Designing digital educational resources to facilitate learning for second language students

2021 ◽  
pp. 151-172
Author(s):  
Thierry GEOFFRE ◽  
Nathalie DHERBEY CHAPUIS
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Teaching Tools ◽  
Regular Classrooms ◽  
Learning Pathways ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Language Students ◽  
Teaching Learning

The number of students who struggle to execute reading comprehension tasks raises in Europe, questioning the relevance and effectiveness of the teaching methods implemented in regular classrooms. In Switzerland, students of French as a second language appear to be particularly at risk of encountering such difficulties. This motivates studies to investigate the specific difficulties in manipulating the language of schooling they may face. This study presents a discussion about teaching tools based on research findings in didactics, psycholinguistics and applied linguistics. This interdisciplinary approach leads us to propose a theoretical framework for 1) considering the specific needs of second language students and 2) developing digital tools to promote the literacy of these students in an inclusive teaching environment which may be in fact suitable for all students. We aim to develop a didactic ontology that will allow us to create customisable and automatically adaptable teaching-learning pathways.

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Develop Linguistic Abilities in Bilingual Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 40-57
Author(s):  
Adela González Fernández
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Early Childhood Classroom ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
Teaching Learning

The traditional methods of language teaching have always had their roots in the grammar-translation method, used in our educational system for more than 500 years. However, the constant search for updating and the desire to improve the language skills of students has led to a succession of different methods and proposals in a few years with the intention of improving the existing ones. The literature on this subject confirms that there is no perfect approach, but it also shows that the communicative one and the interdisciplinarity in the teaching-learning process of second languages brings good results. The author proposes a holistic interdisciplinary activity for the bilingual early childhood classroom, based on the communicative method. Thus, this chapter presents the elaboration of a musical tale, accompanied by a subsequent audiovisual recording, which will help students to learn a second language in real natural contexts.

scholarly journals Writing the Argumentative Literary Review in EFL/ESL Contexts: A Critical Analysis Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-240
Author(s):  
Nahla Nola Bacha
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Western Model ◽  
Important Requirement ◽  
Literature Reviews ◽  
Language Students ◽  
Teaching Learning

Research studies have indicated that English as a Foreign/Second Language students attending English medium universities have problems in writing the literature review, an important requirement in their term and/or research papers. It has been noted that the main challenges these students face are often little or no knowledge of the task, organization and critical analysis needed. Effective literature reviews based on the western model have shown to include evaluation, clarification, integration, synthesis and organization of the controversies in past and current research on the topic being studied and identification of the gaps in the field and the question(s)/solution(s) which the researcher is attempting to address. Although much has been written on how to write literature reviews in various disciplines, there is little or none with L1 Arabic students in the Lebanese context. This paper outlines some teaching/learning guidelines of the task based on one organizational structure, the argumentative, and a critical analysis perspective to help develop these students’ skills in writing the literature review.

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Develop Linguistic Abilities in Bilingual Education

2022 ◽  
pp. 416-433
Author(s):  
Adela González Fernández
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Early Childhood Classroom ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
Teaching Learning

The traditional methods of language teaching have always had their roots in the grammar-translation method, used in our educational system for more than 500 years. However, the constant search for updating and the desire to improve the language skills of students has led to a succession of different methods and proposals in a few years with the intention of improving the existing ones. The literature on this subject confirms that there is no perfect approach, but it also shows that the communicative one and the interdisciplinarity in the teaching-learning process of second languages brings good results. The author proposes a holistic interdisciplinary activity for the bilingual early childhood classroom, based on the communicative method. Thus, this chapter presents the elaboration of a musical tale, accompanied by a subsequent audiovisual recording, which will help students to learn a second language in real natural contexts.

THE USE OF DIARY WRITING TO IMPROVE STUDENTS RECOUNT TEXT

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Uray Ryan Hermawan ◽  
Clarry Sada ◽  
Yanti Sri Rezeki
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Chronological Order ◽  
Tenth Grade ◽  
Diary Writing ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Academic Year

The research was aimed to investigate the use of diary writing to overcome students’ problem in writing recount texts. The problems include writing a recount text in chronological order, writing correct verb changes and developing ideas. Classroom action research was conducted by applying diary as the technique to help students overcome their problem. There were two cycles conducted in this research. The data were taken from the students’ individual score, observation checklist, and field notes. The result showed that teaching writing through diary writing improved students’ writing recount text. Referring to the research findings, the data showed that diary writing improved students’ recount text, as seen in their score. These in terms of score, students’ improved from 71.96 to 76.03 and improving the motivation to the students which makes them eager to write also makes the teaching learning process better. In conclusions, students’ writing recount text of the tenth grade students of class IPS 1 of SMAN 4 Sungai Raya in academic year 2018/2019 improved by using diary.

Focused Tasks, Mental Actions and Second Language Learning. Cognitive and Connectionist Accounts of Task Effectiveness

2006 ◽  
Vol 152 ◽  
pp. 35-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Machteld Moonen ◽  
Rick de Graaff ◽  
Gerard Westhoff
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Depth Of Processing ◽  
Mental Actions ◽  
Involvement Load Hypothesis

Abstract This paper presents a theoretical framework to estimate the effectiveness of second language tasks in which the focus is on the acquisition of new linguistic items, such as vocabulary or grammar, the so-called focused tasks (R. Ellis, 2003). What accounts for the learning impact offocused tasks? We shall argue that the task-based approach (e.g. Skehan, 1998, Robinson, 2001) does not provide an in-depth account of how cognitive processes, elicited by a task, foster the acquisition of new linguistic elements. We shall then review the typologies of cognitive processes derived from research on learning strategies (Chamot & O'Malley, 1994), from the involvement load hypothesis (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001), from the depth of processing hypothesis (Craik & Lockhart, 1972) and from connectionism (e.g Broeder & Plunkett, 1997; N. Ellis, 2003). The combined insights of these typologies form the basis of the multi-feature hypothesis, which predicts that retention and ease of activation of new linguistic items are improved by mental actions which involve a wide variety of different features, simultaneously and frequently. A number of implications for future research shall be discussed.

Acquiring variable commands at home and abroad: Examining optatives and imperatives in L1 and L2 Spanish

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-113
Author(s):  
Farrah Neumann ◽  
Matthew Kanwit
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Individual ◽  
At Home

AbstractSince many linguistic structures are variable (i. e. conveyed by multiple forms), building a second-language grammar critically involves developing sociolinguistic competence (Canale and Swain. 1980. Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1(1). 1–47), including knowledge of contexts in which to use one form over another (Bayley and Langman. 2004. Variation in the group and the individual: Evidence from second language acquisition. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 42(4). 303–318). Consequently, researchers interested in such competence have increasingly analyzed the study-abroad context to gauge learners’ ability to approximate local norms following a stay abroad, due to the quality and quantity of input to which learners may gain access (Lafford. 2006. The effects of study abroad vs. classroom contexts on Spanish SLA: Old assumptions, new insights and future research directions. In Carol Klee & Timothy Face (eds.), Selected proceedings of the 7th conference on the acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as first and second languages, 1–25. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project). Nevertheless, the present study is the first to examine native or learner variation between imperative (e. g. ven ‘come’) and optative Spanish commands (e. g. que vengas ‘come’). We first performed a corpus analysis to determine the linguistic factors to manipulate in a contextualized task, which elicited commands from learners before and after four weeks abroad in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. Their overall rates of selection and predictive factors were compared to local native speakers (NSs) and a control group of at-home learners.Results revealed that the abroad learners more closely approached NS rates of selection following the stay abroad. Nonetheless, for both learner groups conditioning by independent variables only partially approximated the NS system, which was more complex than previously suggested.

Measuring second language proficiency with EEG synchronization: how functional cortical networks and hemispheric involvement differ as a function of proficiency level in second language speakers

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Reiterer ◽  
Ernesto Pereda ◽  
Joydeep Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
Language Students

This article examines the question of whether university-based high-level foreign language and linguistic training can influence brain activation and whether different L2 proficiency groups have different brain activation in terms of lateralization and hemispheric involvement. The traditional and prevailing theory of hemispheric involvement in bilingual language processing states that bilingual and second language processing is always at least in some form connected to the right hemisphere (RH), when compared to monolingual first language processing, the classical left-hemispheric language-processing domain. A widely held specification of this traditional theory claims that especially bilinguals or second language learners in their initial phases and/or bilinguals with poor fluency and less experience rely more on RH areas when processing their L2. We investigated this neurolinguistic hypothesis with differently proficient Austrian learners of English as a second language. Two groups of L2 speakers (all Austrian German native speakers), differing in their L2 (English) language performance, were recorded on electroencephalography (EEG) during the processing of spoken English language. A short comprehension interview followed each task. The `high proficiency group' consisted of English language students who were about to complete their master's degree for English language and linguistics, while the `low proficiency group' was composed of non-language students who had only school level performance and less training in English. The age of onset of L2 learning was kept constant: 9 years for both groups. To look for cooperative network activity in the brain, EEG coherence and synchronization measures were analysed for a high EEG frequency range (gamma band). Results showed the most significant group differences in synchronization patterns within the lower gamma frequency range, with more RH involvement (extensive right-hemisphere networks) for the low proficiency group, especially when processing their L2. The results can be interpreted in favour of RH theories of second language processing since, once again, we found evidence of more RH involvement in (late) second language learners with less experience and less training in the L2. The study shows that second language training (and resulting proficiency) and/or differences in ability or state of linguistic alertness can be made visible by brain imaging using newly developed EEG-synchronization techniques as a measure.

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