English language learning

Burundi is the sole country in East African Community (EAC) using mainly French as an official language and having a national language – Kirundi – which is shared by nearly all Burundians. Therefore, English language is taught as a subject on the curriculum. Although English language is even taught to science university students in Burundi, it seems that the attitudes these students have towards learning English are not known. Thus, the present study was intended to investigate the attitudes that University of Burundi pure sciences students hold towards learning English. In doing so, it also examined whether there is a statistically significant difference in these students’ attitudes in terms of gender and field of study. This study adopted a quantitative approach, hence a survey research design. The data were collected by means of a five-point Likert scale questionnaire raging from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’ that was administered to a total number of 65 students enrolled in the faculty of sciences. The questionnaire was based on the tripartite model of attitude and consisted of 40 items. The collected data were analysed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics that were computed using the statistical package SPSS 22. The findings revealed that the afore-mentioned students have overall positive attitudes towards learning English. An analysis of the results also indicated that there is no statistically significant difference in students’ attitudes both by gender and by field of study.

Advantages of language teaching and learning in foreign contexts are undisputable. This study intended to check if Reasoning Ability (RA), as a promoted cognitive skill which is emphasized not only in the field of education, but also as an important element of most professions, is cognitively enhanced along with English language learning. To this end, a sample of Iranian primary school children, aged 5-8 years, were selected through purposive sampling and divided into thtree groups; that is, monolingual, bilingual, and limited bilingual children, in order to investigate their RA enhancement during early formal education. Also, a researcher-made psychometric test was used to measure quantitative, visual, nonverbal, matrix, and abstract reasoning of the sample during early primary school education. The results of the analyzed data indicated that the bilingual group outperformed the monolingual and the limited bilingual children in matrix, visual, abstract reasoning and logical thinking. The findings of the study can be used by educational policymakers to reconsider the primary school curriculum, and through holding workshops on streghthening national and religious values help English language instructors to unravel related problems.

Distance learning has gained more significance in recent years. The present study intended to investigate whether there was any statistically significant correlation between motivation and learning English through Shad and WhatsApp as perceived by Iranian high school language learners. Furthermore, the study aimed to find out whether the participants’ gender moderated the relationship between motivation and learning English through Shad and WhatsApp. To fulfill these aims, a correlational study was set up and data were collected from 169 male and female learners, some of whom were exposed to WhatsApp and the rest received Shad as their English language class platforms. Data elicited from the motivation questionnaire and English language test of the learners were analyzed through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Pearson correlation, and Fisher's z transformation formula to come up with the results of the study. The findings revealed that there was a moderate, positive, and statistically significant relationship between motivation and English learning of the WhatsApp-group learners. Moreover, it was found that there was a weak, positive, and statistically significant relationship between motivation and English learning of the Shad-group learners, and gender did not have a moderating role in the relationship between motivation and English earning of the learners, neither in the WhatsApp nor in the Shad groups. The implications of the study are presented and discussed.