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THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DUAL LEARNING STRATEGIES ON LANGUAGE
SKILLS OF EFL STUDENTS
1 KHALID NAYEF SALEM,2 PROF. NAGHAM QADOORI YAHYA
Tikrit University, College of Education for Human Sciences, Department of EnglishCorresponding
Author : ( knsmknsm70@gmail.com )
Abstract
This study aims at showing the effectiveness of dual learning strategies on language skills of EFL students. The experimental design of the study involved three groups which are chosen randomly where two are experimental groups and the other is control one. The sample of the study are 1st intermediate class students. The experimental groups are taught by different dual learning strategies, whereas the control group is taught by traditional method of teaching. It is hypothesized that there are significant differences between the two experimental and control groups. The instrument of the study is a linguistic skills test. After collecting data and analyzing them, conclusions are drawnaccording to the finding of the statistics of the study. Keywords: Effectiveness, Learning, Strategies, Skills
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Problem of the Study
Learners need diversity of strategies that fit their desire, create more motivation, raise their interaction and give all of them chances to participate and rapidly to acquire new skills. Monolingual education does not provide the kind of exceptional curriculum and learning environment that a dual language education can provide. Educators need to understand the value of DLE in order to provide the best education possible for ouryouth. The problem is that many educators are not aware of the benefits of DLE, thus resulting in students not having real opportunities to become bilingual and illiterate (i.e. using two languages).
The Integration of the four skills of the English language belongs to the area of the didactics specialty or, in other words, the methodologies used to apply the skills whether receptive or productive in which a foreign language is taught. Hence, the students' performance during instruction is an academic result of the learning process (Bastias, 2011: 11).
1.2 Aims of the Study
The present study aims at showing the effectiveness of using dual learning strategiesand the development of the linguistic productive skills
1.3 Hypotheses of the Study
The present study hypothesizes that the following hypotheses:
There is no significant differences between the mean score of the three groups (control which is taught by conventional method, fist experimental group which is taught by two way model and the third one which is taught by one way model). 1.3 The Plan of the Study
The procedures of the present study as follows:
> Making a well theoretical background surveying the history of using dual learningstrategies and showing the importance at different fields of language teaching.
> Applying an experiment to identify the effectiveness of using dual learningstrategies.
> Evaluating the outcomes of the experiment.
> Analyzing data and drawing conclusions through the findings of the study. 1.5 Limits of the Study
This study is limited to the following items :-
1. Dual language learning strategies, linguistic skills
2. Saladin Provence Al-Alam city as a sample.
3. English textbook first intermediate , dual learning strategies, Student book and
Activity book of 1st intermediate class, for the academic year 2021 - 2022
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Researches on the possible cognitive effects of bilingualism on childhood development has provided mixed results when identifying effects in the domains of intelligence and overall language ability. However, evidence has demonstrated advantages for bilinguals in cognitive domains relating to inhibitory control, including executive control, task switching and concept formation, and theory of mind. The current consensus among researchers is that bilingual children are more advanced at solving problems, which require the inhibition of misleading information through executive control. Alternative views in which attention is conceptualized as the origin of developmental differences in bilinguals are also reported. Overall, evidence suggests that bilingualism enhances cognitive functions related to inhibition and attention, which are carried out into late adulthood ( Zhang , 2018:1).
Bilingual education is defined by Brown and Lee (2015: 59) as an approach in which "two languages are used as media of classroom instruction for the same group of students so that students receive some of their instruction in one language and some in the other".
2.1 Duality
The term Duality is a novel one that refers to Bilingualism By the time No Child Left Behind was implemented in 2002, the word "bilingual" had become a "bad word," and "dual" came into popular use. Claiming "dual" languages runs counter to the shapes of the multiple and fluid language practices of the 21st century. No Child Left Behind isa federal education program which is regarded as a US act (law ) of congress which gives the right for all in education and improve learning (Nelson Flores, Amelia Tseng and Nicholas Subtirelu, 2021 and Spolsky) .
Spolsky ( 1969 :6) states that there is good reason to believe for example that it is a wise strategy .to teach a Spanish-speaking child to read in Spanish while he is busy acquiring English. Whereras, Spolsky and Hult (2008 :44) clarify that the term duality reflects the Dual System Hypothesis DSH .
2.2 Dual Language Education
A dual language classroom is generally set up to have students spend half of their class time speaking English only, and the other half by speaking another language (Dive, 2020: 1). Richardson (2021: 11) states that understanding dual-language learning in early periods of education is a critical first step for educators, administrators, and family members to best support bilingual children.
Dual language programs aim for full proficiency in two languages, an understanding and appreciation of the cultures associated with those languages, and high levels of achievement in all core academic domains (Cloud et al , 2000: 205).
2.2.1 Dual Learning Strategies
According to different points of views of researchers and experts in the field of language teaching and bilingualism domain , diversity of classifications appeared as follows:
> One Way Strategy ( 90/10 )
Used frequently in the Southwestern United States to refer to developmental bilingual education; also frequently used to refer to foreign language immersion (to contrast it with two-way immersion that enrolls students from two language groups). Here, the target language is used 90 % percent, whereas the mother tongue 10 % is used ( Tedick and Lyster, 2020:27).
> Two Way Immersion Strategy ( 50/50)
In these innovative programs, sometimes called developmental or bilingual immersion programs, monolingual English speaking children are immersed in a second language alongside limited English proficient children who are native speakers of the second language. English is introduced gradually until it comprises about 50 percent of the curriculum.
2.2.2 The Importance of Dual Education
DLE has many benefits, not only for foreign speakers, but for English speakers as well. Wall
strum ( 2009: 23 ) thinks that DLE enhance chances of learning through:
1- Providing the greatest academic benefit for minority language students when compared to the academic achievement of students participating in other types of bilingual education.
2- promoting illiteracy, bilingualism, and academic and multi-cultural benefits for all learners regardless of what their native language may be.
3- Children who are fluent in more than one language are intellectually advantaged when compared to their monolingual peers and they also outperform them in cognitive tasks.
4- Multicultural awareness will help unify the nation, and people from all ethnicitieswill be able to communicate more effectively. Many parents are advocates for DLE programs because of the bilingual, bicultural, academic, and career related benefits that they produce.
5- Students are also appreciative of the benefits they gain socially, academically, and emotionally from DLE classrooms.
6- English speakers also benefit academically, culturally, and bilingually from being in a dual language environment. This needs to be explored more thoroughly sothat educators, parents, and students can understand the need for more DLEprograms across the country.
2.4 Previous Studies
2.4.1 Pincock ( 2011)
The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences between second language writing from English language learners participating in a dual language classroom to those participating in an English-only classroom in attempts to provide insight on how the dual language program can provide the right conditions for successful interlingual transfer skills in L2 writing development. Results from text analysis of the writing samples demonstrate how L2 writers appear to benefit from native language instructionas they transfer their knowledge of writing skills acquired from L1 instruction and apply it into their L2 writing creating meaningful genre appropriate texts. The results also showthat the writing of students placed in English-only classes was less developed.
2.4.2 Penafiel ( 2013)
The present research aims at determining the application of methodological strategies on the development of the productive skills into the English Language teaching learning process. One of the methods used during the development of the present research work was the scientific method, which has helped to find the truth about the researched object. However, it was necessary to use the descriptive, analytical-synthetic and explicative methods as well, which have served to develop every part of the research process. To collect the data inside the research process the survey has been used as the main instrument that was applied to the teachers & students in order to determine the strategies that teachers are using to develop the productive skills. The main results of the research show that:
1- The teachers are not applying appropriate strategies to work on the development of the speaking neither they use the ones to work on the development of the writing skill.
2- It was also found that teachers do not make students gain extra practice in the productive skills so that students have a low performance in the English language teaching learning process.
2.4.3 Discussion of Previous Studies
Concerning the aims of the previous studies , Pincock ( 2011) aims at investigating the differences between second language writing from English language learners participating in a dual language classroom to those participating in an English-only classroom. While, Penafiel (2013) aims at determining the application of methodological strategies on the development of the productive skills into the English Language teaching learning process. In the other hand the aim of the present study is to find out the effect of using dual learning strategies on the productive skills of EFL learners.
As far as the sample of the studies is concerned , the sample of Pincock ( 2011) are learners of dual language .the sample of Penafiel ( 2013) are teachers and students in order to determine the strategies that teachers are using to develop the productive skills.
In the other side the sample of the present study are 1st intermediate students where the exposed to instructional design of two languageL1 and English.
3. DATA COLLECTION
3.1 Sample and Population
A population consists of all of the individuals who are interest for particular purpose
.while the smaller group which is chosen from the population to present it is called a sample
(Bachman,2006:34) ,see also (Best and Khan,2006:13)
The population of the present study includes the intermediate classes in Tikrit city and Al Alam town for the academic year 2021/2022. The total number of population is a hundred male and female students. 107 students are randomly chosen from first intermediate class Al Manahel Secondary school for boys in Al Alam town. The dual learning strategies suits such level of students(early stages), because they deals with literal and deep detailed features of language such as keywords and their cognates some features of phonetic aspects of words , interactive tasks and so on.
Table (1) Population and Sampling
II Population Sample EGs CG Pilot Study II
EG1 EG2
llSchools of Titkrit and Al Alam 107 36 36 35 50 1
3.1 Experimental Design
Experiential design is the blueprint of the procedures that enable the researcher to test his/her hypotheses by arriving at valid conclusions concerning the relationship between dependent and independent variables (Best and Khan, 2006:177).
The sample of this study is divided into three groups EG where two experimental groups are taught according two different strategies and one CG. The first EG group is taught according to one way strategy whereas the second one is taught by two-way strategy as explained in Table (3) in chapter. While CG is taught according to the method which is specified by the ministry of education through the teacher guide steps. Both of the experimental groups are subjected to instructional design based on dual learning strategies.
Table (2) The Groups of the Experiment
Stage Group Treatment AchievementTest
First intermediate EGEG (one way)+ dual strategies(two way)+ dual strategies Linguistic skills
CG Traditional method of teaching
4.3 Instrumentation
An achievement pre-posttests have been constructed as an important factor on whichthe success of the experiment depends (Madsen,1995:198). The achievement test measures the achievement of the students in the material taught to them during the weeksof the experiment. The test in present study follows two components(a) the four linguistic skills (b) word recognition level. The test of this study also consists of eight questions, four questions for the linguistic skills and four questions for word recognition. Sixty marks are allotted to the linguistic skills 15 for
each skill , whereas , word recognition is scored by forty ,ten marks for each question.
4.4 Equivalence of the Students
Equivalence of the sample of the study has been ensured through the following items:
1- Age of the students
2- Academic level of the students.
3- Father and mother level of education
4.5 Material of Instruction and Lecturers
The three groups have been taught using the SB and AB of first intermediate ( English for Iraq Series). Three units (three , five and six) are chosen for the experimental design which is prepared according to the objectives of the study.
The researcher used the same textbook but different strategies of teaching ( dual learning Strategies ). the steps , the procedures and directions for the teacher is given carefully in the designed practical guidebook. It involves the same activities and topics but in different style of presentation of the material.
Each unit has different topics, pictures , and activities. The designed guidebook involved elaborated ideas which help learners interact in a better, easier and faster way without encountering obstacles. 4.5 Validity and Reliability of the Test
Moore (2007:315) states that validity refers to the degree to which a test measures what it is meant to measure . Content validity is the simplest and most important type of validity to the teacher (Ornstein and Lasley,2004:439).
To ensure the face validity of the test , the items of the test have been exposed to a jury members. The jurors agreed that the test items are suitable and appropriate to achieve the aims they are assigned for, except some recommendations and modifications which are taken into the consideration .
Mckay (2008:114) describes the reliability as the consistency of the scores that teachers and assessors give to learners. It has been found that the test is reliable since the reliability value is 0.82 according to the formula of Krombach Alfa. 4. Data Analysis
4.1 Data Analysis Related to the First AimA- results of the Post Test
'There are no statistically significant difference among the mean scores of the experimental groups, which is taught by instructional design and control group which is taught by the traditional way in their post-test for Linguistic skills'.
Group NO. Mean SD
First Experimental 36 38.47 7.80654
Second Experimental 35 39.68 7.41529
Control 36 22.88 7.75252
To verify the three hypotheses of the study and to determine the significance of the difference between students' scores of the three groups, One Way Analysis Of Variance has been used. Statistical treatment has shown that the mean score of the first experimental group is (38.47) with a standard deviation of (7.80) while the mean score of the second experimental group is (39.68) with a standard deviation of (7.41), and the mean score of the control group is (22.88) with standard deviation of (7.75). (See Table 29):
Table (3)
Variance source Sum ofsquares DF Mean of Squares F ratio Level ofsig. 0.05
Calculated Tabulated
Between groups 6280.976 2 3140.488 53.49 3.20 significant
Within groups 6106.071 104 58.712
Total 12387.047
A comparison between the mean score of the three groups is calculated by using ANOVA analysis of variance . Then the result of F. Ratio which is 30.983 compared to the tabulated one (3.20) under degree of freedom 104 and level of significant 0.05.Here atthis comparisons among the three group the result indicate that there are significant differences among the three groups the control one and the two experimental group in the dependent variable which is linguistic skills. In this case the main null hypothesis of the study is accepted.
1- To find out the source of difference between the scores of the three groups, Scheffe's method for multiple comparisons has been used. It has been found out that there is a significant difference between the first experimental group and the control group. Where the null hypothesis 'There is no significant differences between the mean score of the first experimental group and control group in the linguistic skills in the posttest'. This hypothesis is rejected since it has been found significant difference between the these two groups where the Sheffe's value is 40.84 by comparing it with the F. tabulated one (3.20) , as seen in table ( ).
2- To find out the source of difference between the scores of the three groups, Scheffe's method for multiple comparisons has been used. It has been found out that there is a significant difference between the first experimental group and the control group. Where the null hypothesis 'There is no significant differences between the mean score of the second experimental group and control group in the linguistic skills in the posttest'. This hypothesis is rejected since it has been found significant difference between the these two groups where the Sheffe's value is 46.82 by comparing it with the F. tabulated one (3.20), as seen in table.
3- To find out the source of difference between the scores of the three groups, Scheffe's method for multiple comparisons has been used. It has been found out that there is a significant difference between the first experimental group and the control group. Where the null hypothesis 'There is no significant differences between the mean score of the first experimental group and the second Experimental group in the productive skills in the posttest'. This hypothesis is accepted since it has been found that there is no significant difference between the these two groups where the Sheffe's value is (0.25) by comparing it with the
F. tabulated one (3.20) , as seen in table(3).
Table (4) Computed Scheffe's Value in Post in the Linguistic Skills
Group First experimental Second experimental Control
First experimental \ \ \
Second experimental 0.25 \ \
Control 40.84 46.82 \
5. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
In the light of using dual learning strategies on Iraqi EFL school students', the following conclusions
have been drawn:
1- According to the statistical means used to measure the multiple comparisons among the two experimental groups and the control one , it has been found out that there are significant difference among the three groups. So it is obvious that the use of dual learning strategies is practical and effective.
2- Linguistic skills can be enhanced and more influenced by using direct strategies which require more interaction of dual learning strategies.
3- Learner feel more comfortable and developed faster when they make transfer from the L1 to
their target language since they understand deeper detail of both language and even the two cultures.
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