Authors:Xuan Teng Abstract: Given the importance of the continuation task for English learning and testing in China and recent attempts to examine second or foreign language (L2) writing process in relation to social, cultural, and historical contexts, this study draws on the framework of Activity Theory (AT) to investigate the effects of story continuation writing task (SCWT) on Chinese high school students’ writing quality. Based on performance on SCWT and responses to semi-structured interviews from eighty Chinese high school students, the findings of this study demonstrate that the exploitation of AT-informed SCWT exhibited positive effects on improving English writing quality in terms of content, structure, and language use. Students utilized the mediation within and between the activity systems to facilitate their L2 written production. This study contributes to the research on the effectiveness of SCWT through the utilization of an L2 writing instructional model that was based on AT. It also throws light on the L2 writing process mediated by the continuation task and offers pedagogical implications to the English writing classroom. PubDate: Wed, 09 Aug 2023 00:00:00 -070
Authors:Reem Abdullah Almalki; Miriam Abdullah Alkubaidi, Dalal Abdulrahman Bahanshal Abstract: Saudi Arabia is undergoing constant educational changes with online learning as one of the convenient alternatives to face-to-face (FTF) classrooms. This study focuses on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ anxiety when learning English, especially in listening skills. Several studies have addressed EFL listening anxiety in FTF classrooms. However, there is a dearth of literature on EFL listening anxiety in online classrooms, especially in the Saudi context. The present study aimed to contribute to a better understanding of EFL listening anxiety in both online and FTF learning modes. Therefore, the study explored EFL students' attitudes toward listening skills in online as well as FTF classrooms. Moreover, it examined whether EFL learners experienced listening anxiety in the aforementioned learning modes. A quantitative approach was employed, and a questionnaire was used to obtain data from a sample of 212 students studying in the English Language Institute at King Abdulaziz University. The findings revealed that despite the learning mode (online or FTF), EFL learners experience listening anxiety. However, online classrooms reduced the listening anxiety for beginner and intermediate EFL students slightly. Therefore, they were more confident in their listening skills in online classrooms. Based on these findings, the study offers pedagogical implications and recommends further research in this area to generalize the results to wider contexts. PubDate: Tue, 20 Jun 2023 00:00:00 -070
Authors:Phidelia Awute; Andreas Awute, Sampson Kobla Ezuh Abstract: The current study aims at investigating the effect of using deductive and inductive methods on students’ grammar in a Senior High School (SHS) in Ghana. It examines the effect of the deductive method on students’ performance in grammar and to find out the statistically significant difference between students taught using the deductive method and those taught using the inductive method. 100 students were chosen for the purpose of the study. There were two groups consisting of 50 students each. One of the groups is made up of the experimental while the other is the control group. The research instrument used is a pre-test and a post-test. The current study used quantitative approach to analyse data from control and experimental groups. Whereas the experimental group was taught using the deductive approach, the control group was taught through the inductive approach. Firstly, a pre-test was administered to both groups, after which the experimental group had a treatment stage lasting for four weeks. Data was collected and analysed through a t-test. The results of the analysis show significant differences between the means of the two groups of students’ scores in the post-test. The result is in favour of the experimental group (the group taught using the deductive approach of teaching). Findings revealed that there were differences in the mean grade point average of both groups, and statistically significant difference was observed. The questions that guided this study were: what is the effect of the use of the deductive method on students’ performance in grammar' And is there any statistically significant difference between students taught using the deductive method and those taught using the inductive method' There was, therefore, support for the research’s hypothesis. It was hypothesized that there is a good effect of the deductive method of teaching on students’ performance in grammar which resulted in the high performance of students in the experimental group. PubDate: Thu, 08 Jun 2023 00:00:00 -070
Authors:Eythar Mohammed Alzahrani; Abdullah Mohammed Alshaikhi Abstract: The purpose of this research study was threefold: (1) to investigate the levels of EFL writing anxiety, (2) identify the types of EFL writing anxiety, and (3) to find out the main causes of EFL writing anxiety. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed. The participants consisted of 200 students enrolled in different disciplines at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Both Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) and Causes of Writing Anxiety Inventory (CWAI) were used to collect data. The findings revealed that the majority of students (60%) experienced a high level of writing anxiety, whereas 8% of students exhibited a low level of it. In addition, cognitive anxiety was found to be the most dominant type of anxiety, while avoidance behavior was at the other end of the bar. Furthermore, causes of EFL writing anxiety among Saudi university students were in the following order: linguistic difficulties, time pressure, insufficient writing technique, insufficient writing practice, fear of teacher’s negative comments, fear of writing tests, and low self-confidence in writing. PubDate: Tue, 06 Jun 2023 19:20:03 -070
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