ERIC Number: EJ1224635
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Aug
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0033-6882
EISSN: N/A
Examining the Impact of Immediate Family Members on Gulf Arab EFL Students' Strategic Language Learning and Development
Hajar, Anas
RELC Journal: A Journal of Language Teaching and Research, v50 n2 p285-299 Aug 2019
This article provides a qualitative inquiry into the influences of immediate family members (i.e. parents and siblings) on a group of Gulf Arab EFL students regarding their language learning experiences and strategy use in their Arab homelands. The participants came from financially comfortable families, with different levels of education. The data collected from a written narrative and four subsequent semi-structured interviews suggest that the occupation and educational attainment of the participants' family figures (mostly parents) affected the amount and kind of support these families offered to the participants while learning English. Less educated parents involved themselves indirectly in their children's English language learning, and their involvement appeared at a late stage in the participants' academic lives in the form of emotional and/or financial support. The language learning strategies (LLSs) used by these participants were mainly exam-oriented. Conversely, higher educated parents contributed to enabling their children to enact their desired future self-images confidently as English speakers from the beginning, for example by sending them to well-resourced private educational establishments throughout their education. From this qualitative study, pedagogical implications as well as areas for ongoing research are suggested.
Descriptors: Arabs, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Family Influence, Student Attitudes, Sibling Relationship, Parent Child Relationship, Educational Attainment, Financial Support, Employment Level, Family Characteristics, Learning Strategies, Language Tests, Educational Background, Self Concept, Teaching Methods, Private Schools, Foreign Countries, Sociocultural Patterns, Test Preparation, Graduate Students, Masters Programs, Foreign Students, Study Abroad
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Kuwait; Saudi Arabia; United Kingdom (England); United Arab Emirates
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: International English Language Testing System
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A