Pocket Electronic Dictionaries for Second Language Learning: Help of Hindrance

1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria M. Tang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Esl Students ◽  
Esl Teachers ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Learning English

This article reports on a study that addresses the concerns of ESL teachers about their students' use of pocket bilingual electronic dictionaries (EDs). The purpose is to communicate to content and language teachers: (a) the features of the ED, (b) the uses secondary level ESL students make of the pocket ED as a tool for learning English, (c) the effectiveness of the ED in helping ESL students' comprehension and production of English, (d) students' perception of the usefulness of the ED, and (e) the strengths and weaknesses of the ED as perceived by ESL teachers. The findings indicate that not only do a large number of Chinese ESL students own EDs, but they also make consistent use of them during reading comprehension and writing classes. Examples are given of the students' successful and unsuccessful attempts using the ED, and recommendations are made for ESL teachers to teach dictionary skills.

First and Second Language Learning: Same or Different?

1976 ◽  
Vol 158 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Macnamara
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Practical Guidelines ◽  
Considerable Body

The thesis of the following paper is that the process of learning a second language, if it produces successful results, is the same as that of learning a first language. The paper reviews various objections that have been raised against this thesis, and it discusses the considerable body of research which explores it. It examines the appropriateness of the research data for throwing light on the validity of the thesis. It concludes with some practical guidelines for language teachers drawn from observations of babies learning their mother tongue.

scholarly journals Affect, Empowerment and the Complexities of Belonging: Cultivating a Humanistic Atmosphere in the ESL Classroom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Momoye Sugiman
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
Esl Teachers ◽  
Esl Programs ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Esl Classroom

In this paper, I focus on the affective atmosphere of the Adult English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. I argue that a humanistic learning approach can be a form of strategic resistance against the bureaucratization and standardization of publicly funded ESL programs for adult newcomers in Canada. Given the growing, top-down trend in our economically driven and technologically dependent society, there is a need to humanize the Canadian ESL classroom as a space for empathy and critical thinking. Through a literature review and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with former ESL learners and former ESL teachers, this paper reveals the psychological and political complexities of second language learning and cultural identity, as well as the pivotal role that an ESL teacher can play during the first few years of settlement. In this context, I also critique the racialized linguistic hierarchy embedded in Canada’s multiculturalism policy and exclusionary immigration and language policies.

scholarly journals Teachers’ Perception of Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom

EL LE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Cucinotta
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Classroom Climate ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Motivational Strategies ◽  
Language Classroom

Motivation can determine success or failure in second language learning process, however there is a limited number of published investigations dedicated to motivational strategies in a European context. The purpose of the present study is to replicate Cheng’s and Dörnyei’s (2007) research to test the validity of their findings in a different cultural milieu. 101 foreign language (FL) and second language (L2) teachers were asked to rate a list of 47 motivational strategies according based on the degree of importance they perceived. In addition, they were also invited to specify how they acquainted with each strategy. The results of the study suggest that, even though the use of motivational strategies is decidedly context-dependent, the prevailing importance of some strategies might be cross-cultural. In particular, strategies related to classroom climate could also be considered as preconditions to employ further strategies. The highest-rated strategies are also indicated as acquired mostly through experience, which highlights the far too little attention that motivational strategies have so far received in education programmes for the formation of language teachers.

Learning Arabic Through Language of Journalism

2019 ◽  
pp. 1837-1867
Author(s):  
Mai Samir El-Falaky
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Natural Context ◽  
Direct Exposure ◽  
Lexical Items

Second language learning requires more than memorizing rules and vocabulary detached from contexts. Language teachers have to encourage the exposure to real context to enable their students to ‘acquire' the language in the same way they acquire their first language. This could entail an unconscious induction called ‘analogy'. Analogy may enable language learners to create neologisms for the purpose of communicating. This could also enable them to obtain a better understanding of lexical items in context. This chapter highlights the benefits of direct exposure to neologisms in journalistic texts, which influences learners' morphological choice. Mass media in general and journalism in particular are thought to be a perfect means of learning any language in its natural context.

scholarly journals A Pragmatic Study of Humour in Udurawana’s Joke Stories of Sri Lanka: Implications for Second Language Teaching and Learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 762
Author(s):  
Upul Priyantha Gamage ◽  
Wellman Kondowe
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teaching Tool ◽  
Conversational Implicature ◽  
Second Language Teaching

This paper presents a step by step approach of unpacking humour in joke stories from Udurawana in Sir-Lanka. The analysis has employed two theoretical models: Grice’s (1975) theory of Conversational Implicature, and Juckel, Bellman and Varan’s (2016) Taxonomy of Humour Techniques. The study has demonstrated that understanding humour involves going through different layers of language given that humour itself does not reside at the surface; but rather inside meanings of words and phrases. The paper appeals to language teachers to utilise humour as a teaching tool owing to the enormous joys it brings in facilitating the teaching and learning of the second language. We conclude that helping learners take baby-steps to decipher humour can lead them into better understanding and fluency of second language learning; an indication of advancement in language acquisition.

scholarly journals Parameters Inducing Motivational Surges in Second Language Learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zana Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
New Information ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
Novel Concept

Motivational surges in language learning occur when a number of personal and contextual parameters come together to induce intense and long-term motivational experiences. In the second language learning literature, this phenomenon is known as the directed motivational current (Dörnyei, Muir, & Ibrahim, 2014). As a novel concept in the field, little is known about what might induce this extraordinary motivational surge. The current study empirically examined the parameters of nine participants who provided accounts of the conditions around the initial stages of their motivational currents. The qualitative analysis found that five factors triggered the motivational currents in the participants: emergent opportunities, negative emotion, moments of realization/awakening, new information, and meeting others who shared the goal. The study also revealed two main conditions necessary for a DMC to begin: goal/ambitions and perceived feasibility. The final section of this paper presents practical implications of the current findings in relation to how second language teachers and educators might benefit from the findings to help incite motivational surges in their language learners.

scholarly journals An Evaluation of Chatbots as Software Aids to Learning English as a Second Language

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
David Coniam
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Command Line ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
The Way ◽  
Learning English ◽  
Esl Classroom

<p>'Chatbot' programs are pieces of software that can hold a conversation, or interact, in English. This paper explores the potential of chatbots for ESL (English as a Second Language) learning from a pedagogical perspective. From the command-line days of Eliza, chatbots have matured considerably – to the point where many chatbots now involve an avatar interface, with speech recognition also becoming available as a feature. The paper evaluates six chatbots currently available either online or for purchase. The evaluation examines chatbots from the perspective of their interfaces as a human-looking or sounding partner to chat with, as well as their usability as pieces of software suitable for ESL learners. To put some of these issues in perspective and provide insights into their use, the paper also reports on the use of some chatbots in<br />the ESL classroom. The paper concludes with an analysis of chatbots currently available, noting that while chatbots have matured considerably since the early days of Eliza, they still have a long way to go before they can interact with students in the way that researchers such as Atwell (1999) envisage.</p>

scholarly journals How does CLIL affect the acquisition of reading comprehension in the mother tongue? A comparative study in secondary education

2017 ◽  
pp. 7-26
Author(s):  
Esther Nieto
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Secondary Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Do So

In the last two decades, CLIL (content and language integrated learning) programmes, in which school subjects such as history, geography or mathematics are taught by means of an additional language, have rapidly spread over all the world, since CLIL has been deemed to be an innovative and effective approach for second language learning. Therefore, research on CLIL has precisely focused on the acquisition of the L2, while other aspects, such as the assimilation of the content taught by means of the second language or the impact of CLIL programmes on the mother tongue have received less attention.In this sense, this paper examines how CLIL programmes affect the development of reading comprehension in the mother tongue. To do so, the outcomes in a test of reading comprehension of CLIL (n = 1,119) and non-CLIL students (= 15,984) enrolled in the 2nd year of secondary education (13-14 years-old) were compared. The results indicated that the acquisition of literal reading comprehension and inferential reading comprehension in the mother tongue significantly benefit from CLIL, whereas no significant differences have been detected in critical reading comprehension. The reading skills most benefited by CLIL were global comprehension, lexical comprehension, understanding of space-time relationships, integration of extra-textual information, and identification of extra-textual relations.These data are explained by the critical importance of reading strategies to succeed in CLIL settings, and by the transfer of these strategies between L1 and L2 and vice versa. This hypothesis is supported by previous research on immersion programmes.

Generative phonology and contrastive studies

1976 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacek Fisiak
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Precise Formulation ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Theoretical Status ◽  
Methodological Status ◽  
The Relationship

The development of contrastive studies (CS) in recent years, judging by the proliferation of projects and published materials, has been accompanied since the late sixties by vigorous discussions and controversies concerning the theoretical status of CS, their form and their place in both general and applied linguistics.Many linguists and language teachers have gone so far as to reject the validity and usefulness of CS (cf. Alatis, 1968). It seems that this attitude results from a number of misunderstandings created by such factors as the peculiar methodological status of CS, the lack of a clear-cut distinction between theoretical and applied CS (Stockwell, 1968:25; Fisiak, 1971:88ff), and the lack of any precise formulation of the different aims of theoretical CS and applied CS, as well as the confusion of the relationship between CS, psycholinguistic theories of interference and errors, and the theory of second language learning (Zabrocki, 1976). Some confusion also stems from the misunderstanding of the relationship between CS and linguistic theory.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document