Analyzing complexity in foreign language monologic oral production in a CLIL context

The study tested three analytic tools applied in SLA research (T-unit, AS-unit and Idea-unit) against FL learner monologic oral data. The objective was to analyse their effectiveness for the assessment of complexity of learners' academic production in English. The data were learners' individual productions gathered during the implementation of a CLIL teaching sequence on Natural Sciences in a Catalan state secondary school. The analysis showed that only AS-unit was easily applicable and highly effective in segmenting the data and taking complexity measures

The interactional space in CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classrooms

Aquest estudi pretén investigar els intercanvis verbals mestre/a – aprenent(s) en dos contextos d'instrucció diferents: classes amb un enfocament AICLE (Aprenentatge Integrat de Continguts Curriculars i Llengua Estrangera) on s’aprenen continguts no lingüístics a través de l’anglès, per una banda, i classes 'tradicionals' d'anglès com a llengua estrangera, on l’anglès és alhora objecte d’estudi i vehicle de comunicació, per una altra banda. Més concretament, les preguntes que formula el/la mestre/a, la producció oral dels aprenents i el 'feedback' del/de la mestre/a en els episodis d’atenció a la forma s’han estudiat a la llum de les principals teories provinents del camp de l’Adquisició de Segones Llengües (SLA) per tal de demostrar el seu paper en l’aprenentatge de l’anglès. El corpus de dades prové de l’enregistrament de 7 sessions AICLE i d'11 sessions EFL enregistrades en format àudio i vídeo en dos centres públics d’Educació Primària (EP) de Catalunya. A cadascuna de les escoles, el/la mateix/a mestre/a és l’encarregat/da dels dos tipus d’instrucció amb el mateix grup d’aprenents (10-11 anys d’edat), fet que permet eliminar variables individuals com l'aptitud dels aprenents o l'estil del/de la mestre/a.Els resultats mostren un cert nombre de similituds discursives entre AICLE i EFL donat que ambdós enfocaments tenen lloc en el context-classe amb unes característiques ben definides. Tal com apunta la recerca realitzada en aquest camp, la instrucció AICLE reuneix un seguit de condicions idònies per un major desenvolupament dels nivells de llengua anglesa més enllà de les classes ‘tradicionals’ d’anglès. Malgrat això, aquest estudi sembla indicar que el potencial d'AICLE pel que fa a facilitar una exposició rica a l’anglès i una producció oral significativa no s’explota degudament. En aquest sentit, els resultats d’aquest estudi poden contribuir a la formació dels futurs professors d'AICLE si es busca l’assoliment d’una complementarietat d’ambdós contextos amb l’objectiu últim de millorar els nivells de domini de la llengua anglesa.

Returns to Foreign Language Skills in a Developing Country: The Case of Turkey

Foreign language skills represent a form of human capital that can be rewarded in the labor market. Drawing on data from the Adult Education Survey of 2007, this is the first study estimating returns to foreign language skills in Turkey. We contribute to the literature on the economic value of language knowledge, with a special focus on a country characterized by fast economic and social development. Although English is the most widely spoken foreign language in Turkey, we initially consider the economic value of different foreign languages among the employed males aged 25 to 65. We find positive and significant returns to proficiency in English and Russian, which increase with the level of competence. Knowledge of French and German also appears to be positively rewarded in the Turkish labor market, although their economic value seems mostly linked to an increased likelihood to hold specific occupations rather than increased earnings within occupations. Focusing on English, we also explore the heterogeneity in returns to different levels of proficiency by frequency of English use at work, birth-cohort, education, occupation and rural/urban location. The results are also robust to the endogenous specification of English language skills.

Per aprendre anglès, quan abans millor? L'aprenentatge de l'anglès com a llengua estrangera. When Learning English, is it a case of 'The earlier the better?' Learning English as a foreign Language

En contra del que molts pares i mestres pensen, i en contra del que s'ha trobat en contextos d'adquisició natural de segones llengües i d'immersió, començar al més aviat possible l'aprenentatge d'idiomes, sobretot pel que fa a les tasques cognitivament més exigents, com l'escriptura, no sembla l'opció més eficaç. Els resultats del Grup de Recerca en Adquisició de Llengües (GRAL) estudià aprenents d'anglès que començaren als vuit i onze anys i trobaren, sistemàticament, que a llarg termini, després de les mateixes hores d'instrucció, eren els més grans, que havien començat als onze anys, els que obtenien millors resultats en totes les proves orals i escrites d'anglès excepte en alguna de prova de reconeixement fonètic. La maduresa cognitiva dels alumnes més grans i els diferents mecanismes d¿aprenentatge implícit i explícit entre els nens més petits i els adults ajuden a explicar per què només començar abans l'aprenentatge d'idiomes no sembla suficient per obtenir millors resultats.

Estudio contrastivo de transposición semántica entre el lenguaje metafórico en lengua inglesa y española

El projecte de tesi doctoral que estem portant a terme requereix una mitjana de quatre anys de durada. A hores d‟ara, nou mesos després de la concessió de l‟ajut, estem treballant per a la defensa del projecte, que farem en el primer trimestre de l‟any 2012. El nostre treball pertany al camp de la lingüística i està directament relacionat amb la lexicografia i la semàntica. L‟objectiu final és el disseny de materials per a la traducció i l‟ensenyament de llengües. L‟ús de lèxic és el tema escollit. D‟una banda, volem esbrinar com autors consagrats de literatura utilitzen el llenguatge. Per això, mirem de diferenciar el que es consideran usos “normals” del llenguatge del que serien “explotacions”, especialmente aquelles relacionades amb l‟extensió de significat i, més específicament, amb la metáfora. D‟altra banda, perseguim fer una proposta de material destinat tant a l‟ensenyament de llengües estrangeres com a la traducció (els idiomas amb els quals treballem són anglès i espanyol). Les teories que utilitzem en la nostra recerca són la teoria del lèxic generatiu (de J. Pustejovsky) i la teoria de normes i explotacions (de P. Hanks). Encara no hem decidit quins autors estudiarem, tot i estar consultant obres d‟escriptors com V. S. Naipaul i J. Marías. El treball de recerca desenvolupat fins avui ha consistit en la redacció de la memòria final de màster (Màster Oficial en Formació de Professors d‟Espanyol com a Llengua Estrangera) en què s‟estudiava el tractament de la metáfora en diferents diccionaris d‟ELE i d‟EFL i en la cerca, lectura i selección de documents que podran ajudar-nos en la nostra empresa.

La Prefijación negativa en el aula de E/LE: propuesta didáctica

Este trabajo es una reflexión sobre la importancia de enseñar diferentes procesos morfológicos en el aula de español como lengua extranjera. Se centra, en particular, en la morfología derivativa, concretamente en la prefijación negativa

El Pretérito perfecto compuesto y su contraste con el pretérito perfecto simple en las variedades del español

En este trabajo se pretende, por una parte, identificar los usos del pretérito perfecto compuesto y su contraste para las distintas variedades del español y, por otra parte, comparar las conclusiones a las que se llegue al respecto, con dos métodos y una gramática pensados específicamente para la enseñanza de español como lengua extranjera

Los Sufijos apreciativos en la enseñanza de ELE

El principal objetivo de este trabajo es realizar una pequeña aportación a la enseñanza/aprendizaje del español como lengua extranjera. La finalidad es que pueda servir tanto a profesores como a alumnos, ofreciendo una exposición de la sufijación apreciativa no solo como un aspecto más dentro de la gramática, sino concediendo al alumno una serie de estrategias que le ayuden a favorecer un aprendizaje reflexivo de la gramática y, en particular, de la formación de palabras. Todo esto unido siempre a aspectos socioculturales, pragmáticos, e incluso relacionados con el elemento intercultural

Los Pronombres átonos (le, la, lo), sus variaciones dialectales y su tratamiento en la clase de ELE

En este trabajo he abordado la enseñanza de los pronombres átonos le, la, lo / les, las, los y sus variantes dialectales en el contexto de la enseñanza de español como lengua extranjera. Las variaciones en el uso de los pronombres, ya no solo en la Península, sino en el resto de países hispanohablantes, son bastante numerosas y es una de las mayores dificultades que presenta el español

Competing linguae france: the place of english and spanish for chinese students

This research project focuses on the role of English and Spanish as linguae francae. More specifically, the research attempts to answer the following questions: (i) What is the place of English and Spanish as linguae francae in the world, in general, and in China, in particular? (ii) What kinds of foreign language teaching/learning attitudes and practices are characteristic of the Chinese educational system? (iii) What are the motivations, expectations and experience of Chinese students in study abroad programmes, in general, and in the programme of the University of Lleida, in particular? The study constitutes an attempt to answer each of these questions in two ways: a review of the literature and a pilot study with 26 Chinese students at UdL. The research reveals that even though English is a very dominant foreign language in China, Spanish is a language on the rise and mainly for economic reasons. The results of the study also point at the impact of the dominance of the grammar-translation method in the perspective of Chinese students about language learning. Finally, the study shows the relevance of taking part in a SA programme for Chinese students as well as their experience of them.

More evidence concerning the aspect hypothesis: The acquisition of English progressive aspect by Catalan-Spanish instructed learners

A robust finding of studies investigating the Aspect Hypothesis is that learners at early stages of acquisition show a strong preference for using the progressive aspect as associated with activity verbs. As they advance in their acquisition of the second or foreign language, learners move from this prototypical association to associations traditionally considered to be more peripheral (e.g.-ing with accomplishments or achievements). Within this framework, the goal of this paper is to provide further evidence from groups of learners with different proficiency levels with regard to the acquisition of progressive aspect by tutored learners of English who are bilingual Catalan-Spanish. This is done by eliciting data by means of two different task types and by looking at both tokens and types. Our results are consistent with previous research according to which-ing morphology is closely associated with durative lexical aspect, although not necessarily with activity predicates. The study also shows that the type of task has an influence on the frequency and the distribution of learners" progressive forms.

Teaching foreign languages through translation: considering multiple intelligences

Aquest treball de recerca tracta de la relació existent entre pedagogia, traducció, llengües estrangeres i intel•ligències múltiples. El debat sobre si la traducció és una eina útil a la classe de llengües estrangeres és un tema actual sobre el qual molts investigadors encara indaguen. Estudis recents, però, han demostrat que qualsevol tasca de traducció -en la qual s’hi poden incloure treballs amb les diferents habilitats- és profitosa si la considerem un mitjà, no una finalitat en ella mateixa. Evidentment, l’ús de la traducció dins l’aula és avantatjosa, però també hem de tenir presents certs desavantatges d’aquesta aplicació. Un possible desavantatge podria ser la creença que, al principi, molta gent té referent a l’equivalència, paraula per paraula, d’una llengua vers una altra. Però després de presentar vàries tasques de traducció als estudiants, aquests poden arribar a controlar, fins i tot, les traduccions inconscients i poden assolir un cert nivell de precisió i flexibilitat que val la pena mencionar. Però l’avantatge principal és que s’enfronten a una activitat molt estesa dins la societat actual que combina dues llengües, la llengua materna i la llengua objecte d’estudi, per exemple. De tot això en podem deduir que utilitzar la llengua materna a la classe no s’ha de considerar un crim, com fins ara, sinó una virtut, evidentment si és emprada correctament. En aquest treball de recerca s’hi pot trobar una síntesi tant de les principals teories d’adquisició i aprenentatge de llengües com de les teories de traducció. A la pregunta de si les teories, tant de traducció com de llengües estrangeres, s’haurien d’ensenyar implícita o explícitament, es pot inferir que segons el nivell d’estudis on estiguin els aprenents els convindrà aprendre les teories explícitament o les aprendran, de totes maneres, implícitament. Com que qualsevol grup d’estudiants és heterogeni -és a dir que cada individu té un ritme i un nivell d’aprenentatge concret i sobretot cadascú té diferents estils de percepció (visual, auditiu, gustatiu, olfactiu, de moviment) i per tant diferents intel•ligències-, els professors ho han de tenir en compte a l’hora de planificar qualsevol programa d’actuació vers els alumnes. Per tant, podem concloure que les tasques o projectes de traducció poden ajudar als alumnes a aprendre millor, més eficaçment i a aconseguir un aprenentatge més significatiu.

Sickness presenteeism in Spanish-born and immigrant workers in Spain

Background: Previous studies have shown that immigrant workers face relatively worse working and employment conditions, as well as lower rates of sickness absence than native-born workers. This study aims to assess rates of sickness presenteeism in a sample of Spanish-born and foreign-born workers according to different characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst a convenience sample of workers (Spanish-born and foreign-born), living in four Spanish cities: Barcelona, Huelva, Madrid and Valencia (2008-2009). Sickness presenteeism information was collected through two items in the questionnaire ("Have you had health problems in the last year?" and "Have you ever had to miss work for any health problem?") and was defined as worker who had a health problem (answered yes, first item) and had not missed work (answered no, second item). For the analysis, the sample of 2,059 workers (1,617 foreign-born) who answered yes to health problems was included. After descriptives, logistic regressions were used to establish the association between origin country and sickness presenteeism (adjusted odds ratios aOR; 95% confidence interval 95%CI). Analyses were stratified per time spent in Spain among foreign-born workers. Results: All of the results refer to the comparison between foreign-born and Spanish-born workers as a whole, and in some categories relating to personal and occupational conditions. Foreign-born workers were more likely to report sickness presenteeism compared with their Spanish-born counterparts, especially those living in Spain for under 2 years [Prevalence: 42% in Spanish-born and 56.3% in Foreign-born; aOR 1.77 95%CI 1.24-2.53]. In case of foreign-born workers (with time in Spain < 2 years), men [aOR 2.31 95%CI 1.40-3.80], those with university studies [aOR 3.01 95%CI 1.04-8.69], temporary contracts [aOR 2.26 95%CI 1.29-3.98] and salaries between 751-1,200€ per month [aOR 1.74 95% CI 1.04-2.92] were more likely to report sickness presenteeism. Also, recent immigrants with good self-perceived health and good mental health were more likely to report presenteeism than Spanish-born workers with the same good health indicators. Conclusions: Immigrant workers report more sickness presenteeism than their Spanish-born counterparts. These results could be related to precarious work and employment conditions of immigrants. Immigrant workers should benefit from the same standards of social security, and of health and safety in the workplace that are enjoyed by Spanish workers.

En torno a los efectos de la edad en el aprendizaje escolar de una lengua extrangera

The purpose of this article is to treat a currently much debated issue, the effects of age on second language learning. To do so, we contrast data collected by our research team from over one thousand seven hundred young and adult learners with four popular beliefs or generalizations, which, while deeply rooted in this society, are not always corroborated by our data.Two of these generalizations about Second Language Acquisition (languages spoken in the social context) seem to be widely accepted: a) older children, adolescents and adults are quicker and more efficient at the first stages of learning than are younger learners; b) in a natural context children with an early start are more liable to attain higher levels of proficiency. However, in the context of Foreign Language Acquisition, the context in which we collect the data, this second generalization is difficult to verify due to the low number of instructional hours (a maximum of some 800 hours) and the lower levels of language exposure time provided. The design of our research project has allowed us to study differences observed with respect to the age of onset (ranging from 2 to 18+), but in this article we focus on students who began English instruction at the age of 8 (LOGSE Educational System) and those who began at the age of 11 (EGB). We have collected data from both groups after a period of 200 (Time 1) and 416 instructional hours (Time 2), and we are currently collecting data after a period of 726 instructional hours (Time 3). We have designed and administered a variety of tests: tests on English production and reception, both oral and written, and within both academic and communicative oriented approaches, on the learners' L1 (Spanish and Catalan), as well as a questionnaire eliciting personal and sociolinguistic information. The questions we address and the relevant empirical evidence are as follows: 1. "For young children, learning languages is a game. They enjoy it more than adults."Our data demonstrate that the situation is not quite so. Firstly, both at the levels of Primary and Secondary education (ranging from 70.5% in 11-year-olds to 89% in 14-year-olds) students have a positive attitude towards learning English. Secondly, there is a difference between the two groups with respect to the factors they cite as responsible for their motivation to learn English: the younger students cite intrinsic factors, such as the games they play, the methodology used and the teacher, whereas the older students cite extrinsic factors, such as the role of their knowledge of English in the achievement of their future professional goals. 2 ."Young children have more resources to learn languages." Here our data suggest just the opposite. The ability to employ learning strategies (actions or steps used) increases with age. Older learners' strategies are more varied and cognitively more complex. In contrast, younger learners depend more on their interlocutor and external resources and therefore have a lower level of autonomy in their learning. 3. "Young children don't talk much but understand a lot"This third generalization does seem to be confirmed, at least to a certain extent, by our data in relation to the analysis of differences due to the age factor and productive use of the target language. As seen above, the comparably slower progress of the younger learners is confirmed. Our analysis of interpersonal receptive abilities demonstrates as well the advantage of the older learners. Nevertheless, with respect to passive receptive activities (for example, simple recognition of words or sentences) no great differences are observed. Statistical analyses suggest that in this test, in contrast to the others analyzed, the dominance of the subjects' L1s (reflecting a cognitive capacity that grows with age) has no significant influence on the learning process. 4. "The sooner they begin, the better their results will be in written language"This is not either completely confirmed in our research. First of all, we perceive that certain compensatory strategies disappear only with age, but not with the number of instructional hours. Secondly, given an identical number of instructional hours, the older subjects obtain better results. With respect to our analysis of data from subjects of the same age (12 years old) but with a different number of instructional hours (200 and 416 respectively, as they began at the ages of 11 and 8), we observe that those who began earlier excel only in the area of lexical fluency. In conclusion, the superior rate of older learners appears to be due to their higher level of cognitive development, a factor which allows them to benefit more from formal or explicit instruction in the school context. Younger learners, however, do not benefit from the quantity and quality of linguistic exposure typical of a natural acquisition context in which they would be allowed to make use of implicit learning abilities. It seems clear, then, that the initiative in this country to begin foreign language instruction earlier will have positive effects only if it occurs in combination with either higher levels of exposure time to the foreign language, or, alternatively, with its use as the language of instruction in other areas of the curriculum.

En torno a los efectos de la edad en el aprendizaje escolar de una lengua extrangera

The purpose of this article is to treat a currently much debated issue, the effects of age on second language learning. To do so, we contrast data collected by our research team from over one thousand seven hundred young and adult learners with four popular beliefs or generalizations, which, while deeply rooted in this society, are not always corroborated by our data.Two of these generalizations about Second Language Acquisition (languages spoken in the social context) seem to be widely accepted: a) older children, adolescents and adults are quicker and more efficient at the first stages of learning than are younger learners; b) in a natural context children with an early start are more liable to attain higher levels of proficiency. However, in the context of Foreign Language Acquisition, the context in which we collect the data, this second generalization is difficult to verify due to the low number of instructional hours (a maximum of some 800 hours) and the lower levels of language exposure time provided. The design of our research project has allowed us to study differences observed with respect to the age of onset (ranging from 2 to 18+), but in this article we focus on students who began English instruction at the age of 8 (LOGSE Educational System) and those who began at the age of 11 (EGB). We have collected data from both groups after a period of 200 (Time 1) and 416 instructional hours (Time 2), and we are currently collecting data after a period of 726 instructional hours (Time 3). We have designed and administered a variety of tests: tests on English production and reception, both oral and written, and within both academic and communicative oriented approaches, on the learners' L1 (Spanish and Catalan), as well as a questionnaire eliciting personal and sociolinguistic information. The questions we address and the relevant empirical evidence are as follows: 1. "For young children, learning languages is a game. They enjoy it more than adults."Our data demonstrate that the situation is not quite so. Firstly, both at the levels of Primary and Secondary education (ranging from 70.5% in 11-year-olds to 89% in 14-year-olds) students have a positive attitude towards learning English. Secondly, there is a difference between the two groups with respect to the factors they cite as responsible for their motivation to learn English: the younger students cite intrinsic factors, such as the games they play, the methodology used and the teacher, whereas the older students cite extrinsic factors, such as the role of their knowledge of English in the achievement of their future professional goals. 2 ."Young children have more resources to learn languages." Here our data suggest just the opposite. The ability to employ learning strategies (actions or steps used) increases with age. Older learners' strategies are more varied and cognitively more complex. In contrast, younger learners depend more on their interlocutor and external resources and therefore have a lower level of autonomy in their learning. 3. "Young children don't talk much but understand a lot"This third generalization does seem to be confirmed, at least to a certain extent, by our data in relation to the analysis of differences due to the age factor and productive use of the target language. As seen above, the comparably slower progress of the younger learners is confirmed. Our analysis of interpersonal receptive abilities demonstrates as well the advantage of the older learners. Nevertheless, with respect to passive receptive activities (for example, simple recognition of words or sentences) no great differences are observed. Statistical analyses suggest that in this test, in contrast to the others analyzed, the dominance of the subjects' L1s (reflecting a cognitive capacity that grows with age) has no significant influence on the learning process. 4. "The sooner they begin, the better their results will be in written language"This is not either completely confirmed in our research. First of all, we perceive that certain compensatory strategies disappear only with age, but not with the number of instructional hours. Secondly, given an identical number of instructional hours, the older subjects obtain better results. With respect to our analysis of data from subjects of the same age (12 years old) but with a different number of instructional hours (200 and 416 respectively, as they began at the ages of 11 and 8), we observe that those who began earlier excel only in the area of lexical fluency. In conclusion, the superior rate of older learners appears to be due to their higher level of cognitive development, a factor which allows them to benefit more from formal or explicit instruction in the school context. Younger learners, however, do not benefit from the quantity and quality of linguistic exposure typical of a natural acquisition context in which they would be allowed to make use of implicit learning abilities. It seems clear, then, that the initiative in this country to begin foreign language instruction earlier will have positive effects only if it occurs in combination with either higher levels of exposure time to the foreign language, or, alternatively, with its use as the language of instruction in other areas of the curriculum.