Young English As A Foreign Language Learners Research Articles

Can we train young EFL learners to ‘notice the gap’? Exploring the relationship between metalinguistic awareness, grammar learning and the use of metalinguistic explanations in a dictogloss task

Abstract In this pilot study we investigated whether metalinguistic explanations (ME) could help young learners (YL) boost their metalinguistic awareness (MA) and, in turn, improve their accuracy at the time of using two grammatical features. Although previous research has established a positive correlation between MA, metalinguistic knowledge (MK) and better learning outcomes in a foreign language (FL), few interventional studies have been conducted in this regard. Using a pretest/post-test design, an intact classroom (N = 20) of L1 Spanish 10-year-old students of English as a FL (EFL) was divided into an experimental and a control group. First, both groups completed an individual pen-and-paper MA test. Then, they were paired up according to their proficiency level and asked to carry out a dictogloss task, in which they had to negotiate their final written output. Before the post-test phase, the experimental group was asked to engage with a learning sequence of ME concerning two problematic English grammatical features: third person –s and his/her. These explanations also included the definitions of metalinguistic terminology. Additionally, an individual three-step verbal protocol was carried out after the post-tests to triangulate collaborative data. The results showed a moderate effect of the treatment in MA scores. Likewise, ME had a large effect on the use of third person –s during the interaction, as well as a moderate effect on the accurate use of his/her. Also, the treatment group dyads produced significantly more episodes of noticing during the post-test task and at a higher resolution rate than during the pretest stage. These findings support the use of explicit learning devices such as ME with YL of EFL, as they seem to promote MA and increase their accuracy even in input-limited learning conditions.

What Do Elementary Students Need to Excel in English Learning?

Integrating digital and interactive learning methods is crucial in enhancing English language acquisition among young learners. This study explores the preferences and attitudes of fifth-grade students toward these methods in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. The research aimed to identify the specific needs of young EFL learners and assess the effectiveness of technology-oriented learning models. A questionnaire was administered to 84 fifth-grade students, examining their engagement with various digital tools, including videos, audio materials, interactive games, digital modules, and mobile accessibility. The results indicate a strong preference for visually engaging and interactive methods, with students strongly inclined toward video-based learning and interactive activities, particularly enjoying interactive games. Digital modules with interactive exercises, quizzes, and simple, user-friendly layouts were highly favoured, and colourful transitions and animations further enhanced their experience. The study also highlights the demand for responsive, mobile-accessible modules and tools that provide progress tracking and feedback. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating multimedia and interactive elements in EFL resources to better cater to the needs of young learners, suggesting that digital methods can significantly improve language acquisition and student engagement.

Language bursts and text quality in digital writing by young EFL learners

This study investigates the relationship between pausing and revision behaviors, as captured by pause bursts (P-bursts) and revision bursts (R-bursts), and text quality in digital L2 writing contexts among young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. The study involved 22 elementary school students aged 10–11 years, with English proficiency levels ranging from A1 to A2 (CEFRL). Participants completed a picture description writing task, and their writing processes were recorded using keystroke logging software. The results revealed that frequent pauses (P-bursts) were negatively correlated with text quality, suggesting cognitive overload or difficulties in language processing. In contrast, revision bursts (R-bursts) exhibited a positive correlation with text quality, indicating that the revision process played a crucial role in refining and improving the written output. Regression analysis further demonstrated that R-bursts significantly predicted text quality, underscoring the importance of revision behavior among young L2 writers. These findings contribute to our understanding of the cognitive processes underlying L2 writing in digital contexts and highlight the central role of revisions in enhancing text quality among young EFL learners. Educational implications emphasize the need for instructional practices that encourage and support the revision process in writing instruction for this population.

Enhancing young EFL learners’ written skills: the role of repeated pre-task planning

Abstract The present study seeks to investigate the effect of repeated pre-task planning on young learners’ written production of three problematic aspects of English grammar (the present simple third-person singular -s; the possessives his/her; and the personal pronouns he/she), and the overall quality of their writings. Thirty-three dyads of Basque-Spanish learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) from the sixth year of the primary education level (aged 11–12) performed a series of picture-prompted narration tasks in three different planning conditions: guided-planning (GP), unguided-planning (UP) and no-planning (NP). Their written production was compared in pre-, post- and delayed post-tests. Results showed statistically significant gains for the GP group, supporting the claim that repeated practice involving pre-task explicit grammar instruction might benefit young EFL learners, even though not all the target forms under analysis improved.

Children and extensive reading motivation

Abstract Extensive reading (ER), which refers to reading a lot of often self-selected material for information, overall meaning, pleasure, and enjoyment, has been growing in popularity in Asia as an effective way for English as a foreign language (EFL) students to improve reading skills and has provided opportunities for comprehensible input (Nation & Waring, 2013). The focus of this action research (AR) project is on young EFL learners in a private language school setting without a grading system. Therefore, it is important that students be intrinsically motivated to read for the school’s ER program to be successful, specifically, the motivation to check out and read books from a school library. Furthermore, this AR project sought to find whether certain methods can increase students’ intrinsic motivation to read. The research methods include questionnaires, student voice recordings, and empirical data on book-borrowing behaviors. The findings show that indirect, rather than direct, teacher recommendation of books seems to be the most effective method to increase intrinsic motivation to do ER.

Classroom Activities and English Grammar Learning among students

The objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of integrating games into grammar instruction for young learners, as perceived by English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in primary schools. A questionnaire was distributed to collect opinions from a sample of English language teachers (n=15). The results of the research showed that EFL teachers have varied perspectives on the use of games in grammar teaching, consistent with existing literature. The study suggests that while EFL teachers recognize the effectiveness of incorporating games for grammar instruction, they do not incorporate games into their classrooms as frequently as expected. Additionally, the study delved into the factors influencing teachers' decisions regarding game integration. Analysis indicated that time constraints, curriculum demands, and perceived challenges in managing classroom dynamics were significant considerations. Despite recognizing the potential benefits of gamified grammar instruction, teachers faced practical obstacles in implementation. The study recommends targeted professional development to address these challenges, emphasizing practical strategies for seamlessly incorporating games into the curriculum. By bridging the gap between theoretical acknowledgment and practical application, educators can enhance the integration of games, fostering a more engaging and effective grammar learning environment for young EFL learners in primary schools. Further research could explore specific training interventions and their impact on teachers' game integration practices.

The Role of Task Types and Reading Proficiency on Young English as a Foreign Language Learners' Writing Performances

AbstractThis study examined the role of writing task types and L2 reading proficiency on young English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' writing performances. The participants were 185 students (Grades 7 and 8) from Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands. The students responded to a descriptive and an email writing tasks that assessed their writing ability. The written responses were scored holistically and analyzed for aspects of lexical sophistication, syntactic complexity, writing fluency, and idea development. The students were grouped into strong or emergent readers based on their performances on an English reading comprehension test. Results showed that the students' writing performances differed across task types and were associated with their reading proficiency. The students produced more unique and concrete words and more complex syntactic structures and wrote longer essays in the descriptive writing task. Strong readers outperformed the emergent readers in both tasks and in writing fluency and idea development. Findings corroborate previous research on the connection between reading and writing skills and highlight the importance of strengthening young EFL learners' reading skills to support their writing development.

The relationships between spoken and written input beyond the classroom and young EFL learners’ proficiency

The present mixed-methods study was an inductive investigation of 8-to-12-year-old English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) children’s English input received beyond the classroom (IBC) in Hong Kong. Individual interviews, with an inductive co-constructive approach, were conducted with the participating children’s parents/guardians ( n = 173) to elicit their IBC. The children completed four proficiency tests (listening, reading, speaking, and writing), the scores of which were analysed with their IBC. Medium to large effects were found in correlations between various aspects of IBC and proficiency. Spoken IBC (i.e. exposure to spoken English) generally showed stronger associations with proficiency than written IBC (i.e. exposure to written English) did. Regression analyses demonstrated that both types of IBC were significant predictors, explaining 25% of the variance in proficiency. There were large to very large differences in proficiency between children receiving abundant IBC and little/no IBC. Intriguingly, only specific types of IBC were found to relate to differences in proficiency. The article ends with a discussion of these findings.

The Triumph of Human-Robot Interaction: Employing Humanoid Robot to Boost Grammar Acquisition and Retention Among Iranian Young EFL Learners

This paper examines the impact of employing an assistive humanoid robot in acquiring and retaining grammar among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. To this end, forty-eight Iranian young male students (between 11 to 15 years old) were equally divided into three groups: RALL (Robot-Assisted Language Learning), GBLL (Game-based Language Learning), and the control group. While the teacher, the textbook, and teaching materials were identical in all groups, a set of similar games were played only in the RALL (with the participation of the NAO H21 robot) and GBLL groups. A 20-item grammar pre-test was taken at the beginning of the classes. Overall, a total of ten intervention sessions (each lasting for 60 minutes), 15 (each lasting for 90 minutes), and 15 (each lasting for 120 minutes) were respectively administered for the RALL, GBLL, and control groups. At the end of the treatments, the acquisition and retention of grammar were evaluated through immediate (at the end of class) and delayed post-tests (two weeks later), correspondingly. The results of descriptive statistics and ANOVA indicated that the RALL group outperformed the two groups in the immediate and delayed post-tests. The students in the RALL group had a very positive attitude toward robot presence in the class and scored higher on the post-test. This study suggests that RALL can be very beneficial in assisting teaching EFL classes. The results of the current innovative study can equally yield important implications for language education and social robotics fields and further contribute to providing clear evidence of the impacts of RALL on Iranian young learners’ English grammar acquisition.

Young EFL Learners Collaboratively Writing a Dialogue During a Regular Classroom Lesson

A growing body of research has explored collaborative writing (CW) among young learners. Nevertheless, studies have mainly focused on tasks such as the dictogloss, which is rather uncommon in regular classroom teaching and has neglected activities that are more common. In addition, research has focused on language-related episodes (LREs) without considering other important episodes including those that involve the teacher. Finally, only one study has explored to what extent the decisions made within LREs transfer into the written product. With these research gaps in mind, the present study examined CW of 12 pairs composed of 10 to 11-year-old learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) who jointly wrote a role-play. Drawing on audio recordings of pair work interactions and documentary analysis of students’ written work, the study has found that in addition to LREs, students frequently engaged in content-related and activity-related episodes with the teacher’s involvement being rather limited. Despite the teacher’s presence, a high proportion of LREs was resolved incorrectly or left unresolved. Nearly all correctly and incorrectly resolved LREs were also incorporated into the jointly written role-play. Students focused predominantly on the language targeted by the activity (lexical phrases) and attended to other language aspects minimally.

Phonological Awareness and Word Reading Fluency Among Young Saudi Learners of English

The current study explored the relationship between phonological awareness and word reading fluency among young Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL)learners. Two tests were completed by thirty young Saudi EFL learners. The first test comprised 25 questions related to phonological awareness. In the second test, the learners were asked to read a list of English words in one minute, and each student was given a score based on how many words they read per minute. The students scored relatively low on both tests, indicatinga deficiency in phonological awareness and difficulty in word reading. The scores in both tests were significantly correlated, however, a regression analysis showed that only phonological awareness at the phonemic level was a significant predictor of the students’ performance in the word reading fluency test. The results clearly indicate that Saudi EFL learners could benefit from phonemic awareness training, and future studies should empirically examine its potentialfor improving Saudi EFL learners’ reading fluency.

Test-taking strategy use by Chinese young EFL learners in an authentic international standardized English test

The current study examined language test-taking strategies used by Chinese young learners of English as a foreign language (EFLs) in an authentic international standardized English test–Cambridge Young Learners English Test: Flyers Test. It adopted a mixed-methods approach: the quantitative part was a survey administered to 138 participants, and the qualitative part consisted of think-aloud sessions and retrospective interviews with six participants (three were high-achievers and three were low-achievers). The quantitative results show that in general, children adopted metacognitive test-taking strategies more frequently than cognitive test-taking strategies irrespective of language skills; and the high-achievers used test-taking strategies more frequently than their low-achievers. The two-way interaction effects between levels of test performance ☓ strategy type and between language skills ☓ strategy type were also significant. The qualitative results demonstrate that the high-achievers not only used a broader range of cognitive strategies than low-achievers, they also used the same metacognitive strategies at an in-depth level and in a more sophisticated way than low-achievers. The results of the study suggest that expanding Chinese young EFL learners’ repertoire of test-taking strategies and modeling desirable ways of using strategies may help them improve their test-taking strategy use.

Collaborative writing among young EFL learners in a school context: product and process

ABSTRACT The recent surge in studies on collaborative writing (CW) has provided valuable insights into the product and process of writing. When writing together, adults tend to produce better texts and generate and resolve a large number of language-related episodes (LREs). Also, analyses of the dialogues of collaborative writers show that learners are able to co-construct knowledge and mainly focus their attention on the generation of ideas. As for young learners (YLs), the very few studies comparing jointly and individually written texts have not identified any advantages in the use of collaboratively written drafts.Furthermore, while YLs also produce and resolve LREs in CW tasks, no study to date has provided a thorough analysis of their dialogues. To address these gaps, this study compares the products of primary school learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) aged 11–12 writing in pairs (n = 20) and individually (n = 19) and provides a thorough analysis of pair talk (process). Results suggest that collaborative writers produced more accurate texts and focused most of their efforts on the generation of ideas and on the discussion and successful resolution of LREs. In light of these results the implementation of CW with YLs is encouraged.

Exploring classroom-based assessment for young EFL learners in the Chinese context: Teachers’ beliefs and practices

Classroom-based assessment (CBA) is an approach for learning improvement that has been advocated as having strong potential in enhancing learner autonomy of young language learners (YLLs). This study investigated Chinese primary school English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' beliefs about CBA, their assessment practices, and the relationship between their CBA beliefs and practices. Drawing on data from a survey of 195 Chinese primary school EFL teachers, results showed that the teachers positively believed in the value of various CBA processes, including planning assessment, collecting learning evidence, making professional judgments and providing appropriate feedback, and they also attempted to enact these assessment practices; belief-practice alignment was also identified, showing that teachers' beliefs about CBA were significant predictors of their assessment practices. Implications are provided for promoting the implementation of CBA for YLLs in similar contexts.

A Genre Pedagogy for Teaching Young EFL Learners of English Village of Parit Baru

This case study aimed to find out the implementation of a genre pedagogy under systemic functional linguistics (SFL) framework or under Sydney School to teach the English language to young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners of English Village of Parit Baru, Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan. Fifty-two young EFL learners were involved in this study. The data collection used two instruments, namely participant observations and documentation. The data analysis reveals that genre pedagogy elements could help the young EFL learners in constructing and communicating their texts independently. Also, the learners’ texts are following the schematic structures and linguistic features of the spoken genres the learners learned. To help the learners to cope with the teaching activities, songs and games activities were used to build their interest in the English language, new vocabulary, and practices to communicate their texts. This means that a genre pedagogy under the SFL framework could be integrated with joyful activities that not only provide guidance but also promote enjoyable learning in building the English language capacities of the young EFL learners in a non-formal educational context.

Development of English Picture Vocabulary Test as an Assessment Tool for Very Young EFL Learners’ Receptive and Expressive Language Skills

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The aim of this study was to construct and validate “English Picture Vocabulary Test (EPVT)” that aimed to assess the very young learners’ (VYLs) receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge for specific content areas in English as a foreign language (EFL). In this context, EPVT was created in several stages. One of them was initial construct identification with the literature review on various aspects of assessment in early year’s FL learning and development aspects of very young EFL learners. The other stages were “pre-piloting” with 4 experts and 20 VYLs to obtain their perspectives on the test construction and administration and “final piloting” implementation with 5–6 years old private pre-primary school children (251) to ensure reliability, validity, and test quality. After designing the process of the EPVT was clarified considering the ethical and effectiveness issues, the item analysis with Kuder-Richardson 20 and Point-Biserial Correlation was conducted. Besides, the distribution of the items among the ranges of difficulty and the discrimination index values were specified. Practice and Policy: The findings support that EPVT is child-friendly and effective in assessing preschoolers’ English vocabulary receptively and expressively. Furthermore, it could also serve to provide feedback for teaching and supporting for learning L2.

Assessing self-regulatory writing strategies and their predictive effects on young EFL learners’ writing performance

This paper reports findings from two empirical studies on students’ reported use of self-regulatory writing strategies and the relationships with their writing performance in a secondary school English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Study One adopted a factorial design using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to validate the inferences and uses of a Self-Regulatory Writing Strategy Questionnaire; Study Two explored learner individual differences in developing self-regulatory writing strategies and the predictive effects of these strategies on students’ writing performance. Participants were two convenience samples of 669 and 239 students, who were young EFL learners in junior secondary schools in China. Results provided evidence of the construct validity of responses to the questionnaire. Students in higher grade levels reported more frequent use of self-regulatory writing strategies than those in lower grade levels, and female students reported using self-regulatory writing strategies more than male students. The six strategy factors (i.e., writing planning, goal-oriented monitoring, goal-oriented evaluation, emotional control, memorization, and metacognitive judgment) each had significant predictive effects on secondary school students’ writing performance. These findings suggest the importance of self-regulatory writing strategies to young learners’ writing performance. • The study validates a questionnaire on self-regulatory writing strategies. • Students in higher grade levels reported more uses of writing strategies. • Female students reported more uses of writing strategies. • Self-regulatory writing strategies predict EFL young learners’ writing.

Implementing Classroom-Based Assessment for Young EFL Learners in the Chinese Context: A Case Study

While there is extensive literature on how classroom-based assessment (CBA) can be effectively put into practice, little is known about its implementation in L2 contexts, especially in the young English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learner context. This study endeavored to investigate teachers’ CBA practices and factors that might exert influences on them. A purposive sample of three EFL teachers from two primary schools participated in this case study. Our thematic analysis revealed that the potential of CBA in supporting young EFL learners’ learning had not been fulfilled. The teachers failed to clarify such objectives and success criteria to their students. Despite the use of multiple assessments, the teachers relied heavily on formal assessments, with student-involving assessments being less frequently used. Moreover, there was a heavy reliance on norm-referenced assessment and evaluative feedback. It was also found that teachers’ CBA practices faced complex challenges related to teacher, student, context and system factors. Practical implications for how CBA can be effectively implemented in similar EFL contexts are discussed.

Cohesion in the Narrative Writing of Young EFL Learners: Correct and Incorrect Use of Local Cohesive Ties

This study examines the correct and incorrect use of local cohesive ties and local cohesion errors in the written narratives of eleven- to twelve-year-old Spanish learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at different proficiency levels. The study was carried out with pairs who collaboratively wrote a narrative text in response to a picture prompt. The young learners’ written texts were examined to identify their correct and incorrect use of four categories: lexical, referential, conjunctive and temporal cohesion. The results show that higher and lower proficiency learners are significantly different in their use of the causal conjunction because, personal pronouns and noun phrases containing possessive, definite, indefinite and zero determiners. The two groups also differ in their incorrect use of pronouns, simple verb forms and noun phrases containing definite, indefinite and zero determiners. Attention is drawn to the need to explore the diversity in young learners’ use of cohesion and some pedagogical implications are drawn.

Teaching and Learning Writing in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) School Education Contexts: A Thematic Review

ABSTRACT While abundant research has investigated the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language (EFL) writing in college contexts, there has been little examination of writing in primary and secondary school settings. It is important to understand the writing literacy development of young EFL learners and to explore instruction that supports their growth as writers. For research and pedagogical purposes, we conducted a review of 136 studies of EFL writing in primary and secondary school contexts from 2012 to 2019 concerning three themes: (1) contexts and participants, (2) research foci and theoretical orientations, and (3) research methodology and data sources. The findings offer a broad picture of the scholarship on EFL writing in school contexts over the last eight years and suggest future directions for researching and teaching EFL writing in primary and secondary school contexts.