Search results for "foreign language education"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
Raising awareness of multilingualism as lived – in the context of teaching English as a foreign language
2020
Tässä artikkelissa esitellään mahdollisuuksia herätellä kielen oppijoiden kieli- ja kulttuuritietoisuutta. Esitellyt mahdollisuudet pohjautuvat 24 empiirisen tutkimuksen kriittiseen arviointiin. Tutkimuksissa käytettiin kuvataiteisiin pohjautuvia visuaalisia menetelmiä. Tällaisten menetelmien avulla on mahdollista pohtia aikaisempia kokemuksia tai kuvitella tulevaisuutta ja näin reflektoida erilaisia monikielisyyden kokemuksia. Näitä voivat olla identiteetin rakentumiseen liittyvät kysymykset, käsitykset eri kielten käytöstä tai tulevaisuuden unelmat. Arviointimme perusteella esitämme, että niitä tehtäviä, joita käytettiin tutkimuksissa, voidaan soveltaa eri tavoin erilaisille vieraan kiele…
Investigating Syntactic Complexity in EFL Learners' Writing across Common European Framework of Reference Levels A1, A2, and B1
2019
Abstract The study investigates the linguistic basis of Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels in English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ writing. Specifically, it examines whether CEFR levels can be distinguished with reference to syntactic complexity (SC) and whether the results differ between two groups of EFL learners with different first languages (Sindhi and Finnish). This sheds light on the linguistic comparability of the CEFR levels across L1 groups. Informants were teenagers from Pakistan (N = 868) and Finland (N = 287) who wrote the same argumentative essay that was rated on a CEFR-based scale. The essays were analysed for 28 SC indices with the L2 Syntactic Co…
Towards a fun and playful model for young children's foreign language learning
2017
This thesis proposes a model for young children's foreign language learning with a focus on fun and playfulness as well as emotional needs. The model is based on a wide range of literature on children's development, education, and foreign language learning specifically. Foreign language teachers are surveyed to discover their current practices. This data is analysed and compared to the proposed model. The study finds many teachers already follow many of the principles of the proposed model in their everyday practice. The use of fun activities as well as an awareness of learners' emotions are prevalent. Communication and technical aspects of language are also major themes common across teach…
A Design-Oriented Analysis of Multimodality in English as a Foreign Language
2018
This empirical article investigates multimodality in English as a foreign language, both as seen in the use of multimodal texts as artefacts and pedagogical texts for learning, and through an analysis of the multimodal learning designs. We present observations from a year 10 classroom in Norway that worked with the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Alexie, 2007). We explore a four-week teaching sequence, asking how different modes were involved when the educator designed literacy events around the novel, and how multimodality is present in the students’ meaning making. Our aim is to make explicit and discuss some of the silent literacy practices in English teaching at l…
Being a good neighbour: developing intercultural understanding through critical dialogue between an Australian and Finnish cross-case study
2020
Language educators in Australia and Finland are expected to foster intercultural understanding within foreign language education. This paper presents findings from a qualitative case study focusing on theoretical and practical intercultural understanding in secondary school language education. The data for this study includes lesson observations as well as student and teachers interviews collected in two secondary schools in Australia and Finland. The findings demonstrate the complex resources teachers and students draw on to develop and share intercultural understanding. The discussion addresses the value of different perspectives and the need for a new metaphor to conceptualise intercultu…
Teacher attitudes and use of stories and storytelling in Finnish foreign language education
2016
Tarinat ja tarinankerronta ovat keskeisiä käsitteitä kielen tutkimuksessa ja kielten ilmenemisessä jokapäiväisessä elämässä. Rakenteena tarinat näkyvät paitsi kulttuurissamme ja historiassamme, myös sosiaalisissa kanssakäymisissämme ja siinä miten jäsennämme tietoa. Tarinoilla ja tarinankerronalla on myös perinteisesti ollut keskeinen rooli opetuksessa jossa niiden käytön on havaittu tuovan monia hyötyjä. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoitus on selvittää kuinka tämä teoreettinen tietämyksemme tarinoiden hyödyistä opetuskontekstissa heijastuu käytännön toimintaan ja ajatteluun suomalaisten vieraiden kielten opettajien keskuudessa. Kyselylomake lähetettiin sähköpostin välityksellä 25:lle vieraankielen…