Low-intermediate Students Research Articles

The Relative Effectiveness of Flipped Method in the Pakistani ESL Context

Despite the increased popularity of Flipped Method in ELT teaching in ESL/EFL settings, it still remains one of the least-researched areas in Pakistan. Since alarmingly low intermediate students’ results in English (Gul, 2016; BISER, 2017; BISER, 2018; BISER, 2019) have a close connection with teacher-centred lecture-delivery teaching methodology (Nawab, 2012; Najmonnisa, Haq, & Saad, 2015; Umar, 2016; Raja & Najmonnisa, 2018) dominant in Pakistani colleges, this quasi-experimental study is conducted to explore the relative effectiveness of Flipped Method in the Pakistani ESL context. Flipped Method was used to teach the reading skill. Experimental (EG, 50) and Control Groups (CG, 54) were made by randomization. Control Group was taught by Traditional Method. A common Pre-test was taken. A channel on YouTube was created. Video lectures were uploaded. A 40-minute class, 3 days a week, was run for 4 weeks. A common Post-test was taken. Two students from EG were also interviewed. Using SPSS, ANCOVA and Paired-Samples t-tests were run for quantitative data analysis, and it was found that the EG’s post-test scores showed significant improvement. Inductive approach thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021) of qualitative data revealed that learners are strongly attracted towards Flipped Method. The results unambiguously demonstrate that the implementation of Flipped Method can prove a revolutionary transition from teacher-centred pedagogy to student-centred autonomous learning.

Implementing the lexical approach in an integrated English e-course

The purpose of this work is to observe and analyze if a group of thirty students of an integrated English e-course could benefit from the explicit teaching of five lexical groups and the pedagogical principles behind the Lexical Approach. These low-intermediate students (CEFR, A2) took an Integrated English e-course at the School of Modern Languages, University of Costa Rica (UCR). To begin with, the target group took a short diagnostic test related to the five lexical groups to determine their prior knowledge on such aspect. To assess the level of improvement reached, the students received explicit instruction on five lexical groups as part of the writing components of this team-taught course. After this, the instructor revised 120 compositions (60 drafts and 60 final versions). Then, after intensive practice through a series of activities based on the Lexical Approach, they took a final instrument to measure how much they have learned throughout the virtual course. The results show a positive effect of explicit instruction of lexical units on student's writing outcomes and their post test.

Technology as a Source of Language Input and Practice and its Influence on the Vocabulary Development of University EFL Students

This paper addresses the extent to which technology-based language resources and tools influence the vocabulary development among University students learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The vocabulary development of 184 undergraduate students at the University of xxxxxxxx (xxxxxxx) is studied in terms of the growth of their receptive vocabulary size as well as their use of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) across three years, and any possible correlation between this development and the use of technology is analysed. Findings reveal that for the majority of the population, the highly frequent use of multimedia tools was largely confirmed; however, for most students there was no significant correlation between the use of such resources and the growth pattern of their vocabulary knowledge. Only the low-intermediate students who had just joined the university were the exception, as their use of Internet to search for information or to communicate with others seemed to be significantly correlated to their vocabulary development. These findings have interesting implications for the classroom as they show the high potential of technology-based resources in developing vocabulary especially in environments in which English is taught as a foreign language (FL), and used only in classroom contexts. Learners appear to be "connected" enough and avid of technology based tools; however, they seem to need assistance from instructors to maximize the positive support of such tools on their language learning in general and vocabulary development in particular.

EFL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TO CRITICAL READING

. Critical thinking skills are one of the key requirements for a modern specialist in the professional world nowadays. Applying critical thinking while reading texts must become the essential approach to dealing with information. This study focuses on an exploratory investigation of the students’ attitude to critical reading tasks at the English classes. The present survey aims at exploring low-intermediate students’ attitude to critical reading assignments used at the English classes. The main tasks are the following: 1) to carry out a survey on students’ attitude towards critical reading and critical reading instruction at university; 2) to test the students’ critical reading skills; 3) to interview the students on their assessment of the reading tasks to identify the habits of mind available to develop their critical reading skills. The data were collected from the students’ questionnaire, the critical reading test and the students’ interviews. The findings support the results of the foreign researchers’ surveys about the lack of curiosity, relevant habits of mind and the majority of textbooks containing factual tasks which hinder the development of the readers’ critical attitude to information. Although the students admitted the general importance of critical reading, they did not seem to understand the essence of these skills and showed indifference to critical reading tasks during the second and third stages of the experiment. Thus, the prospects of the further research aim at designing and implementation of a reading English texts program for university low-intermediate students which could involve more critical reading assignments to promote critical habits of mind.

A Study on the Development of Pedagogic Corpus and Suggestions for Teaching Model Using it : Focused on the Low-intermediate Students

A Study on the Development of Pedagogic Corpus and Suggestions for Teaching Model Using it : Focused on the Low-intermediate Students

Handling with EFL learners’ negative attitudes towards speaking English

This study mainly investigates young adults’ negative attitudes towards foreign language learning with its underlying reasons by developing an action plan to minimize them in a Turkish EFL context. Lower intermediate students (n=35) of Vocational High School at a state university in Turkey participated in the study. The data required to initiate an action research cycle were collected through in-class observations, and then, randomly selected participants (n=8) were interviewed in order to get in-depth data. The qualitative data were analyzed via content analysis. The analysis of the data showed that adults’ language learning behaviors were not only influenced by their previous learning experiences but also their lack of knowledge in their L1 and L2. The data collected through action research also revealed that students’ negative attitudes might also result from the attitudes of their teachers towards them. In terms of the detected problems owing to the class observation, the present study might be regarded as context-specific since the solutions for speaking anxiety were generated with respect to its own contexts, aspects, variables and effects on learners.

Individual Dynamic Assessment: An Analysis of Iranian EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension Errors

Error analysis is very important in facilitating listening comprehension. By error identifications, teachers can help learners to practice more in the problematic areas. However, only a few research studies investigated error analysis in listening comprehension and nearly no study has been conducted on the analysis of errors in a dynamic assessment-based (DA) instruction; therefore, the present study tends to investigate the listening source of errors which hinders listening comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. To achieve this, the present study conducted a detailed description of the listening process framework in an interactive EFL listening classroom. That is, an interactionist dynamic assessment-based approach was applied to investigate the source of EFL learners' listening comprehension errors. The participants included six lower intermediate students. The materials used in the enrichment sessions (eight sessions lasting for one hour in DA-based instruction) were listening tracks taken from Listening Advantage Book 3. The qualitative analysis of data revealed that the learners' listening comprehension problems could be categorized into (1) unknown words, (2) grammatical structures, (3) pronunciation, (4) lengthy sentences and (5) unfamiliar phrases or collocations. Finally, according to the findings, it can be concluded that learners' errors are indicators of learners' mastery in a performing task therefore; teachers can both figure out the level of their students and are able to understand what kinds of problems students encounter while practicing listening comprehension in classes and instruct them accordingly.

General Communication Anxiety among EFL Students; A Case of Iranian Students of Intensive English Programs

This paper explores communication anxiety among Iranian students undergoing intermediate and low intermediate intensive English programs in a public university in the south of Malaysia. The investigation focuses on the level of anxiety based on the following three components: communication apprehension (CA), test anxiety (TA), and fear of negative evaluation (FNE). A set of questionnaire, adopted from Ooi Youn Phaik [11], and Young [12], and Sarason [13] was developed to be aligned with the three components. The differences in the level of anxiety between gender, intermediate and low intermediate students are also discussed in this paper.

Mining Perspective and Rhetorical Patterns in Reading for Revision: A Case Study of Iranian Intermediate EFL Readers

This paper aims to find how reading skills are influenced by metacognitive strategies of revising and text-mining in Iranian intermediate students majoring in English Translation. A total number of 70 students participated in 2 series of consciousness-raising instructions. The first line of instructional trainings in this study followed from 20 sessions of instruction in reading metacognitive awareness and revising strategies and the second encompassed 20 sessions of instruction on expository rhetorical patterns and their associate discourse markers. Many research studies have proved the role of metacognitive awareness in students’ learning outcome and achievement; however, in this study, the effects of such awareness of revision strategies were not found to be promising in lower-intermediate EFL learners. To address this drawback, the second line of instructional trainings began: the quantitative and qualitative results of this study satisfactorily demonstrated that the lower-intermediate students as well as the upper-intermediate ones developed their reading skills through their awareness of rhetorical organizations and their discourse markers. Pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed in relation to Iran's instructional status.

Word frequency and trends in the development of French vocabulary in lower-intermediate students during Year 12 in English schools

This article reports research into the development of vocabulary in lower-intermediate level learners of French as a foreign language in Year 12 in 20 schools in the south of England. The focus of attention is the role of less common, or non-basic, vocabulary at a stage in students' learning when they have just moved to a much more advanced syllabus that makes particular demands on their vocabulary knowledge. Results from a test of receptive vocabulary and analyses of learners' writing confirm that the acquisition of less common vocabulary makes a major contribution to students' progress during their Year-12 course and that it is an important factor in individual differences in overall achievement. Evidence from longitudinal data shows that students make significant progress on both receptive and productive vocabulary over a period of two terms, but that in spite of this, students' perception of their own vocabulary knowledge declines between GSCE and AS-Level, a phenomenon attributable to the discontinuity between these two examination courses.

Ready to Write: A First Composition Text

Presenting paragraph development in clear, teachable steps, Ready to Write prepares high-beginning and low-intermediate students for the fundamental composition skills needed for successful academic work. Through a clear progression of learning tasks, Ready to Write provides these benefits: Presents important organizational principles of good academic writing such as topic sentences, supporting details, ordering of details, identifying and eliminating irrelevancies, and transition words. Helps students apply these organizational principles to major rhetorical forms, among them comparing and contrasting, describing, reporting, giving information, analyzing, and letter writing. Contextualizes writing in real-world tasks such as letters, reports, exams, articles for newsletters, and advertising copy.

Using literature at lower levels

This article focuses on how literary texts can be used with elementary and lower intermediate students who are learning English. Common difficulties with using literature at this level are considered, and the kinds of knowledge and skills which these students need to develop are briefly mentioned. A series of tasks and activities for exploiting three different poems is then presented. The types of task and activity aim not only to help teachers overcome the difficulties of using literature at this level, but also to extend the students' grammatical and lexical knowledge, and improve their overall language awareness. Many of these activities can also be used with prose texts, such as extracts from short stories.

Student's Choice

lum. I came up with two separate projects-a team-teaching unit in music for lower intermediate students and contract teaching in music for upper intermediate students. The decision was made to organize a unit at the lower level that would give every child an opportunity to achieve a basic performing skill on an instrument of some kind. Why teach a performing skill? Because the ideal situation is for every child to be musically self-sufficient when he leaves elementary school.' By achieving a basic competency on an instrument, a child is able to perform