Undergraduate English Students Research Articles

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION AT SECONDARY SCHOOL AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN EMI HIGHER EDUCATION

EMI became an educational policy in Kazakhstan and its benefits are not arguable. Although EMI state is in action challenges emerge on the way. Therefore, continuous research in this field is needed for educated decisions on all levels of education. Considering higher education level interrelated with others, schooling as a previous step might have an impact on it. This article investigates the correlation between the academic performance of undergraduate students in English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) programs and their language of instruction during secondary school. The primary objective is to determine whether studying in English during secondary education confers an advantage to EMI undergraduates. By utilizing administrative data obtained from a selective private EMI university in Kazakhstan (n=6.980) and conducting t-test analyses, the study reveals that students who studied in EMI secondary schools perform better academically in their EMI university studies. The implications of these findings on policy are discussed. Keywords: English-medium instruction, higher education, academic achievement, EMI, trilingual education.

Deaf and hard‐of‐hearing EFL learners' perception of learning English: A narrative inquiry

AbstractThere is limited research on deaf and hard‐of‐hearing (D/HH) learners' learning English as a foreign language. It is even more scant in contexts such as Iran where D/HH learners are least visible and represented. This narrative inquiry aimed to explore Iranian D/HH English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' lived experience in learning English. The data were collected through semi‐structured interviews with 10 undergraduate students of English. The data were thematically analysed, yielding five themes: (1) learning English and its relevance to personal goals and aspirations; (2) perceived language‐related difficulties; (3) awareness of the differences in their language learning experience as D/HH learners; (4) significance of visual communication for D/HH learners of English; and (5) the role and support of technology. These themes provided a multidimensional understanding of these learners' perception of their foreign language learning trajectory. The results of this study have implications for various stakeholders in the context of special needs language education.

Self-regulatory learning strategies involving the use of linguistic landscape: the case of undergraduate multilingual learners

Capitalising on research into self-regulated learning strategies (SRLS), the study reported in the present paper explored the use of SRLS by multilingual learners in the context of the linguistic landscape. We designed the Linguistic Landscape (LL) SRLS Inventory, used it for data collection and validated it. Insights were provided by 100 undergraduate students of English and German and concerned searching for opportunities to learn from LL, paying attention to LL, creating mental linkages with LL, and organising LL-based learning. Statistical analyses revealed that the use of LL SRLS was affected by reading comprehension skills and varied substantially across SR stages.

Realization of the Complaint Speech Act in Spoken Arabic and English among Saudi Female English Majors at Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University

The core goal of this study is to investigate complaint speech act conducted in English and Arabic by Saudi female English majors at Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The sample of this study involves 30 undergraduate students of English at level eight. In order to collect data for this study, the subjects are given a controlled elicitation technique named “a Discourse Completion Test (DCT)”. The test comprises two versions; Arabic and English. Each version consists of nine situations denoting the speech act of complaint to which the subjects are required to respond as naturally as they can without spending much time thinking of what to say. After that, the data are analyzed based on the classification system of complaint strategies developed by Olshtain and Weinbach (1987) and DeCapua (1998). Two more new strategies have been added by the present researcher. Moreover, the study compared and contrasted complaint patterns in English and Arabic as expressed by these subjects. These patterns are analyzed using frequencies and percentages of their occurrence as well as the Chi-square test. The results of this study indicate that the social statuses like power, which affect the realization patterns of complaint, seem to be universal. Saudi female English majors tend to change their complaint behavior according to the social variables of the situation. Those subjects tend to be more direct when composing complaints in higher to lower relations and in equal relations and more polite and indirect when a complainee has dominance over a complainer. The results of the presents study revealed that Saudi female English majors should have enhanced awareness of cultural and linguistic discrepancies in order to express the speech act of complaint in English appropriately, making use of complaint strategies that are based on English speaking norms.

Learning English Under the Sounds of Air Raid Sirens: Analysing Undergraduate EFL Students’ Sustainable Learing Practices

Abstract The article presents a mixed-methods study that examines how undergraduate students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) sustain their practices of learning English during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022–2023. In total, 33 undergraduate EFL students (henceforth – participants) took part in the study. In order to gain insight into their sustainable learning practices, the participants were requested to write a short reflective essay titled “My Thoughts on How I Learn English during the War”. The participants were instructed to write their essays in English within a one-week timeframe. Seeking to identify and classify a range of sustainable practices related to the ways the participants learnt English during the Russo-Ukrainian war, their reflective essays were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The analysis of the participants’ essays revealed the following learning practices that, according to the participants, helped them to sustain their EFL learning trajectory in the wartime EFL contexts: (i) participation in online EFL courses, (ii) communication with the native speakers of English on social networking sites (e.g., Instagram), and (iii) the combination of EFL learning activities offered at the participants’ university. The findings are discussed in detail further in the article through the lens of sustainable multilingualism development. Specifically, we argue that the development of multilingualism in the time of crises is feasible and sustainable, especially if it is coupled with an EFL learner’s inner psychological factors that are further facilitated by the external support offered by the digital learning environments that are (i) institutionalised and systematic, and (ii) extra-mural and unstructured (in other words, digitally wild).

Undergraduate English Students' Use of Google Translate in Afghanistan

Google translate (GT) is widely used by students around the world. The current study examined English students' use of GT in Afghanistan. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 132 randomly selected students from a public university in Afghanistan. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that the participants had positive attitudes towards GT, and they were aware of GT drawbacks. The participants utilized GT for numerous reasons including not feeling confident in their own translation. They used GT for a number of purposes to varying extent. They frequently used GT to look up general and technical words as well as idioms and collocations. They also used it for translation purposes. There were differences between female and male students' attitudes towards GT. The study recommends instructors to adopt GT, particularly those teaching in Afghanistan, in their classes and encourage students' critical use of GT.

Voices from National University of Bangladesh: Students’ perception of the value of linguistics and ELT courses in providing pre-service EFL teacher education

The purpose of this study was to provide an insight into student-cum-supposed teachers’ perceptions about the value of linguistics and ELT courses (LELTC) in imparting pre-service teacher education (PTE) for the undergraduate English students of National University (NU) affiliated colleges in Bangladesh. This is based on the postulation that students’ perception has a critical function in executing the goals and objectives of particular course(s). Through a self-explorative semi-structured questionnaire this study piloted a survey on one hundred five English students studying in their final year of Honours at three higher education colleges purposively selected from a divisional metropolitan city of Bangladesh. Findings revealed varied perceptions in students regarding value of the LELTC. Three separate perceptions of the students participating in the survey could be noticed regarding the value issue: positive, negative and ambivalent. Positive perceptions were perceptible among one-third of students; yet again almost the same quantity of students exhibited negative perceptions. Furthermore, the ambivalent perceptions exposed by a large number of students might designate their lack of awareness and their irresolution about the importance of the said courses in developing student-cum-prospective teachers’ teaching expertise. Lastly, this study offered a few recommendations for exterminating the prevailing wrong perceptions of students about the significance of the discussed courses in cultivating students’ teaching expertise. Thus, this study will deepen our understanding of students’ internal thought processes regarding the value of the LELTC as a part of a typical pre-service teacher education programme, and thus help us remove the challenges of misconceptions about the necessity of the courses from student psyche which can ultimately contribute to the effectiveness of the said courses in the NU context.

Breaking the silence: exploring the challenges of oral participation faced by Chinese undergraduate students in a Sino-US university in China

PurposeThis study aimed to explore the underlying reasons for student silence in EMI classrooms and identify the coping strategies employed by students and teachers.Design/methodology/approachEmploying qualitative case study methods, in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with both teachers and students. Thematic analysis was used for the findings.FindingsThematic analysis of the data revealed four primary reasons for student silence, and several effective coping strategies used by students and teachers to mitigate this challenge.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of silence among Chinese undergraduate students in English as a medium of instruction classrooms and offer valuable insights to students and teachers to adapt and succeed in these challenging environments.Originality/valueThe originality of this study lies in the fact that this is among the few studies conducted on students from a foreign branch campus of an American university in China that explores the explores the phenomenon of silence of Chinese students in such universities.

English Education Students’ Satisfaction with the Use of Google Meeting and Zoom: Study of Listening Ability

Background: The Covid 19 pandemic has disrupted many systems, from health, business, and education to severely restricted religious services. The current solution is to do online learning or online learning from home. Purpose: This research aims to explore data related to student satisfaction with listening learning media facilities using the Zoom and Google Meet applications used during study-from-home activities. Method: The descriptive quantitative method is used to capture student satisfaction. The population of this study was English undergraduate students in semesters 3, 5, and 7 of IAIN Syekh Nurjati Cirebon, Indonesia. Data was obtained from a questionnaire. There were 30 responses to a survey distributed through the Google Forms application regarding student satisfaction with listening via Zoom and Google Meet learning media Results: The research study results show that most students are satisfied with distance learning via Zoom and google meet, 70% of respondents are satisfied, and 30% are unsatisfied. the majority of students prefer the listening learning model in class compared to listening learning using Zoom and google meet, with a percentage of 73.3%. Conclusion: Distance learning via Zoom and Google Meet is effective and positively impacts lecturer and student communication. Besides that, it encourages them to participate more in listening classes. Urgent distance learning via Zoom and google meet makes English listening courses more engaging. Distance learning via Zoom and Google Meet helps them feel more confident when communicating with classmates and lecturers.

Meaningful Drills and Contextualized Reading Passages to Understand Relative Clauses

The current study tries to test the assumption that the use of meaningful drills and contextualized reading comprehension passages lead to better understanding of relative clauses. The study is based on the idea that meaning and contexts are necessary for learning to take place. It also aims to empirically test the effect of meaningful drills proposed by Christina Paulston on the acquisition of relative clauses. A sample of (30) first year undergraduate students of English took part in this study. The participants were divided equally into experimental and control group. The sample performances were matched based on their scores in the pre and posttest. After doing the pretest the experimental students received a short handout with relative clauses presented in short reading passages to read for themselves. Students of the experimental group had to identify and discover for themselves the occurrences of relative clauses in the reading passages. The reading passages are followed by meaningful drills on relative clauses. Three weeks later, the students in both groups took a posttest on relative clauses. Based on the tests results the authors have concluded that inserting context and meaning leads to better understanding of the grammar pattern being investigated.

INVESTIGATING KURDISH EFL STUDENT’S TRANSLATION OF METAPHORICAL EXPRESSIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL

The current study is an extracted paper from an MA thesis that relates to exploring the ability of Kurdish undergraduate students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to translate English metaphorical expressions into Kurdish Language and vice versa. Furthermore, it aims to highlight the most frequently applied strategies in translating English and Kurdish metaphorical expressions and the challenges that EFL students encounter in their translations. The study adopts three models: Lakoff and Jonson (1980), Larson (1984), and Farahzad (1992). Based on these models, a test is administered to 143 students to gather the quantitative data. Additionally, a semi-structured interview was conducted with six university lecturers to collect the qualitative data. The results show that the ability of Kurdish EFL students at the Colleges of Basic Education/English Department to translate English and Kurdish metaphorical expressions is very low and minimal. Moreover, the most frequently applied strategies are metaphor to another metaphor with the same meaning and transference of meaning without the metaphorical image for Kurdish and English metaphorical expressions, respectively. It also reveals that the majority of the students have difficulty in translating ontological types of metaphorical expressions, and the inability to find appropriate or near-like equivalents, insufficient Kurdish resources and cultural differences between the source and target languages are challenges that EFL university students face in their translations.

The Mediating Role of Academic Passion in Determining the Relationship Between Academic Self-Regulation and Goal Orientation With Academic Burnout Among English Foreign Language (EFL) Learners.

One of the most significant current discussions in educational psychology is academic passion. This research aimed to investigate the mediating role of academic passion in the relationship between goal orientation and academic self-regulation with students' academic burnout. However, so far, there has been little discussion about these variables together. The statistical population of the present study includes all undergraduate English students of Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, whose strength is equal to 598 people, and the sample size is determined by the convenience sampling method and Cochran's formula (248 participants). Data collection methods in this study include four questionnaires of the academic passion; goal orientation; self-regulatory and academic burnout. The Pearson test results showed that the correlation coefficient of academic burnout with goal orientation, self-regulatory, and academic passion is statistically significant at 0.05%. These variables are inconsistent with academic burnout, and with increase in these variables, academic burnout significantly decreases. The correlation coefficient of goal orientation with self-regulatory variables and academic passion is statistically significant at the level of 0.05%. These variables are consistent with goal orientation, self-regulated learning, and academic passion, and with increase in the aforementioned variables, they significantly rise. Goal-oriented and self-regulated goal orientation can predict academic passion. Academic passion has a direct and significant relationship with academic self-regulation and goal orientation. Finally, the obtained fit indices of the general model have the desired fit with the collected data. The implication is that academic passion plays an important role in creating a positive learning environment that will lead to effective learning and teaching. It may influence student learning. Passion inspires and stimulates, and teaching with passion promotes learning.

L2 learners’ self-regulated learning strategies and self-efficacy for writing achievement: A latent profile analysis

There is an increasing recognition that effective deployment of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies is essential for the development of second/foreign language learners’ abilities to accomplish learning goals. Within models of SRL, a prerequisite for the active employment of SRL strategies is learners’ self-efficacy, which interacts with strategy use in all phases. In the domain of second language (L2) writing, previous research mainly adopted a variable-centred approach to investigate the relationship between SRL strategy use and self-efficacy whereas person-centred questions have largely been neglected. Performing latent profile analysis (LPA) with undergraduate students of English as a foreign language (EFL), we identified three SRL profiles that differed quantitatively concerning levels of self-efficacy. The efficacious self-regulators with the highest levels of cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational components of SRL reported the highest levels of self-efficacy, followed by the moderate strategists; EFL learners with the lowest levels on the main SRL components reported the lowest writing self-efficacy score. Learners of different profiles differed significantly in a writing performance test with the efficacious self-regulators outperforming the other two profiles. Implications for self-regulated language learning and L2 writing instruction are discussed.

Clustering perceived learning environment as antecedents of willingness to communicate in a second language

This study was designed to explore patterns of student perceptions of second language (L2) classroom environments and the relationships between such perceptions and L2 willingness to communicate (WTC). A sample of 845 first-year undergraduate students of English as a foreign language (EFL) participated in the study and reported their perceptions of the L2 classroom environment and their WTC. Using cluster analysis, this study aggregated students’ perceptions of the classroom environment into four clusters: High support, Rapport, Input, and Low support classes. These four clusters of classes differed significantly in the student perceived support of interpersonal relationships and instructional input. A one-way ANOVA further showed that L2 WTC was positively related to student perceptions of interpersonal relationships and instructional input. More specifically, students’ positive perceptions of interpersonal relationships tended to facilitate WTC in meaning-focused activities, while students’ positive perceptions of instructional input tended to facilitate WTC in form-focused activities. This study finally proposed a model to depict perceived situation cues as antecedents (interpersonal relationship and instructional input) of L2 WTC. Implications for L2 instruction and learning were also discussed.

"WE FEEL ANXIOUS AND NERVOUS": THE UNDERGRADUATE ENGLISH STUDENTS' EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES IN LEARNING TO SPEAK ENGLISH

The purpose of this research was to explore the undergraduate English students’ emotional experience in terms of anxious and nervous feelings and identify the factors contributing to the anxious and nervous feelings of undergraduate English students in learning to speak English. The design of this research employs qualitative narrative approach, in which the researchers attempts to elicit the participants’ emotional experience in learning speaking at the private university in Banjarmasin. In collecting the data, the researchers use semi-structured interview techniques and are analyzed using thematic inductive approach. From the findings revealed that there were three undergraduate students who experienced dominant negative emotions such as anxiety, nervous and shy during learning to speak English, while another student considered that negative emotions did not influence him too much to speak English. There were two main factors that contributing anxiety and nervousness, namely external factors (such as lack of confidence and the environment) and internal factors (such as lacking mastery of grammar and vocabulary).Keywords: Emotional experinces, learning to speak English, undergraduate students

Unraveling Advanced EFL Learners’ L2 Willingness to Communicate in Extramural Digital Settings

Considering the importance of willingness to communicate (WTC) as a critical component of effective pedagogy (MacIntyre et al., 1998), the present qualitative study investigated the affordances extramural digital settings (EDSs), as newly emerged popular environments, offer to advanced EFL learners. To this aim, we asked a purposeful sample of 8 Iranian undergraduate English students of both genders (4 males, 4 females), with an age range of 19 to 21, to partake in the study. Results of the analysis of semi-structured interviews suggested that despite providing advanced EFL learners with unique opportunities for the use of the target language, different aspects of EDSs might have diverse effects on each individual''s L2 WTC. More specifically, L2 WTC was subject to considerable fluctuations because of the simultaneous and aggregate effect of different factors and the fluctuations exhibited substantial variation from learner to learner, moment to moment and in accordance with different purposes. The factors identified were classified into three major categories: Affective (attitude and self-confidence), contextual (interlocutor, social disapproval and cultural influences), and linguistic (language proficiency) variables. The findings of the study may offer insights into materials development by suggesting the integration of some activities and tasks which focus on the use of various social media platforms to the course materials. Moreover, English instructors need to acquire information on which social media platforms are more appropriate and could create an interesting and collaborative environment for students to communicate in the target language. For instance, they could form groups on social media to engage students in regular authentic interaction in L2 outside of the classroom context.

An Analysis of Intonation Patterns of English Interrogative Sentences Produced by Undergraduate Students in District Mansehra

This research intends to discover the tonal configurations of English Interrogative sentences used by undergraduate students of English in District Mansehra. The intonation patterns of English interrogative sentences used by undergraduate students were compared with those of native speakers of English. An experimental design was used to collect data from a sample of eighteen students (nine female and nine male) in the form of recordings and was run on PRAAT software to identify the intonation configuration of the recorded utterances. The analysis showed that non-native speakers used a variety of intonation patterns in the utterances of English language. In the comparison with the results of utterances by native speakers, it was observed that in yes/no questions, there was a slight difference between the percentages. Contrastively, in wh-questions, a significant difference was observed, as native speakers used a High-Low pattern whereas non-native speakers used the opposite one.

USING KAHOOT! IN VOCABULARY LEARNING: EVIDENCE FROM A VIETNAMESE HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXT

This study aims to find out how undergraduate English students at a Vietnamese institution felt about utilizing Kahoot to learn vocabulary. Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, the study collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data from 53 first-year English major students. The participants in the study regarded the game to be enjoyable, although their involvement was not consistent throughout the trial. Interaction, engagement, focus, competition, and motivation were also essential characteristics that contributed to students' pleasant learning experiences and helped them enhance their vocabulary learning, particularly in terms of retention. Based on these important findings, certain recommendations have been made addressing the necessity to incorporate more digital-game-based activities into classroom education in order to motivate students better and maintain classroom engagement.

Having a single language interest autonomously predicts L2 achievement: Addressing the predictive validity of L2 grit

The present study aims to evaluate the role of ‘autonomous single language interest’ (ASLI) and assess its applicability and predictive validity for subsequent language achievement. ASLI, a refined version of ‘consistency of interest’ (CI) from grit, postulates that language students who have one autonomous language interest during their study (e.g., during the university setting) would achieve the language more successfully than those who have multiple language-unrelated interests/projects besides their language study. To evaluate this construct, 235 undergraduate English students were tracked over roughly one academic year. The validation of the single language interest (SLI) construct was achieved using exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). The analyses indicated a reliable and valid scale of SLI. The predictive moderated model offered unique information about how SLI is related to L2 achievement after one academic year. The effects of SLI on L2 achievement are positive when students have SLI in an autonomous manner; hence the name ASLI, but negative when students' have SLI in a controlled manner (e.g., with internal/external pressure). The effects hold constant while controlling for students' initial language achievement. Conceptual and educational implications are discussed.

The Realization of Thematic Progression in the Essays of English Undergraduate Students

This study focuses on the realization of thematic progression, the problems concerning the thematic progression, and the coherence of English undergraduate students’ essays in one of the private universities in Lubuklinggau. The researchers investigated en argumentative essays written by the third-semester students by employing descriptive qualitative with written discourse analysis. The researchers used documentation and interview as the instruments. This study used Eggins’ theory (2004). This study revealed that the students mainly realized the thematic progression patterns in their writing, although they did not have a proper thematic progression insight. The students applied Theme reiteration, zig-zag pattern, multiple-Rheme pattern, and split Theme in the thematic progression. Meanwhile, the problems concerning the thematic progression were the problem of brand-new Theme, empty Rheme, incomplete clause, and confusing selection of textual Theme. Brand-new Theme mainly occurred in students’ essays, in which they carried forward the new information that did not relate to the preceding clause. Ten students’ argumentative essays were more coherent in terms of coherence as they had already employed various thematic progression patterns and were not monotonous in one pattern only. To sum up, although theoretically, they lack an understanding of thematic progression, they have practically applied the various thematic progression patterns and made their essays more coherent.