Volume 9 Issue 1
Cultivating a Reading Habit: Silent Reading at School
In most EFL settings, reading is seen as related to language subjects only. Students rarely read for pleasure; they think that reading is part of the textbook-related activity. With the implementation of an extensive reading scheme and school-based assessment, students in Hong Kong begin to see reading a little differently.
Evaluation of EFL Materials Taught at Iranian Public High Schools
This article evaluates four EFL textbooks which have been prescribed for use in the Iranian high schools by the Ministry of Education. The merits and demerits of the textbooks are discussed in detail with reference to 13 common criterial features extracted from different materials evaluation checklists.
Setting EFL Reading Comprehension Questions in Learners L1?
This paper tries to address the question ‘Will it make a difference if reading comprehension questions are set in learners’ L1 instead of English (L2)?’ Past studies addressing this issue have produced contradictory findings.
Medical Students Most Frequent Errors at Mahidol University, Thailand
This study focuses on error analysis of first year medical students from the four medical schools at Mahidol University. A total of 44% of enrolled students participated, about 237. They were asked to translate sentences from Thai into English, translate a paragraph from Thai into English, and write an opinion paragraph in English on medical ethics.
Plagiarism or intertextuality?: Approaches to Teaching EFL Academic Writing
EFL students’ problems in using textual sources in academic writing have been considered negatively as plagiarism and more positively as a manifestation of intertextuality. This paper argues that treating plagiarism from the perspective of intertextuality is a productive approach to teaching writing skills, as it can help to foster student writers’ self confidence.
Reactive and Preemptive Language Related Episodes and Uptake in an EFL Class
This study investigates how frequently reactive and preemptive Language Related Episodes (LREs) are used in communicative classes. The study also examines the potential of the two types of focus on form in leading to uptake. To this end, all LREs were identified and transcribed from the audio-recordings of 24 hours of instruction from one class with two qualified instructors.
An Examination of Vocabulary Learning of College-level Learners of English in China
This paper reports on the learning of English vocabulary by college students (N=60) in mainland China. The purpose of this study was three fold: 1) to identify the pattern of vocabulary learning strategies; 2) to look at the differences in vocabulary learning strategy by gender, major, and self-rated English proficiency; and 3) to find out the vocabulary learning problems, attitudes and beliefs in relation to strategy use.
Language Learning Strategies for Junior College Students in Taiwan: Investigating Ethnicity and Proficiency
The present study aimed to investigate the effects of ethnicity and language proficiency on the use of language learning strategies by junior college students. Specifically, the study aimed to find out whether the frequency of strategy use across aboriginal and non-aboriginal junior college students and across high, intermediate and low English proficiency groups varies significantly.
Refusal Strategies by Yemeni EFL Learners
This is a pragmalinguistic investigation into the speech act of refusing as made by Yemeni learners of English as a foreign language. For this study, 20 Yemeni learners of English were asked to respond in English to six different situations in which they carry out the speech act of refusal.
High School Freshmen’s Responses to Home Economics Conducted in a Non-native Variety of English: A Three-year Survey on Content-based Instruction in Japan
From 2002 to 2004, a public high school in Japan provided Home Economics lessons for freshmen using non-native varieties of English for instruction. Offering a content course using non-native varieties of English was a significant step in the Japanese education scene since the need for students to be familiar with non-native varieties of English is essential, given the fact that non-native speakers outnumber native speakers of English in the world.
