Role In Language Learning Research Articles

Assessing Perceived Needs for Japanese Language Training in U.S. Business Education: Perspectives from Students, Business Faculty, and Business Professionals

ABSTRACT In the interest of developing new approaches to Japanese language instruction that can meet the demands of these career‐minded students, this study compares the responses of both business faculty and students of Japanese language to a survey that asked them to assess the career value of Japanese language ability. In order to determine whether the attitudes of business faculty and students are consonant with professional situations outside the academy, this study also surveys executives and directors of international divisions within a number of U.S. corporations about their perceptions of the practical advantages of a background in Japanese language in the contemporary business world.The results of this study show that business faculty, foreign language faculty, and business students have differing ideas about the role of language learning–in this study, the learning of Japanese–in preparing for careers that involve international activity. Students and business professionals outside the university, however, concur in their attitudes about the importance of foreign language proficiency. These findings suggest that business school curricula need to accommodate foreign language study to a greater degree and that the content of foreign language courses must reflect the practical needs of business students. It is critical that Japanese and other foreign language programs and business programs cooperate more fully so that students who are motivated to learn can apply their acquired language ability and cultural knowledge to successful career development.

The Social-emotional Orientation of Mother-child Communication in African American Families

The language abilities of African American children have been linked to their poor school performance for several decades. With limited descriptive evidence about their learning language as an integrated system, African American children are still viewed as somehow acquiring an inadequate language. Moreover, the recent work in language socialisation has not been able to alter the tendency to approach the language skills of minority children from a restricted use or production deficiency perspective. The present study addressed these issues through a longitudinal/observational examination of the form, content, and use in the language development of three African American children within a low-structured communicative setting with their mothers. Descriptive findings indicated that, similar to Euro-American children, these African American children's language developed in length and semantic-syntactic relations. However, differences in the group patterns of semantic-syntactic relations did occur and reflected a style of communication identified as a social-emotional orientation. This orientation was also found in the mothers' pattern of language use. The cultural basis of the social-emotional orientation and its role in language learning are discussed.

Language Anxiety from the Foreign Language Specialist's Perspective: Interviews with Krashen, Omaggio Hadley, Terrell, and Rardin

ABSTRACT Recently we have acquired a body of data on language anxiety from the student's perspective. The following is an examination of language anxiety from the language specialist's perspective. Through the interview format, Stephen Krashen, Alice Omaggio Hadley, Tracy Terrell, and Jennybelle Rardin offer their perspectives on language anxiety—a complicated psychological phenomenon peculiar to language learning. They share their views on foreign and second language teaching and theory and offer insights into the theoretical as well as practical issues of language anxiety, such as its role in language learning and its sources and manifestations. They also suggest ways for reducing language anxiety. Many of their perceptions go beyond agreement with existing research, and often, their responses lead to insights into language anxiety fertile for future areas of inquiry.

Designing and exploiting CALL programs in the classroom

The article concerns approaching the computer as a tool for teachers to use and exploit, rather than as a “stand alone”, substitute teacher. The first part looks at three areas of design which are affected by adopting this “teacher-based” approach, and the second part looks at simulations and mazes as good examples of programs that lend themselves well to this approach. In the second part, the design of such programs is discussed, and some ways of exploiting computer-based mazes are examined. Examples of programs illustrating the design points are given, and the overall objective is to argue: (i) that designers need to take a wider view of the computer's role in language learning, and, specifically, to take more account of the teacher's presence; (ii) that teachers have to contribute more to CALL sessions, using their skills and imagination to bring the programs to life.

Influence of Syntactical Complexity on Comprehension in Conceptually Delayed Children at Linguistic Stage I

Individuals concerned with developing comprehension and production of multi-word utterances in conceptually delayed children have sought to design variables believed to play a role in language learning. One such variable is level of linguistic input. The purpose of this study was to determine whether conceptually delayed children functioning at linguistic Stage I (Brown, 1973) exhibit differential levels of comprehension as a function of the linguistic complexity of the stimulus utterance. Conceptually delayed preschoolers at early and late State I were asked to respond to commands expressed in simple, complete adult forms and in incomplete, telegraphic child forms. Results indicated that late Stage I children were superior to early stage I children in comprehension of all forms. No significant differences as a function of complexity were noted for either group of children.

ESL applications of the computer-controlled videodisc player

The essence of the computer's role in language learning can be described in a single word: control. This is not intended to imply control over students, but rather a greater degree of control for students, teachers, and course developers over the spoken and written media in which language is expressed. For teachers, this offers an enhanced ability to present language materials and conduct classes in exactly the way they desire. For individuals or groups of students, it means expanded opportunities to work with materials adapted to their interests and abilities, and greater choice in the style and manner in which they use those materials. For both teachers and students, greater control over language media also offers a reduction in the "inauthentic labor" (Kemmis et al. 1977) involved in the learning process. At our current level of technology, even the most basic computer systems provide much of the necessary control over the written medium. As hardware prices continue to fall, a case can now be made that just one of the functions of this type of equipment-word processing-is sufficient to justify an investment in computer systems for use by both ESL students and their teachers.

Language appreciation for biologists—an integrated approach to teacher education

The current Bullock debate has focused attention on the role of language in learning and challenges us to consider the linguistic competence of our pupils. This article describes how students' knowledge and interest in their own subject was used to start them thinking through ideas about language. For a group of biology graduates taking a postgraduate education course, biology became the vehicle for integrating more widely ranging educational issues. After a preliminary introduction to the topic, opportunities were created for the students to gather school experience, and then in the light of this to extend their appreciation of available theory. The value of such an approach is discussed, and also the problems inherent in it, for example the division of tutorial responsibilities within the university department.

Imitation and language development: issues and clinical implications.

The relationship between imitation and language learning is of both theoretical and clinical interest. While current psycholinguistic accounts give imitation only a limited role in language learning, learning theorists and others continue to refer to imitation as a major factor in the child's acquisition of language. Clinicians deal with imitation in modeling procedures as well as in counseling parents about how to promote children's language development. A review of theory and research on the nature and development of imitation reveals wide variation in terminology, definitions, and explanations. The clinical use of imitation procedures have greater significance for the acquisition of communication skills than for the development of linguistic structure.

A Program for Listening Comprehension

versity has shown that listening comprehension is a severely limiting factor for even best-prepared Russian students. One group leader noted that general lack of student interest in literature and culture lectures was not fault of lecturers: relatively low level of average summer Russian Program participant's comprehension of spoken Russian makes it extremely difficult for any speaker to present an interesting lecture.'' There has been an increasing interest in listening comprehension in recent years. Simon Belasco has called it the most underestimated and least understood aspect of foreign language.2 Yet little has been done to increase its role in language learning. While our audiolingual methodology places listening first in sequence of language skills, this has largely been listening for speaking rather than listening for understanding. Belasco writes that at end of 1960-61 Pennsylvania State University French Institute he was jolted by realization that it is possible to develop so-called speaking ability (vocalizing) and yet be virtually incompetent in understanding spoken language.3 In practical terms listening comprehension is of paramount significance. When speaking a language a learner can manipulate a relatively narrow range of vocabulary at his own pace and for his own purposes. But when listening to reply he no longer controls choice of vocabulary. He must be prepared to comprehend those words which constitute speaker's active vocabulary and must adjust to speaker's rate of speech. Conversation demands a much broader competency in listening comprehension than in speaking; this is especially case when conversing in a foreign language ,ith a native speaker of that language. The comparative ranges of vocabulary and structure for speaking and for listening might be visualized graphically as areas of two concentric circles, an inner circle representing speaking and an outer circle representing listening. As a learner's language skill improves, both circles enlarge simultaneously, with outer circle always embracing a much greater range than inner circle. Our experience would indicate a tendency for outer circle to be too tightly

The Transformationalists and ESL Teachers, 1972

The dichotomy between the audio-lingual behavioristic method of teaching foreign languages developed by the structural grammarians and a approach advocated by the generative-transformational grammarians is not as great as many of the critics of the audio-lingual method indicate. Many of these criticisms attack the extremes of audiolingualism or pattern practice poorly handled, and are criticisms with which many users of the audio-lingual method would agree. There is a recognition by structuralists of a process in language learning in their admonition to formulate the rules for the language inductively based on examples given, and to generalize by analogy. Deduction and induction may both play a role in language learning, and the differences in the points of view of the structuralists and the transformationalists may lie in part in the point at which they are describing the learning process. Since many of the techniques implied in generative theory are devices good teachers have always used, rather than demand of the transformationalists that they offer us a new approach or new systematized body of methodology, we might do better to make use of the insights into language that they offer us to support the techniques we use. The advent of structural grammar revolutionized the teaching of foreign languages. Structural grammarians, adopting behaviorist theories of language learning, developed the audio-lingual method to supplant the grammar-translation method of the traditionalists. In the 60's the generativetransformational grammarians challenged the tenets of the structuralists and offered new theories of language design and language acquisition. These developments were expected to have an impact on the teaching of languages similar to that of the structuralists earlier. Moulton said, in 1961, Transformational grammar should have far-reaching effects, in improving textbooks and learning grammatical structures. Since that time much has been written to point out the fallacies in behaviorist theories of language learning and the shortcomings of the pattern practice upon which the audiolingual method is based, as well as to indicate where structural grammar falls short as a description of language. Wilga Rivers' excellent book The Psychologist and the Foreign Language Teacher assesses the audio-lingual method point by point both in its strengths and its weaknesses. Yet, while criticisms are many, no new transformational or cognitive method comparable to the audio-lingual method of the structuralists has appeared. Shall we assume that generative-transformational grammar, in spite of the insights on language that it offers, has not had an impact on language

Economic Literacy: Understanding the Gap between Novice and Expert

The number of students applying to do tertiary economics courses reflects the importance placed on the need for South Africans to develop improved understandings of commerce and economics. However, failure rates in first-year courses are still disturbingly high. This paper gives a detailed analysis of the characteristic discourse of economics in order to develop an understanding of what the literacy requirements are for first-year economics students. It argues that students need to be introduced to the discourse of the subject and that their early examples of academic writing should be seen as a stage in their learning. It claims that the analysis of student writing can help tutors and lecturers to give useful feedback and to design curricula which might enable students to improve their writing and to learn more effectively. Finally, acknowledging the central role of language in learning, it explores ways in which a language workshop, complementary to the economics course, can assist students in the acqui...