Semiotic modeling of the text-driven conceptual paradigm in language education

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 661-683
Author(s):  
Yufeng Li
Keyword(s):  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Modeling Systems ◽  
Language Knowledge ◽  
Meaning Negotiation ◽  
Semiotic Modeling ◽  
English Textbooks ◽  
Knowledge Content ◽  
Narrative Spaces

Abstract The conceptual paradigm of Thomas Sebeok’s modeling systems theory builds a theoretical foundation that modeling and knowing converge and coexist in the process of life evolution, and affords multiple narrative spaces for foreign language education, allowing us to address living and learning concurrently in the process of meaning modeling. The present paper argues that the concept of modeling has elevated us above the long-standing emphasis on the most valuable knowledge with the same (target) language standards and the same discourse power, and has captured the interest of language educators to establish a semiotic connection between knowledge content and knowledge representation through a representation model, the English textbook, which is generally considered as an important carrier of language knowledge. The study of the concept of English textbooks promotes sustainable regeneration of semiotic information on multi-level spatial interpretability so that learning can be regarded as exploration and growth of experience. Based on what these analyses reveal, the paper concludes by confirming that the textbook can effectively construct a diverse cultural signification order, considering the learner’s greater flexibility and social responsibility and providing the curriculum with a modeling nature for meaning negotiation among all parties involved.

scholarly journals Implementation of the meta-subject approach in the process of foreign language training of future teachers at a pedagogical university

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-202
Author(s):  
A. Kabbassova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Learning Activity ◽  
General Strategy ◽  
Future Teachers ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
Language Knowledge ◽  
Second Year

A future teacher who speaks foreign language is in more demand by school today than ever before. Pedagogical universities change their activities to meet the school educational system’s requirements. The need of English for future teachers is determined by the necessity of subject activity. In the process of teaching the teacher not only stimulates the mastering of the basics of science, but also creates the opportunity to develop learning skills, critically realize their experience of foreign language usage. First and second year students, while learning foreign language, improve their speaking skills, learn to use the best way to build their learning activity. The goal of the next step of professional training is to master teaching methods, which will let the students use their foreign language knowledge. Teaching English on the basis of meta-subject approach principles will allow to solve these problems. The article is devoted to the analysis of solving the problems of foreign language education of future teachers. The author suggests using the meta-subject potential of a foreign language as a general strategy of foreign language education. The experimental pedagogical work carried out at the Pavlodar Pedagogical University allows us to draw a conclusion about the effectiveness of the proposed ideas.

scholarly journals The Importance of Foreign Language Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarka Hubackova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
German Language ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Language Knowledge ◽  
Ways Of Life

Foreign language knowledge is a basis of understanding other cultures, different ways of life and of intercultural communication. What is more, foreign languages offer an advantage when it comes to getting job, they facilitate travelling; they open the possibilities to study abroad. The European Union encourages and supports foreign language teaching and learning.  European Union documents are made available multilingully, so that they becme pervious to all citizens of member countries. Foreign language education has a long- tradition in the Czech school system. At its disposal, it has l sophisticated methods. They are continuously modernized and harmonized in accordance with recommendations, documents and projects concerning the language policy of European Council and Commission. The academic community gets the familiarization with them by means of national and international activities.       Keywords: Blended learning; Foreign language; Language education; German language 

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.

Foreign Language Education in Japan

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryuko Kubota
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Learning English

Historically, foreign language education in Japan has been influenced by local and global conditions. Of the two major purposes of learning a language—to gain new knowledge from overseas and to develop practical communication skills—the latter pragmatic orientation became dominant toward the end the 19th century, when access to foreign language learning increased and English became a dominant language to learn. The trend of learning English as an international language for pragmatic purposes has been further strengthened since the 1980s under the discourses of internationalization and neoliberal globalization. An overview of the current status of foreign language education reveals that there are both formal and non-formal learning opportunities for people of all ages; English predominates as a target language although fewer opportunities to learn other languages exist; English is taught at primary and secondary schools and universities with an emphasis on acquiring communicative skills, although the exam-oriented instructional practices contradict the official goal; and adults learn foreign languages, mainly English, for various reasons, including career advancement and hobbyist enjoyment. Such observations include contestations and contradictions. For instance, there have been debates on whether the major aim of learning English should be pragmatic or intellectual. These debates have taken place against the backdrop of the fact that the learning of a foreign language—de facto English—is much more prevalent in society in the early 21st century compared with previous periods in history, when access to learning opportunities was limited to elites. Another contradiction is between the multilingual reality in local and global communities and the exclusive emphasis on teaching English. This gap can be critically analyzed through a critical realist lens, through which multilayers of ideology in discourses and realities in the material world are examined. The predominance of English is driven by a neoliberal ideology that conceptualizes English as a global language with economic benefit, while testing and shadow education enterprises perpetuate the emphasis on English language teaching. The political economy of foreign language education also explains the longstanding socioeconomic disparity in English ability.

Intensifying constructions in French-speaking L2 learners of English and Dutch

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isa Hendrikx ◽  
Kristel Van Goethem ◽  
Stefanie Wulff
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Longitudinal Impact ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
The Cross

Abstract We investigate the cross-linguistic influence and the (longitudinal) impact of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) on the acquisition of intensifying constructions, using corpora of written French, Dutch, and English productions by L1 speakers, and L2 English and L2 Dutch produced by French-speaking learners in CLIL and traditional foreign language education. We hypothesize that learners will benefit from similarities between the L1 and target language (TL) intensifying constructions, and secondly, that more input and use (through CLIL) will lead to a more target-like use of intensifying constructions. The analyses include quantitative measures of frequency and productivity, and covarying analyses (Gries, 2007). Our findings suggest that, as expected, CLIL students produce intensifying constructions in a more target-like manner. The effect of the duration of TL learning, however, is more apparent in English than in Dutch.

USE OF THE MOTHER TONGUE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE INTERACTION

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-181
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Sofronieva ◽  
◽  
Christina Beleva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Nursery Schools ◽  
Comprehension Skills ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
English Speaking

The article offers a brief historical overview of some of the main methods in foreign language teaching and focuses on the use of the native language in their application. A modern study conducted among children from nursery schools in Bulgaria shows that when language education is carried out only in the target language, children also use only this language in their language interactions and vice versa. Some of the research findings are that 42.2 percent of the children whose teachers communicate with them in both languages, also make use of Bulgarian when trying to convey meanings and messages in English language. In general, children’s comprehension skills are better developed than their English speaking skills. In conclusion, the research results show that at the present stage, the offered foreign language education of children in nursery schools as entertaining as it may be, is not effective enough. Working methods and well-established approaches should be applied in early foreign language education of children in order to develop their skills to communicate in a new language.

scholarly journals Understanding Foreign Language Education at BFSU

MANUSYA ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-67
Author(s):  
Zhou Yan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Rote Learning ◽  
New Materials ◽  
Error Corrections ◽  
Linguistic Rules ◽  
Psychological Strength

The paper shows that the students at Beijing Foreign studies University (BFSU) are from various parts of the country with uneven exposure to and different training in English. They have to go through a period of adjustment: learning new materials, new ways of language learning as well as of unlearning certain learning habits gotten from their high schools. It is pointed out that language learning does not only mean mastering linguistic rules or structures but also understanding culture of the target language. In order to do this many things are required: motivation, willingness to do rote learning and monotonous drills of basic structures, perseverance in practising newly acquired language skills, and psychological strength without feeling intimidated by error corrections by teachers or laughter by peers.

scholarly journals Classroom Management in Foreign Language Education: An Exploratory Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-166
Author(s):  
Diego Fernando Macías
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Language Instruction ◽  
Language Classes

This review examines studies in the area of classroom management in foreign language education. It is organized into three large areas: The first area focuses on the distinctive characteristics of foreign language instruction that are more likely to impact classroom management in foreign language classes. The second area provides a description of classroom management issues that foreign language teachers usually encounter in their practice; and the third area centers on the different alternatives to reduce the negative impact of classroom management on foreign language classes. Conclusions suggest a need for more research particularly on the relationship between classroom management and aspects such as target language use and teaching methods. 

scholarly journals Professionally-oriented foreign language training: problems and solutions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Т.А. Танцура
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Education Abroad ◽  
Language Knowledge ◽  
Problems And Solutions ◽  
High Level ◽  
The University

В статье рассматриваются основные направления иноязычного образования в вузе в настоящее время. Автор указывает на общую тенденцию трансформации иноязычного образования за рубежом и в отечественном образовании. Создание единого европейского государства и открытие границ способствовали росту мобильности профессиональных кадров, что вызвало потребность в высоком уровне знания иностранного языка для повседневного и профессионального общения. Актуальность статьи заключается в изучении проблемы внедрения интегрированного обучения профильных дисциплин посредством иностранного языка в вузе. Автором отмечается тот факт, что несмотря на возможность активизации процесса обучения профильным дисциплинам и одновременного совершенствования знаний и навыков иностранного языка, в настоящее время лишь небольшое количество вузов внедряют интегрированное обучение. В статье определяются трудности и преимущества введения обучения на основе предметно-языкового интегрированного обучения. The article deals with the main directions of foreign language education at the university at the present time. The author points to the general trend regarding to transformation of foreign language education abroad and in Russia. The creation of the European union and the opening of borders contributed to the growth of the mobility of professional personnel, which caused the need for a high level of a foreign language knowledge for everyday and professional communication. The relevance of the article is to study the problem of implementing integrated teaching of specialized disciplines through a foreign language at a university. The author notes the fact that despite the possibility of activating the process of teaching specialized disciplines and simultaneously improving the knowledge and skills of a foreign language, only a small number of universities are implementing integrated training currently. The article defines the difficulties and advantages of introducing training based on subject-language integrated learning.

Мethodological Support for University Students’ Independent Work

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Getsov ◽  
Sylvia Velikova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Independent Work

This paper focuses on the role of media linguistics and the use of media discourse in (foreign) language education. Based on an example of a specific critical incident in the context of teaching Bulgarian as a foreign language, the study concludes that (foreign) language teaching and learning should go beyond the normative spaces of the “standard” language, and that learners should be exposed to the lexico-grammatical and discourse features of different target language varieties and registers. Thus, they will expand their language repertoire beyond the perimeter of the codified standard norm of public communication, which will allow them to use the language appropriately in diverse social and cultural settings.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document