scholarly journals Gesture, meaning-making, and embodiment: Second language learning in an elementary classroom

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro (Alex) Rosborough
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Communication Task

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to investigate the mediational role of gesture and body movement/positioning between a teacher and an English language learner in a second-grade classroom. Responding to Thibault’s (2011) call for understanding language through whole-body sense making, aspects of gesture and body positioning were analyzed for their role as mediational tools for meaning making during a math assignment. Analysis of the teacher-student dyad provides insight as to how they moved from simply exchanging answers to using positions and gestures to embody meaning and feelings, thus establishing strategic ways to solve communication problems in the future. A shift to embodying the communication task provided new meanings not previously afforded while sitting at a desk. Combining a Gibsonian (1979) ecological perspective with Vygotskian (1978, 1986) sociocultural theory provides a way to view the role of embodiment in the social practice of second language learning (van Lier, 2004). Findings provide evidence that gesture along with bodily positions and [inter]actions play a central role in this dyadic meaning- making experience. The data demonstrate the interactive nature of the semiotic resources of the activity (i.e., speech, gesture/hands, math graph, whiteboard), with their materialized bodily/speech-voiced acts coinciding with Thibault’s (2004, 2011) explanation of human meaning-making activity as a hybrid phenomenon that includes a cross-coupled relationship between semiotic affordances and physical-material body activity. This perspective embraces Vygotsky’s (1978, 1997a) view of dialectical development including the importance of psychological and materialized-physical tools such as gesture in dealing with language learning processes (McNeill, 2012).

Language Ideology and Second Language Learning

2008 ◽  
Vol 155 ◽  
pp. 95-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa McGarry
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Ideology ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Explanatory Power

AbstractThe increasing recognition of the concept language ideology and the corresponding increasing use of the term have not yet been matched by applications in the field of second language acquisition. However, applications of the concept in analysis of actual classroom practices have shown it to have considerable explanatory power. Greater consideration of language ideology in SLA is necessary not only to achieve greater understanding of the role of ideology in various areas but also to show connections between these areas that may yield important generalizations and to impel the application of the concept in areas where it has been neglected by highlighting its uneven treatment.

Creole phonological restructuring

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Russell
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Causal Factor ◽  
Perceptual Knowledge ◽  
Loanword Adaptation ◽  
Formal Framework ◽  
Target Languages

This article examines the influence of perception on creole phonological restructuring, drawing comparisons to loanword adaptation and second language learning and outlining a formal framework within which change can be described and explained. The three scenarios of contact-induced modification are compared and contrasted, focusing on the nature of contact, the role of different source and target languages, and the means by which participants access source tokens. Data from Haitian, showing diachronic modification to lexifier rhotics, is used to illustrate the position that perception may be the primary causal factor in phonological modification in some instances. It is argued that source ambiguity and substrate (L1) perceptual knowledge underlie restructuring. Perceptual competence is formalized in a broadly Optimality Theoretic grammar using level-specific constraints referring to the parsing and categorization of experiential input. Putative substrate data are used to establish a perceptual grammar which, when applied to experiential input, predict attested outcomes in Haitian.

scholarly journals Krashen Revisited: Case Study of the Role of Input, Motivation and Identity in Second Language Learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Bailey ◽  
Ahmed Kadhum Fahad
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Target Language

Stephen Krashen has a long and enduring legacy in the field of second language acquisition. His “Input Hypothesis” was among the very first attempts to create a coherent theoretical account of second language learning. Krashen argued that learners can acquire language through the process of comprehending it. While elements of his model have been extensively critiqued, this idea has endured and offers teachers a clear mandate to provide learners with abundant opportunities to making meaning of the target language. Utilizing a case study of an English language learner, Krashen’s model is challenged and enriched by considering the role that motivation and identity play in learning. Teachers tapping into an important source of learner motivation, role models drawn from the local community or broader society, can inspire and energize students’ studies and help them visualize a life in which a second language plays a vital role. Building upon Krashen’s idea of the importance of language teachers and programs creating robust reading programs for a sustained engagement with second language print resources, the authors propose to expand his vision and include all manner of multimedia and technologies. However, such a program can only succeed if teachers mediate their learners’ social identities and motivations for sustained second language learning.

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