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Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology; Vol. 7, No. 2; 2017 ISSN 1927-0526 E-ISSN 1927-0534 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Students’Attitudes towards Foreign Languages Mirjana M. Kovac1 & Ana Mrsic Zdilar2 1 Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Split, Split, Croatia 2 Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy, University of Split, Split, Croatia Correspondence: Mirjana M. Kovac, FESB, Rudjera Boskovica 32, 21000, Split, Croatia. Tel: 385-91-430-5715. E-mail: mirjana.kovac@fesb.hr Received: September 14, 2017 doi:10.5539/jedp.v7n2p124 Accepted: October 18, 2017 Online Published: October 24, 2017 URL: http://doi.org/10.5539/jedp.v7n2p124 Abstract This paper analyses similarities and differences in attitudes and beliefs towards learning the German and the Italian language. The testing tool used for evaluating the attitudes is a questionnaire composed in accordance with the questionnaires used for examining attitudes towards foreign languages. The obtained results indicate that the students of both languages highly agree with the statement that the knowledge of foreign languages leads to a better social status, more successful socialisation and benefit in one’s professional career. In addition, they highly agree with the statement that the teaching materials are miscellaneous, but would nevertheless want the materials to include more elements of the domicile culture. Furthermore, the results also indicate a high level of confidence in speaking both languages and a substantial level of awareness regarding the need to speak both languages. The analysis confirmed a significant difference between the learners of Italian and German; the learners of German perceive the language as more difficult than Italian. However, such subjective evaluation does not have an adverse effect on the attitudes towards the German language. Keywords: language learning attitudes, language learning motivation, target language 1. Introduction Numerous studies have been conducted on the students’ attitudes, beliefs and motivation concerning language learning. In the past two decades, Horwitz’s (1987) Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) has been extensively used for various research aiming, for instance, to investigate the links between proficiency and beliefs (Mantle-Bromley, 1995), the influence of culture on beliefs (Horwitz, 1999), the differences between the genders influencing beliefs (Tercanlioglu, 2005), etc. Students’ attitudes towards learning a foreign language are one of the basic factors which influence the learning success. Their significance was recognised by foreign language teachers, and numerous research have emphasised different aspects of their considerably significant role in successful mastering of a foreign language. Victori and Lockhart (1995, p. 224), in the context of foreign language learning, define beliefs as “general assumptions that students hold about themselves as learners, about factors influencing learning and about the nature of language learning”. Horwitz (1988, p. 283) claims that knowing the students’ beliefs about a particular language can help teachers to better understand their students “expectations of, commitment to, success in and satisfaction with their classes”. This is so, because the teachers, after gaining insight into the student’ attitudes towards a particular language, may eventually undertake the necessary steps to alter the negative attitudes. Karahan (2007) emphasises the crucial role of attitudes towards foreign language learning, and states that a systematic and planned modification of negative attitudes should be performed, because it is essential that the students on their own feel the need to learn a particular foreign language. Choy and Troudi (2006) state that the feelings and emotions of foreign language learners substantially affect their perceptions and attitudes towards that particular foreign language. The increased level of personal motivation and interest in learning of a particular foreign language would most certainly yield better learning results. Motivation for language learning is a crucial affective factor influencing the learning success of another or a foreign language, because it is directly associated with the frequency of using learning strategies, desire to learn, 124 jedp.ccsenet.org Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology Vol. 7, No. 2; 2017 and success. Dörnyei and Otto (1998) define motivation as a state in which an individual has been encouraged by a certain stimulus which initiates, directs, coordinates, increases, mitigates and evaluates cognitive and motor processes, whereby the individual manages or fails to successfully realise personal selected desires. Furthermore, motivation is perceived through a time dimension, which means that it is a dynamic and alterable process. In addition to individual differences, language learning is also affected by cognitive factors referring to intelligence, language talent and speaker’s age (Li & Pan, 2009; Kormos & Csizer, 2010). According to Gardner (1985), motivation is composed of a desire to achieve the aimed progress, invested effort and positive attitudes. Positive attitudes in particular help bridge the gap of initial student—teacher interaction in foreign language learning, which may sometimes be stressful to beginners. Motivation results from attitudes, and Gadner and Lambert (1972) make a difference between integrative and instrumental motivation, which affects learning achievement. Instrumental motivation refers to a student’s desire to learn a new language for utilitarian reasons; learning of a new language will reflect on practical values and well-being. On the other hand, integrative motivation aims at better understanding of cultural values of the target language or assimilation into a society or a wider community (Choosri & Intharaksa, 2011). Such people express a sincere and strong desire to learn a different language and its pertaining culture. Instrumental motivation refers to students who wish to learn a foreign language in order to achieve their practical goals, such as employment or earning money. In today’s age, there is a strong cosmopolitan tendency not only among the youth, but among all age groups, for various purposes: education, tourism, professional advancement, hence the need to learn other languages besides one’s own. Dörneyi (2005), unlike Gardner and Lambert, believes that the integrative and instrumental function are not mutually exclusive, but rather intertwined. He further stresses the importance of factors associated with the learning process, such as the teacher, teaching materials, teaching methods and teamwork. Noels (2001) mentioned a different dichotomy, i.e., intrinsic motivation resulting from learning interest and personal satisfaction, and extrinsic motivation which refers to instrumental reasons, such as the belief that learning a new language may help with future employment. Mihaljevi? Djigunovi? (1998) also abandons the dichotomic classification into instrumental and integrative motivation, and makes a difference between the utilitarian-communication type of motivation which in fact refers to instrumental orientation (language used for practical and communication purposes), integrative (desire to be part of a social-cultural group which speaks English as a native tongue), and affective type of motivation associated with emotions emerging with speakers whilst speaking a foreign language. In fact, these are aesthetic and emotional components of English language perception. She also presented two demotivating factors which refer to a negative evaluation of the teacher, teaching materials and teaching methods, and difficulties related to English language learning as a consequence of insufficient previous knowledge or lack of talent. Liu and Zhang (2013) used a substantially large number of Chinese subjects at several universities to examine attitudes and motivation during English language learning. The results indicated that the subjects who demonstrated a high level of integrative motivation spent more time learning, and adopted the target language much faster with respect to the subjects who had a substantially low level of integrative motivation. This may be connected with the tendency of young Chinese to be more involved in the Western culture, and English as a global language represents the best vehicle for such integration. Balenovi? (2011) derived from the assumption that adult learners learn the language for professional reasons, and that globalisation processes affect motivation. The findings indicate that the learners demonstrated the highest degree of the affective-cultural motivation, which is stimulated by the affection towards a particular language and the desire to learn more about a foreign culture. It is followed by the professional and instrumental-technological orientation which refers to the need to learn a language for technical or practical reasons. The least evident is the communication-integrative motivation, which refers to learning stimulated by the need to communicate with the speakers of another language. Mihaljevi? Djigunovi? (1998, 2002) conducted extensive research of the role of motivation in the adoption of a foreign language in Croatia. Mihaljevi? Djigunovi? and Bagari? (2007) found statistically significant differences in motivation and attitudes towards language by comparing the subjects’ age, where older students show lower level of motivation towards German language learning with respect to younger subjects. In terms of gender differences, Siebert (2003) found that male more than female students believed that the learning of grammar was the most important part of language learning, and using audio-visual materials was of 125 jedp.ccsenet.org Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology Vol. 7, No. 2; 2017 utmost importance. Bernat and Lloyd (2007) found that gender differed significantly in only two BALLI items, i.e., women were more likely to perceive multilingualism as a feature of intelligence compared to their male colleagues, and women also enjoyed more talking to native speakers compared to their male counterparts. Didovi? Baranac et al. (2016) also discovered statistically significant differences in attitudes and beliefs towards German and Spanish learning with respect to gender and age, where female students demonstrated more positive attitudes with respect to their male colleagues, whereas the same differences were not confirmed for the English language. The authors explained the lack of significant differences in English language learning in the context of globalisation processes and the dominant role of English language. In addition, they emphasised that Croatia has become a very attractive tourist destination, hence the need to raise awareness of learning English and other foreign languages. The authors stated that the motivational aspect towards learning German and Spanish increases with age, i.e., that the highest level occurs before high school graduation when the students find jobs or continue their education. In the research conducted by Mihaljevi? Djigunovi? and Bagari? (2007), the attitudes of English language learners are substantially more positive with respect to German language learners. By comparing English and German language learners at the end of elementary school and high school, the authors discovered that the motivation for learning German decreases with the years of learning, and that the attitudes and motivation of subjects are associated with classes, language status and the level of exposure in extracurricular activities. Cindri? and Naran?i? Kova? (2005) believe that the status and conditions of learning are different for different languages. English becomes almost a second language and language of international communication, i.e., worldwide lingua franca. New conceptualisations regarding the status of English language might explain the differences in attitudes towards other languages which are compared to English. Also, Mihaljevi? Djigunovi? and Geld (2002) emphasise the fact that extracurricular exposure to English, compared to German, plays a crucial role regarding attitudes. Bagari? (2001) claims that language exposure stimulates automatic language production. Also, complaints by German learners refer to learning too long and too difficult texts, and that incomprehensible input can play a vital role in language learning and use. It is also worth noting that in addition to extracurricular activities, the students are extensively exposed to English also at home; on TV and Internet, and are thus more comfortable using it even in class. Dörneyi, Csizer and Nemeth (2006) point out that English and German became the most important languages taught in Hungary after 1989, but, during the past several decades English has become extremely popular as a global lingua franca (McKay, 2003), and languages which had strong regional significance lost a significant amount of importance, such as German with its proximity to Hungary. In the continuation of the paper, the research methodology, the research results and the conclusion, are presented. 2. Research Aims and Hypotheses The aim of this research is, based on the questionnaire, to determine similarities and differences in attitudes towards German and Italian in senior-year students of the Catering and Tourist High School. The following hypotheses have been presented: 1) The students perceive German as more difficult with respect to Italian. The attitudes towards Italian are geographically determined. The learners of German will consider German more difficult than Italian because the Dalmatian dialect is rich with Italian words rooted in speech and culture. 2) The students will have more positive attitudes towards Italian with respect to German. The attitudes towards the target language depend on the subjective evaluation of the level of difficulty of a specific language. Italian is a more melodic language, and the visual perception of German may be influential in this evaluation, as its words are rather lengthy in comparison to Italian. 3. Methodology The research was conducted on a group of 35 senior-year students of German and 35 senior-year students of Italian of the Catering and Tourist High School in Split. The testing tool for the students’ attitudes is a questionnaire concerning German and Italian. The questionnaire consists of 30 statements, Table 1, and since two languages are concerned, two versions of the questionnaire have been used. The subjects expressed their level of agreement with a certain statement by circling answers on a 5-degree Likert scale (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). After the collection of data, we proceeded with the statistical 126 jedp.ccsenet.org Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology Vol. 7, No. 2; 2017 analysis. The questionnaire used for this research was compiled according to the questionnaires used for the purpose of examining attitudes towards a foreign language (Mihaljevi? Djigunovi?, 1998; Boonrangsri et al., 2004; Zainol et al., 2012; Burgos & Perez, 2015). Dörnyei and Taguchi (2010) stated that questionnaires are one of the most frequent and reliable methods for collection data in L2 research, because several types of information can be thus collected; factual information, and information about attitudes and behaviours. Table 1. Statements to be judged along a five-point Likert scale No. Statement 1. I practice German/Italian whenever I have a chance (watching movies without subtitles, talking to foreign speakers). 2. I feel that others speak German/Italian better than I do. 3. I like speaking German/Italian in class. 4. I feel agitated and uncomfortable whilst speaking German/Italian. 5. I get uncomfortable speaking German/Italian in front of my colleagues. 6. I am afraid I will be subjected to ridicule whilst speaking German/Italian. 7. I do not like to participate in classes of German/Italian on my own initiative. I rather stay silent. 8. I believe that people who speak foreign languages are more educated and have a higher social standing. 9. Learning of German/Italian helps me meet new people. 10. Learning of German/Italian is extremely important because it would benefit my professional career. 11. People will think better of me and my competences if I speak German/Italian well. 12. I am forced to learn German/Italian. 13. I can apply my knowledge of German/Italian in my everyday life (in the summertime, talking to foreigners, friends and similar). 14. German/Italian is too difficult. 15. It is fun to learn new phrases and German/Italian grammar. 16. German/Italian textbooks contain phrases and descriptions which are characteristic of our geographical area (e.g., specific Dalmatian meals and beverages, St. Domnius feast, games, names of Mediterranean plants, descriptions of Dalmatian customs and similar). 17. Good knowledge of German/Italian positively influences my self-esteem. 18. I rather learn subjects in Croatian. 19. I am not particularly interested in German/Italian classes. 20. Learning of German/Italian is a waste of time. 21. I intend to invest more time into learning German/Italian. 22. My teacher always helps me with learning German/Italian. 23. I speak German/Italian well thanks to my teacher. 24. Active participation of all students is encouraged in German/Italian classes. 127 jedp.ccsenet.org Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology Vol. 7, No. 2; 2017 25. Grammar is more prioritised in German/Italian classes, and verbal communication less. 26. The importance of teamwork is emphasised in German/Italian classes. 27. German/Italian classes are rich with various and interesting exercises. 28. German/Italian teaching materials refer to various fields of interest (politics, sport, fashion, food, communication and similar). 29. I watch my grammatical accuracy whilst speaking German/Italian. 30. I wish that German/Italian textbooks contained more elements of the Croatian culture. 4. Research Results The research results are based on the group of 35 learners of German and 35 learners of Italian. Table 2 illustrates arithmetic means and standard deviations for each of the questions from the questionnaire. Since the arithmetic means for both languages in statements 8, 9, 10, 13, 28 and 30 do not surpass 2.5, it can be concluded that the students agree with said statements regardless of the language. The agreement with statements 8, 9 and 10 implies that the students are aware that the knowledge of foreign languages ensures better social status, a more successful socialisation and benefit in the professional career. The students believe that Italian and German language textbooks contain phrases and descriptions characteristic of a specific area. The agreement with statements 28 and 30 indicates that the students are satisfied with the variety of the content in teaching materials, but they nevertheless would like more elements of their domicile culture in said materials. This may be due to their need to find a similar association between their language and a new language, but also because they would like to know how their culture is verbally reflected in a different language. Vickov (2015) uses the example of the English language to conclude that teaching materials should include the Croatian culture as a starting point, not only because it is necessary to know one’s own cultural and historic heritage, but also because of the research results from applied linguistics which indicate that children have a longer and better memory of the meaning of those English words whose content they know from their own culture. Students prefer teaching materials with interesting cultural elements, and the teacher is often seen as a factor causing satisfaction or dissatisfaction with teaching. Mihaljevi? Djigunovi? and Bagari? (2007) in their research found that creative and stimulating approaches to teaching German were highly prioritised on the wish list of the learners of German. Since the arithmetic means for both languages in statements 4, 5, 6 and 20 surpass 3.5, it can be concluded that the students disagree with said statements regardless of the language. The disagreement with statements 4, 5 and 6, which refer to affective components, indicate a high level of confidence whilst speaking a foreign language. The affective component includes the students’ emotions, liking or disliking something. Kara (2009) claims that positive attitudes lead to positive behaviour towards studying and De Bot et al. (2005) showed that positive attitudes facilitate language learning. The disagreement with statement 20 indicates a high level of awareness about the need to learn foreign languages. Table 2. Means and standard deviations for the statements from the questionnaire German language learners Italian language learners Statement No. Mean SD Mean SD 1. 3.400 1.288 3.057 1.282 2. 2.314 0.993 2.657 1.327 3. 2.714 1.296 3.000 1.414 4. 3.686 1.183 3.543 1.197 5. 3.857 1.216 3.771 1.262 6. 4.286 1.100 4.086 1.173 7. 3.514 1.380 3.371 1.330 128 jedp.ccsenet.org Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology Vol. 7, No. 2; 2017 8. 2.000 1.029 2.086 1.147 9. 1.943 1.187 2.143 1.141 10. 1.657 0.998 1.829 1.043 11. 2.914 1.292 2.914 1.245 12. 3.400 1.376 3.714 1.296 13. 2.143 1.240 2.400 1.168 14. 2.914 1.147 3.543 1.400 15. 3.429 1.220 3.400 1.288 16. 3.314 1.367 2.686 1.471 17. 2.829 1.294 2.686 1.278 18. 2.629 1.190 2.514 1.314 19. 2.800 1.208 3.343 1.349 20. 4.257 0.919 3.800 1.346 21. 3.000 1.306 3.057 1.392 22. 1.857 0.944 2.543 1.039 23. 2.714 0.957 3.029 0.954 24. 2.200 1.183 3.029 1.224 25. 2.914 1.095 2.686 0.900 26. 2.943 0.838 3.486 1.121 27. 2.629 1.003 3.143 1.004 28. 2.200 1.023 2.343 1.259 29. 2.657 1.211 2.800 1.106 30. 2.429 1.119 2.343 1.162 An appropriate statistical test provides the answer to the question of whether the results were obtained from the same population, i.e., if the differences are a matter of coincidence, or they in fact appear because the data were obtained by sampling different populations. Considering that the Likert scale is of ordinal type, and two independent samples are compared, the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test has been used. Test results are presented in Table 3 (0.05 level of significance). It can be noted that statistically significant differences were obtained among students who learn German and those who learn Italian for statements 14, 22, 24 and 26. The existence of statistically significant differences for statement 14 between German and Italian confirms the first hypothesis; i.e., the students perceive German as more difficult with respect to Italian. Other obtained statistically significant differences (statements 22, 24 and 26) refer to the teacher’s role in the learning process. The students recognised active participation in class, and the need for teamwork, as well as the contemporary approach to foreign language teaching as an important factor of motivation in language learning and formation of attitudes. Mihaljevi? Djigunovi? (2007) investigates the students’ satisfaction with teaching. The results of her study point to the conclusion that students favoured teaching based on the communicative approach, where they could express their own ideas. Also, being exposed to authentic materials such as videos or active participation in teamwork increased their motivation for learning the language. In the study conducted by Mihaljevi? Djigunovi? and Bagari? (2007), the learners of German thought that textbook topics were outdated and the tasks were not useful enough. Since no significant differences were obtained for the remaining statements, it can be concluded that the second hypothesis, according to which the students will have more positive attitudes towards Italian, because they are shaped by the belief that German is much more difficult, has not been confirmed. The students perceive German 129 jedp.ccsenet.org Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology Vol. 7, No. 2; 2017 as more difficult, however such belief is not reflected negatively on other beliefs about the language. Quite the contrary, the students showed positive attitudes towards German regardless of the fact that, judging from their attitudes, it is more difficult with respect to Italian. Table 3. Results of Mann-Whitney test for each statement Mann-Whitney test Significant U p value 1. 517.0 0.252 No 2. 531.5 0.328 No 3. 534.0 0.349 No 4. 570.0 0.612 No 5. 591.0 0.803 No 6. 533.5 0.353 No 7. 569.0 0.608 No 8. 596.0 0.843 No Statement No. difference 9. 526.5 0.287 No 10. 546.0 0.392 No 11. 610.5 0.986 No 12. 534.5 0.356 No 13. 519.5 0.259 No 14. 437.0 0.036 Yes 15. 602.0 0.904 No 16. 458.0 0.066 No 17. 573.5 0.643 No 18. 568.0 0.594 No 19. 473.5 0.095 No 20. 509.5 0.225 No 21. 597.5 0.862 No 22. 386.5 0.006 Yes 23. 503.0 0.160 No 24. 389.5 0.007 Yes 25. 546.0 0.399 No 26. 441.0 0.034 Yes 27. 469.0 0.071 No 28. 595.0 0.834 No 29. 561.5 0.540 No 30. 581.5 0.709 No 5. Conclusion The results obtained from the conducted research indicate that the learners of the German and Italian language exhibit a strong desire to learn both languages aiming to communicate within the target language community in order to achieve the practical goals, such as employment, earning money and similar. In addition, learners of both languages showed a high degree of agreement with the statement that teaching materials are miscellaneous, but would nevertheless wish that they contained more elements of the domicile culture. For the learners of Italian, this may be due to the geographical and historic proximity of Italy and its 130 jedp.ccsenet.org Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology Vol. 7, No. 2; 2017 influence on Dalmatia; for German learners, it may be due to the ever-increasing influence of the ongoing “brain drain” oriented towards German speaking countries which is caused by the social and economic conditions in Croatia. The results also indicate a high level of confidence whilst speaking both languages and a high level of awareness about the need to learn foreign languages. A statistically significant difference between the learners of German and the learners of Italian has been confirmed; the learners of German perceive the language as more difficult than Italian. However, such subjective evaluation does not have an adverse effect on the attitudes towards German. Other statistically significant differences refer to the teacher’s role in the learning process. The learners of both languages are relatively neutral with regard to the statement that grammar is prioritised in learning, instead of verbal competence. In addition, the agreement with the necessity of grammatical accuracy as a pre-requisite for the development of verbal competence has not been confirmed. As no significant differences were obtained for the remaining statements, we can conclude that the second hypothesis has not been confirmed, i.e., the subjective perception about the difficulty of the German language did not have an adverse effect on the attitudes towards that language. 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EFL students’ attitudes towards learning English language: The case of Libyan secondary school students. Asian Social Science, 8(2), 119-134. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v8n2p119 Copyrights Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 133 See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312212920 Attitude towards Learning English: The case of the UAE Technological High School Article in Educational Research · February 2013 CITATIONS READS 37 7,467 1 author: Omar Al Noursi Institute of Applied Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE 13 PUBLICATIONS 66 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Blended Learning approach View project All content following this page was uploaded by Omar Al Noursi on 11 January 2017. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Educational Research (ISSN: 2141-5161) Vol. 4(1) pp. 21-30, January 2013 Available online@ http://www.interesjournals.org/ER Copyright © 2013 International Research Journals Full Length Research Papers Attitude towards Learning English: The case of the UAE Technological High School Omar Al Noursi Institute of Applied Technology, P.O Box 66866, Al Ain, United Arab Emirate E-mail: omar_noursi@hotmail.com Abstract This paper outlines the results of a survey that was carried out, to identify Applied Technology High School students’ attitudes towards learning the English language and to investigate whether the students’ attitude is affected by the teacher’s nativity. The study sample consisted of 196 students at the Applied Technology High School (ATHS). A questionnaire was used for data collection. The findings showed that the vast majority of the subjects of the study had positive attitudes towards learning the English Language. In addition, the findings revealed that teacher’s nativity (native speaker vs non native speaker of English) did not influence students’ positive orientation toward the English language. Finally, some pedagogical implications that would help tap the students’ attitudes were presented. Keywords: Attitude, Arab learners, Nativity of teacher, EFL, School setting. INTRODUCTION In the UAE, as well as in the Arabian Gulf countries, English has been the dominant foreign language in the curricula of educational institutions for more than three decades. English has been introduced as a compulsory subject at Grade 1 in all elementary schools, so that the English learning process extends through primary school, secondary schools, and university, covering a total span of 17 to 19 years of learning English. Furthermore, as of September 2008, all schools under the control of the Abu Dhabi Educational Council were instructed to use English as the main teaching language in Math and Science classes. Therefore, English learning has become a de facto requirement through the Abu Dhabi schools and college curricula. In fact, the learning of English in the UAE has been on the spotlight for years and now occupies the attention of many of its people. The progress of English language education in the UAE in the last decade is probably due largely to the strong and growing conviction of the government that English competence and computer skills are a must for the younger generations in the twentyfirst century. Fluency in the English Language, in short, is the key to success in life. As a result, English is recognized as the central subject at the Applied Technology High Schools (ATHS) as almost all subjects are taught in English. The ATHS recruits both native speakers of English teachers (NESTs) and nonnative speakers of English teachers (NNESTs) to teach English and offers intensive courses to enhance students’ proficiency in it. In the context of English as a foreign language (EFL), the 'attitude' of the students towards learning English language has got a queen position and different studies have been conducted to investigate the role of attitudes on students’ attainments. In his article” Honey catches flies more than Ginger: Enhancing Arab students towards learning English” Al Noursi (2012) maintains that the type of students’ attitudes towards the target language and the teacher is a vital criteria in determining students’ success and/or failure in learning a foreign language. In a different context, Karahan (2007:84) avers, “Positive language attitudes let learner have positive orientation towards learning English”. In the same token, Shah (1999) studied certain characteristics of low-achievers, and found that lack of a positive attitude contributed to the students’ low achievement. Definition of Attitude While (Eagly and Chaiken, 1993:1) defines attitude as: "A psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor", it is important to state that for this research attitude is 22 Educ. Res. operationally defined as the students’ perceptions, understandings, beliefs or experiences of learning English as a foreign language as assessed by a specially designed questionnaire. The Importance of Studying Attitudes Studying language attitudes benefits all stakeholders in different ways. Firstly, an investigation into students’ attitudes is an effective method by which language teachers, education planners, syllabus designers and researchers can obtain greater understanding into the language learning /teaching process. Secondly, students have different needs, preferences, beliefs, learning styles, and educational backgrounds, and that imposition of change upon these factors can lead to negative reactions. Thirdly, learners have views on the learning process and can articulate them. Lastly, studies on attitudes that are conducted on the UAE students towards English learning, in the researcher’s view, is limited. Statement of the Problem Despite the value attached to the English language in the UAE and all the initiatives that Ministry of Education and Educational Councils in the different Emirates have taken, poor performance in English in the UAE schools have been reported in multiple occasions (Al-Sulaiti, 1993; Musa, 1985; Suliman, 2006). A primary cause for the UAE students’ attainment in English is believed to be related to the learners’ negative attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language. In this research study, students’ attitudes in the UAE Applied Technical High School towards learning English as a foreign language have been addressed. The purpose of the study is also to investigate whether the nativity of the teacher affects their students’ attitude towards learning English. Specifically the study aims at answering the following two questions: • What is the type of attitude that Applied Technology High School students hold towards learning the English language as a foreign language? • What is the effect of non-native English speaking teachers in comparison with the native English-speaking teachers on students’ attitudes towards learning English in the UAE? Review of Literature Many studies have been conducted to explore the nature of students’ attitudes towards learning foreign language in the UAE and in other different countries all over the world. For example, Musa (1985) investigated the EFL students’ attitude toward studying English in the United Arab Emirates using a five-point scale questionnaire. The findings underline that students had positive attitudes and extreme eagerness towards learning English; they valued English language efficiency in the daily life. In another contribution, Al Bassam (1987) concludes that the achievement in the English language significantly correlated with the students’ attitude, motivation and satisfaction with the curriculum. Besides Musa, Suliman (2006) studied the students’ attitudes towards and motivation for learning English in the UAE state secondary school. The findings reveal that the UAE students had a higher degree of instrumental motivation and that students had unfavorable attitudes towards learning certain areas of the language. Contrary to other findings of other studies 1992, Keblawi 2005) difficulties with the target language aspects such as vocabulary, spelling and structures were found to be in the first place to demotivate learners in the UAE. Interestingly, the study also reveals that there were disagreement and uncertainty in viewing learning English as a means to value British/American arts and literature. Regarding teacher’s role, 30 % of the respondents referred to teacher’s personality as de-motivator and a similar picture revealed in students’ interviews. While the findings of the previous studies and many others (Vijchulata and Lee (1985) in Malaysia, Benson (1991) in Japan, Mahboob's (2001) and Moussu (2002) in the USA, Arani (2004) in Iran, and Karahan (2007) in Turkey show positive attitudes towards English language and its learning, the findings of Momani (2009) shows that the Jordanian High School students had neutral positive attitudes toward learning English. Also, there was a strong correlation between the students’ attitudes toward learning English and their performance in reading comprehension. However, Zainol Abidin, Mohammadi and Alzwari (2012) investigated Libyan secondary school students’ attitudes towards learning English and conclude that the participants showed negative attitudes towards learning English. Same finding is echoed in Lasagarbaster (2007) who studied students’ attitudes in the European context and maintains that students’ attitudes toward English were not so “positive” in Europe mainly in Spain. In terms of the teacher’s role in building students’ attitudes towards learning English, Mallalah (2000) reports that Kuwaiti students had more favorable attitudes toward NESTs than the NNESTs. This implies those students’ attitudes towards learning English is boosted when the teacher is NEST. Mahboob's (2001) qualitative study also explores the perceptions of 32 English students at a U.S. university, reveals that students perceived distinct strengths and weaknesses of NESTs and NNESTs, and did not express a clear overall preference. In the same vein, participants in Moussu’s (2006) study which examined the perceptions of university ESL students in the U.S. expressed generally Noursi 23 positive attitudes toward NNES teachers at the beginning of the semester (although Korean and Chinese students were more negative than others), and by end of semester student opinions were even more positive. As was the case with the students in Mahboob's (2001) study, Cheung (2007) examined both student and teacher views in Hong Kong; both groups saw NEST and NNES teachers as possessing different strengths and did not show any preferences to a group over the other. The Lasagarbaster, and Huguet’s (2007) language attitudinal studies also divulged that foreign language has been mainly valued neither positively nor negatively, but attitudes were neutral in most cases. In a more recent study, Hertel, et al (2009) investigated students' attitudes toward native and nonnative speaking instructors of Spanish. Results indicate that students perceive native speaking instructors to possess advantages over nonnative speaking instructors with regard to pronunciation and culture, but not with regard to the teaching of grammar or vocabulary. Proficiency level and the native language of a participant's current instructor also influenced opinions. It is a truism that positive attitude towards foreign language learning is an essential factor for enhancing learners’ linguistic performance and increasing their engagement in language acquisition. Studies reviewed show that although the dominant attitude towards English is positive, a range of different types of attitudes has also been reported in a good number of studies. METHODOLOGY The present study was conducted at the Applied Technology High School in the UAE because a mixture of native and nonnative English language teachers and the researcher himself work there. The participants were the students at the Applied Technology High School in the academic year 2010/2011. The 196 participating students were in their second year (grade 10) at the school and have been taught by both NESTs and NNESTs for two years. Given the level of the subjects in English language, the instrument used a close –ended questionnaire with specific statements to rate on a Likert scale was employed. A semi-structured interview was intended at first, but due to time constrains and administrative instruction, it was not possible to carry it out. The questionnaire was piloted on a group of 16 students in order to test its clarity and to see if it would produce the required responses. It was also given to a jury of experts for feedback. Based on the jury report, some of the items were modified and others were omitted. In its final version, the questionnaire contains forty items that were thought to measure the participants’ attitude towards learning English. The attitudes questionnaire was applied on a sample from the population equivalent to the participants of the study; Crombach Alpha coefficient was calculated and found to be 0.886. Measuring Students’ Attitudes Questionnaire The questionnaire contains 40 items, it adopted a fivepoint Likert scale ranging from 5= strongly agree to 1= strongly disagree. In order to determine the kind of attitudes of the students towards learning English, the rating for all the items were summed. The maximum mark was 200 and the minimum mark was 40. Based on this range, the participants’ results were divided into three levels to determine the kinds of attitudes they hold towards learning English. The results are shown in Table 1. As can be seen from the table, a score between 40 and 94 indicated a negative attitude; a score between 95 and 149 indicated a moderate attitude while a score of between 150 and 200 was considered positive. Data Collection The participating students responded to the items of the questionnaire at the end of term2 of the academic year 2010/2011. The researcher himself collected the data. By attending personally, the researcher could answer students’ questions and explain any items that students had doubts about. Students were assured that the purpose of the study was to improve language teaching and learning in the school. They were encouraged to answer all questions as honestly and accurately as possible. Also, they were told that all answers would be anonymous and totally confidential. Students took about 40 minutes to complete the questionnaire. Subsequent statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. In order to answer the second question of the study, the researcher grouped the completed questionnaire into groups according to the nativity of the teachers (NEST vs NNEST). Statistical Analysis of the Data The following statistical analyses were applied: 1. Descriptive statistics include mean scores and standard deviations were used to measure the attitudes of the respondents. 2. Inferential statistics such as (t-test) for two dependent samples was utilized in order to compare students’ attitudes in both groups (NNESTs Vs NESTs). The responses from all participants were entered and saved in analysis program. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for each question using Likert-scale formats, by each item and overall. The significance level was set at 0.05, and t-test for two independent groups determined how much of the variations within the means could be attributed to different variables. 24 Educ. Res. Table 1. Criteria in Determining the Type of Attitudes of ATHS Students Towards Learning English in General Score Range 40-94 95- 149 150-200 Type of Attitude Negative Moderate Positive Table 2. Attitude of the Subjects towards Learning English Knowing the importance of English and the importance of attitude to language learning, this study was conducted to explore students’ attitudes towards learning English, and to investigate the effect of teacher’s nativity on their students’ attitude. Based on the definition of attitude towards English in general as mentioned earlier, the results indicated that students generally have positive thoughts and emotions towards learning English language and the EFL teachers. This sub section presents the results and the findings of the study related to its questions Results Related to Question 1 What is the type of attitude that the Applied Technology High School students hold towards learning the English language? In order to investigate the type of attitude students at ATHS have towards learning English, they were asked to respond to a 40-item questionnaire. Table 2 shows the number and the percentages representing all subjects’ responses on the three kinds of attitudes. Results on students’ attitudes towards learning English reveal that almost half of the subjects (48.47%) had positive attitudes towards learning English. Further, the remaining 51.53% had moderate attitudes toward learning English. Interestingly, the study also found out that no student had negative attitude towards learning English. This positive attitude towards learning English may be best explained by the fact that students at the ATHS are aware that learning English language is crucial for academic and career life; they recognize that high level of % RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 95 TOTAL 51.53% % 101 Favorable 0% % Moderate 0 % Unfavorable Attitude No. and Percentage 48.47% 196 100% proficiency in English is the key for success in life. Almost 75% of the subjects strongly disagreed with the statement “I don’t think that I need English in my future job.” And 21% responded, “Disagree”, giving a combined total of 91 % of the subjects producing a favorable attitude towards learning English and valuing its role in career future success. The results clearly indicate that the students felt the need for English as a school subject or at least accepted the English requirements at the school. In addition, due to the significant position that English language has in the country and all over the world, students hold positive attitudes and good level of motivation towards learning English. As such, the subjects of the study reflected their willingness and motivation in learning English on their responses to the questionnaire of the study; they responded positively to statements like “ I love learning English”, “I find learning English interesting” and “I believe I can learn English very well”. They also responded negatively to statements like: “Learning English is a waste of time.”, “I find learning English language boring”, and “I don't like to speak English in class”. Then it can be easily concluded that there does exist a predominately positive attitude among the students at ATHS toward learning English as a second language. A probable cause for ATHS students’ positive attitude lies in the nature of the ATHS education system, which uses English as a medium of instruction, and as a result, requires students to develop a degree of proficiency in that language. This finding is to some extent in consistent with the findings of Musa (1985) who maintained that EFL students’ attitude towards studying English in the United Arab Emirates was very positive as 75% of the secondary male students involved in the study stated that they like learning English. In Musa’s (1985) study and this study, Noursi 25 Table 3. t-test Results of the Students’ Attitudes towards Learning English Source Native Non native N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean 103 93 145.28 149.31 17.61 17.33 1.74 1.80 DF t-value Sig 194 -1.612 .923 Table 4. Number of responses and percentage in each type of attitude as per nativity groups Group Unfavorable % Moderate % Favorable % TOTAL % N NN TOTAL 0 0 0 0% 0% 0% 59 42 101 30.10% 21.43% 51.53% 44 51 95 22.45% 26.02% 48.47% 103 93 196 53% 47% 100% students showed high interest in learning English as they are aware of its significance as a global means of communication. This implies that teachers, yet very important to enforce the students’ attitudes and motivations, are not key factor in compositing the preliminary attitudes towards studying English. Similar findings were echoed in many other studies in the region (Al Bassam, 1987; Mallalah 2000; and Suliman 2006), and in other parts of the worlds (Arani, 2004, Benson, 1991 and Karahan, 2007). All studies showed a dominant positive attitude and favorability towards learning English. Question 2 What is the effect of non-native English speaking teachers in comparison with the native English-speaking teachers on students’ attitudes towards learning English in the UAE? In order to answer this question, the subjects of the study were divided into two groups according to their teachers’ nativity; their responses were gathered and computed using t-test. Results are exhibited in Table 3. Table 3 shows that there was no statistically significant difference between the students’ attitudes of the group that were taught by NESTs and the attitudes of the group that were taught by NNESTs due to the nativity of the teacher (T- value = -1.612, Sig = .923). The mean score of the native group was 145.28 and the mean score of the non-native group was 149.31. The results exhibited a slight insignificant difference between the attitudes of the students in both groups in favor of the group that were taught by NNESTs. Based on the findings related to the second question, the nativity of the English teachers was not a causative factor in building students attitudes towards learning English. Only 8.5% of students agreed to the statement that native English teachers make the best teacher, while 82% showed strong disagreement. The rest 9.5% were not sure. This may best be explained by that teachers’ mother tongue of the teachers is believed not to be a crucial factor in building attitudes towards learning English. It is the learning climate that plays a major role in attitude composition; students were aware of the significance of the English only environment that the school strictly implements, their behaviors and their study skills in improving their English. Table 4 presents the number and the percentage of responses in each type of attitudes in the two groups (NEST vs NNEST) Table 4 indicates that 22.45% of the subjects in the group that was taught by NESTs showed favorable attitudes, while 26.02% of the subjects in the group that was taught by NNESTs showed positive and favorable attitudes towards learning English. 30.10% of the former group showed moderate attitude, while 21.43% of the latter group showed moderate attitude toward learning English. To present a more clearly picture of the results in table 2 above, Figure 1 below is presented. It reveals that the subjects’ attitude towards English in and learning English are at moderate level. The Figure shows the students in the Native group showed more favorable attitude than that of the Non Native group, whereas the Non Native group showed more moderate attitude that that of the Native group. However, the results of this study indicate inconsistency with those of Mallalah’s (2004) study in regards with the attitudes towards native English speaking EFL teachers (NESTs). Mallalah maintains that the subjects who were Kuwaiti high school students in his study had strong favorable attitudes towards NESTs and viewed them as honest, hard workers, efficient, cheerful, 26 Educ. Res. Attitudes towards English 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Unfavorable moderate N favourable NN Figure 1. Attitudes towards learning English per group democratic, kind, friendly, intelligent, well-mannered, polite and humorous. A possible explanation for such a strong positive-ness attitude may be attributed to the role of the Americans and other western people in liberating Kuwait; in the same vein, many people all over the world view the western products as the most reliable and trusted goods. This kind of perception may lead to the positive attitude not only towards products but also towards people from these countries in all walks of life, not only in education or teaching English field. A close in depth look at Mallalah’ study reveals that the characteristics mentioned in the study are not exclusive to t he NESTs, and they are considered as personal rather than professional credentials. Any teacher could be honest, cheerful, friendly, humorous …etc, in other words, such features attributed to the NESTs are within the reach of the NNESTs, provided that they are given ample training, profound insights into language learning and intense exposure to language. However, the strong attitude towards NESTs may be attributed to the notion that that they are tolerant with students mistakes, that they do not give many quizzes and a plenty of homework, and that they are casual in giving their lessons (Arva and Medges, 2000). Thus, the difference of attitude is caused by the teaching behaviors rather than the teachers’ native ship or nationality; this finding is reflected in Table 5 in this study. The mean scores of students’ attitudes in the 6 sections taught by NESTs differ tremendously in spite of the fact that all teachers are native speakers of English; the same is true for the other set of sections that were taught by nonnative English speaker (Native Arabic speakers). It is probable that teachers in both groups, who used authentic English, adopted different techniques and methods, were aware of the emotional and psychological growth of the learners, and had good contact and rapport with the learners have succeeded in compositing positive attitude towards learning English. To investigate the attitudes within the groups, Table 5 presents the means scores and standard deviation of each subgroup in the study. Figure 2 below presents more clearly Table 5 above Obviously, students’ attitudes vary within the same group as the mean scores of the subgroups in each main group (NESTs vs NNESTs) differ considerably. This supports the argument that teachers’ behavior and not nativity what determines students’ attitudes towards learning English. EFL students want a teacher who can motivate them to speak more and more in the classroom and teach them how to use language outside the classroom. They want their teacher to be good at English and capable of correcting their mistakes without hurting their ego or without accusing them of not having knowledge of English. They want their teacher to create an informal environment in the class where they can learn with fun. CONCLUSION The current study had been conducted to identify the ATHS students’ attitudes toward learning English language and whether the type of the attitude is affected by the teacher’s nativity. The findings indicated that the students hold positive significant attitudes toward learning English language and that the type and the degree of attitude are not affected by the teacher’s nativity, but by the teaching methods and the learning atmosphere that the teacher creates for his /her students. Because attitudes can be modified by experience, and effective language teaching strategies can encourage students to be more positive towards the language they are learning. Noursi 27 Table 5. Means, Numbers and Standard Deviation of Students’ Attitudes in all subgroups Group NC1 NC2 NC3 NC4 NC5 NC6 Sum NNC1 NNC2 NNC3 NNC4 NNC5 NNC6 Sum Total Mean 139.71 143.06 154.63 152.72 138.24 143.53 145.31 154.25 151.94 138.20 144.00 154.53 153.54 149.41 147.19 No. 17 16 16 18 17 19 103 16 17 15 17 15 13 93 196 Std. Deviation 17.27 19.69 16.77 13.50 15.50 18.24 16.83 17.41 15.02 15.64 19.19 17.84 13.56 16.44 17.55 ATTITUDES C 6 N N C 5 N N C 4 N N C 3 N N C 2 N N C 1 N N 6 N C 5 N C 4 N C 3 N C 2 N C N C 1 160 155 150 145 140 135 130 125 ATTITUDES Figure 2. Means Scores of Students’ Attitudes in all subgroups Therefore, the role of the teacher in this regard is immense and can influence students’ ability to learn a second language by creating a positive attitude towards the target language, English. Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), then, should recognize that all students possess positive and negative attitudes in varying degrees, and that the negative ones can be changed by thoughtful instructional methods. REFERENCES Al-Bassam M (1987). The Relationship of Attitudinal and Motivational Factors to Achievement in Learning English as a Second Language by Saudi Female Students. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Florida, Florida, USA Al Noursi O (2012). Honey catches flies more than Ginger: Enhancing Arab Students’ attitudes towards learning English. Proceedings of the 17th TESOL Arabia Conference (34-45) Al Sulaiti LM (1993). Some Aspects of Qatari Arabic Phonology and Morphology. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Lancaster University, LA1 4YT, United Kingdom Arani J (2004). Issues of learning EMP at university: An analysis of students’ perspectives. Karan’s Linguistics Issues. (Online) Retrieved 11 August, 2009 from http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/emp Arva V, Medgyes P (2000). Native and non-native teachers in the Classroom. System 28 355–372. Aswar JS (2004). Students’ Attitudes Towards Learning English as a Foreign Language Unpublished Master Thesis, University of Bahrain, Bahrain 28 Educ. Res. Benson MJ (1991). Attitudes and motivation towards English: a survey of Japanese freshmen. RELC J. 22(1):34-48. Cheung YL (2007). The attitudes of university students in Hong Kong towards native and non-native teachers of English. RELC Journal, 38(3):257-277 Eagly AE, Chaiken S (1993). The psychology of attitudes. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace. Gorham J, Christophel DM (1992). Students perceptions of teacher behaviours as motivating and demotivating factors in college classes. Communication Quarterly, 40:239-252 Hertel J, Jandrey T, Gretchen S (2009). Student Attitudes Toward Native and Non-Native Language Instructors. Foreign Language Annals, 42, 3, 468-482 Karahan F (2007). Language attitudes of Turkish students towards the English language and its use in Turkish context. J. Arts and Sci, 7:7387 Keblawi F (2005). Demotivation among Arab learners of English as a foreign language. Al- Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Aberdeen. Retrieved (20 Dec 2012) from: http://www.readingmatrix.com/conference/pp/proceedings2005/kebla wi.pdf Lasagabaster D, Huguet A (eds.) (2007). Multilingualism in European Bilingual Contexts. Language Use and Attitudes. Multilingual Matters Mahboob A (2004). Native or nonnative: What do students enrolled in an intensive English program think? In L. Kamhi-Stein (Ed.), Learning and Teaching from Experience (pp. 121–147). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Malallah S (2000). English in an Arabic Environment: Current Attitudes to English among Kuwait University students. Int. J. Bilingual Educ. Bilingualism, 3 (1):19-43 Moussu LM (2006). Native and Nonnative English-Speaking English as a Second Language Teachers: Students Attitudes, Teacher SelfPerceptions, and Intensive English Administrator Beliefs and Practices. Unpublished PhD dissertation, West Lafayette, Indiana Momani M (2009). The Jordanian Secondary Stage students Achievement in Reading Comprehension according to their views towards Learning English as a Foreign Language. J. Human Sci., 42:1-36. Retrieved (23 Aug 2011) from: http://www.ulum.nl/The%20Jordanian.pdf (August 11, 2011) Musa MA (1985). Why don’t our students speak English fluently after eight years of study? J. Educ. (UAE) 38:67–72 (in Arabic). Shah P (1999). Low achievement among Malaysian English Language Students: Perceptions of Experience. Paper presented at the 4th CULI International Conference, Bangkok Suliman HH (2006).Motivation among learners of English in the Secondary Schools in the Eastern Coast of the UAE. Unpublished MA thesis, British University, Dubai, UAE Vijchulata B, Lee G (1985). A survey of students' motivation for learning English. RELC J.16 (1):68-81. Zainol AM, Mohammadi M, Alzwari H (2012). EFL students attitudes towards learning English language: the case of Libyan secondary school students. Asian Social Science, 8 (2):119-134 Noursi 29 Appendix A: Attitude Questionnaire Name: …………………………………………………… Class: …………………… Dear students, This questionnaire has been designed to help you identify your attitudes towards learning English. Read each statement and mark each statement on a scale from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Strongly Agree 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Agree 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22. Not sure 9 I love learning English Learning English is important I prefer to focus on other subjects rather than English I don’t think that I need English in my future job I would like to spend as much time as possible to study English Learning English is a waste of time. I am not going to use English in the future English should be known since it is an international Language. I think the English language is necessary for communicating with other people. I find learning English language very difficult to learn I find learning English interesting I find learning the English language boring I think I’m a pretty good language learner. I don’t have any idea about how to go about learning a language. I am good at comprehending this language. I am good at producing this language. I think I am improving my English knowledge day by day. I feel myself at ease while speaking in the classroom. I always practice English whenever there is a chance. I learn English to pass the exams I believe I can learn English very well. I do my best to learn English because it has many advantages over other languages. Only English is used in the class. I feel confident about my English ability. I learn a lot in English class. I don't like to speak English in class. Students listen to each other’s answers and opinions. The use of classroom time is effective. I receive the grades that I deserve. Disagree 1. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Strongly Disagree Please answer the following questions about yourself and your English class by filling the numbers that correspond to your feelings, according to the following scale: 1: Strongly Disagree 2: Disagree 3: Not sure 4: Agree 5: Strongly Agree ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 30 Educ. Res. Appendix A continue 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 View publication stats I’m afraid people will laugh at me if I don’t say things right. Materials and activities are appropriate and interesting. My English teacher is able to simplify difficult material so I can understand it My English teacher teaches in a manner that helps me learn Native English speakers make the best English teachers My English teacher is a good example of the ideal English speaker I understand what my English teacher is saying without a problem The pronunciation of my English teacher is good I understand my English teacher’s pronunciation easily English teachers should all speak with a perfect American accent. I don’t care where my teacher is from, as long as he/she is a good teacher for me. TOLL Assignment Brief Submission Deadline Marks and Feedback Before 6pm on: 15 working days after deadline (All Levels) Click or tap to enter a date. Module title & code Click or tap to enter a date. Theories of Language Learning (TOLL) – OMG 21-3 Assignment number and title No. 1 Assessment type Assignment Weighting of assessment 50% Module learning outcomes 1. Understand the fundamental issues in the study of language acquisition and the current scientific debates in the field. 2. Evaluate the relationship between linguistic data, language teaching and learning theory, having psycholinguistics mechanism in mind. What am I required to do in this assignment? You are required to write an individual report based on ‘’Omani students attitude towards learning a foreign language’’. The report should be 2000 words (+/-10%) and the weighting of the report will be 50%. You can follow the following steps: Phase 1 Step 1 Make a reading list and survey the relevant literature on the topic. Step 2 Prepare critical summaries on the basis of discussion in class. Step 3 Clearly spell out your research questions. Step 4 Use a questionnaire to collect data. Phase 2 Step 1 Ask a group of language learners (not less than 20) to answer the questionnaire. Step 2 Discuss your findings. Step 3 Write a paper that includes introduction, review of literature, method, data collection instrument, findings and discussion, conclusion. Deliverables Submission The final version of the assessment must be submitted online via Turn-it-in which you can access through MOVE. At the time of submission, you need to make sure that the assignment is your own and all the sources have been acknowledged. Is there a word limit (Number of Words ± 10%)? There is a word limit which must be observed. You are supposed to write 2000 words (+/- 10%). Your mark will be negatively affected and some marks will be reduced if word limit is not observed. What do I need to do to pass? (Threshold Expectations) In order to pass the assessment, you will need to be able to: Demonstrate evaluative judgement about fundamental issues that affect language learning/acquisition and analyse them. How do I produce high quality work that merits a higher grade? Your wok may merit a higher grade if your writing is based on academic writing style, the task is adequately addressed and if the final draft submitted is checked with the teacher before submission and if the comments provided are incorporated. How does assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions? The assignment relates to what is done in the scheduled sessions in the first 8 weeks. Some of the topics covered should be discussed in the assignment. 2 How will my assignment be marked? Your assignment be marked according to the threshold expectations and the criteria on the following page. You can use them to evaluate your own work and estimate your grade before you submit. N o 1 Criterion Informati on and Research Weighi ng (%) 20 Sub Standard / No Attempt (0 Marks) No evidence for information search. Tasks are incomplete. No clear evidence of following the phases to complete the essay. No understanding of the theoretical context. Poor (20 Marks) There is inadequate Information search. Very limited resources are used to discuss the tasks. Limited and uncritical use of a range of sources Inadequate and unsatisfactory understandin g of the theoretical context and unsuccessful completion of tasks. Satisfactory (40 Marks) There is an attempt to address some tasks but some other tasks lack proper focus in discussion. Although information supports the task, it is not properly analysed and it lacks paraphrasing at some areas. There is satisfactory understanding of the theoretical context. There is clear evidence of following phases such as completion of the essay and Good (50 Marks) Good attempt to address the tasks but one or two tasks lack focus or clarity. Good understanding of the theoretical context but it should have been more focused. Relevant information search is evident, but not adequate. Very Good (60 Marks) Excellent (70 Marks) Very good usage of variety information from various sources. The usage of information can be better if it relates to the context. Contents are properly paraphrased. All tasks are discussed properly. Evidence of very good understandin g of the theoretical context as presented in the section on background and successful completion of tasks. Clear evidence of Excellent understanding of relevant information and research. Reference to appropriate theoretical background provides support to the discussion. Excellent application of the relevant information from variety of sources. Excellent usage and quoting of the literature. All the tasks are discussed with proper focus. Use of a wide range of appropriate sources, indicating critical Outstanding (100 Marks) Exceptional use of a wide range of appropriate and current sources, focusing on relevant research and critical awareness of their status and relevance. Outstanding understanding of the theoretical context and clear evidence of following all phases to complete the task. information search. 2 Developm ent and Support of Analysis 20 No evidence of analysis as well as supporting description. LNo evidence of critical application of the concepts to the case. No evidence of critical evaluation of material. The discussed tasks are completely out of focus. Task are not properly addressed. Limited evidence of critical evaluation of material. Poor selection and analysis of information and use of supporting description. Although there is evidence for some discussion, they are discrete and lack focus. It does not reflect critical application of the concepts to the case. Limited evidence of critical evaluation of material. Satisfactory selection of theoretical information and linguistic data as well as satisfactory supporting description. Evidence of limited critical evaluation in some areas, with some lost opportunities or misunderstand ings following all phases in the completion of the essay. Good evidence for critical analysis and reasoning in some areas. There is sporadic evidence of critical evaluation in some areas though some material not evaluated. Good selection of theoretical information and linguistic data as well as supporting description. Very good selection of theoretical information and supporting description. Very good application of the information to the case. There is evidence of in-depth analysis of data. However, all tasks are not consistent in analysis and could have been be presented in a better manner. Evidence of very good critical appreciation and evaluation of relevant theory and research and a systematic attempt to relate it to the topic. awareness of their status and relevance. Excellent selection of theoretical information and supporting description. Excellent analysis of the information and precise application to the case. Critical reasoning is evident while discussing the tasks. Evidence of thorough appreciation and evaluation of relevant theory and research and a systematic and creative attempt to relate it to the topic. Evidence of exemplary understanding of theoretical background and research. Reference to appropriate theoretical information provides support to the discussion.Outsta nding selection of theoretical information and supporting description 4 3 4 Structure Language 10 30 Lack of statement of objective, introduction, development and conclusion Lack of paragraph structure and distinct representation of data. The assignment is unacceptable. Unsatisfactor y statement of objective, introduction, development and conclusion. Unsatisfactor y paragraph structure and distinct representatio n of the data.The assignment is poor in terms of structuring and clarity of writing. Statement of objective, introduction, development, conclusion and paragraph structure are satisfactory. Though discussion of the ideas is clear, a coherent flow of thought is not evident. The report is unorganized, but can be read. The flow of the report structure is only satisfactory. The assignment has failings in structuring and clarity of written expression, which impair its capacity to communicate the content. No evidence of possession of vocabulary, use of cohesive devices, use of terminology and lack of Unsatisfactor y possession of vocabulary Unsatisfactor y use and range of cohesive Satisfactory possession of vocabulary, use of a range of cohesive devices, use of terminology- Good statement of objectiveGood introduction, development and conclusion Good paragraph structure and distinct representation of data Statement of objective, and introduction, development and conclusion are very good. The report is well structured and well organized. There is orderliness in the structure that communicate s its messages clearly. Coherence is also evident but there is still scope for improvement. Statement of objective, introduction, development and conclusion are all excellentExcellent paragraph structure and distinct representation of data.The report is well organized with a cohesive discussion. The structure of the report is excellent. Outstanding statement of objectiveOutstanding introduction, development and conclusion Outstanding paragraph structure and distinct representation of data.The structure is exemplary and clear layout augments the presentation. Overall organisation of the report is exceptional. Good possession of vocabulary Good use and range of cohesive devices -Good use of Very good possession of vocabulary, use of a range of cohesive devices -very good use of Excellent possession of vocabulary Excellent use of a range of cohesive devices Excellent use Outstanding possession of vocabulary, use of a range of cohesive devices - outstanding use of terminology outstanding 5 academic style and accuracy 5 Academic Skills 10 Lack of citation and source acknowledge ment, bibliography, use of appendices and layout devices Unsatisfactor y use of terminology Unsatisfactor y academic style and accuracy Satisfactory academic style and good accuracy. Unsatisfactor y citation and source acknowledge ment Unsatisfactor y bibliography and use of appendices The references do not clearly comply with the basic requirements of HARVARD STYLE. The references are inadequate to support the literature used in the report. Sources used show either limited relevance or currency. Satisfactory citation and source acknowledgem ent and bibliography Satisfactory use of appendices and layout. The report shows some compliance to HARVARD Referecing Style, but shows many errors. References cited are inconsistent with the amount of literature used in the report. Some sources of information are relevant while others are not. terminology Good academic style - Good accuracy terminologyVery good academic style and accuracy of terminology - Excellent academic style Excellent accuracy academic style outstanding accuracy. The report is free of grammar or writing errors. Good citation and source acknowledge ment, bibliography and use of appendices Good layout Very good citation, source acknowledge ment and bibliography, use of appendices and layout . The report demonstrates a solid understandin g of the basic elements of HARVARD STYLE of referencing. Sources used to support the discussions are relevant and current. Excellent citation and source acknowledge ment, bibliography, use of appendices and layout . The report demonstrates excellent HARVARD REFERENCING STYLE. In-text citations are presented at relevant areas. Consistent use of relevant and current sources that enhance the discussions. Outstanding intext citation and source acknowledgement , bibliography and use of appendices as well as layout. Student recognizes the concept of intellectual property, can defend himself if challenged, and can properly incorporate the ideas and published works of others into his own work building upon them. Accurate use of Harvard Referencing style.