Antecedents of intrinsic motivation, metacognition and their effects on students' academic performance in fundamental knowledge for matriculation courses.

No abstract

In second/foreign language learning, it is hypothesised oral interaction facilitates language acquisition. Studies show that one aspect of interaction that promotes second/foreign language acquisition is through the process of negotiation, and one factor that influences interaction is the task or activity that learners are engaged in. Hence, it is the aim of this study to investigate if foreign language (FL) learners would engage in different negotiation strategies when completing different communication task types. Nine FL learners from a tertiary EFL class in groups of three participated in the study. They completed three different communication task types (i.e., information gap, jigsaw and decision-making) over a period of four weeks. Data for the study comprised transcribed recordings of the groups' oral interaction. This study qualitatively examined FL learners' oral interactions when engaged in three different types communication tasks. Data collected were analysed for instances of negotiation. Findings revealed that the different communication tasks elicited negotiation episodes as the participants engaged in task completion. They applied similar negotiation strategies during peer interaction. However, further scrutiny revealed that there were differences in terms of the depth of negotiation for the different communication task types. The results of this study exhibit evidence that language communication tasks do promote meaningful interactions among tertiary EFL learners. Data clearly showed widespread negotiation episodes during task completion. The knowledge on the types of communication tasks that can promote meaningful interaction and negotiation episodes can assist language practitioners to make informed decisions on tasks that are suitable for their learners.

Goal-achieving curricular are often coherent at their fundamental level. In order for a curriculum to achieve its goals, it is imperative that the curriculum is coherent at all levels. The contents presented in a curriculum must align with its theoretical underpinning. The present Malaysian English language curriculum is developed and designed based on the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Thus, the purpose of the current study was to examine if the theoretical grounding of the Malaysian form five English language curriculum, in particular the speaking curriculum, is in alignment with its communicative label. In line with its label, the speaking curriculum embedded in the Malaysian form five English language curriculum should be developed and designed based on the CLT. It should reflect the CLT approach. The data for this study were collected from the Form Five English Language Curriculum Specifications document and the Form Five English Language textbook. In analyzing the alignment of the Malaysian form five English language speaking curriculum with the communicative approach, the data were categorized under major second language acquisition (SLA) theories and second language (L2) speaking theories. The findings show that the sociocognitive and socio-cultural theories are highly reflected in the Malaysian form five English Language speaking curriculum, the two theories which are closely related to the communicative approach. This shows that the Malaysian form five English language speaking curriculum is primarily in alignment with its communicative label. The findings are discussed in relation to their implications on English as a foreign language (EFL) speaking instruction.

Students who learn Arabic as a foreign language in a foreign country usually face difficulties to achieve proficiency in the language. This is primarily because of the lack of Arabic language resources. However, this situation does not hinder the emergence of a group of outstanding students who achieve fluency in Arabic by using their own methods. This study investigated the methods used by these students to be used as a guideline for other students.