Investigating the English Sentence Types in Albanian Middle School EFL Students’ Essays: Syntactic Perspective

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has constituted a major part of the curriculum in private and public institutions in Saudi Arabia for over eight decades. More recently, the emergence of English as a global language has made it a socially desirable language in Saudi society, as elsewhere in the world. However, despite the long history of English teaching in Saudi Arabia and the growth of the profession over the years, the overall English proficiency level of the majority of students is low and unsatisfactory. Saudi researchers have reported many reasons for the ineffectiveness of English Language Teaching (ELT) including, but not limited to, low levels of student motivation, negative attitudes toward English, a substandard English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum, and inefficient teacher pedagogical practices. These problems fall into two major categories: problems related to the lwhyr of teaching and learning of EFL, and problems related to the lhowr of teaching and learning EFL. In investigating these issues, much of this research has been carried out within individual/psychological/structuralist/positivist frameworks, which has failed not only to problematize the complexity of such constructs but also to appreciate the fact that all realities are produced/(re)produced via ldiscourser. Hence, the present study investigated EFL teaching and learning practices by employing Foucauldian and poststructuralist frameworks. This study used poststructuralism not only as a theoretical lens per se, but also established it through the implemented analytical tools and textual representations of the collected data. Employing a poststructuralist discursive perspective made it possible to view EFL teaching and learning as complex social practices, interacting with the discourses of English and ELT practices available in the global as well as the local context(s). These discourses create the nexus between power and knowledge and impact on what an EFL teacher/ learner does within a classroom setting by constructing perspectives of reality through which he or she comes to understand the EFL teaching and learning process in certain ways which constitute epistemological spaces and generate particular practices. Drawing on policy documents, EFL textbooks, classroom observations, interviews with two Saudi EFL teachers, and focus group discussions with Saudi EFL students in two rural areas, the study identified seven discourses circulating within and competing across the examined discursive spaces. The first three discourses are related to English and its values, including: English as a universal language; English as the language for better employment opportunities; and English as the language for spreading religion. The remaining four discourses centred around ELT with exams as an important aspect of EFL learning and ELT; CLT as the key to success in ELT; L1 as a barrier to successful EFL learning; and EFL textbooks as an essential aspect of the processes of EFL learning and ELT. In exploring the production and (re)production of these discourses through the examination of how visibilization, normalisation, exclusionary/inclusionary acts, classification, and subject positioning as discursive strategies are employed, it was found that whether a particular discourse was made visible or invisible depended on other discourses operating across the examined discursive spaces: the social context, the policy, the textbook, the classroom, and the teachers and students. The analysis of the connection(s) and misconnection(s) between these discursive spaces demonstrated that the interplay between the different discourses constructed discursive battlegrounds, which impacted the processes of EFL teaching and learning. Through the investigation of this interplay, it was found that there was a disconnect and an ambivalent relationship between the study participantsr espoused discourses of English and their EFL teaching and learning practices, suggesting that EFL teachers and learners should not be considered lstabler figures, but rather as social agents with discursively constructed ever changing subjectivities. Furthermore, the analyses of the constructions of the discourses operating within the examined policy texts demonstrate an intra disparity and fragmentation. This was manifested in the difference between the ideals of the EFL curriculum and the institutionally imposed regulating techniques, that is, examinations and teachersr assessment practices which had negative effects on EFL teaching and learning dynamics. Additionally, as a consequence of the competition between the different sources of discursive constructions, I found that there was a gulf between the EFL policies and the enactment of these policies in EFL teaching and learning dynamics in the observed EFL classrooms. The findings of this study also indicate that if a discourse promoted through the policy is mediated by discourses operating in the larger societal context, it became more visible in teaching and learning practices as compared to other discourses that did not have social moorings. This suggests that taking the prevailing social expectations into account at the stage of developing any policy is of paramount importance.nThe study concludes with a discussion of the implications of the interplay of connections and misconnections between competing discourses across different spaces in Saudi educational settings for improving the EFL teaching/learning environments in Saudi Arabia and other similar contexts.n

By examining relevant research articles published in reputable journals or conference proceedings in 2013-2020, the literature review article attempted to shed light on the areas: (1) contributions of thematic progression to the coherence and cohesion quality of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners’ writing, (2) EFL learners’ problems regarding thematic progression in their writing, and (3) research on pedagogical implications of thematic progression on teaching writing. While there have been extensive studies on thematic progression, it remained intriguing to investigate the extent to which this topic had been explored by scholars, particularly in the context of English as a foreign language. The previous studies had consistently confirmed the following results: (1) thematic progression contributes to the coherence and cohesion quality of EFL learners’ writing, (2) problematic thematic progression in EFL learners’ writing included the emergence of the brand new theme, double rheme, empty rheme, empty theme, overuse of constant theme pattern, overwhelming selection of textual theme, and (3) some studies evidenced good results of integrating thematic progression in teaching writing. The research suggests that further research develops a more detailed and systematic procedure of teaching thematic progression in a specific EFL teaching-learning context by integrating thematic progression theory with English language teaching materials. Furthermore, the research calls for more experimental research on teaching thematic progression to determine the significance of this method in enhancing students’ writing quality.

Augmented reality (AR) is capable of providing students with proper situated scaffolding via overlaying rich media objects on the real‐world learning context. This paper examines the potential of AR to address existing problems with insufficient scaffolding in video learning materials for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Thus, an AR video‐enhanced learning (ARVEL) method was designed to assist students’ EFL learning. Furthermore, an experiment was carried out to investigate the influences of the implemented method on students' EFL learning outcomes. The experimental results displayed that the ARVEL method significantly improved the students' learning achievements and intrinsic motivation, and enhanced their satisfaction with EFL learning, compared to the students learning EFL with conventional video‐based learning. Practitioner Notes What is already known about this topic Learning experience of English as a foreign language (EFL) is highly related to the experience in actual learning contexts. The significance of providing students with proper assistance in a situated learning environment has been emphasized. Just observing videos might be inadequate for advancing students' reflection on learning tasks in video‐based learning. What this paper adds An augmented reality (AR) video‐enhanced learning method was proposed to assist students' EFL learning. An AR video‐enhanced learning (ARVEL) system was designed based on the implemented method. It was evidenced that the implemented method effectively improved students' learning achievements and motivation. The students display a higher degree of satisfaction with EFL learning than with the video‐enhanced learning method. Implications for practice and/or policy The ARVEL method could be a good reference for implementing an EFL learning environment. More kinds of assistance could be designed as scaffolding for assisting students' EFL learning. It is worth probing the influences of the ARVEL on students' learning of more abstract vocabulary and concepts.

EFL(English as a Foreign Language) learners tend to choose translation strategies in their English learning process. This study aims to examine the potential relationship between English language proficiency and EFL learners’ use of translation strategies, displaying the differences in the use of translation strategies between students at higher level of English language proficiency and those at lower level of English language proficiency. An ITLS questionnaire (The Inventory for Translation as a Learning Strategy) designed by Liao Posen (Liao, 2002：159-161)was distributed to 190 students in Southwest Jiaotong University who had taken the national English language proficiency assessment—CET-4(College English Test Band 4). Based on Independent Sample T-test, the results show that significant differences were found between the proficient EFL learners and the limited English proficient learners in some of the uses of translation strategies, and lower achievers were more likely to adopt translation strategies in English learning. According to Pearson Correlation Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis, this research also found out that the use of translation to enhance English-language abilities was negatively correlated with English language proficiency and could best predict the negative performance of English language proficiency assessment. Implications for the role of translation strategies in EFL learning are discussed.

The Effect of Contextual Inferencing Strategies on EFL Learners⿿ Attitudes towards Reading

ABSTRACTAs artificial intelligence (AI) has been integrated into foreign language (FL) education, learners' well‐being is influenced by various factors, including technological, personal and contextual elements. However, few studies explored how external and internal factors jointly shape FL learners' well‐being in the era of generative AI. To fill this gap, this study explores the effects of generative AI acceptance, perceived teachers' enthusiasm and self‐efficacy on FL learners' well‐being by investigating 613 university learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). The structural equation modelling results reveal that (1) generative AI acceptance positively predicts EFL learners' well‐being and self‐efficacy; (2) perceived teachers' enthusiasm does not predict learners' well‐being and positively predicts EFL learners' self‐efficacy; and (3) the self‐efficacy for receptive skills mediates the relationship between generative AI acceptance/perceived teachers' enthusiasm and EFL learners' well‐being, whereas self‐efficacy for productive skills does not play the mediation role. This research broadens the understanding of the antecedents of EFL learners' well‐being and extends the application of self‐efficacy theory in the AI‐driven educational environment, providing significant pedagogical implications.

Despite its increasing popularity among young adults, TikTok has been very slow in finding its way into the English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching profession. Yet before introducing the application into the EFL classrooms, it is no doubt imperative to discern what is preferable among EFL learners. Thus, the aim of the present study was to examine the extent to which EFL learners perceive TikTok as facilitating their learning. To this end, the participants (N = 31) were asked to fill out a short, online questionnaire to gather information about (i) whether they utilized TikTok as an affordance for their EFL learning and (ii) whether they perceive its integration into the EFL classrooms as facilitative of their learning. The findings revealed that although they did not explicitly mention that they used TikTok as an affordance for their EFL learning, they held a belief that TikTok is effective in promoting their English proficiency. According to the students, there were three factors of note which contribute to the effectiveness of TikTok, namely abundant authentic input availability, easy-to-grasp information and availability of free tuition related to English language learning. Pedagogically, it implies that TikTok is worth integrating into the EFL classrooms.

As an innovative digital platform, voice blogging offers learners opportunities to improve their speaking performance; however, the impact of voice blogging on speaking complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) has been insufficiently explored, especially in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Adopting a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, the current study was set to examine the impact of voice blogging on EFL learners’ speaking performance in general, and speaking CAF in particular. Using convenience sampling, two intact classes comprising thirty-nine upper-intermediate EFL learners were selected from a private language institute. They were randomly assigned to an experimental (voice blogging) group with 18 EFL learners and a control (non-voice blogging) group with 21 EFL learners. During a 14-week term, both groups participated in topic-based EFL speaking presentation tasks. The voice blogging learners engaged in EFL speaking practice through voice blogging, whilst the non-voice blogging learners practised EFL speaking in face-to-face interactions. Using two samples of Cambridge IELTS speaking tasks for collecting the required quantitative data, we applied paired sample t-test, one-way ANCOVA, Man Whitney U, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for analysing the data. The qualitative data included individual semi-structured interviews carried out with the voice blogging learners to find out more about their attitudes and perceptions towards the voice blogging course. Paired sample t-test and one-way ANCOVA indicated that the voice blogging course developed the EFL learners’ speaking performance and outperformed its non-voice blogging counterpart in that regard. Man Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests revealed that the voice blogging instruction developed the EFL learners’ speaking complexity and accuracy, but it did not significantly affect the EFL learners’ speaking fluency, and the voice blogging learners also outperformed the non-voice blogging learners in speaking complexity and accuracy. The interview findings indicated that the learners emphasised the effective role of voice blogging tasks in enhancing their engagement in speaking activities. The findings imply that incorporating voice blogging into EFL speaking instruction positively affects EFL learners’ speaking performance, specifically in terms of speaking complexity, accuracy, and engagement. However, it might be necessary to complement voice blogging courses with additional fluency-based activities and strategies to compensate for the lack of development in speaking fluency.

Background: Corrective feedback plays the role of enabling both teachers and learners to gauge their performance and reflect on their development. It can vary in nature, amount, and focus; nevertheless, its centrality to the classroom cannot be ignored. At the same time, what makes it effective is the way it is communicated. The role of Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) is vital as both a corrective measure and durability for future reference. Foreign language classrooms are an active foreground for feedback practices, given that the bulk of correction is multifaceted and multimodal. However, teachers are left to their devices to formulate best practices in the absence of defined classroom feedback mechanisms. The purposes of this study are (i) to evaluate Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) instructors’ real practices in supporting their students with corrective feedback; and (ii) to check the students’ beliefs about the feedback they receive from their instructors. Methods: Using the writing output of 92 EFL learners from Qassim University, Saudi Arabia, and the nature of WCF provided to them by three university instructors who were free to choose their feedback strategies in two phases of writing and correction, followed by learners’ cumulative response to the two, the study concludes that a number of difficulties surrounding the scope of feedback need to be researched. Results: The study found that the most used type of WCF is direct in regard to grammatical errors, vocabulary, syntax, and content evaluation. However, the Saudi EFL learners prefer direct corrective feedback for grammatical errors but indirect coded feedback for content correcting their writing assignments. Conclusions: The study encourages EFL teachers to focus on the different types of WCF when reverting to their learners. Furthermore, students’ preference for feedback should be the cornerstone teachers begin with while giving the WCF.

This study investigates the difference between monolingual (Kurdish) and bilingual (Kurdish-Arabic) speakers as EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners with regard to the use of Language Learning Strategies (LLS). It aims to identify the differences found between the two samples in terms of using the (LLS). A total number of 100 EFL students at Zakho University as Bilinguals and Duhok University as Monolinguals of English Departments of both universities participated in the study. All the participants were third and fourth year undergraduate students from both universities. They were asked to answer a questionnaire on Rebecca Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning known as SILL. The strategies followed in this paper are the direct ones (memory, cognitive, compensation) and the indirect ones (meta-cognitive, affective, and social) which are highlighted in Oxford (1990). These strategies are chosen for this paper because they are considered to be the most agreed upon ones by many writers in the area of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The valid and reliable statistical ‘independent t-test’ of SPSS is used to analyze the data. It is hypothesized that the results will show significant differences between the two groups (monolinguals and bilinguals) in their strategies in favour of bilinguals. The results of the research reveal that all strategies are clearly and soundly used by both groups, and surprisingly there is no significant difference between bilinguals and monolinguals with regard to the use of the six strategies. It was also found that there is no significant difference between third and fourth year levels concerning the use of the mentioned strategies, as well as there are two identical favourite lists of LLS for both groups.

In the long process of learning English as a foreign language, learners may become exhausted and, if not treated properly, decide to give up learning temporarily and even permanently. Therefore, it seems necessary to explore the reasons for their temporal delays and consider them appropriately to avoid permanent give-ups. As an attempt to determine the reasons for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ delays, the researchers in the present study explored their contributing factors through application of a classical grounded theory approach which led to the development of Language Learning Procrastination (LLP) theory. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews from 43 EFL learners in Tabriz, Iran, and were coded in open, selective, and theoretical coding stages through a Constant Comparative Method. The emerged theory involved a core category (i.e., Dilatory Behavior) indicating that EFL learners mostly procrastinate in five domains of doing exercises, preparation for exam, submitting projects, starting up speaking, and learning spelling. Furthermore, three major categories of Learners’ Characteristics, Environmental Conditions, and Task Features as the causes of Dilatory Behavior emerged during the iterative data collection and analysis procedures. The results of the study indicated that both EFL learners’ own characteristics and external factors related to the learning environment and language tasks are significant in shaping the EFL learners’ procrastination. The theory of LLP can be applied in EFL settings to recognize the learners’ sources of Dilatory Behavior and devise appropriate solutions for them.

This paper emphasizes the importance of empirical research on dictionary users and, in particular, investigates the effect of the so-called "menu" (a list of definitions at the beginning of a polysemous article) on the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners' dictionary look-up processes. The menu has been increasingly popular in English learners' dictionaries in Japan, but no empirical evidence has ever shown that it is really effective for reference acts. Two groups of subjects with different levels of reference skills were observed looking up given information in two different types of mini-dictionaries, one <i>with</i> and the other <i>without</i> the menu. The results showed that the menu was not so effective for skilled users, but that it helped the less skilled users find the appropriate information.

This study aimed at exploring attitudes of public and private schools' students towards learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and investigating factors affecting the students' attitudes towards learning EFL.The study attempted to answer the following questions:1-What are the overall attitudes of public and private schools’ students towards learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL)?2- Is there a statistically significant difference between the overall mean of attitudes of public and private schools' students towards learning EFL according to the type of school (public or private)?3- What are the main factors affecting students' attitudes towards learning EFL?The sample of the study consisted of 144 ninth grade students chosen randomly from Amman public and private schools. The students were distributed into four sections, each section comprised 36 students.To conduct the study, the researcher used a 20-item questionnaire to reveal attitudes of the students towards learning EFL. In addition, the researcher also carried out semi-structured interviews so as to explore factors affecting students' attitudes towards learning EFL.Findings of the study showed that the overall mean of attitudes of public and private schools' students towards learning in EFL is positive; however, the results indicated that students of private schools have more positive attitudes towards learning EFL than students of public schools.The findings showed that methods of teaching, the physical environment and the educational setting of schools were the main factors that affected students’ attitudes towards learning EFL.

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners around the world have access to various tools for their writing skill enhancement. Those tools are commonly accessed with automated written corrective feedback to help them minimize the errors in writing due to its time efficiency. Additionally, the examples of the written corrective feedback used by EFL learners are commonly Grammarly, Hemingway app, and AI grammar checker. However, they fail to address the pointed needs of EFL learners in writing skill enhancement where English is not the native language, such as the practices in non-native developing countries. Due to writing skill enhancement as the aim of this study, the EFL learners' participation is crucial to its efficacy by conventional model, instead of the automated one. To answer this issue, this study presents a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) analysis of conventional written corrective feedback as learning as the appropriate model for EFL learners' writing skill enhancement as the reflective practices in light of the shortcomings for EFL learners' writing skill enhancement in Indonesia. This SLR study demonstrates that the conventional written corrective feedback has the potential to support the Indonesian EFL learners' writing skill enhancement by comparing current practices of the corrective feedback as learning for EFL learners in Indonesia with national practices and international ones dealing with non-native developing countries reported in the literature. The conventional written corrective feedback is expected to be an efficient sustainable model to enhance the EFL learners' writing skill because of its empowering organic form.

Developing adequate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) academic writing skills is of paramount importance for students’ success in higher education in Oman. The traditional teaching approaches adopted in writing courses often lead to students’ disengagement, however. Although several studies have examined students and teachers’ perceptions of flipped instruction in various EFL courses, no study has examined the impact of flipping on students’ engagement in writing courses. This practice-based research project, where the instructor was the researcher, explored the impact of flipped teaching on 57 General Foundation Program (GFP) EFL learners’ behavioural, cognitive, emotional and agentic engagement in academic writing in a higher education institution in Oman, and the variations that exist in students’ engagement according to gender, age, English language proficiency and technology skills. The study adopted a mixed-methods design and used a student engagement questionnaire, focus group interviews and participant observations to collect data. Descriptive and inferential statistics and deductive and inductive analytical procedures were used to analyse the quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The study presents new practicable knowledge about the implementation and implications of flipped instruction for Omani EFL students’ engagement in academic writing at the GFP level. It proposes flipping as an instructional approach which helps to address GFP students’ lack of 4 behavioural, cognitive, emotional and agentic engagement in writing courses in the Omani context. Behaviourally, students in the flipped classroom experience increased effort, improved concentration levels, persistence, communication and collaboration, and amelioration in their attitude to class attendance. It is reasonable to conclude that learners undergo cognitive growth and develop self-regulatory strategies and meta-cognitive awareness. At the level of emotional engagement, learners initially experience negative emotions such as anger and frustration, and then more positive emotions such as contentment and increased interest in the subject as they adapt to the flipped teaching-learning model. Flipping also seems to influence students’ autonomy and ability to ask questions and express opinions. It appears, however, that this approach does not influence students’ capacity to contribute to their own learning resources and activities. This study makes a valuable contribution to knowledge about students’ engagement in EFL writing courses. It revealed that a strong positive correlation exists between students’ behavioural, cognitive and emotional engagement, and that a positive correlation exists between students’ technology skills and linguistic proficiency and several aspects of their engagement. The study demonstrated, however, that no correlation exists between gender and age and students’ engagement in the flipped classroom. Furthermore, this practice-based research indicated that although flipped instruction helps to address the problem of students’ disengagement in writing courses in our context, factors such as students’ linguistic proficiency and technology skills should be taken into consideration before implementing this instructional approach in the current setting.