Learning Chinese

2018 ◽  
pp. 44-69
Author(s):  
Kaishan Kong
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
American Students

Both ACTFL standards and the world-readiness standards for learning languages include five aspects in foreign language education, among which are connections and comparisons. While many instructors consider these two aspects as means of effective instruction, in this chapter, connections and comparisons are studied as learning strategies that four American students adopted to apply in their study abroad contexts in China. Despite the different focus of their study abroad programs, this chapter discusses a variety of examples where the participants made connections and comparisons to enhance their language and culture learning. Findings reveal that connections and comparisons were not only fostering language learning but also developing cultural knowledge. Results provide implications to foreign language educators related to teaching and preparing students for study abroad experience.

scholarly journals An Investigation of Intercultural Teaching and Learning in Tertiary EFL Classrooms in Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Si Thang Kiet Ho
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Efl Classrooms ◽  
Language Teaching And Learning

<p><b>Intercultural competence has become an important goal of foreign language education in response to the need for learners to function effectively in an increasingly multicultural world. Language and culture are seen as interwoven and inseparable components and therefore learning a foreign language inevitably means learning about other ways of being and behaving. Many foreign language programmes around the world, particularly in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, have adopted an intercultural pedagogy which seeks to integrate into the language teaching experience opportunities for developing intercultural competence for language learners. This study investigates intercultural teaching and learning in tertiary EFL classrooms in Vietnam, a context in which intercultural approaches to language teaching and learning have not been widely considered.</b></p> <p>The study consisted of three phases. The first phase involved a curriculum review in which I critically evaluated the extent to which culture and culture learning are represented in the curriculum frameworks for tertiary EFL programmes and in the national education policy on foreign language education in Vietnam. The findings showed that the importance of culture and culture learning is not emphasised, and the designation of culture to separate culture courses establishes a separate status, construct and treatment of culture and culture learning in the EFL programmes.</p> <p>In the second phase of the study, I analysed the perceptions of fourteen Vietnamese EFL teachers and two hundred Vietnamese EFL students on culture in language teaching and learning, and their classroom practices. The findings indicated that the teachers' beliefs about culture teaching revealed a predictable priority for teaching language rather than culture. Their culture teaching practices were greatly influenced by their perceptions and beliefs regarding culture in language teaching. The students also treated culture as a subordinate priority in language learning. Overall, they found culture learning beneficial for their language learning and supported the teachability of language and culture in EFL classes. Both the teachers and students identified a number of constraints that restricted their opportunities and motivation to engage in teaching and learning culture.</p> <p>The third phase of the study involved an empirical study investigating the effect of adopting an intercultural stance in English speaking lessons on thedevelopment of the learners' intercultural competence. Over a nine-week teaching period, eighteen English speaking lessons (90 minutes / lesson / week) for two equivalent, intact classes (seventy-one students) were observed. For one class, the lessons were adapted to reflect the principles of intercultural language learning. For the other, no changes were made. The results showed that the intercultural competence of learners in the intercultural class increased by significantly more than that of learners in the standard class. In particular, the students in the intercultural class were able to better articulate ethnorelative awareness and attitudes towards their home culture and the target culture. The findings also showed that the reflective journal was an effective tool to assess learners' process of acquiring intercultural competence, particularly affective capacities that are not easy to evaluate by other means.</p> <p>Overall, the study provided evidence for the feasibility of intercultural teaching and learning in tertiary EFL classrooms in the Vietnamese context. It also showed that intercultural teaching and learning cultivated learners' affective capacities which are often overlooked in the EFL classroom. It is hoped that the study can inform the work of curriculum designers, education policy-makers as well as EFL teachers and students for the implementation of intercultural language teaching and learning in Vietnam and elsewhere.</p>

scholarly journals An Investigation of Intercultural Teaching and Learning in Tertiary EFL Classrooms in Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Si Thang Kiet Ho
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Efl Classrooms ◽  
Language Teaching And Learning

<p><b>Intercultural competence has become an important goal of foreign language education in response to the need for learners to function effectively in an increasingly multicultural world. Language and culture are seen as interwoven and inseparable components and therefore learning a foreign language inevitably means learning about other ways of being and behaving. Many foreign language programmes around the world, particularly in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, have adopted an intercultural pedagogy which seeks to integrate into the language teaching experience opportunities for developing intercultural competence for language learners. This study investigates intercultural teaching and learning in tertiary EFL classrooms in Vietnam, a context in which intercultural approaches to language teaching and learning have not been widely considered.</b></p> <p>The study consisted of three phases. The first phase involved a curriculum review in which I critically evaluated the extent to which culture and culture learning are represented in the curriculum frameworks for tertiary EFL programmes and in the national education policy on foreign language education in Vietnam. The findings showed that the importance of culture and culture learning is not emphasised, and the designation of culture to separate culture courses establishes a separate status, construct and treatment of culture and culture learning in the EFL programmes.</p> <p>In the second phase of the study, I analysed the perceptions of fourteen Vietnamese EFL teachers and two hundred Vietnamese EFL students on culture in language teaching and learning, and their classroom practices. The findings indicated that the teachers' beliefs about culture teaching revealed a predictable priority for teaching language rather than culture. Their culture teaching practices were greatly influenced by their perceptions and beliefs regarding culture in language teaching. The students also treated culture as a subordinate priority in language learning. Overall, they found culture learning beneficial for their language learning and supported the teachability of language and culture in EFL classes. Both the teachers and students identified a number of constraints that restricted their opportunities and motivation to engage in teaching and learning culture.</p> <p>The third phase of the study involved an empirical study investigating the effect of adopting an intercultural stance in English speaking lessons on thedevelopment of the learners' intercultural competence. Over a nine-week teaching period, eighteen English speaking lessons (90 minutes / lesson / week) for two equivalent, intact classes (seventy-one students) were observed. For one class, the lessons were adapted to reflect the principles of intercultural language learning. For the other, no changes were made. The results showed that the intercultural competence of learners in the intercultural class increased by significantly more than that of learners in the standard class. In particular, the students in the intercultural class were able to better articulate ethnorelative awareness and attitudes towards their home culture and the target culture. The findings also showed that the reflective journal was an effective tool to assess learners' process of acquiring intercultural competence, particularly affective capacities that are not easy to evaluate by other means.</p> <p>Overall, the study provided evidence for the feasibility of intercultural teaching and learning in tertiary EFL classrooms in the Vietnamese context. It also showed that intercultural teaching and learning cultivated learners' affective capacities which are often overlooked in the EFL classroom. It is hoped that the study can inform the work of curriculum designers, education policy-makers as well as EFL teachers and students for the implementation of intercultural language teaching and learning in Vietnam and elsewhere.</p>

scholarly journals A Strategies-Based Approach to Culture and Language Learning in Education Abroad Programming

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph G. Hoff ◽  
R. Michael Paige
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
International Education ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Training Materials ◽  
Culture Teaching ◽  
Study Abroad Program ◽  
Culture And Language

This article presents a study designed to evaluate available training materials, in terms of their value to study abroad professionals, focused on culture and language learning strategies for study abroad program professionals who prepared study abroad participants. In addition, the study intended to provide the international education field with ideas for language and culture teaching, and ultimately the enhancement of language and culture learning in and out of class during the study abroad sojourn.

Linguistic Consciousness and Foreign Language Learning in Multilingual Education

2021 ◽  
Vol X (2) ◽  
pp. 71-83
Author(s):  
Nataliia Safonova ◽  
◽  
Alla Anisimova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Multilingual Education ◽  
Important Means

The article deals with the issues where linguistic consciousness as a sociolinguistic phenomenon is successfully revealed in FLT, namely, in problematic questions of language learning. It covers the description of linguistic consciousness and some aspects of its influence on the process of development of students’ communicative competence. It is emphasized that the philosophy of lifelong learning has become a widespread phenomenon in modern society. Learning a foreign language can be considered an important means of forming linguistic consciousness and the ability to conduct intercultural dialogues. The correlation of two languages and cultures (Ukrainian and foreign ones) helps to outline their national specific features, which contribute to a deeper understanding of both the foreign and the native language and culture. Any education system is open and fairly stable. As for the methods and learning tools, they can vary depending on the applicable learning concept. The article gives a detailed description of the development of linguistic consciousness of Ukrainian students from different social groups while learning English. So linguistic consciousness is a reflection of the actual language sphere contributes to the development of both communicative and multilingual competences. The main aim of the use of modern educational technologies is to increase the level of the communicative competence and linguistic consciousness in students, their educational achievements, and to improve the quality of language education.

Learning Strategies Facilitating the Processes of Language Learning in Adult Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-32
Author(s):  
Denisa Gunišová
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Concept Maps ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Comprehensive Knowledge ◽  
Search For Information ◽  
Career Direction

AbstractThe issue of learning must be based on the latest knowledge of various sciences and also respond to the needs of society. The meaning of life of adults lies in satisfying their needs as well as their self-realization in personal and career direction. In this paper, we focus on the issue of adult language education. Success in acquiring foreign language skills of adults depends on several factors, the level of cognitive functions is different from children, and therefore it is necessary to respect this fact when teaching adults. The way to succeed in this is to teach how to search for information, to sort and use them logically in practice. A precondition is to teach how to learn, how to use metacognitive strategies and learn how to plan the learning. The aim of this paper is to point to learning strategies, such as concept maps through which it comes to the development of metacognition and building a comprehensive knowledge structure in adult education.

Asynchronous Online Networking

2011 ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Kosmas Vlachos ◽  
Sofia Papaefthimiou-Lytra
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Learning Potential ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Development Of Language

Computer assisted language learning (CALL) has been at the forefront of foreign language education since the early 1980s. More recently researchers’ and practioners’ attention has centered on the sociocognitive approaches to CALL, that is, on the classroom practices and the electronic applications that make use of students’ interaction via the computer to promote the foreign language learning potential. This article addresses the issues of cross cultural collaboration and computer mediated communication (CMC) and explores how asynchronous online networking can foster a) the collaboration across partner classes and b) the cooperation of students within partner classrooms with the aim of enhancing the learning of English as a foreign language and in particular the development of language and culture awareness and mediation skills and ultimately intercultural communicative competence.

Assessing the Impact of a Strategies-Based Curriculum on Language and Culture Learning Abroad

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Michael Paige ◽  
Andrew D. Cohen ◽  
Rachel L. Shively
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Intercultural Development ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Overseas Students ◽  
Curriculum Intervention ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the study abroad experience, in general, and the impact of a curriculum intervention, in particular, on students’ intercultural development, second language acquisition, and employment of learning strategies related to language and culture. Cohen and Paige – two of the authors of this article – were the senior authors of a three-volume set of guidebooks, the Maximizing Study Abroad Guides which were intended to enhance overseas students’ language and culture learning through a strategies-based approach. By utilizing a scientifically rigorous set of research procedures, we sought to ascertain the impact and efficacy of the Students’ Guide  – one of the volumes in the series – as well as to test a set of hypotheses about the learning outcomes associated with study abroad.

scholarly journals TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDY

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanto Susanto ◽  
Deri Sis Nanda
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Ethnographic Case Study ◽  
Visually Impaired Students

In this article we report an ethnographic case study of observing the teaching and learning of English at a school for visually impaired students in Bandar Lampung, Indonesia. Data collection included student and teacher interviews. It also covered class observation and used a social constructivist framework of disability. The study revealed that the students received inadequate modifications of instruction in foreign language learning. However, the students used a variety of resources with the screen reader technology such as Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) and Job Access with Speech (JAWS). These findings suggest that visually impaired students actually can have unique ways of learning foreign language supported by the assistive technology. These abilities should be acknowledged to obtain the perspectives of students who receive disability specific education. Moreover, the study might provide a further facet to the research especially on the importance of learning strategies in special education.Keywords: visual impairment; language education; learning strategy; special education.

scholarly journals An experimental study on the effects of smartboards on vocabulary learning in German preparatory classesAkıllı tahtaların Almanca hazırlık sınıflarında kelime öğrenimine etkileri üzerine deneysel bir çalışma örneği

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 2040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Özlem Tekin ◽  
Harun Göçerler
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Learner Motivation ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Materials Used

The aim of this study is to investigate the potential impact of smartboards on vocabulary learning of foreign language learners.For this, an empirical study was carried out at German preparatory classes of the Institute of German Language and Literature at Namık Kemal University. In this context the students were asked about their vocabulary work in foreign language learning by a questionnaire, which included 20 close-ended statements of a 5-point Likert scale. A pretest was held in the Summer Term 2013-2014 with a total of 78 subjects, whereas a posttest was conducted in the Winter Term 2014-2015 with a total of 86 subjects. The evaluation of the questionnaires was carried out with the statistical program SPSS PASW Statistics 18.0 NETWORK and the data was analyzed by the descriptive survey method.The results of the study show that vocabulary learning is affected by three basic factors: the role of testing, the need and importance of newly learned words in everyday use and the learner motivation. As the results of the study show furthermore, the last central factor, the motivation of the learners, can be supported by training different learning strategies, by providing and using material diversity and visuality, and by making the relationship between language and culture more understandable to the students. These fundamental desiderata can come to meet, by using technological tools such as smartboards, by which learners can be motivated and the vocabulary learning and teaching process can be made more effective. In this regard teachers play an important role, as they have to question themselves, the tools and materials used and the needs of learners in the process of vocabulary teaching, thus to optimize the teaching and learning process as a whole. ÖzetBu araştırmanın amacı, akıllı tahta kullanımının yabancı dil öğrenenlerin kelime bilgilerinin gelişimine olan muhtemel etkilerini incelemektir.Bu amaçla Namık Kemal Üniversitesi, Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi, Alman Dili ve Edebiyatı Bölümü hazırlık sınıflarını kapsayan deneysel bir çalışma yapılmıştır. Bu bağlamda öğrencilerin yabancı dil öğreniminde yaptıkları kelime çalışmalarına yönelik görüşleri, 20 kapalı ifadeden oluşan 5'li Likert tipi ölçekten meydana gelen bir anket formu kullanılarak alınmış ve değerlendirilmiştir. Anket süreci içerisinde 2013-2014 Öğretim Yılı Bahar Dönemi’nde 78 öğrenciye öntest, 2014-2015 Öğretim Yılı Güz Dönemi’nde ise 86 öğrenciye sontest uygulanmıştır. Anketlerden elde edilen veriler SPSS PASW STATISTICS 18.0 NETWORK istatistik programı kullanılarak betimleyici analiz yöntemi ile değerlendirilmiştir.Araştırmanın sonuçları göz önüne alındığında kelime öğreniminde sınavların rolü, öğrenilen yeni kelimelerin günlük kullanım için gerekliliği ve önemi, ve ayrıca öğrencilerin güdülenmesi gibi üç temel maddenin öne çıktığı görülmüştür. Öğrencilerin güdülenmesine destekleyici nitelikte sayılabilecek kelime öğrenmede strateji bilgisi, materyal çeşitliliği ve görsellik, dil ile kültür arasındaki bağın kavranması gibi unsurların da anket sonuçlarına göre kelime öğreniminde önemli bir yere sahip olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Bu temel ihtiyaçları giderebilmek için akıllı tahtalar gibi teknolojik araçlar kullanılarak öğrencilerin güdülenmesi sağlanabilir ve bu sayede kelime öğrenimi ve öğretimi daha verimli hale getirilebilir. Bu bağlamda kendilerini, kullanılan araç gereçleri ve öğrencilerinin ihtiyaçlarını sorgulayan öğretmenlerin kelime öğrenim ve öğretim sürecinde etkin bir rolü olduğu da vurgulanmalıdır, zira ancak bu şekilde öğrenim ve öğretim süreci bir bütün olarak daha verimli ve etkili hale getirilebilir.

Culture for language learning in Australian language-in-education policy

2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Liddicoat
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Culture Learning ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Static Information ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Australia’s language-in-education policy documents have consistently included references to the place of ‘culture’ in language teaching. This paper seeks to examine how the major national policies conceptualise culture and interculturality in relation to languages education. For each policy, this study will analyse the language focus, the conceptualisation of the relationship between language and culture, the contexts in which the policy envisages cultural knowledge will be relevant, and the overall educative vision for language and culture learning. From these analyses it can be seen that successive policy documents have shifted the domain and purpose of interculturality and have constructed views of interculturality that are increasingly instrumentaly focused. The policies show a transformation from a humanistically focused construction of education and a view of languages as relevant to diversity, to an economically focused construction of education and a view of languages as capital for economic deployment. At the same time, they have preserved a largely static, information-focused construction of culture which is not consistent with the user-oriented policy goals.

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