scholarly journals “This is Not My World”. Essential Support Strategies for Newly Arrived Adult Immigrants Learning Swedish

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-110
Author(s):  
Oliver St John ◽  
Vilmantė Liubinienė
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Support Strategies ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
Adult Immigrants ◽  
Essential Support

Summary In Sweden, the state-sponsored language education, Swedish for immigrants (Sfi), provides language and cultural knowledge for the integration of newly arrived adult migrants in Swedish society. Sfi’s educational quality has sustained severe criticism. Through qualitative investigation of Sfi teacher work, this study aims to find out what pedagogical priorities guide the teachers’ classroom practices with linguistically and culturally diverse students. Furthermore, it aims to compare the contributions to Sfi learning environments of ethnically diverse teachers whose language experiences are different. Research into second language acquisition and native and non-native second language teachers contextualize the research aims. Bakhtin’s (1986) conception of human understanding as the meeting of two consciousnesses and García’s ideas about translanguaging in language education for adult migrants provide theoretical perspectives. Classroom observation alongside teacher focus groups generated data. Content analysis condensed the data into five essential support strategies that foreground students’ existential needs, their home languages as a learning resource, integration, learning challenge and instructional partnership between ethnically diverse teachers. Findings do not support the view that non-native language teachers are better equipped to teach second language students than their native counterparts but illuminate the unequivocal advantage of harnessing the pedagogical strengths of both teacher groups cooperatively.

Language teachers’ accounts of challenges in two European settings of integration training

2021 ◽  
pp. 147490412110549
Author(s):  
Miira Häkkinen ◽  
Mirjamaija Mikkilä-Erdmann
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Second Language Education ◽  
Second Language Teachers

This study investigates the work of second language teachers in two institutional settings responsible for integration training. By exploring teachers’ accounts in Finland and Germany, we seek to deepen the understanding of the daily practice of second language education. Bridging conceptual and practical approaches, the aim is to contribute to the current discourse on the development of adult second language education in Europe. A phenomenographic analysis of semi-structured interviews reveals challenges that influence instruction from inside and outside institutional practice. Accounts in the Finnish setting depict issues in how language education, teachers’ work, and adult education are perceived. Administration and language teachers disagree on what needs to be improved in a changing societal environment. Professional pride and appreciation are strongly demanded in a profession that is still being established, and challenges specific to adult education translate into priorities in delivering instruction. In the German setting, expressions culminate in prerequisites, and challenges lie in the way external factors influence course design and instruction. They also touch upon learning: methods, materials, and abilities. Feelings of inadequacy describe teachers’ psychological working environment. A comparison concludes a need to defend contact teaching in Finland and to improve tracking of slower learners’ progress in Germany.

scholarly journals Y TÚ, ¿POR QUÉ VAS A CLASE? EXAMEN DE LA MOTIVACIÓN DE ESTUDIANTES DE INGLÉS EN LA UNIVERSIDAD ESPAÑOLA.

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 541
Author(s):  
Alba Gutiérrez Martínez ◽  
José Antonio Del Barrio Del Campo
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Motivation Factors ◽  
Learning Success ◽  
Language Learning Motivation ◽  
Second Language Teachers

Abstract:WHY DO YOU GO TO CLASS? A STUDY ABOUT ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING MOTIVATION FACTORS OF STUDENTS IN A SPANISH UNIVERSITY.Research on Second Language Acquisition has stand out the importance of students’ motivation as a crucial individual variable in the learning success (Gardner 2001, 2010, Dörnyei y Ushioda 2011, for instance). The present study reports on motivation factors of a group of English as a Foreign Language students (EFL) from the University of Cantabria. Data was collected through questionnaires and has important pedagogical implications because understanding motivation is an important factor not only for our students but also for parents, instructors and editorials (Babaae, 2012). Moreover, Europe is moving into a multilingual society that requires second language teachers not simply to teach English, French or German but to develop a multilingual and multicultural conscience on students (Lorenzo, Trujillo & Vez, 2011). This data can shed light to the issue by explaining what motivates our students.KEY WORDS: MOTIVATION, SECOND LANGUAGE MOTIVATION, ENGLISH TEACHING, FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNINGResumen:Gran parte de la investigación en la adquisición de segundas lenguas ha resaltado el papel de la motivación del alumnado como una importante variable individual para el éxito del aprendizaje (Gardner 2001, 2010, Dörnyei y Ushioda 2011, por ejemplo). El presente estudio reporta los factores de motivación de un grupo de alumnos y alumnas de inglés de la Universidad de Cantabria relacionados con su nivel, edad y sexo. Los resultados han sido recogidos a través de cuestionarios y tienen una gran importancia pedagógica ya que conocer la motivación tiene un papel crucial no solo para nuestro alumnado, sino también para padres y madres, profesorado y editoriales (Babaae, 2012). Además, no hay que olvidar que, con los cambios que nos están llevando hacia una sociedad plurilingüe, el profesorado debe ampliar sus competencias docentes y dejar, por tanto, de enseñar solo inglés, francés o alemán, para pasar a desarrollar una conciencia plurilingüe y multicultural en su alumnado (Lorenzo, Trujillo & Vez, 2011). Estos datos pueden contribuir en gran medida a ello arrojando luz sobre qué motiva a nuestros estudiantes.PALABRAS CLAVE: MOTIVACIÓN, MOTIVACIÓN EN SEGUNDAS LENGUAS, ENSEÑANZA DE INGLÉS, APRENDIZAJE DE SEGUNDAS LENGUAS

scholarly journals Interactive Learning: An Innovation for English Language Acquisition

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1187-1190
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Interactive Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Acquisition ◽  
Interactive Tool ◽  
Second Language Teachers

The education field is constantly venturing into many creative forms. Interactive learning is a hands-on approach to boost students' engagement and confidence. With new innovation, interactive learning enables students to reinforce critical thinking and problem-solving abilities in second language acquisition. Thus, the aim of this research is to design and create new interactive tool for second language teaching which can benefit both teachers and ESL students. This teaching and learning tool can be used for the 4 basic skills in ESL classrooms namely reading, listening, speaking and writing. A total of 30 students from a rural public secondary school were involved in this study. This interactive tool can help in building students’ motivation in learning especially among the low proficiency students and create autonomous learners who enjoyed and have fun while learning English. In conclusion, it is hoped that this research could add knowledge to the field of interactive tools and promotes creativity among second language teachers.

Modified Input as an Aid to Comprehension

1985 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Kelch
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Classroom Discourse ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Second Language Teachers

Much work in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) has focused on the linguistic adjustments made by native speakers (NSs) when speaking to non-native speakers (NNSs) of that language. Modifications of speech to NNSs are usually assumed to be an attempt to make the target language more comprehensible. The study of second language teachers' classroom discourse has contributed to a thorough description of such modifications, which in general may be termed foreigner talk (FT).

scholarly journals Encouraging Critical Collaborative Autonomy

2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 228 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Review Essay ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Theory Building ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
Collaborative Autonomy ◽  
Philosophical Nature

In this theory-building review essay, we advocate that second language teachers encourage their students to act critically, cooperatively, and autonomously. We discuss the three components of critical collaborative autonomy, explain why these components fit together, and present ideas for promoting their interaction and development. Being autonomous does not necessarily mean learning in isolation, but rather having the ability to metacognitively and critically make decisions as to the means one uses to learn and develop. It is our contention that students learn autonomy more quickly through guided cooperative learning in which they collaborate with peers to find and create their autonomous and critical voices. The incremental assuming of control of one's language learning within a community not only accelerates acquisition but changes group and individual personalities. While we focus principally on this process in second language acquisition, we also briefly address the wider SOCiocultural, political, and philosophical nature of such effort.

scholarly journals Adventure in a new language: what a first generation Canadian immigrant’s narrative holds for ESL teachers

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-232
Author(s):  
Xing Fang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Narrative Inquiry ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Esl Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Research ◽  
Second Language Education

Abstract This paper explored the value of learner’s stories for ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers’ teaching and research through a narrative inquiry of the lived English learning experience of a first generation Canadian immigrant. It first reviewed the concept of narrative and the significance of launching narrative inquiry. Then, it presented an interview conducted with the Canadian immigrant as a model of narrative inquiry. Themes of the narrative interview were found to resonate with theoretical issues of SLE (Second Language Education), ESL and SLA (Second Language Acquisition). Considering the themes and the entire interviewing process, this paper closed with a discussion of the benefits of narrative inquiry for ESL teachers’ teaching and research.

Implementing a Flipped Classroom in Teaching Second Language Pronunciation

2016 ◽  
pp. 1882-1897
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Yonemoto ◽  
Asami Tsuda ◽  
Hisako Hayashi
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Technology Integration ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Second Language Education ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
Self Learning

While the philosophy of flipped classroom has recently been drawing much attention of second language teachers, integrating technology into pedagogy is often an issue. This is also the case in pronunciation teaching. Second language pronunciation teaching has been largely dependent on teachers' intuition and beliefs, realized by repetition. Although recent technology developments in the field of linguistics, namely ultrasound imaging, enable visualization of movement and motion inside the mouth, it has not yet been widely used in second language education. In this chapter, taking a self-learning website for Japanese language pronunciation, the authors explore what makes teachers stay away from technology integration into language learning and how this barrier can be overcome to implement a flipped classroom. Specifically, the authors address the importance of taking initiative in planning how technology can be integrated into pedagogy while closely collaborating with and involving other fields of study, like linguistics, as well as information technology.

scholarly journals Language Learnability: An Overview of the Issues

1993 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
John Archibald
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Theories Of Mind ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
And Linguistics ◽  
Language Learnability ◽  
Principles And Parameters

In this paper, I summarize an approach to language acquisition that has become extremely influential: language learnability. I argue that knowledge of this approach is beneficial to second language teachers. I present the major characteristics of the principles and parameters model of grammar as it has been applied to second language acquisition. The influence of philosophy (theories of mind), psychology (theories of learning), and linguistics (theories of language) is outlined. I conclude by discussing the research and pedagogic implications of this discipline.

Implementing a Flipped Classroom in Teaching Second Language Pronunciation

2017 ◽  
pp. 114-129
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Yonemoto ◽  
Asami Tsuda ◽  
Hisako Hayashi
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Technology Integration ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Second Language Education ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
Self Learning

While the philosophy of flipped classroom has recently been drawing much attention of second language teachers, integrating technology into pedagogy is often an issue. This is also the case in pronunciation teaching. Second language pronunciation teaching has been largely dependent on teachers' intuition and beliefs, realized by repetition. Although recent technology developments in the field of linguistics, namely ultrasound imaging, enable visualization of movement and motion inside the mouth, it has not yet been widely used in second language education. In this chapter, taking a self-learning website for Japanese language pronunciation, the authors explore what makes teachers stay away from technology integration into language learning and how this barrier can be overcome to implement a flipped classroom. Specifically, the authors address the importance of taking initiative in planning how technology can be integrated into pedagogy while closely collaborating with and involving other fields of study, like linguistics, as well as information technology.

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