scholarly journals Foreign language learning and the mismatch negativity (MMN): a longitudinal ERP study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Højlund ◽  
Nynne Thorup Horn ◽  
Stine Derdau Sørensen ◽  
William B. McGregor ◽  
Mikkel Wallentin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Neural Adaptation ◽  
Language Training ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Listening Task ◽  
Over Time

In order to investigate neural adaptation to foreign language learning, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) from two groups of language officer cadets (learning either Arabic or Dari) while they listened to language sound contrasts from both languages. We recorded their EEG four times over the course of 19 months of intensive foreign language training (immediately before they started, after three weeks, after six months, and after 19 months).We did not find any language-specific effects of learning on the cadets’ MMNs to the language sound contrasts. We did, however, elicit statistically reliable MMNs to both language contrasts for both groups at most of the four times of measurement. Furthermore, we found that the Arabic learners' MMNs to the Arabic stimuli diminished over time, and that Dari learners' P3a responses to the Arabic stimuli diminished over time. Correlating the participants’ MMNs with their behavioral perception of the language stimuli did not reveal any strong links between behavior and neurophysiology. However, those Dari learners whose MMNs to the Dari stimuli increased the most within the first three weeks, also received the highest grades on a listening task after 17 weeks.

scholarly journals Behavioral effect of mismatch negativity neurofeedback on foreign language learning

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254771
Author(s):  
Ming Chang ◽  
Hideyuki Ando ◽  
Taro Maeda ◽  
Yasushi Naruse
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Behavioral Effect ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Training Time ◽  
Native Japanese Speakers ◽  
Spoken English

Listening is critical for foreign language learning. Listening difficulties can occur because of an inability to perceive or recognize sounds while listening to speech, whereas successful listening can boost understanding and improve speaking when learning a foreign language. Previous studies in our laboratory revealed that EEG-neurofeedback (NF) using mismatch negativity event-related brain potential successfully induced unconscious learning in terms of auditory discrimination of speech sounds. Here, we conducted a feasibility study with a small participant group (NF group and control group; six participants each) to examine the practical effects of mismatch negativity NF for improving the perception of speech sounds in a foreign language. Native Japanese speakers completed a task in which they learned to perceive and recognize spoken English words containing the consonants “l” or “r”. Participants received neurofeedback training while not explicitly attending to auditory stimuli. The results revealed that NF training significantly improved the proportion of correct in discrimination and recognition trials, even though the training time for each word pair was reduced to 20% of the training time reported in our previous study. The learning effect was not affected by training with three pairs of words with different vowels. The current results indicate that NF resulted in long-term learning that persisted for at least 2 months.

scholarly journals ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF CONTINUITY IN TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE TO STUDENTS OF NON-LANGUAGE SPECIALTIES

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (194) ◽  
pp. 65-70
Author(s):  
Zhanna Babyak ◽  
◽  
Iryna Plavutska ◽  
Natalia Rybina ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
University Education ◽  
Language Training ◽  
The University

The article considers the issues of continuity in foreign language teaching in the process of continuing professional education in the system «school» – «university». The essence of continuity as a didactic principle is clarified and its components have been determined. The task of continuity in the content of teaching a foreign (English) language to students of non-language specialties of universities and the factors that complicate its implementation are outlined. The importance of adhering to this principle for optimizing the educational process at all levels and stages of learning is emphasized. The importance of adhering to the principle of continuity in the transition from school to university education system is emphasized. It is shown that continuity in foreign language learning covers all components of the learning process and is complex. Some technologies for ensuring the continuity of foreign language learning are proposed, which helps to improve the quality of language training for future professionals. The authors state that the concept of continuity is actively used in the national educational space as a designation of one of the prerequisites for optimizing the study of English at the stage of transition from the school stage to the system of higher education. The essence of continuity as a pedagogical principle is that at each higher stage of education in determining the content of education takes into account everything that was learned at earlier stages. It is stated that one of the technologies to ensure the implementation of the principle of continuity directly in the educational process is the use of a leveling course, the possibilities of which to improve the knowledge of freshmen and eliminate the possible gap between the starting level of English and the requirements of the university program were demonstrated.

scholarly journals Methodological substantiation of the conditions for the use of textual discursive activity in foreign language training

2019 ◽  
pp. 198-202
Author(s):  
Yelena I. Barabanova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Language Training ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Points Of View

The article discusses the features and conditions of foreign language learning on the basis of textual activity with the identification of the discursive nature of the text and its role in learning. The author compares different points of view and suggests methodological assumptions about the reorganisation of the traditional approach to the practice of teaching in the system offoreign language education. The author gives a methodological substantiation of the conditions for the development of textual activity and examines the use of discourse in the educational process using the example of folding – deployment of educational and scientific information, which made it possible to develop an info map of memory development, speech to reproduce the structure of the text and its effective learning.

scholarly journals Second language learning in older adults: effects on brain structure and predictors of learning success

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonna Nilsson ◽  
Rasmus Berggren ◽  
Benjamin Garzon ◽  
Alexander V. Lebedev ◽  
Martin Lövdén
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Associative Memory ◽  
Brain Structure ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Hippocampal Volume ◽  
Language Training ◽  
Memory Ability

It has previously been demonstrated that short-term foreign language learning can trigger structural brain changes in younger adults. Experience-dependent brain plasticity is known to be possible also in older age, but the specific effect of foreign language learning on brain structure in language- and memory-relevant regions in the old brain remains unknown. In the present study, 160 older Swedish adults (65-75 years) were randomized to complete either an entry level Italian course or a relaxation course, both with a total duration of eleven weeks. Structural MRI scans was conducted before and after the intervention in a subset of participants to test for differential change in grey matter in the inferior frontal gyrus, the superior temporal gyrus and the hippocampus, and in white matter microstructure in the superior longitudinal fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, fronto-occipital fasciculus and the hippocampal section of the cingulum. The study found no evidence for differential structural change following language training, independent of achieved vocabulary proficiency. However, hippocampal volume and associative memory ability before the intervention were found to be robust predictors of vocabulary proficiency at the end of the language course. The results suggest that having greater hippocampal volume and better associative memory ability benefits vocabulary learning in old age but that the very initial stage of foreign language learning does not trigger detectable changes in brain morphometry in old age. Please note that this preprint is linked to two pre-registered projects on OSF: Language training in old age (SPRINT-GreyMatter) & Language training in old age (SPRINT - White Matter).

scholarly journals USE OF INNOVATIVE FORMS OF INSTRUCTION IN ENGLISH LESSONS

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (194) ◽  
pp. 126-129
Author(s):  
Tetiana Kapitan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Computer Programs ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Educational Technologies ◽  
Language Training

Nowadays foreign language is not just a part of nation's culture, it is also the guarantee of student’s successful career in the future. The achievement of high level proficiency of foreign language is not possible without fundamental language training in higher education institution. Most of them in our country provide students with at least two or even three foreign languages. In the context of higher school reforming, important changes in the educational technologies of foreign language teaching are envisaged. Modern language education is also gradually being modernized, introducing a modular rating system for teaching foreign languages. Interdisciplinary integration, democratization and economization of education determine the manifestation of innovative components in the teaching of the foreign languages. All this requires the formulation of the new claims for teaching and a foreign language teacher in the Free Economic Zone. At the current stage of society development, the purpose of foreign language teaching in higher education institutions is students' mastering of communicative competencies that will allow them to implement their knowledge, skills and abilities to solve specific communicative tasks in real life situations. The introduction of the new effective methods of foreign language teaching in the process of preparing students of humanities and technical specialties has become not only desirable but also necessary. Innovative orientation requires teachers to master and apply the pedagogical innovations, as well as stimulate the search for new forms and methods of educational process organization. High-quality language training of students is impossible without the use of modern educational technologies. The most effective are the professionally-oriented foreign language learning, the project work in teaching, the application of information and telecommunication technologies, the work with educational computer programs in foreign languages (multimedia system), the distance technologies in foreign language learning, the use of Internet resources, the foreign language teaching in the computer environment (forums, blogs, e-mail, etc.). Nowadays, the methodology of the use of computer programs is being developed actively getting more used. Computer programs offer ample opportunities to improve the process of foreign language learning, increasing its efficiency. The computer program provides the perception of information through auditory and visual channels, so it also allows you to organize teaching and control the foreign language acquisition in different modes of independent search and at different levels of complexity. Foreign language teaching means are important to ensure the full and effective organization of students' learning in the classroom to master foreign language activities.

scholarly journals Teaching foreign language to adults from the aspects of psychodidactic conception of education

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-113
Author(s):  
Gabriela Petrová ◽  
Nina Kozárová
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Educational Psychology ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Training ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Individual Subject ◽  
General Didactics ◽  
Key Competences

Abstract Psychodidactic themes focused on the educational context have recently been resolved in both theoretical and research work. These themes are connected with general didactics, educational psychology, individual subject didactics, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology and neurosciences. Since the psychodidactic context of education is a widespectral and interdisciplinary topic, the present contribution deals with the issues of psychological aspects in the context of foreign language learning of adults. Good lecturers are looking for ways to help participants develop key competences. The support of lecturers has a chance to be successful especially when it is systematic and includes high-quality theoretical preparation. The aim of this paper is to attract attention, to a theoretical level, to using psychodidactic aspects during foreign language training of adults as well as to the building of competences necessary for the self- realisation of training course participants.

scholarly journals Unconscious improvement in foreign language learning using mismatch negativity neurofeedback: A preliminary study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. e0178694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Chang ◽  
Hiroyuki Iizuka ◽  
Hideki Kashioka ◽  
Yasushi Naruse ◽  
Masahiro Furukawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Preliminary Study

scholarly journals Developing the Linguistic Persona of Students at Technical Universities through Reflective Foreign Language Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 137-148
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Ponomarenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Reflective Learning ◽  
Language Training ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Homogeneous Groups ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication

The problem of developing the linguistic persona of students at technical universities has not lost its relevance, and one of the more promising solutions could be found in reflective learning organized within the framework of foreign language training for future engineers. This study seeks to determine the effectiveness of reflective learning in terms of contributing to students’ professionally oriented foreign language competence as well as certain personal qualities and soft skills. In the course of the research, we organized several homogeneous groups of students, experimental groups and control groups, building the language training of the students in the experimental groups on the principles of reflective learning and integration of in-class and out-of-class work. In these groups, the content and communicative activities were designed in such a way that students acquired knowledge and skills through a system of decision-making processes. Independent work involved participation in interactive activities, during which students reflected on the process and the result of their activities. The analysis of the students’ self-assessment results after three interactive activities showed that they had increased their knowledge of the language and improved their speaking skills. Most of the respondents in the experimental groups also noted an improvement in a number of qualities and soft skills that would be professionally significant for their future careers. The students in the experimental groups coped better with mandatory tests and final tasks. Thus reflective learning of a foreign language has a positive influence on the development of students’ linguistic persona, and one of the results of such learning would be better psychological preparedness of future engineers for successful cross-cultural communication.

scholarly journals Music in the Foreign Language Classroom: How and Why?

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 412
Author(s):  
Pauline Degrave
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Over Time

Despite a positive attitude towards the use of music in the foreign language classroom, teachers rarely integrate music into their lessons. Studies suggest two main explanations for this discrepancy: a limited knowledge of adapted material and a lack of theoretical grounding to support the use of music in the foreign language classroom. This article aims at examining how and why music can be used in the foreign language classroom. The first section describes some musical methodologies frequently used for language acquisition over time and provides references to resources containing music-based exercises for foreign language learning. The second part reviews research studies about the potential benefits of music-related methodologies for language acquisition and for specific linguistic skills.

scholarly journals PUSAT PELATIHAN BAHASA UNIVERSITAS TANJUNGPURA

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 510
Author(s):  
Janice Zaneta ◽  
Tri Wibowo Caesariadi ◽  
Hamdil Khaliesh
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Comparison Method ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Language Training ◽  
Training Center ◽  
West Kalimantan ◽  
Commercial Area

Mastery of foreign languages is an important skill to compete in the international world in the future. The Language Unit of Universitas Tanjungpura also supports the mastery of foreign languages and has a vision and mission to become a center for international language education and services in West Kalimantan. With the development of Universitas Tanjungpura, Universitas Tanjungpura currently has BLU status, so educational facilities need to provide commercial areas to fulfill this BLU status. Therefore, an Universitas Tanjungpura Language Training Center is needed that can support foreign language learning and there is a commercial area. The design location is located on Daya National Street, Sea Bansir, Southeast Pontianak Subdistrict, Pontianak City, West Kalimantan, with an area of ±11,000 m2. The design uses a comparison method between the results of site observations, existing buildings, literature studies, with training center standards, as well as analyzing internal and external aspects of the site. The basic idea of interior and exterior spatial planning is to support foreign language learning and attract visitors to have activities at the Universitas Tanjungpura Language Training Center. This is realized by designing an educational space that meets the criteria for a training room, a commercial space that has a selling value, and a public zone that is free to be visited by the public. The appeal of the idea of a design building is a triangle which is the hallmark of the Universitas Tanjungpura building form. The building is covered with secondary skin with a typical pattern of the Universitas Tanjungpura.

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