643 research outputs found
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Do we need mother tongue language maintenance in Aceh? Voices from the school setting
Full text linkThere is a possibility that the Acehnese language and other locally used languages in Aceh Province could become threatened if the locals do not make efforts to maintain them. This study aims to explore teachers perspectives on maintaining the Acehnese mother tongue in schools. Employing a mixed-methods research design, data was collected through surveys and semi-structured interviews. The survey was distributed via Google Forms to 217 schoolteachers selected through voluntary sampling in Aceh, while interviews were conducted with seven teachers who willingly participated in the study. The results indicate that most teachers agree on maintaining the use of local languages in schools. However, language maintenance may face challenges e.g., globalization, family role, and youth attitude. Hence, teachers recommend that schools should actively promote the use of local languages by designating a special day for celebrating their use and incorporating the languages into local content lessons. This study intends to provide insightful recommendations for policy development regarding the maintenance of local languages in the school setting, particularly in Aceh. It also suggests educational implications, such as integrating these languages into formal schooling and developing educational resources to enhance their use in schools. Furthermore, future research could focus on documenting and preserving local languages, as well as implementing language immersion programs aimed at preserving local languages in Aceh
Prominent linguistic features of pedagogical texts to provide consideration for authentic text simplification
Full text linkTeaching materials are significant items that are unique and specific. Therefore, the selections should be relevant to students proficiency. This research aimed (1) to disclose lexical density, readability, nominalizations, and modifiers in pedagogical texts as teaching materials, (2) to reveal the linguistic features functional roles on text for pedagogical demand, and (3) to attempt to suggest consideration for simplification on authentic text. This research employed qualitative content analysis. The data sources were 18 pedagogical texts from senior high school textbooks by the Indonesian Ministry of Education. Human instruments and a text analyser for the automatic computation were utilized for the analysis under Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) pilots. This research disclosed the appropriate text lexical density for senior high school students is a fairly difficult construction. Then, nominalizations within the texts are unpreventable and process nominalization is frequently used. The nominalization and the modifiers affect sentence complexities; the nominalizations function to condense information, collocate words, create cohesiveness, interfere with conciseness, and use as trans-categorization while modifiers are to add explicitness to nouns. The simplification considerations are by utilizing lexical density and readability algorithm, de-nominalization, measuring modifiers, and splitting substance of modifiers to increase text accessibility
EFL students responses towards Rosens Sad Book: An attitudinal occurrence and aesthetic stance
Full text linkThe vocabulary choice and language used in expressing sadness vary in different cultures, even in the smallest scale of cultural group, i.e., family. There have not been many studies done to explore Indonesian EFL students word choices and expressions related to expressing sadness and empathy. The purpose of this study was to explore how the 11 EFL second-year university students in Basic Reading and Writing class expressed sadness as written in their personal reflective writings. The data was analyzed using mixed methods to obtain valid and reliable results. These second-year university students were assigned to read a picture book, Sad Book, or to watch and listen to the video version as a part of an activity in class. Their reflective writings were analyzed using content analysis to identify the corpus used by the students and using the appraisal framework to capture the variety of their attitudinal linguistic occurrence in expressing sadness and empathy. The findings illustrate that the highest attitudinal marker in expressing sadness is affect, followed by judgment and appreciation. The use of the picture book, Sad Book, assists the EFL students to be more engaged in their reflective writing and thus the highest marker of affect exists due to their ability to project their aesthetic stance. Implications for English language learning for adult learners are addressed at the end of this article
Measuring the English vocabulary acquisition of Japanese learners
Full text linkThe measurable vocabulary knowledge of Japanese learners of English (JLEs) has yet to be fully investigated. This study, therefore, attempts a detailed investigation of JLEs vocabulary knowledge to clarify the relationship between the frequency of words and their difficulty level and to identify the factors that affect the difficulty of vocabulary learning. We tested 192 university-level JLEs on 1,035 verbs, requesting that they choose a correct Japanese translation. The average number of correct answers for each verb was compared with its frequency ranking. Moreover, the characteristics of verbs that received high and low percentages of correct answers were examined. The three major findings were as follows. First, the average number of correct answers was 751.97 (72.65% of the verbs investigated). Second, the average number of correct answers decreased as the frequency of the verb decreased. However, this tendency diminished beyond the 4,000-word level. Finally, not a few low-frequency verbs garnered a high percentage of correct answers; these were verbs that included affixes or were English loanwords that were possibly known to JLEs. However, other low-frequency verbs received a low percentage of correct answers because they had abstract or multiple meanings and lacked clues that could facilitate an understanding of the words meaning. We concluded that these were the main factors affecting the degree of difficulty in learning each vocabulary item. Regarding this studys pedagogical implications, efficient use should be made of English-based loanwords and affixes, and university-level JLEs should intentionally learn low-frequency words
Indigenization of Pakistani English in Kanza Javeds Ashes, Wine and Dust
Full text linkThis article explores the indigenization of English in Pakistan in Kanza Javeds English novel Ashes, Wine and Dust. This exploratory and interpretative research employed a close reading of the novel to analyse lexical borrowing in Pakistani English, utilising a note-taking technique to identify incorporated Urdu words, examining linguistic features such as semantic fields. The analysis following established frameworks that focus on lexical borrowing and variation as reflections of socio-linguistic practices. The research aimed to explore two key questions regarding lexical variation in this novel. First, the study examined how Javed incorporates various lexical borrowing in her novel. These include words related to food, living styles, clothing, forms of address and titles, religious terms, Indo-Pak history, traditional wedding events, ethnic identity, languages representing cultural identity, and places symbolizing cultural heritage. Each of these categories reflects the rich cultural and historical context of Pakistan. Second, the study analysed how these lexical variations reflect socio-linguistic practices in Pakistani English. The novel shows the use of code-switching and compounding, two prominent features of Pakistani English that highlight the engaging language use between Urdu and English, blending them to create a distinct linguistic identity. By integrating these cultural-specific words, the writer aims to enhance the authenticity of the story and connect with a broader audience. This shows how language variation reflects the socio-linguistic norms of Pakistani society
Overcoming a stumbling block: Challenges of English-medium instruction for Vietnamese tertiary Students
Full text linkEnglish as a medium of instruction (EMI) is a growing global phenomenon, and non-native English-speaking (NNES) countries have increasingly adopted EMI courses in higher education over the past few decades in response to the momentum of globalization and internationalization. However, implementing EMI initiatives in Vietnam has faced numerous challenges and constraints. While there has been extensive research on the difficulties faced by content teachers in EMI classrooms, there is a lack of scholarly inquiry into the challenges students encounter in EMI programs in Vietnam. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the challenges faced by university students in EMI classrooms. The study used a mixed-methods research approach, gathering quantitative and qualitative data through a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, respectively. The participants were 120 students enrolled in EMI programs at a public university in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. The results revealed that students faced significant challenges in their EMI learning course. Precisely, they needed help comprehending course materials, understanding lectures, taking examinations, and participating in classroom discussions. Based on the results of the study, practical implications were discussed to enhance the effectiveness of EMI programs in higher education contexts
Using drawing to learn about figurative language among tertiary EFL English literature students
Full text linkVisual art has gained popularity in education and highlighted remarkable results in terms of improving the learning experience. This has triggered a response to investigate how visual art, particularly drawing, can be applied in an educational setting. Nevertheless, there is still a missing link on how drawing functions as a tool for tertiary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) English Literature students to learn about, specifically, figurative language. This paper employs an action research method to investigate how drawing using soft pastels is used to scaffold learning about figurative language at the same time, study its benefits. Using selected literary texts involving mainly eleven tertiary EFL English Literature students, this action research qualitative study incorporates Richard Mayers Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning in three repeated cycles. This investigation may be construed as a means to transition from conventional pedagogical methodologies into contemporary paradigms, functioning as a facilitative instrument for the amalgamation of knowledge about learning literature while enhancing confidence, higher-order cognitive skills, and expressive capabilities. It allows educators to adapt their approaches, stimulating increased reflection and participation. The findings delineate two primary strategies employed in elucidating the efficacy of incorporating drawing as a pedagogical tool for English Literature students, i.e., mining to trigger thoughts and engaging with senses to assist EFL students in learning about figurative language. It can be asserted that integrating drawing empowers individuals to formulate idiosyncratic responses by exploring concepts, articulating emotions, validating responses, and discerning the profound dimensions of literary texts
I know this is good, but I am confused: English teachers self-efficacy in implementing the Independent Curriculum
Full text linkSeveral studies have been conducted to determine the implementation of the Independent Curriculum. However, the existing studies have not identified English teachers self-efficacy in implementing the curriculum. Therefore, the present research aims to investigate the English teachers self-efficacy in applying the Independent Curriculum in secondary schools in Indonesia. This study was a mixed method study using a questionnaire and focus group discussions with teachers in teacher support groups. The data was collected from 171 secondary school English teachers. The results show that most English teachers understand the freedom offered by the government to schools and teachers in the new curriculum. However, they have low self-efficacy in implementing the curriculum in the teaching-learning process. They do not have adequate knowledge of how to translate the learning objectives specified by the government into their own syllabi. They do not have sufficient understanding or ability to conduct a needs analysis and syllabus design as a prerequisite for implementing the curriculum. Our research suggests that the teachers need further support from the government and teacher trainers through in-person hands-on training and workshops on needs analysis, syllabus design, and materials selection and development to effectively implement the Independent Curriculum
Lexical cohesion analysis on articles of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Arabic and English online newspapers
Full text linkDiscourse studies on the Russia-Ukraine conflict have been conducted in the past few years, especially in newspapers. Comparative studies on the media in several countries have been widely carried out; however, none so far focused on comparing Arabic and English newspapers. Thus, this article aimed to examine the lexical cohesion of Arabic and English newspapers to identify each newspapers tendency to represent the conflict. Aljazeera and The Guardian newspaper were designated as subjects of the study, in which five opinions published in March 2022 by each newspaper were purposively selected as data sources. Data was collected through internet archival documentation techniques and analysed by referring to the lexical cohesion theory framework proposed by Halliday and Matthiessen (2013). The results showed that repetition was the dominant cohesive device used in Aljazeera, whereas repetition and collocation were the most used lexical cohesion devices in The Guardian. The use of these lexical cohesion devices showed that Aljazeera took a neutral position in representing conflicts and actors. On the other hand, The Guardian tended to side with Ukraine while framing Russia and Putin negatively. Differences in these tendencies were due to the differences in interests. Aljazeera could stay impartial because Qatar had no political interests in the conflict. By contrast, The Guardian was positioning itself against Russia and Putin because Britain had economic and geopolitical interests in the conflict