The Interplay between Ethnic Identities and Social Attitude toward Foreign Language Learning and Language Proficiency of Young Gilak EFL Learners (original) (raw)
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Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 2016
The current study made a comparison between Iranian EFL students at two different levels (freshman vs. junior) with respect to their attitudes towards foreign culture. One hundred EFL learners were selected based on availability sampling and were divided into two groups according to their level (freshman vs. junior). All the participants were asked to complete the attitude questionnaire. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney U Test was run to test for possible differences between the two independent groups on their attitudes towards foreign culture. The results revealed insignificant difference between the freshmen group and the junior group. Thus, the null hypothesis was confirmed implying that there was not any significant difference between Iranian freshman and junior English major students’ attitudes toward foreign culture.
International journal of humanities and social sciences, 2016
The present study aimed at investigating the initial and final attitudes of Iranian young EFL learners in two different age groups (8 and 11 year olds) during one year of inquiry and seek to witness whether the language learners’ age of starting foreign language learning can influence their attitudes or not. The participants’ attitudes were measured via questionnaires and interviews. The modified AMTB (Attitude Motivation Testing Battery) used in this study was designed in such a way as to measure the learners’ attitude in eight different domains (Learners’ interests in foreign language, Attitudes toward English speaking people, Attitudes toward learning English, National identity, Integrative orientation, Instrumental orientation, English class anxiety and parental encouragement). Our focus in the present study was on the participants’ performance on the first four attitudinal domains so the participants’ answers to these relevant items on the questionnaire were subject to statist...
The way language learners think about foreign language, affects the degree they learn. Cultural, ethnic or group identities are among driving forces which shape the way language learners think. A critical factor that affects attitude of Iranian language learners is their deep religious background. To investigate any possible effect of religious identity on language learning in Iran, the current research is an attempt to shed light on the relationship between religious identity and learning cultural aspects of English as a foreign language among Iranian advanced language learners. Therefore, to this aim, 29 male students, studying English as a foreign language in a language learning institute in Iran, were selected as samples of the study. In order to arrive at intended data, Tow main instruments were used in this study. The first instrument was a measure of religious identity developed by Khodayarifard (2003) and the second instrument used in this study was a culture learning test developed by the researchers based on Ward and Deuba's (1999) culture learning scale. In order to investigate the relationship, a Pearson product-moment correlation was run to determine the relationship between religiosity and culture learning in an advanced level of language leaning course. The results of the study showed that there was a strong, negative correlation between these two variables, which was statistically significant (r =-.760, n = 29, p = .005). Also the researchers identified those aspects of foreign language culture which are not learned by language learners due to their religious identity. These findings have implications for syllabus designers, language learners and language teachers.
International Journal of Instruction
Due to the development of English as an international language and dominance of fever of it, researchers were interested in the influential factors in learning English as a foreign or second language, and their relationship with English learning, such as; gender, different kinds of identity, religion, and etc. However, there are few studies on the relationship between sociocultural identity and EFL learning. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Iranian learners' sociocultural identity and their EFL learning. In this correlational study, 360 intermediate and advanced English students from four institutes in Zanjan Province, Iran, were selected based on the cluster sampling method. The Oxford Quick Placement Test was used to check the EFL learning proficiency and make homogeneous groups. Aspects of Identity Questionnaire Cheek (2013) was utilized to check the level of learners' sociocultural identity. The normality of data was checked based on Skewness and Kurtosis normal test, therefore, Pearson Correlation Coefficient was applied in this study. The result has indicated that there was a negative significant (-678) relationship between learners' sociocultural identity and their EFL learning. This finding will be beneficial for syllabus designers, language learners, their parents, and language teachers.
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Research has shown that there might be a relationsh ip between one's ethnic identity and their level of language proficiency. This study aimed to investigate the most influential ethnic identity factors among Baluch participants a nd (2) determine which of the extracted components of factor analysis contributes more to B aluch language learners' level of English proficiency. To this end, 120 Baluch advanced langu age learners were selected. The participants' level of ethnic identity was assessed by a 38 item 5 point Likert scale ethnic identity questionnaire. Meanwhile, a language proficiency te st was administered to determine the language learners' level of English proficiency.The results indicated that factor 1 (customs, social relationships and language), and factor 2 (c ulture and literature) were the major influential factors. Further, the variance in the language proficiency of the Baluch participants was significantly explained by factor 1 (customs, s ocial r...
The current study aims to investigate Iranian learners' beliefs about learning English and the stability of these beliefs over time. 50 learners, males and females, studying English as a foreign language in different English institutes in Isfahan were selected. Horwitz (1987) Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI), a 34-item survey instrument, was used to collect data twice with the interval of three months. After data analysis was done, the results indicated that generally, learners recognized the existence of foreign language aptitude and placed strong emphasis on excellent pronunciation, vocabulary acquisition, and the benefits of practice. Most of them reported of being highly motivated and interested to learn English. The findings also revealed that with the exception of slight change to two items on language learning difficulty, two items on nature of language learning, and five items on learning and communication strategies, most of their beliefs were stable over time.