First outlined by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) continues to thrive (e.g. Lakoff&Johnson 1992, Lakoff, 1993, 1999, 2008), by first challenging the traditional view on metaphor as a matter of language and something extraordinary and poetic. CMT claims that metaphor is pervasive and essential in language and thought. Furthermore, metaphor is considered as the locus for abstract reasoning in this theory.Since its proposal, CMT has triggered plethoric research. However, few empirical studies have examined metaphors in second language (L2) acquisition and the importance of metaphor has not been fully recognized as an indispensable dimension in second language teaching and learning (Littlemore, 2009; Littlemore&Low, 2006b). However, metaphors present a hurdle for L2 learners (Danesi, 1992); L2 learners misinterpret metaphors for cultural reasons (Littlemore, 2003); teaching conceptual metaphor as a learning strategy facilitate language learning (Littlemore&Low, 2006a; Li, 2009).Thus, the current study investigates metaphor in learner language in light of CMT via a corpus-based approach. The study particularly examines how L2 learners of Chinese and English express vertical spatial metaphors in L2 English and L2 Chinese writings and how they differ from learners' target languages and learners' native languages.The findings reveal that L2 language development is a dynamic process and four key factors are found to interplay in learners' acquisition of conceptual metaphors: frequency of the metaphor, L2 proficiency, topic familiarity, and linguistic factors. In particular, the frequency of the metaphor as reflected in the target language has the most important impact on learners' acquisition of conceptual metaphors, overriding the factor whether a metaphor is shared in L1 and L2 or not; secondly, L2 proficiency influences how learners are affected by their first languages: learners with lower proficiency are more affected; thirdly, learners acquire the metaphors associated with a familiar topic; finally, L2 learners are constrained by the main semantic unit in the metaphorical expressions. Overall, the study demonstrates that figurative language development is a dynamic process: learners' metaphoric competence demonstrates a developmental pattern, in particular, a pendulum effect and it eventually emerges over L2 proficiency.

O mundo passa por um envelhecimento populacional e, segundo estimativas do IBGE, o Brasil será o sexto país no mundo com a maior população idosa em 2025. Com o aumento da expectativa de vida, aumenta também o tempo livre, de aposentadoria, dando espaço para atividades esportivas, recreativas, educativas, dentre outras. A busca pela realização pessoal tem levado os idosos a procurarem atividades que haviam adiado devido ao trabalho, à família e a outros fatores. Dentre essas atividades, há grande interesse pelos cursos de língua estrangeira. Surgem, então, oportunidades de contato intergeracional nas aulas de língua, que trazem benefícios para todos os participantes. Para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa, partimos da discussão sobre identidade, abordada pelos Estudos Culturais (em especial, Stuart Hall e Tomaz Tadeu da Silva), estudos da Psicologia Social sobre estereótipos e preconceito e pesquisas na área de Gerontologia. O Italiano no Campus (IC), apesar de não ter sido criado especificamente com o intuito de ser um Programa Intergeracional, possui grupos etariamente heterogêneos, com alunos de 16 até 78 anos, podendo, assim, ser considerado um ambiente intergeracional em que os participantes possuem um objetivo em comum: aprender a língua italiana. Dessa forma, o IC constitui um espaço de grandes trocas e de ampla possibilidade para a quebra de estereótipos e preconceitos sobre os idosos e o próprio processo de envelhecimento. O ambiente propicia, também, aumento do respeito ao outro e maior conhecimento de uma geração sobre a outra, bem como a quebra de estereótipos negativos que envolvem os idosos e o processo de aquisição/aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira. O papel do professor torna-se, então, fundamental nesse contexto, já que pode determinar o sucesso ou o fracasso desses ambientes intergeracionais e das relações que neles ocorrem. Nossa pesquisa envolveu alunos e monitores do IC, com um levantamento de dados realizado em três etapas, com questionários aplicados a alunos e monitores e entrevistas feitas com monitores. Com os dados, conseguimos traçar o perfil dos alunos do Italiano no Campus que hoje conta com um quarto do seu público dentro da chamada terceira idade e colher depoimentos sobre as relações intergeracionais tanto na visão dos monitores quanto na visão dos alunos. Os resultados nos mostraram que a maioria dos alunos prefere os grupos intergeracionais e que tanto alunos quanto monitores acreditam que a heterogeneidade etária enriquece o curso. Mesmo que não tenha sido concebido com essa finalidade, o IC tem potencial para ser um Programa Intergeracional, auxiliando, inclusive, na reinclusão social do idoso. / Overall, the global population is aging and, according to IBGE estimates, Brazil will have the sixth largest elderly population by 2025. The increase in life expectancy, together with the amount of free time available in retirement, has meant more time for sporting, recreational and educational activities, among other things, for this segment of the population. The quest for personal fulfillment has led many elderly to finally participate in activities that they had previously postponed, largely due to more pressing work and family commitments. Included among these activities, there is now great interest in foreign language courses. Thus, opportunities for intergenerational contact among participants of language courses arise, which in turn bring benefits for all those involved. Our starting point for the development of this study was the discussion around identity covered by various Cultural Studies (particularly, those by Stuart Hall and Tomaz Tadeu da Silva), as well as studies about stereotypes and prejudice in the realm of Social Psychology and general research into the area of Gerontology. Despite not being created specifically for the purpose of being an Intergenerational Program, the Italian on Campus (IC) course has groups that span considerable age ranges, from 16 to 78 years. These groups can thus be considered intergenerational environments in which participants have a common objective: learning the Italian language. Accordingly, the IC has constructed a space for important exchanges and with great potential for breaking down stereotypes and prejudices about the elderly and the aging process itself. This type of environment also promotes increased respect for others and greater opportunities for the generations to find out more about each other, as well as getting rid of the negative stereotypes pertaining to the elderly, with regards to the process of acquiring and learning a foreign language. Therefore, the role of the teacher becomes fundamental in this context, because it can determine the success or failure of these intergenerational environments and the relationships that occur within them. Our study involved IC students and monitors and comprised of a fact-finding mission in three stages, with questionnaires applied to students and monitors, as well as interviews with the monitors themselves. With this data, we were able to define the profile of the students participating in the Italian on Campus course, where a quarter of participants are now defined as seniors, and to record experiences about intergenerational relationships, both from the standpoint of the monitors as well as from that of the students themselves. The results show us that most of the students prefer the intergenerational groups and both students and monitors believe that broad age range enriches the course. Even though it was not conceived for this purpose, the IC course has the potential of becoming a true Intergenerational Program, further aiding in the social re-inclusion of the elderly.

Project-based Language Learning (PBLL) provides students with opportunities to use the target language purposefully and to interact with culturally authentic materials. Because PBLL holds critical benefits for its students, it is important that teachers learn best practices for implementation and how to overcome the challenges that PBLL brings. This study focuses on the experiences of 15 world language teachers as they participated in a PBLL professional development series developed by the National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. Findings from this study are based on data gathered from surveys and interviews with a diverse group of educators for the purpose of gaining an understanding of what participants learned and the activities that impacted learning of PBLL. Results show that learning about gold standard elements of PBLL made the biggest impact on participants' pedagogical beliefs and motivated them to change their practice. Activities that positively impacted learning were those that were active, social, and related to practice. Participants were overwhelmed with the amount of content and needed help making connections between the content and their teaching contexts. Overall, participants' experiences in the professional development series led to a change in pedagogical beliefs and a desire to alter their implementation of PBLL.

This study examines the perceptions of foreign language elementary school (FLES) teachers under current federal education legislation, specifically the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. The study data was collected during the fall of 2008, while Congress continued to debate the reauthorization of NCLB and just prior to the U.S. presidential election. The study gives voice a traditionally under-researched group of teachers, elementary school foreign language teachers. Inner-city public FLES teachers at Murray Language Academy, a Chicago (Illinois, U.S.A.) Public School (CPS), shared their beliefs about working under NCLB in order to document the perceived impact of NCLB on their early foreign language curriculum and their own behavior. The study also provides a review of current literature illuminating NCLB's impact on FLES programs and FLES teacher behavior in the U.S. As a case study, the research included structured interviews and classroom observations which were designed and analyzed with the following research questions in mind: 1. What do CPS elementary school foreign language teachers believe about No Child Left Behind's impact on their curriculum? 2. What do CPS elementary school foreign language teachers believe about No Child Left Behind's impact on their own behavior? The interviews were analyzed using the constant comparative method (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) to methodically identify patterns in the ways in which FLES teachers are influenced by NCLB. To further enrich the study, classroom observations were conducted. The study participants did not note any reduction in FLES programming due to NCLB, however, the study uncovered two recurring critical issues for Murray FLES teachers in the climate of NCLB. The two recurring critical issues revealed by the study's participants are: (a) FLES teachers in CPS believe they face increased challenges in integrating students from NCLB failed schools into their language curriculum and (b) FLES teachers in CPS perceive increased workloads and increased use of school resources, including greater interaction with the school's special education staff, as a result of mainstreaming students with cognitive and behavioral disabilities into FLES programs under NCLB.

This field study concentrates on how to improve the reading efficiency of Chinese tertiary students of English as a foreign language (henceforth EFL) with particular reference to Bejing Second Foreign Language Institute (henceforth Erwai). The study covers the following aspects in five chapters. Chapter 1 reports and analyses the findings of the research done to identify inefficient reading problems in the Chinese EFL reading situation. Based on the analysis of the existing problems, the chapter comes to a tentative conclusion that teaching reading skills could be one possible solution to the problems. To prove the relevance of the conclusion, the second chapter turns to a critical review of literature about the nature of the reading process. The emphasis in this chapter is on the psycholinguistic perspective of the reading process and its relevance to EFL teaching in China. Related to the psycholinguistic perspective of the reading process, Chapter 3 moves to some more specific issues concerning reading efficiency. The discussion deals with various factors which can influence reading efficiency and points out implications for teaching in the Chinese EFL reading situation. Having considered reading efficiency theoretically in Chapter 2 and 3, the study turns to the practical teaching of reading skills in Chapter 4 and 5. In these two chapters, efficient reading skills are analysed and suggestions are made about practical classroom teaching. It is hoped that these analyses and suggestions will give some impetus to improving the teaching of reading in the Chinese EFL field.

This study explored the learning experience of Arabic language learners at the college level, focusing on their perception of effective and ineffective Arabic language teachers as well as the influence of their experiences on their motivation. The study also attempted to shed some light on the nature of the teacher-student interaction within the current sociopolitical context. The 29 students who agreed to participate in this study were all Arabic language learners enrolled in the second year or higher of Arabic at a major university in the United States. Data were collected from multiple sources including an open-ended survey and semi-structured interviews that were conducted on a one-on-one basis with the participants. Data were analyzed using coding procedures suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1998) from a grounded theory qualitative approach. Results indicated that participants perceived their effective Arabic language teachers as adaptable teachers. These adaptable teachers influence learners' learning outcomes by balancing their high expectations of their students with an awareness of language learning needs. Moreover, participants' perceptions of their best Arabic learning experiences were always associated with adaptable teachers, whose positive interaction style radiated throughout in their teaching. The data indicated that participants were intrinsically motivated in four different ways: (1) intrinsic motivation for the linguistic aspects of Arabic, (2) intrinsic motivation for knowledge, (3) intrinsic motivation for optimal experience, and (4) intrinsic motivation for accomplishment. Moreover, motivation constructs such as expectancy-value, self-efficacy, and flow were related to the students' experiences. According to many students, the more years they spent in learning Arabic, the more they had become obsessed with it. Most participants in this study credited both native and non-native speakers as effective language teachers.. Participants credited their native teachers for their linguistic knowledge and their in-depth understanding of the Arabic culture and described them as resourceful. At the same time, they credited non-native teachers for their pedagogical knowledge, organizational skills, and knowledge of learners' characteristics, and described them as role models. Suggestions for future research and implications for research and practice are discussed. / Not available / text

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2004Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:34:53Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 quiroga_vv_me_assis.pdf: 300239 bytes, checksum: cceb3f0b8e6ae4317604197a6fc03774 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo verificar se o estudo autônomo é desenvolvido e como isso se realiza pelos estudantes de Espanhol como Língua Estrangeira, num curso que visa a formação de professores. A possibilidade desta pesquisa surgiu a partir de algumas inquietações relacionadas ao processo de ensino-aprendizagem de línguas estrageiras. Tal tipo de investigação foi possível através de leituras acerca da Pesquisa Heurística, que proporciona o auto-conhecimento do pesquisador e as implicações de suas características pessoais com o objeto investigado, conforme ensina Moustakas (1990). Utilizo, também, nesta pesquisa, a metodologia qualitativa. Os dados coletados estão a cargo de observações da sala de aula, respostas a questionários específicos e entrevistas áudio-gravadas. Todos estes dados convergem para uma análise interpretativista, com as intervenções necessárias para modificar certas situações, quando necessário. Este é o modelo indicado pela pesquisa-ação, pontuada por Thiollent (2003)... / The purpose of this research is to investigate whether students enrolled in a University Spanish Language and Literature Teacher Education Course engage themselves in self-study activities and, in positive case, how and in what extent they do it. The inicial adea for this work was raised in answer to my concern about foreign language learning and teaching questions and processes. The development of the investigation is related to Heuristic survey which brings the possibility of including the researcher's personal history as part of the study, as pointed out of Moustaka's (1990). The metodology is grounded on a qualitative approach. Data were gathered through classroom observation, questionaries and audio-recorded interviews, on an action-research basis (THIOLLENT, 2003)... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

O mundo passa por um envelhecimento populacional e, segundo estimativas do IBGE, o Brasil será o sexto país no mundo com a maior população idosa em 2025. Com o aumento da expectativa de vida, aumenta também o tempo livre, de aposentadoria, dando espaço para atividades esportivas, recreativas, educativas, dentre outras. A busca pela realização pessoal tem levado os idosos a procurarem atividades que haviam adiado devido ao trabalho, à família e a outros fatores. Dentre essas atividades, há grande interesse pelos cursos de língua estrangeira. Surgem, então, oportunidades de contato intergeracional nas aulas de língua, que trazem benefícios para todos os participantes. Para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa, partimos da discussão sobre identidade, abordada pelos Estudos Culturais (em especial, Stuart Hall e Tomaz Tadeu da Silva), estudos da Psicologia Social sobre estereótipos e preconceito e pesquisas na área de Gerontologia. O Italiano no Campus (IC), apesar de não ter sido criado especificamente com o intuito de ser um Programa Intergeracional, possui grupos etariamente heterogêneos, com alunos de 16 até 78 anos, podendo, assim, ser considerado um ambiente intergeracional em que os participantes possuem um objetivo em comum: aprender a língua italiana. Dessa forma, o IC constitui um espaço de grandes trocas e de ampla possibilidade para a quebra de estereótipos e preconceitos sobre os idosos e o próprio processo de envelhecimento. O ambiente propicia, também, aumento do respeito ao outro e maior conhecimento de uma geração sobre a outra, bem como a quebra de estereótipos negativos que envolvem os idosos e o processo de aquisição/aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira. O papel do professor torna-se, então, fundamental nesse contexto, já que pode determinar o sucesso ou o fracasso desses ambientes intergeracionais e das relações que neles ocorrem. Nossa pesquisa envolveu alunos e monitores do IC, com um levantamento de dados realizado em três etapas, com questionários aplicados a alunos e monitores e entrevistas feitas com monitores. Com os dados, conseguimos traçar o perfil dos alunos do Italiano no Campus que hoje conta com um quarto do seu público dentro da chamada terceira idade e colher depoimentos sobre as relações intergeracionais tanto na visão dos monitores quanto na visão dos alunos. Os resultados nos mostraram que a maioria dos alunos prefere os grupos intergeracionais e que tanto alunos quanto monitores acreditam que a heterogeneidade etária enriquece o curso. Mesmo que não tenha sido concebido com essa finalidade, o IC tem potencial para ser um Programa Intergeracional, auxiliando, inclusive, na reinclusão social do idoso. / Overall, the global population is aging and, according to IBGE estimates, Brazil will have the sixth largest elderly population by 2025. The increase in life expectancy, together with the amount of free time available in retirement, has meant more time for sporting, recreational and educational activities, among other things, for this segment of the population. The quest for personal fulfillment has led many elderly to finally participate in activities that they had previously postponed, largely due to more pressing work and family commitments. Included among these activities, there is now great interest in foreign language courses. Thus, opportunities for intergenerational contact among participants of language courses arise, which in turn bring benefits for all those involved. Our starting point for the development of this study was the discussion around identity covered by various Cultural Studies (particularly, those by Stuart Hall and Tomaz Tadeu da Silva), as well as studies about stereotypes and prejudice in the realm of Social Psychology and general research into the area of Gerontology. Despite not being created specifically for the purpose of being an Intergenerational Program, the Italian on Campus (IC) course has groups that span considerable age ranges, from 16 to 78 years. These groups can thus be considered intergenerational environments in which participants have a common objective: learning the Italian language. Accordingly, the IC has constructed a space for important exchanges and with great potential for breaking down stereotypes and prejudices about the elderly and the aging process itself. This type of environment also promotes increased respect for others and greater opportunities for the generations to find out more about each other, as well as getting rid of the negative stereotypes pertaining to the elderly, with regards to the process of acquiring and learning a foreign language. Therefore, the role of the teacher becomes fundamental in this context, because it can determine the success or failure of these intergenerational environments and the relationships that occur within them. Our study involved IC students and monitors and comprised of a fact-finding mission in three stages, with questionnaires applied to students and monitors, as well as interviews with the monitors themselves. With this data, we were able to define the profile of the students participating in the Italian on Campus course, where a quarter of participants are now defined as seniors, and to record experiences about intergenerational relationships, both from the standpoint of the monitors as well as from that of the students themselves. The results show us that most of the students prefer the intergenerational groups and both students and monitors believe that broad age range enriches the course. Even though it was not conceived for this purpose, the IC course has the potential of becoming a true Intergenerational Program, further aiding in the social re-inclusion of the elderly.

A number of studies in the literature claim that storytelling is a powerful tool in the development of receptive (i.e., Reading and Listening) and productive (i.e., Speaking and Writing) language skills, including pronunciation (e.g., Atta-Alla, 2011; Mottalabi & Pourgharib, 2013; Zare-Behatash, Saed and Sajjadi, 2016). Furthermore, there are studies that suggest that storytelling is even more effective than traditional teaching methods (e.g., Hsu, 2010; Li & Seehouse, 2010; Zare-Behatash, Saed and Sajjadi, 2016). The problem, however, is that those studies generally lack specific information about how storytelling improves pronunciation and what aspects are enhanced, for instance. This study aims to fill such a gap in the literature by investigating the effect(s) of storytelling on the development of the pronunciation of Brazilian beginner learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) who are 15 years of age and older, through a focus on specific segmental (i.e., /I/; /i/ and /ð/; /θ/) and suprasegmental (i.e., word stress) features that are considered difficult for Brazilian learners of English to pronounce intelligibly (i.e., Baptista, 2001; Cruz, 2003; Reis, 2006). Additionally, it aims to investigate how storytelling activities compare in effectiveness to textbook activities in the development of pronunciation, since textbook activities are widely used pedagogical tools in English classes in Brazil and generally considered to be effective in the development of language skills (e.g., Consolo, 1990; Xavier & Urio, 2006). Last, the study examines Brazilian learners’ perceptions about the usefulness and relevance of the storytelling/textbook activities they were exposed to in improving their pronunciation. Data were collected at a private school in Brazil three times a week, in 12, 25-minute sessions. A total of 86 learners participated in the study and were randomly divided into three different groups (i.e., experimental, n=28; comparison, n=29; and control, n=29). The experimental group performed storytelling activities and the comparison group performed textbook activities. The control group received no treatment. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted to examine the data gathered from pre-tests, post-tests and questionnaires. The findings of the statistical analyses showed significant differences in the participants’ performance in the perception and production pre-tests/post-tests, suggesting that storytelling and textbook activities played an effective role in the pronunciation improvement of the participants. In addition, findings showed that storytelling and textbook activities had a similar effect on pronunciation. The findings of the quantitative and qualitative questionnaires showed that, in general, participants in the experimental (i.e., storytelling) and comparison (i.e., textbook) groups similarly enjoyed performing their respective activities, although they were not much sure about their usefulness and relevance for the improvement of their English pronunciation. This study offers various contributions in the investigation of the effect of storytelling on pronunciation improvement. In addition to addressing the lack of specific information in previous studies on the relationship between storytelling and pronunciation development, it also contributes to the field by showing teachers that L2 pronunciation development may be impacted by a number of factors at individual, psychological, sociocultural and sociocognitive levels, to mention a few. Moreover, it suggests that the implicit approach examined in the study did not seem to play an effective role in the development of learners’ pronunciation. Instead, an inductive approach that involves exposing learners to target sounds through the use of enhanced input, for instance, could potentially increase the effectiveness of pronunciation improvement through storytelling. / Graduate

Chinese international students represent one sixth of the international post-secondary student population present in Anglophone Canada. A popular field of study for this demographic is engineering. Considering differences in cultural background and English language barriers, Chinese international students face their own unique set of challenges in university classrooms where collaborative work has become a standard measure to instruct and assess material. Four face-to-face focus groups with fourteen Chinese international students examined how collaborative work with non-Chinese peers shapes the self-perceptions of English language skills by Chinese international students. Using Saldaña’s approach to coding as the selected method, the data generated categories, a concept and a key assertion. Participants’ perceptions of English language are shaped by efficiency, embarrassment and confidence. A desired goal of Chinese international students, which is only achieved by very few, is English language fluency. Suggesting an interrelated relationship, the key assertion proposes that language competence and perceptions develop in four stages. Perceptions and language competence transition through a non-linear process, which ranges from Shock, to the Brutal Upward Learning Curve, Acceptance and eventually Confident Mastery. Focus group participants demonstrated a high level of accurate self-assessment and are forced to adopt a dismissive attitude which allows them to move past negative experiences and perceptions and develop a strong sense of confidence which is necessary for survival.