English As Foreign Language Students Research Articles

Saudi EFL Students’ Perception of the Quality of Teacher-Student Relationships and the Factors that Impact Their Self-Efficacy Beliefs

This study aimed to explore the perceptions of English as Foreign Language (EFL) students in the Preparatory Year Program (PYP) at a Saudi university about emotional quality of teacher-student relationships and the factors that impact their self-efficacy beliefs in EFL classrooms. To accomplish this, an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach was implemented. Starting with a quantitative approach a questionnaire was distributed to 340 EFL students followed by a qualitative approach in terms of 8 semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the students’ perceptions. The quantitative data were analyzed statistically using SPSS and the transcribed interviews were coded manually after which a thematic analysis was used to extract the emerging themes. The results demonstrated that students have a positive relationship with their teachers in EFL classrooms and they view their English language teachers as reassuring, reliable, and trustworthy. Students also believe that their relationship with their teachers influences both their academic and personal growth. Finally, the outcomes of this study also showed that students believe that relationship with their significant others, teachers- peers- family members, and outcome expectancy impact their self-efficacy greatly in EFL classrooms. This research provides insight into the emotional quality of teacher-student relationships and students’ self-efficacy in EFL classes, and the findings provide insights that can inform teaching strategies, curriculum development, organizations, and learner support systems.

Understanding the dynamics of English-speaking challenges for students in Kazakhstan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the English-speaking challenges confronted by English as Foreign Language (EFL) students in the context of Kazakhstan, a Central Asian, post-Soviet nation, particularly focusing on the interrelation of English language fluency issues, psychological conditions and the influence of environmental factors.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative inquiry is firmly situated in Krashen’s second language acquisition theory. The research cohort comprises ten undergraduates from the esteemed Foreign Languages and Translation Studies Department, their narratives forming the basis for data analysis. The author conducted structured interviews with the participants.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that limited language proficiency not only hinders fluency but also initiates psychological challenges, forming a difficult cycle. Additionally, environmental elements, such as interactions with teachers and peers, have both beneficial and adverse impacts on speaking improvement. Acknowledging and tackling these complex dynamics is crucial for developing focused interventions that foster a supportive learning environment conducive to enhancing language acquisition and fluency.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of this research is that the triangulation method in the form of additional semi-structured interviews and/or observation was not used to get more in-depth data.Practical implicationsThe study might be helpful for stakeholders to reflect on the English difficulties they experience and to prepare effective teaching and learning strategies. In particular, EFL teachers may need to use more speaking activities in lessons to help students overcome language barriers in speaking. EFL teachers might also adopt strategies such as not judging learners’ mistakes in the first phase of their language practices until they get used to speaking without any psychological blocks and paying additional attention to vocabulary and grammar knowledge in communicative lessons. EFL students may use the strategies to consciously evaluate their skills and not learn the speaking material by heart beforehand. In addition, university administration may organize regular speaking clubs for students in order to create an immersive environment. Moreover, they might require teachers to show up with their speaking capabilities before hiring English teachers, especially in English-related specialization departments.Originality/valueThe research indicates a lack of support and a judgmental environment, passive involvement in communicative pursuits and memorization as instrumental strategies for augmenting oral proficiency. These reasons have created difficulties in speaking English for students studying in English-specialized departments in Kazakhstan.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence in a Morphology Course - An Analytical Study of University Students’ Perspective

This paper focuses on scrutinizing the attitudes and opinions of English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners on the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in a morphology course in higher education in Lebanon. Specifically, it examines AI as a pedagogical tool in classrooms to provide learners with personalized learning paths centered on their needs and strengths, offer automated feedback on activities and assignments, supply study resources and extra material, furnish adaptive assessments, and most importantly, identify common errors in students’ responses that allow instructors to acknowledge the learning gaps and tailor their teaching strategies accordingly. It also aims to determine the students’ perspectives on AI’s potent role in learning. In this exploratory study, a mixed-method design and a convenient sampling of participants were utilized. A total of 62 EFL students at the public university in Lebanon participated in the study. To describe and quantify their perceptions of integrating AI in a morphology course, an online survey, including closed-ended and open-ended questions, and two focus group discussions were administered. The overall qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data indicated that Lebanese EFL students have positive attitudes towards integrating AI in a morphology course as a pedagogical tool and as a fundamental part of the teaching strategies in EFL higher education classes since it provides a good source of information and aids in the teaching and learning process. However, the findings also revealed the need to train teachers and students to use AI technologies, keeping in mind the potent role of the instructor in class.

Exploring EFL Students’ Lived Experiences Working in Single-Gender and Mixed-Gender Groups: A Phenomenological Study

Group work (GW) is one of the strategies teachers employ to organize students and let them participate in collaborative tasks to achieve their learning-centered goals. The formation of single-gender (SG) and mixed-gender (MG) groups cannot be avoided in GW. Thus, this research aimed to explore EFL (English Foreign Language) students’ lived experiences working in SG and MG groups. A qualitative study using a phenomenological approach was conducted. The data were collected from three rounds of semi-structured interviews with eight participants. They were selected through three steps of online screening with some criteria. The research was conducted at one of the state universities in East Java, Indonesia. Van Kaam’s method, modified by Moustakas (1994), was used to analyze the data. This research revealed two main results: positive and negative experiences reported by students in both the SG and MG groups. In the SG group, the themes include effective communication, postponed GW tasks, and a better environment. In contrast, in the MG group, the themes encompass ineffective communication, solid members, and ineffective time management. In short, two positive and one negative theme are mentioned in SG groups, while one positive and two negative themes emerge in MG groups. As a result, the core aspects revealed include communication, individual contributions and responsibility, and productivity and efficiency while working in groups. This present research adds more comprehensive theories of GW related to students' gender and helps students and teachers be more aware of GW related to gender aspects.

Examining the Effect of Flipped Learning on Proficiency in English Writing Grammar via Inflectional Morphemes

The study aimed to understand the underlying effects of flipped learning on students’ English as Foreign Language (EFL) writing skill. For this study, proficiency of writing knacks of EFL has been examined mainly by using inflection morphemes based on experimental research work. Two sets of intact classes were chosen as participants for this research study. These classes were randomly assigned to different groups, namely control group and experimental group, with a total sample size of 126 EFL students. During the eight-week time, the control group (a non-flipped learning) and the Experimental Group (a flipped learning) were taught traditional writing instructions and flipped learning, respectively. The inflectional morphemes were used in three phases: pre-, mid, and post-test. The test named Repeated Measure Analysis of Variance (RM-ANOVA) was used to analyze data. The research findings show that the flipped learning students have outnumbered their counterparts, i.e., non-flipped learning, in terms of EFL students’ language writing proficiency development for inflectional morphemes. The research findings have proposed some general recommendations on EFL writing instructions for decision-makers, academia, and other interest groups.

Miscommunication and Mismatched Expectations: Challenges in an EFL Writing Center

Recently writing centers are expanding to Asian higher education contexts. However, there is a scarcity of research from writing centers in Asian settings and from non-native English speaker (NNES) tutor perspectives. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to enrich understandings of the challenges and expectations perceived by NNES tutors during tutoring writing sessions with intermediate level Japanese EFL (English as Foreign Language) students. A qualitative approach was employed utilizing two data collection methods: 16 interviews with writing tutors, and two quasi-focus groups. Thematic analysis of the data revealed five major categories for challenges perceived by NNES tutors: miscommunication, student silence, mismatched expectations, interpretation of teacher feedback and error correction. It is argued that these are the main challenges that EFL writing tutors face and hence indicate the necessity to train tutors how to deal with them. The implications for creating Asian writing centers and tutor training are discussed.

An Exploration of the Impact of Cognitive, Meta-cognitive and Motivational Scaffolding on EFL Students Oral Production in Asia Context

This paper examined the efficiency of three types of scaffolding (cognitive, meta-cognitive and motivational scaffolding) in boosting English as Foreign Language (EFL) university students speaking motivation and proficiency in the context of Asia. To this end, this study is carried out by reviewing and synthesizing previous literature and empiric work. It is found out that each type of scaffolding is effective in improving learners oral production. However, an ambiguous classification between these three scaffolds, in terms of their operational definitions, would made it hard to measure the extent to which students speaking performance can be influenced by each type of scaffold alone. Hence, the answer to which type of scaffold is the most effective is inconclusive. In addition, the exploration of the motivational scaffold framework aimed to focus on learners emotional needs is in progress, yet a much more significant amount of studies and empirical work about this type of scaffold will be needed, in terms of investigating its impact on students both cognitive and affective aspects. Finally, no current research empirically investigated the impact of these scaffolds on students speaking motivation; instead only a fragment of descriptive comments can be found in a few studies.

Teacher-Student Collaborative Assessment and Content-Based Instruction: A Case Study of English Writing at a Chinese University

This study delves into the impact of corrective feedback within a Teacher-Student Collaborative Assessment (TSCA) and Content-Based Instruction (CBI) framework on EFL (English as Foreign Language) students' English writing and grammar learning. A ten-week experiment with one hundred participants explores this question. Divided into three groups, one receives direct corrective feedback, another navigates indirect feedback, and a control group receives none. Evaluating writing performances across these groups, the study aims to assess the combined efficacy of TSCA and CBI in promoting English grammar learning.
 Preliminary findings suggest that corrective feedback within the TSCA and CBI framework significantly enhances grammar accuracy. This study proposes an innovative methodology, highlighting comprehensive corrective feedback as a transformative catalyst for grammar development. It introduces a unique module for EFL students, fostering proficiency in English grammar and potentially transcending limitations associated with TSCA alone. This approach paves the way for a fresh paradigm within EFL grammar learning.

The Difficulties of EFL Students in Speaking English at Sar-e-Pul Higher Education Institute

Today, many students face with the English speaking difficulties during conversations, because of these problems most of EFL (English as Foreign Language) students deny to speak in English and have a preference to use their mother language. So, the research tried to do a study based on the “The difficulties of EFL students in speaking English at Sar-e-Pul Higher Education Institute.” This research aims to find out the difficulties, and factors caused problems while students speaking English. This research was conducted at Sar-e-Pul Higher Education Institute. It helps the students to know the factors which caused problems in speaking. The participants were 20 male students from third class of English language and literature department of Sar-e-Higher Education Institute. The data was collected through a questionnaire that is consisted of 12 questions. An instrument consisting of twelve questions was used to gather the data. The SPSS application was used to examine the gathered data. The majority of pupils, the study discovered, struggle with a variety of aspects of speaking English, including vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and confidence issues.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT EFL STUDENTS' DIFFICULTY IN READING COMPREHENSION

This study aims to discover the internal factors that affect EFL students' difficulty in reading comprehension. The research participants in this study were five English as Foreign Language (EFL) students who could not achieve the grade standard in a Reading class at the English Language Education Program (ELEP) in a small town in Central Java. The Interviews were used as the instruments to collect the data. In the interview, 5 participants were asked about the internal factors that affected students' difficulties in reading comprehension. The thematic analysis revealed that students' difficulty in reading comprehension is affected by two primary internal factors. The first factor pertains to students' ability, encompassing their grammatical and vocabulary knowledge in English. The second factor encompasses students’ perceptions including feelings of interest, boredom, anxiety, sickness, and personal problems.

Communication models in a foreign language in relation to cognitive style category width and power distance.

Understanding how category width of cognitive style and power distance impact language use in cultures is crucial for improving cross-cultural communication. We attempt to reveal how English foreign language students, affected by high-context culture, communicate in English as a foreign language. What models of foreign communicative competence do they create? We applied association rule analysis to find out how the category width of cognitive style affects the foreign communication competence in relation to culture and language. The requester tends to be more formal and transfers conventional norms of the culture of the mother tongue into English, which mainly affects the use of alerters and external modifications of the head act of request. A broad categorizer, regardless of social distance, prefers to formulate the request in a conditional over the present tense form, contrary to narrow categorizers who, in a situation of social proximity, prefer the request form in the present tense. A similar finding was shown in the case of external modifications of the head act, where we observed the inversion between broad and narrow categorizers, mainly in the use of minimizers and mitigating devices.

Chat GPT: Enhancing Students’ Writing Skills For Efl Students In Descriptive Text

Writing is a crucial ability that holds great significance in communication, education, and societal influence. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential effects of using Chat GPT (Generative Pre-training Transformer) as an instructional tool for teaching descriptive text on EFL (English as Foreign Language) students. This study utilized a quasi-experimental methodology and included 68 children from a state Junior High School in Sampang. The samples were selected via purposive sampling. The researcher allocated 34 students to the control group and 34 students to the experimental group. Data was collected through a test that involved composing essay questions. An independent sample t-test was used to assess the pre-test and post-test data using inferential statistics. The finding demonstrates that Chat GPT has a beneficial effect on improving students’ writing skills. The average score obtained in the post-test by the experimental group (76.24) was higher compared to the control group (69.50) due to the beneficial impact of technology on students’ learning process. The 2-tailed significance value is 0.009, which is below the threshold of 0.05. This indicates a statistically significant improvement in writing skills. Ultimately, employing Chat GPT as an educational media yields a beneficial influence on students’ writing proficiency. Teachers are advised to utilize technology in order to enhance students’ writing abilities. It is suggested to implement Chat GPT as an educational medium to engage students’ participation for future researchers.

Linguistics Learning Style as Innovation: The Successful of English Foreign Language Students

This research aims at revealing: the characteristic of the learning style for EFL; the advantages of the learning style for EFL; the innovation of the learning style for EFL. It is a kind of descriptive qualitative research aimed at revealing the linguistics learning style as an innovation for the English Foreign language. Linguistics learning research is still insufficient as an innovation for EFL; therefore, this research is significant to be conducted. The finding of the research can be described as follows: First, there are nine learning styles, namely; visual learning, auditory numerical, social group, visual numerical, kinesthetics, expressiveness oral, auditory language, social individual and expressiveness written. Second, the beneficial of linguistics learning are improved language skills, better comprehension, increased engagement, flexibility, and better communication skills. Third, the innovations of learning style in EFL include language learning apps, interactive language learning platforms, AI-assisted language learning, social media use, multimedia-based learning, and content-based instruction.

The Use of Literary Adaptations in the EFL Classroom: A Case Study

The marriage of the two arts, literature and cinema, gave birth to the production of literary adaptations, which is inspiring to explore in an EFL (English as Foreign Language) literature classroom because EFL students are becoming reluctant readers with limited critical literacy. Literary texts in print might cause a loss of interest in literature class. That is why the teacher has always secured material that will keep students' learning literature an enjoyable experience. The researcher experimented on a group of fourth-year English classical system students at Djilali Liabes University, Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria, to bring about a change. In their British Literature classroom, one projected "Pride and Prejudice," Austen's film adaptation (2005), to observe students' abilities in criticizing the Film and discussing it and to discover to what extent it will make them eager to read the novel and get engaged. Hence, based on the structured observation during the film projection and the semi-structured questionnaires, the researcher found that Austen's adaptation was fruitful since it pushed students into critiquing what is visual and showing interest in further reading the written word. In addition, it contributed to memorizing and discovering some of the British cultural aspects of that era. Therefore, opting for a cinematic milieu in a literature classroom can have dual aims: educating and entertaining, raising students' visual awareness through readings of adaptations by concertizing what is written.

Effectiveness of Collaborative Writing Strategy in Improving EFL Students’ Writing Skill

The ability to write efficiently and effectively in English is significant for academic success. The academic achievement of students who are proficient in writing skills tends to be better than that of students who are less proficient. So, the teachers have to choose effective teaching writing strategies which can assist in enhancing students’ writing skill. In this perspective, the present quantitative study conducted employing quasi-experimental methodologies attempts to explore the effectiveness of Collaborative Writing (CW) in improving the writing skill of grade or class ten English as Foreign Language (EFL) students. The sample population consisted of 60 students studying in grade 10 at one secondary-level institutional school located in Banke district. I employed convenience sampling to select the school and typical case sampling, a kind of purposive sampling to select the sample population. Selected students were divided into Control Group (CG) and Experimental Group (EG) based on the sections to which they studied or related. CG was taught using the conventional strategy whereas EG was taught by using the CW strategy. I employed test (pre and post-test) technique to collect the data and the collected data were analysed employing the descriptive analysis technique of quantitative data analysis. The result of the study indicated that CW is more effective for developing the writing skill of secondary-level EFL students. Therefore, teachers are suggested to employ CW technique to enhance the writing skill of the students in English.

Tenth-Graders’ Perceptions towards the Use of Google Classroom for Writing Class

The world of education today is closely related to the development of scientific and technological advances. Google Classroom is a useful platform to help the online learning process, especially in learning English. This study aims to determine students’ perceptions of using Google Classroom as a learning medium in writing class. This study used a quantitative descriptive research design. The research subjects were all tenth-grade students in one of the senior high schools in Wates, Central Java, Indonesia. The population of the study consisted of 385 students, but the researchers took a sample of 30% of the total from all tenth-grade students. The researcher used a questionnaire and interview as a data collection method. The researcher analyzed the data statistically by calculating the percentage of students’ answers using Microsoft Excel. This study finds that students have a positive perception of using Google Classroom in writing class. Moreover, it can be concluded that Google Classroom has a good influence in supporting learning for English Foreign Language students.

The EFL Students’ Anxiety in an Online Public Speaking Class at an Indonesian University

One of the main challenges for English as Foreign Language (EFL) students in the public speaking class was Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA). Due to COVID-19, the public speaking class must be conducted online. This study aimed to examine the level of FLA in online public speaking classes and discovered the impacts on students' feelings upon joining the online public speaking class. This research used a quantitative research approach. The research was conducted in the online public speaking classes for fifth-semester students at Sanata Dharma University. The researchers took 50 students from the total population of 159 students in batch 2019. The level of FLA was investigated through the Modified Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (MFLCAS), and the impacts of FLA were explored using Modified Foreign Language Virtual Classroom Anxiety Scale (MFLVCAS). The results showed that students experienced a moderate level of FLA with a mean of 3,00 by three dimensions; Communication Apprehension (CA), Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE), and Test Anxiety (TA). There were no adverse impacts from online public speaking classes related to FLVCAS. The online classroom setting did not bring another source of anxiety to the students.

Grammar Learning Strategies Applied by English Foreign Language Students

The purpose of this research was to find out types of learning strategies applied by students of English education study program at Hamzanwadi University. The subjects of research taken were 75 students of the first semester who took basic English grammar course. Descriptive quantitative was used to obtain and analyze data. The research result showed that the most dominant learning strategy in studying grammar was metacognitive (20, 93%), followed by cognitive (18, 49%), social (17, 83%), affective (16, 48%), memory (15, 97%) and the least applied by the students was compensation (10, 25%). Furthermore, the reason why the students tend to apply metacognitive strategy in learning grammar because it enables them to pay attention on a particular grammar pattern, try to understand and relate it to the previous materials which have been familiar to the students’ minds. Thus, it is implied to the teachers to understand the types of learning strategies then guide the students during their study for a better learning outcome.

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN THE USE OF COHERENCE AMONG JORDANIAN EFL STUDENTS IN WRITING ACADEMIC ESSAYS

Background and Purpose: Writing a coherent written composition is a challenging task for many English foreign learners, especially among English as Foreign Language (EFL) Jordanian students, as many of those learners cannot achieve writing well coherent essays at the university level due to various reasons such as lack of lexical competence and lack of motivation. Due to the fact that very limited studies have focussed on investigating this phenomenon in-depth, especially in the Jordanian context, the present study aims to explore issues and challenges faced by Jordanian students in using coherence in academic essays under the perspectives of writing course instructors.
 
 Methodology: This study used a qualitative approach to gather data. The sample comprises eight male instructors from two Jordanian universities. They were selected using a purposive sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants to gain their insights into the issues and significant challenges faced by the students and the potential strategies to overcome the challenges. 20 academic essays produced by 4th year undergraduate students from the two universities were observed for the purpose.
 
 Findings: The instructors found that the EFL Jordanian students were unable to achieve coherent writing in the essays mainly due to their limited vocabulary knowledge. They attributed this lack to learners’ inadequate attempts to enhance their writing and limited reading experience. Generally, they agreed that insufficient awareness of the importance of incorporating effective educational practices to enhance their students’ writing as the major contributing factor to their students’ failure to observe coherence in writing. The findings encompassed some potential strategies to cope with the current obstacles, such as training the EFL instructors and employing modern techniques and practices in teaching.
 
 Contributions: Teaching and learning of coherent writing is very necessary at all higher learning institutions. The findings of the study have implications on all the stakeholders as a means of enriching the instructional practices widely.
 
 Keywords: EFL Jordanian students, EFL writing, writing challenges, writing strategies, coherent writing, coherence.
 
 Cite as: Alsariera, A. H., & Yunus, K. (2023). Issues and challenges in the use of coherence among Jordanian EFL students in writing academic essays. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 8(2), 139-154. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol8iss2pp139-154

The Efficacy of Using Guided Questions in Teaching Writing Descriptive Text to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) Students

This research aims at finding out the efficacy of using Guided Questions in teaching writing especially descriptive text to Indonesian English as Foreign Language (EFL) students. The main question of this research: Is the use of Guided Questions effective in teaching writing to Indonesian EFL students? The research can be an addition to the persisting teaching writing in English particularly the descriptive text through the use of guided questions. This research was conducted at the tenth-grade students at SMA Kristen Mercusuar Kupang, an Indonesian High School. The total number of samples was 25 students. The research used a pre-experimental method with a pre-test and post-test design. The pre-test was given to find out the basic ability of the students in mastering writing descriptive text and the post-test given to find out the students’ improvement in mastering writing descriptive text after giving the treatment by using guided questions. The findings show that using guided questions is effective in teaching writing descriptive text to Indonesian EFL students. It is supported by the result of the significance test through SPSS 20 program that the P was 0.00. Therefore, it is recommended to use the guided questions in developing students’ writing descriptive of Indonesian EFL students.