English As A Foreign Language University Students Research Articles

Repair Practice in the Classroom Conversations of Indonesian EFL Students

This study examines repair practice by English as a Foreign Language ( EFL) college students to address the understanding problems that may cause communication breakdowns in classroom conversations. Conversational data were elicited from 40 second-semester students performing jigsaw and information gap communicative tasks. Using the conversation analysis theory and methodological approach, the recorded and transcribed conversations were analyzed to scrutinize the frequency and types of repair strategies, trouble sources, and repair outcomes. The findings show that to address the understanding problem, the EFL college students employed 11 other-initiated repair strategies: Open-class or unspecified strategies; WH-interrogatives; Partial repeat plus WH- interrogatives; Repetition or partial repetition; Candidate understanding; Correction; Request for repetition; Non-verbal; Asking for definition, explanation, translation, example, or spelling; Explicit display of non-understanding; and Request to speak up. These other-initiated repair strategies were triggered by the presence of lexical, semantic content-related, and sequential/speech delivery trouble sources. Attempts to resolve the understanding problem were conducted by a set of repair outcomes, including Repetition, Acknowledgment, Repetition or acknowledgment plus expansion, explanation, and/or translation, and Repetition or acknowledgment plus translation. The study provides language educators with new insights on how EFL learners deal with understanding problems in communication so that they could respond appropriately to the repair practice initiated by the students.

Blended learning to foster EFL college students’ global literacy

Few studies on higher education focus on how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) college students may enhance their global literacy through cross-cultural communication. This mixed methods research reports on a blended learning program with cross-cultural communication to foster EFL college students’ global literacy. A sample of 97 EFL college students volunteered to participate in a large-sized onsite English course with one-on-one online discussions between college students and teachers from different countries. Scores of the pre- and post-tests on English listening and reading proficiency were collected and analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), while the students’ reflective journals and open-ended questionnaires were collected and analyzed by content analysis. The results revealed that the blended learning activities prompted the EFL college students to develop global literacy as they were engaged in cross-cultural communication by establishing online social connections with English teachers who were from different cultural backgrounds. These students might construct new knowledge in aspects of intellectual skills/knowledge, social/cultural competencies, and ethical disposition. Based on these, the students further provided both critical (reasoning and analysis) and creative feedback (giving suggestions) on global issues (global literacy). The pre- and post-test results verified their self-reported statements from the reflective journals that their English listening and reading proficiency improved. This blended learning program opens a door for EFL college students to the world where they may build, use, and share new knowledge with global literacy, leading to learners’ autonomy and English skills improvement.

Unravelling Vietnamese Students' Critical Thinking and Its Relationship with Argumentative Writing

Critical thinking has been recognized as a key academic skill due to its role in the learning process, especially in higher education, and particularly in second and foreign language teaching and learning of writing. This thinking pattern is crucial in Vietnamese tertiary education since in the globalized world of information. There has been increased demand for students to gain greater depth of subject-specific knowledge and develop their ability to synthesize, process, and evaluate different sources of texts for the sake of meeting the needs of their own academia and future studies. However, it is quite a new concept in Vietnamese educational system and few studies have been conducted to examine critical thinking in relation to argumentative writing. This paper, henceforth, reports a descriptive study that investigates the critical thinking ability of Vietnamese EFL (English as a foreign language) university students and its relationship with their writing argumentative essays. Data collected in this study include a questionnaire and an essay writing test. Participants were 126 EFL students at three universities in the Mekong delta, Vietnam. The findings reveal that Vietnamese EFL university students’ critical thinking is at high level while it was statistically insignificant that a relationship between their critical thinking and their argumentative writing existed. The obtained results indicate that instructional methods and activities employed by Vietnamese EFL teachers in universities of the Mekong region may well promote cognitive development of their students. It also suggests urgent actions from EFL teachers and stake-holders to seek for feasible solutions to foster students’ implementation of their cognitive skills into their writing and other language skills.

The Impact of Using Cambly on EFL University Students’ Speaking Proficiency

This study sought to investigate the impact of using Cambly, a computer-mediated communication tool, on the speaking proficiency of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Further, it aimed to explore the participants’ perceptions of using Cambly. The study employed an experimental design featuring a mixed-methods approach to data collection that involved pre- and post-testing of the participants’ speaking proficiency as well as semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The study sample consisted of 28 EFL university students who were divided into the control and experimental groups. The participants in the experimental group used Cambly to conduct audio calls with native speakers of English over a period of 4 weeks. The quantitative analysis of the participants’ speaking proficiency tests revealed no significant differences between the experimental and control groups’ post-test scores. Moreover, no significant differences were found between the experimental group’s pre- and post-test scores. The qualitative analysis of the participants’ interviews revealed that the use of Cambly had a positive influence on their speaking proficiency, motivation, anxiety level, speaking opportunities, autonomy, social relationships, and cultural awareness.

Harnessing Text Structure Strategy for Reading Expository and Medical Texts among EFL College Students

This classroom-based study was conducted in Kuwait to investigate the impact of text structure strategy (TSS) instruction on the ways in which 54 English as a foreign language (EFL) college students approached expository and medical texts. Data collection involved two surveys, fieldnotes, class observations, and group interviews. A system of codes and categories was developed from the recurrent patterns and commonalities in the interview data and classroom observations. Two surveys were distributed in 2 intervals, 8 weeks apart, which focused on identifying text structure strategies such as introducing the concept of text structures, asking guided questions, identifying signaling words, and using graphic organizers, as well as the extent to which the participants applied text structure strategies to approach expository medical texts. Data analysis involved using the Microsoft Excel program to generate two tables and descriptive statistics including the means, standard deviations and percentages of the results of the two surveys. Findings indicated that the participants benefited from TSS instruction in strategies that involved group discussions rather than strategies that relied on individual class work. Moreover, a large percentage of the participants applied most of what they learned in analyzing expository texts into reading medical texts. Implications were drawn for EFL teachers to conduct action research studies on text structure strategy for EFL learners and to apply TSS instruction in class in group and pair work which are suitable for EFL leaners. Finally, EFL researchers were invited to conduct classroom-based studies of TSS instruction.

EFL University Students' Awareness of the Translation and Usage of some Cultural Expressions

The current research attends to the investigation of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) University students awareness of idioms translation and usage. It has theoretically tackled the topic in the first place by paving the way in terms of presenting different definitions of translation and its relation with language and culture , the definition of idioms, their classification, interpretation and usage. The research then moves to the practical part of the study which focus on examining the role of context in helping students being aware of the meaning, correct translation, and usage of idioms. To analyze the data resulted in this part of the research, different statistical tools have been used, like percentages of correct answers, mean scores, standard deviation, and t-test for a single group. The research ends with discussing the results obtained which prove that students' awareness of contextualized idioms is quite satisfactory because an idiom is largely related to the situation that gives it a special meaning. The conclusions and recommendations of the research highlight the main points that have been so far probed and highlighted.

Developing EFL students’ pragmatic competence: The case of compliment responses

This study investigated the effect of consciousness-raising instruction and corpus-based instruction on EFL (English as a foreign language) students’ development of compliment responses. It employed a quasi-experimental design with 136 EFL university students divided between three groups: control, consciousness-raising, and corpus groups. A discourse completion test (DCT) was used as a pre- and post-test with all the groups to investigate any significant differences between them. Further, a questionnaire with open-ended questions was used to explore students’ perceptions of pragmatic instruction of compliment responses. The results showed the effectiveness of pragmatic instruction of compliment responses through both consciousness-raising instruction and corpus- based instruction. More specifically, significant differences were found between consciousness-raising group and the corpus group on one hand, and the control group on the other. No significant differences were found between the consciousness-raising group and the corpus group. The results also revealed that the students value the importance of pragmatic instruction indicating that it was important, necessary, useful, and enjoyable at the same time. The article ends with some pedagogical recommendations for pragmatic instruction.

The role of pragmatic markers in academic spoken interlanguage. A corpus-based study of a group of Brazilian EFL university students

The present work addresses a group of university students of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) on how they use pragmatic markers in their oral productions.The initial hypothesis was that there would be differences both in usage and form in comparison to native speakers. In order to verify our claim, we set off to investigate two corpora: a learner oral corpus being compiled at the Federal University of Minas Gerais/Brazil and a sub-corpus from the British Academic Spoken English (BASE). While Brazilian students overuse items such as maybe and just, the datarecorded in the UK displayed a more varied range of markers and multiword forms. Overall, the findings reinforce the importance of analyzing empirical data for a broader understanding of how native speakers and learners can differ in their oral academic production. The paper also sheds light on language teaching and learning in the academic setting from a pragmatic viewpoint.

Learners in a Tight Corner: An Investigation of Figurative Idiomatic Competence and Learner-related Factors

Idioms play an indispensable role in communication. Knowledge of idioms is considered an indicator of proficiency. This study is aimed at investigating English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ knowledge of frequently used idioms and the effect of learner-related factors. The participants were 218 female EFL college students at the College of Basic Education (CBE) in Kuwait. A test was designed and used as the data collection instrument to assess the students’ knowledge of frequent idioms. The test scores reveal a substantially low overall knowledge in this area. The results show that Kuwaiti EFL learners have difficulty comprehending common idiomatic expressions. Additionally, the study is aimed at determining whether students’ knowledge of idioms is linked to age, year of study, and/or Grade Point Average (GPA). A statistically significant difference in knowledge of frequently used idioms is evident when GPA is taken into account.

How English as a Foreign Language (EFL) University Students Understand the Pronunciation of Adjectives Ending in -ed

This article looks at how EFL university students understand the pronunciation of adjectives that end in -ed. The goal is to determine the extent to which students are able to follow pronunciation rules and exceptions of -ed inflections when used as adjectives. The quantitative study presents data gathered from a 20-item multiple choice test that was taken by 61 students. Overall results reveal that students obtained low scores (M = 7.33, SD = 1.51, n = 61) and even lower scores (M = 2.00, SD = 2.33, n = 61 for non-governed-rule -ed endings) with regards to following rule-governed pronunciation patterns. On average, students were able to identify -ed endings pronounced /ɪd/ 8.2% of the times, followed by /d/ (7.31%) and /t/ (6.49%). Students scored lowest for non-standard pronunciation of participial adjectives (2.72%). The results reveal that students have not yet mastered the rules for the pronunciation of participial adjectives ending in -ed. The author proposes that changes be made to the curriculum and the design of the materials and that current classroom practices be assessed in order to help improve student pronunciation. Lastly, the author highlights the need to conduct further research focusing on pronunciation and auditory perception to attain this goal.

Uncovering the Influence of EFL Students’ Perfectionism and Anxiety on their Willingness to Communicate in Language Classes

The study aims at investigating the influence of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ perfectionism and anxiety on their Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in EFL classes. To do so, a set of questionnaires, namely “Willingness To Communicate” (MacIntyre et al., 2001), “Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety” (Horwitz et al., 1986) and “Multidimensional Perfectionism Scales” (Hewitt & Flett, 1991) were distributed among 120 (50 males and 70 females) Iranian EFL university students. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted to indicate the extent to which each independent variable (perfectionism and anxiety) could predict the dependent variable (WTC). The results showed that both EFL students’ anxiety (B=-.586, p<.0.05) and their perfectionism (B=-.224, P<.0.05), had a significantly negative influence on their WTC in language classes. These two independent variables could explain .456 percent of the variance in the dependent variable (WTC). The results of the study were discussed and the implications were made.

Native-speakerism and professional teacher identity in L2 pronunciation learning

Many studies in different contexts have examined both English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ convictions about the connection between nativeness in English and professional teacher identity; however, very few studies solely focused on that connection in second language (L2) pronunciation teaching. This paper explores EFL university students’ experiences in learning English pronunciation from ‘native’- and ‘nonnative’- English-speaking teachers (NESTs and NNESTs). Based on an empirical study of undergraduates-prospective English language teachers-at the University of Jordan, the paper finds that most students still view ‘nativeness’ as the main descriptor of effective teaching, strongly believing NESTs to be the ‘authority’ and source of ‘correctness,’ both of which convictions are emblematic of native-speakerism, which in turns leads to both cultural panic and voicelessness on the part of NNESTs and learners. The study concludes with calling for the need to raise awareness among EFL students of the various manifestations of English as a global language-particularly the irrelevance of nativeness to effective teaching-and incorporating NNESTs into teaching L2 pronunciation and rejecting their marginalisation in teaching pronunciation in EFL contexts.

The effects of international email and Skype interactions on computer-mediated communication perceptions and attitudes and intercultural competence in Taiwanese students

Learners in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context seldom have the opportunity to interact with people from other cultures and experience intercultural communication in English to foster their intercultural competence (IC), whether inside or outside of the classroom. In an effort to create a brand new opportunity to boost target language interactions, this study utilised two computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools, namely email and Skype, to involve Taiwanese EFL university students in an intercultural project to discuss interesting and cultural topics with university students from the USA. Data were collected from Taiwanese students’ reflective journals, a post-project questionnaire, and interviews. The study’s results indicate that despite encountering numerous problems initially, Taiwanese students eventually have strong positive perceptions and attitudes toward intercultural CMC learning experiences, which can facilitate efficient online discussions with native speakers of the target language and can promote IC. Thus, endeavours to implement such expedient, innovative, and beneficial methods in foreign language courses are encouraged.

Saudi Arabia EFL university students’ voice on challenges and solution in learning academic writing

The present study aims to investigate the difficulties faced by 74 English as a foreign language (EFL) undergraduate students in developing a well-written paragraph in academic writing by designing a writing course based on the students’ voices. The self-report survey (5-point Likert scale) was used as the pre- and post-questionnaire, and pre- and the post-tests task was used to track students’ writing improvement before and after taking a writing course. Pre-questionnaire and pre-tests showed that participants had difficulties in using the mechanics of writing (punctuation, spelling, grammar, topic sentences, and supporting sentences). The majority of the students’ responses in the post-survey shows that they believed their writing improved and encountered fewer difficulties in writing as compared to their views in the pre-questionnaire. The result of the post-tests indicates improvements in students’ writing samples. The study concludes that EFL writing courses should be designed on the basis of challenges faced by the students in order to get the best outcome from the course.

Learning Style Preferences of EFL College Students and Their Causes

This study investigated the learning styles of two students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at the college level in Taiwan. Using a learning style preference checklist and semi-structured interview, their perceptional learning styles were first explored in terms of preferences and the underlying reasons for these preferences. Two participants with different majors participated in the present study. The results indicated that the learner majoring in a business-related field preferred the auditory style of learning, whereas the learner with a design background favored the haptic style. Learning background may play a vital role in the development of a learner’s learning style. Learning preferences may also relate to a student’s learning experience and peer learning performance. Style preferences in the EFL learning environment may change over time, across contexts, and between different tasks.

A Descriptive Analysis of the Metacognitive Reading Strategies Employed by EFL College Students in Kuwait

The study measured the awareness and use of metacognitive reading strategies among English as a foreign language (EFL) students at a medical college in Kuwait. The college offers a four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and a two-year Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN). Data collection involved distributing the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI) online through Google Forms to a sample of 80 students (Mokhtari &amp;amp; Reichard, 2002). Data were analyzed for strategy use, variations in strategy use between the BSN and ADN students, and the most and the least frequently-used strategies by the participating students. Microsoft Excel software generated the means, percentages, rankings, and standard deviations of strategy use. Findings indicated that the participating students were overall highly aware of metacognitive reading strategies. Moreover, the results showed that while the participating students were high users of problem-solving and global strategies, they were medium users of support strategies. The results also indicated that years of studying English showed a possible impact on the variations in strategy use between the participating students at the BSN and ADN programs. Finally, the analysis revealed that while the most frequently-used strategies among the participants were problem-solving strategies followed by global strategies, the least frequently-used strategies were support strategies. Implications for pedagogy included the need for English teachers to first identify their students&amp;rsquo; awareness of metacognitive reading strategies. Second, English teachers can implement evidence-based instruction to maximize the use of students&amp;rsquo; metacognitive reading strategies.

Investigating Instructors’ Techniques to Develop EFL University Students Conversational Competence

The ever-growing need for good communication skills in English has created a huge demand for English teaching around the world. Millions of people today want to improve their command of English. And opportunities to learn English are provided in many different ways such as formal instruction, travelling, studying abroad, as well as through the media and the Internet. Such a worldwide demand for English has created an enormous demand for quality language teaching and language teaching materials and resources so as to meet learners’ demanding goals. Learners want to be able to master English to a high level of accuracy and fluency through the acquisition of good English language skills since fluency in English is a prerequisite for success and advancement in many fields of employment in today’s world. The present research attends to the techniques utilized by English as a foreign language (EFL) university instructors to develop their students’ speaking skills. It hypothesizes that EFL university instructors use a variety of techniques to bring about such an objective. To bring about the aims of the research and validate the posed hypothesis, a 30-item questionnaire has been designed and distributed among all the instructors of conversation at the Depts. of English and Translation / University of Mosul during the second term of the academic year 2103-2014. The analysis of the data collected via the sample’s responses to the questionnaire indicates that EFL instructors used indeed a variety of instructional techniques to develop their students’ speaking skills. Hence the posed hypothesis has been accepted and duly a set of concluding remarks and recommendations have been put forward.

Informal digital learning of English and English as an international language: The path less traveled

AbstractThis exploratory study aimed to identify a model that explains the relationship between Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) practice and English as an International Language (EIL) perception. The hypothesized model—students’ engagement in IDLE practice will be significantly and positively related to their perception of EIL—was tested using a survey with 317 Korean EFL (English as a Foreign Language) university students. The results of Structural Equation Modeling showed a strong, significant and positive relationship between IDLE activities in which EFL learners engage and their EIL perception. Practically, these findings help broaden the scope of conventional EIL intervention beyond the classroom as a complementary EIL pedagogical model. From a theoretical perspective, this study represents a conceptual advance in our understanding of IDLE by adding a new insight to the current literature. This study also makes a contribution toward bridging an interdisciplinary divide between EIL and IDLE.

Investigating University Students’ Attitudes towards Instructors’ Use of Translation in EFL Classes

Due to the advancements in the domains of science and technology, there has been a worldwide growing demand for the learning of English. Kurdistan Region / Iraq is no exception and the interest in learning English is steadily increasing due to the benefits such learning entails from learners’ viewpoint. Accordingly, people involved in the process of teaching foreign languages at large and that of learning English in particular have been looking for the most effective educational and instructional techniques to bring about a type of learning that meets their objectives and needs. The present research tackles a matter that has been of much controversy over the years, the use of translation, i.e. learners’ native language in English classes at university level. Such a controversy stems from the fact that although translation as a teaching technique is criticized by many researchers due to its limitations and weaknesses in terms of language learning itself, it is still widely used in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes to facilitate students’ understanding and learning of the teaching materials. The current study is designed to approach the topic both theoretically and practically. Theoretically speaking, a cursory account is first made of the two key concepts, namely translation in terms of its definition and advantages and disadvantages in EFL classes, and attitude concerning its definition and role in the teaching and learning of foreign languages. Practically speaking, a 16-item questionnaire has been designed to investigate EFL university students’ attitudes towards translation and duly validate the hypothesis that university students have negative attitudes towards the use of Translation in their EFL classes. The questionnaire was distributed among a sample of EFL students. The data analysis collected via the sample’s responses to the questionnaire indicate that EFL university students have very negative attitudes towards their instructors’ use of translation. In the light of these results and findings, a number of conclusions have been drawn upon with a number of recommendations have been put forward.

EFL College Students’ Perceptions toward Native and Non-Native English Speaking Teachers

The purpose of this study was to investigate Taiwanese English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ perceptions and preferences toward Native English-Speaking Teachers(NESTs) and Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) who hold a degree from a country where English is the dominant language through addressing the differences of their English instruction. This quantitative research was consisted of 184 participants who answered the questionnaire that involved of 28 Likert scale type statements. The results showed the teachers’ qualifications and experiences were seen as an important feature of excellent English teachers, regardless of his or her mother tongue language. More precisely, NESTs were perceived to be superior in their good English proficiency and ability to facilitate students’ English learning. In terms of NNESTs, they were perceived to be superior in their proficiency in students’ first language, their knowledge of students’ learning difficulties, and at communicating in general. Finally, the findings indicated that EFL programs where both NESTs and NNESTs worked cooperatively were considered an effective English learning environment for language learners.