Iraqi EFL Research Articles

Identifying and producing the persuasive speech act by Iraqi EFL university students: a pragmatic study

This study investigates the identification and the production of the persuasive speech act by the Iraqi university students who study English as EFL. The paper aims at examining the frequencies and the percentages of the students’ correct and incorrect answers. In the theoretical part of the study, the concepts such as pragmatics, speech act theory, speech act of persuasion, techniques of persuasion and its types are clarified briefly. In the practical part, the students’ responses are statistically analyzed. It provides an analysis for the frequencies and the percentages of the correct and incorrect answers in both recognizing and producing each type of the persuasive speech act to know which of these types is the easiest, and which one is the most difficult to be identified and produced. To give a clear idea of the frequencies and percentages of each type, tables and figures are used. A comparison is made between identifying and producing each type of persuasion to recognize whether the performance of identification or production is difficult for the ibn students. Finally, the study reveals the general findings observed through the analysis of the data.

The Impact of phonetic Cues in Connected Speech

The present study is an attempt to shed light on the term 'juncture' in the English Language. The study is theoretically and practically oriented. The problem lies in the fact that Iraq EFL college students may face difficulty in their recognition in continuous speech, the sequences of words uttered without conventional spaces between them. The listener in general and EFL college students in particular how they are understood what the speaker said for instance, I scream and ice cream?
 In this study, the researcher tries to explain how the phonetics cues which help the listeners to understand the difference between the utterances that they have the same phonetic transcription and how the phonetic cues signaling the boundaries between words in connected speech .? The hypotheses of the study (1)The EFL college students can recognize the two similar utterances in connect speech when they listened to them. (2) the EFL college students are not able to recognize the two similar utterances in connected speech. 
 The results show that the first hypothesis is refuted, that the Iraqi EFL College students do face difficulty in discrimination of two identical phonetic transcriptions. The second hypothesis is verified that EFL college students do not aware of how to use phonetics cues.
 In the light of the conclusions arrived at, several pedagogical recommendations and suggestions for teaching English as a foreign language have been made

Iraqi EFL Students' Perspective on Speaking Anxiety: A Pilot Study

The study was aimed at understanding the EFL Iraqi students’ perspective on speaking anxiety. Specifically, the study investigated the causes of speaking anxiety based on data collected for a pilot study involving two Iraqi EFL postgraduate students in Universiti Utara Malaysia. Pseudonyms were used to refer to the participants as Omer and Sarah. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with the participants. The interview sessions took approximately 15-20 minutes for each participant and were videotaped and audiotaped. Semi-structured interviews with 15 questions and probes were used. The results showed that the speaking anxiety experienced by the two Iraqi students were due to the class atmosphere, the teacher’s attitudes, lack of vocabulary, rate of speech, different accent and long conversation, fear of being embarrassed, and fear of failing to perform. The causes identified are rooted in Iraqi status of English as a foreign language and method of teaching English as well as the teacher’s attitude towards their students.

Effects of Using Glogster on Learning Vocabulary among Iraqi EFL Learners

Effects of Using Glogster on Learning Vocabulary among Iraqi EFL Learners

Difficulties of Writing in English Encountered by Iraqi EFL Learners at University LevelDifficulties of Writing in English Encountered by Iraqi EFL Learners at University Level

Difficulties of Writing in English Encountered by Iraqi EFL Learners at University LevelDifficulties of Writing in English Encountered by Iraqi EFL Learners at University Level

An investigation of the relationship between language proficiency and pragmatic competence among Iraqi EFL undergraduate students

This research aims to find out the relationship between language proficiency and pragmatic competence among Iraqi EFL undergraduate students whether the pragmatic competence would be achieved completely by students with different proficiency levels in a pragmatic test. This study also aims to find out the relationship between language proficiency and pragmatic competence to achieve communicative competence perfectly. It also examins whether there is any significant difference between the performance of females and males according to language proficiency and pragmatic competence. The sample was selected randomly which consists of 120 university students including 30 females and 30 males in English translation department at Mosul University, moreover, 30 females and 30 males in English translation department at Tikrit University .The sample vary according to gender and age (freshmen or fresh women and seniors). The researcher uses three levels; beginning, intermediate and advanced which the participants are placed in. These levels are based on the results of the proficiency (TOFEL) test. In addition, the researcher uses pragmatic competence test(MDCT) to examine the extent of participants' pragmatic competence.The data are analyzed statistically by using the SPSS program in order to provide a descriptive analysis. Finally, the results of the study obtained through statistical analyses show that there is no significant relationship between language proficiency and pragmatic competence. This means, the students with different proficiency levels do not perform differently in the pragmatic tests. The male participants performance is not good in pragmatic and proficiency test.

Delving into the Relationships among Iraqi EFL Learners' Willingness to Write, Personality Types and Writing Ability

It is highly conspicuous that learning and reaching high levels of mastery in writing and the psychological factors affecting it has an increasing importance. A common strategy that has attracted more attention in the field is the study of the possible effect of individual differences including willingness to write and personality type on the writing performance of language learners. As in particular no study in Iraq, to our knowledge, has considered such relationships, the present study dissects the links between EFL Iraqi learner’s willingness to write, writing ability and personality types. To homogenize the learners, 200 English university students from Diwaneyah English language departments were selected through convenience sampling and were required to participated in Oxford Placement Test from which 120 EFL language were considered intermediate. The intermediate participants were also asked to fill out two questionnaires of Willingness to write and five-factor personality type and complete a writing task. The Pearson correlation between the scores showed that willingness to write and writing ability are moderately correlated and that from among five sub-factors of personality traits, conscientiousness has the highest positive correlation and Neuroticism has the lowest negative correlation with writing ability. The findings of this study have important implications for teachers and administrators to know how to consider psychological factors to improve students’ writing ability.

The Iraqi EFL Learners’ Ability to Use Speech Acts in MA and Ph.D. Theses Defense

The present study investigates the Iraqi EFL (IEFL) learners’ ability to use Speech Acts (SAs) in MA and Ph.D. theses defense. It aims at analyzing utterances (Us) made by the MA and Ph.D. IEFL learners in terms of SAs, the class to which those SAs belong, the type of tone the learners use, and the errors committed by the learners and their types. It is hypothesized that the learners use the SA of stating more than the other types of SAs in their MA and Ph.D. defence, the learners use directives more than other SA categories, the EFL learners use the falling tone more than the other types of tones. The researchers record the defense of six IEFL learners: four MA and two Ph.D. during the Academic year 2019-2020. They put the recorded data into an orthographic form showing the tone type for each tone unit, and check each recorded utterance (U) for the SA used, the SA category to which the SA belongs, the type of tone used and if any, the types of errors the participants commit. The study concludes that the MA IEFL learners use more SAs than the Ph.D. ones, the most frequently used SA is the SA of asserting, the most frequently used category of SAs is the representative one, and the learners use the falling tone more than the other types of tones.

Investigating Iraqi EFL University Students’ Lexical Knowledge: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study aimed to investigate the development of Iraqi University EFL students’ lexical knowledge at the recognition and production level and to compare their performance concerning the two previous levels. It also aimed to measure their performance concerning the Academic Word List (AWL) proposed by Coxhead (2000). It appears that Iraqi Universities lack empirical evidence to determine students’ lexical knowledge growth regarding the English language, thus, this important aspect of language teaching is in the grey area. Therefore, this study tries to answer the following questions, firstly is to what extent the development of lexical knowledge which Iraqi EFL learners have approximately reached?, and secondly, does the level of lexical knowledge which Iraqi EFLs have gained enable them to use the language properly? The study was conducted by examining 120 undergraduate students from all stages at the Department of English language and Literature/ College of Arts/ Mustansiriyah University. The findings have proved that there is a significant development in lexical knowledge among the four stages of the department and it reached its peak at the fourth stage whose participants have scored higher than other stages in the test. Further, the findings demonstrated that the fourth stage undergraduate participants scored higher in the AWL. The other significant issue that this study has proved is that the incidental vocabulary learning is more efficient than the intentional vocabulary learning.

The Effect of Using Online Automated Feedback on Iraqi EFL Learners’ Writings at University Level

Feedback on students’ assignments can be done in many different ways. Nowadays, the growing number of students at universities has increased the burden on the instructors to give feedback on students’ writings quickly and efficiently. As such, new methods of modern online automated feedback tools, such as Hemingway app and ecree,are used to assist and help instructors. Hence, this research is an explanatory study to examine the effect of using the online automated feedback on some Iraqi EFL learners’ writings at the university level. The study comprised 60 students enrolled in an English language course at the University of Anbar. They were divided randomly into two groups, experimental, and control with 30 students in each. Data were gathered through using pre and post-tests and a questionnaire. The statistical analysis of students’ responses on tests showed that there was a significant improvement of the experimental group students’ writings who received the intervention over the control group students who received the feedback traditionally. Besides, the questionnaire’s data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The obtained results also supported the findings reached from the tests and the students whowere convinced and very satisfied with the online automated feedback. Therefore, in light of these results, the study highly supports the use and the integration of the online automated feedback tools to teachwriting in EFL classrooms.

The Effect of Using Flipped Classroom Model to Improve Iraqi EFL Learners’ Pronunciation in English at University Level

For Iraqi EFL learners who are studying English pronunciation in a traditional instruction method often requires more effort and hard work. Thus, using new methods of teaching such as the flipped classroom model (FCM) is necessary to facilitate learning and improve performance. Hence, this study reports on explanatory research that investigates the effect of using the FCM in the teaching of English pronunciation for Iraqi EFL learners at the university level. The study implemented mixed research methods for data collection in a quasi-experimental analysis. Therefore, two tests were conducted on the assigned groups to measure the effect of the FCM before and after the intervention. Besides, a questionnaire and interviews were used on the experiment group students to collect data about their perceptions of the FCM. The study length (lasted) was 15 weeks and is comprised of 60 students from the department of English, College of Arts at the University of Anbar. The students were divided into two groups, experimental, and control with 30 students in each group. The findings revealed that there was a significant statistical difference between the two groups in favour of the experimental group with better performance, indicating that the FCM has considerably assisted the Iraqi EFL learners to improve their English pronunciation. Moreover, the students expressed their positive feedback and satisfaction on the use of the FCM in their responses to the questionnaire and the interviews. As such, the current study recommends further research to study the effect of applying the FCM in areas and disciplines other than language learning.

Role of Social Media Application in Promoting Motivation and Listening Skill of Iraqi EFL Learners: A Skype-Based Study

This study seeks to investigate the possible role of the social media applications in promoting and developing both the motivation and listening skill of Iraqi EFL learners at an academic environment. As a case study, seventy-majoring English sophomores at Mustansiriya University in Iraq were randomly divided between two groups, experimental and control groups. The pretest and posttest were conducted to the participants of the study based on a curriculum assigned to them to be taught throughout their academic year. A 25-statement designed questionnaire and an 8-statement designed test were distributed among the respondents of the study on the suitable methods of developing and improving motivation and listening skill respectively. Using the Likert Scale, SPSS and LISERAL programs, the statistical data of the two previously mentioned variables were collected. The final findings of the study revealed that male and female participants were highly motivated after receiving their instruction via Skype device. As a result, a significant difference was noted in the listening skill achievement of the testing group participants who subjected to Skype device as a means of teaching. Grounded on these findings, educators can seriously take social media applications in their account in the process of learning language and in developing more language skills.

Analysing Gender Effect on the Speech Act of Suggestion: A Pilot Study

This is a pilot study on analyzing the effect of gender on the speech act of suggestion. It introduces preliminary analyses of whether gender affects the use of suggestion strategies produced and recognized by Iraqi EFL learners. The strategies are dealt with from three perspectives: structural, directness, and politeness. The purpose of this small-scale study is twofold, (1) to explore if there is a relationship between gender and suggestions and (2) to check the validity and reliability and thus the workability of the instruments in question to a large-scale study. To this end, the study sampled voluntarily, on an equal base, 10 male and 10 female fourth-year undergraduates using a name-in-box method. The study used two quantitative-based instruments to elicit suggestions: Written Discourse Completion Task (WDCT) and Multiple-choice Discourse Completion Task (MDCT). Each of which consisted of 12 situations approximating real-like interactions. The corpus was statistically analyzed via SPSS and yielded that gender affected the use of structural and directness strategies of suggestions, but it had no effect on the politeness strategies. Results along with the feedback of the raters, who were chosen to rate the situations, have both proven that the instruments in question are valid and reliable to work on relevant further studies.

A Sociolinguistic Study of Selected Iraqi-Arabic Dialects with Reference to TV Series

The dramatic series on television have a great impact on people’s attitudes towards dialects of language varieties, by relating the conceptual pictures or prototypes presented by series’ characters to those dialects. This study aims to show the influence of TV series on Iraqi university learners’ gender and age in relating positive or negative semantic qualities to their dialects. To this end, 150 Iraqi EFL learners have participated in this study to examine their attitudes towards Baghdadi, Mousli and Nasiriya dialects. The data are collected by Lambert, Hodgson, Gardner, Fillenbaum's (1960) matched guise technique and then labeled by Willmorth’s (1988) subjective reaction test. A structured interview is conducted to support the data analysis. The findings reveal that TV series have an implicit effect on relating a certain image to a certain dialect. Overall, both participants’ genders and ages show that positive semantic qualities are mainly related to Baghdadi dialect and Mousli dialect respectively whereas negative semantic qualities are associated with rural dialect (i.e., Nasiriya dialect).

THE EFFECT OF BRAINSTORMING AS A PRE-WRITING STRATEGY ON IRAQI EFL MA LEARNERS’ WRITING ABILITY

This study aimed to study the impact of the use of brainstorming and its subcategories (listing, questions and answers, sketch) as a pre-writing strategy for Iraqi EFL MA students. Participants in the study were 60 Iraqi EFL MA learners, both male and female. The instruments of the study were the pre-test, the instruction, the post-test and a questionnaire at the end of the treatment to measure the attitude of the students toward teaching. The results of the study showed that there was no meaningful relationship between brainstorming, its subcategories and the written development of EFL learners. Moreover, the results showed that there was no significant difference between men and women in terms of brainstorming usage and the three subcategories.

Cross-Sectional Study of Refusal Speech Act Used by Iraqi Undergraduate Students

This paper is conducted to investigate how Iraqi EFL learners refuse different speech acts across different proficiency levels. It aims to examine the most appropriate strategies used by 2nd year students of English as compared to those of 4th year when refusing their interlocutors' invitation, suggestion, and offer. WDCT questionnaire was used to collect data from 40 Iraqi undergraduate students of English: 20 2nd year and 20 4th year. Adopting Beebe et al.'s (1990) theory of refusal, data collected was analyzed quantitatively using statistical analysis. The findings revealed that the 2nd year students of English were more frequent in using direct refusals than their 4th year counterparts. This means the latter were more aware of using refusals politely than the former. On the other hand, the findings showed that 4th year students more frequent in their use of indirect refusal strategies that the 2nd year students. This indicates that the EFL learners of low proficiency level might not bridge the gap between the pragmalinguistic strategies and the grammatical form of the target language. This means that they were not pragmatically competent of the use of the appropriate pragmalinguistic strategies. This implies that the 2nd year students need to pay more attention to pragmatics and use their refusal strategies appropriately. Thus, the paper recommends conducting further research on the use of refusal speech act in Arabic and English.

Challenges of Implementing Formative Assessment

Formative assessment (FA) is an essential element of EFL classrooms. It allows instructors to amend, adjust, and monitor the process of teaching to reach their desired goals. However, this form of assessment is often overlooked in Iraqi EFL classrooms. As such, this study aims to investigate the challenges of implementing the FA strategies by Iraqi EFL university instructors and their attitudes to improve its use effectively in teaching. The data for this study were gathered through the observation of six EFL classes and semi-structured interviews conducted with three EFL instructors from three different Iraqi universities. The results revealed that there are many challenges for FA strategies implementation. Some of them were related to the EFL instructors’ insufficient knowledge to conduct FA strategies effectively and also their inability to create assessment criteria for their tasks and activities. Moreover, the time-consuming nature of the FA strategies and time limit of the class sessions makes it impossible for the instructors to integrate these strategies into their teaching. Furthermore, the instructors also reported that their students do not have enough knowledge of FA strategies, and cannot be involved in their implementation. Finally, the study recommends that training is needed for the Iraqi EFL instructors especially those with less experience on how to integrate and use FA strategies in the classroom.

An Analysis of Iraqi EFL Fifth Preparatory Pupils Feedback Discourse Interaction

Student-teacher language interaction is given a great environment through classrooms. Previously students had no role in the teaching-learning process, while teachers were the corner stone of the class. Nowadays studies show that students control classes verbally where they lead the talk more than teachers. Student-teacher interaction is expected to be encouraged by teachers, providing not only student-teacher interaction but also student-student interaction in the form of groups or pairs or through assignments or presentations. There has been a great shift in the concept of the process of classroom and interaction. More emphasis is given to language learning as a result of classroom interaction. Changing from silent recipients to active participants in the learning process, learners play an active role in the whole classroom process and subsidize greatly to the language learning process. The study aims at interpreting the learners' interact. This study is limited to the analysis of Iraqi EFL fifth preparatory students when interacting inside their classes. The data chosen to analyze is the transcribed interaction inside the class. It is concluded that pronouns are used by the participants for the purpose of defining roles and providing overt directions. This is made more specific through the use of modals of necessity. Direct imperatives are also used by all the participants but in different degrees.

Interlanguage Pragmatics of Non-Institutional Criticism: A Study of Native and Non-Native Speakers of English

Criticism is inherently impolite and a face-threatening act generally leading to conflicts among interlocutors. It is equally challenging for both native and non-native speakers, and needs pre-planning before performing it. The current research examines the production of non-institutional criticism by Iraqi EFL university learners and American native speakers. More specifically, it explores to what extent Iraqi EFL learners and American native speakers vary in (i) performing criticism, (ii) mitigating criticism, and (iii) their pragmatic choices according to the contextual variables of power and distance. To collect data, a discourse-completion task was used to elicit written data from 20 Iraqi EFL learners and 20 American native speakers. Findings revealed that though both groups regularly used all strategy types, Iraqi EFL learners criticized differently from American speakers. When expressing criticism, Iraqi learners tended to be indirect whereas American speakers tended to be direct. In mitigating their criticism, Iraqi learners were significantly different from American speakers in their use of internal and external modifiers. Furthermore, both groups substantially varied their pragmatic choices according to context. The differences in their pragmatic performance could be attributed to a number of interplaying factors such as EFL learners’ limited linguistic and pragmatic knowledge, the context of learning and L1 pragmatic transfer. Finally, a number of conclusions and pedagogical implications are presented.

EFFECTS OF AN ARABIC ACCENT ON EFL LEARNERS' PRODUCTIVE INTELLIGIBILITY

This study aimed at investigating the effects of a foreign accent, namely the Iraqi Arabic accent, at the segmental level on the productive intelligibility of Iraqi EFL learners. Drawing on an intelligibility pronunciation principle, i.e. Gimsons (2001) Minimum General Intelligibility (MGI), the study applied a mixed-methods research approach to measure the extent to which features of this accent impede the productive intelligibility of these learners and to identify the communication strategies they use to overcome intelligibility failures. To achieve these aims, two data collection tools were used: a production intelligibility test and a speaking task. Although the overall quantitative findings revealed that Iraqi EFL learners foreign-accented English was intelligible at the segmental level, most intelligibility failures were ascribed to the mispronunciation of non-existent English phonemes. The qualitative aspect of the study aimed at identifying the communication strategies Iraqi EFL learners use to overcome these intelligibility failures. In this respect, several strategies were identified, namely the let-it-pass strategy, the replacement strategy, the repetition strategy and the time gaining strategy. The article concludes with the implications and applications of the findings.Corresponding author: Ahmad NazariDOI:: doi.org/10.24071/llt.2020.230201