O presente estudo se propõe a apresentar um panorama do ensino de língua japonesa no mundo através dos dados estatísticos produzidos pela Fundação Japão, e situar o ensino de língua japonesa no Brasil dentro do contexto mundial. Serão apresentados também dados de acesso às novas tecnologias de informação e comunicação, base para o acesso aos instrumentos de ensino-aprendizagem da língua. Tanto os dados de ensino como os de acesso serão correlacionados a dados de base econômica, pois esta ainda é a peça fundamental para a tomada de decisões nas sociedades contemporâneas. Em seguida será feita uma breve exposição sobre os recursos (físicos, digitais, humanos e sociais) necessários para o acesso e uso significativo da rede e sobre o e-learning e os mitos relacionados à sua aplicação e função. Também será apresentado o quadro de macroestratégias que propõe práticas de ensino-aprendizagem que valorizem sobretudo as experiências locais engajadas e emancipadoras. Por fim, pretende-se esboçar algumas sugestões de como a tecnologia poderia ser empregada no ensino de língua japonesa dentro do contexto brasileiro, para o estabelecimento de uma rede colaborativa de criação e compartilhamento de conteúdo e desenvolvimento de habilidades que respeite as diferenças individuais de estudantes e professores e que possam emancipá-los para novos tipos de interações sociais/virtuais mais significativas e prazerosas, o que não quer dizer que sejam menos trabalhosas. / This study aims to present a panorama of Japanese language teaching around the world through the statistical data, produced by the Japan Foundation, and to place Japanese language teaching in Brazil within the world context. Data on access to new information and communication technologies will also be presented, which is the basis for access to language teaching and learning instruments. Both teaching and access data will be correlated with data of economic base, since this is still the fundamental piece for decision making in contemporary societies. Afterwards, a brief presentation will be made on the resources (physical, digital, human and social), necessary for access and significant use of the network and on e-learning, and the myths related to its application and function. It will also be presented the framework of macrostrategies that proposes practices of teaching and learning that value especially the local experiences engaged and emancipating. Finally, it is intended to outline some suggestions of how technology could be used in Japanese language teaching within the Brazilian context, for the establishment of a collaborative network for the creation and sharing of content and skills development that respects students and teachers individual differences, and that can emancipate them to new types of social and virtual interactions that are more meaningful and enjoyable, which is not to say less laborious.

Le monde, depuis des millénaires, est bâti sur les fondations de sociétés bilingues. Or, ce « parler multiple » semble depuis toujours être source de conflit. Loin d’être considéré comme une richesse, le bilinguisme (ou plurilinguisme) semble plutôt représenter un problème auquel on tâcherait de trouver une solution. « La multiplicité » dit Louis-Jean Calvet (1999), « est chose mauvaise, on lui préfère de façon toute jacobine un bon gros Etat monolingue bien cerné dans ses frontières politiques et linguistiques ».La région caraïbe occupe une place tout à fait intéressante sur cette scène en perpétuel mouvement qu’est la mondialisation. Ces pays/îles doivent continuellement chercher l’équilibre entre appartenance locale, régionale et internationale, grand nombre d’entre eux luttant toujours aujourd’hui pour concilier leur statut d’anciennes colonies et le rythme rapide de la mondialisation. Cette thèse porte sur la place des langues vivantes dans les écoles du premier degré à la Martinique et à la Dominique et sur les enjeux d’un enseignement bilingue pour ces deux îles qui appartiennent à la fois à la Caraïbe et au monde. Nous proposons, dans un premier temps, une étude de la situation actuelle de l’enseignement des langues dans les deux îles : quelles sont les politiques linguistiques dans les deux contextes? Dans quelle mesure sont-elles mises en œuvre? L’enseignement des langues répond-il aux exigences des textes officiels ? Les politiques linguistiques sont-elles adaptées aux réalités sociolinguistiques de ces îles ? Dans un deuxième temps, nous interrogeons la possibilité d’un enseignement bilingue dès l’école préélémentaire dans les îles de la Martinique et de la Dominique et nous expérimentons des approches d’enseignement des langues en milieu institutionnel et en contexte périscolaire. Nous nous interrogeons sur des modes de fonctionnement différents : ne pourrait-on pas imaginer d’autres manières de faire ? Que pouvons-nous proposer comme solutions complémentaires et/ou alternatives à l’existant ?Enfin, dans un troisième temps, dans une perspective plus globale, nous posons la question de l’éducation bilingue, par une approche comparée, en analysant les faits éducatifs dans deux systèmes différents et en nous intéressant à la question de l’altérité. La compréhension de l’Autre peut-elle améliorer l’existant dans le cas de la Martinique et de la Dominique ? Nous revenons ainsi à la question de l’intérêt et des enjeux d’une comparaison de l’enseignement des langues dans ces deux systèmes, en prenant en compte les identités locales, régionales et internationales à travers des analyses historiques et sociolinguistiques. A la suite de cette analyse, nous faisons des propositions concrètes en faveur d’un enseignement bilingue intégré dans ces deux îles. Ces propositions concernent les domaines tels que la didactique, la planification en éducation et le curriculum bilingue, la formation des enseignants et la politique linguistique de la Caraïbe. Notre question centrale est la suivante : comment enseigner aujourd’hui pour mieux préparer les citoyens caribéens au monde de demain ? / The Caribbean region occupies an interesting space in the perpetually changing scene of globalisation. Caribbean countries or islands must continually seek to balance their sense of belonging to a local, regional and international community. This is sometimes a difficult task as any of them are still fighting to balance their evolution as old colonies with the fast pace of globalisation in a new world.This thesis focuses on language teaching at primary level in the islands of Martinique and Dominica. It examines the many issues surrounding language teaching and questions the role of bilingual education in the development of these two Caribbean islands as they evolve within the Caribbean and the world. Firstly, we propose a careful study of the current situation of language teaching in Martinique and Dominica. What are the language policies of these islands? How and to what extent are they implemented? Does language teaching truly reflect the objectives of official texts? Are the present language policies adapted to the sociolinguistic reality of each island?Secondly, we raise the question as to the possibility of the implementation of bilingual education at the pre-primary level in the islands of Martinique and Dominica. We examine the question through the experimenting of different language teaching methods within a school setting and as part of an extracurricular bilingual program. Can we envision alternative approaches to the present situation? What complementary or alternative solutions can we propose to improve on what already exists?Lastly, we look at the subject from an overall perspective and we address the question of bilingual education. We analyse how comparative education, the study of other education systems and the understanding of others play a major role in developing solutions to present day situations. This analysis takes into account issues relating to local, regional and international identities through a study of the historical and sociolinguistic context of the islands of Dominica and Martinique.Based on our analysis and on the literature, we put forward concrete proposals for holistic bilingual education on the islands of Martinique and Dominica. These proposals focus on areas such as language teaching pedagogy, education planning, the bilingual curriculum, teacher training, and language policy for the Caribbean. The main question underlying this thesis is: how do we teach today to better prepare Caribbean citizens for the world of tomorrow?

Workplace English skills for Grade 9 languages in C21 argues that a most valuable contribution of any educational programme in a developing country is the imparting of (English) workplace skills to school-leavers. The Introduction ascribes, in part, the current lack of these skills in school-leavers to (British) colonial education policy which was perpetuated and aggravated by the National Party during the apartheid era and which distinguished, on racial grounds, between mental and manual labour. During South Africa’s international isolation – imposed because of its policy of apartheid and leaving it unprepared for major global economic changes – globalisation became a significant force in international commerce, creating an increased demand for workplace skills (in English) that could attract foreign capital and direct investment. The newly elected ruling party’s answer to both the socio-political and educational legacy of apartheid education was Curriculum 2005. In contrast to the National Party’s content-based curriculum, the newer outcomes-based approach to education, revised as C21, initially failed because of poor management and not because of any inherent conceptual flaws. The research methodology that Chapter One outlines is essentially traditional in its use of the scientific method although it reflects the changing face of contemporary research that is often transdisciplinary, heterogeneous, heterarchical, organisationally transient, socially accountable and reflexive. This approach enlists input from many fields and subject experts in the hope of addressing a problem in the community in which the research is conducted. The literature survey shows that this thesis contributes to the corpus of research by exploring the need and relevance of workplace skills in the context of Curriculum 2005 – an approach hitherto not explored in the context of secondary education. Chapter One also outlines the theoretical base of this study. Chapter Two focuses on resolving conceptual obstacles to integrating workplace skills into the outcomes-based language teaching context. Work is described as a phenomenon that comprises both process and product, thus bridging the conceptual chasm that traditionally separates the classroom from the workplace. A brief overview of the structure of Curriculum 2005/C21 shows that this curriculum does not conflict, conceptually, with the teaching of workplace skills. The focus then shifts to the identification of those workplace and workplace literacy skills that are currently in demand and that are in harmony with the fundamental principles of this curriculum design. Chapter Three illustrates the fact that workplace skills do not conflict with generally accepted communicative principles of language teaching. A tentative theory of workplace skills that comprises the principles of the newest curriculum, Curriculum 2005, workplace skills and communicative and task-based English language teaching is proposed. Chapter Four offers a model that can be used to design workplace literacy activities for the language classroom. Two tasks are designed according to this model, then tested in the classroom and, finally, subjected to analysis. The data analysis reveals certain weaknesses in the model. Changes to the model are proposed. The study closes with a synopsis of the argument in each chapter. Finally, the evaluation also briefly describes alternative research avenues. / Thesis (Doctor Litterarum (English))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / English / unrestricted

The present study examines and classifies learning activities found in teaching materials of Spanish as a foreign language produced for a Swedish context with the aim of determining to what extent they conform to the functional, action-oriented language view advocated by the Swedish curriculum. Both the distribution of learning activities within receptive, productive and interactive skills, the activity types within each skill, and the theoretical underpinnings of the activities have been studied in four popular coursebooks and two websites for teaching Spanish as a foreign language. The activities analyzed have shown a dominance of the written language even in oral activities. The results have also shown a bias towards more controlled, non-communicative activities with an explicit focus on forms at the expense of freer communicative activities with a primary focus on meaning, known to support language acquisition.

The fact that people tend to alternate between languages for various communicative purposes seems to increasingly interest researchers all over the world. Thus, the linguistic phenomenon of codeswitching has been given more academic attention in recent years than ever before. This particular topic has also been infused by new research because of an ongoing pedagogic debate about whether languages other than the target language should be used in foreign languages classroom or not. The debate consists of two major opinions. On one side, adherents claim that use of non-target languages limits natural target language-input and therefore damages the learning process. On the other, it is argued that non-target languages may even be beneficial for the learning process since they carry many pedagogic opportunities with them otherwise gone lost. This paper aims to find out how, and to what extent, foreign language teachers at a Swedish for Immigrants-school codeswitch into English in class. Moreover, it is also of interest to investigate how they think about their own codeswitching and how their reasoning may reflect their codeswitching self-awareness. In search for answers to these questions, three teachers have been observed in class. Later, the teachers have been interviewed to reflect upon their own codeswitching. The study revealed clear differences in the teachers’ codeswitching and codeswitching-reasoning, However, similarities were also found, and that all three teachers shared the main objective to develop their students’ communicative competence. Moreover, they also proved to have a rather realistic picture their own codeswitching. Not only were they able to roughly estimate how, and how much, they each codeswitched. Their individual results also went in line with their reasoning to a high extent, suggesting that they all have a high degree of codeswitching self-awareness.

Studiens syfte var att belysa vilka möjligheter förlagsproducerade läromedel för engelskämnet ger eleverna att utveckla sin kommunikativa kompetens i linje med läroplanens intentioner. För att uppfylla detta syfte ställdes två forskningsfrågor: hur möjligheten att öva de fyra förmåg­orna för språkinlärning fördelas i förlagsproducerade läromedel och på vilka sätt ut­veckling av elev­ernas kommunikativa kompetens möjliggörs i läromedlen. Sammanlagt nio textböcker och nio övningsböcker för årskurserna 4–6 från tre olika läromedelsserier (Skills, Sparks och Join the Quest) ingick i studien. Studiens metod var en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med kvantitativa in­slag. Övningarna kategoriserades efter vilken/vilka av de fyra förmågorna som övades och på vilket sätt förmågan övades (mekaniskt, meningsfullt eller kommunikativt). Resultatet visade att hörförståelse är den förmåga som får minst utrymme i alla tre läromedels­serier och i två av tre läromedelsserier övas hörförståelse inte en gång i ett kommunikativt syfte genom årskurs 4–6. Vissa läromedelsserier erbjuder eleverna mer kommuni­kativ övning av för­mågorna, medan vissa erbjuder mindre. En av de tre läromedelsserierna visar även på brister med att möjliggöra utveckling av de två potentiellt viktigaste förmågorna, hör­förståelse och den muntliga förmå­gan, i ett kommunikativt syfte. / The aim of this study was to illustrate the possibility of developing communicative competence with the help of English language teaching materials for grades 4-6. Two research questions were asked to fulfill the aim of the study: how the opportunity to develop the four language skills are distributed in commercial English language teaching materials and in what way dev­elopment of communicative competence is facilitated by using these teaching materials. A total of nine textbooks and nine exercise books for grades 4-6 from three different series (Skills, Sparks and Join the Quest) were included in this study. The methodological approach of this study was a qualitative content analysis with quantitative features. The exercises were catego­rized based on which of the four language skills that were practiced and how they were practiced (mechanical, meaningful, or communicative exercises). The result showed that listening comp­rehension is the least focused skill in all three series. In two out of three series, listening compre­hension is not practiced in a communicative way in either of the grades. Some series contain more communicative language exercises, while some contain less. One of the three series also shows shortcomings when it comes to developing the two potentially most important skills, listening comprehension and the oral skill, in a communicative way.

Studiens syfte var att ta reda på huruvida undervisningsmetoder för att utveckla elevernas muntliga, kommunikativa förmågor skulle vara synliga vid observationer av två lärares engelskundervisning i årskurs 4. Syftet var även att genom intervjuer få kunskap om de undervisande lärarnas syn på att utveckla elevernas förmåga att muntligt kommunicera på engelska och om deras arbetssätt innehöll aktiviteter för att främja denna utveckling. Resultatet visade att det fanns flera faktorer som inverkade på möjligheterna att anamma ett kommunikativt arbetssätt i klassrummet men att båda lärare ställde sig positiva till att använda dessa arbetsmetoder för att lära ut engelska.

L2 listening research has moved toward a focus on understanding the process of listening. However, there are still few detailed studies of L2 listening that reveal learners’ comprehension processes when listening to scripted and unscripted listening texts. Studies in which such processing has been discussed have lacked detailed diagnoses of how bottom-up and top-down processing interactively affect listeners’ comprehension. This study was designed to show how listeners’ process and comprehend texts, with a focus on how their bottom-up and top-down processing either assist or impede their comprehension. In this study, a group of 30 L1 Japanese university English language learners’ listening abilities were diagnosed. The 30 participants were at three listening proficiency levels—high, mid, and low—based on TOEIC listening proficiency scores. The diagnostic procedure involved participants listening to two scripted and two unscripted listening texts and then reporting what they comprehended through three tasks—L1 oral recalls, L2 repetitions, and verbal reports. Other data was also collected in the study to relate the comprehension of listening texts to other important listening-related variables including listening proficiency, lexical knowledge, listening anxiety, study abroad experience, short-term phonological memory, and working memory. The main finding of the study was that miscomprehension of listening texts was invariably multi-causal, with a combination of both bottom-up and top-down factors leading to comprehension difficulty. Although not a new finding, the study offered more detail than current research about how bottom-up and top-down processing occur interactively. Regarding the overall difficulty of the listening texts, unscripted texts were more difficult to comprehend than scripted texts, and high-proficiency participants had fewer listening difficulties overall than mid- and low-proficiency participants. Quantitative and qualitative results revealed common processing difficulties among all participants due to L1-related phonological decoding issues (e.g., /l/ vs. /r/), connected speech, unknown lexis, and a lack of familiarity with unscripted speech hesitation phenomena (e.g., um, like). Qualitative transcript examples showed how top-down knowledge influenced misinterpretations of words and phrases interactively with bottom-up information, making inaccurate understandings of listening difficult to overcome. In addition to revealing participants’ difficulties and the severity of their comprehension difficulties, the diagnostic procedure showed common strengths—key words and phrases understood well by participants. High-frequency vocabulary and shorter utterances were both shown to be comprehended well. Finally, quantitative results in the study revealed relationships of participants’ listening comprehension with other important listening related variables. Listening proficiency and listening anxiety had strong relationships with listening comprehension of the listening texts. Working memory and short-term phonological memory had no relationship with listening text comprehension. Finally, study abroad experience showed a relationship with comprehension, but with many caveats, and listening vocabulary knowledge was not related with comprehension, but again, with numerous caveats to consider. Based on the results, theoretical and pedagogical implications were posed. Theoretical implications from the study relate to the understanding of four concerns in L2 listening research. Mainly, data in the study will aid researchers’ understanding of how L2 English listeners process speech interactively (i.e., with bottom-up and top-down information) for comprehension, how L2 English listeners experience connected speech, how L2 listeners deal with unknown lexis, and how L2 listeners experience difficulties with features of unscripted speech. Pedagogical implications of the study include the need for increased teacher and learner awareness of the complexity of L2 listening, the need to have learners to track their own listening development, and the need for teachers to expose learners to unscripted listening texts and make them familiar with features of unscripted speech. Finally, suggestions for further research are posed, including conducting diagnostics assessments of L2 listening with listeners of different L1s and with more varied proficiency levels, using different diagnostic procedures to examine L2 listening comprehension, and using more instruments to understand listening-related variables’ relationships with L2 listening comprehension. / Teaching & Learning

The Swedish society is becoming more and more multicultural. This means that the classrooms today consist of students from various backgrounds and cultures. According to the Swedish curriculum for primary school, it should be a social and cultural meeting place for children from various backgrounds and cultures, so that they can learn to live together in harmony through their education. Many researchers around the world come to the conclusion that children’s literature can be used to teach topics such as culture and cultural awareness and to create intercultural learning. Despite this agreement, however, children’s literature is not frequently used in the English classroom in grades 4-6 in Sweden. The purpose of this study is to examine how English children’s literature can be used in grades 4-6 to teach the ethical values reflected in the Swedish curriculum, especially those that concern integration. I will look at selection criteria for children’s literature with the purpose to teach some of the ethical values from the Swedish curriculum in the second-language classroom. Two primary sources serve as examples: Anthony Browne, Voices in the park, and Patricia Polacco, Chicken Sunday. Through a final discussion of methods, such as Aidan Chambers’ book talk, I show how these books may indeed be used to integrate teaching of the fundamental values with English as a school subject.

Denna studie undersöker genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys språksynen i två förlagsproducerade läromedel för spanska i årskurs 9, Colores 9 och Gracias 9. Kursplanen för moderna språk i grundskolan har en uttalad funktionell och handlingsorienterad språksyn som utgår från den Gemensamma europeiska referensramen för språk (GERS). I denna studie har lärandeaktiviteterna i övningsböckerna Colores 9 och Gracias 9 samt deras tillhörande digitala material klassificerats i olika aktivitetstyper utifrån kursplanens förmågor (lyssna, läsa, skriva och tala) dels för att ta reda på hur fördelningen mellan lärandeaktiviteterna inom förmågorna ser ut, dels för att ta reda på vilken typ av aktiviteter som representeras i materialet. Dessa aktiviteter har sedan analyserats utifrån Littlewoods kontinuum i syfte att undersöka vilken språksyn som speglas i materialet, samt om denna språksyn överensstämmer med kursplanens. Resultatet visar att majoriteten av lärandeaktiviteterna inom alla förmågor fokuserar på explicit inlärning med fokus främst på språkets strukturer där aktiviteter som övar uttal, översättning, grammatik och högläsning dominerar. Det framgår av denna studie att lärandeaktiviteterna i läromedlen speglar en traditionell och strukturell språksyn med inslag från grammatik- och översättningsmetoden och den audiolingvala metoden och därmed inte överensstämmer med kursplanens handlingsorienterade kommunikativa språksyn.