Lexical bundles in non-native learner corpora

Research has indicated that learner’s successful assimilation of lexical bundles is one of the indicators of writing competency. Additionally, literature has also shown that different types of writing require different types of lexical bundles and it is essential that learners are able to differentiate between personal stance bundles and those of academic prose. As such, this study intends to investigate the grammatical structures of frequently used lexical bundles and as well as find out if there is a difference in frequency of use of lexical bundles in different types of essays. The data were collected from 50 graphic-oriented essays and 50 open-ended essays of upper-intermediate English language learners. An analysis of the data in this study, among others, showed that our learners used less structural classifications in open-ended essays when compared to graphicoriented essays. Finally this paper presents discussions of the pedagogical implications drawn from the analysis of the data presented

Extensive reading with adult learners of English as a second language: habits and attitudes of a group of Malaysian pre-university students

Many language instructors acknowledge the important role extensive reading plays in the acquisition of a second language. There are many ways in which an extensive reading programme can be intergrated into a language curriculum. This study reports of feedback from 2,461 learners of English as a second language in a pre-university programme where extensive reading has been integrated as part of the language curriculum. Feedback was also obtained from 38 teachers involved in the extensive reading programme. Among others, this research reports on learners’ attitudes towards reading in general and also reading in the target language. Their responses will be compared to the response from the teacher

A comparison of lexical richness in L2 written productions

Indeed research has shown that vocabulary acquisition is one of the chal-lenges of a language learner; even more so for productive vocabulary. Thus this study intends to investigate the lexical richness of 2 groups of EFL learners. This was done through a content analysis of 139 essays of entry-level university students and 140 essays of third-year university students studying at an English medium university. Both these groups of students scored at least a band 6 or 550 in TOEFL. Specifically, the objective of this study is to find out if there are differences in the lexical richness of these two groups of essays in the type-token ratio. This study also intends to find out if there are differences between the two different groups of essays in the use of the 1,000, 2,000, word levels, the AWL as well as the use of the words not-in-the-list. The RANGE programme developed by Nation, Heat-ley & Coxhead (2002) was used to carry out the above procedure. Findings of the study showed that the two groups of essays show a statistically significant difference in the use of the 1,000, 2,000, word levels and the AWL by the two groups of learners. There was also a difference in the not-in-the-list category. This research has pedagogical implications for the teaching of vocabulary in the language classroom with a specific focus on the development of lexical richness in EFL learners’ written production

Vocabulary learning strategies of Saudi English major students: strategy use and gender

One of the major challenges that learners face during the process of foreign language learning is acquiring vocabulary. Thus, students need to employ various vocabulary learning strategies to acquire the vocabulary of a foreign language. The present study attempts to identify the vocabulary learning strategies employed by Saudi English major students. This study also aims to examine if there are differences between male and female students in the pattern and frequency of strategy use. Sixty-five first-year English major students of Majmaah University participated in the study. Their vocabulary learning strategies were measured using the Vocabulary Learning Strategy Survey. The results showed that students preferred cognitively less demanding strategies compared to the ones that required deeper cognitive processing. The most frequently used strategies were “I try to remember the word by repeating it for several times,” “I try to guess the meaning of the word from text/context” and “I learn new words when I interact with native speakers.” In general, social strategy is the most used strategy while memory strategy is the least used. The findings also showed that males preferred social strategy com- pared to females who preferred cognitive strategy and that two strategies (cognitive and memory strategies) showed significant differences between the two genders

Gender, metacognition, and vocabulary learning strategies of Malay ESL learners

Research has shown that female students are likely to be more successful in language learning when compared to male students due to the differences in their metacognitive learning strategies1. This study aims to investigate if there are differences in metacognition, vocabulary learning strategies and the vocabulary size between male and female students. The instruments utilised study were a Vocabulary Learning Strategy Questionnaire2 and the Vocabulary Levels Test3. 113 pre-university ESL learners participated in this study. A quantitative research design was employed. Findings of this study showed that there is no significant difference between the vocabulary size and metacognitive learning strategies used by male and female students. A better understanding of metacognitive strategies, vocabulary size and gender will enhance teachers’ and learners’ awareness of the use of the said strategies for a more effective vocabulary acquisition. The findings provide beneficial pedagogical implications relevant not only to language instructors but also educators and researchers alike

The role of vocabulary in reading comprehension

It is generally agreed that many factors contribute to one’s reading comprehension and there is consensus that vocabulary size one of the main factors. This study explores the relationship between second language learners’ vocabulary size and their reading comprehension scores. 130 Malay pre-university students of a public university participated in this study. They were students of an intensive English language programme doing preparatory English courses to pursue bachelors degree in English. A quantitative research method was employed based on the Vocabulary Levels Test by Nation (1990) and the reading comprehension score of the in-house English Proficiency Test. A review of the literature indicates that a somewhat positive correlation is to be expected though findings of this study can only be explicated once the final analysis has been carried out. This is an ongoing study and it is anticipated that results of this research will be finalised in the near future. The findings will help provide beneficial implications for the prediction of reading comprehension performance. It also has implications for the teaching of vocabulary in the ESL context. A better understanding of the relationship between vocabulary size and reading comprehension scores will enhance teachers’ and students’ awareness of the importance of vocabulary acquisition in the L2 classroom

Critical thinking of EAW students

Critical thinking skills is one of the essential life-long learning skill which has always been recognized as an essential element in tertiary education. Thus it is incumbent for educators to incorporate critical thinking skills at all levels. At the International Islamic University Malaysia, this skills is introduced in the English for Academic Writimg (EAW) class which is one of the university required courses for our students. The purpose is to enable them to be able to use the English language effectively in an academic setting that uses English as the medium of instruction. The course requires students to produce a mini research paper at the end of the semester. Being an Islamic institution, the students are required to be able to integrate the Islamic perspective in their writings. This paper investigates the extent to which Engineering and Human Science students are able to incorporate the Islamic perspective relevant to their respective disciplines. 26 scripts were analysed using Bloom’s critical thinking framework. The findings revealed that all students were able to incorporate Islamic perspectives though not all were able to apply the higher order thinking skills

Mapping IIUM students’ English language writing proficiency to CEFR

The goal of this research was to determine the English language writing skills of the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) graduating undergraduates based on two linguistic levels; the IIUM English Proficiency Test (EPT) and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), based on two descriptors: IIUM’s EPT descriptor, and CEFR’s ‘General linguistic range’ descriptor (Council of Europe, 2001, p 110).. The EPT results show that the majority (48 %) of the English language writing skills of IIUM undergraduates were in Band 6, while Band 5.5, Band 5 and Band 4 respectively ranked 31.3%, 4.9 % and 0.4 %. On the other hand, Band 8, Band 7 and Band 6.5 were attained by 0.2 %, 2.4 % and 12.2 % of undergraduates. A significant proportion of IIUM undergraduates (46.3 %) were found to be at Level B2 + when assessed against the CEFR scale for ‘Ggeneral linguistic range’, while 2.2 %, 12.4 %, 33.9 and 5.2 % of students were found to be at Level C2, C1, B2, B1 + respectively. The results also showed that a mere 0.2 % was at Level B1. This research also showed that despite some inaccuracies and improper uses, IIUM students are able to write effectively and are able to understand and use reasonably complicated language, particularly in familiar situations. Based on the CEFR scale for ‘Ggeneral linguistic range’, the results of this study show that IIUM graduating undergraduates could clearly articulate themselves in their writing

A corpus-based lexical study of the frequency, coverage and distribution of academic vocabulary in Islamic academic research articles

This corpus-based lexical study aimed to explore the use of words in Coxhead (2000) Academic Word List (AWL) in academic journal articles in the field of Islamic studies. Around 472,621 word corpus, called the Islamic Academic Research Articles (IARA) corpus, was created for this study. The corpus consisted of 66 research articles written in English that were published in more than 10 different Islamic academic journals. Authentic and academic research articles written on Islam, and from Islamic perspectives, covering a wide range of topics, were selected. The study found that the most frequent 317 AWL words which occurred in the IARA corpus was only 56% of Coxhead‟s AWL of 570 words. This finding points to the need for a special AWL for students. Findings suggest the need to produce field-specific academic word lists incorporating all frequent academic lexical items necessary for the expression of the rhetoric of the specific research area. Findings also revealed that some of the words which were found in the present study were not found in Coxhead‟s Academic Word List. This suggests that vocabulary needs of students in Islamic studies are characteristically different from those of students in other disciplines

Minimising students' communication apprehension: the application of groupwork learning strategy in English classrooms

This study investigated the effectiveness of groupwork as a learning strategy during class lectures and discussions to promote active participation, boost self-confidence and attain higher course achievement among pre-university students studying in an intensive English course. Students were exposed to a variety of strategies that incorporated the essesnce of groupwork learning to reduce their anxiety in oral communication. Students' communication apprehension (CA) scores at the beginning and at the end of the course were compared. The results illustrated that in general students' level of anxiety was reduced from a very high level of CA to a modestly high level of CA when groupwork was used as a learning strategy, which in turn, encouraged them to actively partake in communicative activities, thus enhancing their learning