ESL Learners Research Articles

Effectiveness of Using Differentiated Instruction for Enhancing ESL Learners' Individual Needs

Effectiveness of Using Differentiated Instruction for Enhancing ESL Learners' Individual Needs

Unraveling the impact of metacognitive planning on writing performance through willingness to write in Pakistani ESL learners: a mixed-methods study

Unraveling the impact of metacognitive planning on writing performance through willingness to write in Pakistani ESL learners: a mixed-methods study

Malaysian Rural ESL Learners’ Perceived English Language Proficiency

English is a compulsory subject taught in Malaysian schools, offering opportunities for both personal and career development. Even though the English Proficiency Index Report 2019 indicated that Malaysia is ranked quite highly in terms of English language proficiency, the result does not represent the actual ability among many learners, especially in the rural areas, as Malaysian ESL learners face many difficulties in using English, verbally and in writing. Amidst the debate on Malaysian ESL learners’ proficiency level, it is important to measure how they perceive their ability to use English. This study intends to investigate Malaysian rural ESL learners’ perceptions of their English language proficiency. A survey research design was employed. Two hundred seventy-seven participants of Form 1, Form 3, Form 4, and Form 5 form rural schools in Malaysia who were recruited in this study. The data were gathered from a questionnaire based on the description of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) ‘Self-assessment grid’. The interview was also conducted to support the quantitative data. The researchers analyzed the percentages, mean scores, and standard deviation of the questionnaire. Content analysis was employed to analyze the data from the interview session. Findings indicate that positive perceptions of English language learning enhance students’ interest, thereby accelerating their proficiency levels. This study offers insight into learners’ perspectives on their English language acquisition journey. Future research might consider employing a larger sample size and additional data collection instruments to enhance the significance of findings, particularly regarding ESL students’ perceptions of their English language proficiency.

Exploring the Relationship Between Creativity and Narrative Writing Proficiency of Pakistani Undergraduate ESL Learners

The study aimed to explore the relationship between creativity and narrative writing proficiency level among ESL undergraduate learners of a public sector university in central Punjab, Pakistan. The study adopted a version of Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) as a framework. TTCT and IELTS written test rubrics were utilized for analyzing the data of 30 participants. The primary objective of the study was to measure the level of creativity exhibited in the narrative writing and its relationship with English proficiency. A significant positive relationship (r = .84) was found between creativity and narrative writing proficiency using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The results showed that the students who demonstrated higher level of creativity also exhibited stronger writing proficiency levels. To compare the results, a paired sample t-test was used to confirm, and it was found that there was a significant difference between the scores of writing test and creativity. The effect of gender was also investigated, and females outperformed male participants. The study emphasized the importance of fostering creativity in narrative writing instructions to improve writing abilities among ESL learners. The study suggested that educators and institutions should integrate creative writing exercises and techniques into language instructions, acknowledging the potential advantages of increasing students’ imaginative abilities to improve their language proficiency.

Examining the Learning Engagement of ESL Learners with Native ESL Teaching Instructions, Focusing on Behavioral, Affective, and Cognitive Aspects

Student engagement is vital in ESL education, with various pedagogical approaches emphasizing its importance. This research reviews literature on learner engagement in ESL and EFL classrooms, while also collecting data on students' attitudes towards native and non-native ESL teachers. The study aims to examine three types of teaching-learning engagements and explore learners' responses to instructions from native ESL teachers. A purposive sampling method was employed, selecting 41 participants consisting of 24 first-year and 17 second-year students. A survey research design utilizing a nonexperimental approach was used, employing a Likert scale and polling instrument. The study found that students had positive responses to instructions from native ESL teachers in Central Asia. This suggests that the presence of these teachers has had a significant impact and efforts should be made to recruit more. These findings could improve ESL teaching approaches and methodologies.

Inclusive Integrativeness: A New Approach to ESL Learning in Multilingual Contexts

Inclusive Integrativeness: A New Approach to ESL Learning in Multilingual Contexts

Phonemic Modification Strategies Used by Pahari ESL Learners while Learning English Consonant Clusters

Phonemic Modification Strategies Used by Pahari ESL Learners while Learning English Consonant Clusters

The use of Children’s Literature in Improving ESL Learners’ Reading Skills Systematic Literature Review (2019-2023)

This paper presents a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of pertinent past studies about the use of Children's Literature in improving ESL learners' reading skills from the year 2019 to 2023. This SLR seeks to answer a research question; how does the use of children's literature improve ESL learners' reading skills? Seventeen studies have been systematically reviewed and included in this paper. The results portrayed that the use of children's literature in improving ESL learners' reading skills can be put into three aspects which are the improvement in comprehension skills, the improvement of reading fluency and proficiency, as well as promote enjoyment, engagement, and motivation in reading skills. The limitation of this paper is that there were a limited number of recent studies related to children's literature and ESL classrooms, especially in the Malaysian context. For further research recommendations, it is necessary for other researchers to conduct more research related to children's literature covering any other language skills.

SECOND-LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND ERROR ANALYSIS

English has a critical role in creating connection between people from all over the world in a variety of industries. That is why many people in developing countries acquire English as a second language and Azerbaijan is one of them. Many people learn English by taking different English language courses. Speaking one of the challenging skills among language abilities. Students tend to make some errors when they speak in a second language. This paper explains what second language acquisition is and how to do error-analysis. Later the paper analyses the most typical English errors by upper-intermediate level Azeri ESL learners in speaking. The main aim the current research is to identify the most typical speaking errors of Azerbaijani university students who are taking General English lessons at a language centre in Baku, Azerbaijan. The main resources of the data consist of recordings of students when having daily conversation in English with teachers and feedback by teachers for their speech. All feedback by teachers is analysed and typical errors are found out by the researcher. In total, twenty-five students and eight teachers attended in the research. Ninety-six recordings were provided with feedback by teachers and ninety-six feedback samples for students were analysed by the researcher. Three research questions are asked and the researcher analysed three types of errors including grammar, lexical and pronunciation, also their specific error patterns. All results including frequency of above-mentioned errors are shown in tables and figures. This part of the study can serve as an example for large-scale studies on analysing typical errors and benefit students and also teaching English programs. Teachers can use these findings as a resource to teach their students and help them to avoid typical errors while speaking. Keywords: second language, error analysis, common mistakes, language acquisition, speaking.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING (ESL): A PERSPECTIVE OF THE COMMON BASE OF THE BRAZILIAN CURRICULUM

This article investigates the alignment of ESL teaching within the scope of the Brazilian Common Curricular Base (BNCC). With English proficiency becoming increasingly vital for academic, professional, and global communication purposes, BNCC emphasizes the importance of English language teaching in Brazil. Through a comprehensive examination of challenges, pedagogical strategies, and implications for policy and practice, this study aims to contribute to the discourse on improving English language teaching in Brazil. Drawing on literature, empirical research, and practical insights, the article provides practical recommendations for optimizing ESL teaching and learning in the Brazilian educational setting. By addressing the multifaceted dimensions of ESL teaching, the study offers guidance to stakeholders invested in improving English language proficiency among Brazilian students.

‘Am I good at this?’ Connecting ESL learners’ interest and perceived competence in grammar learning.

‘Am I good at this?’ Connecting ESL learners’ interest and perceived competence in grammar learning.

Speaking Anxiety Among ESL Learners: A Comparative Study Between Electrical Engineering and Digital Technology Students

Speaking Anxiety Among ESL Learners: A Comparative Study Between Electrical Engineering and Digital Technology Students

Exploring the Role of YouTube Lectures, Vlogs, and Videos in Enhancing ESL Learning

The present research explores the role of YouTube lectures, vlogs, and videos in enhancing ESL Learning. The mixed approach was used in this study. The study population comprises ESL students of English at schools and colleges. A sample size of 60 participants was selected equally from these schools and colleges through random sampling. An online questionnaire was used as a research tool /instrument for the purposive data collection. The questionnaire contained three parts; the first comprised demographic information about the research, the second part contained ten close-ended questions, and the third part contained two open-ended questions. The questionnaire was sent via WhatsApp and email using Google Forms. The collected and assembled data were later analyzed using SPSS's latest version 24. The data was presented in numerical form in figures and tables. The research findings revealed students' positive responses to the role of YouTube lectures, vlogs, and videos in enhancing ESL learning. Based on these findings, the researchers presented some recommendations for future researchers.

Unraveling interlanguage variability: A psycholinguistic exploration of morphological forms in Iranian ESL learners' written performance

The present research study aimed to investigate the psycholinguistic aspects of interlanguage (IL) variability in English as a second language learners from Iran. Three morphological forms were specifically examined in this study: the plural "-s," past tense forms, and present tense forms. In order to investigate the learners' cognitive processes, the researchers used a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative semi-structured interviews with quantitative analysis of written task performance. Under various task conditions, learners exhibited two opposing patterns of IL variability (increasing and decreasing) in their morphological forms. Various degrees of accuracy were noted for every kind of morpheme. Different students allocated their attention differently to form and meaning in both under pressure and relaxed task environments. The observed variations could have been caused by limited working memory and attention capacity in addition to L1 transfer. The research indicated that the field of second language acquisition could benefit from an explanatory approach to comprehend IL variability from the learner's perspective. It provides recommendations for larger-scale research projects in a variety of educational contexts, along with pedagogical implications.

Language Errors among Iranian EFL Students with High and Low Levels of Writing Anxiety

Writing is known as one of the major important language skills and it is the most difficult language skills for most EFL and ESL learners. In addition, anxiety is one of the factors that many language learners face with it in the writing process. This paper examines language errors among Iranian students of English with high and low levels of writing anxiety. For this purpose, 250 English language learners from universities of the south of Iran were participated in this research. This research used two tools to collect data: the Second Language Writing Anxiety Questionnaire (SLWAI), which was a pre-test containing 22 items and three subscales of physical anxiety, avoidance behavior, and cognition based on a Likert point scale. In addition, a language test in the form of essay writing was used to recognize their different categories and main errors in the writing performance. The results of this research showed that there is a negative relationship between students' anxiety and the number of errors in their writing performance. This study discusses the implications of this finding for English language learners and teachers.

The Needs Analysis of ESL Learners’ Expository Writing Challenges: Perspectives of ESL Teachers

The Needs Analysis of ESL Learners’ Expository Writing Challenges: Perspectives of ESL Teachers

Online Collaborative Strategies of ESL Learners in Precis Writing

It can be difficult to make the switch to online learning, and there are questions about how well students will be able to work together on group writing assignments. This study aims to identify the synchronous collaboration strategies employed by ESL students and how they affect their precis writing. Purposive sampling was employed in this study to select twenty-five (25) ESL students. Data was gathered using interviews, observation, and checklists as part of an explanatory mixed-method study design. According to the study's findings, students gain strategic thinking skills through online collaborative writing assignments; they also get better at summarizing, working in teams, and communicating important ideas in texts; and they stress the value of editing their work and utilizing both conventional and modern writing tools. Through the provision of resources, technology, and mentorship, educational institutions should establish settings that support collaborative writing.

A Contrastive Analysis of Reporting Verb Usage in English and Okpameri

Reporting verbs are used to report the expression of a language user. Usage of reporting verbs in utterances varies in languages. These variations sometimes pose problem to ESL learners. Predicating this study on Contrastive Analysis, the study generated Okpameri data from text instrument administered to SS 3 students in Okpameri linguistic environment. Participatory observation is also adopted for data collection. English data were got from the English grammar texts. From the findings, the two languages are grammatically marked for reporting verbs. However, the usage of these reporting verbs differs. While reporting verbs in English have unlimited vocabulary choices, reporting verbs in Okpameri have limited vocabulary choices. Also, English reporting verbs are morphologically realized for tense and number, but this is not so in Okpameri as Okpameri reporting verbs are not morphologically inflected. The use of English reporting verbs are context-based. This is not so in Okpameribecausethereportingverb‘ai’inOkpameriforinstance,is used to suggest that the speaker has given information, whereas in the real sense of it, the speaker intends to give an order or issue a query. This study, therefore, suggests that English language experts, should adopt systematic approach to the teaching of reporting verbs as this will broaden the knowledge of Okpameri ESL learners.

Empowering ESL Learners: Unleashing Autonomy through Project-Based Learning

The growing interest in learner autonomy is propelled by the swift advancement of information technology and globalization. Embedded within the Malaysian Education Blueprint (MEB 2013-2025), Autonomous Language Learning (ALL) is promoted to elevate language proficiency among students. Traditional educational methods are declining in relevance for preparing learners for contemporary workforce demands, prompting a shift towards a self-directed approach. Educators are currently tasked with fostering individuals who can continually learn and excel in a rapidly evolving global economy driven by knowledge. Consequently, project-based learning (PBL) emerges as a powerful tool for educators to foster learner autonomy in ESL classrooms. This qualitative study explores the impact of project-based learning (PBL) on learner autonomy and personal development among first-semester Diploma students majoring in Business Administration at Universiti Mara Kedah Branch. The study employed a descriptive qualitative research design to delve into students' perceptions of PBL and its influence on their learning experiences, outcomes, and self-improvement. The research aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of how PBL fosters learner autonomy, aligning with the overarching goal of promoting self-directed learning. The study involved 30 first-semester Diploma students, who collaborated in teams on a poetry writing project centered around a theme of solidarity with Palestine. Data collection included open-ended survey questions to gather detailed insights into students' perceptions of project work, learning outcomes, and personal development. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed key themes such as positive attitudes towards project work, enhanced problem-solving skills, effective communication, and personal growth. These findings underscore the transformative effects of PBL on students' autonomy and confidence, emphasizing the importance of integrating PBL approaches in ESL classrooms to empower students for success in a dynamic global economy.

A Systematic Literature Review: The Effectiveness of English Amusement Exposures to Acquire the Language for ESL Learners

A Systematic Literature Review: The Effectiveness of English Amusement Exposures to Acquire the Language for ESL Learners