Cross-Cultural Comparison of Second Language Learning: The Development of Comprehension of English Structures by Japanese and German Children

1981 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisela Morsbach
EL LE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Cucinotta

Motivation can determine success or failure in second language learning process, however there is a limited number of published investigations dedicated to motivational strategies in a European context. The purpose of the present study is to replicate Cheng’s and Dörnyei’s (2007) research to test the validity of their findings in a different cultural milieu. 101 foreign language (FL) and second language (L2) teachers were asked to rate a list of 47 motivational strategies according based on the degree of importance they perceived. In addition, they were also invited to specify how they acquainted with each strategy. The results of the study suggest that, even though the use of motivational strategies is decidedly context-dependent, the prevailing importance of some strategies might be cross-cultural. In particular, strategies related to classroom climate could also be considered as preconditions to employ further strategies. The highest-rated strategies are also indicated as acquired mostly through experience, which highlights the far too little attention that motivational strategies have so far received in education programmes for the formation of language teachers.


Author(s):  
Harold Andrés Peña

While there has been an upsurge of research studying the relationship of gender and second language learning in cross-cultural contexts, far less has been investigated about preschool children’s gender and learner identities in contexts where English is a foreign language. In this paper I describe how gendered discourses are at stake in the classroom and how these discourses are related to the learner identities of a group of Colombian preschoolers. I use a Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA) approach to pin down moments in which the assertion of power is manifested in second language practices like ‘classroom races’ during literacy activities. This assertion of power positions participants differently. Findings suggest the need to understand how children negotiate subject positions discursively in language learning activities. I am suggesting the need to erode discourses of approval that marginalize girls and favour boys.


Freed, Barbara F. From the Community to the Classroom: Gathering Second Language Speech Samples. Theory & Practice 6. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978; Morain, Genelle G. Kinesics and Cross-Cultural Understanding. Theory & Practice 7. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978; Keller, Howard H. New Perspectives on Teaching Vocabulary. Theory & Practice 8. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978; Falk, Julia S. Language and Linguistics: Bases for a Curriculum. Theory & Practice 10. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978; Hodge, Virginia D. Personality and Second Language Learning. Theory & Practice 12. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978; Inman, Marianne. Foreign Languages, English as a Second Foreign Language, and the U.S. Multinational Corporation. Theory & Practice 16. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978Freed, Barbara F. From the Community to the Classroom: Gathering Second Language Speech Samples. Theory & Practice 6. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978. Pp. 26. $2.95.Morain, Genelle G. Kinesics and Cross-Cultural Understanding. Theory & Practice 7. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978. Pp. 31. $2.95.Keller, Howard H. New Perspectives on Teaching Vocabulary. Theory & Practice 8. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978. Pp. 26. $2.95.Falk, Julia S. Language and Linguistics: Bases for a Curriculum. Theory & Practice 10. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978. Pp. 27. $2.95.Hodge, Virginia D. Personality and Second Language Learning. Theory & Practice 12. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978. Pp. 31. $2.95.Inman, Marianne. Foreign Languages, English as a Second Foreign Language, and the U.S. Multinational Corporation. Theory & Practice 16. Virginia: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1978. Pp. ix, 37. $4.95.

Author(s):  
Alister Cumming

1986 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. C.L. Hold-Cavell ◽  
G. Attili ◽  
M. Schleidt

In Germany and Italy 16 children (8 in each country) were observed during their first year in preschool. An average of 50 five-minutes samples in Germany and 38 in Italy were analysed with regard to certain play and behaviour categories. The comparison revealed differences in 'looking around' and 'body contact' (both more in Italy), 'talking to somebody', 'automanipulation' (both more in Germany), and 'the number of children playing together' (German children preferred to play with more than one child, while Italian children played more often in dyads or alone). In both cultures children preferred the same age children for social play and the same sex children for parallel play and showed a decline of 'interactions with the teacher' and 'looking around' over the year. Sex differences were found in both cultures for 'object conffict'.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document