Master of Arts / Modern Languages / Earl K. Brown / Considerable research exists on subjunctive versus indicative mood patterns of use by both native and L2 speakers of Spanish. Though intermediate level textbooks expose L2 learners to the various tenses of the subjunctive mood, literature has shown that students still struggle with its implementation in their discourse, and various reasons are offered. Little has been done to analyze the prescribed uses that textbooks offer to students regarding mood selection and how these prescribed uses may differ from what Spanish speakers do in real life. The paper first offers a brief explanation of L2 learners’ mood selection in Spanish, followed by a description of Spanish moods and the realis/irrealis dichotomy that is often placed at the center of Spanish mood selection in the literature. Following this, the study offers an analysis of six intermediate level Spanish textbooks’ prescribed uses of two past subjunctive tenses (present perfect and imperfect), as prior research has shown an overlap in the functions of their indicative counterparts. The textbook analysis is then compared to a corpus composed of messages sent on the social media platform Twitter, containing one of six emotive phrases as main clauses, with three in present, three in preterit. The results show that Spanish-speaking users of Twitter employ the prescribed subjunctive mood more often when the verb in the main clause is expressed in the preterit instead of the present, though no such tendency is discussed in the textbooks. The results also reveal an overlap in the functions of the past tense subjunctive moods. The present perfect subjunctive (i.e. haya trabajado ‘has worked’) is used in the subordinate clause nearly 40% of the time with emotive verbal main clauses expressed in the preterit, where the imperfect subjunctive would normally be expected according to prescriptive norms. This pattern of use is not discussed in any of the analyzed textbooks. A discussion of the limitations of the study, implications for textbook writers and further research then follow.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Earl K. Brown / How to teach phrasal verbs to L2 learners of English has been the subject of debate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) courses and materials alike. These multi-part verbs, consisting of a verb and one or more particles, convey a new lexical meaning different from their individual parts. Further complicating this is the fact that some transitive phrasal verbs can be separated from their particles to varying degrees by a direct object. Though variables affecting verb-particle separation lie below the level of consciousness for most native speakers, they make the acquisition of particle placement difficult for L2 English language learners. Additionally, the presentation of these verbs in EFL textbooks and university English language programs (ELPs) is inadequate. TEFL textbooks tend to place emphasis on the lexical acquisition of phrasal verbs, ignoring separable versus non-separable distinctions. However, native English speakers separate phrasal verbs from their particles about 66.5% of the time in spoken conversation. In order to determine whether traditional textbook problems associated with phrasal verb presentation persist, I analyzed eleven TEFL textbooks used in Kansas State University’s ELP. I also administered a grammaticality judgment survey in order to find out whether L1 Spanish speakers of L2 English view separation of transitive phrasal verbs and their particles to be grammatical. L1 Spanish Speakers of L2 English are disadvantaged by the fact that their native language is verb-framed, meaning that it does not make use of particles in the same way that English does. It is for this reason that native Spanish-speakers of L2 English constitute the experimental group in this study. The results of the TEFL textbook analysis reveal that none of the eleven textbooks analyzed could stand alone in the classroom to effectively teach phrasal verbs. The results of the grammaticality judgment survey show that L1 Spanish speakers of L2 English differ at a statistically significant level from L1 American English speakers in their acceptability of phrasal verb-particle separation. These findings have pedagogical implications for TEFL instructors, textbook writers, and English language programs, and demonstrate the need for more extensive and authentic phrasal verb instruction.

Master of Arts / Modern Languages / Mary T. Copple / Due to the fact that some English as a foreign language students lack motivation to learn English, this report will discuss how to promote their motivation by structuring appropriate lesson plans; giving students authentic L2 input; designing meaningful and communicative activities; choosing the right type of question to create learning opportunities; and using the guided inductive instructional approach for grammar teaching. Also, it will discuss how to prepare to be a 21st century teacher. The second part of this report contains detailed lesson plans for a unit on pets in which pedagogical theory is put into practice. This unit is mainly designed for low intermediate level English learners. The objectives of this lesson plan not only aim for improving students’ English language skills but also developing their animal and environmental protection awareness.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Douglas K. Benson / In this report, I present my personal teaching philosophy and the instructional practices that I believe best contribute to a successful second language classroom. Comprising the teaching philosophy chapter are sections concerning: the role of the instructor, the three parameters of post-method pedagogy, the maximization of learning opportunities and minimalization of perceptual mismatches, the need for negotiated interaction, the promotion of learner autonomy, the teaching of higher order thinking skills, the advantages of contextualized input, and the development of students' cultural consciousness. The instructional practices chapter describes my approach to grammar instruction, vocabulary instruction and the implementation of authentic texts. To conclude, I offer a model five-day lesson plan, complete with structured pedagogical activities, contextualized to the theme of food, which will integrate the ideas and concepts discussed in the philosophy and practices chapters.

Ce mémoire a pour objectif d’explorer les méthodes d’enseignement existant pour les stratégies de communication des langues étrangères en cadre scolaire. La revue de littérature montre que les méthodes de l’enseignement sont basées sur les concepts de sensibilisation, d’exemplification et d’application/l’entraînement. Il y a plusieurs facteurs qui influencent le développement d’une compétence communicative (y compris la compétence stratégique) : les types de tâches authentiques et réalistes, la langue cible comme principal moyen de communication et la métacognition. / This thesis aims to explore existing teaching methods for communication strategies in foreign language teaching in schools. The literature review shows that teaching methods are based on the concepts of awareness, exemplification and application / training. There are several factors that influence the development of communicative competence (including strategic competence): authentic and real task types, target language as the primary means of communication and metacognition.

German language teachers are gaining increased access to smart classrooms and digital technologies that offer teachers and students greater access to authentic cultural and language materials and enable more student target language communication. Teaching with technology changes the teaching and learning environment in many ways. Little is known about how integrating technology into the daily German-language-teaching curriculum changes the implicit power structures embedded in all classroom interactions. Because of the central, decision-making role of the teacher, this study uses a critical theory of technology lens to examine the daily technology integration experiences of three secondary German language teachers. This study employed a holistic, multiple case study design with a mixed purposive sampling strategy. One classroom observation and two interviews were conducted with each informant. The three secondary German language teachers' descriptions of their decision-making process as they integrate digital technologies into their daily curriculum provide a deeper, more contextualized understanding of their perceptions of their technology integrations. The interpretation of the interview data produced several conclusions. First, digital technology integration is a process that happens over time for the three informants. Second, the informants' decisions about their classroom technology integrations are influenced by their second language acquisition (SLA) beliefs. Third, the informants' classroom technology integrations are influenced by the implicit power relations embedded in the normalized classroom discourse. Fourth, the informants' perception of their own identity and their students' identities influences their classroom technology integrations.

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Second language (L2) vocabulary learning is at the core of language learning and use. Studies have shown that native speakers and L2 learners perceive lexical errors as the biggest obstacle in effective communication (Gass & Selinker, 2008). As a result, the learning and teaching of vocabulary must be one of the focal points of L2 learning. This study quantitatively investigates the effectiveness of two vocabulary learning strategies, the keyword method and the visual support method. Using these two strategies, L2 learners can store the word's meaning both visually and linguistically by creating a "dual coding" (Paivio & Desrochers, 1981) of the word. The keyword method is a strategy that utilizes the association of a first language word (a keyword) with the unknown L2 word through the use of a mental image whereas the visual support method is a strategy that utilizes a visual image. In four L2 intact classes over a 6-day treatment period, participants learned 24 Spanish concrete nouns using both the keyword and visual support methods in one of two presentation orders. Using a pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test design, results indicated that the use of an image, whether mental or visual, increased L2 learners' knowledge of form, meaning, and use of L2 vocabulary. Qualitative analyses of vocabulary notebooks/journals and surveys revealed that participants' preferences for and experiences with each learning method were influenced by individual likes and dislikes of each treatment. Since vocabulary acquisition is such a complex and multi-faceted process (Nation, 2001), educators have the responsibility to implement and encourage the use of various L2 vocabulary teaching and learning strategies. This research thus aims to reveal how an image can be worth a thousand words in the L2 classroom. / Spanish

This study uses a self-presentational framework to investigate second language listening anxiety (L2 listening anxiety) among university students learning English in Japan and demonstrate that L2 listening involves social concerns that are specific to L2 settings. Successful performance in aural interaction presupposes mutual understanding, and L2 listeners have good reason to become anxious when it is doubtful whether they properly comprehend what others say. The Shortened Scale of Foreign Language Listening Anxiety, the Revised Interaction Anxiousness Scale, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire as well as a dictation test were administered to 1,177 students in 15 universities for the quantitative part of this study. Introspection verbal report data were collected from 17 students in two universities to investigate the thought processes of L2 listeners for the qualitative part. The profile analysis indicated the following: L2 listening anxiety was (a) specific to L2 situations and (b) linked to L2 proficiency because high and low L2 listening proficiency groups were different in the overall levels of L2 listening anxiety, but not different in general anxiety measures. The exploratory factor analysis and Rasch principle component analyses demonstrated that L2 listening anxiety was a broad construct composed of two related but distinct dimensions, Self-Focused Apprehension and Task-Focused Apprehension. The former is a concern over social evaluative threat, and the latter is worry over effective processing of aural input. The univariate analyses of variance confirmed that L2 listening anxiety was partly socially constructed because social anxiety was linked to both dimensions of L2 listening anxiety. The verbal data suggested that L2 listening anxiety was receiver-specific in that it involved concerns over comprehending and responding appropriately to aural messages. They also indicated that the levels of L2 listening anxiety were (a) susceptible to individual differences, and (b) influenced by different social situations. This study contributes to conceptual developments in the area of L2 learner psychology because understanding others is of profound importance in successful communication, and anxiety over non-understanding or misunderstanding can have significant personal and interpersonal consequences. / CITE/Language Arts

This study is a longitudinal, qualitative, interpretive inquiry into the work motivation of four novice EFL teachers at public secondary schools in Japan. I employed constructivism as my philosophical framework and narrative inquiry as my primary methodological tool, and attempted to capture the four young teachers’ changing motivation as embedded in their life histories and teaching trajectories over their first two years of teaching. The narratives of the four participants, constructed mainly from the multiple interviews, revealed various kinds of tensions in their transitions from student to teacher. Such tensions included a chasm between classroom realities and their beliefs, conflicts between collegiality and individuality, and also tensions that derived from the inherent nature of teaching such as uncertainty, extensive range of duties, and reflection on the self. In varying degrees and frequencies, all these tensions damaged the participants’ occupational motivation, demonstrating the vulnerable side of novice teachers’ motivation. The same narratives, however, also displayed a completely opposite feature of young teachers’ motivation: resilience. In the midst of the adverse circumstances, the participants continued to engage in the profession, sometimes restoring their motivation through interactions with students and colleagues, and other times returning to their original goals and ambitions. Among various sources of the sturdiness of their motivation, what was unique to novice teachers was a sense of discovery (Huberman, 1993). The four teachers’ discoveries included not only learning about teaching techniques or social norms but also new understandings of themselves as a teacher, and as a person. Although the process of negotiating and reshaping their self-concepts (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009; Markus & Nurius, 1986) disturbed their emotions and damaged their motivation temporarily, all four participants exhibited robustness of their self-concepts and motivation when they rediscovered their motivational goals at a higher level of self-awareness. The four young teachers’ narratives invite authorities such as policy makers, teacher educators, school administrators, and researchers to seek ways to support the growth of young teachers more effectively. In my conclusion, I suggest several measures to reduce the amount of tension and pressure to ease novice teachers’ entry into secondary school teaching. / CITE/Language Arts