Language Centers in the Age of Ubiquitous Technology and Eclectic Methodology

This study was conducted in order to better understand how, if at all, language centers (LCs) are relevant in current technological and methodological contexts of second language education. Five language centers housed by four different institutions of higher education in the western United States were examined. Two representatives from each of the five centers were interviewed either in-person or over the phone (N = 10). Data was collected in the form of semi-structured interviews and on-site visits. The data was analyzed using a flexible combination of multi-level qualitative coding, descriptive statistics, and narrative analysis. This study confirms recent findings that have shown LCs to be a highly diverse group of institutions, particularly with respect to form and function. With respect to relevance, a common framework for discussing different language centers is outlined in the form of three paradigms: center/department, center/institution, and center/community.

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Language teachers’ accounts of challenges in two European settings of integration training

European Educational Research Journal ◽

10.1177/14749041211054954 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 147490412110549

Author(s):

Miira Häkkinen ◽

Mirjamaija Mikkilä-Erdmann

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Adult Education ◽

Course Design ◽

Language Education ◽

Daily Practice ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Working Environment ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Second Language Education ◽

Second Language Teachers

This study investigates the work of second language teachers in two institutional settings responsible for integration training. By exploring teachers’ accounts in Finland and Germany, we seek to deepen the understanding of the daily practice of second language education. Bridging conceptual and practical approaches, the aim is to contribute to the current discourse on the development of adult second language education in Europe. A phenomenographic analysis of semi-structured interviews reveals challenges that influence instruction from inside and outside institutional practice. Accounts in the Finnish setting depict issues in how language education, teachers’ work, and adult education are perceived. Administration and language teachers disagree on what needs to be improved in a changing societal environment. Professional pride and appreciation are strongly demanded in a profession that is still being established, and challenges specific to adult education translate into priorities in delivering instruction. In the German setting, expressions culminate in prerequisites, and challenges lie in the way external factors influence course design and instruction. They also touch upon learning: methods, materials, and abilities. Feelings of inadequacy describe teachers’ psychological working environment. A comparison concludes a need to defend contact teaching in Finland and to improve tracking of slower learners’ progress in Germany.

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Using R2L pedagogy in teaching practical writing to non-Chinese speaking students in Hong Kong

Pedagogical Linguistics ◽

10.1075/pl.20009.shu ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mark Shiu-kee Shum ◽

Dan Shi

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Mother Tongue ◽

Ethnically Diverse ◽

Language Education ◽

Learning Context ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Applied Learning ◽

Second Language Education ◽

Analytical Perspective ◽

The Status

Abstract Since Hong Kong handover, the language policy in Hong Kong shifts from diglossic bilingualism to bi-literacy and trilingualism policy, balancing the status of English and Chinese with the mother tongue education policy. This policy shift has inadvertently impacted non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students’ enrollment, whose limited mastery of Chinese language prevents them from the mainstream schooling. Faced with this ethnically diverse and multilingual population, Applied Learning Chinese (ApL(C)) motivating practical reading and writing in an applied learning context was proposed by Hong Kong Education Bureau as an alternative for second language education. This study examines the effectiveness of “Reading to Learn, Learning to Write, R2L” pedagogy (Rose, 2012) in teaching Chinese practical writing to NCS students in Hong Kong with pedagogic interventions and Systemic Functional analytical perspective. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to perceive students’ learning experiences with R2L pedagogy. The finding suggests an increased meta-linguistic awareness of genre-specific writings after interventions to be empowered with a voice against social inequity and be empathized with humanistic reflections.

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Emotional experiences beyond the classroom: Interactions with the social world

Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching ◽

10.14746/ssllt.2018.8.1.5 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 103-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Andrew S. Ross ◽

Damian J. Rivers

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Language Learners ◽

Language Education ◽

Social Contexts ◽

Target Language ◽

Emotional Experiences ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Daily Lives ◽

Second Language Education ◽

Esl Learners

Research into the emotional experiences of language learners and their impact upon the language-learning process remains relatively undernourished within second language education. The research available focuses primarily on emotions experienced within the classroom, rather than in the daily lives of learners within various social contexts. This article contends that the focus placed upon emotions within the relatively structured environment of the formal classroom is problematic, particularly within an ESL environment, as the target language is more frequently experienced beyond the classroom. Drawing on data collected within Australia, the study explored the emotional experiences of a small cohort of eight university-level ESL learners experienced within their various social interactions beyond the classroom with a specific focus on the emotions of hope, enjoyment and frustration. Semi-structured interviews revealed that their emotional experiences beyond the classroom were particularly intense in comparison to emotional experiences within the formal language-learning classroom.

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The Suitability of French Immersion for Allophone Students in Saskatchewan: Exploring Diverse Perspectives on Language Learning and Inclusion

Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.7202/1063773ar ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 27-63 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Stephen Davis ◽

Susan Ballinger ◽

Mela Sarkar

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Mixed Methods Research ◽

English Language ◽

Language Education ◽

French Immersion ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Second Language Education ◽

Immersion Programs ◽

Additive Bilingualism

French immersion programs in Saskatchewan have traditionally served to further the goals of additive bilingualism between Canada’s two official languages, French and English. Whereas these programs have historically consisted of predominantly Anglophone populations, recent trends in immigration have contributed to the increasingly diverse linguistic backgrounds of students throughout the province. The motivation, family support, and high academic achievement of allophone students learning French as an additional language have been documented extensively in Canada (Dagenais & Jacquet, 2000; Mady, 2013, 2014, 2015). Nevertheless, allophone students often do not benefit from the same access to second language education programs as their Anglophone and Francophone peers; indeed, such learners are sometimes excluded from French immersion programs on the basis of their lack of English language proficiency (Roy, 2015). Through Likert-scale surveys and semi-structured interviews, this mixed-methods research explored the perceived suitability of French immersion for allophone students by examining the perspectives of parents and educators in several schools in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. This study will share the triangulated findings of the research, discuss the suitability of French immersion programs for allophone students, and provide recommendations for the future of such programs in Saskatchewan.

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Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) of DNA and RNA

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100152148 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. 34-35

Author(s):

Patricia G. Arscott ◽

Gil Lee ◽

Victor A. Bloomfield ◽

D. Fennell Evans

Keyword(s):

Molecular Structures ◽

Inorganic Materials ◽

Resolving Power ◽

Scanning Tunneling ◽

Tunneling Microscopy ◽

Form And Function ◽

Dna And Rna ◽

Calf Thymus ◽

And Function ◽

The Relationship

STM is one of the most promising techniques available for visualizing the fine details of biomolecular structure. It has been used to map the surface topography of inorganic materials in atomic dimensions, and thus has the resolving power not only to determine the conformation of small molecules but to distinguish site-specific features within a molecule. That level of detail is of critical importance in understanding the relationship between form and function in biological systems. The size, shape, and accessibility of molecular structures can be determined much more accurately by STM than by electron microscopy since no staining, shadowing or labeling with heavy metals is required, and there is no exposure to damaging radiation by electrons. Crystallography and most other physical techniques do not give information about individual molecules.We have obtained striking images of DNA and RNA, using calf thymus DNA and two synthetic polynucleotides, poly(dG-me5dC)·poly(dG-me5dC) and poly(rA)·poly(rU).

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