This thesis explores how task parallelness might be established; this is of fundamental importance to any discussion in the areas of language testing and task-based research, where the equivalence of tasks is a prerequisite. Five pilot studies were conducted using two spoken narrative tasks from an ongoing speaking test of English in Japan, the Standard Speaking Test, including two feasibility studies using several linguistic variables to analyse candidate performances, a study of expert judgements of the two tasks, a study of the linguistic performance of native speakers of English, and a study to identify an appropriate pair of tasks for the main study. The main study examined the parallelness of two spoken narrative tasks by Hill (1960) in terms of the ratings calculated by MFRM analysis, the linguistic performances of 65 Japanese candidates and 11 native speakers of English, expert judgements by Japanese teachers of English, and perceptions of the Japanese candidates and native speakers of English. The validity of the linguistic variables was also examined. The results of analyses demonstrated that the two tasks were not actually parallel, despite the effort to ensure a priori parallelness via the pi lot studies. The findings were extensively discussed in relation to the theories of task complexity from Robinson (2001) and Skehan (1998), and raised several questions regarding the variables for quantifying the accuracy and syntactic complexity of linguistic performance. Taken together, the findings of this thesis add significantly to the understanding of task parallelness and the results of my work can be applied not only to the design and selection of tasks but also to the investigation of linguistic performance in the tields of language testing and task-based research

This thesis offers an account of the operation of collaborative talk in small group discussion in language learning environments and is designed to facilitate a closer understanding of the way in which language learners can be supported to operate effectively in group discussion situations. Discussion is presented as a complex activity system, in which collaboration is central to learning. The thesis confirms that an understanding of collaborative communication strategies can be achieved by language learners through a process of selfevaluation. The findings of the study are that L2 collaboration involves a wide range of paralinguistic and social activities. Learners can be supported in achieving collaborative talk through a combination of awareness raising about collaborative strategies, effective preparation for discussion sessions and through participation in self-evaluation of their own talk.

No description available.

New technologies have revolutionised the way people learn. In language learning, using a web-conferencing system is a relatively new development, and acquiring pronunciation skills in a virtual environment even more so. The central question of this exploratory study is whether learning pronunciation outside the classroom is a pedagogically sound experience. The focus is on learners: their emotions, with a particular emphasis on Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA), and the strategies they use to learn pronunciation on their own and with others in a new on line environment. Macdonald et al. (1994) contended that second language (L2) pronunciation needed more research and over the years, more studies have explored the effectiveness of pronunciation teaching (see Munro and Derwing, 2011; for a review of L2 pronunciation teaching). The present study also looks at L2 pronunciation but investigates the learning of it in a non-conventional setting. The mixed-method research approach in this study, grounded in a post-positivist paradigm, involved two quantitative instruments: a questionnaire and a recorded reading activity of a text; and two qualitative instruments: think-aloud verbal protocols (TAPs) and semistructured interviews. Participants who were involved in every stage of the study were then the object of case studies as these 'can penetrate situations in ways that are not always susceptible to numerical analysis' (Cohen et al., 2003, pI81). The four different sources of data provided multiple perspectives on students' emotions and strategies when working on pronunciation in a vutual learning environment (VLE) or on their own, and these perspectives deepen our understanding of how distance learners can acquire good pronunciation skills outside the classroom.

This study combines an initial interest in private speech (Flavell 1966; Vygostky 1987; Ohta 2001; Ellis 2003), that is, self-addressed speech, used by individual language learners as they interact with online tasks, with a practice-based concern with the introduction of technology in a new self-access centre at the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. This had been done with little concern for the state of preparedness of learners and practitioners, as is often the case elsewhere (Benson 2001; Donaldson and Haggstrom 2006; Levy 2007; Winke and Goertler 2008). Literature on CALL, autonomy and task-based pedagogy revealed the need for an integrated, broad approach beyond technology itself with a special emphasis on the learning context, sociocultural issues and learner background. Often unexplored, the gap between what teachers plan and what learners do with tasks (Nunan 1989; Coughlan and Duff 1994; Roebuck 2000) began to focus the research efforts on investigating the nature of the language learning activity (Beetham 2007) of individual learners. Following suggestions from various authors from different traditions (e.g., Arnold and Ducate 2011; Lantolf and Poehner 2004; Chapelle 2001; Scanlon and Issroff 2005; Kaptelinin and Nardi 2006), activity theory (Vygotsky 1987; Leontiev 1978; Engeström 1987) was chosen as the most suitable theoretical framework and some of its key concepts, such as disturbances (Engeström and Sannino 2011; see also Montoro and Hampel 2011) and contradictions (Engeström 1987), were used to conduct a two-tiered analysis of empirical data gathered electronically during an online experiment followed by stimulated recall (SR) sessions. Findings include the widespread dependence of learners on private speech, memory and oral instruction and their underuse of learning tools (especially text-based ones such as dictionaries and notes), signalling links to literacy issues to be further explored and the prevalence of orality locally. Future research should explore these literacy issues and practical ways to improve the provision of language learning opportunities.

This study explores foreign language learners' "skills of discovery and interaction" (Byram, 1997) in instant messenger-mediated intercultural dialogue. Five pairs of foreign language learners (five English as Foreign Language learners from Taiwan and five Chinese as Foreign Language learners from the UK) are recruited for participating in the telecollaborative dialogue on each other's cultures. The analysis starts with an ethnographic approach to realize how the specific characteristics of instant messengers (abbreviated as IM) can affect learners' practice of "skills of discovery and interaction" with their online interlocutors in the intercultural exchange.

The aim of this thesis is as follows: To investigate students’ thoughts and opinions on cross-curricular language teaching. This thesis arose from the context of my own work as a languages teacher in an inner-city comprehensive secondary school, and the fact that I wanted to conduct a piece of research that could inform my own, and potentially others’ teaching practices. In order to investigate such a topic the literature surrounding the concepts of pupil voice, cross-curricular teaching, and student language learning motivation theories were explored and a potential gap in the literature was identified, which was consequently investigated by adopting a methodology surrounding the use of semi-structured group interviews. The research sample was made up of three groups of Year 9 language learners of differing levels of language attainment. One was a higher attaining group, one a middle, and the other a lower attaining group of students. Attainment was measured by which sets the students were in for their language lessons. All groups contained male and female participants, and were representative of the social and economic demographics of the school. The research highlighted the fact that although there had been previous cross-curricular projects the students did not view these as being successful. Furthermore they had had little to no previous exposure to cross-curricular language teaching. Students wanted to study topics that taught them about the target culture, sparked their intrinsic motivations, allowed them to work independently in a group environment, and that were evaluated using a range of alternative methods rather than the traditional end of unit test. They were able to reinforce these desires by providing several examples of cross-curricular language projects that they would like to undertake. The research also surfaced some of the sizeable barriers that may restrict the implementation of such projects. These included: The National Curriculum, departmental schemes of work, the G.C.S.E examinations, and the process of Key Stage 4 option choices. As a result of the data analysis two frameworks were introduced: One was a student based framework for cross-curricular language teaching, and the other focussed on the barriers impeding such an approach. Finally this thesis provides some recommendations to policy makers and the school in which the research took place, with the aim of attempting to address some of the barriers presented in the barriers framework.

There is currently much demand for effective language courses that target specific audiences, as well as specific needs. The current general trend to subordinate teaching best practices to the capabilities of technology is the subject of numerous critical papers, yet little seems to be done in practical terms to explore the alternatives. It is often reported how labour-intensive the creation of a language course is, and it is frequently noticeable that users have only limited access to tailoring a course to their needs - both in terms of being able to choose from enough criteria in order to create their own path and navigate at their own pace through resources, and in terms of being able to expand the resources available to them. This paper demonstrates how comparable corpora, richly annotated by automated NLP techniques, can be successfully exploited for foreign language learning within a web-based environment. Specifically, the reading model developed in this project, together with its practical implementation into a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) environment, are designed to help adult speakers (language LI, here English) acquire reading skills in a foreign language (L3, here Romanian) that is cognate with a second language they know to some extent (L2, here French). The environment - named TREAT (Trilingual REAding Tutor) - dynamically processes user requests to display linguistic information extracted from the corpora that is intended to facilitate reading comprehension. TREAT has also been designed to allow the learners as much freedom as possible, while being always at hand to offer support when needed. A small pilot study was carried out involving Leeds University MA in Applied Translation Studies students, and the results indicate that both my approach and its practical implementation are sound, intuitive and user-friendly. Moreover, I have reasons to believe that this approach also had a positive impact on the learners' command of L2, by exposing them - resources permitting - to authentic input in all of the project languages, activating their passive knowledge of L2 and supporting their hypotheses about and connections between all the project languages. Finally, the reading model developed in this project supports extensions to other pairs of related (L2-L3) languages and the learning environment I have implemented is scalable and easily maintainable. Tools are available to harvest adhoc corpora that reflect the learners' areas of interest.

No description available.

This study investigates the experience of students of German when reading German texts for academic purposes. Research into reading in a second or foreign language has focused predominantly on English as a Second or Foreign Language but there have been more studies recently exploring reading in languages other than English. The research community has acknowledged a greater need for studies in this area, particularly with focus on reading in a foreign language for academic purposes. Indeed, there has been a call for thorough qualitative research that responds to the complex activity of reading in a foreign language, which, as has been recognised, is influenced by a multitude of sociocultural factors, factors pertaining to the process of language acquisition, factors that impact the imminent reading situation as well as individual learner factors. This investigation into students' experience of reading German for academic purposes looks at the individual learner experience, with an attempt to take into account various factors that influence the individual student's approach to texts. The goal of the study is to gain a more detailed insight into students' reading processes and to provide suggestions for a teaching approach that guides students towards developing their strategic competence in reading for academic purposes. The study is based on social-constructivist principles (discussed in chapter 3) and incorporates a focused review of research into foreign and second language reading and reading strategies (chapter 2). Students' reading processes were investigated using a multiple stage and method approach to data collection conducted over the course of three academic years at a German Department of a British university. This included a pre- and post-module reading comprehension test and questionnaire, a questionnaire on reading for academic purposes which included a four-tiered reading comprehension test, and a think-aloud study with two student cohorts incorporating both paired and individual think-aloud sessions. The pre-and post-module questionnaire and the think-aloud study were directly related to my teaching of the applied linguistics module Fachsprachen im Alltag aimed at developing students' text analysis skills. In an effort to apply constructivist principles and respond to student feedback. I revised the module to develop a more student-led and cooperative teaching approach. Its impact on student performance was tested in the post-module questionnaire as well as the think-aloud sessions. The questionnaire on reading for academic purposes investigated students' attitudes and motivations towards reading and allowed them to assess the role of the university as well as their own reading abilities. Chapters 4 to 7 discuss the results of the data collection. Chapter 4 looks at students' self-evaluation of reading comprehension skills and strategy use. Chapter 5 investigates the role of the university as well as students' attitudes towards reading for academic purposes. Chapter 6 focuses on self-recorded strategy use based on the four-tiered self-administered reading comprehension test that formed part of the questionnaire study. Chapter 7 discusses the results of the think-aloud study, which allowed insight into students' actual strategy use as could be observed in the think-aloud sessions. Findings reveal that students are capable of evaluating their own performance and have the ability to assess their strategy use, demonstrating meta-cognitive awareness. Students are also cognizant of the apparent gap that exists between studying German at A-Levels and studying German at university, and of the problems that this gap creates for them. Related to this is their expectation that the university is to take on a certain level of responsibility to bridge that gap and for developing students' reading comprehension skills by offering the necessary support. With regards to students' reading comprehension skills and strategy use, this study provides evidence that students understand the purpose of reading academic texts in German as 'reading to learn', i.e., to construct new knowledge and apply a critical approach to working with the text. They tend to apply mainly those types of reading strategies that help them understand the text at word and sentence level but their approach can often be tedious and inefficient. Students seem to lack a sufficiently advanced set of reading strategies that they can apply flexibly and effectively. Results of the reading comprehension tests also provide evidence that students struggle with linguistic features that are typically and frequently used in German texts for academic purposes. Finally, an analysis of the think-aloud protocols allows the conclusion that a teaching approach that promotes students' responsibility for their own learning, both as individuals as well as in collaborative settings, is beneficial to developing students' reading strategy repertoire.