Role In Language Teaching Research Articles

Investigating Teachers’ Oral Corrective Feedback and Students’ Uptake in Grade 6 Bhutanese Primary Classrooms

Oral corrective feedback (OCF) plays an important role in language teaching and learning, but little research has examined Bhutanese teachers’ practices of OCF on students’ speaking performance and uptake. This paper reports on a mixed-method approach to investigate the rate of students' uptake on teachers' OCF within an ESL setting in Bhutanese grade six primary classrooms. Convenience sampling was applied to gather data from observations of two teachers and fifty-seven students in a primary school. The results of content analysis from classroom observations indicate that the teachers used four types of OCF: explicit correction, recast, metalinguistic feedback, and repetition, with recast being the highest used. The results showed a high degree of student participation, which resulted in error correction following the teachers' OCF. It is suggested that different classes be studied to see if there are differences in the effects of OCF on students.

Language in Education: Impact of English Medium Instruction on Indigenous Languages in the Kandyan Kingdom and the Colonial Ceylon

This research investigates the profound role of language in education within the context of the Kandyan Kingdom and colonial-era Sri Lanka. Specifically, it scrutinizes the impact of adopting English as the medium of instruction on the preservation of indigenous languages. The study delves into the primary languages employed in the traditional education system of the Kandyan Kingdom and their vital contributions to knowledge transmission and cultural heritage preservation. It also examines the language policies enacted during the colonial period and their repercussions on the language of instruction in schools. Moreover, the research explores the consequences of adopting English as the medium of instruction, analyzing its influence on the proficiency, usage, and status of indigenous languages. Meticulous investigation is conducted into the attitudes and responses of the local population, especially educators, towards this transition. Furthermore, the study assesses the implications of the shift to English medium education on access to education for various socio-cultural groups within the Kandyan Kingdom. The research also delves into the efforts undertaken during the colonial period to promote and safeguard indigenous languages within the education system. The analysis extends to the post-colonial education system in the Kandyan Kingdom, evaluating the current status of indigenous languages and any initiatives aimed at their revival and promotion. By drawing comparisons between historical language policies and practices in the Kandyan Kingdom and those in other colonial regions or countries, this research aims to provide valuable insights that can inform contemporary language policies and practices in Sri Lanka.

Fostering EFL Junior Highschool Students’ Speaking Skill Through Vlogging Strategy

In an era marked by technological advancements and a burgeoning digital landscape, the realm of education has witnessed a paradigm shift, particularly in language acquisition. This research embarks on an innovative exploration of the efficacy of vlogging as a pedagogical strategy to enhance the speaking skills of Eighth Grade English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. This research was mainly conducted in order to prove that Vlogging Strategy could improve speaking skill of the eight grade students of SMP Santo Thomas 3 Medan in the Academic Year of 2022/2023 The study employs a classroom action research (CAR) approach, encompassing quantitative analysis of pre-test, formative tests, and post-test scores, complemented by questionnaire insights gleaned from student feedback and reflections. The data analysis showed the mean score increased from 58,8 in Pre-test with 20% of the students got score ≥ 75, in Formative-test 70,56 with 40% of the students got score ≥ 75, and 77,08 in Post-test with 76% of the students got score ≥ 75. The findings underscore the transformative potential of vlogging in the EFL classroom. Quantitative analysis reveals a statistically significant improvement in students' speaking skills, accentuating the effectiveness of vlogging as a language learning tool. This research not only contributes to the existing literature on technology-enhanced language education but also pioneers the exploration of vlogging as a specific and innovative approach within the EFL context. Beyond statistical validation, the study delves into the practical implications for educators, advocating for a shift towards interactive, student-centric pedagogical approaches. It sheds light on heightened student engagement and motivation, showcasing vlogging's capacity to nurture creativity and authentic language practice. This research reinforces the broader narrative of technology's indispensable role in language education and underscores the contemporary necessity of digital literacy alongside traditional language skills.

Sketching the landscape of corrective feedback by bibliometric analysis and structural topic modeling

Corrective feedback (CF) has been playing an important role in language teaching. Even though previous reviews focused on written or oral corrective feedback, little attention has been drawn to provide a panoramic review of the whole CF field. This study aims to sketch the landscape of CF research over the past two decades (2000-2022) and identify latent topics of the CF field. A total of 1106 CF-related articles were analyzed using bibliometric analysis and structural topic modeling. The most influential journals, references, countries, and authors in CF were identified by bibliometric analysis. Eighteen important topics in CF were discovered by structural topic modeling, among which the most representative topics included eight student-related topics, four teacher-related topics, and four technology-related topics. The findings showed that among these eighteen topics, implicit and explicit CF, teachers’ beliefs in CF and uptake of recast accounted for the largest proportion. Meanwhile, the topic trends indicated that more attention should be paid to peer feedback, automated writing evaluation of feedback, assessment literacy and student engagement in the future. More importantly, this study clarifies the relationship among teachers, students and technology in the CF field and constructs a conceptual framework in CF. This study contributes to pointing out potential directions for further CF studies and provides implications for deepening the understanding of CF in the language teaching field.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN THE STRATEGY OF TRAINING PEDAGOGICAL PERSONNEL

. Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. In the process of studying the problems of language education in the pedagogical process, the scientific, pedagogical, and philosophical-educational developments of such researchers as A. Asanova, O. Bezkorovaina, M. Kazakova, V. Koval, O. Kucheruk, O. Palekha, N. PodolianskaKalko, S. Roman, T. Severina, N. Sura, N. Siaska and many others. The research objective of the article is a systematic understanding of language education in the strategy of training a future teacher. The statement of basic materials. The place and role of language education in the pedagogical educational space are considered, modern standards of foreign language training of future teachers are analyzed. It is emphasized that language education in pedagogical educational institutions should not only form the appropriate level of knowledge and competences, but also provide the studentteacher with a methodological and methodical arsenal for further work. The importance and priority of language education at the state level is emphasized. The role of foreign language training of future teachers in connection with the European integration plans of Ukraine, global processes of internationalization of the educational space is noted. Modern standards of foreign language training of future teachers are considered, determined by European practice in this area and existing domestic legislative acts. They are aimed at establishing qualitative changes in the foreign language training of teachers, an important component of which is the acquisition of stable conversational skills.

Exploring the Pedagogical Considerations for the Use and Development of Learning Materials in Moroccan EFL Classrooms

Instructional materials play a significant role in language teaching and learning processes as they provide learners with the input needed for them to learn the language effectively. They also support enriching language instruction and stimulate learners’ interests and motivation. The aims of the present study were to explore Moroccan EFL high school teachers’ perceptions of instructional materials, the criteria they follow when developing materials, the types of learning materials they use besides the textbook, and the challenges they encounter in materials development. For this purpose, the study used a mixed methods design that combines both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data. The sample of the study consisted of 160 public high school teachers who have different teaching experiences. The instruments that were used to collect data included a questionnaire, classroom observation, and document analysis. The results of the study revealed that teachers hold different perceptions about materials. On the one hand, some teachers view materials as anything that can be used to facilitate language learning, while others relate material to grammar worksheets that can be used to support the understanding of certain grammatical items. Further analysis revealed that the materials they develop for their learners focus on grammar with very little attention to communication. In addition, the findings showed that the textbook is the main learning material used in Moroccan EFL classrooms. However, the majority of teachers reported that they are unsatisfied with the EFL materials they use. Moreover, the findings found that teachers are not well trained and do not have the necessary skills that will allow them to develop effective materials. Also, authentic materials are not easily accessible, and they cannot be easily used. The study concluded with some pedagogical recommendations for Moroccan EFL teachers and materials developers.

Bulgarian language policy

ABSTRACT The paper presents some general facts about Bulgarian, which is spoken by over 8 million people all over the world and is the official language of the Republic of Bulgaria. It is shown that language diversity within the country has been relatively constant and modest over the last 90 years (with a clear dominance of Bulgarian). The focus of the paper is the presentation of the legislation in Bulgaria that regulates language teaching and use in different spheres of life, the main activities of the national institute of language, and the role of language education. The main findings are as follows: There is no dedicated Bulgarian Language Act. Instead, over 100 legislative acts govern issues concerning the usage and study of the Bulgarian language. The Institute for Bulgarian Language at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences supports the Bulgarian state’s language policy through: researching the present state, history, and dialect variety of the Bulgarian language; monitoring changes in written and spoken language; publishing grammars and dictionaries; and developing language resources and technologies. The key factors that influence language education in Bulgaria include early childhood education and care, equity in education and educational outcomes, and the rise of new learning styles.

Bibliometric Analysis of Ambiguity Tolerance: Unearthing Its Role in Sustainable Language Education

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 post-pandemic era, ambiguity tolerance has been the subject of extensive research and scholarship. While ambiguity tolerance has long been a hot topic across multiple disciplines, scant attention has been given to its role in language education via bibliometric analysis. Two authors adopt an integrative study on ambiguity tolerance in sustainable language education to fill this void. Through a general review and visualization analysis, this study seeks to explore the various influential factors that are associated with ambiguity tolerance in language education. Author co-citation analysis (ACA) and the mapping knowledge domain (MKD) are the underlying theoretical frameworks for bibliographic visualization. VOSviewer and CitNetExplorer are two analytical software utilized to visualize bibliographic data. It is concluded that multilingualism, motivation, self-efficacy, and engagement are positively correlated with ambiguity tolerance and collectively contribute to improving language learning outcomes. Future research could further discuss ambiguity tolerance in the application of emerging technologies in the new decade.

IMPLEMENTING ENJOYABLE LEARNING STRATEGY WITH WORDWALL IN THE EFL CLASSROOM

The article is devoted to one of the innovative, alternative tools of teaching vocabulary in EFL classroom and offers teachers the general outline of an online platform Wordwall. Teaching online has become more popular, yet challenging, for many students and teachers. The author considers games to be a source of fresh ideas with the ability to relieve the monotony of education. Alongside traditional vocabulary presentations, games play a very important role in language teaching and learning. Moreover, games are a good way to raise students’ motivation for learning English as a foreign language and to improve and extend learning skills, which is essential for language learning. The evidence shows that online games significantly diversify the entire educational process. Based on our teaching experience, we can state that introducing vocabulary through online games greatly facilitates students’ understanding, raises their engagement into the lesson, makes them interested to advance in their learning, provides new ideas and brings variety into the classroom. Wordwall provides teachers with plenty of templates, ranging from the common multiple-choice quiz to matching pairs, anagram, sorting out, or cloze questions. Teachers can create resources and host activities by sharing an assignment link with students. Students can do the activities as an interactive in-class part or as homework. Students’ activity results can be tracked by the teacher.

How to Help English Learners Reduce Reading Anxiety

English reading teaching plays an increasingly important role in language teaching and has become an important way for middle school students to learn English language knowledge and understand foreign history and culture. At present, many students have obstacles in English reading, which restricts students' reading speed and quality. Most students think English reading is difficult. They have different degrees of reading disabilities. This paper will analyze the obstacles of junior middle school students in English reading, and put forward the strategies to deal with these obstacles in order to improve junior middle school students' English reading level.

The Use of Intercultural Approach in SLA to Improve Student’s Communicative Competence in 8th Grade

Intercultural understanding plays a vital role in language education. Having a good cultural or intercultural awareness can help students create good relationships and successful communication. This study aimed at explaining the use of the intercultural approach in second language acquisition to improve the students’ communicative competence in eighth grade. This study used the qualitative approach with narrative study. The data were taken from classroom observation, teacher and students interviews, and document analysis. Data were analyzed using five steps according to Miles and Huberman (1992) and Merriam (1992), namely transcribing the data, coding the data, reducing the data, displaying the data, and drawing a conclusion. This study found that the use of an intercultural approach concerned on its three components, such as knowledge, attitude, and behavior. Those components are provided to the students in the special meeting, but they could also be included in the materials listed in the syllabus. There were four stages of intercultural approach, namely warm-up, communicative activities, product, and discussion. Classroom activities in using intercultural approach were brainstorming, pair or work group, presentation, discussion, and reflection. In addition, the procedures of intercultural approach were exploring local culture, exploring language learning materials, exploring the traditional media and arts through English, exploring IT through English, cultural informants, and face-to-face intercultural communication. The findings of this study are expected to provide additional information regarding the proper use of intercultural approach in second language acquisition to improve the students’ communicative competence in eighth grade.

Pre-service language teachers’ perceptions of sustainability and its implementation in language teaching

In both the school environment and teacher education, sustainable development is usually linked to the natural and social sciences and is rarely incorporated into language education or encouraged as part of language teacher education. As more research is needed on the practical implementation of sustainable development in language teaching and language teacher education, this study elucidates Finnish pre-service language teachers’ perceptions of sustainability dimensions (i.e. ecological, economic, social, and cultural) and their role in language teaching. We used a questionnaire comprising open-ended and Likert-scale questions to examine pre-service language teachers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards themes under all sustainability dimensions, and their feeling about their ability to integrate them into their teaching. Pre-service teachers ( n = 26) recognized the importance of the social and cultural dimensions in language teaching and felt more capable of addressing personal environmental actions than global problems in the language classroom. Some pre-service teachers produced concrete practices linking sustainability issues with language teaching, but they were mostly teacher-centred. The pre-service teachers did not link equality as tightly to the cultural and social aspects of language teaching as they did in their personal lives. These findings help in developing language teaching and teacher education programmes toward the educational sustainable development goals. Moreover, the questionnaire can be used to analyse the consideration of sustainability themes in language teaching and language teacher education.

To the question of the history of methods for teaching listening comprehension

The article presents the history of teaching methods for listening comprehension in Russian and foreign language teaching since the middle of the 20th century till the present day. In the framework of the Grammar- and Lexis-translation methods listening is not an obligatory part of foreign language learning and is considered as a supporting passive skill. In contrast, oral speech perception becomes of primary importance in the Audiolingual and Total physical response methods and Natural approach. For the first time, technology such as language labs and various audio materials comes into use. Next, the Strategy-based approach is designed for teaching listening. The Communicative approach and Content Based Instruction are characterised with balanced teaching of all skills. Thus, the article distinguishes the period when listening comprehension was not compulsory (till the middle of the 20th century); the period, when it played a key role in language teaching (60–70s) and the period when all skills are believed to be equally important (since 80s). A new milestone in listening research is 90s when new approaches for classification of listening skills, micro-skills and types are designed. At this time, a psycholinguistic side of speech perception becomes of interest. In the 21st century significance of teaching listening is reflected in Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The article shows a changing status of listening during the considered time period — from a supporting passive skill to a complex active skill involving a number of processes.

TEACHER TALK IN EFL SPEAKING LESSONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR LEARNER INVOLEMENT: A CASE STUDY AT A FOREIGN ENGLISH CENTER IN THE MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM

In English teaching classrooms, teacher talk plays as a communicative tool to help language learners to communicate effectively. Studies (Walsh, 2002; Xiao Yan, 2006; Cullen, 1998) have been carried out to investigate the essential role of teacher talk. This paper focuses on the purpose, frequency, and teacher talking time in speaking English language lessons. This study aimed at investigating features of teacher talk constructing and obstructing learner speaking involvement. The results show that teacher talk plays as an important role in language teaching including giving instruction and classroom management, however, the use of language in both L1 and L2 should be taken into consideration in order to maximize student learning involvement.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0025/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Teaching English Sounds to Vietnamese Secondary School Students: From Theories to Applications Using Learner-centered Methods

Pronunciation plays a pivotal role in language teaching for communicative purposes. Practitioners, however, are either ignorant or reluctant to teach pronunciation due to insufficient professional training, time restrictions, large classrooms, and excessive language knowledge. This research was conducted to fill this gap. The author carefully synthesized theories of language and second language (L2) learning to design a series of activities for teaching English pronunciation to Vietnamese secondary school students with the use of learner-centered methods. Sixteen pronunciation lessons on sounds from English 6 i-Learn Smart World (Vo et al., 2021) and English 7 i-Learn Smart World (Vo et al., 2022) were examined. The findings recommended some activities which were based on the pronunciation acquisition of meaning, form, and use and followed the Pre-While-Post teaching procedure. The pedagogical issues mentioned will be resolved in similar educational settings when this effort succeeds in developing a basic theory-based procedure to teach English sounds.

THE REFLECTION OF LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF CULTURE IN A LITERARY TEXT

English language learners can learn about many cultures and ideas through literature. In social life, literature, language, and culture are intertwined and mutually dependent. Because some words in a foreign language correspond to unique meanings in a particular civilization, members of other cultures may not understand them until the cultural background is provided, literary works play a crucial role in language education. As a result, the article addresses how crucial it is to teach culture in English language classrooms through literature in order to understand the societal values, religious beliefs, and cultural components of other societies.

Exploring the relative contributions of learning motivations and test perceptions to autonomous English as a foreign language learning and achievement.

Past studies on the contributions of language learning motivations and test perceptions to language learning have been conducted relatively independently, with few simultaneously gauging the relative effects of these two types of variables on learning behaviors and outcome. In contexts where testing plays a significant role in language education, it is argued that both types of variables are likely to influence language learning. Through a series of multiple regression analyses, this study juxtaposed the relative effects of three types of language learning motivation (i.e., integrative, development and requirement motivation) and two types of perception of a high-stakes English test on Chinese high school students' (n = 3,105) EFL learning practice and achievement, casting fresh lights on the motivational factors that may drive EFL learning. More specifically, it was found that integrative and development motivations were the major drives behind students' overall effort expenditure on EFL learning for Year 1 students. For students from higher grades who were more closely confronted with the test, however, the effect of development motivation diminished and that of perceived test validity increased. The same pattern applied to students' reported learning achievement. The motivational profiles behind each specific type of learning practice and their variational patterns across grades were also found to differ. Implications for both research and educational practice are discussed.

Schools as Positive Institutions in the Context of Language Learning: Students’ Perspectives

Positive psychology focuses its research on the conditions of people’s well-being and happiness, contrary to mainstream psychological studies on human disorders. The three most important areas to focus on while studying reasons for people’s effective lives are positive emotions, positive features of character and positive institutions. Positive attitudes seem to be especially essential in education, because that is where the features of character are formed. In second language acquisition studies, these three areas appear to be exceptionally important because of the essentially social character of the language learning process. This paper focuses on students’ opinions about the role of school in their language development. These comments were collected in retrospective semi-structured interviews. Students offered both positive and negative opinions on schools and their role in language education. It appears that even though some schools care for students’ well-being, quite a few of them still cannot be considered as positive institutions.

Employing alternative constructive methods of teaching English

This paper zeros in on the use of effective teaching and learning strategies. Traditional forms of teaching are changing rapidly with the advancement of technology. Technological innovations have begun to play a more important role in language teaching and learning, changing the presentation and perception of educational material. Thanks to these trends, the teaching process is becoming more focused on the real needs of students. There are many qualitative methods of English language teaching, but it is important to use the ones that will act as a stimulus to students’ lateral thinking development, encourage their creativity and improve their learning ability. The utilization of constructive methods of knowledge acquirement and sharing encourages students to collaborate, i.e., they study English with pleasure and maximum comfort, and make good progress. The article also mentions the role of the teacher in the educational process, which can be successful only if she/he appropriately understands the students’ learning capacity and interests and utilizes a multimedia approach to teaching.

A Review on Vocabulary Tests of High Frequency English Words

Vocabulary assessment plays a ctitical role in language education for EFL learners, educators and researchers. The article introduces and analyzes four English receptive vocabulary tests of high frequency words, including Vocabulary Levels Test, Vocabulary Size Test, Computer Adaptive Test of Size and Strength and New General Service List Test. Based on the review of the four tests, it provides practical suggestions for choosing an appropriate test to assess the vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners in Vietnam as well as implications for building new vocabulary tests to meet the demand of English language teaching and learning practices as well as the research needs in the field of language education in Vietnam.