scholarly journals Pre-Service Preschool Teachers’ Beliefs about Foreign Language Learning and Early Foreign Language Teaching in Slovenia

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 85-104
Author(s):  
Mateja Dagarin Fojkar ◽  
Darija Skubic
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Preschool Teachers ◽  
Preschool Education ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Teachers Beliefs

The implementation of foreign languages in preschool education has prompted the need for qualified teachers. However, most recent studies report a gap between the supply of qualified foreign language teachers of young learners and the demand for such teachers as foreign languages are introduced earlier and earlier. The authors of this paper present some models of initial and in-service training of preschool foreign language teachers in Slovenia. As learners’ beliefs about language learning have been considered an important variable, like many other individual differences in language learning, the main aim of the research was to determine pre-service preschool teachers’ beliefs about early foreign language learning. The research was conducted on a sample of 90 pre-service preschool teachers. The results imply that future preschool teachers are aware of the importance of foreign language learning and their awareness raises with the year of study. The results of the survey indicate that it would be beneficial to include early foreign language teacher training in the education of preschool teachers who are willing to teach foreign languages in kindergartens in Slovenia and elsewhere. 

Beliefs about foreign language learning among students training to teach English as a foreign language

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 645-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julide Inozu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
Learning Beliefs ◽  
Trainee Teachers ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Language Learning Beliefs

Teachers' beliefs and theoretical knowledge have important effects on their classroom practice and teaching methodology. As trainee teachers' beliefs are critical to their professional development, and ultimately to their learners' improvement, an investigation of the language learning beliefs of trainee English as a foreign language teachers is particularly important. In keeping with this idea, the author examined the key beliefs trainee teachers held relating to language learning during their period of training. Although a few developmental changes were found over the period of training, the overall responses of the trainee teachers remained the same throughout the years of training in most of the beliefs researched.

scholarly journals English language pre-service and in-service teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes towards integration of students with learning difficulties

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivana Cimermanová
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
General Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Elementary School Teachers ◽  
Regular Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers

Abstract The study of foreign languages is obligatory for all pupils in Slovakia, where the first foreign language is English. Conforming to integration legislation, pupils with special educational needs (SEN) are taught in mainstream classes. Foreign language teachers, however, lack training and where not prepared how to apply teaching methods and techniques for pupils with SEN in the regular language learning class. In the study presented, 187 elementary school teachers filled out questionnaires dealing with integration of pupils with SEN and possible inclusion of learners with disabilities in Slovakia and a group of 56 university FLT students - teachers-to-be. Teachers are not forced and/or encouraged to take part in in-service courses or other education on how to teach these pupils. The pre-service teachers are offered courses on SEN teaching, however, these are not compulsory and mostly general education oriented. The majority of in-service and pre-service teachers felt that pupils with SEN should be taught in regular education class. The article also describes the current situation concerning integration of students with SEN using the official statistical data.

The FI Program in 1963

PMLA ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald D. Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Language Program ◽  
Activity Increase ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Long Range Planning ◽  
Telephone Calls

Describing a year's activity in a half-hour report is an annual challenge that grows more difficult as the pace and scope of the activity increase. The Foreign Language Program is in some ways the victim of its success. One of our early goals was to become an information center and we have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. Requests for materials, information, opinions, and assistance threaten to overwhelm us daily. Three members of the staff do nothing but answer these requests. The ones that are unanswerable are put in my in-basket. Telephone calls and visitors multiply. All this activity we are tempted to think of as interruptions to our real job, long-range planning, deep thinking, foreign languages in the next century. But in a very real sense the magnitude of the interruptions to our job is the sign that we are succeeding, that more and more foreign-language teachers and students and more and more people in general want to know the answers to questions and the solutions to problems of which they were hardly conscious a few years ago. There has been a revolution in language learning in this country and among recent visitors to our office have been language teachers and administrators from all over the world (France, England, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Africa, Australia), who have come to find out what we are doing.

scholarly journals Necessity of improvement of foreign language teaching in the Slovak Republic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-263
Author(s):  
Marcela Šarvajcová ◽  
Monika Štrbová
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers

Aim. The aim of the research study was to investigate the opinions of the Slovakian secondary school foreign language teachers and learn about their views on the system of education in the field of enhancement of teachers` professional qualifications. Methods. To perform the results of the study the method of focus group was used. Results. The results of the presented research show the differences between the perception of foreign language education in the past and how it appears today through the views of selected number of foreign language teachers in Slovakia. The pivotal role is played by the technological skills of the students and their ability to use information technologies instructed in foreign languages. The research results also indicate the possibilities of teachers to get in direct contact with the target foreign language as a part of their professional development. The research participants also specified the factors that they considered the most influential in the process of foreign language learning. Conclusion. The purpose of the article is to discuss the urge to achieve highly professional foreign language education in today`s technological society. As shown by the results obtained from the focus group, the teachers/participants agreed on a single highly impactful factor: family.

scholarly journals How do foreign language teachers motivate students in language learning?

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
Diana S Rahman ◽  
Wening Sahayu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Extrinsic Motivation ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Visual Method ◽  
Intrinsic And Extrinsic Motivation ◽  
Instrumental Motivation

Motivation is one of the keys to success in the language learning process. It is a crucial factor for students in learning a foreign language, and the teachers’ ways to motivate students are also essential. This study aims to investigate language teachers’ ways in motivating students in learning foreign languages. The participants in this study are eight foreign language teachers including English, Arabic, and French teachers. Data were collected through open-ended questionnaires with the teachers. The results of this study showed that most of the foreign language teachers motivated the students in learning a foreign language by sentences (verbal) and this method encouraged students’ instrumental motivation. Next, referring to the time of motivation, four teachers motivated the students at the beginning of each learning process, meanwhile three teachers gave motivations at the beginning and at the end of each learning process. Finally, referring to the types of motivation, only two teachers (i.e. French teachers) could identify motivation types of learners, which are in the form of internal, external, intrinsic, and extrinsic motivation. Meanwhile, other teachers (i.e. English and Arabic teachers), did not mention specifically the names of the motivation types that they knew. To conclude, most of the teachers of this study did not motivate their students maximally in the classrooms. Consequently, this study offers some methods to motivate learners in learning foreign languages, those are the Verbal Method (VM1) and the Visual Method (VM2), and they are further discussed in the paper.

scholarly journals PREPARATION OF FUTURE TEACHERS FOR DIGITALIZATION IN EARLY LEARNING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

2021 ◽  
pp. 203-215
Author(s):  
Anzhelika Solomakha
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Preschool Education ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Future Teachers ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
Modern Technologies

The education system must respond to changes in society, its demands and needs of students at all levels, so the mission of modern pedagogical institutions of higher education is to train teachers ready and able to accept such challenges. The article presents the experience of the Department of Foreign Languages at the Pedagogical Institute of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University in training students majoring in 012 "Preschool Education" and 013 "Primary Education" and methods of teaching them to implement digital tools in the process of forming foreign language communicative competence of 3-10 year-old children at preschool institutions and the New Ukrainian School. It should be noted that this work took place within the research on the scientific topic: "Strategy of foreign language teacher training in the context of European integration." The basis of the study is the understanding of the specifics of language as a means of communication, and therefore the emergence of new digital ways and tools of communication, their widespread penetration into various spheres of life naturally requires their use for educational purposes. In addition, the normative documents of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine recognize information and digital competence as a component of professional competence of a teacher of any subject, which also requires modernization of components of teacher training in early foreign language learning. In the process of research we relied on the levels of digital competence of teachers defined in DigCompEdu and aimed to prepare future teachers of early foreign language teaching for the practical application of digital tools and instruments taking into account Generation Theory, Alpha children, current foreign language programs in modern conditions of educational institutions in Ukraine. In the process of research in the curriculum of disciplines "Modern technologies of teaching preschool children a foreign language" (specialty "Preschool education") and "Modern technologies of foreign language teaching in primary school" (specialty "Primary education") content modules "Organizational and pedagogical conditions of application of modern technologies of teaching foreign languages (FL) to preschool (PS) children / FL in PS”, “Digital technologies of teaching FL to preschool children / FL in PS”, “Media-based learning in early foreign language learning in PS / in primary school”,“ Technologies of blended learning of foreign languages in primary school” are introduced, within which theoretical, practical and methodical work takes place, the purpose of which is the formation of digital competence of future teachers.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Foreign Language Teachers for M-Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (23) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Nadire Cavus ◽  
Liudmila Shukshina ◽  
Oxana Chernova ◽  
Irina V. Telezhko ◽  
Alfia M. Ishmuradova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Mobile Technology ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Material Design ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Strongly Agree ◽  
Russian Universities

Educational technology is a set of systems consisting of tech savvy equipment, processes and methods for the effective and positive implementation of educational theories. Nowadays, when the internet is becoming widespread, and mobile device technologies such as smartphones and tablets have been developing rapidly, it is possible to access educational content without being connected to a place. Today, almost everyone has smartphones. Many social networks, sites, applications are available. Many studies have shown that technology is effective in the field of education. For teachers with foreign language and their perceptions of learning through the help of technology are important. In this study, it is important to determine teachers' perception levels of mobile applications that contribute to foreign language learning. The "mobile learning perception scale" developed to access the research data. Items that are mentioned in the scale are basically positive question, "absolutely disagree", "disagree", "undecided", "agree", "strongly agree". After analysing the reliability of the survey, the overall result was found as Cronbach ? = 0,963. A total of 180 teachers attended from North Cyprus and Russian universities. According to the result of the research, the teachers' perception of mobile learning is high. But this rate is proportional to age. There is a difference in the findings regarding the use of mobile technology when looking at the professional seniority and age ranges. This is due to the fact that recently, technology-supported trainings have been increased and the addition of "material design courses" and "technology-supported trainings" at universities play an important role in increasing perceptions. The use of mobile technology can be increased by providing in-service trainings to teachers with high professional experience and ages.

scholarly journals Identifying The Areas For English Language Teacher Development: A Study Of Assessment literacy

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kağan Büyükkarcı
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Assessment ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Assessment Literacy ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Graduate Studies ◽  
Post Graduate

Assessing foreign language learning has been considered an indispensable part of language learning process for a long time, especially for the last two decades. Therefore, there is a growing need for language teachers to be more competent in the area of language testing. Keeping in mind that teacher assessment literacy is a key factor in the success of teaching, this study investigates assessment literacy levels of foreign language teachers, and also it seeks to find out whether year of experience and post-graduate education make any difference in language teachers' assessment literacy. Data were collected from in-service teachers, both working for ministry of education and universities by using "assessment literacy inventory". The results indicate that these foreign language teachers have a very low level of assessment literacy. Besides, contrary to other studies, year of experience and post-graduate studies do not really add on teachers' assessment literacies.

Students’ Strategic Reactions to the Role of Native Language as a Medium of Instruction in English Classrooms

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soheila Kabiri Samani ◽  
Mehry Haddad Narafshan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
English Classrooms ◽  
Speaking Skill

Code-switching is the use of two languages simultaneously or interchangeably and is commonly seen with hesitation in foreign language learning classes. Hence, second or foreign language teachers and researchers have been concerned in decreasing the level of code-switching in the EFL classes. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating students’ attitude towards teachers’ code-switching. In order to conduct the study, the quantitative research method was used. The data was collected from a sample of 219 students (male and female, with different age level) who were selected randomly for the purpose of the study. Through a questionnaire, the students’ attitude was investigated. The results revealed that students held a positive attitude towards teacher’s code-switching. More than half of the students believed teachers had better code-switching to enhance students' understanding. In addition, they believed that code-switching was more useful to teach grammar and writing skills as compared with teaching speaking skill.

Fostering Student Engagement and Oral Practise in an Online French Course During COVID-19

2022 ◽  
pp. 270-287
Author(s):  
Annelise Ly
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Class Time

Effective foreign language learning requires students to be engaged and to interact with the teacher and peer students in the target language during class. How can this be achieved effectively when the course is suddenly moved online? This chapter reports on the implementation of a Business French course in a business school in Norway using the flipped classroom method online during COVID-19. The author designed the course focusing on two key elements: fostering student engagement and creating a space for oral practise. Several measures were implemented: grammar and vocabulary lessons were moved out of class time, classes were synchronous and not recorded with activities in breakout rooms, and digital lunches were held to build a sense of community. The chapter provides an empirical case of course adaptation and draws on this experience to offer some recommendations that other foreign language teachers can use to implement an engaging course online.

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