With the expectation that ESL learning will be optimized when teachers and students share the same perceptions of teaching and learning priorities and challenges, this study sought to identify perceptions of TESOL faculty and their ESL learners in terms of the relative difficulty of English language skills such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking, and the associated areas of language development including grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. This study analyzed the quantitative and qualitative survey responses of 278 ESL learners and 52 TESOL practitioners. This research found stark differences between student and teacher perceptions of the relative difficulty of the language skills examined in this study. Overall, students viewed the included language skills to be slightly difficult, with relative equal difficulty across skills. However, the TESOL practitioners viewed each of the language skills to be much more difficult than the students considered them to be. Moreover, teachers perceived the most difficult skill to be writing followed by listening, reading, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and speaking. Implications of these findings are discussed.
2025-10-10
This study investigates the relationship between L2 explicit knowledge, both analyzed and metalinguistic, and reading and writing performances of first- and fourth-year English Language Teaching (ELT) majors studying at a state university in Turkey. A total of 233 Turkish EFL learners majoring at the ELT department participated in the present study. Instruments for the present study consisted of three tests designed to measure explicit L2 knowledge: (1) an untimed grammaticality judgment test (UGJT), a language analysis test (LAT), and a metalinguistic knowledge test (MKT); (2) a standardized reading comprehension test of English (International English Language Teaching System-IELTS); (3) and a writing task designed to assess general L2 writing proficiency (IELTS). Results showed that the fourth-year Turkish EFL learners majoring in ELT have better explicit knowledge of the English language than the first-year learners. Moreover, regardless of their year of study, these learners have more analyzed knowledge than metalinguistic ones. Furthermore, stronger correlations were found between analyzed knowledge and L2 proficiency than between metalinguistic knowledge and L2 proficiency. It was also found that analyzed knowledge and metalinguistic knowledge altogether explain the 7.2 percent of the variance in reading, and the 10.2 percent of the variance in writing among the Turkish EFL learners.
Despite the prevalence of exam-focused textbooks and practice tests, few studies have examined how students react to their input. A listener may need to reach a certain proficiency level to be able to benefit from the input and listening practice. Given the importance of L2 vocabulary knowledge for listening comprehension, this study used multiple methods to investigate the relationship between lexical threshold and listening comprehension. A vocabulary level test was designed to measure whether the participants knew 2000 high frequency words in English. Four classes of 73 secondary students in Grade 11 in Hong Kong responded to four listening tasks during their end of term examination. Cluster analysis was used to group students on the basis of their listening proficiency. Three profiles of students were identified to infer what they could comprehend based on the amount of lexical knowledge they had. Clear trends emerged in terms of listening fluency. Students in the cluster with high listening scores reached or approached the lexical threshold. They displayed an ability to identify main ideas and specific details, taking notes fluently. The borderline group showed readiness for comprehension when listening support was provided. The third group showed low achievement in English learning largely unable to grasp key words. The paper discusses the challenges faced by students in listening comprehension with reference to lexical threshold. Implications for curriculum design and materials development are discussed.
This study examined the efficacy of transcript use with repeated listening exercises to improve advanced ESL student listening comprehension. Thirty-one students enrolled in an intensive English program from various L1 backgrounds participated with 15 in the treatment group and 16 in the control group. Between a pretest and posttest at the beginning and end of a 14-week semester, students in both the treatment and control groups completed a repeated listening exercise twice each week with novel recordings. Treatment group students participated in repeated listening exercise including a sequence of listening without the transcript, listening with the transcript, and finally listening again without the transcript. They answered comprehension questions between the first and second listening. Students in the control group listened to the same audio repeated the same number of times and answered the same comprehension questions but never had access to the transcript. Repeated measures ANOVA results for this quasi-experimental study show that the treatment group students outperformed the control group students on listening comprehension test items between the pretest and posttest. These findings suggest the potential benefit of transcript use to improve overall listening comprehension for advanced ESL learners. We encourage TESOL practitioners to consider whether transcript use might facilitate listening comprehension in their classrooms, and we call for additional research to determine the appropriateness of transcript use in other TESOL contexts.
In the realm of EFL education, the labor-intensive task of providing feedback on student writing prompts educators to seek alternatives. Peer feedback and computer-based systems, such as ChatGPT, may offer solutions. ChatGPT’s AI-driven feedback relies on Large Language Models, offering real-time assessments to alleviate the workload of teachers. Crafting precise prompts is pivotal to harnessing ChatGPT’s potential, highlighting the necessity of cultivating digital literacy in the AIdriven educational age. Instead of replacing traditional teaching, AI tools like ChatGPT can become collaborators, enhancing personalized learning experiences for educators and students alike. This article will demonstrate effective prompts for writing classes.
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