The purpose of this research synthesis is to investigate how using blogs and Facebookin foreign language teaching can improve pupils´ writing skills in the target language.According to the theoretic framework around which the results of this researchsynthesis are organized, linguistic, pragmatic, intercultural and strategic competence arepart of writing skills. The results show that out of the 8 studies included in the researchsynthesis five showed an improvement in linguistic competence, three out of those fiveshowed an improvement in pragmatic competence as well, and another three studiesalso showed an improvement in pragmatic competence. None of the studies showed animprovement in intercultural or strategic competence.

In the Swedish school system, English is one of three core subjects that are mandatory to pass at the end of year 9 to be able to engage in further studies in high school. However, English is not introduced at the same time in all schools. In fact, primary schools in Sweden can choose freely (between age 6-10) when they want to start introducing English to their students. The main purpose of this paper is to disclose if starting English education at an earlier age results in higher student scores on the total score and the three different parts of the National Exam for English in year 6. The National Exam scores from 14 different schools were collected and compared. 7 schools that introduce English in year 1, and 7 schools who begin their English education in year 3. The results from the statistical tests show that there is a significant difference between the two groups at the total score, speaking, and receptive skills. The early starters performed better on all parts. However, there was no significant difference between the groups in writing.

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This study concerns foreign language learners' motivational changes over a long period of time; it is an investigation of the learning histories of six learners who have achieved high proficiency in English. Unlike a large body of conventional foreign language learning motivational research, which has primarily been conducted using quantitative methodologies, this study employs two non-conventional approaches, a combination of learners' biographies and case study research. The primary purpose of the study is to holistically explore successful English learners' motivational trajectories and their learning histories in the Japanese context. To this end, foreign language learning motivation is conceptualized and illustrated as a dynamically changing construct that plays an important role in the process of foreign language learning. In the literature review, longitudinal studies concerning foreign language learning motivation and autobiographical studies and case studies that are relevant to this study are examined. The central research question is what motivational trajectories and learning histories these highly proficient learners have had, and how these learners have sustained their learning motivation over time and eventually achieved high proficiency while in an EFL (English as a foreign language) environment. The participants are six Japanese adults who have achieved high levels of English proficiency and who use English in their jobs. The design used in this case study involves both holistic and specifically focused analyses, by which each participant's learning history is collected through individual interviews. The author reports each participant's learning history, and the initial proposition concerning motivational change and salient motivational sources found in the participants' learning histories are collectively analyzed and discussed. Exploring the data concerning how the participants have maintained foreign language learning motivation resulting in the idea that sustained motivation is not always present in successful foreign language learning and that the key to success involves a cognitive change from a state in which motivation is present to one in which a more intentional psychological force, commitment to learning, develops. Based on this thought, a model illustrating the key to success in foreign language learning in the EFL context is presented. The results provide new, engaging, and important information to people who are seriously involved in foreign language learning in EFL contexts, where the majority of learners fail to attain high levels of foreign language proficiency after receiving years of formal education. / CITE/Language Arts

Thesis (MPhil (Modern Foreign Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Available dictionaries involving Afrikaans and German do not satisfactorily deal with collocations. Therefore, this study recommends a theoretically grounded design of a user interface for an electronic dictionary of German collocations for foreign language learners of German whose first language or mother tongue is Afrikaans. In order to be able to do so, a set of requirements is drawn up, upon which the electronic collocations dictionary will be based. On the one hand these requirements give consideration to lexicographic factors relevant to the envisaged dictionary; on the other hand a theoretical basis for the presentation of the electronic dictionary according to usability principles and standards is established. The underlying definition of collocations will be discussed as one of the lexicographic factors constituting the learner dictionary of collocations. Being primarily aimed at Afrikaans speaking foreign language learners of German, their usage situation plays an important role. At an intermediate language learning level topics to be conversed about become increasingly complex. As collocations offer adequate means of expressing these increasingly complex ideas, the learners’ need of collocational knowledge increases, even more with regard to the language production than to the language reception. As collocations are not dealt with adequately in available dictionaries involving Afrikaans and German, there is a definite demand for an adequate dictionary for this user group. The envisaged learner dictionary’s function and type will be determined accordingly. In addition to the lexicographic factors underpinning the design of the user interface, international usability standards DIN EN ISO 9241 (amongst others) and practical recommendations for user interface design by Jakob Nielsen (amongst others) are discussed. This discussion makes provision for the theoretically grounded presentation of the envisaged electronic dictionary of German collocations in line with usability standards. Finally, giving consideration to the set of lexicographic and usability requirements drawn up, a user interface design is recommended for the electronic dictionary for foreign language learners of German whose first language or mother tongue is Afrikaans. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Afrikaans / Duitse woordeboeke wat tans beskikbaar is, bied nie genoegsame inligting oor kollokasies nie. Dus word in hierdie studie’n teoreties gebaseerde voorstel vir ’n gebruikerskoppelvlak vir ’n elektroniese woordeboek om Duitse kollokasies op te soek, gemaak. Dié woordeboek is gemik op individue wie se eerste taal of moedertaal Afrikaans is, en wat Duits as ’n vreemde taal aanleer. Om voorstelle vir die aanbieding van so ‘n woordeboek te kan maak, word ’n stel vereistes aanbeveel waarop die elektroniese kollokasie-woordeboek gebaseer sal word. Aan die een kant neem hierdie vereistes die leksikografiese faktore in ag, wat relevant is tot die beoogde woordeboek en aan die ander kant word daar ’n teoretiese basis gelê vir die aanbieding van die elektroniese woordeboek volgens gebruikersvriendelike beginsels en standaarde. Die onderliggende definisie van kollokasies word bespreek as een van die leksikografiese faktore wat die opstel van ‘n kollokasie-woordeboek beïnvloed. Omdat dit primêr gemik is op Afrikaanssprekendes wat Duits as ’n vreemde taal aanleer, speel hul gebruiksituasie ’n belangrike rol. Op ’n intermediêre taalvaardigheidsvlak is die onderwerpe waaroor gepraat en wat bespreek word, heelwat meer kompleks en kollokasies bied die moontlikheid om hierdie toenemende komplekse idees uit te druk. Leerders se behoefte aan ‘n grondiger kennis van kollokasies vir taalproduksie, en minder vir taalresepsie, neem dus aansienlik toe. Die Afrikaans / Duitse woordeboeke wat tans beskikbaar is, gee egter nie genoegsame inligting oor kollokasies nie. Daar is dus ’n definitiewe leemte aan ’n woordeboek wat in hierdie gebruikersgroep se behoefte sal voorsien. Die beoogde leerderwoordeboek se funksie en soort word hiervolgens bepaal. Bykomend tot die leksikografiese faktore wat dien as basis vir die ontwerp van die gebruikerskoppelvlak, word internasionale gebruikersvriendelike standaarde soos byvoorbeeld die norm DIN EN ISO 9241 en praktiese aanbevelings vir die ontwerp van ’n gebruikerskoppelvlak deur byvoorbeeld Jakob Nielsen bespreek. Hierdie bespreking maak voorsiening vir die teoreties gefundeerde aanbieding van die beoogde elektroniese woordeboek van Duitse kollokasies wat in pas is met gebruikstandaarde. Laastens word daar op grond van die lys van leksikografiese en gebruikersbehoeftes wat opgestel is, ’n ontwerp van ‘n gebruikerskoppelvlak aanbeveel vir die elektroniese woordeboek vir leerders wie se eerste taal of moedertaal Afrikaans is en wat Duits as ’n vreemde taal aanleer. / GERMAN SUMMARY: Derzeit zur Verfügung stehende Wörterbücher mit Afrikaans und Deutsch behandeln Kollokationen auf ungenügende Weise. Daher wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit eine theoretisch begründete Gestaltung einer Benutzeroberfläche eines elektronischen Wörterbuches deutscher Kollokationen für afrikaans-sprechende Lerner des Faches Deutsch als Fremdsprache vorgeschlagen. Hierzu werden die nötigen Anforderungen erarbeitet, auf die das elektronische Kollokationswörterbuch aufbauen soll. Die Anforderungen werden einerseits aufgrund von lexikografischen Faktoren ermittelt, andererseits wird die theoretische Grundlage für eine gebrauchstaugliche Präsentation des elektronischen Wörterbuches erörtert. Die lexikografischen Faktoren, welche die Konzipierung eines Kollokationslernerwörterbuches beeinflussen, schließen den Kollokationsbegriff ein, welcher dem Wörterbuch zugrunde liegen wird. Des weiteren spielt die primäre Benutzergruppe des anvisierten Wörterbuches bei der Konzipierung eine entscheidende Rolle. Die Wörterbuchfunktion und der Wörterbuchtyp werden daher anhand des Bedarfs des afrikaans-sprechenden Lerners des Faches Deutsch als Fremdsprache mittleren Sprachniveaus ermittelt. Dieser Bedarf ist in der korrekten Verwendung von deutschen Kollokationen in der Sprachproduktion und weniger in ihrem Verständnis während der Sprachrezeption begründet. Die Notwendigkeit, diesen Bedarf zu decken, ergibt sich aus dem unbefriedigenden Umgang mit Kollokationen in den beiden Wörterbüchern, die dem afrikaans-sprechenden Lerner des Faches Deutsch als Fremdsprache derzeit zur Verfügung stehen. Aufgrund des elektronischen Mediums des anvisierten Wörterbuches, werden unter anderem internationale Gestaltungsgrundsätze der Norm DIN EN ISO 9241 sowie praktische Empfehlungen zur Gestaltung von Bildschirmpräsentationen von unter anderem Jakob Nielsen diskutiert. Aufgrund dieser Diskussion wird schlussendlich unter Berücksichtigung und Zusammenführung der erarbeiteten Anforderungen eine Gestaltung einer Benutzeroberfläche eines elektronischen Wörterbuches deutscher Kollokationen für afrikaans-sprechende Lerner des Faches Deutsch als Fremdsprache vorgeschlagen.

Motivations, Attitudes and Modern Languages. A study of students’ motivational processes and attitudes while learning foreign languages. This doctoral thesis investigates students’ motivational processes and attitudes while studying and learning foreign languages (FLs). Students were asked about their choice of FL, and what had motivated them during their many years of studies. The study analyzes open-ended questionnaires and interviews with 43 students enrolled in the last year of foreign language studies in two schools, limiting its focus to the three most commonly studied FLs – French, German and Spanish. The theoretical framework of the thesis draws on sociocognitive theory (Bandura 1997; Linnenbrink & Pintrich 2002). Several informants refer to motivation in terms that could be related to intrinsic motivation. They have chosen to continue studying their particular target language due to an emotional state which could be related to enjoyment, pleasure and curiosity (Deci & Ryan 1985). Another salient feature is the frequent reference to mastery goals. Many of the informants express a motivation directed towards mastery and growth, or a main goal to be fluent or communicatively competent in their target language. Several informants also underline the motivational importance of experiencing competence, success and development. They become motivated by experiencing self-efficacy (Bandura 1997). This self-efficacy is rooted in experience of success, but also in being encouraged by significant others or role models, i.e. family members and friends. Despite a frequent awareness of the weakening general interest for FL, most students have a supportive network. Likewise, family and friends play a crucial role for many informants while choosing their target language initially. This key factor interacts with other important factors, such as the experiences of visiting countries or settings where the target language is used. In this context, target language attitudes tend to be important when choosing language and pursuing studies.

Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo verificar se os alunos-informantes, aprendizes brasileiros de espanhol como língua estrangeira, e futuros professores, utilizam a duplicação, assim como investigar se a hipótese de que a experiência em sala de aula focada no fornecimento de input abundante e centrada na comunicação pode levar a melhores resultados no uso de pronomes clíticos e das duplicações em comparação aos obtidos por meio de trabalho centrado na gramática. Para tanto, propusemos um experimento com três diferentes situações pedagógicas de expor os alunos-informantes às duplicações em estruturas com o pronome clítico em espanhol, a fim de comprovar se há diferença no resultado final da aprendizagem a partir de diferentes processos de manipulação do input (PMI). Como o fenômeno que analisamos está estritamente relacionado à organização da estrutura informacional visando à melhor veiculação da informação em benefício da comunicação, adotamos a Gramática Funcional da corrente holandesa (DIK, 1981, 1989, 1997) para o entendimento do referido fenômeno. Pela mesma razão, buscamos uma teoria de aquisição e aprendizagem que pudesse corroborar o experimento que realizamos com os alunos-informantes, com o intuito de verificar a validade de nossa proposta de diferença no output destes aprendizes em função de processos, também diferenciados, de manipulação do input. Deste modo, a Teoria do Monitor proposta por Krashen (1976 e 1982), mais especificamente, a Hipótese do Input, pareceu-nos pertinente para testar nossa hipótese sobre o uso da duplicação. Assim, pudemos concluir que os informantes, usaram a duplicação em suas produções a partir de uma situação comunicativa apresentada pela história em quadrinhos selecionada e que há diferença no output em função da metodologia de exposição dos aprendizes aos conteúdos estabelecidos. A proposta metodológica que apresentou input centrado na comunicação e contextualizado obteve resultados mais significativos em termos de output. Esta proposta de PMI atende à concepção funcionalista da linguagem, logo o input que deve ser dado aos aprendizes é aquele que mais se aproxima da situação real de comunicação, pois a estrutura informacional será compreendida, o input será compreensível e possibilitará o processo de aprendizagem/aquisição proposto por Krashen (1982) em sua hipótese do input. / This research aims at verifying if the students-informants, Brazilian learners of Spanish as a foreign language, and future teachers, use the duplicate phenomena, as well as investigate if the hypothesis that the experience in classroom focused on providing abundant input and focused on communication can lead to better results in the use of clitic pronouns and duplicate in comparison to the ones which are focused on grammar. Therefore we proposed an experiment which contemplates three different pedagogical situations that expose the students-informants to the duplicate occurrence of clitic structures in Spanish in order to prove if there is difference in the final result of the learning process starting from different process of manipulation of input (PMI). As the phenomena we analyzed is closely related to the organization of the informational structure aiming at the best way of spreading the information for the benefit of communication, we chose the Functional Grammar based on the Dutch doctrine (Dik, 1981, 1989, 1997) for the understanding of that very phenomenon. For the same reason, we seek a theory of acquisition and learning that could corroborate the experiment we conducted with the students-informants in order to check the validity of our proposal for a difference in the output of these learners in terms of processes, also differentiated, in handling the input. Thus, the Monitor Theory proposed by Krashen (1976 and 1982), more specifically, the Input Hypothesis seemed appropriate to test our hypothesis about the use of duplication. So, we concluded that the informants used the duplicate phenomena in their production from a communicative situation presented by the chosen comic book and that there is some difference in the output depending on the methodology of exposure of learners to the table of contents established. The methodological proposal which presented the input centered on communication and contextualized obtained more significant results in terms of output. This PMI proposal meets the functionalist conception of language, therefore the input that should be given to learners is the one that most closely matches the real situation of communication, because the informational structure is understood, the input is comprehensible and enables the learning process / acquisition proposed by Krashen (1982) in his hypothesis of the input.

Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo verificar se os alunos-informantes, aprendizes brasileiros de espanhol como língua estrangeira, e futuros professores, utilizam a duplicação, assim como investigar se a hipótese de que a experiência em sala de aula focada no fornecimento de input abundante e centrada na comunicação pode levar a melhores resultados no uso de pronomes clíticos e das duplicações em comparação aos obtidos por meio de trabalho centrado na gramática. Para tanto, propusemos um experimento com três diferentes situações pedagógicas de expor os alunos-informantes às duplicações em estruturas com o pronome clítico em espanhol, a fim de comprovar se há diferença no resultado final da aprendizagem a partir de diferentes processos de manipulação do input (PMI). Como o fenômeno que analisamos está estritamente relacionado à organização da estrutura informacional visando à melhor veiculação da informação em benefício da comunicação, adotamos a Gramática Funcional da corrente holandesa (DIK, 1981, 1989, 1997) para o entendimento do referido fenômeno. Pela mesma razão, buscamos uma teoria de aquisição e aprendizagem que pudesse corroborar o experimento que realizamos com os alunos-informantes, com o intuito de verificar a validade de nossa proposta de diferença no output destes aprendizes em função de processos, também diferenciados, de manipulação do input. Deste modo, a Teoria do Monitor proposta por Krashen (1976 e 1982), mais especificamente, a Hipótese do Input, pareceu-nos pertinente para testar nossa hipótese sobre o uso da duplicação. Assim, pudemos concluir que os informantes, usaram a duplicação em suas produções a partir de uma situação comunicativa apresentada pela história em quadrinhos selecionada e que há diferença no output em função da metodologia de exposição dos aprendizes aos conteúdos estabelecidos. A proposta metodológica que apresentou input centrado na comunicação e contextualizado obteve resultados mais significativos em termos de output. Esta proposta de PMI atende à concepção funcionalista da linguagem, logo o input que deve ser dado aos aprendizes é aquele que mais se aproxima da situação real de comunicação, pois a estrutura informacional será compreendida, o input será compreensível e possibilitará o processo de aprendizagem/aquisição proposto por Krashen (1982) em sua hipótese do input. / This research aims at verifying if the students-informants, Brazilian learners of Spanish as a foreign language, and future teachers, use the duplicate phenomena, as well as investigate if the hypothesis that the experience in classroom focused on providing abundant input and focused on communication can lead to better results in the use of clitic pronouns and duplicate in comparison to the ones which are focused on grammar. Therefore we proposed an experiment which contemplates three different pedagogical situations that expose the students-informants to the duplicate occurrence of clitic structures in Spanish in order to prove if there is difference in the final result of the learning process starting from different process of manipulation of input (PMI). As the phenomena we analyzed is closely related to the organization of the informational structure aiming at the best way of spreading the information for the benefit of communication, we chose the Functional Grammar based on the Dutch doctrine (Dik, 1981, 1989, 1997) for the understanding of that very phenomenon. For the same reason, we seek a theory of acquisition and learning that could corroborate the experiment we conducted with the students-informants in order to check the validity of our proposal for a difference in the output of these learners in terms of processes, also differentiated, in handling the input. Thus, the Monitor Theory proposed by Krashen (1976 and 1982), more specifically, the Input Hypothesis seemed appropriate to test our hypothesis about the use of duplication. So, we concluded that the informants used the duplicate phenomena in their production from a communicative situation presented by the chosen comic book and that there is some difference in the output depending on the methodology of exposure of learners to the table of contents established. The methodological proposal which presented the input centered on communication and contextualized obtained more significant results in terms of output. This PMI proposal meets the functionalist conception of language, therefore the input that should be given to learners is the one that most closely matches the real situation of communication, because the informational structure is understood, the input is comprehensible and enables the learning process / acquisition proposed by Krashen (1982) in his hypothesis of the input.