Connected Learners

2018 ◽  
pp. 83-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Santamaría-García
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Politeness Theory ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
Cultural Variables ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Globalized World ◽  
Different Cultures

Technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) is moving ahead from the use of technology in language labs to the possibilities offered by technology in setting up new ways of communication and interactivity. The effectiveness of teaching seems to depend more on teachers' ability to motivate students by connecting to their interests and catering for different intelligences. Teachers' creativity and empathy with them will constitute essential skills for the design of tasks and projects that connect with digital native students' interests. Consideration of cultural aspects will be of essential importance in our globalized world, as learning a language must always take into account cultural variables. The objective of this chapter is to review the challenges that technology and interculturality pose to foreign language teachers and note some of the possible solutions that may facilitate efficient teaching. Politeness theory will be discussed as a theoretical framework providing resources for building social identity and doing relational work with different cultures.

Online Informal Language Learning Among Foreign Language Teachers

2020 ◽  
pp. 315-332
Author(s):  
Violeta Jurkovič ◽  
Vita Kilar ◽  
Nives Lenassi ◽  
Darja Mertelj
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Online Resources ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Online Behaviour ◽  
Insight Into

Today's online world provides foreign language users and learners with a multitude of opportunities to engage in a variety of language activities. A social group that can derive major benefits from the availability of online resources in different languages is foreign language teachers. Based on an ‘emic' approach, this study involves case studies of three experienced foreign language teachers that used diaries over a period of eight weeks to report on every instance of online use of their predominant foreign language and English. Semi-structured interviews were used to obtain insight into online behaviour that was not specifically related to the eight-week period of diary-keeping. The results indicate that the online uses of the three participants, although they belong to the same social and age groups, display great variety in terms of online activities and the predominant language used to perform these activities.

scholarly journals English language pre-service and in-service teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes towards integration of students with learning difficulties

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivana Cimermanová
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
General Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Elementary School Teachers ◽  
Regular Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers

Abstract The study of foreign languages is obligatory for all pupils in Slovakia, where the first foreign language is English. Conforming to integration legislation, pupils with special educational needs (SEN) are taught in mainstream classes. Foreign language teachers, however, lack training and where not prepared how to apply teaching methods and techniques for pupils with SEN in the regular language learning class. In the study presented, 187 elementary school teachers filled out questionnaires dealing with integration of pupils with SEN and possible inclusion of learners with disabilities in Slovakia and a group of 56 university FLT students - teachers-to-be. Teachers are not forced and/or encouraged to take part in in-service courses or other education on how to teach these pupils. The pre-service teachers are offered courses on SEN teaching, however, these are not compulsory and mostly general education oriented. The majority of in-service and pre-service teachers felt that pupils with SEN should be taught in regular education class. The article also describes the current situation concerning integration of students with SEN using the official statistical data.

The FI Program in 1963

PMLA ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald D. Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Language Program ◽  
Activity Increase ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Long Range Planning ◽  
Telephone Calls

Describing a year's activity in a half-hour report is an annual challenge that grows more difficult as the pace and scope of the activity increase. The Foreign Language Program is in some ways the victim of its success. One of our early goals was to become an information center and we have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. Requests for materials, information, opinions, and assistance threaten to overwhelm us daily. Three members of the staff do nothing but answer these requests. The ones that are unanswerable are put in my in-basket. Telephone calls and visitors multiply. All this activity we are tempted to think of as interruptions to our real job, long-range planning, deep thinking, foreign languages in the next century. But in a very real sense the magnitude of the interruptions to our job is the sign that we are succeeding, that more and more foreign-language teachers and students and more and more people in general want to know the answers to questions and the solutions to problems of which they were hardly conscious a few years ago. There has been a revolution in language learning in this country and among recent visitors to our office have been language teachers and administrators from all over the world (France, England, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Africa, Australia), who have come to find out what we are doing.

scholarly journals Necessity of improvement of foreign language teaching in the Slovak Republic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-263
Author(s):  
Marcela Šarvajcová ◽  
Monika Štrbová
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers

Aim. The aim of the research study was to investigate the opinions of the Slovakian secondary school foreign language teachers and learn about their views on the system of education in the field of enhancement of teachers` professional qualifications. Methods. To perform the results of the study the method of focus group was used. Results. The results of the presented research show the differences between the perception of foreign language education in the past and how it appears today through the views of selected number of foreign language teachers in Slovakia. The pivotal role is played by the technological skills of the students and their ability to use information technologies instructed in foreign languages. The research results also indicate the possibilities of teachers to get in direct contact with the target foreign language as a part of their professional development. The research participants also specified the factors that they considered the most influential in the process of foreign language learning. Conclusion. The purpose of the article is to discuss the urge to achieve highly professional foreign language education in today`s technological society. As shown by the results obtained from the focus group, the teachers/participants agreed on a single highly impactful factor: family.

scholarly journals How do foreign language teachers motivate students in language learning?

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
Diana S Rahman ◽  
Wening Sahayu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Extrinsic Motivation ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Visual Method ◽  
Intrinsic And Extrinsic Motivation ◽  
Instrumental Motivation

Motivation is one of the keys to success in the language learning process. It is a crucial factor for students in learning a foreign language, and the teachers’ ways to motivate students are also essential. This study aims to investigate language teachers’ ways in motivating students in learning foreign languages. The participants in this study are eight foreign language teachers including English, Arabic, and French teachers. Data were collected through open-ended questionnaires with the teachers. The results of this study showed that most of the foreign language teachers motivated the students in learning a foreign language by sentences (verbal) and this method encouraged students’ instrumental motivation. Next, referring to the time of motivation, four teachers motivated the students at the beginning of each learning process, meanwhile three teachers gave motivations at the beginning and at the end of each learning process. Finally, referring to the types of motivation, only two teachers (i.e. French teachers) could identify motivation types of learners, which are in the form of internal, external, intrinsic, and extrinsic motivation. Meanwhile, other teachers (i.e. English and Arabic teachers), did not mention specifically the names of the motivation types that they knew. To conclude, most of the teachers of this study did not motivate their students maximally in the classrooms. Consequently, this study offers some methods to motivate learners in learning foreign languages, those are the Verbal Method (VM1) and the Visual Method (VM2), and they are further discussed in the paper.

scholarly journals Dunkin’ the Donut: A Study on Students’ Patterns of Language Use through Technology Applications in Independent Language Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-132
Author(s):  
Norizul Azida Darus ◽  
Norhajawati Abdul Halim
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Technology Applications

Any language can be acquired at any time, but to acquire the language, one needs to learn the language. Learning a second or foreign language is not a favourite among second or foreign language learners. This is because learning a language is a very intense time-consuming activity. Learning is often unsuccessful because learners receive impoverished or insufficient input and lack of motivation. To this, second language or foreign language teachers play the most significant role to help and motivate the students to acquire the said language. The preferred method is to be immersed into the actual ecosystem of the target language and become part of the language ecosystem. The other way is to dunk the learners into the artificial ecosystem of the language classroom. In dunking, the learners are immersed temporarily and repeatedly into the simulated ecosystem language. As can be seen now, technology remains the only viable option to get enough interactive contact with the target language. Using interesting software is one of the methods in making learning more interesting. Furthermore, the students are able to practice the language not only during class time, but on their own free time outside of class hours, that is during students’ independent time of learning. The findings revealed that most students found using the applications has improved their language learning. The role of teachers on the other hand is to provide instructions and assist whenever necessary and needed by the students.

scholarly journals Reflective use of video recording in class

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Peter Joseph Ward
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Technology Enhanced Learning ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
High Level

Reflective video-recording in language-learning classes is engaging, effective and fun. Practices and techniques are highly transferable to other subject areas. In developing speaking competence and confidence, language teachers are constantly assessing and balancing the need to address either accuracy and/or fluency.   Video-recording in a supportive, sensitive environment with learners and teachers who know each other well can capture spoken language and visual communication and allow it to be worked on, like words on paper, as a text for analysis, discussion and feedback in a variety of ways, both top-down and bottom-up. Accuracy can be addressed without affecting fluency as the sample of speech is recorded, not live.   The use of video-recording and play-back lends itself particularly well to a wide range of language-learning approaches and methodologies, including Community Language Learning (CLL), Dogme ELT, task-based learning (TBL) and others, under the umbrella of a communicative approach.   Classes using video-recording are spontaneous and adaptive, very learner-centred and allow for responsive and sensitive adjustment to students’ needs, strengths and areas for improvement as well as cultural and linguistic considerations.   This case study will include edited video extracts of a video of a mock speaking test being analysed by a class of learners who are all engaged in practising for this this style of test. They share feedback in a supportive, affirming atmosphere. There is a high level of engagement and interaction.   The video of this class, in turn, is shown to a group of teachers, who use it as a text to workshop ideas for delivering feedback and generating learner-led discussion for meaningful alternative authentic self-assessment. The teachers also discuss the use of technology-enhanced learning in regard to this use of video.   Another layer of video shows a professional development session with a wider body of teachers leading into discussion on using video in professional development of teachers and teacher-trainers.   This case-study session will involve explanation of the methodology and pragmatics of this simple way of using video, recorded with students’ and teachers’ phones in class to enhance reflective learning with a range of clips of the various layers.    

scholarly journals Perceptions of Foreign Language Teachers for M-Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (23) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Nadire Cavus ◽  
Liudmila Shukshina ◽  
Oxana Chernova ◽  
Irina V. Telezhko ◽  
Alfia M. Ishmuradova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Mobile Technology ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Material Design ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Strongly Agree ◽  
Russian Universities

Educational technology is a set of systems consisting of tech savvy equipment, processes and methods for the effective and positive implementation of educational theories. Nowadays, when the internet is becoming widespread, and mobile device technologies such as smartphones and tablets have been developing rapidly, it is possible to access educational content without being connected to a place. Today, almost everyone has smartphones. Many social networks, sites, applications are available. Many studies have shown that technology is effective in the field of education. For teachers with foreign language and their perceptions of learning through the help of technology are important. In this study, it is important to determine teachers' perception levels of mobile applications that contribute to foreign language learning. The "mobile learning perception scale" developed to access the research data. Items that are mentioned in the scale are basically positive question, "absolutely disagree", "disagree", "undecided", "agree", "strongly agree". After analysing the reliability of the survey, the overall result was found as Cronbach ? = 0,963. A total of 180 teachers attended from North Cyprus and Russian universities. According to the result of the research, the teachers' perception of mobile learning is high. But this rate is proportional to age. There is a difference in the findings regarding the use of mobile technology when looking at the professional seniority and age ranges. This is due to the fact that recently, technology-supported trainings have been increased and the addition of "material design courses" and "technology-supported trainings" at universities play an important role in increasing perceptions. The use of mobile technology can be increased by providing in-service trainings to teachers with high professional experience and ages.

scholarly journals Identifying The Areas For English Language Teacher Development: A Study Of Assessment literacy

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kağan Büyükkarcı
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Assessment ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Assessment Literacy ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Graduate Studies ◽  
Post Graduate

Assessing foreign language learning has been considered an indispensable part of language learning process for a long time, especially for the last two decades. Therefore, there is a growing need for language teachers to be more competent in the area of language testing. Keeping in mind that teacher assessment literacy is a key factor in the success of teaching, this study investigates assessment literacy levels of foreign language teachers, and also it seeks to find out whether year of experience and post-graduate education make any difference in language teachers' assessment literacy. Data were collected from in-service teachers, both working for ministry of education and universities by using "assessment literacy inventory". The results indicate that these foreign language teachers have a very low level of assessment literacy. Besides, contrary to other studies, year of experience and post-graduate studies do not really add on teachers' assessment literacies.

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