scholarly journals Students’ Perceptions of Distance Language Learning in Vocational Training

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Pinelopi Krystalli ◽  
Eleni Mavropoulou ◽  
Panagiotis Arvanitis
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Vocational Training ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Educational Materials ◽  
Collaborative Tools ◽  
Synchronous Language ◽  
Almost All

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact in almost all areas of human activity around the world with education being unquestionably affected as well. Universities and Vocational Training Institutes have been forced to close their doors in an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. To ensure pedagogical continuity, distance learning courses have been recommended as immediate alternatives. The purpose of this contribution is to investigate how students of Vocational Training Institutes perceive distance education and effectiveness of online foreign language teaching. To this end, a quantitative research based on an online survey was conducted, which included 206, students of five (5) public Vocational Training Institutes and different specialties. The questions were intended to examine the participants' views on the use of platforms and the collaborative tools, the utility of the educational materials and activities proposed, the learning outcomes in the target language, and, the benefits and limitations of distance synchronous language learning.

scholarly journals Friend or foe? First language (L1) in second/foreign language (L2/FL) instruction & Vygotsky

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Liaquat A. Channa ◽  
Daniel Gilhooly ◽  
Charles A. Lynn ◽  
Syed A. Manan ◽  
Niaz Hussain Soomro
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Sociocultural Theory ◽  
Review Paper ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Target Language

Abstract This theoretical review paper investigates the role of first language (L1) in the mainstream scholarship of second/foreign (L2/FL) language education in the context of language learning, teaching, and bilingual education. The term ‘mainstream’ refers here to the scholarship that is not informed by sociocultural theory in general and Vygotskian sociocultural theory in particular. The paper later explains a Vygotskian perspective on the use of L1 in L2/FL language education and discusses how the perspective may help content teachers in (a) employing L1 in teaching L2/FL content and (b) helping L2/FL students to become self-regulative users of the target language.

scholarly journals EFL Students’ Writing Strategies in Saudi Arabian ESP Writing Classes: Perspectives on Learning Strategies in Self-access Language Learning

2012 ◽  
pp. 407-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Alnufaie ◽  
Michael Grenfell
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Writing Strategies ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Process Oriented ◽  
Almost All

This study was part of a PhD research to explore the writing strategies of 121 second-year undergraduate Saudi student writers who are studying English as a foreign language and for specific purposes in one of the Saudi industrial colleges: Jubail Industrial College (JIC). The writing strategies under investigation had been classified into two categories (process-oriented writing strategies and product-oriented writing strategies) based on their instructional philosophies. A strategy questionnaire was designed to collect data. Although JIC writing classes were assumed to be product-oriented as reported by the majority of the participants’ description of their teachers’ writing approach, the results showed that almost all of the participants (95.9%) were mixing the two kinds of strategies. More surprisingly, the top five writing strategies used by the participants were process-oriented.

scholarly journals Foreign Language Learners’ Attitudes and Perceptions of L1 Use in L2 Classroom

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maram S. Almohaimeed ◽  
Huda M. Almurshed
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
English Classes ◽  
English Class ◽  
Attitudes And Perceptions ◽  
Preparatory Year

Whether to avoid learners’ first language (L1) or to make use of it in the second language (L2) classes is a controversial issue. Some studies have challenged the effectiveness of the monolingual approach to foreign language learning. This study investigates Saudi university learners’ attitudes and perceptions towards incorporating their L1(Arabic) in English class. This study also sheds light into the relationship between students’ perceptions and proficiency level in the target language. To this end, Gaebler's questionnaire (2014) was administered to 60 female learners studying in the preparatory year at a Saudi university. They were from three different English proficiency levels. The results showed that advanced learners hold a negative attitude towards the use of L1 in their English classes, whereas elementary and intermediate learners generally perceive the judicious use of their L1 positively.

EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANXIETY AND STUDENTS’ LEARNING MOTIVATION TO FILIPINO FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNERS

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 645-658
Author(s):  
Sherrilyn B. Quintos
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Learning Motivation ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Filipino Students ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
The Relationship

This quantitative research study investigated the relationship between anxiety acquired through foreign language learning and learning motivation of Filipino students in Bataan Peninsula State University. Participants were identified through stratified random sampling. It adapted two sets of questionnaires: Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale by Horwitz, et al. (1986) and Foreign Language Learning Motivation Questionnaire developed by Gonzales (2006). Results showed that anxiety and motivation have a significant relationship with each other. Higher level of learning motivations students set for themselves manifest higher chances for them to develop consciousness and anxiety over their academic performance. They see L2 learning essential in employment opportunities, effective communication, and exploring foreign culture. However, their sense of interest to the course is primarily driven by extrinsic motivations which are only influenced by external factors such as the need to take the subject to pass a requirement. In return, they grow anxious and fearful of the possible consequences of being unable to achieve learning expectations and self-goals. While it is true that age does not significantly affect the relationship of the two variables under examination, it was found that females are more likely to exemplify a receptive behavior in learning than males. It is of high suggestion to integrate different strategies in teaching foreign language to minimize anxiety tendencies and maximize students’ engagement in learning. Also, it is recommended to devise or adapt a more context-specific questionnaire that will deeply explore on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of students and the anxiety concomitant to it. Finally, further studies are highly encouraged to be conducted to further navigate the interplay of other contributing variables in their foreign language learning experiences.

Bringing Cross-Cultural Communication Analysis Into Foreign Language Classrooms

2019 ◽  
pp. 71-97
Author(s):  
Trudy O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Language Classrooms

The teaching of a second or foreign language has always incorporated some aspect of cultural information, but the full and rather complex nature of cross-cultural and intercultural communication has not always been an explicit pedagogical focus. The chapter outlines the key components of cross-cultural and intercultural communication (CCC/ICC), and reviews some major theories that have dominated the area. It is suggested that providing explicit instruction in CCC/ICC to language learners will prepare them for interacting appropriately in the target language in whatever global context they may wish to use it. Learners need to be not only linguistically and pragmatically but culturally competent as well as they move into multicultural contexts of interaction in that language. Specific elements of cross-/intercultural communication with regards to linguistic features and potential points of confusion in the EFL (English-as-a-foreign language) classroom are discussed as accessible examples. The chapter then relates some ways that cross-/intercultural mindfulness and understanding can form an active part of the teaching of a second/foreign language in order to enhance the full language learning experience and subsequent entry to successful communication.

scholarly journals Applied cognitive linguistics and foreign language learning. Introduction to the special issue

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Hijazo-Gascón ◽  
Reyes Llopis-García
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Second Languages

Abstract This introduction provides an overview of the intersection between Applied Cognitive Linguistics and Second/Foreign Language Learning. First, the relevance of Cognitive Linguistics (CL) for Applied Linguistics in general is discussed. The second section explains the main principles of CL and how each relates to the acquisition of second languages: (i) language and human cognition, (ii) language as symbolic, (iii) language as motivated; and (iv) language as usage-based. Section three offers a review of previous literature on CL and L2s that are different from English, as it is one the main aims of this Special Issue to provide state-of-the-art research and scholarship to enhance the bigger picture of the field of Second Language Acquisition beyond English as the target language. Spanish as L2/FL in Applied Cognitive Linguistics is the focus of the next section, which leads to a brief overview of the papers included in the Issue, featuring Spanish as the L2 with L1s such as English, French, German and Italian. Polysemy, Motion Events Typology, Cognitive Grammar and Construction Grammar are the Cognitive Linguistics areas addressed in the contributions here presented.

CSCL – a tool to motivate foreign language learners: The Finnish application

ReCALL ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
TUIJA LEHTONEN ◽  
SIRPA TUOMAINEN
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ◽  
On Line ◽  
Language Students

This article discusses the applications of the theory of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) to teaching and learning a foreign language, in this case, one of the ‘Less Commonly Taught Languages’, Finnish. The ‘Virtually Finnish’ project was based on the idea of creating a larger, virtual Finnish learning community among the second-year Finnish language students in five US universities during the fall semester, 2001. CSCL was chosen as a base, as its principal goal is to aid the learners in sharing and distributing their knowledge to the whole learning community. In addition to discussing the set up and the content of the project, the students’ feedback about their language learning experience in the CSCL-environment will be examined. Furthermore, the conclusions, and the realization of our goals from the perspective of CSCL, as well as the students’ feedback on the collaborative process will be discussed. Based on the knowledge gained from limited feedback, a discussion of tools to aid language students in becoming a part of motivating and authentic collaboration projects on-line will be discussed. Looking at the students’ work on-line, as well as the feedback received, it was realized that certain skills crucial for communication have been neglected in teaching. Furthermore, it was realized that teaching on-line learning strategies in addition to teaching the target language is crucial. Future plans, and ideas for research in the area of CSCL will be shared in anticipation of inspiring others to undertake further research.

scholarly journals A Case Study on Mobile-Blended Collaborative Learning in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hulya Avci ◽  
Tufan Adiguzel
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Project Work ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Positive Effects

As learning a foreign language poses a number of challenges for the students, it has become indispensable to search for “optimal” conditions to enhance opportunities of engaging in the target language. Within this context, the Mobile-Blended Collaborative Learning model has been integrated in and out of the classroom learning in order to enable language learners to practice English by means of collaborative, authentic language activities based on project-based learning approach. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of using mobile instant messaging application, WhatsApp on the language proficiency of EFL students.  Participants (N = 85) were enrolled in five upper-intermediate prep classes at a foundation university in Istanbul and took part in a seven-week Project Work. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, self- and peer evaluations of group work, a rubric for assessing project work, and log files of WhatsApp conversations. Results revealed practicing English in an authentic setting where the students used the target language for a real purpose facilitated their language learning, improved their communication skills and vocabulary knowledge, and made them recognize colloquial English. Additionally, instant messaging in an informal platform for educational purposes had positive effects on their performance and the quality of their work.

Kommunikation und "Kommunikation" im Schulischen Fremdsprachen -Unterricht

1983 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-149
Author(s):  
Henning Bolte
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Conversational Analysis ◽  
Functional Perspective ◽  
Response Formats ◽  
Teaching Learning

The article deals with the relationship between verbal communication as a teaching objective and as a medium of teaching/learning. This relationship is of special interest for foreign language teaching/ learning aiming at ccmnunicative competence in spoken language. The article enters into the question in which ways teaching/learning ob-jects are constituted in the course of ongoing interaction, how acti-vities with regard to such objects are stimulated and steered, and what kinds of activities are defined by the participants themselves as LEARNING or count for them as such. Psycholinguistic input-(in-take) output models are being argued against, because classroom learning is not simply characterized by ready-made prestructured in-put and predetermined output, but both have first to be constituted through some strategic form of social interaction. Two examples of foreign language learning in the classroom are pre-sented: first of an EFL lesson, where the distortion of target langu-age function potential is demonstrated and the "staged" production of language prof iciency within a pedagogic interaction pattern is shown; and second of a German FL lesson, where a grammatical item is focussed and exercised. The sequence is an example of rigorous reali-zation of the I(nitiation)-R(esponse)-E(valuation) pattern as the ba-sic pattern of sequential organization in the classroom. It clearly shows how LEARNING is defined/executed as standardized response for-mats and "conditioned" chains of I-R-pairs. Many of the performed linguistic deviations(of the target language)seem due to interaction mechanisms rather than to general principles of language development. Conversational analysis of teaching-learning discourse shows that learning is not merely to be considered as a direct conventionalized consequence of ( initiating ) teaching ( acts ). On the one hand the inter-action pattern is merely a framework wherein "inner" mental processes are evoked and organized, which can manifest themselves in various forms. On the other hand there is a strong tendency for the teacher to control the entire learning process and to make expected outcomes collectively significant and thus for the learner a tendency mainly to adjust to prefabricated response formats, which at the same time serve as evidence for didactically intended cognitions. Hence, the stronger the predetermination and imposing of LEARNING by the teach-er, the more learning tends to become a mere guessing game and pure-ly mechanical. The restrictions of traditional classrooms are obvious from these examples: restrictions with regard to the experience of functional potential of the target language and with regard to the embedding of focussed learning-items into a functional perspective. These re-strictions have to be changed in order to enable learners to parti-cipate in problem-constitution, to bring in own perceptions of con-cepts/problems and to bring in own problem-solving strategies as systematic parts of language development and as systematic parts of official classroom discourse, i.e. as objects of active mutual indication and interpretation. Conversational analysis can be an important tool for the study of such "alternative" structuring of classroom interaction and its con-tribution to a more learner-centered and functionally oriented (foreign)language LEARNING.

Interactive Learning Between Chinese Students Learning English and English Students Leaning Chinese on the Platform of Wiki

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 70-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongshuo Wang ◽  
Bin Zou ◽  
Minjie Xing
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Interactive Learning ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Legitimate Peripheral Participation ◽  
Chinese As Foreign Language ◽  
English Students ◽  
Learning English

This research investigates the interaction between English students learning Chinese in the UK and Chinese students learning English in China via a wiki platform. Activity theory and legitimate peripheral participation theory were employed as a theoretical framework; wiki was embedded as an interactive learning tool. The findings revealed that Chinese native speakers assisted English students learning Chinese as foreign language (CFL) by means of reorganizing word orders and restructuring sentence patterns. The usages of clarification and elaboration were more frequent than the usages of added and deleted information. Both CFL and English as foreign language (EFL) students interacted with each other in attending to language forms through the essay correction and revision process, and the interaction consequently enhanced their target language learning. The study suggests that wiki provides a dynamic platform, which encourages further integration into the syllabus to support foreign language learning.

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