students in conversation with a native speaker, highlighting their importance in achieving effective communication and linguistic development. Methodology: Qualitative data were collected through recorded conversations in an academic setting, involving 20 EFL university students and a native speaker and were analyzed using conversation analysis. Results: The study identified the top five negotiations of meaning strategies, with clarification requests and confirmation checks being most prevalent, indicating a strong preference for direct engagement in ensuring mutual understanding. Conclusion: The findings emphasized the importance of incorporating targeted negotiation of meaning exercises into EFL curricula to improve students' communicative competence and cross-cultural understanding.

Word frequency and cognitive effort in turns-at-talk: turn structure affects processing load in natural conversation.

Frequency distributions are known to widely affect psycholinguistic processes. The effects of word frequency in turns-at-talk, the nucleus of social action in conversation, have, by contrast, been largely neglected. This study probes into this gap by applying corpus-linguistic methods on the conversational component of the British National Corpus (BNC) and the Freiburg Multimodal Interaction Corpus (FreMIC). The latter includes continuous pupil size measures of participants of the recorded conversations, allowing for a systematic investigation of patterns in the contained speech and language on the one hand and their relation to concurrent processing costs they may incur in speakers and recipients on the other hand. We test a first hypothesis in this vein, analyzing whether word frequency distributions within turns-at-talk are correlated with interlocutors' processing effort during the production and reception of these turns. Turns are found to generally show a regular distribution pattern of word frequency, with highly frequent words in turn-initial positions, mid-range frequency words in turn-medial positions, and low-frequency words in turn-final positions. Speakers' pupil size is found to tend to increase during the course of a turn at talk, reaching a climax toward the turn end. Notably, the observed decrease in word frequency within turns is inversely correlated with the observed increase in pupil size in speakers, but not in recipients, with steeper decreases in word frequency going along with steeper increases in pupil size in speakers. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of speech processing, turn structure, and information packaging. Crucially, we propose that the intensification of processing effort in speakers during a turn at talk is owed to an informational climax, which entails a progression from high-frequency, low-information words through intermediate levels to low-frequency, high-information words. At least in English conversation, interlocutors seem to make use of this pattern as one way to achieve efficiency in conversational interaction, creating a regularly recurring distribution of processing load across speaking turns, which aids smooth turn transitions, content prediction, and effective information transfer.

On the Directionality of Conversion: A New Perspective from Category Mismatch under VP-Ellipsis

In this paper, I address the directionality issue posed by conversion in English through an investigation of category mismatch under VP-ellipsis, a less-studied type of ellipsis mismatch. For example, certain nouns, such as graduateN and sneezeN, allow the ellipsis of the VP headed by their morphologically related verbal counterparts, graduateV and sneezeV, but not vice versa. I argue that this kind of directional asymmetry, which would be mysterious under a purely semantic identity approach to ellipsis, based on truth-conditional equivalence and mutual entailment, is accounted for in terms of the syntactic identity condition to the effect that the structure of an ellipsis site must be properly contained within the structure of its intended antecedent expression. I will then use this syntactic account of category-mismatched VP-ellipsis as a critical probe into the internal syntax of zero-related N-V pairs and show that both N→V and V→N word-based derivations, in addition to the root-based derivation, must be admitted to account for conversion in English. To the extent that my proposed analysis is on the right track, the kind of asymmetries observed in N-V conversion furnishes an excellent testing ground for an abstract syntactic derivation for these morphologically related word pairs.

Project-Based Learning Method to Enhance Students’ Digital Business Competence in English Course

English is a compulsory subject studied in every study program. English is usually learned in the first and second semesters. This research aims to make English learning more enjoyable. This type of research is descriptive analysis. The instrument used is a questionnaire. The students involved in this research were 28 people from the digital business study program. This study found the correct type of project-based learning for students is role-playing by imitating conversations in English from a short video that is rich in moral values played by students and then made into a video. The second finding is that the results of the questionnaire as a research instrument concluded that the task of project learning was beneficial for them in understanding English learning.

Vlogging: An Alternative to Role-play in Improving EFL Learners' Conversation Skills

Technology-enhanced language learning, or TELL, has played a major role in boosting EFL learners’ speaking skills in recent years. The use of online technological methods such as vlogging and uploading videos to popular social networks such as YouTube, in particular, has been recommended as a tool to hone students' conversation skills in addition to providing ubiquitous role-play practice. This study, therefore, aims to examine the effectiveness of multiple-party YouTube vlogging with the effectiveness of role-play when it comes to improving EFL learners’ conversation skills. Seventy-six Thai undergraduates taking an English conversation course were engaged in five role-play and five vlogging lessons before and after the midterm for the purpose of improving their English-speaking skills. The students were additionally assessed by the pre-, post- roleplay and vlogging teaching interviews for their speaking performance. A comparative analysis was conducted on the score sets derived from the three distinct interviews, and the scores obtained from participants' weekly role-play assignments were compared with those from their weekly vlogging. The results showed a significant improvement in the students’ confidence and content expression despite some challenges of the vlogging method. Further research can explore the alternative use of vlogging in other areas of English language skill improvement.

Automated translation accurately translates recorded pediatric neurosurgery clinic conversations between Spanish and English.

The purpose of this study is to analyze an automated voice to text translation device by reporting the translation accuracy for recorded pediatric neurosurgery clinic conversations, classifying errors in translation according to their impact on overall understanding, and comparing the incidence of these errors in English to Spanish vs. Spanish to English conversations. English and Spanish speaking patients at a single academic health system's outpatient pediatric neurosurgery clinic had their conversations recorded. These recordings were played back to a Google Pixel handheld smartphone with Live Translate voice to text translation software. A certified medical interpreter evaluated recordings for incidence of minor errors, errors impacting understanding, and catastrophic errors affecting patient-provider relationship or care. Two proportion t-testing was used to compare these outcomes. 50 patient visits were recorded: 40 English recordings translated to Spanish and 10 Spanish recordings translated to English. The mean transcript length was 4244 ± 992 words. The overall accuracy was 98.2% ± 0.5%. On average, 46 words were missed in translation (1.09% error rate), 31 understanding-altering translation errors (0.73% error rate), and 0 catastrophic errors were made. There was no significant difference in English to Spanish or vice versa. Voice to text translation devices using automatic speech recognition accurately translate recorded clinic conversations between Spanish and English with high accuracy and low incidence of errors impacting medical care or understanding. Further study should investigate additional languages, assess patient preferences and potential concerns with respect to device use, and compare these devices directly to medical interpreters in live clinic settings.

English Competence of Conversational Interaction between Teachers and Students in Classrooms

The main goal of this study is to improve the ability of teachers and students to converse in English in high schools in the province of Dong Nai. The study framework is based on the sociocultural theory of Vygotsky, with additional contributions from Long's interaction theory and Brown's communicative English teaching methodology. The research findings show that the four factors including belonging, expectation, relationship, and motivation have a positive and statistically significant impact on the conversational English-language interactions between teachers and students in this educational context. These findings were obtained through a survey of 148 English teachers in high schools located in Dong Nai and subsequent data analysis using SPSS 20 software. The study's findings led the researchers to suggest a number of workable methods for improving teachers' ability to converse with learners in English. These kinds of initiatives are expected to have a major role in improving the quality of education as a whole, bringing it into compliance with international norms, and encouraging increased competition with industrialized countries in the area. The aforementioned undertaking signifies a deliberate attempt to further progress language learning in Vietnam.

Unlocking success: strategic approaches to enhancing communicative competence in English learning

This article explores the multifaceted nature of communicative competence, discuss its key components, and examine strategies for developing and enhancing this vital skill based on the survey conducted among English language learners. Through a deeper understanding of communicative competence, learners can unlock the full potential of their language abilities and navigate the complexities of our interconnected world with confidence and proficiency. The analysis of an online survey among first-year students provides insights into gender distribution, English proficiency levels, communication skills, and cultural awareness. A significant gender disparity is evident, with females comprising 83% of participants. Regarding English proficiency, the majority perceive themselves as intermediate, with smaller proportions identifying as pre-intermediate, beginner, or advanced. While confidence in overall communication skills is high, specific challenges exist in grammar, speaking, and writing. Limited engagement in English conversations outside formal settings indicates a need for increased practice opportunities. Various strategies are employed to enhance English skills, including media consumption and interaction with native speakers. These findings underscore the importance of tailored support for learners at different proficiency levels, promoting increased engagement in English practice outside the classroom, and integrating cultural sensitivity training to enhance communication skills and intercultural competence.

Evolution from Traditional to Digital Storytelling as an Instructional Approach in English Conversation Courses

In the current Palestinian context, proficiency in English has become a crucial requirement. One of the methods employed to enhance this skill is storytelling. However, given the ever-advancing technology, there is a growing need for storytelling methods that break free from spatial and temporal limitations. As we navigate the digital era, the transformation from conventional to digital storytelling becomes imperative. This research aims to explore how this transition unfolds within the framework of English language courses in Palestine. Additionally, the study seeks to uncover the specific steps taken to create digital storytelling content in English tailored to the Palestinian context. Utilizing the Research and Development approach with the ADDIE model, the findings highlight the effective incorporation of digital storytelling as a learning method in Palestinian English language courses.

Influence of joining English Conversation Club on Students’ Speaking Ability in Rwanda Public Secondary Schools: A Case of Kabutare Secondary School, Huye District

Influence of joining English Conversation Club on Students’ Speaking Ability in Rwanda Public Secondary Schools: A Case of Kabutare Secondary School, Huye District

Comparison of Outcomes Between Robot-Assisted Language Learning System and Human Tutors: Focusing on Speaking Ability

This study explores how much current mainstream Robot-Assisted Language Learning (RALL) systems produce outcomes compared to human tutors instructing a typical English conversation lesson. To this end, an experiment was conducted with 26 participants divided in RALL (14 participants) and human tutor (12 participants) groups. All participants took a pre-test on the first day, followed by 30 min of study per day for 7 days, and 3 post-tests on the last day. The test results indicated that the RALL group considerably improved lexical/grammatical error rates and fluency of speech compared to that for the human tutor group. The other characteristics, such as rhythm, pronunciation, complexity, and task achievement of speech did not indicate any differences between the groups. The results suggested that exercises with the RALL system enabled participants to commit the learned expressions to memory, whereas those with human tutors emphasized on communication with the participants. This study demonstrated the benefits of using RALL systems that can work well in lessons that human tutors find hard to teach.

THE LANGUAGE INTERFERENCE IN ENGLISH CONVERSATION AT PONDOK PESANTREN FADHLUL FADHLAN SEMARANG DUE TO THE ADDITION OF JAVANESE PARTICLES

This research aimed to describe (1) the form and function of Javanese particles in English conversations; and explained the factors behind the occurrence of language interference through the addition of Javanese particles to English conversations by students at the Fadhlul Fadhlan Islamic boarding school in Semarang. This research included field research with a qualitative approach and was presented descriptively. The data for this research was in the form of oral speech from the data source of students at the Fadhlul Fadhlan Islamic Boarding School when they were in the Islamic boarding school environment. The data collection technique method used non-participant observation by observing students' conversations and then taking notes and structured interviews with 27 students. The data analysis technique method used three stages, namely data reduction, data presentation, and concluding. The interference theory by weinrich is to identify the interference phenomena. The results of this research showed that there were two types of Javanese particles added by students in English conversations, namely the single Javanese particles and the combination of Javanese particles. The second result was there were two forms of interference were found, namely grammatical interference and lexical interference. Third, the factors that caused interference through the addition of particles were internal factors in the form of bilingualism, lack of mastery of English grammar and vocabulary, and being carried away by mother tongue habits. Furthermore, external factors were the environment, facilitating communication between students, situations, and conditions