Female English Learners Research Articles

Effects of English-learning context on English and Korean vowel productions: Focusing on Korean female learners of English

Effects of English-learning context on English and Korean vowel productions: Focusing on Korean female learners of English

Code-switching in Communicationby Male and Female English-majored Students: A Case Study at Two Selected Universities in Binh Duong Province

Nowadays, code-switching is a common and intricate phenomenon. Together with the rise of increasingly bilingual and multilingual communities, code-switching has become a critical linguistic and academic issue. The purposes of this study are to discover the features of code-switching toward male English learners on the impact of their first language and second language, to investigate the features of code-switching toward female English learners on the impact of their language (L1) and second language (L2), and to identify the differences and similarities in code-switching between male and female English learners on the impact of their first language (L1) and second language (L2). A total of 100 students from two universities in Binh Duong province was included in the study. The data were collected quantitatively and qualitatively through a mixed-method study using the tools of a questionnaire (for students) and a semi-structured interview (for teachers and students in charge of the experimental classes). According to the study results, English-majored students could only occasionally switch from L1 to L2 language during discussions and may require more effort to acquire higher IELTS scores. Furthermore, English-majored students rarely convert from their native tongue to another second language and should regard English as the classroom instruction language. However, alternating between native and L2 languages is beneficial.

Japanese female English learners’ two-stage learning from Filipino and Western English teachers to acquire “accent-free” English

This study conducted a questionnaire survey with 100 Japanese women who have taken English lessons in two formats, online and in-person, taught by both Filipino and Western English teachers whose different advantages are featured in Japan's English teaching industry. Analyzing their decisions on what types and modes of lessons to take at which learning stage and why, the study discusses how both expected and unexpected learning patterns and reasonings pertain to global issues of (1) the hierarchical diversification in the global English teacher labor market and (2) the privilege/marginalization of Japanese/Filipino women in the world of neoliberal learning/teaching of English as a tool for upward mobility.

Relationships Between Young/Older Japanese Women and Filipino/Western English Teachers: Age, Gender, Ethnicity and English-Speaker Status

Pre-pandemic studies indicate that East Asian students’ migration to ASEAN Outer Circle nations to study English by no means marks their departure from an idealized anglophone English world. Via research conducted during the pandemic when online learning had become mainstream, this study further explores the significance of such students’ English study with Outer Circle teachers. A questionnaire survey was administered to 200 Japanese female English learners aged 20–59 who have taken English lessons provided by both western and Filipino teachers. The textual data analyses reveal that the respondents’ essentialized appreciation of Filipino teachers’ ‘Asianness’ and their English-as-a-second-language background is caused by their identity as Asian English learners struggling to acquire ‘correct’ English. Meanwhile, quantitative analyses identify the presence of many Japanese women who study English as a hobby irrespective of their age and teachers’ ethnicity. This finding provides an additional insight about Japanese female English learners who are well discussed in light of marginalized young Japanese women's longing for western men from/in the idealized West. Moreover, based on the statistical analysis of age differences in reasons for taking private English lessons and concern about teachers’ accent, this study discusses a possible impact of teacher–student age/gender matching on young or mature Japanese female English learners’ perceptions about lessons provided by predominantly young Filipino women or western men. It concludes with suggestions for future research that examines the significance of learning English from Filipino and other Outer Circle English teachers amid the pervasive native English norms tied to Inner Circle English teachers.

A Study of Use of Reading Strategies by Adult Learners of English in Pakistan

Strategic reading has been recognized as an important and critical skill that ensures better reading comprehension abilities. It is evident from Second Language (L2) reading research that less skilled readers are unaware of the use and importance of reading strategies. English is the official language of Pakistan and is used in almost every field of life. Despite this wide use of English, English language teaching and learning in Pakistan is unsatisfactory. This study explored the use of reading strategies by undergraduate and graduate-level learners of English in Pakistan. A Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) was used to collect data. Fifty undergraduate-level and fifty graduate-level learners participated in the study. Results of the current study showed that almost all the learners frequently used almost all the reading strategies. No statistically significant difference in the use of reading strategies was found between undergraduate and graduate-level learners. Support reading strategies were preferred more by undergraduate-level learners, and graduate-level learners preferred global reading strategies. No statistically significant difference was found between the male and female learners of English in terms of the use of reading strategies.

Lived narratives: Female investment and identity negotiation in learning English in rural Pakistan

English is the key to education and jobs in Pakistan. Female students do not get as many opportunities as males do in rural Pakistan for learning English. This narrative inquiry was conducted to understand the experiences of female learners of English. Investment and identity negotiation theory was employed as a theoretical framework to make sense of their lived narratives. Thematic narrative analysis was used to analyze and extract themes from the qualitative data. The study found that female learners heavily invested physically, socially and financially to learn English due to its increasing significance in both personal and professional fields of life. Moreover, they continuously negotiated their identities during their learning English process. This narrative inquiry provides several pedagogical and practical implications for female learners of English in Pakistan and alike contexts.

The Interrelationships of Iranian EFL Learners' Reflective Thinking, Ego State, and Learning Style

Introduction: Individual differences arise from several factors like affect, behavior, reflective thinking, cognition, and motivation which can crucially bring differences among learners. Ego state and learning style are among these differences. The present study aimed to investigate the interrelationships of Iranian EFL learners’ reflective thinking, ego state, and learning style. Methodology: To conduct the study, 200 male and female English learners from different universities in Mashhad, Iran, were selected based on convenience sampling. The instruments of the study were three questionnaires, namely Reflective Thinking Questionnaire (Kember et al., 2000), Learning Style Questionnaire (Honey & Mumford, 1986b), and Ego State Questionnaire (Hay, 1996). Results: The analysis of data revealed that the proposed model had a perfect fit with the empirical data after modification. Moreover, the results of the Pearson correlation indicated that total learning style correlated positively and significantly with students’ reflective thinking. Moreover, learning style correlated positively and significantly with internal parent and internal adult. Conclusion: The findings indicated that internal adult is a significant positive predictor of all four learning styles.

The effects of reference of comparison (self-referential vs. normative) and regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) feedback on EFL learners’ willingness to communicate

This article reports on a mixed methods study that examined the effect of reference of comparison (self-referential vs. normative) and regulatory focus (promotion-focused vs. prevention-focused) on willingness to communicate (WTC) among learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). One hundred female English learners were randomly assigned to the self-referential, normative, prevention, promotion, and control feedback groups. They received different types of feedback for 15 sessions. The students were tested for their WTC, anxiety and communication competence before and after the intervention. The results of MANOVA and paired samples comparisons indicated that self-referential, normative, and promotion feedback positively improved WTC and communication competence and decreased anxiety. However, prevention feedback decreased WTC and communication competence and increased anxiety. Follow-up interview data indicated that feedback influenced WTC by providing learning checks or affecting learners’ self-confidence, reducing anxiety, fostering motivation, and decreasing peer pressure. Finally, it was suggested that teachers should mainly present feedback to emphasize task accomplishments and growth and to inform the students about their progress over time.

Returning to our SELF, Cultivating Transformative Learning: Rumi’s Stories in English Classes

English globalization intermingled with cultural and linguistic imperialism encompasses hegemonic influences, endeavoring to stealthily spread ideologies and values of the West into local cultures. English Language Teaching (ELT) contexts are academic spheres in which such domineering forces are tangibly conceived as the curriculum and English materials can become footpaths of this monopoly whereby students and teachers (sub) consciously capitulate to oppressive colonization. However, a focus on nurturing and promoting local enriching cultures and classical literature can be a step which counterbalances such furtive movements and releases students’ nomadic potentiality in learning. As such, in this participatory action research, the researcher attempts to transcend the confines of top-down imposed curricula and embrace a non-linear curriculum inspired by Rumi’s stories and philosophies. The participants involved 18 female English learners of a private language institute at advanced level who for three semesters participated in this transformative journey. Thematic analysis of triangulated data gathered through participant observation, semi-structured interview, field notes, and journaling unveiled themes illuminating students’ de-marginalization from governing ideologies, their roles as insiders within the curriculum, evolution of morality, spirituality, and wisdom, and critical awareness and reflective thinking growth.

Does High Anxiety Decrease Motivation for Learning English as a Foreign Language?

This study investigates the relationship between the level of foreign language anxiety experienced by Saudi female English learners at a Saudi university and the level of their motivation in learning English as a foreign language. The participants were 40 female second-year university students. The instruments the researchers used to gather the data were two questionnaires: Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope’s (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and Gardner’s (2006) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). The data were analyzed by calculating the percentages of students’ responses to each item. The findings revealed that Saudi female English learners at King Saud University experienced high levels of foreign language anxiety. The findings also revealed that the learners were highly motivated to learn English. This demonstrates that a high level of motivation to learn English does not prevent the occurrence of a significant level of anxiety. That is, motivation can control foreign language anxiety and assist anxious learners in their determination to learn English.

Vernacular mobile literacies: Multimodality, creativity and cultural identity

AbstractThis paper focuses on how advanced learners of English at a woman’s college in Saudi Arabia use Snapchat to communicate with their classmates. It examines not just the way the English language becomes a meaning making resource in these exchanges, but also how English is strategically mixed with photos, drawings, emoji’s, and other languages to create meanings, identities, and relationships. The theoretical framework used to understand these strategies is adopted from ‘geosemiotics’, an approach to discourse that focuses on how meanings (as well as identities and relationships) are created through the ways semiotic resources are arranged in physical space. The analysis highlights how Snapchat creates opportunities for female learners of English in Saudi Arabia to open up new ‘cultural spaces’, and how these spaces can facilitate their language learning. At the same time, it is argued, these new ‘cultural spaces’ are contingent on the various creative ways these learners make use ofphysical space. Implications for understanding the relationship between creativity and translanguaging are discussed.

Learner Autonomy and Vocabulary Development for Female Learners of English as a Foreign Language: Teachers’ Perspectives

The research reported here represents a qualitative case study that engaged teachers as participants over a prolonged period of time, examining their teaching practices and agentive roles in the language development of their students. This study draws on a social constructivist framework and transformative learning theory, both of which approach the learner as an agentive self and in the sociocultural context of language learning. Data collection took place at an all-female university in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It includes face-to-face semistructured interviews of six teachers from two different classrooms, classroom observations (of two of the six teachers), and audio recordings of instructional practices. The findings reveal that the implementation of autonomous learning is a significant factor in students’ intrinsic engagement and motivation to develop vocabulary knowledge. This study aims to offer guidance to language teachers and researchers who advocate for learner autonomy and innovative classroom practices. It recommends new strategies for cultivating learner autonomy in English education, both in the KSA classroom and elsewhere.

The Effect of Word Type on the L1 Support for L2 Vocabulary Learning: The Case of Arab EFL Learners

There is strong agreement in the literature that the first language (L1) supports second language (L2) vocabulary learning particularly at early stages of learning. The present study examines the influence of word type on the use of L1 language to support L2 vocabulary learning. To this end, 130 Arabic-speaking tertiary elementary female learners of English were taught 24 unfamiliar English words in 4 sessions over 4 weeks. The participants were divided into three groups; (1) a group where target words were taught with the use of translation equivalents, (2) a group taught with L2-only-definitions and (3) a control group who received no special treatment. Comparing the participants’ performance in pre-, immediate post- and delayed post-tests showed that the two experimental groups outperformed the control group, reflecting the benefit of the treatment. The results also showed greater vocabulary gains in terms of long-term retrieval for L1 use, but did not show consistent patterns for the special benefit of L1 in terms of specific word types. The results are interpreted in light of the existing literature and relevant bilingual lexicon models. Pedagogical implications and suggested research directions are also proposed.

Using Twitter as an ELT Tool in the Saudi EFL Context

The present study aims at investigating English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Saudi students’ adaption of Twitter and utilizing it as an English language learning tool and the different characteristics of each adopter category using Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI). It targets both the foundation year Saudi female university students studying EFL at the English Language Institute (ELI) at King Abdul Aziz University (KAU) as well as the male and female Saudi students studying English at English language institutes abroad. The sample will consist of 50 female preparatory year students (PYS) studying EFL at the ELI. Their ages will range between the ages of 18 and 21 years old and will all be likely to come from an Arab origin. Furthermore, the study will include 50 male and female English learners who are studying abroad. This quantitative study uses a three parts questionnaire. The first part will request demographic information from participants such as age, years of experiences, academic ranking, and the level they are studying in the students' case. In the second section, participants were asked to choose the response that describes the degree to which they use the innovation (Twitter). In the last section, participants were asked to read 23 statements that measure the different characteristics of each adopter category which influence the user intention and behavior. The 23 statements were based on the five perceived attributes of innovations derived by Rogers (2003). A five-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly agrees to strongly disagree was applied to assess the perceived attributes of Twitter. The researcher aims at identifying valuable insights on how much the social network website Twitter is accepted and used as a learning tool for Saudi language learners. Therefore, based on the findings of this study, researchers in the same field may expand the study by moving to further experimental research that maybe carried out to investigate the effectiveness of Twitter as a teaching tool in the ELI classroom at KAU and other language institutes outside the Kingdom.

Pronunciation Errors of Letter “G” in English Language Made by Saudi Undergraduate Students

The primary goal of the present study is to identify the problematic areas in the pronunciation of the letter “g” in English written words made by Saudi female learners of English as a foreign language, and the reasons for the weakness associated with mispronunciation of English written words which contain this letter. The population of the study was the female students (90 students) and their English language teachers (12 teachers) at the Qassim University during the academic year (2014-2015). There were two types of instruments used in this study. The first was a pronunciation test for the student participants in order to investigate the problematic areas of pronouncing “g” in different environments in different words; and the second a questionnaire for the teacher participants to provide comprehensive data about the causes of these errors of pronouncing “g” committed by EFL female students at Qassim University. Ninety female students were included for the pronunciation test and 12 teachers were asked to answer the questionnaire. Simple percentage was used for analyzing the data of recording words (pronunciation test). Results of the students’ recording words revealed that the participants mispronounced “g” before nasals (68%). According to the results of the teachers’ responses to the questionnaire suggested many factors that can cause difficulties for students in terms of pronouncing “g” in English written words. According to them, these difficulties are concerned with reading difficulties, nonstandard spellings, letters that follow “g” (many of them may become combinations), loan words, orthography (no correspondence between the English alphabets and their sounds). The researcher offers recommendations that might help teachers and students to overcome and reduce these mispronunciations of this letter in English written words.

The Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Motivational Strategies

Among the models presented about motivation in educational setting that of Dornyei (2001) has appealed more to language teaching practitioners. Another strand of research , which falls within the realm of learner variables, is the concept of intelligence. The mode of Multiple Intelligences , put forward by Gardner (1983), has revolutionized our understanding of the traditional intelligence quotient. In this study , attempt was made to find how Iranian learners are different or similar regarding the way motivation is handled by teachers in the classroom and the probable effect of their multiple intelligences on learning English as a foreign language. The participants were 100 Iranian female English learners , who were in the final year of three-year secondary school education between 17 to 18 years of age. The participants’ intelligence and motivational strategies information was collected through a multiple intelligences questionnaire and a motivational strategies questionnaire. It was found that verbal- linguistic intelligence was positively and significantly correlated with some motivational strategies. Furthermore , it was concluded that some specific motivational strategies were significantly preferred by the language learners. Keywords: Motivational strategies; Intelligences; Multiple Intelligence.

Pedagogical Efficiency of Teacher-led Whole-class Scaffolding as a Pre-writing Task

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) can provide learners with more authentic communicative activities, particularly in foreign language context, where learners may experience few such opportunities. From the perspective of sociocultural theory (SCT), scaffolding is a process of supportive interaction that occurs when learners are communicating with each other. There are situations in which the mediation of the teacher as an expert is necessary in the scaffolding process to advance the learners’ zone of proximal development. The present study sought to extend the scope of TBLT through SCT. More specifically, it was an attempt to investigate the effects of teacher-led whole-class scaffolding as pre-task on the writing proficiency of EFL learners. To this end, fifty Iranian female learners of English at intermediate level of general English proficiency took part in the study which was based on post-test only equivalent groups design. The participants were asked to evaluate some ELT textbooks based on a checklist and write a report respectively. The control group did not receive any pre-task activities; however, the experimental group participated in scaffolding as a pre-task. The results revealed that the trial of pre-task improved the writing performance in such areas as content, organization, grammar, and vocabulary.

English mystique?

Bilingualism in Japan is imagined and constructed in close relation to gender. While erotic Occidentalism - namely, Japanese women’s idolization, or akogare, toward English, the West, and Caucasian men - has often been focused on, this critical discourse analysis aims to shed light on the more complex dynamics entailed in this issue. An analysis of popular publications reveals, on the one hand, a shared plot in which both celebrity and non-celebrity Japanese women experience dramatic alteration through learning English. On the other hand, the magazines are multifaceted and filled with mixed, conflicting messages. Some Japanese women featured in the media expose disillusioning realities of the supposedly romantic English world – some mockingly and others inadvertently. By showing that the gendered bilingualism in Japan involves not only Occidentalist/sexist affects but also alternative and subversive voices, this analysis illuminates the multiple subject positions available to female English learners in Japan.

The Most and Least Frequent Vocabulary Learning Strategies of High School English Language Learners

This study emphasized the most and least frequent vocabulary learning strategies that English language teachers encourage students to use, and the strategies that students actually use to build their vocabulary. Finding out whether the students’ most used strategies were teacher-encouraged or independently-learned was another point of interest. The participants included 20 male and 23 female learners of English of ages 18 to 22, all of them students in the Arts program at a Southern Congolese high school. They completed a Likert-scale questionnaire of 34 statements and four short-answer questions. Statistical and content analysis methods were employed. The study revealed contextual guessing and dictionary use to be the most frequently encouraged and used strategies, whereas pronunciation and flashcards were the least frequently encouraged and used. These strategies showed no significant difference between the teacher-encouraged and the student-used strategies, which provided evidence about the important role that language teachers play in students’ learning in general, and in strategy in particular. Furthermore, the majority of participants attributed their frequently-used strategies to their teachers’ practices and advice. Further discussion stresses the potential reasons why pronunciation receives less attention.

The Comparison between Multiple-choice (MC) and Multiple True-false (MTF) Test Formats in Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Learning

One of the prominent topics in language learning is assessment. Assessment should be considered as a means of getting information rather than making learners feel stressed. The more we know about the students, the clearer the picture we have about their achievement. The aim of this paper was to compare the Multiple-Choice (MC) item format with the Multiple True-False (MTF) item format in teaching intermediate adult students. What we exactly tried to do was checking that whether there was a difference between the reliability estimates of the tests with the two different formats or not. The participants of this study were twenty six EFL intermediate female English learners,aged between 15 and 19, who were chosen randomly. They took two versions of the same test of English vocabulary. The data was statistically analyzed. Results of the statistical analysis revealed that there was a significant difference in the performance of students with different test formats in respect of reliability coefficient.