Multimodal assignments in higher education: Implications for multimodal writing tasks for L2 writers

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: Previous studies have investigated if quantity of target language (TL) use predicts second language (L2) learning. The aim of this study is to understand what kind of TL use promotes host language proficiency among adults in the context of migration, operationalized as productive collocation knowledge. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study takes a cross-sectional quantitative approach to explore what clusters of TL activities predict language proficiency among 63 first language (L1) French L2 Swedish long-term residents in Sweden. Data and Analysis: Data were collected within a larger project. Productive collocation knowledge was assessed by a collocation test and participants’ TL use through the Language Engagement Questionnaire. We conducted a factor analysis to identify patterns of TL use. We then used structural equation modeling to investigate the relationship between TL use and productive collocation knowledge. Findings/Conclusions: Two factors emerged from the factor analysis: “Everyday Interactive Target Language Use” and “Non-interactive Target Language Use.” Only the former was related to productive collocation knowledge as evidenced by the structural equation modeling. “Everyday Interactive Target Language Use” included using the TL at the workplace, in conversations and service encounters, through text messages and emails, participating in online social network platforms, and browsing the internet. Originality: The study explores what specific kind of TL use promotes second language proficiency among adults in a migration context. This is a topic that has not received much attention in previous research. Significance/Implications: By showing that proficient L2 users engage daily with the TL through, for example, social interactions and language use at work, the study points toward the importance of a certain level of socio-economic as well as socio-cultural integration for efficient second language learning among adults in a migration context.

This article presents the results of an anonymous, Internet‐based questionnaire study on target language (TL) and first language (L1) use in university‐level foreign language (FL) classes. The participants were 600 FL students and 163 FL instructors. The goals of the study were to develop preliminary components of a descriptive model of TL and L1 use and explore the relationships between TL use and student anxiety about TL use. It was hypothesized that (a) amounts of TL use would vary according to constellation of interlocutors and communicative contexts, and (b) the amount of TL use overall would correlate positively with student anxiety about it. The results support the first hypothesis. The second hypothesis was not supported. Analysis of the data revealed a negative relationship between reported amounts of TL use and reported TL‐use anxiety. Tenets are offered for maximizing TL use while at the same time granting to L1 pedagogically sound functions.

This longitudinal research presents case studies of three English as a foreign language (EFL) student teachers showing their development regarding target language (TL) use, taking into account both the amount of TL use and the classroom situations the TL is used in. Additionally, the factors that influence their TL use are discussed. The data consist of four questionnaires, three classroom observations, and a written reflection on TL use. Results show that – similar to experienced teachers – these student teachers used the TL more in senior than in junior classes and mainly in linguistically predictable situations. On the other hand, the amount of their TL use was high, especially in senior classes, compared to earlier studies in the Dutch context. The student teachers displayed different developmental patterns concerning TL use during teacher education: two of them increased their use of English, mainly in junior classes; TL use of the other student remained stable. Teacher education appeared to mediate TL use one year after graduation for two students. TL use had changed after finishing teacher education but no coherent developments could be discerned.

L2 learners’ target language use has been examined for various purposes, including assessment of the learners’ proficiency and examination of the process of language learning. That is, target language use in the real life tasks on the level as automatized as that of native speakers represents the goal of L2 learning. More importantly, however, target language use has been proposed as a process that provides the learning opportunities, particularly since 1980s by communicative approach to SLA. Until the learners can communicate effortlessly without being conscious of the form of the language, how learners’ attention and awareness are or should be directed to the language form and meaning has been an important issue among the recent SLA theories, summarized as the interface/non-interface debate. This paper discusses how different major SLA theories view learners’ attention and awareness of language form during language use and how it has been measured for both process and result research. Finally, a recent neurobiolobical SLA model is introduced in terms of its methodological and theoretical contribution to SLA research.

This article investigates amounts and contexts of target language (TL) use by teachers and pupils in French-as-a-foreign-language classrooms in Norway, an educational context in which a communicative approach to language teaching is prescribed but target-language-only teaching has not been the prevailing idea. A total of 45 video-recorded French lessons from the last two years of lower secondary school were analyzed for language use and instructional activities. In most classrooms, the L1 was the language of instruction. TL use was restricted to speaking exercises, greetings, and vocabulary instruction and did not seem to increase with class level. The findings diverge in many respects from those in previous research conducted in other educational contexts. By adding data from an under-researched context to the existing body of knowledge, the present study nuances the debate on L1 use in second and foreign language learning and thus the recommendations for classroom practice commonly found in the literature. It also outlines a detailed methodological framework that can be adopted in future studies to obtain data that are comparable across contexts.

This paper reports an exploratory study of a Native Speaker Teacher (NST) of Mandarin Chinese and a Primary Languages Teacher (PLT) teaching Chinese to English pre-service primary school teachers, and is particularly focused on the use of target language (TL) by these two co-teachers.Although some studies of TL use have compared the use of target language by native and non-native speakers teaching individually, there are no studies which examine target language use in a native and non-native co-teaching situation, or relate this to the background experience of the teachers. The data collected in this study included observations of planning meetings between both teachers, observations of the teaching of the program, and interviews with both teachers.This paper focuses upon the use of target language by the Chinese Native speaker teacher (NST) and the English Primary Languages Teacher (PLT) and the ways in which this changed and developed across the teaching sessions, as well as the relationship between their TL use, background and beliefs about language teaching in the program. Findings of this study show that, even in a co-teaching situation, target language use by the native speaker teacher and the primary languages teacher differed substantially in terms of their practices of and their beliefs about use of target language, and both were influenced by their own cultures of learning. The results also suggest that working together changed the teaching behavior of both teachers and enabled them to reflect critically on their prior assumptions.

The theory and practice of language education are not always aligned. Best practice as described in the literature and prescribed in policy does not necessarily make it into the classroom. This paper discusses one aspect of language teaching, classroom target language use, and investigates the relationship between policy and practice in post-primary German language classrooms in Ireland. The study uses a mixed methods approach to empirically investigate the use of the target language as prescribed by policy makers, reported by teachers and observed in the classroom. First, relevant documents including the German syllabus and school inspection reports were analysed and semi-structured interviews were conducted with German teacher trainers. Secondly, a questionnaire regarding teacher language use was sent to all schools in Ireland where German is taught and was distributed at events of the German Teachers’ Association of Ireland (GDI). Thirdly, 19 German classes given by six different teachers were observed, recorded, transcribed and analysed for target language use. The results of this study highlight some discrepancies between the prescribed, self-reported and observed use of the target language in second level German classes and it is suggested that the lack of a consistent guidelines for teachers results in lower level of target language use.

This study investigates the challenges that non‐native pre‐service English teachers (Haluk, Gaye, Selin, Öznur and Serkan) experience in their target language use when they do their practicum in actual language classrooms. This study found that the common difficulties the student teachers encounter related to certain grammatical structures, explaining unknown words to students, modifying language according to students’ level, and authenticity of the classroom language. During this study, the target language awareness training session was offered by the university supervisor in order to improve the student teachers’ target language use in the classroom. The training sessions included classroom observations, feedback sessions, semi‐structured interviews, retrospective protocols and discussion meetings with the student teachers. The findings indicated that the language awareness training had a positive impact on the target language use of the pre‐service English teachers. Furthermore, this study discusses the curriculum and the requirements of the language teacher education programme in an EFL setting and makes suggestions for the professional development of non‐native pre‐service language teachers.

With the increased popularity of English-medium instruction (EMI) in higher education, many East Asian universities are using international English proficiency tests to make admissions and placement decisions. Since these tests were not originally designed for the EMI contexts, validity evidence is needed to support the use of these tests in this new context. To interpret performance on a test as representative of performance in a target language use (TLU) domain, this study investigated (1) the characteristics of English reading tasks in Korean EMI undergraduate and graduate courses, (2) the extent to which they are comparable to the characteristics of reading tasks on TOEFL iBT and IELTS, and (3) the extent to which students perceive EMI reading tasks and the test reading tasks to be comparable. Fifty-four undergraduate and graduate students in EMI content courses at a Korean university completed an online questionnaire. Analyses revealed that EMI reading tasks share several characteristics with USA/UK university reading tasks. Although EMI reading tasks had some key characteristics in common with TOEFL and IELTS reading tasks, the test tasks were much more limited in range. Finally, the extent to which students perceived EMI reading tasks and TOEFL/IELTS reading tasks comparable varied across academic areas.

Introduction In Chapter 2, 1 discussed a theory of language ability, and in particular the theoretical construct of specific purpose language ability that we attempt to measure with LSP tests. In Chapter 3, the topic was the nature of context and the theory of how context can be described in terms of task characteristics which can then be translated into test tasks. In this chapter, I will develop guidelines and techniques for constructing LSP tests, focussing particularly on techniques for investigating and describing the target language use situations that form the basis for identifying specific purpose test tasks. The same techniques will also provide a basis for evaluating LSP tests, in terms of test method characteristics, and for interpreting test performance, based on the understanding that test performances are the result of an interaction between test taker attributes (e.g., language ability and specific purpose background knowledge) and the context, as established by the characteristics of the test methods. I will begin the discussion of techniques for LSP test development by considering techniques for investigating target language use situations: grounded ethnography, contextbased research, and subject specialist informant procedures. I will then outline a framework for analyzing specific purpose TLU situations, based on the discussion in Chapter 3, considering a concrete example along the way. I will end with a discussion and example of LSP test specifications, finally illustrating how to apply the analytical framework to the description of test task characteristics. Techniques for investigating the target language use domain We saw in Chapter 2 that input data vary greatly in their level of specificity and that this variation is not necessarily obvious to test developers.

Instilling a sense of agency (SoA) in young learners is an important aspect of foreign language instruction, as is the counteracting of emergent foreign language anxiety (FLA). Focusing on learners who frequently experience FLA, this study explores young learners’ beliefs and classroom experiences in relation to teaching and learning of English, in order to highlight the way in which they perceive their own agency, that is, their situated SoA. After initial classroom observations, learners from seven Swedish classrooms, across years 2–5, were seated in small groups to discuss open questions about target language (TL) use, oral interaction, instructional work mode and the role of the teacher and the learners. The present study is based on discussions among 31 of those learners. Qualitative content analysis of the recorded discussions reveals conflicting beliefs and experiences. These frequently anxious learners stressed the importance of extensive input in English and of learners engaging and speaking the TL. However, they also expressed that oral instructions and prompts, which were sometimes incomprehensible, made them feel frustrated and insecure. Considering the risk of embarrassment, they refrained from asking questions or volunteering to speak. Thus, their accounts of their emotional experiences and actions did not align with their beliefs, which hampered their SoA. The findings illustrate the interrelated nature of beliefs, emotional experiences and agency. Implications for primary language teaching relate to target language use and offering plenty of time for learners to practice their oral skills under conditions that they perceive as safe.

The language class is closely related to the assumption that students will learn and generate the target language. Students are supposed to be able to relate, at least, with the language they have studied. The teacher hopes to not only teach but also use the target language in their teaching-learning process and show the students how to use it. This research explores the teacher's target language in the classroom discourse from the teacher’s point of view—a Qualitative approach employed in this research. The teacher believed that the use of the target language has to be in a maximum way. However, drawn away by the situation of students’ target language knowledge, the use of target language becomes infrequently used. She only used target language for simple words or sentences, which is she knew her students able to comprehend. She needed to use the target language and the students’ first language and mother tongue to help the students more comfortable comprehending the lesson.

This study presents a corpus-based multimodal analysis of successful L2 postgraduate written assignments, an under-researched yet developing area of multimodal communication, along with a thematic analysis of associated rubrics and feedback at UK universities. Despite the increasing multimodal nature of writing in authentic settings and higher education, most L2 writing tasks in language proficiency tests or EAP assessments involve no multimodal composing. To understand the authenticity of L2 writing tasks in English, it is crucial to analyze multimodal writing assignments that students are typically asked to do at the postgraduate level. Drawing on target language use domain analysis, theoretical frameworks of multimodality and corpus linguistics, this paper responded to the need for research in this area by analyzing 1993 multimodal semiotic resources in a corpus of 150 successful multimodal postgraduate written assignments. The present study identified frequent multimodal meaning-making patterns in terms of types, meanings and intersemiotic relations. The empirical findings and a theory-driven genre-based model developed in this study are of significance to test developers, EAP instructors and language teachers because they provide a foundation to inform the construct of L2 digital multimodal writing and to develop rubrics in both low and high-stakes assessment contexts.

The overarching aim of this book is to offer researchers and students insight into some currently discussed issues at the Swedish as well as the international research frontline of Language Education in a selection of up-to-date work. Another aim is to provide teachers, teacher educators and policy-makers with input from research within the interconnected disciplines of Applied Linguistics, Language Education and Second Language Acquisition. The volume includes five examples of topical research on language education and the authors are internationally renowned scholars. The chapters are based on a selection of talks presented at the 1st ELE Conference (‘Exploring Language Education’), which was held at Stockholm University in 2018. Employing a broad thematic scope, the volume reflects the variety of perspectives on language education brought together at the conference by authors working in diverse areas of the field and in different parts of the world. With the first ELE conference the organizers wished to call attention to the intersection of the global and the local, in terms of linguistic and cultural diversity, which may inform both research questions and language education practices. Issues related to multilingualism, Global Englishes, and experienced tensions between research and practice are examples of generally shared issues that were brought up by many speakers. The chapters of the book represent this variety of themes and illustrate how different regions and communities are contingent on local prerequisites and circumstances, leading to a number of particular challenges and assets when it comes to language education. The chapters represent different parts of the broad array of research directions that can be discerned under the large umbrella of Language Education, zooming in on the Western context, specifically Sweden, Canada and the United States. Two of the plenary speakers from the conference, Nina Spada and John Levis contribute in the volume. In Spada’s text different ways to bridge the gap between research and practice in language education are discussed, an issue highly relevant to all of those interested in collaborative research between researchers and teachers. The second chapter, written by Levis, presents current research on phonology and the importance of pronunciation in second or foreign language communication. These two are followed by three chapters reporting on empirical studies. Amanda Brown and colleagues present their work on translanguaging in the English L2 classroom, giving an extensive overview of ideological stances from the last decades on the use of mother tongues vs. target language only in the language classroom. Liss Kerstin Sylvén reports on a recent study on very young Swedish learners of English, their exposure of English before school age and outside school and the role that this exposure plays for the development of English language proficiency. Finally, Gudrun Erickson and colleagues, present a questionnaire answered by a large number of modern language teachers in Sweden. The study explores the teachers’ answers on questions about their professional satisfaction, their use of the target language in the classroom, and the curricular status of foreign languages studied after English. Despite many critical points raised by these teachers, the survey reveals that they would not change profession, were they given the chance. The book ends with an Afterword by Stellan Sundh, University of Uppsala.

‘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.