Level Of Language Proficiency Research Articles

Upgrading English Language Proficiency and Providing Optimum Nursing Care for Cardiac Patients: Perceptions of Non-native Nurses

Linguistic competence and effective communication are essential for providing optimum care for patients. Cardiac care is among the high-alert settings that require highly proficient nurses to be attentive and provide the best possible care for patients with heart problems. This research aims to measure the perceptions of non-native nurses towards the correlation between upgrading their English language proficiency level and providing optimum nursing care for cardiac patients. To this end, a mixed-method research design, qualitative and quantitative, was adopted in the study. First, a questionnaire was constructed and disseminated to 210 Egyptian nurses working at the Magdi Yacoub Foundation (MYF) in Aswan, Egypt. Yet, 127 nurses responded to the questionnaire. Secondly, to ensure the reliability of the research results, observation and interviews with a selected number of questionnaire takers were used as data collection instruments. Findings revealed that upgrading the English language proficiency level is believed to contribute to enhancing the performance of cardiac care nurses, their professionalism, and their learning autonomy. In addition, a taxonomy of the nurses’ uses of English for Specific Purposes has been constructed during the study. The proposed taxonomy was constructed from the data from the questionnaire, the interview, and the observation. It can be used to identify nurses’ needs when designing English-for-nurses courses. It is recommended that further research is conducted to investigate the correlation between the level of English language proficiency and the performance of nurses in other medical sub-domains.

Proposing a Questionnaire for Assessing English Proficiency Among Japanese Medical Students: Current Perspectives and a Pilot Survey.

Background Japanese medical schools have made advances in terms of English and Medical English teaching in the past decade, in keeping with their importance in medical communication and research. English skills and proficiency levels differ across different institutions due to the variable adoption of general teaching requirements. A limitation in assessing English proficiency among Japanese medical students continues to exist due to the lack of standardized testing requirements. Methods A new questionnaire was developed by faculty members and medical students. Areas of importance were: demographics, proficiency and confidence ratings, history of learning and usage, duration of usage, perceived importance, and improvement goals. The final draft of the constructed questionnaire contained 21 questions in total. The questionnaire was administered over a three-month period in incremental order of enrollment through a digital online platform. Results A total of 133 students, 64 (48.1%) males and 69 (51.9%) females, participated. The average age was 23.7 ± 4.8 years. Based on an incremental Likert scale, respondents rated themselves as 1.0 ± 0.8 for English proficiency and 0.5 ± 0.7 for Medical English proficiency. The confidence level for English medical discussions was 0.2 ± 0.6 on a similar scale. Students on average attended 18.0 ± 30.0 classes per year and presented medical materials in English around 1.7 ± 1.7 times in total. The English language was used for 2.1 ± 6.3 hours per week in personal settings and 0.5 ± 1.7 hours per week in professional settings. Conclusions The proposed questionnaire was able to give valuable information about language skills and proficiency levels, but would require an incentive for improved participation. The pilot analysis showed that English and Medical English proficiency levels remain low with limited opportunities for using English in some areas within Japan. It may be beneficial to provide Japanese medical students with more occasions where they can use or practice their English skills.

A neural mechanism of cognitive reserve: The case of bilingualism

Cognitive Reserve (CR) refers to the preservation of cognitive function in the face of age- or disease-related neuroanatomical decline. While bilingualism has been shown to contribute to CR, the extent to which, and what particular aspect of, second language experience contributes to CR are debated, and the underlying neural mechanism(s) unknown. Intrinsic functional connectivity reflects experience-dependent neuroplasticity that occurs across timescales ranging from minutes to decades, and may be a neural mechanism underlying CR. To test this hypothesis, we used voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional connectivity analyses of MRI data to compare structural and functional brain integrity between monolingual and bilingual older adults, matched on cognitive performance, and across levels of second language proficiency measured as a continuous variable. Bilingualism, and degree of second language proficiency specifically, were associated with lower gray matter integrity in a hub of the default mode network – a region that is particularly vulnerable to decline in aging and dementia – but preserved intrinsic functional network organization. Bilingualism moderated the association between neuroanatomical differences and cognitive decline, such that lower gray matter integrity was associated with lower executive function in monolinguals, but not bilinguals. Intrinsic functional network integrity predicted executive function when controlling for group differences in gray matter integrity and language status. Our findings confirm that lifelong bilingualism is a CR factor, as bilingual older adults performed just as well as their monolingual peers on tasks of executive function, despite showing signs of more advanced neuroanatomical aging, and that this is a consequence of preserved intrinsic functional network organization.

The impact of L2 learners’ altruistic teaching on their task engagement in English essay writing

The purpose of the present analysis was to investigate the impact of altruistic teaching, i.e., teaching with self-less motives (a concept in positive psychology), on the students' task engagement in English essay writing. To this end, the present study adopted two designs, i.e., an experimental (comparison group, pretest-posttest) design to investigate if the learners' altruistic teaching affects their task engagement statistically significantly in the short and long run by using a task engagement questionnaire, and a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design to explore how it affects their task engagement by using reflective frames and semi-structured interviews. The participants were 122 Iranian EFL learners with an intermediate level of English language proficiency. The results of quantitative and qualitative analyses showed that altruistic teaching enhances the students’ task engagement in the short and long run by creating in them a sense of enjoyment, self-verification, responsibility, bonding and group learning, less anxiety, self-confidence, progress in learning, finding out about strengths and weaknesses, and more enthusiasm to learn. The paper ends with theoretical and pedagogical implications for research and practice in second language acquisition (SLA).

Migrant-Native Disparities in Obstetric Neuraxial Analgesia Use: The Role of Host-Country Language Proficiency.

Neuraxial analgesia (NA) is the most effective modality in managing labor pain with widespread availability in high-income countries. Previous research has reported a differential obstetric NA use among migrant and native women, but the contribution of language barriers is not well understood. We aimed to investigate whether host-country language proficiency among migrant women influences NA use and satisfaction with pain management during labor, when compared to natives. We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected from 1024 native and 1111 migrant women who had singleton vaginal deliveries between 2017 and 2019 and were enrolled in the nationwide Portuguese baMBINO prospective cohort study. Obstetric NA use, satisfaction with labor pain management, and migrants' Portuguese language proficiency were self-reported. Data were analyzed using robust multilevel Poisson regression, adjusted for maternal region of birth (characterized by the Human Development Index), age, and education. Overall, 84.4% of native women gave birth with NA, compared to 81.6%, 71.3%, and 56.9% of migrant women with full, intermediate, and limited language proficiency, respectively. Compared to native women, migrants with intermediate (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] = 0.91 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.82-0.99]) and limited (aRR = 0.73 [95% CI, 0.56-0.94]) proficiency were less likely to receive NA. However, no significant differences were observed in pain management satisfaction by language proficiency level. Compared to native women, we observed a differential obstetric NA use across migrant women with different host-country language proficiency levels in Portugal, without affecting satisfaction with labor pain management. Although defining the mechanisms underlying NA use discrepancies requires further research, our findings support systematically evaluating pregnant migrant women's linguistic skills and ensuring their access to adequate obstetric analgesia-related information and interpretation services.

The Issue of Readability in the Chilean EFL Textbook

At the end of high school in Chile, it is expected that students achieve a B1 English language proficiency level. In the present article, we measure the level of readability of the texts used in the new EFL Chilean textbook and compare it with the readability level of the texts used in the Cambridge B1 preliminary exam to check its appropriacy. The results reveal that, even though the classic readability indices show a similar level of difficulty in the texts, the index RDL2, which is specific for second language learning, shows that there is a statistically significant difference. This finding indicates that the texts in the Chilean EFL textbook are more difficult to read than the ones students are supposed to read. Implications at a local and international level are then shared.

Correspondence Between the Textbooks of the Intensive English Program and Students’ Language Proficiency at King Khalid University

This study aims to identify the correspondence between the textbooks of the Intensive English Program and students’ language proficiency at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia. In addition, it explores the differences in the level of language proficiency of the students based on the variables of gender and course specialization. A test was constructed to measure the level of language proficiency, and valid responses from 408 male and female students were collected. The results demonstrated the correspondence between the textbooks of the Intensive English Program and students’ language proficiency. Moreover, the findings revealed that there were no statistically significant differences attributed to the variables of gender and course specialization. Based on the results, the following recommendations to reinforce the program are provided: conduct placement tests for students to accommodate them in the appropriate levels of language proficiency and prescribe textbooks that are suitable for all language levels from beginners to advanced.

PROPOSED STANDARD OF ARABIC READING PROFICIENCY BASED ON THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGE (CEFR) LEVELS A1 AND A2

The academic requirement for students pursuing a major in Arabic language and Islamic studies, among other requirements, demand their proficiency in the comprehension of Arabic literary sources. Past research suggest room for improvement in students proficiency in Arabic literacy. The issue is also encountered by students ofKolejUniversiti Islam Perlis (KUIPs). Therefore, the issue pertains to whether the need for precise criteria in assessing students language competency, specifically their competence in reading Arabic texts, is the fundamental factor contributing to this problem. Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive investigation aimed at establishing a standardised framework for assessing Arabic reading competency. This study aims to discover the fundamental factors contributing to students shortcomings in this area and develop effective strategies to address these challenges. This study aims to present a standardised framework for assessing Arabic reading competency, explicitly targeting the A1 and A2 levels of the Common European Framework of Reference based on Languages (CEFR). The CEFR is widely recognised as a comprehensive framework for evaluating language skill levels. This study utilises qualitative methods, specifically a literature review and semi-structured interviews, to gather primary data. The main sources of primary data include: 1. relevant studies on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in general, 2. the CEFR in the context of Malaysia, and 3. the implementation of the CEFR in the Arabic curriculum. Additionally, secondary references such as written books and articles are used. The collected data were analysed employing both inductive and deductive approaches. The results suggest that utilising the CEFR language proficiency level standards during the A1 and A2 phases can be a valuable tool to enhance Arabic reading skills and to support ongoing progress. The study also proposes outlining CEFR-based Arabic reading competence requirements at the A1 and A2 levels. This study recommends the need for further research to obtain expert validation to enhance the proposed standards. Furthermore, it is suggested by the study that further investigation should be undertaken to formulate a proposal of reading proficiency criteria within the elementary levels (B1 and B2) and the advanced levels (C1 and C2).

Status of Memory Strategies Use among Medical English Students

High exchange of medical information worldwide requires students to improve their medical English language skills to compete globally. However, it is known that language skills cannot be used effectively without sufficient vocabulary knowledge. In medical English vocabulary learning, students often feel overwhelmed and lack motivation in learning this type of lexis. Research shows that the difficulty of medical English lies in vocabulary learning although the use of strategies can significantly improve the level of vocabulary memorization. In view of this, this study aimed to investigate medical English students’ use of memory strategies in vocabulary learning, using a questionnaire survey. A total of 500 medical undergraduates from Ningxia Medical University in China were selected as participants. The findings show that Chinese medical students apply memory strategies at an average level. The most frequently used memory strategy by Chinese medical English students is the repetition strategy, while the least frequently used is keyword strategy. Significant differences were found between male and female students’ use of spelling, chunking, repetition and use of word lists and association strategies. There are also significant differences in comprehensive use of strategies among students of different language proficiency levels. Thus, it is suggested that teachers invest more time in teaching memory strategies and students practice medical English vocabulary more frequently in a natural environment to improve their vocabulary levels and English proficiency.

Kajian Psikolinguistik dalam Penguasaan Kosa Kata Bahasa Jepang Mahasiswa Program Studi Sastra Jepang Universitas Udayana

Psycholinguistics is related to three things, namely language comprehension, language production, and language acquisition. One of the goals of language acquisition studies is to facilitate the process of language acquisition, including foreign languages, for example Japanese. The dimension of acquiring Japanese is closely related to learning Japanese and mastering it. One of the basic things in mastering Japanese is vocabulary mastery. Vocabulary mastery reflects mastery of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. This study describes an evaluation of students' Japanese vocabulary mastery, as well as the potential for mastery associated with the six dimensions of language acquisition by Klein (1986).
 The main subjects of this research are all active students of the Japanese study program at Udayana University starting from the 2018 to 2021 class, totaling 258 people. Data were collected by the test method, where students worked on questions about knowledge of Japanese vocabulary which included competency components according to international standards of Japanese language skills, namely on the fulfillment of eight indicators of vocabulary knowledge tested, namely: reading Kanji; write Kanji characters; determine vocabulary according to context; determine synonyms; use words in sentences; determine the correct form of the word; compose sentences; and determine connecting words in a discourse. 
 Data were analyzed descriptively qualitatively. The research resulted in an evaluation that the level of students' Japanese language proficiency was 54%. It is necessary to hold reading and writing exercises as a follow-up step. Regarding the potential for students' mastery of Japanese, the propensity and access factors are very important to improve.

Implementing Active Reading Strategies in Virtual Settings: High School Students’ Experience During Remote Learning

This quantitative study aimed to analyze the impact of using active reading strategies on students’ learning in virtual settings during remote learning, which has special relevance after the Covid-19 pandemic. The participants included 273 English as a foreign language (EFL) students from Ecuadorian high schools located in 22 provinces. The age range of the participants was 12 to 14 years, and their language proficiency level aligned with the A1 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). A quasi-experimental design was employed. A pre-test, post-test, and online survey were administered to collect data. Furthermore, four reading workshops based on active reading strategies, such as predicting, using graphic organizers, summarizing, brainstorming, and scanning, were offered through Zoom meetings during the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings demonstrate that active EFL reading strategy implementation in virtual settings improved students’ reading skills. Students perceived that the strategies used were motivating and enhanced their reading comprehension during remote learning instruction. Certainly, the effective implementation of active reading strategies and inspirational stories during remote learning instruction motivated students to continue fostering their reading habits in the future.

Numeral comprehension in children with different levels of language proficiency

Numeral comprehension in children with different levels of language proficiency

Speech etiquette situation of apology in classes of Russian as a foreign language (on the example of Asya Petrova's story «Sorry, Fool»)

The paper proposes to pay attention to the study of speech situation of apology by foreign students on the example of modern fiction text analysis. Since reading as a kind of speech activity is connected with the cognitive function of the language, the proper selection of texts in the classes of Russian as a foreign language contributes to the application of the factual information contained in them in practice, as well as increasing linguocountryological competence of students. The research updates the role of speech etiquette in the aspect of linguo-country studies and raises the problem of finding relevant and communicatively valuable material for teaching, the selection of such texts that would be available for intercultural discussion. Choosing the story Sorry, Fool by the childrens writer Asya Petrova, the authors describe the advantage of modern childrens literature over other sources and aim to create productive intercultural communication in the classroom. Analyzing the situation of an apology at advanced levels of language proficiency, the authors consider an apology as a communicatively defined event that takes into account contemporary realities and extra-linguistic factors. A system of exercises and questions, including the traditional complex of text tasks: pre-textual, by-textual and post-textual exercises aimed at the formation of the behavior culture and the development of oral speech, is proposed for the formation of students communicative skills. The research resulted in the testing of the presented work in practical classes with foreign students on topics related to speech etiquette and human speech culture. The authors note that the affective reading on the example of Asya Petrovas story Sorry, Fool proved to be effective in practice, contributed to the creation of a situation of success in the organization of international communication and allowed to implement the participants intentional promotion of the principles and values of their culture in the class.

Peer- and Self-Assessment in Primary School English Language Classrooms

Peer- and self-assessment could benefit the pupils in learning English language as a second language due to the aspects of essential whole group and individual reflections within the practice. This paper intends to investigate the practices of peer- and self-assessment among the national primary school English language teachers in a district in Selangor, Malaysia via a mixed methods approach. A survey was administered on 244 teachers, followed by interview and classroom observation on eight subset participants. From the survey, approximately 93% of the respondents had an emerging practice of peer- and self-assessment in their English language classrooms, which happened 50% of the time. The interview and observation findings show that the teachers needed extra time to train the pupils for the practice of peer- and self-assessment, mostly on written work, but also applicable during reading and speaking lessons. Pupils could apply self-assessment by knowing their levels and what to be done, sometimes based on worksheets and checklists. Sometimes, peer- and self-assessment were difficult and confusing among the pupils with lower English language proficiency levels. In the classroom, the pupils needed more time to receive guidance and training from the teachers in order to practise peer- and self-assessment, despite not fully in English. This implies that the teachers were attempting to enact peer- and self-assessment among the pupils, albeit rather deviating from the target language at times.

Online Learning is a City without Police: Influence of Proficiency on Libyan EFL Learners’ Perceptions

With the spread of COVID-19 and the replacement of face-to-face classes with emergency online learning, many studies have investigated English as a Foreign Language learners’ perceptions regarding their experiences of emergency online learning. However, the influence of EFL learners’ proficiency levels on their perceptions is still a neglected area. Conducting in-depth interviews with a group of Libyan EFL learners (n=18) by employing the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique, this study investigated their metaphorical perceptions regarding emergency online learning across the three proficiency levels of Basic, Independent, and Proficient Users according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Considering the large number of EFL learners around the world and the felt literature gap, this study investigated the relationship between EFL learners’ proficiency levels and perceptions. The three main features of online learning reflected in the participants’ metaphors were (i) lack of the teacher’s physical presence, (ii) lack of peers’ physical presence and (iii) lack of nonverbal communication cues. Furthermore, this study reveals a significant relationship between the learners’ language proficiency levels and perceptions. For instance, Basic Users perceived the lack of a teacher’s presence by metaphors of ‘unsafety’ and ‘fear’, while Independent and Proficient Users respectively perceived it by metaphors of ‘freedom’ and ‘power’. Accordingly, the learners reported different class behaviors and learning strategies in response to these features

Multi-dimensional adjustment of Eurasian self-initiated expatriates in Korea

PurposeThis qualitative study has two aims. The first is to explore the cognitive, affective, and behavioural dimensions of Eurasian self-initiated expatriates’ (SIEs) work and non-work adjustments in Korea. The second is to understand how the Confucian-oriented Korean culture influences Eurasian SIEs' work and non-work domains, in particular their organisational practices and relations with locals.Design/methodology/approachThis study was conducted through a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with 27 Eurasian SIEs working in Korea. The interviews were conducted face-to-face with open-ended questions.FindingsEurasian SIEs in Korea express different cognitive, affective, and behavioural life and work adjustment processes that affect their future careers. A high level of language proficiency and knowledge of cultural and social expectations does not guarantee work and life adjustment success. Due to the heavy presence of Korean culture in work and living environments, SIEs face challenges in joining social and work networks and balancing work and life domains, which slows down adjustment. Results indicate that SIEs adjusted well regarding cognitive and behavioural dimensions in work and non-work domains. However, affective adjustment is difficult to achieve, even for SIEs who have lived in the country for many years, and many have the intention to leave if there were other options.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by focussing on the multidimensionality of SIEs' work and life adjustments, with cognitive, affective, and behavioural components. SIEs have been in a complicated process of adaptation and integration for a long time. This study attempts to contribute to SIE literature by analysing the elements of Confucianism-oriented Korean culture and organisational practices prevalent in SIEs' multidimensional adjustment and career challenges.

HANNA: Human-friendly provisioning and configuration of smart devices

Today, there are billions of connected IoT devices and their number continues to grow as they contribute to the digitalization of infrastructures. However, the deployment process of these smart wireless devices when delivered to customer premises is slow and error prone as each of them needs to be provisioned with authentication credentials to access the corporate network. In this paper, we propose HANNA, a human-friendly provisioning and configuration framework for smart devices, that extends the zero-touch paradigm to large IoT deployments by introducing voice assisted configuration in combination with large scale ad-hoc communications to overcome the initial installation effort of IoT deployments. The most prominent role in HANNA is played by the assisting device, which includes a voice assistant capable of correctly understanding a minimum number of keywords required for initial provisioning and configuration of the devices. The device’s role is to interact with the user and ensure that all provisioning details are received. These are then converted into appropriate machine instructions for further use by the mass provisioning mechanism. We provide an example prototype implementation of HANNA and evaluate the performance of the assisting device in the human-to-machine communication phase and the performance of the selected communication technique in the machine-to-machine communication phase. Our results show the potential of existing speech-to-text engines for this application area and also reveal shortcomings with respect to the robustness of the engines in office-like working environments as well as with respect to user’s gender and language proficiency level. Additionally we show that the proposed machine-to-machine provisioning approach is always faster compared to manual provisioning for cases with more than ten devices.

결혼이주여성의 온라인 생활문화 쓰기 수업 사례 연구

Objectives The purpose of this study is to perform a case study of real-time online writing class for female immigrants through marriage in order to investigate the class patterns from the female immigrants perspective and to examine their cultural understanding and response by exploring the characteristics of online writing class on the topics of life and culture.
 Methods As research participants, 11 female immigrants through marriage who had been taking the basic Korean language class at ** Multicultural Family Support Center in Gyeonggi-do were recruited. After 14 sessions of class, in-depth interviews were conducted based on a semi-structured questionnaire, and the data were analyzed with an analytic induction method.
 Results First, the advantages of the real-time online writing class for female immigrants through marriage included location flexibility, time saving, and learning and taking care of children at the same time. On the other hand, difficulty in asking questions and keeping focused was answered as a disadvantage. Second, as for the characteristics of the real-time online class with the topics of life and culture, it provided grammatical knowledge using familiar topics of life and culture. Learning about life and culture in neighboring countries and gaining knowledge on a range of cultures piqued the students’ intellectual curiosity. Third, for the understanding of culture in the research subjects, they took a flexible attitude toward culture in the process of actively researching and sharing data from outside textbooks by thinking outside the standard ideas of other cultures. They showed a difference in the level of language proficiency and understanding of culture. Due to the limitations of the virtual platform, however, the direct experience was not available for the students.
 Conclusions In the real-time online writing class, life and culture topics were familiar to the female immigrants. Therefore, a range of grammatical and linguistic applications was provided, and at the same time, the students were able to broaden their understanding of multicultural culture.

Exploring multilingual education in Morocco: official documents and teachers’ perceptions

ABSTRACT The Moroccan Ministry of Education has recently implemented a multilingual programme, called ‘language alternation’ (LA). The programme aims at improving students’ foreign language (FL) proficiency level and promoting plurilingualism by using French, English, and Spanish, for the teaching of math, physics and life and earth sciences at the secondary level, instead of the official language, Arabic. The study sought to understand this new tendency in Moroccan education by examining official educational documents and exploring teachers’ perceptions using Grounded Theory (GT), which is a hypothesis-generating methodology. The findings showed a gap between the conceptualised language recommendations in the official documents and the implementation of these recommendations in Moroccan schools. In addition, it seems that the new enacted educational policy has brought about challenges for both students and teachers. The interviewed teachers were concerned about their students’ initial FL proficiency, the negative effect of the new policy on students’ content learning, the lack of trainings in the methodology of the new medium of instruction (MOI) policy and limited agency of teachers in the conceptualisation and implementation of the new policy.

CHALLENGES TODAY IN PROCESS IMPROVEMENT LANGUAGE TRAINING IN THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE

Today’s challenges require Ukrainian servicemen and soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to be fluent in English, since the instructions for using foreign-made weapons, as well as the process of education and training to use these weapons are carried out in English.
 The main goal of this work is to determine promising methods and forms of language training in military structures, both out of the official activities and in the course of independent work.
 Today, the ranks of the Armed Forces face two urgent tasks that need to be solved:
 
 the first task is the urgent acquision of the English language by servicemen and senior staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for training in the use of foreign-made weapons;
 the second task is the improvement and modernization of the English language learning process in Higher Military Educational Institutions in order to increase the level of English language proficiency.
 
 The problem of first training was the insufficient command of the English language by the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the training.
 The solution of the second problem is not as critical in time as the solution of the first problem, therefore, currently, various programs, distance courses are being developed, and innovative teaching methods are being implemented in order to improve the improvement process of English language by students of higher educational institutions and officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. An important issue on the agenda is the introduction of the latest forms and methods of teaching a foreign language and special techniques and methods of teaching.
 Studying a foreign language will provide an opportunity for various branches of the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to freely and professionally conduct a dialogue with representatives of various professions and partner countries from the NATO military-political alliance.