English as a Foreign Language International Journal

The impact of using captions on the speaking abilities of low-level and highlevel EFL students

2023-10-13T05:52:20-06:00

This paper investigates the impact of using captions on the English-speaking performance of
low- and high-level EFL learners. The experimental research took place during the 2019
academic year's first semester. This research was carried out at a university in central Tokyo.
A total of 67 students were recruited from two freshmen English classes. They were divided
into two groups: captioned group (34 participants) and non-captioned group (33 participants)
over a 13-weeks semester. All participants watched audiovisual media with or without
captions. All participants were asked to take speaking tests in order to evaluate the impact of
caption use. The results of the independent t-tests showed that caption usage improves EFL
learners' overall speaking accuracy. The overall speaking scores of both low-level and highlevel learners showed statistically significant differences in terms of speaking fluency and
accuracy in favor of the high-level learners. Several pedagogical consequences and
recommendations for future research are made based on these results.

Teacher written feedback on higher order skills of writing: A case study of L2 Vietnamese students

2023-10-13T06:06:52-06:00

To date, the recent teacher written feedback (TWF) research has attempted to enhance an indepth understanding of the effectiveness of feedback in L2 writing. Accordingly, specific
learners have different preferences towards different types of feedback and teacher feedback
research on Vietnamese students’ writing at tertiary level, focusing on higher order skills of
writing (organization, content), seems modest in number. Acknowledging these issues, the
present study investigates the impacts of teacher
feedback on Vietnamese undergraduates’ writing
and their preferences towards different genres of feedback. Eight L2 Vietnamese undergraduates participated in the research project. They were
asked to conduct a pre-test at the beginning of the project. Subsequently, they were required to
submit four assignments during the 11-week project, and a post-test was carried out at the end
of the research. Learners then took part in a semi-structured interview. Results revealed that
teacher feedback improved learners’ performance in organization between main and supporting
ideas of the writing texts. Regarding the feedback, most students, particularly those with low
proficiency, favored direct written feedback and oral conferences. Also, formative assessment,
such as writing portfolios, homework assignments, and reflection, is clearly validated as an
effective assessment in teaching writing to these L2 Vietnamese learners, who used to be
familiar with summative assessment.

The effect of the use of information and communication technology and blogging on the pre-service teacher and student training process

2023-10-13T06:11:57-06:00

Blogs are considered to be a useful online tool for learning, teaching, training and education.
Students and teachers can share their thoughts and ideas, and can express their feelings and
opinions in an online environment (Deng & Yuen, 2011). No special technological skills are
needed in order to post a blog entry. Blogging promotes creativity, critical thinking, reflection,
collaboration, interaction and active participation. Blogs can help people to gain and share
knowledge, as well as to increase the digital literacy of both students and teachers, and to
change their attitudes towards information and communication technology (ICT; Goktas &
Demirel, 2012). This study investigated the role of blogging in the development of the
cognitive, social and self-directed learning skills of students, who were future EFL teachers,
during a teaching methodology and teaching practicum course. The participants were 40
university students (third and fourth year). Their ages ranged from 18 to 25 years, their L1
was Cypriot Greek and they all resided in Cyprus. The students were asked to write online
blog entries after each of their sessions. The analysis of the data, blog entries and
questionnaires, showed that, overall, the students had positive attitudes towards blogging.
They believed that blogs facilitated their development as teachers and practitioners via
creating an online community in a user-friendly way. The students had the opportunity to interact more with their peers and the tutor, express their views, exchange ideas, gain new knowledge and experience, and increase the level of their digital competence, particularly considering the current COVID situation (Halic et al., 2010).