English Review: Journal of English Education
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THE EFFECT OF IRANIAN FEMALE EFL LEARNERS’ POLITENESS STRATEGIES AWARENESS ON THEIR LETTER WRITING ABILITY
Get PDFAbstract: This research examines the effect of teaching politeness strategies based on the models proposed by Brown and Levinson (1987) and Leech (1983) to intermediate English learners on their ability in writing more polite letters. The instrumentation includes an IELTS test, used as a placement test, an inventory, used to measure learners’ awareness of politeness strategies, and a letter-writing test, used as a measurement of learners’ ability in using politeness strategies. Among all the participants, twenty of them were put in the control group, and twenty-four of them in the experimental group, who went under the treatment. They were taught how to write politely based on the politeness strategy models proposed by Brown and Levinson (1987) and Leech (1983). After the treatment, learners wrote letters to the same people with the same situations. Comparing the twenty learners in the control group with the twenty-four learners in experimental group, the researchers concluded that the treatment had a significant effect on the learners’ ability in writing more polite letters. They selected to use more formal strategies with those who they saw further distance with, and more informal strategies with more intimate people. Furthermore, the answers the learners provided to the questions of the inventory offered more awareness of politeness strategies. This implies that they were more aware of various choices of polite language that were available for them to use in the given situations.Keywords: politeness strategy, face, face threatening ac
INVESTIGATING TURNTAKING STRATEGIES IN CLASS DISCUSSIONS AMONG ESL ADULT LEARNERS
Get PDFThis quantitative study looked into class discussion strategies used by adult ESL learners. Findings revealed several benefits of class discussions for adult learners. Among some of them are, adult learners practice turn-taking skills in a non-combative environment. The sharing of ideas allowed freedom of thoughts among the learners. On the other hand, adult learners also learn to agree or disagree politely using turn-taking strategies. Finally, the benefits of class discussions may go beyond classroom needs such as improving critical thinking skills among learners. This ability is seen when learners participate in group work and discussions. Learners gain accessibility to participate comfortably in discussions when they are pun in a non-combative environment. This will thus give them the freedom to discuss any topics openly. This freedom will further enhance their general participation in the discussion. However, in a normal conversational process, speakers need to learn to speak up and also to give others space to voice their opinions. Learners need the knowledge of turn-taking skills in order to participate actively in the discussion. This turn-taking skills can be taught in ESL classrooms through class discussions. Keywords: ESL classroom, adult learners, class discussion strategies, general participatio
PROMOTING INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING THROUGH VERBAL DRAMATIZATION OF WORDS
Get PDFAbstract: Despite the fact that explicit teaching of vocabulary is often practised in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms, it has been proven to be rather ineffective, largely because words are not taught in context. This has prompted the increasing use of incidental vocabulary learning approach, which emphasises on repeated readings as a source for vocabulary learning. By adopting this approach, this study aims to investigate students’ ability in learning vocabulary incidentally via verbal dramatization of written texts. In this case, readers’ theatre (RT) is used as a way to allow learners to engage in active reading so as to promote vocabulary learning. A total of 160 diploma students participated in this case study and they were divided equally into two groups, namely classroom reading (CR) and RT groups. A proficiency test was first conducted to determine their vocabulary levels. Based on the test results, a story was selected as the reading material in the two groups. The CR group read the story through a normal reading lesson in class while the RT group was required to verbally dramatize the text through readers’ theatre activity. Then, a post-test based on vocabulary levels was carried out and the results were compared. The findings revealed that incidental learning was more apparent in the RT group and their ability to learn words from the higher levels was noticeable through higher accuracy scores. Although not conclusive, this study has demonstrated the potential of using readers’ theatre as a form of incidental vocabulary learning activity in ESL settings.Keywords: incidental vocabulary learning, readers’ theatre, language learnin
NOTICING: A FACTOR TO IMPROVE IRANIAN PRE-INTERMEDIATE EFL LEARNERS’ STRUCTURAL ACCURACY
Get PDFAbstract: The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of noticing, explicit focus on form on linguistic accuracy. To fulfill the purpose of the study, 44 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners of one of the language institutes were chosen by means of administering the KET homogeneity test. These learners were pretested through a structured interview to check their current accuracy level regarding the oral production of five structures. Based on the results of the pretest, two matched groups, one as the control group and the other as experimental group, were formed. Then, two groups were provided with tasks through listening about the target structures in the study. Of course, the experimental group underwent focus on form explicitly through noticing, while the control group was not provided with it. After twenty sessions of treatment, each ninety minutes, the two groups were post tested through another structured interview. The data obtained from instruments used in the present study indicated that the instructional treatment, noticing, had a significant effect on the acquisition of the target forms. The scores of the participants demonstrated that in experimental group outperformed the control group in terms of the average accuracy gains. Finally, it was concluded that explicit focus on form, noticing, can lead to higher accuracy in oral production in comparison to control groupKeywords: explicit focus on form, noticing, accurac
TEACHING COMMUNICATIVE TRANSLATION: AN ACTIVE RECEPTION ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE TRANSLATION AND READER'S RECEPTION
Get PDFAbstract:Â Literary theory sees reception theory from the reader response that emphasizes the reader's reception of a literary text. It is generally called audience reception in the analysis of communications models. In literary studies, reception theory originated from the work of Hans-Robert Jauss in the late 1960s. Communication only means that the original message will be clearly sent in its equivalent context to the target receptor. Similarly, the main role of translators is to send the message across without any form of distortion or emphasis. It is delivering the genuine context of the message to the language that the active receptor understands. A single mistake in a context translation can result to offensive message that can eventually lead to misunderstandings between active receptors. This paper proposes on the role of translator as the mediator between a writer of the original text and the active target language receptors of translated version in the course of communication which definitely affects the process and result of translation practice. It also reveals the emphasis on the creation text of the translation theories originated from the strategic communication theories, which hopefully leads to a dream of the most equivalence between the text and the translated version.Keywords: translator, active receptor, mediator, strategic communication, equivalence.Â
IMPROVING STUDENTS’ COMPETENCE IN WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS THROUGH “FRESH†TECHNIQUE
Get PDFAbstract: This research was aimed to know whether “FRESH†technique can improve students’ competence in writing descriptive texts. This research was conducted in one of the junior high schools in Banyumas in academic year 2012/2013. The method of this research is Classroom Action Research (CAR). The research participants were the students of VIII E class consisting of 28 students. The treatment was carried out in two cycles of four actions, from November 9th, 2012 to December 1st, 2012. The quantitative data (tests) were evaluated by using Burhan Nurgiyantoro’s Writing Evaluation Criteria which consisted of evaluation in content, organization, vocabulary, language, and mechanics. Based on the data analysis, it could be described that the students’ competence in writing descriptive texts improved. It could be seen from the improvement of students’ score in pre-test and post test. The improvement of students’ score was 23.607%. This meant that “FRESH†technique improved the students’ competence in writing descriptive text in the eighth grade students of in academic year 2012/2013.Keywords: descriptive text, FRESH Technique, Classroom Action Research, writing competenc
Motivational Strategies in Teaching English as Foreign Language: A Case Study in Junior High School 7 Kuningan
Get PDFThis research aims to analyze motivational strategies in teaching English as foreign language at 7th grade of Junior High School 7 Kuningan and to analyze students‟ attitudes towards motivational strategies that were applied by teachers in teaching EFL. The researchers used qualitative research by using classroom observation, interview, and questionnaires. The result taken from classroom observation and interview show teacher 1 and teacher 3 applied motivational strategies completely based on the phases of motivational strategies. Thus, the students responded these strategies positively. On the other hand, teacher 2 applied motivational strategies incompletely because the teacher missed the first phases. This was responded negatively by students. Therefore, the students were actively involved in teaching and learning process conducted by teacher 1 and teacher 2, but the students were passively involved in teaching and learning process conducted by teacher 2. Furthermore, the result taken from questionnaires shows that students gave positive attitudes towards the teacher 1 (88.25%), teacher 2 (79.02%), and teacher 3 (85.71%). Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the way the teachers applied motivational strategies in teaching EFL determined students‟ attitudes towards motivational strategies applied by teachers in teaching EFL.Keywords: motivational strategies, phases of motivational strategies, students attitudes, teaching EF
TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE USE OF ICT IN INDONESIAN EFL LEARNING CONTEXT
Get PDFAbstract: This study aims to investigate teachers’ perceptions towards the implementation of ICT in EFL teaching and learning process. The present study applied descriptive qualitative method, and the data were collected through open-ended questionnaire and interview to gain relevant data. The results of the present study were in line with the previous findings from the studies conducted by Park & Son (2009); Barnawi (2009); and others. The research findings of the present study discovered that there were three benefits of using ICT in English teaching and learning process; namely, helping the teachers to conduct interesting and enjoyable learning activities, promoting learner autonomy, and motivating the students to learn. The present study also reveals some challenges encountered by the teachers in using ICT in EFL classes and strategies to overcome the challenges. Overall, the teachers’ perceptions towards the utilization of ICT in English teaching were positive. Thus, it is recommended to use ICT in English teaching and learning process.Keywords: English language teaching, ICT, teachers’ perceptions
A PROBE INTO COMPREHENSION AND USE OF ASSESSMENT BY SECONDARY EFL TEACHERS IN CHINA
Get PDFAbstract: The purpose of this study is to explore Chinese secondary EFL teachers’ comprehension and use of assessment, including formative assessment (FA) and summative assessment (SA). Assessment has a great impact on students’ learning. The role of FA for improving learning has been well documented (Black & Wiliam, 1998, Hattie & Timperley, 2007, Shute, 2008; Wiliam et al., 2004) and teachers’ summative assessment practices also have the potential to positively influence students and teachers (Biggs, 1998; McMillan, 2003). Thanks to its value for learning and teaching, assessment has been emphasized in many national educational documents in China such as National English Curriculum Standards (MoE, 2001 & 2011). Yet little researches have been done so far to investigate how secondary EFL teachers in China understand and implement FA and SA. This study, via a qualitative and quantitative analysis of questionnaire questions, reveals some specific patterns in teachers’ understanding and application of assessment: their consistency and inconsistency with the discourse of mainstream assessment literature. The findings are expected to provide implication for development of professional teacher preparation program and teachers’ self-reflection.Keywords: formative assessment, summative assessment, secondary EFL teacher
CORRECTING ERRORS: THE RELATIVE EFFICACY OF DIFFERENT FORMS OF ERROR FEEDBACK IN SECOND LANGUAGE WRITING
Get PDFAbstract: Error correction in ESL (English as a Second Language) classes has been a focal phenomenon in SLA (Second Language Acquisition) research due to some controversial research results and diverse feedback practices. This paper presents a study which explored the relative efï¬cacy of three forms of error correction employed in ESL writing classes: focusing on the acquisition of one grammar element both for immediate and delayed language contexts, and collecting data from university undergraduates, this study employed an experimental research design with a pretest-treatment-posttests structure. The research revealed that the degree of success in acquiring L2 (Second Language) grammar through error correction differs according to the form of the correction and to learning contexts. While the ï¬ndings are discussed in relation to the previous literature, this paper concludes creating a cline of error correction forms to be promoted in Sri Lankan L2 writing contexts, particularly in ESL contexts in Universities. Keywords: error correction, written corrective feedback (WCF), English as a second language (ESL), metalinguistic information, second language acquisition (SLA