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Action Research for Teachers

SUMMARY (METHODOLOGY)

1. Attitudes and Motivation of Malaysian Secondary Students towards learning English as a Second Language: A Case Study

This paper discusses the findings of a study undertaken to investigate these issues further by carrying out a questionnaire survey on attitudes and motivation of a group of secondary school students in East Malaysia towards learning English as a Second Language. The procedure was carried out in a secondary boys school in Sibu, Sarawak. 143 male students participated in the survey. The students took about 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire. Scores were tabulated using SPSS Windows 11.5. The statistical measures used to analyse data were ranking of mean scores, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation coefficient. The p-value for significance was set at 0.05. For differences in English proficiency levels, Scheffe Tests were used to determine significance since more than two groups of subjects were involved.
Thang , Siew Ming and Ting , Siew Ling and Nurjanah Mohd Jaafar, (2011) Attitudes and motivation of Malaysian secondary students towards learning English as a second language: a case study. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 17 (1). pp. 40-54. ISSN 0128-5157

2. Learner Identity in Second Language Education

The study is based on the argument that a theory of identity is necessary to understand the complex dynamics of teaching and learning second/foreign languages. In this study, 18 first-year undergraduate students from University College in Bangladesh were engaged in a class project called e-autobiography. They were told to write an autobiography and post it in Facebook where they will read other participants autobiography and post a comment on it. Naturalistic observations, participants autobiographical writings, and an open-ended questionnaire were used to collect the data.
Sardar M. Anwaruddin, (2012) Learner identity in second language education. 3L; Language,Linguistics

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Action Research for Teachers

and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 18 (2). pp. 13-23. ISSN 01285157

3. Investigating the Construct of Anxiety in Relation to Speaking Skills among ESL Tertiary Learners The study examines dimensions of language anxiety aligned to the major sub-constructs which is communicative competence. Data for this study is obtained through a survey questionnaire administered to 700 UPM students prior to an oral communication test (TOCIE Test of Communication in English) conducted by UPM for final year students. The FLCAS (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale) adapted in the survey was originally targeted at the classroom context. The modified questionnaire consisted of 34 items scaled with a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. A pilot run was conducted on 200 students and some modifications to the pilot test were made in terms of item comprehensibility and suitability for the test-taking situation. To determine the internal consistency or reliability of the questionnaire, the Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients were calculated. Data from the questionnaire were further analyzed using SPSS Version 19.0 for t-tests and correlation analysis.
Chan , Swee Heng and Ain Nadzimah Abdullah, and Nurkarimah Binti Yusof, (2012) Investigating the construct of anxiety in relation to speaking skills among ESL tertiary learners. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 18 (3). pp. 155-166. ISSN 0128-5157

http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5567/1/18_3_13_ChanSweeHeng.pdf 4. Revisiting The Role of Linguistic Complexity in Esl Reading Comprehension

This study investigated the two linguistic components positioned at the two ends of the continuum that influence ESL reading comprehension: lexical and syntactic features. Sixty pupils from three grade levels (2, 4, and 6) obtained from the two private elementary schools in Metro Manila: one (1) Level 3 accredited and one (1) non-accredited school were asked to read four texts with varying text difficulty level from which the most comprehensible text per grade level was identified after a comprehension test. These pupils were convened in a

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Action Research for Teachers

room for the reading comprehension task. After reading the text, 10 comprehension questions were posed to the students and evaluated by two reading and applied linguistics experts. Participants were given one hour to finish the reading and the answering of the test. The pupils finished the task 10 minutes earlier. Finally, all papers were collected, checked, and tabulated.
Barrot, Jessie Saraza (2013) Revisiting the role of linguistic complexity in ESL reading comprehension.3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 19 (1). pp. 5-18. ISSN 0128-5157

5.

Connecting Linkin Park and Good Charlotte to ESL Learners

This paper documents students response to popular songs in the language classroom and asserts that songs can be a form of useful resource in the language classroom for purposes of language development and to connect learners to issues that are of interest to young adults. The song activities were conducted in an English Language Proficiency course with a group of 23 mixedability Year 1, Chinese Language and Literature major students in private college, Malaysia. The ages of the students were between nineteen and twenty-one years. The lessons were conducted over two two-hour lessons. During the initial stage of the lesson, students were asked to listen to the songs and complete the lyrics. While the songs were played students were reminded to think what the songs were about. At the listening stage, students were placed into groups of three and they attempted the speaking and reading activities. After the group discussion, a whole class discussion followed to elicit students opinions on the two songs and to discuss relevant issues that students identified in the songs.
Malachi Edwin Vethamani , and Too , Wei Keong (2008) Connecting Linkin Park and Good Charlotte to ESL learners. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 14 . pp. 95-108. ISSN 0128-5157