Female EFL Learners Research Articles

Self-esteem and its Relationship to English Oral Performance among Yemeni EFL Undergraduate Learners

The present study aims to explore the level of self-esteem among the Yemeni EFL university students and find out whether female and male significantly vary in their self-esteem. It also examines the level of the Yemeni Arabic speaking EFL university students in English oral performance and its relationship with their self-esteem. For the data collection, three instruments have been used. First, 50 Yemeni EFL undergraduate students (female=38; male=12) completed the self-esteem scale (SES) developed by the researcher along with the standardized Self-esteem Scale by Rosenberg(1965). Then, an oral test was set to test students' performance in English speaking skill. The third tool is a spoken test checklist prepared to score the students’ oral performance. The data collected were statistically processed by using SPSS. The results obtained show that: (a) Yemeni EFL undergraduate learners show high self-esteem degree (M=2.90 (out of 5), percentage73%) in both dimensions (c) No significant differences have been found between females’ and males’ self-esteem, (d) There is a very slight difference between female and male towards their own perception towards themselves, but it is not significant, (e) The level of Yemeni EFL undergraduate learners in speaking skill is a bit low (M= 9.94 (out of 20); SD=2.4; percentage 49.4%), (f) There is a significant relationship between self-esteem and spoken performance by Yemeni EFL learners (r=.365, p-value=.009<0.01). As a whole, this study contributed to the ESL/EFL by providing information on Yemeni Arabic speaking undergraduate female and male EFL learners in terms of their self-esteem and their oral communication performance.

Impact of Digital Games on Students’ Willingness to Communicate in a Flipped Classroom Context

Introduction: The ability to use language for communicative purposes is significant in learning English as a foreign language. The present study investigated the effect of digital games on intermediate EFL learners’ Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in a flipped classroom context. 
 Methodology: Of 90 female intermediate EFL learners, 60 participants were selected based on their performance on an Oxford Placement Test. The subjects were then divided into an experimental and a control group. After that, the participants in the two groups filled out the WTC questionnaire as a pre-test. Following that, in the experimental group, the researcher used Fun Easy Learning Game Software in a flipped instruction mode to instruct 50 vocabulary items that were identified as unknown to the learners. As for the control group, the learners followed the conventional method of instruction and thus followed the syllabus of the institute. The learners in this group were instructed on the same 50 vocabulary items but did not receive any content in a flipped instruction mode via games. The treatment lasted 10 sessions, and at the end, the participants in both groups were given the WTC questionnaire as a post-test.
 Results: The results of statistical analysis indicated that the use of digital games significantly affected intermediate students’ WTC in a flipped classroom context. Learners in the experimental group outperformed their counterparts in the control group.
 Conclusion: Based on the findings, EFL teachers are encouraged to employ digital games in a flipped instruction mode to enhance EFL learners’ WTC.

Compliment Responses across Gender: Moroccan EFL Learners as a Case Study

Compliment response is among the most common speech acts used in everyday conversations. Recipients’ responses to compliments differ depending on distinct social variables, including power, the degree of intimacy, social distance, culture and gender. The current study investigates Compliment Responses (henceforth, CRs) among Moroccan male and female EFL learners based on four topics of compliments (ability, character, possession and appearance). Thence, the present paper aims to explore the most frequent CR strategies used by Moroccan male and female EFL learners. Besides, it endeavors to find out the differences between the two groups in CRs. 50 female and 50 male EFL learners from Sultan Moulay Slimane University took part in the present study, epitomizing higher education population. In order to attain the required data for the study, discourse completion test (DCT) was used and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (percentages) and inferential statistics (Independent T-test) based on Herbert’s (1989) classification of CRs. Results of the study revealed that the most frequent CR strategies used by Moroccan male and female EFL learners at the macro level are agreement strategies; however, the most frequent CR strategies used by the two groups at the micro level are appreciation token, praise upgrade and return strategies, wherein females showed a great tendency towards the use of praise upgrade and return strategies, while males were more inclined to the use of appreciation token strategy. Furthermore, the study results showed that there is a consonance between Moroccan male and female EFL learners in CRs at the macro level, whereas there is a significant difference between the two groups at the micro level in all situations except for character.

The Use of Politeness Strategies in the Realization of the Speech act of Disagreement by EFL Learners

This study aimed to investigate the differences between the politeness strategies used by university EFL learners and American native speakers in making disagreements. Using Brown and Levinson’s (1978) model, the study examined the variables of gender, social status, and social distance. The participants were 63 EFL learners (41 females and 22 males) and 20 native speakers (10 females and 10 males). The EFL learners who took part in this study were EFL learners who were studying in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Bahrain. They were in their fourth, fifth, or sixth year of study. The data was collected using a Discourse Completion Task adopted from a previous study done by Khoirunnisa and Hardjanto (2018) and modified by the researcher to fit the needs of this study. The results of this study showed that the reason why EFL learners seemed more or less polite was that native speakers chose to apply higher or lower percentages of politeness strategies to fit the needs of the different situations, whereas EFL learners used similar percentages of those strategies in most of the situations. This was due to EFL learners’ insufficient competence in the English language. Further, EFL learners were still aware of the necessity of using different politeness strategies in different situations, and thus there were some changes in their use of them depending on the situation. Moreover, the study revealed that female EFL learners used slightly more positive politeness strategies than male EFL learners. In terms of importance, gender was shown to be more important than social status in determining the types of politeness strategies employed by EFL learners.

The Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Writing Achievement among English as a Foreign Language Learners at the University of Jeddah

The present study investigated the relationship between writing self-efficacy and writing achievement among undergraduate EFL female learners studying a Technical Communication Writing Course in their first year in the Computer Science and Engineering Technology Department at The University of Jeddah. Forty-four learners participated in this study by completing a writing task and filling out an online survey. Learners’ writings and responses to the questionnaire were then analyzed to determine the correlation between their self-efficacy level and their writing performance. Results indicate that the perceptions students have of their writing self-efficacy have a significant moderate positive correlation with their overall writing performance score (r=0.464; p< 0.05) and their grammar accuracy (r= 0.367; p< 0.05). However, no significant correlation was detected as far as the specific writing ability aspects under investigation are concerned. 

Challenges and Problems of Reading Comprehension Experienced by EFL Learners

The study aims to (a) explore reading comprehension problems that EFL learners encounter in an Intensive English Program and (b) ascertain any significant differences between male and female learners regarding these challenges at the University of Bisha, KSA. The study followed a quantitative paradigm in which the researchers distributed an online questionnaire pertinent to reading difficulties to 301 male and female Saudi EFL students. It consisted of two parts: the first was students' background information, and the second was on reading comprehension challenges (language, reading process, and psycholinguistic challenges). The results showed that most students have the same problems, i.e., lack of vocabulary and recognition of the words. Vocabulary is one of the biggest problems when trying to work out the meaning and general idea of the text. Findings also exhibited that male and female EFL learners experienced challenges in a similar way which shows that all students of both genders face identical problems when reading English. The study concluded that healthy intervention is needed to help students improve their reading comprehension in particular and English language in general.

Effectiveness of a Negotiated Syllabus on the Reading Achievement of Intermediate-Level EFL Learners

Few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of a negotiated syllabus on the reading skill of learners. The present study attempts to establish if a negotiated syllabus had any effect on the reading achievement of female EFL learners at intermediate level English proficiency. The study was conducted with the participation of 61 learners placed into the experimental group ( n = 32) and the control group ( n = 29). The element of negotiation in this study was the topic interests of the experimental group surveyed on an interest areas questionnaire on the basis of which instructional reading passages were selected. Topic interests were not surveyed in the control group and the texts given to them were selected by the teachers. Both groups were tested at the beginning of the experiment and retested at the end of the experiment with a valid reading comprehension test comprising 22 items. A two-sample t-test was performed to compare any means difference between the scores of the experimental group and the control group on the reading test. The results indicated that no statistically significant difference was observed between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups.

An Empirical Investigation of the EFL Learners Attitudes Toward the Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning

Peer collaboration in small groups has increasingly been recognized as an instructional technique that promotes interactive skills, socialization, learning and achievement across a range of subjects and disciplines. The study aims to measure Saudi female EFL learners’ attitudes toward the effectiveness of cooperative learning (CL) and its impact on their social and academic skills. In the present study, the researchers utilized a quantitative research tool to collect data from the participants. A 25-item Likert-scale opinionnaire was designed with closed-ended statements to measure five variables laid down by Johnson et al. tabulated into five sections. The survey was administered to 100 Saudi female EFL learners at undergraduate level to measure their attitudes toward the effectiveness of CL. The findings of the study indicate that CL enhances EFL learners’ social skills, maximizes inter-group relations, mastery of the course content and academic achievement. It further develops EFL learners’ individual and group accountability, leadership qualities and decision-making power. It is assumed that EFL learners’ cognitive faculties can be activated and optimum results can be obtained if this interactive strategy is implemented in a structured pattern with a properly designed rubric focusing on the five essential components of CL.

Investigating the Relationship between Emotional Well-being and Grit as Predictors of Saudi EFL Female Students’ Foreign Language Achievement

Research into language learning psychology has shown that personality and psychological traits have influenced learners’ academic outcomes. Nevertheless, the literature contains very little research into the positive psychology of language learners and positive constructs such as grit and well-being. Consequently, this study aimed to examine how the psychological factors of well-being and grit impact the academic achievement of foreign language Saudi female learners concerning their age. Thus, this study attempted to determine the possible statistical relationships between grit, emotional well-being, and foreign language achievement for Saudi female EFL learners. To answer this central research question, the data were obtained via an online survey of 84 Saudi EFL female college-level students. Pearson correlational tests and hierarchical regression tests were used for statistical analyses. The findings revealed that: (1) grit had a positive and significant correlation with well-being levels; 2) grit (perseverance of effort-POE) had a significant and positive relationship with well-being; (3) well-being and grit were significant predictors of participants’ academic achievement, and (4) older EFL learners had higher grit levels than their younger peers. The results imply that understanding the positive psychology of language learners contributes to helping them to achieve academic success. Based on these findings, several pedagogical implications were suggested

Saudi EFL Learners’ Attitudes with Regard to Using Online and Virtual Solutions for Learning English Accents during the Covid-19 Pandemic

This study investigated Saudi EFL learners’ attitudes with regard to using virtual and online solutions for learning English accents. In addition, it investigated the participants’ ability to identify British and American accents after attending virtual lectures about English accents. The participants were 42 female and 39 male learners studying at an English Department and from different academic year levels. The quantitative research method was used by using pre- and post-questionnaires, and post-tests. All the data collection tools were presented in electronic form. The findings of the pre-questionnaire showed both male and female learners prefer the American accent. With regard to the post-questionnaire, both males and females had positive attitudes with regard to using online solutions for learning English accents. The findings related to the post-test showed that both male and female EFL learners were able to distinguish between English accents (both British and American). However, gender was not found to be a statistically significant variable when it came to the participants’ attitudes towards using online solutions for learning English accents. The results of this study led to some recommendations and suggestions aimed at EFL researchers.

On the comparative impact of self-assessment and peer assessment on Iranian male and female EFL learners’ accuracy in speech

The current study tried to explore the effects of assessment types and learners’ gender on EFL learners’ performance in speech accuracy. To this end, 60 homogenous students out of 90 students from Rahe Farda Institute in Bastak in Hormozgan province were selected based on the Quick Oxford Placement Test. The instruments of the study were an Oxford Placement Test, peer and self-assessment questionnaires adopted from Patri and Weir’s Analytic Speaking Criteria. The results were calculated using SPSS version 20. It can be seen that the means were close together, but the mean score for the male students was a little higher than that of the female students. According to the outcomes, assessment types had a significant influence on performance in speech accuracy and peer-assessment was more effective than self-assessment on performance in speech accuracy. Keywords: Peer assessment, self-assessment, speech;

Awareness and Use of Politeness Strategies for Female EFL Learners at the University of Jeddah

This research investigates females’ awareness of politeness and politeness strategies and their use of those strategies in the English department at the University of Jeddah. The researcher used a quantitative method to collect the data. A questionnaire with three sections was designed and distributed to 25 participants at the University of Jeddah. The results of the questionnaire showed that female students have awareness of the importance of politeness and its strategies. It also showed that those students have a higher tendency to use negative politeness strategies compared to the other strategies. The study concludes by suggesting that applying this study in different settings would help to gain a deeper understanding of the use of politeness strategies and would compensate for the body of knowledge.

Metacognitive Listening Comprehension Strategies of Arab English Language Learners

Based on the premise that the higher the metacognitive awareness is, the more successful the learners are or vice versa; this study aimed at categorizing the metacognitive listening comprehension strategies (MLCS) of Arab EFL learners in the Preparatory Year Deanship (PYD), Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University (PSAU), Saudi Arabia. The data of 353 participants (237 males and 116 females) collected through the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) and analysed using descriptive statistical techniques showed that all participants were higher moderate users of all five subscales formed out of 21 strategies. However, their most preferred subscale was problem-solving and the least favourite was mental translation. Directed attention, planning and evaluation, and personal knowledge strategies ranked second, third, and fourth, respectively. Female and male respondents were also found to have preferred similar strategies. In other words, male and female Arab EFL learners did not differ much in employing the MLCS while listening to English texts. The pedagogical implications of being aware of MLCS were also discussed, along with suggestions for students, instructors, and syllabus designers to integrate explicit metacognitive instructions for preparing, planning, managing, monitoring, assessing, and reflecting on listening activities.

The Impact of the Rotation Model of Blended Learning on Creative Writing Skills of the EFL Learners in Pakistan

The study was conducted to investigate the impact of the rotation model of BL on the creative writing skills of EFL learners in the Pakistani context.The main purpose of this experimental research is to enhance the English writing skill of the learners and the instructional approaches used by the teaching faculty members. The paper offers experimental research on EFL learners of four Federal Government Secondary Schools, including male and female. The researcher used pre-test, post-test, lesson plan and scoring rubrics as a tool. The paper discovers that the rotation model of blended learning is more suitable for the English writing skills of EFL learners than the conventional method. The results suggest that the application of the rotation model of blended learning in writing skills helps the learners produce significant and better performance compared to the conventional method of instruction. The findings also indicate that female EFL learners performed better than male EFL learners in the experimental group.

The Attitudes of Iranian Female EFL Learners towards Peer Feedback

This study investigated the Iranian female EFL learners` and teachers` preferences toward peer feedback. The participants of this study were 60 females intermediate EFL learners and 15 female TEFL teachers studying/teaching in different language institutes in Tehran. Learners' attitudes toward peer feedback Questionnaire were administered to determine the learners' attitudes towards peer feedback. In addition, a semi-structured interview was given to the teachers to explore their attitudes towards peer feedback. Furthermore, two independent t-tests were run to see whether there was a statistically significant difference between the efficacy of feedback given by teachers and peers. The study results showed that most participating teachers think peer feedback is fruitful. It also revealed that most students believe that peer feedback is more effective than teacher feedback. In addition, the data analysis result showed a statistically significant difference between the feedback given by teachers and the ones provided by students.

The Effectiveness of Using Color-Coding in Teaching Grammar for Female Saudi EFL Learners in KSA

This study explores the effect of using color-coding teaching techniques on L2 learners’ accuracy of using English articles and quantifiers by employing a mixed method research design. The study aims to answer two research questions. The first research question explores the effect of color-coding grammar instruction on Saudi EFL learners’ accuracy of article and quantifier use. The second question explores the perception of Saudi EFL learners towards color-coding grammar instruction. To answer the first question of the study, a classroom experiment was conducted. To answer the second research question, interviews were conducted. The sample consisted of 82 Saudi female intermediate level students who are preparatory year students and taking general English language courses at the English Language Institute, King Abdulaziz University. The classroom experiment showed that there is a statistical significate in that the experimental group outperformed the control group which suggests that color-coding is effective for teaching English articles and quantifiers. Moreover, it was found that all the participants seem to prefer to learn by using colors more than black and white colors scheme. Based on these findings, it is recommended that English instructional material is better learned when presented or enhanced using color-coding techniques compared with black and white color scheme.

Investigating the Effects of Logical Intelligence-based Activities on the Speaking Ability of Iraqi Male and FemaleEFL Learners: A case Study of Kufa University

Following innovations in intelligence and its basic changes from a unitary concept (IQ) to a multi-dimensional concept, i.e. multiple intelligences and the urgency to design classroom activities based on the second language (L2) learners’ cognitive styles, this study examined the impact of Logical intelligence-based activities on the speaking ability of Iraqi EFL learners. The participants, after being screened as intermediate level students and those whose Logical intelligences were acceptable, comprised of 29 male and 31 female learners. These were divided into experimental and control groups. Data was gathered through one questionnaire and two speaking tests and were analyzed through independent samples t-tests. The analysis of the results revealed the significant effect of Logical intelligence-based activities on Iraqi EFL learners’ speaking ability. Furthermore, the results indicated that in the experimental group there was no significant difference between males and females regarding their speaking ability. The study concludes with suggestions for EFL teachers to consider the role of Logical intelligence (LI) in their classes and provide more effective activities to help students improve their English language speaking ability. Finally, pedagogical implications of the study on how such instruction can impact language education policy in English as a foreign language (EFL) context are mentioned.

Gender-based Differences in Performing Refusal Strategies among Indonesian Intermediate EFL Learners

In this study, 30 male and 30 female Indonesian intermediate EFL learners were investigated to find out the gender differences in performing refusal strategy and the effect of interlocutor status on refusal strategy performed by the selected participants. A qualitative approach was employed in this study by using a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) with 12 scenarios. The data were analyzed into the refusal taxonomy proposed by Beebe et al. (1990). The results showed that the indirect strategy become the most frequently used strategy performed by male and female students. However, the female students have used a variety of indirect strategies slightly greater than did the male students. Moreover, the interlocutor status also affected a similar effect on the refusal strategy performed by the participants. Therefore, there is no significant difference in refusals between male and female students, and the results reveal that EFL students prefer to refuse respectfully to avoid offending others. The researchers proposed that future studies use not only DCT but also other instruments in collecting data in order to acquire complete data to explore pragmatic competency.

A Study on Motivation and Locus of Control among Male and Female EFL Learners

This study attempted to investigate the relationship between EFL learners’ motivation and internal locus of control under the framework of self-determination theory. In addition, the study examined the relation between EFL learners’ age and gender regarding their motivation and internal locus of control. To this end, a convenience sample of 115 university EFL learners both male (n=45) and female (n=70) participated in this study. The instruments applied were two questionnaires: a locus of control questionnaire (Internal Locus of Control Index) and a motivation questionnaire (Laine’s Motivation Questionnaire). The results of the Pearson product-moment correlation demonstrated that there was a significant positive relationship between EFL learners’ motivation and internal locus of control. Additionally, based on the data analysis, EFL learners’ internal locus of control could significantly predict their motivation. Moreover, the findings showed a non-significant correlation between EFL learners’ age and their motivation and internal locus of control. Finally, the findings indicated that there was no significant difference between male and female EFL learners regarding their motivation. This study also shows that motivation and internal locus of control facilitate EFL learners’ sense of self-determination, autonomy, competence and relatedness. The findings of the current study can be specifically worthy of attention for EFL teachers by increasing their awareness of the importance of locus of control and motivation and their role in developing English language learning.

On the Impact of Literature Reading on Iranian Upper-intermediate Male and Female EFL Learners’ Creative Writing Ability

On the Impact of Literature Reading on Iranian Upper-intermediate Male and Female EFL Learners’ Creative Writing Ability