Intercultural Sensitivity and Adult Learners’ Willingness to Communicate in English as a Foreign Language

Intercultural sensitivity as coined by Bennett (2015) is a relatively new construct which refers to how an individual construes and makes sense of cultural differences. It is believed that it is not inborn and can be developed through intercultural experiences and formal instruction. Though the concept of intercultural sensitivity has been already investigated, particularly in relation to communication effectiveness; yet it has not been examined through the lens of the learner’s willingness to communicate. Hence, the purpose of the research paper is to investigate intercultural sensitivity and its correlation with willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language. The author employed the quantitative methodology, administering the online intercultural sensitivity and willingness to communicate questionnaires to adult learners of English representing various L1 cultures. The insights from the study may equip us with new knowledge on increasing learners’ willingness to communicate and as a result their engagement in communication in a language classroom.

Formal instruction by Song for English Learners in SMP IT Darul Hasan while Pandemic Era

This research was examined to help the English teacher in Junior high school especially, while pandemic Covid-19 more dilate over the world. The pandemic that has hit the world in the last 3 years, it gas given much attention from all elements in the world generally, the side of education do need new innovations to keep advancing the target of education, so one of thing teachers do at SMP IT Darul Hasan Kota Padangsidimpuan to overcome the problem have tried carry out formal instruction in achieving good English grammar according to their target and age, namely through songs with grammar elements according to the lesson curriculum in social media flat form. This research have done for treat in 7 class SMP IT Darul Hasan Kota Padangsidimpuan that consist of 25 students randomly. The three classes have a different acquisition in English subject, again which the students in 7d, 7e, and 7f. So, in my conclusion that formal instruction by song in Junior high school SMP IT Darul Hasan Kota Padangsidimpuan has given a positive effect.

Applying And Promoting Open Science In Ecology - Surveyed Drivers And Challenges

Open Science (OS) comprises a variety of practices and principles that are broadly intended to improve the quality and transparency of research, and the concept is gaining traction. Since OS has multiple facets and still lacks a unifying definition, it may be interpreted quite differently among practitioners. Moreover, successfully implementing OS broadly throughout science requires a better understanding of the conditions that facilitate or hinder OS engagement, and in particular, how practitioners learn OS in the first place. We addressed these issues by surveying OS practitioners that attended a workshop hosted by the Living Norway Ecological Data Network in 2020. The survey contained scaled-response and open-ended questions, allowing for a mixed-methods approach. Out of 128 registered participants we obtained survey responses from 60 individuals. Responses indicated usage and sharing of data and code, as well as open access publications, as the OS aspects most frequently engaged with. Men and those affiliated with academic institutions reported more frequent engagement with OS than women and those with other affiliations. When it came to learning OS practices, only a minority of respondents reported having encountered OS in their own formal education. Consistent with this, a majority of respondents viewed OS as less important in their teaching than in their research and supervision. Even so, many of the respondents' suggestions for what would help or hinder individual OS engagement included more knowledge, guidelines, resource availability and social and structural support; indicating that formal instruction can facilitate individual OS engagement. We suggest that the time is ripe to incorporate OS in teaching and learning, as this can yield substantial benefits to OS practitioners, student learning, and ultimately, the objectives advanced by the OS movement.

The Influence of Cross-Linguistic Similarity and Language Background on Writing to Dictation

This study used a word dictation task to examine the influence of a variety of factors on word writing production: cognate status (cognate vs. non-cognate words), orthographic (OS) and phonological similarity (PS) within the set of cognate words, and language learning background [late bilinguals (LBs) with academic literacy and formal instruction in English and Spanish, and heritage speakers (HSs) with academic literacy and formal instruction only in English]. Both accuracy and reaction times for the first key pressed by participants (indicating lexical access), and the time required to type the rest of the word after the first keypress (indicating sublexical processing) was assessed. The results revealed an effect of PS on the dictation task particularly for the first keypress. That is, cognates with high PS were processed faster than cognates with low PS. In contrast to reading studies in which PS only revealed a significant effect when the OS between languages was high (O+P+ vs. O+P−), in the dictation to writing task, the phonology had a more general effect across all conditions, regardless of the level of OS. On the other hand, OS tended to be more influential for typing the rest of the word. This pattern is interpreted as indicating the importance of phonology (and PS in cognates) for initial lexical retrieval when the input is aural. In addition, the role of OS and PS during co-activation was different between groups probably due to the participants’ linguistic learning environment. Concretely, HSs were found to show relatively lower OS effects, which is attributed to the greater emphasis on spoken language in their Spanish language learning experiences, compared to the formal education received by the LBs. Thus, the study demonstrates that PS can influence lexical processing of cognates, as long as the task demands specifically require phonological processing, and that variations in language learning experiences also modulate lexical processing in bilinguals.

Advanced learners of Spanish abroad

This study examines the progress made by a group of ERASMUS students in their use of the Spanish Preterite and Imperfect during a stay abroad. Advanced learners of Spanish (N = 12) and native speakers (N = 12) completed an impersonal narrative-based forced-choice test (INT) and an explicit knowledge questionnaire (EKQ). Results from the INT partially confirm the findings of previous studies which indicate that the expression of grounding distinguishes learners from native speakers. Our data show that only the foreground clearly distinguishes between the two groups, not the background. Responses to the EKQ reveal that learners use a variety of mechanisms for their selection of past tense morphology: formal instruction, translation into their L1, knowledge of other L2s and conversation with native speakers. This article suggests further research be undertaken to examine the impact of the learning context on students’ use of past tense morphology.

Receptive Vocabulary Acquisition in Pre-Primary Education through Soft-Content and Language Integrated Learning

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has become the focus of Foreign Language (FL) research within the last decades. CLIL provides a more complete, naturalistic, and meaningful context to FL learning, which has proven to brings many benefits to learners, such as a higher motivation and promotion of creativity, and better results in receptive skills, vocabulary, morphology and fluency. Nevertheless, most CLIL research has focused on primary and secondary level students and, thus, more research is needed with younger learners, namely, pre-primary students. The present study examines the learning of FL vocabulary in pre-primary learners following a soft-CLIL program, as compared to their same age peers following Formal Instruction (FI) of English. Over the course of six months, pre-primary students of two grades, namely 4- and 5-year-old students (N=155), took part in such program, aiming at teaching two curricular preschool units, traditionally taught in the mother tongue (L1), in English in the FL sessions. A longitudinal study was conducted, and students were administered a general vocabulary level pre-test, as well as a target words receptive vocabulary post-test after the two units had been worked on. The focus of the research was on receptive vocabulary acquisition, but age and word frequency effects were also analyzed. Results showed positive tendencies in receptive vocabulary development through soft-CLIL, although not statistically significant. A significant frequency effect was found, indicating that high-frequency words are recalled more easily than lower-frequency ones, but no significant differences were found when comparing learners from the two grades.

Spanish Football Managers and Zonal Marking in the Nineties: From Wise Old Men to Football Engineers

This research aims to improve current knowledge on managers’ professional culture and practices through the study of how tactical requirements, and specifically the introduction of zonal marking in the 80’s and 90’s, transformed professional football managers training methods, their professional competences and requirements. In order to do so, 23 semi-estructured interviews were conducted with Spanish first división La Liga professional managers and footballers. Spanish managers in the 80’s enjoyed a traditional authority and disregarded formal instruction and knowledge. However, the tactical complexity emerged through the zonal marking system and the training methods evolution from physical to tactically focused generated a new kind of abstract knowledge and new pedagogical and group managing skills mandatory to achieve success and manage the group.

Religious Education and the Challenge of Christian-Muslim Co-existence in Northern Nigeria

The northern region of Nigeria where this research is concentrated isunfortunately known of a historical religious crisis which has situated the adherents in a dysfunctional relationship. Consequently, the religious groups co-exist with diverse challenges that often trigger inter-religious tension. Nigeria is generally understood as a religious country with citizens committed to the rigorous practice of their faiths. Christians and Muslims are the proliferating religious groups who co-exist as neighbors yet as rivals struggling for dominance. One of their means of propagation and indoctrination is religious education. In Nigeria, religious education takes many forms depending on the religion and whether it is moderated through government policy or privately by the religious group. However, by religious education, I refer to a formal instruction in school where particular religious adherents are taught their doctrines, beliefs, customs, rituals, rites, and other relevant themes. Exclusive religious education in some public schools is a challenge to Christian-Muslim co-existence in Nigeria.

Vividness, Clarity, and Control in Auditory Imagery

Previous studies of auditory imagery have often confounded vividness and clarity, and the differences between these constructs are not clear. Additionally, it has been suggested that clarity is a more useful construct than is vividness in understanding auditory imagery. The Clarity of Auditory Imagery Scale and the Bucknell Auditory Imagery Scale were administered to participants, and ratings of the clarity, vividness, and control over auditory imagery were collected. All three measures were highly positively correlated. The magnitudes of these correlations were not influenced by participants’ sex, age, ethnic group, handedness, years of participation in a band or choir, or years of formal instruction in music, and possible reasons for the lack of individual differences are discussed. Three analogies for understanding differences between vividness in auditory imagery and clarity in auditory imagery, and suggestions for potential operational definitions of auditory vividness and auditory clarity in future studies, are provided.