English Conversation Research Articles

Portraying Students’ Emotions in English Conversation Clubs at a Colombian University

Emotions are ubiquitous and permeate all aspects of human life, including language learning. However, little attention has been paid to emotions in the ELT curriculum, let alone in the design and implementation of conversations clubs. In this article, we share the qualitative results of a mixed-method study on students’ emotions while participating in a conversation club at a public university in Colombia. Findings show an ample range of students’ emotions, factors commonly associated with these emotions such as academic load and personal life, and the connections of emotions with students’ language learning processes. This study identifies how emotions can facilitate or interfere with language learning, highlights the importance of emotions in the development of oral skills in the context of conversation clubs, and contributes to the understanding of the language learner from a holistic perspective in the field of Applied Linguistics.

How the Locals Grew an Accent: The Sounds of Modern Hebrew in Early Twentieth-Century Palestine

Abstract: Early twentieth-century Palestine was a noisy place. Urban streets echoed with the cries of hawkers, the songs of nationalists, and the whistles of trains announcing their arrival. Conversations in Arabic, Turkish, Yiddish, English, Ladino, French, Hebrew, and other languages reverberated in the soundscape. In this article, I explore how Palestine's residents made sense of what they heard, focusing on one type of sound in particular: Hebrew-language accents. Building on the work of sensory historians, and focusing on Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, I investigate the following questions: How did Palestine's residents use accents to mark identity, belonging, and exclusion? What were the stakes of sounding different? And what did it mean to sound "native"?

How the Locals Grew an Accent: The Sounds of Modern Hebrew in Early Twentieth-Century Palestine

Abstract: Early twentieth-century Palestine was a noisy place. Urban streets echoed with the cries of hawkers, the songs of nationalists, and the whistles of trains announcing their arrival. Conversations in Arabic, Turkish, Yiddish, English, Ladino, French, Hebrew, and other languages reverberated in the soundscape. In this article, I explore how Palestine's residents made sense of what they heard, focusing on one type of sound in particular: Hebrew-language accents. Building on the work of sensory historians, and focusing on Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, I investigate the following questions: How did Palestine's residents use accents to mark identity, belonging, and exclusion? What were the stakes of sounding different? And what did it mean to sound "native"?

Corpus-pragmatic perspectives on the contemporary weakening of fuck: The case of teenage British English conversation

This study examines the pragmatic functions of fuck among British English teenagers in casual conversation in two youth language corpora from the 1990s and 2010s. It applies a corpus-pragmatics approach to explore how the ongoing weakening of the taboo strength of fuck in the perception of young speakers is realised in usage data. The major functions observed involve a predominance of idiomatic, emphatic and emotionally expressive functions. Conversely, usage associated with potentially abusive functions, including literal reference to sexual intercourse, is infrequent. Our observations are interpreted in the context of delexicalization and related long-term diachronic processes, whereby contemporary usage of fuck among teenagers is characterised in terms of semi-delexicalized, pragmatically strengthened usage with weakened taboo status. The article also evaluates the interpretation of idiomatic usage from a functional perspective, and contributes to methodological considerations of the use of spoken corpora for pragmatic research.

A Phonemic Analysis Between English And Indonesian In English Conversation

This study compares and contrasts the phonetic systems of English and Indonesian in the "English Conversation" In order to teach students how to pronounce English with Indonesian phonemes, the research aims to compare and contrast the phonemes in the English Conversation. Ten English consonant phonemes and ten Indonesian consonant phonemes are the focus of this study. A qualitative technique is used in the descriptive-contextual research methodology. Based on the types of phonemes, the technique design compares the phonemes in Text Conversation written in English and Indonesian. The "English Conversation ", which are made up of 10 consonant phonemes, were discovered to share commonalities between the English and Indonesian phonemic systems. Ten consonants in the English Conversation represent the distinctions between the English and Indonesian phonetic systems.

The Teaching of English Conversation at Oxford Public School Morarkhera: A Case Study in India

<p><em>This study was intended to describe the phenomenon of the implementation of the teaching of English conversation at Oxford Public School Morarkhera in India. Case study qualitative research was implemented in this study. To gain the data, the subjects of the study were chosen. The subjects in this study were the students of Oxford Public School Morarkhera who took the English Conversation class. They were from first grade to fifth grade. Data collection instruments used are interviews, observation, and documentation. Data analysis was analyzed using the model of Miles et al. consists of four stages, namely the data collection, data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing. The results show a lower percentage of speaking lessons at the school, which can be attributed to the priority given to reading and writing. In the first year, only 50% of the available teaching material is devoted to speaking, as it is considered the second skill to be mastered by students. Nevertheless, speaking skills must not be neglected in the English curriculum. The portion is sufficient as speaking activities will be integrated with other English skills. The teacher primarily uses English rather than Hindi during the teaching-learning process, which can lead to student stress due to a lack of comprehension. It is important for students to participate actively in speaking class activities, as mastering the English language, particularly speaking skills, is crucial for their success. The finding suggests that the communicative approach may require adaptation, and the schools should create an environment that supports and encourages English-speaking mastery among their students.</em></p>

Online teaching strategies for conversational English by university lecturers

Numerous strategies for teaching conversational English online are utilised although some have less value for money due to constraints including poor connectivity, constant ‘load shedding’, and lack of computing device systems. The paper investigated a suitable strategy for teaching conversational English online to English Communication Skills students registered for Module 1141 in the 2022 academic year at the University of Venda, South Africa. A qualitative research approach was adopted as in-depth knowledge and a wide range of speech exchange systems could be obtained. Three lecturers were purposively selected from a pool of seven lecturers to participate in the paper because they were easily approachable and had been teaching the module for over five years. Data were collected using observations and semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Atlas ti version 22 software was used to analyse the data as it locates codes and interprets the findings in primary data material, weighs and evaluates their importance, and visualises the often-complex relationships between them. The pilot study results indicated that the lecturers were not comfortable with using the videoconferencing strategy for teaching conversational English online. But after showing them steps for using the identified strategy, the lecturers revealed extreme indebtedness towards the process. Using the identified strategy for teaching conversational English online is highly recommended.

ARESEARCH INVESTIGATIONINTO THE UTILIZATIONOF THEPQRSTNURSINGCARESTRATEGY AMONGNURSING PRE-PROFESSIONALS

This study implemented the PQRST (Provoking, Quality, Radiation, Severity, Timing) nursing care strategy to assess how effectively junior nursing students incorporated it into their nursing English conversations. Although all students had been taught the PQRST strategy during their first and second years, they tended to overlook its application in their studies. The research involved two groups: a control group and an experimental group comprising a total of one hundred students. The control group was told to utilize the PQRST nursing strategy while preparing their nursing English scripts, but they did not receive a review lesson on the strategy itself. On the other hand, the experimental group received a list of nursing-patient questions categorized into the sections of the PQRST strategy (refer to Appendix I) and were later guided through a review of the nursing strategy by the instructor. The findings indicated that a significant majority of the experimental groups learners were almost familiar with the PQRST mnemonic, with percentages of 62%, 86%, 60%, 88%, and 94% for the respective components. Overall, 90% of the experimental group successfully implemented the PQRST strategy. The study also identified four scenarios in which the experimental students effectively utilized the PQRST strategy: prior to admission, after an operation, during body assessments when patients experienced pain or discomfort during rehabilitation, and when nurses needed to gather patients medical information. In general, the experimental learners appeared to be confident in their understanding and application of the PQRST nursing strategyhowever, periodic reminders were deemed necessary. Conversely, the control group did not utilize the PQRST nursing strategy at all since they neither received information about it nor were they reviewed on the strategy by the instructor.

Self vs. peer assessment activities in EFL-speaking classes: impacts on students’ self-regulated learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills

AbstractAssessment has several advantages like involving students in learning and making them cognizant of their strengths and weaknesses. The effects of peer assessment and self-assessment as two main kinds of assessment have not examined on EFL learners’ self-regulated learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills; therefore, the present research attempted to inspect the impacts of self and peer assessment activities on self-regulated learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills of Iranian EFL learners. To do so, 75 Iranian EFL learners were selected and divided into two experimental groups (peer assessment group (PAG) and self-assessment group (SAG)) and one control group (CG). Then, three questionnaires of self-regulated learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills were administered to the students as the pre-tests of the study. After that, one experimental group received the treatment via using self-assessment and the other experimental group received the instruction through peer assessment. The control group received a teacher-based assessment instruction. After teaching 13 English conversations to all groups, 3 post-tests were given to them to measure the impacts of the treatment on their self-regulated learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. The results of one-way ANOVA showed that there was a substantial difference between the post-tests of the experimental groups and the control group. The results showed that both experimental groups outperformed the control group in the post-tests of self-regulated learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Furthermore, the outcomes revealed that there were no significant differences between the post-tests of the experimental groups. It can be concluded that both types of assessments play a vital role in English language teaching and learning. Based on the results of this study, language teachers, materials developers, and education authorities can concentrate on using self and peer assessments as one of the main strategies to develop the language learning ability of Iranian EFL learners.

The Effects of Language Interference in Learning English Syntax for Spanish Native Speakers: A Case Study on a Mexican Context

Language interference is a relevant topic for second language acquisition because most language learners face this phenomenon when learning a new language. This study followed a social constructivist philosophy, focusing on indictive and qualitative methods. This case study was conducted in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. In this case study, I explored the experiences of two young-adults language learners from the center of Guanajuato, Mexico. These participants have been taking formal English lessons for more than twelve years. However, these learners are still not able to have fluent conversations in English. The instruments used for this research were questionnaires, interviews, and recorded conversations. After conducting a thematic analysis, the result indicates that the main issue these participants are facing is the use of translation as a strategy and the concern the participants have of committing mistakes.

Effectiveness of peer-assisted teaching of medical English skills to non-native English-speaking medical students

Background: Peer-assisted learning has been shown to be constructive in numerous aspects of undergraduate medical education. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of peer-assisted teaching of medical English skills to non-native English-speaking students. Methods: A medical English conversation course was conducted at Damascus University by a group of students. Targeted participants were intermediate level fellow students from the same program. A longitudinal study was carried out between 1st to 31st March 2019 to assess changes in self-assessment of English language skills among course participants. Pre- and post-course appraisal involved a review of previous experience with medical English language, a self-assessment of five English language skills, and an objective measurement of medical English knowledge. In addition, participants were requested to respond to a set of statements related to the importance and the usefulness of peer-assisted teaching of medical English skills. Paired-sample Student t-test was used to compare pre- and post-course appraisal results. Results: 42 students attended the course and completed pre- and post-course appraisals in full. Data analyses showed a statistically significant increase in participants’ confidence in speaking medical English in public (p<0.001) and using English in various medical settings (presenting and discussing cases, writing clinical reports, interviewing patients and reading English medical texts). Objective measurements of medical English knowledge confirmed a significant increase in participants’ knowledge of methods of administration of therapeutics, knowledge of human body parts in English and familiarity with English medical abbreviations. Most participants agreed that peer-education was effective in teaching medical English skills to non-native English-speaking students and in increasing their confidence when using English in real-life medical scenarios. Conclusions:The present study highlights the effectiveness of peer-assisted teaching of medical English skills to non-native English-speaking medical students. Further validation is required and should compare the effectiveness of traditional versus peer-assisted teaching approaches.

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION IN UTILIZING YOUTUBE VIDEO AS LEARNING MEDIA IN TEACHING STRESS PRONOUNCIATION

Stressing is one of the most important pronunciation points in English conversation. Without correct stress, other people might difficult to understand what the speakers’ saying. However, the teachers as well as lecturers as the role model sometimes made inaccurate stressing which made the teaching of pronunciation is overlook. This research aimed to find out the students’ perception in utilizing youtube video as learning media in teaching stress pronunciation. The method of the research was descriptive qualitative. The sample was taken by purposive sampling techniqe. Eighteen students from the first semester of 2022/2023 academic year from a private public college in Pekanbaru were taken as the sample. The instrument used to collect data was questionaire from google form. The data were analyzed by using three data analysis theory. After analyzing the data, it was found that utilizing youtube as learning media for students was entertaining and educational. It also provided clear and accurate stress pronunciation by native speaker. Beside that students got opportunity to practice stressing pronunciation while watching the video, and the video itself can be rewound for many times, Thus, it can be concluded that students had a positive perception in utilizing youtube video as learning media in teaching stress pronunciation.

TEACHERS' AND STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS AND THE VARIABLES THAT IMPACT THE PERCEPTIONS OF USING THE ENGLISH CONVERSATION PRACTICE APPLICATION IN SPEAKING CLASS

The advancement of technology has positive impacts on education. This study aims to identify teachers' and students' perceptions and the variables that impact EFL teachers' and learners' perceptions of using the English Conversation Practice application in speaking class. This study involved thirty-three pupils and three English teachers from SMK Negeri 1 Gianyar, who were chosen using the purposive sampling technique. The data were collected through interviews and observation and analyzed using the interactive data analysis model. The study results show that the students and teachers positively perceive implementing the 'English Conversation Practice' application in speaking class. Besides, the variables that impact EFL teachers' and learners' perceptions of the use of the English Conversation Practice application in speaking class were that the application gave them a new experience in learning to speak, it is simple to use, it does not require a large internet quota, and it allows for the flexibility of learning at any time and in any location. Thus, considering the study's results, it is recommended that EFL teachers use the Conversation Practice application in their speaking class.

Grammaticalization and Lexicalization: A Discourse Analysis of Modality Expressed in English and Romblomanon in Classroom Interaction and Conversation

The Romblomanon language profoundly influenced the learning process of acquiring English as a second language. In this study, the researcher focused on how Romblomanon learners expressed modality in English, which can be defined by grammaticalization (mood, tense, aspect, among others) and lexicalization (modal verbs, modal adverbs, modal adjectives, among others). Romblomanon modality can also be expressed in three universal semantic roles: agent, theme, and location. This study used the qualitative discourse analysis method using the descriptive and contrastive approach to identify English and Romblomanon modals expressed in actual classroom interaction and conversation of Romblomanon students. The recorded conversation and interaction from the two subjects of the students majoring in English enrolled at Romblon State University-Romblon Campus were transcribed and analyzed based on their epistemic and deontic meanings. Results showed that many Romblomanon English learners constructed their statement in Romblomanon and translated itno literally to English statements. It was concluded that the Romblomanon English learners are deeply influenced by their native tongue, resulting in the misuse of modality.

Peer Tutor Method in Improving the Ability to Do English Conversation Assignments in High School Students

The purpose of this research was to examine whether or not high school students may benefit from using a peer tutor to improve their English conversation skills. High school students were the subjects of this study that combined qualitative and quantitative approaches to data gathering and analysis. Significant improvements in students' English conversation abilities throughout the course of the study backed up the researchers' conclusion that the peer tutor technique was helpful in helping high school students learn the language. Student interest and engagement, peer support and cooperation, and personalized feedback and assistance all play a role in the peer tutoring method's success. Discussion of the study's implications for educators and language instructors was included, with a focus on how the peer tutor technique might increase students' interest and motivation in language learning and the need for further study in this area. The abstract wrapped up with a summary of the study's key findings, which centered on the peer tutoring approach's efficacy in improving high school students' proficiency in English conversation. The abstract was well written, providing prospective readers with a short summary of the study's aims, methodology, and findings.

LINGUOCREATIVE POTENTIAL OF CONVERSION IN ENGLISH

The article focuses on the linguocreative potential of conversion in English on the basis of neologisms. Neologisms are newly created words or phrases that are not yet commonly used or recognized by the general public. Neologisms can be introduced into language for a variety of reasons, such as to express new concepts or ideas, to describe new technologies or phenomena, or to provide more precise language for a particular field or community. The linguocreative potential of conversion lies in its ability to create neologisms and expand the vocabulary of a language. By converting a word from one part of speech to another, speakers can express new shades of meaning or add versatility to their language use. In ordert to study the linguo-creative potential of conversion in English, we identified 1080 examples from the dictionaries of neologisms "The Facts on File Dictionary of New Words" (1985), "The Morrow Book of New Words: 8500 Terms Not Yet in Standard Dictionaries" (1982), in which neologisms-conversives of 1950-1970 are presented, and also The Oxford Dictionary of New Words: A popular guide to words in the news (2010) and Webster's New World Dictionary of American English (2016), which cite neologisms-conversives of the beginning of the XXI century. All examples are analyzed taking into account the socio-economic preconditions of their appearance, the peculiarities of the use of neologisms-conversives as a reflection of the linguistic picture of the human world are described, quantitative characteristics of the spread of neologisms-conversives in different time periods are established.

Politeness Strategies of Assertive Acts by Indonesian EFL Learners in Conversation Class

The basis of human communication is the ability to conduct smooth conversations. It is currently highly demanded for people to be able to conduct conversations through politeness. In L2 learning, this has induced linguists and language educators to develop methods for enhancing L2 learners’ ability to communicate appropriately in L2. This paper is part of a descriptive qualitative study investigating the types of politeness EFL learners use during English conversations. It mainly analyzed the politeness strategies used by L2 learners with instructors during EFL activities. The participants were elementary students and the instructor. Observation and recording were the ways to collect the data. The data analysis process was through the politeness theory by Brown and Levinson (1987). This study revealed three politeness strategies; the students frequently used negative and positive politeness strategies. Whereas bald on record strategy was rarely used. The implication of the study was to build the students' good character. In addition, it could be beneficial for applying pragmatic theory to the ELT process in a particular course.

PELATIHAN BAHASA INGGRIS UNTUK PEREMPUAN WIRAUSAHA DI KAMPUNG HERITAGE KAJOETANGAN, KOTA MALANG

City tourism is one of the attractions that can be visited by local and foreign tourists. City tourismhas various types of attractions, one of which is a tourist village. Tourism villages can improve thelocal community's economy and have the competitiveness to become the leading tourism in a city.Kajoetangan Heritage Village, which is located in Malang City, has tourism potential because it hasthe characteristics of a row of houses with Dutch colonial architecture that are still original andwell preserved. In addition, in this tourist village there are also entrepreneurs who are dominatedby women. This business has the potential to boost the economy by selling superior products andservices to tourists. This training aims to improve the English language skills of womenentrepreneurs in offering and selling their products to foreign tourists. As a result, participants areable to demonstrate skills in conducting conversations in English to sell and offer products andservices.
 

국내 유학생 멘토의 영어회화 멘토링 프로그램 참가에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of mentoring participation of international student mentors in a college English conversation mentoring program in Korea. For the study, 5 international students participated in the English conversation camp as mentors, while 20 Korean students participated in the camp as mentees for 2 weeks. The mentoring program for international student mentors has set for both of mentors and mentees to develop the core competencies such as communicative competency, self-development competency and global competency. The effect of mentoring participation of international student mentors was investigated by mentors' daily reports, reflection papers and pre and post surveys. The mentors’ daily reports were summarized by Word Cloud and showed that international student mentors spent most of mentoring time by doing ‘presentation practice’, ‘cultural exchange activity’ and ‘English pronunciation practice’ for mentees. The survey results indicated that both of mentors and mentees showed the high satisfaction on a mentoring program. International student mentors also mentioned their English competence in speaking has been developed by mentoring participation. In addition, the survey on core competency of participants showed the increase of global competence, communicative competence and self-development competence. The further pedagogical implication is discussed in the study.

Improving the English Skills of Elementary School Students in Tourism Areas

English is an international language used by the global community from various countries to communicate with each other by default. However, not all people living in tourism areas, including schoolchildren, have fluent English skills. Even though school children are the next generation, who will later develop tourism potential in the area, this service provides English language training to elementary school students in potential tourism areas in Belitung Regency. The community service method is in the form of pronunciation training and short conversations in English, delivered in English games and songs. As a result, children become more proficient in vocabulary and communicating briefly in English. The results of this study indicate that children can quickly master foreign languages if their learning is in the form of fun games or songs. So that English skills can begin to be applied to children and later will make it easier for them to communicate with foreign tourists who stop at these tourist sites.