Enhancing Language Learning in Study Abroad

2011 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 58-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste Kinginger
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Communicative Practices ◽  
Current State ◽  
Insight Into

Research demonstrates that study abroad can have a positive impact on every domain of language competence, and that it is particularly helpful for the development of abilities related to social interaction. However, some results suggest that study abroad intensifies individual differences in achievement: Certain students thrive while others founder. Qualitative studies provide insight into the sources of these differences both in the stances that students adopt toward their host communities and in the ways in which they are received. Overall, the research points to a need for language learners’ broader engagement in local communicative practices, for mindfulness of their situation as peripheral participants, and for more nuanced awareness of language itself. This article offers a rationale, based on the current state of the art in research, for including the expertise of language educators in the choice and design of study abroad programs. Students will benefit from programs specifically designed to foster language learning through observation, participation, and reflection.

scholarly journals Transcription Alignment of Historical Vietnamese Manuscripts without Human-Annotated Learning Samples

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4894
Author(s):  
Anna Scius-Bertrand ◽  
Michael Jungo ◽  
Beat Wolf ◽  
Andreas Fischer ◽  
Marc Bui
Keyword(s):  
Object Detection ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Detection System ◽  
Training Data ◽  
Detection Accuracy ◽  
Current State ◽  
Alignment Task ◽  
Scanned Image ◽  
Automatic Transcription

The current state of the art for automatic transcription of historical manuscripts is typically limited by the requirement of human-annotated learning samples, which are are necessary to train specific machine learning models for specific languages and scripts. Transcription alignment is a simpler task that aims to find a correspondence between text in the scanned image and its existing Unicode counterpart, a correspondence which can then be used as training data. The alignment task can be approached with heuristic methods dedicated to certain types of manuscripts, or with weakly trained systems reducing the required amount of annotations. In this article, we propose a novel learning-based alignment method based on fully convolutional object detection that does not require any human annotation at all. Instead, the object detection system is initially trained on synthetic printed pages using a font and then adapted to the real manuscripts by means of self-training. On a dataset of historical Vietnamese handwriting, we demonstrate the feasibility of annotation-free alignment as well as the positive impact of self-training on the character detection accuracy, reaching a detection accuracy of 96.4% with a YOLOv5m model without using any human annotation.

Language learning in a study-abroad context: Research agenda

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoko Taguchi ◽  
Joseph Collentine
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
Empirical Methods ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Half Century

Isabelli-García, Bown, Plew & Dewey (forthcoming) presented the ‘state of the art’ in research on language learning abroad. Beginning with Carroll's (1967) claim that ‘time spent abroad is one of the most potent variables’ predicting second language (L2) abilities (p. 137), the scope of study-abroad research has grown multifold in guiding theoretical frameworks, empirical methods, and objects of examination. A half-century of work surveyed in Isabelli-García et al.’s review reveals diverse goals of investigation, ranging from studies focusing on documenting learning outcomes, to studies aiming to unveil the process and nature of learning in a study-abroad context.

Learning Chinese

2018 ◽  
pp. 44-69
Author(s):  
Kaishan Kong
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
American Students

Both ACTFL standards and the world-readiness standards for learning languages include five aspects in foreign language education, among which are connections and comparisons. While many instructors consider these two aspects as means of effective instruction, in this chapter, connections and comparisons are studied as learning strategies that four American students adopted to apply in their study abroad contexts in China. Despite the different focus of their study abroad programs, this chapter discusses a variety of examples where the participants made connections and comparisons to enhance their language and culture learning. Findings reveal that connections and comparisons were not only fostering language learning but also developing cultural knowledge. Results provide implications to foreign language educators related to teaching and preparing students for study abroad experience.

scholarly journals Mobile Applications in Mastering Mining Engineers' Competences

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 04041
Author(s):  
Roman Islamov ◽  
Oksana Greenwald ◽  
Nina Tunyova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Educational Potential

Being one of the leading coal mining regions in the world, Kuzbass (Russia) demands from its regional higher educational institutions to master a range of competences of the graduates, namely mining engineers. Foreign language competence is considered to be among the key ones. The article reveals the concept of the competence, its relevance for mining engineers. We also analyze existing mobile applications from the point of view of their educational potential and present the results of the experiment conducted to assess effectiveness of mobile applications in mastering foreign language competence of mining engineering undergraduates. Our methods included interviews with students, classroom observations and surveys of students. The results suggest that integrating mobile applications in educational process is likely to have a positive impact on foreign language competence and increase students’ motivation and satisfaction with foreign language learning.

scholarly journals Sampling Bias and the Problem of Generalizability in Applied Linguistics

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 134-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sible Andringa ◽  
Aline Godfroid
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Sampling Bias ◽  
Biased Sampling ◽  
Important Concept ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Learning And Instruction

AbstractIn this final contribution to the issue, we discuss the important concept of generalizability and how it relates to applied linguists’ ability to serve language learners of all shades and grades. We provide insight into how biased sampling in Applied Linguistics currently is and how such bias may skew the knowledge that we, applied linguists, are building about second language learning and instruction. For example, our conclusions are often framed as universally-applying, even though the samples that have given rise to them are highly specific and Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD; Henrich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010). We end with a call for research and replication in more diverse contexts and with more diverse samples to promote progress in the field of Applied Linguistics as ARAL celebrates its 40th anniversary.

scholarly journals Broadening the ‘Environment’ in Social Work

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Boetto ◽  
Bernadette Moorhead ◽  
Karen Bell
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
International Study ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Critical Social Work ◽  
Study Abroad Program

Adopting a critical social work frame of reference, this paper explores the impacts and challenges of a two-week study abroad program to India on Australian social work students’ understanding of the environment in practice. Using a mixed methods approach, a small study was undertaken in 2011 involving pre and post-program surveys, as well as a facilitated reflective workshop to explore environmental social work.  Results are discussed and indicate the program had a positive impact on expanding students’ conventional socio-cultural understanding of the environment and global dimensions of environmental degradation.  Whilst this is positive and suggests some justification for the international study abroad program, other questions and challenges are raised relating to complex cultural issues and neo-colonial aspects of study abroad programs.

scholarly journals Exploring the Motivations, Expectations, and Experiences of Students Who Study in Global Settings

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 368-382
Author(s):  
Vince Salyers ◽  
Cathy S. Carston ◽  
Yasmin Dean ◽  
Chad London
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
Global Learning ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Program Of Study ◽  
Increasing Trend

An increasing trend of universities is to provide students with opportunities to engage in global learning experiences (GLE) as part of their program of study. While there are numerous papers on the benefits of international and study abroad programs, there is little research on factors that impact GLE. This study evaluated the student perspective through qualitative and quantitative responses to surveys and questions posed during a period of three years. The results suggested that students’ motivation and expectations of the experiences were varied. Moreover, planning is critical for GLE experiences to have a positive impact on students.

Online journaling and language learning in intensive summer study abroad programs

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110366
Author(s):  
Theresa Schenker
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Summer Program ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Effective Inclusion

In spite of the superior effects of semester- or year-long educational experiences abroad, the majority of students prefers short-term study abroad for which participation numbers are steadily rising. Due to the increased student interest in short-term study abroad options, investigations into how a short stay abroad can be designed to maximize learning outcomes for participants are important. While some studies suggest that technology can have negative impacts on language learning during study abroad, effective inclusion of technology can maximize learning. This article summarizes the results of three years of research investigating the effects of daily online journaling during an intensive German summer program on second language (L2) learners’ writing skills during an intensive German summer program. The context of the program will be described along with the rationale for including online journaling assignments. The study investigates whether there is a relationship between the amount students wrote in their daily blogs and their writing development, and whether students’ linguistic progress can be traced in their journal posts. Lastly, the article will provide a pedagogical evaluation of the benefits of incorporating journaling or blogging in short-term study abroad programs and present suggestions for successful projects. The terms journaling and blogging are used interchangeably in this manuscript; while a blog was used as the journal platform in this project, a different format than a blog can serve the same purpose of providing a space for reflective journaling for students.

scholarly journals Practicing Pronunciation: Will Voice XML do for language learners what HTML did for collaborators?

2007 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Luterbach ◽  
Diane Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Markup Language ◽  
Telephone Number ◽  
Voice Synthesis ◽  
Extensible Markup ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Insight Into

This paper considers the utility of the Voice Extensible Markup Language (Voice XML) for language learning. In particular, this article considers whether Voice XML might become as popular as HTML. First, this paper discusses the surprising popularity of HTML, which provides contextual information useful for considering the potential of Voice XML. Second, this article discusses two voice scripts in order to demonstrate Voice XML tags and features. The first example script concerns voice synthesis only whereas the second script utilizes both voice synthesis and voice recognition. In order to gain insight into the utility of Voice XML for instructional applications, the second voice script can be accessed by language learners in order to practice pronouncing words in English. Technically, each voice script is a text file containing Voice XML tags. Once the file containing a Voice XML script is stored on a web server and a telephone number linked to the file, a language learner can use a telephone to practice pronouncing words. Those implementation details are considered in the third section of this paper, which identifies one particular system that permits developers to test and deploy Voice XML scripts free of charge. Lastly, this article concludes with a discussion of issues concerning the utility of Voice XML relative to HTML.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document