This thesis will concentrate on previous and current learning methods of French as a foreign language. This understanding will help to plot the rapidness of evolution within foreign-language teaching. In conjunction with this evolution the thesis will also give a brief overview of the exponential development of technology. It will focus specifically on how technology created a new way of learning. The aim of this thesis is to depict whether there is a need to adapt the French language classroom with the current learning technologies in use. The thesis will also show that since people are different and since each generation differs in its learning preference, that technology can help to bridge the ever-growing gap between the learner and the learning material since people learn work on different ways. According to the proof that generations differ from each other and that the current young generation is referred to as the Net-generation, it will be clearly shown that this generation prefers to learn with technology. The correct mix of learning methods, learning technologies and different learning styles is one that is humanly impossible to achieve in a conventional way. It is on this basis then that the thesis will show that the correct e-learning technology should form an integral part of the new language classroom as it is the only solution to ensure that learning stays current and adaptive, and that it keeps on playing an important part in the evolution of mankind. Furthermore, a brief study will be conducted on the current and prospective use of e-learning technologies in the French language classroom of South Africa. / Thesis (MA (French))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Modern European Languages / unrestricted

This thesis aims to investigate socio-psychological factors that affect foreign language learners&rsquo / pronunciation and focuses on the relationship between in-class injunctive norms for English pronunciation and Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE). Injunctive norms are a type of social norms that define the expected behavior from the group members and sanctions for disobedience. They are evaluative in their nature. FNE is one of the three components of foreign language classroom anxiety and experienced when a person is in an evaluative situation. For this study, the quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire developed by the researcher and the qualitative data were gathered from the interviews. Freshman students at the Department of Foreign Language Education at Middle East Technical University participated in the study. v The results indicated that speaking with native like or Turkish-like English pronunciation and having some pronunciation mistakes, which are commonly observed in the classroom, are approved according to in-class injunctive norms for English pronunciation. However, if speakers cannot achieve sounding native like when they are trying to emulate native pronunciation, or if they make pronunciation mistakes which are not commonly observed in the classroom or overemphasized by the instructors, these performances are not approved. Speaking with an English pronunciation in the classroom which is not approved according to these norms triggers FNE in the learners. Therefore, learners generally prefer speaking with Turkish-like English pronunciation, which is within the frame of inclass injunctive norms. The results also demonstrated that the pronunciation rules that teachers emphasize become a part of injunctive norms / therefore, teachers have an important role in the determination of these norms.

This comparative study aims to discover and demonstrate the potential relationship between foreign language speaking anxiety and course level among 183 students from three consecutive courses of English as a foreign language, i.e. English 5, 6, and 7, at three upper secondary schools in the South of Sweden. Accordingly, a survey was distributed in order to account for demographic information about the students, such as course level, age, and sex, to determine the students’ oral proficiency levels, and to assess the students’ anxiety levels in relation to 33 anxiety-provoking classroom situations. The results showed that Swedish upper secondary students are not particularly anxious regardless of course level, save that the students in English 5 would feel less comfortable around native speakers of English, although not to an extent which would indicate anxiety, and that the students in English 7 would, in contrast to the other course levels, experience high levels of anxiety when volunteering answers and being called on in class. However, the most notable differences were found between the genders and between the students with high and low oral proficiency levels. Female students generally showed higher levels of anxiety than male students did. Yet, in most cases, the difference did not suggest that one of the genders was anxious while the other one was not. In terms of oral proficiency levels, the students with low oral proficiency showed higher levels of anxiety, often to the extent that they would be anxious while the ones with high proficiency would not. Thus, the levels of anxiety seem to depend on gender and oral proficiency more than the students’ course levels.

Le processus d’apprentissage d’une langue étrangère ne consiste pas seulement à mémoriser des formes et des structures linguistiques mais aussi à développer une capacité à utiliser adéquatement des ressources langagières et à enchaîner de manière cohérente sur le discours d’autrui pour communiquer. Dans cette perspective, la présente étude s’intéresse à des échanges conversationnels en classe de FLE entre étudiants vietnamiens et en situation naturelle de communication entre ces derniers et locuteurs natifs. L’objectif visé est de comprendre et décrire les causes réelles qui aboutissent à des difficultés de communication auxquelles sont confrontés les étudiants. Par ailleurs, notre recherche vise également à examiner le rôle, les mécanismes des rituels de la communication et la prise de conscience des étudiants sur ces rituels lors de leur pratique de l’oral en milieu naturel et en classe de langue. A cet effet, les travaux qui s’inscrivent dans le cadre de l’approche interactionniste de l’acquisition des langues en contexte exolingue, de l’ethnographie de la communication et de l’analyse conversationnelle constituent une référence théorique de base. Nous avons analysé des questionnaires effectués auprès des étudiants et des enseignants, et des conversations entre étudiants et locuteurs natifs du français en centrant sur la dimension interactionnelle et sur l’emploi des stratégies de communication par ces derniers pour arriver à l’intercompréhension et à l’appropriation des éléments de la langue étrangère. Enfin, cette recherche inscrite dans une perspective didactique a pour fonction d’engendrer les conditions interactives et de préciser des moyens, les schémas interactionnels ou les nouvelles pratiques d’enseignement les plus favorables à l’apprentissage de l’oral en FLE des étudiants vietnamiens en classe de langue. / The process of learning a foreign language consists not only in memorizing forms and linguistic structures but also in developing an ability to adequately use linguistic resources and to consistently follow the speech of others to communicate. In this perspective, the present study focuses on conversational exchanges on the one hand in a class of French as a foreign language between Vietnamese students and on the other hand in the natural communicative situations between Vietnamese students and native speakers. The objective is to understand and to describe the real causes that lead the students to difficulties of communication. Moreover, my research also aims to examine the role, the mechanisms of the rituals of communication and the awareness of students of these rituals during their oral practice both in natural environment and in language classroom. To this effect, a theoretical basic of reference is provided by the interactionist approach of language acquisition in exolingual context, the ethnography of communication and the conversational analysis. We analyzed questionnaires conducted among the students and teachers, and conversations between students and native speakers of French focusing on the interactional dimension and the use of communication strategies to achieve mutual understanding and appropriation of elements of the foreign language. Finally, this research registered in a didactic perspective is designed to create interactive conditions and to specify means, interactional diagrams or new teaching practices the most favourable to the oral learning in French as a foreign language of Vietnamese students in the language classroom.

This work deals with the creation of electronically controlled audio system for the language classroom. Possible solutions compares analog and digital form. Furthermore, describes the final system that was designed. The resulting system is implemented by analog amplifiers and analog crosspoint matrix. Hardware control is realized by microcontroller and that is controlled from the computer.

This study aims to answer the questions of when and why foreign language teachers use their learners’ first language (L1) in the foreign language classroom. Additionally, the study also explores learner attitudes toward teachers’ use of the L1, and compares these attitudes with the teacher practices. In order to answer the research questions, international peer-reviewed studies have been used and analysed. The findings include L1 use in a number of different situations, for example during grammatical and lexical explanations, when giving instructions on classroom activities, and in informal interactions with the learners. Teachers may use the L1 in order to facilitate learners’ understanding, to save time, and to create a positive and welcoming classroom environment. The investigation of the learner attitudes shows that they are not always aligned with the teachers’ beliefs and practices. The learner attitudes are also ambiguous, displaying a variety of opinions for or against the teachers’ use of the L1. One possible explanation for the wide range of opinions could be the different levels of target language proficiency among the learners, with advanced learners leaning more toward less L1 use by the teacher, while beginners lean more toward the use of the L1. However, this could not be shown to always be the case, suggesting that other factors might also influence the attitudes toward the use of the L1. In the light of the results of this study, the discussion mainly revolves around the possible benefits and disadvantages of L1 use in the foreign language classroom, and what implications this might have for foreign language teachers. For example, more L1 use could result in less meaningful communication in the target language, which might pose a lost opportunity for language acquisition. On the other hand, the L1 could also lead to learners feeling more comfortable in class, lowering their affective filter and thus result in improved language acquisition.

This study sought eight grade students’ experiences of verbal production in the English classroom. From the perspectives of foreign language anxiety (FLA) and willingness to communicate (WTC), what are the students' experiences of verbal production, in what situations are students willing to communicate and in what situations are they not? A quantitative study was conducted using a self-report paper questionnaire, consisting of Nilsson’s (2019) modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) in conjunction with open-ended questions. The result indicates that verbal production causes a high level of foreign language anxiety, and that the students' willingness to communicate increases and decreases depending on stable and situational variables that influence a student's willingness to use their L2. The findings of this study are beneficial to English teachers by raising awareness of FLA and WTC and their presence in our classrooms. The greatest beneficiary of this study is L2 language teachers, who will be inspired to create a classroom environment where the students seek opportunities to engage in verbal production.

Researchers have explored how different balances of first language (L1) and target language (TL) use in a foreign language classroom impact students' fluency and proficiency in TL acquisition. Research has shown that the use of the L1 in a foreign language classroom is done in order to determine the most effective way to raise the proficiency of second language learners to the level that is expected within their classrooms (Lee & Muncie, 2006). The use of the L1 is not something that is uncommon, even in the highest levels of foreign language instruction, although some believe it could inhibit learner growth in target language (TL) acquisition (Tanveer, 2007). Some scholars contend that there is a place for the L1 to be used in a second language classroom, rather than relying on complete usage of the TL (Biggs, 1999). Results have been mixed when it comes to whether or not the L1 should be used as much as the TL, and studies have seldom investigated what students and teachers believe regarding that matter. To this end, the present study examines the impact of the use of the L1 vs the use of the TL on 50 students at different levels in the French language classroom. Subjects were all enrolled in French classes ranging from the 101-level to the 201-level, and the 8 student instructors teaching these levels also participated in this study. Both a student survey and a teacher survey were administered at the end of the semester in order to look at the use of the TL vs the use of the L1 among students and teachers in their classrooms. Results show that the utilization of the L1 in foreign language classrooms is preferred by the students but that it is not fully justified. Numerous proponents of L1 use (Atkinson, 1987; Cook 2001; Swain & Lapkin, 2000; Wells, 1999) have cautioned against excessive use, instead recommending that it be used judiciously, and according to learner need. Future researchers might consider surveying students who are learning in an environment where L1 use is similar to student demand on this survey (very high, especially for things like giving instructions), as well as surveying students who are exclusively using TL in their learning environment.

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Motivational research has recently shifted focus to include what role teachers, and the motivational strategies they use, play in the language learning classroom (Cheng & Dörnyei, 2007; Dörnyei & Csizer, 1998). Motivational research has traditionally gathered data from either teachers or students. However, researchers have recently been calling for a shift in focus from this individualistic perspective to evaluating motivation more holistically (Dörnyei, 2001a; Oxford, 2003; Ushioda, 2006). Nevertheless, few studies have included the opinions of both the students and teachers. This study has elicited the opinions of both students and teachers to find out which teaching practices both groups believe foster motivation in the foreign language classroom. The results indicate that students and teachers alike find teaching practices related to Teacher, Rapport, and Climate as the top three most motivational conceptual domains. Furthermore, only 3 conceptual domains, out of 17, were statistically different between groups: Task, Effort, and Comparison.