Parallel Session Abstracts
Parallel Session 1 - 10:10 - 10:30
The motivation of a TESOL Studies student at the University of Leeds for writing an English assignment
Ngan Tran, University of Leeds
This research focuses on a TESOL Studies student’s motivation to write and finish an English assignment in a TESOL Studies module (EDUC5934M – Analysing language) at the University of Leeds. While studying TESOL Studies, I find that students have to write many written assignments to pass the modules and because I am not good at having motivation for writing an assignment, I conduct a study to answer three research questions which are what motivates a TESOL Studies student at the University of Leeds to write her assignment? What is the role of motivation during her writing process? How did this student reward herself for finishing the paper? I believe that there are many people who will benefit from my research such as me, other peers in TESOL Studies, some module tutors in the major and other English language students that have difficulties in finding motivation for writing an assignment. To have the best results, I used the qualitative approach with in-depth interview as the data generation tool on a participant and it gave out these answers for research questions. In terms of the motivation role for this student, there are four sources of motivation for her to finish her assignment such as the need of getting good marks, the choice of topic, teachers’ attitude, and the mood for writing. For the completion reward, it turns out that the extrinsic reward is what motivated her to reach to the completion of the assignment. For the suggestion of further pedagogical research, I hope that other researchers would use this study as one of the literature framework to explore further about how teachers can enhance motivation of writing as well as other skills for non-experienced and little experienced teachers to learn and apply these techniques so that together we can make the process of learning English skills easier for students.
The effect of memory strategy on vocabulary learning in English language teaching
Dan Wang, University of Hull
This presentation I tend to talk about the impact of anxiety on Chinese students learning second language. Firstly, I will introduce what is the anxiety based on different definitions. I will talk about it is common that anxiety appears in many situations. I will elicit the topic of anxiety and learn second language for Chinese students. Secondly, I will illustrate that anxiety can have a positive effect on Chinese students learning second language. I will focus on listening, speaking, reading and writing sections to talk about. A certain amount of anxiety is helpful in learning second language. Before doing listening practices or listening tests, students experiencing anxiety will be motivated and focused on practices or tests, which facilitates Chinese students learning. It applies equally to speaking, reading and writing parts. I will also connecting the good effect of anxiety with my real learning experience to talk about it. Thirdly, I will introduce anxiety will have a negative effect on Chinese students learning second language. When Chinese students learn a second language, they often feel worry, nervousness or stress. Thus, researchers thought of anxiety as a permanent feature of a learner’s personality, and some language anxiety scales such as the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale measure anxiety. In addition, I will talk about my learning experience when I experience too much anxiety. Finally, I will introduce some useful approaches to deal with anxiety or overcome anxiety for Chinese students learning second language.
English World News as Fantastic Teaching Material in English Language Teaching (Poster Presentation)
Ying Bai, University of Leeds
Language is for using and communicating. News is a very important journalism method that can rapidly influence people. World news may involve a wide range of knowledge in two dimensions: English systemic knowledge; breaking and cutting-edge stories. As a supplement to text books, English world news could be better used and served as important teaching materials if combined with appropriate selection, adaptation and using. Text books may include a great number of selected appropriate knowledge that concern about systemic knowledge for learners, while world news will supply learners with more interesting, odd, amazing or magic stories for this can well arouse learners’ interests. As one of language learning’s aims is for learners’ practical use of that language, thus authentic teaching material will help a lot as long as news that was selected was appropriate and safe.
Listening skills: Differences results for academic purpose and for daily interaction (Poster Presentation)
Danlin Yu, University of Leeds
Traditional listening approaches stress highly on listening for information, ignoring its communicative feature. As White (1998) concludes, “listening as a means of learning language, instead of see it as a skill in its own right.” The two-stage taxonomy divides listening process into two stages (Buch,2001) The information transformation is considered as the basic level of listening, which focuses on the decoding of linguistic knowledge. The second stage requires listeners to relate the knowledge into a broader communicative context and therefore considering listening as a crucial part of effective communication. Observing from both the listening course plan and the listening assessment design, I find the communication value of listening has been underestimated.
Parallel Session 2 - 10:40 - 11:00
Migrant pupils as motivated agents in English primary schools: a qualitative multiple case study.
Elena Gundarina (Research postgraduate student), University of Leeds
This paper discusses the findings from a PhD inquiry into Russian-speaking migrant pupils’ learning motivations in English state-funded primary schools at Key Stage 2 (7-11 years old, middle childhood). Middle childhood (not specifically migrant) children’s motivation in learning has often been studied through the lens of Ryan and Deci’s (2006; 2000) Self-Determination theory (e.g. Bakx et al., 2019; Robins, 2012; Barton et al., 2009 – extrinsic and intrinsic dimension). However, none of the known studies explored the motivations of migrant language learners at primary level in England. This paucity of studies equally applies to the LL (Language Learning) motivation field in which there has been very little attention paid to primary level pupils’ LL motivations. The exceptions are Foreign Language Learning/English as a Foreign Language/Modern Foreign Language studies (e.g. Chambers, 2018; Fenyvesi, 2018; Wong, 2018; Courtney, 2017; Shin and Kim, 2017; Graham et al., 2016; Jin et al., 2014; Yunus and Abdullah, 2011; Bolster, 2009; Barton et al., 2009). Aiming to address these gaps, the following research question provides a focus for this enquiry – How do the Russian-speaking migrant pupils express their motivations in English primary schools at Key Stage 2?
The methodology comprises an interpretive paradigm employing a qualitative longitudinal multiple case study research approach. The evidence is based on 79 interviews with creative techniques and 7 months of participant observations. To explain the motivations of pupils, a combination of McAdams’ (2015) theory of personality development and Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (2009) in migration contexts were employed as a theoretical lens. The main findings show that migrant pupils were (1) unable to achieve or show achievement (i.e. fulfil their need to be/feel ‘smart’) in their L2 (Second Language) schools, (2) preferred more accessible subjects (mathematics, art), as opposed to L2; (3) pupils’ lack of a knowledge gain, rather than a lack of interest, caused their low learning engagement in academic subjects; (4) those pupils who had immediate (short-term and unstable) situation-specific visions of future success (e.g. wish for ‘good langwig’ related to L2 proficiency – Ideal L2 self) also expressed the need for self-worth, fairness and voice/freedom of expression (Ideal Self). However, those pupils with more distant, clearer future visions about their life and learning (including those related to academic achievement or language, i.e. Ideal L2 selves), did not express any Ideal Self for self-worth, fairness or voice. The implications of the findings for EAL (English as an Additional Language) specialists and policymakers are discussed.
Materials Adaptation on English Language Textbook Challenges 1 at International Language Programs, in Indonesia
Wawan Setiawan, University of Leeds
Material adaptation refers to how teachers make purposeful changes to the original textbook for their students by applying some techniques such as adding, deleting, and modifying the materials. In ELT materials, materials adaptation plays a very important role in order to suit learners’ needs because ready-made textbooks may not be relevant to the contexts where the learning takes place. This paper discusses how the textbook, Challenges 1, used as the teaching material for young learners (Step up level) at International Language Programs (ILP) in Indonesia is evaluated and adapted to make it more students-centered, practical, and relevant to their needs. Material evaluation is an initial process before adapting the materials which is aimed to evaluate the suitability of the textbook by looking through the objectives, resources, tasks, etc and to make a rationale for adaptation. Some of the reasons found for the adaptation in this textbook are activities that tend to be boring which are not attractive for the students in ILP contexts, the tasks which are designed too easy or difficult for the students’ level, unsuitable sequence of tasks, and too many language-focus-formed tasks. Therefore, some techniques are used to make changes such as adding (expanding and extending) the number of questions to improve the quality of the tasks, deleting (subtracting and abridging) some tasks which are not relevant to the learning objectives, and modifying (rewriting) the instructions of the tasks to be more communicative and interesting. The result of the adaptation has changed the materials become more students-centered, communicative, and appropriate for the students’ proficiency level.
Validating IELTS speaking test among international students studying in the UK
​
Yiyi Zhan, University of Leeds
IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is an international standardized test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers (IELTS About Us, 2019). Its uses a 9- band scale to identify the level of proficiency, from non-user, which is band 1 to an English language expert, which is band 9. As a previous IELTS participant / international student in a British university, and interested in IELTS teaching in the future, I noticed Chinese undergraduate business school students can normally get a fair score from IELTS Speaking like 5/ 5.5 or even 6.0, and by the time they start the course at university, in contrast, the students are hardly to communicate or the most of time they would feel uncomfortable to produce words in their university life in the UK. Hence, my research question from this topic would be: has the IELTS effectively reflect the students’ actual level of English? Why the majority of undergraduates are unable to speak English confidently, especially for communication in real situations with international speakers. And the last one is how to increase the speaking confidence and competence of undergraduates? I will also introduce the methodologies of research: the participants would be 6-8 (one group) Chinese students from Hull University Pre-sessional Language Course, there are three methods are mixed in my research: A questionnaire survey starts first, and then the experiment as a stimulant seminar to facilitate the development of my research, along with the interview with two or three lecturers from snowball sampling to complete the research.
Parallel Session 3 - 11:10 - 11:30
Correlation between Motivation Types & Self-Identical Changes among Rural English Learners in China
Xingye, Fu, University of Hull
The dissertation has indicated and has attempted to find the correlation between motivation types and self-identity changes among Chinese rural learners. For this dissertation title, as I mentioned before, the trigger of doing this research is the target that is rural Chinese learner. The Chinese learners in rural area in small cities that are left-behind five-tier cities are actually suffering from the unbalanced English access. Humbly speaking, this sort of situation has directly decided the rural Chinese leaners’ future. In big cities, for instance, Beijing shanghai and Guangzhou are holding a massive and multiple English resource for the urban learners such as an institution like New Oriental(a private class for language teaching). By contrasting the diversity between rural learners and urban learners in China, it is obviously to see that how English access affects rural learners’ English learning process.
The unequal English access has influenced rural learners’ motivation and self-identity directly or indirectly. This dissertation research is aimed at investigating the various self-identities that changes when rural learners learner English. First and foremost, the self-identities change has been characterised by 7 types of change, which are self-confidence changes, additive change, subtractive change, productive change, split change, financial change and zero change. Secondly, the motivation, as it appeared in the title, basically is categorised by 5 kinds, which are intrinsic motivation, learning situation, immediate achievement, parents’ encouragement, and extrinsic interests. Last, the question that how to match self-identity changes with motivation types depends on the result of conducting research. The research methodology is generally going to follow Dörnyei’s approach from quantitative research to qualitative research.
Relationships between General English Self-efficacy, Self-efficacy for English Skills, and English Proficiency: A Study of High School Students in Japan
Masako Takahashi, University of Leeds
Self-efficacy is generally associated with high ability and academic achievement, but in the field of SLA, many of the studies have only seen a correlation between specific English skills and general English self-efficacy, Results are divided among studies that have investigated the relationship between overall English ability and their general English self-efficacy (Tseng, 2013). Therefore, in this study, I aimed to clarify the degree of English self-efficacy of Japanese high school students, and investigate how much their general English self-efficacy and self-efficacy in four skills can explain their English ability. I also examined the relationship between general English self-efficacy and self-efficacy of four skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing) and examined whether the result of each survey differs depending on the students' English ability.
Participants were 544 Japanese high school students. They were divided into two groups by the result of the closed-test to high English proficiency group (155), and low English proficiency group (139).
Questionnaires to measure general English self-efficacy and self-efficacy for 4 skills were prepared by referring to Hamada (2011), Pinekich & De Groot (1990), Ueki & Takeuchi (2013), etc. The multiple choice closed-test was developed based on the pre 2 levels reading EIKEN Test.
Overall, there was a significant weak correlation between general English self-efficacy and their English ability. Among the four skills, the self-efficacy for reading had a significantly weak relation to their English ability. The correlation with general English self-efficacy was high for self-efficacy for reading and writing. In the group with high English ability, the sense of self-efficacy for general English was more strongly correlated with the English ability and the self-efficacy of the group with low English ability was not correlated with their English ability at all. This supports the result of Tseng (2013), and further follow-up is awaited
The use of strategy to promote EAP vocabulary learning
Zhimin Qin
As a learner I deeply realize the importance of academic vocabulary learning strategies of learners for EAP, especially to Chinese students. However, there is a noticeable lack in vocabulary learning Strategies under the context of Chinese education. This is the reason why I chose the topic and conduct the research which aims to let students could obtain the Strategies and used effectively in their practice.
To obtain the objective data and information, I intend to carry out a concurrent combination of qualitative and qualitative research focusing on two following questions:
1. Are Chinese students encouraged to use vocabulary learning strategy?
2. How do Chinese students use strategies to EAP vocabulary learning?
​
In terms of the first question, my surveys would be provisionally distributed to the 50-100 Chinese international students who are my target participants and studying in Hull to collect quantitative data. To obtain much more accurate and valuable data, during this design of the questionnaire, I intend to mainly use 5-point Likert scale and multi-item scales under necessary condition to measure at what extent students are encouraged to use EAP vocabulary learning strategy while learning. The collected data would be analysed by SPSS-the ‘most commonly used software in applied linguistic and educational research (Dornyei, 2007:198).’ Next, in terms of the second question, I intend to interview with 5 familiar students who completed the survey, and they are expected to offer much more objective and specific information or data to this question as compare to others, meanwhile I expect I could discover some new details or questions from which.
Parallel Session 4 - 15:00 - 15:20
Oral Error Correction: Teachers’ beliefs and students’ attitudes
Saed Alhabbashi
Oral Error Correction refers to teachers’ responses to learners’ erroneous second language production. The concept of the error correction has long been a thought-provoking idea in the realm of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). It has been studied and discussed from different perspectives. For example, there are numerous studies which aim at determining types of the error correction, To cite a study, Lyster and Ranta (1997) conducted a longitudinal classroom observation research which ended up with six error corrections types: recast, explicit correction, clarification request, repetition, metalinguistic clues and elicitation. On the other hand, the provision of Oral Error Correction has been discussed and linked to the task focus as it is thought that the on-the-spot correction is suitable for accuracy task focus while the after-the-event correction is more suitable for fluency task focus (Harmer,2013). While the recent burgeoning research are obviously more interested in identifying the most effective error correction type. However, research findings seem to yield different views about the most effective feedback type provided by the ESL teachers.
Therefore, this study claims that all oral error corrections types are effective, but their provision remains arbitrary, idiosyncratic, unsystematic and ambiguous (long, 1997). In other words, every teacher, in teaching practice, thoughtlessly provides a preferred feedback correction hence this study aims at exploring teachers’ beliefs and choices of the error correction type throughout structured classroom observations and stimulated-recall (SR) interviews with each participant. The study also attempts to draw students’ perceptions and attitudes towards the most commonly used types by completing a multi-item scaled questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.
Chinese overseas postgraduate students' Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) and Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) related to speaking in the UK university.
Chen Chen, University of Leeds
This research is about Chinese overseas postgraduate students’ Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) and Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) related to speaking in the UK university. It discusses the elements influencing anxiety and enjoyment in terms of speaking and analysing the relationship between these two emotions.
According to the researcher’s observation and own experience, Chinese postgraduate students have various feelings to speaking in the classroom which influence their learning results. The research on language anxiety is prevailing for more than forty years but the study of language enjoyment is just starting out. Most research about language anxiety and enjoyment is focused on oral communication and has large amounts of participants with various target languages, nationalities and educational background. There is limited research on Chinese overseas students with relatively high proficiency level. In order to fill the gap, the research chooses Chinese overseas students majoring in MA TESOL Studies in the University of Leeds as an example to conduct an in-depth study.
​
The research uses questionnaires to collect data. It uses traditional paper-and-pencil way and is randomly issued to fifty students in class. It includes twenty items, which is extracted from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz et al., 1986) and Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (FLES) (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2016). Likert scale research is for quantitative research to measure participants’ level of anxiety and enjoyment and the relationship between them. After each rating, participants need to recall their learning experiences and write down their comments or related examples. This part is designed to answer questions about elements influencing anxiety and enjoyment.
This research explores the inner world of Chinese overseas students and offers pedagogical implication for teachers to release students’ anxiety and create enjoyable speaking environment for receiving better teaching results.
Raising Students’ awareness of vocabulary determination strategies
Jing Wang (University of Hull)
As an English teacher, during the period of two years’ teaching experience, I found that my students often struggle with memorizing vocabulary. Typically, they use rote learning strategies like repetition. There could be several reasons for this inefficient approach to learning vocabulary, perhaps one of the most significant reasons being that they are not aware of or don’t employ vocabulary learning strategies. An example is that these learners are inclined to treat words that share the same affix or root as a brand new word and make tremendous effort repeating them, which is demotivating. In fact, there are many vocabulary learning strategies that could help English learners. As a learner, I myself benefited from vocabulary learning strategies. One example of this is to guess the meaning of a word through its roots and affixes. Therefore, the aim of this research is to help students’ enhance their vocabulary learning process.
Learners equipped with learning strategies might be more successful in language learning, which in turn would motivate learners. Vocabulary learning has always been considered one of the most difficult tasks for learners. Therefore, if learners are equipped with vocabulary learning strategies, they could be more successful in vocabulary learning. This research will be similar to an action research, which means English language lessons will be designed and delivered by the researcher. Before beginning the sessions, participants will take an indicative test. A post-session-test will also be delivered to participants. Apart from the tests and teaching sessions, participants might be invited to attend face-to-face interviews. This is the qualitative research method I will integrate into this research. In the end, information will be collected and test results will be compared, in order to summarize this research and draw conclusions.
Parallel Session 5 - 15:30 - 15:50
The role of personality traits in predicting IELTS output skills performance
Hatim Alredini, University of Hull
The Big-Five model is a powerful personality traits tool that can be used to describe individual differences, assess individual currents behaviours, and predict future behaviours. Because of its unique design, it is often implemented in several sectors to aid individuals, groups, and organisations in self-understanding and decision-making, such as in English as a second language (ESL).
Despite the amount of research in ESL, minimal studies have investigated the relationship between the big-five model and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). IELTS is a respectful proficiency English test that is highly required by institutions in English language speaking countries. Institutions such as universities require applicants to provide IELTS results as proof of their English mastery. Applicants often retake the test multiple times in order to provide the requirement which results in financial and time waste.
​
The goal of this study is to establish a predictor scale based on the Big-Five Model that could predicate IELTS production skills performance without undertaking the test, thus saving time, money and reducing IELTS candidates' test retakes. The research will examine the problem through mixed analysis method of two groups in which the first group will be the baseline to find the relationship between personality traits and their results in IELTS speaking and writing. Through the results of the first group, a scale will be established to predict the second group IELTS results. For this study, surveys will be used to collect the data. The anticipated outcomes of the study will possibly produce a usable scale will assist non-native English Speakers community prior to their test and contribute to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) community for future researches.
Needs Analysis for senior high school teachers in Japan and teacher training to develop students' fluency through Task-Based Language Teaching
​
Tomohide Warabi, University of Leeds
​
This paper discusses the findings from a MA inquiry into senior high school (15-18 years old students) English teachers in Japan. Needs Analysis has often been studied through the lens of lacks and wants (Malderez and Weddell, 2007) and Task-Based Language Teaching (Long, 2015). However, few studies explored the needs of English teachers at secondary school level and there has been very little attention paid to link between teachers' needs and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in Japan. Even though English teachers in Japan will undergo the English educational reform in which speaking is subdivided into speaking production and speaking interaction and speaking proficiency is assessed, only small number of teachers prepare well for the drastic change. In other words, it seems there is a considerable gap between what Ministry of Education demands and what English teachers, who tended to emphasise the importance of grammatical accuracy, are able to do. In order to address the gap, I conducted the professional development workshop based on teachers' lacks, needs, and speaking fluency.
​
The methodology comprises an interpretive paradigm employing a qualitative approach. The evidence is based on 4 semi-structured interviews, followed by Thematic Analysis. The key themes for the Needs Analysis can be investigated through the perspectives of priorities, problems, attitudes (Brown, 1995), lacks and wants (Malderez and Weddell, 2007). The main findings for the transformation of teachers' attitudes toward speaking fluency and the implications for the effective task sequence (Robinson, 2010) will be discussed.
Investigating the vocabulary levels and word part knowledge of Chinese postgraduate students in UK (Poster Presentation)
Muyang Niu, University of Leeds
Vocabulary plays an important role in Language learning and use. Wilkins (1972, cited in Schmitt, 2010) highlights that without vocabulary vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed. Schmitt (2010) also states that vocabulary is the thing that all learners will be involved in their learning process. Vocabulary can also related to other language proficiency (Schmitt, 2010). So we need to realize the importance of vocabulary. When we start learning vocabulary, we learn it by words (McCarthy et al., 2010). So how many of them and how are they composed should be concerned. As for the numbers of words we need to know, Nation (2001) believes that an educated native speakers of English know about 20,000 word families. As for non-native speakers, Nation (2001) and Webb and Nation (2017) states that accomplish vocabulary by using the frequency is more appropriate. Then it come to different kind of vocabulary tests which based on different word lists. Another important factor is to assess the words, we need to know how to count words in different situations. Read (2000) and Nation (2001) lists the distinction between tokens and types. He also give out the concept of lemma and word families. McCarthy et al. (2010) and McCarthy (1990) describes how are words formed. In this case, we get to know the concept and knowledge of affix.
Scaffolding among EFL Postgraduates in the interaction of dictogloss and the acquisition of L2 grammar (Poster Presentation)
Yongjia Peng, University of Leeds
My research for the module “Analysing Language Learning” exams the value of peer scaffolding in interaction from the perspective of Vygotskian sociocultural theory. Although there are sufficient researches about peer scaffolding in language skills of speaking, listening, writing and reading, studies focus on grammar competence are relatively scant. Therefore, this research makes use of the reconstruction stage of the dictogloss task and aims to investigate how peers scaffolding works in dialogic interaction and if it helps improving grammar knowledge.
Participants (four postgraduates from the University of Leeds) collaboratively reconstructed the dictated text. They are all females, ranging in age from 20 to 25, and are of the same proficiency of English. Mandarin is their mother tongue, but they speak English as a foreign language throughout the class discussion. The whole discussion of reconstruction has been recorded by phone.
Qualitative analysis has shown how EFL learners provide scaffolding to each other and the effectivity of scaffolded assistance in the grammatical acquisition. Participants in this study displayed roles of expert and novice reciprocally and provided scaffolding to each other. Three types of characteristics of scaffolding, namely language-related assistance, peers as a resource, and encouragement, are found in this study. This finding is consistent with that of Golonka et al. (2017) who carried out the research in the context of text interaction.
This study has implications for pedagogy on the practical level in terms of how to promote grammatical proficiency in EFL class. Firstly, instructors can make use of the dictogloss in grammar class to improve L2 learners’ grammatical proficiency. Through peer scaffolding in small groups, learners can get more opportunities to upgrade or refine the use of grammatical forms within ZPD. Secondly, at least one student in the group should be assigned to act as group leader, who is responsible for giving encouragement and help group members to stay on the task when they trailed off the topic.