Reviving pedagogical translation

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Pedagogical Tool ◽  
Language Classes ◽  
Language Competency ◽  
Group Translation

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine to what extent translation may be an effective pedagogical tool for use by UK GCSE language students. It is offered as a contribution to the ongoing debate regarding the use of pedagogical translation. In March 2015, 41 students preparing for their GCSE Spanish exams were presented with a variety of translation-based activities, including a discussion about professional translation, a mistranslations exercise and a group translation task. The research design combined both translation as a means (explicative and process-oriented) and translation as an end (communicative and product-oriented), and was based upon a realistic, student-centred, socio-constructivist pedagogical foundation. Qualitative data, and a small amount of quantitative data, were collected via a post-session questionnaire and semi-structured group interview, through which students were asked about their experience of the translation sessions in order to answer the following questions: (1) According to students, does translation have a place in UK secondary school foreign language education? (2) If it does, what do students feel are its main benefits? (3) What form should translation activities take, according to students? Students felt that translation could add to their language classes in a variety of ways, including building their confidence, making their language learning more engaging, giving their learning a more ‘real-world’, practical focus and increasing their general language competency. They also felt that it was best delivered in the form of task-based group work. Students’ responses to the translation sessions were overwhelmingly positive, providing compelling support for further use of both explicative and communicative translation tasks in UK secondary school language education.

A Case Study of Learner Interaction in Technology-Enhanced Language Learning Environments

2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis Bradley ◽  
Lara Lomicka
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
Research Perspective ◽  
Language Classes ◽  
Learner Interaction ◽  
Language Classrooms

One research perspective that has been overlooked in studies on technology in foreign language education is that offered by qualitative research. This study, focusing on learner interaction, aims to begin to fill that gap. The researchers spent four months observing and interviewing students in two third-semester language classrooms: one French and one Spanish. Data collection involved a variety of sources, such as participant interviews and in-class observations, as well as pertinent documents and materials both in and out of class. Several themes emerge from the data which characterize the phenomenon of learner interaction in technology-enhanced language learning environments. Through thick description of these environments and discussion of the emerging themes, we hope to provide a more contextualized picture of the implementation of technology in foreign language classes at a large research-oriented institution.

Compelled digitalization of language education: challenges of foreign language learning in the electronic environment

2020 ◽  
pp. 61-70
Author(s):  
Liudmila Vladimirovna Guseva ◽  
Evgenii Vladimirovich Plisov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Electronic Environment ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Effective Use

The article defnes the role of digital means in foreign language learning, establishes the reasons for the effective use of digital means and digital technologies, identifes challenges in mastering a foreign language in an electronic environment, as well as the prospects for the digitalization of foreign language education. When studying the issues of emergency off-campus learning organization, the results of surveys of teachers and students conducted in April 2020 at Minin University were used. image/svg+xml

scholarly journals Helga Tschurtschenthaler: Drama-based foreign language learning. Encounters between self and other.

2016 ◽  
Vol X (1) ◽  
pp. 107-110
Author(s):  
Barbara Schmenk
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
The Impact

Book reviews reflect the views and opinions of the respective reviewers and do not necessarily represent the position of SCENARIO. Helga Tschurtschenthaler’s study is one of the most important scholarly contributions in recent years to the field of drama-based foreign language teaching. She conducted her research in an EFL class in an upper secondary school in multilingual South Tyrol and presents a plethora of data that demonstrates the impact of drama in foreign language education on students’ sense of self as emerging multilingual subjects (Kramsch 2009). What stands out about this study, besides its detailed presentation and analysis of student data, is the fact that Tschurtschenthaler succeeds in connecting recent theoretical contributions to the fields of language education and identity to more practical considerations. Overcoming the gap between theory and practice in this domain is one of her signal achievements. “You are not you when you speak Italian. It’s as if you become someone else when you change into Italian. You don’t only sound different, but you even behave differently. Then, you’re not the person I know.” (11) These are the opening lines of the book, leading the reader directly to its main subject. Tschurtschenthaler explains that it was a ...

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF VIDEO CONFERENCING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING AMONG YOUNG STUDENTS

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 493-497
Author(s):  
Branko Medic
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Video Conferencing ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Philip Pullman ◽  
Multimodal Interactions

During the coronavirus pandemic research on video conferencing effects on young language learners is more than ever relevant. During the sharp transition, educators need to fully understand the benefits and possible pitfalls of video conferencing, but also overcome resistance to change through knowledge. As author Philip Pullman rightly points out, “You cannot change what you are, only what you do.” This article summarised key research and provided evidence for and against the use of video conferencing in foreign language education. Thus, it gives food for thought and reflection, as well as directions for possible interventions.  However, the research was limited in terms of time and available literature, and the topic certainly requires more attention. In future, it is recommended to further research the use of multimodal interactions (sound, audio, text) in video conferencing, as well as coping strategies for dealing with the lack of interaction in the video conferencing-enabled classroom.

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.

The Role of the Future Civil Engineers' Motivation in the Foreign Language Learning

2015 ◽  
Vol 725-726 ◽  
pp. 1646-1652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Kukushkina
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Technical Students ◽  
The Future ◽  
Civil Engineers

The article is dedicated to the changes happening in the sphere of higher education and concerning the foreign language education of the future civil engineers. The research held studies the main motivational factors for English language learning among the students of the Institute of Civil Engineering. The conclusions made are meant to improve the system of technical students’ foreign language education .

Ecological perspectives on foreign language education

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Kramsch
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Ecological Perspective ◽  
Ecological Approach ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Institutional Contexts

Ecological approaches to language learning and teaching have captured the interest of language educators as both native and non-native speakers find themselves operating in increasingly multilingual and multicultural environments. This paper builds on Kramsch & Whiteside (in press) to conceptualize what an ecological perspective on foreign language education, based on complexity theory, would look like. It first explains some of the major tenets of complexity theory, and analyzes transcriptions of exchanges taking place among multilingual individuals in multicultural settings using the ecological approach offered by complexity theory. Based on what these analyses reveal about the ability of these individuals to shape the very context in which language is learned and used, it discusses the notion of ‘symbolic competence’ recently proposed by Kramsch (2006) and explores how symbolic competence might be developed through foreign language education in institutional contexts.

National Standards: Research into practice

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen W. Glisan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
National Standards ◽  
The Impact

The Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (SFLL) (National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project [NSFLEP]), originally published in 1996, were envisioned by many as the panacea for providing a new and exciting direction for foreign language education in the United States. The perceived impact of these National K-16 Student Standards has been witnessed throughout more than a decade by scholarly works that have acknowledged their role as ‘a veritable change agent’ (Sharpley-Whiting 1999: 84), ‘a vision for foreign language education in the new century’ (Allen 2002: 518), and, more recently, as ‘a blueprint and framework for change’ (Terry 2009: 17). The research that has been done on the Standards since their inception has attempted to provide concrete ways for the field to embrace this new framework and thereby realize a Standards-based curriculum and perhaps even revolutionize language education. This work has consisted largely of (1) implementational research (both with and without experimental design) that proposes specific strategies for addressing the Standards in planning, teaching, and assessment (Schwartz & Kavanaugh 1997; Abbott & Lear 2010); (2) survey research that analyzes self-reported information regarding teachers' pedagogical beliefs about the Standards and ways in which they claim to be addressing Standards in their classrooms (Allen 2002; ACTFL 2011), and (3) White papers that disseminate opinions and insights by leaders in the field regarding the impact that the Standards are having in areas such as language instruction, curriculum and course design, and educational policy (Sharpley-Whiting 1999; Donato 2009; Glisan 2010).

scholarly journals Necessity of improvement of foreign language teaching in the Slovak Republic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-263
Author(s):  
Marcela Šarvajcová ◽  
Monika Štrbová
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers

Aim. The aim of the research study was to investigate the opinions of the Slovakian secondary school foreign language teachers and learn about their views on the system of education in the field of enhancement of teachers` professional qualifications. Methods. To perform the results of the study the method of focus group was used. Results. The results of the presented research show the differences between the perception of foreign language education in the past and how it appears today through the views of selected number of foreign language teachers in Slovakia. The pivotal role is played by the technological skills of the students and their ability to use information technologies instructed in foreign languages. The research results also indicate the possibilities of teachers to get in direct contact with the target foreign language as a part of their professional development. The research participants also specified the factors that they considered the most influential in the process of foreign language learning. Conclusion. The purpose of the article is to discuss the urge to achieve highly professional foreign language education in today`s technological society. As shown by the results obtained from the focus group, the teachers/participants agreed on a single highly impactful factor: family.

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