scholarly journals Language in Educational Contexts

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Natalie Keefer ◽  
Michelle Haj-Broussard
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Language Ideology ◽  
Funds Of Knowledge ◽  
Decisive Factor ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Educational Funding ◽  
Contemporary Education

The purpose of this special issue is to provide a space for scholars to disseminate theory and research about the influence of language in educational contexts. In this issue, we curated articles that address topics related to how language serves as a defining or decisive factor in education and schooling. In our introduction to this special issue, we provide an interpretive overview of the articles and offer an explanation of their relevance for understanding the complex nature of contemporary education. Salient topics include: critical analysis of discourse, linguistic landscapes, Natural Semantic Metalanguage, language ideology, politics and educational funding, funds of knowledge/identity, and definitional caveats related to language learning pedagogies in divergent contexts.

British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Manual: A Critical Analysis of the Coursebook Taught at Pakistani Universities for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Manual: A Critical Analysis of the Coursebook Taught at Pakistani Universities

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching Principles

English for Academic Purposes course focusing on the academic language needs of students is a subfield of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It is a type of specialized course to integrate specific subject matter, language content, and material based on learners’ needs. The study aims to evaluate the British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursebook in terms of content, sequencing, learners’ autonomy, motivation, feedback and focus on language skills. Furthermore, the study tries to provide a general perception of the usefulness and effectiveness of the coursebook for undergraduate students. The EAP Students’ Manual coursebook is used as a primary source for the data collection. The researcher has chosen Nation & Macalister (2010) model of language teaching principles to analyze and discuss the data. The study found the coursebook a useful, effective and an appropriate source of English language learning in terms of the investigated aspects of the book. The findings report that the coursebook provides practice and practical usage in all domains of the academically required English language skills. It helps the students to build language competency and to be more independent learners. In addition, it provides an opportunity to the learners to think in the target language, use the language more practically and learn it in a natural type of environment. The study concludes and suggests that the content needs to be supplemented with English language audios and videos presenting the students relevant documentaries and helping material in order to make the coursebook and the learning process more useful, effective, interesting and motivating. Furthermore, the study recommends that while choosing /designing a coursebook for a certain course, it needs to be evaluated following the various criteria and language-teaching-principles suggested by different language researchers.

Language Ideology and Second Language Learning

2008 ◽  
Vol 155 ◽  
pp. 95-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa McGarry
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Ideology ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Explanatory Power

AbstractThe increasing recognition of the concept language ideology and the corresponding increasing use of the term have not yet been matched by applications in the field of second language acquisition. However, applications of the concept in analysis of actual classroom practices have shown it to have considerable explanatory power. Greater consideration of language ideology in SLA is necessary not only to achieve greater understanding of the role of ideology in various areas but also to show connections between these areas that may yield important generalizations and to impel the application of the concept in areas where it has been neglected by highlighting its uneven treatment.

scholarly journals The Politics of Contemporary Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecille DePass
Keyword(s):  
Contentious Politics ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Contemporary Education

Call for Submissions: Special Issue: The Politics of Contemporary Education.Through scholarly and creative work, this proposed CPI special issue explores central aspects and impacts of the contentious politics of contemporary education.

scholarly journals FEATURES OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE LESSON

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (194) ◽  
pp. 167-172
Author(s):  
Tetyana Tokaryeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Learning Material ◽  
Proper Understanding ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Oral Skills ◽  
Specific Part

The article considers the main features of a foreign language lesson in view of the goals and content of the lesson, its complex nature, structure and main types. Considerable attention is paid to the complex nature of work in the classroom, as all elements of language material – phonetic, lexical and grammatical – are interdependent in the implementation of foreign language speech activities. The specifics of goal setting are considered taking into account the features of the lesson, its structure and typology. The purpose of the lesson is a definite reflection of the ultimate goal, a specific part of it. Proper understanding of the purpose of the lesson should be based on a combination of two features of the lesson – language learning and complexity. Each foreign language lesson has a practical, educational and upbringing purpose. The structure of the lesson involves closely interrelated and independent activities of teachers and students, in which the learning process is embodied. The article focuses on the initial stage of a foreign language lesson, which prepares students to implement skills and abilities in various types of speech activities, such as speaking, listening, reading and writing. The beginning of the lesson is one of the constant stages of a foreign language lesson. The initial stage consists of various exercises, mostly oral. It can also be implemented in the form of dialogue between students, in the form of students asking a series of questions on a particular topic addressed to the class. The teacher may also suggest starting the lesson with a story based on familiar and understandable learning material. In addition, individual or frontal control can be performed at the beginning of the lesson. Since a foreign language lesson is a lesson in the development of skills, the stages of communication and consolidation of new knowledge are combined with the performance of various exercises. Lessons of different types, combined for a specific purpose, can form a system of thematic series, within which the objectives of the lessons vary in quantitative and qualitative terms. There are three such systems, namely, the system of lessons aimed at: 1) the development of oral skills and abilities; 2) reading and understanding the text; 3) for the development of both groups of skills. An overview of the typology of foreign language lessons developed and proposed by leading experts in the field of methods of teaching foreign languages is presented in order to emphasize the features of a foreign language lesson.

scholarly journals Virtual and Other Learning Spaces: Introduction to the Special Issue

2016 ◽  
pp. 110-114
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Opportunity To Learn ◽  
Editorial Team ◽  
Proximal Development ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Access Management ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Physical Spaces

Welcome to issue 7(2) of SiSAL Journal, which is a special issue on virtual and other learning spaces. The idea for putting together this special issue arose for two reasons. Firstly, we were inspired by the of submissions for the Self-Access Stories project edited by Katherine Thornton whose aim was to “highlight specific experiences of various areas of self-access management in practice, with a view to providing multiple perspectives on each issue” (Thornton, 2015). Some of the submissions and the ensuing discussion on the topic of virtual and other learning spaces prompted the editorial team to do a further call for papers for this special issue. The second reason for putting together this issue reason is that our own institution is currently preparing for a move to a larger, brand new purpose-built facility and this has inevitably resulted in our reevaluating interpretations of self-access for our own context. We wanted the opportunity to learn from others and invite them to the conversation. Environmental factors play a role in students’ learning both inside and outside the classroom and through this special issue we hoped to explore physical spaces, virtual spaces, and even metaphorical spaces in learning, e.g. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development – ZPD, or Murphey’s Zones of Proximal Adjusting – ZPA (Murphey, 1996; 2013) from both the practical and theoretical perspectives. This issue contains four full papers, one discussion article edited by Hisako Yamashita, and three papers that form the fifth part of the language learning spaces column edited by Katherine Thornton.

Modeling virus pandemics in a globally connected world a challenge towards a mathematics for living systems

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
N. Bellomo ◽  
F. Brezzi ◽  
M. A. J. Chaplain
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Modeling And Simulation ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Living Systems ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Heterogeneous Features

This editorial paper presents the papers published in a special issue devoted to the modeling and simulation of mutating virus pandemics in a globally connected world. The presentation is proposed in three parts. First, motivations and objectives are presented according to the idea that mathematical models should go beyond deterministic population dynamics by considering the multiscale, heterogeneous features of the complex system under consideration. Subsequently, the contents of the papers in this issue are presented referring to the aforementioned complexity features. Finally, a critical analysis of the overall contents of the issue is proposed, with the aim of providing a forward look to research perspectives.

Critical Analysis of the Roles of Actors in the Deployment of Software

2015 ◽  
pp. 135-152
Author(s):  
Tefo Sekgweleo
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Heterogeneous Network ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Software Deployment

Many organizations resort to software deployment with the intention to simplify their daily activities, and for competitive advantage. The deployment consists of two main phases, development and implementation. Unfortunately, software doesn't always fulfil the organization's intentions. This is attributed to numerous factors, some of complex nature, which happen among humans, non-humans, and between humans and non-humans actors during development and implementation of software. Case study research was conducted to understand the roles of actors, and how their actions and interactions impact the development and implementation of software in the organization. Actor Network Theory (ANT) was employed in the analysis of the data. The theory focused on activities including the negotiation among actors which happened within heterogeneous network.

Bringing Cross-Cultural Communication Analysis Into Foreign Language Classrooms

2019 ◽  
pp. 71-97
Author(s):  
Trudy O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Language Classrooms

The teaching of a second or foreign language has always incorporated some aspect of cultural information, but the full and rather complex nature of cross-cultural and intercultural communication has not always been an explicit pedagogical focus. The chapter outlines the key components of cross-cultural and intercultural communication (CCC/ICC), and reviews some major theories that have dominated the area. It is suggested that providing explicit instruction in CCC/ICC to language learners will prepare them for interacting appropriately in the target language in whatever global context they may wish to use it. Learners need to be not only linguistically and pragmatically but culturally competent as well as they move into multicultural contexts of interaction in that language. Specific elements of cross-/intercultural communication with regards to linguistic features and potential points of confusion in the EFL (English-as-a-foreign language) classroom are discussed as accessible examples. The chapter then relates some ways that cross-/intercultural mindfulness and understanding can form an active part of the teaching of a second/foreign language in order to enhance the full language learning experience and subsequent entry to successful communication.

Becoming Teacher Researchers

2016 ◽  
pp. 1857-1894
Author(s):  
Aria Razfar ◽  
Beverly Troiano ◽  
Ambareen Nasir ◽  
Eunah Yang ◽  
Joseph C. Rumenapp ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Research Team ◽  
Funds Of Knowledge ◽  
Professional Identities ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Teacher Researchers ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Teacher Researcher ◽  
Cultural Historical Activity

Drawing on three years of data, we show how an embedded university research team and eleven K-8 educators reorganized learning and negotiated innovative curricular activities for English learners (ELs) in spite of restrictive curricular mandates in an urban Midwestern district. We analyze how participating teachers appropriated theoretical constructs such as cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), third space, funds of knowledge, as well as using discourse analysis to design curriculum aimed at improving language learning through mathematics, science, and community-based problem solving. The learning of teachers was purposefully designed to develop new professional identities. The learning was also designed to move teachers from deficit views of multilingualism to dynamic stances grounded in polyglot language ideologies. We examine the challenges and opportunities of participants' movement from resistant, procedural, and ethnographic identities towards teacher researcher identities.

Active particles methods and challenges in behavioral systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (04) ◽  
pp. 653-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Bellomo ◽  
F. Brezzi ◽  
J. Soler
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Mathematical Approach ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Behavioral Systems ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Active Particles ◽  
Challenging Research ◽  
Large Systems

This paper first provides an introduction to the mathematical approach to the modeling, qualitative analysis, and simulation of large systems of living entities, specifically self-propelled particles. Subsequently, a presentation of the papers published in this special issue follows. Finally, a critical analysis of the overall contents of the issue is proposed, thus leading to define some challenging research perspectives.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document