Medical interpreter education is a fast-growing field in which learners sometimes receive inadequate feedback to help them improve their interpreting skills (Sultanić, 2021). This qualitative study focused on students’ perspectives on the different types of feedback given in a university Spanish medical interpreting course. Interviews and written reflections were analyzed to investigate what students personally considered to be the outcomes of the class and how feedback given in the course was associated with their development of interpreting skills and self-efficacy. Students reported that they found the most meaningful improvement through (1) guided self-assessment to discover gaps in their abilities, (2) collaboratively constructed knowledge through group discussions, (3) authentic practice sessions and access to an instructor who worked in the field, and (4) testing their skills in real-world encounters.

Effective ELL teaching and learning is profoundly influenced by the teachers’ personal experiences and personalities (Farrell, 2016), their experience as language learners as well as language teachers (Farrell, 2007), and their beliefs about learning and teaching a second language (Farrell, 2015; Farrell & Ives, 2015). This study honored and examined in-depth the often-discounted stories/reflective narratives of our teachers. This paper reports a qualitative cases study that explores three veteran teacher’s reflection on their personal and professional experiences with ELLs for self-discovery over years (Cirocki & Farrell, 2017) so that they can further reflect for their future actions with ELLs (Burns & Bulman, 2000; Farrell, 2007; Farrell & Vos, 2018). Data analysis revealed the teachers’ different strengths and needs in working with ELLs. Four major dimensions (language, culture, culturally and linguistically sensitive pedagogy, and collaborative community) were identified as critical to effective teaching of ELLs and preparation of second language teachers.

Code-switching has been shown to be beneficial for students’ language learning and forstrengthening their identities. Despite this, it can be interpreted that code-switching isnot encouraged in the syllabus for English in upper secondary school in Sweden.Because of this potential disagreement, this study aims to broaden the knowledge ofhow upper secondary school teachers relate to code-switching in their differentclassrooms. Thereby, this study seeks to examine some upper secondary school EFLteachers’ understanding of code-switching as well as the use of code-switching in theirdifferent classrooms. In this qualitative study, four upper secondary school teachers ofEnglish participated in semi-structured interviews followed by classroom observations.The teachers represent all courses of English at upper secondary school level and theyrepresent schools with different programs and students with different first languages.The results show that the teachers have limited knowledge of code-switching and thatthey believe that a large amount of target language use in the classroom is favorable.Nevertheless, the results also show that the teachers as well as their students use codeswitchingboth intentionally and unintentionally for various purposes, but none of theparticipating teachers seem to use code-switching as a strategy to promote long-standinglanguage acquisition. However, the results indicate that the teachers seem to effectivelyadapt their code-switching behavior to their student group. The findings of this studyare in line with earlier research where it, for instance, is argued that code-switching ismore suitable for classes with students with lower language proficiency.

This study explored the digital didactical designs of four senior and FET language teachers at a private school. Participants collaborated within a Community of Practice during the study that served as a Teacher Professional Development opportunity, aimed at integrating technology into their teaching. The research design involved Collaborative Action Research for data gathering purposes. The phenomenon was represented as an explorative, descriptive case study. Data collection instruments included focus-group interviews, observations and documents based on the teaching practices of the participants. The study employed a conceptual framework involving the Digital Didactical Design theoretical framework, surface and deep learning in relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy, the Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition model as well as Teachers’ ICT proficiency levels. Nine interviews, 24 observation sheets as well as lesson documents were analysed using content analysis and coding. During the study, all participants managed to present true digital didactical designs, especially during their second lessons. They gained an appreciation for and ability to integrate digital tools into their teaching practices. While the inputs of the Community of Practice were beneficial, the use of the Digital Didactical Design observation sheet was time-consuming and not user-friendly, although it contributed to teachers’ designs. The study contributed a checklist for lesson design that applied the elements of Digital Didactical Design, as well as an updated observation sheet that can be used during oral reflections on lessons to determine teachers’ digital didactical designs. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / NRF / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd (General) / Unrestricted

In this essay I introduce and analyse Lärobok i lettiska (with an adaptation in English called A Course in Modern Latvian) from 1980 by Valentine Lasmane and LETTISKA för universitetsbruk I (Latvian for University Students I, my translation) from 1993 by Aija Priedīte.  My aim is to find out the author’s intention and examine how it is carried out. This involves vocabulary, grammar, possible influences by certain methods in language teaching, and exercises. As the books were written several decades ago, the question of their relevance today is also worth investigating.  In her work, Priedīte contrasts Latvian to Swedish, which also is a clear characteristic of the book. The vocabulary is translated into Swedish, and Swedish is used to explain the grammar. This is typical of the grammar-translation method. The vocabulary consists of about 770 words, plus over 400 items in thematic lists. There is emphasis on grammar in a way that is suitable for the university level. However, I conclude that this material requires teacher-led instruction and more varied exercises to be effective for the learner.  Valentine Lasmane’s Lärobok i lettiska is more focused on language skills than academic knowledge, although the description of Latvian grammar is also wide-ranging. It is intended for two years’ study. In it, Swedish is used in about the same way as in Priedīte’s book. The texts are about a Latvian family living in Uppsala and describe everyday life in the family, at work, in school, and so on. The vocabulary comprises some 1 700 words, plus about 500 thematic items. Some exercises are drills, but there are also other types of exercises. There is a grammar index and Swedish-Latvian and Latvian-Swedish word lists. I conclude that talented and diligent students should be able to study this course on their own, though it would be desirable to have oral contacts with Latvian speakers.  The two works I have studied are in many ways similar to each other, for example in their way of using Swedish. There are also differences. LETTISKA för universitetsbruk I is a more academic work, much focused on grammar, whereas Lärobok i lettiska has both grammar and a more practical view. I conclude that both books can still be used in teaching and learning Latvian thanks to their contents of everyday life situations.

The role of grammar in the teaching of foreign languages has been extensivelydiscussed over the years, and nowadays the literature shows a growing acceptanceof grammar as an important part of the communicative approach. However,according to our experience and what can be gleaned from research, student perceivegrammar as difficult, abstract, and boring - which often negatively affects theirmotivation to learn a foreign language.In this context, the question we need to consider is: what is the best way to teachgrammar? The purpose of this research paper is to delve into the attitudes of studentsregarding the inductive and the deductive teaching methods, what aspects of thesemethods favour or hinder their motivation, as well as which is, according to them,the best way to work with grammar in the classroom.The methodology employed was a mini-experiment in which two approaches weretrialled, inductive and deductive, to then measure attitudes by means of a survey(questionnaire), followed by further details via a complementary interview andmeasuring learning effectiveness through exit tickets. Informants were drawn fromtwo groups of Spanish language students (9th grade elective Spanish).The results obtained indicate a clear preference toward the deductive method,although they also hint to most positive outcomes from a combination of bothmethods (inductive and deductive). About the factors that influence motivation,those standing out were the possibility of working in a group as well as theimportance of offering tasks with adequate difficulty levels, as those perceived astoo difficult have negative consequences in terms of motivation

The submitted diploma thesis deals with the competencies of a foreign language teacher. It develops the specifics of the lecturer's work in the field of language teaching with regard to the current economic and socio-cultural context and the diversity of the language services market. It analyzes theoretically and conceptually focused sources developed mainly in the European Union. The thesis contains an analysis of concepts of competence, from a sociological, psychological, political and economic point of view. An analysis of the current state of language education and the characteristics of entities in the language services market is also presented. The thesis offers an up-to-date classification of teaching competencies, which takes into account current trends in the socio-economic life of society. The developed model of competencies can serve as a reference point for political actors in the standardization and regulation of the profession, as well as for language schools and teachers themselves in raising their professional level. Based on the performed theoretical analysis, it proposes a broad view of the foreign language teacher as an important social actor, whose activity transcends the boundaries of language teaching and includes a much more complex influencing of desirable social changes....

The purpose of this study is to explore upper secondary school English teachers' beliefs and practices for free online machine translation (FOMT) tools. It is believed that students are using these tools, but the focus of this study is to highlight what teachers think and how they are addressing FOMT usage by students. Participants are currently teaching various English levels in upper secondary schools throughout Sweden and have varying degrees of experience. This study includes a brief background of previous studies detailing teachers' attitudes and methods for incorporating machine translation (MT) in their language teaching. The theoretical framework used for this study is language teacher cognition and translation in language teaching. The results reveal that the previous research conducted in this area has not yet influenced teachers' language classrooms methods. Teachers' education and language learning experience may explain this disconnect to current research. There is a common theme that teachers do not mind using FOMT tools in their personal lives but strongly recommend other sources for their students.

Learners' motivation has a significant influence on French as a second language teaching and learning (Ryan & Deci, 2020; Flynn, 2018; Zhao, 2015; Gardner, 2001). Recently, there has been an issue of motivation to learn and teach French as a second language and much research on recruitment and retention issues in Canada and abroad (Smith et al. 2022; Masson et al. 2019; Gordon, 2017). Motivation can be impacted by positive and negative feelings related to minority language learning, which are often more about the speaker and the speech community learners belong to, than the language itself (Mahootian, 2020). Researchers have examined students' motivation and success in FSL learning especially in K-12 immersion context, but there has also been an increase in focusing on teachers' perspectives in recent times (Arnott, 2017). The aim of this paper is to examine the motivational orientation in teaching and learning French as a second language in a minority context. This qualitative study used semi-structured interview to investigate a group of adult learners' motivation in learning French as a second language. Specifically, this research examined teachers who studied French and maintained their motivation to continue to teach French as a second language in an Anglo-dominant context. A semi- structured interview allowed for a richly detailed understanding of teachers' account of their experiences and practices. The findings presented demonstrate the positive influence that parents, teachers, and relevant extracurricular experiences have on students' decision to continue their studies in FSL, as well as the transformations of the students' identity formation and investment which are enhanced through learning French as a second language, the bilingual environment which surrounds it, and students' activities. Recommendations are made to help encourage and promote the learning and teaching of FSL, develop the oral skills of learners and the provision of a better linguistic learning environment that fosters academic success.

This study explores the impact of digitalization on teaching and language development in primary school Spanish education. The aim of this study is to investigate how the use of digital tools in Spanish education at the primary school level is perceived by participants and to compare the perspectives of teachers and students regarding how digitalization influences instruction and language learning outcomes. A qualitative approach was adopted for this research, where semi-structured interviews were conducted with six ninth-grade students and three Spanish teachers who teach at the same grade level. The interviews aimed to gather insights into their experiences with digitalization in the classroom. Both students and teachers describe the advantages and disadvantages of the use of digital tools in Spanish subject, which is found to be easier and convenient by students. Digital tools have also become useful for teachers to manage communications and to provide variation in their classes and contents. Barriers as distractions and misuse of devices has been pointed out by both students and teachers. The results of this study show that fostering students' and teachers' digital competence is vital to enhance their classroom experience. By promoting informed and purposeful use of digital resources, teachers can support students' language development effectively.