Search results for "language acquisition."
showing 10 items of 209 documents
Building blocks of fetal cognition: emotion and language
2010
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) can be effectively used to record fetal and neonatal cognitive abilities/functions by recording completely non-invasively the magnetic fields produced by the active neurons in the brain. During the last trimester and the first months of life, the cognitive capabilities related to emotion recognition and language acquisition develop rapidly. Latest research shows that already the newborn has advanced abilities related to processing emotional information and speech sounds. These abilities form the basis of the child's development towards mastering social tasks and native language. The possibilities of using fetal or neonatal MEG in studying these important abiliti…
Divu valodu salīdzinošā analīze bilingvāli runājošiem: franču un nūfu valodā
2022
Šis darbs sniedz atbildi uz problēmjautājumiem, kas rodas bilingvālajās kopienās visā pasaulē, lai parādītu valodu prakses ietekmi uz runātāja ikdienas dzīvi. Daudzvalodu valstīs, piemēram, Kamerūnā, kur valodu skaits sasniedz 250, bilingvāli runājošie, šajā gadījumā franču-nu'fī valodā runājošie, izjūt savas valodas lietošanas pozitīvu vai negatīvu ietekmi. Minētajā kontekstā bilingvālo prasmju lietošana nepaliek bez ietekmes uz runātāju. Viņi var izjust pozitīvu vai negatīvu kognitīvo ietekmi atkarībā no apgūtajām prasmēm. Ja kompetences līmenis ir ļoti zems, kognitīvai ietekmei ir apvērsuma efekts, ja kompetences līmenis abās valodās ir pietiekošs vai līdzvērtīgs, runātājs izjūt pozitīvu…
Similarities between Playing World of Warcraft and CLIL
2012
This article argues that playing World of Warcraft (WoW) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) have a number of similar features. We base our argument on findings from three studies. The first (Sylvén 2004/2010) is about CLIL and non-CLIL students at upper secondary level and aims to investigate what effect, if any, CLIL has on the incidental acquisition of vocabulary. The second (Sundqvist 2009) is about extramural English and aims to examine its potential impact on learners’ oral proficiency and vocabulary. Extramural English is broadly defined as any type of contact that learners have with English outside the classroom. The third is a joint study focusing on young learners …
Norwegian children's acquisition of the dialect feature r
2019
The pronunciation of r is a central dialect feature of Norwegian. The main division is between a front and a back pronunciation. The back realization is acquired relatively early (around age 4), while the front realization is one of the most problematic sounds to acquire, and substitution sounds are frequent. Using two data collection points, we show how four children learning Norwegian start by substituting r use of the r of their dialect area or idiolectal surroundings. The main argument of this article is that the r-development of kindergarten children is not only governed by rules on acquisition and development lines, but also by the sociolinguistic variation and use of r in the Norwegi…
Implicit learning and statistical learning: one phenomenon, two approaches.
2006
The domain-general learning mechanisms elicited in incidental learning situations are of potential interest in many research fields, including language acquisition, object knowledge formation and motor learning. They have been the focus of studies on implicit learning for nearly 40 years. Stemming from a different research tradition, studies on statistical learning carried out in the past 10 years after the seminal studies by Saffran and collaborators, appear to be closely related, and the similarity between the two approaches is strengthened further by their recent evolution. However, implicit learning and statistical learning research favor different interpretations, focusing on the forma…
A Collective Binomial Learning Methodology
2013
In second-language learning, learners frequently have a poor environment for speaking and hearing the target language. Learning efficiency is thus limited. We propose a methodology involving the creation of temporary social structures. Collective interactions fed back among individuals and environment are constructed on a computer and practiced in a real world. A dynamic learning system which coherently ties together the practitioner’s design, the learner’s performance and the researcher’s theories is possible. Our results call for language learning structures to include adaptive spoken structures, in contrast with existing educational systems.
Blending Literature and Foreign Language Learning: Current Approaches
2013
The aim of this chapter is to discuss the place of literature in foreign language learning and teaching contexts, and to show reasons of using literary texts for the development of communicative competence, intercultural communicative competence, and for individual as well as social human growth. Although literature and language teaching had been following separate paths, currently a strong tendency emerges of integrating language and literature teaching across proficiency levels. This tendency results from the recognition of the roles that literacy, multiliteracies and multimodality play in the life of humans in the 21st century. Respected bodies such as the Council of Europe or Modern Lan…
Why we need TI-Oriented Language Learning and Teaching
2021
The teaching of foreign languages to students in Translation and Interpreting (TI) programmes should be framed within the field of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP). This would make it possible to pinpoint specific curricular content and methodological traits that contribute to the enhancement of the communicative competence and initial development of TI competences. This paper analyses the students’ perspectives on L2 teaching in a TI programme and how it should be undertaken to best comply with the linguistic demands imposed by translation and interpreting. A thematic analysis of 117 open questionnaires returned by students from Austria, Slovenia and Spain identified five areas to whic…
Practice and assessment of oral skills in developing online preparatory materials through the InGenio authoring shell
2012
The practice of oral skills is a basic requirement of learning or teaching a new language, as one of the main goals in the field of language learning is developing oral communicative competence, especially needed in contexts where the students¿ L2 is the vehicular language and therefore the main means of interaction. The InGenio online authoring tool allows designers of new materials, as well as language teachers and students, to rethink and imagine new ways of dealing with practice and assessment of listening and speaking skills thanks to the flexibility of its templates, resources and tools. This article explores the ways in which the InGenio utilities, solutions and learning materials ar…
“Too much grammar will kill you!” Teaching Spanish as a foreign language in Norway: What teachers say about grammar teaching
2019
Exam results show that many Norwegian students lack communicative competence in their second foreign language. This study investigates Spanish language instruction in Norway, in particular Spanish teachers’ opinions about grammar teaching, and why and how grammar is taught in lower and upper secondary school. Furthermore, the study explores whether common grammar teaching approaches are primarily explicit (rules provided) or implicit (rules not provided), inductive (language first) or deductive (rules first), and whether the language of instruction is primarily Norwegian or Spanish. The data comprise interviews with teachers and classroom observations, as well as teaching plans and other ma…