Learning foreign and indigenous languages: The case of South African universities

Indigenous second language programs in K-12 schools contribute to culturally nourishing education and to the revitalization of Indigenous languages. Assessing Indigenous second language learning presents particular opportunities and challenges based on the linguistic, historical, political, cultural, and social contexts in and for which the Indigenous language is being taught and learned. The self-governing Inuit region of Nunatsiavut is concerned with developing effective and appropriate tools for assessing students’ Inuttitut in order to evaluate how well K-12 programs are working so far, identify the basis on which future K-12 Inuttitut curriculum may be developed, and support ongoing assessment of learning and for learning in Inuttitut classrooms. This article discusses ways in which Inuit teachers in Nunatsiavut and a curriculum evaluation team have developed and implemented assessment tools and practices to evaluate Inuttitut learning in Nunatsiavut area K-12 schools. We discuss how Indigenous language learning and assessment, even when it occurs as part of an official school program, can be anchored in families and community. Families and communities need to be part of establishing language learning goals. Inuit teachers are drawing in full community resources and building a community of practice including Elders, other language speakers, leaders, principals, and teachers, to support and create contexts for community-anchored Inuttitut learning and assessment.

هدف از این پژوهش، بررسی رابطه‌ی بین هوش هیجانی، استقلال، خودتنظیمی و تمایل به برقراری ارتباط با مهارت خواندن و درک مطلب فارسی­آموزان غیرفارسی‌زبان است. 141 نفر از دانشجویان 28 کشور جهان که در 12 دانشگاه ایران بودند، در این پژوهش مشارکت کردند. این افراد در مراکز زبان فارسی دانشگاه­ها مشغول به یادگیری زبان فارسی به عنوان زبان خارجی بودند یا دانش‌آموخته‌ی زبان فارسی از همین مراکز بودند. دانشگاه­های منتخب تحقیق حاضر در بخش­های مختلف کشور، یعنی شمال، جنوب، شرق، غرب و مرکز ایران واقع شده­اند. ابزار مورد استفاده در پژوهش حاضر، آزمون خواندن و درک ­مطلب فارسی و چهار پرسشنامه‌ی تمایل به برقراری ارتباط، خودتنظیمی، خودراهبری و هوش هیجانی بوده است. نتایج ضریب همبستگی پیرسون نشان می‌دهد که هر چهار متغیر با مهارت خواندن و درک مطلب رابطه­ی مثبت و معناداری دارند. همچنین، بین تمامی زیرمؤلفه­های استقلال، هوش هیجانی، خودتنظیمی و این مهارت نیز روابط مثبت و معناداری وجود دارد. به منظور سنجش قدرت پیش‌بینی کننده‌ی 4 متغیر مستقل به همراه زیرمؤلفه‌های تشکیل‌دهنده‌ی آن‌ها نسبت به مهارت خواندن، از روش‌های آماری رگرسیون چندگانه و استاندارد شده استفاده شد. هر 4 متغیر مستقل و اغلب زیرمؤلفه­های مربوط به آن­ها قدرت پیش­بینی خوبی از مهارت خواندن دارند. به‌علاوه، به منظور فراهم آوردن بینش عمیق­تر در مورد متغیرها و برآورد قدرت روابط علی میان آن­ها، مدل معادله‌ی ساختاری از طریق نرم‌افزار ای‌ام‌ا‌اس استفاده ­شد. هر چهار متغیر مستقل پیش­بین مهارت خواندن و درک مطلب بودند و از میان آن‌ها متغیر تمایل به برقراری ارتباط قوی­ترین پیش‌بین این مهارت بود.

Whereas South Africa has made significant strides after the official end of colonialism and apartheid in 1994 concerning the advancement of indigenous South African languages, there are observable challenges that demonstrate endurance even in the post-colonial and post-apartheid contexts. In particular, there are enduring challenges in the teaching and learning of these languages within the basic and higher education system. With this view in mind, the aim herein is to explore and discuss four noteworthy challenges that obstruct the optimal teaching and learning of indigenous languages in the South African context. It must be noted that this article concentrates on indigenous South African languages in general, and not specific ones. The objective is to uncover and sensitize the language and education policymakers as well as affected stakeholders such as parents, learners, and students that challenges in the context of language in education exhibit determination, hence the necessity to scholarly revisit them in a bid to solicit reasonable solutions to the conundrum. The four noteworthy challenges, which are discussed in the body of this scholarly discourse, are recognized as a source of discussion. The findings and discussion underline that challenges within the language in education in the South African context are multifaceted. One of these challenges could be pinned on colonial and apartheid legacies that appraised oppressive languages to the detriment of indigenous South African languages and dialects. In fact, the Bantu Education Act of 1953 is implicated in this article as one of the principal drivers of the subjugation of these languages. In the same vein, this article implicates some post-colonial and post-apartheid perceptions towards the subjugation of these vernacular languages. The closing remarks highlight the necessity to recurrently debate challenges of indigenous languages within the educational system.

The use of video streaming services has exploded over the past several years. However, although the use of video is a well‐studied topic in computer‐assisted language learning literature, the use of video streaming for out‐of‐class, informal foreign language (FL) learning has received little attention. This study addresses this gap in the literature. Specifically, the study investigated Japanese university students’ practices regarding the use of subscription video streaming services (SVSSs) for informal FL learning and examined their opinions about the use of these tools for informal FL learning. A survey was administered to second language English students at four Japanese universities to achieve the study’s goals. In addition, semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 of the participants to gain more insight into their opinions of SVSSs for FL learning. A total of 256 students participated and fully completed the survey. The results indicate that informal FL learning through SVSSs is common among FL students and that learners have favorable views toward their use for language learning. These findings highlight the need to examine students’ digital practices such as video streaming in order to bridge the gap between out‐of‐class informal language learning and formal language learning in the classroom.

With the growing emphasis on positive psychology, the well-being of foreign language (FL) learners has become a key area of focus. However, existing well-being scales are typically designed for the general population, and a scale specifically tailored to the unique experiences and challenges faced by FL learners is still lacking. To address this gap, the present study aimed to develop and validate a well-being scale specifically tailored for FL learners. Using a mixed-methods design, the study involved 1,182 secondary school students in China, with an average age of 14.14 years ( SD = 1.21) and spanning grades 7–12. Grounded in the positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment well-being model, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed an 18-item FL learner well-being scale. This five-factor scale, including FL positive emotion, FL engagement, FL interpersonal support, FL learning value, and FL accomplishment, demonstrated robust psychometric properties with high internal consistency and split-half reliability, as well as strong convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity. Furthermore, as evidence of criterion-related validity, this study revealed a significant negative correlation between FL learner well-being and FL anxiety, alongside a strong positive association with teacher–student relationships (TSRs). These findings not only provide a reliable tool for assessing FL learner well-being, but also offer empirical support for interventions that aim to enhance student well-being by fostering positive TSRs and reducing FL anxiety.

Unraveling the dynamics of teacher-student relationships, emotions, and socioeconomic status in shaping subjective well-being among FL learners

The teaching of culture in foreign language (FL) learning is facing new challenges associated with the globalization of linguistic and cultural exchanges across the world. The proliferation of global media and electronic social networks, the fragmentation within national boundaries of majority and minority languages, foreign, second and heritage language learners, and, beyond national boundaries, the deterritorialization of national languages and their cultural characteristics due to increased migration and the formation of diaspora communities – all these developments have transformed the nature and the role of culture in FL learning. What used to be the cultural and historical context in which languages were taught and used has now become truncated memories and projected stereotypes, constructed in and through discourses whose authenticity is uncertain as they are both local and global, real and imagined. I first pass in review the changes that have occurred in the last thirty years, I then examine the paradoxes and the challenges of the languageculture duo in FL learning today. Finally I explore some of the suggestions that have been made for redefining the relationship of language and culture in FL education.

BackgroundNowadays, wechat applications are very popular in China. Through the text, pictures, sound and video on the wechat official account platform, all-round communication between individuals and between individuals and the media has been realized. Wechat official account platform is an important functional module of wechat application. On this platform, enterprises and individuals can create an official account to communicate and interact with specific users. Its forms of communication and interaction are very diverse, including text, sound, pictures, pictures, text messages and videos. This paper applies the wechat official account platform to foreign language (English) teaching for primary school students. Developed foreign language (English) learning resources suitable for wechat official account platform.Subjects and Methods330 public primary school teachers were investigated by stratified sampling, including the experimental primary school in F City, the First Affiliated Primary School of s Normal University and the experimental primary school in district a of F City. From the deep understanding of the wechat official account platform, the strong support for the wechat official account platform, the diverse forms of the wechat official account platform, the diverse contents of the wechat official account platform, and the diversity of the wechat official account platform, we conducted a questionnaire survey, and realized the implementation of the wechat official account and the practical teaching resource platform from the perspective of psychology. In addition, the study also found that foreign language anxiety was negatively correlated with foreign language achievement. Similarly, there is a significant negative correlation between foreign language anxiety and self-efficacy. State anxiety, trait anxiety and foreign language learning anxiety are all positively correlated. The “anxiety” component of learners' personality characteristics plays a great role in the generation of foreign language learning anxiety. The correlation coefficient between LCAS and trait anxiety was 0.408, while the correlation coefficient between LCAS and state anxiety was 0.395. Both reached a significant level (P < 0.01). Self efficacy is positively correlated with foreign language achievement. Research shows that foreign language anxiety, gender and self-efficacy can be used as comprehensive variables to measure foreign language learning achievement.ResultsBased on the teaching concept of “teacher led and student-centered”, the traditional classroom teaching and network assisted learning were combined. Through the primary school foreign language (English) learning resource platform based on wechat official account platform \\ primary school foreign language (English) reading resource platform based on wechat official account platform \\ primary school foreign language (English) counseling and Q & a platform based on wechat official account platform, Let students realize resource-based autonomous learning in order to achieve the best effect of foreign language learning.ConclusionFrom the survey data, the teachers of the surveyed schools have realized the advantages of oral English teaching on wechat public platform. Wechat public platform has built a bridge for communication between teachers and students and realized free dialogue between teachers and students. Therefore, the platform has become an oral English training base. Carry out students' English teaching and develop English learning resources suitable for wechat public platform. Based on the concept of “double master”, these two teaching methods are combined with traditional classroom teaching and network assisted learning. Based on wechat public primary school English learning resource platform, wechat public primary school English reading resource platform or wechat public primary school English counseling platform, let primary school students realize autonomous learning and optimize primary school English learning.AcknowledgementsThis project is supported by Zhejiang Industry-Education Integration Engineering Base (Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission society [2020] No. 319).

Foreign language (FL) learning is influenced by both behavioral and motivational factors, with beliefs, proficiency, and social identity shaping learners’ perceptions, self-concept, and intergroup dynamics. This study investigates how FL proficiency influences beliefs and social perceptions about individuals involved in FL learning. The aim of the study is to identify differences in these beliefs between low- and high-proficiency FL learners, focusing on factors such as sociability, vitality, and intergroup bias. A semantic differential instrument was administered to 180 participants (90 low-proficiency and 90 high-proficiency FL learners) in Russia who rated individuals associated with various FL learning roles. Principal Component Analysis and pooled data methods were used to analyze the underlying dimensions of beliefs, while Spearman correlation coefficients examined relationships between constructs. Results revealed significant differences in belief structures: high-proficiency FL participants perceived high- and low-proficiency FL roles as more friendly, sociable, and active compared to low-proficiency FL participants. High-proficiency FL learners also exhibited in-group favoritism toward high-proficiency FL roles and out-group bias against low-proficiency FL roles. The findings suggest that FL proficiency shapes social perceptions, with high-proficiency FL learners appearing to hold more integrated and polarized views. This study highlights the dynamic nature of language learning beliefs and their implications for intergroup relations. The results underscore the need for growth mindset-based language education, anti-bias interventions to counter negative stereotypes of migrants with low language proficiency, strategies to mitigate linguistic elitism among advanced learners, and targeted support to help low-proficiency learners develop integrated cognitive frameworks about language learning.

Motivational Orientation in Foreign Language Learning: The Case of Filipino Foreign Language Learners

Twenty-five years ago, the author contributed a historical review of evidence on the foreign language (FL) learning problems of low-achieving and learning disabled (LD) students. Educators had proposed a new disability, FL learning disability, and developed policies permitting LD students to substitute courses or waive the FL requirement. The introduction of this new disability was premature because empirical evidence found no relationship between FL learning problems and LDs. Even so, several misguided assumptions about a unique disability for FL learning and a special relationship between FL learning problems and LDs persisted, and an LD diagnosis became the de facto criterion for FL course substitution/waiver policies. In this updated review, these assumptions and evidence falsifying them are examined. Cultural reasons for the assumptions about FL learning and LDs and the adoption of course substitution policies are proposed. The author concludes with recommendations for policymakers.

Foreign Language (FL) learning has undergone a shift away from the communicative approach and towards a pedagogy of Multiliteracies. In an ever-changing society characterized by a digital and multicultural context, the necessity of developing Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) in FL learning across all levels through a pedagogy of Multiliteracies has become a priority. In this regard, musical input is an ideal medium to explore culture in the FL learning classroom which enables the integration of affective experiences from an intercultural perspective. The reasons for the implementation of musical input into FL learning curricula to develop ICC is twofold: on the one hand, it may serve to stimulate students’ awareness towards the target culture; and, on the other hand, it may be an effective way to engage students in intercultural encounters from an affective point of view. A corpus has been designed in order to analyze those studies on the development of ICC in FL learning across all levels through a Multiliteracies approach. The findings demonstrate that the use of musical input to develop ICC in the FL learning classroom through a pedagogy of Multiliteracies is scarce. Moreover, this study seeks to promote musical input-based activities to facilitate the development of ICC in the FL learning classroom through a Multiliteracies pedagogy.

CALICO Best Article 2023 While primary studies on technology-mediated informal foreign language (FL) learning are increasingly popular, research synthesis on self-directed FL learning in incidental, out-of-class contexts are scarce. Therefore, this article seeks to address this gap in the literature through a qualitative research synthesis (QRS) on language learning in the digital wilds; that is, digitally mediated FL learning in which the main goal of the activity is not related to language learning. The QRS involved a search of the Scopus and Web of Science databases for relevant literature between 2010 and 2021. Thirteen studies aligned with the inclusion criteria, and data from these studies were extracted for thematic analysis. Five themes were identified according to the analysis: diversity in digital practices; development of FL vocabulary; exposure to authentic language; opportunities for interaction and collaboration; and difficulty understanding FL input. These themes were analyzed using a framework by Reinders and Hubbard (2013), in order to understand the affordances and constraints of the digital wilds. Five affordances and two constraints were identified, which have implications for learner autonomy in computer-assisted language learning (CALL).

MacIntyre (1995, p. 90) takes the position that language anxiety plays a significant causal role in creating individual differences in foreign language (FL) learning. He suggests that our Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis (LCDH), which posits that language aptitude is the primary source of individual differences in FL achievement, reduces affective variables to a position “devoid of explanatory power.” Our response defends our position that language aptitude is likely to account for the largest part of the variance in FL learning. We also describe ways in which affective variables can influence FL learning, although the instances in which they play a causal role is likely to be small. We also suggest that both methodological and conceptual difficulties exist with theories that attribute affective and social context variables in FL learning to causal factors. We then propose ways in which MacIntyre and others could counter our argument and posit that a “Strong Inference” approach to research on the variables affecting FL learning would be beneficial to the FL field.

Abstract: Two studies explore the relationship between foreign language teachers' perceptions of their students' academic skills and affective characteristics and their native language skills, foreign language aptitude, and oral and written foreign language proficiency. In Study I (replication), students who scored significantly lower on native language and foreign language aptitude measures were perceived by teachers as having weaker academic skills and also less positive attitudes, lower motivation, and higher levels of anxiety about foreign language learning than students who scored higher on these measures. In Study II (follow up), students from Study I and from an earlier study were followed through a second‐year foreign language course and divided into high, average, and low groups according to their scores on a proficiency measure. Results showed that low proficiency students were perceived by foreign language teachers as having weaker academic skills and less positive affective characteristics, and also achieved lower course grades than high proficiency students. Findings suggest that foreign language teachers' perceptions of their students' affective characteristics and academic skills are related to the students' levels of native language skill.