ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
The Relationship among Iranian EFL Learners' Self-Efficacy, Autonomy and Listening Comprehension Ability
Author: Tabrizi, Haleh Mojarrabi
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Self Efficacy,Personal Autonomy,Listening Comprehension,Correlation,Females,Questionnaires,Adolescents,Young Adults,Likert Scales,Statistical Analysis,Language Proficiency

This study investigated the interrelationships among EFL learners' self-efficacy, autonomy and listening comprehension ability. Ninety female learners of intermediate level participated in the study. They were between 16 and 24 years old. In order to obtain the required data on the three variables (i.e., self-efficacy, autonomy, and listening comprehension ability), the researchers, after administering a standard language proficiency test to ensure the participants' homogeneity, used Listening Self-efficacy Beliefs Questionnaire, Listening Autonomy Questionnaire, and Listening Proficiency Test, respectively. First, the participants were asked to complete the two self-report scales, after which they were given a listening comprehension test to attain their listening comprehension ability. The data were analyzed using three Pearson's Product-moment correlation coefficients to assess the relationships among the research variables. The findings revealed that there was a positive correlation among Iranian EFL learners' listening self-efficacy beliefs, listening autonomy, and listening comprehension ability. Accordingly, it is suggested that building self-efficacy and autonomy in listening comprehension is crucial to ensure the success of EFL learners in listening comprehension.
Choosing an English Teacher: The Influence of Gender on the Students' Choice of Language Teachers
Author: Taqi, Hanan A.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Teachers,English (Second Language),Gender Differences,Teacher Characteristics,Majors (Students),Females,Questionnaires,Likert Scales,Grades (Scholastic),Statistical Analysis,Grade Point Average,Social Status,Educational Attainment,Correlation,Males,Foreign Countries,Student Attitudes,College Students

Gender and teaching are gaining increasing attention in the field of higher education. The significance of teacher gender seems even more crucial in an environment based on gender segregation. In the scope of language teaching and gender, this study investigates the influence of gender on the students' selection of teachers in general, and language teachers more specifically. The participants, 146 English major students in an all-female college of education, were given a questionnaire of 32 statements--to be answered on a 5-point Likert scale--and four open-ended questions; all of which aim at examining the difference between male and female English language teachers in terms of attitude, grades, teaching and even appearance. The statistics were analyzed in terms of frequency, mean and variance in correlation with the independent variables of age, social status, GPA and years in college. It was found that most students prefer male teachers as they believe that the positive personal traits of the male teachers far exceed those of the female teachers. Nonetheless, the statistics have revealed that both genders (and sometimes female more than male teachers) are good language teachers. Hence, reflecting the main finding: gender is not a criterion for good language teaching, but it is our students' criterion for choosing a language teacher.
Lowering Foreign Language Anxiety through Self-Regulated Learning Strategy Use
Author: Martirossian, Armineh
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Correlation,Communication Skills,Test Anxiety,Fear,Anxiety,Cognitive Style,Self Management,College Students,Language Teachers,Foreign Countries,Student Surveys,Statistical Analysis

Foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and self-regulated learning strategies (SRLSs) are important factors that influence language learning process in negative and positive ways respectively. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between FLCA and SRLSs. To this end, 100 university students majoring in TEFL were selected. For collecting data, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, &amp; Cope, 1986) and Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich &amp; De Groot, 1990) were used. To analyze the data, Kendall correlation was run. The results revealed that there is a negative relationship between FLCA (communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation) and SRLSs (cognitive strategy use and self-regulation).
The Effect of a Suggested Multisensory Phonics Program on Developing Kindergarten Pre-Service Teachers' EFL Reading Accuracy and Phonemic Awareness
Author: Ghoneim, Nahed Mohammed Mahmoud
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Phonemic Awareness,Phonics,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Preservice Teachers,Accuracy,Reading Skills,Kindergarten,Preschool Teachers,Pretests Posttests,Experimental Groups,Language Teachers,Teacher Education,Literacy,Foreign Countries,Statistical Analysis

The current study investigates the effect of a suggested multisensory phonics program on developing kindergarten pre-service teachers' EFL reading accuracy and phonemic awareness. A total of 40 fourth year kindergarten pre-service teachers, Faculty of Education, participated in the study that involved one group experimental design. Pre-post tests were administered to assess the participants' phonics skills. The results showed that the suggested multisensory phonics program was effective in developing kindergarten pre-service teachers' EFL reading accuracy and phonemic awareness.
Using Supplementary Materials in the Teaching of English: Pedagogic Scope and Applications
Author: Thakur, Vijay Singh
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Instructional Materials,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Teaching Methods,Grammar,Vocabulary Development,Instructional Innovation,Humor,Cartoons,Journalism,Story Reading

For many students learning English as a second/foreign language is an uninteresting, dull experience. Quite often teachers present words, sentence patterns, and grammar rules in a very mechanical manner. As a result, people come to think of the teaching of grammar and vocabulary as a monotonous job. But a resourceful, imaginative and creative teacher can always break this monotony using innovative techniques and authentic materials. The present paper is an attempt to demonstrate how jokes, anecdotes, stories and situations, and journalistic cartoons can be effectively exploited as supplementary materials to enliven the classroom atmosphere, ensure better learner motivation and participation, and make the teaching and learning of English an enjoyable, stimulating, and memorable experience.
The Effect of the CAREY Program on the Students' Reading Attitude Towards Reading English Materials
Author: Al-Shawesh, Marwan Yahya
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Attitudes,Student Attitudes,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Interviews,Language Proficiency,Questionnaires,Observation,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Foreign Countries,Computer Assisted Instruction,Positive Attitudes,Program Descriptions,Reading Materials,College Students

Reading is one of language learning skills which has a great significance for the role it plays in the second language acquisition (SLA) process. The aim of this paper was to examine the extent to which the CAREY (Computer-Assisted Reading Yemen) program affects the Yemeni EFL students' reading attitude towards reading English materials. To achieve this objective, the data was collected from pre-and post-questionnaires of reading attitude. Additionally, the data was collected based on an interview and an observation. 20 students selected purposively from level one of an English proficiency course, Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Ibb University, Yemen in this study. All participants answered the pre- and post- reading questionnaires, and five of them were further interviewed. The study used both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data including descriptive statistics of the responses from the questionnaires and thematic analysis of responses from the interviews. The results revealed that all participants showed their positive attitudes toward reading English materials especially after they joined the class of reading via CAREY program. In addition, it was found that CAREY program positively affected the participants' attitudes towards reading English materials.
&quot;Searching for an Entrance&quot; and Finding a Two-Way Door: Using Poetry to Create East-West Contact Zones in TESOL Teacher Education
Author: Cahnmann-Taylor, Melisa
Date: 2015-12-05
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Foreign Students,Graduate Students,Poetry,College Faculty,Student Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Interviews,Asians

Discrimination against Non-Native Speakers (NNS) of English in the TESOL profession is wide-spread and well-documented, despite significant evidence of NNS contributions as TESOL educators and scholars. Several scholars have argued for the importance of aesthetic and autobiographic narratives to democratize the TESOL field and showcase varieties of minoritized perspectives that often go unheard (Canagarajah, 2006; Nelson, 2011; Pavlenko, 2003). To this end, we present one thread of a larger study examining Chinese and Taiwanese international graduate students' participation in arts-based pedagogies within a graduate program in TESOL. We focus on their participation in poetry classes and the ways in which these instructional experiences created opportunities for both foreign-born students and U.S.-born faculty and students alike to revise assumptions related to cultural literacy and U.S. academic norms. The aim of this article is to showcase insights from Chinese graduate students' poems and interviews with Chinese-, Taiwanese- and U.S.-born course participants, illustrating how arts-based learning opportunities work to expand all students' potential for double vision, creating vibrant Eastern-Western exchanges of intellectual thought and intercultural understanding.
Traditional &amp; Socio-Cultural Barriers to EFL Learning: A Case Study
Author: Ahmad, Jameel
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Barriers,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Language Teachers,Student Centered Learning,Foreign Countries,Sociocultural Patterns,Language Proficiency,Social Status,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Surveys,Instructional Effectiveness,Educational Improvement,Learning Motivation,Competition,Teacher Qualifications,Educational Change,Culturally Relevant Education,Boarding Schools,Cultural Context,Textbooks,Elementary Secondary Education,Teacher Attitudes,Questionnaires,Educational Research,Case Studies,Likert Scales

This research tends to ascertain several traditional and socio-cultural barriers to English language learning in Saudi Arabia and to explore more ways than before for making teaching and learning more effective. The findings of four quantitative and qualitative surveys conducted in this regard reveal a unique traditional and socio-cultural milieu, which turns the Saudi EFL learners lackadaisical towards English. The belief that prosperity and prestige are blessed by divine force rather than proficiency in English has influenced Saudi parents and Saudi EFL learners since time in memorial. In addition, a laissez-faire attitude to English language teaching in Saudi schools, lack of motivation for English, inadequacy of competitive and learning environment both at home and schools, and the appointment of some unskilled school-teachers were investigated as some of the major barriers to learning English in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A piecemeal reform taken over a period was found ineffective. Therefore, implementation of culturally relevant English curricula, learner-centered instruction, appointment of skilled English teachers and establishment of boarding schools were recommended to address the aforementioned challenges. The findings of the present research are no doubt specific to Saudi EFL context but the traditional and Socio-cultural barriers and the exclusion of local culture in EFL textbooks may have exactly the same impact in many non-native English speaking countries.
An Empirical Study on Information Prominence Reflected in Sentence Structures of Chinese College EFL Argumentative Writing
Author: Ningling, Wei
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,College Students,Asians,Second Language Instruction,Persuasive Discourse,Foreign Countries,Semantics,Grammar,Sentence Structure,Writing (Composition),Classification,Statistical Analysis,Cognitive Ability,Writing Skills,Essays

Prominence, as an important dimension of cognitive construal, refers to the capacity to evoke a certain substructure as the focus of attention, which can be materialized in a variety of semantic and grammatical expressions (Langacker, 1987). Subject of a sentence (Zhang, 2011) and specific sentence structures (Lin, 2013) can bring a substructure into salience by highlighting it in a specifically grammatical place. Accordingly, the place of subject or the specific sentence structures which are applied to emphasize certain information can reflect a writer's intention of prominence. Thus, this essay will take prominence of Langacker's cognitive construal as theoretical basis and has an empirical study on information prominence of 20 argumentative writing papers written by Chinese college EFL learners from Leshan Normal University. By categorizing the sentences of each sample into five types of structures--link verb sentence, active sentence, passive sentence, non-finite verbs as subject and the specific sentence patterns, and referring to the statistics of sentence structure application and the specific writing contents, it is found out that the writers are inclined to highlight subjective or static information, which leads to subjectivity and powerlessness of argumentation.
Learning English as Thai Adult Learners: An Insight into Experience in Using Learning Strategies
Author: Suwanarak, Kasma
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Learning Strategies,Second Language Instruction,Interviews,Adult Learning,Questionnaires,Preferences,Goal Orientation,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Language Proficiency,Employment Potential,Student Attitudes,Adult Students,Classification,Pretests Posttests,Student Needs,Work Environment,Affective Behavior

This research aims to understand language learning strategies of Thai adult learners and factors affecting their strategy use. The participants are forty officers of General Service Division of the Council of State of Thailand, attending an English training course for developing their work potential. The data were collected through the questionnaire adapted from the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL). To further explore personal views about their experience in learning strategies and factors influential on their strategy use, fifteen participants were selected for individual interviews. Findings revealed that the learners reported an overall preference for the use of social strategies. Analysis of the qualitative data confirmed most of the SILL responses and revealed additional strategies and factors affecting the strategy use. Individual learners chose strategies suitable for the achievement of their goals and take account of their affective needs and work context. Overall, this study has emphasized the necessity of having qualitative data which can enrich and illuminate the findings of quantitative data and could be valuable resources for considering appropriate ways in which English proficiency of Thai adult learners could be developed. Implications are drawn regarding the language learning strategies of adult learners and their strategy use as professional engagement as well as recommendations for future research.
The Effect of Authentic versus Non-Authentic Texts on Upper Intermediate Iranian EFL Learners' Vocabulary Retention
Author: Nematollahi, Shirin
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Vocabulary Development,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Language Proficiency,Language Tests,Retention (Psychology),Gender Differences,Web Sites,Textbooks,Instructional Materials,Comparative Analysis,Second Language Instruction,Institutes (Training Programs),Statistical Analysis,Pretests Posttests

In this current study the researchers have tried to investigate the possible effect of authentic and non-authentic texts on Iranian EFL learners' vocabulary retention. Despite the great deal of studies conducted in the area of EFL/ESL learning, the effect of authentic versus non-authentic texts have almost gained little attention and been under-researched. To this end and to fill this gap, the sample selection was done by a proficiency PET (Preliminary English Test). So, out of 114 EFL learners, 74 learners both male and female were chosen as the participants to take part in the research. The findings from repeated measurement test revealed that authentic versus non-authentic texts and also the learners' gender have no impact on EFL learners' vocabulary retention ability.
The Use of Hybrid Terms and Expressions in Colloquial Arabic among Jordanian College Students: A Sociolinguistic Study
Author: Jaran, Samia A.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Sociolinguistics,Semitic Languages,Gender Differences,Questionnaires,Interviews,Language Usage,College Students,Linguistic Borrowing,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Code Switching (Language),Language Variation,Language Attitudes,Student Attitudes,Discourse Analysis,Social Influences,Age Differences,Foreign Countries

Languages tend to be modified to accommodate for the speakers needs, such as, discussing or dealing with certain topics and domains. An example, university students, in Jordan, modify their own language, being colloquial Arabic, with terms and expressions from the English language in order to interact and adapt to everyday college life. Due to this, college students have fabricated new hybrid terms and expressions; a mixture of English and colloquial Arabic words merged together to make one. This study attempts to explain the attitudes towards these terms and expressions and to what extent they are used amongst the students at Yarmouk University, during Arabic discourse. This was achieved by means of questionnaires and interview. The findings revealed that these colloquial hybrid terms and expressions are highly used by all college students. Results also show that the use of colloquial hybrid terms and expressions is tightly related to social factors, like, age and gender. Thus, these terms and expressions are used mostly by students aged between 18 and 20 years of age. Moreover, these terms and expressions are used more by females than males.
Dancing on Thin Ice: The Journey of Two Male Teacher Candidates Emerging as Professionals within a Teacher Education Dance Program
Author: Kalyn, Brenda
Date: 2015-12-05
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Preservice Teachers,Dance,Dance Education,Student Attitudes,Teacher Responsibility,Feedback (Response),Mentors,Internship Programs

Teacher candidates entering the world of curricula face the realities of teaching a variety of subjects, some more conceptually foreign than others. One challenging area for teacher candidates, particularly males, is in dance education (Gard, 2008; Kiley, 2010). A teacher's former dance experience, beliefs about who dances and why, personal identity, and the value placed on dance can shape one's attitude towards teaching dance. This paper shares the narrative account of two male teacher candidates who faced the challenge of teaching dance in schools. These two elite hockey players experienced a shift in knowledge, attitude, skills, and perceptions towards dance by stepping outside of their comfort zone as they embarked on a professional learning journey through Project Move, an educational based dance opportunity, offered prior to their 16-week internship. They were awakened to their pedagogical responsibility, faced their biases, and responded to the call with great success. This is their story.
Pedagogical Souvenirs: An Art Educator's Reflections on Field Trips as Professional Development
Author: Kushins, Jodi
Date: 2015-12-05
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Field Trips,Art Education,Art Teachers,Faculty Development,Teaching Experience,Experiential Learning,Personal Narratives,Intellectual Development

This essay explores the nature and importance of field trips as sites for artistic development, intellectual fulfillment, and pedagogical inspiration. The author weaves personal reflections from a professional field trip and experience teaching art education online with creative and pedagogical references to make a case for experiential learning as professional development. At a time when we experience so much of the world through screens, when school field trips are in decline due to budget cuts, and when professional development is more focused on assessment than intellectual development, this piece encourages readers to imagine how art educators, and our work with students, might be affected if we permitted ourselves and were supported in our desires to step outside our classrooms and have our own adventures in learning.
EFL Arab Learners' Peer Revision of Writing in a Facebook Group: Contributions to Written Texts and Sense of Online Community
Author: Razak, Norizan Abdul
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Qualitative Research,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Writing (Composition),Revision (Written Composition),Arabs,Social Media,Social Networks,College Students,Sampling,Content Analysis,Statistical Analysis,Communities of Practice,Foreign Countries,Student Interests,Computer Mediated Communication,Language Usage,Peer Relationship,Taxonomy,Discourse Analysis,Student Attitudes,Grammar,Punctuation,Peer Evaluation,Writing Evaluation

This qualitative study investigated peer writing revision among English as foreign language (EFL) Arab students in a Facebook group. Specifically, it aimed to identify the text revisions made by the learners and to determine their contributions to the learners' written texts and sense of online community outside the college classroom context. Being framed within the situated learning approach (Wenger, 1998), the current study was carried out among 14 EFL Arab university learners from Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. A purposeful sampling was performed to achieve a heterogeneous group of EFL learners. A qualitative content analysis of the learners' written paragraphs (original and revised drafts), online interactional exchanges and responses to the post-revision reflection discussions was employed in this study. The findings showed that addition, substitution, deletion, permutation, consolidation, and distribution were identified as the main revision operations made by the EFL learners. These revisions operations and changes contributed to enhancing learners' end-products or texts in terms of content, unity and organization, language and mechanics. The learners' engagement in the online revision activities fostered their sense of online learning community by creating an interactive friendly learning environment, building and nurturing new relationships based on shared interests and developing a sense of belonging.