Abstract not available.

<p> Many organizations have a great need for people conversant in foreign languages and cultures. The U.S. Department of Defense operates globally and is always in need of people who can communicate across cultural and linguistic divides, and the gap between what is needed and the personnel who can meet those needs is often considerable. To address this deficit the DOD implemented an incentive pay in the mid 1980s to reward those servicemembers who could prove proficiency in a foreign language. The Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus (FLPB) has gone through numerous changes over the years and this study sought to answer the basic questions, what has been the effect and is it working? How much of an effect does the bonus have on members' actual behavior regarding FL acquisition? This mixed-methods approach analyzed the evolution of policy, conducted a statistical analysis of member testing data, and conducted interviews with 22 current and former recipients of FLPB to see what impact FLPB has had or could have in meeting the DOD goal of increasing FL proficiency within the force. This study focused on the Air Force implementation of the FLPB program, though findings are likely applicable across the military services. Key findings include the rapidly changing nature of FLPB policy, which has caused frustration for many AF members. Further, with numerous stakeholders involved, some points of policy and programs could potentially be working at cross-purposes with overall goals. Statistical analysis found several significant trends; however, many findings do not support FLPB as an effective program in its current form. Many AF members indicated a high desire to use their language skills but are frustrated at the infrequent ability to do so in any official capacity. Several suggestions are offered for how the AF could modify existing policy to achieve its goals for FL proficiency, as well as to maximize scarce financial resources to maximum effect.</p>

<p>This qualitative research study with 10 Chinese parents explored parental beliefs, involvement, and challenges in support of their child's English language development. Findings indicated that all participants highly valued their child's English education and emphasized the short and long-term advantages of learning English in early years. All participants expressed a strong motivation to support their child's English education. Parents were involved in the roles of a financial provider, guide, and learning-partner. Challenges to parental involvement came from both home (lack of time, English proficiency, and a suitable home English learning environment as well as financial pressure) and outside sources such as lack of governmental support, unqualified bilingual teachers, and ineffective English curriculum. The researcher recommends that English education preschool programs recruit skilled bilingual or English preschool teachers, implement an interactive, child-centered English language curriculum, and design home-school partnership programs. Policy makers must design policies to support English education preschool programs. </p>

<p> Previous studies on nonnative English speaker teachers (NNESTs) (Reyes &amp; Medgyes, 1994; Samimy &amp; Brutt-Griffler, 1999; Llurda, 2008; Rajagopalan, 2005) and publications in World Englishes (WEs), English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and English as an international language (EIL), have analyzed and documented how prevailing ideologies rooted in "the myth of the native speaker" (Pennycook, 1994; Canagarajah, 1999; Kramsch, 2000), "the native speaker fallacy" (Phillipson, 1992) and associated ideologies generate discrimination and affect students and teachers' sense of self-worth. </p><p> By making use of telecollaboration to determine how L1 Spanish speaking Colombian EFL pre-service teachers' interactions with U.S. heritage Spanish speakers (HSSs) influence the Colombian future teachers' self-perceptions as (non) native speakers and future teachers, this study responds to scholars' concerns to diversify the scope of explorations on NNESTs. Examining the ideological side of the native vs. non-native speaker dichotomy in telecollaboration, this research seeks to reverse the tendency to study interactants' exchanges mainly as a language feedback process through which "native speakers" support those who are not native speakers. </p><p> Under an overarching qualitative phenomenological case study research design, the first article's pre-assessment of participants' self-perceptions of (non) nativeness found that the myth of the native speaker, the native speaker fallacy and associated ideologies permeated participants' self-images as language speakers and prospective teachers. Nevertheless, their ongoing education and the perceived benefits of becoming skillful language users contrasted with the harmful effects of these ideologies. </p><p> The second study determined that in adopting meaning making abilities as their center of interest in telecollaboration, most participants focused less on the achievement of idealized native speaker abilities. Their interaction with U.S. peers generated confidence in their use of English, self-criticism of their skills in Spanish and a tendency to embrace the idea that they could succeed as English teachers. The third article suggests that the cooperative relationships that participants established with U.S. peers provided them affective and knowledge-based resources to build more favorable views of themselves, attitudes to confront the detrimental effects of nativespeakership ideologies, and informed judgments to dismantle them.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Advisers: Jose Ignacio Hualde; Peter S. Golato. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-156) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

In the Florida Public Schools' Curriculum, there lacks a requirement for completion of foreign language credits in order for a student to graduate. However, many colleges and universities, as well as scholarship programs like the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, require students to take a minimum of two consecutive years of a foreign language. In many schools, there is an abundance of Level 1 and Level 2 foreign language classrooms, but in the upper levels there seems to be a scarcity of students within those programs. Why is it that these few students are motivated to continue studying the language, even though it is not required of them? This study serves to show the variety of motivations felt by high school students during the 2007-2008 school year. After conducting several focus groups at Oviedo High School in Oviedo, FL, with Spanish 3 and Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish students, the researcher analyzed the variety of reasons given candidly by the students. Through the conversations with these students, a better understanding of the motivations of high school students can be attained. Through this understanding, educators can target other areas that might motivate students, and thus work to increase enrollment in classes and to ensure that students can see the benefits of learning a second language with fluency.

L2 motivational research may be described as an ongoing quest to identify motivational attributes underlying motivated language learning behaviour. This study employs a novel theoretical and methodological focus in this endeavour: firstly, it applies theories of the self to a motivational exploration of L2 motivation involving first-year students studying towards German degree courses at two major UK universities. Secondly, the study explicitly addresses the time- and context-sensitive nature of motivational attributes. While the majority of L2 motivational studies treat motivational attributes as static and rely heavily on one-off surveys, this study uses a longitudinal mixed-methods approach. Questionnaires were administered at the beginning and at the end of the academic year, and students were interviewed five times over the course of the academic year. Results suggest that the concept of integrative orientation in its traditional sense plays a minor role for these students. The concepts of the ideal L2 self and intrinsic motivation are better suited to capture these students’ motivation for studying German, and together with self-efficacy beliefs they offer a good basis for understanding students’ motivated engagement with language learning throughout the year. However, the data also reveal that considerable changes take place during the course of the year. Importantly, students’ intrinsic motivation significantly decreases and so do self-efficacy beliefs for speaking and listening, a trend concomitant with decreasing effort to engage with language learning. The qualitative data shed light on the motivational changes observed, and provide a detailed and rich picture of the interplay between motivation and contextual factors. Based on the empirical insights gained, a theoretical framework is proposed which links the motivational attributes examined and situates them within multilayered contextual spheres. The thesis concludes by outlining pedagogical suggestions how to counteract decreasing motivation during the first year at university.

<p> This thesis looks at over 3,000 inscriptions of unmarried daughters, under the age of 20, during the Roman Empire. It discusses the formulaic ways in which daughters were described on their tombstones based on their age and the Roman virtues valued at the time. It primarily focuses on descriptors, superlatives used, the dedicators who commissioned the work, girls who died before their wedding, and ages of girls which have excesses in the months or days she lived as inscribed on her epitaph.</p>

Submitted by SBI Biblioteca Digital (sbi.bibliotecadigital@puc-campinas.edu.br) on 2017-10-02T11:58:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ALTAMIR GOMES DOS SANTOS.pdf: 9473772 bytes, checksum: 93fbb702acd65733cc1df7d85e87aacc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-02T11:58:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ALTAMIR GOMES DOS SANTOS.pdf: 9473772 bytes, checksum: 93fbb702acd65733cc1df7d85e87aacc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-24 / In a bibliographical survey process with the Bank of Theses and Dissertations (BTD), the various public policies that deal with foreign language teaching, especially English, do not contemplate the use of specific tools for middle school. The learning of a second language in a process of globalization is very important in the development of the subject, and this is why the legislation presupposes the teaching of English to students of basic education in grades 5-8. Considering the mapping of the specific literature, it is possible to affirm that the students' learning has been deficient, even with four consecutive years of teaching English. Similarly, some authors still claim that the teacher is responsible for the students' lack of learning. Faced with the insertion of new technologies in schools, it is necessary to make available to our school institutions, through the formulation of public policy, tools that contribute as a proposal to meet the demands of education and student learning. This research investigated the application of a specific software in a private school in the interior of the State of S?o Paulo, involving two groups of 8th graders, with the purpose of evaluating the referred tool. The research problem was thus formulated: what results, after applying the software, can be evaluated as subsidies for a public policy? The method used was documentary, bibliographic and field study, and the instruments were: two questionnaires and class observation, in addition to the perspective of teachers as interlocutors of this process. As a result, the importance of the English teaching tool was evidenced, which acts as an ally in the daily experience of teaching and learning English, as well as motivating students to practice the foreign language out of the traditional classroom environment. Difficulties were encountered with the connection of the tool with the internet in the first two months of implantation, mainly with respect to the speech device that gave access to the program. / Por meio de um levantamento bibliogr?fico junto ao Banco de Teses e disserta??es (BTD), as diversas pol?ticas p?blicas que tratam do ensino de l?ngua estrangeira, em especial o ingl?s, n?o contemplam a utiliza??o de ferramentas espec?ficas para o Ensino Fundamental II. O aprendizado de uma segunda l?ngua em um processo de globaliza??o ? muito importante na forma??o do sujeito, e esta afirma??o ? confirmada pela determina??o da LDB (Leis de Diretrizes e Bases) para que haja o ensino de pelo menos uma l?ngua estrangeira para alunos da educa??o b?sica de 6? ao 9? ano, que geralmente ? o Ingl?s; e a escolha depender? de cada esfera estadual ou municipal conforme as realidades regionais. Considerando o mapeamento da literatura espec?fica, ? poss?vel afirmar que a aprendizagem dos alunos tem sido deficit?ria, mesmo com quatro anos seguidos de ensino de ingl?s. Igualmente, alguns autores ainda afirmam ser o professor o respons?vel pela aus?ncia de aprendizagem dos alunos. Face ? inser??o das novas tecnologias nas escolas, percebe-se a necessidade de ser colocada ? disposi??o de nossas institui??es escolares, por meio da formula??o de pol?tica p?blica, ferramentas que contribuam como proposta para atender as demandas da educa??o e a aprendizagem dos estudantes. Esta pesquisa investigou a aplica??o de um software espec?fico em uma escola privada no interior do Estado de S?o Paulo, envolvendo duas turmas do 8? ano, com o prop?sito de avaliar a referida ferramenta. O problema da investiga??o estava assim formulado: que resultados, ap?s aplicar o referido software, podem ser avaliados como subs?dios para uma pol?tica p?blica? O m?todo utilizado diz respeito ? pesquisa documental, bibliogr?fica e estudo de campo, e os instrumentos foram: dois question?rios e observa??o de classe, al?m da perspectiva dos professores como interlocutores deste processo. Como resultado, evidenciou-se a import?ncia da ferramenta de ensino de ingl?s, a qual atua como aliada na experi?ncia di?ria do ensino e aprendizagem do ingl?s, como tamb?m motivar os alunos para a pr?tica da L?ngua Estrangeira fora do ambiente de sala de aula tradicional. Evidenciou-se tamb?m dificuldades de conex?o da ferramenta com a internet nos primeiros dois meses de implanta??o, principalmente com rela??o ao dispositivo de fala que dava acesso ao programa.

This thesis which is called ''Adult Education in the Area of Foreign Languages in České Budějovice' deals with characteristics of adult education, motivation, and barriers of this education. The thesis also examines particularities of adult education, their possibilities, purpose and aims with the emphasis on language education. Moreover, the thesis works with documents relating to adult education in the area of foreign languages. The part of the thesis deals with a foreign language, its effect on a culture, and intensification and improvement of international relations. The practical part presents quantitative research which examined the most learned languages, motivation and barriers of adult language education via questionnaire.