Language Classes Research Articles

INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN TEACHING LANGUAGE OF PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION IN RFL CLASSES

The article is devoted to the study of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and its development in the framework of teaching Russian for professional purposes to foreign students. In this context the relationship between language, culture and communication is considered, and the importance of parallel learning of language and culture is emphasised. The main purpose of the article is to identify the specifics of the formation of the ICC in classes of Russian language for professional purposes, within which specialised educational materials should be created not only promoting the assimilation of some professional terms, but also developing cultural understanding, which includes the study of communication norms, etiquette and traditions of Russian culture. The author gives examples of tasks that can be used in the process of developing the ICC of foreign students in language classes of Russian for professional purposes, such as discussions based on video clips, role-playing and business games. It is concluded that the achievement of high results in the formation of the ICC requires integration of cultural and linguistic knowledge, as well as constant interaction between teachers and students, with an emphasis on culture-specific characteristics of the audience, which will help prepare students for professional communication in the Russian cultural and linguistic context.

Работа над образом литературного персонажа на основе лингвистической реконструкции семантической модели «Человек» в контексте реализации метапредметного подхода

The purpose of the study is to describe a methodology for exploring the image of a character in the subject area "Russian Language and Literature", which allows for the implementation of a meta–subject approach at the stage of basic general education and contributes to the formation of a students’ holistic picture of the world in the process of linguistic analysis of a literary character image in a work of art. This article discusses the methodology of using the technique of reconstructing the linguistic model of the semantic sphere "Person" when studying the image of a character in integrated elective classes in Russian language and literature. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that it is the first time that it uses a method adapted to the practice of school education for reconstructing the linguistic model of the semantic sphere "Person" in the subject area "Russian Language and Literature". The result of the study was methodological recommendations for teachers of Russian language and literature, including the content of assignments developed by the authors of the article. The study also revealed that in the case of systematic and methodologically sound use of the technique of reconstructing the linguistic model of the semantic sphere "Person", the effectiveness of the educational process increases, interest in learning the Russian language and literature is stimulated, as well as the motivation of students is increased.

The Influence of Using Story Dice Media On Students' Critical Reasoning Ability in Learning Indonesian Language Class IV SDN 1 Cimara

The Influence of Using Story Dice Media On Students' Critical Reasoning Ability in Learning Indonesian Language Class IV SDN 1 Cimara

SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING METHOD (SDL) TO ENHANCE SPEAKING SKILL

The efficacy of self-regulated learning in the context of language acquisition has been widely acknowledged. This study demonstrates the impact of self-regulated learning on the enhancement of students' speaking abilities. Within the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), the act of speaking is commonly regarded as a formidable undertaking that necessitates the utilization of various actions, skills, and strategies to attain effective communication. Digital portfolios have a significant impact on language learning as they encompass learners' actions, skills, and strategies in classroom planning. This research investigated the influence of self-regulation processes on students' performance in speaking tasks in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes at Politeknik Penerbangan Jayapura. The primary outcomes that were observed encompassed the phases of anticipation, realization, and reflection in speaking tasks. The findings of the study indicate that individuals who possess self-regulatory skills can effectively communicate when they possess a comprehensive understanding of the task at hand and can regulate their actions accordingly.

INTRA-ACTING SPIRITUALITY/RELIGIOSITY IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION FOR MULTIPOLAR JUSTICE

Our aim is to present a preliminary study by means of a pedagogical practice on spirituality/religiosity, in Language classes at two Brazilian public universities. We argue that coloniality keeps on turning differences into homogeneous values in order to privilege the elite (Mignolo, 2015). It holds a qualitative and interpretive methodological orientation, bringing the multimodal construction of students and criticality. We assume that spirituality/religiosity can function as an intra-action device that makes and unmakes boundaries among humans and non-humans, culture and nature, science, ethics, and the social, to broaden language (Haraway, 2022, Barad, 2007). We partially conclude that identity reconstruction and pedagogical decisions on this bruised planet require attention to Afro-Brazilian and indigenous religions in language studies towards more sustainable becoming.

A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF TANTRAYUKTI ADHYAYA MENTIONED IN UTTARTANTRA OF SUSHRUTA SAMHITA.

Ayurveda is an Ancient System of Medicine authored by Acharyas, regarded as the Epitome of Knowledge and classical texts. These texts are written in classical language, i.e., Sanskrit, and their meanings are derived from the accompanying Commentary. These Classical texts also propose Certain tools to encode and decode the con-cepts within them, i.e. Tantrayukti, the logical Framework used in classical Ayurvedic texts for thorough under-standing and interpreting ancient knowledge. In Sushruta Samhita 32, Tantrayukti was mentioned to understand better the texts by Acharya Sushruta with the Nibandhasangraha Commentary of Sri Dalhanacharya. This re-view article explores the scientific Principles of the 32 Tantrayuktis mentioned in Sushruta Samhita, Highlight-ing their application with examples.

Linguistics is for everyone

Abstract Introducing students to linguistics before they embark on their undergraduate studies can increase awareness and interest in the field. After documenting my ultimately unsuccessful attempts at creating a standalone course in linguistics at an independent school in Los Angeles, CA, I discuss how I have successfully incorporated linguistics lessons into both my elective classes in the Latin language and my core course in world history. I will show that high school students, particularly older students in advanced classes, are capable of sophisticated linguistic analysis approaching the level of undergraduate student work if they are given proper training. Their progress in the field of linguistics is limited only by the number of hours available to dedicate to linguistics activities in an already packed curriculum. By introducing students to the field of linguistics early in their high school career and revisiting these skills as frequently as possible over the course of four years, I have found that they are more likely to enroll in linguistics classes at the undergraduate level.

Spletišče <i>Videoslovenščina </i>pri jezikovnem pouku v 4. razredu osnovne šole

The development and use of digital technology in everyday life also affects education. Interactive videos are one of the tools to enhance the learning experience by allowing students to participate actively and individually. This paper presents the freely available website Videoslovenščina and the results of a two-part-study on language teaching with interactive videos in 4th grade Slovene Language classes. In the part A of the study, a t-test with independent samples showed, among other things, that students who used the interactive videos in class performed better on a test of writing names than students who did not use the videos. The results of part B of the study showed that the vast majority of fourth graders surveyed preferred the use of interactive videos to traditional instruction, citing a number of benefits of such instruction.

MULTI-CLASS SPOKEN LANGUAGE DETECTION USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WITH FRACTAL AL-BIRUNI EARTH RADIUS OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM

Spoken Language Identification (SLID) is the problem of categorizing the language spoken by a speaker in the audio clips. SLID is valuable in multi-language speech recognition systems, personalized voice assistants, and automated speech translation systems in call centers to automatically route calls to the language operator. A primary challenge is the language detection from audio with different noise levels and sampling rates, accurately and with a short delay. A further problem is to differentiate between short-duration languages. Previous research works have applied SLID’s lexical, phonetic, phonotactic, and prosodic features. Spoken language detection using deep learning (DL) usually includes training RNN or CNN approaches on audio features such as spectrograms or MFCCs to categorize the language spoken in audio samples. Pioneering methodologies, such as CNN–RNN transformers or hybrids, can capture the spatial and temporal features for better performance. This paper presents a Multi-Class Spoken Language Detection using Artificial Intelligence with Fractal Al-Biruni Earth Radius Optimization (MCSLD-AIBER) technique. The MCSLD-AIBER technique mainly aims to identify the various classes of spoken languages. In the MCSLD-AIBER technique, the Constant-[Formula: see text] Transform (CQT) approach is applied to transform the speech signals. Additionally, the MCSLD-AIBER technique employs Inception with a Residual Network model for the feature extraction process. Moreover, the hyperparameters can be adjusted using the BER approach. A long short-term memory (LSTM) network can be utilized to identify multiple spoken languages. A set of experiments were involved to illustrate the efficient performance of the MCSLD-AIBER technique. The simulation outcomes indicated that the MCSLD-AIBER method performs optimally over other models.

Aktuālu kultūras notikumu izmantošana paradumu attieksmju veidošanā latviešu valodas mācībās vidusskolā

The aim of the study The Employment of Current Cultural Events in the Development of Habitual Attitude Formation in Secondary School Latvian Language Teaching is to analyse the theoretical basis of the concept of “habit” and its significance in pedagogy, examining the integration of current cultural events in the curriculum in conjunction with the development of secondary students’ habitual attitudes. While habits form the basis of attitudes, habits are based on actions, since habits are only created and reinforced through action (a combination of knowledge and practice). Habitual attitudes are the basis for the integration of the teaching and personal development process, in which teaching is one of the tools behind personal development. Students develop habits in the process of accumulating experience, which are further stimulated by necessity, personal significance, positions of adults, examples, systematic exercises, combining knowledge and practice in action, environment, context as the activity background, self-assessment and assessment by others. Their value in the Latvian language learning process can be observed in the students’ level of interest, personal values, needs and attitudes, as well as habits in language usage, communication, and learning. The research results show that discussion is needed regarding usage of the concepts of habits and routines in educational science and curriculum documents. Positive language usage habits are connected with already familiar language learning competences, i.e. linguistic, communicative, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic, which have not declined in importance in mastering the new content. The integration of current cultural events into the language learning process stimulates meta learning, since knowledge, skills and attitudes are learned outside of the direct context in which they have been acquired. Exploration of cultural heritage and contemporary art in the learning process helps to form habitual attitudes, develops identity, and provides experience in cultural interpretation. In planning lesson content for Latvian language classes, it is important to integrate current cultural events, because this will develop ethical habits in communication, increase respect toward one’s native tongue and the official state language, motivate students to observe and improve their usage of language, and encourage them to attend cultural events, moreover analysis of such events as part of the learning process nurtures the habit of attending cultural events in one’s free time.

Methodological training of students of linguodidactic specialities in foreign language classes

Abstract. The active development of international cooperation in new directions in various fields and areas of activity, changing positions in the labor market, have entailed increased demands on specialists in the teaching foreign languages field. The purpose of the study is to analyze the “professionally oriented foreign language communicative competence” concept, and also consider the formation methodological competence technology in the context of professional training of a future teacher in practical classes in English.Materials and Methods. Scientific and methodological literature analysis, systematization and comparative study of approaches to the characteristics and content interpretation of the “professionally oriented foreign language communicative competence” and “methodological competence” concepts – as a professionally significant structural component, educational activities design in the context of methodological competence formation among junior year linguodidactic students profiles in language classes constituted a complex of methodological approaches used in this work.Results and Discussion. The existing approaches to the interpretation of the term “professionallyoriented foreign language communicative competence” and its components – subcompetences, including methodological competence – have been studied. The number of work methods for developing methodological competence among 2nd year students of linguodidactic profiles in practical language classes are described.Conclusion. Methodological aspects’s integration into the linguistic education content in junior years helps to improve the professional training quality of students – future foreign language teachers. The methodological competence formation among students of linguodidactic profiles in practical classes in a foreign language is a necessary condition for the successful implementation of their future professional activities

Audiovisual Translation and Language Teaching

Audiovisual Translation (AVT) and foreign language (FL) learning have converged in recent decades to be an effective combination to improve language skills. Respeaking is one of the few modalities that involves oral practice, since it combines shadowing – a technique involving the immediate and simultaneous repetition of spoken language by a language learner, typically with a brief delay behind the speaker – and the subtitling practice. The present paper aims to offer a proposal on the use of respeaking in FL acquisition emphasising its advantages for FL speaking skills. First, the article will explore the current landscape of language learning and Didactic Audiovisual Translation (DAT). It will then define the concept of respeaking and examine the challenges associated with this AVT method. Subsequently, the discussion will focus on the technique of shadowing, its link to respeaking and its potential benefits for improving oral skills. Finally, the concept of didactic respeaking will be introduced. A proposal will be provided to determine what didactic materials should be used as such, and some reflections on how respeaking can be assessed in FL teaching will be made. The final conclusions reflect on the feasibility of introducing respeaking as a didactic tool in FL teaching, which could be a potential new trend in DAT. Lay summary Audiovisual translation, or the translation of audiovisual texts such as film using modes such as subtitling and dubbing, has been used in language teaching over the years to help students improve their language skills. When studying, learners still struggle when it comes to speaking in class, and they find this ability is the hardest to learn. In audiovisual translation, there is a modality called “respeaking” that involves speaking and listening at the same time. In respeaking, respeakers listen to an oral message and they repeat it so a voice-recognition software can transcribe it. This is frequently used to create live subtitles for people who are deaf or hard of hearing so they can enjoy the programme or the event despite their hearing impairment. This enables them to understand dialogues or sounds because subtitles reflect what is going on and respeakers adapt the information to their needs. If we refer to how respeakers do their job, we can say that respeaking is one of the few modalities of audiovisual translation that involves speaking. We say this because when respeakers respeak, they do what we call “shadowing”: this means that respeakers repeat the message they are hearing out loud, so we can say they are the shadow of the original message. To do so, we will first explain what has been done in audiovisual translation and language teaching until today. Then, we will focus on respeaking, so we will define what it is and the limitations we can find in it. Here we will also talk about shadowing, and how it has been proved that it helps students to improve their speaking. After this, we will show a proposal on how to use repeaking in a lesson plan, showing the materials, the exercises and the tasks that can be done in a foreign language class, and we will wrap up the article by thinking of the applications of respeaking in language teaching and how this could be use from now on to teach languages.

PURPOSE AND PROBLEMS OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION

This article discusses the role of listening comprehension in native language classes today, the formation of an understanding of this skill in students, training them to work with this skill task, the teaching of listening comprehension skills abroad and in our native language classes, problems and solutions.

Deportation of Slovenes to Serbia During the Second World War

Did this have to happen? To make Lower Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola German again, Hitler organized the deportation of racially unclean and politically suspicious elements in May 1941. The goal was to emigrate the entire Slovenian intelligentsia, as well as those who had signs of someone else's blood. About 6,500 Slovenes and maybe more, were deported by train in three groups to Serbia. Refugee centres have been set up in almost every city or town. The Serbian population received them nicely, but the lack of food, beds and material resources for their basic existence made their stay difficult. Although there were many educated people among the deportees, they could not find employment and during the employment, they had to submit a confirmation that no one in the family was Jewish or Roma. The children of the deported Slovenes continued their education in Serbian schools, but during the classes, they had organized Slovene language classes. The difficult years of the war were spent in uncertainty, poverty and a constant desire to return to their homeland. After the end of the Second World War, many Slovenes returned home. That was the end of their forced deportation.

The impact of cues on language switching: do spoken questions reduce the need for bilingual language control?

Abstract The classical language switching paradigm using arbitrary cues to indicate the language to speak in has revealed switching between languages comes at a cost (i.e., switch cost) and makes one slower in the first than in the second language (i.e., reversed language dominance). However, arbitrary cues can create artificial requirements not present during everyday language interactions. Therefore, we investigated whether simulating elements of real-life conversations with question cues (‘Co?’ versus ‘What?’) facilitates language switching in comparison to the classical paradigm (Experiment 1: red versus blue outline; Experiments 2 and 3: low versus high tone). We revealed a dissociation between the two indices of language control: (1) question cues, compared to arbitrary cues, reduced switch costs but (2) did not modulate (in Experiment 1) or increase the reversed language dominance (Experiments 2 and 3). We propose that this conversational switching paradigm could be used as a conceptually more ‘true’ measure of language control.

On the implementation of Latin part-of-speech taggers in intertextuality analysis: TreeTagger, CLTK, Cracovia system, LatinCy, and ChatGPT compared

Abstract Digital-assisted intertextuality analysis often yields large amounts of results, many of which are irrelevant to researchers from a hermeneutic point of view. One strategy for minimizing these hermeneutically non meaningful findings is to apply a filter that sorts the results based on specified parts-of-speech. Building on Mare Revellio’s historical text-reuse grammar (HTRG) we demonstrate that an implementation of such a filter accommodating the hermeneutical context proves to be advantageous. We assessed the performance of various Latin part-of-speech (POS) taggers to refine our filtering process, using evaluation data on text congruencies from the Latin authors Virgil and Jerome. Among the Classical Language Toolkit, the TreeTagger, the Cracovia system, LatinCy, and ChatGPT, the Cracovia system surpassed the other taggers by approximately 2 percentage points in accuracy. While this tagger leverages transformer-based machine learning algorithms, the older, probabilistic-based TreeTagger demonstrated competitive performance. Although GPT-4 showed remarkable results, it still lags behind the state-of-the-art taggers for Latin. In order to build a powerful digital citation detection tool for intertextual relationships in ancient texts, the most accurate analysis of POS is crucial in filtering and evaluating valid citations.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of abstract concept processing: An MEG study

Our current understanding of how linguistic concepts are represented and retrieved in the brain is largely based on studies using concrete language, and only few studies have focused on the neural correlates of abstract concepts. The role of the motor system, besides the classical language network, has been intensively discussed in action-related concrete concepts. To advance our understanding of spatiotemporal dynamics underlying abstract concept processing, our study investigated to what extent language and motor regions are engaged in the processing of abstract concepts vs. concrete concepts. We used concrete, metaphorical, and abstract phrases as stimuli, creating a graded continuum of abstractness. Neuromagnetic signals were recorded from 26 Chinese native speakers using a 306-channel whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) system. Cluster-based permutation F-tests were carried out on the amplitude of source waveform for individual language and motor regions of interest (ROIs) in the three consecutive time-windows (200–300, 300–400, and 400–500 ms). Results showed that, compared with concrete and metaphorical phrases, abstract phrases evoked significantly weaker activation in the left posterior part of superior temporal sulcus (STS) at 200–300 ms, and significantly stronger activation in the left anterior temporal pole (TP) at 300–400 ms. We found no significant differences in the involvement of motor ROIs across conditions. Our results suggest that concrete concept processing engages more the posterior STS in an earlier time window, while abstract concept processing relies more strongly on the anterior TP in a later time window. Results are discussed by revisiting the ATL (anterior temporal lobe)-hub hypothesis and the novel definition of concrete and abstract concepts.

The importance of needs satisfaction, teacher support, and L2 learning experience in Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Assessment (ICALA): a probe into the state of willingness to communicate as well as academic motivation in EFL settings

In recent years, Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Assessment (ICALA) has emerged as a transformative approach in language education, leveraging technology to enhance student assessment and learning processes. Despite its growing importance, there is a scarcity of research investigating the connections among needs satisfaction, teacher support, L2 learning experience, willingness to communicate, and academic motivation—factors that play a crucial role in students’ academic performance in this context. This study addressed the lack of knowledge by examining the impact of needs satisfaction and teacher support among Omani students enrolled in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. The structural equation modeling data via SMART PLS revealed a positive correlation between needs satisfaction, L2 learning experience, increased willingness to communicate, and academic motivation in ICALA. Furthermore, teacher support positively impacted willingness to communicate, academic motivation, and L2 learning experience. The results facilitate fostering needs satisfaction and teacher support in ICALA and contribute to our understanding of the connections between these variables. A more in-depth discussion is held regarding the significance of the study for educational practices.

A Multi-Architecture Approach for Offensive Language Identification Combining Classical Natural Language Processing and BERT-Variant Models

Offensive content is a complex and multifaceted form of harmful material that targets individuals or groups. In recent years, offensive language (OL) has become increasingly harmful, as it incites violence and intolerance. The automatic identification of OL on social networks is essential to curtail the spread of harmful content. We address this problem by developing an architecture to effectively respond to and mitigate the impact of offensive content on society. In this paper, we use the Davidson dataset containing 24,783 samples of tweets and proposed three different architectures for detecting OL on social media platforms. Our proposed approach involves concatenation of features (TF-IDF, Word2Vec, sentiments, and FKRA/FRE) and a baseline machine learning model for the classification. We explore the effectiveness of different dimensions of GloVe embeddings in conjunction with deep learning models for classifying OL. We also propose an architecture that utilizes advanced transformer models such as BERT, ALBERT, and ELECTRA for pre-processing and encoding, with 1D CNN and neural network layers serving as the classification components. We achieve the highest precision, recall, and F1 score, i.e., 0.89, 0.90, and 0.90, respectively, for both the “bert encased preprocess/1 + small bert/L4H512A8/1 + neural network layers” model and the “bert encased preprocess/1 + electra small/2 + cnn” architecture.

Latinčina ako predmet diskusie v rámci reformy strednej školy v 1. ČSR. Význam klasického vzdelania

The Latin language formed an essential component that conveyed the image of antiquity in the secondary schools of the First Czechoslovak Republic. Latin was one of the most controversial topics in the context of secondary school reform. A heated debate stirred up about its limitations within secondary education. This dispute polarized the defenders and opponents of classical languages. Therefore, this study aims to reconstruct, through a critical discourse analysis, how Latin was perceived, how it was discussed and what place was attributed to it by the different parties. The author places the topic in the context of interwar period in the Czechoslovak Republic and the reform of the secondary school. The work is based on the critical study of contemporary periodicals, documents and literature. This thesis can contribute to an assessment of the place of antiquity in present secondary education and, by extension, of the humanities education overall.