Early foreign language education and metalinguistic development

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 51-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krassimira Dimitrova Charkova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Bilingualism And Multilingualism ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Metalinguistic Skills ◽  
Word Definition

Studies with bilingual and multilingual subjects suggest that bilingualism and multilingualism foster the development of certain aspects of children’s metalinguistic skills. The purpose of the present study was to find out if learning foreign languages facilitates children’s metalinguistic ability to define words. It compared Bulgarian monolingual, bilingual and trilingual subjects on their word-definition performance in the L1. The relationship between L1 definition performance, L2/L3 proficiency, and L2/L3 definition performance within the bilingual and trilingual groups was also investigated. The study found that early foreign language education has a positive effect on the quality of children’s definitions in their L1. The bilingual and trilingual children performed significantly better than the monolingual children. The results specific to the bilingual and trilingual groups showed that second/third language proficiency was a significant and powerful predictor of the performance of the bilingual and trilingual subjects on the word-definition tasks in their second/third language. L1 word-definition ability was a weaker predictor of the subjects’ performance on the word-definition task in their second or third language. However, in the case of genetically closely related languages (Bulgarian and Russian) the transfer was easier as compared to genetically more distanced languages (Bulgarian and English).

scholarly journals Good and Poor Summary Writers' Strategies: The Case of Japanese High School EFL Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1199
Author(s):  
Makiko Kato
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Future Research ◽  
General Belief ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Summary Writing ◽  
The Relationship

Despite general belief about the importance of summary writing in foreign language education, and in the field of teaching Language for Academic Purposes (LAP) (e.g., Swales, 1981; 2000), it is shown that the development of this skill is one of the most difficult skills for learners (e.g., Brown and Day, 1980; Hirvela & Du, 2013; Shi, 2012). This study is part of a larger project and its main purpose is to open the black box by exploring the relationship between performances of summary writing in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and the strategies used for summary writing in EFL. A total of 74 Japanese high school EFL learners were asked to write a summary of one-third of approximately 230 word-long English passage and were subsequently asked to respond to the summary strategy inventory adapted partly from Li (2014). The data analysis showed that there was indeed a relationship between the quality of the students' summaries and the frequency of their implemented strategies. In this study, along with the results of in-depth analyses, various implications are offered to EFL education as well as future research studies.

scholarly journals SCIENTIFIC AND PEDAGOCICAL APPROACHES TO THE FORMATIONOF PROFESSIONAL METACOMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE OF FUTURE TEACHERS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN A SPECIALIZED SCHOOL

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-94
Author(s):  
Z.K. Zhanazarova ◽  
◽  
T.A. Kulgildinova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Component Composition ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Specialized School ◽  
Basic Approaches

The article discusses the scientific and methodological platform for the formation of professional metacommunicative competence of foreign language teachers in a specialized school. The content of the article reveals the basic approaches and principles of the formation of professional metacommunicative competence, which refers to the ability of students to use a foreign language for educational purposes as a tool for the development of foreign language education in a professional metalanguage aspect. The features of the component composition in determining the level of formation of professional metacommunicative competence of students are revealed. The tactical goal of training a foreign language teacher for specialized classes are described, which provides for improving the quality of training for students with the goal of mastering such technologies that give the prospect to a future teacher the ability to speak a meta- branch language in various working conditions.

scholarly journals C2+-DaF-Lernende reflektieren über eine perfekte Sprachbeherrschung – ist diese vor dem Hintergrund der postulierten funktionalen Mehrsprachigkeit in Alltag und Beruf künftig noch gefragt?

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Schumacher
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Oriented Approach

AbstractBy adopting “functional plurilingualism” – a recurring concept in its new curriculum, “Lehrplan 21” – Switzerland is pursuing new avenues in foreign language education. The term refers to a goal-oriented approach to foreign language learning and teaching in primary and secondary schools, and implies that barriers to communication can be overcome by exploiting the sum of the individual’s linguistic capacities. In future, language learners will be expected to build on the interrelatedness of languages instead of developing abilities in languages that they keep separate from one another. This view of foreign language education coincides with the recommendations of the Council of Europe’sHaving reached the highest level specified by the CEFR, some learners continue their studies, seeking to maintain or reinforce their competences or to address individual weaknesses. In this article, a group of C2+ learners of German as a foreign language reflect on their desire for linguistic perfection and the notion of “functional plurilingualism” against the background of their own biographies. These learners have a high awareness and knowledge of German (often their third language) and of the learning process, which allows them to make informative statements. The data was analysed qualitatively and subjective theories were reconstructed – an approach that took account both of the multiperspectivity of the topic and of the uniqueness of the individual cases.

scholarly journals Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): present and future (as a Finnish innovation)

2021 ◽  
Vol IX(256) (100) ◽  
pp. 34-38
Author(s):  
K. Ye. Stupak
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Specialized Schools

The paper considers Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as one of the approaches to achieve the purpose of learning foreign languages, represented in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages adopted by the Council of Europe in 2001. To acquire a language means not merely to obtain communication skills in one, two or even three languages, studied separately, but “to develop a linguistic repertoire in which all language skills are present,” as mentioned in the European Recommendations on Language Education. People who possess even little knowledge can achieve a certain level of communication proficiency using all their linguistic “tools”, experimenting with alternative forms of expression in different languages and dialects, using paralinguistic means (mimics, gestures, facial expressions, etc.) and radically simplifying their use of language [1; P. 19]. Researchers in Finland, whose success in the education system is recognized worldwide, are searching for methods and approaches to achieve this purpose of foreign language education. One of their attempts is Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). The paper reveals: the history and the origins of CLIL. According to C. Nieminen it includes the method of immersion, created and widely used in Canada. This research also outlines the advantages and factors limiting the usage of CLIL, as well as the prospects for further implementation of this approach to the study of foreign languages in different countries. In Ukraine this training method has not yet become widely applied, only some cases of CLIL implementation take place in specialized schools and in higher education institutions at foreign language departments. Therefore, according to national scholars Ukraine focuses on improving the level of foreign language proficiency, profound research and implementation of the CLIL methodology in schools and higher education institutions all over the country.

scholarly journals Study on the Continuation Task of China’s New College Entrance Examination Based on the Interactive Alignment Theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
pp. 89-91
Author(s):  
Ying Ouyang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Entrance Examination ◽  
College Entrance Examination ◽  
College Entrance ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Foreign Language Proficiency ◽  
Examination Policy

With the extensive implementation of China’s new college entrance examination policy, the Continuation Task in the new college entrance examination has attracted wide attention from the academic circle, which also gives rise to plentiful relevant research. In the past, most of the research only focused on university foreign language education, which was rarely involved in English teaching in primary and secondary schools. Based on the Interactive Alignment Theory, this paper is going to analyze and study the Continuation Task, and try to put forward some teaching strategies for the teaching of the new task, so as to improve student's English proficiency level. According to the research, this paper finds out that "The Continuation Task" can give full play to the alignment effect between reading and writing, promote writing through reading, and thus promote the improvement of students' foreign language proficiency. Therefore, this essay can provide some insights into the teaching of English in high schools.

scholarly journals Culture and the Common European Framework for Languages: A Comparative Corpus Analysis of 2001, 2018 and 2020 Texts

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Mustafa Dolmaci ◽  
Hatice Sezgin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Common Basis ◽  
Curriculum Guidelines ◽  
The Common ◽  
N Gram

In order to provide “a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc. across Europe”, The Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR) was published in 2001 by the Council of Europe. It has affected the way languages are taught, learnt and assessed and also how foreign language proficiency levels are defined all around the world. The CEFR adopts an intercultural approach to foreign language, and the main purpose is to protect cultural diversity and to give importance to cultural activities rather than being a part of foreign language education. For this reason, culture is at the very core of the CEFR. In 2018 and 2020, two Companion Volumes were published to complement the CEFR. The present paper offers a comparative corpus analysis of these three texts focusing on the occurrences of culture-related items using n-gram tool of Sketch Engine (Lexical Computing, n. d.), which creates frequency lists of sequences of tokens. Based on the findings, it is suggested according to the CEFR that rather than focusing on the national culture of the native speakers of the target language, foreign language education should focus more on the “new culture” formed by the encounters of people coming from different cultures.

Dynamic adaptive audio training tests as a means of monitoring bilingual education

2019 ◽  
pp. 46-54
Author(s):  
M. V. Noskov ◽  
I. P. Peregudova ◽  
P. P. Dyachuk ◽  
O. I. Denisenko
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Educational Activities ◽  
Adaptive Tests ◽  
Evaluative Feedback ◽  
Adaptive Test

The article discusses the conditions for the use of computerized dynamic adaptive tests to provide developing training and monitoring in the field of foreign language education. Dynamic adaptive test simulators used as a tool for personalizing and monitoring foreign language education are still insufficiently represented in the educational practice of the Russian Federation. The authors of the article offer recommendations on the use of dynamic adaptive audio test simulators for monitoring foreign language education. As indicators of monitoring, the parameters characterizing the learning ability of students are considered: feedback coefficient; the complexity and time pace of learning activities of students of a foreign language.The purpose of the article is to present authors’ recommendations on the implementation of dynamic adaptive audio test simulators based on evaluative feedback in the field of foreign language education, providing for monitoring the quality of bilingual education based on the integration of individualized learning and dynamic adaptive testing of educational activities.The research methodology is an analysis of the use of existing dynamic adaptive test simulators in the field of foreign language education; studying the results of interdisciplinary studies of domestic and foreign scientists on the creation and use of dynamic adaptive tests for the learning process as a whole and the creation of dynamic adaptive tests for foreign education in particular; analysis and generalization of the author’s experience of using dynamic adaptive audio tests simulators as a tool for monitoring educational activities in the field of foreign language education.Results of the reseach are: authors developed computerized dynamic adaptive audio test simulators based on evaluative feedback in the field of foreign language education; indicators of monitoring the learning process in the field of foreign language education are identified, including the total feedback coefficient, actiograms, time pace and laboriousness; testing was carried out and recommendations were given for the use of dynamic adaptive audio test simulators for monitoring educational activities in the field of foreign language education.Analyzing the results of testing dynamic adaptive audio test simulators in a foreign language, the authors conclude that their use in practice implements personalized dynamic monitoring of the process of teaching foreign languages, thereby improving the quality of teaching foreign languages. Dynamic adaptive audio test simulators can provide monitoring of the dynamics of the process of teaching native and foreign languages.

scholarly journals Shaping the quality of second language learning: Students’ perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 01071
Author(s):  
Irina M. Solodkova ◽  
Elena V. Grigorieva ◽  
Liliya R. Ismagilova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Learning And Teaching

The paper dwells on the problem of identifying the most crucial factors affecting the quality of foreign language learning from the students’ perspective. Quality foreign language education is a disputable issue in 21 century due to the increased global workforce competition. Human capital has a great impact on education as an important factor in shaping a new quality of country’s economy and well-being of society. Foreign language skill is an integral component of highly qualified professionals as the global economic processes make them participate in cross-border business communication. In these conditions the aim of higher education establishments is to provide quality of language learning and teaching that allows future specialists not to distort the meaning in written and oral communication within their professional framework. The two-phase survey conducted among 67 students of the Institute of Management, Economics and Finance of the Kazan Federal University provided with quantitative data. The respondents ranked differently the factors determining the quality of language learning and teaching responses after two years of completing their foreign language education and were generally satisfied with the quality of service rendered. The obtained results give optimistic forecasts regarding the improvement of foreign language education and help reconsider the way of teaching a foreign language basing on the chosen factors.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Foreign Language Education in Italy and Implications: From the Perspective of National Foreign Language Capacity

Politeja ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4(73)) ◽  
pp. 171-188
Author(s):  
Dong Dan ◽  
Tan Yuwei
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Planning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
National Language ◽  
Planning Theory ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Language Capacity

This article reviews foreign language education in Italy using a national language competence-oriented evaluation approach. Foreign language education is at the heart of the acquisition component of language planning, and assessing foreign language education from the perspective of the purpose of language policy, i.e. the promotion of national language competence, which refers to the sum total of the government’s ability to deal with all language-related issues of strategic interests and allows for a more direct application of language planning theory. Based on the theoretical framework of National Foreign Language Capacity and acquisition planning, this study presents a detailed analysis of the characteristics and problems of Italian foreign language education policy, taking into account its ‘rationality,’ ‘coverage,’ and ‘influence,’ which are three interrelated indicators that allow for a comprehensive and specific assessment of national foreign language competence. By revealing the inadequacies of Italy’s national language proficiency system, the author intends to provide an insight into the gap between the effectiveness of policy formulation and implementation in foreign language education in Italy and to suggest some widespread problems in foreign language education that are similar to those in China.

scholarly journals The development of future teachers’ foreign language education in the context of the European Council strategic documents

2021 ◽  
pp. 88-95
Author(s):  
Iryna Onishchuk ◽  
Anastasiia Petrova ◽  
Nataliia Tonkonoh ◽  
Neonila Partyko ◽  
Diana Kochmar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
Education Science

Among the main tasks of higher education defined by the National Doctrine for the Development of Education of Ukraine in the 21st century are the following: to form the necessary intellectual and moral basis necessary for future professional activities in the fields of education, science, culture and to form the qualities necessary for further professional development. Such qualities include global thinking; professional values and morals; cultural competence; functional literacy and professional universality; culture of communication; ability to apply knowledge in professional situations; responsibility, the culture of group interaction, social and professional mobility, ability to study for a lifetime, foreign language and sociocultural competence in a foreign language among students of humanities. Now foreign-language education in Ukraine is being reformed taking into account the achievements of European countries by such documents of the Council of Europe as: “Bilingual education: the main strategic tasks”, “All-European competencies in foreign language proficiency: study, teaching, evaluation”, “European language portfolio”, “Aligning language exams with All-European recommendations on language education”, “Strategic development program for Multilingual Europe 2020”, “Recommendations on pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures”, requirements for Euro-exams, etc. The ideas of the language policy of the Council of Europe are increasingly being implemented in our country: the number of languages is increasing; there is an increasing number of people who speak at least one foreign language; several foreign languages were started in secondary schools; the number of academic hours for learning a foreign language is increasing in universities; in some institutions of higher education, foreign languages are considered the second working language.

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