English As A Foreign Language Proficiency Research Articles

Differential effects of EFL proficiency and mode on noun phrase use

This study extends the existing research on phrasal elaboration by investigating the independent and interactive effects of English as a foreign language (EFL) proficiency and mode (speaking and writing) on the overall and individual use of five distinct types of noun phrase modifiers. These modifiers include premodifiers, prepositional phrases, non-finite verb phrases, relative clauses, and nominal clauses. A total of 7676 second-year English majors were instructed to produce both oral and written argumentative essays on the same topic. Robust ANOVAs showed that EFL proficiency exhibited neither a significant main effect nor a significant interaction with mode with regard to the overall use of noun phrase modifiers or the specific use of premodifiers and prepositional phrases. However, a significant effect of mode was detected for different EFL proficiency levels. Mode did not yield a significant effect, whilst EFL proficiency demonstrated a significant impact on the use of non-finite verb phrases. No significant main effects or interactions were observed for EFL proficiency and mode in terms of the use of relative clauses or nominal clauses. These findings suggest the pedagogical need to prioritize the learners’ procedural knowledge of noun phrases, with specific attention to the nuances of EFL speaking versus writing.

Citation and Referencing Practices in Argumentative Essay Writing by Upper-Intermediate EFL Students

One of the critical skills that undergraduate students of English as a Foreign language (EFL) should master involves their ability to write an argumentative essay, which is adequately supported by credible sources, such as scientific articles, books, and online materials. Arguably, a successful argumentative essay reflects EFL students’ genre-appropriate citation practices that, according to Swales (1990), involve several discursive realisations of citation (for instance, integral, non-integral, etc.) in the text. The article presents a study whose aim is to learn about citation and referencing practices in a corpus of argumentative essays written by a group of undergraduate EFL students on the upper-intermediate level of EFL proficiency (henceforth – participants). Anchored in the theoretical framework developed by Swales (1986, 1990), the participants’ citation and referencing practices in the corpus were identified and quantified. The results of the quantitative analysis revealed that the participants preferred the non-integral type of citation, where the author/authors cited are mentioned at the end of the citation in the parentheses. The participants’ referencing practices were found to be dominated by books and book chapters published by a number of reputable domestic publishing houses.

Analysing gender gaps in foreign language proficiency self-assessment in comparison to test performance among Czech students: the role of foreign language teachers and class grades

ABSTRACT Gender gaps in students’ foreign language proficiency self-assessment can negatively impact their educational careers and position in the labour market. We investigated how female and male students self-assess their English as a foreign language (EFL) proficiency in comparison to their EFL test scores. We further examined the potential differential effect of EFL class-related factors – having a teacher from abroad who is perceived as an English L1 teacher (PEL1T) and an excellent grade in EFL class – on females’ and males’ EFL proficiency self-assessment. Data were collected from 1,399 Czech lower secondary students, who were asked to assess their EFL proficiency on a 7-point rating scale ranging from None to Expert. Our results show that when comparing self-assessment of a female and a male with the same test score, the female would, on average, select a lower self-assessment value than the male. Also, having a PEL1T and having an excellent grade in EFL class are significantly positively associated with higher EFL proficiency self-assessment. However, these positive effects are smaller for females compared to males.

Mobile-Assisted Listening Instructions with Jordanian Audio Materials: A Pathway to EFL Proficiency

This research examined the impact of mobile devices and Jordanian audio resources on the listening abilities of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. The research included 100 EFL students from Jadara University in Jordan, with 50 students in the experimental group and 50 students in the control group. Quantitative research and ANOVA testing were used to analyze the data. Both groups were pre- and post-tested on listening comprehension, vocabulary, and proficiency. ANOVA was used to compare the mean scores between the experimental and control groups. The ANOVA test determined the impact of mobile devices and Jordanian audio on participants’ listening abilities. The test compared the mean scores of the experimental and control groups to determine whether the intervention significantly improved listening skills. The ANOVA test showed that mobile devices and Jordanian audio resources improved the listening abilities of EFL learners. The experimental group had a superior understanding of vocabulary and listening skills compared to the control group. These studies show that mobile devices and realistic audio content improve EFL listening training. ANOVA showed that this training strategy improved listening skills. This research contributes to the literature on EFL pedagogy literature and assists EFL teachers and curriculum designers in enhancing their listening skills. Future studies may examine other factors that could impact the effectiveness of mobile devices and audio resources in EFL listening training, including intervention duration and learner proficiency. This research shows that these materials can enhance the listening experiences of EFL student.

Cultural Awareness in Pre-Service Early Childhood Teacher Training: A Catalogue of British Cultural Elements in Peppa Pig

Foreign language teaching should integrate the culture embodied in the target language. However, raising cultural awareness does not systematically produce the intended effects when considered an integral component in the teaching context. This quantitative research study focuses on creating a catalogue featuring elements representative of British culture in the animated television series Peppa Pig as part of pre-service early childhood education teacher training in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). This prompts the examination of the potential of Peppa Pig to not exclusively enhance EFL proficiency but to foster a comprehensive understanding of British culture for non-native speakers. Eleven pre-service teachers at the University of Cádiz, Spain, analysed the 52 episodes of Peppa Pig’s season 1 and classified all elements into 13 categories, according to the Qualitative Text Analysis approach. To minimise differences between evaluators, each element of each episode was only checked if at least three evaluators agreed; therefore, 1050 elements were identified, with 501 elements verified in 48 of the 52 episodes. The resulting catalogue contributes to selecting the most significant Peppa Pig’s season 1 episodes concerning British culture elements. The major limitation of the investigation may be the fatigue experienced by the evaluators.

Pick a Movie

Foreign language learners without an immersion experience are advised to partake in activities that enhance their language learning outside the classroom. The objectives of this study were to explore which forms of language practice English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners engage in outside the classroom and whether this practice increases proficiency. The results showed that the most frequent forms of practice were academic activities (e.g., reading academic textbooks) and recreational activities (e.g., watching movies). In this study, EFL proficiency in participants correlated positively with age. Those with higher proficiency listened to English more frequently by watching movies in their free time than those with lower proficiency. We conclude that exposure to audiovisual material, such as movies, is an effective way to reinforce language learning outside the EFL classroom. Older learners with high English language proficiency reported practicing English more frequently in their free time, so watching movies may constitute an effective means of increasing L2 exposure outside the classroom.

Compulsory versus voluntary extensive reading: Investigating English learners' perceptions, proficiency and school banding

AbstractReading is a core element in language education. Despite extensive research in second/foreign language (L2/FL) reading, relatively little is known about the differences between two common practices: Compulsory reading (i.e. reading assigned by teachers) and voluntary reading (i.e. self‐initiated reading). This article reports two related quantitative studies (n = 124; n = 498) investigating learners' out‐of‐class compulsory and voluntary English‐as‐a‐foreign‐language (EFL) story reading frequencies in Hong Kong. Learners' perceptions, EFL proficiency and school banding were analysed in relation to reading frequencies. It was found that the frequencies of engaging in both kinds of reading were very low. Reading frequencies and favourability towards story reading were found to be mildly to moderately correlated with proficiency. Among these variables, however, only voluntary reading significantly predicted proficiency. Students who were academically more competent showed greater favourability while those in the middle school banding reported a higher frequency of reading. The findings are discussed and implications are drawn.

The relationships between young FL learners’ classroom emotions (anxiety, boredom, & enjoyment), engagement, and FL proficiency

Abstract The last decade has seen a proliferation of studies about emotions in FL teaching and learning. The present study examined three of the most researched and well-known FL emotions to date, namely anxiety, boredom, and enjoyment, and their relationships with learners’ engagement in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classes and their EFL proficiency. One hundred and eleven Grade 3–4 EFL children completed a questionnaire and English tests. Various statistical analyses (correlation, hierarchical multiple regression, and path analysis) revealed that all five variables were significantly inter-correlated. Enjoyment was the strongest predictor of engagement and proficiency, followed by boredom. The path analysis indicated that the hypothetical path of emotions→engagement→proficiency did not exist; rather, only two direct relationships were found in the model: Enjoyment→engagement and enjoyment→proficiency. The findings highlight the crucial role of enjoyment for young learners in FL teaching and learning.

Examining the relations between semantic memory structure and creativity in second language

Creativity is related to a higher flexible semantic memory structure, which could explain greater fluency of ideas. Extensive research has identified a positive connection between creativity and bi-/multilingualism mainly in contexts where two languages or more concur in daily communicative interactions. Yet, creativity has received scant attention in regard to L2 (second or foreign language) acquisition that mainly takes place in classroom situations. The scarce research points to a positive relationship between creativity and L2 fluency – understood as the number of words produced. We apply computational network science analysis and Forward Flow methods to examine lexical organization patterns of a low creativity (LC) and high creativity (HC) group of 12th grade Spanish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. The participants completed two fluency tasks, where they generated animal names in their L2, and also L1 – used here as a control measure. EFL proficiency was controlled. Our analyses revealed that the HC individuals were more fluent in L1 and L2, generated more remote responses, and exhibited a more flexible and efficiently structured semantic memory in both languages, with a greater effect of creativity in L2. Contrary to previous research, the L2 semantic memory network exhibited a less random organization. Differences in the L2 learning conditions are adduced as likely causes of this result.

The Impact of Learning Environment on EFL Students’ Academic Achievement: A study of Socio-Cultural Factors Affecting Academic Achievement

It is worth pointing out that learning a foreign language in a multicultural context is a long and complex undertaking. Several factors influence whether or not English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students can accurately perceive and produce the foreign language. These variables can potentially contribute to the success and, or failure in learning and acquiring a foreign language. Given the Moroccan educational system, the research provided minimal insight into the relationship between those factors and language achievement. The present study’s aim, therefore, was to investigate the environmental factors that affect students’ academic performance. It also aimed to find out how these variables affect students’ academic achievements. To achieve this aim, data have been collected via open-ended questionnaires, and interviews addressed mainly to First Year Students of Master Programs, Department of English, FLDM, USMBA-Fez. The findings have shown that students’ academic achievements were significantly positively/negatively linked with the environmental factors, namely societal, home/family and school/classroom variables. The findings also revealed that the more highly sophisticated the social environment is, the more likely it is to foster EFL students’ academic achievements. In addition, the more similarity exists between the students’ cultures, the more successful the learning is. This study also showed that the development of EFL proficiency is a product of contextual factors influence. As such, the study concludes with several implications that brought up for possible effective change in the future to enhance the learning environment atmosphere, boost students’ academic achievements, and, therefore, achieve better results.

Discourse Markers in Peer Reviews of Academic Essays By Future Teachers of English as a Foreign Language

Abstract This article presents and discusses a quantitative investigation of discourse markers (further – DMs) in the corpus of peer reviews of academic essays in didactics written by a group of future teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). In total, 12 future EFL teachers at an intermediate level of EFL proficiency (henceforth – participants) took part in the study. The participants were instructed to form dyads and write peer reviews of each other’s academic essays on a range of topics in EFL didactics. Two corpora were used in the study, the corpus of the participants’ academic essays in EFL didactics and the corpus of peer reviews thereof. The corpora were analysed using WordSmith (Scott 2008) in order to establish the frequencies of the use of DMs per 1000 words. The results of the quantitative analysis of the corpora indicated that the participants employed a repertoire of stylistically neutral DMs in their peer reviews that was quantitatively similar to that of the academic essays. These findings will be further discussed in the article.

The role of learner creativity in L2 semantic fluency. An exploratory study

Research about individual learner variables in L2 learning has not yet addressed in depth creativity as potentially relevant in the field. This study seeks to examine whether creativity is related to the L2 lexical production of a group of 35 12th grade Spanish EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners. Four EFL semantic fluency tasks are used to obtain the vocabulary activated in the learner's mental lexicon as a response to four semantic categories: beach, box, countryside and fun. Creativity is measured via the PIC-J Test (Artola et al., 2008), based on Torrance (1990) and Guilford (1967), and validated for the assessment of this construct in Spanish secondary education students. While the findings reveal a significant positive relationship between all measures of creativity and EFL semantic fluency in the four categories, EFL proficiency level and semantic fluency only correlate in some categories. The most creative learners retrieved a wider variety of words and produced more uncommon responses, a result which is consistent with recent neural and cognitive research on creativity. These findings are suggestive of the need for considering creativity and its various dimensions in L2 teaching.

Technology and language learning

A considerable number of studies on mobile-assisted language learning have been conducted, but less attention has been paid to online informal learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) performed using smartphones among undergraduate EFL learners in Indonesia. Thus, this study was specifically aimed at investigating EFL learners’ most frequently-performed EFL learning activities through smartphones, the predominant online language use, and the relationship between EFL learners’ predominant online language use and their perceived EFL proficiency. The study adopted a quantitative approach. The findings reveal that the participants still more frequently access content and information from their smartphones for receptive rather than interactive/productive online activities. Indonesian, which is the participants’ first language, is still predominantly used for their online activities. The mean score of the perceived EFL proficiency of those who frequently perform online activities in English is statistically and significantly higher than those performing online activities in Indonesian. Overall, the mean score of the perceived EFL proficiency of those performing online activities in English is higher than those in Indonesian, although the difference is not statistically significant. Finally, the study’s implications with suggestions for future research are discussed.

The impact of teaching quality and learning time on primary EFL learners’receptive proficiency

Abstract This contribution presents the preliminary findings from the TEPS study (Teaching English in Primary Schools). The study is situated in Germany where primary foreign language (FL) education has been compulsory since 2004, with pupils beginning FL education – mostly English as a FL (EFL) – in either year 1 or 3. Generally, this introduction of primary FL education has not been empirically evaluated, in spite of various open research questions: (1) Does the receptive EFL proficiency of learners at the end of primary education in year 4 differ depending on their learning time (duration & age of onset)? (2) Is there a correlation between teaching quality (learners’ perspective) and learners’ receptive EFL proficiency as well as their attitudes towards learning EFL? Prior studies (e.g. Demircioglu, 2010) gave first indications that learners with an earlier start achieve better receptive skills. Yet, findings from these samples cannot be generalized and are altogether inconclusive (e.g. Jaekel, van Ackern, Schurig, & Ritter, 2017). Studies investigating correlations between teaching quality and learner achievements in primary school are mainly based in maths and science education (e.g. TIMSS-2015: see Rieser, Stahns, Walzebug, & Wendt, 2016). Thus, the TEPS study situated in both applied linguistics and educational science is addressing some of these research deficits by (a) testing pupils’ receptive EFL proficiency at the end of primary education in year 4 (n = 269) and (b) surveying teaching quality and learner attitudes towards EFL. The study has been conducted in two federal states with different ages of onset (year 1 vs. year 3). Aside from the theoretical background and context of the study this paper will present the complex research design followed by preliminary findings from the pilot study giving insights into the questions raised above (for the main study see Wilden, Porsch, & Schurig, 2020).

The Relationships Among Affective Factors in Learning EFL: A Study of the Saudi Setting

Adopting a mixed-method design, the current study attempted to specify the relationships among four affective factors (i.e., motivation, attitudes, self-confidence, and anxiety) involved in learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Seventy-three students – from Administration and Humanities College, Mustaqbal University and Jubail University College, KSA – responded to a questionnaire of two parts: Part I and Part II, which yielded quantitative data. Qualitative data were generated through the analysis of Part I results to prove that there was no relationship between Saudi students’ EFL proficiency and their awareness of the affective factors involved in learning it. Findings of Part II confirmed the interrelatedness among the four affective factors in the learning process in general, except for self-confidence did not significantly correlate with anxiety; the former got the highest mean (48.79) while the latter got the lowest (34.93). Calculating Standard Multiple Regression for the four affective factors, the study concluded giving four arithmetic equations of the predictive relationships among these factors. In the Saudi setting, the current study confirmed that anxiety does not affect learners with high motivation and good attitudes to a great extent. Besides, it does not affect self-confident learners at all.

Self-Assessment of the Sounds of the English Language that Pre-Service EFL Teachers Consider Problematic to Pronounce

The article presents and discusses a mixed-method study that aimed at establishing how pre-service teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) self-assessed those sounds of the English language that would cause problems for their pronunciation in EFL. Fourteen pre-service EFL teachers on the intermediate level of EFL proficiency whose first language (L1) was Norwegian were recruited for the study. They were asked to write reflectiveessays concerning the sounds of the English language that they considered problematic to pronounce. The participants’ essays were contrasted with the essays written by the control group that was comprised of 14 in-service EFL teachers whose L1 was Norwegian. The results of the analysis revealed that the participants identified several English sounds that they self-assessed as problematic to pronounce, e.g. /z/, /ð/, /θ/, and /ʌ/. The analysis of the controls’ essays yielded similar results. These findings and their linguo-didactic implications are discussed in the article.

Discourse Markers in the Genre of Formal Letters Written by Intermediate Students of English as a Foreign Language

This article involves a quantitative computer-assisted study of the use of discourse markers in the genre of formal letters written by a group of students of English as a foreign language (EFL) at the intermediate level of EFL proficiency. The aim of the study was to examine how the group of EFL students uses English discourse markers in a written task involving the genre of formal letters. The study employed a quantitative computer-assisted methodology of computing the frequencies of discourse markers by software program WordSmith (Scott 2008). The results of the data analysis indicated that the group of EFL students at the intermediate level of EFL proficiency exhibited awareness of the genre conventions associated with the usage of discourse markers in the task. The EFL students’ genre awareness was manifested by the use of stylistically neutral discourse markers (e.g., also, but, however ) concurrently with those discourse markers that are typically associated with a formal register of the English language (e.g., furthermore, hereby, therefore ). These findings and their didactic implications to the teaching of EFL writing are further discussed in the article. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.33.0.20672

EFL Como Requisito Para Estudios De Posgrado En Mexico: El Caso De Los Egresados Del Área De Ciencias Biológico Agropecuarias y Pesqueras de la Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit

The aim of this study is to get a general overview of the relevance of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) requirement for postgraduate studies in Mexico, since such requirement has been established as one of the main elements of National Quality Postgraduate Programs (PNPC) registered in the National Bureau of Science and Technology (CONACYT) catalog. There are 2,155 programs to be found in such catalog, where 130 of them are cataloged as programs of International Competency; are public university graduates ready to cope with the EFL requirement established in PNPC programs? This research project took a closer look into a group of Mexican university graduates´ EFL proficiency levels fulfilled as both: as a fulfillment bachelor’s degree requirement, and as an entry requirement to be accepted in a biological and agropecuary sciences masters’ degree program from the PCPN.

The Relationship between Reading Strategy Use and EFL Test Performance

There has been a steady interest in investigating the relationship between strategy use and English as a foreign language (EFL) test performance. Despite numerous studies on strategy use, the relationship between the two is still not clear. This paper reports on a study that investigated the use of reading strategies in the Secondary Education Examination English reading test and the relationship between reading strategy use and the test performance. A sample of 312 EFL learners studying at Grade 10 in Nepal participated in this study. They were asked to take the test and then respond to a reading strategy questionnaire. The quantitative software SPSS (version 20) was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that participants were active strategy users, and they used cognitive strategies more frequently than metacognitive strategies. A significant relationship was identified between reading strategy use and EFL proficiency; high-proficiency learners reported significantly higher use of reading strategies than moderate-proficiency learners, who in turn reported higher use of those strategies than their low-proficiency peers. Implications of these findings for EFL teaching and recommendations for further research are discussed.Journal of NELTA ,  Vol. 22, No. 1-2, 2017 December, Page: 39-52

Teachers’ Judgement Accuracy Concerning CEFR Levels of Prospective University Students

ABSTRACTMost English-medium programs at European universities require prospective students to take standardised tests for English as a foreign language (EFL) to be admitted. However, there are contexts in which individual teachers’ judgements serve the same function, thus having high-stakes consequences for the higher education entrance of their students. The present study investigates the accuracy of CEFR-based judgements of upper secondary school EFL teachers in Germany and compares it to the accuracy of conventional grading. Seventy-three teachers located each of the students in their EFL class onto a CEFR level. Teachers’ judgements were compared to the CEFR levels estimated from the TOEFL ITP using level, differentiation, and ranking component as indicators of judgement accuracy. Findings show that while CEFR-based judgements of relative EFL proficiency within classes (rank component) are rather appropriate, teachers substantially overestimate the total level of their students’ achievement (level component). Compared to conventional grading, however, CEFR-based judgements lead to more accurate estimations of variance between students in a class (differentiation component). The findings are discussed with particular reference to the consequences for higher education entrance policy concerning CEFR levels B2 and C1 as relevant benchmarks.