An editable learner model for text recommendation for language learning

ReCALL ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
John S. Y. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Learner Model ◽  
Learning Patterns ◽  
Standard Order ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
User Knowledge

Abstract Extracurricular reading is important for learning foreign languages. Text recommendation systems typically classify users and documents into levels, and then match users with documents at the same level. Although this approach can be effective, it has two significant shortcomings. First, the levels assume a standard order of language acquisition and cannot be personalized to the users’ learning patterns. Second, recommendation decisions are not transparent because the leveling algorithms can be difficult for users to interpret. We propose a novel method for text recommendation that addresses these two issues. To enhance personalization, an open, editable learner model estimates user knowledge of each word in the foreign language. The documents are ranked by new-word density (NWD) – that is, the percentage of words that are new to the user in the document. The system then recommends documents according to a user-specified target NWD. This design offers complete transparency as users can scrutinize recommendations by reviewing the NWD estimation of the learner model. This article describes an implementation of this method in a mobile app for learners of Chinese as a foreign language. Evaluation results show that users were able to manipulate the learner model and NWD parameters to adjust the difficulty of the recommended documents. In a survey, users reported satisfaction with both the concept and implementation of this text recommendation method.

scholarly journals Model Pemerolehan Bahasa Arab Sebagai Bahasa Asing Pada Peserta Didik Non-Native Speaker (Kajian Teori Psikolinguistik)

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-94
Author(s):  
Nafiul Huda
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
First Language ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Two Sides

The language acquisition model of a person is one of the most interesting themes to be discussed. Especially the process of obtaining foreign languages, because in addition to the concept of acquisition of the first language in children, also has a linkage, between the process of learning the language to the acquisition of foreign languages. Of course there is a difference between the process of language learning with the process of language acquisition, especially foreign languages. At least the process of acquisition of language can be seen from two sides, namely from the side of the process of obtaining a foreign language in the frame of psycholinguistics and from the side of the process of obtaining foreign languages in the sociolinguistic framework, or in its development can also be seen in the neurolinguistic side that examines the nervous system in the human brain to the process of acquisition foreign language.

scholarly journals Foreign language learning and education in minority circumstances. Problems and possible solutions

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-41
Author(s):  
Szilvia Batyi
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
The State ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition

Some form of bi- and multilingualism means the naturallingual condition for more than the half of the population of the Earth. It is a substantial linguistic aim of the Transcarpathian Hungarian community that beside preservation of their mother tongue (the Hungarian), acquire the state language (the Ukrainian language) and the basis of at least one world language. But this aim is hindered by a lot of things in Transcarpathia. The goal of the study isto shed light on these problems and to find possible solutions based on two researches. The first research, which was carried out in the Tanscarpathian Hungarian schools, was to reveal the conditions and problems of foreign language education. The research threwlight on numerous problems that approve the low level of foreign language knowledge of the Tanscarpathian Hungarian youth. Attitudes and stereotypes influence the success of foreign language acquisition. For this reason in the second part of the study I would like to show, what kind of stereotypes and attitudes can be discovered in the parents (who are lay linguistically and language pedagogically) concerning foreign languages, and within this especially concerning the English language. It appears from the interviews, that nor the attitudes of the state towards foreign languages that was inherited from the soviet system, neither the impassiveness of the parents improves the positive attitudes in the Transcarpathian Hungarian students towards foreign languages, and nor the state, neither the parents approve the motivation of foreign language acquisition.

scholarly journals The modality of tandem learning as an aspect of a contemporary trend in foreign language learning: The example of the HelloTalk mobile app

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-375
Author(s):  
Tijana Gajić ◽  
Neda Maenza
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
Tandem Learning

The paper highlights contemporary trends in foreign language acquisition which systematically enhance communicative abilities, contributing to the development of language skills in a creative and innovative manner. One of the leading trends is reflected in the modality of mutual learning, which is increasingly used and involves the interaction of two persons willing to teach each other their mother tongue. The paper looks at the possibilities of acquiring a foreign language using the HelloTalk mobile app, based on tandem learning and the communicative approach. The social interactions involved in problem solving through partnership enable each student to expand their zone of further development, making the topic of this paper significant in a pedagogical context. A study carried out with the aim of assessing students' attitudes to the use of this language acquisition tool is presented in the paper. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Data were collected using an online survey and also through focus group discussions. The findings suggest that one of the major advantages of learning a foreign language in this way is the partial or total reduction of language barriers, as well as the absence of anxiety and nervousness, which frequently accompany communication in a foreign language. The findings confirm that the HelloTalk mobile app, although appealing in language learning, is not widely used among the student population in Serbia due to students' lack of free time and their insufficient engagement, which is required in tandem learning.

scholarly journals Methodological and cross-cultural aspects of foreign language acquisition by reference to Russian and British textbooks

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 31-47
Author(s):  
A. Artyomov
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition

This paper examines the methodological and cross-cultural aspects implemented in the British textbooks of Russian, Colloquial Russian: the Complete Course for Beginners and Colloquial Russian 2: the Next Step in Language Learning, and in the two volumes of the Russian textbook of English, Angliiskiy Shag za Shagom (English Step by Step). The article presents their structure, advantages and disadvantages. By way of conclusion, the author gives some considerations concerning the development of high-quality textbooks of foreign languages, and demonstrates a personally designed sample lesson.

TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES AT THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS IN POLAND

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olena Ivashko
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Educational Needs ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Language Learning Strategies ◽  
Third Age ◽  
The Third

The article tackles the problem of teaching foreign languages to seniors. The general trends in FL education for the third-age learners are outlined. The institutions in which seniors can study foreign languages in Poland are enumerated. The psychological, physiological, methodological and social peculiarities of teaching a foreign language to the third agers are analyzed. Special emphasis is laid upon educational needs of the Third Age learners. Some language learning strategies which help seniors’ foreign language learning are suggested.

Learners’ attitudes to first, second and third languages pronunciation in structuring multilingual identity

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Szyszka
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Negative Relationships ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractThis paper investigates multilingual learners’ attitudes to native (L1 – Ukrainian), second (L2 – Polish) and foreign (L3 – English) languages’ pronunciation, and discusses them from the perspective of structuring multilingual identity. In the study, the choice of the sample has been controlled in terms of the participants’ nationality and the context in which they acquire their second and foreign languages – variables that are interwoven in shaping identities. More specifically, the 40 Ukrainian individuals, taking part in the study, are in the process of a foreign language acquisition, English, embedded in the context of their second language, Polish. The attitudes to L1, L2 and L3 pronunciation of the 40 multilinguals have been measured quantitatively and analysed with the aim of providing more insight into understanding how individuals construe their multilingual identities. Negative relationships were found between those who reported an L1 accent as an important factor involved in the perception of their selves and the desire to sound native-like in L2 – Polish (r = −0.37, p < 0.05), and L3 – English (r = −0.43, p < 0.05). The latter variable, however, correlated positively with having native-like pronunciation as a goal in learning Polish (r = 0.75, p < 0.05) and English (r = 0.89, p < 0.05).

Towards a Model of Learner Variation in Autonomous Foreign Language Learning

1979 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. S. Rodgers
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Learning Systems ◽  
Design Model ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
The Third ◽  
Short Piece ◽  
Language Needs

My intent in this short piece is to provide a context for consideration of learner variables in foreign language learning. I first propose a question set outlining the major issues, as I see them, arising in the design of learner-based foreign language learning systems. I then present a simplified three-part design model comprising knowledge considerations (language needs assessment), instructional considerations (learning access alternatives) and learner considerations (characteristics of learners). A review of some recent work in the first two of these prefaces the discussion of the third, learner considerations. A brief state of the art report on research in learner variables is followed by some speculation on next directions in the determination and description of learner variables within a general design model for learning foreign languages.

What we have to explain in foreign language learning

1996 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 718-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bley-Vroman
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Fundamental Difference ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Development Theory

AbstractWhile child language development theory must explain invariant “success,” foreign language learning theory must explain variation and lack of success. The fundamental difference hypothesis (FDH) outlines such a theory. Epstein et al. ignore the explanatory burden, mischaracterize the FDH, and underestimate the resources of human cognition. The field of second language acquisition is not divided into camps by views on “access” to UG.

scholarly journals Christopher Brumfit Award 2014

2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-433
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Quality Of Presentation

The Editor and Board of Language Teaching are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2014 Christopher Brumfit thesis award is Dr Hilde van Zeeland. The thesis was selected by an external panel of judges based on its significance to the field of second language acquisition, second or foreign language learning and teaching, originality and creativity and quality of presentation.

scholarly journals NATIONALLY ORIENTED FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING IN THE CONTEXT OF THE LINGUO-DIDACTIC PARADIGM OF THE 21ST CENTURY

2020 ◽  
pp. 37-48
Author(s):  
N. Zaichenko
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Matter Content

The article deals with modern views on the concept of “nationally oriented foreign language teaching”, presented in the linguo-didactic discourse of domestic and foreign scholars of the last decades. The author reveals and characterizes its evolution as one of the basic concepts of Russian and Ukrainian language education as foreign languages. It is found that they relate to the subject matter, content, and operational components of this phenomenon. There are significant changes in the views of scholars on taking into account students’ native language in teaching these languages by speakers of languages with different systems. There is a growing interest in didactic and linguistic data processing of the analysis of Chinese and Russian (Ukrainian) languages and their practical implementation. In terms of content, priority is given to culturally oriented and ethno-psychological aspects of mastering foreign language in a monocultural and multicultural educational environment. The innovative approach to this issue is also manifested in the increasing attention of researchers to the peculiarities of cognitive, mental and educational activities of Chinese-speaking students, formed by the national linguistic and methodological tradition, which is radically different from the national communicative and active lingvodidactic paradigm and needs appropriate methodological correction. Prospects for further study of the issues raised in our investigation are related to the research of a number of “new” terms in the terminological field of the basic concept of “nationally oriented foreign language learning”, as well as from the normative and codification side.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document