Pragmatics is part of communicative competence. In order to communicate successfully, pragmatic competence is of vital importance. Although pragmatics has played a significant role in L2 learners' communicative competence, pragmatics still has not been commonly taught in the classroom. The present research investigates the efficacy of instruction in pragmatics in the advanced Chinese language class has on the production and appropriate use of apology strategies, and examines the correlation between exposure in a Chinese Speaking Community (CSC) and pragmatics development. The subjects include 55 students in their third-year of college-level Chinese, divided into four classes at Brigham Young University. The study uses an experimental design in which the participants are assigned either to an explicit instruction group or an implicit instruction group. Participants in both groups also report their experience in a CSC. Results of this study show which as a whole improved their apology performance over the 8-week instruction, as rated by Chinese native speakers. Results reveal no significant difference between the explicit and implicit instruction groups, suggesting that explicit and implicit approaches were both effective methods in facilitating pragmatic competence. In addition, we also found no statistically significant difference between the CSC and Non-Chinese Speaking Community (NCSC) group in their pragmatic development. The findings of the present study indicate that pragmatic knowledge may emerge from classroom instruction, regardless of explicit or implicit instructional approaches; and living in a Chinese speaking communities do not necessary aid or accelerate the development of pragmatic competence.

There is significant literature demonstrating the effectiveness of video modeling for teaching skills to students with disabilities. Still, much less is known about how video modeling, particularly point-of-view video modeling (POV-VM), might be applied to teach academic skills to children with an autism spectrum disorder. This multiple probe single-case design study used explicit instruction techniques to teach multiplication, division, and fraction skills to two elementary-aged students with an autism spectrum disorder. A visual analysis of the data showed that POV-VM using explicit techniques to deliver the videos is an effective intervention for autistic students This research study adds to the evidence supporting POV-VM in providing instruction to autistic students.

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The aim of this study is to reach profound knowledge about reading comprehension strategies that teachers in grade 1–3 use in their reading instruction classes. The relevance of the study is motivated due to Swedish students’ declining results at the latest PISA examination and the lack of Swedish studies regarding grade 1–3. With the qualitative research methods, observations and interviews, the study examines which reading comprehension strategies teachers use in their classroom and how they use them. Through a thematic analysis, two main themes are identified with three sub-themes respectively. The results are then analyzed through sociocultural theory. It is concluded that students should be able to interact with each other during reading comprehension strategy instruction and teachers should be more explicit. Reciprocal teaching of strategies can be implemented among younger students, although summarizing and questioning is more difficult. Note-taking strategy instruction could be implemented in grade 3. Concretization of strategies by the use of characters is favourable for younger students, although teachers must be aware of the risks. Concretization by the use of hand placements and movements should be implemented with younger students.Nyckelord:

A presente pesquisa tem como foco a análise dos efeitos produzidos pela instrução implícita e pela instrução explícita na aquisição-aprendizagem lexical por parte de aprendizes brasileiros de italiano, realizada comparando dados coletados em três momentos: antes, logo depois e um mês depois da intervenção didática. No primeiro tipo de instrução, a implícita, a atenção dos aprendizes não foi direcionada para o elemento lexical. Após a leitura dos textos input, foram realizadas atividades comunicativas, cujas características foram a interação e a negociação de sentido (SWAIN, 1985, 2005; LONG, 1996). Para a instrução explícita, após a leitura dos mesmos textos input, foram realizadas atividades com foco no léxico (LEWIS, 1993, 1997; PARIBAKHT; WESCHE, 1996; SÖKMEN, 1997). O experimento didático teve oito horas de duração, distribuídas em quatro encontros, para os quais foram selecionadas 10 palavras-alvo a partir dos textos input. Participaram desse experimento 27 aprendizes, dos quais 16 fizeram parte do grupo que realizou atividades com instrução implícita e 11 do grupo que teve atividades com instrução explícita. Antes das atividades didáticas, os aprendizes dos dois grupos realizaram um pré-teste receptivo, tendo como modelo a Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) de Paribakht e Wesche (1996), e um pré-teste produtivo de descrição de imagens. Após a intervenção didática e um mês depois da intervenção, a VKS foi aplicada novamente com mais dois pós-testes produtivos. Os resultados foram analisados à luz dos estudos de aquisição-aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras e da Pragmática lexical e apontaram para uma vantagem da instrução explícita em relação ao conhecimento receptivo de curto prazo. Em relação aos efeitos a longo prazo, na instrução implícita foram obtidos resultados mais significativos, já que foram mantidos os mesmos níveis constatados nos pós-testes, enquanto na explícita houve uma diminuição de 21%. No que se refere ao aspecto produtivo e à variação lexical, nos dois tipos de instrução não foram constatadas diferenças significativas. / The present research focuses on the effects of implicit and explicit instruction in lexical acquisition-learning by Brazilian learners of Italian, comparing data collected in three moments: before, immediately after and one month after the didactic intervention. In the first type of instruction, the implicit, the attention of learners was not directed to the lexical element. After reading the input texts, communicative activities, whose characteristics were interaction and negotiation of meaning (SWAIN, 1985, 2005; LONG, 1996), were carried out. For the explicit instruction, after reading the same input texts, were made activities focusing on lexicon (LEWIS, 1993, 1997; PARIBAKHT; WESCHE, 1996; SÖKMEN, 1997). The didactic experiment lasted eight hours, distributed in four meetings, for which 10 target words were selected from the input texts. Twenty-seven learners participated in this experiment, of which 16 were part of the group that performed activities with implicit instruction, and 11 of the group that had activities with explicit instruction. Before the didactic activities, the learners of the two groups performed a receptive pre-test, taking as a model the Parabakht and Wesche Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) (1996), and a productive pre-test of image description. After the didactic intervention and one month after the intervention, the VKS was applied again with two more productive post-tests. The results were analyzed starting from the acquisition-learning studies of foreign languages and the lexical Pragmatics and pointed to an advantage of explicit instruction in relation to short-term receptive knowledge. Regarding the long-term effects, more significant results were obtained in the implicit instruction, since the same levels observed in the post-tests were maintained, while in the explicit one there was a decrease of 21%. Regarding the productive aspect and the lexical variation, in both types of instruction no significant differences were found.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-22T17:26:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 eren.pdf: 4365249 bytes, checksum: 24e897a6b68742ade7b316beaa4732f5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-11-01 / This study aims at investigating the role of explicit instruction and working memory on the L2 reading skills of undergraduate students of the Systems Analysis and Development Course of a technology college in Pelotas. For that purpose, a study was conducted with 44 informants divided into experimental group and control group. Four research instruments were used to collect data during the ESP classes: a pretest, a posttest, a retention test, and a working memory test. First, the pretest was applied in order to observe the students knowledge about the conjunctions while reading texts in English. Then, explicit instruction was given on that grammar topic only for the experimental group. The posttest, which was taken by both groups, aimed at observing the performance of the participants of the experimental group after instruction and comparing this performance to that of the control group. The third test, applied three months after instruction, aimed at observing the retention of the target forms. Finally, the working memory test was administered to check if there would be correlation between L2 reading competence and working memory, that is, if the participants with higher working memory scores (higher spans) would also be the ones who would correctly answer the greater number of questions in the reading test. The posttest results reveal that explicit instruction has an important role in the acquisition of the target conjunctions; however, no correlation was found in this particular group of participants between the results of the reading test and the working memory test / O presente estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de investigar o papel da instrução explícita e da memória de trabalho na leitura em L2 de alunos do curso de Análise e Desenvolvimento de Sistemas de uma faculdade de tecnologia de Pelotas. Para tanto, um estudo foi desenvolvido com 44 informantes divididos em Grupo Experimental e Grupo Controle. Para a coleta de dados foram utilizados quatro instrumentos de pesquisa durante as aulas de inglês instrumental: pré-teste, pós-teste, teste de retenção e teste de memória de trabalho. Primeiramente, o pré-teste foi realizado com o objetivo de observar o conhecimento dos alunos acerca das conjunções em inglês durante a leitura de textos em L2. Em seguida, houve a instrução explícita sobre o tópico gramatical em questão somente para o grupo experimental. O pós-teste, que foi realizado para ambos os grupos, pretendia observar o desempenho dos informantes do Grupo Experimental após a instrução e comparar esse desempenho com o do Grupo Controle. O terceiro teste, realizado três meses após a instrução, teve o objetivo de observar a retenção das formas-alvo. Finalmente, o teste de memória de trabalho foi aplicado para observar se haveria relação entre a competência de leitura em L2 e a memória de trabalho, ou seja, se os informantes com maior amplitude de memória de trabalho seriam também os que acertariam o maior número de questões no teste de leitura. Os resultados do pós-teste revelam que a instrução explícita desempenha papel importante para a aquisição do conhecimento das conjunções, porém na amostra investigada não foi encontrada correlação entre o desempenho nos testes de leitura e memória de trabalho

A presente pesquisa tem como foco a análise dos efeitos produzidos pela instrução implícita e pela instrução explícita na aquisição-aprendizagem lexical por parte de aprendizes brasileiros de italiano, realizada comparando dados coletados em três momentos: antes, logo depois e um mês depois da intervenção didática. No primeiro tipo de instrução, a implícita, a atenção dos aprendizes não foi direcionada para o elemento lexical. Após a leitura dos textos input, foram realizadas atividades comunicativas, cujas características foram a interação e a negociação de sentido (SWAIN, 1985, 2005; LONG, 1996). Para a instrução explícita, após a leitura dos mesmos textos input, foram realizadas atividades com foco no léxico (LEWIS, 1993, 1997; PARIBAKHT; WESCHE, 1996; SÖKMEN, 1997). O experimento didático teve oito horas de duração, distribuídas em quatro encontros, para os quais foram selecionadas 10 palavras-alvo a partir dos textos input. Participaram desse experimento 27 aprendizes, dos quais 16 fizeram parte do grupo que realizou atividades com instrução implícita e 11 do grupo que teve atividades com instrução explícita. Antes das atividades didáticas, os aprendizes dos dois grupos realizaram um pré-teste receptivo, tendo como modelo a Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) de Paribakht e Wesche (1996), e um pré-teste produtivo de descrição de imagens. Após a intervenção didática e um mês depois da intervenção, a VKS foi aplicada novamente com mais dois pós-testes produtivos. Os resultados foram analisados à luz dos estudos de aquisição-aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras e da Pragmática lexical e apontaram para uma vantagem da instrução explícita em relação ao conhecimento receptivo de curto prazo. Em relação aos efeitos a longo prazo, na instrução implícita foram obtidos resultados mais significativos, já que foram mantidos os mesmos níveis constatados nos pós-testes, enquanto na explícita houve uma diminuição de 21%. No que se refere ao aspecto produtivo e à variação lexical, nos dois tipos de instrução não foram constatadas diferenças significativas. / The present research focuses on the effects of implicit and explicit instruction in lexical acquisition-learning by Brazilian learners of Italian, comparing data collected in three moments: before, immediately after and one month after the didactic intervention. In the first type of instruction, the implicit, the attention of learners was not directed to the lexical element. After reading the input texts, communicative activities, whose characteristics were interaction and negotiation of meaning (SWAIN, 1985, 2005; LONG, 1996), were carried out. For the explicit instruction, after reading the same input texts, were made activities focusing on lexicon (LEWIS, 1993, 1997; PARIBAKHT; WESCHE, 1996; SÖKMEN, 1997). The didactic experiment lasted eight hours, distributed in four meetings, for which 10 target words were selected from the input texts. Twenty-seven learners participated in this experiment, of which 16 were part of the group that performed activities with implicit instruction, and 11 of the group that had activities with explicit instruction. Before the didactic activities, the learners of the two groups performed a receptive pre-test, taking as a model the Parabakht and Wesche Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) (1996), and a productive pre-test of image description. After the didactic intervention and one month after the intervention, the VKS was applied again with two more productive post-tests. The results were analyzed starting from the acquisition-learning studies of foreign languages and the lexical Pragmatics and pointed to an advantage of explicit instruction in relation to short-term receptive knowledge. Regarding the long-term effects, more significant results were obtained in the implicit instruction, since the same levels observed in the post-tests were maintained, while in the explicit one there was a decrease of 21%. Regarding the productive aspect and the lexical variation, in both types of instruction no significant differences were found.

Elementary students who demonstrate accuracy and speed in handwriting are better equipped to generate higher quality, longer composition. Unfortunately, students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to encounter significant difficulties with legibility, size, and speed of handwriting. The present study used a single-subject, multiple-baseline design across participants to examine the effects of CASL (Center for Advancing Student Learning) Handwriting intervention on handwriting accuracy and speed for three early elementary students with ASD. The dependent variable was correct letter points (CLP) and error letter points (ELP) as measured on a 90-s sentence copy probe. The intervention was delivered over eighteen, 20-min sessions which included alphabetic knowledge activities, explicit instruction in handwriting, and timed practice with goal-setting, praise, performance feedback, and self-graphing. After starting intervention, all students showed immediate increases in overall handwriting accuracy. Throughout intervention, handwriting accuracy continued to improve for each student, and handwriting speed increased for 2 of 3 students. However, the observed gains fell short of high levels of accuracy needed to achieve fluency as a learning outcome. Results extend prior research on handwriting intervention for students with ASD, the CASL Handwriting Program, behavioral fluency theory, the Instructional Hierarchy, explicit instruction, and timed practice.

To operate in our modern society an individual need to possess a well-rounded reading ability, and to know of and use reading strategies is crucial for learners to develop this ability. The present study sets out to explore the beliefs of Swedish English teachers regarding the significance of reading and reading strategies. Furthermore, the study aims to investigate to what extent their classroom practice of teaching explicit reading strategies instructions is consistent with their beliefs. In this qualitative study, four 7-9 English teachers and two student groups participated. These come from two Swedish schools with different social-economic backgrounds. The data was collected by conducting content analysis of the teachers' lesson plans and conducting semi-structured interviews with both the teachers and students. The results show that the teachers express positive attitude to reading and reading strategies as they believe that these constitute essential elements in the communicative classroom. However, the results also indicate that the teachers’ actual classroom practice for reading strategies is not always consistent with their beliefs: for example, despite all teachers being positive to reading and reading strategies’ instruction, only the teachers from the school with lower social-economic background provide reading strategies’ instruction explicitly. Further, the results indicate that factors such as the teachers’ theoretical conceptions, time contraints, student composition and proficiency level, the school’s socio-economic background are the reasons for the teachers including explicit reading strategies’ instruction in their repertoire.

Estudos na área de Sociolinguística têm mostrado a complexidade da arquitetura do italiano contemporâneo, composta tanto de variedades linguísticas comuns a todas as línguas naturais, relacionadas às dimensões diamésica, diastrática, diafásica e diatópica, quanto de dialetos e interlínguas. Essa intricada realidade, no entanto, parece não chegar até os aprendizes de italiano, sobretudo, fora da Itália, que, frequentemente, têm a impressão de que essa língua é monolítica e estável. Isso, em geral, se reflete em seu desempenho enquanto falantes, pois, uma vez que acreditam que a língua italiana é imutável e única, não serão capazes de reconhecer as variedades e registros linguísticos produzidos por falantes nativos. Tendo em vista a importância do livro didático como fonte de input linguístico em sala de aula e como norteador da atividade docente e discente, selecionamos os dois livros didáticos mais usados no estado de São Paulo para o ensino do italiano no momento em que se iniciou a pesquisa, e analisamos como e em que medida tais obras expõem o aprendiz às variedades linguísticas do italiano para que desenvolvam competência sociolinguística e, portanto, sensibilidade sobretudo receptiva quanto à realidade linguística italiana. Para isso, analisamos os diálogos, os livros do aluno e os guias do professor das coleções didáticas Linea Diretta e Rete! com base em 67 critérios escolhidos por poderem identificar diferentes variedades do italiano. Os resultados relacionados ao livro Linea diretta permitem dizer que essa coleção aborda implicitamente alguns dos fenômenos considerados, mas que não os explora explicitamente. Por outro lado, Rete! praticamente não insere fenômenos marcados sociolinguisticamente em seus diálogos, mas trata as questões fonológicas das variedades regionais. Desse modo, foi possível constatar que o tratamento das variedades sociolinguísticas mostrou-se insuficiente e, em alguns casos, inexistente em ambos os livros didáticos, fazendo-nos concluir que o aprendiz, cujo input linguístico derive de seus conteúdos, dificilmente desenvolverá uma competência sociolinguística que lhe propicie reconhecer e compreender adequadamente enunciados produzidos em diferentes contextos comunicativos. / Studies in Sociolinguistics have shown the complexity of contemporary Italian arquitecture, composed of both linguistic varieties, common to all natural languages and related to diamesic, diastratic, diaphasic and diatopic dimension, and the dialects and interlanguages. Nonetheless, this intricate reality doesn\'t seem to reach learners of Italian, especially outside Italy, which often have the impression that this language is monolithic and that it doesn\'t change. In general, this reflect on their performance as speakers of the language they learn, therefore, since they believe that the Italian language is unique and unchangeable, they will not be able to recognize linguistic varieties produced by native speakers. Considering the importance of the textbook as a source of linguistic input in the classroom and as a guide for teacher\'s and learner\'s activity, we selected, in the period in which our research began, the two most used textbooks for Italian teaching in the State of São Paulo, and analyzed how and to what extent these works expose the learner to linguistic varieties of Italian, in order to develop sociolinguistic competence and mainly receptive sensibility to Italian linguistic reality. We analyzed the dialogues, the student books and teacher\'s guides of the teaching collections Linea Diretta and Rete! based on 67 criteria chosen by selecting phenomena that could identify different varieties of Italian. The results related to the textbook Linea diretta let say that this collection implicitly addresses some of the considered phenomena, but doesn\'t explore them explicitly. On the other side, Rete! practically doesn\'t insert in its dialogues sociolinguistically marked phenomena, but treats phonological issues of regional varieties. So, it was found that the treatment of sociolinguistic varieties proved to be scanty and, in some cases, not existent in both textbooks. This caused the conclusion that learners, whose linguistic input derives from its content, can hardly develop a sociolinguistic competence that can allow them to recognize and understand properly utterances produced in different communicative contexts.