Search results for "second language"

Valuing Variability: Dynamic Usage-based Principles in the L2 Development of Four Finnish Language Learners

2020

The general aim of this study is to trace the second language (L2) development of four beginner learners of Finnish over one academic year from a dynamic usage-based perspective. Contrary to many previous studies, this study starts out from meanings, not forms. In other words, an onomasiological approach is adopted. The aim is to investigate what kind of constructions the learners use to express 1) evaluation and 2) existentiality. In line with a dynamic usage-based approach, the goal is to investigate three aspects of development: 1) the interaction between different linguistic means used to express a certain meaning and between the instruction and learning trajectories, 2) variability pat…

Language learning strategies and teaching practices in adult L2 education : The case of Swedish for Immigrants

2019

This article highlights the use and co-construction of language learning strategies (LLS) in second language education for adults with short previous education. In a case study, we explore how LLS are used and co-constructed by one student and one teacher. The data for the article was created in an action research programme comprising two Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) schools, and the methodology used was classroom observation based in linguistic ethnography. In accordance with Griffiths (2013, p. 15) LLS are defined as “activities consciously chosen by learners for the purpose of regulating their own language learning”. For the analysis of LLS, Oxford’s (1990) taxonomy was chosen. In the ch…

Facing EL teachers' burnout through motivation

2019

The educational institutions in many countries are faced with the  major problem of teacher burnout causing  high rates of  attrition and absenteeism. There is widespread agreement among researchers that  teacher burnout can effectively be countered through emphasis on  teacher motivation.  This article is about a 2-year qualitative research carried out by an English language teacher who focused on how to cope successfully with potential burnout conditions through a mutually reinforcing cycle of teacher and student motivation activated by the implementation of a Postmethod  emotion-focused pedagogical framework and the emphasis on the quality of life in the English classroom.

Learner identity in EFL: An analysis of digital texts of identity in higher education

2018

This study explores learner identity (LI) in digital texts of identity (DTI) produced by college learners in English as a foreign language (EFL). In so doing, it aims to shed light on learners’ connections of their learning experiences across time and settings, and their impact on the various learner identities that form their LI. It also intends to elucidate how learners construct powerful learner identities in and through their digital discourses. To this end, 51 DTI were collected and scrutinized, following studies on LI, critical and poststructuralist discourse analysis, and “thematic” and “dialogic/performative” analysis within narrative research. Learners established connections betwe…

Experimenting with computer conferencing in English for Academic Purposes

1995

Improving Textual Competence in a Second Language Initial Literacy Classroom

2019

The paper aims to illustrate some textual learning activities developed for an L2 Italian initial-literacy classroom, and, in particular, for illiterate plurilinguals (mostly unaccompanied foreign minors). The activities in question belong to an experimental proposal that consists of a specific textual teaching module integrated with a second-language initial literacy course employing the communicative/affective-humanistic teaching approach. Textual activities are normally proposed to intermediate and advanced level literacy learners in second- language classrooms, in order to fully develop reading and writing abilities (i.e. functional literacy). However, based on the importance of learner…

Understanding idioms : a comparison of Finnish third grade students of national senior secondary school and IB Diploma Programme

2006

Nominal Agreement in L2 Speakers of Italian: Suggestions for a Teaching Plan

2021

International audience; This paper addresses the topic of adult acquisition of nominal agreement in Italian, a crucial issue in teaching Italian as Second/Foreign Language. Building on a corpus containing spontaneous and semi-spontaneous production data from two advanced L2-speakers of Italian, I show that nominal agreement can be problematic even in the last stages of the acquisition process. The discussion of the instances of missing agreement in the corpus suggests that these are not due to a missing knowledge of the agreement rules in Italian, but instead on processing and production. In particular, some contexts prove to be more difficult than others: gender agreement (i.e., agreement …

Ragionando sull’insegnamento dell’italiano come lingua non materna

2014

Un’idea di lingua: modelli, teorie e prospettive acquisizionali

2014

La questione del dialogo e della concreta cooperazione tra didattica della L2 e linguistica acquisizionale resta – nella pratica delle classi più che nell’ambito della riflessione teorica – aperta. E resta aperta, se non addirittura problematica, tanto sul piano metodologico (che cosa deve fare un docente per migliorare le capacita naturali di acquisizione?), quanto su quello dei contenuti linguistici che dovrebbero essere parte attiva della competenza del docente (che cosa deve sapere un docente d’italiano come lingua non materna?). L’articolo focalizza l’attenzione sul profilo delle competenze teorico-linguistiche del docente d’italiano come lingua non materna, così come esso è delineato …