Volume 2, Issue 1 , June 2023
Nasim Boustani; Taqi Al Abdwani
Abstract
Vocabulary growth predicts communication ability and communication without vocabulary is impossible. The study was done among 50 EFL learners to examine the effect of music-based instruction on their vocabulary retention and attitudes. They were divided into experimental and control groups. First, a ...
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Vocabulary growth predicts communication ability and communication without vocabulary is impossible. The study was done among 50 EFL learners to examine the effect of music-based instruction on their vocabulary retention and attitudes. They were divided into experimental and control groups. First, a pre-test was conducted to fulfill the homogeneity assumption. Then, the photo dictionary part of the “English for Schools Prospect 1” book was set to music and the experimental group underwent music-based practices. While the control group received audio-visual instruction. Immediately after the instructions, a 20-item test was given to the groups. Subsequently, a 9-item attitude scale was distributed among the teacher, observer, and groups. After two weeks, a long-term memory test was conducted between the two groups. Results presented that the experimental group significantly outscored in the short- and long-term memory tests compared with the control group. Moreover, results from the attitude scale indicated that they welcomed music-based instruction allowing more profound vocabulary learning and communication ability than the audio-visual practices.
Akin Gürbüz; Mehmet Abi; Bekir Canlı
Abstract
A common challenge for most students in intercultural contexts both in their academic studies and future careers is balancing speaking opportunities for talkative and less talkative students. The differences in individuals’ communication styles due to their backgrounds may lead to some ...
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A common challenge for most students in intercultural contexts both in their academic studies and future careers is balancing speaking opportunities for talkative and less talkative students. The differences in individuals’ communication styles due to their backgrounds may lead to some concerns about intercultural competencies. In this respect, this study intends to explore the possible relationship between students' confidence in communication levels, their self-perception of English proficiency levels, and cultural styles. For this purpose, three questionnaires were carried out by the participation of 106 students at a state university. The obtained data were analyzed by conducting ANOVA tests. The findings indicated that participants have low to medium levels of English proficiency and as their language levels increase, their cultural self-awareness and cross-cultural communication levels increase as well. In addition, there is a significant relationship between their levels of confidence in communication and having outgoing personalities.
Minoo Alemi; Zahra Maleknia; Babak Meschi Nezami
Abstract
This quasi-experimental study scrutinized the impact of technology-mediated TBLT in an online collaborative and individual EFL learning environment on the development of request production of 20 male and female B.A. students of TEFL. The participants were divided into two equal individual and collaborative ...
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This quasi-experimental study scrutinized the impact of technology-mediated TBLT in an online collaborative and individual EFL learning environment on the development of request production of 20 male and female B.A. students of TEFL. The participants were divided into two equal individual and collaborative experimental groups to receive online video-prompt task-based instruction on request speech act production in six distinct situations defined based on different contextual variables including distance, power, and imposition. Two similar versions of video-prompt Discourse Completion Tests (DCTs) focusing on six situations covered in online classes were given to the participants as a pretest and posttest. The results indicated that both groups’ request speech act production improved significantly after the intervention. However, there was no significant difference between the performance of the two groups. It was then concluded that both techniques are facilitative in boosting students’ pragmatic competence; however, more time is required to find out the extent to which these techniques differ in terms of their productiveness.
Anna Bocar; Ruel Ancheta
Abstract
This study aimed to determine the effectiveness level of the communication skills of the selected participants who were non-native speakers of the English language, and examine its implications for their business skills. A descriptive method of research was utilized and a borrowed questionnaire ...
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This study aimed to determine the effectiveness level of the communication skills of the selected participants who were non-native speakers of the English language, and examine its implications for their business skills. A descriptive method of research was utilized and a borrowed questionnaire with slight modifications was administered to 145 students through purposive sampling. The results of the study showed that the majority of the participants have a moderate and high level of effectiveness in terms of their communication skills with 48% and 31% respectively. However, 21% of the participant showed a low level of communication skills effectiveness. The students who have a high level of effectiveness in their communication skills are interpreted as excellent communicators and those who have a moderate level of effectiveness in communication skills are categorized as able communicators. It implies that the participants can communicate with competence and use them in their various business skills. However, students who have low levels of communication skills need to pay attention to their communication skills so that they can be much more effective.
Saba Hasanzadeh; Golshan Shakeebaee
Abstract
Since business without appropriate language use is impossible and language is an inseparable part of a culture, knowing about the cultural patterns of communities can also be valuable. Considering language as an essential component of any given culture, studying linguistic expressions ...
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Since business without appropriate language use is impossible and language is an inseparable part of a culture, knowing about the cultural patterns of communities can also be valuable. Considering language as an essential component of any given culture, studying linguistic expressions can reveal a society’s hidden cultural patterns, a concept known as cultuling analysis. The current study looked at the “flattery” cultuling demonstrated in Persian and English films. To achieve this, excerpts of dialogues from 100 Persian and 100 English films were taken and analyzed by means of cultuling analysis (CLA) methodology from linguistic, cultural, and psychological angles. The result showed that flattery can happen in formal and informal situations among people from both equal and unequal status. Moreover, Iranian people’s use of flattery displayed cultural patterns of overstating, high context, power distance, low trust, and collectivism, while English people’s use of this cultuling revealed their hidden culture, including low-context, high-trust, understanding, individualism, and power distance.
John Demuyakor; De-Love Anobah Opare; Rachel Naa Kwarkor Quartey
Abstract
The communication skills of politicians determine the attitudes of electorates towards the outcomes of national elections. However, media news framing of presidential elections affects and shapes the electorate’s perceived attitudes toward elections. This study employed a comparative experimental ...
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The communication skills of politicians determine the attitudes of electorates towards the outcomes of national elections. However, media news framing of presidential elections affects and shapes the electorate’s perceived attitudes toward elections. This study employed a comparative experimental design to test the hypotheses by varying the valence and types of frames (i.e., positives vs. negative frames × thematic vs. episodic frames) to evaluate how these news frames affected the perceived attitudes of Ghanaian electorates towards the 2020 presidential election in Ghana. Stratified sampling approach was used to enroll 2,702 participants for this study from nine regions. The findings showed that the framing effects were few, weak, and not robust among the electorates in the nine regions. The findings further indicated that the perceived attitudes of electorates toward the elections were not consistent. The perceived attitudes towards the election were influenced by a single news frame and the effects of the news frames were not determined by a single news frame. Finally, the perceived attitudes of Ghanaian electorates toward the 2020 elections were found not to be determined by a particular news frame.
Faeze Pouria; Tahereh Zamani Behabadi
Abstract
The current study, following a mixed-methods design, aimed at: 1) investigating whether internet-based applications including Adobe Connect and Shaad for online teaching could improve communication and vocabulary knowledge for pre-intermediate EFL learners, 2) examining if the difference varies with ...
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The current study, following a mixed-methods design, aimed at: 1) investigating whether internet-based applications including Adobe Connect and Shaad for online teaching could improve communication and vocabulary knowledge for pre-intermediate EFL learners, 2) examining if the difference varies with respect to the learners’gender and 3) detecting learners’ reactions to the role of online learning in improving their vocabulary knowledge. In doing so, 34 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL students were selected to take part in the study. The results of one-way ANCOVA confirmed that the Adobe Connect group outperformed the Shaad group with respect to vocabulary knowledge. As for gender, the results of the t-test confirmed that there was statistically no significant difference in students’ scores. The commonalities from the interviews indicated that it was a novel experience and a challenging task to learn new words. Finally, practical implications were offered for EFL students and teachers.
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