There are many different perceptions when it comes to teachers’ instructional language choice in the EFL classroom. Some argue for maximum use of the target language while others believe that judicious use of the L1 can benefit the students’ second language learning. The aim of this study is to investigate what research says about teachers’ target language use and first language use in upper level EFL classrooms, as well as teachers’ attitudes and beliefs regarding the choice of instructional language. The findings from this systematic literature review show that teachers mainly used L1 to save time, to explain grammar and vocabulary and to create a positive classroom atmosphere. Furthermore, the results also showed that teachers’ choice to use L1 heavily depended on students’ level of proficiency. Lastly, the results indicate that teachers not always use the L1 for pedagogical reasons, but in many cases for pragmatical reasons, individual beliefs and out of concern for students’ well-being.

Due to the fact that adolescents are familiar with so many different media and technology resources today, learning in a conventional way is no longer effective. The aim for this literature review was to analyse what research shows about the use of film as a teaching tool in English to develop students’ linguistic and critical thinking skills in upper secondary EFL classrooms. The results disclosed that film can improve students’ linguistic skills and critical thinking. One reason for this is that film is already such a large part of students’ lives and provides a meaningful and familiar context for them and that film offers visual support. Studentsʼ felt motivated to see and experience “real-life” situations as opposed to reading the conventional textbook. Interaction between the students also proved to be vital in developing their language skills. Results also showed that it is imperative that teachers present film not only as a tool of entertainment, but one for teaching as well. This can be done by creating contextualized assignments related to the film. The literature review concluded that there are gaps in knowledge of this subject and that further research is desirable.

<p>Today English is a world language; it is spoken by millions both as first and second language almost all over the world. The varieties best known to Swedish pupils are the varieties British and American English. Another variety of English, which is spoken by both native and non-native speakers, is a mixture of British English and American English called Mid-Atlantic English. As long as the English language has been a part of the Swedish curriculum, the leading variety taught has been British English, but lately American English has influenced Swedish teenagers because of its prominent status in media. Since both British English and American English are used in Swedish schools, different attitudes can be perceived among pupils and teachers towards these two varieties. The aim of this paper is to determine if Swedish pupils are using British or American English or if they mix these two varieties. Attitudes and prejudice amongst pupils and their teachers towards these two varieties are looked into as well as whether the pupils speak the variety of English they claim they speak. The question of why the pupils speak the variety they do is also investigated. The results show that most pupils mix British and American English and that American English features predominate in the mix. According to this investigation, teachers and pupils find British English to be a bit “snobbish” while American English can sound a bit “cocky” to them. This investigation concludes that the two major influences on the pupils are their teachers and different kind of media.</p>

<p>In Brazil, English is studied from first grade of elementary school. For some reason after eleven years of study, students in general have problems communicating orally and in writing. Swedish students, on the other hand, seem to be able to communicate quite proficiently in English, even though it is also considered to be foreign language learning. The purpose of this comparative study is to discover what differs in the Brazilian and Swedish learning and teaching that makes the Swedish results superior. The purpose was to compare English learning as a foreign language in Sweden and in Brazil, and questionnaires were distributed to teacher and students. Of the many possibilities raised as hypotheses for the effective English learning in Sweden, teacher’s educational background, working hours per week, number of students per teacher, were found to be more problematic in Brazil, according to the teachers’ questionnaire. When it comes to students, it appears that Brazilian students show a lack of commitment to their learning tasks and awareness of the importance of learning English. In addition, several social aspects have to be taken into account when judging the educational situation of a country, but the importance of a good education can never be overlooked.</p>

This dissertation investigates the relationship between Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and language-learning approaches. In this sense, Language Learning Autonomy (LLA) seems to be the most preferred candidate by researchers in order to become the suitable approach in order to make the most out of technology (Blin, 1999; Little, 2001; Littlemore, 2003; The European Directorate General of Education and Culture, 2003; sanz, 2003; Villanueva, 2003). The increasing research on this specific field and the theoretical reflections derived from it over the last decade constitutes the framework of our study. Following previous studies (Beatty, 2003; Chapelle, 2003; Alessi, 2001; Marqués, 1995, 2001; Rushby, 1997; Shin and Wastell, 1998; Blin, 1999; Holliday, 1999; Hoven, 1997, 1999; Murray, 1998; Sanz, 2003), the aim of the present study is to examine to what extent an approach to language learning autonomy from a socioconstructivist perspective can effectively inform the design of a specific language learning package taht promotes both autonomising behaviours and positive attitudes in learners. With these reflections in mind, three aspects underline the present study, namely 1) the need to carry out qualitative studies in order to inform a theoretical framework for CALL development, 2) the need to focus on the relationship between CALL and LLA and 3) the need to examine the "teachibility"of learner autonomy by means of a language learning package designed for this specific purpose. This context motivated the following actions: 1) to design a pilot application based upon autonomising criteria (TADLA: Technology Applied to the Development of Learner Autonomy); 2) to test this design with learners with a specific learner style regarding their learner autonomy degree. And finally 3) to compare the results obtained in the tests of other language learning package (Communicate and Connect, 2003).The results obtained in the case-study confirm that the criteria upon which the design of TADLA is based could be considered the requirements that enable the integration of autonomising strategies within the learning activities. In this sense, attention to learning styles, implementation of authentic materials, the possibility of transfer and a discursive approach among others are suitable criteria for the development of attitudes that could lead to a later development of learner autonomy.

The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the educational games as a technique in the preschool-level English vocabulary learning of four year-olds. A true-experimental study design, specifically randomized pre-test, post-test control group design, was adopted. The sample was 33 private preschool children who were four years old. There were 17 females and 16 males in total. Data collection instrument was the 24-item English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Vocabulary Performance checklist prepared in accordance with the Total Physical Response (TPR) lessons&rsquo / content by the researcher. A pilot study, reliability and validity checks were done. In a four-week period, totally 24 vocabulary items were presented with picture cards by using Total Physical Response Method to both groups. In the experimental group, picture vocabulary games were used additionally while the control group did not receive picture vocabulary games. At the end, independent-samples t-test was conducted and the results indicated a significant difference in English Vocabulary achievement in favor of the experimental group which was taught by the educational picture vocabulary games with a large effect size. In addition, whether or not there was a gender effect on learning vocabularies of English as a foreign language with picture vocabulary games in the experimental group and without picture vocabulary games in the control group was investigated by means of t-tests. As a result, non-significant gender effect was found for both experimental and control group in learning English vocabulary. Upon understanding the remarkable effectiveness of the picture vocabulary games on English language learning for four year-olds, it can be implied that more picture vocabulary games should be devised for very young learners by the experts for the classroom use and the number of the books about educational vocabulary games should be increased. Furthermore, policy makers ought to prepare English as a foreign language curriculum including games for early childhood education programs, and integrate a new course about teaching English to very young learners into foreign language teacher training and education programs of the universities for pre-service teachers in the scope of a national foreign language policy.

Information Technology (IT) has been integrated in many foreign-language classrooms for some decades now. However, one of the many questions related to IT at school is whether it is beneficial for students and, if yes, in what way. This study compares two different teaching approaches in the English classroom in a Swedish secondary school. A digital approach and a traditional approach were tested during some teaching sessions, where two groups of students were compared to gauge the possible influence of IT on performance. In addition, questionnaires were administered to the students in order to measure their opinion of IT use in general and whether they find it motivating in class. The results suggest that a digital approach can boost performance and create more positive attitudes among the students than the more traditional approach.

Teachers undergo changes in their beliefs, knowledge and practices on an individual level as they learn how to teach. If society undergoes significant change, as Hong Kong did during the transition from British to Chinese rule in 1997, then social groups within society such as teachers are likely to react to change in different and complex ways. The purpose of this investigation is to exam.ine the changes experienced by teachers of English in Hong Kong, with a focus on teachers who received their teacher preparation at one Hong Kong institution during the final years leading up to the transition. The educational, linguistic, social and political context of Hong Kong is first described through a study of the research literature and a number of theories and models of change are presented through which the findings of the investigation are analysed. The main sources of data for the investigation consist of questionnaire responses, interview transcriptions and lesson observation reports of trainee English teachers during and after graduation from a BA course in TESL at a Hong Kong university. The main conclusions of the investigation are: (i) Educational issues and particularly those affecting ELT became more high-profile and politicised in the lead up to and after the changeover. (ii) English teachers in Hong Kong experience conflict between their desired approaches and the realities and constraints of the Hong Kong teaching context. These constraints provide a common justification for lack of innovative behaviour and make it possible for teachers to put off being innovative in the classroom indefinitely. (iii) At the same time, English teachers in Hong Kong are becoming more empowered within the educational system in reaction to challenges to their competency and as they have realised that they can affect educational policy through individual and collective action. The findings suggest that colonial discourses as documented by Pennycook (1998) of English language teaching still persist in Hong Kong, as they have been shown to do in other post-colonial societies, and Hong Kong is undergoing a post-handover period of change as it struggles to synthesise the educational legacies of the colonial period with new initiatives adopted to address Hong Kong's changing educational and social needs. The results of the research are developed into an original model of the factors impacting English language education in Hong Kong. The generic model is then elaborated in two versions, one of which applies before the changeover and the other after it.

Submitted by TAMIRIS DESTRO COSTA null (ta.dc@hotmail.com) on 2018-01-17T18:45:55Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TAMIRIS DESTRO COSTA DISSERTAÇÃO MESTRADO.pdf: 2780204 bytes, checksum: 28025dd7c6d56859f519bd486e58fc15 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Aline Aparecida Matias null (alinematias@fclar.unesp.br) on 2018-01-18T10:56:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 costa_td_me_arafcl.pdf: 2780204 bytes, checksum: 28025dd7c6d56859f519bd486e58fc15 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-18T10:56:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 costa_td_me_arafcl.pdf: 2780204 bytes, checksum: 28025dd7c6d56859f519bd486e58fc15 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-26 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / No contexto de ensino e aprendizagem de língua inglesa para aprendizes brasileiros, nota-se que o foco de ensino ainda é centrado em questões gramaticais e lexicais, sendo o aspecto fônico, fundamental para uma produção de fala fluida e sem ruídos, muitas vezes facultado ou abordado de forma inadequada em sala de aula. Isto ocorre, por conta, principalmente, da falta de formação e de conhecimentos específicos dos professores em relação aos aspectos articulatórios e acústicos da língua materna (doravante LM) do estudante e da língua estrangeira (doravante LE). Considerando as várias diferenças nos níveis segmental e prosódico e os âmbitos acústico e articulatório entre ambas as línguas, o presente trabalho aborda uma intervenção didática para aprimorar a pronúncia em língua inglesa de estudantes de graduação em Letras de uma universidade pública do interior do Estado de São Paulo e investigar a produção dos sons vocálicos da língua inglesa /i:/ e /ɪ/ desses estudantes pré e pós essa intervenção por meio de um experimento de natureza fonético-acústica. A inexistência da distinção entre /i:/ e /ɪ/ na língua portuguesa pode resultar em dificuldades na percepção desses sons vocálicos em língua inglesa e, consequentemente, na sua produção, trazendo possíveis problemas de inteligibilidade e, em alguns casos, de fossilização para os aprendizes. Portanto, seu tratamento em sala de aula é fundamental. Para a realização de uma análise mais específica da aquisição e aprendizagem de sons da LE, baseamo-nos nos conceitos de “Surdez Fonológica” de Polivanov (1931) e de “Crivo Fonológico” de Trubetzkoy (1939), além de considerarmos o “Modelo de Aprendizagem da Fala” de Flege (1981, 1991, 1995). Ademais, fez-se o uso da plataforma PRAAT como auxílio na gravação e análise da produção de nossos aprendizes. Por meio deste estudo, esperamos proporcionar os saberes necessários para que os envolvidos e demais interessados no tema possam perceber as diferenças nos níveis segmentais e suprassegmentais entre a LE e a LM, com o intuito de refletirem de maneira mais aprofundada acerca de sua percepção e produção do aspecto fônico na língua alvo. / In the context of teaching and learning the English language for Brazilian learners, it is noted that the educational focus is still centered on grammatical and lexical issues, and the phonic aspect, essential for fluid speech production and no disturbance, is often provided or approached inappropriately in class. This occurs, mainly due to the lack of training and expertise of teachers in relation to the articulatory and acoustic aspects of the student’s mother tongue and his/her foreign language. Considering the various differences between the segmental and prosodic levels and the acoustic and articulatory levels of the two languages, this paper approaches a didactic intervention to improve the English language pronunciation of undergraduate students in Language and Literature in a public university in the state of São Paulo. It also investigates the production of the English vowel sounds /i:/ e /ɪ/ of these students pre and post this intervention by means of an acoustic-phonetic experiment. The nonexistence of the distinction between /i:/ e /ɪ/ in Portuguese may result in difficulties in the perception of these vowel sounds in English, and consequently in their production, contributing to possible intelligibility problems and, in some cases, fossilization for the learners, thus its treatment in the classroom is essential. To conduct a more specific analysis of acquisition and learning sounds of a foreign language, we rely on the concepts of "Phonological Deafness" of Polivanov (1931) and "Phonological Sieve" of Trubetzkoy (1939), and consider the "Speech Learning Model" of Flege (1981, 1991, 1995). In addition, we used the PRAAT platform to aid in the recording and analysis of the learners’ production. Through this study, we hope to provide the necessary knowledge for all parties and others interested in the subject so that they can perceive differences in segmental and prosodic levels between the foreign language and the mother tongue. Moreover, we aim to provide tools for them to reflect deeply about their perception and production of the phonic aspect of the target language. / 164816/2015-1

The objective of the thesis was twofold. Firstly, to map the situation in one-year post- secondary courses of English organised by private language schools in the Czech Republic and to recommend teaching methods and materials suitable for the given age group and the aims of the courses. Secondly, to outline the legislation regulating this form of study and in view of the recent legislative changes to compile a set of arguments for preserving the student status for the course participants. The first part of the thesis summarizes the lingvodidactic principles of teaching English as a foreign language with respect to the specific characteristics of learners between 19 and 22 years of age. It also presents a brief overview of the historical development of teaching methods as a background to the methodology applicable to post-secondary courses and provides a basis for textbook evaluation and selection. In the empirical part of the thesis the organization of post-secondary courses at three private language schools was contrasted and two sets of questionnaires completed by their students were analysed. Based on the conclusions drawn in the theoretical background as well as on the output of the questionnaires the contemporary approach of principled eclecticism was recommended as the most suitable...