Journal of English Language Teaching and Linguistics
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The Positive Politeness Strategies Used in “English for Nusantara” Textbook
Get PDFThe integration of pragmatic competence and politeness is an essential focus in the development of English learning materials like textbooks. Using appropriate textbooks can help students develop communicative competence as the primary goal of English language teaching as a foreign language. This study discusses the positive politeness strategy in the textbook "English for Nusantara". The present study used a qualitative approach with a documentary analysis design. The data were collected by analyzing the dialogues contained in the textbook. The theory of positive politeness strategy, developed by Brown and Levinson (1987), was used to examine the data. The findings revealed that there are eight positive politeness strategies used in the dialogues of the English for Nusantara textbook, namely (1) exaggerating one’s interest in, approval of, and sympathy of the listener, (2) employing in-group markers of identity, (3) requesting agreement, (4) requesting & promising, (5) involving the speaker and the listener in action and (6) offering or asking for an explanation, (7) using inclusive “we” form, and (8) giving (or asking for) reasons. The most dominant positive politeness strategy was ‘exaggerating interest in, approval of or sympathy with the hearers.’ EFL learners’ pragmatic competence will be increased when pragmatic contents, like politeness, are integrated into the textbook as English learning materials used by teachers in the classroom
Enhancing EFL Learner Autonomy through Project-Based Learning: The Case of Secondary School Students
Get PDFWith the 21st century constant changes and demands, heated debate on ways to enhance Moroccan EFL students’ autonomy has sparked the interest of stakeholders. Although learner-centered teaching has been recommended in the past few years, teacher-centered instructional styles are; however, predominating in real teaching-learning practices. Autonomous learning skills and self-directed learning are needed in the twenty-first century, and project-based learning is a way to respond to that requirement. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if project-based learning could enhance the autonomy of learners in a Moroccan EFL context. Similarly, this research aims at interviewing the presenters’ peers on their performance; a method whereby they could develop critical thinking skills. To achieve this purpose, data was collected through a self-assessment questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The participants were a classroom of 17 Secondary (2nd baccalaureate) school students. Results demonstrated that project-based learning enhances learner autonomy and responded to the demands of the 21st century skills. Likewise, based on the findings, learners managed to improve their autonomy during the implementation of project-based learning, and levels of autonomy vary among learners. Future researchers need to take into consideration that not all learners maintain a positive view concerning project-based learning perhaps they are accustomed to teacher spoon-fed and hand hold; consequently, they become passive. To deal with this dilemma, teachers had better remind students repeatedly that project-based learning contributes in boosting their autonomy and prepares them for the post-graduation exigencies
Learner Autonomy during COVID-19: The Case of Moroccan EFL Undergraduates com
Get PDFLearner autonomy is one of the predictors of academic performance. Many researchers have argued that moving from secondary to higher school is a big transition. Shifting the focus from teacher-centeredness to learner-centeredness, learners in higher school display less reliance on their teachers to carry on their learning. Throughout this process, learners develop their autonomy and boost their independence. However, numerous studies revealed that most students are unaware of this shift. The purpose of this paper is to assess the autonomy of Moroccan EFL undergraduate students during the Covid-19 pandemic. Equally, this study aims at developing awareness of some strategies and techniques students use to increase their autonomy and self-independence. To achieve this purpose, the study employed a quantitative approach. A Likert scale-based questionnaire was administered to 100 (55 males and 45 females) EFL Moroccan undergraduate students. The research data was generated and analyzed using SPSS. Statistical analysis revealed that during the Covid-19 pandemic (69%) of EFL students were not aware of their role as independent and autonomous learners. Likewise, only (30%) of them were involved in syllabus design. Nevertheless (49%) of EFL students revealed their readiness to be part of decision-making concerning the teaching-learning process. The study results suggest that the use of the internet, self-managerial skills, peer and teacher collaboration are among the effective strategies students employ to increase their autonomy and self-independence alike
An Optimization-Based Artificial Intelligence Framework for Teaching English at College Level Under Tribhuvan University
Get PDFLearning and computing breakthroughs among students are beginning to converge due to the rapid growth of digital technology. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made an impact on the way we teach English at college level. It has an enormous potential of providing digitalized and completely personalized learning to each English language teacher. This quantitative quasi-experimental research offers a strategy for incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in English language teaching at college level. The participants consisted of 100 bachelor level students studying at a constituent college of Tribhuvan University, Nepal. The participants were selected using simple random sampling and divided into two groups: the study group and the control group. The researcher employed questionnaire and test as the instruments to collect the data. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 2.0 which is a tool for analyzing quantitatively challenging data. The findings were presented descriptively and the researcher assessed the model's criteria, designed a comparison test, and conducted a survey questionnaire to check the reliability and effectiveness of the prediction. The evidence shows that Enhanced Whale Hyper-Tuned Artificial Neural Network (EWH-ANN) EWH-ANN can be employed to optimize English instruction at college level in general and verbal improvement in particular. It can make English teaching more efficient and customized to fulfil individual students' necessities. The study concluded that The Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) can be used to tune the hyper-parameters of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to improve the accuracy of the operation
Exploring Indonesian Learners’ Attitudes and Beliefs toward English Accents: A Case Study in an Indonesian University
Get PDFThis study reported the attitudes of 67 Indonesian English language learners toward British, American, and their own English accents and explored the underlying reasons motivating these attitudes. The participants’ English proficiency ranged from intermediate to advanced proficiency and confirmed either or both direct and indirect exposures to intercultural communication with speakers of English of other nationalities. The participants were required to listen to three audio samples, Received Pronunciation (RP), General American (GA), and Indonesian accented English (IAE), and to rate the accents on ‘standard’, ‘intelligent’, ‘polite’, and ‘pleasant’ traits. To seek the significant overall mean scores and the meaningful scores across the groups, ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey test were used. The results of the interview, additionally, were analyzed using content analysis techniques to find meaningful categories to clarify such emerging perceptions. The results show an overall positive attitude toward all three accents with the Indonesian accent perceived significantly more positively compared to the other two on the ‘intelligent’, ‘polite’, and ‘pleasant’ traits. The more positive evaluation of their own accent was driven by the realization that mutual intelligibility is more important than prestige, and there is a need for cultural value projections, that is, to use their own accent to channel politeness. These results call for the reinforcement of mutual intelligibility as the core of assessment and acceptance of local accents in classrooms. This can be channeled through the active promotion of audio samples demonstrating different varieties of English in the class instead of focusing exclusively on RP and GA; and through teachers’ acceptance of students’ intelligible local accents
Exploring the Use of Padlet in Synchronous Learning: Students’ Perceptions of its Advantages and Disadvantages
Get PDFAs a result of the Covid-19 epidemic, educators in Indonesia have had experience dealing with synchronous learning, which has challenged them to select an interesting and engaging method, strategy, or tool to aid the teaching and learning process. Padlet was eventually chosen as the solution to this study. Padlet is a virtual wall that is used to build students' interest in learning English, specifically writing. In this study, the researchers used a descriptive quantitative research design with a sample of 96 students to assess their perceptions of using Padlet as a virtual wall. Numerous factors such as utility, knowledge, engagement, enjoyment, motivation, and ease of use were determined through a questionnaire-based survey which was then distributed as benefits and drawbacks of using Padlet. According to the findings, the students agreed that Padlet provided several benefits to their learning process. On the other hand, students disagreed with Padlet's disadvantages. Therefore, the result implied that the expectation to enhance knowledge is the major factor influencing students’ perceptions of the Padlet utilization in synchronous learnin
Comparison of Commissive Acts between University of Oxford’s and Universitas Indonesia’s Prospectuses
Get PDFThis study aimed to compare Oxford University (OU) as a native English speaker and Universitas Indonesia (UI) as a non-native English speaker in presenting commissive acts in their university prospectus to see their similarities and differences. This study used the descriptive qualitative method. The data were an English-written prospectus from OU, The World's Best University and UI, The Best Indonesian University in 2020, based on the 2020 World University Rankings by Times Higher Education (THE). Specifically, data were taken only from forty-nine courses in Undergraduate Programs from each prospectus. Data were analyzed using six types of commissive acts instruments according to Searle, (1976), namely Promise, Threaten, Guarantee, Refuse, Volunteer, and Offer supported with (IFIDs) and Felicity Conditions. Data were analyzed by identifying the types of commissive acts, classifying, comparing, interpreting, and concluding. This study found four similarities; both only presented three types of commissive acts such as Promise, Offer, and Guarantee. Both dominant presented the Guarantee type. Both tend to present commissive acts implicitly. For Promise and Guarantee, both do not present them explicitly. Three differences were; OU presented more commissive acts (312), while UI only (193). On the Promise type, OU tends to address its readers using (you), while UI used (students). On the Offer type, OU only presented it explicitly (27) times, while UI did it explicitly (17) and implicitly (3) times. The results of this study are expected to provide additional information regarding the proper use of commissive acts to attract readers' interest
Genre Analysis of English vs. Indonesian Application Letters
Get PDFGenre studies in English for specific purposes (ESP) have long been widely investigated, including in academic and professional texts. In professional texts, these studies have been conducted in business letters, formal letters, newsletters in China and Australia, advertising promotional media in Indonesia, and application letters. However, application letters are still the least investigated in the Indonesian context. Furthermore, contrastive genre analysis of English and Indonesian application letters has never been investigated to date. Based on finding and comprehending this gap in the literature, the researcher is encouraged and interested in conducting the present study. The researcher involved and trained 12 English foreign language (EFL) students to analyze rhetorical moves of 63 English and 63 Indonesian application letters. However, among the 63 English application letters, 25 were written by non-native English speakers. Thus, the researcher only focused on analyzing 38 English and 63 Indonesian application letters. Then, to ensure the validity of the analysis results, the researcher reanalyzed the rhetorical moves by re-reading application letters three times using a top-down approach and identifying their linguistic signals. The results showed two rhetorical models of English and Indonesian application letters. These two models imply that they have rhetorical differences in communicating their purposes
Indonesian EFL Undergraduate Students' Interest Towards Metacognitive Strategy in Reading Academic Comprehension
Get PDFAcademic reading comprehension is affected by many factors. This research was focused on understanding academic reading comprehension from the perspectives of interest and metacognitive strategy. This research aimed to find a correlation between students’ interests and metacognitive strategy (before and during reading academic comprehension). The research was conducted at Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta. There were 27 students who participated in this research. The survey design using a correlational study was applied to analyze the data from the survey-open and close-ended questionnaires. Pearson coefficient correlation was used in exposing the correctional status. The result of the current study showed that there is a positive moderate correlation between students’ interest and metacognitive strategy in reading academic comprehension. Supported by an open-ended data interpretation, this research found that both interest and metacognitive strategy are correlated especially in terms of self-motivation and self-regulation, mood, and strategy employment in reading academic comprehension. This research would have a great theoretical and practical contribution to the English language department, especially for teachers and students in terms of reading academic comprehension.
Needs Analysis of Development of Critical Thinking Skills Assessment Instruments on Vocational School English Subjects
Get PDFThis study aimed to analyze the needs for developing critical thinking skills technology-based assessment instruments in English subjects for vocational school and find out the factors that can support and inhibit developing and implementing critical thinking skills technology-based assessment instruments. This study used the qualitative research method with a case study design. The subject of study was 5 teachers and 15 eleventh-grade vocational school students at Tangerang. Observations, interviews, and documentation were conducted to collect the data. After collecting the data, the researcher used triangulation to confirm the data. The data collected were analyzed to answer the research questions using several stages, namely condensation, display, and verification. The results showed that the development of technology-based assessment instruments of critical thinking skills on vocational school English subjects needs to be developed. The schools have facilitation for conducting a technology-based assessment. Students have never taken on critical thinking skills assessment. Teachers and schools did not have the development of assessment instruments of critical thinking skills so teachers have never conducted critical thinking skills assessments on English subjects. Moreover, the students still have some obstacles in English learning such as vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Therefore, the teachers should help to improve students’ vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar before conducting a critical thinking skills assessment