FELT - Focus on ELT Journal
Not a member yet
96 research outputs found
Sort by
Is teacher’s English good enough?: A case study of Saudi teacher spoken language
Get PDFSolving the problem of increasing English language output has been the focus of attention in the last decade. While previous research has extensively analyzed two sources of errors, namely the interlingual and intralingual sources, found in spoken language, this qualitative study investigates the teacher’s language as a source of errors for the learners. It analyzes the common grammatical errors committed by 30 Saudi teachers in their spoken English during one-to-one interviews. Error Analysis (EA), linguistic-based classification and linguistic taxonomy of the data reveal seven types of grammatical errors: the wrong use of tenses, errors in the use of prepositions, wrong use of prepositions, errors in the use of articles, omission of a/an, wrong use of articles, and subject-verb inversion in wh-questions, errors due to lack of concord and agreement, and typical Arabic constructions. The most dominant errors are due to concord or agreement and the least is errors in the use of prepositions. A comparison of the teachers’ errors and learners’ errors reveals a strong correlation, suggesting that the teacher’s language is a possible source of errors for learners
Language Learning Strategies Used by the Turkish EFL Learners to Improve their Reading Skill
Get PDFThis study investigated strategies of the learners who started their learning process from A1 level to improve their reading skill. 10 different students were chosen considering their range of learner profiles. Thus, 3 of them were chosen from high-achievers, whereas 3 of them were chosen among low-achievers. The other 4 students were among the ones whose success level was on average. These students were interviewed at the end of the first term when they were supposed to complete the A2 level. Additionally, they were taken to think-aloud-protocols right after the interviews to evaluate their reading performance and to monitor what kind of strategies they were using to do the tasks given to them and to check whether they were doing what they had said in the interviews. The same procedure, which included the interviews and think-aloud protocols, were applied at the end of the second semester. It was found that in the second term the hardworking group changed the strategies that they had been using in the first term, Changes in learners’ responsibilities whereas there seemed to be no change in the strategies used by the other group members
Mindfulness-based practices for EFL teachers: sample tasks and insights to cultivate mindfulness
Get PDFThere has been a growing interest in the concept of mindfulness and how it can be used in foreign language (FL) teaching to promote the well-being of both teachers and learners. In FL education, mindfulness is a novel practice, and it can be used as a tool for positive transformation to create enhanced learning environments. Thus, implementing mindfulness into FL teaching and learning may have an effect in the conscious management of reactions to mental and physical events happening in a language classroom and establish a less stressful learning atmosphere. However, FL teachers may lack both knowledge and practical realizations of mindfulness; and hence, need guidance in how mindfulness can be incorporated into their own teaching contexts. Based on this insight, this paper presents the latest findings from mindfulness research in language teaching and offers ways to promote mindfulness in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms. For this purpose, several activities including breathing exercises and meditation practices to foster a mindful attitude for teachers are suggested along with mindfulness practices for the development of language skills. Moreover, this study proposes insight into mindfulness-based language teaching with notable implications to enrich FL teaching/learning environments and highlights the importance of integrating mindfulness in FL teacher education
Economics keyword lists: A comparative corpus study for ESP
Get PDFEnglish-medium instruction (EMI) and English for specific purposes (ESP) go hand in hand in the higher education context and the demand for those has risen significantly over the last two decades. Studying in an EMI economics program requires a certain level of language proficiency and in most cases, students in these programs are provided with additional language support, in the form of an ESP program. Mastering in an EMI economics program challenges students with a number of new and often technical words. Corpus linguistics is, therefore, one of the great tools to answer the vocabulary needs of ESP students. While Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List (AWL) has been a satisfactory source for academic programs, its being too limited for diverse academic fields has also been criticized. In the current corpus-based study, two separate field-specific keyword lists – (1) Economics Textbook Keyword List (ETWL), (2) Economist Magazine Keyword List (EMWL) - were created and the coverage of the AWL in these lists was measured. Additionally, the correspondence ratio between the ETWL and the EMWL was also measured and reported by percentages. In the light of the results, it is argued that, the AWL on its own may not be a sufficient source for students of economics and language given in non-academic authentic materials should also be placed in corpus and curriculum design
Preparedness for online learning: An analysis of English teachers in Türkiye
Get PDFEver since the early 1990s, online learning has become a method of instruction in the education systems of the world. Online learning offers both the educators and students extensive benefits such as flexibility, convenience, mobilization, and personalized learning. However, the significance of online learning had not been so apparent until the recent Covid-19 pandemic disrupted life in Türkiye and countries around the world. The switch to online education during the crisis was so swift and unprecedented that the question of how educators handled this experience was highly controversial. Thus, the answer to how prepared the users were for this type of encounter was worth the investigation. The study explored how prepared the English teachers in Türkiye were in using online learning to carry out their instruction from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in comparison to the time of data collection of the research. The project used a mixed-methods approach with an online survey conducted with 55 teachers and online interviews performed with 5 participants. The findings show that most teachers felt confident in their level of preparedness for online learning at the start and whilst the pandemic. However, the findings also highlighted the essential need for improvement in certain aspects of online learning such as staff and student orientation, functional infrastructure, user-friendly interface, administrative support, counseling services, and user interaction. Lastly, one other significant finding of the research was that most teachers had been able to develop their skills in online learning independently without heavily relying on their institutions
A blueprint of Saudi English typology: A substrate effect
Get PDFAlthough some Englishes in Asia have received extensive attention, the grammar of Saudi English remains relatively unexamined. It remains unclear whether the Saudi English grammatical (or morphosyntactic) patterns derive from universal principles. Al-Rawi (2012); Mahboob and Elyas (2014) seem to provide an individual description. This paper is an attempt to provide an analysis for the morphosyntactic features of the variety of English in Saudi Arabia from a global approach by adopting Kortmann and Szmrecsanyi (2004) geographic and variety-specific perspectives. Our findings show that Saudi English has 7 distinctive features. Four of them are universal. Due to the limitations in covering all the distinctive features and due the clear analogy between these features and the substrate Arabic patterns, we argue that the distinctive features are simply the result of the substrate influence rather than universal principles that derive these deviant form
An EFL Instructor’s Study and Teach Abroad Experiences and Complementary Views from Learners
Get PDFThe present qualitative case study aimed to explore the influences of an EFL instructor’s study and teach abroad experiences on her classroom implementations. It additionally investigated her students’ responses to the reflections of her study and teach abroad in the classroom. The findings revealed that these experiences contributed to the instructor’s both personal development and professional learning and further had impacts on her teaching practices. An in-depth analysis of multiple data tools; a semi-structured, individual interview with the instructor, her journal entries, and an open-ended questionnaire from 43 language learners, informed that study and teach abroad experiences contributed to the instructor’s world knowledge and intellectual growth through her teaching and other academic endeavors at an abroad university. It was also found that the learners appreciated the instructor’s explicitly referring to her international contacts as a means of providing authentic input, enriching the lesson content, fostering engagement in the class, and raising learners’ intercultural awareness. This study suggests developing teacher interculturality via study and teach abroad programs should be encouraged to better address intercultural topics in the language class. The process of preparing intercultural language teachers could be aided by teacher study and/or teach abroad programs
What is Grammar for Pre-service English Teachers? Entrance and Exit Level Beliefs
Get PDFThe present research aims to explore metaphors used by pre-service English teachers as evidence for their thinking about “grammar”. A cohort of 47 pre-service English teachers partook in the study. The metaphors were elicited both at the beginning and the end of four-year pre-service education and this interval paved the way for examining the potential change in participants’ beliefs over time. The metaphors were first clustered into two considering their suggested definition for grammar as grammar as a phenomenon and grammar as a school subject. Grammar as a phenomenon was further grouped into three sub-categories as rule (discrete rules, control mechanism, guideline for rules), system (system of smaller units, central construct of a larger system), and function (medium for meaning). The results suggest that pre-service teachers’ beliefs changed over time. By the end of pre-service education, rule metaphors decreased distinctively while system and function metaphors increased. It is revealed that pre-service English teachers adopted a more system-oriented perspective about grammar at the exit level
EFL Teachers’ Opinions on the Use of L1 in L2 Classrooms: Role of Experience and Context
Get PDFThe use of native language (L1) in foreign language classrooms (L2) has been studied from various perspectives, and it is important to investigate teachers’ opinions about the use of L1 to better understand their practice. This study investigates the role of experience on the attitudes of language teachers towards the use of L1 in L2 classes. The participants of this research were pre-service and in-service teachers, and research questions aimed to reveal the language teaching areas that they agreed and/or disagreed with the use of L1 in. The role of experience was clearly seen in the results of both quantitative and qualitative analyses in that the pre-service and in-service teachers differed significantly in their views about some areas where they use L1. While pre-service teachers showed a tendency to support English only, experienced teachers were more moderate towards the use of L1 in all their practices. Discussion of findings revealed that both experience and the L2 teaching and learning context were influential on teachers’ practices and beliefs. The study will provide insights into pre-service and in-service teachers’ attitudes in different educational settings and implications for pre- and in-service teacher education programs
Turkish instructors’ beliefs and EFL learners’ realization of speech act of requests: A descriptive case study
Get PDFAlthough learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) receive language education according to the principles of the communicative approach, they lack pragmatics knowledge. As one of the main issues of pragmatics, speech act of requests has been investigated in the current study. More specifically, EFL instructors' beliefs about teaching requests have been examined as well as learners' realization of speech act of requests. The study was conducted with 20 students and six instructors at an English preparatory program of a state university in Türkiye. Students' data were collected through a Discourse Completion Task while instructors were interviewed. The results suggest that Turkish EFL learners commonly use conventionally direct strategies for making requests and their requests do not show pragma-linguistic diversity. Furthermore, the rank of imposition and social distance seems to be disregarded while making requests. Also based on the interviews with EFL instructors, it was found that they do not have adequate knowledge of teaching pragmatics, and thus, their classroom practices in speech acts of requests are limited. Therefore, this study implies the importance of teaching pragmatics to students at English preparatory programs and the need for enhancing instructors’ knowledge of teaching pragmatics