scholarly journals Beginning L2 complexity development in CLIL and non-CLIL secondary education

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bram Bulte ◽  
Alex Housen

The present study analyses the impact of a bilingual Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programme vis-à-vis a regular monolingual programme on the development of different aspects of L2 learners’ linguistic (syntactic, morphological and lexical) complexity. Five pupils enrolled in a Dutch–English CLIL programme in a secondary school in the Netherlands are compared with five peers following the mainstream programme with English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching. The longitudinal development of these ten pupils’ linguistic complexity in L2-English is investigated by means of six complexity measures calculated for each of eleven writing tasks collected over a period spanning their first nineteen months of secondary education. Linear mixed models are used to estimate the effects of time and programme type on the pupils’ L2 complexity. The results indicate that both groups of learners significantly increase the complexity of their L2 writing over the course of the study. Surprisingly, only limited effects of programme type (CLIL vs non-CLIL) are found, despite considerable differences in the quantity and quality of instructional exposure to the target language, suggesting that for these pupils increased and more varied instructional exposure to the L2 in the CLIL programme did not lead to significantly different L2 productions in terms of linguistic complexity. Several possible explanations for these findings are considered and the implications for CLIL research are discussed.

Author(s):  
Elena Bañares-Marivela ◽  
Laura Rayón-Rumayor

The chapter explores a methodological approach where creativity is encouraged through the production of multimodal iPad-mediated narrative texts in the English as a foreign language classroom (EFL) in secondary education. The study, which is based on creativity of human language, evaluates the multimodal productions of a group of students of secondary education (Year 7) in Spain, who work with iPads (1:1 context) within a cooperative learning approach, and analyzes this learning experience from the students' point of view. The results show the impact multimodality has on the own students and on their way of working with the foreign language. The quality of their productions, not only regarding language but also as an act of creation, and the way they appropriate the different semiotic modes multimodality offers will also be examined. Finally, the authors suggest some guidelines to encourage multimodal production and creativity in the EFL secondary classroom and show examples which would help teachers and researchers to develop new didactic proposals at this stage.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Alvira

<p>This article, based on an action research study performed at a Colombian middle-sized private university, proposes specific strategies to provide feedback to English as a foreign language learners and uses a Web 2.0 tool called screencasting. The findings of the study suggest that the use of coded, written, and oral feedback is widely accepted by students and yields positive results in the improvement of their writing skills at the paragraph level, and that the use of screencasting is a promising strategy that is motivational to students and increases the quality of their uptake.</p>


2000 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 99-109
Author(s):  
R. A. Alani

The paper traced the history of the development of secondary education in Nigeria since its inception in J859. The paper noted the emphasis on traditional art and science subjects in the past and the innovations that have been brought into the secondary school curricula by the National Policy 011 Education published in 1977, but revised in J981 and J998. The problems of implementing the curricula were briefly mentioned. The paper finally highlighted steps that could be taken to improve the quality of secondary education, such as provision of physical and material resources, adequate financing of education, teacher training and development, improvement of the conditions of service for teachers and supervision of instruction, among others.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-79
Author(s):  
A Amriana

Teacher’s L1/L2 use in Indonesian EFL classroom has been the object of debate among practitioners of a second language and foreign language teaching. Despite the considerable amount of the research that has been conducted on the phenomenon, the focus has often been the advantages and disadvantages. This study reports on a study that investigated subject teacher’s language use on Indonesian EFL classroom. It reports research conducted in a private secondary school in Makassar. An Ethnography research has been employed to collect data on how the teacher perceives the L1/L2 use and the extent to which the approaches they adopt impact on students’ achievement. The research result demonstrates that the more active the teacher in promoting L2 learning, the more he is aware of the teaching practices used in the classroom. Also, the research result also reveals that the more he improves the quality of his teaching approach, the better language learning his students acquire.


Author(s):  
Lynne Rogers

The training of teachers in upper secondary education varies considerably dependent on whether training is undertaken as a secondary school teacher or as a teacher within the Further Education (FE) system. Indeed, until the late 1990s, the training of teachers in FE had been the focus of little regulation by Government. Differences also occur across the UK with different pathways in place in the home countries. Regardless of the pathway taken to teaching in upper secondary education there are concerns that the teaching in schools and FE is still not good enough. The Coalition Government has proposed many reforms to the training of teachers in schools and a consultation exercise has been undertaken on the training of teachers in the FE sector. This article will review current approaches to the training of teachers in the home countries of the UK. Attention will be given to the proposed reforms in order to consider how these might contribute to raising the standard of teacher training and hence the quality of teaching in schools and FE.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 999-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masatoshi Sato ◽  
Kim McDonough

AbstractThis study explored the impact of contextualized practice on second language (L2) learners’ production of wh-questions in the L2 classroom. It examined the quality of practice (correct vs. incorrect production) and the contribution of declarative knowledge to proceduralization. Thirty-four university-level English as a foreign language learners first completed a declarative knowledge test. Then, they engaged in various communicative activities over five weeks. Their production of wh-questions was coded for accuracy (absence of errors) and fluency (speech rate, mean length of pauses, and repair phenomena). Improvement was measured as the difference between the first and last practice sessions. The results showed that accuracy, speech rate, and pauses improved but with distinct patterns. Regression models showed that declarative knowledge did not predict accuracy or fluency; however, declarative knowledge assisted the learners to engage in targetlike behaviors at the initial stage of proceduralization. Furthermore, whereas production of accurate wh-questions predicted accuracy improvement, it had no impact on fluency.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Saleem Khan

<p>This paper strives to explore the impact of Native Language use on Foreign Language vocabulary learning on the basis of empirical and available data. The study is carried out with special reference to the English Language Programme students in Buraydah Community College, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. The Native Language of these students is Arabic and their Second Language is English. The participants in this research study are the post-secondary students of Buraydah Community College in Intensive Course Programme. The instrument used in this study was in the form of two tests. It is well known that in language assessment tests play a pivotal role in evaluating the EFL learners’ language proficiency. The use of native language as a semantic tool for assessing second language learners’ understanding shouldn’t be rejected altogether especially for the undergrad Saudi EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. The outcomes of the study show that in learning the vocabulary of target language is significantly helped by the use of translation method of native language (Arabic) in understanding the meaning of novel words and expressions of foreign language (English). This method is widely welcomed by majority of the students of Buraydah Community College. It’s recommended to use this method in order to take the students directly to the core meaning of the word or expression. It also, sometimes, gives a sense of accuracy of the meaning of native language equivalents.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Li ◽  
Yingqin Liu

This study explores whether using a cultural research course project can positively impact foreign language students’ intercultural competence and language learning. Using a case study method, the researchers recruited 12 student participants from an Intermediate Mandarin Chinese I class and from an Introduction to Mandarin Chinese I class in the Fall 2014 semester at a small public southwest university in USA. The project asked the participants to do a PowerPoint oral presentation on special topics from the target language culture and then to write a reflective cultural comparison English essay on this learning experience during the final exam. The findings show that, through doing the project, the students have improved their intercultural competence in that they have a more positive attitude towards “otherness,” enriched their cultural knowledge of the target language society and  that of their own, and obtained skills in critically appreciating and evaluating both similarities and differences  between the target language culture and their own. The students also expanded their language learning experience beyond the classroom and textbook and acquired better language skills in listening, speaking, and writing Chinese characters while they became more interested in and motivated by learning the target language and culture. Recommendations for future study are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-406
Author(s):  
Seçil Tümen-Akyıldız ◽  
Vildan Çelik ◽  
Kwestan Hussein Ahmed

With Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), a major change to the remote education arrangements has arisen. As it is clear, the pandemic has got side effects, especially in the scope of education and English as foreign language (EFL) teaching. Students at all levels were encouraged to continue learning despite the difficulties they had throughout the crisis. This study aims to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the field of EFL, particularly by revealing the viewpoints of secondary school students on pandemic remote education and its impact on their English language learning process. Thus, it was designed as qualitative research; interviews were held to probe indepth into their perceptions on EFL teaching throughout pandemic remote education. Interviews were conducted with thirty secondary school students chosen voluntarily. The participants were chosen from different schools. The data obtained from the interviews were analysed through qualitative content analysis by NVivo 8 software program. The results revealed that participants declared that most of the teachers used course books and gave pencil-paper assignments. It was also highlighted that teachers emphasised reading and listening skills in their lessons rather than writing and speaking. Another significant finding of the study is that the participants preferred face-to-face foreign language teaching to remote teaching. Nevertheless, they admitted that online language teaching has several advantages comparing to traditional face-to-face education besides its challenges such as technical, economic, contextual, and individual problems. Lastly, several noteworthy suggestions were made regarding teachers, policymakers, families, and students themselves.


2021 ◽  
pp. 173-191
Author(s):  
Marta Segura ◽  
Helena Roquet ◽  
Carmen Pérez-Vidal

In an attempt to explore the effects of different kinds of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning contexts, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) have been at the centre of FL acquisition research over the past decade. Studies have focused on the features and gains this setting brings, whether content is learnt at the same level of success as when taught in the learners’ L1, and whether that L1 is negatively affected by CLIL. However, to our knowledge, very little attention has been brought to how the seniority of the programme affects learner progress in the target language. This study aims to fill such a gap in the understanding that the programme will have developed and improved in terms of quality of exposure and interaction, and that learners’ EFL performance will be higher. To do that, we measured the efficacy of a long-standing CLIL programme in Barcelona twelve years after it was launched and examined the reading, writing, and lexico-grammatical abilities of CLIL EFL learners aged 8, 11, and 14 compared with results obtained by learners measured at the onset of the programme in 2005. The results showed that the quality of the programme has increased over the last decade, guaranteeing a higher level of EFL student proficiency when raw scores are considered, but not in terms of linguistic gains, in which only improvement in older students’ grammar and reading skills can be observed.


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