scholarly journals A learner’s grammar for Estonian: Insights from typological research

Author(s):  
Anne Tamm ◽  
Piibi-Kai Kivik

This paper discusses the need for a modern Estonian reference grammar for learners and lays the basic groundwork for creating one. The current abundance of materials for teaching Estonian as a foreign language and recent advancements in both areal-typological linguistics and in the study of acquisition of Estonian contribute to conceptualizing a new type of grammar, and further improving the teaching and learning of Estonian. Modern language instruction orients to proficiency as the ability to use language in real life. We contend that this goal, combined with the availability of language technology and increased mobility of people increases the demands on effective teaching of language structure. Research has shown that the main difficulties for learners of Estonian concern morphology and morphosyntax. We suggest that including an areal-typological perspective on categories and concepts in describing and explaining the structure of Estonian may help learners in these areas.Kokkuvõte. Anne Tamm, Piibi-Kai Kivik: Grammatika eesti keele õppijale: võõrkeeleõpe ja tüpoloogia. Artikkel osutab ühisosale areaal-tüpoloogilise keeleteaduse ja teise keele omandamise uurimise vahel. Eesti keele morfosüntaks ja süntaks, sh evidentsiaalsuse, aspekti ja eituse väljendamine pakub huvi mõlema ala uurijatele. Keeleõppija jaoks pole siin tegu mitte ainult uue vormi, vaid ka uue grammatilise kategooria või moodustussüsteemiga (nt eitus), kus erinevuste teadvustamine, sh metalingvistiline teadlikkus võib aidata vältida vigu ja kiirendada keeleomandamise protsessi. Artikkel väidab, et kaasaegne kommunikatiivne, suhtluspädevusele suunatud keeleõpe ei väldi grammatika õpetamist, vaid teeb seda läbimõeldult ja kontekstis. Et keeletundides kasutataks võimalikult palju aega suhtlemise harjutamiseks, on vaja käepäraseid ja ammendavaid materjale iseseisvaks tööks, sh grammatikaseletusi ja pedagoogilist grammatikat. Pedagoogiline grammatika, mis põhineb lingvistilisel uurimistööl, pakub uusi võimalusi nii õpetajale kui õppijale sihtja lähtekeele kõrvutamiseks ning veaohtlike või keerulisemate keelenähtuste paremaks omandamiseks.Märksõnad: areaal-tüpoloogiline keeleteadus; eesti keel võõrkeelena; morfosüntaks; kategooriad; õppijagrammatika

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (38) ◽  
pp. 223-236
Author(s):  
Le Thi Chi Giao ◽  
Bich Dieu Nguyen

Teaching for enhanced learning experience has well-received great interest from many teachers and educators around the world. In the EFL setting, tremendous efforts have been recognized in taking students out of a conventional classroom to experience a new way of learning which stimulates interest and creative thinking, which improves communication and collaborative skills, and which exposes students to more meaningful real-life situations. Project-based learning (PBL) is an answer to this, and it has developed as an alternative to teaching a foreign language with a focus on enhanced learning experience and increased creative teambuilding and group skills through meaningful projects. This paper presents how PBL has been adopted at the University of Foreign Language Studies – the University of Danang (UFLS-UD). It revisits the significance of PBL, the structure of a PBL activity, and reports how PBL has been situated in the local context of teaching English to students majoring in English in Vietnam. The reflections reported here showcase the gains through the path of action research enacted by individual teachers who act as change agents or enablers of this innovative teaching and learning approach and whose efforts have been recognized by means of several adaptations made to bring real life and a sense of community into language instruction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prem Prasad Poudel ◽  
Madan Prasad Baral

Abstract In recent years, in Nepal, while some languages of the nation are on the verge of extinction, some foreign languages (such as Japanese, Korean, Chinese) are emerging as new attractions among the youths and adults and are widely taught in the marketplaces through the private sector initiative. Against this backdrop, in this article, we have examined the current foreign language teaching and learning situation drawing on qualitative empirical data obtained from the institutes involved in foreign language instruction in a city in Gandaki Province of Nepal. The data were collected from a survey in forty institutes, ten individual interviews and five focus group discussions. Drawing on the data, an ecological model was adopted, which focused on dynamic interaction, co-existence, and competition among languages, and findings were discussed in line with these aspects of ecological understanding. Findings revealed that learning foreign languages has been established as a conduit towards economic gains and opportunities for employment and education, which has largely been contributory towards reshaping the ecological relationship among the foreign languages in Nepal.


2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiane Dalton-Puffer ◽  
Renate Faistauer ◽  
Eva Vetter

This overview of six years of research on language learning and teaching in Austria covers a period of dynamic development in the field. While all the studies reviewed here illustrate research driven by a combination of local and global concerns and theoretical frameworks, some specific clusters of research interest emerge. The first of these focuses on issues connected with multilingualism in present-day society in terms of language policy, theory development and, importantly, the critical scrutiny of dominant discursive practices in connection with minority and migrant languages. In combination with this focus, there is a concern with German as a second or foreign language in a number of contexts. A second cluster concerns the area of language testing and assessment, which has gained political import due to changes in national education policy and the introduction of standardized tests. Finally, a third cluster of research concerns the diverse types of specialized language instruction, including the introduction of foreign language instruction from age six onwards, the rise of academic writing instruction, English-medium education and, as a final more general issue, the role of English as a dominant language in the canon of all foreign and second languages in Austria.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-51
Author(s):  
Welliam Hamer ◽  
Ledy Nur Lely

This article aims at sharing information on how pictionary game is used to increase the learners’ vacabulary mastery in the process of teaching and learning. It is clear that vocabulary is one of components of English language. When the learners are reading, they need to master vocabulary related to certain topic. Therefore vocabulary is important thing in learning English. However, mastering English vocabularies is not easy. English is foreign language in which learning English is often considered to be difficult to comprehend. This problem can be seen from the unsatisfactory result when learning English. The learning processs commonly used in the classroom just puts the teacher as a center of learning. It means that the teacher always dominates him/herself to teach, not to focus on how the learners learn effectively. This makes the learners passive and less interested in following the course of learning. In fact the learners’ interest is the most important factor in the study. Interest can be developed if the learning process run with fun, vary, and conducive athmosphere. There are many factors that can support the existance of an increase in the study, i.e. teachers, learners, materials, media, methods, and other learning sources. One factor that can help the learners learn vocabulary is the use of pictionary game. In this study, pictionary game is a classic game of drawing and guessing pictures. Pictionary game can also increase the imagination of learners, where learners are asked to draw according to the word given by the teachers. Things that are needed to play pictionary game are a list or card of vocabulary items, whiteboard, calkboard, or smart board and markers. Pictionary game will help learners to get involved in classroom activities. Other advantages of using pictionary game can be concluded that it provides fun language practice in the various language skills.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taina M Wewer

This practice-oriented article, also applicable for general foreign and second language instruction, outlines experiences and classroom practices recognized as functional and effective in CLIL (content and language integrated learning) contexts. CLIL can be defined as a comprehensive approach to foreign language teaching because it aims at learning language through various content across the curriculum. Since one of the guidelines in the Finnish basic education is teacher autonomy, the fluctuation in materials, practices and methods is notable. Therefore, there is no sole authenticated model of CLIL implementation, but the practices rather vary significantly from one classroom to another. Furthermore, the extent of the target language (TL) exposure has an impact on the instructional choices as well as the pre-negotiated and defined learning objectives. In most cases, the primary aim is that the child learns to read and write in the mother tongue or the main language of instruction (most often Finnish in Finland), and the target language (in this case English) is gradually and increasingly incorporated into the everyday classroom practice. Hence, instruction is bilingual. Research on foreign language teaching and learning helps to formulate some of the recurring linguistic practices in CLIL classrooms which is important in shaping the language used for social purposes. The integration of language and content and academic language need special attention in CLIL. In a similar manner, assessment of the target language, has to be specifically addressed. I will touch upon all these issues in the three main sections drawing on CLIL instruction with approximately 25% English exposure of total instruction.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-94
Author(s):  
Dwi Ide Rahayu

The acquisition and learning of English as a Foreign Language differs from that of English as a Second Language. In the EFL setting, it is not sufficient if the teaching and learning processes only depend on formal institution. Because of that, the non-formal education plays an important role to support the processes. This research aims at exploring (1) how Kampung Inggris Kebumen – as one of non-formal educations in Indonesia – was built; (2) what the teaching method used to make the learners in Kampung Inggris Kebumen speak English without any reluctance; and (3) how the learners in Kampung Inggris Kebumen acquire and learn English. This research applies qualitative method i.e. a descriptive case study by means of observation and interviews. The result shows that (1) as one of non-formal institution, Kampung Inggris Kebumen plays a significant important role in the success of English teaching and learning in  Kebumen Regency, in terms of their collaboration with MGMP Sekolah; (2)  Kampung Inggris Kebumen applies the combination of direct method and audio lingual method which are confirmed supportive in the process of acquiring and learning English as a Foreign Language; (3) The students feel that they can decrease their affective filter since the instructors of Kampung Inggris Kebumen use many fun learning activities, provide rich exposures, and intensive time to apply the English in students’ real life. Keywords : acquisition, learning, EFL, non-formal education


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Maria de Jesus Ferreira Nobre

Teaching and learning a foreign language at a distance implies many challenges, namely regarding oral skills. At Universidade Aberta (the Portuguese Open University), and taking into account its virtual pedagogical model (Pereira, 2007) and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Alves, 2001), we suggest curricular paths which include online communicative practices, both oral and written, within the present pedagogical offer, following a student-centred, task-oriented approach. Thus, in this text, we share some examples of training activities in German, French and English, focusing on oral practice, and based on digital resources. These digital resources comprise multimedia materials, either produced by the teachers or the students, as well as other materials available on the web 2.0. Our teaching and research practice within the field of foreign languages and in e-learning, in particular, leads us to conclude that the multimedia resources used are suitable for the online teaching and learning of foreign languages (see third question of questionnaire), especially for professionally engaged adults, as is the case with Universidade Aberta’s students, providing them with real-life situations that foster the teaching-learning of languages in the virtual environment. We include responses to a questionnaire survey filled out by a group of students.Received: 09 May 2018Accepted: 28 May 2018Published online: 31 May 2018


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (22) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Simone Tiemi Hashiguti ◽  
Cristiane Carvalho de Paulo Brito ◽  
Rogério de Castro Ângelo

Within the realm of a technological innovation project for the creation of a virtual laboratory for teaching and learning English as a foreign language, this paper explores the discursive-performatic theory on language that is one of the principles guiding the work. Practical examples from the laboratory are described and fundamental concepts are explained. Meaning making in the historical/technological conditions of the laboratory is seen as taking place in the space between the reexamination of ways to teach formal, institutionalized knowledge on language structure while problematizing meanings and social themes, and reflecting on how language creates realities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 162
Author(s):  
Ni Luh Supartini ◽  
Ni Putu Oka Agustini

Learning English as a foreign language required some strategies to achieve the goal of communication. In teaching and learning process, the teacher and students frequently use their first language to explain the difficult word in English. This study aimed to investigate the language used by the teacher as communication strategies in teaching English as a foreign language and students’ responses toward the use of each type of language instruction in teaching English at Hospitality class. To investigate the study there were 2 teachers and 2 classes of hospitality management class as the subject. The data were collected through observation of teaching and learning process and interview session. The study was designed as descriptive qualitative research and the data were analyzed descriptively. The finding showed that the teacher used the target language frequently, however the used of mixed language to explain some difficult words also found in teaching and learning process.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 141-158
Author(s):  
Ewa Zajdler

The production of highly intelligible syllables in Mandarin Chinese entails a successful production of tones, which poses a challenge for learners of Chinese as a foreign language. The aim of the current paper is to address this issue by identifying the key tonal features contributing to tone intelligibility in the lexemes produced by Polish learners of Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language. Samples of Polish female students’ tonal pronunciations at two stages of learning were selected and compared with productions made by a female native speaker of Mandarin Chinese from Taiwan. Four syllables produced by the students were selected from a corpus of read-out passages which had already been assessed for the intelligibility of monosyllabic lexemes by native judges. The students’ pronunciation samples (whose pronunciation improved from the A1 minus language level to A2) were analysed using pitch, fundamental frequency contour, and register span criteria, and then compared to the female native speaker’s pronunciations of the same syllables. Importantly, before the results of this analysis are presented, the simplified model of tones widely used in language instruction is compared and contrasted with the acoustic analysis of tonal productions made by the native speaker. This is done to show to what extent the simplified, widely used model reflects real-life tonal productions.


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