Using a Foreign Film to Improve Second Language Proficiency: Video vs. Interactive Multimedia

1996 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darlene S. Cardillo

As increasing numbers of foreign language teachers are integrating foreign films into their curricula, more attention must be focused on ways and means to optimize students' comprehension of the film segments and to enhance second language learning. This article describes a study that was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of video and interactive multimedia technologies in increasing language proficiency. Descriptions of a multimedia computer program and a research experiment are followed by a discussion of the results and conclusions obtained from this study.

1987 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Kezwer

There have been a number of studies done to try to explain the effects of out goingness versus reservedness on second language learning. The results of these studies have often been contradictory with some showing a clear correlation between extroversion and success in learning a second language, others failing to demonstrate that there is a positive correlation between out goingness and second language proficiency. This paper presents a survey of all the major studies dealing with the influence of extroversion on second language learning. It is argued that among the reasons for the discrepancies in research results are the wide variety and dubious validity of the personality assessment instruments used; the nature of the tasks used to determine second language proficiency; and the structure of classroom interaction. The implications of extroversion and introversion for classroom teaching are also considered.


Author(s):  
José Luis González Díaz ◽  
Mikel Asensio Brouard

In this work we reflect on the main theoretical models which have been formulated with the intention of explaining second language learning. We have chosen six approaches: the interlanguage theory, the linguistic theories (mainly the linguistic universals and Universal Grammar model, derived from the writings of Chomsky), the neurolinguistic or neurofunctional perspectives, the sociolinguistic and psychosocial approaches, the Monitor Model (elaborated by Krashen and very well-known by second/foreign language teachers), and finally the contributions made from cognitive psychology (that is to say, the two models proposed by Bialystok, McLaughlin's theory and the lntegrated Theory of lnstructional Second Language Learning formulated by Ellis). Given the great importance that this curricular content has got lately, we also give some comments on which ones of these principal theories could fit better on the educational reality of a kind of learning which is very complex and difficult to achieve appropriately. As it is shown here, we need a deeper and slower reflection than that which is currently done on the curricular level, and a reflection which, although has not an immediate direct application, we are convinced that will be the basis of an interesting work in the medium and long-term.


1976 ◽  
Vol 158 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Macnamara

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.


EL LE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Cucinotta

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.


Author(s):  
Vehbi Turel

The objective of this chapter is to clearly demonstrate through concrete examples how affective and efficient post-listening tasks for autonomous intermediate and upper-intermediate (intermediate) language learners can be designed and created in interactive multimedia listening environments (IMLEs) as a part of foreign/second language learning (FLL/SLL) process. Thus, in this chapter, firstly the definition of autonomy is slightly touched on. Secondly, the categorisation of autonomy is briefly explained. Thirdly, a separate part on multimedia listening environments and the nature of the listening stages and tasks in such environments is presented. Mainly and finally, what need to be taken into account in order to be able to design and create pedagogically and psychologically effective and useful post-listening tasks for autonomous intermediate language learners in IMLEs is accounted for in detail.


Author(s):  
Helen, Yeh Wai Man

This chapter will study a Philippine and a Chinese leaner's approaches to learn and achieve English language proficiency over 15 years in Hong Kong using biographical approaches. It focuses on the experience of individual motivation and social learning environments, and examines the interactions between the learner's motivation, self-confidence, and competition in the global economy. The effect of the interaction on shaping English learning and the learning experiences in three aspects including formal, self-directed and natural learning environments will also be discussed through Gardner's model of socio-educational model in second language acquisition and Weiner's attribution theory in social psychology. The chapter will suggest some practical implications for students and language teachers, discusses the ways to enhance second language learning in a cosmopolitan city, and presents some possible ways to increase learners' motivation and competitiveness in the global economy.


Author(s):  
Mai Samir El-Falaky

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.


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Benson, ◽  
Gary Barkhuizen, ◽  
Peter Bodycott, ◽  
Jill Brown,

AbstractMuch of the literature on study abroad outcomes focuses on language proficiency gains or on the influence of identity factors on opportunities for language learning. A smaller number of studies have looked at the influence of study abroad on participants' identities and have highlighted outcomes that might be placed under the heading of second language identity. Based on a review of this literature and a qualitative, narrative-based study of nine Hong Kong students participating in thirteen- and six-week study abroad programmes, this paper examines the construct of second language identity and its susceptibility to development in study abroad. Three main dimensions of second language identity are identified, related to (1) identity-related aspects of second language proficiency, or the ability to function as a person and express desired identities in a second language setting, (2) linguistic self-concept, or sense of self as a learner and user of the second language, and (3) second language-mediated aspects of personal competence. The study found that most of the students reported developments along all three of these dimensions, although there were variations among individuals that were related both to the duration of the programmes and individual goals and purposes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 762
Author(s):  
Upul Priyantha Gamage ◽  
Wellman Kondowe

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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zana Ibrahim

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.


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