Language Learning

Coventry University Institution Wide Language Programme (IWLP) offers beginners language learning modules to approximately 3,000 students. Each module is taught over 11 weeks for a total of one hour and 40 minutes and two of the weeks are used for in class tests, so tutors generally agree that students need to practise their skills outside the classroom in order to pass the module. One way of doing this was to use the language learning app, Duolingo, which helps students to gradually broaden their linguistic, professional competence, and digital fluency through increased learner autonomy. How effective this approach is, however, has never been measured. The project ran from January to April 2018 and explored whether a correlation exists between regular use of the app by IWLP learners at Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level A1 of French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, and achieving a high formal coursework assessment mark. The views of both learners and tutors of their experiences of using the software, and the tutor tools provided by Duolingo Schools, will also be canvassed. A virtual classroom was set up within Duolingo Schools for each participating cohort of students and they were encouraged to use the app on a regular basis. The tutor tools allowed the monitoring of how many days learners were active, how many lessons they completed, how many courses they completed, and how many points they were awarded while using Duolingo. These statistics were compared with

The practice of language teaching and learning inside the classroom is, in fact, under the circumstance of philosophical assumption or ideological framework. Teaching program and curriculum set are absolutely written on the basis of particular assumptions about the nature and value of knowledge. These assumptions mainly determine actual decisions in listing important items to be taught and learned along with the way those items are delivered. Approaches in language teaching have always been developed, in one hand, under consideration of linguistic and psychological theories of learning and educational objectives along with the expected demands of classroom teaching and learning in another hand.

This study aims at discussing how the discursive genre theory (BAKHTIN, 1992; DOLZ; SCHNEUWLY, 2004) contributes to the understanding of how video games can foster English language learning. Persona 4: Golden, the video game chosen for this study, was analyzed through Dolz and Schneuwly 's (2004), namely: action capacities; linguistic capacities; linguistic-discursive capacities. The analysis shows that the first six hours of gameplay of the aforementioned object of study present a wide array of text genres that simulate texts found in the real world, engaging players in authentic practices that stimulate language learning. Moreover, as the understanding of language is a prerequisite to move forward in the game, motivation is a key factor in P4G. Lastly, since the game used in this study is also present in other media, players might engage in gaming culture.

The year 2020 marked the 25th year since Bonny Norton published her influential TESOL Quarterly article, ‘Social identity, investment, and language learning’ (Norton Peirce, 1995) and the fifth year since we, Darvin and Norton (2015), co-authored ‘Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics’ in the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. From the time Norton's 1995 piece was published, investment and motivation have been conceptually imbricated and often collocated, as they hold up two different lenses to investigate the same reality: why learners choose to learn an additional language (L2). In our 2015 article, we made the case that while it is important to ask the question, ‘Are students motivated to learn a language?’ it is equally productive to ask, ‘Are students invested in the language practices of the classroom or community?’ (Darvin & Norton, 2015, p. 37). We recognize that the relationship between language teachers and learners is unequal, and that teachers ...

Teaching the research paper has been considered a “present controversy” for over fifty years (Saalbach, 1963). Some scholars believe that it prepares students for “generalized academic writing” (Reiff and Bawarshi, 2011; Sutton, 1997; Schwegeler and Shamoon, 1982). However, others have referred to the research paper as a “fossilized,” “pseudo-academic,” “mutt genre” (Nowacek, 2011; Wardle, 2007; Carroll, 1999; Larsen, 1982). This chapter argues that radical openness and information overload--two major features of new media composing environments--compromise the relevance of the traditional research paper. First, the research paper has been praised and blamed for its (in)ability to help students learn the importance of writing from sources (Brent 2013, Rooney 2000). However, the parameters of most research assignments are incapable of matching the scale of data available at any given time. For instance, typical constraints like “use 5-7 sources” for a first-year college writing course seems ridiculous when it takes seconds to retrieve thousands, if not millions, of possible sources. Next, open-access publishing and collaborative authorship have transformed the way that research is conducted and recognized across disciplines. Although teaching students how to crowdsource research makes the most sense in a data deluge, the research paper privileges single authorship. Moreover, the problems of authorship and source attribution implicate the research paper in certain kinds of fraud. For instance, plagiarism and term paper mills are a “built-in” problem of research papers (Howell, 1977).  In sum, this chapter focuses on what the term "research" means in a context of too much information.  It concludes by offering a brief discussion of literature relevant to this topic.

As I mostly teacher low-level classes conducted usually entirely in L2, sometimes the issuing of instructions can be protracted and problematical. I would like to become more aware about this aspect of teaching and learn how to give instructions to my low-level learners more effectively.

How humans possess the language ability is a matter of long controversy among the linguists. Some of them believe that the ability of language is the result of innate knowledge. Unlike other species humans possess that innate ability which is genetically coded. To them language is the outcome of nature (genes). Conversely, others claim that the ability of language is learned through experience extracting all the linguistic information from the outside environment. It is the outcome of nurture (environmental factors/stimuli). At present, there is no clear winner regarding the debate as both genes and environmental factors/stimuli seem to play a vital and important role in language acquisition.

Anormal Psikoloji kitabı, ruhsal bozukluklar alanında çalışan tüm profesyoneller, psikiyatristler, klinik psikologlar, psikologlar, psikolojik danışmanlar, hekimler, sosyal hizmet uzmanları, psikiyatri hemşireleri ve bu alanlarda öğrenci yetiştiren akademisyenler ile eğitim alan öğrenciler için temel bir başvuru kitabıdır.
2013 yılının Mayısı ayında yayımlanan DSM-5 ölçütlerine göre ruhsal bozukluklarla ilgili sunulan bilgilerin güncellemesinin de yapıldığı bu kitap, tüm dünyada pek çok üniversitenin psikiyatri ve psikoloji bölümlerinde ders kitabı olarak okutulmaktadır.
Kitabın her bölümünde, ilk olarak ruhsal bozukluklarla ilgili vakalar sunulmakta, daha sonra bozuklukların klinik tanıları yapılmakta ve DSM-IV-TR’den farklı olan DSM-5’te yapılan değişikliklere yer verilmektedir. Ayrıca, DSM-5’teki tanı ölçütleri, bozuklukların etiyolojisi ve epidemiyolojisi, bozukluklar üzerinde kalıtımın ve çevrenin etkileri, biyolojik ve sosyal ve kültürel etkiler, en güncel araştırmalardan elde edilen verilerle harmanlanarak sunulmaktadır. Ruhsal bozuklukların tedavisinde etkili olacak terapi yaklaşımları ve ilaçla yapılan tedaviler hakkında da bilgiler veren kitap, sahip olduğu zengin içeriği ile eşsiz bir kaynaktır.
Anormal Psikoloji kitabının; profesyoneller ve öğrenciler için önemli bir rehber olacağına, yardıma ihtiyaç duyan insanların sorunlarının çözümüne, ruhsal bozuklukların tanı ve tedavisinde önemli katkılar sağlayacağına inanıyoruz.

Fabula, an interdisciplinary project funded by the EU Multimedia Software programme, provides software to enable children learning European minority languages to create bilingual digital books. We share a set of assumptions and approaches to the key issues addressed by ...

This project proposes that language evolve through reinforcement learning where agents communicate with each other and provide rewards if communication is successful. The fundamental difference between the learning mechanisms that humans use to communicate with one another and how machines learn to communicate is that the system used by humans presupposes that the adult already knows the meanings associated with the human language. Languages evolve historically to be optimal communication systems where human language learning mechanisms have evolved in order to learn these systems more efficiently. Machines in their learning of natural language, have to start at a place that humans mastered thousands of years ago. Uttering previously unheard signals and collectively establishing meaning. The question that this paper deals with is how can a communication system evolve if none of the conspirators have mastered the system previously using evolutionary computation and reinforcement lear...

This article revisits the issue of the normalisation of technology in language education, defined as the stage at which a technology is used in language education without our being consciously aware of its role as a technology, as an effective element in the language learning process (Bax, 2003). It draws on the literature relating to the history of sociotechnical innovation (Bijker, 1997) to develop the theoretical basis of the concept and examines normalisation in the light of a neo-Vygotskian conceptual framework, in order to establish a set of central principles by which to understand and interpret the normalisation process. It then considers the implications for the language teacher and other change agents, with proposals for how to introduce new technologies into language education settings with maximum impact.

« Dak mevrouw, ich eet François en ich spel krak tennis ». De meeste leraren Nederlands die lesgeven aan Franstaligen hebben dit (vrij karikaturale) zinnetje al eens gehoord. Dit laat ons zien hoe moeilijk sommige klanken van het Nederlands uit te spreken zijn voor tweedetaalleerders, onder andere Franstaligen. Naast die constatering kunnen we ons afvragen of de
Franstaligen die moeilijke klanken van het Nederlands kunnen waarnemen, en welke factoren een invloed hebben op de discriminatie van die klanken. Daarbij rijst de vraag of de aangeboren of verworven muzikaliteit
van de leerders de discriminatie van taalklanken kunnen beïnvloeden: mensen die muziekklanken accuraat kunnen waarnemen, vertonen misschien
ook een gevoelige perceptie voor niet-muzikale klanken. Deze bijdrage onderzoekt de moeilijkheidsgraad van de discriminatie van Nederlandse klanken door Franstalige studenten en de invloed van (niet)-muzikale factoren op die vaardigheid.
Op de eerste plaats focust dit artikel op de factoren die het leren beïnvloeden (Sectie 2). Vervolgens wordt in Sectie 3 de aandacht gevestigd op het verband tussen taal en muziek en het mogelijk effect dat muzikale aanleg of muziekpraktijk op taalvaardigheden uitoefent. Sectie 4 gaat nader in op de hoofdvragen van dit onderzoek en de gebruikte methodologie. Daaropvolgend staan de resultaten en de bespreking ervan centraal (sectie 5). Dit artikel wordt afgesloten met mogelijke pedagogische implicaties van deze analyse.

Language is a system of principles and symbols that is applied for meaningful communication Language learning relates to first-language learning, which learns children learning of their language. Through language, we can express our ideas and view to others. It mentions to the knowing knowledge of rules and being capable to speak about them. Human language is different from communication of animals.

Theories of language production suggest that utterances are built by a mechanism that distinguishes linguistic subject from linguistic frame. Producing language in uttered discussion is not possible without motions. Language production is the production of uttered and scripted language. Language production connects the arranging of linguistic information.

Human language is different because it has characteristics of productive, translation etc. It believes on social learning and convention.  The human beings have evolved a capacity to communicate through language. The capacity to learn a natural language differentiates human being from other beasts, and is generally absorbed during the first decade of life throughout the critical time for language learning. The language system that evolves penetrates everyday life, rendering for an infinite linguistic ability and for the necessary creativity of language.  Development and the mind have done an amazing work resolving many difficult problems in action control, admitting problems of learning, hierarchical hold over serial behaviour.

It is not wonderful that these resolutions are victimized to solve other difficult problems such as pattern of a communication system. We suggest a theory of language of learning and production. The growth of grammatical position and symbols of language become significant through basing in perceptual experience and action system.

The article first introduces the special issue on the topic of Linguistic Dimensions of Inclusion in Educational and Multilingual Contexts. Key aspects of inclusive education are outlined and applied to the realm of language, communication and language learning. The concept "linguistic barrier," a collective term for linguistic practices and communicative aspects that may pose obstacles to language learning, communicative success or a successful integration of individuals in multilingual contexts, is discussed. Focal points of the individual contributions to the special issue are briefly outlined. In the second part, the article hones in on non-nativeness as a dimension of inclusion in foreign language teaching. Processes of exclusion and inclusion are illustrated through a multimodal critical discourse analysis of representational practices in units from the German EFL textbook series Navi Englisch. The main focus of analysis lies on verbal and visual cultural indexes that allow for conclusions on the representation of native and non-native social actors as well as ENL, ESL and EFL cultures. Based on the finding that the material shows a strong predominance of native language user representation , it is argued that a mainstreaming of second language identities and English as an international lingua franca in ELT can foster higher levels of inclusion that are likely to have positive, empowering effects for learners of English and non-native English language teachers alike. KEYWORDS critical discourse studies, EFL textbooks, English as a lingua franca, foreign language teaching, inclusion, language learning, linguistic barrier, non-nativeness

Knowing how to learn a language maximizes the chances of effective learning. Metacognition, an emerging concept in cognitive psychology, aids learners to enrich their knowledge of the learning process and makes them autonomous learners. This paper details an experiment conducted with fifty freshmen in college on autonomous learning of…

This study investigated whether task complexity influences second language (L2) writers’ fluency, pausing, and revision behaviors and the cognitive processes underlying these behaviors; whether task complexity affects linguistic complexity of written output; and whether relationships between writing behaviors and linguistic complexity are moderated by task complexity. Participants were 73 advanced L2 writers, who completed simple or complex essay tasks. Task complexity was operationalized as the absence versus presence of content support. Participants’ writing behaviors were recorded via keystroke logging software. Four writers, drawn from groups performing simple and complex tasks, additionally engaged in stimulated recall. Content support was found to lead to less pausing, more revision, and increased linguistic complexity. When content support was absent, more frequent pauses and revisions were associated with less sophisticated lexis. These results, combined with stimulated reca...

This study dealt empirically with certain aspects of second language learning among three university students, who all had a relative degree of proficiency in Mandarin and who were in an advanced English-as-a-second-language class at UCLA. An error analysis of written verb forms was undertaken with two purposes in mind: first, to determine the short-term effects of teacher correction procedures on the eradication of errors and second, to relate interlanguage background (past language experiences, current language environment, and language learning strategies) and learners' explanation of errors to the errors themselves. A close look at the effects of correction in written work revealed that correction was neither systematic nor enlightened enough to actually influence the production of errors. Although broad in scope and in some ways rudimentary, the gathering of interlanguage background information and error explanations from the learners provided useful insights concerning the production of errors and what these errors tell us about interlanguage.

Children produce their first gestures before their first words, and their first gesture + word sentences before their first word + word sentences. These gestural accomplishments have been found not only to predate linguistic milestones, but also to predict them. Findings of this sort suggest that gesture itself might be playing a role in the language-learning process. But what role

ABSTRACT

The Internet as a worldwide literacy practice environment has created a new situation in communication, providing a new dynamic field for research. On the basis of the two articles under discussion, this commentary develops three main aspects of the Internet: as an informal learning environment for English as a second/foreign language; as a discursive space where identities are formed and social relationships are negotiated; and, as a space where the intermingling of the global and the local gives rise to hybrid language varieties. Taking into account that electronic environments are not neutral literacy practice environments but are involved in a complex nexus of power structures and relations that also need to be explored, this paper briefly addresses issues related to theoretical and methodological approaches for the study of language varieties in the Internet.

This paper reports on the first phase of an exploratory qualitative study carried out with in-service language teachers pursuing a graduate degree in Colombia. It aims at analyzing their practices, needs, and challenges, examined under two perspectives—the teacher as a learner and the teacher as a teacher. The study made use of interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires as the primary sources of data. Data analysis included a grounded theory approach and the use of coding, triangulation, and validation procedures. Results unveiled the difficulties that current in-service teachers have in different domains (cognitive, metacognitive, and linguistic), and also inform how the teaching challenges within their specific contexts influence their beliefs, practices, learning and teaching outcomes, and their professional growth. The study presents both theoretical and applied considerations to tackle the needs and challenges reported, aiming at offering a systematic analysis and approach fo...

This case study investigates the metacognitive reading strategies of three advanced proficient trilingual readers whose native language is Hausa. The study examines the reading strategies employed by the three readers in English, French and Hausa. The aim of the study was to compare the reading strategy profiles of trilingual readers through perceived use and real-time or actual use of reading strategies. The major findings revealed that: (1) The three multilingual readers demonstrate high awareness of reading strategies; (2) They deploy more reading strategies in their second and third language than in their first language; (3) Some types of reading strategies were used more often than others; (4) The most proficient readers deploy a wider range of strategies than the least proficient reader who relies heavily on translation. The topic and research questions are pertinent because it adds to a relatively small data base on the strategic reading of multiliterate and multilingual read...