scholarly journals Improving non-native English students' communicative competence and collaboration skills through Virtual Simulations

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Alisa Sadiku
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Virtual Simulations ◽  
Authentic Environment ◽  
Collaborative Skills ◽  
English Students

Knowing how to communicate in the target language is the main goal of most language learners. Furthermore, it is very challenging for teachers to bring real world communication experiences in classroom settings where English is not the native language. Hence, in this paper I explore the role of virtual simulations in promoting communicational and collaboration opportunities to non-native speakers of English. In my research, I describe how virtual worlds improve communicative and collaborative skills of non-native speakers of English. Moreover, I investigate how virtual worlds can create a learner centered environment where students take control of their own language production. And third, I explore how the affordances of virtual worlds can enhance non-native English students’ communication and collaboration by engaging them in contextual and authentic environment.

scholarly journals On the Pedagogical Relevance of Strategic Competence

1986 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tahereh Paribakht
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Esl Students ◽  
Negotiation Of Meaning ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Strategic Competence ◽  
Adult Esl ◽  
Communication Situations ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Linguistic Material

This paper is a report on a study concerned with the identification of target language linguistic material essential for the learners' use of communication strategies (CS) in survival situations. Subjects were 40 adult ESL students and 20 native speakers of English. A concept-identification task was used to elicit these speakers' CS. Given that the taxonomy of CS developed in the study was based on the type of knowledge utilized by the speakers, it was possible to identify the semantic, as well as the typical syntactic patterns, required for their implementation. These linguistic manifestations of CS can serve as a basis for developing L2 teaching materials with the aim of preparing L2 learners to function successfully in problematic communication situations. An appropriate sequence for the presentation of such material is proposed based on the frequency of their application in the negotiation of meaning by the speakers in this study.

The acquisition of relative clauses by Spanish-Basque learners of L3 English: does dominance play a role?

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Ramos Feijoo ◽  
María del Pilar García Mayo
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Third Language Acquisition ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

Abstract Several studies in the area of third language acquisition (L3A) have considered various factors influencing this process, but the effect of language dominance has not been thoroughly examined. The main goal of this study is to investigate whether the acquisition of relative clauses (RCs) in L3 English is influenced by language internal factors, such as the syntactic features of the target language, or by external factors in the form of cross-linguistic influence (CLI). A total of 90 participants (40 Spanish-dominant, 40 Basque-dominant, 10 L1 Spanish-L2 English) and 10 native speakers of English completed a production and a comprehension task. Findings show that the L3 learners’ production of RCs seems to be driven by language internal factors, whereas their comprehension appears to be influenced by their previously acquired languages, mainly by Spanish. It is concluded that neither language dominance nor other traditionally considered factors play a determinant role in the acquisition of RCs in L3 English by these participants.

That’s hard

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas A. Lester
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Grammatical Form ◽  
Learner Performance ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Additive Regression ◽  
Opposite Tendency

Abstract Language learners are highly sensitive to statistical patterns in the input. When a target language provides the option to include or omit a grammatical form, learners have been shown to make decisions quite similar to native speakers. For example, learners opt to include or omit the complementizer that (as in I know (that) Steffi likes hot tea). This phenomenon has been explained in terms of a universal suite of cognitive mechanisms which support native and learner performance alike. Both learners and native speakers choose to include the complementizer when they are producing more complex or unexpected structures. The present study attempts to generalize these findings to another domain of “optional” grammatical markers, namely, relativizers (as in the hot tea (that) Steffi likes). I analyze all instances of optional relativizer use in a corpus of spontaneous learner speech produced by Spanish and German learners of English. Both of these languages have obligatory relativizers. A two-step generalized additive regression modeling technique (MuPDAR) that predicts learner choices based on native-speaker choices demonstrates that native speakers use greater shares of the relativizer in complex and disfluent environments, while learners show the exact opposite tendency: they prefer to drop the relativizer in complex and disfluent environments. These findings are discussed based on differences between complementizers and relativizers, and in terms of the limited universality of optional grammatical marking in learner speech.

Communication networks of Japanese language learners in their home country

2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Kurata
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Language Play ◽  
The Relationship

This paper deals with communication networks of four upper-intermediate level Japanese language learners with in-country experience who are studying at an Australian university, and it also examines the relationship between the learners’ networks and language learning. Utilizing Boissevain’s criteria for network analysis, I compared the characteristics of the informants’ current networks with those that existed prior to their in-country experiences. In addition, this study applied the framework of communicative competence developed by Hymes and Neustupny to analyse the informants’ language learning that occurred within their networks. The study found that a number of characteristics of the informants’ networks, such as their multiplex social roles and the variety of backgrounds of their Japanese network interactants, were probably related to the raising of the learners’ non-linguistic as well as linguistic awareness. It therefore appears that learners’ out-of-class communication networks with native speakers of the target language play an important role in terms of language learning.

scholarly journals Second language learners’ divergence from target language pragmatic norms

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Pia Gomez-Laich
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
L2 Pragmatics ◽  
Direct Explanation ◽  
The Individual

Pragmatic competence is an indispensable aspect of language ability in order for second and foreign language (L2/FL) learners to understand and be understood in their interactions with both native and nonnative speakers of the target language. Without a proper understanding of the pragmatic rules in the target language, learners may run the risk of coming across as insensitive and rude. Several researchers (Bardovi-Harlig, 2001; Kasper & Rose, 2002) suggest that L2 pragmatics not only can be taught in the L2/FL classroom, but, more importantly, that explicit approaches that involve direct explanation of target pragmatic features are beneficial for learning pragmatics. Just as native speakers of a language acquire a “set of dispositions to act in certain ways, which generates cognitive and bodily practices in the individual” (Watts, 2003, p. 149), instructors can help learners to become aware of the pragmatic features that characterize the target language. Although the importance of explicit teaching of pragmatics is well recognized in the literature, learning norms and rules of pragmatics largely depends on learners’ subjectivity. Learners’ convergence or divergence from the L2 pragmatic norms, both consciously and out of awareness, sometimes depends on whether these norms fit their image of self and their L1 cultural identity. Since identity-related conflict can have significant consequences for the acquisition of second language pragmatics, failing to consider the centrality of learners’ identities will produce an inadequate understanding of SLA. This paper synthesizes studies that document the reasons why learners opt to remain foreign by resisting certain L2 practic-es. The following synthesis question was proposed: Why do language learners resist the pragmatic norms of the target language?

scholarly journals Problems with Pronunciation Among Students of English Language and Literature-Seeu

SEEU Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-125
Author(s):  
Arta Toçi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Experienced Teacher ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Language And Literature ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Complex Forms ◽  
English Students

Abstract Everybody who has learned English as a second or foreign language knows that for reaching intermediate levels, English is an easy language regarding grammar and vocabulary; however, when reaching advanced levels, the learners are faced with complex forms of morphology, syntax, and most obviously, they are faced with the difficulties that pronunciation presents. These are mainly the problems that occur with the English students whose native language is other than English. An experienced teacher of non-native speakers of English can easily recognize the causes of mispronunciation, which in most cases are lack of vocabulary, lack of practice, bad teaching experiences, lack of direct contact with the language, and lack of self-confidence. There are quite a lot of words in English, which are often mispronounced. Those who have just started to learn English as a foreign language, students at primary schools, adults using English as a means of communication and as a working tool, such as businessmen, politicians, administrators, doctors, accountants, and those studying English for teaching purposes, even the teachers of English are faced with the problems of proper pronunciation of words in English. The aim of this research is to identify the problems that the students in the Department of English Language and Literature in the Faculty of Languages, Cultures and Communication face with when they deal with pronunciation of lexical words.

scholarly journals ANALYZING COMPLAINTS BY INDONESIAN EFL SPEAKERS

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Anna Marietta Da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Grammatical Competence ◽  
Pragmatic Transfer ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

The English language competence of an EFL learner can be reflectedin his pragmatic competence. Yet, for language learners and teachers a mastery of the pragmatic competence may unconsciously be neglected. In other words, it may not be taught in line with the grammatical competence since the initial period of learning. The article centers on two problems: (1) the similarities and differences of speech act of complaints among Indonesian EFL learners, Indonesian EFL teachers and American native speakers, and (2) the evidence of any pragmatic transfer in the complaint performance. DCT was used to gather the data, which was then analyzed using Rinnert, Nogami and Iwai?s aspects of complaining (2006). It was found that there were both differences and similarities of complaints performed by both the native and non-native speakers of English when power and social status were involved. Some evidence on pragmatic transfer was also tangible; mainly it was due to cultural differences

scholarly journals Software Review: Meetup

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiromi Nishioka
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Online Platform ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Time Availability

Meetup (https://www.meetup.com/apps/) is an online platform designed to get people to share similar interests and to enjoy the social activities with other members offline. Users have access to a wide range of Meetup events that they may wish to participate in according to their interests, date and time availability, and location. Although Meetup is developed for general users, language learners can use the application to construct opportunities to communicate with the native speakers while enjoying their shared interests together. Access to such opportunities is not always easy for learners either studying the target language in their home country or studying the target language in a host country (e.g., Allen, 2010; Kim, 2011). As such, Meetup allows learners to identify events where they can meet native speakers who live near to their location and to interact with them using the target language in naturally-occurring settings.

scholarly journals The development of students’ sociocultural competence in English at linguistic higher educational institutions

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Behavior ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Communicative Skills ◽  
Social Settings ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
Main Components

The article deals with the problem of teaching sociocultural competence in the target language to students learning English for professional purposes. The point of the issue is that the most effective way of teaching creative, culturally determined social communication in the target language a more fruitful approach to teaching a sociocultural competence is based on taking into account the linguistic, speech, psychological and psycholinguistic difficulties experienced by Azerbaijani students who learn English for developing communicative purposes. Language learners’ attention should be concentrated on similarities and differences between two cultures and dynamic nature of social interaction. Teaching should be done to master language university students’ sociocultural skills in productive communicative skills. The teacher’s role will be to encourage and facilitate the application of individual learning in social settings, bringing groups of learners together to put them through their paces. One of the main components of a communicative competence as well as linguistic, discursive and strategic competences is a sociocultural competence. It should be noted that the formation of the sociocultural competence implies with the formation of verbal behavior norms, non-verbal behavior norms are adopted among the native speakers. One of the significant factors contributing to the success of communication is the use of participants of the target language. It should be noted that today at all stages of teaching English as a specialty the main attention is traditionally focused on teaching the language system despite the urgency and importance of the problem of the sociocultural component formation of the communicative competence.

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