{"title":"Phonological Varieties of Interdental Fricative Voiced and Voiceless ‘TH’ among Philippine English Lectal Speakers","authors":"R. Agbayani, Donna Bel Fran Sy","doi":"10.22158/selt.v10n2p96","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v10n2p96","url":null,"abstract":"Guided by the research works of Tayao (2004) and de Leon (2016), and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) conventions of sounds, this study describes the phonological varieties of interdental fricative voiced and voiceless ‘th’ among the six lectal speakers. Six participants took part to embody the speakers from acrolect, mesolect, and basilect groups. With the use of a poem read by the participants and which was audio- taped for transcription purposes, the following research objectives were attained: 1) frequency of deviation of each speaker from the GAE to a new variety of pronouncing words in terms of voiced interdental fricatives and voiceless interdental fricatives; 2) lectal categories which conformed to the GAE pronunciation; and 3) the rate of speaking of each participant. Analysis exhibits that pronunciation of words with regard to both voiced and voiceless interdental fricatives, the basilectal speakers produced the greatest number of deviations, followed by acrolectals while mesolectals have the least. In other words, it is the mesolectal speakers who conformed and observed well the General American English (GAE) standard of pronunciation. However, as to their rates of speaking, the acrolectal speakers emerged to be the fastest.","PeriodicalId":198566,"journal":{"name":"Studies in English Language Teaching","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131114467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Developing EFL Pre-service Teachers’ Self-efficacy through Microteaching","authors":"Thooptong Kwangsawad","doi":"10.22158/selt.v10n2p83","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v10n2p83","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of the study presented in this paper was to examine the self-efficacy of 95 EFL pre-service teachers in relation to the utilization of microteaching in two English language teaching methodology courses. The study was conducted at a university in Thailand. This study combined quantitative and qualitative techniques. Likert Scale Survey was used to collect quantitative data and open-ended questions were used to collect qualitative data from the respondents. The findings showed that microteaching affected the development of EFL pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy for student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management.","PeriodicalId":198566,"journal":{"name":"Studies in English Language Teaching","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127460019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Linguistic Ambiguity in the Language of Law: A Study of Selected Articles from Transitional Civil Code of Eritrea","authors":"Dr. Kamlesh Dangwal, Dr. Ehab S. Alnuzaili","doi":"10.22158/selt.v10n2p67","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v10n2p67","url":null,"abstract":"This paper is a detailed analysis of ambiguities in the legal code language, of Transitional Civil Code of Eritrea (herein after the TCCE). It begins with general definitions of ambiguity in language and in language of the law. Various examples and case studies is used to explain how the language makes the interpretation of law ambiguous. The paper details the necessity to remove such ambiguities, to avoid wrong decisions in courts. Finally, the paper talks about the difficulties faced by the legal community. Owing to the vastness of the study, the research paper is restricted to the legal and linguistic aspects of the TCCE. Many courts have revised the legal codes by professional linguists. Despite many legal dictionaries the problem is intact. Legal dictionaries are subjected to criticism as it offers little information. Traditionally, legal dictionaries on the market are the products of a lexicographical approach to legal terminology listing different meanings of a word and proposing possible equivalents in other languages. Therefore, this research paper, presents the case of the TCCE and findings ambiguity in legal language and its troubling effect on the courts and the public life.","PeriodicalId":198566,"journal":{"name":"Studies in English Language Teaching","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133451307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Application of Lexical Approach in Teaching College English: An Empirical Study","authors":"Diao Yuxuan","doi":"10.22158/selt.v10n2p39","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v10n2p39","url":null,"abstract":"In China, College English is a required basic course for undergraduate students, and the objective of College English teaching is to improve students’ ability to use English in an all-round way. The author maintains that in order for students to exchange information effectively, they must be first of all equipped with the right tools for communication—vocabulary. The author observes that vocabulary is the biggest obstacle for most college students, who have learned the basic patterns and structures of English in their middle school, but their vocabulary size is very limited. It follows that greater importance should be attached to vocabulary in College English teaching.The author believes that, in the current Chinese EFL teaching context, adopting the Lexical Approach to College English teaching is a practicable and effective way to improve students’ ability in using English. In order to verify this idea, the author conducted an empirical study, which lasted 16 weeks. The findings support the author’s hypotheses that college students do need explicit and systematic instructions on vocabulary learning, and that adopting the Lexical Approach to College English teaching is effective in enhancing students’ lexical knowledge and improving their ability in using English. It is hoped that the study will shed some light on the question of how to teach College English effectively to meet the previously mentioned objective.","PeriodicalId":198566,"journal":{"name":"Studies in English Language Teaching","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121747943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Formative Assessment is a Scaffold for ELs to Reach ZPD’s Second Layer: A Literature Review Study","authors":"Zahangir Alam","doi":"10.22158/selt.v10n2p27","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v10n2p27","url":null,"abstract":"Learning and teaching can’t function well without assessing students’ performance. More so, formative assessment is the most essential sort of evaluation in academic contexts. Teachers and students alike benefit from the dynamic nature of this evaluation as it brings students and English teachers closer together, instructors are better able to encourage and assist student learning. Both teachers and students benefit from this assessment process, which helps them better understand each other’s strengths and flaws. Instructors can provide input to students based on their needs, similar to how a building is built. As a result, formative assessment appears to be a scaffold for ELs, assisting them when they encounter difficulties and preparing them to move to an optimum level of efficiency. The purpose of this critical review is to (i) explain formative assessment from major theoretical perspectives. (ii) Conceptualize formative assessment and Scaffolding. (iii) Reiterate my belief that formative assessment propels learners to the second layer of ZPD.","PeriodicalId":198566,"journal":{"name":"Studies in English Language Teaching","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117316345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Construction of Online Platform for Management of English Major Dissertation in the Context of Mass Online Teaching","authors":"Yang Ming","doi":"10.22158/selt.v10n2p16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v10n2p16","url":null,"abstract":"Most of China’ online platforms for the management of graduation dissertations restrict its function to checking the timetable and final scores. Based on a detailed description of each type of users, an online platform for the management of English major dissertation should achieve the following functions: management of Users’ Information, review of dissertation topics, mutual selection of dissertation topics and supervisors, management of online instruction, management of documents, formative evaluation system, auto-revision of grammar and format, and management of literature. The construction of such an online management platform may improve the efficiency of management, facilitate the communication between supervisors and students, strengthen the process management, facilitate the archiving, preservation and extraction of required documents and various data, and ensure an objective evaluation of the performance.","PeriodicalId":198566,"journal":{"name":"Studies in English Language Teaching","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122219911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Language Learning Strategies Employed by Yemeni EFL Learners in Developing Their Spoken English: A Case Study of Aden University EFL Learners","authors":"S. Ahmed","doi":"10.22158/selt.v10n2p1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v10n2p1","url":null,"abstract":"Language learning is not a spoon-fed process in which learners get everything from their teachers. It is a student-centered process in which learners should play active roles and employ various learning strategies that help them enhance their target foreign language. For this reason, this study was designed to investigate the language learning strategies employed by the Yemeni EFL learners in developing their spoken English. Data were collected through a questionnaire that targeted 120 fourth-year EFL students of three faculties of Aden University. The results showed that the majority of the concerned students do not make a balance among their language learning strategies and they depend heavily on memory strategies. A correlation was found between students’ spoken English proficiency and the learning strategies they use in developing their spoken English in the favor of the students who make use of various types of language learning strategies. As per these findings, this study recommends Yemeni EFL learners to employ various effective language learning strategies to enhance their spoken English and not to limit their spoken English development to memory strategies. It also recommends Yemeni EFL teachers to guide their students to the effective language learning strategies that help them enhance their English.","PeriodicalId":198566,"journal":{"name":"Studies in English Language Teaching","volume":"76 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127490412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Influences of Critical Thinking Disposition on Situated Academic Writing Self-efficacy of EFL Students","authors":"Hamad H. Alsowat","doi":"10.22158/selt.v10n1p106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v10n1p106","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigated the influences of critical thinking disposition (CTD) on EFL undergraduates’ situated academic writing self-efficacy (SAWSE). A total of 243 Saudi students completed Yoon’s Critical Thinking Disposition (YCTD) instrument and the Situated Academic Writing Self-Efficacy Scale (SAWSES). The findings revealed that students had medium levels of CTD (M=3.26, SD=0.56) and SAWSE (M=3.20, SD=0.68). Eagerness, fairness, and objectivity scored the highest levels on CTD, whereas prudence had the lowest level. In addition, findings revealed significant differences in levels of situated academic writing self-efficacy among students who had high, medium, and low levels of critical thinking disposition. The correlations between subscales of CTD and SAWSE were all positive and statistically significant. Besides, the self-confidence subscale of CTD had the most significant impact on all three aspects of SAWSE. The study paved the way to understand how students’ situated academic writing self-efficacy changes as a result of critical thinking deposition. Implications for EFL teachers and future directions were discussed.","PeriodicalId":198566,"journal":{"name":"Studies in English Language Teaching","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128949721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What EFL Student-Teachers Think about their Preparation Program: An Evaluation of Kuwait’s English Practicum Program","authors":"Amel M. Al-Adwani, Dr. Abbas H. Al-Shammari","doi":"10.22158/selt.v10n1p89","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v10n1p89","url":null,"abstract":"The present study evaluates the English language practicum program at the College of Basic Education in the State of Kuwait from the viewpoints of female student teachers. The study attempts to identify such strengths and weaknesses of the practicum experience in pre-service teachers’ motivation to continue their future in the teaching profession. Quantitative research methodologies were used by adopting Peacock’s (2009) model for practicum program evaluation. The current TEFL practicum program results have confirmed many strengths but also highlighted certain significant shortcomings from the student-teachers’ perspective due to the gap between the theoretical and practical aspects, as well as the absence of adequate supervision, which affected the trainees’ need for pedagogical competence in term of class and time management skills. The study proposes many recommendations and suggestions that the practicum program should be structured to improve the student teachers’ needs and the educational context and fulfil the practical, beneficial content for the individuals.","PeriodicalId":198566,"journal":{"name":"Studies in English Language Teaching","volume":"57 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131286392","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Study on Cultural Connotations of Animal Words in Chinese and English","authors":"Jianwei Wang","doi":"10.22158/selt.v10n1p81","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22158/selt.v10n1p81","url":null,"abstract":"Language and culture are inseparable from each other and words are the direct representation of culture. In both English and Chinese, there are a great many animal words which carry unique cultural connotations in each culture. Through the comparison on the cultural connotations of animal words in both languages, it is found that the same word may have divergent connotations and different words also can carry similar implications. The findings imply that it is necessary to better understand these cultural connotations in order to conduct a successful cross-cultural communication.","PeriodicalId":198566,"journal":{"name":"Studies in English Language Teaching","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134210254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}