Language learning
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Abstract
The problem of crossing cultural boundaries in the task of learning and teaching English literacy is examined, with particular reference to dominant approaches to teaching literacy and unexamined assumptions about the use ofWestern models of language learning. The possibility that target groups of students in Asian (and especially mainland Chinese) contexts may not find these models conducive to effective learning of English is explored, and some features of Asian understandings of discourse and of preferred learning styles are discussed. It is argued that a systemic-functional theory of language, developed under the influence of Chinese linguists, may provide a more appropriate and effective means of developing culturally sensitive approaches to literacy development and teaching, since such a model can systematically predict text/context relations and allows teachers to construct learning activities that reflect Asian students' expectations and needs. Some features of such an approach are described, including methods of modelling text and involving students in the negotiation of meaning as texts are constructed. The importance of dialects is often neglected in studies of intercultural communication. There are, however, numerous human, scientific and sociocul-tural reasons for supporting the integration of dialect study in school programmes for both mother-tongue and foreign language learning. This outlines the components of an experimental proactive dialect awareness programme, designed for primary school students in the United States, in which cognitive, affective and social parameters are considered. It includes an example of inductive work on dialect forms which takes students through the steps of hypothesis formation and testing. Other methods described include awareness-raising through the confrontation of stereotypes, role-play as a way of understanding language pidginisation, and the use of dialect ethnography in the local community. The positive results claimed for such programmes are seen as the replacement of stereotyped mythology about dialects with informed knowledge, the development of a positive understanding of the complexity and naturalness of language variations, and the treatment of the local community as a resource to be valued rather than a liability to be overcome. This article presents the results of a research project which describes the writing processes of four advanced learners in French as a second language as they used word processing software.The results show that writers spend significandy more time correcting text already written than formulating their own ideas. After writing an average of four words in a row, they would return to make corrections, mosdy at the word level.The main reason for these interruptions is their lack of typing skills, and the other reason, which should be the main reason, is their preoccupa-tion with meaning. The article concludes with suggestions for teaching writing in a second language using word processing more efficiendy. This paper reports a study which investigated the ways intermediate-level undergraduate students of French interacted with a computerised second language (L2) reading gloss from three perspectives: (1) the relationship between the group's choice of pro-gram options and the quantity and accuracy of their comprehension; (2) individual user styles; and (3) student perceptions of the effectiveness of the pro-gram. Opinions of the software were unanimously favourable, although there was no evidence of a relationship between computer use and comprehension. While many types of information were available to them, students tended to consult almost exclusively word definitions provided in English. Comparisons of tracker data with recall protocols implied that comprehension might have improved had other pro-gram components also been accessed. The paper concludes with suggestions for more effective L2 reading software design for students at this instructional level, as well as with indications of likely directions for future research. essential to take into consideration all the languages previously studied. This paper presents research that was carried out in Zagreb among the first year university students of Italian. For some 85%, English was their first foreign language, and the study showed interference between English and Italian, which was most obvious in the use of the articles, a linguistic category that does not exist in the students' mother tongue. examines trends in second language communication strategy (CS) research to date. A comprehensive review is provided of the relevant literature from the previous two decades, with particular consideration of the different ways in which CSs have been defined and of corresponding influ-ences on the organisation of strategy taxonomies. The history of CS research is first outlined, and problem-orientedness and consciousness as defining criteria for CSs are discussed. A comprehensive list of strate-gic language devices is then offered, and the major CS taxonomies are described, with key trends noted, and with special attention paid to current and future research orientations. This article is a report of a small-scale study of the effects of meaning negotiation on young children's acquisition of word meanings. The children listened individually and in small groups to directions con-taining words unknown to them.They were encour-aged to negotiate their understanding of the directions. The results show that the children varied in their ability or willingness to negotiate; that they negotiated more effectively when part of a group; that negotiation aided comprehension; that the extent to which individual children negotiated was not related to their acquisition of word meanings; and that there was no direct relationship between the children's comprehension of the teacher's directions and the target words. These results suggest that meaning negotiation may play a less prominent role in acquisition for children than it does for adults. They also raise questions about when negotiated input works for acquisition and when it does not. This on an empirical cross-sectional study of the second language (L2) acquisition of first-language (LI) Turkish and Kurdish asylum-seekers in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. It was found that the L2 acquisition This paper discusses the use of verbal report proce- time during the task.The pros and cons of this proce-dures as research tools, with reference to the author's dure are discussed, and it is suggested that, although own investigation of the cognitive processes of sec-the risk of information loss through the use of AC is a ond language cloze test-takers. The credibility of serious one, comparison of its products with those of introspective data, and issues of informal training, Ian-think-aloud protocols should provide some insight guage of reporting, and interviewer behaviour, are into what it fails to record. The author intends to considered. An alternative, and less labour-intensive, refine the AC task and an accompanying question-procedure called annotated cloze (AC) is also naire and subsequently to apply these to the gather-described: here the informants are required not to ing of data from a larger number of informants than verbalise their processing, but to write it down in real would be possible with an oral report procedure. to at both secondary school and university level, focus learners' perceptions of progress. This paper reports an investigation of the effects of one-by-one interviews were conducted. 17 Chinese writing systems on Chinese subjects' decoding subjects and 8 American subjects participated in this strategies in both Chinese and English. Subjects' study. The results suggest that both writing systems length of residence in the U.S. was considered as the and learning environment are significant factors in environmental effect on subjects' use of strategies on subjects' application of graphic, phonological or decoding Chinese and English words. Test materials semantic strategies in decoding Chinese and English include short-term memory word-recognition tests words, and long-term memory cued-recall tests. This paper presents a framework for the analysis of view of the interactive nature of learning. Some of verbal interaction between teacher and pupils in pri-the theoretical challenges which have arisen are mary-level EFL (English as a Foreign Language) explored. The^paper is based on a research project lessons. The analysis attempts to illuminate the sup-aiming to describe forms of teacher responsiveness to port to learning which can be offered by the pupils relation to their effect on the potential cre-teacher's responsiveness to pupils. Theoretically, it ation The seeks to relate understandings from discourse analysis psychology, by suggesting the functions This paper examines the way in which non-native speakers of French co-construct meaning in intercultural discussions, based on the analysis of taped discussions about intercultural differences. It is suggested that the students taking part in these discussions have three main goals: to ensure intergroup comprehension (particularly important in this context since all interactants were non-native speakers of French), to construct meaningful discourse about intercultural differences, and to learn French. The analysis examines how students collaborate in the achievement of these goals, through co-construction at the lexical, syntactic and pragmatic levels. On a didactic level, it is suggested that it may be useful to explicidy teach these co-constructions, since they offer opportunities for language acquisition. On a conversational level, the paper demonstrates how non-native speakers use collaborative methods to achieve their conversational goals. Finally, in terms of linguistic theory the paper challenges the assumption in conversational analysis that the basic unit of analysis is