By

Abdorreza Tahriri¹
Zeinab Ariyan^2
1Department of English Language and Literature, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran
²Department of English Language, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran

 

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of dictionary use on the vocabulary learning strategies used by elementary level EFL learners. Seventy-five female EFL learners were randomly assigned to one of three groups (25 members each): the monolingual dictionary, the bilingual dictionary, and the bilingualised dictionary groups. Students' responses on the vocabulary learning strategies were collected through a questionnaire which dealt with the vocabulary learning strategies the participants used to understand each target item in a reading passage selected based on readability formula. The results of Chi-square analysis indicated that the participants in the bilingual group consulted their dictionaries more frequently to solve their lexical problems than those in the monolingual and the bilingualised dictionary groups. The bilingualised group reported the least use of other strategies (e.g., analysing morphemes, and using cognates), while guessing was rarely reported by the bilingualised dictionary group. The results also revealed that the participants in the bilingualised and the bilingual dictionary groups were more willing to consult their dictionaries when reading the text than the monolingual dictionary group. In fact, guessing the meaning from the context as well as using other strategies was more common for the monolingual dictionary group.

Keywords: Type of dictionary, dictionary use, vocabulary learning strategies

 

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By

Daron Benjamin Loo
Asia-Pacific International University

 

Abstract

In the past decade, many studies have sought to show the efficacy of different types of written feedback. All of these studies yielded consistent results, and at times contradicting results. Considering the nature of language teaching and learning, English language teaching (ELT) practitioners should consider problematising the issue of providing written feedback, instead of looking for a solution. Taking this into account, this study uses a case-study approach to evaluate the efficacy of unfocused feedback across multiple-drafts in an advanced English writing course taken by English majors at an international university in Thailand. Over a four-month semester, the class wrote five essays, with each essay having at least three drafts. In all drafts, unfocused feedback was provided with the assumption that students’ prior English writing courses have helped them develop self-monitoring abilities. The data consist of the frequency of errors and unfocused feedback of the last three essays of four students. Subsequently, a correlation coefficient of the errors and unfocused feedback was calculated and results indicated that as the number of feedback decreased through drafts, the number of errors decreased as well. This shows a positive correlation between the two variables, albeit at varying degrees for different students. Students were also interviewed about their perceptions and expectations toward writing feedback. This study suggests that unfocused feedback may work for certain students, but not all.

Keywords: writing feedback, unfocused feedback, multiple-drafts

 

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By

Ida Fatimawati bt Adi Badiozaman

 

Abstract

This paper examines Malaysian learners’ engagement in academic writing (AW) in a second language (L2) in a higher learning institution. A quantitative means of exploring students’ engagement was incorporated as a starting point to capture a broad cross-sectional snapshot of Malaysian learners’ engagement in academic writing and identify pertinent issues of the target population. The quantitative analysis revealed that the majority of the students were highly engaged and that they responded differently in the engagement domains (e.g., high behavioural engagement and low cognitive engagement). The subsequent exploration in the qualitative phase affirmed that the socio-historical aspects of the Malaysian context (e.g., position of English, identity conflicts, and emphasis on education) were also pertinent factors influencing student engagement in the AW class. While a psychological perspective has helped elucidate how engagement dimensions interacted in the learning process, the broader sociocultural aspects helped provide further insights into the role of contextual influences on student engagement in the AW class, and how these were driven by, and also drive motivation towards academic literacy and legitimacy.

Keywords: academic engagement, disengagement, academic writing, academic literacy, English as a second language, Malaysia

 

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By 

Mukhlis Abu Bakar
National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University

 

Abstract

The ideologies underlying Singapore’s language-in-education policy drive home the message that students should feel some form of emotional connection to their mother tongue. At the same time, English is privileged leading many to index it with education, upward mobility, modernity and prestige. Singapore parents are cognisant of these ideologies and play an important role in mediating their children’s affiliation to the respective languages and influencing their language use patterns. This study seeks to obtain a sense of how parents of 8-year old children struggle with competing ideologies when enrolling their children in one of two Islamic religious education programmes: English-medium Kids aL.I.V.E. and Malay-medium mosque madrasah. Parents of 35 children from the two programmes reported on their use of Malay and English, and their children’s proficiency in, and use of, the two languages. Their reports suggest that the children were equally proficient in both languages but English was their dominant language. Parents were highly supportive of the language medium of the respective programmes, but irrespective of which language they supported, many were strongly affiliated to Malay citing reasons that mirror the state ideology that calls on its citizens to stay rooted in their ethnic heritage through their mother tongue.

Keywords: Islamic religious education, bilingualism, medium of instruction, language maintenance, language ideology

 

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