A Multiscalar Coordination of Languaging

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-587
Author(s):  
Dongping Zheng ◽  
Ying Hu ◽  
Ivan Banov
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Quest Atlantis ◽  
Chinese School ◽  
Material Artifacts ◽  
Answering Questions

Abstract This study adds to a new area of research that seeks to harmonize language pedagogies in classrooms and language learning in virtual environments. Harmonious languaging uses co-actional and symmetrical structural dynamics to compare three environments in a Chinese school: a baseline traditional classroom using textbooks, the virtual space of Quest Atlantis Quest Atlantis has recently changed its name to Atlantis Remixed (http://atlantisremixed.org), and a comparable class using print-based handouts. Each has a different design and thus features, and we show that these affect languaging. We found languaging styles that were contingent upon a) the teacher (e.g. answering questions, correcting, inquiring, repeating, and writing in the form of note-taking), b) Quest Atlantis virtual material artifacts (e.g. individuating multiscalar coordination between reading and writing), and c) the teacher and the handout (e.g. answering questions, self-expressing, and reflection). These styles are important for pedagogy. In our view, the field neglects the harmonious languaging style that arises around virtual worlds. There is lack of engagement with language-as-part-of-nonlinguistic-action. From the distributed view, we show an example of how foreign language learning is facilitated in an experiential domain where verbal patterns are evaluated immediately in the coordination of reading and writing, for which avatar actions, link-clicking, and using dictionaries become other-oriented modes of ambient action.

scholarly journals Listening Skill Requires a Further Look into Second/Foreign Language Learning

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Bozorgian
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Listening Skill ◽  
Reading History

Current English-as-a-second and foreign-language (ESL/EFL) research has encouraged to treat each communicative macroskill separately due to space constraint, but the interrelationship among these skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) is not paid due attention. This study attempts to examine first the existing relationship among the four dominant skills, second the potential impact of reading background on the overall language proficiency, and finally the relationship between listening and overall language proficiency as listening is considered an overlooked/passive skill in the pedagogy of the second/foreign language classroom. However, the literature in language learning has revealed that listening skill has salient importance in both first and second language learning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of each of four skills in EFL learning and their existing interrelationships in an EFL setting. The outcome of 701 Iranian applicants undertaking International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in Tehran demonstrates that all communicative macroskills have varied correlations from moderate (reading and writing) to high (listening and reading). The findings also show that the applicants’ reading history assisted them in better performing at high stakes tests, and what is more, listening skill was strongly correlated with the overall language proficiency.

A Comparative Study of Platforms for Multi-User Virtual Environments

2011 ◽  
pp. 137-170
Author(s):  
Arda Tezcan ◽  
Debbie Richards
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
The Right ◽  
Minimal Effort

Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) have been found to be engaging and provide an environment in which the elements of discovery, exploration and concept testing, fundamental to the field of science, can be experienced. Furthermore, MUVEs accommodate lifelike experiences with the benefit of the situated and distributed nature of cognition; they also provide virtual worlds to simulate the conditions that are not doable or practicable under real world circumstances making them very relevant to many other fields of study such as history, geography and foreign language learning. However, constructing MUVEs can be expensive and time consuming depending on the platform considered. Therefore, providing the most appropriate platform that requires minimal effort, cost and time will make MUVE deployment in the classroom faster and more viable. In this chapter, the authors provide a comparative study of prominent existing platforms for MUVEs that can be used to identify the right balance of functionality, flexibility, effort and cost for a given educational and technical context. A number of metrics are identified, described and used to enable the comparison. Platform assessment was done in four main metric groups: communication and interaction, characters, features and education. Communication and interaction metrics are used to assess how the communication and interaction is done within the examined platform. Character metrics are employed to measure avatar and agent affordances. Features metrics are defined to compare what the platform offers in terms of technology. Lastly, education metrics are used to identify the value of the associated platform for educational purposes.

Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games as English as a Foreign Language Learning Environments

2019 ◽  
pp. 162-182
Author(s):  
Hélder Fanha Martins
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Role Playing Games

The objective of this chapter is to gain a better understanding of the usefulness of massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) for promoting English as a foreign language (EFL) acquisition. To accomplish this goal, the author analyzed specific categories of interaction occurring between English language learners while playing an online game entitled Eve Online. Previous research has proved that there are positive outcomes on EFL acquisition from the interaction that takes place while playing video games known as MMORPGs. These games immerse players in virtual worlds that are inhabited by hundreds and even thousands of other players, and all are partaking in the game in real time. Learners who choose to play the game in a foreign language are exposed to target language input in a context-rich environment where they can interact with native-speakers and other language learners.

scholarly journals Reading Skills in English using Jolly Phonics at a Chinese Primary School

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Ha Mei Ling ◽  
Fitri Suraya Mohamad
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
English Language ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Teaching Reading ◽  
English Classes ◽  
Chinese School

This study investigates the viability of using a phonics programme for Primary One students who are studying at a National Type Chinese School in Sarawak, Malaysia.  Jolly Phonics is a Synthetic Phonics Programme that is used to address common reading problems. In this study, Primary One students who learn Mandarin as their main language in school, while learning English and Malay Languages at the same time. The phonics consists of teaching reading with five skills, namely learning the letter sounds, letter formation, blending, segmenting and tricky words.  39 students participated in the study. Two groups were formed to compare performances between those who used the phonic programme and those who attended the regular English classes. Data was collected on pre and post-test achievements for both the experimental and control group. Findings revealed that the phonics programme did not significantly impact the students’ reading ability when compared with performances of those who attended regular lessons which used existing methods of teaching reading skills for English language learning at the Chinese medium school.      Keywords: Night reading ability; non-native English language learners; phonics; Chinese school; foreign language learning

Investigating research approaches: Classroom-based interaction studies in physical and virtual contexts

ReCALL ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peggy Hartwick
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Interaction Studies ◽  
New Research ◽  
Methods Analytical ◽  
Research Studies

AbstractThis article investigates research approaches used in traditional classroom-based interaction studies for identifying a suitable research method for studies in three-dimensional virtual learning environments (3DVLEs). As opportunities for language learning and teaching in virtual worlds emerge, so too do new research questions. An understanding of research design benefits and limitations is timely for those exploring how interaction occurs between users, and users and the virtual space, and how these interactions make sense within a broader theoretical framework. As a first step, the article describes the types of interaction that are significant to classroom-based research studies, such as learner–learner. This is followed by a historical overview of research approaches and methods used in interaction studies, from early quantitative, to descriptive and qualitative, to mixed-method approaches. Following this overview, the author critically surveys research approaches, methods, analytical tools, and data collection techniques used in physical and virtual second language classroom interaction studies. The article concludes by highlighting the implications and research considerations for the design of new research studies in 3DVLEs.

scholarly journals Literacy i språkfagene: kunnskaper, ferdigheter og vurdering

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inger Langseth
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Threshold Level ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Literacy Strategies ◽  
School Subjects ◽  
Additional Challenge ◽  
The Subject

This article discusses reading and writing in a foreign language (English, French, Spanish, German etc.) Foreign language learning carries an additional challenge compared to other school subjects. The foreign language is both the subject the students are learning and the language they are learning in. Therefore, the students must reach a certain language level before they can communicate in the foreign language. Likewise, their literacy skills in their mother language can only be transferred to their foreign language when they have reached a certain communicative level in the foreign language. Some students struggle to reach this level, referred to as the threshold level (B1), during the two to five years of tuition. Students also need help from the teacher in order to develop literacy strategies in the foreign language. In order to scaffold the students’ literacy development, the teachers need knowledge about the reading and writing processes.  How can teachers develop an instructional design that promotes literacy in their classroom? How can they give feedback that moves the students forward? How can this be done in a digital context? This article tries to answer these questions.

An Empirical Study on the Effectiveness of Self-Access Language Learning and its Autonomy Based on Self-Access Center

2010 ◽  
Vol 171-172 ◽  
pp. 609-612
Author(s):  
Chun Mei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
The Self ◽  
Humanistic Psychology ◽  
Classroom Teaching ◽  
College English ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Traditional Classroom Teaching ◽  
Learning Interest

With the deepening reform of college English teaching in China, many self-access centers(SAC) have been established in universities to promote students’ antonomy and cultivate their leanring ability. Based on the theories of constructivism, humanistic psychology and cognitive psychology, the self-access language learning ( SALL), with its new emphasis on speaking and llistening , is a very good supplement to traditional classroom teaching ，whose focus is only on reading and writing. This paper intends to probe into the effectiveness of students’ SALL in SAC of Wuhan Polytechnic Universtiy through an empirical study. After analyzing the findings qualitatively and quantitatively, the results show that that learners’ autonomy, by and large, can be achieved. SAC and SALL is sure to be very helpful to arouse learners’ learning interest, foster their independence, improve their problem–solvling ability and facilitate their four-skilled abilities.

Perceptions of Developing Reading and Writing Skills in Swedish in an Online Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 231-248
Author(s):  
Roxana-Ema Dreve ◽  
Raluca Pop
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Academic Context ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
The North ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Additional Support

"Perceptions of Developing Reading and Writing Skills in Swedish in an Online Context. This paper intends to focus on BA students’ reading and writing skills in Swedish as a foreign language in a Scandinavian context. In addition, the study aims to discuss the difficulties students have encountered when studying Swedish as a foreign language in an online academic context amid Covid-19 pandemic. A survey research comprising closed-ended and open-ended questions was conducted by using a questionnaire as the main instrument for collecting data. The respondents were BA students in Norwegian language and literature, enrolled at the Faculty of Letters at Babeș-Bolyai University, who had already studied Norwegian for four semesters in the frame of this programme and who took the one semester optional course in Swedish. The language distance between Norwegian and Swedish is relatively small because both languages are part of the North-Germanic branch. We considered it relevant to explore the manner in which students tackle these similarities, differences and the cross-linguistic transfer between the two languages and whether their reading and writing practices in Norwegian have influenced in any way the acquisition of Swedish. Nowadays, new technological advances provide additional support to foreign language learning and develop learners’ digital literacy. Therefore, the paper aimed at understanding what types of authentic resources are used by students, in order to develop their linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in Swedish. The results showed that students are willing to improve their language skills, as they believe that mastering another Scandinavian language could help them increase their academic and professional opportunities and would constitute an advantage in terms of easiness to develop writing and reading skills in Swedish. Keywords: Norwegian, Swedish, language distance, language similarities, cross-linguistic influence, foreign language learning, BA level "

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