Modern Foreign Language Learning Research Articles

Theoretical and empirical prerequisites for university foreign language classrooms (based on the opinions of Russian and Chinese university teachers)

Introduction. In the course of time and due to the development of science and technology, the understanding of the effective university foreign language classroom has changed. The most significant change took place during the pandemic when all the students had to attend online classes. Nevertheless, our assumption is that in view of the nature of the subject itself, teaching and learning languages either online or offline to science or humanitarian majors has common characteristics relevant to any type of the classroom. It has specific characteristics related to different educational traditions, ethnic cultures, learning environments, and primarily to the agents (both teachers and students) involved in the process. The purpose of this article is to explore what ideas are frequently proposed by researchers worldwide and their implementation in university foreign language classrooms in Russia and China both in online and offline types of teaching and learning. Materials and methods. The study involved 61 university teachers of foreign languages from Russia and China who answered the questions of the questionnaire. A combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods of action research was used in the study. The methods included a literature review, the development of teacher questionnaires, a comparative study, data analysis and data visualization. Results. The study has revealed the major trends that are apparent in university foreign language teaching and learning both online and offline. They are related to learner-centered (60% of Chinese teachers / 23% of Russian teachers), interactive (15% of Chinese teachers / 30% of Russian teachers) and fostering learners’ engagement (55% of Chinese teachers / 25% of Russian teachers) with an emphasis on the development of overall students` communication, social and thinking abilities (100% of Chinese teachers / 95% of Russian teachers). Among the didactic tools used by foreign language teachers in both countries interactive tasks are prevalent with 95% и 100% of the Chinese and Russian teachers choosing them respectively. Conclusion. The differences revealed during the study need further research due to a limited number of the teacher participants. The conclusions obtained in this study will help to understand the main trends in modern foreign language teaching and learning, and assist foreign language teachers in choosing appropriate classroom techniques for their practices in line with more specific aims and content.

The role of nativeness in early modern foreign language learning: evidence from teaching materials

Abstract In this article, we explore how the “ideal student” and “the ideal teacher” of a modern foreign language were depicted in 16th and 17th-century textbooks of the genre of so-called “dialogue books”. More specifically we assess in which areas language expertise was expected from students and teachers and how nativeness, i.e., being a native speaker, was construed as an element of this general expertise. Our insights are based on the structure and content of the textbooks. Moreover, we analyse introductory texts, written by textbook authors or printers. The teaching material reveals a strong focus on spoken language as it consists of dialogues inspired by daily life and pronunciation guides that use a contrastive approach. Overall, our analysis suggests that the “ideal student” has to learn to speak a foreign language, thereby striving for a correct pronunciation and to communicate in a polite and pragmatically adequate way. The “ideal teacher” is a native speaker who has the authority to teach his mother tongue and to judge the teaching of others. However, the superiority of nativeness pales beside other required qualifications, i.e., learnedness, didactic skills and expertise in the language one teaches.

ІНФОРМАЦІЙНО-КОМУНІКАЦІЙНІ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ В ПРОЕКТНІЙ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ СТУДЕНТІВ ЗАКЛАДІВ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ НА ЗАНЯТТЯХ З ІНОЗЕМНОЇ МОВИ

У статті розглянуто інформаційно-комунікаційні технології як засіб проектної діяльності студентів вищої школи на заняттях з іноземної мови. Проаналізовано сутність проектного методу. Подано характеристику інформаційно-комунікаційних технологій. Названо завдання, які виконує проект, підготовка якого здійснюється з допомогою інформаційно-комунікаційних технологій. Визначено найбільш поширені види проектів із використанням ІКТ, які застосовуються у вищій школі на заняттях з іноземної мови (підготовка рефератів та доповідей; створення буклетів, брошур, плакатів, колажів, газет, презентацій, веб-сайтів, відеороликів, аудіодоріжок тощо). Вказано на роль ІКТ на кожному із структурних етапів проектної діяльності.

Modern foreign language learning: exploring the possible impact of parental experiences on student motivation

ABSTRACT Purpose This present paper draws on a doctoral study which provides an innovative insight into the extent to which parents influence their child’s motivation to learn a foreign language. Methodology An exploratory methodology was adopted to approach this study from multiple angles, using a sequential mixed-methods research design. A questionnaire, co-created by a professional community of practice, was administered to parents (n = 107) and children (n = 495) in four secondary schools in the wider West Midlands conurbation. This was followed by semi-structured dyadic interviews with six sets of parents and their children (n = 12). This gave a rounded view of parental orientations towards language learning and how this could impact their child’s motivation. Findings Quantitative analysis shows that there are strong, positive correlations between parent and child data for five of the six motivation constructs. Linear regression shows that parental level of general education has a statistically significant impact on four student motivation constructs. Results from the qualitative analysis show that parents were largely indifferent, with mixed experiences of language learning. Parents were also cognisant of issues surrounding the availability of different language options and possible timetabling constraints which impact the flexibility for children to choose a language. Originality The present study is innovative through its inclusion of parental views towards learning a foreign language. Its research design paves the way for a widening of methodologies through the use of mixed methods to explore these orientations in greater detail as well as drawing on a professional community of practice as a partner in the research process.

Strategies for interactive listening in modern foreign language learning

In two-way interactive listening, listeners are expected to use interactional skills or strategies to understand meaning, recognize interlocutors’ intentions, make responses, and establish common ground. However, strategy use can be affected by learner differences and affective factors. The present study investigated the effects of group difference (students majoring in five modern foreign languages) and an affective factor (self-perceived communication confidence) on Chinese native speakers’ strategies for interactive listening. A questionnaire survey was conducted to explore the listening strategies used by 445 college students, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 students to uncover listening difficulties in their language majors. A two-way between-groups MANOVA test revealed statistically significant main effects for language majors and communication confidence on overall and on certain types of strategy for interactive listening. Spanish language majors were found to use strategies more frequently than English, French, German, or Japanese major students. Students in all five language majors with higher self-perceived communication confidence used inference-making, phonological and nonverbal strategies more frequently than low-confidence students. Certain listening difficulties were found to be language specific. In general, vocabulary size as well as lexical segmentation were reported as main listening difficulties, followed by morphological and syntactic variation, and fast speech rate.

Covid 19, school closures and the uptake of a digital assessment for learning pilot project during Ireland’s national lockdown

DALDIS is a three-year EU-funded Erasmus+ Project on Digital Assessment for Learning (2019–2022) involving five European countries. DALDIS is pilot testing a digital assessment for learning solution focused on Science and Modern Foreign Language Learning in years 5–9. Underpinned by the Study Quest technology, which is designed to drive students’ learning progression using well-designed question-sets and student feedback, DALDIS is built on the principle that formative assessment is one of the best methods to encourage student achievement. Although Assessment for Learning (AFL) using technology has great potential for learning, it is not widely used in Europe. As the project lead Ireland was responsible for the first adaptation of StudyQuest, known as JCQuest for its Junior Cycle science and French curriculum. Unexpectedly, the commencement of DALDIS coincided with school closures due to Covid-19 and this appears to have influenced the uptake in student usage of JCQuest to support online learning and exam preparation. This paper provides an insight into how students engaged with JCQuest, key usage patterns and types of devices used based on Google Analytics data during two crucial school closure periods during Ireland’s pandemic.

FOREIGN EXPERIENCE IN APPLYING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AT PRIMARY SCHOOL ENGLISH LESSONS

The article deals with the benefits of using digital technology during English lessons in primary school. The research is devoted to the problem of the use of digital technologies, describes some interactive methods, educational software, and Internet resources in the process of learning English within the primary sector. The growth of globalization of trade and the predominance of English in the media, particularly on the Internet, have been responsible for driving change in language education policy and there is a global trend towards introducing English language teaching into the primary sector. Over the last years, there has been a tremendous shift in the way that users integrate technology into their personal lives. These changes have taken time to filter down into primary education, but slowly teachers have realized the need to adapt their practice in order to reflect the changing nature of technological use in the wider world. The author explores the potential of audio recorders, video conferences, virtual worlds, interactive whiteboards, karaoke, mobile applications, and computer programs, in order to form language skills in students through authentic communication. The introduction of Web 2.0 network services in language education is one of the promising areas of informatization of the educational process, which helps foster a stable communication competence in students under the guidance of an experienced teacher. Innovative technologies can help teachers in a variety of ways, inside the young learner classroom, but also in the home environment and while learners are on the move. The use of educational technologies is very dependent on the instructional context and setting, and meets the individual needs of young learners. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine the modern foreign language teaching and learning without the integrated use of digital technologies in primary school. Creative primary teachers will always be able to see the potential for an idea and are particularly adapted to customising approaches to meet the individual needs of their learners. Digital technologies can be used to develop oral, reading and writing skills when learning a foreign language.

The foreign-language communicative competence grounds of master course students

The urgency of the problem raised in the article is explained by the increasing demand for qualified specialists who have a good command of a foreign language. The process of modernization of the higher education system in Ukraine under conditions of its intensive development of socio-economic cooperation with other countries causes the actualization of the problems related to the quality of education, which implies the ability of future professionals to perform professional activities in the foreign language environment. Therefore, the training of master course students in foreign languages has become one of the important goals of the modern high school. The relevance of the paper is connected with the modern necessity to master university students’ skills to meet their communicative needs by means of a foreign language in order to compete in the global market. Our period of worldwide globalization has created the vital necessity in master course students who need to present profound skills and abilities in all foreign language activities, such as: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Modern higher education has to comply with new methods, approaches, assessment tools that cater to the English communicative goals of students. Taking into consideration the rate of modern foreign language learning actuality and necessity, we have conducted a scientific research which comprised three parts that dwelled on fulfilling the main purposes as well as the tasks of the survey: the first part dealt with the description of the term “communicative competence” and its components; the second part of the paper was dedicated to figuring out peculiarities of the foreign communicative competence; then the third part of the paper was grounded on the description of the most common set of activities that can be implemented in the contemporary educational process in the framework of higher education. Thus, the research findings have been claimed that the biggest advantages of the communicative foreign language teaching methodology are connected with: its appropriateness in finding the teaching materials as well as providing master course students with active language-based activities according to various forms of tasks given by a university teacher.

Staying the distance: Transforming Latin pedagogy at the Open University

Abstract Between 2000 and 2013, over 8,000 students studied the module Reading Classical Latin at the Open University, the United Kingdom’s largest distance education provider. But while many learners attained high grades, a significant proportion withdrew from study or failed the module. In 2015, the original module was replaced with a completely new course, Classical Latin: The Language of Ancient Rome. This article details the innovative ways in which new technology and pedagogical theory from Modern Foreign Language (MFL) learning were drawn on by the team designing this new module, resulting in a learning experience which gives greater emphasis to elements such as spoken Latin, the intrinsic pleasure of reading, and cultural context. The (largely positive) effects of these pedagogical changes on student success and satisfaction are subsequently analysed using a rich mix of qualitative and quantitative data. Finally, the authors reflect on lessons learned and the possibilities for future research and enhancement.

Políticas linguisticas en Brasil y la epistemología que subyace a la selección de textos en lengua extranjera

The aim of this paper is to discuss language policies in Brazil, especially in relation to the way they are implemented in the guidelines for the selection of textbooks for the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language (EFL). To subsidize the reflection herein proposed, the study analyzed the main principles and set of criteria used by the National Textbook Program (PNLD) to assess the textbooks designed for Brazilian secondary education. The results of the qualitative analysis carried out revealed a straightforward connection among modern foreign language learning policies in Brazil and the epistemology underlying the evaluation and choice of textbooks. The study concludes that a wider perspective on EFL teaching in Brazil is necessary, taking into account the need for the development of students' speaking skills required in the exercise of a global citizenship.

Evaluating Student Mentoring As an Intervention to Support Modern Foreign Language Learning in Secondary Schools in Wales

Commissioned annually by the British Council, the third Language Trends Wales report (2017) paints a worrying picture for non- indigenous languages in schools in Wales. Between 2002 and 2016, entries for modern foreign language qualifications at age sixteen (GCSE) dropped by 48%. Entries for advanced qualifications (A Level) at age eighteen have seen a similar drop, with the number today now half that of 2005. Funded by the Welsh Government, a student mentoring project is working in Wales to improve the uptake of modern foreign languages at GCSE in schools where uptake is low or in decline. This article evaluates the outcomes of this mentoring project over its first two phases (2015 16 and 2016 17). It analyses this mentoring initiative from two perspectives. Firstly, it examines the project as a strategic policy intervention, targeted at increasing uptake of modern foreign languages at GCSE and supporting curriculum reform in Wales. Secondly, the article assesses mentoring as a personal and professional intervention, supporting the lifelong learning of university students who were trained as mentors to work in secondary schools. By reviewing the impact of the project on both mentees and mentors, the article makes a case for mentoring as an intervention with capacity to build partnerships, broaden horizons and improve attitudes to language learning at a time of uncertainty about the UK's and Wales's place in the world.

ESP Curriculum for Non-English Majors: Taking GDUFS as an Example

This study, taking Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS hereafter) as an example, discusses how to develop an English for Specific Purposes (ESP hereafter) curriculum for non-English majors in the context of internationalized talents cultivation. It is argued that the design of an ESP curriculum should satisfy ontological needs of ESP in college English curriculum, needs of talents cultivation, students’ needs of ESP learning and so on. Based on modern foreign language teaching and learning principles, the ESP curriculum in GDUFS has been carried out successfully with ESP course design, teaching and assessment, textbooks development integrated together. The ESP curriculum has promoted students’ comprehensive English use, improved their cross-cultural communication competence and cultivated their critical thinking in the future professional fields.

Grammar teaching in secondary school foreign language learning in England: teachers’ reported beliefs and observed practices

This study investigates teachers’ beliefs relating to grammar teaching in modern foreign language (MFL) learning in England. Focus on grammatical form has been consistently supported by linguistic research and teacher practice, and has progressively been reinstated in England’s National Curriculum. However, MFL learning assessment in England has remained focused on generic communicative, skill-focused criteria, leaving teachers caught in the conflicting discourses of policy, linguistic research, teacher education and teaching practice. This exploratory–interpretive enquiry explored how eight MFL teachers translated grammar teaching policy and theoretical guidelines into their teaching practices. Data from interviews, observations and think-alouds were collected and analysed using an inductive approach. The findings revealed disparate interpretations of the concept of grammar and grammar teaching. In this period of ongoing reform of MFL examinations at age 16 in England, critical exploration of what happens in the range of MFL classrooms should inform clearer theoretical and methodological guidelines for MFL teaching and learning, leading to a more consistent pedagogic rationale and more consistent strategies for teacher education and MFL provision.

A Late 19th-Century British Perspective on Modern Foreign Language Learning, Teaching, and Reform

SummaryThe late 19th century saw a great rise in private foreign language learning and increasing provision of Modern foreign language teaching in schools. Evidence is presented to document the uptake of innovations in Thomas Prendergast’s (1807–1886) “Mastery System” by both individual language learners and educationalists. Although it has previously been suggested that Prendergast’s method failed to have much impact, this study clearly demonstrates the major influence he had on approaches to language learning and teaching in Britain and around the world both with his contemporaries and long after his death. This detailed case study illuminates the landscape of modern language pedagogy in Victorian Britain.

How can Writing Tasks be Characterized in a way serving Pedagogical Goals and Automatic Analysis Needs?

The paper works out and addresses a central question in the field of Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Learning (ICALL): How can language learning tasks be conceptualized and made explicit in a way that supports the pedagogical goals in modern Foreign Language Teaching and Learning (FLTL) and at the same time provides an explicit characterization of the Natural Language Processing (NLP) requirements to provide feedback to learners completing those tasks? We argue that the successful implementation of language learning tasks to be automatically assessed by means of NLP-based feedback generation strategies demands a design process considering both pedagogical and computational requirements as equally important.
 
 Extending well-established work in Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and TBLT testing we propose a framework that helps us (i) elucidate the formal features of foreign language learning activities, (ii) characterize the gap between expected and actually elicited learner language, and (iii) assess how variability in learner responses impacts computational techniques for the automatic analysis of learner language.
 
 To validate our approach we apply our framework to two specific writing tasks for learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Our analysis highlights the relevance of spelling out the pedagogical and linguistic goals of language learning tasks in order to successfully characterize the language variation in learner responses needed to design effective pedagogical and NLP strategies.Given the combination of design- and data-driven perspectives, the framework supports an iterative approach to the creation of language learning tasks and ICALL materials.

The Development Of Intercultural Communicative Competence In Foreign Language Teaching

We make part of a contemporary globalized world characterized by extensive communication between people of different cultural backgrounds and languages. In a modern foreign language teaching and learning context, this entails that learners should be aided in developing their intercultural communicative competence. Put differently, in order to function appropriately and smoothly in intercultural situations, learners should be made aware of a set of fundamental facts about the culture that vehicles a foreign language, master a range of communicative skills and adopt new attitudes of tolerance and acceptance of culture-specific norms and behaviours. The present paper attempts to shed light on the situation of teaching culture at the Department of English, University of Jijel, and the need to develop third-year-LMD-students’ intercultural communicative competence

The ‘burden’ of emotions in language teaching: negotiating a troubled past in ‘other’-language learning classrooms

This paper focuses on language classes where Greek-Cypriot students learn Turkish as their second Modern Foreign Language (MFL). Literature on MFL learning and emotions tends to focus on learners' emotions in relation to the production of the new language; however, MFL learning is also a space that provides the opportunity to language learners to construct different emotional experiences and negotiate different identities and different emotional stances towards their own or the target community and culture. What happens, though, when the language to be learnt is associated with a history of conflict and the dominant educational discourses construct emotional stances that perpetuate animosity towards the target community? And in this context, to what extent can language learning provide an opportunity to renegotiate a troubled past? Approaching emotions as socio-political discursive constructs, this paper examines classroom interaction during 32 h of Turkish language learning. It analyses (1) the students' emotional resistance towards a positive representation of the ‘Others’; (2) the teacher's discomfort in adopting a positive stance towards the Turkish-speaking people; (3) the impact these two had on the lesson and classroom interaction.

CIES Bibliography 2011

CIES Bibliography 2011

Modern foreign language learning and European citizenship in the Irish context

This paper presents some of the findings of a study investigating young people's attitudes towards Europe and the European Union and their self-reported learning about European citizenship in Ireland. The paper considers adolescents’ attitudes and motivations for language learning in light of recent literature arguing for the role of modern foreign language instruction in the teaching of European citizenship. Findings based on the results of a knowledge test regarding the rights and opportunities offered through European citizenship are also included. Data provide evidence that Irish students possess more knowledge than their counterparts in England, Spain and France on the subject, while showing more positive attitudes than other students. The paper considers the contribution of modern foreign language teaching to this knowledge and their positive attitudes, drawing some possible inferences for other European member states.

The role of Assessment for Learning in the management of primary to secondary transition: implications for language teachers

Among the transitions during a pupil's school career, the transfer from primary to secondary school arguably has the most impact. Far from being linear, this transition is a kind of ‘pupil pilgrim's progress'; a journey with orientations, stops and reorientations, checking and refining skills that the pupils bring with them from primary to secondary school. The research presented here focused on this period of transition and aimed to explore to what extent pupils who had experienced a well-embedded Assessment for Learning (AfL) approach in their final year of primary school (Year 6 in England) would be able to build on and use their acquired learning skills in the first year of secondary school (Year 7). The pupils were interviewed at critical stages during the transition. They appeared confident in their skills at the end of Year 6, rather disoriented in the first term of Year 7, slowly regaining confidence in their learning skills after adapting to new routines in the following term. Only at the beginning of Year 8, the second year at secondary school, did pupils fully regain their confidence, enabling them to deepen their understanding of their learning, and to progress. Three key elements – consistency, confidence and challenge – when present in a balanced way, can facilitate the process of transition. It became clear from the pupil narratives that a cross-phase conversation between teachers needs to include how to build on pupils’ learning skills and engage pupils as active agents in the process of progressing their own learning. The pupils' experiences of AfL appear to have provided a sound basis for this agency. Whilst the research has implications for all subjects at transition, this article applies these findings to the context of modern foreign language learning.