Teacher Written Feedback In Efl Yemeni Context: A Qualitative Case Study Of Students' Reactions And Utilisations

Maklum balas bertulis guru merupakan input daripada seseorang pembaca kepada seseorang penulis, dengan maklumat yang disediakan kepada penulis untuk rujukan.� Teacher written feedback is the input from a reader to a writer with the effect of providing information to the writer for revision

FACTORS INFLUENCING EFL STUDENTS’ UTILISATION OF TEACHER WRITTEN FEEDBACK

This qualitative case study investigated factors affecting EFL university students’ use of teacher written feedback. Ten Yemeni EFL university students participated in this study. Data included students’ written essays, teacher written feedback, and semi-structured interviews. Students’ use of teacher written feedback was analysed using an adapted rating scheme. Thematic analysis was used for analysing the interviews. The results revealed that the major factors affecting students’ use of teacher written feedback are feedback-related factors (teachers’ use of correction symbols, legibility of written feedback, explicitness of written feedback, and wording of written feedback) and student-related factors (students’ emotional responses towards teacher written feedback and students’ previous literacy experience). Understanding the impact of these factors on students’ utilisation of teacher written feedback may help teachers to provide constructive and effective written feedback to their students. Training EFL students on how to utilise teacher written feedback successfully is important for improving the practice of teacher written feedback

The Use of the Internet for English Language Teachers’ Professional Development in Arab Countries

This study investigated the relationship between English language teachers’ motives to use online teaching resources and three types of Internet practices: teachers’ practices in using the Internet to collaborate with others, teachers’ practices for classroom teaching, and the Internet’s contribution to the overall professional development of teachers. Gender was also used to assess differences in the proposed model. In this study, one hundred and seventy-four English language teachers completed an online survey. SmartPLS was used to assess the measurement and the structural models. The results indicated that participation was a significant determinant of both English language teachers’ Internet-related practices at classroom level and the Internet’s contribution to the overall professional development. Considering gender differences, the results demonstrated that participation in online professional development was significantly related to the English language teachers’ practices at classroom level for males but not for females

Measuring Language Effects of Bilingual Advertisements on the Language Preference among Chinese students in a University

The influence of advertising language on the readers’ emotion is pertinent in sustaining customer loyalty and long-term relationships. This study is a contrastive analysis of Chinese New Year seasonal greetings on English and Chinese print advertisements that identifies the language preference and its impact on the emotional affect of Chinese undergraduates. The quantitative study was carried out amongst 63 university students based on a questionnaire constructed on the PANAS-X Manual for the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. The Basic Positive Emotion Scales (PANAS-X Manual) components identified in this study are Joviality, Self-Assurance and Attentiveness that covered several sub-components of affects. The overall scale for the three adverts in the English and Chinese adverts showed that the English adverts recorded a lower scale of the emotional affect compared to the Chinese adverts. Among the three different emotional affects too, the Attentiveness component recorded a higher emotional scale compared to Self-assurance and Joviality whereby reunion themes are preferred by the respondents’ in both the Chinese and English adverts. The study gives insights into language forms that evoke emotional interest and would be useful for planning the language writing tasks in various ways. Keywords: Language preference, Relationship marketing, Emotional affect, Bilingual advertisin

Check This Word Out! Exploring the Factors That Affect Students’ Vocabulary Learning Using Smartphones via Partial Least Squares

A rigorous understanding of the use of Smartphones for foreign language vocabulary acquisition is crucial. Employing the technology acceptancemodel, this study aims to investigate students’ behavioural factors affecting Saudi students’ attitudes towards employing Smartphones for foreign vocabulary acquisition. Two hundred and seventy-three students studying in a preparatory year programme were surveyed. SmartPLS was employed to analyse the data obtained fromthe study’s sample. The results revealed that perceived usefulness and attitude proved to be significantly and positively related to vocabulary development. In addition, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use proved to be significant predictors of students’ attitudes towards the use of Smartphone for vocabulary learning.However, the study showed that the relationship between perceived ease of use and vocabulary development is not significant.Thus, publishers of dictionariesmay find it necessary to take into account the important role played by the design of dictionaries interfaces in facilitating the use of dictionaries in Smartphones. Furthermore, teachers and educators are encouraged to employ creative activities (e.g., word guessing games) that invest students’ use of Smartphones to learn vocabularies. Using Smartphones in learning improves interaction among students and teachers. Discussion and conclusions are also provided

Relationship Between EFL Students’ Use of Cognitive Strategies and their Class Level and Grade Point Averages

This study examined the frequent cognitive strategies used by Jordanian undergraduate EFL students and how these cognitive strategies are related to students’ class levels and Grade Point Averages (GPAs). The study used the quantitative research design. Sixty-two EFL students in an academic reading course at a public university in Jordan were randomly selected to respond to a questionnaire which was adapted from Oxford (1990). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, One-Way ANOVA, and Scheffe test. The study revealed that the top four frequent cognitive strategies used by EFL students are inferencing, prediction, elaboration, and paraphrasing. In other words, this study revealed that these cognitive strategies are useful techniques for EFL students to use in academic reading courses. The study also showed that there are no significant differences between students’ use of cognitive strategies and their class level. In addition, One-Way ANOVA and Scheffe tests revealed that there are significant differences between three cognitive strategies which are sounds, prediction, and paraphrasing and students’ GPAs, in favour of students with excellent GPAs. Thus, in EFL contexts, teachers of academic reading courses need to train students to use cognitive strategies effectively for better academic reading comprehension. This can be enhanced through designing reading activities and tasks that should involve the use of cognitive strategies in order to help EFL students practice these strategies

Cognitive Adjustment of International Students in a Malaysian Public University

This study contributes to the ongoing interest of research into the sociocultural adjustment of international students in host universities in Malaysia. This study examined the sociocultural adjustment of Yemeni postgraduate students in a Malaysian public university. This study adopts a quantitative design (a survey) in which a questionnaire was used to gather data. The data were analysed using SPSS. The results have revealed that the major aspects of cognitive adjustment problems faced by Yemeni postgraduate students in Malaysia include dealing with people of higher status, dealing with people in authority, and understanding the local accent/language. These cognitive adjustment problems can be attributed to postgraduate students’ sociocultural and educational background

English language education in Jordan: Some recent trends and challenges

The purpose of this paper is to map out the status of English language teaching (ELT) as practised in the Arab World and, specifically, in Jordan today. The study also aims to bring into focus significant issues that need to be addressed in ELT in the Arab World. This paper presents a review of the current status of English language education, with an emphasis on the need for urgent reforms in the teaching of English in the Arab World. Further, longitudinal data in respect to classroom and workplace English proficiency are presented. English language education seems to be up-to-date teacher-centred and bound to other issues such as teaching the textbook rather than focusing on developing lifelong strategies. There is a critical need for writing national standards for English language professional development programmes that should be based on the findings of sound research. The paper highlights the significance of teaching English language through observing and reviewing the current practices