Global Journal of Foreign Language Teaching

From the editor

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Rahimi — 2016-11-11

Message from Editor

Dear Readers,

It is a great honor for us to publish August 2016 Vol 6 No 4 of Global Journal of Foreign Language Teaching (GJFLT).

Please follow the link below:

http://www.gjflt.eu/

Global Journal of Foreign Language Teaching welcomes original empirical investigations and comprehensive literature review articles focusing on foreign language teaching and topics related to linguistics. GJFLT is an international journal published quarterly and it is a platform for presenting and discussing the emerging developments in foreign language teaching in an international arena.

The scope of the journal includes, but is not limited to; the following major topics: Cultural studies, Curriculum Development and Syllabus Design, Discourse Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), General Linguistics, Globalization Studies and world English’s, Independent/Autonomous Learning, Information and Computer Technology in TEFL, Innovation in language, Teaching and learning, Intercultural Education, Language acquisition and learning, Language curriculum development, Language education, Language program evaluation, Language Testing and Assessment, Literacy and language learning, Literature, Mobile Language Learning, Pragmatics, Second Language, Second Language Acquisition, Second Language Acquisition Theory, Digital Literacy Skills, Second Language Learners, Second Language Learning, Second language Pedagogy, Second Language Proficiency, Second Language Speech, Second Language Teaching, Second Language Training, Second Language Tutor, Second language Vocabulary Learning, Teaching English as a Foreign/ Second Language, Teaching Language Skills, Translation Studies, Applied linguistics, Cognitive linguistics.

Teachers’ Beliefs and Students’ Experiences, Indonesian University Students’ Vocabulary Mastery, Multiple Language Learning, Idiom Transformation and Modification, Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Writing Achievement, Complex Sentence Structures in Patients with Schizophrenia, and The Effect of Second Life on Speaking Achievement have been included in this issue. The topics of the next issue will be different. We are trying to serve you with our journal with a rich knowledge through which different kinds of topics will be discussed in 2017 issues.

We present many thanks to all the contributors who helped us to publish this issue.

Best regards,

Associate Professor Dr. Ali Rahimi,

Editor – in Chief, Bangkok University

Teachers’ beliefs and students’ experiences

Jana Beresova — 2016-11-11

The article is based on the preliminary results of an ongoing research project that seeks to explore intercultural communicative competence of language teachers and university students. The article reports teachers’ beliefs and students’ experiences concerning intercultural communicative competence teaching and learning, gained by means of questionnaires. As Likert-type scales use fixed choice response formats and are designed to measure attitudes and opinions, they were used in the measurement of students’ statements that were asked to be evaluated in a survey, carried out in three different periods (steps). Teachers’ beliefs result from a long questionnaire, focused on data about how teachers perceive the cultural dimension of English language teaching and learning. The conclusions are based on data collected in a five-year study that need further investigation in the currently run project. Several recommendations for pre-service and in-service teacher training are commented on in the end.

Keywords: teaching English, learning English, acquiring target culture, intercultural communicative competence.

A study of Indonesian university students’ vocabulary mastery with vocabulary level test

Rully Raslina Novianti — 2016-11-11

In investigating learners’ vocabulary mastery, some researchers focused their studies on either receptive or productive vocabulary mastery. This study examines university students’ vocabulary knowledge in Indonesia by using the Vocabulary Level Test (VLT). It also compares the receptive vocabulary size of students who obtained extra hours of English instruction with those who had not. Furthermore, this study also identifies their strategies in enhancing their vocabulary mastery. The 2000-word frequency-band from the receptive version of the VLT and questionnaire are used for data collection. The results show that their receptive vocabulary scores are lower than 2000 words and no significant difference was found between the students who had extra hours of English instruction and those who had not. Then it can be stated that even after they had gained extra hours of English instruction, their average vocabulary knowledge was still lower than the 1000 estimated word level in the VLT.

Keywords: vocabulary mastery, Vocabulary Level Test (VLT), English as a Foreign Language (EFL), undergraduate students

Multiple language learning

Emrullah Seker — 2016-11-11

English is no longer seen as an extra qualification and it has become a sine qua non basic skill rather than a foreign language, resulting in the slogan English is not enough not only for second language speakers of English but also for the L1 speakers. Accordingly, in this paper, we review studies on multilingualism and simultaneous or successive learning of multiple languages and describe the languages involved in terms of their qualitative or quantitative properties by referring to accessibility, universal grammar and initial state theories, finally aiming to dissipate the terminological ambiguity in the field. In this context, based on the current theories of Universal Grammar on lexical and grammatical learning and theoretical and applied studies on multilingualism and multilingual individuals, we put forth approaches and strategies suggested for simultaneous or successive learning of multiple languages. The results obtained from the study not only contribute to the terminology but also understanding of the simultaneous and successive learning of multiple languages.

Keywords: languages, learning, strategies, multilingualism.

Ways of idiom transformation and modification

Ekaterina Belozerova — 2016-11-11

The present research focuses on phraseological derivation as an important key source of phraseological language system development and broadening. The study of contemporary British literature for teens and the analyses of the idioms used in literal works of selected and nominated authors let us come to certain conclusions which will be given in the present session. The aim of the present research is to reveal the contemporary ways of phraseological derivation and their speech realization in modern literal texts for teens. The object of the present research is a phraseological way of development in the contemporary phraseological English language system. The subject of the research is the communicative value and characteristics of phraseological derivatives. The results and data which were received will be useful for language instructors and teachers, as well as for further linguistic analyses in this field.

Keywords: lexicology, phraseology, idioms, contemporary British literature for teens.

The impact of computer-assisted language learning on Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary learning

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Rahimi — 2016-11-11

This study aimed to explore the impact of computer-assisted language learning on Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary learning. Participants of the study were 76 students – 29 males and 47 females – learning English as a foreign language in Parto, Sadr, Poyesh and Andishe Institutes in Ahvaz who were selected after taking the Nelson English Language Test as a proficiency test. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group was taken as control and the other as experimental group. Both groups participated in the teacher-made test of vocabulary, Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), and Word-Associates Test (WAT) as pre-test. During class sessions the control group was taught the vocabulary, in the conventional way, through the printed textbook while the experimental group taught by the software version of the same book. Three ANCOVAs were run to compare the performance of experimental and control groups after the treatment period. The results of the ANCOVAs revealed that using vocabulary learning software was more effective than using printed book on vocabulary learning, vocabulary breadth, and vocabulary depth of the participants. The results of the present study could help EFL course book designers, foreign language institutes, educational planners, material developers, teachers, and learners to provide a better context for EFL learning.

Keywords: computer-assisted instruction, computer-assisted language learning, information communication technology, vocabulary breadth, vocabulary teaching software.

Wiki effect on English as a foreign language writing achievement

Seyda Savran Celik — 2016-11-11

The number of the studies conducted on the use of wikis on the English as a foreign language (EFL) learning process has remained fairly limited. More specifically, in the Turkish EFL context, little attention has been paid to the effects of wikis on EFL writing achievement. Thus, this study aims to examine the effects of a wiki-based writing environment in terms of EFL writing achievement in the Turkish EFL context. In this experimental study, a background questionnaire, a writing achievement pre- and a post-test were administered to a sample group of 42 EFL learners. Results indicate that the use of wiki-based online writing environment increases writing achievement regarding content. It is recommended that wikis as appropriate tools to increase learners’ EFL writing achievement should be integrated into the EFL learning process. The advantages that wikis serve should not be ignored but exploited by the teachers

Keywords:English as a foreign language, wiki, writing, achievement

An analysis of complex sentence structures in patients with schizophrenia

Aysegul Ozcan — 2016-11-11

Patients with schizophrenia often display unusual language impairments and these abnormalities in language are among the most extreme and obvious symptoms in Schizophrenia Disorder. In this context, this research attempts to analyze and compare the schizophrenic patients’ and control group’s speech in terms of complex sentence structures. Fifty patients with schizophrenia diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria have been includedd in the study and compared to fifty healthy subjects matched for age, sex and education level with the patients. The subjects’ speech has been evaluated in four stages. These are narration, story picture sequencing, semi-structured speech and free speech. The data consists of 8-10 minute recorded interviews. The recordings have been transcribed based on DuBois’ Discourse Transcription Symbols. The statistical and linguistic analyses have shown significant differences between complex sentence types’ of patients with schizophrenia and healthy subjects’. The findings have demonstrated that due to the possible cognitive problems the speech produced by schizophrenia patients is syntactically less complex than that of controls. Additionally, patients with schizophrenia use shorter and simple sentences instead of complex sentences compared to healthy subjects.

Keywords: schizophrenia, sentence structure, complex sentence, language disorder, thought disorder.

The effect of second life on speaking achievement

Serhat Guzel — 2016-11-11

The number of studies that focus on the impact of Second Life (SL) as a virtual language learning tool on speaking achievements of EFL learners is quite limited. Thus, this paper aims to provide insight for SL’s effect on Turkish EFL learners’ speaking achievement levels. Forty-four EFL learners from Balikesir University participated in this experimental research. The participants were divided into two groups as an experimental group of 20 learners and a control group consisting of 24 students. An interview grading their speaking performance was administered to both groups as pre-test and post-tests. While the control group participants took traditional speaking classes, the experimental group did the same speaking activities on SL. Considering the interview scores, results indicated that learners who used SL had a better performance than the ones who participated in traditional activities.

Keywords: english as a foreign language, second life, speaking, achievement.