The Effectiveness of the Incentive Autonomous Learning Strategies (IALS) Module to Improve Chinese Non-English Major Undergraduates’ EFL Speaking Proficiency
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1503.17Keywords:
Chinese non-English major undergraduates, English as a foreign language (EFL), the IALS module, speaking proficiencyAbstract
Very limited research has examined the application of the Incentive Autonomous Learning Strategies (IALS) module to improve the speaking proficiency of English as a foreign language (EFL) among Chinese non-English major undergraduates at a public university in China. Thus, this study attempted to bridge this gap by incorporating autonomous learning with incentive strategies to enhance Chinese non-English major undergraduates’ EFL oral performance. Utilising a quantitative research approach, this study adopted a quasi-experimental design to carry out a 14-week intervention. The participants were purposively sampled with the experimental group undergoing the IALS speaking intervention, while the control group received conventional in-situ teaching approaches. A pretest and post-test were conducted on both groups to examine any changes in their speaking proficiency before and after the intervention. Results obtained from the paired-sample t-test demonstrate a statistically significant increase in the experimental group’s EFL oral performance, rising from a mean score of 50.52 before the intervention to 71.60 after the intervention. The control group’s mean score also improved from a pretest mean score of 51.08 to a mean score of 54.98 in the posttest. These results suggest that the IALS module has proven to be efficacious in improving Chinese non-English major undergraduates’ EFL speaking proficiency. It is hoped that the results of this study might provide insights into the effective strategies to enhance English speaking skills among Chinese non-English major undergraduates in EFL contexts.
References
AlSaqqaf, A., Zhang, X., & Sharif, S. (2023). Investigating self-concept in EFL pronunciation among Chinese non-English major learners at a public university in China. International Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, 12(2), 117-129.
Anjaniputra, A. G. (2013). Teacher’s strategies in teaching speaking to students at secondary level in Sumedang. Journal of English and Education, 1(2), 1-8.
Baleghizadeh, S., & Nasrollahi Shahri, M. N. (2014). EFL teachers’ conceptions of speaking competence in English. Teachers and Teaching, 20(6), 738-754.
Butler, Y. G. (2015). English language education among young learners in East Asia: A review of current research. Language Teaching, 15(3), 303-342.
Bu, W. (2018). On problems and countermeasures in oral English teaching in middle schools. New Curriculum (Part 2), (3)7, 7-18.
Carr, P. (2019). The measurement of resourcefulness intentions in the adult autonomous learner. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. George Washington University.
Chen, G. (2018). Teacher knowledge about oral English instruction and teacher profiles: An EFL perspective. Teacher Development, 1(8), 81-99.
Chen, H. (2016). Research on problems and countermeasures in oral English teaching in junior middle schools. Xuezhou Magazine, 6(13), 63-64.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2017). Research methods in education. London: Routledge.
College English course teaching requirements (trial). (2018). Steering Committee on Foreign Language Teaching.
Dang, T. (2016). Stars to improve speaking skill does it work. Language Education in Aisa, 5(1), 28-45.
Denovan, A. (2021). Developing autonomous learning in first year university students using perspectives from positive psychology. Studies in Higher Education, 3(2), 1–19.
Ellie, B. (2021). Learner-centered teaching and learner autonomy. Social and behavioral sciences, 4(2), 1-24.
Eltina, A. M. (2023). Empowering learners’ self-regulated learning: A strategy for independent learners. Journal on Language, Education, Literature and Culture, 1(1), 80-90.
Fraenkel, J., Wallen, N., & Hyun, H. (2019). How to design and evaluate research in education (10rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Gan, S. Q. (2020). English learning motivation and incentive strategies among middle school students. Overseas English, 11(1), 103-106.
Gou, W. (2018). Problems analysis and solutions of oral English teaching in vocational Colleges. International Conference on Management, Education, Information and Control. Atlantis Press.
Guo, R. Q., & Wen, Y. F. (2017). The cultivation of independent learning ability in foreign language teaching. China Higher Education Research, 7(3), 142-153.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2014). Multivariate data analysis 7th edition. Pearson Education.
Healey, J. F. (2015). Statistics: A tool for social research. Stamford: Cengage Learning (10th Eds).
Hemamalini, H. C. (2017). Methods of teaching English. Hyderadad: Neelkamal Publications.
Hu, S. C. (2016). Chinese students' psychology of English learning. Hunan Education Press.
Huang, Y. Q. (2021). Study on the factors influencing college students' independent English learning. Journal of Shandong Institute of Education, 6(2), 122-130.
Hughes, R. (2012). Teaching and researching speaking. New York: Pearson Education.
Hutabarat, A., & Simanjuntak, D. C. (2019). A phenomenological study: Speaking anxiety overwhelms English learners. Acuity: Journal of English Language Pedagogy, Literature and Culture, 4(1), 44–58
Jia. F. X. (2018). Autonomy in college foreign language learning: From theory to practice. Beijing: Social Sciences.
Jiang, X. Q. (2020). A study of college English classroom discourse. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(10), 2146-2152.
Joannes, R., & AlSaqqaf, A. (2023). The effect of analytic text-based writing strategies on ESL argumentative writing among Malaysian form-six students in Sabah, Malaysia. The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 29(2), 170-185.
Kashinathan, A. A. (2021). ESL learners’ challenges in speaking English in Malaysian classroom. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 10(2), 983–991.
Ke, H., & AlSaqqaf, A. (2023). Needs analysis for developing a teaching speaking module for Chinese EFL business English undergraduates from the teachers’ perspective: Assessing the validity and reliability. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 12(4), 478-494.
Lartha, B. M. (2012). Teaching English as a second language: Factors affecting learning speaking skills. International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT), 1(7), 1-6.
Li, G. H. (2020). Present situation and solutions of oral English in colleges. Journal of Heilongjiang College Education, 3(2), 154-155.
Li, J., & Tan, Z. (2018). Problems and improvement strategies in the teaching of oral English in junior high schools. Modern Communication, 11(1), 90-92.
Limeranto, J. T., & Bram, B. (2022). Exploring EFL graduate students' perspectives and strategies to improve English speaking skills. Surakarta English and Literature Journal, 5(1), 26-38.
Littlewood, W. (2009). Defining and developing autonomy in east Asian contexts. Applied Linguistics, 20(1), 71-94.
Liu, J. L. (2018). Factors affecting teaching speaking in high school. Teaching Research and Practice, 9(1), 34-35.
Lukitasari, N. (2018). Teachers’ strategies in helping students overcome speaking problems in speaking class. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Mahammadiyah Malang.
Lv, J. (2014). Problems and strategies in oral English teaching in higher schools. English for College Students, 7(17), 2-21.
Macaskill, A., & Taylor, E. (2010). The development of a brief measure of learner autonomy in university students. Studies in Higher Education, 35(3), 351-361.
Nhi Nguyen, T. U., & AlSaqqaf, A. (2023). Impact of a DMGA Scaffolding-Based Module on Improving the EFL Speaking Skills among Vietnamese ESP Learners. Arab World English Journal, 14(4): 342-357. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol14no4.21
Pallant, J. (2016). SPSS survival manual. Mc. Graw Hill Education.
Paneerselvam, A., & Mohamad, M. (2019). Learners’ challenges and English educators’ approaches in teaching speaking skills in an ESL Classroom: A literature review. Creative Education, 10(13), 3299- 3305.
Qian, X. (2021). A Study on the teaching methods of improving students’ oral English. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(3), 2204-2208.
Rao, S. P. (2018). Developing speaking skills in ESL or EFL settings. International Journal of English Language, 5(2), 286-293.
Safari, A. (2016). The effect of commentary strategy towards students’ self-confidence in speaking ability. Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, 4(1) 25-29.
Safiyeh, H. A., & Mohammed, F. (2020). Investigating the effectiveness of flipped learning on enhancing students’ English language skills. English Review: Journal of English Education, 9(1), 193-204.
Shu, J. L. (2020). A review of studies on learner autonomy in China. Foreign Language Circles, 6(1), 138-145.
Siew, F. N., Gary, J., & Confessore, M. A. (2016). Learner autonomy coaching: Enhancing learning and academic success. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, 1(3), 191 – 204.
Song, P. (2020). Research on problems and countermeasures in oral English teaching in public universities. Journal of Beihua University (Social Science Edition), 7(1), 140-142.
Spratt, M. (2017). Autonomy and motivation: Which comes first? Language Teaching Research, 6(3), 245-249.
Tao, Y. (2018). On learner training in college English. Foreign Language Circles, 3(1), 67-77.
Ushioda, E. (2016). Motivation, autonomy and sociocultural theory. In P. Benson (Eds.), Learner autonomy: Insider perspectives on autonomy in language learning and teaching (pp. 5-24). Dublin, Ireland: Authentik.
Xiao, Q. L. (2017). How to communicate language teaching become acceptable in secondary school in China. The Internet TESL Journal, 6(10), 200-212.
Wael, A., Asnur, M. N. A., & Ibrahim, I. (2018). Exploring students’ learning strategies in speaking performance. Int. J. Lang. Educ. 2(3), 65–71.
Wang, D. X. (2018). English discourse analysis and intercultural communication. Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
Wang, R. M., & Chen, X. Z. (2023). Exploration and inspiration of CET score on college English teaching. Modern English, 23(1), 13-16.
Wang, W. (2022). The reform of college English wisdom classroom teaching based on ARCS incentive motivation model. Journal of Higher Education, 8(4), 140-143.
Wang, Z. Q. (2014). Developing accuracy and fluency in spoken English of Chinese EFL learners. Canadian Center of Science and Education.
Wu, Y. A. (2016). English language teaching in China: Trends and challenges. TESOL Quarterly, 35(1)12–20.
Zakaria, N., Hashim, H., & Yunus, M. M. (2019). A review of affective strategy and social strategy in developing students’ speaking skills. Creative Education, 10(12), 3082–3090.
Zhang, J. Z. (2018). Psychology in foreign language education. Anhui Education Press.
Zhang, L. L. (2022). Incentive strategies of emotion teaching in vocational colleges from the perspective of positive psychology. Vocational Education in China, 14(1), 90-96.
Zhang, Q. (2019). Learning theory. Wuhan: Hubei Education Press.
Zhang, Z. Y. (2019). A reflection on basic English teaching in China. Curriculum, Teaching Method and Material, 31(1), 95-99.
Zhou, A. (2022). Exploring EFL graduate students' incentive strategies to improve English speaking skills. Surakarta English and Literature Journal, 5(1), 26-38.
Zhou, S., Zhu, H., & Zhou, Y. (2022). Impact of teenage EFL learners’ psychological needs on learning engagement and behavioral intention in synchronous online English courses. Sustainability, 14(17), 104-118.
Zhou, Y. (2019). Socia-psychological factors and language learning. In G. Z. Xv (Ed.), ELT in China (pp. 44–49). Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.