EFL

Evaluating Listening and Speaking Activities (Published)

This paper comprises two merged assignments that reflect upon teaching practices and methods regarding the skills of listening and speaking. In the first comprehensive analysis, the focus is on a listening input designed for young learners in a language education context. The assignment focuses on the listening skill, and it provides a comprehensive overview of the teaching context, the listening input, and related activities, offering insights into the effectiveness of the instructional approach and proposing enhancements for a more engaging and inclusive learning experience. Also, the listening input and the listening activities are evaluated based on certain criteria as well as the students’ level of proficiency. The second assignment aims to critically evaluate a coursebook’s speaking activities and design a new lesson focused on specific criteria for developing the speaking skill. The evaluation scrutinizes the coursebook’s communicative competence, linguistic, strategic, semantic, and sociolinguistic aspects, examining activities based on Nation’s features and Johnson’s principles. Furthermore, it delves into the design and detailed evaluation of a lesson plan, encompassing pre, while, and post-stages, developed to enhance students’ speaking skills. Overall, both assignments underscore the significance of considering diverse criteria in the design of speaking and listening activities and the continuous refinement of instructional approaches.

Keywords: EFL, Evaluation, Foreign Language, Language, Listening, Speaking

Is It Enough? Intensive Program for ESL Students (Published)

In most EFL classes, the four language skills are taught to help students learn a language efficiently. When these language abilities are taught using the appropriate method, the linguistic gaps of English language learners may be filled. This study aims to investigate the level of improvement of EFL students after finishing 13-week semi-intensive language courses that concentrated on reading, writing, and conversation skills. A pre-test and a post-test of the same kind were administered to 62 participants, first-year students in the English department at the College of Basic Education, to gauge their language development. The participants were given a questionnaire to fill so as to understand their viewpoints concerning the treatment phase. The results showed that the majority of students improved after concluding the language skills courses. Most participants believed in the importance of reading as the most effective language learning skill and found it quite interesting.

Keywords: EFL, Intensive program, Language Learning, Language Teaching, program assessment

Investigating the Impact of Using Cooperative Learning Strategy in Improving EFL Students’ Reading Skill: A Case Study of First Year Students of English at College of Education- Sudan University of Science and Technology (Published)

This research article is aiming at investigating the Impact of Using Cooperative Learning Strategy in Improving EFL Students’ Reading Skill. Subjects were 40 male university students in the English Department, College of Education, SUST. They were randomly assigned into two groups: The experimental group using cooperative reading strategies and the control group using a traditional method of instructions. The study reached the following findings: firstly, students of first year can develop batter reading skills by implementing cooperative learning in the learning process. Secondly, students’ performance improved significantly, and they developed better attitudes towards learning English via cooperative learning strategy. Finally, in cooperative learning, students are motivated and less reluctant. Also, the study recommends the following: first, teachers of English should adopt cooperative learning methods in the teaching and learning process. Second, students should be provided with enough opportunities in the learning process, and more importantly, they should be encouraged to implement cooperative learning methods both in and out the classroom.

Citation:  Mohammed T.A.E., Yousif T.A.A.  and Ali M.A.T (2023) Investigating the Impact of Using Cooperative Learning Strategy in Improving EFL Students’ Reading Skill: A Case Study of First Year Students of English at College of Education- Sudan University of Science and Technology, International Journal of English Language Teaching, Vol.11, No.1, pp.,34-40

 

Keywords: Cooperative learning, EFL, Reading, Strategy, students’ reading skills

Thesis Writing Challenges Facing Palestinian EFL Master’s Students: A Qualitative Case Study (Published)

This study probed challenges of writing thesis among Palestinian English as a foreign language (EFL) master’s students (MA). A qualitative case study was employed, and the data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The participants were eighteen MA students and ten supervisors from the department of English at the Islamic University of Gaza. The main findings identified in the study included, among others, selecting an appropriate research topic, limited research and methodology training, linguistic and academic writing inadequacies, insufficient feedback from supervisors and course instructors, and limited resources and online digital materials. To minimize these challenges and empower MA students, the study offered some recommendations and suggestions for further future studies.

Keywords: Challenges, EFL, MA students, Qualitative research, Thesis writing, supervisors

English Language Teaching in Saudi Arabia: A Book Review (Published)

English Language Teaching in Saudi Arabia: An Introduction is a book by Yousif A. N. Alshumaimeri published in 2019 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The first part of the book provides an overview of the study of the English language. The second part analyses the various approaches and teaching methods used in English language instruction. At the end of each chapter, discussion activities for teachers and students are outlined. English is currently being taught in most public learning institutions worldwide. Despite this, there are not enough books available to assist international student teachers from various backgrounds and cultures with different first languages who are studying to be English teachers. Alshumaimeri’s book identifies several methods and approaches that can be used when teaching English, discusses their advantages and disadvantages and describes the roles of teachers and students in these methods. While it targets students of English, this book provides a rich history of teaching English as a foreign language in Saudi Arabia. These factors make the book relevant for student teachers of English.

Keywords: EFL, English language teaching, Saudi Arabia, Teacher Education, Teaching Methods, Undergraduate Students

An Examination of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by Kuwaiti EFL Students at the College of Basic Education (Published)

This study aims to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies used by Kuwaiti EFL students at the College of Basic Education. It tries to explore the following research questions: what strategies do EFL students use to understand the meaning of unknown English words? Which vocabulary learning strategies do they prefer to use, determination strategies or social ones?The data was collected by means of a questionnaire with 11 multiple-choice questions and one open-ended question. Questions 1 to 7 examine determination strategies: analysing affixes and roots, checking for L1 cognates, analysing available pictures or gestures, guessing the meaning from textual context, using a bilingual dictionary, using a monolingual dictionary, and using word lists. Questions 8 to 11 examine social strategies: asking the teacher for an L1 translation, asking the teacher for a paraphrase or a synonym of the unknown word, asking the teacher for a sentence including the unknown word, and lastly, asking classmates for the meaning.  The open-ended question asks the participants about what factors they think can help them understand the meaning of the new vocabulary.After the data was collected, the analysis was carried out, and the results revealed that the participants used most of the determination strategies in questions 1–5, and avoided questions 6 and 7. The findings also showed that the participants used all the social strategies in questions 8–11. In the open-ended questions, some students expressed their preference to study ESL with bilingual teachers and avoid native speaker teachers. They claimed that national EFL teachers helped them in learning new English vocabulary by translating them to Arabic in an easy way, which reflected positively on their understanding of the lessons.

Keywords: EFL, ESL, Vocabulary Learning Strategies, Vocabulary Teaching, word solving

M-Reader as a Catalyst for Change in a Japanese University EFL Extended Reading Project (Published)

This practical action research examines the choice between using unabridged novels and graded readers in the context of an extensive reading project. The comparison mainly consists of data on word-count gains as recorded throughout two ten-week sessions with the same target group. For the comparison, thirty-five first year non-English-major Japanese university EFL students in a year-long communication class were assigned to read an unabridged novel through a ten-week period during the first semester of the school year. For another ten-week period during the second semester, the same group read graded readers in tandem with the M-Reader computer-assisted language learning program. The findings suggest that a change in pedagogy in favor of the method involving graded readers with the M-Reader program is the most beneficial choice for the course.

Keywords: CALL, EFL, ER, Extensive Reading, Japanese university, M-Reader

Getting Students to Talk in Class: A Case Study Comparing English vs. Non-English Majors’ Willingness to Communicate in the English Class (Published)

In EFL college classes in Taiwan, students have often been characterized as being reluctant to voluntarily speak up. To better understand why many college students in Taiwan choose to adopt passive learning behaviors in English classes, the present study examines Taiwanese EFL college students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in class by comparing 27 English majors and 45 non-English majors on their responses to a 65-item questionnaire adapted from three self-report measures previously administered in other studies. Interviews were conducted with eight students to gain an in-depth understanding of reasons influencing their willingness to communicate in class. The study’s findings revealed that both groups of students appeared to be more reticent in teacher-fronted class discussions and expressed higher willingness to speak up in group or pair work and discussions revolving around topics of their interest. Nevertheless, the non-English majors were generally found to be less anxious than the English majors in the English classroom, more willing and motivated to communicate in English in different classroom activities.

Keywords: EFL, Foreign language anxiety, Willingness to Communicate (WTC), attitude and motivation

Communication Anxiety of Arab University EFL Students (Published)

This paper explores the incidence of communication anxiety as well as evaluative anxiety among university EFL students in four countries in the Arabian Peninsula (Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE), and examines factors associated with anxiety in the classroom. The study discusses the nature, implications, some causes and effects of communication anxiety and suggests possible prevention and coping strategies to this problem.

Keywords: Arab Students, Coping Strategies, EFL, anxiety prevention., apprehension, communication anxiety

The Pronunciation Component in the Competence-Based EFL Curriculum in Cameroon Secondary Education (Published)

The shift from the objective-based approach to the competence-based approach in English at the secondary level in Cameroon places too much emphasis on real life situations and the vocabulary thereof, in its current field implementation. Apart from vocabulary, the other structural components are very shallowly dealt with, not only grammar, but, much more the teaching of pronunciation and speech sounds. Using the contents analysis theory, the paper brings up the shallow presence of English sounds, paramount element in pronunciation and ipso facto in oral communication in the curriculum. The paper justifies the need to stress the sounds of English in actual EFL pedagogy. It argues that the sounds of English must be significantly present in the classroom implementation of the curriculum and prescribes recordings, audio visual materials specially designed for the purpose of supporting and concretising the constitutional official bilingualism policy that is most current in the nation presently on the one hand, and worldwide intelligibility on the other hand.

Keywords: Curriculum, EFL, Pedagogy, Pronunciation, Sounds of English