Earticle

Research shows that cooperative learning (CL) supports foreign language learning (e.g., Almuslimi, 2016; Wei & Tang, 2015). However, there is little research demonstrating how CL works and, specifically, how it promotes learning, particularly individual accountability, which is a principle in CL. This article reports on part of a larger study that aimed to fill this gap by exploring the roles of individual accountability in CL in enhancing EFL learning. The study involved two secondary school EFL teachers, with 77 students in their classrooms, and four focus students. Analysis of data from participant observations, in-depth interviews, and document analysis shows that individual accountability manifests itself in a series of activities from individual, group, and class presentations as well as other peer interactions. The findings also showed that the learners had more opportunities to interact and had more interactions with their peers during CL than during conventional group work (i.e., students simply completing non-CL activities in groups). Opportunities for student-student interactions in CL activities, absent in the conventional group work, may have contributed to the EFL learners’ communicative competence. However, teachers new to CL should follow the preset procedures for CL strategies to promote individual accountability and understand how these activities benefit students.

With the growing, and often required, opportunities for Korean EFL learners to interact with NNSs as well as NSs via international job markets, many English intensive programs are being established by universities and are welcomed by students. Given that a great deal of effort is being made by these students, their English Speaking Anxiety (ESA), and its impact on their efforts, has not been examined to any great degree. This study aims to investigate Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) and Language Anxiety in Cognitive Processes (LACP) of Korean university students in an Intensive TOEIC speaking program and their relationships with their academic achievement. Statistical analysis was carried out to trace students’ ESA between the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) variables and its correlation with the LACP and their impact on students’ TOEIC speaking achievement throughout the program. This study also includes instructors’ semi-structured interviews with students and the students’ introductory journals to offer their voices on English speaking. The study documents that ESA is correlated between FLA items and LACP variables differently and influence TOEIC speaking performance negatively. The implication of the study is discussed further with regard to teachers’ consideration of learners’ ESA when learning the language.

Second language learning motivation has always been considered to be one of the most influential factors in language learning due to its undeniably substantial impacts. In comparison with research conducted in other areas of L2 motivation, there has been a paucity of research on L2 motivation change, especially in the Iranian language learning context. This study aimed at investigating motivation change among Iranian military EFL learners in an intensive English course. The participants included 61 Iranian military staff aged 23-35, who took part in an intensive English course at the military university’s foreign language center. The data collection was conducted using a background information questionnaire, a contextualized and translated version of the mini-AMTB (Attitude Motivation Test Battery) and an interview with the selected participants. Quantitative descriptive analysis showed that the participants were highly motivated, with relatively low anxiety and high integrative motivation. Furthermore, a qualitative content analysis showed that situation-specific factors including management problems both at macro and micro levels, class timing, lesson planning, organizational interventions, teacher-related factors, and facilities were all motivational factors that played a significant role in motivating or demotivating learners. The results also showed that the learners moved from a state of high motivation to low motivation due to context-specific demotivational factors.

The goal of the study is to examine non-native speaking (NNS) English teachers' language awareness in relation to their metalinguistic knowledge and language proficiency. Data was collected from sixty-two (N=62) NNS in-service teachers who had teaching experiences in South Korea and forty-four (N=44) NS pre-service teachers in a TESOL certificate or degree program in the U.S. All participants were asked to complete a series of tests to check their levels of metalinguistic knowledge (MK). The tests of MK consisted of 34 test items asking participants’ grammaticality judgement and 15 items of metalanguage use. In addition, NNS participants answered a self-report questionnaire of their English language proficiency (LP). The results from the tests and questionnaire were examined using t-tests, correlation, and regression analyses. The findings indicated that the NNS group performed differently on the tests of two types of MK; the NNS group outperformed the NS group on the test of metalanguage use knowledge, whereas the NS group performed better than the NNS group on the test of grammaticality judgement. Also it was found that the scores of grammaticality judgement in the NNS group were correlated to the scores of LP at statistically significant levels. In regression analysis, the grammatical judgement on the indefinite article appeared to be the only predictor of LP. Implications and suggestions from the findings are discussed.

Self-regulated students who control their own learning performance can learn more successfully than those who lack self-regulatory capabilities, and they are more likely to be successful when compared to non-self-regulated learners. Self-regulated learning includes constructs such as background knowledge, strategies and metastrategies. Metastrategy has been defined as an “executive function” which controls cognitive, affective, social and motivational dimensions through coordinating, planning, organizing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and orchestrating strategy use. Speaking English has become essential for students who study English as a foreign language (EFL). Currently, the unsatisfactory communicative performance of Thai students has led educators to find methods of improving their listening and speaking skills. Therefore, this study investigates metastrategies and corresponding metastrategy sets employed by Thai EFL students in a speaking task using a state-of-the-art strategic self-regulation model of L2 learning (S2R model). The results show that the EFL learners employed metastrategies and metastrategy sets in the forethought, performance, and self-reflection phases of the speaking task. The EFL students mostly used sets of metacognitive strategies, followed by meta-affective strategies, metamotivational strategies then metasocial strategies. Based on the findings and the literature review, a proposed metastrategy speaking model for EFL students was created.

This paper describes an observational study with three Japanese EFL teachers that examined: (1) the difference in the frequencies of non-verbal behaviors (NVBs) depending on the amount of the second language (L2) used by the teacher; (2) the kinds of NVBs the Japanese EFL teachers used in the classes, and (3) the difference in frequency of NVB use depending on whether the same teacher used their first language (L1) or L2. An analysis of the findings indicated the following: (1) the greater the amount of teacher output of L2, the more frequently NVBs were used; (2) the teachers used different types of NVBs depending on the situation; and (3) NVBs were more frequently used when the teacher spoke L2. These findings suggest that NVBs play a crucial role in providing comprehensible input in EFL classrooms. The pedagogical implications for EFL teachers and teacher educators are also suggested in the conclusion.

A central component in pre-service teacher training is teaching practice and feedback (Copland, 2010). The study reported in this paper examined the experience of ESL trainee teachers in Hong Kong during the practicum. In total, 74 field experience feedback forms and 74 classroom language use evaluation sheets were collected and analyzed. Data analysis showed that the dominant challenge this group of ESL trainee teachers encountered was an apparent lack of adequate pedagogical knowledge needed to translate their subject-matter knowledge into effective instruction. The study also revealed that a closer relationship between the university language education program and schools is needed to create the conditions that permit ESL student teachers to better contextualise their theoretical knowledge learnt in the university teacher preparation course in practice. Results of this study contribute to the current debate on how university second language teacher education programs can best equip trainee teachers with the knowledge and skills that will best enable them to participate in the actual experience of teaching.

This research study aimed to examine the attitudes of students in the eight ASEAN free flow of labor professions towards the notion of World Englishes and to investigate the role of universities in promoting World Englishes to prepare students for the ASEAN marketplace. The study sample comprised 1504 fourth-year students studying in the fields related to the eight professions: engineering, nursing, dentistry, architecture, surveying, medicine, accountancy, and tourism. Data collection was via questionnaires and semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The findings reveal both a pluricentric view and a centric view of the English language with these participants. The students seem to be aware of the existence of English varieties and realize the benefits and significance of knowing non-native English varieties for their future careers, particularly in ASEAN context. Nevertheless, they claim that either British or American English should be used in ASEAN for the most intelligibility. This study also found that education institutions currently still play only a minor role in promoting non-native English language varieties to students. The students’ responses also indicate their need to learn non-native English varieties.

This narrative inquiry explores how good English language learners’ (GELLs) L2 motivation and usage of language learning strategies change over time based on the onset age of active English learning in the Korean English as a foreign language (EFL) context. And also the current study examines how GELLs learn English. The authors investigated a total dataset of 83 GELLs from 25 autobiographical books on “How I succeed in learning English as a foreign language.” Results indicated that as GELLs’ language proficiency increased, their L2 motivation changed in different patterns depending on the onset age of active English learning. Second, GELLs preferred metacognitive, cognitive, memorization, and social strategies both at the beginning and advanced stage of the English learning process regardless of the onset age of active learning. Finally, GELLs acquired English through a well-balanced language course regardless of the onset age of active learning. Pedagogical implications and future research suggestions are also discussed.

This research study considers the problem of Japanese university students who are studying the sciences in their native language, but who also may be expected to do at least part of their reading through textbooks written in English. The article presents a Science Textbook Word List (STWL), derived from a 700,000-word academic corpus compiled from English-medium textbooks intended for science majors. The STWL contains 309 word families, which accounts for 13.4% of the tokens in the science textbook corpus under study. The high word frequency and the wide text coverage of academic vocabulary throughout the science textbooks confirm that academic vocabulary plays an important role in science textbooks. The study also found that the STWL provided better coverage of the studied corpus than the widely used Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000), and another science word list (Coxhead & Hirsh, 2007). These results demonstrate that corpus-specific word lists provide more coverage of the intended texts with fewer items. This is of benefit to the students as the amount of learning time can be significantly reduced, and the effort put in to learn such lists is well repaid by the opportunity for using the vocabulary.

Shadowing was introduced to foreign language teaching in the 1990s and since then it has been researched in EFL teaching contexts. Shadowing has been used as a listening task, and its effectiveness on listening comprehension has been acknowledged. However, its effect on pronunciation development remains unclear. With this unresolved issue in mind, I have attempted to develop shadowing-based pronunciation teaching methods by combining shadowing with activities for pronunciation skill development, namely haptic-shadowing and IPA-shadowing. A total of 58 Japanese second-year university students participated in the experiment (29 for haptic-shadowing and 29 for IPA-shadowing). A total of 15 lessons were given to each group. The results show that the haptic-shadowing group statistically improved on all the three features of comprehensibility, segmental features, and suprasegmental features, while the IPA-shadowing group improved on comprehensibility and segmental features. Additionally, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine learners’ perceptions toward the two types of shadowing. Learners have a more positive and fresh image of haptic-shadowing and IPA-shadowing.