Motivating Learners, Motivating Teachers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltan Dörnyei ◽  
Magdalena Kubanyiova

This volume presents a new approach to motivation that focuses on the concept of 'vision'. Drawing on visualisation research in sports, psychology and education, the authors describe powerful ways by which imagining future scenarios in one's mind's eye can promote motivation to learn a foreign language. The book offers a rich selection of motivational strategies that can help students to 'see' themselves as potentially competent language users, to experience the value of knowing a foreign language in their own lives and, ultimately, to invest effort into learning it. Transformational leaders' vision for change is one of the prerequisites of turning language classrooms into motivating learning environments, and the second part of the book therefore focuses on how to ignite language teacher enthusiasm, how to re-kindle it when it may be waning and how to guard it when it is under threat.

2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis Bradley ◽  
Lara Lomicka

One research perspective that has been overlooked in studies on technology in foreign language education is that offered by qualitative research. This study, focusing on learner interaction, aims to begin to fill that gap. The researchers spent four months observing and interviewing students in two third-semester language classrooms: one French and one Spanish. Data collection involved a variety of sources, such as participant interviews and in-class observations, as well as pertinent documents and materials both in and out of class. Several themes emerge from the data which characterize the phenomenon of learner interaction in technology-enhanced language learning environments. Through thick description of these environments and discussion of the emerging themes, we hope to provide a more contextualized picture of the implementation of technology in foreign language classes at a large research-oriented institution.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-79
Author(s):  
Pete Swanson

In order to address a lack of motivation to learn a second language, second/foreign language teachers must overcome a multitude of impediments in which to bring students to higher levels of language learning. Research on the integration of digital voice recording software into the language learning curriculum has focused primarily on the perceptions of veteran instructors and their students. However, there is a dearth of research on novice language educators and what influences their decisions to select such software. Following the literature review, the author discusses results from a study investigating novice language teachers' criteria and selection of digital voice recording software. The research has implications for language teachers as well as teachers in other content areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 2730-2742
Author(s):  
Avilova Khalida Nabijanovna Et al.

Reading skill plays an important role as it is an indispensible tool in majority language classrooms. Selection and development of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) reading materials relevant to local context must be carefully done by the teachers, because every internet resource or course book may not be appropriate in all classrooms.  This paper gives an overview about reading material development and the selection of authentic materials for designing reading tasks in the English as a foreign language classroom in Uzbekistan. It also looks for theories which support the efforts in developing culturally and locally appropriate EFL reading materials.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 161-179
Author(s):  
Outi Paloposki

The article looks at book production and circulation from the point of view of translators, who, as purchasers and readers of foreign-language books, are an important mediating force in the selection of literature for translation. Taking the German publisher Tauchnitz's series ‘Collection of British Authors’ and its circulation in Finland in the nineteenth and early twentieth century as a case in point, the article argues that the increased availability of English-language books facilitated the acquiring and honing of translators' language skills and gradually diminished the need for indirect translating. Book history and translation studies meet here in an examination of the role of the Collection in Finnish translators' work.


2020 ◽  
pp. 97-104
Author(s):  
Halyna Kuz’

The article deals with the volume and composition of the phraseological minimum as a necessary and effective element of the formation of linguistic and cultural competence in the process of language learning at intermediate and upper intermediate levels, outlines the quantitative and qualitative structure of the phraseological minimum for learning the Ukrainian language by Slavic students, and offers a list of phraseological units as a component of the described minimum. The material presented in the textbooks of the Ukrainian language as a foreign language was used to form the list of phraseological units, which was minimized according to the criteria of selection of the phraseological minimum for levels B1-B2.


2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110317
Author(s):  
Amparo Lázaro-Ibarrola ◽  
Raúl Azpilicueta-Martínez

Motivation to learn languages strongly correlates with language achievement, and the school context has a great influence on the motivation of young learners (YLs). A key rationale for the implementation of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) programs, therefore, was pupil motivation. Very few studies have measured motivation in this context, especially in primary schools. Even fewer have done so in bilingual areas, where the continuation of widespread use of the regional language often depends on its presence in the school system and where CLIL reduces this presence. To address these gaps, motivation towards the foreign language (FL), English, and the regional language, Basque, was measured in 399 YLs of English (aged 10–12 years) in Basque immersion schools. The learners were divided into a CLIL group ( n = 230), with English as a foreign language (EFL) and CLIL lessons, and a non-CLIL group ( n = 169), which received only EFL lessons. Results showed that the CLIL learners had a more positive attitude towards English and a slightly lower motivation towards Basque. This suggests that increasing the amount of exposure to the foreign language (FL) via CLIL lessons improves the motivation towards English but could decrease the instrumental motivation towards the regional language.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1749
Author(s):  
Elzbieta Szychta ◽  
Leszek Szychta

Energy efficiency of systems of water pumping is a complex problem since efficiency of two distinct interacting systems needs to be combined: water and power supply. This paper introduces a non-intrusive method of calculating the so-called “collective losses” of a cage induction motor. The term “collective losses”, which the authors define, allows for accurate estimation of motor efficiency. Control system of a pump determines operating point of a pumping station, and thus its efficiency. General estimated performance characteristics of a motor, components of a control system, are assumed to serve selection of a range of pumping speed variations. Rotational speed has a direct effect on motor load torque, pump power and head, and thus on motor performance. Hellwig’s statistical method was used to specify characteristics of estimated collective losses on the basis of experimental studies of 21 motors rated at up to 2.2 kW. The results of simulations and experiments are used to verify validity and efficiency of the suggested method. The method is non-intrusive, simple to use, and requires minimum data.


Genome ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 53 (11) ◽  
pp. 1002-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.R. Cullis ◽  
A.B. Smith ◽  
C.P. Beeck ◽  
W.A. Cowling

Exploring and exploiting variety by environment (V × E) interaction is one of the major challenges facing plant breeders. In paper I of this series, we presented an approach to modelling V × E interaction in the analysis of complex multi-environment trials using factor analytic models. In this paper, we develop a range of statistical tools which explore V × E interaction in this context. These tools include graphical displays such as heat-maps of genetic correlation matrices as well as so-called E-scaled uniplots that are a more informative alternative to the classical biplot for large plant breeding multi-environment trials. We also present a new approach to prediction for multi-environment trials that include pedigree information. This approach allows meaningful selection indices to be formed either for potential new varieties or potential parents.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document