Computer Mediated Communication: Tools for Instructing Russian Heritage Language Learners

2008 ◽  
Vol Volume 6 (6.1 (Spring, 2008)) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Meskill ◽  
Natasha Anthony
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Learners ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Mediated

The unique needs, goals, and constraints of heritage language learners in U.S. higher education and the multiple ways that they differ from those of second and foreign language (L2) learners have been well documented (Brisk, 2000; Chevalier, 2004; Grosjean, 1982; Kagan & Dillon, 2003). Each population uses its two languages in diverse ways, for differing purposes and with vastly dissimilar levels of proficiency. Shaping these distinctions are the contexts and purposes in which and for which learners are and/or become fluent. In the mother tongue, these contexts and purposes are most often interpersonal and involve home and family. By contrast, the contexts and purposes in which and for which a ‘school educated’ learner tends to master the foreign language are public and academic. This study examines Russian heritage learners in a U.S. university Russian language course and how computer mediated communication (CMC) was used to support their acquisition of academic literacy in the mother tongue. The CMC approaches reported can serve as models for accommodating heritage learners in post-secondary foreign language classes in ways that benefit all learners.

University Spanish Heritage Language Coursework: Meeting the Needs of All Heritage Learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly M. Torres ◽  
Meagan Caridad Arrastia ◽  
Samantha Tackett
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Heritage Learners ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
University Settings ◽  
The Impact

The structure and instruction of foreign language classrooms have changed to meet the needs of the growing number of Hispanic heritage language learners (HLLs) entering university settings. To understand the impact of these reforms, interviews were conducted with 11 HLLs about their experiences in Spanish classrooms designed for their unique learning needs. Although participants were divided in their beliefs of heritage coursework offered, all the students valued being within a community of shared life experiences.

Chinese language learners’ anxiety toward chat partners in computer-mediated communication

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-147
Author(s):  
Yanlin Wang ◽  
Steven M. Crooks ◽  
Stefanie Borst
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Online Chat ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Chinese Language Learners

Abstract Studies have shown foreign language anxiety (FLA) can negatively impact learners’ performance in the classroom, but learners experience less FLA during computer-mediated communication (CMC) activities. Although it has been documented that communicating with native speakers (NSs) can make foreign language learners more anxious, very few empirical studies have compared learners’ anxiety levels toward different online chat partners. The current study investigated intermediate Chinese language learners’ FLA in online text CMC activities chatting with NSs and non-native speakers (NNSs). The quantitative data analyses showed that there was a significant difference in the anxiety level between chatting with NSs and NNSs in text-based CMC: chatting with NSs made Chinese learners more anxious than chatting with NNSs. Language confidence and partner familiarity were the two main factors mediating the anxiety. Practical pedagogical implications and future research directions were discussed.

scholarly journals Overcoming Aural Proficiency: Pitfalls for Heritage Learners in Russian Cyberspace

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-39
Author(s):  
Donald Loewen
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Negative Reinforcement ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Learners ◽  
Significant Interference ◽  
The Russian Language

Heritage language learners soon learn that their verbal competence can be both a blessing and a burden. Reliance on aural cues can provide significant interference in attempts to master spelling conventions. Now, an unlikely source — the Russian-language internet — threatens to provide negative reinforcement for the very spelling habits that instructors want to correct. This article is an attempt to introduce the emerging phenomenon of "ear-spelling" in the Russian internet and to identify how these developments may affect heritage learners.

Virtual worlds and language learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabela Melchor-Couto
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Affective Variables ◽  
One Step ◽  
The Eu

Technology has made an invaluable contribution to foreign language (FL) teaching, particularly so in recent years. The advanced technical capabilities offered by digital games, including voice and text chat, take the use of computer-mediated communication in language learning one step further, allowing for remote, anonymous and situated learner interaction. This article presents an overview on how virtual worlds (VWs) are being used for educational purposes and for FL teaching in particular. A literature review on existing research has been included, covering areas such as FL interaction, impact on affective variables and attitudes towards the use of these environments. Special attention will be devoted to how VW interaction may affect students’ anxiety, motivation and self-efficacy beliefs. Finally, teacher perceptions will be explored through the data collected among 179 secondary school FL teachers participating in the EU-funded TeCoLa project (‘Pedagogical differentiation through telecollaboration and gaming for intercultural and content integrated language teaching’).

scholarly journals Word Shortening Strategies: Egyptian vs. Non-Egyptian English Tweets

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Iman Mohamed Mahfouz
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Parallel Corpora ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Message Length ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Media Platform

The language of Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) is known to deviate from standard language in many ways dictated by the characteristics of the medium in order to achieve brevity, speed as well as innovation. Together with the intrinsic features of CMC in general, the character limitation imposed by the popular social media platform, Twitter has triggered the use of a number of linguistic devices including shortening strategies in addition to unconventional spelling and grammar. Using two parallel corpora of English tweets written by Egyptians and non-Egyptians on a similar hashtag, the study attempts to compare the shortening strategies used in both datasets. A taxonomy for orthographic and morphological shortening strategies was adapted from Thurlow and Brown (2003) and Denby (2010) with particular focus on message length, punctuation, clipping, abbreviations, contractions, alphanumeric homophones and accent stylization. Given the scarcity of linguistic studies conducted on Egyptian tweets despite the vast amount of data they offer, the study compares the findings about tweets written by Egyptians in English as a foreign language to previous studies. The findings suggest that Egyptians tend to omit punctuation more frequently, whereas non-Egyptians favor abbreviations, contractions and clipped forms. The results also indicate that Twitter may be shifting towards longer messages while at the same time increasingly employing more shortening strategies. The study also reveals that character limitation is not the only factor shaping language use on Twitter since not all linguistic choices are governed by brevity of communication.

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