This pilot study explored the linguistic gains of intermediate level Spanish learners who completed community-based learning at a Spanish-speaking seniors center. Leamers had the opportunity, rare in foreign-language ...This pilot study explored the linguistic gains of intermediate level Spanish learners who completed community-based learning at a Spanish-speaking seniors center. Leamers had the opportunity, rare in foreign-language instruction, to discuss topics from their textbook in authentic native/non-native dyads. The interactions also allowed the seniors to fulfill an identified community needed by socializing in Spanish. Analyses of a post-service survey revealed that learners assessed the experience positively, because they spoke Spanish creatively. Seniors were described as cooperative and fun interlocutors, suggesting that age difference minimally affected the interactions. Direct observation revealed that learners managed to produce L2 Spanish output in connected speech for an extended period of time. Likewise, the seniors enjoyed a moment of socialization and first language use while sharing their views on the topics of discussion with the young visitors. Seniors＇ active participation likely encouraged learners to cope with sudden switches of topics that required negotiating for meaning and pushing the still limited interlanguages. A new service leaming study proposes to investigate the use of native/non-native dyads in Spanish in fulfilling a dual function： socialization and first language maintenance for the seniors at the center and language learning for the students.展开更多
More than ever before, multilingualism is a key resource that opens the doors for participation in internationalisation and in the globalization process and participation in the knowledge society. As such, it is of ou...More than ever before, multilingualism is a key resource that opens the doors for participation in internationalisation and in the globalization process and participation in the knowledge society. As such, it is of outmost importance that governments consider language learning as an educational priority. Mozambique is no exception to this rule, as it has also already acknowledged the need not only to teach languages of wider communication such as English, French, and Portuguese, but also the Mozambican national languages. The present paper discusses the importance and value that is attached to multilingualism in Mozambique and focuses particularly on Foreign Language Teaching and Learning at tertiary level. This paper reports specifically on data collected through a questionnaire given to first year university students at Universidade Pedag6gica in Maputo, in June, 2008. In addition, it examines the university＇s language policy of providing English language teaching to first year students, focuses on some of the constraints that presently affect the development of productive and receptive multilingualism, and suggests ways of making foreign language learning more effective展开更多
Vocabulary plays a significant role in foreign language acquisition. The volume of vocabularies directly affects the foreign language learning effect of the students in higher vocational colleges. Since the 1970s, the...Vocabulary plays a significant role in foreign language acquisition. The volume of vocabularies directly affects the foreign language learning effect of the students in higher vocational colleges. Since the 1970s, the study of the second language vocabulary acquisition has gradually become a hot spot in the field of the second language acquisition. In the 1980s, more and more researchers and the teachers in higher vocational colleges came to realize the importance of vocabulary acquisition, and also incidental vocabulary acquisition and intentional vocabulary acquisition are highly focused at home and abroad.展开更多
文摘This pilot study explored the linguistic gains of intermediate level Spanish learners who completed community-based learning at a Spanish-speaking seniors center. Leamers had the opportunity, rare in foreign-language instruction, to discuss topics from their textbook in authentic native/non-native dyads. The interactions also allowed the seniors to fulfill an identified community needed by socializing in Spanish. Analyses of a post-service survey revealed that learners assessed the experience positively, because they spoke Spanish creatively. Seniors were described as cooperative and fun interlocutors, suggesting that age difference minimally affected the interactions. Direct observation revealed that learners managed to produce L2 Spanish output in connected speech for an extended period of time. Likewise, the seniors enjoyed a moment of socialization and first language use while sharing their views on the topics of discussion with the young visitors. Seniors＇ active participation likely encouraged learners to cope with sudden switches of topics that required negotiating for meaning and pushing the still limited interlanguages. A new service leaming study proposes to investigate the use of native/non-native dyads in Spanish in fulfilling a dual function： socialization and first language maintenance for the seniors at the center and language learning for the students.
文摘More than ever before, multilingualism is a key resource that opens the doors for participation in internationalisation and in the globalization process and participation in the knowledge society. As such, it is of outmost importance that governments consider language learning as an educational priority. Mozambique is no exception to this rule, as it has also already acknowledged the need not only to teach languages of wider communication such as English, French, and Portuguese, but also the Mozambican national languages. The present paper discusses the importance and value that is attached to multilingualism in Mozambique and focuses particularly on Foreign Language Teaching and Learning at tertiary level. This paper reports specifically on data collected through a questionnaire given to first year university students at Universidade Pedag6gica in Maputo, in June, 2008. In addition, it examines the university＇s language policy of providing English language teaching to first year students, focuses on some of the constraints that presently affect the development of productive and receptive multilingualism, and suggests ways of making foreign language learning more effective
文摘Vocabulary plays a significant role in foreign language acquisition. The volume of vocabularies directly affects the foreign language learning effect of the students in higher vocational colleges. Since the 1970s, the study of the second language vocabulary acquisition has gradually become a hot spot in the field of the second language acquisition. In the 1980s, more and more researchers and the teachers in higher vocational colleges came to realize the importance of vocabulary acquisition, and also incidental vocabulary acquisition and intentional vocabulary acquisition are highly focused at home and abroad.
