Institutionalized utterances, literature, and language teaching

2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian MacKenzie

Linguists have recently suggested that a large proportion of linguistic performance in naturally acquired languages is enabled by the internalization of a huge number of institutionalized utterances, or lexical phrases, or fixed and semi-fixed expressions. This research parallels the discovery, earlier this century, of the oral-formulaic nature of Homeric poetry. Furthermore, although written literature (as opposed to oral epic poetry) is generally assumed to be anything but formulaic, it can be shown that it too necessarily contains a lot of institutionalized expressions, or at least transformations of them, and that our own repertoire of memorized phrases almost certainly comes from literary as well as oral sources. Foreign language teachers clearly need to give serious consideration to the prevalence of lexical phrases, in both speech and writing. Literature can be used in the foreign language classroom as (among many other things) a source of institutionalized phrases.

Author(s):  
Toni P. Johnson

It is important that assessments used in a classroom reflect the standards that students are expected to achieve. When this occurs, the data collected can be used as indications of a student's proficiency in a language. This chapter focuses on how the data collected in the classroom can be used to guide instruction. The author begins with an overview of assessments that are available to foreign language teachers. This is followed by information on data collection and analysis. The second half of the chapter focuses on how to use the data to develop lessons that provide all students with the instruction they need in order to be successful in the foreign language classroom. Examples of analysis of authentic data and changes in classroom elements, as well as the need for a mastery mindset, are also presented.


Author(s):  
Sandie Mourão

This paper begins by discussing the picturebook and its picture-word dynamic and follows with a discussion of their relevance to teachers in a foreign language classroom. Thereafter, a theory of literary understanding is suggested, as a way to support foreign language teachers to interpret their learners’ responses to picturebooks and to help them recognize the relevance of response to the storytelling experience. The final section describes two picturebooks with concrete examples of the different ways that they enable and promote authentic responses, using the children’s linguistic repertoire, and through both the pictures and the words.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Eric Bray

Foreign language teachers often want to use movies in the classroom because movies are a rich source of both language and culture and contain themes that can stimulate thought and discussion. However, showing movies to students without doing the time-consuming preparation of tasks for students to do before, during, or after watching the movie can limit the educational benefits. Using a movie journal solves this problem, and contains questions that students answer after watching a section of the movie in class. Writing in a movie journal before discussing the movie leads to more productive discussions as students have a chance to think about what they want to say and how best to express these ideas in the foreign language. 映画は言語と文化の宝庫である。思考や活発なディスカッションを促進させるテーマを含んでいるため、外国語教師はよくクラスで映画を使っている。視聴前・視聴中・視聴後に学生たちが行うタスクを準備して使用している。しかし、その準備には多大な時間がかかる。だからと言って、課題の準備もせずに、ただ映画を見せるだけでは教育学的利益は損なわれる。映画のセクション毎に学生が質問に答える形式のMovie Journalは、その問題を解決することができる。映画について話し合う前にMovie Journalで事前学習をすることで、学生たちが何を言いたいのか、自分の考えを外国語でどのように表現すれば一番伝わるのかを考える機会が生まれ、それがより活発なディスカッションにつながる。


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-193
Author(s):  
Lucía Pintado Gutiérrez

AbstractThis article explores the agency of the student in translation in language teaching and learning (or TILT). The purpose of the case study discussed here is to gain an overview of students’ perceptions of translation into the foreign language (FL) (also known as “inverse translation”) following a module on language and translation, and to analyse whether there is any correlation between students’ attitude to translation, its impact on their language learning through effort invested, and the improvement of language skills. The results of the case study reveal translation to be a potentially exciting skill that can be central to FL learning and the analysis gives indications of how and why language teachers may optimise the implementation of translation in the classroom. The outcome of the study suggests that further research is needed on the impact of translation in the language classroom focussing on both teachers’ expectations and students’ achievements.


2021 ◽  
pp. 37-53
Author(s):  
Petra Besedová ◽  
Karolína Soukupová ◽  
Kristýna Štočková

IMPORTANCE OF THE DIDACTICS OF NON-LINGUISTIC DISCIPLINES IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING Learning does not mean anything but learning with all your senses and feelings. The young generation lives nowadays in a complex media world to which foreign language didactics also has to respond. Educators and teachers should use numerous materials that do not only develop language skills, but also conveycultural approaches. The teaching of non-linguistic disciplines plays a key role in foreign language teaching, and foreign language teaching is currently very modern in its cultural context. The paper attempts to outline the existence of the so-called didactics of non-linguistic disciplines in foreign language teaching in the Czech Republic. On the basis of a questionnaire survey among foreign language teachers, the extent to which foreign language teachers are confronted with the content of didactics of non-language subjects was examined. The authors were also interested whether there are differences between teachers of different foreign languages (English, German, Russian, French), and which preferences teachers of these foreign languages manifest when choosing their teaching material. We believe that the content of the didactics of non-linguistic disciplines is an essential part of foreign language teaching and can greatly enrich this field.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 768
Author(s):  
Yinghao Li

The paper discusses the status quo of the English culture teaching and learning in Chinese colleges. In the pedagogical level, most foreign language teachers have very vague idea of what the culture should be and what should be taught in terms of English culture. Lacking in the principled methodology in promoting students’ intercultural awareness, teachers either turn deaf to the new trend or frustrated by the communicative approach, somehow falling back to the more traditional but effective grammar-translation approach. The changing scenario of language teaching has constituted new challenges for the English educators in China. The paper proposes that more research should be channeled to the research of the paradigm of the English as an International Language (EIL) through intercultural awareness.


Author(s):  
Oleksandra Borzenko

The article reveals the features of professional improvement of foreign language communicative competence of foreign language teachers in the European Union, which is the result of the development of European integration, globalization and information processes. Emphasis is placed on the importance of professional development of teachers and the need for changes related to the development of new goals in teaching foreign languages with the new up-to-date innovative teaching aids. It is determined that foreign language teachers of European countries are constantly looking for and actively apply in practice innovative methods, modern information technologies, as well as distance learning in language teaching. It is noted that an essential feature of modern innovation processes in the field of education and upbringing is their technologicalization – strict compliance with the content and sequence of stages of the implementation of innovations. Among all new technical aids for foreign language teaching, the computer is an essential component of the educational process, which has one of the most significant influences on the course of teaching. New up-to-date approaches to the formation of foreign language communicative competence in the foreign language teaching put forward new requirements for the professionalism of the teacher, his/her qualifications. It is determined that the improvement of foreign language competence of the foreign language teacher is influenced by the properties of his/her personality, general and professional competence, which is provided by a combination of knowledge of didactics, linguistics, methods of teaching foreign languages, cultural studies and creativity, professional mobility, continuous self-development. Foreign language teachers of the European Union improve their professionalism through various forms of education. The views of scientists on the research problem are characterized. Conclusions and prospects for the use of further development of the study are made.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 152-156
Author(s):  
Jixin Liu

In this paper, the author explores the importance of context in interactive language teaching and how to make the classroom activities interactive through the application of context theory from the perspective of comprehension (listening, reading) and production (speaking and writing) and how to build context in foreign language classroom in accordance with the linguistic rules of English to promote the students’ communicative competence in the context.


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