Latviešu valodas apguvēju korpusa datu ieguves un apstrādes metodoloģijas izstrāde

2020 ◽  
pp. 299-309
Author(s):  
Kristīne Levāne-Petrova ◽  
Ilze Auziņa ◽  
Kristīne Pokratniece
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Single Interface ◽  
Digital Format ◽  
Corpus Creation ◽  
Scanned Images

Popularity of learning Latvian as a foreign language is increasing. Latvian as a foreign language is being taught not only in the higher educational institutions of Latvia, but also in more than 20 universities outside Latvia (Šalme 2008; Šalme 2011; Laizāne 2019). Therefore, corpus-based and corpus-driven teaching materials are crucial for the international students that acquire Latvian both in Latvia and abroad. Since September 2018 the project Development of Learner Corpus of Latvian: methods, tools and applications have been carried out. During the project, based on the already existing experience of designing Learner Corpus of Latvian (LaVA), a corpus of students’ essays with different language backgrounds will be created. The newly developed corpus will be publicly available. Although the corpus creation pipeline includes text collection, digitization, and morphological and error annotation; this article will cover just the first phases of the creation of the corpus – the development of a methodology for data collection and digitization. The agreement form with data subject about data inclusion into the corpus and the metadata (gender, age, mother tongue, language proficiency level) collection form were developed. Guidelines for teachers on preferred topics have been prepared. The corpus is built on an integrated multifunctional platform that provides a single interface for uploading, annotating and search. Moreover, the web platform can also be used for storing scanned copies of essays, comparing texts entered by two independent digitizers, correcting texts, and error-annotated texts and making inter-annotator agreement. At least 1000 essays on different topics from students with different language backgrounds are planned to be included in the LaVA corpus. For data collection, multiple universities and language teachers have been contacted and have agreed to support the corpus creation process by providing it with their students’ previously developed assignments. Collected essays with metadata are handwritten; therefore, they need to be digitized for further data processing steps. The digitization is carried out in three steps: 1) scanning of the assignments and essays, 2) metadata input, 3) text rewriting in digital format. Scanned images of the assignments help to validate data correctness if such concern arises. Metadata is entered manually.

scholarly journals Students’ Preferences on the Use of Mother Tongue in English as a Foreign Language Classrooms: Is it the Time to Re-examine English-only Policies?

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emre Debreli ◽  
Nadire Oyman
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
English Only ◽  
Bilingual Teaching ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Efl Classrooms

<p>In literature on bilingual teaching, different perspecttives exist for and against the use of first language (L1) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. There is a continuing matter of debate on whether L1 contributes to or precludes the learning of a second language (L2). Numerous studies have been conducted on this topic, but no clear consensus exists on whether L1 should be banned or its inclusion in EFL classrooms should be allowed. A significant body of literature has explored this phenomenon from teachers’ perspectives, and an adequate number of studies have explored the phenomenon from the students’ perspectives. However, few studies have identified the reasons for which students need such an inclusion. More importantly, no studies seem to have considered demographic variables that may directly influence students’ perceptions of the use of L1 in their (L2) classrooms, that is; educational background and their language proficiency level. This study primarily investigated whether students’ educational background and their L2 proficiency influenced their perceptions of the use of Turkish in their L2 classrooms as well as their perceptions and needs for the use of L1 in their classrooms. The study was conducted on a sample of 303 Turkish learners of EFL at English Preparatory School of European University of Lefke in Northern Cyprus. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Analysis of the data indicated that EFL students had high positive perceptions toward the inclusion of L1 in their L2 classes and that their perceptions were affected by their demographic characteristics. Students with lower level of L2 proficiency were also found to have more positive perceptions toward the use of L1. Furthermore, the particular issues where students needed L1 were also identified. Implications for language teachers and policy makers are discussed.</p>

Effecten en Didactiek van Tweetalig Voortgezet Onderwijs

2000 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 9-20
Author(s):  
Ineke Huibregtse ◽  
Wilfried Admiraal ◽  
Kees de Bot ◽  
Loes Coleman ◽  
Gerard Westhoff
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Evaluation Study ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
University Education ◽  
School Subjects ◽  
Foreign Language Proficiency ◽  
Display Behaviour

This paper presents the results of a recently completed longitudinal evaluation study of Dutch-English bilingual programmes in Dutch pre-university education. During several years the outcomes of these programmes were measured in order to find out whether pupils in bilingual education gain higher levels of foreign language proficiency without any detrimental effects on their mother tongue proficiency and their achievements in other school subjects. Beside this, lessons were observed in order to investigate to what extent language teachers and teachers of other subjects display behaviour that can be said to stimulate second language acquisition.

scholarly journals Towards LSP (II) – Language Teaching for Future Interpreters: Graduate Profiles

10.29007/wzmn ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Adams ◽  
Laura Cruz-García
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Development Of Language

This paper presents some of the findings from research carried out among language teachers on translation and interpreting (T&amp;I) degree courses in Spain, who responded to a questionnaire aiming to obtain a clearer idea of how foreign language teaching in this field of studies differed from approaches in other areas. The main purpose was to compile data based on actual practice, rather than theoretical notions. While the questions posed tended to be framed in such a way as to draw conclusions more for translation than for interpreting, a number of them were conducive to eliciting responses relating to aural and oral performance. Our paper will set forth the ensuing findings that can be applied to the development of language- and culture-based competences for subsequent interpreting courses and practices, as well as exploring possible further areas of study in the area of the teaching of both foreign languages and the mother tongue based on the specific language competences required in the different modalities of interpreting. We are, of course, immensely grateful to all those teachers who took the time and trouble to answer our questions.

Linguistic Expats and Bounded Fluency

2019 ◽  
pp. 42-57
Author(s):  
Tsedal Neeley
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Conference Call ◽  
Remote Location ◽  
Japanese Employees

This chapter focuses on the Japanese linguistic expats and their linguistic shock, which initially presents a barrier to learning a foreign language. It provides the results of the seemingly insurmountable challenge at the mandate's announcement—base English language proficiency for the Japanese domestic workforce. Here, the term “linguistic expat” is used to describe employees like Kenji who live in their home country yet must give up their mother tongue when they enter their place of employment or sign into a conference call from a remote location. This chapter shows how this twist—a mismatch between language, nationality, and organizational culture—made the Japanese employees uncomfortable. Learning English, at least in the first phase, required that they form new perceptions of themselves, their company, and their jobs. The demands of the mandate made them feel anxious about their productivity and insecure about their future at Rakuten. Although the majority of the linguistic expats progressed in their acquisition of English, few were able to reach a level where fluency was automatic.

Using Classroom Assessment Data to Guide Instruction

2019 ◽  
pp. 227-251
Author(s):  
Toni P. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Classroom Assessment ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Assessment Data ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
Authentic Data

It is important that assessments used in a classroom reflect the standards that students are expected to achieve. When this occurs, the data collected can be used as indications of a student's proficiency in a language. This chapter focuses on how the data collected in the classroom can be used to guide instruction. The author begins with an overview of assessments that are available to foreign language teachers. This is followed by information on data collection and analysis. The second half of the chapter focuses on how to use the data to develop lessons that provide all students with the instruction they need in order to be successful in the foreign language classroom. Examples of analysis of authentic data and changes in classroom elements, as well as the need for a mastery mindset, are also presented.

A contextualised examination of target language use in the primary school foreign language classroom

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Carless
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Classroom Language

Abstract This article discusses an issue which is of longstanding and central importance to foreign language teachers in a variety of contexts, namely teacher use of classroom language. It uses detailed qualitative case study data to explore how and why an expert practitioner uses English in her Hong Kong Primary school language classroom. Through the interplay between teacher beliefs, experiences and classroom transcript data, the paper develops a contextualised picture of classroom language use with young foreign language learners. The paper suggests that it is not necessarily the language proficiency of the learners which plays a major role in the quantity of target language use, but the teachers’ own proficiency, experience and beliefs.

An analysis of translation errors made by Brazilian students

1987 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Maria da Conceição Magalhães Vaz de Mello
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Topic Avoidance ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Brazilian Students ◽  
Translation Errors

This paper presents an analysis of the errors which occurred in translations from Portuguese into English written by Brazilian students. This topic has been chosen because there are few studies of errors made by Brazilian students In the process of learning English and also because many language teachers still consider interference from the mother tongue the only source of errors in foreign language learning. Errors due to interference from the foreign language itself have often been disregarded. In order to explain the causes of the errors five categories were established: errors due to LI interference, errors due to L2 interference, errors due to LI and/or L2 interference, errors due to communication strategies and errors of Indeterminate origin. Errors due to communication strategies were classified according to three different types, proposed by Tarone (1977). The first is topic avoidance, the second is paraphrase and the third is conscious transfer. Errors of indeterminate origin are unsystematic and cannot be assigned to any of the other four categories. My claim In this paper is that since the speech of children learning their first language contains many errors, foreign language learners should be allowed to make errors. By making errors learners provide the teacher with information about what they haven't learned. Este artigo apresenta uma analise dos erros que ocorreram em versões do português para o inglês feitas por alunos brasileiros. Este tópico foi escolhido porque ha poucos estudos sobre erros feitos por alunos brasileiros durante o processo de aprendizagem do inglês e também porque muitos professores de línguas ainda consideram a interferência da língua materna como a única fonte de erros na aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira. Erros de interferência da própria língua estrangeira freqüentemente não são considerados. Para explicar as causas dos erros cinco categorias foram estabelecidas: erros de interferência da LI, erros de interferência da L2, erros de interferência da LI e/ou da L2, erros de estratégias de comunicação e erros de origem indeterminada. Os erros de estratégia de comunicação foram classificados de acordo com três tipos diferentes sugeridos por Tarone (1977). O primeiro é abstenção de tópico, o segundo, paráfrase e o terceiro, transferência consciente. Erros de origem indeterminada não são sistemáticos e não podem ser classificados de acordo com nenhuma das outras quatro categorias. Um dos objetivos deste trabalho é provar que, do mesmo modo que a fala de crianças aprendendo sua língua materna apresenta muitos erros, alunos aprendendo uma língua estrangeira também deveriam poder fazer erros. Ê através dos erros de seus alunos que o professor consegue informação sobre aquilo que eles ainda não aprenderam.

scholarly journals Plurilingualism and monolingualism in foreign language classrooms: The perspective of EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-29
Author(s):  
Ali Alsaawi
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Gulf Region ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Efl Teachers

Abstract The idea of teaching a target language via a monolingual medium of instruction in the classroom has long predominated in the pedagogical context. In Saudi Arabia, excluding the students’ mother tongue (Arabic) in the foreign language classroom has been seen as a tool that accelerates the acquisition of the target language (English). This is widely viewed as the most practical and effective method of language learning, especially in the Gulf region, where English is a foreign language employed in the fields of economics and business. The recent academic argument that exploiting the students’ linguistic repertoire, including the mother tongue, in the target language classroom boosts and fosters the students’ learning cycle is still encountering huge resistance, especially among second/foreign language teachers. To explore this dispute from the perspective of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in intermediate and secondary schools, a case study was conducted with 34 teachers in the Qassim region, Saudi Arabia, through questionnaires and a focus group interview. The study found that most teachers believe that the policy of using the target language (English) only is the most effective method of language learning. They employed the students’ mother tongue (Arabic) on an ad hoc basis to ensure complete comprehension, organize classroom tasks or convey personal remarks. In addition, the study revealed that teachers’ understanding of plurilingualism was unclear and limited to the verbal use of two languages, and that EFL teachers need more clarification on its application in the classroom.

scholarly journals Implications of the use of podcast in the development of listening skills at a university level

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-54
Author(s):  
Silva E Elizabeth Cárdenas Sánchez ◽  
◽  
Jessica Valentina Galimberti ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Dynamic Method ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Listening Skills ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
University Level

A second or foreign language acquisition is a process in which learners develop and enhance different skills such as listening. However, students still struggle to comprehend L2. For instance, when a trainee works on a language proficiency, English listening material such as audios/videos and different pronunciations or sounds is difficult to analyze. Therefore, researchers have been investigating about techniques that work in classes and they found out that podcasting is increasingly being exploited by language teachers as a new popular and dynamic method to inspire learning inside and outside the traditional classroom (Stanley, 2006). This paper deals with student’s listening difficulties, podcasts’ technique and suggestions to be implemented in other settings.

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