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<p> The following work is an analysis of Martin Luther's Two Kingdoms Theory. This influential and controversial theory was introduced in his 1523 treatise, <i> Von weltlicher Obrigkeit</i>--<i>Secular Authority</i>. Although this document was written almost 500 years ago and takes its cue from the writings of St. Augustine and the Bible, it continued to have a significant effect on German society in both the political and religious realm well into the present day. Based on an analysis of the text and on the culture and literature that led Luther to write <i>Von weltlicher Obrigkeit</i>, this thesis evaluates various interpretations and applications of the Two Kingdoms Theory. The specific effects of Luther's teaching during the Nazi era are examined politically and theologically. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's <i> Religionsloses Christentum</i>--Religionless Christianity and Martin Luther's <i>Zwei-Reiche-Lehre</i>--Two Kingdoms Theory will be compared to demonstrate that they illuminate the same truth from different vantage points: neither people nor their rules are viable substitutes for God. A brief introduction explains the means of analysis used in this thesis, which is based on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's call for a new religionless language as described in letters written during his imprisonment by the Nazi regime.</p>

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<p> The current study seeks to further the insight on why advanced speakers of additional languages still speak non-natively by connecting the fields of SLA (SLA) and discourse. Invoking the IH (IH) and discourse universals proposed by Chafe, this study seeks to build on previous work in both areas of linguistics. </p><p> Participants for this study were asked to watch a silent film that has been used in discourse research for the better part of the past 40 years called <i> The Pear Film</i>. They then described this film, showing how non-native speakers use their language in real time description. Using a model proposed from the work of Chafe was then used to analyze their noun phrases (NP) and how they are used in terms of identifiability and accessibility. </p><p> Although there were not many incorrect uses of the topics at hand due to the speakers being advanced, there were intriguing results that surfaced. This study revealed that non-native speakers avoided using NPs that had a lower cognitive cost almost altogether and when such were used, they were often used incorrectly. More importantly, however, this study compared these results to a native retelling and revealed the elements of native-like speech that did not surface at all in their speech. This all brings in to question the line of methodology of previous SLA discourse work and the need for more research looking at actual spoken language of non-native speakers.</p><p>

<p> This mixed methods study examines the difference in high school foreign language learners&rsquo; acquisition of French oral proficiency skills by types of task. This study also examines the roles of the student learners and the teacher in developing oral proficiency skills during two different types of tasks in the high school foreign language classroom, namely the power of the social interactions between learner groups and between learners and teacher in developing oral proficiency. Over the course of an eight-week unit of study, three participating French 2 classes and one participating French teacher completed a prescribed series of speaking tasks. Class one completed only information gap tasks. Class two completed only dictogloss tasks. Class three alternated each task types every other week. Learner pre- and post-test scores were collected from the World Languages Department&rsquo;s speaking test for the unit. ANOVA was conducted using the quantitative data collected. While no significant differences were present between classes, qualitative findings indicate that the learners and the teacher have created powerful constructs of learning and that students were able to progress conversational skills across a unit of study. Teacher interviews, classroom observations, and video transcripts display the scaffolding of learning inside the classroom and lend insight to the roles of the learners and the teacher in the development of high school foreign language learner oral proficiency skills. The findings of the study suggest that the tasks, implemented through social interactions in the classroom, and constructed by the teacher&rsquo;s purposeful design, support foreign language learner oral proficiency development. The manner in which the participating teacher in this study implemented the taught curriculum demonstrates the influence of scaffolding, support systems, and the ability of learners to take ownership over their learning.</p><p>

<p> It has perhaps never been clearer that in order to effectively communicate with global governments and develop reasoned foreign policy, the United States Intelligence Community requires the support of trained linguists. The development of foreign language proficiency is a complex process requiring a significant investment of time and resources. For learners involved in intensive foreign language training within the United States Government (USG), the Department of Defense (DoD) has developed various Language Difficulty Categorization (LDC) frameworks aimed at standardizing the amount of time learners are given to meet established proficiency criteria. Despite the widespread adoption of LDC frameworks over the past 60 years, few empirical studies have examined the systematicity in proficiency patterns for languages grouped within the same difficulty category. By situating the analysis within the framework of a logic model, data-mining techniques were used to statistically model, via path analysis, the relationships between program inputs, activities, and outcomes. </p><p> Two main studies comprised the investigation. Study 1 employed a contrastive-analytic approach to examine the coherence with which both cognitive (e.g., general aptitude, language-specific aptitude, and average coursework outcomes) and non-cognitive (e.g., language preference self-assessment scores) variables contributed to the development of foreign language achievement and proficiency outcomes for three languages grouped within the same category. For Study 1, only learners who completed the entire foreign language-training program were included in the analysis. Results of Study 1 found a great deal of coherence in the role that language-specific aptitude and 300-level average coursework grades play in predicting end-of-program proficiency outcomes. To examine the potential hidden effects of non-random attrition, Study 2 followed the same methodological procedures as Study 1, but it imputed missing coursework and proficiency test score data for learners who attrited (that is, &ldquo;dropped out&rdquo;) during the intensive foreign language-training program. Results of the imputation procedure confirmed that language-specific aptitude plays a robust role in predicting average coursework outcomes across languages. Study 2 also revealed substantial differences in the role that cognitive and non-cognitive variables play in predicting end-of-program proficiency outcomes between the observed and imputed datasets as well as across languages and skills.</p><p>

The term motivation has been the key for several research studies in language learning since Gardner and Lambert (1972) introduced the term to the field; however, the term did not go beyond the two types instrumental and integrative. Several studies were built over these terms, but none of them has explicitly investigated the motivation for learning Arabic language as a foreign language in the USA. Arabic is one of the languages where motivation for learning in the USA is increasing, thus came this study to investigate the reasons and orientations i.e. initial motivation for learning Arabic and if the materials presented during a period of a semester affected the students' motivation. The main aim of this study was to explore the orientations of U.S. students at a public mid-western college to learn the Arabic language through a class research design. The obtained results showed that the participants were attracted to learn Arabic for personal development reasons such as understanding a different culture, understand the world and travel to an Arab country. A sub group of the participants were instructors and administrative stuff at an Intensive English Program at the school who wanted to learn Arabic for new academic reasons; they wanted to learn Arabic because it provides helpful techniques and knowledge for the TESL teachers and instructors to facilitate their teaching English as a second language for Arabic native speakers in the US. The study found that the US students in the university were more communication oriented in their learning and that they have shown a great interest in conversing with Arabic speakers and building friendships with them. The study has reinforced the direction of expanding the motivation in language learning scope and developed the classic integrative- instrumental dichotomy with the addition of a social motivation component. The students showed a huge interest in learning Arabic to socialize and build new relationships with individual native Arabic speakers. The study participants' development of the orientations for learning Arabic to sustained motivation was reinforced with the use of the class materials, mainly the textbook. The use of the textbook and the motivation of the students made it clear that the US students were highly concerned more about the communicative aspect of the language.

This thesis is an ethnographic enquiry into the question of culture in the content of EFL lessons. It focuses on day-to-day classroom practice in a Brazilian school for a critical examination of a truism in the language teaching profession: that culture is an integral part of the content of language lessons. Inspired by Bakhtin's (1981,1986) 'dialogism', this thesis conceptualizes syllabus content as multivoiced discourse which is shaped by teachers and learners as they "assimilate, rework, and re-accentuate" words of others (cf. Bakhtin 1986: 89) in the classroom. Its two-part structure reflects the attempt to construct my own critical voice by building both on the data and on the theoretical voices on the topic. Hence, Part One contextualizes the research within its subject area and considers the main ideas (on culture, foreign language education, and classroom research) providing the theoretical basis for the investigation. Chapter I considers the context, topic, scope and relevance of the research and provides an outline of the organization of the entire thesis. Chapter 2 examines the various definitions and uses of the word 'culture' in circulation in language teaching literature over time against the background of the development of the concept in the social sciences. Chapter 3 gives careful consideration to the principles of ethnography guiding this investigation. In Part Two the ethnographic voice takes the lead to narrate and interpret the documentary, interview, and observational material. Chapter 4 considers the research design as related to the context and purposes of the investigation. The analysis of the data developed through chapters 5-8 relates the views of culture - and cultural content - expressed by teachers and pupils, as well as those identified in the textbooks and other school documents, to the content which emerges out of classroom activities. The thesis concludes with an assessment of the contribution it may be able to make to the examination and understanding of foreign language classroom realities.

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