Socratic flipped classroom : What types of questions and tasks promote learning?

Socratic questioning stresses the importance of questioning for learning. Flipped Classroom pedagogy generates a need for effective questions and tasks in order to promote active learning. This paper describes a project aimed at finding out how different kinds of questions and tasks support students’ learning in a flipped classroom context. In this study, during the flipped courses, both the questions and tasks were distributed together with video recordings. Answers and solutions were presented and discussed in seminars, with approximately 10 participating students in each seminar. Information Systems students from three flipped classroom courses at three different levels were interviewed in focus groups about their perceptions of how different kinds of questions and tasks supported their learning process. The selected courses were organized differently, with various kinds of questions and tasks. Course one included open questions that were answered and presented at the seminar. Students also solved a task and presented the solution to the group. Course two included open questions and a task. Answers and solutions were discussed at the seminars where students also reviewed each other’s answers and solutions. Course three included online single- and multiple choice questions with real-time feedback. Answers were discussed at the seminar, with the focus on any misconceptions. In this paper we categorized the questions in accordance with Wilson (2016) as factual, convergent, divergent, evaluative, or a combination of these. In all, we found that any comprehensible question that initiates a dialogue, preferably with a set of Socratic questions, is perceived as promoting learning. This is why seminars that allow such questions and discussion are effective. We found no differences between the different kinds of Socratic questions. They were seen to promote learning so long as they made students reflect and problematize the questions. To conclude, we found that questions and tasks promote learning when they are answered and solved in a process that is characterized by comprehensibility, variation, repetition and activity.

Los Principales Problemas Fonéticos y Fonológicos en la enseñanza del Español para Extranjeros

The purpose of this study is to investigate the most common phonetic and phonological difficulties in the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language. The study has been based on the following questions: Which difficulties can teachers encounter when teaching phonetics and phonology? Which difficulties can students encounter when learning phonetics and phonology? How is phonetics and phonology taught? In order to be able to investigate the difficulties, a questionnaire has been handed out to five experienced teachers. The results of the questionnaires, together with the theory, has been analysed in the analysis. The outcome of the analysis shows that several difficulties can be detected in both the teaching and in the learning process. The results of the questionnaires also show us that the teachers mostly teach phonetics the same way: through repetition and imitation, the conductive method, and very few think outside of the box to encounter new methods.

Ellipsis as a marker of interaction in spoken discourse

In this article, we discuss strategies for interaction in spoken discourse, focusing on ellipsis phenomena in English. The data comes from the VOICE corpus of English as a Lingua Franca, and we analyse education data in the form of seminar and workshop discussions, working group meetings, interviews and conversations. The functions ellipsis carries in the data are Intersubjectivity, where participants develop and maintain an understanding in discourse; Continuers, which are examples of back channel support; Correction, both self- and other-initiated; Repetition; and Comments, which are similar to Continuers but do not have a back channel support function. We see that the first of these, Intersubjectivity, is by far the most popular, followed by Repetitions and Comments. These results are explained as consequences of the nature of the texts themselves, as some are discussions of presentations and so can be expected to contain many Repetitions, for example. The speech event is also an important factor, as events with asymmetrical power relations like interviews do not contain so many Continuers. Our clear conclusion is that the use of ellipsis is a strong marker of interaction in spoken discourse.

Das Bildzitat Eine Untersuchung von Paul Klees Die Revolution des Viaduktes in drei Texten der deutschprachigen Prosa

Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Untersuchung des Bildzitates und seiner Form. Ausgangspunkt ist ein Kunstwerk, Paul Klees Revolution der Viadukte, und dessen Versprachlichung, dem sognannten Bildzitat, in drei Texten der deutschen Prosa. Als literaturwissenschaftliche Methode wurde ein intermedialer Ansatz nach Rajewsky, sowie von Berndt, Tonger-Erk gewählt. Eine Auswahl des Kunstwerkes und der Texte, die das Kunstwerk zitieren, wurde basierend auf dem Material der Datenbank über literarische Bildzitate in Wien getroffen. Die Analyse der Bildzitate in SAID: Das Rot lächelt, das Blau schweigt. Geschichten über Bilder, Uwe Timm: Der Freund und der Fremde und Gertrud Leutenegger: Vorabend erfolgt nach folgender Fragestellung: 1. Welches sind die grundlegenden Charakteristika des Bildes, die in den literarischen Bildzitaten hervorgehoben werden? 2. Mit welchen sprachlichen Mitteln wird dies hervorgehoben? 3. Welche Rolle spielt der Titel des Gemäldes? Wie der Resultatteil zeigt werden von den Autoren Stilmittel ähnlich die des Gemäldes (Kontrast, Repetition) verwendet. Der Titel des Gemäldes und die Bildzitate werden im Text als verstärkendes Element verwendet. The pictorial quote An analysis of Paul Klees Revolution of the viaduct in three German prose texts. This essay explores the quotation of images in literature. Starting point is Paul Klee's painting The revolution of the viaduct and its verbal expression, which is known as 'image quotation', in three German prose texts. The textual analysis of these works - SAID's Das Rot lächelt,das Blau schweigt. Geschichten über Bilder, Uwe Timm's Der Freund und der Fremde and Gertrud Leutenegger's Vorabend - is based on theories of intermediality. This essay shows that the authors employ stylistic devices similar to those in the painting, such as contrast and repetition, and use them as intermedial references.

¿Neurodidáctica aplicada? : Una investigación sobre las aplicaciones de la neurodidáctica en la enseñanza de español y en concreto en el libro de texto Caminando 3.

This thesis analyzes the teaching material Caminando 3 from a neurodidactic perspective. The discipline of neurodidactics is young and controversial and the aim of this investigation is to present an understanding of the use of practical applications of neurodidactics in written material of education in Spanish as a second language. The methods applied are a quantitative and objective analysis of measurable aspects in Caminando 3 and a qualitative, subjective analysis which is interpreting fundamental understandings of language learning which Caminando 3 reflects in its structure and content. The results show that there are several aspects in Caminando 3 which are supported by the evidences and advices of the neurodidactic theories and simultaneously there are details in exercises and parts of the layup containing a level of repetition and prediction which are directly harmful to the process of acquisition, according to neurodidactic theories. The conclusion is that a more dynamic teaching book can be produced with guidelines that can be created using these results. Further investigations will have to measure the knowledge and success of the pupils to decide whether neurodidactics is a successful complement to traditional didactics of second language learning.

Topic- and mode-sensitive interaction strategies : Functions of ellipsis in oral communication

In this article, we discuss ellipsis as an interactive strategy by analysing the author’s textchat corpus and the VOICE corpus of English as a Lingua Franca. It is found that there were fewer repetitions in the textchat data, and this is explained as a consequence of the textchat mode. Textchat contributions are preserved as long as the chat is active or has been saved, and therefore users can scroll through and review the discussion, compared to the more fleeting nature of oral conversation. As a result, repetition is less necessary. The frequency of other functions identified could be attributed to the topic of discourse. Discussions involve much ellipsis used to develop discourse, although some were self-presentations with repetition used to confirm details. Back-channel support and comments were often low because speakers instead used forms like yeah as supportive utterances.

Students' views on the learning of kanji : A study the views and experiences of students at the Swedish universities concerning the teaching and learning of Chinese characters as used in Japanese

Kanji, the Chinese characters adopted to write the Japanese language, is often mentioned as one of the most difficult aspects of mastering said language. This is especially said about people from outside the Sinosphere i.e. PRC, Taiwan, North and South Korea, Japan and Vietnam. In the following thesis 12 students studying the Japanese language at Swedish universities were interviewed about their experiences when it comes to learning and being taught about kanji. A chapter summarizing some of the research that is relevant to this thesis is also included. Topics touched upon in this and the result chapter include the desire for more structured approach to kanji learning based on breaking down the characters into elemental components, spaced repetition (SRS), mnemonics.