Assessing Development of Meta-Pragmatic Awareness in Study Abroad

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celeste Kinginger ◽  
Kathleen Farrell
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Host Community ◽  
Test Case ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Language Resource ◽  
Pragmatic Awareness

The research reported herein is part of a larger project, sponsored by the Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research (CALPER), a National Foreign Language Resource Center at the Pennsylvania State University. This project aims to examine the achievement of foreign language learners in relation to the access to social and interactional affordances these learners negotiated in the host community during a study abroad sojourn in France in Spring, 2003. The present paper explores a methodology for assessing learners’ meta-pragmatic awareness of variation in French language use. “Meta-pragmatic awareness” is defined as knowledge of the social meaning of variable second language forms and awareness of the ways in which these forms mark different aspects of social contexts, and is therefore “a crucial force behind the meaning-generating capacity of language in use” (Verschueren, 2000: 439). For this paper, we take as a test case for the study of this phenomenon the learners’ awareness and use of address forms, or the “T/V system” in French (Brown & Gilman, 1960). The “T/V system” (tu  versus vous  in French) is a key component of sociolinguistic competence in European languages, presenting a complex, dynamic, and inherently ambiguous matter of social indexicality, a case where knowledge of language form necessarily intersects with broader awareness of socio-cultural norms and personal identities (Morford, 1997; Mühlh.usler & Harré, 1990). The differential use of these pronouns offers a significant communicative resource conveying a range of meanings about the relationship between interlocutors, the context of the interaction, and the standing of the interactants in the wider social order.

Variable future-time reference in French: A comparison of learners in a study-abroad and a foreign-language context

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aarnes Gudmestad ◽  
Amanda Edmonds
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency Test

AbstractThis study seeks to advance understanding of second-language (L2) acquisition of future-time reference in French, by comparing the developmental trajectories of learners living in and away from the target-language setting. Study-abroad learners in France (n= 45), foreign-language learners living in the US (n= 37), and native speakers of Hexagonal French (n= 30) participated in this study. They completed a written-contextualized task, a language-proficiency test and a background questionnaire. For each written-contextualized-task item, participants selected from among three responses that differed with respect to the form (inflectional future, periphrastic future, present). Items were designed to test for the influence of three factors on the form selected: presence/absence of a lexical temporal indicator, temporal distance, and (un)certainty. Additionally, two extra-linguistic factors were examined: learning context and proficiency level. The analyses of frequency and the multinomial logistic regressions suggest that, despite developmental similarities between learning contexts, acquisitional paths of study-abroad and foreign-language learners were not identical.

scholarly journals Professional Foreign Language Training in the Context of the Digital University

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 50-69
Author(s):  
Gulnara Rizakhojayeva ◽  
Guzal Yussupova ◽  
Bagila Mamyrbayeva ◽  
Akylbek Meirbekov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Statistical Processing ◽  
Language Training ◽  
Mental Work ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Foreign Language Proficiency ◽  
Practical Level

Currently, the practical level of foreign language proficiency of philology graduates does not always correspond to the social order of society. In this paper, a model for professional foreign language training of philology stu-dents was developed, theoretically justified and experimentally tested. For this purpose, the Moodle tool was widely deployed and we identified and ex-perimentally tested pedagogical conditions that ensure the effectiveness of professional foreign language training for philology students. The experi-mental work involved a random sample of 305 students of the "bachelor" level of the training direction 5B021000 (6B023)–foreign philology. The re-sult of the qualitative and quantitative analysis allows to conclude the effec-tiveness of the proposed model of professional foreign language training of philology students based on Moodle, which is confirmed by the calculations during the statistical processing of the research results. The scientific novel-ty of the study is that the pedagogical conditions that ensure the effective-ness of the Moodle-based professional foreign language training of philology students were identified and experimentally tested. The results of the study showed the effectiveness of using distance learning in the current health context due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals The Effects of Study Abroad on Spanish Teachers’ Self-Efficacy: A Multiple Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-45
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Jochum ◽  
Jared R. Rawlings ◽  
Ana María Tejada
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Field Note ◽  
Multiple Case

Teacher efficacy, or the degree to which teachers feel as though they can affect positive outcomes in their classrooms, has received considerable attention over the last three decades (Bandura 1977, 1997; Tschannen-Moran & Johnson, 2011). Research has shown that, among foreign language teachers, self-efficacy is associated with their language proficiency (Chacón, 2005; Yilmaz 2011) and students’ achievement (Swanson, 2014). The purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to better understand how the study abroad experience affected four, inservice Spanish teachers’ feelings of self-efficacy as it relates to language proficiency and instructional practice. Using a multiple case design (Stake 2006), we conducted interviews, recorded field note observations and collected participant reflection journals. Findings revealed that, as a result of the study abroad experience, participants described awareness of their foreign language proficiency, discussed re-assessing their classroom practice and explained a commitment to increasing target-language use in the classroom.  

scholarly journals Relationship of Foreign Language Proficiency to Study Abroad Outcomes and Inputs

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Savicki
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Foreign Language Proficiency ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Even though we might expect foreign language proficiency to have an effect on intercultural competence and other study abroad outcomes, the research findings are uncertain. Part of the inconsistency between expectation and research findings with regard to the impact of language proficiency may lie in the different methodologies of language proficiency assessment. The current study seeks to address two related issues. The first is to examine the relationship between three different measures of language proficiency. The second is to discover the relationship between these measures and study abroad outcomes and inputs. Different measures of language proficiency may be useful for different purposes, and the potential predictive connection to outcomes and inputs may be instructive in designing and implementing study abroad programs. 

scholarly journals The CEFR and teaching Japanese as a foreign language

Linguistica ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 455-469
Author(s):  
Chikako Shigemori Bučar ◽  
Hyeonsook Ryu ◽  
Nagisa Moritoki Škof ◽  
Kristina Hmeljak Sangawa
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Japanese Education ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Undergraduate Study ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Language Proficiency Test ◽  
Teaching Learning

Soon after the publication of the CEFR in 2001, the Association of Japanese Language Teachers in Europe (AJE) started a research project on the history of language teaching in Europe, carried out a survey of language policies in various European countries, and presented prospects for learning and teaching Japanese as a foreign language in Europe. The association recognizes the need to share the concepts and achievements of the CEFR.The Japan Foundation (JF), partially influenced by the CEFR, set up the JF Standard for Japanese Language Education in 2010. This standard offers tools that teachers and students can use to plan their teaching/learning through self-assessment of their language ability levels. The JF is also publishing new types of textbooks for Japanese education, emphasizing cross-cultural understanding between peoples.The Japanese Language Proficiency Test was revised in 2010 and is now ability-oriented; it is indirectly influenced by the CEFR.The authors analyzed Japanese education at the University of Ljubljana in relation to the CEFR assessment levels. At the end of their undergraduate study, students reach approximately level B1/B2 of the CEFR, and at the end of the master’s course level C1. There are difficulties in assessing the current Japanese courses using the CEFR framework due to the specific character of Japanese, particularly in relation to the script, politeness and pragmatic strategies, and students’ familiarity with current events in Japan and background knowledge of Japanese society. Nevertheless, the CEFR framework offers concrete ideas and new points of view for planning language courses, even for non-European languages.

Aptitude measures in SLA

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Thomas Wagener
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Department Of Defense ◽  
Language Aptitude ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Language Program ◽  
Foreign Language Proficiency ◽  
Foreign Language Aptitude

Abstract The present study examines a US Department of Defense (DOD) foreign language program using linear and logistic regression to model foreign language proficiency growth over three time intervals. The analysis demonstrates growth from start to finish for a program involving domestic immersion and study abroad and tests the ability of aptitude and achievement measures to predict that growth for a group of 80 students. The findings suggest that a measure of foreign language aptitude and a measure of quantitative aptitude differentiate learning outcomes for the intensive domestic immersion portion of the program while measures of quantitative aptitude and native language verbal aptitude differentiate later-stage learners on the study abroad portion of the program.

scholarly journals Host Language Proficiency, Intercultural Sensitivity, and Study Abroad

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Intercultural Sensitivity ◽  
Intercultural Development ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
Study Abroad Program

This paper focuses on a case study of advanced foreign language students who took part in a short-term study abroad program. By examining their journeys, from their home environment to the host culture and back again, we gain a deeper understanding of the development of their intercultural communicative competence. In the process, the linkage between linguistic and intercultural development is problematized. While the participants were Hong Kong university students who sojourned in England, elements of their stories should reach across ethnic, linguistic, and geographic lines and resonate with foreign language learners in other parts of the world.

Anxiety: Stress, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety, and Enjoyment During Study Abroad in Amman, Jordan

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 140-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan P. Dewey ◽  
R. Kirk Belnap ◽  
Patrick Steffen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Comfort Levels ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
Classroom Anxiety

ABSTRACTAnxiety is among the most frequently studied emotions in second language acquisition (SLA). Study abroad (SA) researchers have examined its effects on SLA in that setting in a number of studies. The current study goes beyond previous SA research by examining how anxiety develops and connects with language proficiency development over SA. Specifically, it uses anxiety-related measures of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), foreign language enjoyment (FLE), and a physiological manifestation of anxiety (hair cortisol). As far as the classroom is concerned, learners grew more comfortable, experiencing less anxiety and more enjoyment over the period of SA. However, learners showed physiological signs of overall elevated anxiety despite these increasing classroom comfort levels. Two key factors that may have influenced their anxiety levels abroad were tendency toward anxiety prior to SA and language proficiency upon departure for SA. The latter provides support for having students more proficient prior to SA, since doing so may lead to less anxiety during SA.

Can-Do descriptors – Realigning English Language Curriculum at Higher Education Institution to CEFR

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Erda Wati Bakar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
English Curriculum ◽  
The Common ◽  
The University

The Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) has become the standard used to describe and evaluate students’ command of a second or foreign language. It is an internationally acknowledged standard language proficiency framework which many countries have adopted such as China, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan. Malaysia Ministry of Education is aware and realise the need for the current English language curriculum to be validated as to reach the international standard as prescribed by the CEFR. The implementation of CEFR has begun at primary and secondary level since 2017 and now higher education institutions are urged to align their English Language Curriculum to CEFR as part of preparation in receiving students who have been taught using CEFR-aligned curriculum at schools by year 2022. This critical reflection article elucidates the meticulous processes that we have embarked on in re-aligning our English Language Curriculum to the standard and requirements of CEFR. The paper concludes with a remark that the alignment of the English curriculum at the university needs full support from the management in ensuring that all the stakeholders are fully prepared, informed and familiar with the framework.

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