Use of Native Language in Foreign Language Classroom

Throughout decades of foreign language(L2) teaching,a recurring issue has been the role of the first language(L1) in the classroom.A long-term and wide-ranging debate persists regarding practical and theoretical questions about the significance of the L1’ s obvious influence on the L2 being learned.Although many feel that the L1 should not be used in the classroom,other researchers, teachers,and learners do see a role for the L1 and support its use as a communication strategy and instructional tool.This article will look at the historical background of this topic,and describe how the L1 is currently being used in the L2 classroom,including in written translation activities.A specific explanation will also be given about the benefits of using translation for assessing reading comprehension.

Error Correction Strategy Use in the Second Language Classroom： A Study of Junior High School English Teachers in Ghana

Error correction, in recent times, is seen as one of the important teaching processes in L2 （second language） learning, because comprehensible inputs alone is insufficient for acquisition of language. However, few L2 teachers know much about error analysis and how to correct errors in the L2 classroom. Error correction is a very complicated and a thorny issue in L2 teaching and learning. L2 teachers, therefore, need to be armed with ways in which errors can be treated to ensure maximum effect yet with less harm to learners. Identifying learners＇ errors is very important in L2 learning, but how to correct them to give the desired effect is equally important and very challenging to L2 teachers. It is therefore crucial to initiate a study in Ghana to find out how errors are corrected in the Ghanaian English language classroom. This case study used complete observation and semi-structured interview as data collection strategies to identify error correction strategies/types English teachers use in the Ghanaian JHS （Junior High School） classroom and how error correction/treatment can be improved to facilitate English language teaching and learning. The findings of the study showed that explicit error correction technique was the most commonly used followed by recast, elicitation, metalinguistic clues, clarification request, repetition, and cues. It was also found that the causes of the disparity in the use of the various error correction types were inadequate teacher preparation, incompetence in English language, limited knowledge in error correction, caliber of students, and insufficient teaching time. This study identified that the situation can be improved through effective teacher training, in-service training, learner involvement, and effective planning.

Exploring the role of L2 proficiency and foreign language anxiety in EMI course achievement in China

The purpose of this study is to find out how and to what extent students’L2 proficiency and English learning anxiety impact their EMI courses achievement at a Chinese state university.Quantitative research method was conducted.Questionnaire,CET-4 score and EMI exam score(n=94)were collected from undergraduate students from School of Economics who have attended or are attending International Finance course.English language proficiency and anxiety were explored as possible significant predictors of academic success in EMI.The results showed that the two predictors,English language proficiency and anxiety were significant predictors of academic success in EMI.This result highlights that students with a lower level of proficiency need supplementary linguistic support in order to fully succeed in their EMI studies.Also,code-switching to Chinese when necessary and make classes communicative and fun may help to release students’anxiety.This study helped us better understand the impact of students’English level and anxiety on EMI achievement,and it also provides pedagogical implications for teachers of EMI courses.

Predictors of Foreign Language Anxiety: A Study of College-Level L2 Learners of Chinese

This study investigated seven learner variables （i.e., age, motivation, perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language, self-perceived achievement, self-perceived language learning ability, self-expectation in the Chinese class, and perception of the importance of the Chinese language） as potential predictors of Chinese language learning anxiety. Correlation analyses showed that all seven variables were significantly correlated with anxiety level in isolation. Perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language and age were found to have positive relationships with anxiety, whereas the remaining five variables were reported to have negative relationships. Multiple regression analysis revealed that all the variables except self-expectation in the Chinese class and perception of the importance of the Chinese language contributed significantly to the prediction of Chinese language learning anxiety when examined simultaneously. The five significant predictors altogether explained 34.7% of the variance in anxiety. Perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language was found to be the best predictor and self-perceived achievement the second-best predictor, followed by self-perceived foreign language learning ability, age, and motivation.

The Role of Lexis in Developing EFL Learners＇ Speaking Skill

EFL （English as a Foreign Language） speaking is a very demanding skill that requires learners＇ socio-pragmatic as well as strategic competence in any interactional situation, and lexis proves to play a crucial role in this process. However, few studies have investigated how both EFL teachers and learners view and analyze situations in which learners are not producing enough spoken language in class, and the reasons behind them. The present study will pinpoint the significant role of lexis in Moroccan learners＇ speaking production. To this end, 40 EFL teachers and 200 Moroccan high school students are surveyed and interviewed to reveal their perceptions of the speaking skill and the corresponding high significance of lexis in this instance. Results show that both teachers and learners identify vocabulary deficiency as the main factor behind students＇ inability to speak English. In the present paper, among the many suggestions that could be proposed to deal with this situation, it is argued that one efficient way would be to assist the students during the process of L2 （second language） vocabulary learning through vocabulary learning strategy instruction. Pedagogical and research implication will be given in response to the difficulties encountered in this area as have been identified by the EFL teachers and learners surveyed.

Mock Conference’s Impact on Internalizing Translating and Interpreting Learners’ Motivation

The internalization of motivation in second/foreign language(L2)learning and the use of mock conferences(MCs)to prepare translating and interpreting learners for future professional careers have been widely researched by scholars,but whether MC can facilitate the internalization of T&I learners’motivation is under-researched.Based on self-determination theory(SDT),this thesis investigates the effectiveness of MC in facilitating internalization of motivation through an empirical study which involves a 2-week long pedagogical experiment on two parallel classes of T&I learners taught by the same teacher in their 1st year of graduate study at Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation,Beijing Foreign Studies University.The research shows that compared with traditional teachercentered teaching model,MCs can better facilitate internalization of T&I learners’motivation.This article justifies the use of MCs as a situated approach in interpreting teaching and describes the design of MCs according to the psychological needs of SDT.In addition,the paper offers suggestions for further improvement of MCs design at the postgraduate level.

Appraisal of the Production-Oriented Approach： An Introduction

The production-oriented approach （POA） has been developed over a decade. It is driven by the need to improve English classroom instruction for university students in China （Wen, 2016）. It is also motivated by the aspiration to enhance the quality of foreign language education in other similar pedagogical contexts outside China. A volume of research has been done by Wen Qiufang and her research team, to formulate the theory of POA and to test its effectiveness in classroom pedagogy （e.g. Wen, 2016, 2015; Yang, 2015; Zhang, 2015）. At the moment, the POA is still at an early stage of theory building and almost all empirical research is done in the Chinese context. In order to improve the quality of this theory and to make it intelligible to the international academic community, a one-day symposium was held in Beijing Foreign Studies University on May 15, 2017. The symposium was entitled ＇The first international forum on innovative foreign language education in China： Appraisal of the POA＇. In the forum, leading experts in applied linguistics were invited to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the POA and the directions for its future development. The symposium was the first attempt for the POA research team to discuss its latest work with international scholars. This Viewpoint section collects the responses of four experts who participated in the symposium, listed in alphabetical order. The collection of articles covers three topics related to the POA： its pedagogical application, its use for teacher training, and its research. Alister Cumming is Professor Emeritus and the former Head of the Centre for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies, University of Toronto, Canada. His article focuses primarily on POA research as an exemplary case of design-based research. Rod Ellis is Research Professor in the School of Education at Curtin University, Australia. He discusses POA in terms of pedagogy, teacher training and research, with both critiques and constructive suggestions. Paul Kei Matsuda is Professor of English and Director of Second Language Writing at Arizona State University, the writed states. He responds to POA from the perspective of an expert researcher and teacher of L2 writing. Charlene Polio is Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Linguistics ＆ Germanic, Slavic, Asian ＆ African Languages atMichigan State University, the writed states. She conceptualises POA as a useful method to address some issues in pre-service teacher development. Overall, the articles in this section are insightful and reader-friendly. They are not only useful for the development of POA in particular, but may also be valuable to a broad range of researchers as they touch upon pertaining issues, as well as emerging topics, in the field of applied linguistics. We therefore find it necessary to make them accessible to a wide readership.