Towards Combining Multitask and Multilingual Learning

2019 ◽  
pp. 435-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matus Pikuliak ◽  
Marian Simko ◽  
Maria Bielikova
Keyword(s):  
Multilingual Learning

Impacts and implications of English as the corporate official language policy: A case in Japan

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-129
Author(s):  
Saeko Ozawa Ujiie
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Foreign Market ◽  
Official Language ◽  
English Only ◽  
Common Solution ◽  
Corporate Official ◽  
Multilingual Learning ◽  
Japanese Employees ◽  
Japanese Speaker ◽  
Corporate Language

AbstractIncreasing numbers of corporations are now operating across national borders as a result of globalization. The “language barrier” is the first and foremost challenge they encounter when starting a business in a foreign market, and many companies are trying to solve the problem by adopting a common corporate language. Using English as an official corporate language is the most common solution for those corporations. The present study explored the impacts of English as a corporate official language policy implemented at a company, a rapidly developed high profile IT Company with 20,000 employees, in Japan, a country often perceived to be relatively monolingual and monocultural. When I started studying the company, I first found that the company’s motive to use English as the official corporate language was different from other instances of corporate language policy making I had come across. In previous studies (e.g., Feely & Harzing 2003; Marschan-Piekkari, Welch, & Welch 1999), the companies implemented common corporate language to solve problems caused by language barriers between employees with diverse linguistic backgrounds. However, the company in this study implemented the corporate language policy to prepare for globalization and recruit talents globally. When the company introduced the English-only language policy, most of the employees of the company were Japanese. Therefore, at the time of implementing the language policy, there was no compelling reason for them to use English. The language policy did not work effectively except for a few departments with non-Japanese employees who spoke different first languages. English functioned as a lingua franca in those departments with multinational employees. The findings indicate that for NNESs (non-native English speakers) to communicate with each other in English, the environment has to be more multilingual, less dominated by a single first language. Although almost all Japanese citizens are required to take intensive English courses in compulsory schoolings, the average level of English proficiency is considered to be relatively low in the advanced economies. The present study indicates that it is not for linguistic competence but a lack of interaction with other ELF speakers. Therefore, for learners of ELF in an intensely monolingual society such as Japan to become competent communicators in ELF, providing multilingual learning environments would be more effective than the prevailing teaching practices of classroom learning in L1 Japanese speaker only environments.

scholarly journals CROSS-LANGUAGE TEXT CLASSIFICATION WITH CONVOLUTIONAL NEURAL NETWORKS FROM SCRATCH

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 24-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Musbah Zaid Enweiji ◽  
Taras Lehinevych ◽  
Аndrey Glybovets
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Convolutional Neural Networks ◽  
Current Method ◽  
Classification Model ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Multilingual Learning ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Language Text ◽  
Language Classification

Cross language classification is an important task in multilingual learning, where documents in different languages often share the same set of categories. The main goal is to reduce the labeling cost of training classification model for each individual language. The novel approach by using Convolutional Neural Networks for multilingual language classification is proposed in this article. It learns representation of knowledge gained from languages. Moreover, current method works for new individual language, which was not used in training. The results of empirical study on large dataset of 21 languages demonstrate robustness and competitiveness of the presented approach.

Emergent bilinguals as text designers: rendering meaning through signs

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Brown
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Emergent Bilinguals ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Content Type ◽  
English Only ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
The Social ◽  
Semiotic Resources ◽  
Multilingual Learning

Purpose The main purpose is to investigate what resources young emergent bilinguals use to communicate a multimodal response to children’s literature. In particular, attention is paid to the ways students translanguage as part of the learning process. Design/methodology/approach An ethnography-in-education approach was used to capture the social and cultural aspects of literacy learning in an English-only context. A multimodal transcript analysis was applied to video-recorded data as a method for examining semiotic resources and modes of learning. Findings The results revealed that students used technology, paper-based resources and peers to construct meaning relative to books. Experimentation or play with the affordances of the tablet computer served as avenues to determine the agentive selection of resources. As students wrestled with constructing meaning, they gathered multiple perspectives from peers and children’s literature to involve symbols and representations in their texts. Signs, multiple language forms and meaning came together for the social shaping of situated perspectives. Originality/value This study addresses the call for educators to engage in multiliterate, multimodal practices with young learners in the contexts of classrooms. It provides insight into the need to create multilingual learning spaces where translanguaging freely occurs and the meaningful ways early childhood learners use technology. To fully understand what emergent bilinguals know and can do, they must be afforded a variety of semiotic resources at school.

Translanguaging to enhance reading comprehension among first-year medical students

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vimbai Mbirimi-Hungwe
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Test Analysis ◽  
Multilingual Students ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Multilingual Learning ◽  
First Year Medical Students ◽  
Experimental Group

Abstract Since the turn of the century there has been an increase in the use of translanguaging in multilingual learning contexts. Many researchers have shown how translanguaging enhances multilingual students’ ability to understand academic content. This experimental study provides empirical evidence that translanguaging can enhance reading comprehension. An experimental group and a control group were used to establish whether there was a significant difference between the performances of the two groups after reading an academic text. Using the t-test analysis, the results show a significant difference in the performance of the control group and the experimental group. These findings prompt us to conclude that translanguaging is an effective strategy that enhances reading comprehension.

A multilingual learning community: Researching funds of knowledge with children, families and teachers

Multilingua ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (5-6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Conteh ◽  
Saiqa Riasat
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Funds Of Knowledge ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Multilingual Learning ◽  
History Of ◽  
School Learning ◽  
Mainstream School ◽  
Teachers And Parents ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThis article describes the learning which takes place between children, teachers and parents in a multilingual learning community. It centres on a community-based, supplementary/complementary Saturday class where – slightly differently from the usual pattern – the aim is not heritage language maintenance as such, but to enhance the pupils’ mainstream school learning and their chances for success by promoting a “bilingual pedagogy”. This recognises the funds of knowledge that the children bring to their learning and affords opportunities for them to use their home languages in their learning. The article is based on findings from ethnographic case study research, which traces the experiences of language and learning in the home, complementary class and mainstream school of twelve children who have attended the class regularly for at least a year, and often more. In order to illuminate the scope of the data as well as the tensions entailed from different perspectives, the article foregrounds the individual voices of participants in the research. The theoretical frameworks related to language and learning that explain the findings include ecological perspectives, funds of knowledge and the dimensions of time across the generations. The key argument of the article is that the multilingual learning community has grown from and links with the history of the community as a whole. The article ends with some conclusions in relation to mainstream education and implications for the future.

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