A Portuguese-English glossary of map terms,

Mode of access: Internet.

A new grammar of the Portuguese and English and English and Portuguese languages /

Grammar of the English language in Portuguese with title: Nova grammatica das linguas portugueza e ingleza ... Parte 2a. Inglez. (No imprint) p. [cxv]-cxix, [121]-248.

Headstart, Portuguese program /

"October 1979."

Scaffolding and bilingual shared reading experiences: Promoting primary school students' learning and development

This paper explores the connections between scaffolding, second language learning and bilingual shared reading experiences. A socio- cultural theory of cognition underpins the investigation, which involved implementing a language and culture awareness program (LCAP) in a year 4 classroom and in the school community. Selected passages from observations are used to analyse the learning of three students, particularly in relation to languages other than English (LOTE). As these three case study students interacted in the classroom, at home and in the community, they co-constructed, appropriated and applied knowledge form one language to another. Through scaffolding, social spaces were constructed, where students learning and development were extended through a variety of activities that involved active participation, such as experimenting with language, asking questions and making suggestions. Extending these opportunities for student learning and development is considered in relation to creating teaching and learning environments that celebrate socio-cultural and linguistic diversity.

Rapport-building through call in teaching Chinese as a foreign language: An exploratory study

Technological advances have brought about the ever-increasing utilisation of computer-assisted language learning ( CALL) media in the learning of a second language (L2). Computer-mediated communication, for example, provides a practical means for extending the learning of spoken language, a challenging process in tonal languages such as Chinese, beyond the realms of the classroom. In order to effectively improve spoken language competency, however, CALL applications must also reproduce the social interaction that lies at the heart of language learning and language use. This study draws on data obtained from the utilisation of CALL in the learning of L2 Chinese to explore whether this medium can be used to extend opportunities for rapport-building in language teaching beyond the face-to-face interaction of the classroom. Rapport's importance lies in its potential to enhance learning, motivate learners, and reduce learner anxiety. To date, CALL's potential in relation to this facet of social interaction remains a neglected area of research. The results of this exploratory study suggest that CALL may help foster learner-teacher rapport and that scaffolding, such as strategically composing rapport-fostering questions in sound-files, is conducive to this outcome. The study provides an instruction model for this application of CALL.

USO DE HISTÓRIAS EM QUADRINHOS EM SALA DE AULA: INCENTIVO À LEITURA

Sabe-se que uma grande dificuldade na educação é ajudar os alunos a criarem o hábito de ler. Muitos preferem assistir à televisão (geralmente novelas, filmes ou desenhos), brincar na rua com os colegas ou passear ao invés de ler. Infelizmente, os professores não contam muito com o apoio de alguns pais para ajudar seus filhos a criarem esse hábito de leitura, pois estão tão ocupados com as situações do dia a dia e não participam ativamente da vida dos filhos. Este trabalho consiste em investigar o uso das histórias em quadrinhos como elemento motivador para o incentivo à leitura. Para isso verificou-se compreender a estrutura das HQs, como podem auxiliar o professor em sala de aula e se podem ser usadas no desenvolvimento do hábito de leitura. A pesquisa foi de revisão bibliográfica, com bases nos estudos de Marcuschi (1991 e 2010), Cirne (1971, 1975, 1997 e 2000), Fávero, Andrade e Aquino (2009), Martins (1985), Solé (1998), Vergueiro (2006) e Yunes (1984), entre outros. Verificou-se que as HQs são ótimos recursos para o incentivo à leitura, pois os recursos apresentados por elas auxiliam nessa aprendizagem, dando a sensação de ouvir a história . O gênero histórias em quadrinhos, que os PCN orientam para o uso, é um apoio para se discutir oralidade na sala de aula, tendo um claro interesse no estudo da língua oral, sendo uma de suas características, representar elementos de oralidade. Por meio desses recursos, o aluno se vê parte da história , pois sente que está presenciando o seu acontecimento, enquanto sua imaginação flui livremente.

Learner initiative in the language classroom

This article looks at learner initiative in teacher-fronted activities and how this can influence classroom interaction. Extracts from lesson transcripts of adult evening classes in Italy are used to give a precise definition of what is meant by learner initiative and to illustrate how it can change interaction patterns. It is suggested that learner initiative could have an important role to play in promoting comprehensible input and output and therefore language learning. It will be seen how, by giving learners more space and time, initiative can be actively encouraged. However, there are direct implications for teacher training as it is necessary to change traditional interaction patterns and make learner initiative more effective.

Learning and teaching through context: a data-driven approach

A word may have many potential meanings, but its actual meaning in any authentic written or spoken text is determined by its context: its collocations, structural patterns, and pragmatic functions. Large language corpora offer access to words in a wide range of natural contexts, which can improve and enrich both language learning and teaching.

Language against the odds, or rather not:the weak central coherence hypothesis and language

EV is a child with a talent for learning language combined with Asperger syndrome. EV’s talent is evident in the unusual circumstances of her acquisition of both her first (Bulgarian) and second (German) languages and the unique patterns of both receptive and expressive language (in both the L1 and L2), in which she shows subtle dissociations in competence and performance consistent with an uneven cognitive profile of skills and abilities. We argue that this case provides support for theories of language learning and usage that require more general underlying cognitive mechanisms and skills. One such account, the Weak Central Coherence (WCC) hypothesis of autism, provides a plausible framework for the interpretation of the simultaneous co-occurrence of EV’s particular pattern of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, we show that specific features of the uneven cognitive profile of Asperger syndrome can help explain the observed language talent displayed by EV. Thus, rather than demonstrating a case where language learning takes place despite the presence of deficits, EV’s case illustrates how a pattern of strengths within this profile can specifically promote language learning.

Total quality management in English language teaching:a case study in Turkish higher education

The need to improve the management of language learning organizations in the light of the trend toward mass higher education and of the use of English as a world language was the starting point of this thesis. The thesis aims to assess the relevance, adequacy and the relative success of Total Quality Management (TQM) as a management philosophy. Taking this empirical evidence a TQM-oriented management project in a Turkish Higher Education context, the thesis observes the consequences of a change of organizational culture, with specific reference to teachers' attitudes towards management. Both qualitative and quantitative devices are employed to plot change and the value of these devices for identifying such is considered. The main focus of the thesis is the Soft S's (Shared Values, Style, Staff and Skills) of an organization rather than the Hard S's (System, Structure, Strategy). The thesis is not concerned with the teaching and learning processes, though the PDCA cycle (the Action Research Cycle) did play a part in the project for both teachers and the researcher involved in this study of organizational development. Both before the management project was launched, and at the end of the research period, the external measurement devices (Harrison's Culture Specification Device and Hofstede's VSM) were used to describe the culture of the Centre. During the management project, internal measurement devices were used to record the change including middle-management style change (the researcher in this case). The time period chosen for this study was between September 1991 and June 1994. During this period, each device was administered twice within a specific time period, ranging from a year to 32 months.

Motivational state and process within the sociolinguistic context : an Anglo-French comparative study of school pupils learning foreign languages

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the socio-cultural environment upon the motivation school children have to learn foreign languages. Motivation was therefore considered from a sociolinguistic, rather than from a psycholinguistic perspective, giving primary importance to contextual, as opposed to personal factors. In order to examine the degree of relationship between motivational intensity and the contextual factors of parental attitudes, amount of foreign language exposure and the employment related value of foreign language learning (FLL), data obtained from school children living in two distinct sociolinguistic environments (Mulhouse, France and Walsall, England) were compared and contrasted. A structured sample drawn from pupils attending schools in Mulhouse and Walsall supplied the data base for this research. The main thrust of the study was quantitative in approach, involving the distribution of almost 1000 questionnaires to pupils in both towns. This was followed up by the use of qualitative methods, in the form of in-depth interviews with an individually matched sample of over 50 French/English pupils. The findings of the study indicate that FLL orientations, attitudes and motivation vary considerably between the two sociolinguistic environments. Levels of motivation were generally higher in the French sample than in the English one. Desire to learn foreign languages and a commitment to expend effort in order to fulfil this desire were key components of this motivation. The study also found evidence to suggest that the importance accorded to FLL by the socio-cultural context, communicated to the child through the socialisation agents of the family, the mass media and prospective employers, is of key importance in FLL motivation.

ALEX®: a mobile Adult Literacy Experiential Learning application

An alarmingly high number of adults in the world's most developed countries are linguistically functionally illiterate. The research presented in this paper describes ALEX©, an ongoing attempt to successfully develop an innovative assistive, mobile, experiential language-learning application to support the daily literacy education and needs of such adults, anywhere, anytime. We introduce a set of guidelines we have collated to inform the design of mobile assistive technologies, introduce our application and describe the design activities to date that have led to the development of our current application. We present this overview in the hope that it is useful to others working in the fledgling domains of mobile assistive technology design and/or mobile experiential language-learning technologies.

Perceptions of French and Creole Among First-Generation Adult Haitian English Language Learners

This basic interpretive study investigated the literacy experiences of seven first-generation Haitian English language learners. During interviews and focus groups, participants expressed ambivalent feelings toward Creole and French and explained how their knowledge of these languages supported their English language learning.

The relationship between the use of Academic Text Talk and the comprehension of scientific academic language for diverse second graders

Changing demographics impact our schools as children come from more linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds. The various social, cultural, and economic backgrounds of the students affect their early language learning experiences which expose them to the academic language needed to succeed in school. Teachers can help students acquire academic language by introducing words that are within their Zone of Proximal Development and increasing exposure to and use of academic language. This study investigated the effects of increasing structured activities for students to orally interact with informational text on their scientific academic language development and comprehension of expository text. ^ The Academic Text Talk activities, designed to scaffold verbalization of new words and ideas, included discussion, retelling, games, and sentence walls. This study also evaluated if there were differences in scientific language proficiency and comprehension between boys and girls, and between English language learners and native English speakers. ^ A quasi-experimental design was used to determine the relationship between increasing students' oral practice with academic language and their academic language proficiency. Second graders (n = 91) from an urban public school participated in two science units over an 8 week period and were pre and post tested using the Woodcock Muñoz Language Survey-Revised and vocabulary tests from the National Energy Education Project. Analysis of covariance was performed on the pre to post scores by treatment group to determine differences in academic language proficiency for students taught using Academic Text Talk compared to students taught using a text-centered method, using the initial Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading test as a covariate. Students taught using Academic Text Talk multimodal strategies showed significantly greater increases in their pre to posttest means on the Woodcock Muñoz Language Survey-Revised Oral Language Totals and National Energy Education Development Project Vocabulary tests than students taught using the text-centered method, ps < .05. Boys did not show significantly greater increases than girls, nor did English language learners show significantly greater increases than the native English speakers. ^ This study informs the field of reading research by evaluating the effectiveness of a multimodal combination of strategies emphasizing discourse to build academic language.^

For the win (FTW)! Contribuições de um serious game para o ensino-aprendizagem de argumentação

This is a qualitative and reflexive research with focus on digital literacy. Among the digital media that could support the teaching of argumentation in the Science & Technology and Information Technology undergraduate courses of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, we chose a serious game as object of research. Given the object of study in the discipline of reading and writing II – argumentation and genre from the order of argumentative writing -, common to the undergraduate courses mentioned, we invest on the development of a serious game, named ArgumentACTION, because we believe that it may, in fact, become a promising didactic instrument. Therefore we intend to understand whether and how this game can help students develop their reading and writing skills more independently, specifically towards an argumentative order genre: the opinion piece. With this research, we intend to contribute to the teaching of the Portuguese language on three bases: extending theoretical scope, in order to generate greater intelligibility on the teaching-learning process of argumenting; proposing a new methodological possibility, with the incorporation of a serious games to teaching; perfecting the game with which we are working, in order to build – and make available – a more refined digital tool to subsidize the teaching and learning of reading and writing of opinion pieces. To do so, we use the following as theoretical-methodological: Studies of Literacy (KLEIMAN, 2012b; TINOCO, 2008; OLIVEIRA, 2010; GEE, 2009; 2010; ROJO, 2012), The Applied Linguistics (KLEIMAN, 1998; BUSH-LEE, 2009), The Philosophy of Language (BAKHTIN, VOLOSHINOV, 2012) and Critical Pedagogy (DEWEY, 2010). A group of students from the upper mentioned undergraduate courses collaborated with this research by playing and analyzing the game. They were also interviewed about their experience in this matter. From the data generated, we established the categories of analysis: decollection, interest, multimodality/multisemiosis and interactivity, agent of literacy, learning principles. The conclusions we obtained show that the investment in applications, especially games, can bring real benefits to the teaching/learning of the Portuguese language; moreover they reveal that the work on argumenting has much to gain with the incorporation of serious games; however the possible advantages depend on a focused teaching practice and constant improvements and updates of this type of interactive tool, as well as the pedagogical practice from those who use and develop the games.