scholarly journals The Application of Virtual Simulations Using Second Life in a Foreign Language Classroom

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tecnam Yoon

<p><em>The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of virtual simulation-based language learning in a foreign language class in Korea. Total 35 1st-year university students in Korea participated in this research to figure out the effect of simulations. A virtual English learning community, ‘Cypris Chat’ in Second Life was selected as a learning tool. For the data collection, a survey questionnaire was distributed and analyzed quantitatively. The result shows that the majority of the students had a positive attitude toward using a virtual simulation in English learning and had better understanding in learning English by experiencing an authentic practice. The first section of this paper provides a general overview of simulations in educational settings through an insightful literature review of the current research in the area. The review includes a comprehensive outlook on simulations, an example of successful classroom integration and some of the considerations researchers have found for their implementation. The latter section addresses the research method, results and conclusions.</em></p>

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (102) ◽  
pp. 18-23
Author(s):  
Asta Lileikienė ◽  
Lina Danilevičienė

Background. Anxiety includes uncomfortable feelings when learning or using the new language. It continues to exist in the university foreign language classroom as well. A number of foreign language students report feeling anxious about language learning. Research aim was to investigate the foreign language anxiety (in our case, English as a foreign language, EFL) in the classroom context at tertiary level in relation to its effect on foreign language acquisition as well as to design recommendations of how to reduce or exclude foreign language anxiety from the university foreign language classroom. Methods. The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale developed by E. K. Horwitz, M. B. Horwitz, and Cope (1986) was used. The questionnaire consisted of 5 statements about the respondents’ general background and 33 statements which were evaluated on the Likert scale from 1 to 5 by the research participants. The research sample involved 200 first and second year students of Lithuanian Sports University . Results. The research analysis revealed that the respondents generally felt anxious speaking in the language class, making mistakes and being corrected by the teacher, worrying about the consequences of failing foreign language class and speaking with native speakers. The correlation between the students’ level of knowledge and their feeling of anxiety was established: students of lower level (A2 and B1) tended to feel higher levels of anxiety. Moreover, female participants of this study exhibited higher levels of foreign language anxiety. Conclusions. Foreign language anxiety proved to be a powerful predictor for demotivation in foreign language learning and impeded the acquisition of foreign languages. The research analysis revealed that the majority of younger respondents demonstrated a higher degree of anxiety. The more mature the students were, the more confident they felt in EFL classes. It was found that female students felt higher level of anxiety in learning English as a foreign language than male students. They were more inclined to hesitate and felt anxious in the language classroom, while male undergraduates were more confident and had a greater ability to cope with the feelings of anxiety and nervousness. Students with higher knowledge of English language (level B2) showed lower levels of anxiety and felt more confident in language class. A large number of failures was observed at the pre-intermediate and lower intermediate (A2/B1) levels. Therefore, the learners with high anxiety often got low achievement and low achievement made them more anxious about learning.


1970 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 106-109
Author(s):  
Man Bahadur Khatri

This article discusses how mother-tongue interference can influence second or forreign language learning, specifically learning English. In Nepal not only does the mother tongue interfere with English learning, but also the methods used in the schools, specifically the grammar translation method and the deductive approach to teaching grammar, influence student learning as well.Key words: Tertiary level; Inductive approach; Deductive approach; Fossilization; Language transferJournal of NELTAVol. 15 No. 1-2 December 2010Page: 109-109Uploaded date: 4 May, 2011DOI: 10.3126/nelta.v15i1-2.4615


2008 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Ana Niño

<p>The Internet has inevitably led to new forms of plagiarism and cheating in foreign language written production such as copying text from the Web, from an essay mill or from a free online Machine Translation (MT) system's output and passing it as one's own. This article outlines the distinction between plagiarism as cheating and plagiarism as inadvertent “borrowing” presented by McGowan (2002) and focuses on free online MT as a new form of cheating in the language class. For this purpose, some suggestions as to how to tackle it are put forward together with some recommendations which will hopefully help to raise awareness of this growing problem in the language learning community.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-226
Author(s):  
Kornelia Czerwińska ◽  
Agnieszka Piskorska

This paper deals with the specific character of cognitive functioning of blind children and adolescents with respect to perception, attention, memory, information processing and Theory of Mind. It also discusses the impact of this specificity on foreign language learning. Empirical research on the influence of visual impairment on cognitive functions is discussed, and foreign language learning is presented from the viewpoint of theories which look upon this process as a result of cognitive operations, oriented towards developing communicative competence. The situation of a blind learner in a foreign language class is discussed both from the perspective of challenges a blind student has to face and also from the perspective of opportunities to diminish the gap between the blind and the sighted thanks to the content included in foreign language textbooks.


Author(s):  
Tuti Hidayati

Learners’ difficulties in learning a foreign language cannot merely be linked to the lack of ability or intelligence. Language anxiety or the feeling of tension, apprehension, fearfulness, and worry in language class had been pointed to greatly influence learner’s progress in mastering the target language. Highly anxious learners were found to achieve less and had low motivation. This study reports a survey investigating the level of language anxiety and its perceived causes and discusses some alternatives to deal with it. The participants were 114 non-English major students in State Islamic College of Teungku Dirundeng Meulaboh in West Aceh. Data were collected employing Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale developed by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope, (1986). The finding indicated that the students participating in the study exhibited a moderate level of language anxiety obtaining FLCAS mean score 102.17. The main cause of language anxiety was attributed to fear of negative evaluation with the highest average mean 3,5. Communication apprehension and test anxiety were in the second and third rank with the average mean 3,3 and 3,1 respectively. Meanwhile, English classroom items were perceived to contribute the least to the students’ tense experience given the average mean 2,7. It is suggested that making the learners realize that they are not alone experiencing anxiety in learning a foreign language is crucial. Furthermore, it is important that teachers embrace a supportive and non-threatening role to provide a more effective foreign language learning.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-193
Author(s):  
Lucía Pintado Gutiérrez

AbstractThis article explores the agency of the student in translation in language teaching and learning (or TILT). The purpose of the case study discussed here is to gain an overview of students’ perceptions of translation into the foreign language (FL) (also known as “inverse translation”) following a module on language and translation, and to analyse whether there is any correlation between students’ attitude to translation, its impact on their language learning through effort invested, and the improvement of language skills. The results of the case study reveal translation to be a potentially exciting skill that can be central to FL learning and the analysis gives indications of how and why language teachers may optimise the implementation of translation in the classroom. The outcome of the study suggests that further research is needed on the impact of translation in the language classroom focussing on both teachers’ expectations and students’ achievements.


2014 ◽  
Vol 971-973 ◽  
pp. 2677-2680
Author(s):  
Di Jiao

Factors affecting students’ English learning performances are always debated among language researchers. This research is carried out in art colleges to figure out the students’ preferences in learning styles and learning strategies as well as the relationship between them. Questionnaires have been applied and data have been dealt with by SPSS. This research has shown that students in the art college tend to be visual and individual learners, and thus they prefer to adopt metacognitive, memory and affective strategies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn L. Najar

This study examines the generalizability of research in the areas of instruction; learning; and transfer of learning to the role these play in the area of the use of strategic competencies in foreign language contexts (FLC). While previous studies have tended towards a focus on learner variables, this study includes the conditions of applicability with a task that can impact learning and transfer as well. The contributions of both variables, learner and task, were investigated through note-taking strategy instruction and transfer, to ascertain the effect on reading comprehension of textual materials in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. Learning was measured as a precursor to transfer. In order to investigate the role of instruction and transfer in the transfer of strategy use, a mixed design using both qualitative and quantitative approaches for design and analysis was used. Findings suggest that the relationship between instruction and transfer as represented by strategy use and task performance is a multidimensional one, and that there are implications for language learning instruction in the foreign language classroom.


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