Language Awareness Research Articles

When the parish turns into a classroom: teaching pluriliteracies in regional collateral languages through place-based education (the case of Latgalian)

ABSTRACT Our paper discusses ways of connecting the acquisition of a regional language with learning processes related to specific places. For this aim, we relate the investigation of the Linguistic Landscape (LL) to the pluriliteracies teaching approach and to place-based learning. As an example, we use the case of Latgalian in Latvia: How can local multilingual and sociocultural realities as identified in the linguistic landscape enrich disciplinary content in regional language teaching, while also enhancing language awareness and active engagement among the students? And how can place-based education be used for developing (pluri)literacy in regional collateral languages? To this end, the paper first provides the background to place-based education, before turning to roles of Latgalian in public space and a recent LL study in Latgale. Then, we provide suggestions of how to ‘turn the parish into a classroom’, but also of how ‘to bring the parish into the class’ by using digital resources, e.g. language corpora. Finally, we suggest a set of components that influence place-based education for developing literacy in a regional collateral language and which may be taken into consideration when preparing educational projects. This paper is complementary to two other papers on Latgalian in this special issue.

Adolescent English Learners’ Awareness of Disciplinary Writing and Academic Language in Science Classrooms: The Affordances of a Register-Functional Perspective

ABSTRACT This article reports findings from a study that investigated English learners’ (ELs’) developing awareness of disciplinary writing and academic language in science courses in a U.S.-based high school. Based on an analysis of writing samples, this case study first introduces the situational and linguistic characteristics of two science writing tasks in forensics and oceanography. The author then explores ELs’ developing understanding of science writing and academic science language via ethnographically oriented interviews. Informed by the Register-Functional perspective and Academic Literacies frameworks, the analyses demonstrate higher EL sensitivity to vocabulary, but not grammatical structures yet. Writing practices in science classes shape ELs’ understanding of disciplinary writing in unexpected directions. The situational analysis of writing and ELs’ perspectives provide a systematic approach for understanding learner needs in writing and integrating language into content instruction. Implications for EL education in science and teacher collaborations are provided.

Language Ideologies, Language Awareness, Language Attitudes, Folk Linguistics: (Meta-)reflections on overlapping research fields

Abstract When attempting to position Language-Ideologies research within the framework of Applied Linguistics and related scientific sub-disciplines and approaches, it becomes evident that significant overlaps with research fields such as Language Attitudes, Folk Linguistics and Language Awareness exist. The question arises as to whether the differences are more closely related to various scientific subcommunities than to the phenomena under investigation. Similarities may go unnoticed either because researchers do not sufficiently engage with related approaches, or differences relating to content and methodology are overly emphasised for reasons of disciplinary demarcation. This article is based on a very broad concept of Language Awareness, which has evolved beyond its traditional context of language teaching and learning. This concept encompasses perception, folk-linguistic reflections and extends to academic theorising, while also incorporating affective and evaluative aspects. The article demonstrates shows how approaches pursued in the respective communities can be brought together in a fruitful way to jointly explain interconnected phenomena. Additionally, some other aspects of Language Ideologies are discussed, such as their different levels (micro, meso, macro), ranging from concrete individual case evaluations to more abstract Language Ideologies and, finally, to the level where Language Ideologies transition into broader ideologies and worldviews.

“If you don’t know English, it is like there is something wrong with you.” Students’ views of language(s) in a plurilingual setting

Abstract Based on a repertoire-oriented stance to language learning and a broad definition of language awareness, this study investigates students’ discursive representations of the languages in their repertoires in the context of a plurilingual language awareness course (Almen Sprogforståelse). The study is based on a subset of data collected in a multi-case study focusing on language awareness across educational levels. Through an inductive and iterative thematic content analysis of interview and classroom data, the authors identify six themes central to the ways in which students talk about language: (1) language learning experiences and skills, (2) gateways, (3) attractiveness, (4) family and friendship, (5) everyday presence and (6) usefulness. The study investigates the relationship between the different themes and languages, revealing how students’ personal linguistic biographies and Spracherleben interact with classroom ideologies in shaping the ways in which students perceive and describe different languages. Despite students’ display of rich repertoires and language awareness, some languages are positioned discursively as need-to-have and others as nice-to-have or even impossible-to-opt-out-of, mirroring societal discourses surrounding these languages. In this sense, the results of the study underscore the importance of the development of critical language awareness, specifically in the context of the compulsory General Language Awareness course.

Developing a Study Unit in the Arabic language Based on Literary Awareness and testing its Effectiveness in Developing Literary Appreciation Skills among Twelfth Grade Female Students in Jordan

This study aimed at developing an instructional unit in  Arabic language based on literary awareness and test its effectiveness on developing the skills of literary appreciation among second year scientific secondary school students in Jordan. The participants of the study consisted of (80) female students from the second year of scientific secondary school at Al-Baqa’a Comprehensive Secondary School for Girls. The sections were randomly assigned into two groups, so that Division (C) represented the experimental group that was taught using the developed unit, and Division (A) represented the control group that studied using the usual way. To achieve the objectives of the study, the unit was developed, the literary appreciation test was prepared, and the test was applied to the two groups before and after teaching, as the experimental and control group studied for (20) days in the second semester of the academic year (2021/2022), and the results of the statistical analysis showed the absence of statistically significant differences in literary appreciation skills between the experimental and control groups on the pre-test  among students of the second grade of scientific secondary school in Jordan, and the existence of statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in the literary appreciation test in favor of the experimental group attributed to the development of the unit based on literary awareness. In light of the results the study recommended conducting more studies on the development of academic units in other branches of  Arabic language, with the concern of curriculum makers in the inclusion of literary awareness in the Arabic language.

ACTION VOCALIZER

Individuals primarily communicate with one another. Blind and deaf people use signlanguagetocommunicatewithothers.Signlanguagewascreatedasalanguagetohelp the Deaf communicate with one another. Hearing impairment (HI) according to WHO (2018) data 63,000,000 people with significant auditory loss adult-onset deafness is predicted to affect 7.6% of Indians, whereas childhood-onset deafness affects 2%. As previously said, the number of persons afflicted by hearing impairment and adult-onset deafness rises every year, making Indian sign language a crucial part of initial part of our community. Our study on this issue will assist this demographic in communicating with the broader public and not falling behind in our social growth. The primary goal of this project is to raise awareness of sign language and help deaf and dumb community to communicate with world. This system translates hand gesture into speech and text. Hand gesture is analysed as part of the identification. The technology provides text output,which helps deaf people, and speech output, which helps blind people and humans communicate more effectively Key Words:Action Vocalizer, Tenserflow, Mediapipe, image processing, CNN,Keras.

Shifting the perception of languages and their status through the use of pedagogical translanguaging as a tool to increase language awareness

ABSTRACT The objective of the study is to explore the possibilities of pedagogical translanguaging as a strategy to develop critical language awareness among a group of primary school students from the Basque Autonomous Community (Spain). The study is part of a broader ethnographically based research project, which was developed over two school years in Basque, Spanish and English language subjects. Participants were 51 primary school students studying through the medium of the minority language Basque in an area where the dominant language in society is Spanish, in addition, these students were learning English as a foreign language. The findings show how students’ critical language awareness is developed when sociolinguistically informed didactic strategies are integrated together with translanguaging pedagogies in the classroom. As a result of translanguaging pedagogies and the sociolinguistic reflection carried out during the intervention, the students built up their awareness of minority languages and affective attitudes towards their own. In turn, the simultaneous use of several languages in the classroom brought to the surface the unbalanced power relation among Basque, Spanish and English. This study’s findings reinforce the need for creating and maintaining spaces for minority languages to breathe within the framework of translanguaging pedagogies.

“Constructed Women”

Simone de Beauvoir (1908 - 1986), as the pioneer and founder of feminist literary criticism, her feminist thoughts and Literary theory have had a profound impact on the development of women's movement and feminist literary theory around the world. Beauvoir is “one of the most important women of the 20th century.” His book The Second Sex covers the cultural content of philosophy, history, literature, biology, ancient myths and customs, and discusses the actual women’s situation, status and rights in the historical evolution from Primitive society to modern society. In the book, linguistic theories and methods are applied to define and differentiate gender concepts, and a detailed study is conducted on the shaping and influence of daily life, religion, and taboo language on women’s psychology and consciousness. Exploring the relationship between gender and culture is an important dimension that reflects a conscious awareness of language and culture. Beauvoir’s language research has provided important theoretical inspiration for the development of feminism, especially postmodern feminist criticism, and has a transitional significance that connects the past and the future. This article takes The Second Sex as the research text and conducts a feminist analysis of Beauvoir’s linguistic theory from three aspects: The first part elaborates on feminism by analyzing Beauvoir’s application of linguistic methods and research on multiple linguistic issues, criticizing the traditional patriarchal cultural tradition. The second part compares Woolf’s feminist language views and introduces the different focuses of language research between the two. The third part elaborates on the impact of Beauvoir’s language research on feminist criticism and postmodern feminism.

Language Attitudes of Teacher Students Towards Indonesian

The language attitude of teaching students must be positive towards Indonesian, considering that Indonesian is the language of instruction that must be used at all levels of education. A positive language attitude is manifested by loyalty, pride, and language awareness. The research method used is a descriptive method with a quantitative approach. This research was conducted using a research instrument in the form of questionnaires. The population of this study is all teacher training students in Indonesia, the research sample is 98 teacher training students from 8 universities in Indonesia. The results showed that most students had a positive language attitude. This is shown by the loyalty, pride, and awareness of speaking Indonesian. Of course, as a prospective teacher in any study program, it is necessary to be certified for language skills through UKBI as a step that can ensure the competence and language attitude of prospective teachers. 

“The best way to get to know a student is to know their community”: fostering pre-service teachers’ critical multilingual language awareness through linguistic community walks

ABSTRACT This study sought to investigate the impact of an English as a second language methodology course in which we asked pre-service teachers (PSTs) to visit the communities served by their field placement schools for their mentored teaching practices in a linguistic community walk project. We aimed to understand the impact of a linguistic community walk project on PSTs’ understanding of the existing disparities in access to community resources for people from different linguistic backgrounds, and how this experience impacts their pedagogical orientations to support the teaching and learning of emergent multilingual learners. Drawing on the theory of critical multilingual language awareness, we observed the impact of the linguistic community walk project on PSTs’ language ideologies and envisioned pedagogy. Findings suggest that PSTs’ involvement in the project heightened their awareness of the importance of utilization of authentic and culturally relevant materials and resources in their classrooms. Additionally, the project helped PSTs move away from monolingual ideologies by critically reflecting on the marginalization of minoritized communities in community spaces, indicating a wider potential of the approach for teacher education programs.

Features of Nigerian English in the Spoken and Written English of Undergraduates at Nigerian Universities

This study examined the features of Nigerian English in the spoken and written English of undergraduates in Nigeria Universities. The objectives of this study are to identify the features of Nigerian English that characterize the spoken and written language of students in the university and to investigate the sociolinguistic factors that influence the use of Nigerian English features among the students. The theoretical framework of this study is based on Labov’s Sociolinguistic theory which focuses on the idea that the way a language is spoken and written differs across individuals as well as across situations encountered by the same individual. Using the descriptive research design and the questionnaire as research instrument, data was collected from a sample of 400 students using the purposive sampling method to determine the sample size. Findings revealed that English as a dynamic and evolving variety is shaped by sociolinguistic factors which manifest in the language of university students. Also, the Nigerian English features are more prevalent in the spoken English than the written form. The researcher recommended that Nigerian universities should consider implementing language awareness program as to help students recognize and understand the linguistic features of Nigerian English as part of the linguistic heritage of the country.

Teacher and students’ awareness of Language use

Language awareness (LA) is a term defined as the knowledge about language and language use which encompasses an awareness of language from the learner’s perspective, an awareness of the learner’s developing inter-language, and an awareness of the extent to which the language content of materials/lessons poses difficulties for students. Teacher language awareness is knowledge about language (subject-matter knowledge) and knowledge of language (language proficiency) of a teacher which is metacognitive nature. Students language awareness includes examining how language varies in a range of social and cultural settings, examining how people’s attitudes vary towards language, and examining how oral and written language affects listeners and readers. There are three types of language use: communicative language practice, structured communication practice, and authentic communication practice. Domains of language use involve three factors: topic, role relation, and locale.

Heritage Language Teaching: Critical Language Awareness Perspectives for Research and Pedagogy, edited by Sergio Loza and Sara M. Beaudrie

Heritage Language Teaching: Critical Language Awareness Perspectives for Research and Pedagogy, edited by Sergio Loza and Sara M. Beaudrie

Development of linguistic critical consciousness of multilingual preservice teachers of color

ABSTRACT To ensure equitable access to education for emergent multilingual learners, teachers should hold certain beliefs (Lucas et al., 2015) about language, including sociolinguistic consciousness, a value for linguistic diversity, and knowledge of the sociopolitical positioning of language (Lucas, 2011). This study examines possible effects of critical language awareness (CLA) (Fairclough, 1992) coursework on the development of critical consciousness related to language, identity, ideologies and culturally sustaining pedagogies multilingual preservice teachers of color. The research question is: What are some effects of the CMLA coursework on multilingual preservice teachers’ perceptions about the following measures: language ideologies, supporting students’ multiple languages outside the classroom, advocating for students’ multiple languages in the classroom, and critical perspectives? ANOVA analyses on pre- and post-survey data from 48 preservice teachers suggest that CLA coursework had a significant impact on three of the four critical consciousness measures, at varying levels of significance. This study shows that critical content delivered through well-designed pedagogical treatments can help improve preservice teachers’ understanding of the language use in their future classrooms, empower them through reflection on their language, identities, and ideologies, and guide them toward more asset-based approaches to teaching and learning.

Korpora im DaF-Unterricht: Einsatz im Schulbereich

Corpora are electronic resources that students can use – in the context of data-driven learning – to explore language and clear up any linguistic uncertainties, by searching, for example, for frequent co-occurrences and collocations through a search query. Corpora serve as input factors (cf. Fandrych/Tschirner 2007) that draw the learners’ attention to recurring linguistic patterns (cf. Drumbl 2011: 67) and promote autonomous and explorative learning. This process also enables the development of language awareness (cf. Boulton 2010), which is a key element of multilingual competence (cf. Jessner 2008). The use of corpora is increasingly being integrated into university foreign language teaching but remains rather unknown in the school sector to date. This article explores how corpora could be used in schools and the extent to which students could work with them autonomously to improve their language skills and develop, over time, multilingual competence. To answer this question, a project carried out in an Italian high school specialized in the study of foreign languages (Liceo Linguistico) is examined and presented. The project took place in 2021 and required students to undertake several corpus analysis tasks.

Il paesaggio linguistico plurilingue e la didattica: il caso dell’Alto Adige/Südtirol

Studies on the Linguistic Landscape (LL) have become a particularly prolific object of study and research in the last fifteen years. The most recent research perspective has led to new categorizations for the LL, which not only form the basis for further empirical research, but are also of great use in foreign language teaching (Malinowski/Maxim/Dubreil 2020). Indeed, working with the LL that is also interculturally specific fulfils one of the primary goals of foreign language teaching, as the close relationship between language and culture also promotes intercultural communicative competence. Our paper will examine in particular the great potential of this tool in the context of teaching German as a Foreign Language in Italy, in order to stimulate greater language awareness and linguistic reflection in the processes of learning and teaching German in which learners are involved. By means of the administration of didactic sheets prepared by us, we will consider the possibility of applying to a didactic context data on both the German language and culture, taken from the observation of the LL of Alto Adige/Südtirol and collected on several occasions within a corpus, the LLSÜDTIROL, which will be discussed below.

English Language Awareness of Distance and Face-to-Face Learners in Turkish Higher Education

The main aim of the current study is to explore the profiles of language awareness of distance and face-to-face EFL learners. The study sheds light on the need to consider the effects of language awareness in distance and face-to-face education as language awareness is essential in foreign language learning in both education types and needs to be improved to make learners know much about how to use English. The main question addressed by the research is whether there are any differences between the language awareness of distance and face-to-face EFL learners regarding course type, gender, and age. The context of the study is Türkiye, where English is taught as a foreign language in higher education institutions. The study uses a survey method and includes 157 language learners distance and 225 face-to-face, 382 learners attending a state university in Türkiye. The study’s results unveiled significant differences between distance and face-to-face language learners regarding language awareness. There was an apparent disparity between distance-learning and face-to-face approaches in linguistic awareness and communicative awareness, as the face-to-face learning group scored significantly higher in these dimensions. While distance and face-to-face learners had close scores in the dimensions of cultural awareness and metacognitive awareness, the findings revealed that face-to-face learners scored somewhat higher, which helps to explain how the physical classroom setting may have some influence on learners’ cultural sensitivity and metacognitive awareness. The results suggested that distance education learners should improve their consciousness about language and have the necessary instruction to enhance their language awareness. Keywords: Distance education, face-to-face education, foreign language learning, higher education, language awareness,

EFL Student-Teachers’ Perception Toward Teaching English Vocabulary Through Poetry

Poetry has been reported to promote language awareness and authentic learning sources. As poems are composed in carefully arranged words to form rhyming sounds with beautiful rhythm, the present study aimed to reveal EFL students' perceptions of using poetry to teach English vocabulary. Conducted qualitatively, the present observed eighty-seven short essays on using English poems for improving students' vocabulary written by student-teachers from an English Language Education Department in Bali. It was revealed that the student-teachers perceived poetry to help improve students' acquisition of word form, use, and meaning. Forty-four students wrote poems that could improve students' understanding of English word forms: twenty-three students argued that poetry could improve students' pronunciation. Twenty-one participants believed poems could improve students' spelling. In terms of word meaning, a total of thirty vouched for the use of poetry for introducing figurative languages (twenty-three students), enhancing students' acquisition of colloquial vocabulary (eleven students), and familiarizing students with unfamiliar words (eleven participants). A total of nine students insisted that poems could be used to improve students' word use, whereas six students believed poems could display grammatical functions. At the same time, three participants recognize the use of poems for acquainting students with collocations. These results imply that future EFL teachers recognize the potential of bringing English poetry as a medium for improving their EFL students'' vocabulary, hinting at the need for further research on the systematic procedure of how to implement poetry into EFL classrooms.

<i>Re</i>-evaluating the Use of Corpus-Based Instruction in a Language Teacher Education Context

This paper presents a replication study of research published 16 years ago by one of the authors (Farr, 2008). At that time, research into the use of corpus-based approaches in teacher education was sparse. This has changed somewhat, but is still limited. Existing research shows that teachers identify a number of reservations to the integration of corpus-based approaches in their teaching, including time-related obstacles, and a lack of confidence, awareness and training (Boulton & Tyne, 2014). Clearly there are still challenges to be overcome and further insights to be gleaned from research into the integration of corpus linguistics into teacher education programmes. As with the original study, this paper reports the ways in which corpus approaches have been integrated into a 1-year MA in TESOL programme. It outlines findings from survey results, which explore the student teachers’ perspectives on their experiences of using corpora, both as a language awareness tool for professional development and research, and as a resource for materials development. Additionally, it discusses the potential issues foreseen by practitioners in relation to using such an approach in their careers. The investigation leads to the conclusion that there is generally a positive predisposition towards the use of corpora.

Developing Poetry-based Grammar Teaching Materials

Critics have been made regarding grammar teaching using the conventional Present-Practice-Production (PPP) approach. Second language acquisition research has also provided evidence that the above approach might not be the best approach to teach grammar, especially with now communicative competence being the goal of learning a foreign language. Despite the critics, many textbooks still adopt the PPP approach in grammar activities, leading the teacher to apply this method, as well. Therefore, this study aims at developing grammar materials that can provide grammar teaching with authenticity and encourage language awareness by adapting content-based instruction, in this case through a poem. Need analysis results from questionnaire and interview were used as a foundation to design the teaching materials. The result of this study offers ready-use a teaching material that is relatable, practical and authentic, developed based on target students’ need analysis. It may also help students study grammar focusing on meaning rather than form.Keywords: poetry, grammar, teaching materials.