Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Foreign language (EFL) classroom'
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Burke, C. C. "Teacher effectiveness in the EFL (English as a foreign language) classroom." Thesis, Swansea University, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.636181.
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This research act was primarily concerned with investigating the extent to which teaching effectiveness was believed to be affected when EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers in Greece were provided with feedback information concerning prior student assessments of their teaching performance. An experimental group of 11 volunteer instructors was selected from Athens/Piraeus area. Each instructor was evaluated (tested) three times during an eight month course period. An originally designed Student Opinion Survey of EFL Teachers was the rating instrument used by the participating students. A t-test was used to determine whether or not there were any significant changes between Test 1 and Test 2, Test 2 and Test 3, and Test 1 and Test 3 of the mean ratings of all the components of the measuring instrument. Though it was hypothesised that the frequent implementation of a specialised EFL student evaluation of teacher performance questionnaire would show significant changes in the teachers' overall teaching performance, the statistical findings show that there are no discernible significant differences between all but three of the given Tests. This lack of variability is possibly due to the instructors' self-concepts about teaching EFL under conditions prevalent in private Greek language schools, and a lack of frequent interpretive 'lq dialogues concerning student feedback of their teaching effectiveness. Other possible factors related to the lack of significant finds, including, the time period when the ratings were administered and the feedback shared, and the possible lack of instrument sophistication in quantifying affective attitudes. Along with other suggested recommendations based on the results of this study, this researcher concludes that more research should be undertaken to establish relationships between teaching effectiveness and instructor attitudes about EFL instruction in Greece, about Greek students, and about teaching in general, not only to warrant significant changes in teaching performance, but also to ensure more effective teaching practices in the EFL classroom.
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Do, Juhyun. "EFL Teaching on the Ground: A Case Study of Primary EFL Classroom in Korea." The Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492694900754303.
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Ståhlberg, Sophie. "Using Literature in the Upper Secondary EFL Classroom." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för språk, litteratur och interkultur, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-34935.
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The Swedish upper-secondary level curriculum defines the English language as a necessary skill that the students need to be able to take part of the world around them, to participate in different social and cultural contexts and to learn about the world and broaden their horizons. In the curriculum, it is also stated that English literature is to be illustrate the different aspects of the English language. Literature is, in fact, introduced as a vital tool for the teachers of English. The purpose of this essay is to explore English teachers’ reasons and goals for using literature when teaching English, as well as their opinions on how literature should be used and is used in the English classroom. The results show that teachers see literature as a strong pedagogical tool that they use to help their students develop social and cultural understanding, as well as a tool for learning and studying the language itself. The problems encountered are the students’ negative attitude towards literature and their lack of motivation as well as planning and conducting literature-based teaching within a restricted time frame. All the teachers that took part in the study wished that they could use literature in a more extensive way and saw it as a great source for teaching a foreign language.
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Neff, Peter Edward. "Peer Review Use in the EFL Writing Classroom." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2015. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/329896.
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CITE/Language ArtsEd.D.
This study was an examination of peer review use in English composition courses at a Japanese university. Approximately 100 students in four writing classes engaged in four modes of peer review modes: face-to-face, handwritten (both on-draft and using an evaluation sheet), and computer-assisted. The learners in the study represented a range of proficiencies, from lower-intermediate to advanced, so the assigned writing passages were limited to single paragraphs rather than full-length essays, which has typically been the case in prior research in this area. Each peer review session was preceded by training in peer review, including modeling and whole-class editing, as well as suggestions for each particular mode the learners participated in. After each session, students completed questionnaires in order to assess their evaluations of the activities, both as reviewers and comment receivers. The questionnaire data were then analyzed using a variety of statistical methods--including Rasch analysis descriptive statistics, and parametric and non-parametric measures--first to validate the questionnaire instrument, and second to ascertain the degree to which each peer review modes was viewed favorably or unfavorably received by the participants. Additionally, the participants' written drafts and peer comments were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed in order to answer several research questions that focused on: the number and type of peer suggestions the learners made in each mode, the number and type of suggestions that were incorporated into later drafts by the authors, the degree to which suggestions and revisions were affected by learner proficiency, and the accuracy of the peer suggestions. For the research questions concerned with learner evaluations of the peer review modes, findings were mixed. The participants responded favorably to reading others' drafts and receiving comments, but they were less comfortable reviewing and making suggestions for their peers. Computer-assisted peer review was the most positively received overall, particularly from those in the High Proficiency Group. Person measures for Low Proficiency learners, on the other hand, were generally higher for on-draft peer review, while those for Intermediate Proficiency participants tended not to indicate strong endorsement for any particular mode. In order to answer the next set of research questions, the participants' drafts and peer suggestions were analyzed. Most of the learners' suggestions, particularly for those in the Low Proficiency Group, tended to be local in nature, concerning such areas as word choice, grammar, and mechanics; fewer suggestions were made at the sentence- or whole-text-level. In terms of incorporation of suggestion by authors into later drafts, oral peer review led to the highest rate of suggested revisions while review using an evaluation sheet of guided questions resulted in the lowest rate. Learner proficiency did not have a significant bearing on suggestions or revisions, except in the case of the High Proficiency Group, whose members made significantly more suggestions during computer-assisted peer review than during the other modes. Finally, over 73% of peer suggestions were determined to be accurate across all four modes. These findings indicate that peer review can work on even the most limited of scales with learners of even modest language proficiency. No single mode of peer review succeeded in all areas, and instructors are encouraged to blend different modes if possible. However, if a single mode is preferred or required, computer-assisted review is strong choice.
Temple University--Theses
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Tantihachai, Kittima. "Foreign language anxiety in listening and speaking English in a Thai EFL classroom." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/28822.
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This current research study is an exploratory study which has the aim to investigate language anxiety experienced by students majoring in English for International Communication (EIC) at the college in a university in the southern part of Thailand. This study adopted an interpretive methodology that used a sequential mixed methods approach for data collection. There were 42 students participating in the quantitative study whilst 6 students in qualitative study. The data, both quantitative and qualitative, were collected through questionnaire, diary and semi-structured interview. Data were analysed quantitatively using SPSS descriptive statistics and Factor Analysis while the thematic analysis was used as qualitative method. The findings revealed that all participants experienced language anxiety in class. Their sources of anxiety mostly were from the students themselves. Diary writing activity—one of the research instruments—had a very positive effect as it enabled students to deal with their anxiety and improved the situation.
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Robbie, Sheila. "Drama and writing in the 'English as a foreign language' classroom : an experimental study of the use of drama to promote writing in the foreign classroom." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 1998. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10020299/.
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This thesis explores issues in the development of foreign language writing abilities in a Portuguese setting. The study is based on a research project carried out in 1993 in three University classrooms, where the author was teaching. It investigates what happens when educational drama is brought into the EFL classroom as part of a teaching programme with a view to improving writing abilities. Set in a Vygotskian framework, educational drama is used as a mediating device to attend to a whole set of factors not usually salient in L2 writing. The study covers all 108 students majoring in EFL at that time. The students were proficient in both oral work and grammar exercises but had difficulties writing in English. Two obligatory drama workshops were carried out in English with each group of students during their second term of study and all written work carried out during the term stemmed from the workshops. Large amounts of data were analysed by qualitative and quantitative methods. Writing assignments pre/post drama workshops were collected. Drama workshops were monitored via audio and video recording. Questionnaires were given to the students during the pre and post data collection periods to measure writing apprehension. Student writing was found to improve significantly in both content and grammatical fluency in a relatively short period of time. Drawing on linguistic and social semiotic analyses, the project examines the nature of the different written texts produced in this particular educational environment and the interaction between the use of drama and the writing process itself through the concept of transformation. In terms of a larger Vygotskian framework it looks at the role of thinking in learning, development and instruction in a way which bridges difficult conceptual phases in foreign language teaching. Key words: EFL, foreign languages, writing, Vygotsky, drama, Social Semiotics, transformation.
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Inada, Takako. "Determinants of foreign language classroom anxiety in a Japanese EFL university classroom and its relationship to native language use by students." Thesis, Birkbeck (University of London), 2017. http://bbktheses.da.ulcc.ac.uk/333/.
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This research was conducted to investigate foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) among Japanese college students taking English as a foreign language (EFL), focusing mainly on the relationship between FLCA and first language (L1) use in English task-based classes. Factors possibly affecting FLCA, such as gender, proficiency level, enthusiasm, self-confidence, and teacher-type preference, were also investigated to obtain a holistic picture. A cross-sectional research design with a mixed-methods approach (questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews) was adopted. Japanese EFL college students were found to have various degrees of FLCA. Overall, students with the highest anxiety levels were females (who felt stronger self-consciousness and peer pressure), beginners, and those who had poorer comprehension, showed less enthusiasm, studied less at home, spoke less English outside class, had lower self-confidence, took fewer risks, exhibited a higher desire to use Japanese in class, and preferred bilingual Japanese-native teachers (BJNT). However, even students who were enthusiastic about studying English sometimes had higher anxiety, which was considered to be facilitative in nature on the basis of the existing literature. Beginners wanted to use more L1 than advanced-level students for clarification, but advanced-level students also needed L1 for understanding difficult materials. Higher enthusiasm was important for reducing anxiety and increasing self-confidence. Interestingly, although higher self-confidence was important for reducing anxiety, higher proficiency, rather than higher self-confidence, affected the amount of L1 use by students. The finding that the more English students spoke outside class, the less anxious they became suggests that students need more practice speaking TL to decrease their anxiety. However, even students with higher enthusiasm who took optional classes sometimes wanted to use L1 in class. Qualitative observations lent support to quantitative findings and helped to explain a number of interesting phenomena. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed, together with suggestions for further research.
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Samad, Abdus. "An exploratory investigation of foreign language classroom speaking anxiety amongst Pakistani EFL university students." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/17101.
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Foreign language anxiety is a phenomenon specific to language learning contexts that can have seriously detrimental consequences on the ability of students to acquire, retain, and speak the language they are learning. To the best of my knowledge, this study is the first to be carried out on foreign language classroom speaking anxiety (SA) specifically in the Pakistani context. The overall purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions of Pakistani postgraduate (MA/MSc) non-major EFL (English as a foreign language) students about SA. It attempts to achieve the following four objectives: to explore whether speaking creates more anxiety than reading, writing, and listening; to identify the factors that may contribute to SA; to investigate the type of teacher behaviour and classroom activities that may alleviate SA; and to explore Pakistani EFL university teachers’ perceptions of their students’ SA along with the strategies used by teachers to reduce it. This study has been conducted using an interpretive approach. It employed a mixed-methods approach, combining both quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (open-ended questions in the questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and semi-structured classroom observations) to collect data from five universities in Pakistan. The questionnaire was completed by 170 Pakistani EFL students. In order to achieve a deep understanding of their SA, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 students. 14 Pakistani EFL teachers were also interviewed and 12 classes taught by three teachers were observed. Quantitative data were analysed to obtain descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analysed using exploratory content analysis. The study suggests that of the four skills, speaking produces the most anxiety. Findings also highlight a number of sources of SA which have been classified into five main categories: individual learner-related sources, classroom-related sources, linguistic-related sources, teacher-student interaction, and socio-cultural-related sources. The study highlights some possible sources of SA such as: lack of student voice; teacher bias; fear of saying anything socially unacceptable or against religion; cultural alienation; and mixed-gender classrooms, all of which do not appear to have been reported earlier in the field of language anxiety. Moreover, only a few studies have reported socio-cultural factors as contributors to students’ SA; as such, this study reinforces the idea that certain socio-cultural factors may also influence students’ SA. Further, the students suggest that a variety of teacher behaviours could both reduce their SA and encourage their spoken English in class. These include: having a friendly, supportive, and relaxed attitude towards students; providing them with a sociable classroom environment; using positive reinforcement; involving them in the learning process, and correcting their mistakes gently. In addition, the data reveal a number of classroom activities which may reduce SA. These include allowing students: to prepare oral tasks in advance; to work in groups; to use some Urdu when they cannot express themselves in English; voluntary participation in oral tasks, and providing students with adequate wait-time. Finally, the findings indicate that most of the teachers were not fully aware of SA and its potentially debilitating effects on language learning. As a consequence, they did not take students’ SA into account when they were teaching. In addition, a model of identifying factors, initiatives and behaviours required to address the sources of Pakistani EFL learners’ speaking anxiety has been proposed. The theoretical implications of the study are offered. Implications and suggestions for teachers and educational/language policy-makers are discussed. Finally, suggestions for further research are provided.
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Longhurst, Mark. "The Benefits of Explicit Vocabulary Teaching in the EFL Classroom." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Lärarutbildningen (LUT), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-32832.
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For students of English as a foreign language (EFL), a certain level of knowledge of vocabulary is required for successful communication to occur. Based on personal experiences in the classroom which have shown that students often lack language variation, accuracy, coherence and descriptiveness, this paper deals with the issue of teaching vocabulary in a more conscientious and focused way to help ensure that students will become more competent in using the language effectively. The Swedish curriculum for English, LGR11, is built up around the ideology known as communicative language teaching (CLT). This entails that as long as a learner is exposed to a foreign language, and has sufficient opportunities to use that language, the learning of the language will occur. The results of this paper suggest that we cannot only rely on a pure form of CLT for students to reach higher ability levels, but that a certain amount of focused vocabulary teaching, in context with classroom activities, is also necessary.
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Zhao, Xin. "English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning through classroom interaction : an investigation of participants' collaborative use of speech prosody in classroom activities in a secondary EFL classroom." Thesis, University of Bath, 2015. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.675689.
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Conversational prosody or tone of voice (e.g. intonation, pauses, speech rate etc.) plays an essential role in our daily communication. Research studies in various contexts have shown that prosody can function as an interactional device for the management of our social interaction (Hellermann, 2003, Wennerstrom, 2001, Wells and Macfarlane, 1998, Couper-Kuhlen, 1996). However, not much research focus has been given to the pedagogical implications of conversational prosody in classroom teaching and learning. Informed by Community of Practice theory (Lave and Wenger, 1991) and Academic Task and Social Participation Structure (Erickson, 1982), which place participation at the core of the learning development, the current research employs an exploratory case study to examine the function of speech prosody during the co-construction of classroom talk-in-interaction in and between different classroom activities (e.g. whole class instruction, group discussion, group presentation, etc.). Audio–video data of classroom lessons were collected over a two-month period. Transcribing conventions described by Atkinson and Heritage (1984) were adopted to note the prosodic features in the recordings. Prosodic features such as pauses, volume, intonation, and speech rate were set as the main criteria for analysing the classroom talk. Analysis of the transcripts showed that speech prosody can function as a coordination tool for language learners to organise their social participation roles in collaborative learning activities (e.g. forming alignment, managing turn-taking, signalling repair sequences, etc.). The research also showed that prosody can function as a pedagogical tool for language teachers to manage classroom interactional ground (e.g. provide scaffolding, align academic task structure and social participation structure, frame classroom environment, etc.). Moreover, the research showed that prosodic analysis can be an effective tool in unfolding the pedagogical importance of classroom interaction (e.g. IRE/F sequences) in classroom teaching and learning.
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Sell, Jared Benjamin. "Taking the "Foreign" Out of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2017. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6876.
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Anxiety in the language classroom is an important issue because it affects student performance (Woodrow, 2006). The majority of research conducted has focused on anxiety or apprehension that language learners experience in a foreign language classroom, including students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Only a few studies have been done, however, that address the needs of learners experiencing anxiety in an ESL setting. Data were gathered from 179 students attending a university sponsored intensive English program using a modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986) and focus groups. Initial scores on the FLCAS were obtained via student survey responses. In addition to the survey results, students also identified additional factors affecting their anxiety in the ESL classrooms in the areas of student beliefs (Price, 1991) and communication with peers. Furthermore, statistically significant results were found when comparing the students' first language (L1) with the survey results. Different types and levels of anxiety were shown to occur for Spanish and Portuguese students as well as Chinese, Korean, and Japanese students. The data gathered from the focus groups and open-ended questions provided clarity too to the overall scores obtained on the FLCAS.
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Östlund, Fredrik. "British vs American English : Pronunciation in the EFL Classroom." Thesis, Karlstad University, Division for Culture and Communication, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-31.
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Today English is a world language; it is spoken by millions both as first and second language almost all over the world. The varieties best known to Swedish pupils are the varieties British and American English. Another variety of English, which is spoken by both native and non-native speakers, is a mixture of British English and American English called Mid-Atlantic English. As long as the English language has been a part of the Swedish curriculum, the leading variety taught has been British English, but lately American English has influenced Swedish teenagers because of its prominent status in media. Since both British English and American English are used in Swedish schools, different attitudes can be perceived among pupils and teachers towards these two varieties. The aim of this paper is to determine if Swedish pupils are using British or American English or if they mix these two varieties. Attitudes and prejudice amongst pupils and their teachers towards these two varieties are looked into as well as whether the pupils speak the variety of English they claim they speak. The question of why the pupils speak the variety they do is also investigated. The results show that most pupils mix British and American English and that American English features predominate in the mix. According to this investigation, teachers and pupils find British English to be a bit “snobbish” while American English can sound a bit “cocky” to them. This investigation concludes that the two major influences on the pupils are their teachers and different kind of media.
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Hedberg, Sofie. "Storytelling and vocabulary development within the EFL-classroom in Sweden." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Pedagogiskt arbete, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-35726.
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Due to our constantly evolving society and our opportunity to communicate across borders,English language learning is becoming increasingly important for the individual and his/herability to act and live in the world. The importance of learning English as a foreign language(EFL) is also emphasized in the Swedish curriculum, which further states that the teaching inthe lower grades of schooling should focus on communicative skills such as vocabularyacquisition. This is in line with previous research studies which describe that the knowledge ofvocabulary is main key to learn a language. Previous research studies have been done withinthis area of EFL teaching where storytelling has been used as a method for English vocabularyacquisition. The results of these research studies indicate that the storytelling method is verybeneficial to use within EFL teaching in the lower grades of schooling as it creates a teachingcontent familiar and interesting to the students. With the knowledge of the importance ofvocabulary acquisition and, the benefits the storytelling method can contribute with it isinteresting to further investigate how this method is implemented in a Swedish context. As ofthis, the main aim of this empirical study is to investigate how storytelling can be used as amethod for teaching English vocabulary to 1-3rd grade EFL students in Sweden and also, whatteachers think about this method.To collect data to this study six semi-structured interviews were conducted with 1-3rd gradeteachers in Sweden. The results show that the informants have an overall positive attitudetowards storytelling as a method to teach English vocabulary. Additionally, all teacher expressthat they use this method in their own EFL teaching but in various extent. The most interestingfindings were the different approaches the teachers use within the storytelling method and also,how the teachers support their students in order to enhance their comprehension of the teachingcontent. Future research within this area is needed and specifically within a Swedish context.More research on the storytelling method and its possibilities to EFL acquisition could strengthen the argument why this method should be used more frequently to teach vocabulary within EFL education in Sweden.Engelska
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Aeginitou, Violetta. "#Begin your sentences with a capital letter' : facework and politeness in the Greek EFL classroom." Thesis, Lancaster University, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.260191.
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Alomari, Linda Fatima. "Oral Participation in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in the Swedish 7-9 Classroom." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-33524.
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Andersson, Sigrid. "Pronunciation Teaching in the Swedish EFL Classroom." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-34572.
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This essay aims to explore how Swedish teachers of English view the shift from a Native Speaker ideal to English as a Global Language in connection to pronunciation teaching. The essay also aims to explore how the teachers teach this in practice. By interviewing five professional teachers, the results of the study showed that most of the teachers did not teach pronunciation explicitly and believed that pronunciation teaching should be integrated into other parts of language learning. None of the teachers claimed to expect their students to be able to speak with a native accent but believed that the previous views on pronunciation teaching, to some extent, still lingers on. Furthermore, all teachers did use American English or British English when teaching pronunciation but did not expect their students to use these dialects when speaking English. The teachers believed that their students mainly spoke with a dialect influenced by American English since this dialect is what the students mostly hear outside the classroom.This essay is primarily relevant to Swedish EFL teachers and students who are becoming teachers of English, but this study may also contribute to global research within pronunciation teaching. Because of the lack of guidelines regarding pronunciation teaching in the syllabus, the insight in the views and teaching methods of pronunciation teaching can function as a guideline and inspiration for how to teach pronunciation in a continuously globalized world where the views on the English language continually changes.
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Al, Zahrani Turki Saad. "Creating Guidelines for Integrating Technology in English Foreign Language Classrooms in Saudi Arabia." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/99145.
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The Saudi Arabia Ministry of Education (MoE) has implemented new policies and reform programs for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to integrate technology in their classrooms. Creating a set of guidelines may provide a solution to guide EFL teachers through implementing technology to teach EFL skills in their classroom. Using a developmental study, comprised of three phases (analysis, design and development, and evaluation and revision), research-based instructional strategies were operationalized using a set of guidelines instruction to guide EFL teachers to integrate technology in their EFL classroom. Using a comprehensive literature review and evaluation by expert reviewers and users, guidelines were designed and evaluated to provide EFL teachers with instructional strategies and supporting technology solutions to implement in their EFL classrooms. This study describes the development process of the guidelines, the expert review and users, and the validation and usability of the final product in the Saudi context.PHD
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Chao, Tzu-Chia. "Teaching and learning EFL through multiple intelligences : voices from a university classroom." Monash University, Faculty of Education, 2004. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/5430.
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Dahlin, Frida. "Multilingualism in the English classroom - Positive and challenging aspects of using students first language as a tool in foreign language education." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-75539.
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Due to an increasing number of students in the Swedish schools who has another first language than Swedish, multilingualism is now a feature all teachers must consider – and language teachers in particular. While multilingualism previously was believed to cause intellectual disabilities, more current research has showed the benefits of being proficient in several languages. Pedagogical strategies such as translanguaging, in which a students’ entire linguistic repertoire is recognized, has been developed, and studies have shown that this has increased students’ metalinguistic awareness. Despite this, a policy analysis of steering documents shows that other languages possibly could be interpreted as a problem in English education. By conducting interviews with English teachers I have identified positive as well as challenging aspects of using students’ first languages in English education in a multilingual classroom. This has concluded in a number of suggestions to policy makers, educators and researchers, in order to better make use of the positive aspects of multilingualism and solve some of the challenges.
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Nääs, Anna. "Teachers’ Choice of Instructional Language in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom : A literature review on teachers’ use of first language and target language in the EFL classroom." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Engelska, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-30810.
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There are many different perceptions when it comes to teachers’ instructional language choice in the EFL classroom. Some argue for maximum use of the target language while others believe that judicious use of the L1 can benefit the students’ second language learning. The aim of this study is to investigate what research says about teachers’ target language use and first language use in upper level EFL classrooms, as well as teachers’ attitudes and beliefs regarding the choice of instructional language. The findings from this systematic literature review show that teachers mainly used L1 to save time, to explain grammar and vocabulary and to create a positive classroom atmosphere. Furthermore, the results also showed that teachers’ choice to use L1 heavily depended on students’ level of proficiency. Lastly, the results indicate that teachers not always use the L1 for pedagogical reasons, but in many cases for pragmatical reasons, individual beliefs and out of concern for students’ well-being.
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Hadzic, Sanja. "Oral and Written Teacher Feedback in an English as a Foreign Language Classroom in Sweden." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för utbildningsvetenskap (UV), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-55719.
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When teaching English as a foreign language (EFL), teachers use feedback in order to help students to improve their English skills. They can use both oral and written feedback to encourage students to make progress. Oral and written feedback play a significant role in second language acquisition, and this study could raise teachers' awareness of the different feedback strategies that can be employed in EFL classrooms. This could benefit their teaching performance and students’ learning. This study aims to examine the different types of oral and written feedback used in the EFL classroom, as well as teachers’ own perceptions of feedback. The approach used to conduct this study was both quantitative and qualitative. Three types of data material were collected in a secondary school (grades 7-9) for the analysis: three secondary school teachers were interviewed; their English lessons were observed; and their feedback on student essays was collected. The material collected was used in the analysis, which indicated that the teachers used different types of feedback. The most frequent oral feedback types used were recast, elicitation, and praise. However, the teachers employed different strategies regarding to how they provide this feedback. Two of the teachers provided feedback in the traditional way by using corrective types of feedback frequently, while one teacher chose not to correct students too often and instead encouraged them by giving them praise. The evaluation of different feedback types performed in this study suggests that recast as an implicit feedback type provided orally could be more effective in a communicative classroom setting, as it does not interrupt the communicative flow. In writing, on the other hand, explicit feedback combined with face-to-face sessions could lead to better results. It would be interesting to investigate in further research the effects of different oral and written feedback types.
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Belsky, Stella. "The Effects of Using Children's Literature with Adolescents in the English As a Foreign Language Classroom." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2006. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5481/.
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This study provides quantitative and qualitative data about the effects of using children's literature with adolescents in a language classroom and the role of children's literature in students' second/foreign language development, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. The study presents qualitative data about the role of children's literature in developing more positive attitudes toward reading in the second/foreign language and toward reading in general. With literature being a model of a culture, presenting linguistic benefits for language learners, teaching communication, and being a motivator in language learning, this study presents empirical data that show that inclusion of children's literature in adolescents' second/foreign language classroom promotes appreciation and enjoyment of literature, enhances the development of language skills, stimulates more advanced learning, and promotes students' personal growth.
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Loberg, Anne. "Differentiated instruction in the EFL Classroom : Accommodation for advanced students in Swedish Primary Education." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för humaniora, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-32449.
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Classrooms in Sweden are heterogeneous and this is acknowledged in the curriculum, stating that all students have an equal right to education at their own level. Teachers must, therefore, design their teaching plan taking this into account. Previous investigations have shown that the Swedish schools do not fulfill this completely for advanced students. The objective of this study was to examine how Swedish teachers differentiate their English as foreign language (EFL) lessons to reach the advanced English students in the lower grades, what challenges they experiences and how they assess the students’ learning outcomes. Information was obtained through a survey and semi-structured interviews with preschool class and grade 1-3 teachers. The survey and question about participation in an interview, was emailed to schools in 74 randomly chosen municipalities all across Sweden. A total of 156 answers to the survey and five interviews are included in the analyses. The results show that the majority of teachers with experience of advanced students differentiate instruction, by using several different strategies; they experience several challenges, the heterogeneous class room as the most common; and, they assess that differentiated instruction has a small positive effect on the advanced students’ learning outcomes in general.
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Wikström, Debra. "Learning by Reading : A literature study on the use of authentic texts in the EFL upper elementary classroom." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Pedagogiskt arbete, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-20874.
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The English language is widely used throughout the world and has become a core subject in many countries, especially for students in the upper elementary classroom. While textbooks have been the preferred EFL teaching method for a long time, this belief has seemingly changed within the last few years. Therefore, this study looks at what prior research says about the use of authentic texts in the EFL upper elementary classroom with an aim to answer research questions on how teachers can work with authentic texts, what the potential benefits of using authentic texts are and what teachers and students say about the use of authentic texts in the EFL classroom. While this thesis is written from a Swedish perspective, it is recognized that many countries teach EFL. Therefore, international results have also been taken into consideration and seven previous research studies have been analyzed in order to gain a better understanding of the use of authentic texts in the EFL classroom. Results indicate that the use of authentic texts is beneficial in teaching EFL. However, many teachers are still reluctant to use these, mainly because of time constraints and the belief that such texts are too difficult for their students. Since these findings are mainly focused on areas outside of Sweden, additional research is needed before conclusions can be drawn on the use of authentic texts in the Swedish upper elementary EFL classroom.Engelska
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Müller, Claudia [Verfasser]. "Serious Games for Global Education : Digital Game-Based Learning in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Classroom / Claudia Müller." Frankfurt a.M. : Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2017. http://d-nb.info/1148910794/34.
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Burström, Julia. "How speaking anxiety affects students in the foreign language classroom : A comparison of English and Spanish learners in Swedish high schools." Thesis, Luleå tekniska universitet, Pedagogik, språk och Ämnesdidaktik, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-79027.
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The study investigated the phenomenon of speaking anxiety in two groups of English learners and two groups of Spanish learners, studying in four different courses: English 5, 6 and Spanish 3, 4. The participants answered a background questionnaire, followed up with a modified foreign language anxiety scale. The students who wanted to also, participated in an interview where they gave more in depth answers about their experience with the phenomenon. The findings showed that students experienced speaking anxiety in relation to their language learning, but at different levels such as low, medium and high-level anxiety groups. In addition to this, possible remedies for speaking anxiety suggested by the participants was also presented in the study.
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Skogmyr, Marian Klara. "Doing solving spelling problems in a Swedish EFL classroom : A conversation analytic study." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-113171.
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This thesis investigates how high school students collaboratively solve naturally occurring spelling problems in an English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom in Stockholm, Sweden. The study is motivated by the scarcity of research on spelling solving, both in terms of the observable spelling practices adopted by the students and in terms of the collaborative management of spelling issues in the second/foreign language classroom. The theoretical and methodological framework is multimodal ethnomethodological conversation analysis (CA). The data consists of video recordings of ten EFL lessons that took place during five consecutive school days. The thesis focuses specifically on three spelling solving episodes and analyzes at the micro level the process by which the students go from initiating to closing the spelling solving sequence. In providing fine-grained accounts of the students’ verbal and embodied actions as they collaboratively attempt to solve the spelling problems, the thesis respecifies spelling solving strategies as observable spelling solving practices. The analysis demonstrates how the participants orient to spelling solving as an important form-focused activity. Moreover, the analysis shows how the students integrate different verbal and embodied resources as well as cultural artifacts to accomplish the spelling solving. Finally, the analysis demonstrates how the students’ relative orientations to individual versus collaborative achievements and their management of epistemic rights and responsibilities in completing the task influence the sequential organization and the outcome of the solving sequences. The thesis discusses the findings in relation to prior work on spelling solving and also points out potential implications for second/foreign language instruction that may be of use for current and future EFL instructors.
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Amir, Alia. "Doing Language Policy : A Micro-Interactional Study of Policy Practices in English as a Foreign Language Classes." Doctoral thesis, Linköpings universitet, Avdelningen för språk och kultur, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-100202.
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This study investigates foreign language classroom talk and micro-level language policy-in-process from an ethnomethodological conversation analytic perspective. The study is based on 20 hours of video recordings from 20 lessons in an English as a Foreign Language classroom (EFL) in grades 8 and 9 of an international compulsory school in Sweden between the years 2007 and 2010. The main purpose of the study is to shed light on some of the distinguishing features of how a target-language-only policy is materialised in situ in a foreign language classroom. The study demonstrates the relative ease with which teachers and pupils uphold a strict language policy in the classroom, but also the considerable interactional work that is done, by both teachers and pupils, in cases where upholding the policy becomes problematic. An interactional phenomenon which arises in such cases is language policing, where the teacher or pupils restore the policy-prescribed linguistic order. Such sequences are analysed in detail. The study increases our understanding of how language policy is lived out in practice, through interaction in the classroom.I denna studie undersöks klassrumsinteraktionen i undervisning i främmande språk och språkpolitisk praktik på mikronivå i ett etnometodologiskt och samtalsanalytiskt perspektiv. Studien bygger på 20 timmars videoinspelningar av 20 lektioner i engelska i årskurs 8 och 9 i en internationell grundskola i Sverige. Inspelningarna utfördes mellan 2007 och 2010. Studiens huvudsyfte är att belysa några särdrag i hur en målspråksexklusiv språkpolitik materialiseras in situ i undervisning i främmande språk. Studien påvisar att en sådan språkpolitik är förhållandevis enkel att upprätthålla i den dagliga interaktionen men den dokumenterar också det betydande interaktionella arbete som utförs, av både lärare och elever, i problematiska fall där språkpolitiken äventyras. Ett interaktionellt fenomen som uppträder i sådana fall är language policing, interaktiva sekvenser där lärare eller elever återupprättar den språkpolitiska ordningen. Sådana sekvenser analyseras i detalj. Denna studie bidrar till att öka vår förståelse av hur språkpolitik görs i praktiken, i den dagliga interaktionen i klassrummet.
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Lugoloobi-Nalunga, Maureen. "Teaching and learning English in a multilingual classroom : A study of code-switching in an EFL/ESL teaching/learning situation." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för språk, litteratur och interkultur, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-31682.
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This paper aims at finding out if code-switching is an asset or a problem in a multilingual classroom. The main goal of the study was to find out what impact code-switching into mother tongue has on L2 development and what learning/teaching situations induce the act of code-switching. Through classroom observation, interviews and a questionnaire data were collected and the main questions of the study answered.Previous research and the results from the present study show that code-switching is a natural phenomenon in L2 development and that code-switching has a positive impact on L2 development as it fulfils a significant number of functions in the classroom, including vocabulary and concept development, need for clarification and emphasis, provides a learning strategy for L2 acquisition, and generally helps students maintain and develop their L2.Denna rapport syftar till att ta reda på om kodväxling är en tillgång eller ett problem i ett flerspråkigt klassrum. Syftet med studien var att ta reda på vilken effekt kodväxling till annat språk har på andraspråksutveckling och vilka lärande-/undervisningssituationer som framkallar kodväxling. Genom klassrumobservationer, intervjuer och ett frågeformulär samlades data in.Tidigare forskning och resultaten från denna studie visar att kodväxling är ett naturligt fenomen i andraspråksutveckling och att den har en positiv inverkan på språkutvecklingen, eftersom den fyller ett stort antal funktioner i klassrummet, inklusive ökning av ordförrådet och begreppsförståelsen, fungerar som hjälp när det som läraren säger behöver betonas eller förtydligas, lärandestrategi för andraspråksinlärning, och hjälper slutligen elever att underhålla och utveckla sitt andraspråk.
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Moberg, Emilia. "Swedish Versus English : A Survey Study of Swedish Upper Secondary Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes Toward L1 Use in the EFL Classroom." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Engelska, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-35878.
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Whether there is a place for L1 use in the EFL classroom or not is a debated topic. Lately, a slight shift from an English-only approach toward a more accepting attitude toward L1 use can be seen. Additionally, teaching should “as far as possible” be conducted in English, according to the National Agency of Education, Skolverket (2011, p. 53). Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate upper secondary students’ and teachers’ attitudes toward L1 use in the EFL classroom in a Swedish context. Moreover, this study will aim to examine any potential connections between attitudes and societal and motivational factors. Via online questionnaires distributed to schools in Gävleborg county, 373 students and 15 teachers participated in the study. The findings in this study confirm the findings from the majority of previous attitudinal studies; there is a general consensus of a positive attitude toward L1 use among the students and teachers, but English should still be the main language used. Instead, a judicious use of L1 as a tool to facilitate comprehension is suggested. Finally, some factors such as motivation and L1 appear to affect the students’ and teachers’ preferences regarding L1 use in the EFL classroom as well.
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Bishop, Ryan M. (Ryan Marion). "Metaphor and the ESL Classroom." Thesis, North Texas State University, 1985. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500225/.
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This paper concentrates on the viability of using metaphor as a teaching tool in the English as a Second Language classroom. In doing so, a semantically-based theory of metaphor, like that presented by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), is employed as a base for the examination. Such a theory of metaphor presents a dramatic shift from theories, especially Aristotle's, of the past. The theory of metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson contends that language is essentially metaphorical and that much of our 'commonsense' knowledge about the world is derived from interpretations of reality and is manifested in metaphors central to a culture and its language. If this theory is true, then it stands to reason that a student attempting to learn English as a Second Language could profit greatly from metaphor instruction because such instruction would aid all areas of the language acquisition process.
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Clayton, John. "The Exchange of Power and Cultural Attitudes as Authentic Practice in Japanese EFL Pedagogical Spaces." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1305895854.
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Jakobsson, Christoffer, and Henrik Rydén. "A study of code-switching in four Swedish EFL-classrooms." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Lärarutbildningen (LUT), 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-29794.
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This dissertation aims to investigate when and why code-switching occurs and the attitudes towards code-switching among teachers and students in four EFL classrooms in two mediumsized secondary schools. To be able to reach the goals set forth for this study we used classroom observations, student questionnaires and teacher interviews. We managed to get thecooperation of four teachers and four classes of students, two classes of eight graders and two classes of ninth graders.The previous research on the subject of code-switching has shown both positive and negative sides of its use and existence. Although extensive research has been done on the subject it is far from complete and there are still many interesting aspects left to investigate. The resultspresented in this study and the opinions raised by the participating teachers and students are in line with the already given results. Our conclusions are that the use of code-switching can be both beneficial and negative in learning/teaching situations.
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Landström, Philip. "Foreign language anxiety among Swedish lower and upper secondary school students : A case study." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-47879.
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In classrooms all over the world, there are students who fear the attention of both teachers and peers alike. Anxiety is a cause for such fears and in foreign language classrooms it can be prevalent. Foreign language anxiety (FLA) is a concept developed by Horwitz et al (1986) to describe the unique anxiety that arises in a foreign language learning situation. Anxious students are less prone to use their target language and feel less motivated in their language studies, both of which have a negative effect on their learning. The aim of this study was to measure and compare anxiety levels among Swedish lower and upper secondary school students, identify major sources of anxiety and gain understanding of individuals’ perception of foreign language anxiety. 49 subjects from two classes participated in the study. Their anxiety was measured with the foreign language classroom anxiety scale (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz et al (1986). Interviews were used to gain insight into the subjects’ perception of foreign language anxiety. The results showed that a majority of the subjects were anxious and that students in the lower secondary school class were more anxious than the upper secondary school class. The identified major sources of anxiety were teacher-induced anxiety, fear of negative evaluation and general anxiety.I klassrum över hela världen finns det elever som är rädda för både lärarens och sina klasskamraters uppmärksamhet. Nervositet är en orsak till en sådan rädsla och kan vara vanligt i främmandespråkklassrum. Språkängslan inför främmande språk är ett begrepp utvecklat av Horwitz m. fl. (1986) för att beskriva den unika nervositet som uppstår vid lärande av främmande språk. Nervösa elever är mindre benägna att använda språket de lär sig och känner sig mindre motiverade att lära sig och båda sakerna har en negativ effekt på deras inlärning. Syftet med studien var att mäta och jämföra nervositetsnivåer bland svenska högstadie- och gymnasieelever, identifiera de största källorna till nervositet och få förståelse för elevers uppfattning av nervositet. 49 elever från två klasser deltog i studien. Deras nervositet mättes med skalan för språknervositet i samband med undervisning i främmande språk, utvecklad av Horwitz m fl (1986). Intervjuer användes för att få insikt i deltagarnas uppfattning om språknervositet inför främmande språk. Resultatet visade att en majoritet av deltagarna led av språknervositet och att högstadieeleverna i högre grad var nervösa än gymnasieeleverna. De största källorna till nervositet som identifierades var lärarorsakad nervositet, rädsla för negativt omdöme och generell nervositet.
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Arias, Morel Angela, and Louise Torgén. "The use of learning rubrics in English as a foreign language primary school classrooms in Sweden." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-33599.
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Learning rubrics are adapted to the students’ understanding, and contain a clear focus of what they are supposed to learn. Teachers’ knowledge about them seems to be limited, and assessment rubrics are a more common tool for teachers’ assessment practices (Alm, 2015).Even though the Swedish school curriculum encourages teachers to use formative assessment as an active part of their teaching, due to its beneficial factors for students learning development, studies have shown that summative assessment is a preferred practice among teachers.This paper analyzes the teachers use of learning rubrics in English as a foreign language classroom in the Swedish primary schools. The focus lays on finding out teachers experiences and beliefs about using learning rubrics as a formative assessment tool. According to theories and findings within formative assessment a certain set of criteria must be met, something which learning rubrics do. In order to fulfill this papers purpose, we combined a quantitative study that was carried out on 55 teachers, and a qualitative study that was centered around interviewing 5 teachers. Our results showed that 38 % of the 4-6 EFL teachers used a continuous formative assessment, which occurred during lessons or over a longer span of time. In regards to the use of learning rubrics only 3% used learning rubrics for a formative purpose. Results also revealed that a combination of learning rubrics, and assessment rubrics are more commonly used rather than only the use of learning rubrics in the language classroom. Through the combination of these two types of rubrics it helped in clarifying what was assessed and in what way it was assessed. It would also be used to make teachers’ arguments visible both for the students and the caretakers at home. However, if teachers do not apply the necessary adaptations to the formative process, the benefits are not obtained.
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Carling, Johanna. "Peer Feedback in the EFL Classroom : A Systematic Literature Review of Practices, Effects and Perceptions." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-104869.
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This systematic literature review investigates peer feedback in EFL education. Findings on practices, effects and teacher- and student perceptions of peer feedback are drawn together and thereby a multifaceted understanding of the phenomenon in EFL-related research is offered. The purpose of the study is to review and systematize previous research in order to enhance the understanding of peer feedback practices, effects and perceptions. Ten articles of practices, effects and perceptions were selected for this systematic literature review. The findings indicate that peer feedback is effective as it contributes to students’ written and oral L2 development. Organized feedback from teachers is more effectful as it gives learners clear instructions of what to focus on. Therefore, the teacher has an important role in peer feedback practices in order to make it as efficient as possible. Teacher- and student perceptions were both positive and negative. Teachers reported learners’ ability to identify errors in peer’s performance as a benefit. Yet, lack of knowledge, incompatibility with the educational system and learners’ low proficiency level were reported motives for not using peer feedback in their EFL classroom. Students perceived peer feedback as useful as it improved their L2 learning. Organized peer feedback was particularly highlighted. Lack of confidence due to limited proficiency level, interpersonal relationships, motivation and time were reported as difficulties in peer feedback practices. Further research in the field of the teacher role in peer feedback is requested.
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Henriksson, Martina. "An Empirical Study on Teachers’ Choice of Extensive Literature in the Swedish Upper Secondary EFL Classroom." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Engelska, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-21119.
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The importance of extensive literature reading in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context has been given increasing attention in recent research. Literature reading is also a required part of the national syllabi of the (EFL) courses offered to both adolescents and adults at Upper Secondary level in Sweden. This thesis aims to investigate the teachers’ process of making literature choices for extensive reading in upper secondary EFL courses in Sweden. Eight teachers of three different student groups took part in the study, representing adolescent university preparatory programs and vocational programs, as well as programs for adult students. Questionnaires were used and the data was analyzed for patterns revealing three main factors affecting teachers’ literature choice: language proficiency, reading experience and contextual factors. These three factors were fitted into the theoretical framework of psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic reading models, with the addition of a perspective of motivational research. The results of this survey underline the importance of extensive reading, according to teachers, and that motivation for literature choice can be primarily related to factors associated with psycholinguistic reading models. The survey also points to the need for further investigating of teachers’ own experiences of literature reading, searching for deeper motivational factors which influence teaching choices. Another future field of research is the choice of reading activities assigned together with the chosen literature, which probably also influence teachers’ choices in the Swedish EFL classroom.
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Landström, Philip. "Foreign language anxiety among Chinese senior middle schoolstudents : A case study." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för språk, litteratur och interkultur, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-36983.
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Anyone who has been learning a new language knows the feeling of anxiety when facedwith the task to use it in the classroom and in real life. Foreign Language Anxiety isconcept developed by Horwitz et al. (1986) to describe and measure this specific form ofanxiety. In this study, the anxiety levels of a class of Chinese senior middle schoolstudents taking an English class have been measured. The levels were measuredaccording to the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale, developed by Horwitz et al. (1986). 59informants participated in the study. The data were analysed to find which factors invokethe most anxiety. To gather qualitative data and gain further insight, two sets of groupinterviews were performed. The results show that a majority of the students suffer fromanxiety in class. Teacher-generated anxiety seems to be the most provoking factoraccording to the analysis.Alla som har studerat ett främmande språk känner igen den ängslan man upplever närspråket ska användas i klassrummet eller i en autentisk situation. Språkängslan införfrämmande språk är ett begrepp som utvecklats av Horwitz et al. (1986) för att beskrivaoch mäta den här specifika formen av ängslan. I den här studien har nivån av ängslan ien kinesisk högstadieklass som studerar engelska mätts. Nivån har mätts i enlighet medskalan för språkängslan i samband med undervisning i främmande språk (författarensöversättning) utvecklad av Horwitz et al. (1986). 59 informanter deltog i studien. Datananalyserades för att se vilka faktorer som framkallar mest ängslan. För att samlakvalitativ data och få djupare insyn genomfördes också två gruppintervjuer. Resultatetvisar att en majoritet av studenterna lider av ängslan i klassrummet. Lärargenereradängslan är den mest bidragande faktorn enligt analysen.
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Björkman, Johanna, and Elina Reinholdsson. "Remote Teaching in the Communicative Classroom : How Remote Teaching has Affected Swedish EFL Learners’ Willingness to Speak English during Communicative Classroom Activities." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för kultur och samhälle, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-178083.
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The aim of this study is to investigate how the transition into remote education in Swedish upper-secondary schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the implementation of communicative tasks during lessons in English as a foreign language, and its consequences on students’ willingness to speak. For this purpose, the following three research questions were posed: 1. In which ways have communicative classroom activities in Swedish upper-secondary schools been affected by remote education according to English as a foreign language learners? 2. According to English as a foreign language learners, in which ways have their willingness to speak English been affected by remote education in Swedish upper-secondary schools? 3. What are some aspects that have influenced English as a foreign language learners’ willingness to speak English during remote education in Swedish upper-secondary schools? A total of 128 students from different upper-secondary schools and regions in Sweden were surveyed, after which three of them were interviewed. The data were then analyzed using a univariate and content analysis method. The results of the study suggest that remote education has entailed an immense impact on the communicative classroom. All studied communicative activities decreased in amount, as did the students’ willingness to speak English. This is a consequence of aspects such as technical complications, difficulties in reading others’ body language, locational restraints, and learning objectives.
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Söderlund, Victoria. "Using texts in the EFL classroom : A study of English teachers' use of text types in the lower grades." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Engelska, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-32450.
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This essay investigates the usage of text types in the younger English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom among preschool class and grade 1-3 teachers in Sweden. The essay focuses on identifying what type of texts teachers use, why they use them and how they are used. A combined quantitative and qualitative method was used to collect data. 121 teachers responded to the online-survey that was sent out and a virtual ethnography was conducted by observing two different teaching forums to investigate how teachers use different text types. The findings of the survey showed that the two most commonly used text types are song texts and texts from textbooks. In general, developing the students’ vocabulary was the most common reason why several of the text types were used. Additionally, multiple worksheets which showed how teachers worked with different text types were collected from the virtual ethnography. In this essay, they may be used as inspiration for other teachers who want to expand their use of text types.
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Kuadnok, Kuanhathai. "Pedagogies and power relations in Thai English foreign language writing classrooms : a critical ethnography." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/106915/1/Kuanhathai_Kuadnok_Thesis.pdf.
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Using critical applied linguistics, and drawing on the concept of power as theorised by Foucault, this study examines issues of power and pedagogical practices that influenced the teaching of writing to Thai English Foreign Language (EFL) primary students. Carspecken’s critical ethnographic approach was adopted to gather data. The research yielded findings concerning power relations that operated in the enactment of EFL pedagogies for teaching writing in Thai schools. The research has theoretical significance for understanding EFL writing education in Thailand in the context of the international spread of English in the twenty-first century.
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Frumuselu, Anca Daniela. "Subtitled television series inside the efl classroom: long-term effects upon colloquial language learning and oral production." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/378642.
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Un estudi quasi-experimental inicial va buscar explorar si els materials audiovisuals subtitulats amb la L1 o amb la L2 són més rendibles per a l'aprenentatge del llenguatge informal i col•loquial de l'anglès com llengua estrangera. Per a dur a terme l’experiment, 49 participants van ser dividits aleatòriament en dos grups; un dels quals va rebre el material subtitulat en anglès i l’altre en espanyol. El nivel de comprensió auditiva i coneixement de vocabulari informal van ser avaluades abans i després de veure episodis subtitulats (en L1 i L2) de la sèrie Friends durant 7 setmanes. Un segon estudi va mesurar la retenció a curt termini de vocabulari col•loquial, després d'haver vist els episodis subtitulat al llarg de 7 setmanes (13 episodis en total). Les anàlisis revelen que a curt termini no hi ha prevalença d'una condició de subtítols sobre l'altra. El tercer estudi explora la retenció del llenguatge col•loquial i informal dels estudiants després d'haver estat exposats 14 setmanes a episodis subtítols de Friends. Els resultats mostren la tendència de millora del grup, però també mostren una gran variació entre els resultats individuals. El quart estudi va avaluar la producció oral d'expressions col•loquials dels subjectes, així com la fluïdesa en la parla, l'espontaneïtat, la capacitat d'improvisar i de tenir una conversa natural. Això indica altes correlacions entre les puntuacions dels alumnes del tercer estudi i de les seves produccions orals en el quart estudi. Per tant, els estudiants que van obtenir una puntuació alta en la prova final són capaços d'expressar-se usant les expressions col•loquials en tasques orals .Esta investigación analiza si el uso de materiales audiovisuales subtitulados con la lengua materna (L1) o la lengua extranjera (L2) mejora el aprendizaje de lenguaje informal y coloquial y fomenta la destreza oral. En un estudio cuasi-experimental inicial buscó explorar si los materiales audiovisuales subtitulados con la L1 o con la L2 son más eficientes para el aprendizaje del lenguaje informal y coloquial del inglés como lengua extranjera. Para ello, 49 participantes fueron divididos aleatoriamente en dos grupos: en uno se les administró el material subtitulado en inglés y al otro en español. El nivel de comprensión auditiva y conocimiento previo de vocabulario informal fue analizado antes y después de ver episodios subtitulados en las dos lenguas de la serie Friends durante 7 semanas. En un segundo estudio midió la retención a corto plazo de vocabulario coloquial después de haber visto los episodio subtitulados a lo largo de 7 semanas (13 episodios en total). Los análisis revelan que a corto plazo no hay prevalencia de una condición de subtítulos sobre la otra. El tercer estudio explora la retención del lenguaje coloquial e informal de los estudiantes después de exponerlos durante 14 semanas a episodios subtítulos en lengua Inglesa (L2) de Friends. Los resultados muestran la tendencia a mejorar del grupo en general, pero también muestran una gran variación entre los resultados individuales. El cuarto estudio evaluó la producción oral de expresiones coloquiales, así como su fluidez en el habla, la espontaneidad, la capacidad de improvisación y de tener una conversación natural. Los resultados nos revelan una alta correlación entre las puntuaciones de los alumnos del tercer estudio y de sus producciones orales en el cuarto estudio. Esto indica, por lo tanto, que los estudiantes que obtuvieron una puntuación alta en la prueba final son capaces de expresarse usando las expresiones coloquiales aprendidas.
This research investigates the extent to which the use of subtitled and captioned audiovisual materials enhance informal and colloquial language learning and foster oral production. An initial quasi-experimental study sought to explore whether the L1/standard subtitled or L2/captioned audiovisuals are more profitable for EFL informal and colloquial language learning and recall. 49 participants were randomly divided into two subtitle groups: English sound + Spanish subtitles and English sound + English subtitles. Participants' lexical comprehension and recall were tested before and after they were exposed to subtitled episodes from the TV series Friends over a long-term period of 7 weeks. The data analyses reveal that the English subtitles benefit the acquisition of colloquial lexical items more than Spanish subtitles. A second study measured learners' short-term retention of colloquial and idiomatic vocabulary after they watched each subtitled/captioned episode from the sitcom Friends along the 7-week period (13 episodes in total). The results show that students' scores tended to increase in both subtitle groups, however there is no prevalence of one subtitle condition over the other. Study 3 explores students' retention of colloquial and informal language after a 14-week exposure time to captioned episodes from Friends. The analyses reveal the group tendency of increasing significantly their scores after being exposed to captioned television series, but also a big variance among learners' individual scores, as low- and high-level students responded differently to the treatment. Study 4 evaluated participants' oral production of informal and colloquial expressions in role-play activities and their speech fluency, spontaneity, ability to improvise well and sound naturally. High correlations are found between learners' scores from Study 3 and their oral productions from Study 4, hence students who scored high in their post- test will be able to express themselves using the colloquial expressions and informal lexical items in the oral task.
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Guo, Tao. "A case study of teachers codeswitching behaviours in mainland China's university EFL classrooms and student's reactions to the codeswitching." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2007. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:21bca6e1-95ee-446c-9932-1416e7999e9e.
Full textAbstract:
This study explores the oral interaction between teachers and their students in university English as a foreign language classrooms in Mainland China with particular focus on teachers' codeswitching behaviours and students' reactions to these behaviours. Codeswitching in foreign or second language classrooms has been the subject of a great deal of research interest from the applied linguistics community in recent years, but patterns of codeswitching in "broadly communicative" classrooms have rarely been studied in great detail nor have students' strategic reactions to codeswitching been directly elicited from learners as a means of gauging the impact of teacher codeswitching. Moreover, there is a clear need to situate the debate about teacher codeswitching in a more rigorous theoretical framework. A case study approach best suited the aims of this research and two teachers were selected in an initial pha e (Phase 1) of the study because they conformed to a number of pedagogical and interaction-related criteria. In the main phase of the study data were elicited through a combination of systematic observation, stimulated recalls and teacher interviews. The codeswitching patterns of the two teachers were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. However, much greater emphasis is placed on the qualitative analysis of the codeswitching and students' reactions towards it. The findings show that the amount of codeswitching was relatively low but varied considerably by lesson. Most codeswitching was for medium-oriented lexical explanations. Students' reactions to their teachers' codeswitching varied by individual not by groups. The findings suggest an interesting pattern of variance between the two teachers in terms of their codeswitching behaviours and enrich our understanding of codeswitching in L2 classrooms and provide hypotheses that could be tested with larger samples. The findings also contribute to an understanding of the functions and consequences of codeswitching from the learners' perspective, which may contribute towards major advances in the field and have direct pedagogical implications.
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Warsame, Ramlah. "The Influence of Teacher Beliefs on Classroom Practices in English Pronunciation Teaching." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-43163.
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This study aims to explore teacher beliefs on accents in the classroom and how they affect classroom practices as well as the teachers views on the LFC approach. Furthermore, the study investigates whether there exists a possible disconnect between teachers and the Swedish National Agency for Education when it comes to deciding what approach to take when teaching English pronunciation. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with five Secondary school and Upper Secondary School English teachers in Sweden, whose work experience ranged from six months to 22 years. The study found that the teachers with more experience were more likely to prefer the inner circle English accents and use them as a benchmark for correctness. Phenomena like the native-speaker ideal, which means to idealize native speakers and view them as better speakers of English, can be linked to the teachers age and experience. Moreover, some teachers expressed feeling pressure from students to sound native-like and felt disfavored as some schools showed a preference for hiring native speakers as English teachers. Thus, a haloeffect for teachers speaking with an inner-circle English accent was identified, which affects students’ and employers’ perception of non-native EFL-teachers. The study also found that while some of the teachers were familiar with the Lingua Franca Core model, none of them had taught it. The study concludes that there is a disconnect between the teachers and Skolverket’s steering documents, as most of the teachers felt that Skolverket does not explicitly call for pronunciation teaching and were unsure of the demands. Furthermore, this calls for clearer demands from Skolverket as well as re-formation programs for experienced teacher to change their beliefs on non-native accents.
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Villegas, Martínez Jorge. "Teaching speaking in the English classroom : Teacher practices in Swedish upper secondary schools." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-157297.
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This qualitative study aims to investigate how teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) work to develop their students’ oral proficiency. The study analyses interviews and pedagogical materials to elucidate how the interviewed teachers regard their students’ oral proficiency, what kind of activities they use for teaching speaking and how they assess oral proficiency. The participants were two licensed English teachers of higher upper secondary education, and different materials that the teachers used were analysed, including a textbook. The teachers regarded their students’ oral proficiency as generally good or very good but noted that significant differences existed in most groups regarding proficiency and that certain students who were less proficient showed an unwillingness to use the target language, which indicates a need of better strategies to involve these students in the learning process. The findings of this study suggest that the interviewed EFL teachers teach speaking according to the communicative approach and that the activities they use more frequently for teaching speaking were discussions, followed by presentations, speeches, role-playing and debates. However, the interviews and the pedagogical materials reflected a lack of focus on the features of spoken language, the importance of which has been proven by findings in corpus linguistics and conversation analysis. These findings indicate a need to raise awareness among teachers about the benefits of focusing on the features of spoken language. Regarding assessment, informal formative assessment in the form of direct observation was the most common form, while formal assessment was used in presentations and examinations in the form of group discussions. The teachers acknowledged some confusion regarding assessment due to the lack of clear guidelines from Skolverket. Moreover, they regarded speaking as being more important than other skills, which indicates the possibility of redefining the value of speaking in the course evaluation.
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Chang, Wei-Chih Alec. "The 'English as a foreign language' writing classroom and weblog : the effect of computer-mediated communication on attitudes of students and implication for EFL learning." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/1038.
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Innovative forms of communication technology have generated new educational models and learning environments. Existing literature includes much discussion concerning the consequences of using communication technology in the context of second language learning. However, recent research has not reached any convincing conclusion about the effects of communication technology in EFL teaching and learning. There are still many variables that need to be accounted for when the use of technology occurs in real-life educational environments, particularly when the adoption of a newly developed communication technology - the Weblog - could / may work better for language learners under specific circumstances. This empirical study focused on whether the use of Weblogs positively changes the learners' attitudes towards EFL writing and their informal use of the English language. Once the focus of this study had been established, the research questions and hypotheses were then addressed as a means of examining the effect of Weblogs. A quasi-experimentarl esearchd esignw as applied with a mixed-methodsa pproacht o elicit data from 119 EFL students in two universities in Taiwan. The collected data included 112p re- and 102 post- GEPT exam papers,1 19 questionnairer esponsesa nd the qualitative data of interviews with 24 research participants. These data were then analysed using inductive (qualitative logic) and deductive (quantitative logic) methods to find out the consequences of the research assumptions. The results corroborate the theoretical findings on the significance of computer-mediated communication in learners' affective learning. In other words, the use of Weblogs influenced the learners' attitudes towards EFL writing. The combination of quantitative and qualitative findings suggested that Weblog technology engages learners in active reading and encourages learners' reflectivity, collaboration, and participation in EFL writing. Finally, the results also echo the theoretical concerns about the learners' self-efficacy and language register in the context of second language writing
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Nilsson, Sven. "ICT in the EFL classroom: cherished challenges : A qualitative interview study with six Junior High School English teachers in Sweden." Thesis, Högskolan i Jönköping, Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-40836.
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ICT (Information and communication technology) is a fundamental part of modern society and has been part of the educational systems across the world for a few decades. This essay focuses specifically on the relationship between ICT and the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language. ICT has been found to be pedagogically beneficial, but the transition towards and the handling of ICT is often challenging for schools and teachers. The aim of this study is to present and analyze Junior High School English teachers’ opinions regarding the use of ICT in their profession. The study identifies and discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of ICT in education generally and in relation to the English subject specifically. The results are analyzed through a sociocultural perspective and the empirical foundation of this study is based on qualitative interviews with six English teachers. The results reveal that the interviewed teachers are optimistic towards the new technologies in their profession and that there is a will to further improve and learn more about the pedagogical benefits of ICT. Although there are obstacles hindering successful ICT integration in school, the possibilities and advantages that come with the new technologies make them indispensable. However, the results also reveal that there is still room for traditional materials in school and teachers seem to view ICT as a complement and do not wish to rely solely on modern technologies.IKT (Informations- och kommunikationsteknologi) är en grundläggande del av det moderna samhället och har varit en del av världens skolsystem sedan årtionden tillbaka. Denna uppsats är specifikt fokuserad på förhållandet mellan IKT och engelskundervisning i den svenska högstadieskolan. IKT har visat sig vara pedagogiskt fördelaktigt i flera avseenden men övergången mot och hanterandet av IKT är ofta en utmaning för skolor och lärare. Syftet med denna uppsats är att presentera och analysera engelsklärares åsikter gällande användandet av IKT i deras yrke. Uppsatsen identifierar och diskuterar några av de fördelar och nackdelar som finns med IKT i skolan generellt och i förhållande till engelskämnet specifikt. Resultaten analyseras utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv på lärande och den empiriska grunden för uppsatsen är baserad på kvalitativa intervjuer med sex engelsklärare i högstadiet. Resultaten visar att de intervjuade lärarna är optimistiska gentemot de nya teknologierna och att det finns en vilja att vidareutvecklas och lära sig mer om de pedagogiska fördelarna med IKT. Möjligheterna och fördelarna med IKT gör företeelsen oumbärlig, även om det finns hinder i vägen för ett framgångsrikt implementerande i skolan. Dock visar resultaten även att det fortfarande finns utrymme för traditionella läromedel i skolan och lärarna tycks betrakta IKT som ett komplement och önskar inte enbart förlita sig på de moderna teknologierna.
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Moberg, Dennis. "Inclusiveness in texts in the EFL classroom : A study of English teachers’ inclusion of different parts of the world in texts used in the lower grades." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för humaniora, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-35975.
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This essay investigates if texts featuring different parts of the world are present in the English as a Foreign Language classroom for grades 1-3 of Swedish primary school. The focus in the essay is to investigate what texts teachers use in the English classroom and what content the texts feature related to different parts of the world. The data was collected by a combined method of a quantitative and a qualitative study with the field of English as an International Language as an area of focus. The quantitative study consisted of an online survey which received 72 replies from primary school teachers and a case study was conducted at one school with two teachers which featured both interviews and an analysis of teaching material. The online survey shows that content featuring different parts of the world is common, even if there is a bias towards the so called Inner Circle of English speaking countries of Great Britain, USA, Australia and Canada while the rest of the world is not as commonly represented. However, this depends on the material used, as the case study did not share this clear bias towards the Inner Circle and the difference was not as clear.
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Wikström, Debra. "Authentic Texts in English Language Teaching : An empirical study on the use of and attitudes towards authentic texts in the Swedish EFL upper elementary classroom." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Pedagogiskt arbete, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-21350.
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International assessments indicate that Swedish students achieve high results in reading, writing and understanding English. However, this does not mean that the students display oral proficiency, despite an emphasis on functional and communicative language skills in the current English Syllabus. While a previous literature study by this researcher has shown that authentic texts are a way to increase these skills, most of the results shown are from an international viewpoint. Thus an empirical study was conducted within Sweden with the aim to examine the use of authentic texts in the Swedish EFL upper elementary classroom. Twelve teachers have answered a questionnaire on how they use authentic texts in their language teaching, as well as their opinions about these as a teaching tool. Additionally, 37 students have answered a questionnaire on their attitudes about authentic texts. Results indicate that all of the teachers surveyed see authentic texts as an effective way to increase students’ communicative competence and English language skills; however, only a few use them with any frequency in language teaching. Furthermore, this seems to affect the students’ attitudes, since many say that they read authentic texts in their free time, but prefer to learn English out of a textbook at school. These findings are based on a small area of Sweden. Therefore, further research is needed to learn if these opinions hold true for the entire country or vary dependent upon region or other factors not taken into consideration in this study.
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Haji, Sanaa, and Sara Jejo. "Degree Project with Specialization in English Studies and Education : Teaching Strategies to Overcome EFL Pupils` Speaking Anxiety." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-41832.
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Gibbons (2015) writes that speaking is considered as the most important skill in language learning. However, Lundahl (2014) states that there are some pupils, in year 4-6, in Sweden who do not speak during the English lessons. Thus, the aim of this study is to find out what the reasons behind EFL pupils' unwillingness to speak English are. Furthermore, teaching strategies to overcome pupils' speaking anxiety are investigated. There are many studies that investigate the underlying reasons. The data collection, for this thesis, consists of interviews with some student-teachers at Malmö University. The results showed that traditional teaching methods along with fear of making linguistic errors are two of the main reasons. In addition, negative evaluation from peers and fear of producing grammatically incorrect sentences are also factors that contribute to some pupils’ anxiety over speaking English. According to our interviewees, the implementation of a safe, supportive and communicative environment in the classroom is crucial for encouraging and motivating pupils in language learning. Providing different authentic communicative tasks, songs, stories, and games that are related to pupils' lives and interests, as well as their needs and knowledge levels, are some of the strategies employed by some teachers.