Integrative motivation and global language (English) acquisition in Poland

This study investigated the consistency of a measure of integrative motivation in the prediction of achievement in English as a foreign language in 18 samples of Polish school students. The results are shown to have implications for concerns expressed that integrative motivation might not be appropriate to the acquisition of English because it is a global language and moreover that other factors such as the gender of the student or the environment of the class might also influence its predictability. Results of a hierarchical linear modeling analysis indicated that for the older samples, integrative motivation was a consistent predictor of grades in English, unaffected by either the gender of the student or class environment acting as covariates. Comparable results were obtained for the younger samples except that student gender also contributed to the prediction of grades in English. Examination of the correlations of the elements of the integrative motivation score with English grades demonstrated that the aggregate score is the more consistent correlate from sample to sample than the elements themselves. Such results lead to the hypothesis that integrative motivation is a multi-dimensional construct and different aspects of the motivational complex come into play for each individual. That is, two individuals can hold the same level of integrative motivation and thus attain the same level of achievement but one might be higher in some elements and lower in others than another individual, resulting in consistent correlations of the aggregate but less so for the elements.

The interaction factor as a challenge for foreign language learning in the technology based education: a pedagogical reflection

The author carries out a pedagogical reflection on how the technology driven distance learning repeatedly neglects the scientific achievements of Second Language Acquisition and Language Pedagogy. Seeing communicative competence as a major goal of a language classroom, she presents the main challenges that the communicative approach poses to distance learning. To this end, a general distance learning theory by Moore is adapted to the needs of language education, through a distinction between three aspects of learner interaction – with the teacher, with other learners and with content. In this three-dimensional paradigm the learner is seen as the main actor of the process, the teacher as a facilitator, the text as a main source of communicative data and the learner autonomy as the fundament of the process.

The acquisition of phonology in a dynamical model of human information processing: a preliminary account

The problem of the acquisition of first language phonology is dealt with within the general information-processing perspective. In this sense, language acquisition is viewed as a process of biologically founded pattern formation due to information exchanges between an adult and a child. Moreover, the process is cognitive in that the child, as a goal-seeking and error correcting individual, undertakes an intricate task of compressing a huge variety of linguistic stimuli in order to build an effective information code. It is further assumed that the basic mechanism which leads to the establishment of fully articulate linguistic ability is that of simulation. The mechanism works through a compression of a set of initial variables (i.e. initial conditions) into a minimum length algorithm and a subsequent construction of an integrated system of language-specific attractors. It is only then that the language user is capable of participating in an information transaction in a fully developed manner.

Gender-dependent language anxiety in Polish communication apprehensives

This paper analyzes the relationship between communication apprehension and language anxiety from the perspective of gender. As virtually no empirical studies have addressed the explicit influence of gender on language anxiety in communication apprehensives, this paper proposes that females are generally more sensitive to anxiety, as reflected in various spheres of communication. For this reason, language anxiety levels in communication apprehensive females should be higher, unlike those of communication apprehensive males. Comparisons between them were made using a student t test, two-way ANOVA, and post-hoc Tukey test. The results revealed that Polish communication apprehensive secondary grammar school males and females do not differ in their levels of language anxiety, although nonapprehensive males experience significantly lower language anxiety than their female peers. It is argued that the finding can be attributed to developmental patterns, gender socialization processes, classroom practices, and the uniqueness of the FL learning process, which is a stereotypically female domain.

Zintegrowane podejście dyskursywne do rozwijania sprawności mownych; przedstawienie celów i założeń projektu badawczego

Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie projektu o charakterze badawczo-wdrożeniowym dotyczącego doskonalenia obcojęzycznych kompetencji mownych (wypowiadanie się i rozumienie wypowiedzi ustnych) na poziomie zaawansowanym i przygotowywanym w Instytucie Filologii Romańskiej UAM. Niniejszy projekt zakłada, że istnieją spore możliwości podniesienia skuteczności i ekonomii kształcenia kompetencji mownych, poprzez zintegrowane podejście do celów kształcenia, a także poprzez wykorzystanie narzędzi internetowych. Podejście to zasadza się na integracji trzech zakresów kształcenia, a mianowicie: (1) doskonalenia umiejętności interakcyjnych w zakresie komunikacji półpublicznej, (2) rozwoju kompetencji medialnej oraz (3) rozwoju wiedzy dot. aktualnej, szeroko pojmowanej problematyki społeczno-kulturowej i krytycznego, zobiektywizowanego myślenia w stosunku do prezentowanych ujęć i naświetleń tej problematyki. W niniejszym omówieniu główny nacisk położony zostanie na uargumentowanie zasadności postulowanego zintegrowanego podejścia dyskursywnego, a także na wykazanie wartości dydaktycznej wybranych audycji medialnych. Zaprezentowane zostaną również główne kierunki pracy dydaktycznej oraz wyniki badania pilotażowego.

Przegląd dotychczasowych badań nad związkami cech osobowości nauczycieli i uczniów z procesem nauczania / uczenia się

Poniższy artykuł oparty jest na dwóch pozycjach: Psychologia dla nauczycieli Davida Fontana oraz Individual differences in second language learning Petera Skehana i stanowi podstawę teoretyczną dla jednego z tandemów badawczych, w projekcie dotyczącym autonomizacji procesu uczenia się / nauczania. Techniką wykorzystaną w doświadczeniu jest rozwinięta forma znanej w metodyce techniki role play do postaci role playing game. (gry fabularne). Celem doświadczenia jest sprawdzenie skuteczności tejże techniki w kształtowaniu autokontroli i autokorekty, jako elementów Indywidualnej Kompetencji Komunikacyjnej w powiązaniu z cechami osobowości.

Teaching English tense and aspect with the help of cognitive grammar: An empirical study

Form-focused instruction is usually based on traditional practical/pedagogical grammar descriptions of grammatical features. The comparison of such traditional accounts with cognitive grammar (CG) descriptions seems to favor CG as a basis of pedagogical rules. This is due to the insistence of CG on the meaningfulness of grammar and its detailed analyses of the meanings of particular grammatical features. The differences between traditional and CG rules/descriptions are exemplified by juxtaposing the two kinds of principles concerning the use of the present simple and present progressive to refer to situations happening or existing at speech time. The descriptions provided the bases for the instructional treatment in a quasi-experimental study exploring the effectiveness of using CG descriptions of the two tenses, and of their interplay with stative (imperfective) and dynamic (perfective) verbs, and comparing this effectiveness with the value of grammar teaching relying on traditional accounts found in standard pedagogical grammars. The study involved 50 participants divided into three groups, with one of them constituting the control group and the other two being experimental ones. One of the latter received treatment based on CG descriptions and the other on traditional accounts. CG-based instruction was found to be at least moderately effective in terms of fostering mostly explicit grammatical knowledge and its effectiveness turned out be comparable to that of teaching based on traditional descriptions.

Dynamics of learner affective development in early FLL

Affective learner factors were first considered as a cause of success in language learning. This was followed by a change in approach and recently authors (e.g., Edelenbos, Johnstone, & Kubanek, 2006) have considered them an important outcome, especially in early foreign language learning (FLL). Current research into affective learner factors in early FLL tries to catch the developmental aspects too, and studies are emerging that take a contextual view as well. This paper describes a study on affective characteristics of young FL learners that combines the developmental and contextual perspectives. Using the case study methodology the author analyses the affective profiles of three young learners of English as a foreign language who were followed for 4 years. The analyses are done taking into account their immediate language learning environment, home support, out-of-school exposure to English and language achievement. The findings suggest that affective learner factors contribute to the dynamic complexity of early FLL.

Dyskurs pedagogiczny w kształceniu początkowym nauczycieli języków obcych

Wydział Neofilologii: Instytut Filologii Romańskiej

"Dal 1976 al 2006: livellazione semantica del valore dei tempi e dei modi nella didattica dell'italiano L2"

In the paper we present some of the most significant tendencies in Italian LS teaching in the past thirty years (1976 -2006). All of the simplifications concern Italian Verbal Moods: imperative, gerundio presente and gerundio passato, past and present infinitive, congiuntivo trapassato and condizionale composto. In our analysis we want to compare certain features present in the most recent Italian LS grammars with those of the seventies and nineties of the past century.