scholarly journals PLURILINGUAL SOCIAL NETWORKS AND THE CREATION OF HYBRID CULTURAL SPACES

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Windle ◽  
Bárbara Bravo Pires Ferreira

ABSTRACT Although plurilingualism is a well-established topic in the international literature, especially in situations of transnational mobility, we still know little about the learning and appropriation of non-standard forms of English by young Brazilians online. Unlike the instrumental uses that predominate in formal English language teaching, digital literacy practices often focus on identity construction and expression, posing questions of race, gender, sexuality, and social status. Based on a digital ethnography of a Facebook page focused on American black popular culture, we analyze the linguistic resources and cultural references drawn upon by participants. The research seeks to understand the perspectives and online practices of young Brazilians, mobilizing theoretical resources from New Literacy Studies to understand the processes of discursive construction and resignification. The results show the importance of virtual spaces for the affirmation of subaltern identities, and at the same time the spatial restriction of some discursive expressions of identity, isolated from other educational and social environments in which the participants circulate. The article concludes by considering the implications for the democratization of foreign language learning in Brazil.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-84
Author(s):  
Sevim Maviş ◽  
Fevzi Dursun

The purpose of this study is to discover the issues in teaching English from the perspective of teachers. The qualitative method was employed in the study by using semi-structured interview forms to 19 teachers from a central Black Sea region province of Turkey. The teachers highlighted the impact of learning-teaching process, teacher training, teacher-stakeholder relationship and students during the study. According to the teachers, students' prejudices against foreign language learning, interest in the subject, awareness of the importance of language learning, speaking skills, participation in the lesson and the environment they take the courses affect the language learning process. Nevertheless, the reasons for the problems are a lot more complex than this. The students are also need to be supported by the education system, by the parents and by teachers in this process. For instance, the results shows that there is a need for activities that will make students more active, and more suitable environments and materials (i.e. books) are needed for English language teaching. Also, the teachers need to the support of parents, administrators, and the other teachers to become more efficient. This research once again reveals the importance of interrelation of all factors and stakeholders as well as students' willingness and thoughts in teaching English.


Author(s):  
Buğra Zengin ◽  
Duygu Doğan ◽  
Feryal Çubukçu

This chapter focuses on the attitudes of the fourth-year English Language Teaching (ELT) students towards strategies related to using movies and series as foreign language learning resources. The subjects were teacher candidates (at a state university in the west of Turkey). The current study demonstrates that foreign-language majors are not immune to downsides of a low-exposure EFL setting. The participants also state that only their family members - but not friends - are likely to cause a shift to the dubbed version of movie/series they want to view in the original language and with L2 captions (intralingual captions / in the source language) otherwise. This study suggests that backseat TV systems on buses can provide solutions. The backseat TV systems are welcome by most of the participants, in particular by those whose intercity travelling habits are found to be quite high.


Author(s):  
Mirela Mueller ◽  
Sabine Koch-Schneider

Technology then has become a mixed bag for the tourism industry. It creates a great deal of conveniences while at the same time has been used as a way to increase revenues and to lessen customer service, especially for the education of adults in the area of digital competence for the use for advertising the tourist offer of your own units. Modern Education Programs can be a great help in overcoming digital literacy and thus helping to choose a variety of offers that offer free internet advertising. The survey was conducted on the example of Okrug municipality on the Čiovo peninsula in the period from February 2017 to April 2017. 278 private renters participated. The aim of the research was to show that the Program for the Education of Foreign Languages, a specific English language that was organized by the Municipality, contributed to the advertising of its tourist units, thereby contributing to the revenue, ie the occupancy in the number of reservations. The paper used a quantization method, a questionnaire survey. point to the fact that it is necessary to invest in the Education Program so that the older population, in particular, acquires the general level of digital literacy and foreign language learning, for the purpose of finding an adequate media for advertising and strengthening the tourist capital of a municipality.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esim Gursoy ◽  
Sule C. Korkmaz ◽  
Ebru A. Damar

Teaching English to young learners has gained speed in the past twenty years. Many countries in Europe are offering English at the primary level as advised by the EU. The efforts to lower the age for foreign language learning have echoed in countries in Asia as well. Turkey as one of these countries has changed its educational policy in 2012 and launched the new English Language Teaching Program for grades 2-8 in 2013. Along with many changes, the new system offers EFL in the second grade. The present study not only aims to investigate the views of prospective ELT teachers towards this change, but also to compare their views with those of trainers, and English teachers who were investigated in the earlier phases of the study. The results indicate that although all three groups of participants favor an earlier start in foreign language education, there are significant differences between groups in terms of the appropriate starting time and teaching methodologies used. Teachers were indecisive as they favored both the first and second tiers to introduce a foreign language. The results have implications for policy makers, teachers, teacher trainers, and prospective teachers.


2012 ◽  
pp. 465-481
Author(s):  
María del Rocío Domínguez-Gaona ◽  
Guadalupe López-Bonilla ◽  
Karen Englander

Autonomous, self-directed language learning is the literacy practice that self-access centers aim to promote. Much of this activity occurs when students interact with the equipment and the materials available in the center. These resources, in many ways, become the core of the learning environment, and, therefore, it is critical to understand what learning is provided or afforded through them. In this study, we examine the literacy practices of students in a self-access center in Mexico, focusing on the materials. We combine description and analysis of materials, student observations, and interviews to identify the learning students perceive those resources afford and the criteria they employ to make decisions concerning their use of the materials. This investigation is accomplished through the theoretical perspective of New Literacy Studies, because it provides a unique and rich socio-cultural approach to language learning. As a result, we determined that affordances of the materials are constrained. We also identified five different criteria students use to choose materials, but despite their personal criterion, we found they often do not have a clear direction and purpose for their choices.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-200
Author(s):  
Nurus Syamsiyah Furotun ◽  
Mutmainnah Mustofa ◽  
Erfan Efendi ◽  
Nur Jamilah

The use of digital applications is very helpful in teaching and learning process, especially for language classes. The existence of technology is very helpful for teachers to increase student interest in learning about English language lesson. The development of the digital world is used by teachers to be used as a tool to facilitate student learning. This research focuses on the role of using a digital application called Wattpad which will make students diligently read English reading texts, so that they become more skilled in learning. In this research, the researchers defined the term digital application to explain the use of digital application in an effort to improve English as a foreign language learning skill. The related review of literature shows that the use of multi-media technology can improve students’ language learning skills because matches their interests. Therefore, their English skills can be better.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-45
Author(s):  
Setareh Masoumi Mayni ◽  
Shamala Paramasivam

By reviewing the literature on the development of English language teaching methods in the last three decades, it is obvious that the idea of using the first language (L1) in the second language (L2) classroom has always been controversial. The history of language pedagogy and the role of the first language in foreign language learning generate debates in English as a foreign language. The teaching of English as a foreign language is growing every day in Iran, and as a result, the need for informing the best policy is getting more urgent. The principal intent of the current study, that investigates the use of L1 in the English classroom, is to determine teachers, students and policymakers’ beliefs and attitudes towards the use of L1 in L2 classroom. The L1, in this case, is Farsi language and all the participants are native speakers of Farsi. One hundred and fifty students of the English Language Department at the elementary level at Tehran Institute of Technology are the participants of the study. They are all female and in their late teens or early twenties. The students and the teachers were surveyed by questionnaires and the researcher observed 10 classes and interviewed 3 teachers and 3 policymakers. The information gathered from the questionnaire was submitted to SPSS for analyzing the data, and the information gathered from the interview. Class observation check-list was used to triangulate the findings of the questionnaire. The results of this study indicate that teachers and students have different attitudes towards using L1 in the EFL classes. While students have a positive attitude, teachers have a negative attitude. The main reason mentioned by students for not being against the limited use of Farsi in their English class is that they believe using Farsi even in a limited sense can help them to understand difficult concepts. However, teachers believe in an English-only policy to be more exposed to the English language. Another finding of this study is that the functions of using Farsi by students or teachers in EFL classroom are: for explaining difficult parts, for managing the classroom, for explaining exam instructions, for explaining the two language differences, for checking comprehension, for seeking help from others, for joking with others, for making students relaxed and for presenting the meaning of new words. Given these findings, to match the student’s and teachers’/policymakers’ ideas about using L1 at the elementary level, an EFL teaching methodology that considers the use of Farsi, even in a limited way, is suggested.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Teichert

PurposeThis paper describes the unintended and unanticipated ways an iPhone as a data collection tool created distractions during observations of five-year-old twins' digital literacy practices while in their home.Design/methodology/approachSituated in sociocultural theories of learning and development and new literacy studies, the 12-month-long case study examined young children's digital literacy practices in their homes before and during their transition into kindergarten. The article focuses on the data collection of five-year-old twins in their home with their parents, a family the author called the Skywalkers. Data sources included semistructured interviews, participant observations and informal conversations.FindingsThe mother was a low-technology user and preferred her children to engage in nondigital activities. The children were permitted 10 min every other day of “digital time.” The iPhone as a data collection tool provided them with digital access they would otherwise not have. The mother knew the focus of the study was digital engagement and that the iPhone was used for data collection (i.e. photographs and videos). Although the iPhone was intended to be used in establishing rapport and taking photographs, the children frequently asked to video record their play and therefore the iPhone became a distraction.Originality/valueGiven the prevalence of smartphones in Western society, the recruitment of a family with such low-technology use was unforeseen. As digital data collection increases in qualitative research, researchers should not assume that a smartphone is always appropriate for gathering photographic data. This is particularly important when investigating digital literacy practices of families in their homes.


Author(s):  
Nizar Saputra

This study aims to investigate Indonesian teachers' perspectives of translation or first language used in ELT classrooms as well as to find out the teachers' strategies on how to incorporate translation as their pedagogical tool. This research is applied in a case study methodology, in which the researcher interviewed three English teachers in Indonesia to explore their perspectives. The raw data was analysed by using thematic analysis to find the emerging themes of the interview data which led to the result of this qualitative research. The result of the finding indicates that the teachers mostly have positive perceptions about TILT (translation in language teaching). Most participants believed that when translation use selectively, it can help students with foreign language learning, promote students' metalinguistic awareness, function as a thinking tool, mediate social interaction, and function as social mediation. Additionally, the strategies of TILT applied by the teachers in this study entail explaining difficult concepts and grammar, avoiding chunks of word translation, and nurturing students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills. It is suggested that if translation is integrated into language teaching, it should be used selectively as a pedagogical tool to support students’ learning.


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