Christo Moskovsky

Intrinsic motivation in Saudi learners of English as a foreign language

The paper presents an experimental study designed to measure levels of intrinsic motivation in learners of Eng- lish as a Foreign Language in Saudi Arabia. As part of the study, a 27-item structured survey was administered to a ran- domly selected sample of 55 Saudi learners from public schools and universities. Data collected through the survey were subjected to some basic statistical analyses, such as mean and standard deviation. Based on the results from the analy- sis, a number of generalizations and conclusions are made in relation to the role of motivation in the attainment of English as a foreign language in the Saudi educational setting. In addition, some recommendations are offered, which may enable Saudi teachers and learners of English as a foreign language to achieve better learning outcomes in an area widely associ- ated by Saudis with lack of success.

English as a Foreign Language in Saudi Arabia: New Insights into Teaching and Learning English

English as a Foreign Language in Saudi Arabia: New Insights into Teaching and Learning English offers a detailed discussion of key aspects of teaching and learning English in the Saudi context and offers a comprehensive overview of related research authored or co-authored by Saudi researchers. It provides readers with an understanding of the unique cultural, linguistic, and historical context of English in Saudi Arabia—with a focus on the principal factors that may influence successful teaching and learning of English in this country. Uniquely, the book looks separately at issues pertaining to in-country English learning and learners, and those pertaining to in-country English teaching and teachers. The volume also explores issues concerning Saudi learners and teachers in overseas contexts. Lastly, the book touches on the future of English as a Foreign Language and TESOL in Saudi Arabia and its implications for the field.__________________________________________________________ ii Acknowledgements _________________________________________________ iii List of Tables ______________________________________________________ ix List of Figures _____________________________________________________ xii List of Abbreviations ______________________________________________ xiv Introduction ___________________________________________ 1 1.1 Aims of the study ...................................................................................................... 2 1.2 The English language situation in Saudi Arabia: The wider educational context ...................................................................................................................... 3 English within the educational system ................................................................. 3 English in higher education .................................................................................. 7 English teachers in the Ministry of Education...................................................... 8 1.3 Local context for the study: A Saudi secondary school ........................................... 9 1.4 Rationale behind the study ..................................................................................... 10 1.5 Clarification of terms .............................................................................................. 15 1.6 Thesis structure ....................................................................................................... 16 Literature Review _____________________________________ 18 2.1 Educational approaches .......................................................................................... 18 Teacher-centred approach (TCA) ....................................................................... 19 Student-centred approach (SCA) ........................................................................ 20 2.2 Language learning strategies (LLSs) ...................................................................... 30 Types of language learning strategies ................................................................ 33 The classification of language learning strategies .............................................. 37 2.3 Investigating the role of strategy awareness in writing .......................................... 40 2.4 Research on writing strategies ................................................................................ 41 Classifications of ESL writing strategies ........................................................... 44 The sub-processes of writing .............................................................................. 47 2.5 Strategy training and related models ...................................................................... 51

L2 Fossilization: A Competence or a Performance Phenomenon

The study reported here examined the question whether fossilization occurs as a result of competence deficiencies or is a function of processing constraints, i.e., a feature of performance. To address this issue, we first collected longitudinal data (2 years apart) from an adult second language (L2) learner of English. Error analysis conducted on our subjects L2 output revealed features that are consistent with the occurrence of fossilization: steady below norm levels of grammatical accuracy, fluctuation between correct and incorrect usage of the same structure, and backsliding. Next we used a grammaticality judgement (GJ) task to examine our subjects intuitions about the English article - the most pervasive error in his output; we also administered the same GJ task to eight native speaker controls. The analysis of the data from the grammaticality judgement task showed a clear mismatch between our subjects intuitions about article usage and those of the controls, suggesting that fossilization is most likely a competence phenomenon.

Third person effects on binding

Abstract The article provides evidence from a number of languages that sentences which are structurally identical, and differ only in morphological number, display different binding options: 1st and 2nd person sentences allow instances of pronominal binding (e.g. “I am not thinking of me”) while structurally identical sentences in the 3rd person do not (e.g. “*He i is not thinking of him i ”). Such evidence presents a problem for existing versions of the binding theory. It is argued that the data under discussion can be accounted for in terms of a discourse “avoid ambiguity” factor operating on 3rd person, but not on 1st and 2nd person, pronouns. The article contends that the binding options of 3rd person pronouns are determined by both structural (syntactic) and nonstructural (discourse) factors, while the binding options of 1st and 2nd person pronouns are determined by structural factors alone, and in this sense only the latter represent a pure case of syntactic binding. It therefore follows that attempts at formulating structural (syntactic) constraints on binding should avoid 3rd person pronouns as the picture there is additionally complicated by the operation of a discourse factor (avoid ambiguity) and should deal with binding of 1st and 2nd person pronouns, as only they reflect structural conditions on binding. In reality, however, studies investigating anaphoric binding deal almost exclusively with instances of binding in 3rd person sentences, which may have negatively affected current formulations of locality constraints on binding.