i-manager's Journal on English Language Teaching (JELT)


Volume 5 Issue 3 July - September 2015

Research Paper

The Role of Language Proficiency in Self-related Personality Traits

Abbas Ali Zarei* , NasrinZarei**
* Associate Professor, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
** MA, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
Zarei , A. A., and Zarei, N. (2015). The role of language proficiency in Self-related personality traits. i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 5(3), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.5.3.3559

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of Iranian EFL learners' proficiency level on their self-related personality traits (self-esteem and self-efficacy). To this end, 141 English major students, male and female, studying at Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU) and Kar Non-profit University in Qazvin, Iran were asked to respond to the Rosenberg Self-esteem Test, the General Self-efficacy Scale, the Academic Self-efficacy Scale, and the Self-efficacy for Self-regulated learning Scale. Also, the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (MTELP) was administered to determine their language proficiency level. Kruskal-Wallis procedure was used to analyze the data. Based on the findings, no significant difference was found in the participants' self-esteem and self-efficacy across proficiency levels. The results of this study may have theoretical and pedagogical implications for teachers, learners and syllabus designers.

Research Paper

Using Concept Mapping and Paraphrasing for Reading Comprehension

Hamid Marashi* , Nazanin Bagheri**
* Associate Professor, Department of Applied Linguistics, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran.
** MA, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran.
Marashi, H., and Bagheri, N.(2015). Using Concept Mapping and Paraphrasing for Reading Comprehension. i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 5(3), 12-18. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.5.3.3560

Abstract

This study investigated the comparative impact of two types of teaching techniques, namely concept mapping and paraphrasing, on the reading comprehension of EFL learners. For this purpose, 60 learners of a total number of 90 intermediate learners studying at a language school in Karaj, Iran, were chosen through taking a piloted PET for homogenization prior to the study. They were then randomly put into two experimental groups: 30 learners undergoing the concept map teaching, and 30 learners experiencing the paraphrasing teaching treatment. A piloted reading comprehension test was administered as the post-test of the study after each group was exposed to the treatment for 10 sessions in five weeks. The mean scores of the two groups on this post-test were computed through an independent samples of t-test to test the hypothesis raised in the study. The results showed that neither group outperformed the other significantly.

Research Paper

A Study on the Developmental Characteristics of Adverbial Conjuncts by Chinese Non-English Majors

Jiang Junmei*
*Faculty of International Studies, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China.
Junmei, J. (2015. A Study on the Developmental Characteristics of Adverbial Conjuncts by Chinese Non-English Majors. i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 5(3), 19-27. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.5.3.3561

Abstract

Based on the Chinese Learner English Corpus, the present study seeks to investigate the developmental characteristics of the use of adverbial conjuncts. And the results show that at different learning stages Non-English majors use all kinds of adverbial conjuncts, but their occurrence frequencies are quite different, the enumerative adverbials are most frequently used, resultative and deductive adverbials come second, transitional adverbials are least used. Chinese learners, especially high school students rely heavily on a small number of adverbial conjuncts, and the use of adverbials lacks diversity. Secondly, the distribution of different semantic categories is roughly the same in the three corpora. In addition, as students learn English more, the use of adverbial conjuncts presents different developmental trends or characteristics, there is an increasing tendency of summative, appositive, contrastive and corroborative adverbials, but the use of resultative and transitional adverbials increases first and then decreases, and it is quite contrary to the use of enumerative adverbials. There is significant difference in the use of adverbial conjuncts between ST2 and ST3, but no significant difference between ST3 and St4

Research Paper

The Impact of Peer Observation and Feedback on Technical Seminar Presentations: A Constructive Model

V. Vijaya Vani*
*Professor, Department of English, CMR Engineering College, Hyderabad.
Vani, V. V. (2015). The Impact of Peer Observation and Feedback on Technical Seminar Presentations: A Constructive Model. i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 5(3), 28-33. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.5.3.3562

Abstract

The present paper attempts to showcase the need and importance of peer observation and feedback in developing technical seminar presentation skills of the students at tertiary level. The paper endeavors to know whether a structured format will help students to know what they have to observe in the seminar presentations to give constructive feedback. Further, the study examines whether peer feedback ensures more involvement of target group in teaching/learning process or not.

Research Paper

Second/Foreign Language Lexical Competence: Its Dimensions and Ways of Measuring it

Anindya Syam Choudhury*
*Assistant Professor, Department of English, Assam University, Silchar.
Choudhury, A. S. (2015). Second/Foreign Language Lexical Competence: Its Dimensions and Ways of Measuring it. i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 5(3), 34-42. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.5.3.3563

Abstract

Although it is a core component of a language user's overall linguistic competence, vocabulary has traditionally not received the kind of attention it deserved, being usually lumped with other kinds of competence till 1980s and 1990s when researchers started focusing on it with great interest. The present paper discusses what the notion of lexical competence entails, and also attempts to look at how vocabulary researchers have conceptualized its dimensions, especially the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge. The paper also discusses the different ways in which these dimensions of lexical competence can possibly be measured, drawing data from an ongoing cross-sectional study on lexical competence in Assam University.