Year: 2013

Being a good teacher involves having a variety of skills, from being able to connect with students to classroom management, organization, understanding learning styles, providing engaging activities, and much more. When all of these things come together, they can create a fun and effective learning atmosphere. One of the most rewarding parts of teaching is …

In this paper, we aim to step back in time and speak more broadly on the aspect of higher education policy in Saudi Arabia.  We will argue that the post 9/11 context of education in Saudi Arabia has brought into a new paradigm of thinking away from what McCarthy et al. (2009) call “safe harbors” …

This purpose of this study is to investigate the different social and cultural factors related to Japanese university students’ motivation and attitudes towards speaking English outside the formal classroom environment. A self-constructed questionnaire was administrated to a group of third- and fourth-year undergraduate students in June 2012. These Japanese students were learning English as a …

Recent rapid globalization has resulted in a shift in classroom demographics; increasingly, a community of learners consists of students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds and often many of them must access the curriculum in a language other than their mother tongue. In some contexts this has been construed as a problem. However, recognising the …

Logical connectors are important cohesive devices in written discourse to guide readers through texts. This study aims to examine the cognitive activities that the Chinese university students perform while adopting adversative, causal and temporal logical connectors in English argumentations, descriptions and narrations. It also investigates the factors which explain for the Chinese students’ behaviors of …

The purposes of this research were; 1.) to investigate types of grammatical errors made by the first year English major students, Udon Thani Rajabhat University, 2.) to explain characteristics of the errors and give examples of the errors in order to find out the proper ways to solve those errors. Data was collected from 49 …

This paper has examined how Language learning strategies are the key factors for the success of EFL/ESL learners at Jazan University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how these factors influence the rate and ultimate success of FLA/SLA. There were 81 students participated in this study and …

Applying genre analysis as a rich analytical tool in a study in a state university in Indonesia, the writer has revealed the students’ ability and problems in writing a research methodology chapter in their research proposal. It is found that most students faced difficulties in presenting arguments in terms of justification of the choice of …

Teachers in general and language teachers in particular are believed to have a crucial role in the success or failure of each educational system.. Among the many characteristics of teachers, this study aimed to examine the relationship between the self -efficacy (SE) and self -awareness(SA) language teachers (female=77, M=70) and their students’ achievement in intermediate …

Anxiety, stress and motivation are often discussed from the English language learner’s perspective, but these terms can also apply to the language teacher. More specifically, novice Native English Speaking Teachers (NESTs) working in foreign countries may experience these phenomena both in and outside of the classroom due to the vast cultural variations between their home …

Discriminating teachers’ pedagogical and professional skills, solely on the basis of accent, physical appearance, and native speaker status is unfounded and unethical. The growing number of English language learners worldwide correlates to an increasing number of nonnative English speaking teachers (NNESTs) and native English speaking teachers (NESTs). Unfortunately, NNESTs have not always shared equal status …

While there exists a growing body of research on the nature and functions of formulaic language, there remains a paucity of analysis of the ways language teachers may implement this knowledge in their classrooms, and the relative effectiveness of teaching techniques. Formulaic language, generally defined as multiword units of language with particular functions and meanings …

The main purpose for conducting the research presented in this paper was to explore the possible benefits of encouraging learners to notice their errors. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected on both experimental ( n = 28) and control ( n = 28) groups over a semester at a private university in intensive English …

This research is devoted to incorporating the Internet into pre-career ESP learning environment. Unlike GE career-oriented ESP learning is not a mere goal of language study, but a tool of learning profession. This spells instructional consequences, the teacher needs content-focused competent resources, the student requires a well structured career-related guidance. The main obstacle in pre-career …

The problem of this study is: How does interactive English teaching affect students’ communication skills? This study described the profile of the students in terms of gender, Intelligent Quotient level and achievement in previous English course these variables were made as the basis for grouping of the students into two-the Interactive Group and the Traditional …

Thai students need to improve their weak English proficiency for the completion of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. The drawback of the improving is that there are not enough English teachers for increased students. The way to solve this problem is teaching in large class containing more than 60 students. Therefore, the objective of …

This paper is about “Korean English (Konglish)”. The impression that Koreans have of Konglish is that it is ‘bad’ or ‘incorrect’ English because of how it is used among Koreans. Foreigners cannot understand it unless they learn it but Koreans understand it when spoken among themselves. A major concern is that unlike American English, British …

To support the rapid growth of globalization a common language is badly needed. Fortunately English has got the honor to become that common language for communicating among the different nations. It is the language of choice in most countries of the word. Though English is the mother tongue of the United Kingdom, they alone cannot …

This study examines the use and uptake of iPads in two technology-free Spanish pre-school classrooms. The study was framed by a socio-cultural perspective and an action research process. Data sources included videos of 42 four-year olds and their engagement in play and literacy activities before the iPads were introduced in the two classrooms, and while …

Mandarin is a tone language which means every Mandarin word has a fixed tone; if a tone is changed, the meaning of the word will change. Therefore, identifying the Hanyu Pinyin pronunciation mistakes is important and should be prioritized by the Mandarin language instructors. Numerous pronunciation errors were identified among the undergraduates who are the …

English is used as a second language (L2) in Malaysia with a great emphasis in tertiary education as the medium of instruction, the most important subject in the curriculum, and a mandatory subject for all undergraduates. Yet, the university lecturers share a common view that students find it difficult to perform satisfactorily, particularly in writing …

Board games provide a social atmosphere that digital based learning environments are still having a hard time recreating. This is in part due to the shared experiences created by playing together face to face. Using board games in an English classroom can be a great instrument for increasing motivation among students to communicate. However it …

Learning a second language is a complex task and one that is becoming more and more popular as the world becomes smaller. Within Taiwan, English is taught in elementary, middle and senior high schools as part of the compulsory education as well as in specialised courses in universities and cram schools. However, despite all this …

In the Revised 2010 Secondary Education Curriculum of the Philippines, the teaching of English focuses more on literary competence rather than critical thinking skills and communicative competence. Reading selections written in Philippine English are also given to Grade Seven students who, unfortunately, are not yet fully prepared to take in large amounts of texts making …

The paper will describe the policy of foreign language education of young learners in Europe and list the factors important in the teaching process including age of the learners, teachers’ qualifications as well as procedures and materials. In particular, the paper will focus on teaching and learning materials used in early foreign language education. The …

There is a need empirical data concerning gender differences in students` self-regulation of foreign language learning motivation. Therefore two research problems were formulated: do male and female foreign language learners differ in terms of self-motivating strategies use? Is foreign language grade related differently with foreign language learning motivation and self-motivating strategies use in men and …

Since the introduction of communicative language teaching and models of communicative competence, approaches to testing have evolved. Instead of tests being based on traditional psychometric methods of measuring isolated pieces of grammar and vocabulary knowledge, tests are increasingly focusing on measuring the ability to use accurately and appropriately in communicative contexts. This has led to …

The aim of this study is to figure out the development of spatial and temporal senses in L1 acquisition. Since ‘TIME IS SPACE’ metaphor has been proposed that the temporal sense has been acknowledged as the one derived from the spatial sense. However, in the previous study on English preposition ‘on’ (Jun and Lee 2009), …

Thai has unique phonological structures, which contrast with other languages. Crucially, the fact that Thai lacks certain English consonant phonemes in its phonological system has created problems for Thai learners of EFL in accommodating and pronouncing English sounds, particularly the consonant ones. This could result in ambiguity and miscommunication e.g. ‘tin’ instead of ‘thin’ due …

E-mail has become a widely used medium of communication in the academic and business communities. As language educators, we need to ensure that learners acquire successful language skills in these contexts. This study investigates the format used by Chinese university students when writing e-mails in English to their professors. Most of the previous research has …

This research represents a year-long longitudinal study into the affects of communication strategy instruction on Japanese EFL learners’ linguistic proficiency. The paper replicates research carried out by Nakatani (2005) and aims to equip learners with the linguistic and problem-solving skills to overcome linguistic barriers. The findings indicate clearly that influence of prominent socio-cultural factors have …

First language (L1) acquisition studies have been an interesting issue to both linguists and psycholinguists. A lot of research studies have been carried out over several decades to investigate how L1 or child language acquisition mechanism takes place. The end point of L1 acquisition theories leads to inter-language theories, which eventually lead to SLA research …

Demirdarche, and Uribe-Etxebarria (2008) argue that the reference time of the modal complement in English results from the interplay between the semantic properties of modals and the aspect of the verbal complement. Unlike English, the reference time of the modal complement in Thai is indicated by temporal adverbials or contexts (Yangklang 2011: 35). Thus, the …

A qualitative study were implemented to shape again for getting idea about rempit (fast driving) by considering a group namely Mat Rempit (Illegal motor driving in Malaysia) . This study uses two interview methods. They are: interview individual and focus group interview. The first method involves 16 individual that have been involved with activity rempit …

Using signs and symbols defuses the need of using any other language or medium in teaching English. With the help of popular sings and symbols of a region, the method attempts to denote the functioning mechanics of English language and creates many simple and multi- dimensional visual mediums to incorporate the most common words, ideas, …

The purpose of this paper is to develop an interactive multimedia learning environment to promote reading skills for deaf children based on see and learn. The authors of this study focus on the idea that children should have the potential to develop learning to read based on the conceptual framework of see and learn which …

Previous research have shown that tense and aspect are acquired in a particular order and tense is usually acquired before aspect. The purpose of this investigation was to test the claim that learners in general must master the simple past (SP) at an accuracy rate of 85.9% before they begin to acquire the present perfect …

A long time has passed since the trend of English education in Japan shifted from grammar translation methods for acquiring English knowledge to using a communicative approach regarding foreign language learning as one kind of communication activities. English education and intercultural communication education share important commonalties in their purposes. The current English education at high …

If Babel, language diversity has created a barrier to communication as a direct result, “dispersion” of the human race, the need to communicate in plantation companies, between master and slave, was giving a positive constraint birth to Creole. “Not only an encounter, a shock a mix, but a new dimension that allows everyone to be …

In this study, we investigated Japanese EFL (JEFL) speakers’ intelligibility rated by two groups of native speakers of English, a peer group and a teacher group, and their comments on the speech samples. Reading and spontaneous speech samples were collected twice, pre- and post study abroad from seven JEFL students who visited North America for …

Politeness is a culture specific and context-bound phenomenon. While engaging in conversation with somebody, several factors are taken into account like sociological and interpersonal factors such as status, inferiority- superiority, formality or informality of relation, age group etc. These factors could lead to various instances of face threatening acts among speakers and hearers. This research …

This study reports on the trends and concerns of ESL teacher trainees in using game strategy to improve speaking skill in a rural and remote primary school. It is about focusing on improving their methodological and pupils’ speaking skills through games both at the professional and personal/social domains. This study was conducted over three weeks …

Due to students’ different background, motivational level, interest and learning style (to name a few), it is very vital for teachers or educators to determine the learning style preference (LSP) of the students. Not only it helps teachers or educators to decide on the teaching style, it also assists them in adopting the most appropriate …

This study investigated the reading attitudes of a group of students under a programme known as ‘Mengubah Destini Anak Bangsa’ held in one of the higher learning institutions in Malaysia. This study also describes the relationship between the students’ academic reading performance with their reading attitudes by taking into consideration three main dimensions: reading attitudes, …