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

This study explores how U.S. college students experience integrative and instrumental motivation and how their sociolinguistic identity is understood, represented and constructed through their multiple experiences learning French as a Foreign Language (FFL) in an intensive Summer French Language Immersion Programs (SFLIPs). The results of the study demonstrate that participants who exhibited the most characteristics in connection to integrative motivation were the ones who took full advantage of the opportunities of being immersed in an environment in which exposure and production of the target language were maximized. The study demonstrates how participants’ lived experiences affect the way they construct their identity, how integrative motivation plays a key role in this construction and addresses a gap in literature by specifically adressing the themes of motivation and identity in the context of intensive French immersion in the U.S.

ABSTRACT FOREIGN LANGUAGE FOR CONTENT: AIMING TO DEVELOP LIFELONG LEARNING DISPOSITIONS by Svetoslava Dimova In the context of emphasis on English language, mathematics and science within the American educational system (No Child Left Behind, 2001), foreign language education appears to be increasingly dissociated from educational priorities. Ways to create relevant goals and optimize the effects of foreign language teaching emerge through the use of communication technologies and connections to academic content. This qualitative study explores the relationship between high school students’ skills in French as a foreign language (L2), their cognitive strategies during reading in L2 for academic content, and their motivation to read authentic French texts. The following questions guided the study: 1) How do students internalize the task of self-selected online reading in L2 for content understanding pertaining to their History of the Americas course? 2) What processes and skills do students evidence and draw upon to locate and read for information in L2?, and 3) What are the implications for building a theory of student motivations for extensive reading in L2 beyond the classroom context? The study was realized in the setting of an International Baccalaureate (IB) program, where 4 key informants were selected, and analysis was presented in the form of 4 case studies. Informants’ French language proficiency ranged from intermediate-mid to advanced levels (ACTFL Guidelines, 1999). Data collection occurred during 8 weeks and included three rounds of formal, phenomenological interviews, classroom observations, and students’ learning journals. Data were analyzed through the lens of Activity theory (Engeström, 1999) and motivation theory (Keller, 2008) in order to determine emerging themes. While both L2 skills and interest in historical content influenced the task completion, and informants used multiple strategies to search and read, internalization and motivation aspects related to acquiring content superseded those related to increasing language skills. Informants’ differences in attitudes toward the curriculum integrative task were additionally caused by their ideas of content appropriateness in a L2 course. Development of cultural awareness and critical thinking was also primarily shaped by interest in content. Findings from the analysis suggested further directions for L2 classroom instruction that could lead to developing students’ lifelong learning dispositions.

This thesis will generate new insight into the study of classroom language anxiety and its method of analysis in current SLA discourse. Drawing heavily from Horcoff, Horcoff and Cope’s seminal paper “Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety” (1986), the conceptualization of analysis proposed and its accompanying instrument of analysis, the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), will be reevaluated. The conceptualization of anxiety presented by Horwitz et al. defines foreign language (FL) anxiety as being unique to the FL learning classroom and being distinct in its emphasis on the self-perceptions and beliefs associated with this setting. Furthermore, the learners who experience anxiety are argued to be identifiable through their degree of anxiety and share similar characteristics. This conceptualization has been well received in SLA and has been widely employed in much of the FL learning research in the past two decades. Due to identity theory advancements in SLA however, this conceptualization of FL anxiety deserves to be reexamined. Employing poststructuralist identity theories (see Norton, 2000; Blackledge & Pavlenko, 2001; Block, 2007), FL learning anxiety will be reconceptualized to consider the dynamic nature of the learner’s unique identity and views of other languages. A paradigm will be proposed, linking FL anxiety, identity and language belief together in a mutually constitutive relationship. A qualitative meta-analysis (Schmenk, 2002) will be conducted, examining current FL anxiety research in an effort to determine the assumptions, both implicit and explicit, made concerning notions of FL learning anxiety and identity. Implications of the proposed paradigm for the learner and instructor will finally be presented in an effort to introduce a discussion of the benefits of reconceptualizing FL learning.

ABSTRACT EVALUATION OF AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING PROGRAM AT A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY USING CIPP MODEL TUN&Ccedil / , Ferda M.S. Department of Educational Sciences Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cennet Engin DEMiR January 2010, 110 pages This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Ankara University Preparatory School program through the perspectives of instructors and students. To this end, the CIPP (context, input, process, and product) evaluation model developed by Stufflebeam (1971) was utilized. 406 students attending the preparatory school in the 2008-2009 academic year and 12 instructors teaching in the program participated in the study. The data were gathered through a self-reported student questionnaire and an interview schedule which was designed for the instructors. Besides, in order to obtain more detailed information about the preparatory school, written documents were examined. While the data based on the questionnaire were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, content analysis was carried out to analyze the qualitative data. Multivariate Analysis of Variances with Pillai&rsquo / s Trace test was employed to investigate whether the significant differences among dependent variables across independent variables existed. Results of the study indicated that the program at Ankara University Preparatory School partially served for its purpose. The findings revealed that some improvements in the physical conditions, content, materials and assessment dimensions of the program were required to make the program more effective.

This study investigated the linguistic, affective, and intercultural outcomes of a four-week study abroad program for Korean teachers of English offered through a U.S. southwestern university. In an effort to understand better what the 42 participants experienced during their study abroad, mixed methods including quantitative and qualitative data analysis, were used. To measure the participants‟ linguistic development, pretest and posttest measures of Listening, Reading, Structure, Speaking, and Writing were administered by the study abroad program. Also, participants responded to Self- Assessment questionnaires developed by the National Language Service Corps that asked them to assess the degree to which their reading, speaking, and listening had improved. The participants‟ daily journal entries were collected throughout the program, and some of the participants were interviewed at the beginning, at the middle, and at the end of the program on a volunteer basis. For the quantitative data analysis, the pretest and posttest scores of each measure were statistically compared by using MANOVA with follow-up ANOVA tests. Except for the reading scores, the other four measures showed significant improvement from pretest to posttest. For the Self-Assessment questionnaire, most participants checked only a few items as having improved. Interestingly, a few perceived that they had become less able to do some of the listening and speaking items over the program. These findings can be explained as resulting from overestimation before this program or as a result of increase in self-monitoring processes during the program. Through the constant comparison method (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), four themes emerged from analysis of the qualitative data. First, many participants were motivated to improve their English proficiency and increase authentic contacts with local people, with various sources shaping their motivation. Second, they increased their awareness of cultural and linguistic differences between the United States and Korea. Third, some participants showed a feeling of resistance to the dominant culture represented by native English-speaking instructors of the program. Fourth, at the end of the program, many showed improved intercultural competence. Results provide some theoretical, methodological, pedagogical, and policy implications for study abroad researchers, participants, and program instructors. / text

This Report addresses the importance of intercultural communicative competence among foreign language learners and the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) technology to achieve this goal in the classroom. CMC technology provides learners a unique opportunity to interact with students of different cultures, a situation that allows for experiential learning to occur and which has been shown to lead to gains in intercultural communicative competence. The work begins with a definition of culture and intercultural communicative competence, followed by a review of general approaches used to facilitate such competence in students, and finally a review of the literature on the positive and negative aspects of using CMC for cross-cultural learning. As the aim of this work is to offer teachers a resource and guidance for implementing intercultural exchanges via the use of CMC tools, the Report concludes with suggestions on best practices for using CMC in the foreign language classroom. / text

English pronunciation instruction is not a common component of most language classrooms, with the large majority of ESL/EFL teachers lacking the knowledge and expertise to successfully reduce their students’ segmental and suprasegmental pronunciation errors. Therefore, this report aims to provide English teachers with the necessary instructional goals, priorities, and suggestions to guide students in their pronunciation improvement, both during a course and beyond. The first chapter reviews the pronunciation education strategies of the past, and proceeds to offer contemporary approaches for English instructors and learners focusing on autonomous student strategy use. Secondly, the pedagogical priorities for pronunciation improvement in the short and long-term, for both segmental and suprasegmental features, are identified. The third chapter offers suggestions for teachers on how to use these goals and priorities within a course, as well as discussing classroom environments conducive for pronunciation improvement. This report makes a case for the importance of student empowerment through the utilization of autonomous learning strategies, allowing students to take control over their individual language acquisition process. / text

This report investigates the use of authentic readings and videos to teach Portuguese language and culture in the foreign language classroom. It starts with a discussion of the current state of the field about definitions of culture, their pedagogical implications and some approaches to teaching culture in the foreign language classroom. This discussion is followed by a review of recent research supporting the use of authentic videos and films to teach the target language and culture concomitantly, and a thorough description of the Brazilian literary genre of crônica, based upon the works of preeminent Brazilian literary critics and historians. The report ends with a unit design proposal based on the literature reviewed and grounded in second language acquisition theories and research. The proposed innovative approach that incorporates authentic non-scripted videos and literary readings, such as crônicas, provides a strong support to teachers that seek to teach cultural perspectives as well as products and practices in the foreign language classroom. / text

This study explores English education in two local private kindergarten classes in Korea. The purpose of this study is to understand English education in private kindergartens in Korea by closely looking at pedagogical practices in two kindergarten classes and the insiders' perceptions of the pedagogical practices. The research questions guiding this study are as follows: (a) What are the pedagogical practices relative to English education in two private kindergarten classes in Korea?; and (b) How do the members of the two classes (i.e., the child participants, ECE teacher, and English instructors) perceive the language, language teaching and learning, and the pedagogical practices? The study was conducted as a qualitative study through the fieldwork using such methods as participant observations, interviews, questionnaires, and collection of documents and artifacts. The study took place in private kindergartens located in two separate communities in Korea. In each kindergarten, I focused on a particular class: The fieldwork in the two research sites spanned a two-and-a-half-month period, between May and July 2011. Regarding the first research question, I found that members of each class co-constructed the pedagogical practices relative to English education in a locally specific way. Within their particular context, the members of Red Class were involved in creating a caring classroom environment consisting of English lessons, learning, learners, and reciprocal relationships among them. The members of Green Class played their respective roles as leaners, ECE teacher, or English language instructors. However, many of the learners tended to care little about the English lessons or learning but all the same were sure to finish their English tasks. Regarding the second research question, the members of the two classes perceived English language, language teaching and/or learning, and the pedagogical practices based on their experiences in particular contexts. However, their perceptions, at the same time, reflected in various ways the larger culture. Red Class members tended to describe and interpret their pedagogical practices in positive ways and to consider English useful and important. Green Class members tended to talk more about their pedagogical practices with multiple voices. / text