Although it is known that the Spanish current Educative System promotes using the Communicate Approach to teach foreign languages in schools, other recently designed approaches are also used to help students improve their skills when communicating in a foreign language. One of these approaches is Content and Language Integrated Learning, also known as CLIL, which is used to teach content courses using the English language as the language of instruction. This approach improves the students’ skills in English as the same time as they learn content from other areas. The goal of this thesis is to present a research project carried out at the University of Alicante during the academic year 2011-2012. With this research we obtained results that provide quantitative and qualitative data which explains how the use of the CLIL methodology affects the English level of students in the “Didactics of the English Language in Preschool Education” course in Preschool Education Teacher Undergraduate Program as students acquire the contents of the course.

The role of grammar in the teaching of foreign languages has been extensivelydiscussed over the years, and nowadays the literature shows a growing acceptanceof grammar as an important part of the communicative approach. However,according to our experience and what can be gleaned from research, student perceivegrammar as difficult, abstract, and boring - which often negatively affects theirmotivation to learn a foreign language.In this context, the question we need to consider is: what is the best way to teachgrammar? The purpose of this research paper is to delve into the attitudes of studentsregarding the inductive and the deductive teaching methods, what aspects of thesemethods favour or hinder their motivation, as well as which is, according to them,the best way to work with grammar in the classroom.The methodology employed was a mini-experiment in which two approaches weretrialled, inductive and deductive, to then measure attitudes by means of a survey(questionnaire), followed by further details via a complementary interview andmeasuring learning effectiveness through exit tickets. Informants were drawn fromtwo groups of Spanish language students (9th grade elective Spanish).The results obtained indicate a clear preference toward the deductive method,although they also hint to most positive outcomes from a combination of bothmethods (inductive and deductive). About the factors that influence motivation,those standing out were the possibility of working in a group as well as theimportance of offering tasks with adequate difficulty levels, as those perceived astoo difficult have negative consequences in terms of motivation

With radical social change and educational reform taking place in China since 1976, the English teaching system there has been changing accordingly. The Chinese Traditional Method (CTM) is giving way to the Western Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach. This research is a study of both Chinese and expatriate English teachers who are involved in classrooms and affected by reforms. The goal of this research study is to identify the extent to which Chinese and expatriate English teachers use CLT in China, to discover the possible factors that prevent them from using CLT and to explore an English teaching method that may fit into the Chinese setting. The finding shows that both Chinese teachers and Americans used the CLT approach in their teaching. As for the extent to which they use CLT, overall variation between the two groups is not as obvious as variation within groups. Both Chinese and American teachers have encountered obstacles in introducing CLT. Recommendations were offered for teachers, students, and administrators.

The present study aimed to investigate teaching self efficacy beliefs of instructors working at university prep-schools and to examine whether years of teaching experience, English competency, self reported proficiency and graduate department predicted instructors&rsquo / self efficacy beliefs and their efficacy beliefs in student engagement, instructional strategies and classroom management. Two-hundred-fifty-seven prep-school instructors from universities in Ankara participated in the study. The data were collected through Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale, Self Reported English Proficiency Scale and Language Teaching Methods Scale. Both descriptive and inferential statistics, correlation and hierarchical regression analysis, were utilized by PASW 18. The results of the study indicated that the instructors have quite higher overall self efficacy beliefs. The instructors feel more efficacious in classroom management than using instructional strategies while they feel least efficacious in student engagement. Moreover, instructors&rsquo / overall self efficacy beliefs were significantly predicted by experience, English competency and self reported proficiency. Student engagement efficacy was not predicted by experience while it was significantly predicted by English competency and self reported proficiency. Instructional strategy efficacy beliefs were significantly predicted by experience, English competency and self reported proficiency. Classroom management efficacy was predicted by experience and self reported proficiency while English competency was not a significant predictor. Being a graduate of Faculties of Education was not a significant predictor in any regression models. Lastly, there was a significant relationship between the instructors&rsquo / use of communicative method and their overall self efficacy beliefs and its three sub-scales.

This diploma thesis is concerned with the level of knowledge and use of selected alternative teaching methods - Suggestopedia, Total Physical Response (TPR), Community Language Learning (CLL), The Silent Way and Act&Speak method among the teachers of foreign languages of adults in Prague. For better orientation, it can be divided into two parts - theoretical and practical. In the theoretical part, I focus on the situation of foreign language education and foreign language policy of the European Union and the Czech Republic. Also, I define what is meant by the concepts of didactics of foreign languages and methods of foreign language teaching so that I can describe the traditional foreign language teaching methods (direct methods, indirect methods and eclectic methods) and alternative methods in the other section. In the practical part, I approach with the assumption that the teachers of foreign languages of adults in Prague do not know and do not use the selected alternative methods. These and other hypotheses were verified by a quantitative survey (questionnaire) which also examined whether there is a correlation between the teacher's education, length of the teacher's lecturing practice, a place of carrying out teaching activities and knowledge and using these alternative methods. All were...

The topic of the thesis is the use of translation exercises in foreign language lessons (namely Spanish). The first part of the thesis deals with the development of foreign language teaching, the status of mother tongue (and translation) in foreign language teaching, positive cross-linguistic transfer and interference. Further, individual methods of foreign language teaching are analyzed. It is stated whether or not the translation exercises are used for each of the methods. In the second part, we find the definition and categorization of the translation and examples of the translation exercises. The last part is focused on stylistics (narrative techniques, writing genres and functional styles). The specifics of translation are listed and the translation exercises are suggested for each functional style.

The topic of this thesis is the use of translation from a foreign language as a tool to improve textual competence in the mother tongue. The first part deals with the evolution of foreign language teaching, the status of mother tongue in foreign language teaching, positive cross-linguistic transfer and interference. Further, the concept of the method is defined and different methods of foreign language teaching are described. It's specified whether the mother tongue and translation exercises are or are not used while using each of the listed teaching methods. The second part defines translation and categorizes types of translation and contains various types types of translation exercises. The last part is focused on stylistics (narrative techniques, writing genres and functional styles). A sample of translation from Czech into Spanish and vice versa is supplied for a majority of the functional styles.

The primary aim ·of this investigation was to determine the influence of English second language instruction and English proficiency on the performance of Zulu children at Indian schools. A study into first and second language acquisition was undertaken, including the theories of second language acquisition. The empirical investigation entailed the collection of data through questionnaires. The null hypotheses were then tested using the chi-square test. The research results show that the academic performance of Black children at Indian schools is influenced by English second language instruction and English proficiency.. It is also evident that early exposure to the English language has a tremendous influence on their performance. Black children transferred from a mother tongue medium school to an English medium school, during the junior primary phase, are found to be at a disadvantage compared to their English-speaking peers due to limited proficiency in the language of instruction. / Psychology of Education / M.Ed. (Psychology of Education)

v anglickém jazyce: FRENCH LANGUAGE WITHIN THE CZECH EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT 1847 -1948 The objective of this dissertation thesis is to analyse the position of French language as a regular school subject taught in the Czech education environment, with focus on the era of the years 1847 - 1948. This interval was chosen intentionally to demonstrate the development and transformation of the position of French language, from the time it appeared in school curriculum as an obligatory subject, through the golden age of Francophony in the interwar Czechoslovakia of the 1930s, up until the year 1948 when the structure of taught foreign languages changed and French language lost its significant position due to the changes in political regime and the post-February policy of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The thesis is divided into three theoretical sections which represent different points of view on period French language teaching. The initial section includes characteristics of the Czech education environment with regard to the specific types of public schools where it was taught, as well as references to the most significant education reforms which were shaping the school system during the period concerned. The aim of the opening section is to answer the question of where and under which...

The primary aim ·of this investigation was to determine the influence of English second language instruction and English proficiency on the performance of Zulu children at Indian schools. A study into first and second language acquisition was undertaken, including the theories of second language acquisition. The empirical investigation entailed the collection of data through questionnaires. The null hypotheses were then tested using the chi-square test. The research results show that the academic performance of Black children at Indian schools is influenced by English second language instruction and English proficiency.. It is also evident that early exposure to the English language has a tremendous influence on their performance. Black children transferred from a mother tongue medium school to an English medium school, during the junior primary phase, are found to be at a disadvantage compared to their English-speaking peers due to limited proficiency in the language of instruction. / Psychology of Education / M.Ed. (Psychology of Education)