scholarly journals Research into practice: Virtual exchange in language teaching and learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Melinda Dooly ◽  
Margarita Vinagre
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Applied Assessment ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract In this article, the authors reflect on the ways research on Virtual Exchange (VE) has had an impact on language education practices and, conversely, areas in which research has been underexplored, misapplied or perhaps even over applied by VE practitioners in formal education settings. Starting from a brief historical overview of VE, the text first outlines the features widely accepted as key aspects of this pedagogical approach before considering to what extent research results can be identified in VE implementation. Principal topics covered are the main aims regarding language development when VE is applied, assessment of language development through VE and VE and intercultural competence. While the article is not intended as a comprehensive review, it provides insight into the main foci of VE research and how these findings are reaching the language classroom (primary, secondary and university).

scholarly journals Ethnographic approaches to developing intercultural competence through intercultural interactions in the higher education context in China

2020 ◽  
pp. 11-36
Author(s):  
Yi’an Wang ◽  
Liyang Miao
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Intercultural Interactions

With the recent developing trend of redefining ‘culture’ across disciplines in intercultural and foreign language education (Corbett, 2003; Shaules, 2007; Spencer-Oatey & Franklin, 2010), it is widely agreed that culture requires a broader definition to improve the teaching and learning of it. Wilkinson (2012) suggests “a redefinition of culture in anthropological rather than aesthetic terms” (p. 302) to ensure that intercultural and language learning leads to Intercultural Competence (IC). Others (Buttjes, 1991; Risager, 2006) also note the importance of anthropological conceptualization when culture is taught in foreign and/or second language classrooms, because motivation to learn the language is increased. Byram (1991) similarly emphasized the need to include active ‘cultural experience’ in the foreign language classroom, and provided examples including cooking and geography lessons, in which students learn about the food and geography of the country whose language they are studying. A crucial element in research within the anthropology field is ethnography. Thus, to achieve a fuller understanding of culture “as the full gauntlet of social experience that students of foreign languages both learn and participate in” (Wilkinson, 2012, p. 302), including Holliday's (2004) concept of ‘small culture’, students should take on the role of ethnographer too; ethnography practices, in a variety of forms, have become central to intercultural approaches to culture and language teaching and learning (Corbett, 2003).

The Creation of a Rubric for the Evaluation of Language Teaching and Learning Videogames

2019 ◽  
pp. 313-341
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Agar ◽  
Philip J. Chappell
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Sociocultural Model ◽  
The Creation

This chapter reports on the creation and evaluation of the Language Education Videogame Evaluation Rubric (LEVER) which, it is hoped, will be of benefit to those involved in the teaching and learning of foreign languages. Based upon a sociocultural model of language development, this research is unique in the manner in which it draws on up-to-date best practice in the domains of both language pedagogy and videogame design. This chapter will then report on the application of the LEVER to two titles which have been created to teach a foreign language, in order to both to test the games for quality and the rubric itself for rigour and ease-of-use.

scholarly journals Polsko-rosyjskie porównania międzykulturowe w podręcznikach do nauki języka rosyjskiego na poziomie gimnazjalnym

2018 ◽  
pp. 307-318
Author(s):  
Marzanna Karolczuk
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
First Language ◽  
Lower Secondary School ◽  
Textbook Series ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Comparative Content ◽  
Insight Into

Comparing and contrasting cultural, lexical and grammatical aspects in the foreign language classroom has many advantages. These include the development of intercultural competence, cultural awareness and a new insight into the first language. Research shows that foreign language textbooks are basic teaching tools. Therefore, this article is an attempt to analyse Polish-Russian tasks and comparative content in Russian textbooks at the level of lower secondary school. Five textbook series for learning Russian, published between 1999 and 2009, are examined. These are В Москву, Времена, Кл@ссно!, Прогулка and Эхо. The findings show that these textbooks offer comparative reflective tasks and reconstructive ones.

scholarly journals An Investigation of Intercultural Teaching and Learning in Tertiary EFL Classrooms in Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Si Thang Kiet Ho
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Efl Classrooms ◽  
Language Teaching And Learning

<p><b>Intercultural competence has become an important goal of foreign language education in response to the need for learners to function effectively in an increasingly multicultural world. Language and culture are seen as interwoven and inseparable components and therefore learning a foreign language inevitably means learning about other ways of being and behaving. Many foreign language programmes around the world, particularly in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, have adopted an intercultural pedagogy which seeks to integrate into the language teaching experience opportunities for developing intercultural competence for language learners. This study investigates intercultural teaching and learning in tertiary EFL classrooms in Vietnam, a context in which intercultural approaches to language teaching and learning have not been widely considered.</b></p> <p>The study consisted of three phases. The first phase involved a curriculum review in which I critically evaluated the extent to which culture and culture learning are represented in the curriculum frameworks for tertiary EFL programmes and in the national education policy on foreign language education in Vietnam. The findings showed that the importance of culture and culture learning is not emphasised, and the designation of culture to separate culture courses establishes a separate status, construct and treatment of culture and culture learning in the EFL programmes.</p> <p>In the second phase of the study, I analysed the perceptions of fourteen Vietnamese EFL teachers and two hundred Vietnamese EFL students on culture in language teaching and learning, and their classroom practices. The findings indicated that the teachers' beliefs about culture teaching revealed a predictable priority for teaching language rather than culture. Their culture teaching practices were greatly influenced by their perceptions and beliefs regarding culture in language teaching. The students also treated culture as a subordinate priority in language learning. Overall, they found culture learning beneficial for their language learning and supported the teachability of language and culture in EFL classes. Both the teachers and students identified a number of constraints that restricted their opportunities and motivation to engage in teaching and learning culture.</p> <p>The third phase of the study involved an empirical study investigating the effect of adopting an intercultural stance in English speaking lessons on thedevelopment of the learners' intercultural competence. Over a nine-week teaching period, eighteen English speaking lessons (90 minutes / lesson / week) for two equivalent, intact classes (seventy-one students) were observed. For one class, the lessons were adapted to reflect the principles of intercultural language learning. For the other, no changes were made. The results showed that the intercultural competence of learners in the intercultural class increased by significantly more than that of learners in the standard class. In particular, the students in the intercultural class were able to better articulate ethnorelative awareness and attitudes towards their home culture and the target culture. The findings also showed that the reflective journal was an effective tool to assess learners' process of acquiring intercultural competence, particularly affective capacities that are not easy to evaluate by other means.</p> <p>Overall, the study provided evidence for the feasibility of intercultural teaching and learning in tertiary EFL classrooms in the Vietnamese context. It also showed that intercultural teaching and learning cultivated learners' affective capacities which are often overlooked in the EFL classroom. It is hoped that the study can inform the work of curriculum designers, education policy-makers as well as EFL teachers and students for the implementation of intercultural language teaching and learning in Vietnam and elsewhere.</p>

scholarly journals The Role of Grit in Students’ L2 Engagement in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Liu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
The One ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Due to the rapid development of teaching and learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL), on the one hand, and the arrival of positive psychology (PP) in the process of language education, on the other hand, student engagement has been burgeoned and got a noteworthy role in the academic field. The present review attempts to investigate the relationship of grit with students’ L2 engagement, by examining both backgrounds and consequences of grit. Consequently, the effectiveness of findings for policymakers and academic experts is discussed, along with the prominence of strengthening grit in the scholastic contexts in order to cultivate character in learners and improve their prospects.

The Creation of a Rubric for the Evaluation of Language Teaching and Learning Videogames

2016 ◽  
pp. 353-379
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Agar ◽  
Philip J. Chappell
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Sociocultural Model ◽  
The Creation

This chapter reports on the creation and evaluation of the Language Education Videogame Evaluation Rubric (LEVER) which, it is hoped, will be of benefit to those involved in the teaching and learning of foreign languages. Based upon a sociocultural model of language development, this research is unique in the manner in which it draws on up-to-date best practice in the domains of both language pedagogy and videogame design. This chapter will then report on the application of the LEVER to two titles which have been created to teach a foreign language, in order to both to test the games for quality and the rubric itself for rigour and ease-of-use.

Translanguaging as a Pedagogy for Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice in a Multilingual Classroom

2021 ◽  
pp. 137-153
Author(s):  
Leonardo Veliz
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
Self Image ◽  
Multilingual Classroom

The present study reports on an investigation into the benefits of a translanguaging pedagogy in an ELICOS class as a pedagogical approach to integrate students' complex socio-cultural, multilingual practices and experiences into a classroom learning community. This was explored through semi-structured interviews with five ELICOS students and their teacher over the course of four weeks. Interview questions addressed three specific areas of teaching and learning: (1) teacher perceptions of the pedagogical effectiveness of the translanguaging pedagogy, (2) students' views of the implementation of the translanguaging pedagogy and its benefits for their language development, and (3) students' perceived changes to their self-image as language learners throughout the pedagogical implementation. Findings revealed that the integration of a translanguaging pedagogy created more inclusive and equitable opportunities for students to draw on their hybrid and fluid multilingual experiences and resources to participate more actively in communicative interactions.

scholarly journals An Investigation of Intercultural Teaching and Learning in Tertiary EFL Classrooms in Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Si Thang Kiet Ho
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Efl Classrooms ◽  
Language Teaching And Learning

<p><b>Intercultural competence has become an important goal of foreign language education in response to the need for learners to function effectively in an increasingly multicultural world. Language and culture are seen as interwoven and inseparable components and therefore learning a foreign language inevitably means learning about other ways of being and behaving. Many foreign language programmes around the world, particularly in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, have adopted an intercultural pedagogy which seeks to integrate into the language teaching experience opportunities for developing intercultural competence for language learners. This study investigates intercultural teaching and learning in tertiary EFL classrooms in Vietnam, a context in which intercultural approaches to language teaching and learning have not been widely considered.</b></p> <p>The study consisted of three phases. The first phase involved a curriculum review in which I critically evaluated the extent to which culture and culture learning are represented in the curriculum frameworks for tertiary EFL programmes and in the national education policy on foreign language education in Vietnam. The findings showed that the importance of culture and culture learning is not emphasised, and the designation of culture to separate culture courses establishes a separate status, construct and treatment of culture and culture learning in the EFL programmes.</p> <p>In the second phase of the study, I analysed the perceptions of fourteen Vietnamese EFL teachers and two hundred Vietnamese EFL students on culture in language teaching and learning, and their classroom practices. The findings indicated that the teachers' beliefs about culture teaching revealed a predictable priority for teaching language rather than culture. Their culture teaching practices were greatly influenced by their perceptions and beliefs regarding culture in language teaching. The students also treated culture as a subordinate priority in language learning. Overall, they found culture learning beneficial for their language learning and supported the teachability of language and culture in EFL classes. Both the teachers and students identified a number of constraints that restricted their opportunities and motivation to engage in teaching and learning culture.</p> <p>The third phase of the study involved an empirical study investigating the effect of adopting an intercultural stance in English speaking lessons on thedevelopment of the learners' intercultural competence. Over a nine-week teaching period, eighteen English speaking lessons (90 minutes / lesson / week) for two equivalent, intact classes (seventy-one students) were observed. For one class, the lessons were adapted to reflect the principles of intercultural language learning. For the other, no changes were made. The results showed that the intercultural competence of learners in the intercultural class increased by significantly more than that of learners in the standard class. In particular, the students in the intercultural class were able to better articulate ethnorelative awareness and attitudes towards their home culture and the target culture. The findings also showed that the reflective journal was an effective tool to assess learners' process of acquiring intercultural competence, particularly affective capacities that are not easy to evaluate by other means.</p> <p>Overall, the study provided evidence for the feasibility of intercultural teaching and learning in tertiary EFL classrooms in the Vietnamese context. It also showed that intercultural teaching and learning cultivated learners' affective capacities which are often overlooked in the EFL classroom. It is hoped that the study can inform the work of curriculum designers, education policy-makers as well as EFL teachers and students for the implementation of intercultural language teaching and learning in Vietnam and elsewhere.</p>

scholarly journals Language in Multicultural Society

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 69-77
Author(s):  
Dr. Neerja Samajdar
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Target Culture

Learning a language, is not only learning sounds, alphabets and grammar, but it also means learning the customs and cultural norms. We all grow up in social circles, we informally learn how to use language expressions, gestures, tones. We get to learn the acceptable behaviors or language use in our society. We all speak Languages. We all imbibe Cultures. Language expresses a particular meaning that represents the culture of a particular social group. We interact with a language and culture becomes its reference point. Krober(1923) expresses, "Culture, then, began when speech was present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further development of the others". Hence, language and culture are complex, yet inseparable form of human interactions. Culture is complexly intertwined with language. Human interactions are defined as communication. The communicative force of culture works not only in representing aspects of reality, but also in connecting one context with another. According to the linguistic relativity principle, the way we think about the world, gets influenced by the language we use to express it and vice versa. Therefore, consciously or unconsciously, we show certain behaviors and carry certain language habits which are deeply rooted in our culture. Thus learning a language means learning and adopting that culture.   This paper deals with this very relationship of language and culture with a cross-cultural interaction, how teaching and learning a foreign language plays a role in learning the target culture. This paper will make recommendations for effective culture education in foreign language classroom to develop intercultural competence.

Review of doctoral research in language education in Germany (2014–2018)

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-357
Author(s):  
Lena Heine ◽  
Nicole Marx ◽  
Birgit Schädlich ◽  
Eva Wilden
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Doctoral Dissertations ◽  
Purposive Sample

AbstractThis article reviews a purposive sample of 16 doctoral dissertations in second language (L2) education, completed between 2014 and 2018 and published in German, in Germany. Among the 103 relevant dissertations found from this period, a total of 12 thematic strands were identified, of which five were chosen as being particularly common and thus warranting a more in-depth review: (1) learning and teaching about culture in the language classroom, (2) literary texts in L2 education, (3) bilingual models of learning and teaching, (4) plurilingual teaching and learning, and (5) language teacher education and teacher training. We identify relevant topics and relate these to trends in research methodology (qualitative/quantitative/mixed-methods). We also discuss the depth and breadth of these dissertations and situate their scholarly contributions within German and international research on language education.

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