English As A Foreign Language University Students Research Articles

Moodle Integration Intervention in EFL Virtual Classroom and Academic Flow on University Students’ Achievement in Writing

Teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) now have more opportunities to use a learning management system (LMS) like Moodle to enhance EFL learners learning. This study aimed to examine the effect of Moodle as a learning management system based on academic flow on EFL learners' writing skills. The quasi-experimental research was designed to assess the impact of Moodle-based on academic flow on EFL learners' writing skills. This study recruited 69 second-year English Education Department as the sample population. They were divided into experimental and control groups. This study used an easy writing test and Study Work-Related Flow Inventory (WOLF-S) as the instruments. The study applied analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to compare both control and experimental groups' findings. The findings revealed that EFL students' writing skills were improved by using Moodle in an EFL virtual classroom rather than using conventional methods. Academic flow becomes a covariate of influence between the independent and dependent variables. These findings consistently favored the experimental groups. Moodle helped EFL university students to improve their writing skills.

PEER AND AUTOMATED WRITING EVALUATION (AWE): INDONESIAN EFL COLLEGE STUDENTS’ PREFERENCE FOR ESSAY EVALUATION

A plethora of studies have investigated the effects of peer evaluation (PE) and automated writing evaluation (AWE) on the writing products and perspectives of English as a foreign language (EFL) students. However, few studies compare students' preferences regarding its utilization to evaluate their essays. This study aimed to determine which method EFL college students prefer for evaluating the quality of their English academic writing. For data collection, a questionnaire was distributed to determine the frequency with which students utilize feedback. Twenty students enrolled in English Education completed the questionnaire. The open-ended interview was then administered to three students in order to gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives on these two modes of evaluation. Frequency count and thematic analysis were utilized to analyze the data. The results indicate that students favor using peer feedback over Grammarly, the AWE software used in this study, for two reasons. First, they view their peers as their real audience, and second, they value their peers' comments more than Grammarly's. However, Grammarly also received positive point as the students enjoys writing with this tool. Therefore, it is believed that the combination of these two s will result in the most essay writing progress.

THE USE OF THE HIGH FREQUENCY VERB MAKE IN OPINION ESSAYS BY VIETNAMESE EFL STUDENTS

Much research has been devoted to how learners use diverse and sophisticated or low frequency words in their English as a foreign language (EFL) written language production. However, the question of how EFL students use high frequency words, especially common verbs such as have, get, make, etc., in EFL writing has remained underexplored, despite the fact that they occur frequently and constitute a large proportion of words in written texts (Nation, 2013). The present study therefore examined how Vietnamese EFL students used the high frequency verb MAKE in their written opinion essays. The freeware AntConc (Anthony, 2020) was used to identify the different forms of the target MAKE and their frequency in 200 opinion essays written by Vietnamese EFL university students in three English writing classes as progress tests. Each concordance line in the AntConc output was subsequently examined to discover patterns of uses of MAKE according to Altenberg and Granger’s (2001) framework. The results show that causative and delexical uses of MAKE were most common and students still committed errors with MAKE. The findings have important pedagogical implications for feedback giving and writing instruction.

Difficulties in Using Articles among EFL University Students: An Experimental Study

Abstract
 Starting to learn English articles ‘a/an, the, and the zero article’ is a major challenge for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. Articles are very common morphemes, and their usage is difficult for EFL learners, and it usually causes even the most advanced non-native speakers of English (NNS) to commit mistakes. Iraqi EFL students have difficulties when using English articles. This may affect negatively their exam scores. The current study conducted in the Department of English, College of Education for Women, University of Baghdad, Iraq. This research highlights Iraqi EFL first-year students’ mistakes and difficulties in using English articles. The study aims to investigate these mistakes and tries to find an appropriate solution for them. To fulfil the aims of this study, the researcher adopted pre and posttests as instruments for collecting data. The data has been analyzed by the statistical program SPSS. This study identifies the difficulties that are encountered when Iraqi EFL students use English articles.

Language, Social Media and Ideologies: Translingual Englishes, Facebook and Authenticities

Language, Social Media and Ideologies: Translingual Englishes, Facebook and Authenticities

Developing college students’ learning strategies to improve oral presentation through negotiation of meaning in telecollaboration

Aiming to investigate how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) college students developed learning strategies to improve oral presentation, this study involved fifty participants in negotiation of meaning (NoM) with peer feedback and assessment through telecollaboration. The participants were randomly assigned to the control (28 students) and telecollaborative (22 students) groups. Data comprised system log files, paper-based records, first and final scripts, evaluation rubric, and a questionnaire. Results showed the telecollaborative group made progress in the final presentation, while the control group showed little improvement. NoM with peer feedback and assessment in telecollaboration facilitates EFL college students to access more idea exchange without time and space limitations, develop learning strategies to resolve learning problems, and make further improvement in oral presentation.

Relationship Between Growth Mindset and English Language Performance Among Chinese EFL University Students: The Mediating Roles of Grit and Foreign Language Enjoyment.

There is no denying that there is ample evidence of numerous factors that influence language learners' success. Recently, there is a critical call to embrace positive psychology that is more open and appreciative of the positive influences in learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Set against this burgeoning area of study in language learning, this paper puts forward the findings of a study that aimed to examine the mediating roles of grit and foreign language enjoyment in the relationship between growth mindset and English language performance. The study employed a correlational research design involving 388 EFL students from one university in China. The data were collected through a questionnaire and an English language performance test. Using the structural equation modeling, this study found that the association between growth mindset and English language performance was partially mediated by grit and foreign language enjoyment. This indicates that students with a growth mindset tend to possess a higher level of grit as well as experience more enjoyment in learning English, which consequently can lead to students becoming more successful language learners. These findings provide significant implications for language teachers, educational material developers, and school administrators in China to embrace the affective domain postulated by positive psychology.

Chinese EFL University Students' Self-Efficacy for Online Self-Regulated Learning: Dynamic Features and Influencing Factors.

Self-efficacy is crucial for successful self-regulated learning, particularly in an online environment, yet research on self-efficacy for online self-regulated learning has received relatively little empirical attention in the language education domain. In this study, we investigated the dynamic features of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students’ self-efficacy for self-regulated learning (SESRL) in the online environment, and explored the influencing factors on SESRL. Multiple sources of data (questionnaires, reflective journals, and semi-structured interviews) over a period of one semester were collected, analysed, and triangulated. Our results demonstrated that most students displayed a relatively constant and high self-efficacy for self-regulated online learning, and that a few students also experienced an increased or decreased SESRL. Thematic analysis further revealed a variety of task-, learner-, course-, and technology-level factors contributing to learners’ self-efficacy beliefs for self-regulated online learning. Our findings thus offer pedagogical implications for self-regulated foreign language learning in an online context.

Online Assessment in the Digital Era: Moroccan EFL University Students’ Experiences, Perceptions and Challenges

After the scientific consensus on the proliferation of COVID-19, a lethal virus, educational institutions worldwide have swiftly migrated to online learning. This upheaval has propelled online evaluation and assessment to be the norm during this period. The principal objective of the study and research is to explore students’ experience with online emergency learning as well as online evaluation. This paper also investigates how Moroccan English as a foreign language (EFL) university learners perceive online assessment in comparison to face-to-face assessment. Data were collected from a sample of 93 Moroccan EFL university students using a self-designed questionnaire. The findings of this research revealed that the students experienced technical issues while submitting their exams. They have also expressed their disappointment with the lack of feedback provided by their professors, not to mention their constant worry about academic honesty. This has led them to lose interest in their studies and possess doubts about reliving this dissatisfactory experience. Therefore, the results implied that participants perceive online assessment as an insignificant factor for performance improvement. This unprecedented experience has had an unadulterated negative impact on students as it has left them both dissatisfied with their experience regarding distance learning and apprehensive about their future educational experiences. It is, then, recommended that the notion of online assessment should be given much attention in higher education in the Moroccan context.

Interactive digital media assignments: effects on EFL learners’ overall and micro-level oral language skills

Owing to the plethora of user-friendly audio/video creation and editing applications as well as free full-featured hosting platforms, videoing and sharing has become a lifestyle of today’s students. Utilizing these spontaneous practices, the current study examined the effects of digital media assignments (DMAs) and accompanying asynchronous interaction on EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners’ oral language skills. For this purpose, a cohort of 124 EFL college students was randomly selected and assigned into three groups: interactive digital media assignments (IDMA, n = 43), non-interactive digital media assignments (NDMA, n = 41), and traditional face-to-face assignments (FTFA, n = 40). The study adopted the mixed-method sequential explanatory design wherein quantitative data collection and analysis (oral language skills pre-posttests) was followed by qualitative data collection and analysis (perceptions survey). Quantitative findings revealed that participants in all groups showed improvements in both overall and micro-level oral language skills (i.e. oral content, fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar). However, IDMA students outperformed both NDMA and FTFA ones. Comparing NDMA and FTFA groups, the former performed better than the latter only in content and vocabulary, whereas it could not in fluency, pronunciation, grammar, or overall oral language skills. Thus, it can be inferred that DMAs alone helped improve only content elaboration and vocabulary. However, when done interactively, they could bolster students’ overall as well as all micro-level oral language skills when compared to face-to-face assignments. Besides, despite describing digital media production as exhausting and time-consuming, IDMA students reported increased self-confidence, technical literacy, and language competence and decreased speaking apprehension.

Impacts of computer-assisted diagnostic assessment on sustainability of L2 learners\u2019 collaborative writing improvement and their engagement modes

Diagnostic assessment (DIA) is under-researched in second/foreign language education despite its common practice across a wide range of professions such as medicine, mechanics, and information technology. This study aimed at exploring the impact of computer-assisted DIA on the sustainable improvement of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) learners’ collaborative writing and engagement modes. To do so, 36 selected EFL university students were paired to collaborate on writing data commentary tasks whose performances were subjected to the teacher’s regular DIA in Google Meet and task-wise student reflective logs over ten weeks. Repeated-measures ANOVA indicated dyads’ significant progress in lower-level writing skills (sentence structure, word choice & grammar, mechanics), but no considerable progress in higher-level writing skills (organization and development). The results of one-way ANOVA showed the DIA impact on individuals’ sustainable writing improvement from the pretest to the immediate and delayed posttests. Students’ reflective logs were analyzed to explore their behavioral, emotional, and cognitive modes of engagement in computer-assisted DIA. Theme frequency analysis indicated the participants’ active behavioral engagement in terms of their notable amount of time per task. They conveyed their emotional engagement in the user-friendliness of Google Meet, real-time social presence, and low anxiety experienced with DIA. Their cognitive engagement was depicted by their major approval of DIA and positive self-assessment of writing improvement. Yet, some participants were critical to the prioritization of language form(s) over the content in teacher DIA practice. This study yielded pedagogical implications for the L2 teachers to blend DIA, task-based academic writing, and student collaboration in e-learning contexts.

Exploring the Potentials of Intralingual Subtitling in Second Language Learning: An Experimental Study with EFL University Students

In the last two decades, Audiovisual Translation (AVT) studies have become of interest for Second Language Acquisition (SLA) researchers, particularly regarding the use of subtitles in language learning activities. This paper will present an experiment aimed at investigating the role of subtitled 'input enhancement' in SLA. The study involved a group of Italian native students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) from Milan University. They were exposed to a video with three different subtitling techniques (interlingual subtitles, intralingual subtitles, and enhanced intralingual subtitles), and they were asked to perform a proficiency test immediately after the exposure to the video. The study showed that visual enhancements in the subtitled input improve learners’ noticing process of language features, thus facilitating short-term vocabulary acquisition. The results proved that future SLA and AVT cross-studies should focus on input enhancement in the subtitles to improve learners’ noticing process of language features in the input.

Learner Autonomy in L2 Writing: The Role of Academic Self-Concept and Academic Achievement

Embracing a learner-based approach in line with a psychological perspective, the present study investigates learner autonomy (LA) in L2 writing with a focus on the role of academic self-concept (ASC) and academic achievement of Iranian English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) university students. The research entailed three interrelated phases: In phase one, the readiness of 69 EFL students in three intact English essay writing classes was measured in terms of certain factors of autonomy in writing. Besides, their ASC was surveyed and the participants were asked to report their overall grade point average (GPA) as an index of their academic achievement. In phase two, a focus group interview was administered. Three emergent themes were derived from their comments, namely, insignificant position of writing, insufficient strategy use, and instructors’ unconvincing support for autonomy in writing. The last phase of the study was assigning the findings of phase one to several regression and correlation analyses to investigate the triangular potential relationships of LA in writing, ASC, and academic achievement. The results of the study indicated that, compared with skills and strategy use, EFL university students were most autonomous in their attitudes towards writing, while they did not show a desirable level of ASC. Moreover, ASC and LA in writing proved to have a relatively significant relationship; nonetheless, academic achievement turned out insignificant in relation to them, proving no triangular correlation among the given variables. Implications for EFL teachers and materials developers focused on writing skill will be provided.

Developing intercultural citizenship competences in higher education by using a literary excerpt in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to develop intercultural and critical citizenship competences by using a literary excerpt among a group of EFL university students in Spain. For this purpose, the focus group method was adopted, and a qualitative study was designed. The core aim was to implicitly work on aspects such as otherness, the rejection of racism and the use of revenge as a response to a perceived unethical action. The findings demonstrate that the approach dealt effectively with all these concepts. The literary excerpt triggered discussions against racism and religious intolerance. Revenge was rejected as a constructive solution to discrimination and the cohort expressed their connection to ‘others’ through a common humanity, which is linked to human rights principles. These values are closely aligned to the theoretical reference points known as Intercultural Citizenship Education (ICE), Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and cosmopolitan citizenship.

The Effect of Data-Driven Learning of Grammar on Georgian EFL University Students’ Grammar Achievement

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Data-Driven Learning of grammar on Georgian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) University students’ grammar achievement. The study used a quasiexperimental research design with a quantitative approach. The sample of the research was 44 Georgian EFL students of Sokhumi State University, divided into experimental and control groups with 22 students in each. The experimental group was instructed English grammar using the Data-Driven Learning method and the control group was taught by conventional, explicit grammar teaching approach. The result of the paired-samples T-test showed that there was a significant difference in the scores for the control group (M=62.13, SD=14.46) and experimental group (M=1.5, SD=0.58) conditions; t=8.3, df=3, significance p=0.003<0.05. Thus, the difference between control and experimental group achievements was statistically valuable, Data-Driven group students achieved significantly higher results than the traditional teaching group students. A questionnaire was applied to evaluate experimental group students’ perceptions of the Data-Driven Learning method. The results showed that students felt positive about the DDL method. Based on students‘ achievements and evaluation of the method, it can be inferred that Data-Driven Grammar Learning is an effective grammar instruction method. It builds a student-centered learning environment with improved classroom interaction, enhanced autonomous learning, and increased student engagement. It offers real-life language exploration possibilities and a skills-oriented grammar teaching process.

The power of reflective journal writing for university students from the EFL perspective

English as a foreign language (EFL) university students use reflective journals as learning logs to express or capture their ideas within a scientific conceptual framework. The objectives of this research are to (1) describe the power of reflective journal writing in communicating ideas, and (2) identify the aspects of reflective journal writing that aid learning in an EFL context. The reflective journals were written by 21 EFL university students. This research takes a qualitative approach, with the primary data coming from several reflective journals (N=124) while the secondary data coming from EFL students’ interviews (N=15). The research results showed that reflective journals were useful for students to make critical reflections and self-discovery responses to writing topics. The students learned to focus on writing components such as order, unity, coherence, cohesiveness, content, and organization of ideas through reflective journal writing. The students’ perspectives on aspects of reflective journal writing were primarily concerned with macro-and micro-level linguistic issues, as evidenced from the interview results. Writing a reflective journal necessitated their ability to reformulate thoughts, provide details, and solve problems. Furthermore, critical thinking, metacognitive skills, and self-reflections became increasingly important in helping the students to develop their ability to write reflective journals.

EFL university teachers’ perspectives in written corrective feedback and their actual applications

<p>This study aimed to investigate the English as a foreign language (EFL) university teachers’ perspective and their actual applications in providing written corrective feedback to the writing errors made by the EFL university students and their correlation. The study was based on 80 responses of a Google-Form survey distributed to EFL university teachers with various teaching experiences from the most parts of Indonesia. Correlational design was used in this research. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation tests were used to analyze data. The results indicated that the majority of teachers had perspectives that it is valuable to provide and vary the strategies of written corrective feedback. In addition, the teachers mostly applied both direct and indirect feedback in various strategies and they only sometimes provided corrections in all aspects of errors and reformulation. It was also found out that the Indonesian EFL university teachers’ perspectives in the written corrective on students’ writing errors highly correlated with their actual applications. The results of the study provide both theoretical and pedagogical implications. Theoretically, it enriches the body knowledge of feedback and EFL writing. Pedagogically, EFL teachers are also suggested to improve their knowledge on various feedback techniques and apply it in their classroom teaching and learning process.</p><p> </p>

EFL COLLEGE STUDENTS' SPEAKING CONSTRAINS IN RESEARCH PROPOSAL SEMINAR PRESENTATION

This study is aimed to find out English as a Foreign Language (EFL) college students’ speaking constrains in research proposal seminar presentation. The design of the research was a qualitative descriptive. The subjects of this research were 29 students of English Study Program of Muhammadiyah of Bengkulu who presented their proposal on April 2020 – June 2020. The researcher used observation checklist as the instrument of this research. The checklist was designed based on Gan (2012). The questions were divided into five aspects; limited number of vocabulary, hard to apply grammar rules, and not perfect pronunciation and Intonation. The findings revealed that speaking constrains encountered by the students of English Education Study Program of Muhammadiyah University of Bengkulu in proposal seminar presentation were limited number of vocabulary, hard to apply grammar rules, not perfect pronunciation and intonation. It is suggested that students take a lot of practices and make a good preparation. Structure your talk by the same order that you have structured your research proposal. Moreover, you can also attend English offline academic seminar and watch English seminar on You Tube more frequently.Key Words: EFL college students, speaking constrains, proposal seminar.

The predictive power of vocabulary, syntax and metacognitive strategies for L2 reading comprehension

This article reports on an empirical study that investigated the relative predictive powers of metacognitive awareness of reading strategies, L2 lexical knowledge (depth and breadth combined), and syntactic knowledge for reading comprehension performance in English as a foreign language (EFL) context across two language proficiency levels in Iran. Participants comprised 177 Iranian EFL university students (82 males, 95 females; mean age = 19.17 years; SD = 1.829). The results produced from multiple regression analysis revealed that vocabulary, syntax, and metacognitive strategies can collectively predict 0.88 of changes in reading comprehension. More specifically, vocabulary, syntax, and metacognitive strategies each can predict 0.54 (t = 5.56, p = 0.001), 0.33 (t = 2.66, p = 0.008) and 0.15 (t = 1.96, p = 0.05) of variance in reading comprehension respectively. However, as for the moderation effect of language proficiency on the predictive power of the three variables for reading comprehension, it turned out that it moderated the predictive power of vocabulary knowledge for reading comprehension performance in a significant way. Results are discussed considering the relevant literature.

The use of YouTube in developing the speaking skills of Jordanian EFL university students

This study examines the effectiveness of using YouTube videos in teaching the speaking skills among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in Jordan. The study sample comprised 80 students attending Oral Skills classes in the English Language and Literature Department at a private university in Jordan. The participants were equally divided into a control group and an experimental group of 40 students each. The experimental group was taught through the use of YouTube videos, while the control group was taught the speaking skills using the traditional approach. A pre-test and a post-test were administered to the two groups. Four TEFL experts were asked to rate the participants’ performance using the IELTS speaking band descriptors, which consist of four main categories: fluency & coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range & accuracy, and pronunciation. The findings showed that the performance of the two groups was improved. However, compared to the traditional group, the experimental group demonstrated a relatively better improvement. The results also showed significant progress in the speaking performance of the students subjected to the YouTube experiment. Of all the four constructs under investigation, pronunciation and fluency & coherence were the most noticeably advanced in the performance of the YouTube experimental group. The present study recommends that YouTube videos be embedded into the EFL classroom to improve students' speaking skills.