Translingual and Digital Ecologies

Author(s):  
Jialei Jiang

Scholarship in cloud pedagogy has provided intriguing lenses through which researchers enhance pedagogical approaches for digital composition classrooms. However, there is a lack of discussion on how cloud pedagogy could be employed to benefit second language learners of writing. Scholars in both digital and translingual areas of research have touched on conceptualizing their theories through multimodal, collaborative, and ecological perspectives of writing. Therefore, this article looks into the theories and practices of translingualism, and explore how translingual writing can be merged and integrated into the multimodal applications of cloud-based learning. Following and expanding the practices of digital composition, this paper aims to argue for an ontological shift to a translingual view of cloud-based writing and examine how it informs second language learning.

2020 ◽  
pp. 818-832
Author(s):  
Jialei Jiang

Scholarship in cloud pedagogy has provided intriguing lenses through which researchers enhance pedagogical approaches for digital composition classrooms. However, there is a lack of discussion on how cloud pedagogy could be employed to benefit second language learners of writing. Scholars in both digital and translingual areas of research have touched on conceptualizing their theories through multimodal, collaborative, and ecological perspectives of writing. Therefore, this article looks into the theories and practices of translingualism, and explore how translingual writing can be merged and integrated into the multimodal applications of cloud-based learning. Following and expanding the practices of digital composition, this paper aims to argue for an ontological shift to a translingual view of cloud-based writing and examine how it informs second language learning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 453-469
Author(s):  
Patrizia Giampieri

Abstract The World Wide Web has often been considered too vast to be consulted for linguistic purposes or for language learning. This paper will explore whether second language learners can be taught how to navigate the web (i.e., how to perform Google linguistic research, or “Googleology”), in order to improve their language skills. To this aim, a 2 h trial lesson was organized. The trial lesson was delivered to 78 apprentices, divided into groups of 10–15, over a period of six months. During the lesson, the participants were taught how to work with Google Advanced Search syntax. At the end of the lesson, they applied the newly-acquired skills by completing a few tasks concerning term and/or collocational search. The paper findings will highlight that, despite initial hesitation or inaccuracies in completing the exercises, the tasks were performed well. The participants considered the lesson interesting, useful and enjoyable. They felt engaged irrespective of the level of their second language (L2) knowledge, and were more confident in approaching Google Search for linguistic purposes.


1993 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Cotterall

Strategy training appears to be a promising means of assisting second language learners. However, strategy training operates within a context. If factors in that context are not considered, the training will not be successful. This paper discusses a number of insights highlighted by a reading strategy training study conducted in a second language (L2) setting. It cautions against the uncritical adoption of strategy training as a panacea for learning difficulties, and stresses the importance of recognising and taking account of factors in the second language learning context which may suggest modifications to procedures carried out successfully in first language (L1) settings.


2014 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Maria Nordrum

In this paper I will analyze the four Natural Perfectives of the simplex verb путатьipf ‘tangle up’, namely впутатьpf, спутатьpf, перепутатьpf and запутатьpf. According to Janda et al. (2013:103), “prefix variation” is a phenomenon that applies to 27% of all Russian verbs and is caused by the ability of prefixes to “focus the meanings of a simplex verb in different ways” (op. cit.:162). My question is: Is it possible to predict the choice of prefix when there is prefix variation? And, if yes: How? My hypothesis is that the choice of prefix largely depends on the construction in which the verb appears and the semantics of its internal argument. Thus, I consider two factors in my analysis: Factor 1 Constructions and Factor 2 Semantics of the Internal Argument. My findings indicate that both factors are vital and, more specifically, that the choice of prefix for this verb to a large extent can be predicted by six tendencies that I will discuss thoroughly.I will argue that these six tendencies are of great relevance to second language learners, like myself, who often find themselves confused at the number of prefixes and, more specifically, Natural Perfectives available for a given verb. The topic of this paper has been born from a desire to gain insight with practical value in second language learning.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT J. HARTSUIKER ◽  
SARAH BERNOLET

According to Hartsuiker et al.'s (2004) shared-syntax account bilinguals share syntactic representations across languages whenever these representations are similar enough. But how does such a system develop in the course of second language (L2) learning? We will review recent work on cross-linguistic structural priming, which considered priming in early second language learners and late second language learners as a function of proficiency. We will then sketch our account of L2 syntactic acquisition. We assume an early phase in which the learner relies on transfer from L1 and imitation, followed by phases in which language- and item-specific syntactic representations are added and in which such representations become increasingly abstract. We argue that structural priming effects in L2 (and between L1 and L2) depend on the structure of this developing network but also on explicit memory processes. We speculate that these memory processes might aid the formation of new representations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gergana Vitanova

The paper contextualizes the concepts of dialogue and dialogism, as outlined by Bakhtin’s framework, in the fields of second language acquisition and applied linguistics. Specifically, it shows how dialogism could be applied to three distinct, but interconnected contexts: the context of immigrant second language learners, second and foreign language teacher education, and the increasingly important area of English as an international language. The paper argues that viewing language learners’ and their teachers’ identities as dialogic constructions and, particularly, the texts they produce as examples of active dialogic activities can help researchers and practitioners understand the active, agentive nature of the process of language acquisition better.


2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arina Banga ◽  
Esther Hanssen ◽  
Robert Schreuder ◽  
Anneke Neijt

The present study investigates linguistic relativity. The units of writing investigated are e and en, which are used to represent units of language in Dutch, Frisian, and Afrikaans. Dutch has homographic forms in the plural suffix -en and the linking element of noun-noun compounds en. Frisian does not have homography of this kind, while Afrikaans has a different homography. This raises the question whether second language learners of Dutch consistently interpret the linking en in Dutch noun-noun compounds as plural in the way that native speakers do. Plurality ratings for Dutch modifiers obtained from native Dutch speakers are compared with ratings from Frisian-Dutch bilinguals and Afrikaaners learning Dutch as L2. Significant differences relating to orthography are observed. We therefore argue that differing orthographic conventions in one’s native language (L1) can lead to different interpretations for the same everyday words written in Dutch (L2). Orthography thus provides an example of linguistic relativity. Keywords: linguistic relativity; second language learning; morphology; compounding; linking element; plurality; homography; Dutch; Frisian; Afrikaans


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-210
Author(s):  
Andreas Trotzke ◽  
Ermenegildo Bidese ◽  
Manuela Caterina Moroni

Abstract One of the main pedagogical objectives for language learners at high proficiency levels is to use ‘cohesive devices’ when writing a text or conducting a conversation. Usually, curricula stress the importance of clause-internal cohesion (by means such as connectives: and, but, when, because, etc.). By contrast, we stress the importance of cohesion at the level of the dialogue and in this context focus on discourse (aka ‘modal’) particles as a means to yield cohesion at that level. In this domain, German discourse particles represent a challenging learning objective for second language learners of German. This paper explores some production patterns of German discourse particles in L2 German by L1 Italian learners. We show that looking at those elements can provide new insights because these elements allow us to tease apart problems within syntax as compared to the lexicon-pragmatics interface in second language learning.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Fatimah Almutrafi

The primacy of speech in second language learning and the relative lack of importance of the written form have triggered a continuous debate in the field of language teaching methodology. The various approaches which have been developed throughout the years emphasise the importance of the spoken language. Therefore, the written form has been taken for granted in most teaching methodologies. This paper considers the question of whether second language learners learn best through spoken or written language. It reviews the literature with regard to how speaking and writing have been taught in the last two decades. In addition, it describes the differences between spoken and written forms of languages. The paper then presents some characteristics and features of both language forms and states the situation of teaching English in a foreign language context. The paper concludes that both spoken and written aspects of any language are important in language learning and they both complement one another. Second language learners need to learn both aspects in order to master the language. The degree of exposure to spoken or written language is yet determined by the learners’ purpose for learning the language.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document