Learners’ perceptions of a Wiki-enhanced TBLT approach designed and implemented at the syllabus level

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-256
Author(s):  
Shenglan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Design Model ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Overall Design ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Learning Contexts ◽  
Class Presentation

Abstract This study examines learners’ perceptions of an approach for improving Chinese-as-a-Foreign-Language learners’ language proficiency, especially their speaking ability. Built upon the Distributed Design Model, a wiki-enhanced, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) approach was designed at the syllabus level, taking into consideration various learning contexts. The approach was implemented and evaluated. Findings show that the overall design of this approach and most of the different components of the pre-task, core-task (interviews with native speakers, wiki-writing, and in-class presentations), and post-task activities were very positively perceived by the students. All students liked this design and enjoyed the class. The main reasons include (1) Students valued the opportunity to interact with native speakers outside the classroom; (2) The in-class presentations gave them an opportunity to express their personalities; (3) They liked the fact that the wiki-essay writing was connected to the in-class presentation because this helped them prepare the content of their presentation, also enabled them to develop writing and speaking on a single topic so they could become more advanced in that topic; (4) They also liked the consistency in organization and the eight units being procedurally similar. The learners held varying views on a few components of the pre-task and post-task activities.

scholarly journals The effectiveness of a wiki-enhanced TBLT approach implemented at the syllabus level in the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-225
Author(s):  
Shenglan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Design Model ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Learning Contexts ◽  
Educational Engineering

AbstractThis study examines the effectiveness of an approach for improving Chinese as a foreign language learners’ language proficiency, especially their speaking ability. Built upon the Educational Engineering Research Theory and its Distributed Design Model, this study used a wiki-enhanced Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) approach implemented at the syllabus level, taking into consideration various learning contexts. Different aspects of the design, such as how the wiki was used to extend the students’ learning beyond classroom, how the topics of the tasks were chosen and sequenced, and what strategies were adopted to motivate learners to interact with their co-learners and native speakers are discussed to provide insights on the use of TBLT in a more detailed way for practitioners. Findings show that the implementation of the TBLT syllabus with the support of the wiki significantly improved learners’ language proficiency as well as the fluency, accuracy, and speed of their story narration and the fluency of their problem-solving conversation.

The Involvement of Native Speakers in Teaching and Learning Japanese Language at UiTM

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Choong Pow Yean ◽  
Sarinah Bt Sharif ◽  
Normah Bt Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Japanese Culture ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Lexical Density

The Nihongo Partner Program or “Japanese Language Partner” is a program that sends native speakers to support the teaching and learning of Japanese overseas. The program is fully sponsored by The Japan Foundation. The aim of this program is to create an environment that motivates the students to learn Japanese. This study is based on a survey of the Nihongo Partner Program conducted on students and language lecturers at UiTM, Shah Alam. This study aims to investigate if there is a necessity for native speakers to be involved in the teaching and learning of Japanese among foreign language learners. Analysis of the results showed that both students and lecturers are in dire need of the Nihongo Partner Program to navigate the learning of the Japanese language through a variety of language learning activities. The involvement of native speaker increases students’ confidence and motivation to converse in Japanese. The program also provides opportunities for students to increase their Japanese language proficiency and lexical density. In addition, with the opportunity to interact with the native speakers, students and lecturers will have a better understanding of Japanese culture as they are able to observe and ask the native speakers. Involvement of native speakers is essential in teaching and learning of Japanese in UiTM.

scholarly journals A Longitudinal Study of Dynamic Changes in and Contributing Factors of Learner Belief of Chinese Foreign Language Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Xinmiao Liu
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Efficacy Belief ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Proficiency

A longitudinal study was conducted to assess changes in and contributing factors of learner belief for a sample of 70 Chinese foreign language learners. Foreign language proficiency and learner factors such as learner belief and learning strategy were measured four times at approximately fifty-day intervals. The results show that there were significant changes in self-efficacy belief, belief about learning difficulty and belief about learning strategy. The major contributing factors to changes in self-efficacy belief include learning strategy, effort, foreign language anxiety, motivation and foreign language proficiency. Meanwhile, learning style, learning strategy and foreign language anxiety have significant effects on changes in learner belief about learning strategy.

The Business of Pragmatics. The Case of Discourse Markers in The Speech of Students of Business English and English Linguistics

2011 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 10-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieven Buysse
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Business English ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Native Speech

Abstract This paper investigates how foreign language learners use discourse markers (such as so, well, you know, I mean) in English speech. These small words that do not contribute much, if anything at all, to the propositional content of a message but modify it in subtle ways, are often considered among the last elements acquired in a foreign language. This contribution reports on close scrutiny of a corpus of English-spoken interviews with Belgian native speakers of Dutch, half of whom are undergraduates majoring in Commercial Sciences and half of whom are majoring in English Linguistics, and sets it off against a comparable native speaker corpus. The investigation shows that the language learners exhibit a clear preference for “operative discourse markers” and neglect or avoid “involvement discourse markers”. It is argued that in learner speech the former take on functions typically fulfilled by the latter to a greater extent than in native speech, and that in some cases the learners revert to a code-switching strategy to cater for their pragmatic needs, bringing markers from Dutch into their English speech. Finally, questions are raised as to the place of such pragmatic devices in foreign language learning.

Variable future-time reference in French: A comparison of learners in a study-abroad and a foreign-language context

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aarnes Gudmestad ◽  
Amanda Edmonds
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency Test

AbstractThis study seeks to advance understanding of second-language (L2) acquisition of future-time reference in French, by comparing the developmental trajectories of learners living in and away from the target-language setting. Study-abroad learners in France (n= 45), foreign-language learners living in the US (n= 37), and native speakers of Hexagonal French (n= 30) participated in this study. They completed a written-contextualized task, a language-proficiency test and a background questionnaire. For each written-contextualized-task item, participants selected from among three responses that differed with respect to the form (inflectional future, periphrastic future, present). Items were designed to test for the influence of three factors on the form selected: presence/absence of a lexical temporal indicator, temporal distance, and (un)certainty. Additionally, two extra-linguistic factors were examined: learning context and proficiency level. The analyses of frequency and the multinomial logistic regressions suggest that, despite developmental similarities between learning contexts, acquisitional paths of study-abroad and foreign-language learners were not identical.

scholarly journals FRAME MARKERS AND COHERENCE IN L2 ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-71
Author(s):  
Višnja Pavičić Takač ◽  
Sanja Vakanjac Ivezić
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Academic Literacy ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Knowledge ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
The Relationship

Academic literacy includes the learners’ ability to use their language knowledge to form articulate texts. In communicative competence models this ability is subsumed under the notion of discourse competence which includes the concepts of cohesion and coherence. Starting from the premise that constructing a coherent text entails efficient use of metadiscourse (i.e. means of explicit text organisation) this study focuses on elements referring to discourse acts, text sequences or stages called frame markers, i.e. items providing framing information about elements of the discourse and functioning to sequence, label, predict and shift arguments, making the discourse clear to readers or listeners (Hyland 2005). It analyses patterns of L2 learners’ use of frame markers, compares them to English native speakers’, and explores the relationship between frame markers and coherence. The corpus includes 80 argumentative essays written by early undergraduate Croatian L2 learners of English at B2 level. The results indicate that foreign language learners’ argumentative essays are characterized by an overuse of a limited set of frame markers. Finally, implications are drawn for teaching and further research.

scholarly journals GENDERED VISIONS OF IDEAL FUTURE SELVES: AN ANALYSIS OF JAPANESE ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNERS’ NARRATIVES

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-65
Author(s):  
Yoko Munezane
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Possible Selves ◽  
Gender Effects ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Future Visions

This study investigates the impact of gender on future visions, using a mixed narrative method; i.e., a “drawing-and-writing-combined” narrative. Previous research shows that learners’ career aspirations have a positive effect on their academic achievement including language proficiency growth (Sasaki, Kozaki, & Ross, 2017). Therefore, it is worthwhile to explore the impact of gender on language learners’ future possible selves by examining their career visions. Qualitative data were collected from 155 Japanese university English as a Foreign Language learners’ drawings and English essays. Statistical results (chi-square test) revealed gender effects in participants’ visualizations of career-focused and career-family balanced ideal selves as well as in the prominence of social interaction in their future visions. Qualitative analysis of participants’ essays suggested that the majority of both male and female learners envisaged their future ideal selves actively pursuing an international career empowered by the essential tool of English. Overall, females considered combining family and career as due responsibilities for women, whereas the majority of males envisioned career-related ideal selves only. The study further assesses the impact of gender on learners’ future visions by taking into consideration the gender equality level in a particular society. Pedagogical implications and future directions are discussed.

scholarly journals Zur Interaktion von materiellem und idiomatischem Bild in deutschen Printwerbungen

2020 ◽  
pp. 235-251
Author(s):  
Günter Schmale
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Image Representation ◽  
Literal Meaning ◽  
Print Advertising ◽  
Implicit Relation ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Visual Element

Print advertising very frequently refers to idioms containing verbal expressions of images conveying a figurative meaning. “Material” idiom's (photos, drawings, cartoons, etc.) in print adverts, in one way or another, depict the idioms’ literal meaning. Advertising plays on numerous forms of interaction between the idiomatic and material image (representation of literal meaning, implicit relation between visual element and verbal idiom, etc.). Following preliminary considerations on figurativeness and metaphoricity, 14 German print adverts are analysed with a focus on the role of the material image. Based on these analyses, reflections on the interpretability of the relation between idiomatic and material image by native speakers and foreign language learners are discussed.

scholarly journals THE INVESTIGATION OF PRODUCTIVE AND RECEPTIVE COMPETENCE IN V+N AND ADJ+N COLLOCATIONS AMONG INDONESIAN EFL LEARNERS

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
Saudin Saudin ◽  
Iis Sulyaningsih ◽  
Lina Meilinda
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Test Model ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Important Sign

The important role of collocation in learners’ language proficiency has been acknowledged widely. In Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), collocation is known as one prominent member of the super-ordinate lexical cohesion, which contributes significantly to the textual coherence, together with grammatical cohesion and structural cohesion (Halliday & Hasan, 1985). Collocation is also viewed as the hallmark of truly advanced English learners since the higher the learners’ proficiency is, the more they tend to use collocation (Bazzaz & Samad, 2011; Hsu, 2007; Zhang, 1993). Further, knowledge of collocation is regarded as part of the native speakers’ communicative competence (Bazzaz & Samad, 2011); and lack of the knowledge is the most important sign of foreignness among foreign language learners (McArthur, 1992; McCarthy, 1990). Taking the importance of collocation into account, this study is aimed to shed light on Indonesian EFL learners’ levels of collocational competence. In the study, the collocational competence is restricted to v+n and adj+n of collocation but broken down into productive and receptive competence, about which little work has been done (Henriksen, 2013). For this purpose, 49 second-year students of an English department in a state polytechnic were chosen as the subjects. Two sets of tests (filling in the blanks and multiple-choice) were administered to obtain the data of the subjects’ levels of productive and receptive competence and to gain information of which type was more problematic for the learners. The test instruments were designed by referring to Brashi’s (2006) test model, and Koya’s (2003). In the analysis of the data, interpretive-qualitative method was used primarily to obtain broad explanatory information. The data analysis showed that the scores of productive competence were lower than those of receptive competence in both v+n and adj+n collocation. The analysis also revealed that the scores of productive and receptive competence in v+n collocation were higher than those of productive and receptive competence in adj+n collocation. The finding comes as a surprise since it turns out adj+n collocation is more problematic than v+n collocation both productively and receptively. Much research, by contrast, has reported that mistakes in v+n collocation are typical (Al-Zahrani, 1998; Nesselhauf, 2003; Liu, 1999; Sun, 2004). A conclusion has even been drawn that “v+n collocation is more difficult than adj+n collocation” (Kuo, 2009, p. 148). Though more studies are needed to support its finding, this research suggests the type of collocation deserve to get more attention from researchers.

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