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This dissertation addresses the differential effects of two oral corrective feedback strategies, recasts and metalinguistic prompts, on the acquisition of Chinese wh-questions and classifiers, while examining how individual differences (i.e. language analytical abilities, attitudes, and anxiety) would moderate the effects of CF. Two beginning Chinese classes were randomly assigned to the recast or metalinguistic prompts group. In a span of 5 weeks, a total of 4 treatment sessions took place. Students were tested with an oral production task and a written error correction task before, immediately after, and two weeks after the treatment. Mixed-method ANOVAs were used to analyze the differential effects of the two CF strategies on the acquisition of wh-questions and classifiers. In addition, students also completed two questionnaires, with one testing their language analytical ability, and a combined questionnaire measuring their attitudes and anxiety. Multiple regressions were used to analyze the relationship between individual differences and students’ learning outcome. The results showed that the metalinguistic prompts group had significant gains in accuracy in all measures, regardless of testing time (posttests or delayed posttests), target forms (wh-questions or classifiers), and testing mode (oral production or written error correction tests). The recast group showed significant gains in the written tests for wh-questions and classifiers, but only achieved significant short-term gains for wh-questions in the oral test. Regarding individual differences, we found that learners’ language analytical abilities and attitudes were important in predicting their test performance, while anxiety did not affect the learning outcome. Results were discussed within the Interactional Cognitive Framework. Form-focused instruction, along with metalinguistic prompts, which were consistent, output-pushing, and reminded students of previous learned declarative knowledge, worked better than input-providing CF (recasts) for both syntactic and lexical features. Metalinguistic prompts withheld the target L2 forms, provided metalinguistic comments, and pushed for modified output, which may have increased the likelihood for learners to close the gap between their existing knowledge and the target L2 forms, and convert declarative knowledge into procedural knowledge. The findings also suggested that CF could be delivered without raising students’ anxiety, and helping students maintain positive attitude was important for their language development.

Advances in technology over the last few decades have led to significant changes in the way we communicate. Technological innovation has been one of the reasons for the development of computer-mediated communication (CMC), which has had far-reaching implications in the private and professional lives of many people. Instant messaging (IM), which is one form of computer-mediated communication, has significantly gained popularity over the years and many scholars have examined its influence in areas including business and academics. Initially developed to enhance communication between users who understood the same language, some IM clients including Wechat (www.wechat.com), QQ International (www.imqq.com), and Skype Translator (www.skype.com) have integrated a built-in translation application that facilitates communication among users that speak different languages. The current research project explores the relationship between machine translation, IM, and foreign language (FL) learning. In particular, it investigates whether machine-translated IM could improve the willingness to communicate (WTC) of beginner FL learners and whether the IM translation tool offers learners opportunities to communicate (OTC) in the FL. To answer these questions, China-based beginner FL learners were recruited and paired with native and near-native English speakers based in Canada. China-based participants completed two questionnaires and also exchanged (machine-translated) IM on selected topics with Canada-based participants for a period of ten weeks. Some China-based participants communicated with the help of the IM translation tool, while the others communicated without the tool. After analyzing the data gathered during the study, we found that WTC increased more for participants with the IM translation tool than for participants without the IM translation tool. Our analysis also indicated that the IM translation tool offered participants OTC in English. This was illustrated in various conversation aspects including number of words and turns exchanged, synchronous exchanges, ownership, conversation enhancement, topics discussed, tasks undertaken, and requests for paraphrase, repetition and explanation. In the discussion of the implications of our findings, we outline how the research project reinforced our understanding of the concept of WTC in a technology driven FL learning environment. We also discuss the implications of our findings for machine translation (MT), FL, and translation studies. Our discussion focuses on the debate on the tools to use and content to teach in the translator and FL training environments as well as various concepts in translation studies including MT quality, writing for MT, fit-for-purpose MT, collaboration and MT post-editing. This project enables us to test the applicability of MT in a different context using a novel group of users. The project therefore contributes to ongoing research on the relationship between CMC (specifically IM), MT, and FL learning, as well as to our knowledge of applications and perceptions of MT.

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.

The aim of this study is to explore how outdoor education (OE) can influence foreign language anxiety (FLA) and foreign language enjoyment (FLE) when primary students are learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The design was a pre-post intervention study with two experimental groups of 3rd graders of a Catalan state school that participated in an outdoor English session. The research has followed a mixed-methods approach, consisting of a pre- and post-test, group interviews with the students and individual interviews to their main teachers. Statistical analyses indicated a significant decrease in the FLA levels after the outdoor session, especially in girls. Regarding the FLE levels, even if there was an increase for both boys and girls, the difference was not significant. The statistical power was too low and the lack of a control group makes it difficult to claim that the differences where due to the outdoor setting. The qualitative data revealed positive feelings regarding the outdoor English session. Both students and teachers mentioned numerous benefits such as the increase of motivation, active learning or interaction with nature. However, the teachers pinpointed some challenges that need to be taken into account when applying this method. Even if FLA and FLE have been widely investigated, studies on how the outdoors can influence these emotions, and its effect in primary students are new fields of research. This study has provided an overview on how learning English outdoors can be linked with FLA and FLE levels and the differences presented between genders.

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<p> This explanatory mixed method research study investigates instructor and student perceptions regarding the factors that enhance or inhibit the self-directedness of American Sign Language (ASL) I students enrolled in institutions of higher education. This methodology was employed to learn from interviews with 10 participants, both students and instructors, as well as 20 students who participated in the Self Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) aka the Learning Preference Assessment (LPA) developed by Lucy Guglielmino (1978). The SDLRS survey answered the first research question. As it is shown in research, the interviews clarified the numbers with the personal narratives to support the development of the conclusion of the study. The data collected were videotaped and transcribed by the researcher. A total of three themes emerged from this study to answer the six research questions. The goal of this explanatory mixed method study was to gain more knowledge of what the students in the introductory ASL class perceive their self-direction to be and to identify what works for them in regards to learning strategies. Findings from this study could provide deeper understanding and a rich source of information for the future ASL instructors to help reduce frustration among ASL students. </p>

<p>Large numbers of novice programmers have been failing postsecondary introductory computer science programming (CS1) courses for nearly four decades. Student learning is much worse in secondary programming courses of similar or even lesser rigor. This has critical implications for efforts to reclassify Computer Science (CS) as a core secondary subject. State departments of education have little incentive to do so until it can be demonstrated that most grade-level students will not only pass such classes, but will be well-prepared to succeed in subsequent vertically aligned coursework. </p><p> One rarely considered cause for such massive failure is insufficient pedagogic attention to teaching a programming language (PL) as a language, per se. Students who struggle with acquiring proficiency in using a PL can be likened to students who flounder in a French class due to a poor grasp of the language's syntactic or semantic features. Though natural languages (NL) and PLs differ in many key respects, a recently reported (2014) fMRI study has demonstrated that comprehension of computer programs primarily utilizes regions of the brain involved in language processing, not math. The implications for CS pedagogy are that, if PLs are learned in ways fundamentally similar to how second languages (L2) are acquired, foreign language pedagogies (FLP) and second language acquisition (SLA) theories can be key sources for informing the crafting of effective PL teaching strategies. </p><p> In this regard, key features of contemporary L2 pedagogies relevant to effective PL instruction&mdash;reflecting the late 20^th-century shift in emphasis from cognitive learning that stressed grammatical knowledge, to one that facilitates communication and practical uses of the language&mdash;are: (1) repetitive and comprehensible input in a variety of contexts, and (2) motivated, meaningful communication and interaction. </p><p> Informed by these principles, four language-based strategies adapted for PL instruction are described, the first to help students acquire syntax and three others for learning semantics: (a) memorization; (b) setting components in relief; (c) transformations; and (d) ongoing exposure. </p><p> Anecdotal observations in my classroom have long indicated that memorization of small programs and program fragments can immediately and drastically reduce the occurrence of syntax errors among novice pre-AP Java programming students. A modest first experiment attempting to confirm the effect was statistically unconvincing: for students most likely to struggle, the Pearson coefficient of &minus;0.474 (p &lt; 0.064) suggested a low-modest inverse correlation. A follow-up study will be better designed. Still, a possible explanation for the anecdotal phenomenon is that the repetition required for proficient memorization activates the same subconscious language acquisition processes that construct NL grammars when learners are exposed to language data. </p><p> Dismal retention rates subsequent to the introductory programming course have historically also been a persistent problem. One key factor impacting attrition is a student's intrinsic motivation, which is shaped both by interest in, and self-efficacy with regards to, the subject matter. Interest involves not just CS concepts, but also context, the domains used to illustrate how one can apply those concepts. One way to tap into a wide range of student interests is to demonstrate the capacity of CS to explore, model, simulate and solve non-trivial problems in domains across the academic spectrum, fields that students already value and whose basic concepts they already understand. </p><p> An original University of California "G" elective (UCOP "a-g" approved) pre-AP programming course along these principles is described. In this graphics-based Processing course, students are guided through the process of writing and studying small dynamic art programs, progressing to mid-size graphics programs that model or simulate real-world problems and phenomena in geography, biology, political science and astronomy. The contextualized course content combined with the language-specific strategies outlined above address both interest and self-efficacy. Although anecdotally these appear to have a positive effect on student understanding and retention, studies need to be done on a larger scale to validate these outcomes. </p><p> Finally, a critique is offered of the movement to replace rigorous secondary <i> programming</i> instruction with survey courses&mdash;particularly <i> Exploring Computer Science</i> and <i>APCS Principles</i>&mdash;under the guise of "democratizing" secondary CS education or to address the severe and persistent demographic disparities. This group of educators has promulgated a nonsensical fiction that programming is simply one of many subdisciplines of the field, rather than the core skill needed to understand all other CS topics in any deep and meaningful way. These courses present a facade of mitigating demographic disparities, but leave participants no better prepared for subsequent CS study. </p>

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