Communication is an integral part of our everyday life. In learning a new a language, there are a series of different skills that need to be mastered by a student to be efficient in the language. One of these skills is listening comprehension. Listening comprehension is the skill that students found the hardest to master and be confident in. Therefore, it was of importance to see how students are exposed to listening comprehension in the textbooks that they use in German. In the study, 4 textbooks in the series Alles Deutsch were analysed. The books were analysed according to types of exercises, authenticity in theme and language as well as instruction type. The study found that meaningful exercises were the most common in the material while communicative were the least common. It could be analysed that the themes in the textbooks were authentic to the student’s prior knowledge and that themes reappeared throughout the language learning process. However, there was relatively little authenticity in the language in the exercises, but the difficulty progressed over time. Conventional approach-instructions were the most common which means that students are not exposed to strategy building and awareness in the exercises. Lastly, the results were interpreted from a hermeneutic perspective and the hermeneutic cycle

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The present study examined five Korean elementary students' English learning experiences in the United States. By examining Korean students' experiences while they were living in the United States, the study aimed to explore what the students themselves thought about regarding what they had learned while living in an English-speaking community and the students' perceptions of how these experiences influenced their English learning. Specifically, the study investigated the linguistic, cultural, and attitudinal impact of living temporarily in the United States on Korean elementary students. Interviewing was the primary means of collecting data for the study. These data was supplemented by a short survey, classroom observation, and relevant documentation about the children's learning, such as samples of the children's schoolwork. The analysis of data for this study began with organizing a description of each case, then, analyses were constructed to construct themes that cut across the data, and these themes have been utilized to generalize about what significant experiences constituted the development of English as a second language. This document reports the findings concerning the nature of the processes of learning and development that five Korean children experienced in learning English in the United States; teacher and student interaction; student and student interaction; meaningful learning experience; and classroom activities. / Ph. D.

This is a qualitative and context-specific study into the meaning and value attributed by older people to learning a foreign language in their own time and for reasons mainly unconnected to attainment and qualifications. There appear to be two common misconceptions of the British as language learners. The first is that they are ‘language barbarians’ (Tomlinson, 2004), ever ready to rely on the global dominance of English as a lingua franca and unwilling to learn other languages. The second is that learning a language voluntarily and for leisure purposes (‘leisure language learning’) is regarded as essentially frivolous and of little value. Equally much scholarly research, especially concerning second language acquisition (SLA), implies that language learning is a relatively unsuccessful and difficult endeavour for adults. This study challenges these views. Far from being reluctant ‘language barbarians’, who find learning another language onerous and unrewarding, the findings suggest otherwise. The older (aged 45+) adult learners in this enquiry are not only resoundingly positive about ‘leisure language learning’ but they derive significant benefits in many areas of their lives from learning, of their own volition, and seemingly against the odds. These benefits include but extend beyond functional transactions, such as ordering food when abroad. Participants’ perceptions of the personal value of ‘leisure language learning’ include its role in providing and facilitating: mental stimulus and wellbeing; improved communication; fewer risks when travelling; a repositioning of the self; a purposeful pastime; cultural enrichment; awareness of the ‘other’, as well as the various benefits of social interaction. Wider advantages for society in general are also implied. Empirical data were collected by means of in-depth, conversational interviews, exploring participants’ personal histories of encounters with and learning foreign languages. A hermeneutic ‘fusion of horizons’ (Gadamer, 2001) has then allowed for a more comprehensive and multi-faceted interpretation and understanding of the experience of adult ‘leisure language learning’ in community settings. The resulting text describes the nature and essence of the phenomenon of ‘leisure language learning’ embracing its meaning for, and impact upon, older adults. This incorporates a way of thinking regarding language pedagogy which goes beyond the usual ‘commonplaces’ and ‘discourses of performance, competency and skills’ (Phipps, 2007:2), common to much SLA and linguistic research. At the same time a deeper appreciation of the adult language learning experience is more likely to engender a ‘tactful’ and ‘action-sensitive pedagogy’ (van Manen, 1997:168-169): responsive to learners’ expectations and motivation, and taking their backgrounds and routes to learning into account.

In this paper we explore language learning in relation to motivation. The correlation between teachers' didactic choices and their relation with the learners is crucial to create motivation. When we did our research of how these things correlated, we mainly focused on the effects that CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and CBI (Content Based Instruction) had on motivation among learners. We used the database ERIC and searched for articles relating to CLIL, CBI, ESL (English as a Second Language) and motivation. We discovered that CLIL and CBI are teaching methods that allow the teacher to find subjects that are interesting to the students and use these to build motivation among the learners. Motivation grows by interactions and an understanding about the subject. We found a wide range of research that supported the approach of implementing CLIL and CBI in language learning. As a result of our findings we propose greater consideration in Swedish schools regarding the use of CLIL and CBI.

Thesis (MPhil (Modern Foreign Languages))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / It is widely recognized that learning to read is one of the most crucial learning processes in which children are involved at primary school. However, becoming a proficient reader is not equally easy for all learners. When it comes to the development of reading comprehension many children appear to have persistent problems. In order to meet the reading needs of students in the 21st century, educators are pressed to develop effective instructional means for teaching strategies to improve reading comprehension. The ability to read academic texts is considered one of the most crucial skills that students of English as a Second Language need to acquire. Reading comprehension has become the “essence of reading” (Dreyer & Nel, 2003:349). Literacy, and more specifically reading, is one of many areas where research has provided evidence of the potential impact of technology such as multimedia and hypermedia. If one looks broadly at the issue of technology and literacy, one of the more rewarding issues for educators is the role of technology in literacy acquisition and instruction, especially for primary grade learners (Pearson et al, 2005:3). This study aims to support the growing trend of an increasingly “paired” literacy, namely that of general literacy and computer (or technological) literacy. The study proposes that through implementing an overall blended-learning methodology for teaching learners how to use reading strategies, it will be possible to improve learners’ general reading comprehension levels.

<p>In this paper integration and inclusion were analysed in both theory and practice to see what they mean for pupils who reqire special support or pupils who have Swedish as a second language in compulsory school. The purpose of this work was to investigate whether inclusion is the best way of reaching the goal of a school for all children. A literary study, was conducted to test this hypothesis. The literature used for this purpose includes non-fiction books, handbooks, newspaper articles, declarations, conventions, and learning and course plans. Qualitative interwiews were held whit a remedial teacher, a Swedish-as-a-second-language teacher, and a class teacher who contributed greatly to this work thoough their experiences and vast knowledge. The result showed that there is not only one solution to the problem; sevral ways of going about reaching the goal of a school for all children exist. To get even closer to presupposed goal, a school for alla children, teachers must remove obstacles in their approach so that all children feel that they are in meaningsful situations.</p> / <p>En analys gjordes för att ta reda på vad de tre begreppen; integrering, segregering och inkludering i teorin och i praktiken kan innebära för enskilda elever i behov av särskilt stöd och/eller elever som har svenska som andraspråk i grundskolan. Syftet med arbetet var att undersöka om inkludering är den bästa vägen att gå för att nå målet, en skola för alla barn? Hypotesen prövades genom att en litteraturstudie gjordes som dessutom kompletterades med en kvalitativ undersökning bland utvalda pedagogiska specialister. Litteraturen som användes för ändamålet var, faktaböcker, handböcker, tidningsartiklar, deklaration, konvention, samt läro - och kursplaner. Kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med en speciallärare/specialpedagog, en svenska som andraspråkslärare och en klasslärare som genom sina erfarenheter och sitt stora kunnande bidrog stort till detta arbete. Resultatet visade att det inte finns en enda väg att gå, det finns flera vägar att gå, för att nå målet, en skola för alla barn. För att komma närmare det förutsatta målet, en skola för alla barn, måste lärare själva röja hindren i sitt förhållningssätt så att alla barn känner att de befinner sig i meningsfulla sammanhang.</p>

Second language (L2) decoding – the sub-lexical process of mapping the graphemes of an alphabetic writing system onto the phonemes they represent – is argued to underpin various aspects of L2 learning, particularly vocabulary acquisition. Recently, second language acquisition research has shown increased interest in decoding, consistently finding evidence for L1-to-L2 transfer effects on learners’ processing mechanisms and outcomes. Correspondingly, studies conducted in Modern Foreign Language (MFL) classrooms in English secondary schools – an under-researched context – have found that beginner learners of French tend to (a) pronounce L2 words according to English decoding conventions and (b) make poor progress in this aspect of L2 learning. Recent official guidance for MFL teachers has addressed this problem by advocating an explicit focus on decoding, but there is a lack of convincing evidence (both in the MFL context and more widely) that explicit L2 decoding instruction can be effective. The current study therefore trialled two programmes of French decoding instruction for beginner MFL learners, delivered in ten- to fifteen-minute segments over around thirty lessons. Three intact secondary school classes followed a phonics-based approach; three classes from another school followed a programme in which learners were encouraged to derive the pronunciations of French graphemes from ‘source words’ in a memorized poem; and six classes in two other schools received no explicit decoding instruction. Participants (N=186) completed pre- and post-tests of French decoding; a sub-sample (N=15) also completed task-based self-report interviews. The two intervention groups made significantly more progress than the comparison group in terms of the number of graphemes pronounced ‘acceptably’, although the magnitude of the difference between the groups was small. Compared to the comparison group, the two intervention groups also appeared to show different and more extensive patterns of change in their realizations of individual graphemes, even where their pronunciations were still not ‘acceptable’. Finally, self-report data generally revealed little change in participants’ strategic reasoning, either in the intervention or comparison group. Together, these findings suggest that explicit instruction can improve beginner learners’ proficiency in decoding L2 French, but that their progress may follow a longer and more complex trajectory than simply moving directly from ‘incorrect’ to ‘correct’ forms. Further research is required to assess the effects (if any) of a given improvement in decoding proficiency on other language-learning outcomes; and to design and evaluate alternative programmes of instruction.

There has been research that suggests that an anti-studying culture is present in vocational programs in Sweden (Högberg 2009), and that teachers need to adapt their teaching to the students’ vocational interests in order to create an interest in learning (Lindahl 2015; Riley &amp; Eriksson 2014; Smagorinsky et al. 2010). This study investigates how three teachers working at a vocational school in a rural area of Sweden teach the English 5 course. This entails investigating how the teachers perceive student attitudes, how they adapt their teaching, and also how they work to raise motivation among the students. The method used for this is semi-structured personal interviews along with a qualitative content analysis. The results of the study showed that attitudes among students are generally good with some exceptions, where lacking proficiency seems to be a factor regarding poor attitudes. It became evident that the main tool for raising motivation among the students is the adaptation of the teaching. The results also showed that some student groups are more interested in learning English than others, likely because of some students seeing English more a useful tool for their future working life. The issue of social structures regarding the Swedish educational system is also brought up. There is an implication for teachers regarding the adaptations – there has to be a balance between making vocational students interested, while still making sure they do not miss out on any content, i.e. that they get equal opportunity to learn as other students.

Teachers play an important role in teaching English as a second language. Since many studies of students’ attitudes towards leaning English already exist this study aims to compensate the lack of studies examining teachers’ attitudes towards methods of teaching English as a foreign language. The main focus of the study is on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). The definition and effects of CLIL are presented and discussed as well as pedagogical implications about teaching English as a foreign language. Via an online survey questionnaire, this study examines the attitude towards CLIL of ninety-seven teachers in the Swedish primary school’s preschool class to grade three. Findings of this study implicate that teachers in general have a positive attitude towards a content integrated approach to teaching English as a foreign language. Finally, suggestions for future research are presented.