Language Learning Motivation

This study aimed to measure how authentic material motivates students to perform well and have positive attitudes toward foreign language learning. Participants were 32 eighth grade students at Aquinas College in Nassau the Bahamas. Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (adapted Gardner, 2004), interviews, and open ended discussions were used.

Modern foreign languages get a voice: the role of the journals

This chapter investigates the significance of specialized journals for the development of modern language teaching. It begins by explaining the development of language journals up to the point at which language teaching reform really took off with the emergence of the so-called Reform Movement in the 1880s. The principal journal for this movement was Phonetische studien [Phonetic Studies] founded in 1888 and renamed Die neueren Sprachen [Modern languages] in 1894. The style of the early issues of this journal allows modern readers an insight into the discourse practices of that community of language scholars and teachers, the opportunity to hear its characteristic ‘voice’ and recreate the means by which modern foreign language teaching became an independent discipline.

European student mobility and intercultural learning at a portuguese university

The purpose of this study is to understand, impact and evaluate the development of intercultural communicative competencies among European credit-seeking exchange students and other sojourners through purposeful intercultural pedagogy. This pedagogy encompasses intentional intercultural- educational approaches which aim to support and enhance sojourners’ intercultural learning throughout the study abroad cycle (pre-departure, in-country and reentry phases). To test and validate these pedagogies a 20-hour intervention was designed and implemented among two cohorts of 31 sojourners during the in-country phase of their sojourn in Portugal. The process to develop and validate the intercultural intervention was driven by a mixed-methods methodology which combined quantitative and qualitative data to triangulate, complement and expand research results from a pragmatic stance. The mixed methods research design adopted is multi-phased and encompasses a multi-case study and an evaluative component. The multi-case component is embodied by sojourner cohorts: (1) the primary case study involves 19 incoming students at the University of Aveiro (Portugal) as participants in the European exchange program Campus Europae; (2) the second case study comprises three incoming Erasmus students and nine highly skilled immigrants at the same university. All 31 sojourners attended two intermediate Portuguese as Foreign Language classrooms where the intervention was employed. Data collection was extensive and involved collecting, analyzing and mixing quantitative and qualitative strands across four research phases. These phases refer to the: (1) development, (2) implementation and (3) evaluation of the intervention, as well as to (4) a stakeholder analysis of the external value of the intervention and of the Campus Europae program. Data collection instruments included pre and posttest questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Results confirm the intercultural effectiveness of the intervention and the positive impact upon research participants’ intercultural gains. This impact was, however, greater in case study 2. Among explanatory variables, three stand out: (1) participant meaning-making abilities, (2) host language proficiency and related variables, and (3) type of sojourn or exchange programs. Implications for further research highlight the need to systematize purposeful intercultural pedagogy in sojourner populations in general, and in European credit student mobility in particular. In the latter case, these pedagogies should be part of the design and delivery of credit-bearing exchange programs in pre- departure, in-country and re-entry phases. Implications for practice point to the urge to improve intercultural practices in: macro (higher education institutions), mezzo (exchange programs) and micro (sojourner language classrooms) contexts where this research took place, and wider social scenarios they represent.

Imagens das línguas de alunos do 6º ano : um estudo em Aveiro

O presente estudo é o resultado de um projeto investigativo que, embora se relacione com a Sensibilização à Diversidade Linguística, tem como tema principal as Imagens das Línguas. Este estudo, cujo título é “Imagens das línguas de alunos do 6.º ano: um estudo em Aveiro”, tem como objetivos perceber quais as imagens das línguas dos alunos do 6.º ano, verificar qual a língua em que estes alunos se matriculam no ano seguinte e se essa escolha foi baseada em imagens estereotipadas das línguas (e em quais) e averiguar se a imagem que os alunos do 6.º ano têm sobre línguas influencia a sua escolha para aprendizagem posterior. Os dados foram recolhidos através de instrumentos distintos (o desenho e o inquérito por questionário). Primeiramente, os discentes elaboraram quatro desenhos seguindo as instruções “desenha-te a falar a tua língua materna”, “desenha-te a falar uma língua que já aprendeste”, “desenha-te a falar uma língua que gostavas de aprender” e “desenha-te a falar uma língua que não gostavas de aprender”. Seguindo-se o preenchimento do inquérito por questionário, composto por cinco questões, relacionadas com as quatro línguas em estudo (português, francês, espanhol e inglês) e que faziam parte da recolha de dados através do desenho. Relativamente ao tratamento de dados optamos pela utilização de categorias de análise (línguas como objetos afetivos, objetos de ensino-aprendizagem, instrumentos de construção e afirmação de identidades individuais e coletivas, objetos de poder e como instrumentos de construção de relações interpessoais e intergrupais), que permitiram perceber quais as imagens das línguas dos alunos inquiridos. Os resultados permitiram-nos perceber que as imagens que os alunos do 6.º ano têm das línguas portuguesa, francesa, espanhola e inglesa são, de alguma forma, estereotipadas. A maioria dos alunos tem uma imagem das línguas como instrumentos de construção e afirmação de identidades individuais e coletivas, isto é, imagens associadas à relação língua/história de um povo/cultura. Contudo, concluímos que esta imagem cultural das línguas também está associada a uma imagem afetiva, salientando a relação aluno/língua/cultura. Partindo das nossas conclusões, poder-se-ão, no futuro desenvolver sessões de Sensibilização à Diversidade Linguística, com o objetivo de (re)construir as Imagens das Línguas que os alunos têm.

A case study of the English language teachers’ attitudes toward use of information and communication technology (ICT) in Finland

This qualitative study was aimed at investigating foreign language teachers’ attitudes toward use of information and communication technology (ICT) in their instruction. The insight was gained through the reported experience of ICT implementation by teachers, in what way and for which purpose they refer to use of technology, what kind of support and training they are provided with, and what beliefs they express about the influence of ICT implementation. This case study took place in one of the training schools in Finland. Five teachers participated in semi-structured interviews through a face-to-face approach. The findings demonstrated positive attitudes of teachers toward integration of ICT. The teachers shared their opinions about positive influence that ICT implementation has on both teaching and learning processes. However, they also pointed out the negative sides of ICT use: distraction of the students from usage of technology and technical problems causing frustration to the teachers. In addition, the responses revealed that the teachers are provided with adequate training aimed at enhancing their qualification which is provided with well-timed technology support and colleagues’ collaboration facilitating an efficient and smooth pace of the teaching process. According to the teachers’ opinions ICT integration in education appeared to have changed the role of the teacher. Due to different alterations in the field of ICT development teachers are required to upgrade their skills. The paper concludes with the limitations of the study and the recommendations for conducting further research.

A case study of the English language teachers’ attitudes toward use of information and communication technology (ICT) in Finland

This qualitative study was aimed at investigating foreign language teachers’ attitudes toward use of information and communication technology (ICT) in their instruction. The insight was gained through the reported experience of ICT implementation by teachers, in what way and for which purpose they refer to use of technology, what kind of support and training they are provided with, and what beliefs they express about the influence of ICT implementation. This case study took place in one of the training schools in Finland. Five teachers participated in semi-structured interviews through a face-to-face approach. The findings demonstrated positive attitudes of teachers toward integration of ICT. The teachers shared their opinions about positive influence that ICT implementation has on both teaching and learning processes. However, they also pointed out the negative sides of ICT use: distraction of the students from usage of technology and technical problems causing frustration to the teachers. In addition, the responses revealed that the teachers are provided with adequate training aimed at enhancing their qualification which is provided with well-timed technology support and colleagues’ collaboration facilitating an efficient and smooth pace of the teaching process. According to the teachers’ opinions ICT integration in education appeared to have changed the role of the teacher. Due to different alterations in the field of ICT development teachers are required to upgrade their skills. The paper concludes with the limitations of the study and the recommendations for conducting further research.

Política e planeamento linguístico da língua portuguesa na Namíbia : perspetivas de futuro

A importância da língua portuguesa, idioma representado nos cinco continentes, é uma realidade incontornável. Este prestígio linguístico é visível no aumento do número de falantes ao longo das últimas décadas. Hoje em dia, o português é usado como língua de comunicação de aproximadamente 250 milhões de pessoas. Para além da representatividade cultural, técnica, tecnológica e económica que possui nos países de língua oficial portuguesa, esta ocorrência é impulsionada também por países pertencentes a outros espaços linguísticos que se sentem atraídos economicamente por economias de países de língua portuguesa. Nesta dissertação apresenta-se o caso da Namíbia, país situado na África subsaarina que mantém relações político-económicas com países de língua portuguesa e que, por isso mesmo, integrou o português como língua curricular estrangeira no sistema de ensino. Questiona-se os motivos pelos quais o ensino formal de português tem cada vez mais aprendentes, isto é, pretende saber-se se a motivação dos alunos adultos está de facto relacionada com razões estritamente económicas ou não. Para o caso foi elaborado um questionário, aplicado em todos os locais onde o português é aprendido como PLE. Seguindo a mesma linha de dúvidas, pretendia-se também aferir se a política linguística que estava a ser implementada na Namíbia se estava a consolidar ou, se pelo contrário, não se estava a solidificar, e, assim sendo, deixar pistas no sentido de encaminhar o planeamento linguístico para as reais necessidades comunicativas dos informantes e potenciais falantes de português.

Curso online para a parte pral do Celpe-Bras : contribuições da avaliação de proficiência para o ensino-aprendizagem de PLE

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Departamento de Línguas Estrangeiras e Tradução, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Linguística Aplicada, 2016.

Teaching Communications, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities with Multimedia: A University-Middle School Service-Learning Project

Se describe el uso de tecnología en forma de presentaciones de multimedia para facilitar la enseñanza de las Normas para el Aprendizaje de una Lengua Extranjera del Concilio Americano para la Enseñanza de Lenguas extranjeras. Las normas abarcan las comunicaciones, las culturas, las conexiones, las comparaciones y las comunidades. El estudiantado universitario aprende a crear, con multimedia, presentaciones sobre un tema cultural en la lengua meta. El componente de aprendizaje por servicio comunitario se fundamenta en las presentaciones creadas para estudiantes de colegio, quienes tienen acceso a las presentaciones en un sitio web de la universidad.A description is provided of how the use of technology in the form of multimedia presentations enhances the teaching of the Five C Standards for Foreign Language Learning of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages: communications, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities. University students learn to create multimedia presentations on a cultural topic in the target language. The service-learning component provides the multimedia presentations for middle-school students who access them from the university website.

Relatório no âmbito da unidade curricular prática de ensino supervisionada, realizada no Agrupamento de Escolas de Reguengos de Monsaraz

Este relatório surge no âmbito da unidade curricular Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, inserida no Mestrado em Ensino do Português no 3.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e Ensino Secundário e de Espanhol no Ensino Básico e Secundário, orientado pelo Professor Doutor Paulo Lampreia Costa. A nossa Prática de Ensino Supervisionada decorreu durante o ano letivo 2015-2016, no Agrupamento de Escolas de Reguengos de Monsaraz. Neste trabalho destacamos e refletimos sobre documentos e legislação fundamentais para a profissão docente, em Portugal. Relatamos as práticas operacionalizadas na planificação, condução de aulas e avaliação das aprendizagens, incidindo, sobretudo, em duas turmas, o 7.º E e o 11.º A/B, nas disciplinas de Português e Espanhol, respetivamente, e analisando-as criticamente. Descrevemos e comentamos a nossa participação na escola, relativamente à preparação e operacionalização de atividades extraletivas. Finalmente, refletimos sobre o nosso desenvolvimento profissional enquanto futuros professores; Abstract: Report within the scope of Supervised Teaching Practice curricular unit This report appears within the scope of Supervised Teaching Practice curricular unit, included in the Master’s Degree in Portuguese Language Teaching for the 3rd stage of Basic Education and Secondary Education and Spanish Language Teaching for Basic and Secondary Education, under the supervision of PhD Professor Paulo Lampreia Costa. Our Supervised Teaching Practice took place during the 2015-2016 school year, in the group of schools of Reguengos de Monsaraz. In this work we emphasize and reflect over fundamental documents and legislation that regulate the teaching activity in Portugal. We report our teaching activity practices which concerns planning, developing classroom activities, assessing learning, addressing, mainly, two classes, 7.th E and 11.th A/B, in Portuguese and Spanish as a Foreign Language II, respectively, and analyse them. We describe and comment our school participation, which concerns the planning and implementation of extra-curricular activities. Finally, we reflect over our professional development as future teachers.

Relatório no âmbito da unidade curricular prática de ensino supervisionada, realizada na Escola Secundária/3 Rainha Santa Isabel de Estremoz

O presente relatório foi produzido no âmbito da unidade curricular Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, que faz parte do Mestrado em Ensino do Português no 3º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e Ensino Secundário e de Espanhol nos Ensinos Básico e Secundário, sob a orientação da Professora Doutora Ângela Maria Franco Martins Coelho de Paiva Balça. Identifica-se, na sua essência basilar, como um trabalho reflexivo-descritivo sobre a prática aplicada e efetuada no ano letivo 2015/2016, no lecionamento das disciplinas de Português em duas turmas de 10º ano, e de Espanhol – Língua Estrangeira I numa de 7º ano, na Escola Secundária/3 Rainha Santa Isabel, de Estremoz. Além do mais, também constitui o expoente de todo o processo levado a cabo durante os dois anos do Mestrado, o qual permitiu e conduziu à revisão, modificação, inovação e progressão em matéria de conceitos, ideias, noções, ações e teorias, quer fossem mais antigas ou recentes. Este é o produto final e contributo para o desenvolvimento e melhoria a nível pessoal e profissional. Através do conhecimento da literatura teórica e da sua aplicação na ação, a reflexão compromete-nos a cumprir uma prática fundamentada e apoiada em toda a documentação mundial, europeia e portuguesa normativa e de referência para o exercício da profissão docente o mais completo e eficaz possível. Mais do que um relatório, é uma avaliação orientativa da dimensão transformadora no desempenho docente que, na sua parte mais cogitativa, expõe estruturalmente: a observação e o seu registo; a observação em contexto; a planificação; a orientação; a componente letiva – aulas lecionadas (análise, aprendizagem e melhorias) e a pesquisa reflexiva na abordagem dos inquéritos passados nas turmas de Português e de Espanhol; e, por fim, a abordagem reflexiva sobre a avaliação formativa das aprendizagens realizada às turmas de 10º ano, na disciplina de Português; ABSTRACT: This report was produced in the scope of Supervised Teaching Practice’s curricular unit, which is part of the Master’s Degree in Teaching Portuguese for the 3rd stage of Primary Education and Secondary Education, and Spanish Foreign Language Teaching for Primary and Secondary Education, under the supervision of Dr. Ângela Maria Franco Martins Coelho de Paiva Balça. In its basic essence, this is a reflective and descriptive paper about practices applied and performed for the 2015-2016 school year to teach Portuguese, in two tenth grade classes, and Spanish as a Foreign Language, in one seventh grade class at Rainha Santa Isabel School of Estremoz. Furthermore, it outlines the entire process carried out during the two years of the Master’s Degree, which provided and led to review, change, breakthrough, and advancement regarding concepts, ideas, assumptions, and theories, whether they were pre-existing or more recent. This is the final product and the contribution towards development and improvement in personal and professional terms. Through knowledge of theoretical literature and applying it to practice, the reflection leads us to compile substantiated and supported practice in all worldwide, European, and Portuguese standards and reference documentation for the most effective pursuit of the profession. More than a report, this is an evaluation of transformation in teaching performance that structurally examines the following: observation and its registration; observation in the field; lesson design; guidance and monitoring; a teaching component (analysis, apprenticeships, and improvements) with a reflective element based on the results of the Portuguese and Spanish class surveys; and, finally, a reflexive approach about formative assessment of student learning that took place within the Portuguese course.

Relatório no âmbito da unidade curricular prática de ensino supervisionada

Integrado na unidade curricular Prática de Ensino Supervisionada do Mestrado em Ensino de Português no 3.º ciclo do Ensino Básico e Ensino Secundário e de Espanhol nos Ensinos Básico e Secundário, este Relatório incide sobre os documentos legais e orientadores que envolvem e orientam a atividade docente e sobre a sua prática específica, considerando a planificação, a condução de aulas, bem como a avaliação de aprendizagens no âmbito do processo de ensino-aprendizagem do Espanhol como língua estrangeira. Assim, são duas as dimensões sobre as quais centramos este trabalho, uma teórica e outra prática, que relacionamos criticamente ao longo de todo o Relatório. A par destas dimensões, também o nosso percurso profissional é alvo de reflexão, procurando, a partir da mesma, perceber-se quais os desafios experienciados e as competências adquiridas, tendo sempre o aluno e as suas aprendizagens como destinatário e principal alvo das conclusões alcançadas; Abstract: Report within the course Supervised Teaching Practice Included in the course Supervised Teaching Practice of the Master Degree in Portuguese and Spanish Teaching in the middle and upper schools, this report focuses on the legal and guiding documents which involve and direct the teaching activity and on its specific practice, considering lesson planning, organization as well as learning assessment within the teaching-learning process of Spanish as a foreign language. Therefore, there are two aspects over which we focus this assignment, one theoretical and other practical, which we critically relate along all Report. Aside these two aspects, our professional development is also object of reflection, seeking, from that same reflection, to understand the challenges experienced and the skills acquired, having always the student and his learnings as the receiver and main target of the achieved conclusions.

FORMAÇÕES DISCURSIVAS E PROCESSOS IDENTIFICATÓRIOS NA AQUISIÇÃO DE LÍNGUAS

This paper discusses theoretical results of the research project Linguistic Identity and Identification: A Study of Functions of Second Language in Enunciating Subject Constitution. Non-cognitive factors that have a crucial incidence in the degree of success and ways of accomplishment of second language acquisition process are focused. A transdisciplinary perspective is adopted, mobilising categories from Discourse Analysis and Psychoanalysis. The most relevant ones are: discursive formation, intradiscourse, interdiscourse, forgetting n° 1, forgetting n° 2 (Pêcheux, 1982), identity, identification (Freud, 1966; Lacan, 1977; Nasio, 1995). Revuz s views (1991) are discussed. Her main claim is that during the process of learning a foreign language, the foundations of psychical structure, and consequently first language, are required. After examining how nomination and predication processes work in first and second languages, components of identity and identification processes are focused on, in an attempt to show how second language acquisition strategies depend on them. It is stated that methodological affairs of language teaching, learner s explicit motivation and the like are subordinated to the comprehension of deeper non-cognitive factors that determine the accomplishment of the second language acquisition process. It is also pointed out that those factors are to be approached, questioning the bipolar biological-social conception of subjectivity in the study of language acquisition and use and including in the analysis symbolic and significant dimensions of the discourse constitution process.

A COMPETÊNCIA LEXICAL DE ALUNOS UNIVERSITÁRIOS APRENDENDO A LER EM INGLÊS COMO LÍNGUA ESTRANGEIRA

This article presents a characterization of the lexical competence (vocabulary knowledge and use) of students learning to read in EFL in a public university in São Paulo state. Although vocabulary has been consistently cited as one of the EFL reader´s main source of difficulty, there is no data in the literature which shows the extent of the difficulties. The data for this study is part of a previous research, which investigates, from the perspective of an interactive model of reading, the relationship between lexical competence and EFL reading comprehension. Quantitative as well as qualitative data was considered. For this study, the quantitative data is the product of vocabulary tests of 49 subjects while the qualitative data comprises pause protocols of three subjects, with levels of reading ability ranging from good to poor, selected upon their performance in the quantitative study. A rich concept of vocabulary knowledge was adapted and used for the development of vocabulary tests and analysis of protocols. The results on both studies show, with a few exceptions, the lexical competence of the group to be vague and imprecise in two dimensions: quantitative (number of known words or vocabulary size) and qualitative (depth or width of this knowledge). Implications for the teaching of reading in a foreign context are discussed.

Intercompreensão de texto escrito por falantes nativos de português e de espanhol

The aim of this paper is to verify the level of text comprehension (reading and translation) in Portuguese, by native speakers of Spanish and vice-versa. The subjects are freshmen, from different fields (300 native speakers of Portuguese and 300 of Spanish), who have never studied the other language neither as a second (L2) nor as a foreign language (FL). The results show that, in each group of subjects, there is a high level of comprehension of the foreign language, which varies from 58% to 94%, depending on the context and on the lexical/semantic similarity (or difference) between the key-words in the texts used in this research.