EXPLORING EFL LEARNERS’ PREFERENCES FOR PRAGMATIC MARKERS

This study aimed to explore the applicability of VR-based language learning in an EFL context. An online survey was conducted to understand the structural relationship between EFL learners' cognitive absorption, behavioral intention to use VR for English learning, and perceptions regarding the sense of immersion created by VR. The hedonic motivation system adoption model (HMSAM) was adopted, and 230 valid responses were retrieved for statistical analyses. The results showed that most constructs of HMSAM, namely, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, curiosity, joy, control, behavioral intention to use, and immersion, were significantly associated with other constructs. VR's immersion had a positive significant influence on the behavioral intention of EFL learners to engage in VR-based language learning. It was revealed that curiosity was not a significant predictor for immersion. Moreover, a within-subject neurophysiological experiment was conducted with 33 EFL learners who experienced both VR-based and non-VR-based settings to examine the influence of VR technologies on their cognitive absorption and learning outcomes. Results demonstrated that VR did increase the participants' cognitive absorption; furthermore, participants had better retention about the learned contents in VR-based setting. The findings have practical and theoretical implications based on the findings of the survey and experiment.

This study was to investigate the impact of language experience and academic level on the perceived needs of Iranian undergraduate EFL learners. Two groups of Iranian TEFL female students (freshmen and senior) were compared regarding their preferences, perceived needs and perceptions of different activity types about language learning. To collect data, Sihong's (2007) needs analysis questionnaire for English language needs was utilized. Thirty two freshman and twenty nine senior MA students with the age range of 25-35 were considered as the subject of this study. They were asked to fill out the questionnaire through email and they were given the confidence that the collected data would remain anonymous. Results revealed that there was a significant difference between freshman and senior EFL learners in their preferences, needs and opinions about various types of activities, and various aspects of language education. The findings also revealed that freshmen students required more practice in grammar and pronunciation than vocabulary for them. The most difficult components of language were pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar respectively; however, the senior students reported that vocabulary and grammar were the most difficult component of language skill and pronunciation was the least one.

Communicative language use largely entails regular patterns consisting of pre-constructed phrases or sequences. These sequences have been examined by many researchers to find the situation-based formulas which may help L2 learners follow a possibly more target-like speaking system. This study, therefore, explored two categories of formulaic expressions including speech formulas and situation-bound utterances used by EFL learners. The randomly selective participants included 30 intermediate and 30 advanced learners, who performed a total number of 120 role-play tasks focused on the situations which required the use of thanking, requesting, offering, and apology speech acts. Audio-recorded data from role-plays were transcribed and analyzed based on existing lists of speech formulas. Results showed that the participants produced more than 102 types of formulaic sequences that could be called “a list of pragmatic routines for thanking, requesting, offering, and apologizing speech acts in the EFL context”. This list includes 44 and 58 speech formulas and situation-bound utterances, respectively. Results further indicated that advanced language learners used more diverse situation-bound utterances in terms of its internal and contextual complexity than their counterparts in the intermediate group due to expert judgments. Because these formulas can increase coherence in speaking, and enhance effective and natural communication, their instruction could be part of the language teaching curriculum.

The Province of West Kalimantan has abundant source of industrial minerals such as kaolin, ball clay, quartz and zircon that can be utilized as ceramic raw materials. These materials are spread out in Regencies of Sambas, Singkawang, Bengkayang, Sanggau and Sintang. From various industrial minerals found in West Kalimantan, only clay and kaolin have been utilized by the ceramic industries in West Kalimantan, West Java, Central Java, East Java and Bali. The other industrial minerals such as bauxite, zircon, ilmenite, quartz still have not been utilized for ceramics commodity. Therefore to empower all industrial mineral types from these areas as ceramic raw materials, it is necessary to do a circumstantial and comprehensive study of those minerals based on the result of preliminary research related to ceramic raw materials, whether by using them directly for ceramic products or through processing beforehand. From this study, it is expected that the industrial minerals in West Kalimantan can be empowered to be optimally utilized for white or coloured ceramic bodies, glaze, refractory and other ceramic products.

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is recognized as essential in preparing EFL students for their professional careers. Understanding students' perceptions and needs in ESP courses can provide significant insights for improving ESP programs and training for ESP practitioners. This study investigated university students' needs and learning experiences in ESP courses, focusing on course content, course hours, exams, materials, instructor adequacy, feedback effectiveness, and overall teaching quality. Students' opinions were gathered through a 27-item questionnaire, with responses collected from 107 EFL students across various departments. Data analysis included frequency analysis, independent samples t-tests, and one-way ANOVA, with responses to the open-ended questions coded using Maxqda 20. Findings show that although participants expressed overall satisfaction with ESP courses, they highlighted concerns about the lack of authentic materials, integrated language skills, and skill-based activities. Improvements in field-related knowledge and vocabulary were identified as critical. The open-ended responses revealed diverse opinions and highlighted the need for better integration of language skills, particularly speaking, and a demand for enhanced instructor training. The issues highlighted in this study reflect broader, global challenges in ESP, consistent with findings from other studies. Based on these findings, the authors suggest several implications for ESP practitioners and program developers.

This research, grounded in the extended technology acceptance model, aimed to explore the relationships among factors influencing Korean EFL learners’ acceptance of ChatGPT for English learning in a voluntary usage context. To this end, a questionnaire was distributed to college students who had used ChatGPT for language learning, utilizing a convenience sampling method. A total of 400 responses were analyzed to test hypotheses using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings revealed that learners’ perceived usefulness significantly predicted their intention to continue using ChatGPT, while perceived ease of use did not. Moreover, learners’ result demonstrability was found to be a predictor of perceived usefulness, whereas subjective norm was not. Both playfulness and output quality significantly influenced learners’ perceived ease of use. This study identified key factors that could enhance EFL learners’ acceptance of ChatGPT by improving perceptions of usefulness and ease of use, offering valuable insights for integrating ChatGPT into English education.

EFL students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) is a major contributor to speaking in authentic situations. This case study examined the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on the WTC among Chinese university students engaged in face-to-face (F2F) interactions with a native English speaker. Employing a mixed-method approach, including a WTC questionnaire and two open-ended questions, the study involved fourteen students who engaged in AI chatbot-assisted communication practice simulating human-like dialogues prior to F2F interactions with a native English-speaking teacher outside the traditional classroom setting. The results of the WTC survey indicated positive outcomes and content analysis findings reported students exhibiting shifts from negative emotional states to positive ones. AI's role in pre-talk preparation significantly contributed to the success of students' interactions, emphasizing the value of AI chatbots in the absence of authentic communication opportunities. The study concludes that strategically integrating AI chatbot aligns with the active filter hypothesis, reducing anxiety and promoting positive WTC, thus enhancing language learning experiences.

Data-driven learning (DDL) has traditionally been studied via standard corpus interfaces, such as COCA, Sketch Engine, IntelliText, and other similar corpus tools. In addition, DDL has traditionally been seen as part of the computer-assisted language learning (CALL) approach, primarily because access to corpora and corpus interfaces has historically been limited to desktop computers. However, with the emergence of several simplified and mobile-friendly web corpus interfaces and with mobile assisted language learning (MALL) gaining momentum in language education, along with its potential in DDL, mobile-assisted DDL has become an alternative learning technique. This paper reports on a study carried out with a group of undergraduate EFL students studying at International Balkan University (IBU). In this study, the participants were given linguistic tasks to complete using new web corpus interfaces as reference tools, namely, CorpusMate and Netspeak. The first corpus interface was exploited via the traditional CALL approach, whereas the latter was utilized with mobile technology. The results of the study revealed positive learner perceptions and experiences with the newly introduced tools, while they also displayed enthusiasm and motivation to engage in DDL within the context of MALL. The present study provides valuable insights into students’ perspectives and experiences with state-of-the-art corpus tools and mobile technology, which can help shape future paths for research in DDL and MALL.

Surface reactivity of Andisols on volcanic ash along the Sunda arc crossing Java Island, Indonesia

This paper examines student-faculty communication by email and the lack of clear guidelines that leads to misuse of email in student-faculty interaction, whereby status-incongruent pragmatic markers are employed, resulting in impoliteness and inappropriateness. The main objective is to bridge the gap in research on other than requestive speech acts in this particular type of e-interaction, taking into account various pragmatic markers and cultural determinants of the subjects’ email communication styles. The main purpose of the study was to determine whether and to what degree the use of pragmatic markers by students is congruent with the English netiquette in this specific domain. Moreover, the aim was to investigate the relation of the usage of speech acts and pragmatic markers by students to politeness, as well as to cross-culturally compare the data obtained. The research questions were as follows: Which pragmatic markers distinguish students of different nationalities and in different university settings? What are other than requestive purposes for which students deploy email communication? Which pragmatic markers, in general, are associated with student-faculty email? Is there a correlation between the three countries represented in the corpus and (im)politeness based on the data found in all the emails? What are the implications of the study for computer-mediated language learning? The corpus consisted of 1,200 student-faculty emails written in an academic domain by university students from a German university, a Saudi Arabian university, and two Japanese universities (400 emails per country). The research method employed was of mixed qualitative-quantitative nature, with the focus on pragmatic analysis of speech acts with their illocutionary force and functions, as well as on their impact on the receiver (perlocution). It was determined that the impolite acts occurred most frequently in the corpus. This shows that students appear not to be aware of the role their email messages play in creating an impression on faculty and that structured instruction in email writing is required to improve the situation. The lack of pragmatic competence was found in all three groups of students, independent of the proficiency level and seniority; whereby explicit course guidance in email writing and its netiquette had a clear positive effect on the student-faculty interaction in terms of appropriateness and the level of politeness.

Southern extension of the Paleotethyan zone in SE Asia: Evidence from the Permo-Triassic granitoids in Malaysia and West Indonesia

After weeks of claiming to have zero cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a claim that befuddled many and led to suspicion that the country is unable to either detect cases or cover them up, the country finally announced that citizens within its borders had also contracted the virus. Until April 2, 2020, there are total 1677 cases with 157 deaths (kawalcovid19.id/guardcovid19)—the highest death rate from coronavirus in the world. Cases are said to have spread across the country, including Jakarta, Yogyakarta, West Java, Central Java, Banten, North Sulawesi, and West Kalimantan. The highly contagious coronavirus went undetected. There have been a lack of leadership, transparency, and inconsistency from the government related to the pandemic, particularly during the early phase of the pandemic. Collecting data from daily newspapers and other media, we analyzed how President Jokowi together with his government bodies approached COVID-19 in their speeches and directives. Using an interpretive and discourse analysis, this chapter aims to unpack the Indonesian government’s discourse in handling and approaching the COVID-19 issue. Data analysis suggests that Javanese value, “desire for conflict avoidance” appears strongly in government’s communication.

This study aims at investigating the use of textual English pragmatic markers (PMs) as used by Jordanian university students by adopting a functional-pragmatic approach to explore the functions of these PMs. It also examines the effect of gender on the use of textual PM. Participants were 10 fourth year university students (5 males and 5 females) who study Translation at Isra Private University. Online interviews, storytelling activity and a short questionnaire have been used to elicit data from the participants. The data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively in light of the study’s research questions. The study revealed that the functions of textual markers are: marking contrast, elaborating, reformulating and exemplifying, showing temporal sequence, indicating an inferential or conclusive relationships and summaries, signaling shifts or transition of discourse and continuation of discourse, signaling the opening or closing of opening or closing of discourse. In relation to the use of textual PMs, the results showed that there were no significant differences among males and females.

The Javan Hawk-eagle Spizaetus bartelsi is globally endangered species which exclusively occupies the last remnant forests of Java island, Indonesia. Studies to explore its distribution throughout the island and to uncover its eco-biology have been going on. Recent field surveys recorded new localities of the Javan Hawk-eagle at South Cianjur, West Java, at G. Sanggabuana, Karawang district, West Java and at G. Endut complex, West Java. Our understanding about this enigmatic bird of prey has been improved. Ecological research, including radio tracking, has provided information on prey species, breeding biology and the estimated home range. Small mammals such as treeshrews, squirrels, bats, rats and other small rodents are the preferred prey, but birds, snakes and lizards are also taken. The Javan Hawk-eagle may breed at anytime of the year but usually between January and July. It is sexually mature at the age of three to four years, breeds every two years and lays only one egg. Incubation lasts for 47–48 days and the young bird is fully fledged at 70 days old. Both parents look after the nestling. Some juveniles stay around the parent's territory until the following breeding season. The home range of non-breeding males monitored by radio tracking at G. Salak and Telaga Warna Nature Reserve, West Java was estimated between 310 and 930 ha. Conservation activities on the Javan Hawk-eagle have been conducted through organizing local training or workshop for awareness and community participation, nest protection programme and regular monitoring. Several local training and workshops have been carried out irregularly in West, Central and East Java. Nest protection programme with the involvement of local community has been successfully run mostly in West Java, e.g. at Cibulao Nature Reserve, G. Salak Protection Forest and G. Gede-Pangrango National Park. Regular monitoring has been practiced at Telaga Warna-Nature Reserve, Gede-Pangrango National Park and in certain area of G. Halimun-Salak National Park.

This study, conducted at a private university in Kuningan, West Java, aimed to understand the comprehension of learners based on Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) in Extensive Reading classes as well as to identify the reasons why some students find it challenging to understand reading based on HOTS in these classes. The three steps of the HOTS definition by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) were analysis (C4), evaluation (C5), and creation (C6). The research is descriptive-qualitative, and the methods for gathering data include interviewing and observation. Second-semester students at a private university in Kuningan, West Java, served as the study's subjects. The observation's findings showed that the majority of second-semester students were capable of analyzing the information (Analyzing, C4), evaluating the text's main ideas (Evaluating, C5), and coming up with new ideas to use in other situations (Creating, C6), whether outside of the classroom or on other occasions. Moreover, based on the results of interviews with 10 students in the classroom, there were 5 main factors that affect the students’ reading comprehension based on HOTS which were: lack of vocabulary, lack of focus, lack of time, not having basic knowledge and not interesting in reading