2012, Volume 6
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/40367
2024-03-28T23:08:20ZIf You Get Double the Time: Teaching practices in the “Swedish/English” language subject option in Swedish nine-year compulsory schooling
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/40866
If You Get Double the Time: Teaching practices in the “Swedish/English” language subject option in Swedish nine-year compulsory schooling
Tholin, Jörgen
In Swedish nine-year compulsory schooling, all students are supposed to learn English and at least one additional language, i.e., French, Spanish, or German. As a final option, extra Swedish and/or English classes, often called SvEn, are offered for students who choose not to study another language. The activities in SvEn are unregulated: there are no official instructions for the teachers, no set teaching goals (over and above those for regular Swedish and English classes), and no grading criteria, as students choosing SvEn are not graded in this language choice. This paper focuses on how 17 teachers organize their teaching of English in SvEn, basing the study on teacher interviews. It also analyses the assumptions regarding language learning that underlie their teaching practice and how these are connected to current and previous course syllabi.The analysis of the interviews demonstrates that many teachers have well-thought-out strategies for English teaching, though they are not always successful in realizing these in classroom practice. Despite the fact that the interviewed teachers say that underachieving students need more class time to succeed in their studies, many of them simultaneously describe the difficulty of filling SvEn classroom time with relevant content. None of the interviewees refers to current curricula and course syllabi. The teachers’ statements about lesson activities, and their reasons for them, fall into four categories corresponding well to the subject view that formed part of English course syllabi from the 1960s up to 1994.
2013-02-04T12:07:39ZAcquisition of French as a Second Language: Do developmental stages correlate with CEFR levels?
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/40865
Acquisition of French as a Second Language: Do developmental stages correlate with CEFR levels?
Prodeau, Mireille; Lopez, Sabine; Véronique, Daniel
This paper contributes to an assessment of the role of grammatical knowledge in the definition of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) levels of reference and to a discussion of the relation of the knowledge of grammar in the definition of proficiency in French as a second language. The first part is a summary of the findings about the acquisition of French morphosyntax with special emphasis on nominal and verbal groups. The second part looks at possible correlation between these results and the CEFR. The rationale is that the six levels defined in the CEFR do not imply an even split in the acquisition process or the curriculum. Some levels will take longer and require more instruction for the learner to move beyond than others. We will also argue that the sum of pragmatic and linguistic skills needed to achieve communicative success at each level makes it difficult, if not impossible, to find lexical and grammatical means that would characterize only one level.
2013-02-04T12:03:23ZEditorial
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/40864
Editorial
Mäntylä, Katja; Kalaja, Paula
2013-02-04T11:52:12ZContent Domain and Language Competence in Computer-mediated Conversation for Learning
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/40863
Content Domain and Language Competence in Computer-mediated Conversation for Learning
Leone, Paola
This study addresses the issue of interactional dominance in Teletandem conversations, in which two speakers communicate via video calls and chat and alternatively use their L2, the latter being the native language of the interlocutor. In particular, the research focuses on the impact of language competence (native/non-native) and content expertise (minus/plus familiarity with the topic at hand) on the role assumed by each interlocutor in structuring conversation. The data consists of 3 hours of computer-mediated recorded and transcribed conversations during 3 meetings: meeting 1 comprises free discussion for mutual introduction; meeting 2 is a discussion in English of a topic chosen by the Italian native speaker; meeting 3 is a discussion in Italian of a topic chosen by the English native speaker. The participants' language proficiency in L2 ranged from upper-intermediate to advanced. The following indicators were considered: sequential dominance, determined by identifying and counting topic moves; interaction dominance, defined in terms of average turn length; interruptions. The research design considers behaviours that are potentially salient for language learning (e.g. clarification requests). Results show no tendency by the native speaker to control conversation flow: neither the English nor the Italian speaker is dominant during events in which her own native language is used. As regards content familiarity, this seems to have an effect when topic knowledge becomes expertise like during meeting 3, when the English native speaker produces more topic moves and longer turns in L2 than her partner.
2013-02-04T11:47:22ZSimilarities between Playing World of Warcraft and CLIL
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/40862
Similarities between Playing World of Warcraft and CLIL
Sylvén, Liss Kerstin; Sundqvist, Pia
This article argues that playing World of Warcraft (WoW) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) have a number of similar features. We base our argument on findings from three studies. The first (Sylvén 2004/2010) is about CLIL and non-CLIL students at upper secondary level and aims to investigate what effect, if any, CLIL has on the incidental acquisition of vocabulary. The second (Sundqvist 2009) is about extramural English and aims to examine its potential impact on learners’ oral proficiency and vocabulary. Extramural English is broadly defined as any type of contact that learners have with English outside the classroom. The third is a joint study focusing on young learners and their extramural English habits and aims to see whether there is a relationship between what the learners do in English in their spare time and their learning outcomes in school, as measured by the national test of English and a written vocabulary test. A pattern regarding gaming and learning outcomes emerged from the three studies, making it possible to claim that playing WoW shares many features with CLIL. In CLIL contexts, the aim is to integrate the learning of subject content with the learning of an L2. Similarly, in a game such as WoW – an extramural informal arena – an authentic, content-rich L2 immersive environment is supplied. We conclude that what CLIL claims to do intramurally, that is, in the classroom, WoW and possibly also other massively multiplayer online role-playing games seem to accomplish, at least to some degree, extramurally.
2013-02-04T11:13:53ZTeacher-researchers Exploring Design-based Research to Develop Learning Designs in Higher Education Language Teaching
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/40861
Teacher-researchers Exploring Design-based Research to Develop Learning Designs in Higher Education Language Teaching
Bergroth-Koskinen, Ulla-Maija; Seppälä, Riina
Due to constant changes and developments of the 21st century societies and working life, the environments in which learning takes place have changed. Novel ways to research learning in those environments and to explore how learning could be supported with the learning design are needed in order to bring about changes in teaching practices. One of those ways could be design-based research (DBR), an iterative, interventionist and flexible research strategy, which would allow cycles of developing theory of learning as well as implementing design principles in practice. This article describes how we, as teacher-researchers, have adopted a design-based research approach in two separate studies in order to examine learning in authentic contexts in our own work as higher education language teachers. In the first stages of applying the strategy, we are exploring how our current designs work. The data for this exploration was collected from English for Academic Purposes courses in the form of videoed lessons, reflective diaries, interviews, questionnaires, course assignments and feedback to document the designs as well as the learning processes. Through this, we hope to shed light on the affordances that are central in terms of learners’ agency in shaping their own learning paths, and communicating their expertise through language on these example courses. This knowledge could then be utilized in developing an improved learning design. Despite the challenges of implementing this multifaceted approach, design-based research could have potential to provide new insights into learning and teaching and in that way also affect educational practices.
2013-02-04T11:06:03ZNew Challenges to Motivate Remedial EFL Students to Read Extensively
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/40860
New Challenges to Motivate Remedial EFL Students to Read Extensively
Takase, Atsuko; Otsuki, Kyoko
Although one of the keys to improving language ability lies in the continuous and prolonged exposure to the target language, providing learners with the opportunities in the EFL environment is not easy. For Japanese learners of English, in fact, the amount of input of English is severely limited. Additionally, it is hard for them to keep motivating themselves to study English as the use of the language is often not requisite in the society. This paper explains that extensive reading (ER) is an effective method for learners with low proficiency and poor motivation to learn English, provided that Start with Simple Stories (SSS) and Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) methods are guaranteed (Takase 2008). SSS requires learners to read books written in easily comprehensible English, and SSR secures learners certain amount of time to read in class under the guidance of instructors. The paper shows the improvement of ER students’ English ability after three-months of ER courses, where SSS and SSR were employed, and how they started to be motivated to read extensively during the courses. The participants of the study are eighty-one Japanese EFL students, who had failed to pass an English course in the previous year mainly due to their low English proficiency. They kept reading relatively easy books extensively for eighty minutes once a week over one academic semester. Statistical analysis of the results of pre- and post-tests demonstrates that their English proficiency significantly improved.
2013-02-04T10:57:02ZIn Search of Lost Language: A longitudinal study into trainee teacher motivation and the reactivation of lapsed language skills
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/40859
In Search of Lost Language: A longitudinal study into trainee teacher motivation and the reactivation of lapsed language skills
Llewellyn-Williams, Jill
Trainee language teachers require a high standard of subject knowledge for their intense training programme and frequently find it difficult to balance the need to maintain their language proficiency with the more urgent necessity of learning new professional skills. This longitudinal study explored language attrition and strategies that could be employed to reactivate lapsed language skills. An initial three year study was undertaken in the context of a Postgraduate Certificate in Education Modern Foreign Languages programme at a Welsh university with the aim of supporting subject knowledge, but the findings are relevant to the wider professional knowledge of new teachers. The initial case study phase lasted two years and many valuable data were gathered by means of questionnaires, interviews and reflective logs. This was followed by a one-year action research intervention which took the form of a subject knowledge consolidation programme, during which trainee teachers were able to put into practice strategies that would allow them to reactivate language skills that had suffered attrition over extended periods. Their progress was charted by language audits, reflective logs and focussed testing. The main finding was that effective reactivation required a combination of structural input and extensive exposure to the target language, though the latter could be undertaken by activities which could be integrated into students’ daily leisure routine. In the following two years, the programme continued to develop and findings reveal that the success that students experienced in the process of reactivation shows a clear correlation with their motivation levels. This programme has not only supported students in the reactivation of lapsed language skills but also encouraged reflection on the process of metalearning, helping them to develop into more confident and competent teachers.
2013-02-04T10:49:57ZThe Complexity of Learner Agency
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/40858
The Complexity of Learner Agency
Mercer, Sarah
Successful language learning depends crucially on the activity and initiative of the learner (van Lier 2008: 163). However, before a learner engages their agentic resources and chooses to exercise their agency in a particular learning context, they have to hold a personal sense of agency – a belief that their behaviour can make a difference to their learning in that setting. In this article, I examine the construct of learner agency through the lens of complexity theory. I attempt to show how a learner’s sense of agency emerges from the complex dynamic interaction of a range of components in multiple levels of context. Considering longitudinal data from a single case study of a tertiary-level EFL learner, the first stage of analysis shows how learner agency needs to be understand as being situated contextually, interpersonally, temporally and intrapersonally. The findings highlight the importance of considering agency from a holistic perspective. The second stage of analysis focuses on one fragment of the agentic system, namely learners’ belief systems. It examines the complex and dynamic interaction of a learner’s self-beliefs, beliefs about language learning including their ‘mindsets’, and beliefs about contexts. Together both sets of findings suggest the potential merits of viewing agency as a complex dynamic system and raise important questions about its nature and development. The article concludes by discussing the challenges facing research employing a complexity perspective and the need to consider the practical benefits of such a view for pedagogy.
2013-02-04T10:36:30ZThe Influence of Goal Orientation, Past Language Studies, Overseas Experiences, and Gender Differences on Japanese EFL Learners’ Beliefs, Anxiety, and Behaviors
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/40857
The Influence of Goal Orientation, Past Language Studies, Overseas Experiences, and Gender Differences on Japanese EFL Learners’ Beliefs, Anxiety, and Behaviors
Nakayama, Akira; Heffernan, Neil; Matsumoto, Hiroyuki; Hiromori, Tomohito
The purpose of this study was to examine how Japanese students’ past language studies, in formal classroom settings during their elementary school years and their overseas experiences before entering university, affected their affective and strategic aspects of English learning in university level English classes within the framework of Goal Theory (Dweck 1986). The participants consisted of 556 EFL learners at two national universities, who were asked to report their age, gender and experience – or lack thereof – with English learning during elementary school, the period of overseas experiences, goal orientations, learning strategy preferences, beliefs, anxiety, and how much time they spent learning English outside the classroom per week. The results of a categorical regression analysis indicate that, as Goal Theory presumes, students’ goal orientation types determine their beliefs, anxiety, and behaviors. The results also suggest that the English learning experience in formal classrooms during elementary schools in Japan had little impact on the learners’ current English learning at the university level. Conversely, overseas experiences not only had an effect on minimizing the fear of using English, but also act to predict the average time devoted to learning English outside the classroom. In summary, this study found that the real experience of using the target language overseas was a more significant factor than the age at which the participants actually started learning English.
2013-02-04T10:29:29Z