scholarly journals Creativity and Personality Traits as Foreign Language Acquisition Predictors in University Linguistics Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Irina A. Novikova ◽  
Nadezhda S. Berisha ◽  
Alexey L. Novikov ◽  
Dmitriy A. Shlyakhta
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Software Environment ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language Proficiency ◽  
Neo Five Factor Inventory ◽  
Ffm Personality Traits ◽  
Personal Fulfillment

Foreign (second) language (FL/SL) proficiency is one of the most important competencies for a modern person, and is necessary for both professional and personal fulfillment. The purpose of this study is to consider and compare personality traits and creativity as predictors of success in foreign language acquisition (FLA). The sample includes 128 (105 female and 23 male) first- and second-year university linguistics students. Creativity is measured by the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA). The FFM personality traits are measured by the Russian NEO Five-Factor Inventory adaptation by S. Biryukov and M. Bodunov. To assess the level of FL proficiency, we used a traditional academic achievement indicator (the semester’s final grades in English), as well as the English teachers’ assessment of the level of language proficiency of their students according to the “Foreign Language Proficiency Scale” (10 indicators and total score). Descriptive statistics methods and a multiple regression analysis were used to process the data in the R software environment, version 3.5.2. The findings of our research showed that creativity indicators have a stronger but contradictory impact on the level of FL proficiency compared to personality traits. We suggest that teachers, most likely, lack knowledge on the manifestations of student creativity in the process of FL learning.

scholarly journals Personality Traits and Foreign Language Proficiency in Russian Linguistics and Non-Linguistics Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-439
Author(s):  
Irina A. Novikova ◽  
Nadezhda S. Berisha ◽  
Alexey L. Novikov ◽  
Dmitriy A. Shlyakhta
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Five Factor Model ◽  
Rank Correlation ◽  
Software Environment ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Foreign Language Proficiency

The search for factors and determinants of effective foreign (second) language acquisition (FLA/SLA) is an interdisciplinary problem that is becoming more and more practically important in the modern globalising world. The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the correlation between personality traits and the foreign language proficiency (FLP) level among students of various university specialties. The total sample includes 241 first- and second-year undergraduate students (74% females), of which 128 students (82.5% females) study at the Linguistics Department and 113 students (64% females) belong to other departments. All the students learn English as a primary foreign language (FL). The Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality traits (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness) were measured by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (Russian adaptation by S. Biryukov and M. Bodunov). In testing the foreign language proficiency levels, we used the traditional Academic Performance Index (semester Final Grades in English) and assessments of the foreign language proficiency levels made by English teachers in relation to their students according to the Foreign Language Proficiency Scale (10 indices and the total score) developed by the authors. To process the data in the R software environment, version 3.5.2, the methods of descriptive statistics, Cronbachs alpha and Macdonalds omega coefficients, Spearmans rank correlation analysis and Wilcoxons T -test were used. The findings of our research showed that FLP is most closely related to Openness in linguistics students and to Conscientiousness in non-linguistics students. These facts should be taken into account by the developers of programmes for psychological and pedagogical support of the FL learning process in Russian universities.

scholarly journals Implications of the use of podcast in the development of listening skills at a university level

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-54
Author(s):  
Silva E Elizabeth Cárdenas Sánchez ◽  
◽  
Jessica Valentina Galimberti ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Dynamic Method ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Listening Skills ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
University Level

A second or foreign language acquisition is a process in which learners develop and enhance different skills such as listening. However, students still struggle to comprehend L2. For instance, when a trainee works on a language proficiency, English listening material such as audios/videos and different pronunciations or sounds is difficult to analyze. Therefore, researchers have been investigating about techniques that work in classes and they found out that podcasting is increasingly being exploited by language teachers as a new popular and dynamic method to inspire learning inside and outside the traditional classroom (Stanley, 2006). This paper deals with student’s listening difficulties, podcasts’ technique and suggestions to be implemented in other settings.

scholarly journals TRANSLATION AND DICTIONARIES IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: THE CASE OF THE LATVIAN LANGUAGE

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 686-692
Author(s):  
Diāna Laiveniece ◽  
Linda Lauze
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Exchange Program ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Direct Observations

In modern linguodidactics, there is no uniform understanding of the necessity of translation in the acquisition of a foreign language. The aim of the research is to find out the language attitudes held by full-time and Erasmus exchange program foreign students towards translation in acquiring Latvian as a foreign language on language proficiency level A1 and A2.The research is based on a qualitative study dealing with the results of survey data as well as direct observations inferred from the work with foreign students. The questionnaire consists of 11 questions on translation and usage of dictionaries and a question about personal information. The answers of 35 respondents from 12 countries have been analyzed. 91.43 % of the respondents enjoy translation tasks, only 8.57 % of answers are negative. The highest evaluation was given for word translation, that is, 4.23 for translation from a foreign language (Latvian) into English (being the intermediary language) and 4.15 the other way round in a five point scale. Diverse linguistic experience, differences among language systems, students’ language attitudes establish the purposeful use of translation in foreign language acquisition.

scholarly journals Elements of Professional Translation during the Early Stages of Language Acquisition at Linguistic Universities

2020 ◽  
pp. 49-57
Author(s):  
Е.С. Устинова
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Slight Modification ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition

Задача статьи — доказать, что профессиональная подготовка будущих лингвистов-перевод-чиков начинается с самого начала обучения на первом курсе, то есть уже за два года до начала изучения теории и практики перевода. Если рассматривать лингвистическую составляющую переводческой компетенции с точки зрения вычленения значимых сем и их передачи иными лингвистическими средствами, то готовить к профессиональному переводу можно через «внутриязыковой перевод» и учебный перевод в условиях интеграции языковых и переводческих навыков, которые взаимно подкрепляют друг друга. Принятие творческих переводческих решений, не являясь задачей младших курсов, может применяться как средство более глубокого проникновения в коммуникативную интенцию автора художественного текста. На практических примерах статья призвана показать, что элементы профессиональной подготовки переводчика на младших курсах «врастают» в процесс совершенствования речевой компетенции как на иностранном, так и на родном языках. The author’s goal is to demonstrate that foreign language acquisition at translation/interpretation colleges may incorporate the development of professional skills from the very beginning, rather than wait for two years until students are offered a course in the Theory of Translation. If we regard the linguistic component of translator/interpreter professional education from the viewpoint of rendering the essential semantic features of a message in a different code, it is possible to use “intralinguistic translation”, in R. Jacobson’s idiom, — that is, to paraphrase native language utterances, since paraphrasing is one of the most universal skills, equally necessary for language proficiency and effective translation. It helps to weigh one translation decision against another, to see which semantic components are rendered and which are lost and to decide how the lost components of meaning can be reconstructed in another “translation”. Language acquisition is fostered by the so-called “pedagogical translation”, which has a purely utilitarian purpose of grammar and vocabulary skill formation. And here elements of professional translation may come in unobtrusively. Not only is it feasible to teach standard “algorithmic” translation strategies along with imparting language skills, but also individual (non-standard, “heuristic”) translator decisions. “Infiltration” of professional translation into the early stages of foreign language acquisition enhances language skills and shows students how a slight modification of the structure, wording or intonation can alter the message. Translation-focused semantic awareness makes language learning more motivated and intellectually satisfying.

Learners’ attitudes to first, second and third languages pronunciation in structuring multilingual identity

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Szyszka
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Negative Relationships ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractThis paper investigates multilingual learners’ attitudes to native (L1 – Ukrainian), second (L2 – Polish) and foreign (L3 – English) languages’ pronunciation, and discusses them from the perspective of structuring multilingual identity. In the study, the choice of the sample has been controlled in terms of the participants’ nationality and the context in which they acquire their second and foreign languages – variables that are interwoven in shaping identities. More specifically, the 40 Ukrainian individuals, taking part in the study, are in the process of a foreign language acquisition, English, embedded in the context of their second language, Polish. The attitudes to L1, L2 and L3 pronunciation of the 40 multilinguals have been measured quantitatively and analysed with the aim of providing more insight into understanding how individuals construe their multilingual identities. Negative relationships were found between those who reported an L1 accent as an important factor involved in the perception of their selves and the desire to sound native-like in L2 – Polish (r = −0.37, p < 0.05), and L3 – English (r = −0.43, p < 0.05). The latter variable, however, correlated positively with having native-like pronunciation as a goal in learning Polish (r = 0.75, p < 0.05) and English (r = 0.89, p < 0.05).

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