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Lee, Jooyoung. "EFL textbooks for young learners from the perspectives of teachers, parents and young learners." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.602358.
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In the last decades the number of English language teaching materials for young language learners on the market has increased substantially. Even though there has been considerable research about ELT materials, little is known about textbooks for young language learners in the EFL context. The objectives of this study were to explore and compare the perceptions of EFL textbooks from the viewpoints of parents, teachers and young learners. The present study employed mixed methods in an exploratory sequential design. Data collection and analysis consisted of two phases. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with 58 participants in Phase 1. The results of Phase 1 were developed and expanded in Phase 2. In the second phase, 325 participants were involved. Participants in the study were young learners who are primary school-aged children and participate in private English education, parents and teachers in South Korea. The results of Phase 1 identified nine themes relating to EFL textbooks: (1) Language learning; (2) Non-language outcomes; (3) Appropriateness; (4) Variety; (5) Appeal to learners; (6) Ease of teaching; (7) Quality and content; (8) Imported vs. local textbook; and (9) Concerns. The results of Phase 2 suggested attitudinal commonalities among the three groups such as overall language learning, and variety of genre. Dissimilarities in the three groups were also found such as vocabulary learning and written in English only. The results of the research add to the growing body of knowledge on the development of EFL materials, providing insight into the perceptions of parents, teachers and young learners. Implications for future research, teaching practice, teacher education and material development are discussed.
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Sieh, Yu-Cheng. "Phonological processing skills in young learners' EFL vocabulary acquisition." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/266.
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Four factors were examined to investigate English vocabulary learning among 9-year-old elementary school children in Taiwan. The four factors were use of their native language, length of English instruction, and two phonological processing capabilities-phonological memory and phonological sensitivity. Apart from a series of paper-and-pencila nd computerized vocabulary assessmentst,w o nonword repetition tasks along with five detection and production tasks of rimes and phonemes were used to measure phonological memory and phonological sensitivity. The young learners' scores on all vocabulary tests were positively correlated with phonological memory and phonological sensitivity, as was also evidenced in studies by Gathercole et al. (1997) and Bowey (1996). A similar pattern of association was found between the learners' vocabulary performance and their length of English instruction. However, neither of the two phonological processing capabilities was associatedw ith English instruction length. The reaction times of the two online vocabulary tests suggest that an extra input of Ll gloss in explicit vocabulary teaching might have resulted in faster aural recognition of single English words. This supports Kroll and Stewart's (1994) revised hierarchical model of bilingual representation,w hich postulatest hat beginning L2 learners have their two languages interconnected at the lexical level. Results of stepwise and hierarchical regression analyses confirmed that English phonological sensitivity was the best predictor of young learners' English vocabulary performance and contributed uniquely to their vocabulary scores after age, English instruction length, vocabulary knowledge from school textbooks, Chinese phonological sensitivity, and phonological memory were statistically controlled.
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Techachokwiwat, Navarat. "EFL for young learners in Thailand : a classrom study." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1983/0d5f6a9e-3760-44f5-a632-274d7d03408e.
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Learning an additional language, either as a second or a foreign language, is complicated and requires extensive support. Learning English in Thailand is especially tough, as there is a lack of support in the wider social context as well as in schools and classrooms. This research study centres on the young children's achievement in learning English as a second or a foreign language. The theoretical framework of this study is based on claims about young learners' positive characteristics that facilitate language learning. It draws on Vygotsky and Bruner's concepts about children's learning, which are the reflections on Piaget's theory of development, especially in terms of sociocultural theory, as well as some relevant concepts on second language acquisition, task-based language teaching (TBLT), and interactions in learning. This study investigates the implementation of this EFL program instruction with English as the only medium of instruction delivered to these early-years learners in a late kindergarten level who are limited in capacity to communicate with other people even in their own first language. The focus is on language learning policy and language use. In the area of language learning policy, it explores how the formulated policy turns into the curricular focuses to promote English language acquisition. In the area of language use, it investigates the . classroom activities and how the teacher and the learners play roles in promoting or impeding the language learning in this classroom practice. This research study is conducted in interpretive/naturalistic paradigm to collect qualitative data authentically emerging during the instructional process in the 'natural setting' (Richards 2003: 10), through three major kinds of instruments: document reviews; observations; and interviews.
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Carvalho, Raquel Cristina Mendes de. "A teacher's discourse in EFL classes for very young learners." Florianópolis, SC, 2005. http://repositorio.ufsc.br/handle/123456789/102320.
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Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente.Made available in DSpace on 2013-07-16T00:38:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 222337.pdf: 1034091 bytes, checksum: 67ce03aa753daea5b33f5c3c395c9021 (MD5)
This study reports on an ethnographic investigation about the interaction between a teacher and her very young learners in the foreign language (FL) classroom. I focus specifically on this FL teacher#s discourse as a facilitator of interactions through the analysis of her discursive practice. In order to carry out this study, data were collected in a private kindergarten school, by means of video recordings of classes in which both teacher and learners are engaged in interaction, and field notes from the teacher and from an observer. Data were analyzed through the lights of Halliday#s Systemic Functional Linguistics Mood choices and Bernstein#s pedagogic discourse regulative and instructional registers. Besides analyzing the way the children addressed the FL teacher and her use of the mother tongue, I also tried to evince the Mood structures and modality choices involved in this study, more specifically the choices made by the teacher in order to promote interactions. Moreover, the realization of the frequent use of the regulative register in terms of the teacher#s directions, suggesting acceptable behaviours was also investigated. The study is intended to contribute to make teachers of VYL aware of the role teachers# discourse to promote interactions and facilitate pedagogic practices.
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Selcuk, Hasan. "Teaching Oscar Wilde’s Short Story “The Selfish Giant” to Young ESL/EFL Learners through Reader Response Approach." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Engelska, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-4185.
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Elisson, Dennis. "Extramural English Activities among Younger EFL Learners : A Literature Study on the Forms and Potential Benefits of Extramural English among Young EFL Learners." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Pedagogiskt arbete, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-24284.
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Children today encounter the English language on a wide scale, even outside the school walls. As they are exposed to various forms of English language input, they inevitably pick up a certain level of proficiency, which they can later use on their own. This study aims to more precisely research through which mediums English learners in primary school worldwide tend to encounter English the most, as well as how engaging in English activities outside the classroom might affect their English proficiency. By studying prior research on the subject through content analysis, it was found that, while there are some regional differences in terms of prevalence, children mainly encounter English through television, music, and computer games. It was also found that many children who had never before received any English training still possessed a level of English proficiency. These findings shed light on the importance of input for language acquisition as well as how children’s extramural interests can be of importance in the classroom setting.
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Im, Kyung Bin. "An interactive multimedia story for EFL young learners : design, evaluation and children's responses." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.491747.
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The general aim of this study is to contemplate the effects of interactive multimedia English story program in relation to its support in English learning. Thus, the research includcs the design, implementation, and evaluation ofthe software in an EFL situation. Evidence from neuroscience suggests that cognitive and socio-emotional factors are not separate but intertwined and importantly contribute to learning. i investigated this possibility in the context ofICT in English language teaching in Korea. I designed an interactive multimedia English story program based on one ofthe Oxford reading tree story books using user centred design model. The underlying design structure of the software is the integrated view of learning which has abundant opportunities to interact with the characters in the story based on the sociocultural theory.The simulation of human support in learning using computer software is intended to provide support for English learning in terms of both cognitive and emotional aspects. I tested the software with 73 children in South Korea. The data collection tools used in the study is test, questionnaire, observation and interview. The children were assessed twice in pre and post tests to evaluate the effects of the software in relation to English learning. The questionnaire is designed to collect the children's general impression on the software. I observed and interviewed 20 children in the group for more specific information on their - -- ------------feelings aild English learriirirfin-rel
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Alkaaby, Farah, and Dorentina Mavriqi. "The effectiveness of reading aloud on vocabulary acquisition for young learners." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-40442.
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This research study explores to what extent reading aloud is beneficial for vocabulary acquisition. Based on research statistics provided by Eurostat (2020) the majority of students in Sweden learn English as a foreign language. Therefore, the focus of the study is based on investigating the EFL classroom in Sweden. The research question this study is based on is to what extent reading aloud is beneficial for teaching English as a foreign language in the Swedish school from grade one to three in terms of children's ability to learn vocabulary. The method used for this research to collect scientific journals, dissertations and related research that can contribute to this discussion and result of this study is collected through different electronic databases. The access to studies conducted in an EFL classroom was rather restrictive and therefore the majority of the studies used were conducted on children who studied English as a first language in preschool and grade one to three in primary school. Whilst the selected studies target groups differed in age, findings indicate that the benefits of only reading aloud have little influence on children’s vocabulary acquisition. However, findings also presented that using word explanation and repetition during read aloud is shown to be more beneficial for vocabulary acquisition.
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Bret, Blasco Anna. "L2 english young learners’ oral production skills in CLIL and EFL settings: A longitudinal study." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/285613.
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L’objectiu d’aquesta tesi és analitzar els efectes d’un programa AICLE d’exposició mínima (1 hora setmanal) en la producció oral en anglès d’un grup d’alumnes catalans de primària i traçar-ne el seu desenvolupament durant un període de dos anys acadèmics. Gran part dels estudis que han investigat l’impacte de l’AICLE en la competència lingüística anglesa com a llengua estrangera indiquen que els alumnes que han rebut aquest tipus d’instrucció obtenen millors resultats que els alumnes que han estat exposats a classes d’anglès tradicionals. Malgrat això, cal esmentar que la majoria d’estudis sobre AICLE presenten una sèrie de limitacions metodològiques que podrien haver afectat els resultats obtinguts. Així doncs, amb l’objectiu de superar algunes de les limitacions trobades en estudis previs, aquesta tesi presenta un estudi longitudinal en el que el número d’hores d’exposició a l’anglès que han rebut el grup control (N=20) i el grup AICLE (N=32) s’ha mantingut constant durant els tres temps (T1, T2 i T3) en els que les dades del grup control i el grup AICLE s’han comparat.
Els instruments emprats per a la recollida de dades són una entrevista personal i una narració. Les dades orals han estat analitzades analíticament per mitjà de mesures de complexitat proposicional, sintàctica i lèxica, correcció gramatical i fluïdesa. Els resultats obtinguts en aquestes mesures han sigut sotmesos a tests estadístics basats en un model regressiu logístic longitudinal en el que s’analitza, per una banda, el grau d’assoliment dels alumnes control i AICLE en les diferents mesures al T1, T2 i T3, i per l’altra, el progrés dels dos grups d’un temps a l’altre (T0-T1, T1-T2, T2-T3 i T0-T3). Aquests dos tipus d’anàlisis també s’han portat a terme tenint en compte el nivell de proficiència en anglès dels alumnes, per tal d’explorar si la metodologia AICLE beneficia o perjudica aquells alumnes que tenen un nivell de proficiència baix en anglès. A més dels anàlisis comparatius realitzats entre alumnes control i AICLE, aquest estudi també ofereix un anàlisi més qualitatiu en el que la llengua produïda per una selecció d’alumnes control i AICLE amb diferents nivells de fluïdesa ha estat descrita a fi de poder determinar les característiques mofosintàctiques més rellevants de la producció oral en anglès dels alumnes de primària.
Els resultats obtinguts dels anàlisis comparatius entre alumnes control i AICLE mostren un efecte positiu de l’AICLE cap al final de l’estudi (després de dos anys d’exposició) en els nivells de fluïdesa principalment. Malgrat això, els resultats no assoleixen un nivell estadísticament significatiu. La falta de resultats significatius en aquest estudi és atribuïda al tipus de programa AICLE implementat (1 hora setmanal), a la falta d’atenció a la llengua en contextos AICLE i a la manca d’activitats per al desenvolupament de la competència oral en anglès. Aquests resultats són similars als resultats obtinguts en contextos d’immersió francesa al Canada en tant que el desenvolupament de les destreses productives dels alumnes semblen rebre poca atenció. Per últim, amb l’objectiu de contribuir a una millora en la implementació de programes AICLE, l’estudi presenta una sèrie d’implicacions pedagògiques per fomentar el desenvolupament de la competència oral en anglès en contextos AICLE.This thesis aims at analysing the effects of minimal CLIL exposure programmes (1 hour a week) on Catalan young learners’ oral output in English to trace its development over a period of two academic years. Most studies investigating the impact of CLIL on the linguistic competence in English as L2 point out that learners who have been exposed to CLIL instruction outperform learners who have received regular EFL lessons. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that the majority of CLIL research presents a series of methodological limitations which might have affected the results obtained. Thus, in an attempt to overcome some of the limitations found in previous research, this thesis presents a longitudinal study in which amount of English exposure between control and CLIL groups is kept constant at the times in which data from the two groups is compared (T1, T2 and T3). The data collection instruments are a personal interview and a narrative task. The oral data has been analysed analytically using propositional, syntactic and lexical complexity, accuracy and fluency measures. The results obtained in these measures have been submitted to statistical analyses based on a longitudinal logistic regression model, in which control and CLIL learners’ degree of achievement in the different measures at T1, T2 and T3 and degree of progress from one time to another (T0-T1, T1-T2, T2-T3 i T0-T3) have been analysed. These two analyses have also been conducted considering the learners’ proficiency level so as to explore whether low achievers in English benefit or are at disadvantage in CLIL settings. In addition to the comparative analyses between control and CLIL learners, this study also provides a more qualitative analysis in which the oral output in English produced by a selection of control and CLIL learners with different fluency levels has been described with the objective of determining the most relevant morphosyntactic characteristics of young learners’ oral output in English. The results obtained from the comparative analyses between control and CLIL learners show a positive effect of CLIL at the end of the study (after two years of exposure) in their fluency levels, mainly. However, the results do not reach statistical significance. The lack of significant results in this study is attributed to the type of CLIL programme implemented, the lack of attention to linguistic form and the lack of tasks to develop the learners’ oral production skills in English. These results resemble those obtained in French immersion contexts in Canada inasmuch as the development of the learners’ productive skills seems to receive little attention. Finally, this study presents a series of pedagogical implications to promote the development of oral productive skills in CLIL settings in an attempt to contribute to the improvement in the implementation of CLIL programmes.
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Amir, Zahra. "The effects of hypermedia annotations on young Kuwaiti EFL learners' vocabulary recall and reading comprehension." Thesis, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/3008.
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Although there is a wealth of literature exploring the benefits of annotations on vocabulary learning and reading comprehension, very little exists on whether this tool is useful to young learners. Studies with adult learners show that annotations are, by and large, beneficial but, nevertheless, can be problematic for those learners with a lower working memory capacity. For these reasons it is necessary to establish whether hypermedia annotations are suitable for young learners who naturally have a lower working memory capacity than adults. The effects of annotations must be examined using a theoretical framework and research design that are suitable for this age group. This study investigates the impact of annotations on young learners’ immediate vocabulary recall and reading comprehension. The research was conducted on 112 Kuwaiti EFL learners studying in public schools at year 4. An experimental research approach was adopted using two treatment groups and one control. A within-subjects design was set in place with a counterbalance method whereby all participants sat for three reading conditions: Treatment A (Picture + L2 audio), Treatment B (Picture + L1 translation) and control (no annotations). Quantitative data were gathered using pre-tests, post-tests and software log files. Qualitative data were gathered through focus groups which took place during the last week of the experiment. The findings suggest that reading with annotations promotes immediate vocabulary recall but does not affect reading comprehension either positively or negatively. No significant differences were found between the two treatments for vocabulary recall and reading comprehension. Qualitative data from the focus group indicated that the participants may have experienced some disorientation as they reported difficulty concentrating on both annotations and text. The quantitative data, however, from pre-tests and post-tests did not substantiate these claims. It was, therefore, hypothesised that participants exerted an extra mental effort which compensated for any disorientation. Further research is needed to verify whether this is indeed the case and to determine what, if any, are the long-lasting effects.
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Huang, Kuei-Min. "Impact of content-based language instruction on EFL young learners' language development and learning motivation." Thesis, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/3135.
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This study examined the impact of Content-based language instruction on primary EFL young learners in Taiwan in terms of learning motivation and language development. It investigated how content-based language instruction, impacts on learners' learning motivation, language attitude, classroom anxiety, and language development. The impetus of the present study was motivated by the growing population attending private institutions for better language instruction in Taiwan and research indicating that language is more effectively learnt when the target language is in authentic use. Content-based language instruction has been widely implemented as a L2 instruction approach in North America and Europe since the 1980's, after the Success of the innovative French immersion programme in Quebec, Canada in 1965. Numerous studies have shown impressive results on learners' L2 development while learning other subjects by using their L2 (Swain, 1982, Chamot, 1985, O'Malley, 1987, Brinton, 1989, Akunal, 1992). This teaching approach has proved to be effective for developing learners' functional language fluency, academic achievement and is thought to be motivating. This study employed, a case study design. English proficiency was measured using Pienemann's Rapid Profile (1988, 2001) and self-assessments; motivation and anxiety were examined using questionnaires, teachers' interviews, and video recordings conducted in a private bilingual primary grade 1 class. Results showed that although leavers tend to participate more actively in subject-learning classes than language input classes and have benefited from the programme in terms of language development, many subjects showed higher classroom anxiety in the post-course questionnaire. Further, the results also showed a strong positive correlation between learning motivation and classroom anxiety after learners had undergone six weeks of Content-based language instruction.
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Karlsson, Izabella, and Irma Mehmedovic. "To what degree does digital game based learning affect the language acquisition of young EFL learners?" Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-30279.
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In the current study, we synthesize recent research on digital game-based learning and itspotential effect on the speaking and interaction skills of young learners of English as a secondlanguage. Various relevant studies enlisting different methodologies are reviewed todetermine how digital games affect speaking and interaction skills and the role of motivationin the process. A common conclusion from the reviewed results is that digital games motivatelearners to develop their speaking and interaction skills. In addition, the studies reveal thatlearners who play digital games tend to have a higher level of proficiency.
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Skött, Madeleine. "Interactive activities in EFL workbooks : A content analysis of interactive activities in Swedish EFL workbooks for primary pupils." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Institutionen för lärarutbildning, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-36513.
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English is a global language that surrounds us almost wherever in the world we are. The school has an important role when it comes to introducing the language to young learners. Using teaching materials such as workbooks has been a common teaching method for a long time. This thesis examines three popular workbooks from different Swedish publishers, Learn English, Magic! and Happy. Through a content analysis, verbal interaction activities within these workbooks were examined based on Becker and Roos’s (2016) model of creative speaking. Additionally, interviews were conducted as a way to give insight to how these workbooks can be used in the classroom. This study shows that pupils are provided with support and guidance in most of the interactive activities within these workbooks. However, activity types as well as in what manner the pupils were requested to interact differed when the workbooks were compared to each other. The activity types that occurred were reading dialogues, sharing information and expressing opinions in English. The teachers reported to work with the activities in full class or pairs.Engelska
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Mohammad, Elham A. A. "The place of writing in first grade Kuwaiti english education : a sociological case study." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2008. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/26369/1/Elham_Mohammad_Thesis.pdf.
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A hybridized society, Kuwait meshes Islamic ideologies with western culture. Linguistically, English exists across both foreign language and second language nomenclatures in the country due to globalization and internationalization which has seen increasing use of English in Kuwait. Originally consisting of listening, speaking, reading and writing, the first grade English curriculum in Kuwait was narrowed in 2002 to focus only on the development of oral English skills, and to exclude writing. Since that time, both Kuwaiti teachers and parents have expressed dissatisfaction with this curriculum on the basis that this model disadvantages their children. In first grade however, the teaching of pre-writing has remained as part of the curriculum. This research analyses the parameters of English pre-writing and writing instruction in first grade in Kuwaiti classrooms, investigates first grade English pre-writing and writing teaching, and gathers insights from parents, teachers and students regarding the appropriateness of the current curriculum. Through interviews and classroom observations, and an analysis of curriculum documents, this case study found that the relationship between oral and written language is more complex than suggested by either the Kuwaiti curriculum reform, or international literature concerning the delayed teaching of writing. Intended curriculum integration across Kuwait subjects is also far more complex than first believed, due to a developmental mismatch between English pre-writing skills and Arabic language capabilities. Findings suggest an alternative approach to teaching writing may be more appropriate and more effective for first Grade students in the current Kuwait curriculum context. They contribute also to an emerging interest in the second and foreign language fields in the teaching of writing to young learners.
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Mohammad, Elham A. A. "The place of writing in first grade Kuwaiti english education : a sociological case study." Queensland University of Technology, 2008. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/26369/.
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A hybridized society, Kuwait meshes Islamic ideologies with western culture. Linguistically, English exists across both foreign language and second language nomenclatures in the country due to globalization and internationalization which has seen increasing use of English in Kuwait. Originally consisting of listening, speaking, reading and writing, the first grade English curriculum in Kuwait was narrowed in 2002 to focus only on the development of oral English skills, and to exclude writing. Since that time, both Kuwaiti teachers and parents have expressed dissatisfaction with this curriculum on the basis that this model disadvantages their children. In first grade however, the teaching of pre-writing has remained as part of the curriculum. This research analyses the parameters of English pre-writing and writing instruction in first grade in Kuwaiti classrooms, investigates first grade English pre-writing and writing teaching, and gathers insights from parents, teachers and students regarding the appropriateness of the current curriculum. Through interviews and classroom observations, and an analysis of curriculum documents, this case study found that the relationship between oral and written language is more complex than suggested by either the Kuwaiti curriculum reform, or international literature concerning the delayed teaching of writing. Intended curriculum integration across Kuwait subjects is also far more complex than first believed, due to a developmental mismatch between English pre-writing skills and Arabic language capabilities. Findings suggest an alternative approach to teaching writing may be more appropriate and more effective for first Grade students in the current Kuwait curriculum context. They contribute also to an emerging interest in the second and foreign language fields in the teaching of writing to young learners.
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Jiang, Qianhong. "Development of metalinguistic abilities : young learners learning a foreign language by using poetry." Thesis, Toulouse 2, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017TOU20079/document.
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La thèse actuelle propose un modèle interactif de capacité métalinguistique, de poésie et d'apprentissage des langues étrangères. Elle vise à examiner l'influence du cours d'anglais langue étrangère basé sur la poésie sur la capacité métaphonologique des élèves, et à explorer des relations entre leur capacité métaphonologique et les facteurs d'apprentissage tels que la pédagogie des enseignants, les stratégies d'apprentissage des langues des apprenants, l'exposition linguistique à l’anglais en dehors de la classe et les commentaires des élèves sur le cours d’anglais auquel on a intégré de la poésie. Deux études de cas visent à enquêter sur le développement de la capacité métaphonologique des élèves dans le cours d’anglais avec poésie, ainsi que les relations mentionnées ci-dessus. Une combinaison de méthodes quantitatives et de méthodes qualitatives est utilisée dans cette thèse. Les résultats de la quasi-expérience indiquent que la classe d'anglais prenant appui sur la poésie facilite le développement de la capacité métaphonologique des élèves dans une certaine mesure. La théorie de Bialystok (2001, 2012), la « noticing hypothesis » de Schmidt (Schmidt, 2010) et la poétique cognitive de Tsur (2008) sont utilisées pour analyser et expliquer les résultats des tests de capacité métaphonologiqueThe present study proposes an interactive model of metalinguistic awareness, poetry and foreign language learning. It aims at examining the influence from poetry-embedded class of English as a foreign language on pupils’ phonological awareness, with considering the relations between their phonological awareness and the factors in ecological learning environment that includes teacher’s instruction, learners’ language learning strategies, linguistic exposure to English that learners receive outside of classroom, and pupils’ feedback on the poetry sequence. Two case studies are conducted to probe into the development of pupils’ phonological awareness in the context of poetry-embedment English class, as well as the relations mentioned above. A combination of quantitative methods and qualitative methods are employed in the current study. The results of quasi-experiment of phonological awareness indicate poetry-embedment English class globally facilitates the development of pupils’ phonological awareness to some extent. Bialystok’s theory (2001, 2012) Schmidt’s noticing hypothesis (Schmidt,2010), and Tsur’s cognitive poetics (2008) are employed to interpret the results of phonological awareness tests
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Cataldo, Lisa. "Teaching English to Young Swedes; when and why?" Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Pedagogiskt arbete, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-29927.
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As the English language holds the status of a Lingua Franca, being able to master it has become necessary in our globalised society. In Sweden, the English subject has been assigned a place along with Swedish and Mathematics as a core subject. However, of these three subjects, only English does not have specified knowledge requirements at the end of third grade. This has led to the start of English instruction varying around the nation. This thesis investigates the factors involved in the decision-making processes regarding the start of English instruction and what attitudes lower primary school teachers have regarding the age at which the English instruction should start. An empirical study was carried out by interviewing a few stakeholders in the context of schools and sending out questionnaires to lower primary school teachers. The results indicate that a large majority of the participants were in favour for early English instruction, as according to many of them, an early start results almost exclusively in advantages for the young children. However, the results also imply that the English subject, in some cases, might be less prioritised, due to the lack of specified knowledge requirements. Based on these results, further research on how different schools interpret these non-specified knowledge requirements is suggested.Engelska
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Lee, Sujeong. "Impact of the integration of drama in EFL teaching : a multi-case study of young learners' classrooms." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2017. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/91490/.
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This ethnographic multiple case study aims to examine the impact of creative drama on young EFL learners in South Korea. While working in the field for decades, I have observed the imbalance between the high demands from the public and the paucity of pedagogical and theoretical methods of EFL teaching for young learners. Therefore, I suggest the pedagogy of drama as an alternative EFL teaching method for children in view of the sociocultural and sociolinguistic axiom. In particular, I take Vygotsky’s notion into account, which underpins the social constructivists’ understanding of education. I embarked on the investigation by carefully selecting two case classrooms of children and one case group of teachers; accordingly, the three case studies were amalgamated and reviewed in depth in pursuit of the true knowledge of the context. In order to construct rigorous knowledge, I have followed the qualitative and non-positivist paradigm of analysis by applying a hermeneutical interpretation of the context. In addition, I have adhered to the notion of bricolage, which stresses the researcher’s active role in the course of knowledge construction. The analysis uncovered that the pedagogy of drama enables EFL children to liberate themselves physically and emotionally, and hence promotes an autonomous social interaction that prompts frequent and meaningful oral language use. Moreover, the study indicates that EFL teachers are positively impacted by the pedagogy of drama in that they alter their pedagogical views to become more open, non-traditional and democratic. Thus, they begin to incorporate social interactional and communicative approaches in their EFL teaching. In addition, the analysis reveals that an adequate teacher’s role is a significant factor in enhancing meaningful context building and natural oral language use in EFL classrooms, in which children grow as authentic language users as well as autonomous social beings who convey their true voices.
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Kuo, Ling-Chun. "The role and efficacy of phonics instruction in the early literacy development of young Taiwanese EFL learners." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2011. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/45408/.
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In recent years, phonics instruction in early literacy education has gained in popularity due to its critical role in facilitating phonological awareness and processing skills, said to enable the self-teaching mechanism inherent in an alphabetic language. These claims are based on research on L1 learners of English, however: little has been reported on the utility of phonics instruction for foreign language learners. This study therefore investigated young Taiwanese learners of English who had undergone phonics instruction as part of their EFL programme of study. Textbook analysis, teacher interviews, a student questionnaire, and a battery of diagnostic tests and tasks were used to uncover the role and efficacy of phonics in Taiwanese EFL learners’ literacy development as well as the underlying factors that contribute to shape its role and affect its efficacy. The data was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively and findings related to the presentation and practice of phonics teaching in class, teachers’ and learners’ perceptions and beliefs related to phonics and English literacy, and learners’ strategy use in oral reading, spelling and word learning were analyzed and discussed. The results revealed that due to the influences of socio-contextual constraints, learners’ insufficient phonological skills, the absence of a well-developed spoken system in the learners, and a distinctive L1 writing system, phonics plays a distinctively different role for young Taiwanese learners of English from the one it plays for English L1 learners.
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Vallbona, González Anna. "L2 Competence of Young Language Learners in Science and Arts CLIL and EFL Instruction Contexts. A Longitudinal Study." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/133347.
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La implementació de programes AICLE ha generat un gran entusiasme entre les escoles de primària de Catalunya. Malgrat aquest entusiasme, molt poca recerca s'ha portat a terme en el nostre context per demostrar l’eficiència de l’AICLE en la millora de la competència lingüística dels aprenents. L’objectiu d’aquest estudi longitudinal de dos anys és omplir parcialment aquest buit i determinar els efectes de l’enfocament AICLE en les habilitats d’escoltar, llegir i escriure dels alumnes de primària que han cursat una part de les ciències naturals i de la plàstica en anglès. Els resultats en llengua anglesa dels alumnes de cinquè de primària (grup control) s’han comparat amb els resultats dels estudiants de 5è curs exposats al mateix nombre d'hores d'anglès, però, en aquest cas, combinant les hores d’anglès amb l’AICLE per determinar l’assoliment en diferents moments ( T0,T1 , T2 , T3 ) i el progrés en diferents períodes de temps (T0-T1 , T1-T2 , T2-T3 i T0-T3). L'anàlisi dels resultats s’ha portat a terme utilitzant models de regressió logística longitudinals. L'efecte del nombre d'hores d'exposició a l’anglès de l’alumnat prèvies a l’inici del projecte, s’ha tingut en compte per a l'anàlisi així com la proficiència inicial en anglès de l’alumnat participant. S’han portat a terme dos tipus de comparacions a fi i a efecte de proporcionar una visió general dels resultats : la primera comparació fa referència als resultats assolits pel grups control i pels grups d'AICLE. La segona comparació fa referència al progrés de cadascun dels grups. La tercera comparació, finalment, mostra els resultats dels estudiants que van fer ciències en anglès en comparació amb els resultats dels alumnes que van fer plàstica en llengua anglesa. Els resultats de les interaccions entre el grup i el nivell de competència de l’alumnat en totes les comparacions ha estat també motiu d’estudi. Per tal d'ampliar l'abast de l'estudi i la interpretació dels resultats, s’han portat a terme sessions d'observació de classes AICLE i de llengua anglesa , i s’ha entrevistat el professorat.
La comparació intragrup demostra que, mantenint el nombre d'hores d'instrucció constant, tots els grups progressen significativament durant l'estudi. Els resultats de les comparacions intergrupals també tendeixen a confirmar un efecte positiu de l ’AICLE sobre els resultats. Els resultats al T1 mostren poques diferències entre els grups; aquestes diferències s’han atribuit principalment al poc nombre d’hores d’exposició a la llengua de les sessions d’AICLE. Els resultats del T3 mostren una millora general significativa en l’habilitat d'escoltar del l’alumnat que va fer ciències en anglès; els estudiants que van fer plàstica en llengua anglesa van millorar significativament en diversos aspectes de l’habilitat d’escriure. La comparació dels resultats dels alumnes que van fer ciències amb els que van fer plàstica en anglès indiquen millors resultats pels alumnes de plàstica en moltes de les àrees analitzades. En conclusió, es pot afirmar que CLIL va tenir un efecte positiu en el desenvolupament de la llengua dels aprenents implicats en l’estudi. No obstant això , la variabilitat en els resultats obtinguts en les comparacions intragrup ens indiquen que l'eficiència dels programes AICLE aplicats a joves estudiants de primària no és només una qüestió de la quantitat d’hores d’exposició, sinó també una qüestió del tipus d'input (és a dir , només anglès instrumental o bé la combinació anglès instrumental i AICLE). Diversos aspectes metodològics de la implementació dels programes AICLE analitzats poden haver influït els resultats finals. Més hores d'exposició AICLE, una metodologia adequada i la continuïtat dels programes ens haurien de conduir a un resultat prometedor.Despite the general enthusiasm that the emergence of CLIL programmes has generated in primary schools in Catalonia, very little finely-grained research has so far been undertaken in our school context to demonstrate CLIL’s efficiency in improving learners’ overall language proficiency. This longitudinal two-year study attempts to partly fill this gap by determining the extent to which CLIL may affect the listening, reading and writing skills of young primary learners exposed to Natural Sciences and Arts & Crafts taught in English. The results obtained by 5th graders exposed only to EFL classes (Control Group) were compared to those obtained by 5th graders exposed to the same number of hours of English (EFL and CLIL hours combined) in order to determine the students’ achievement and progress in the target language at different times (T1, T2, T3) and time periods (T0-T1, T1-T2, T2-T3) over two school years. The analysis of the results obtained in the listening, reading and writing tests was carried out using longitudinal logistic regression models. The effect of the previous number of hours of exposure to English, prior to these two school years, was taken into consideration for data analysis. Intergroup and intragroup comparisons were carried out in order to provide an overview of the results: the first comparison was concerned with the achievement results obtained by the Control and CLIL groups after the same number of hours of instruction at four different times. The second comparison presented the results in progress obtained by each of the groups after different time periods: T0-T1, T1-T2, T2-T3 and T0-T3. The third comparison, finally, was concerned with the achievement results obtained by CLIL Science students compared to CLIL Arts and Crafts students. The results of the interactions between group and proficiency level were also studied for all the comparisons. In addition to quantitative data, in order to widen the scope of the study and the interpretation of the results, CLIL class observation sessions were held, and the relevant teachers were interviewed. The results of the intragroup comparison suggested that, keeping the number of hours of instruction the same, both Control and CLIL groups progressed significantly throughout the study. This seemed to confirm the effectiveness of CLIL programmes in primary schools. However, the findings of the intergroup comparisons tended to confirm that the exposure to CLIL had an impact on the results obtained. Results for T1 suggested very little differences between EFL and CLIL groups, and these differences were mainly attributed to very limited CLIL time instruction. Results at T3 showed an overall significant improvement in the areas of Listening for CLIL Science students, and in some aspects of Writing for Arts & Crafts learners, when comparing CLIL and non-CLIL groups, keeping the amount of English instruction constant. The comparison CLIL Science vs. CLIL Arts & Crafts indicated better achievement results for the Arts & Crafts students in many of the areas tested. In conclusion, it can be stated that CLIL had a positive effect on the development of the interlanguage of young learners as they progressed throughout the study. Nevertheless, the variability in the achievement results obtained through intragroup comparisons may indicate that the effectiveness of CLIL programmes applied to young learners in the school context is not only a matter of the quantity of input but also a matter of the type of input (i.e. CLIL or EFL+CLIL). The results may have also been influenced by several methodological aspects involved in the implementation of the CLIL approach in the schools. In the light of the results obtained, more hours of CLIL exposure, adequate methodology and sufficient emphasis on continuity should lead to a promising outcome.
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Johansson, Linnéa. "Foreign language anxiety among young Swedish EFL learners : A mixed method study in primary school years 1-3." Thesis, Luleå tekniska universitet, Institutionen för hälsa, lärande och teknik, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-87083.
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This study investigated Swedish primary school EFL learners' foreign language anxiety in years 1-3 by using mixed-method research. The aim of this study was to illustrate what factors caused foreign language anxiety (FLA) and unwillingness to communicate among the second language learners. In this study, a total of 85 pupils and five teachers participated. The study includes Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope's (1986) foreign language classroom anxiety scale, in a pupil-based questionnaire. The study was also complemented with classroom observations and interviews with the teachers and the pupils. The results showed a tendency for girls experiencing more foreign language anxiety than boys. The study also showed that FLA increased throughout the grades. The pupils' expressed beliefs of FLA were the fear of making mistakes and different factors related to their low self-esteem.
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Karlsson, Izabella, and Irma Mehmedovic. "Software tools and vocabulary development : A study about software tools and the ways teachers perceive they can be used to facilitate vocabulary development in an EFL classroom." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-46173.
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As the world and society evolve into a more digitized era, school systems have to follow. Sweden the national board of education has started to include digital tools into the curriculum and to place demands on the digital competence of Swedish teachers. The consequences that follow are that teachers are expected to implement digital tools of varying kinds into their lessons, which is done with varying success. This thesis aims to examine how software tools such as Kahoot and elevspel are perceived by English teachers in Sweden as tools they can use as they teach learners in grades 4-6. More specifically, this thesis will focus on how English teachers in an EFL setting perceive that they can use these tools to facilitate vocabulary development. In this essay, we have conducted quantitative research by using a questionnaire to gather data from English teachers in Sweden. Along with this, we have also examined previous research in this field to review the scientific background and take this into consideration. The results from this questionnaire showed that English teachers in Swedenincorporate software tools in their lessons and perceive software tools as necessary. However, a majority of the participating teachers noted that more support and ideas are needed for them to incorporate these tools to a fuller extent.
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Alsowayegh, Najat. "An exploration of parental mediation of English language T.V. programmes in Saudi Arabia with young children learning English as a foreign language." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/19182.
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It is widely recognised that parents play an important role in children’s emotional and intellectual development, including their success at school. Recently, there has been a growing awareness of the potential of parents to support and enhance children’s English foreign language learning, especially since English learning resources are easily accessible through electronic media. In appreciation of this, there has been an increased interest in recent years in finding ways to harness parental potential through the creation of home-school partnerships in many parts of the world, including in the field of teaching English as an additional language. An important point of departure for developing effective home-school dialogues is an informed understanding of what parents are already doing to support their children’s learning, as an awareness of this can help schools and governments provide parents with targeted input to assist and improve their efforts. However, to date, this remains under researched. Of the limited research that has been undertaken, very little has examined parental efforts to support their children’s learning at home in non-western settings, and research into parental support for children’s foreign language learning is virtually non-existent. In order to address this research gap, the study reported in this thesis examines parental support for young children’s foreign language learning in Saudi Arabia with respect to English T.V. viewing. Drawing upon Vygotsky’s concepts of mediation and the ZPD, it aims to examine the extent and the ways in which parents currently mediate their children’s viewing of English T.V. programmes in Saudi Arabia, the factors which impact on their mediation practices, and how this is seen to contribute to their children’s experience of English language learning. The study is comprised two stages. The first stage entails the distribution of a questionnaire to 500 parents of children aged 6-8, who are currently learning English in a number of private schools in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia in order to gain a global overview of parental perspectives on mediation. This is followed by stage 2, which aims to examine the features and quality of parent-child mediational dialogues. This is achieved by collecting recordings of the dialogues of two parent-child dyads watching DVDs of English T.V. programmes over a four-week period as well as interviewing parents and their children on the experience. The results of the study show that parents believe in the importance and value of supporting their children’s learning (both in general and with regard to their EFL learning). Moreover, they show that they are actively engaged in trying to do so. However, they also highlight a number of ways in which their mediational practices could be improved so that these are less directive and more responsive to their children’s learning needs and growing ability to self-regulate. More broadly, they highlight the need to engage with the complexity of parental mediation as an activity system in discussions of the quality of mediational practice. That is, to understand that parental efforts to mediate need to be considered alongside task, sociocultural setting and, most importantly, the child’s engagement with parental efforts. A number of implications are drawn from the results of the study. Chief among these is that research into parental mediation should look at the inter-relationship between the different elements of the parental mediational system identified and that this provides richer in-depth understandings of parental efforts to support their children than are currently available from those who seek to understand this merely as parental scaffolding. In addition, it is argued that the picture this in-depth analysis revealed provides valuable information which can be used to inform the need for home-school partnerships and the support parents need to make sure they engage in these effectively in settings such as Saudi Arabia where there is currently little appreciation of the importance of parental involvement and the concept of home school partnerships remains in its infancy. In line with the emphasis on the complex multidimensional understanding of mediation as activity as illustrated by the results of the study, it is argued that efforts to promote parental involvement should primarily focus on how parents can help promote quality learning experiences for their children.
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Wang, Weipei. "Teaching English to Young Learners in Taiwan: Issues relating to teaching, teacher education, teaching materials and teacher perspectives." The University of Waikato, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10289/2547.
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Abstract Since 2005, it has been government policy in Taiwan to introduce English in Grade 3 of primary schooling (when learners are generally age 9). The overall aim of this research project was to investigate some of the problems associated with the implementation of this policy by combining research involving teacher cognition with research involving the criterion-referenced analysis of a sample of textbooks produced in Taiwan for young learners and a sample of lessons taught in Taiwanese primary schools. A questionnaire-based survey of a sample of teachers of English in Taiwanese primary schools (166 respondents) was conducted, focusing on teacher background and training, views about national and local policies, approaches to course content, methodology and teaching resources, and perceptions of their own proficiency in English and of their own training needs. Only 46 (27%) of the respondents reported that they had a qualification specific to the teaching of English and 41 (25%) reported that they had neither a qualification in teaching English nor a general primary teaching qualification. Many expressed dissatisfaction with the implementation of policies relating to the teaching of English at national level (46/ 29%), local level (39/24%) and in their own school (28/17%). Although many reported that the availability of resources (125/ 75%) and/ or student interest (101/ 61%) played a role in determining what they taught, none reported that the national curriculum guidelines did so. Although official policy in Taiwan endorses the use of 'communicative language teaching', only 103 (62%) of respondents reported that their own approach was communicatively-oriented, with 18 (11%) observing that they preferred grammar-translation. A more in-depth survey relating to teacher perception of pre- and in-service training was conducted using a questionnaire and semi-structured interview. Although all 10 participants in this survey are officially classified as being trained to teach English in Taiwanese primary schools, the type and extent of their training varied widely and all of them expressed dissatisfaction with that training, noting that they had no confidence in the trainers' own competence in teaching English to young learners. All claimed that critical issues were either omitted altogether or dealt with in a superficial way. One contextual factor that has a significant impact on teacher performance in Taiwan is the quality of the textbooks that are generally available. A sample of textbooks (3 different series) produced in Taiwan was analysed and evaluated, the analysis revealing that the materials were often poorly organised, inappropriately selected and illustrated, contextually inappropriate. Finally, from a sample of twenty videotaped English lessons taught to students in primary schools in Taiwan, six that were considered to be typical were transcribed, analysed and evaluated in relation to criteria derived from a review of literature on teaching effectiveness. All of these lessons were found to be characterised by problems in a number of areas, including lesson focus, lesson staging, concept introduction, concept checking, and the setting up and conducting activities. It is concluded that the implementation of official policy on the teaching of English in primary schools in Taiwan is fraught with problems, problems that are evident at every stage in the process, from teacher education, through materials design to lesson planning and delivery.
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Harris, Krystal. "Translanguaging in the English classroom : A study examining young learners’ attitudes and perceptions of translanguaging in the English classroom." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för språkdidaktik, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-193906.
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Many studies show that language learners see the benefits of using their first language in order to learn second or subsequent languages, while they also see some disadvantages. This reflects dominant ideas in language learning about the importance of keeping languages separate. The present study examines translanguaging, a strategy in which learners are encouraged to use their entire linguistic repertoires during language learning. To this aim, data are examined from Swedish learners (n= 168) in grades 7-9 to investigate their attitudes and perceptions towards translanguaging in the EFL classroom, and to shed light on the roles of age and proficiency in constraining them. The data was collected by means of a questionnaire and a proficiency test in order to measure the participants’ proficiency in English. Unlike the mixed views reported in previous studies, the learners investigated here had a positive view of translanguaging and perceived it as beneficial to their learning. Furthermore, the findings suggest that learners often used Swedish for specific functions, especially explaining grammar and vocabulary, clarifying tasks and instructions, comparing the languages and asking questions. This was even more so for low proficiency learners, who used translanguaging more for both practical and social purposes. On the other hand, higher proficiency learners used less Swedish and viewed translanguaging as less helpful. These learners also reported that their teachers used more Swedish in the classroom compared with their less proficient peers. It was also found that learners showed a greater tendency to use translanguaging with increasing age, although this might have been due to differences between teachers and their individual practices.Många studier visar att elever ser fördelarna med att använda sitt förstaspråk för att lära sig andra eller efterföljande språk, medan de också ser några nackdelar. Detta återspeglar dominerande idéer i språkinlärningen om vikten av att hålla språken åtskilda. I den här studien undersöks transspråkande (translanguaging), en strategi där eleven uppmuntras att använda hela sin språkliga repertoar under språkinlärningen. För detta ändamål undersöks data från svenska elever (n = 168) i årskurs 7-9 för att undersöka deras attityder och uppfattningar kring transspråkande i det EFL-klassrummet och för att belysa hur faktorerna ålder och färdighet påverkar dem. Uppgifterna samlades in med hjälp av en enkät och ett färdighetstest för att mäta deltagarnas färdigheter på engelska. Till skillnad från de blandade åsikter som rapporterats i tidigare studier hade de studenter som undersöktes i denna studien en positiv syn på transspråkande och uppfattade det som fördelaktigt för deras lärande. Dessutom tyder resultaten på att eleverna ofta använde svenska för specifika funktioner; särskilt att förklara grammatik och nya ord, klargöra uppgifter och instruktioner, jämföra språk och ställa frågor. Detta var ännu mer för elever med låg färdighet, som använde transspråkande mer för både praktiska och sociala ändamål. Å andra sidan använde elever med högre kompetens mindre svenska och betraktade transspråkande som mindre användbart. Dessa elever rapporterade också att deras lärare använde mer svenska i klassrummet jämfört med sina kamrater med lägre färdighet. Studien pekar också på att eleverna visade en större tendens att använda transspråkande med ökande ålder, även om detta kan ha berott på skillnader mellan lärare och deras individuella metoder.
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Nelson, Nadine Rachelle. "Critical Pedagogy and young Arabic EFL learners: The Pedagogical and Social Implications of taking a Critical Approach in the Classroom." Thesis, Curtin University, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80606.
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This study is an exploration into the pedagogical and social effectiveness of critical approaches when teaching a series of dialogic, problem posing lessons with young Arabic learners. This research also reports on the students’ attitudes towards the critical pedagogy lessons, and its impact on other literacy areas. This study presents another perspective within the ongoing debates surrounding the suitability and implementation of critical approaches and the EFL teaching field.
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Trivat, Sandra. "Olika skolors val av engelskundervisningens start i F-3 - Different schools’ choices of when to start English instruction in K-3." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-35499.
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In Sweden, there are three subjects that are mandatory to pass to be qualified for further studies (gymnasium) after year 9 of elementary school: English, Mathematics and Swedish. Sweden has a long tradition of teaching English as a foreign language in schools, from a very young age. However, municipalities and schools are given the freedom in Sweden to decide when to start teaching English, between age 7-10, which means that there could be a great difference between schools and different parts of the country. It also means that there are different reasons and discussions behind when and why students should start learning. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what reasons and discussions lie behind different schools’ decision of when to start teaching English. The head teachers and one teacher from three different types of schools were interviewed to find what their views were. The results look at whether the decision was based on research, if teachers were involved in the decision, whether they viewed positive or negative effects of an early language start, if there are any practical issues with an early start and whether or not different age starts affects an equal school for all. The four interviewees answered quite similarly to the questions with only some exceptions. The decision at all schools was to start English language instruction from year 1, in a playful manner with games, songs and rhymes. The general feeling at all schools seems to be that the earlier language instruction starts, the better. This assumption has not been based on any specific research, but rather something, that is considered a ‘universal truth’
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Dang, Tram Quynh. "The impact of policy change on the teaching of spoken English in primary schools in the north mountainous region of Vietnam." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2020. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2328.
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In response to the pressing demand for English as an international lingua franca for socio-economic development, the Vietnamese government has recently undertaken the reform of foreign language education through the National Foreign Language 2020 Project. As part of this reform, English classes have been made compulsory from year 3 of primary school and a new English syllabus was introduced. An English textbook series for primary education was developed, based on a communicative language teaching approach, focussed on developing speaking and listening components and featured tasks reflecting child-focussed methods. Given training courses and seminars on the new curriculum and textbooks, primary English language teachers were put under pressure to implement the new syllabus and pedagogy, so that ELT changes would happen in primary schools across Vietnam.
This multiple case study investigated how primary language teachers enacted the new English curriculum and its suggested pedagogy to develop learners’ oral English competence. Five English language teachers from three teaching contexts were involved as the cases of the study. The three research sites included one city school, one outskirts school, and two remote schools located in three provinces in the north mountainous region of Vietnam. At each site, data were collected through structured observations, analysis of teaching materials, and interviews with teachers and their students. A case-by-case analysis was undertaken, then findings were compared through a cross-case analysis to answer the research questions.
Findings of the study indicated surface changes of English language teaching, but critical issues remaining at the deep level of the enactment of the pedagogies required. At the surface level, the primary language teachers across the three teaching contexts gained some knowledge of the new curriculum and teaching methods required after professional training courses. The study also found that primary ELT content and materials were consistent and child-focused across the different contexts of the case studies. This might have been a result of the teachers’ strong assumption that textbooks should drive the teaching. However, there was little evidence that teachers fully understood the intentions of the new curriculum and textbooks; and enacted the materials with pedagogical changes as expected. Analysis of classroom data showed that the quality of CLT practice and child-focused tasks promoted by the English language textbooks was generally poor. The study findings indicate that this lack of quality was related to the teachers’ lack of understanding of a CLT approach in practice and how to apply appropriate methods to teach ESL to young learners. It was also evident that the spoken English competence of the participating teachers, despite some improvement because of the reform process, remained inadequate to support teaching in English and conducting highly interactive CLT activities. Finally, the study identified factors that would support teachers in the implementation process including in-service training courses, new child-friendly textbook and electronic materials, and a few teaching facilities in schools. Those constraining teachers’ practice of the new pedagogies included the preservation of educational norms on language classes, such as teacher-centred approach, textbook driven teaching, centralising classroom management and noise intolerance. The teachers also reported other restraints, such as lack of ELT expertise supports, or lack of teaching aids to assist the teaching of English communicatively to young learners.
The study identified core competences which would enable EFL teachers to implement a CLT syllabus. These are presented as a model which highlights the importance of a high level of spoken English language competence for EFL teachers. The other three areas of competence are knowledge of the subject, of the learners, and about the teaching method proposed by ESL literature.
The study is significant in providing suggestions for Vietnamese ELT reform based on research evidence of classroom teaching practice. It is also worth presenting voices from teacher-implementers to Vietnamese top-down policy makers of what worked and what needed further actions.
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Kim, Kwengnam. "Using the MMORPG 'RuneScape' to engage Korean EFL (English as a Foreign Language) young learners in learning vocabulary and reading skills." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2015. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/12430/.
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This study aims to explore the affordances offered by online role-playing games like RuneScape in learning English vocabulary and developing reading skills, and to examine whether there is any relationship between playing RuneScape and Korean children's vocabulary and reading skills. I sampled five elementary students (1 female and 4 males, aged 10-11), who played RuneScape for 30 minutes per session for 9 to 14 sessions in a private English institute in South Korea. I collected the text data through retrieving the text from the recordings of participants’ game-plays using a screen recorder. The observation data was attained by observing them playing games through participant observation, observation framework and field notes. I analysed the English text learners would encounter when playing Runescape, and using observation, attempted to describe the vocabulary and reading strategies they tend to use whilst playing. The findings showed that participants encountered the seven categories of vocabulary whilst playing: generally-used vocabulary, fixed phrases, RuneScape vernacular, lexis specific to computer games, chat speak (acronyms and abbreviations), emoticons and reduplication. From the observation data, I found that participants used the following vocabulary strategies: looking up in a dictionary, verbalising vocabulary and guessing meanings verbally. Reading strategies were: clicking, verbalising, reading texts aloud, translating and typing. The findings suggest that there is relationship between playing RuneScape and vocabulary and reading skills. However, Korean children do not get sufficient practice in their use of vocabulary and reading skills for pragmatic purposes in their English classrooms, due to time limitations and large classes. Children tend to lack instrumental motivation for learning English, so the fun and interest of playing games might help engage them in learning English. I would argue therefore that online role-playing games have the potential for Korean children as a useful supplementary tool for developing vocabulary and reading skills.
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Sjödin, Öberg Sanna. "Bringing the outside to the inside : Incorporating pupil’s knowledge of extramural English in teaching English to young learners." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Pedagogiskt arbete, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-30745.
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In Sweden today, the English language is a part of our everyday lives. This means that from very young ages, children encounter the language in many different ways, media being one of the most common. This thesis aims to research if and how teachers in F-3 include this type of English in their teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL). In particular, the focus is to gain knowledge of how music/songs are being used in the classroom, and if the teachers incorporate the music that the pupils listen to in their spare time when working with music/songs. Their attitudes towards doing this is what this thesis is interested in. An empirical study was carried out with the use of interviews as data collecting method. A total of six lower primary school teachers (grades 1-3) spread out geographically in Sweden were interviewed. The results show that teachers report that they are aware of the many places where pupils encounter English, but only one of the teachers incorporate this in teaching EFL. However, the others do seem positive towards working with this and they mention many benefits in doing so. When it comes to music and songs, all teachers work with this in the subject, but once again five out of six do not include the songs that the pupils listen to, except when they in some cases pick something up in the moment. Again, even though some difficulties are mentioned, they seem positive towards this and they believe there is a possibility in including this in their teaching of EFL. However, as seen in the conclusion, time seems to be a big issue for doing so.Engelska
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Lee, Jang Ho. "The differential effects of teacher code-switching on the vocabulary acquisition of adult and young EFL learners : a study in the Korean context." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2010. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:7cce31e4-60f9-4998-95c1-4fa7cef5ad0b.
Full textAbstract:
In Second Language Acquisition (SLA)literature there has been a considerable theoretical debate over the issue of teachers’ use of the students’ first language, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as ‘code-switching’. Yet to date there has been little study of the effect of teachers’ use of code-switching (CS) on the second language learning itself. Therefore the aim of this research was to study the effect of teachers’ CS on the learning of English word meanings by two age groups – 19- and 12-year–old EFL students in Korea. To this end, this study implemented a quasi-experimental design but conducive to ecological validity, drawing on intact EFL classrooms of two kinds: one with monolingual English teachers (English-only condition) and the other with bilingual teachers who speak mainly English but occasionally switch to Korean to explain unknown English words (CS condition). Under these two different instructional types, the participants – 286 adult and 443 young learners – were encouraged to learn previously unknown English words, drawn from reading texts, through their teachers’ explanations. The study also employed a participant questionnaire and follow-up interviews, so as to shed light on the issue of teacher CS from the learners’ perspective. The results reveal that, for both age groups, the teachers’ CS by and large yielded better learning results, in terms of vocabulary gains, than English-only instruction. However, an inspection of the effect sizes further shows that young learners, compared with adult ones, might benefit from the CS environment to an even greater degree in the learning of vocabulary. The findings from the questionnaire and interviews further suggest that this differential effect of teachers’ CS might be due to the young learners’ overwhelming preference for teachers’ CS in learning English. These differences both in results and learner perceptions are explained as resulting from proficiency levels on the one hand and levels of learning experience on the other. Having discovered these differential effects of teachers’ CS on the two age groups, the findings of the present thesis call for a reconsideration of pedagogical decisions regarding L2-only instruction, in particular for young L2 learners.
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Sengulane-, Linnman Fidélia. "A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON THE USE OF ENGLISH AND SWEDISH AS THE LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION IN PRIMARY EFL CLASSROOMS IN SWEDEN." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för utbildning, kultur och kommunikation, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-52813.
Full textAbstract:
It has been widely debated whether the use of the mother tongue is effective when learning a new language or if teachers should instead use the target language all the time in a language classroom. While some research shows that the use of the mother tongue is detrimental, other studies suggest that it can be used as a tool (e.g. for translations and for instructions) for teaching a new language. This study aims at exploring whether English or Swedish is predominantly used in English language teaching in Swedish primary schools and which factors contribute to the choice of language. Three primary school teachers and their pupils aged between 8 and10 at two primary schools in Sweden participated in the study. The data were collected through surveys and observations and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The findings show that the Swedish language is predominantly used during English lessons. Moreover, according to the participants in the study, this dominance is linked to the teachers´ need to create a positive classroom environment where the pupils feel safe, comfortable, and confident using their mother tongue as a tool for language learning.
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Menezes, Maria Helena Pinto Morais Sarmento de. "ICT in modern languages : a study of the effects multimedia books have on developing reading skills among Portuguese young learners of EFL (English as a foreign language)." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.312438.
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Pettersson, Sara, and Johan Bergdahl. "Extramural English Activities. Teachers’ perceptions of students’ extramural English activities in relation to vocabulary." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-35593.
Full textAbstract:
Because of the globalization of society, English as a foreign language (EFL) has become easier to access through internet and outside school English activities, so called “extramural English activities” (EEA). Previous research indicates a positive relation between pupils’ EFL vocabulary development and EEA (Sundqvist, 2009). This development may influence teachers’ lesson planning, because of pupils’ wide span of interests and the resulting different levels of EFL vocabulary. The focus of this degree project is on year five teachers’ perception of pupils’ EEA and their level of vocabulary. We investigate there is a relationship between those variables, and how teachers are bridging the gap between pupils’ EEA and classroom activities. Further on, different theories of motivation and vocabulary, and previous research are presented and used in the analysis of collected data. The data was collected qualitatively through six interviews with teachers in year five. The results indicate that the teachers, to some extent know what kind of EEA the pupils are interested in. Teachers’ perceptions of the pupils’ level of EFL vocabulary correlated to some extent with their EEA. To bridge the gap between pupils’ EEA and enhancing motivation in EFL classrooms, some teachers tried to include pupils’ experiences in their teaching. Further on, these conclusions are discussed in relation to previous research. Finally, this degree project may motivate teachers to explore the EEA habits of their pupils.
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Hsu, Kai-ling Karen, and 許凱玲. "The English Articles Used by EFL Young Learners." Thesis, 2008. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/44698338386971856630.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立臺北教育大學
兒童英語教育學系碩士班
96
English articles, the, a/an, and ø, are often reported to be the most difficult aspect for EFL and ESL learners (Young, 1996), and these articles convey rather “elusive” meanings especially to Taiwanese students, whose mother tongue does not possess a system of articles (Tang, 1976). In addition to syntactic notions of countability and number, English articles encode semantic notions of reference and definiteness as well as discourse notions of anaphora and context. Chinese is a topic-prominent rather than subject-prominent language. A sentence is constructed with two parts, topic and comment, rather than subject and predicate (Yip, 1995; Roberston, 2000). Because of such a distinguished difference, reference and definiteness of noun phrases in Chinese are primarily indicated by word order and do not always need overt marking such as article marking (Li & Thompson, 1981). The present study investigated how EFL children in Taiwan used English articles a, the, and ø with regard to their functions and forms in a context of story narration. Research questions were (1) How do young learners use the three articles (a, the, and ø) to mark semantic and discourse functions? (2) How do learners use the three articles to account for the notion of countability and number? (3) Does EFL learners’ English proficiency correlate to the use of articles? (4) To what extent does the topic-prominence of Chinese sentence structure influence the use of English articles? Thirty six-grade Mandarin Chinese-speaking children from the same elementary school participated in this study. They were asked to produce a story narration in English and in Chinese respectively. All NPs produced by the subjects were coded and then calculated for frequency occurrences using CHILDES (Child Language Data Exchange Systems). The results are summarized as follows. First, subjects generally used correct articles in [-SR-HK], non-referential function, though the frequency of this usage in comparing to the total data was low. Second, the use of the zero article “Ø” was the most frequent application to account for the countability and number, and it was often used correctly in non-counts and plural NPs. Third, subjects of different English proficiency levels used the articles differently. In terms of semantic and discourse functions, high proficiency learners performed better using more “a/an” with singular NPs after corpula “be”, than mid and low proficiency learners. Low proficiency learners tended to use zero article “Ø” to mark attributive indefinites, nonspecifics, and nonreferentials in negation. With regard to countability and number, high proficiency learners used “a/an” to account for singulars and the zero article “Ø” to account for non-counts nouns more appropriately than mid and low proficiency learners did. Low proficiency learners used “Ø” with singulars and even plurals more frequently than two other groups of learners. Fourth, topic-prominence of Chinese was related to the use of the English articles. Chinese definite NPs occurred more frequently in pre-verbal position than in post-verbal position, and so did English definite NPs. Chinese indefinite NPs which did not function as topic appeared more frequently in post-verbal position than in pre-verbal position, and so did English indefinite NPs. Chinese unquantified NPs, which were mostly topics, appeared more frequently in pre-verbal position than in post-verbal position, and so did definite and indefinite English NPs. Furthermore, the production of large number of English NPs with zero article Ø might possibly result from the influence of Chinese, since most Chinese NPs did not necessarily need marking of “yi” or “na/zhe”. In terms of pedagogical implications, semantic and discourse functions of the English articles should be specifically taught and emphasized in addition to countability and number. Teachers are advised to provide more varieties of functional communications in teaching and assessing students’ English speaking.
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Hou, Shiou-ying, and 侯秀穎. "Brain Compatible Vocabulary Instruction for EFL Young Learners." Thesis, 2014. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/19160964282360814911.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立彰化師範大學
兒童英語研究所
102
Vocabulary learning is the most basic and essential part of language learning. Vocabulary size is also an indicator of language proficiency. However, students usually feel bored when they are required to memorize vocabulary. In order to help students memorize vocabulary effectively and efficiently, the current study proposes the use of vocabulary teaching methods supported with brain-compatible learning strategies. Brain compatible education suggests that teachers’ instruction should fit well with the natural ways of the human brains work for maximum effect. Some scholars have mentioned that brain-friendly educational techniques provide a biological driven framework for creating effective instruction. This study adopts Parry and Gregory’s six brain-compatible strategies as well as Perez’s brain-friendly tools and strategies for literacy instruction to construct a vocabulary learning class. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of vocabulary teaching and learning supported by brain-compatible learning strategies and techniques. Forty sixth-graders from two homogenous classes participated in this study. The students in the experimental group were given brain-compatible strategy-based vocabulary instruction while the students in the control group received traditional vocabulary instruction. The study lasted for twenty three weeks and students received forty minutes of vocabulary instruction once a week for twenty weeks. Quantitative analyses of vocabulary quotient pretests, ten immediate post-tests, post-test and proficiency test were used to detect significant difference between groups. The results showed that individuals from the experimental group scored higher than those in the control group on the ten-week immediate post-tests, post-test and proficiency test. These results indicate that vocabulary teaching supported with brain-compatible strategies is beneficial to students’ vocabulary learning. It is suggested that teachers in Taiwan elementary schools may consider integrating brain-compatible teaching strategies into their classroom vocabulary instruction.
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Huang, Pei-jung, and 黃珮君. "Reading Process in Young EFL Learners: Cues and Miscues." Thesis, 2004. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/38792281638744305900.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立台北師範學院
兒童英語教育研究所
92
In attempt to discover the instructional implications of understanding the reading process, this study investigated the reading processes of young EFL readers in Taiwan in terms of their miscues and utilization of cue systems as they read an English story. Twenty grade six students with at least three-years of English learning experience were involved in this study. They came from a public elementary school in Taipei. Participants in this study were given three tasks: reading aloud an English story, translating the story into Chinese, and being interviewed about how they decoded words and comprehended the story. Data collected from the read-aloud task was analyzed with miscue analysis, and the readers’ interviews were analyzed using four cue systems, including cues within the word, cues in the flow of language, cues within the reader, and cues external to the reader and language. The results of study indicated: (1) Non-word substitutions occupied the most portion of miscues, and unfamiliar words were the main sources of miscues. (2) The participants have used four cue systems to read aloud and comprehend the English story. (3) The participants tended to make use of their phonics knowledge to decode unfamiliar words, and it was an useful strategy for word decoding. (4) The participants had sufficient syntactic and semantic knowledge, and they had frequently used cues in the flow of language. (5) The useful cues used by the participants to comprehend unfamiliar words and sentences included semantic cues, cues within the reader and picture cues. The successful and unsuccessful cases of cue use reflected the importance of language knowledge and strategy use for EFL reading comprehension. Consequently, the findings from the present study suggest that instructors should design reading instruction on the basis of the interactive reading model. Namely, both lower-level skills such as word recognition, vocabulary, grammar, and high-level skills such as using strategy to comprehend meanings should be emphasized.
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Matos, Ana Elisa Barradas de. "Influence of phonics teaching on young EFL learners´ pronunciation." Master's thesis, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/46320.
Full textAbstract:
This study investigates the influence of phonics teaching on young EFL learners’
pronunciation of the phonemes /dʒ/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/, /θ/, /h/ and /w/. The research project
was carried out in a private primary school, over a period of three months and
involved 16 learners from year 4. The data was gathered through pre-study and poststudy
audio recordings, pre-study and post-study assessment worksheets and a
teacher’s journal. Phonics instruction was provided to participants, after the
implementation of the pre-study data collection tools. The phonics teaching included
songs, gestures, tongue-twisters and activities to promote the identification of the
phonemes in relation to their orthographic representations. The assessment
worksheets and the audio recordings were analysed quantitively to verify how many
learners could recognise and produce accurately the sounds addressed by this
research. The weekly entries in the teacher’s journal were analysed qualitatively.
Results show that raising learners’ awareness to phonemes and the use of phonics
instruction can have a positive impact on the pronunciation of young EFL learners.Este estudo investiga a influência do ensino de phonics na pronúncia dos fonemas /dʒ/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/, /θ/, /h/ e /w/ de aprendentes de Inglês no ensino primário. O projeto de investigação foi realizado numa escola primária privada, durante três meses e incluiu 16 aprendentes do 4º ano. Os dados foram recolhidos através de gravações áudio, realizadas antes e após o estudo; fichas de aferição, realizadas antes e após o estudo; e um diário do professor. A instrução de phonics foi dada aos participantes, depois da implementação dos instrumentos de recolha de dados prévios ao estudo. O ensino de phonics incluiu canções, gestos, trava-línguas e atividades para incentivar a identificação dos fonemas, relacionando-os com as suas representações ortográficas. As fichas de aferição e as gravações áudio foram analisadas quantitativamente para verificar quantos aprendentes podiam reconhecer ou produzir corretamente os sons abordados neste estudo. As entradas semanais no diário do professor foram analisadas qualitativamente. Os resultados revelam que sensibilizar os alunos para a consciência dos fonemas e o uso de phonics teaching pode ter um impacto positivo na pronúncia de aprendentes de inglês, em contexto do 1º Ciclo.
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Hung, Yu-Han, and 洪毓涵. "EFL Young Learners’ Autonomous Behaviors and Mobile-Assisted Extensive Reading." Thesis, 2017. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/26hpx8.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立臺灣師範大學
英語學系
105
Learner autonomy at elementary school level is still an underrated research topic. The present study is intended to provide insight of young learners’ learner autonomy development and experience in a Mobile-Assisted Extensive Reading program (MAER) with qualitative approach. It aims to illustrate how young learners interact with the proposed program in order to provide insights for researchers and teachers into young learners’ autonomy promotion. A class of six-graders from a chosen elementary school in a remote area in Taiwan participated in this 10-week MAER program. The students had opportunities to read extensively on their tablets three times a week after their lunch time. They were encouraged to read out-of-class as well. To raise the students’ awareness of autonomous learning, learner development lessons were provided at the early weeks of the program. To capture the students’ development in learner autonomy, the students were asked to record their readings and fill in the reading journal. The other data sources include observations from several free reading sessions and transcriptions of interviews. By logging and analyzing all data, students’ autonomous behaviors and reading experience were categorized and triangulated across various sources. The results indicated that young language learners’ ER reading experience was influenced by their previous reading habits, reasons for learning English, and prior language learning experience. More importantly, the findings provide a better understanding of the nature of young language learner autonomy, which is related to their readiness of autonomous learning. In addition, the students demonstrated both positive and negative observable autonomous behaviors in the following aspects: book selection, goal setting, and learning strategies. Based on the findings, the study suggests teachers be aware of students’ initial readiness level and past learning experiences before implementing autonomous learning. The role of teacher as a facilitator and scaffold is equally important for students at this age. MAER programs and learner autonomy training lessons could provide a supportive environment for students’ autonomous behaviors. Future research might explore young language learners’ autonomy development for a longer period. Future study could be conducted at a different learning context, and investigate another learning outcome from ER, literacy development.
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Wang, Yi-Fang, and 王怡芳. "A Case Study of Using Audiobooks among Young EFL Learners." Thesis, 2017. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/8w33t3.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立彰化師範大學
英語學系
105
Abstract Second language learning researchers have examined the effects on vocabulary recognition, reading rate, reading comprehension, listening rate and listening comprehension among teenage EFL learners engaged in reading while listening to L2 audiobooks in Taiwan. It seems that young EFL learners' perceptions in using L2 audiobooks are required in order to complement this field. This case study aimed to observe and to describe young EFL learners’ perceptions while they were in the process of using L2 audiobooks. Four first-graders in the same class in a school in central Taiwan participated in this study. The findings of this study indicated that although young EFL learners have great interest in L1 reading, not every participant loves reading L2 materials. I also found that there are no correlations between students’ English learning attitude and their English performance. Students had high scores in written English examination may because they were familiar with the contents that they had learned for years. Moreover, young EFL students show their varied perceptions concerning the use ofL2 audiobooks. Their positive perceptions on some audiobooks depend on certain characteristics of these audiobooks. Finally, after finishing the program, young EFL students in this study generally have positive attitudes towards reading while listening to L2 audiobooks.
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Kung, Hui-Hsuan, and 孔蕙萱. "Using Augmented Reality to Enhance Young EFL Learners’ Speaking Performance." Thesis, 2019. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/59f2t6.
Full textAbstract:
碩士靜宜大學
英國語文學系
107
The study aims to enhance young Taiwanese learners’ speaking performance in English as a foreign language (EFL) by using augmented reality (AR) application as a motivational medium. A total of 68 young EFL learning, from 3rd to 5th graders, participated as their class learning in a private language cram school where in-class video recording was an integral part of classroom activities to show parents about their children’ speaking outcomes. Randomly 32 of them from 3 level class were in the experimental group using AR app for speaking performance while 36 of them were their counterparts in the control group using the traditional camera (TC). The teacher taught the students vocabulary and grammar about a topic at the first week. The participants wrote their own speech of the topic at the second week, rehearsed their speech with peers at third week, and did their speaking performance at the fourth week. A mobile AR application tool intervened in the last three weeks. Adopting a quantitative research method, this research included pre- and post-tests of students’ speaking performance and the post-intervention questionnaire. The rubric of evaluating students’ speaking performance contains vocabulary, content, acting and voicing. The questionnaires consisted fourteen questions about their attitudes toward the speaking activities. Results of students’ speaking performance show that scores in AR group were significantly higher than those in the TC group. with large effect sizes. Results of questionnaires show that both groups generally had positive attitudes toward the speaking activities. Students’ ratings in the AR group significantly agreed more strongly than those in the TC group. Using AR can effectively increase the students’ willingness to engage in speaking. In conclusion, this study suggests that using the AR app is a great way to augment young EFL learners’ competence and willingness to speak meaningful and fluent English.
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Wu, Hui-liang, and 吳慧良. "The Impact of an Extensive Reading Program on Young EFL Learners." Thesis, 2010. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/74112974945253441984.
Full textAbstract:
碩士大葉大學
應用外語研究所
98
ABSTRACT Over the last few decades, extensive reading has been found to have potential positive effects on learners’ language proficiency and their motivation in either second or foreign language learning. This study aimed to investigate the effects of incorporating an extensive reading program in a regular English classroom curriculum in a junior high school. With the use of graded readers, the study intended to analyze whether extensive reading has any impact on learners’ vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension, learning motivation, and attitudes. Two tests used to measure students’ vocabulary included the Nation’s 1000 vocabulary level test and a vocabulary test based on the Basic Competence Test (BCT), a high school entrance examination for junior high school students. An elementary level GEPT reading comprehension test and two other questionnaires used to evaluate learners’ motivation and attitudes were also employed. Participants of this study consisted of two classes of second grade students at a junior high school in central Taiwan. Two classes were randomly assigned as an experimental group and a control group. They were all instructed by the same English teacher and the same textbooks in regular classes. They received the same amount of regular English instruction, except that the class assigned as the experimental group received a supplemental extensive reading program, which was an extra 30-minute class meeting twice a week for a total of 12 weeks. Results of this study showed that after participating in the 12-week reading program, students in the experimental group made a significant improvement in their vocabulary acquisition. They not only had higher motivation in learning English, but also had positive attitudes toward the extensive reading program. Students tended to become more engaged in English reading and, had increased confidence and interest in learning English in school. In addition, they gained great satisfaction from being able to read independently and extensively. Although the effect of conducting the extensive reading program on reading comprehension was not significant, participants’ in the experimental group gained higher post-test scores on reading comprehension.
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Chen, Wei-ting, and 陳尉婷. "The Influence of Sublexical Fluency on EFL Young Learners'' Early Reading." Thesis, 2009. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/98919495303173240645.
Full textAbstract:
碩士雲林科技大學
應用外語系碩士班
97
The purpose of this research is to compare the influence of sublexical fluency and sublexical accuracy on EFL young learners’ early reading performance and to see which sublexical skill (i.e., letter name fluency, letter name accuracy, letter sound fluency, letter sound accuracy, phonemic segmentation fluency, and phonemic segmentation accuracy) predicts early reading performance most. The participants were thirty fifth graders from an intact class at an elementary school in central Taiwan. The experimental methods included prediction instruments (quantitative research) and interview. (qualitative research). With regard to prediction instruments, simultaneous regression was applied to analyze the results of Word Identification Test and sublexical measures (sublexical fluency and accuracy measures). In addition, six participants were chosen to be interviewed to understand the difficulties that they encountered in responding to sublexical measures. The findings of the study suggested that sublexical fluency predicts early reading ability of EFL fifth graders beyond the contributions of sublexical accuracy measures, and letter name fluency predicts EFL fifth graders’ early reading ability the most among other sublexical skills. Moreover, the interview data indicate that the participants had more difficulties in responding to sublexical fluency measures and memorizing letter sounds. This study may provide English teachers with a possible way to identify poor learners through the measures of sublexical fluency at early stage. The fluency of sublexical skills may be a helpful remedial instruction for students’ early reading development.
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Lo, Ching-yuan, and 羅景園. "The Correlations Between EFL Young Learners' Listening Comprehension and Their Reading Abilities." Thesis, 2009. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/76770672556907937016.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立彰化師範大學
兒童英語研究所
98
Previous research of first language acquisition has often suggested that children’s listening comprehension would likely affect their early reading performances, including fundamental word reading and high-order reading comprehension abilities. However, research which empirically documented the link between EFL learners’ listening comprehension and the two reading abilities is scant and inconsistent. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how EFL young learners’ listening comprehension is related to their word reading and reading comprehension. One-hundred-and-ten sixth graders from three intact classes participated in the present study. Three types of tests, i.e. listening comprehension, word reading and reading comprehension tests, were administered. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used to analyze the data, and the conventionalαlevel .05 was used to determine level of significance. The results from the data analysis showed that EFL young learners’ listening comprehension significantly and highly related to both word reading and reading comprehension. The findings of this study pointed to the significance of listening comprehension in developing EFL young learners’ reading abilities, and to the necessity of incorporating integrated learning into language curriculum to facilitate both listening comprehension and reading ability developments.
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Lin, Ai-jen, and 林愛偵. "The Relationship Between Taiwanese EFL Young Learners’ Phonological Awareness and Listening Comprehension." Thesis, 2010. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/80974659476129700542.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立彰化師範大學
兒童英語研究所
98
Phonology has been viewed as an initial key component to understand auditory messages in English. That is to say, a listener has to segment the continuous stream of speech into constituents, for example, distinguish the sounds and intonation patterns. The relationship between segmental phonology and suprasegmental phonology is hierarchically related (Pennington, 1996), both of which play an important role in learners’ listening ability. There are numerous studies (e.g., Karmiloff & Karmiloff-Smith, 2001; Nazzi, Betroncini & Mehler, 1998) and theories which (e.g.,Anderson-Hsieh, Johnson & Koehler, 1992; Taylor, 1993; Kuo, Kung & Pierce, 1997)indicate suprasegmental phonology has a positive effect on a learners’ listening comprehension; however, few empirical studies investigate the aspect of segmental phonology and subjects’ listening comprehension. Hence, the purpose of the study was aimed to investigate the relationship between EFL young learners’ phonological awareness, in the aspects of both segment and suprasegment, and listening comprehension. The participants in the study were 106 fifth-grade elementary school students from three intact classes. The subjects are required to take the phonological awareness test and listening comprehension test respectively. The phonological awareness test was divided into two major parts, the features of segmental and suprasegmental, to examine subjects’ segmental and suprasegmental phonological processing ability. The listening comprehension test, adapted from Cambridge Young Learners English Test,was to elicit the subjects’ actual listening proficiency of understanding common social and situational context. The subjects’ scores of those two tests were calculated. Further, statistical measure with Pearson Product-Moment Correlation in SPSS (version15.0) was employed to find out if there are any correlations between the subjects’ phonological awareness and their listening comprehension. Results from this study showed that the subjects’ phonological awareness had a significant correlation with their listening comprehension. As for the two aspects of phonology, both segmental phonology and suprasegmental phonology had significant correlation with the subjects’ listening comprehension. This study may therefore be of some help in understanding the relationships between the two aspects of phonology and listening comprehension of EFL learners. Key words: segmental phonology, suprasegmental phonology, phonological awareness, listening comprehension
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Shen, Chia-Hui, and 沈佳慧. "The Effects of Post-Reading Activities on Young EFL Learners' Word Learning." Thesis, 2009. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/72941411897531481361.
Full textAbstract:
碩士臺北市立教育大學
英語教學系碩士班
97
Many teachers give little or no classroom attention to direct vocabulary instruction, assuming students will learn words incidentally through reading. This study used storybooks to assess the effects of word learning in three post-reading activities: word learning in context, word learning in isolation, and repeated reading, which was served as the controlled condition. Three intact classes of 48 fifth-grade Chinese-speaking children and three intact classes of 60 sixth graders at an elementary school in Taipei city were recruited for the study. A counterbalanced treatment, posttest-only design was used. The results showed that the post-reading activities which involved word learning in isolation promoted word recognition beyond word learning in context and repeated reading. For the higher-proficiency students, those receiving word instruction in isolation performed significantly better than those who received no word instruction but read the stories repeatedly as well as those receiving word instruction in context. On the other hand, no significant main effect of post-reading activities on written or spoken word recognition was found in favor of the lower-proficiency students. These findings have important implications for the use of post-reading activities on Chinese EFL learners’ word learning and provide directions for future research.
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Lin, Yue-Ru, and 林悅如. "The Effects of Using Rhyming Texts on EFL Young Learners' Vocabulary Learning." Thesis, 2016. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/13788544176286262498.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立彰化師範大學
兒童英語研究所
104
Rhymes have been proven to be beneficial for promoting EFL young learners’ learning motivation and phonological awareness. However, there is a lack of research which has empirically confirmed the efficacy of using rhyming texts to promote EFL young learners’ vocabulary learning. Hence, the present study was aiming at investigating the effects of using rhyming texts to promote EFL young learners’ word memorization efficiency, more specifically, their word meaning and spelling learning retention. Four intact classes of 90 EFL eighth graders in northern Taiwan participated in the present study. The experimental group received rhyming text instruction, while the control group received non-rhyming text instruction for a total duration of 240 minutes. A Word Selection Test, an Immediate Word Meaning Test, an Immediate Word Spelling Test, a Delayed Word Meaning Test, and a Delayed Word Spelling Test were adopted in this research for data collection. The test results were analyzed through independent t-tests, paired samples t-tests, and Pearson’s chi-square tests. The results of the present study indicate that rhyming texts are significantly (α=.05) facilitative for EFL young learners’ immediate word meaning learning as compared to non-rhyming versions, while no significant positive effects (p>.05) were found on promoting the participants’ delayed word meaning learning retention. The results reveal that though rhymes seem to be facilitative for young learners’ word meaning learning, if their level of processing is not deep enough, their word meaning learning would not be retained since there was no application stage in the learning process. As for their word spelling learning, the results indicate that text types may not be a critical variable in determining EFL young learners’ spelling performance since spelling is concerned with the internal structure of words. The findings of this study provide evidence that applying rhyming texts as teaching materials can boost EFL young learner’s immediate word meaning learning.
48
Lin, Jia-Ying, and 林佳穎. "The Impact of YouTube on Raising EFL Young Learners’ Cross-Cultural Awareness." Thesis, 2016. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/32918241148185997257.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立東華大學
英美語文學系
104
Scholars proposed that language and culture are inseparable; however, the teaching of English in Taiwan’s elementary schools still tends to lay more emphasis on vocabulary and grammar. Thus, culture was unvalued. In addition, scholars also proposed the importance of cross-cultural awareness in EFL learners’ English learning; however, it is still neglected in Taiwan. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the impact of YouTube on raising EFL young learners’ cross-cultural awareness. Besides, the participants’ motivation toward cultural and English learning and their perceptions of the cross-cultural learning (CCL) program were also explored. This study employed a mixed methods research design, which was dominated by a qualitative case study and supplemented by quantitative methods. The participants of this study were six sixth graders and the program lasted for forty minutes, eight lessons. The data was collected through video recording observation, the researcher’s reflective journals, interview, cross-cultural learning worksheets, pre-/post-cross-cultural awareness questionnaires, pre-/post-motivation/attitude questionnaires. The results indicated that YouTube had positive impacts on raising the participants’ cross-cultural awareness in terms of the following three categories: 1) Awareness of culture; 2) Stereotyping and bias; 3) Tolerance. More importantly, all of the participants’ cross-cultural awareness was raised to the proficient level in terms of their tolerance and which is exactly the category that the researcher values the most among the three categories. Besides, all participants’ motivation in terms of motivational intensity, desire to learn and attitude toward the learning of English and culture was increased after they received the CCL program. Furthermore, the participants’ perceptions of the CCL program were also all positive and revealed that there were three more factors that contributed to the positive outcomes of this study. The three factors are listed as follows: 1) Intriguing and meaningful learning content; 2) Inspiring teaching methods and student-centered learning activities; 3) A pleasing and relaxing learning atmosphere.
49
Chen, Jodie, and 陳靜君. "Vocabulary Learning through Shared Reading: A Study on young Taiwanese EFL learners." Thesis, 2007. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/22527569012210039882.
Full textAbstract:
碩士東海大學
外國語文學系
95
This study was developed and implemented in an elementary school in Nantou to assess whether different instructional treatments would enhance vocabulary gain. The program uses two approaches to provide vocabulary development: (1) shared reading with storytelling, and (2) shared reading with explicit vocabulary instruction. A mixed class of 24 elementary school students from grade 4 to grade 6 (including 10 boys and 14 girls) were invited to participate throughout the 9-week implementation period. Participants’ pre and posttests before and after incorporating the storytelling and explicit vocabulary instruction in a storybook shared reading program were administered and analyzed. Results from the t tests indicate that the both shared reading with storytelling as well as shared reading with explicit vocabulary instruction cultivate participants’ vocabulary growth. It was also found that shared reading with explicit vocabulary instruction better enhanced participants’ vocabulary gain than shared reading with storytelling did. Moreover, shared reading with explicit vocabulary instruction helped novice EFL lower-achievers far more than novice EFL higher-achievers in terms of vocabulary gain. Further research on long-term treatment effects and on the possible positive effect of a new treatment termed shared reading with combined storytelling and explicit vocabulary instruction is recommended. Key Words: explicit vocabulary instruction, incidental vocabulary learning, shared reading, novice EFL learners
50
Hsu, Yen-Tin, and 徐嬿婷. "The Impact of Co-teaching on Learners’ Speaking Anxiety: The Case of Young EFL Learners in Taiwan." Thesis, 2017. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/mw8hup.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立臺灣師範大學
英語學系
105
Since the beginning of 21 century, more and more schools in Taiwan have implemented co-teaching classroom, having both native English-speaking teachers (ETAs) and non-native English-speaking teachers cooperate together. More research have delved into how to make this cooperation better but few investigated students’ language anxiety, which is an important variable that could impede students’ learning outcome and teaching effectiveness. This study intends to explore the impact of English teacher assistants on their learners’ foreign language anxiety in the co-teaching classroom in Taiwan. Two research questions were addressed at the students’ and teachers’ perceptions of students’ language learning anxiety and the relationship between students’ learning anxiety and their speaking performance. To answer the research question, 68 ETAs, 140 LETs and 4970 learners in Taiwan completed the adapted FLCAS (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale) questionnaires. Two schools in the northern area of Taiwan was selected as the observation sites and selected students took oral pre and posttest to investigate the relationship between language anxiety and speaking performance. Data were collected through a mixed method, using mainly quantitative approach with qualitative approach complementing it. Based on the data of the adapted questionnaire, oral performance, classroom observation, interviews and field notes, results revealed that ETAs’ impact was shown in two aspects. Creating more opportunities to communicate in English and ETAs’ encouraging feedback led to the reduction of learners’ speaking anxiety. Also, ETAs had positive influence on students’ speaking performance, improving both their fluency and accuracy. However, there were still some areas that needed more attention such as general anxiety, which did not have lots of reduction in this study. By examining learners’ and teachers’ perceptions toward language anxiety in the co-teaching classroom, this study hopes to raise the awareness of the importance of language anxiety in co-teaching classroom and further facilitate co-teaching program in Taiwan.