How to Engage Learners in Authentic Target Language Use - Examples from an Autonomy Classroom

10.47908/9/5 ◽  
2013 ◽  
pp. 96-117
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
The Other ◽  
Autonomous Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Not Given ◽  
German School ◽  
Authentic Language ◽  
Positive Results

‘But how can they say anything in the foreign language if they are not given the words beforehand?’ Language teachers often ask this question when I present examples of target language use in an autonomy classroom. This article explains how from the very beginning it is possible to engage pupils in authentic target language use, including communication that does not involve the teacher. The oral and written examples that I use to support my argument were produced by learners aged between 10 and 16 and ranging in proficiency from beginners to intermediate level. When I introduce each activity I also describe the pre-requisites for its success. In the last section of the article I summarise the positive results achieved in the autonomy classroom, which I illustrate using two sets of peer-to-peer talks collected by the LAALE project (Language Acquisition in an Autonomous Learning Environment), one from a ‘traditional’, communicative classroom in a German school, the other from a Danish autonomy classroom. I conclude by listing the essential features of an autonomous classroom supporting authentic language use.

Pedagogical Descriptions of Language: Grammar

1989 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 187-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Larsen-Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Research Evidence ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Focus On Form ◽  
Form Versus ◽  
Learner Performance ◽  
Language Form ◽  
Teaching Grammar

For hundreds of years, language educators have alternated between favoring language teaching approaches which focus on language form and those which emphasize language use or which focus on the message (Celce-Murcia 1979). For the greater part of this past decade, it has been the latter which have been fashionable. As a consequence, language teachers have been discouraged from teaching grammar. In fact, during the 1980s explicit grammer instruction has even been proscribed by certain methodologists (Krashen 1982; 1985, Krashen and Terrell 1983, Prabhu 1987). Although this position has been repeatedly assailed (Higgs and Clifford 1982, Long 1983; 1988, Harley and Swain 1984, Pienemann 1984), the proscribers persist. Only as recently as June 1988, Van Patten concluded that “…research evidence to date does not suggest that a focus on form is either necessary or beneficial to early stage learners’ (1988:243). Undeniable is the fact that research has pointed to a difference in learner performance (e.g., type of errors made) depending on whether there is a focus on form or not (Pica 1983, Spada 1987); still to be resolved, and surely an issue which will motivate much research in the next decade, is the extent to which a focus on form versus on a focus on message affects the rate of target language attainment. Such research will hopefully be conducted in a way which disambiguates “focus on form” (Larsen-Freeman and Long 1988, Beretta 1989).

A contextualised examination of target language use in the primary school foreign language classroom

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Carless
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Classroom Language

Abstract This article discusses an issue which is of longstanding and central importance to foreign language teachers in a variety of contexts, namely teacher use of classroom language. It uses detailed qualitative case study data to explore how and why an expert practitioner uses English in her Hong Kong Primary school language classroom. Through the interplay between teacher beliefs, experiences and classroom transcript data, the paper develops a contextualised picture of classroom language use with young foreign language learners. The paper suggests that it is not necessarily the language proficiency of the learners which plays a major role in the quantity of target language use, but the teachers’ own proficiency, experience and beliefs.

scholarly journals Dunkin’ the Donut: A Study on Students’ Patterns of Language Use through Technology Applications in Independent Language Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-132
Author(s):  
Norizul Azida Darus ◽  
Norhajawati Abdul Halim
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Technology Applications

Any language can be acquired at any time, but to acquire the language, one needs to learn the language. Learning a second or foreign language is not a favourite among second or foreign language learners. This is because learning a language is a very intense time-consuming activity. Learning is often unsuccessful because learners receive impoverished or insufficient input and lack of motivation. To this, second language or foreign language teachers play the most significant role to help and motivate the students to acquire the said language. The preferred method is to be immersed into the actual ecosystem of the target language and become part of the language ecosystem. The other way is to dunk the learners into the artificial ecosystem of the language classroom. In dunking, the learners are immersed temporarily and repeatedly into the simulated ecosystem language. As can be seen now, technology remains the only viable option to get enough interactive contact with the target language. Using interesting software is one of the methods in making learning more interesting. Furthermore, the students are able to practice the language not only during class time, but on their own free time outside of class hours, that is during students’ independent time of learning. The findings revealed that most students found using the applications has improved their language learning. The role of teachers on the other hand is to provide instructions and assist whenever necessary and needed by the students.

scholarly journals TASK-BASED LEARNING IN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) CLASSROOM: WHAT, HOW AND WHY?

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-146
Author(s):  
Muhammad Badrus Sholeh ◽  
Kisman Salija ◽  
Sahril Nur
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Real Language ◽  
English Classroom ◽  
Authentic Language

Task-based Learning is increasingly prevalent worldwide. It emphasizes on authentic language use and asks students to perform meaningful tasks. English teaching by tasks is considered useful in a language classroom because the students are expected to learn better the target language when tasks are used in language teaching. The tasks are designed to establish a real language use objectives and to create a natural language acquisition setting. Task-based Learning, often considered being the powerful Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) version, gradually becoming second-language learning. This article describes the Task-based Learning definition, to recognize the principles and characteristics of Task-based Learning, to examine how to implement Task-based Learning in the English classroom, and to clarify the advantages of this approach.

scholarly journals Cross-cultural Language Learning: Interpretative Engagement

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 82-96
Author(s):  
Anzhelika Solodka ◽  
Oksana Filatova ◽  
Oksana Hinkevych ◽  
Oleksandr Spanatiy
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Context Analysis

Conceptualization of foreign language teaching as a cross-cultural interaction means engaging learners in various cultural mediations. Language use becomes a form of interpretative architecture of a target language. Understanding language use from a discursive perspective develops meta-pragmatic awareness and interpretative capacities of learners. The study answers the question of how to design the architecture of context analysis. This research aims to determine the effective ways of interpretative engagement of learners with aspects of pragmatics in the Ukrainian university setting. The study investigates how the process of interaction shapes the engagement of learners in practices of noticing, reflection, and comparison of cross-cultural situations. The data came from a case study on cross-cultural language learning within the second semester, 2021. The study analyzes the audio-recording of the classes, researcher notes, and post-course interviews of 24 participants. This research used a method of the content analysis. The study of the results, based on six categories (narrative analysis, discourse analysis, semiotic analysis, interpretative analyses, conversation analysis, and critical analysis), showed that the learners started to consider the nature of their cross-cultural mediation. The research proved that through such an interpretative engagement, students become engaged into working with languages and cultures. The study presents some recommendations for language teachers to create a meaning-making process from multiple perspectives.

scholarly journals Cross-cultural Language Learning: Interpretative Engagement

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anzhelika Solodka ◽  
Oksana Filatova ◽  
Oksana Hinkevych ◽  
Oleksandr Spanatiy
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Context Analysis

Conceptualization of foreign language teaching as a cross-cultural interaction means engaging learners in various cultural mediations. Language use becomes a form of interpretative architecture of a target language. Understanding language use from a discursive perspective develops meta-pragmatic awareness and interpretative capacities of learners. The study answers the question of how to design the architecture of context analysis. This research aims to determine the effective ways of interpretative engagement of learners with aspects of pragmatics in the Ukrainian university setting. The study investigates how the process of interaction shapes the engagement of learners in practices of noticing, reflection, and comparison of cross-cultural situations. The data came from a case study on cross-cultural language learning within the second semester, 2021. The study analyzes the audio-recording of the classes, researcher notes, and post-course interviews of 24 participants. This research used a method of the content analysis. The study of the results, based on six categories (narrative analysis, discourse analysis, semiotic analysis, interpretative analyses, conversation analysis, and critical analysis), showed that the learners started to consider the nature of their cross-cultural mediation. The research proved that through such an interpretative engagement, students become engaged into working with languages and cultures. The study presents some recommendations for language teachers to create a meaning-making process from multiple perspectives.

Language Teachers’ Target Language project: Language for specific purposes of language teaching

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey Korenev ◽  
Carolyn Westbrook ◽  
Yvonne Merry ◽  
Tatiana Ershova
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Test ◽  
State University ◽  
Future Teachers ◽  
Language For Specific Purposes ◽  
Moscow State University

The Language Teachers’ Target Language project (LTTL) aims to describe language teachers’ target language use domain (Bachman & Palmer 2010) and to develop a language test for future teachers of English. The team comprises four researchers from Moscow State University (MSU) and Southampton Solent University.

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