Improving Online Readability and Information Literacy

Author(s):  
John Paul Loucky

This chapter integrates important challenges of how to improve accessibility, readability and learnability of online content. It is concerned with issues of how to create effective and enjoyable contents for online learning that is linguistically accessible, textually comprehensible and readable for foreign language learners. Information literacy is an umbrella term encompassing computer, critical, digital, and media literacy. Yet a crucial area for research is the overlap of traditional reading literacy and new forms of online and digital library literacy. This area seems to have been largely overlooked and under-researched. This chapter elucidates how various threads can be more skillfully woven together so as to enhance online reading and language learning skills. The aim is to gain insights that enhance online learning and integrate information literacies in foreign language education.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 493-497
Author(s):  
Branko Medic

During the coronavirus pandemic research on video conferencing effects on young language learners is more than ever relevant. During the sharp transition, educators need to fully understand the benefits and possible pitfalls of video conferencing, but also overcome resistance to change through knowledge. As author Philip Pullman rightly points out, “You cannot change what you are, only what you do.” This article summarised key research and provided evidence for and against the use of video conferencing in foreign language education. Thus, it gives food for thought and reflection, as well as directions for possible interventions.  However, the research was limited in terms of time and available literature, and the topic certainly requires more attention. In future, it is recommended to further research the use of multimodal interactions (sound, audio, text) in video conferencing, as well as coping strategies for dealing with the lack of interaction in the video conferencing-enabled classroom.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Schumacher

AbstractBy adopting “functional plurilingualism” – a recurring concept in its new curriculum, “Lehrplan 21” – Switzerland is pursuing new avenues in foreign language education. The term refers to a goal-oriented approach to foreign language learning and teaching in primary and secondary schools, and implies that barriers to communication can be overcome by exploiting the sum of the individual’s linguistic capacities. In future, language learners will be expected to build on the interrelatedness of languages instead of developing abilities in languages that they keep separate from one another. This view of foreign language education coincides with the recommendations of the Council of Europe’sHaving reached the highest level specified by the CEFR, some learners continue their studies, seeking to maintain or reinforce their competences or to address individual weaknesses. In this article, a group of C2+ learners of German as a foreign language reflect on their desire for linguistic perfection and the notion of “functional plurilingualism” against the background of their own biographies. These learners have a high awareness and knowledge of German (often their third language) and of the learning process, which allows them to make informative statements. The data was analysed qualitatively and subjective theories were reconstructed – an approach that took account both of the multiperspectivity of the topic and of the uniqueness of the individual cases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-199
Author(s):  
Mahrus Asʾad ◽  
Ahmad Bukhori Muslim ◽  
Wagdi Rashad Ali Bin-Hady

Abstract Similar to other theistic texts, the Qurʾan has some figurative languages which require deep thought for good comprehension. However, how these rhetorical imageries can inspire the development of higher order thinking skills (HOTS) and religious tolerance among language learners, two necessary skills in the information-laden era, is still less known. This study explores how the Qurʾan’s figurative languages serve as an inspiring basis to develop Bloom’s revised taxonomy of analyzing and evaluating thinking skills in foreign language learning. Document analysis shows that many verses in Sura (Chapter) Joseph and other five chapters contain some simile, personification, and metaphor in recounting past prophetical and scientific events humans need to learn for life. Incorporated into learning materials, these figurative languages require the foreign language learners to use their skills of sensing, imagining, and making logical reasoning to discern the real meanings. The discussion of Sura Joseph in the Qurʾan which recounts some prophets of Abraham’s descendants can also increase religious tolerance among young followers of Abrahamic religions. The study recommends some strategies on how language teachers base their teaching and learning practices on these religious scriptures to develop students’ critical thinking and create a more harmonious global citizenship.


Author(s):  
Liudmila Vladimirovna Guseva ◽  
Evgenii Vladimirovich Plisov

The article defnes the role of digital means in foreign language learning, establishes the reasons for the effective use of digital means and digital technologies, identifes challenges in mastering a foreign language in an electronic environment, as well as the prospects for the digitalization of foreign language education. When studying the issues of emergency off-campus learning organization, the results of surveys of teachers and students conducted in April 2020 at Minin University were used. image/svg+xml


Author(s):  
Barbara Schmenk

Book reviews reflect the views and opinions of the respective reviewers and do not necessarily represent the position of SCENARIO. Helga Tschurtschenthaler’s study is one of the most important scholarly contributions in recent years to the field of drama-based foreign language teaching. She conducted her research in an EFL class in an upper secondary school in multilingual South Tyrol and presents a plethora of data that demonstrates the impact of drama in foreign language education on students’ sense of self as emerging multilingual subjects (Kramsch 2009). What stands out about this study, besides its detailed presentation and analysis of student data, is the fact that Tschurtschenthaler succeeds in connecting recent theoretical contributions to the fields of language education and identity to more practical considerations. Overcoming the gap between theory and practice in this domain is one of her signal achievements. “You are not you when you speak Italian. It’s as if you become someone else when you change into Italian. You don’t only sound different, but you even behave differently. Then, you’re not the person I know.” (11) These are the opening lines of the book, leading the reader directly to its main subject. Tschurtschenthaler explains that it was a ...


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-124
Author(s):  
David Singleton ◽  
Dorota Záborská

This article will explore the experience—challenges, benefits, and satisfactions— that awaits older adults who embark on the adventure of learning additional languages, either as ‘true’ or ‘false’ beginners, or in some cases as resilient lifelong (foreign language) learners (to be distinguished from polyglots). Drawing on the increasing number of studies focusing on third-age language learning, the article will address the self-doubt afflicting many third-age language learners and the difficulties claimed to be imposed on them by the effects of an age-related decline in language-learning capacity. It will go on to discuss the benefits that are said to accrue for older learners of languages other than their first. Finally, it will address and exemplify from our own data the intense enjoyment which many older adults derive from language learning.


2015 ◽  
Vol 725-726 ◽  
pp. 1646-1652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Kukushkina

The article is dedicated to the changes happening in the sphere of higher education and concerning the foreign language education of the future civil engineers. The research held studies the main motivational factors for English language learning among the students of the Institute of Civil Engineering. The conclusions made are meant to improve the system of technical students’ foreign language education .


2003 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 91-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong-Bae Son

This article reports the results of a study conducted to examine the use of three different reading text formats: paper-based format (PF), computerbased non-hypertext format (NHF), and computer-based hypertext format (HF). It investigates foreign language learners’ reactions to the three text formats, focusing particularly on the usefulness of hyperlinks in computermediated text to provide readers with optional assistance during independent reading. Data collected from an interview with a group of Korean as a foreign language (KFL) students are presented and discussed. The results of this study show that the students considered the use of hyperlinks to be helpful and useful for their learning and suggest that it is important to look at the way in which reading materials and supporting information are presented when designing or selecting computer-assisted language learning (CALL) programs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amélie Bulon

Abstract Foreign language learners’ phraseological proficiency remains problematic, even at advanced levels (e.g., Meunier, 2012; Meunier & Granger, 2008; Siepmann, 2008). While the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) method is believed to facilitate foreign language learning by fostering input, interaction, and output, little attention has been paid to the phraseological competence of CLIL learners. The present study aims to fill this gap as it is framed within an interdisciplinary project on CLIL in Belgium and specifically focuses on the phrasicon, i.e. the phraseological lexicon, of 5th year French-speaking secondary school learners of English in immersive (CLIL) and non-immersive (NON-CLIL) settings. The paper reports on (1) an analysis of the variety/range of the phrasicon and (2) an overview of phraseological accuracy. The analyses are based on a corpus of written productions of 180 learners. The findings of this study indicate higher frequency, range and accuracy in the phrasicon of CLIL learners.


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