L1 use is a common occurrence in foreign language teaching contexts despite the fact that it often receives criticism for its interference with target language (TL) acquisition. While foreign language teachers should maximize their use of the TL, there is indeed a place for the teacher to use the students’ L1 in their pedagogy. In this paper, an argument derived from theoretical perspectives and empirical research within existing literature supporting the appropriate use of L1 in foreign language classrooms is presented. The argument addresses three key issues—rationales for L1 use, positive effects L1 has on both foreign language learning and instruction, and ways that L1 assists instructors on foreign languages.
Various forms of pre-listening support, such as the provision of vocabulary and topic information, have been used to help second language (L2) learners better understand what they listen to. Results of studies on the effects of vocabulary support have been mixed. Furthermore, there has been little research on the effects of different quantities of vocabulary items and types of word information provided on the listening performance of L2 students of different proficiency levels. Therefore, this study investigated the effectiveness of two different levels of 18-week vocabulary support (an expanded vocabulary-instruction support that targeted both a greater quantity of lexical items and a focus on multiword units vs. an unexpanded vocabulary-instruction support with a focus on single words only) for enhancing listening ability of students of English as a foreign language (EFL) defined as their performance on the listening test of the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). The results indicate that the group that received the expanded vocabulary support attained a significant gain and performed significantly better on the posttest than the group that received the unexpanded vocabulary support. The results also reveal that the expanded vocabulary support was particularly helpful for lower proficiency level students. Pedagogical and research implications are also discussed.
This study investigated the effect of teacher error feedback on students' ability to write accurately. Three male first-year Physics graduate students at a university in Taiwan participated in this study. They were asked to write a 100-word passage about the greatest invention in human history. Within days of the teacher’s grammatical feedback, the students were required to revise their work again based on the teacher's suggested revisions. In addition, oral conferencing was conducted in order to help the students obtain a better comprehension of certain grammar points. Four weeks after the oral conferencing, the students were asked, without prior notice, to revise their original passages again. The findings reveal that the students made progress in the revised versions of their passages, but the success was not repeated in their later test versions. In other words, no positive relationship between teacher error feedback and students’ improvement in linguistic accuracy over time was observed. This suggests that teacher error feedback alone may not facilitate the learning of linguistic information. A combination of sufficient exposure to English in reading and writing, plus opportunities to practice the language, for example, may lead to better grammar.
The current study conducted an investigation into the effects of multi-faceted lexical instruction on the TOEIC aural performance of Taiwanese EFL students at tertiary institutes of technology. A total of 47 Taiwanese first-year technological college students participated in this study. Throughout the course of a three-week preparatory English class, the students were provided with lexical instruction in which vocabulary was instructed in a multi-faceted way. Not only did students receive exposure to both single lexical items and multiword units, but they also engaged in a variety of oral activities. The findings of this research clearly indicate that the TOEIC aural performance of Taiwanese technological college students generally improved as a result of such instruction. This study also discussed unexplored issues to offer suggestions for future researchers.
The development of the oral proficiency of EFL learners is facilitated when conversation textbooks contain two key features: contextualization and realism. The seven critical guidelines for the selection of such textbooks are the students' backgrounds, meaningful activities, cultural aspects, focusing on language forms, extended practice, and, finally, a synthesis of the preceding factors. With these features and guidelines as theoretical underpinnings, this paper presents a critique of the conversation textbook Survival English, the goal of which is to improve EFL students' interaction skills so that they may thrive in the English-speaking world. While Survival English enjoys a reputation as a good textbook, it certainly could be a better textbook if the authors were to take several improvements into consideration. This paper provides constructive suggestions for textbook writers that could contribute positively to the instruction of English as a foreign language.
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