This study investigates the use of authentic subtitled similar task videos (ASSTVs) and their relationship to second language negotiation of meaning and language production among non-native speakers of English in an online task-based language learning (TBLL) environment. Over the course of two weeks, twenty intermediate nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English from the English Language Institute at Texas A&M University engaged in four communicative tasks in pairs using an online TBLL environment designed specifically for this study, and a chat tool in WebCT Vista, a course management system provided by the university. ASSTVs were videotaped and integrated into the online TBLL environment. Participants were divided into two groups, each of which consisted of five dyads, to test the effects of ASSTVs. Five dyads were provided with the ASSTVs and the remaining five dyads were not provided with them before the task completion process. The first section of this study examines the effects of ASSTVs on negotiation of meaning, and the second section examines the effects on language production. The amount of negotiation of meaning was calculated through the negotiation of meaning sequences model developed by Gass and Varonis and revised for online communication by Smith. Language production was investigated in terms of fluency and complexity with regard to lexical and syntactic complexity. A detailed analysis of the data from the chat-scripts showed that NNSs engage in more negotiation of meaning and produce more fluent and lexically diverse language when provided with the ASSTVs than NNSs who were not provided with them. Based on these findings, this study concludes that using ASSTVs in an online TBLL environment is a viable and effective tool for promoting negotiation of meaning and language production in terms of fluency and lexical complexity.

English and Swedish, which are both Germanic languages spoken in similar cultures in the Western World, display many similarities with regard to the conceptual metaphors reflected in them. However, the way that the same conceptual metaphor is linguistically instantiated in both languages may be somewhat different. This chapter is a corpus-based analysis of metaphorical ‘path’, ‘road’, and ‘way’ sentences in English produced by speakers with British English as their first language (L1) and Swedish university students with Englishas their second language (L2). The aim is to see how these L2 speakers of English deal with differences at the level of linguistic metaphor in the two languages, and find out how important this level of organization really is. / Embodiment of Motion Metaphors

In this essay I present the process, learnings and final results of my master project. The project focuses on the education Swedish for immigrants, SFI, and how design can play a role in improving the education to better meet the needs of the learners and become more of a step towards inclusion.  I identify two learner groups; the experienced and the novice learner, with different needs and prerequisites. During the project I develop a focus towards the novice learner and the problem I call the vicious circle. By this term I refer to that too big gaps between the learners former knowledge/experiences and the education results in lost motivation and self-esteem and many learners giving up or getting stuck in the education.  Throughout the project I use an iterative process, in three loops, where I involve the stakeholders in the development of my ideas through interviews, observations and colaborative workshops.  My final proposal is a the learning service “Matprat”, which invites the learners as co-creators of the education and puts their experiences and knowledge in the centre of learning.

Second language learners face many challenges when learning a new language. To determine which challenges learners needed additional support in overcoming, we conducted a needs assessment of the Russian language program at the University of Saskatchewan and found that their students needed the most help with speaking in Russian. As a result, we designed an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) to help students learn how to pronounce Russian properly. We hoped to alleviate some of the challenges that learners face when learning to pronounce words in a second language by building an ITS that uses a Historic Open Learner Model (HOLM) to encourage learner reflection and to help maintain learner motivation. We designed, built, and performed a formative evaluation of a system, called ProTutor, using beginner learners of Russian as a second language at the University of Saskatchewan. This evaluation showed that learners have a positive perception of HOLMs and of the system as a whole. However, ProTutor needs further evaluation in order to determine its effectiveness as a learning aide.

Second language learners face many challenges when learning a new language. To determine which challenges learners needed additional support in overcoming, we conducted a needs assessment of the Russian language program at the University of Saskatchewan and found that their students needed the most help with speaking in Russian. As a result, we designed an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) to help students learn how to pronounce Russian properly. We hoped to alleviate some of the challenges that learners face when learning to pronounce words in a second language by building an ITS that uses a Historic Open Learner Model (HOLM) to encourage learner reflection and to help maintain learner motivation. We designed, built, and performed a formative evaluation of a system, called ProTutor, using beginner learners of Russian as a second language at the University of Saskatchewan. This evaluation showed that learners have a positive perception of HOLMs and of the system as a whole. However, ProTutor needs further evaluation in order to determine its effectiveness as a learning aide.

This study investigates the use of authentic subtitled similar task videos (ASSTVs) and their relationship to second language negotiation of meaning and language production among non-native speakers of English in an online task-based language learning (TBLL) environment. Over the course of two weeks, twenty intermediate nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English from the English Language Institute at Texas A&M University engaged in four communicative tasks in pairs using an online TBLL environment designed specifically for this study, and a chat tool in WebCT Vista, a course management system provided by the university. ASSTVs were videotaped and integrated into the online TBLL environment. Participants were divided into two groups, each of which consisted of five dyads, to test the effects of ASSTVs. Five dyads were provided with the ASSTVs and the remaining five dyads were not provided with them before the task completion process. The first section of this study examines the effects of ASSTVs on negotiation of meaning, and the second section examines the effects on language production. The amount of negotiation of meaning was calculated through the negotiation of meaning sequences model developed by Gass and Varonis and revised for online communication by Smith. Language production was investigated in terms of fluency and complexity with regard to lexical and syntactic complexity. A detailed analysis of the data from the chat-scripts showed that NNSs engage in more negotiation of meaning and produce more fluent and lexically diverse language when provided with the ASSTVs than NNSs who were not provided with them. Based on these findings, this study concludes that using ASSTVs in an online TBLL environment is a viable and effective tool for promoting negotiation of meaning and language production in terms of fluency and lexical complexity.

One of the challenges students face in studying an East Asian (EA) language (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) as a second language is mastering their selected language’s written component. This is especially true for students with native fluency of English and deficient written fluency of another EA language. In order to alleviate the steep learning curve inherent in the properties of EA languages’ complicated writing scripts, language instructors conventionally introduce various written techniques such as stroke order and direction to allow students to study writing scripts in a systematic fashion. Yet, despite the advantages gained from written technique instruction, the physical presence of the language instructor in conventional instruction is still highly desirable during the learning process; not only does it allow instructors to offer valuable real-time critique and feedback interaction on students’ writings, but it also allows instructors to correct students’ bad writing habits that would impede mastery of the written language if not caught early in the learning process. The current generation of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) applications specific to written EA languages have therefore strived to incorporate writing-capable modalities in order to allow students to emulate their studies outside the classroom setting. Several factors such as constrained writing styles, and weak feedback and assessment capabilities limit these existing applications and their employed techniques from closely mimicking the benefits that language instructors continue to offer. In this thesis, I describe my geometric-based sketch recognition approach to several writing scripts in the EA languages while addressing the issues that plague existing CALL applications and the handwriting recognition techniques that they utilize. The approach takes advantage of A Language to Describe, Display, and Editing in Sketch Recognition (LADDER) framework to provide users with valuable feedback and assessment that not only recognizes the visual correctness of students’ written EA Language writings, but also critiques the technical correctness of their stroke order and direction. Furthermore, my approach provides recognition independent of writing style that allows students to learn with natural writing through size- and amount-independence, thus bridging the gap between beginner applications that only recognize single-square input and expert tools that lack written technique critique.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 249-258). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Diss. Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, 2009.

Among learning characteristics for L2 learners, language learning strategies are one characteristic that has the potential of being influenced by language instruction. This report attempts to review the most salient research and taxonomies for LLS to provide a comprehensive overview for those who would like to teach, learn, or conduct more research in the field. It records various definitions that have been assigned to LLS and traces the history of LLS research that has accumulated over the past thirty years. It also reviews empirical research that has been conducted by applying certain taxonomies to find relationships between other learner characteristics. Finally, it looks into ways that LLS can be applied to the four language skills: reading, listening, speaking, and writing, and discusses research designed to analyze the effectiveness of Strategy Based Instruction for the specific skills. The concluding section finds particular avenues for further research and application of LLS. / text