Target Language Use in Foreign Language Classrooms: Practices and Perceptions of Two Native Speaker Teachers in New Zealand

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sun Hee Ok Kim ◽  
Catherine Elder
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Foreign Language Classrooms

scholarly journals An Exploration of the Potential Role of Digital Technologies for Promoting Learning in Foreign Language Classrooms: Lessons for a Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (14) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Mary Masterson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Age Cohort ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Foreign Language Classrooms

This research study focuses on long-term digital technologies assisted cross-cultural communication as an instructional model. Secondary school foreign language learners of German and English collaborated online with the same age-cohort peers to acquire new cultural knowledge, as well as develop digi-tal technologies skills. Findings revealed that digital technologies facilitated personalised student-led learning through an inquiry-based approach. Results further indicated that the learners had rich opportunities to share their stories and to think critically about themselves and others. Indeed, pupils enriched their understanding of their partner’s culture as well as developing an en-hanced understanding of the influence of culture on behaviour and thinking. The students learned to use digital technologies by creating digital profiles, posting their comments, asking questions, exchanging cultural information, and gaining linguistic and cultural experience of a native speaker in a virtual space. This paper shows that with the purposeful integration of digital tech-nologies in foreign language classrooms opportunities for richer student learning experiences can be promoted.

Teaching of culture within foreign language teaching and its relationship to nationalism

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-73
Author(s):  
Akemi Dobson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Boundary Maintenance ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Foreign Language Classrooms ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
Communication Needs

Abstract This paper argues that the teaching of culture in second/foreign language classrooms involves more than equipping learners with the knowledge and skills necessary to communicate with native speakers. In the past few decades, the emphasis in second/foreign language teaching has shifted from acquisition of linguistic forms to enhancing communicative competence. In that process the native speaker has been seen as a source of "correctness" in communication behaviour and the target culture, monolithic and homogeneous. Such practice enforces the current nationalism-dominated worldview and may contribute to boundary maintenance between nations as much as, or possibly more than, to cross-cultural understanding and tolerance. This argument is based on the recognition that second/foreign language classrooms act as a location where more than two nations intersect, contributing to formations of cultural identities: both Us and the Other. In the current world of ever-increasing globalisation, national identity, which is embedded in our language and discourse, is more vigorously formed than ever in order to maintain national boundaries. Therefore, it is necessary for the second/foreign language profession to address the implications of cultural contents beyond communication needs and to foster critical attitudes in language learners.

scholarly journals The Place of Arabic in English as a Foreign Language University Level Classes in Jordan

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-267
Author(s):  
Tamador Khalaf Abu-Snoubar ◽  
Bandar Khlil Mukattash
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Language Classes ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Foreign Language Classrooms

Modern graduates face major challenges in the international job market where knowledge of English and other foreign languages became one of the most important requirements of a well-trained professional. Even though the demands of such candidates increase, the methodology of teaching English remains the same. Modern educators and students demand the inclusion of the first language in their English as a Foreign Language classrooms, yet still, this method is considered controversial. Previous research generated ambiguous and inconclusive findings that the current study tries to re-explore. This study aims to find out the a) students’ attitude towards implementing their first language in English as a Foreign Language classes; b) how these attitudes can be related to their proficiency levels; c) the potential purposes of using the first language in the English language classrooms; and d) if teachers support using a bilingual approach in their classrooms. The current research uses a mixed-method design by applying a survey filled in by 400 students studying at Al-Balqa Applied University and semi-structured interviews with 5 instructors from the same institute to collect the data needed. The findings recognized that both students and teachers support the situational application of Arabic in the English as a Foreign Language classrooms, especially when it comes to the reading comprehension activities and introducing a new grammar topic or new vocabulary items. The use of the first language has to be proportionate to the level of students’ target language proficiency, as basic English speakers require the inclusion of their first language more often than their advanced counterparts.

scholarly journals The Place of Arabic in English as a Foreign Language University Level Classes in Jordan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamador Khalaf Abu-Snoubar ◽  
Bandar Khlil Mukattash
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Language Classes ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Foreign Language Classrooms

Modern graduates face major challenges in the international job market where knowledge of English and other foreign languages became one of the most important requirements of a well-trained professional. Even though the demands of such candidates increase, the methodology of teaching English remains the same. Modern educators and students demand the inclusion of the first language in their English as a Foreign Language classrooms, yet still, this method is considered controversial. Previous research generated ambiguous and inconclusive findings that the current study tries to re-explore. This study aims to find out the a) students’ attitude towards implementing their first language in English as a Foreign Language classes; b) how these attitudes can be related to their proficiency levels; c) the potential purposes of using the first language in the English language classrooms; and d) if teachers support using a bilingual approach in their classrooms. The current research uses a mixed-method design by applying a survey filled in by 400 students studying at Al-Balqa Applied University and semi-structured interviews with 5 instructors from the same institute to collect the data needed. The findings recognized that both students and teachers support the situational application of Arabic in the English as a Foreign Language classrooms, especially when it comes to the reading comprehension activities and introducing a new grammar topic or new vocabulary items. The use of the first language has to be proportionate to the level of students’ target language proficiency, as basic English speakers require the inclusion of their first language more often than their advanced counterparts.

The authenticity continuum: Towards a definition incorporating international voices

English Today ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Pinner
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Authentic Materials ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Authentic Language

The choice of what materials to use in the language classroom is perhaps one of the most fundamentally important and difficult decisions teachers and those responsible for choosing textbooks are faced with. Authenticity is often seen as a desirable component in the content we select and adapt for our language learners, and it has been shown that authentic materials are more motivating, even for low-level learners (Peacock, 1997). The term authentic is often used to describe materials which were not originally designed for the purpose of language learning, but that were designed to have some purpose within the target language culture, such as a newspaper or novel. An unfortunate consequence of this is that authenticity is still often defined in reference to the target language's ‘native speakers’ or L1 community, particularly in EFL contexts, or what Kachru (1985) would label the Outer Circle communities. In other words, where English is taught as a foreign language, both teachers and students often regard ‘native-speakers’ as being the ideal model and therefore an example of authenticity. For example, Tan (2005) criticises corpora investigations of learner English for holding the view that authentic language use is equivalent to ‘native-speaker’ usages. She goes on to criticise not only corpus research but also textbook publishers for still not taking into account ‘the inextricable link between language and culture’ (2005: 127). In the academic world, culturally embedded notions of authenticity relating to ‘native-speakers’ have been challenged for decades (Smith, 1976). And yet I would argue that in mainstream textbooks and in most EFL language classrooms the native speaker still retains a ‘privileged position’ (Clark & Paran, 2007: 407). As Widdowson (1996: 68) puts it:Authenticity concerns the reality of native-speaker language use: in our case, the communication in English which is realized by an English-speaking community. But the language which is real for native speakers is not likely to be real for learners […] They belong to another community and do not have the necessary knowledge of the contextual conditions which would enable them to authenticate English in native-speaker terms. Their reality is quite different.

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