Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics
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Captivating university students’ digital literacy competence: Learning from photovoice
Full text linkAs the world rapidly shifts from in-person interactions to online ones, people are becoming more aware of the importance of digital literacy competence in the 21st century. Numerous studies confirm that digital literacy competence accelerates students’ academic achievement and recommend incorporating digital literacy competence in academic syllabi in higher education to equip students with the competencies. This study aims to cultivate digital literacy competence, specifically Information and data literacy, through a class intervention in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses for engineering undergraduate students. The class intervention incorporates one area of digital literacy competencies, information and data literacy, as stated in DigCom 2.0 Framework – a digital competence framework for citizens developed by the European Commission. This qualitative study executes a case study approach using photovoice (PV) to investigate students’ experience and competence development in information and data literacy since (PV) can be used to portray changes and experiences while acquiring a specific competence. This study involves 20 out of 78 taking EAP classes as general courses, and data are collected through learning journals to capture students’ learning experiences using photovoice. The collected data are analyzed using an emotional geography framework, which explores how people experience and express their emotions during interaction with their environment, including people and circumstances. These emotions are categorized into several areas: personal, physical, moral, professional, and political. The result shows that the class intervention has brought about a new understanding of digital literacy and the student’s awareness of information and data literacy. Before the class, they considered digital literacy competence merely operating digital devices. After the class, they recognized the importance of information and data literacy and techniques to evaluate information from online sources by considering its currency, relevancy, author, accuracy, and purpose. Therefore, this study recommends incorporating digital literacy into all disciplines and further study on other core competencies in digital literacy, as suggested in DigCom 2.0
Swearing in comment section: Investigating netizens’ involvement in virtual political arena
No full textSwearing is a verbal behavior that uses profanity and taboo words to express emotions and anger and exists in every language and culture. Despite its notorious use as language expressions, swearing actually function to indicate the user’s degree of involvement in certain communicative event. This study observed the use of language in digitally-mediated communication setting. The aim of the present study is to investigate netizen’s involvement in a political discourse, as reflected in the use of their language in the comment sections of online political news. Using a combination of transitivity analysis (Eggins, 2004) and the use of swearing (Eggins and Slade, 1997), the study investigated functions of swearing and the role of swear-words users in political commenting discourse. The study identified the most frequently used swear-words are taboo words, which are targeted to the reported person and opposing parties to the incumbent government. This further indicates how the netizens are split into two groups namely supporters and opponents of certain political figures or parties
Professional competence of ASEAN accountants at conference presentations
No full textThe ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA) organizes the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs to enhance the professional competence of ASEAN accountants. One of the CPD programs is the conference presentation (CP). The conference is the way the AFA shares its new frameworks and policies. Consequently, this language-based professional practice and competence has become an important need. In the presentation, this language-based professional competence is an important need. However, it received limited attention from an Applied Linguistics perspective. To study the professional practice and professional competence of the accountants in the AFA CP, the research used Genre Analysis to analyze the moves and Metadiscourse analysis to analyze specific markers used in the presentations. The software Wordsmith 8.0 (Scott, 2020) is applied for concordance analysis. Thirteen conference presentations given by accountants from the ASEAN region were collected from an AFA conference conducted in Indonesia. The presentations were recorded and transcribed with the software Wreally.com (Wreally, 2019). The text was analyzed based on Seliman and Dubois's (2002) move structure and Hyland’s (2005, 2019) interpersonal metadiscourse markers. The findings revealed the tendency to use more interactional resources than interactive resources to connect information and assist the audience in understanding the problem-solution-modeled presentations. The popular interactional resources are Self-mention, Engagement markers, and Hedges while the interactive resources are Transition markers. This study found that the discipline, the problem-solution convention, the presenter-audience interaction, and the preferred usage of certain markers determined the use of metadiscourse markers for the AFA CP. It helps accountants understand the importance and need of using moves and metadiscourses in developing their professional competence. The study contributes to the literature in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and serves as a guide in presenting effectively at conferences and developing purposeful CPD training. This research can also be replicated in studies on professional competence of other professions and professional training programs
University students’ attitudes towards English Medium Instruction and academic language support: A view from Indonesia
Full text linkDespite the rapid growth of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in Indonesian universities, studies have revealed students’ challenges in meeting the required English competence while tackling academic content. This study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate the attitudes of 136 students toward EMI through an online questionnaire in five Indonesian universities. It also examined the academic language support available through interviews with six students and three teaching staff of the language centers administered by the universities. The findings of this study revealed that the students mainly perceived EMI as a tool to access better employment and improve their English proficiency. They also had various expectations towards EMI teachers, which might be influenced by their views of EMI as a means of learning English. Despite the imposition of English-only instruction, the students had a positive attitude towards the use of language(s) other than English in EMI courses. This study also reported several models of language support offered by the universities, which mainly focused on English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and were deemed insufficient to address the students’ disciplinary needs. These findings suggest that the pedagogical practices of EMI should be critically adapted to cater to the needs of the local context. This study calls for the re-conceptualization of EMI and the systematic language support of English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) embedded in the curriculum
Examining vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary size among Syrian EFL learners
Full text linkResearch on vocabulary learning strategies plays a crucial role in understanding how individuals acquire and expand their vocabulary knowledge. While ample evidence indicates that Arab EFL learners possess a limited vocabulary size, there is a scarcity of studies focusing on Syrian EFL learners. Furthermore, investigating how vocabulary learning strategies may contribute to vocabulary knowledge remains relatively underexplored. This study has a three-fold objective: (i) to identify the vocabulary learning strategies most commonly employed by Syrian EFL learners, (ii) to examine the vocabulary size of Syrian EFL learners, and (iii) to investigate the impact of these strategies on vocabulary size. Two test instruments were used: the Vocabulary Learning Strategies Questionnaire (VLSQ) and the Vocabulary Size Test (VST). The VLSQ assessed participants’ strategy use, while the VST served as a diagnostic tool for measuring their vocabulary size. Our results revealed that Syrian secondary school EFL students generally exhibited a moderate use of learning strategies, with social learning strategies being the most frequently employed. Additionally, the results indicated that participants possessed a "low" vocabulary size, with 74% demonstrating proficiency in the range of 2000-3000 words. Correlational analyses further revealed a significant and positive relationship between vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary size, suggesting that both social and metacognitive strategies contribute more to vocabulary size than other learning strategies. These findings provide valuable insights for educators and policymakers, emphasizing the importance of learning strategies and vocabulary size in language learning and overall proficiency development
Investigating eighth-grade students’ lexical creativity in writing argumentative text in Indonesian language classroom
Full text linkLinguistic creativity has been a research topic and has been studied extensively for decades in second language, foreign language, or bilingual contexts. Nonetheless, how it is used in formal Indonesian as an L1 classroom seems to be underresearched. Thus, this study explores students’ linguistic creativity at the lexical level in composing argumentative texts with student self-selected topics. The research included 12 eighth-grade students’ self-selected topics in argumentative texts analyzed using qualitative content analysis. In analyzing the data, linguistic creativity at the lexical level based on Zawada’s (2006) taxonomy includes formal lexical creativity, semantic lexical creativity, syntagmatic lexical choice, and paradigmatic lexical choice. The study found that the students deployed different lexical creativity strategies in the argumentative text, and the most frequent lexical creativity was formal lexical creativity, followed by paradigmatic lexical choice, semantic lexical creativity, and syntagmatic lexical. Thus, the study suggests that Indonesian eighth-grade students are quite adept at manipulating word forms, and they may benefit from expanding the use of different lexical strategies to deliver their messages, especially in building their arguments
French as a foreign language learners’ metacognitive strategy: A comparative study between Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam
Full text linkMetacognition is central to language learning because it encompasses the processes that govern the efficient use of learning strategies. It is especially important as a way to address language learners’ issues of limited repertoire of strategies and their application. While much research on language learning strategies have been related to the learning of English, this study observes the increasingly appealing French as an additional language hence French as a Foreign Language (FFL) is gaining importance. This research was carried out by examining some similarities and differences in models of learning strategies of FLE students in three ASEAN countries. The present study aims to investigate into FFL learners’ metacognitive strategies which contribute to the development of learners’ autonomy, despite the different contexts of study in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. This study is descriptive qualitative research involving 56 students from three universities in Bangkok (Thailand), Hanoi (Vietnam) and Yogyakarta (Indonesia) as an ad-hoc sample to study their French Language Education (FLE) learning strategies. Using a Metacognitive Strategy Questionnaire (MSQ), this study result in a few insights of FFL learning process. The participants showed a consistent metacognitive strategy in terms of planning, monitoring and evaluating. Even though they are located in different countries, these strategies are proved to contribute to their autonomy as an FFL learner with different specificities
The language realization of the role of women as anthropocentric subjects in Sundanese culture
No full textLocal culture often inherits a patriarchal view that regards women as the second gender category. However, this stereotyped view is only partially correct, especially when looking at the extent to which Sundanese culture views, defines, and places the role of women. Women in the local Sundanese culture have a role as balance keepers in the sense of anthropocentrism. This study aims to describe the role of women as anthropocentric subjects in Sundanese culture. The data of this study were taken from the film Ambu (2019), which represents women's roles in the Sundanese culture, especially as shown in the Baduy tribe. This study is descriptive-qualitative. It used Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis approach. This framework enables the film to be studied through its discursive dialogues and scenes, examining how these elements reflect and engage with social and cultural practices. The findings show that the film portrays a representation of women through Ambu Misnah, who embodies gender balance in Sundanese culture, challenging traditional views of domestication. As a cultural symbol connected to Sunan Ambu, her role contrasts with liberal feminist ideals, highlighting a more localized form of female empowerment. Furthermore, the language used by a male character, specifically the head of the Baduy Tribe, reflects a transfer of authority, signaling a shift in gender-power relations. Thus, these findings emphasize an anthropocentric awareness of the role of women, particularly within the Sundanese community
The influence of gender and self-efficacy on the English writing ability of central Indonesian students
Full text linkGender and Self-Efficacy are two things that can influence the quality of student learning in the classroom. This applied linguistics study investigates the impact of gender and self-efficacy on Indonesian students' English writing proficiency. This study aims to explore potential differences in writing abilities between male and female students and the influence of their self-efficacy on their writing performance. It used a mixed methods research design that combined quantitative measures and qualitative interpretation. It selected some Indonesian students from several educational institutions as the respondents. The respondents’ writing abilities were assessed through a standardized writing test. In addition, a questionnaire related to self-efficacy was conducted to measure students' self-efficacy and its correlation to their writing abilities. The quantitative analyses revealed important differences in writing performance based on gender and varying levels of self-efficacy. In addition, the qualitative findings provide insight into the factors that influence students' self-efficacy and their perceptions of writing as a skill. The implications of this study draw attention to the importance of addressing individual differences and self-perceptions in language learning contexts. Understanding the influence of gender and self-efficacy on English writing skills can direct educators in adapting learning approaches to effectively improve students' writing skills. The study concludes that English writing abilities among the students reveals significant gender-based influences on the development of skills: male students' scores were lower than female students', highlighting gender-based disparities. Self-efficacy also played a significant role in enhancing students' English writing abilities. It also shows that there is a significant interaction effect between gender and self-efficacy. It affects the trajectory of English writing skills. There are many factors influencing the development of English writing abilities that calls for further exploration in academic discourse
In-service EFL teachers’ self-perceived receptive skills
Full text linkProfessional English language teachers are expected to master subject knowledge that includes not only their knowledge of English language but also their proficiency in using the language. They can self-assess their proficiency and use their assessment result as the basis for their professional growth since it can inform which areas that still need improvement. Despite the importance of teachers’ self-assessment, there has not been much research on this, especially one that investigates the teachers’ perceived receptive skills. This study, therefore, aims to explore the in-service teachers’ perception of their proficiency level, particularly of their receptive skills. This research uses a descriptive quantitative approach utilizing a survey containing 48 questions of self-perceived reading and listening skills which was distributed to in-service teachers in lower and higher secondary schools in Indonesia. This snowball survey received responses from 449 in-service teachers from various islands in Indonesia such as Java, Bali, Sumatera, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and Papua. The results show that, in general, the participants considered themselves to be able to comprehend various text types concerning personal and daily issues in both written and spoken modes. However, when it came to comprehending longer texts with more complex linguistic choices and structures in both modes, an increase in the number of participants who struggled was evident. These findings indicate that while most of the in-service teachers were confident in their receptive skills. However, while only limited numbers of in-service teachers’ facing difficulties in comprehend longer and more specialized texts containing complex linguistic resources, support is still needed. Based on these findings, this study discusses several important implications for teacher educators and English teachers in Indonesia and offers recommendations for future research in EFL contexts