Search results for "UIS"

Writing as a Learning Tool: An Introduction

2001

This introductory chapter begins with a brief historical account of the writing-to-learn movement, emphasising especially the significance of the cognitive revolution for the development of both teaming research and writing research. The next section considers those theories of the writing process which have had the most profound impact on writing-to-learn, theories of writing as problem solving. Further on, theories and views of learning are discussed as essential determinants of approaches to writing as a learning tool. it is emphasised that current constructivist and social constructivist views imply the use of writing activities requiring transformations of knowledge, social interaction…

The Role of Perceived Relevance and Attention in Teachers’ Attitude and Intention to Use Educational Video Games

2017

Educational video games (EVGs) are becoming a trending topic in education as a new teaching methodology which can help teachers to increase students’ attention and engagement during the learning process. Nevertheless, despite an increasing academic interest in EVGs little research has been devoted to delve into teacher’s beliefs affecting their attitude towards EVGs and how these beliefs also affect their intention to use EVGs in their courses. Using Keller’s ARCS model as a theoretical framework, the role of perceived relevance and attention in teachers’ attitude and intention to use EVGs is analyzed. To do so a research model is tested using a sample of 312 Higher Education teachers via s…

An experimental study on the effect of systemic functional linguistics applied through a genre-pedagogy approach to teaching writing

2016

Abstract In the tradition of teaching English as a second language, there has been an increased interest in how functional language descriptions and understandings of genres may be used as resources for making meaning. The present study investigates what impact writing instruction that draws upon systemic functional linguistics (SFL) applied through a genre-pedagogy approach has on students’ ability to write argumentative essays. This includes explicit grammar instruction inspired by SFL, as well as instruction on text structure. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, with a quasi-experiment followed up by quantitative and qualitative analyses of the collected material. Statistical analys…

Atenuación con disminución prosódica significativa en géneros con distinto grado de planificación discursiva

2018

AbstractoEste estudio analiza la frecuencia de grupos entonativos con disminución prosódica y atenuación pragmática en tres géneros discursivos del español: la conversación coloquial, la entrevista televisiva y el monólogo humorístico. En total, se han recogido 3365 grupos entonativos, de los que 237 han manifestado valores reducidos fónicamente; el criterio de discriminación ha sido que los valores de velocidad elocutiva, rango tonal o intensidad se distancien 1.65 desviaciones típicas de la media del hablante. Los datos indican que entre un 15 y un 20% de grupos entonativos por género utilizan disminuciones prosódicas y que, de ellos, la mitad corresponden a casos de atenuación pragmática…

Who and how? : Preservice teachers as active agents developing professional identities

2016

Abstract This study is part of an ongoing action research project with preservice class teachers in Finland. The study aims to better understand the forms agency takes in preservice teachers' professional identity development. Through the dialogical analysis of student assignments, this study outlines how student teachers are active within their own development and the way in which experiences are drawn on as preservice teachers exert their identity-agency. The results of this study provide a relational picture of identity development highlighting the way in which identity-agency is contextualized, potentially nourished by the relationships between self and other and dependent on experience.

Relational work in multimodal networked interactions on Facebook

2018

Abstract The paper argues that the notion of Relational Work (Locher and Watts 2005) needs to be expanded to be able to account for sociability in the networked interactions afforded by social platforms such as Facebook. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore how the nature of networked interactions impacts the emergence of relational practices therein. Importantly, Relational Work is a language based framework whereas networked interactions are highly multimodal. By applying Norris’ (2004) multimodal framework to the analysis of a Facebook wall event, we show how key sociability functions are carried out by semiotic modes other than language. Furthermore, the analysis shows how relation…

ALR special issue: Visual methods in Applied Language Studies

2018

Abstract This introductory article serves two purposes. Firstly, it provides the background for the set of 11 articles that appear in the special issue of this journal and summarizes the articles along a number of dimensions. All the articles address aspects of multilingualism as subjectively experienced and they all make use of visual methodologies. Secondly, it subjects the articles to two meta-analyses. The first one compares and contrasts the studies by site: production, image and audiencing. The second one, in contrast, classifies the studies by the research strategy chosen by the researchers: looking, seeing or designing. The article concludes by pointing to future directions in resea…

The Metaphorical New Synthesis: Toward an Eco-Evolutionary Theory of Metaphors

2016

ABSTRACTMetaphors are a genuinely human construction. They are used to improve communication and they are a very powerful tool that might have an influence in human evolution. In this article I argue that metaphors, transformed in powerful memes, adapt to a new communicative niche and contribute to transform it. In order to prove this hypothesis, I study 319 cartoons published in the wake of the Germanwings air crash, where I inventory 144 metaphors. The study shows the conceptual metaphor evolution for a period of 2 weeks, and how the metaphors changed as a result of the variations in the communicative niche, becoming much more efficient communicatively.

Studying the visual and material dimensions of education and learning

2018

Looking towards the Future of Language Assessment: Usability of Tablet PCs in Language Testing

2016

[EN] This research addresses the change in how the Spanish University Entrance Examination can be delivered in the future. There is a wide acknowledgement that computer tests are very demanding for the delivering institutions which makes computer language testing difficult to implement. However, the use of tablet PCs can facilitate the delivery at even lower cost than the regular computer based language testing. 183 students in their last year of high school took a computer based language test which included reading, writing, listening and speaking. The research aspects were 1) whether they feel at ease with the tablet PC exam; 2) if they felt that visual aspects were accessible and 3) whet…