Fundamental English Course Research Articles

Instruction Improvement for Fundamental English Course Based on Assisted Tutoring System

Instruction Improvement for Fundamental English Course Based on Assisted Tutoring System

Exclusion of Fundamental English Language Course: Learners’ and Teachers’ Perspectives in The Context of Barishal University, Bangladesh

Realizing the value of developing learners’ English language skill in the present global context, this study aims at exploring situational variables responsible for the exclusion of Fundamental English language course from the undergraduate syllabuses of Barishal University, Bangladesh and finding out teachers’ and learners’ perception towards this course. This empirical research gathered both quantitative and qualitative data from two important stakeholders of this institution- students and teachers. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaire studies both from students and teachers and qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the teachers. Quantitative data revealed that 89.47% students considered it a useful course as 80.26% students and 66% teachers believed it helped them to develop their communicative skill in English. Though 71.43% teachers opined that learners past achievements in English was not sufficient to pursue higher education, 80.52% student respondents held students already having sufficient command was the main reason behind the exclusion. On the other hand, the main reasons behind exclusion identified by the teachers were the traditional course content, students’ low satisfaction level, credit limitation, no qualitative change in students’ communication skill and limited budget of the authority. However, the qualitative data revealed instead of omission, some timely modifications in the course content and teaching strategies would have been more beneficial for the students. Therefore, this study will provide fresh insights for Barishal University authority and teachers, who are involved in curriculum development, in designing an effective curriculum by considering the situational factors which contributed to the exclusion of Fundamental English course and by addressing learners needs and perceptions regarding this course.

Enhancing English Communication Skills of Thai University Students through Google Apps for Education (GAFE) in a Digital Era during Covid-19 Pandemic

During the covid-19 dilemma, all educators worldwide have been alerted by the alarm clock of urgent online teaching and learning. This leads to a curiosity of which online tools are suitable for the online learning contexts, especially for English classrooms where there are more than just lecturing, but also practicing English skills. Google Applications for Education (GAFE) is one of the teaching alternatives to create collaborative learning and being used as major media in online teaching. Therefore, the aim of this quantitative study is to explore the opinions of Thai university students regarding the use of G Suite Applications namely Google Classroom, Google Meet, Google Docs, and Google Forms, in an English online course during the Covid-19 situation and to indicate how the applications can be integrated with online tasks that promote English skills. The participants of the study were students who enrolled in a fundamental English course which was conducted online at the time of the Covid-19 crisis by the researcher. The data were gathered from an online questionnaire consists of statements that represent key indicators of efficiency and validity of Integrated Technology and the information is interpreted by 5-point Likert Scale (Strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree). The results show that the students have a positive experience using the applications in their online learnings. They agreed that the combinations of this application based on the functions enable them to enhance all English skills and grammatical and lexical knowledge. There is also a guideline that suggests how to apply these applications to create learning activities and tasks in an online setting. All in all, it is believed that this research will be a starting point for English teachers to use Web 2.0 tools, particularly G Suite, to serve the needs of the learners in the future online during this covid-19 crisis.

Students’ Perception towards the Use of Rewards to Enhance Their Learning Behaviours and Self-Development

Rewarding system and reinforcement have often been used in language teaching, and they have been used to help improve students’ academic achievements, and learning competition and control desirable behaviours in the English learning classroom. This exploratory study investigates students’ perceptions of the use of rewards in the classroom for enhancing behaviours and self-development. Participants were 29 mattayom 5 high school students (Grade 11) who studied a fundamental English course in Samut Sakhon Province on the outskirts of Bangkok. The rewarding system was then designed to be used during the 12-week sessions. The course was divided into 3 phases, and each phase lasted for 4 weeks. No rewards were given to students in the first phase, and all rewards were given in the second and third phases. At the end of week 4, 8 and 12, participants were required to write reflective journals to examine their perceptions toward the use of rewards. The journals were analysed via thematic content analysis. The findings revealed that receiving rewards influenced students’ positive emotions - enjoyment, excitement, relaxation and engagement. The findings also showed that they were highly satisfied with the use of rewards which enhanced their self-development since a teacher used them as external goals. Rewards were used as positive reinforcement for learning behaviour. The use of rewards was also used to build more powerful activities in the classroom.

An Analysis of Errors in English Essays Written by Thai Non-English Major Students

Writing is one of the vital skills for EFL learners. However, they still face some difficulties while processing a task. The present study aimed to analyze the errors that occurred on sixty English essays made by Thai University non-English major students who enrolled in the fundamental English course. The Surface Strategy Taxonomy (Dulay, Burt, & Krashen, 1982) was adopted to explore the errors of omission, addition, misformation, and misordering together with those that were excluded in the taxonomy. According to the framework of Surface Strategy Taxonomy, the findings revealed the most common errors involving omission of articles, followed by the addition of the preposition, the omission of the preposition, the omission of the subject, and misformation of subject pronoun, respectively. Then, according to the errors which were out of the stated taxonomy, the errors in subject-verb agreement were the highest detected error, followed by tense errors, ambiguous sentences, a direct translation from L1 to L2, misformation of object pronoun, misformation of using an adjective as the main verb, the addition of verb to be, and addition of conjunction, respectively. By investigating the errors in foreign language writing, the results would trigger foreign language learners to aware of the error of English writing that might occur. And the benefit also goes to the pedagogy in developing the teaching materials together with teaching strategies.

Significant predictors for effectiveness of blended learning in a language course

A wide variety of technologies combined with traditional classroom methods can make learning easier in the digital age. This paper studied undergraduate students’ learning performance and satisfaction after they had studied in a blended setting and investigated if variables of learner characteristics and course features would be predictors for effectiveness in a blended course. Data were gained from 149 students enrolled in a fundamental English course at a private university in Thailand, using a 5-rating scale questionnaire. The results of the study demonstrated that students were satisfied with instructor, interactivity and course design, and the mean score of performance was higher than the criterion. It was found that attitudes toward blended learning, face-to-face support and digital literacy were three variables predicting learning performance while only two variables including face-to-face support and attitudes toward blended learning were two predicting variables of satisfaction with the course. However, workload management and online learning tools quality were not predictors of learning performance and satisfaction with the course. When designing future blended courses, instructors should pay more attention to face-to-face support, attitudes toward blended learning and digital literacy since these factors may have an impact on the course success.

Crossword Puzzles as a Learning Tool For Vocabulary Development

Introduction. Since vocabulary is a key basis on which reading achievement depends, various vocabulary acquisition techniques have become pivotal. Among the many teaching approaches, traditional or otherwise, the use of crossword puzzles seems to offer potential and a solution for the problem of learning vocabulary.Method. This study was conducted to examine the effects of crossword puzzles on vocabulary acquisition of first-year students. Sixty-eight students enrolled in a fundamental English course participated in the study. The instruments were pre-and post-vocabulary tests and a questionnaire surveying the students’ attitudes toward learning.Results. The findings revealed that the students’ overall post-test score was higher than their pre-test score at a significance level of .05. When classifying students into three groups based on their vocabulary proficiency, it was found that students in all groups could improve their vocabulary knowledge at a significance level of .05. The results from Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance test showed that significant differences existed in the scores of the three tests which students gained from the tests and the final exam. The results of the questionnaire also illustrated their very favorable attitudes toward learning vocabulary through crosswords as a whole.Discussion and Conclusion. Crossword puzzles can help students improve vocabulary knowledge, meanwhile incresase their learning motivation.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN MOBILE PHONE USAGE FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING, ATTITUDE, AND PERFORMANCE

Mobile phone technology that has a huge impact on students’ lives in the digital age may offer a new type of learning. The use of effective tool to support learning can be affected by the factor of gender. The current research compared how male and female students perceived mobile phones as a language learning tool, used mobile phones to learn English and developed their learning performance. A five-point rating scale questionnaire was used to collect data from 122 students, comprising 65 females and 57 males. They were enrolled in a fundamental English course where mobile phone usage was integrated in certain language learning tasks with an aim to facilitate learning. The findings demonstrated that male and female students did not differ in their usage, attitudes toward mobile phone uses for language learning as well as their learning performance at a significance level. In addition, the constraints of using mobile phone for learning that students identified in an open-ended question included the small screen and keyboard the most, followed by intrusiveness of SMS background knowledge, and limited memory of mobile phone. The implication for classroom practice was proposed in how mobile phone can be fully incorporated into the instructional process in order to enhance learner engagement. The results of this study are important for teachers when implementing the mobile phone technology in language teaching. They can be used as a guideline of how mobile phone can be fully incorporated into the instructional process in order to enhance learner engagement.

Undergraduates' Attitudes toward the Use of Facebook in Fundamental English Course

Undergraduates' Attitudes toward the Use of Facebook in Fundamental English Course

Students’ Perception And Behavior Of Academic Integrity: A Case Study Of A Writing Forum Activity

The use of online tools such as forum has helped instructors develop courses that are engaging and challenging. However, instructors want to ensure that all students maintain academic integrity when they were assigned to work in an online community. This paper investigated students’ perception and behavior of academic integrity in an online discussion forum. Data were collected from 160 students enrolled in a fundamental English course who were assigned to post and respond to the topics in a forum. A survey was administered to measure how students perceived ‘academic integrity’ as well as to investigate students’ experience of violating academic integrity. A semi-structured interview was further conducted with the involved participants to find out the reasons behind their performance. The findings revealed that students perceived some misconduct actions as not cheating, leading to behaviors of academic dishonesty. As such, students should be informed more about what they can or cannot do in order not to commit academic dishonesty.

The Barriers And Needs Of Online Learners

This study investigated some specific barriers and needs that online students are facing when learning English through WebEx system. It compared students’ barriers and needs with their background including gender, computer ownership, and monthly allowance. It also investigated the relationship among computer aptitude, barriers and needs of online learners. The samples were 211 undergraduate students enrolled in Fundamental English course. The instrument in this study was a questionnaire. Results indicated that the levels of needs and barriers of online learners in general were moderate. There were no statistically significant differences at .05 level found in barriers and needs of online learners as classified by gender, computer ownership, and computer aptitude. As hypothesised, there was a negative relationship between computer aptitude and barriers of online learners at .01 level. Students with high computer aptitude had fewer barriers to learn online than those with low computer aptitude. In addition, there was a positive relationship between barriers and needs of online learners at .01 levels. Students with more barriers were found to have more needs to help them to learn online than those with few barriers. Teachers and institutions can take the results of this study into consideration when developing online courses.

Undergraduates’ Learning Achievement and Attitudes toward Learner Autonomy in a Fundamental English Course Incorporating Additional Facebook Group Activities

This study examined 1) undergraduates’ learning achievement in a fundamental English course that included activities with a Facebook group; 2) the level of students’ attitudes toward learner autonomy; and 3) the level of their attitudes toward Facebook use in an English course. The subjects in the study were first-year undergraduate students that had registered for fundamental English course at King Monkut’s University, North Bangkok (KMUTNB). They were selected using the convenience sampling method, and were organized into an experimental group. Students were provided with additional activities or homework with the Facebook group. The results indicated that the students’ learning achievement was not in accordance with the efficiency criterion and the levels of their attitudes toward learner autonomy during the three phases studied were significantly different. However, the students’ attitudes toward integrating Facebook into an English course were found to be positive. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v18i1-2.10335 Journal of NELTA, Vol 18 No. 1-2, December 2013; 115-132

THE USE OF INTERNET OF EFL LEARNERS

This study investigated attitudes toward using the Internet as a learning tool among students at Bangkok University; students’ expectation of social networks and search engines in learning English, as well as their perceived usefulness. It also examined their use of the Internet for learning English. The samples were 198 undergraduate students enrolled in Fundamental English course at Bangkok University. The instrument in this study was a questionnaire. Results from the study indicated that the levels of attitudes toward using the Internet as a learning tool and Internet use for learning English in general were moderate. The students had positive attitudes toward using the Internet as a learning tool. The Internet was viewed the best method to communicate. There were no statistically significant differences at .05 level found in students’ attitudes toward using the Internet as a learning tool and their use of the Internet for learning English as classified by gender, computer ownership, and monthly allowance. As hypothesised, there was a positive relationship between students’ attitudes toward using the Internet as a learning tool and their use of the Internet for learning English at .01 level. Students having more positive attitudes toward using the Internet as a learning tool would use of the Internet for learning English more than those with less positive attitudes.

Peer Feedback On Facebook: The Use Of Social Networking Websites To Develop Writing Ability Of Undergraduate Students

The current study explores how integrating a social networking website called Facebook with peer feedback in groups supports student learning, investigates the nature of feedback students received on their writing, and examines their attitudes towards the use of Facebook for peer feedback. The study involves 30 undergraduate students who participated in giving and receiving feedback on Facebook with an aim to develop their writing competence over the fundamental English course of one-semester study. Data were collected from the first and final drafts of writing assignments, written peer comments, a questionnaire and an interview. While the document analysis was the main data collection method, a questionnaire and an interview provided crucial information. The results revealed that the nature of students’ feedback focused on content more than grammatical errors. However, quantitative analyses of the peer comments and revisions to the drafts show that feedback given on Facebook had an effect on improving revised drafts. There was statistically significant improvement in the revised drafts which was linked to peer feedback. Finally, the analysis of interviews indicated positive attitude on the use of Facebook for peer feedback in the English class.

Attitudes Of Undergraduate Students Towards An Online English Class

Distance online learning has been regarded as a useful learning method, especially when we faced the big flood crisis in Thailand. To solve the lack of classrooms, our university administrators decided to implement WebEx system as an alternative to continue teaching. And, there were some relevant aspects that we needed to consider. Therefore, this study investigated students’ attitude toward WebEx system. It aimed to examine students’ attitudes toward using WebEx for an online English class, compare students’ attitudes toward WebEx system with their background and investigate the relationship between students’ computer aptitude and their attitudes towards WebEx system. The samples were 211 undergraduate students enrolled in Fundamental English course. The instrument in this study was a questionnaire. Results indicated that the levels of computer aptitude and attitudes towards WebEx system in general were moderate. There were no statistically significant differences at .05 level found in students’ attitudes toward WebEx system as classified by gender, computer ownership, and monthly allowance. As hypothesised, there was a positive relationship between students’ computer aptitude and their attitudes toward WebEx at .01 levels. Students with high computer aptitude were found to have more positive attitudes toward WebEx system than those with low computer aptitude. The research was done during the flood crisis. Thus, it is interesting to find out whether an English online class through WebEx system will be more accepted by users in the future, especially in a normal circumstance after the flood crisis. Nevertheless, the results of this study will give some ideas to institutions that plan to use online learning technologies.

An investigation of university EFL students' attitudes toward peer and teacher feedback

This study aims to investigate university EFL students' attitudes toward two types of revision methods, namely, peer feedback and teacher feedback. Data are collected using students’ self-report questionnaires and face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The samples are 174 undergraduate students enrolled in Fundamental English course. Results show that the students have a neutral attitude toward the two revision methods. Most of the respondents choose teacher feedback as a more effective and preferable revision method. However, peer review should be introduced as an important complementary source of feedback in EFL classrooms because students will receive other benefits such as enhancing their awareness of what makes writing successful, developing critical thinking and encouraging more responsibility for their writing. Key words: English as foreign language (EFL) students’ attitudes, peer feedback, teacher feedback, writing

The Effects Of Using Collaborative Learning To Enhance Students English Speaking Achievement

This experimental study aims to investigate the effects of using collaborative learning to enhance students speaking achievement. The study using a pre-test and post-test design was conducted with 35 undergraduate students enrolled in a fundamental English course at Bangkok University to examine their speaking achievement on an English oral test before and after they had participated in provided instructional tasks based on collaborative learning. To explore the students views on the use of the collaborative learning, all of the students were asked to complete a student diary after finishing each task, fill in a four scale-rating questionnaire and join a semi-structured interview at the end of the course. The data was analyzed by frequency, means, standard deviation, t-test, effect size (Hedges g) and content analysis. The findings reveal the improvement of the students speaking performance and positive feedback from the students on the use of collaborative learning activities. The study provides some pedagogical implications and suggestions for further investigations.

Cognitive Learning Styles Of EFL Students

This study aimed to study cognitive learning styles of EFL students, compare language learning styles among students categorized by their background, and investigate the relationship between English background knowledge and language learning styles. The samples were 210 undergraduate students enrolled in Fundamental English course at Bangkok University. The instrument in this study was a questionnaire. Results indicated that the overall language learning style was at a moderate level. There were significant differences at .05 level found in students’ language learning styles as classified by gender, but no statistically significant differences in terms of field of study. In addition, there was a positive relationship between English background knowledge and language learning styles at .05 level.

Students’ Attitudes Towards a Resourcing Task in a Fundamental English Course at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi

This study surveyed students’ attitudes towards a Resourcing Task in a Fundamental English Course at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT). The study looked at the positive factors that influenced their attitudes and the problems that the students encountered during the process of doing such tasks. The subjects were 4 groups of 135 undergraduate students enrolled in a Fundamental English course, Fundamental English II (LNG 102), at KMUTT. The results showed that most subjects had positive attitudes towards the Resourcing Task. The main factor that motivated them to do the task was they had freedom to do what interested them and work freely outside the classroom. However, it was found that the subjects were not prepared in terms of planning or working skills, and some group members did not assist their groups in finishing the task and did not take responsibility for their own work, so they could not finish their work on time. They also had some conflicts among themselves. For these reasons, it can be said that, if the subjects did something that they were interested in and if they were psychologically and methodologically well prepared for the task, they could complete their task successfully.

A closer look at the relationship of cognitive and metacognitive strategy use to EFL reading achievement test performance

This article reports on an investigation into the relationship of test-takers’ use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to the EFL (English as a foreign language) reading test performance. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative data analyses. The 384 students enrolled in a fundamental English course at a Thai university took an 85-item, multiple-choice reading comprehension achievement test, followed by a cognitive-metacognitive questionnaire on how they thought while completing the test. Eight of these students (4 highly successful and 4 unsuccessful)were selected for retrospective interviews. The results suggested that (1) the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies had a positive relationship to the reading test performance; and (2) highly successful test-takers reported significantly higher metacognitive strategy use than the moderately successful ones who in turn reported higher use of these strategies than the unsuccessful test-takers. Discussion of the findings and implications for further research are articulated.