Alex, the toolmaker: Tool-and-result activity in the L2 learning context

2021 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 100862
Author(s):  
Paolo Infante ◽  
Matthew E. Poehner
Keyword(s):  
Learning Context ◽  
L2 Learning

scholarly journals Immersive Virtual Reality as an Effective Tool for Second Language Vocabulary Learning

Languages ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Legault ◽  
Jiayan Zhao ◽  
Ying-An Chi ◽  
Weitao Chen ◽  
Alexander Klippel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Significant Benefit ◽  
Immersive Virtual Reality ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Learning Condition ◽  
Learning Platform ◽  
L2 Learning

Learning a second language (L2) presents a significant challenge to many people in adulthood. Platforms for effective L2 instruction have been developed in both academia and the industry. While real-life (RL) immersion is often lauded as a particularly effective L2 learning platform, little is known about the features of immersive contexts that contribute to the L2 learning process. Immersive virtual reality (iVR) offers a flexible platform to simulate an RL immersive learning situation, while allowing the researcher to have tight experimental control for stimulus delivery and learner interaction with the environment. Using a mixed counterbalanced design, the current study examines individual differences in L2 performance during learning of 60 Mandarin Chinese words across two learning sessions, with each participant learning 30 words in iVR and 30 words via word–word (WW) paired association. Behavioral performance was collected immediately after L2 learning via an alternative forced-choice recognition task. Our results indicate a main effect of L2 learning context, such that accuracy on trials learned via iVR was significantly higher as compared to trials learned in the WW condition. These effects are reflected especially in the differential effects of learning contexts, in that less successful learners show a significant benefit of iVR instruction as compared to WW, whereas successful learners do not show a significant benefit of either learning condition. Our findings have broad implications for L2 education, particularly for those who struggle in learning an L2.

scholarly journals Selection Criteria for Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Video Games for Language Learning

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 52-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Arnulf Kronenberg
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Selection Criteria ◽  
Heavy Rain ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Game Mechanics ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Commercial Off The Shelf ◽  
Course Integration

This article addresses criteria for choosing commercial off-the-shelf(COTS) games and their implementation in the classroom and other L2learning environments. The proposal and discussion of a set of suchcriteria, which include the categories of motivation and flow, clearlydefined and spaced goals, game skills and game mechanics, content,story and narrative, multimodality, agency, course integration andscaffolding, and financial, technical, and administrative considerationsare the focus of this article. This discussion is followed by the analysesof three examples of COTS games (Buzz, Heavy Rain, and SingStar)which may be suitable in a L2 learning context.

ASSESSING MOTIVATION AND LEARNING STRATEGIES USING THE MOTIVATED STRATEGIES FOR LEARNING QUESTIONNAIRE IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING CONTEXT

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-Chen Huang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
General Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Learner Motivation ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Motivation And Learning

This study pinpointed the lack of, and necessity for, using standardized questionnaires for the study of learner motivation in the foreign language (L2) learning context. To compare the similarities and differences in general education and L2 learning, the researcher chose the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ; Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991) and investigated the scale's reliability and its correlation with L2 achievement. Results suggested that, in spite of some inherent uniqueness, L2 learning is similar to other subjects in the school environment and the MSLQ has the potential to be applied to L2-related studies.

scholarly journals Digital Language Learning (DLL): Insights from Behavior, Cognition, and the Brain

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Ping Li ◽  
Yu-Ju Lan
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Big Data Analytics ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Affective Processing ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Brain Correlates ◽  
Digital Language

Abstract How can we leverage digital technologies to enhance language learning and bilingual representation? In this digital era, our theories and practices for the learning and teaching of second languages (L2) have lagged behind the pace of scientific advances and technological innovations. Here we outline the approach of digital language learning (DLL) for L2 acquisition and representation, and provide a theoretical synthesis and analytical framework regarding DLL's current and future promises. Theoretically, DLL provides a forum for understanding differences between child language and adult L2 learning, and the effects of learning context and learner characteristics. Practically, findings from learner behaviors, cognitive and affective processing, and brain correlates can inform DLL-based language pedagogies. Because of its highly interdisciplinary nature, DLL can serve as an approach to integrate cognitive, social, affective, and neural dimensions of L2 learning with new and emerging technologies including VR, AI, and big data analytics.

A Classroom-Based Study on the Antecedents of Epistemic Curiosity in L2 Learning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachiko Nakamura ◽  
Pornapit Darasawang ◽  
Hayo Reinders
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Focus Group Interview ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Communication Course ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Epistemic Curiosity ◽  
Constant Comparative Analysis

Abstract Epistemic curiosity is an emotion described as a desire for knowledge. While research in educational fields has increasingly highlighted the important role that epistemic curiosity plays in learning, there is little empirical evidence to help understand this emotion in the L2 learning context. This classroom-based study investigated the antecedents of epistemic curiosity among 25 Thai university students studying in an English oral communication course. Using a whole-class survey and focus group interview, we recursively asked the students to describe a time in class when they experienced epistemic curiosity and the reasons behind it. A modified version of constant comparative analysis suggested six thematic factors as the antecedents of epistemic curiosity, three groups of underlying desires behind its manifestation, and positive affect linked to its experience. It also emerged from the analysis that certain types of classroom activities were associated with epistemic curiosity. Utilizing descriptions of the lessons kept in the teacher's record, we provide contextualized accounts of how and why the students experienced epistemic curiosity in class. We conclude by offering pedagogical suggestions for creating learning environments that inspire L2 learners’ epistemic curiosity.

scholarly journals A densidade de ideias e a complexidade gramatical na avaliação da produção escrita em português L2

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 11-28
Author(s):  
Ângela Filipe Lopes
Keyword(s):  
Learning Goals ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Sentence Complexity ◽  
Written Production ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
First Results ◽  
Writing Prompt ◽  
Grammatical Complexity ◽  
Nun Study

Advanced L2 written production assessment is difficult to quantify as are learning goals established for this competence in the same level. Correction is not enough. Quality in writing is expected to translate into lexical precision and richness, as well as sentence complexity. In order to measure these characteristics of sophisticated writing, Idea Density and Grammatical Complexity are proposed as assessment parameters as they were explored by Snowdon et al. (1996) and by Kemper et al. (2001) in the Nun Study (Snowdon 2001). Its adoption to the advanced Portuguese L2 learning context (C1/C2) underlied the study of sentences produced in two writing tasks: a synthesis and a writing prompt. First, results were highly variable due to the heterogeneity of the group of participants. Both measures were found to be correlated in both writing tasks, which led to the conclusion that participants who write with lexical precision and richness also produce higher complexity sentences. Lastly, the results confirmed that reading has an influence on writing quality, insofar as the students who usually read as the ones who got the highest scores in both parameters.

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