scholarly journals An Investigation into the Role of Tablet Devices in Facilitating Collaborative Learning in EFL Language Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (04) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haifa Albadry
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Tablet Devices ◽  
Log Files ◽  
Collaborative Interaction ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Potential Use

The following paper outlines research concerning the ways in which learners use tablet devices, namely the iPad device, to learn English both in and outside of the classroom and how students’ interdependence and collaborative learning may be fostered by such an approach. The study comprised of 21 Saudi university students at Dammam University, who were provided with the iPad device over a 12-week period. The potential use of the device as a mediating learning tool, in order to develop students’ collaboration and interaction, is discussed with reference to data compiled from students’ learning diaries, focus group interviews, and online log files. The results suggest tablet devices aid learning by providing meaningful opportunities to use the target language in context and encouraging collaborative interaction. The findings also indicate that various types of teacher support, as well as interaction with the teacher and other students, remain necessary alongside tablet-assisted language learning.

scholarly journals Pedagogical experiences in a virtual exchange project using high-immersion virtual reality for intercultural language learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 155-160
Author(s):  
Kristi Jauregi-Ondarra ◽  
Alice Gruber ◽  
Silvia Canto
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
The Social ◽  
Anxiety Levels ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Different Sources

Social Virtual Reality (VR) applications enable real-time interpersonal conversation and allow users to perform activities together. They have the potential of changing the ways learners practise speaking a foreign language. Following a previous study (Jauregi Ondarra, Gruber, & Canto, 2020), we designed the present study to explore how presence, immersion, and interactivity affect overall social experience. Students from Germany and the Netherlands engaged in High-immersion VR (HiVR) virtual exchange sessions, using Spanish as a lingua franca at A2 level. International dyads carried out four interaction tasks in AltspaceVR, using head-mounted devices. To examine students’ HiVR virtual exchange experiences, different sources of data were gathered: questionnaires, reflection diaries, recordings, and focus group interviews. The preliminary results, based on the surveys and reflection journals, show that students liked to use a social VR app to communicate in the target language with peers from other countries, as they felt completely immersed and co-present in the social interactive VR space. This might enhance engagement and lower anxiety levels.

scholarly journals Portraits of Graduates in Becoming Multilingual and Multicultural Citizens in the Context of Internationalization

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Amirullah Abduh ◽  
Karta Jayadi ◽  
Samirah Dunakhir
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Single Strategy ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Key Participants

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the portraits of graduates who have learned English as a foreign language on one hand, while maintaining Indonesian and local languages on the other. This study draws on poststructuralist notions of identity and language learning and uses a portraiture lens emphasising contexts and voice. This paper draws on data from semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews of five key participants relating their contextual backgrounds and their efforts to be bilinguals. Learning an additional language requires systemic and multifaceted overarching approaches over relatively long periods of time rather than a single strategy within a short period. These efforts have contributed them to beome multilingual and multicultural individuals.  Empirical evidence shows that situational factors such as language exposure and motivation play dominant roles to assists learners to be bilingual and biliterate individuals. The situational factors link closely to the exposure in terms of quantity and quality of experiences to the target language.  They are, nevertheless, valuable as portraits of learners.

The Role of an Actual Brand Positioning: An Analysis of Digital Advertisements

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
June Won ◽  
J. Lucy Lee
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Brand Positioning ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Percentage Difference ◽  
Performance Tradition ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this study was to: (a) investigate the actual positions in digital communications; (b) assess the relationship between position-congruity among intended positions (i.e., how a firm desires to be perceived by consumers), actual brand positions, and perceived brand positions (i.e., the perceptions that customers have in their minds); and (c) understand the role of actual positioning (AP) in the positioning process. Multiple methods (one-on-one and focus group interviews, content analysis) were applied to analyze positions. Brand managers, golf consumers, and digital advertisements in Golf Digest magazine were sampled. Content analysis, frequencies and percentages, percentage difference, and regression analysis were performed for all positions for each research brand. The results revealed that: (a) tangibility-based positions (88.5%: great quality, innovation) outnumbered intangibility-based ones (11.5%: tour performance, tradition) in digital AP, (b) there was no positive correlation between the degree of congruence between intended and AP and the degree of congruence between intended and perceived positioning, and (c) the AP mediated between intended and perceived positioning in the brand positioning model. The study provides empirical evidence for the mediating role of AP and suggests modifications to the previous positioning process.

scholarly journals Friend or foe? First language (L1) in second/foreign language (L2/FL) instruction & Vygotsky

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Liaquat A. Channa ◽  
Daniel Gilhooly ◽  
Charles A. Lynn ◽  
Syed A. Manan ◽  
Niaz Hussain Soomro
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Sociocultural Theory ◽  
Review Paper ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Target Language

Abstract This theoretical review paper investigates the role of first language (L1) in the mainstream scholarship of second/foreign (L2/FL) language education in the context of language learning, teaching, and bilingual education. The term ‘mainstream’ refers here to the scholarship that is not informed by sociocultural theory in general and Vygotskian sociocultural theory in particular. The paper later explains a Vygotskian perspective on the use of L1 in L2/FL language education and discusses how the perspective may help content teachers in (a) employing L1 in teaching L2/FL content and (b) helping L2/FL students to become self-regulative users of the target language.

Physical activity and interaction for less active pupils at elementary school: The experiences of teachers and parents

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1161-1175
Author(s):  
Aud Marie Øien ◽  
Inger Johanne Solheim
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Fifth Grade ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Powerful Means ◽  
Collaborative Interaction ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Formed Part ◽  
Teachers And Parents ◽  
At Home

The aim of this study was to explore how teachers and parents experience and reflect on participation and interaction with and between less active fifth-grade pupils in physically active academic lessons, in the school playground and during physical activity homework. This study formed part of the Active Smarter Kids study investigating the effects of daily physical activity on academic performance and health, and generated qualitative data from focus group interviews with teachers and parents. We identified three main themes: (1) aiming at and planning for interaction – a critical prerequisite for learning; (2) negotiating collaborative interaction during activities at school; and (3) facilitating physical activity at home through collaboration. The promotion of collaborative interaction appeared as a powerful means of facilitating learning in physically active academic lessons at school and at home for less active pupils.

scholarly journals Pupils’ Use of Social Media and Its Relation to Mental Health from a School Personnel Perspective: A Preliminary Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 9163
Author(s):  
Gunnhild Johnsen Hjetland ◽  
Viktor Schønning ◽  
Bodil Elisabeth Valstad Aasan ◽  
Randi Træland Hella ◽  
Jens Christoffer Skogen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Total N ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Use Of Social Media

The extent of mental health problems among adolescents seems to be on the rise, and this observed trend has often been linked to a coinciding increase in social media use. The goal of the current preliminary study was to investigate how senior high school personnel experience the role of social media in relation to the mental health of their pupils. Two focus group interviews (total n = 11) were completed and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, resulting in 4 themes and 11 subthemes. The results illustrate that school personnel experience social media as a tool for communication, but also as a potential cause of mental health issues and reduced academic performance among pupils. The participants called for schools to become better equipped to meet the opportunities and challenges of social media.

scholarly journals College Students’ Possible L2 Self Development in an EFL Context during the Transition Year

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhan ◽  
Zhi Hong Wan
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Language Learning Motivation ◽  
Self Development ◽  
English Major ◽  
Cyclical Process ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Journal Entries ◽  
Academic Year

<p>In the field of second language learning motivation, the studies on process-oriented nature of possible L2 selves are scarce. In order to address this research gap, this study explored how a group of five Chinese non-English-major undergraduates developed their possible L2 selves during the transition year from high school to university. The content analysis of 4 focus group interviews, 202 journal entries, and 50 post-diary interviews show that in the first academic year, the five participants experienced a four-stage cyclical process of developing their possible L2 selves, namely, (a) generating multiple possible L2 selves, (b) selecting a possible L2 self to pursue, (c) realizing the selected possible L2 self, and (d) incorporating the realized possible L2 self into the present self scheme. More specifically, the selected possible L2 self was realized through elaboration of relevant imagination and alignment with a larger community. The study has enriched our understanding of the mechanism of possible L2 self development and shed light on motivating undergraduates to learn English in an EFL context.</p>

“A Really Strong Bond”: Coaches in Women Athletes’ Experiences of Inclusion in Parasport

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Jessica J. Ferguson ◽  
Nancy L.I. Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Women Athletes ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Ecological Approach ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Strong Bond ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Specific Barriers

Women within parasport experience discrimination due to marginalization associated with gender and disability. In this study, the authors gain the insights of women parasport athletes about the affordances and constraints to inclusion with an emphasis on the role of coaches, using an ecological approach. Guided by qualitative description, the authors conducted individual and focus group interviews with ten women experiencing disability to explore their experiences and perspectives of inclusion in parasport. Two primary themes were identified: (a) within parasport and (b) beyond parasport, emphasizing the critical role of relationships with coaches and athletes to experiences of inclusion. The discussion highlights the multilevel influences and specific barriers that challenge inclusion, such as few numbers of women athletes, the need for coach expertise, and co-ed playing environments. In doing so, the authors also offer specific recommendations for coaching in women’s parasport.

Learner Autonomy as Discourse: The Role of the Target Language

10.47908/9/1 ◽  
2013 ◽  
pp. 13-29
Author(s):  
David Little
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Discourse ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
Number Of Publications

In a number of publications (e.g., Little 2001, 2004, 2007) I have argued that the exercise and development of language learner autonomy depend on the operationalization of three interacting principles: learner involvement, learner reflection, and target language use. In this article I explore the theory and practice of language learner autonomy from the perspective of the third of these principles. I argue that the most successful language learning environments are those in which, from the beginning, the target language is the principal channel through which the learners’ agency flows: the communicative and metacognitive medium through which, individually and collaboratively, they plan, execute, monitor and evaluate their own learning. I describe in some detail the communicative and metacognitive dynamic that shapes target language discourse in the autonomy classroom at lower secondary level before suggesting ways of creating the same dynamic in other contexts of formal language learning. I conclude by briefly considering the implications of my argument for empirical research.

scholarly journals Outsourcing trust to the information infrastructure in schools

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 990-1007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olof Sundin ◽  
Hanna Carlsson
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Search Engines ◽  
Information Infrastructure ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Group Interviews

Purpose This paper investigates the experiences of school teachers of supporting pupils and their apprehensions of how pupils search and assess information when search engines have become a technology of literacy in schools. By situating technologies of literacy as sociomaterial the purpose of this paper is to analyse and discuss these experiences and understandings in order to challenge dominant views of search in information literacy research. Design/methodology/approach Six focus group interviews with in total 39 teachers working at four different elementary and secondary schools were conducted in the autumn of 2014. Analysis was done using a sociomaterial perspective, which provides tools for understanding how pupils and teachers interact with and are demanded to translate their interest to technologies of literacy, in this case search engines, such as Google. Findings The teachers expressed difficulties of conceptualizing search as something they could teach. When they did, search was most often identified as a practical skill. A critical perspective on search, recognizing the role of Google as a dominant part of the information infrastructure and a co-constructor of what there is to know was largely lacking. As a consequence of this neglected responsibility of teaching search, critical assessment of online information was conflated with Google’s relevance ranking. Originality/value The study develops a critical understanding of the role of searching and search engines as technologies of literacy in relation to critical assessment in schools. This is of value for information literacy training.

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