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Title: SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS' RECOGNITION OF UNKNOWN WORDS.
Creator: Lin, Chai-Wei, Folse, Keith, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Recent research has underscored the important role of second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition in the reading process. The present study examined how accurately eighteen learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) were able to identify unknown words within a reading passage. It is assumed that "noticing" unfamiliar words in a text plays an important role in being able to extract meaning from context, which may ultimately result in word learning; thus, whether or not learners are able to...
Show moreRecent research has underscored the important role of second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition in the reading process. The present study examined how accurately eighteen learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) were able to identify unknown words within a reading passage. It is assumed that "noticing" unfamiliar words in a text plays an important role in being able to extract meaning from context, which may ultimately result in word learning; thus, whether or not learners are able to recognize unknown words as unknown is a key step in vocabulary learning. The design of this study was based on previous research (Laufer and Yano, 2001) on the connection between first language background and self-assessment of L2 word knowledge. The first three steps of the Lafuer and Yano study were used in this study. In the first step, ESL learners self-assessed their ability to identify selected words in a text. After this, L2 learners explained or translated the meanings of the words. Finally, the two sets of data were analyzed to measure correlations. The findings of the study showed that teachers, as well as learners, should not underestimate the importance of vocabulary. Instead, they should provide more explicit vocabulary instruction and practice. In addition, L2 learners need to learn to identify words that are unknown. The act of "noticing" unknown words and identifying them as such is the initial step towards building vocabulary through reading. Lastly, L2 learners should not rely solely on context clues for the "guessing" strategy when they have a limited level of vocabulary because they may develop mistaken word knowledge, which would impact reading comprehension. Instead, learners should develop a wide range of strategies to comprehend academic reading.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: CFE0000645, ucf:46550
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000645

Title: MORPHEME ACQUISITION IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS.
Creator: Schuwerk, Timothy Andrew, Folse, Keith, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study explored morpheme acquisition in learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). Specifically, it looked at the development of eight selected individuals from Korea over the course of an intensive 8-week instruction program and tracked their acquisition of three specific English morphemes: indefinite articles used with singular count nouns, progressive -ing forms, and third person -s markers. The individuals were given an assessment test to place them at the correct level within...
Show moreThis study explored morpheme acquisition in learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). Specifically, it looked at the development of eight selected individuals from Korea over the course of an intensive 8-week instruction program and tracked their acquisition of three specific English morphemes: indefinite articles used with singular count nouns, progressive -ing forms, and third person -s markers. The individuals were given an assessment test to place them at the correct level within the program prior to their selection for the study. The participants provided four sets of data in the form of writing samples at fixed intervals during the eight weeks. The results were evaluated and documented in the pages that follow. Improvement was shown in raw performance data on the morphemes, and a significant correlation was found for both the indefinite article and progressive –ing morphemes in number of correct responses.
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Date Issued: 2004
Identifier: CFE0000040, ucf:46150
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000040

Title: THE ACADEMIC WORD LIST REORGANIZED FOR SPANISH-SPEAKING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS.
Creator: Bushong, Robert, Folse, Keith, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Published in TESOL Quarterly a decade ago, the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000) has become increasingly influential in the field of TESOL. With more than 82% of the AWL comprised of words of Latin and Greek, much of this important list logically consists of English-Spanish cognates because Spanish originated from Latin. In order to serve Spanish-speaking English language learners (SSELLs) better, their teachers need to know which AWL words are cognates. Using published sources and...
Show morePublished in TESOL Quarterly a decade ago, the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000) has become increasingly influential in the field of TESOL. With more than 82% of the AWL comprised of words of Latin and Greek, much of this important list logically consists of English-Spanish cognates because Spanish originated from Latin. In order to serve Spanish-speaking English language learners (SSELLs) better, their teachers need to know which AWL words are cognates. Using published sources and linguistic analysis of the 570 items in the AWL, the research in this thesis has resulted in a newly reorganized AWL divided into four categories that are more useful for our Spanish-speaking English language learners as well as their instructors, curriculum designers, and materials writers: English-Spanish true cognates, partial cognates, false cognates, and non-cognates.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003528, ucf:48961
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003528

Title: Lexico-grammatical Complexity in EAP Student Writing: A Learner Corpus Analysis.
Creator: Goussakova, Ekaterina, Folse, Keith, Boote, David, Witta, Eleanor, Reppen, Randi, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In this descriptive linguistic study, the lexico-grammatical complexity of placement and exit English for Academic Purposes (EAP) student writing samples was analyzed using corpus linguistic methods to explore language development as a result of student enrollment in the EAP program. Writing samples were typed, matched, and tagged. A concordance software was used to produce lexical realizations of grammatical features. A comparison was made of normed frequency counts for nine phrasal and...
Show moreIn this descriptive linguistic study, the lexico-grammatical complexity of placement and exit English for Academic Purposes (EAP) student writing samples was analyzed using corpus linguistic methods to explore language development as a result of student enrollment in the EAP program. Writing samples were typed, matched, and tagged. A concordance software was used to produce lexical realizations of grammatical features. A comparison was made of normed frequency counts for nine phrasal and clausal features as well as raw frequencies for type to token ratio (TTR), average word length, and word count. In addition, the contribution of variables such as advanced grammar and writing course grades, LOEP scores, and the number of semesters in the EAP program to the English Learner's (EL) lexico-grammatical complexity found in exit essays was also examined.Twelve paired parametric and non-parametric analyses of lexico-grammatical variables were performed. Dependent t test results showed that normed frequency counts for such features as pre-modifying nouns, attributive adjectives, adverbial conjunctions, coordinating conjunctions, TTR, average word length, and word count changed significantly, and students produced more of those features in their exit writing than in their placement essay. Non-parametric Wilcoxon test indicated that such a change was also observable with noun + that clauses. The frequencies of verb + that clauses and subordinating conjunction because, though non-significant, actually decreased. A split plot ANOVA allowed to see whether a change in above mentioned statistically significant lexico-grammatical features could be attributed to grammar instruction in EAP 1560. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between those who took EAP 1560 class and those who did not on pre-modifying nouns, coordinating conjunctions, TTR, average word length, and word count. On the other hand, those students who did not take EAP 1560 class had higher counts of attributive adjectives but lower of adverbial conjunctions, both statistically significant results, than those students who took the class. Lastly, five multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to predict frequencies of exit pre-modifying nouns, attributive adjectives, noun + that clauses, adverbial conjunctions, and TTR from EAP 1560 and EAP 1640 grades, LOEP scores, and the number of semesters students spent in the EAP program at SSC. The only significant regression analysis was with TTR, and 28% of its variance could be explained by the independent variables. LOEP Language Usage score was the only significant individual contributor to the model. Even though exit adverbial conjunctions were not predictable from the chosen IVs, LOEP Sentence Meaning score proved the only significant contributor to that model.The results indicate that compressed phrasal features are indicative of higher complexity and EL proficiency, while clausal features are acquired earlier and signal elaboration, as previously described in the literature.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007008, ucf:52037
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007008

Title: The Frequency of the Passive Voice in Freshman Academic Books.
Creator: Moreb, Basma, Folse, Keith, Mihai, Florin, Young, Beth, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The use of passive voice has long been an area of difficulty for English learners. Celce-Murcia (&) Larsen-Freeman (2015) noted that it is learning when to use the English passive that presents the greatest long-term challenge to ESL/EFL students(") (p. 352). Because textbooks are a source of language input for English learners, this study investigated the frequency of passive voice verbs in samples from four academic textbooks in courses commonly taken by freshmen. The study also examined...
Show moreThe use of passive voice has long been an area of difficulty for English learners. Celce-Murcia (&) Larsen-Freeman (2015) noted that it is learning when to use the English passive that presents the greatest long-term challenge to ESL/EFL students(") (p. 352). Because textbooks are a source of language input for English learners, this study investigated the frequency of passive voice verbs in samples from four academic textbooks in courses commonly taken by freshmen. The study also examined whether there are significant differences between the frequencies by textbook. The data was collected from four General Education Plan (GEP) subject textbooks used in freshman classes at a large metropolitan university in the southeastern United States, namely English composition, history, psychology, and biology. The data was then compiled into a corpus of approximately 20,000 words created specifically for the current study, with 5,000 words randomly and sequentially selected from each of the four textbooks. The study utilized a table created by Folse (2009) to analyze differences between the basic passive voice tenses found in the textbooks. The study examined the be-passives, get-passives, and have-passives and their frequency in different tenses. The findings revealed that passive voice occurred in academic textbooks with an overall frequency of 7.06% (of all conjugated verbs). The results also found significant differences between the academic genres (p (<) 0.05). In this particular corpus, passive voice occurred more in biology than in the other subjects. Therefore, the results of the study indicated a need to explicitly teach the basic be-passive voice to English language learners to all English learners, but teachers also need to be especially aware that certain university subjects (e.g., biology) use more passive voice verb forms than others.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006695, ucf:51929
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006695

Title: The Frequency of the Twelve Verb Tenses in History Papers Written by University Native Writers.
Creator: Qahtani, Bushra, Folse, Keith, Young, Beth, Fernandez-Rubiera, Francisco, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Due to the variety and complexity of verb tenses in English, English as a Second Language (ESL) / English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners often experience difficulty in mastering English verb tense system. This corpus-based study was conducted to ascertain the most frequently used verb tenses by English native speakers (NSs), specifically in their academic writing in a history course. As this study aimed to examine the naturally-occurring language produced by NSs, specifically in their...
Show moreDue to the variety and complexity of verb tenses in English, English as a Second Language (ESL) / English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners often experience difficulty in mastering English verb tense system. This corpus-based study was conducted to ascertain the most frequently used verb tenses by English native speakers (NSs), specifically in their academic writing in a history course. As this study aimed to examine the naturally-occurring language produced by NSs, specifically in their academic writing, an original corpus of 101,713 words was assembled. The corpus consisted of 130 research papers written by 65 students. The corpus was analyzed, targeting certain linguistic items: the twelve verb tenses, modals, perfect modals, and imperatives. These targets were highlighted using a code-coloring method. Then, the items were calculated using Microsoft Excel. Excel calculations revealed the number of occurrences of each of the verb tenses, modals, perfect modals, and imperatives that was utilized in the corpus. The results revealed that the simple past tense was predominant, followed by the simple present tenses. Modals came third, as they occurred more frequently than any of the other verb tenses. The remaining targets had percentages ranging between 1.62% and zero. These findings could contribute in developing the methodology of teaching verb tenses to ESL/EFL learners in a way that reinforces their comprehension of the most important and most common items. In addition, this information is very important for materials designers and curriculum professionals.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0007293, ucf:52150
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007293

Title: Parental Beliefs and Attitudes on Enrollment in a Dual Language Program at an Elementary School.
Creator: Delorenzo, Leah, Purmensky, Kerry, Folse, Keith, Vitanova-Haralampiev, Gergana, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In the 2010-2011 school year, there were almost a quarter of a million English language learners (ELLs) enrolled in Florida public schools (Florida Department of Education, 2011), most of whom were placed in mainstream schools with segregated language remediation. Dual language education (DLE) programs offer developmental opportunities in two languages that mainstream schools cannot. The purpose of this research was to identify parental attitudes toward immersion programs and define the...
Show moreIn the 2010-2011 school year, there were almost a quarter of a million English language learners (ELLs) enrolled in Florida public schools (Florida Department of Education, 2011), most of whom were placed in mainstream schools with segregated language remediation. Dual language education (DLE) programs offer developmental opportunities in two languages that mainstream schools cannot. The purpose of this research was to identify parental attitudes toward immersion programs and define the reasons that parents enroll their children in DLEs. Sixty participants completed a questionnaire sent home from their student's DLE. The study data included biographical information, statements depicting the reasons for enrollment rated by a Likert scale, and an area for comments. Overall, the study found that survey participants rated their child's comfort communicating with Spanish speakers (4.75 out of 5) to be the most important reason for enrollment. A difference was found in responses depending on the ethnic/language group of surveyed participants. Primarily, Spanish speakers responded more positively to the statements regarding bilingual education than any other ethnic/language group. All parents conclusively believe the dual immersion program has been a success for their children.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004989, ucf:49553
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004989

Title: Identifying the Most Common Errors in Saudi University Students' Writing: Does the Prompt Matter?.
Creator: Barzanji, Amal, Mihai, Florin, Folse, Keith, Purmensky, Kerry, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the most common writing errors made by undergraduate Saudi students with special focus on the five most common errors. The study also examined whether the type of prompt has an effect on the frequency of these errors. 58 English major students participated in this study, and each student wrote two timed essays. The first one was persuasive and the second one was compare and contrast. In order to analyze the data, the researcher used an error...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to investigate the most common writing errors made by undergraduate Saudi students with special focus on the five most common errors. The study also examined whether the type of prompt has an effect on the frequency of these errors. 58 English major students participated in this study, and each student wrote two timed essays. The first one was persuasive and the second one was compare and contrast. In order to analyze the data, the researcher used an error inventory developed by Bushong and Mihai (2012) based on Ferris (2002), which categorized ten types of errors. However, five other errors were added to this category later, which resulted in a combination of fifteen types of errors. The findings revealed that missing/unnecessary word was the most frequent type of error (17.86%), followed by spelling errors (15.66%), wrong choice (14.00%), article (7.68%), wrong noun form (6.68%). In addition, the results showed that the type of prompt had no effect on the number of errors. However, it had an influence on the frequency and types of errors, which was manifested in the differences between the last two categories of the five most common errors found in prompts A and B.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006071, ucf:50957
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006071

Title: The Frequency of The Twelve Verb Tenses in Academic Papers Written by Native Speakers.
Creator: Alzuhairy, Uthman, Folse, Keith, Farina, Marcella, Vitanova-Haralampiev, Gergana, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Because of the significant and sensitive role of verb tenses in learning English, the current study examined the occurrence of the twelve verb tenses that native writers (NWs) utilized in their selected academic papers at the college level. In doing so, the study created a baseline of relative frequency of verb tense usage that may benefit further studies, especially those connected with the teaching grammar to English learners. The main linguistic items targeted for tabulation in this study...
Show moreBecause of the significant and sensitive role of verb tenses in learning English, the current study examined the occurrence of the twelve verb tenses that native writers (NWs) utilized in their selected academic papers at the college level. In doing so, the study created a baseline of relative frequency of verb tense usage that may benefit further studies, especially those connected with the teaching grammar to English learners. The main linguistic items targeted for tabulation in this study were the 12 verb tenses, modals, perfect modals, and imperatives. These items were elicited from an original corpus of 31 research papers written by undergraduate students studying at UCF. The total size of this original corpus is 103,181 words, with the length of papers varying from 1,964 words to 6,676 words. In order to analyze the data and facilitate a more accurate counting process, the researchers used a code coloring method.The results revealed that the most frequently used tenses were present simple, past simple, modals, and present perfect, while future progressive, future perfect, and past and future perfect progressive were almost never used by NWs. These findings could contribute toward the development of the methodology of teaching verb tenses as well as help English learners to comprehend and master this important grammatical area. The pedagogical implication of these results is in improving the teaching of the verb tenses to English learners, as it accentuates the difference between which of the twelve verb tenses could be given more class time as well as those that could be given less attention.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006435, ucf:51474
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006435

Title: The Intricate Relationship between Measures of Vocabulary Size and Lexical Diversity as Evidenced in Non-Native and Native Speaker Academic Compositions.
Creator: Gonzalez, Melanie, Folse, Keith, Bai, Haiyan, Mihai, Florin, Webb, Stuart, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The present study, a quantitative lexical analysis, examines the extent to which vocabulary size and lexical diversity contribute to writing scores on advanced non-native speakers' and native speakers' academic compositions. The data consists of essays composed by 104 adult non-native English learners enrolled in advanced second language writing courses and 68 native speaking university students in a first-year composition course. The lexical diversity of the sample essays is quantified by...
Show moreThe present study, a quantitative lexical analysis, examines the extent to which vocabulary size and lexical diversity contribute to writing scores on advanced non-native speakers' and native speakers' academic compositions. The data consists of essays composed by 104 adult non-native English learners enrolled in advanced second language writing courses and 68 native speaking university students in a first-year composition course. The lexical diversity of the sample essays is quantified by both the Measure of Textual Lexical Diversity (MTLD) and the voc-D while vocabulary size is measured by CELEX word frequency means, three instruments that are available in the computational linguistics program Coh-Metrix 3.0. Writing scores are provided by three independent raters' evaluations according to the TOEFL iBT Independent Writing Rubric.Results from a binary logistic regression reveal that lexical diversity has a significantly greater impact on writing score than vocabulary size (p (<) .01). Nevertheless, a series of MANOVAs indicate that vocabulary size initially facilitates writing scores at the lower proficiency levels, but it is an essay's lexical diversity that promotes it to the higher score levels. Additional findings from the MANOVAs demonstrate that native speakers' profiles of lexical diversity and size are significantly different from their non-native peers (p (<) .001). The lexical profiles also differed significantly among the individual score levels of the TOEFL iBT rubric (p (<) .05). A final outcome from a Pearson's product moment correlation analysis shows that vocabulary size has only a moderate relationship to lexical diversity, suggesting that variation of mid-range vocabulary may be more important to writing proficiency than the use of more sophisticated terms that occur less frequently in natural language.Implications for practice suggest that it is not enough to simply teach vocabulary words in the L2 composition classroom, but also to guide learners in how to employ these words in a varied manner within their writing. Furthermore, the results of this study indicate that teachers should spend more time on helping students use medium frequency words along with synonyms of a similar frequency rather than teaching students infrequent vocabulary, which may appear to sound more advanced.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004852, ucf:49693
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004852

Title: Comparing the Receptive Vocabulary Knowledge of Intermediate-level Students of Different Native languages in an Intensive English Program.
Creator: Alkhofi, Anas, Folse, Keith, Mihai, Florin, Purmensky, Kerry, Xu, Lihua, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Because most(-)if not all(-)intensive English programs (IEP) assign students to specific levels based on a placement test that does not involve any form of explicit vocabulary testing, some degree of variation in lexical knowledge of students within an individual class should not be surprising. However, very little research has ever quantified this variation. The current study fills the gap in this important area of TESOL research by investigating vocabulary variation among intermediate-level...
Show moreBecause most(-)if not all(-)intensive English programs (IEP) assign students to specific levels based on a placement test that does not involve any form of explicit vocabulary testing, some degree of variation in lexical knowledge of students within an individual class should not be surprising. However, very little research has ever quantified this variation. The current study fills the gap in this important area of TESOL research by investigating vocabulary variation among intermediate-level students at one IEP. Participants (N=79) were split into two main proficiency groups, high intermediate (N=28) and low intermediate (N=51). The 2K, 3K, and 5K levels from the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) were used as a vocabulary measure. In this study, VLT scores were analyzed by proficiency level and by students' original individual classes (N=7). The results revealed considerable vocabulary variation. In some instances, vocabulary size varied by 900 word families per student. First language influence was also investigated by comparing the largest two language groups in the sample, Arabic (N= 28) and Spanish (N=12). Spanish-speaking students significantly outperformed the Arabic speaking students in all vocabulary measures (except for the 2K level). The study, therefore, raises questions about the approaches used in teaching a class that has both Spanish and Arabic speakers. Implications and suggestions for further studies are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005569, ucf:50281
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005569

Title: A Comparative Analysis of Present and Past Participial Adjectives and their Collocations in the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA).
Creator: Reilly, Natalia, Folse, Keith, Mihai, Florin, Vitanova-Haralampiev, Gergana, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: ESL grammar books have lists of present and past participial adjectives based on author intuition rather than actual word frequency. In these textbooks, the (-)ing and (-)ed participial adjectives derived from transitive verbs of state and emotion are presented in pairs such as interesting/interested, boring/bored, or surprising/surprised. This present study used the Corpus of Contemporary American English http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/ (COCA) to investigate the overall frequency of participial...
Show moreESL grammar books have lists of present and past participial adjectives based on author intuition rather than actual word frequency. In these textbooks, the (-)ing and (-)ed participial adjectives derived from transitive verbs of state and emotion are presented in pairs such as interesting/interested, boring/bored, or surprising/surprised. This present study used the Corpus of Contemporary American English http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/ (COCA) to investigate the overall frequency of participial adjectives in use as well as their frequency within certain varieties of contexts. The results have shown that among most frequently used participial adjectives there are not only the participial adjectives derived from transitive verbs of psychological state, such as interesting/interested, but also the participial adjectives derived from transitive verbs of action with their intransitive equivalents, such as increasing/increased. The data also revealed that many participial adjectives lack corresponding counterparts and thus cannot be presented in (-)ing/-ed or -en pairs (e. g., existing, ongoing, concerned, supposed). Finally, a majority of the differences between participial adjectives, including the differences between present (-ing) and past (-ed or -en) participial adjectives, are reflected in their collocations. This study suggests that a new approach of teaching participial adjectives along with their collocations in relation to their frequencies in particular contexts can help second language learners develop awareness of how and when these participial adjectives should be used to convey an individual's intended meaning in a native-like manner.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0005051, ucf:49967
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005051

Title: Expressing Future Time in Spoken Conversational English: A Corpus-Based Analysis of the Sitcom Friends.
Creator: Harris, Brandon, Folse, Keith, Mihai, Florin, Vitanova-Haralampiev, Gergana, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Far from being simply will, a survey of English grammar textbooks revealed that a multitude of expressions exists in the English language to express the future time. These expressions include, but are not limited to, will, be going to, the simple present tense, modals, the future perfect tense, and the present progressive tense. With so many choices and with a lack of direct relationship between tense and time, a language learner may certainly have difficulties in choosing which expression to...
Show moreFar from being simply will, a survey of English grammar textbooks revealed that a multitude of expressions exists in the English language to express the future time. These expressions include, but are not limited to, will, be going to, the simple present tense, modals, the future perfect tense, and the present progressive tense. With so many choices and with a lack of direct relationship between tense and time, a language learner may certainly have difficulties in choosing which expression to use when attempting to produce a future utterance. A corpus-based approach to analyzing real language has been demonstrated to be quite useful for the field of TESOL (Biber, Conrad, (&) Reppen, 1996; Biber (&) Conrad, 2001; Biber (&) Reppen, 2002) and numerous studies on the frequency of lexical and grammatical items of language have revealed salient features that otherwise would have remained unknown. Adding to this body of knowledge, the current study was an analysis of future expressions in spoken conversational English using the television sitcom Friends as a corpus. A careful analysis of 349,106 words from transcripts of 117 randomly selected episodes revealed that the most common expression of the future in the English language is the contracted form of be going to (-) gonna. The results of the study also revealed that only six future expressions emerged in this spoken conversational English from this corpus: will, be going to, the simple present tense, the present progressive tense, modals, and be about to.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004860, ucf:49695
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004860

Title: Passive voice usage in undergraduate STEM textbooks.
Creator: Luo, Huiyuan, Mihai, Florin, Nutta, Joyce, Folse, Keith, Bai, Haiyan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The present study, a corpus-based quantitative analysis, investigated the use of passive voice in terms of percentage (percentage of total passive usage), constructions (the most commonly used passive forms), and dispersion (the verbs that tended to be associated with passive usage) in college STEM textbooks, more specifically in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The corpus consisted of twenty textbooks with over 1 million running words selected from the textbooks' chapters....
Show moreThe present study, a corpus-based quantitative analysis, investigated the use of passive voice in terms of percentage (percentage of total passive usage), constructions (the most commonly used passive forms), and dispersion (the verbs that tended to be associated with passive usage) in college STEM textbooks, more specifically in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The corpus consisted of twenty textbooks with over 1 million running words selected from the textbooks' chapters. By identifying the main verbs and passive verbs used in the textbooks, the percentage of passive voice usage was calculated. The statistical difference of passive constructions between disciplines was examined by conducting a MANOVA test, and an instrument, the Compleat Lexical Tutor was used to generate a word list of the most commonly-used past participles in passive voice.Results showed that the overall percentage of passive voice usage is over 30%. The MANOVA test revealed a statistically significant difference of passive voice constructions across the four disciplines, i.e. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.Implications for teaching suggest that passive voice was an important grammar feature that needs to be taught tor the English as a second/foreign language students who major in the STEM fields. Additionally, the use of passive constructions should be taught differently in reading and writing based on the needs of the four STEM disciplines, due to the significant difference of passive forms usage in these fields.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007047, ucf:52020
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007047

Title: Analyses and comparisons of three lexical features in native and nonnative academic English writing.
Creator: Yu, Xiaoli, Folse, Keith, Fernandez-Rubiera, Francisco, Young, Beth, Boote, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Built upon the Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (CIA) framework, this corpus-based research analyzes three lexical features (lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, and cohesion) in native and nonnative English writers' academic writing and examines the potential differences in lexical performance 1) between native and nonnative English writers and 2) across all writers from various language backgrounds. The differences in lexical performance in academic writing between native and...
Show moreBuilt upon the Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (CIA) framework, this corpus-based research analyzes three lexical features (lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, and cohesion) in native and nonnative English writers' academic writing and examines the potential differences in lexical performance 1) between native and nonnative English writers and 2) across all writers from various language backgrounds. The differences in lexical performance in academic writing between native and nonnative English writers and the unique characteristics of writers from different language backgrounds suggest the necessity of targeted academic writing instruction based upon learner needs. Using text length as the covariate, two Multivariate Analysis of Covariate (MANCOVA) were conducted with language background as the Independent Variable and the three lexical features as the Dependent Variables. The results revealed that nonnative English writers demonstrated significantly lower performance in lexical sophistication than did native English writers. In terms of the comparison between writers from different language backgrounds, the results suggested statistically significant differences in all three aspects of lexical features. Pedagogical implications for vocabulary instruction in academic writing for nonnative English writers include emphasizing the mastery of academic, low-frequency, and discipline-specific vocabulary. In addition, improving nonnative writers' vocabulary size and lexical diversity can offer these learners more options to build cohesion in academic writing at a deeper level. Moreover, the results of this study highlight the wide but often under-considered variability within any language group as individual learner differences come into play, thereby downplaying the idea that writers of any given language tend to perform homogenously. Instructors should acknowledge the unique writing characteristics of different nonnative writers and their varied learner needs. Thus, targeted instruction is essential to provide effective enhancement to nonnative English writers' lexical performance in academic writing.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007269, ucf:52206
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007269

Title: A Comparative Study of Two Models of Presenting Phrasal Verbs.
Creator: Majeed, Nagham, Mihai, Florin, Folse, Keith, Purmensky, Kerry, Boote, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Learning phrasal verbs (PVs) is of vital importance in both written and spokenEnglish, especially for those English learners who must use English as a second language (ESL) in their daily interactions with proficient speakers. This study focused on two particles (out and in) in exploring a more effective model for presenting PVs in an ESL context. PVs are the focus of this empirical study because they are an essential component of English vocabulary but are typically regarded as very...
Show moreLearning phrasal verbs (PVs) is of vital importance in both written and spokenEnglish, especially for those English learners who must use English as a second language (ESL) in their daily interactions with proficient speakers. This study focused on two particles (out and in) in exploring a more effective model for presenting PVs in an ESL context. PVs are the focus of this empirical study because they are an essential component of English vocabulary but are typically regarded as very difficult for ESL students to master.This study used a quasi-experimental design to compare the effect of instruction through image-schematic container illustrations of 16 PVs (supported by the container metaphor model) and a definition-only illustration of the same 16 PVs (supported by the traditional model of PV instruction). The participants in this experiment consisted of 28 intermediate-level students enrolled in intensive English program (IEP) courses at a metropolitan college in the southeastern United States during the summer of 2019; the students were divided into a control group and an experimental group. Four types of instruments, including one pretest and three posttests, were used in this experiment to examine the effectiveness of the container metaphor model compared with the traditional model. The findings of this study challenge the traditional view regarding the difficulty of teaching the meanings of these 16 PVs and suggest that the container metaphor model is more conducive to PV learning and retention. However, the findings of this study showed little evidence that the container metaphor model can assist in guessing the meaning of previously unknown PVs. The practical implications demonstrated from these results can be used by ESL teachers and educational stakeholders to validate English-teaching practices. Therefore, this model was recommended to be considered as one model of presenting PVs. The current study demonstrated that researchers should include infrequent PVs in their research in addition to the frequent ones. Finally, limitations of the current study are identified and recommendations for organizing future studies on this topic are proposed.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007834, ucf:52829
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007834

Title: A Mixed-Method Examination of the Impact of Academic, Social, and Personal-Emotional Adjustment on the English Performance of Arabian Gulf Students Studying in American Intensive English Programs.
Creator: Al Jabbawi, Mais Flaieh Hasan, Sivo, Stephen, Nutta, Joyce, Vitanova-Haralampiev, Gergana, Folse, Keith, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The current study identifies and discusses the adjustment challenges facing Arabian Gulf Students (AGSs) that may affect their English performance (EP) in intensive English programs (IEPs) in the United States. The current study uses student departure theory to lead the theoretical framework and incorporates Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) and Social Integration Questionnaire (SIQ) to lead the methodology of this study. The mixed-method investigation with multi-location...
Show moreThe current study identifies and discusses the adjustment challenges facing Arabian Gulf Students (AGSs) that may affect their English performance (EP) in intensive English programs (IEPs) in the United States. The current study uses student departure theory to lead the theoretical framework and incorporates Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) and Social Integration Questionnaire (SIQ) to lead the methodology of this study. The mixed-method investigation with multi-location sampling examined 160 AGSs, enrolled full-time in different IEPs in the U.S. during the spring semester of 2019. The AGSs participants were from Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman. A pilot study preceded the final study to obtain AGSs' insight on the questionnaire items and time consumption. In the final study, the participating students completed a demographic information questionnaire as well as the SACQ and SIQ for the quantitative segment of this study. Face-to-face and Skype interviews followed as the qualitative segment of the proposed study. Data analyses included several methods. The questionnaire results were analyzed by inputting data into IBM Statistics Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics. The interview responses were analyzed within a phenomenological approach by finding common themes within the interview responses. The findings shed light on the needs and means of helping AGSs succeed in achieving high levels of English proficiency in IEPs in the U.S.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007595, ucf:52520
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007595

Title: Teaching English in Iraq:An Analysis of an EFL textbook.
Creator: Al-Akraa, Sarab, Purmensky, Kerry, Folse, Keith, Vitanova-Haralampiev, Gergana, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study evaluates the fifth- grade beginning English textbook, Iraq Opportunities 3, which was introduced in elementary schools by the Iraqi Ministry of Education in 2012. This mixed methods research aims to analyze the content of a new textbook that is considered to be the foundation of the English language program in Iraq. This is a valuable research project since its findings reveal the strengths and weaknesses of Iraq Opportunities 3 based on three critical components: grammar,...
Show moreThis study evaluates the fifth- grade beginning English textbook, Iraq Opportunities 3, which was introduced in elementary schools by the Iraqi Ministry of Education in 2012. This mixed methods research aims to analyze the content of a new textbook that is considered to be the foundation of the English language program in Iraq. This is a valuable research project since its findings reveal the strengths and weaknesses of Iraq Opportunities 3 based on three critical components: grammar, vocabulary, and culture. A survey questionnaire was used in this study to elicit the perspectives of English language teachers who are using this textbook in their classrooms along with the personal evaluation by the researcher. Three research questions were addressed in this study: 1) How are grammar and vocabulary addressed in Iraq Opportunities 3? 2) How are English-speaking and Iraqi cultures represented in Iraq Opportunities 3? and 3) Is the L2 culture represented in this textbook in a way that exposes students to the English-speaking culture? The findings are generally in favor of the textbook in terms of grammar and vocabulary and their appropriateness for the age and level of students. However, the study criticizes the limited role and the poor representation of culture in this curriculum.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004970, ucf:49582
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004970

Title: Increasing Metalinguistics Awareness as a Necessary Precursor for Preservice Teachers.
Creator: Schoonmaker, Aimee, Purmensky, Kerry, Nutta, Joyce, Folse, Keith, Clark, M. H., Mihai, Florin, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Metalinguistic awareness (MA) in the context of the present study is the ability to deconstruct and analyze a language's intricate systems, and by doing so, better understand how these systems work. More specifically for the present study, the investigation focused on preservice teachers' MA in relation to grammar and its importance for their future students' understanding of language. Language is at the core of any content area in students' academic lives and it will continue to permeate all...
Show moreMetalinguistic awareness (MA) in the context of the present study is the ability to deconstruct and analyze a language's intricate systems, and by doing so, better understand how these systems work. More specifically for the present study, the investigation focused on preservice teachers' MA in relation to grammar and its importance for their future students' understanding of language. Language is at the core of any content area in students' academic lives and it will continue to permeate all aspects of their studies at all ages. As such, language-related issues should be at the front and center of preservice teachers' preparation.The present study, a quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest (Shadish, Cook (&) Campbell, 2002) investigated the metalinguistic awareness of preservice teachers who were enrolled in a face-to-face, undergraduate applied linguistics course at an urban research university in the United States. The metalinguistic awareness in the scope of the present study was directly related to the grammar knowledge of participants, and it was measured by an adapted instrument called ALAT. The results of the current study demonstrate that overall increase of MA is feasible (as attested by the results from research question 1). Nevertheless, further investigations (research questions 2, 3, 4, and 5) demonstrated that teachers' levels of metalinguistic awareness vary significantly. These results echoed previous findings that demonstrated that preservice teachers are not language-knowledgeable enough to deal with myriad issues that involve language, both in relation to students who are native speakers of English and also concerning ELs (Kolln (&) Hancock, 2005; Nutta et al., 2012; Pappamihiell, 2007). Preservice teachers' lack higher level metalinguistic awareness, as evidenced by their limited ability to explain grammar errors and use proper metalanguage while doing so.The main implication of the present study lies in the recommendation that more can and should be done in order to ensure that preservice teachers are receiving the appropriate amount of language-oriented preparation during their college years. The present study offers a confirmatory perspective to previous research findings which found that preservice teachers are not knowledgeable enough in relation to language. Previous studies also pointed out to this lack of preparation as a generator of feelings of inadequacy and anxiety in preservice teachers while foreseeing their future students' language struggles. Nonetheless, the present study also demonstrates that improvement can be achieved in regard to MA teacher preparedness in relatively little amount of time, especially for recognition of grammatical items such as parts of speech and parts of sentence. However, the findings demonstrate that more time is needed to ensure better results for complex grammar analyses such as explanation of grammatical errors.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005996, ucf:50779
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005996

Title: The Effect of Speech Elicitation Method on Second Language Phonemic Accuracy.
Creator: Carrasquel, Nicole, Farina, Marcella, Folse, Keith, Purmensky, Kerry, Clark, M. H., University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The present study, a One-Group Posttest-Only Repeated-Measures Design, examined the effect of speech elicitation method on second language (L2) phonemic accuracy of high functional load initial phonemes found in frequently occurring nouns in American English. This effect was further analyzed by including the variable of first language (L1) to determine if L1 moderated any effects found. The data consisted of audio recordings of 61 adult English learners (ELs) enrolled in English for Academic...
Show moreThe present study, a One-Group Posttest-Only Repeated-Measures Design, examined the effect of speech elicitation method on second language (L2) phonemic accuracy of high functional load initial phonemes found in frequently occurring nouns in American English. This effect was further analyzed by including the variable of first language (L1) to determine if L1 moderated any effects found. The data consisted of audio recordings of 61 adult English learners (ELs) enrolled in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses at a large, public, post-secondary institution in the United States. Phonemic accuracy was judged by two independent raters as either approximating a standard American English (SAE) pronunciation of the intended phoneme or not, thus a dichotomous scale, and scores were assigned to each participant in terms of the three speech elicitation methods of word reading, word repetition, and picture naming.Results from a repeated measures ANOVA test revealed a statistically significant difference in phonemic accuracy (F(1.47, 87.93) = 25.94, p = .000) based on speech elicitation method, while the two-factor mixed design ANOVA test indicated no statistically significant differences for the moderator variable of native language. However, post-hoc analyses revealed that mean scores of picture naming tasks differed significantly from the other two elicitation methods of word reading and word repetition.Moreover, the results of this study should heighten attention to the role that various speech elicitation methods, or input modalities, might play on L2 productive accuracy. Implications for practical application suggest that caution should be used when utilizing pictures to elicit specific vocabulary words(-)even high-frequency words(-)as they might result in erroneous productions or no utterance at all. These methods could inform pronunciation instructors about best teaching practices when pronunciation accuracy is the objective. Finally, the impact of L1 on L2 pronunciation accuracy might not be as important as once thought.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006725, ucf:51880
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006725

ESL (5)	+ -
TESOL (4)	+ -
corpus linguistics (4)	+ -
frequency (3)	+ -
EFL (2)	+ -

IEP (2)	+ -
Vocabulary Acquisition (2)	+ -
grammar (2)	+ -
vocabulary size (2)	+ -
Academic Adjustment (1)	+ -
Academic Performance (1)	+ -
Academic Word List (1)	+ -
Adjustment Challenges (1)	+ -
An Evaluation of EFL textbook (1)	+ -
Analysis of ELT Textbook (1)	+ -
Arab Students (1)	+ -
Arabian Gulf Students (1)	+ -
Bilingual education (1)	+ -
Cognates (1)	+ -
Container Metaphor Model (1)	+ -
Corpus Linguistics (1)	+ -
EFL/ESL writing (1)	+ -
EL (1)	+ -
English (1)	+ -
English Performance (1)	+ -
English as a Second Language (1)	+ -
Error analysis (1)	+ -
Error patterns (1)	+ -
False Cognates (1)	+ -
Formulaic Language (1)	+ -

Folse, Keith (21)	+ -
University of Central Florida (21)	+ -
Mihai, Florin (9)	+ -
Purmensky, Kerry (8)	+ -
Vitanova-Haralampiev, Gergana (6)	+ -

Nutta, Joyce (4)	+ -
Boote, David (3)	+ -
Young, Beth (3)	+ -
Bai, Haiyan (2)	+ -
Clark, M. H. (2)	+ -
Farina, Marcella (2)	+ -
Fernandez-Rubiera, Francisco (2)	+ -
Xu, Lihua (2)	+ -
Al Jabbawi, Mais Flaieh Hasan (1)	+ -
Al-Akraa, Sarab (1)	+ -
Alkhofi, Anas (1)	+ -
Alzuhairy, Uthman (1)	+ -
Barzanji, Amal (1)	+ -
Bushong, Robert (1)	+ -
Carrasquel, Nicole (1)	+ -
Delorenzo, Leah (1)	+ -
Gonzalez, Melanie (1)	+ -
Goussakova, Ekaterina (1)	+ -
Harris, Brandon (1)	+ -
Lin, Chai-Wei (1)	+ -
Luo, Huiyuan (1)	+ -
Majeed, Nagham (1)	+ -
Moreb, Basma (1)	+ -
Qahtani, Bushra (1)	+ -
Reilly, Natalia (1)	+ -

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