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Browsing by Author "Ehlers-Zavala, Fabiola, advisor"

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    A suggestion to use codeswitching as an L1 resource in the students' written work: a pedagogical strategy
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Jalal, Runeela, author; Ehlers-Zavala, Fabiola, advisor; Flahive, Douglas E., advisor; Gudmestad, Robert H., 1964-, committee member
    Pakistani English has marked its presence in all genres and poses pedagogical implications for both teachers and students. Most students in English as Foreign Language (EFL) settings are unaware of how and when to use code-switching (CS) as an L1 resource in their written work to convey local social meanings as no common standard has been established for teachers and students. This situation negatively affects uniformity in instructional and assessment procedures. While the use of CS in academic settings is still a relatively new area of research, recent studies advocate the use of L1 as a resource in the classroom. This focused study provides an overview of previous CS research centered on its importance as a discourse tool in the oral and written work of multi/bilingual persons who use CS to convey social aspects which cannot be appropriately communicated through the target language (TL). Some studies observe the CS patterns found in teacher talk during instruction and advocate its use as a potential L1 resource, but they fail to address how it can be regulated in students' written work without hindering TL learning. This study fills in the gap by suggesting the use of bi-directional translation methods in conjunction with acceptability judgment tasks in order to instruct students in identifying how and when CS should be used as an L1 resource. The study is conducted with the pool of 36 students in a local university in Lahore, who read four English newspaper articles and code-switched in Urdu in pre and post-instruction stages. Paired t-test results showed significant improved results for the acceptance rates and number of attempts by the participants in the post instruction. This suggests that students can use L1 as a resource to convey concepts in the TL when properly instructed and that further research in this connection can be useful for FL learning settings.
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    Iraqi Kurdistan teachers' views and attitudes towards written corrective feedback in EFL writing
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Al-Jaf, Chnur, author; Ehlers-Zavala, Fabiola, advisor; Delahunty, Gerald, committee member; Grim, Frédérique, committee member
    Written corrective feedback (WCF) in English as a foreign/second language (EFL/ESL) teaching and learning is one of the most controversial topics among researchers and teachers. Several researchers have debated and investigated its influences and effects on student learning (e.g., Ferris, 1999, 2003, 2004; Truscott, 1996), and different types of feedback have proven to be effective in improving writing skills (Bitchener & Knoch, 2010; Lee, 2004; Lee et al., 2021). Teachers provide WCF to their students in hopes that their students will benefit from it (Bitchener, 2012). Although there is much research on this topic (Brown, 2012; Chandler, 2003; Ferris, 1999, 2003, 2004; Hyland & Hyland, 2006; Lee, 2004; Lee, 2020; Lee et al., 2021) and in different ESL/EFL contexts, there are no studies on Iraqi Kurdistan teachers' views on WCF and its types. This study, therefore, aims to examine the perception and attitudes of 30 EFL teachers in Iraqi Kurdistan to understand their beliefs regarding WCF and the types of feedback they say they use and find important to give to English language learners (ELLs). A survey questionnaire was used to collect data for this investigation. Results showed that the majority of teachers who participated in this survey use WCF and believe it is useful for their students. However, there is some inconsistency in their answers regarding the types of feedback they use. Results show that they use several types of WCF depending on the context and their students' level of proficiency. Teachers' responses align to a large extent with the literature available. The results of this study can be useful for EFL teachers and researchers in Iraqi Kurdistan and other similar contexts to improve their practices related to WCF.
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    The relationship between metalinguistic knowledge/learning contexts and language proficiency
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Hanson, Jenna, author; Correa, Maite, advisor; Ehlers-Zavala, Fabiola, advisor; Velazquez-Castillo, Maura, committee member; Doe, Sue, committee member
    This study explores the relationship between learning context on learners' oral proficiency, metalinguistic knowledge of Spanish (MKS) and metalinguistic knowledge of English (MKE). The study also explores the relationship between MKE and MKS, and MKS on oral proficiency between the two learning contexts. The two contexts in question were a traditional semester (TS) that met five days a week, fifty minutes a day for fifteen weeks and a four-week summer intensive program that met five days a week, four hours a day for four weeks. A COPI (computerized oral proficiency interview) was administered to measure oral proficiency and two different measures of metalinguistic knowledge were employed to test MKE and MKS. The MKE test was administered as a pre and posttest, whereas the MKS test was given at the end of the semester. The study found that, a) students in the TS group have significantly higher levels of MKS, b) student in the TS group significantly improve their MKE more so than the IS group, c) there is a significant relationship between MKS and oral proficiency regardless of group, d) there is a significant relationship between MKE pretest and MKS at the end of the semester, and e) there is no significant difference between oral proficiency between the two contexts.