This study aims at investigating EFL the fourth-year students’ level of speaking anxiety. Also, the study investigates the main three factors (communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation and low self-confidence) that contribute to increasing speaking anxiety among EFL learners. The Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Scale (FLSAS) has been adapted to collect quantitative data and specifically measure speaking anxiety. The sample of this study was 300 fourth-year English department students at three universities in Libya. The findings of this study revealed that students experienced a moderate to high level of EFL speaking anxiety. Additionally, the findings of the study revealed that the low self-confidence factor received the highest average followed by fear of negative evaluation, and communication apprehension factors.
Speaking ability is one of the integral language components in English language acquisition. This ability is a challenging one to master for ESL learners, as it involves several linguistic and nonlinguistic features in presenting ideas and it is frequently associated with anxiety. Public speaking anxiety is a common issue faced by students learning a second language. Feelings such as stage fright and nervousness could contribute to their anxiety in communicating using the target language. Additionally, the classroom environment, the presence of the instructor and peer pressure could also be factors which pose a threat for students, particularly in public speaking settings. The present study aims to investigate whether public speaking anxiety can be alleviated through the use of online platforms and/ or video blogs. The creation of personal video blogs could potentially help learners by providing a safe and non-threatening learning environment in which to practise their public speaking skills. This study also aims to identify the factors that influence the use of video blogs as a public speaking platform. A mixed-method approach is designed to examine the effects of using video blogs. A set of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were applied to groups of tertiary level ESL learners. Quantitative and qualitative approaches to data analysis were carried out and the results indicate that the use of video blogs does bring significant positive outcomes in reducing public speaking anxiety among ESL learners.
The introduction of 21 st century learning skills in the Malaysian education system requires the teachers to learn and adapt new knowledge. The success of the implementation of the new skills depends on the teachers' views and willingness to accommodate them into their practices. Thus, this research seeks to examine teachers' perspectives on 21 st century learning skills in English as a second language classrooms. 291 English language teachers in Malaysia were surveyed using a questionnaire designed to elicit teachers' responses on various aspects related to 21 st century learning skills. The results of the study highlighted important insights on aspects such as teachers' knowledge, perceived use, benefits and challenges of 21 st century learning in Malaysian ESL classrooms. The findings indicate the need for further exposure to 21 st century learning construct so the implementation would be more effective.Keywords: 21 st century learning skills ESL English language teaching and learning
Engaging HoM means having the disposition toward behaving intelligently when confronted with problems, to which solutions are not immediately apparent. Employing HoM helps students to reason and apply information to solve problems in today's classrooms. This article examines the prominent HoM among primary school students as they interact to co-construct knowledge in group reading sessions. Talking and interacting with reading reinforce learning in a social context and such discussion reflects students' thinking. Qualitative data were analyzed and the findings indicated the presence of HoM. The research provides an insight as a means for teachers to develop the reading context into one that truly stimulates the individual and social co-construction of knowledge. By exploring the students' HoM, these dispositions of intelligent behaviours can perhaps be made explicit and taught in the ESL classroom.
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