USE OF TRANSLATION STRATEGIES IN WRITING: ADVANCED EFL STUDENTS

This qualitative study examines how advanced EFL learners use translation in writing, its perceived effects on their written product, and their feelings concerning its use. As translation is generally associated with less competent students, this research focuses on high-level ones. Involving 29 advanced EFL students from a reputable English language faculty in Indonesia, the study collected data through questionnaires using close and open-ended questions. This research demonstrated that, although employed less, translation was still a crucial means for scaffolding among the students. It was shown that creating short chunks in L1 for subsequent translation was the most common strategy while all the participants also self-reportedly practiced mental translations from L1 to L2 in various degrees. This resort to translation often seemed inevitable, but students revealed having mixed feelings towards the use of the interlingual strategy. This study highlights the need to develop awareness among language learners that translation is a valid tool of language learning and the necessity to teach them the skill to translate

The use of video-based reflection to facilitate pre-service English teachers’ self-reflection

As self-reflection is crucial for improving the professional identity of pre-service teachers, it is paramount to discover ways that may assist them to reflect more effectively. This study investigates how self-reflection may be enhanced by the use of video recording as compared to that which is facilitated only by students’ memories. Employing a descriptive qualitative analysis method, the research uses reflection journals and interviews from pre-service English teachers of two available microteaching classes of an English language education program in an Indonesian private university in Central Java. While the students in one class used video recording to help them reflect, those in the other class relied on memory. The findings showed that the reflections supported by video recording were more specific and more analytical, focusing more attention on management-related issues of the teaching. Those from the memory-based group, on the other hand, tended to be general and descriptive with more accounts on personal feelings

The use of video-based reflection to facilitate pre-service English teachers’ self-reflection

As self-reflection is crucial for improving the professional identity of pre-service teachers, it is paramount to discover ways that may assist them to reflect more effectively. This study investigates how self-reflection may be enhanced by the use of video recording as compared to that which is facilitated only by students’ memories. Employing a descriptive qualitative analysis method, the research uses reflection journals and interviews from pre-service English teachers of two available microteaching classes of an English language education program in an Indonesian private university in Central Java. While the students in one class used video recording to help them reflect, those in the other class relied on memory. The findings showed that the reflections supported by video recording were more specific and more analytical, focusing more attention on management-related issues of the teaching. Those from the memory-based group, on the other hand, tended to be general and descriptive with more accounts on personal feelings

AUTONOMY IN ONLINE GRAMMAR LEARNING: EFL STUDENTS’ REPORTED PRACTICE AND PERCEPTIONS

Often perceived as a challenging subject among many tertiary EFL students, grammar may present more difficulties to the learners when delivered online, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within such a situation, autonomous learning, which earlier literature has suggested to be crucial in helping students with grammar learning, would be even more imperative for their success. Hence, this study attempts to investigate whether EFL tertiary students in Indonesia practice autonomous learning and how they perceive learning autonomy for their online grammar class. As many as 82 Indonesian students who had taken an online intermediate grammar course in a respected private university were involved in this study. A questionnaire with close and open-ended questions was used for the data collection. The findings indicate that although students mostly had positive views towards autonomy in online grammar learning and claimed to practice it, the autonomy level tended to be low. Factors such as fatigue from online learning, distractions, overwhelming assignments, and lack of study skills, seemed to have contributed to the difficulties in practicing learner autonomy

Google Translate in EFL Freshmen’s Writing Assignments: Uses, Awareness of Benefits and Drawbacks, and Perceived Reliance

Although technology use is inevitable among language learners, using Machine Translation (MT), such as Google Translate (GT), remains controversial in language learning. Despite its advances, it may be detrimental to L2 learning when used excessively, especially for those with more limited linguistic resources. This research investigates first-year EFL students' autonomous utilization of GT in writing assignments, explores their awareness of GT’s advantages and disadvantages, and assesses their perceived relative reliance on the technology. As many as 85 Indonesian EFL first-year students participated in this study by completing questionnaires consisting of closed-ended and open-ended questions. Even though most students recognized GT’s potential negative impact on language learning, this study reveals how various factors have contributed to its notably significant usage among them. While most participants reported using GT only occasionally and mainly at the word level, their use for translating longer texts was significantly higher than in previous research involving students at different English competence levels. Additionally, boosting confidence, convenience, and serving as language scaffolding were identified as GT’s main benefits, leading to students’ reliance on technology. Most expressed potential difficulty working without GT. Recommendations were made to support less-proficient students, given the growing prevalence of MT in language education