This study was to investigate the implementation of grammar consciousness-raising activities for the students’ grammatical competence. The participants were 70 students of vocational high school ...which were divided into 35 students in experimental group and 35 students in control group. The data were gained from pre-test and post-test. The results of posttest from the experimental and control group were compared. The findings showed that the students who were taught using grammar consciousness-raising activities had significant difference on their grammatical competence. Furthermore, the students were highly motivated in learning grammar and their grammatical competences were also increasing.
This study set out to explore the impact of digital social media on the writing and speaking skills of English as second language tertiary level students in one institution in Lesotho. Current ...research stipulates that digital social media can have a negative impact on students’ grammatical competence if not used properly. However, digital social media has also been found to have a positive impact on students’ productive skills. In order to find out the impact of digital social media on students’ written and oral skills, the study adopted a qualitative approach confined in a case study. Face-to-face interviews with five (n=5) lecturers and focus group discussions with sixty (n=60) students were used as tools for data collection. Findings from face-to-face interviews with lecturers reveal that digital social media has a negative impact on students’ grammatical competence because they employ short forms in formal writings. Furthermore, findings from group discussions with students reveal two things; firstly, they point to digital social media as having a positive impact on their speaking skills, and secondly as having an adverse impact on their writing skills because of the informal language used in the social media platforms. These findings suggest that students should be taught how to properly use the platforms in order to balance the two skills. The study consequently concludes by recommending that lecturers should constantly encourage their students to chat using formal language all the times especially amongst themselves as this will help them to improve their writing skills.
This paper tries to articulate from the point of view of linguistic theory how Spanish native grammatical competence of embedded indirect questions, as characterized by the Minimalist Program ...(Chomsky, 1995), can influence knowledge and production of such structures in non-native English by adult Spanish learners. A theory on the difference between native and adult non-native acquisition is also invoked in order to support the need for explicitly teaching and making adult learners aware of the differences between the two languages for these particular structures.
The study examines the grammatical, discourse, and productive competence of first-year ESL students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences at the Carig Campus of Cagayan State University in the ...second semester of the academic year 2021. It looked specifically at respondent profile factors like sex, parents` highest level of education, the type of high school they graduated from, ethnicity, and media exposure that may help explain differences in the student-respondents' levels of grammatical and discourse competence, writing and speaking skills. According to the study's findings, the respondents' overall grammatical and discourse competence was graded as "average," their overall speaking ability as "competent," and their writing ability as "sufficient to good." Furthermore, a substantial correlation between grammatical and discourse competence and the respondents' parental education and media exposure was discovered. Speaking skill differences were only accounted by the course, whereas writing skill variants were not explained by any profile variables. The findings also reveal that whereas discourse competence is highly connected with speaking and writing skill, grammatical competence is significantly correlated with writing skill.
Knowledge of the grammar of a foreign language at the proper level is a necessary component of language proficiency in general, and therefore teachers are faced with an urgent question of how to ...facilitate and accelerate the process of its assimilation. The purpose of the study is to theoretically substantiate the importance of mastering grammar for applicants of non – linguistic institutions of higher education and analyse the application of the proposed exercises. The methodology of the study consists in the application of theoretical (analysis of methodological literature on the problem of study, comparative analysis of grammatical phenomena of English and Ukrainian languages, analysis of educational publications on English for students of non-linguistic areas of training) and empirical research methods (observation of the level of grammatical competence of students; questionnaires and testing of students; an experiment that consisted in organising and conducting experimental training to test the effectiveness of the developed set of exercises that contribute to faster and more complete assimilation of the grammatical component of a foreign language). Techniques and means of teaching and activating grammatical structures in the study of a foreign language are examined. English language textbooks for non-linguistic institutions of higher education are analysed. The analysis of the use of exercises and internet resources aimed at mastering and fixing the necessary grammatical rules is conducted. The results of testing the teaching of English grammar on a communicative basis in a non-linguistic institution of higher education using professional-oriented educational texts as the basis for exercises are presented. The position that this approach contributes to maintaining students’ motivation, activity, and independence is justified. Research training conducted based on the state biotechnological university confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed set of exercises in working with grammar based on professional texts. This technology can be used by teachers-philologists in teaching grammar of any foreign language, provided that they adapt accordingly, depending on the typical language difficulties and needs of students.
The aim of our quantitative study is to explore students’ perceptions towards some asynchronous tools to acquire the objectives of the subject of English Morphosyntax. The research was based on a ...sample of 358 students who were recruited from a population of 451. Participants ranged in age from 20 to 58 with an average age of 29.49 and were divided into four age groups. The results showed the students’ perceptions about the efficacy of the technological tools in Blended-learning training to improve their grammatical competence in English as a second language (L2). The students highlighted the opportunity provided to have a greater autonomy to be able to set and organize their own pace of study and individual learning. They pointed out the potentiality of the VLE implemented to supply a natural environment to learn and practice English grammar in real experiences and situations, and emphasized the benefits of the e-activities to carry out a continuous assessment and the students’ self-assessment. The present study brings some light on the students’ perceptions towards the effectiveness of asynchronous tools (podcast, videocast, online tests, online glossary and forums) in teaching English grammar to foreign language learners.
•The study explored the students’ perceptions towards Blended-Learning training & L2.•They mentioned there are opportunities to access to authentic materials of the L2.•Students stated technological tools supported collaborative and independent learning.•They emphasized the flexibility to get access to materials and e-activities.•Students alluded to the benefits of e-activities for assessment and self-assessment.
This study investigates knowledge of gender agreement in Spanish L2 learners and heritage speakers, who differ in age and context/mode of acquisition. On some current theoretical accounts, persistent ...difficulty with grammatical gender in adult L2 acquisition is due to age. These accounts predict that heritage speakers should be more accurate on gender agreement than L2 learners, because their Spanish language acquisition started in infancy. Sixty‐nine heritage speakers, 72 second language (L2) learners, and 22 native Spanish speakers were tested on their oral production, written comprehension, and written recognition of Spanish gender agreement. Results showed advantages for L2 learners in written tasks but advantages for heritage speakers in the oral task. We discuss the significance of these findings for SLA and heritage language acquisition.
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